The docks of Vale weren't entirely closed off to the public, like the pier Taiyang and several others were on that was usually opened for fishing unless the dock workers said otherwise. Taiyang stifled a yawn as he reeled his latest bite in and lifted it out of the water, sighing when he saw the size of the fish.

"Bad luck fishing Tai?" Taiyang glanced to his right at Summer and Coco walking to him as he took the fish off the hook.

"Pretty much," he sighed out and tossed the fish back into the harbor and started to reline his pole. "What about you guys, did you have better luck?"

"More or less," Coco answered stopping next to Taiyang and crossing her arms, Summer moving to his other side and sitting down with her legs dangling over the water edge. "Dock 21 has some fancy private security company guarding the place. They just so happen to be a trusted firm with a good contract with the Schnee Dust Company."

"So that freighter will be showing up there?" Taiyang asked and cast his line out.

"Most likely, but we'll have to see when the time comes," Summer said and pointed at Taiyang's line, "Steer your rod toward the fish."

"Thank you Summer, but I know how to fish."

"What are you even hoping to catch here?" Coco asked.

"Anything bigger than six inches would be wonderful right now."

"Wow, your luck's that bad right now huh?"

"And Qrow isn't even here right now." Coco chuckled at that and moved around Taiyang to stand next to Summer.

"That reminds me, I still haven't met your little whistleblower Summer. Is that going to happen anytime soon?"

"I've been trying to call him but he won't pick up," Summer answered crossing her arms, "Not that I'm surprised all that much. Sun seems like he marches to the beat of his own drum."

"No wonder he fits right in with us," Taiyang commented and started to reel in his line.

"Right? But don't worry Coco, I'm sure you'll meet him soon." Summer looked at Coco, who was now looking behind them up at the roof of one of the nearby warehouses with one hand on her handbag. Summer followed where she was looking and flattened her gaze when she saw a familiar mop of blonde hair on the roof waving casually at them. "Like right now because Sun thinks that he's clever hiding on a roof!" Summer added standing up and making sure she spoke loud enough for Sun to hear.

Taiyang glanced back from his pole long enough to see Sun shrug in response and jump off the roof, doing a front flip and landing in a crouch before standing up and walking to them with his arms behind his head. Taiyang returned his attention to his pole as Sun said, "Hey guys! Sorry about ignoring your calls, I was doing some last minute recon you know?"

"Funny, that's why we're here too," Summer replied rolling her eyes.

"Nice, great minds think alike!" Sun said giving Summer finger guns, which didn't help her with her eye rolling problem, and walked up to Coco who was now starting to relax. "I don't think I met you yet. The name's Sun, I'm helping out with the 'secret mission'," Sun said holding a hand out to Coco, who took it after a second and shook it.

"Coco Adel," she said and took her hand back, "so you're Summer's whistleblower? How did you two end up meeting?"

"Chance meeting followed by a fast chase through the streets. She is persistent when she wants to be." Coco looked at Summer, who sighed and pinched her nose at Sun's answer.

"It's a long story," Summer said.

"When isn't it? You guys can make a milk run into a five hour affair to take down a pick-pocket ring," Coco joked and turned back to Sun, "In any case, it's nice to meet you. I'll introduce you to the rest of my team later when they're done shopping."

"Shopping? For what?" Sun asked.

"Snacks, Dust, bullets, anything I think we'd need really. Which reminds me, how long do you think this is going to take Summer?"

"We're going to stay until someone comes to pick up the Dust legally, which could take anywhere from a few hours to all night," Summer answered.

"And with our luck it'll probably be the later," Taiyang said as he pulled up his hook and sighed at it, "dammit the fish slipped right off."

"Did you try baiting it?" Sun asked.

"STUNNING! Baiting the hook, why didn't I think of that!? Maybe I should bait it with you Sun, SEE IF THE FISH LIKE THE TASTE BETTER!" Taiyang shouted angrily before going back to baiting his hook and casting it out again.

"Just trying to help."

"Bait aside, you said you were doing recon?" Summer asked, "Did you happen to notice anything?"

"There are some fancy suits at one of the docks. Um… 21 I think."

"That's most likely the dock we're going to focus on. Can you do me a solid and sketch out a map of that dockyard, rooftops included. If you can, try to mark the roofs with a good view of the whole yard on the map."

"Sure thing. Got a pen?" Coco reached into her handbag, pulled out a pen, and held it out to Sun. He took it, gave the girls a two fingered salute, and took off into the docks again.

"While he's doing that, let's go check on that dock again," Summer said to Coco, "I want to try talking to one of the guys there. I still got some clout with the police after last year, so that might help."

"I don't think they'll be in a talking mood, but it couldn't hurt to try," Coco nodded and looked at Taiyang, "What about you Tai, you wanna come?"

"I'll keep fishing thank you, I hardly ever get a chance to do this nowadays." Coco shrugged at Taiyang's response and started walking away with Summer.

"So, just between us, do you think something will actually happen?" Coco asked adjusting her sunglasses.

"It would be better if nothing did happen, even if it would be boring," Summer answered with a sigh. "Honestly, I hope nothing happens, because I'm afraid of what we would find if something does you know?"

"We'll deal with whatever happens, I'm sure it won't be that difficult. I'll make some extra coffee for tonight just in case."

"Now that's a motivator."


Neo was not having a good day, though when you're on the mend from a particularly bad injury it's hard to have a good day. She spent her time recently lying in bed in the makeshift infirmary of the warehouse and stewing over what happened, anything to keep her mind off her wounds. It was during one of those times that Roman came to check on her.

"Hey kiddo, how are you doing?" he asked walking over to her bedside, his cane in one hand and a bowl of Neo's favorite ice cream in the other. Roman's question was answered by a very harsh glare from Neo that drew a chuckle from Roman. "Well enough that you hate that nickname again. Good, that's very good." Roman set the bowl down on the bedside table and grabbed a metal folding chair with his cane and dragged it closer to the bedside. He sat down on it, resting his weight against his cane, and asked, "So, how are you feeling?"

