A/N: Hey guys! How's everybody doin'? Welcome to the penultimate chapter of the White Fang arc. This has unequivocally been the biggest arc that we've done in this story so far, and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out! Like last time, we've got quite the long chapter here today, so let's not waste any time! This is…

Chapter 79: Pachyderm Power!

…..

William Faun was someone who could be considered your mild-mannered Faunus family man. He worked hard to provide for his wife and two children and he also made sure that they were well protected. Thankfully, considering that they lived in the relatively safe town of Kuo Kuana, they didn't exactly see a lot of danger. Over the past week and a half though, that safety proved to not last long as the town had been easily taken over by an oppressive elephant man whom threatened their very way of life. But after his brief meeting with Ghira, Will was beginning to feel some hope again, even going so far as to relax a little even as the fighting went on outside. However, the moment he heard a loud roar echo through the night, the goat man could feel a cold chill run through him again. "Oh… oh no."

Next to him, his wife Shauna also let out a terrified gasp. "Ah! Honey, please tell me that isn't…"

"Shh, sweetheart, don't worry." Will consoled. "It'll all be okay, I promise. We have to be brave in cases like this."

His son, Billy, craned his head up to him in concern. "Dad, what're you talking about? What was that noise?"

Bonnie, his daughter, was also beginning to grow quite worried. "Daddy, I'm scared! I thought that everything was going to be okay."

Will quickly wrapped his arms around his children, pulling them close to his chest. "Kids, everything IS going to be okay, trust me. Do you remember when your mother and I told you about the Grimm and how they're attracted to negative emotion?" He received a silent nod from his children. "Well, the best thing to do during a Grimm attack is to keep yourself calm. So long as we do that and stay hidden, the Grimm will be less inclined to attack—"

CRASH! Will was suddenly interrupted when a dark figure suddenly careened in through the nearby window, making all four of them scream in terror. Standing there amongst the broken glass was a deranged-looking man who was grinning ear to ear, his beady eyes darting about the living room until they landed on the family. He had rather sharp, bladed weapons strapped to his wrists and he also had a tail protruding from his rear, though from what Will could see in the dark, it appeared to have been recently cut off. "HAHAHA! Well, well, well… what do we have here?" the crazed man began approaching the family slowly, scaring them even further. "What a quaint little family you have, good sir."

Will immediately scowled at the man and sprang up to his feet, spreading his arms out to cover his wife and children as he grabbed his trusty crowbar again. "Who are you?! What do you want?!"

"Honey, please!" Shauna shouted. "Don't provoke—"

SLAM! In the blink of an eye, the intruder used the remains of his tail to smack Will aside with a mighty swing, slamming him into a nearby wall. "Gah!" the goat man hollered. "W-What're you—AAAUUGH!" Without warning, the intruder ran up and slashed a large gash into the man's shoulder with the blades on his arms, blood splattering over the nearby walls. Will fell to the ground in pain as the madman began cackling over him.

"WILL! NO!" Shauna screamed as she instantly started to cry. In her arms, her son stared at the scene, horrified at what he had just seen. Her daughter was also in tears, crying out for her father to get up. Shauna grit her teeth and glared up to the man angrily. "What do you want you MONSTER?!"

"AHAHA! Oh, madame, what an appropriate question." The beady-eyed man said joyously. "I simply require one… little… thing…" With a mad dash, Tyrian Callows approached the woman and her kids, a sinister smile written across his face. "I need… a couple bargaining chips to use against those fools out there. And I know JUST the right ones to use. Hehehe!"

…..

Not far away, the front yard of the Belladonna home had devolved into utter chaos as the band of Beringels commenced their attacks, the ape-like Grimm practically lunging themselves at the teens to take them down. However, the whole team was ready for it, with several of them spreading out to give themselves a wide berth to work with. Nora and Ren stayed close to the house to protect it, the duo shooting down whatever Beringels were lucky enough to have gotten past the initial defenses. Out further though, Jaune and Pyrrha were immediately on the offensive, the couple keeping close to each other as the gorilla Grimm stormed them on all sides. Pyrrha sent Milo flying, impaling it through two of the Grimm's heads before using her polarity to change its course, ramming it through another two. Jaune meanwhile would stab his shield through each of the Beringel's guts before activating the gun barrel in its tip, blasting a hole clean through it before slicing its head clean off.

Still, even if he was successful so far, it was still a difficult maneuver to do. The Beringels were both fast and strong, making it hard to get in close enough to pull it off. Jaune breathed out a heavy sigh as he beheaded another one of the apes. "Man, these guys are a lot harder to take down than Beowolves." He pointed out. "They don't leave you much room for error."

Pyrrha reached her hand out and grabbed Milo out of the air, sighing herself before addressing her boyfriend. "Yes, but we cannot give in. We have to—" But then her eyes widened. "JAUNE, shield up to me!" Not one to question Pyrrha's judgement, Jaune raised his shield up to her, the Invincible Girl jumping on it before propelling herself up at a great speed using her Semblance. She shifted Milo into its xiphos mode and with one swipe, she sliced cleanly through a leaping Beringel, it's two halves falling to the ground in a heap. Pyrrha landed on the ground in a crouch, breathing steadily as she rose up. "Like I was saying, we have to stay sharp if we want to beat them."

Jaune gave her a smirk and nudged his head over to a certain team that had just arrived. "Hey, considering that Team CFVY's hear now, I think we'll be able to get through this." At the sound of another growling Beringel, Jaune spun around to shoot it in the face with his shield, only to be beaten to the punch by another bullet that went straight through the side of the Grimm's head. Jaune and Pyrrha directed their attention to where the shot came from and were met by a rather familiar face. "Hey! General Ironwood!"

Ironwood spun his revolver around in his hand, the barrel smoking as he made his way over to the couple. "Pyrrha makes a good point, Jaune." The general said. "Now isn't the time to be too overconfident simply because you've got backup."

After receiving a knowing glance from his girlfriend, Jaune gave them both a relenting nod. "Yeah, I gotcha. …But still, you gotta admit, when Team CFVY goes to work, it's pretty impressive."

With a shrug of his shoulders, Ironwood couldn't help but agree. "Well, I can't argue with you on that point."

Indeed, across the way from Team JNPR's location, Team CFVY were making quick work of the Beringels, and with relative ease as well. The quartet had gotten to work fast, each member diving into the fray the moment that Coco had brought out her weapon. Yatsu and Fox were making the rounds at close range, using their respective bladed weapons to practically cleave through the Grimm as they came at them. The tall swordsman in particular was having minimal problems, using his greatsword, Fulcrum, to deal massive damage. Be it by slicing through the Grimm, or to send powerful shockwaves through the ground, breaking it beneath their feet. Either way, they didn't stand a chance against him.

Fox on the other hand was getting much more up close and personal, using his Sharp Retribution to hit the Beringel in the face, all while firing Dust rounds at point blank which caused their heads to explode. Whenever one tried to sneak up from behind him though, he would quickly stab the arm blades of his weapon into them, either getting them directly in the chest or in the head. Either way, the result was the same. "Heh, see how you like that, ape-face." Fox thought in his head, though thanks to his Semblance, most of his teammates heard it.

"Don't lose focus, Fox!" Yatsu called out as he sliced through another Grimm. "This is no time for snappy one-liners!"

"Ah, c'mon!" Fox raised his arms in a shrug. "We got this in the bag—GAH!" The redheaded young man was suddenly jumped from above by a Beringel, getting pinned against the ground as a result. "Ugh, okay, I can see what ya mean!" Fox cocked his Sharp Retribution again and fired two shots at the ape-Grimm's feet, causing it to topple to the ground. Fox was about to get up and finish the job, but the sound of a laser blast made him pout in slight irritation. "Oh, c'mon, Vel, I was gonna finish him off!"

Standing directly above the Beringel's now dead body was Velvet, the bunny girl holding a hard-light copy of Pyrrha's weapon in its shotgun mode. She gave Fox a sympathetic, yet amused grin. "Sorry, Fox, but you seemed to be taking too long." Velvet pointed to her own ear. "Your ADA is working, right?"

Fox rolled his eyes and replied, this time orally. "Yes, mom."

Velvet rolled her eyes right back. "Oh, come off with that and let's get back to it!" With a flick of her wrist, Velvet shifted her copy of Milo into its javelin form, giving it a strong toss to her right. The weapon managed to sail itself through three Berningel heads before impaling into a nearby wall, dissipating into light soon after. "Gah, bullocks! I thought I had more time with that…" She then spotted Ruby out of the corner of her eye at the other end of the battle field, giving her a bright smile before running over. "Ruby!"

After making a clean slice through another Beringel with Crescent Rose, Ruby whipped her head around to see Velvet approaching her, returning her smile with gusto. "Hey, Vel!" The two gave each other a quick hug before Ruby continued. "I gotta say, when Gwen said that Ironwood was bringing a different group as back up, I SHOULD have expected it to be you guys!"

The bunny girl tilted her head to her right shoulder. "Yeah, well, Coco was all too eager to get in on some action. And honestly, things back at Beacon were getting kind of monotonous."

Ruby sent her a questioning eyebrow and a knowing grin. "Really? Nothing interesting at all, huh? Not even with a certain redheaded knight?"

Velvet's eyes bugged out and an intense blush came to her face, only for her hands to immediately cover it. "GAH! Will you stop being such a tease?!" she pleaded whilst shaking her head. "I haven't even decided if I want to try anything with Cardin, yet!"

Ruby couldn't help but let out a small giggle at her friend's expense. "Haha! I'm sorry! I couldn't resist." The Hooded Huntress raised a questioning eyebrow, however. "But then again… why not? I mean, he's not acting like a big jerk anymore. What's stopping you? Oh, and uh, watch out to your left."

"Gotcha!" With an impressive jump, Velvet sent a flying kick straight at an incoming Beringel's jaw, sending it straight to the ground. Ruby then proceeded to slam the tip of her scythe into its head, killing it instantly. "Thanks for the assist." Velvet bowed her head gratefully. "But to answer, I just don't know if it'd work out. After all, we've only just started to really get to know each other. And then there's Coco, who's still wary of him and his crew, so…"

"Woah, woah, woah, hold up." Ruby raised a hand. "The first part about only just beginning to talk with him, I can get. But why should what Coco think about Cardin govern your decision?"

Velvet's eyes darted to the side. "Well, she's like a big sister to me, you know? And I don't want to upset her or anything like that." The rabbit-eared girl pointed behind Ruby. "Also, you've got incoming."

"Thank you!" Ruby spun around and shifted Crescent Rose into its sniper rifle mode, taking aim at the approaching Beringel and firing right into its head. It went down in a matter of seconds. "Velvet, you're your own person. I know that you look up to Coco a lot, but you shouldn't let her personal feelings get in the way of anything."

Velvet pondered over her silver-eyed friend's words, a bit of a conflicted feeling entering her mind. "I know… but you know how Coco can get."

"Very true." Ruby admitted. "But still, you never know how well things go unless you try, right? I mean, Coco knows that better than anybody. Back during the school year, would you have ever imagined someone like Coco going out with a guy like Cooper?"

"Okay, point very much taken." Velvet admitted before giving it some more thought. "Well… I suppose you're right. I'll… see where things go with Cardin, even if Coco doesn't approve." She then pointed a stern finger to Ruby. "But that doesn't mean I'm just going to instantly ask him out or anything!"

Ruby raised her hands defensively. "Hey, I never said you had to, Vel. Feel free to go at your own pace. But while you're here, there IS something that I've wanted to talk with you about—"

"HEY GUYS!" The two girls were pulled out of their conversation by Neptune, who was currently running toward him with Penny right by his side. And behind them was another big group of Beringels chasing them down. "Could we possibly save the chit-chat for LATER please?!" the blue-haired boy asked.

"Yes, we could use some assistance!" Penny added as she began firing her Floating Array blasters behind her blindly, hoping to at least hit one of the ape-like Grimm. "And right now would REALLY be a good time!"

Ruby and Velvet faced each other with a nod. "They're right." Ruby said. "Can we pick this up later on Tetrax's ship?"

