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.)

71. Fangs for Nothing

A/N: Hey there guys! Happy Holidays to you all! And what better way to preemptively celebrate than with a new chapter? The final chapter of the year, in fact! So, let's close off the decade right, shall we? This is…

Chapter 71: Fangs for Nothing

…..

As she and the rest of the team made their way into the training arenas inside Mount Patch, Blake couldn't help but have an odd feeling cropping up in the back of her mind. Not just because of the fact that this was the first time Raven was accompanying them on a training session, but also for something else entirely. The only problem was… she couldn't place exactly what it was. 'Something just doesn't feel right.' she remarked in her head. As Rex, Weiss and Penny took the field, Winter and Athena, with the addition of Raven, went to the side of the arena. And of course, everyone else went to the bleachers, though when Blake sat down, she made sure to give Sun a small nudge. "Hey." she whispered.

Sun smiled back and winked to her. "Hey yourself. What's up? Your coat holding up okay?"

"Yes, actually." Blake eyed the coat sleeve that had been torn the day before, the fabric having been patched up with the new addition of her signature symbol on the sleeve. "Thanks for helping with that, by the way. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." She shifted her eyes back and forth before giving him a questioning glance. "Does something feel… off to you?"

Sun thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Not really, no. Why, you feel somethin' weird goin' on?"

"Well, sort of." Blake shrugged. "It feels like something important is going to happen, but I just can't get a hold of what it's supposed to be."

"Ah, I getcha. I get that feeling all the time." Sun put a finger to his chin. "Usually back at Haven whenever I had a big test but forgot about it the night before. Then I'd cram as much as I possibly could all night and hope to god that I'd pass." He saw Blake give him a deadpan expression, to which he let out a nervous laugh. "Uh, hehe, well at least nine times outta ten, I'd pass."

Blake raised a single brow. "I'm guessing more B's than A's?"

"Well, B pluses, actually."

The cat girl sighed and ruffled her boyfriend's hair. "When we go back to school, I am SO tutoring you."

Sun initially smiled at the gesture, but then he comprehended what she had just told him. "Wait, you'd REALLY tutor me?!"

Blake nodded with a grin. "Sure, why would I?" She inched closer to him and pressed her shoulder against his. "You're my boyfriend, and I don't want you to fail. Or worse, have to take the entire class over again." She prodded a finger against his chest. "And if you somehow manage to fail ALL of your classes, then that's going to be even worse."

"Good point," the monkey boy gave her an apprehensive face, "but I think you're forgetting that my team and I go to Haven Academy."

The cat ears on Blake's head folded back when she was reminded of that fact. "Oh… yeah. I guess I DID forget." She gave him a small smile and a shrug. "I guess I was just so used to you guys being at Beacon for the Vytal Tournament."

"Can't blame you there." Sun reached around and pulled Blake into a hug. "But I'm gonna let you in on a little secret." He cupped his hand and whispered into her ear; "Neptune and I've been talking about it for a while now, but he and I are thinking that it'd be a good idea if we transferred to Beacon."

Blake's smile returned and her cat ears perked up. "Really? That's great!" she whispered back. But then, something else came back into her mind; "Wait… what about Scarlet and Sage? Have you discussed this with them?"

"Well, we were kinda starting to talk about it a few months back, but we never made any headway with it." Sun explained. "But now that we've got this whole big team being formed, I think it'd be best if we should transfer here." He grinned and set his forehead against hers. "Of course, the fact that you and I are officially together now is the biggest factor in all of this."

"And I'm honored." Blake leaned up and pecked his cheek. "But remember, studies come before pleasure. And if you're serious about transferring to Beacon when it reopens, then I hope that you're ready to take on all of the responsibilities that come with it."

"Trust me, Blake, I've never been more serious about something in my entire life." He grasped both of her hands with his own, locking her eyes with his. "I want this all to work out, and if I have to put myself to the grindstone to do it, then I'll study until the pages burn."

"You're commitment's impressive." Blake said with a smirk. "But let's not get carried away here. Books are seriously expensive."

"Don't I know it?" Sun shrugged. "I mean sheesh, almost three-hundred Lien a pop, maybe even more sometimes? Why charge that much for info in a book that's probably all online anyways?"

Overhearing the conversation, Gwen craned her head around and held up two fingers. "Two words, Sun; used books. That is, assuming that your educational system works like ours." The Anodite turned around in her seat and began explaining. "Here's the thing; when students are done with their old text books for the semester, they often just sell them to someone who needs it. Thing is, since the publishers make zilch off of used books, they publish new ones every year with new info in it. And even if it's just the tiniest bit of new information, the school requires you to buy them for their classes."

Sun's eyes widened at that. "So… it's basically all a big scam."

"Precisely! But of course, there are a multitude of other reasons, and believe it or not, some of them are even scummier than what I just told you." Gwen's shoulders sagged and she let out a defeated sigh. "But, I suppose that's what college does. It sucks the life AND money out of you in exchange for good education. A small part of me misses grade school because of that."

Kevin gave his girlfriend a supportive pat on her back. "And this is why I didn't want to go to college. Now heads up, they're starting."

Out in the middle of the arena, Rex was facing Penny head on and, oddly enough, he had a toaster slung underneath his arm for some reason. For what, the other teens didn't know. Even the adults were confused as Rex presented the toaster to Penny with an eager smile. "Alright, Pen. Today'll be day two of figuring out just what the hell Ben and I did to ya."

"Good, because after yesterday, I thoroughly need it." Penny nodded. "But… how exactly is a toaster supposed to help me with that?"

"Easy! We're gonna test out your Mechamorph abilities!" Rex placed the toaster down and began pacing back and forth as he lectured on. "Now, from what Ben's been able to tell me, Galvanic Mechamorphs can merge themselves with ANY piece of technology, even if it doesn't have electronics inside of it." He put a hand to his chest. "Hell, they can even merge with organics with mechanical powers, like me."

A few feet away from the two, Weiss mumbled; "Because that isn't the weirdest thing to happen ever."

Rex managed to hear her and countered; "No, but it IS in my top five. Number two, in fact. Right in front of the bird fight from last night." The EVO shook his head before going on. "Anyways, the fact that Penny might be able to merge the living metal that's inside her body with different machines is a pretty big deal, so there's really only one thing to do…" Rex activated a Smack Hand and crushed the toaster, reducing it to scrap metal. "Test it!"

Over on the sidelines, everyone was agape at how sudden the action was, but Raven merely gazed down impassively at the broken machine. She looked back up to Rex and raised an eyebrow while pointing to the pile of broken parts. "…Was that Tai's toaster?"

"You bet your blade it was!" Rex stated proudly.

Weiss' hands went to her head in shock. "REX! What've you done?! Tai's gonna flip when he finds out!"

But Rex held up a finger. "Ah, but he won't! Because Penny's gonna fix it for us!"

Penny blinked twice in confusion. "Uh… I am?"

"Yep! Galvanic Mechamorphs not only have the ability to take over and copy a bunch of machines, but they can fix 'em too." Rex gestured down to the toaster's remains. "Now, all we gotta do is figure out how to get your living metal to do its thing."

"Well, it's still only on the inside of my body." Penny emphasized. "So in order to use it… I may have to remove one of my body parts."

Weiss slightly winced, as did the rest of the crowd. "We're not going to have to cut off any of your arms or legs, are we?"

"Well, let me see…" Penny raised her right arm and held it up horizontally at her side. She then grabbed her wrist and twisted it, a soft clicking noise being heard soon after. Her right hand suddenly went limp and a smile appeared on her face; "Ah-ha! Yep, it still works!" In one fell movement, Penny pulled her entire arm out of her sleeve, much to everyone's shock. "See?"

The reaction was mixed. Weiss screamed bloody murder as Rex, Ren, Sun and Blake stared dumbfoundedly at the arm. Jaune and Neptune's faces had become a sickly shade of green while Pyrrha and Nora winced slightly at the memory of what happened the day before. Gwen, Kevin and Raven, however, didn't have much of a reaction. The three had seen things like that far too many times for it to be shocking anymore. Down on the arena's edge, Winter blinked in astonishment, and Athena's jaw had dropped to the floor, though she managed to regain herself a moment later. "Well… hah, that was quite… interesting." The Mistralian Huntress clapped her hands to get everybody back on track. "Now, why don't we move onto the experiment, shall we?"

"Uh, yeah, good idea." Rex agreed before placing a hand onto Weiss' shoulder, which got her to stop screaming momentarily. "Ice Princess, you're good. It's just a lifeless arm."

"I know, but it's SO creepy!" Weiss grimaced. "Robotic limbs are one thing, but when they're THAT life-like, it's so… strange!"

Penny shrugged before putting her arm on the ground. "Yeah, maybe, but at least it's painless! I mean, I don't even feel any—WHOA!" Suddenly, a long, black tendril with multiple green lines all over it burst out from her sleeve, taking everyone by surprise. "AH! Okay, THIS was not predicted!"

Rex's eyes widened. "Oh boy, that's living metal." The EVO darted his eyes around before finally realizing something. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted; "Penny! It probably wants the scrap metal! Get it closer and maybe it'll stop!"

"Okay!" As she struggled against the writhing tendril, Penny stepped toward what was left of the toaster, and sure enough, it became much calmer when she did. Finally, she moved the tendril toward the scrap and said; "There! Is THAT what you want?" Apparently, it was, because in an instant, the scrap of the toaster was glomped on by the tendril, which had expanded out into a large, blobby mass as it absorbed the scrap into itself. As the blob contorted and undulated, making Penny and everyone else grow more and more worried, it suddenly stopped just a few seconds after it began and reshaped itself again into that of an arm… with a toaster where its hand should be. "Uh… what?"

"Huh, well, it worked." Rex concluded.

Weiss nodded slowly. "Yeah, but… what now?"

"Now, to test!" Rex reached into his pocket and pulled out two slices of bread before stepping over to Penny. "Alright, now this may feel a bit weird, so if you wanna stop, tell me, okay?" Penny gave him a nod, allowing Rex to go through with it. He slipped the pieces of bread into the slots and pulled the lever down, beginning the toasting process. Oddly enough though, the burners inside of the toaster glowed green. "Alright, now all we have to do is wait, and… what the hell?"

