Maria Calavera stood in her huntress' outfit of a grey-blue cloak, looking somewhat unfamiliar to most of the students that were slowly filing out of the elevator. A metal necklace with a black skull featuring teal highlights carved into it was the only real accent to the outfit. The blades of her short scythes with matching skull decorations where the curved blades met their shafts barely peeked over her shoulders from behind her.

"Surprised? Maybe you shouldn't be. What you should be is more careful. I've been tailing you since you left Sanus, and you've made several mistakes along the way already. Come."

Adam cringed as the woman turned on her heel and began to lead the way down the hall. The faunus boy was the first to follow, walking at a brisk pace.

"…mistakes? We… all we've done is reach out to a local team and had them escort us to the Academy for security purposes, and take out several hostile grimm."

"I saw," Professor Calavera replied, sounding ambivalent. "Your teamwork has improved, and your forwardness with reaching out to Team BASS and making a connection in Vacuo was a good move."

"Then how did we screw up?" Summer asked as she trotted forward to walk in time with Adam.

"…I'll let the headmaster show you. I wouldn't dare rob him of that particular pleasure. He has an air for the… theatrical."

"…I don't like this already," Raven muttered.

"Well, I love a good show," Roman countered. "So, how much trouble are we in, exactly?"

"Here, or at home?" Professor Calavera asked flippantly. "Here, you're about to receive the tongue-lashing of a lifetime. Professor Ozpin expected events to play out almost exactly as they did, and quite honestly, so did I. As far as we're concerned, you're on target."

"That's actually reassuring," Qrow said. "Any advice for dealing with this guy?"

"None," Professor Calavera replied. "None other than being your usual obnoxious selves."

The group arrived before a heavy metallic door with a circular lock upon the front. As Professor Calavera approached the bulkhead, the central device spun in place and creaked as though it hadn't opened in years. The two panels slid apart to either side, revealing that each door was nearly a foot thick. Beyond the portal was what could only really be described as an underground bunker far removed from Professor Ozpin's ornate glass office, despite the two rooms having a similar circular shape.

Straight across from the doors was a massive wall of monitors stacked into a grid in an almost cartoonish display. Security camera footage was running on each of them, with some displaying what was clearly the inside of Shade Academy, while others were focused upon seemingly inconsequential parts of the desert. Beyond the borders of the security grid, the office was rather spartan in its décor. A sturdy desk made of dark wood was in the center of the room, and the only thing atop it was an hourglass. Just behind the desk sat a high-backed leather chair facing away from the door, effectively concealing its occupant. As if in greeting, a lanky arm enclosed in a tight leather sleeve reached out from one side of the seat, holding a remote control. With the tap of a single button, the displays on the wall synced to show footage from inside of the elevator as an audio recording crackled to life.

"It's a good one," Taiyang's voice echoed throughout the room as his black and white body on the screens shrugged. "We're already out of our element and off our game. We'll just… play nice and hope everything's alright. You don't think he knows that we know what's in there, do you?"

Summer's face drained of color as she listened to herself speak and watched more footage from the elevator.

"This is where we find Team BASS already down there somehow, and it turns out they're the headmaster's secret personal black ops hit squad, ordered to observe us and take us out to steal the relic."

The footage paused and rewound, replaying the same two words twice in a row.

"The relic. The relic."

"…oh shit," Kali said quietly.

"'Oh shit' is indeed the correct response," a cold, calculating voice answered.

The chair swiveled around to reveal an incredibly cross and lanky man wearing some sort of tactical vest and skintight suit in various shades of grey over black. His skin was a drab bronze and his eyes were covered by a wide, single-lensed dark visor that stretched the width of his face and covered his forehead all the way up to the hairline. The headmaster kept his shoulder-length hair slicked back and sported a small soul patch beneath his bottom lip. As Teams STRQ and OKRA looked him over with varying degrees of interest and apprehension, the man planted his elbows firmly into the armrests of his chair and steepled his fingers before touching them gently to his lips. No one but Professor Calavera dared to move as he sized them up, and only after the woman reached his side did the headmaster bother to speak.

"…Team OKRA was not supposed to know about the relics in general, let alone the contents of the case," the man said in what sounded almost more like a hiss than a voice. "Team STRQ- you've freely given away military secrets that affect all of Remnant. Secrets that even you were not meant to be aware of, to an extent."

"…well, to be fair," Qrow began as his peers gave him looks of horror, "Professor Ozpin had to know we would. Giving the case to OKRA instead of us was just another one of his little games, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the outcome he wanted. Sounds to me like you know him pretty well. You should know that he likes to jerk people back and forth to feel out their intentions."

Qrow didn't bother trying to dodge the backhand that Raven threw into his chest as she stared him down. Professor Calavera merely smirked, the expression unseen by the headmaster as he kept his attention on the mouthy teen.

"…name."

"Qrow Branwen," he answered without missing a beat.

