Some good news as my mother's scans came back saying the swelling, whatever it was, has gone down, and further tests haven't found anything too concerning. They've already booked their holiday and are leaving tomorrow, which is a bit quick, lol. Off to pick up their dogs and cats later today.

Continuing, it won't affect my week of no updates or anything, nor will it slow down my fics. My week off is still from 23rd – 29th December inclusive.

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 39

Atlas Academy was… alright, Yang supposed.

It was clean and neat and hi-tech and the views over the city were amazing, not to mention the elevators everywhere that saved on having to walk around the place, but for all the cool and modern tech on display, from holographic Grimm simulators to computer terminals mounted into desks, it lacked a certain something she couldn't quite place.

"It's dull." Oscar complained.

Yep. That was it.

"White and grey uniforms, white walls, grey floors and black chairs. It's like they're afraid of colour."

"Ironic given their supposed part in the colour revolution," Blake pointed out. "You'd think they would have embraced a little more liveliness after that. Atlas may be the most progressive nation when it comes to technology, but aside from that, not much else." She looked to Weiss. "No offence."

"Why would I take offence at what is blatantly true? Between Atlas' grey and my family's white, you can probably tell why I changed my outfit to have a little more blue in it."

Yang nodded with a grimace. Beacon had its uniform as well, so it wasn't like the fact Atlas had one was the issue, but Beacon's uniform mixed red, black, white and gold – all nice and bold colours. And you had your pick between trousers and skirts and stockings however you wanted them. Atlas, though, it was all grey and white military dress code, even for its huntsmen who were, by all accounts, not part of the military at all.

They obviously muddle the line there given Weiss' sister.

"This is why I wanted to get back to Beacon so desperately," Weiss said. "I couldn't stand it here."

"And to see us," Yang prompted.

"And to see Zwei, yes."

"That's… not what I said.

"Well it's all you're getting." Weiss smirked as she said it and Yang laughed. She'd gotten good at the sarcasm since joining Beacon. A far cry on the humourless girl she'd been.

Zwei was still in their shared room with Ruby and Penny, who had come quickly the moment she heard them arrive. Someone had to look after the corgi anyway, since they weren't supposed to have brought him.

Weiss had been offered her own private room but had refused, deciding to bunk with them as they always had. Winter hadn't looked entirely pleased about that, but no argument ensued, so she presumably got over it. Their room was next to the headmaster's, which was cool. Aaand it was also next to Cinder's, which was rather uncool.

"And these are the training grounds," Weiss said, continuing her tour of the school for them. She pointed to a huge room, more a hall, with numerous circular platforms raised a foot or two off the ground. There was a bulky terminal near each. "Those control the barriers over the arenas, which are the same technology as the barrier used in Amity. It's strong enough to block the worst of attacks. It also contains aura reading, analytics and data analysis tools to help you replay, download and even upload your bout to the school forums for everyone else to critique."

Yang sighed. "That's cool, I guess…"

"It's… very hi-tech?" Oscar offered.

Weiss huffed and crossed her arms. "Don't look at me like that. You're the ones who asked me to show you around – I'm just doing that. It's not my fault you're suddenly bored."

"Nah, it's not you," Yang said. "I was just… expecting more, I guess?"

"This is more than what we have at Beacon."

"More exciting things," she amended. "You know, cool weapons, mecha suits and power armour. The kind of thing that would send Ruby into spontaneous orgasm."

Weiss relaxed. "You want the military for that, then. Aside from tools to make things more convenient, the academy side isn't all that different from Beacon. If anything, Beacon is better for being more isolated and having the Emerald Forest."

"I noticed that," Blake said. "We're all but connected to the city here. Where do they train?"

"They travel into the mountains via Bullhead. It's a longer trip, but Atlas does have the largest fleet on Remnant, so it balances out."

"Not as convenient," Yang said.

"I agree. But it balances by students not having to take a Bullhead if they want to go into the city for shopping or recreation."

