A/N: (Important, Please Read) Hey everybody! It's new chapter time once again and I've got a bit of a big one here for your reading pleasure. But before we begin, I just want to let you all know something regarding next week's chapter. If you probably couldn't guess, next week is going to be this story's second-year anniversary, which is gonna fall on a Saturday. So, rather than post the new chapter on Friday like I always do, I've decided that I'm going to hold it off until the next day to coincide with the anniversary. And considering what's going to go down in that chapter, I think it's actually for the best so that I have more time to write it up. Alright, enough from me, on with the show! This is…

Chapter 104: Two Sides to Every Outcome

…..

Emerald was pacing back and forth in her team's airship behind Haven Academy, the green-haired thief having crossed her arms while keeping her focus directly on the floor. Her eyebrows furrowed as her red eyes filled with apprehension, the girl trying to keep herself calm in the situation they were in. She moved her gaze up to the rest of her compatriots, and they were all just as worse for wear as her, if not more. Exo-Skull was holding the two halves of his laser horn in his hands while Thunderhog was inspecting his laser visor, both mutants hoping they could be easily fixed. Subdora was flexing the fingers of her sprained arm to try and keep the feeling in them while Mercury was laid out on a cushioned bench, the assassin directing his eyes up to Emerald the moment she looked at him. "Em… you okay?"

Emerald screwed her eyes shut and sat down next to him, letting out a groan. "Ugh, no. To be honest, I'm feeling rather shitty."

"Aren't we all?" Subdora spoke up, craning her head down. "I can only imagine what Lady Salem will say if we return to her empty handed."

Hog was quick to wave off that notion. "Bah, as if. We might be out for the count, but Cinder and Rojo? They know what they're doin'. Sure, they may not beat Tennyson, but gettin' that relic an' fightin' their way out should be a piece of cake!"

"I hope so." Skull nodded, setting his broken horn down. "Otherwise, we'll be in it deep with Salem." He crossed his arms and let out a grumble. "But the fact that Morningstar ain't back yet… that's also worrying me."

Emerald clenched her hand and agreed. "Yeah, last thing we need is Michael doing something that can screw this whole mission up… or worse." At that moment, the door near the front of the ship opened up, and Doctor Viktor pushed his way through it. The Transylian practically had to get on to his hands and knees to do so, but he managed. "Viktor… any luck?"

The doctor had a small communicator in his hand, one that was bigger than the ones that they had been given at the start of the mission. Viktor sighed and brought the comm up so that everyone could see. "Well, I succeeded in patching into Rojo and Cinder's communication signal… but when I attempted contact, there was no answer."

"WHAT?!" Emerald shot up, her eyes wide with even more worry than before. "That's impossible! The communicators were specifically made so that we could talk even through the thick mountain layers below Haven!"

"I am WELL aware!" Viktor shouted back, making Emerald step away from him. The Transylian let out another sigh and shook his head. "I will attempt to make contact again, but for now, we need to get airborne incase the heroes try and come after us." He craned his head over to Thunderhog. "Thaddeus… I am too large to handle the controls. If you would please…"

"Oh, sure thing, boss man." Hog agreed, placing his visor back on his face before making his way up to the cock pit.

As she heard the engines begin to ignite, Emerald felt her apprehension begin to take hold while Viktor tried to contact Cinder and Rojo again. 'This can't be happening… please, don't let this be happening.' Tears began to brim the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. Cinder had been the only kind of family she had ever known, even if the Fall Maiden didn't feel the same way about her. She was even willing to serve Salem if it meant making Cinder happy… or at least satisfied. If she came back without the relic, then the Fall Maiden would undoubtedly suffer the most from Salem's wrath. But… if something had happened to her down in the Vault... 'No, no don't think about that, Em! Stay strong. That's what Cinder would do. You just have to remain calm, and—"

"Hold up! Someone's comin'!" Hog shouted from the cockpit, igniting a glimmer of hope inside of the thief. However, that hope was quickly dashed when Hog spoke up again; "It's Michael! An' he's messed up pretty bad!"

Michael. That was the absolute LAST name Emerald wanted to hear right now. He was the one who disrespected Cinder the most, giving her a condescending nickname like he owned her, taunting her with his every word. It sickened Emerald, and it was at that point where her apprehension changed into anger.

This didn't go unnoticed, though. Mercury mustered up all the strength he could and put a hand on Emerald's shoulder, calming her down slightly. "Em, please, calm down. If you keep this up, you'll lose control of your Semblance."

Emerald clenched her fists… and took a deep breath. It hitched in her throat a bit, but she was able to settle herself down a bit more. Mercury was right. Even now, she could feel her Semblance itching to get out and create something incredibly hideous and horrifying in everyone's mind. She swallowed hard and held herself back as the airship's hatch opened, allowing a limping Michael Morningstar to board. While the energy vampire's presence made her sick to her stomach, seeing the state he was in was able to put a light smirk on her face. He was bleeding quite profusely from his head and lips while multiple cuts and bruises decorated the rest of his body, his face having taken most of the beating. Michael kept a hand over his stomach as he suddenly fell onto the deck, letting out a pained groan as the hatch closed behind him and the ship began rising up into the air.

He didn't have long to relax, though, as Viktor came stomping over, glaring down at Michael's battered form. He reached down and grabbed onto Michael's collar, pulling him up until he was eye-level with him. Their eyes met and Viktor, with every ounce of restraint he had, asked; "Where. Have. You. Been?"

Michael let out a cough, a bit of blood sputtering out of his mouth as he choked out his response. "Hak-hak! My… apologies. I hadn't realized that my presence was missed."

"ANSWER HIM!" Emerald snapped. "Where the hell were you, Morningstar?!"

"Yeah, we could've really used ya, if you hadn't noticed!" Skull interjected as well.

Another cough escaped Michael's throat before he continued. "Hak! Well, if Viktor would be so kind as to put me down, I'll happily answer." It took a few seconds, but Viktor reluctantly put Michael back down… by dropping him. "OW! Do you want your answer or not?!" Seeing the unchanging expressions throughout the airship, Michael sighed and lowered his head. "Alright, fine. I went after Lionheart, okay? I saw the general and that drunkard going after him, so I decided to protect our asset."

"Did you, now?" Subdora raised an eyeridge at him, inspecting his wounds with her three eyes. "And I suppose that did not go very well for you?"

Michael put a hand to his chest. "You tell me. I thought I had that blasted general cornered in the hallway near Lionhearts office, hell, I even absorbed a lot of his Aura…" Michael sneered and clenched his fist. "But that blasted drunkard got the drop on me again! Those two ganged up on me and I tried to fend them off… but the drunkard's semblance kicked in and I was knocked out when a whole bookshelf fell on my head. When I came to… they were all gone."

Mercury couldn't help but scoff at that, with Emerald joining him as well. "Heh, what a way for the dreaded Michael Morningstar to go out… like a little bitch."

"You shut your mouth, Black!" Michael snapped. "At least I'm not the one with their legs broken, am I?!"

"That's ENOUGH!" Viktor bellowed, getting the two to stop their squabble. The Transylian focused onto Michael with a frustrated face. "Your story checks out. From what I heard, Qrow and Ironwood saw Lady Salem take Lionheart away back to the castle. I can only assume she has bigger plans for him now."

Michael nodded once. "I see… and what about Cinder and Rojo?" his eyes scanned around as he searched for the two women, all while internally smirking to himself that his lie had gotten past them. "I thought for sure they'd be here by now."

Emerald's eyes cast toward the ground. "We… we don't know. But hopefully, they're getting the relic as we speak—"

"Uh, guys? This is your captain speaking." Hog spoke over the intercom, gaining their attention. "I think ya'll will wanna see this." At that moment, a large holo-screen popped up, broadcasting live from a camera that was attached to their airship's underside. On the screen, the team of villains saw none other than the heroes all gathered outside the Grand Hall… and they seemed to be celebrating. The reason was quickly revealed to them when Ben, Yang, Ruby, Gwen, Team JNPR, Raven and Vernal all walked out of the hall… with the Relic of Knowledge in Gwen's possession.

The reactions were immediate. Subdora let out a gasp while Skull held her securely with one arm, disbelief etched all over his face. Viktor, Michael and Mercury all had similar expressions; a mixture of anger and shock at what they were seeing. But Emerald was a different story. Her eyes had widened to the size of saucers and her tears came back, the thief not even trying to keep them from falling. She wasn't distraught at losing the relic, though… but rather because there was absolutely no sign of either Cinder or Rojo. They hadn't even been captured by the heroes. They were just… nowhere in sight.

A whimper escaped Emerald's throat before she fell to her hands and knees, her tears flowing freely now. She was beginning to breath hard and fast, and she could hear Mercury calling out to her in concern. But at that moment, she didn't care. "NO! No, no, no, no, NO!" She slammed her hands to the deck and screamed, a cry of sadness wailing throughout the whole ship. "This can't be happening! This just can't be happening!"

Viktor's hands clenched in ire, a bit of lightning sparking at his fingertips. "I'm afraid it is, Miss Sustrai. This… shall not go unpunished." The Transylian walked back toward the front of the ship and called up to Thunderhog; "Thaddeus! Take us back to the Land of Darkness!"

"NO!" Emerald shrieked, standing up in defiance. "We can't go! Not without Cinder and Rojo! Not without making ALL of those heroes PAY!"

"WE WILL!" Viktor bellowed, thrusting his arm out to Emerald to shoot the small bit of lightning at her. The thief let out a brief cry of pain as she fell to her hands again, everyone's eyes widening at what Viktor had just done. "I'm sorry, Miss Sustrai, but any good tactician knows when to cut their losses and retreat. Believe me, the heroes WILL pay for this, but for now, we must leave." With that, Viktor continued back toward the front, leaving the crying Emerald to get up by herself.

At least, that's what she thought. But surprisingly, Subdora came over and helped her up as best she could, the Merlinisapien pulling the girl into a single-armed hug afterward. As if that weren't shocking enough, Subdora began saying comforting words to her, trying to calm her down. "It's alright, dolcezza. Everything will be okay, I promise."

Skull reached over and put a massive hand to Emerald's back as well. "We'll get them ALL back for this. Believe me, we will."

Emerald glanced between the two in utter shock before a warm sensation began to fill her hand. She directed her eyes down to Mercury, the silver-haired assassin gazing up at her apologetically as he held her hand securely. "Em… I'm sorry. But we have to leave. We're in no shape to take them all on." After staring at him for a few moments more, Emerald screwed her eyes shut before falling into his chest, crying her eyes out while belting out anguished wails. This stunned Mercury initially… but then he reached down and began stroking her back softly, allowing her to get everything out of her system. Mercury didn't know why, but… he didn't like seeing her like this. And that just made him even angrier at the heroes for what they did. "We'll make them pay. I promise." With that, the large airship lurched in the air before shooting off into the sky, returning to the Land of Darkness.

…..

"Okay, I gotta ask..." Ben spoke up as he, his group and Team JNPR all made their way out toward the Grand Hall's new entrance… that being a massive hole in the wall. The hero had also noticed that the whole quad had been replaced by a gigantic crater, one that had to at least be about twelve feet deep. "Just what the heck happened up here?"

Nora smirked and jabbed a thumb to her chest. "Well, the giant hole in the wall was all me. I sent those bad guys packin'!" The Pink Dynamo glanced out toward the destroyed quad. "As for what happened outside, I think that was Kevin."

"Kevin did that?!" Gwen asked in disbelief. "HOW?!"

"No clue." Pyrrha admitted. "All we saw was him spinning out of the sky toward Viktor at high speeds and then… well, that happened."

"Huh, well okay then." Ben's eyes moved over to Ren, seeing that the green ninja now had a large hole in the back of his tailcoat that was caked in blood. "But Ren… what happened to you?!"

Ren, who was still being supported by Nora, let out a small chortle and put his free hand to his neck. "Well, let's just say I jumped in to save Nora from being knifed by Subdora."