The toaster and Penny's arm began shaking, the android quick to aim it away from everyone else. "Uh, Rex, I think something might be—" BLAM! In a split second, both pieces of bread blasted out of the toaster and toward the far wall, along with a green laser beam. Both hit the wall with a great amount of force, the laser embedding the bread as it made impact. Once the green light had dissipated, the whole group could see that the bread had indeed been toasted… into a fine charcoal black. Plus, it was glowing green, which made Penny do a double take. "Uh… I don't think that toast is safe to eat."

Weiss' eye twitched at the display. "Rex, you and Penny have just made death toast."

Rex rubbed the back of his head. "And here I thought I was getting better at cooking. Ah, well, back to the drawing board." Rex activated his BFS and changed it to its Battle Saw mode, going over to the death toast to take care of it. "Okay, time to rid the world of THIS sin against breakfast."

Penny focused on to the toaster and concentrated on it, making her living metal release the kitchen appliance with a single thought. The device had fortunately been repaired, and she quickly set it back down on the ground before anything else could happen. "Okay, well, I suppose that this experiment was a success?"

"If you can call contaminated toast a success, then yeah." Jaune said as he and Pyrrha stepped onto the field. "Maybe it's time we move onto just sparring before anything ELSE gets turned into a biohazard."

After Penny reattached her arm, Pyrrha went over and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. "It was a rather interesting show, Penny. It may not have gone as intended, but at least you figured out that you DO have Upgrade's powers. Now you just need to learn how to control them at a… safer distance."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Penny glanced over to Rex as he began cutting the toast out of the wall, though the EVO was shocked that his blade couldn't even pierce the toast itself. "I just hope that we can remove that stuff from the premises easily."

Rex suddenly switched from his sword to his Smack Hands, grabbing the toast and holding it as far away from his body as possible. "I'll be right back!" With that, he ran out of the arena, carrying the unsafe foodstuff with him.

Weiss facepalmed and shook her head. "Why is it always like this for us? EVERY DAY!"

Penny picked the toaster up and went over to the heiress, leading her off of the arena. "Come on, Weiss, let's just relax while Jaune and Pyrrha take the floor."

As the two girls went to take their seat, Raven shifted her eyes over to Winter with a questioning gaze. "Is it always like this with every training session?"

"No, sometimes it's much stranger." The elder Schnee answered. "If you had been here for yesterday's training, then you would probably agree."

Back on the arena floor, Jaune and Pyrrha took their places at the separate ends of the stage, giving each other knowing smiles as they did. "Alright, Jaune," Pyrrha began as she drew Milo in its xiphos mode, "whoever wins this will decide the next date, agreed?"

"Yep." Jaune said as he pulled Crocea Mors from its sheath before changing it into shield mode. "But no matter what, I'm gonna be paying if we need to."

"What?! Oh come now, Jaune, let's be fair here." Pyrrha rebutted. "Whoever loses should pay if need we need to spend money."

"Pyr, I'm very touched by the offer, but I'm MORE than happy to pay for any date we go on." Jaune put a hand to his chest. "It's okay, really. I've got everything covered."

"And I understand, but it's not fair if you have to pay for the date that YOU choose if you win." Pyrrha insisted. "If I lose, I'm GOING to pay for the date that you choose."

Over on the side lines, Raven let out a yell of frustration. "AGH! Enough of this!" With a spring in her step, the tribe leader climbed up onto the arena and stepped in between the couple. "This is a spar, NOT a lover's quarrel. If you both insist on keeping the whole date thing a factor in this, then I suppose that I have no other choice." Raven faced Jaune head on and gave him a serious face. "I will be your opponent instead, Jaune."

"WHAT?!" the couple exclaimed in unity before Jaune continued; "You can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am." Raven smiled slyly. "Besides, I wanted to see if the son of Jonathan Arc is at least capable of handling himself." She faced Pyrrha and nodded toward her. "And if the both of you wish to settle your date arrangements later, then you two can still go at it after I'm done with him."

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at the older woman. "Phrasing, Raven." she replied quietly.

But Raven simply rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you know what I mean." With that, she unsheathed Omen and faced Jaune again, ready to get the spar underway. "Now don't hold back, Jaune. Allow me to see just what you're capable of."

"Uh, sure." Jaune readied his combat stance as Pyrrha stepped over toward him, and he gave her an apologetic gaze. "Hey, sorry about all of this. If I hadn't made such a stink about paying, we probably wouldn't be in this right now."

"Oh, it's alright." Pyrrha assured with a quick kiss. "I just want you to do your best against her." She gave him a wink before saying; "And make sure she knows not to mess with the Arc Family."

"Heh, you got it." Jaune chuckled.

As Pyrrha left the arena, Raven spoke up across the field; "I suggest that you change your blade into its greater form, Jaune. I have a few techniques to show you that work better with a longer sword."

"Uh, alright, I guess." In one fell movement, Jaune pulled his shield off his arm and slid it onto his blade, changing Crocea Mors into its greatsword mode. "Alright, Raven, fair is fair, so let's get going!" Jaune shifted his eyes over to Athena, giving the Mistralian Huntress a thumbs up. "Alright, Athena, we're good to go."

"Oh… very well." Athena raised her arm and declared; "This practice spar between Jaune and Raven will now get underway! I would just like to remind the combatants that under absolutely NO circumstance will there be any bone breaking, maiming or—"

"I GET the point, Red." Raven called over. "Could we maybe get on with the fight this century?"

Athena couldn't help but grumble in irritation, but still, she kept her composure. "Very well, then." She brought her arm down, allowing the match to start. "Begin now!"

With two hands gripped firmly on his sword, Jaune ran forward and readied his first swing. Meanwhile, Raven widened her stance while keeping Omen at her side, also with two hands gripping its handle. "Let's see how ya handle this!" With that, Jaune brought Crocea Mors up and made a downward strike, though what happened next, he couldn't have possibly predicted. Raven quickly swung Omen up and met his strike with her own back-handed one before she reached up and grabbed one of his wrists. "Wha—AGH!" In one jerk, Raven twisted his wrist and forced Crocea Mors out of his hands before pulling him down to the ground. She quickly brought Omen in with her other hand, the flat of its blade going right up to his neck.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha cried out as she rushed back onto the arena.

Gwen stood up and her hands began glowing, ready to cast a magic spell. "Raven! Stop this right—"

"STAY CALM!" Raven snapped back. "Ugh, you kids are so paranoid!" She let go of Jaune and he landed on his rear, none the worse for wear. "See? He's fine." She stepped away and pointed her sword toward him. "But if it was one of SALEM'S underlings, they wouldn't hesitate to deal a finishing blow. THIS is how the enemy will eventually fight you in the future, children. Be they Grimm or man, Salem's forces won't hesitate to kill you. So you must learn to expect this kind of underhanded trickery, or else it'll cost you your lives."

But Pyrrha was quick to rebuke her. "But that's no reason to—"

"Pyr, wait." Jaune said calmly as he stood up. His girlfriend looked at him in shock as he continued. "As much as I was scared to hell and back by that, Raven might just have a point. We're not gonna resort to killing, but our enemy WILL. So if they pull something like what Raven just pulled on me, then we need to be ready for it."

"I understand that, Jaune." Pyrrha stepped over to him to make sure that he was truly alright. "But don't you think that this is a little extreme?"

Raven suddenly let out a laugh. "Ahaha! Oh, honey, if you this THIS is extreme, you don't even wanna KNOW what else I'm capable of."

Ignoring the woman's outburst, Jaune pulled Pyrrha into an embrace. "Pyr, I get that this isn't the kind of sword play that we're used to, but we're not just dealing with Grimm anymore."

"I know, it's just…" Pyrrha took a deep breath and she locked eyes with him again. "You're right, this ISN'T what I had in mind when I started tutoring you on swordplay. But if Salem's forces ARE going to use tactics like that, then I guess we'll have to learn to deal with them." She sent a glare over in Raven's direction. "Just… try to keep it under control."

Raven raised an eyebrow at her. "You're never going to fully trust me, are you?"

"Unless some miracle happens, no." Pyrrha turned back up to Jaune and gave him a nod. "Just be safe, okay?" Jaune returned the nod and the two separated once again, with raising her hand up into the air as she walked off the arena. "Continue!"

Jaune sighed through his nostrils as he thought to himself. 'I know that you're worried about all of this, Pyr, but I don't plan on losing any of you ever again. If I have to learn how to break the bad guys' bones along the way, then so be it.' He took a deep breath and readied his sword again, facing Raven with a determined expression. "Alright, Raven, I'm ready this time!"

"Are you now?" Raven smirked as she drew Omen once more. "Then let's begin again, shall we?" With her words, the two began sparring once again, with Jaune keeping an eye on Raven's movements.

Just as the fight continued, Rex came back in and dusted off his hands before going back over to the bleachers. "Hey guys! I'm back!" He sat down next to Weiss and concentrated on the battle field. "So, what did I miss?"

"Oh, nothing much." Weiss said in exasperation. "Jaune's just getting schooled by the queen of mean tactics over there." The heiress jerked her thumb over to the arena, where Jaune had gotten subdued by Raven yet again, making the fight start over once more. "So, did you take care of the death toast?"

"Oh yeah, chucked that son of a bitch as hard as I could." Rex stated proudly. "No idea where it ended up, but really, I don't care."

Nora poked her head around Weiss and asked; "Well, what if a wild animal comes around and eats it? It'll probably die in an instant."

"No wild animal is dumb enough to eat something as toxic as THAT, trust me." Rex glanced over the bleachers, taking a head count of who was there. He quickly noticed that one of their usual crew was missing. "Hey, where's…" But then he remembered the reason why just as fast. "Oh, wait, that's right! Ruby said that she and Max were goin' to Tetrax's ship, didn't she?"

Weiss narrowed her eye skeptically at him. "Your amnesia kicking in, Robo-dolt?"

"Eh, sometimes I just blank on a few things." Rex shrugged. "I wonder why they went there, though."

"I think it was something about seeing one of the prisoners, if I remember correctly." Ren recalled. "I also think I heard the word "parole" being thrown around a few times."

Neptune whirled his head around at the word. "Wait, parole? As in "letting one of those psychopaths out" kind of parole? What in the hell could they be thinking?!"