"True. I guess it evens out either way."

"We could have studied here, you realise," Weiss said slyly. "According to Winter, she once made the headmaster – back when he was but a professor – an offer for a cultural exchange system. Our team would come and spend a year at Atlas, with him as our personal tutor, and a team from Atlas would study at Beacon."

"Brrr." Yang shivered. "I'm glad he refused. Even lack of personality aside, the cold here would kill me. I bet Ruby would love all the gadgets, though."

"And having Jaune as a personal tutor," Blake teased. "But I agree, and Atlas doesn't have the best record when it comes to faunus rights. I wouldn't have been happy here."

"We've not seen anything bad so far."

"Wait until you visit the city." To Yang's surprise, it was Weiss who said that and not Blake. "The military is the most pro-equality part of Atlas, ironically enough. Winter says it's because as soldiers, they understand that what happened in the faunus war was just faunus doing what they had to. It's worse outside with the everyday citizens."

"Yikes. Well, least we don't have to stay here too long. Just sort out this White Fang business. Speaking of." Yang checked her scroll. "You think they'll have finished their meeting with Ironwood yet? We could go back and see what's been decided."

"Agreed." Blake, predictably, was all for it. Weiss nodded along as well.

Oscar was silent.

"Oscar?" she prompted.

"Huh? What?" He blinked, shook his head and looked at her properly. He did that a lot lately, staring off into the distance and being unresponsive to them, like he was lost in his head. "I didn't hear what you said. What was it?"

"We want to check with the headmaster and see if he has news."

"Oh, yeah. That's a good idea." He tilted his head and paused. "And get some coffee," he added with a sigh.

"Coffee is bad for your health," Weiss said.

"Yeah well, you're a-" Oscar's own hand clamped over his mouth, cutting off whatever he'd been about to say as his face turned bright red. He forced his lips shut, turned to the side and hissed under his breath, "W-What the hell? I can't say that!"

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "What were you about to call me?"

"N-Nothing!"

"It didn't sound like nothing."

Yang raised an eyebrow to Blake, who shrugged back.

/-/

Glynda poured out some tea for him and then herself, put the kettle back on the side and took her seat. Her quarters were similar to his, mostly plain white but with a grey synthetic material floor. There was a small kitchen, a separated bedroom with its own bathroom and a single table that could seat four. A two-seater black sofa to the side looked toward a huge flat-screen television.

"Thank you," he said, sipping the herbal tea and hiding his grimace. It tasted like salad. "So, Ironwood was less of a problem than I thought he'd be."

"He insulted you, told us to stay away from his work, implied you would be more a problem than the White Fang, threatened to hold us responsible for anything Cinder does and essentially stonewalled us from helping in the investigation aside as cannon fodder in the final assault."

"Exactly." Jaune tipped the mug toward her. "Better than I expected."

Glynda sighed. "It troubles me that I agree with you. Regardless, I think you were correct when you said they've not had any success hunting the White Fang. We can't afford to sit back and do nothing if it's going to take weeks to hunt them down."

"I don't think that will matter. Adam can't wait weeks to make another attack according to Sienna. He'll have to move quick to capitalise on his success."

"That still might take a week or more. Can Beacon survive that long without us?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"Without me," Glynda amended.

"No," he said. "It probably can't and you're right. What makes you think they won't find Adam, though?"

"Spies."

"Atlas has them?"

"Everyone has them," she said, "But Atlas is a much larger organisation than Beacon – and there are too many people involved. Think with us back home, it's really just you, me, Oobleck and Port to deal with these things. That means the chances of the White Fang infiltrating our ranks is slim. Their best bet is a student, and even then, we don't exactly keep the students in the know on these things."

"It's mostly RWBY and RVNN," he said.