Neo rolled her eyes at the question and tried to sit up, which ended as she expected as pain shot through her abdomen and forced her back into lying down with a hiss. Now that she thought about it the bandages would probably need to be changed again soon.

"Still bad huh? Well, nothing for it other than to let you heal up. Rest, eat your fill, all that good stuff." Roman stood up and started to inspect his cane as he added, "I guess I'll take care of the freighter tomorrow by myself. Actually… has he contacted you at all? You two were kinda, sorta friends right?"

Neo knew who Roman meant and bitterly shook her head no.

"Hm, too bad. I guess he was serious about cutting ties. Oh well, I guess some of those White Fang mutts will have to make do. That actually reminds me of something; those masked thieves from the other night, one of them could teleport and fought with a dagger right?" Neo nodded. "When she did, did she happen to leave behind a trail of flower petals?" Neo nodded again and quirked an eyebrow curiously as Roman rubbed his chin. "That's… no good. Not at all."

Roman noticed Neo's look and shrugged lightly, "Oh it just reminds me of that squirt Huntress from a couple months back, same ability and everything. If that was her, then hopefully you managed to dissuade her from interfering further. I'll keep an eye open just in case though." Roman tapped his hat lightly with his cane and started walking away as he said, "Well, get your rest Neo. I'll need you in fighting form again soon enough."

Neo nodded in response, even though Roman couldn't see it, and slowly brought the ice cream bowl to her. She slowly started to eat, feeling just slightly better with every bite, at least until she saw Roman talking to one of those black eyed heralds at the door.

"Still on the mend, is she?" she asked in that smarmy, reverbed voice.

"It's only been a couple of days," Roman replied seriously and waved his cane vaguely in the air, "so leave her alone. I'll handle the docks by myself. Now if you'll excuse me, I have preparations to make." The herald let Roman step away and watched him walk away for a moment before laughing softly.

"Pride before the fall, Torchwick," she said and looked down at her hand, wiggling her fingers, "but you do you. This one has done quite well serving me recently. She has one last thing to do before retirement." The herald lowered her hand and glanced at Neo, holding a finger to her lips as she grabbed the doorknob. "Our little secret, ok?" she added and shut the door. Neo simply huffed in annoyance and took another bite of ice cream.


Sunday, the day the freighter was supposed to come into port, had finally arrived and Velvet was taking pictures with her team and Sun in the city.

"And done! Thanks for the photo Sun," Velvet said when she was done taking pictures and grabbed the box at her side.

"No problem," Sun said as he folded up and put away his staff, "but why did you need pictures of all our weapons?"

"It's how I fight," Velvet answered putting her camera inside the box, checking one last thing inside it before closing it and moving it behind her. "Granted I've been having a couple of problems with it recently, but I think I got the power problem under control… more or less."

"So what's the main problem this time?" Fox asked.

"Dust consumption. I'm going to have to figure that one out when I have more free time, but I'm pretty sure if I use it sparingly it shouldn't be a problem. Generously, I can do three."

"Then keep it at three and at your discretion," Coco said crossing her arms, "but if you can get away without using it then do that. Assuming something actually happens that is."

"Got it."

"You guys are saying a lot of things that aren't making sense to me," Sun said scratching his head and looked at Yatsuhashi to ask, "Is it always like this?"

"More or less," Yatsuhashi shrugged.

"…Awesome. I'm loving everything about you guys, seriously."

"You're a very laid back guy, aren't you Sun?" Coco asked.

"I like to think it's one of my best qualities," Sun said grinning and crossing his arms behind his head, "So are you not going to tell me how you fight Velvet?"

"Tell you what Sun, if you're lucky you'll see it for yourself. Think of it as something to look forward to."

"Sweet."

"You guys look like you're having fun." Sun and CFVY looked at the approaching Team STRQ, all in their combat outfits, and they exchanged waves as they gathered up. "Or has Sun been annoying you while you were waiting?" Summer asked.

"Hey!"

"Not really, Velvet was just using the time to get some quick pictures," Coco said turning fully to Summer, "We've actually been waiting on you. Where have you been?"

"Raven was being stubborn and wouldn't wake up," Taiyang said glancing at Raven, who simply shrugged in response.

"That I can believe," Coco nodded as Summer waved her team forward and the group started walking through the streets with her and Coco at the front. "So what's the plan today, hang out in the city or go to the docks now to check on the ship?"

"The freighter isn't supposed to be here until late afternoon and they'll probably finish unloading the cargo in the middle of the night," Summer replied crossing her arms, "so we should move in during the unloading. We'll set up the Circle of Confusion and keep an eye out during that time. Finger's crossed nothing happens, but it's going to be a long night regardless."

"I hate that name," Taiyang complained and pinched his nose.

"For the last time, we're not calling it the Rhombus of Terror! I chose the name, that's what we're sticking with."

"But it's not even a circle!"

"Oh god, shut up!" Coco interrupted pinching her nose under her sunglasses, "What matters is that we get this done, right?"

"Thank you!" Qrow agreed.

"I really like you guys," Sun said with a chuckle. "I think I'm really going to like my time here."

"Give it another week, and I think you'll change your mind," Velvet said shaking her head.

"And I think Raven's hair looks wonderful today!"

"FINALLY someone noticed!" Raven said loudly and started stroking her hair, "I've been using a new conditioner lately but nobody noticed… wait, WHAT THE SHIT!?" Raven, and everyone else, turned around once they realized the new voice didn't belong to anyone else in their group and saw it belonged to none other than Penny, happily trotting along behind them.

"Salutations friends! I hope you all are doing well today!" Penny said looking over the group.

"Penny? Where did you come from?" Summer asked walking up to the redhead.

"I was following a cat through the streets when I saw you all walking together, so I came to see you all! Are you having a nice day?"

"Uh…"

"So Summer," Coco said with a smirk and adjusting her sunglasses, "are you going to introduce us to your new friend?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Penny agreed and looked at Summer expectantly, who looked back in confusion for a moment before sighing.

"Right… everyone, this is Penny Polendina. I ran into her the other day and… I guess hit it off."

