AN: First off, sorry this took darn near two months! Was super busy like always, but I'll make sure the next chapter doesn't take so long! Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5: Downtime

It was days like today that Ozpin liked to close his eyes and imagine he was on some tropical island far away from it all with nothing but a cold drink in his hand and the hot sun in the sky. Sadly, that was just another dream in this terrible nightmare he called life. A life where even a man who has lived for over several thousand years he had hardly ever seen or talked with a more insufferable batch of siblings.

"Yes, Raven I'm well aware that Qrow is a drunk. Who doesn't? But he still somehow gets the job done well and you could do well to learn a thing or two from your younger twin."

Ravens condition had improved slightly in the past week and it was expected she would be able to return to the field soon. The idea of working again with her brother to figure out who was responsible for the destruction of her tribe and what other intentions they had didn't set well for her. At least the working with Qrow part…

"No, I'm not high Raven. Look I have to meet with a student of mine, you two are just going to have to get along for now." With that he hung up before she could protest.

"I take it Raven hasn't changed much?" Glynda mused.

"I'm afraid not." The headmaster sighed just before there was a knock on the door and Ruby was let into the office.

"You wanted to speak with me sir?" The girl asked nervously.

"Yes. I appreciate you taking the time Miss Rose. I know you and the other students have been through a lot. Something that should never have happened here on my watch."

"It's okay sir. I don't blame you…And thanks to Aqua no one really died."

"Be that as it may it's my job to ensure your safety while in these halls. You witnessed such a horrific site. Which takes me to the main reason I called you in here. Miss Rose how are your eyes feeling?"

The young girl blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Your eyes. Do they hurt or tingle in anyway?"

Ruby shook her head. "No. My head hurts a bit after the whole incident, but other than that, I feel fine I suppose…"

Ozpin doubted it. Going through so much trauma in seeing two of your classmates killed so violently was more than enough to trigger her silver eyes. The fact that Aqua was able to bring those students back wasn't something he could ever hope to take for granted. He would have to make sure Aqua was rewarded later… And have someone keep tabs on her lest she fall into the hands of the enemy.

"Do you remember what happened with your eyes on that horrible night?"

The young girl sighed. "I mean I remember seeing a bright flash… And then just feeling raw emotion before passing out."

As he took a sip of his coffee Ozpin mentally prepared himself for a talk, he was hoping could wait a few years, but it appeared things were moving so much more quickly than he expected.

"What happened with your eyes is something you inherited from your mother…I don't know how much of her you remember."

Ruby shook her head sadly. "I was pretty young when she passed… So not much really. I know I got the color of my eyes from her, but I didn't think it really meant anything other than, well, the color of my eyes."

The old wizard nodded along. "In most cases that would be the case." He looked at his watch. "Miss Rose, I hope you'll oblige me. I'm afraid this is going to be a long and complex explanation."

Mandy was more than troubled by the recent events. The fact that she or any of the others had failed to even take into consideration that an angel might get involved was an oversight she couldn't let down. Perhaps they had just assumed all angels would have been bound to not get involved with demon affairs, but that was rather silly in hindsight even if this angel was a so called "rouge" agent. She and the others in charge of their current task force were all gathered to discuss the next course of action. The others being Gaz, Zim, and Stocking.

"It's a shame we had to return its corpse to Heaven as evidence. I would have loved to dissect the creature." Zim sighed, leaning back into his chair.

"And even then, we won't be getting anything more than lip service and token apologizes from the pearly gates ether." Gaz remarked still playing on her gameslave.

"Has the dark lord made any official statement on the incident? Is Jaune going to be brought back to the homeland?" Stocking asked as she lazily ate a banana.

Mandy shook her head. "Our master has yet to make any statement at least to my knowledge. As for Jaune it looks like he will remain here and the plan will continue uninterrupted."

Although I didn't expect him to be able to take on an angel, it's obvious Jaune could use some training…

The blonde continued to glance at the former angel. "Stocking when we move to Beacon, I want you to help with Jaune's training."

The goth angel stretched in her chair. "Sure, I can do that."

The entire table sat in silence for a few moments. Gaz and Zim were utterly awestruck that Stocking hadn't told Mandy to go fuck herself or sputtered some other profanity at being told what to do by the blonde general.

