A/N: April 21st was Remus's birthday, but I didn't post anything because I forgot. My bad. Happy Belated Birthday, Remus!

Setting: City of Thieves

Violet and Grayson locked eyes with each other despite the distance between their locations and the mass of enemies surrounding violet's group. The intense battle around her didn't seem to affect her now that her goal was in her line of sight.

"Remus!" she called out to her friend.

"Azura! To my side!" Clair did the same.

Both Cobalts were in the thick of the enemy ranks, taking down as many as they could until they heard their respective leaders call their names. Remus teleported to Violet and Azura compressed the wind dust in her arms and released it, creating a large blast of wind to blow away all opposition and clear her path to the others.

"What is it?" Azura asked Clair as soon as she reached her destination.

"We know where we got to go. It's time to move out," the Lady of Nexus informed her with no emotion. She was ready to finish this now. Clair looked to Bianca who understood what her liege wanted her to do.

Violet called to Zelts. She needed his abilities to get rid of the fodder, as Silver would call them. "Zelts, take them all out." She tossed several dust crystals his way and he caught them.

"Silver are you alright?" Violet asked when they made it back.

"Y-yeah, but I learned something that you're not going to like," he said and she didn't know what he meant. "When I looked into his eyes, I saw something that I wish wasn't true. All this time we've been with Zelts, he's been holding back."

Violet felt her body tense. She couldn't believe someone as strong as Zelts was actually stronger than he led them to believe.

Answering her demand, Zelts used Conversion to absorb all the energy in the crystals until they were completely drained and reduced to dust. Fully charged with energy, he converted it into his wingblades then swung them around, creating a towering, golden tornado that was as tall as Concordia. The tornado swallowed everything around it, especially the bounty hunters and bandits in the area. The smaller buildings around the tornado began to break apart and crumble against its might with the debris being swept in the vortex. Something else that was caught in the tornado was the Stardust particles Bianca kept creating throughout the fight.

The group was on the ground as the tornado destroyed everything in its path. Silver made sure everyone held onto each other so Gravity could affect them and increase their mass so they were anchored to the sandy floor. The tornado, along with with most of the enemy was moving in a straight path away from the battle. The Stardust particles made the sight rather pretty despite its devastating might. After it was a safe distance away, Bianca snapped her gloved fingers with lightning dust and the particles began to crackle with electricity. The tornado transformed into a vortex of lightning that violently burst, creating a massive thunderclap that resonated throughout the City of Thieves and even further.

All opposition within the tornado was certainly dead and the extremely lucky that were still in the area watched the spectacle in horror. This was what they were up against and it frightened them. They understood that VRSZ was at the top of Vacuo's mercenary game for a reason. The fear was enough reason for them to flee the area. This tactic was extremely effective at driving the enemy away, but that worked on the enemies in this vicinity. The City of Thieves was enormous and more adversaries were sure to come for them. And with the battle ensuing, it wouldn't be long before Grimm come, thriving on the negative emotions.

Time was not on their side.

"Let's get going," Clair informed everyone, "Concordia's our destination." She pressed on, not waiting for the others to respond or follow. The former monarch was fiercely determined to seize the man who destroyed her home and deliver vengeance. As everyone followed Clair to their destination, Bianca rushed to her liege's side, knowing the state Clair was in made her reckless and she needed to be protected.

Grayson watched the group march to his location and he quickly walked away from the window. He needed to prepare for their arrival and inform his fellow Ravagers of battle coming to their doorstep.

Walking through the ruins of their old home caused everyone to think about the past; the places they've been, the people they met, and the things they've done. It all passed by with every familiar location. It didn't matter how damaged it was or if it was named the City of Thieves. This was their home. Nothing was ever going to change that.

People were smiling, they were smiling at them. Specifically, their smiles were directed at Zelts. He received smiles, waves, and pleasant greetings from the citizens of Fortuna. Most of the pleasantries were from women of all ages, who appeared to be enamored by his presence. Zelts responded with kind smiles and waves.

"Well, aren't you popular. Didn't know you were such a ladies' man," Violet teased, expecting to hear another quip, but saw him look at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"What are you talking about? It's just people being nice."

