A/N: Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the story, where IT'S OUR TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! And man, do I have quite the chapter lined up for you all today, everyone. As you might recall, last time, we ended things off on a cliffhanger as our favorite ice-cream themed girl made her debut! And now, we bring you the conclusion to that cliffhanger today! No point in wasting time here, so let's do this! Happy Anniversary, guys. This is…

Chapter 105: Neo World Order

…..

Tai hadn't been home from Signal for two minutes before a familiar black and red portal opened up behind him. He stopped just as he was about to climb up the steps of his porch and did an about face, crossing his arms with a grin. He was wondering why things seemed a bit quieter than usual, and now he had his answer. "Heh, guess Raven took the kids on a little field trip." But right as he said that, he was surprised when none other than his brother-in-law and General Ironwood were the first to step out. "Qrow?! Jim?! W-What the heck are you doing here?! I thought you were in—" But then Tai cut himself off, realizing what must've happened. "You called the team to Mistral, didn't you?"

"Exactly right." Ironwood nodded. "I take it Raven didn't tell you about it?"

"No, I… wasn't home at the time." Tai raised a brow over to Qrow as the rest of the teens began filing through the portal. "So, how were things with Leo?"

Qrow signed and rubbed the back of his head. "Not so good. We—"

"ARF!" "ARF-ARF!" The drunken huntsman was cut off when, from around the side of the house, Romulus and Rema all but charged right toward the arriving group. As luck, or bad luck in his case, would have it, Qrow was the first one to get leapt upon by the wolf pups, the little canines jumping on his legs.

"Gah! Ugh, seriously?! Get offa me ya mangey—MUTTS!" With surprising energy, the pups jumped onto Qrow's chest, knocking him over so that they could lick his face. "Oh… how nice."

"Romulus!" Pyrrha called out as she came over and pulled her and Jaune's pup off of Qrow's chest. "No! Bad boy, you know better than that."

Jaune proceeded to do the same with Rema. "You too, Rema, bad. Also, where DID you guys come from?"

Their answer was soon presented to them when Athena and Kali both came running from the same direction that the pups came from, with Doctor Holiday walking at a leisurely pace close behind. "We're sorry!" Athena cried out as she and Kali came to a stop, both women panting a bit as they did. "We… we were playing in the backyard when the little ones got a little too rambunctious."

"That's putting it mildly." Holiday said as she stopped behind the two women. "The moment their training was over, they were wound and ready to play."

"They must have smelled you the moment you came out of that portal." Kali added, sending the group a happy smile. "But it's good to see all of you back safe and sound! How was your time in Vale?"

From the back of the group, Gwen stepped forward proudly and lifted her hand up, revealing the Relic of Knowledge. "Well, you tell me."

Tai took in a sharp intake of breath, sputtering in disbelief. "I-Is that… the Relic of Knowledge?!"

"Sure is." Ben affirmed. "Managed to snag it before Salem's forces could."

Yang placed her hands behind her head. "No need to thank us. We'll just be happy to relax now that all the craziness is done with."

"Dad, you should've seen it!" Ruby shouted excitedly. "Everything was so intense! We fought Cinder and Rojo down in the Vault, and we almost ended up losing the relic to Darkstar, and—"

Tai placed a hand on his daughter's shoulders, stopping her from going any further. "Woah, woah, honey. Why don't we save this for the dinner table, huh? We'll have plenty of time to talk about what happened there."

Holiday's eyes widened as she stepped closer to examine the relic, her lips parting in awe. "This is amazing! So THIS is what Salem is after?"

"One of four of them, yes." Penny answered. "And she was quite determined to acquire this one in particular today, that's for sure."

Athena let out a slight gasp. "W-Wait, you mean… they actually attacked Haven?"

Kevin shrugged. "Yeah, turns out that Lionheart really WAS a traitor all along." He gestured over to Penny and Ilia. "Professor Paradox came and got us at Beacon and then we ended up in a big fight with 'em on the school grounds. I… may or may NOT have trashed a majority of the place."

"And I helped!" Nora said with a toothy grin.

Weiss stuck her head up proudly. "And I managed to slay a Sphinx." She received a nudge in her side from Rex, the EVO smirking right down at her. "With an assist from Rex, of course."

"Hehe, it was all pretty loco." Rex chuckled. "But we managed to kick those bad guys to the curb in the end… though Salem managed to snag Lionheart away from us."

Tai couldn't help but grimace at that. "Oh… god. I know he was a traitor, but… no one deserves whatever fate Salem has instore for him."

Weiss winced as well. "Well… we have pretty good reason to believe that Animo wants to change Professor Lionheart into another mutant, so… yeah, that's pretty bad."

"Oh, well, okay, it's not AS bad as I thought it was gonna be, then."

"DAD!" Ruby and Yang shouted at the same time.

"What?!" Tai said defensively. "You both know that Salem would've done something ten times worse to him!"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and placed a reassuring hand on her mother's shoulder. "The point is; it's all okay, mother. As you can see, all of us made it back safe… though not all of us went unharmed…" Pyrrha's eyes moved over to Ren, who was decidedly standing in a way that hid his stained clothes. "Ren, care to show my mother what happened?"

"I, um, rather not?" Ren said hesitantly, only for Nora to grab him by the shoulders.

"Wrong answer, Renny!" The Pink Dynamo moved the green ninja around, revealing the new hole and the large bloodstain that caked Ren's jacket. "See, THIS is what happens when he tries to be valiant for me."

Athena let out a small shriek, with Kali, Tai and Holiday gasping in shock. The Mistralian Huntress surged forward and began fussing over the hole, searching for some kind of bandage or wound. "R-Ren! What happened?!"

"Miss Nikos, please, calm down." Ren assured. "I'm fine now."

"FINE?!" Tai shouted. "Kid, I've been in enough fights to know that THAT ain't "fine".

"He's right, Ren." Holiday nodded. "That hole has to be at least three inches wide! And judging from the blood on your jacket alone, you must have lost quite a bit of blood…" The doctor furrowed her brows in scrutiny. "For that matter, how in the world are you even still standing?"

It was then that Athena's eyes widened when she found… absolutely no wound. Just a small scar where one had healed up. "Because… there isn't any wound."

Ren smiled and let out a laugh. "Well, like I said, I'm fine. Yes, the wound WAS pretty bad…" He shifted his eyes over to Jaune and gave him smile. "But thankfully… someone was able to unlock their Semblance and help me."

This news got Tai, Holiday, and especially Athena to start gawking at Jaune, the redheaded woman's face slowing breaking out into a wide grin. "Hehe… surprise!" Jaune chuckled.

"AAAH!" Athena belted out a joyous shout before enveloping Jaune in a soul-crushing hug. "AH! Jaune, I cannot believe this! You finally unlocked your Semblance! Oh, I am just so PROUD of you!"

"Thank you, Athena." Jaune managed to muffle out through the hug as air began to leave his lungs.

Thankfully, Pyrrha stepped in, putting a hand on her mother's arm to loosen her grip. "Yes, mother, we're ALL very proud of him." The Invincible Girl nudged a head to her boyfriend, his eyes now spinning. "But do you think we could allow him to breath? No use in unlocking a Semblance if he's unconscious."

"O-Oh! Right, silly me!" Athena backed away from Jaune, allowing him to breathe again. "But this news is all SO exciting!" She placed her hands on her hips and smiled down to Jaune. "I cannot wait to see this new Semblance of yours in action! What is it, exactly?"

"Well… it's an Aura Amp, for lack of better description" Jaune answered. "It's basically what it sounds like; I amplify an Aura's effects using my own. And before you ask, I have a LOT of Aura, so it doesn't have a lot of side-effects on me… at least not that I know of yet."

Athena put a hand to her chin. "Hm, I see! Well then, we'll just have to see what your Semblance's limits are with training! Tomorrow morning, right as we usually do." The woman sighed as a sad smile appeared on her face. "In fact, it might be the one of the last times we ever have a training session here."

Nora's hands went to her face in realization. "Oh. My. Gosh! You're right! We leave pretty soon so we'd better make this training session count!"

"Oh dang, yeah, Athena has a point." Ben concurred, facing out toward the group. "Tomorrow, let's make this next training session worth our while, alright?" He got a loud cheer in response, everyone in complete agreement.

Kali smiled and let out a laugh at their comradery. "Haha! Well, it's good to see that you kids haven't lost your spirit, even with all that's happened." However, the cat woman's eyes widened when she realized that her daughter was nowhere to be seen, and the portal was still open. She moved her eyes over to Ilia and tilted her head. "Um, Ilia? Where's Blake? And what about Sun and Neptune?"

"That's… actually a good question." Ilia said before hearing Raven come through the portal, the woman being accompanied by Oscar and Vernal. "Hey Raven, are Blake and the boys coming?"

Raven sent her a single wave. "They are, they're just saying their last goodbyes." It was then that the Spring Maiden noticed Tai standing not too far away from her, to which she gave a small smile. "Why hello, Mr. Xiao Long."

Tai returned the smile and stepped over to her, putting an arm over her shoulders to give her a hug. "And good evening to you too, Miss Branwen. How was your little field trip with the children today?"

"Eventful, to say the least…" But Raven trailed off when she saw her brother and Ironwood staring at them, which made her furrow her brows. "What? Is this really coming off as a shock after I told you already?"

"Nah, just… kind surreal." Qrow admitted. "I really never thought I'd see this day."

Ironwood quickly agreed. "That goes double for me. I really thought things were permanently over between you two."

"You'd be surprised what can happen." Tai said with a wink. "Let's just say we're taking things slow this time. No pressure to get to anything big yet."

At that moment, Blake stepped through the portal, the cat girl spotting her mom the second she came out. "Mom!"

"Blake!" Kali came forward and enveloped her daughter in a hug. "Oh, welcome home, sweetheart."

"Hehe, thanks." Blake kissed her mother on the cheek before pulling away from her. But then, the sound of excited barking caught her attention and she whipped around, beaming in delight as Rema came sprinting up and jumped into her arms. "Haha! Oh, my baby girl! How are you?!" Rema licked Blake's face in response. "Oh, were you good for grandma today?"

"Yes, she was!" Kali said as she pet Rema on the head. "Athena and I had an excellent time with them. We did some training, then some playing, and when her brother smelled Jaune and Pyrrha, they both came running out here as fast as their legs could carry them!" However, it was then that Kali's nose caught a whiff of something; a scent that was all too familiar to her… and it was coming from her daughter. "Oh, Blake, you smell… like fish? Sweetheart, why do you smell so delicious?"

Blake smiled cheekily and giggled a bit. "Hehe, well mom, let's just say that I got a PRETTY great deal in Mistral…" She eyed the portal just as Sun and Neptune came out of it, the duo pulling the cart along behind them as the vortex finally closed.

"Hey, Mrs. B!" Sun called out.

"Check out what we came back with!" Neptune added.

Kali let out a gasp and covered her mouth… and much to her shame, she could already feel herself salivating at the MOUNTAIN of fish in the cart. "B-Boys! W-What IS all this?!"

"I bought these babies back in Mistral." Blake answered proudly, stepping over to the cart with Rema still in hand. "A kindly fishmonger was able to give me a pretty sweet deal on 'em… and all it cost me was some pain in my abdomen." Kali wore a perplexed expression at that, to which Blake waved her off. "Long story, don't ask. Point is, there's enough here for everyone here, plus dad and Sienna when they get here tomorrow." The cat girl then caught Rema sniffing at the fish as well, to which Blake lightly batted her nose away. "Yes, Rema, you too, but not yet, okay?"

"Well, Blake, I must say, I'm very impressed." Kali said with a grin. "I'm sure that these fish will make a VERY fine meal…" She looked back over her shoulder to her gracious host. "Wouldn't you say so, Tai?"

"Heh, well, I definitely know what we're eating tonight, Kali, that's for sure." Tai chuckled. But then, his eyes trailed over to Vernal and Oscar, the two new arrivals standing awkwardly to the side. Tai deadpanned at this before craning his head back to Raven. "…Please tell me this isn't what it looks like."

Raven's brow furrowed and she gave Tai a light nudge in the rips. "Suck it up, buttercup, these two are VIPs." She gestured over to Vernal first. "Tai, this is Vernal, my protégé that I told you about. Vernal, this is Tai. He's a bit of a goofball, but you get used to it."

Vernal slowly raised her hand for a wave. "Uh… hello, Mr. Xiao Long. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Tai replied before quirking a brow at her. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but… I thought you were leading the Branwen Tribe in Raven's place. So, what're you doing here now?"