"Literally," Raven interrupted with her own smirk, "she literally ran into her."

"Yes, thank you Raven," Summer said rolling her eyes and trying to ignore CFVY's giggles. "Anyway, Penny, for the ones you haven't already met there's Sun Wukong, who I was chasing when I met you."

"Sup!" Sun waved.

"Oh, you found him and you're already friends! You're really good at that Summer!" Penny complimented excitedly.

"N-not really," Summer said looking away from Penny's sparkling eyes. "Anyway, lastly that's Team CFVY, my team's kinda sorta rivals in the academy."

"Kinda sorta nothing," Coco said shaking her head before walking up to Penny and pointing out her team, "I'm Coco, and that's Velvet, Fox, and Yatsuhashi. Don't worry, we're all far nicer than we look."

"Hey…" Velvet complained.

"Such cool names. It's a pleasure to meet all of you!" Penny held her hand out to Coco, who took and shook it even if she flinched a little at Penny's strength. Handshake done, Penny turned back to Summer not noticing Coco shake her hand and asked, "So what are we doing today Summer? Are we having lunch again?"

"Um, no Penny. I'm a little busy today, so I can't hang out with you today," Summer said, "We'll do something some other time."

"Why?"

"Because I already have plans with everyone else."

"What are they?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because… it's classified."

"As what?"

"As something I can't tell you!"

"Why?"

"I've only known this girl for a few minutes and I already love her," Coco said with a chuckle, "and she's cute too."

"Of course you'd think that," Fox said shaking his head along with Yatsuhashi while Velvet rolled her eyes.

"Look, Penny," Summer said pinching her nose, "what I'm doing may be dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Are you expecting a fight? Because I already told you I can fight."

"Wait, you can?" Velvet asked surprised.

"Mhmm. I'm-"

"NO! No catchphrases!" Raven interrupted angrily, stopping Penny mid salute.

"…Ok. But I can fight. You don't have to worry about me at all!" Summer stared at Penny, who stared back with pleading puppy dog eyes, and finally turned to the group stiffly.

"Tai, can you show Penny funny pictures? I need to talk to Coco real quick."

"Sure," Taiyang nodded and pulled out his scroll, "hey Penny, want to see my dog? Zwei is really cute."

"Really!? Dogs are cute!" Penny said and zipped over to Taiyang's side excitedly while Summer walked over and tugged Coco away from the group.

"I don't want to bring her along. I'm not joking when I said this could get dangerous," Summer whispered to her.

"But she said she can fight right? If it's as bad as you say, why not accept the extra help?" Coco asked in a whisper.

"I only have her word to go on that. Anyone can say they can fight without giving away their actual skill. Case in point, Jaune."

"Ok, fair point."

"Besides, I don't want to involve people who don't need to be involved. If she comes along and gets hurt, that's on me especially if it could have been avoided."

"Ok ok, but I'd feel bad just sending her away." Coco looked behind her at Penny, who was staring wide eyed as Taiyang scrolled through the pictures on his scroll. "She seems like the type to take that kind of thing very badly."

"Yeah." Summer put a hand over her mouth in though before snapping her fingers and gave Coco a toothy grin. "I have an idea. Just follow my lead." Coco raised an eyebrow at that but nodded in agreement. The two leaders rejoined the group and Summer clapped her hands to get Penny's attention. "We're done. And you know what Penny, you can help us out!"

"What?" Coco asked.

"What!?" Raven said forcefully.

"I can!?" Penny said excitedly and rushed to Summer and grabbed her hands, "Fabulous! What can I do?"

"Well Penny," Summer started taking her hands away from Penny and wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulder, "All of us are going to be doing something very important later, and important things need a lot of preparation right?"

"Of course!"

"Right, but wouldn't you know it," Summer snapped her fingers, "I only just now realized we forgot to get some very important supplies! And I don't think we have the time to find those now!"

"We did?" Velvet asked looking at Yatsuhashi who shrugged.

"That's awful!" Penny said pulling away from Summer and spinning around to face her, "You really need to make sure you're better prepared!"

"Which is why," Summer clapped her hands together and pointed them at Penny, "you being here is exactly the boon we needed! You can go find those supplies and get them to us while we get everything else started! Can you?"

Penny stood there, mouth slightly open in thought, before nodding and pumping her fists in front of her, "Of course I can! I used to do shopping trips for my father all the time!"

"That's perfect! Now I need you to take this Lien," Summer said taking a Lien card out and putting it in Penny's hands, looking serious for a brief moment as she said, "Don't worry about paying me back, seriously." She switched back to a happy expression as she continued, "Take that Lien, go to every single shop you can find, and get me some Elbow Grease!"

"Ah, I get it," Coco whispered and shared a grin with Raven and Qrow.

"Elbow Grease?" Penny repeated in confusion, "But isn't that just a colloquial term for hard work with your hands?"

"Yes it is, but it's also a very old brand of weapon polish," Summer explained. "Like the ads used to say, 'a bit of Elbow Grease will make any weapon shine!' It's so old in fact that the company that made it actually went out of business years before any of us were born, but if you look in novelty shops you're sure to find a can somewhere. You… have heard of it, right?"

"…Not in the slightest," Penny answered shaking her head, "but I trust you! Don't worry friend, I'll find it!"

"Oh I'm sure you'll find it," Coco added, once again glad her sunglasses hid her eyes as she glanced away from Penny, "It's well worth it too. My… grandfather used it all the time and it worked wonders."

"See, so I'm counting on you Penny."

"But… where do I find you when I found it?"

"Tell you what Penny, I'll give you my number so you can call me when you found it. Not a moment before though, got it?" Summer said pulling out her scroll.

"Understood." Penny took out her own scroll and exchanged numbers with Summer. When that was done she put it away and gave Summer a salute. "Well, I'm off to get those supplies!"

"While you're out, get some headlight fluid too," Raven said failing to hide her smirk.

"…Ok, but why?"

"It's a secret Penny," Qrow answered, "but very important to what we're doing!"

