Ben 10 RWBY Volume 1: Dimension Twist

by The Omni-Remnant

After an incident involving an old foe and a Null Void Portal, Ben and his team are transported to the world of Remnant... right in the middle of the Battle for Beacon. What will be the consequences? Ben doesn't know, but he does know one thing: It's Hero Time! (Takes place after Ultimate Alien. WARNING: Major changes to the end of RWBY Volume 3 and beyond. MAJOR AU.)

70. A Raven in the House

A/N: Hey everybody! Happy Friday the 13th… again. Jeez, I can't believe we had TWO of these so close to each other this year. Well, anyways, it's time for a new chapter once again! But just so you guys know, there's going to be a little announcement in the Authors Note at the end of the chapter, so make sure to read that afterwards. If any of you were around last year during December though, then you probably know what it's about. But for now, let's get on with the chapter, shall we? This is…

Chapter 70: A Raven in the House

…..

Raven Branwen was known for many things; being an expert thief, a trained killer, and a cold hearted, un-feeling woman when she needed to be. But, throughout her years of leading the Branwen Tribe, she had hidden many of her other emotions away from her followers. In the tribe, it was survival of the fittest, and that meant that you couldn't show any weakness when it came to that. It's what her father taught her, and she had to follow that rule to be a proper leader of the tribe. But there was one thing she hadn't counted on while being groomed for said leadership; her time at Beacon Academy and the results of it. Now she had an estranged lover and a daughter that she hadn't planned on having, but all the same, she still felt a strong bond with both of them. 'I cannot imagine what the rest of the tribe would think if they got wind of this.' The woman thought to herself as she stepped out of the portal she had made into the Mount Patch training facility. 'I would be ousted and replaced for sure. I hope I made the right choice in trusting her to keep this all secret from them.'

Suddenly, the sounds of fighting caught her ear, and she turned around to see her daughter and her boyfriend going at it in their usual morning training session. Yang was on the defensive while Ben, who had transformed into Four Arms, was trying to grapple her with his four massive appendages in hopes of restraining her. But the blonde wasn't having any of it. "C'mon, Ben! You can do better than that, can't ya?!"

Four Arms gave her a toothy smile. "Oh, you BET I can!" The Tetramand slammed his four hands into the arena floor and dug his fingers into the concrete, pulling it with all his might. After a few seconds, the slab he had grabbed cracked and separated from the arena, resulting in Four Arms pulling up an enormous, jagged piece of concrete from the floor. "Let's see how ya handle THIS!"

With a mighty toss, Four Arms flung the concrete slab at Yang, making her eyes widen. "Woah!" Thinking fast, she knelt on the ground and pumped her fists down, shooting off Ember Celica and propelling her forward. She did a front flip and landed feet first on the concrete slab, which was spinning as it fell. The impact made the slab flip in the opposite direction, the spin allowing Yang to get a clear shot at Four Arms. "Incoming!" She launched herself off of the slab and sailed right toward the large alien, with her kick-off making the concrete hit the ground.

At the unexpected move, Four Arms' four eyes widened in shock. "Holy crap!" In a last-second maneuver, he reeled his two left arms back while Yang pulled back her right, the two powerful strikes colliding in midair. The force of the two blows were so powerful, that it blew both opponents away from each other, though Four Arms less so due to his weight. "Hah, okay, didn't expect that! What a move, Goldie Locks!"

"Thanks!" Yang smirked as she landed. "But now it's time to end this!" Using the power from the previous blow, Yang's eyes changed to red and she activated her Semblance, a fiery aura appearing around her hair. "It's over Green Boy!" With that, Yang surged herself forward again, intending to end the spar with a final punch.

But Four Arms wouldn't have it. "Yeah, I don't think so." The Tetramand sprang forward in a single leap, jumping straight over Yang's head before grabbing her by the arm and pulling her toward him. In one fell movement, Four Arms trapped her in the same bear-hug hold that he had used on Cinder the day before, making sure keep her arms at her sides. "Ha! Gotcha now!" Yang grit her teeth as she struggled to break free, the blonde refusing to back down. "Uh, babe, you may wanna consider forfeiting. I've got a pretty good hold, and I'm not about to let go."

But then, Yang stopped struggling to give her boyfriend a cheeky grin. "Heh, yeah right!I've still got one last trick up my sleeve!"

"Not sure what you can really DO in this position, but I'll be surprised if—" But then, Four Arms stopped in mid-sentence when he felt something against his abdomen. He could tell that it was supposed to feel like a tickling sensation, but his Tetramand skin was so thick and leathery that he could just barely feel it. "…Uh, are you trying to tickle me?"

Yang smiled cheekily. "Yeah, is it working?"

"Not really." Four Arms shrugged as his arms relaxed a slight bit. "Tetramand's have really thick skin, Yang. I can barely feel your fingers."

"Oh, well it's a good thing that my back-up plan worked!" Yang quickly took advantage of Four Arms letting his arms relax, pulling one of her arms out of his loosened grip. "Gotcha!" She brought her fist forward toward his face, taking Four Arms by surprise.

"GAH! Jeez!" The Tetramand braced himself for the impact… but it never came. Yang had stopped her hand just short of his face, making him even more confused than he already was. "Uh… Yang, what're you—HUH?!"

Yang had suddenly pulled her hand away and slammed her palm against the Omnitrix on his chest, a wolfish smirk coming to her face. "Made ya look." In a bright flash of light, Ben was back to normal… and he was still holding Yang tightly against him. She quickly took advantage and wrapped her legs around him, putting her hands on his face. "I win, lover." In a split second, Yang slammed her lips against Ben's, making them fall to the ground in a rather passionate kiss.

As she gazed on at the battle, Raven couldn't help but smile proudly at her daughter's unique strategy. 'A battle of strength, subterfuge… and unexpected passion. I am VERY proud of you, my dear.' The tribe leader stepped forward and onto the field as Yang continued to make out with Ben, the two still unaware of her presence.

But not all things could last forever, and so the kiss had to end when the couple needed air. Ben was blushing like a mad man with the biggest smile on his face. "Hah, holy crap!" he breathed out. "I am NOT complaining about that loss!"

Yang smiled back as she pulled her head up, her blonde hair cascading over her shoulder. "I'm glad," she replied with a wink, "because I've been wanting to get you in a kiss like that for a while now. Sorry if I hurt you, though. I didn't expect you to fall back like that."

"Ah, I've fallen from worse heights." Ben assured. "So, what now, Miss Victory?"

Yang's grin turned sly as she pressed herself up against her boyfriend's chest. She wrapped her arms around Ben's neck and drew her face near his. "Now… my motor's running. And I've got a need for speed if you catch my drift."

Ben's blush intensified tenfold, but his smile didn't waver. "Well then, let's cruise around a little—" But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Raven standing over them, and the red instantly drained from his face. "Uh, babe, I'm afraid your victory lap may need to be cut short."

"Huh?" Yang moved her body around and gazed up, only to see her mother right behind her. She let out a scream and immediately rolled off of Ben, though she REALLY didn't want to. "Mom! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Raven gave her daughter a rather devilish smirk. "Oh, I just popped in. Sorry for the poor timing, Yang, but if it makes you feel any better, I was very impressed by the surprise tactics you used in your spar." She sent a wink to the Blonde Brawler. "And I hope I haven't killed the mood TOO much for you two."

Yang gave her a deadpan expression. "Mom, when any parent walks in on their kids making out, the mood is effectively killed. Sorry, but this is no exception."

Raven snapped her fingers. "Well, shit. And here I was thinking I'd get to see some action."

"MOM!" Yang hollered with a blush.

"Kidding, kidding!" Raven waved her hand. "Sheesh, young people these days have no sense of humor."

Ben wore an irritated face at that. "More like we think it's gross when parents talk about that sort of stuff, but sure, whatever." The hero got up and offered his girlfriend a hand, which she gratefully took. "Well, the mood's deader than a doornail and your mom is back, so I guess that means that we should wrap this session up."

"Yeah, guess so." Yang shrugged. "Besides, as far as I'm concerned…" she ran a finger under Ben's chin. "I think we BOTH got a win out of this one."

"My dear Goldie Locks, I can say with utmost certainty that you ARE the one who's won." Ben insisted. "And I'm not just talking about the spar, either."

"Oh, this is just too precious." Raven commented with a snarky grin. "I wish I had a camera."

Yang gave her a stink eye. "Alright, NOW you're just doing it on purpose."

"I will not deny that." Raven sliced open another portal, giving the couple a nod. "Well, I'll meet you two at the house, see you in a few." And like that, she was gone, leaving Ben and Yang alone once again.

The Omnitrix bearer let out a sigh before quirking a brow at his girlfriend. "I have a feeling that your mom's been wanting to cut loose for a while."

"Yeah, leading a tribe where pretty much EVERYONE is a ruthless killer probably gets on your nerves easily." Yang agreed. "Still, I don't think this'll be the last we see of this side of my mom." She pursed her lips as she and Ben exited the training facility, a thought suddenly occurring to her; "Ah shit, she's probably gonna run right into dad when she gets home."

…..

Tai took in a deep breath as he stepped out onto his back porch, giving a stretch as he basked in the glory of another late autumn day… as dreary and foggy as it was. Sure, it wasn't all THAT nice of a day, but he just reminded himself; 'At least it's not raining AGAIN.' Once he breathed in, though, he could feel a familiar nip in the air. 'Oh, but we MAY just be getting some snow soon.' he remarked in his head. 'Gonna have to get ready for that, I suppose.' However, not two seconds later did Ruby and Penny come out of the door behind him, making the man turn around. "Hey girls! What're you two up to?"

"Salutations, Mr. Xiao-Long!" Penny saluted. "Ruby and I are just going to the Resolute for a little while. We should be back in time for breakfast."

"Uh, okay? Why the Resolute?" Tai crossed his arms. "There isn't anything important going on, is there?" His intrigue was raised even further when he saw Ruby holding their picnic basket. "And sweetheart, what're you doing with the basket? Bit early for a picnic, wouldn't you say?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Dad, has any one ever told you that you ask WAY too many questions?"

"No." Tai shook his head before realizing that there was actually some truth to that. "Well, okay, Yang has told me that quite a few times, actually. But still, I just want to know that you girls are going to be—"

"Safe, I know dad." Ruby sighed. "But I'm sixteen now, AND I'm a Huntress-in-training. I know that you're still really worried about me, but I'm not a little kid anymore." She went up and put her hand onto his shoulder, giving him a small smile. "Dad, as much as you probably don't want to admit it, I'm growing up, and that means I can start taking care of myself."