"Because we know they are legitimate. Compare that to here where you have Ironwood and Winter – who can be trusted – but also hundreds of military officials, politicians, Military Police and even the rank and file to contend with. The manpower lets them cover more ground, but there are so many positions the White Fang could try and infiltrate."

Making it easier to put someone on the inside. There was a term for that, he thought. Economies of Scale? It was usually used for business, but it probably applied here. While Atlas had a hundred times as many people to throw at the problem than they did, a chain was only as strong as its weakest link, and they had so many more links to fracture than Beacon.

All it would take was a single sympathetic soul feeding information to Adam and he'd never be found. Ironwood had to root out each and every potential spy, and that wasn't going to be easy. In fact, it might even make things worse, because suspicion would fall on faunus military officials first. The only thing they could do was a full purge of all faunus in the military.

I can't think of a quicker way to start a rebellion and do Adam's work for him. Ironwood must know that, which is why he hasn't done anything.

But by doing nothing, he accepted that spies would be free to operate. A real catch-22.

"Well that's not good," he said. "All Adam needs is a single spy and we're going to be chasing him forever. Ironwood's best bet is letting us try and find him because we don't answer to anyone and there aren't any spies. But if we do, it makes Atlas look incompetent…"

Glynda nodded. "That's the problem."

One he wasn't sure how to get around. He normally just took the obvious path and hoped it worked out. His score for actually planning what to do in advance and that working was slim. This time, however, he just wasn't sure. They couldn't get out the academy without an escort, and that escort was almost certainly going to be Winter.

They were being monitored constantly. There wasn't a chance they could get outside to root around, and even if they could, they had no idea what to look for. They knew how to deal with White Fang, but next to nothing on how to find them. Before, it was always either Adam making a move on them or Blake going out to find… them…

Huh. That's a thought.

"I think I have an idea."

Team RWBY had already been on the way to see them when he sent a message to their scrolls. Ruby and Penny arrived first, Penny carrying a rather confused Zwei who was trying his hardest to find a human scent on her, poking his nose into the inside of her elbow joint and sniffing loudly. Ruby was in her pyjamas, it already being late in the evening.

Glynda offered her some tea. Ruby, misunderstanding his desperate headshake, accepted and took a sip. Her entire body trembled.

"It… It's nice," she squeaked. "V-Very nice…"

"Thank you, Miss Rose. It's my personal blend. If you'd like more, I don't mind giving you a few pouches. You just need to infuse it in water that is sixty degrees and no more. Boil it and it may lose its taste."

He had a feeling Ruby would be boiling the bags pushed into her hands. Or setting them on fire the moment Glynda wasn't looking. `It was good for you` she often said, which he believed wholeheartedly. Nothing that tasted so bad could be unhealthy. That was just how the world worked. The fatter, stodgier and unhealthy food tasted amazing. Then, there was salad.

The rest of Team RWBY knocked on the door a few minutes later and were let inside by Glynda, giving Ruby a chance to upend her tea into a plant pot. Glynda led them to the table, sat them down around it and then poured out more tea, including some extra for Ruby since she'd obviously enjoyed hers so much.

Once they were all seated, Jaune went over their meeting with Ironwood, leaving out only the details of how bad Jacques was being. Weiss didn't need the stress of dealing with that, and it wasn't really theirs to worry about.

It didn't matter anyway. Blake leapt to her feet.

"They intend to do nothing!?"

"I'm not sure where you get that from, Blake," he said patiently. "I just told you they're mobilising every single asset under their power to hunt down the White Fang. I'd hardly call an entire army looking for them `doing nothing`, would you?"

"A-Ah. Well…" Blake sat down with an adorable blush. Yang snickered. "Well, I… I mean, Atlas has never been very good at finding us – them, I mean – in the past, so why would that change now? They shouldn't be stopping us – I mean you – from investigating."

"I disagree," Jaune lied, "And I happen to have faith in General Ironwood to locate Adam."