"Of course. But first…" Velvet reached into her camera box and pulled out Anesidora, the camera shifting into its active mode. "Mind if I borrow Crescent Rose for a jaunt?"

Ruby smiled and held her large scythe up to the camera. "Sure thing!"

With a quick push of a button, Velvet took a picture of the giant scythe and returned her camera to its storage box, the hard-light Dust inside of the device going right to work. Velvet held out her hand and almost instantly, a hard-light copy of Crescent Rose materialized into it, the brunette giving her friend a small grin. "Cheers, Ruby! Now… let's take care of these apes."

"Right behind ya!" And with that, the scythe-wielding duo ran off to help Neptune and Penny, diving into the horde with their weapons spinning in a blur.

Over on the other side of the battlefield, Coco, Gwen and Kevin were facing off against even more Beringels, the three standing in the middle of a rather large mob of black fur, white bone and blood red eyes. Coco was currently working on taking out a sizeable chunk of the enemy Grimm with Gianduja, the rotary cannon blasting out Fire Dust rounds like there was no tomorrow. This, combined with the fact that Coco was using her Semblance to boost the effects of the Dust, and most of the Beringel band had been decimated within the first few seconds of the battle. However, to conserve on ammo and move to a safer position, Coco shifted her weapon back into its purse form for the time being.

The barret-wearing girl popped a few muscles in her neck before stepping forward. "Alright, let's get down and dirty." She strode forward, confidence in every step even as she approached an incoming Beringel. However, just as it was about to grab her with its giant hands, Coco shouted; "Paws off!" before bringing her handbag up in an upward strike, swinging it right into the ape's jaw. She then pulled her handbag back and slammed it right into the Grimm's gut, knocking the wind out of it. Finally, she stopped her heel on its foot, making it howl in pain as it collapsed to the ground in a heap. Without missing a beat, Coco bent down and, with a quick twist, snapped the Beringel's neck, killing it immediately. "Heh, nice try, big guy. But only one dude is allowed to put his hands on me."

"Impressive kill, Coco!" Kevin called out as he fended off his own Beringel, having coated himself in concrete again. "Did you even break a sweat?!"

Coco raised her eyebrows with a snarky smile. "Levin, I work to get shit done. I barely have time to sweat!"

Gwen rolled her eyes as she used a mana disk to slice multiple Beringel in half. "Alright, let's not get into a fight here, kids!" However, after recalling what Coco had said just a moment ago about a certain "dude", Gwen couldn't help but wonder something. "Hey, Coco, wasn't Cooper with you guys? I can't imagine you just leaving him behind, after all."

Coco sent a knowing smirk in the redhead's direction. "Oh, he's here, Red. And he's—GWEN! Watch out behind—"

But by the time Coco gave her warning, it was too late. A large Beringel swung his arm down and grabbed Gwen with a single hand, making the Anodite give out a shocked yell. "AH! Hey!" Gwen began to squirm in the Grimm's grip, attempting to at least free her hands so she could cast a spell. However, the ape's grip was ironclad, and it began raising a fist over its head to squash Gwen in one hit. "Let me go you big—" BLAM! Before the Beringel could get the chance to try and squish her with his fist, a sizeable hole was blown directly through the back of its head with a laser shot, killing it instantly. The Grimm's grip loosened and it fell to the ground, allowing Gwen to recollect herself. "Hah, thanks, I… wha?" Her eyes widened and a slow smile came to her face. "No way."

From her left, Coco stepped up and rested her arm against Gwen's shoulder. "Yes way, Red." She gestured over to the figure standing in front of them with a proud grin on her face. "As you can see… I took Tech Head shopping."

Standing across from the two young ladies was none other than Cooper, and he was decked out in an entirely new ensemble courtesy of Coco. From the ground up, he was wearing a set of heavy, black knee-high boots with knee pads attached to them, a pair of blue jeans that were held up by a black belt that had a pouch on either hip, and a grey v-neck t-shirt. However, it was what he was wearing over the t-shirt that was most noticeable; a purple leather jacket with a yellow number three emblazoned on its right pectoral, completing his overall appearance. He was also holding a silver laser pistol, which he put back into the holster attached to his right thigh. Cooper grinned at Gwen and gave her a wave. "Hey Gwen! How's it goin'?"

"F-Fine, Cooper!" Gwen replied. "But I think I should be asking YOU how you're doing!"

Kevin caught sight of Cooper after taking down another Beringel, and the Osmosian appeared to be genuinely impressed with his friend's new get-up. "Coop?!" He went up and clasped the blonde genius on the shoulder. "Dude, where'd you get your new duds, man?"

Cooper rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, Coco took me out shopping the other day and I was able to get something custom-made."

Coco stepped over to her boyfriend and wrapped her arm around his broad shoulders. "So? Be honest, what do you guys think?!" She sent Cooper a small wink. "Because, personally, I think he looks bangin'!"

"I actually agree!" Gwen concurred. "Cooper, I REALLY think this new look suits you."

"Yeah, man, glad you finally ditched the baggy shirt and jersey." Kevin added. "I always thought it was weird that you just kept wearing the same clothes even after ya shot up like a weed."

The genius simply shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, what can I say? I'm not exactly one who'd be considered stylish." Cooper then pointed down to Coco, wrapping an arm around her and giving her a smile as he did. "But this girl right here? Now SHE is a stylistic genius. I owe this new ensemble all to her."

"Aw, Tech Head!" Coco reached up and planted a quick kiss to her boyfriend's cheek. "That's SO sweet, thank you!"

"Just stating the facts, babe." Cooper winked back before facing his friends again with a sheepish face. "Also, sorry for not getting into the action sooner. General Ironwood and I were discussing something important we've been working on."

"Ah, no worries." Gwen waved off. "You got here in time to save me, and that's what counts." The Anodite's hand began to light up once more. "Now, why don't we start sending these Grimm back to where they came from?"

A small smirk came to Cooper's pulling out his new laser pistol again. "Hehe, that's definitely an idea I can get behind!"

An eager grin spread across Coco's face at that. "Hell yeah! Now you're talkin'! Let's go!"

As another group of Beringels began charging at them, Kevin was quick to reach into his new Dust pouches and pull out another crystal, this time of the yellow variety. "I'm right there with ya, guys!" He grabbed hold of the crystal with both hands and absorbed it, catching both Cooper and Coco off guard.

"Whoa, hold up, Kev!" Coco exclaimed. "Where in the hell did you get—"

But just as she asked that question, Kevin slammed his fists together, which began conducting the electricity in his bright yellow crystalline arms. Accompanying this power up was his eyes changing color once again, changing from dark brown to a gleaming, golden yellow with a crackling aura. The Osmosian grinned as his arms shifted into a pair of maces for battle. "WHOO! Time to being down the thunder!" With that, Kevin jumped into the fray, striking at the Grimm with his lightning-enhanced arm weapons.

Coco lowered her sunglasses again to make sure that she was seeing things correctly while Cooper simply stared on in astonishment, both of them equally amazed by what had just happened. "Uh… Gwen?" Coco uttered before swinging her arm in Kevin's direction. "Since when the HELL could he do that?!"

"As of just a few moments ago." Gwen answered. "See, Kevin went up against one of Salem's followers that could use Dust to enhance his strength. So he decided to fight fire with fire and steal the guy's Dust pouches so that HE could do the same thing."

"Ha, well, it certainly worked." Cooper commented as Kevin sent another Beringel flying away. "He's taken to it like a fish to water."

Coco put a hand over to her hip as she watched the Beringel slam into the ground. "Haha! No kidding! But hey, let's not let Kev have ALL the fun! We should get in there too!"

Cooper cocked his laser pistol once again and gave his girlfriend a smile. "Right! Here we go!" And with that, the couple dove into the battle, both of them going to aid Kevin in his righteous smackdown.

With an amused grin on her face, Gwen crossed her arms and shook her head. "Sheesh, the more things change, the more they stay the same." She then added in her head; 'Still, I'm glad that Cooper's confidence has been skyrocketing these past few weeks. Being with Coco's really helped him improve his self-esteem.' Just as she was about to join her friends, Gwen couldn't help but think off-handedly; 'Hmm… I wonder how Rex and Weiss are holding up?'

…..

Dios mío!" Rex shouted as he smacked another Grimm away with his Smack Hands. "These monkeys just keep on coming!" At that moment, a stray Beringel suddenly leapt up from behind the EVO and tackled him to the ground, eliciting a yell from Rex's throat. "GAH! Oh, c'mon, get off me mono!" In less than a second, Rex exchanged his Smack Hands with this Blast Caster, the large backpack making the Beringel launch into the air with just how quick it built out of his back. Rex then sent his whip up, latching it onto the Grimm before sending a big energy blast through it, making the dark creature howl in pain. With a flick of his wrist, Rex pulled the Beringel back to the ground, the beast dying the moment it made impact. "Yeah, that's what you get!"

Not too far away from his position, Weiss rolled her eyes at the display. "Oh, for god's sake, Robo-dolt, can't you at least try to remain calm?" The heiress sent a quick thrust at her own Grimm opponent, stabbing it through the stomach before spinning Myrtenaster's barrel to the Wind Dust setting. The tip of her weapon suddenly began blowing a gust of wind that was so strong, it made the impaled Beirngel's body explode while also blowing three others away. "I mean, seriously, this isn't that bad."

"I know, but it's just really annoying!" Rex said as he continued downing Berigels with his Blast Caster. "You ever get that feeling where you think you've won, but there's just one last obstacle you need to take care of? THAT'S the feeling I'm getting right now!"

Off to the side, Winter and Holiday were standing back to back, taking down Beringels as they lunged at them. "I cannot say that I relate!" Winter called out as she stabbed another Grimm through the head. "But then again, I've faced this sort of scenario multiple times, so I suppose I'm simply jaded to it all."

"That could be a possibility!" Holiday concurred as she shot a clean hole through the chest of another Beringel. "Repetition leads to monotony after all!"

Weiss brought up a multitude of small glyphs around her, with all of them taking aim at the enemy Grimm. "Well, I'm putting an end to the monotony! Take cover!" With a wave of Myrtenaster, Weiss made all the glyphs spin rapidly, with many powerful cyan lasers shooting out of them a split second later. In no time at all, many of the Beringels were now filled with holes all over their bodies, be it in their heads, chests, shoulders or stomachs. However, the results were the same; they all fell over dead the moment they were hit. Weiss stood proudly with a satisfied smile. "Well, that takes care of—AH!" Without warning, a large Beringel suddenly jumped out from the shadows and scooped Weiss up in its giant hand, making her let out a scream. "Let me go, you brute!"

"Weiss! Hold on!" Rex reeled his arm back and prepared to lash his energy whip at the Beringel, only to halt himself when he saw a black and white blur speed by his face. "W-What the?!"

SLICE! In the blink of an eye, the blur zipped past the Beringel, having seemingly done nothing to harm it. However, after a few seconds, its head began lolling off to the side before finally dethatching from its body, a clean cut having gone straight through it. The beast's grip loosened and Weiss fell back to the ground, none the worse for wear. "W-What was—BLAKE!" The heiress broke out into a beaming smile as she saw her friend on the opposite side of the Beringel.

"Hah! Alright!" Rex cheered before deactivating his Blast Caster and heading over as well. "Nice save, Blake!"

Blake let out a small chuckle and gave them both a small salute. "Hehe, thanks. Glad I could make it in time." The cat girl shifted her eyes around and took in the situation at hand. "So, other than all of this chaos, how've you guys been doing?"

"Oh, you know, can't complain." Weiss answered as Winter and Holiday also joined them. "We beat all the White Fang guards, plus Simian, Yuma and Trifa. Kevin and Nora pretty much handled Hazel… and General Ironwood just arrived with Team CFVY as backup, so yeah, things are going good." A sour expression then overtook the heiress' face. "But… Hazel also told us that Salem was here, and Gwen could sense her too. I'm guessing she left this parting gift for us, huh?"

Blake winced at that. "Y-Yeah." There was a momentary pause before Blake was finally able to continue. "Weiss… I saw her. She was MUCH more terrifying than I thought she'd be." She gulped down her fear, her voice wavering a bit. "It… it was almost as if she were darkness incarnate."

