"I don't know, do you think that would work?" Jaune asked scratching his head. The last of the 'team tactics training' matches ended an hour ago and Nora, for reasons known only to her, followed him while Pyrrha and Ren went to take care of the laundry duty they had pulled straws on.

"Jaune, you're just asking Summer to see a movie with you," Nora said rolling her eyes, "that's just something friends do right? Why worry about it?"

"Yeah but… I don't know," Jaune sighed and stopped in his tracks, "I don't want to just 'be friends' with her, you know?"

Nora blinked once, then twice, and then realized what he meant. "Ooooh, I see what you mean. In that case, don't do that. Your first date being a movie is a terrible idea that will always end in disaster."

"Oh… really?"

"BUT! That doesn't mean you shouldn't try," Nora continued and wrapped an arm around Jaune's neck and pulled him down to her level, "try to use it to test the waters, you know? Maybe during the move, reach out and hold her hand and see how she reacts. She might like it!"

"Really?"

"Or she'll take it as a personal offense and deck you in the nose in front of all the theater goers to your eternal embarrassment," Nora continued slipping her arm off of Jaune and starting to look horrified, "or even worse, she'll just walk out of the theater leaving you alone to wallow in your misery."

"Nora?" Jaune asked as his teammate started to sound more manic.

"And then when you try to talk to them the day after they ignore you and all the goodwill you build up with them over the years and then after a few weeks says they don't want to be friends or be around you anymore even though we've had nothing but each other to rely on since we were kids!"

"Nora."

"And then with nowhere else to go, you try to pick up the shattered pieces of your life and keep going for your own sake, but the empty void in your heart just threatens to swallow you up entirely so you adopt animals to hopefully fill the void with unconditional love, but it doesn't work and the years just keep coming and you keep getting more and more!" Nora grabbed Jaune's hoodie and pulled him down to her eye level to stare into his eyes with crazed, shrunken eyes. "I DON'T WANT TO BE A CRAZY CAT LADY JAUNE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Nora's wails were suddenly ceased when Jaune shoved a snack cake into her mouth and she calmed down immediately.

"I get the point Nora," he said gently pushing Nora away so she could enjoy the snack at her own pace. "Still you are right, there's no harm in just asking and taking it slow. If she says yes, great, and if not, I got other ideas. It's like Saphron says, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

"Your sisters sound way smarter than you," Nora said with a mouthful of cake, which got a flat look from Jaune. She swallowed and waved a hand in the air as she added, "I'm kidding! You know I'm kidding."

"…Yeah, I do," Jaune answered with a smile as Nora ate the rest of the cake, "So do you know where Summer is?"

"No, but we always seem to run into her or the others when we need to. Let's just walk and find her in five minutes like we always do."

It took half an hour of walking before they found her sitting against a tree, due only to the fact that her white cloak stood out more than anything in the courtyard. Jaune and Nora walked over to her on the side of the tree she wasn't sitting on to talk to her, but stopped when they over heard her talking.

"Who's a good kitty? Who's a good kitty? Is it you?" she said in a cooing voice. That in itself wouldn't be so odd, Jaune had seen plenty of stray cats wandering around Beacon, until she was answered by a soft caw. "That's right, it is you! Such a good kitty." Nora and Jaune looked at each other in bafflement before finally stepping around the tree to see what Summer was doing.

They were not ready to see Summer sitting cross legged and happily petting a raven lying on her leg on its stomach, wings spread and beak open, from its head going down its back while a crow stood next to her. The crow tilted its head when it saw the first years, who were busy staring at the raven as it enjoyed getting pet. This lasted for a few moments until the raven moved its head enough to see them, which was when it freaked out flapping its wings and cawing loudly. When Summer flinched away from it, the raven took off in a hurry to the mocking, laughing caws of the crow.

"What's wrong?" Summer called after the raven as it circled in the air and landed on one of the tree's branches, "did I hit a wrong place?"

"Is this a bad time?" Nora asked, causing Summer to jump in surprise and slowly turn to look at her and Jaune with wide eyes.

"Heeeeeey guys," she said slowly and with a forced smile and turned fully to them, "when did you get here?"

"Just now," Jaune answered and pointed up at the raven that now seemed to be glaring down at him, "when you were calling that a 'good kitty'."

"…Oh really?" Summer sighed and rubbed the back of her head, "I guess that's alright then." The crow cawed and Summer looked down at it. Their eyes locked for a moment before she sighed and crouched next to it holding out her arm, which the crow flapped onto.

"So… what is this about?" Nora said gesturing at the crow, "kind of a weird thing to suddenly walk in on."

"Is it so weird to give affection to your pets?" Summer asked as the crow walked along her arm up to her shoulder. The raven cawed from its perch, to which Summer looked up at it annoyed and pointed at it, "You shut up, you have no right to complain!"

"Pets? You can have pets here?" Jaune asked.

"With special permission yes," Summer clarified and flinched a little when the raven cawed again and flew down to nest on her head. "I know some of the other teams have cats and at least one has a dog, but we have birds. Well, technically Qrow and Raven own them, but who's splitting hairs?"

"So raven has a Raven and Crow owns the Qrow?" Nora asked and Summer nodded, "I feel like I said that wrong."

"But why birds?" Jaune asked.

"Well, mostly for practicality. When you're out of the kingdom with no signal, carrier birds are a good second bet to get messages around fast." Summer held her arm up to the raven on her head, that didn't move until Summer shook her arm a little more and it almost spitefully hopped on. She lowered her arm and started petting the bird again, who seemed to struggle against opening its beak again before giving up, and Summer continued, "And these two cuties are great for doing that. Ravens and crows are some of the smartest birds in the world. Crows can remember faces and hold grudges against people who wronged them."

"That would explain a lot about Qrow," Nora muttered and flinched back when the crow cawed at her.

"And ravens can even mimic human speech. Raven's been working extra hard teaching this one that stuff; it's good for parties."

"Wait, really?" Nora asked and looked at the raven with stars in her eyes. "Can we see?" The raven snapped its beak shut and looked between Nora and Summer, who was smiling wryly down at it.

"Sure thing Nora. Go on girl, show your stuff." Summer said grinning widely. The raven looked at the crow on Summer's shoulder for support, found none, and settled into a resigned position and looked at Nora and Jaune.

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Wow! That's so cool!" Nora said and gave the raven the smallest of pets with a finger.

"I thought that was just a thing that happened in stories," Jaune commented scratching his cheek.

"Kinda sorta. If it's a raven in stories, that's based in truth. This girl's picky and doesn't like doing it that often though. She gets agitated easily and… well, starts saying other things."

"It can say other things? Cool! Come on little birdie, say something else," Nora said staring at the raven, who stared back at her with piercing red eyes.

Quoth the raven, "I'mma fuck you up."

"…what?"

"I'mma fuck you up!" the raven repeated and hopped further down Summer's arm toward Nora.

"Ah, I'm sorry don't hurt me!" Nora screamed and darted behind Jaune. Summer chuckled a little and brought arm back away from Nora and Jaune.

"That means she's getting agitated and wants to leave. And you may," Summer said holding her arm up so the raven could take off and fly away from the group. Summer then held her arm up to the crow, who hopped on it instantly, and brought it down to start gently petting it. "I really do like these birds, attitude aside. They've saved my life more than once."

"Really? Well that's good," Jaune said and flinched a little when Nora poked his side and gestured at Summer with her head. "Oh right! Sorry for the sudden change in subject, but I wanted to ask you something Summer."

"I don't mind," Summer said. The crow cawed at Summer and she stared down it shaking her head. "Fine baby, you'll get your turn," she said as she sat down and crossed her legs, holding the crow down to her legs and adding, "Lie down." The crow hopped down and did just that, lying down on its stomach and spreading its wings so Summer could start petting it.

"Wow, they're well trained," Jaune commented as the crow started cawing happily.

"Your question?"

"Oh, right." Jaune glanced over at Nora as she got out from behind him. She nodded and he continued, "I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow. There was a movie that I wanted to see and I was hoping you would come with."

"Why don't you go with your team?"

"Well… uh…" Jaune stammered wide eyed.

"Ren doesn't like the kind of movie Jaune wants to see," Nora interrupted, "And I had plans with Pyrrha, so we can't go. So he wanted to go with you." Nora finished by clasping her hands together and batting her eyelashes at him, which he responded to by sighing and planting his hand on her face.

"Yeah, pretty much that," Jaune continued as Nora struggled against his hand.

