Hello again!

As usual, thanks for all the support!

This chapter should be in line with what I said in the last one, as in me dipping my feet into RWBY-react style fics and a tease of Yakuza characters.

Anyways, with that said and done, enjoy!

Edit: Damn it made a typo

A day after Venom's debriefing…

Tai stared at his Scroll, wondering what he should say. His screen was left on the family group chat, consisting of him, Ruby, and Yang. After all, how exactly do you breach this matter?

A knock on his door. With a quick 'come in', the door opened and Venom stepped in.

"Stuck on something?"

"Yeah…" Tai trailed off. "Can't figure out what to say to my girls."

"Daughters, huh?" Venom stepped closer. "Care to show me what they look like?"

"Sure!" Tai clicked the group's profile picture and showed it to Venom.

Venom took a good look. One's clearly his daughter, the one with the gauntlets. The other, however, was much more subtle. Especially in the eyes-

Wait, the eyes-!

Venom stumbled back, falling flat on the floor. "V!" Tai put his Scroll aside and tried to help Venom back up on his feet.

"Silver Eyes…"

Tai became confused, watching Venom with interest. "What was that, V?"

With a shaking hand, Venom reached for his eye-patch. He grabbed it with his human hand and pulled it back.

A Silver Eye stared back.

Tai gasped.

"The secret ingredient…"

That night, in Beacon…

"Bumblebee!"

BOOM!

Dust covered the entirety of Beacon's training grounds. As the dust settled, Yang and Blake stood from their crouch, their team attack finished.

"Aw yeah!" Yang stood tall and looked around. "Max damage!"

On the sidelines, Ruby and Weiss clapped at their teammates' success. They were currently training for the Vytal Festival, all starting in around a week.

Judging from how well their team attacks were going along, they didn't think they had anything to worry about. 'Sides, they caught Torchwick, didn't they? They were more than just above average! They were one of the best!

Blake dusted herself off. "Well, that's that. What do you think, Ruby? Should we call it a night?"

Ruby looked at the clock. 21.30. Yeah, it was getting pretty late. "Okay then!" She clapped her hands. "Good work, team! Let's get some rest for tomorrow!"

Weiss piped up beside Ruby. "More training?"

"You bet!"

"Well, I suppose it's not a problem, since the professors have let up on the classes too…"

"Don't tell me Weiss-cream's too lazy to train~!"

"Shut it, you." Weiss said back. "Besides, it's not like we have anything else to do. Torchwick's already behind bars, and it's only a matter of time before General Ironwood rounds up the rest of the Fang. Erm, no offense, Blake."

"None taken." Blake spoke back. She sighed. "A part of me's still nervous someone's out there… But I guess we can relax just a bit. Just this once."

"Yay!" Ruby jumped up in glee. "We're gonna be the best at the festival, I know we will!"

"…We've still got JNPR to watch out, though." Blake pointed out.

"Huh, I guess you're right." Ruby paused just for a moment. With the capture of Torchwick, Team JNPR had finally, finally started to loosen up. Maybe it was the fruit of two-and-a-half years of work, or maybe it was a weight off their shoulders, but whatever it was, they were starting to become cheerful again. That didn't mean that JNPR would let up on the White Fang just yet, if ever.

And besides, since Dad didn't allow them to chase the Fang anymore, maybe they could stop…

For a few days, that is.

And JNPR's spirit could be seen on the grounds right next to them.

"Nora, to the left! Ren, cover me!"

"Full blast! Nora, grenade barrage!"`

"Strike together in one, two, three-!"

Yang whistled, watching Pyrrha bark orders to her team as they ripped through training dummies. "She's got the ropes down, I tell ya."

"Well, she had to. Otherwise, the team would've been…" Weiss trailed off.

The mood grew a bit more somber. Even after two years, it didn't feel complete without their lovable, bumbling, and less-than-competent yet genuine blond.

"Anyway! We should get some rest, maybe watch a movie or something-!"

"Ms. Rose?"

"AAHHH!" Ruby jumped back and turned around. There, right behind her, stood Headmaster Ozpin, cane in hand and a mug of cocoa in the other. Ruby chuckled nervously. "P-Professor! Didn't see you…"

Ozpin gave a small smile and took a small sip from his mug, a small smile on his face. "Was I interrupting something?"

