The next day, Team RWBY and Julius were walking through town, seeing the townspeople as they prepared for the Vytal Festival. On the way there, they noticed people putting up a sign saying "Welcome to Vale."

"The Vytal Festival," Weiss said in excitement, "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss. It's kinda weirding me out." Ruby said.

"Yeah," Julius said, "You haven't stopped fangirling ever since we walked into town."

Weiss turned around. "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, a tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

"Yeah, you lost me at tournament," Julius said, "I've got a good hankering to kick some ass right now."

Yang sighed. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring, Weiss."

"And complicated." Julius added.

"Quiet you two," Wiess snapped. Soon, they reached the Vale pier.

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks." Yang said.

Ruby pinched her nose. "Ugh, they smell like fish."

Weiss proudly explained. "I've heard the students from Vacuo will be arriving any minute now by ship, and as a representative of Beacon, I feel it is my sole duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

"On the bright side," Julius said, "we get to check out the competition."

Blake leaned over to Yang. "She just wants to spy on them so she can get an upper hand in the tournament. Julius is the only one being open about it."

Weiss turned around and crossed her arms. "You can't prove that."

"Actually…" Julius was about to say.

"Don't you dare!" Weiss snapped. As they argued, Ruby turned and noticed something. Getting the others' attention, they spotted a shop down the street that had police tape over the windows and in front of the building. Cops and investigators were moving about in and around the store. The group walked up to get a better look.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked.

"Robbery," the cop nearby explained, "Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." Then he walked away.

Yang sighed. "That's terrible."

"Yeah, no kidding," Julius added, though in his mind, he knew exactly who was behind this.

"They left the money again." another cop announced as he walked out of the store, getting Ruby's attention.

"It just doesn't make a lick of sense," the first cop said, "Who needs that much dust?"

"I don't know."

"You thinking the, uh, White Fang?"

"I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"Great, not those lunatics." Julius groaned.

Weiss scoffed. "Hmph! The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."

"Okay, that's a bit of a strong word," Julius said, "Awful, sure, but not degenerates."

"Besides, what's your problem?" Blake asked.

"My problem," Weiss said, her voice still ringing with disgust, "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is HARDLY a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided faunus."

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're VERY misguided."

"Yeah, I'm gonna agree with Blake on this one," Julius said, "Their intentions are in the right place, they just have the wrong way of going about it."

"Don't defend them!" Weiss snapped.

"The point is," Blake continued, "is that it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Blake's got a point on this one," Ruby said, "Besides, the cops said they never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him."

"More than likely," Julius agreed.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum," Weiss said, "Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal."

"That's not necessarily true." Yang said.

"You're still on this topic?!" Julius demanded.

Weiss turned to Julius. "You keep out of it! You and your little faunus loving self cannot possibly see the criminals the White Fang are."

Julius' anger started to build. "I know very well what the White Fang is; I fought them before. And I don't care that you're on a team I'm working with; keep insulting people like this and I'll lay you out faster than I did Cardin!"

Yang had to step in and hold Julius back. "Woah, easy now! This is not the time or the place for that. He does have a point though, Weiss."

Before Weiss could retort, the group heard someone yell. "Hey, stop that faunus!"

The group ran back to the pier to see two security guards chase a boy with dirty blonde hair and a monkey tail on one of the ships. As they watched, the boy jumped off the ship and then hung by his tail from one of the lightposts on the dock while eating a banana.

"You no good stowaway!" One of the guards said.

"Hey, a no good stowaway would have been caught. I'm a great stowaway." The boy said, dodging a potato thrown at him. The two guards walked up to the post.

"Alright, get down here this instant," One of the guards said, only to get a banana peel dropped on his face. Laughing, the boy jumped down and ran up the dock and past Julius and Team RWBY.

"Well, Weiss, Julius, you guys wanted to see the competition, and there it goes." Yang said.

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss said, running in the direction the boy ran, Yang and Ruby following.

"So, she WAS just trying to spy on people." Julius said.

"And you're surprised?" Blake asked.

"I'm not quite sure actually." Julius replied, and then the two ran after the others.

…

Meanwhile, Penny and Novus were walking down the sidewalk, watching as people began putting up decorations for the Vytal Festival.

"Isn't this just amazing?" Penny asked, "There's so many people here to see!"

"It is pretty cool, I'll admit," Novus said.

"There's so many colors and sounds. Vale is very much fun, especially since the Vytal Festival is coming soon."

"The what?"

"It…" Penny began to say, but just then, a boy with a monkey tail ran by pursued by two security guards.

"What the…" Novus said, just as Weiss turned the corner and ran into Penny, causing both of them to fall over. Before he could react, Julius accidentally ran into him, though it was only Julius that fell over.