"That's sweet of you to ask Jaune, but I actually am busy tomorrow. Team stuff, sorry," Summer answered with a shrug.

"Oh… well, no big deal. Some other time then?"

"I'll check my schedule and get back to you." The crow cawed angrily and looked up at Summer. "Fine you baby! I'm sorry guys, I have get back to this. You think my teammates have an attitude."

"Right, we'll see you around Summer," Jaune said and waved at Summer as he and Nora started walking away.

"Bye!" Nora said waving at Summer, who returned it before returning to petting the crow and calling it a 'good kitty.' They walked a ways away before Nora turned to Jaune and said, "See, that wasn't so bad. The world didn't end."

"Yeah, I'll just try again when she's not so busy," Jaune agreed with a nod, "you're actually really good at helping keep people calm when you want to Nora."

"I do and go where I'm needed," Nora said proudly and polished her knuckles on her chest. "It's no big deal. Hey, is that Raven?" Nora pointed ahead of her at Raven, who was stomping toward them red faced and with puffed out cheeks.

"You're right, and she looks angry. Hey Raven, what's up?" Jaune said waving at Raven. Once she got close enough and started rearing back a hand, he could only narrow his eyes in fear as she slapped him hard enough to floor him. "Ow…"

"Shut up, you deserved that!" Raven shouted at the downed Jaune, "Now if you'll excuse me I have to go beat the shit out of Summer!" She stepped over Jaune and toward the tree where Summer was sitting.

"What was that about?" Nora asked flabbergasted and looked down at Jaune, "Are you ok?"

"I will be as soon as I can feel my cheek again."


"I don't care, it needs to be taken care of now!" Roman Torchwick said into his scroll as he paced in front of the map of Vale that he pinned to the wall of the warehouse that was his current hideout. "Well in case you didn't notice, we're kind of busy robbing every Dust shop in the city and then hiding it from the police. That's not exactly easy especially when some mutts aren't pulling their weight!" Roman listened for a moment and rolled his eyes and slammed his hand on the table. "Fine, then I'll have some of my boys take care of it, and then when they're done I'll send them to cut your tails off SO YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO HIDE THEM BETWEEN YOUR LEGS WHEN YOU RUN!"

Roman closed the scroll and slammed it onto the table. With a growl he pulled out a cigar and lit it, taking a long drag as he stared at the map and shook his head. "Mongrels."

"Trouble in paradise Roman?" Roman perked and looked behind him at one of the White Fang's Heralds that usually accompanied large groups of them. Roman eyed her as she walked to him, the whiskers on her face coming second to her red and black eyes, which always sent a chill down his spine.

"No, just… slow business," Roman replied turning to face the herald fully, choosing his words carefully, "Sometimes you have to give the occasional threat to get the ball rolling."

"Oh I'm well aware," the herald agreed with a smile, "Just as long as you remember who follows through on those threats, hm?"

"Yes, I remember." Roman had seen how these black eyed heralds had worked; he had seen a silent bookworm type turn into a harsh knee splitter in an instant once she got those eyes. "So since you're… like this, is there something you need me to know?" he asked taking another drag.

"Of course, since I'm sure you've gotten the new squads. How are they doing by the way?"

"They got here and started working, so no complaints from either of us," he answered as the herald moved next to him to inspect the city map thoughtfully, "And I'm assuming they're here for a big job."

"Astute as always Roman. We recently got information about a large shipment of Schnee Dust coming to Vale within the week. A whole freighter."

Roman couldn't help but whistle in appreciation and say, "And let me guess, you want some nefarious ne'er-do-well," he gestured to himself, "to take it all for… whatever it is we're doing."

"Correct."

"And what exactly did we need this for again?"

"Now why," the herald turned to Roman and took a small step toward him, "would we tell you that?"

"I… had to try? So you said it was a coming in a week?"

"Within the week. We weren't able to get the exact date."

"I've worked with less information. I'll get right on it after I finish relocating the Dust from the other warehouses."

"No, this takes priority. Get someone else to do the relocation." The herald then rubbed her chin, nodded, and added, "And on a slightly less urgent note, there's something else I need you to take care of."

Roman rolled his eyes but asked, "What would that be?"

"You know Tukson's Book Trade?"

"Yeah I know it. What about it?"

"The owner is White Fang. However it seems as though he's been having some… disagreements about how we've been operating lately. He may try to leave Vale, which would be problematic."

"And you want him capped."

"Quietly, if you'll please. Neither of us want additional police attention."

"On that we agree. I'll take care of it when I have the time."

"Excellent, I'll leave you to your work then. We'll meet again soon Roman." The herald doubled over and screamed in pain for a few seconds before straightening up, her eyes back to their normal green, and simply giggled to herself as she walked away from Roman.

"Freaks," Roman commented and shook his head as he turned back to the map. He took a drag and thought, 'Just dumping all this work on me all of a sudden. Tukson can wait for the moment, but that Dust still needs to be moved. I need to focus on the freighter so…' "Neo, are you here?" he called out turning around. A finger tapped him on his shoulder, causing him to jump with a "Gah!" and turn to see Neo, his henchwoman/partner/best damn fighter he had leaning against the table with her parasol opened on her shoulder and smiling at him. "Oh, there you are. I take it you heard all of that?"

Neo nodded and stood up closing her parasol behind her.

"Good, less explaining for me. Can you take care of moving the warehouse stock to here? Take a couple of the mutts if you need to."

Neo nodded and mimed opening a book and then a stabbing motion while raising her eyebrow.

"Oh you want to take care of Tukson too?" Neo nodded and Roman smiled, "alright, I don't have a problem with that. Maybe wait a little bit on that just in case the heat gets too much. If he is leaving, maybe we can work that into the-"

Neo held up a hand, mimed writing something down, and gave Roman a thumbs up.

"Oh, got an idea already huh? You can tell me about that later then, the warehouses come first." Neo nodded and started walking away while spinning her parasol around her wrist. "You're an angel Neo, saving me from all this bull shit!" Roman shouted, which Neo responded to by giving another thumbs up before her image shattered like glass.

"I love that scamp," Roman commented to himself and stubbed out his cigar on the table before picking up his scroll again, "well I got a few more calls to make."


The first day of semester break had finally come and Summer was waiting for her team at the patio of a café in the city that Coco had recommended at some point. She was listening to music through headphones hidden under her hood, nodding her head in time to the music and enjoying the afternoon, when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder and she looked back at Taiyang. The exchanged waves as Taiyang sat down at the table and Summer turned the music off with her scroll and lowered her headphones around her neck.

"Hey Tai, you took your time," she said with a small smirk.

"Public transport, what can you do?" Taiyang said with a shrug and pointed at Summer, "and I almost missed you too. I forgot you even had that outfit."

Summer looked down at her outfit, a white hooded jacket with a stylized red rose on the left side halfway zipped up over a black tank top, a pair of jeans, and her usual combat boots, and looked up at Taiyang in confusion. "Really? You didn't recognize this?"

"Well you do usually wear the one cloak. Have you always had that?"

"Yeah, I wore it to Junior's nightclub last year."

"Oh yeah, I kind of remember that. You know, Raven was right, you do wear a lot of white."

"Whatever Tai. Speaking of changing clothes, is that a new jacket?"

"This? Yeah, I got it last month during some down time," Taiyang said standing up and turning around to show off his new bomber jacket, black with a stitched Sea Feilong on the back. That, a white undershirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a black stocking cap completed his outfit. "What do you think, looks good on me right?"

"That depends, how much did it cost?"

"Not that much of my own money."

"Then it looks good on you." Taiyang chuckled and sat back down as both of their scrolls beeped. They both opened it and checked the text from Qrow.

'We'll be there shortly. Mind ordering our usual?'

"You heard them Tai. Be a dear will you?" Taiyang looked flatly at her, which she simply returned with a smirk, before rolling his eyes and standing up.

"Sure thing Sum. Your usual as well?" Summer nodded and looked back at her scroll. "By the way, what is the plan for today? You weren't exactly specific."

"I'll tell you when the twins get here. Don't worry too much though, we're not going to start on that until nightfall. Just think of it as a free day until then."

"Can do," Taiyang nodded and waved as he walked away from the table into the café. Summer slid her headphones back on and turned her music on to wait out Qrow and Raven's arrival. Taiyang came back after a few minutes and started browsing something on his scroll and generally left Summer to quietly jam and mouth along to her music.