Raven placed a hand on Vernal's shoulder. "Unfortunately, she was captured by Salem's forces and used as ransom against us. As such, she is to get a shower immediately and a good bed to sleep in."

Yang came up and jabbed her dad's arm. "Yeah, dad. I don't care if she has to sleep in MY room, she's GOING to be staying here for a little while."

"Please, dad?" Ruby interjected, taking a hold of her father's hand while giving him puppy-dog eyes and a small pout, complete with a quivering lower lip. "It's the least you after all she's been through."

Glancing between his daughters, Tai let out a sigh and relented. "Alright, she can stay, but she's YOUR responsibility, understand?"

Ruby and Yang gave him a salute. "Understood!" they said at the same time before Yang took Vernal by the hand and began leading her inside. "C'mon, Vee, I'll show you where the bathrooms are."

"Uh, thanks?" Vernal said as she was dragged inside.

Tai shook his head as he watched the two girls head in, scratching at his hair a bit. "Well, I'll only have to deal with a full house for a couple more days at least…" His eyes then shifted back down to Oscar, the young farm boy's presence serving to REALLY confuse Tai at that point. "And what about you, kid? Any important relations to anyone here?"

"U-Um, well, hehe, that's actually kind of a funny story." Oscar chuckled. "First off, my name's Oscar Pine. And while you may not know who I am… you probably know the voice inside my head."

The blonde man stared at Oscar for a good while before going back to Raven. "Should I call the psychiatric ward?"

Raven facepalmed and shook her head. "Ugh, no, no, it's… it's complicated." The Spring Maiden waved her hand at Oscar. "Have the idiot in there speak to Tai, okay? It's the only way we'll ever convince him that it's you."

Tai furrowed his brows at that. "W-Wait, what do you—" But it was then that he noticed Oscar's eyes flash bright yellow, garnering his attention. The farm boy took in a breath before reaching behind him, unclipping the Long Memory from his belt before extending it down toward the ground, much to Tai's shock. 'That… that cane. N-No, it couldn't be…'

"Hello, Taiyang." Ozpin greeted with an echo in his voice. "It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"

The Xiao Long patriarch's eyes widened, almost bulging out of his head at what he just heard. "O- Oz?" he managed to mutter out before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his body falling to the ground as he fainted.

"DAD!" Ruby shouted, with both her and Raven moving to his side instantly. "Ah, man, seriously?! AGAIN?!"

Raven grimaced up to Ozpin. "Gee, thanks, you BROKE him!"

"To be honest, I had a feeling this would probably happen." Ozpin said with a slight shrug. "Tai has always had a bit of a problem when it comes to overwhelming information. I think he did the same thing when I told your team about Salem for the first time, remember?"

"Not that point!" Raven snapped before hefting Tai up and draping his arm over her shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take him in."

"I'll help." Ruby offered, putting Tai's other arm over her shoulders. "Let's get him to the living room."

As Ruby and Raven left with Tai in their care, that left Ozpin out in the front yard… with Kali, Athena and Doctor Holiday still staring at him. "I… suppose this requires some form of explanation."

"You're darn right." Holiday affirmed, putting a hand to her head. "Because this might be even a little out of MY league."

But before any of that could happen, the front door opened again, with Winter and Grandpa Max rushing out to meet the group. "I thought I heard a commotion going on out here." Winter said, making her way toward Weiss. "I saw Yang dragging a stranger to the bathroom and was just left utterly confused. Good to see you're all back."

"Winter!" Weiss ran up to her sister and began recounting what had happened. "You will NOT believe the day we've had! Salem's forces attacked Haven Academy and, get this; I defeated a Sphinx!"

The elder Schnee's eyes widened at that, a small gasp escaping from her lips. "They did? …Wait, you DID?!"

Rex raised a hand, the EVO popping up behind Weiss. "Yep, and I helped!"

"That's excellent news!" Winter smiled. "And I take it that you all won the day as well?"

"Sure did." Gwen confirmed, holding up the Relic of Knowledge for her to see. "Take a gander, Winter."

Winter's lips parted in amazement and she even let out a small laugh. "Hah, oh my goodness. Gwendolyn, you all MUST tell me everything that happened today! I—" It was then that she noticed General Ironwood out of the corner of her eye, to which she immediately stood at attention and saluted him. "Sir! Forgive me, I did not see you there. It is good to see you, sir."

While Ironwood saluted her back, he also wore a smirk while doing so. "Thank you, Winter, but… you're off duty. At ease and go back to your business."

"Oh… right." Winter bowed her head respectfully. "Thank you, sir." She faced Gwen and Weiss once more and gestured toward the house. "Well, shall we get started? I'm sure you all have a lot to tell us about."

"We sure do." Weiss affirmed as she and everyone else began to head inside.

However, two people remained outside while everyone filed in; Ben and Max. The old Plumber had intentionally stepped in front of Ben to keep him from going in, much to the hero's confusion. But just as they were left by themselves, Max chuckled and went up to his grandson, giving him a loving hug. "Hehe, welcome home, Ben. So, I suppose you gave Salem and her cronies a good what-for, eh?"

"Heh… yeah, grandpa." Ben said with a small smile of his own, hugging the old man back. "We sure did."

Max raised an eyebrow at his grandson. "Hm, well, you don't seem all that excited about that, now do you? A penny for your thoughts?"

Ben smirked and snickered at that. "Be careful who you say that around, grandpa. A certain robo-girl might get the wrong idea." The two shared a small laughed before Ben's smile disappeared, his face becoming more serious. "It's just that… Salem said that she would have a third strike against us… and then she'd be done holding back. I have a feeling that this was her last warning."

"I see." Max nodded. "So you're concerned about what she might throw at you all next."

The Omnitrix bearer crossed his arms and lowered his head, pondering on the current situation. "…Yeah. If I'm being honest, I know that I've probably faced worse threats before. Vilgax, Daigon, the Hybreed, Malware and Albedo, they've been some of the greatest challenges that I've had to overcome. And while I've only faced Salem once, I could tell just from what she did that she's got a lot of power…"

"…But?" Max urged.

Ben sighed and craned his head up, facing the sky. "We still don't know just how MUCH power she has. I couldn't exactly gauge it from my brief fight with her, but judging by how she threw Humungousaur away like he was nothing and then drained his energy out of the Omnitrix, I think it's safe to say she's VERY powerful."

Max furrowed his brow. "Are we talking Vilgax-level powerful here?"

"I still can't say." Ben shook his head. "With all the abilities that Vilgax has had over the years, it's pretty hard to compare him to anyone else. But Salem might be pretty close. She's definitely more powerful that Hex and Charmcaster combined, that's for sure."

With a bit of a nod, Max stepped closer to Ben, putting a hand on his grandson's shoulder. "Ben, I'm going to be one-hundred percent honest with you… facing off against evil witches is way out of my ball park."

The young hero smiled and gave a shrug. "Hey, you did pretty good whenever we went up against Hex or Charmcaster during our summer vacation."

"Well, yes, but to the scale that Salem's at, I don't know if I could be much of a help." Max put his arm around Ben's shoulders. "But Ben, I know you have what it takes to lead this team to victory. You've more than proved that over these past few weeks. You, Gwen and Kevin have brought this team together in a way thats probably exceeded their own expectations." He then put a finger to his grandson's chest. "And ALL of you have something inside, Ben, something that will help you pull through in your darkest moments. And that is what truly counts. So, if and when things start to seem their bleakest, dig deep and hang on to what you've got."

Ben smiled and quirked a brow. "Let me guess… hang on to each other?"

Max gave out another laugh and pat Ben on the shoulders. "Atta boy, you ARE learning." He then gave his grandson a knowing wink. "Of course, in your case, having quite the bombastic girlfriend helps out too."

"Grandpa!" Ben exclaimed.

"Hey, I'm just saying." Max shrugged. "You and Yang are quite the pair." He chortled as his grandson blushed before remembering something. "Oh, and by the way, Cooper and Team CFVY swung by while you were away. They wanted to borrow some DVDs, so I told them they could."

The hero's blush subsided and he gave Max a nod. "Oh, that's fine. Which ones did they take?"

"Well, Cooper was after a certain show in particular… something called "Reset", I think?"

Ben smirked and laughed a little. "Heh, I think you mean "ReBoot", grandpa." In his mind, Ben thought to himself; 'And why am I not surprised that Cooper would go directly for that show?'

But Max was only left confused. "…Aren't those the same thing?"

Ben was about to retort when he heard his girlfriend call out to him; "Hey, Green Boy! Mr. Tennyson!" The hero and his grandfather turned toward the door to see Yang waving at them, the blonde making her way out toward the two. She wrapped her arm around Ben with an inquisitive face. "What're ya still doin' out here? Everyone's waiting on you guys, ya know."

The two Tennyson's glanced at each other before going back to Yang, with Ben giving out a small laugh. "Heh, we were just talking about something, Goldie Locks. We were actually just about to head in."

"Great! Because lemme tell ya, my dad's awake and he's flipping out about Oz." Yang giggled a bit as the trio made their way to the door. "And trust me, when he gets goin' like this, it's hard to get him to settle down." The three all shared a short laugh before Ben gave his grandfather a brief look, the hero giving him a silent nod of gratitude, which Max happily returned.

…..

"Neo?" Cinder couldn't believe it. Standing in front of her on the banister was none other than Neopolitan, the mute underling of Roman Torchwick. The last time she had seen the girl, it had been at the Battle of Beacon, and if memory served, Roman had been eaten by a Griffon. She admittedly didn't think much of Neo after that day, writing her off as having been one of the casualties since she hadn't popped up since then. But there she was, with her pink and brown eyes focused directly onto her. 'How did she even GET to Mistral?!' the Fall Maiden thought to herself.

Behind her, Rojo whipped around in her seat, facing Lil' Miss Malachite once more. "What's going on here?! I thought we had a deal!"

"We do, darlin'." Miss Malachite assured. "But I make deals with everybody, and I promised Miss Neopolitan that I would speak up if I found Cinder… I just didn't expect her to come to me." She wore a devilish grin as she went on. "But, provided those two can settle their business, perhaps we can continue our own, wouldn't you say?" Miss Malachite leaned over to one of her bodyguards and added; "Might wanna put away the good glasses."

Rojo's eyes widened at that and she spun back around, just in time to see Neo zero in on Cinder and jump off the walkway. The short girl flipped in midair and brought her umbrella down onto Cinder, who raised her arms to block the hit. However, just as Neo hit her, she suddenly shattered like glass before reappearing on Cinder's right, much to Rojo's confusion. "What the hell was that?!"

"Her Semblance—GAH!" Cinder shouted before getting rammed into by Neo, pushing her back several feet. "What are you doing?!" she demanded. Neo didn't give an answer, the girl simply flipping away before standing up and popping open her umbrella, resting it on her shoulder with a smirk. But in the next instant, Neo's smile disappeared and she closed her umbrella, using it to stab at Cinder's face. The Fall Maiden expertly bobbed away from the umbrella, but was forced back when Neo went for a kick. Neo then swung her umbrella once again before spinning around, flipping it down behind her to block a punch from Cinder.

The shorter girl then bashed the handle of her umbrella into Cinder's midsection before whipping it up into her face, making her stagger a bit. Neo opened her umbrella again to swing it at Cinder some more, but Cinder just flipped away from the attack. But when Neo jabbed her open umbrella at Cinder, the Fall Maiden simply crossed her arms and took the hit… which ended up pushing her back to Miss Malachite's table, almost hitting Rojo. "WOAH! Hey, Cindy, watch out!"

"Apologies!" Cinder spoke up, though the utterance of that word even made HER do a double take. Did she just apologize? 'I need to dwell on that later. Right now…' Cinder thrust herself away from the table and pushed Neo back. She gave out a yell and swung her arm down for a hit, only for Neo to block it with her umbrella. From there, Cinder let loose a flurry of kicks and punches, all of which Neo managed to either avoid or counter. All except for the last one, in which Cinder had gotten to her hands and propelled herself up, crashing her feet right into Neo's face.

Cinder landed on the nearby bar while Neo staggered a bit, though the shorter girl was able to quickly collect herself and flip up there as well. She opened her umbrella and floated gently down onto the bar, where she instantly found a bowl sitting by her feet. Using her umbrella, she knocked the bowl up into the air and smacked it straight to Cinder, though the Fall Maiden was able to break it easily with her bare hands. This process repeated again, only for Cinder to catch the bowl this time. Neo then closed the distance between them and the close quarters combat continued, with both girls moving across the bar.