Glynda's brows disappeared into her hairline. He might as well have just told her he could shit diamonds and piss gold. That he could keep a straight face at all was only because of the life or death training Cinder had unwittingly given him.

"You what-?" Blake rasped.

"What I think my teammate is trying to say is that it seems inadvisable to come all the way here and do nothing, headmaster." Weiss placed a hand on Blake's arm. "The White Fang is a threat to Beacon just as much as it is Atlas."

"Are you questioning the headmaster, Miss Schnee?" Glynda asked, either having figured out his plan or trusting him enough to play along. "Though you and your friends may have had convenient success in the past locating the White Fang-" Yep, she'd figured it out. "-It is different here. This is a delicate diplomatic situation and the headmaster, and I cannot even leave Atlas without a military escort."

"So you can't investigate," Yang said. "But you would if you could."

"That is neither here nor there, Miss Xiao-Long. Forget about the White Fang for now. You're free to go in and out of the city as you please, so take the time to enjoy Atlas. In the meantime, we shall wait for General Ironwood to find the White Fang and act when he requests our assistance."

Ruby, Blake, Yang and Weiss exchanged long and measured looks.

"Sure," Yang said, smiling easily. "We'll do that."

"Yes," Blake said. "We will enjoy the city."

"Yep. Loads of fun," Ruby agreed.

Weiss nodded along.

Oscar rolled his eyes. He'd seen through it. Or more likely, Ozpin had and clued his host in. Team RWBY's acting wasn't their best traits anyway, and it took a monumental force of effort not to call them out on it.

"Good," he said instead. "I'm glad to hear you understand. Glynda and I could be in real trouble if Ironwood thought we were looking into the White Fang. We'll do our best to assist him while you girls have fun."

"Okay, headmaster," the four of them chimed in unison, though Yang used his name as ever. They stood and excused themselves, slipping out with the furtive expressions of teenagers planning something they shouldn't be.

"So," Jaune said once they were gone. "Tonight or tomorrow?"

"I bet they'll sneak out within half an hour," Glynda replied.

"Hm. I'll give it until morning – wagering it's Weiss who convinces them they should get a full night's sleep first."

"You think Miss Schnee will be able to put up with Miss Belladonna's whining for over ten hours? I didn't realise you had such a high opinion of her patience." Her smile dimmed. "I hope they will be okay. It is one thing to get into the trouble they did in Vale, but Adam Taurus is here. He's more dangerous than Torchwick ever was."

"They have Ozpin to look after them. I think they'll be okay."

/-/

"Lazy good-for-nothing…"

Oscar hummed out loud, looking up at the ceiling as he often did when conversing with Ozpin. It didn't make sense, but it was a habit he had yet to shake. Team RWBY were busy arguing over whether they should wait until morning to sneak out or go now, so it wasn't like they'd notice him tuning out a little.

"Who is…?"

"Jaune. Making us do all the work."

"I thought you'd be happy with this. We're being pro-active and not sitting back."

"Oh, it's not that I'm displeased with the decision, more the workload." Ozpin sighed dramatically. "He's asking me to babysit a group of near-suicidal young women with zero regard for their own safety."

"Didn't you launch them into a forest or something?"

"Yes, but I filled in all the prerequisite health and safety forms. Or I think I did. I signed everything Glynda put in front of me and that normally worked. Well, there were no complaints, apart from the people who failed and didn't get into Beacon, but I usually consider that a good thing. If you can't handle the Grimm in a sanitised scenario, I don't want your death on my conscience."

Oscar felt like pointing out he couldn't have handled it either, but presumably the rules didn't apply to him. Having an immortal in your head probably made you the exception, nor the rule. It certainly left him feeling like he was trapped on his own sometimes, even if he never would truly be alone again.

"Depressing thoughts. Don't tell me you're going to raid Miss Belladonna's supplies for black eyeliner."

"Can I not have my moment to dwell?"