"And as we fall, the spirit carries on, that a hero will come and save us all," it blared as Taiyang leaned over and tapped Summer's arm. He pointed behind her when she opened her eyes and she looked behind her and waved at Raven and Qrow along with Taiyang. The twins returned it and made their way over to the table as Summer again turned her music off and took off her headphones.

"Drinks coming soon?" Raven asked sitting opposite of Summer. Like Summer and Taiyang she had opted to dress more casually today, though just like her Raven's idea of 'casual' was more in your face. A black T-shirt with 'One Bad Mother' written on the front in yellow lettering, a denim vest littered with patches and badges, fingerless gloves, black jeans, and her usual boots. Summer was surprised that Raven never wore the makeup to complete the 'punk' look.

"I just put the order in a few minutes ago," Taiyang answered, "they should be coming soon."

"Cool," Raven nodded and looked at Summer, who was groaning quietly into her hands, and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?"

"Goddamn you Qrow," Summer muttered and moved her hands to glare at Qrow.

"What did I do this time!? I just got here!" Qrow said in outrage and Summer gestured at his outfit. It was, naturally, the exact same clothes that he always wore and when he looked down at his clothes he looked back at Summer in annoyance. "I don't want to hear it Sum, if I look good in something you're damn right I'm going to wear it."

"But it's the same thing every time!" Summer explained as Qrow took a seat, "Is that the same clothes you wore yesterday or do you have more than one of the same outfit?"

"Again, I don't want to hear it from you of all people. I know for a fact that you have multiples of that combat dress in your closet."

"This isn't about my clothes Qrow, it's about yours!"

"You too?" Raven asked getting a confused look from Summer.

"Wait, do you…?"

"Have more than one of the same outfit? Yeah of course I do. It cost a lot of money, but it's worth it; I don't have to worry about my favorite outfit getting destroyed in a fight and… oh." Raven shared a look with Summer and Qrow before all three looked at Taiyang, who was sweating bullets. "Do you have multiples Tai?"

"Uh… hey our drinks are here! Let's come back to this never," Taiyang said as a server stopped next to their table and started setting drinks and a plate of croissants down on the table.

"We really do have static looks," Summer lamented with a sigh.

"We still look damn good," Qrow said nodding his thanks to the server, who returned it and walked away.

"Well of course we do. It's just… I don't know," Summer shrugged and took a sip of her coffee, everyone else doing the same.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Raven asked picking up and taking a bite out of a croissant, "and more importantly, who's ass are we kicking?"

"Right, the robberies," Summer said setting her cup down and picking up her scroll, quickly going through it to pull up a picture and handing it to Qrow. "If past experience is to show anything, I think this guy is who we should be looking out for: Roman Torchwick."

"The guy who robbed 'From Dust till Dawn' at the beginning of the semester," Qrow said handing Summer's scroll to Raven, "He definitely looks the career criminal type."

"He looks like an asshole," Raven added passing the scroll to Taiyang.

"He pretty much is on both counts from what I've been able to gather," Summer said tearing a strip off a croissant and dipping it in her coffee, "He's been relatively small time for a good while, but recently has been getting bigger to fill the power vacuum left when we took down the mob. I don't know why he would stoop to robbing Dust shops, but I guess we'll find out when we nab him."

"I think I saw this guy at Junior's club when we were there last year," Taiyang said tapping Torchwick's picture, "yeah, he was talking to Junior and left right before we trashed the place." Taiyang gave Summer her scroll back and picked up his cup and asked, "Think old Xiong would know where he is?"

"Maybe. The goons that Torchwick had at 'From Dust till Dawn' were Junior's gang, but I'm not so sure. He does hire out his gang to make a quick Lien, so that might be it and he might not be involved anymore." Summer shrugged and finished off her croissant, "I think we should play this as broadly as possible and not narrow everything to what we think."

"What about the woman that was in the airship?" Raven asked, "want to look into her?"

"One step at a time. She is suspicious, but ultimately may not have anything more than that. She may have been just another Dust Weaver he hired for one job."

"That wields glass weaponry?"

"You never know. If it comes up we'll look into it, but again one step at a time." Summer picked up her scroll and pulled up a map of Vale with several marks and set it down in the middle of the table. "Now, from what the news said, it seems our mystery robbers are focusing on Dust shops. What exactly was stolen hasn't been publicized but we can at least assume Dust is a target for them."

"Hard to transport and even harder to hide, especially if there's a lot of it," Taiyang said and leaned forward to look at the scroll. "Are you thinking the warehouses?"

"Yep."

"I thought you turned that list to the cops last year," Raven said tapping her fingers on the table, "you really think they'd reuse them like that?"

"Not all of it, just the ones that would hurt the mob the most. And even if I did turn the whole list over, I don't think it'd change the outcome; real estate is real estate and I don't think the bottom rung of society would turn it down once the cops moved on, homeless or criminal organization."

"It's still a lot though," Qrow pointed out, "how do we know what to check?"

"We don't really," Summer started and picked up her scroll. She tapped away at the screen as she explained, "but I can make a guess. Taking away the ones I gave to the police and the ones hit in follow up raids the cops did on their own, that only leaves a few left. If they're after Dust they would probably need a lot of space, so that would mean the bigger ones." She finished and set the scroll down, the map now having three marks on it, and tapped it saying, "that would leave these three as the most likely hiding spots."

"I hate the guesswork part of this," Raven sighed and circled a finger around the rim of her cup, "so what, we're staking out these places?"

"That might not turn up anything. I was thinking we go a little more… direct this time."

"Direct?"

"Oh, that's what you meant when you said we were waiting till night," Taiyang groaned out.

"Yeah. You still have those masks Raven?" Summer asked.

"The masks? Yeah, I still got them stashed somewhere," Raven answered.

"Get them, we're going to need them for what I have planned."

"Sure thing. Let's see, the masks, our weapons," Raven counted off her fingers, "anything else we'll need?"

"I don't think so, it should be nice and quick if we do it right," Qrow said and pointed at the scroll, "so how are we divvying these up?"

"I want you to take the one on 152nd Qrow," Summer said pointing at the marks in order, "and Raven will take the one on Asher. Tai and I will take the last one and, when we're all done one way or another, we'll meet up at the arcade on Vale Boulevard. We'll discuss our findings, make plans based on them, then head home."

"And improvise if things go south," Raven added.

"Naturally."

"Great. And why do Qrow and I get one to ourselves."

"You're our best fighters and can handle yourselves," Taiyang answered.

"…I can't argue that," Raven shrugged and looked at Qrow. "It's a curse being this awesome brother."

"Right," Qrow said rolling his eyes.

"So no objections or changes?" Summer asked and looked at her teammates, none of them shaking their heads. She took her scroll and put it away, "Good. Let's be in position at our posts at 10 o'clock. We should be able to knock this out in no time. Until then, let's just enjoy our free day."

"I'm all for that. Jaune mentioned the movies yesterday, so why don't we go to one? That'll kill some time."

"I'm for that!" Taiyang said with a grin and drained his cup of coffee in one swig. "There's this movie I wanted to see that just came out. Some kind of horror/comedy/adventure thing. I'm sure you'll like it Raven."

"We'll see, I'm not that picky," Raven shrugged.

"And that's why I love you."

"Then it's settled," Summer nodded and took a drink of coffee with a sad sigh. "I owe Coco another fifty Lien. I like the coffee here too."

"You really shouldn't have made that bet with her."

"And miss out on good coffee? No way."


"I think taking us all out to a movie was a great idea Jaune," Pyrrha said as she walked the streets of Vale with her team.

"Yeah, but I do have to share credit with Nora," Jaune replied looking at Nora and Ren. "I'm still a little surprised you don't like movies Ren. Are you sure you're fine coming along?"

"It depends on the movie," Ren said and balled a fist in front of him, "but pushing the boundaries of our world is the only way to grow as a person. I will face these challenges head on."

"Uh, what?" Jaune asked and looked at Nora.

"He doesn't like horror movies," she answered.

"Unfortunately true," Ren nodded, "I may not look it, but I jump easily."

"Well, maybe we won't see a horror movie. We'll see when we get there." JNPR turned a corner to where the theater was and paused for just a moment when they saw Team CFVY standing in front of the theater, Velvet bouncing from one poster to another in excitement. They continued walking when Coco glanced at them and waved.

"Well if it isn't our favorite underclassmen," Coco said as JNPR joined them in front of the posters, "Enjoying your day off?"

"Yeah, it's been alright so far," Jaune nodded, "You decided to see a movie too?"

"It was Velvet's turn to choose a day off activity," Yatsuhashi said nodding at Velvet.