Tai stared at his daughter incredulously and gave out a sigh of his own, his eyes trailing off to the side. "I… I know. I should start treating you and Yang like adults now, but… ugh." He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "It's just really hard when your daughters are all you have, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that." Ruby nodded before catching something in the corner of her eye. She focused on it and her eyes widened at the sight of one of Raven's signature portals. Ruby pointed over to it and said; "Uh, dad, you may wanna look behind you."

"Huh?" Tai moved himself around just intime to see Raven exit her portal, though she was facing away from them when she did. "Oh… she's back."

Ruby took a deep breath. "Yep, apparently so." The Hooded Huntress braced herself and stepped off the porch, walking over to Raven with her best greeting smile. "Morning, Raven! We weren't expecting to see you this early."

Raven craned her head toward Ruby and raised an eyebrow at her statement. "Really? And what made you think that?"

"Well, uh…" Ruby winced. 'Crudmonkeys! I didn't expect her to say THAT!'

However, an amused smile came to Raven's face soon after. "Hmhm, Miss Rose, in your line of work, you must always expect the unexpected. Especially when it comes to a master thief." The woman began to make her way past the silver-eyed girl. "For example, if you let your guard down," Raven suddenly snatched the picnic basket out of Ruby's grip, taking her by surprise, "you're sure to get blindsided."

"Wha—HEY!" Ruby shouted indignantly as she balled her hands into fists. "Give that back!"

"Oh, calm down. I wasn't REALLY going to take it from you." Raven handed the basket back to Ruby. "Besides, your sister would be angry with me if I did. But consider this your first lesson from me; your enemies will often be quite underhanded and predictable, meaning that YOU must learn how to counter their tricks."

"Uh… okay?" Ruby took the basket back with hesitancy, still a bit taken aback by what just happened. "Well, I can't exactly fault that logic, so thanks." She craned her head toward Penny and gave her a nod. "Alright, Pen, let's go." And with that, the two girls were off, making their way down the forest path.

Raven let out a chuckle as she made her way to the porch. "Haha, she really IS like her mother." However, she paused when she saw who was waiting for her there; her old flame. "Oh, hello Taiyang."

"Raven." Tai acknowledged before going over and leaning against the railing. "You're… looking well, I guess."

"Yes, you too." Raven agreed. The two stood in silence for a few moments more before the tribe leader let out a sigh. "Alright, I think it's time we… addressed a few things."

"What's there to talk about?" Tai replied dejectedly. "You left, your back, end of story."

Raven winced slightly at that. His words stung, but at the same time, they weren't unwarranted. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Tai, you have every right to be angry with me after what I did. And honestly, I don't blame you. All those years ago, I called you many terrible things. I said that you and the others were fools and idiots for still believing in Ozpin's cause."

"Yeah, like I needed to be reminded of THAT." Tai mumbled.

"But really, I was the fool that day." Her words caught Tai's attention, making him crane his head toward her in surprise. "Yesterday, Ruby berated me for cutting my ties with everyone because of my grudge against Ozpin. And while I still hate the man and don't regret cutting my ties from HIM, I will not fault your daughter for what she said. Maybe if I had been more rational… things might have been different between us, but instead I just left you all with bad tastes in your mouths."

Tai blinked a couple times before giving a small nod. "Okay, I'm not gonne deny, you kinda did." He gave her a small shrug. "But then again, we ALL said some pretty dumb stuff that day too." A small grin came to his face as he remembered a particular moment from that day. "Heh, plus, Qrow flipped a whole table."

His smile caused Raven to grin as well. "Hah, yes, he almost destroyed the kitchen wall." She craned her head up to the house itself. "I remember when we initially built this house for just the four of us. You, me, Qrow and Summer, we were inseparable before then."

"Hmm, good times." Tai folded his arms and sat down in on the nearby porch swing. "But now, that's all in the past." A few more seconds passed before Tai focused on Raven again. "Rae?"

The woman was slightly taken aback by the use of her nickname. "Yes?"

"I just wanna thank you for coming back to see your daughter." Tai gazed out into the backyard. "I haven't seen her this stoked in a while, Rae. She's got a loving boyfriend, a group of friends that care about her, and she's finally getting to do what she's wanted for a long time; talk with her mother." He set his sights back on Raven. "She's really happy that you came here, Rae. I've got a feeling that if she went searching for you, she might not have been this pumped."

Raven stood there in silence for a while, astonished by Tai's words. But shortly thereafter, her lips turned up into a smile. "Well, after so many years of being away, I had a feeling that it was time to come back. After all, with all of the chaotic stuff going on here, a little more help never hurt, did it?"

"Yeah, can't fault you for that." Tai paused as another thought occurred to him. "But what'll happen when Oz comes back? Will you… leave again?"

"No," Raven shook her head, "if I do, then Yang and Ben will never forgive me. Besides, I don't plan on leaving again anyways." She leaned up against the railing and crossed her arms. "When Oz gets back, I'll just make it clear that I'm not here because of him, but because of my family."

"Huh, I haven't heard you say the word "family" in a long time." Tai realized. "It's actually kind of nice to hear. So… what about the tribe? Do they know about all of this?"

"Only one. And she is a trusted confidant." Raven tightened her grip on the railing. "At least, I HOPE she will keep this all secret."

Tai gave her a shrug. "Hmm, I guess that it's hard to find someone to trust in a tribe of thieves."

Raven pursed her lips in thought. "Well, she is a very loyal follower. We found her living off the streets a couple years back and she was more than eager to join us." The tribe leader lowered her gaze to the ground. "Truth be told, bringing her on made me realize how much of a mistake it was to distance myself from my daughter for so long."

"I see." Tai nodded. "Well, you're making up for it now, and I think it's pretty cool that you are." The blonde man glanced away from Raven forlornly. "Still, I'm not sure if everything can be the same ever again after… well, you know."

"Yes, I do." Raven admitted before adding; 'Unfortunately.' in her head. A few more seconds of tense silence passed between them before she spoke up one last time; "Tai?" She managed to get his attention before moving on. "I want you to answer me sincerely. Did you love Summer with everything you had?"

Tai was taken aback by such a question. "I… of course!" He stood up defiantly with a very serious face. "She was there after everything that happened between us! Of course I loved her with everything I could muster! I even managed to actually propose to her!"

"Good." Raven replied calmly. On the inside though, she was quite torn about it. 'This hurts me as much as it hurts you, Tai. But I have to be sure about this.' She pressed on; "Now, my second and final question; did you make sure that she was happy in her last few years before she died?"

"I… I'd like to think so." Tai closed his eyes as he began to tear up a little bit. "When… when Ruby was born, she told me that I had blessed her with the most beautiful little girl… and that Yang was just as much her daughter as Ruby was. I know that probably isn't what you want to hear, but—"

"No, please, keep going."

Tai wiped the tears away before going on. "Sh-She was probably the best thing that could've ever happened to me after you and I fell out. And when I lost her, I lost another part of myself that day. I never thought I'd have to lose another partner in my life, but…" He swallowed hard, choking back the sobs that threatened to choke out. "The point is that I made damn sure that woman was the happiest she ever was, and she made me happy too. I don't regret a single year of our marriage… no matter how brief is was."

Raven let out a shaky breath after Tai finished his speech, impressed that he was able to go through with it. But she still managed to keep herself together. "Good. I'm very glad that you two were happy together." However, before anything else could be said between them, they heard the engine of a motorcycle approaching, signaling the arrival of Ben and Yang on Bumblebee. The two pulled to a stop after exiting the foggy forest path and dismounted, going over to the back porch soon after. "Ah, there you two are."

"Oh, uh…" Yang shifted her eyes between her mother and father, her parents' gazes focused solely on her. "Hey mom and dad." 'Wow that feels weird to say.' she thought quickly. "Are we… interrupting something?"

"Ahem," Tai cleared his throat, "your mother was actually just asking me about what's been going on here for the past few years. I just got done telling her about Qrow's multiple DWI's."

Raven's eyes widened in shock, but she knew that he was trying to cover for them, so she had to play along. "Yes, exactly. When he gets back, I'm going to have a few select words to say to him." she assured. "Also, I saw Ruby again. She was headed off into the woods with her little android friend."

"Penny." Yang reminded. "Her name's Penny. Also, what's she going out there this early for?"

"No clue." Tai admitted. "All she said was that she was going to Tetrax's ship and that they'd be back for breakfast. Also, they took the picnic basket with 'em for some reason."

"Huh, weird." Ben shrugged. "Well, they're headed for the Resolute, so I'm not all that worried about them. They can handle themselves just fine, I think."

"Yeah, I mean my sister's got her scythe and Penny's got a whole hodgepodge of weapons in her." Yang shrugged. "They'll be good." The couple stepped up onto the porch and Yang gestured to the backdoor, giving her mother a nod. "So, mom, you ready for this?"

"I suppose so." The tribe leader waved her hand for them to go first. "Lead the way." As Ben and Yang went into the house, Raven followed after, though she made sure to harshly whisper; "How many DWI's?!" to Tai before entering. Tai held up nine fingers, which only made Raven groan in frustration. "He is SO in for a thrashing!"

As the tribe leader entered the house, Tai couldn't help but chuckle at her behavior. "Heh, I guess somethings just never change."

…..

The moment that Raven entered the house, her nose was assaulted by the smell of pancakes, bacon and eggs, which immediately made her stomach growl. 'Oh, that's right, I haven't eaten yet.' With that thought, she craned her head to her immediate right to see Gwen and Kevin slaving over a hot stove together, the former making pancakes while the latter took care of the eggs and bacon, both of them working together as a team. However, just a little bit further right, she saw an already towering mountain of pancakes, much to her astonishment. "Dear god, how much food do you kids eat?!"

"GAH!" Kevin shouted before absorbing the wooden handle of the spatula he was holding. His entire arm transformed into wood and he made a large spike out of it, whirling around to Raven in the process. "Stay back! I'm well… armed." Kevin's face paled in realization when he saw Raven, and the regret immediately set in soon after. "Oh, Raven. I uh, I didn't know you'd be here." A nervous grin came to his face as he transformed his arm back to normal. "Hehe, no hard feelings, right?"

But Raven was far from amused. "You aren't exactly in the position to say "no hard feelings", Kevin." She stepped forward and glared right into Kevin's face, the two meeting at almost eye-level. "And you're also quickly growing on my nerves."

Over to the side, both Yang and Ben facepalmed in exasperation. "Oh god, here we go." the former uttered.

Gwen let out an apprehensive laugh as she put herself in between the two. "Hahaha! Oh, don't worry, Raven. Kevin's just a bit jumpy when it comes to new people. He won't be doing it again, hehe…" The Anodite spun around and gave a rather serious face to her boyfriend. "Right?"

