Hey, guys! Well, my shingles has cleared up quite a bit, and I'm REALLY excited for this weekend. This year's RTX is going to be amazing, I can tell. I reserved an autograph session with Gray Haddock and Samantha Ireland, which is really neat. For those who don't know, Gray Haddock is the voice behind RvB's Locus and RWBY's Roman Torchwick, and Sam's the voice of RvB's Agent Connecticut and RWBY's Nora Valkyrie. I'm more excited about meeting Gray, truth be told, especially since I have Roman Torchwick as my Minecraft skin. :)

Anyways, a little shorter chapter than normal, but personally, I think it's the best I've done so far. You'll see what I mean in a minute.

I don't own RWBY or Sonic. Enjoy!

Saturday, Beacon Academy, Ozpin's office, 9:00 a.m.

Ozpin looked at the data presented by Omega and Aeromi. "The moon, you say?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. Glynda Goodwitch watched the meeting from the side in silence.

"Affirmative," answered Aeromi from the hologram emitter on his desk. "The energy detected by Eggman's sensors suggests a large source of Chaos energy being emitted from the moon." She pulled up a hologram of the moon. "Comparing those readings to those emitted by the Chaos Emeralds we already have, there is a 98.6% probability that it's a Chaos Emerald."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Why the slight uncertainty?"

"Eggman has been known to make copies of Chaos Emeralds from time to time," said Omega. "It may be a stash of these fake Emeralds that broke off from the space station that's giving us these readings."

"Still, there were no indications that he's even seen the alert, let alone sent probes to investigate," countered Aeromi. "Either way, it would be worth our time to investigate for ourselves."

The headmaster nodded. "I agree." He leaned forward in his chair and made a steeple from his hands. "The question is how to get there? I'll be the first to admit that our space program is rather… lacking."

Glynda paced back and forth in thought. "I did hear that James was making an attempt at space exploration, even manned moon missions."

Aeromi looked at her. "James?"

"General James Ironwood, head of the Atlas military," Ozpin supplied, then turned his head to the robot and the AI. "I'll get in contact with him about giving us some more information. If we're in luck, maybe even a ship."

Omega bowed slightly. "Your assistance is most welcome, Headmaster." He turned to leave. Aeromi faded out from Ozpin's desk, leaving just the headmaster and Glynda in the room.

The blonde woman sighed. "The moon… This is incredible. No one's been up there for twenty years, and we're just now going back."

Ozpin nodded. "I agree. It certainly has been a long time since then." The headmaster stood up and went to the window overlooking the city of Vale. He bowed his head, deep in thought.

She resumed her pacing, visibly more anxious. "This will be a nightmare just from a logistical viewpoint. Who's going to go up? Who will train the students that will inevitably go with the Mobians? Finally... they need to know about what happened to the first and last moon mission, Professor." Glynda turned her green eyes to Ozpin. "They need to know what went wrong, and what might be waiting for them."

Ozpin sighed. "This is true… I had hoped to bury those images away, but the stakes are too high. I only hope the general will feel the same."

He went to his desk and put in a call for Ironwood. The general's face soon came up on the screen. "Ozpin!" He greeted the Headmaster.

Ozpin nodded in respect. "General. How are you doing?"

"I've got the Atlas council in an uproar about the programming flaws of the latest models of the Atlesian Knights, but the patches were sent out, and there haven't been any takeovers since then." He smiled. "Please pass along my thanks to Mr. Prower."

Ozpin smiled back. "I'll make sure to do that." He sighed, knowing that he wouldn't react well to this new request. "That isn't the reason that I called, however."

Ironwood tilted his head curiously. "Oh?"

"Do you recall the previous discussions I had with you about our Mobian guests and their mission to retrieve gems called Chaos Emeralds?"

"I do. They sound like amazing sources of power."

Ozpin sighed. "Well, it turns out that they have found all but one, and they need all seven to return to their homeworld. They require your help to find the last Emerald."

Ironwood's blue eyes met Ozpin's brown ones. "Where is it? If it's in Grimm territory, I can dispatch troops to secure the location within six hours." Ironwood turned to an unseen monitor.

