Chapter 11

"-and then finally we have Leonardo Splinterson, the last of the...odd faunus brothers." Emerald said as she held up her Scroll. "And something is just...not right about that label. I don't think I've seen a faunus that...different before." She said, before looking up at Cinder, who was listening as she sewed.

"Moreover...it seems that despite their skill, they don't appear to have any semblance." She said as Cinder stopped and looked up.

"Are you sure? Pyrrha went to a lot of trouble to hide her's, could they be doing the same?" She asked, before Mercury shook his head.

"No way. I've been watching the four very carefully lately, listening to people talk about them, keeping an eye on their training whenever I can. Unless they're far better than Pyrrha at hiding a semblance, something I doubt personally, I think they don't have it."

"That is something to keep an eye on. Such high skilled warriors with no Semblance...it doesn't bode well." Cinder stated before she felt her Scroll begin to vibrate. Reaching down, she answered and saw it was a video call. One from Stockman.

Opening it up, she saw the cybernetic agent looking back at her.

"Ah Stockman, I was almost about to call you. I hope this call isn't for a problem." She said, as Stockman shook his head.

"Not at all. Despite some...hiccups, we've got our next batch of weapons ready. But more pertinent to your interests are the special units. In the time between overseeing this ghastly operation, no simple task given the demands and limitations mind you, and upgrading your friend's little helper, I have got my first batch of...enhancements. I still need to train these vagabonds how to use them, and hopefully their simple minds won't cause it to take too long, but they should be ready."

"Good Stockman. See to it they are ready soon, we cannot have anymore delays." She said, before closing the Scroll.

Meanwhile, back at his base of operations, Stockman shook his head and looked back. "Incredible the lack of respect I get for my accomplishments. Genius is truly never appreciated." He said, looking at the two White Fang members wearing his new suits.

Their suits were tightly held across their body, with various technological bandoleers attached to a button on their chest, one holding the White Fang symbol. On their face was a full-face covering version of a Grimm mask, one with large glowing eyes.

The next day had come by and Leonardo was mentally preparing himself for confronting Blake. He knew he had to, but this was different from anything he'd have done before. He knew how to talk with his brothers, he'd had years of knowing them and understanding them. Blake was a tougher nut to crack. He understood where she was coming from, from his own period of self-destructive obsession, but he wasn't too familiar with Blake otherwise.

She was a very quiet person. She didn't talk a lot about her past, her troubles, or really anything at all about herself. So Leonardo stood in the hallway trying to think of how to go about this. He was so focused on this, he barely noticed someone who came right up behind him.

"Hey Leo." Came the soft voice of Ruby, as Leonardo's head shot up. She had her hands behind her back and her eyes were bright but with a soft layer of concern behind them.

"Oh, hey there Ruby." He said and stood up straight. "You uh...excited for the dance?" He asked, not sure why Ruby was coming by.

"Well...no not really. I've just been too worried about Blake, and well...I'm guessing you are too." She said, causing Leonardo to nod slowly.

"Yeah, I understand. I know very well what she's doing to herself, and was actually going to talk with her...when I can figure out the words to say."

"Well, I don't know what exactly to say, but well...I know how abrasive she can be, and I wanted to bring you something that I thought could help." Ruby said, and pulled her hand out from behind her back.

In it was a tiny music box, and one that looked especially antiquated. It had red and gold intricate designs running around it and it was very well-kept for how old it looked.

"My...well aunt you could say gave this to me as a kid. Whenever I feel sad or upset I play it and it helps soothe me. And I think it might be able to help with Blake." She said, and handed the box over to Leonardo.

Leo slowly took it, wanting to be rather careful with it. "Wow, Ruby...are you sure about this?"

"Of course! Blake's not just my teammate, she's my friend. Anything that can help is something I want to do." She said and nodded. "Just make sure to bring it back in one piece, okay?" She smiled as he took it and nodded.

"I will, I promise." Leonardo said, smiling at Ruby. "And thank you."

Blake, meanwhile, had moved to her room and sighed as she rubbed her tired eyes. She had deep, dark bags under her eyes from the constant days with minimal, if any, sleep. Blake sat on her bed and the soft mattress felt tempting to lay back and fall asleep, but she shook her head to stay awake.

The cat faunus pulled out her Scroll to try to do some more research when she heard a soft tapping on the window. Looking up, she could see an orange cat resting on the windowsill, looking in with his amber eyes.

"...Klunk?" She asked, tilting her head as she saw the Splintersons' cat, feeling her ear twitch under her bow. Her own eyes stared back into Klunk's, as Klunk kept staring back at Blake.

Blake felt her eyes narrow a bit. "...What do you want?"

Klunk just tilted his head and gave a small "meow".

Blake sighed and got up before walking over to the window, opening it. Klunk looked up at Blake before turning around and walking off away from the window and down the railing. Blake sighed and shook her head.

"Klunk, come on, let's get you back to your owners." She grumbled and stepped out onto the small railing, slowly trying to walk after him.