"So yeah we're going to see a movie as soon as Velvet chooses one!" Coco said glancing at Velvet.

"I'm sorry, they all look good!" Velvet said stopping to look over a poster, "I'm feeling this one with the skeleton on it though."

"So pick it," Yatsuhashi said.

"Eh… I don't know…"

"She's been like this for the last ten minutes," Fox said with a sigh.

"That… sounds rough," Jaune said crossing his arms, "Well, why don't we all see the same movie? That should make things easier right?"

"But-" Velvet started.

"Done!" Coco interrupted, "Now hurry up and pick a movie!"

"I wasn't going to take much longer!" Velvet protested before perking up and leaning to look behind Jaune. "Huh, what are the odds?"

"I'll say," a girl said from behind Jaune causing him and his team to jump in surprise and look to see Team STRQ, wearing expressions of astonishment, annoyance, and boredom in Qrow's case. Summer waved at Jaune, staring intently at his clothes, and added, "It's nice to see you guys."

"Y-yeah," Jaune replied with a wave of his own, "I like your jacket Summer."

"Thanks."

"So we all decided to see a movie today?" Nora asked and smiled slyly at Jaune, "that's quite the coincidence huh?"

"We just can't ever get away from you guys, can we?" Raven asked pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing, "Well, there's always tonight."

"What was that?"

"None of your business."

"Is something wrong Summer?" Pyrrha asked noticing that Summer had been looking at everyone one by one.

"Why…?" Summer asked clenching a fist, "Why does everyone I know only have one outfit?"

"Oh boy…" Taiyang muttered rubbing his eyes.

"E-excuse me?" Pyrrha asked looking down at her combat clothes.

"And what's that supposed to mean Summer?" Coco asked very much offended and lowered her sunglasses to glare at Summer.

"You especially Coco!" Summer shouted pointing at Coco's clothes, "Do you actually have clothing besides what you're wearing now? Do any of you?"

"Too personal, no comment," Velvet said rubbing her neck.

"Same," Fox replied.

"I like breathable clothing," Yatsuhashi answered tugging on his shirt.

"Of course I do." Coco crossed her arms.

"Name one!" Summer said.

"I don't have to tell you anything!" The fight was cut short when Taiyang wrapped an arm around Summer's shoulder and pulled her closer.

"Just ignore her, she's in a bad mood right now," Taiyang said and started to drag Summer to the ticket booth, "Come on Sum, let's go choose a movie."

"But-!" Summer started to say.

"No buts!" Summer tried to struggle against Taiyang as she was dragged past the other teams, especially to CFVY's amusement.

"I've decided on the skeleton movie," Velvet said with a nod and started walking to the ticket booth.

"That sounds good. I'll have to skip on popcorn this time," Coco said following Velvet with Yatsuhashi in tow.

"We wear other clothes," Jaune said looking at Raven, "So that's not a problem right?"

"I've never seen you in anything but that, our school uniform, and those dumbass pajamas of yours," Raven said shaking her head and walking past them, "So yeah, you have a problem."

"Having only one outfit isn't that bad," Qrow said following his sister, which didn't make Jaune feel much better.

"Maybe we should go clothes shopping sometime?" Pyrrha asked, "I do feel kind of overdressed now that it's pointed out."

"Why, I think you guys all look great," Fox said with a hint of amusement.

"See, if Fox says not to worry then we shouldn't!" Nora said happily, "So let's… wait a minute." Fox chuckled and walked after the rest of the group, leaving JNPR to themselves. "He always gets me with those, every time."

"Maybe we should discuss this some other time and just enjoy the movie," Ren suggested and Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora nodded in agreement.


The movie they saw, a story of skeleton knight's journey of redemption and heroism, was enjoyed by surprisingly everyone in the assembled group of students. Summer and Velvet seemed to enjoy it the most if praises such as "This skeleton really speaks to me," and enraptured munching of popcorn the whole time would say anything. Coco certainly had more fun watching them than the movie.

When it ended the teams went their separate ways, Jaune thanking Summer for a good time to her confusion, and Raven soon left her team to prepare for later that night. The remaining members of STRQ took their time walking to a nearby park to wait for Raven to get back. With the boys lying on the grass enjoying the sun and Summer sitting nearby, she sighed as she toyed with some locks of her hair.

"I'm thinking of changing my hair again. What do you guys think?" she asked them.

"I thought you liked the style Raven came up for you," Taiyang asked moving is head so he could look at Summer, "You've worn it that way for months."

"I do like it. I was talking about the color, I'm starting to think it's a little plain."

"Wait a couple of years, I'm sure it'll turn darker," Qrow said not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Not what I meant Qrow. I was thinking of dying silver streaks into it, make it 'pop' a little. What do you think?"

"You and silver," Qrow muttered and waved a hand dismissively in the air saying louder, "It's your hair, do what you want with it."

"Well I think it would look good on you," Taiyang said giving Summer a thumbs up.

"Thanks guys," Summer said rolling her eyes slightly and smiling, "I guess I'll just try a test streak and go from there." A portal suddenly opened next to Taiyang, startling the blonde right into a sitting position, and Raven walked out with an assortment of weapons and backpacks.

"S'up?" she asked throwing a backpack at Taiyang, who caught it against his chest, "That's for you and Summer."

"Thanks Rae," Taiyang said as he stood up along with Qrow. He checked inside it while Qrow moved to take a backpack and Harbinger from Raven. "Yup, both of them are in there Summer."

"Great. Hey Raven, quick question: silver streaks in my hair, yay or nay?" Summer asked pointing at her hair.

"I don't give a crap what you do with your hair," Raven replied resting a hand on her sword's handle.

"That settles it, I'll add a streak later when we're not busy with this crap. Did you get my stuff?"

"Please," Raven rolled her eyes and took out a sheathed Soleil, flipping the dagger in the air and catching it to hold out to Summer handle first. "Ammo's in Tai's pack. You sure you don't want your sword as well?"

"We're not doing this for very long," Summer answered taking the dagger and started attaching it to her belt, "and we shouldn't be getting into big fights. Soleil should be fine." She got the dagger in placed and pat it to make sure it was settled and nodded in satisfaction.

"Took your time getting here huh?" Qrow asked slipping the backpack on, his weapon already in its usual place.

"Everyone's a critic," Raven said shaking her head, "I took the airship back since I can't exactly use that in the middle of the city."

"Well-"

"Enough!" Summer said quieting the argument that would have broken out. With a shake of her head she dug through her jacket pocket and took out a couple ear pieces and gave one to each of her teammates. "We still have a few hours before we need to be in position, so let's use that time wisely. Oh, and when the masks go on we should use code names again."

"Fine with me," Qrow said as they put their earpieces in, "so what are we going with this time?" Summer rubbed her chin in thought for a moment before nodding.

"I think the card theme we used for most of last year worked well, so let's do that again. Qrow will be 'Jack', Tai will be 'King', and Raven will be 'Ace'."

"Ha, I'm the best card," Raven said grinning at her brother.

"Debatable," Qrow answered shaking his head, "And what about you Sum?"

"I'll be 'Joker', naturally," Summer answered.

"Why?" Taiyang asked, "You used 'Queen' didn't you?"

"Certain individuals have ruined that name for me, the bitch. Besides I think 'Joker' is a better fit; wild card, can be what it needs to be, which naturally makes it the best card in the deck." Summer couldn't help but shoot Raven a grin at that.

"Again, debatable," Qrow said.

"Whatever Qrow, I chose my name and that's final." Summer checked her watch and nodded. "Alright everyone, we know our roles so let's get to it! It should be not problem for us right?"

"Right."

"And make sure to keep in touch!"

"Got it," Raven replied. The twins waved and went off on their own leaving Taiyang and Summer in the park.

"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous group at the moment are we?" Taiyang sighed as he slung the backpack on.

"No, but maybe that will work in our favor and we won't get ambushed by moronic thugs every other hour like last year," Summer said as she and Taiyang started walking.

"You really think so?"

"I hope so. Now send me more funny pictures."


Summer was wrong, as Qrow found out later that night. After spending some time wandering around, window shopping, and trying his luck at capsule machines (which was predictably bad) he checked his watch and saw it was now 9:30 and he figured he should really get a move on. Fifteen minutes of walking later Qrow was close to his designated warehouse. He went around one last corner and Qrow sighed when he saw a group of four men walking along toward him. He continued walking, hoping they wouldn't try anything.

His luck said 'no'.