"You did WHAT?!" Ruby explained. "That's crazy!"

"That's what I said!" Nora concurred, nudging Ren lightly in his side. "He REALLY has to quit it with all the self-sacrificing."

Ren winced slightly, but that didn't stop him from laughing. "Haha, I will, I will, okay?"

Raven sent a skeptical glance down to the bloody garment, still perplexed at how Ren was still standing. "Alright, so if you were stabbed, then how the hell are you all patched up? Your wound couldn't have healed that fast without aid from Gwen or Swampfire."

Pyrrha was the one to answer that, the Invincible Girl giggling a bit before wrapping her arms around Jaune's right arm. "You can thank this boy right here for that!"

Jaune wore a sheepish grin before giving his friends a shrug. "Heh… guess who unlocked their Semblance?"

The reaction was almost immediate, with Ruby belting out a joyous shriek before tackling him in a hug. "AAAAAAH! No way! Jaune that's awesome!"

Yang gave out a cheer and pat the blonde knight on the back. "Haha! Alright, Vomit Boy! Way to break it out at the right time!"

"Congratulations, Jaune." Ben said before offering a handshake, which Jaune quickly accepted. "I knew you'd be able to unlock it sooner or later."

"I'm assuming it's a healing-type Semblance?" Gwen guessed.

Jaune shook his head at that. "Uh, actually, no. It's more like I can amplify the effects of a person's Aura so that it can heal them faster." He put a finger to his chin in thought. "In fact… maybe I could even amplify the effects of someone's Semblance if that's the case…"

Gwen smiled and gave him a nod. "I see. Well, this calls for some experimenting during our next training session." She lifted the Relic of Knowledge and nudged her head toward the exit. "But for now, we gotta get this baby back to Vale for safe keeping."

"Of course." Pyrrha concurred. "Quite frankly, I cannot wait until we get back… home." It was then that she noticed Vernal sticking toward the back of the group, the short-haired young woman appearing to be someone nervous. "Oh, um, hello?" Pyrrha called back. "You are Vernal, correct?"

Vernal's eyes darted up, a small gasp escaping her lips before waving back hesitantly. "O-Oh, yeah. That's me."

Pyrrha and her team smiled back at her, the redhead bowing respectfully to her. "A pleasure to meet you. I am Pyrrha…" she gestured over to her team. "And this is Jaune, Ren and Nora." The three each greeted Vernal as Pyrrha introduced them. "I hope you're doing alright after your rather… unfortunate run-in with Salem's followers."

"Oh, I'm doing okay, at least for the most part." Vernal jabbed a thumb over to Ben and Gwen. "Still trying to get over the whole "aliens" and "people from another dimension" thing."

Yang grinned over her shoulder at the lady bandit and gave her a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Vee. Like we said, you'll get used to it. Now c'mon, there's a LOT of other people for you to meet." The moment that their group had exited the Grand Hall, they were immediately met with uproarious cheers, which only made the blonde's smile increase. It was all she could do to ignore the airship that was flying off into the distance above them, no doubt carrying the villains. 'We'll deal with them later. Right now…' She pumped up a fist and called out to the crowd; "Read it and weep, guys! We came, we saw, we kicked some ASS!"

They were greeted with applause after making their way down the large steps, with Blake being at the forefront to bring Ben, Yang, Gwen and Ruby into a group hug. "Guys! You did it!" the cat girl exclaimed as she pulled back to face them all. She craned her head down to the glowing object in Gwen's hand. "Wow, so that's the Relic of Knowledge, huh?"

Gwen lifted the relic up so that Blake could see it. "Yep, safe and sound—woah!"

All of a sudden, Kevin came charging in and scooped Gwen up into his arms, the Osmosian laughing all the while. "Haha! I knew you guys would pull through!" the raven-haired teen shouted as Gwen began to laugh as well. Kevin brought her down and gave her a long kiss on the lips, caressing her cheek after he pulled away. "Good to see ya, babe."

"Good to see you too, Kevin." Gwen said as she kissed him again on his cheek. However, she then sent him a skeptical face while darting her eyes between him and the crater. "So… care to explain what you did up here?"

Kevin wore a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, hehe… yeah, that was me. Trust me, it's a long story, and I'll explain it later." His eyes moved down to the relic, quirking a brow at it. "Huh, nice bauble."

Gwen simply rolled her eyes, lifting the lamp up so he could see it clearly. "It's more than just a bauble, Kevin. It's the relic." From the corner of her eye, she could see Professor Paradox and Oscar approaching her, the latter's eyes flashing as he drew nearer. "Professor Ozpin?" Gwen asked.

"Indeed." Ozpin whispered. "I'm only here briefly as we have unexpected company…" his eyes trailed over to Team ABRN, to which Gwen couldn't help but give an intrigued glance. Ozpin smiled up at her and gave her a nod. "But I'm very glad that you managed to retrieve the relic, Miss Tennyson. I hope Cinder and that other woman didn't give you all too much trouble down in the Vault while retrieving it."

Gwen's face faltered at that. "Actually… we did have a bit of trouble. Not just with Cinder and Rojo, but with Michael as well."

Kevin immediately went into Aggro Mode when he heard that. "WHAT?! Morningstar was down there too?! Did you kick his ass? Please tell me you did."

"Yes… eventually." Gwen replied. "But at first, he was able to get the drop on ALL of us, including Rojo and Cinder. Apperantly he was planning on betraying them all along."

"Not surprising in the least." Paradox nodded. "I believe we all know that Michael is not one to be trusted, no matter which side he's apparently on."

Gwen focused onto Ozpin as she continued on. "Michael tried absorbing the energy from within the relic itself, hoping to gain the knowledge it held. He then said that he wanted to absorb all of the other relic's energies as well, hoping that it'd make him into a god-like being."

Ozpin lowered his head and put his hand to his chin. "Hm, that is very disconcerting. A being with all of the relic's energies within them would be a dangerous force to be reckoned with for certain…" He let out a sigh and moved his eyes back to Gwen. "Fortunately, it didn't come to that, so let's try to keep it that way by taking this relic somewhere safe."

"Right." Gwen agreed. "And I have the perfect place in mind… Earth."

Ozpin raised a brow at that. "Earth? Are you sure?"

"I am." the Anodite assured. "Earth is probably the furthest place from Salem's reach, after all. Especially since she has no means of getting there."

"She brings up a fair point, Ozpin." Paradox concurred. "And the Plumbers have probably some of the best security measures in the galaxy. I have no doubt that they would keep the relic safe from harm."

The reincarnated man breathed in taking in all of the information before nodding. "Right, of course. Hopefully Earth will be the one place where Salem cannot reach." He locked eyes with Gwen once again and smiled at her. "I'm counting on you." With those final words, Ozpin's eyes flashed and Oscar was put back in control, the young man blinking to regain himself.

"I-I heard everything." the farmhand stammered. "So, this is the plan we're going with, huh?"

"Seems so." Gwen smiled down to him before directing her attention back to Team ABRN, who were not chatting with Ben, Yang, Ruby and a few of their other teammates. "Now c'mon, I've got some people to meet."

…..

As Gwen and Kevin were talking, Ben, Yang and Ruby didn't have to wait two seconds before they were bombarded with familiar faces as well. "Ruby!" Penny came up with Ilia right behind her, the android going in to give her best friend a welcoming hug. "This is spectacular! I am SO glad that we succeeded in our mission!"

Ruby did her best to smile through the slight pain as Penny bear hugged her, a small laugh managing to choke out of her throat. "Heh, th-thanks, Penny. I'm glad that we won, too! Now, could I have my lungs back, please?" After a quick apology, Penny put Ruby back down, allowing her to breathe again. "Hah, thank you." The Hooded Huntress then craned her head over to Ilia, tilting her head to the chameleon Faunus. "So, how'd things go on your end?"

Ilia sighed and put a hand to her chest. "Well, it was a bit crazy at first out here, but we managed to—"

"Oh no, not that." Ruby clarified. "I meant your time at Beacon." She sent Ilia a knowing smirk. "So… how was Swift today?"

Ilia's spots briefly became pink before regaining herself, narrowing her eyes at Ruby slightly. "She was… fine." She shot Blake a brief glance, to which the cat girl raised her hands defensively. "And Glynda gave me a proper tour, so that was nice." At that moment, a figure standing all the way near the back of the group caught Ilia's attention; a young woman who appeared to only be slightly older than all of them. 'Ooh, cute hairstyle.' Ilia remarked to herself before going back to Ruby. "Hey, uh, Ruby?" she nudged her head toward the girl. "Who's that over there?"

Ruby's eyes widened and she broke out into a smile. "Oh, that's right! You guys don't know about her!" Without wasting a second, Ruby used her Semblance to rush over behind the lone girl and push her forward, though the woman tried to dig her heels into the dirt to try and make Ruby stop. Her plan didn't work though, and in the end, Ruby managed to present her to her friends. "Ilia, Penny, this is Vernal! She's Raven's protégé who we just rescued from Cinder and Rojo."

A nervous chuckle escaped Vernal's lips before giving them all a nervous wave. "Uh, yeah… hi."

Blake's eyes widened at that. "Woah, seriously? Raven just mentioned you to us, like, a few hours ago before this whole mess!" She sent the bandit a concerned expression. "You mean to tell me that Salem's forces actually captured you?"

Vernal's eyes went to the ground, crossing her arms over her chest. "Psh, unfortunately. I STILL can't believe they managed to take me as their hostage. They came right to our camp and stormed the place, overpowering me before taking me in."

"Very perplexing." Penny remarked, putting a finger to her chin. "You would think that your tribemates would assist you in your battle, wouldn't they?"

"HA! That's a laugh." Vernal scoffed. "In the Branwen Tribe, it's survival of the fittest, and if not helping your fellow tribe member means you get to live, then they'll be MORE than willing to take that at face value."

Ilia furrowed her brows at that. "Well if you ask me, that's just jerkish behavior."

Vernal gave her a shrug. "Maybe, but that's just how the Branwen Tribe rolls." Her eyes trailed back over to Ruby and Yang, the two girls' eyes filled with sympathy for her. "…Although, considering how kind everyone's been to me after the situation I was in… I can't say I'm all that eager to go back, at least not yet"

The Xiao Long-Rose sisters broke out into simultaneous smiled. "Haha! Glad to hear it, Vernal!" Ruby then noticed that Sun and Neptune were coming up as well, to which she greeted the boys with a wave. "Hey guys!"

"Yo, Rubes!" Neptune greeted her with a fist bump. "Glad to see you all made it out in one piece."

Sun gave them a thumbs up, though he seemed to be a bit less enthusiastic than everyone else. "Yeah, great job, guys."

The monkey boy's demeanor didn't go unnoticed, however, with Ben raising a brow at him. "Uh, Sun? You okay, dude? You seem kinda… off."

"Yeah, did something happen while we were gone?" Yang asked.

Just then, Ironwood and Qrow both came walking up, the general placing a hand on Sun's shoulder. "I'm afraid so, Yang. You see, while we were working on trying to catch Professor Lionheart, we managed to corner him in his office… or so we thought." Ironwood crossed his arms and took in a steady breath before going on. "As it happened, he had a secret room hidden within his office, one that housed one of Salem's Seers."

Overhearing this, Raven came over and jumped into the conversation. "Well, I suppose there's really no better way to communicate with Salem better than that." She furrowed her brows with what she said next. "But let me guess… Salem had the Seer kill him?"

"Nope, not even close, sis." Qrow said as he pulled out his flask again. "Turns out that Salem was… "merciful" on Lionheart for lack of a better term." He took another swig of whiskey, finishing off the last of it, much to his disappointment. "We heard Animo say that he wanted Lionheart for a special… experiment that he's working on."

Ben, Yang and Ruby all gaped at this, their mouths opening practically all at the same time. The Omnitrix bearer did a double facepalm and shook his head. "Oh god, please don't tell me… we're gonna have a mutant lion to deal with now?!"