"I've gotta agree." Sun supported. "Besides, don't you have to be on REALLY good behavior in order to even qualify for parole? I mean, seriously, which one of those bad guys in there could get a get-out-of-jail-free card besides Argit?"

Kevin crossed his arms without taking his eyes off of the spar between Jaune and Raven. "No clue, but I'm wonderin' if it has anything to do with Ruby." He raised an eyebrow over to them. "After all, if she didn't have a stake in it, why go with Max in the first place?"

Blake's lips parted in realization. "Wait… you're not saying that she might've made a connection with one of those bad guys, do you?"

"Maybe so." Gwen admitted. "But we're going to have to amend that a little, Blake. At the moment, there are six villains on that ship… and one juvenile delinquent." Gwen bit her lip in apprehension. "I have a feeling that I know who Ruby might've made friends with."

…..

Not far away from the mountain, in a certain clearing out in the middle of the woods, Ruby Rose and Max Tennyson made their way to the Resolute, walking out of the underbrush and toward the ship itself. Ruby had to admit, she was really surprised by how the old Plumber didn't seem to be breaking a sweat. Her father, sister and herself would often take this path to visit her mother's grave, and even then, her dad would get winded both ways. But Max wasn't deterred. In fact, he had a smile on his face and his grip held tight to his hiking stick while he kept a binder full of papers in the other, much to her amazement. "Wow, Mr. Tennyson, I can't believe that you aren't the least bit tired after all that." Ruby commented.

Max let out a chuckle and he craned his head to her. "Well, when you get to be my age, it's important to stay active, you know."

"I guess so. But I'm still really impressed." Ruby smiled. "How have you stayed so lively at your age?"

"Hehe, it's a mix of a lust for life and a happy accident." Max explained. "You see, some years ago, back on that infamous summer break…"

"Where Ben got the Omnitrix?"

"Exactly." Max confirmed. "As you've probably been told, on that summer break, we had our fair share of adventures. And one of those adventures just so happened to involve me being changed back into a ten-year-old boy."

Ruby blinked in shock. "Wait, WHAT?! How is that possible?!"

"Oh, just a little magic water from the Fountain of Youth." Max elaborated. "What I used to think of as a pure myth fabricated by one of the world's most famous explorers was actually a real thing." The old man began explaining as they entered the Resolute, its ramp having lowered for them. "You see, about five hundred or so years ago, a man by the name Juan Ponce de Leon traveled to the state of Florida to find the fountain, but every book in history says that he never found it."

"…But he actually did?" Ruby guessed as they boarded the elevator up to the main floor.

"Exactly. He left one of his people behind to guard it, a man by the name Hector if I recall correctly. Hector actually used the water in a dunk tank, one that I volunteered to be dunked in to entertain my grandchildren." Max chuckled at the memory. "Hehe, he REALLY didn't think that anybody would actually be dunked."

"So how long did it take for you to change back?"

"About a day, actually. But when I did, I felt better than I had in years. Heh, my eyesight even cleared up after that." Max's brow suddenly furrowed when he remembered what else happened that day. "Hmm, but still, I can't help but think of what happened to Hector after the fountain ended up getting destroyed."

"Oh my gosh!" Ruby said in shock. "Who did it?"

"A sorcerer named Hex." Max answered. "I think Ben and Gwen might have told you about him once or twice already. He was actually seeking the water for himself to keep himself young, but we managed to stop him. Though the fountain was evaporated entirely after Ben's tantrum."

"Uh… tantrum?"

"Oh, haha, that's right, I forgot to mention, Ben got some of the water on himself too." Max put his hand halfway down his shin. "He was de-aged into a little four-year-old. Gwen got the idea to taunt him enough for him to have a meltdown, and all of the water in the Fountain of Youth evaporated in an instant."

Ruby stifled a laugh before letting it all out. "Ahaha! Oh, oh my gosh, that is hilarious! I've got to remember to tell Yang that!" Once Ruby got all of her laughter out, she concentrated back on the story as the elevator made it to the main floor. They stepped out and made their way to the brig, but Ruby still had one last question lingering in her mind; "So, what do you think happened to Hector?"

"…I like to think that he's led a full life." Max answered. "After four-hundred years, I believe he was looking forward to a good rest." The old Plumber waved his hand with a somber smile. "Ah, but let's not think of things like that right now. We've got more important things to worry about. Now remember, we're here on business, so let's treat it as such, okay?"

"Uh… okay?" Ruby tilted her head. "But, just HOW does one treat Plumber business?"

"Very crucially, Ruby, especially when it comes to parole." Max gave her a serious gaze and followed up with; "I know that you and Swift have made fast friends and you're the one pulling for this, but it's important to not let your emotions get in the way of business, understand?"

Ruby nodded in agreement. "Alright, I understand, Mr. Tennyson. I'll keep my emotions in check."

Just then, the brig door opened, revealing Argit on the other side. He shifted a questioning glance from Max to Ruby before asking; "Well, what're you waitin' for, an invitation? C'mon, Tetrax is waitin' for ya in the back." He jerked his thumb in said direction before turning around and heading that way, leaving Ruby and Max behind.

Ruby pursed her lips in slight frustration. "Could I at least express how annoyed I am with a certain rat?"

Max smiled and gave a supportive pat to Ruby's shoulder with a chuckle. "Hahaha, oh don't worry, Ruby. We ALL get irritated with Argit. That's just how he is."

With that, the two followed Argit until he stopped where Tetrax was waiting for them, the rodent alien leaving not a second later. The Petrosapien was standing directly next to Swift's cell, the Aerophibian hybrid leaning up against the back wall. There were three chairs set directly in front of the cell itself, no doubt for the three of them. Tetrax stepped forward and extended a hand to the old Plumber. "Max, glad you could come by on such short notice."

"Ah, it's not like I'm busy with anything." Max said as he shook Tetra's hand. "The kids are doing most of the work these days, after all." He shifted his eyes over to Swift, greeting her with a smile as he walked over and sat down in the middle chair. "And hello to you, Swift. I must say, it's been a while since we've spoken. Last I recall, it was when Ben initially brought you in."

"Yeah, what a memory THAT was, huh?" Swift said sarcastically. "All things aside though, I'm grateful that you would give me the time to make my case, Magister Tennyson. I know that I cannot take back my past transgressions, but I suppose the least I can do is to try and make up for them."

"Good, that's a great first step." Max supported as Ruby and Tetrax sat down on either side of him. The old Plumber opened the binder that he brought, which contained a bunch of different forms and paperwork. "Now, before we proceed with your case, there ARE some questions that I'm legally required to ask you."

"Go on ahead." Swift obliged. "Just so long as it's not too personal."

"Just a simple background check." Max assured. "Nothing too deep or confidential. Now, let's start with what you were charged with when you were arrested; running away from home, multiple forms of battery and assault, the defacing and damaging of public property, stealing goods and valuables, and finally resisting arrest." He glanced up to her with a neutral face. "…Does this sound correct?"

With every read of her misdeeds, aside from the first one, Swift cringed more and more, a guilty face having taken over her features. "Y-Yeah, that's sounds about right. And that was all before I revealed who I really was."

"I see." Max flipped a few pages before going on. "Now, after going over your record, it says that you spent almost a year in a youth detention center, correct?"

"Psh, yeah, I was in juvie." Swift scoffed. "Those kids there were assholes."

"And from what I've read, I suppose that a few of them provoked you to attack them, right?"

Swift swallowed hard and folded her arms across her chest. "Y-Yes, but only because they attacked me first. I was wearing an ID mask at the time, so no one knew who I was. But then… one of the bigger guys shoved me and the mask came off, exposing my actual appearance." As she recounted the story, Swift huddled herself down on the ground, her face hardening into a scowl. "At first, they were confused and shocked, some of them scared for their life. But then, that same asshole called me a freak, and he started pointing and laughing at me."

Ruby's hand went to her mouth as she let out a gasp. "Oh my gosh."

"It gets worse, Rubes. Soon, a lot of the other guys and some of the tough girls began doing the same, some of them even kicking and spitting at me." Swift clutched her arms and screwed her eyes shut as she recalled how cruel the other teens were to her. "I tried screaming for help, but none of the correctional officers came, and I knew that they probably wouldn't even if I kept asking. I was a freak to all of the humans in that place, plain and simple. I was scared, even fearful for my life."

"And I'm very sorry that you had to be put through something like that, Swift." Max empathized. "No one should ever be subjected to things like that. But at the same time, what you did afterwards was still quite… questionable."

"I know." Swift nodded solemnly. "My father always told me to not use my powers in public, and that had stuck in the back of my mind for my whole life." She took a brief pause as her voice began to choke up slightly, but she kept going on a few seconds later. "But… but then I remembered; I hated him now, so I had no trouble breaking that rule. I blasted them all away and flew out the nearest window, finally free from the shackles that mask put me under."

"And all of those kids had severe third degree burns as a result." Max concluded. "You're lucky that you didn't kill them."

"I had no intention of killing them, I just wanted them off of me!" Swift started crying, tears of sadness falling from her eyes. "Besides… if I didn't blast them away, they would have KILLED me! And if not them, then the guards probably would have instead!"

Max took in a deep breath and put a hand to his forehead. "Honestly Swift… as much as I don't like to say it, I wouldn't have been surprised if they DID try."

Ruby sent a worried gaze to Max. "Is it really THAT bad?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Max affirmed. "Humans at large still see aliens as something to combat and destroy. They've let the science fiction genre plant that idea inside of their heads, and they still have trouble accepting that it's not entirely the case." The old Plumber flipped through the paperwork again as he continued; "I had hoped that Ben's secret getting out would help the world realize that most aliens aren't that much of a threat, but if anything, it's just gotten worse every time one of Ben's enemies attacks."

"And people like that Will Harangue human doesn't help matters much." Tetrax said as he crossed his arms. "If I was an organic being, I'd probably be ill just by listening to his insane ramblings."

"That man is a slug of a human being." Swift concurred. "Utter slime."

It was at that point where Max steered back the conversation. "Alright, let's get back on track here." After a moment of writing a few things down, he went back to Swift. "So, after you broke out of the detention center, you were on the run for a few months, but then you showed up in Bellwood and started attacking from out of the blue."