"Well look what we got here!" one of them said blocking Qrow's path while his buddies surrounded him. Qrow sighed and shook his head and took his right hand out of his pocket as the man continued, "You're a little out of your depths, aren't you?"

"Nope," Qrow replied and straightened up a little, "now get out of my way."

"Quite the mouth on you," the guy next to the first said and cracked his knuckles, "but no problem, you can go if you give us all your cash."

"…I'm quite visibly armed," Qrow said in astonishment tapping the handle of Harbinger, "are you sure you want to do this?"

"Shut up and give us your money!" the guy right behind Qrow shouted and grabbed his shoulder. Qrow sighed and quickly kicked backwards into his groin, causing him to scream in a higher octave and slowly sink to the ground. The remaining thugs backed up a step and put up their hands.

"You little!" the one to Qrow's left shouted as he took a swing at Qrow and missed when Qrow ducked and hit his friend due to overextending his punch. Qrow punched him in the stomach and grabbed his head and lifted it up to slam it down on his knee as he stood up. Qrow then looked to his right as the third guy recovered from the punch and swung at Qrow, which was grabbed easily. Qrow maneuvered the arm behind the thug at an angle and spun him around to slam face first into a light pole.

While Qrow took a quick breath from that the last one landed a punch on the back of Qrow's head, which did little more than annoy him as his Aura flickered and he looked back glaring at the thug. He took a step away from Qrow, looking a little scared, and said, "I've made mistakes."

"Yup," Qrow replied and grabbed the thug's collar, headbutted him, and dragged him over to a nearby garbage can that he took the lid off and threw the thug in head first. Qrow dusted off his hands as the thug's legs hung limply over the side and said, "So what do you want to say?"

"I'm sorry," the thug replied dazedly.

"I'm taking your money for wasting my time," Qrow added taking his wallet out and pulling out all of his Lien cards.

"Fair enough," he replied as Qrow pocketed the cards, threw the thug's wallet on top of him, and continued on his way. It was only another minute of walking when Qrow saw the warehouse he needed to be at and, after a quick look around, made a running jump to the top of a chain-link fence and from there another jump to the edge of the building across from the warehouse. He swung his legs and flipped onto the roof and stretched his arms over his head as he watched the dark warehouse.

"It looks completely dark, save the outside street lights," Qrow muttered and shook his head, "just my luck to get the dud."

"Comms check, everyone in position?" Summer asked through the earpiece.

"Qrow here," Qrow said pressing his index and middle fingers against the earpiece, "I'm in position. The place looks dead from here."

"Raven here, I ran into a bit of trouble just now. I'm not that far though," Raven said over the comms.

"You still have a few minutes Rae, but don't dally," Summer replied, "but I agree Qrow, it's not too busy on our end either. I don't like it."

"But nothing happening would be good right?" Taiyang asked, "I mean I know we want to find something, but-"

"I get what you mean Tai, but I'd still like to find something."

"I got to my spot," Raven chimed in, "And yeah, it's looking pretty quiet here too. You want to just start now since we're all in position?" Qrow checked his watch, saw it was only two to ten, and slipped his backpack off to dig out its contents.

"Yeah, it's close enough. Masks on, codenames only, and try to keep chatter to a minimum," Summer said just as Qrow pulled out his mask. The white of the mask stood out in the darkness along with its red markings, identical to Raven's own mask in some weird point she was trying to make. He took a second to look over Raven's handiwork and brush the front of it in case it had any dust from storage and shook his head.

'She still hasn't explained why she made our masks like this,' Qrow thought as he flipped the mask in his hands and slipped it on, putting just enough pressure on the top and front so it clicked into place. 'Well whatever, time to get to work.' He stood up and took a few steps back before taking a running leap off the roof and transforming into his bird form midair. He flew once around the warehouse to make sure there weren't any unpleasant surprises waiting for him before flying onto the roof and transforming back.

He slowly moved to the windows on the roof and looked down into the warehouse and sighed when he saw it was indeed empty. "Figures," he whispered and drew Harbinger and unfolded it into its sword form, "might as well take a look to make sure." He ran a hand along one of the creases of the windows, placed the tip of his weapon at one spot, and stabbed quickly to break the latch inside. He worked the window open enough to slip his fingers in and opened it fully, locking it open before dropping inside and landing in a crouch.

Qrow circled around once with his weapon at the ready before deciding that the warehouse was very empty and relaxed enough to stand up and sheath his weapon. "Yup, just my luck," he sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets as he started walking through the warehouse, his footsteps echoing through the building. He stopped when he looked down and saw a very clear outline in the dust on the floor. "Or maybe not. What are you?" Qrow crouched down and ran a finger along the clean spot on the floor and held it up to see.

"No dust at all here," he said and looked around until he saw an open side door. He stood up, wiped his hand on his pants, and pressed on his earpiece. "Jack here, my place is empty but it doesn't look like for long. I'll check the offices for anything."


"She's not human…" A thug moaned out from the spot next to a vending machine that Raven had smashed his face into. Raven herself was walking away from him and stepped onto one of his buddies as she counted the Lien she took from them.

"Nope, I'm not," Raven said pocketing the cards, "and thanks for the spending cash!" She waved once before turning a corner and sighed as she placed a hand on her sword's hilt. "Morons, they never learn no matter how well armed I am."

"Comm's check, everyone in position?" Summer said over he comms.

"Qrow here, I'm in position. The place looks dead from here." Qrow answered.

"Raven here," Raven said pressing the earpiece, "I ran into a bit of trouble just now. I'm not that far though."

"You still have a few minutes Rae, but don't dally," Summer replied, "but I agree Qrow, it's not too busy on our end either. I don't like it."

'When is it ever easy for us?' Raven thought as she broke into a run and ignored her team's chatter. She turned left and saw the top of her warehouse a ways ahead. She eyed the wall to her right and jumped at it to kick off it higher so she could side flip onto a roof top. She landed in a crouch and held her finger to her earpiece.

"I got to my spot and yeah, it's looking pretty quiet here too. You want to just start now since we're all in position?" Raven asked already moving her backpack off and taking her mask out.

"Yeah, it's close enough. Masks on, codenames only, and try to keep chatter to a minimum."

'Perfect,' Raven said slipping her mask on and clicking it into place. Raven couldn't help but grin once the mask was on and ran across the roofs to the warehouse. She was particularly proud of her handiwork on the masks for her team, even if she didn't have time to put in night-vision like she had wanted. 'I'll have to remember that later,' she noted to herself as she took one last jump into the warehouse yard and tucked her body in so she could land in a roll.

She ran toward the building, her eyes scanning the side of it for any entrances and settled on the slightly open loading door. She grasped her sword as she ran and slid under the door, which she cleared easily, and pushed herself up into a crouch ready to draw if necessary. After scanning the empty floor for a moment she slowly stood up and walked to where the managerial office would be, never once lowering her guard. Once she got to the door she carefully opened it and looked around at the empty desk and chair behind it, along with an empty wall safe sitting opened.

"Shit, looks like we were beaten to the punch," Raven said taking her hand off her sword and crossing her arms as she walked over to the safe. "Question is, by who?"

"Jack here, my place is empty but it doesn't look like for long. I'll check the offices for anything."

'Yup, beaten to the punch,' Raven thought as she pressed a finger to her earpiece and said, "Ace here, same with my place. Hey Jack, when you check your office can you keep an eye out for a safe. Mine was in the wall behind the desk." Raven paused when she felt a creaking of wood under her foot and looked down at a painting under her feet, one of many mass produced paintings of Forever Fall that she saw everywhere at Beacon, "and it looks like it was behind a painting."

"Got it," Qrow answered.

"Thanks for the tip Ace," Summer said as Raven ran a hand over the dusty desk. "And look at that, I got a safe here as well. Closed and with a rotary lock, great."

"I'm sure you can crack it if you want Joker," Raven said and walked out of the office. "I'll look around a little more before leaving, see what I can-"

"Who the hell is that?" Tai suddenly asked a little more quietly than the others.

"King, what is it?"


"Heh, that cat thinks it's a Huntsman. So cute," Summer said and put her scroll away as she walked to the cashier of the convenience store with two bottles of tea.

"Welcome, will this be everything for you?" the cashier asked scanning the drinks while Summer looked behind her and sighed.

'They don't have my brand,' she thought before saying, "Yeah, that'll be it," and putting a Lien card on the counter. The cashier took the card and quickly exchanged it for a lesser card and some coins in change and gave them and the drinks to Summer.

