Chapter 31

"One jump ahead of the rogue Guardsman, one step ahead of President Schnee, those chumps will never get the better of me~"

Blake couldn't help but chuckle even as Alex continued to sing a little ditty to himself as he and Oscar helped her friends to set up camp "So, you're Alex, right? Jasmine told us a lot about you. Sorry to cause you so much trouble, by the way."

The benevolent Doppelganger merely let out a snort in reply. "It's only trouble if the bad guys catch you, am I right?"

"Oh, I like this guy's style," Yang couldn't help but admit. "Still, I hate that we have to hide in a cave, again. I mean, I can't see anything!"

"Oh, no!" Fox cried, sarcastically. "What a nightmare!"

"Sorry…" Yang replied, meekly.

"Alright, listen up, everyone." Ruby suddenly announced. "Aunt Raven has volunteered to use her semblance to take us to our homes and collect essentials for our time on the run! So make a list of everything we need!"

"Oh!" Ciel raised her hand, enthusiastically. "I have a fondue pot suitable for chocolates and cheeses!"

Ruby blinked. "What do we need that for?"

"Uh, well…" Ciel blushed, lightly, as she drew circles on the ground with her foot. "It's just that it was a little pricey, and I haven't really used it as much as I thought I would, and, uh…" The French girl pulled her hat over her eyes in a futile attempt to hide her embarrassment. "...nevermind."

"Oh, that actually reminds me," Summer declared as she brought some cooking gear. "I realize that this isn't entirely accurate, but Yang: do you feel like helping your mother cook up some dinner? For old times sake?"

"...I call dough punching duty!"

"Uh, doesn't she mean dough rolling?" Jaune couldn't help but ask.

"Nope." Ruby said with a smile and a shake of her head. "I don't remember a whole lot from when Summer, the original Summer, was around, but one thing I do remember is that whenever Yang helped Mom out with cooking, it always seemed like there was video game boss music playing in the background."

"Speaking of mothers, Tai said something about you wanting to speak with me?" Raven piped up.

Realizing what she was referring to, Yang could only look at the ground in a bit of shame. "So, do you… love him?" she asked, feeling a bit uncomfortably.

"Well, I mean…" Raven scratched her head, trying to find the right words. "I haven't actually said 'I love you' to him. But, uh, yeah. I love him, still."

"Then why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because you never asked!" Raven replied. "I mean, I get it! You have a wife and kid of your own now, but it always feels like if what I have to say isn't an apology for not being there, you're not interested!"

"Th-that… that's not true." Yang stammered.

"Yang, we weren't even trying that hard to hide it!" Raven spluttered. "I mean, your dad and I kept taking 'long walks' in the forest, and we'd come back with wrinkles and grass stains on our clothes, leaves in our hair. You didn't think that was the least bit suspicious?"

"You seriously didn't know, Xiao Long?" Coco tilted her glasses down before turning to the others in amusement. "Show of hands for everyone who knew about Phoenix." Sure enough, Teams JNPR, CFVY, Ciel, Weiss, Blake, and even Ruby raised their hands. Coco smirked as Yang's mouth dropped open. "Bingo."

Raven just patted her daughter on the shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, your dad was pretty oblivious when he was your age." The Branwen chieftess sighed fondly. "Ah, that takes me back."

Raven would never admit it to her fellow Beacon students, especially not Qrow, but she was nervous. She had recently confided in her twin brother and best friend that she had developed a crush on a certain blonde brawler, but didn't know how to properly express it. After a few eyerolls from Qrow and some obnoxious squeals from Summer, Raven decided to take it up with the other women back in her tribe.

"This boy you're interested in?" Ebony smiled as she handed her friend a bowl of fresh chili following a brief explanation. "He'll come around. You just gotta hang in there."

"You really think so?" Raven asked, sitting next to her, Jade, and Olive around a small campfire, the latter two having also been filled in.

"Oh, yeah!"

"For sure!"

"You're a catch!"

"I don't know." Raven sighed, stirring her food. "I think I might've scared him off. I'm probably not good enough for him."

