"What are you without your hell raiser now ?" yelled out the fire starter, his eyes dancing with the furious intent on revenge. Ozpin, in all his days, had never seen such a quick Instance like this. It was like something snapped inside his fellow student, but there was no time to ponder on what had triggered his anger. It was already presumed of course.

"Cardin, stop!"

As ordered, he did so but still scolded the girls remaining unscathed, the fire embedded from his eyes show true fiery beyond anyone's control. All three of them except for Yang was left shaking visibly as the blonde bombshell lay on the floor, cold. Growls escaped from the teenage inferno, his palms emitting fire begging to scorch his torturers.

Although he ceased his attack on team RWBY, he fought with himself, or rather with someone else, to go ahead and burn them. His blood boiled like lava, and he could feel a small heat eat away at the skin of his body on every patch. He was burning up badly.

'Why fight it? Is this not what you wanted? To get your revenge on these skanks?'

'I know I said I wanted payback, but not right now. Stop, Eli. Now.'

'Have it your way, but I know I'll get to see some pain soon. Heheheh...'

Just like the snap of a finger, the urge to gut the girls left within an instance. His vision cleared of all of the Crimson intent. However, the reasoning of venturing back to Beacon did not leave Cardin.

"Count yourself lucky, you treacherous little snakes. Every single one of you three, I outta-"

"Cardin," Ozpin said as he clamped his student's shoulder, looking him in the eye with a straight face, Cardin shut his mouth as he knew that this was serious. Annie herself was tugging ever so familiarly on his other hand.

Ms. Goodwitch took this moment to check on the sister of the team, crouching down as she put her fingers on Yang's neck. Ruby had forgotten how to move and let herself drop down next the two.

"Yang? Yang? Is she okay?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, the blonde instructor stood up.

"She's just out cold. Possibly the best course of action, I hate to say."

"Yes, she's not capable of controlling her temper. At least Mr. Winchester tries his best to."

With words sputtering out from Weiss' trying to comprehend on what just happened, Blake took it upon herself to ask the obvious.

"What are you doing here? You were dead! We saw it."

Confusion was not something that even Cardin would think to feel during all of this.

"What? Who told you this? I'm here, and I'm not letting you ruin my chances here. I'm here to stay."

"Hey, Yang might've been the first one to jump you but we didn't, did we?" The white heiress snarled at him while stomping her foot to the floor.

"Oh yes, I forgot. You were going to do what, taunt me some more? Gang up on me? I fucking dare you, bitch! Try it!"

"Enough!" yelled the headmaster with an unpleasant tone, surprising everyone in the room, especially Goodwitch. Taking a deep breath while adjusting his glasses, the great Oz approached team RWBY.

"Do not forget that you three along with team CFVY were lucky enough to not be expelled. And Ms. Schnee..." his tone targeting the one heiress in the room who shook with nervousness, "I'd keep my comments to myself, I for one do not want to hear another word from you at all right now, specifically. Are we clear ?"

"Y-yes, Professor Ozpin," stuttered Weiss, looking away.

"Now... Cardin, we have a lot to talk about and it seems as though the proper time to get this all out of the way and function normally is right now. Glynda, call in teams JNPR and CVFY."

She nodded as he left the room without a moment's hesitation. All 6 of them, excluding Yang's unconscious form, stood there in silence. Cardin spoke up with the question that finally popped up.

"Professor, what do they mean I was dead ?"

"Cardin, when you were halted by JNPR, we found you so battered and bruised that we couldn't even identify the body to belong to you."

"O-okay, but that's not all of it. What else happened?" he questioned, this couldn't be real. Unfortunately for everyone else, it was very much the opposite.

"Cardin, how much do you remember when you were in the Emerald Forest?"

Cardin had tried thinking back to what happened when he had faced against Jaune and Ren in their attempts to bring him back. He thought so hard that sheathing his eyes had shown on his face. He finally stopped as a painful high pitched whine popped in his mind.

"I.. I... I can't remember... I can't remember it at all!"

Now normally people could cope with not having the foggiest of memories, but it chilled Cardin to the bone. If he could recount any of the moments during his fight, it was very little or was just pitch black. Literally, it was if it had just faded out of his brain completely.

"How badly did the both of them beat me?"

"It wasn't both of the boys who had struck you greatly, only Mr. Arc."

'Really? I mean I expected that other guy to beat the snot of me easily, but Jaune, all by himself?' Cardin had thought to himself.

"Well, I think I know why he might've done that. I told him to. I told him he either had to punch my lights out or kill me, I just never thought he had it in him."

"I expected him to accomplish greatly but I too never believed him to commit murder," agreed Ozpin.

"But wait, I don't understand something."

"Ask away."

"If I was... killed... then why did I end up in Vale, alive ?!"

"That's what we all were trying to solve, Cardin," there had not been any sign of lying in his voice. All the young man could do was shiver at the thought of such a revelation. Annie held her only friend's hand, in an attempt to comfort him.


