A/N: Hey everyone! I've returned with another new chapter! This one's going to be a bit different than the previous ones because, as the title suggests, this chapter takes place on Patch while the others are all on the Hunt for Animo. I like to think of it as a cool little side story that goes on during all of the plot-heavy stuff. Because, trust me, after everything that's been happening, what with Rojo, Animo and everyone else, we could certainly use a break from the bigger baddies. That being said, this is…

Chapter 25: While You Were Away

…..

Bored. That was the only word that Blake could use to describe her situation right now; bored. When she and Sun had agreed to assist Cooper and Coco in helping them and their crew find a better place to live on Patch, they had thought it would be a nice relaxing time, hanging out with friends while simultaneously looking for an apartment that could fit all five team members. But, as the cat girl had soon discovered, it wasn't. Because, to her dismay, it was there that she had learned something new about both Cooper and Coco; their pickiness. Whenever they visited one of the apartment buildings on the island, they always found SOMETHING not to their liking. Whether it be within reason, such as Cooper sensing faulty wiring in the building or the building itself being just gross and unsanitary, or the most mundane detail, like the smell of the place or Coco not liking the interior design of the place. They had one more apartment complex left, and if this one didn't satisfy either one of them, they were out of luck.

It was outside this complex that Blake and Sun sat on a lone bench, each sipping on a cup of iced tea from the coffee shop across the street. As they sat there in complete silence, simply enjoying each other's company, Sun decided to break it. "So, you just as bored as I am?"

Blake glanced at him and gave him a grin. "What was your first clue?"

That got the monkey boy to laugh. "Ha, just checking." He let out a sigh before continuing. "Ya know, I would've thought looking for a place to live would've been more… I don't know… exciting?"

"Tell me about it." Blake stared down at her cup of tea, contemplating the uneventful morning they had. "Makes me wish we could've gone with Ben, Yang and the others even more now."

Sun smiled to her. "Hey, you could've ignored Ben's orders and gone with. You're sneaky enough to sneak into Kevin's trunk and ride off with them… but you didn't. Besides, I'M the one who has to take it easy for a while, not you."

Blake returned the smile with her own. "And leave you here bored all by yourself with absolutely no one to talk too? Not a chance."

"You are FAR too kind to me, you know?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Yeah, maybe. But I'm doing this for Cooper and Coco's sake too. If I had went over with the others, you probably would've been worried out of your mind about me and be pestering these guys with a whole bunch of "what if's"."

Sun was taken aback, a hint of red rising to his cheeks. "Hey, you know that's not…" But then he saw the sly grin that Blake was giving him and he sighed in defeat. "Okay, maybe a little bit, but I know that you can take care of yourself." His smile returned. "Believe me, I've known you for almost a year now and I've figured out that fact pretty quick."

"And don't you forget it, mister." Blake teased. They shared a laugh before going back to their beverages, though now, Blake could feel a new strain of thoughts pop into her head. Yang's advice at the mall the other day, Sun's near-death experience yesterday, and all their time alone together over the previous year. 'Would now be a good time?' She had been worried about taking their… unique relationship to the next step for a while. Most of it had come from Adam being on the loose and liable to kill Sun if he had ever found out. 'But Adam's gone now, locked up in an Atlesian Max-Security Prison a whole continent-and-a-half away.' She reminded herself. 'It's time to stop living in fear Blake. You promised that to your team, your FAMILY. And you've known Sun long enough to realize that he is one of the nicest people you've ever met. You know he would NEVER hurt you.'

She took a deep breath and swallowed her anxiety, steeling her nerves for what she was about to do. "Hey, Sun?"

The monkey boy grinned over to her. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Would you be interested in—"

Suddenly, the front door to the apartment complex flung open, Coco with a self-assured smile on her face. "FINALLY! About time we found it!"

Blake grimaced at the interruption. 'Oh god dammit.' She and Sun turned around in their seats to face the barrette-wearing girl as she, Cooper, and her team filed out of the building, holding a stack of papers in her hand. "And what exactly have you found?"

Coco smirked before showing her the paperwork. "Read 'em and weep, sister. The crew and I have got our own pad. We are officially gonna be residents of Patch in the next twenty-four hours."

Blake skimmed over the paper work with vigilant eyes, looking for anything that could qualify as seedy or questionable. When she had went through all the pages, she gave a sound of surprise. "Huh, not bad Coco, you found a place to your liking without any loopholes in the agreement."

Cooper let out a laugh. "Ha, yeah, you should've seen her reading it in there. She's very thorough when it comes to contracts."

Coco smirked back at him. "Well, Tech Head, I don't let people pull fast ones on me so easily. Mess with me, you get on my bad side. Simple as that."

"I doubt we would have had much trouble anyway." Velvet clarified. "The landlady is extremely nice. Once she heard we were from Beacon, she was more than happy to let us stay there."

Blake let out a sigh. "Well, at least there are people who care. That's all we can ask for I guess."

Sun nodded. "Yeah, the people on this island are pretty chill for the most part."

"Indeed." Yastu agreed. "Aside from the off chance that one of Ben's supervillains attacks, this island must be very peaceful otherwise." Just then, a squad of two police cruisers raced down the street, their sirens blaring. As the group stared after them, Fox turned to Yastu and gave him a look that practically said; "You were saying?" Yastu chuckled under his friend's questioning gaze. "Hehe, perhaps I spoke too soon."

Blake rose from her place on the bench, still gazing after the rushing law enforcement. "Come on, maybe it IS one of Ben's villains. And if that's the case, we can't wait for the others to get back."

She and the others began to head to Coco's car before Sun spoke up. "Hey Blake, didn't you wanna ask me something?" he asked hopefully.

A tiny blush rose to Blake's cheeks, but she quickly composed herself. 'Not the time, as much as I don't like to admit it.' She looked back to him with a small smile. "We'll talk later Sun, I promise. But right now, we have a potential villain to stop."

Sun let out a sigh before smiling back at her. "You're right, let's go!" They all piled into Coco's roadster, which to say the least was very snug, and took off down the road, following the police cars to their destination.

…..