Everyone's eyes widened at that. "She was really that bad?" Holiday asked further.

"Doctor Holiday, she had the power to smack Humungousaur away with one hit, drain his life force, and make him transform back into Ben." Blake answered with a serious face. "You tell me if that's bad."

The whole group was stunned into silence for a good five seconds before Winter was finally able to break it. "Well… alright then. Take note, everyone, we probably should not engage Salem by any means necessary."

"Exactly!" The group's ears perked up when they saw Sun and Ilia running toward them, the two Faunus teens fighting their way through even more Beringels just to get to them. Sun came to halt next to Blake and steadily took a hold of his breathing, jabbing a thumb back toward the White Fang palace. "Trust me guys, you have NO clue how scary that witch was back there."

Ilia was of a similar opinion. "I won't lie, the whole thing was… traumatic to say the least. I mean, we stood up to that woman!" The chameleon girl ran a hand through her hair. "And I seriously thought that she was gonna kill us on the spot."

"Well, I'm glad she didn't." Rex let out a sigh and put his hands to his hips. "Man, she's not messing around anymore, is she? I hate it when the bad guys get serious about their plans."

Winter closed her eyes briefly and shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Well, I suppose the only thing we can really do now is continue—"

"RRAAAUUGH!" All of a sudden, a loud roar caught everyone off guard, one that sounded as if a person were screaming in rage. Then, just as it happened, a dark shape suddenly took Winter right to the ground, making everyone recoil in fear and astonishment.

"WINTER!" Weiss shouted out before she felt something metallic wrap around her upper torso, binding her arms to her sides. In one strong tug, the heiress was pulled to the ground, making her drop Myrtenaster in the process. "Hey! What's the big idea—"

"SILENCE!" The roaring voice yelled back as if it were spewing venom. "Do not speak unless spoken to, Schnee!" Once everyone was able to comprehend what had just happened, Blake, Ilia and Sun all gaped at the fact that Sienna Khan had just taken down both Schnee Sisters without breaking a sweat, while Rex and Holiday simply stood off to the side wondering who the woman was. Sienna was glaring daggers at both sisters, her eyes darting between the two of them. "What in the hell are you doing in Menagerie?!" She got right up in Winter's face, growling as she kept her hand around the military specialist's neck. "Let me guess… you've come to steal secrets from us to aid your cursed father in taking us down, am I right?! Is HE allied with Salem as well?! It wouldn't surprise me!"

Winter's eyes had widened in slight panic, but she still kept her composure during all of this. "Miss Khan, please, we came here to—GAH!" Her words only served to make Sienna tighten her grip, the tiger lady's nails threatening it pierce through her neck.

"Pleading for mercy is NOT what I want to hear, Schnee scum!" Sienna snarled. "Now tell me what I want to know or so help me, I will—" Just then, a long, black ribbon snapped forward and wrapped around Sienna's hand, tightening so much that if forced her to let go of Winter's neck. "W-What—AH!" The White Fang leader was jerked away from Winter and sent sprawling to the ground, making her lose her grip on her Cerberus Whip in the process. With a quick glance up, she saw who had pulled her away; "BLAKE!"

Gazing down at Sienna with anger and disbelief across her face, was Blake, the cat girl gritting her teeth at the older woman. "Sienna, what are you doing?!" she asked as she pulled Gambol Shroud's ribbon away. Nearby, Rex and Sun were helping Weiss out of her binding, with Sun taking a firm hold of the whip.

"What am I doing? What are you doing?!" Sienna countered. "I don't care if you're in the White Fang anymore or not, NO self-respecting Faunus would ever help a Schnee!" She spun around and held her hand out to Sun. "Boy! Hand me my whip, NOW!"

Sun pulled his arm away further. "Not a chance, Sienna! If you mess with our friends, then you mess with us!"

"Friends?! Now I thoroughly cannot believe this!" Sienna turned back to Blake with a stern glare. "You're saying that these two…" she pointed between Weiss and Winter, "are your friends?"

Blake didn't waver, instead choosing to stand tall and proud in the face of her former leader. "Yes, yes she is. We've been friends for over a year now since we were put on the same team at Beacon. And you know what?" She moved over to Weiss and pulled her in for a side-hug. "I couldn't ask for a better friend and teammate."

Weiss couldn't help but blush. "Well, I wouldn't say I'm that great of a friend."

Blake raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a sideways smile. "Hey, I'm trying to vouch for you here." With that, she focused back onto Sienna. "She's nothing like her father, Sienna. And neither is her sister. I've been saying the same thing to Ilia for the past day now as well…" She sent a small glance to the chameleon girl in question. "But… I guess I've still yet to convince her of that."

Sienna raised a questioning brow to Ilia, who was beginning to feel uneasy at all of this attention. "Is this true, Ilia? And if so… have you been inclined to believe it?"

"W-Well, I…" Ilia stammered before trailing off, not exactly sure what to think at the moment. One the one hand, she still somewhat believed that the Schnees were overall bad news. The family name was so associated with Faunus grief and hardship that it was practically ingrained in their minds that the only good Schnee was a dead one. That's why they were White Fang enemy number one, after all. However, as she set her gaze upon Wiess and Winter's anxious expressions, her mind went back to the conversation that she had just a few hours ago with Swift, and the Aerophibian's words began ringing out in her mind once again;

'Not all humans hate people like us… we can't keep our hate bottled up forever…' Ilia closed her eyes and inwardly smiled to herself. 'Heh, you're right, Swift. I can't let my hate just keep festering inside of me.' With that, the chameleon girl opened her eyes and faced her leader confidently. "Yes, Miss Khan, Blake HAS been telling me these things. And… while I was all too resistant to believe her at first, the fact that Weiss and Winter came here to help free our home is noble in and of itself. I know that this may be unbelievable, but… just because their father's sins have caused us so much pain, that doesn't mean that they have to be held accountable for what he's done. People CAN change… and if Weiss and Winter truly want to try and make up for what their family has done… then I'm willing to give them a chance."

The whole team seemed to be unanimously relieved by Ilia's words. Blake was smiling proudly at her friend while Weiss and Winter sent her thankful grins, the two sisters grateful for her standing up for them. Sun, Rex and Holiday were also happy at the chameleon girl's statement, with Sun almost appearing to even choke up a bit. The only one who was NOT pleased by all of this was Sienna herself, the White Fang leader glowering at the situation. "Well then… it appears that I AM the only one of sound mind here."

"SIENNA!" Blake snapped. "After ALL of that, you're still not even willing to give them a chance?!"

"You don't seem to get it, Blake!" Sienna hollered back. "You do not have much experience with Atlas people, but I do! They will lie and cheat their way to get whatever they want, and I have a feeling that this is no exception."

Blake narrowed her eyes at the woman in contempt. "If you truly believe that… then you're probably as narrow-minded as they are."

Off to the side, Sun attempted to get their attention. "Uh… ladies?"

"I am trying to do what is best for ALL of Faunus kind, Blake!" Sienna argued further. "Your parents' way of thinking did not get us any results in the past, and there is STILL no good chance of it happening now!" Sienna faced away from Blake and clenched her hand into a fist. "If humanity does not wish to respect the Faunus through peace, then we'll do it out of fear! That is the way I have run things from day one, and you know that!"

"Yeah… and look how well THAT turned out!" Blake insisted. "Adam took your ideas to their worst possible conclusion! What makes you think that others won't as well? We've already seen it with the Albain brothers, so who's to say that any other White Fang won't try to take over the whole world too?!"

"Er, señoritas?" Rex spoke up. "I think we've got some—"

Sienna wore a frustrated face at Blake's point. "I… I will just have to crack down on them. But even then, I hardly believe that there could be that many who would have the nerve to conspire…" However, all she received was a deadpan expression from Blake, which began to raise her doubts even further. "…There's more than I realize, isn't there?"

"Yeah, pretty much!" Blake confirmed. "Most of the White Fang working for Trumbipulor and the Albains? They're doing this willingly! In fact, there's probably very few left in the White Fang who don't want to go to war with the humans." She crossed her arms and gave Sienna a harsh gaze. "Sienna, the White Fang has effectively been compromised by Adam's radical thinking. We have to reinvent how the organization does things if the Faunus hope to ever earn humanity's respect!"

Finally, Holiday had heard enough of this endless back and forth and decided to get in between the two. She stretched her arms out and yelled; "Oh my god, GIRLS! If you would stop for two seconds, you could probably see what your arguing has done!" The doctor pointed forward, causing the two feline women to crane their heads around.

There, the group was standing face to face with a fresh horde of Beringels staring them down, the last of the band that had been summoned from Salem's portal. They had been attracted to the group of eight by Sienna and Blake's argument, which the two were quick to realize. "Oh… yeah." Blake uttered. "Maybe we should've saved this for later."

Sienna stomped her foot. "Damn, you're right. I forgot about that." Sienna whipped back around to Sun and extended her hand. "Boy! Whip! NOW!"

"Alright, alright!" Sun relented, tossing the Cerberus Whip back to Sienna while he himself readied his Ruyi Jingu Bang. "Just don't hog-tie Weiss again and we're good."

"Hm." Sienna acknowledged before going into a combat stance. "We will resume this discussion when we are done here. For now, we must destroy these Grimm before they do any more damage to the town!"

Winter stepped forward and brought out her blades. "On that, we can agree."

Back over with Weiss, Rex stepped forward and put a light hand to her shoulder. "You gonna be okay, Ice Princess?"

"Y-Yeah, I think so." Weiss answered with a slight wince. "Still, after hearing what Sienna said… it hurt. Not personally, but more in a guilty sense." She shook her head morosely. "Just the thought of my mere existence causing these people pain… it's disheartening."

"It's not because you exist, Weiss." Ilia elaborated, much to the two's surprise. "It's the Schnee name and anyone associated with it whom the White Fang view as evil. You bear the last name, so that means you're an automatic enemy, branded with the idea that your entire family hate the Faunus community." The chameleon girl shook her head after that. "But… after everything that we've all gone through today, I see now that isn't the case. If you had truly taken after your father, you wouldn't have come here today to help us… but you DID." Ilia sent her a small grin. "And I think that more than makes up for whatever ideas you had about Faunus in the past."

Weiss held a hand up to her lips, taken aback such kind words. "I… I really don't know what to say except… thank you, Ilia." The heiress sent Ilia a sincere smile, tearing up a little bit. "I just wish that I could make it up to everyone."

Ilia came forward and set a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "In time, you just might. I'm probably going to be banished from the White Fang for speaking up for you, but you know what? I'd say it was worth it. But for now, we've got a fight to get to." She readied her Lightning Lash again and nudged her head to the Beringels. "Now, let's show these apes what they're dealing with."

With a confident grin, Weiss pulled out Myrtenaster again, giving Ilia a nod. "You're right! And I promise that I won't let your words go to waste."

Next to the two ladies, Rex pumped a fist in the air. "Well, alright! What're we waiting for then?!" With that, he activated his BFS and pointed it out toward the Grimm, which everyone else had begun to engage already. "Let's get in there and kick their hairy asses!" With a cheer from the two ladies next to him, the three then dove back into the fight, united in their cause to finally bring this fight to an end.

…..

Inside the White Fang palace throne room, Trumbipulor was staring face to face with Ben Tennyson, the young hero who had been a pain in his backside from the moment that they had first fought one another. Time and time again, the young hero would best him in every single encounter that they had, resulting in him being taken back to the Null Void every time. However, this time had been different. This time, he had been able to actually enact upon his plans fully, and was able to taste the sweetness of victory after taking over Menagerie in less than a week. But now, his new empire was crumbling before him, all because he had let his own hubris and self-confidence get in the way of his rational thought. And because of that, he had made his worst mistake yet; giving his worst enemy a new transformation. He was standing across from a Paku-Dermoloid that was taller than him and had a full set of impressive tusks, meaning that Tennyson was probably stronger than him as well. This was NOT good.

However, a call from Tennyson himself took Trumbipulor out of his personal musings; "Hey, Trumbi!" The new Paku-Dermoloid called over. "Are we gonna fight or are you just gonna stand there like a statue all day?"