"No no! We were just getting ready to pack up for the night…"

"If that's the case, then can I have a word with you and your entire team? It's a matter of utmost importance."

"It is?" Pyrrha walked in from the side along with her team, sweat dripping off her brow from the workout. "Can we join too, Headmaster?"

"Hm, I'll leave the decision up to you, Ruby." Ozpin looked to the girl in question. "If it's any consolation, your uncle is already here."

"He is?!"Ruby couldn't believe it! Well then, it can't be anything too bad, right? She turned to Pyrrha with a wide smile. "Think you're up for it?"

"We've got time to spare. Anything for our friends." Pyrrha smiled back. The rest of Team JNPR echoed their agreements behind her.

"Very well then. Follow me, students."

As they walked to his office, Ozpin in the lead, he couldn't help but frown. Ruby and Yang were going to need all the support they could get.

The elevator doors opened, and Ruby immediately realized something was wrong. She saw her uncle staring off into the distance from Ozpin's window with his back towards them, and his hair was more unruly than usual.

Her uncle never gave his back to greet them.

The group exited the elevator, Ozpin still in the lead. As RWBY and JNPR entered, they noticed two other people in the room. General Ironwood and Professor Glynda.

"Qrow." Ozpin said. "Your nieces are here."

"…"

"Qrow."

"Yeah, yeah." Qrow turned around. "You got around to telling 'em?"

"I wanted to tell them with you."

Qrow sighed, tilting his head down. "Alright then, alright." He walked past Ozpin and towards his nieces. "Heya, kiddos. How's it going?"

"...Uncle Qrow?" Ruby looked up at her uncle. His eyes were red, his face sullen. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

"I… I-" Qrow looked away. "I'm sorry, girls."

"What?" A pit was forming in Yang's stomach. "Why? Uncle Qrow, what's going on?!"

Their uncle walked past them and stood behind them, gesturing to the seats. With trepidation, the students sat down as the other adults stood in the room. Ozpin himself took a seat across the students behind his table and put his cup of cocoa down.

It had already gone lukewarm.

Ozpin shot a look at Glynda and Ironwood. The former cast her gaze downwards, while the latter nodded his head.

Right, so maybe they can start from there.

"Have any of you heard of the condition that Mistral's in?"

"Mistral?" Pyrrha piped up. "What's wrong there? I haven't gotten anything as of yet…"

"Hm… so you don't know… Well, that's to be expected, I suppose." Ozpin finished.

Ironwood stepped forth, continuing the conversation. "Several days ago, Mistral was placed in an emergency state by Headmaster Lionheart. I assume you're familiar with the name?"

"The Headmaster of Haven?" Weiss said.

"Correct." Ironwood nodded his head. "At that point in time, communications between Mistral and the other kingdoms were limited to crucial information only. He said that 'a group of rouge Hunters were threatening the safety of the Kingdom.' From what we could tell, security forces, both military and police, stepped up in the hours that followed. Then, at midnight, the kingdom went dark to the rest of the world. Even now, we don't know what truly happened in Mistral that night. All the kingdom are willing to say now is 'Situation Normal.' No word from Leo, no statements from politicians. We can't even get any words from either Atlas or Beacon graduates down there."

The knots were forming in Ruby's head. "Wait… you're not saying-!"

"Before the communications were cut, we managed to take a glimpse into their Hunter database." Ozpin spoke. "I'm sorry girls… but your father was declared K.I.A as of six days ago."

Ruby felt the world shatter around her.

"Y-you're joking, right?!" Yang laughed nervously. "I mean, come on, a whole kingdom going dark-?!"

"Yang." Qrow spoke firmly. "It's true. All of it."

"T-then…" Yang grew silent. Her body was shaking. "Is that why you're here?"

"I'm sorry."

Ruby felt her senses leaving her. With shaking hands, she pulled on her cloak and buried herself deep within it. Her body shook, and tears started to form in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Yang stood from her seat and went to comfort her sister. "Shh… Ruby… It's- it's-." Yang chocked up. "It's gonna be okay…"

Ruby started to cry, Yang rubbing circles behind her bacl.