"Y-Yeah, sure." Kevin stuttered.

Gwen's smile immediately returned and she went back to Raven. "See? Just a mistake, no harm done!"

"Of course." Raven nodded. "It was a simple mistake, and I understand his reaction, but still I suggest you look before you leap, Kevin."

"Just so long as I don't get killed in the end, then sure." the Osmosian complied.

"Kill you? HA!" Raven chortled at Kevin's statement. "I don't have any intention of killing any of you. And besides, if I did, you'd probably be dead already." The terrified expressions on Gwen and Kevin's faces told her that they weren't reassured by that. Raven rolled her eyes and relaxed her shoulders, detaching Omen from her belt and putting it off to the side. "Ugh, kids, relax. I'm NOT your enemy here, okay?"

Gwen blinked in astonishment before bowing her head. "I-I'm sorry, Raven. It's just you're so… so…"

"Intimidating." Raven finished. "I'm aware. But still, you all don't have any reason to fear me. I'm not about to kill my daughter's friends, least of all her boyfriend's cousin and best friend."

Kevin wiped the sweat from his brow. "Phew, THAT'S a relief! And here I was thinking I should be scared of ya! Haha!" But one quick quirk of the brow from Raven was all it took to put the fear of God into him once again. "Er, I mean, I HAVE a reason to be scared, but I'm REALLY glad you're on our side!"

"As you should." Raven shifted her attention back to the mountain of pancakes and waved her hand to it. "Now I ask again; what the hell do you plan on doing with all those pancakes?! You all can't possibly eat that many in one meal, can you?"

Gwen grimaced at the large stack of flapjacks. "Oh, no. Most of us only get at least three pancakes each. The rest go to Nora." She saw Raven's jaw drop slightly, which the Anodite immediately nodded at. "Yeah, that was MY reaction when I first heard of her obsession."

"Dear lord, how does she keep it all down?!" Raven exclaimed.

"No clue, mom." Yang shrugged. "I'm pretty sure none of us entirely know how Nora works."

Suddenly, as if from out of nowhere, Nora zipped up right next to the blonde. "I heard that!" she sang, making Yang jump in surprise. But the Pink Dynamo just laughed at the scene. "Haha! Sorry Yang, but I couldn't help but overhear you guys and—" Just then, her eyebrows shot up at the sight of Raven, and she burst out into an even friendlier grin. "Oh! Hi, Yang's Scary Mom!" she waved. "Good to see ya again!"

"Um… sure." Raven said cautiously. "Also, Nora, it's fine to call me Raven."

"Okay, if you say so." Nora gave a salute before her nose suddenly perked up at a certain scent. She whirled around and was immediately greeted by the beautiful sight of a three-foot stack of… "PANCAKES!" Nora zipped over to the tower, but was immediately stopped by Gwen, who was using a spatula to ward her off. "Wha?! Aw, c'mon Gwen! It's not time yet?!"

"Nope!" Gwen confirmed. "You're gonna have to wait a little while longer, Nora. I am NOT having you dig into these things before everyone else. Otherwise, nobody else will be able to get any, understand?"

Nora sighed and hung her head. "Yeah, I guess so." But not even a second later, and Nora burst out into a huge grin. "Oh! Maybe I could give Raven a proper introduction to everybody else in the meantime!"

"Uh… sure." Gwen glanced over to the tribe leader in question. "That is, if she's cool with it."

Raven shifted her eyes between Gwen and Nora, the more hyperactive redhead with a beaming smile on her face. Knowing that she probably wasn't going to get out of it, Raven sighed and resigned to her fate. "Well, I WAS going to do that anyway, so I don't think there's any harm…" In the corner of her eye, she saw a nearby coffee machine with a fresh pot on the brewer, and an idea immediately popped into her head. "Just let me get my morning coffee in, alright?"

"Sure thing!" Nora gave her a thumbs up. "Meet me in the living room, okay?" With a spring in her step, Nora skipped out into the hallway, leaving the others to themselves.

"Ugh, thank goodness she's gone." Raven groaned in relief before moving over to the coffee machine. She reached up into the cupboard and grabbed a mug, happily pouring herself some of the hot, dark beverage. She inhaled deeply as the smell hit her nose. "Ah, that's the ticket." She took a swing and she perked up slightly, the caffeine immediately taking effect. "Mmm, there, now THAT'S better."

Yang gave out an impressed whistle. "Wow, just straight black coffee. You're a tough one, mom."

"Oh, your mother likes her coffee the way it is, my dear." Raven smiled as she stepped over to the table and took a seat. "It warms the blood and gets it flowin'." She took another sip before asking; "So, barring that nothing happens, what's on your agenda today?"

"Well, OUR training is done." Yang emphasized, pulling Ben in with a single arm. "But everybody else heads out to their training after breakfast. As for us, I think I may sneak in some more Batman: Arkham Asylum before he and I head out for a late lunch."

Ben gave her a wink. "Sounds great to me, babe!"

"Oh yes, the "Batman"." Raven nodded. "If you ask me, it's still a rather weird concept. I mean, realistically, why would anyone dress up as a flying rodent to fight crime?"

"To strike fear into the hearts of his enemies." Ben countered. "Criminals ARE a superstitious, cowardly lot, you know."

"Hmm, fair point." Raven conceded before noticing three more people entering the kitchen; Winter, Athena and Doctor Holiday, who were all taken aback when they saw Raven sitting at the table. But Raven wasn't deterred, simply raising her mug and greeting them with; "Hey ladies! Come to join the party, I'm guessing?"

Winter was seriously considering unsheathing her swords at that moment. "What are you doing back here, Raven?"

"Oh what, a woman can't come to visit her family?" Raven joked. "My brother's right; you CAN be quite uptight." She took another sip of her coffee as Winter let out a frustrated growl, the white-haired woman gritting her teeth in frustration. But Raven just waved her hand in her direction. "Oh, come on now, sweetheart, I'm not gonna bug the hell out of you like my brother does. In fact, I'm actually here to help with training the kids!"

Athena came forward and sent the woman a serious glare. "Raven, if you think for one second that you're going to train these children how to kill, then you have another thing coming."

"As much as the idea amuses me, I'm afraid I won't be able to do that." She jabbed a thumb at Ben. "Seeing as THIS boy likely has a no kill policy that he probably wants to extend to the rest of the team."

"You'd be right on that, Raven." Ben placed his hands on his hips. "I make it a point to not try and actively kill my enemies."

"See? Told you." Raven crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. "No, I'm not gonna be teaching them any killing techniques, but some advanced fighting techniques never hurt anyone, right?"

"You mean other than the other person, right?" Holiday quipped as she got her own cup of coffee. "I guess that might be fine, just so long as there's no maiming involved."

"Dammit—er, I mean, yes! Yes, of course!" Raven chuckled. "I wasn't REALLY going to teach them how to break someone's arm, hehe." Everyone's eyes were focused on her, which made Raven give them a questioning gaze. "…Maybe just a little fracture?"

Ben sighed and shook his head. "Raven, it's fine. I'm pretty sure that almost everyone here has broken at least SOME people's body parts before, hell knows I have."

"I broke a guy's shins one time after a deal I had with him went south." Kevin piped up. "So there's that."

"Ruthless and quite painful, very impressive." Raven complimented.

Gwen grimaced at what the conversation had been reduced to. "You know, I missed the days when we would actively try to AVOID using such violent tactics. But I guess when your world is filled with horrifying creatures and evil-doers, there's really not much choice in the matter." She emptied another pancake onto the ever-growing stack and sighed. "Sometimes, I'm wondering if I'm the only one here who still likes to talk things out if it's an option."

"Gwendolyn, I have seen you make Grimm implode on a regular basis." Winter chastised.

"Because they have no souls!" Gwen retorted. "If they were actual living beings, I'd have second thoughts about it."

"Okay, could we please try to avoid a shout-fest?" Yang requested. "Otherwise, the Grimm WILL come."

"Yeah, you're right." Gwen admitted. "Honestly, I'm just still kinda frustrated over what happened yesterday."

"I know, Gwen." Athena went over and placed a hand on the Anodite's shoulder. "You made a mistake, but in the end, we ALL make mistakes. Remember, it's not your fault that the villains decided to attack Essen at the last minute."

Gwen smiled sadly to her. "Hmm, Pyrrha said the same thing to me. I think I just need something to take my mind off of all this."

Suddenly, Nora popped back into the room, catching everyone off guard. "Ooh! Maybe more Ponies?! I REALLY liked the Ponies!"

"Nora!" Gwen exclaimed. "I thought that you were—"

"Eh, got tired of waiting." the Pink Dynamo shrugged. "Came to get Raven."

Raven grumbled as she stood up. "Great. I suppose that this was only an inevitability." She got up and went over to the hallway, nudging her head for Nora to follow her. "C'mon, let's go and get this over with."

Nora gave her a salute. "Right behind ya, Raven!" She whirled back around to Gwen and nudged her with her elbow. "But seriously, more Ponies, please! Pinkie Pie is my spirit animal and I need more of her injected into my eye sockets!" With that, Nora zipped out of the room behind Raven, leaving everybody behind once again.

Gwen face palmed as Nora's words sank in. "I think I may have just created a monster."

…..

In the living room, Blake, Jaune and Pyrrha were busy with a very arduous task; trying to get their wolves to stay still. All morning, they had been working on training the little pups to stay in one place while they set up a little target for them to practice on. Blake was holding a Beowolf plush in her hand while Pyrrha held onto an Ursa plush, both girls attempting to set them across the room while holding their free hands up to their pups to keep them from running. Meanwhile, Jaune was standing right behind the pups, keeping an eye on them to make sure they stayed put. "Romulus, I see you wagging that tail!" the blonde knight warned. "Stay still!" The tail wagging immediately stopped, though not without a small whine from Romulus.

Rema began to paw the ground in anticipation, moving side to side on her hind haunches. But Blake was quick on the draw. "NO. Rema, you keep that little butt still, you hear?" Rema immediately stopped, but like her brother, she whined a little bit. "Good, now just hold still for just a bit longer…" Blake gave a nod to Pyrrha and they both slowly set the Grimm plushies down on the ground, the two stepping away from them soon after.

After a couple seconds of holding up their hands, Pyrrha gave Blake a smile, which the cat girl happily returned. "Okay, attack!" Pyrrha shouted as the two lowered their hands. Like a couple of shots, Romulus and Rema bounded across the floor and immediately tackled the Grimm plushies, growling and snarling as they both began biting into them. As the pups continued to roughhouse with their toys, their respective parents stood off to the side and watched, with Pyrrha giving an approving nod. "Well, that went rather well."