"Yeah, I met an alien named Psyphon who said he would get me a bunch of Taydens and a ride off-planet if I could lure Ben Tennyson out into the open." Swift raised an eyebrow to Max. "But then again, I already told you this part when you first arrested me, so I probably don't have to go over it again, do I?"

"No, you're right." Max confirmed. "Because after you told us that, we all stayed on our toes for a good few months. We've dealt with Psyphon many times before, and knowing him, I wouldn't have been surprised if it was an elaborate scheme to get Vilgax out of prison." He put a hand to his chin in thought. "Still, we never found him after you told us about him."

"Well, that's just dandy, isn't it?" Swift remarked. "And Vilgax's breakout was, what, about three months after I got arrested? Pfft, to think, all Psyphon had to do was freaking wait." She stood up and placed her hands on our hips. "Alright, we've got my criminal record out of the way, so what do I have to do to qualify for parole?"

"Well, firstly, your case for parole has to hold up in intergalactic law." Max turned to a different page and began reading it. "Now, your file states that your sentence was an estimated twenty-five years for the multiple cases of assault, plus the property damage and escape from the detention center which add onto that."

Swift stared at him in disbelief after hearing that. "That long? Oh god, please no." She put her hands to her head as she reeled back. "Magister Tennyson, please, I don't know if I can last that long inside of a cell!"

"Swift, please, calm down." Ruby stood up and went over to the cell, giving her a smile. "That's what we're here for, remember?"

The Aerophibian girl took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, regaining her composure. "I-I know, I'm sorry." She wiped her eyes again as tears threatened to fall from them again. "I think I just worked myself up so much from telling that story from juvie, I… I thought I'd lost it for a second there."

"It's alright, Swift, I understand." Max assured. "But there IS some good news in all of this; you actually already have some requirements to qualify for parole. You've been generally well behaved within our prison, and the only reason you escaped was because of an accident. Plus, you've never killed anyone in your life, so that's good." But as he looked over the records, he remembered what Swift did at Beacon just a few days ago. "Oh, uh… but you did almost kill Velvet back at Beacon, and that was intended, wasn't it?"

Swift placed her forehead in her right hand. "Dear god, I'm screwed."

"NOT if we get a testimony from her." Max pointed out. "If we can get a solid testimony from Velvet, then there might be some chance that—"

"Magister, I tried to KILL her!" Swift insisted. "What makes you think that she's just gonna forgive me?!"

"Actually, you'd be surprised." Ruby said. "Vel's actually a pretty forgiving person. If we can show her that you changed for the batter, then she might just stand up for you in court!" The silver-eyed girl glanced over to the side. "Now Coco on the other hand… she might take longer to convince."

Swift sighed and slumped down against the back wall in exasperation. "Alright, so say, if by some miracle, I got their favor in court and was granted parole. What would I have to do after that to remain free?"

Max flipped through the pages again to a set of guidelines that he had printed out from the Plumber computer on the Rustbucket. "Alright, if you wish to remain on Earth, then the Plumber parole conditions are the same as human ones. You must obey the law. Break the smallest one, and it'll be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Your location must be known at all times, which means you must either call in to your assigned officer or wear a GPS tracker on your person."

"I'll just go with the calls, thank you." Swift decided. "Don't wanna chance someone stalking me."

"Very well." Max went back to reading the guidelines; "You must have permission to travel, and if an official Plumber requests to search your place of stay, you must comply."

Swift's eyes widened at that. "Woah, back up, what was that last one?"

"You will be required to allow a Plumber officer to search your abode whenever they ask." Tetrax repeated firmly. "It may not be a pleasant rule, but it's a precautionary one. It's to make sure that you're not in possession of anything illegal while on your parole."

The alien hybrid grimaced slightly and she folded her arms. "Hmph, alright. I just hope my parole officer won't be a perv or anything."

"We'll make sure to choose wisely." Max promised. "Now, this ties in with the last one a bit; avoid the purchase of drugs and alcohol."

"Heh, that'll be easy." Swift chortled. "Both are disgusting."

"That's what I like to hear. Now, you must also avoid certain people, such as anybody you may have had contact with while on the run or at juvie. And finally, these two rules definitely tie into each other;" Max held up two fingers, "by order of the court, you will have to pay fines and restitution while also going to any counseling programs they assign you to."

Swift closed her eyes and breathed in sharply through her nose. "There's the one I've been waiting for."

Ruby winced as well. "Yeah… you don't exactly have a job, do you?"

"Well, no, I don't. But the part I was dreading was the counseling." Swift explained.

Max raised a hand to her. "It'll only be for a little while, Swift. For you, the counselling shouldn't last for more than a few months. And I'm sure that you can find a steady job to pay off your fines. In fact, I hear that Mr. Baumann's hiring again."

Swift raised an eyeridge. "Isn't that the old guy who runs the alien supermarket in Bellwood?"

"There are alien supermarkets?" Ruby asked further.

"Yes to both." Max answered. "Ignatius Baumann is an old friend of mine from way back when. He and I met while I was on a mission to the world of Andesite, where he was sampling some of their famous rock-salt licks." He gave Swift a reassuring smile. "Point is, he and I are close friends, so I think I can get you a job with him if we can get you cleared for parole."

"That's… that's very kind of you, Magister Tennyson." Swift bowed her head in respect. "Thank you, very much."

Just then, Tetrax's gauntlet began beeping, causing everyone to crane their heads to him. "Oh, ahem, excuse me." He stood up and answered the call; "Yes Gluto, what is it?"

"Sir, General Ironwood is on the line for you." the Protost pilot replied on the other end. "He says its important.'

"I see, tell him I'll be there in about thirty seconds. Tetrax out." The Petrosapien deactivated his comm and jerked his thumb toward the door. "Apologies, but it seems that the general requires my presence."

"That's okay, Tetrax." Ruby waved. "We've got it from here. Just make sure to let us know if he needs our help with anything."

"Of course, just keep doing what you're doing." Tetrax gave them a salute as he left, allowing them to get back to business.

In her cell, Swift stood up again and narrowed her eyes in suspicion as Tetrax exited the room. "Hmm, if it's from the general… then something tells me that you guys might have a rather exiting day ahead of you."

Ruby merely gave her a shrug. "Yeah, probably. But that's not gonna stop us from your parole arrangements. So, other than a job, what else are you gonna need?"

"Um… a place to live? Because I can tell you right now, I am NOT going back to my father."

"I'm inclined to agree with that." Max concurred. "I've spoken to both your mother AND your father and, well, the man's not exactly what I would call an open mind to some things."

"Understatement of the fucking century."

"But with all that said, finding an apartment in Bellwood should be relatively easy. You just gotta know where to search." Max scribbled a few notes down while he thought this all through in his head. "Now, about your parole officer… I actually have someone in mind about that. He'll be fresh out of the academy when we get back to Earth, but I'm already thinking of assigning him to Manny's squadron." The elderly man rolled his eyes a little. "Lord knows that hot head needs someone to keep him grounded after Pierce… well, let's not talk about that right now."

"And you think this green horn is going to be fit to be MY parole officer?" Swift questioned. "Magister, I seriously hope you know what you're doing."

Ruby leaned over with a quirked brow. "Yeah, I mean, who even IS he? He must be pretty good if you're considering him for this."

"Oh, he is, Ruby." Max affirmed. "His name is Rook Blonko from Revonnah, and I think you both will find that he's actually a rather astute young Plumber."

…..

Back at the Xiao Long house, Ben and Yang had wrapped up their Arkham Asylum session after a good hour and a half of play, the two wanting to have a nice lunch date in town before anything too crazy happened. Be it snow like what Tai had warned them about before he left for school, or another attack somewhere, they wanted to get a good meal in their systems. "I still can't believe how brutal the Joker can be." Yang commented while putting her boots on. "I mean, rigging a safe with explosives is nothing new, but… sheesh, what a way to go out."

Ben nodded as he pulled his jacket on. "Yeah, Dr. Young was a squealer, and in Joker's place, there's no room for squealers."

Yang just gave him a smirk. "You DO know that what you just said can REALLY be taken out of context, right?"

"Eh, a little raunchy humor never… oh god."

"What is it, babe?"

Ben put a hand to his forehead. "I just realized why your mom burst in on us earlier. She must've heard us talking about Bane through the door, and… well…"

Yang's eyes widened in realization. "Oh my gosh. She thought that you and I were…" The couple had a moment of silence before both of them burst out into a laughing fit. "AHAHA! Dear god, that's too rich!"

"HA! Yeah, we should've guessed just by the look on her face!" Ben added. Once the two finally calmed down, Ben gave a sigh as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Heh, well, I guess that we just gotta be careful about what we say around her, huh?"

"Yeah." Yang smirked as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ben's neck. "But you know… I remember making a little suggestion to you a few days ago. Something about you and me alone in a dark room, I think?"

That only made Ben's blush more intense. "W-Well, I—" But before he could finish his thought, there suddenly came a ringing from the living room, causing the couple to crane their heads down the stairs. They walked down and saw the holo-television flashing as it rang, signaling an incoming call. Ben's face fell as he realized who the caller must be. "Oh no, don't tell me."

Yang pursed her lips in irritation. "We ALL know that there's only ONE guy who uses that line." She sighed and walked over to it. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

"Alright, but I'm taking you somewhere nice when we get back, and that's a promise." Ben assured.

Yang smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "That sounds really nice, Green Boy." With that, she bent down and pressed the power button, bringing the call through. "Okay, general, what is it this ti—Cooper?!" Yang stepped back in surprise when it was the blonde technopath on the screen instead of the general.

"Dude, what the heck?" Ben asked. "You don't usually use this line."

Copper gave them a shrug. "Sorry, guys. Ironwood's on the other line waiting for Tetrax. We've got a situation and we're scrambling to get everyone together." He typed something into the keyboard he was using and a blurry vertical picture came up, much to the powerful couple's confusion. "See, a couple hours ago, a guy saw some strange people wandering through the city's abandoned warehouses. They weren't able to get a clear shot at them, but they DID remember some of their faces."

Ben crossed his arms and raised a brow. "Suspicious people wandering around? Is this really a big reason to call us? Can't the army or police just handle it?"

"Not when you hear their descriptions." Cooper replied, "The man said he saw a "giant rhino Faunus wearing armor and a pig Faunus with a large mohawk"." He raised an eyebrow at the couple. "Sound familiar?"