"Probably." Sun grumbled. "But that's not even the WORST part! Tyrian is gonna be going through the same thing!"

Ruby's eyes became the size of peas. "AND a mutant scorpion?! Will Animo's experiments ever END?!"

Raven clenched her teeth and scoffed. "That bastard. I knew he'd work to find some way to get his tail back… I just didn't think he'd go through something this drastic." After receiving a few skeptical eyes from the others though, Raven relented and threw her head back. "Oh, who am I kidding? Of course Tyrian would do something this drastic!"

Ben placed his hands on his hips. "And at the rate Animo's going… we could have a real Beast War on our hands here. We've gotta find some way to destroy that mutagen formula."

"That's not gonna be easy, though." Blake interjected. "Especially since, you know, it's in a place we can't go."

"Blake's got a point." Yang nodded, putting a finger to her chin. "We'll probably just have to deal with the mutants as they come until we can destroy that formula." While Raven, Ironwood and Qrow all continued to discuss what had happened over the course of the battle, the group of teens stood in silent contemplation for a few moments more until Yang realized something; "Hey… uh, where's Weiss? And what about Rex?"

"Present!" Rex called out as he came strolling up to the group. Much to their surprise, he was holding a very fatigued Weiss in his arms bridal style. Though the truly surprising thing was… she wasn't making any fuss about it.

Weiss lazily raised an arm and waved to her friends. "And… accounted for."

Ruby gasped and flew forward. "Weiss!" The Hooded Huntress was in front of Rex in a second and grasped Weiss' outstretched hand, gazing down at her in concern. "W-What happened? Are you alright?"

The heiress wore a tired smirk and rolled her eyes, though she was still grateful that her friend was concerned. "Heh, of course I'm fine. I wouldn't be conscious if I wasn't, would I?"

"Well, yeah, good point, but still!" Ruby argued. "What in the world happened to you? You look like you've been drained."

"Oh, you know…" Weiss grimaced and shifted her eyes away. "I just pretty much used up the rest of my Aura to summon two Grimm at once so that I could take down a Manticore by myself." She had hastened her answer out and gave a cheeky smile, hoping that the group wouldn't overreact. However, the opposite had happened instead. Ruby, Yang and Ben, as well as Vernal and Team JNPR, who were standing off to the side, were all staring slack-jawed at what the heiress had said, leading her to chuckle a bit. "Hehe… yeah, I know."

"And I helped!" Rex declared.

Weiss gave another eye roll and shoved him lightly in the shoulder. "Yeah, thanks, Robo-dolt."

Ben's hand went to the back of his head, still a bit taken aback by her feat. "Well, I'd ask Gwen to give you a little charge up of mana, Weiss, but she's also pretty drained, so…"

"Oh, it's okay, Ben." Weiss smiled. "Besides, I think there might be another way…" She quirked a brow to Jaune and gave him a nod. "Think you wanna test out what your new trick does to an Aura-exhausted person?"

Jaune let out a slight laugh before moving forward. "Heh, yeah, sure thing." The blonde knight stepped up next to Rex, with a few of his friends peering at him in confusion, and put his hand on Weiss' shoulder, giving her a nod. "Ready? You might feel a slight tingly feeling."

"Okay, go for it." With Weiss' blessing, Jaune closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing on the same sensation he had felt while he was healing Ren. His hands began to glow an ethereal white, which in turn cause Weiss' Aura to start glowing blue as it was amplified. The sound of a few excited gasps from Blake, Penny and Ilia, and a simultaneous "Woah!" from Team SN had elicited a smile from him as he kept going. After a few more moments, he heard Weiss say; "Alright, Jaune… I think I'm feeling better."

"Gotcha." Jaune opened his eyes to see that Weiss' expression was now much less fatigued, the heiress letting out a sigh as he stopped sharing his energy with her. "Think you're well enough to stand?"

"Pretty sure…" Weiss sent a questioning face up to Rex. "So long as somebody is willing to put me down."

Rex took the opportunity to smirk down to Weiss. "Aw, and here I thought you liked being carried around." The heiress lightly slapped his cheek and the EVO laughed, slowly setting her down back to her feet. "Hehe, alright, alright, I get the picture."

At first, Weiss was a little wobbly as she regained her balance, but it didn't take her very long to stand on her own volition. "Thank you, Rex." she said with a little hint of sarcasm in her voice, though her grin belied her sardonic response. Weiss faced Jaune and bowed her head to him slightly. "And thank you, Jaune. I'm feeling much better now."

Jaune gave her a thumbs up. "Happy to help, Weiss." But the moment he turned back around, he was met with a whole bunch of excited smiles from his friends, making him recoil a bit in shock. "Uh… hey guys! What's—"

"DUDE!" Sun exclaimed before giving Jaune a light jab in the shoulder. "You unlocked your Semblance?!"

Blake darted up and put an arm around his back in a side hug. "That's incredible! Congratulations!"

"Heh, thanks guys, really." Jaune said nervously.

"How did you discover it?" Penny asked. "For that matter, when did you discover it? Sometime today, I'm assuming?"

"And what even is it, anyway?" Neptune pressed further. "Is it some sorta healing power?"

Jaune raised his hands and backed away from the group a bit. "Woah, woah, guys, one question at a time… but no, it's not a healing Semblance." He stretched his palms out in front of him and explained; "It's more like an Aura Amp. I can amplify a person's Aura so that its effects are heightened. As for how I unlocked it, well…" he directed his gaze over to Ren and Nora, quirking a brow to the green ninja. "You wanna show 'em?"

"Sure." Ren nodded before turning to his right, revealing the blood-soaked tear in his clothes. This made everyone else gasp in shock, to which Ren shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I know. Pretty bad, isn't it?"

"You think?!" Ilia retorted. "Ren, what happened?!"

Nora nudged Ren in the ribs, which made him double over a bit. "What happened was that Mr. Hero here dove in to save me before Subdora could knife me in the back." She shot him an accusatory glance. "And he nearly scared me half to death anyway!"

Ren couldn't help but face palm as he bowed his head to the Pink Dynamo. "I've already apologized five times, Nora! How many more do you need?"

The hyper redhead smiled and pat Ren on the head. "I'll let ya know."

"In any case…" Pyrrha jumped in. "Jaune ended up activating his Semblance to save Ren's life. So, yes, a pretty good outcome, all things considered."

Just then, a new voice entered the conversation. "I'll say!" The whole group directed their attention to see Team ABRN making their way over, catching Ben, Yang, Ruby and Team JNPR by surprise. With her arms crossed and a confident stride about her, Arslan marched right through the gathered group. "I'm just glad that the chaos is all over, really." She then noticed Yang standing off to the side and gave her a salute. "Hey! If it isn't the bombshell from Beacon? Haven't seen ya in a while!"

Yang was still wide-eyed, having not expected her former opponent and her team to be there. But she quickly got over it and smiled at them, walking up to Arslan to greet her with a fist bump. "Ha! Well whaddya know?! Team ABRN!"

Ruby zipped right over and greeted the rest of the team with her usual excitement. "Oh my gosh, what're you guys doing here?!"

Reese gave the silver-eyed girl a thumbs up. "Sage sent us a message and told us that there was some major shit goin' down up here, so we came on by to help." She glanced over to Arslan and quirked a brow at her. "Oh, excuse me, I meant that he sent Arslan a message… since she's the only one who has HIS contact info." She wiggled her brows at her blonde leader knowingly, earning her a death glare in response.

Yang crossed her arms and nodded. "Heh, well, glad to hear that you guys came by to help!" Her eyebrows shot up when she saw Gwen and Kevin making their way over, while also realizing that her boyfriend was still confused as to what was going on. "Oh! Dang, that's right! I've got some people who you should meet!" In the blink of an eye, Yang rushed over and pushed Gwen and Kevin the rest of the way over before sliding Ben up next to the two, practically presenting them to Team ABRN. "Ben, Gwen, Kev, this is—"

"Hold on a sec, Yang." Kevin interrupted before sliding away from the Tennyson cousins. "I've already met 'em. I'm all caught up."

"Oh, uh… okay then." The Blonde Brawler shrugged before placing her hands on Ben and Gwen's shoulders, standing between them while facing Team ABRN once more. "Alright, so since you guys already know Kev, lemme introduce you guys to Ben and Gwen Tennyson." She shifted her eyes between the Tennyson's. "And guys, this is Team ABRN, we fought against them in the Vytal Tournament."

Gwen's eyes widened in realization. "Oh yeah, I recognize you guys! I've actually watched your match with a few times since we got here." The redhead placed a hand to her neck. "Reviewing the fights that Team RWBY and the others have been in are a REALLY big help when it comes to our training sessions. It's really nice to meet you all."

Bolin raised a brow toward the Anodite. "Um… likewise?"

Nadir came up and put a hand to his friend's shoulder, jabbing a thumb back toward the crater. "Uh, sorry if my pal here is a bit stand-offish, but considering we just saw your friend blow THAT thing right in the middle of our school grounds, we're still kinda reeling from everything that's gone on here today."

Ben crossed his arms and gave out a laugh. "Ha! I can imagine." He craned his head to Kevin and asked; "By the way, just how the hell DID you blow that hole open?"

"Long story, bro." Kevin waved off. "Let's just say there's a certain kinda Dust I ain't using again any time soon."

"Um, excuse me?" Reese raised her hand, bringing everyone's attention to her. "Uh, in the heat of everything, Kevin told us that you guys are from another dimension. One where there's aliens and mutants and all sorts of stuff? Is that true?"

The Tennyson's exchanged a brief look before confirming her question. "Yes, it's true. We ARE from a completely different world from yours." Gwen raised her hand and, using just a little bit of her power, she made it glow pink, much to the surprise of Team ABRN. "See, Kevin and I are actually half-alien. He's an Osmosian who can absorb matter and I'm an Anodite, which basically means I'm an energy being."

"Woah… cool!" Arslan grinned before directing her attention back to Ben. "And since you're cousins, I'm guessing you're part energy being, too?"

Ben bobbed his head back and forth. "Well… technically, yes, but I don't exactly have the "spark" that allows me to use the powers. But what I DO have… is this." The hero lifted his wrist and revealed the Omnitrix, much to the team's confusion. "Now don't let the watch-like exterior fool you, this is actually one of the most powerful devices from my dimension; the Omnitrix. It allows me to transform into any alien species I want… or at least the ones I've already unlocked."

Team ABRN couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at the device, though Bolin was still a bit skeptical. "Really? Then perhaps you wouldn't mind demonstrating how this device works?"

"Sure!" Ben said without hesitation, taking the martial artist aback. He reached for the watch and activated the holo-ring, making his selection carefully. Usually, he would've gone for Humungousaur to show off how his transformation worked, but considering he didn't have access to the Vaxasaurian, he decided that a different transformation was needed. The watch's face slid back and the core popped up, ready for use. "Alright, don't blink!" Ben slammed the core down and a green flash illuminated the area, washing over everyone's eyes. When the light died down, standing in Ben's place was now a certain ten-foot-tall robotic humanoid with a beetle-like horn sticking out of its head, its steel jaws gleaming in the sunlight. "EATLE!"

The reactions were… certainly something to behold. Arslan's eyes widened and she gasped, taking a step back at the sudden transformation. Reese let out a surprised shriek, though she quickly recovered and just began gawking at the Oryctini. Bolin's jaw was practically on the ground, staring at Eatle in disbelief… and Nadir let out a very girlish scream, hiding behind Reese all the while. "AAH! B-Bolin! I think he was telling the truth!" the pink-haired boy shouted.

Eatle raised his arms up in a shrug. "Well, yeah. What reason would I have to lie to you guys?"

"None, apparently." Arslan remarked before tilting her head at the Oryctini. "So… does this whole transformation thing have any practical use?"