Weiss shot a look at Qrow, who was looking away once again. While she had never been much of a fan of the man, seeing his sunken face and red eyes, it was obvious that this was taking a toll on him too.

The remaining members of Team RWBY huddled around the two sisters, giving them what comfort they could. Ruby sniffled in her cloak, while Yang tried her best to keep it together.

"Why…" Ruby spoke between tears. "I-it's like they're all targeting us! First J-Jaune, and- and now…!" She started crying again.

"Ruby…" Weiss trailed off.

Blake turned to Ozpin. "C-could the White Fang have been involved in this?"

"I doubt it." Ozpin said. "The amount of power required to do something this big, and the fact that they've been consolidating their powers in Vale, makes it highly unlikely that they were the key perpetrators."

"Hear that, Ruby?" Blake turned to her leader. "Maybe this was just a coincidence…"

"B-But-!"

Yang forced Ruby into a hug, rubbing her hands soothingly behind her sister's back. She started to calm down a bit, her tears slowing down into a sob.

"Wait a second." Ren spoke suddenly. "If this is Mistral, then that means…"

"Scarlet?" Nora piped up from beside him.

"Yeah." Ren answered, then turned to Headmaster Ozpin. "Is there anything about…"

Ozpin looked down. "She was declared missing around the same time we checked for Tai."

The sound of shuffling could be heard. Everyone turned to Pyrrha, who pulled out her Scroll and began calling a number.

Ozpin coughed. "Pyrhha-"

"With all due respect, Headmaster, if that's the case, then I think the Arc family deserves to know." Pyrrha spoke matter-of-factly. "I'm not keeping secrets from them."

"…Very well, then." Ozpin relented. "We'll wait for their arrival."

The chances of this not being targeted were getting slimmer and slimmer.

One Scroll call later and Indigo and Jasmine burst through the elevator doors.

"What is it?!" Indigo screamed, eyes flicking wildly around the room. "What happened to Scarlet?!"

"…She's gone missing in Mistral. The place has gone dark, and none of us could figure it out." Ozpin said.

Indigo turned to Ozpin. "You…"

"Despite your suspicions, I assure you I had nothing to do with this, Ms. Indigo." Ozpin lifted a hand to calm her down. His eyes flicked to Team RWBY. "You're not the only one who's been impacted by this."

At that, Indigo deflated, leaning heavily against Jasmine. "Why…"

"We need to find out who did this." Pyrrha spoke softly. All eyes turned to her. "If we can-"

"Don't you think we haven't already tried?" Ironwood cut her off. "Even with Atlas' advanced technology, we still haven't managed to crack through their CCT. All three of the other kingdoms are worried, especially since the Vytal Tournament's due in a few days!"

"However, there have been whispers." Ozpin spoke up.

Ironwood turned to Ozpin. "You didn't tell me about this."

"That's because if we did, then you'd go over the handle again. And we don't need that happening, not when the situation's this fragile." Glynda said firmly. Then, she turned to Qrow. "Qrow, if you would."

Qrow took a step forwards, placing a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Here's what I heard. There's a new Headmaster at Haven, and the students there are all loyal to him. Apparently, even the council there's afraid of this guy. All I could get was on this guy's profile was that he was loyal and willing to fight tooth and nail for the students."

Ozpin nodded along. "Not what I would have expected… That leaves us with what happened to Leo."

Ironwood spoke again, "Not that that isn't a valuable trait, but are we sure this isn't just her stringing us along-"

"Who's her?"

Ironwood, Glynda, Ozpin, and Qrow turned to Indigo, the four of them realising their mistake.

She lifted herself off her sister. "I knew it, you were hiding something!" Indigo marched to the circle. "Why I should have-!"

A portal opened above them, interrupting everyone's thoughts. Yang froze as she recognized the familiar shape. 'First Dad, and now… what does she want?'

A body flopped through the portal, one immediately recognizable to Yang and Qrow. She landed right on Ozpin's table, the construct breaking under her weight. She landed back first, body bleeding and limbs unmoving.

Yang screamed.

"RAVEN!" Qrow rushed forwards, scooping his sister in his arms. "No no nonono!" He checked for a pulse. Still there. Her limbs-!

He felt himself freeze.

All either blown off or beyond repair.