The seven teens followed the cruisers down the street until the vehicles stopped at a jewelry store, with another cruiser already parked right outside. The moment they got out of Coco's roadster, they could already tell something was wrong. The storefront had a huge hole busted through it, there was police tape set up around the place, and there were a whole bunch of people crowded around it, trying to get a closer look. Whether it be reporters, photographers, or civilians, they wanted to see what had happened. The police officers exited their cruisers and began to wave the people down, hoping to at least calm the crowd down.

"Man, whoever did this certainly left their mark." Cooper commented.

"You're telling me, Coop." Sun concurred. "But who the heck could make such a huge hole?"

"That's what we're going to find out." Blake said as she began maneuvering her way through the crowd. The others followed her in as they weaved past everyone, making sure to apologize if they bumped into anyone. When they finally reached the tape barrier, they were met by an officer wearing a pair of shades. His uniform was blue with black pants and he had the name "Jones" on his name tag.

He held up his hand. "Sorry kids, but you can't come in here, too dangerous."

Blake began to make her case. "Uh, Officer…" She looked at the name tag, "Jones, we're a group of Hunters in training and we're here to investigate what happened."

The police man shook his head. "I apologize miss, but unless you're a certified Hunter, I can't let you in."

"Well then, maybe I can be of some help." Everyone turned to the new voice to see none other than Tai approach from the crowd, a confident smirk on his face as he pulled out his Hunter's license. "This outta get us in there, right?"

"Tai?!" Blake exclaimed. "What're you doing here? Isn't school in session right now?"

Tai shrugged. "Well I'm on my break right now, so I figured I'd go out for a walk around town, see what's going on. But when I heard the sirens, I rushed over as quick as I could." The Xiao-Long patriarch looked over to the other five. "And you guys must be Cooper and Team CFVY, right? Nice to meet ya, my daughters and Ben's team have told me a lot about you." Tai faced the policeman. "They're with me, Jones. These kids are under my supervision."

As they made their way past the police tape, Coco leaned over to Sun and whispered. "Who's the old dude?" Little did she know that Tai could in fact hear her, and his eye twitched at the word "old".

Sun rolled his eyes. "Okay, for one, he isn't THAT old. And secondly, that's Tai Xiao-Long, Yang and Ruby's dad. You know, the guy who's house we're living in?"

"Ah, so that's Yang's pops, huh? Guess there IS some family resemblance there." Coco squinted for a moment. "But… I'm struggling to find any of Ruby in him."

Cooper shrugged. "Maybe she just takes more after her mom, who knows?"

Tai grimaced to himself. 'More than you know, kid.' he thought before turning around and clearing his throat. "Ahem, if we're all done chit-chatting, we'd better start investigating. Now, what's the first thing that draws your attention?"

Velvet raised her hand. "Erm, the giant hole in the wall, right?"

Tai snapped his fingers and pointed to her. "Exactly! Which means we're dealing with somebody who either knows how to use explosives, or someone who can just ram through things like a bull in a china shop."

"Well, Exo-Skull's currently loose on the mainland," Sun pointed out, "so it's not him."

Yatsu stepped forward. "Perhaps we should investigate further inside to see what they actually stole. Then we may find out more about our suspect."

Tai nodded again. "Beanpole's right, let's get in there."

The group entered the wrecked jewelry store to find many more officers searching the premises, their shoes crinkling over broken glass and metal bits. Many pieces of jewelry were strewn about the large room and several displays were destroyed, but there was one giant outlier amongst the ruination; another hole to be exact, leading right out the back of the store. Tai glanced around, assessing the situation. "Hmm… well, we can certainly say that we've got several counts of vandalization in here." It was then that he saw someone familiar standing in the middle of the room, a woman dressed in a brown police uniform. "Ah, Lieutenant Burns!"

The auburn-haired woman turned around. She appeared to be in her late twenties, wearing a pair of shades and a long brimmed felt hat. Her mouth turned up in a grin as she took off her sunglasses, revealing her bright green eyes. "Tai! Hey, long time no see!" The two shook hands before Burns continued. "What the heck are you doing here? Shouldn't you be teaching right now?"

Tai chuckled. "Hey, teacher's gotta have a break sometimes." He began to introduce his friend to the teens behind him. "Everyone, this is Lieutenant Krista Burns. She just happens to be one of the youngest women in the Valian Police Force to make it to the rank."

Coco smirked. "Wow, you must be pretty good, then."

Krista rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't like to brag about it. I'm just here to serve and protect. So, who are you kids?"

Coco strolled up and shook the woman's hand. "Name's Coco, and this is my team, Fox, Velvet, and Yatsu."

Fox gave a nod while Velvet waved. "Hello!" she greeted.

Yastu gave a bow. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Coco pulled Cooper over. "And this is Cooper, he's of our unofficial fifth member."

Cooper nodded. "Yep, nice to meet you."

Krista gave a nod. "Of course, nice to meet you too." She faced Blake and Sun. "And that would make you two Hunters in training as well?"

Sun gave a smile and wave. "Yep, name's Sun."

Blake hesitantly stepped forward. "And I'm Blake, it's… nice to meet you."

Krista tilted her head. "You alright Blake? You seem a bit on edge."

Blake shrunk back, her cat ears flattening out. "Oh, sorry, I'm just not used to having this… civil of a conversation with a police officer."

Krista let out a sigh. "I think I know what you mean. I've seen many precincts who still treat Faunus quite poorly." She then gave the cat girl a gentle smile. "But believe me Blake, here on Patch, Faunus are treated as fairly as everyone else. No matter who you are, everyone has a right to due process, and I do mean everyone."

Blake returned the smile. "Thank you, Lieutenant Burns, that's very reassuring."

"Please, call me Krista. So where are you guys from? You all look college age and I can't imagine Tai taking up tutoring."

Blake gave her a somber look. "I… I think you can guess where we came from."

Krista's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you kids are from Beacon?"

Tai nodded. "Yes, Blake's a part of my daughter's team. She, Sun and a bunch of their other friends have been staying with me since the attack."

The lieutenant's hand went over her heart. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for what happened to you there. It must have been terrifying."