"Hey! Don't talk like that!" Jade scolded, gently shoving her friend's shoulder. "You've got a lot to offer a man!"

"Yeah!" Olive agreed. "You're smart. Beautiful. Strong. Not to mention that you're next in line to run the tribe!"

Raven chuckled. "You guys are great."

"Maybe you just need to make the first move." Ebony suggested. "Try the 'thigh touch.'"

"The… the what?"

"You've never heard of the 'thigh touch?'"

"Psh, of course I have." Raven scoffed. "But, uh… tell me, anyway."

Ebony shook her head, humorously, and scooted closer to her younger friend. She set her bowl aside and looked deeply into Raven's eyes. "Okay, the next time you see this 'Taiyang' you're so fond of, sit down next to him and be like…" The dark-skinned woman gently rested her hand on Raven's thigh and batted her eyelashes, seductively. "Hey.~"

Raven laughed. "Seriously, Ebony?"

"I'm telling you, girl; it's science." Ebony insisted. "Boys go ga-ga for that shit."

"Alright." Raven shrugged. "You're the expert."

"When I came back, I threw a few...dozen hints in his direction before saying that I planned on asking a certain someone to the dance a few weeks later." Raven revealed.

"You should have heard how loudly she screamed in frustration that night," Summer said with a chuckle, her mental origin having been there that night. "And all Tai said in reply was 'Was it something I said?'"

Yang simply snorted in amusement before giving a sigh, knowing where Raven was going with this. "Look, like I told Dad, I'm not against you two getting back together. I guess part of me just thought that I'd have to wait until after we had found the real Summer to have to worry about walking in on parents making out in front of me. Just promise that once we do find her that she'll still have a place besides you two: she's my Mom too, you know."

"I know," Raven declared with a sigh as she brought her daughter into an embrace, "and for the record, she was special to me too."

Ruby just smiled as she watched the bout of family bonding, before gaining a frown. "Huh: my Aunt is dating my Dad. Not sure what to make of that."

"That you might be a Redneck?" Taiyang declared having since re-entered the room.

"Considering that Summer, Raven, and I all have 'ammo' on our holiday shopping list, that might not be too far off." Yang said with a shrug.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Can we please focus? We may have temporarily lost them, but Qrow and the Meta could catch up to us now that they have Jean. They're probably interrogating her as we speak. As far as we know, they know everywhere we could run to."

"Indeed. Now, I understand why Rachael - uh, I mean Svetlana didn't tell us where she and Mikhail were setting up 'New Rushland.'" Ciel mused. "Qrow and the Meta won't be able to find them. Still… I hope they're doing alright.

Meanwhile, Svetlana sneezed as she and her husband had successfully finished defending their farm from a horde of wild Ursas. The scarlet clad couple holstered their weapons and returned to their work. "Is it me, my love, or are those things getting smarter?" Mikhail asked.

"Seems like it, my darling. In fact, my old friend Jean made the point that one day a Grimm may outsmart me." She chuckled as she reloaded. "That may be so. But I have yet to meet anything that can outsmart bullets."

Mikhail gained a serious expression. "Speaking of your old friends, I caught you nearly going for your weapon upon hearing the news about those rogue huntsmen at Beacon."

"Can you blame me?!" Svetlana said with a groan. "Ruby and Weiss were nearly executed simply for trying to help reopen their old school. To make matters worse, there hasn't been any confirmation that they or the others are even alive after...well, everything."

Mikhail simply patted his wife on the back, knowing full well why this was bothering her so much. "...what happened then wasn't your fault, you know," he remarked, even as he once again vowed to disembowel that clown if he ever saw him again.

"I know," "Rachael" said with a sniffle, "but if they died and I hadn't been around to protect them, this would be. I know I said I wanted a simple life, but in the end, Coco was right: I can't walk away from being a huntress."

"I wasn't going to ask you to." Mikhail said with a grin. "In fact, I was hoping I could come with you. After all, I cannot form New Rushland by myself."

Svetlana simply smiled as she kissed her husband on the lips. "Have I mentioned how much I love you lately?"

"You could stand to mention it more." Mikhail replied with a teasing smirk. "But if we are to rejoin your friends, we will need to bring a gift!"