"There you go miss. Come again!" she said waving at Summer as she walked out of the store. Once outside Summer pocketed her change and looked around the street for Taiyang.

'I leave for one second to get drinks and he vanishes,' Summer thought and sighed, 'where did he go?' Summer's question was answered when someone in a garish purple colored track suit was sent flying out of a side street and landed upside down against a wall. "Oh, there he is," Summer nodded.

She turned the corner in time to catch the end of Taiyang's brawl with a few street punks, most of whom were sprawled on the ground. Taiyang caught a punch and threw his own into the gut of his attacker, slipped under his arm as he keeled over, and flipped him forward onto his back. The last one charged at Taiyang and got a straight back kick to the groin for his trouble and collapsed unceremoniously while Taiyang returned to a neutral stance and let out a breath.

"You done playing with your friends Tai?" Summer asked holding up the drinks. Taiyang looked at her and dropped his stance to walk to her, stepping over a thug that let out a small 'Forgive me', and grabbed one of the bottles.

"Yeah I guess," Taiyang said opening the bottle and taking a drink. "Ah that's good. Wanna get going?"

"Yeah, it's not much farther now." Summer led the way with Taiyang settling right next to her as she opened her own drink. The pair walked through the mostly bland streets of Vale's industrial sector occasionally passing by a worker going home, both silently thankful that the last group of thugs seemed to be the last one to bother them.

"You know, if we were in any other part of the city, we'd look like we're on a date," Taiyang commented idly.

"Oh I'm sure," Summer replied rolling her eyes.

"And what's that supposed to mean? Would a date with me be that bad?"

"No comment. I will give you one thing though, you have gotten better about that. But the day you finally decide to settle down is still way far away in my book." It was Taiyang's turn to roll his eyes as they rounded a corner and Summer gestured at a warehouse a fair distance away with her tea. "There's our place, time to focus up."

"Got it boss," Taiyang nodded and quickly finished is drink, screwed the cap back on, and tossed it at a nearby trash can before rushing ahead to the gate and looked into the warehouse yard. Summer stopped to finish her own drink, threw it away along with Taiyang's since it missed the trash can entirely, and ran over to her teammate and jumped onto his back to get a look into the yard as well. "Doesn't look that busy, which I guess isn't much of a surprise. Still want to go for it?"

"We are here," Summer replied hopping off Taiyang's back, "we might as well look." Summer pressed her fingers to her earpiece and said, "Comm's check, everyone in position?"

"Ow, that's a little too loud," Taiyang said adjusting his earpiece's volume.

"Qrow here, I'm in position," Qrow answered a moment later, "The place looks dead from here."

"Raven here, I ran into a bit of trouble just now. I'm not that far though," Raven said.

"You still have a few minutes Rae, but don't dally," Summer said moving past Taiyang and looking at the warehouse shaking her head, "but I agree Qrow, it's not too busy on our end either. I don't like it."

"But nothing happening would be good right?" Taiyang asked getting Summer's attention his own fingers on his earpiece, "I mean I know we want to find something, but-"

"I get what you mean Tai, but I'd still like to find something."

"I got to my spot," Raven spoke up, "And yeah, it's looking pretty quiet here too. You want to just start now since we're all in position?" Summer checked her watch, saw the time, and glanced at Taiyang. After a moment, the two shrugged at each other.

"Yeah, it's close enough. Masks on, codenames only, and try to keep chatter to a minimum," Summer said motioning for Taiyang to spin around so she could dig through his backpack and take out their masks and the ammo. With that done Taiyang took the pack off and threw it next to a trash can, adjusted his cap to better cover his hair, and took his mask from Summer. He shook his head slightly when he saw the decorations on it (Raven was smart ass enough to make it more 'dragon-like') and put it on as Summer was doing the same. Summer lifted her hood over her mask and pressed against the wall and cupped her hands.

"You first," she said. Taiyang nodded and repositioned to get a running start at her, using her hands to get enough of a boost to reach the top of the divider wall and roll over it. He landed in a crouch and looked back to see Summer Blink to the top of the wall, a trail of white petals following her as she settled on top of the wall before jumping down next to Taiyang and they both ran to the warehouse. They stopped at a single door to the side and Summer crouched down to look at the lock.

"Yeah, that looks easy enough. Cover me," she said and rolled up one of her pant legs and dug into the side of her boot to get a pair of thin pieces of metal and stuck both of them in the lock.

"Cover me she says to the guy without a gun," Taiyang snarked leaning against the wall next to the door and crossed his arms as he watched Summer pick the lock. "You mind if I ask something?"

"If it's quick," Summer replied leaning closer to the lock, "you son of a bitch, I had you!"

"Where did you learn to pick locks? Was it one of the myriad of skills your old man taught you?"

"Surprisingly no, I learned this all myself through trial and error. That's what happens when you're 14 and bored." Summer paused in her picking for a second and added, "I don't know if Dad would have taught me something like this. I'd put it at… 60% that he would have." With a shrug Summer returned to her task.

"The more I hear about him the more I wish I could have met him," Taiyang said rubbing the back of his neck. "He might have been able to teach us a lot."

"He would have liked you all. Probably would have given you the 'overprotective dad' speech, but he would have liked you." One last click into place and Summer slowly unlocked the door, took out and put away her picks, and opened the door slightly. She drew Soleil, transformed it into its gun form, and pressed her back on the side of the door opposite Taiyang.

"I got point, breech on three," she said to Taiyang, who nodded and moved to a better position next to the door. He counted down from three on his fingers and kicked the door open when he reached zero, Summer rushing inside with her gun at the ready. After a moment of scanning the warehouse and finding it empty, she called back "Clear," Taiyang followed after her and shut the door behind him that stopped an inch away from closing completely.

The warehouse wasn't that different from others that they had checked out last year: the ground floor was reserved exclusively for storage while the second floor was for the offices connected by a catwalk and metal stairs to Summer and Taiyang's right. There were a few large crates in the storage area that Taiyang ran to while Summer approached a little more cautiously.

"Jackpot! Looks like you were right on the money Sum!" Taiyang said tapping on the wood.

"Codenames!" Summer returned angrily.

"But we're the only ones here!" Taiyang returned and looked at Summer, feeling the glare under the mask, and sighed. "Right, sorry Joker."

"Good boy. In any case I'm not so sure." Summer holstered her gun and ran a hand on the top of the crate, bringing it back to find her palm caked with dust. "This has been here a while. Check for a shipping notice on this." Taiyang nodded and the pair circled the crate until Taiyang found the notice and wiped the dust off of it.

"Found it! It says it's from 'Olson's furniture'," he said reading off the label as Summer walked next to him.

"Olson's was a mob front that got raided last year," Summer said shaking her head, "Gun running I think."

"So…"

"All of these are probably from similar fronts that got missed in the raids. Good to point out to the cops later, but not relevant to our current investigation."

"Couldn't hurt to check, right?'

"Be my guest King, I'll go check the offices." Summer jogged away and Blinked up to one of the catwalks, pulling herself over the railing while Taiyang walked through the haphazardly placed crates.

"Jack here, my place is empty but it doesn't look like for long," Qrow's said just as Summer entered the foreman's office. It was surprisingly tidy, if a little dusty, and Summer moved around the desk and started checking the drawers. "I'll check the offices for anything."

"Ace here, same with my place." Raven said a second later.

'Well this is going well,' Summer thought after finding nothing in the desk and pressing her palm against her masked face. 'This was a long shot anyway. Where next though?'

"Hey Jack, when you check your office can you keep an eye out for a safe. Mine was in the wall behind the desk." Summer perked up at that and turned around to the wall behind the desk, a painting of Forever Fall standing out rather conspicuously. "And it looks like it was behind a painting."

'There's no way,' Summer thought moving to the painting, Qrow's affirmation ringing in her ear as she pressed down on her own earpiece. "Thanks for the tip Ace," she said taking the medium sized painting off the wall and throwing it on the floor when she saw the safe behind it. "And look at that, I got a safe here as well. Closed and with a rotary lock, great."

"I'm sure you can crack it if you want Joker," Raven said and Summer rolled her eyes as she gave the dial a test turn. "I'll look around a little more before leaving, see what I can-"

"Who the hell is that?" Taiyang interrupted, causing Summer to freeze.

"King, what is it?"

"Joker, some girl with a parasol just came in and is heading your way! You better hide or get out of there!"