If he could, Eatle would've been grinning at the moment. "Heh, why WOULDN'T it? Watch." The huge beetle-robot alien went over and picked up a few large chunks of rubble near the crater, opening his huge jaws to munch down on the debris. The rate at which he was chewing through the stone and cement was already impressive enough, but then he stood up and moved his head toward the crater. "Wait for it…" The green part in his horn began to light up before a large, vertical beam of energy shot out of it and into the center of the crater, leaving Team ABRN floored. Eatle crossed his arms and faced them once again. "So, impressive enough for ya?"

"Y-Yes." Bolin affirmed. "You've definitely convinced me."

"Hell yeah!" Reese exclaimed, raising her board up high. "That was AWESOME!"

Yang strode over and pat the massive alien on the back, making his metal carapace clang. "That's my Green Boy! Always has a ton of tricks up his sleeve." She narrowed her eyes and pointed at Arslan and Reese. "So ladies, don't get any funny ideas, 'kay?"

Reese raised two fingers up in a salute. "Heh, no prob, Yang. I can respect when another lady's already made her claim." She winked while glancing at Arslan again. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Arslan here has already been spoken for…" Once again, her leader was giving her a warning glare, prompting the green-haired girl to zip her lip. "Heehee, shutting up now."

"Hrm." Arslan grumbled before taking notice of the lamp that Gwen was keeping down near her hip, piquing her interest. "Hey… what's that thing?"

Gwen's eyebrows shot up and the brought the lamp up, holding it level to the whole teams' eyes. "Well, this is the thing that Cinder and her team were after… the Relic of Knowledge. It was held securely in a Vault beneath Haven for quite some time."

Team ABRN's attention had quickly shifted from Eatle to the relic, prompting the alien to change back to normal. "Woah, no way…" Nadir extended a hand and pointed to the lamp. "You mean to tell me THAT was beneath Haven this whole time? How did nobody know about it?"

"There WERE people who knew about it." Ironwood interjected, gesturing his arm toward Raven and Qrow. "Mainly ourselves and the other headmasters. The relics were supposed to be kept as a secret from a bygone era, one that Professor Ozpin was intending to keep locked up tightly…" As Paradox and Oscar moved over to them as well, the general let out a sigh. "But with Beacon having nearly been compromised and Haven now totally compromised, I'm afraid that won't be the case anymore."

Bolin stepped up and continued; "So this… Salem person, she wants these relics? And if you said that Lionheart was working WITH her for a long time… then does that mean he betrayed Ozpin?"

The three adults looked to each other before Qrow answered for them. "…'Fraid so, kid." he nodded. "Real shame, too, 'cause now we gotta take the relic someplace where Salem can't get her hands on it."

"Which is why WE will be taking it back to our world." Gwen piped up again. "We're due to leave in the coming days, so it'll be a perfect place to keep it safe."

"Woah, so how long have you guys been here, then?" Reese asked.

Ben gave her a shrug. "About three weeks now." He jabbed a thumb over to Rex. "And it's been a little over a week for him after he came searching for us." The hero set a resolute gaze onto the relic, assured that their plan would be the best course to take. "But yeah, that thing is probably safest back on Earth. But for now, we should really get it back to Vale until we're able to get back home."

"Agreed." Raven said before drawing Omen to create a portal. "C'mon, after a long day like today, I think we could all use some—"

"Wait!" Blake shouted out, grabbing everyone's attention. With all eyes on her, the cat girl suddenly realized that she had raised her voice and her demeanor changed to a more sheepish one. "Uh, hehe, sorry. It's just that there's some… unfinished business I have in the marketplace down below. So if we could just hold off on leaving for just little a bit longer, please?"

Ruby's eyes brightened up at the prospect. "Ooh! I hear that the vendors in Mistral sell some of the best weapons around! Can I go too?!"

"Hold on there, Ruby." Raven halted before sending Blake a skeptical glance. "Just how long will this "business" take?"

Blake raised a reassuring hand to the Spring Maiden. "Oh, not long, I can promise you that. Trust me, I can be done in a half-hour, fourty-five minutes tops." She then moved her hand over to Team ABRN. "And hey, you guys can always take Team ABRN back to the rental place and fill them in on everything! After all, they're pretty much in for the long haul at this point, right?"

"Oh, you BET we are." Arslan confirmed with a steadfast face. "After what happened here, we want ALL the details on what the hell's goin' on."

After another shared look, this time with Paradox and Oscar joining in, the adults all gave a nod to each other, though Raven's was accompanied by a frustrated sigh. "Very well, then. I suppose it's only right after the help they provided." She pointed over toward Gwen and the relic. "But no matter who goes with Blake or who doesn't, the relic comes STRAIGHT to the house, understood?"

"Of course." Gwen agreed. "Better to keep this close to the chest."

"Splendid!" Paradox grinned before ushering everyone to get close to him. "Well then, everyone who wishes to come to the house, group up with me. I will transport us there in an instant."

Nadir leaned over toward Kevin and asked; "Uh… what does he mean by that?"

"You'll find out." Kevin replied. "Just make sure not to make any sudden movements."

Paradox then took out his pocket watch to check the time, setting his sights on Blake with a smile. "And if I'm right, which I usually am, the lift should be fixed by now, Blake. Feel free to use it at your leisure."

That new came as a surprise to a few, but Rex was the first one to speak up about it. "Wait, the lift broke? How'd that…" He trailed off the moment he saw Blake, Sun, Neptune, and especially Weiss all shoot him accusatory faces, the realization dawning on him not two seconds later. "Oooooh… okay, my bad."

"Uh-huh, YOUR bad." Sun echoed. Soon after, everybody had separated into different groups, with the rest of Team RWBY, Team SN, Ben and Rex staying with Blake while everyone else was standing over with Paradox. Sun was a bit surprised at the small group that had gathered up at their end. "Huh, I would've figured you guys would be eager to get to some relaxing after what you all just went through."

Ben gave him a shrug. "Yeah, but we're not exactly gonna be coming back to Mistral anytime soon, so I wanna see some more sights before we leave."

"Same here." Rex said before raising his right hand. "And I swear that I won't super-charge the lift this time."

Weiss gave him a nudge to the side. "I'll hold you to that word."

"Very well!" Paradox said as he stood at the front of the bigger group behind him. "We will see you all back at the rental house, then."

"See you soon, guys!" Oscar waved before the entire group disappeared before their very eyes, no doubt before Team ABRN began asking a volley of questions as soon as they arrived at the house.

Ruby whipped around to her friends, her silver eyes glistening with excitement. "Well, what're we waiting for?! Let's get down there and check things out!" She took off straight for the lift, all too eager to get to the marketplace.

"Haha! Right behind ya, sis!" Yang said before she, Blake, Rex, Weiss and Neptune all booked it for the lift as well.

Ben was about to follow suit, but stopped when he saw Sun texting on his scroll. "Uh, Sun? Who're you messaging?"

"Heh, I'm sending a message to Sage." the monkey boy answered. "I'm gonna have him and Scarlet meet us down in the market so we can all see each other one last time before we leave." He quirked a brow to Ben with a smirk on his face. "Speaking of, you might wanna prepare yourself. The vendor we're meeting down there is a bit… eccentric."

…..

*SPLASH* The moment she felt her body hit the water, Rojo stopped screaming bloody murder, opting instead to hold her breath. Granted, that was really hard for her to do considering the impact was more akin to hitting pavement back-first, but she pushed through it. Thankfully, her suit had absorbed a portion of the impact for her, but her face still stung as she hit the water. She quickly reached for a button on the side of her head piece and activated her red visor, this time covering her whole face and not just her eyes. Once her armor sealed up, she took in a deep breath, taking in the oxygen she had lost while yelling her lungs out.

"Hah… hah… goddamn it!" Rojo clenched her fist and snarled, her voice coming out of a speaker. "When I get my hands on Morningstar, I'm gonna—" *SPLASH* Rojo's eyes widened and she snapped her head up, just in time to see the huge hunk of ice splash down into the depths from above. And inside, Cinder was still frozen solid. The bounty hunter gasped and shouted; "Cindy!" before swimming up and intercepting the ice chunk. When she got there, she saw that Cinder's eyes were now open… and there was no oxygen inside the ice. "Oh god, hang on!"

Going as fast as her legs could kick, Rojo pushed the hunk of ice back up to the surface, breeching it up on to the shore before climbing onto the rocky ground as well. She brought her visor back and her suit unsealed, her voice going back to normal. "Cindy!" Unclipping Bloodstrike from her back again, Rojo set it to its highest temperature possible and pressed it up against the ice, the block beginning to melt faster after being in the warmer water. "Oh, c'mon, C'MON!" Rojo closed her eyes and began repeating; "Please be okay, please be okay!"

All of a sudden… the ice started cracking, making Rojo open her eyes back up. She quickly found the cause of the crack, as inside the chunk of ice, Cinder began to move, her hands igniting into brilliant flames. With the ice now melting inside and out, it was only a matter of time before the huge hunk of ice split open, allowing Cinder to fall out. The Fall Maiden found herself sprawled out onto the ground, taking in deep breaths of air while shivering and coughing at the same time. "Cindy!" Rojo slid down next to Cinder and flipped her over, resting the Maiden's head on her lap. "Are you okay?! Please tell me you're okay!"

The words came as a shock to Cinder. Rojo was… worried? About her? And she seemed almost distraught about it, too. 'How… no, WHY is she this worried about me?' Cinder questioned in her head, still struggling to form coherent sentences through her shivering. After a few more moments, Cinder's eyes went up to her partner and said; "R-R-R-Rojo?"

"Yes! Yes, it's me, Cindy." Rojo responded, a relieved smile coming to her face. "I'm here. Don't worry, you're gonna be fine!"

"I-I-I'm going to k-k-KILL M-M-Michael."

That got Rojo's signature smirk back. "Heh, you and me both, partner." It was only then that noticed what her partner's current state was. Of course, she was shaking like a leaf, but more than that, she was also wet from the ice. It didn't help that she had lost her heels in the fight, meaning that she had been barefoot while trapped in the ice block. The bounty hunter could practically see her lips, hands and feet drained of color. "God, you're freezing." Rojo reached over and brought Bloodstrike closer to them, leaving the heated sword near Cinder's feet first. "Let's get you warmed up."

At first, Cinder found this to be belittling. Here she was, the Fall Maiden, beaten and humiliated while freezing cold, having to be warmed up and cared for by her partner. It was demeaning, it was insulting! It was… her eyes widened as she recalled what Tennyson had said to her back during their fight. About her only caring about herself. 'It's… just like he said.' Cinder realized. 'Here I am complaining about being cared for by someone and belittling them for it.'

As she felt her body begin to warm up, Cinder moved her head slightly so that she was looking up, gazing at the massive tree that she could still see from where they were. While she was initially angry at the reminder of her failure, she pushed that thought away in favor of reflecting on what lead her here. All her life, she had wanted power. Power to overthrow those that deemed her weak and unimportant. To give SOMETHING to her once empty life. Salem had offered grant her that wish, and she made due on it, giving her the opportunity to gain the powers of the Fall Maiden and serve under her.

And what had she done in the time since she had gotten the powers? She had squandered them. Sure, she had fully gained control of the powers in an impressive three weeks, but in every fight she had with that DAMNED Tennyson, she always lost. And when she attempted to fight Gwen, the Anodite just insulted her before teleporting her away… followed by a rather violent temper tantrum on her part. And there it was again; her temper. The thing that always came back to rear its ugly head. She had tried to quell it with Rojo's help, but once again, it had come back with a vengeance. 'Why?!' Cinder cried out in her head. 'Why won't it just stop?!'

It was then that Cinder thought back to her two first compatriots; Emerald and Mercury. The duo that she had recruited from empty, meaningless lives like the once she had before. To give them an opportunity like she had been given. But instead of showing them the type of hospitality that Salem had given her, she was distant, and often abusive to them instead. All because she was too focused on HER own goals to show them the same respect that Salem had given her. Sure, she considered their trio a team, but they weren't exactly a closely knit one… at least until Rojo entered the picture. From there, they had gotten this odd little comradery about them that only THEY had. Their own little group in Salem's forces. It was… an admittedly strange development, but Cinder oddly found it to be a welcome one.