Svetlana arched an eyebrow as her husband rushed back into their home. Only to smile as he came back with a bottle and glasses. "Is that your father's recipe?!" She laughed. "The one that saved him from a scorpion faunus' venom?!"

"The very same!" He laughed, pouring them a pair of glasses. "A toast before we head off! May we get what we want!"

"And may we get what we need!" She added.

"But may we never get what we deserve!" They both toasted and downed the strong liquid fire.

Meanwhile, back with Team RWBY and the others, things had been going rather smoothly, though they all held their breath, as they knew it wouldn't last. Case in point, one little farm boy had been quite the busy bee. "You guys need any more help with anything?" one Oscar Pine asked of the hooded huntress.

Ruby couldn't help but giggle: this boy truly would have been the next Oz-mosis candidate, as she had taken to calling it. A desire to help, a healthy respect for the supernatural - judging by the way he acted around Alex or approached the subject of Holly, that is - and, if that bit where she had caught him feeding a bunch of ducklings that had wondered past was any indication, a deep, deep love of children. It's no wonder Salem had fallen in love with Ozma in the past: this kid was a real heart-throb. Heck, if she didn't already have Weiss and/or Penny/Penelope in her life, she wouldn't have been too opposed to giving fate a chance and seeing if that obvious crush on her she had picked up on would go anywhere.

With that said... "I think we're good for now, though if you don't mind me asking, how did you wind up working with Alex?"

Oscar simply sighed. "Let's just say that Beacon wasn't the only place Jacques Schnee targeted nor were you the first to make the mistake of thinking I had a connection with the late Professor Ozpin. Only difference between you and the people who came after me is that you actually gave me a choice about whether I wanted a part in whatever it was that they were planning. Didn't save my aunt, though."

Ruby gasped, instantly understanding why the former farm boy would be unopposed to working with Alex and the other Doppelgangers: the enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all. "I...I'm so sorry. I wish there was something we could've done."

"You already are," Oscar reassured with a smile. "You and your friends are reassuring me that humanity is still worth defending."

"Glad we could help," Ruby declared, returning the smile, "though just for the record, I already have a girlfriend."

"Uh, eheh, sorry," Oscar said with a sheepish grin.

"No, no, it's fine." The silver-eyed girl said with a reassuring gesture. "I'm actually kind of flattered. Just don't let Weiss catch you staring at me."

"Um, Ruby?" Yang called. "Penelope's doing something!"

Ruby rushed towards the sound of her sister's voice, worried for her best friend. When she finally arrived, she could see that Penelope's eyes were flickering from their usual green hue to a much lighter color. She sat cross-legged in front of the group and smiled. "Salutations, Ruby Rose."

Ruby couldn't help but blink. "Pearl? Is that you?"

"Yes and no: I am merely Penelope's memory of her," Pearl declared. "But that's not important: I need you to listen, for my time is brief. Penelope is not in control right now. but she will be again, shortly."

Ruby scoffed. "And that's a bad thing because…?"

"It's not, not really," Pearl reassured the hooded huntress. "But the encounter with Agent Grey has jarred loose many of her memories. Penelope has not historically coped with these memories well...though that's understandable to a degree as not all of them are hers."

Coco quirked an eyebrow. "What's that mean?"

"You didn't think Summer Rose was the only person whose mental patterns were copied during the P.E.N.N.Y. Project, did you?"

Weiss let out a gasp. "You mean…?"

"Yes: in an effort to try and better control what he perceived to be his daughter, Jacques Schnee had a surface level scan of his mental patterns inserted into the central processor of one Penny Polendina," Pearl declared with a disgruntled frown. "Fortunately, Doctor Pietro Polendina would quickly discover this deliberate sabotage by President Schnee and went out of his way to rearrange the programming so that the influence of President Schnee's memories on the Summer Maiden's personality was minimalistic at best. Unfortunately, as Priscilla and to a lesser extent Paulette proved, it was still enough to steer some of us in the wrong direction. Still, even they considered Pietro to be a far better father to them then Jacques could ever be."