"No more than I can have a corner of your mind safe from hormone-addled fantasies about Miss Rose. You need not fear the Grimm, Oscar. You are stronger than you believe you are – and for the times you're not, I'm here."

That was comforting and all, but hadn't Ozpin died to Cinder?

"I heard that!"

"Well you did get killed."

"Outlying circumstances."

"Such as…?"

"Such as circumstances that laid beyond the norm. You wouldn't understand. It was all very chaotic and such. Anyway," Ozpin changed the subject as he often did when questioned on something he didn't want to answer. "That's not the case at all! No. No, I won't be distracted. The point I was trying to make is that we will be dealing with White Fang at best here. Team RWBY and yourself can handle the average member unassisted. At worst, I will step in should you come across Adam Taurus."

"It's going to look suspicious if I suddenly pull out the ability to fight him one on one."

"Better suspicion than losing a team member."

That… That was true.

"Be calm, Oscar. It will not happen while I am here. If you want to worry, I'd focus your attention more on what insanity Miss Belladonna is going to drag you into. Finding the White Fang will not be as simple as asking for directions. Her schemes thus far have been hairbrained at best."

"How would we even find them?" Yang asked.

"Simple. We use Weiss as bait."

"EXCUSE ME!?"

"See," Ozpin said with a little sigh. "Really, if we want bait, we should use Miss Belladonna."

"Wouldn't you make better bait?" Oscar asked, interrupting the four girls before Weiss could leap over the bed and smother Blake to death with the pillow she was holding. They all stared at him. "According to what you said about Adam, he's pretty much obsessed with you."

Yang smirked. "Oscar has a point."

"I happen to agree," Weiss said snidely. "If you like the idea of bait so much, fulfil the role yourself."

Blake grimaced. "I… well, I… uh…"

"It's decided then." Yang clapped her hands together. "Blake gets to be the bait and we're going out tomorrow to go look for them. We're all cool on that?"

"Yep."

"Of course."

"I agree," Blake said, nodding her head.

"Ehhh." Ozpin made a buzzer noise. "Lie."

"How can you tell?"

"I've been dealing with people for over two thousand years and while I can personally attest to `expected` signs of lying such as lack of eye contact, etc, are nonsense, Miss Belladonna has her own cues. For one, her right arm has tensed and is touching her weapon. Secondly, she glanced to her equipment pack by her bed."

Oscar's eyes followed, spotting the pack full of her dust, ammo and combat clothes, none of which would be necessary if she truly planned to wait. "She's going to sneak out while we're asleep, isn't she?"

"No, Oscar. She isn't."

"Really? Why?"

"Because you're going to catch her in the act."

Oscar sighed. He had a feeling Ozpin would say that.

/-/

Blake slipped out the room and close the door, mentally thanking her faunus night vision for letting her pick her way around the mutt without waking it up. She touched Gambol Shroud at her side, wishing she had a hood to hide herself but knowing a faunus found walking around inside Atlas Academy late at night with her face concealed would not be a good thing.

This way, I can at least say I'm just getting some fresh air. No one should stop me, though. We're allowed to come and go as we please.

With any luck, she'd be back by morning, before her team woke up and realised she was gone. Sighing, she stepped around the corner.

And into Oscar.

"O-Osc-!?" Blake sealed her lips shut quickly and did the same to him, clamping a hand over his mouth. Her heart was in her throat. "What are you doing up?" she demanded. "Why are you outside our room?"

"Mmmbl," he said.

Blake removed her hand.

"I could ask the same of you, Miss Belladonna," Oscar said, speaking oddly again. "It's rather late to be taking a stroll, is it not?"

"I needed some fresh air."

"With your weapon?"

"Dangerous times. You know that."

"You're wearing your coat."

"It's cold this late."

"You snuck past your teammates."

"Didn't want to wake the team up. You know how cranky Yang and Weiss get."

