"What are we supposed to do this time Ozpin…? How are we supposed to fix this?" Glenda looked at the older man, wishing he would meet her gaze.

"I don't know Glenda… I don't think we can do anything. This isn't something that we can just help them through. We have seven kids who are mentally and morally destroyed and an eighth one with a hole in his chest. There is literally nothing we can do."

"Well we can't just leave them like this, something must be done. RWBY and JNPR were our two most efficient teams, and Recon was a vital asset. With those three down the Grimm situation will only get worse."

"Well we can't send them out there at time like this, they'd be killed! I say we wait and let them recover." Port didn't know what could be done, but anything would be better than nothing.

"Port has a good point. Forcing those kids to do anything besides rest and recover would be suicide, be it physically or academically. For now, we leave them be."

"We should assign someone to watch over them. I don't want any of them doing something harmful to themselves, especially Ms. Belladonna." For once Oobleck wasn't dashing around the room or talking at incredibly fast speeds. He was speaking at a very normal speed and stood perfectly still, his worried eyes clearly visible behind his small glasses.

"Oobleck is right, we can't leave them alone. We don't need to have one of us in their rooms but someone should keep an eye on them at all times."

"Very well. You three will take turns watching over the kids, keeping them safe and making sure no further harm comes to them. I have to stay close to Roland. If he ever wakes up he'll be distraught and probably upset." Ozpin was just as heartbroken as the others but he tried to not show it. He had to watch the two teams he held closest suffer unimaginable pain, but what made it even worse was seeing Roland so close to death. After tracking the boy down, watching him adapt to Beacon, giving him private lessons on how to control his aura and laughing at his refusal to die Ozpin had come to think of the boy as a son. Now Roland was on the edge of death again, and this time it didn't seem like he would get off lucky.

"How is the poor boy, while we're on the matter?" Port had never gotten particularly close to Roland, but he had seen great potential in the boy and the thought of losing such a promising student brought Port down.

"He isn't in the best condition. He lost a lot of blood, and despite the wound being sealed the bullet is still firmly embedded in his chest. At this point the doctors don't know if its better to leave it in or take it out. Each option is equally risky."

"What about his semblance? Has it shown any activity?"

"No, quite the opposite really. It's as if its gone completely. By the look of it Roland needs his aura reserves to be full in order for the semblance to trigger, along with the necessary amounts of emotional trauma. It explains why it didn't come out while he was fighting Adam."

"For something so uncontrollable it sure is picky." Oobleck said, thinking about all the times he had heard about the boy's unrivaled power.

"It seems that way. Of all the times Roland needed it, it chose this one time to stay hidden. Damn thing will be the death of him in more ways than one."

"Well, I'll watch over them first." Port said, ready to do anything necessary to help the kids. "They all seem to like me fairly well, and I'll be able to watch them from a distance without being noticed. Plus, they spend the most class time with me."

"Alright, Port will watch them for however long he wishes. Oobleck, Glenda, you two can decide who goes next on your own. I have to go check on Roland and see if the doctors have made any kind of breakthrough. Dismissed."

"Sir." The three said in unison, watching as Ozpin walked out of his office at a brisk pace. After the door closed behind him the three stood in silence for a few moments, staring at the floor.

"How did it end up like this?" Glenda asked, unable to understand how things had gone so wrong.

"It's the way things work sometimes. Come on Glenda, we should get going. Port, you go and start watching the kids as soon as you can." Oobleck headed for the exit, Glenda following closely.

Port was the last to leave, taking a few moments to stare out the large window that Ozpin had in his office. It gave an amazing view of the campus, and now the sun was just starting to set, different shades of red and pink and orange stretching over the school. He wished he could enjoy the beautiful sight.

"So this is why he used to sneak Elisabeth onto the roof at this time everyday."


"Blake, please eat something. You can't keep living like this." Ruby's pleading words were only met with a slight shift of the blankets that covered her teammate. "Blake, you haven't eaten a single thing in three days. Please, we're worried about you, just eat this one thing."

"Come on Blakey, your team cares about you too much to let you do this to yourself." Yang sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed what she assumed to be Blake's shoulder, hoping it would coax the girl out of the blankets. But still there was no reply, the lump on the bed remaining motionless.

"What are we going to do? We can't let her go on like this, she'll starve…" Ruby sighed, trying to hide her desperate desire to break down. She was the leader, she had to be strong and act as an example for the rest of her team. Over the past three days Ruby had forced herself to stay strong, never shedding a single tear in front of her team. But despite her convincing disguise she was utterly destroyed. Something in her mind kept telling her that she could have saved Roland, and she could have prevented this from happening. She was supposed to be the leader of her team, the one who kept everyone safe, the one who prevented these kinds of things from happening. But she had failed.