'Shit!' Summer thought looking behind her at the door before she quickly put the painting in place (a little crooked, but she didn't care), drew Soleil and switched it back into a dagger. She hid under the desk and pressed her earpiece to say, "Ace, Jack, get over here now! We may need the backup. And remember, no identifiers Ace!"

"On it/got it," the twins replied as Summer took a breath to steady her nerves as the door opened.


Neo's day had been going great. Moving Dust around warehouses wasn't exactly what she had planned to do today, but Roman trusted her with the task and she always got what he asked done. Even if she didn't particularly like the White Fang and their weird cult behavior around a bunch of cats, they did work well and Neo had gotten most of it moved away in a day with their help. There was just one warehouse left and Neo decided to take care of it herself.

Neo approached the warehouse gate, her lithe form slipping easily through the bars, and walked to the warehouse with her parasol gripped gently behind her. She approached the one personnel door and started digging through her jacket for the skeleton key for the warehouses when she saw that the door was slightly ajar. She stared at it in confusion for a moment before realizing what that meant and carefully pushed the door open.

The inside looked normal, but looks were always deceiving; something Neo knew intimately. She scanned the ground floor a couple of times before clicking her parasol open and slinging it over her shoulder as she started walking up to the second floor. She wasn't all that worried about any would be robbers, she could handle herself. The clanking of her footsteps on metal filled the warehouse until she reached the foreman's office. She blinked once, the brown and pink coloring of her eyes switching places, and opened the door.

The office looked more or less normal as Neo moved through it, save for the open drawers and crooked painting. She was more concerned with the latter and took the painting off, letting out a small breath when she saw the safe was still shut. Whoever was here couldn't get into it, which meant her task was still unsullied. She closed her parasol and mused about having to tell Roman about this as she spun the dial to the safe right, then left, then right again to open the safe. She beamed at herself when she saw the black case inside and took it out to set it down along with her parasol on a small table near the safe to check the contents.

Everything was in place, so Neo nodded and turned around with a hand on the case's lid intent to close it when she saw the very obvious thief wearing a white jacket and a white mask hiding under the desk. Neo and the thief just stood their staring at each other, Neo shut the case and tilted her head in confusion after a moment, and the thief sighed.

"Not my best hiding plan," she said and shook her head, "Oh well, fuck it." Then a burst of white petals filled Neo's vision, startling her in the split second before she realized she was knocked backward onto her back on the table by the thief. She instinctively crossed her arms over her and blocked the thief's arm as she tried to bring a dagger down on her. Neo grit her teeth as she stared at the glowing red eye holes of the mask and the thief tried to reach for the case, which was when Neo took her chance to drive her knee into the thief's side. She grunted and brought her arm back, relieving enough pressure off of Neo's arms for her to push the thief away from her with a kick to her stomach. She stood up, grabbed her parasol behind her, and swung it at the thief's head.

The thief barely managed to dodge the parasol and jumped backward flipping over the desk, which was when Neo saw she had the case, and sheathed her dagger to grab the doorknob behind her. "Thanks for the present!" she shouted and rushed out of the room, leaving Neo to grit her teeth and bend her parasol before running after her. The thief made it to the first turn of the catwalk and turned to see Neo before jumping over the railing, Neo doing the same to follow her. The two landed in a crouch and Neo rushed to the thief, swinging her parasol three times. The thief blocked all three with the case with the last one being an overhead that stayed connected, the pressure from the attack slowly pushing her down to her knees.

"King!" The thief shouted suddenly. Neo was confused for a moment before realization hit her and she kicked the girl away. She spun and opened her parasol in time to block a dropkick from another thief, the force of the kick sending Neo skidding a couple yards away from them. The grit of exertion gave way to a happy smile as Neo moved the parasol over her shoulder to see the two thieves, the new one in a leather jacket and jeans and the girl getting back up to her feet.

And Neo thought tonight would be boring. She'd better take a picture for Roman.


Taiyang hadn't been expecting this girl: pink and brown hair with eyes to match, a sharp white jacket with pink trim and boots to match to offset her otherwise black outfit. With a pink parasol and a smile of excitement that Taiyang had only ever seen on Raven before, he really only had one observation about this new girl as she took their picture with her scroll.

"What the fuck is with this ice cream chick!?" he asked looking at Summer.

"No clue, but she was after this," Summer replied holding up a black case, "it was in that safe."

"It's important then. I don't suppose you can just let us go with the case?" Taiyang asked Ice Cream. She shook her head and her smile seemed to get bigger as she put her scroll away and started to slowly walk to them. "Ah shit, she's slow walking! I hate when they do that!"

"Quit whining King," Summer said setting the case down and kicking it behind her. She drew Soleil again and held it in a reverse hold as she and Taiyang got into a fighting stance. "This should be over in a few minutes."

Ice Cream rolled her eyes as Taiyang nodded and said, "On your mark Joker."

Ice Cream didn't give them the chance as she closed the parasol and dashed toward them, forcing Summer and Taiyang on the defensive, and swung at Summer. Summer blocked the blow but left herself open for Ice Cream to kick her stomach and knock her away. She then tried to repeat it with Taiyang, who blocked both the parasol and the kick. He wrapped his arm around Ice Cream's leg and charged toward her to knock her off balance, but she managed to use the momentum to flip backwards while bracing herself with a hand on the floor.

Taiyang found himself flipping with her and landed roughly on his back and saw Ice Cream stand up and smiled down at him. She glanced at where Summer landed and opened her parasol when she saw Summer aiming a pistol at her. Summer fired three times at Ice Cream, all three of them blocked by the parasol, and Taiyang saw an opportunity to sweep Ice Cream's legs out from under her. She actually fell down this time, her face full of surprise, and Taiyang followed up with a semblance enhanced kick to her side that sent her sliding across the floor. Ice Cream closed and moved her parasol and stuck it on the ground to use it as a fulcrum to launch herself into the air and back onto her feet at the same time Taiyang jumped back to his feet and into a fighting stance.

Taiyang shook his right arm a little as Summer stood up and carefully started strafing Ice Cream, who was grinning and spinning her parasol around her wrist. "Heh, you're pretty good," he couldn't help but say before he ran at her. Ice Cream stopped spinning the parasol and grabbed the handle to hold at the ready. Taiyang threw a straight and hook, both of which were dodged easily by Ice Cream, and she retaliated with two swings of her own that were dodged and jumped over respectively by Taiyang.

Ice Cream took a stab at Taiyang and saw him catch it. She tried to pull it away only to find he had a strong grip and that he was rearing his other fist back and yanked her toward him before she could let go of the parasol. Taiyang landed a solid punch to Ice Cream's stomach, doubling her over and causing her Aura to flash over her body, and followed up with a hook to her jaw and a follow-up back fist. He then grabbed her jacket and pulled her up as he reared is head back and landed a solid headbutt right on her forehead. Taiyang let her go and spun his body around as she staggered away from him to hit her with a spinning roundhouse enhanced with his semblance that left him on his back and Ice Cream flying backwards into a crate that shattered on impact.

"Joker, get the case out of here!" Taiyang shouted looking back at Summer. She nodded, switched Soleil back into a dagger, and ran to the case on the floor while Taiyang pursued Ice Cream as she stood up groggily holding her head. He reared up and tried to hit her with a high kick only for her to suddenly dodge it and lift her left leg almost completely vertically. Taiyang barely had enough time to register the grin Ice Cream had before she brought her leg down onto his head and floored him. She barely spared him a glance as she darted for Summer just as she picked up the case.

Summer glanced at Ice Cream and jumped over a sweep from her. Summer spun and landed facing Ice Cream as she stood up and charged again at Summer. She swung at Summer with her parasol, which Summer tried to block with the case and only succeeded in getting it knocked out of her hands. Both Summer and Ice Cream cringed as the case landed and slid across the floor and, when nothing happened, looked back at each other and swung at each other with parasol and dagger clashing.

They pressed against each other for a couple seconds before Summer kicked at Ice Cream, who pulled away to dodge the kick and the two spun away from each other. Summer switched Soleil into a pistol and fired at Ice Cream, who opened her parasol to block the bullets as she advanced on Summer. Soon Summer's weapon clicked empty and she ejected the magazine and, in the time it took for her to grab a new one and slam it into place, Ice Cream closed her parasol and swung at Summer.

Summer Blinked upwards, leaving Ice Cream to swing at rose petals, and pulled the slide backwards and fired down at Ice Cream. The shot went wild and Ice Cream leapt up with her parasol pointed up to stab Summer in the gut. Summer felt the wind get knocked out of her and saw Ice Cream grab her leg to pull her further up to put her legs on Summer's shoulders. Ice Cream kicked Summer down to the ground, smiling at how she landed roughly while she landed gracefully with her parasol open.