"Elbow Grease and… headlight fluid… I understand! I'll return soon!" Penny gave another salute before setting her face in determination and turning and running down the street, her arms stiffly behind her, and disappeared around a corner. Summer nodded and turned to the group.

"Well that should keep her busy for a few hours," she said with a nod.

"I feel kind of bad tricking her like that," Yatsuhashi said staring at the corner Penny went around, "Will she be alright?"

"She'll be fine," Sun said waving a hand, "We pulled the same trick on Scarlet a couple of times and he turned out fine. Angry, but fine."

"Besides, by the time she realizes what happened, we'll be done at the docks one way or another," Summer added.

"Are you sure?" Taiyang asked, "She is the same girl who didn't know what a mango was."

"She'll be fine!" Summer said through gritted teeth before sighing and started leading the group away. "Enough about that. Since it got brought up, let's actually make sure we have everything for tonight. You got enough Dust Velvet?"

"Yeah, I should be fine," Velvet replied, "but can we get some drinks? Coco makes the coffee a little too strong."

"Sure thing, I know how you get with coffee," Coco replied with a nod.


The day passed by quickly and the group finished any preparations they needed, more than once running across Penny as she continued her snipe hunt with all the seriousness you'd expect from an Atlas citizen. Soon they converged on the docks, the SDC freighter already docked and unloading its cargo as they took positions on three different rooftops around the dock. It had been decided the day before during recon to split into groups of three on each one: Summer, Coco, and Sun on the northernmost roof, Qrow, Raven, and Fox on the southernmost, and Taiyang, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi on the last one to the east directly facing the waterfront. They settled in and watched as the dock workers and private security worked their respective jobs.

And they waited when they were done and the dock workers left for the night hours later.

And waited when the security left, which was very suspicious to them.

At around 9:30, Sun was bored.

"Uuuuuuuuugh…" he groaned out lying on the roof staring up at the Shattered Moon. He turned his head to look at Summer and Coco, who was busy sharing a coffee thermos and passing the time with Amity Arena. "Has anything happened yet?"

"Nope," Coco replied looking up from her scroll briefly, "the crates are still there and nobody is around. I'll put some Deathstalkers here."

"Oh you bitch," Summer muttered and looked at Sun and added, "Welcome to the harsh reality of stake outs Sun. Nine times out of ten nothing will happen, and if something does happen you won't be ready for it."

"Fantastic," Sun muttered rolling onto his stomach and groaning in boredom.

"Sun, if you're going to be like this all night, who don't you go do something productive."

"Yeah, good idea," Sun agreed and pushed himself up to his feet and started walking away, "I'll go steal some food."

"Excuse me, steal?" Coco asked tipping her glasses down.

"And we already have snacks," Summer added.

"I'm from Vacuo and I'm hungry. What do you want from me?" Sun asked holding his arms open.

"Well, since you're offering," Summer grinned and set her scroll down and pressed the earpiece in her ear. "Hey guys, Sun is making a food run. Anyone got a suggestion?"

"H-hey, I never said-"

"Sandwiches!" Velvet replied happily (and loudly) back and Coco couldn't help but chuckle as she saw Velvet hold a fist in the air from her rooftop.

"Sandwiches do sound good right now, since we skipped dinner," Fox agreed.

"Send him to Sam and Wade's," Raven added, "They're open late and their sandwiches are pretty good."

"I'm down for that," Taiyang agreed followed by a chorus of similar agreements. Sun, having suddenly found himself the center of the situation, stared flatly at Summer and Coco as they grinned back at him.

"Don't worry Sun, we'll give you the money to cover it," Summer said placatingly as the comms filled with people shouting their order.

"But we will expect our change back," Coco added.

"Well of course, that's only natural."

"Fine, fine," Sun said and took out his scroll and pressed his earpiece down to add, "Hey idiots, shut up for a second! I can't get everyone's order if you're all shouting! Now Raven, what do you want?"

"Actually, will you be ok paying for your team Coco?" Summer asked looking at Coco.

"Why, because of Velvet?" Coco asked in response and Summer nodded, "she's actually been getting better about that. You remember that gelatin that Raven sold her?"

"Oh god, she was serious about that? I thought it was just a joke. Was it really 200 pounds?"

"I don't know, I didn't weigh it. I don't have a reason to doubt Raven though. Anyway, surprise surprise, it turns out trying to eat almost double your body weight in gelatin isn't good for you. She had a bad stomach ache for a good while and that curbed her appetite hard. I know I shouldn't be happy about that but the savings to our food budget has been great for the last couple of weeks."

"You know I can hear you, right Coco?" Velvet asked.

"Well I have the right to complain when half of our budget goes right to your stomach Velvet," Coco replied vaguely glaring at Velvet's direction.

"Slander! It's a quarter at most!"

"You're missing the point Velvet," Fox said over the comms.

"Ok, that's almost it," Sun said mostly to himself as he moved in front of Summer and Coco, "What do you want Summer?"

"Huh? Oh right, sandwiches. You're going to Sam and Wade's right?"

"Thanks for the reminder, where is that?"

"You've got a scroll, look it up." Summer missed Sun's eye roll when she closed her eyes in thought and nodded. "I'll take a number 10 with no mayonnaise."

"And I'll have a 7 with extra jalapenos," Coco said as she started digging through her handbag for her Lien. She glanced at Summer just kind of staring at her as she took out a card and added, "What, I can handle spicy stuff every now and then."

"Considering your love of exotic coffee, not surprising," Summer replied and held out a Lien card that Sun took along with Coco's. "You sure you got everything Sun?"

"Yes Mom, I got it all. I'll be back in a bit." Sun gave the girls a wave and dashed past them to the opposite edge of the roof and jumped off it with a flip.

"I give him crap, but it's nice of him to do that after being put on the spot like he was."

"True. Back on topic, who are you expecting to show up here if it isn't the White Fang? Local criminals?"

"Yeah, specifically a man named Roman Torchwick."

