A/N: Usual disclaimer of not owning Toaru or RWBY and special thanks to Furaiz for reading through this.


Yatsuhashi stood up and rolled his shoulders, just having finished his basic training of pushups, sword swings and pull-ups for the day. Despite the session being a very seemingly mundane thing to do, he never neglected the routine as he had always seen himself as the vanguard and muscle of team CFVY. He was the one who charged in first and the rock to the team in the heat of combat while protecting his more fragile but no less competent teammates.

"Yatsu!" a familiar voice called, he turned to see what he came to view as a little sister, Velvet Scarlatina.

"Velvet?" He nonetheless smiled as she ran up to him with a cheery wave, "I thought you were going to go shopping with Coco."

"It wouldn't be for another hour or so, besides she wants you and Fox to carry the bags," Velvet replied and Yatsu chuckled at her response. Of course, their leader would want him to carry the bags.

"Huh… right, well I'm about done here anyway," he said as he shouldered his sword, "By the way, you were teaching that Touma guy, how was it?"

"He seems like a nice guy, I mean, he doesn't seem to care that I'm a Faunus or not, which is nice," Velvet answered neutrally and the big guy frowned at her words. Not because of Touma necessarily, but because of how it Velvet had to face her struggles as a Faunus in this school that made Touma's attitude seem a bright star.

"That's nice," commented Yatsuhashi, he had decided it would be best to hold his thoughts for now, "Learn anything from him?"

"Of course not, Yatsu. It was just one class, but he seems to pick it up the theory fast enough," Velvet replied as she placed her hands on her hips, granted her semblance helped her pick up things faster than most people, she had only tutored her junior for an hour. "By the way, do you know if Coco has an idea what she's gonna do with Touma?"

Yatsuhashi rubbed his chin, despite being under Coco's command for over a year, he had yet to completely understand her way of thinking. However, he knew that Coco was as professional as she was confident and part of him was a little worried for Touma as she could only imagine what her leader had planned for him.

"Don't know… but if it's anything like last year…" Yatsuhashi trailed off but Velvet cocked her head to the side.

"I didn't think it was that bad last year," she said but Yatsuhashi chuckled, deciding that he wouldn't mention the obvious about her semblance that allowed her to pick up anything on first glance. For himself and Fox, they had to practice their formations and other moves, and normally Coco would push them until it was perfect, often until late at night.

The tall boy shrugged and headed off to the lockers with Velvet trailing him, "Maybe not for you, you're good at learning," Yatsuhashi praised, "Fox and I weren't exactly as good." Coco's pursuit for perfection had caused friction in the team when they first started out, but eventually, the team became closer on their first mission as their leader won their respect.

Velvet picked up on Yatsuhashi's words and replied, "Well, Coco can be tough, but she did mean well for us."

"She did, wouldn't have her any other way," he agreed as he glanced over to Velvet, "Though for Touma… don't know if he'll feel the same. You know that Fox and I didn't believe so back then."

"...Hmm… he didn't seem to show any problems when I tutored him… but he did struggle a bit, but he did have to catch up," Velvet replied with a frown, almost as if she was having an internal debate, before throwing a glance at him with a confident gleam in them, "He doesn't seem to mind, I'm sure he can handle whatever Coco's got planned for him."

As they were heading towards the locker rooms, they noticed their teammates lounging outside, watching a television that displayed a young woman holding a microphone with the familiar logo of Vale News Network at the corner of the screen, "According to recent reports, the Mistral authorities has stated that the quarantine will be indefinite until they can determine the source and find the cure to combat the infection-"

Yatsuhashi bristled when he heard the report, he looked over to Velvet whose face seemed neutral but he knew what to look out for. The slight narrowing of her eyes, the brief twitch of her ears and the tightening of her jaws, and while he still didn't know why, he knew that any mention of Mistral, in general, seemed to sour Velvet's mood all the time. Luckily for them, Coco had decided to shut off the channel with the remote and tossed it aside with a sigh and she turned, her eyebrows raised with a wave while Fox nodded to them.

"Yatsu, Velvet," Coco greeted as she stood up, "There's a change of plans."

Velvet and Yatsuhashi glanced at each other, Coco almost never changes plans for shopping, it was her most favoured past time and if she decided to move away from it for whatever reason, then that reason is usually serious.

"What's the problem, Coco?" Yatsuhashi asked as he silently braced himself for whatever 'plan' Coco had concocted. Apart from her extremely high taste in fashion and love for heavy weaponry, his leader was fairly normal as a person except for one thing. She was confident, too confident and there were times when she would put them through as Fox would put it, 'suicide missions'.

"No problem, we're just going to work with Professor Goodwitch, she will be informing us about how far she trained the Touma kid and her details for his next stages," Coco replied and Yatsuhashi let go of a breath he didn't know he held, earning a small giggle from his Faunus friend. "You okay there, big guy?" Coco asked as she raised an eyebrow, "You were looking pretty pale there."

Yatsuhashi shook his head and mumbled a quick, "I'm fine."

"I'm pretty sure Yatsu was thinking 'Coco is gonna do something outrageous again' yeah?" Fox's voice suddenly echoed in everyone's head and the larger boy shot a glare at him.

