A/N: Good morning once again everyone! Welcome back to the story and Chapter 99! One more until we're finally in the triple digits! Is it a big number? Well, yeah, but to be honest I'm actually really excited about it. I knew right from the start that my Ben 10/RWBY series would be one of the longer stories on this site, and the fact that we're this far and getting ever closer to the end is really getting me pumped up. But let's focus on the here and now, shall we?

(Update, 7/17/20: Hey guys, Omni-Remnant here with a bit of a late-night addendum. When I initially posted this chapter, there was a certain conversation that I think came across as a bit too heavy handed, one concerning ancient myths and legends. I decided to revise it, re-word it a bit, and fix some mistakes I made, so here's the new chapter but changed up a bit. Hope it's a bit better than before. We now return to your scheduled programming.)

This is…

Chapter 99: A Visit Long Overdue

…..

"Welcome… to the City of Mistral!" Sun exclaimed as he spread his arms out. Presently, he standing at the precipice of the city's main entrance with Blake and Neptune, having walked there from the outskirts of town where the rental house was. Neptune stood with his arms crossed and with a smile on his face, taking the familiar city smells that he had missed for so long. As for Blake, she couldn't help but try to take in every bit of the scenery that she could from their vantage point. From the architecture to the mighty waterfall that cascaded down in front of one of the many homes. This didn't go unnoticed by Sun, though, the monkey boy sending a smirk. "So, you likin' the place so far, babe?"

"Are you kidding? This city is beautiful!" Blake's eyes trailed across the multitude of buildings, a sense of familiarity overtaking her. "It looks a lot like Menagerie, really."

Neptune nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I can definitely see the resemblances." He tilted his head toward Blake. "But since Menagerie DID used to be part of Anima, I guess that's probably a big reason why, too."

"Yeah. Still, I'm glad I'm getting to see all of this." She trailed her eyes around, searching for a set of stairs to take them down to the city level. However, when she didn't find any, she sent a confused look to her boyfriend. "Uh… Sun? Where's the stairs?"

Sun's head whipped back with a laugh. "Ha! Stairs?" He jogged over to a nearby stand that had a panel hardwired into it, his finger hovering over a button. "Baby, where we're going we don't need stairs." With the press of a button, the platform they were standing on suddenly jostled and began to lower down to the city, much to Blake's surprise.

"W-Whoa!" Blake grabbed the railing, securing her balance. "Wait, this thing MOVES?!"

Neptune pointed finger guns at her. "Bingo! Being built on two mountains, Mistral ain't exactly your typical city." He leaned up against the railing and nudged his head toward the ground. "See, instead of normal suburbs, Mistral has levels to it."

"Well, I knew that." Blake clarified. "I just didn't know that you used a lift to get to them."

Sun moved over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Heh, whaddya expect us to do? Climb tons and tons of stairs? This way's a LOT easier if you ask me." Once the lift came to a halt, Sun reached down and opened a nearby gate. "Alright, floor six; market place and general suburbia."

With that, the trio began walking through said market place, taking in the sights and smells of everything the vendors were selling. "Now this is pretty incredible." Blake commented before taking notice of all the Faunus and human interaction. She saw vendors with horns, citizens with tails, and even a few Human-Faunus couples who were walking hand in hand through the market place. "Hah, I knew that Mistral was one of the better places where humans and Faunus get along, but… this is just so nice to see."

"Sure are." Sun nodded. "This place is probably the second-best place in the world concerning human and Faunus relations… the first being Vacuo, of course."

Neptune gave his friend a nudge. "Heh, yeah. Now if only they could do something about all the sand, huh?"

The trio laughed at his quip before Blake took notice of something else. "Wow, they even sell weapons here. Bet Ruby would love that."

"Yep, it's certainly something. But ya still gotta be kinda careful." Neptune advised. "The vendors here will sell you just about anything under the sun… whether they should or not." He pointed directly at her. "Oh, and stay FAR away from the lower levels. Trust me, the lower you go, the worse it gets."

Blake quirked a brow at him. "And I'm guessing the opposite is true if you go up?"

Sun gave her a thumbs up. "That's the idea. And right at the top…" The monkey boy spun around and pointed right above their heads, making Blake and Neptune crane their necks up. "…is Haven Academy."

A small gasp escaped Blake's lips as she gazed upon the institution in all its splendor, the building itself having been built upon the tops of the two mountains. "Wow… it's amazing."

"Yeah… sure is." Sun concurred. But at that moment, his smile disappeared and he lowered his head a bit, thoughts of doubt beginning to swirl around in his head.

Neptune quickly noticed this and shook his teammate by the shoulder. "Hey! Hey, dude, you okay?"

Blake immediately took notice as well. "Sun? What's wrong?"

"H-Huh?" Sun's head snapped back up and he met the duo's eyes, their concerned eyes snapping him out of his thoughts. "O-Oh, yeah, I'm good guys. Everything's cool."

Neptune and Blake glanced to each other before furrowing their brows to the blonde Faunus. "Yeah, I'm having trouble believing that." Blake said as she placed a firm hand onto Sun's arm. "Sun, please… tell us what's wrong."

"I think I already know, actually." Neptune said with a skeptical look. "You were thinking about Lionheart, weren't you?"

Sun closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. "Well… come on, Neptune, can ya blame me?" He thrust a hand out to him. "Don't tell me you're not still thinking about it, because I KNOW you are." Neptune's face fell and he nodded slowly, confirming Sun's suspicions. "Listen, I'm sorry guys, but… Professor Lionheart's someone who I look up to immensely." He reached to the back of his neck. "He's helped me out so much since I came to Mistral… to Haven. And to think that he might be a traitor who's conspiring with Salem… it… it makes me angry."

"…And sad, right?" Blake added, catching Sun's attention again. "You don't have to hide what you're feeling, Sun. Not from us."

"She's right, dude." Neptune stepped forward. "This thing with Lionheart… it's bumming me out too. And I REALLY hope that Raven's informant is wrong. But if they aren't… then we're gonna have to do whatever it takes to stop him."

Sun folded his arms over his chest. "I know… I just wish we didn't have to."

Blake reached up and cupped Sun's cheek, bringing herself up so that she could give him a small kiss. "Sun, I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I separated from the White Fang. After being with them for so long, it hurt me to see that they had taken such a radical shift." She furrowed her brows at the next part. "Can't say the same for Adam, of course, but to see something that I once thought the world of become progressively worse was heartbreaking…" Blake set her other hand onto his chest. "But being betrayed by an actual person who you trust… it must be heartbreaking."

"It is… but if Lionheart really IS guilty of working with Salem…" Sun gently grasped her hand with his own. "Then I'll do whatever it takes to bring him down."

After a long pause, Blake sent him a single nod. "I understand, Sun." A small smile came to her face as she nudged her head to the side. "For right now, though, I think we should get you boys over to Scarlet and Sage."

"Yeah, man." Neptune supported. "It's about time we got them caught up on everything that's been happening."

A smile worked its way onto Sun's face as well and he nodded as well. "Yeah, you're right." He jabbed a thumb toward the market. "Follow us, Blake. Scar and Sage's neighborhood should be right through here."

"Alright, lead the way!" Blake began following Sun and Neptune through the market, but she quickly came to a halt as a certain smell began wafting into her nostrils. In mid-step, Blake spun on her heel and zipped right over to where the tantalizing scent was coming from… a stand that belonged to the local fish monger. The moment she saw the contents of the stand, her eyes glazed over and her mouth hung open, a bit of drool beginning to salivate off of her lips. There was salmon, swordfish, tuna, koi, and even eels, both raw, pre-cooked, and smoked. And it all smelled DELICIOUS. There wasn't much Blake could do but gawk at it as her stomach growled. "Aaaaah… aaah… ah."

"Ho-ho! You like my selection, yes?" Blake was snapped out of her stupor when she saw who she could only assume was the monger himself, a rather tall and lanky man with dark blue hair and a long, scraggly beard. He spoke with a somewhat high-pitched voice and an accent she couldn't quite place. "Is there anything here that catches your eye, young lady?"

"Hah, you said it." Blake breathed out. "You've got quite the stock."

The monger pointed right at her. "I should hope so! My fish are, how you say, "the catch of the day", yes?" He picked up a fresh one by the tail and presented it to her. "Fresh as my nana's garden soil! Care to see what else I have in stock?"

Blake gasped and her face broke out into a big smile. "WOULD I?!"

The cat girl reached for her Lien card but Sun and Neptune quickly zipped over to her, the blonde immediately asking what was going on. "Whoa, whoa, Blake, what's the hype?" But just as he asked that, his eyes moved up and snapped open at the sight of the fish monger. "Wait, RANDOLPH?!"

The monger, apparently named Randolph, brightened up at the sight of Sun and Neptune. "Ha-ha! Half-baked-half-water-ninny SSSN boys! It has been many moons since Randolph last saw you!"

Sun burst out laughing while Neptune wore a visibly perturbed expression while Blake's eyes moved between the monger and her boyfriend in confusion. "Wait, Sun, you know him? …And did he just call you half-baked?"

"I dunno why he thinks I'm a stoner, but it's HILARIOUS." Sun laughed before putting an arm around Blake's shoulders, gesturing to Randolph as he did. "But yeah, this is Randolph. He's the local jack-of-all-trades around these parts. Farmer, fisherman, world champion goat-milker, you name it!"

"I am NOT a water ninny." Neptune mumbled to himself.

Randolph reached over the counter and offered to shake Sun's hand. "Ho-ho, what brings you around today, monkey-tailed SSSN boy? Last Randolph saw you, you were stowing yourself away on a ship like Randolph's great-grandfather did one hundred years ago!"

"We've been… out of town for a long time, Randolph." Sun answered. "Vytal Tournament kinda went south, as you've probably heard."

"Ah, yes, the vile beasts of Grimm bombarded Beacon Academy, yes?" Randolph waved his hand over to some nearby houses. "The injured-but-still-standing SSSN Boys told me all about it. But enough chit-chat!" He moved his hand over to Blake. "She is your friend, I take it?"

Sun smiled and pat Blake on the shoulder. "Oh, yeah! This is Blake. She's actually my girlfriend."

Randolph clasped his hands together. "Ho-ho! Happy tidings on to you, then! Your lovely partner was actually just gracing my stand with her presence, you see. She has quite the eye for product, yes?"

Blake nodded eagerly again. "Yep, and I was JUST about to buy a ton of if!"

"…Uh, we don't exactly HAVE any place put a ton of fish at the moment, Blake" Neptune reminded.