The alien crime boss bellowed in frustration. "GAH! Ya HAD to do it!" he hollered. "Ya just HAD to get the one-up on me AGAIN, didn't ya, Tennyson?!" With an angry trumpet, Trumbipulor ran forward and reeled an arm back, intending to connect his fist with Tennyson's face. However, the new Paku-Dermoloid was able to stop it by raising his own hand, catching the fist in his palm. Trumbipulor simply glowered at him. "In all the times we scrapped, I never felt insulted. But NOW? Now I'm mad."

"Yeah, tell me what else is new." With a mighty shove, Ben pushed Trumbipulor back, making him stumble slightly. "Let me say this right now, Trumbipulor; you WON'T be getting away with what you've done here. THAT I can assure you."

"Ya wanna bet?!" Trumbipulor yelled before lowering his head and charging right at the opposing Paku-Dermoloid, his fists balled up and ready for another strike. However, just as the distance closed between them, Ben lowered his head even further down than Trumbipulor's and ran forward himself, ramming his skull directly into the crime boss' gut and wrapping his trunk around his leg. Then, will all the strength he could muster, Ben lifted his massive head up, taking Trumbipulor with him. Ben's long tusks were able to act as the extra leverage he needed to pull the maneuver off, tossing Trumbipulor to the side without too much problem.

"Sorry, I don't make bets with bad guys." Ben snarked back before shifting his gaze down to Yang and Raven. The two ladies were marveling at the feats of strength that the new transformation had exhibited, their jaws dropped in collective wonderment. Ben spread out his massive arms and asked; "Well, whaddya guys think?"

Yang broke out into a massive grin. "What do I think?! I think it's AWESOME!" She pumped both fists up in excitement before rushing over to her boyfriend, with Raven hot on her heels. "Green Boy, I can say without a doubt that this has to be one of the coolest transformations that I've seen yet."

"I agree." Raven nodded. "And I respect the way how you went about tricking Trumbipulor to hand it to you. Very smart thinking."

"Thanks, but now the big question remains…" The new Paku-Dermoloid put a hand to his chin in contemplation. "What do we call this new guy?"

Yang did the same thing that her boyfriend did and began thinking over the options in her head. "Hmm… let's see… how about Phan-Ton? Ya know, because you probably weigh over a ton?"

Ben nodded his head slightly. "Definitely a good one." The hero snapped his fingers as another name entered his mind. "Oh! Or maybe Hose Nose!"

"Also pretty good." Yang agreed. "But I think it might be a little too…" she gave him a playful smirk. "On the nose!" The couple broke out into a small fit of laughter, to which Raven could only raise a single brow at.

"Could we perhaps decide on a name after our lives are not in danger?" The tribe leader suggested before pointing to the Omnitrix bearer. "Instead of joking around, maybe you could use those dynamic tusks of yours for something useful. Like maybe, I don't know, fighting Trumbipulor?"

However, her entire suggestion didn't register with the couple at first, the duo having focused on two specific words. "…Dynamic?" Yang uttered.

"And tusks." Ben finished before smirking down to the blonde. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Yang returned the expression with gusto. "Dynatusk?"

The alien widened his stance, pumped his fists up and threw his head back. "DYNATUSK! Haha! It's perfect!" With a loud and mighty trumpet, the newly named Dynatusk slammed his fists together and began shifting his eyes around for Trumbipulor. The crime boss in question was just beginning to get up, prompting Dynatusk to point straight at him. "Alright, Trumbipulor, you wanna do this the easy way? Or are we gonna have to put some hurt on you and drag you back to our ship?"

"I ain't goin' anywhere with you's, Tennyson!" Trumbipulor yelled in anger as he raised his foot. "An' I'm gonna make sure o' that!" With a mighty stomp, Trumbipulor slammed his foot to the floor, creating a sizeable tremor beneath everyone.

Dynatusk was able to hold his ground, but he saw that Yang and Raven were about to lose his balance, prompting him to reach down and steady them with his large hands. "Stay with me, ladies! I've got a plan!" The Paku-Dermoloid craned his head down to Raven and gave her a nod. "Raven, can you circle around behind Trumbipulor from a distance?"

"Of course." Raven answered immediately.

"Good, when I give the signal, rush him from behind."

The tribe leader raised an eyebrow. "And that signal would be…?"

Dynatusk pointed to his trunk. "You'll know it when you hear it. Now let's get this goin'!" He got a single nod from Raven before she took off, shifting into her raven form as she did. That just left him and Yang to handle Trumbipulor head-on. "Alright, Yang, it's gonna be our job to beat up on Trumbi while your mom does her thing."

"Right!" Yang gave Dynatusk a thumbs up. "So, we goin' with any specific attack plan?"

The large alien gave her a smirk. "How's about a good ol' clampdown maneuver?"

"Storming him from either side, eh?" Yang grinned. "I like it! Let's do it!" With that, the couple separated into two directions. Yang began circling toward Trumbipulor's left side while Dynatusk charged in from his right, the two serving to put a considerable amount of stress on the crime boss and confuse him.

"Gah, the dame's no threat!" Trumbipulor said with a shake of his head before focusing directly onto Dynatusk. "Gimme all ya got, Tennyson!" He allowed the Omnitrix bearer to close in, the two beginning to grapple with each other the moment that Dynatusk made impact. The two Paku-Dermoloids glowered at one another, neither one of them wanting to give in. "I ain't goin' down easy, Tennyson! I hope you know that!"

"Oh, I do, Trumbi!" Dynatusk smiled knowingly. "But just so you know, you shouldn't be too quick to judge my teammates. You DO remember what Yang did to you just a few minutes ago, right?"

Trumbipulor's eyes widened and he began to panic. "W-Wait, no! I wasn't—GAH!" With a strong punch, Yang struck Trumbipulor's right knee, the same one that she had punched before. The alien crime boss let out a massive cry of pain as he fell to the floor, clutching his knee again all the while.

"HA!" Yang laughed. "Guess you aren't such a tough guy after all—EW!" Yang winced as her eyes landed on her hand, only to find a rather strange fluid on it. The first time she had punched Trumbipulor, Yang had only managed to skin the Paku-Dermoloid's tough, leathery hide. But after striking the same wound a second time, she finally managed to draw some blood, which appeared to be… a very odd color. And Yang was trying desperately to shake it off of her hand and weapon. "Ew, purple?! This species bleeds purple blood?!"

Dynatusk furrowed his eyeridges a bit. "Yeah, I'll freely admit, that's kinda weird."

But Trumbipulor was now far angrier than he was before, giving Yang the hardest glare that he could muster before surging right toward her. "YOU!" He thrust his arms out and grabbed her with both hands, catching both her and Dynatusk off guard. Yang tried to wriggle her arms free from Trumbipulor's grip, but he simply squeezed his hands harder, eliciting a scream from her throat. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR THAT!"

"YANG!" Dynatusk sprang into action, grabbing Trumbipulor's wrists and pulling them apart to make him let Yang go. "Let her go, Trumbipulor, or I swear I'll—"

"Oh, I'll let 'er go, Tennyson…" With a quick movement, Trumbipulor wrapped his trunk around Dynatusk's and jerked his whole body to his left, pulling the hero off balance for a brief moment. "Just as soon as I'm done doin' THIS!" Trumbipulor took Yang in one hand and began slamming her into the ground, making her yell out even more as her body kept making impact with the floor. Finally, Trumbipulor threw Yang against a far wall, right where Humungousaur had been tossed aside by Salem earlier. Whatever was left of that wall quickly collapsed on top of Yang the moment she hit it, resulting in her being buried under a pile of rubble. "HA! NOW look who's the tough guy, eh BLONDIE?! Haha! Look who's the tough guy now—OOF!" In one powerful punch, Trumbipulor was struck to the ground, with Dynatusk now standing over him.

Needless to say, the hero was now thoroughly livid. "Alright, no more screwing around!" he hollered. "You've just lost ALL pity from me, Trumbipulor!"

"Like I need your pity!" Trumbipulor shot up and began grappling with Dynatusk again, the two behemoths throwing punches at each other with every chance they got. Be it jabs to the face, gut, or even square in the chest, neither one of them let up in their attacks. It got to the point where the two elephant-like creatures began rolling across the ground, locked in combat all the while. "Will ya just GIVE UP already?!"

"Not… a… CHANCE!" With a mighty push, Dynatusk was able to finally throw Trumbipulor off of him and into a nearby wall, the hero clenching his teeth in ire. "If there's anyone here who should be giving up, it's you! Your empire's fallen, Trumbipulor! There's nothing left to fight for!"

"SAYS YOU!" Trumbipulor snapped back. "If I can't have a little piece o' Remnant to call my own now, then I'll just ally with Salem by myself! With or without the White Fang, I've still got brains AND brawn! I'd be useful to Salem either way!"

Dynatusk wore a deadpan expression. "Uh, hate to tell you this, but along with Hog and Skull, Salem's got Dr. Animo AND Dr. Viktor at her disposal." The new Paku-Dermoloid explained. "Plus she has another Doctor named Watts, too. So… without the White Fang, you're kinda screwed out of a job."

This little tidbit of information did NOT serve to quell Trumbipulor's anger. "SHUT UP!" He gave out an angry trumpet before charging at Dynatusk again, though this time he was able to make contact with his opponent's gut and force him into the wall. Trumbipulor was about to send even more punches to Dynatusk's gut, only for the hero to bring his fists together and slam them down hard onto the crime boss' back, making him lose his grip and fall to his feet.

Dynatusk reached down and pulled Trumbipulor over his head, using his tusks as leverage again to do it with relative ease. "Hehe, I think I'm growing to like this alien!" he chortled before glaring up to his adversary. "As for you, you'd better hope those ears of yours CAN help you fly!" Dynatusk lurched forward and tossed Trumbipulor away, making him bound across the floor a few times before landing on his stomach. The hero then gave out a loud trumpet, giving his signal to a certain tribe leader. "Raven! His shoulder, NOW!"

"On it!" From above, Raven jumped down from the rafters, with Omen already unsheathed for a downward stab. She landed on Trumbipulor's back, though not before her blood red blade managed to pierce halfway into the alien's right shoulder, making him give out a painful scream. Raven swiftly pulled her blade out, with a good amount of purple blood already coating its upper half thoroughly. She leapt away from him as he howled in pain, giving him a deathly glare. "And THAT was for pummeling my daughter!"

"SCREW your daughter!" Trumbipulor yelled as he got up once again. "In fact, screw EVERYONE! I don't need Salem, I don't need the White Fang, I don't need ANYBODY!"

Raven's eyes widened in astonishment. "Dear lord, how much punishment can he take?!"

"I don't know!" Dynatusk answered. "He was usually a lot easier to take down in the past… but then again, I never managed to get him this angry! Stand back! I'm gonna try something!" Dynatusk raised one of his legs and stomped his foot against the floor, creating a sizeable fissure that made its way toward Trumbipulor. But with surprising speed, the crime boss sprinted out of the way of the large crevasse and ran straight toward Dynatusk, delivering a punch right to the hero's face and sending him to the ground. "Hey—GAH!"

Before Dynatusk could even think of getting up though, Trumbipulor slammed his whole body down onto his chest and began wailing on him with multiple punches. "When… will you get it… through your THICK SKULL, Tennyson?!" He stopped his onslaught and jabbed two thumbs toward his chest. "I'm goddamn Trumbipulor! And no matta' how hard you mooks try, nobody, an' I mean NOBODY can take me down!"

While Dynatusk was certainly feeling a lot of pain from all of this, his face wasn't beginning to bruise yet thanks to his thick skin. But still, he knew he couldn't keep this up for long. "I need help… I need…" But right at that moment, he could feel an intense heat beginning to make its way through the entire room, which managed to get everybody's attention. But Dynatusk recognized this heat, it was very familiar to him. His eyes widened and they shot over to the rubble, a brilliant fiery aura beginning to burn through it all. A smirk quickly made its way to his face, shifting his attention back to Trumbipulor with a confident attitude. "You sure about that?"