Stocking blinked. "What?"

"I didn't expect you to agree with me so readily." Mandy admitted with a raised brow.

"Well it does make sense…I mean it would be a problem if Jaune died on me before he even became the next king. It's not like I care about him or anything." The goth shrugged.

Gaz snorted. "Okay tsundere."

"Tsundere? What that hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"Are you sure you don't have those…Weird squishy meat-bag feelings for the prince?" Zim asked.

"If anything, I would have expected her to be a kuudere or even a bit of a yandere." Mandy admitted with a shrug and the lighting of a cigarette.

"Huh!? What's with all these weeb terms? You know what? Go fuck yourself Mandy!"

"There it is!" Zim and Gaz pointed in unison.

Mandy rolled her eyes being used to such insults from the angel. "Zim, what's the status of our prisoner?"

She had originally planned to send their living prisoner to Grievous for interrogation, however, he had already been recalled back to Hades to begin army preparations. She doubted he would be back in Remnant until the invasion. Hence why Zim had been in charge of breaking in their prisoner…Which might have been a mistake if she wanted to keep their captive alive.

Remnant…What a ridiculous name to call your world. It's like they already consider themselves broken. They really haven't seen anything yet…

The blonde general couldn't even begin to comprehend why only one of the nations had a massive military when almost ninety percent of the planet was filled with strange dark animals trying to wipe out every trace of civilization. Was it just incompetence or something more?

"The prisoner is holding up for the most part. I haven't really gotten anything we don't already know…I mean I thought that was the point of me infiltrating the White Fang in the first place."

"I figured this would be faster and I doubt the White Fang is going to listen to any more of your tips now that two of their core members are missing in action." Mandy smiled.

"True…So, am I still going remaining under cover or am I going to be stuck dissecting the chameleon meat thing all day?"

"You'll remain for now. It could still prove useful, just keep your head down and do what they tell you. Assuming they don't think you're a traitor and try to kill you."

Zim chuckled darkly. "Oh, they can try. I sure do hope they try…"

"I said try for a reason." Mandy agreed, standing up and as she burned through more of her cigarette, it was time to move on now. "I think that concludes things for today."

"Cool. I got vampire pigs to kill."

"I guess I'll have some more fun with our new guest."

"I'll be in the training room."

Mandy followed her fellow villains out of their makeshift meeting room as she burned through the rest of her cigarette. She dropped it and crushed it under her boot without a care. It wasn't like they were going to be here any longer than a few more days before moving to someplace else. Their current forces were small but skilled at blending in and rotating around to avoid detection. The fact that people believed their non-human forces to be some type of faunus was too convenient for them.

Standing alone now in the small hallway she allowed her normally disciplined mind to wander as it always did when she was alone.

"Hahahahaha! Mandy, I got your nose!"

"Darn it Billy! I was watching that. Why do you always break everything you touch!?"

The blonde general instinctively reached for another cigarette and lit it as memories of her former two companions floated into her mind. A bad habit that would probably kill her over the years if she wasn't already technically dead. The memories from her childhood always came back at random, but the ones from when she was older were always more coherent.

She closed her eyes as she breathed out.

"Hey Mandy? You know what the best part of having death on our leash is?"

"No. What's the best part Billy?"

"It means we won't die right? We can hang out forever!"

Anyone else hearing that would probably think that was a form of Hell and they would be right. Mandy, however, wasn't anyone else.

"And what makes you think I'd want to do that with you?"

"I mean… You haven't ditched me like everyone else has when we started high school. I know Irwin still talks to you though, and I'm honestly surprised you are still turning him down. You must keep me around for some reason, right?"

"Someone has to keep you out of trouble. That's all it is, and Irwin just doesn't interest me. In fact, if he asks me out again, I might just leave him a lethal surprise for him in his car."

Whenever Mandy was alone, it didn't take much. All she would have to do is light up a smoke and close her eyes to be back. To be back in a time when she couldn't even be honest with herself without shutting down. Without realizing her one weakness would always be him.

"Hehehe! You're so funny Mandy."

"Whatever."