Finally, Cinder was able to toss Neo off the bar… only for her to open her umbrella and float to a safe landing. Rojo's eyebrows rose up, impressed at the heterochromatic girl's skill. "Damn, how much can this girl take?!"

"We're about to find out!" Cinder growled, flipping off a chair and kicking down at Neo once again. The two began exchanging blows again, though when Neo blocked one kick in particular from Cinder, the Maiden took the opportunity to bring her leg down on Neo's shoulder, jump off of it, and land feet-first on the ceiling. Cinder then pushed herself back down, reeling back her fist for a fiery punch. However, the fist only just brushed by Neo's face as she avoided it, with Cinder destroying nothing but a table. Cinder flipped herself up onto the banister above while Neo landed near the bar, both of them ready to keep going at it.

…But their fight was soon brought to a halt. "That's enough, ladies!" Lil' Miss Malachite ordered, garnering their attention. Her body guards were both pointing guns at them, which probably meant that if things started escalating anymore, they WOULD shoot. "I love dinner and a show… but it's time to take it outside."

Cinder and Neo faced each other once again… before the latter jumped up and tackled the Fall Maiden through a second story window, taking Rojo utterly off-guard. However, her brows furrowed and she faced back to Miss Malachite, getting up from her seat while pointing a finger at her. "I don't know WHAT is going on, but I DO know that we ain't finished here, Lil' Miss."

"Oh, I don't doubt it, Rojo." Miss Malachite grinned. "Perhaps you can do somethin' to help those girls see eye to eye? I highly doubt it, but there's no harm in tryin'." Rojo pursed her lips and sprinted straight out the door, making her way out the door, hoping that she could put a stop to whatever the hell was going on. "Hmhm, they'll be back." Miss Malachite chuckled.

Meanwhile, outside of the bar, Cinder landed on her feet, only to see Neo come falling down in front of her. The moment she touched the ground, however, she shattered. Cinder smirked and gave out a snicker. "Hm, nice trick." She stood up to her full height and began strolling along the alley way, searching around for the shorter girl. "It seems that you've gotten stronger. And in such a short time, as well…" A fire ball ignited in her hand at that moment. "Well, guess what? So have I." She raised her arm and shot the fire ball out behind her, which made impact with Neo's spinning umbrella. Once the fireball was dispersed, though… Cinder was surprised to see that Neo was now in more tattered clothes… and what's more, she had donned a familiar bowler hat on her head.

It was then that Rojo came running out of the bar, her eyes finding Cinder immediately. "Cindy! What's going—huh?" Rojo shifted her eyes over to see Neo approaching them, a saddened look on her face as she raised her head to them. "Uh… okay, she wasn't wearing a hat before."

"No, she wasn't." Cinder confirmed. "That hat belongs to… an old acquaintance." The Maiden shook her head at Neo. "We don't have time for your misplaced blame, girl. I didn't kill your boss and you know it. If you want revenge… take it up with Little Red."

Rojo couldn't help but be even MORE perplexed than before. "Hey, isn't that MY nickname for…" Her eyes darted over to Neo at that moment. "Wait, you have a thing against her TOO?!"

But it seemed like Neo wasn't in the mood for conversation, as she darted right for Cinder once again. In response, Cinder summoned two heated obsidian swords and began clashing with Neo and her umbrella, countering and parrying every hit against her. As they fought, Cinder grumbled at Neo's persistence, all while echoing what Rojo just said. "Didn't you hear her? You're not the only one with a grudge against Ruby!"

With a determined face, Neo flipped her umbrella around and jabbed Cinder in the face with its handle… and while Cinder's first reaction was to incinerate Neo for such a move… she forced herself to be calm, keeping her anger from bubbling over. 'Be smart about this, Cinder. Don't overreact. Just get her to stop and see reason.' Cinder pointed her sword forward and activated her Maiden powers, summoning a massive whirlwind around her while shouting; "LISTEN!"

This managed to garner Neo's attention, though it also pushed her back by a few feet as well. Across from her, Cinder began rising up in her whirlwind, her arms raised and her eyes glowing with her Maiden powers. "We ALL have a certain someone who we want to get revenge on." Cinder explained, her eyes staring right through Neo. "So quit wasting your time fighting me, and let's discuss how we can BOTH get our revenge… together."

Neo didn't have to think for a second before she became at ease, holding her umbrella behind her back as a sign of acceptance. Cinder smiled and nodded in approval. "Okay, then. Let's talk." A she lowered to the ground, Cinder saw Neo give her a "really?" face before pointing to her mouth, the Fall Maiden quickly picking up on what she meant. "…Right."

Once all was said and done, Rojo was surprised quite a bit, while also proud to see that Cinder's face was relatively calm, all things considered. "Woah, nice way to bring a fight down, Cindy." Rojo commented as she stepped over to Neo, the girl's eyes meeting hers. "But uh… what's her deal?"

"Her name is Neopolitan."

Rojo blinked. "Like… the ice cream?" Next to her, Neo rolled her eyes and gestured to her hair and outfit, which Rojo immediately picked up on. "Ah, right, okay then. Silly me. So, I take it that you two know each other?"

"Indeed." Cinder answered with Neo giving a silent nod. "We worked alongside her and her boss while infiltrating Beacon. To be honest, I had figured they both had perished in the battle… but here she is."

Neo's face faltered and she frowned, pulling off the bowler hat to put it close to her chest. Rojo noticed this and sent her a sympathetic face. "Oh… was that his?" Neo nodded sadly. "So… I'm guessing he didn't make it."

"No." Cinder shook her head. "Her boss, Roman Torchwick, was eaten by a Griffon during an altercation between them and Ruby. But Neo was lucky enough to survive."

Neo still kept her head down during all of this, her eyes laser focused onto the street. Rojo saw this and put a hand to her shoulder. "You and he must've had a special kinda bond, right?" Neo glanced off to the side at the question. "I get ya. Always hard losing someone ya look up to." Rojo's lips pursed in anger. "An' Little Red's the reason why you couldn't save him, right?" Neo's saddened features shifted to that of anger and she popped open her umbrella, mimicking being blown away by a gust of wind. "Yeah, that sucks big time, girl. I should know, I've got a bit of a grudge against Little Red myself."

"Agreed." Cinder spoke up, garnering their attention. "And let us not forget that damned Tennyson. And Michael as well." Neo quirked her brow and tilted her head, flipping Roman's hat back onto her head. "Ah, yes, you don't know about them. But we'll explain that later. Neo, if you wish to get your revenge on Ruby, then come with us. We're attempting to find a way back to the Land of Darkness after a rather… unfortunate set of circumstances involving a botched mission at Haven." Neo wore a cheeky smile and leaned up against her umbrella. "Don't give me that look. I'm offering you a position in our ranks here. If you truly want revenge on Ruby, then I suggest you join our cause. Salem probably won't let you kill Ruby right off the bat…" A devious smile came to Cinder's lips. "But I can probably convince her to let you and Rojo have her when she's done."

Neo tapped her chin, thinking it over for a little while before a smile came to her face. She extended her hand to Cinder, the Maiden grinning as she took it. "Excellent. Welcome aboard."

"Woo! Alright!" Rojo hooked her arms around Cinder and Neo's necks, taking both girls by surprise. "Look at us, a trio of misfit ladies who're out to kick ass and take names!" Neo wore an amused smile at that while Cinder rolled her eyes… though a subtle smirk belied that. "And we'll start off strong with Michael once we get back to Salem's castle!" At the mention of the energy vampire again, Neo's perplexed expression came back, to which Rojo pat her shoulder. "Ah, don't worry, Neo. Once I explain everything to you, you'll probably agree that this asshole has got a MAJOR ass kicking coming to him."

A small chuckle escaped Cinder's lips. "And I can't wait for that. But… I suppose we should get back to what we came here for in the first place." She nudged her head toward the bar and went back to the entrance, with Cinder and Neo on either side of her. The trio of women stepped through the doorway and Cinder announced; "We're back!"

At her table, Lil' Miss Malachite perked up, her bodyguards aiming their weapons at the three. But Miss Malachite was quick to wave them down. "Are ya now? Well, I hope you ladies were able to…" It was then that she took note of Neo's now damaged attire, which made her eyebrows raise up. "…Settle your differences. My word, that fight must've been intense."

"Not as much as you might think, actually." Rojo said as she sat back down across from Miss Malachite. "So… about our transport."

Miss Malachite's smile reappeared on her face. "Hm, well, a deal's a deal." She snapped her fingers and two of her followers began to move, going right to the door. "My people can lead you through a special back door to some of Mistral's finest airships. Ya'll can steal 'em from right under their noses if ya wait til nightfall."

Rojo narrowed her eyes at Miss Malachite. "And we're not gonna be experiencing any foul play, right?"

"Oh no, heaven forbid." Miss Malachite denied, gesturing to Cinder and Neo. "After the show these ladies put on for all of us this evenin', it'd be unjust to trick ya'll."

"Hm, alright then." Rojo nodded before Neo took out three more Lien cards and threw them onto Miss Malachite's table.

The crime boss raised a brow at them. "And these are for… what exactly?"

"For staying mum about this transaction." Rojo said with a wink. "We were never here."

Lil' Miss Malachite smiled and nodded her head. "Hmhm, understood. It's been a pleasure doin' business with ya'll. Now I suggest you leave now before you're found out." The three women quickly obliged and began to head out, though not before calling out to the redheaded bounty hunter. "Oh, and Rojo?" Rojo turned around and saw Miss Malachite wink to her. "If you do ever come back to town again… consider swingin' on by. I could use a big gal like you in my ranks. You'd make a great enforcer."

Rojo smirked back and gave her a salute. "Heh, much obliged, Lil' Miss." With that, she turned back and headed out the entry way, following Cinder, Neo and the two goons as they lead them to their airship out of Mistral.

…..

"We are SO dead." Emerald said as Viktor opened the massive doors to Salem's castle, Evernight. The Transylian had contacted Salem in private on the ship ride over, and judging from his demeanor after the conversation, it was evident that Salem wasn't happy. Emerald could only imagine what was in store for them the moment they saw the witch. She and Subdora were currently supporting Mercury on their shoulders as they walked into the main foyer, with Exo-Skull and Thunderhog falling in step behind her. Michael was hobbling along in front of them with Viktor leading the pack, keeping his gaze lowered toward the floor. "Once Salem sees us without the relic and without Cinder and Rojo, we're all done for."

Exo-Skull rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I hate to say it, but there probably ain't no way we're comin' back from this."

"Another double negative, man." Thunderhog piped up, receiving a grumble from his best friend as a response. "But I gotta agree wit' cha. No way is Lady Salem lettin' us walk off scot-free from this."

Michael let out a hollow chuckle. "I wouldn't worry. We ARE her assets after all." He smirked and moved his gaze to Emerald and Mercury. "Then again… out of all of us here, I CAN think of two who would be the most disposable, especially without the two powerhouses in their corner."

"Shut your DAMN mouth!" Mercury erupted, his eyes becoming the size of peas in his anger. "If anything, YOU screwed up the most by going off on your own without telling anyone!"

The energy vampire growled as Subdora wore a smirk on her face. "He has a very good point, you sciocco ignorante. Who's to say Lady Salem won't punish you the most?"

Michael's hands lit up with black energy, rounding about to them with righteous fury etched across his features. "I am one of her most powerful assets! It'd be foolish to get rid of ME!"

"ENOUGH!" Viktor bellowed, sending a massive bolt of purple light over the four bickering teammates' heads. Successfully stopping the fight before it could even begin, Viktor lowered his arm and growled at them. "How many times must I say it before enough is enough?! What's done is done, and unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it at the moment. We need to regroup, think of a new plan, and most importantly; start working like a cohesive unit!"

"I couldn't agree more, Viktor." Everyone's eyes widened as they moved their eyes toward the large staircase at the end of the foyer, seeing none other than Lady Salem at the top of the steps. Accompanying her were Doctor Animo and Doctor Watts, along with, surprisingly, Hazel. The large man's arm was in a sling while his shoulder was covered in bandages, though other than that, he seemed to not have any trouble moving around. "So… you have returned."

Salem and the three men descended the stairs as the away team stood at attention, with Viktor lowering himself to one knee. He lowered his head to her and put his right arm across his chest in respect. "Miss Salem… I apologize. We have failed."

"Indeed." Salem said before taking notice of the new stitches in Viktor's stomach. "And you are hurt." The witch then raised her head up to the six others behind him, her brows furrowed ever so slightly. The action was enough to send a chill through everyone in front of her, including Michael. Salem laced her hands together and addressed them. "But what I wish to know… is how you all failed so spectacularly."