Ben stared at Cooper in disbelief while Yang slapped her forehead, the blonde shouting out; "You've gotta be fucking KIDDING me!"

…..

Meanwhile, over in Vale, the three hooded figures were currently walking down a partially destroyed street near the very edge of the city, searching for the White Fang's base of operations. Nearly all of the buildings on the street were abandoned warehouses that had long been left behind in the city's expansion, which made it perfect for gangs to hang out in. Well, either that or a radical sect of White Fang. 'Come on, come on, I know it has to be SOMEWHERE around here!' the young hooded girl thought to herself as she led her older compatriots through the multiple alleyways in search of some kind of sign. 'Where are the three claws?!'

Behind the girl, the older woman had her hands together as she gazed around at all of the destruction that had been cause to the city, a sinking feeling building in her stomach. "Dear lord, this is awful."

"Indeed." The man replied as he put a reassuring hand on the woman's shoulders. "It's hard to imagine what it must've been like to be here first hand."

Up ahead, the girl spoke up. "No kidding, I mean, look at that." She pointed to what appeared to be a large sink hole, though upon closer inspection, it was actually a foot print. "The Goliath that made this must've been massive." She balled her right hand into a fist. "Guess we're not the only ones with elephant-sized problems."

"I suppose so." The man nodded. He gazed around the street, using his keen eyesight to try and spot a White Fang symbol of some kind, but to no avail. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Are you certain that this is where Sienna stationed them?"

"Of course." The girl waved her hand. "She specifically told them to seclude themselves to an out of the way place within the city where no one would suspect them to be." The girl spread her arms out. "Seems pretty secluded to me."

"She's right." The woman spoke up, gaining the other's attention as she pointed to a rather far off building at the end of an alleyway. "Over there." The other two came up to her and focused on the building, which seemed to be the only one with any lights on. "Come, quickly!" The three jogged down to the end of the alley, and when they did, a certain symbol started coming into view. It was engraved on the side of the building and it stood out from the brickwork quite clearly; three white claw marks, right beside the double doors. "Bingo." the woman smiled.

"Nice spot, hon." The man commended before taking a inhaling deeply through his nostrils. "It's… it's been a while since I had to address them like this."

"I know, sir." The girl nodded to the man. "But we're desperate, and they may be our only chance."

"Sweetheart." The woman put a hand to the man's arm in encouragement. "You can do this, I know you can."

The bowed his head, letting go of his apprehensive breath. "You're right… let's hope that Adam is in a listening mood." With that, the man put his hands on the double door's handles and pulled them both down, allowing him to push the doors open with ease. The doors slammed against the wall and immediately, his suspicions were confirmed as a whole bunch of eyes were now on him. The White Fang were here.

All throughout the room, there were White Fang members, many of them in uniform while others were in more casual wear. But all the same, they still wore their White Fang masks, shielding their true identities. But the man noticed immediately that there was something off about the place. All of the White Fang members seemed to be on edge, with many of them keeping their weapons drawn even before they aimed them at him. Others seemed to be visibly worried or shaken, almost as if they were scared of something. One White Fang in particular, a Faunus with deer antlers, immediately aimed a gun at the man and questioned him; "Who goes there?! Hands on your head!"

"WAIT!" The man said with a commanding voice, raising his hands up to halt the White Fang. "Please, don't shoot, brother!"

That made the deer Faunus faulter a bit. "…Brother?"

"Yes… brother-in-arms." The man put his hands to his hood and pulled it back, revealing his face. He appeared to be in his early fifties, the visible wrinkles beneath his eyes evidence of his age. He had a head full of thick, black hair which extended down his face to make a rather impressive beard. His yellow eyes shimmered bright yellow as they met the light, his brows furrowing as he pulled his hood down. He pushed the cloak back with his shoulders, revealing a purple coat with white fur trim which he kept open to expose his hairy chest. There was a matching purple sash over his beige pants, kept on by a large and ornate silver buckle. On his left shoulder was a similarly ornate spaulder, the armor piece connected to a matching clip on the right side of his coat by two metal strips. On his hands were a pair of mismatching black gauntlets, though one would find it hard to tell with all of the thick arm hair that protruded from his coat. Finally, he had on a pair of knee-high black boots with white toes that resembled panther paws, completing his overall appearance. The man nodded his head to the White Fang and made a humble request; "Please, stand down."

The whole room could not believe who they were seeing. "G-G-Ghira Belladonna?!" The deer Faunus dropped his weapon out of shock as the whole room started mumbling amongst themselves. Some of the younger recruits even asked who Ghira was, which the more seasoned White Fang quickly explained. The deer Faunus dropped to one knee and raised his arms. "Your eminency, w-what are you doing here? I mean, and I intend no offence with this, but… you left the White Fang quite some time ago."

"Very true." Ghira bowed his head back. "But I'm sorry to say that I bring ill tidings." The chieftain of Menagerie raised his arms and stepped into the room, addressing everyone as the two cloaked women walked in behind him. "Brothers of the White Fang, I beseech you! I come to you now not as a returning leader, but as a concerned citizen of Menagerie.

"Our homeland is in danger even as we speak." The older woman spoke as she came forward and pulled her hood back, revealing a rather beautiful face. She was slightly younger than Ghira, with similar black hair and yellow eyes, though the main draw was the large pair of cat ears sticking out from her head. The ears themselves had gold studs in them, one in her left ear, and two in her right. She pushed the cloak back with her shoulders and revealed that she was wearing a hakama, along with the addition of a black shrug with gold-leaf trim. The shrug had one long left sleeve and no sleeve on the right, while both of her arms were adorned with warmers that slipped over her middle finger. The right warmer was adorned by a purple band and two gold bracelets, and around her waist, she wore a long black and gold sash that trailed down her back. She had on a pair of black, heeled sandals with a pair of white tabi socks, giving her a rather traditional appearance. "We have been invaded by a pair of Faunus that has taken over the White Fang's home base."

The crowd of White Fang began mumbling to themselves in concern again, though a few of them were also conversing about the woman herself; "That's Kali, Ghira's wife!" One White Fang explained to a new recruit.

Another member, a male Faunus with the ears of a hare coming out his head asked; "How can only two Faunus defeat a whole slew of White Fang?! It's impossible!"

"And what reason does a Faunus have to attack the White Fang?!" Another member shouted, this one a woman with a visible skunk tail.

"Because they are unlike any Faunus we have ever seen before." Ghira elaborated. "They're Faunus that are more animal than man, and they are so powerful that they overwhelmed the White Fang in nearly a day."

There came more mumbling from the crowd before the deer Faunus spoke up again, a slight quiver in his voice. "D-D-Did you s-say, more animal than man?"

"That's right." The young girl spoke up as she pulled her hood and cloak off entirely, disregarding it unlike Ghira and Kali who kept theirs on. She was in her late teens and had long brown hair that was styled into a pony tail, the hair curling right at its tip. She had light gray eyes and a tan complexion to her skin, with darker spots riddled across her face, shoulders, hands and knees. She wore a sleeveless stealth suit that was black at the top and a combination of two greys at the bottom; a lighter grey at the front and back while a darker grey strip went down her sides. The top of her uniform had a gold zipper and a grey harness with gold buckles, along with a brown backpack on her back. Her feet were adorned by a pair of black boots while she wore a single black glove on her right hand, completing her appearance. "Why do you seem scared at that?" she asked with a skeptical glance.

The deer Faunus was slightly taken aback. 'Ilia Amitola? Even SHE came here?' Remembering her question, the deer Faunus cleared his throat and put a hand behind his head. "Um… well, you see, Miss Ilia… we had some visitors come in earlier and—"

Just then, the doors on the other side of the room burst open, followed up by a loud; "HEY!" At that moment, the last thing that either Ghira, Kali or Ilia had planned on seeing that day came through the door, ducking their large animal-like heads under the entry way. One was a large rhino-man donned in heavy armor with a cybernetic horn and a large minigun strapped to his back while the other was a mohawked warthog-man with a futuristic visor, mechanical gauntlets, and a large mace at his hip. "What's goin' on in here?!" the pig man shouted.

Ilia felt a sense of dread overtaking her. "No… no, it's impossible!"

Kali let out a gasp and recoiled in horror. "Oh lord, there's MORE of them?!"

Ghira whipped his head to the White Fang and demanded to know what was going on. "What is this?! Who are these… these…"

"Mutants." The rhino clarified. "We're mutants, hairy man."

"Mutants?" Ilia questioned. "So THAT explains why those two Faunus were so different! They must be mutants too!"

The deer Faunus bowed to Ghira apologetically. "I'm so sorry, your grace. But they arrived just this morning and… well, look at them! They have dangerous weapons and they wanted to be let in. Long story short, we weren't willing to risk our lives if we turned them away."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's back up." The pig halted as he pointed to Ghira and Kali. "Just who the hell ARE you cats anyway?"

As much as Kali wanted to make the swine pay for that rather awful pun, intentional or not, she focused on her husband with a concerned gaze. "Ghira, what do we do now? This is exactly the opposite of what we were hoping to find here."

Despite the shock he was feeling, Ghira quickly reassured his wife. "Kali, don't worry, it'll be alright. …Perhaps I might be able to reason with these ones." He stepped forward, keeping his hands balled into fists at his side as he addressed the large animal-mutants. "Ahem, greetings. I am Ghira Belladonna, former leader of the White Fang. And you would be…"

"Exo-Skull." The rhino man jabbed a thumb to himself before directing it over to his partner. "An' this is my buddy, Thunderhog." Skull lowered his head down and got right up in Ghira's face. "So, you used to be the head honcho around here, did ya?"

"Well, not here, exactly." Ghira explained. "I was once leader of the whole White Fang. The leader of this sect is… wait." He whipped his head around to the antlered White Fang again with a questioning gaze. "Where's Adam? We came to ask for his help."

Kali came up and added to that; "And is Blake here as well? We heard that she was going to Beacon, but after the attack, we were fearing the worst!"

The deer Faunus lowered his gaze and shook his head. "I… I'm sorry, Mrs. Belladonna, but we haven't seen Blake since the attack. And as for Adam… he's been arrested."

