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.)

73. Making Plans, Forging Bonds

A/N: Hey everybody! It's that time again! A new chapter has pulled its way in and is ready to go! There's not really that much else to say about it right now, though I DID forget to mention in the NEXT TIME segment last chapter that there'd be more Earth stuff being shown off this time, so there's that. But on what you might be asking? Well, let's find out, shall we? This is…

Chapter 73: Making Plans, Forging Bonds

…..

If there were ever a time where Winter Schnee would wish that her job hadn't interfered with her social life so much, it'd be during a moment like this. She was pacing back and forth in the basement while Feedback had plugged himself into the interdimensional communicator, charging the device so that she could use it to contact Kenny. Since the unexpected mission came up and put everybody off-schedule, Winter had missed her usual meet-up time with the redheaded young man, and she was worried that he might be upset about it. She had to admit, in all of her years, she hadn't met anyone who made her felt the way she was feeling, and she didn't want to risk losing something good between them.

'Just try to calm yourself, Winter.' she remarked to herself. 'Kenny is an easygoing person. I'm sure that Ben and Yang are right and he'll be okay with you being a bit late.' However, as she gazed down to the communicator, a string of doubts started going through her mind. 'But still… what if he DOES get upset that I missed our usual lunch date? I have no clue if he cares about punctuality or not! Oh, Winter, what have you gotten yourself into?!'

"Hey Winter." A voice made the white-haired woman whip her head up to see Yang, the blonde staring back at her with a friendly smirk. "You okay? You've been goin' back and forth since Ben started charging that thing."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, Yang." Winter folded her arms and lowered her gaze to the floor. "I did not mean to, but… I'm just…"

"Nervous?" Yang guessed. "About how Kenny will feel, I'm guessing?"

Winter let out a sigh and lowered her arms. "Yes. I am… still somewhat on edge about starting a relationship after all of this time."

"I getcha." Yang nodded. "It can be a bit scary. Heck, my last relationship before Ben was like, three years ago when I was fifteen. When was yours?"

"The same as you… only I am twenty-three."

"…Okay, bit of a difference in time gap there, but hey, you've been making it work!" Yang supported. "I've heard you guys laugh, talk and just enjoy each other's company for the past few days now, so I've got a feeling that you don't have to worry about much." She went over and nudged Winter with her elbow. "Hey, long distance relationships are hard, but sometimes, they can be the sweetest. Because when you guys finally DO meet up in person, you're gonna be so happy. It's gonna feel like a giant weight's been lifted off of you."

Winter smiled back at the blonde. "You have a good point, Yang. And thank you for the advice."

"Hey, what're fellow big sisters for?" Yang jabbed her thumb over to Feedback with a wink. "By the way, Ben's done."

A green flash alerted Winter to Ben's transformation back to human, causing her to move back around. The young hero had placed a hand to his hip while he gestured to the communicator. "Alright, charged and ready, Winter. You're all set." He then gave her a thumbs up. "And I think Yang was pretty spot on with her advice, too. Just remember to have a good time and things will work out well for you."

"Thank you, Benjamin." Winter nodded. "I'll certainly try." She approached the communicator and sat down on the couch, her hand going to the activation switch. "Well, here we go." Winter flicked the switch and the device came to life, its holographic screen coming up in an instant. At first, there was only static, so Winter tried to speak into it. "Hello, Earth? Come in, Earth."

It didn't even take a second for the other end to pick up, a familiar male voice responding to Winter's call; "This is Earth, just one moment, por favor." The screen cleared itself of the static to reveal Caesar, the spikey-haired young man giving the three a greeting smile. "Ah, Winter! I was wondering when you'd be calling. And Ben and Yang too! Good to see you guys."

"Hey Caesar." Ben waved. "How've things been over there?"

"Everything's going pretty good, actually." Caesar replied. "Aside from a few random attacks that Manny's squad is handling, but nothing too major."

Ben raised a concerned eyebrow. "I'm guessing that means that there's no sign of Vilgax yet?"

"Unfortunately, no." Caesar sighed. "It's got everyone on edge and worried about when he WILL make his move."

"Well, that's a bit of a bummer." Yang shrugged. "Well, let's change the subject. How's the big Dimensional Doorway coming along?"

"The Doorway's about halfway done. Just a few more days and we'll be making the jump to Remnant to make some finishing touches." The genius then sent a knowing grin to Winter. "But I have a feeling that's not what you called about, is it?"

"You'd be correct, Caesar." Winter confirmed. "Could you please put me through to Kenny?"

"Of course. He actually called here earlier asking if you had contacted us yet." Caesar typed in a few commands while sending the three a wave. "Nice talking to you guys! See ya soon." Once he said his goodbyes, the screen blinked out, indicating that the call was being transferred to Kenny.

"Well, we should probably head upstairs now." Ben resolved. "I take it that you two are gonna want some alone time."

"Yes, if you'd be so kind." Winter affirmed.

"Oh sure." Yang waved as she and Ben walked over to the stairs. "Besides, we've got some stuff of our own that we wanna do before we start mapping out the big plan for Menagerie." The couple began ascending the stairs, though Yang gave Winter a final salute before leaving. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Winter nodded back before focusing on the screen.

At first, the screen remained blank for a few seconds, but when it blinked back on, a familiar face graced Winter's eyes once again. Kenneth Tennyson wore a bright smile as his gaze met Winter's, the young man eagerly greeting her the moment the screen came on. "Winter, hey! I was just wondering when you'd call. How're things going?"

"They're… going good, I think." Winter answered. 'Well, he doesn't SEEM to be upset that I'm late.' she noted. The military specialist bowed her head slightly toward him. "I'm so very sorry that I was late for our date, Kenny. There was an emergency in the city, we had to be pulled away for a while, and I didn't realize what time it was until I got back. And when I did, I was worried you'd be upset, and—"

"Whoa, Winter, it's okay." Kenny assured. "I'm not upset that you had to go do your job."

Winter blinked in surprise. "You… you aren't?"

"No, why would I be? You're in the military. It's only natural that your job's gonna pull you away a lot." Kenny gave her a smile. "Trust me, I'm not going to get upset about something you're required to do. We all have to work, even if it's really inconvenient for our normal lives."

Winter let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank goodness. You have no idea how thankful I am to hear that." She then gave Kenny an apologetic gaze. "But still, I wish it didn't have to mean that I have to be pulled away from…" A slight blush came to her cheeks. "…From someone I see as special."

Kenny's eyes widened as his own blush came to his face, his lips turning up into a small grin soon after. "I… I think you're pretty special too, Winter." His hand went to the back of his head. "So, uh, now that we're up and running, how're you doing this fine afternoon?"

"Hah, well, it's a bit mixed at best." Winter chuckled before folding her arms. "Our mission was a partial success. On one hand, we were successful in retrieving what we went for, but the enemy escaped."

"Ah man, that's a bummer. What happened?" Over the next ten minutes, Winter gave a summary of the events that happened over in Vale. As the story went on, Kenny became more and more intrigued, to the point where he was practically leaning over the table with his face visibly becoming more and more surprised with every detail. Once Winter's tale was over, Kenny leaned back in his chair, digesting the information as it set in. "Wow. Between Blake's parents arriving and Hog and Skull taking over the White Fang, it sounds like you've got a lot on your hands over there." He offered her a sympathetic expression. "I can't imagine how you're able to handle all this stress, Winter."

"Well, I would say it's less "stressful" and more… "crazy" for lack of a better term." Winter let out a small laugh and Kenny did as well, the two sighing once they were done. After a moment's pause, Winter pursed her lips in thought before asking; "Hey… Kenny?"

Kenny tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, Winter? What's up?"

"Tell me, do you ever find yourself questioning some of your previous decisions?"

"Oh, ALL the time." Kenny started counting off on his fingers. "There's the apartment in New York that didn't go well, the time I tried out baseball and I got hit in the face BY said baseball, and do I even NEED to go over how I stuck my head in the toilet bowl again?"

Winter burst out laughing and waved her hand in front of her face. "Hahaha! Oh no, you've gone over that story in excruciating detail already, haha!" Her laughter died down and she began focusing back to her last thought. "But yes, those kinds of decisions are all good examples."

"So, are you beginning to do the same?" Kenny asked further. "Is there something that you regret doing?"

"Well… sort of." Winter admitted. "I separated myself from the Schnee Family legacy and joined the military because I thought that my skills would be best suited away from the rich and better used for protecting the common folk. I don't regret joining for those reasons… but there was another reason I joined."

Kenny leaned forward in intrigue. "And what would that be?"

"I thought… that there would be no better option for me." Winter craned her head down and gazed forlornly to the ground. "After years of being forced by my father to interact with up stuck rich people while trying to force me to find a suitable suitor, I'd finally had enough. I saw my life as a dead end with no reward waiting for me at the end." She let out a breath she was holding before going on. "So, I decided to change my destiny. I joined the military and I was stripped of my heiress title. I was finally free of what my father had planned for me, and I changed my destiny to something greater. But… after being with this team and meeting you, I find myself wondering if destiny has different plans for me. I've found myself forming bonds with people that I never expected, and I'm actually a lot happier now than I've ever been in the past, so I've been reflecting on some of my past choices."

After a few seconds of silence between the two, Kenny gave her an understanding nod and a smile. "Well, I'm no expert on destiny, but I think I see where you're coming from."

Winter's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You do?"

"Well, yeah, you felt pressured by high society, so you decided to leave it, right?" Kenny put his hands to his chest. "And after you did, you chose to bottle everything up and stay secluded unless necessary, like what you told me a few days ago, right?"

"Exactly." Winter wasn't sure where the redhead was going with this, but she was open to what he had to say.

"Well, from my experience, that sounds to me like you're an introvert." Kenny explained. "You like to keep to yourself, you're a little more on the quiet side, and you joined the military because it allowed you to be independent."

Winter blinked in surprise. "Well, I suppose I'm a little introverted. How do you know so much about that, though?"

"I took a child psychology class in college." Kenny tapped the side of his head. "If you wanna make good cartoons, ya gotta learn how a child's mind processes things. But introversion and extroversion are common amongst ALL ages, not just kids."

Winter gave him a sly grin. "Well, look at you being so smart."

Kenny's face blushed and he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Aw, shucks."

Once the young man had regained himself, Winter laced her fingers together. "So… I guess this all means that I'm just beginning to come out of my shell, as it were?"

"Maybe so, and people who have anti-social tendencies sometimes DO look back on how they acted in the past when they start to communicate better." Kenny put a finger to his chin. "Think about this; what has working with this team for the past two weeks been like for you?"