"Wasn't he on the news a couple of months ago?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"Yeah I remember that. He was the guy with the bad hair and the tacky coat right?" Coco asked and Summer nodded. "Yeah I remember him. He tried to rob a Dust shop but was stopped by…" A lightbulb clicked on in Coco's mind and she looked at Summer casually scratching her cheek and lowered her sunglasses to better stare at the girl.

"Yeah…" Summer said.

"Huntresses that chose to remain anonymous," Coco finished and shook her head, "I should have known you were involved somehow."

"It's not like I try to get involved in criminal conspiracies every time I go out. That could have ended a whole lot worse if Glynda hadn't shown up."

"And you got to see Goodwitch in action? Lucky." Coco pushed her glasses back up and asked, "So what makes you think he's involved in this?"

"Tai and I got into a fight with an Ice Cream girl who was retrieving some of his stolen goods. That happening just days before a big Dust shipment was supposed to come in? Things are just… fitting together a little too well to be coincidence." Summer sighed and scooted a little closer to the edge of the roof to look over the shipping containers. "I hope the White Fang doesn't show up, that would complicate things way too much."

"One way or the other, we'll be able to handle it. So just relax a little, stress is bad for your skin."

"I'll try."

"Want to go another round in AA?" Coco asked holding up her scroll.

"I'm good. I'll just keep watch for a bit. You got a light though?"

"No. I thought you quit."

"One a month or so is not a habit."

"That's what they always say."


"Um… maybe this will be better?" Velvet wondered to herself as she reordered the pictures she had taken earlier again. "How about this order: York and Soleil, Sun's staff, and Omen. Do you guys think that'll be a better order in a fight?"

"I think this is the third time you've reordered those pictures in the last half hour," Taiyang answered looking at Velvet while Yatsuhashi stared intently on the shipyard. "You should relax a little, it'll be alright."

"I suppose," Velvet said putting her camera away and sighing, "I guess I'm just anxious and going a little stir crazy. Something should have happened by now."

"That describes the majority of the last year of my life," Taiyang said with a roll of his eyes, "Cop shows are nothing but lies when it comes to stakeouts."

"True, I guess," Velvet nodded and crossed her legs, "So who do you think will show up?"

"Heads up guys, sandwiches are here," Qrow said over the comms.

"Oh, never mind that! Sandwiches!" Velvet started bouncing excitedly and shot a quick glare at Yatsuhashi when he chuckled a little. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Yatsuhashi answered just as Sun jumped onto their roof with a plastic bag in hand and another on his tail.

"Sup losers?" he asked as he walked over and handed Velvet the bag in his hand. "There's your food and everything is right. Checked it myself."

"Thanks Sun!" Velvet said happily as she dug through the bag and Sun walked away and hopped off the rooftop onto a nearby light pole. He then leapt to another one and then onto the roof that Summer and Coco were on, the latter waving at him as he approached.

"So did I miss anything?" Sun asked moving the bag from his tail to his hand and started handing out sandwiches and change to both girls.

"Nope, still just as quiet as when you left," Summer answered as she pocketed her change and unwrapped the sandwich. "I don't like how this feels. The calm before the storm," she added and took a bite.

"I feel the same way," Coco agreed leaning forward to better look over the dock.

"Hopefully we can eat before anything happens," Sun said sitting down next to Summer and holding up a sandwich, "this guy sounded good after all!"

"Heads up, we got an airship coming from the north!" Qrow said over the comms just as Summer, Coco, and Sun were blasted by a rush of air coming from an airship that passed over their heads. The searchlight of the airship ran along the dockyard, occasionally going over some of the group, but the pilot apparently didn't actually notice them since the ship moved to land in an open space in the dock.

"Ugh, it's always something," Summer said reaching back to her pouch to pull out her binoculars.

"Tell me about it. It's not going to stop me from eating," Sun replied and took a bite of his dinner.

"Oh by all means," Summer said holding her binoculars up to her eyes and taking another bite of her own sandwich. The airship, a Bullhead now that Summer got a better look at it, landed and the side doors opened to let out a group of people in white and black uniforms. They were all armed, either with sabers or firearms, and all of them had masks covering their faces. That, plus the occasional glimpse of horns or a tail poking through the uniforms, and the bright red insignia of an angry wolf head in front of three claw marks all but sealed their identities. "Shit, it is the White Fang."

"I'd recognize those uniforms anywhere," Velvet added, "I'm going to start taking pictures."

"Alright, grab the tow cables!" One of the Fang shouted and several of the others moved to drag tow lines out from under the Bullhead.

"Looks like you were right on the money Sun," Coco said.

"Guess so. Bunch of freaks," Sun replied through a mouthful of sandwich.

"This doesn't make any sense," Summer said lowering her binoculars and shaking her head, "The White Fang never needed this much Dust. And what about-"

"What is the hold up!?" Everyone, White Fang and Hunter, looked at the Bullhead as one Roman Torchwick walked out gesturing around the dock with his cane. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous group of criminals right now, so let's pick up the pace!"

"Well there's your answer Summer," Raven said, "you're latest archnemesis is on stage."

"But that makes even less sense!" Summer said lifting her binoculars back up and watched Roman walk down the airship's ramp, "Why is he here with the White Fang? Why aren't they lynching him? Something is going on here."

"What else is new?" Coco asked and gestured with her sandwich, "The real question is how big it could possibly be to get those two to work together."

"Big enough to be bad news."

"I just got a picture of Torchwick and the White Fang together," Velvet interrupted, "That should help out with any investigative questions later."

"We've got another airship coming in too," Yatsuhashi added, "Just how many are coming?"

"However many there are, we can handle them," Taiyang said no doubt massaging his knuckles as a second Bullhead pulled over the dock and opened its side doors. The White Fang members that jumped out to the ground seemed to scurry away from the ship as fast as they could, their weapons half trained on the ship as much as anywhere else. "What's got them so spooked?"

"Probably some kind of badass lieutenant or something. I know I get scared when Raven is in a bad mood," Qrow said with a quiet chuckle.

"Oh fuck you Qrow! I'll show you a bad mood!" Raven replied angrily.