But still, Tennyson's words continued to echo through her head, causing her to finally crane her head back to her partner. "Rojo?" Cinder asked, the color finally returning back to her body parts as she began to warm up.

"Yeah, Cindy? What's up?"

"Am… am I poor leader?"

This question made Rojo blink. "W-What?"

"You heard me." Cinder sat up, using Rojo's shoulder as support. "Am I a poor leader?" She narrowed her eyes at the bounty hunter. "And I want you to be one-hundred percent honest with me on this."

This only made Rojo even more confused. "Cindy, I don't really get what you're saying here. Why're you even asking—"

"Because we keep FAILING!" Cinder shouted, her eyes beginning to flare up. But she then immediately sealed her lip and reigned herself in, keeping her anger in check. "Every time we get sent out to do something, we fail."

Rojo furrowed her brows at that. "Hey, that's not true! We've had some good wins over those goody-two-shoes!" She began counting them off on her fingers. "We broke Hog and Skull outta prison, we pulled off that lab heist in Atlas together, we managed to mutate the boys successfully before trashing a town, we got those Dust crystals that Vulkanus mined up…"

"I wasn't there for that." Cinder reminded. "And we nearly botched the lab heist."

"W-Well, I still think those should count." Rojo defended. "Point is; we've had some great wins—"

"So why can't we get a permanent one against Tennyson?" Cinder asked. "It seems that every time that I go into a fight against him, I lose!" She moved her head down and clenched her fists, breathing heavily while doing so. "That's why… that's why I'm asking you if my leadership skills are anything to be desired." There was a momentary pause before Cinder brought something else up. "And another thing…" She locked eyes with Rojo, sending her a serious gaze. "What do you and the others think of me?"

Now THAT caught Rojo off guard. "Cindy, you know I have nothing but respect for you—"

"What do you and the others think of me?" Cinder repeated, this time more forcefully.

Just one glance at her eyes told Rojo all she needed to know; Cinder was serious about this. And she wouldn't stop until she got an honest answer. Breathing out through her nostrils, Rojo lowered her head and put a hand to her neck, unsure of where to go from there. "Well… first off, I meant what I said, Cindy. I have the HIGHEST amount of respect for you…"

Cinder raised a brow as Rojo trailed off. "…But?"

"But… I do think you can be pretty selfish a lot of the time." Rojo admitted before raising a hand to her. "B-But I totally get why you are! If I was on the hunt for ultimate power like you are, I'd be pretty selfish too." However, Rojo then noticed that Cinder had a bit of a surprised expression on her face, to which the bounty hunter facepalmed. "Gah, shit! That came out totally wrong! Here, lemme start over—"

"No, please." Cinder denied before placing a hand on Rojo's arm, much to her shock. "I… I need to hear this. Now what about the others? I know you talk to them a lot as well, so you probably know how they feel about me."

Taken aback by Cinder's relative calmness, Rojo swallowed before moving on. "Well, Em pretty much holds the same amount of respect that I do for you. Hell, I think she might even respect you MORE than I do. But… I think that's all 'cause of how she views you."

"And… that would be?" Cinder asked hesitantly, already having a feeling of what Rojo meant.

"She thinks of you as the only family she ever really has." Rojo answered, confirming Cinder's thoughts. "You're practically her rock. The one thing she KNOWS she can count on in this world. Without you, she thinks she'd be nothing."

Cinder clenched her hands as the words washed over her. What Rojo had just said was something that the Fall Maiden had suspected for quite a while. She knew that Emerald had formed SOME sort of attachment to her… she just didn't know it was that strong of one. But she couldn't dwell on it, at least not at the moment. "I… I see." Cinder nodded. "And Mercury?"

"He respects you a lot, too... but I can also sense some bitterness in him." Rojo answered. "It's like he has this feeling that you don't REALLY care for either him or Emerald. He's never said that to me outright, but I can tell just by his tone that he's resentful about something…" The bounty hunter raised a brow at Cinder. "Do… do you think he might've had a crush on you or something?"

"…More than likely." Cinder guessed. "He's a hormonal young man who was greeted by two attractive young women shortly after he killed his own father. If I were a boy, I'd probably be riding that high for as long as I could." She shifted her eyes away from Rojo. "But if it's not evident enough, I don't exactly return whatever feelings he may have had."

Rojo shrugged at that. "Yeah, I get that. Can't please everyone's fantasies." A small chuckle escaped her lips. "Still, if you ask me, Merc should count himself lucky that Emerald's the one who has feelings for him, even if SHE doesn't fully realize it yet herself."

Cinder blinked at that. "W-Wait, Emerald has feelings for Mercury?"

The redheaded woman couldn't help but stare back at Cinder for her remark. "…Wow, you either are REALLY bad at noticing things, or you're more selfish than I thought."

The Fall Maiden lowered her head again. "I believe we both know the answer to that."

"Hm." Rojo nodded before the two fell into an uncomfortable silence, though it didn't last for long. "Cindy… why did you ask me all of that just now? Why the sudden interest in what everybody thinks about you?"

Cinder pursed her lips, taking in a steady breath. "Because… of something that Tennyson said. He said that it was because of my temper, my self-centered attitude, and my poor leadership that we keep failing. And honestly, as much as I don't want to… a part of me believes him." She craned her head up just in time to stop Rojo from arguing against her. "And don't try to say that he's wrong, because you KNOW that a lot of it is true."

"I… I… ugh, dammit, Tennyson!" Rojo clawed at her hair. "Why does that guy have to be so perceptive and idealistic?!"

Cinder smirked and nudged Rojo with her arm. "Hah, I know. As much as I say he's right, he is still very annoying."

"Haha! There she is." Rojo laughed before slowly standing up, helping Cinder do the same. She grabbed the Fall Maiden by the shoulders, bringing her attention solely to her. "Listen, Cindy, as much as I wanna say; "don't listen to Tennyson", I think we may wanna listen to him just this once." She gave Cinder a wink. "He thinks you're a poor leader? Well then we're just gonna have to prove him wrong, right?"

With Rojo's words settling into her mind, Cinder lowered her gaze down to her hands, clenching them into fists in determination. "Indeed. I am the Fall Maiden, not someone's punching bag." She raised her head back up, meeting Rojo's eyes once again. "And if I have to change myself in order to do that… then I'm willing to make those improvements. It will be a long and… difficult process, but it will be a change for the better. And if we can get one up on those heroes, then I'm willing to do it… no matter how long it takes."

Rojo smiled and gave Cinder a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, now you're talkin'. Now c'mon, let's get outta here." She moved over toward a nearby wall and began knocking her fist against it, searching for a weak point. When she finally found a part that was thinner than the rest, she went; "Ah-ha!" before slamming her fist directly through it, causing the whole wall to come collapsing down, making an entrance for them back out into the city. "There we go! Freedom awaits!"

"Excellent." Cinder said before taking a step forward… only to trip when her knees buckled beneath her. Rojo fortunately saw this and was able to dart over just in time to catch her, though Cinder wasn't exactly thrilled about how weak her legs still were. "Damn it! Ugh, still weak."

"I know, frustrating, ain't it?" Rojo pulled Cinder's arm over her shoulders and began walking her out of the grotto. "C'mon, let's get you something to disguise yourself with. No one'll recognize me, but they'll definitely know you."

"Of course." Cinder agreed. "And Rojo?" The bounty hunter's eyes went down to Cinder… and were surprised when they saw a grateful smile on the Fall Maiden's face. "…Thank you. If you hadn't kept trying to thaw me, I don't know if I would've survived or not."

A smile of Rojo's own came to her features as the duo exited the cave. "No prob, Cindy. I'll always have your back. Just remember, when in the city, we gotta be subtle, okay? It's the only way we're gonna find a way outta this dump."

However, the duo didn't get five feet from the cave before they got noticed by someone. "Oh, gods! A-Are you ladies okay?" Rojo and Cinder looked over to see a woman approaching them with a basket of produce in her arms. She was brunette and donned in a tan robe, a brown shawl with a matching skirt, a white undershirt, a pair of black socks and tan sandals. However, the moment she got close to them, her eyes widened when she saw Cinder's face, dropping her basket of food all the while. "Y-You're the girl on all the wanted posters!" She took out her scroll and began calling the authorities. "I-I have to—"

SMACK! In the blink of an eye, Rojo used her free arm to punch the woman in the face, knocking her right onto the ground and out cold. Cinder stared wide-eyed at the scene before snapping her head back to Rojo. "What happened to subtly?!"

"I panicked, okay?!" Rojo bent down and hefted the woman up over her shoulder, hastening all three of them back around toward the cave. "Now c'mon, help me strip her so that we can get you a good disguise. Leave her scroll with her but take whatever Lien she has. We're gonna need it."

"This is now officially a strange day. …And is that screaming I hear?"

…..

Ben had expected to see a lot of things when he and the others made it down to the market place. The hustle and bustle of an urban setting within the massive, mountain-based city, a bunch of smiling faces chatting it up with friends and vendors, heck, maybe even some children playing amongst the stands. However, what he and the others DIDN'T expect to see where a bunch of people screaming and clamoring throughout the whole place, with multiple stands having been demolished. "Aw man, please tell me this isn't happening!"

"This can't be!" Sun shouted as he and Neptune both went sprinting toward the square, their eyes darting around all over the place. "W-What's going on around here?!"

"How should I know?!" Neptune asked. "But if I were a guessing man, I'd say it's another Grimm attack."

"WHAT?!" Yang exclaimed. "I thought you guys got 'em all!"

Blake put a hand to her chin. "One must have escaped in the scuffle. And when Kevin beat Viktor, his control over it must've been released."

"So now it's just rampaging wildly." Ben deduced. "Just great."

As the others all rushed down with them, they could hear a whole slew of noises off in the distance, ranging from heavy impacts, to loud growling, to the screams of innocent civilians running for their lives. One such impact actually managed to make one of the larger stands collapse, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. "This is terrible!" Weiss cried out.

"I know, right?!" Ruby said with tears brimming her eyes, her gaze having focused onto a stand that was full of weapon displays. Its roof had been partially collapsed… with some of the bigger blades having been snapped in two. "So many beautiful works of art… LOST!"

It was at that moment that the crashing sounds began to grow closer, prompting everyone to get into a combat stand… all except Ruby who was being comforted by Weiss. "Something tells me we're about to find out what's doing this." Rex stated. With a mighty roar, a huge Alpha Beowolf suddenly jumped straight over the weapon stand, eliciting a panicked gasp from Ruby. The massive beast let out a howl, sending a massive wave of fear throughout all of the vendors there. "And there it is."

Ben's hand went right to the Omnitrix. "Okay, there are plenty of us here to take down one Beowolf, right?"

Sun spun Ruyi Jingu Bang around and Neptune brought out Tri-Hard, the duo ready to defend the marketplace. "You bet, Ben!" the monkey boy affirmed. "C'mon, guys, let's—"

"SUN!" At the sound of his name being called, Sun whipped his head around to see none other than Sage and Scarlet running toward them… or hobbling quickly toward them in Sage's case. "There you guys are!" Sage waved.

"Sage!" Sun called back with a wave of his own. "Scar! What the heck are you thinking?!"

Neptune thrust a hand at Sage's leg. "You guys can't be in the middle of the action when Sage is like THAT!"

"Sorry! We were just gonna message you about all this!" Scarlet apologized as the two managed to make it to their teammates, both of them out of breath. "This… this all started after you sent us your first text. But when we saw you guys coming down the lift, we knew you guys would probably have seen it already." It was then that Scarlet noticed Ben, Team RWBY and Rex all standing behind their teammates, prompting him to wave to them as well. "Oh, hey there, everyone. Haven't seen you in a while. Good to see you."