"Ow…" Julius said as he got up to see a gun pointed at him.

"WOAH, WOAH, easy!" Julius said, "It was an accident! Sorry!"

"You'd better be." Novus growled, lowering the gun.

Weiss got back up to see the boy jump off into the distance.

"No! He got away!" she said.

"Uuuuuhhh, Weiss?" Yang said pointing to Penny. Weiss turned to see Penny and jumped back up in surprise.

"Salutations!" Penny said.

"Um, hello." Ruby said.

"Are you okay?" Yang asked.

"I'm doing wonderful, thank you for asking!" Penny said.

"Uh, you're still laying on the ground." Novus said.

"Yeah, do you want to get up?" Yang asked.

"Yes," Penny said, flipping up onto her feet, causing Team RWBY and Julius to look in surprise.

"My name is Penny, and this is Novus." Penny said, "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Slayer nodded at the group.

"Hi guys, I'm Ruby," Ruby said.

"I'm Weiss," Weiss said.

"Blake," Blake said.

"Call me Julius," Julius said.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked, only to get elbowed by Blake, "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Penny said.

Weiss looked confused. "You already said that."

Penny thought for a few moments before saying. "So I did."

Julius looked at Slayer. "Is she okay?"

Slayer shrugged. "She's always like this so I have no idea."

"Well, anyways," Weiss said, "Sorry for running into you."

Julius stifled a laugh. "Literally or figuratively?"

"Shut up, Julius!" Weiss snapped, getting a giggle from Ruby and Blake.

"Well, take care friend!" Ruby said as the group turned to leave.

Novus stood next to Penny. "Well, that was certainly an interesting experience…wait, where are you going?" he said, seeing Penny head for the other group. He then groaned in frustration as he took off after Penny. "Why did I get stuck with the overly curious girl?"

Julius and Team RWBY walked along.

"She was…weird." Yang said.

"Yeah," Julius said, "I kinda feel bad for that armored guy with her."

"Now," Weiss said, "Where did that faunus riffraff go off to?"

Then, they stopped to see Penny had somehow appeared in front of them, causing them to back up in surprise. Novus finally caught up, saying. "Penny, what are you doing now?"

Penny seemed to ignore him. "What did you call me?" she asked he group. Weiss frantically pointed at Yang.

"Oh…I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't think you heard me." Yang said.

"No, not you," Penny said, then walked up to Ruby, "You."

Ruby began stuttering, trying to figure out what to say.

"You called me friend," Penny said, "Am I really your friend?"

"Um…" Ruby said looking over Penny's shoulder to see her team trying to frantically yet silently tell her no.

"There's DEFINITELY something up with her." Julius said to Novus.

Novus nodded. "Definitely."

"And you're with her how?"

"It's a long story."

Finally, Ruby said, "Yeah, sure, why not?" causing her team to collapse to the ground in shock. Penny laughed and said, "Sensational! We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

"Penny." Novus said.

"Yes, Novus?" Penny asked.

"Don't overdo it."

"I think she already did." Julius said.

"Was this what it was like when you first met me?" Ruby asked Weiss.

"No," Weiss replied, "she seems far more coordinated."

"So," Yang said, "What are you doing in Vale?"

"Novus and I are here to fight in the tournament." Penny said.

Weiss looked confused. "YOU'RE fighting in the tournament, Penny?"

"I'm combat ready!" Penny said. Novus raised his super shotgun saying. "Don't expect me to go easy on you either."

"Good," Julius said, "I could use a decent challenge."

Great, now there's TWO trigger happy morons. Weiss thought, but she kept it to herself and said to Penny. "Forgive me, but you hardly look the part. Your armored friend looks like a tough fighter, but you? Not so much."

"Says the girl wearing a dress," Blake said.

"It's a combat skirt," Weiss argued. Ruby zoomed next her and said. "Yeah," while high fiving Weiss, who then said, "Wait a minute, if you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey tailed rapscallion?"

Julius saw Blake clenching her teeth in anger and leaned over to her ear. "Easy now…"

"I cannot stand when she says things like that." Blake whispered back.

"That makes two of us, but I don't want you to slip up and say something that might give you-know-what away."

"What?" Penny asked.

Weiss hold up a crude drawing of the boy. "The filthy faunus from the boat!"

"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake demanded. Weiss turned to her.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person." Blake continued.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss said, "Would you like me to stop referring to this trash can as a trash can, or this lamp post as a lamppost?"

"I mean, you are kinda looking like that trash can right now," Julius said.

"YOU stay out of this!" Weiss snapped, "You have been nothing but a nuisance in my opinion, standing up for all of those freaks. The way I see it, you're no better than them. You know, come to think of it, judging by those robot parts you're wearing, I wouldn't be surprised if you were more machine than a real person, so how would you really know about this anyways?"