However once she got out a bit, she felt a hand rest on her head and she looked up, seeing a familiar face in a familiar blue bandanna hanging from the roof.

"Hello Blake. We need to talk." He said, before pulling her up with him.

After letting Blake calm down from her pseudo-kidnapping a bit on the roof of the Beacon dorm, Leonardo looked at Blake. "So Blake, are you done yelling?"

"Possibly, depending on what your explanation is." Blake said with narrowed eyes.

"I think we both know why." Leonardo said, keeping his arms crossed, then sighed. "Look Blake...you're going at this hunt way too hard. You're only hurting yourself and becoming your own worst nightmare."

"So what, you're saying I should stop hunting down Torchwick? Because if so, you just wasted your breath." Blake said with an annoyed tone.

"Of course not. We want to hunt him down as much as you do, and we don't plan on stopping. But we need to do so in a way that doesn't destroy ourselves, mentally or physically."

"We don't have time to waste on resting. We need to stop him, and then we can rest!" Blake argued, as Leonardo shook his head.

"No, we do. If we spend all of our time chasing down every tiny clue, all that will do is make us much weaker when we would be if we took our time."

"Unfortunately, we don't have the time for that! You don't understand, I have to make sure we get him!" Blake forced out, before Leonardo sighed and shook his head.

"No, I do. More than you would get. Let me tell you a story about how I know what you are going through." Leonardo said, before sitting down. Blake raised an eyebrow, still suspicious, but she slowly sat down with him.

"A few years ago, me, my brothers, and our master were...in a very bad situation." Leonardo said, in his mind flashing back to the terrible mission on the Shredder's starship.

"We had been hunting down this terrible man, and for a long time been planning a mission to stop him for good. But it went wrong. We had been trapped and defeated. He had been too strong for us." He said, and shook his head. Leonardo could still feel the pain, hear his brothers and Splinter resign themselves to death.

"But we had a way to defeat him, for good. However, our only choice...it'd kill us all too." He said and leaned back. "I was the leader, I was in charge, but I could do nothing to save us."

"Fortunately, we were rescued by some allies who we never expected to be there to help us, and we survived, and the mission was accomplished." Leonardo said. "However, that wasn't the end of it. All I could think of after for a while was that failure. There was nothing I could do...but I became obsessed."

"I fought harder, trained harder, accepted no failure. I pushed my family apart, was unnecessarily brutal against those I fought against. I was losing myself and became my own worst enemy." Leonardo added, his head lowering as he remembered the shame of that time of his life.

"I was punishing myself, destroying myself, because of something I could not control, and that obsession nearly cost me and my family." He said. "I was fortunate in meeting with an old family friend who showed me this, and after spending time with him, I was able to return home, wiser and better. My family had come under attack, and I was able to save them and my anger had been controlled. I was in control of myself." Leonardo said.

After finally having let Leo say his piece, Blake shook her head. "I understand what you mean, but this is different. I need to be ready to prevent something like this, I cannot stop and-"

"Blake." Leonardo said, before reaching into his bag and pulling out the music box. "This was something Ruby wanted me to use, to help you." He said, before letting it play. A slow, solemn, soothing melody slowly began to play. Hearing it, even Leonardo could feel himself calming over.

"Your team is worried and they care about you Blake. They can help you, and they will be there with you. With us all together, there is nothing we can't stop. You'll only hurt yourself, and everyone around you. Please...just do this. For us and yourself." Leonardo said softly, watching Blake's expression softly, staying there until the final notes from the music box clicked off.

"Obsession is dangerous. You need to control yourself, and then you can control your situation." Leonardo said, before standing up, grabbing the music box, and walking away, climbing off the side of the roof.

Eventually the night of the dance came, and the four brothers were making their way there. Seeing as they lacked a proper suit, the four brothers just took their school uniform, but they fit in for the most part, even if the bandannas stood out a little.

Raph was still grumbling as he crossed his arms and shook his head. "I still think dis whole idea is a load of stupid..."

"Oh come on Raphy-boy, we're gonna have a blast!" Mikey said and wrapped an arm around Raph's shoulder...only to have Raph slap the back of his hand up to hit Mikey in the face.

"Don't you push it, Mikey Bacon." Raph angrily said as Mikey was holding his face, before shaking his head.

"Fine, if you want to be grumpy, I won't stop you, and I'll have some fun." He said and started to walk forward faster. Eventually they walked into the room, and they were greeted by Yang who was greeted everyone.

"Well hey, you guys made it!" She said, then chuckled at Raph. "Didn't expect you to be here."

"Neither did I Yang, so shut it." Raph said and crossed his arms as he tried to force his way in.

As the four brothers made their ways in, Donatello walked up to Leo.

"So, did you talk with Blake?" He asked, and as he said so, Leonardo looked up and saw that Blake and Sun were dancing together...with Blake smiling and seemingly having a good time.

"I did...and I think she took some of what I said to heart." He said as Raph walked over.

"Great, mission accomplished. Now can we go back?" He asked, before Mikey slapped him on the beck.