"Ohh?" Coco eyes peeked over her signature shades with a threatening glint in her eyes and Yatsuhashi froze at the sheer intimidation factor. "You're lucky that I might need you in top shape Yatsu, but I won't forget this." Yatsuhashi hung is head as Velvet patted his shoulder in sympathy and as she stalked to Professor Goodwitch's office.

"...My bad, didn't think she would go that far," Fox's voice said apologetically as he scratched his head sheepishly, "Look, I can explain it to her that I was just joking-."

"It's okay, Fox, I know you didn't mean anything by it," the taller boy replied, "You guys go ahead, I'm just going to put my stuff away."

Fox and Velvet glanced at each other and shrugged, even among CFVY, Yatsuhashi was only second to Velvet when it came to being reserved and they had guessed that he was probably going to meditate as per usual after personal training.

"Alright, we'll see you there," Velvet said and she left after Coco, taking his fellow male teammate along with her.

Yatsuhashi sighed as he headed to the locker rooms, despite Coco's confident and trailblazing nature, Fox's indulgence on pranks and humour, and Velvet's reserved and timid nature, he had learned to work with them and came to see them as siblings of the sort. After all, he was the vanguard and rock of the team.


Help Touma train with his new Retterhand? Check. Team exercises in Emerald Forest? Check. Trying out some new special dust rounds for her Crescent Rose? Check. Ruby broke out into a smile as she saw her team and Touma sluggishly joined her at the cafeteria table, each one carrying a tray of bacon and eggs or cereal with milk or orange juice. Each one of them was less than pleased, after all, this was the weekend and no one wakes up at six in the morning unless your name was Nora.

"Rubes… you're my sister and I love you," Yang stated as she sat down, her tray hit the table with a loud thunk as her plates rattled with it, she rested her chin on her hand and continued, "But you have to be crazy to wake us all up this early."

"For once, I agree with Yang," Weiss said as she sat down in comparison to her more voluptuous teammate, was more delicate and graceful, "After last night's assignment, I thought you of all people, would rather sleep in, Ruby."

Blake only grunted in affirmation while Touma chuckled weakly as they sat at Ruby's side of the table, while the youngest girl waved dismissively as she cheerily replied, "Aww don't be like that! We got lots to do today! I mean, we gotta test out Touma's weapon, try out some new moves… Oh, and buy some stuff so Touma can make those apple pies and cookies again!"

"...Right, all of which can be done within a couple of hours, then why wake us up early?" Weiss inquired, despite her seemingly neutral posture, annoyance leaked into her voice, all of which Ruby chuckled sheepishly.

"Yeah, Weissonius's right, I bet we could just deck in for a couple of hours and still get everything done by then," Yang agreed as she stabbed the egg with her fork.

"Yeah… but… I couldn't wait! We have to do this!" Ruby argued weakly only for her partner and her sister to raise an eyebrow at her.

"...She didn't sleep," Blake mentioned before she bit into her toast and that got Ruby to glare at the girl as if betrayed, "She got too excited, kept murmuring how she was going to try out her new stuff and, I quote, 'how awesome Retterhand Two is gonna be' all night," Blake continued as she held up her free hand to mark the quotes.

"Wait! You heard me all night!?" Ruby blurted out as her cheeks began to darken in colour while Touma laughed uncomfortably as he definitely felt something around the RWBY team was growing all sorts of strange.

"...Between your chanting and Yang's snoring, it's hard to ignore any of that," Blake answered, but before Ruby could mount a defence, the plates on their trays rattled and the team turned to see Yang's head resting on the table, she then shot up, her forehead tinged pink from the impact with a slight frown.

"I don't snore!" She hissed indignantly, but the looks from her team made her pause, "...right? Rubes, you know me, I don't snore, right?"

Ruby stared at Yang for several seconds before deciding to look down at her own plate, while Weiss cut in clinically, "Of course you do, you're the reason I had to buy earplugs in the first place."

Yang recoiled as if she was slapped in the face, her eyes widened in horror as she replied, "That's cold, Weiss… ice-cold."

"If you need any, Blake, I have some fresh ones you can use," Weiss offered as she focused on her breakfast, deciding to ignore her boisterous teammate, to which, Blake grunted appreciatively by not acknowledging her partner.

"If you guys want, I can just test out my weapon some more with Ruby while you guys sleep in for a couple more hours," Touma offered as he shook his head at Yang's dispirited posture.

Now, it was Touma's turn to receive Ruby's stare of betrayal, but Weiss shook her head as she answered, "Your offer is appreciated, Touma, but since we're awake, we might as well go with Ruby for the training session. Besides…" she glanced at Touma as she laid down her knife and fork on her plate, "I wish to see how your weapon works first hand."

"Yeah, sounds interesting," Blake mildly said as her golden eyes lingered to Touma, "Heard Ruby finished it."

Ruby grinned as she folded her arms and swelled in pride, "Yup, finished fine-tuning the CAG and the anti-dust shield. Also finished the paint-job as well so it's ready for action!"

Touma placed his utensils down as he wondered how the finished product would turn out. He had tested it a few times before as Ruby worked on it and he was so far, satisfied with what she had come up with. Though there were some missteps here and there, he knew that was all part of the design process and the fact that it went far smoother than his first weapon spoke volumes of how talented Ruby was in regards to weapon design.

"Oh? Now this, I gotta see. A hand cannon weapon, that's the way to go," Yang said with a smirk, all forms of her previous state had vanished as she punched her fist into her other hand, "Besides, it's been a while since I've danced with the Grimm, can't wait to get my hands dirty."