"Sure did," Jaune agreed, "they just gotta get better at holding still. Hopefully they'll get a bit more patient as they get older."

"Yeah, but for now, let 'em play." Blake grinned. "They won't be this high-energy forever, so we should enjoy it while it lasts." Just then, a round of applause came from her left, making her ears perk up. Blake turned to the couch to see Sun, Neptune and Ren clapping for them, the three boys having watched the display. Blake rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Well, thank you, you're too kind."

"Hey, c'mon, you guys worked hard to get 'em to listen to you!" Sun insisted. "You deserve some congrats."

"Sun's got a point." Neptune supported. "You've had those little guys for well over a week now and you've made a ton of progress."

"Well, that I can't deny." Pyrrha admitted. "But even then, we—" But the Invincible Girl stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Raven appear in the entryway, which Jaune and Blake were also quick to notice. "Ah, um… hello." Pyrrha waved.

Just then, Nora zipped into the room as well, giving an enthusiastic wave. "Hey guys! Look who I brought!"

Ren raised an eyebrow before craning his head around. "Huh? What's going—oh." The green ninja's eyes widened when he saw Raven, which Sun and Neptune mimicked when they saw her as well. "G-Greetings." Ren stammered as he bowed his head respectfully. "Yang's mother, correct?"

"That's right." Raven stepped into the room and walked over to a nearby chair, sitting down and crossing her legs. "But please, feel free to call me Raven. And let me see if I have this right…" She pointed right to Jaune. "I know who YOU are, Little Jaune, son of Jon."

"Wow, thanks for remembering me." Jaune scratched his head. "I really didn't think you would."

Raven sent him a smirk. "You resemble your father a lot. It's kind of hard to forget your face when it's nearly the same as the teenaged boy I gave a wedgie to." Jaune's face instantly became red and he facepalmed to hide his blush, much to Raven's amusement. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's not like I'm going to give YOU a wedgie." She shifted her eyes over to the redhead next to Jaune. "Ah, the girl who Oz wanted to become the Fall Maiden; Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha raised a single brow. "I take it that you've heard of me?"

"Why yes, I've seen you on ALL of the Pumpkin Pete's cereal boxes." Raven got exactly what she wanted out of that statement; a rather irritated expression from Pyrrha. "Haha! Oh, lighten up, Pyrrha, I'm more than familiar with the prodigy from Argus. You've made quite the name for yourself, and have made more than one of my tribe members worry about you becoming a Huntress."

"I see." Pyrrha nodded. "Well, I don't plan on having any crime go unnoticed when I do become a Huntress. I'll bring any criminal I see to justice."

"Really?" Raven rested her chin on her hand. "And would that include me?"

The redhead placed her hands on her hips. "Let's just say that you're lucky that you're Yang's mother and call it at that."

"Very wise." Raven granted before focusing on Blake next. "And I take it that you are Blake Belladonna." She got a silent nod from Blake before she continued. "Tell me, would you happen to be in anyway related to the White Fang's former leader, Ghira, in anyway?"

Blake's eyes widened as everyone glanced their eyes toward her. They all knew the answer already, but they were waiting to see if she would disclose that information to Raven so soon. Blake swallowed her apprehension and gave Raven her answer; "Y-Yes, I'm his daughter."

"I thought so." Raven pointed at the cat girl. "Because you resemble his wife, Kali, so much that it was hard for me to miss." She took a sip of her coffee before going on. "My clan and I ran into them a few times on the road whenever a convoy of White Fang were going from place to place. They were quite… compliant with our demands whenever we met."

"Did you STEAL from my parents?!" Blake's pupils changed into cat-like slits in her anger. "You can't be serious!"

"Well, I didn't really steal anything." Raven emphasized. "It was more of a fair trade for using the roads that my tribe has on lock down throughout Anima." Raven clarified. "We would get the compensation we want, and they were granted safe passage in return."

"…So extortion?"

Raven waved her hand to her. "Ah, the devil is in the details, Blake. Besides, I haven't seen your parents in YEARS and the White Fang hardly take their caravans through my routes anymore. The past is in the past." As Blake grumbled in annoyance, Raven craned her head over to the two members of Team SN. "So, you boys are Sun and Neptune, correct? The "goofballs with hearts of gold", if I recall correctly."

"Uh… yeah, I guess." Sun shrugged. "I mean, sure we like to have fun, but we're just as capable as everybody else here."

"And I don't doubt that." Raven concurred. "If you weren't, then you probably wouldn't be here. But that's beside the point. You both are from Haven Academy, right? Tell me, how is Leonardo Lionheart doing these days? I haven't seen that cat in AGES." Inside her head though, Raven was thinking; 'C'mon boys, take the bait, I need something to go on.'

Neptune was the one who answered. "Oh, he's doing okay. I mean, he's a lot more jumpy than usual lately, but I think that might have something to do with everything that's been going on in the world." The blue-haired boy paused as another thought came to his head; "Sheesh, now that I think about it, he must be REALLY paranoid now after the whole attack on Beacon and everything."

"Oof, yeah." Sun winced. "Hope he's running the school alright. That man NEEDS to see a shrink or something. I mean, he's cool, but I swear that he might be afraid of his own shadow." He crossed his arms and put a hand to his chin. "Still, if there really IS a mole in one of the academies, then I guess he's got a reason to be cautious."

"Hmm, yes, I agree." Raven nodded. 'A little jumpier than usual, are we, Leo? This just adds more fuel to the fire of my suspicions.' She cleared her throat and leaned forward a slight bit. "Well, I suppose that we can only hope that the mole is found sooner rather than later. We'll just have to wait on Qrow's word to find out."

"And… if there isn't a mole?" Ren asked. "What then?"

"Oh, I can assure you that there's a mole, Lie Ren." Raven promised. "I was the one who delivered the news to Qrow in the first place, and I myself received the news through a contact whom I've known for years. They wouldn't scare me wrong on this."

"I see." Ren laced his hands together. "Well, I guess if you trust your contact…" He took in a breath and closed his eyes. "Still, the thought of anyone in the academies being a spy for Salem just doesn't sit well with me. Not after Beacon."

Nora reached over and put a comforting hand on Ren's shoulder. "I know, Renny. It's hard to accept, but… I guess not all people are as good as they say they are."

"You'll find that the world is a much harsher place than all the news outlets lead you to believe." Raven affirmed. "Whether it be Salem or the more violent tactics of Sienna Khan's White Fang—"

"Or YOUR band of thieves." Blake added.

"Hmm, yes, I'll give you that." Raven admitted. "The point is that this world's by and far from the era of peace that everyone wanted you to think."

"Yes, I realize that." Ren sighed. "I've realized that ever since… since Nora and I were little kids."

Nora felt her heart plunge down from her chest at the sadness on her best friend's face. "Oh, Ren. Let's not think about that now. We've got new lives right here with all of our friends. And you know what? It's a blast!"

Ren chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Hehe, yes, it really is."

"Well, isn't that sweet?" Raven commented before her eyebrows shot up in surprise. She could feel something pawing at her feet, making her crane her head down to the floor to see Romulus and Remus sitting around her. "Oh, speaking off…" She reached down and pet Rema on the head, making the pup gaze up to her. "Hello, young one." Rema leaned into the touch at first, but then she sniffed Raven's hand and let out a low moan of displeasure. "Ah, you must be smelling the Grimm scent on me, don't you? I killed a few that were near my tribe's camp this morning before making my way here."

"Either that, or she doesn't like you." Blake said with a smirk. "My little Rema's a smart one." She knelt down and beckoned Rema over to her. "Aren't ya, my little baby?" Rema immediately bounded over and rolled onto her stomach, surrendering to her mother's belly rubs. "Oh, you're such a good girl!"

Raven rolled her eyes at the display. "Blake, animals such as wolves naturally despise the scent of Grimm. It's what help them stay out of their territory. And at the moment…" She gestured to Romulus, the little wolf having rolled over to get his own belly rubs from Raven. "THIS very good boy is loving what I'm giving him."

Jaune scratched the back of his head. "Well, that and Rommy ain't exactly the smarter of the two."

"As much as I don't want to admit it, Jaune's right." Pyrrha shrugged. "What Romulus lacks in brains, he makes up for in muscle. I mean, look;" She picked up the Ursa plushie, it's arm having been ripped open slightly. "He's already torn into his practice plush."

After seeing the rip, Blake smacked her forehead. "Oh shoot! I forgot, I was going to patch up the rip in my coat sleeve from yesterday. C'mon, Rema!" Blake went over and grabbed her coat off the nearby rack as Rema followed right behind her, though the cat girl stopped next to the couch and touched her hand to Sun's shoulder as she was walking out. "Wanna lend me a hand, Sun?"

"Sure, let's go." Sun gave a salute to the room before following Blake into the kitchen, the couple ready to start patching up the coat.

As they left, Raven suddenly remembered something; "Say, where are the last two members of your team?"

"Weiss and Rex?" Neptune jabbed a thumb over to the nearby stairs. "They're up doing a Spanish lesson. They should be down soon."

"Oh, yes. The odd foreign language from the other world." Raven put a contemplative hand to her chin. "He said a few words to me in that language last night, and for the life of me, I can't figure out what they mean!"

"Yeah, that's pretty much the case whenever Rex speaks Spanish around here." Nora revealed. "He usually just tells us what he's saying."

Ren wore a knowing smile as his keen hearing heard footsteps coming from up above them. "But Weiss was determined to try and learn the language herself." he continued on. "She says it'll come in handy when we go to Ben's world, but in reality, I think she REALLY wants to be closer to Rex. Whether she wants to admit that or not is up in the air at this point."

Raven couldn't help but smirk at that. "Oh, so she may have a thing for the boy, eh? Interesting…" At that moment, she saw Rex and Weiss descending the stairs, and fortunately for the tribe leader, they hadn't noticed her yet. This was all too perfect. "Ah, so the missing couple finally grace us with their presence!"

"AH!" Weiss yelled before whirling around to face Raven. "What the—Raven?! You're back already?" She blushed intensely when she realized what the woman had just said, with Rex doing the same. "Also, you are WAY off base with that "couple" comment!"

"Oh, well, you could've fooled me." Raven sarcastically remarked. "But yes, I got here a little while ago."

"Jeez, we weren't expecting you until later!" Rex said as his blush was beginning to subside. "You a morning person? Because you really don't seem like one." Raven sent him a warning grimace, which he instantly understood the message of. "Uh, what I meant was… you look like you really enjoy the night life!"