There was a momentary pause, with everyone far too scared to speak up. However, feeling a surge of bravery flow through him, Exo-Skull stepped forward and took a knee, bowing to Salem as well. "Lady Salem… Tennyson was somehow able to find out how to disassemble our plans from the ground up. He—"

"Stop." Salem halted, unlacing her hands to press her palms together. "Let me rephrase the question; who is responsible for your defeat?"

If everyone wasn't scared before, they certainly were now. Surprisingly enough, though, Viktor stood up in front of her, still keeping his head bowed. "I must take full responsibility for this loss, my lady. I was—"

"I do not blame you, Viktor." Salem interrupted, taking the Transylian off-guard. "After all, that wouldn't be fair, now would it?" She moved her head down to Exo-Skull in front of her, narrowing her eyes at the large man. "Now, let us try this again; Farkas, who was responsible for your failure?"

Skull swallowed hard, stammering out his response. "W-Well… considerin' they ain't here… Cinder and Rojo?"

Salem pursed her lips… almost as if she were not satisfied by the answer. However, she gave the rhino mutant a nod all the same. "…Indeed. Cinder and Rojo failed to retrieve the relic, and for that, they must remain isolated until they can redeem themselves."

This statement took everyone by surprise, Emerald and Mercury most of all. "Wait… you mean she's alive?" the silver-haired assassin muttered.

'Thank the gods!' Emerald thought to herself.

Near the steps, Watts scoffed a little. "You're joking! How could you possibly know that?"

However, Animo shot him a warning glare. "Watts, my friend, I believe it best NOT to question our Mistress' judgement at this point in time." He pointed to the woman and Watts followed, now taking notice of the growing frustration on her face as she glanced to them over her shoulder.

Watts coughed into his hand and quickly apologized. "Oh, ahem, y-yes, of course. Forgive me."

Next to them, Hazel nodded his head. "Hm, I think we ALL know that Cinder and Rojo are both too stubborn to die so easily."

"That, I cannot deny." Salem concurred. "However, until they can prove themselves and learn from this defeat, they will have to fend for themselves. However, I believe there is another reason for your failure…" Her brows furrowed further as she craned her head toward Michael, glaring daggers at him. And, like a flip of a switch, Salem raised her voice. "Because I believe I also made it SPECIFICALLY clear to one of you that you were NOT to break from the group!"

She began approaching Michael briskly, making his blood run cold. The blonde immediately bowed to her and began pleading his case. "L-Lady Salem, please! I was only trying to keep Lionheart secure!"

"I had Lionheart under control, Michael!" Salem pressed with a wave of her hand, making a portal appear beneath the energy vampire. All of a sudden, a whole slew of Grimm hands began appearing around him, gripping at him and bringing him down to his hands and knees as he screamed bloody murder. "But YOU went against my orders to stay within Viktor's sight!"

"I-I'm sorry! I will never do it again, Lady Salem!" Michael screamed as everyone else watched on with horrified faces. "I promise! I pledge my loyalty only to you!"

Salem clenched her teeth and sneered, snapping her fingers to make the Grimm Hands stop. "That loyalty extends to my right hand, Michael. Remember that." With that venomous snap, she raised her arm toward the door, still glaring at Michael. "Now LEAVE! Get out of my sight and wander the wastes as you always do! Do NOT return until I send for you!" Choosing not to argue, Michael sprinted toward the entrance and Salem thrust her hand toward it, snapping the massive doors shut behind him. The witch let out a breath and calmed herself down, leaving the room in a state of stunned silence. "And so… we press on."

The silence lingered until Hog broke it. "Damn. Just… damn."

"Remind me to never go against her orders, va bene?" Subdora requested.

"I know I'm not." Skull nodded.

Salem turned and waved her hand to them. "A wise decision. You are all dismissed." As everyone was about to leave, though, she spoke up to one in particular. "Except for you… Emerald." The green-haired girl froze in her tracks, causing Subdora to so the same as they were both holding onto Mercury. "Watts, help Subdora take Mercury to the infirmary and begin repairs on his legs. Thaddeus, Farkas, take whatever damaged weapons you have and follow them. You'll be needing those repairs." She waved her hand toward Animo and Hazel next. "Gentlemen, go down to the dungeon and see how Tyrian is doing guarding our… guest. And be sure to ask him a few questions while you're down there, would you?"

Hazel and Animo bowed to her, complying with her request. "Of course, Lady Salem." With that, the others departed, leaving Salem, Viktor and Emerald alone in the foyer.

"Come, my dear." Salem ushered, moving up the steps with Viktor in tow. "We have a few important matters that need to be discussed." With a hard swallow and a single nod, Emerald followed Salem, the trio making their way to the main meeting room. Once they were all in, Salem used her magic to shut the door before sitting at the table's head, heralding for Emerald and Viktor to join her as a Seer entered through the window. "Come now, take a seat." Emerald bowed as she took her usual seat, only for Salem to stop her. "Up here, Emerald, with us." Viktor was sitting to her right… so with another gulp, Emerald hesitantly took the seat to Salem's immediate left, just as the Seer settled onto the table. "Very good. Now, Viktor told me over the communicator that you were quite distraught at Cinder's absence after the heroes emerged with the relic."

The thief lowered her head and muttered; "Y-Yes, Lady Salem. Cinder and Rojo… they're g-good teammates. I know I can count on them."

"I see…" A small smile came to Salem's lips. "Then perhaps you will be relieved to hear that the failure of this mission was NOT their fault."

Emerald's eyes practically bugged out at that. "W-What?"

"Indeed." Viktor spoke up, lacing his massive hands together on the table. "Let's just say that Miss Salem lashed out at Morningstar in particular for a very good reason. I knew from the moment I heard his explanation on that ship that he was lying, so I reported it so Miss Salem." He bowed his head to the witch. "But… it seems that she knew about this before anyone else did."

Salem placed a hand on the Seer in front of her. "Correct. This Seer has been hiding in the shadows, tracking Michael's every movement throughout the mission. I knew that he would try to find a way to escape your sights, so I made sure that I always had a set of eyes on him." A dark swirl of red smoke began to spin in the Seer's head before a vision of what it had seen began to play within its crystalline dome, showing none other than Michael having trapped Ben, Gwen, Yang, Ruby, Raven and Vernal, as well as Cinder and Rojo, down in the Vault of the Spring Maiden. "You see?"

Emerald couldn't believe what she was seeing. Well, she could, but it was still shocking to her. And what's more, it made her mad. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "That BASTARD! He betrayed us!" The vision continued, showing Michael attempting to absorb the relic's power only for Gwen to escape her sphere and take the energy back, returning it to the relic. "He… he tried to drain the Relic of Knowledge?!" She whipped her head toward Salem. "Why… why didn't you have the Seer stop him?"

"For two reasons; one, so that Cinder didn't get the wrong idea." Salem stood up and moved next to Emerald, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You see, if Cinder saw the Seer, then she might have thought that I didn't have faith in her to do the job correctly. And that couldn't be further from the truth. That girl has the most potential out of any of the followers I've had over the years, and if I had lost her trust, then I would have lost more than just the relic."

Emerald nodded her head. "O-Okay… and the second reason?"

Salem's sinister smile increased, eyeing Michael in the Seer's head as he landed next to Rojo and the frozen Cinder. "Well… I felt that rather than taking our vengeance upon him swiftly, it would be best for him to be here in person to receive his punishment the old-fashioned way… and after this, I believe you will agree." A gasp was elicited from Emerald's throat as she saw Michael whip both Rojo and Cinder over the side of the walkway, the two ladies disappearing before Michael high-tailed it out of there. A snarl began forming on Emerald's lips, her eye twitching in anger as her fists clenched. Salem gripped both of Emerald's shoulders, relishing in the negativity she was experiencing. "Yes, that's it, girl. Let your rage flow through you!"

Emerald belted out a mighty scream before taking out one of her sickles, batting the Seer away and onto the floor. "I'll throttle him! I'll make him wish that he was NEVER born!"

"Hm, yes, keep that frame of mind, Emerald." Salem urged. "Your vengeance, as well as Cinder's and Rojo's, will soon be at hand."

The green-haired thief blinked at that. "Wait, what do you…" She saw Salem wave a hand toward the Seer and it rose up, the smoke in its dome swirling around once again. This time, it showed Cinder and Rojo, both of them still alive but with Cinder in a disguise of some sort. "I-It's them!" Emerald tilted her head toward Salem. "You've been keeping an eye on them?"

"As if I would let some of my most loyal followers escape my sights." Salem mused. "They are working to get themselves back here as we speak. And when they do, we'll make sure that Michael receives a… proper punishment. Wouldn't you say, Viktor?"

"Of course, Miss Salem." Viktor acknowledged, standing up from his seat. "And when we do, I would like to request a thrashing myself."

Emerald smacked her fist into her palm. "And that goes double for me! Rojo and Cinder will probably want a piece of him, too!"

Salem smiled, obliging to their requests. "Of course, but before you do…" Salem's hands erupted into dark energy, her features becoming quite serious. "I believe it is time I take back the gift I gave him."

Emerald took in a deep breath and shook her head. "Lady Salem… may I speak my opinion?" Salem ushered her to go on, which Emerald was relieved by. "It… it was a mistake to trust him from the beginning."

To her surprise, Salem nodded in agreement. "I will admit, I have made quite a few mistakes over the course of my life." she affirmed, her expression becoming darker with each passing moment. "And trusting Michael was no exception. But do you know the one good thing about mistakes? They can always be fixed."

…..

Vernal needed that shower. After all of the unsavory things she had experienced in the last twenty-four hours, she was grateful for the hour-long reprieve. Yang had told her that she could stay in there for as long as she needed and damn it, she was going to take her word for it. The bandit girl sighed in relief as she wrapped a towel around her body, her hand reaching for the nearest hairdryer. As the heat began to quickly wash over her scalp, she reflected upon just how nice all of the teens on the team had been to her, even though she barely knew any of them. 'Hell, I've barely interacted with these guys and they've all treated me pretty well.' she commented in her head. 'What's Tennyson trying to do, lead a team of saints?'

Once her hair was dried and combed into its usual style, she turned around to retrieve her clothes… only to remember that Yang had taken them to be washed. In their stead were some of Yang's own clothes; a set of undergarments, a simple yellow crop top with short sleeves and a pair of grey short-shorts. Vernal deadpanned at the outfit. "Jeez, girl, how much skin do you want your boyfriend to see?" She tried the crop top on… and immediately took notice that there was still a little bit of room left for her in it. "…And how much ROOM do you need for your girls?!"

"Oh, don't worry!" Yang shouted from the other side of the bathroom door, causing Vernal to yelp. "That's actually one of my looser shirts!"

After collecting herself, Vernal craned her neck down, raising a brow at the shirt in question. "Hm, well, that explains a lot." She lifted up a strapless bra and raised a brow at it. "And the bra?"

"Again, don't worry." Yang spoke up, and just by the sound of her voice, Vernal could tell she was smirking. "I think we're actually pretty similar in size."

Vernal furrowed her brow before slipping the bra on beneath the shirt, finding that it DID fit her perfectly. "Okay, what the hell?!"

"I know, right? Kinda spooky."

The lady bandit rolled her eyes before donning the lower half of her ensemble, the shorts fitting just right against her frame. Still… they were a bit shorter than she would've liked. Vernal opened the bathroom door and saw Yang standing opposite her on the other side, the blonde now also in her own casual wear of an orange tank top and black short-shorts, all while sporting a big, cheeky grin. "How the hell does your dad NOT have a problem with the things you wear?"

Yang scoffed and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a big girl. What's he gonna say about it?" She then gave her a wink. "You should see what I used to wear at Beacon before my outfit change."

Vernal crossed her arms and craned her head down to what she was wearing. "So… I take it you're a fan of showing skin?"

"Well… yeah, but I'm tryin' to be a bit more reasonable with it nowadays." Yang smirked. "After all… there's pretty much only one person who I wanna show this much skin too now." She nudged her head over her shoulder. "And before you ask about the other guys here, they're mindful of not letting their eyes wander."

"Really? That's pretty impressive."

Yang waved her hand. "Yeah. Besides, they're pretty much ALL taken anyway… except for Neptune, but he knows his boundaries."

Vernal pointed to her head. "The guy with the blue hair?"

"Yeah… don't be surprised if he tries hitting on you."

"I'll teach him a lesson if he tries." The two girls laughed at that as they began walking down the hall, headed toward the stairs. "So… you and your boy seal the deal yet?"

"Nah, savin' it for somethin' special." A sly grin formed on Yang's face. "…But that doesn't mean I don't tease him about it."