Blake waved. "It's alright, it's been about a week and we've gotten over it by now. Believe me, considering what we've been doing, we've had a LOT on our plates to get our minds off of it."

Krista smiled at them. "Well, that's good to here. We've had a pretty busy week ourselves. First it was the bug monster and lava creature sightings at the mall, turned out THAT was a hoax. Next was the freak fire at the school, NO clue how that happened. And now all this!" She gestured around the wrecked store. "I'm tellin' ya, it's like every other day over here."

As the policewoman listed off the occurrences, Blake and Sun's expressions became more and more guilty. Their little group had been partially responsible for most of those things. Blake gave a small cough. "Aherm, well, uh, what do YOU think happened here, Krista?"

Krista shrugged. "Beats me. We've questioned the owner and they said that nothing was stolen. Broken? Yes. But nothing's been taken."

"Lieutenant!" An officer came up from the back of the store, waving his hand. "We've found something!"

Krista put her shades back on. "Well it's about time. C'mon!" The group followed the officer to the back of the store to see a few other officers gathered around something. Krista walked up to them and gazed down at what they found. "Alright, what do we got?"

Another officer looked up at her superior. "Um, that's just it, ma'am, we have no clue WHAT it is." She looked back down at the evidence. "I mean, it looks like armor, but not from anything I've ever seen."

Cooper looked past the lieutenant to get a better look, and his eyes widened. It was a VERY familiar looking piece of shoulder armor, colored red, black and grey. "Oh god, I think I've seen that kind of armor plating before!"

Krista gave him a look of surprise. "You have?"

Cooper nodded. "Yes, but it's not just armor, it's a piece of advanced technology. That is, if my hunch is correct."

Coco turned to him. "Well then, what're we dealing with Tech Head?"

"I've gotta get my hands on it to be sure." Cooper glanced to Lieutenant Burns. "If you wouldn't mind, that is."

Krista nodded. "If you can help us crack this case open, then be my guest, kid."

"Thank you." Cooper knelt down on the ground and picked up the weird shoulder piece and his eyes began to glow blue, his mind analyzing the circuitry inside of it.

The lieutenant was… confused to say the least. "Uh, is that his Semblance or something?"

Not wanting to reveal that Cooper was actually a mutant from another dimension, Coco quickly began to cover for him. "Yeah, actually it is! He's got this crazy cool thing where he can control and scan technology with his mind. It's freaking awesome."

Krista gazed back down as Cooper finished his scan. "Huh, neat."

Cooper winced as his eyes turned back to normal, rising to his feet soon after. "It's like I thought, this shoulder piece is from a Techadon robot. This is bad, REALLY bad."

Krista tilted her head. "A Techa-what?" But before she could get any more information, her radio started to beep loudly. She pulled it off her hip and pushed a button with her thumb before speaking into it. "Lieutenant Burns, what's the situation? Over."

Another officer's voice came over the radio, his voice shaky and uneasy, as well as slightly higher pitched. "Uh, lieutenant, this is Sergeant Price. We've, uh, we just cornered a potential suspect, over."

Krista smirked and rolled her eyes. "Roy, you're fine, it's just me. Now go ahead. Over."

The sergeant on the other end cleared his throat before continuing. "Right, me and my unit have cornered the suspect in an old abandoned warehouse near the port. Over"

"Any distinguishing features on the suspect? Over."

"Negative, all we can determine is that they're in a giant suit of armor. Over."

The whole groups eyes widened in shock as Krista spoke into the radio again. "Roger that, Sergeant, I'll be there as soon as I can. Out." She put the radio back onto her hip and faced the others. "Looks like we've got our perp. C'mon, let's get over there."

Blake and the others followed Krista out through the front of the store, though there was one thing that was eating at the cat Faunus' mind. "Uh, Krista, why did that guy sound… scared?"

The lieutenant chuckled. "Well, that's just how Roy is. See, we grew up together and we both wanted to join the force. But Roy's nerves sometimes get the better of him."

Blake was taken by surprise. "And he still joined?"

"Yep, he was determined to join in hopes of getting over his fears. And the fact that he's a sergeant at twenty-eight proves that, if you ask me." Krista moved over to her police cruiser and opened the driver's side door. "You guys are more than welcome to ride with me if you want."

Coco leaned next to Blake's ear. "Please say yes, I don't think my car can take much more after today."

Blake let out a small laugh before giving her answer. "Sure Krista, we'll ride with you."

Krista gave a thumbs up. "Excellent, now let's roll!" Blake, Sun and Tai climbed into the cruiser, with Tai taking the passenger's side while Blake and Sun sat in the back. Coco, along with Cooper and her team, went back into the roadster and the two vehicles raced off to the docks, the sirens on Krista's car blaring as they went down the street.

"Here's hoping we aren't too late." Sun commented.

Blake gave him a nod. "Yeah, but even if we are, Cooper didn't sound very enthused when he found out what it was. Something tells me we'll be in for quite the fight."

…..

Meanwhile, Coco was trying to get more info out of Cooper as she drove down the road, her eyes still focused solely on the road. "Okay, Tech Head, fill us in, just what the hell's a Techadon supposed to be?"

Cooper, having take the shoulder piece from the crime scene, answered immediately. "Techadon robots are highly advanced war machines with violent A.I. and powerful weapons to match. Ben's fought them a whole bunch of times. It's strange though, I never imagined a Techadon would show up in a place like this. Plus, there's also the fact that it's been a few days since we got here. Techadons usually go on the offensive the moment they come into contact with a living being. The fact that it's only showing up now? Something's off. WAY off."

Velvet spoke up from the backseat. "So, you had a giant killer robot imprisoned in that base?"

"Well, not exactly. Whenever a Techadon comes to Earth, we make sure to incapacitate it and then dismantle it." Cooper explained. "See, these things can use other sentient beings as hosts to rebuild themselves around them. That's the reason why we dismantle them thoroughly. Something tells me that some spare parts were transported here and someone managed to find them."

Velvet's eyes widened in horror. "So there's someone trapped inside of it?"

"Probably, which means that we're going to have to be extra careful. I've been studying and dismantling these things long enough where I think I can get whoever it is out of there, but I need to get close in order to do it."

