Previously:

Realization coursed through him as he used his HoloScroll to see a 3D model of his body. He now had a lupine tail, lupine ears, claws, and the enhanced senses of a wolf. Somehow, Tenebris's transformation must have affected him as well. He was now a faunus.

The door opened, and Blake stepped quietly and carefully into the ward, stopping in surprise as she saw him.

"Well," Garrett commented, turning to look at her. "This is most definitely new."

Blake cleared her throat as she walked in, closely followed by Ruby, Weiss and Yang.

"I swear, guys, I was most definitely not like this before." Ruby's response was to use her Semblance to dash up to him, grab his ear, and pull. Immediately, Garrett released a canine whimper of pain, lowered his head to try to escape the agony, and grabbed at Ruby's hand. When she realised it was an honest-to-Dust real wolf ear, she instantly released him.

"I'm so sorry, Garrett, I had to be sure they were real!" He understood, of course, but that didn't stop the retribution-promising glare he sent at her.

"How did this happen?" Blake asked. Garrett sighed, explaining what had happened in his Mindscape. After a long discussion, they finally accepted him back as a part of the team.

The streets of Vale were being decorated in time for the Vytal Festival. Red, yellow, and green streamers and balloons were proudly on display, and Team RWBY was strolling through it all with an awed Weiss in the front. A sign was being put up by the elderly Shopkeep that read in bright red letters "WELCOME TO VALE!" for all the foreign newcomers from their kingdoms of Vytal.

Weiss stopped and raised her arms in amazement. "The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby frowned a little. "It's kinda weirding me out..."

Weiss turned to Ruby. "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" they continued walking.

Yang sighed, arms crossed. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet, you!"

"It's not often I say this, but I agree with Ice Princess," Garrett said, earning a growl from Weiss. "The Vytal Festival is where all the greatest companies unveil new technology, and I'm looking forward to watching the share prices for the Bumblebee motorcycle company go up when the MKII comes out."

"MKII?" Yang asked. Garrett nodded.

"Been in development for the better part of a year, but the Bumblebee MKII will be unveiled during the Festival. Faster, more efficient, quieter, cleaner, and all with fewer busted fuel lines."

Yang, as they stopped near the docks and the sounds of foghorns could be heard, asked "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?"

Ruby covered her nose. "Ugh, they smell like fish!"

Garrett sniggered, whispering to Blake.

"Bet you love the smell of the docks, don't you?" Blake smiled, letting out a faint, almost imperceptible purr. It took his sensitive Faunus hearing to pick it up.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," Weiss informed them. "And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!

Blake, as Weiss started walking away again, said "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

Weiss scoffed. "You can't prove that!"

"You're not denying it," Garrett noted.

Ruby turned her head to the right. "Whoa." The team looked at a shattered window down the street and a door full of yellow caution tape of the Vale Police Force before walking over to the detective in front writing on his pad. "What happened here?"

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." He walked over to his partner.

Yang sighed sadly. "That's terrible."

"They left all the money again." the other detective informed his partner.

Ruby turned her head when she heard this. "Huh?"

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?"

"I don't know, an army?" The other detective suggested.

"You thinking the White Fang?"

He removed his sunglasses. "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"Hmm! The White Fang." Weiss crossed her arms and pointed her nose in the air with her eyes closed. "What an awful bunch of degenerates!" Garrett cleared his throat, but Blake was already speaking.

"What's your problem?"

Weiss turned to her. "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake crossed her arms, getting serious. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"I second that," said Garrett, raising his hand in a voting gesture.

"Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"

"Hmm... Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him."

Garrett sniffed.

"I smell traces of expensive cologne... Not the sort of thing a White Fang member would wear. There's faint markings from Torchwick's cane on the floor inside, and..." He rushed forward, plucking a hair from the floor. "Aha! How many people do you know of with vivid orange hair? Torchwick may as well have written "Roman was here" in glowing pink ink."

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss continued her slander, to Blake's growing anger and Garrett's increasingly loud throat-clearings. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"That's not necessarily true..." Yang spoke up.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!"