Forty-five minutes had passed by as the still conscious students and headmaster stood in the room. Finally, the ding of the elevators caught their attention with an instance. The eight team members poured out in shock after walking 3 steps or so. Now despite each of their priceless reactions, it was Jaune himself that stood out to Cardin.

The color had left his face and that was not an exaggeration. Completely paled and shook with fear, the blonde leader was brought back from his knees with the help of his team. A flood of shouts filled the silence. Such outbursts consisted of...

"Cardin!" from Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi.

"What the fuck ?!" from an outraged Coco, her glasses loosened to show her eyes.

"ZOMBIE!" coming from Nora as she had her arms flailing around while searching for her precious Magnhild.

"That's enough!"

Every single student had instantly shut their mouths and directed their attention to Ozpin, who had risen his voice much to his disliking, it really hurts his vocal cords.

"As of right now, I don't want any further questions asked until I have permitted you to do so. Now it should be well known that yes, Mr. Winchester has returned back and is very well in stable condition. As for the rest of you excluding Ms. Nikos, Ms. Valkyrie, and Mr. Ren, you are all held responsible for this."

No one with the right sense would dare start spouting out lines such as, "That's not fair". You just don't say that kind of crap to a headmaster.

"Now then, to start this off, team CFVY, please step forward."

Said team hesitated but quickly thought twice about going against the simple orders from Ozpin. They walked towards their headmaster along with Ms. Goodwitch, Cardin and Annie. Cardin himself was glaring them all down save it except for the unaccused three of JNPR. The piercing stare down that Cardin gave off the same intensity from earlier.

All four members stopped right in front of the opposite four.

"Thank you, Ms. Adel would you like to explain why you chose to take part in RWBY's actions against Cardin ?" he said in a tone that wasn't actually asking, rather a demanding one.

Playing it cool, the beret wearing girl replied, "Well they only walked to our dorm while we tended to our own and they popped the question if we wanted to show up Winchester."

"Hmmm, interesting how they chose to do such a thing especially after I had specifically told them to cease their troubling," he followed while eying the young leader of said group. Ruby looked down towards the ground with regret for letting the first man who had seen potential in her down.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, Ruby," he said with an interested tone in his voice, prompting the girl to perk up with uneasiness, "Please come forward without the rest of your team-mates."

Not wishing to make him any more irritated and impatient, she scurried as quick as she could.

"Now I'm going to get straight to the point and I expect the truth, Ms. Rose. In what reason did you decide to go against my orders and force Cardin out of Beacon ?"

All eyes were on her, the team's worried in anticipation, while staff and Cardin narrowed theirs. It lowered her self-confidence completely.

"I-I-I I only was going to tell him to... to stay away from us from now on," she said with a tremble obvious in her voice. Her teammates did not blame her one bit for this sort of struggle, in fact, they envied her for even managing to get part of the truth out.

"So you approached this by brute force? Ms. Rose, words cannot express how sorely disappointed I am in your team."

That shattered any motivation to get through today in the caped Rose. Her eyes filled with tears threatening to leak out but were helped by Weiss to compose herself. Cardin had to admit, this felt so juicy and satisfying to him. However, it wasn't what would put his vengeance to rest just yet. He had plans for them.

"I should have you four all expelled and sent back home, but of course... That would be a waste for what is to come. If you all wish to prove yourselves to me once more, then you shall complete the following."

All guilty members perked their heads up and coiled in surprise and anticipation, almost as if they missed the chance of being whipped but never felt the blow.

"Each of you will be stripped of your weapons unless you have been given contracts, no other reason. Lunch shall be held in Oobleck's every day until I can learn to trust each and every one of you. And lastly, while this does hurt me only by a small fraction, you all will be held back by one year until you graduate. That includes your group as well, Ms. Adel."

Jaws fell to the floor, hell most actually formed lumps in their throat for being cheated from going on through their school life, but soon had felt defeated knowing this was official. Jaune felt devoid of any happiness or pure determination for his life dreams. He always wanted to follow down the righteous path to being a true hero, yet here he was, no better than his former bully. They all were.

"I expect you all to follow these simple orders, and if I hear differently, I will happily send you all back to your respected households. If ever done so, you shall no longer qualify for ever enrolling back into Beacon, permanently."

Each of them, even Jaune's teammates recoiled back from such a promise. Today would truly set each and everyone in the room a completely different person than the one they all once were. Even Cardin.

"Now then, return straight to your dorm rooms and do not even leave unless class calls for you, except for you three," Ozpin pointed to Jaune's teammates. Jaune found it hard to even lift his feet to exit the room but somehow had it in him to do so. Everyone gathered in the elevator, leaving only seven people in the room.

"You three do not know how grateful I am to know at least some of my students took proper action. It cripples me on what had to be done, especially for Ruby and Mr. Arc, I saw true potential in them. Now I have to give them the challenge to gain my trust back."