"Wow. Not only Silver but sometimes he's as oblivious as Remus,"

Violet began to notice the looks she received from some of the women. They glared at her with eyes of jealousy, most likely because she was closer to Zelts than all of them. She wondered how'd they react if she wrapped her arm around him. It was a tempting thought, but it would also be awkward with Zelts who didn't get the joke. Violet simply ignored them instead.

Zelts started to chuckle a little, cutting through the silence, and it grabbed the others' attention. "What's funny?" Azura asked.

He pointed to a destroyed building. It was ruined beyond repair and was hardly discernable. Azura didn't know what was so special about it. "That's the place where we used to get tea."

Zelts felt a little better now that answering questions about his relationship was over. He had no problem admitting he was in one but preferred not to give out specific details. Luckily this wasn't the case since Clair asked questions for about an hour but nothing too personal.

"So, how intimate have the two of you been?"

Zelts choked on a biscuit and Violet nearly spit out the swig of tea in her mouth. Clair had a smile but she was serious in her question.

"I-I uh,... I do not wish to talk about his, at all."

Zelts had his head down feeling too embarrassed to look any of them in the eye. Clair grinned then drank the last of her tea while Violet's face got red at the question and answer.

"That's okay darling, your answer told me everything I needed to know."

Zelts felt like he was going to burst. Finally fed up with being put on the spot, Zelts excused himself from the table and left to who knows where all he wanted was to get out of Clair's clutches. Violet, with her hand covering her extremely red face, peeked at Clair, who giggled from Zelts' shyness. She thought the Lady of Fortuna was an expert at getting private stuff out of people and didn't want the same treatment.

"Anything you'd like to tell me, Vi? You've been gone for a while. Anything new in your life? Tell me." Clair asked with her eyes on Violet, who didn't want to go through the same torturous experience.

"I got nothing, not a damn thing." Violet put the last biscuit in her mouth so she wouldn't have to talk anymore.

Violet and Clair recognized the location as well. It was where they usually spent during their downtime. The treasured those days when neither had worry about responsibilities and enjoy being in each other's company. Thinking fondly on those memories, Violet looked to Clair who didn't stop her pursuit of Grayson. Bianca matched her pace so she wouldn't be advancing alone.

There was only time Clair did stop walking and it was when she was in front of a building near Concordia. She looked at it with a pained expression as she bit her bottom lip and clenched her fists. Bianca recognized the building and understood why it impacted Clair greatly. This building was Moneta, the building where Sterling used to work. The memories came flooding into her mind with Grayson killing him being the last one. It still hurt to think about.

"I was concerned that she was going to harm you. If anything happened to you, or Onyx, or Copper because of Carabosse, I wouldn't be able to live with myself," Sterling admitted it with pain in his voice.

"…Uncle… thank you. Always looking out for me. What would I do without you?" Clair said merrily.

"I'm sure you'd do fine," Sterling said with a smile.

Closing her eyes and breathing slowly, Clair tried her best to suppress her emotions so she can focus on the task at hand.

"Clair!"

The shouting of her name made her immediately open her eyes. Before she could turn to see what was going on, she felt the clawed digits of Purgatory around her shoulder as Ghost came in contact with her. Another missile fell from above and Ghost used Spectre to make the both of them intangible. The explosive projectile harmlessly moved through their bodies and exploded around them. It did, however, get the remains of Moneta caught in the blast and the little ruins of her uncle's former business collapsed. Clair got a better look at her surroundings and saw Bianca in combat with a group of enemies, one of which carried a bazooka. She snapped out of her brief shock and moved in to help her Enforcer fight.

Arriving a minute after the battle initiated, VRSZ and Azura watched their friends combat the enemy. Bianca was already combatting the six rogues in front of her. One already fired from his bazooka and was getting ready to fire again while the other five covered for him. Two had guns in their hands and open fired at Bianca who was dashing to their position. She zipped around their gunfire with serpentine fashion, reaching the man on the left. She aimed one of her Archangels at his face and fired several rounds at him. His aura protected him from fatal damage but he was still knocked to the ground. The second one saw his chance to shot her point-blank, but Bianca swiftly moved behind him, choking him with one arm while repeatedly slashing his body with the bayonet knife on her gun in her other hand.