Vernal offered a fist-bump, which Yang reciprocated. "Nice. Hey, did I miss anything major while I was in the shower?"

Yang gave her a shrug. "Ah, not much. We had another small mission debriefing, just to explain to our parents, Winter and Holiday about what went on at Haven." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Then Ironwood and Uncle Qrow left for Beacon to tell Goodwitch about it. Hehe, can't wait until she hears about THIS."

"Hm. By the way, what's it been like dealing with all this stuff? Like the inter-dimensional craziness?"

As they began descending the stairs into the kitchen, Yang gave out a chuckle. "Heh, honestly, it was a bit weird at first. Ben literally exploded into my life, and without that…" She raised her right arm. "I probably would be down one arm. Ever since then, things have only gotten weirder and weirder. But ya know what? I wouldn't change any of it. I've got great friends, both ones I've known for close to a year and others I've only known for a short time… but at the same time, I feel like I've known them for longer than that. My family's repaired, and I've probably got the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. Honestly, I wouldn't trade anything for it."

Vernal smiled… though there was a hint of sadness behind it. "Wow… that sounds pretty great, Yang."

The Blonde Brawler sent Vernal a sympathetic expression. "Yeah, but I get the feeling that you'd like a taste of that, too." The bandit girl turned her head away, scratching behind her head. "Ah, c'mon, don't be like that." Yang urged, putting her hands on Vernal's shoulders. "I know how close you are to my mom. Hell, you HAVE to be if she can portal to you. What exactly do you think of her?"

Vernal rested a hand on her arm nervously. "Raven's… pretty much like the mother I never had. She took me in when no one else would, gave me a life… a life of crime, but still, a life." She put her hands behind her back and glanced down to the floor. "…You know, I'm really surprised you aren't mad at me."

Yang raised a brow at her. "Mad? Why would I be mad?"

"Well, because… your mom's been away from your family for eighteen years, and in all that time, she's considered the Branwen Tribe to be her true family. But now that you and she are on good terms again…"

"You figured I'd be angry at you because she chose you guys over me and my dad." Yang finished, a small frown coming to her face. Vernal nodded slowly, but it was then that Yang returned to smiling. "Bah, I'm done being needlessly angry." She put an arm around Vernal's shoulder, bringing the girl closer to her. "Besides, you're cool, Vee. I can see why my mom would take you under her wing… pun FULLY intended."

Vernal deadpanned at that. "Right… so, you really think I'm cool?"

"REALLY cool!" The duo perked up in time to see both Ruby and Ben come walking out the door to the basement, the former with Zwei in her arms. "You're a pretty nice person as far as I'm concerned, Vernal!"

"She's right." Ben agreed. "Plus, you haven't stolen any of our stuff yet, so there's another thing."

The bandit girl rolled her eyes and scoffed at the younger girl and hero. "Psh, you're WAY too trusting, you know that?" She pointed to Ruby in particular. "And you can't just assume someone's nice, Ruby. Especially someone who CAN steal your shit."

A devious smile came to Ruby's face. "Really? Well then, I've got the perfect way to test that…" She suddenly threw Zwei over to Vernal and yelled; "Puppy Pass!"

Vernal yelped and caught the corgi, stumbling back a bit in the process. When she collected herself, she suddenly found herself staring at Zwei's big brown eyes, all while the small dog panted happily. "Uh… GAH—Ugh! S-Stop! That—haha—that tickles!" Much to her dismay, Zwei had begun licking her face, causing her to laugh involuntarily.

Ruby placed her hands on her hips in victory. "See? Zwei is ALWAYS right."

Ben chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Hehe, can't argue with a test like that."

Vernal chuckled and placed Zwei on the ground, the corgi cuddling up to her feet. "Okay, okay, I get it. Alright, so I guess I AM trustworthy enough for a dog."

Yang gave her a pat on the back. "Exactly, so that means you can be equally trustworthy to humans!"

A sigh escaped Vernal's lips. "Yeah, I guess you're right." At that moment, though, the basement door opened and Raven came strolling out, much to Vernal's surprise. She immediately straightened up and bowed her head to her teacher. "Raven, I—"

"Ah, Vernal!" Raven greeted before approaching the three girls with a kind smile, something that Vernal was NOT used to seeing all the time. "Good to see you're all cleaned up." She gave her protégé a wink. "I'm assuming you enjoyed your hour-long shower."

"Y-Yes, it was exactly what I needed, thank you." It was then that Vernal noticed that they were practically the only ones in the room… aside from a woman who resembled Blake who was cleaving through fish and an old man cooking over a hot stove with fish in the pan. "Uh, who're they, by the way?"

"Oh, that's Blake's mother, Kali." Raven answered first.

"And the man over there is my grandpa." Ben clarified further. "He was sent over with us from our world, too." He waved over to the duo in the kitchen. "Hey guys, say hi to Vernal!"

Kali perked her head up form the fish she was cleaving and beamed in Vernal's direction. "Oh, hello! You must be Raven's student. It's so nice to meet you."

Max turned his head and waved the spatula he was holding. "Pleasure to meet you, Vernal. Welcome to the crowded abode."

From the stairs, the group heard a groan. "Ugh, no kidding." Everyone watched as Tai lugged himself down the steps, the blonde man with a tired expression on his face. "Never in my life did I ever thing I'd be housing TWENTY-FIVE people at once." He set his sights onto Ben and raised a hand to him. "Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to, but… it's just a lot of mouths to feed, ya know?"

Over at the counter, Kali cleaved off another fish's head. "Well then, you're lucky that my daughter brought home more enough fish for everyone."

"Hm, yeah, I guess." Tai murmured before nudging his head toward the stairs. "Oscar's bunking with Sun and Neptune in Qrow's room, by the way. They're helping him get set up right now." He placed a hand to his forehead. "I still can't believe that's actually who Ozpin reincarnated into."

"Join the club." Raven said, brushing her shoulder against Tai's "Honestly, I was hoping he'd at least reincarnate into someone butt-ugly."

Tai gave her a skeptical look. "C'mon, Rae, what are you, four?" She teasingly stuck her tongue out at him in response, which he couldn't help but laugh at and find adorable at the same time. "Hm, right." He faced the short-haired girl standing across from them. "Vernal, I'm assuming you'll be taking Yang's offer to bunk with her and Team RWBY?"

Vernal shifted her eyes to Yang and smiled. "Well… if she's offering, then how can I say no?"

"Yay! Sleep-over!" Ruby suddenly shouted, giving Vernal an involuntary hug, much to the older girl's shock.

"Uh, yeah… sure." Vernal said before removing Ruby's arms from her waist. "Let's try and keep the whole "hugging" thing to a minimum, 'kay? I'm not exactly one for hugs."

Ruby's smile faltered, the silver-eyed girl prodding her index fingers together nervously. "O-Oh, okay. Sure."

Raven cleared her throat, bringing everyone's attention to her. "Well, now that all of that's settled, Vernal, I think you should follow us downstairs." She walked to the door while ushering her protégé to follow, with Ben, Yang and Ruby already moving toward the stairs. "There's something down here that you need to see."

Zwei picked himself up from Vernal's feet, the little dog following his owners. "Uh… okay." Vernal followed the quartet down the stairs and into the basement, where Gwen, Kevin, Rex, Weiss and Blake were all gathered as well. But then, Vernal saw that the room was practically filled with game consoles, binders full of DVDs, books, and… robotic action figures made out of miniature cars? "Woah, what the hell is this? Some sorta rec room?"

"You'd be right on that." Gwen affirmed, waving to her from the couch. "Welcome to what we call "The Hole"."

"This is pretty much where we all go to unwind after a mission." Kevin explained further. "Pretty much everything you see here was in a secret compartment in my car. …Except for the Transformers. Ben's dad sent those over when Rex's brother jumped over from our world yesterday."

Vernal blinked twice at what he was saying. She shifted her eyes down to the action figures again before going back to Ben. "So… is your dad some sort of giant super-nerd or something?"

"The biggest." Ben confirmed. "But he's got a stable job and enough money to support all of us and his hobby, so my mom has no problem with it."

"Uh-huh, so it's official, then." Vernal promptly spun around and knocked her head against the wall. "I'm surrounded by geeks."

Rex gave her a big thumbs up. "And proud of it! But, uh, that's not exactly the reason why we wanted ya down here, chica." He pointed over to the nearby coffee table in the center of the room. "Because YOU got a package."

Vernal's eyes shot open and she spun around, only to see a large cardboard box on the coffee table. Next to it, the Relic of Knowledge floated right above the table, its bottom just barely a few inches away from the table top. She was careful to not knock the lamp over as she settled her hand on the top of the box, seeing a note with her name inscribed on it. "I… I don't understand."

"Neither do we." Weiss admitted. "It was just sitting here when we all came downstairs. We asked the adults and they all said that they didn't bring it down here… or that we got any packages in the mail, at all."

"It was really strange." Blake added. "We didn't want to chance opening it in case it was a trap." She gave Vernal a nod. "Plus, we wanted to wait until you were here before we did anything."

Yang came over and leaned her head closer to the box. "Any idea what it could be, Vee?"

Vernal bit her lower lip nervously as she reached for the note on top of the box. "Well, guess there's only one way to find out." She pulled the letter off and opened it, scanning it with her eyes slowly. "Let's see, "Dear Vernal. Hopefully this package finds you well. I took the liberty of returning something that you had lost the other day. Better to have these with you in case of an emergency, right? Sincerely… Professor Paradox"." Vernal and everyone else's eyes widened at who sent the letter. "The time traveler?"

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, okay, so it's probably not a trap." She zipped up and started bouncing up and down, eyeing the box excitedly. "Well, c'mon! Let's see what he's got for ya!"

"Okay, okay, let's calm down for a sec here." Vernal urged, taking a deep breath as she reached for the top of the box. She pulled up and set it to the side… and then her jaw dropped. "My… my weapons!" She reached in and pulled out two large, crescent shaped blades with multiple sharp end points all over them, including two hooked points at the ends of the largest blades. In the middle of each circular blades, there was a double-barreled gun attached to them, along with a smaller ring where Vernal held the weapons. She stared at her weapons as she and the others stared at them. "H-How… how did he know these were—"

"Paradox knows a lot of stuff that even WE don't know." Ben grinned, taking a closer look at the blades. "But whoo! Those are some pretty neat weapons."

Rex leaned in as well. "Hell yeah! Do they have a cool name like everyone elses?"

Vernal smiled down to her blades as she retracted them into their compact form, setting them down on the table. "Yeah, I call them the Ver Laminae. Roughly translated from ancient language, it means "Spring Blades"."

Gwen blinked in surprise, recognizing the ancient language as one that was very familiar to her. "Wait… that's Latin. How is Latin a language in Remnant?"

"Forget that!" Rex said as he slammed his hands on the table. "What I think we SHOULD be asking is how this world has Latin in it but NOT Spanish?!"

Kevin could only shrug and take a guess. "Well, the primary language in this world is English, so it had to come from SOMEWHERE."

"My guess is that Remnant had to have had at least a form of Germanic language and Latinate to form the modern English language." Gwen went on. "Otherwise, we probably wouldn't be understanding everyone in this room… unless the universal translator inside the Omnitrix has been activated all this time, which I highly doubt."

Ben did a quick check, just to make sure. "Nope, the thing's off."

An amused smile came to Yang's face as she nudged Ben in the side. "Ha! But wouldn't it be funny if we actually were? Think about it, you'd all be hearing English while we'd be speaking some weird alien language like Bashmouth!" Yang lowered her head and bared her teeth, raising her arms to mimic the Metalikanine. "Eck ton feck makarr! HAHA!"

The whole room erupted into laughter for a bit before dying down a moment later, with Vernal setting her sights on the Relic of Knowledge. "So… Gwen? Did you end up telling anyone of your odd experience with the lamp?"

The Anodite sighed through her nostrils and leaned forward, her eyes trained on the lamp with an intense gaze. "Outside of the people in this room? No, I haven't." She gestured to the trio on her right. "In fact, I just got done telling Weiss, Blake and Rex all about it before you guys came back in."

Rex crossed his arms and sent a skeptical stare down at the lamp. "And I gotta say… while I've been skeptical about all the talk of gods, I'm willing to believe Gwen on this one. It's not often that she lies about anything."

Blake's lips moved up into a snarl, her canines bared. "Unlike SOME people. I can't believe Ozpin STILL isn't telling us everything."

