Setting: VRSZ Duplex

"Ahhhh…." Zelts let out a long sigh of relief as he dipped his hands into a bucket of water.

It's been three days since the battle between him and Brenton, earning burn marks on his hands and arms. The wounds were bearable after the pain faded, but he didn't like looking at them. The others told him there was nothing wrong with them and Silver said battle scars are cool, but Zelts went to the Trading District to purchase some black fingerless gloves with yellow accents. They hid the majority of the burn marks and the fingerless feature allowed him to continue using his semblance.

"Those are cool too," Silver told him.

The pain was gone and his aura healed some areas of his arms once it was restored, but a good number of marks remained and he found it soothing to place his hands in cool water. He sat around the kitchen island with a bucket of water on the table and his face just showed how at ease he was. He slumped back in his seat, as far as he could while keeping his hands in the water.

"How are your hands?"

Zelts was not expecting anyone else to be here. He perked up to find Remus sitting across from him. He looked surprised until he took note of Remus' face. His eyes were on his hands and his face was rather crescent fallen.

"Don't worry. My hands are fine. This just feels very nice," Zellts assured his friend.

A doubtful expression was Remus' reaction. "Are you sure? I feel bad for letting you fight on your own. Are you absolutely sure you're-" An elbow perched itself on Remus' shoulder.

"He said he's fine, so take his word for it," Silver told Remus, holding a half-eaten apple in his other hand. "Quit pestering him."

Remus stayed quiet, but Zelts liked the concern, even if it wasn't necessary.

"My wounds don't hurt anymore and the burns just look bad."

"If you say so. I hope Lily doesn't worry too much about it," Remus wondered.

That thought never crossed Zelts' mind. She might not be as calm about this as he was. He knew how the scenario would play out. She would ask him what happened, he'd tell her, then she would strike him out of love, for making her worry. It was something lovers do.

"Oh… You're right about that. Is Clair still here? I'm gonna need to borrow her CCD," Zelts admitted, not feeling great about telling her through scrolls, but it was better than telling Lily directly. He hoped.

"I think she might be in the training room with the others. They're getting ready," Silver answered.

Remus didn't say anything as he walked away from the conversation. His departure didn't raise suspicion. They already knew where he was going. Shortly after, Violet walked into the kitchen. She looked at her boys with a relaxed expression. "Still soaking your hands?"

"Just feels nice. Clair's team is still getting ready?" Zelts asked.

"They're just about ready to leave. I hope it goes well for them."

"All of them are good at what they do. They'd give us a run for our money if we fought them. Not to mention Clair will be with them. She already gathered enough information to gain the initiative and made a lot of preparation. I don't think we have to worry about them," Silver explained.

"Preparation is nice, but it doesn't guarantee victory," Zelts added, concerned for Clair and the Enforcers.

In the training room, Clair stood with Bianca and Azura with a determined look on her face as a thudding sound filled the room. Ghost was inspecting Purgatory against the side of the wall near the door, focusing more on his work than what was going on in the middle of the room.

The rhythmic thudding sound became rapid as Blood and Remus continued their short bout. With the Enforcers preparing to depart, Remus wanted a quick session with Blood. He knew it wasn't much, but he had yet to show his friend what he could do with his awakened abilities. Engaged in hand-to-hand combat, Remus felt exhilarated as he gave the bat faunus everything he had. His movements flowed smoothly and he felt like he could figure out how Blood was going to react.

This was more than Blood expected. His young Cobalt developed so much in such a short time after he went to Shade. He actually felt pressure in this training fight. Hell, he didn't consider this to be practice at all. It was a real fight.

He swung his fist and it met with Remus' open palm and he felt his leg be struck by a knee then found Remus trying to land another palm strike. Fortunately, he saw it in time to grab his wrist before the palm could connect then folded his wings until they were between him and Remus. Unfolding them, he pushed Remus away with a heavy blow. His large wings knocked Remus back to the wall of the room, but he landed on his feet with a huge smile on his face and the loud thumping of his heart.

He felt the same as Blood. This was about to become a real fight.

"I think that's good enough," Clair called out to end the fight. She turned to Remus, "Sorry sweetie, but we need to get going. You and Blood can play all you want once we get back."

"All right," he answered with excitement in his voice.

His eyes were on Blood who looked back at him. Remus saw his friend and a mountain he had to climb. All the times he fought with Blood, he lost. But now, he felt like he could finally match up to his friend and he couldn't wait to truly show him how much he improved.

"There's that look in his eyes," Blood thought humorously.

It was a Cobalt thing. Whenever they had their sights set on something, they intend to see it through to the end. As the reluctant rival to Remus, Blood knew this was going to be a part of his daily life. Which was why it took him by surprise that Remus hadn't challenged him recently. Now he understood why.

He couldn't help but smile back. "When we get back, you and I can go all out. Be ready."

"I'll be waiting for you!" Remus shouted with vigor. Despite what he said, he already couldn't wait for their duel.

Clair and the Enforcers left the training room and entered the living room. It was there they found their friends waiting for them. It was time to depart so goodbyes needed to be exchanged.

"Make sure you kick some ass for me," Silver requested from Bianca.

She smiled at him, "I'll do my best. Maybe I'll bring you back a souvenir."