As the team overheard the cry for help and rushed over to investigate, a Faunus with a golden monkey tail could be seen running down the length of the boat and leaping on to the edge as the two sailors were about to apprehend him.

The Faunus, looking back at his pursuers, said "Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha!" He jumped off and hit the dock running.

"You no-good stowaway!"

The Faunus used his tail to hang on a lamppost while he peeled back a banana. "Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" Garrett chuckled - it was a valid point. Before the Faunus could eat his banana, one of the detectives down below threw a stone at him to get his attention.

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!"

He responded by dropping the banana peel on the detective's face, who growled in return. The monkey-like Faunus twirled up to crouch on the lamppost, laughed in amusement, and proceeded to leap off and run away from the detectives. As he ran past Team RWBY, he winked at an astonished Blake in slow motion before time sped up again and he continued to be chased by the officers.

Yang, watching the Faunus get farther and farther away, said "Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..."

Weiss held up a finger. "Quick! We have to observe him!"

Weiss, Yang, and Ruby gave chase while Blake stood still, lost in thought, before Garrett barked in her ear, shocking the feline Faunus back to reality and causing her to sprint after her friends. The team rounded the next corner, but then Weiss bumped into someone and tripped. She looked up only to see the Faunus jump on to a building and disappear from her view.

"No, he got away!"

"Uhh... Weiss?" Yang pointed strangely at the girl underneath her teammate.

Weiss finally saw that she fell on a smiling girl, which startled the heiress and made her get up quickly.

The girl, still down on the ground, smiling widely greeted them. "Sal-u-ta-tions!"

"Um... hello." said Ruby.

"Are you... okay?" Yang asked.

"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking."

The team looked at each other in bewilderment before Yang spoke up again. "Do you... wanna get up?"

The girl thought about this for a moment. "Yes!" She leaped back on her feet while the team stepped back a little. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Blake hit her side. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"Garrett. Garrett Grey. Probably one of the most, if not the most, versatile fighters you'll ever meet."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"You already said that," Weiss pointed out.

Penny paused again. "So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you!" They turned around and started walking away.

Ruby waved her arm. "Take care, friend!"

Yang, when they got far enough away from a startled Penny, commented "She was... weird..."

Weiss looked to her right "Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Garrett cleared his throat again.

Penny was suddenly in front of a surprised Weiss. "What did you call me?"

Yang, as Weiss looked back and forth in shock and Yang looked apologetic, began to apologise. "Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!"

"No, not you." She walked through the group and leaned her head down to Ruby. "You!"

Ruby was startled. "Me? I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh...""

"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?"

"Uuuum..." she looked over Penny's shoulder while her teammates motioned to deny her - except Garrett, who was watching the strange girl intently, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed. "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?"

Ruby's teammates comically fainted, but Penny looked overjoyed and laughed "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby groaned to Weiss as she brushed herself off "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?"

"No - she seems far more coordinated."

"So... what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament."

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?"

Penny saluted. "I'm combat ready!" Right, Garrett thought, definitely some military background.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress?" Blake spoke up.

"It's a combat skirt!

The skirt sister sped over to Weiss' side. "Yeah!" Weiss held out her hand and Ruby low-fived it.

Realisation hit Weiss. "Wait a minute." She walked over to Penny and grabbed her by the shoulders. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"

"The who...?"

Weiss held up a poor drawing of the criminal-in-question. "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

"Why do you keep saying that?!"

Weiss turned her attention from Penny to Blake. "Huh?"

Blake walked over to Weiss, angry. "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Weiss released Penny and motioned to objects around her. "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?""

"Stop it!"

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

"Oi! Ice Bitch!" Weiss turned to see a very angry wolf Faunus.

"Try not insulting your teammates." With that, Garrett sprinted over to the nearest building and began to nimbly climb it.

Blake growled. "You ignorant little brat!"

Weiss looked offended, but when Blake walked away, she followed "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

"You are a judgmental little girl."

"What in the world makes you say that?"

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"

Yang slid up to Ruby, looking uncomfortable. "Um, I think we should probably follow Garrett's example and go..."

Penny popped up behind Ruby, smiling. "Where are we going?"

"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

As Yang and Ruby continued to observe, the two teammates continued bickering until they reached their dormroom.