"WHAT?!" Ghira hollered.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Ilia said in disbelief. "Adam's too strong to be arrested! Who could've taken him down?"

But Ghira narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "More importantly, what was he arrested for?"

Hog suddenly had a smirk on his pig lips. "Let's just say that he was involved with one o' the deadliest attacks in the history of this city." He spread his arms out across the entire room. "In fact, ALL of these guys were involved! Ahaha!"

Ghira and Kali both wore astonished expressions while Ilia furrowed her brow, keeping silent throughout Hog's laughter. Ghira faced the deer Faunus again, a deadly expression written on his face. "Is this true? Did you take part in destroying this city?!"

"I… I'm sorry, your grace." The White Fang lowered his head. "But it's true. Adam began conspiring with the ones who planned the whole invasion in the first place." He pointed to Hog and Skull. "…And those two are affiliated with them as well."

As Kali gasped and Ilia glowered at Hog and Skull, Ghira faced back to the two mutants with a glare of his own. "So, your group are responsible for Vale's destruction? And you somehow convinced Adam to go through with this?"

"Damn right, but we actually weren't around for that." Skull explained. "We're more… recent recruits to Lady Salem's cause."

"And who IS this Salem?" Kali pressed further.

Just then, a voice came from behind Hog and Skull; "That is for us to know, and for you to never find out." The two large mutants stepped aside to reveal Hazel and Tyrian, the latter slightly hunched over and cackling while the former stepped forward, meeting Ghira head on. "Ghira Belladonna. It's so rare to see you outside of Menagerie these days."

Ghira glowered at the man as a familiar scent hit his nose; human. "You! I recognize you… Hazel Rainart, correct? What reason does a human like you have in being here?"

"I'm actually here to make a simple offer from my mistress." Hazel explained. "We've come to help this sect of White Fang by granting them our help in exchange for theirs."

"The White Fang will NEVER help you!" Ghira retorted. "I will not allow their name to be besmirched by people such as yourselves!" He balled his hands into fists as he glared at Hazel. "I don't know what you said to Adam for him to go along with your plans in the first place, but I came here to bring help to Menagerie, and goddammit, I'm going to do it!"

Tyrian cackled in the corner. "AAHAHA! Oh boy, if only he knew how far little Adam had fallen. He was more than happy to go along with our plans once we laid 'em out to him! In fact, a LOT of these guys were! Heeheheehe! Pretty sure they ALL killed quite a few students too!"

Kali gasped and her hand went to her mouth, tears brimming her eyes at the thought of so many young people dead. "Oh my god!"

Just then, the skunk-tailed Faunus woman shouted out; "Well, it's not like they didn't have it coming!"

The hare-eared Faunus added; "Yeah, we ALL did our part!" He let out a cackle and lifted his firearm to the sky. "AHAHA! I can still hear the screams of all those stupid humans!"

"Stop this!" Ghira growled as he spun around to the two boasters. "How could you have done such a thing?! I know that Sienna's approach is—"

"Adam stopped taking orders from Sienna a long time ago, old man!" The hair-eared Faunus rebuked. "He did this on his OWN." He jabbed his thumb over to Hog and Skull. "And their master made sure that he had all the help he could get."

Ilia closed her eyes and shook her head. "Wouldn't have put it past him."

"Enough of this!" Ghira roared with a swipe of his arm, his head lowering to the ground in contemplation. With a heavy sigh, he said; "In hindsight, I should have known that something like this would happen. What Adam has done… it's inexcusable. And now I see that he probably wouldn't have helped us either." He faced back to the room full of White Fang and pleaded with them. "But it's not too late for the rest of you! Please, join us and help us rid Menagerie of the tyrannical mutants that have taken over the White Fang!"

There was a momentary pause before the deer Faunus stepped forward again, holding his arms out to Ghira in pleading. "Your grace, while I'm sure that many of us would be more than happy to help… the final decision is up to them." He gestured over to the four followers of Salem. "Forgive me, but… they are all fully armed and dangerous. It would be unwise to make them mad."

"Hey, it's alright by me!" Hog waved a hand. "I mean, we CAME here to help out the White Fang in exchange for helpin' us out right? This might be a good way to get into their graces!"

Ilia narrowed her eyes at the pig man. 'Not in a million years, oinker."

Skull pointed to his best friend. "That might be backwards logic, but it's still logic, so it works for me!" He placed his hands on his hips as he approached Ghira again. "So, tell me, what're these mutants like? Do you know who made 'em?"

Ghira narrowed his eyes at Skull. 'I'm not about to take him up on his good-for-nothing offer, but maybe I can get some information out of him.' Ghira shook his head and answered; "No, I don't. If they have a master, they've never mentioned them. But I CAN describe their appearance." He raised his left arm high. "The first one is a large elephant man with ears shaped like bat wings, and he is dressed in purple and black garbs. HE is the one who is in charge of the whole thing." He then put his hand down to his abdomen. "And the other one is about this tall and is a hybrid of sorts. A monkey with blue fur, two sets of arms and eyes, and he has the ability to shoot webbing from his tail like a spider. Do you happen to know who they… what are you two gawking at?"

At Ghira's explanation, Hog and Skull's jaws dropped to the floor in realization. A few moments later, Hog burst out laughing again. "AHAHA! No fuckin' way! Those guys got blasted here just like everyone else! I was wonderin' why we hadn't seen 'em!"

Skull chortled as well. "Heheh, yeah, now THIS is just too good."

Ghira shifted his eyes between the two as Kali and Ilia wore confused and worried expressions. The chieftain of Menagerie grit his teeth and asserted himself; "What are you talking about?! Who are they?!"

Hog just guffawed some more. "Ha! We were prison mates with 'em, man! We know those dudes!"

Kali's brows furrowed. "Prison mates?"

"Yep," Skull nodded, "and on top of all that, you guys were wrong! You're not dealin' with mutants, you've got a couple a' aliens on your hands!"

"Aliens?!" Ilia facepalmed. "Okay, I'm done. First you say that you're mutants, and then you say that your pals are aliens. WHICH IS IT?!"

"Well, okay, we DID forget that there are some aliens that look like animals where we come from." Skull admitted. "But that's not the point! The point is that they're some old friends of ours…" He craned his head over to Hazel and gave him a wink. "And I think that we can help you get rid of 'em." Hazel smiled back, immediately understanding the underlying meaning of Skull's words.

However, Ghira did as well, his enhanced senses picking up on Skull's true intention. "You're lying, I can tell." He stepped up and pointed right in his face. "If you think I'm about to let you trick me into taking you to our homeland so you can subjugate my people even further, then you are dead wrong."

All through the room, the White Fang members were mumbling amongst themselves as they awaited Hog and Skull's response. Finally, after a few seconds, Skull just shrugged. "Well, suit yourself. I mean, here we are offering our services, and you just turn 'em down like they were nothin'. That said, you probably won't be goin' back to your home… or anywhere else." Skull pounded his fist into his open palm. "Hog! Hazel! Tyrian! Let's show them the only way out."

Tyrian let out a series of giggles at the news, his tail unfurling and exposing itself as he readied his pincer-shaped weapons. "Hehehe! Oh, FINALLY! I've been waiting for a good scrap!"

Hog got out his mace and entered a combat stance. "OH YEAH! Time to bash some heads!"

Hazel merely closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "If you three must do battle, then fine. As for myself, I'm going to prepare our ship to leave for Menagerie." He did an about-face and gave a small salute to Ghira. "Thank you for the information, Mr. Belladonna. Lady Salem will be delighted when she has the entire White Fang under her control."

"NO!" Ghira surged forward to stop Hazel, the panther man fueled by his anger. "You will never have control of the White Fang—GAH!" In a split second, Ghira received a punch in the gut from Exo-Skull for his troubles, sending him sailing back and down to the ground in front of his wife and Ilia.

"Ghira!" Kali knelt down and picked her husband up, touching his face in concern. "Sweetheart, are you alright?!"

"I… I'm fine, dear." Ghira reassured as he stood back up, an arm going to his abdomen as he did. He sent a glare up to Skull before telling him; "I do not know who your mistress is, but you won't get away with this! We WILL stop you. The White Fang will stop you!"

Skull just smirked at that. "Uh, you might wanna think again." With a snap of his fingers, Skull gave a new order; "Alright everybody, take aim at the intruders."

With his word, all of the White Fang members in the room pulled out a weapon and aimed it at the Belladonnas and Ilia, taking Ghira aback. "…No. Brothers, how could you—"

"I'm sorry, your grace." The deer Faunus said with a dejected expression. "But with them in charge, it's either kill… or be killed."

Suddenly, Ilia stepped forward and pulled something out of her backpack; a black, spherical container of some kind with what appeared to be a fuse of some kind sticking out the top of it. "Yeah, not happening." She pulled the fuse and slammed the ball on the ground, making it explode in a puff of white smoke.

Everyone in the room began coughing and hacking, some even reeling back at the unexpected act. "Oh, they did NOT just smoke bomb us! HAK-HAK!" Hog coughed.

"'Fraid so! HAK-HAK!" Skull confirmed. "Where the hell did they—"

Just then, everyone heard the set of double doors close, immediately putting Hazel on high alert. "They've escaped! All of you, go after them NOW! We cannot allow them to get this information to General Ironwood!" At his orders, the White Fang members, Hog, Skull and Tyrian all ran out of the building, going on the hunt for the three Faunus in the streets of Vale. "Or worse… Ben Tennyson."

…..

Back on the Resolute, Tetrax was walking into the bridge of his ship, his eyes shifting toward his pilot the moment he came in. "Gluto, bring up General Ironwood's call, in you wouldn't mind." He sat down in his captain chair and put his arms on the rests, awaiting to hear what the general had to say.

"I'm all over it, sir!" Gluto said through his universal translator. "Putting you on the line… now." With a few button presses, Gluto brought up the giant holoscreen in front of the ship's windshield, with Ironwood's face right in the middle. "Alright, general, you're on!"

"Ahem, thank you." Ironwood cleared his throat before addressing the Petrosapien. "Tetrax, I'm glad that I was able to get a hold of you. Cooper just got off the phone with Ben and Yang, so they should be on their way as we speak."

Tetrax raised an eyeridge at that. "What do you mean, James? Is there something wrong?"