Ruby raised her hands defensively. "Hey, hey, let's not be too hasty! M-Maybe he didn't even know about this either—"

"Ruby, the man has dealt with these relics for the past millennia." Weiss stressed. "He probably knows everything about the relics. Let's face it, he's STILL lying right to our faces." The heiress felt her heart drop the moment she saw her best friend's expression become saddened. "I'm sorry, but… we have to accept the facts. He doesn't fully trust us, Ruby."

The Hooded Huntress wrapped her arms around her, with Yang pulling her into a side-hug. "But… But why? Why doesn't he trust us?"

"It could be for a number of reasons, Ruby." Raven said bitterly as she too came over to comfort the silver-eyed girl. The Spring Maiden glowered down to the floor as she put a comforting hand to Ruby's shoulder. "But I know one thing; he's afraid that we'll find out the whole story about what's going on. And I know that there has to be more to this. There's no way that Ozpin would just tell the whole truth on anything."

Ben crossed his arms and shook his head. "Listen, Raven, while I want to question Ozpin on this as much as anyone else, I think negative feelings are the last thing we need right now." He gestured to the lamp. "Especially since we've got the relic right here."

Raven took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, you're absolutely right." She eyes the relic herself, briefly wondering just what was inside it. "Still, I cannot help but wonder just what exactly is inside that thing…"

"Psh, maybe it's a magical genie who sings and grants wishes like in all the OTHER stories." Kevin scoffed, causing everyone to glance around at one another. "…What? What'd I say?"

"Kev, ya might wanna be careful about what kinda fairy tales you bring up here." Ben pointed out. "It might actually be true." He moved his sights over to the members of Team RWBY, furrowing his brows in contemplation. "Doesn't exactly help that I think pretty much everyone in this dimension might be related to some form of fairy tale from OUR world, either."

This took everyone by surprise, including Gwen. "W-Wait, Ben, what are you talking about?"

"Just another little theory I'm working on..."

Rex couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Ben, with all the crack-pot theories you're cooking up at this point, I'm convinced that ya might be goin' a bit bonkers, my dude."

Ben put his hands up. "Hey, c'mon man. My theories can't be THAT crazy, can they?" He received a silence from the entire room as a response. "Uh, hehe, right…" His eyes snapped back up to Vernal, clasping his hands together to try and change the subject. "So, Vernal! Now that you're here, is there anything in particular you wanna do to try and relax?"

Vernal sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Heh, you know, Ben? To be honest, that long shower relaxed me pretty well…" She crossed her arms and pursed her lips in slight annoyance. "But I do still have a few frustrations that I wanna get outta my system. I'm still bugged that I couldn't do anything against those assholes from Salem's forces." She clenched her fists and growled a bit. "Grr! What I wouldn't give to kick those mutant's asses right now!"

Yang couldn't help but grin at the energy Vernal was exuding. "Ooh, Vee, you're speaking my language here."

"Oh yeah." Ben rubbed his hands together eagerly. "And I think I know JUST what you need." He went over to the video game shelf and began searching through their PlayStation library, searching for one that he KNEW Vernal would get a kick out of. "Tell me, Vernal, have you ever played a video game before?"

"…Well, only the ones I've stolen." Vernal answered. "But yeah, I have."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Heh, been there, done that."

"Still, it does count." Ben nodded before pulling off a certain PlayStation case from the shelf. "And I think I know JUST the game for you to lash all of your frustrations out on… THINK FAST!" Ben tossed the case over to Vernal, who caught it in midair. "So, you down to test your might?"

Vernal took a look at the case in her hands and raised a brow at it, reading the title; "Mortal Kombat II?"

…..

"And that is why Michael Morningstar is the biggest asshole on the face of ANY planet he happens to be on!" Rojo concluded with a big, toothy grin. Lil' Miss Malachite's people had pulled through for her, Neo and Cinder, leading them right to an Mistralian Airship that they could procure. They had to wait for the fall of night, but they managed to pilfer it successfully. Now, with Cinder at the helm, they were on their way back to the Land of Darkness, and in that time, Rojo had decided to recount to Neo about how they were betrayed by one Michael Morningstar. "So, now do you see why we have to end this guy?"

From the expression on Neo's face, it was obvious that she was not happy with what she heard. The diminutive girl was glaring right out the front window of the cock pit, her right eye twitching as she kept both hands gripped around her umbrella. Rojo was pretty sure that Neo was trying REALLY hard to keep herself as restrained as she possibly could, otherwise she'd bend the umbrella. "…So I'm guessing you hate him now, too?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Cinder asked from the pilot's chair. "She's practically fuming."

"Heh, I would be too if I had just heard about the jerk." Rojo gave Neo a pat on the back, garnering her attention. "You're gonna make a fine addition to our team, Neo. Just as soon as Mikey's booted, of course." Neo gave her a salute and a cute grin, her heterochromatic eyes full of intensity. "Haha! That's the spirit!" Rojo leaned over and pulled Neo into a friendly embrace, pointing a finger at the girl's shoulder. "Also, has anyone ever told you that you're SUPER adorable?" Neo closed her eyes and gave a little nod, her smile persisting. "Ah! So cute!"

Cinder sighed as she slouched forward in her seat a bit. "Ugh, yes, well, we may have to explain what's happened to Salem as well, so… be prepared for the…" The Fall Maiden let out a massive yawn, her eyes drooping as she kept her gaze out the front window. "…the worst. She may not be too eager to welcome us back after our failure."

Rojo sent a concerned face to her partner. "Hey, Cindy, you okay? You seem a bit tired."

"I-It's nothing, really." Cinder assured. "Just… *yawn* …still a bit drained from my fight with Tennyson."

"You should get some rest." Rojo got up from her seat and moved next to the pilot's chair, setting a hand on Cinder's shoulder. She smiled down to her partner and made a fist, grinning in determination. "You'll wanna be at your best when we pummel Michael to a pulp, right?"

Cinder exhaled through her nostrils, quickly finding herself agreeing with Rojo. "Yes, I suppose so. Here, take the controls." The Fall Maiden stood up and handed the controls over to Rojo, who happily took her seat. Cinder moved back to Rojo's old seat and plopped herself down tiredly… only to be met with the still-smiling Neo. As much as seeing the smile irked her, Cinder pushed back her irritation, not wanting it to evolve into anger. Instead, she settled for another sigh and rolled her eyes. "Yes, what is it, Neo?"

Neo glanced off toward Rojo and pointed at her with her right hand… before then returning her eyes to Cinder and pointing at her with her left. She then brought her right and left index fingers together… and traced a heart shape with them in the air, quirking a knowing brow to Cinder all the while. The blank expression on Cinder's face quickly faltered into one of shock, immediately picking up on what Neo was implying. It was all she could do to keep her voice below a harsh whisper. "W-What?! N-No, you've got the wrong idea!" She placed a hand on her chest. "I-I'm not…" She began gesturing between herself and Rojo. "We're not… ugh, could we please not talk about this?"

The mute girl covered her mouth and made a chuckling motion, all while staying silent. Neo then tapped her nose and gave Cinder a wink before craning her head away, moving her eyes toward the front window. Cinder scoffed and made another eye roll, her eyelids drooping more and more as she slowly fell into a much-needed sleep. 'Psh, me and Rojo. Ridiculous. As if someone like me as time for ANY of that kind of…' The last thing she saw before slipping off to sleep was the redheaded bounty hunter herself… and that was enough to give Cinder a pause. '…nonsense?'

…..

"Cindy? Hey, Cindy…"

Cinder groaned and her eyes fluttered open, with the first thing she saw being Rojo and Neo's faces. However, Rojo was a bit closer than she was expecting, causing her to yelp and jump in her seat a bit, her cheeks reddening a bit. "W-What? What's going on?!"

"We're home, Cindy." Rojo said before a more serious expression came to her face. "…And the Boss Lady is already waiting for us outside."

This news made Cinder's eyes widened even further, making her bolt up from her chair to look out the cockpit window. Indeed, out on the landing pad was none other than Salem herself, the witch keeping her eyes focused directly in front of her as she stood near the ship's open hatch. Cinder swallowed hard, her hands shaking as the gravity of their situation finally hit her. "We… we've come back beaten and empty handed. What's to stop her from killing us the moment we step out? We won't even get the chance to explain what happened with Michael! We—"

However, her hands suddenly stopped trembling as someone else's grabbed a hold of them, forcibly pressing them together. Cinder's eyes shot up and immediately met Rojo's who was giving her a reassuring gaze. "Cindy, I want you to take a deep breath, okay? Deep slow breaths." Cinder followed Rojo's instructions, breathing in and out slowly through her nostrils. "Okay, feel better?"

"No… but I feel a bit calmer."

Rojo smiled and moved her hands to Cinder's shoulders, giving them a small shake. "That's good. Now, c'mon, whatever music we gotta face… we do it together, right?"

Cinder stared at her partner for a few moments… before a rare, genuine smile came to her face. "Right." With that, the trio moved out of the cockpit and into the lower levels, with Neo bringing up their rear. They stepped closer toward the hatch… and they all were met with Salem's gaze.

"So… you have returned." the witch said as the three moved down the exit ramp. She took note of Cinder's clothes the moment she saw her. "And with an… interesting new wardrobe."

Cinder lowered her head to her mistress, with Rojo doing the same. "Lady Salem… my apologies cannot be enough for the disgrace we have brought upon you. We… have not returned with the relic. We've failed." She placed a hand over her chest. "But before you give us our punishment, I must warn you that Michael is—"

"Young Cinder." Salem raised a hand, halting the Fall Maiden. "…I already know."

This made both Rojo and Cinder's heads snap up in utter shock. "W-Wait, you do?" Rojo asked.

"Indeed." Salem nodded. "And worry not, you two will not be punished."

Cinder's jaw nearly unhinged and fell through the earth. "We won't?!" Salem gave her a single not. "B-But why?! We failed to get the relic! W-We came back empty handed!"

"Not completely, my dear." Salem moved closer to the three, her eyes focused directly onto Neo in the back. Rojo and Cinder moved out of the way so that the witch could address the mute girl. "After all, you came back with Michael's replacement." She extended her hand toward Neo. "You were Roman Torchwick's accomplice, correct?" Neo gulped and gave Salem a hasty, stilted nod. "Good. I have seen your combat capabilities and your unique Semblance. You will make a fine addition."

Rojo ran a hand through her hair, still in shock over what was happening. "W-Wait, so you're not mad that we didn't get the relic?"

"Oh no, I am very livid." Salem explained, making the color drain from Rojo and Cinder's faces. "However, it is not you I am angry with." She moved back around and headed right toward the front door. "After all, it was Michael who betrayed you, was it not? His sabotage of the plan was not any fault of yours."

Cinder put a hand to her neck. "Well… I suppose that's true. But how do you even know about—"

"I made sure to keep a close eye on Michael's movements during the mission, young Cinder." Salem answered. "And after all the trouble he went through to make up the blatant LIE he told Viktor, I thought it would be best to let him think that he got away with it… for the time being." She wore a sinister grin as she faced her two loyal followers and new recruit. "Now, what say we go and bring Michael crashing down, hm?"

All three of the girls wore similar smiles to Salem's, the trio eager to teach the energy vampire a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. "Boss Lady, I think I like this side of you." Rojo snickered.

…..

Meanwhile, down in the medical bay, Emerald sat down next to Mercury, reattaching his now-repaired legs to him. He had kept insisting that he could do it himself, but Emerald quickly put the kibosh on that notion, forcing him down onto the bed as she attached them herself. "You're badly hurt and you need all the rest you can get." she had argued.

"My head's pretty much all healed, Em." he said exasperatedly. "The stitches and my Aura are patching me up pretty quick."

She bonked him on the head lightly with her screw driver. "Maybe, but still, you should rest. That blast you were in looked like it hurt a lot."

Mercury pursed his lips and crossed his arms, groaning as he laid back down on the bed. "How is it that I got stuck with such a worry wart for a partner?"

"I could say the same to you." Emerald smirked. "Only replace the "worry wart" with "thick-headed dummy"."

Mercury craned his head down to her. "Heh, so what, are we throwing insults at each other now? I thought we were friends."

Once she was done reattaching Mercury's left leg, she gave him a smack on the shoulder. "We are, dummy." A small sigh escaped her lips as she put a hand to her neck. "To be honest… you might be the only real friend I have left here… what with Cinder and Rojo gone for the time being."

There was a long pause between them before Mercury piped up. "Yeah… listen, Em… I don't mean to rain on ya with this, but… I don't think we can guarantee that Cinder and Rojo will be back anytime soon." Emerald's eyes widened and she met Mercury's gaze. "I mean, you heard how angry Salem was and how she said she wanted to have them both be isolated. Unless they can REALLY make it up to her, I don't know how they can get back into Salem's good graces."