"We just keep talking to her. Stay by her side no matter what, make sure she isn't alone. It's the only thing we can do." Weiss was just as concerned as the others, feeling her heart shatter every time she saw Blake sulking. She wanted to help her teammate, do something that would take away the guilt and return her to normal. But not even all the money in the world could do that.

"And if she still doesn't get better?" Ruby asked, eyes wide with concern.

"Then we'll think of something. For now we… We try our best, and stick by her side." The heiress knew that there was probably something better to do, but at the moment her mind was blank. All she could think about was how they were going to get things to go back to normal.

"Has anyone checked on Elisabeth lately?" Yang asked after a few minutes of silence.

"N none of us have, but she kept telling us that she had someone there for her. I can't imagine the condition she's in right now." Ruby said, hoping Elisabeth was at least eating.


"Wait, what happened to him?!"

"He got hurt pretty bad. He'll be in the hospital for a long time."

"How hurt are we talking here?"

"Well… He… Got shot…"

"He's been shot before. Where exactly did he get shot?"

"His chest…"

"Wait, you mean to tell me that he nearly got half his face ripped off by a Raptor .but he gets hurt this badly by a shot to the chest?"

"His aura was down Cobra, and he never saw it coming. He may as well have taken a round of buckshot at point-blank range."

"Well how is he? Can we go see him?"

"I don't know… The doctors tell us that they have to keep at least three staff in the room with him at all times, which means that we're not allowed to see him. Last I saw him though…" As Elisabeth spoke images from that night flashed through her mind, making her stomach turn upside down while her heart shattered again.

Cobra may not have been the best when it came to understanding how others felt, but it was obvious that Elisabeth was being pushed closer and closer to the edge. Her eyes were brimmed with tears as the girl tried to look away, her breathing increasing slightly."Hey, come on, it'll be alright." Cobra wrapped an arm around the smaller girl, not knowing what she was doing but hoping it would help. "Roland's tough, and its gonna take a hell of a lot more than a shot to the chest to take him down."

"I just don't know Cobra… When he is happened… There was just so much blood and his aura wasn't healing him and he wouldn't move or even open his eyes and I just couldn't do anything and I felt so helpless and-"

"Elisabeth, just take a few deep breaths. Roland will be alright. You know he'd never leave you like this."

"But what if he does?"

"Elisabeth, look at me." Cobra's eyes burned bright blue in the same fashion they always did, filled with determination. "Roland isn't leaving. And if he died I can guarantee he would claw his way up from the depths of hell to get back to you."

Elisabeth looked at the older girl and found some comfort in her words, but still she felt scared. "I feel like I can't do anything…"

"Well, what would Roland have us do?"

"I don't know… Probably continue the mission… He'd say that we're all wasting time and scold us for not working..."

"Then that's what we'll do. Come on, I have some stuff to tell you anyway." Cobra guided the girl over to her bed and sat her down, then retrieved a long cylinder that had been leaning against the window. "I know it took a few months, but I finally found out where they keep their weapons. We take down that warehouse and they'll be crippled." As Cobra spoke she unscrewed the lid of the cylinder and pulled out a long piece of paper, unrolling it and sitting down next to Elisabeth.

She laid the paper across their laps, showing that it was a map of Vale. It was covered in circles, symbols, and words, making it look like a four-year old had taken a crayon to it. "So, this is the warehouse." Cobra pointed to one of the many small circles, then moved her hand over the larger square that sat on the edge of town. "This is the main headquarters. The three main leaders are spread out, but one of them is always here."

"Roland said we would have to take out a network of people to get to them though…"

"You do, that's the hard part. So the next thing I recommend you do is take out those weapons. Trust me, the White Fang aren't all that experienced in hand to hand combat."

"And what if someone gets hurt on that mission? How are we even supposed to do it without Roland? He was the leader, he had everything planned out, he knew exactly what to do. None of us have even the slightest idea…"

"You'll figure something out, don't worry. And I'm sure he'll be back on his feet soon. That boy has gone through a lot worse than a shot to the chest. Its gonna be okay."

Elisabeth wished she could believe Cobra's words but she couldn't keep herself from feeling hopeless. Everything felt different when Roland wasn't by her side and her room now felt empty and colorless. But Elisabeth knew she couldn't just sit in bed and sulk. She had to do something. For Roland, if nothing else.

"Alright." She said, taking a deep breath. "I'll get them together. We'll take them down, Roland will get better, and everything will go back to normal."

Cobra smiled as she saw a bit of energy leak into the girl's face. "Now that's more like it."


"How is he?"

"Well, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?"

"Good news."

