Stopping by the warehouse, Cinder got out of her car where police surrounded the area with ambulances parked with them. She walked under the tape and checked on the line of bodies wrapped in white sheets before paramedics lifted them onto the ambulance. Cinder approached one in particular that had the bigger appearance. Slightly pulling off the sheet, she was greeted by the sight of Hazel's slain body with his head absent. It looked to have been forcefully removed from the neck by a swift slice. Similar to one of the members with the katana. It was beginning to get serious, especially with the RWBY gang becoming more prominent in their territory. Cinder pulled out her phone and dialed her leader's number. She told her everything.

"You're calling to inform me that Hazel has been killed, correct?" Salem repeated.

"Yes…" Cinder replied, hiding her emotion. "It seems that the crew are getting more powerful as we speak."

There was silence.

"Very well," the Queen replied. "Since we are allied with the White Fang, they will take over the drug operation and assist us in hunting down RWBY before they destroy anymore of our operations."

"Understand, ma'am."

After the phone conversation, Cinder looked back at Hazel's body. She let out a sigh of anger and frustration. Those RWBY brats are really getting on her nerves.

"Goddammit."

Qrow's eyes began to open slowly. What began with a blurry ceiling became a clear vision once he found himself in what appeared to be a room. He then heard the door open and glanced to his left where Winter walked out of the bathroom before noticing Qrow.

"Oh good. You're awake."

As she approached him, Qrow gently leaned his body upwards slowly, still feeling the pain from his abdomen. Winter helped him up. Qrow noticed bandages wrapped around it with some blood soaked onto it. He looked around the room, unfamiliar with the damp, lukewarm wallpaper.

"Where am I?" Qrow asked.

"In a motel," Winter answered. "You were out for two days. Ironwood called and asked where we were and I had to fake a story for him."

Qrow nodded. He then licked the insides of his dry mouth.

"You got water?" He asked.

Winter reached over to the nightstand and handed him a full bottle of water. He downed almost the entire bottle, with some of the water slipping away from his mouth.

"That was stupid, you know?" Winter said. "Taking that bullet that was meant for me? You could've died."

Finishing drinking, Qrow glanced at her. She was never usually concerned for his safety. It wasn't that much of an issue that she cared but he does see where she's getting at.

"Well...you could've died if I did nothing." Qrow replied, putting the bottle back.

Winter didn't respond but Qrow looked away from her.

"Thank you…"

Qrow glanced at her, surprised she was actually grateful for him, although they were beyond distant. Qrow smirked and nodded.

"You're welcome."

"I will kill you if you get the wrong idea." Winter's sudden tone changed.

Qrow chuckled. Typical Winter.

"While you were out, Hazel and his men were found dead in their main drug operation base last night."

Qrow looked at her again in a macro second. "Are the girls okay?"

"They're fine. It wasn't them. They weren't anywhere near the drug territories."

"Okay, good," Qrow nodded in relief before realizing something. "Wait, you said the RWBY crew weren't anywhere near the territories, right?"

Winter nodded. "Yeah?"

Qrow paused for a moment, trying to piece something together.

"D'you know who did it?"

3 Hours Earlier

Raven parked the car at a far distance, away from the building's direction. The headlights turned off, shrouding the front of the road in darkness. Grabbing her katana, Raven stepped out of the car and closed the door before heading towards the building. That was where her next target, Hazel Rainart would be at. He was more active during midnight and therefore, more guards would be positioned around the area. She wasn't looking for discretion. She wanted it to be loud and clear. A message to the Grimm.

Nearing the entrance to the building, Raven counted two guards armed with SMGs at the gate keeping sharp. One of them managed to notice her through the shadows.

"You! This is private property! You need to leave now!" One of the guards called out.

Raven didn't respond. Her grip on the katana handle tightened as she slowly unsheathed it. Her steps began to speed up. The guards became cautious of her and prepared the weapons.

"Hey, you deaf or something? This is private property now bea-"

Emerging from the shadows, Raven swung the katana at the guard on the left, slashing diagonally across his body before stabbing the other through the throat. Pulling the blade away, Raven took a pistol from the guard before heading towards the building.

As soon as she went inside, havoc and chaos erupted. Raven opened fire on the unsuspecting guards in white hazmat suits, taking some of them out around the floor. Powder and debris popped and floated throughout the floor. Workers in orange hazmat suits scrambled out of sight and armed guards returned fire. Raven swiveled away from gunfire, flanking them from the other side. Once she reached them from a spot they never saw, Raven cut the guards down and used one of them as cover from gunfire before pushing the body at the last guard and impaling the blade through both of them. As the two fell, Raven walked off and headed for the next floor.