"It's not on Remnant, James." Ozpin clenched his hands. "It's on our moon."

Now, the general of the Atlas armed forces was known to be unshakeable in the battlefield. But when Ironwood heard those four words, his face paled in shock- and even more surprisingly, complete horror. "No… It can't be…" He turned his head slowly and looked back at Ozpin.

"I'm afraid it's true. The Mobians' arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman, may be known for treachery, but his sensors apparently tell no lies. The Chaos Emerald is on the moon."

Ironwood looked horrified. "No one can go back there, not after what happened to my crew on that expedition!"

Ozpin knew that Ironwood wouldn't take the news well, but even he was surprised at the force of his refusal. "I know what happened to you and your crew, and I can't even begin to imagine the nightmares resulting from it, but you can't stop them from going. Those gems must not fall into the wrong hands."

"I know what you're trying to tell me, but I can't in good conscience allow more people to die up there!" By now, Ironwood was hyperventilating, fighting against anger stemming from intense fear.

Glynda walked up to Ozpin so both of them were visible to the general. "Listen, James… I've seen these Mobians do extraordinary things, things that no human huntsman or huntress could do. If anyone can survive on the moon, it's them."

Ironwood shifted his to Glynda, then back to Ozpin. "I can't let them go up there. It's too dangerous. Is it truly necessary for them to have all seven of these gems to get back to their home?"

The Headmaster gazed at the general. "It is, but there is another reason for their Emerald hunt besides getting back to their home planet of Mobius. Dr. Eggman is plotting something big, and the Chaos Emeralds may be the only thing that will give them the edge they need if the worst comes."

Ironwood had a difficult choice here. Either he let the Mobians go to the moon (and their potential deaths), or make them stay on Remnant and possibly die against Eggman because they didn't possess their trump cards, the Chaos Emeralds. "I'll have to think about it."

Ozpin nodded. It was the best they could hope for, really. "Thank you, general. Truth be told, they may go up there without your permission, but this step could ensure a strong alliance between Remnant and Mobius."

"I'll have your answer by tomorrow." Ironwood looked at both of them before severing the connection.

"Well, he certainly is adamant about not letting the Mobians go to the moon," observed Glynda. "I don't think I've ever seen him this frightened before."

"Indeed… though not without reason." Ozpin typed a search into his computer. He pulled up a newspaper article dated twenty years ago. The front page showed four people in astronaut gear standing next to each other, smiling at the camera. The caption read, 'Crew starts mission to moon, possible leads to off-world colonization'. One of the people shown was a younger version of General James Ironwood.

"He was one of the astronauts that went?" Glynda asked in surprise.

"Yes…" Ozpin placed a hand on his chin. "And the only survivor of the mission."

Glynda turned her head to him. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "They landed successfully, but James was the only person that left the moon. The Atlas Council didn't want people to cause a panic, so they wrote off the mission as a failure, discouraged all attempts to investigate the matter further, and canceled the space program. The general did confide in me years later, and I completely understand both the Council's actions, and his reluctance in sending anyone else."

Glynda looked at the photo. "If it wasn't a ship malfunction… Then what was it?"

Ozpin looked at her. "It seems that not even the moon is safe from the Creatures of Grimm."

She stared at him. "Grimm? How can Grimm live on the moon?"

"Why are Grimm so attracted to negative emotions?" countered Ozpin. "They are a mystery to us, and it may always be so." He turned his chair around and looked at the shattered moon, barely visible in the daylight. "The lunar Grimm even more so, if the general's accounts are accurate."

Glynda sighed. "We may be in a time of peace, but it's moments like these when I have to wonder if we'll ever solve the mystery of the Creatures of Grimm."

"Yes… but the moon Grimm will be even more of a challenge for them." He sighed to himself as he stared at the moon. "I only hope they're ready."

So, not much action, but a lot of buildup. I'll be honest, I think I did a great job in capturing the horror of Ironwood's reaction. Anyone else think so?

Anyways, is anyone else going to the RTX this weekend? I think it'd be awesome if I was able to talk to one of my readers in person. Just a thought.

Well, leave a review telling me what you thought, and I'll see you guys next time! TTFN!