Coco shrugged. "Sounds simple enough."

Cooper shook his head. "Not exactly. The Techadon's going to try and defend itself, which means we're going to have to fight our way towards it."

A smirk made its way to Coco's face. "Now you're talkin'! First we crack it open and make the save, then blow it straight to hell!"

The technopath could only smile at her enthusiasm. 'She somehow becomes even more awesome when she's violent. Mental note though, don't be the target of her violence.' Cooper's eyes went back out the window to see Lieutenant Burns' police car come to a stop right outside of a warehouse, with many other police vehicles having surrounded the building already. "Looks like we're here."

…..

Blake, Sun, and Tai followed Krista over to a lone officer who had his gaze transfixed on the giant doors of the warehouse, his dark brown eyes filled with a combination of intense focus and anxiety. Beneath his officer's hat, his blonde hair was slightly frazzled from his nervousness, indicating that he had been absentmindedly scratching at it. Krista grinned as she snuck up behind him and tapped his shoulder. "Oh Rooooy."

The man screamed as he jumped up a whole foot off the ground, twisting his body around while making chopping motions with his hands, hitting nothing but air. It was only when his eyes saw the smirking woman did he relax. "Oh, it's you KB. Jeez, you know I don't do surprises that well."

That got Krista to giggle a bit. "Aw, sorry. Sometimes I just can't resist." The lieutenant turned to her entourage just as Team CFVY and Cooper strolled up, ready to introduce them all to her friend. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Roy Price. We've known each other since kindergarten and have been best friends ever since."

Roy shuddered. "Ugh, kindergarten, the grade where everyone puts paste in your hair. I probably wouldn't have survived if it weren't for her." He said as he pointed to Krista. "Bullies ran away from her, I'm tellin' ya." But then he noticed a familiar face in the crowd. "Oh, hey Tai, break time already?"

Tai chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I just happened to be at the right place at the right time."

Krista looked back to her friend. "So, what's the status of our perp?"

Roy let out a disgruntled sigh. "Well, whoever it is, they're in there. And they haven't made any moves. It's kind of odd."

Cooper stepped forward, holding his Techadorian Multiblaster in his hand. "It's either busy calculating its best means of escape, or the person inside of it is trying to take back control. We can't let that thing escape or it'll cause even more damage."

The sergeant was confused by his statement. "Wait, what do you mean by "that thing"? And how can the person inside NOT control their own body?"

"Because it's actually a giant killer robot with a person trapped inside of it." Coco answered nonchalantly. "Honestly, you guys are lucky that we got here before any of you moved in on it. Otherwise, you would've been toast."

Roy's eyes shrunk to the size of peas as his mouth turned downwards into a terrified frown, the color draining from his face. "Uh, please tell me you guys are all Hunters, because we could REALLY use some fire power right now."

Blake gave him a nod. "We are. Well, we're Hunters in training at least. Tai's supervising us on this mission."

The blonde officer let out another sigh of relief. "Phew! That's great! Trust me, our sidearms aren't made for something like that."

Krista gave him a good-natured light smack on the shoulder. "Hey, don't worry, Roy. These kids lived through Beacon, I'm sure they can handle a giant robot."

Blake smirked to herself, remembering her first encounter with a different giant robot. 'Oh, you have no idea, Krista. History has a weird way of repeating itself.'

Roy rubbed his shoulder as he gave his best friend as smile. "Hehe, well, if you say so, KB. I'm just baffled how a giant robot could've gotten here in the first place."

"Hey, don't worry dude," Sun reassured as he took out his Ruyi Jingu Bang. "Once we're done with it, you guys won't have to worry about that!"

But, as Team CFVY and Cooper began to head toward the doors, Blake put her hand over Sun's before he could get anymore overzealous. "Hold on a second, Sun. I'm sorry to say this, but you're going to have to stay here. You remember what the doctor said yesterday, right?"

Sun's face fell in disappointment. "What? Aw, man! C'mon Blake, you guys need all the help you can get in there."

Blake moved her hands to his shoulders and firmly pressed against them, giving him a serious look. "I know we do, and believe me, if it were up to me, I'd let you come in with me and the others. But your heart stopped yesterday Sun, and the doctor's orders were for you to, and I quote; "take it easy for a couple days"." Blake's face went from serious to worried in an instant. "And I don't want you to get hurt like that again. I thought I lost you yesterday. I know you worry about me, but by proxy, that means I can be worried about you."

Sun let out a sigh, relenting that the cat girl had a point. "Yeah, you're right." But then a smile came to his face. "I guess I'm being kind of a handful, huh?"

Blake smirked back at him. "Hey, someone's gotta keep you in check, otherwise you'll fall flat on your face."

Sun laughed at that. "Haha! You're getting better at the witty remarks."

Blake enveloped Sun in a hug which he quickly reciprocated. "I learned from the best." Blake remarked. The two separated, though their hands held onto each other for a moment more before their grasp loosened.

Sun gave her a smile. "Be careful in there."

Blake smiled back. "Always am." She turned around and followed the others inside, leaving Sun with Krista and Roy.

Krista turned to the monkey boy and offered him a reassuring smile. "You know, I can tell that she's really lucky to have you in her life. Otherwise, she wouldn't be taking this much precaution to make sure you're okay. You know that right?"

Sun gave the lieutenant a nod as well as a grin of his own. "Yeah, I do."

…..

"So there's someone trapped in that thing?" Blake asked after Cooper explained the situation to her. "How are we going to get them out?"

"All I need to do is get close enough to disassemble it." Cooper answered as he tinkered with his blaster. "But I'll probably only have a limited time to do it. So once I get that person out of there, that's when we need to take it down." Cooper turned to Tai. "Mr. Xiao-Long, it'd probably be best if you wait out here. You're not exactly prepped for battle or have a weapon so…"

Tai raised his hands. "Hey, I get it, trust me. If there's anyone who isn't fit to go up against a robot packing dangerous lasers, it's me."

Blake took a deep breath and exhaled. "Alright, is everybody ready?" The group gave a definitive "yes" and Blake nodded. "Okay, let's do this. Yastu, can you open the door, please?"

