Hello everyone! Time for another chapter! I hope you guys really like this one.

Time to answer some reviews! There's only one this week, but that's completely fine! Keep sending in reviews guys! put in questions, comments, just about anything, and I'll respond to it as best I can!

Alvaerin: Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you liked it! I know the update schedule isnt exactly ideal, but I'm not giving up on this story any time soon. You'll love this chapter, I'm sure of it!

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER GETS VIOLENT AT THE END! VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

ACT II:

CELEBRATIONS, REVELATIONS, AND INVASIONS

Chapter 11: It's a Small Universe

It was the day before the second semester began, the last day of their short break, but also a time for small celebrations. They had made it a full semester through Beacon, all of them, and they had reason to be proud. Especially with what they have accomplished during the semester that was certainly not expected, such as fighting giant Grimm in initiation, meeting a boy from another world entirely, making friends that would last them a life time, fighting against evil, and meeting another boy from a different world. Teams RWBY and JNPR certainly didn't expect anything like this to happen, but they welcomed it. It only would serve to make them stronger in the end. Not only that, but Connor and Steven have been really great friends, and they all wished the bests for the two, some more than others of course.

Ruby had an agenda today. She had already decided that this was going to be the best last day of their one-week vacation ever! Whether anyone outside team RWBY wanted to join or not was up to them, but as team leader of team RWBY, she was going to make sure she and her team had a good last day.

In the cafeteria, the hall was full of exchange students from the other kingdoms, all there for the Vytal Festival and Vytal Tournament towards the end of the semester. Those not from Beacon wore their respective school's uniforms to distinguish who was from where. Students from Atlas wore bright white military-like coats, and had a very respectful demeanor, but were still relaxed and laid back like the teenagers they still were. Those from Mistral's Haven Academy wore black suits and pants, or long skirts in the girls' case, with a white trim around the collar, cuffs, and center. Students from Vacuo's Shade Academy wore whatever they pleased. Vacuo was a more laid-back sort of place to begin with. Just look at Sun who always wears an unbuttoned shirt, displaying his chest for everyone because its comfortable for him. He may not be attending Shade Academy, but Haven made an exception for him because of his culture.

Team RWBY sat at their usual table, while Team JNPR sat at the table across from them, facing them. There was no one in between them, they made sure of that. They were separated for the sole purpose of Nora flicking grapes over the gap of the tables with a spoon at Yang, who would catch them with her mouth with ease.

Blake sat at the table, staring at her personal notebook, her mind wandering many, many questions, and whether or not she should say something about it to her team. Since they promised that they would always be there for her, something no one has done for her in a long time, she's been internally debating whether or not she should tell them more about her past, especially since they seemed to not care about her being a former member of the now evil White Fang, they only cared that she wasn't a member now, and was a member of their team instead. Inside her notebook was literally her past, her life, how she felt about everything. It was kept with her other books, in one of the bookshelves, but she knew no one would read it. They all respected each other's privacy, something Blake came to like early on, and hadn't bothered to ask her about it because it wasn't any of their business, and it wasn't having a negative effect on her, so it wasn't a problem. However, she has been looking at it a lot more ever since that night on the docks, and everyone had taken note of that. She couldn't get her mind off of one question: Why were the White Fang working with a human, with Roman Torchwick for that matter?

Blake stared at her notebook, two pages in particular. On them was a drawing of a Rose, not quite like Ruby's emblem, it featured a rose on a stem with a single leaf and a thorn on it. On the other page was a sketch of the White Fang emblem, the sideways tiger face with three claw marks behind it, and a picture of a man as well. Who it was, only Blake knew, but the others would learn who it was, in time.

Yang noticed she was entranced in her book, and decided to slide up next to her partner.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked. Weiss appears on the other side of Blake as well, wondering the same thing.

"Nothing" She answers before closing her book. "Just going over notes from last semester."

"Lame." Said Yang before catching one of Nora's grapes in her mouth, giving the energetic redhead a thumbs up from across the tables.

Ruby walks over to the table, heaving a giant 5" binder filled to the brim with papers onto the table, and slamming it against the table, catching everyone at said table off guard. On the cover of the binder the words "Vytal Festival Activities, Property of Weiss Schnee" were printed on a piece of paper and inserted behind the protective plastic sleeve on the cover. Those words were hastily crossed out however, and the words "Best Day Ever Activities" was written underneath in Ruby's handwriting.

Ruby cleared her throat, and gestured towards everyone at the table. "Sisters…. Friends…. Weiss…"

"Hey!"

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream." She began. She took the liberty of taking various things from famous Earth speeches. Steven had been teaching them about Earth's history, being the huge history buff he is, to anyone who had asked him about it. He took a lot of pride in it, and they enjoyed learning about it. She especially liked Abraham Lincolns' Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech, hence the reason she decided to start with a combination of the two.

"This oughta be good." Yang said to the other two members of team RWBY before catching another grape in her mouth.

"A dream that one day, the four of us will come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had… ever!" Ruby continued.

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss interrupted, noticing the cover.

Ruby makes two peace signs with her hand before saying "I am not a crook." Which was a blatant Richard Nixon reference.

"What are you talking about?" asked Blake, getting back to what Ruby was here for.

"I'm talking about kicking off our semester with a bang!" Ruby said, pointing her finger at Blake.