NPR switched glances with each other, all unnerved from all of this. Pyrrha was the one who felt the weakest out of them all, the guy who she once saw as team leader was ultimately sent back to square one for choosing the wrong path. It made her want to just sob then and there.

"You all will attend Beacon as you once had before, your weapons shall stay with you and you three only. If such questionable behavior comes from your friends, I honestly trust you to report it as soon as it comes about. Are we clear ?"

"Yes sir," they said respectively. Cardin was busy rubbing his temples as he felt a terrible soreness in his facial features.

"What a fucking mess," he said without hesitation, even it had seemed to cut the quiet strictness there. This automatically made the heads turn to the voice, never expecting the sudden drastic vocal change in Cardin. He looked back with a cranky snarl.

"I mean it, this never had to happen in the first goddamn place. But no, it has to because of me. It's always me that ruins every-single-goddamn thing."

"I can understand your frustration with all of this, I truly do, Cardin. If anyone is to blame, it is me," said Ozpin with sorrow that only could be earned by being close to the headmaster.

"Don't give me that, Professor. You're not the one who raised me who I am today, you never encouraged to make bad decisions," said Winchester as he patted one of his only allies back, he was happy to at least be given the chance to make things right with him.

"Nevertheless, things will certainly be much more complex now, I'm afraid. I'm also just grateful that you've returned."

"Likewise."

Assuring the obvious with his friend, Cardin directed his focus back to the rest of JNPR, all carrying a different attitude towards him. None of which was anything close to positive. Ren blamed Cardin partly for all of this but still had to come to terms deep down for what was truly the reason for this. He promised to never hold grudges, but he still held his suspicions towards the Cardinal. Young Valkyrie just didn't have it in her to form a glare at him, only a somber mask that sheathed her face. Pyrrha was a different story.

When she was there the night that Cardin was subsequently killed, she couldn't face the reality of Jaune's dark actions. Each time his fist slammed down on Cardin's face, she had cringed from each squish and squash that came from the beating. The memory was branded into her mind each time she had cleared it afterward. And now after seeing Cardin in the flesh, uninjured except for the inside, it left her immobile on what to actually endure.

Neither one of them had really realized they locked eyes, Cardin and Pyrrha had kept quiet but somehow spoke without talking. That's when he turned to them all.

"Hate me if you want to. Say it's all my fault too. Just don't expect me to go back to being the asshole who intends to bully again. Ever."

None of the three spoke a word, Ren's glare pierced through Cardin's tired narrowed eyes and both had their own little discussion. Guiding Nora by the shoulder, he said "If you ever put my team in harm's way again, I will promise to cut you down," and he left, leaving Pyrrha alone as he knew she had other business with the young man.

She stepped forward until she was right in front of him, focusing on his face the most. Every now and again, the image of his once destroyed, tattered face flickered nonstop in her head.

"Saying sorry wouldn't seem to do much, I don't know what to say for all of this other than the obvious."

Pyrrha didn't reply, only reaching her hand out to him, touching his face. It initially froze him in place, her hand slowly and carefully feeling around for any more bruises. After she stopped, she continued to stare at him with that look that killed him. He gently managed to dislodge her hand off just so it didn't seem careless or rude.

"So much for that promise of being gone, right ?"

After giving out that remark he turned his attention back to Ozpin.

"What happens now?"

"Well, I can imagine what trouble you've had during these recent days. I'm going to give you a special dorm all to yourself, even your friend if she has nowhere else to go."

Annie beamed at this, of course, feeling delighted that she had now known she and Cardin had a proper place to stay.

"Much obliged, thanks, Professor, for everything."

"The pleasure is mine, we'll have more to discuss tomorrow. As of now, take this," he handed Cardin a silver key,"This is for your new room, it's located across from your old dorm and holds only that one room. I will later send Glynda for your new uniform and other supplies you might need."

"Thanks again," he said, actually managing to pull off a small smile that held much more to it. After shaking hands, Cardin left the room with Annie and surprisingly, Pyrrha in the elevator. The whole way down was uncomfortably quiet. Annie was off in her own little world, day dreaming about how much had transpired over the past days.

Meanwhile, Cardin was just staring straight ahead, trying his best to ignore the noticeable glances that Pyrrha was trying to hide but failing miserably to do so. At one point, he made brief eye contact for a quick second before she looked away, the same look on her face.


Once the elevator reached all the way down, all three of them exited out. Pyrrha had grabbed Cardin's arm back making him confused. Annie herself was halted since she held hands with her only companion, causing her to also look up to the redhead curiously.

Seconds painfully passed on, nothing happens. Before he could even ask what was up, the next thing he knew he was in a quick hug as the Amazonian warrior quickly left in a dash away. It left him completely dumb founded. Annie thought the two had something.

"Was she your girlfriend or something?"

His face undoubtedly reddened at that question and shook his head furiously.