"Medics! I need you here right now!" Ironwood screamed into his earpiece. "Emergency care team, ASAP!"

As the panic ensued, Ozpin stepped back from his chair and away from his table. He noticed another thing coming from the portal, right before it closed. Raven's sword and a Scroll.

After that, the portal immediately closed, leaving nothing to trace.

"C'mon, Rae, stay with me, stay with me!"

"Q-Qrow… Is that you?"

"Y-yeah?"

"A-ah….I made it…"

A pit formed in his stomach. No…

"C'mon, stay with me! Rae! RAE!"

Ozpin went to pick up the Scroll, but before he could do so, saw it snatched up by Yang first.

Ozpin took a deep breath and saw Yang clutching it close to her chest. "Ms. Xiao-Long."

"No!" Yang clutched it even closer. "She's my-my mom, and I get a say in what happens."

Ozpin's eyes hardened. "Be reasonable, Ms. Xiao-Long. This is bigger than you."

"Then make me a part of it! I don't care. We can start ending this tonight."

"…Ms. Rose. You are the leader." Ozpin said. "What is your decision?"

Ruby sniffled, pulling her cloak down to reveal her tearful eyes. She tried her best to keep her composure. "I-I think… I think we need to know what's happening."

"Fine." Ozpin bit out. Just then, paramedics rushed from the elevator, taking Raven away from Qrow's arms and putting her onto a stretcher. Qrow was tempted to follow, but just as he took a single step, Ozpin grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

"Qrow, I need you here." Ozpin's eyes told a silent message. 'I need you to help reign your nieces under control.'

For once, Qrow was tempted to disagree…

But in the end, Ozpin usually knew better.

"Alright." Qrow relented, and the elevator doors closed, closing their view on Raven.

"Well then, Yang. You wanted to know the truth? Then we'll watch that Scroll, here and now." Ozpin's eyes hardened. "Final offer."

Yang growled, but handed the Scroll all the same. For the students, they settled into their seats whilte the adults stood around the room.

Qrow leaned over behind Yang's and Ruby's seats. "Kiddos. You sure about this?"

They gave small nods. "W-We'll be okay, Uncle Qrow." Ruby muttered out. "I want to know what happened."

"We all do." Yang, from her side.

"Just tell me if you need it to stop. I'll make sure it does, alright? "

"…Okay, Uncle Qrow." Yang said. Maybe if it's her uncle, she could trust him a bit more

"Is everyone settled?" Ozpin asked. A chorus of agreements sounded across the room. With a small nod, Ozpin turned to Glynda, who just finished connecting the Scroll to a projector. "Glynda, if you would."

"Very well." Glynda opened the Scroll, accessed the latest recording, and pressed Play.

The camera opened up in a familiar, albeit disturbing place. The open grounds of Haven, ruined beyond belief. Rubble, holes from explosions, bloodstains, not to mention the destroyed buildings.

Ozpin drew a short breath, while Glynda gasped.

Ironwood's eyes narrowed.

An Academy, brought to ruin like this? Just what happened that night?

Haven students stood in a wide and large circle surrounding a single point, all pushing against each other to get a closer look. They murmured in disgust, their sentences unclear through the recording. The recorder approached the circle from the side and pushed in through, eventually bursting through to see what was at the centre.

Raven Branwen, tied up with Aura suppressants and kneeling on the ground.

"Mom…"

Ruby took hold of Yang's arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Loud, metal footsteps sounded louder than the students' own. The students quickly held their tongues and let the footsteps' owner emerge from the circle.

A high-tech cyborg stepped up, more advanced than anything they had ever seen.

"H-What?!" Ironwood stepped forward. "A cyborg like that?! There's no way!"

Ruby shot a look at General Ironwood. That meant-That meant Penny wasn't the only one?

The rest of the group was also bewildered. Those who knew what Penny was were confused, and those who didn't were scratching their heads, and in Nora's case literally. How did such a person come to be? If so, why wasn't he on Atlas' side?

Everyone fell silent as the cyborg began to talk while walking around.

"Last week, this woman acted as a duo to eliminate me in a mission. She was willing to risk an entire village to take me down. With her powers by her side, she felt nothing could beat her."

Ozpin leaned forwards in interest. So, someone else knew about Raven's bird-shifting abilities?