Emerald couldn't help but inwardly smirk to herself at his words. As much as she wanted to tell him about what Salem had said to her, the witch had made her promise to keep mum about it. Still… nothing wrong with a little rebuttal. "Heh, I think you'd be surprised. If it was just Cinder by herself, I'd be worried. But since she's got Rojo with her, I think they'll be alright."

"Hm…" Things stayed silent between the two before Mercury spoke up again. "Hey… do you think those two…"

"Have a thing for each other?" Emerald finished with a smirk. "…Can't be too sure yet. I mean, I think something might be sparking there, but I'm just guessing at this point."

Mercury nodded to her. "Fair point." He moved his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, which made Emerald stand up as well.

"Oh, no you don't." The thief put her hands on Mercury's shoulders, keeping them firmly in place. "Doctors orders, you still need rest."

The assassin chuckled and shook his head, pushing against her. "Psh, you're not my mom."

Emerald pushed right back. "But I AM your partner, so you should listen to what I have to say!" From there, the two began pushing against one another. Not in a frustrated way, but more in a contesting way, the duo eager to see who could get one up over the other. However, what came next would surprise both of them; "I said… stay DOWN!" With all her strength, Emerald pushed Mercury back onto the bed… though not without flinging herself over him in the process. Both of them were stunned at their now precarious position, with Emerald holding herself above Mercury by mere inches. Her face flushed red in embarrassment as she pulled her hands away, her body moving up from him. "I-I'm SO sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"God damn… that was pretty impressive, Em."

Emerald's eyes widened at that as Mercury sat up as well, the two drawing closer again as a result. "It… was?"

"Heh, yeah." Mercury chortled, his face also a light shade of red. "You pinned me pretty good." The duo sat on the bed, staring at each other for about ten seconds more before Mercury spoke up again. "E-Em… listen, I—"

Just then, the door flew open, revealing Subdora, Dr. Watts, Exo-Skull and Thunderhog on the other side. Skull had his cybernetic horn back on over his real one, the laser having been fully repaired. Hog also had his visor fixed as well, the pig man having been the one to knock the door in. "Ey-yo, Em an' Merc!" the mohawked mutant called out. "We need ya'll on the… double." The quartet were all quick to noticed the rather interesting situation before them, with Hog jabbing his thumb out the door. "…Or we could come back later, that's cool too."

Watts scoffed and did an about face. "Bah! In the middle of a medical bay? Really?! Can young people ever control their hormones?"

Subdora laced her hands together and cooed; "AW! Look at the two little piccioncini! Ah! Adorable!"

Subdora's Italian only barely comprehended into Emerald's head. "W-Wait, pichy-what?"

Exo-Skull laughed and crossed his arms. "Haha! I think that's Italian for "lovebirds"." This caused Emerald and Mercury's faces to both become red hot in embarrassment, with Emerald quickly pulling herself off of Mercury's lap, both of them in a panic. But Skull have them a reassuring wave. "Hey, relax. We're just here because Salem's called everyone for a meeting. We'll see you guys there, okay?" The massive rhino man and the others began filing out of the room… though not before he gave Emerald and Mercury a wink. "And uh, try not to get wrapped up for too long, 'kay? Hehe."

With that, the two partners were left alone again, making Emerald give out a groan. "Ugh, is it too much to ask to NOT be teased about stuff like that?"

"Y-Yeah, it's really none of their business." Mercury said as he stood up. "But hey, I guess now I have an excuse to stand up."

Emerald rolled her eyes and smirked up to Mercury. "Okay, but you're getting back to bed as soon as the meeting's over."

"Hehe, yeah, sure." Suddenly, Mercury wrapped his arm around Emerald's neck, pulling her close to him as they began moving toward the door. "Now c'mon, let's go see what the "Boss Lady" has in store for us this time." He watched as Emerald's eyes darted back and forth between his arm and his face, wondering just what the hell was going on. "Hey, if you're uncomfortable with this, I'll—"

"NO!" Emerald yelled, taking Mercury aback a bit. "I-I mean, uh… no. This is fine." She moved a bit closer to him, her head sitting close to his shoulder. A small smile came to Emerald's face, which elicited one from Mercury as well. "It's… actually kind of nice, really."

…..

"So, Tyrian, how has our guest been adapting to his new living conditions?" Salem asked as the members of her faction began filing in. The doors of the meeting room were wide open from the moment the four had arrived, which raised a few suspicions, but they men ignored it for the most part. Hazel, Tyrian, Animo and Viktor had arrived first, the former three having gotten back from interrogating Leonardo Lionheart in the dungeon below the castle. As always, Tyrian was sitting crouched on his chair while everyone else sat normally, though the scorpion Faunus was keeping mostly to himself, mumbling and snickering.

The moment he heard his mistress speak up, though, he belted out an insane laugh. "AHAHA! Oh, I can safely say that he's not a happy cat, my queen! Hehehehe, and something tells me he'll be even MORE unhappy when he gets juiced up with that mutagen the docs are cooking up! Speaking of…" He sent his beady eyes over to Animo. "How's that new brew going, Animo? Almost ready, I hope?"

Animo cleared his throat and nodded. "Indeed. The new mutagen's transition from gas to liquid is going quite well. Now, we will not even have to worry about incubation chambers if we wish to mutate others. It should hopefully be done by sometime tomorrow."

"Very good news." Salem agreed before moving over to Hazel. "And what of the interrogation? Has Leonardo been talking?"

Hazel grumbled at that. "He's been keeping his lips tight. We may have to resort to more… unconventional ways of making him talk."

"So long as you do not destroy his mind!" Animo insisted. "I still need him for our next experiment, remember!"

Viktor gave him a nod. "Of course we do, Animo. And we will be sure to not damage his body either." It was then that the rest of the cabal arrived, with Skull, Hog, Subdora and Watts in the front while Mercury and Emerald brought up the rear, the two standing side-by-side. "Ah, excellent. Good to see you all here."

Tyrian let out another hysterical laugh. "HAHAHA! Oh, well hello everyone!" he greeted sarcastically. "I heard that you all had a wonderful time out in Mistral!" He leaned forward in his seat and tapped his fingertips together. "Care to share?"

Exo-Skull was quick to wave him off. "Ah, bite me, Tyrian."

Subdora spat in his direction. "Sì, we do not need your input, grazie mille."

"Yeah, last thing we need right now is YOU gettin' up in our grill!" Hog added, crossing his arms with a huff. "Besides… we feel bad enough already."

"They are correct, Tyrian." Salem concurred. "Do not antagonize them further." The scorpion Faunus obeyed his mistress' command and slunk back to his seat, though his smile didn't falter one bit. "Now all that's left is to wait for… Michael."

Watts couldn't help but chortle at that. "Hmph, you sent for him so soon?" He gave Salem a bow. "Forgive me, my lady, but… I thought you were giving him some extended time away from the castle for the time being."

Salem furrowed her brow, lacing her hands together on the table. "A matter of great importance has come up, Arthur. And once Michael arrives… I'm sure he will agree."

A few more minutes passed before the group at the table began to hear footsteps approaching from down the hall, the huge doors still wide open. On the other end of the table, Emerald scowled at the door, preparing to hold herself back once the energy vampire strolled in. Mercury noticed this and reached for her shoulder. "Hey… you okay?"

"Not really." Emerald answered as she finally saw Michael moving into the room. 'Not until he gets what's coming to him.'

Michael smiled and bowed to Salem, even kneeling down for good measure. "Lady Salem, I must say, I'm surprised that you sent for me so soon. This meeting must be important."

"Indeed, Michael." Salem nodded. "And now that I've had time to compose myself from earlier, we can begin to plan out our next course of action; retrieving the sword beneath Shade Academy. Please, Michael, stand."

"Of course, Lady Salem." Michael obliged before moving to a chair, only for Salem to raise a hand.

"I did not say to sit down, Michael." Salem insisted, her face morphing into a serious expression. "I told you to stand."

Michael was surprised by her command, but he did as he was told. "M-My lady?" At that moment, a sinister smile came to Salem's face, and a feeling of dread began to over take Michael, making him take a step back. "W-W-What's going on?"

Salem steepled her fingers and closed her eyes. "Oh, Michael. Did you really think that you could fool me?" The whole table began murmuring in confusion, all except for Viktor and Emerald who wore matching grins. "I knew of your true actions at Haven the moment you put them into motion."

"L-Lady Salem, I… I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." Michael pleaded his case.

"Oh really? Well then, don't take my word for it. Ladies!" All of a sudden, the huge doors slammed shut and everyone's eyes snapped up to them, only for all of their jaws to drop in utter shock. Even Emerald was floored by who was in the room with them… and a few tears brimmed her eyes when she saw them. There, with their hands securely slammed onto the doors, were Cinder and Rojo, the former donned in what seemed to be a disguise of some sort. And they were both glaring straight at Michael. Salem leaned forward, resting her chin against her fingertips. "Take it up with them."

Michael forced an ear to ear grin onto his face, even though he was cursing to himself on the inside. 'DAMN IT! They're here?! HOW?! How can they be HERE?!' He forced out a laugh, hoping that it didn't come out as nervous. "Rojo! Cinder! You're alive! I-It's so good to see—" CRACK! "Gah!" In one swift movement, Rojo and Cinder were on Michael in an instant, the duo delivering a strong double-team kick to the energy vampire's jaw. He was sent sprawling to the ground, the two women looming over him with deadly glares.

"So you "fought Ironwood", HUH?!" Rojo shouted before kicking Michael in the gut, sending him skidding back across the ground.

"Got "knocked out by the drunkard", eh?!" Cinder added as she picked Michael up and slapped him across the face, making sure her nails sliced right into his face. "Did you really expect Salem to believe you?!"

Michael weakly lifted his head to her. "I-I—"

"WRONG answer!" Cinder screamed as she swung her leg and kicked Michael right in the groin… twice… thrice… as many times as she possibly could. 'I have to make sure he cannot breed.' She thought to herself before throwing the wailing Michael across the table, with everyone's eyes on him. Cinder pointed directly to him and declared; "Michael has LIED to all of you! He didn't get beaten by Branwen and Ironwood, he followed US down into the Vault to try and steal the energy from the relic, betraying us in the process!"

Rojo jabbed a thumb to her chest. "Then when he failed, he made sure WE were given the boot so he could get off scot-free!"

Almost immediately, everyone at the table began to glower at Michael, leaving the blonde to cower in fear as Emerald and Mercury stood up. "Let US have first crack at him." The thief insisted.

Thunderhog, Subdora and Exo-Skull followed, the rhino mutant punching a fist into his open palm. "Yeah, then WE'LL take over from there."

Tyrian leapt up to the table, his insane glare burrowing straight into Michael's soul. "He DARES betray the queen?! He must receive the HIGHEST of punishments!"

Viktor clenched his fist as it began sparking. "Save some of him for me, Tyrian, if you would."

Hazel clenched his teeth and growled. "I may only have use of one arm, but…" He reached down into a new set of pouches given to him by Salem and pulled out a Fire Dust crystal, giving it to Animo. "Doctor, if you would."

"With pleasure!" Animo said before stabbing it into Hazel's right arm, giving the man the power boost he wanted. "There you are, now go dispose of him!"

"Indeed." Watts concurred, stroking his mustache. "Take care of the riff-raff, if you would be so kind."

Michael laughed nervously as he moved to his hands and knees, the energy vampire still trying to cover for himself. "Hehehe, now, now, everyone! L-Let's not be hasty." His eyes spotted Salem across from him and he extended his hand to her, hoping that she would believe him. "L-Lady Salem, please, I beseech you! I only wished to absorb the relic's energy directly so that I may deliver it straight to you! A-After all, who needs a Maiden to access the relic's power when you have a living energy sponge like me, right? Hehe…"

Salem's dark expression slowly formed into a smile as she extended her hand to Michael, which he was all too eager to take. However, before he could, Salem grabbed him by the arm as a dark mist began erupting from her hand and enveloping his entire body, making him yell out in pain. "It was a mistake on my part to trust you, Michael. I had thought your grudge against the Tennysons would make you the perfect player in this conflict." Salem shook her head. "But now I see that you care for no one but yourself, and as I told you before, the moment you put your desires before my own… then they will be lost to you." As Michael continued to scream, everyone could see his skin begin to shrivel up and his hair start to fall out, the remaining locks becoming a ghastly white. "As such, I believe its time I took my enchantment back."