She could almost feel the wind going through her hair again. The gentle breeze as the sun began its slow fall in the horizon. The other snot-nosed kids leaving the school in their cars or on the buses.

"Hey, Mandy?"

"Yes Billy?"

"I lo-"

"Yo Mandy!"

She had to use every ounce of will she had to not strike down the girl who had just interrupted her trip down memory lane.

"What Gaz!?"

The purple haired girl just blinked at her for a moment.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to get out of my way so I can get my phone out of the conference room. I left it in there."

The blonde demon moved out of the way with a sigh. "Yeah, sure." She quickly made her way down the hall before Gaz could give her any more grief about zoning out like she had. She was out of cigarettes anyway…

Stocking had just finished stretching and warming up as she took off both stripe one and two. The former angel knew she had that type of thickness guys loved, but she was far from fat or overweight in any way. Despite her normal lazy attitude, she always made sure to get in a couple of hours of work out or combat training in each day.

She had decided she was going to get some more practice in with using both swords at once, despite the fact that one normally did the trick. It would be her own fault if she got rusty and it cost her the battle.

Currently the room, she was using was far from optimal. It was another old factory that had dust and old broken crap everywhere. Still, she was able to make do in large thanks to Zim. Despite how stupid Irkins seemed, it was not that surprising that they almost took over their universe. Even as a defective one Zim was able to make machines and program damn near anything out of well… Almost anything.

He was even able to replicate a robotic version of her dead sister Panty for her to train against. Just based on what little she had told Zim it was pretty accurate and with each victory Stocking gained Zim was more than happy to try and upgrade the difficulty along with the repairs. The Pantybot was surprisingly clean and sleek for something Zim had managed to scrape together. Its long silver hair was reminiscent of Panty's long golden locks and they had managed to even get her voice rather spot on.

"You ready yet motherfucker? Or are we just going to stand around and do foreplay all day?" Pantybot asked impatiently tapping her robotic heel against the floor.

Rolling her eyes with both katanas in hand, she made her way into the makeshift arena. "You that eager to get scrapped again?"

"As if tits for brains. I'm going to pump you full of holes this time." The android pulled out both guns without warning and started to blast away.

Stocking quickly started to deflect the metal bullets with her blades. Jumping up into the air, she attempted to cut down the robot where it stood, but it evolved far past such simple victories. The Pantybot leapt away and started to quickly combine her guns to form a rapid-fire weapon.

"Tch." Stocking grunted as bullets started to graze her. Moving quickly, she jumped behind a crate only for bullets to tear through it like butter. In hindsight, it seemed silly that it would offer any real protection from such fast-moving projectiles. Still it was better then being out in the open.

"Come on Stocking! At least make this a challenge. Are you just going to hide from your big sister all day?"

A strong anger awoke within the fallen angel as she gritted her teeth and jumped from the crates. Allowing her wings to manifest with a strong burst, she flew upwards and pushed back against the ceiling for momentum. Using one hand she attempted to deflect the spray of bullets as she rushed straight toward the android, failing to deflect a sizable portion of the ammo as she continued to grit her teeth in pain.

The robot attempted to gain distance from her, but Stocking was ready and threw her other blade. Her sword shot through the air and cut through Robopantys leg knocking it off balance at the last second.

"Oh shit! Wa-" The android was cut off as Stocking slashed through it with stripe one causing Pantybots head to roll onto the floor as the body fell to the ground with a loud crash next to the severed leg.

Stocking groaned in pain as she looked at all her scrapes. She wasn't bleeding, of course, but the metal still hurt like a bitch. The robot replica had done a bit better this time by actually attempting to combine weapons into a type of rapid-fire mode, but it was still going to need some work if it was ever going to be on par with her sister.

"Oh, shucks, you killed me again. How many times until you're satisfied?" Her dead sister teased.

"Shut up. You're not real." Stocking grumbled as she put her swords back into stocking form and put them back onto her legs.

"Real enough to make you keep talking to yourself like a lunatic. And feel the need to train against a robot me...What's wrong sis? Scared I'm going to come back from the dead?"

Deciding to just ignore the voice in her head the goth made her way out of the training room and down the small hallway into Zims makeshift lab. This time remembering to knock first, lest she accidentally walk in on Zim and Gaz doing a science experiment again like last time.