"When that failed, she proceeded to provide support to Leo. Conspiring with him to take Haven down, she kept her powers in secret. And then, she unleashed them in full form against Haven's forces during the Battle of Haven."

Haven assault?! By Leonardo?!

"Bastard betrayed us…" Ironwood trailed off.

"Impossible!" Glynda denied. "You're suggesting that after years of cooperation, Leo would just turn his back on us? Ozpin, surely you can't think that this video's-!"

"Glynda." Ozpin cut her off. A shadow covered his eyes. "I've… had my suspicions. The rate of Hunter deaths in Mistral, the loss of communications over the years… but I…

"…I never once thought he'd stoop this low."

"Headmaster." Weiss spoke, "Are you saying that someone tried to take down Haven? That some-someone's after the Academies? Surely this must be a mistake?"

Ozpin stayed silent.

The silence was damning, to say the least

"If it wasn't for her, then maybe the battle wouldn't have been such a hard one." The cyborg stopped, standing right in front of Raven. "We lost a lot of good men."

The cyborg gave a slight pause, and the crowd stayed silent in respect.

"She also stands accused of being willing to murder her own family, and working along with the White Fang!" The cyborg's eye narrowed. "Maybe it's a good thing you never got to Tai, huh?"

'W-what?!' Yang felt herself sink to her seat. So-So Dad was?! Haven, terrorists, just, just-! "WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

Qrow felt himself freeze up, if only for a moment. Then, moments later, shook his head and cast his gaze down. What have STRQ become?

Raven stayed silent, not denying anything.

In response, Raiden pulled out a Scroll and let it play out an audio tape.

"Raven."

"Leo."

"I trust your tribe is ready?"

"Yes, we should approach Mistral by nightfall."

"Very good. I will prepare a passageway for you to enter. I've… coerced the guards to let you through."

"And we won't need to blend in? From the sounds of it, you want all of us to enter the Kingdom. But you can't possibly bribe everyone in the city for this plan of yours."

"…Fine. I'll get some civilian clothing ready. But remember, I want you at my beck and call whenever I need it. These people are a threat, and I want them gone as soon as possible."

"…Well, to that we can agree on. Wait, did you say 'these'?"

"He's not alone. He has an ally, one who is as strong as he is. Combined, they can take unimaginable odds and come out on top."

"…"

"Fret not, I already have plans to take care of him too." The White Fang have been very helpful in following my suggestions, and soon victory will be ours."

"…Are you sure? Will a Maiden's powers be enough?"

"Yes, you'll catch them by surprise. And besides, they're machines. Susceptible to elemental damage. And they can't fly either. So don't worry."

"Alright then. But I still want backup plans. No taking chances."

"Of course. Don't worry. After all, everyone has their own weaknesses. All we need to do is to find what makes them tick."

The audio tape died out.

Everyone went silent, in varying degrees of surprise.

So Leonardo had truly betrayed them, and Raven was the Spring Maiden.

Mistral was almost destroyed.

Ozpin felt his hands go cold even against his cocoa mug. They failed, they almost failed, if it wasn't for this mystery cyborg and his partner, Mistral would've been wiped off the map.

Students dead, Mistral going dark, countless casualties, ruined infrastructure…

The Queen had almost succeeded, only slightly thwarted by a third party, one he didn't know anything about.

And now Vale was next, in the backdrop of the Vytal Festival.

The question was now, if Mistral almost fell, what would happen to Vale?

Pyrrha spoke up. "Hold on… Spring Maiden?"

Ah, shit.

"Got nothing left to say?" the cyborg egged on. "No Maiden powers to lash out, nowhere else to run?"

"….Please…"

"GUILTY! All counts!"

The students of Haven roared, their voices deafening to the ears.

"Kill her!"

"Take her down!"

"Put her in a cell!"

"Make her suffer!"

"Justice!"

"Come on, kill that sniveling little bitch!"

"KILL HER NOWWWW!"

RWBY and JNPR's eyes went wide, their bodies shrinking into their seats. Even the professors were disturbed. All the while, Raven in the video didn't deny it one bit.

It was like a nightmare come true. The students fighting against each other, to kill or to spare, filled with rage and loss. Their voices sent mixed messages, yet they all continued to grow louder and louder and louder-!