"They done arguing yet?" Garrett asked from his bed, where a disassembled pair of earmuffs sat on the covers. Yang shook her head.

"Shit."

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!"

"That is the problem!"

Weiss got up from her bed. "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

Blake got on her feet as well. "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" as they stared each other down in silence, Weiss leaned in close, leering as she spoke quietly "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? She leaned against the window. "It's because they've been in war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed. An entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood."

Ruby moved over to comfort her. "Weiss, I-"

"No!" The whit themed girl turned away and walked back over to Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

Silence dropped down on the scene again. A surprised Weiss backed away slowly, and Blake realised her mistake as she looked around at her teammates.

"I... I..." She dashed out the door.

"Blake, wait! Come back!" she ran over to the door and called to her down the hallway as Yang sat herself down and Weiss looked down. Garrett jumped off his bed, landing by the window, which he unlatched.

"I thought you'd changed, Weiss. Looks like I was wrong." With that, he hurled himself bodily out the window, landing safely with Reaper's help.

Blake ran outside and arrived at a statue of an armored man with a sword and a hooded woman wielding an axe on an outcropping, staring at the Beowolf under the stone heroes in particular.

She closed her eyes and slowly lifted her arms up to her bow and pulled the string to release the bow from her hair. She wiped away a tear away as the disguise fell away to reveal her Faunus ears. On the verge of crying, she became startled when she heard a voice above her.

"I knew you would look better without the bow."

"As did I," came Garrett's voice from behind her.

Ruby woke up from her beauty sleep, yawning in the process. She looked over at Blake's empty bunk, and groaned sadly. Then she saw Garrett's bed. It, too, was empty. But there was a note. She picked it up, opening it.

Ruby

If I'm not back by morning, I'm still with Blake. That's the more likely of my two options, since coming back would most likely result in Weiss's death and the destruction of half of Beacon. Feel free to come looking for us, but KEEP WEISS AWAY until she:
(a) is ready to change her views of Faunus as a whole,
(b) can at the very least see Blake and myself as different from her stereotype, or
(c) both of the above.
Don't worry, Blake and I can take care of ourselves. If you don't find us, we'll probably come back in a few days, after this whole mess has blown over.

Garrett

P.S. Blake isn't White Fang anymore. She left a while ago - she was on that train that lost its back carriage, and she left her partner in the Fang there.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were walking through the empty streets of Vale.

"They've been gone all weekend..." Ruby noted, concerned. Garrett's note has reassured her slightly, but she was starting to worry. It had already been a few days, and they still weren't back.

"Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself! And Garrett... Well, he's a one-Faunus army."

"Weiss, come on, they're our teammates," Yang said.

"Are they? We all heard what she said! And Garrett went after her and hasn't come back! For all we know, he's gone to join the White Fang with our traitorous little teammate!"

"Weiss..."

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way, they're both missing, and we need to find them!" Yang exclaimed.

"A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!"

"I just hope she's okay..." said Ruby worriedly.

On the balcony of the cafe the girls were speaking outside of Blake was sipping a cup of tea and sighing. She looked up at Sun (the monkey-tailed Faunus) sitting across from her, who held his drink with his tail as his hand propped his head up. He took a sip when Blake put her cup down.

"So, you want to know more about me..."

"Finally, she speaks! Nearly two days and you gave me nothing but small talk and weird looks!" Blake gave Sun a firm look. "Yeah, like that."

Blake rolled her eyes before closing them and looking at him sadly. "Sun... Are you familiar with the White Fang?"

"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me!"

Blake sipped her drink while listening until she spoke up for the big reveal. "I was once a member of the White Fang."

Sun promptly went cross-eyed and choked on his drink, making him put it down and wipe his mouth as he held up a hand to process this information. "Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?!" Garrett laughed at his reaction.

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it..." She nodded to Garrett, who placed his HoloScroll on the table.

"Whuh?" Sun began as Garrett pressed the one button on the device. Instantly, the holographic menu sprang up, and Garrett selected an option that read 'Blake's story slideshow'.

The hologram resolved into to a simple silhouetted image of fallen weapons plunged into the ground - swords, guns, any number of combinations.