"What is that?" Velvet asked focusing her camera on the interior of the Bullhead as it slowly moved to the door, "There is someone in there, but I can't quite-"

Velvet's unasked question was answered when that 'someone' fell out of the ship, did a front flip, and landed feet first cratering the pavement where it landed. All the hunters stopped what they were doing and focused on the sudden noise, Summer in particular focused on it with her binoculars just as it extended its arms.

Or rather, tentacles.

Summer's eyes widened as it stood up, its tentacles wiggling around slightly, and slowly moved out of the crater. It was wearing a black kimono with red trim that only went down to its thighs, leaving its bone white skin exposed down to its feet, which undoubtedly made a lot of noise due to the wooden sandals. Summer barely had the time to take in the blades attached to the soles and moved back up to its head, taking in the long black hair and cat ears topping its head. It turned its face to look at something, decidedly female in looks, and Summer got a good look at the metal mask decorated to look like an Oni's mouth that covered that covered the lower half of its face. More importantly she saw its eyes, almost entirely black save for its red pupils.

"Oh shit!" Summer muttered and barely managed to not drop her binoculars as she covered her mouth in shock.

"What the hell…" Sun started.

"-Is that?" Coco finished actually taking off her sunglasses. 'I hope Velvet gets a picture of that.'

"What's going on?" Fox asked confused.

"Sum, is that what I think that is?" Qrow asked, the sheer weight of his words felt over the comms.

Summer, for her part, was on the verge of a full on panic attack at this sudden turn of events. She forced herself to take a deep breath and looked through her binoculars again. "Yeah, that's a Creature of Grimm." 'A General of Grimm at that. Which one is that again? Hierophant? What's it doing here?'

"I'm sorry, what!?" Fox added.

"I've never seen a Grimm like that!" Sun said pointing at it as it moved through the containers, any White Fang nearby scurrying away from it to somewhere else.

"Neither have I," Summer said half truthfully. Seeing the real deal was so much different from just seeing a drawing of it on a computer.

"This changes Sum. We have to move in now," Coco said.

"What?" Summer asked looking at Coco as her eyes bored into hers and she pointed into the dockyard.

"It's one thing to deal with criminals and the White Fang, but a Creature of Grimm is another entirely. We cannot let that thing get out into the city! If someone sees it they'll panic, and if they panic-"

"It'll bring in more Grimm, I know," Summer said shaking her head, "but we'd be going in blind on this. We have no idea what it's capable of, and I don't like the look of those tentacles."

"When has that ever stopped you?"

"I never said it was stopping me, just that we need to be very careful about this. We still need to worry about Roman and the White Fang as well." Summer put away her binoculars and clasped her fingers in front of her to think things over while Hierophant moved out of view.

"We're ready to move if you order it Summer," Taiyang said seriously.

"Yeah. I want a stab at that bitch." Raven added gripping the handle of her sword tightly. Coco and Sun glanced at Summer as she thought for a few more seconds until she nodded and pressed her earpiece.

"Everyone get ready and move to the battle positions we talked about. We're moving in." Summer stood up and started pointing at various points around the docks. "CFVY, Sun, I want you to focus on rounding up Torchwick and the Fang. Leave the Grimm to my team."

"What, are you crazy!?" Coco asked standing up.

"Coco please, just trust me on this!" Summer and Coco stared at each other for a moment until Coco rolled her eyes and put on her sunglasses.

"Fine, but the moment we're done we're coming to help. Got that?"

"Got it," Summer nodded and lifted her hood over her head as she looked at Sun, still eating his sandwich. He stopped mid-chew as their eyes met and he shrugged, ate the last of his sandwich in one bite, and gave her a thumbs up with both his hands. "Ok then, is everyone ready?" Summer asked and got a chorus of 'yes' over the comms along with a nod from Coco. "Alright, let's move out. I'll try and get closer to that Grimm to keep an eye on it. Go!"

With that everyone scattered to their respective places, Coco and Sun going in one direction together while Summer focused on a nearby stack of containers. She took a running jump and blinked over to them, landing in a crouch to minimize any noise she made, and rushed over to jump onto another stack of containers. Once there she moved to the edge in a crouch and carefully glanced over the edge to see Hierophant looking over a couple of White Fang attaching cables to a container. Summer lay down flatly and watched as Hierophant started walking to Torchwick shouting at another White Fang holding a spool of wire.

'Alright, why are you here?'


"No no you idiot, this isn't a leash! What good are you?" Roman asked beratingly to the White Fang member in front of him. Even though his face was blank to go with his mask, Roman could feel the glare being shot his way from him and couldn't help but smirk at it. At least until he back up suddenly, his face fearful. Roman, curious at the change of demeanor, turned around and damn near crapped himself when he saw Creature of Grimm walking toward him. As feminine as it was he still started to raise his cane to fire at it when one of its tentacles shot out and grabbed the cane, keeping the tip pointed at the ground.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," it said in a voice that sounded familiar to Roman, though the simple fact that a Grimm talked was more than enough to render him frozen and speechless. It walked closer, the tentacle shortening as it did, and stopped next to Roman to lean forward to look the White Fang in the eye. "And he is right, it's not a leash. Handle it carefully and attach it to one of the containers nice and tight. NOW." He nodded rapidly and ran away as fast as he could, which caused the Grimm to chuckle and look at Roman. "See, sometimes all you need is a little authority to get them to do what you want. Understand?"

"Uh… right," Roman answered nodding dumbly. The Grimm let go of his cane and started walking away again, leaving Roman to stare at it for a moment. 'It? She? Oh whatever.' "So um…" he started, which got the Grimm's attention. He nearly flinched under its gaze as he continued, "Have we… met before?"

The Grimm blinked a couple of times before laughing and touching a tip of a tentacle to its mask. "Ah yes, pardon me. I forgot that every time we spoke before it was through one of my Heralds. I'm sure you remember those times at least, like yesterday when you checked on your little dog?" Roman had to think for a moment before he realized what it meant and his face paled.

"You mean…"

"Yes Torchwick, the stories are true. My heralds are able to talk to me, and I in turn to them. I am the guardian of Menagerie and the Faunus. You however can call me Kuroshara."