Yang whimpered in her seat.

BANG!

Everyone flinched.

"We are what remains of Haven." The cyborg spoke, seemingly ignoring the gunshot. The crowd of students began parting, giving way to a person the video couldn't pick up just yet. "And so it is our responsibility to carry on the hopes of the fallen. However, we can't forget everything they went through. Everything they sacrificed."

The man parting through the crowd slowly became more visible.

The cyborg continued to speak. "We are here, because they are not."

Finally, the man parting through the crowd can be seen clearly, handgun barrel smoking in his left hand.

"So… What should we do, Tai?"

'What..?' Yang felt her eyes widen, and she could guess Ruby's was too.

"Just give the order, Headmaster…" The cyborg pulled out a familiar sword. "I'll handle the rest."

Jasmine spoke up. "Is that…"

Indigo growled. "It is. What's Crocea doing in his hands?"

Pyrrha's breath caught in her throat, the rest of Team JNPR going still. The one thing they never recovered, now in full display. They saw the blade glow yellow as it was fully drawn, ready to slice Raven down. How did it end up in this cyborg's hands, and what did he do to it?

Tai pushed past the cyborg and stood in front of Raven. Raven looked up, still bound and kneeling, pleading eyes staring up at Tai's own. His eyes were cold, his breath slow and steady. The crowd was silent, waiting for Tai's judgement.

In one swift movement, without a single bit of hesitation, he brought the smoking gun up and pressed it on Raven's forehead.

"Silver Eyes." Tai said. "Did you know about them?"

"I-I... I don't know..."

"Cut the bullshit, Raven." Tai bit out. "One more chance. Did you know about Summer's Eyes?"

"...There was something special about them... that's why she died." Raven whispered. "That's all I know..."

"And yet you chose to side with them anyway..." Tai growled. "If Ruby was against you that night, would you have handed her over?"

"Dad..." Ruby whispered.

Raven stayed silent, unsure.

Unsure wasn't enough.

"I'll take that as a yes." Tai pressed the gun deeper into Raven's forehead.

Raven flinched, but could do nothing to escape.

Tai's fingers itched on the trigger.

"DAD!" Yang burst from her seat. "DAD, NO!"

The hammer slowly cocked back.

Click!

"DON'T DO IT!"

"I SAVED HER!"

Tai paused.

"Our daughter… I saved her, on that train!"

Without even realising, Yang felt tears run down her face. "Mom, Dad…"

Everything was silent.

Then, Tai chuckled, hollow. "What would Summer think of us now…" Tai turned to the cyborg. "Get her sword, Raiden. Now."

'Raiden' stepped back in shock. "What-?"

"She's leaving."

"Tai, you-! She's responsible for- for all of this!" Raiden approached Raven angrily and jabbed her stomach with Crocea's pommel. "Think about the students! Your students! You think if we let her go, then she won't rebuild her tribe and her fool's idea of survival?!" Another jab.

"THIS IS THE ENEMY! AND SHE'S HERE ON HER KNEES!"

"Jack." Tai began, slowly. "You're right, she'll always be a threat. It took the two of you to take her down, I know, but this is my call to make… If we destroy everything we see, then there won't be anything left."

"There won't be a Haven if we let her go!"

"She's leaving, Raiden, and that's final." Tai turned back to Raven. Then, faster than Raven could react, Tai brought his gun up once more. "But I'm not letting her go."

BANG!

"AHHHHH!" Raven flew back, her left hand shot by Tai's gun. The round burst through her Aura cuffs, yet the bullet was stuck in her hand. Blood burst from the wound, splattering to the floor. She tried to get back up. No, this was High Frequency! She had to run-!

BANG!

"AHHH!" Left hand.

BANG!

"Ngh!" Right foot.

BANG!

"AAAAHH!" Left foot.

Tai aimed his gun at Raven's head, barrel smoking. One more shot…

Click!

The gun was empty.

All five rounds had already been fired.

"Ah… Hah…."

Tai lowered his gun, putting it back in its holster.

"If she's leaving, then she can do it herself." Tai turned to Raiden. "This matter is over."