"We think so." The general typed into the console that he was using and brought up a blurry picture, thought Tetrax could tell that there was a large, definite shape in the middle of it. "A concerned citizen came forward this morning with this picture on his scroll. He said that he saw four mysterious figures roaming around Vale's abandoned warehouses this morning on his way to work. While he couldn't get ALL of them in frame, he managed to get a snapshot of the largest one."

Tetrax stood back up and waked over to the holoscreen to inspect the blurry photo. The figure in the middle was large and predominantly wearing brown, though Tetrax could see a little bit of grey in there as well. "Did he give a description of their appearance?"

"He didn't get a good look at the first two, but the other two he said were unforgettable." Ironwood's brows furrowed. "A giant rhino man and a warthog man. He didn't know if they were Faunus or not."

"Well, that IS unmistakable." Tetrax agreed before craning his head to his pilot. "Gluto, enhance the image." In no time at all, Gluto jiggered with the image enough until it was completely clear, revealing who the figure was. "Just as I thought; Exo-Skull. And where there's Exo-Skull, Thunderhog's not too far behind." He put a finger to his chin in thought. "Still, I have to wonder… who could the other two individuals be?"

"More of Salem's followers, most likely." Ironwood figured. "But what worries me is what they intend on doing in the city. We have to find them and—"

Just then, a door slammed open on Ironwood's end of the call, and an Atlesian soldier cried out; "GENERAL! We have a situation!"

Ironwood and Tetrax were immediately at attention, with Tetrax putting his helmet up in case the soldier caught a glimpse at his face. "What is it, soldier?" Ironwood questioned. "What's going on?"

The soldier answered while regaining his breath, having ran all the way there. "It's… it's the White Fang, sir! They've reappeared!" The answer took Ironwood by surprise as the soldier kept explaining. "They're charging in a mob through the streets by the warehouses. They're being led by three Faunus; a rhino, a warthog and a scorpion. But the first two are a lot more animalistic than any regular Faunus that we've ever seen! Sir, could they be…"

Ironwood's fists clenched as he gave the man a nod. "Those are the suspects that we were told about earlier this morning, solider. But what in the world are they doing with the White Fang?"

"I'm not sure, sir, but reports say that they're chasing down three unidentified individuals, and they mean to do harm." The soldier stood at attention and concluded; "Awaiting your orders, sir."

The general took a deep breath and bowed his head. "Alright, this just went from a Code Blue to a Code Red." He faced back to Tetrax with a serious expression. "Tetrax, we need the team here, NOW."

…..

Back down the hall of the ship, Ruby and Max had emerged from the brig, having concluded their interview with Swift. Both of them were wearing satisfied smiles, the whole talk having gone over rather well. "I gotta say, that was REALLY productive." Ruby grinned happily. "I think that Swift may just have a shot at parole."

"If we can convince Velvet to testify at intergalactic court." Max reminded. "And hopefully we can convince her that Swift really is sorry."

"Don't worry, I'll talk to her." Ruby promised. "I'll bring her here and then we can all have a talk about everything. Swift said that she'll apologize, so there's a good sign already." She crossed her arms in thought. "But what I'm more worried about is Coco. She's extremely protective of Velvet and WILL probably be skeptical about Swift wanting to change."

Max put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm, well, I guess that will be a challenge. But I wouldn't worry about it too much, Ruby. You've got a knack peace talk, so I'm sure that you can help Coco at least come to a compromise with Swift."

"Yeah, hopefully. Still, I—"

"Ruby! Grandpa!" The two whirled around and, much to their surprise, saw Ben and Yang running toward them from down the hall, and they seemed to be in a hurry for some reason. "We've got a situation!" Ben called out again. "A mutant-sized one!"

Max craned his head down to face his grandson as the duo came to a halt. "Ben, what's going on? Is everything okay?"

"I thought you guys were going on a date." Ruby added.

"We were planning to." Yang said in a slightly irritated tone. "But Cooper called a little while ago. He said that some guy saw Hog, Skull and two others near the abandoned warehouses in Vale."

Ruby's eyes nearly bugged out. "Seriously?! Some average guy just saw Hog and Skull in plain daylight?!"

Ben raised a hand up to her. "Don't worry. The guy didn't know if they were Faunus or not, so we should still be good. But the point is that we've got to get to Vale pronto." Ben tapped the faceplate of the Omnitrix. "I've already called ahead to Gwen and the others. We're gonna pick 'em up at Mount Patch and then we're making tracks to—WHOA!"

The entire group shouted in surprise as the ship suddenly lurched forward, rising up off of the ground soon after. Yang steadied herself against a nearby wall as the ship leveled out, her hair having fallen over half of her face in the lift-off. "The HELL was that?!" she demanded while brushing her hair away.

At that moment, a door at the opposite end of the hallway opened up, revealing Tetrax on the other side. He quickly spotted Ben and Yang and gave a sigh of relief. "Hah, am I glad that you two made it in time." The Petrosapien bounded over to them and began giving them the details. "I just received a call from General Ironwood. This situation just went from Blue to Red. Thunderhog, Exo-Skull, and a third perpetrator are on the move, and they aren't alone."

"What do you mean, Tetrax?" Max asked. "What's happening?"

"We now know the reason why those two were in Vale in the first place; to find and take over leadership of the White Fang."

"No way!" Ruby cried out. "You're sure about this?"

"I am. General Ironwood just got received a report saying that they're leading the White Fang in a mob, and they're chasing down three unidentified individuals." Tetrax walked over to the nearby doorway and it slid open for him, accessing the elevator to the loading dock. "Follow me, everyone. Ben, did you call the others?"

"I did." Ben answered as he and everyone else boarded the elevator with him. "They're waiting for us at Mount Patch as we speak."

"Very good. We'll pick them up quick and then head to Vale. We have to stop Hog and Skull before they cause an unwanted scene in the middle of the city." Once the elevator had made it down to the loading dock, the group felt the ship begin to descend. The moment it touched the ground, the exit ramp lowered down and the rest of the team began boarding the ship, with Gwen and Kevin leading the pack. Winter, Athena and Raven were also accompanying them, the three keeping toward the back of the group. Tetrax gave them a nod and greeted the Anodite as the ship took off again. "Gwen, I'm sure that Ben's explained the situation to you already?"

"He did." The redhead confirmed. "Any major updates?"

Yang came forward, her hands placed on her hips. "Yeah, the sitch has been escalated through the roof." Her eyes trailed over to Blake, the blonde giving her partner a sympathetic expression. "Blake… Hog and Skull came to Vale to find the White Fang. They're leading a whole mob of them through the streets right now."

Blake's face was a mixture of emotions; apprehension, disbelief, and most prominently, anger. Her brow furrowed and her lips turned up into a sneer. "You have to be KIDDING me! Salem STILL wants to manipulate the White Fang so that they can fight in her war?!" She hit a nearby metal crate in frustration, and she immediately felt better. "I thought that all of this would've ended when Adam was finally put behind bars."

"To be honest, I'm not surprised." Weiss spoke up. "They're leaderless and without good resources." The heiress gave her friend a shrug. "Plus, Thunderhog and Exo-Skull are pretty intimidating, so there's that."

Winter gave Blake a reluctant shrug. "I must agree with my sister. Those two are imbeciles, but they're strong imbeciles who can back up any threats they make."

Sun winced at Schnee sisters' logic. "I hate to say it, but they make a good point, Blake."

Blake sighed and facepalmed in exasperation. "Yeah, I guess. Doesn't mean I have to like it." She glanced back up to Ben and Yang with a nod. "Alright, so do we know why they're mobbing in the streets?"

"They're chasing down three people." Ben answered. "We don't know who they are, but if they're being chased by the White Fang, then they must have some beef with them." Out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw Jaune step forward, and he was taken aback by the multiple cuts and bruises on the blonde's face, though they were visibly healing up rather quickly. "WHOA! Dude, what happened to your face?!"

Jaune grimaced at the question. "Long story short?" He craned his head to face Yang. "I sparred with your mom and got my ass kicked."

Yang whirled around to her mother in shock. "MOM! You did this to him?!"

Raven came up and gave Jaune a slap on the back. "That's right. He's got that Arc durability that my father hated so much. Gotta say though, his reaction and recovery time kept improving every time I kicked his ass." She crossed her arms and grinned wickedly. "He'd get knocked down, but he just kept getting right back up again. Stubborn little fucker."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and put an arm around her boyfriend. "Yes, well, at least something good came out of that training session. Now, can we please focus on the situation at hand?"

Nora popped up and raised Magnhild above her head in preparation. "Hell yeah! I'm ready to go another round with those big jerks! Let's do this!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Ruby grinned before noticing Rex and Penny strolling up to her, the EVO holding onto a toaster. "Hey there, guys." She shifted her eyes directly to Penny. "So, Pen, did you figure out if you've got Upgrade's abilities?"

"Oh, she's got 'em alright." Rex rattled the toaster around for emphasis. "She managed to fix this toaster AND turn it into a laser cannon for a little while."

Penny gave Ruby a salute. "I made death toast!"

Ruby paused for a moment in astonishment, though her smile never left her face. "Well that's… great, I think." She leaned over and whispered to her sister; "I am far too afraid to ask."

"And I think that may be for the best." Yang concluded. "So long as dad's toaster is okay, then everything's alright with me."

…..

"COME BACK HERE!" Exo-Skull shouted as he, Hog and Tyrian led the White Fang through the desolated streets. People ran away in horror as the stampede made its way downtown, still in pursuit of the three Faunus that were running from them. Ghira and Kali had put their hoods back up while Ilia was trying to keep up with them, the backpack weighing her down as she ran. As the trio rounded another corner, Ilia immediately spotted a nearby ally way which she was quick to lead the Belladonna's into. They hid behind a nearby dumpster, hoping that the rotten stench would mask their scent from the White Fang's heightened senses. "You can't run forever!" Skull hollered as he came to a halt in the middle of the street.

Kali blinked hard before setting her gaze on her husband. "He's right. We can't keep running like this." she whispered. "What are we going to do?"

Ghira balled his hands into fists, a soft growl escaping his throat. "I… I don't know." he admitted. "Never once did I think I'd have to be fighting against the White Fang. I don't want to hurt them, but at the same time… we may just have to."