"While you're not wrong, Rex, I have experience with getting up rather early." Raven elaborated. "It's been a necessity on several operations that I've done in the past."

"Ah, I getcha." Rex put his hands behind his head. "So, what brings you around this morning?"

Raven took yet another sip of her coffee before telling him. "Well, after talking over it with both Yang and Ben a little, we've agreed that you all could use a little more help with your training." She then pointed to herself. "And that's where I come in."

Weiss' eyebrows shot up in shock. "Wait, you're going to train us? Seriously?"

"That's right, kids." Raven stood up and spread her arms out. "Say hello to your new coach!"

Pyrrha put a hand to her forehead. "And here I thought today couldn't get any stranger."

Ren raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You… aren't going to train us to kill, are you?"

Raven shook her head disappointedly. "No, unfortunately. My daughter and Ben made it explicably clear that the "no-kill clause" was in effect." She held up a single finger. "BUT that doesn't mean that my training won't be a walk in the park. The techniques I'm going to show you are very difficult to pull off and VERY violent. So, if any of you here have weak constitutions… shape up or ship out, because I don't tolerate ninnies."

Everyone stared at her in shock before Jaune spoke up; "Wow, that was so blunt that you could bludgeon someone over the head with it."

Raven turned around and pointed to the blonde knight. "NOW you're getting it, Jaune. That's what I like to hear." She followed up with a smirk. "Keep it up and you may just become an even better combatant than your father."

"Uh… thanks?" Jaune replied.

Just then, Gwen entered the room with a small smile. "Hey guys! Breakfast is on, and everybody's gathering in the kitchen."

"AWESOME!" Nora exclaimed before rushing out of the room, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. "Pancakes, here I come!"

Neptune and Ren stood up as the others made their way out of the room, the blue-haired boy quick to raise an eyebrow at Gwen. "Are Ruby and Penny back yet?"

The Anodite shook her head. "No, not yet. I wouldn't worry about it though. They said that they might be a while, and they can take care of themselves just fine." She gave them a shrug. "Besides, they're just going to Tetrax's ship. What trouble could they possibly get into there?"

…..

"I CANNOT believe we ran into a pack of Beowolves on the way here!" Ruby hollered as she and Penny ran through the dense fog toward the Resolute, which was beginning to become more visible through the trees. The duo had somehow managed to run into a pack of at least six Beowolves as they traversed the forest, much to the Hooded Huntress' irritation. 'I just wanna do something nice for someone. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!' She whipped her head around to her friend. "Penny! How're you holding up?!"

The redheaded android had shifted her right arm into one of her Floating Array laser blasters, shooting off blasts of green energy at the Beowolves in hopes of slowing them down. When she managed to blast one of the creature's straight in the head, she grinned and shouted; "One down so far!"

"Great! We're almost there!" A few seconds of running later, and they jumped out into the clearing, coming to a stop in front of the ship. The five remaining Beowolves leaped out of the overgrowth as well, growling at them ferociously. "Yeah, yeah, we get it. You guys are hungry. Well guess what?" Ruby set the basket down and unholstered Crescent Rose, doing her signature spin before slamming the blade into the ground. "This is no picnic!"

"Solid quip, Ruby." Penny complimented.

"Thanks, I just came up with it!" Ruby readied herself in determination before giving out the signal; "Alright, let's go!" With that, the duo charged forth, with Penny activating her spiked Punk Busters for good measure. One Beowulf charged right at Ruby only to get sliced clean in half at the waist for its troubles. Another one tried to leap at her from behind, but Ruby just jammed the butt end of her scythe handle into its face and cocked the loading mechanism. One pull of the trigger later and its head was blown clean off. "Haha! How're you doing, Pen?!"

"I'm doing good!" Penny leaped up into the air and came crashing down feet first onto one Beowolf, impaling it on her giant spiked boots. She flung her foot forward to get the dead body off of the spikes, resulting in the Beowolf carcass flying into another of the dark creatures. In one fell movement, Penny switched her Punk Busters for her Smack Hands and hit the ground with them, sending her straight forward at her enemy. The Beowolf tossed its dead compatriot off of itself, but by then it was too late. Penny slammed her Smack Hands onto the beast, plunging their spikes into its abdomen before making the hands spin rapidly, tearing the Beowulf in half. "And I'm rather enjoying myself too!"

"Great to hear!" Ruby called back with a thumbs up. At that moment, the remaining Beowulf lunged at Ruby, but she was ready for it's attack. "Oh, no you—" BLAM! A quick laser shot from seemingly nowhere blasted through the Beowolf's head, making it fall to the ground and killing it instantly. "Huh? Hey Penny, I know you were having fun, but ya didn't have to take the kill from me."

"Uh, Ruby… that wasn't me." Penny pointed over toward the Resolute, where Tetrax had just stepped out of the spacecraft.

The Petrosapien holstered his blaster before letting out a sigh. "You know what they say; you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your neighbors." Tetrax craned his head down to the two girls as they approached him, his curiosity fully raised. "Now what are you two doing here? You kids don't usually come for casual visits all that often."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "Uh, hehe, yeah. Sorry about all this, Tetrax, but…" She reached down and plucked the picnic basket off of the ground. "I'm here to bring a little something to a certain prisoner."

Fortunately, Tetrax knew exactly who she was talking about. "Ah, yes, Swift. Both Argit and Jaune informed me of your rather lively conversation yesterday." The bounty hunter crossed his arms to her. "Listen, Ruby, I think it's very nice that you're trying to make friends with her, but forgive me if I'm still a little skeptical about her. After going over her record, she's definitely been quite the troublemaker in the past. One can't just change a person in a day, you know that, right?"

Ruby wore a small pout as Tetrax spoke. "Aw, c'mon, Tetrax, she can't be ALL bad. She was just given a bad deal out of life, you know?" She sighed as her eyes went toward the ground. "I mean, she was kicked out by her dad and her mom's a Plumber who lives in space and can't be around often. Plus, she told me that people call her bad things and throw stuff at her too. Who wouldn't be miserable when your life is like that?"

"Well… I can't fault you on that." Tetrax admitted. "Still, if you insist on doing this, I should at least come with you for security's sake. Can't be too careful."

As much as Ruby didn't want to admit it, Tetrax had a point. "Yeah, okay. Lead the way." She and Penny followed the Petrosapien inside, going from the cargo hold into the main hallway before finally arriving at the brig. Ruby focused on her robotic friend with an encouraging smile. "Okay, so initially, Swift's gonna come off as a bit rough around the edges, but once we get talking, I'm sure that she'll warm up to you."

"Here's hoping." Penny agreed. "From what I've heard, it sounds like I don't want to get on her bad side."

"Well, sure, but that's true of all the bad guys in here." Ruby said as the three walked into the brig. "The difference with Swift is that she isn't really a bad person. More like… a misunderstood outcast."

Off to the side, they heard a certain someone scoff at them; "Psh, yeah, if you're idea of "misunderstood" is a red hybrid girl who can shoot lasers from her eyes." Ruby wore an annoyed face as she spun around to see Argit, loafing around as usual. "Wassup, Miss Hoodie? Come to see your gal pal again?"

Penny's eyes widened in surprise. "Uh… Ruby? Who's the giant rodent man?"

The silver-eyed girl sighed in frustration. "That is Argit. He's… I hesitate to call him an ally, because really, he's kind of a jerk to all of us."

"Hey, just doin' what I do best." Argit hopped down from his chair and strolled over, pointing right to Penny. "So you must be that robot girl that Tetrax was talkin' about, eh?" After doing a quick lap around her, the rodent-like alien came to a quick conclusion; "Hmm, no exposed circuitry, no seams, you even move like a real person. Whoever built you must've had their head on straight, that's for sure."

Penny wore a frown as she glanced to Ruby. "Did he just compliment my father… or insult him?"

"With Argit, I really can't guess." Ruby groaned as she led Penny further into the room. "C'mon, Penny, she's just right around this corner." With Tetrax not far behind, the duo finally found the Aerophibian hybrid's cell, and Ruby was quick to wave to the girl inside. "Hey Swift! I'm back!"

Swift's ears perked up and she grinned up to Ruby, standing up and waving back. "Hey Rubes, what's up?" But then she noticed that Tetrax and some perky redhead had joined her, making her smile faulter a bit. "…And you brought company, great."

Ruby gave her an apologetic bow. "Sorry, Swift. I wasn't planning on Tetrax joining us, but he said it was for security purposes."

Swift smirked and gave a chuckle. "Heh, I can't blame him for that. I am quite dangerous after all." She pointed a clawed finger over to Penny. "But, uh, who's the redhead with the bow?"

Ruby smiled and began introducing the two. "Oh, Swift, this is my friend Penny. She's a robot!"

Swift blinked twice in bewilderment, tilting her head as she got a closer look at Penny. "A robot, huh? You certainly don't appear like most of the robots that I'VE seen."

"That's because I am one of the most advanced androids ever built." Penny replied with a salute. "Also, salutations, Swift! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Uh, yeah, same here." Swift returned before facing Ruby again, giving the hooded girl an eager grin. "So… did you bring the stuff?"

Ruby winked at her before opening up the picnic basket. "Oh, I'd never go back on a promise!"

However, Tetrax went forward and placed a hand onto the picnic basket. "Hold on just a moment, just what exactly is this "stuff" that you two are talking about?" He narrowed his eyes slightly at the two. "This isn't some elaborate escape attempt, is it?"

"What? No!" Ruby denied. "Of course, it isn't." She opened the basket and pulled out what was inside; at least five slices of birthday cake wrapped in cellophane. One was entirely chocolate while the other four were a mixture of chocolate and vanilla layers. "See? It's just cake. Completely and totally harmless."

It was at that moment that a thought occurred to Penny; "Though admittedly, the idea of baking a key inside of a cake IS often used as a common trope in prison breaks, but—"

"Penny, not helping." Ruby interrupted before going back to the bounty hunter. "But I swear, Tetrax, there's NOTHING in these cakes that could help Swift break out of her cell, honest."

Over in her cell, Swift gave the Petrosapien a shrug. "Yeah, I mean, I was just hoping for some decent cake. I haven't had any in years and I was actually just looking forward to eating some."

Tetrax contemplated the information in his head, putting a finger to his chin as he thought it over. "Well… considering that you don't have access to Level 6 forcefield disruptors… alright. I'll allow it. Though the idea of having cake in the morning is a little odd to say the least." Tetrax typed in a code that caused a small platform to rise up from the floor, stopping level with Ruby's chin. "Place the cake on the platform and it'll be transferred into her cell."