Oscar held her gaze, fixing her with a look that for some reason had her sweating just a little. It feels like the headmaster is staring me down. What is this? Fighting the urge to apologise and just tell him everything, she fidgeted with one hand and asked, "Well what are you doing up and here?"

"Fresh air," he replied.

Blake crossed her arms. "Oh really?"

"Yes. Why? Is it too suspicious a statement? Odd. It seemed to work for you."

"Well, that's…" Blake winced and looked away. "Look, you know why I'm out here."

"I may," he said with an ironic twist.

"The White Fang have to be stopped."

"I agree. So do the others, who all agreed to look tomorrow morning." Oscar cocked his head to the side. "Why risk it alone now?"

It was dark and he likely couldn't make out every detail of her face, but she could his. Oscar was relaxed and calm, odd given the situation. He was also inquisitive, not saying her actions were stupid out of hand, but instead asking why she thought it necessary. It was a small difference, but enough that answering honestly might yield results.

"It's not that I think I can do it better or that they won't try, but more they're going about it wrong," she explained. "Weiss and Yang are too memorable, and the White Fang won't be moving around during the day. Night vision," she said, tapping her temple. "Faunus appendages can be faked, but one of the easiest ways for us to tell if someone is a faunus or not is simply to have our meetings in the dark and see who can't handle it. If they're going to be active, it'll be at night, not during the day. In fact, they'll be asleep tomorrow when the others want to go out."

Oscar didn't immediately call her out or argue. He was silent for a good moment – easily a full minute. Blake let him, recognising it as something he often did. Yang called it strange and she happened to agree, but right now, she needed him not to go back inside and alert her team.

"You believe you can do it better alone?"

"I think it will be safer alone. Groups tend to draw attention and, well, not everyone on the team understands what stealth means."

"Do you intend to fight if it comes to it?"

"No. Adam would slaughter me…"

It was one thing to fight at the docks in Vale, back when she'd been sure it was just underlings following Torchwick. She wasn't going to rush in against Adam leading an army of White Fang, however.

"My plan is to look for rumours tonight, that's all. If I can find where they're holding a meeting, I can sneak in as a faunus. If I see Adam, I'll leave. He'd recognise me, making the whole thing pointless, but I don't think Adam will be in Atlas. He's too recognisable."

"Hm. He's probably outside with the bulk of their forces," Oscar mused. "If anything, those inside will be informants or rabble rousers. They'll seek to create discord and build an information network, while also recruiting sympathetic faunus to cause a distraction."

Blake nodded, impressed. "Exactly. The others think we can just go walk around and find Adam, but that's not the case. The only reason I was able to locate them the first time was because I did it alone and could disguise myself at will."

He didn't immediately tell her it was a bad idea.

"Actually," she said, "You were a spy for the headmaster, right?"

Oscar hummed before answering. "I worked for Ozpin first."

"Ozpin? Oh." Questions flittered through her head, but she was sure he wouldn't answer any of them. "But you're loyal to Beacon now." At his nod, she whispered, "Come with me and help me. I know you can do it since you had to sneak around before, and no one will recognise you."

Ideally, she'd go alone, but that was impossible now that Oscar had caught her. It was either take him along, let him wake her team or knock him out, and the latter might be impossible without rousing the girls. He worked for Ozpin and now Jaune, so he must know a thing or two. Even if his skills as a huntsman are beneath mine, it doesn't matter if we don't get into a fight.

Oscar appeared conflicted but didn't refuse out of hand. He paused, expressions flickering across his face as he seemingly argued with himself. A few tense minutes passed by, Blake waiting silently, if not patiently. The fact he was thinking was a good thing. It meant there was a chance he'd accept.

"If I say no," he said slowly, "You will try and sneak away regardless, won't you?"

Blake shrugged.

"It would be easier keeping an eye on just the one person and we do need to find them." He sighed dramatically. "Very well."

Yes!

"However, I have a condition!"