"Of course." Yatsu grabbed onto the large metal door and pushed with all his might, sliding it open on its rusty rails which screeched as it opened. Once it was far enough where they could get inside one by one, Yatsu let go and squeezed in himself.

The inside of the building was spacious to say the least. The place had clearly been stripped when it was abandoned, and very few things had been left behind, the one outlier being a large stack of wooden crates in the corner. The light shining through the grimy glass windows was enough for them to see, despite it still being somewhat dark inside. And that's when they saw it. A giant robot lumbering around, supporting itself against anything it could find while it struggled with itself. It was red, black and grey, just like its shoulder piece. Cooper narrowed his eyes. "There it is."

Blake took a few steps forward. "Hello? Can you here us in there?"

The robot instantly whirled around at the voice and looked straight at them, revealing more to its appearance. Its left shoulder pad was in the middle of regenerating, replacing the one it had lost at the jewelry store. In addition, its helmet wasn't fully formed yet, allowing the group to see a pair of eyes staring out at them. The robot reached out and in a weak, raspy voice it said; "Help…me."

Blake recognized the voice as male, though it was a bit of a higher pitch. She gently made her way forward, keeping one hand on Gambol Shroud the whole time. "It's okay, we're here to get you out—" But she had little time to react as the robot surged forward and made to grab her. Blake used her Semblance and made a shadow clone of herself at the last second, the robot stumbling over itself as it passed right through it.

The robot got up and began to scan around for the girl, but it was met immediately with a handbag to the face as Coco knocked it onto its rear. "Sorry to jostle you around in there, dude." The barrette-wearing girl apologized. "But we'll try to get you outta there, ASAP! Yatsu, Fox, pin him!"

Fox and Yatsu ran forward and threw themselves against the Techadon's arms in an attempt to hold it to the ground, but the robot literally wouldn't take it lying down. It got up and lifted the two boys off the ground with its arms, tossing them away soon after. The boys managed to land on their feet in a crouch, but they winced in slight pain. "Gah! That throw was hard." Yatsu said.

"A human body doesn't perfectly fit in a Techadon!" Cooper yelled. "It'll take time for it to start regenerating, so don't be afraid to cut off it's hands and feet if you need to!"

"Thanks for the info!" Blake called back from the shadows. She pulled out Gambol Shroud and sliced off the Techadon's right hand, the appendage falling to the ground with a loud THUNK. True to form, there was no blood coming out of the mechanical monstrosity, but the moment she landed, the Techadon aimed its other hand at her and blasted its finger beams in her direction. Blake used her Semblance once again and made a clone of herself. The clone took the hit and Blake disappeared into the shadows once again. "Fox! You're up!"

Fox growled and ran forward with his arm blades ready, hoping to cut the robot's ankles off. But the machine had learned. Just as Fox had gotten as close as possible, the Techadon grabbed him by the torso and tossed him against the wall, making the red-haired teen let out a scream of pain.

"Fox!" Velvet yelled out before running to his aid.

Coco called to her teammate; "Vel, wait!". But it was too late, the Techadon fired its finger beams at Velvet, her eyes shrinking in horror as the blast closed in. But before she got hit, Yatsu jumped out in front of her and raised his greatsword to block the blast. It worked, but both of them were pushed back into the wall by the sheer force of the blast, though Yatsu made sure to take the brunt of it, swiveling his body around to make it a make-shift cushion for Velvet. Just as the robot was about to fire at them again, Coco ran up by its blind spot and slammed it with her handbag, making it twist around and land on its chest. "Nobody hurts my team and gets away scot-free! Not even tin cans like you!"

Yatsu, Velvet, and Fox quickly pried themselves off the wall and ran over to the Techadon to help their leader hold it down. Yatsu slammed the tip of his greatsword into its left wrist to hold it down while Coco and Velvet both held onto its right. Fox took off his arm blades and slammed them through one of the robot's ankles while Blake reappeared from the shadows and slammed Gambol Shroud through the other, making sure the whole robot was effectively pinned down.

"Tech Head!" Coco hollered. "If you're gonna do something, now'd be a good time!"

Cooper ran forward and shouted; "I'm on it!" before lunging onto the Techadon's back, his eyes already glowing blue. The robot's red armor plating began to retract away and the wires inside began to loosen up from around the body that the robot held within it, revealing the man's garment; an orange-brown jacket. "Bingo!" Cooper reached down and began pulling, hoping to free the man from his metal prison.

But the more he pulled, the more the Techadon struggled, making it hard for the others to keep it down. "Tech Head, this thing isn't gonna stay down forev—AGH!" The Techadon lurched backward, forcing the all four Team CFVY members and Blake to fly off of it. But the backward motion was so great that it was enough for Cooper to free the trapped person. The only set back? He and the man were sent flying all the way back into the stack of crates, with wood breaking and collapsing around them. "Cooper!" Coco shouted out to him.

"Go help him!" Blake said as the Techadon rose to his feet. "We can handle it!"

Coco nodded. "Okay." she turned to Velvet. "Vel, with me! We gotta help them out of there!" The two girls ran towards the rubble, hoping to get both their friend and the victim out from under it.

…..

Cooper was out cold for a good fifteen seconds, but the moment his eyes opened, he could feel his entire body start to ache. "Ugh, ow. That probably wasn't the best idea." He attempted to move, but he could feel the wood scraping against his skin, causing even more pain. He hissed and winced as he carefully moved himself back down to his spot in the rubble. "Yeah, no, definitely not a good idea."

Just then, he heard his name called out to him. "Cooper!" He recognized it almost immediately; Coco. But the sound of his ACTUAL name coming from her sounded almost strange. He was so used to her calling him "Tech Head" that he'd never thought that she'd ever use his real name. Not that he didn't mind, it was a playful nickname given to him by a beautiful woman, one whom he would never argue with. He heard her speak up again. "Vel, go get the other guy, I'll grab Cooper!"

After Velvet complied with her leader's wishes, Cooper suddenly saw Coco approach him, looking down at him with concern in her deep, brown, gorgeous eyes. It was then that Cooper realized; she had taken off her sunglasses, something she rarely did, and only ever when she was sleeping or for a split second. Or, as he had learned from Velvet, when she was completely serious about something. She began to move the wooden rubble away from him, giving him room to get up. "Cooper?! Cooper, are you okay?" she asked as she knelt down next to him.