"Yeah, I'm into some kinky shit too, but that was totally gross."

"Shut up!"

Stocking knocked on the door loudly before awaiting a response from the green genius.

"Come in!"

With a sigh of relief Stocking entered Zim's lab. It was dirty and disorganized with tools and small electronics strung about. Three massive computer screens filled the back of the lab as Zim sat in his black chair typing something into the central screen. Her eyes drifted to the floating remains of the bat-human hybrid Mandy's soldiers had killed. She couldn't help but wonder what the Irkin could be planning to use them for, but she knew better than to ask questions she wouldn't like the answers to.

Not far from it was the still living chameleon-human hybrid. Tied and strapped to a table with a blindfold and large metal device on her head.

"What the hell is that?" Stocking asked pointing.

Zim turned from his chair and glanced over at the prisoner. "It's a brain drainer as I call it. Not up to par with the stuff they use in Irkin interrogation rooms of course, but it's slowly getting the job done much to the wearers discomfort."

"P-please make the pain stop…" the prisoner whimpered.

"Don't worry strange lizard creature, it will all be over soon."

Stocking raised a brow. "Will it?"

The alien shrugged and turned back to face the computer screens. "Beats me. I just hope it finishes before we have to move again."

"True. Sneaking all this crap around is a pain in the ass."

"Well, my prototype storage containers make it at least doable, but a live prisoner is so much more of a hassle."

"So, what's going to happen to her after you get all the information downloaded?"

The alien shrugged again. "I might make her into some sort of mutant slave or something. I mean she's used to hurting people herself so she might as well do it for us."

"Can't argue with that." Stocking smiled. "By the way I trashed the robot again so when you get time…"

"Yeah, I'll take a look at it tonight. Was it a challenge yet?"

"It got me pretty good a few times." Her pale skin was bruised, especially in her shoulders and knees, but it would be healed in less than a day.

"Well, it's progress then."

"Yep." Stocking turned to leave. "I'll leave you to your work then."

"Later." The Irkin replied as the door shut behind her.

"Wow sis… You really have fallen far, haven't you." The voice echoed once more. "I mean killing me or some trashy bandits is one thing. But letting that poor girl rot like that? Didn't think you could ever do something so disgusting."

For once the goth would humor, her dead sister. "That girl is a terrorist who believes in supremacy for her strange kind. She's probably killed dozens of innocent people just for being human and doing their job which probably didn't even have anything to do with human supremacy. As far as I'm concerned to a lot of people who may have lost someone to the White Fang this would be considered justice."

"So that's your reason? Like you haven't been doing far worse on your conquests for Lucifer?"

"Of course not. I could care less either way. But I'm not the one claiming to be a victim."

"You really are beyond saving now, aren't you… Someday you will face judgment for what you've done."

"Oh, yeah? Are you going to make me repent motherfucker? I'm not the one who's dead." Stocking laughed.

"We will see in the end I suppose…"

Stocking sighed. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Panty didn't respond this time.

Jaune was currently sitting in his dorm with his teammates. He had just gotten back from talking with Ozpin and he wasn't thrilled to have to lie twice in a row like this, but that was life he supposed. His life anyway.

"So, what did you want to know about me?"

"So first off...You can summon a blood monster!?" Nora asked with a strange mix of disgust and excitement.

"Yes. I suppose that's my semblance. I've been able to do that for as long as I remember." He explained. In truth he could summon other things too, but Marry was a favorite of his.

"Wait, so does that mean those skeleton wings are a part of you? Like are you some sort of strange faunus?" Pyrrha asked.

Everyone looked at her.

"That came out wrong..." She sighed.

Jaune chuckled. "No, its okay. And no, I'm not a faunus. I guess the wings are also part of my semblance? I'm not really sure since I just always had them." Honestly the faunus thing wouldn't have been a bad cover if he knew enough to lie about what type of faunus he could possibly be with skeleton wings.

"A double semblance? That's incredibly rare if not unheard of, " Ren remarked impressed while all the blond could do was shrug sheepishly.

"Rare or not that's awesome! Our leader is the best!" Nora exclaimed.

"I'm really not. My friends in Mistral are way stronger and cooler than me." Jaune admitted.

"What makes you say that? And are you originally from Mistral then?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, I was from Shion." He lied. "And my friends? Well for starters there is Gaz who basically saved all our asses. She also kicks my ass at every video game we play so I just kind of stopped trying when it comes to that stuff."

"Yeah, she seemed pretty cool. Definitely rocked that corset." Nora giggled. "But I bet I could beat her in Super Smash Bros."

"I mean I doubt it personally, but I'd love to be proven wrong." Jaune shrugged.

"We better be able to have a match when the exchange students arrive then." The Valkyrie responded as she got off the floor and jumped onto her bed.

"I'm sure she would be thrilled. Anyway, then there is Mandy." Jaune continued with a hint of excitement. "She is a strong and fearless leader who won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. I just wish I could get be more like her myself someday. As for the last two there is Zim who I think is dating Gaz, but I'm not sure at this point. He is pretty dumb when it comes to common sense, but other than that he is a genius. He can build all kinds of robots and weapons from almost nothing. And as for the last one… Her name is Stocking and she is just a goth girl who is good with swords, nothing important about her." Jaune finished with a bit loss of breath.

"Wow...sounds like an interesting bunch. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself though Jaune. I think you're doing a fine job as a leader." Pyrrha commented. "However, I will admit Gaz's abilities were pretty impressive against that creature."

"That creature seemed to be gunning after you and Aqua too." Ren added.

"Yeah, that was pretty crazy." Jaune shrugged.

"It said some pretty crazy stuff too. What was all that stuff about God and you and Aqua being a false idol and abomination?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Gaz said some stuff like that too, saying God isn't home and that who she was working for was way stronger than that creature?" Ren added. "Do you have any idea who she is working for or what she meant?"

"Yeah, something about a big D!" Nora giggled.

"I'm a afraid not...I haven't been in contact with them for the past few months up until now anyway so who knows what they have gotten into."

"Well, that's a bit disconcerting in this case don't you think?"

If Jaune wasn't the son of Lucifer who was bent on annexing or burning as much of the multiverse as possible then he would probably agree with Ren, but that wasn't the case...

"I suppose you're right." He lied. "At the very least it seems we should all watch our backs." That part wasn't a lie at least.

"I don't think we shouldn't worry too much right now and just let our betters handle it now that they know what's going on." Nora argued.

"I think Nora is right for the most part." Pyrrha agreed as she stretched. "The only thing that really worries me was how that creature was able to put up invisible barriers to stop anyone from reaching us."

"Well, it must not have been perfect since Gaz was able to sneak in."

"That's a fair point." Jaune added standing up getting a drink from the refrigerator. He didn't really have a clue if that was on Gaz's doing or if it was a flaw with that angel's powers. He didn't really want to text her and try to ask ether… "So, was there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

The group shook their heads seemingly content with what they had so far.

"Thanks for telling us a bit more about yourself at least. It was actually rather nice to sit and talk like a team even if the circumstances are rather…Unsettling." The spartan smiled.

"Well, if I wasn't feeling so angsty then this is something we probably would have done sooner. I want to learn more about all of you, of course as well."

"Ask away."

"Actually… I was hoping to start with Ren. I was thinking if he wanted and was free tonight that we could have a guy's night out. I still get a bit nervous with speaking in full group. If that's okay?" Jaune asked, sounding rather embarrassed.

The calm warrior nodded. "I don't have a problem with that."

"I suppose we girls could have a night out too, then." Pyrrha agreed. "I just hope you boys stay out of trouble without me and Nora around to watch you."

"The only one I'm worried about is Jaune." Nora deadpanned.

"Ouch."

As everyone chuckled at his expense the demon prince smiled internally at their compliance. He knew exactly where to take Ren and the best way to start learning his strengths and weaknesses as he would eventually learn for all of his teammates. If that crazy dream he had really was a vision of the future, then he would make sure he was more than prepared for what's to come.

AN: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter was a bit of a slow one, but I promise it won't stay that way for long. Again, sorry for the long delay, I promise the next chapter won't take two freaking months!