"Heck no, now we show these guys how much turtles can get down!" Mikey smirked, raising his hands as he made his way to the dance floor.

"...So now we just leave him alone, yeah?" Raph said to Donnie and Leonardo, before he felt a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Nope, you are coming with me." Came Yang's voice as she smirked and started to drag Raph to the dance floor.

"What're ya doin, let go o' me Yang!" Raph struggled to get out of her grip to no avail, to the amusement of Leonardo and Donnie.

"Funny, karma hitting Raph instead of Mikey for once." Don said, before grinning and making his way to the punch bowl.

As he did, Leonardo looked up to see what else was going on, when he saw Pyrrha slowly walking up to the stairs, and he felt something...off about her. However, as he started to walk to her, he saw Jaune make his way after her.

"...He has it." Leonardo said, before turning back away.

As the party continued, Donatello was sipping his punch, having stayed off to the side for most of the night. He'd seen Penny and tried to make his way over, but the two soldiers standing with her had...politely requested that he stay away from her, something Donnie reluctantly agreed to.

Still, as he made his way back, he looked over every one of his brothers and friends on their own having fun. Jaune had made a surprise entrance wearing a dress and had started dancing with his team together, something Donnie got a laugh out of. And after they'd kicked things up a notch, Mikey joined them in the middle of the room showing off his impressive dancing skills, especially his break dancing, and getting quite an audience. Which was good, because when Raph wasn't busy awkwardly not knowing how to dance with Yang, he was trying to get to him and kill him. Meanwhile, Leonardo had been busy talking with Blake and Sun, and seemed to be having a good time.

Which meant Donnie was on his own...and that was perfect. He'd had enough time here, and he felt he was close to a breakthrough in connecting his Dust research to a way home. He had gone to the party like he said, if for a bit, and it's not like he was obsessing over this research, so he felt fine in leaving early.

Sneaking out of the party, Donnie went to a nearby bush where he'd slipped a bag. Inside of it was his Scroll tablet, several Dust samples, and his staff collapsed. He pulled out the Scroll and started to open it, when he noticed movement in the distance. Looking up, he saw that someone was moving across the rooftops of the dorms and the town, making their way towards the CCTS.

"...I don't like this." He said, knowing a thing or two about infiltration, and this looked like an attempt. Holding tightly to his bag, he quickly started to make his way there.

As he slowly arrived at the CCTS, he heard gunfire and the sounds of combat inside. He quickly dropped his bag and reached in, pulling out his staff, as it unfolded out to full size. Quickly rushing up to the door, he looked in, and saw the person making her way to the elevator...and on the ground were the bodies of numerous Atlas soldiers.

Slipping in, he looked up and saw that there was a ventilation shaft and quickly leaped up to it. He knew the elevator would beat him to the top (and he was assuming that's where they were going, as in the data vault, that's where the administration areas would be) as he began to make his way up. It was a long climb, but he was used to them, as he moved as fast as he could, before arriving at the top.

Looking through the vents, he saw that the mysterious figure was making her way to a specific computer. Sitting in it, she planted a Scroll in...and was clearly uploading something. Widening his eyes, Donnie slipped out, and aimed his staff at the Scroll, having turned it into its rifle mode. He pulled the trigger, and the Scroll snapped in half.

The woman jumped up and spun around, as Donnie stood up.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I don't think you belong here." He said, before the woman broke open a Dust canister and sent several shards of ice flying at him.

Donnie spun his staff, blocking ever one, before charging in himself. He swung his staff forward, but the woman leaned back and blocked it, swinging her foot up and catching Donatello off guard.

Knocked back, he saw that Cinder was now holding what looked like two obsidian swords before she swung at him. Donatello reached up and blocked them both...just in time for a gunshot to be heard before the swords shattered.

Looking back, Donatello saw Ruby standing there with Crescent Rose in hand.

"Donnie, what's going on?" She said quickly, before Donnie leaped up and kicked the infiltrator in the back towards Ruby.

"I don't know, but whoever this is, is up to some trouble." He said, as Ruby tried to rush forward...but stumbled on her heels, allowing their opponent to leap back, forming a glass bow and launching a barrage of arrows that explode around the two, facing them.

However, just at that moment the door opened again, and as Don and Ruby looked back, they saw General Ironwood standing there.

"Ah General, you have a-" Donnie started, but as he looked forward again...the mysterious infiltrator had vanished.

"...But...she was...just here." He said, slowly standing up straight, as he let his staff retract again.

What is going on?

AN:

Soooooo...two years huh? Heh heh heeeeeeeh...no excuse, just every time I'd remember to right a chapter and have the time and interest to do so, something would come up. This time I finally got sick of it and realized I needed to get a chapter out.

"Anime Brony-

Lose one of their own? Are talking about the when Donnie was turned a monster by the mutant outbreak Bishop caused."

So...kinda feel embarrassed about that, seeing as I spent quite a bit of time looking for this line, and couldn't find it...but then just after I posted Chapter 10 I found it easily.

Anyways, no I was more referring to Leonardo's angry/depressed state following their near death on the Shredder's starship.