As if on cue, Yang Xiao Long burst out of her prison of debris with a mighty scream of determination, her eyes burning red as her aura blazed in a fiery orange, though it almost seemed golden around her hair. She was glowering straight at Trumbipulor, the Paku-Dermoloid astonished at her sudden recovery. On the outside, the blonde appeared to be quite angry. But inside her own mind, Yang was keeping herself quite calm, focusing herself on just one thing; taking Trumbipulor down. "Get… off of him… now." she ordered.

After taking a few seconds to finding his nerve, Trumbipulor glared right back at her. "Heh, oh yeah? An' what're you gonna do about it—WHAAAAA!" Without so much as a blink of an eye, Yang had shot herself forward with her Ember Celica, propelling herself at such a high speed that she managed to push Trumbipulor off of Dynatusk with one, powerful kick. The alien tumbled back before getting up onto his feet again, though he was slightly disoriented by all of it. "W-What the—GAH!"

There wasn't any time for Trumbipulor to react as Yang began throwing multiple punches at him, unleashing every ounce of pent up energy that she had gotten from his earlier attack back at him. With every punch, she shot her Ember Celica, giving her even more power behind her strikes. But even then, with every Fire Dust-fueled punch that she landed, the intense heat that her aura was exhibiting was already hurting Trumbipulor even further, burning his skin. Yang briefly stopped throwing punches, allowing Trumbipulor to try and counterattack with his own overhead strike. But just as he brought his fists down, Yang dove under him and popped back up behind him, delivering another punch directly to the middle of his back and sending him falling forward yet again. "I am DONE listening to your yapping, Trumbipulor!" Yang said, her aura burning brighter than ever. "It's time to end all of this!"

As Trumbipulor scrambled across the ground, he raised his hand up to Yang and began doing what he thought he'd never do; beg for mercy. "P-Please! No more!" he pleaded. "I-I won't attack you again, I swear! You wouldn't actually KILL me, would you?!"

Yang narrowed her eyes, the burning of her aura becoming less intense at his question. "No… No, I wouldn't." She closed her eyes and relaxed her fists, a small smile coming to her face. "But at the same time…" Yang leapt backwards as Trumbipulor frantically thrust his arm forward, hoping to grab her while her guard was down. The Paku-Dermoloid bellowed in frustration as Yang landed directly next to her mother and Dynatusk, who had just picked himself back up. "I've got a feeling that you aren't exactly an elephant of your word."

"You little bimbo bitch!" Trumbipulor glowered at the three in hatred. "I'm gonna—"

"For that comment, you're doing NOTHING!" Dynatusk shifted his eyes between Yang and Raven. "Guys, you might wanna cover your ears for this." The mother and daughter did what the hero asked, much to Trumbipulor's confusion.

"W-Wait, what're you doin'?"

"Something that I've been eager to try…" With that, Dynatusk took in a deep breath, all while folding his own large ears in on themselves so that they were plugged up. Once his lungs were full of fresh air, Dynatusk closed his mouth, keeping his chest puffed out. It was at that moment that Trumbipulor realized what the Omnitrix bearer was about to do, but by then, it was too late to cover his own ears. Dynatusk blew all of the air out of his trunk, resulting in an extremely loud; "WHAAAOOOOON!"

It was a trumpeting sound so loud that it easily shattered all of the windows in the palace, and what's more, it temporarily deafened Trumbipulor thanks to his sensitive hearing. "GAH! Wh-what's goin' on?! I can't hear myself!" Trumbipulor began to panic, the ringing in his ears not letting up.

Dynatusk's ears unfolded and Yang and Raven uncovered their own ears, the duo gazing up to Ben in astonishment. "Dear god, I could hear that even WITH my ears covered!" Raven said. "How much air did you have to suck in in order to do that, Ben?"

"…Probably a lot more than needed." Dynatusk admitted. "But let's go! Now's our best chance to take him down!"

"Ben's right!" Yang agreed, her eyes still bright red. "Let's end this fight now before anything else happens!"

Raven shifted her eyes to the stumbling Paku-Dermoloid, his hands still up against his ears in pain. She then nodded in acknowledgement, her hand going to Omen's handle in an instant. "Hm, let's make this quick." With a great burst of speed, Raven ran forth and swung her blade out, making a clean slice across Trumbipulor's leg, making him cry out again as it buckled underneath him. "Now, kids!"

"GAH!" Trumbipulor yelled, his eyes narrowing at Raven in rage. "Lady, you're gonna pay for—URK!" He was suddenly cut off when Yang barreled forward and slammed a fist into his gut, knocking all of the wind out of him.

Yang vaulted herself up over Trumbipulor's head, kicking him in the back and making him trip forward. "BEN! Finish it!"

Trumbipulor opened his eyes just in time to see Dynatusk come trampling forward, his fist reeled back for one last punch. "Don't mind if I do!" With one mighty final strike, Dynatusk slammed his fist into Trumbipulor's face, knocking the crime boss out flat on his back. With his senses disoriented and his body wracked with pain, Trumbipulor finally began slipping into unconsciousness, though not without uttering one last curse to the Omnitrix bearer;

"Damn… you… Tennyson." Finally, Trumbipulor's head fell to the ground, the Paku-Dermoloid knocked out cold.

Like a flip of a switch, Yang's eyes went from serious and red-eyed to her joyous and violet once again, the blonde giving out a victorious; "YES!" followed by a happy laugh. "HAHA! We did it! We actually freaking did it!"

Raven let out a relieved sigh as she put Omen back into its sheath. "Indeed we did, my dear. And you both performed quite well." She sent a small smile to her daughter and Dynatusk. "Taking down an opponent such as this proves that your strength is only improving." However, Dynatusk was still giving her a rather stern face, much to her confusion. "Um… Benjamin? What's the matter?"

Dynatusk crossed his arms expectantly. "Isn't there something you're forgetting, Raven?" he asked. "Something rather important about a certain woman we're searching for?"

At that, both Raven and Yang's eyes widened in realization, the two having forgot about it during the chaos of the battle. The tribe leader glanced over to see that her daughter now wore a more serious face again. At the blonde's gaze, Raven could feel a pang in her chest, the severity of the situation having now just hit her. "I… I suppose that you all want answers, don't you?"

"Mom, if you're keeping the Spring Maiden from us, we HAVE to know." Yang insisted, her brows furrowing even further. "And even then… I thought we could trust you. But I guess adults just can't stop keeping secrets around here, can they?"

Raven could sense that strange pang again, but this time it felt different. Seeing the disappointed look that her daughter was giving her, Raven felt an uneasiness begin to rise up from her gut. She hadn't wanted to see a face like that from her daughter, especially just as they were beginning to get along. It… hurt. However, Raven had to remind herself to stay calm. 'You're a Branwen for god's sakes! Show some spine!' As much as she tried to scold herself though, it didn't make the hurt go away. But the words were just enough for her to start explaining herself. "Yang, please believe me when I say that I WAS going to tell you all." The tribe leader pleaded.

"Then why didn't you?!" Yang immediately retorted. "That should've been one of the FIRST things you told us!" She took a deep breath to calm herself, attempting to keep her emotions in check like Gwen had taught her. "…Why keep it hidden, mom?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were all ready to handle such information." Raven explained. "Both in mind and body. Yang, you SAW what Salem did when I didn't give her the information she wanted." She pointed right out the front door. "And if she so wished, it could have been MUCH worse. Anyone who is associated with any of the Maidens has an immediate target on their back, and I didn't want you all to get painted with that until I knew that you were all ready to face anything that Salem could throw at you. Up until now, she has only seen you all as a mere nuisance. But after today, that has changed…" She then cast her eyes downward to the floor, despondent at the situation. "I… I didn't count on Salam already knowing about my tribe's link to the Spring Maiden. I had hoped to spare you of her wrath for the time being, but… I suppose that we're ALL targets now."

Yang wore a conflicted expression on her face. On the one hand, she was still angry at her mother for keeping this secret from them. But on the other, she heard the utter sincerity in her voice, and it took her aback as her mother explained herself. "So… you were trying to protect us?"

Raven's cheeks became slightly red at the insinuation. But she had to admit, it was accurate. "W-Well, in a way, yes."

Up above the two, Dynatusk couldn't help but smile. "Aw, Raven, you DO have a soft side!"

The comment got Yang to giggle a little bit, but Raven gave Dynatusk an absolutely dreadful glare. "You say that ONE more time, Ben Tennyson and I WILL shove that trunk into your mouth!"

Dynatusk raised his massive hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'll shut up." At that moment, the Paku-Dermoloid's face became serious again. "Still though, you should've been more honest with us from the very start, Raven. When we resolved to take up this fight, we were ALL aware of the risks. Salem probably would've started being harsher on us sooner or later, so really, it wouldn't have mattered if you had told us or not."

Raven pursed her lips at that, giving out a sigh soon after. "I suppose you're right. But still, that doesn't excuse the OTHER thing I've been keeping from you… the Spring Maiden's identity and location."

But Yang simply waved it off. "Ah, that's not a big deal. You know where she is, so all you have to do is take us to her, right?" However, Raven closed her eyes, turning her head away from her daughter in… shame? Sadness? It was hard to pin down, but Yang could see that her mother was visibly upset. "Mom… what's wrong?"

"That's the thing, Yang." Raven said awkwardly. "The Spring Maiden… has been in front of you this entire time." The tribe leader opened her eyes and, all of a sudden, a bright red aura began surrounding them, leaving both Yang and Dynatusk astonished. "Yang… Ben… I am the Spring Maiden."

The powerful couple had no idea how to respond. Their world had been effectively been spun upside down by the revelation that Raven had just dropped on them. However, as Yang remained silent, Dynatusk was stammering in complete befuddlement, struggling to find the right words to say. "What…?! How…?! Why…?! …I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!"

…..

Back over at the Belladonna family home, most of the team had regrouped in the forecourt, all of them having steadily fought their way to the middle to form a steady blockade in front of the house. The only team members among their count that Gwen didn't see were Weiss, Rex, Winter and Holiday, the redhead wondering just where in the world those four could be. And of course, Ben and his team had still not returned, which just made her doubly concerned. 'Guys, I REALLY hope you're okay.' With that silent prayer going through her head, Gwen began shifting her eyes around to the rest of the team to check on their progress.

Kevin was still going to town with his new Lightning Dust blades that he had made out of his arms while Coco and Cooper stood next to each other just a few feet away from him, the couple watching each other's backs as they shot into the crowd of Grimm. Velvet and Ruby were fighting in complete sync, the duo leaping and bounding across the horde while using their respective scythes to down Beringels left and right. Team JNPR, Neptune, Penny, Fox and Yatsu had all huddled together, the six watching out for any Grimm that would get close to the house before downing them with a lethal blow.

Finally, there was General Ironwood, whom Gwen was standing right next to. He was firing off into the crowd of Grimm himself, though he took a few seconds to briefly glace at Gwen out of the corner of his eye. Seeing the redhead's troubled face, he decided to ask the million-dollar question; "Gwen, is there something wrong?"

"What? Oh, nothing, general." Gwen answered. "At least, I HOPE there isn't. I'm just thinking about how the others are doing is all. I haven't seen Winter and her group since the fighting began and Ben's still not back yet with Trumbipulor." She threw another mana disk out into the crowd of Beringels, taking them out with a clean slice. "…I'm wondering if they're okay."

"I wouldn't worry too much about them, Gwen." Ironwood assured. "Afterall, Winter is the Atlesian Army's best specialist. And I'm sure that Rex, Weiss and Holiday can handle themselves." He shot another Beringel through its skull before going on. "And Ben? Knowing how he and Yang operate, they probably have Trumbipulor on the ropes as we speak."

Gwen couldn't help but smile at that thought. "Yeah, I think you may be… hold on." The Anodite raised her arm and pointed out to the Beringels. "Look at what they're doing!"

Ironwood gazed out to the band of ape-like Grimm to see that they had suddenly come to a stop, halting their onslaught on the team. All of them had their heads raised up and turned in the opposite direction, almost as if they could sense something. They all collectively let out a mighty roar and began running in the opposite direction, much to everyone's confusion. "Where are they going?" Ironwood questioned out loud.