"I wouldn't hate it if you did! This place has been missing a spoil of war shelf." Silver looked to Ghost and raised his fist. "There's not much I need to say. You and Bianca are nearly unstoppable together. Watch each others' back."

Ghost didn't smile at him. He kept a nonchalant look to his best friend, but he did bump fists with him. "I know," was all he said, but those two words carried a lengthy message for Silver. The bond they had was strong enough for them to convey what they wanted to say with few words and gestures.

"We're off. Wish us luck," Clair told Violet and Zelts.

"You're going after Ebony and her group. Luck probably won't be enough. Are you sure you don't want us there?" Zelts asked with nothing but concern.

"Thank you, but it has to be this way. We only gathered enough information to learn what she's doing and predict where she might be next, but it's not a guarantee. We still don't know what her objective is. If by chance she comes to Nexus and none of us are here to protect it. I don't want to gamble the people here if I'm wrong."

"We'll keep this place safe," Violet affirmed with confidence.

"Thank you."

Remus exited the training room and approached Azura. "Be careful. They have a crazy strong machine with them."

"That thing shouldn't be a problem. We got some inside information on it." Azura showed no concern for her enemy.

"How? You've never seen it before."

"Believe it or not, Clair got it from Onyx. He had some blueprints on the thing, showing all its weapons and its weaknesses."

"How did you research something you've never seen?" Remus was curious. Did Clair's investigation skills reach that far?

A nervous laugh came from Clair who started fidgeting. "Actually… It's not the first time I've seen Monochrome."

"Clearly if you know it by name. Where did you see it? How does Onyx already have blueprints on it?" Violet asked, interested in the conversation.

"Onyx… already has the blueprints because... he...made Monochrome." She flicked her eyes to see VRSZ's reactions. Shock. Every single one of them had wide eyes or slacked jaws. She was ready for the backlash.

Setting: Ebony's Airship

Monochrome stood in the kitchen, staying close to Ebony who was finding something to eat as they fly through the sky. She searched for different things in the refrigerator and placed whatever she found on a counter.

"Is there anything I can get you, Bren?" she asked her companion who sat on the couch.

"I'm fine. Stop doting over me," he told her in an annoyed tone. He recovered from his battle after a night's rest and his restored aura healing his wounds. That was a few days ago, but Ebony insisted on tending to him. That's what she said, but he and Zinnia could see through her ploy and used it as an excuse to play with him.

"Maybe I can massage your back and make sure your injuries aren't-" Ebony felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Zinnia.

"Stop harassing him. He's fine," she defended to keep her friend from being fondled.

"Fine," Ebony sighed as she grabbed some food to eat for herself, pouting about her Champions turning against her. All kidding aside, she got serious for a moment.

"Be ready. The Grimm we're going after is extremely dangerous. We have to be careful and plan accordingly."

"Understood," Zinnia replied.

"I get it, but there's something else that's been bothering me," Brenton addressed with some force in his voice, "How long are you going to keep our prisoner around? Why not get rid of her?"

"One: she is not a prisoner. Two: I prefer to utilize people instead of killing them. I know you don't like Alexandrite, but just bear with it for me, please?" Ebony gave him puppy-dog eyes and quivering pouting lips.

Brenton rolled his eyes.

"She did a lot for you in the past few days to build your trust. I'm sure you can trust her with this decision," Zinnia told her friend, backing up her liege.

He could only sigh in agreement. He didn't like it, but the deed was done and he had to accept it.

Ebony checked her scroll which was connected to the airship's main computer. She accessed the autopilot to see how far they were from their destination then she looked at the sun. It was descending and would reach the horizon soon. That was not a good sign.

"We'll be there by nightfall. The Grimm should be there, but we won't engage it when we get there. If we do, and if the rumors are true, that thing will be unstoppable come nighttime."

Setting: Clair's Airship

"They were mad," Ghost said blatantly. He stood by a window in the common area. He didn't say anything but realized the layout of Clair's ship was similar to Ebony's, or maybe it was the other way around. He couldn't say.

"Mad? They were fuming," Azura corrected as she laid on the couch on her stomach, taking up the whole space. She smirked to herself, thinking at the dumb, humorously look Remus had.

"I thought you told them about Monochrome already. It seems like a pretty big deal," Bianca asked Clair who scratched the back of her head while looking away.

She already felt bad about it. She just forgot to tell them. And it made things worse when she left Nexus and left Onyx to deal with VRSZ and their wrath. A call on her scroll was coming. She could feel it. "Can we drop it and focus on the mission?"

"You're so gonna get it when we get back," Blood added with a grin.

Clair's face turned red. It was one thing if Azura and Ghost said something. She expected them to, but when Blood or Bianca say something like that, the shame that came with it was unbearable. She messed up bad.

"Shut up. Focus on the mission!" Clair responded childishly, not wanting to continue this conversation. Her Enforcers couldn't help but chuckle to themselves. It was rare for Clair to lose her cool like that.

"Keep in mind that we'll be crossing paths with Ebony's group by nightfall. That's when we strike."

Setting: Ravine

Somewhere in the desert was a large ravine that spanned a distance equal to three small settlements. The walls of the ravine were high and the ravine itself was deep with many rock structures and formations. Along the walls were many caverns leading deeper into the ravine. There was no sign of life to been seen, but there was something in the air. Something primal.

Deep within one of the caverns, a guttural sound could be heard.

Next Chapter: The Terror of Night