Suddenly, Ilia spotted some nearby scaffolding, and an idea popped into her head. "Maybe we don't have to." She took her backpack off and pulled out two things. First was her White Fang mask, which was much more unique than the usual masks. It was larger and came up at a large point at the top, which extended past her hairline. It also had the addition of two curved horns, which made the mask overall resemble the head of a chameleon. The second thing she pulled out was her signature weapon; a blade with a revolving chamber in its hilt, complete with a grip that resembled that of a gun. The blade itself was sectioned off into fourteen individual parts, indicating that it had yet another function. "I'll draw their attention while you guys make a run for it." She tightened her hand around her weapon as she prepared herself to leave. "And… find help. Those freaks need to be taken down and the White Fang need to be freed."

"Are you sure about this, Ilia?" Kali asked in concern. "What will you do if they catch you?"

Ilia smiled slyly as she placed her mask on. "You forget… I can be quite sneaky. Now, once they start following me, run as fast as you can and don't look back. Wish me luck." With that, Ilia stood up and jumped up onto the scaffolding with an acrobatic leap. The Belladonna's watched her as she climbed up to the roof, giving out a loud whistle when she finally did. "HEY! Up here, you big lump!"

"Huh?" Hog craned his head up and snarled at the sight of Ilia. "There she is! After her!" With that, Tyrian and the White Fang all did an about-face and began following Ilia as she ran over the roof tops. Skull was about to leave as well, but Hog stopped him. The rhino man was about to ask why, but he was met with his friend making a zipping motion to his lips. Hog pointed over to a nearby alleyway, the one next to the building that Ilia had appeared on. Skull nodded in agreement and the two made their way over. With one swing of his mace, Hog embedded it into the dumpster and pulled it away, revealing Ghira and Kali's hiding place. "Peekaboo!"

Ghira's eyes widened in shock as he and his wife stood up in shock. "NO! How did you—"

"You REALLY think we're that stupid?" Hog asked. "The skinny girl was the only one to show herself. I had a feeling that she was actin' out a little distraction."

Skull chortled as he pulled the Executioner off of his back. "Haha, yep! And now, I'm gonna make swiss cheese outta the both of ya!"

Kali narrowed her eyes at the two mutants in anger. "You may put an end to us, but there WILL be someone to stop you!"

"She's right." Ghira bolstered. "You won't be getting away with this!"

"Oh yeah?" Hog countered. "An' who's gonna stop us? Skinny girl? Ha! That toothpick couldn't hurt a fly!" He spread his arms out to the empty streets. "And last I checked, there's no witnesses around, so you cats are pretty much screwed—AGH!" At that moment, a powerful and turbulent wind came out of nowhere, along with the sound of ship engines. Hog, Skull and the Belladonna's shifted their eyes up just in time to see a rather large appear out of thin air above their heads, its exit ramp lowering for the occupants to disembark. "Ah crap." Hog grumbled. "Tennyson!"

"Tennyson?" Ghira pondered before seeing a whole group of people jump off of the large ship, the first one being enveloped in a flash of green light, changing his form completely. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

Kali's eyes nearby bugged out at what she was seeing. "Did that boy just—"

The woman was cut off when the large crystalline man slammed his fist on the ground, landing in a crouch in between the two mutants and the Belladonna's. He stood up and proclaimed; "Diamondhead!" before glaring at Hog and Skull. "Sorry boys, but whatever you're planning on doing, you might just wanna give it up right now." Diamondhead craned his head up as his compatriots continued to descend. "Alright guys, flank 'em! Let's take these clowns to the cleaners!"

…..

When Blake had jumped out of the Resolute to confront Hog and Skull, she was laser focused on bringing the mutated duo down. 'I'm not about to let them drag the White Fang through the mud any more than Adam already has.' she vowed in her head before she, her team, Sun, Rex, Winter and Ben all leapt off the ship. Gwen, Kevin, Team JNPR, Neptune, Penny, Athena and Raven had stayed on board so that they could follow the mob of White Fang that were charging down the street, the ship flying in that direction as soon as the first squad had jumped off. After Ben changed into Diamondhead and landed in front of Hog and Skull, he gave an order to flank the two mutants, which Blake was more than happy to agree with. She landed on the a nearby rooftop and aimed Gambol Shroud at Hog and Skull, waiting to see what they'd do.

Yang landed directly next to Ben, punching the ground directly in front of Hog and Skull while unloading a Fire Dust round from her Ember Celica. The force made from the impact was enough to cause the two mutants lose their balance, making them stumble backwards and onto their behinds. Yang stood up to her full height and crossed her arms with a smirk. "Hi boys, did ya miss us?"

"Like a bad rash!" Skull retorted as he and Hog got back up. "How in the hell did you find out we were here so goddamned fast?!"

Rex landed to their immediate right, using his Punk Busters to soften the blow. "Dude, there are eyes and ears everywhere in this city. Someone saw you and they went to the authorities, simple as that." Rex exchanged his Punk Busters for his Smack Hands in the blink of an eye, eliciting an audible gasp from the two hooded people. "Alright, let's see if TODAY will be the day I get to kick some mutant animal booty!"

Sun landed right next to the EVO and gave him a questioning glance. "Seriously? THAT'S the best you can come up with? "Kick some mutant animal booty"?" The monkey boy smacked his forehead. "Dude, you just lost a LOT of credibility with that line alone."

Rex winced as the line was repeated to him. "Eh, yeah, okay. It WAS pretty bad."

Weiss and Ruby made their landing right next to Rex, and the two immediately recoiled at the sight of Hog and Skull. Weiss wore a disgusted expression while Ruby had one of bewilderment, the silver-eyed girl hardly believing the mutated duo's appearance. "Whoa! It's one thing to hear that they've been mutated, but seeing it in person, it's admittedly pretty cool." The Hooded Huntress was quick to add; "Evil, but cool."

Weiss just pointed Myrtenaster at the two, her eyes narrowing at them. "Well, I'll definitely say one thing; it's an improvement from their old faces, that's for sure."

Rex cheered at Weiss' quip. "OH! Ice Princess bringing the hurt!" He gave the heiress a wink. "Now I gotta teach you some Spanish insults and then you'll be golden!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile at the support. "Thanks, I'll remember that."

Winter landed right next to her sister and pointed her weapon to Hog and Skull, she herself slightly grimacing at the sight of them. "I have seen enough of this." she chastised. "It's one thing to terrorize a small town, but to do the same in a heavily populated city that has already been ravaged by Grimm… it's despicable. Not to mention the fact that you pulled in an unrelated faction by force to do your dirty work."

Hog lowered his visor to give her his best serious expression. "Oh, OH, you wanna run that by me again? 'Cause last I checked, the White Fang ain't exactly all that innocent!" The pig mutant gestured up to Beacon Academy in the distance. "Just look at that school! Those little bastards helped Cinder swarm all up in there and they killed plenty of people." He shrugged his shoulders and continued; "Now, do some of them regret it? Sure! But here's the thing; a lot more of them don't. They hate humans so much that they're happy to kill ALL a' you suckas. And for the ones who've got second thoughts? Well… you'd be surprised just what people will do to avoid gettin' their BRAINS bashed into their—GAH!" He was met with a swift kick to the face when Blake finally made herself known, leaping out from the shadows when she had heard enough from the pig man. "OW! My face!"

Blake kicked herself off and did a back flip, landing right beside Ben… and coincidentally, in front of the two astonished hooded strangers. She sent an angry face to Hog and began reprimanding him for his words. "I can't BELIEVE you!" she cried with her fists clenched in ire. "The White Fang allying with Cinder was one thing, but now that Adam and Torchwick are gone, Salem's resorted to intimidating them to get what she wants?! It's disgraceful!" Blake continued to glare at them, her voice cracking in anger as she went on. "Adam was a monster, and he worked together with Cinder to get what he wanted… total control. But I'll be damned if I let YOU idiots take control of the White Fang and run what's left of them through the mud! It's just NOT gonna happen!"

But before she could go on with her speech, a voice from behind called out her name; "BLAKE!" The shout caught everyone's attention, as it sounded both desperate and relieved at the same time. But it was the voice that sent a wave of shock through Blake's entire system… because she recognized it almost immediately. The shock gave way to apprehension as she and the others whipped around to see the shorter figure remove her hood, revealing a middle-aged woman… with cat ears. She locked eyes with Blake as her hands went to her mouth to suppress her cries. "You… you're alive. Thank goodness, you're alive!"

"I can't believe it." The other figure removed his hood, revealing a bearded man in his early fifties. He wore a happy smile as his eyes met with Blake's as well. "I thought that we would need to scour the whole city to find you… but it seems that you found us instead."

As the rest of the team started on in confusion, Blake's mind was thinking a mile a minute, attempting to comprehend who was in front of her. However, Diamondhead caught on rather quick. "Blake… are those your…"

Finally, Blake managed to utter two words, and even then, she was still extremely shocked and confused. "…Mom? Dad?"

…..

A/N: To be continued… Yeah, I know, kind of leaving you guys off with a little tease there. But hey, look at it this way; we're going to be starting the new decade off with a big reunion between Blake and her parents (and Ilia) so there's something to look forward to! Speaking of big, hoo boy, we had some BIG stuff happen in this chapter. Penny's got her first taste of Mechamorph abilities and Raven's getting into the training groove. We got a little more insight on Swift's past, and she may just have a chance for parole, so that's nice. But now that Hog, Skull, Hazel and Tyrian have control of the White Fang, what'll we be in for? And it sounds like a ton of stuff's going down in Menagerie, huh? Just who ARE these inquisitors that Ghira spoke about?

Well, we'll just have to find out… NEXT TIME! The Belladonna family reunites while the other squad pursues Tyrian and the White Fang, though they also end up butting heads with a certain chameleon girl in the process. After all of that though, the whole group returns to the island, where Ghira explains just what in the heck has been going on in Menagerie. Well everyone, here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I'll see you guys in 2020, and as always, thank you for reading! See you guys next year, and let's make it a good one!

P.S. But before I leave, I present to you all a little riddle. In this chapter, there were three unnamed White Fang members who I gave lines to (whom I have given the temporary names; Big Rack, Long Ears, and Stripe Tail). Now, they're all based on three characters from the same exact story. Can you guess what that story is?