"No, no... but... she didn't seem to be mad about me coming back."

Both of them seemed to understand that much. After that little awkward moment, Annie and Cardin made their way to their new home.


As team RWBY had managed to drag along the now awakening Yang, they all sat in their room depressed. That's the only way that it could be described, simple as that. Of course, Yang was madder than hell, typically. The fire in her was no longer cast out, it burned rapidly once more.

"This is bullshit! What makes Ozpin think that he's turning a new leaf? That bulky jock-strapped fucking-" she muttered other countless profanities under her breath as Weiss tried to console her the best she could.

"Face it, Yang. There's no purpose in keeping up with this anymore. We came here to become Huntresses and yet here we, going against the headmaster's orders as if we're like Cardin."

Once Ruby's words drilled into Yang's head, she slowly started to take deep breaths and her eyes were no longer flaming red. The rest of the group could only fixate their mind on Cardin himself and how much they were going to put up for quite some time. Out of all of the four, it was Blake who brought up a good question.

"Who was the little girl with him?"

One by one, all the girls gave each other questioning glances.

"It can't be a sibling, right? I mean, come on," asked Ruby. To see the former jackass with a younger girl and have her side with him just made them believe he was more of a snake in the grass than before.

"Who knows, what really stands out is that fire. Have you guys really forgotten about that?" said Weiss as if she was the only one who paid attention.

"Yeah, you're right. That-that couldn't have been his semblance, could it?"

"I never saw it before, and why now all of a sudden ?" asked Ruby, she knew that most of the students here each maintained a certain power, but something like that was mind boggling. Was he almost like Yang, does he only conjure up fire when angry? That's what it looked like back there at Ozpin's office. She was dying to know.

"I can't believe that bastard pulled a cheap shot like that, knocking me out so easily, I'm going to deck him whenever I have the chance!" Yang burst out with defiance.

"Forget it, Yang, you can't. Ozpin's made it clear enough that if we even spit in Cardin's direction, we get to pack up and go back home," said Blake, having the impression that defeat was a good choice as any to accept. The emotion in her voice when she said that was completely hollow, almost robotic.

The fiery blonde saw Weiss and her sister share agreeing nods and let that sink in for a moment. She had never felt so cheated like that, there was not a single thing anyone can do. She just wanted to punch someone so badly, but at the same time she didn't want to, she was in no clear mind what to believe anymore as of now.

"I-I don't even want to ask about what Ozpin said, fine, fuck it. Fuck Cardin, fuck him, he always gets away with it, Always! And we take the punishment! That NO GOOD SON OF A BITCH!" she screeched out punching her bed without using Ember Celica. After she was done throwing her tantrum, her eyes were puffy, red and tired with a small hint of tears of frustration. Her closest friend wrapped an arm around as the last two closed in and huddled in as a group.

"I just... I'm so sick of us being his scapegoat every time," she said with her eyes closed, true sadness that emitted from her voice. Everyone one in the group was tired.

Cardin seemed to cause trouble by just mentioning him.


Winchester's nose was acting up and he managed to cease himself from sneezing. Inside of himself, he could hear Eli snickering a little and he had curiosity get the better of him to make him ask the question, 'What's so funny, Eli'.

'It's nothing really, call it crazy but I think someone is talking about us.'

'What ever gave you that idea?'

'Oh, you'd be surprised. Back before I was killed, lesser rats and worthless runts used to fear the name, Eli Morrow. Be grateful that you are set as a reminder, for I was never even spoken of for their safety.'

'You have a fucked up way of seeing stuff differently, y'know that? I'm not even going to pretend to ignore that.'

'One day, one day you'll find it gleeful to see yourself set fear into the hearts of even those who are called monsters. The feeling of having unlimited power.'

'Whatever you say, Elliot.'

'Call me that again, and I shall force your body off a cliff.'

'Heh, scary.'


After discussing other topics with his other half such as the next thing on their list, Cardin and Annie stopped in front of their new dorm. After walking up the stairs, they finally stepped inside their new room and were astounded, to say the least. Inside was a 60-inch flat screen, two separate bedrooms with king sized and queen sized bedrooms for the two respectively. It had a nice spacious feel to it. His old room was cramped enough without those three idiots he thought were friends.

Cardin didn't even have to tell Ann that she could go check out their new room, she was already bouncing up and down on her new bed. It flickered a little bit of happiness in the uptight Cardinal. Seeing her so cheerful really did make him feel more optimistic about this all. Walking into his bedroom while slipping off his shoes, he too made himself comfortable with his own bed. He threw his jacket on the floor, uncaring as he felt the tension leave in his back after pressing down into the soft mattress.

'Say, Eli,' Cardin started,'Where's the car right now?'

'Near that massive cliffside that people use for docking so much.'

'I know I asked, but how exactly do you know where it is so specifically?'

'Heh, with my powers, everything that's chained to me gives me almost like a third eye. Even just the keys in there, I can just pin point that shit.'