"O…kay…" Roman answered when she was done. 'I wasn't aware that they worshipped a Grimm. Imagine that.' "Well, if I had known someone like you was on the other end of those talks, I would have-"

"You would have what?" Kuroshara asked lowering her stance slightly, "You would have 'been more respectful'? Pfah, I care more for results and not respect from lesser creatures like you." She then straightened up and started walking again, her eyes closed and a tentacle held up to her mask as he laughed, "Besides, your crass attitude was a breath of fresh air for me. If only you knew the personalities I have to deal with."

"I'll… leave that to my imagination," Roman said to himself as he tentatively followed Kuroshara. Along the way he saw a couple White Fang just standing around and shouted at them, "Get back to work you mutts! We're not going to be alone for much longer!"

'Cinder certainly knows how to pick them,' Kuroshara thought to herself even as the White Fang scurried at Roman's words. She stopped in front of a container and broke the locks on it with a quick swipe of a tentacle before stabbing the door with both of them and forced it open. She walked in, Roman still a ways behind her and still radiating fear, and forced open one of the transport crates with her tentacles to inspect the Dust crystals encased safely in transport foam. She picked up a Burn crystal and walked out to hold it up to the light of a lamppost and smiled to herself.

"Leave it to the SDC to give only the best. 'The finest of them all,' right?" She casually tossed the crystal to Roman, who caught it and stowed it away in a pocket of his coat as he walked into the container to grab more. Kuroshara laughed and crossed her tentacles as she settled in to just soak up the negativity that Roman and the White Fang were giving off. 'I owe Weiss first dibs on my next raid. And I suppose it wasn't worth my time coming here myself. Still I should use this to-"

She paused in her thoughts and her ears flicked around when she noticed something. There was the standard fear that everyone gave off whenever she showed up in person, but she let out a small "Hm…" when she felt small traces of other emotions: anxiousness, small specks of fear, and one particularly bottled up case of rage. She scrunched her eyes up so she could feel them out, finding them all spread out around the dockyard, but one in particular was very close by and slightly above her.

"I have a question for you," Kuroshara asked after a moment and uncrossed her tentacles.

"What is it, I'm kind of in the middle of something here," he replied looking up briefly from his rummaging.

"Do you happen to know what species of Faunus you brought here?" she asked opening her eyes and glancing over at Roman.

"Why the hell would I know that?"

"Humor me."

"I don't know, I maybe saw a warthog, a couple dogs, you if you count."

"But no Rodentia?"

"Don't know, don't care. Why?"

"It's funny, because I don't recall you bringing any with you, and yet I still smell a rat." The spike of fear when she said that felt great, if she were being honest.

Roman stopped his rummaging and grabbed his cane as he walked out looking around. "You mean…?"

"Oh yes. In fact, it's right THERE!" She shouted and stabbed a tentacle at the top of a nearby stack of containers. Just before it made contact a burst of white petals shot out from on top of it with a white cloaked girl at the top of the petals swinging her arms in a panic. Kuroshara swung her other tentacle at her only for her to shoot down to the ground in another burst of petals landing in a handstand. She pushed off the ground and flew backwards to land on her feet near the container stack and drew a dagger, which switched into a pistol as she drew and aimed at Kuroshara.

"Freeze!" the girl shouted. Kuroshara withdrew her tentacles, the sound of tearing metal filling the air as she did so, and took in the Huntress.

'A white cloak? Is she the same Huntress Ruby talked about?' Kuroshara thought and smiled widely under her mask. 'Interesting!'


"Summer!"

"She's still alive Coco, she'll be fine! Focus on getting in position!"

"The White Fang are closing in on her."

"I'm changing course to help her."

"…Fine. Don't you dare die Summer!"

Summer did her best to block out the chatter in her ear and keep her focus squarely on the General in front of her. Still, no matter how calm a face she tried to put on, there was no point in denying that she was terrified. It's red eyes brought back memories of Summer's close call with Death not even a few months ago. Fear wouldn't keep her alive though, so Summer kept her breathing measured and her hands as steady as she could.

"Well hey there Squirt! Fancy seeing you here!" Roman said not at all helping Summer with her disposition as he walked into a better position, gesturing wildly with his cane. "You really can't stay out of my business, can you?"

"I like causing trouble," Summer replied flitting her eyes briefly to Roman before returning to the Hierophant, "especially for people like you."

"In position at your nine Summer," Taiyang said over the comms.

"You know this girl Torchwick?" Hierophant asked looking at Roman, its body still poised and ready to attack if Summer moved at the wrong time.

"Oh she's just some Huntress who's been causing trouble for me for a while now," Roman answered. Hierophant chuckled at the answer and looked back at Summer before lowering itself into a crouch.

"So you're the one who hurt his dog? I can't help but applaud the effort, detrimental as it is to me."

"So the Ice Cream girl was one of your underlings, huh Torchwick?" Summer asked.

"Oh, Neo would be angry to hear you say that Squirt," Roman replied waving an index finger in a 'no-no' manner.

"Thanks for the name. I'll be sure not to use it from now on."

"Fox here, ready."

"Velvet is ret to go!"

"Hide behind false bravado all you want Huntress," Hierophant said standing up as White Fang soldiers finally started coming into the area. It spread its tentacles out wide and continued, "I can feel the fear coming off of you as thick as any incense. You are well aware of how bad the situation is for you, and I'm just eating it all up!"

'Freak,' Summer thought narrowing her eyes at the Grimm as Qrow gave his ready call, somewhere out to Summer's right. Summer took a second to glance around at all the White Fang soldiers surrounding her, their sabers and stock pistols and SMGs at the ready. She returned her gaze to Hierophant just as a flash of red jumped onto the container stack behind it and Roman.

"I'm here Sum. I'll hop in if things go sideways," Raven said not a second after. Hierophant's cat ears twitched a little and it laughed to itself as it closed its eyes.