After taking out even more guards down at the station, Raven left some fiery destruction in her wake. An explosion erupted from one of the grenades mixed with the unfinished drugs but it didn't reach Raven. As she made her way past the room, something suddenly grabbed her by the neck and pulled her through the wall. Raven fell onto the dust-ridden floor in the corridor. Coughing the dust out, Raven was then grabbed again and thrown through another wall into another room. Everything began to blur as she struggled to pull herself up. Her hand felt for the katana handle as she looked up and saw a large, burly figure step through the hole in the wall. His appearance was quick for her to recognize him.

"Raven Branwen," Hazel said. "It's an honor to meet you...and an honor to kill you."

She managed to pull herself up and face the large figure staring down at her. Hazel began to approach her with clenched fists. Raven made her first move and swung the katana, only for Hazel to grab it by the sharp blade. Raven couldn't budge. He didn't feel anything. She noticed his dilated pupils. The need for adrenaline. That's what makes him more powerful and fearful.

Hazel then yanked the katana off her and tossed it aside before grabbing Raven by the neck. Raven kneed him in the groin, which didn't faze him much. Hazel tossed her to the desk with her right side of her body making first contact with the edge. As she held onto the tip, Raven noticed a pair of scissors and snatched it off the surface. Spinning around, she turned to face Hazel just about to grab her. With a swift swipe, the blade cut Hazel's arm, causing him to reel his hand away but he made no reaction. Hazel grabbed her neck and pushed her against the table. Raven tried to hit him with the scissors, only for him to grab it and yank it off her hand. As she is about to drift out of consciousness, Raven kneed his groin hard enough to daze him and punched him directly in the nose.

She grabbed hold of Hazel's sleeves and kicked his legs. After several hits, Raven managed to unbalance him and tossed him to the floor aikido style. She caught sight of her katana lying next to the wall behind her. She glanced back and noticed Hazel on his feet and approaching her, nose bleeding profusely. Raven flung a kick which Hazel easily blocked and held her leg. However, he didn't expect Raven lifting her other leg, hitting across Hazel's face.

Raven kicked his leg strong enough to bring him to his knee and with that same leg, knocked Hazel to the ground with a kick to the temple. Retrieving her katana, she spun around to see Hazel back on his feet again and charging. With a swift swing, Raven sliced off his left hand he was going to hit her with. Clean and painless. She then ducked under his right haymaker and slit both of Hazel's legs, causing him to drop to his knees.

As Raven stood up, she glared down at her target, bloodied and under her mercy. Her desire to kill him was more than just personal.

"I guess this means I've failed…" Hazel said. "Should've known it would end like this."

Raven couldn't care less what pathetic excuse he had left in his sleeves. People like him are the parasites of this country that need to be exterminated. Hazel then looked up at her. His defeated but noble face made her stomach churn.

"Do it." He said.

Raven simply lifted her sword up. Hazel closed his eyes as she swung for the neck.

Present

As the team waited inside their base of operations a few blocks away from Sun and Neptune's safe house, the door opened and Pyrrha entered with her phone in hand.

"I just got off the phone with Arslan. She and Robin will continue handling the weapons in their area."

"In that case, Velvet and I will help them out with the smuggling. We know the ins and outs." Coco suggested.

"I'll handle the money," Jaune volunteered. "I'll see if I can find anyone interested in joining us in the meantime."

As everyone agreed with the roles, Ruby then looked around and noticed something off.

"Hey, where did Weiss go?" Ruby asked.

"Don't know. She just left," Yang replied. "I think it's because her sister's here."

"Why's her sister a problem?" Coco asked.

"They're just dealing with some issues."

"Ren and Nora aren't here either. Are they okay?" Ruby added.

Everybody was starting to notice something. However, Jaune and Pyrrha exchanged glances, aware of what's going on between the two.

Nora entered Ren's room where he sat on the edge of the bed. He was staring at the ground. Ever since the ambush by the mysterious mercenaries, Ren hasn't been himself for the past few days. He wouldn't even talk to anyone, including Nora. But she needed to get something out of him. She's his friend. They've been friends for a long time.

"Ren." Nora called.

There was no response from him. It didn't stop her from giving up.

"Ren, please...you gotta talk to me."

Ren still didn't say anything. Nora, sighing in defeat, begins to walk away, dejected.

"I'm sorry." Ren whispered.

Nora stopped when she heard Ren's voice and turned around. He was still facing away from her.

"The things they did, the most evilest things they did. They took everything from me, Nora. My village…my home...and my family."

Nora approached him and bent down in front of him. Even through the shadows, she could see the tears escaping his eyes. Nora couldn't imagine how it felt for him during the bloodbath in Kuroyuri, let alone the fact she was there too. Nora looked down and noticed his trembling hands on the knees. She placed her hand over his right hand and felt it stop. Ren looked up and faced Nora, directly with their eyeline meeting each other. Nora could feel her eyes watering.

"I know." She whispered.