With that, Tai turned around and left the scene, the students parting ways for their Headmaster. Raiden looked at what remained of Raven, writhing on the ground and blood spilling out. With a shake of his head and an order to retrieve her sword from storage, Raiden too turned back and left the circle.

The recorder of the video dropped the Scroll next to Raven. Footsteps can be heard, and not long after the video came to an end.

Everyone left her alone.

"I…" Yang slumped back to her seat, visibly shaken. Ruby was frozen solid, eyes wide with horror.

"Tai…" Qrow whispered. He couldn't believe it either. What exactly happened that night? How many students had died? How deeply had Leo betrayed them?

"Yang, Ruby…" Weiss tried to soothe the sisters, but it did little to help. They were lost in their own worlds, feeling the real one was full of people out to get them.

"Shh… It's going to be okay…. Everything's gonna be okay…"

"Ozpin." It was Indigo who spoke first. "What happened?! Who would want to take Mistral down, and I'm assuming, Vale as well?"

"That." Ozpin said firmly. "Is classified, Ms. Arc."

"BULL. SHIT!" Indigo roared. "That's Crocea, I know that sword anywhere. And Scarlet was there too! What, you think I wouldn't connect the dots!?"

"This isn't focused on you, Indigo."

"Sure feels like it is! Everyone here's had someone they know killed or targeted, and you're telling me we're not good enough to know who's gunning for us?!"

"ENOUGH!" Ozpin yelled. "This is a matter of the security of all four Kingdoms. If you were to be involved, then you would know, Ms. Arc."

Indigo narrowed her eyes. "…Fine, then." She turned to Team JNPR. "Come on. We're having a talk."

With her gaze cast downwards, Pyrrha and her team got off their seats. They gave Team RWBY parting reassurances and entered the elevator. With one last glare at the Headmaster, Indigo closed the elevator doors and left the vicinity.

All the while, Team RWBY and Qrow did their best to keep the sisters calm.

It didn't work.

Present Time…

"Hm hm~" Rose hummed to herself, filling a cup of warm tea in her suburbia home. She had contacted Boris and the others as soon as Raiden had finished, and of course, they were glad to help. Currently, they were working together with Sunny to create an aircraft that could carry someone through the borders. Of course, most of them knew that they were likely going to be investigated.

As such, she had prepared accordingly.

Ding-Dong!

"Coming!" Rose put on a smile, her hand going to concealed slot on her hip. Her son was out in school, and he still had four hours before it let out. She wasn't expecting guests today, so the chances of this being someone she could relax around were slim.

With careful steps, she approached the door, steadied her breathing, and kept her hand on her concealed carry. With a smile, she opened the door and greeted the man on the other side.

"Good afternoon!" Rose smiled. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

The man smiled, and Rose took note of his appearance. The man had greying, slicked-back black hair, along with a thick mustache. He appeared Asian in descent and wore a black three-piece suit over a royal blue dress shirt, paired with black leather oxfords, and a black and gray striped necktie.

"Hello, Ms. Rosemary." The man greeted, his accent thick. He held a folder in his left hand, and Rose could just make out the emblem of the CIA. "My name is Joji Kazama. It's nice to finally meet you face to face."

Give Joji another minute and he'll immediately start talking about Rose's beautiful eyes.

Joji's not the main point here, although he does have a role in the story. That's reserved for the other person he visited before he went to the Zealand Islands.

Thoughts? Tell 'em in the reviews!

See you next time!

Review responses:

To just a reader now a writer, y'know, that was my original plan a few months back. Make him like Daigo's role in Shinada's story (Shinada being replaced by Pyrrha). But then, I started thinking of some alternate ideas, since I think that'd be too hard to juggle. And regarding Team RWBY's casualties, I don't think Ozpin has the heart to tell them now, not with what they just went through.

To Lord-Azrael3, thank you!

To Zakuzilla, thanks!

To Dhestrya, thank you!

To Gwynx, Snake Eater's gonna be playing, in the context of the story, on a future chapter. But for who or what, I won't tell~! Thanks for reading!

To SolSparda369, Raven is fucked. Still, that leaves the other three. Thanks for the compliments and for reading!

To Guest, yeah, maybe I should've crammed a bit more info in there…

To Notsae, the answer to that is that I was having a hard time trying to think of a way to extend the fight. The result? Some flaws, like you just said.