"Back then," Blake began, "things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus."

The image added in the dark outlines of two trios - animal-eared and tailed Faunus on one side, regular Humans on the other - shaking hands and making peace after their struggle. This did not last long, as seen by a white Faunus cowering in fear of the gray-and-black aggressors harassing the hybrid. Later, more Faunus were pushing the crowd away from their bullied brethren.

"Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there."

The image changed, and silhouettes of Faunus protestors were revealed, and emerging from the shadows was a young girl with dark hair and cat ears.

"I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist."

Cutting from the child version of Blake, the blue flag of a white wolf with sad eyes and a circle behind its head was lowered, and raised in its stead was a red monster with three bloody scratches and teeth bared at the world.

"Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking."

A quick series of images flashed across the holographic screen - Faunus replacing their picket signs with axes and blades, windows being broken, thieves leaping on trains to steal their cargo.

"Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear."

The hologram showed one more image of three Faunus individuals standing in a dominating manner with malicious grins until Blake put down her teacup in front of a stunned Sun as the hologram shut off and the HoloScroll returned to the main menu. Garrett switched off the device, returning it to the pocket of his jacket.

"So, I left," Blake concluded. "I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." She wiggled her cat ears beneath the fashionable disguise to demonstrate. "Not that it worked against Garrett. I have to admit, I was really suspicious of him when the first words he said to me were 'why do you hide'. This was back when he was human."

"So... have you told your friends any of this? And what do you mean, 'back when he was human'?"

Blake merely looked down in shame and said nothing.

"I became a Faunus four days ago," Garrett answered the second question. "I told you about Lux and Tenebris? Bris used to be a wolf Faunus. Then I was almost killed by a Hydra and my Semblance activated, saving my life but increasing the strain on her. She devolved into a pure wolf, and I guess some of the traits of a wolf were pressed onto me, as the next tier of consciousness in terms of temperament."

"Blaaaake!" Ruby shouted.

"Blaaaake!" Yang also shouted.

Ruby, Yang, and Weiss were walking through town and calling in vain for their missing teammate.

Ruby continued to scream. "Blaaaaaaaake! Where aaaare yoooouuuu!?"

"Blake!" Yang shouted.

Ruby turned on Weiss. "Weiiiiss, you're not helping!"

"Oh! You know what might be able to help? The police!"

Ruby crossed her arms in irritation. "Ugh, Weiss..."

"It was just an idea!"

Garrett, trailing his teammates from the sides of the tall buildings around them, sighed in frustration. It was taking all of Lux's calming techniques to stop him from dropping on Weiss with Reaper and stabbing her until her body was unrecognizable even from dental records. This, he thought, is why I didn't come back. Stuck up, set-in-her-ways bitch. Can't believe I was ever friends with her.

Ruby continued walking down the sidewalk. "Yeah, a bad one."

Yang, following behind Ruby, agreed. "Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions."

Weiss, following behind Yang, did not. "I think that when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right!"

Penny, following behind Weiss, exclaimed "And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!"

Ruby turned around suddenly with her team in surprise. "Aaaah! Penny! Where did you come from!?"

Penny cheerfully ignored the question. "Hey guys! What are you up to?"

"Uhh..."

"We're looking for our friends, Blake and Garrett."

"Ooooh, you mean the Faunus girl and boy!"

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang stared at Penny.

"Wait, how did you know that?" Ruby asked.

"Uhh, the cat ears?" pointed to her head.

Yang laughed a little. "What cat ears? She wears a... boooohhh..."

The realization left them in silence as a tumbleweed blew through in the wind.

Ruby, whispering, noted "She does like tuna a lot..."

"So, where is she?" Penny asked.

"We don't know. She's been missing since Friday."

Penny gasped. "That's terrible!" she approached an uncomfortable Ruby. "Well, don't you worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammate!"

Ruby did her best to continue smiling. "Uh, that's really nice of you, Penny, but we're okay! Really! Right, guys?"

She looked over Penny to direct her question at Yang and Weiss, whose blinking outlines were all that was left of their sudden departure from the company of the strange girl. A tumbleweed blew past them again in the quiet.