'Good to know. Just as long as it's out of view.'

Just then, a knock came at the door. Cardin's ears perked up and walked to see who it was, Ms. Goodwitch no doubt. After unlocking it, sure enough, the crop wielding teacher stood there with Cardin's school uniform.

"Ms. Goodwitch."

"Cardin, here's your new uniform. Don't expect me to bring anything else back to you, I don't do deliveries."

"Of course," he said as he was handed his new clothes,"You deliver enough as it is, teachings."

"Oh yes, Ozpin also forgot to mention this," Glynda responded as she pulled out a new scroll in hand. She gave it to Cardin as well.

"I forgot, my old one broke after," he stopped himself after remembering the recent discussion earlier in that office,"Yeah, well thanks for giving me this, Ms. Goodwitch. You and he really are looking after me."

"You're welcome, but if you're not too occupied, I'd like to have a word with you."

Cardin looked at Annie who was already getting cozy with the bed and looked like she was getting ready to snooze. "Hey Annie," she looked at him across the room.

"I'm just going to talk with Ms. Goodwitch shortly, I'll be back soon."

Annie nodded and returned to get some rest. After putting his stuff down and closing the door, Cardin looked to his teacher. "Walk with me, Cardin," requested the crop wielder. He complied and both had found themselves outside and down to the main avenue.

"Let me just inform you first of all that your return has made our headmaster into his old self once more."

"Was he really that bad off after all of this," he questioned, wondering just exactly how real the issues were for Ozpin. He wasn't an idiot, Cardin knew there had to be some sort of turmoil that Ozpin must've been enduring. His teacher nodded while pushing up her glasses. "Yes indeed. In fact, after we recovered your body back from team JNPR, he asked everyone to leave him and your..." she cleared her throat,"Corpse and to not return until told to. Even myself was told to look after the students until instructed further orders."

"After 3 complete hours, he finally allowed only me to step inside. I had never seen him so downtrodden before in all my life that I've known him."

They continued walking down the path until they stopped at the docking area, ahead of them was the sun setting, a peaceful orange sphere casting the rays on them. It was times like this to where Cardin gained his humanity back, not to mention, just looking to the sun, he felt all of a sudden a lot stronger. Not metaphorically either.

"Ms. Goodwitch."

She turned to her student, "Yes?"

"Why does he see so much in me?"

"Pardon?"

"I mean, what does he see in me that holds such feats? All I've done was cause trouble and get just as much. There's no way I'm even close to team RWBY or JNPR, or even CFVY. "

She registered those words into her brain, and although she was strict and stern most of the time near everyone, she couldn't help but scoff at such beratement. This caught Cardin's eye rather quickly.

"Cardin, Ozpin makes no mistakes believe what you will. He truly has his sights aimed for you to accomplish your tasks. To him, you're stronger than you let on, not physically, but inside."

"Even I am proud to say that you've certainly changed drastically in a short course of time. But perhaps it's best this way, you're finally breaking free of whatever hold was grounded upon your shoulders."

He would have believed to hear such from Glynda herself, but then again, he may as well have. In such short time, his reality was puzzling up to show that life is an unexpected turn of events that made you curious for the next day. Hearing this also made him feel better, he did have friends after all. He just didn't know.

"Thank you, ma'am. You honestly don't know how much this helps," he replied while having a smile that wasn't forced, it was genuine. Glynda was glad to see that even a wronged man can truly show his true colors and she smiled along with him. After both assuring themselves that things were soon to get better, they both looked onwards towards the sun.

"It's good to be back."


Night had occurred and everyone was in their respective rooms. After parting away from his teacher, the fire caster lay on the living room couch as he had one thing on his mind for a while. What would happen next? Despite everything, he was truly interested in what tomorrow had to offer. Each passing second becoming closer to new things.

Annie was already asleep in her own room, the time being after 9:00. Cardin was wide awake and didn't feel necessarily drowsy yet. He decided to whip out his brand new scroll and mess around with its settings for a bit. After a short while, everything turned odd. It wasn't the peaceful, quiet atmosphere. In fact, there was an odd feeling in Cardin's upper torso that made him focus on whatever it was. When he turned to the window, he walked towards it and stopped to look out to the forest.

Nothing was going on, there wasn't any Ursa Majors attacking anyone or any trouble. So why was he so interested in the dark wilderness that surrounded Beacon? Was it Eli's doing?

'You feel that too, huh ?'

Speaking of the devil, the host nodded. 'What exactly is it? It's like there's something calling me from there.'

'I have no clue, but I'm very well curious. It's compelling me to go over there.'

'Right now? C'mon, it's probably nothing.'

'You say that, yet you feel that strong force just as much as I do.'

'Well, if it won't stop during tomorrow, we'll check it out.'

'You're going to need to check on something in a sec, someone's approaching the door.'

When hearing this, the host grew confused on whether that was a bad or good thing. Without asking he just walked towards the door and instinctively waited for the knocking for permission to come. It took what felt like a minute for the knocking to finally begin, he was growing suspicious of this. 'Eli, I have a feeling this might not be a regular visit.'

'Heh heh, I wouldn't mind a good fight if this is it.'

Concentrating into his right palm with extreme ease, Winchester felt the flames circle into his hand. It didn't hurt now that he was in control now instead of being blinded by rage. Counting down, he swung open the door and waited for his eyes to adjust to who the figure would reveal. But that was just it, there was no one there. He looked both ways of the hallway. This was only his dorm, so why would anyone even visit? Better yet, where were they?

Ceasing away the palm fire, he closed the door and just stood there in confusion. After a minute he shrugged it off and decided to get some sleep, he was going to need it for tomorrow. What fun awaits for tomorrow.

Though unbeknownst to him, there really was someone out in the hall who had knocked on the door. The person decided to run away after having second thoughts. She was trying to catch her breath without breathing so heavily. It wasn't the running, it was just almost coming face to face with the outsider. She couldn't handle the idea of coming face to face any longer than she had in the elevator. Not to mention, she just didn't want to let him see the tears or he'd most likely get suspicious.


Out in the night, the wind whistled as it's harsh force made the tree's rustle. Though as everyone was either asleep or going to, a strange sight was hidden away from everyone. Deep within the outer forest was a strange orange glow that could only be seen if you yourself was embedded in the green environment.


The morning was the most splendid out of any during the week. And that was saying something, especially from Cardin. Seeing that it was already dawn made him think it was all just a dream but found out it wasn't. There was some beauty in Remnant, after all, it just took a while to find it once more. He decided that some breakfast wouldn't hurt anyone none, some for Annie too. So after putting on some decent easy going clothes, he left a note for Annie and left to the cafeteria. It was a decent hour of the morning, so hopefully, not a whole lot of people were there.

After getting his food, he came back to his dorm room and closed the door. As he set aside the food from the bag and onto a plate with a respective amount for both plates. When he went inside Annie's room, he found her still asleep in her her bed. The odd thing about her was that she still had her gloves on her hands. She probably had forgotten about them when she went to bed last night.

He thought it would be nice if she had them off in case it was uncomfortable. He slipped one off and then the next one. He reached towards her hand to wake her up gently. The moment he had touched her hand, it shocked him. Not in an electrical manner, but it had paralyzed him. He couldn't move his body as it violently spasmed and it was all of a sudden that Annie woke up with a stricken look. She let go of Cardin as he fell to the floor with veins popping all over his body, foaming at the mouth with his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

Memories were rushing through his mind, he saw himself being pummeled by Jaune to being choked out by Yang and it finally ended when he had the unpleasant misfortune of being used by Reyes. That pain came back and it burned worse than before.

'Eli, help!'

There was no response to his plea. It wouldn't matter, however, because he soon blacked out with Annie in his vision and someone else's figure seemingly rushing in the room. His heart tightened and then, he was at peace.

His heart had stopped.


An hour prior to the incident in the room had passed, Cardin's eyes fluttered as they tried to make out its surroundings. It was Annie's room and he was currently in her own bed. His body was sore and his muscles felt ripped, not in a good way that is. As he tried to sit up, something crashed on top of him that sent him on his back. He saw that it was Annie wrapped around his upper torso, face first into his body. Cardin didn't have the slightest idea if that was just a dream or if it was real.

"Annie, you okay ?" he asked, shaking her shoulder. She didn't budge, he heard a strange noise that escaped from her throat. It sounded like a whimper, that's when he saw that when she looked up to him, she was almost on the verge of breaking down.

"Was I just dreaming all of that?"

"N-no," she said. It was still new to him when she talked, but that wasn't what worried him.

"You mean that was all real ?"

Annie nodded, shaking with fear in case it would happen again all of a sudden. "Hey, Annie," he patted her shoulder, "I'm okay, I'm just a little tired."

"I just... I thought you were dead. E-everytime I touch someone, they..." she stopped herself so she could try and swallow the lump in her throat.

"Wait, it just happens when you touch anyone ? That's why you wear those gloves ?"

"Yeah... I'm sorry, I didn't mean," she choked on her sobbing and finally she let it out. Cardin simply just embraced Annie, he didn't see this coming from a mile away. This was not the way he wanted to start off the morning.

"Hey, I'm here. If anything, it's my fault. I didn't know, I should've asked, easy there, kiddo."

She was finally letting up a little bit and soon her crying was decreasing. There were some sniffling and some hiccups, but it would stop when the older teenager patted her head. He was pretty surprised that his young companion would get so worked up, especially him. If it was someone else, no doubt they'd just watch him suffer. But that's when he remembered how Ozpin was like when he thought he was done for.

"It's just that... You're my only friend. I didn't want you to think I was a freak."

"What?"