"Great! But first…" Ruby took the slice of chocolate cake and split it in half down the middle, placing the two halves on separate plates. She then took a piece of regular cake and put it with one of the slices of chocolate cake, setting the whole plate on the platform along with a plastic fork. "Okay Tetrax, her cake's ready."

"Alright, just a moment…" With a few button presses, Tetrax sent the platform with the cake back into the floor, though it came back up just a few seconds later on Swift's side of the cell. "There you are, Swift."

"Um, thanks…" Swift raised an eyeridge at the two slices of cake, but she was focused on the half-slice of chocolate cake in particular. She pointed to it and asked Ruby about it. "So, Ruby, why'd you cut THIS piece in half?"

Ruby pointed to the cake as well and explained; "Because THAT is a piece of the Triple Threat Chocolate Devil Cake that Hestia made for me on my birthday. She's the owner of a little breakfast diner in town and she made this when we went there for my birthday. I wasn't just gonna hog all of that awesome cake to myself, so I sliced it up evenly and shared it with all my friends. And now, I'm gonna give the last two slices to you…" She handed the remaining half-slice to her android friend. "And Penny!"

"Aw! Thank you, Ruby!" Penny gave her friend a side hug. "That's really nice!"

Swift's eyeridges shot up in surprise. "Woah, woah, hold on just a second! You're seriously just gonna give me the last piece of your awesome chocolate cake AND a slice of regular cake?! WHY?! This might be the last time you get to taste it for a year!"

"I know." Ruby nodded. "But I'm letting you have it because I want to prove to you that I wanna be friends." She gave Swift another wink. "Swift, I know that a lot of things can go wrong in life, but there are a ton of things that can go right too. And I just thought… that maybe I can give you a little bit hope again by being your friend."

Swift stared at the younger girl, dumbstruck by her words. But then, she felt something running down her face, and she soon discovered that she was beginning to tear up. "I… I really don't know what to say." She wiped the tears away before smiling back at Ruby. "But… I think the proper place to start would be… thank you."

"Aw, don't mention it!" Ruby grinned. "Now, how about that cake?"

"Heh, right." Swift nodded before grabbing the plastic fork and digging in, with Penny doing the same for her own Triple Chocolate cake. The moment they bit into it, the two girls went into sensory overload as they multiple chocolatey tastes practically melted inside their mouths. Their eyes became star-struck and they both resisted the urge to let out moans of satisfaction. They swallowed their bites and Swift's immediate reaction was; "HOLY SHIT! That is the BEST chocolate cake I've ever had in my life!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Penny beamed in delight. "This cake tastes like the food of the gods themselves!"

Swift pointed to the Triple Chocolate Cake with her fork. "Okay, I am NOT eating any more of that until I get done with the regular piece, because that chocolate cake is too good to be eaten first!"

"I'm right there with you." Penny concurred before taking a bite out of the bigger slice of regular cake. "But the regular cake's still pretty good!"

Ruby smirked and closed her eyes, nodding in content. "And with that, my work is done." She reached down to the basket and got a piece for herself, as well as a fourth and final piece. Ruby immediately turned to Tetrax and offered the piece to him. "You want the last piece of cake, Tetrax? It's not the TTCDC, but it's still REALLY good."

But Tetrax raised a hand. "No thank you, Ruby. A Petrosapien's digestive system can't handle non-carbon-based materials. Perhaps someone else could—"

"Did somebody say cake?!" Argit popped his head out from behind the corner with a hungry grin. He stepped over while rubbing his hands together and smacking his lips. "Oh-hohoho man! I haven't had cake in AGES!" He put his hands behind his back and gave Ruby an innocent face. "I don't suppose you'd have any objections to ME having that slice, would ya?" he batted his eyelashes for good measure, though if anything, it only made Ruby even more uncomfortable.

"Ugh, I had a feeling that you'd probably jump at the chance." Ruby handed him the cake and a fork. "Just don't EVER make that face at me again, and keep being good for Tetrax, okay? Don't make me regret this decision."

Argit gave a salute to her and said; "Yes ma'am!" He picked up the fork… and immediately discarded it, picking up the cake by his hands and eating it in close to four bites. He licked the frosting off his lips and waved to the four astonished on-lookers as he walked away. "Thanks for the cake, Miss Hoodie!"

Swift blinked twice and shook her head, trying to get that image out of her head. "Well, THAT'S something I'll never be able to unsee." She took a few more bites of her cake before a new thought occurred to her… though it was one that made her pause in reflection. 'After all these years of being on the run and making trouble… maybe it's time I stopped and made a difference for myself. Ruby certainly believes in me. So maybe it's time I start believing in myself again too.' She craned her head up to her warden, giving him a serious face. "Tetrax."

The Petrosapien locked onto her, mirroring her expression. "Yes? What is it?"

"What… what do I have to do to earn parole?"

The question made Ruby gasp happily. "Really?! Are you seriously going to ask for parole?!"

"Well, yeah." Swift shrugged. "You're right, Ruby. I HAVE lost hope in a lot of things, and my decisions have all impacted where I've been going in life. Maybe it's time for a bit of a change." The Aerophibian hybrid glanced back up to Tetrax. "So, what do I have to do?"

"Hmm…" Tetrax crossed his arms. "I'm afraid that's not up to me to decide. If you really want to qualify for parole, then you'll have to take it up with Max Tennyson. He's familiar with all of the legalities in the Plumber ranks." He pointed to her with his brow furrowed. "But, if you truly are serious about wanting to qualify for parole, then you'll need to do exactly what you're told. The Plumber's won't release you just because you ask. You must also be on your best behavior, you understand that, correct?"

"I do." Swift nodded. "It might take a while, and I might not like some of the stuff that I'll have to do, but if it'll get me out of this godforsaken cell and help me get my life together… then I guess I don't have much to lose."

"Alright, Swift!" Ruby cheered. "Good for you! I'm really glad that you want to try and take a second chance with all this."

"Indeed." Penny agreed. "This is truly sensational!"

Swift smiled and gave the two a shrug. "Well, it certainly beats staying behind a forcefield for most of my life, that's for sure." She pointed to Ruby and asked; "Mind if you could pass this along to Magister Tennyson and see if he'll come here to discuss my options?"

"Oh, sure!" Ruby promised. "I'll tell him as soon as I get back. But for now…" Ruby raised her plate and declared; "Let us eat cake!" The three continued to eat their odd breakfast choice as Tetrax continued to observe, though he was still a little more skeptical of the Aerophibian hybrid.

'Can she truly be fully trusted?' the bounty hunter wondered in his head. 'She SOUNDS sincere, but I've heard plenty of heartfelt speeches in my day, and many of them weren't as genuine as they were led to be. But at the same time, Ruby trusts her, and she's usually a good judge of character.' After going over it in his head for a few moments more, Tetrax came to a fair conclusion; '…When Max gets here, I'll supervise their conversation, just to be safe.'

…..

It had been about half an hour since breakfast had ended and Raven was beginning to wonder where exactly her daughter had gone off to. One moment, she's in the kitchen, and the next, she and Ben had disappeared from the room. It had raised her suspicions tenfold, so she began wandering around the house to investigate. So far, she had checked both the basement and the living room with no success, so she decided that upstairs would be the next best place to search. She began walking down the hall when she heard a couple voices coming from her brother's room, prompting her to draw near it. When she did, she heard Ben's voice;

"So you're sure you got this, babe?" Ben asked.

Raven raised an eyebrow at that. 'Got what, exactly?' She pressed her ear up against the door as the couple's conversation went on.

"Aw, don't worry, Green Boy." Yang said slyly. "This ain't my first rodeo, you know."

Ben picked it up from there; "Well, yeah, but I'm just warning you now; this part was REALLY hard on my first time."

That got Raven's eyes to widen even more. '…Hard? …First time? Oh god, are they—"

"Oh, I'm sure." Yang continued. "But don't you worry, Goldie Locks is gonna take good care of this guy."

"Well, alright." Ben replied. "Still, he's rather tough."

"How bad could he—WOAH! Okay, he just got bigger!"

Raven's pupils shrunk to the size of peas. 'That tears it! Not under THIS roof!' She quickly grabbed the knob, twisted it, and barged in, her hand going to Omen's handle just in case. "WHAT'S GOING ON IN… here?" But she immediately stopped in midsentence when she saw the exact opposite of what she was expecting; Yang and Ben sitting cross-legged on the floor, a video game controller in her daughter's hand.

The couple had changed into a more comfortable set of clothes; Yang in an orange tank top with black short-shorts and her hair up in a ponytail, while Ben was in a green t-shirt and in a pair of regular black shorts. Admittedly, it was still more skin-on-skin contact than she would've liked, but they were at least both fully clothed, so that was a relief. On the television, she saw a familiar sight; the Batman, who was presently fighting off a large muscle-bound man with a giant tank on his back and wearing a black and white mask, much to her confusion. Yang tilted her head to her mother and greeted her; "Uh… hey, mom. What's up?"

"I… I could have sworn…" Raven put a hand to her head. "Oh dear god, I'm letting my mind play tricks on me."

"Why's that?" Ben asked further. "Something wrong?"

"NO!" Raven insisted. "N-Nothing's wrong, trust me." She focused her eyes back onto the TV, hoping that the on-screen action would help take her mind off of the rather embarrassing headspace she had entered just a few seconds ago. "So… you two are playing the "Batman" game again?"

"Oh, hell yes!" Yang answered as she went back to the game with a smirk. "We JUST booted it up where we left off a couple nights ago. We were planning on gettin' back to it last night, but you know how chaotic yesterday was."

"Yes, I do." Raven pointed to the screen where the large-muscled man was charging at Batman, only for Yang to throw a Batarang at his face. "So who would the steroid monster be?"

"Oh, that's Bane." Ben explained. "He's one of Batman's strongest enemies. He's actually the first Batman villain to really cause major harm to him." Ben stood up and lifted his arms over his head while lifting his foot up onto Qrow's bed, bending his knee into place. "He actually broke Batman's back…" he brought his arms down, "by slamming it over his whole KNEE."

"Well, THAT'S impressive." Raven nodded. "How long was the Batman out of commission?"

"About a year or so." Ben answered as Yang took out one of Bane's venom tubes. "He lost his ability to walk, but regained it because of comic book logic; if there's SOME sort of ailment affecting a major character, it'll eventually get undone… most of the time." The hero sneered slightly as he thought; 'STILL waiting for Marvel to properly undo One More Day.'

"Hmm, I see." Raven put her attention squarely on the TV and sat down on the bed, immediately questioning further; "So why exactly is he attacking you now?"