"Who cares?!" Coco exclaimed, taking aim at the Beringels with Gianduja. "This is our chance! Unleash HELL!" Without needing to be told twice, everyone unloaded their ranged weaponry onto the Beringels as they ran away, with many of the Grimm falling dead on the spot. A few of them managed to escape though, making Coco snap her fingers in frustration. "Shit! C'mon, let's get after them!"

Cooper was about to agree, but then he saw something rise just above the line of rooftops, making his eyes widen. "Uh, babe? I don't think that'll be necessary." He tapped her shoulder before pointing up to the sky, indicating what he saw.

Coco lowered her sunglasses to get a clear view, seeing none other than Rex Salazar leaping up high into the air with his Punk Busters. The EVO also had his Big Fat Sword activated, the blade shifting into its Battle Saw mode before Rex slammed himself back down to the ground again. Coco let out a small chuckle at the action. "Heh, alright. I guess Bolt Brain's got the rest handled for us."

Fox let out a sigh as Yatsu shouldered Fulcrum onto his back. "Good." Fox breathed out. "Beringels are a pain in the ass to fight."

Coco raised a brow, her smirk increasing. "Ah, c'mon Foxy, don't tell me you're goin' soft on us." All she got was a slightly annoyed; "Hm", which made her roll her eyes. "Eh, you do you, then."

Yatsu narrowed his eyes to where the Beringels had run off, the tall swordsman's suspicion growing after what had just happened. "But this still doesn't make any sense. Beringels are usually relentless in their attacks." He craned his head in Ironwood's direction. "What do you think could've made them run off?"

"My guess?" Ironwood replied. "I'd say that they sensed some strong negative emotions nearby, so they ran off to follow it."

Kevin placed a hand to his chin. "So someone was just feeling so angry that they attracted ALL of those Grimm to them? Man, they must be pretty angry, then."

"Either that or some people got into a really big argument." Jaune figured as he, his team, Neptune and Penny approached the others. "That's probably the more likely answer considering how fast they were to turn tail.

"Let's just hope that Rex, Weiss and the others are able to handle them." Pyrrha added. "Otherwise, we risk civilians getting hurt."

As the group began forming back up together, Velvet flicked her wrist and made her hard-light copy of Crescent Rose disappear, giving Ruby a grateful smile and a bow. "Thanks again for letting me take a pic of your weapon, Ruby. It came quite in handy!"

"Hey, no problem!" Ruby assured. "Besides, I had a feeling that we'd clean this up faster if we fought in tandem with each other."

Nora came over to the two and put an arm around each of them. "Well, it certainly worked! I think we may have all but won here, guys!"

But Ren was still a little unsure. "Hold on, Nora, Ben and his crew still aren't back yet." The green ninja directed his eyes over to Gwen. "Have you gotten any word from them recently?"

Across the way, Gwen let out an apprehensive sigh. "No, and that's REALLY concerning to me…" After a few moments of thinking it through, the Anodite raised her head up to address her teammates directly. "I think we should head to the palace and help them out. After what happened over there, they may need our help."

Ironwood sent her a questioning face. "Wait… exactly what happened, Gwen? And how do you know that it happened at the palace?"

Gwen winced at that, remembering that Ironwood, Cooper and Team CFVY hadn't been completely filled in yet. "Well, General… let's just say the unthinkable happened." She screwed her eyes shut as she let the cat out of the bag. "You see… Salem was here on Menagerie, and she's the reason why all of these Beringels showed up."

There was an immediate collective; "WHAT?!" from the six newcomers, with Ironwood going off from that. "SALEM was here?!" he asked with a serious yet fearful expression. "Are you certain that it was her?"

The Anodite gave him a solemn nod, her eyes opening back up. "Yes, General. I… I don't think I'll ever forget what her aura felt like." Gwen folded her arms up, hugging herself for support. "It was dark… cruel… and evil. I had only felt one energy that was similar to hers before, but even then, Salem's was still worse. Not in terms of power exactly, but it just felt… so malevolent that my mind couldn't handle it for a while. At least, not until she left."

The general, Team CFVY and Cooper were all stunned into silence, with Coco being the first to break it. "Damn. Just… damn." The fashionable girl took her sunglasses off of her face for a moment as she let the information sink in. "If she's powerful enough to affect Gwen like that with just her presence… then would WE be able to even do anything to her?"

Cooper ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair, putting his other arm around Coco. "I… I'm not sure, Coco. But now that I think about it, Gwen's got a point." The genius focused out to the whole team with a steadfast face. "We should probably head to the palace to give Ben and the others some back up."

Just then, the sound of opening doors caught the group's attention, making them crane their heads up to see Ghira, Kali and Tetrax exiting the house. Ghira's shoulder had been successfully cleaned up, with multiple white bandages visible beneath the short-sleeved black v-neck that he was now wearing. "I couldn't agree more, young man." the chieftain said as he and Kali came down the steps.

"Mr. Belladonna!" Penny shouted in surprise. "You're all patched up!"

"Are you alright?" Neptune asked. "After taking that knife, I didn't think you'd be back up for a while."

But Ghira raised a hand to them. "Thank you for your concern, but I assure you that I'm fine. Besides, I wanted to be out here for this." The panther man approached Ironwood with his wife by his side before extending his hand, offering a shake. "General, thank you for your help in this situation. I apologize if this was any trouble."

"You're very welcome, Ghira." Ironwood accepted the handshake, giving Ghira a small grin. "And it was no trouble at all, I promise."

At that moment, Coco and Cooper walked up to the Belladonnas, the barrette-wearing girl in particular being very intrigued. "So, you two are Kit Kat's folks, huh? Nice to meet ya!"

Kali was slightly taken aback by the young girl's confident attitude, but all the same, she offered her and Cooper a small smile. "O-Oh, yes, we are Blake's parents." She bowed her head toward the two. "And you must be the backup that General Ironwood brought?"

"That's right ma'am." Coco gave Kali a salute. "Team CFVY's at your service."

"Oh, thank you." Kali grinned. "So I take it that you and your team are also friends of my daughter?"

Cooper nodded down to her. "That's right. We're the ones they call in when things get hairy. The "heavy-hitters" if you will."

"Yup, that's probably our best job description." Coco smirked as she put her sunglasses to her face. "So, I'm guessing that situation's been handled other than the big elephant guy not bein' here?"

Tetrax began making his way down the steps, speaking up to answer her question. "That's the basic gist of things at the moment." He jerked a thumb back toward his ship. "The stasis pod is all ready for him whenever Ben gets back, so all we need to do now is—"

"GHIRA!" The sound of a new voice caused everyone to snap their heads up to the forecourt's entrance, where they were immediately greeted by a rather gut-wrenching sight. There, leaning up against the entry way was a Faunus man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, a pair of goat horns protruding right out of his forehead. But those weren't what everyone was focused on. Instead it was the deep gash that had been slashed into his arm, and it was bleeding heavily. His face was also rather pale, indicating further that he was by and far NOT okay.

The chieftain's eyes widened instantly and he felt a chill go through his very core, as did everyone else. "WILLIAM!" In a mad dash, Ghira ran out to the entryway with Kali, Gwen and Ironwood hot on his heels, the rest of the team following up close behind. Ghira made it just in time to catch Will just as he was about to collapse, the larger man bringing the goat man to the ground slowly. "William! Will, what happened?!"

Will didn't respond immediately, and one quick energy reading from Gwen told her all that she needed to know. "His energy is dangerously low." Her hands began glowing again and she began feeding her mana into Will's aura, hoping that it would be enough. Thinking fast, Gwen whipped her head around to the Ruby as she approached. "Ruby, I need you to go back to the house and get more of those bandages, fast. We need to patch this gash up NOW."

Ruby gave her a salute. "I'm on it!" In a burst of rose petals, the Hooded Huntress zoomed into the Belladonna home before coming back out thirty seconds seconds later. She flew back over to her friends and presented a roll of bandages, a few medical pads, and some disinfectant. "Okay, anyone know how to do this?!"

"I do." Kali offered. "Here, let me." Ruby handed her the medical supplies and she bent down to get right to work. In the time that had elapsed, Will began to regain some coherency thanks to Gwen giving him her mana, so Kali decided to try and ask him what had happened again. "William, how did this happen?" she said with concern. "Please, answer me."

Will's breathing began to steady itself out, but he was still quite pale from all the blood loss. "P-Please… you have to help me." He screwed his eyes shut as tears of pain and sadness fell down his face. "He… he took them from me. I couldn't protect them!"

"Sir, what couldn't you protect?" Ironwood pressed further. "Who took what from you?"

"My family!" Will wailed in agony, his good arm coming up to try and hide his tears. "An insane maniac broke into my house and kidnapped my wife and children!"

If possible, that statement just made everybody even more horrified. There was only one insane maniac that came to mind when Will had said that, and everybody on the team knew who it was. The only ones who didn't were Cooper and Team CFVY, and even then, they didn't care. The five of them were already growing angry at the prospect of a man's family being taken from him by a madman, and it was a sentiment that was quickly being shared by everybody there. A guttural snarl escaped Ghira's throat and he threw his head back, roaring up to the heavens; "TYRIAAAAAN!"

…..

Just a couple short blocks away, Blake was currently taking out her frustrations on a couple Beringels that had gotten up in her face. She was keeping herself focused on the mission at hand, but she still couldn't BELIEVE what Sienna had said and done just a few minutes ago. While Blake had expected Sienna's first meeting with the Schnees to not be a pleasant one, she thought that the White Fang leader would have a little more restraint than what she had exhibited. But instead, the tiger lady had thrown out all pretense and attacked the two sisters. And worse yet, she completely ignored Ilia's vouch for them, even though it had been one of the sincerest things that Blake had ever heard.

'I just can't BELIEVE her!' Blake shouted in her head as she continued to slash through the Beringels with Gambol Shroud. 'She hasn't changed one BIT since I left the White Fang! At this point, I don't think she ever WILL—'

"BLAKE!" Sun's voice suddenly called out, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Watch out!" The cat girl whipped around just in time to see a Beringel leap right at her. But before she could stab it in the chest with Gambol Shroud, Sun came up and slammed his bo staff onto its head, knocking it back down to the ground. The monkey boy then spun his long weapon around before thrusting it into the back of the Grimm's skull, shooting off a Dust round at point blank range upon impact. After the dark creature's head blew off of its torso, Sun sauntered over to Blake with a smile. "Phew, that was close! You okay?"

Blake returned the gesture whole heartedly, though her voice indicated her true mood. "Yeah… thanks."

Sun raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend's dower tone. "You okay, babe?" But then he smacked his forehead. "D'oh, wait, stupid me! It's about what happened earlier, right?"

The cat girl gave a confirming, if reluctant, nod. "Yeah, I'm still kind of angry at Sienna. I just wish that she could put her animosity aside for once and see the bigger picture."

"I understand." Sun nodded back. "You're hoping that she can see reason, right?"

"Exactly…" Blake rubbed the back of her neck. "I just don't know if that's possible."

Just then, they heard someone call out; "Hey!" and they turned to see Weiss, Rex and Ilia all standing together, the three having just finished off the Grimm that they were dealing with. The heiress was focused directly onto Blake as she approached, reaching out to put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Blake, this is no time to be thinking about giving up!" Weiss encouraged. "Sure, I might be White Fang enemy number one right now, but that doesn't mean it'll stay that way forever. It's like you keep saying; Faunus and humans CAN live together peacefully; it's just going to take time. And… Sienna's probably going to be a hard one to convince." The heiress then pulled her friend into a hug. "But I KNOW that you can help make a difference, Blake. That I'm very sure of."

Blake sighed and she returned the hug. "Thanks Weiss, that means a lot." The two girls pulled away and Blake's ears flattened out slightly. "Truth be told though, I'm a little more frustrated with the fact that Sienna felt it necessary to pick a fight with you two when we were in the MIDDLE of Grimm attack. And on top of her JUST seeing what Salem is capable of, I thought she'd show a lot more decorum after that."

Weiss had to admit, her friend DID have a point with that one. "Yeah, I'll give you that."

Ilia folded her arms and nodded her head. "Yes, I have to agree. I had hoped that after everything that had happened to her, Lady Sienna would at least be a little gracious…" the chameleon girl shifted her gaze down to the ground. "But I suppose not."