Yang quickly took the opportunity she was given. "I always kick my semesters off with a Yang! Eh? Guys? Ammiright?" Everyone deflated with her pun. She was relentless with her puns, and always took the opportunity to make one when chance presented itself.

An apple was thrown at Yang's face, which prompts her to glare over at Nora, who was boo-ing her pun from across the two tables.

Ruby continued on. "Look guys, it's been a good week and a half, and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But classes start back up tomorrow! Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today."

Weiss commented "I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store."

Yang was still glaring at Nora, and threw her own apple over at Nora, but hit Jaune by accident, causing Nora to giggle quite a bit.

Blake's mind was still on the White Fang. She couldn't get it off her mind, and didn't really want to do much of anything except just figure out what was happening. "I don't know. I think I might sit this one out."

Weiss wouldn't allow that on her watch, but she couldn't blame her on the subject of Ruby's potentially… questionable plans that she had made. "Sit out or not, I think that however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team!"

Nora could be heard from across the tables "I got it!"

Weiss continued "I for one think that-" she was interrupted by a pie landing on her face, thrown by Nora, and was planned for Yang. Nora quickly sits down and points at Ren in blame, who has his face in his palms.

Outside the cafeteria, Sun Wukong was walking towards the entrance with his teammate and partner, Neptune Vasilias, the N in team SSSN, which is led by none other than Sun himself.

Neptune has tan skin, dark blue eyes and messy light blue hair that is shaved on the sides and in the back in an uppercut. He wears a white dress shirt and black tie under a red jacket with a wide, upturned, black collar and a pair of gray jeans with black padding strapped to the sides. The back of his jacket displays a silver reticle, which is his emblem. He wears black shoes that are fastened with straps, rather than laces, black fingerless gloves and a pair of yellow-tinted goggles worn on his forehead.

Sun was telling Neptune about the events that unfolded the night at the docks, and how he met team RWBY, Steven, and Connor.

"Man, that's harsh!" Neptune commented as Sun was telling him about Torchwick.

"I know, we were fighting side by side. She was super fast and I threw a banana at the guy, which sounds gross, but it was awesome!" Sun continued.

"Niiiice!" Neptune said.

"Right? And the best part it, she's a Faunus. But that's a secret, okay?" He quickly said, realizing his slip up.

"Got it."

Sun leaned closer to Neptune, emphasizing the seriousness of the secret. "And not a 'I'm going to go tell Scarlet and Sage the second Sun turns his back secret', I'm talking secret secret."

"Whoa, chill out, man, okay? I got it."

"You better." He said before they continued on past the window of the cafeteria. As Sun continued, neither of the two noticed the food splattering against the window, the students running for the exit, or Jaune splatter across the window before sliding to the floor. "I just don't want to screw this up, you know?" He explained. "The people here are the coolest! No offense to you guys." He quickly added.

"None taken."

The two stopped in front of the main doors leading into the cafeteria.

"They're just in here. I'm really excited for you to meet them. So be cool, okay? You're gonna be cool, right?" Sun asked.

"Dude." Neptune said with his arms crossed and his face smiling, his teeth gleaming as he smiles.

"Good point." Sun conceded.

The two open the doors to see students running past them as quickly as they could, running away from the terror that was a food fight between teams RWBY and JNPR. Neptune looked terrified, while Sun looked quite excited.

Across the cafeteria, tables and chairs were stacked high, and Nora Valkyrie was standing triumphantly on the top while the rest of Team JNPR stood at the base, and team RWBY stood ready at the opposite end of the room.

"What the hell did we just walk into?" Neptune asked nervously.

Steven and Connor walked out from their dorms' entrance, heading to the cafeteria for breakfast with their friends, who were already there ahead of them. They took a bit to get up this morning, well, Connor did. He never really was one to be able to wake up easily in the morning, especially this early. Steven told everyone to go ahead, and that they'd catch up to them soon. Connor had eventually gotten out of bed, taken a shower, and gotten dressed while Steven waited patiently for him, playing some Solitaire on his scroll. They then left, and here they were.

"So since you've been here just as long as I have, I'm assuming that you've heard about the Vytal Tournament?" Steven asked him as they walked at a leisurely pace towards the cafeteria across the campus.

"Yeah, I thought we already established that. Why?"

"It just hit me earlier that we won't be able to participate in it." Steven said sadly. "We don't have a full team."

"That's where you're wrong." Connor interjected.

"Huh?"

"You didn't hear? Out of all people I thought you'd know about this."

"Hear what?" Steven asked, confused.

Connor sighed as he facepalmed for a moment. "You're telling me that you, a student at Beacon Academy, was not told that they added the singles and randoms event this year?"

"WHAT?! What are they?!" Steven quickly asked.

Connor chuckled. "They added single battles between the main fights. They don't count towards the actual tournament rankings, and are only for fun. Anyone can join from the academies; they don't need to try out for the tournament itself for them. Random battles are similar in the way they don't count towards rank or standing, and anyone can join, but you are paired up with three other hunters and huntresses and fight against four other randomly selected hunters and huntresses. The challenge is battling with three other people you've never met before, coming up with strategies on the fly, and working together without having worked with any of those people before." Connor explained. "Plus, people who are entered in the main event aren't allowed to be in those battles, as that would be unfair, and could potentially provide an advantage to some if they were to battle a team member who they were going to be fighting next."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I thought you knew!"