"He's in on the Joker's plan." Yang said before taking out an attacking grunt. "And now, I gotta stop all of that venom that's being pumped into him." After taking out the grunts, she threw more Batarangs at Bane's head until he became dazed again, allowing her to slice off another of the green tubes on the man's back. "Just gotta take care of one more of those things and we'll be golden!"

Ben clapped his hands and went back to her side. "Good, good! Just keep those Batarangs going, babe, you got this!" After taking down more of the goons, dodging Bane's attacks and throwing more Batarangs in his face, the giant man finally became dazed again after one final run-in with the wall, allowing Yang to cut the last tube. "WOO! First TRY!" He gave Yang a kiss on the cheek and pointed to the PlayStation 3. "Take THAT eleven-year-old me! Your future girlfriend just got Bane on her first try!"

Yang rolled her eyes and put her arm around her boyfriend. "Well, yeah, you were eleven. How many eleven-year-olds do you know that can beat a boss on their first try?"

"Well, yeah, you've got a point." Ben admitted. "But still, it was REALLY frustrating."

"I'm sure." Yang winked at him before going back to the TV where Bane was presenty being buried under a mountain of rubble. Batman used his grappling hook to get out, taking a sewer hatch back out to the outer premises. "Oh, shh! We're getting more story!" Yang whispered.

After Batman entered a special code into his gauntlet to fire up the Batmobile's engine, Commissioner Gordon came up and put a hand onto the Dark Knight's shoulder. "Batman! You okay?"

"I'm fine, Jim." Batman assured as he stood up. "Where's Quinn?"

"Gone! Must have gotten loose while Bane was throwing you around."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Quinn?"

"Harley Quinn." Ben elaborated. "Joker's henchwoman and kind-of girlfriend… theirs is basically the textbook definition of being in a toxic relationship."

Back on screen, Batman continued; "We need to get you off the island."

"I'm not a rookie." Gordon countered. "I can handle myself." However, at that moment, Bane broke through the nearby wall, taking Yang and Raven by surprise.

"Oh c'mon!" the Blonde Brawler exclaimed. "I beat you!"

But Ben gave her a sly grin. "Oh, don't worry, Goldie Locks. Watch this."

He pointed to the screen where Bane had just picked Batman up, holding him in his meaty hands as he shouted in the Caped Crusader's face. "I will BREAK you, Batman!" Bane proclaimed. "Then the bruja!"

But Batman wasn't bothered in the least. "No, Bane. This time, I break YOU." From out of nowhere, the Batmobile suddenly drove into view, surprising Bane enough to loosen his grip on Batman and allow the Dark Knight to kick the larger man's chest, finally freeing him from his grasp. Batman landed with a back flip just as the Batmobile rammed right into Bane, knocking them both right into Gotham Bay. The Batmobile sunk as Batman and Gordon watched on, though a certain mother and daughter were MUCH more vocal about it;

"Holy CRAP!" Yang beamed in amazement. "That was awesome!"

Raven nodded in agreement. "Yes, that was quite the smart move." She quirked an eyebrow down to Ben. "But how did he know that would happen?"

With a knowing smirk, Ben gave her a shrug. "Because he's Batman! He's able to think at least three steps ahead. Hell, if he were here right now and had enough time, I bet he could think up a way to take down Salem… by himself."

"Let's not get carried away here." Raven warned. "This Batman might be good, but he's still only a normal human. At least, I assume that he doesn't have super powers."

"And you'd assume right." Ben confirmed. "But yeah, it'd probably take the whole Justice League to take down Salem." That only got him another raised brow from Raven, though this time, he waved it off. "Ah, I'll tell you about them another time."

On the TV, Batman and Gordon were walking down the dock to a nearby boat, with Batman insisting that the Commissioner leave the island. The seasoned policeman reluctantly agreed, but before he left, he had one last question for Batman; "Bane called Dr. Young "bruja". What does it mean?"

Batman answered as he began walking away; "It's Spanish… for "witch"."

At that, Raven suddenly had a moment of realization; "OH! Is that what Salazar keeps talking about when he calls Salem a "bruja"? I should've recognized that MUCH sooner!" The tribe leader put a hand on her hip. "Well, if Bane was calling this "Dr. Young" a witch, then I imagine that she doesn't have very good bedside manner."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that she wasn't on the up and up." Yang nodded. "She came off as a stone-cold bitch when I first encountered her, so it was kinda obvious, really."

After the cutscene ended, Batman put a finger to the side of his cowl, activating the comm-link inside it. "Oracle, go through the city's computers." he instructed to the woman on the other end. "Pull up all you can find on Dr. Young. I'll go through anything you find once I get to the cave."

"A Batcave?" The woman's voice came out through the speaker. "On Arkham Island?"

"I built it years ago." Batman explained. "It's best to plan ahead for situations like this."

"How'd you manage to keep THIS a secret?"

"It's me, remember?"

Ben gave Raven a cheeky smile as he jabbed a thumb at the screen. "See? I told you!"

Raven narrowed her eyes at the screen. "Alright, granted, he's smart, and he's a pretty good fighter, but there's no way that he can plan out every eventuality, right? Why does he even do this sort of thing anyway? Why fight crime in a bat suit in the first place?"

Both Ben and Yang grimaced at the question. "Well, mom…" Yang started, "Bruce Wayne went through a pretty traumatizing thing when he was a kid. Both of his parents were shot and killed right in front of him in an alleyway, and that pretty much defined him going forward."

"Exactly." Ben affirmed. "It's an iconic story that's been told again and again for over eighty years, and it sticks with pretty much everyone, even if they're not a comic book fan. Batman's been in several tv shows, movies," he gestured to the television again, "and of course, video games. He's an icon, and you can rarely forget something about an icon's backstory. It's the reason why he's got such a strong moral code; no using firearms, no killing."

"I see." Raven laced her fingers together and rested her chin against them as her daughter continued to play the game. "I have to say, the Batman's moral's interest me. Through tragedy, he chose to make himself stronger, but instead of using that strength to assert dominance and kill his enemies, he's chosen to fight to protect others instead."

Yang sent her mother a kind smile. "See? Maybe being strong doesn't mean belittling weaker people after all."

"Perhaps." Raven pursed her lips in thought. "The Batman… how steadfast is he in his morals?"

"Pretty unwavering." Ben answered. "That is, unless it's in the first two Batman movies, but those were made by edgy director; Tim Burton, so that's kind of expected. And then there's his earlier Golden Age appearances, but that's when the character was first being figured out. And even then, those earlier appearances were all retconned into a different "Golden Age" universe called Earth-2, which no longer exists. Also, he's been drugged a few times and he accidentally killed people then, he was changed into a vampire once and killed again, but that was an Elseworlds story." the hero gave Raven a head-tilt. "Really, those are the only instances I can think of."

"So he HAS killed, but not of his own volition or in the main canon." Raven concluded. "Hmm, it seems the Batman is a man of high respect."

"Plus, he's just really freaking cool." Yang added.

But just before the conversation could go any further, Ruby suddenly burst into the room with a happy smile on her face, much to the three's shock. "Ben, Yang, I have some AMAZING news—" However, she then noticed that Raven was there as well, which made her reel back her excitement. "Oh… hi there, Raven."

"Ah, Ruby, you've returned." Raven acknowledged. "So, care to tell us why you just burst in through the door and shouted in our faces?"

Yang quirked an eyebrow at her mother. "You mean like how YOU did earlier, mom?"

Raven sent a similar look back to her daughter while Ruby fought to hide her giggles. "Anyway," the tribe leader grumbled as she faced Ruby again, "what HAVE you been up to? Why all the excitement?"

Ruby managed to keep her giggles down and her smile returned in full. "Oh yeah! I have some great news… but first, I gotta come clean with something." Her smile became nervous and she turned to Ben. "You see…" she twiddled her fingers together, "since yesterday, I've actually started speaking to Swift, and we've hit it off rather well."

Ben's eyes widened at the reveal. "Ruby… have you just made friends with a villain?"

"Rubes, you can't be serious!" Yang paused the game and stood up, disbelief written all over her face. "She tried to destroy Beacon AND almost killed Velvet! Why would you wanna make friends with someone like her?!"

Ruby sighed in frustration. "I knew that you were gonna react like this." She held out her hands in a pleading gesture. "Guys, I know that what she's done is pretty bad, and I have no doubt that what she did back on Earth was probably just as bad, but… she's not a bad person. She's just been doing what she needs to in order to get by." The Hooded Huntress hugged her arms together. "I couldn't imagine what it must be like to live on your own on the streets, but Swift has given me plenty of details. Plus, she's derided for her appearance pretty much everywhere she goes! It's like how a lot of Faunus are treated, and it isn't right!"

"And I agree." Ben nodded. "Both aliens and Faunus really shouldn't be treated like that, but that doesn't excuse her past crimes."

"I know, but she's actually really nice once you get to know her!" Ruby insisted. "I mean, she likes Pokémon for crying out loud!"

"Ruby, I get that you wanna see all of the good in people." Yang placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "And I think that it's really nice that you think Swift can change her ways, but she's going to have to want it too."

"But that's the thing; she does." Ruby smiled and glanced over to Ben. "She wanted me to ask your grandfather about potential parole."

Ben's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously?"

"Don't believe me?" Ruby's smile increased when she pulled something out of her pocket; a small disk-shaped device with a round lens in the middle of it. "Why don't you see what she has to say?"

"Wait! Where'd you get a holo-viewer?" Ben asked.

"Tetrax lent it to me, and now you'll see the reason why…" Ruby pressed a small button on the side of the device and a hologram of Swift popped up from the lens, taking everybody by surprise. Ruby glanced down to the small hologram and gave it a nod. "Okay, you're on."

The hologram of Swift nodded and craned her neck up to Ben. "Hello, Ben Tennyson. Tetrax has graciously allowed me to communicate to you from my cell so that I may plead my case. In short, I would like the chance to qualify for parole. Ruby's been showing so much kindness to me, kindness which I never thought I'd ever see from anybody ever again. And for that, I couldn't be more grateful." She grasped her hands together an gave a slight bow to the hero, though whether she liked doing it was debatable. "Listen, I know that I've done a lot of bad shit in the past, including recently when I almost destroyed that school and nearly killed one of your friends. I don't blame you if you never forgive me for that, but with all of the nice things that Ruby's done for me, I want to start making up for all of the things I've done. I know that it'll take a long time, but I'm willing to go through whatever I need to for a second chance."

As the Aerophibian hybrid made her impromptu testimony, Ben and Yang both listened in contemplation, though the hero couldn't help but still be a bit skeptical. "Swift, your case appears sound, but I'm still a little weary on this. I mean, you've known Ruby for only, what, a day? And she's managed to help you out in that short amount of time?"