Once Salem was done, she let go of Michael's hand, revealing him to have returned to his corpse-like state once more. The energy vampire looked at his shriveled-up hands and his sunken-in eyes widened, his teeth clenching in anger. "NOOOO!"

"Welcome back… Darkstar."

Michael, now Darkstar once more, stood up and glowered right at Salem, his fists shaking. "You… you can't do this!" He thrust his hands at her. "I can always just take my energy back!" However, when he made to activate his powers… he found that he couldn't summon any energy, much to his dismay. "W-What?! Why isn't anything happening?!"

"Oh, that's simple, really." Salem answered. "When I took my enchantment away from you, I put in a new one. Usually it only works on Semblances, but considering your unique case, I had a feeling it would work on you as well." She folded her hands against the table with a sly grin. "Your powers have been temporarily deactivated. You're welcome."

Darkstar's eyes went back to his hands in shock. "WHAT?! That's impossible!"

"Oh, I can assure you that it is." Salem snapped her fingers, prompting her forces to start closing in on Darkstar. "Now… I believe it's time to receive what you deserve, Michael. Now, everyone, you are allowed to beat him within an inch of his life, but do NOT kill him, please."

Thunderhog let out a massive squeal, slamming his gauntlets together to create a charge. "Works for me! REEEET! Everyone, let's get 'im!"

From there, it was complete and utter chaos within the meeting room, with Darkstar's wails of pain and agony being the loudest noises erupting from it. There were punches and kicks thrown at him, fire and lighting shot off in multiple directions as the shriveled-up man screamed when hit with it, and there were laser blasts courtesy of Hog and Skull, which ended up blowing Darkstar all the way back toward the door. After making impact and falling to the ground, Darkstar slowly stood up as smoke billowed up from his body, with clear injuries lining his arms, legs and face. "You… you can't do this!" Darkstar shouted. "You NEED me! My abilities are irreplaceable!"

"Perhaps." Salem said at the head of the table as the other villains, sans the two doctors, continued to approach him. "But I'm sure that there will be many more opportunities for more unique recruits in the future. In fact… Cinder and Rojo were able to bring us your replacement already."

This made most of the villains pause for a moment, with Emerald giving out a confused; "W-Wait, they did?"

"Indeed, they did." Salem affirmed as she stood up, glaring at Darkstar all the while. "Michael, your tenure within my forces… has been interesting, it has been fruitful, and it has been storied. But now… just like every story, it must have an ending." She snapped her fingers and the door behind Michael began to open, making the energy vampire whip himself around. "Michael Morningstar, consider yourself officially… fired."

The door opened… and a white, pink and dark brown blur suddenly leapt down from the ceiling in the hallway, kicking Michael straight in the face. He was sent back several feet toward the others before the new figure landed on the ground… with an open, pink umbrella blocking everyone's view of her. However, Emerald and Mercury let out simultaneous gasps. They knew who this was. "N-No way!" Mercury uttered.

The girl spun her umbrella over her shoulder, revealing herself with her head lowered and her hand on the brim of her bowler hat. The new arrival lifted her head with a smirk and a wink, which only made Emerald's jaw drop even more. "Neo?!" She whipped her head toward Cinder and Rojo. "H-How did you guys find NEO?!"

"Long story." Cinder answered before grinning maliciously down at Darkstar. "Well, Michael? How do you like your replacement? I think you'll find that she is more than capable of taking your place."

"This is INSULTING!" Darkstar snarled. "You're replacing ME with this… this… tacky, mismatched, ice-cream colored bitch in a STUPID hat?!"

All at once, Neo's face contorted from a smug expression to one of utter irritation and anger… and Rojo had a feeling it wasn't from being called a "bitch". "Oh, you REALLY shouldn't have insulted the hat." From there, Neo closed her umbrella and began to mercilessly beat the snot out of Darkstar, the young man howling in pain as he was smacked, prodded, whipped and jabbed without any pause on Neo's part. It was all anyone could do to keep from wincing at the barrage. In the end, Michael laid sprawled on the ground in an unconscious heap, with Neo breathing hard and with her teeth clenched over him. Everyone stared at the diminutive girl in utter shock, all except for Rojo, Cinder, and Tyrian who couldn't help but laugh, and Salem who remained neutral. "Ahaha! Oh god, that was the funniest shit I've ever seen!"

"Hahaha! I know, right?" Cinder guffawed. "Ah, he had that coming to him from the very beginning!"

Emerald blinked in surprise. "W-Wow… it's been a while since I've heard a laugh like that from you, Cinder." Her eyes moved over to Neo and she gave the shorter girl a smile and a wave. "And uh… hey, Neo! It's been a while." Neo blinked out of her hate-fueled state and her eyes darted over to Emerald, returning her wave. "Again, I have to ask; where did you FIND her?"

"In Mistral, believe it or not." Cinder answered. "While our initial meeting wasn't exactly smooth, we did manage to work out a deal." Neo gave a salute, to which Cinder nodded back. "So, in exchange for revenge on Ruby Rose, she has agreed to work with us."

Mercury scratched the back of his head. "Man… Cinder, I gotta admit… I underestimated you guys." He received quirked brows from Cinder and Rojo respectfully, urging him to go on. "I-I honestly thought you two wouldn't be able to get back, least of all this soon. And the fact that you brought Neo with you and ratted out Morningstar… I feel like I owe you an apology."

Cinder took in a deep breath as she was given a supportive nudge from Rojo, prompting her to move toward Emerald and Mercury. "To be perfectly honest… I am the one who owes the two of you an apology." THIS served to make everyone's jaw drop, most of all Emerald, Mercury, and Doctor Watts, who was stunned into silence. Salem wore an impressed look on her face as she listened to her protégé. "It is because of my poor leadership, my failure to control my temper, and my utter disregard for anyone other than myself that we have been failing for so long." Her eyes glared down to Darkstar. "And while Michael was ALSO the largest factor in our latest failure, I still feel the need to take a big part of the blame." She lowered her head to her two teammates. "I realize now that I have much to work on, so if you'll allow me, perhaps we can… start working as a true team from here on?"

The silence continued for a good few moments after that, and through it all, a tight feeling began to take hold in Emerald's chest, causing her to choke up. "C-Cinder… I really don't know what to say."

"I do!" Mercury piped up. "Where the HECK did all of that just come from?!"

Cinder chuckled and placed her hands on her hips. "Let's just say I had some time to… reflect on a few things." She sent a brief glance to Rojo, the bounty hunter giving her a thumbs up as she and Neo stepped next to her. "So, are we ready to pull ourselves together here?"

"YES!" Emerald answered eagerly before realizing she had lost her composure. "Er, um, I mean… yes. Yes, I am."

Mercury smirked and pumped a fist. "Eh, what the heck? I'm in. Let's give those heroes hell."

"Haha! Alright!" Rojo reached across Neo, Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury's shoulders, bringing them all in for a group hug. "A group of five ready to take on heroes together! I like the sound of that!"

"…Yes." Cinder said before slightly stepping out of the hug. "Still not much for the whole "hugging" thing, though."

Rojo raised her hands in defeat. "Ah, can't blame a girl for tryin'." The redhead focused her attention back to Michael's battered and beaten form, raising a brow down at him. "So… what do we do with Mr. Dark Mikey here?"

Salem pressed her fingers together as her smile returned. "Oh, I have an idea…"

…..

*Sub Zero WINS – Flawless Victory – FATALITY*

As Ben stared at the TV screen with a blank expression, watching as Sub Zero froze his character, Raiden, and shatter him with an uppercut for what had to be the fourth time in a row… he couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit peeved. He could see his other friends smiling in amusement, including Yang as she struggled to hold back her giggles, as he craned his head over to the girl controlling Sub Zero. That being; Vernal. The young woman had a cocky grin on her face as she held her head up high, the PlayStation controller firmly gripped in her hands. "You know, I kinda hate how fast you managed to pick this up."

Vernal simply gave him a shrug. "What can I say? Fighting games are my specialty and I REALLY needed to let off some steam." She offered him a wink. "Thanks for introducing me to Mortal Kombat, though. This is WAY more violent than any fighting game I've ever played."

"No kidding." Yang said as she stepped up to the place, putting her hands on her hips as she ruffled her boyfriend's hair. "But now it's my turn to step up to the plate, babe. Let's see if the Soaring Ninja MASTER can put a dent in her!"

Ben sighed and stood up, giving a small laugh. "Hehe, alright, babe. Besides, I think I've played enough—" But the hero was cut off at the sound of rapid footsteps approaching, prompting everyone to whip around to the stairs. There, rapidly making his way down, was Jaune, the blonde knight hyperventilating.

"J-Jaune!" Ruby shouted in concern. "What's going on?!"

"Guys!" Jaune pointed up the stairs, his face visibly perturbed. "Y-You gotta come to the front door! There's something that you GOTTA see to believe." The Alien Trio, Rex, Team RWBY and Vernal all exchanged confused yet concerned faces before following Jaune back up the stairs and to the front door, which was already opened with the rest of the team crowded around it. They were all gawking at something out on the front porch, which the others couldn't get a good view of until they made their way to the front.

Oscar, who was near the front of the gathered group, turned to face the approaching hero. "Ben! You've GOTTA see this."

"Alright, alright, what's all the fuss abou—" Ben cut himself off when he saw what they all staring at. There, retrained and with a gag over his mouth, was Michael Morningstar, now back in his corpse-like form. He was desperately trying to escape his bindings and run away, but to no avail. "Darkstar?!"

Almost instantly, Kevin burst out laughing. "BAHAHAHA! OH! Oh my god! You can't be serious!"

Gwen, astonished by what she was seeing, instantly took notice of a letter pinned to Darkstar's face. She walked up and plucked it off of him, all while he glared up to her in contempt. She opened the letter up and began reading it. "Let's see… "Dearest Assholes"." Gwen deadpanned at that. "Charming. "Please find on your doorstep one of the biggest jerks this side of any planet. We don't want him anymore, he's your problem now. Oh, and the Boss Lady took his powers away for a bit, so don't worry 'bout him givin' ya trouble. This doesn't change anything, though, so be ready for us. Sincerely yours, Rojo"."

Yang let out a series of her own guffaws immediately after, with Ruby, Rex, Nora, Sun and Neptune joining her. Weiss and Pyrrha also had to resist the urge to burst out laughing at the scene. "HAHAHA! They KICKED him out! Flung him to the curb like yesterday's news paper!"

"One that's been used to potty train! Haha!" Ruby added.

Blake tilted her head toward Ben. "So… what do we do with him?"

"What we ALWAYS do with bad guys." Ben smiled and activated the communicator on his Omnitrix, contacting an old friend. "Hey, Tetrax! You will NEVER guess who we found loitering on our front porch!"

…..

A/N: And thus, Michael Morningstar's time within Salem's forces comes to an end. And what better way for him to get kicked out than to be thrown right onto his ass! But worry not. If you think this is the last we'll see of his villainous misdeeds, just wait for Volume 2. I've got some plans for ol' Mikey, and he'll be out for BOTH the heroes and villains once his powers fully return. And, taking his place in Salem's forces is, of course, Neo! Like before, she'll be hanging around Cinder's group, as she already knows them well enough and seems to have already made fast friends with Rojo (and seems to be keen on implying a few certain… interests between Rojo and Cinder as well, hehe). And of course, Salem knew about Michael's deception from the very start. You think she WOULDN'T have an extra pair of eyes on him the whole time? It's time to pick up the pieces Michael left and get a fresh start on things…

But that's not all we saw, now was it? The heroes had a little reunion with the adults and their pets now that they're back home, and it seems that Vernal is settling in rather well. Yang and Ruby are making certain of that. And hey, Paradox delivered her weapons back to her, so there's that. And what better way to blow off some steam… than dismembering your enemies in Mortal Kombat? Huzzah for gratuitous violence!

Phew, well everyone, I hope you guys enjoyed this special two-year anniversary chapter. I'm honestly so grateful to anyone who has even clicked on this story to give it a read in its two years of existing, and I can't wait to show you what I have planned for the future after this first volume comes to a close this year. But for right now… NEXT TIME! We're back to Fridays and back to another casual chapter as Ben and a few others visit Team CFVY and Cooper at their apartment to ask them to join in on some training. During said training, Jaune starts testing out his new Semblance, though a certain farm boy can't help but feel left out now more than ever. After that, Ghira and Sienna make their arrival on Patch, which leads Blake, Kali and Ilia to show them the new White Fang logo they came up with! That said… Ben and Gwen might be a bit stunned when they see what they and Kevin came up with… Thanks for reading, guys, and I'll see you later! Stay safe out there!