Ice Cream tilted her head as slowly started getting up, her Aura shimmering weakly across her body, and then at Taiyang stumbling toward her before walking over to the case and picked it up. She could have murdered the both of them, but getting the case was her job right now and the murder was simply a good dessert that could be easily replaced with fro yo that Roman would reward her with. She licked her lips at that thought as she reached the door she came from.

Summer, for her part, saw Ice Cream getting away with the case as she stood up and looked at Taiyang. She pointed at Ice Cream and then herself before she made a punching motion. Taiyang nodded and jogged at Summer with his left hand open just as Summer switched Soleil into a dagger and jumped at him. Taiyang moved so Summer could plant her feet on his palm and enhanced the arm as much as he dared before he launched her forward with a loud "Rhagh!"

Ice Cream, having started opening the door outside, quickly turned around in time to see Summer flying toward her. She didn't have enough time to do more than cross her arms to block the flying girl, which did little more than provide a more spread base for Summer to launch her back into the door. The metal buckled under the force before the hinges snapped off entirely and both girls flew outside with the door under them. It skidded on the pavement for a moment, sparks flying under it, before it hit a bump and sent both of them flying and bouncing along the pavement before coming to a stop. Both of their Aura were broken and, while Summer could do little more than groan at the exertion, Ice Cream stood up and glared at Summer with brown eyes. Now she was pissed and wanted to kill someone.

Summer managed to roll onto her back in time to see Ice Cream advance on her, her parasol in the same hand as the case, and pull on the handle of the parasol to draw a short sword. 'Oh crap, this is bad!' Summer thought looking over at Soleil a couple of feet away.

"We're here! Watch your heads!" Qrow said through Summer's earpiece, which gave Summer some small relief as Ice Cream flipped the sword in her hand and raised it up.

"Hey Ice Cream, want to know a secret?" Summer said and held up four fingers as Ice Cream stopped next to her. "There's four of us!" That stopped Ice Cream for a split second as she looked at her in confusion.

Which was enough time for Qrow to fall from the sky and land right on Ice Cream's back, kicking her away from Summer with a shout of "Tag!" Ice Cream stumbled and turned around to slash at Qrow, who had already jumped out of the way of both the slash and a sword flying hilt first at Ice Cream. It hit her in the forehead and spun in the air while Ice Cream recoiled from the blow and the world went into slow motion for Ice Cream as she saw a masked Raven fly at her. The brunette flipped in the air, landing on Ice Cream's chest and grabbed her sword. Raven slashed at Ice Cream as she kicked her away, landing the hit on her stomach. A small splatter of blood flew through the air as Ice Cream landed and rolled backwards a couple of times before hitting the dividing wall of the warehouse yard.

Ice Cream coughed harshly before opening her eyes and seeing the bleeding wound on her stomach. She panicked and let go of her sword to grasp at the wound before looking up at her assailant. She blinked and her eyes turned to a solid gray as she saw the burning red eye holes of the mask as Raven sheathed her sword. "You ok Joker?" Raven called back turning her head enough to still keep Ice Cream in her peripheral.

"I'll be fine," Summer said as Qrow helped her up to her feet by putting her arm around his shoulders and pointed at Ice Cream, "but we need that case she has."

"You'll get it," Raven answered and started walking to Ice Cream.

'Bad bad bad bad bad!' continuously ran through her head as Ice Cream quickly sheathed her sword back into her parasol and scrambled to her feet, the wound hampering her more than she would have liked and had to use the wall as support.

"I don't think so!" Raven shouted and dashed forward, drawing her sword and swinging it at Ice Cream's chest as a look of horror crossed her face. When she made contact however the girl's image shattered like glass, the pieces disappearing when they hit the ground. "What!?" Raven shouted as she was momentarily thrown off balance. She saw a small trail of blood going up and over the wall and jumped to the top of the wall, but didn't find any trail to follow as she looked up and down the street. Raven let out a grunt of annoyance as she hopped back down into the warehouse yard, sheathed her sword, and walked back to her team.

"Gone?" Qrow asked as Summer gently pulled away from him.

"Yeah and she probably was the second she settled. Damn illusion semblances."

"I'm ok too by the way," Taiyang said as he walked out of the warehouse.

"We know you are! So who the hell was she?"

"No idea, but she kicked our asses pretty bad," Summer answered and shook her head, "and that case she had was in that safe you told us about."

"So, ultimately, we got nothing out of all of this?"

"I wouldn't say that," Summer said reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out a vial of Ice Dust. "I managed to snag this while Ice Cream wasn't looking."

"Great, one vial of Dust," Taiyang said sarcastically, "That'll be a big help."

"It still has its identifier code," Summer said pointing at a set of letters and numbers on the vial's label. "If we run it by a Dust shop they should be able to tell us which shop it originally came from and when."

"And if it was stolen we should be able to get a timeframe when it was taken," Qrow finished and rubbed his neck, "but would that tell us who stole it?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a shot and it's a lead nonetheless." Summer walked over to where Soleil lay and picked it up to sheathe it. "That'll be for later though. For now let's just go home, I'm beat."

"And we made a lot of noise just now. I don't want the cops to catch us like this," Taiyang added and walked over to Summer, "Will you be able to walk?"

"Blinking is out of the question, but I should be able to get around well enough. Let's get out of here, and don't forget your pack."


Roman whistled in appreciation at all the new crates of Dust that the squads of White Fang that Neo took brought in and stored. He took a drag from his cigar and tapped one of the metal crates with his cane, smiling at the dull metal thud it gave off. "Now this is what I love to see: results! That's why I love Neo, being able to whip even those tail-waggers into shape!"

"Oh really?" Roman jumped and turned at the herald, her eyes black and red, as she walked toward him. "I thought I told you to focus on the freighter, not the warehouses. Have you been busy with that all day instead?"

"Of course not! I'm just… admiring the handiwork," Roman said holding his hands up placatingly, "And as for the freighter, I've already got everything we need for it. Good information takes time and money, especially when we're not using Junior, but it does tend to be good."

"Oh really, then when is it coming in?"

"Sunday, at Dock 21 at the shipyard. I've also made arrangements for any security to be either gone or 'indisposed' while we work. If everything goes to plan, it should be a simple snatch and grab. At least as much of a snatch and grab as we can do with shipping containers."

"Hm… ok then. I suppose even lower lifeforms like humans can do good work in an age," the herald nodded and clasped her hands behind her back. "Make sure you get this done fast. Otherwise-"

A door slammed open suddenly and Roman and the herald turned to see a couple of White Fang stumbling back in shock. "Neo, is that you?" Roman shouted and started walking to the door, the herald following behind him. "I was wondering where you went after you-" he stopped when Neo came into view, stumbling and holding a case and her parasol in one hand and her stomach with the other. When he saw her jacket's sleeve was red with blood his cigar fell from his mouth and he rushed to her side.

"Neo! What happened!?" he shouted rushing to Neo's side and carefully grabbing her shoulder and arm, carefully moving the arm out of the way to get a better look at the wound as she leaned against him for support. "Oh that looks bad. Shallow, but bad. Let's take care of that right now. Will one of you mongrels get a medic!" The White Fang started scrambling when Neo tapped Roman's arm and held up the black case, which he took and threw to the ground while saying, "I don't care about that! How did this happen?"

Neo switched the arm holding her stomach and slowly pulled out her scroll to flick it open and pull up the picture of the thieves she had taken. She gave Roman the scroll and hissed from the pain in her stomach while he looked at the picture and scowled. 'Just what I need, more problems.'

"Is something the matter?" The herald asked taking the scroll from Roman and looking at the picture.

"No, just another small problem," Roman answered and adjusted his grip on Neo, "I'll take care of it later."

"And what about her? Will she be ready for the heist?"

"Why don't you focus on your men and I'll focus on mine. If she's not ready then she'll rest! Come on Neo, let's get that taken care of." The herald watched Roman carefully lead Neo away for a moment before she looked back down at the scroll and the white masked thieves.

"You'll take care of it huh? After this, trust is at a low Torchwick. And if there's one thing I learned, it's that some things require a personal touch."


There will be another small break in updates for a couple of reasons. We're coming up to the 'finale' of Volume 1 as it were and I want to do it the justice it deserves. It shouldn't take too long before those are all ready.

Also Death Stranding. I want to lose myself in that for a while.