"Intense, chaotic, somewhat adventurous." Winter gazed up to the ceiling in contemplation. "And… perhaps a little… fun?"

"Ah, there's the ticket!" Kenny said with a clap of his hands. "When was the last time you had fun with something?"

"Hah, when I was a child." Winter let out a sad sigh. "Back when my mother wasn't…" But she couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence, her hand going to her forehead as she shut her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Kenny. Those are memories that I can't bring myself to revisit."

"It's okay." Kenny reassured. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I understand."

"Thank you." Winter took a deep breath as she went back on topic. "But you're right. I AM having a good time with this team. I haven't felt this close to my sister in a long time, and the others have been quick to compliment me. Just a few minutes ago, Yang said that I was… cool. I'm beginning to question if that was a pun or not."

"Haha! Well, if she didn't mean it to be a pun, you just made it one." Kenny winked and pointed to her. "Great job, Winter."

"Oh stop!" Winter said teasingly. "You're better than that, Kenny!"

"What makes you think I'm not?" Kenny smirked. "Because I can say one thing's for certain; you, Winter, are NOT cold hearted."

Winter cupped her hands over her face, hoping to hide the smile that was forming on her face from his awful pun. "God, no please! Don't you dare!"

"Alright, alright, I'll stay frosty from now on."

That was all it took for Winter to break, though Kenny joined in as well when she started laughing. They laughed together for a good few seconds before calming themselves down, the military specialist being the first to speak. "Oh lord, you are awful, darling."

Kenny's blush returned, though he was able to reply without much difficulty. "What can I say, my dear? I've got ice on the brain."

"If you make a brain freeze pun, I will never forgive you." Winter's smile belied her threat, the woman knowing that she couldn't hate him for giving her a good laugh.

Kenny raised his arms up in surrender. "Okay, that'll be my last one. So… what do you plan on doing now that you've found a place with this team?"

Winter sighed once again as she thought that question over. "Well… I think I might just stay with them. Yes, my duties at the Atlesian Military will have to be addressed, but I think that I can do much more good with this group than I've ever done before." Winter winced as she remembered a few certain duties of hers that were still awaiting her in Atlas. "There will be… complications with my absence from Atlas to be sure. But I suppose that I'll just have to take those as they come."

On the holoscreen, Kenny gave her a reassuring grin and a nod. "Well, I'm sure that things will work out one way or another, Winter. And no matter what you do, I want you to know that I'm behind you, one-hundred percent." He then let out a sigh in slight frustration. "…Even if I'm not there."

"Yes, we'll have to fix THAT pretty quick, won't we?" Winter sent Kenny a wink. "Because once we meet in person, things will begin to get very interesting."

Kenny's eyes widened and he began stammering out; "I… I-I, well, that's…"

But Winter was able to halt him by blowing a kiss his way, a small chuckle escaping her lips. "You certainly have a way with words, Kenneth Tennyson."

…..

Meanwhile, in the ground-floor bathroom, Ilia was drying herself off after a much-needed shower, the chameleon girl feeling completely refreshed having finally washed herself after three days on the run. 'Dear god, I can't believe how long I've been wearing that freaking suit. I—wait!' Ilia's eyes snapped open after rapping her towel around her body, her gaze slowly shifting down to her stealth suit which was laid out off to the side. It was then she realized; her spare clothes were still in her backpack. "GAH! I left my backpack in the city! You've gotta be kidding me!" Ilia facepalmed, covering her eyes. "Now what am I going to do?!"

But then, a knocking came at the bathroom door, causing her to jump a foot off the ground. "Ilia? You still in there?" came a female voice from the other side. "It's Blake. Is everything okay?"

While a part of her was relieved that it was only Blake… is was still Blake on the opposite side of that door. The heat rose to her face and her spots changed to a hot pink at the prospect of the cat girl seeing her this exposed. 'Oh lord, what the hell do I do?' After a few more seconds of not responding, Ilia finally managed to stutter out an answer; "Uh, y-yeah, I'm good. Just… just trying to figure something out."

Not a second later, Blake replied; "Oh, okay. Well, whenever you're ready to come out, I brought some spare clothes for you if you need them."

Ilia's eyes snapped open at what she said. 'Huh, that's convenient.' After summoning up all of her bravery, the chameleon girl opened the door just a tad and poked her head out of the bathroom, coming face to face with Blake. "That's actually exactly what I need right now." She reached one hand out while keeping her towel secured with the other. "And at this point, ANY clothes would do."

Blake smiled and let out a chuckle. "Hehe, I thought so. Mom and dad told me that your backpack was probably long gone by now."

"Well, it probably isn't gone, it just got left behind." Ilia flexed her fingers, hoping to hasten the hand-off. "Now, uh, the clothes, please? You know, before anyone sees me?"

"Oh, right, sorry." Blake handed her friend a plain grey t-shirt and a pair of black khaki shorts. "Hope you don't mind wearing some of Ruby's clothes."

"Like I said, ANY clothes will do right now." Ilia pulled her armful of clothes into the bathroom with her and shut the door, drying off quickly before slipping into the clothes and tying her hair back into her signature ponytail. She grabbed her stealth suit and walked out, meeting with Blake once again before bowing her head in gratitude. "Ah, much better. Thanks Blake, I was getting worried there for a second."

"Hehe, no problem." Blake chuckled. "What're friends for, right?"

"Yeah, right." A guilty expression came to her face at the mention of the word "friend". Her time in the shower had calmed her down considerably, and it allowed her to reflect on her behavior on the way over, especially toward Blake. With a heavy sigh, Ilia spoke up again. "Hey Blake, I'm sorry for my behavior on the way here. I shouldn't have been so harsh on you. I was just upset at everything that'd happened to Menagerie, and after getting caught up with all of that craziness, it wasn't doing me any favors."

"It's alright, and I accept your apology." Blake gave her friend a concerned expression. "But… if I have to be honest, I'm probably not the only one you should apologize to. You were kind of harsh to pretty much everyone on that ship."

Ilia winced as she rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah… I guess I was." After a moment of silence between the two, Ilia remembered a question that she'd wanted to ask her cat-eared friend. One that actually related to the subject at hand. "Hey Blake, there's been something on my mind since I met your friends…"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Well… just how're you able to keep a positive outlook on Human-Faunus relations?" Ilia placed her hands on her hips. "After everything you've gone through with the White Fang, I'm still surprised that you're not taking any greater action against the humans for the way they treat us. Heck, I'm SHOCKED at how many human friends you actually have!"

Blake let out a breath through her nostrils. 'I had a feeling a question like this was coming.' She leaned up against the nearest wall and craned her head up toward the ceiling in contemplation. "Well… truth be told, I was going to try and take greater action. You remember how my mom and dad left the White Fang, right?"

"How could I not? You blew up in their faces for it." After noticing how hard Blake's wince was, Ilia panicked and immediately apologized. "Oh god, I am SO sorry! I didn't think before speaking! I'm so stupid!"

"No, no, it's fine. You're okay, Ilia." Blake crossed her arms and lowered her gaze. "I'm just… still trying to find a good way to talk to my dad about that. Anyways, when that happened, I had wanted to take the route that Adam was taking. But after that first mission, I realized just how wrong I was, and I left. Adam's way wasn't to establish equality like I'd wanted, it was to assert dominance. And no living being deserves to be oppressed like that, be it human OR Faunus. And I know that our kind was oppressed in the past, but I'd like to think that we're better than just flipping the tables on humanity and doing the same to them." Blake pushed herself off the wall and went over to Ilia, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Ilia, we CAN be equal, but things like that take time, patience and understanding on both sides."

Ilia stared into her friend's eyes for a good few moments before closing her own. "Hmph, you always were the idealistic one, Blake." She opened her eyes back up and sent a grin Blake's way. "But one thing's for sure, I'm glad that neither of us followed Adam's rage-fueled path."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Blake asked.

"Well… did your dad tell you about the White Fang who've allied themselves with Trumbipulor?" Ilia inwardly sneered at that name. 'I STILL can't believe how stupid that damn name is.'

"Actually, my mom did." Blake answered. "But from what she told me, I haven't even heard of these people before. I mean, Corsac and Fennec Albain? Yuma and Trifa? They're names I don't recognize."

"Yuma and Trifa joined the White Fang after you left." Ilia explained. "They're assassins who arrived in Menagerie pretty much out of the blue and offered to join the White Fang. A few suspect that Adam had something to do with their appearance."

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest." Blake rolled her eyes before crossing her arms. "And the Albain Brothers?"

"Two of Sienna Khan's top lieutenants, and from what I can figure, were also conspirators with Adam." Ilia narrowed her eyes in anger. "They're the ones who started kissing up to Trumbipulor the moment he took over. I guess those two got wind that Adam had been arrested and were looking for a change of plans to overthrow the White Fang." In an instant, her skin changed to red again, with her hair, eyes and spot changing to yellow as well. "But now they're just a couple of opportunists who're willing to terrorize Menagerie's people to get what they want out of that pompous pachyderm!"

Ilia was about to hit the wall in frustration, but Blake stopped her at the last minute. "Whoa, okay. As much as I appreciate your alliteration, let's try to calm down here, huh?"

Ilia took a few deep breaths, allowing her to let go of her anger and change back to her natural colors. "Sorry, sorry! I just hate their guts for what they've done. I'm ashamed that I even thought of joining their stupid rebellion!"

Blake rested a hand on Ilia's shoulder with a grin. "Well, I'm glad that you didn't, Ilia. Sometimes, things aren't always as great as our minds make them out to be. I had to learn that the hard way."

"Hmm, I guess you've got a point there." Ilia placed her hands on her hips. "Still, I can't help but be bothered by the way things are right now. Corsac and Fennec said that Adam's rebellion would help bring the Faunus the respect we deserve, but those two aren't worthy of any respect."

Blake nodded and offered a hand shake. "Agreed. So what do you say? Once we get a solid plan, let's take 'em out. I'm warning you though, my team is included with me in a package deal."

Ilia chuckled and grasped her friend's hand, shaking it heartily. "Alright, alright, I get the picture. If it'll make you happy, Blake, I'll try to be nice to your friends. …The Schnee girl still bothers me though, won't lie."

"Like I said, you get used to her." Blake glanced over to the upstairs staircase. "Which reminds me, a lot of the others are actually upstairs right now. Maybe you should get to know them a little better before the mission."

"I'll try, but don't expect me to be making any fast friends or anything." Ilia nudged her head toward the stairs. "You going up, too?"