Ben and the others shared a brief glance before going back to the duo. "Uh, yeah, same here, guys. But I gotta agree with Neptune, you guys really shouldn't be out here." He jabbed a thumb over toward the Alpha Beowolf, which was running toward another nearby stand. "And besides, I think we're gonna have to catch up later."

Everyone faced the Beowolf again, only for Blake to let out a gasp when she saw which stand it was barreling toward. "NO! Not the fish stand!" Almost all at once, Ruby, Yang and Weiss all deadpanned at their teammate, though they couldn't help but wear amused smiles at the same time. If there was one thing that could break Blake out of her calm demeanor, it was fish. "We have to save it!"

But when Sun and his team saw where the Grimm was going, they all simply smirked. The monkey boy spun his staff around and planted it into the ground. "Actually, I think we can sit this one out."

"W-What do you—" WHAM! Blake's eyebrows shot up the moment she saw a huge boulder suddenly come sailing out from behind the fish stand, careening right into the Alpha and sending it flying right back toward the group. The Beowolf landed about fifteen feet away from them, the boulder rolling off of it soon after.

The group could only in utter bafflement as the Grimm struggled to get up, a slight whimper escaping its throat. "Wha-Wha-What was THAT?!" Ruby stammered out.

"I dunno, but whoever threw that has to be PRETTY strong." Yang guessed.

All of a sudden, a loud yet strange battle cry was heard; "AAWOOooOOoo!" The teen's heads all snapped up to see a rather lanky man standing on top of the fish stand, holding a spiked, wooden cudgel in one hand as he howled up at the sky. His long, blue beard flowed in the breeze as he dropped down, a wild intensity in his dark eyes as he set his sights on the Beowolf. "Intending to have FUN with my stand, Creature of Grimm?!"

"RANDOLF?!" Blake exclaimed. "He… He's the one who threw that?!"

Neptune and the rest of Team SSSN all wore knowing grins. "Oh yeah. Shit's gonna go down."

"You don't MESS with Randolph's stand." Sage emphasized.

"Not unless you want the beating of your life." Scarlet finished off.

Yang rubbed her hands together eagerly. "Oh-ho-ho, this oughta be fun to watch. Don't ya think Ben—" But she cut herself off when she saw both her boyfriend and Rex with a pair of dumbfounded gazes, both of them focused directly on Randolph, confusing her a bit. "Uh, Green Boy? Rex? You guys okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Ben answered. "It's just, I swear that I've seen that guy somewhere before."

Rex put a hand to his chin. "Yeah, I just can't quite put my finger on—"

Without warning, Randolph suddenly tore off his shirt with one hand, revealing a rather toned yet very hairy body underneath, especially where his back was concerned. He raised his arms and charged forth into battle. "YOU HAVE BROKEN THE CELERY STALK ON THE BACK OF A SEA URCHIN!"

"What'd he say?" Weiss asked.

"SHAKLAVA!" Randolph dove right at the Grimm and began beating it relentlessly with his cudgel, the Beowolf fighting back with great intensity. The beast bit and slashed at Randolph, but no matter where it threw its strikes, the fish monger managed to avoid it, all while hitting it in the most exposed places imaginable on its body. …Though Randolph seemed to favor the head most of all, hitting it repeatedly while shouting words that no one understood. "Mestick!" WHAP! "Shlorvin!" SLAM! "Eischlikt!" CRASH!

The last hit sent the Alpha flying backward into a nearby stone out cropping, shocking all of the civilians and the team. "…What even IS this man?" Ruby questioned.

Randolph quickly strode over and grabbed the Alpha by its throat, hoisting it up so that it was eye-level with him. "Never again shall you torment Randolph's livestock!" he screamed in the creature's face while winding his arm up for another hit. "Randolph will have his revenge!" He slammed the cudgel right into the Beowolf's lower jaw, making it fly back toward the market stands.

"It's like he's unstoppable!" Rex ran a hand through his hair as the chaos continued, unable to tear his eyes away.

It was then that Randolph threw the cudgel away, his brow furrowing even further. "Enough training for Randolph! Time to fix what is broken!" The fish monger began flexing his whole body at once, his face straining as his Aura suddenly broke.

Blake couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Is he CRAZY?! How did he break his own Aura?! WHY would he break his own Aura?!"

"Don't worry, Blake." Neptune reassured with a thumbs up. "Randolph's not done yet…"

It took a few seconds, but suddenly… Randolph's body started expanding, his muscles growing massive in size as his pants started to rip slightly. However, that's not all that happened. In a rather… unsightly turn of events, the thick hair on Randolph's back suddenly all stood up on end, almost as if they were massive spikes. Needless to say, there were a few who weren't all that impressed. "I'M GOING TO HEAVE!" Weiss screamed as her face became a pale green.

"…Should I even ASK what his Semblance is?" Ben inquired.

"He calls it "Buff Up"." Sage explained. "In exchange for breaking his own Aura, Randolph can transfer all that power into his muscles and temporarily give him a strength boost. And when that happens… watch out."

The now buffed-up Randolph glowered right at the Beowolf… which was now whimpering in fear. "A dog has raised its hind leg on the age of NEVER MORE!" In a mighty leap, Randolph bashed himself right into the Alpha and just started pummeling the life out of it, punching it with his bare fists and breaking its bones without effort. "Quake and quiver like a jellyfish, doggy-doo-doo Grimm!" Randolph hoisted the Grimm above him with both hands, its back suspended right over his left knee. "For in the name of my ancestors and elders, Randolph will grill your strudel until you cry like a TEENSY-WEENSY BABY!"

"This is better than cable!" Ben said excitedly.

"Or Rath on a bad day!" Yang added.

CRACK! The moment Randolph brought the Beowolf over his knee, everyone in the marketplace couldn't help but cringe when they heard the creature's cries of mercy, its spine having been snapped. But mercy wasn't something that it'd be getting for what remained of its life. "Randolph's vengeance will be slow and painful, like Papa's charcoal anecdotes, Creature of the Darkness!" Grabbing the Beowolf by into tail, Randolph slammed the creature into the ground multiple times until its body was good and broken… but it was still somehow breathing. "MUST RANDOLPH BEAT SOME SENSE INTO THAT OVER-COOKED THAT NOODLE YOU CALL A HEAD?!" As such, he smashed his hand straight through the creature's head, finally killing it.

As the creature dissolved into black mist, Randolph let out a breath and went back to his normal, lanky self. With a smile back on his face, the man faced the gathered crowd of onlookers and spoke to them, his voice back to its regular high-pitch. "The harsh realities of your miserable lives have been restored!" With that, he closed his eyes and marched right back to his fish stand. "Thank you!"

A few moments after he had addressed them, the whole crowd began belting out cheers of joy, thankful to their strange savior. This included Ben, Yang, Blake and Ruby, along with the entirety of Team SSSN. Rex, meanwhile, was comforting Weiss as she continued to dry heave, the heiress still effectively grossed out by the sharpened back hair. "Ya gotta admit, that was AWESOME!" Sun shouted.

"No doubt!" Ben agreed. "I gotta meet that guy!"

"Well then, what're we waiting around here for?" Blake ushered her friends to follow her as she made her way over to the fish monger's stand. Once Weiss was done heaving up air, the group obliged, though the heiress had chosen to stay with Rex near the back of the group.

"The last thing I need to be smelling right now is fish." she had rationalized.

As they walked over, though, Sun sent a smirk over in Sage's direction. "So… a little neon-green-haired birdy just told us that you've got exclusive access to Arslan's digits, eh?"

That elicited the exact reaction the monkey boy was hoping for from Sage; recoil, widened-eyes, and a blush coming to his face. "I-It's not what you think, man! Really, it's not!" Sage defended.

Scarlet rolled his eyes and jabbed a thumb at his friend. "He's been like this since he got Arslan's number. I've been trying to convince him to go for it, but he hasn't listened."

"W-We exchanged number to keep our teams in contact with each other should we ever need to!" Sage rationalized, though his blush still lingered. "Whatever you guys are thinking—"

"DUDE!" Neptune ran up and put his hands on the sides of Sage's face, bringing him down to his eye level. "You. Have. ARSLAN ALTAN'S number! Do you know HOW many guys in Haven are probably wishing they were you right now!?" His hands moved to Sage's shoulders and began shaking them. "Do not let this chance slip you by!"

Hearing the commotion, Yang turned her head back around and gave Sage a thumbs up. "Yeah, man! You should go for it!" She sent him a thumbs up and a wink. "Ya never know when an opportunity to find love will come again…" Yang slipped her arm across Ben's back, making the hero smile down at her. "Sometimes ya just gotta take a chance."

With Yang and Neptune's words now firmly in his head, Sage craned his head down and ran a hand through his grassy green hair. Slowly but surely, a smile came to his face, his blush persisting. "O-Okay… I'll think about it."

Once the team had made it up to the stand, Randolph, now in a fresh shirt, took notice of them and beamed in their direction. "Oh-oh! The half-brained SSSN Boys and Blake-girl have returned with greater numbers!" He leaned over the counter and waved his arm in a salute to Blake. "Tell me, are these your friends, Blake-girl?"

Blake gave him a nod before gesturing to each of her friends. "They sure are. Randolph, these are my teammates; Yang, Ruby, Weiss, and my other friends; Ben and Rex."

All five teens greeted Randolph at once, to which he gave out a laugh. "A-ha! A-ha! A pleasure to be making your acquaintance, young warriors of the hunt!" He tilted his head while quirking a brow. "So, did you find out what happened up at Haven?"

Sun wore a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure did, Randolph… and now the place is even MORE wrecked than it had been."

"What?!" Randolph exclaimed, with Sage and Scarlet echoing him as well. "Did the water-worry-wart SSSN Boy blow up the building of science AGAIN?!"

"For the LAST time, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Neptune shouted, the blue-haired boy hyperventilating in frustration.

"Hm, well, I suppose it matters not." Randolph mused. "If my assumption is correct, then perhaps that… fiendish beast of the darkness had something to do with it." As he said that, his teeth clenched again and he balled his left hand into a fist, shaking it slightly. "But now that it has been vanquished, the city of Mistral can hopefully be at peace once again."

Ben folded his arms across his chest, his suspicions growing at Randolph's behavior. "…You seemed to get really angry at that Beowolf in particular, dude. Any reason… why?" Ben trailed off when Randolph slowly moved around to give him a rather serious glare, the fish monger leaning in dangerously close to the hero's face. "Uh… did I say something wrong?"

"Heed Randolph when he says this; do not get involved, ill-advised Ben-boy!" Randolph warned, pointing a finger right onto Ben's nose. "Less your pomegranates shrivel in the cold of the DARK SEA!" There was an incredibly tense atmosphere for another good ten seconds before Randolph went back behind his stand, his grin having returned. "Okie-dokie, onto business!"

There was another momentary pause before Ruby spoke up. "So… don't ask about the—"

"Don't ask about the Grimm, yes." Weiss agreed, her hand securely over her nose.

Randolph came back out with two long poles in each hand, focusing directly onto Blake. "So, Randolph assumes you are here to broker a deal for the fish, Blake-girl?"

Blake brightened up and cupped her hands together. "I am… though I think with the amount I wanna buy, I'm going to need more than just a bag to carry them in. My mother's back home and I'm expecting my dad tomorrow, and we're all big fish eaters."

"Ah, I see. Well, you are in luck!" Randolph pointed over to two large, two-wheeled wooden carts. "Since you are a valued customer, Randolph will be willing to loan you one of his carry-carts he uses to haul the fish! And worry not, they have been cleaned!"

"Oh, thank you so much!" Blake bowed respectfully to the monger. "That'll make things a lot easier." She took out her wallet and fished out her Lien cards, ready to start buying. "Alright, let's get started!"