"What can I say? The girl has a way with words." Swift jabbed a thumb to her chest. "Besides, I'm not JUST doing this for Ruby. I've got my own personal reasons for doing this too." She gestured to the cell around her, even though the others couldn't see it. "After all, I'd rather be on parole than in this god-forsaken cell. Even if I have to be monitored by the Plumbers twenty-four seven, I'll put up with it so long as I can have SOME sense of freedom."

Yang narrowed her eyes at her. "And how do we know you won't just fly off at the first chance you get?"

"What would be the point?" Swift countered with a shrug. "You guys would just find me and toss me back into the slammer again if I did. I wouldn't be asking like this if I just planned on escaping the second I got out. Who do you think I am, Vilgax?"

Ben deadpanned at the reminder. "No, he's not really all that subtle with his escapes, as we've seen." After pondering over it again for a few more seconds, Ben finally came to a conclusion; "Alright, Swift, if I can convince my grandfather to meet with you and discuss your options for parole, you'll have to comply with what you're given, understand? No funny business."

"I understand." Swift nodded. "And… thank you, Ben."

Yang gave Swift a smirk. "Hope you're ready for this… Swifty."

In return, Swift glared at the Blonde Brawler. "I'm TRYING to be nice here. Please don't tempt me to do otherwise."

"Yeah, sis, not cool." Ruby supported before smiling down to Swift. "Alright, we'll go tell Mr. Tennyson and he'll be there to meet you later today."

"Fanastic!" Swift smiled up to the Hooded Huntress. "Thanks, Ruby, for everything."

Ruby waved to her friend one final time. "No problem. See you soon!" With that, the transmission ended and Ruby pocketed the holo-viewer, facing the powerful couple once again. "See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Maybe." Yang granted. "But I'm still not too sure about all of this." She glanced to her boyfriend with a worried expression. "I'm actually kind of surprised that you allowed it, Ben. Didn't think you'd give her the chance to vouch for herself considering everything she did."

"Well, her situation reminds me of the one that Kevin was in when we were kids." Ben explained. "And I remember all too well what happened to him that summer. Sure, he got better years later, but I could've prevented it if I'd just reached out to him sooner. I don't want anyone to go through something similar." The hero gently grasped his girlfriend's hands and looked her straight in the eye. "Believe me, Yang, I'm as apprehensive about this as you are, but if Swift's truly serious about wanting to change, we can't just toss aside the only chance she might get."

Yang sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I guess you're right. …But if she pulls anything—"

"She won't." Ruby assured. "And I'll make sure that she doesn't."

"You mean the Plumber assigned to her will make sure she won't." Ben corrected. "Sorry, Ruby, but an official Plumber will probably have to check in on her every day to make sure all of her whereabouts are known. We can't take the risk IF she chooses to take advantage of you."

Ruby crossed her arms and turned her head away. "So you don't trust me, then."

"No, Ruby, I trust you completely." Ben pointed out the nearby window towards the direction of the Resolute. "But SHE needs to prove that she can be trusted. It's not as simple as taking her word for it. Even Kevin and I had trust issues when we started working against the Highbreed together."

Ruby was about to argue, but in the end, she had to admit that Ben had a point. She had put her blind trust into Emerald and Mercury when they were at Beacon Academy, and she knew exactly where that had gotten her. She let out a sigh and her shoulders sagged a bit. "Okay, I get it. But I can still be her friend, right?"

"Sure." Ben nodded. "After all, if she's going to go through with this, having friends to help her out would come in handy. Pretty sure if Kev didn't have Gwen and myself back then, he'd be in an even worse place now."

Yang reached out and put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Just… be careful okay, sis? The girl can shoot laser beams from her eyes."

"Yeah, I know, I know." Ruby said with a pat to her sister's hand. "Don't worry, Yang, I got this."

After staying silent for a good while, Raven got up and dusted off her skirt, speaking up to the teens as she strode over to them. "Well, this whole conversation has been quite interesting. While I'm somewhat opposed to the idea of letting a criminal loose, the prospect of having an additional fighter for our battle against Salem is also quite tempting."

Yang raised an eyebrow at that. "Whaddya mean, mom?"

"I'm just saying that having some aerial assistance to the team would be beneficial." Raven rationalized. "Between everyone here, the only ones who can truly fly are Ben, Gwen and Rex. And even then, Gwen doesn't fly all that often. Another set of eyes in the sky would actually come quite in handy."

Ben bobbed his head to the side. "Well… maybe. That is IF she wants to fight with us. Which I doubt since I'm pretty sure she's just apathetic to the whole Salem thing."

"Perhaps." Raven moved around and walked to the door, preparing to leave. "But when she hears of how this could potentially affect both of our worlds, maybe she'll consider joining us as her official… "community service". In any case, I think it's almost time for training, so I'll be heading off with the others." She craned her head back to the couple and gave them a wave. "You two enjoy your game, we'll be back soon." Finally, Raven gave a questioning glance over to the Hooded Huntress. "Are you coming, Ruby?"

"Uh… not today." Ruby shook her head. "I'm going to be escorting Mr. Tennyson to Tetrax's ship. Can't take the chance of him being mauled by Beowolves, you know."

"Hmm, an excellent point." Raven agreed before giving one last wave. "Well then, I'll be off. See you kids later."

"Bye, mom!" Yang called out as her mother went down the stairs. But just as soon as she was out of earshot, the blonde craned her head over to her sister. "You know, it might not hurt to try and get some bonding time with her, Rubes."

"She's your mom." Ruby whispered back. "Besides, it's SUPER awkward!"

"Yeah, but it still probably wouldn't hurt." Ben supported. "She's probably going to be sticking around, after all."

Ruby placed her hands on her hips, slightly irritated at the idea. "Ugh, okay, I'll… I'll try to spend some time with her." She faced the door way and gave them a salute as she left. "But for now, I'm gonna go see your grandpa and tell him what's going on. I'll see you guys soon!"

"Bye, sis." Yang reciprocated before Ruby made her way downstairs. The Blonde Brawler sighed and leaned her head against her boyfriend's shoulder. "Sheesh, I can't believe that it's only ten o'clock." She shifted her eyes up to him. "It's gonna be one of those days, isn't it?"

"With the way the universe works against us, probably." Ben agreed. "But until it happens… Batman?"

Yang nodded against his shoulder. "Batman."

…..

Meanwhile, out in the massive ocean surrounding the city of Vale, a lone passenger boat was approaching the city through the dense fog that had covered the water level, though thankfully there was a still-functioning lighthouse to guide them through it. On said boat, though, were three figures standing at the bow of the ship, gazing out to the nearly ruined city itself as it appeared through the fog. They all wore dark cloaks to mask their appearance, though they were still somewhat distinguishable from one another.

The first and foremost figure was standing in the middle, tall, imposing and with very broad shoulders. They held their head up high as Vale came into view, speaking not long after; "So, we've finally arrived." the figure spoke, revealing a rather gruff and husky masculine voice. "Vale. It's been a while since we stepped foot in this city."

A second figure stepped forward, which just so happened to be the second-tallest among them. They were also much less broad shouldered than the first, and had a much gentler voice; "Yes, it has." a woman spoke from beneath her hood. "So it seems that the news was true. I cannot believe how much of this city was destroyed by the Grimm."

The third and final figure spoke up, revealing another girl's voice, though this one was higher pitched and younger-sounding than the one before it; "Pft, couldn't have happened to a better place, if you ask me."

The first woman turned to her compatriot and began to dismiss the comment politely. "Oh, come now. Vale isn't a perfect kingdom, but no place deserves to be overrun by Grimm THIS badly." She cupped her hands together and prayed silently. "Especially when we have allies and loved ones in that city."

The other girl paused for a brief moment before sighing, choosing to let go of the subject for now. "You're right, we have other, more important things to focus on now." She craned her head over to the hooded man and asked; "So, what's our first priority? Adam… or Blake?"

The man waited for a bit before giving his answer. "…Well, hopefully they'll both be in the same place. We know that Blake was at Beacon, but considering what you told us about the White Fang's whereabouts in the city, maybe she could have fled there in the chaos."

"Yeah, maybe." The girl emphasized. "But considering that she left them, she probably doesn't have the best relationship with 'em right now."

"She has a point." The first woman sighed. "Still, what choice do we have? We can't just wander around the city until we find them. We have to go to the given location first and hope that Adam and rest of the White Fang are still there. It's our only chance to get help."

"And what if they don't WANT to help?" the hooded girl countered. "Remember who we're dealing with here?"

The man breathed out through his nostrils. "Yes, Adam CAN be quite… extreme. But we can only hope that hearing of what's been happening back home will sway him to join us." He walked over to the guardrail and clenched onto it. "And if he doesn't…" he tightened his grip on the rail, "then that could leave us with only one option."

"You can't SERIOUSLY still be considering that!" the young girl piped up before being shushed by the woman. The girl complied, but went into a harsh whisper instead. "Asking the Valian military for help will just cause even MORE problems. Plus, what makes you think they'll even listen to us? We're—"

"In desperate need of help." The man finished, interrupting the girl midsentence. "I know that you don't like the option… and neither do I. But if we want to free our homeland from the tyrannical insurgents who tore it away from us, we must consider ALL of our options, no matter how drastic they are." He let out another sigh before gazing back out to Vale, the city growing ever nearer. "For now, we must focus on finding the White Fang's base in this city… and hopefully Blake as well."

…..

A/N: Ooh, now what do we have here? Three mysterious individuals who are searching for the White Fang… and they seemingly don't know that Adam has been imprisoned. Wonder who they could be? And what do they want with Blake? Hmm… but hey, we got more time in Arkham Asylum with Raven along for the ride, so there's that! Also, it seems like Swift wants to turn over a new leaf! Will Max grant her parole? Well, all of those questions and more will have to be answered… NEXT TIME! But, before we get to that, it's time for the little announcement that I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. As usual, I'll be posting the next chapter next Friday, but after that, I'm going to be taking the week of Christmas off. I'll of course be spending a lot of time with my family that week, and after updating for pretty much every week this year, I definitely need a break. It's been a serious blast writing this story, but after next week, I need to recharge my batteries a bit. So again, after the next chapter, Christmas week will be a break week. But of course, I'll be back in the first January of the new decade!

Now… NEXT TIME! As Raven supervises the team's training session and adding her input to a few things, Ruby and Max head back to Tetrax's ship to see Swift about her potential parole. Meanwhile, in the city of Vale, our mysterious trio manage to locate the White Fang's base of operations… and with it, a rather dangerous surprise. Thanks for reading everybody! See ya!