"That I not start a fight? I don't intend to. I'm not willing to risk my life or die here when there are bigger things on the horizon."

"Not that," he said. "I'd hope that went without saying. My condition is that in the event the others wake up and find us missing, you say you corrupted and convinced me to come along, and that I tried my hardest to stop you."

Geez. "Fine. I'll take the blame. I'm used to it by now."

"Good. Very well then, Miss Belladonna." Oscar twirled his cane. "Let us be off."

"Can you not call me Miss Belladonna? It makes me feel like I'm talking to someone twice my age."

Oscar merely chuckled in response.

Blake sneaking away comes as a surprise to no one. Ozpin enabling it? Well, he's not wrong. It's easier to babysit one person than four. Looks like Glynda wins her bet after all.

Omake:

"So." Roman laid on his front, hands before his face. "What's the situation?"

"Three quarters of the school is under the sway of the `Fashion Police` and the staffroom has been lost," Port grumbled. "Queen Coco-"

"We don't recognise that!"

"Miss Adel-"

"Better."

"-has managed to convince most of the student body to follow her, either through charisma, bribery, desire for changes to benefit them or just boredom. Of course, there are also those who simply realise that by playing into the coup, we'll be in no position to demand in homework assignments."

"Oh, they'll rue this," Roman hissed. "I'm going to organise a pop quiz every day when this is over! They'll be dreaming of exams for the rest of their lives!"

"Beyond that, Kali Belladonna has been captured."

"That poor soul…"

"Though she seems to be enjoying the pampering of Coco's makeover efforts.

"That poor, deluded, soul…"

"Aaand we're still hiding away in the ventilation systems," Peter said.

Yes. Yes, they were. Roman adjusted himself as best he could in the cramped confines, belly-down over a grate that looked down into the cafeteria, where Oobleck was bravely stealing food for them. In one hand, he had a small bag of muffins and scones. In the other, a kettle full of water. At least he actually had food this time.

"This can't continue," Roman decided. "We need to strike back and reclaim the school!"

"Do we?" Peter asked. "Do we, though?"

"If we don't, Glynda is going to come back and see this."

"We must act quickly!" Peter said, changing his tune on the spot. "The school is ours to defend!"

"Exactly. Now, our plan needs to be perfect. What resources do we have? Where's Sienna?"

"You tripped her up and used her as a distraction to allow us to escape the battle for the staff room," Port reminded him. "I seem to recall her swearing to rip out your entrails and hang you with them when she got free. Then, she was swallowed and borne down by the horde."

"Oh yeah."

When escaping the Beowolf, one did not need to be the fastest runner. Only faster than your friend. Someone had to sacrifice themselves to buy the others time to escape, and Roman prided himself on being a good delegator.

Sienna would be remembered.

"Well, we need to do something to bring things back under control. I'm running perilously low on cigars as it is, and I don't plan well without nicotine. Think. What would Jaune do?"

"Fumble around randomly until something defies all odds and works?"

Roman stared at the chrome wall of the ventilation shaft. "Shit. Okay, what would a normal and not bullshit-lucky individual do?"

"Run for their lives?"

"I'll give you that, but I was hoping for something more productive. What about the students? I can't believe everyone has agreed to join her alliance."

"Well, there is Team RVNN," Port said.

Oh-ho. "They've not joined?"

"As I understand it, Velvet was too embarrassed by Coco's demands to join, while Nora refused on the basis that if Ren wears pants tighter than what he already does, she's not going to be able to control herself."

"And Nikos?"

"Too nice to want to hurt anyone."

"Ah. Of course. Honestly, she's so nice that at this point I think it's a disease." Personalities aside, they were still powerful and unpredictable. Or Nora was. The rest didn't really matter. Then again. "Right. I've got an idea. We find them, make it clear Jaune would be upset if he came back to find the school like this and wait for Nikos to cave and offer to help us. We also promise Valkyrie she gets to coursework partner with Ren for the rest of the year and that we'll give her three `get-out-of-homework-free cards`."