Julius was really getting angry now and he began to quickly walk forward to Weiss, ready to beat her into the ground right there. Yang and Ruby quickly shot out their hands to stop him.

"Woah! Calm down." Yang said, "Maybe you should stay out of this, just for everyone's sakes."

Blake looked back at Julius, a grim look in her eyes. "I'll handle this. You should go show Penny and Novus around town a bit more."

"Actually," Novus said, "We were trying to find our way to Beacon, if you would like to show us."

Julius took a few deep breaths before finally saying. "Fine, I'll go." Then he walked to Novus and Penny and, saying, "Come on." and led them in the direction of Beacon, leaving Blake and Weiss arguing with each other, Yang and Ruby watching and unsure of what to do.

…

That night, Julius walked in the courtyard with Novus. He had shown them to the dorms set up for incoming students from other kingdoms, and Penny and Novus had settled in to their dorm. Right now, Julius had called Novus to the courtyard, wanting to speak with him.

"First off, sorry about running into you earlier." Julius said.

"It's fine," Novus said, "You just took me by surprise, that's all."

"Okay, thanks. So, can I ask about your armor?"

"What about it?"

"I've never seen anything like it. It's certainly not Atlesian."

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Julius laughed. "Try me."

Novus sighed. "Okay then…" and began to explain the Sentinels, the Doom Slayer, and the massive war against the demons to Julius, trying to make it as understandable as possible. When he finished, Julius nodded his head in understanding and said, "Interesting."

"You actually believe all that?" Novus said in amazement.

"It's far too detailed to be made up. Besides, I just so happen to know a thing or two about fighting dark forces; granted they're nothing like what you are describing."

"Really?"

Julius nodded. "It's a bit of a secret though. I don't really want people knowing about it right now."

"What is?" Novus asked, "Don't worry, I can keep it secret."

Julius thought for a bit, but then decided it might be worth telling Novus his secret. He waved for him to lean in closer, then whispered into his ear as quietly as he could. Novus then pulled back in surprise.

"You're not serious!?" he said, but Julius grimly nodded and said, "That's why I don't want people knowing. I want them to see me for who I really am, not as what I just told you."

"Well, I can certainly understand that." Novus replied, "I will definitely keep that secret."

"Thank you," Julius said, "You know, if you're looking for a team, I might be able to help."

"Explain." Novus said.

"I'm putting together a team, but it's an underground one for right now. We're the ones who know the true villains for what they are and are willing to stop them by any means necessary, even if it means working outside the law. If you're here for the reason you claim to be, I think this team would be perfect for you."

"Well, then count me in." Novus said, then, getting a call in his helmet, said, "I have to head back to the room. We'll talk about this later."

Julius nodded, and Novus turned and headed for his and Penny's room. Julius watched him leave and smiled to himself; he had a feeling Novus would be a great addition to the team. Just then, he heard running footsteps and turned to see Blake run into the courtyard. At the moment she was unaware of his presence, but he could see on her face that something bad had happened. As he watched, she slowly took off her bow, revealing the cat ears that she had hidden underneath. Julius walked up and asked. "Everything go okay?"

Blake started; Julius had taken her by surprise, but then calmed down. "Hey, Julius."

Julius walked up next to her. "What happened?"

Suddenly, Blake hugged Julius, burying her face in his shoulder and crying.

"Woah, woah," Julius said hugging back, "Hey, it's okay. Come here." He then led her to a nearby bench and sat down with her. Putting a comforting arm around her shoulder, he asked, "What happened?"

"I did just what you warned me against doing," Blake said through her tears, "I slipped up and gave it away."

Julius sighed; he was afraid this would happen, but not this quickly. He pulled Blake close and, hugging her, said. "It was Weiss, wasn't it?"

Blake nodded. Julius rolled his eyes in frustration; Weiss was taking it too far, hurting her own teammates, and he had half a mind to punch her in her pretty face because of it.

"Well, I'm here now." He said to Blake, "You can trust me, right?"

Blake looked up at Julius, tears still in her eyes, and slowly smiled, nodding at him.

She then said. "I need to get away from here for a little bit. Could you come with me?"

"Where are you going?" Julius asked.

"Just into the city for a little bit. I need to clear my head."

Julius nodded in understanding. "Alright, I'll come."

As the two stood up to leave, Julius said. "Ya, know, this is just my opinion, but you look a lot prettier without the bow."

Blake blushed. "You think so?"

"Yeah. Those cat ears are kinda cute."

"He's right you know," said a voice from behind. Blake and Julius turned around to see the monkey faunus from the docks.

"So," he said, "mind if I tag along?"

Author's note: So I have decided to call this OC ship Black Cat; it's the best name I could come up with. If anyone else has another idea, do feel free to swing it by me.