"No, I'm… still trying to work some things out with my dad." Blake hugged her arms around her and shifted her eyes to the living room worriedly. "I need to find the right words to say to him after… you know what."

Ilia pursed her lips at her friend's dilemma. "Hm, I can imagine it must be hard. Words can't easily be taken away all that easy."

"No, they can't. Especially after what I just told him."

It was there that Ilia blinked in confusion. "Uh, okay, now you've lost me."

Blake's eyebrows shot up in realization, followed up by smacking her own forehead. "Oh, that's right! You weren't there for the big news drop. Long story short, I've got a new boyfriend."

And like that, everything stopped for Ilia. The moment that the words "new boyfriend" escaped Blake's lips, she could feel her heart break into pieces. Her thoughts were racing by a mile a minute trying to make sense of it all, but the ones that she kept coming back to was; 'Is this some kind of cruel joke? Do the gods just have it out for me?' She absent-mindedly craned her head down, shutting her eyes in silent shock and disbelief as her thoughts suddenly took a negative turn. 'I should just face facts. She'll never see me the way I see her. I'll just never be happy.'

But before her thoughts could become any darker, Blake's voice pulled her out of the void. "Ilia? Is something wrong?"

Ilia's eyes opened back up, forcing a smile to her face. "Oh, y-yeah! Never better! It's just that was a pretty big bombshell to take in. I… I didn't think you'd move past Adam this quick, but I guess I was wrong."

"Oh, trust me, I was through with him long before I even enrolled in Beacon." She placed a hand over her abdomen. "The fact that he stabbed me during the battle didn't help things either."

Ilia's eyes shifted to red in an instant. "He did WHAT?! That BASTARD! If I ever see him again, I'll be half-tempted to stab HIM in the gut!"

Blake backed her head away in surprise. 'Wow, this is WAY too familiar.' She reached up and grasped Ilia's shoulders once more. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I survived, didn't I? Remember, try to stay calm, okay?"

"Right, right, sorry." Ilia's eyes went back to normal and her forced smile came back. "So… who's the new guy?"

Blake wore a cheeky grin as she glanced toward the kitchen... and a certain monkey boy sitting at the table. "Well… it's Sun."

Ilia gave a sigh of relief. "Phew! Well, I'm glad to hear that. I was worried that you'd hooked up with that big blue-haired doof!"

"Neptune? Aw, c'mon. He may be a goofball, but he's got a good heart."

Ilia raised a single brow. "He attacked me on the roof, even when I took my White Fang mask off and said I wasn't with them."

Blake cringed at that. "Okay, so maybe he needs to learn some better judgment, but for the most part…"

But Ilia raised a hand. "Blake, it's fine. I'm just messing with you. Anyway, I'm happy that you found someone special, really I am." Her lips turned up in a snarl. "Besides, ANYONE is better than that creep, Adam." Her smile returned as she pat Blake's shoulder in support. "And don't worry. No matter what you say to your dad, I have a feeling that it'll all work out."

Blake smiled back and pulled Ilia into a hug. "Thanks, Ilia. You're the best."

"…No problem." But what Blake couldn't see what Ilia's eyes flash from grey to blue, a wave of sadness washing over the chameleon girl's mind as she returned her friend's hug. 'And that's all you'll ever be to her… a friend.' She screwed her eyes shut, forcing them to change back while keeping her tears from falling. 'NO! Stop with the negative thinking! She might not feel the same way, but you're still her friend! Show her support and be there for her when she's down. That's the best thing you could possibly do for her.' Ilia took a deep breath and pulled away to lock eyes with Blake, a slightly more genuine grin forming on her face. "Well, good luck. As for me, I need to get something in my gut. Haven't eaten since yesterday morning."

"Oof, well, we got plenty in the fridge, so help yourself." Blake sent Ilia a salute. "And remember, the gang's all upstairs if you wanna join them."

"Yeah, I'll remember that, thanks." And with that, the two old friends separated, though Ilia couldn't help but shed a few silent tears as she walked away.

…..

In the kitchen, Sun had just finished recounting one of many stories from the school year to Kali, the cat woman's mouth agape in disbelief. "So you're telling me that you all battled a giant robot through the streets of Vale, jumping from car to car on the highway, all while Neptune shot at it from the back of Yang's motorcycle?!" she exclaimed. "That is incredibly risky and dangerous! You could've gotten yourselves killed!" But then, a large grin formed on her face. "Please, tell me more!"

Around the table, Sun, Gwen, Rex and Weiss all couldn't help but chortle at the woman's enthusiasm. Since they set foot in the house, the group had been regaling her with the stories of their many battles, both during the school year at Beacon and after the great battle. Sun and Weiss handled the former stories while Gwen and Rex told the latter ones, both duos taking turns while Kali listened. Once Sun's laughter died down, he continued with his story. "Alright, so unfortunately, Neptune and I eventually got smacked aside by the bucket of bolts, so I gotta hand it over to Weiss for the rest."

"Of course." Weiss agreed. "Well, after I managed to slip the robot up and get it off of the freeway, Yang and I used our combination move to make a heavy fog to hide ourselves while we circled around it. Then, Blake and I engaged to exhaust its ranged weapons before Ruby came in. She and your daughter managed to take out one of its arms… and then Yang came in."

Kali tilted her head. "Is that where things started to go wrong?"

"Quite the opposite actually." Weiss clarified. "Yang took so much damage that her Semblance was practically in overdrive. All it took was Ruby and I freezing the robot in place and Blake using her weapon's ribbon to swing Yang right into its face. She destroyed it in one punch."

"Very impressive!" Kali beamed. "You all must've been quite proud of yourselves after that."

"Yeah, Ice Princess, that sounded AWESOME!" Rex added. "Wish I could've been there."

A sad smile came to Weiss' face at their praise. "Well, we would've been more proud of ourselves… if the enemy hadn't escaped. After we knocked Torchwick out of the robot, his mutli-colored crony came in and whisked him away. We managed to catch him later… but only after the breach happened."

"Hmm, I heard about that." Kali nodded. "To think that was just a prelude of things to come."

"Yeah, and it still really sucks." Sun crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't believe the breach was only about six months ago now. Feels like forever since that happened."

"Yes." Weiss lowered her gaze down to her coffee with a forlorn expression. "Ever since the Battle for Beacon, our time at that place just feels like a distant memory now."

A long moment of silence held over the table for a solid minute before Gwen spoke up. "Well, the best that you all can do is to look fondly on those memories." The Anodite offered them a smile. "After all, your time at Beacon was still a good one, right?"

Weiss' smile returned and she nodded her head. "Yeah, you're right, Gwen. And hopefully we can make even better memories once the school reopens. Now, I believe it's your turn to tell a story?"

"Oh, right." Gwen readied herself to begin spinning another yarn before noticing someone entered the room, to which she offered a small grin. "Hey, guess we've got some company."

"Huh?" Weiss moved around in her chair, only to come face to face with Ilia, the chameleon girl now in more casual clothes while holding her stealth suit in her right hand. Immediately, the heiress' face fell and her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the girl, an apprehensive feeling twisting in her gut. Ilia's eyes were glaring daggers at Weiss, making her feel even worse. She craned her head back to the group and bowed slightly. "I, uh, I should probably leave. Excuse me."

But before she could get up, a strong hand clasped her shoulder and kept her in her seat, taking her off guard. She moved her head up and was taken by surprise to see Ilia, her expression having softened a slight bit. The girl took a deep breath and took her hand away before speaking. "Listen, Schnee, I don't like you, that much I've made clear. But… as much as it pains me to say it, we're both Blake's friends, and if we have any chance of taking down Trumbipulor, this whole group is going to have to work together."

"On that, we can agree." Weiss stood up and met Ilia's gaze head on. "Still, I want you to know that I meant everything I said on that ship."

"Maybe so, but the atrocities your family has committed against Faunus kind can't just be taken away by a few words." Ilia placed her hands on her hips. "If you want to earn my trust so badly, then you'll have to prove to me that you respect Faunus kind."

The two young women stared at each other in silence for a good moment before Weiss closed her eyes and nodded. "Alright. If that's what I have to do, then I'll happily do it."

"We'll see." Ilia took her eyes off of Weiss and focused them onto Sun with a judging stare. "And you."

Sun's eyes snapped open and he pointed to himself. "Uh, me?"

"Yes, Sun, you." Ilia approached, narrowing her eyes slightly at him. "Blake just told me the big news. So you two are in a relationship, right?"

"Yeah, we have been for a while now." Sun raised an eyebrow at her. "Is there something wrong?"

Ilia pursed her lips at the question. 'As much as I want to say yes, this isn't the time for pettiness.' She shook her head and answered; "No, nothing's wrong. In fact, I'm actually rather glad that you and Blake have formed a bond this strong. It's evident that she thinks highly of you. Plus, she can only go uphill after Adam, so you're automatically better than him."

Sun gave her a weak smile. "Uh, gee, thanks."

"But I'll warn you right now." Ilia pointed a finger right in Sun's face. "If you even THINK of breaking my best friend's heart, Ghira and Kali won't be the only ones coming after you. Trust me, Sun, you don't wanna run into me in a dark alley. Understand?"

"Y-Yeah, I gotcha." Sun stammered. "But I promise you, I'm not about to hurt Blake like that, ever. She's probably one of the best people I've ever met, and I'd be a gigantic dumbass to just throw our relationship away."

Ilia gave him a single nod. "Good, I'm glad to hear that."

Kali tilted her head to the chameleon girl. "Ilia, is this all really necessary?" She extended a hand up to the younger girl. "There really is no reason to be so wary of these people, you know. Sun's been a good boyfriend to Blake and Weiss IS different from her father."

Ilia sighed and her shoulders sagged a bit. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just being a bit protective of Blake, that's all. I haven't seen her in so long and… I was really worried about her when she left the White Fang."

"And I understand that." Kali stood up and placed a hand on Ilia's shoulder. "But from what I've been hearing, I don't think that we had any reason to worry about Blake while she was gone." The cat woman waved her hand across the table full of young people. "These four have been telling me about the adventures of Team RWBY, and something tells me that you might be interested in them. Want to join?"

"Well… maybe later." Ilia politely declined as she showed her stealth suit in her hand. "Right now, I need to find the laundry room and get this washed." She shifted her eyes across the table. "Can anyone tell me where it is?"

"Oh, sure." Gwen pointed over to the stairs. "It's up the stairs, third door on the left. Though I think there's already a load going through the washer at the moment." The Anodite got up and began walking over to the stairs. "C'mon, I'll show you."