"Ugh, I think so…" Cooper lifted his head up, and instantly regretted it a split second later. "Gah! Okay, maybe not."

"You took quite the flight there, you're lucky you didn't get impaled by a plank of wood or something."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I? But I think I'll be fine. I'll just need a crap-ton of pain killers."

Coco smirked down at him. "Good, because let me tell you something." She drew closer to him. "If you weren't fine, I'd have to smack ya."

Cooper raised his eye brows at the good-natured threat, but then he smiled. "Really? You'd smack me right in the face?"

Coco chuckled as she quirked a single brow. "Who said anything about your face?"

Cooper's eyes widened to their fullest at that remark, his cheeks turning a bright shade of red. "I… uh."

"Because let me tell you something." Coco traced her gloved hand against his cheek. "This face? WAY too good to be smacked." She gave him a wink. "Got that?"

That was all it took to make Cooper into a stammering nervous mess. "I-uh-I-I… oh jeez."

But before Coco could take the moment any further, a loud shriek caught both of their attention. Velvet had her eyes and face covered by her hands, turned away from where she had been moving the rubble. "What the bloody hell is THAT?!"

Coco and Cooper looked back at each other and nodded, resolving to… pick this up at a different time so to speak. The CFVY leader slung the technopath's arm over her shoulder and helped him up and over to where Velvet was standing, quickly starting to ask her what was wrong. "Vel, what happened? Is he dead?"

Velvet shook her head not removing her hands for even a second. "No, it's worse! Look!"

The two set their eyes on the victim and Coco recoiling in disgust. "EW! GROSS! What the fuck is that thing?!"

But all Cooper did was scowl at… whatever it was. "Oh boy, Kevin's NOT gonna like that HE of all people is here."

Coco gave him an incredulous look. "Kevin KNOWS that thing?!"

"Sometimes, I think he wishes he didn't." Cooper's attention was suddenly brought back to the battle, where he saw that things weren't going well. "Uh, I think we have another problem."

Coco turned around to see that Blake had somehow gotten caught in the Techadon's left handed grasp. She had attempted to use a shadow clone like she had before, but the robot had learned her tricks and wasn't about to fall for them a third time. It slammed her into the ground beneath his hand once, twice, and it would have been thrice if Yatsu hadn't cut off the hand just in time. As Yatsu helped free Blake from the metal appendage, Fox drew the Techadon's attention away from them, using his arm blades to slice off parts of its arms as he went along. But Coco knew that he couldn't keep that up for long. That bionic bozo had to be put down right now.

"They need us." Velvet said.

Coco nodded. "Yeah, time to wrap this up." She held up her handbag and Velvet took out her camera, snapping a picture of it without hesitation. Coco turned back to Cooper while putting her sunglasses back on. "Wait here, okay? This won't take long."

Cooper gave her a smile before steadying himself on his own two feet. "Of course. I'll get our "victim" out of the rubble."

With a smile of her own, Coco and Velvet began to jog back to the fight, where Fox had just sliced the last piece of the Techadon's right arm off. Yatsu had managed to open up the detached hand and free Blake as well, the tall swordsman helping her up and away from the carnage. "Everyone get back!" Coco belted out before activating her rotary cannon, her warning reaching everyone in time for them to run away. Velvet put her camera back inside of its box, and from it, a hard-light copy of Coco's weapon materialized from out of it and into her hands. Coco gave the word. "Unleash HELL!"

The two girls began unloading a hailstorm of weapon fire into the Techadon, tearing through its armor like it was butter. The robot staggered back as it was laid into, chunks of shrapnel flying off of in in random directions, fortunately not hitting anyone. The protective shell around its internal energy core was shot away, exposing it to the bullet shower and exploding the moment it was hit, blowing the robot up in a spectacular fashion. Coco smirked as she put her cannon away and Velvet's hard-light copy dissipated from her hands, the rabbit girl letting out a tired sigh. "That was close." she commented.

"You're telling me." Blake said as Yatsu helped her over with Fox right by their side. "Nice job, ladies. You really made use out of—OH MY GOD, what the heck is that thing?!"

Coco whirled around to see Cooper carrying the creature by the scruff of its jacket, still unconscious. "Believe it or not, this guy is who was in the Techadon." the technopath explained. "And what's worse? Kevin, Gwen and Ben know this guy personally, so it's gonna be REALLY fun when they get back home."

"Great." Blake said sarcastically. "Now, how about we get out of this death-trap?"

…..

Back outside, Sun was pacing back and forth near the cop cars with Krista, Roy and Tai all just standing there letting him do his thing. It had been a couple minutes since the sounds of chaos had stopped coming from the inside and they were all wondering what had happened. But then, as if to answer their question, the door to the warehouse began to slide open, causing Sun to whirl around in anticipation. Sure enough, Cooper, Team CFVY and Blake all emerged from the building, though Cooper held back to keep something noticeably hidden behind the large door.

The moment his eyes landed on Blake, who was still using Yatsu as a support, the cat-girl gave Sun a big grin and a thumbs up, signaling their victory. Sun's mouth turned up into a smile of his own as he ran forward and enveloped her in an embrace. "Haha! You guys did it! Awesome!"

Despite her ache from being slammed into the ground twice, Blake managed to let out a laugh of her own, though hers was slightly pained. "Hehe, thanks Sun. But don't hug too hard please, I kinda got thrown around a bit."

Sun's eyes shot open wide at the revelation, loosening his hold on her so that he was holding her more gently. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize."

"It's okay, we ALL got a bit roughed up." Blake glanced behind her to see Team CFVY all with minor scrapes and Cooper with a few bruises on him. "But we pulled through."

"I guess you did!" Tai said as he walked up. "I gotta say, you kids continue to impress me with all these enemies you keep taking down. You're definitely gonna make fine Hunters one day."

"Yeah, great job, kids!" Krista added as she and Roy strolled up behind Tai. "Is there anything left of that thing?"