"It's not a 'hand cannon', it's a Concussive Assault-" Weiss attempted to correct her.

However, Yang's hand mimicked a blabbing mouth as she opened and closed it rapidly with a very dry look on her face, "Yeah, yeah, I get it, save the technobabble for later. Right now I just wanna get in the mood, ya know?"

Weiss glared at Yang's dismissive behaviour before silently reminding herself who she was dealing with, "Apart from your… vacuous way of speaking, I agree. I'd like to apply what I learned on some Grimm, myself."

"...Then count me in, wouldn't hurt to keep the rust off," Blake stated mildly.

"Yeah? Then, let's go!" Ruby declared cheerily as she snatched her tray and began marching away as she led her friends to the locker rooms with gusto.


Roman never liked churches or cathedrals, they rarely tend to have little to none in terms of value that was relatively accessible to him. Granted religion never had a strong hold in Vale, it had a far greater hold in the Mistral Kingdom, whether it was the Seeker's Church or some other religion. On top of that, they were not as 'vulnerable' as their appearances made them to be. Agnese was already a testament to that, but to further that point, as he followed said nun through the holy site, he noticed men and women, all Faunus, having some sort of weaponry on them and fewer with armour.

Of course, he had expected rather venomous stares at his person and Neo as they were outsiders and more importantly, humans. They didn't disappoint him and he didn't even bother to entertain a response though his long-time partner decided to jeer at them silently. He instead, turned his attention to the architecture which no doubt required a lot of money to maintain. Artwork upon the ceiling, marble statues dressed in gold jewellery and white tunics, and various decorations gilded with all kinds of artifacts that made the career criminal sniff in disgust.

"We have arrived," Sister Agnese stated plainly, Roman scanned the large oak door before him as the nun knocked upon it and called out, "Mother Lidvia, I have arrived with Roman and his partner."

"Enter."

Sister Agnese turned back to them and hissed, "Be on your best behaviour." She then pushed the door revealing an office filled with antiquated objects like glossy wooden cabinets, bookshelves and even a statue. The wooden floor was dressed with a red rug and the furniture was something Roman expected out of old castles and palaces, but it surprised him that the smell was subtly sweet instead of the mustiness he would expect from a room filled with books and other paper documents.

"Roman Torchwick, please take a seat. Sister Agnese, please wait outside," Lidvia Lorenzetti said as she stood up from behind her desk which was covered with various documents and a single large tome. The nun bowed and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Of course, milady," he replied as he bowed slightly while tipping his bowler hat, Neo didn't bother bowing, as far as she was concerned, Mistral Seeker's Church or not, they were still White Fang.

He sat down on the wooden chair with velvet cushions, leaving his hat on his lap and placed his Melodic Cudgel at the side while Lidvia returned to her seat, her hand on top of the other as it rested on the desk. "Now, let's get straight to the point," she began, "as I'm sure you're aware, there is a job that requires your extensive expertise on the matter and when you were notified as such, the parameters for the job… has changed." Roman raised his eyebrow, this didn't start well and he didn't even get to speak yet, a job that has changed in a short span of time was a red flag, however, he gestured the White Fang representative to continue, "Rest is assured, you will be compensated in accordance to the change."

Mother Lidvia then picked up a document and handed to Roman who wordlessly took it, he scanned it quickly and his eyes caught several words popping out to him; Covenant, Deaths, Location unknown. "...You're barking up the wrong tree, dear, you'd want huntsmen for this kind of job," Roman said as he tilted his head, "But if you're asking me, then this isn't as simple as it seems, isn't it? A little birdy told me an interesting story about the Mistral Kingdom a couple of weeks ago.

"She told me that unlike the other three kingdoms, power isn't unified under one entity, instead it's on a balance, split between three parties. The Mistral Government and their huntsmen, the Kihara Family and…" Roman flipped one finger for each party as he smiled cordially, "you… the church. So if you are requiring my services, it means one of two things; the problem is something your… faction is incapable of handling or… it requires a sort of… liaison with the other two parties, how am I doing?

Mother Lidvia's blue eyes didn't even blink but Roman knew he hit the mark, "Perceptive, I can see why Miss Fall saw value in you," she replied. Roman almost twitched, he was pretty sure that he made sure that his ties to that woman were kept well under wraps, but Mother Lidvia continued as if his reaction or lack thereof didn't matter, "You are quite right, though we are capable of handling a… complicated group of Grimm, they are enough of a threat that everyone at the top is willing to cease hostilities for now."

Roman leaned back and folded his legs as he remembered the word 'Covenant' in the document. He could see why the three factions within Mistral City were willing to work together to deal with that group of Grimm, "So you're asking me to represent the Church for this… situation?"

"Quite so, you will not be alone, of course, Sister Agnese and her corps… and perhaps the Inquisitors will work with you until this problem is resolved," she answered, leaning forward as her eyes bore into his, "This is the first time we worked with the Government and the Undercity, but I must admit, we aren't privy to how they work as an organisation. I want you to advise us… be our consultant as we work, perhaps we can tip the advantage of this balance to us."

Roman snorted, consulting a religious organisation on how a group of huntsmen, guards and crooks work so that they could figure out the best moves for themselves? He nodded to himself, almost liking the idea of having a role that wasn't too direct, but he knew it wasn't this simple, "Somehow, I doubt I would be just 'advising' you."

"Yes… this job will be in process, indefinitely until it is done, and anything you do must be done in the interest of the Church and the White Fang," Mother Lidvia replied as she handed another document, "Here, your rewards will be everything you need to separate you and your partner from Miss Fall, and should you forward out interest… you will of course, receive bonuses."

Roman picked the document, quickly scanning it and he grinned, "What kind of bonuses are we talking here?"

"Lien and… certain favours, that can be negotiated later," Mother Lidvia stressed, "I can assure you that you would be handsomely rewarded."

"Hmmm… what do you think Neo?" Roman asked as he turned back to the girl standing behind him. The multi-coloured haired girl simply shrugged and waved her hands around, while it may seem foreign to any person, Roman nodded as if he understood what she was trying to convey, "I would assume that Neo would also receive the same bonuses, correct?"

"Of course," Lidvia answered.

"Good, then let's sign this officially, I'd rather have… physical assurances if you don't mind," Roman said as he stood up and she mirrored him.

"Yes, we will have the paperwork ready for you to look over, by tomorrow, but you should prepare as soon as possible, Agnese will have further details to brief you about this job," she answered with a small bow.

"Good, good, then I'll see to it that it's done. Neo! Let's go," Roman announced as he placed his faithful hat on his head, with a small bow to the Faunus he headed for the door with Neo silently following him.

As soon as they left the room, Sister Agnese stood by and held out two scrolls, "You'll need these." Roman and Neo took one each and unlike their scrolls, this one had a marking of an intricate cross inside a circle, the symbol of the church. "From now on, we'll contact each other through these scrolls, the Inquisitors will do the same, of course."

"Right, now then, shall we, dear?" Roman asked as he pocketed the scroll and gestured towards the entrance of the church. The nun wordlessly headed off and he glanced at his partner muttering, "Friendly as ever, isn't she?"

Neo shrugged and the two of them followed the Faunus nun, once again being subjected to less than friendly stares within the courtyard of the church. They eventually reached a small room, housing two beds and a small desk in a simple dormitory, it also contained the very same symbols on their new scrolls, painted on the stone walls. Humble in the crooks' opinion and expected of an organisation that proclaims themselves to be of religion.

"This is where you will stay for the time being," Sister Agnese stated as she fished out two folders and placed them on the desk, "Mother Lidvia had asked me to give you everything we know about the Kihara Family."

"I see…" Roman stated as approached the desk and opened the first folder, "I've heard about them, an interesting family."

"Interesting? They're degenerates, I'd rather not work with them," Sister Agnese said venomously.

"That makes three of us, dear," Roman answered as he jabbed his thumb towards Neo who nodded fervently at the statement, "Unfortunately, they're smart and resourceful, and if your church deems it necessary to work with them, there is no point in not to use their resources."

Sister Agnese clicked her tongue as she asked, "Why would you dislike them? They're human."

Roman snorted and turned to the nun as he placed his hat and weapon on the desk while Neo took the opportunity to claim one of the beds as her own, "Humans are terrible, greedy creatures… case in point," he stated as he pointed towards himself, "And those in the government, military are completely hypocritical but, the Kihara's are on a completely different level, you see. My sources told me a peculiar story about a certain family that originated in the Atlas Kingdom. Scientists that claimed that their research was of benefit to said kingdom, but alas there was a problem, dear," Roman narrated as he pulled out the chair and sat down, Neo's face scrunched in disgust and fished out her new scroll, trying to take interest in something else.

"Problem?"

"Indeed, the Kiharas would research into anything… and I mean anything, even the particular part that caused you Faunus to hate them so much. Faunus experimentation, correct?" Roman asked with a grin and Sister Agnese nodded silently, but her face twisted a bit as if swallowing something bitter, "They experimented on everything and anyone, using any means necessary to see whatever they wanted to see, but it was enough for the Atlas top brass to feel sufficiently horrified that they'd rather banish them from the kingdom."

"So… they came to Mistral…" Sister Agnese muttered.

"I wasn't completely sure until your church confirmed it, and it makes sense. Mistral City had always been… lax with its laws and the general public isn't going to miss a few orphans or Faunus and they even have a pull on the Government as well, but I'd also imagine the White Fang as well, though, maybe not your faction. As far as I'm concerned, they are worse than the scummiest humans," Roman said but Sister Agnese remained silent, her fist clenching tightly. The man smiled as he leaned forward as he held out his hand, "Dear, I know you don't trust me, even after following me around for weeks, but how about we have a… temporary truce? We finish the job, get a little something off the Kihara family and we all walk out as winners at the end of the day."

Sister Agnese stood still like a statue as if contemplating with working with a human willingly. She had been assigned to this job and not because she wanted to, but if there was an opportunity to get an edge over the Kihara family, then she was willing to take a hand from someone that will help her, even if that person was human. With a nod she clasped the hand and declared, "Fine, then let's do this."


Unfortunately for the RWBY team and Touma, a certain red-clad girl had decided that they would not join their fellow students on that blissful slumber and instead head for some self-imposed training. Ruby had trouble hiding the bouncing of her gait as she wanted to reveal her masterpiece, second to her beloved Crescent Rose, to her team and with all the ideas she had for them, it was going to be the best day ever. Her team, however, were more or less resigned to their young leader's whims, and while all three of them had come to expect some degree of impulsiveness from her, they were still slightly disgruntled at the early wake-up call. Still, each one of them had some interest as they watched their leader bob up and down as they walked, wondering what she had in store for them.

As they reached the locker rooms to equip their combat gear, Touma had to admire the new weapon Ruby had built for him. It was a bracer, painted in blue and black that transformed into a gauntlet, reaching from his hand to his elbow. Plated over a mesh-like material, he rolled his wrist as he got the feel for his weapon, lighter than his previous Retterhand and certainly sleeker. Finally, there was a thin, tube fixed on top of his wrist which contained the concussive gun and the shield Ruby had implemented. As he inspected it further, he still couldn't believe how impressively constructed the Retterhand MKII was, even when he witnessed her putting the weapon together, it simply looked elegant and advanced

A low whistle rang through his ears followed by Yang's voice, "Daaamn, that's one- Hey!"

"Language!" Ruby retreated her hand from Yang's head and pulled out a jar, which quickly got the blonde girl grumbling unintelligibly as she chucked some Lien into it. As she placed the jar away in who knows where she zipped to Touma's side excitedly as her team gathered in front of the two of them, "Friends! I now present to you, Retterhand MKII!" as she flourished at Touma's gauntlet with a large smile.

"Yeah… as I was saying before you chopped me on the head, that's one fine looking piece there, Rubes. You outdid yourself," Yang said with a grin as she leaned forward towards the gauntlet, her partner nodded slightly as her golden eyes were glued to Touma's left arm.

"I take it that you've tweaked everything to his standards?" Weiss asked as she folded her arms. While it certainly looked impressive, she reserved her judgement until she saw the weapon in action. She had seen glimpses of what it could do during the construction process and she had a good idea how it worked, but she never really saw Touma utilising it.

"Seems pretty good so far, already tested the Concussive gun earlier and it's nice, but I haven't tried the shield yet," Touma explained as he clenched and unclenched his left hand a few times.

"A shield and a concussive gun..." Yang muttered as her eyes sparkled, she stepped to Touma and nudged at him with a wink, "Guess that's gonna be 'handy' eh?"

"Well, I had to reconfigure a few things, it doesn't provide as much strength compared to his older weapon," Ruby smoothly said, it was hard to tell if she ignored the pun or that the said pun went over her head, but if anyone standing in the room had to guess, it was the former, "But, with the Lien from Goodwitch, I managed to get some awesome materials for the weapon!"

Yang clicked her tongue at her pun being ignored as she responded to Ruby, "Makes sense, woulda been too heavy otherwise."

"Regardless, we won't know how it will perform until we have some proper test runs, I'm guessing the Emerald Forest?" Weiss asked and Ruby nodded excitedly, the Atlesian girl's lips curved upwards as a confident air flared around her, "Good, I've been meaning to try out a few things."

"Oh yeah? I've got a few things I wanna try out as well," Yang said, punching her fists together with an audible clink of her gauntlets, Blake rolled her eyes and Touma chuckled at their veiled competitive spirit. For the two of them, Blake was alright with training with her team, it was her obligation as part of team RWBY while Touma simply wanted to break into the finished product.

"Well, what are we waiting for? To the Emerald Forest!" Ruby declared as she pointed her finger in the air and marched out of the locker room and led her friends to their destination.

Team RWBY and Touma found themselves traversing through the forest, their boots crunching on the leaves under them and the wind gently rustling the trees around them. Soon enough, Ruby's humming filled the void but despite the seemingly carefree disposition of the team, their weapons were drawn. They eventually reached a clearing, only a few large rocks dotted themselves on the field of grass.

However, they heard guttural growling bouncing off the tree trunks at the other side of the clearing and the students whipped their heads towards the source, alert, but they didn't raise their weapon. A single Ursa stomped towards them from the trees, saliva dripping at its jaws and its bone-like plating covered in caked dirt and a couple of brown leaves. It was on all fours as it hobbled towards them, slow but menacing as its yellow eyes seemed to flash malevolently at them. It was still several metres away, but the team made no approach just yet, while an Ursa may seem very menacing and powerful, the team were not intimidated by the large Grimm.

"An Ursa eh? Well.." Yang snorted as she punched her fists together, her mouth flickered into a confident grin, "Let's shake-"

"Wait!" Weiss threw her hand out in front of Yang, "Don't you remember what we're here for? Is the only thing you care about is punching the Grimm right now?" she asked and as Yang was just about to open her mouth, she saw the twitch in her more voluptuous teammate and quickly said, "Forget I asked."

"I think Touma can take it on," Ruby commented as she nodded sagely.

"Yeah, shouldn't be too much of an issue," Touma agreed as he waved his right hand to illustrate why.

Weiss rubbed her head with a sigh and retorted, "Ruby… Touma, you do know half the reason why we're here, why should I even be asking you this, Ruby!?" Weiss froze when she noticed Ruby and Yang's devious smirks and Touma's apologetic smile, "... You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

Touma mouthed an apology while Yang folded her arms and replied cheekily, "And I think you're onto something." Weiss twitched and took a deep breath, the early morning didn't do much for her mood and being the target of a joke didn't help either. Somehow, she didn't blow up, she'd call that an achievement.

"So uhh, are we just going to talk until the Ursa is on top of us or not?" Blake asked as flicked a speck of dust of her Gambol Shroud, the rest of the group then turned to the Grimm, still hobbling forward but its figure was far larger and its growling was sharper and louder.

Every single member of the group glanced at each other, their unspoken conversation quickly led to Weiss rolling her eyes again and some non-committal shrugs before Touma stepped forward, his fingers on his left hand wiggling as if to loosen them up. As the Ursa began to reach them, it stood up on its hind legs, its shadow quickly engulfing Touma as he continued his approach.

Touma wasn't scared, but he was a little uncertain, he had never faced Grimm without using his Imagine Breaker. Regardless, he held up his hands, ready for action and as if the Ursa seemed to understand him, it roared, its saliva showering Touma as it leans forward. Touma dove forward as he felt a ferocious wind cut just above his hair and when he recovered, the Grimm's body began twisting and that was all Touma needed to know what to do next. He jumped back as the Ursa turned around with another swipe, its claws digging into the ground without resistance. Touma held his arms in front of him as dirt came flying at him, the tip of the claw just barely missing him once again.

Touma landed, breathing calmly as the bear creature's eyes glowed ominously at him. He didn't have a lot of trouble avoiding the attacks, if anything, it was far easier compared to someone like Professor Goodwitch, who was methodical, yet swifter and sharper in her attacks. He couldn't explain why, but he knew that whenever there was a twitch in the shadows, the body or even a change in how the Grimm sounded, he knew he had to move.

"C'mon, Touma! You can do it!" his ears picked up Ruby's cheer.

With one more roar, the Ursa lunged forward and Touma ducked under the attack, quickly positioning himself to the bear's side and with a battle cry, he shot his Retterhand forward. The blow landed but the Grimm didn't even acknowledge the attack. At the corner of his eye, he noticed something shifted and he didn't bother to verify it as he immediately backstepped, avoiding the claws of the bear once again.

Clearly, his attack didn't even force a reaction from the Grimm, he never tried it out with his previous Retterhand, but the current one certainly didn't have the mechanical power behind it to add any significant power to his punch. As the bear continued to advance, swiping its claws relentlessly, Touma continued to reflexively duck and weave each blow, almost as if he was in a trance. However, he suddenly found himself in a shock as his footing slid on the leaves, staggering him and putting one of his legs onto the knee. His eyes caught the shadows flickering over him and Touma grunted as he held up his left arm and Retterhand shuddered as he heard a faint hum coming from his weapon. Suddenly, his arm rattled harder, the bear's claw colliding into the new blue membrane-like shield, shaped similar to Jaune's shield. Touma was pushed back, forcing him to roll back as he grunted from the rough handling by the Grimm.

"Touma!" Ruby screamed, her Crescent Rose morphed into a sniper and Blake also stiffened as she stepped forward but Weiss shot her hand out in front of her partner.

"Wait! He's fine, look!" Weiss pointed at Touma who slowly stood up as his shield flickered out of existence, facing the Ursa with a sharp look in his eyes.

"Ohhh… right the shield," Ruby muttered as her cheeks heated up, how did she forget about the very weapon she designed?

"An anti-dust shield? Didn't know they were durable enough to take on an attack like that," Yang muttered with an intrigued nod.

"Well… it isn't designed for taking physical attacks but it can handle it," Ruby replied as she rubbed her chin.

Touma lowered his Retterhand, he couldn't tell if his arm was shaking from the impact or not but he would be lying if he wasn't scared for that moment there. He stood up, breathing heavily as the Ursa began hobbling to him, if punching doesn't work then it would be the time to test out the new concussive weapon installed to his gauntlet.

The Ursa began to tower over Touma and with a single roar, it raised its claw and immediately, Touma shifted on his feet, as the claw came slashing at where he stood, he dove forward while he clicked his gauntlet and it began to vibrate. He rolled and steadied himself, aiming at the bear Grimm that was still facing the other way, he braced himself and his gauntlet let out a sharp inorganic cry. The Grimm shuddered at the concussive attack, but it simply staggered as it turned towards him, its eyes glowing even brighter as its mouth farmed into a larger snarl. Touma lowered his gauntlet as he sighed at the result of the attack, granted that it would be enough to send any human flying but the fact that it barely fazed the Grimm was a bit of a letdown.

"You need to hold the trigger longer!" Ruby called out as her hands cupped at her mouth, "I set it to be powered depending on how long you hold it!"

"Ah, right," Touma muttered to himself as if it made sense but something shadowy flickered in his sight and on reaction he jumped back, wind and dirt briefly blew at the front of his face as another roar rang in his ears. He clenched with his gauntlet and it began to vibrate as he continued to hop away from the relentless swings of the Ursa.

Deciding that he held his attack long enough, Touma aimed once more, bracing himself for the recoil and as the Grimm was about to descend upon him with its swipe, he released and with a cracking cry, far louder than before, Touma grunted from the recoil as his feet left the ground and he tumbled into the ground while the Ursa made a garbled cry as it stumbled back before crashing into a few trees.

Touma shook his head as he unsteadily sat up, his heart thumping in his ears as he tried to catch his breath. He took on the Grimm without the use of his right hand, but he didn't find himself eager to do that again. The Ursa, on the other hand, remained still, face up but Touma could see the belly of the Grimm looked like a black furry crater before the dead Grimm began to dissipate into black dust. He glanced at his new weapon, a little surprised by the power of the CAG, it had effectively caved the Ursa's stomach in.

"Wooh! That was awesome!" Ruby cheered as she rushed to Touma who grinned a little wearily while the rest of her team followed her to a jog.

He glanced at his new weapon before clenching with a proud smile, if it were back several weeks, he would just use his Imagine Breaker to end the fight as quickly as possible, he wasn't even sure he could dodge attacks as easily, back then. Professor Goodwitch hammered in him the essentials of dodging in their training session, despite his complaints of almost getting killed by her (in his opinion). The fact that he could handle an Ursa with something other than his semblance made his chest swell as he finally saw the fruits of his labour, granted it was no Nevermore or other Grimm with ranged capabilities, he could see himself dealing with those threats at a more flexible manner.

"Not bad, Touma," Yang said with a knowing grin, "Gotta say, that concussive gun looks pretty impressive."

"Took out the Ursa in one go, but it has a pretty strong recoil," commented Blake as her golden eyes surveyed the area where the corpse was before she turned to Touma and held out her hand. With a nod of appreciation, he took her hand and she pulled him up, allowing him to dust himself.

"Of course, the CAG isn't supposed to be used against the Grimm, but it has been designed that if it was forced into that situation, it would be capable of handling them," Weiss explained with a shake of her head, "Still, that's pretty good use of the CAG."

"Well… I'd rather deal with Grimm with my Imagine Breaker," Touma said with a chuckle as he shook his left hand, "That shield saved me though and the concussive gun feels better, I just have to let go of the trigger earlier if I want to keep it nonlethal, right?"

"Yup! As long as you don't hold it for a few seconds, it should be fine," Ruby replied, earning a nod from Touma as he glanced at his gauntlet, "But, I kept the bigger power modes just in case you need them, I mean… you never know, right?" Touma nodded but he decided to remain silent that he would rather not use that kind of force if he had to, he seriously doubted anyone, aura unlocked or not, could handle that kind of concussive force and remain standing or alive.

Yang whistled lowly and said, "Well, now it's our turn right? I think we can get Touma to practice with us and knock out a few Grimm here and there, besides I know you can take them out with your right hand, I kind of want to see it in action."

"Yeah, sure I don't mind," Touma replied with a shrug, he was a little tired from the fight with the Ursa, but he was far from being out of it. If he allowed himself to use his Imagine Breaker, it would've been simpler and faster to handle the monsters with just a touch.

"Then, let's go!" Ruby cheered as she shot her fist up, eager to try out some of her new 'toys' for taking out Grimm.

"Yeah, I don't think so," a voice called out and all five of them turned to the new voice that entered their conversation. Motoharu stood a few metres away from them with a grin, his sunglasses glinting off from the light above with his hands resting inside his pockets.

"Motoharu?" Touma asked, completely confused as to why the blonde boy was here and team RWBY also shared his expression.

Ruby's confusion vanished as she smiled and waved," Hey Motoharu!" However, her team remained silent, each one questioning the sudden appearance. His presence was completely unexpected and unlike Ruby or Touma, they shifted rigidly almost as if they felt like they needed to point their weapons at him.

"Ruby! Looking good!" Motoharu returned as he strolled towards them lazily as he surveyed the five people before them, "Hey, c'mon! What's with the faces?"

"...Just surprised that you're here," Weiss replied stiffly, her face was neutral as she carefully decided how she was going to talk to this person, "Why are you here?"

"Ah! Well… I'm just here to grab Kami-yan on a mission!" Motoharu answered brightly as he chuckled good-naturedly, everyone could've sworn that he was sparkling as he laughed.

Blake felt the sinking suspicion that there was more to what Motoharu was saying than what he was revealing. When they had discussed Touma's mission module with the headmaster, Ozpin had made it clear that he would be the one that picks the missions and would brief Touma personally. The fact that Motoharu was here made her alert and she glanced at Weiss and Yang, both of them were staring at the blonde boy with equal suspicion. This wasn't even accounting for the sheer randomness of his appearance to them.

"A mission?" Touma asked, scratching his head and glanced at Retterhand, "Well, my new weapon works pretty well and my arm's healed so-"

"Hold on!" Weiss interrupted as she stepped forward, "My sister had promised me that she would visit when she would come to take Touma on a mission. Where is she?"

Motoharu shrugged, undeterred by her attitude and smoothly replied, "Ah, well, you know how your sister is. Busy and all, said she couldn't make it."

"Really?" the white-haired girl asked as she folded her arms, her voice oozing in scepticism, "She would've notified me if that was the case. Besides, the headmaster would've told Touma he had a mission, and..."

Suddenly, there was a faint snapping sound that made Blake's ears twitch, she focussed it onto those sounds, drowning out whatever Weiss was saying to the blonde boy. She turned her head to the source as her eyes scanned the forest around them, and she saw it, flickers of shadows and subtle shuffling of dead leaves, she doubted her friends would notice this.

"Right and I'm the queen of Atlas," Yang replied sarcastically to a comment Motoharu made, but Blake wasn't paying attention before that but now, she had to alert her teammates of her suspicions, because whatever reason Motoharu was here for, she had a feeling it did not bode well for RWBY or Touma.

"You're not alone," Blake accused, her golden eyes glaring straight at Motoharu as she stepped forward, her hands gripping onto her weapons tightly.

"Oh?" the boy tilted his head as his mouth threatened to curve upwards, he leaned back as he crossed his arms, waiting to be challenged by her.

"Blakey?" Yang asked a little startled by the sharp tone her partner employed. Ruby and Touma stared at her worriedly while Weiss merely raised an eyebrow, waiting for Blake to elaborate.

"You have people with you," Blake explained, "Why?"

"Geeze, you're certainly sharp for a human," Motoharu remarked with a grin as his sunglasses glinted almost menacingly at the Faunus and her eyes widened at the veiled yet open taunt at her. He held his hands up in surrender with a large sigh, but his grin persisted as he continued, "Well… I tried, let's just say that."

"I told ya, we shoulda ambushed them, would've been easier," a new feminine yet aggressive voice piped in to the group's left. Emerging out from behind the trees was a young woman, wearing a blue jacket draped across her shoulders, revealing a white tube-top. Her auburn hair was tied into twintails and her legs were completely bare, only being covered by a blue pleated skirt and brown hiking boots. What caught Blake's attention was a white and black striped tail hanging between her legs, flicking slightly. The girl's eyes narrowed when it landed on Weiss and Blake as her lips curved upwards in mild amusement as she shook her head, "Wow… you weren't actually screwing around."

"Well, we've seen weirder things, but the objective remains the same," a masculine voice replied to the group's right. A tall red-haired man stepped out from behind the trees, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips as he adjusted the black trench coat he wore and there was a strange barcode-like tattoo just under his right eye, almost giving the group an impression that he was some sort of gangster.

"Oh? So this is Touma, hmm? He's pretty cute and these girls too," a sultry voice called out from behind the group, revealing something that had both Yang and Touma's jaws dropping. The woman looked like a more voluptuous version of Yang, a larger chest that looked like it was bursting out of a white shirt, sleek blonde hair reaching to her back and blue eyes that winked at the unfortunate boy, leaving him blushing a little.

Weiss and Blake both gripped their weapons more tightly as they felt the back of their necks prickling at the sudden pressure they found themselves in while their leader glanced at each new stranger with confusion, a little startled at the whole atmosphere.

"Yep, that's him, Kami-yan… Hahhh.. You know, if you guys simply accepted what I said, things would've been a lot easier for all of us," Motoharu said as he took off his shades to rub his eyes before putting it back on, his grin no longer present, "Now this? Well… things have gotten a lot more complicated."

"Complicated?" Ruby echoed in confusion, all these sudden entrances and Motoharu's cryptic words had started to give her pause, especially with the fact that her team seemed to be on edge.

"Yeah, is there something going on?" Touma asked, unlike Ruby, he knew the atmosphere was very tense and he had a feeling that this whole thing did not look like something his friends were comfortable with. Though the newcomers weren't holding any weapons as far as he could tell, he felt the threat pulsing from them.

"Yep and so, there's been a change of plans, unfortunate, but things don't always go our way and so… we have to adapt," the blond boy mused with an overdramatic sigh, "Kami-yan, ladies, we're gonna have you all come with us in an all-expenses-paid trip to Mistral City."

Touma and team RWBY stared at Motoharu, but despite his large grin, nothing about what he said indicated that he was joking. However, their disbelief lingered inside them as Weiss had summed up for them, "You can't be serious."

"Oh but I am," Motoharu replied as he approached them slowly, "I've a feeling that if we take Kami-yan, you four won't keep quiet about it, so I decided it would be simpler to take you along."

"Woah there, you gotta take me to dinner first," Yang joked with a rigid grin, "But I'm going to exercise my right to say 'no'."

The girl with pigtails snorted and folded her arms, "We never said you could say 'no'."

"Ahh… calm down Awaki, let's not get violent now," Motoharu said as he waved at her with a chuckle, "But, unfortunately, she's right, we aren't taking 'no' for an answer. So let's do us all a favour and come along, yeah?"

"No," Ruby's simple answer shot through, now she was aware that her team was threatened and at first, she couldn't believe that Motoharu would do this. While it was true that she had only known him in the span of a couple of hours, he seemed like a nice guy, especially since he oversaw Touma's first mission, but with the veiled threat heading their way, all bets were off the table. She raised her Crescent Rose and her team as well as Touma raised their weapons as well.

"We're going to fight? That's a shame, they are cute," the woman behind them said with a sigh while the red-haired man and Awaki both snorted.

"Regardless, we should avoid creating an incident, if we can," the man tiredly as a trail of smoke shot out from his nostrils.

Motoharu's grin dropped as he shook his head, he then held up his hand and said, "Well, we have expected that this might be the outcome, but… Stiyl is right, let's try not to kill them," The intruders began shifting, pulling out their weapons as they began to approach the Beacon students. Motoharu's mouth curved to a rigid grin as he muttered to himself, "Hahh… Qrow's going to have my head for this but… a job's a job.

"Oriana, if you would do the honours," Motoharu requested.

The blonde woman smiled courteously as she held flashcards binded by a single ring, "Of course." She flipped out a single card and tore it off the ring with her teeth, then on that sheet of white, strange scrawlings began to glow a hellish red, and Touma and team RWBY suddenly found themselves surrounded in a flash of light.


Yay, more Toaru Characters and a brief mention of beloved Qrow! This universe thingy is getting bigger and bigger.