As she continued her assault, the other brigands decided to move in to strike her down. These two had close-range weapons: a longsword-pistol and a massive flail. They planned to kill her along with their ally to end this quickly, but their scheme failed to come to fruition when Ghost and Clair intervened. Ghost aimed for the one closest to his half-sister, the man spinning the flail, and fired several shards of ice from Purgatory, pelting him with the sharp icy projectiles and grabbing his attention.

Seeing Ghost charge his way, the man swung his weapon but was shocked to see it pass through his body harmlessly then Ghost phased through his body, scary the rogue. After passed through the man's body, Ghost quickly turned around and grabbed him by his shoulders. Ghost activated Spectre, affecting the enemy, then dragged him down beneath the sand. One minute later, Ghost resurfaced without the man and walked away.

Clair was in a sword duel with the other rogue and she was doing very well. This person was clearly proficient with this weapon, but Clair was holding her own against him. Their blades clashed again with his being closer to her face. It was obvious he had better reach with his longsword compared to Clair's pen-sword. She needed to be careful and check the distance between them. She also knew another way to win was to outsmart the enemy. The man went for a horizontal swing against her pe-sword but only struck air as Clair retracted her blade, shifting her weapon back into a pen and ducking to avoid the blade and step in closer. The battle was over with the press of a button. Clair shifted her pen back into a sword and it extended out and impaled the man, piercing through his torso. Coughing out blood, the man lost his grip on his blade as the life faded from his eyes. Clair removed herself from him and noticed how his death was similar to Sterling's.

The last rogue finally finished reloading his bazooka. He looked up to help his friends fight but realized he was too late. Bianca finished off the last two and the other was dead by Clair's feet. Alone and outnumbered, the man fled, screaming in fear they would track him down.

There was still blood on her pen-sword. Clair looked down at it with a steely gaze. "It was necessary," she told herself as she pulled out a cloth and wiped the blood away.

"We're almost there," she said aloud then turned to look at team one, "Azura, Zelts, Remus. It starts now."

"We'll take point. Doubt anyone can hold the three of us back," Azura confirmed as she and the boys walked ahead of everyone. The operation was underway.

Setting: Concordia

The building which previously served as the city's hub and Clair de Lune's home was left in ruin and surrounded by groups of bandits and mercenaries. Grayson took the time to inform them that the enemy was coming this way and planned on using them as a barrier between the Ravagers and VRSZ. He was smart enough to know none of the wannabes down there could completely crush his opposition, but they might be able to take one down or at least soften them up for his team. Every person down there was a tool for Grayson to use for his own purposes. It didn't matter to him who he lost as long as he came out on top.

Each Ravager had their own section of the building to protect with Grayson at the top. Now, all he had to do was wait. Vacuo's number one mercenary was in his room which was once Clair's office where he waited for the showdown to end all showdowns. He had the weapons of his choice on his person and was mentally prepared for Violet to show her face if she made it this far.

"I'll be waiting, if you make it,"

Vago was lounging around on the ground floor of Concordia while the bandits were stationed outside. He made sure he would be able to respond properly if something happened abruptly and he could use Abyss without worry. The Master of Shadows was wise to take this course of action. In an instant, many of the bandits were shouted in shock and pain.

"After the massacre, I planned on returning the Cobalt name to its former glory by making a name for myself, and more importantly, be the sole inheritor of the Cobalt name, that is until you showed up."

"Me?" Remus asked in confusion.

"If you were any other Cobalt, I would've welcomed you with open arms. I would've asked you to join me, but you had to be the spawn of Rhea, you had to be the true successor to the Cobalt name."

"Is it really that important to you?"

"Yes, because it means no matter what I do, I'll always be subservient to you," Azura seemed to be bothered by this and Remus picked up on it, but he didn't understand how much this dilemma upset her. It wasn't until she made a demand that he wasn't expecting.

"Fight me now."

Remus smiled the usual smile he had when he was ready for a good fight. Azura looked at him with the exact same look, showing Violet that this was indeed a Cobalt thing.

Plowing through the enemy was Remus and Azura. The former charged into the enemy with his superior speed while the latter kept pace with her newly acquired semblance. Both Cobalts were fighting side by side. Their advancement was ceased when they both ran into a hulking fellow. Remus and Azura tried to tackle him together, but his girth and muscular physique were strong enough to stop them. Up close, the man appeared to be twice the size of Zelts and his biceps were larger than a human head. Strapped to his back was a massive hammer to match his appearance. It looked like something that could only be used by the strongest people alive.