"Oh no, that's fine." Ilia raised a hand. "You don't have to."

"Ah, don't worry, I've got laundry duty today anyways." Gwen gave Ilia a smile. "Besides, I've been wanting to talk to you about something, if you don't mind."

Ilia blinked at Gwen's request. "Uh… okay, sure."

As the two ladies walked up the stairs, Rex turned back to the table with a light-hearted smile. "Well, that worked out better than I thought!" He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "And here I thought that she'd just start yellin' and screaming at us again!"

"That can be arranged, gear head!" Ilia hollered from the top floor, making Rex fall back onto the floor.

Kali, Weiss and Sun all began chuckling as Rex scrambled to pick himself off of the ground, the former two trying in vain to hide their laughter while Sun just belted his out. "Yeah, yeah, real funny, guys." Rex groaned as he rubbed his back side. "Sheesh, that girl just can't take a joke, can she?"

"Please don't blame her, Rex." Kali requested. "Ilia's gone through some tough times in her life from what I've heard, so you can't exactly blame her lack of humor." She laced her fingers together and lowered her gaze back to the table. "Many Faunus have been mistreated by human beings, and Ilia is one of them. I only wish she could learn to let go of her aggression toward humanity and see things the way we do."

Sun placed his chin in his hand in contemplation. "Yeah. Kinda wish there was some way we could help her out."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, actually." Kali shook her head. "It has to be Ilia's choice whether she wants to make friends with humans or not. It's not like she's going to trust all of you with a drop of a hat, after all."

"Yeah, we know." Weiss sighed. "I just hope that I CAN earn her trust."

"Well, all we can do is hope she'll come around, I guess." Rex shrugged before offering Weiss a smile. "But hey, just so long as you don't give her the cold shoulder, I'm sure she'll warm right up to ya."

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Rex's puns. "You are dangerously close to feeling my wrath, Robo-dolt, and I'm NOT kidding about that."

Rex raised his hands defensively. "Haha, okay, okay, I'll stop."

Just then, everyone was silenced when a loud whistling was heard. Over on the stove, a tea kettle had been set on the burner and was currently blowing steam out of its pipe, indicating that its contents were ready. "Oh, tea's done!" Kali smiled and stood up, stepping over to the stove to take the kettle off the burner. Once she shut the stove off, she put the kettle onto a nearby tray, along with a couple tea cups, and a cup full of sugar cubes as well. "Alright, that should be it." Kali picked the tray up and headed over to the door, bowing her head slightly to the three teens. "Excuse me for a moment, everyone, I'll be right back."

As Kali made her way into the main hallway, Sun, Weiss and Rex couldn't help but glance to each other in confusion. "Wonder what all of that was about?" Weiss wondered out loud.

….

"Come on, Blake, you can do this!" the cat girl mumbled to herself as she paced back and forth. "Just go in there and talk to him about it. He's your dad, there's nothing to worry about." Blake had been standing out in the hallway for a good five minutes since Ilia left, still thinking of the perfect way to break the ice with her dad. But for all of the scenarios she came up with in her head, the more she didn't like how they played out. She screwed her eyes shut and put her hands to her head out of frustration. "Ugh! Why can't I do this?!"

"Do what, exactly?" Blake's eyes snapped open at the sound of her mother's voice. Kali was approaching her daughter with a tray full of tea cups and a kettle, the woman tilting her head as she came closer. "Is something the matter, Blake?"

"Oh, hey mom." Blake greeted. "What's with the tea?"

"Well, I thought that your father and the others would like something to drink while they worked on the plan." Kali explained. "But what're you doing out here? I thought that you of all people would want to help them."

Blake's ears folded back, her gaze going to the ground. "I do… but I'm still really nervous around dad."

"Is this because of how he handled the big news?" Kali gave her daughter a sly grin. "You probably should've guessed how he'd react."

"Well, him hesitantly saying "that's nice" before just going inside and changing the subject wasn't exactly what I expected." Blake retorted. "He could've at least tried to make conversation with Sun on anything."

"Blake, you know that your father can be very abrupt. He probably just needed time for that fact to sink in." Kali leaned over and planted a kiss on her daughter's cheek before handing her the tray full of tea. "Here."

"W-Wait, what is this?"

"This is the best way for you and him to get talking." Kali sent her gaze back to the kitchen. "And since Sun, Weiss and Rex are feeling more talkative than you right now, I'm going to go and listen to more stories about Team RWBY." She set a hand onto her daughter's shoulder and gave her a wink. "I have faith in you, dear. Always have, always will." With those reassuring words, Kali went back to the kitchen, leaving Blake behind with the tea.

Blake was about to follow her, but then, her father spoke up from the living room; "Kali? Is that you, dear?"

The very sound of her father's voice caused Blake to start shaking, which in turn made the pottery start to clatter. 'Blake, your mom is right.' she shouted in her head. 'It's now or never.' She gulped down the remainder of her fear and went into the room, greeted by the visage of her friends and father sitting around the coffee table. On said table, a holographic projector was displaying a large map of Kuo Kuana, which the whole group were using to structure their plan around.

Ben, Yang and Kevin were all sitting on the couch while Jaune and Pyrrha were standing off to the side together, the five teens all focused on the holo-map. Doctor Holiday sat in the lone chair across from the latter two, the EVO expert listening intently. Meanwhile, Ghira and Raven stood across from Ben, Yang and Kevin, the former gesturing to certain points across the map. "Alright, so the main points of contention are here, here and here." Ghira pointed to the port, the town's central area, and the White Fang's base of operations on the outskirts, with each area being highlighted by a big red dot. "These are the most likely places where enemy forces will be stationed."

"Agreed." Raven nodded. "They'll be stationed on the port to stop any boats, the center of town will be where they can monitor everyone, and of course, their base will be heavily guarded." The tribe leader pointed to a large house near the center point. "If we wish to regain control of the whole town from this point, we'll have to spread out."

"Sounds like we'll have to split up into three groups." Jaune figured. "Question is, who goes where?"

"I'm not sure, but…" Pyrrha's eyes trailed up the map before catching a glimpse of Blake in her eyes, causing her to move her head around and smile to the cat girl. "Oh, hello Blake! Glad you could join us."

Ghira's eyebrows rose and he too set his gaze in Blake's direction, along with everyone else. "Ah, Blake! Yes, please come in. We were just beginning to form a battle plan." It was then that he noticed the full tea tray in her hands. "Oh, do you need any help with that?"

"N-No, don't worry dad, I got it." Blake came in and set the tray onto the coffee table next to the hologram projector, being extremely careful not to spill any of it. "There. So, battle strategy?"

"Yeah, we got the entry all taken care of." Ben explained as he stood up. He pointed to the same large house that Raven pointed out earlier, one that was surrounded by palm trees as well as a bunch of smaller houses. "Tetrax is gonna take us in in stealth mode directly at midnight, and we're going to land right behind your house."

Yang gave her partner a thumbs up. "Which, by the way, is a freaking awesome house, Blake."

Kevin sent Blake a smirk. "Yeah, how come you never told us you grew up in such a fancy-looking place?"

Blake rolled her eyes at the question. "Because it's really not that big of a deal."

"Well, for this mission, it is." Holiday spoke up. "That house is our best bet for a safe point. That is, if it hasn't already been compromised by the White Fang."

"And if there ARE any White Fang?" the cat girl inquired. "What then?"

"Then we take out any operatives that're in there." Jaune answered. "Quietly."

"Indeed." Pyrrha concurred. "We cannot allow our mission to be compromised by loudly announcing our arrival. Should our only safe point be compromised, then we shall use the night to our advantage and stealthily take out anyone who may be inside."

"Alright, what then?" Blake trailed her eyes over the three red points on the map. "I heard something about splitting up?"

"Yes," Holiday affirmed, "if we're going to subdue the White Fang throughout Kuo Kuana, we'll need to separate into different groups." The doctor pointed to the White Fang's base. "I think our safest bet would be to send a stealth team to infiltrate the White Fang's headquarters. That way, they'll be able to free Sienna Khan. Of course, Trumbipulor and maybe even a few others will be there too, so a couple of our heavy hitters should probably go along with them."

"And that's where we come in." Yang smirked as she set a hand on Ben's shoulder. "We'll have Sienna freed and those bad guys beaten to a pulp in no time."

However, Raven gave her daughter a serious face. "This is no time to be over-confident, Yang. Remember, Hazel and Tyrian could be there as well, and they are extremely dangerous."

"Raven's right." Ben rubbed his neck. "That Tyrian guy had me in a bind in no time flat. If he hadn't messed up and left my hands free, the Omnitrix probably would've been forced to go into its protection protocol." The hero glanced up worriedly to his girlfriend. "And if I hadn't bashed him away when he lunged at you…"

"I know." Yang wrapped a comforting arm around her boyfriend. "We all need to be more careful from here on when it comes to these guys. No more underestimating."

"Exactly." Kevin got up and pointed to the center of town. "As for the other groups, I'll take point with everyone else to the center of town. We'll cause a distraction that'll allow Ben's group to get to the White Fang's base and for the last group to head toward the docks. That team's gonna take down any defenses that'll be set up there, which'll free the place up to our second wave of back up."

Blake's eyes widened in surprise. "Second wave?"

"That's right." Ghira confirmed. "We're hoping that we can get some armed personnel in to help subdue any back up that the White Fang may bring in." The panther man sighed in frustration. "As worried as I am about it, we're going to be asking General Ironwood for help."

"Oh… I see." Blake had a feeling that this whole thing was eating away at her father's nerves. Here he was, the former leader of the White Fang asking for the Atlesian Army's assistance in something out of his control. It couldn't have been an easy decision for him to make. "Dad, it'll all be okay. General Ironwood's not like most Atlesian people, I can assure you of that."

"Oh, I know." Ghira sat down in a nearby chair. "It's just… strange to be asking Atlesian forces for help. But I suppose that since their general is one of your closest allies, there's really no better option."

Blake pursed her lips in thought before finally coming to a decision. She looked out to the room and gave everyone a pleading expression. "Hey guys, could we possibly take five for a while? I've been wanting to speak with my dad about something, and I think he needs a break from this whole planning process."

Ghira craned his head up to his daughter in surprise. "Blake, is there something wrong?" His daughter sent him a hesitant expression, which was all the answer he needed. He gave her a silent nod before setting his gaze over to everyone else. "Everyone, my daughter wishes to speak to me in private, please."

Ben bowed his head in respect. "You got it, Ghira. C'mon guys, let's break for lunch." The hero led his friends out of the room with Raven and Holiday close behind, the group heading straight to the kitchen.

