"Blake, I'm sure that she's fine and that you're just blowing things out of proportion," Coco told Blake as they sat down at Coco's desk and she unlocked her laptop, handing it over to the cat Faunus. "That little surveillance camera that Atlas gave me to test should still be out there close to where we last spotted the pack of Beowulves, so it shouldn't take you too long to find them if they are still out there. I say if because I'm sure that they've already come back or something else that teens would normally do. Do you know how many times that Velvet and I wandered off in the woods during missions just so that we could have girl time away from Yatsu and Fox? It was more than a few."

"Did you see them come back?" Blake asked maneuvering the drone as quickly as she could.

"No, but did you forget the last part I just mentioned?" Coco asked sipping her coffee. "Hell, maybe we just missed them, or maybe they all decided to have a picnic. I hope I'm not this bad when Lamar gets older." Coco walked back over to the door and closed it, only to have a portal open in her office as soon as she walked away, Raven emerging out as Coco settled back in.

"Blake, is this a bad time?" Raven asked. Blake waved her off, half preoccupied.

"Can it wait until I'm off the clock?" Blake asked. Coco set her mug down and brushed off her hands, shaking her head as she stood to shake Raven's hand.

"Coco Adel, and she is off the clock," Coco told Raven as she offered her a seat. "It's kind of surreal to think that the legendary Raven Branwen is sitting here in my office."

"You've heard that much about me?" Raven asked.

"Yes and no," Coco told her. "I've worked for the council for quite some time now and if I wasn't such good friends with Yang and Blake, I would turn you in for the reward in a heartbeat." Raven rubbed her chin.

"That high?" Raven asked. Coco nearly sputtered on her coffee.

"Oh yeah!" Coco replied. "A person would never have to work another day in their life for the reward on your head." Coco stirred her coffee once more, trying to integrate the remaining dusting of sugar that floated along the bottom from not having enough time to rinse the mug out before filling it. "Rumor even has it that at one point you were a maiden."

"You can't believe everything that you hear, you know," Raven answered with a wink.

"I found them!" Blake exclaimed.

"And they're fine aren't they?" Coco asked rolling her eyes. "She always has to worry."

"There's White Fang with them!" Blake yelled. Coco spat out her coffee as she scrambled around the desk with Raven. "We won't make it out there in time to help them!"

"What's even happening? They all look frozen, did the feed cut out?" Coco asked. A portal opened beside Raven and she stepped through it, Coco grabbing her purse off of the floor beside the desk before rushing in with the former bandit leader. Coco glanced around as they stepped through, Raven moved with unnatural speed, already halfway to Neela and her sword met Crimson's rod only inches away from her granddaughter.

"Raven?!" Crimson sneered. Raven threw her back with sheer force, switching her sword quickly to a gravity blade and swinging twice in front of her, the two horizontal cuts sped through the air and crashed into Crimson, sending her flying even further from Neela.

"You have to ruin everything, don't you?" Ebony asked enraged and gripping her shoulder.

"I taught you everything that I knew," Raven reminded the girl.

"But you still left us to die!" Ebony yelled.

"I was done with the tribe! I left them in your hands, but apparently all of my knowledge wasn't enough for you to keep them together," Raven shouted.

"That's a lie, you ran because you were afraid!" Ebony fumed pacing slightly at a safe distance. Raven sheathed her blade.

"You're right, part of it was fear," Raven agreed. "But I knew that if I left that you'd all be safer." She sighed and shook her head. "Give this up. You can help us take Athena down, you don't need her." Raven reached out her hand and Ebony smirked.

"You must take me for an idiot," Ebony replied. "The rest of the White Fang grows stronger every day and as soon as Athena is ready we will wipe this earth clean of the humans that inhabit it. Including you. Then we'll see who needed who." Crimson returned to Ebony, calming from her blood lust but still able to smell it faintly through the frozen barrier. "If I recall, things didn't go so well for you the last time that we faced off."

"You ambushed me last time," Raven replied.

"And this time she has support," Coco added joining Raven.

"Don't trust this woman," Ebony informed Coco. "She'll stab you in the back." Coco laughed.

"Oh, I don't trust her, but as I see it right now, you were trying to kill my goddaughter and Raven was trying to protect her," Coco chuckled. She swung her purse out into its gun form and aimed for Ebony. "Now, you can either leave the school property, or we can kick your asses."

"We can take them," Ebony told Crimson. "Keep Raven busy." Ebony snickered before it grew into a more crazed and desperate laughter, raising her dagger and wedging into the spot she'd been shot, twisting it as she cried out in pain, Crimson's body went rigid simultaneously and Ebony handed her the dagger. "We get rid of Raven and you can have more." Crimson licked the blade and moaned, her toes curling and body contorting before leaping to an upright position and throwing the dagger with her full strength, the blade planting deep in Raven's chest before she could react.