But Randolph wagged a finger in her direction. "Ah-ah-ah! You intend to purchase a large sum of my product, do you not?" Blake gave him an eager nod. "Well then, let us broker a deal! YAHORK!" It was then that Randolph took one of the poles he was holding and slammed it into the ground so that it was standing up right. He then tossed the other pole over to Blake and began shimmying up his own, much to everyone's confusion. "Are you ready, Blake-girl?"

The cat girl, and by extension, everyone else, could only stare dumbfoundedly at the scene before stepping back over to Sun. "What the heck is he doing?"

"Uh, that's his bartering pole." Sun explained. "I think it's something that people do where he's from. The barterers balance on their abdomen as they negotiate what they want, I think."

Rex furrowed his brows as Randolph began balancing himself by his abdomen on the pole. "So, uh, does Blake have to do this, too?"

"Tradition says that yes, she does." Scarlet answered. "But if she doesn't want to, he'll understand and just let you barter the normal way—"

"Oh no, I don't think you realize how serious I am about this, Scarlet." Blake interrupted, picking up the pole that Randolph tossed her way. "If I can get a better deal out of this, then I'm more than willing to go through with it!" She did an about face and raised the bartering pole above her head in determination. "Alright, monger boy, let's do this!"

"Excellent!" Randolph exclaimed. "Then let the bargaining commence!"

…..

"So… lemme see if I got this straight." Over the course of the past forty-five or so minutes, Arslan and her team had been filled in on everything that was going on. Though not after the four Haven Academy students had a mild panic attack from suddenly being transported from the academy to the rental house by Professor Paradox, that is. Once Team ABRN had settled down, they were escorted inside by Ironwood and sat down on the nearest couch, with the other teens joining in to help explain things as best as they could. "You're telling us that THIS relic," Arslan pointed to the Relic of Knowledge, which was currently floating above the coffee table, "is part of a set of four, and that ALL of them contain a massive amount of power that, if brought together, could destroy the world."

"That's exactly right." Ironwood confirmed.

Reese spoke up next. "And Professor Ozpin… he and Salem are actually immortal people from a REALLY long time ago who've been fighting a secret war for thousands of years?"

Qrow gave her a single nod. "Right on the money, girly."

Bolin set his sights on Oscar, his gaze skeptical once more. "And you… you're supposedly a new reincarnation of Professor Ozpin?"

"Uh, hehe, well, I—" Oscar was cut off when his eyes flashed, with Ozpin taking the reins.

"That is correct, Mr. Hori." Ozpin confirmed. "I certainly hope that we can trust you four with this precious secret. We've already told a number of people… quite frankly, a far greater number than I've been comfortable with in the past. But considering Salem is beginning to mobilize her forces more and more with each passing day, I'm afraid it's become necessary to inform as many people as we can for the battle ahead."

The entirety of Team ABRN could only stare at the reincarnated man in disbelief as his eyes flashed again, allowing Oscar to return to normal. "Gah, seriously? Can I ever speak for myself?"

"As long as he's in your head, kid, I can't promise you that." Raven shrugged before shifting her eyes toward Team ABRN. "But as much as I hate to agree with Oz, he's right. There's already a ton of people who know about this secret already, so we'd appreciate it if you kids kept this on the down-low."

Next to her, Vernal gave her teacher a nod. "You know that you can always count on me to stay silent, Raven. Even if the information that's been dumped on me is… pretty strange, not gonna lie."

Nadir raised a hand to her. "H-Hey, no problem there, either. Trust me, I don't think anyone would believe us if we did, even our classmates."

From the couch, Gwen interjected. "That reminds me; what're you guys going to do now after what happened at Haven?"

"Yeah, I mean, without a headmaster and with the school grounds pretty much wrecked, I don't think you'll be able to continue the semester there." Jaune added. "So what's your game plan going forward?"

Arslan took in a deep breath and leaned back in her seat, thinking over the various options for them. "Well… the most logical step forward would be to transfer." She crossed her arms in contemplation. "And man, our options sure are interesting. We got the desert, a freezing cold continent, and Beacon, which is in a pretty sorry state itself."

Nora suddenly zipped up and nudged Arslan in the shoulder. "Aw, c'mon, Beacon ain't SO bad! I mean, it'll be back open in a couple months, so that means you guys would have plenty of time to make the transfer!"

"She's right." Ren concurred. "And considering you were in the same place as us in terms of lessons when Beacon was attacked, it will probably be a better transition."

"Plus, now that you are all in on the secret, it'd probably make the most sense for you to all be at Beacon anyway." Pyrrha suggested. "After all, we may need your help in the future."

"They all make good points, Arslan." Bolin agreed. "It'd be easier than just being thrust right back into our classes upon arrival to either Atlas or Vacuo, plus, we could help out with the reconstruction efforts as well."

After thinking it over for a few more moments, Arslan smiled and let out a chuckle. "Heh, alright, Beacon it is." She sent her gaze over to her teammates and smirked. "Back your bags, guys, we're gonna be leavin' soon."

Penny leapt up and lifted her arms into the air. "Sensational news!" She whipped around to Ironwood and gave him a salute. "General, permission to transfer to Beacon Academy as well? I know that you said you wanted me to always be close to Atlas, but I think that has all gone out the window, wouldn't you say?"

This took the general aback a bit, but in the next second, he smiled and let out a sigh. "Hah, why did I have a feeling you were going to ask me that?" He saluted back to her. "Well Penny, seeing how much you've bonded with this team, it'd be criminal of me to say no. I'll get the transfer forms ready." As Penny began celebrating, Ironwood shifted his eyes down to Ilia as well. "And Ilia, you said that Glynda gave you some entry forms as well?"

"Y-Yes, she did." Ilia nodded. "Of course, I haven't filled them out yet, but… you know, I think I will." The chameleon girl gave a resolute nod. "Yeah, you know, with all that's happened in the last few days, I think it'd be really benefit me to be at a place like Beacon."

"HUZZAH!" Penny exclaimed as she picked Ilia up and hugged her with all her might. "Ooh! OOH! Do you think you and I could be on the same team, Ilia?"

Ilia choked out her response; "Heh… yeah, sure, Penny. Now could I please have my lungs back before I die?" The android happily obliged, letting Ilia go. "Thank you. You know, it's hard to believe that I used to feel such distain toward Huntsmen back with the White Fang. Now here I am on the road to try and be one."

From the back of the room, Professor Paradox came up and added in his two cents; "It's as they say; life is like a river, you never know where it's going to take you. And for you all, it seems that life's river has taken you down quite the interesting path." He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time. "Oh, but here's me going on again when I have a place to be back in my home universe."

Oscar's expression became visibly disappointed. "Oh, you're leaving again, Professor?"

"For now, yes, but I have a feeling you'll all be seeing me fairly soon." Paradox gave the wave out to the whole room. "For now, though, I really must be off. Farewell for now, everyone. And Oscar, take care." After a round of goodbyes from everyone else, Professor Paradox disappeared in a flash of light, leaving everyone else to continue their conversation.

"So, does he ALWAYS make an exit like that?" Arslan asked.

"Pretty much." Kevin confirmed. "But hey, he's getting better. This is the second time he left without giving us any vague hints to the future, so that's a plus." Just then, a knock came at the door, putting pretty much everyone on high alert. Gwen grabbed the Relic of Knowledge while Kevin absorbed the wood of the coffee table, just in case. "I'll get it." The Osmosian walked up cautiously toward the door and peeked through the peep hole… only to relax the very next moment. "At ease, everyone. It's the guys."

Kevin opened the door and was greeted by Ben, Yang, Ruby, Weiss and Rex on the other side, the hero being the first to greet them. "Hey guys!" He nudged his head toward Team ABRN. "So, is everyone here all caught up?"

"Sure are." Reese said as she, her team, and everyone else stood up, the whole group making their way outside. "Every last, weird detail. Say, where's Blake and the boys?"

Yang jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Oh, they're comin'. They're just… haulin' some heavy cargo." The blonde turned around and everyone followed her line of sight, just in time to see Blake and Team SSSN come strolling down the road. Oddly enough, the cat girl was holding her stomach while Sun and Neptune were… pulling a whole cart full of fish.

Gwen blinked in astonishment as the five finally made it to the house. "…To quote Matthew Broderick; "That's a lot of fish"."

"No kidding." Arslan agreed before her eyes bugged out, having caught sight of Sage among the group. She made to side-step behind Reese… only for her to side-step as well. "Reese! Seriously?!"

"Nah-ah, I'm not lettin' you run away from this." Reese denied. "Besides, he's already waving at you with a dopey grin on his face." Arslan's eyes widened and she whipped her head around, seeing that Sage was indeed waving to her with a bit of a nervous smile. A blush came to the blonde warrior's face and she waved back, wearing her own awkward smile. Reese smiled and nodded. "My work here is done."

Raven and Vernal approached the massive cart full of fish, the latter plugging her nose the moment she got close. The Spring Maiden raised a brow at Blake, eyeing the girl's clenched stomach. "So… I take it that whatever you did to get that much fish was worth it?"

"You bet!" Blake grinned, placing a hand onto the cart for emphasis. "My abdomen is KILLING me right now, but I managed to get a pretty sweet deal on these babies."

"Pew, you can smell it from a mile away, kitty cat." Vernal commented.

Weiss rolled her eyes as she plugged her nose again as well. "Tell me about it."

Ironwood cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Alright, well, if we're all done in Mistral, I think it's safe to say we can go home?"

Blake gave him a nod. "Yes, yes we can. I'm really eager to see my mom and my puppy right now, so let's get a move on."

"Sounds good to me." Ben said before going over and offering a handshake to Arslan. "It was really cool meeting you and your team, Arslan. Hope we get to work together again in the future."

"Oh, trust me, guys, you haven't seen the last of us." Arslan assured as she returned the handshake.

Reese pumped a fist and got right up in Rex's grill. "Yeah, besides, YOU still owe me a race!"

A determined glint appeared in Rex's eye and he bumped Reese's fist. "Heh, you can count on that, Reese. We'll set somethin' up soon, 'kay?" With that, the two parted ways, unaware that a certain heiress was watching the scene with narrowed eyes.

Just as Raven sliced open a portal back to Patch, Sun sighed and let go of the cart's handle, with Neptune doing the same. The two walked over to Sage and Scarlet and enveloped their friends in a hug respectively. "Well dudes, it's been fun, but we gotta get back to Vale."

Neptune wore a guilty expression. "We'll probably be leaving for Ben's world in the next couple days, so…"

"No worries, man." Sage assured. "We'll be sure to see you guys off."

"Now that Haven's pretty much wrecked from the inside out, I suppose we now have a pretty good excuse to transfer to Beacon." Scarlet mused. "Guess we just have to hope that things can only go uphill over there after what happened, huh?"

Sun pat them both on the shoulder and gave out a little laugh. "Heh, yeah, guess so."

"Boys! Blake!" The group moved their eyes to Raven, the Spring Maiden still standing by her portal after everyone else had went through. "We're all waiting on you. C'mon, let's go home."

The monkey boy sent her a salute. "Don't worry, we're just… saying our goodbyes." Sun and Neptune went back over to the cart and picked up the handle, ready to bring it through the portal with them. But before doing so, the duo looked at their teammates, Team ABRN, and then finally, they craned their heads up at the mountain city itself, smiling fondly as they reflected on their time there. "So long, Mistral." Sun muttered.

"And thanks for all the fish!" Blake added as she and the others made their way through the portal, the red and black vortex closing behind them.

Once they were all gone, Scarlet let out a sigh. "Well, shall we get started on those transfer forms?"

"Yeah, and we'd better spread the word to the other students about what happened." Arslan added. "Something tells me they're not gonna be too thrilled when they hear about this."

Sage shook his head. "No, no they won't. O-Oh, by the way…" He faced Arslan and put a hand behind his head nervously. "Thanks for going up there to help 'em out. And sorry that I couldn't give more of an explanation to what was goin' on. I honestly thought you would've just called me crazy and ignored me if I told you the whole truth."