"…Branwen," the man spat as his lip curled upward. "That explains everything. Ozpin's report on you and your sister was exhaustive… and he does indeed enjoy his little games. Perhaps you are correct. Perhaps you are an idiot. Perhaps both. That remains to be seen. Now that you've so carelessly revealed your hand to your comrades, however, we need to do more than simply transfer the package."

The man reached upward and grasped the edges of his visor as he stood. Slowly and carefully, he lowered the tinted glass down in front of his vest to reveal the set of eight beady black eyes scattered about his otherwise humanoid face.

"…my name is Ochre Gumo, headmaster of Shade Academy. You're going to answer my questions before leaving this office. All of them."


The longer Willow went on recounting the events of the previous year, the more Ghira felt his disdain for her start to waver. Over the course of half an hour or so, the heiress had taken the time to recap every major event, and some minor ones, that had occurred between her and Adam, and their stories matched perfectly. On the occasion that the woman brought up something that Adam hadn't mentioned, it always ended up reinforcing the notion that Willow was just as deeply entrenched in the struggle against the Schnee name as her faunus companion.

"…and then, things got very complicated, just before we came here," Willow continued. "Adam confessed to me that in his escape from the mines, he didn't slaughter his way out- he killed a single guard and later tried to build up his reputation a bit to incite fear. I didn't find out until last week. None of us knew."

"That part… he didn't mention," Ghira said as he shook his head slowly. For the duration of the discussion, he had remained in place blocking the staircase. With Willow's last admission, he finally relented and joined her at a table while Sage, Velvet, and Fox occupied another some distance away. "He just said he killed one person on his way out- not that he told you otherwise."

"It isn't Adam that I'm worried about," Willow said dismissively. "In fact, I'm glad that his original story was a lie. It's… my father. The company. The more I learn, the more I'm beginning to see that things don't quite add up. Kali and I have been meeting with him and trying to push forward changes in the company, but we've been stonewalled at every turn, and it's never his fault. There's always an excuse. But… how many of these shady events can he realistically have no involvement in?"

"My guess is not many," Sage chimed in for the first time since the conversation had begun. "If he's not actively doing things that are reprehensible, then he absolutely knows that they're going on. Sure, some things probably do slip past the heads of major corporations, but all of them? Feigning total innocence is the best way to end up looking suspicious. He's the third or fourth generation in charge of the S.D.C., right? He isn't stupid."

"I agree," Willow replied with a nod. "That's why I wanted to bring you somewhere private. I could have brought you back to the beach house sometime later on, but… I knew that was just a shallow excuse to put off doing it and eventually get out of doing so entirely. I can see the way you look at me, and I know it's all justified, especially here in Vacuo."

"…is she looking at us?" Fox asked.

"She is," Velvet confirmed. "And honestly? Good on you for taking the initiative. This is all still a lot to take in, and it's going to take a while for the grudge to fade, but… Adam corroborates your story, and I'm sure Kali will, as well. I'm willing to bury the hatchet for the duration of your stay, and help you moving forward, if such a thing is possible."

"It needs to be possible," Ghira insisted. "If anyone has a shot at turning things around for the faunus, it's you, Willow. You have a direct line to Arcturus' office. We may be able to help from here, especially if we get… certain people involved."

"…you're not thinking of the headmaster, are you?" Sage asked, looking uneasy for the first time since Willow had met him. "That is an entire carton of worms you'd be opening…"

"Which is exactly what Arcturus did to you and yours," Fox replied. "A crazy situation calls for a crazy solution. Keep it on the table."

"…as a last resort," Velvet insisted. "I'm with Sage. Getting Gumo involved could do more harm than good."

"So could leaving things as they are and being content with Kali and I getting the runaround," Willow reminded. "I just… he's still family. He's my father. I don't know how to feel, or how suspicious I should be. All of this is incredibly hard, especially when I know that several of my friends are pushing in the direction of having me treat him like a criminal. Deep down, I know he likely deserves it, but that doesn't make this easier."

"Then as team leader, allow me to make the declaration that for the duration of your stay in Vacuo, you're one of us," Ghira replied. "You've already been part of two teams, so why not join a third? I see no reason to make things even more difficult for you… and I see many opportunities we could use to help both you and the faunus at large, even if I don't particularly see how to do it just yet. You've already done more than any other Schnee to start down the right path. I'm sure you would all agree?"

Fox was the first to nod his approval and rise from his chair. With a quick pulse of aura, he found his way over to the other table and sat down next to Willow.

"…sorry if we've been a little tense. I'm sure you understand."

"I do," Willow confirmed as Velvet and Sage moved to follow their teammate.

"Vacuo has a rich history," Velvet began. "Part of that history involves your family, and the resources they took from us in the war. Vacuo used to be more than what it is today… but that isn't your fault. If you're willing to help try to restore it, that would go a long way…"

"Of course," Willow replied. "I would love nothing more."

"Then you'll fit in, alright," Sage reassured as he sat down next to Velvet. "Now, how about we get a waiter up here and actually order some food? I get the feeling our friends are gonna be a while…"


Author's Note:

Next time- more Gumo. It should be… interesting.

-RD