To the ladies' right, Rex had his eyes fixated across the way, the EVO concentrated on a particular battle happening close to them. "Well, you can't fault one thing…" he pointed over and said; "those ladies are kicking ass."

Nearby, Sienna, Winter and Holiday were all in their own little group, the three women fighting off Beringels as they came at them from all sides. Holiday's firearm was able to blast clean holes through them with a single laser blast, Winter kept slashing at the Grimm with her blades in rapid succession, and Sienna was using her Cerberus Whip to its fullest affect, the chain practically in a blur as it spun around and around. She launched one of the bladed tips of her whip out at one Beringel, this one with a light blue Dust crystal embedded into it. The blade pierced through the head of the beast, making come to a halt before the Dust crystal activated, freezing its entire head in a casing of ice. Sienna then ran up to the dead Beringel and lashed her whip around its neck before giving it a strong tug with all her might. The result was her using the Grimm's dead corpse as a bludgeon, slamming it into another one as it came at her.

As the two Grimm bodies fell to the ground before her, Sienna cave a scoff at all what was happening. "I seriously cannot believe this. I, Sienna Khan, fighting side by side with a Schnee? Is this some sort of waking nightmare?"

As Winter sliced another Beringel's head off, she pursed her lips in slight annoyance. But all the same, she decided to make a comeback; "You know, believe it or not, that isn't the worst thing that I've ever heard someone say about me." She leapt out of the way of another Beringel before stabbing it in the back, downing it instantly.

"Oh, I know for certain you have been called worse." Sienna fired back. "You ARE a Schnee, after all."

"A Schnee who is disgusted by where she came from!" Winter insisted. "I left my father and my inheritance to join the Atlesian Military! They treat Faunus with the respect they deserve!"

"Maybe so." Sienna conceded. "But considering that the REST of Atlas is filled with discriminatory people who detest Faunus-kind, I have to wonder just how your Faunus members are treated by the rest of the city."

As this banter went on, Holiday wore a deadpan expression. She SERIOUSLY couldn't believe that this was still going. "Oh, for god's sake, will you two just cut it out and act like adults?!" With one final laser blast, Holiday shot down the last Beringel, one that was about to hit Sienna and Winter with a surprise attack. The two women blinked in surprise as Holiday walked over to them, her hands places firmly against her hips while giving them a judging stare. "Now, I don't know WHAT the problem is between you two ladies, but I think it'd be a lot healthier to simply talk out this problem, wouldn't you agree?"

"Talk? TALK?!" Sienna roared. "Faunus-kind has tried talking for YEARS and it hasn't gotten us anywhere!" The tiger lady pounded a fist into her palm. "The time for action is now! If humans don't want to respect us through peace, then they'll respect us through fear!"

But Holiday didn't let up. "Oh, really? Well then, let me pose this question to you; isn't that exactly what Salem wants? To spread fear throughout the world in order to take it over with her Grimm?" The doctor narrowed her eyes at Sienna. "Because if what you really want is for human kind to fear you, Miss Khan, then you will only inevitably help Salem in her plans, whether you want to or not."

Sienna wanted to argue back, but the rational part of her mind began seeing what Holiday was talking about. The LAST thing that she wanted was for that witch to gain even more power, and if it was thanks in part to her actions? Then that'd be even worse. "Well then… what do you expect me to do?" Sienna asked. "Just throw away everything I've worked to build up over the past five years?"

Before Holiday could even answer, a loud cackle rang out through the night, taking everybody off guard. "AHAHAHA! YES! That is EXACTLY what you should do!" a rather familiar voice called out from seemingly nowhere. The group could tell that it was nearby, but with the only light coming from the moon, they couldn't pinpoint where it was. "Surrender the White Fang to Trumbipulor and my queen and no harm will befall your people! Hehehehe!"

Even if they couldn't see the owner of the voice, they knew exactly who it belonged to. "Tyrian?!" Blake shouted, her brow furrowed in anger. "What are you still doing here?! I thought Raven sent you running with what was left of your tail between your legs!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rex raised his arms up to bring things to a brief halt. "Did Raven seriously cut Tyrian's tail off?"

"Yep." Sun affirmed. "Well, half of it, anyway."

A loud scream of utter rage came echoing through the streets at that. "AAAAAHHGG! Do NOT remind me of that indignity!" Tyrian snarled. "It will be because of that wretched woman that I fall out of my queen's favor… hehe, unless I can salvage things before that happens!"

Sienna grit her teeth and spoke out to the madman. "What are you talking about, Callows?! Branwen, her daughter, and Tennyson are taking Trumbipulor down as we speak! Salem's Grimm have all been defeated and you are without your poison! What makes you think there is ANY hope of your side winning?!"

"HAHA! Oh, that's where the good part comes in!" After Tyrian said that, they could hear him grunting in exertion, almost as if he were struggling against something. "Gah! C'mon, bitch, get with it! Quit squirming you brats, and stop crying!" Finally, Tyrian made himself visible to the rest of the team… and they were all horrified when they saw what he had with him. He was holding three people hostage; a woman, a young boy, and a little girl. The lady and her daughter had a pair of sheep ears while the boy had small, developing goat horns on his head, and they all were absolutely terrified. Tyrian held his hand over the woman and her son's mouths to prevent them from screaming, which also allowed him to press the sharp edges of his blades against their necks. As for the little girl, she was crying heavily as the remainder of Tyrian's tail was wrapped around her neck, ready to tighten up and strangle her at any time.

Tyrian sent the group a wicked smile, his beady yellow eyes glimmering with delight. "As you can see… I've got a few little things that might sway you to meet my demands."

"NO!" Sienna screamed as she made to run forward, ready to beat the life out of Tyrian. "How DARE you bring innocents into this!" She pulled out her Cerberus Whip again, preparing to lash it right at the scorpion man. "They have nothing to do with—"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Tyrian scolded as he pressed his blades further against the woman and her son's necks. "One false move and these two will decorate the streets with their blood! And as for the girl, well… you don't wanna see her face turn blue, do you?"

Sienna felt her heart sink as she saw Tyrian's tail move a little, threatening to tighten up at a moment's notice. As much as she hated to do it, she had to play this safer than she normally would. "Callows… nobody has to die tonight."

"Oh, but I think the opposite!" Tyrian laughed gleefully. "This whole thing has been rather boring, not fun in the slightest! I've been getting the itch to kill since this whole thing started… and now I have the chance. So here's the deal… their lives… or yours." The scorpion man's smirk increased from ear to ear. "What's it gonna be, Miss Khan?"

Tyrian's deal only served to make Sienna even more angry, making her let out a frustrated growl. But after looking back to the woman and her children, seeing the absolute fear in their eyes as they pleaded for help, she knew that there was only one option. She sighed and closed her eyes, putting her Cerberus Whip on the ground. "I offer my life in exchange for theirs."

"Excellent!" Tyrian commended. "I knew you couldn't resist this offer. Now, be a good kitty and—"

"Wait just a minute!" Everyone's eyes widened and their attention went to the source of the interruption; Weiss. The heiress was walking forward with purpose in every step, coming to a stop in front of Sienna before pointing Myrtenaster at Tyrian, her eyes boring into him with an icy glare. "Sienna is right! Nobody will die tonight!"

"Ice Princess, what are you doing?!" Rex exclaimed nervously.

"Rex, calm down." Weiss dismissed. "This is something that I have to do."

"Weiss, you're going to get yourself killed!" Winter insisted. "Come back here right now!"

Sienna sent Weiss a frustrated face and whispered to her through gritted teeth; "Do what your sister says, Schnee. This is something I alone have to take care of."

Weiss gave the White Fang leader a sideways glance before whispering back; "I have a plan, Miss Khan. For just this once… please trust me."

Sienna was about to protest, but Tyrian let out a loud cackle again. "AHAHA! Oh, THIS is rich! The little silver-spooned brat thinks that SHE can turn things around?!" He continued to press the blades up against the woman and her son's necks, the sharp edges threatening to pierce their skin. "I don't know if you've noticed, Miss Fancy Pants, but I have leverage with me, and there's nothing that you can do to make me let 'em go! HAHAHA!"

Weiss kept Myrtenaster leveled with Tyrian as her eyes narrowed, all while concentrating on her Semblance. A few seconds later, she summoned a large glyph directly behind the scorpion man, appearing so that it was just out of his line of sight. However, besides the rest of her team, there was another who HAD noticed it; the little lamb girl. Her eyes widened when the glyph popped into being just a few feet away from her, and her eyes darted toward Weiss in shock. Weiss caught sight of this and gave the little girl a small nod, indicating that everything was alright. "This has gone far enough, Tyrian!" Weiss declared. "Hazel's already been beaten and Salem's left you high and dry. Leave now or be ready to face the consequences!"

"HA! So the rich girl DOES have some guts." Tyrian mused. "But still, if you take one more step, then there'll be blood splattered all over the road! Face it, there's nothing you can do!"

Weiss pursed her lips and closed her eyes, concentrating on the Grimm that she wanted to summon. She had so desperately wanted to bring forth this Summon in the past, but every time she tried, she would fail. 'Not this time.' the heiress silently vowed. 'I can't afford to fail this time. Please… please let this work.' The more she concentrated, the more the glyph began spinning, which elicited her to gently open her eyes. "You're right, Tyrian. There IS nothing I can do…" She bent down slightly and put the tip of Myrtenaster's blade against the ground, lowering her head toward Tyrian.

As the glyph began spinning faster and faster behind Tyrian, Winter smiled inwardly as what appeared to be a large sword began to rise up from the glyph. The blade was then followed by an equally large humanoid armored body, one that was staring straight ahead before craning its head down to Tyrian. If this situation weren't so crucial, she would give her sister the biggest hug. 'I am so incredibly proud of you Weiss.'

Weiss moved her eyes up to see that her summon had been successful, and her inner self was leaping for joy at what she was staring at. It was a large, white sentient suit of armor, one that had had an ethereal glow around it as it stood in place. It was a good ten feet tall and held a dual-edged sword that was almost as tall at itself. It didn't have many visible internal parts showing, but for the ones that were, they were jet black in color, the main one being the large eyehole in its helmet. The Arma Gigas raised its head to its master, waiting for a command. Weiss gave Tyrian a small smirk, confusing the madman instantly. "…But I know something that can. NOW!"

"W-Wait, wha—AGH!" Tyrian was suddenly cut off when the Arma Gigas put its large hands around Tyrian's arms, pulling them away and allowing the sheep woman and the goat boy to fall free, the duo catching their breath as they landed on their hands and knees. Next, the giant suit of armor grabbed Tyrian's tail and gently pulled it away from the lamb girl's neck, allowing her to run over to her family. "NO!" Tyrian screamed as the Arma Gigas held him in one of its strong hands. He desperately tried to free himself by slashing at the armored giant's hands, but it didn't even flinch. "LET ME GO!"

Weiss called out to the family as they got up; "Over here! RUN!" Quickly heeding her advice, the three quickly sprinted over, the sheep woman scooping up her daughter in her arms. Weiss took one look at the Arma Gigas before giving it her next command; "Smash." Without missing a beat, the Arma Gigas took a knee and began slamming Tyrian into the pavement, the crazed man letting out sharp screams of pain with every hit. Finally, once Tyrian's aura broke, the Arma Gigas stopped, leaving him in the now massive crater that it had created. Weiss strolled over to the massive suit of armor, which knelt before her in respect. "Good job." she commended before gazing down at Tyrian's now barely moving form. "So, how's THAT for turning things around?"

"I… I-I'll KILL you!" Tyrian sputtered, making to rise up from the ground. But before he could even attempt it, a dark energy suddenly appeared from beneath him, sending him into a panic as it forcibly began to pull him in. "N-No! NO! My queen, please! I-I can beat them, I swear! Just give me another chance! Please! PLEASE!" However, Tyrian's cries fell on deaf ears as he was finally pulled into the murky blackness, leaving Weiss and the Arma Gigas standing alone in the crater.

"Hmph, good riddance." Weiss smiled.