Once they were sure they were alone, Ghira and Blake sat down, the former taking the chair while his daughter went to the couch. "Well, it's certainly been a while since we've talked like this." Ghia commented as he reached for the tea pot and two cups. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well…" Blake's ears folded back. "it's about something pretty important."

Ghira could see the nervousness etched across her face, and he had a pretty good idea what she wanted to say. "Is this about how I reacted to your… big news?"

"Not necessarily… though admittedly, it wasn't really what I'd expected."

The man sighed and lowered his head. "I know, and I'm sorry for simply brushing it off. It's just… when a man finally finds his daughter after a year of her being gone from home, one of the big things he worries about most are hearing the words; "I have a new boyfriend"."

Blake blushed a little bit. "Y-Yeah. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to find him myself. He just… appeared out of the blue one day." She brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "And to think that he was a stowaway on a ship when I first met him."

Ghira furrowed his brows. "Excuse me? I thought that he was a student from Haven."

"Oh, he is." Blake clarified. "But he told me that he overslept and missed his academy's ship to Vale for the Vytal Tournament, so he decided to hitch a ride on a cargo ship. …This isn't helping his case, is it?"

"Not exactly." Ghira shook his head. "But I suppose that you could've found worse boys to date. At least he's not a degenerate."

"See? That's a positive, right?" Blake gave a nervous chuckle before lowering her head. "Dear god, I'm bad at this."

"Ah, it's alright, Blake. I just… need time to get used to things." Ghira set the tea pot back down and gave his daughter a reassuring smile. "Truth be told, when I was his age, I also had a bit of a wild streak to me."

Blake's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "No, you didn't!"

"Oh yes, I did." Ghira chortled. "You remember my friend, Lou, right?"

"Hehe, how could I forget him? I used to call him "Uncle Lou" whenever he came over." Blake smiled as well as the memories came flooding back. "If I remember right, he always made me laugh when I was really little."

"Well, he and I were a pair of trouble makers when we were your age." Ghira explained. "We always got into all sorts of trouble, and we acted like your boyfriend and his blue-haired friend."

"Neptune." Blake reminded. "But, wow, I find that really hard to believe. I mean, Uncle Lou, sure, but you? Hard to imagine. So what made you settle down this much?"

Ghira sent a knowing grin her way. "What do you think?"

"It was when you met mom, wasn't it?"

"Exactly, the moment I met your mother, I was determined to impress her and win her love. We hit it off like a match to fire… but there was one problem that stood in the way." A frustrated expression came to Ghira's face. "Impressing her parents was probably the hardest thing I had to do."

Blake blinked in surprise. "Grandpa Thomas and Grandma Duchess were really that hard to impress?"

"Indeed, they were." Ghira sighed. "Your grandmother was a rather high-class Faunus, and your grandfather was a war vet with a chip on his shoulder. Asking for his permission to both date AND marry Kali were some of the scariest times in my life. Even after all my work for the White Fang, nothing will scare me more than Grandpa Tom's judging stare." He raised his hands up before clasping them on his knees. "But I was serious about Kali, so I cleaned up my act, and be for I knew it, I was in his good graces."

"Wow… something tells me that Sun's gonna be a bit harder to clean up."

Ghira sighed and sent his daughter a serious stare. "Blake, tell me, does he make you happy?"

His question took Blake off guard. "I… yes. Yes, he does make me happy."

"I see." Ghira closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reaching for the tea pot. "Well, then I suppose there's not much that can be done about it now."

"Wait… so you're fine with it?"

"For now, yes." The panther man began pouring tea into two cups as he spoke. "So long as he does nothing to hurt your feelings, then I'm fine with you two dating. But, just to be sure he knows what he's getting into, I'm going to have to put the fear of god in him, just so you know."

Blake's smile became slightly nervous at that. "Just… make sure you don't make him too afraid of you, okay?"

"I make no promises, dear." Ghira set the tea pot back down and went for the sugar cubes. "If he wants my respect, then he's going to have to earn it, plain and simple." He picked up a cube with a pair of small tongs and placed it into the cup closest to Blake, only to realize something; "Oh, wait, you still take sugar with your tea, right?"

"Actually, I…"

"Oh, sorry!" Ghira let out a nervous chuckle at his mistake.

"No, no, no, it's fine, really." Blake reassured.

Ghira offered his own cup to Blake. "Well, here, at least take this one instead."

But Blake was quick to grab the sugared tea. "Really, dad, it's not a big deal."

"You're sure, dear?" The panther man got a nod from his daughter, ending the little kerfuffle. "Well, alright, if you say so. And again, I'm sorry. Old habits die hard, I guess." He saw Blake take a sip of the tea, only for her to recoil a slight bit. "Might want to let it cool a little more. That pot must be pretty insulated."

"R-Right." Blake's voice wavered as she set the tea cup back down. 'What the HELL is going on?! I was doing good just a second ago, and then the tea thing happened! Gosh darn it!'

Just then, Ghira spoke up. "Blake, tell me, are you warm enough this time of year around here?"

Blake's ears perked up, her eyes glancing back to her father. "Um, yeah, why?"

"Well, it's just, that jacket's not exactly heavy." Ghira pointed out. "And your outfit overall doesn't cover much."

The cat girl craned her head down and immediately realized what he was talking about. She covered her stomach with her arms and faced away from him. "It covers plenty, dad." she insisted. "I'm fine."

"Well, perhaps a bit more armor? Just in case?"

"I don't need armor, dad." Blake retorted. "I can handle myself, thanks."

"I—" But Ghira stopped himself before he could go any further. He realized that this would quickly devolve into an argument if this went on, so he wisely chose to drop it and change what he was about to say. "I know you can. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Blake was genuinely surprised by how sincere he sounded with that apology, and it was there that her face fell into a frown and her gaze went downward. "…Why?" She heard her father give a confused; "hmm?", ushering her to go on. "Why would you say that?"

Ghira immediately got up and bent down next to her, placing a comforting hand to her back. "Blake, what's wrong? Did I… say something to upset you?"

It took a few seconds for her to answer, but Blake managed to finally get it out. "Dad… after everything I did… how can you still love me?"

Her question made Ghira realize what was going on immediately, and it didn't even take a second for him to start reassuring his daughter. He got up and sat next to her on the couch, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Blake, your mother and I will always love you, no matter what you do."

"But you were RIGHT!" Blake's voice cracked as her emotions started building up. "I shouted at you, and yelled at you… but you were right." She pushed her head next to her father's chest as tears started to build up in her eyes. "I called you COWARDS for god's sake! How are you not angry with me?!"

"Shh, Blake, everything's okay." Ghira pulled his daughter into a hug. "And I can tell you right now that neither your mother or me are angry with you."

"I should've left the White Fang with you and mom!" Blake craned her head up to meet her father's gaze. "I'm so sorry for everything!"

"Blake, it's fine." Ghira gently wiped Blake's tears away. "We never held anything against you, and I never feared you would fail." He glanced away for a brief second. "The only thing that I was truly afraid of… was that you would fall down the wrong path. And I am SO proud to see you haven't."

"But I DID!" Blake hung her head in shame. "I was so stupid to ever follow Adam in the first place!"

"And you pulled yourself away from his path." Ghira reminded. "Not many people have that kind of strength, and there are even fewer who are brave enough to take on their demons again. While we were planning out our strategy, your friends took a few moments to tell me about your adventures in Vale, and I was amazed at what I heard. Whether it was there, at Beacon, or even Mountain Glenn, you all have fought against the White Fang, time and time again." Ghira gave his daughter the most genuine smile he could muster. "You've forged a new path for yourself with the help of your friends, Blake. And I couldn't be any prouder of you for such an accomplishment."

Blake couldn't take it anymore. She wrapped her arms around her father and cried into his coat, letting all of her pent-up emotions out. "I'm sorry, dad! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, hon, I know." Ghira hugged her back, setting a soothing hand on her back. "I know that there some things that we all wish we could do differently, but just know that no matter what, we will always love you."

"He's right, you know." The father and daughter perked their heads up and turned around to see Kali standing right behind them, the woman giving them a joyous grin. "So… room for one more?" Blake and Ghira were more than happy to let Kali in, the duo standing up to bring her into the embrace. Kali sighed in relief. "Well, I'm quite glad that everything's been cleared up." She set a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Do you feel better now, sweetheart?"

"Yes, yes I do." Blake nodded. "Thanks mom. But… did you hear all of that just now?"

"I did, actually… and so did someone else." Kali craned her head back to the entryway. "Come in, everything's alright now." A few seconds later, Sun nervously poked his head out from around the corner before hesitantly stepping into the room, giving a small wave. Kali went back to her husband and daughter with a raised finger. "Now, before either of you say anything, remember, I was the one who brought him, so we were technically both spying on you."

Ghira furrowed his brows in confusion. "Um… alright, why dear?"

"Because a certain someone got off on the wrong foot with him." Kali poked her husband's chest for emphasis. "And I wanted to make sure that he knew you weren't heartless before we tried this again."

The panther man gave his wife a deadpan expression before whispering to her; "Kali, you realize that it's my job to intimidate him, right?"

"I know, but still, he's been worried about speaking to you for the past hour and a half, so would you please at least say SOMETHING to the poor boy?"

Ghira let out a sigh, closing his eyes with a single nod. "Ah, very well." The imposing man made his way over to Sun, the blonde visibly trying to put on a brave face as Ghira stepped closer. When he finally stopped, Ghira lowered his gaze to the monkey boy, his face as hard as stone. Sun kept himself steady as the two regarded one another for a solid thirty seconds, before Ghira cleared his throat. "Ahem, it uh… it's come to my attention that my reaction to you being in a relationship my daughter was… not handled well. I apologize for brushing you off like I did."

Sun rubbed the back of his head. "Well, truth be told, I wasn't exactly prepared to meet you guys today, either. I kinda wish I had more time to build up my confidence."

"Hmm." Ghira crossed his arms. "Well, we can't always be prepared for things like this, can we? But, now that I'm in a better state of mind, I want to make something perfectly clear…" He pointed a finger in Sun's face. "I don't like you, Sun Wukong. And I mean that, I really don't like you. Just because you're dating my daughter, that doesn't make you my friend. If you want to prove to me that you're serious about being in a relationship with my daughter, then you must earn my respect. Understand?"

Sun straightened out his back and gave Ghira a salute. "Y-Yes sir! I promise to not disappoint you, sir!"

Ghira put his fists on his hips, giving Sun a serious face. "Hm, now that's what I was hoping to hear."