"Hehe, no problem." Arslan replied, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "But hey, give yourself more credit. I wouldn't have called ya "crazy"."

Sage's eyes widened at that. "Y-You wouldn't?"

"Nah, I think "insane" would be a better word after what they just told me."

The green-haired boy put a hand to his chest with a faux-disheartened face. "Oh, DAMN, girl. That hurt!"

Arslan rolled her eyes and gave him a light shove to the shoulder. "Oh, you know what I mean, leaf head!" As the two continued to go back and forth, Scarlet and Reese gave each other a fist bump behind them, the duo wearing a similar knowing smirk.

…..

"I still think we should have killed her." Cinder mumbled, the Fall Maiden now disguised in the woman's clothes, keeping her head low and hood up. She and Rojo were currently making their way down a busy street in one of Mistral's lower levels, working their way through the crowd as they searched for a means of escape from the city. "When she wakes up, you know she's going to call the police, right?" Cinder continued. "Why spare her if—"

"She had a picture of her family in her wallet." Rojo answered without facing Cinder, taking the young woman by surprise. "I might be evil, but I'm not heartless, Cindy. Speakin' as someone who never really had one, I can't have ruining some random girl's family on my conscience. Now if it's someone I hate like Tennyson, then that's alright by me."

Cinder pursed her lips and lowered her head down, thinking over what Rojo had just told her. "Never had a family, huh? Well… I suppose that's something we can relate to."

Rojo fell in step with Cinder and placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling down at her. "Good to hear, but let's save that for later, huh? Right now, we need to find a way out of this dump."

"Right, now where do you suppose we can actually FIND an airship in this place?"

"Maybe not here," Rojo jabbed her thumb down a nearby alleyway, "but I think I see a couple of people who might know…" She and Cinder craned their heads over to see two young men talking to themselves in the alley, both standing near a printed image on a wall. It was that of a large spider against a web, and both of the men had the same image tattooed on their arms. "Somethin' tells me they ain't part of a cult worshipping Spider-Man. If anybody's gonna know where to get a ride outta the city, it's the local gangs."

"Smart thinking." Cinder agreed. "Also, who is this "Spider-Man"?"

"Exactly. C'mon, let's go." The two women strolled down into the alley, sneaking up behind the two boys as quietly as they could. Once they were in a good position, Rojo suddenly rushed forward, making the two men whip around. However, they barely had time to do anything before Rojo slammed her hands into their heads and forced them against the wall, with Cinder coming up to ignite her hands near their throats. "Hello, boys. Think you can let a couple nice ladies know where they can get a ship outta this dump?"

"W-Well, yes, but at the same time, no." One of the men answered, only for Cinder to increase the intensity of her flames. "AH! W-We swear! We can't give out that kind of info!"

"Y-Yeah, we're just the info gatherers!" The other man shouted. "If you want the info you're looking for, you'll have to see our boss… Lil' Miss Malachite."

Rojo smirked at that. "Ah, good boys. And where IS this "Lil' Miss"?"

"Not far from here." The first man answered. "W-We can lead you right to her. …But if you want this kinda info this badly, it'll cost ya a pretty penny with her."

Cinder narrowed her eyes. "That woman only had a few Lien cards on her. We'll never get the information we want with that."

Rojo removed her hands and let the two men drop to the floor, crossing her arms with a chuckle. "Hehe, don't worry, Cindy, I'm on top of this." She pointed down to the two men, with fear still in their eyes. "You two, lead the way, but make sure to stay a good distance in front of us." She shifted her eyes over to the Fall Maiden. "And Cindy… how's your pickpocketing skills?" The question made Cinder smile in a devilishly eager way, which was all the answer Rojo needed.

After a few minutes of walking and pickpocketing random people in the crowded streets, the four finally made it to a secluded bar, with the two men going in first. One of them turned back to Cinder and Rojo, raising his hand. "Just to warn ya, Lil' Miss ain't exactly an easy lady to wheel and deal with. I hope you've stolen enough dough to make it worth her while."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Cinder said as she held a small blue sack in her hands, something else she had pickpocketed off of someone. "I believe your boss will appreciate the business we have to give her."

"Heh, suit yourself. Good luck." With that, the man opened up the curtain and walked into the bar with his friend, with Rojo and Cinder following suit. When they walked in, the duo saw what could only be described as a bunch of seedy people sitting at the many tables around them, each of them either talking or snickering as they shared information with one another.

Rojo was practically at home. "Ah, now THESE are my people!"

"Focus." Cinder whispered, craning her head toward the farthest table from them. "I believe that's her."

At the far end of the bar, the two ladies saw a blonde, middle-aged woman sitting at a table with two body guards; a mustachioed man with spiked shoulder pads and a woman with long, wild hair, both in matching purple outfits. The woman herself was quite beautiful and on the heavy-set side, wearing a white and purple frilly dress with no back and separate sleeves. She also had a purple corset and a long, pleaded skirt with multiple layers that matched the overall outfit, along with a yellow layer on top to match her hair. On her left shoulder, she wore the same tattoo that everyone else in the bar had; a spider on a web. In front of her was a rather delicious-looking dessert that she was about to dig into, while to her right was an ash tray with a cigarette propped on the side, indicating that she had been smoking not too long ago.

However, before she could dig into her meal, Lil' Miss Malachite noticed Cinder and Rojo approaching her. "That's far enough." she said in a deep southern accent, prompting her two body guards to step in front of the table to ward off the duo.

"Woah, woah, don't worry there, ma'am." Rojo reassured. "We're payin' customers." She nudged her head to Cinder. "Show her what we got."

Cinder complied and took out the little blue bag, tossing it onto the table and letting the Lien cards strew about. THIS got Lil' Miss Malachite's attention. She smiled to the two ladies and nodded. "Okay."

The duo obliged and took a seat… only for Rojo to panic the moment Cinder started talking. "So, you're Lil' Miss Malachite?"

'SHIT, Cindy!' Rojo screamed in her head. 'You're gonna get us KILLED talking like that!'

Lil' Miss Malachite raised an eyebrow and unfolded her fan, waving it near her face. "I'm Lil' Miss Gon'-Skin-You-Alive if you ever take that tongue with me again."

Rojo quickly put her hands to Cinder's shoulders and laughed nervously. "Hehe, uh, sorry 'bout my partner, ma'am. Th-This is her first time dealing in an organization like this, hehe."

"I see." Miss Malachite moved her eyes down to the Lien in front of her and smiled at the two women. "Looks like your life savings."

"It was somebody's." Cinder remarked with a smirk.

Fortunately, Miss Malachite seemed to like what she heard. "Hmm, cute!" But then her face turned serious as she closed her fan. "Whaddya girls want for it?"

"Ahem, we're actually searching for some easy transport out of the city by air." Rojo explained. "See, we were backstabbed by one of our "associates". Now we're on the run and we gotta get back to our boss as soon as possible before he tries to backstab HER too."

Miss Malachite nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. Well, hon, you came to the right place" Just then, a loud noise erupted from behind Cinder and Rojo, prompting them both to whip around to see that it was just another person entering the bar, greeting his friends. "Hmhm! Pretty jumpy today, are we?" Malachite laughed, bringing the ladies attention back to her. "Ya'll must've gotten into some deep trouble to warrant THAT kinda reaction." She leaned forward and said; "You know, I used to be afraid of spiders. Wanna know what I did about it?"

"Learn to kill them?" Cinder asked sarcastically, making Rojo's eye twitch.

"Oh no! The world needs spiders." Lil' Miss Malachite smiled as she gestured around the bar. "I just make the spiders work for me."

Rojo smirked back at the woman, remembering all of the spider tattoos that everyone had. "Heh, you certainly put together a pretty strong organization here, Lil' Miss Malachite. If I didn't already have a pretty scary boss, I'd probably work for you in a heartbeat."

"How flatterin'." Miss Malachite grinned. "But I'm afraid that there IS a downside to this business. You see, my specialty is information gatherin', whether it's on people, transportation, or anythin' else. And unfortunately, sometimes there are people who are seekin' certain other people out…" She craned her head over to Cinder, raising an eyebrow at her. "Isn't that right… Cinder?"

Cinder's eyes widened and she shot up out of her seat, backing away from the table. "H-How did you—"

"Please, darlin', calm down." Miss Malachite said, raising a hand. "It's hard NOT to recognize your face with all the wanted posters around Mistral, even with a disguise like yours. Honestly, I'm quite surprised no one recognized you on the way ova'."

Rojo extended her hands to the crime boss. "Lil' Miss Malachite, please, we're not here for any trouble. We just want to get out of the city."

Miss Malachite chuckled and waved her hand. "Oh-ho, sugar, don't worry 'bout nothin'. I ain't 'bout to turn ya'll in, if that's what you're thinkin'. I would never do wrong by a customer unless they'd done wrong by me. However… when a customer has done wrong by another customer… I'm afraid that's outta my hands."

"W-What do you mean?" Cinder questioned.

"You see, Miss Cinder Fall, I actually JUST had a customer in earlier today askin' about you…" Miss Malachite glanced up above the two women's heads. "And I'm afraid she's still here."

Just then, Cinder and Rojo heard the sound of creaking floor boards behind them, making them whip around once again. They moved their heads up toward the walkway above them… and Cinder was stunned by what she saw. "Wait…"

There, standing on the balcony railing… was a rather diminutive young woman. She was dressed in a white, wide-cropped, tailed jacket with a pink collar and cuffs at the ends of the sleeves, along with a pair of black gloves. Under this jacket was a brown corset that was curled so that it exposed her hips. Around her neck, she wore a multitude of beaded necklaces, all hanging loosely. Her lower half was donned in a pair of brown pants and long, white and black spat-styled boots that reached just below her knees.

However, it was her features that were the most interesting thing about her. She had long, two toned hair; half pink on the right side, and half brown on the left, with her primary pink bang having three white streaks through it. Her eyes were also heterochromatic, being the same color as her hair and on the same sides. She also wore minty green eye shadow, the only other bit of color that wasn't related to the primary trio she had on her. She held a pink umbrella in her hands, which she settled over her shoulders as she grinned down to Cinder sinisterly. The Fall Maiden couldn't believe who she was seeing…

"Neo?"

…..

A/N: "Whoa…" Okay, I HAD to make that reference. But HUZZAH! She's here, everyone! Neopolitan is finally hear! I think that pretty much covers all of the major RWBY characters from the first three or so Volumes to make a comeback in this story… aside from Roman, but we can pretty much rule him out. But of course, he lives on in Neo's wardrobe, which, as you know, is currently being neatened up via her illusions. The hat will be seen in the next chapter. And yeah, I changed things up so that it was Neo who got to Lil' Miss Malachite's first, but I wasn't about to let Cinder and Rojo squalor in Mistral for a week. But man, bit of a doozy for a clean-up chapter, huh? We got Team ABRN and Vernal being filled in on everything, Jaune showing off his new Semblance, AND we got to see Randolph again! And what a way to send a fun side-character off, huh? Though it doesn't seem like Gwen has told everyone else about her strange experience yet… perhaps she's saving it for a later time? We'll just have to wait and see. But huh, seems like Cinder's starting to reflect on all of her past mistakes. Perhaps she can begin to be a true team player and address all the things she did wrong? Well, maybe Neo will prove to be just the test she needs. Can she and Rojo convince her to cooperate?

Well, we'll just have to find out next time… ON THE STORY'S TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Remember, it's gonna be next Saturday, not Friday, so keep a look out. While Cinder and Rojo try and reign in Neo's anger, our heroes arrive back home, allowing the two new arrival to settle in… much to Tai's dismay. How can he refuse Raven's protégé and freaking Ozpin of all people shelter? Meanwhile, in the Land of Darkness, Michael seems to be able to skirt by Salem's radar without much trouble… but how long will that truly last? Perhaps the witch knows more than she's willing to let on… Thanks for reading everyone and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe out there!