"Eh, I'll give you that one." Steven conceded. "Although, that makes me really happy now. We should definitely enter those events!"

"I agree."

"Man, just thinking about it makes me excited! Just think about the people we'll be fighting with and against! I bet-" Steven began, but was cut off as they looked ahead at the cafeteria in time to see Yang flying of the roof of the building at an unprecedented speed, leaving a gaping hole where she exited from.

"Did Yang just…" Connor began.

"Come on, something might be wrong." Connor nodded, and they ran over to the cafeteria quickly. They may not have their weapons and armor on them, but that didn't mean they couldn't fight without them.

When they got over there and quickly opened the doors, running inside, they quickly stopped next to where Sun and Neptune stood. Sun had an amused look on his face, while Neptune looked quite upset to say the least. He was plastered with various different colors and flavors of everything from the food fight they just witnessed. If it wasn't clear already, when Steven and Connor looked at the rest of the room, and saw the many tables, benches, silverware, platers, and foodstuffs destroyed or plastered against the opposite wall, they saw the entirety of team JNPR slide off of the opposite wall, previously blending in with the large splatter, and onto the ground, tired and worn out.

Steven and Connor stood with shocked looks, but for different reasons.

Connor was disappointed. "Come on, why couldn't I have been a part of this?!"

Ruby landed on the ground, and the rest of team RWBY, minus Yang, helped up team JNPR, giggling and laughing as they did so, while team JNPR groaned in pain a little, before joining in with the laughing themselves.

Professor Goodwitch barged through the doors unexpectedly. Causing Steven and Connor, and Sun and Neptune to separate to let her go in between them. She was pissed to say the least, and if it wasn't evident in her facial expression and gritting of her teeth, then it was shown in the way she hastily and angrily walked over to the mess. She uses her semblance to correct everything in the room, beginning with the silverware and plates before she picks up the broken tables and benches in a tornado of debris, which are quickly repaired and reassembled, and put into their rightful place. She then fixes the pillar that they somehow broke, and the giant crater in the wall that team JNPR just fell down from, before fixing the roof.

She put the last few tables in their rightful place before sighing angrily, trying with all she could to not lash out at them.

"Children, please. Do not play with your food." She said in a deathly serious tone. The two teams try to compose themselves, but when Nora burps aloud they all lose it, laughing aloud, and relishing in the fun they just had. Yang then descends from the sky, making another hole in the roof, before she lands on one of the benches next to team RWBY, making them laugh even harder. Yang stood up and gave a thumbs up to Professor Goodwitch, who grumbles in return.

Ozpin walks in from behind her and places a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Let it go." He tells her.

Goodwitch sighs, and speaks to him in a tone only Ozpin can hear, not wanting any of the four students around them to hear them. "They're supposed to be defenders of the world."

"And they will be, but right now they're still children." Ozpin reasons. "So why not let them play the part?" Ozpin turns around, and begins to head for the door before stopping again. "After all, it isn't a role they'll have forever."

In a warehouse somewhere outside of Vale, Roman Torchwick looked at his map of Vale, scheming and planning as usual. Behind him, White Fang were moving various crates of varying sizes, all filled with dust and weapons.

He turns around to see Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black coming in.

Emerald Sustrai is a young woman with medium-brown skin and dark-red eyes. Her hair is a light, mint-green cut with a straight fringe and bangs, as well as two long locks on each side, in the back. She wears two bronze-colored rings on her middle fingers as well as a pair of high-heeled shoes. She also wears an intricate white top and a cropped olive-colored undershirt, on the back of which is her personal emblem. This emblem is in the shape of a cut gem, referring to her name. She also wears a gold, three-ring armband on her left arm and a string of gold beads near the same wrist. She also wears white pants and brown chaps that end at her calves and an overlong belt, twice-wrapped, where she keeps her weapons as well as a single pouch. Emerald is a skilled thief, for reasons unknown, but is a very powerful fighter when she needed to be.

Mercury Black had gray hair, partially slicked back while unkempt at the front. He also wears a slate gray and black two-tone partial-zip jacket that covers his upper body. He has silver-gray eyes, and wears a single notched belt with what appears to be a sash or bandana draped over it. Protecting his arms are sets of rerebraces and vambraces. He also wears black pants and a pair of shoes. His armor hides what appear to be oddly-shaped scars on the outer sides and backs of both of his arms.

"Oh, look! She sent the kids again!" Roman said as he put his arms around their necks for a forced group hug. "This is turning out just like the divorce." He said, referring to his past marriage to someone else unknown by either of the two.

Emerald shivers in disgust. "Spare us the thought of you procreating."

Emerald and Mercury then pull away from Roman, who walks off to where he stood a minute before.

"That was a joke. And this…" He said, holding up a piece of paper that he had taken from Emerald's pocket without her noticing. "just might tell me where you two have been all day."

"What? How did-" Emerald said, wondering how Roman got the piece of paper from her.

"I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention and you might learn something." He chided her. He stared at the address written on the piece of paper, '282, 27th Street'. Roman's tone turned serious and suspicious. "Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald replied smugly.

"Yeah, I would. Now where have you been all day?" He restated his question.