"It sure is windy today!"

Sun and Blake were walking down an alley.

Sun, hands behind his head, asked "So, what's the plan now?"

Blake, contemplating, answered "I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before."

Sun, widening his eyes, made a disturbing suggestion. "What if they did?" lowering his arms and pacing in front of Blake, he continued his theory. "I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"

"The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be."

"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?"

"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."

"You're sure?"

Yang, coming out of a shop with Weiss, waved to the person inside. "Thanks anyways!" she sighed. "This is hopeless." She spoke at Weiss when she looked around nonchalantly. "You really don't care if we find her, do you?"

"Don't be stupid; of course I do. I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her." She walked forward, calling over her shoulder. "The innocent never run, Yang!"

Yang looked down in thought as her Scroll beeped. There was one message, from Garrett. She opened it, and found a short video of Garrett saying twelve words.

"They do when the accuser doesn't care whether they're innocent or not."

"So, Blake is your friend?"

Ruby sighed as they made their way down the sidewalk. "Yes, Penny."

"But you're mad at her?"

"Yes. Well, I'm not. Weiss is."

"Is she friends with Blake?"

"Well, that's kind of up in the air right now..."

Penny tried to contemplate this. "But why?"

Ruby sighed again. "Well, you see, Blake might not be who we though she was..."

Penny gasped. "Is she a man?"

"No! No, Penny. She's..." she stopped and sighed, looking at Penny as she talked now. "I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off."

"I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."

Ruby turned her gaze downward sadly. "Me too..." They continued walking.

Amidst the chirping of crickets and darkness of night, Blake lay flat on her stomach on the rooftop overlooking the shipment of Schnee Dust containers.

"Did I miss anything?" asked Sun as he arrived on the rooftop.

Blake looked up as Sun dropped down to her right. "Not really. They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."

"Cool." the monkey Faunus held out one of the green apples in his arms. "I stole you some food!"

Blake gave Sun a questioning look. "Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?"

Sun defensively countered with a low blow. "Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Blake delivered an angry glare at him. "Okay, too soon!"

Just as he said this, the winds blew all around them, and they looked up to see a Bullhead's searchlights flashing around for a landing spot, descending in the middle of the cargo containers and extending a ramp for a black hooded individual with a metallic fanged mask to come out of.

"Oh no..."

"Is that them?"

Blake, staring at the bloody wolf on the back of the man's outfit, responded "Yes... It's them." She quickly tapped an option on her Scroll, sending the pre-typed message to Garrett.

The White Fang soldier shouted to the other White Fang members coming from the aircraft, motioning with his rifle. "All right, grab the tow cables!"

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun asked.

Blake stared sadly at the scene. "No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right." She closed her eyes in despair, only to open them suddenly when she heard a new voice.

"Hey! What's the holdup!?" The soldiers look up at Roman Torchwick gesturing widely and coming down the ramp. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

"This isn't right," Blake muttered. "The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like that." She stood up and unsheathed the katana of Gambol Shroud before walking off the edge of the roof.

Sun, alarmed, exclaimed "Hey, what are you doing?!"

"She's going to confront them," Garrett said, seeming to appear out of the darkness on the other side of Sun, who leaped into the air comically.

Blake fell to the ground in a crouch, then continued on to hide behind one of the containers, peeking around the corner to see Torchwick berate a White Fang member holding a coil of rope.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" as he was looking around, Blake suddenly appeared behind him with her blade at his throat. "What the- Oh, for f-" He rolled his eyes when he was cut off by Blake mid-swear.

"Nobody move!"

The White Fang soldiers readied their guns and equipped their swords in response.

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady."

As the White Fang closed in on her, Blake used her free hand to go for her bow and remove it, causing the ribbon to fall away as her Faunus ears were shown to the world.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"

The White Fang members lowered their weapons a little at this development, unsure of what to do, when Roman laughs.

"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!"

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

Suddenly, the air was filled with more turbines blowing the wind wildly around the holdup.

Roman, looking up, replied smugly. "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation..."