Cooper gave the lieutenant a nod. "Yeah, there is. Are there any incinerators on this island?"

"Sure is." Roy confirmed as he pointed north. "There's a waste disposal plant on the northern side of the island. We can take it there to get rid of it. So who was in the robot? We're gonna have to bring 'em in for questioning."

The entire group, except for Sun, gave each other a nervous look before Coco gave the sergeant an answer. "Well, the guy is currently unconscious, and even then, if he were, he's not exactly the kind of person you can just take into a precinct and start asking questions."

Krista raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Everyone exchanged another glance before Blake let out a frustrated sigh. 'Ben's not gonna like this.' She gave both Krista and Roy the most serious expression she could muster and asked them; "I know that this is one of the worst questions you can ask a police officer… but you two keep a secret?"

…..

"So we told them, and ONLY them, about what had actually happened." Blake concluded, ending her recap of the day's events.

"Man, sounds like you guys had quite the day." Ben commented. Everyone was strewn about the living room, sitting on the floor while the story had unfolded for the past hour. "And don't worry, so long as they can keep it between themselves, those officers can know about us."

Blake let out a sigh. "Great, I wasn't sure if you would approve or not."

"Nah, it's okay. I just wish we could've all been here to help."

From across the room, Coco waved her hand. "Ah, we were fine, Benny-boy. That thing's been reduced to scrap metal, and we all lived to tell the tale. What's there to feel sorry about?"

Cooper gave a nod. "Yeah, it was rough in some spots, but we pulled through alright."

"I still can't believe you guys took down a Techadon all by yourselves." Gwen said. "That's an impressive feat."

Yang smirked and gave the whole group a thumbs up. "Damn straight, you guys rock!"

Blake let out a tired laugh. "Haha, thanks, but in all honesty? I don't think I want to EVER fight a giant robot again for as long as I live."

"Oh, see, now you jinxed yourself!" Ruby exclaimed, eliciting laughter from across the room.

Once the laughter had quieted down, Sun brought something else up. "So, I guess you guys were busy too?"

Neptune gave him a nod. "Yeah, the day was just kinda "meh" for us in all honesty. But I'd say we still kind of won, even if we didn't catch Animo."

Sun quirked an eyebrow. "So, you didn't catch Animo, but you still beat him? How does that work?"

"Well, we managed to free the animals under his control." Jaune elaborated. "But other than that, it was basically a no-win situation."

Pyrrha gave a slow nod. "Indeed. You see… Cinder Fall was there with Rojo."

Blake let out a gasp while Sun's eyes widened in shock. The revelation also got Coco to get up out of her seat. "You mean the bitch who lead the attack on Beacon?! She was there?!"

"Yep," Nora confirmed, "the crazy lady made a wall of fire and they all disappeared into thin air! It was WEIRD."

Getting over the initial shock, Blake turned to Gwen with an inquiring expression. "But you mentioned finding someone named Tetrax, is he a friend of yours?"

"He is actually." Gwen answered. "Hang on, I'll go get him and introduce you." The Anodite rose to her feet and went out the front door, intending to come back with the bounty hunter in tow.

Ben stood up and began addressing Blake, Sun and Team CFVY. "Alright guys, now just a bit of a heads up, Tetrax is going to be a LOT more than you're expecting him to be. So don't freak out okay?"

"Ben, please," Velvet reassured, "we know how to be polite to someone. It's basic human decency, right?"

Ben smirked as he heard the door open and the sound of heavy footsteps against the wood floors. "Yeah, well here's the thing, Tetrax ISN'T human." Ben watched as both Gwen and Tetrax rounded the corner. The moment that the Petrosapien entered the room, Blake, Sun, and CFVY all had a collective jaw drop. They couldn't believe their eyes. Ben presented the bounty hunter to everyone. "Guys, meet Tetrax Shard. He's from Petropia!"

Blake stammered out. "He's… he's… he's a Diamondhead!"

"Petrosapien actually." Gwen corrected before looking up to the bounty hunter. "Tetrax, this is Blake, Sun, Coco, Fox, Velvet and Yatsuhashi."

Tetrax waved his large hand. "Hello, everyone. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Sorry to make such an unexpected visit, but my pilot and I have just spent a week in isolation trying to get our ship repaired. I hope I'm not intruding."

After gawking for a few more seconds, Coco took off her sunglasses and cleaned them with a cloth before putting them right back on again. "Huh, I guess I'm not seeing things! You're an actual alien!"

Velvet had to use Fox as a support while she took this all in. "An… an ACTUAL alien. Oh my goodness."

Tetrax nodded. "Last I checked, yes, I am. Gwen tells me that you all have had quite the day."

"Uh, yeah." Sun managed to utter. "And right now, I just have SO many new questions."

"Believe me, there'll be plenty of time to answer them." Kevin said. "So Coop, who did you end up finding in that Techadon. And why won't I be happy to see them?"

Cooper let out a nervous chuckle before he got up and headed to the hallway. "Hehe, well, I guess I should show you who we found in there. But trust me, you're not gonna like it."

The Alien Trio, Team RWBY, Coco and Sun got up and followed Cooper down the hall with Tetrax not far behind. Once they reached its end, they could hear a loud thumping noise coming from inside of the supply closet. "Brace yourselves guys." Coco warned. "This ain't pretty. Tech Head?"

Cooper nodded and he opened the door, letting whoever it was fall out, revealing it to be… a freak of nature. It's mouth was taped and its limbs were tied up, preventing it from running. It wore a ratty orangish-brown jacket over a black shirt with a pair of jeans. But the clothes were the most normal thing about it. The creature was some kind of fusion between a humanoid possum, and porcupine with its quills forming some kind of black, spiky hair-do. Its beady black eyes were juxtaposed by yellow irises that glared up at them with malice, but once it saw Kevin, the creature began to call out for help beneath it's gag. Ruby and Weiss' reactions were the most appropriate; aim their weapons at it and scream.

"AAAAAHH! It's another one of Animo's freak mutation experiments!" Ruby yelled as she shoved Crescent Rose's barrel in the creature's face.