"Cleaning up your problems." Mercury replied. "One of them, at least."

"I had that under control." Roman said angrily through gritted teeth.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise." Mercury replied.

"Listen, you little punk." Roman said, getting in his face. "If it were up to me, then I would take you and your little street rat friend here and-"

"Do what, Roman?" a fourth voice interrupted them. From one of the balconies of the warehouses' second level, a woman walked up to the railing, standing on an automated lift briefly before she rode it down to the ground level. The woman has ashen-black hair that fell to her shoulders and went over her left eye, and bright amber eyes, while her fingernails are painted dark red. She wears a dark-red, off-the-shoulders, v-neck minidress with yellow designs. There is a blue feather-like accessory on her right hip, at the top of an open portion of her dress. The dress ends in an upside-down triangular tail in the back, ending just above the knees. There is a baseball diamond-shaped keyhole on the dress' upper back at the same height as her chest. The sleeves end in a triangle shape, which are wrapped or tied around her middle finger, with the gold designs of the sleeve taking over at the wrists. She wears black shorts underneath her dress, as well as a black choker on her neck. She wears a gold loop earring with a black gem dangling from it on her right ear. She has dark, glass, high-heeled shoes and a jeweled anklet on her right leg.

"I'd, uh… not kill them?"

"Cinder!" Emerald said excitedly.

The woman's name, Cinder Fall, was not her real name. But she didn't tell anyone. It was a secret she was forced to keep, or else suffer dire consequences.

"I thought I made it clear that you would eliminate the would-be runaway." Cinder said.

"I was going to…" He began, but was interrupted by Emerald.

"He was going to escape to Vacuo! Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat."

"I think he was some sort of cat, actually." Mercury added.

"What? Like a Puma?" She played along.

"Yeah, there ya go."

"Quiet." Cinder said, silencing the two immediately. "Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?" Roman points a finger at the two while silently laughing behind Cinder.

"I just thought…" Emerald began.

"Don't think… Obey." Roman used his fingers to mime having a slit throat.

"Yes ma'am. It won't happen again." Emerald apologized.

"And you…" She said, turning around to face Roman again. "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

Roman stands there for a moment thinking 'seriously?'. He points to his left "Eh?" Then to his right. "Eehh?" He then points behind him. "EEEHHH?!" gesturing to all of the shipping containers above and all around him that filled the warehouse. "Sorry if I've been busy stealing every speck of Dust in the kingdom!"

"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski mask." Mercury said, unimpressed and sarcastically.

"Look around, kid. I've got this town running scared! Police camping out every corner, Dust prices through the roof, and we're sitting pretty on an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with! Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand master plan, it might make my next string robberies go a little smoother!"

"Oh, Roman. Have a little faith." Cinder says. "You'll know what you need when you need to know it." Roman grunts. "Besides, we're done with Dust." She says, beginning to walk away.

"O-kay, then what now?" Roman asks.

"We're moving. Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight." She replies.

"Coordinates?"

Cinder turns to look at Roman. "We're proceeding to phase two."

Later that day, in Beacon Academy's library, RWBY, JNPR, Steven and Connor were sat down across two tables. Team RWBY played a game Risk, essentially, while everyone else sat around the other table. Ren and Pyrrha were reading books, while Jaune read a comic book, and Nora slept on top of an open textbook, and was clearly dreaming about pancakes in some fashion, evident by her occasional muttering of "pancakes". Steven and Connor sat on opposite ends of the table from each other, Steven next to Pyrrha and Connor next to Ren. This was so neither of the two had an advantage over the other in the game the two were playing with each other on their scrolls called "Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle 2", one of Remnant's most popular fighting games.

The two are tapping their scrolls furiously, inputting moves and blocking the other's attacks.

Over at team RWBY's table, it was Ruby's turn in the board game. After carefully weighing her options, she stood up and pointed at Yang. "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

Yang thrusts her elbow down while balling her fist. "Bring it on!"

"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Ruby slaps down her card on the board, and Yang feigns a look of shock and surprise. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!"

Yang feigns indignance as she points at Ruby. "You feind!"

Ruby ducks at her end of the table. "And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time is only one turn." Ruby peaks her head up in surprise as Yang laughs arrogantly.

Yang raises a card, with its back facing Ruby. "Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!" She says, turning the card around to reveal her card. "Giant Nevermore!" and then slams it down on the table. "If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take!"

At the other table, Steven and Connor are taunting each other verbally when Ruby can be heard from not far away. "Noooooooo! My fearless soldiers!" she said dramatically.

"NO! Dang it!" Steven proclaimed.

"Ha! Get rekt!" Connor said in victory.

Ruby says from across the tables "Goodbye my friends, you will be avenged."

"Not until I draw my rewards!" Yang continued. Ruby groans as she is still deflated from her loss, dramatically and emotionally.

"How are you always so good at these damn games?!" Steven asked Connor.

"I dunno, luck? Skill?" he replied.

"Man, I hate these games!" Steven said.

"Wanna play again?" Connor asked, already knowing the answer.

"You're on!" Steven replied. These games may suck when he loses continually, but they were still fun as hell.

Nearby, Pyrrha coughs, before closing her book, taking Jaune's comic out of his hands (much to his surprise), and places her book under his now-empty hands, before opening the comic and reading it herself.