"The good news is he will survive. His team's quick thinking made it so the wound closed before he lost too much blood, keeping him alive. After a few hours we managed to get the bullet out, and now we just wait for him to heal completely. The cuts are deep, even with dust treatment it would take him almost a month to get himself back to normal. But he will survive."

Ozpin couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He looked at the boy on the bed in front of him, his eyes ghosting over the massive scare that went down the center of his chest. "What's the bad news?"

"Well, that's… Hard to explain. The bullet did a bit of damage to his spine. Nothing major, he'll still be able to walk and fight, but we think it might affect his aura and semblance."

"How can it affect his aura? A person's aura is connected to their soul, not their body."

"That isn't completely true. One of the disks on the spine supplies the power for a person's aura. Where as their soul determines how much there is and how it can be used, that disk determines how much aura will be put into one thing."

"What are you saying here?"

"Well, we don't know exactly. We've never had an injury like this before, so as tragic as it is it is also incredibly interesting. Our guess is that Roland will have a hard time trying to manage his aura amounts, which will probably be a problem in combat. He might use too little and not block an attack, or use too much and exhaust himself."

"So combat will be even harder for him now."

"Basically, yes. We also think this might have an effect on his semblance. Having him here has given us time to conduct studies on the Heart of Darkness, so we know a little more about it now."

"Well, fill me in."

"It's different from other semblances."

"Obviously."

"That's not what I mean. With everyone's semblance, there is always a physical connection, usual somewhere in the chest or stomach region, close to their soul. For instance, Ms. Rose has a more efficient heart and slightly larger lungs, making it easy for her to move at such high speeds. On top of this there is also an extra amount of energy that radiates from her chest, and that is where her semblance is. Or, Ms. Xiao Long has an unnaturally high body temperature, and her energy radiates from just under her lungs, showing where her semblance is. Normally semblances are tied to the soul more than they are to the body, so a semblance can't just be taken away or rendered useless. You'd have to kill the person to do anything like that."

"And what about him? Where is his semblance at?"

"That's what I was getting to… Roland's semblance… It isn't in his stomach or chest like it should be. It's here." The doctor pointed to Roland's forehead, drawing a small circle but not coming in contact with the boy's skin.

"You mean to tell me that his semblance is in his head?"

"Exactly. And we think this is why Roland seems to turn into a different person when the semblance activates."

"He changes because he is literally becoming someone else…"

"Yes. Now, because of his spinal injury, we think this may end up changing the way the semblance works. We think it'll make it stronger."

"I'm sorry, stronger? He could already rip Vale to pieces within seconds, and now he'll have even more power?"

"Not necessarily. It shouldn't change how he is when the semblance is active. It will change how the semblance works when its dormant."

"How so?"

"We can't be certain until he wakes up, which is another problem altogether. He's in a comma."

"A comma? Honestly? Well that's perfect. Do you know how long it'll last?"

"Tests say it shouldn't last more than a month, but he'll be out for the next week at the least."

"Amazing."

"At least he'll live. We came very, very close to losing him this time Ozpin. You can't let him get this close anymore. His body won't be able to take it. His mind and soul have more than enough strength to withstand these kinds of things, but his body will not be able to handle much more. Too many more injuries like this, and we won't be able to saved him."

"I know… I intend to give him some extra protection once he's awake."

"And how will you do that?"

"You'll see. For now, just keep me updated. I want to be called the second his eyes open." Ozpin turned and headed for the door, his cane tapping against the floor as he walked.

"Of course sir."


"So the little runt survived. Impressive." The faunas didn't turn to face the tall man who stood on the other side of his desk, instead looking out the large window in front of him.

"Yes. And it doesn't stop there. Blake is with them."

The faunas smiled. "Well well well, that's a surprise. Looks like we have some work to do. And how is Blake's loyalty?"

"She shot Roland in the chest seconds before he was about to end me. I'd say she still cares about our cause a great deal. Or she cares about me, at least."

"And how do you feel about her?"

"She left me alone on a train and hasn't said a word to me since. She's nothing to me."

"Good. Those teams are coming after us, that much is clear. Most our assassins are dealing with other matters."

"You want them gone?"

"Adam, I don't just want them gone. I want them wiped off the face of the planet. I want it to seem like they never existed."

"Gladly." Adam turned walked towards the door, smiling evilly at the thought of ending the rest of the annoying teams that had accompanied Roland. As far as Adam knew, the boy had died, and that brought him and his superiors great joy.

"Oh, and Adam?"

"Yes sir?"

"Do me a favor and kill Blake last. I want her to know that her foolish action cased the deaths of the ones she loved."

A smile composed of pure evil spread across Adam's face.

"With pleasure."