"Preaching to the choir there," Weiss couldn't help but remark. "Still, if she...you remember things that Jacques did, that would mean we'd have an even easier time making sure that he faces justice for what he's done, wouldn't it?"

"Perhaps," Pearl said with a shrug, "though we fear that in the meantime that Penelope might pursue after certain memories in particular."

Jaune quirked an eyebrow. "When you say 'we', you're referring to yourself and the other Maiden fragments, right?"

"That is correct," Pearl said with a subdued smile. "Penelope may not yet be fully aware of our presence, but eventually she will be. We cannot hide forever."

"Why is that a bad thing?" Ruby couldn't help but ask. "Don't we want her to get her memories back?"

"It's not so simple," Pearl declared. "She's begun to search her memories now, and she is clearly looking for something."

"Well you did say memory is the key."

"Memory is the key, Ruby Rose, but not everything that is locked is meant to be unlocked." Pearl said with a sad smile. "She is coming back now. I must leave before she discovers me."

Ruby shook her head in frustration. "But if she meets you again, then you can be sisters again. Isn't that what you want?"

"More than anything," Pearl admitted, "but unfortunately, I fear that I may not be the memory she is looking for."

Just then, the pale blue eyes began to shift back to green. "Wait, what do you mean?!" Ruby stammered. "Pearl! What is Penelope trying to remember?!"

But it was too late, Penelope had regained control of her body. "Oh, hey, guys: when did you get here?"

"You...really don't remember, do you?" Jaune couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, Jaune, we're all aware of the irony of the Maiden's Memory having amnesia: we don't need to go over this again." Penelope said with a roll of her eyes, before blinking as if in realization. "Wait, 'go over this again.' Why does that…oh my gods! The base!"

Needless to say, Weiss was as confused as everyone else at this declaration. "Mind filling the rest of us in on your little 'eureka' moment?"

Penelope nodded, a wide grin on her face. "Thanks to Jaune's stupidity, I just remembered that Jacques had a base that he used to visit frequently just a few miles south of here. If we go there, we might be able to find some irrefutable evidence against him."

"Sounds like a bit of a stretch, but it beats sitting around her being insulted." Jaune said with a shrug.

Ruby, however, couldn't help but stare at Penelope in confusion and concern. While it wasn't a bad theory, she couldn't help but worry about what Pearl had said earlier. She wasn't sure what it was, exactly, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this mission would end badly.

A few hours later, Ruby and Penelope found themselves standing in front of what appeared to be an abandoned military base with the Schnee Dust Company logo. "So how do we get inside?" Ruby asked.

"I'm… not sure." Penelope admitted, patting down the wall. "But maybe if I-" Suddenly, the android girl accidentally pressed a mechanism into the wall, triggering a panel to slide back and reveal a computer screen.

"This is a private facility. Visitors are not welcome. Please leave immediately. Or, we will be forced to take lethal measures, to ensure the safety of our property. You have thirty seconds to comply, or die. Have a nice day!"

Ruby couldn't help but blink. "Shelia? Is that you?"

"No. I am the Guardsman Logistics Operation Resolutions and Integrity Assurance. You may call me Gloria. It is a pleasure to meet you. You now have - fifteen - seconds to live."

Penelope couldn't help but cringe in response. "Whoa, okay: maybe we should come back when we have the proper clearance."

Gloria blinked, as if only now recognizing them. "Oh my, forgive me: I was not aware that President Schnee was sending someone over to inspect the facility."

Penelope looked around, before gesturing to herself. "Are you...talking about me?"

Gloria smiled. "Yes. President Schnee made it very clear to allow certain individuals access to his bases of operation in the event that he himself could not show up for various reasons. The bearers of the Summer Maiden Fragments were on the top of that list, stating that he did not desire restricting access to his wife and daughters."

Penelope frowned upon hearing this news. "He gave me, Summer, and the other Summer Maiden fragments complete access to his facilities, likely out of some desire to show us off whenever he could. On one hand, that's good news for us. On the other, it makes me want to punch his face in even more."

Gloria seemed to wilt in shame. "I apologize if I upset you. Do you still wish to come in?"