Kali narrowed her eyes slightly before leaning over to her daughter. "Your father is pulling a Grandpa Thomas."

"So I've heard." Blake said with an eyeroll. 'Well, at least they're talking, so that's a good sign.'

…..

Upstairs in the laundry room, Ilia was taking a minute to assess her situation. Her stealth suit was currently spinning around in the washer, along with a bunch of other people's clothing, though there wasn't much she could do about that. But of all the things she had expected to happen today, having a friendly redheaded girl help her with her laundry was not one of them. 'I personally like dark-haired loners, but I guess that's just me.' But the moment that thought went through her mind, Ilia shook her head in frustration. 'GAH! Just get over her Ilia! You've lost your chance…' But that just made the chameleon girl feel more upset, causing her to lower her head. "Ugh, great, this is just what I needed."

"What is?" Gwen asked, making Ilia jump off the ground.

"Ack! Geez, don't sneak up on me like that!" Ilia yelled. "And… how were you able to know what I was thinking?"

Gwen blinked at her in confusion. "…Because you said it out loud?"

"Wait, I did?" Ilia put a hand to her head in shock. "Fantastic, I'm so thrown off that I can't even keep track of myself."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Gwen said as she continued to fold laundry in the corner. "Your mana's been fluctuating for a while now."

Ilia was about to ask what in the world the Anodite was talking about before realizing it a second later. "Oh, yeah, that's right. You can sense people's energy, can't ya?"

"Oh, I can do much more than that." Gwen elaborated. "I can create energy, manipulate it, absorb it, among other things." With a wave of her finger, the redhead cast a telekinetic spell onto a random shirt, making it fold itself up. "Plus, I'm pretty good at magic."

Ilia's lips parted in shock. "Whoa! Okay, gotta admit, I've never seen something like that before." After a few moments of thinking, she finally decided to step a bit closer to Gwen in intrigue. "So, you, your cousin and your boyfriend are all part alien, huh?"

"Well, yes, though Ben's a bit to a lesser extent." Gwen put a hand over her chest. "See, Anodites don't exactly have DNA to pass on since they're living energy. Instead, whenever they breed with organic life forms, an innate "spark" within their offspring's souls determines whether they gain the powers of an Anodite. Otherwise, they're basically just regular humans. My dad and uncle never had it, so it just skipped a generation."

"And I take it that means that your cousin doesn't have it either?" Ilia guessed.

"That's right." Gwen shrugged. "But my Grandma Verdona told me once that she sees a lot of my Grandpa Max in Ben, so in a way, he's got a spark unique to himself."

Ilia pursed her lips in thought. "I guess that kinda sounds sweet, but at the same time, it also sounds like giving a participation award to an elementary-schooler."

Gwen winced slightly as Ilia's words sunk in. "…Wow, I never thought of it that way." The Anodite's smile returned though, with her eyes going back up to the chameleon girl. "Well, at least I now know that you DO have a sense of humor."

The spots on Ilia's cheeks changed to pink again before she snapped her head away and crossed her arms in defiance. "I can be funny when I want."

Gwen's smile became more sympathetic as she stood up. "Ilia, I know that you're not exactly a fan of humans, but I just want you to know that we actually have a lot of fun here, and you're more than welcome to join in if you'd like."

Ilia sighed through her nostrils before going back to Gwen. "Listen, Gwen, right? I appreciate what you're trying to do, but my issue with humans isn't just that I'm "not a fan" of them."

"I'm sure that it isn't, and I apologize if my words came out the wrong way." Gwen bowed her head to Ilia in respect. "But with that being said, I'd actually like to hear why you feel the way you do about humans. I've been interested in Human-Faunus relations for a while now, and I was hoping to hear your side of the story."

Ilia furrowed her brows. "Sorry, but that information's too personal."

Gwen nodded her head again. "Okay, and that's fine too. If you'd rather keep to yourself, then I won't pry any further."

"Okay, what the hell?!" Ilia exclaimed. "Why… why are you being so nice to me?"

Gwen tilted her head to the side. "Do I need a reason why? It's basic decency; treat people the way that you'd want to be treated." She offered a small shrug. "Plus, I don't exactly have a reason to be angry with you. I'm not gonna get upset just because you don't want to talk about something with me. That'd just be petty."

"I… who ARE you, Gwen Tennyson?"

"Just someone who likes to be nice." Gwen picked up the laundry basket full of folded clothes and began walking out of the room. "Now c'mon, we've got a few stops to make."

Ilia stared after the redhead as she walked out, completely taken off guard by how sincere her statement seemed to be. She couldn't hear any intent behind it, malicious or otherwise. The redhead really just wanted to be nice to her. "Wait!" Ilia reached a hand out and Gwen stopped just before the door, craning her head back around. "…Thank you. For being nice to me, I mean. I haven't met a human who's been genuinely nice to me in a long time."

Gwen's smile returned and she set the basket down before moving back toward the chameleon girl. "You're welcome, Ilia. And if you give them a chance, a lot of the other people in this house are actually really nice too."

"I know. Blake told me that already." Ilia hugged her arms around her. "It's just, the last time that I was ever "friends" with humans… it didn't end well for me." She made sure to put massive air-quotes around "friends" for emphasis.

"I see. Well, if you still don't want to try, then that's your choice to make." Gwen assured. "But if you ever want to try, you'll know where to find us."

"Hmm." Ilia hummed in contemplation before going over to the door and opening it, waving her arm toward the hallway. "So, you said we need to drop off some clothes?"

"Yes, actually." Gwen grabbed the basket and made her way out the door. "Thanks, Ilia." The Anodite sent the Ilia a soft smile of appreciation. "And just so you know, you've already got a friend in me."

Ilia blinked a few times in surprise before returning the grin. "Well… thanks, Gwen. And sorry if I caused more trouble than needed earlier back in Vale and on the ship."

"Ah, don't worry, we're all troublemakers here… well, a majority of us are. C'mon, let's make the rounds." And with that, the ponytailed duo went around and began putting everyone's respective clothing in their rooms, setting the garments on the beds as they went through. Once they were done with Team RWBY's room, Gwen gave a satisfied sigh. "Ah, there, done and done." She raised her hand up to Ilia and said; "Up top!" Ilia glanced up to the hand and then back to Gwen. "Come on, it's don't leave me hanging."

At Gwen's encouragement, Ilia returned the high-five, giving her mind some positive reinforcement. 'Well, I guess Gwen's not a bad person, so that's good to know.'

But then, just as they were about to head downstairs, they heard a slew of voices coming from Qrow's room; "You play it first!" came Neptune's insistent voice.

"What? No way!" Nora denied. "I'm not playing it, you play it!"

"Why should I be the guinea pig?" Neptune argued back. "This game looks scary as hell!"

"Well, you ARE the one who found it." Ren's voice spoke up.

Next came Ruby; "Listen, guys, can we just take turns playing it? That way, everyone loses and gets scared out of their minds."

"But I don't wanna get scared out of my mind!" Neptune argued. "Not by something THIS creepy!"

And finally, Penny was the last to speak. "Come on, guys, let's leave him alone, okay?"

Ilia raised an eyebrow at the argument taking place behind the door. "What in the world is going on in there?"

Gwen narrowed her eyes to the door. "I dunno, but I think we should probably find out." She went over and opened the door, immediately seeing her five friends huddled together around her boyfriend's laptop. She walked in with Ilia right behind her, crossing her arms as she approached the group. "Alright, what's going on? Why are we all having an argument?"

"Oh, Gwen!" Ruby's eyes widened when she saw Ilia accompanying her friend. "And Ilia too! I wasn't expecting to see you up here."

Penny gave Ilia a salute. "Salutations, Ilia! It's good to see you again."

"Uh… yeah. Hi." Ilia uttered. "I'm just… you know, trying to make myself comfortable in this place."

Nora leapt up from her seat and began waving Ilia over. "Well c'mon, make yourself at home! There's plenty of room to pop a squat!"

"Oh, uh, thanks." Ilia shifted her eyes around to find a good place to sit before spying an open seat next to Ruby on the nearby bed. She stepped over and sat down, giving the silver-eyed girl a small bow. "And… thank you for letting the Belladonnas and I stay at your house for the night."

"Hey, it's no trouble at all." Ruby smiled. "I'd never turn away Blake's friends and family. In fact, I think I'd have trouble turning anyone away, haha!"

"Right… but, going back to what Gwen asked; what's going on in here?" Ilia raised a brow. "It sounded like you guys were having an argument."

Ren gave the girl an apprehensive face. "Well, it wasn't an argument per se, we were just debating who should play this game we found on Kevin's computer—"

"And I STILL say it should be Neptune!" Nora exclaimed.

"I am NOT playing scary video game!" Neptune insisted. "Movies are one thing, but games are a LOT more immersive. It's just out of the question!"

Ruby hung her head in exasperation. "Ugh, could we just pick someone already? I wanna see what this game's all about!"

Gwen placed her hands on her hips. "And just how did you FIND this game anyway?"

"Well, we originally wanted to watch more AVGN, but once we booted the laptop up, Neptune accidentally clicked on something else." The Hooded Huntress explained.

Penny glanced back over to the laptop. "And… if we're just going by the opening screen, it really DOES seem pretty creepy."

"Hmm, Kevin WAS always a fan of indie horror games." Gwen recalled before giving a shrug. "Well, let's see what you guys opened up. Maybe I can help you out a bit." Neptune shifted the laptop around in his hands so that the laptop screen was facing Gwen, and immediately, she reeled back at the sight. "Oh no…" What she saw was a rather staticky title screen, almost as if it was an old VCR-quality tape. Over to the right side of the screen was a rather unsettling image of a bear flashing in and out of existence, often being replaced by a robotic face. On the left side, there were three stars beneath the title of the game as well as four options; New Game, Continue, 6th Night, and Custom Night. And directly at the top left was the title, but Gwen didn't need to read it know exactly what this game was. "…KEVIN!"

…..

Back down in the kitchen, the rest of the team were all sitting around the table, the group having decided to eat lunch while Blake, her parents, and Sun all spoke in the living room. The teens were all discussing battle strategies for when they got to Menagerie whilst Raven and Holiday stood off to the side and sipped coffee, the two women talking about the same thing. However, the momentary peace was suddenly ripped asunder when everyone heard Gwen from all the way upstairs. "KEVIN!"

Everyone jolted from their seats in a flash while Raven and Holiday nearly spat out their beverage. Kevin spun his head up to the staircase and hollered; "GWEN!" before instantly dashing up the stairs in a flash.