The giant man was ready to crush the Cobalts in his arms but was distracted by the green wind that suddenly appeared around him, watching scoop up his friends. Zelts was already making quick work of the enemy, creating a straight path for the other team to access the front door. The giant man suddenly felt his right arm being yanked down. It was done by Remus while Azura hopped in front of him and landed a satisfying kick to his nose, using Pulse to create a strong enough shockwave to blast him away. He tumbled through the sand as the two Cobalts continued their pursuit.

Violet, Clair, and the others used this moment to try to go through the front door, but their hopes were dashed when they were met with the encroaching darkness that Vago spawned. It spread and stretched around them before they decided to back away. Clair knew they needed to be smart about this. The five of them could overpower the Master of Shadows, however, it would take time and effort to get around his semblance which was something they couldn't spare this late in the game.

As the darkness continued its way toward them, Bianca fired a few rounds from her Archangels directly in front of her. The volley of bullets harmlessly passed through the dark fog, heading straight for Vago who rolled out of the way. The quick loss of focus made the shadows vanish.

"We take him down?" Ghost asked, ready to get his revenge of the shadow man.

"We go around," Violet told him as she pulled out some Enigmas.

Silver knew what his teammate was going for and activated Gravity. He lightened his own gravity to jump high onto the side of Concordia, standing vertically on the windows. He changed Fenrir to escrima sticks and slammed them down on the ground, shattering the glass of the window beside him. Violet threw nine earth Enigmas at the ground in front of her and the others, causing stone pillars to erupt from the points of impact, creating a barrier between them which also served as a stairway to the window.

While the team climbed the stairs, the Cobalt warriors continued their fight with the giant man who refused to go down. He stood up after their fight strike and grabbed his hammer. Azura and Remus were running side by side until Remus kicked it up a notch and sped right toward the man, palm striking him in the chest, pushing him away. Azura followed up by firing several bolts of lightning at him, electrocuting him while Remus slashed him with Delta. His attack landed but the giant man ignored the pain to counterattack. He swung his massive hammer and Remus ducked out of the way, feeling the insane force of his swing as it passed by.

Azura jumped in the air with her elemental staff covered in ice dust, taking on the form of an icy javelin. She planned on ramming it into the man's shoulder but was met with the giant's hammer after he failed to strike Remus. She blocked the majority of the hit with her weapon, but the ice around her staff shattered and she was sent flying through the area. Remus used Checkpoint to teleport to his cousin in the air. He caught her and used his semblance again to teleport safely to the ground. The giant man charged for them but Zelts stood in his way.

Wearing a smile that was drenched in arrogance, the giant man pulled his hammer back as far as he could while Zelts stood there, absorbing some of the dust in his shirt. Swinging the hammer over his head with all his might, the giant man was satisfied he finally crushed someone, or so he thought. Before the enemy was Zelts, holding the hammer at bay with just one hand. His strength was increased by Conversion even though he wasn't fully charged. He didn't need to be. The giant man's physique was imposing, but his strength was far from indomitable.

He was nothing like Royal or Alexandrite.

Keeping his grip on the hammer, Zelts dropped his shield in his other arm to deliver a powerful punch to the man's gut. The force of his blow was strong enough to knock the wind out of the giant man and sending him soaring into a ruined building. He did not emerge from the building. The giant man was down.

Most of the enemy around the entrance was wiped out save for a few more bandits and the Master of Shadows himself. Vago already had darkness spilling from his arms. The three warriors were ready for battle.

The other team was given the time needed to breach into the building without any resistance. They were inside of Concordia, the home of the Ravagers.

"Find him," Ebony orders the rest of the party as they begin their hunt.

The return to Fortuna, the original setting of this series, made me think back to VRSZ's original theme songs.

Violet: Sable: Nano

Remus: Hold on to You: Natewantstobattle

Silver: Hunt Hunt Hunt: There For Tomorrow

Zelts: Knight of the Wind: Crush 40

Along with the original themes is another familiar song for this setting. Choosing Hope: Final Fantasy XV (Distant Worlds). It was the ending song for the 5th volume, where Fortuna was lost, and it seems fitting to have it back now that they're back.