As Pyrrha reads Jaune's comic, a Nevermore piece from team RWBY's game is thrown over Jaune's shoulder, and another is thrown into his forehead.

"Have you no heart?!" Ruby cried, before collapsing on the table and crying 'Noooooo!'.

"Well, Wiess… It's your turn." Yang told her.

Weiss stared at her cards for a few moments. "I have… absolutely no idea what's going on."

Yang slides up beside her, and places her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Look, it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus." She began to explain.

"That sounds dumb." Weiss said.

Yang starts sorting through Weiss' cards. "See, you've got a Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge… Oh! Oh!" Yang exclaims, pulling up a card of Weiss'. "Resourceful Raider! Now you can take Ruby's discarded Atlesian Air Fleet-"

"Noooooooo" Ruby groans.

"And put it in your hand!"

"Okay." Weiss replied, beginning to get something forming in her head.

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom!" Yang finished, before pointing an accusatory finger at Weiss and glaring at her. "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war." She said as she glided back to her seat, not moving her gaze or finger as she did so.

Still confused, Weiss asked, "And that means…"

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby said, still crying dramatically.

It immediately hits Weiss, who sits there for a moment before she stands up suddenly, and begins to laugh maniacally. "Yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!"

"Trap card." Yang says suddenly, snapping Weiss out of her evil trance.

"Huh?"

Yang shuffles the pieces on the board, taking Weiss' pieces out. "Your armies have been destroyed." She said matter-of-factly.

Weiss slumps in her chair and tears up. "I hate this game of emotions we play!"

Ruby hops into Weiss' lap, hugging her by the neck. "Stay strong, Weiss! We'll make it through this together!" She said, still crying from her loss.

"Shut up! Don't touch me!" Weiss says as she hugs Ruby in comfort.

Yang puts her arms behind her head. "You're up Blake!"

Blake snaps out of her trance. She hadn't been paying any attention to the game the entire time, she was too deep in thought. "Oh! Um, sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the four kingdoms of Remnant!" Yang said.

"Right."

Ruby and Weiss have since recovered, Ruby returning to her seat. Jaune walked up behind Weiss.

"Hey, can I play?" he asked.

"Sorry Jaune, we've already got 4 people." Ruby said apologetically.

"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess." Weiss said coldly.

"Uhh, you attacked your own naval fleet 2 turns ago" Yang reminded her, causing Weiss to scoff at her.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen! I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader!" Jaune says confidently.

"By who, your mother?" Weiss counters.

"A-and Pyrrha!" He responds.

Pyrrha sits up at the mention of her name, and waves at them. "Hello again!"

Jaune puts his hands together pleadingly. "Come on, let me play your hand for a turn!"

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!" Weiss replied.

"Why not? You've trusted me with way more important stuff before. I mean, you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fa-"

Pyrrha darts over to Jaune before he could finish, placing her hand over his mouth before finishing his sentence for him. "Fun-loving person, whom we all admire and respect."

Blake glares at Jaune, who laughs nervously.

"Right. That. Ladies, enjoy your battle." Jaune bows as Pyrrha walks back to her seat.

The five at the table then notice Sun and Neptune, who has yet to be introduced to them, walk up to the table.

"Sup losers." Sun says as he stops next to the table.

"Hey sun!" Ruby welcomes him.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake... Ice Queen." He begins as Neptune steps next to him.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" she asks to no one in particular.

Sun ignores her question. "I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."

Neptune buts in for a second, noticing the board game in front of them. "Uhh, aren't libraries for reading?"

Ren throws his arms up. "THANK YOU!"

Nora wakes up suddenly. "Pancakes!"

Sun bumps Neptune in the arm. "Shut up. Don't be a nerd."

"Geh, geh, geh, geh! 'Intellectual', okay?" Neptune corrects him. "Thank you." He then waves the ten people in front of him. "I'm Neptune."

Weiss suddenly seemed interested. "So Neptune, where are you from?"

"Haven." He responds as he approaches Weiss. "And I don't believe I've caught your name, Snow Angel."

"Uh, I'm Weiss." She says, flattered.

"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune replies.

Sun looked over to Blake. "I never took you as the board game playing type."

"Right, well, I think I'm done playing actually." Blake said as she got up and went through Sun. "I'll see you guys later." She said before leaving.

Sun looked at everyone confused, hoping for an explanation as to what was wrong.

In all honesty, no one knew.

No one offered an answer, so Nora shrugged. "Women."

Blake sat on her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about that night at the docks, about why the White Fang were doing what they were. She knew them, and this was not how they operated. She played that night over and over and over again in her head, desperately trying to make sense of it, but coming up with nothing. She needed more information, but she didn't know how.

Blake was left alone to her thoughts for a couple hours until the rest of team RWBY came back from the library after playing another game or two of the strategy game.

"Ugh! We should never have let him play!" Yang groaned as she entered the room.

"You're just mad cuz' the new guy beat you! See, if you had just attacked when I told you none of this would have happened." Ruby explained.

None of them seemed to notice Blake there; they were too caught up in their conversation to notice. Blake took the opportunity to leave before they noticed.

Blake reaches for the doorknob, but is stopped immediately in her tracks when Weiss notices her.

"Stop." Weiss commands her, causing Yang and Ruby to halt their conversation, and turn around to Blake and Weiss. "Lately you've been quiet, antisocial and moody!" She states.

"Uh, have you met Blake?" Yang said.

"Which I get is kind of your 'thing', but you've been doing it more than usual! Which quite frankly, is unacceptable! You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong!" Weiss then flips through the air for some reason, before pointing her finger dramatically and accusatorily at Blake. "So, Blake Belladonna, what is wrong!?" Weiss now stood on top of a chair, which she was balancing precariously on its' back feet. She quickly puts the chair away, and comes back to her initial position as if nothing happened. The faces on Ruby and Yang said otherwise though, both of their expressions saying that they were wondering at what the heck just happened.

"I just, I don't understand how everyone can be so calm." Blake answered.

"You're still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby asked.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!

"Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it." Yang reassured her.

"Well I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do!" Blake refuted.

Weiss spoke up. "Okay, between blowing up nightclubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think that you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells!" She said, putting her hands together.

"Uh, who?" Ruby asked, never hearing that sort of vocabulary before.

Weiss ignored her. "But let me once again be the voice of reason. We're students! We're not ready to handle this sort of situation!" She reasoned.

"Well yeah, but..." Ruby began.

"We're not ready!" Weiss restated.

"And we may never be ready!" Blake shouted. "Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait for graduation day." She reasoned. "They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not!"

Blake had a very valid point. Ruby took the opportunity to make a proposition to the team.

"Okay, all in favor of becoming the youngest Huntresses to single-handedly taking down a corrupt organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale... say aye." Ruby said, raising her hand slightly.

Yang pumps her fist enthusiastically. "Yes! I love it when you're feisty!"

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss conceded.

"None of you said 'aye'…" Ruby said, disappointed.

"Alright then, we're in this together!" Blake said happily. She didn't want to do this on her own, and the fact that her team was once again so understanding, she was grateful that they were willing to help her yet again.

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby said excitedly.

"Yeah!" Yang agreed.

Ruby gasps suddenly as she begins to freak out, however as she realized something. "I left my board game at the library!"

"We're doomed." Weiss says sarcastically.

Ruby quickly runs out of her room shouting back "I'll be right back!" before bumping into someone and falling onto her backside. Ruby looks up. "Sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." A mint-green-haired girl with red eyes replies. Emerald offers her a hand to help her up, which Ruby gratefully accepts. Mercury stood next to Emerald. "Just watch where you're going."

"Right, sorry." Ruby apologizes. "I'm Ruby. Are you new?"

"Visiting from Haven, actually." Someone else says from behind the two, who separate to reveal Cinder walking up between them.

"Ooh! You're here for the festival! But exchange students have their own dormitory." Ruby told them.

"I guess we just got turned around." Mercury said innocently.

"Hey, don't worry, it happens all the time." Ruby reassures them. Mercury and Emerald seem to ignore her, walking past her and down the hall around her as she continued. "Uh, your building is juuuust east of here."

"Thanks." Cinder says as she walks around her. "Maybe we'll see you around."

"Yeah, Maybe!" She returns. She then remembers her manners. "Oh, uh, and welcome to Beacon!"

Ruby had no idea just who Cinder was, or that she had already heard about her. She was told about her not too long ago, the same day that she and Steven went out to Vale together to get the parts for what became his Desert Eagle. She had no idea that she just met Jenny, and neither did anyone else but Jenny herself.

Cinder smiled evilly to herself, her back towards Ruby as she walked down the hallways towards their actual dorm.

That night, phase two would truly begin.

Steven stood in a dark, and empty room. It was endless, no discernable walls, barriers, or features were visible. The only thing illuminating the area was standing was an invisible light that lit up where he stood, but nowhere else.

'Where the hell am I?' he thought to himself.

"Did you think I was bluffing?" A very familiar voice echoed to him.

Steven instantly froze in fear. It was the voice again, the one from the Emerald Forest.

"Did you really think there wouldn't be consequences for disobeying me?" The invisible woman asked again, restating her question.

"What do you want?!" Steven shouted at the voice. He heard something run nearby behind him, causing him to turn around quickly to see nothing.

"You really don't remember anything, do you?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?!"

"He hasn't told you anything?"

"Told me what?! What the hell are you even talking about?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Steven shouted.

"I'm talking about your past, of course. You're a very important person, after all. Don't you remember?" The voice asked. She was toying with him now.

"What past? I did nothing on Earth! I was just a kid, what the hell did I do that was so important for Remnant?"

"They haven't told you yet? Well then I'll let them tell you when they're ready. It won't matter. You were a very important person that much I'll say. So important in fact, that every man, woman, and child feared you, entire armies surrendered to you specifically. I'm surprised you don't remember that."

"You're lying!"

"Am I?!" The voice countered.

In Steven's mind, he knew that she must have been bluffing. If he remembered taking down entire armies like she said he did, he certainly would remember it.

"Shut the fuck up and show yourself already!" Steven shouted, trying to change the subject.

The voice said nothing for a moment, but didn't show herself. "I will leave you with one last warning. But next time, You won't be so lucky." She assured him.

Before Steven could say anything, the sounds of screams, fire, and Grimm slowly began to fill his ears. He looked around to see the image of Beacon Academy in ruins, burning, and Vale destroyed behind him in a blaze.

"Steve…." A familiar voice said from behind him.

Steven quickly turned around, and was horrified by what he saw. Ruby was standing there, barely able to stand up, grasping her chest as she fell to her knees.

"Why…" She said, before falling over, dead.

"Ruby!" He shouted, horrified. He tried to kneel down and pick her up, bring her somewhere to get her some help or something, but his body wouldn't respond to his commands. Not because he was too shocked, but because he wasn't in control.

Steven looked around him. On the ground nearby him lay the bodies of his other friends, pools of blood beneath them all. Ren was face-down, Stormflowers in his hands at his sides. Nora wasn't far from him, her hammer, Magnhild, broken into pieces and a determined and wrath-filled look left on her face, which was decapitated from the rest of her body. Jaune sat propped up against a piece of rubble, his sword and shield at his side, a hole gaping where his heart should have been, but was visibly empty and devoid of the organ. Pyrrha lied next to him, collapsed as she held onto his arm, and was keeled over his dead body, several gashes and cuts across her entire body. Her sword and shield sat near her, bent and broken beyond recognition. Yang was to the left of Ruby, and was missing her right arm, which was located not too far away from her. She clearly bled out, but she visibly tried going out fighting, her body looking like she just tried to punch someone. Blake had a giant cut across her stomach, blood and guts spilling out as she lay on the ground on her back, dead. Her katana still in her hands. Weiss had a large, bloody cut down her left eye where her scar was, her eye missing. Her neck was twisted at an unnatural angle as well. Myrtenaster was at her side, dropped into the ground, sticking out of it with the blade stuck in the ground.

Steven looked at them all in horror. He refused to believe this was all real, it couldn't be, it was impossible. He looked at them all several times, taking in what the hell he was seeing. He was crying quite visibly, but he didn't notice.

Steven then noticed one thing in common with each of the bodies.

They were all facing him.

This fact struck Steven like a Freight Train. Why would they be facing him? What did he do? Did he do… this?!

Steven felt something on his hands.

He quickly looked down at the palms of his hands, and saw that his hands, or whatever he was looking at where his hands should be, were both drenched in blood, from his fingers to his elbows, even up to his upper arm for his right arm. But his hands weren't his own. His fingers had claws, and were black and had spines protruding from them. But his shoulders still had his armor on them. He was still wearing his armor.

It was him.

He killed them.

"No…" He said.

"No. No, No No!" He refused to believe this.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Steven shot up in his bed, panting.

'It was a dream… It was just a dream' He thought to himself.

He took a minute to think about what the hell just happened, and soon came upon the realization that it wasn't a dream, it was a warning. The voice came back, and it was not happy, whoever it belonged to. He went over to what she said in his head.

'What was she talking about? My past? What past? I have no past on Remnant. She was lying, she must have been. There's noooo way I've been here before, it makes no sense. And who was the 'he' that was supposed to tell me something? Mind being a bit more specific, lady?' He thought to himself. The more he thought about it, the more he calmed down, to the point where he was completely okay, and even joked about the silly dream he just had. But that didn't mean he didn't think about the scene he was shown seriously. Which made him realize that it still wasn't a dream. The voice showed him this on purpose. Why, he didn't know, but he knew she wanted him to see it.

Steven looked over the scene he was shown again in his head a few times, checking detail after detail. It must have been a dozen times he looked it over before he realized someone was missing from the scene. Connor wasn't there. All of his other friends on Remnant were there, but Connor wasn't, and he counted. Why else would Steven himself be there? He wasn't from Remnant, so if he was there, then he and all of his friends had to be there too.

That was his logic, anyways, flawed as it may be, but he had a point. Connor was missing, and that might be important.

Steven looked over at Connor's bed. Connor lay on his left side, facing away from Steven, but didn't appear to have woken up despite Steven's long, and awfully loud scream when he woke up. He was surprised that no one had come barging into his room to make sure he was okay yet.

Steven was relieved to see that Connor was alright, so he got up to go splash some water in his face from his bathroom sink.

When Steven left the bathroom, he stood in the doorway for a moment.

He looked over at Connor, still asleep. He lay there peacefully, undisturbed. Completely… motionless…

Steven's fears left over from what happened not long ago got the better of him, and he cautiously walked over to Connor's bed.

On his way over, he was reassuring himself that nothing could have possibly have happened to Connor in reality, when the scene happened in his head. He was fine, he was just overreacting, and he knew it. He also knew that the only way he'd be satisfied was to confirm his reasoning, and then he would see that Connor was indeed okay, and everything would be fine.

Steven stopped next to Connor's bed, standing behind him. He looked over to the digital clock, which read 2:37 A.M. Steven looked back over at Connor, expecting to see his chest rising and falling as he breathed.

He didn't see it at first. Steven reasoned with himself that it was simply because he was breathing so lightly that it was hard to see.

Trying to get a better angle, and a better perspective at which to see Connor's breathing, Steven sat down on his bed, and stared at Connor to make sure he was indeed breathing.

But there was still nothing.

Steven sat there for a few minutes in silence, in both his mind and the world around him.

Steven finally got up, concerned now.

"Connor?" He asked in a hushed, but still easily audible voice. "Wake up buddy." He said as he shook his friends' shoulder.

Connor didn't make a sound.

"Connor, come on, it's time to get up!" he lied, knowing that it would get him up or at least to respond if he heard him. Steven sighed, "Connor, come on!" He said again, continuing his lie if Connor was listening to him.

He pulled on Connor's shoulder to get him onto his back. It was much easier than he thought it would be, and what was revealed as a result was not what Steven expected.

Connor lied in his bed, a hole where his heart was, something having stabbed him there. His eyes were wide open, having shot open when he was stabbed. Only now did Steven notice the pool of blood on the bedspread that trailed onto the floor in front of Steven.

"Connor?" He asked as if nothing was wrong. "Connor?!" He began to shout. He shook his friend violently, as if Connor was stuck in some sort of trance. "CONNOR?!" He full on yelled. "CONNOR WAKE THE FUCK UP! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Steven yelled in disbelief.

"CONNOR!"

In the room next to his, Steven's friends of team RWBY were suddenly woken up from their slumber when Steven screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!", which could easily be heard through the walls.

Ruby jumped, frightened by the sudden noise, and fell off her bed and onto the floor. Yang jumped in her bed, while Weiss let out a quick, startled scream. Blake shot up in her bed, her ears pointed up towards the ceiling. She immediately began to look for the source of the sound.

"What the heck was that?!" Yang asked concerned and completely awake.

"Hold on a second." Blake said to them as she walked over to the wall that separated Steven's room from theirs, and put her ears against it. She didn't hear much, unable to discern words, but she could tell one thing.

"I think Steven had a bad dream, is all." She told them. "He seems to be calming himself down."

Yang sighed in relief, and Weiss groaned a little, unhappy that Steven had woken her up. She slowly lay herself back down to return to sleep.

Ruby, however, stayed with a concerned look on her face as she sat up from the floor. Blake could easily see it, thanks to her nightvision that her Faunus DNA gave her, but Yang also noticed it. She had a knack for these sort of things to begin with, and Ruby being her younger sister only magnified her abilities.

"Ruby, he's fine, I'm sure of it." She reassured him.

"I-I don't know…" She said. "I want to go make sure he's alright." She said, getting up and heading to the door.

"Ruby, wait." Yang told her. Ruby did as she was told, stopping before the door. "I know you care about him, but I think he needs to be left alone. We don't know what the dream was about, and he may not want to talk about it." She reasoned with her. "You can ask him about it in the morning, we'll be sure to give you two some alone time tomorrow."

Ruby stood there for a moment before compromising. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She agreed reluctantly. She walked over to her bed, and was about to get into it, holding onto the makeshift ladder up to her bed that was the bed itself, causing it to tip a bit as it was suspended from the ceiling by simple rope.

But her motions were interrupted as Steven began to scream out Connor's name. Ruby looked over at her sister with heavy concern. Everyone sat up, worried. When they heard him yell to Connor 'this isn't funny', they knew it was serious.

Ruby quickly used her semblance, and flew out of the room, trying desperately to get into Steven's room.

The rest of team RWBY got up as well, Yang grabbing her Ember Celica's just in case. Team JNPR had heard the entire commotion too, and had their door open, each of them poking their heads out, concerned, worried, and afraid. Their fears weren't eased when they saw Ruby trying to get into Steven's room.

Yang grabbed Ruby by the shoulder, and told her to step back. Ruby did so, and let Yang do her thing.

Yang stepped back, and kicked the door. She did this several times, trying to break the lock. The fourth time her foot connected with the door, it flew open.

Ruby ran inside, worried sick, with the rest of her team and team JNPR close behind.

"Steve! Are you okay?! What's wrong?!" She asked frantically, running up to him and kneeling beside him as he was knelt down behind Connor's lifeless body, crying onto the floor.

Steven looked at her, his eyes letting a steady stream of tears fall. "Connor's dead." He said, choking on his words as they came out.

Ruby's face instantly changed to one of shellshock, and horror.

Everyone behind her gasped as they looked over and saw Connor's lifeless body, the stab wound in his heart, and all of the blood as they turned the light on in the room.

Ruby carefully and slowly looked over at Connor to see it for herself, witnessing the gruesome scene that was only mere inches away from her.

All she could do was gasp. It was pure horror. Something she never thought she'd have to witness anytime so soon again.

Ruby hugged Steven tightly, she wouldn't let go until he was okay. Steven quickly hugged her in return, letting out what he still hadn't already over Ruby's shoulder.

"He was MURDERED!" he cried.

Despite already knowing it themselves, everyone didn't believe it deep down, not until he said that.

Who would murder Connor, and why?

They don't want to know who.

With the death of Connor, a new beast has been awoken, one that not even the beast themselves knows of, and won't see until it is almost too late. Everything has changed, whether it is apparent or not. Steven already knew who killed him, or at least had Connor killed. It was only a matter of find before he found the identity of the voice, and whoever it was would receive his wrath, no matter who it was.

This is not how anyone imagined the second semester at Beacon Academy would begin.

Not only this, but team RWBY has to deal with Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. They need to figure out what he is up to. Will they include Steven? Will they figure out his plan? What happens next?

Stay tuned to Brave New World for Chapter 12: Evil Breeds.

Thanks for reading! let me know about what you thought about the chapter in the reviews! Any and all feed back is appreciated! See you all in two weeks for the exciting chapter 12!

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