Realizing that the blue-haired boy was right, Blake lowered her head in disappointment, her ears folding down as tears began brimming her eyes. "Darn it, you're right. And we aren't due to leave until later, anyway."

"Ahahaha! Fret not, salt-of-the-earth Blake girl!" Randolph said, making all three teens perk their heads back up to him. "Randolph's stand will be open all day and all night to the public. The fishing was very good this season, you see. Yes, VERY good! There is still plenty of stock here for ALL of Mistral AND more!" He pointed to them and gave them a wink. "You can come back later at any time you like, yes?"

"YES!" Blake shouted enthusiastically. "We'll be back later this afternoon and that's a promise!"

"Ho-ho, excellent!" The monger bent over and pulled something out from under his stand, which as it happened, was actually a fully cooked bass. "And for your well-mannered enthusiasm for Randolph's product, I would like to gift this sample to you!"

Blake gasped and excepted the fish graciously. "Really?! Oh, thank you, this is too nice!" She gave him a bow. "We have to be going now, but thank you so much!"

"Think nothing of it!" Randolph waved to the trio as they left. "Say hello to the half-speckle-faced-half-leaf-haired SSSN Boys for me! And may your empty belly be filled by the best scourges of the sea!" At that moment, though, Randolph heard a bleat and a squeal from the back of his stand, making his brows furrow. "Victoria! Winnifred! Why must you always find your way into Randolph's produce bin!? This repeated tom-foolery will only lead you BOTH to the lives of hairdressers!"

…..

Meanwhile, back at the rental house, the team had gathered in the back yard, which in reality was more of a training ground than anything. The ground was complete sand and the lower floor of the house led right out to it, which in itself served as a makeshift training room. It was here where most of the teens were standing, watching as their two friends went toe to toe with one another. Diamondhead, with his blade up and shield raised, was currently fending off an attack from Jaune, the blonde knight having pressed his own sword against the Petrosapien's arm. The group was cheering as the duo went at it, their blades clashing and their shields bashing against one another all the while.

Undoubtedly, though, there were two certain individuals who could be heard over all the rest. "C'mon, Green Boy!" Yang cheered with all her might. "Show Vomit Boy who's the top dog!"

"Give him all you've got Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out in excitement. "Show Ben just what all that training we did was for! I know you can do it!"

Yang couldn't help but be surprised at Pyrrha's exuberant cheering, her eyes widening every time she shouted out. "Damn, P-Money, you've got a set of lungs on ya!"

Pyrrha pumped her fists into the air. "Of course! I'm giving Jaune every ounce of support I have, you know."

Ruby leaned over and sent a sheepish smile to Pyrrha, her fingers plugged into her ears. "Yeah, that's cool, but… do you have to be so loud?"

"No kidding." Oscar commented, patting his own ears as he felt them ringing. "I think I might've blown an eardrum."

"Oh… I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized with a bow. "I'll try to be more—"

"DRIVE HIM INTO THE DIRT, JAUNE!" Nora belted out, making everyone cover their ears. "DON'T WORRY ABOUT HIS SIZE, IT'S JUST AN INTIMIDATION TACTIC!"

Next to her, Ren sighed as he placed his hands over his ears. "I think Nora is the only person I know who needs both an indoor AND an outdoor voice."

"Gee, ya think?" Weiss countered as she, Gwen and Rex did the same as the green ninja was doing. "I'm into this fight, too, but jeez!" Back out on the battle field, Diamondhead had gained the advantage and was currently pushing Jaune back toward the fence that surrounded the backyard, hoping to press him into it. "Jaune had better watch what he's doing." Weiss said. "Otherwise, Ben might win this one."

But right as those words left her mouth, Jaune lifted his shield to counter Diamondhead's next blade strike, using the impact to roll away from the Petrosapien. This left Diamondhead to stumble forward a bit, though he regained his footing easily. "Not bad with the bait and switch, Jaune." he said with a smirk. "You really HAVE gotten better."

Jaune smiled as he jumped up to his feet in a battle-ready position. "Yeah? Well I'm just getting started, Ben!" He snapped his left arm up, raising his shield so that its tip was pointing right toward Diamondhead. Jaune then flexed his hand on the handle, making the tip pop open and allowing the gun barrel to slide out, a shot of Fire Dust blasting out the moment it did. The round made impact with Diamondhead's face, exploding as it hit.

"Gah!" Diamondhead winced, the cinders and smoke from the flames getting in his eye. "Ugh, you've gotta be kidding—" CLANG! "AGH! What the?!"

With the hero temporarily blinded, Jaune had taken the opportunity to rush forward and, with a mighty battle cry, swung his sword right at Diamondhead's face. This caused the Petrosapien to stagger back a bit in shock, though he was still standing. 'Not for long…' Jaune thought before stepping forward again and ramming the tip of his shield into Diamondhead's gut. With another pull of the trigger, the blonde knight sent another Fire Dust round into the crystalline alien, the point-blank impact making them both fall back. But while Jaune tuck and rolled into a crouch, Diamondhead ended up flat on his back, making Jaune grin at his performance. "Yeah, that's how we do it!" He glanced to Pyrrha and sent her a wink, making the Invincible Girl blush madly.

"AH! Spectacular!" Pyrrha exclaimed, waving both of her hands to her boyfriend. "Excellent performance, Jaune!"

"I gotta say, that IS quite impressive." Gwen concurred. "It takes a lot to put Diamondhead down, even for a little while."

Rex closed his eyes and nodded steadily. "True, true… but then again, Ben ain't gonna stay down for long…" Suddenly, beneath their feet, the ground began to rumble, catching everybody off guard. "Oh, there it is."

Without warning, a huge chunk of crystal burst out of the ground at Jaune's feet, making him launch up into the air and fly back. "AAAAAGH!" Jaune did his best to try and reposition himself in midair, and for the most part, he was successful. He did a backflip and managed to land on his feet… but not without a lot of pain shooting up through his ankles. "GAH!" The pain was sharp and sudden, but as always, it began to dullen the moment his Aura kicked in, making the pain go away within seconds. "Hey, c'mon! Where's the honor in surprise attacks, huh?"

Diamondhead chuckled as he stood up. "Honor? Wow, Jaune, you're starting to even SOUND like a knight." Diamondhead shifted his shield arm into a shard-shooting one. "But this ain't medieval times, Jaune, and I'm not a knight-errant. So look alive!"

All at once, a multitude of crystal shards began shooting out of Diamondhead's arm, making Jaune cry out and raise his shield. Thankfully, the shield proved to be resilient enough to make the shards bounce off, which managed to leave Jaune confused. "W-Wait, what?" His eyes shifted down to the ground to see that the shards were, in fact, dull and unsharpened, meaning that they couldn't pierce through his shield. 'Phew, thanks, Ben.' With a determined expression, Jaune stood up and began running, moving forward while also heading off to the side a bit to try and make Diamondhead follow him.

"Stayin' strong, Jaune?" Diamondhead called out. "You're taking a bit of a risk."

"Maybe, but who said risks weren't worth taking?!" Jaune countered.

Diamondhead couldn't help but smirk at that. "Now you're getting it." With that, the Petrosapien shifted his shard-shooting arm into a second blade, clanging it together with his other blade as he prepped himself to intercept the knight. "Alright, then! Let's see if your risk pays off! GRAAAAH!"

In one swift movement, Jaune collapsed his shield down into its sheath mode and slipped it over his blade, shifting Crocea Mors into its greatsword form in an instant. "Couldn't have said it better myself! AAGH!" The two met in the middle with Diamondhead swinging one of his blades down the moment he got close. Jaune was quick to intercept, however, swinging his sword upward to knock the arm back. The second he did, he saw the hero go for a quick jab with the other blade arm, prompting the blonde knight to bring his sword down and slam the blade toward the ground. "Ha! Gotcha!"

"Do you?" Diamondhead smirked before intentionally stabbing the blade down into the dirt, using it as a vault for him to flip over Jaune's head and land behind him. Then, with a swift kick to the back, Jaune fell onto his face, his sword clanging against the ground. Jaune attempted do get up, but was met with a foot to his chest and a crystalline blade mere centimeters away from his nose. The Petrosapien's bright green eyes bore into Jaune as he asked; "Well?"

"I… I yield." Jaune muttered.

"Hm, good job." Diamondhead smiled before a flash of green light erupted from the Omnitrix. Once he was back to normal, Ben took his foot off of Jaune's chest and offered a hand. "And I mean that, Jaune. You were great!" He gave the knight a thumbs up. "You even had me on the ropes for a little while back there."

Jaune took the hand and Ben hoisted him up, the two shaking hands soon after. "Heh, yeah. It wasn't long, but I DID manage to blind ya for a bit." He scratched the back of his head as he picked up his sword. "Kinda wish I won, too, but it's cool."

Ben gave him a shrug. "Yeah, but you put up a great fight. And honestly, that's what matters most."

"JAUNE!" The two boys turned around to see Pyrrha sprinting toward them at high speeds, her focus directly on her boyfriend.

"…That and the love and praise from your biggest fan." Ben added with a smirk. As if on cue, Pyrrha tackled Jaune to the ground again in a big hug. "See what I mean—WOAH!" Without missing a beat, Yang sprinted toward him and tackled HIM to the ground as well. "Oof… okay, guess I'm not exempt from this."

"No, no you're not." Yang said before kissing her boyfriend on the lips. "Nice work, babe."

Ben smiled as her sweet lips made contact with his. "Hmhm, thanks Goldie Locks. But you gotta give Jaune credit, he didn't back down."

Yang sent him a wink. "Oh, I know…" She nudged her head over to Jaune and Pyrrha, where Ben could see the couple kissing on the ground as well. "It's just not ME who's giving him credit at the moment."

Once their own lip lock had ended, Jaune and Pyrrha stared into each other's eyes, the couple slowly but surely regaining their breath. "Hah… hah… what… was all that about, huh?" Jaune smiled.

"Hehe, what do YOU think?" Pyrrha grinned back with a wink of her own. "You were quite impressive out there, Jaune, so I thought it was only appropriate to reward you properly."

Jaune's smile grew sheepish. "Yeah, but… I didn't win."

"So? It doesn't matter who won or lost." Pyrrha reassured. "What matters is that both you and Ben did your very best. And THAT is worthy of praise." The Invincible Girl stood up and picked Jaune up, dusting his hoodie off as she did. "Besides…" she drew in close to his ear with a sly grin. "If I had promised a kiss to the winner, Yang would have killed me."

An amused expression came to Jaune's face at her remark. "True point. Good call." With that, he, Pyrrha, Ben and Yang all made their way back over to the others, the knight giving them a salute as they approached. "Alright, guys, you've got free reign of the field from here on."

"Thanks, Jaune." Gwen returned before giving Ruby a nod. "You ready for our round, Ruby?"

"Sure am!" Ruby affirmed before taking Crescent Rose from its storage clip on her back, handing it right to Yang. "You know my stipulations, dear sister."

Yang smirked and rolled her eyes. "Make sure she doesn't get dinged up. I got it, Rubes. Now go show us how much you've learned from Gwen!"

"Will do!" Ruby cheerfully promised before following Gwen out to the field.

At that moment, Oscar came up to Ben and Jaune, his features beaming in excitement. "That… was AWESOME! I can't believe how good you guys were out there!"

The two glanced at each other for a brief moment, with both giving Oscar a small grin when they went back to him. "Heh, much obliged, Oscar." Ben thanked. "Was that your first time seeing a real-life training spar?"

"It was my first time seeing ANTHING regarding swordplay in real-life!" Oscar said before a perplexed expression came to his face. "But… I guess I HAVE seen other stuff in real life before… but at the same time I haven't…" He gripped his head and gave a groan. "Ugh, having Ozpin's memories blend into my own is so confusing!"

"Ah, yeah, that's gotta be tough." Jaune acknowledged. "By the way… what happens when you and Ozpin REALLY become one person?"

Nora zipped up and got right into Oscar's face, taking him aback. "Hey, yeah! We forgot to ask about that, didn't we?" She put two fingers to each of her temples. "What, is he just gonna take over your mind permanently when you and he fully fuse together?"

Oscar, still only just getting used to so many people being around him, was somewhat nervous as they all concentrated on him again. "W-Well, no, at least that's not what he's been saying." Oscar rubbed the back of his head. "It's more like… I'll still be who I was before, but I'll have his memories and reflexes in addition. I'm still kinda unsure about how all this works myself, but I think I'll still be me."

Ren gestured toward the farm boy. "And… what about Ozpin himself?"

"He… he'll be gone." Oscar stammered out. "Once he and I fully integrate, he'll essentially become a permanent part of me, just in the recesses of my mind."

The group could only stare at Oscar in shock before Weiss piped up. "Wow, that's… kinda disheartening."

"The fact that our old headmaster won't be around in any capacity anymore?" Pyrrha nodded. "Yes, that is quite the bombshell."

Without warning, Oscar's body suddenly convulsed and he closed his eyes, opening them to reveal an ethereal glow that began to fade away. Ozpin had taken over. "Don't feel discouraged, my students. This is simply a natural process of my reincarnation cycle." He extended his cane and stepped closer to the teens, giving them a bow of his head. "And remember, I WILL still technically be with you… because Oscar will be with you."

"Well, yeah, but… we literally JUST found you." Yang reminded. "It kinda feels pointless knowing that you're just gonna be leaving again at some point down the line."

Ozpin chuckled at her remark. "Well, you won't have to worry about that for quite a while yet, Miss Xiao Long. It will still take quite a while before Oscar and I fully become one, so you all still have a while with me here." He placed a hand on his chest. "But I suggest you all get to know Oscar as well, since he will essentially be the new me, but as his own person."

Ben furrowed his brows slightly, trying in vain to follow Ozpin's words. "Whoever these gods were, they gave you a REALLY confusing method of reincarnation."

"You have no idea." Ozpin affirmed before directing his eyes out to Gwen and Ruby, who were just beginning their training. "For now, I suggest we watch what Miss Rose is capable of against Miss Tennyson."

Out on the field, Gwen and Ruby had both taken fighting stances, the two prepping themselves for their spar that they were about to have. Ruby wore an eager grin as she bounced on the balls of her feet, moving back and forth to rile herself up for the fight ahead of her. "Are you ready, Gwen?!" The Hooded Huntress called over. "I promise I won't hold back!"

Gwen smiled back and nodded once, the Anodite in a more solid stance than her opponent. For all the things Gwen was able to teach Ruby, having a calm yet firm attitude during a fight was one that never was able to sit with Ruby. For that matter, most of the Remnant teens were rather animated when they fought, the redhead having attributed it to the rather over-the-top fighting styles they tended to go for. 'I still have no idea how Nora's able to jump as high as a three-story building.' she commented to herself before giving Ruby the okay. "I'm ready when you are, Ruby!"

"Good! Because here I come!" With a mighty battle cry, Ruby surged forward and reeled back a fist, getting ready to deliver the first punch. However, Gwen was unflinching, simply raising her hand to deflect the blow. At the same time, though, Ruby instantly brought up her other fist to strike Gwen instead, only for the redhead to lean back and dodge the strike.

"Hm, not bad." Gwen complimented before bringing her free hand up, intending to hit Ruby in the face. She had learned not to hold back when it came to the Remnant teens, their defensive Aura being a key factor in their battles. Just as she was about to make contact, Ruby lifted her arm and blocked Gwen's hand, using it as a chance to put some distance between her and her opponent. "Ah, good. You've been paying attention."

Ruby tilted her head as she bounced on her feet. "Yeah, well, I had a good teacher. But enough compliments! Let's fight!" With that, Ruby burst into a flurry of petals and rushed toward Gwen again, the Anodite having barely enough time to react as another strike was sent her way. Gwen leaped out of the way and landed perfectly, only for Ruby to redirect herself and reform behind her. With a loud battle cry, she swept her right leg at Gwen's shins, managing to knock them out from underneath her. "Haha! Direct… hit? Aw, no fair!"

As it happened, Gwen had made a pair of mana disks to catch her in her fall, the platforms helping her stand up once again. The disks then went back to her hands, which she then balled into fists again. "Fair is fair, Ruby." she chastised. "You're using your Semblance, so I'm using my powers. Now, let's see how you handle me now."

Ruby grit her teeth a little, seeing the case in Gwen's argument. 'Guess I only have myself to blame for that one.' With that thought in her head, Ruby chlenched her fists. "Wellt, just don't use any of your fancier tricks, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Gwen returned. "Now let's get back to it!" At her words, Ruby let out another battle cry and rushed forward with her Semblance, though she didn't do it blindly. The Hooded Huntress instead began circling the Anodite rapidly, searching for openings while at the same time making Gwen guess as to where her attack would come from.

On the sidelines, Ozpin nodded in approval. "I must say, Miss Rose HAS improved in her combat skills, especially her hand to hand." He set his hands on his cane while keeping an eye on the petal blizzard. "However, even she must realize that one can only rely on their Semblance for so long before it begins to drain them."

"I'm sure she does." Pyrrha confirmed. "It's just that Gwen is actually a very tough opponent, even for me somewhat." She sent her gaze down to Ozpin. "Whenever we'd spar, it was always a challenge to get a read on her. She stays very calm, and she uses her ability to sense life energy to her advantage."

"I see." Ozpin acknowledged, all while keeping an eye on how Gwen was blocking Ruby's attacks as the Hooded Huntress attempted to swoop in on her. "Well, she certainly is proficient in combat, I'll give her that."

"Gwen's pretty much been a mixed martial artist all her life." Ben explained. "She's actually taught ME a lot of things about how to fight."

Yang placed a hand over her chest. "And she's taught me how to keep control of my anger while I'm fighting. She's really helped all of us out a lot, professor."

Ozpin smiled and chuckled a bit. "Hmhm, well I'm very glad to hear that."

Back on the battlefield, Ruby had stopped using her Semblance and instead simply stood still in front of Gwen, the redhead sending Ruby a knowing smile. "Think, Ruby." the redhead encouraged, lifting her arms to show her the mana shields. "I have to methods of blocking your attacks from pretty much every angle. "What do you do in this situation?"

Ruby thought for a moment before an idea came to her mind, the silver-eyed girl grinning back to her opponent. 'Misdirection.' With another yell, Ruby began running at full speed toward Gwen, reeling back her fist to go for another punch.

"Hm, not the decision I'd thought you'd go with." Gwen sighed as she raised her hand to block the attack with her shield. However, the moment Ruby connected with the shield, she disappeared into petals again, a red blur zipping its way under the shield and rushing through Gwen's legs. The Anodite's eyes widened. "W-Wait, what—AH!" A strong kick connected with her back before she felt Ruby grab her by the arm. In one swift movement, Ruby performed a judo throw and sent Gwen back-first into the ground, shocking pretty much everyone including herself.

Once her own actions had comprehended in her mind, Ruby smiled from ear to ear and she jumped up and down, laughing all the while. "HAHAHA! Yes! I did it!"

"Oh my god, she actually did!" Weiss smiled excitedly before waving to her partner. "Great job, Ruby!"

"Yeah, you did great!" Rex supported.

On the ground behind Ruby, Gwen let out a somewhat surprised breath as she stood up, dusting the dirt off of her skirt. "Hah, you sure did!" The redhead went over and put an arm around Ruby, pulling the girl into a side-hug. "That was very impressive, Ruby. I didn't think you'd go for the misdirection on that one."

Ruby laughed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Heh, well, yeah… I knew I wasn't going to get to you by doing predictable stuff, so I decided to go for something unexpected."

"Well, it worked." Gwen nudged Ruby's shoulder with her hand. "You should be pretty proud of yourself, you know."

"Miss Tennyson is correct, Miss Rose." The two girls perked up when they saw Oscar walking up to them, though it was evident from the way he was speaking that it was Ozpin doing the talking. "Your way of misleading your foe was truly a smart move. It's something that should come in handy when facing Salem's forces, as they will no doubt use underhanded tactics as well."

Ruby's smile widened at that. "Hehe, thanks, Professor Ozpin."

Ozpin nodded back to her. "My pleasure. But perhaps now you would like another challenge?"

This piqued both Gwen and Ruby's interest, the two girls equally confused. "W-What do you mean?"

"Yeah, what DO you mean?" Oscar mentally asked with suspicion.

"What I am trying to say is…" Ozpin retracted his cane and clipped it to his belt, raising his fists in preparation. "Put up your dukes."

Ruby's eyes bugged out in terror. 'I'm dead.'

…..

Back in the city itself, Sun, Neptune and Blake had finally made it to their destination… at least the cat girl assumed so. The house they were at was a rather lovely two-story home, one that was typical of Animus architecture. However, it was one that was very nearly consumed by the foliage that grew around it, making Blake title her head a bit. It seemed to be a controlled growth, though, so she decided not to worry about it. 'If it was in a wrecked state, THEN I'd be asking questions.' She glanced over to the boys and spoke up. "So… this is the place?"

"Yep… Sage's house." Sun nodded, though his head craned down to stare at his sneakers. "Hah, I didn't think we'd be here today."

"Same." Neptune agreed. "If I had known, I'd probably have mentally prepared myself a little more."

Blake raised a brow to that. "What do you mean? Is there something wrong?"

"Well, not exactly." Sun answered. "It's just… we haven't seen or talked to them since they left Vale. We're just… a bit nervous is all."

Neptune raised a single finger. "Plus, there's all the stuff that WE'VE gone through these past few weeks that THEY haven't." he added. "We haven't even told them about Salem yet…"

"And we probably should." Blake advised. "Half of Team SSSN knows about it, so why shouldn't the rest?"

Sun sighed and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just… I don't wanna just dump all of this stuff on them, ya know?" He crossed his arms and shrugged. "It was one thing to convince them about the alien stuff, but after everything we've been through, telling them about Salem is gonna be a WHOLE other thing entirely."

"That, I can understand." Blake concurred before setting a supportive hand on Sun's shoulder. "But remember, Sun, they're your teammates and your friends. Things WILL be okay between you guys, I guarantee it."

Slowly but surely, a pair of smiles appeared on Sun and Neptune's faces, the monkey boy moving his head down to peck Blake on the lips. "Thanks, Blake. That means a lot." His eyes then noticed something quite peculiar. "And… are you just gonna keep cradling that fish in your arms like a baby?"

Indeed, Blake had holstered the cooked bass in her arms, holding it like an infant in it's plastic wrap blanket. The cat girl narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend and said; "…Maybe." Her head snapped away and she closed her eyes in a huff. "You just don't understand the connection I have with it."

"You mean the connection between your mouth and your stomach?" Neptune quipped before finding himself on the receiving end of a quick jab to the shoulder from Sun. "Gah! C'mon, dude, it was a joke!"

"Ugh, let's just go up and knock." Sun sighed as he took the first steps, Blake and Neptune following steadily behind him. They came up to the door and Sun knocked three times, the trio standing still as they waited for someone to answer. After a couple minutes, no one came, which prompted Sun to try the doorbell.

Evidently, that one had work. "Hold your horses!" they heard a familiar voice come from behind the door. "I'm getting there!" Another few moments passed before none other than Sage himself opened the door, though the green-haired young man wasn't initially paying attention when he did. "Yeah, what is—" He immediately cut himself off when he noticed just WHO was at his door, his eyes widening to the size of saucers and his lips parting in shock.

"Hehe, hey Sage!" Sun chuckled with a nervous wave.

"Guess who's back?" Neptune added with a lopsided grin.

There was another pause before Sage began laughing joyously, moving out of his house quickly before wrapping both of his friends into a hug. "HAHAHA! SUN! NEPTUNE! No way!" Being taller than both his teammates, Sage was able to pick both of them up off the ground briefly before setting them back down, though his exuberance hadn't ended there. "Guys, it's great to see you!"

"G-Great to see you, too, Sage!" Sun said with a slight stammer of surprise before noticing something VERY important. "A-And you're walking without crutches!"

Sage's expression faltered a little, his eyes glancing down to his foot. "Heh, yeah, but… not without some help." Sun, Neptune and Blake all followed his gaze to see that his foot and leg were now free of their cast… but now he had a brace instead. "I can walk, but it's gonna be a while before I fully heal up. Scar's doing better, though. His hand is completely free."

"Well, that's great to hear." Neptune grinned. "Is he at his home? We were hoping to catch up with you guys."

Sage gave them a thumbs up. "Oh yeah, he's home. Hang on, I'll go call—wait." Sage paused and sent a skeptical glance over to his teammates. "Why ARE you here, anyway? Didn't you guys decide to stay with Ben and the others over in Vale?"

"Ahem." The green-haired young man perked up as Blake cleared her through, gaining his attention while surprising him at the same time. "That's actually part of the reason why we're here." She gave him a greeting wink. "Official Hero business, if you can believe it."

"Blake!" Sage smiled before walking out to her, offering a hand in the process. "Good to see ya again!" He gave her wink of his own before jabbing his thumb toward Sun, all while shaking her hand. "Have you been keepin' our boy outta trouble?"

The cat girl smirked and rolled her eyes. "As much as I try to, he just keeps getting into it." She sent a somewhat annoyed face at the monkey boy. "For example, not long after you guys left, HE decided it'd be a good idea to take a lightning attack from one of our enemies head on."

"WHAT?!" Sage exclaimed before rounding on Sun, the blonde jumping in place. "Dude, SERIOUSLY?! We're not gone for a few minutes and you get yourself into trouble?!"

"H-Hey, in my defense, I didn't see it coming!" Sun explained. "The guy just grabbed my weapons and sent a shock through his gloves and into me!"

Sage placed a hand to his face and sighed, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Well… okay. At least you weren't killed."

"Damn near, though." Blake commented. "But yeah, I'm glad he's still alive…" She went over to him and leaned against his arm. "…Especially since we've been together for the past couple of weeks."

The expression on Sages face told the three all they needed to know about how he felt about that. "No way…" He pointed between the two. "Y-You guys are REALLY going out?!"

Sun put an arm around Blake's shoulders. "More than that, dude. We've made it official."

Sage's face burst out into another grin and he came forward, laughing once again as he placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Hahaha! Congratulations, guys! I always had a good feeling about you two. I know Scar's gonna be pretty thrilled, too!" He ushered the couple, as well as Neptune, into his house, guiding them into the living room. "Come on, let me get you guys omething' to drink while I get him on the horn. It's just me by myself today, so don't be shy to make yourselves at home." However, he paused for a moment when he saw Blake carrying a cooked bass in her arms. "Uh… Blake? What's up with the fish?"

"Hm? Oh, your vendor friend, Randolph, gave this to me." Blake answered. "He also said to say hi to the "Leaf-haired SSSN boy". I assume that to be you?"

Sage belted out a laugh as he grabbed the phone. "Haha! Yeah, that's me. Ah, Randolph's quite the character. Super nice, but don't get on his bad side, whatever you do."

Sun rubbed his rear end. "Yeah, or else he'll get his "beating stick"."

"Yeah, can't count the number of times we got on his nerves when we first entered Haven Academy." Neptune smirked as he and the others sat down on the couch. "He actually challenged me to a duel once… and we used fish as our weapons."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Did you win?"

"Hell no, I was… cowering the whole time because we were doing it above water." The blue-haired boy begrudgingly admitted. "…And I fell in after he beat me."

"Your fault for throwing his sea cucumber balls." Sage muttered as he dialed up Scarlet. Once the phone rang a couple times, a voice could be heard from the other end, prompting Sage to smile. "Yo, Scar! Hey, you busy?" Sage let his friend answer before going on. "Oh, great! C'mon over to my place. I've got something pretty cool to show ya!" There was another pause before Sage elaborated further. "Nope, can't tell ya! It's a surprise! …Yes, I know I'm frustrating, now get over here, man!"

After about twenty minutes, the quartet heard a knock on the door, prompting Sun, Neptune and Blake to hide out of sight while Sage went up to answer. Sure enough, Scarlet was standing behind it, the redhaired young man giving Sage an irritated look while crossing his arms. "Alright, Sage, just what kind of "surprise" is this? It had better be good if you're being so vague about it."

"Hey, don't be such a stickler, man." Sage urged before ushering his friend inside. "C'mon, follow me."

Scarlet sighed before following Sage into his home, hanging his signature red coat on the nearby rack as he did. As he walked in, though, he failed to notice Sun and Neptune sneaking up behind him, which made Sage grin cheekily. Scarlet raised a brow at the smile. "Sage, you know I don't like to be kept in the dark on things. Now what in the world is—"

"SURPRISE!" Sun and Neptune shouted in unison, making Scarlet let out a yelp before spinning around. But once he saw who it was, he let out a gasp. "Well? You surprised, Scar?" Sun asked with a smirk.

"Don't lie, you weren't expecting this today, were ya?" Neptune added.

"S-Sun! Neptune!" Scarlet burst out into a grin before giving his friends a high-five each, all four boys laughing all the while. "Haha, I can't believe it! What the hell are you two doing here? I thought you were still in Vale!"

Sun placed his hands behind his head. "Up until this morning, we were. But we're actually here on some official hero business with the team, so we took the opportunity to swing by."

Scarlet nodded his head to his friends. "Well, I'm glad you did. Things have been pretty hectic over the past couple weeks since we left Vale… wait…" He raised an eyebrow to the two. "Did you say the whole team is here? Like Teams RWBY and JNPR as well?"

"That's right." From out of her hiding spot, Blake stepped out, giving Scarlet a small wave as the redhead's eyes widened once more. "How's it going, Scarlet? Been a while."

"Blake! Haha, it's good to see you!" Scarlet came forward and shook Blake's hand, bowing his head to her in the process. "I probably should have guessed that you'd come with Sun to see us when he said the others were here, too. How've things been going with you?"

The cat girl gave him a shrug. "Oh, fine for the most part. Plus, I've been saving the world almost every day of the week, so that's been pretty cool. Oddly enough, I've found that it doesn't really get old."

"Hm, I'll bet. That Ben guy we met certainly doesn't seem like the kind of person to make saving the world feel stale." Scarlet grinned slyly and he nudged his head over to Sun. "To be honest, I just hope you've been able to keep our leader's head on his shoulders. You know how he can get, yeah?"

"Oh, don't I." Blake concurred before making her way over to Sun, casually wrapping an arm around his neck much to Scarlet's astonishment. "But don't worry… I think I've got a good handle on him." She planted a kiss on Sun's cheek. "Right?"

Sun rolled his eyes before moving his arm to the small of Blake's back. "Heh, couldn't have said it better myself, babe."

Scarlet's jaw was practically on the floor at this point, the young man trying to comprehend what he was seeing in front of him. "W-W-Wait… so… are you two ACTUALLY…?" He left the question hanging the moment he saw Blake and Sun nod slowly, effectively confirming his thoughts. "Ahaha! No way! This is amazing!" He went over and pulled Sun into a hug, which effectively meant that Blake had joined in as well. "Ah, congrats, you two. This is awesome, I gotta say."

"Heh, sure is, dude." Sun chuckled as he pulled out of the friendly embrace. "It was a bit of an… awkward start, but we settled into it as we went along."

Blake rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, the hard part was being able to actually CONFESS to each other. From there, things smoothed out pretty well."

"Good to know." Scarlet said with a wink to his monkey-tailed friend. "So, I guess the next big step is meeting the parents, eh? Haha!"

"Been there, done that, dude." Sun brushed off casually.

Both Scarlet and Sages eyes bugged out simultaneously. "W-Wait, you ACTUALLY met Blake's parents?" Sage uttered. "Since WHEN?!"

"Since a few days ago." Sun answered. "Her mom likes me, her dad's… still a bit iffy, but I think he's warming up to me."

Blake rolled her eyes like that. "Pfft, yeah, like a cat to water, Sun." She directed her eyes over to Neptune. "But I guess a more appropriate term would be "a Neptune to water" since even I like water."

The face Neptune made could only be described as "grumpy", and everyone in the room was desperately trying to hold back their laughter at his expression. "Okay, I can take a hint." Neptune folded his arms and turned away in a huff. "Well if THAT'S what's gonna be happening during this nice little chat, then I just won't participate."

Sage gave his blue-haired friend a jab to the arm. "Ah, c'mon, man. We're just bustin' your chops here."

"Yeah, c'mon Neptune." Scarlet encouraged. "We haven't seen each other in two weeks. Let's just move past this and have a nice talk, eh?"

Neptune sighed and sent a sly grin over his shoulder at his teammates. "Hah, alright, fine. I know when I'm beat."

Blake sent a good-natured shove Neptune's shoulder. "See? That's the spirit." She then pointed over to Scarlet. "Oh, and before I forget, your vendor pal Randolph asked me to say hi to the "Speckle-faced SSSN Boy"." Blake saw Scarlet's eye twitch slightly before lowering his head, leading her to laugh at his expense. "Haha! I'm guessing you don't like being called that?"

Scarlet sighed and facepalmed. "No, but it's one of the… MANY mantles that Randolph gives us." The redhead pulled his hand down over his face. "I like him, yes, but he can sometimes be a bit much."

Sun sat down on the couch while jabbing a thumb at Neptune. "Yeah, we were just telling Blake about his and Neptune's duel a year back!"

An aghast face took over Scarlet's features. "Oh god, you didn't tell her about what he did afterward, did you? You know with the… eels?"

All four members of Team SSSN visibly paled at the mention of the last word, leaving Blake perplexed and intrigued. "Uh… no? Why, what happened with the—"

Sun's hand snapped up and he set it on her shoulder. "Blake, please..." His eyes shifted slowly over to her. "If you value your brain being clean, please do not ask. Okay?"

"Uh… okay?" Blake complied before clearing her through. "Ahem, so, uh… moving from that topic, how've you guys been? I see you've healed up okay, Scarlet."

Snapping out of his horror-fueled trance, Scarlet smiled and flex his once-injured arm. "Oh, yeah. It's pretty much back to normal. Still, the doctor recommended I don't stress it too much, so once Haven opens back up, Sage and I will still be exempt from practice sessions for the time being."

Neptune's eyes widened and he raised an eyebrow over to Scarlet. "Wait… so you guys still plan to go to Haven? I thought we were talking about transferring to Beacon?"

"We're gonna stay at Haven until the end of the semester." Sage clarified. "THEN we're gonna transfer to Beacon at the start of next year." He sent his gaze toward Sun. "But of course, since our ENTIRE team won't be here, we gotta play hard to catch up before that even happens."

Sun winced and he scratched the back of his head. "…Yeah, sorry guys. But to be honest… I'm not sure if staying at Haven for even the single semester is a good idea right now."

Scarlet and Sage were taken aback by Sun's statement, to say the least. "What?!" the redhead exclaimed. "Why would you say that?!"

"Well…" Sun shifted his eyes between Neptune and Blake, both of them giving him single nods of approval. The monkey boy went back to Sage and Scarlet, took a deep breath and steadily let it out, preparing himself for one LONG explanation. "In order to tell you that… we'll need to fill you in on a bit of context. So… what's your favorite fairy tale?" Over the two hours, the trio explained everything that had happened over the past two weeks, and they made sure not to leave out ANY details. And through it all, Scarlet and Sage had the biggest shocked expressions on their faces, the two boys in complete and utter disbelief over what their friends were telling them. By the end of it all, Sun, Blake and Neptune were exhausted from recapping the events once again. Blake even ate her fish during the proceedings, its bones picked dry as it sat on a plate on the coffee table. Sun sighed once again and cupped his hands together, giving his team a shrug. "So… that's basically it."

Scarlet was leaning forward with his hands pressed together, his eyes focused directly onto the floor as he processed all of this information in his head. Sage, however, was giving his teammates a thousand-yard stare, still in complete shock over what he had been told. "So… let me get this straight; you guys are trying to save the world from an evil witch named Salem… who is the one who controls all of the Grimm?"

"Exactly." Blake confirmed.

"So this lady's essentially been recruiting Ben's enemies over these past few weeks… so she can have more people on her side." Scarlet furthered. "And she's also after these four Maidens and Relics so she can take over the world."

Neptune gave a single nod. "Of course."

Sage pointed a finger at them. "AND… she and Professor Ozpin have been fighting a secret war for centuries… because he's actually a reincarnating guy who was tasked by the gods to stop her… and basically ALL of the headmasters are in on this." He received silent a silent nod from all three of his friends, causing him to let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "This… this is un-freaking-believable."

"I know…" Scarlet paused as his sights went back to the trio in front of them. "But why do I have a feeling you're not lying to us?"

"Because we aren't, guys." Sun said, standing up from his seat with his arms reaching out toward them. "We don't have any reason to lie to you. Trust me, the threat of Salem is VERY real, and we need to do our best to stop her before she destroys everything."

Scarlet and Sage craned their heads toward each other and nodded, the two standing up to meet Sun. "This all may sound unbelievable… but you know what? After meeting a guy who can transform into aliens, I'm pretty much ready to believe anything." Scarlet extended his arm and laid his palm down flat. "If you guys need any help, I'm in."

"Me too." Sage agreed, setting his own hand over Scarlet's. "We may've all been separated for the past couple of weeks, but we're still a team!" He raised a fist up to Sun. "We got your back, man."

Sun smiled back all while Neptune shot out of his seat as well, placing his hand over his friends'. "Alright! Team SSSN is back in the game! …Well, at least when you guys are cleared for combat."

This elicited irritated groans from both Sage and Scarlet, making Sun chuckle a bit. "Hehe, it's alright, guys. We'll figure something out for ya, don't worry." He placed his hand in with his friends and smirked. "But Neptune's right. Time for Team SSSN to get back on track."

At that moment, Blake came strolling up and smiled widely at the four. "Well look at you boys! Good to see that all this time apart hasn't made you guys distant from each other."

"Of course not." Scarlet assured. "Besides, what reason would we have to be distant?"

"Yeah, it's not like the guys abandoned us without a word or anything." Sage added. "No harm, no foul."

"Well, I'm glad that's the case…" Sun trailed off when a serious expression came to his face. "…But that leads me to what led to this whole big talk in the first place; about why it probably isn't a good idea to go to Haven this semester."

Scarlet sent him a skeptical glance. "Alright, then… what's the big deal?"

"This big deal…" Sun pursed his lips as his face changed once again, to one that was more frustrated and somewhat angry. He clenched a fist and continued; "The big deal is that Yang's mom, Raven, got some information from an inside source that said Professor Lionheart was a mole for Salem."

The reaction was an immediate; "WHAT?!" Scarlet and Sage had both reverted to their stunned expressions at the news. "Lionheart is a traitor?!" Sage bellowed. "Wha…WHY?! For what reason?! I thought you said that all the headmasters were on Ozpin's side!"

Sun cast his eyes down to the floor. "You'd be surprised at what Salem is capable of, guys… and that included bringing people over to her side."

"But… this doesn't make any sense!" Scarlet argued. "Lionheart isn't evil!"

"Maybe not." Blake interjected. "But from what I've heard, he's an easily scared man. And Salem preys off of fear as easily as she does hatred." She raised a hand up to the two boys. "If she can coerce other villains to her side by using their hatred of us to convince them, then maybe she's using Lionheart's fear to keep a hold on him."

As much as they didn't want to admit it, the green and red-haired boys both could see Blake's side of the argument. "Well… you have a point." Sage conceded. "Even all the way back at the start of our first year, Lionheart was always a bit more cowardly than we'd expect him to be. But… I honestly wrote that up to him not being the Huntsman he used to be."

"And that's probably a factor." Neptune agreed. "But even then, we can't rule him out. That said, there could be a chance that he's not the traitor and instead it's Professor Theodore over in Vacuo. We've kinda got a lot of theories to go on here."

Scarlet put his hands in his pockets. "So… if Lionheart IS the traitor… what do we do about it?"

Sun sighed through his nostrils, closing his eyes at the question. "…We fight him. As much as it hurts me to say that, we HAVE to fight him if we wanna stop Salem from getting the Relic of Knowledge in the vault beneath Haven." He opened his eyes and set his gaze upon his team and Blake, crossing his arms in the process. "And for another thing, I think we should start considering that transfer to Beacon a bit sooner."

"Heh, good luck with that." Sage scoffed. "Classes resume next week, man. I doubt that anyone who puts in a transfer form to BEACON of all places at this point is gonna just be seen as wanting an extended vacation."

"Hm, I guess you've got a point." Sun admitted, putting a finger to his chin. "But quite honestly, if Lionheart IS the traitor and things start going back quick, then I'm thinking the fallout of it all will probably be seeing students transfer out of Haven regardless."

Scarlet shrugged a that. "Well, sure, but what are the chances of anything big happening soon?"

Blake glanced off to the side at his remark. 'If that isn't tempting fate, I don't know what is.' She shook her head and brushed the thought off to the side. "Well, that we can't be sure of. But we're still keeping an eye on things at the moment, so if anything happens, we'll probably know." She sat back down and placed her hands on her lap, her smile returning. "Now, why don't we move on to some more… pleasant conversation? How've things been going here? Have the other Haven students been able to recover as well as you guys?"

The boys of Team SSSN all sat back down as well, with Sage answering the question. "Well… some of them." He laced his finger together solemnly. "As you can probably guess, a lot of students here have been traumatized by the events that happened that night. Most of us were able to come out of it okay, but others… others are having a tough time, to be honest."

"Thankfully, Mistral's calm atmosphere has been pretty generous to all of them." Scarlet picked up. "Yes, the Grimm attacked here as well, but they were all pretty much taken care of before they could make it all the way to the top of the mountain." His hand gripped the armrest of his chair a bit tighter. "Of course, we weren't without our casualties, either."

"We heard." Neptune said sullenly. "Qrow and Ironwood said that a few of our teachers lost their lives defending the city. To think that all of this chaos happened on the same night at the attack on Beacon."

"Yeah, but things pretty much got back to normal in the city pretty quickly." Sage pointed out. "As you probably saw while you were in the market place."

Blake rested her head to the back of the chair. 'Yeah… question is, how long can it stay that way…' Her thoughts were interrupted when a new one popped into her head. "Say… what about Team ABRN? They go to Haven, right?"

Sun gave her a nod. "Yep, they sure do." He directed his sights over to Scarlet and Sage. "But yeah, what about them? Did they make it out okay?"

"They all survived, yes." Scarlet confirmed. "And they've actually been helping out other student cope with all of the things that happened after the battle." He smiled and let out a laugh. "They've really become the most helpful people when it comes to this situation."

"That's good to hear." Blake grinned. "I'm glad that they're helping so many people." Just then, a ringing began echoing throughout the room, managing to perk everyone's heads up simultaneously. Realizing that it was coming from her pocket, Blake quickly reached for her scroll. "Oh, sorry, that's me." She took a look at the caller ID and her eyebrows rose up. "Oh, it's Yang! Wonder what's up?"

…..

Minutes earlier back at the rental house, the gang had all returned to the main floor of the building, having just finished their training. Out of all of them, though, there were two in particular that were utterly tired; Ruby Rose and Oscar Pine. The Hoodhead Huntress had draped herself over one of the couches while Oscar practically collapsed onto the other one, both of them groaning as their joints ached. "Uuuugh… I can't BELIEVE how exhausting that whole training session was." Ruby moaned, rubbing her face in pain. "Professor Ozpin went WAY overboard on those moves."

"How do you think I feel?!" Oscar asked. "You're not the one who Ozpin's controlling, remember. You think doing all of those advanced fighting techniques and generating that defensive Aura feels good when we shift back with each other?" He sent her a deadpan expression. "Guess what? It doesn't."

Ruby smiled over to him and let out a little laugh. "Heh, yeah. I'm guessing you're gonna need a little more training before you're able to pull those moves off without breaking a sweat."

As the others entered the room, Ben and Yang couldn't help but laugh at their two exhausted teammates, the hero walking over to Oscar to give him a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, kid, this stuff will come in time. Ya just gotta put in the work to do it."

"Ugh, I'm no stranger to hard work, but if THIS is what I'm in for, I might reconsider." Oscar muttered.

"Ah, c'mon, "Cute Boy" Oscar." Yang joked as she ruffled the boy's hair. "Ya can't throw in the towel on your first day!"

With his face now effectively blushing, Oscar planted himself into one of the throw pillows and groaned again. "How is it that you guys can do this on a daily basis—WOAH!"

The farm boy was suddenly pulled out of the cushion by Nora, the Pink Dynamo making him face her head-to-head. "Read my lips, boy! TRAAAAAINING!" She began to rapidly shake him, almost as if she were trying to wake him up. "Ya gotta put some pressure on those muscles if you wanna build 'em up, so stop slacking you Slaking!"

"OoOoOkAaAy!" Oscar's voice shook with his body before Nora let him go, the redhead giving him a beaming smile.

"…I believe I'm going to be sick." Ozpin said mentally.

'Not in my head you're not!' Oscar forbade.

"Good! Because just wait until we get back to Yang's dad's place!" Nora sent a jab to Oscar's shoulder, making him wince a bit. "He's got a whole training area with weights and everything! We'll get ya in proper shape in no time!"

The rest of Team JNPR came up and Pyrrha set a gentle hand on Oscar's arm, steadying him in place. "My apologies for Nora's… enthusiasm. She can be rather excited when it comes to doing new things."

"Heh, no problem." Oscar chuckled, his eyes shifting around from Team JNPR, to Rex and Weiss, to Ben and Yang, and finally to Gwen and Ruby. "You know… as crazy of a group as you guys are… I think I'm glad that I'm at least in this with people who understand what I'm going through." He rubbed the back of his head. "If I were stuck with just Qrow and Ironwood, I think I'd go mental."

Jaune gave him a thumbs up. "Hey, no problem, Oscar. Remember, we're pretty much all in this together."

"Jaune's right." Gwen concurred. "And we'll help you out in whatever way we can to get you through this." She raised two fingers up to him. "First, we'll work on your physical training, then we'll work on building up your defensive Aura."

"Exactly." Ren nodded. "In time, it will all become second nature. And from there, you should begin focusing on your Semblance… whatever that maybe."

Oscar blinked at that. "W-Wait, Semblance?"

"That's right." Weiss affirmed, creating a glyph for demonstration. "Your very own unique power. Don't tell me you've never heard of it."

"W-Well, yeah, but… I didn't know I could even have a Semblance."

Nora zipped over and wrapped an arm around Oscar's shoulders, making him blush again. "'Course you can, silly! EVERYONE can have a Semblance! It's all about how you find it and MASTER it!" She began counting off everyone's Semblance on her fingers. "Ruby moves SUPER fast, glyphs are Weiss' thing, Yang gets stronger every time she gets hit, electricity makes ME stronger, Ren can mask emotions, Pyrrha's got magnetic powers, and Jaune can… um." Realizing her choice of words, Nora glanced over to her leader, who was craning his head down toward the floor.

Jaune put a hand to his neck and murmured; "…I can't really do anythi—"

"Jaune's like you!" To everybody's surprise, Ruby shot up from her place on the couch and pulled Oscar over to Jaune, the farm boy and blonde knight looking at one another. Ruby shifted her gaze between the two and gave them a shrug. "He hasn't found his Semblance yet, but we all know he will!" She sent a small smirk over to Oscar. "And you will too. We all just gotta try to help everyone get stronger!"

Even though everyone was wearing a smile throughout the room, Ben, Gwen and Rex couldn't help but cringe the teensiest bit at her inspirational speech. "I don't think I've heard anything more anime protagonist-y in my life." Rex said with a sniffle as he whipped an invisible tear from his eye. "I'm so proud."

"…Yeah, I have to agree." Gwen said whilst folding her arms, giving Ruby a small smirk. "I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that we've been showing you so much anime, Ruby."

Ruby wore a mock-offended face at that. "Ah! It was CERTAINLY a good thing!" She pointed accusingly at the redhead. "How dare you suggest otherwise, Gwen Tennyson!"

The whole group let out a laugh before Pyrrha stepped forward again. "They say that a warrior's Semblance is an extension of who they are, Oscar. Many say that your personality and character can define your Semblance while others say that there isn't any connection at all."

"It's hard to know when you KNOW, sometimes." Nora emphasized before placing a hand on Ren's arm. "Ren's Semblance was unlocked under intense stress!"

"And mine kicked in during training one day!" Ruby added.

Yang raised her hand. "Mine happened when I took a pretty nasty fall. I was so angry that it happened I punched a hole RIGHT through one of the walls in my house." She chuckled and shook her head. "Haha… one of the times where my dad was both happy and NOT happy at the same time."

"Sometimes your Semblance can be passed down through your family." Weiss piped up. "Mine is an inherited Semblance, for example."

"Huh… wow." Oscar mused. "This is all pretty cool, I gotta say." He raised a brow over to Nora. "And what about you?"

Nora placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know, got struck by lightning, didn't die." Oscar could only stare at her incredulously at how casually she said that. "I know, right? One of the weirdest Thursdays I've ever had."

Jaune sighed and raised his hands. "I just don't understand what's wrong with me… I train, I mediate, but nothing seems to work!"

Just then, Oscar's eyes glowed again and Ozpin took over, offering Jaune a supportive grin. "Don't worry, Mr. Arc. Your journey is far from over." He directed his attention to all of the teens in the room. "And the same can be said for all of you. Unlocking your Semblance isn't the end; it can still grow and evolve. Providing you're willing to put in the work, who knows what could happen?" As quick as he came, Ozpin went, switching back with Oscar in an instant.

"Ugh, I wish he didn't do that without warning." Oscar mumbled. He exhaled and put his hands on his hips. "But… if what he's saying is true, then I guess I'd better start putting in the effort."

"Now that's the spirit." Ben said with a thumbs up. "And when we get back home, we'll start doing just that." The Omnitrix-bearer sat himself down on the couch next to Yang and folded his arms, putting a hand to his chin. "But to change the subject up a bit… there's been something I've been thinking about for a while now…"

Ruby tilted her head to the side, with everyone shifting their focus over to the green-clad hero. "And what would that be, Ben? Something on your mind?"

"Well… it's kind of a silly theory, really." Ben admitted. "I didn't initially wanna bring it up, but… it's too good not to share."

Jaune ushered Ben to go ahead. "Well, c'mon man, don't hold back. Hit us with it."

Ben took a deep breath and gestured over to Oscar. "Well, we all know how Ozpin's reincarnation business is because the Gods cursed him, right?" He got murmurs of affirmation all throughout the room in response. "Okay, so, that's neat and all… but I'm focused on the fact that there are even gods AT ALL." He turned to Gwen and Rex, extending his hands to them. "I mean, we're no stranger to myths and legends about multiple different gods in our world, right?"

"Well, yeah." Gwen said as she counted off the many different pantheons on her hands. "There's the Greeks, Norse, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Aztec, African—" But then she cut herself off when she saw Ben's growing smile, and it was then that she realized what his theory must have been. "…Wait, you aren't suggesting…"

"Exactly." Ben confirmed, leaning forward with a bit of a glint in his eye. "What if, like here in Remnant, the ancient gods of our world existed at some point in the past as well? I don't know about you, but I think that'd be pretty cool." Gwen and Rex glanced toward each other while the Remnant teens all stayed relatively silent, many of them unsure about what they were talking about. However, all at once, Rex practically burst out laughing while Gwen stayed silent, making Ben's smile disappear. "W-Wait, wha…?"

"Hahaha! Good one, Ben." Rex guffawed with a reassuring pat to his friend's shoulder. "You REALLY had us both going there. Yeah, "The Ancient Gods" of our world might've been real too!" the EVO slapped his knee as his laughter died down. "Oh-ho-ho, god that is RICH!"

Ben furrowed his brows in indignation. "Hey, c'mon Rex, I'm being serious." He pointed up to the sky. "I mean, wouldn't it be cool if gods like Zeus and Odin had been real at some point?"

But all this did was fuel Rex's laughter more. "HAHAHA! ZEUS!" He reached up and put his hand over Ben's head. "The BIG guy! THAT Zeus?! You're killing me here, man!"

"Yes, THAT Zeus." Ben argued. "Now would you get a hold of yourself and start having a serious discussion with me?"

Yang stepped up and gave Rex a rather unamused glare. "Yeah, Rex, stop laughing at him and hear what he has to say. He might just be on to something."

Rex calmed down, but he kept his smile about him. "Listen, guys, as cool as that'd probably be, our Earths have science to back things up. People like the ancient Greeks and Norse made up their gods to explain natural things in the world that we've since been able to explain with scientific fact for centuries now." He gestured across from Ruby, to Yang, Weiss and finally, Team JNPR. "But Remnant does have… or rather DID have magic, so it probably only makes sense that their gods are real."

Weiss sent Rex a confused look. "Uh, Robo-dolt? Mind explaining what's going on instead of leaving all of us in the dark?"

"Oh! Right, sorry." Rex apologized. "See, here's the thing, like Remnant, Earth has a ton of myths and legends surrounding stuff like heroes and gods. But here's the thing… they're all made up." He raised two fingers. "And they were made up to do one of two things; either to teach valuable lessons, or to explain away natural things that the earth does on its own. For example; Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes. Whenever something like an earthquake or tsunami happened, it was all blamed on him being angry because the Greeks didn't have the proper scientific know-how to study it at the time." Rex shook his head at Ben. "Look man, for as cool as your theory may be, I'm not sure it holds water in our world... pun kind of intended."

However, it was then that Gwen decided to speak up. "Maybe… or maybe not." This garnered everyone's attention pretty quick as the Anodite made her hands glow. "Don't forget, Rex, Remnant isn't the only place that has magic. I don't know about your Earth, but mine and Ben's Earth has it."

Taken aback by the reminder, but still firm in his stance, Rex thrust a hand toward the redhead. "Well yeah, but even you gotta admit that it isn't as prominent as it is here." He crossed his arms at her. "Gwen, I respect you a LOT… but the idea of the Greek gods being real? Or even any other godly pantheon? It just sounds like a pretty big stretch."

"What, and aliens aren't?" Gwen countered with a shrug. "It's like Ozpin said, Rex, every legend has some truth behind it. Besides, the Gods ARE the ones who brought magic to this world, so what about the magic in my world?" She pointed directly to Rex. "And don't forget, it's not like we HAVEN'T had encounters with god-like beings or monsters ourselves."

"Yeah, but even then, they're not the kind of "gods" that Ben's talking about." Rex countered. "It's like you guys told us, Daigon was an extra dimensional being with god-like powers. Not sure how much that counts." He jabbed a thumb to himself. "And as many times as my brother says I acquired god-like abilities when I gained control of the Meta-Nanites, I'm still not sure how much that counts either, since that was through technology, something that I put my trust in." He sent a sympathetic look to Ben. "Sorry, dude, but for as neat as your "mythical legends being real at some point" theory is, I'm not sure if it's all that plausible."

Inside Oscar's head, Ozpin was itching to give his two cents. "…May I take this one?"

'So NOW you ask permission?' Oscar countered before mentally sighing. 'Yeah, sure, why not?'

"Thank you." Oscar's eyes flashed again and Ozpin took his place, the former headmaster walking up to Rex. "While you make a very compelling argument, Mr. Salazar, one that I can find very believable, I don't think you should be so quick to dismiss your friends' theory. What Miss Tennyson says is true; there ARE many truths behind old legends such as the ones you're talking about… perhaps even a bit MORE truth than you probably think."

"Well, yeah, sure." Rex conceded. "But the gods of our world ACTUALLY being real at some point? C'mon, that'd just be insane." He jabbed a thumb up toward the ceiling. "That would imply that the sun and moon are being pulled by chariots across the sky."

Ozpin put a hand to his chin. "Perhaps… or maybe there could be another explanation. It's all about keeping an open mind. After all, no one had an explanation of where the Grimm came from, so they "made up" the story of the God of Darkness… or at least they thought they did."

Ruby stepped in to support her teacher. "Yeah, Rex! Don't just dismiss it and move on. There might be more to it than you probably think."

Rex sighed and threw up his hands, falling back to the couch behind him. "Alright, I'll bite. So for the sake of this theory, let's ignore scientific fact all together and assume the Greek gods might've existed at some point. Maybe even ALL of the gods could've been real at one point or another." He crossed his arms and sent a skeptical gaze to the room. "If that were true, then why haven't we seen 'em for the last five-thousand or so years?"

"Well, here's another theory for that." Gwen suggested. "Perhaps it's because not many people believe in them anymore. You'd be surprised how strong believing in something can be, Rex."

Rex could only quirk a brow at Gwen's suggestion. "Seriously? Is this an after-school special or something, because it's starting to sound like one."

Weiss got in-between Rex and Gwen while raising her arms up to both of them. "Okay, okay, let's all take a deep breath here." She set her sights down to the EVO. "First off, I can agree with you that there IS a scientific angle to all of this, Rex. But at the same time, I don't think we can just rule out everything," she gestured over to Ozpin, "especially after what we've been told today." She sat down next to Rex and put a gentle hand to his arm. "No matter what we believe, though, can we NOT let it destroy our friendships? Please?"

After a few seconds, Rex let out a breath and rubbed the back of his head. "…Yeah, I guess I can see your point. This really isn't worth getting into a big argument over." He bowed his head to Ben and Gwen. "Sorry if I was being a jerk, guys. Seriously, it wasn't cool of me to laugh in the first place."

Ben extended his hand and Rex shook it immediately. "Hey, it's okay, man. Honestly, I knew my theory would probably be seen as a bit silly to some of you." He smirked over to Gwen. "But I didn't think that YOU'D support it, Gwen."

"What can I say?" Gwen shrugged. "After you get told that gods ARE real, at least the ones in this world, things are kinda put into perspective for you." She gave Rex a nod. "But yes, I'm sorry too, Rex. Bygones?"

"Bygones." Rex smiled.

"Alright, just what in the world is going on in here?!" Everyone's heads perked up to see Raven, Qrow and Ironwood all entering the room from the upstairs, the former giving the teens a bit of a stink eye. "Seriously, we could hear you from all the way up there. What the hell are you kids arguing about?"

The moment Raven entered, though, Oscar's eyes flashed again, with Ozpin retreating back into his mind. "…Seriously?" he deadpanned.

"I'd rather NOT speak with her right now." Ozpin explained.

Ruby sent Raven a wave. "Oh, you know, debating on whether or not certain deities in Ben's world may or may not exist." She then gave Ben an inquiring glance. "Which, by the way, you should probably explain those to us sometime."

Ben rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe, yeah, for as much as I just spieled about them now, I completely neglected to tell you guys about some of the coolest myths in our world." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Once we get back home, I'll tell ya all about it." He took a quick second to ponder. "Hmm… I should probably start with Perseus or Hercules first…"

Qrow chuckled and shook his head. "Heh, well, at least you kids aren't bitin' each other's heads off or nothin'. We still need ya for the road ahead."

"Indeed." Ironwood concurred. "And since we're on the subject of home, I think it's about time we all head—" At that moment, a soft ringing began coming from the general's pocket, bringing all eyes onto him. "Oh, hold on a moment. I have to take this…" However, the moment he pulled out the scroll, his eyes widened at the caller ID. "Oh god… it's Leo."

Everyone practically froze up at the mention of the headmaster's name, with Raven furrowing her brows at the scroll. "What do you think he wants?"

"Probably something' to do with our visit yesterday." Qrow suggested before shooting his eyes up to James. "So… what should we do, Jim?"

Ironwood sighed through his nostrils as the scroll continued to ring, unsure about what to do himself. "Well… that all depends…" He shifted his attention to Raven again, seeking her approval. "What do you think, Raven?"

Raven pursed her lips before craning her head to her charges, who were all giving her serious expressions. With the teens reinforcing her resolve, Raven gave a nod to Ironwood. "Answer him and put him on speaker." She decided. "We'll all stay quiet while you two talk to him. We'll judge what to do afterward."

Ironwood and Qrow exchanged a look before both of them nodded as well. "Alright then." James approved before answering the phone, making sure to put it on speaker as well. "Leo, good morning!"

"Ah, James! Yes, good morning." Leo responded. "I'm very glad I could reach you. How was your night?"

"It was… eventful." Ironwood glanced over to Qrow. "A certain someone managed to drag me out for drinks last night and I got a bit of a migraine."

"Haha, why doesn't that surprise me?" Lionheart chuckled. "Well, I hope you're wide awake for this, because I have some good news for you. I decided to do some research and mull over what we spoke about yesterday… and I've come to a decision."

This caused Ironwood to raise a brow. "Really? And what would that be?"

"Well, after giving it all of my attention for a good while, I've decided that I want to meet with Raven." Leo answered, giving everyone pause. "I wish to speak with her to prove that I'm not the mole her informant said I am. Tell me, do you have any way of contacting her?"

The whole group could only stay silent as Ironwood spoke back, though it was evident that a tense atmosphere was now settling over the room. "Yes, actually, I do." The general sent a serious gaze down at his scroll. "But tell me, do you have any way to effectively prove your innocence?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Lionheart confirmed. "After what you told me yesterday, I began searching through every possible link I have in this academy and I've made quite the discovery." The headmaster took a pause before whispering into the speaker on the other end; "I think one of my staff maybe the mole you're searching for."

This caught everybody's attention, most of all, Raven's. The Spring Maiden couldn't speak though as James continued. "Wait, one of your staff?"

"Yes, one who I'm certain has been out for me for quite some time." Lionheart went on. "He is also one of the few others in this academy that knows about the Relic of Knowledge. I've been attempting to contact him to question him about this, but he isn't answering on any of his lines. It's… worrying to say the least." The headmaster sighed worriedly before continuing. "James, if we don't do something about this, we could very well be compromised."

Gathering himself, Ironwood raised a hand to gather his thoughts. "Alright, Leonardo, let's calm down here for a moment. This IS very worrying, and yes, we'll make sure to do something about it. You have my word."

Another sigh, this one of relief, came from Lionheart. "Hah… thank you James. All the same, I still would like to talk to Raven myself, if that's at all possible. I so desperately wish to see the Spring Maiden safely returned." This made Raven's eyes widen in panic. "I would greatly appreciate a meeting with her to discuss the mole information as well as Spring."

Ironwood took a quick glance at Raven to see her unsure expression. "…You know she probably won't trust you, right?"

"Well, I'm willing to put in the work to prove my innocence. This, I vow." Lionheart replied resolutely. "That said, the teachers are going to be in the school all weekend in preparation for reopening, so I'm really only free today. If you could see if she's available, that would be fantastic."

"As great as that sounds, I'm not so sure…" Ironwood rubbed the back of his head. "She's actually with the team today, so…"

"Oh yes! The group that Sun and Neptune were staying with over in Vale!" Lionheart piped up happily. "Scarlet and Sage hold told me about them upon their return. Hmm… ah! You know what, I think I have an idea! Why not bring the children with her to Haven on a field trip? I'd be delighted to see Sun and Neptune again, and any friends of theirs are certainly welcome in my academy's halls." At his words, the group all exchanged curious looks with one another, silently judging what he was saying. He certainly SOUNDED sincere, but there was still an air of suspicion lingering in the room.

Raven raised her head to Ironwood and moved her hand across her neck, signaling to end the call there. "That actually sounds like a good idea, Leo!" Ironwood said with his best faux enthusiasm. "I'll call Raven up and see what she thinks of it."

"Ah, thank you, James." Leo replied. "I look forward to what she thinks. I'll see you later."

"Right… thank you, Leo." With that, Ironwood hung up, taking a deep breath as he did. "Well? What do you think?"

Qrow threw a hand up in the air. "Smells fishy to me. Not twenty-four hours after our visit and Leo's been able to come up with all that? Feh, I doubt it."

Raven put a hand to her chin. "Qrow's right, this is all VERY suspicious. Being able to find "evidence" that one of his staff is responsible for leaking info to Salem so soon… it's one of the oldest tricks in the book." Her hand went to her sword handle in trepidation. "And the fact that he wants to talk about the Spring Maiden… it all seems too convenient."

"Think it could be a trap?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha lowered her gaze to the floor. "Most likely. This has the stench of Salem all over it." She craned her head over to Oscar, wondering what the boy and the man in his head had to say to all this. "Oscar… what do you and Ozpin think?"

Oscar cupped his hands while keeping his head low, still taking in the information himself. "Well… it DOES sound pretty suspicious." He perked up and raised his hands. "H-Hold on, Ozpin wants to speak again."

Raven narrowed her eyes to him. "Oh, so NOW he decides to jump in."

Oscar's eyes flashed and Ozpin took his place, the former headmaster sending a piercing glare back to the Spring Maiden. "I wasn't planning to, but after hearing that call, I'm afraid I have to agree with the majority on this one." Ozpin placed his hands behind his back. "This sounds quite similar to one of many of Salem's old tricks… especially considering some of the other past deceptions that happened to me."

The teens all stared wide-eyed at Ozpin. "So… this isn't the first time you've been betrayed by someone?" Weiss guessed.

"Sad to say, but… no, it isn't." Ozpin confirmed. "I'm afraid that Leo might just be her inside man after all."

Ben walked up and added his two cents. "Okay, so I think we can all discern that Lionheart's probably gonna backstab us. But since we already know, we'll be ready for whatever he's got set up."

Gwen placed her hands on her hips. "Really? Even if that means we'll be walking right into Salem's forces?"

"Well, it's not like we haven't faced them all before." Ben pointed out. "We've fought against pretty much everyone in her group and I think we've all got a pretty solid handle on how they fight. We've got the advantage on that front."

"Yes, but if this truly is a trap, then they've got an advantage too." Ren reminded. "They'll know we're coming."

Ben bowed his head to Ren. "Yes, I know. But while that might be the case, I think this'll be the only opportunity we have to secure the Relic of Knowledge." As he expected, everyone's attention was drawn to him, many shocked by his words. "Listen, I know that this could probably be a long shot, but if we were to go to Haven, it might be our only chance at getting that Relic out of the vault... even if we have to go through Salem's people to do it."

"That's all well and good… but do you have a plan, Ben?" Ruby asked.

The hero nodded to her. "I do. If Lionheart's trying to lure us there, then that means he's been in contact with Salem's forces…" He gestured over to Raven. "Which probably means that he also knows that Raven's the Spring Maiden. But… what he doesn't know is that we're already on to him." Ben placed his hands firmly on his hips. "If Salem's forces are planning a surprise attack, they won't know that we're already anticipating them to be there, so we'll be able to throw them off their game. Once they attack, we'll engage as well, but only until we can get a clear shot to the Vault."

Pyrrha raised her hand. "We won't ALL be going there, will we? It would probably be unwise if we did, as the villains would just follow us."

"Exactly, which is why only five of us will go." Ben jabbed a thumb over to Raven. "Of course, Raven will be one of them." He placed a hand onto his chest. "And if Cinder's gonna be there, she'll probably make a bee-line for the Vault as well. That mean I should probably go, too. Out of all of us, I likely still have the best chance against her."

"Ahem, hello?" Raven snapped her fingers, gaining Ben's attention. "Literal Maiden standing over here."

Ben sent her a stern face. "Exactly my point. You'll be her number one target. Which means that she'll do anything to try and kill you and take your powers." He faced the Spring Maiden head on, standing firm on his choice. "I'm sorry, Raven. But for the sake of keeping you alive, I can't let you engage with her. Leave her to me, okay?"

"I…" Raven paused the moment she saw how dead-set Ben's face was. Out of all the times she had seen Ben get serious, this was probably the most serious. It was clear that the Omnitrix bearer wasn't about to mess up this crucial moment, meaning that she had to be sure to do so as well. "Right. If that's what you think is best, then I'll do it."

A smile reappeared on Ben's face and he bowed his head in appreciation. "Thanks, Raven. I know your daughter would kill me if I got you killed." After receiving a playful nudge from Yang, Ben extended his hand out to the team. "Alright guys, we've been able to beat the odds before, so let's try our luck again. Whaddya say?"

"I'm in." Yang stepped up and put her hand over Ben's, giving him a smile. "Always."

"I think it's pretty clear that I'm also in." Raven joined in.

Pretty soon, everyone began voicing their approval, leaving Qrow, Ironwood and Ozpin as the only ones left. Slipping his hands into his pockets, Qrow sighed and shook his head. "Ugh, I can't believe I'm saying this… but count me in." An angry expression took over the drunken Huntsman's face. "It's time that Leo learned the hard way that working with Salem ain't the smartest choice."

"Indeed." Ironwood concurred. "As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm afraid the Lionheart we once knew is long gone."

Ozpin closed his eyes somberly. 'I'm sorry, old friend. But if you truly have partnered with Salem, then I'm afraid there is nothing I can do from here.' He opened his eyes and gave a resolute nod. "Very well, then, I am in as well. …And subsequently, I suppose Oscar is, too."

"WHAT?!" Oscar shouted in his thoughts. "I never consented to this!"

'Do not worry. I will have your back, Oscar.' Ozpin promised. 'You will be fine, I promise.' With that, Ozpin switched back with Oscar, leaving the young man to groan at his predicament.

"Ugh, okay." Oscar conceded. "I'll come along."

Ben sent him a nod. "Good, but at the first sign of trouble, I want you to get out of the way. Salem's forces are nothing to be messed with, especially since you don't have any combat practice." After receiving a nod back from Oscar, Ben turned back to his team, smiling at them. "Alright, guys. We know what our mission is; stop Salem's forces from getting their hands on the relic. Are we good?!"

He got a cheer from the whole room, leading Yang to take out her scroll. "Lemme just call up Blake and the boys so I can fill 'em in. We're gonna need ALL the help we can get on this one."

"Right, good call." Ben said as he raised his fist into the air. "Alright, guys, we all know what time it is!"

The whole room, aside from Qrow, Ironwood, Raven and Oscar, all raised their fists at once and hollered; "IT'S HERO TIME!"

…..

Inside his unlit office at Haven Academy, Lionheart sighed heavily as he set down his scroll, lacing his fingers together as he leaned over his desk. He wore a dark expression as he set his gaze onto the others who were currently occupying his office, giving them a single nod. "…It is done, Miss Cinder."

From the other side of the room, a bright fire suddenly illuminated the office, having sparked itself from said Fall Maiden's hand. The orange glow lit the room up enough for the headmaster to see her, Rojo, Emerald, Mercury, Subdora, Exo-Skull and Thunderhog, the whole group making a chill run down Lionheart's spine. "Excellent work, Headmaster Lionheart." Cinder said with a hint of condescension. "Now all we have to do is wait…"

Rojo crossed her arms and sent Cinder a quirked brow. "That's great, Cindy. But remember, these are the hero brats we're talking about." Her hands went to her hips. "How can we be sure they're not suspecting our attack? They've got Raven's info, remember."

"Oh, I know, Rojo." Cinder smiled sinisterly. "And that is exactly why Lady Salem had us retrieve our… bargaining chip." She turned her head back to Hog and Skull. "You boys still have the hostage secured, right?"

The two mutated bruisers chortled before Exo-Skull raised his arm up. "Hehe, yep! She's right here…" There, in his hand, was Vernal, the young woman being held up by her head as she struggled to break free. It was evident that she had been put through some sort of torturous act, with multiple open scars and bruises covering her arms, legs and face, her clothes having been slashed up with them. Her body had been hog-tied; her arms strapped securely close to her body while her legs were wrapped at the ankles. She also had a piece of duct tape over her mouth, having been wrapped around her head for good measure.

Vernal yelled angrily as she tried to struggle out of her bindings, only to have Skull squeeze her head for her troubles. "SHUT UP!" the rhino man bellowed as Vernal screamed in pain. "Jeez, you've been screamin' like that for hours."

Cinder chuckled in amusement. "Hm, excellent." She put a hand to her ear, a small communicator having been placed in it. "Doctor Viktor, are you, Michael and the Grimm all in position?"

"Indeed, Young Cinder." Viktor replied on the other end. "The Grimm under my control are all in place and ready for their attack. …And Michael is standing right beside me."

"Come now, dear Cinder." Michael implored. "I'm not about to screw a mission like THIS up. Why not trust me more on this one?"

Cinder sneered in irritation. "You know exactly why, Michael. Now be ready, our guests should be arriving soon enough." She took her hand off the comm and slowly began closing her other hand, the fire beginning to fizzle out. "Hmhm, I believe it's for the show… to begin."

…..

A/N: And thus, Cinder and her team arrive at Haven Academy, and the heroes are already formulating a plan for their inevitable encounter. And that will be the subject of the big chapter 100… but before we get to that, why not focus on a little more about what happened in this one, huh? We got a little reunion with Team SSSN, and things seem to be all okay between the four, even if Scar and Sage are still not cleared for combat. And it seems the gang are making some good progress in their training as well! Here's hoping that Oscar can catch up, even if it takes a while. But hmm… Ben's theory may be a bit out there, but considering that the Gods of Light and Darkness were real as well, who's to say his thought couldn't hold some water? Eh, food for thought. Also, it's been a while since we've seen Blake exhibit more of her feline tendencies, so I thought I'd throw a little something in there. And yes, the monger is based exactly on who you think he is.

Now… NEXT TIME is Chapter 100, and the beginning of the Battle for Haven! Once the gang arrive at Haven, they are immediately greeted by Lionheart, though they soon see that they definitely aren't alone. They quickly find themselves in an ambush, and the reveal of their hostage doesn't make any matters better. However, with the timely arrival of a certain someone, they find themselves with the backup they need to take them on. Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe out there!