"We have those?"

"Port. We don't even mark the homework anyway."

"True." Port said, shrugging. "I just give them all full marks. It's the effort that counts, my boy, and I'd never forgive myself for crushing their spirits with failing scores when they all try so hard."

Sure, the effort. As in, showing none himself. Roman doubted Port even looked at the homework, and it wouldn't have surprised him if the students knew and handed in empty sheets of paper. Well, either way, it kind of worked. As in, no one complained to Glynda and Port got away with it.

"The Ren kid will agree just because he can't be bothered not to, and Scarlatina will have to pick between us and Coco. Easy choice since Coco wants to dress her up. After that, Team CRDL will cave when their leader does to Velvet like the ass-whipped little dweeb he is, and once they've finished trying to make out in private, we take back the school!"

"With eight students and three teachers," Port said doubtfully.

"NOOOO!" Oobleck screamed. "Not the coffee! Noooo!"

Several girls dragged him away below, the teacher valiantly struggling to rescue his beloved beverage.

"With eight students and two teachers," Port amended. "I'm not sure how you intend to pull that off, Roman, but I'm with you. I've seen what Adel wants to dress me up as. Christmas spirit or not, I refuse to wear that costume!"

"We won't have to." Roman began to shimmy through the vents, using his arms to drag himself along. "Follow me. I know where I'm going."

"Do I want to ask why you know how Beacon's vents work?"

"No. No, you don't."

/-/

Pyrrha, Nora, Ren and Velvet had been staring up at the loudly clanking, grunting and swearing ventilation shaft for a few minutes now, no one quite knowing what to say or whether they should bother at all.

A few traces of ash drifted down from it.

"Hello," a tinny voice said. "This is Team RVNN's room, right?"

"Um." Conventional wisdom said not to talk to sentient ventilation shafts, but Pyrrha had always been raised to be polite. "Yes. It's Pyrrha here. How can I help?"

"Capital! Please move aside, my dear. I'm coming through."

The grate above their room fell with a clang, bouncing on the floor. A pair of black boots poked through, followed by a very wide pair of legs and then a waistline. And then… well, nothing more. The legs waggled and kicked in the air, but no more of the man in the vents came through despite the struggling.

"Damn it, Peter. Your flab won't fit through!"

"It's not flab, my boy, it's glorious muscle!"

"Well your `glorious muscle` won't fit through the damn hole! Stay still. I'll kick you through."

"No, wait!" A loud bang echoed. "Ow! Ow, no. Ow!" The legs spasmed with each blow from above, kicking wildly but not really pushing through any further. "Stop – ow – stop that, Torch- oof! Damn it, that hurts! Not the moustache! Not that! Argh!"

Nora looked Pyrrha's way and mimed shooting something at the shaft.

Pyrrha shook her head, sighed, and reached for her Semblance, aiming two hands upward. Using her fingers, she mimed pulling something apart. With a rip, the metal around the grate peeled back like wrapping paper, spilling a large, red figure with a bushy moustache down onto the floor.

Nora gasped. "Santa!?"

Torchwick landed two feet down on Professor Port's back, making the large man groan. "Children," he greeted, stepping off Port's back with a drop of his hat.

"And the grinch," Ren commented. "Do we want to ask why you're in our vent shaft?"

"No. No, you don't." Roman grinned. "So. Who'd like to earn a little extra credit?"

No one said a word.

"Fine. Who'd like to earn an automatic pass on all homework?"

"I'M YOURS!" Nora yelled, wrapping her arms around Roman's legs. "TAKE ME!"

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

Is it the Beacon Civil War, Faculty vs Students edition? Sort of, but not likely going on for nearly as long. Just a short collection of omakes likely to be finished next week. I know some people like the Team STRQ ones, and I will do some more of those when I can.

Next Chapter: 19th December

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur