Doctor Oobleck was buzzing around his office, half the time checking a variety of charts he had on hand and the other half examining the device that had been attached to the malfunctioning node. He'd only have it for a short time before the Atlas technicians came back for it again, but as long as its secrets got cracked he didn't particularly care how it happened. He mused over his thoughts over another cup of coffee when someone knocked on his door. "It's open," he called and turned to the door as Maribelle walked in. "Ms. Sinopia, how may I help you?"

"I wanted to look at the thing again if you had it," she said. Her eyes widened when she saw the device on Oobleck's desk and dashed over to look at it. "Aw sweet, you do have it! Any luck with it yet?"

"Not particularly. The leading theory that myself and the General's men have is that it works more as an interface than having a purpose of its own," Oobleck said and zoomed over to a chart, "if we had another data point we might be able to pin down what it does. As it is right now, it's like finding a needle in hay. Dreadful."

"Makes sense from what I saw. And the insignia?" Maribelle tapped the 'M' and glanced over at Oobleck when he appeared at her side.

"It's ringing a bell, but it's a distant one. I'm sure it'll come to me eventually." Another sip of coffee and Oobleck was off to another part of his office while Maribelle stared at the device.

"I know I've seen that insignia before. Mantle maybe? No, all that stuff got folded into Atlas when it was formed. Younger than Atlas but still pretty old? This is going to bug me all day." Maribelle grabbed one of the many cups of coffee on Oobleck's desk and took a drink while Oobleck watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"You seem particularly interested in this little mystery," he said and zoomed behind his desk.

"I would have thought a historian like you would know the appeal to a mystery. Mine are just more modern than yours."

"Watch it," Oobleck warned, peeking over the top of his glasses, and Maribelle laughed.

"Sorry. I guess I am getting really into this. I just love this kind of thing; mysterious technology, poking around it, trying to figure out how it works. If the Huntress thing doesn't work out, I might go into this instead." Maribelle took another drink of coffee and bent over to look at the device again, her expression going back to thoughtful. "Maybe another kingdom? I don't think Mistral was working on something like this though… Vale maybe?"

Oobleck took another sip of coffee and looked down at the device thoughtfully as well. 'She may be onto something there… where have I seen this before?'


All around the world are ruins of Old Kingdoms that had fallen either to Grimm or to outside problems that the Grimm only compounded. The greater ones still have architectural marvels that have lasted to the modern day. The closest one to Beacon is a (possible) trade outpost between the Emerald Forest and a vast plain that eventually leads to Forever Fall. A security node for the Beacon Defense Grid is also situated here, and today it is malfunctioning.

"Ah! Another day, another node in need of repairs!" Professor Port said over the comms, "I hope you students are ready! It'll probably be crawling with Creatures of Grimm out for blood! Ah, if only I could be out there with you, then I could show you the essence of a manly Huntsman! Ahahahaha!"

Team CFVY had never been more glad to be on their own for a mission. The comms cut out and they all shared a big sigh before they got moving. They hopped off a short cliff into the ruins proper and Coco took a moment to adjust her beret and sigh.

"Can someone explain again why we were the ones called in to do bitch work?" she asked.

"We're all under punishment because you all stormed into Ozpin's office thinking he'd punish just me or something," Velvet answered.

"Oh yeah. Worth it." Yatsuhashi and Fox echoed Coco's sentiments, causing Velvet to shake her head with a smile before she ran ahead to a balcony overlooking the area. She leaned out over the edge to look around better. "So where's this thing again?" Coco asked as she and the boys stopped behind Velvet.

"Um… it's over there," Velvet answered and pointed at a hill to the right, "We should be able to get there if we just stick to the path."

"Too high to just jump and walk?" Fox asked. Velvet looked down at the ground far below and leaned back from the ledge.

"You're welcome to try," she said, looking back at Fox and gesturing at the ledge.

"Nah, I'm good. Just pointing out the easy way."

"Well, hard way it is then," Coco said and led the way to a path close to the balcony. They had made it halfway through when they heard the telltale growls of Grimm ahead of them. "There they are. Took them a while to show up." Yatsuhashi moved ahead and peered down into the next clearing.

"Three Boarbatusks near that watchtower," he said and pointed them out. The Boarbatusks were milling around for the moment, though that would probably change the second they went down there. "Any ideas?"

"The best bet would probably just to get them to charge into a wall and kill them when they're dazed." Coco looked back at Velvet and Fox, who both nodded after a moment.

"We can do that," Velvet said and lowered her stance a little. Yatsuhashi drew his sword and prepared to jump while Fox readjusted his grip on his tonfa.

"Ok then, let's do it." Coco nodded at Yatsuhashi who jumped off the cliff. Coco went after, followed by Fox and Velvet, and the four spread out in a line as the first Boarbatusk noticed them. It growled, alerting its brothers to CFVY's presence, and rolled up into a ball to charge at them. The team braced themselves and spread out a little to gauge which of them it was going for. That turned out to be Velvet who, due to a mistimed jump as the Boarbatusk approached her, found herself running on top of it as it continued to roll around the clearing.

"Velvet!" Yatsuhashi yelled.

"I'm fine, I got this! I totally got this!" Velvet shouted as she managed to maintain her balance on the Boarbatusk. Since she was managing to hold her own for the moment, the rest of the team focused on the other Boarbatusks as they started charging as well. Coco unfolded her gun and fired to make the Boarbatusks swerve around. The first one ended up going toward Coco, who had to dodge out of the way to let it roll back into the clearing. The other one rolled toward Yatsuhashi who planted his feet and held his sword up. The Boarbatusk slammed into it and stopped rolling so its feet were planted on the ground and it tried to yank the sword out of the way with its tusks.

A few bullets hit its side and it backed off of Yatsuhashi just enough to see Fox lower his arms and run at it. Of course Yatsuhashi took the chance to swing his sword at the Boarbatusk's legs and knock them out from under it just as Fox drop kicked it. The monster fell on its side and Fox flipped backwards onto his feet and rushed forward to dig his tonfa blades into its stomach.

With that all but dead, Yatsuhashi focused on helping Coco. She was firing short bursts to keep her Grimm moving until it stopped and ground into the ground to prepare for another charge. When it did, she boosted her next burst and fired right at it with most of the shots hitting and blowing off its tusks and bits of its armor. Once she did enough damage she jumped out of the way so Yatsuhashi could take a swing at the Boarbatusk. His sword dug into its side and it fell out of its roll onto its back, where it struggled for a moment before Yatsuhashi finished it off with a jumping stab into its stomach.

With it dead, they turned their attention to the last Grimm and their teammate that was still running on it. "Velvet!" Coco called out when Velvet went by the group looking a little tired.

"I got it! I swear I got this!" Velvet shouted. She looked back to see the Boarbatusk was rolling toward a pile of rubble and got an idea. She held a hand out, formed a copy of Yatsuhashi's sword, and jumped off the Boarbatusk while swinging the sword over her head. The sword hit the Grimm hard enough to bounce back and send Velvet into a small spin, which she stopped by letting the copy sword dig into the ground so she could safely land on her feet. The Grimm continued forward uncontrollably and slammed into the rubble hard enough to cause it to collapse on top of it while also clearing the way out.

Velvet dispelled the copy, looked back at the new exit, and turned back to her team with a smile and threw them double peace signs. "See, told you I got it."

"So you did," Coco said as she folded up her gun and walked to Velvet with Fox and Yatsuhashi. She held up a fist and shared a small fist bump with Velvet and added, "Good job Vel," and walked past her to lead the way to the exit. Fox nodded at Velvet while Yatsuhashi gave her a small high five as they followed Coco out of the clearing and onto an old cobbled pathway.

The team looked around at the ancient walls and archways as they walked while Fox listened to the echo of their footsteps. A short while later they came to another drop to another pathway, the staircase having collapsed long ago, and Coco let out a small groan at seeing a pack of Creeps walking around.

"Dammit, more of these freaks?" she muttered while adjusting her hat. Velvet and Yatsuhashi shot her a worried look and glanced at each other and lastly at Fox, who nodded quietly.

"We can take care of them if you need a break," Velvet said and clasped her hands behind her back. She leaned forward a little to get a better look at Coco's face, as unreadable as ever thanks to her sunglasses, and asked, "Do you?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm just getting a little frustrated with all of these Grimm," Coco answered with a shake of her head.

"Well now we insist," Yatsuhashi said and drew his sword, "catch your breath a little." Velvet nodded in agreement and the two of them jumped down the ledge to fight the Grimm. The roars of the monsters did nothing to sooth Coco's nerves and she let out another groan as Fox walked over to stand next to her.

"So what's bothering you?" he asked.

"Nothing's bothering me," Coco replied and adjusted her beret again. She tried to focus on the fight Yatsuhashi and Velvet were in, but they had it under control. It was easy for Fox to slip into her thoughts again.

"Are you sure? Even I can see something is itching at you." Coco wasn't sure about that but she also was at the point of just wanting to get something off her chest. If Fox was offering, which he very clearly was, who was she to turn him down? She just wished he didn't give her a huge coaxing grin when she was starting to crack. "Come on~."

"Alright fine, just knock that off," Coco said and waved her hand at Fox, who did knock it off and returned to a neutral expression. Coco sighed and watched Velvet kick a Creep off the walkway before running to help Yatsuhashi. "It's just… so much has been happening lately and it's got me thinking about us. The team, I mean."

"Lower Cairn, right?"

"Yeah, but honestly it has just been everything lately. The Breach, Lower Cairn, even as far back as the docks heist, It just feels like we aren't meshing together as well as we should. I never really thought how bad that could go until Lower Cairn. It's just… been on my mind ever since. That we're not as hot shit as we think we are."

"I can understand that," Fox replied and took a moment to collect his thoughts as well as focus on Yatsuhashi as he blocked a Creep that launched at him. Once he had knocked it away into a pillar where it was finished off by Velvet and a copy of Neptune's weapon, he spoke up again. "But I think that kind of thinking can be good."

"Really?"

"There's always room to improve, and recognizing that is the first step to actually doing it. There never is a team as great as people think without putting the work into actually making it work. Just look at STRQ." Coco gave a hum of agreement and looked at Fox as he turned his head to her. "And despite everything, we've been doing pretty well. There were missteps, but they'll always be there. Being able to pick ourselves up from them and be better for them will be what makes us great."

Coco took all of this in and found it made sense. If STRQ could recover from the utter disaster of a team they were at the beginning of last year, her team could come back from anything. Lower Cairn still stung, but Coco vowed to use that pain as an incentive to be better and not let another family die like that.

"That's some good advice. Something you learned?" Coco asked.

"I'd like to think it's just general life advice."

"Either way, it helps. Puts things in perspective."

"At least that's one thing I can perceive." Coco was nearly thrown off balance by that and gave Fox a light punch to the arm for it.

"You smartass! We were having a moment and you went and ruined it with that?"

"I had to! It was too perfect," Fox defended, rubbing his arm for a moment. He dropped them to his sides and asked, "So, feeling better?"

"Despite your comment, yes I am. A lot better in a lot of ways." Fox nodded in satisfaction and Coco gave him a small smile as she patted the spot she had hit. The fighting had died down by this point and Yatsuhashi was waving at them to come over. "Well, the Grimm are dead. Time to get back to work."

"Bummer." Fox and Coco walked to the ledge and the latter hopped down to the walkway. She looked back to watch Fox pretend like he was going to fall off the ledge before jumping down effortlessly. Coco was glad for her glasses hiding her eyes, lest the roll be seen from Beacon, and the two of them walked to join Yatsuhashi as he walked to Velvet at the end of the pathway.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Much better," Coco answered, "you have any trouble?"

"No, we had it handled." Velvet looked back as the footsteps of her team grew louder and nodded when Yatsuhashi gave her a thumbs up. She gestured to the railing she was leaning on and the plain beyond it with a smile.

"We're almost there. You can see the node from here," she said and turned to look out over the plain. Coco and Yatsuhashi lined up on either side of Velvet while Fox stood next to Yatsuhashi and shielded his eyes from the sun.

"I can't see anything," he said and leaned over a little more.

"Oh ha ha."

"Not much farther now. Another short walk and maybe a few more Grimm battles to go," Coco said with a nod.

"What are those boxes near the node though?" Yatsuhashi asked and looked down at Velvet as she took her camera out and zoomed in on the node's plaza.

"I can't quite make it out. It looks transparent though." Velvet lowered her camera and looked at Coco.

"Well either way, we do need to get down there," she said and crossed her arms. "What's the quickest route again?"

"If I may!" Port suddenly chimed in.

"Oh right, he's here," Fox snarked.

"I've been watching your progress and I think the bridge to your right is the fastest way to the node. The path beyond it should lead right to it!" The team looked to their right and felt their annoyance increase.

"You mean the bridge that's currently up?" Coco asked.

"And that's attached to a large machine to extend it?" Velvet added.

"That will undoubtedly attract Grimm right to us that we'll have to kill?" Fox concluded.

"That very bridge! I'm sure you all can handle it. As for me, I'll be back in a few minutes. I have to take care of something that should be of use to you. Happy hunting!" The line went dead and CFVY gave a simultaneous sigh as they walked to the bridge mechanism. Coco looked it over for a moment before pulling the lever on it, which started the process of extending the bridge.

Not long after, the roars of approaching Grimm filled the area.

"Son of a bitch," Coco muttered and unfolded Gianduja while the others took up fighting stances.


The fight thankfully didn't last very long, with the most difficult part being dealing with a couple of Alpha Creeps that came in when the bridge had finished extending, and Team CFVY continued on their way. The path beyond led around a series of hills and down into the plain, with the ruins of arches, columns, and watchtowers being the only signs that civilization once stood there. The last fight also seemed to have drawn every nearby Grimm right into the slaughter, so the walk to the node was peaceful. The only stop they had was when Velvet dashed off to a watchtower because she had seen something, which turned out to be an Old Kingdom age saucer.

"Is stuff like this really all that valuable?" Velvet asked as she spun the saucer carefully in her hands.

"That's for professor Oobleck to decide," Coco said.

"That old crap is all the same to me," Fox said with a shrug as Velvet stowed the saucer in her camera bag. One last set of stairs and the team entered the plaza the security node was located in. It was wide open with several columns on the outer edge of the plaza to hold up a roof that was long gone. Presumably it would have been the site of a marketplace in its heyday, but now the only thing of note was the Beacon security node situated in the middle of the plaza.

At least, that's all that should have been there.

"Ok, those are definitely Grimm cages," Velvet said and ran over to the cages. They were more modern when compared to what Professor Port used and had an insignia that she had never seen before. Velvet took out her scroll and took a picture of the cages while Coco and Yatsuhashi walked to the node.

"That's not supposed to be there, right?" Coco asked and pointed at a device attached to the node, which had the same insignia as the cages. Yatsuhashi shook his head and took out his scroll to take a picture of the node. "I don't like what's going on here."

"I'm back, team!" Port said over the comms.

"Oh good, we missed you," Fox snarked telepathically.

"Did I miss anything while I was away?"

"We reached the node and found some things," Coco said and gestured at Yatsuhashi and Velvet, who nodded and sent their pictures to Port. "There's some kind of box thing on the node and there's Grimm cages here, probably big enough to hold an Ursa."

"That's… disturbing. Is someone poaching Grimm? And this insignia again…"

"Wait, again?"

"We recently had problems with another node similar to the one you're at now and this insignia was there too. The device on the node looks similar as well. In that case, please call locker 745 to your location. You'll need that help I prepared after all." Coco raised an eyebrow and looked at Yatsuhashi, who shrugged, before taking out her scroll and calling the locker.

"Ok, on its way," Coco said and looked up at the node, "so what do you suppose all of this setup is for?"

"I'm not particularly one for speculation, I'm more of a man of action if I do say so. That said, everything you've seen so far can only point to one particular action."

"Grimm poaching," Velvet answered as she looked back at the node, "and using the school's security system to do it could have some very bad consequences." Coco nodded and looked up at the sound of a rocket, which was followed by a locker coming down into the plaza. Velvet ran over to it with the rest of the team walking behind her.

"The locker's here. So what exactly is in this that's so important to our—" Coco, along with both boys, stopped in their tracks when Velvet opened the locker and yelped when she just barely managed to catch a girl as she fell out of the locker. "What in the…?"

"Maribelle?" Velvet asked once she got her stance steady with the suddenly added weight.

"Barf…" was all Maribelle could reply, her eyes spinning wildly as she lay limp in Velvet's arms.

"Ah, Ms. Sinopia made it, I see. Then we can get started as soon as she recovers from her trip!" Port said with a laugh.

"Why did you send us Maribelle in a locker? And count that as two questions," Coco said with suitable annoyance.

"It was the fastest way to get her to you, and I requested her assistance to fix the node if it's similar to the last one she fixed."

"But we could have fixed it just fine. It can't be that hard."

"No offense to your team Ms. Adel, but 'delicate around technology' is not something that springs to mind about you. This isn't something we can just reset and fix."

Coco flinched at Port's bluntness, even if she did agree a little deep down. Still, she couldn't help but think it had less to do with her team's capabilities and more a general lack of faith. "Well, in that case… we'll get Mari up and going and let you know when we start on our end."

"I'll be waiting." The line cut out and Coco looked at her team who, aside from Velvet who was busy tending to Maribelle, were looking uncomfortable from the call.

"That's a major ouch," Fox said.

"Let's just hope face value is all there is to that and get the job done," Coco said and adjusted the strap of her bag as she walked over to Velvet. "Do you need help waking her up Vel?"

"No, I think I got it," Velvet answered and held Maribelle up at arms length. The girl's lolling head was not a good sign. "Mari, time to wake up. We need your help."

"No Mr. Dooley, I don't want to meet the old man," Maribelle replied dazily.

"Oh for f—" Coco started to grumble when Velvet shook Maribelle roughly.

"Mari, wake up! You're really starting to annoy me!" That seemed to do the trick and Maribelle shook her head rapidly before settling and blinked at Velvet.

"Oh, I'm still alive, cool. Hi Velvet."

"Hi," Velvet replied and let go of Maribelle, who fell to her knees. "So what were you doing in a locker?"

"Ain't that a good question," Maribelle said and rubbed her eyes for a second before looking around the plaza. The moment she saw the node her eyes narrowed and she growled angrily. "Seriously? This bullshit again?" She stood up and shouted as loud as she could, "You know there are actual people who can fix this shit Port!"

"That's a good question, why did he get you?" Coco asked.

"Beats the fuck out of me. I'm even more pissed because I was doing something else." Maribelle walked over to the locker and started digging through it. "There I was just minding my own business helping Oobleck when in comes Port with his fat mustache. 'Hurry Ms. Sinopia, we may need your help right away!' I barely managed to get my tools together before he shoved me in a locker and I got launched into the lower stratosphere."

"You actually do stuff?" Coco snarked, unable to help herself.

"I don't need your sass Coco, especially since I'm helping fix your fuck ups." Maribelle pulled her tool belt out and slung it over her shoulder before turning to CFVY, ignoring the glare Coco was no doubt giving her under her sunglasses. "So what did you guys break here?"

"We didn't break anything!" Coco growled.

"The node is on the fritz and there's some kind of box on the side of it," Yatsuhashi added, "and there's also the Grimm cages for—"

"Wait, a box?" Maribelle rushed past CFVY to the node and circled it until she found the device. She inspected it for a moment and nodded. "Yup, another tick. That's actually kind of useful for what I was doing."

"So you got this?" Fox asked as Maribelle set her tools down at her feet and pulled out her scroll.

"If it's the same as last time, drunken mess and all, yeah. You might want to get ready to fight Grimm by the way, this has been off for a couple of minutes now."

"WHAT!?" All of CFVY yelled at once and Coco pressed down on her earpiece to shout, "Port!?"

"Oh yeah, there was something I forgot to tell you," Port replied sheepishly.

"WELL WARN US WHEN YOU DO IT!" The howls of Grimm started closing in and CFVY spread out to deal with them. Coco unfolded her gun with a growl as she went toward the broken bridge out of the plaza that had Grimm climbing up it while Velvet and Fox ran to deal with the other sides. Yatsuhashi stayed near the node in case any Grimm got close to Maribelle, though this had the unfortunate drawback of being in listening distance as she made a call.

"Come on, pick up. I know you're not that busy," Maribelle muttered while leaning against the node like there wasn't a battle going on around her. After a moment of waiting, she perked up and grinned slightly. "Hello Professor Oobleck! I don't care what you prefer to be called right now because I found something good. CFVY found another box for our box project… are you still there?"

Yatsuhashi liked to think he was a patient person, but this was proving particularly trying for him. So when Coco called for cover so she could pull back to reload, Yatsuhashi took the chance to jump into the fray.

"Coco!" he shouted to give Coco enough time to jump back before he swung his sword in a wide arc to clear some room. Coco retreated back to the node to start reloading.

"Well I don't see why you had to run and get her, you could have just added her to the call," Maribelle said with her scroll tucked between her head and shoulder as she worked to pull the device off the node. She pulled it off the node before continuing, "No, I just got it off… it's hooked to the red one with 'K13' written on it. Why does it matter?" She paused for a few seconds, during which she picked up her wire cutters and cut the device free of the node. Right after her eyes widened and she held it out an arm's length away with a grimace. "Yikes, that does sound bad."

"Are you almost done?" Coco asked once she was done reloading.

"It's a work in progress, I'll let you know," Maribelle answered as she set the device down and set to work on the rest of the node. "Damn these wires, I'm going to kill whoever did this."

Coco shook her head and looked around to see if she was needed anywhere. Yatsuhashi was holding his own for the moment and Velvet was working with Fox to clear out a Beowolf pack that came their way. Coco managed to see Velvet duck under a Beowolf swipe and kick it toward Fox, who neatly cut its head off with his blades before he jumped over another Beowolf's attack and landed on top of it. He fired a few rounds into its head before leaping off of the dying monster and reentering the fray.

"We're holding it together so far," Coco said and fired a burst at a Beowolf that tried to climb onto the plaza. Once it had fallen back off full of holes Coco shook her head and added, "I don't know how long that'll last though."

"Why are there so many green wires!? And two of these have the same designation! Did someone screw something up?" Coco glanced back at Maribelle and raised an eyebrow at her grumbling, After a moment of fuddling with the wires Maribelle tore her scroll away from her ear and shouted, "There is no lime green wire!" and tossed it onto her tool bag before going back to work. "Moron."

"Are you going to need a few more minutes?" Coco asked.

"No, it's fine! I'm fine!" Maribelle answered over a roar of sudden gunfire, "I just hate wired bullshit in the age of wireless! We can't just reboot anything and have it work again. It's like the CCT network, just utter bullshit." The ranting on technological limitations was ultimately lost on Coco, who was just about to leave her to focus on the Grimm when a growl got her attention. She looked up to see a Beowolf had climbed the wall and was looking down at the inattentive Maribelle.

"Mari, look out!" Coco shouted just as the Beowolf lunged toward Maribelle. Maribelle did manage to jump back in time for the Grimm to miss her, though it turned around faster than either girl had expected and it charged at Maribelle again. She barely landed when the Beowolf barreled into her and knocked her into the nearby wall.

Maribelle was dazed and barely managed to get her legs up to block the Beowolf from chowing down on her. She only had to brace against the wall long enough for Coco to fold up her bag, run over, and swing it at one of its hind legs. The leg snapped in half on impact and caused the Beowolf to lose balance, which gave Maribelle enough leeway to kick it away from her. Coco followed up with another swing that sent it sprawling on its back, where it struggled to get up for a moment before Maribelle ran up and stabbed her Aura blade into its neck and dragged it up to split its head.

"You ok?" Coco asked while Maribelle caught her breath watching the Grimm dissolve.

"Yeah. Thanks for the save," she said and withdrew her Aura blade and let out a soft sigh. "Figures something like that would happen just as I was finishing up."

"You fixed it?" Coco asked as she and Maribelle walked over to the node, "That didn't take very long."

"It's working. Actually fixing everything is someone else's job. Which is what they should have done in the first place!" Coco shook her head as Maribelle finished with her wiring, ranting under her breath the whole time, before picking up her scroll and holding it to her ear. "Ok, try it now."

"One moment." After a moment the node buzzed back to life and the nearby Grimm roared in pain before running away. Only an Alpha Creep managed to ignore that drive, only to get its head cleaved in by Yatsuhashi. Soon the plaza was quiet save for the buzzing of the node and CFVY catching their breath. "Everything is working and a repair team has been notified. Outstanding work team!"

"We should start charging for this," Maribelle whispered to Coco while covering her scroll. Coco nodded slightly when the sound of rushing wind started coming through the coms.

"Barty? What's got you so excited?" A loud slap resounded and Port hummed. "A report? Let's see what this is about."

"The long and short of it is we've finally figured out what that insignia we've been finding is from!" Oobleck shouted excitedly.

"Well don't leave us hanging," Coco said and motioned for her team to group up.

"Oh, I see. It's the insignia for Merlot Industries," Port said with a thoughtful hum, "I was wondering why it seemed so familiar."

"No kidding!" Maribelle said as she knelt down to look at the device at her feet, "A bunch of tools and machines in the weapon labs have the same logo. No wonder it looked so familiar."

"Ok, so what is that? You know, for those of us who have never heard of it?" Fox asked and crossed his arms.

"Merlot Industries? It used to be this big tech company back in the day."

"Far before any of you were born," Port added.

"Right. They specialized in robotics and genetic research, but I heard the guy in charge and his immediate subordinates could rival any of Atlas' big brains."

"Sounds like they were a big deal. What happened?" Velvet asked.

"Mountain Glenn happened," Port answered.

"That city again?" Yatsuhashi asked, his expression growing thoughtful along with his teams as Port continued.

"Their headquarters was located in the city when it fell. They lost that and all of their higher executives. The rest of the company couldn't continue without them, so they shuttered their doors not long after."

"And now someone is using their tech to attack us," Maribelle finished with a shake of her head. "I hate living in interesting times."

"This will require a bit more investigation on our side. As for you, an airship is on its way to pick you up. Come back home safe."

"And Miss Sinopia, be sure to bring that device back!" Oobleck added.

"Can do," Maribelle answered and shut her scroll. After stowing it she set to getting her tools together while CFVY talked among themselves.

"A lot of things are coming out of Mountain Glenn lately. You'd think a dead city wouldn't be so lively," Fox said.

"Tell me about it," Coco replied with a shake of her head, "I think STRQ was right, too much shit has been happening too fast."

"It seems like everyone is gunning for us right now. I've heard the rumors going around about the Atlas students," Velvet said with a sigh, "What are we supposed to do about this?"

"Not much honestly," Maribelle answered as she lifted her tools and the device and carried them over to the locker. "Just hope that Old Oz and Goodwitch know what they're doing."

"That doesn't feel like it's good enough," Coco said.

"Well, no one is stopping you from doing more. Just do what you can and hope for the best. That's what I'm doing." Maribelle finished stowing what she had into the locker and tapped a code into the keypad.

"Speaking of, what are you doing?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"Leaving and hoping nobody will call for me until the tournament," Maribelle replied and climbed into the locker.

"...In a locker?"

"What? It's fun." Maribelle shrugged and closed the door, after which the locker rocketed up into the sky and back toward Beacon with Maribelle screaming in both excitement and terror the whole way. Team CFVY stared at the locker until Velvet sighed.

"I'll never understand her," she said with an exasperated sigh. Coco nodded and crossed her arms as her thoughts turned from Maribelle to her words.

'What can we do to help?'