Right at that moment when Blake, Sun, Ghira and Kali came running in, the four whipping their heads around on high alert. "What's going on?!" Ghira asked urgently.

"Did something happen?" Kali added in concern.

"I-I don't know!" Ben stammered out. "But I think Gwen may need our—"

"AHAHA!" Kevin's laughter at the top of the stairs instantly caught everyone's attention, the Osmosian craning his head down with a smirk. "It's okay, everybody! False alarm!"

Yang gave him an incredulous face. "A false alarm? That sure as hell didn't sound like a "false alarm" to me!"

"Trust me, it is." Kevin promised. "Gwen just experienced a bad memory after seeing something. And don't worry, it's nothin' major."

"Well, what was it, Kevin?" Blake questioned. "I don't think I've ever heard Gwen that panicked before."

"Yeah, don't leave us hanging." Sun added.

Kevin gave the whole group a smirk. "Ya really wanna know?" He ushered his comrades to climb up the stairs. "Well c'mon up here and find out. Halloween maybe over, but the scary stuff's still comin'!" As Kevin retreated back upstairs, the rest of the teens all followed after him, leaving the four adults in the kitchen by themselves.

Ghira craned his head over to Raven and Holiday in confusion. "Um, is there something that we're missing?"

Kali put a finger to her chin. "Yes, what's this "Halloween" that Kevin was talking about?"

"It's an Earth holiday." Dr. Holiday answered. "It's on the very last day of October, so the kids celebrated it just a few days ago. And ever since they got here, Ben, Gwen and Kevin have been introducing the others to a lot of Earth pop-culture, so it wouldn't surprise me if this was the case right now."

"Ah, I get it." Kali nodded. "And I suppose it's is a holiday where scary things happen?"

"Well, yes, but it's also where scary things are celebrated as well." Holiday gave a shrug. "It's actually a lot of fun."

"Hmm, I see." Ghira said with a stroke of his beard. "I must admit, Earth sounds like quite the interesting place. Still, I believe we should continue formulating our plan against Trumbipulor. Will the children be long?"

Raven waved toward Ghira. "Ah, I'll make sure they don't get too distracted. You guys go, I'll head up and get 'em in a few." The tribe leader began making her way up the steps as Ghira, Kali and Holiday went back into the living room, though Raven inwardly smirked as she thought to herself. 'Besides, I want to see what can make Gwen Tennyson cry out for her boyfriend like that."

…..

The first thing that the group had noticed when they entered Qrow's room was that Ilia was the one holding the laptop, the chameleon girl silently contemplating the screen in front of her. Neptune, Ruby, Penny, Nora and Ren were also watching the screen as well, but they kept their distance to give her some personal space. And finally, Gwen was sitting on the floor, huddled up next to the bed while mumbling something to herself; "No more… please, no more…"

"Gwen!" Pyrrha came in and knelt by her friend's side, with Jaune following right behind her. "Are you okay? What's wrong?!"

"The cursed game has reared its ugly head!" Gwen exclaimed, grabbing a hold of Pyrrha's shoulders. "Turn back now before its confusing story sucks you in too!"

"What're you talking about?!" Jaune asked. "What game?"

"I think she means this one." Ilia faced the laptop around and showed it to the group. "It's called—"

But Rex cut her off when a massive grin came to his face. "Five Nights at Freddy's! Oh my god, that's one of my favorite indie horror games!"

Ben facepalmed in exasperation. "Oh boy, now we've truly fallen down the rabbit hole."

"What're you talking about, Green Boy?" Yang asked. "What's the big deal?"

"Yeah, it's just a horror game." Weiss rationalized. "It doesn't exactly sound like a big deal. I mean, it doesn't even sound like a horror game."

"No, it doesn't, but that's kinda the point." Kevin went in and sat next to Gwen, putting an arm around her shoulders. "And it may not sound like a big deal to you guys right now, but if you had been on the internet back in 2014, you wouldn't have been able to escape Five Nights at Freddy's."

Ben came into the room and sat down on the second bed. "He's right. Five Nights… or FNaF as most people call it, was basically one of the biggest independent horror games that felt like there was more to its story than what was presented at face value. It got really popular among Let's Players and it had a whole community form around it after its inception, which led to a BUNCH of sequels."

"And guess what?" Rex continued. "The sequels just kept adding more and more hidden lore, which got a bunch of people to start over analyzing all of the games even more to put together a cohesive story to what actually happened at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria." The EVO pointed up a single finger. "And in the case of one theorist, it's actually driven him into insanity."

Blake raised an eyebrow at that. "Seriously? Because I find that kind of hard to believe."

"Well, okay, so he's not REALLY insane, but the theorizing has practically made him a bit less sane." Rex admitted.

Kevin rocked Gwen's shoulders a slight bit. "And Gwen here actually dabbled in trying to make sense of the story herself. But as you can tell, she didn't do so well."

"It was exhausting!" Gwen said while craning her head back. "Somehow, Scott Cawthon's been able to leave all of the pieces out for everyone to find, but it's still not exactly clear cut as to WHERE they go!"

"So, wait," Ruby interjected. "What you're telling me… is that this is a horror game that takes place at a pizzeria? How can you make pizza scary?"

"Easy, you make the restaurant's animatronic mascots want to kill you!" Ben answered, much to everyone's confusion. "Eh, you may want to just play the game and see for yourselves."

Sun crossed his arms and leaned up against a wall with Blake. "Okay, so anyone want to volunteer to play?"

"We were just trying to figure that out." Ruby clarified. "And right now, the most likely candidate is…"

Nora stood up and pointed to her hooded friend. "Neptune!"

But the blue-haired boy quickly waved his hands out in front of him. "No way, no how! I am NOT subjecting myself to ANY horror game!"

Ren sighed and facepalmed. "Here we go again."

The whole room suddenly burst out into a loud furor as everyone began talking over one another, the whole team debating over who should play that game. However, it was at that point where a certain Faunus couldn't tolerate the noise any longer. "ENOUGH!" Ilia shouted out, silencing the entire room. Everyone was astonished at her outburst, though Ilia herself was quick to reign herself in. "Alright, listen up. If it'll get everyone in here to stop arguing…" She stood up and walked over to a nearby table, setting the laptop down before taking a seat. "I'll play the game myself."

If anything, that statement just shocked everyone even more. "Really?!" Penny shouted. "You would?!"

"Yes, I will." Ilia took a deep breath and cracked her knuckles. "Been a while since I've played any sort of game before, but I've got pretty good reflexes."

Kevin pointed over to her. "Great, that's something you'll definitely need in this game."

Blake stepped forward in concern. "You're sure about this, Ilia? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to."

But Ilia raised her hand with a reassuring grin. "It's okay, Blake. Think of this as my way of… recompensing for being rude before."

"Ah, you don't have to do that." Ruby smiled. "We forgive you."

"Well, I appreciate that." Ilia focused her attention back onto the screen. "Still, if this'll settle who gets to play the game, then I'm still going for it." She found the wireless mouse and clicked the "New Game" option, bringing up a new screen on the game. It was of a newspaper want ad that was circled in red pen, one that was searching for a night guard and had a better picture of the bear from the title screen. "Hmm? What's this?" Ilia began reading the article aloud; "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Family pizzeria looking for security guard to work the night shift. Monitor cameras, ensure safety of equipment and animatronic characters. Not responsible for injury-slash-dismemberment."

Jaune gazed upon the screen with widened eyes. "Well, already we're off to a fantastic start, then!" He then narrowed his gaze onto Freddy Fazbear himself. "Lord knows I already don't trust that creepy bear. I'm guessing he's our big bad?"

"One of the big bad animatronics." Ben clarified. "There ARE others."

The screen faded to black and a set of white, blocky text sprang up; 12:00 A.M. 1st Night. An instant later, the screen changed again, this time to a rather small, secluded office. Ilia blinked in confusion. "Uh, what's—oh!" She started moving the mouse, and with it, the point of view shifted left and right. "Alright, I get it now. How do I walk forward?"

"You don't." Kevin answered with a smirk. "You are glued to your seat in that office. Hehe, good luck!"

"Wait, you can't move?!" Ilia's eyes shifted left and right across the screen. "Then how do I—AGH!"

She was spooked when the telephone on the office desk began to ring, though she wasn't the only one. Nearly everyone was at least a little jumpy at the sudden noise, barring Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Rex. A few seconds later, the telephone picked itself up. "Hello? Hello, hello?! Uh, I wanted to record a message for you… to help you get settled in on your first night."

"There he is!" Gwen pointed to the laptop with a frustrated face. "There's the man who's responsible for all of the confusion! It's Scott Cawthon himself!"

"That's the creator's voice?" Pyrrha asked. "That's certainly surprising."

"A little bit, yes." Weiss agreed. "Though I guess since he practically made this game by himself, that'd be a given."

"Um, I actually worked in that office BEFORE you." the Phone Guy explained. "I'm finishing up my last week now as a matter of fact. So I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?"

Ilia sighed as the Phone Guy went on and on about business matters, the girl growing ever more impatient when she wasn't hearing any gameplay tips. Her eyes moved back to Kevin with a questioning gaze. "Alright Mr. Expert, how the hell do I play this game?"

Kevin reached around and pointed to both sides of the screen. "Alright, so on either side, you've got two buttons; one for the hall light, and one for lowering the blast door. At the bottom, you'll notice that bar right there. Click on it."

Ilia did so and immediately, something flipped up, changing to what appeared to be a camera feed showing three animatronics; a bunny, a bear, and a chicken. "Ah, I see, so this must be how I keep an eye on them."

"Yep, and to switch between cams, all ya gotta do is click on the different areas." Kevin watched as Ilia did just that, the girl paying close attention to every room.

Nora's lips parted as she watched Ilia play the game. "Oh my gosh, this is WAY different than what I was expecting! I thought it was like a survival game where you had to fight off all of the animatronics!"

"Gotta admit, this is a MUCH scarier scenario." Sun nodded. "Though I gotta ask… why doesn't the guy just get up and walk away from 'em when they get close…" But he trailed off when he heard the Phone Guy say something. "And did he just say something about the Bite of '87?"

Everyone remained silent as the Phone Guy continued; "Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"

Neptune raised his hands and whipped around. "Alright, that's it. Cool special effects, I can handle, but I don't wanna be scared by something that can tear out my frontal lobe!"

"Neptune, it's not real!" Penny insisted. "Nobody's going to rip out your brain!"