Ruby shared a look with Penelope, before shrugging. "Eh, we have access, so we might as well use it. Don't worry too much, though, Lori: you're not the one we're upset with."

Gloria merely blinked. "Lori?"

Ruby simply smiled. "Yeah: a nice girl like you deserves a name that's not an acronym, and since Lori is a shortened form of 'Gloria', I just thought that…"

"No, no, it's fine," "Lori" said with a smile. "I actually kind of like it."

"Great! So can we please come inside?"

"Of course!" Lori replied, cheerfully, as the doors opened. "Thank you for visiting and have a nice day!"

Meanwhile, Qrow had to begrudgingly give Jean a little credit: knocking herself out so that he and the Meta couldn't interrogate her was actually a rather clever move on her part. It was just a shame that she couldn't… wouldn't stay unconscious forever nor did he intend to let her just knock herself out again.

That wasn't to say that everyone was happy with the situation. Case in point, a certain someone felt the need to give him a piece of her mind. "I hope you realize how badly your plan is going off the rails: your former comrades are on the run, Summer has betrayed us, and we're still no closer to obtaining the Maiden fragment," Cinder growled out.

"I'm not worried about Ruby and company," Qrow remarked. "They're good, I'll admit it, but it's only a matter of time before they slip up and when that happens, it'll be the perfect time to take Penelope into our custody. As for Summer, yeah, she threw a monkey wrench into things, but whether she knows it or not, she's also our best asset."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Agent Grey simply gave a rather… unsettling look in reply. "Let's just say that I recently learned that Jacques likes to be efficient."

As it turned out, Ruby and Penelope, having stumbled into a secure room that Gloria/Lori had opened up for them, were learning just how efficient Jacques liked to be. "Holy Shamoley: look at all the Pennys!" Ruby cried out.

Penelope could only nod in mute shock and agreement, looking upon all the empty shells that looked exactly like the original Penny Polendina. "This is...yeah, I'm not sure what to call this."

"I'll tell you what we call this! We call this a shopping mall of best friends!" Ruby cheered and made her way to one of the empty bodies. "C'mon! I'll hook you up!"

"Okay." Penelope sat down next to the more life-like android as Ruby attached a transfer cable to the back of her head.

"This should only take about half an hour." Ruby promised as she began transferring her best friend's consciousness. While she waited for the transfer to complete, she decided to wander around the rest of the facility when an idea popped into her head. "Hey, Lori? What can you tell me about Agent Rose?"

"I'm sorry, did you say 'Activate Agent Rose?'"

"What? No, I said tell me about Agent Rose."

"Okay! Activating Agent Rose!" Lori announced as a series of titanium doors began sliding open. "Warning: the only remaining copy of Agent Rose's programming may have been corrupted by the Paulette fragment. Please, exercise caution."

"Uh, oh…" Ruby gulped as a loud banging noise suddenly echoed from the last door.

Just then, Team JNPR finally caught up to the hooded huntress. "Ruby? Is Penny okay? She's hooked up to something." Pyrrha asked.

"Uh… yeah. Penny's fine." Ruby gulped as she slowly backed away from the door. "But, uh, I-I'd get away from the door if I were you guys."

"Why?" Jaune asked. "What's the problem? And what's that noise?"

Jaune was answered when a fist punched through the door right next to his face. The huntsman in training jumped away from shock as he and his team drew their weapons. Ruby took that as her cue to run away and warn her own team. Just as she was gone, the door was finally broken down, and another Summer Rose walked out from the other room, cracking her mechanical knuckles.

"You have no idea how much trouble you're in."

To Be Continued.

Epilogue:

Svetlana and Mikhail sat patiently at the airport for their transport to arrive. "How do you know this person?" She asked, curiously.

"Martin Noir? He's a zebra faunus I used to work with." He explained. "He's been giving people plane rides for a living, but since he owes me a favor, he agreed to give us a ride for free."

As grateful as she was, it didn't ease Svetlana's anxiety. "I just hope we make it in time. My friends are good at attracting trouble."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Mikhail promised. "After all, what's the worst that could happen?"