Those words were almost deaf upon his ears, but he knew what he heard was right. Did she even remember what Cardin was capable of ? If anything, it should've been Cardin who should be the one worrying for his own self-image. He literally has a split personality out of all of this and did she think that having another voice in your head was just casual ?

'You know I can hear your thoughts, you know?'

'Shut up, Eli.'

"Annie, I'm not trying to sound like an asshole, but that's completely stupid."

She had a worried expression as if he was turning on her now.

"Don't take it the wrong way, kid. Look at me, do you think by any chance that I'm normal ? Look around you, Beacon doesn't have normal students."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You'd be surprised on how many people here stand out. But don't think for a second that you're just some freak of nature. You're fine, Ann. And believe me, I'm the strangest out of the both of us. Unless you're Nora of course."

Even though her tears were still on her face, she straightened her face to look extremely confused.

"Who's Nora?"

"The ginger chick."

"Oh, okay. Aren't you ginger too," she said, no sign of any negativity on her face just like that.

"Hey! I'm just a lighter brunette, okay?" he barked back, rubbing his hair subconsciously. That's all it took for Annie to break away from the incident and giggle in her hand so Cardin wouldn't hear. It made him glow, he always liked seeing her happy again. But even so, being called such did ruin his image of himself.

'Ginger, my ass.'

'Haha, your hair looks stupid.'

'Says the one who doesn't even a human body. Hmm? HMMMM?!'

'...'

'...'

'Touche.'

Cardin huffed in triumph as he eternally pictured himself dancing in victory.

"So wait, what's so bad about her then?"

"You really think that a girl who eats pancakes like they're breadcrumbs and has the strength of a behemoth doesn't strike you as a bit odd ?"

"Point taken, even I don't have that much of a sweet tooth."

"Thank god you don't" he rushed the sentence out as he gave Annie a quick hug as she accepted before both separated.

"Now come on, I got some breakfast, hopefully, it's not cold."


His boots clicked with each step that he took, departing away from his bike. All around him, students would give him questioning glances and some would whisper behind his back. It didn't take him very long to search for his main objective. When he got the call from his relative asking for a favor, he didn't hesitate the offer. The man knew that his job would take him to certain places, but he never expected to investigate around a school just to find the contact.

Across the field was the man he was looking for, he fit the description all right. Tall, big, and had the same jacket that the former rider had. He could tell that youth had its rebellious attitude and naive perspective, he remembered back when he was like that too.

For right now, however, he didn't engage his contact right then and there. He knew the best thing to do was just to watch over him. After all, this was his job.


After the two had finished eating, Cardin and Annie decided it'd e best to just go see Ozpin right away just to get it out of the way. Annie was feeling better afterward and made it clear to Cardin that the gloves stay on 24/7. He had no problem with that.

They had made it into the elevator and soon were inside the professor's office. The headmaster sat in his chair and looked up at his papers in front of him.

"Evening, you two."

"Headmaster," he said with a nod, pulling a chair for him and Annie. As everyone had gotten settled in, Cardin popped the question.

"So what else did we need to discuss ?"

"Well, first of all, your class schedule will be rather different as of right now. I've discussed everything to Oobleck and Port, they've agreed to the conditions."

"What would exactly would that be if I may ask ?"

"You will be taking specialized classes with them from now. Your very own sessions with you as the only student."

"That'd be the right thing to do. Anything else?"

"Two more little topics and we will be done for today. Both regarding you, specifically."

"I'm pretty sure it always has."

"Well, how may I put it differently, this is more important. Your semblance."

After hearing that, Cardin leaned forward. "Just how long have you found out about your powers," asked Ozpin.

"It was just yesterday, just like you saw. I don't remember much of it. Honestly, the only time when I could actually even feel in control was I started calming down after the girls had shown. Professor Ozpin, there are some things I should have mentioned yesterday."

"Go on, I won't interrupt."

"It all begun when I awoke in Vale, still don't know how I wound up there. The place was completely empty, it was because I found out that a man by the name of Torchwick. He was apparently stealing some type of certain dust. One of his guys who worked for him said it was fire based, explained that it was unique for being used by the snap of your fingers, literally."

"I found Annie during all of that too. Then this girl offers us a ride to her boyfriends place so he could quote 'patch' me up. I was still in bad shape when it was happening. When we got there, the girl's boyfriend, Reyes, tricked us. He did a ritual and placed this ghost or something into me. The ghost even has a name."

"Do tell," implored Ozpin.

"His name's Eli Morrow. Apparently, he was some sort of big deal back before he was a spirit. Does the name mean anything to you ?"

"No, I've never heard of him. I'll look into this character later."

"Good, Eli actually talks to me too."

"Is that so ?"

"Yeah, trust me, he's not really what I'd call a fun partner to be around."

'Oh you're breaking my heart', quipped Eli sarcastically. Cardin mentally twitched his eyebrow in annoyance.