Kevin rolled his eyes before explaining more to Ilia; "Okay, now make sure to check the cams frequently. But be aware of how much power you're spending." The Osmosian pointed down to the lower right corner, indicating the power usage bar and the percentage indicator. "You've got a limited amount, so use it wisely."

"Why would she only have a limited amount?!" Blake questioned. "A pizzeria's usually connected to a power grid, isn't it? Realistically, this game should be easily winnable."

"Ah, but then it wouldn't be scary, now would it?" Ben countered. "Besides, the in-game reason for the limited power is because the place is closing soon and is gonna be taken off the power grid anyway."

Weiss placed a hand on her hip. "And the reason why you can't leave the security room?"

"Do that, and you're fired." Rex answered. "Simple as that. But that's not even the worst part!"

Everyone was silent as Phone Guy went on; "These characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll p-most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit." The whole group of teens glanced to each other worriedly as Ilia flipped down the camera. "Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort...and death."

Yang cringed in disgust. "Ugh, nasty."

"Yeah, talk about gruesome." Jaune agreed.

But Ruby had an eager grin on her face. "Are you guys kidding? This totally sounds like its my speed! Let's do this!"

Gwen sighed before walking out the door. "Alright, I'm one of those who's seen FNaF plenty of times in their life, so I'm headed back downstairs. I'll see you guys in a bit."

As the Phone Guy finally hung up, Ilia shifted her eyes up to the upper left corner to see the time. "Well, I'm already at 2 o'clock, so things are going pretty smoothly…" But she soon at her words when she flipped the camera up… and the bunny animatronic wasn't on stage anymore. "Uh… where's the rabbit?"

"Oh, Bonnie's out!" Kevin clapped his hands eagerly. "Alright, so check the left side cams, see if you can—"

"There he is!" Ilia jerked her head back when she checked the backstage camera, only to see Bonnie's silhouette, the whites of his eyes clearly being seen staring back in the darkness. "Oh, that… that is not right." Keeping mindful of her power, Ilia flipped the cam down and shifted the POV from side to side. "Alright, so how do I know he's coming?"

"Just keep checking your cams." Ben advised. "Bonnie keeps mostly to the left side, so it shouldn't be too hard." The hero then spotted the time shift from two to three. "Good news is that you've only got three hours left, so you should be okay… hopefully."

"Hmm, right." Ilia kept intermediately checking the cameras for a good couple minutes more, but then she noticed that Bonnie was now coming down the hall. "Alright… so that's how you want to play it, huh?" She closed the camera and then shut the door. "Then very well."

"Ooh, waiting game strat." Rex commented. "That's a risky move this late into the night." He looked down to the power percentage. "And with only thirty percent power left, too. You've got guts, Ilia. Mad respect."

Ilia's eyebrows slightly rose at that. '…Respect?' She was so lost in thought that she was slightly spooked when everyone suddenly began cheering, and the chime of a grandfather clock pulled her eyes back to the screen. There, she saw that the clock finally shifted from five to six, taking her aback. "I… I did it?!"

"Alright, Ilia!" Yang pumped a fist into the air. "Way to go, girl!"

Ben nodded in agreement. "Yeah, awesome job! You didn't even see Chica once!"

Kevin put a finger to his chin. "Well, she probably DID activate. But Ilia was probably too focused on Bonnie to notice."

A smile slowly but surely came to Ilia's face. "Who cares what I did?! All I know is that I kicked that night's butt!" But then she noticed the screen flicker and change to Night 2. "Oh god, I'm just dumped into the next night?"

"No time for a breather or anything?" Blake added. "That seems a bit unfair. I can only assume that it gets harder from here."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Ben confirmed as the phone began ringing again.

Sure enough, it was the Phone Guy. "Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses. Uh… it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk just to make sure everyone's in their proper place."

"Way ahead of you." Ilia brought up the cams and began scanning over them, just to make sure that no one was out.

After going over the fact of how Freddy becomes more active in the dark, the Phone Guy gave one last tidbit to share; "Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time. The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched."

Ilia's eyes bugged out in realization. 'I've checked every camera except for…' She flipped to Pirate Cove… and immediately became startled at the image of an open-mouthed, sharp-toothed animatronic staring right into the camera. "AH! Oh god, oh god, what do I do?"

"Man, Foxy's out early." Kevin commented. "All you gotta remember with him is to check back on Pirate Cove from time to time."

"Okay… okay." Ilia flipped through the cameras, seeing that both Bonnie and Chica had moved off the stage as well. It was then that she was beginning to grow even more nervous, often flipping in between where the two others were on the map and then back to Foxy. "Dear god, this is intense, I—what the?!" When she flipped back to Foxy once again, he was leaning out of Pirate Cove, all the way past the "keep out" sigh. "What's he doing now?!"

"Oh lord, he's about to attack." Ben uttered. "I think you may have checked back a bit too frequently."

"How do I know when and when NOT to check back?!"

"It's a difficult balance to find." Kevin admitted. "Trust me, it's hard to get a pin on Foxy."

"W-Well, maybe I can salvage this." Ilia flipped her camera back to Bonnie and Chica's locations. "Maybe if I keep my eyes off of him for a few seconds longer than usual, he'll—oh no, where did the rabbit go?!" After flipping through her cameras a few more times, she finally found Bonnie… who was standing beneath the camera right next to the office. "Oh, okay, that's not good, I ought to… what's that sound?" She heard what sounded like clanging and she changed cameras to the left hallway, just in time to see Foxy running straight toward the office. This made everybody freak out, though not as much as what came next;

AEAEAEAEGGG! A loud metallic screech, accompanied by Foxy sticking his whole body into the office and lowering his jaw to attack. Nearly everyone screamed bloody murder and jumped back in fear, with Ilia practically leaping out of her seat and about three feet away from the desk. When everyone was finally able to collect themselves, they saw that Ilia's skin had become entirely blank white, while her hair and spots were now black. Everyone stared in awe at this, and when Ilia noticed, she immediately changed back. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't expect that, and—"

"What're you apologizing for?" Ruby smiled. "That was so cool!"

That response took Ilia by surprise. "It… it was?"

"Yes, it was!" Pyrrha concurred. "I've never seen anything like that! Is that your Faunus trait?"

Ilia shied away slightly. "Y-Yes. I'm a chameleon Faunus, so I change color."

"Well that's freaking awesome!" Rex exclaimed. "Can't imagine why you'd be nervous about it."

"So… you don't think it's weird?"

"Weird? It's sensational!" Penny cheered.

Ben raised his wrist to show Ilia the Omnitrix. "And Ilia, we're ALL a little weird here, trust me."

Ilia blinked a few times before craning her head over to Blake, the cat girl giving her friend a wink. "See? What did I tell ya?"

The chameleon girl's spots turned pink again, a small smile gracing her features. "Heh, I guess that you were right." But then, her eyes widened in realization. "Wait, the game!" Ilia rushed back over to the laptop, immediately being met with the image of a Freddy Fazbear suit with a human being stuffed right into it, the only visible body parts being the eyeballs popping out of the suit's sockets and the teeth jutting out from the mouth. "Well… game over, indeed." The Game Over screen then flashed back to the title screen, where Ilia hung her head with a sigh. "Guess I'll just have to try again."

"Perhaps later." A voice spoke up from behind. Everyone moved around to see Raven standing directly behind them, the tribe leader wearing an amused grin. "As much as I want to see you kids get the crap scared out of you over and over again, I'm afraid that we've got other business to attend to." She jabbed her thumb out the door. "Gwen's already downstairs helping Ghira and Kali formulate a plan, so unless you all want to miss out on it, I suggest you join them."

Yang smacked her forehead at that. "D'oh! That's right, we completely forgot, didn't we?"

"Gah, guess we did." Ben winced as he faced his teammates. "Sorry guys, but we DO still have some important stuff to do."

"Ben's right." Blake agreed. "If we're going to beat Trumbipulor and take back the White Fang, then we're going to have to make sure we got this plan down." As her friends began filing out of the room, Blake shifted her gaze to Ilia, her friend still propping herself in front of the computer. "Ilia, you coming?"

Ilia stood up straight and nodded her head. "Yes, I am." She gave the computer a sour look before closing the game and shutting the computer down. "But I'll be dealing with THAT later. I'm not about to let a simple computer game get the best of me."

"Hehe, that's the spirit." Blake chuckled. "Never give up, right?"

"Exactly, now c'mon, let's get back down there." But as she and Blake exited the room and went down the stairs, Ilia couldn't help but think back to how much… enjoyment she had gotten out of that. Not just playing the game, but from hearing how much everyone was supportive of her. 'Never in my life did I ever think that anyone would call my color-changing "cool". Maybe… maybe some of these humans aren't so bad after all.'

However, just as Ilia made it to the bottom of the steps, everyone stopped in place when they heard the front door open up, followed by the sound of a man's voice; "Hey everybody! I'm home!" The team all gazed down the hallway to see Tai strolling in, a big, toothy grin on his face. "So, what did you kids end up doing today—" The blonde man cut himself off when he saw Ilia, his eyes bugging out in surprise. "W-wait, what the…" Tai then noticed that there were two other people in his living room; a large hairy man and a cat-eared lady. They were accompanied by a nervously smiling Gwen, the redhead giving a small wave to the Xiao Long patriarch. As all of this processed in Tai's mind, he could only come to one conclusion, his hands going to his head in exasperation. "Oh COME ON! How many people am I going to have in my house?!"

…..

A/N: Poor Tai will never get to catch a break, will he? Ah well, at least Ilia seems to be integrating a lot better than she initially thought she would. And she at least seems to get along with Gwen, so that's a plus. Perhaps working with the team won't be so bad for her after all? Well, only time will tell. But other than that, a bunch of other good stuff happened here as well, huh? Another long-distance date between Winter and Kenny, Blake and her father reconciling (as well as Ghira giving Sun the big "dad talk"), and of course, another piece of Earth media gets introduced to the Remnant crew. I'll admit, I've always had a morbid curiosity when it comes to Five Nights at Freddy's. I mean, I've never played the games (I hate being jumpscared on my own), but I've watched other people play it and theorize about it so much that I've become a casual fan, so I knew I wanted to include it here in some way. Would it have been more appropriate around Halloween? Maybe, but hey, better late than never, I guess.

Anyway, NEXT TIME! We hop on over to Menagerie for a brief moment to catch up with our villains… and meet up with the duo who've taken over the White Fang. After that though, we check back with our heroes as they get ready to leave on the Resolute the next morning. But as she wanders throughout the ship, Ilia ends up finding something quite unexpected… Well guys, that's all for now! Thanks for reading, and I'll see ya later!