"KILL IT!" Weiss yelled, ready to stab Myrtenaster into it. "Kill it with fire!"

But Kevin managed to make his way forward and get a hold of the creature's shirt. "Relax ladies, he's a freak, but he's no experiment." He slammed the creature against the wall and ripped off the tape that covered its mouth, causing it to let out a scream. Kevin narrowed his eyes at it. "What're you doin' here Argit?"

The creature, apparently named Argit, immediately began to nervously laugh and try to change the topic. "Hehehe, Kevin! Buddy, old pal, amigo! Long time no see, huh?"

"Answer the question." Kevin pressed Argit harder against the wall.

"Hehe, right! The question! Heh, what was it again?"

"TALK!"

Argit groaned in defeat. "Ugh, alright, alright, sheesh. Look, I owed a guy big time on an old loan. So, I figured that a quick in-and-out at the Plumber Base could get me some primo stuff. I was gonna sneak in under one of their vehicles and get back out the same way. But guess who didn't plan on Vilgax making a jail break on the exact same day?"

Gwen crossed her arms. "And the Techadon? How'd you get trapped in it?"

"Hehe, well, that actually happened after I got here. I woke up on this island, no clue where I am, and I keep running into these scary as shit monsters in the woods."

"The Grimm." Yang concluded.

"Yeah, right, whatever." Argit brushed off. "Anyway, I kept wandering around the woods for days hoping to get away from those things. But then, I came across a whole pile of alien tech. I figured it must have come from the base and it had some how gotten there in the explosion. Most of it was trashed, but I managed to find something that still worked, a Techadon laser arm. I planned to only use it to kill the things that were stalking me, one use was all it needed to get into my head apparently. I think you guys can figure out what happened from there."

Kevin scowled at his old "friend". "Yeah, I think I can. And guess what? You're getting' locked up. And I don't think we'll have to worry about you getting away. I doubt even Salem would want you in her group."

Argit raised an eyebrow. "Uh, who's Salem?" But then his eyes widened in realization. "W-wait, locked up?! Kevin, c'mon, it's me we're talkin' about here! Ya can't just lock me up and throw away the key!"

"Oh, I can, and I have a very special place for you so that WE can keep tabs on you personally. Because after today, I don't exactly trust those Atlesian army schmucks to keep a good eye on you. Ironwood? Maybe. But those soldiers are completely unprepared." Kevin looked over his shoulder at the Petrosapien. "Hey, Tetrax. You got a brig in that ship of yours?"

"I do." Tetrax confirmed as he stepped forward. He grabbed Argit by the collar and took him off of Kevin's hands. "Don't worry about a thing, he'll be kept nice and safe in there." Argit gulped as Tetrax took him back to the Resolute, assured that this would be the last taste of fresh air that he'd be seeing for a while.

"So, do you guys really think we can trust those officers with our secret?" Weiss asked. "They don't know too much do they?"

Sun shook his head. "Nah, we made sure only tell them about the whole dimensional traveling thing, nothing about Salem, nothing about real fairy tales, just the basics."

"And they swore to us that they'd keep it secret." Blake reassured. "After what Krista told me, I trust her, and by extension, I trust Roy too."

Yang gave her own approval. "Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it. Those two are some of the nicest cops I've ever met. Believe me, they can be trusted." She glanced over to Ben with a smirk. "Now, I think we better get ready for our own little outing on the town, right Green Boy?"

Ben smiled back at her. "You bet Goldie Locks. Have you decided on what you would like to be treated to on this fine afternoon?"

Yang giggled at his over-the-top fancy talk. "Hehe, yes, indeed I have. I know a little place that serves some of the best pizza you'll ever eat. How does that sound?"

"Sounds awesome! Who says no to pizza?!"

Blake raised an eyebrow as the two went back and forth. "Wait a sec… this sounds like you guys are going on a…" A smile came to her face. "No way. Alright, who asked who?"

Yang jabbed a thumb in Ben's direction. "He asked me first."

"That's great!" She gave them both a hug. "Congratulations, you two!" Blake then focused solely on Ben. "Now you'd better show her a good time, or else the ladies and I will have a few words with you."

Ruby crossed her arms. "She's right!" she added. "My sister's happiness is important, got it?"

Weiss simply rolled her eyes. "Okay, in all seriousness, guys. Just have fun, okay?"

Yang was desperately trying to hold back her laughter as Ben was practically being intimidated by her teammates, the green-clad hero doing his best to keep a straight face. "Uh, thanks… I think?"

The Blonde Brawler wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug, reassuring him that everything would be fine. "Ben, it's okay, don't worry about it. The ladies all mean well, trust me." She winked at him. "See you in a few?"

Ben chuckled and hugged her back before giving his response. "Yep, it's a date."

Blake watched with a smile as the two went to their separate rooms to get ready for their date. 'Those guys really make a cute couple.' But then a realization hit her like a brick. 'Oh god dammit! I forgot about my talk with Sun this morning!' She mentally sighed to herself. 'Well, I guess I'll just have to give it another shot, preferably in private so no one can bother us.' Just then, she glanced over to see Gwen and Kevin making their way back toward the living room, and a thought popped into her head. She walked forward and tapped Gwen on the shoulder, gaining her attention. "Hey Gwen?"

The Anodite turned around and gave her Faunus friend a smile. "Yeah Blake? What's up?"

Blake took a deep breath, and exhaled. "I… I need some advice."

…..

A/N: And there we go! Another chapter in this ongoing saga is done! Were surprised by Argit's inclusion? I knew I wanted to fit him somewhere in this story, even if it's for his usual comedic shtick. The Techadon is also one of my favorite robotic designs in the series, so I knew I wanted one in there too. And huzzah! This chapter wasn't as long as the previous one! So, now that we've had a whole bunch of villains show up, I think it might be time to slow down for a bit. So tune in Next Time to see how the first date between the Blonde Brawler and the Galactic Guardian goes. Meanwhile, Gwen and Blake have a personal talk and Kevin begins to show the others even more about Earth culture. Thanks for reading! See ya!

P.S. Can you recognize who those two police officers were based on? I probably made it a bit too easy this time. But, just in case, here's a hint; 2002-2007.