"As for my semblance, Professor, that's just it. This can't possibly be it. Eli just lends me his powers when I need it. I can control it. Especially this element," he said as he held out his palm and a small patch of fire formed like magic. Ozpin held back the urge to widen his eyes.

"Interesting."

"Oh, believe me, that's not all. We also got a car."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah. I kinda took Reyes' car as payback and that's how we came back here quick as could be. But you'll never believe this next part," he pointed to his own head,"Eli has connections to pretty much all that I need. He can tell where the charger's at, apparently even control it," he finished, he recently found out last night.

"Well, I'll be. Seems as though something incredible has come out of this. But still, there are the disadvantages to this as well."

"Huh?" questioned Cardin. Sighing, Ozpin continued,"Yes, you heard that correctly, which leads me to the last topic I wanted to talk about. Three days from now, Glynda and I will host a sparring match between you and team RWBY."

Normally Cardin would have trembled from the mere thought of pitting against those four, but he didn't. He felt satisfied.

"I see. You doing this just so we can straighten this out once and for all ?"

Ozpin nodded,"Indeed. Their harassment ends soon and now while this isn't exactly vengeance, this is merely just a method of ventilation. I even considered delaying the thought, but this could be what will set the point. No more conflicts within Beacon." Cardin nodded with a smirk. "Well alright, I guess I better use these next few days wisely then."

"I concur, I'll research more about your partner later on. Right now, I have a little errand that could use your assistance, if you're up to it. "

"Of course, what is it ?"

"Sightings of Grimm were seen on the outer edges of the Emerald Forest. Now although you may think that's nothing new, this, however, has revealed non-grimm inhabitants living alongside them."

"Are you saying it's humans," Cardin was pretty skeptical about this piece of info, but if it came from Ozpin, it was pretty serious. Ozpin nodded, "It sounds odd, I know, but shots have shown them to not be the White Fang, but someone else, they all sport this symbol," he said while sliding a picture to his student.

Cardin picked the photo up and saw what looked like a King Taijitu painted green on of the jackets of certain men carrying guns and certain crates. One little detail that had been missed was spotted by Cardin. Inside the crate was looked like red dust crystals. The curiosity showed on his face.

"I'm sure that too has made you wonder if your little discovery in Vale and this has any connection."

"You'd be right."

"Now all I ask is that are you in?"

Setting the picture back down on the table, Cardin nodded. "I'm in, all right. What do you need me to do, get some info on who they are ?"

"Yes and that will be all. I'll be sending Professor Oobleck along with you as well."

"Okay. Well, I'm ready for whenever you want me to go."

"I'll message him, departure time will be in 3 hours tops."

"Will do."


'I recognize that symbol, you know.'

'Share what you know then, we never got to discuss more of your background now that I remember.'

'I used to be associated with this gang before, I just can't still believe those vermin would still be running around, especially with no leader.'

'You saying you know these guys personally ?'

'Heh,' laughed Eli, 'You could say that. In fact, the pig running the shots has been dead long back when I used to roll with good ol' Robbie. His first murder too.'

'Oh god, don't even bring up that son of a bitch's name again. I should've known something was up.'

'Well, you gotta remember, kid. Without me, you wouldn't have had these powers. Then where would you be?'

Eli had a point there, so Cardin decided to let him have that. Both had waited outside near the statue in front of the campus. It was a few minutes after the supposed time and Cardin wondered what it could be. Good reason better have been behind it.

Cardin didn't have to wait any longer as a shout caught him off guard.

"Mr. Winchester."

He turned to his side to see the man himself, Professor Oobleck. The Huntsman was in his typical Safari like outfit and carried a rather pleasant grin, he always was 'actively' enthusiastic. Cardin was suspicious about what exactly was in his coffee. Cardin had walked to greet his teacher.

"Well, by the stars, is it incredible to see you once more, Mr. Winchester," he rushed his sentence while giving the student a hand shake meant for close friends.

"It feels like years, huh, sir?"

"Quite, I assume you've been briefed by Headmaster Ozpin about your mission?"

"Yeah, you ready?"

"Oh yes, hold up-" he stopped before quickly whipping out his famous thermos cup and downed his favorite substance that always made him jumpy. "Much better. Now then, my friend. Let us take a field trip," he smirked, Cardin couldn't help it either. It was good to see he wasn't completely hated after all.

"I'm down." Meanwhile, he talked to Eli. 'Get the car, please.'

'Kid, remember, you have part of my power. Just call it whenever.'

Taking his advice, Cardin took his thumb and index finger and placed them in his mouth, letting out an echoing whistle. Oobleck had yet to observe Winchester's new abilities that he had picked up, as the roar of a vehicle filled his ears, even from the far distance. Speeding faster than any motion the former Huntsman has ever witnessed, the 1969 Charger spun it's wheels before drifting in front of the two, the passanger door opening all by itself to Oobleck. The teacher looked at Cardin with great interest.

"Let's ride."