"Well Squirt, as fun as this reunion was," Roman said walking forward and aiming his cane at Summer, "I have places to go and Dust to steal. So why don't we just end this now?" No sooner had the end of his cane popped open did Raven jump down from her stack of containers and landed behind Roman. She delivered a swift kick to the back of his knee, which knocked him to his knees to his surprise, grabbed the collar of his coat, and yanked him backwards as she pressed the edge of her sword to his throat. "For fucks sake!"

"How about you put that down before you get a new hole somewhere bad, hm?" Raven said pulling on Roman's coat a little more and forcing him back onto his feet.

"And there's the other one," Hierophant said and turned to Raven along with a few of the White Fang soldiers. It opened her eyes and waved a tip of a tentacle scoldingly as it added, "You're not very smart, are you? I'll give you an A for dramatic timing though."

"Nice that this is so entertaining for you!" Roman said angrily as Raven moved to grab his free arm and force it behind his back, giving a small yelp of pain.

"It very much is to me. Now drop the weapon!" Raven growled out and pressed her sword harder against Roman's throat.

"Alright, easy easy," Roman said and aimed his cane away from Summer. Raven took the lull to look at Hierophant and really take it in, the Grimm doing the same thing if the way it looked at Raven said anything.

"Where… do I know you from?" it wondered aloud squinting at Raven.

"Yatsuhashi, ready."

"Sorry bitch, we've never met before," Raven replied and put a bit more pressure on Roman's arm to keep him pacified. "I'd remember a face that ugly." Hierophant blinked at that and chuckled to itself again, a tentacle moving under its chin.

"Oh, so you're the rageful one. I think I know where I know you from now. Not that it matters in the slightest."

"You pricks just love to rattle on, don't you?"

"Tell me about it," Roman muttered only for Raven to twist his arm a little more eliciting a yipe of pain.

"I wasn't talking to you! But since you have my attention, why don't you explain why you're working with the Fang?"

"We got more airships coming in!" Taiyang said suddenly, "Thing are about to get really busy."

"It's just a working partnership! If I could get away with doing what I need to without them, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"And that would be?"

"Secret," Roman replied and flinched only a little when Raven pressed her sword harder against his neck.

"What does it matter if he tells you or not?" Hierophant asked in amusement as it crossed its tentacles. "You can kill him, there will be others. Stop us here, and we'll just pop up somewhere else. You and your comrades can't hope to make a dent in what we're doing. That's the beauty in the White Fang and the Faunus: We always get. Back. Up!"

"Raven's right, it does like to ramble," Coco chimed over the comms, her voice filled with annoyance, "I'm ready to break this party up if you need it Sum."

'Where the hell is Sun!?' Summer wondered as her arms ached from the tension. The roar of approaching airships started to fill the air and Summer knew that someone had to fire the first shot soon if she didn't want things to go bad. She almost scoffed as Hierophant stretched its tentacles out and did a small twirl.

"Don't none of you worry though Huntresses. You're deaths will serve a greater purpose, so take solace in that knowledge," it said.

"We'll see about that Hierophant," Summer said, not realizing she had whispered it out until she saw Hierophant stop dead in its tracks with a twitch of its cat ears. It then ever so slowly turned to look at Summer with wide eyes.

"What… did you call me?" it asked flatly. Summer didn't answer, opting instead to readjust her aim, and Hierophant glared angrily at her and turned fully to her. With her posture low and her tentacles held out wide, Hierophant screamed, "What did you call me Huntress!? ANSWER ME!"

"…Coco, break it up," Summer said.

"Gotcha," Coco answered and the air was filled with the whine of Coco's gun revving up. A second later the pavement started exploding from the gunfire. White Fang soldiers scattered under the hail if they weren't thrown airborne from the shots exploding as they hit the ground. In the chaos of gunfire and surprised shouts, Hierophant calmly glanced in the direction of the gunfire and held up a tentacle to block it from hitting its head.

That was exactly the opening Summer had been hoping for and Blinked at the Grimm, knocking it back slightly. Summer quickly braced against its body and grabbed its hair to hold its head still as she pressed the Soleil's barrel to its forehead and fired. She kept firing, the cracks from her pistol mixing into a cacophony with Coco's deeper machine gun and Hierophant's roars of anger as it tried to fight Summer off, until she clicked empty. She spun her gun back into a dagger and stabbed it into Hierophant's throat, yelling at the exertion as she dragged it to split its throat open.

With a spray of black blood Summer pushed against Hierophant and jumped away from it with a flip. She took the surroundings in quickly once she landed and darted to her left where there was fewer White Fang. She Blinked past the soldiers that were there and turned around when she landed to see Hierophant as it recovered from her attack, let out a rage filled roar that sounded all too familiar to Summer, and charged at her. It bowled over any soldiers unfortunate enough to get in its way while Summer charged her Blink as much as she could in the little time she had and Blinked to her right. She moved just as Hierophant slammed into a container and continued the chase.

From her perch, Coco stopped firing and pressed her earpiece down. "Everyone move in now! Don't let any escape if you can help it!" Coco shouted and watched as Qrow ran off to join Summer. She nodded and collapsed her minigun into her handbag and went to chase after a squad of White Fang with Fox.

"Well, that escalated quickly," Roman said and smirked when he noticed Raven release her grip ever so slightly. "How about a bit more?" he asked and fired his cane, sending a very surprised Raven flying and sending a plume of flame into the sky.


Penny was in a dilemma, and only now she was realizing just how dire it was considering her promise.

"Summer never actually told me where she was going tonight," she said aloud and started tapping her chin in thought. "Did she… deliberately not tell me?" Penny thought on that for a second before shaking her head and smiling to herself. "That can't be it. We're friends! She probably just forgot is all. Like how Father forgets things all the time."

Penny reached into her dress pocket and pulled out her scroll, about to open it before freezing in nervousness. "Should I call her? I haven't actually done what she said I should do, but I do want to know where she is. Oh what to do?"

Her train of thought, along with several others around her, was interrupted by an explosion and a pillar of flame and smoke coming from the docks. While everyone else ran for their lives or called the police, Penny stared for a moment before nodding, putting away her scroll, and running toward the docks.

Summer could wait at least a few minutes longer.