Ren said nothing but Nora pulled him closer and comforted him as he returned the hug. Nora could feel Ren ease up. What happened there put the two together. They were the only ones left. They had no choice. They were all they had.

Weiss placed the half empty glass of scotch on the counter. The bar was partially full with drunkards and douchebags alike mingling amongst themselves. She still wore the bland disguise she had to take to hide from any bounty hunters. Everything was bound to go wrong. First, she's forced to take part with a crew motivated by vengeance and then her sister somehow is here. Knowing how overprotective Winter is, it only gets worse before it gets better.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Weiss recognized Neptune's voice but she didn't give him a glance.

"I don't care." Weiss said.

She heard Neptune adjust himself on the stool. He asked the bartender for whiskey and the man nodded before turning away. Weiss wasn't expecting Neptune to be here. Normally, he would be anywhere with his partner.

"I thought you would be with that friend of yours." She said, lifting her glass to her mouth.

"Was gonna. But he's out with that stripper girlfriend of his."

Weiss stopped midway, confused.

"He's going out with a stripper?"

"Yeah," Neptune nodded as he poured himself a glass. "Apparently, he's been into her ever since we arrived in this shithole country and I have no clue why. I remember back when we were cops, I found him in bed with a lady assassin from the cartel who almost killed him before I had to save his ass. But he went on, chasing some pussy until he met that stripper."

Weiss chuckled in a more discreet manner. At least Neptune had some humor in him. Then there was a brief pause between the two.

"So...what's up your ass?" Neptune asked.

Weiss glanced at him. He was now holding his glass of whiskey.

"What?"

Neptune quickly clarified himself. "I mean as in, what's troubling you? You seem to be anxious about something."

Weiss doesn't normally talk about her issues but then again, she doesn't mind talking about what's in her mind.

"Ever since we started a war against the Grimm, everything is slowly going downhill and it's a matter of time before someone fucks up and gets one of us killed."

There was another brief pause between them.

"Yeah, I get that feeling too." Neptune said.

Weiss glanced at him, interested in his take.

"Honestly, I just wanna bail out of this hellhole Remnant as soon as possible because of the Grimm. A lotta gangs and criminals are getting scratched off the surface. They don't like competition and they'll kill anyone who they think is better than them. It's only gonna get worse once they find us if we don't act smart and leave this country."

Weiss looked away, smirking.

"It's good to know I'm not the only one."

Weiss held her glass towards Neptune. The two clinked their glasses and downed their drinks at the same time. As they slammed the glass onto the table, Weiss thought of something.

"You know what, since you're here, why not make this a double?" She asked.

Neptune nodded. "Sure thing. Hey bartender! What else you got?"

One minute ago, Weiss was just having a drink when Neptune showed up out of nowhere and the two had a drinking party. The next minute, they were eating each other's faces in a motel room they might've rented for the night. Neptune had just taken off Weiss' shirt, stripping down to nothing but her underwear before pushing themselves onto the bed. Their faces were completely flushed and they had no control of themselves. The fire between them was just beginning to arise. Weiss let out a sharp moan as Neptune sucked on her collarbone while she hugged his head, feeling that sensual shiver up on her skin.

The two switched positions as Weiss straddled Neptune, getting a good view of his toned body. There was a "thin blue line" tattoo on his right torso. She quickly closed the distance between the two and kissed him roughly. She always loved it rough. Although his mouth breathed of whiskey, she wasn't too bothered.

Weiss could feel Neptune's hand grope her ass as his bulge behind his trunks tightened against her crotch. She was beginning to feel wet. She just wanted him in her. Weiss ran her fingers through his hair, desperate for a good shag. Weiss began to grind her crotch against Neptune's as they continued to eat each other out, rubbing in a back and forth motion. They increased the speed and Weiss clumsily kissed Neptune as she continued to rub her crotch against his. She let out a moan through their kisses. Weiss pulled away from Neptune's mouth and undid her bra, tossing it aside. She then tugged on the waistband of his trunks.

"Oh yeah, this is the best part." Neptune slurred.

Pulling it down, she did her business and the two went on for the rest of the night.

(Next Day)

Ironwood was stressed and he needed answers. In just a few days, the lieutenants were found dead and there was no evidence about the Grimm's operation or the Queen's whereabouts and two of his agents are still at large. The next time he saw Qrow again, he would be glad to just punch him. Then, Ironwood heard a knock on the door and looked up.

"Come in." He said.

The door opened and Amber entered the office with some bad news judging by her face. She was also holding a newspaper.

"Sir. You need to see this."

Amber handed the newspaper to Ironwood. As he read the cover title, his eyes widened as he tried to conceive these words in large, bold letters above the Thai translation.

ARTHUR WATTS TO TAKE OVER FOR PRESIDENT OF REMNANT.

"You've got be fucking kidding me."