Suddenly, an eruption of cheers surged up from behind the heiress, making her spin around in surprise. There, she saw all of her friends running toward her, with her sister leading the pack. Winter enveloped Weiss in a hug and spun her around, much to the latter's surprise. "Weiss, you did it!" the elder Schnee celebrated. "You summoned the Arma Gigas!"

"Y-Yeah, I did!" Weiss let out a small laugh as she hugged her sister back. "I… I finally did it."

As the two sisters fell out of their hug, Rex came over and gave Weiss a light jab to the shoulder. "Weiss, that was AMAZING!" The EVO's eyes trailed up to the Arma Gigas standing over them, the armor staring back blankly. "You never told me you could summon something like THIS!"

"Well, for the longest time, I couldn't." Weiss admitted. "I needed more training before I could… as well as the right incentive."

Sun stared in awe at the Arma Gigas as it began standing up, giving the team a bit more room. "Well, whatever you did to pull it off, it was freakin' awesome!"

"He's right, Weiss." Blake agreed, putting an arm to her friend's shoulder. "You're a real hero for pulling that off."

Weiss rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Aw, I was just doing what needed to be done. It IS a Huntress' job to save people, right?"

Ilia came over and gave a respectful bow of the head to the heiress. "Well, in any case, Weiss, I can't thank you enough for saving that family." She raised her head and gave Weiss a thumbs up. "The last thing we wanted tonight was for innocent civilians to be hurt. Sienna's probably too proud to say it, but on behalf of the White Fang, I thank you."

Weiss happily bowed back to her. "You're welcome, Ilia. And thank you as well." The heiress then shifted her eyes over to the family of three, who were now huddled together as Holiday and Sienna checked up on them to make sure they were uninjured. Weiss raised her hand up to the Arma Gigas. "That will be all, thank you." The suit of armor nodded its head and disappeared, with Weiss running straight over to the family immediately after.

"Hmm, well, other than some bruises and a few light cuts, you three appear to be okay." Holiday surmised as she finished checking the three over. She then gave the mother a gentle smile. "Ma'am, what's your name?"

"Sh-Shauna." The sheep woman replied. "Shauna Faun. But please, Doctor…"

"Holiday."

"Doctor Holiday, my husband needs your help much more than we do!" Shauna pleaded. "He tried to defend us from that madman but he got hurt very badly."

The EVO expert nodded almost instantly. "I understand. Just point me in the direction and we'll get him some help."

"Hey!" Weiss called over, stopping in front of the group with concern written across her face. "Is everybody alright here?"

At that moment, the little girl gasped and burst out into a bright smile came. She ran out of her mother's grasp and went over to Weiss, hugging her arms around the taller girl's legs. "Thank you!" she cried happily. "Thank you so much for what you did!"

"Bonnie!" Shauna exclaimed. "Don't just go up to people and hug them out of nowhere, it's rude." She sent an apologetic face to Weiss and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, she's still young, and—"

"Oh, it's absolutely no problem." Weiss assured as she bent down to meet the little lamb girl, grasped her tiny hands in hers. "Hey, Bonnie, right? Are you doing okay?"

"Uh-huh." Bonnie bobbed her head up and down. "Thank you for helping us." She then focused her attention to her older brother behind her, the young boy's gaze focused squarely on them. "Billy, say thank you!"

"H-Huh?!" The goat boy stammered, worried that he had been caught staring at the pretty girl that saved him. With a bright blush, Billy complied with his sister's demand. "O-Oh, yeah. Thanks, I guess."

Weiss couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's nervousness. "You're very welcome." However, at the feeling of being watched, the heiress craned her head up to see Sienna, staring down at her with a contemplative expression. "…Yes, Miss Khan? What is it?"

After a few moments of silence, Sienna finally replied with; "…Why? Why did you save them?"

Shocked at such a question, Shauna whipped her head around to Sienna. "Miss Khan, what are you saying?!"

"My apologies, ma'am. I did not mean any harm in my question." Sienna narrowed her eyes at Weiss. "I am simply trying to find out why a Schnee would risk herself in my place."

Shauna's eyes widened and she went back to Weiss. "Wait… you're a Schnee? As in the Schnee Dust Company?"

Weiss was left at a moment's pause as she locked eyes with the woman, an inner part of herself fearing that she would be shunned in the blink of an eye now that she knew. However, the white-haired girl let out a sigh and decided to give her an answer. "Yes, the very same. But I've grown to detest the way that my father runs the company, so I decided that I wanted to become a Huntress instead of following in his footsteps." She nudged her head over to Winter. "Kind of like my sister did a few years ago."

Shauna glanced over to Winter, the military specialist giving her a small wave. "So… you don't hate the Faunus?"

Weiss slightly cringed at the question, but she answered nonetheless. "Earlier in my life, I would've said that I DID detest them. My father drove that into my head pretty much every single day. But now, that's not the case." Weiss waved her hand over to Blake, Sun and Ilia. "In fact, some of my best friends are Faunus. And one of them in particular helped me open my eyes to the fact that Faunus aren't bad people." Weiss sent a wink to Blake, who then returned the gesture. "So… while my history with Faunus IS very rocky, I want to work hard to undo everything that the Schnee name has done to them. I don't blame you if you don't believe me, but—"

"Don't believe you?!" Shauna shouted in bewilderment. "Sweetheart, you saved my children and myself from the grip of a madman! I don't care if you're a Schnee or not, you're a good person in my book!"

Bonnie began jumping up and down excitedly. "Yeah! And you're so cool too!"

"Y-Yeah, what she said." Billy supported, slightly stumbling over his words again.

Now it was Weiss' turn to blush, a relieved smile coming to her face. "Oh, thank you! That's really sweet of you all to say!"

Sienna continued to stare at the scene in slight bafflement, but was pulled out of her thoughts when Blake nudged her in the arm. "Well?" the cat girl smirked. "What'd I tell ya? People CAN change, am I right?"

The tiger lady pursed her lips in frustration. "Th-This changes nothing, you know."

"Yeah, we'll see." However, out of the corner of her eye, Blake caught sight of a red blur made of rose petals approaching them at extreme speed, and her smirk becoming a full-on smile. "Hey! Ruby!"

The Hooded Huntress came to a sudden halt, slightly surprised that Blake, Sun and Ilia were all standing there. "Blake?! Weren't you with Ben's… you know what, never mind! We need help ASAP! Tyrian's captured a family of Faunus and we need to…" But Ruby trailed off when she saw everybody pointing to her immediate left, where she saw the family in question standing. "OH! Okay, you got 'em already! Sweet!"

"SHAUNA!" At the sound of the loud voice, everyone was surprised to see Ghira approaching as well, and without his standard purple fur coat as well. "You're alright! Thank god!" The panther man then caught sight of Blake, his grin widening further. "Blake! You're here too?"

"Hey dad." Blake waved. "Good to see—oh." She stopped herself when Sienna suddenly stepped over to Ghira, the two's eyes immediately locking onto each other in silent judgement. "Uh, yeah, I'm just gonna stay out of that one."

Sienna folded her arms across her chest. "Ghira."

While Ghira placed his on his hips. "Sienna."

"…I cannot say that I am surprised that you brought humans with you as back up." The White Fang Leader continued. "I had just hoped that you would bring a majority of Faunus back as well."

Ghira rolled his eyes at that. "Of course, but unfortunately, that proved to be a bad idea. You might have some more usurpers in the White Fang if the Valian branch was anything to go by." The taller man shook his head. "But now isn't the time to discuss this. William needs help, fast."

Shauna's eyebrows shot up at the information. "Ghira… how do you know that?"

"Because he came to us for help." Ghira revealed. "He's roughed up pretty bad, but we've got people helping him as we speak. He's going to live, Shauna, don't worry."

The sheep woman let out a sigh as her children began celebrating the fact that their father was going to be okay. "Hah, thank you, that's certainly a relief. Still… I need to have a talk with him about moving himself while he's injured."

"Hehe, I suppose so." Ghira chuckled as he went back to his daughter. "By the way, Blake, are Ben and the others still with you? Gwen and everyone else were beginning to get rather worried about them."

Blake's eyes went back to the palace off in the distance. "Well, we left him, Yang and Raven to fight Trumbipulor, but we—"

"WHAAAOOOOON!" At that moment, the sound of a loud elephant trumpet sent a pang of fear through everyone, making them gather together in one group. From the sound of it, it was very nearby, and with the sound of approaching feet stomping along the ground, they could tell that it was coming closer. At that moment, the group resolved that it could only mean one thing; Trumbipulor had won, and he was now coming to exact his vengeance upon all of them.

"No way!" Rex hollered. "That elefante is still standing?!"

"Impossible!" Weiss denied. "Ben, Yang and Raven working together? That practically spells out; "You are screwed"!"

However, as the footsteps continued to approach, a figure appeared from around the street corner; the owner of said footsteps. And once he made his appearance, everyone immediately brightened up at the sight of him. The only ones not to do so were Ghira, Sienna, Shauna, and her children, the five simply shocked at what they were seeing. "…I think it's safe to say that they beat him." Sun said with utmost certainty.

Standing there on the other end of the street was a different Paku-Dermoloid, one clad in green and black with a rather familiar symbol on his chest. He was also taller, had lighter grey skin, and had an impressive set of tusks to his name. Over his shoulder, he was lugging Trumbipulor's body around with great effort, though he set the crime boss down to take a quick breather. Right behind him, Yang and Raven came around the corner as well, both of them carrying the unconscious Albain brothers. The two women seemed to be facing away from each other awkwardly for some reason, but Yang brightened up at the sight of her friends. "Hey guys! Look what we've got!"

"YANG!" Ruby cheered as she rushed up to the group, giving her sister a quick hug. "You guys did it!"

"Yes we did." Raven affirmed. "It was quite the undertaking, but we did it."

Ghira, Blake, Ilia and Sienna ran over to the base of the new Paku-Dermoloid's feet while the others stood back to protect the family in case Trumbipulor or the Albains decided to wake up. The trio gazed up to the massive alien, with Blake raising an inquisitive brow. "Ben Tennyson, I presume?"

"You would presume correct, Blake." The hero chuckled. "But please, call me Dynatusk."

Ilia was thoroughly confused at all of this. "So… wait… you could transform into an elephant alien like Trumbipulor this whole time?"

"Well, technically, yes." Dynatusk shrugged. "But not until I could unlock the DNA inside my watch. Fortunately, I was able to take advantage of Trumbipulor slipping up and… BOOM!" He raised his arms up to show himself off. "Here I am!" He craned his large head over to the chieftain of Menagerie and the Leader of the White Fang, giving them both a nod. "Ghira, Sienna, I want you both to deliver a special message to the people of Menagerie for me."

The duo glanced to each other before going back to Dynatusk, with Ghira being the one to ask; "And what might that be, Ben?"

Dynatusk reached up to the Omnitrix symbol and slapped it, transforming him back into his human form. "Spread the word that their oppressor has been beaten." Ben said with a confident smile. "We've won."

…..

A/N: Phew! Okay, well, THAT was quite the chapter now, huh? Trumbipulor's been defeated as well as the rest of the White Fang that were loyal to him. What a way to end it all off, huh? Also, the name for my original alien has been revealed; DYNATUSK! What do you guys think, eh? You like the sound of it? But really, that's just the tip of the iceberg with what happened today! The other big thing being that Raven's finally revealed her secret in full to Yang and Ben. Wonder what the consequences of all that will be? Plus, we got a little Team CFVY action (which there will be more of soon, trust me), Cooper's got a spiffy new look thanks to Coco, Ilia's finally starting to come around to Weiss and Winter, and as for Weiss herself, she finally summoned her Arma Gigas! And all while saving the Faun family from Tyrian in the process. See? I told you they'd come into play later. Might it be a while before we see either Tyrian or Hazel in action again, though? Well, we'll just have to see.

But for now… NEXT TIME! As Trumbipulor is brought back to the Resolute to be put in his comfy new stasis pod, it's time for Sienna Khan to enact her judgement upon Yuma, Trifa, the Albains… and Ben Tennyson. Will the High Leader of the White Fang see reason? Can't say for sure. But in the end, one thing IS certain; it's time for Spring to come early. A certain Maiden has some explaining to do. Thanks for reading guys, and I'll see you next time!