Two more Bullheads were hovering above the heist, and as Blake watched in horror, Roman smiles and managed to fire his cane at Blake's feet, resulting in a large explosion.

Penny and Ruby turned around upon hearing the noise, seeing the smoke rise from the docking bay just a few buildings away.

"Oh, no..."

Blake, dazed but relatively unhurt on the ground, quickly rolled and ran out of the way of Roman's continued attacks, flaming missiles destroying cargo behind her as she retreated behind more containers.

Roman, approaching slowly, began to taunt her."Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..." His taunt was interrupted when a banana peel landed on his head, causing him to look up and growl at the assailant as Garrett stood up on the roof, drawing Reaper and equipping the one mode he had never fired before.

Sun leaped from the container above Roman and dropped down on the criminal's face feet-first, rolling up and readying himself to fight.

"Leave her alone!"

The Bullheads opened to let more White Fang members descend on the scene. Garrett looked through the computer-based scope.

"Hey!" he shouted. Roman looked up at the rooftop as he stood.

"Remember me? I've got one thing to say. Yippee ki-yay, motherf-" He cut himself off by firing something from Reaper. It looked like a large red flare, until one looked closer. It turned out to be a rather specialized anti-vehicle missile. The missile, which consumed a whole canister of Dust, struck one of the Bullheads, causing it to vanish at the centre of an enormous flash of red light, which generated enough of a shockwave to unbalance the other Bullhead. The white Fang soldiers in both Bullheads just managed to get out in time, but their transport and their pilots were doomed.

"You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you, kid?" Roman asked Sun even as he was screaming in rage at the target he could no longer see due to his having jumped off the building and vanished behind some crates.

With that said, the White Fang charged at the monkey Faunus, but he managed to dodge slashes and get some of the soldiers with his fists and kicks until he rolled out of the way, pulling out a collapsible red staff. He quickly used this to beat down on each opponent that nears him, felling each one in a single flaming blow when he twirled, even creating a scorching shockwave to beat the last of them.

Blake peered around the corner of the container to watch Sun jump around and beat more White Fang soldiers, causing one to fly over Roman's head. The crime boss growled in annoyance and aimed his cane at Sun, firing a shot that he defended himself from just when Blake leaped into the action.

"He's mine!"

Blake went in close and became a blur of afterimages as she slashed both blades at Roman, who backed away and deflected each would-be blow with his cane at unbelievable speeds. Blake continued to dash, hop over, and slide around Roman to try and find a weak spot, but her enemy, while barely deflecting the attacks, landed a few hits on Blake until one final beating with his cane caused her to go down.

Just as Roman dealt with one opponent, Sun appeared right behind her and disconnected his staff in two spinning circles of flame-firing shotgun nunchucks that only slowed down once to show Torchwick what they were before becoming twin arcs of offense again. Sun swung each gun at Roman while firing everything he had at him, but even with the rapid series of shots and flying bullets, Roman managed to defend himself against every bullet and hit until a millisecond-long pause allowed Blake to get a slash in and knock him back.

On his back, Roman noticed a container hanging by a crane right above the two warriors, and got up to fire his cane at its supports. Blake leaped behind it, but Sun barely missed when he jumped forward, ending up right below the nozzle of Roman's cane. Just as he was about to fire, his and Sun's attention was drawn to a familiar voice.

"Hey!"

Ruby appeared on the rooftop overlooking them, Crescent Rose extended and ready for action.

Roman, losing interest in Sun, waved. "Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Penny approached Ruby. "Ruby, are these people your friends?"

Ruby, looking behind her, exclaimed "Penny, get back!" While her attention was diverted, Roman snarled and fired his cane at her, launching the young Huntress-in-training back from the explosion's force and sending her scythe flying away. "AAAAAH!"

Roman gave off a professional-level evil laugh at his attack on the young girl. Penny turned her head toward the criminal and gave her first glare, walking forward while Ruby tried to get back up.

"Penny, wait! Stop!" She raised her hand in a futile attempt to stop her.

"Don't worry, Ruby. I'm combat ready!"

Her backpack mechanically opened up, and from its dark depths came a single sword that extended and multiplied into several blades hovering over Penny's back. Leaping from the rooftop with the weapons acting as wings, she sent three of her swords to knock two White Fang soldiers down before even landing on the ground, where she proceeded to fling the swords at one enemy, impale another to a wall, create a barrier of spinning steel against a running attack, leap over a goon with her swords in tow, and finally make a wheel that she threw to knock multiple Faunus off their feet.

Sun observed the spectacle in amazement. "Whoa!" He ran off to safety.

Three Bullheads came from the skies and opened fire on the battle, but Penny merely formed a shield and launched two of her swords into the wall behind her, which in turn pulled their wielder back with their strings. When her swords swirled around her again, she commanded them to open their points and build up a large glowing ball of green light. With a punching action, several bright lasers cracked the pavement when they fired at the transports and sliced each one in half, causing several of the White Fang members inside to fall and letting Ruby watch as Bullheads fell in pieces behind her.

Stunned, she turned back to Penny as she aimed her swords at the remaining Bullheads holding the crate of Dust and pulled back on their wires, tugging the aircraft with them.

Watching in awe, Ruby wondered "Whoa... How is she doing that?"

Seeing the Bullhead's flight fall under Penny's control, Roman grimaced and turned to run towards the last transport.

Penny, after her large green pupils dilated for a second, pulled with all her might on the strings, and the aircraft crashed into a stack of crates, causing an explosion as a result.

Roman, watching from the safety of his escape, commented "These kids just keep getting weirder..." Garrett sprang from behind the crate, a canister of lightning Dust loaded into Reaper in its minigun form, and Fired a stream of lightning bolts at the retreating Bullhead.

Roman frantically used his cane to close the doors, and the jet shot off, flying away from the lost battle.

Garrett screamed in frustration as the Bullhead left the range of Reaper, turning and smashing his Aura-reinforced fist into the nearest crate, sending wooden splinters across the scene to embed themselves into the stone wall.

Later, a handful of police cars were at the docks, where Ruby, Blake, Sun, Garrett, and Penny were sitting on boxes in silence. That is, until Weiss and Yang appeared on the scene.

Ruby, speaking quickly to explain the situation, began. "Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..." Weiss ignored her and squared off with Blake.

Blake, calmly looking her down, began to explain. "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

"Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?" she paused. "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided..."

Yang, Sun, Garrett, and Ruby looked on, worried.

"I don't care."

Surprised, Blake asked "You don't care?"

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates. And not some..." She looked at Sun behind her as she caught herself. "Someone else."

Blake, looking at Ruby, Garrett and Yang grinning at her, wiped a tear from her eye, nodding. "Of course."

Weiss smiled and nodded. The moment was serious for a second more until Ruby screamed:

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" She waved her arms excitedly.

As the five gather with each other, Weiss pointed accusingly at Sun. "I'm still not quite sure about how I feel about you!" Sun laughed nervously.

Ruby looked around. "Hey, wait a minute... Where's Penny?"

From the darkened back seat of a limo, Penny watched the group of friends reuniting with each other.

"You should know better than to go running around in a strange city."

Penny lowered her head, sadly. "I know, sir."

"Penny, your time will come..." The limo drove off.

Meanwhile, Ozpin was holding a scroll showing a "LIVE FEED" of Ruby at the docks. He closed the video and opened up a communication with Qrow, whose team name and other information was left blank and his only message was: "QUEEN HAS PAWNS".

"Hmmm..."

Roman walked into a large warehouse with a shadowy interior. He went over to a table and placed a case of mysterious contents, possibly Dust, seeing as it was the same case from the heist that was stopped by Ruby and Garrett, sighing in tiredness.

"How very disappointing, Roman."

Roman turned around suddenly when he heard the voice and their noisy entrance. "Whoa! Hehe... I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon..."

Of the three figures before Roman, only the woman's head, containing yellow eyes and flowing dark hair, was visible. "We were expecting... more from you."

Roman laughed a little before getting serious. "Hey! You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang."

The woman chuckled darkly. "And you will continue to do so." She summoned a fireball in her hand and stepped out of the darkness with her two companions, a purple-haired man and mint-haired, tanned woman, eyes glowing gold. "We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is... a little cooperation."