"What the hell?" Raven asked. Coco opened fire on Ebony who collapsed into smoke, crawling across the ground before dispersing. Raven blocked another attack from Crimson who'd leapt into the air and came down on her, the rod becoming Raven's sword and Raven knocked her away once more, sliding back and pulling the dagger out. She grinned, snapping the Dust wire before spinning quickly and tossing the weapon without looking. It struck Ebony in the knee and she yipped, drawing Coco's attention.

"How did you know that she'd be there?" Coco asked.

"I trained her," Raven reminded Coco. She turned back, her earth coated blade striking against Crimson's for several rapid and precise exchanges. "The best defense is a precise, fast, and overpowering offense." She drove the girl back, her desire and raw rage were no match for a woman that had fought for her life every day for nearly sixty years. Crimson tumbled across the ground, leaping up at Raven who caught her by the neck and pinned her. Coco watched in awe for a long moment before looking back down for Ebony, but she was gone.

"Dammit!" Coco shouted.

"This isn't the last you'll see of us!" Ebony shouted. She emerged, dodging another blind attack from Raven and trapped her in a shadow sphere as she escaped quickly with her demon partner. Coco chased for a moment.

"Let them go!" Raven called out before using a portal to escape the prison. "We need to get the kids out of there. Besides, I'm not sure that I could have held onto Crimson for much longer. There was something strange about her." Raven swung her blade, fire Dust blasting away from her in a wave and freeing NITE as they all hit the ground.

"Grandma Raven, you saved us!" Eliana exclaimed. Raven shook her head as she pulled Eliana and Neela to their feet, grabbing Neela by the shoulders.

"Why do I get the strangest feeling that this was your idea?" Raven asked.

"Oh, you can read minds now?" Neela asked dejectedly.

"I can see it in your eyes," Raven told her. "I know about the first time you fought Ebony, you almost died."

"How did you know about that?" Neela replied. Raven shook her head.

"What matters is that you keep a level head and not get yourself killed," Raven told her. "Listen to your teammates every now and then…" Raven stopped and stared into Neela's eyes. "Please? For Yang's sake?" Neela nodded.

"Okay," Neela answered.

"Good," Raven said. "You and I are going to do some training next weekend. Got anytime in your busy schedule for that?"

"I'm free!" Eliana exclaimed. Raven and Neela looked at her.

"What is up with this one?" Raven asked.

"I'm not sure sometimes," Neela laughed.

"I'm assuming that it would be in poor taste if I turned her in for the reward on her head," Titus offered as he joined the four of them with Ilia.

"She did just save your life," Ilia said.

"The Atlas Military has a price on my head too, huh?" Raven inquired.

"I think it'd be a shorter list if we reviewed who isn't after you," Titus joked. "Neela, how about next time we take a moment to weigh our options."

"I already talked to her about how stupid she acted," Raven told Titus. "Not to mention I'm sure she'll get an earful from Blake when we get back." They all murmured and nodded in agreement, Ilia and Titus separating from the other four as they headed back through the woods.

"How far away can you make a portal anyways?" Eliana asked.

"Kingdoms, why?" Raven replied.

"In case Neela needs to get away from Blake fast," Eliana offered. Coco laughed.

"She won't be happy, that's for sure," Coco noted as she crinkled her nose. She stopped momentarily, waving Eliana over. "There's a smudge on my glasses." She handed Eliana her purse which crashed to the ground in her grip, throwing her to the earth with it. Raven shook her head as Neela covered her mouth so Eliana wouldn't see. "I'm just thinking we should hope that she isn't having a full-blown panic attack."

"Why's that?" Neela asked Coco.

"She was watching everything at the end on camera," Coco offered offhandedly as she took her handbag back.

"So, what happened inside of Crimson's mind? I've never seen you have such a problem taking someone's body before," Titus told her. "We've even been practicing it every morning so that you'll get faster." Ilia rubbed her arms and shuddered slightly as she thought back on the experience, pulling her scroll out and texting Vin to find out what he was doing that evening. "Ilia…"

"I don't know how to explain what happened," Ilia told him. "Everything that I ever regretted doing came back to me while I was in her mind, in addition to her own dreams and fantasies of grandeur and killing all of the humans. Most of the time it's like opening a door and stepping through, and I can go back out if I need to. This time it was like I was forced into the door and it was locked behind me, and I had no control over the situation, even though I was able to grab bits and pieces of her subconscious."

"Sounds confusing," Titus replied as he took a deep breath. "I haven't always seen eye to eye with Neela, but it seems like she really went off the deep end this time."

"I don't know what happened," Ilia replied as exhaled and gathered herself. She'd go see Vin that evening, it was sure to ease her nerves. "I know she has a history with the Fang, but she almost seemed like a different person. She wasn't thinking about any of her attacks or our positions." Titus rubbed his neck.

"Let's just hope that she doesn't pull something like that again tomorrow," Titus said. Ilia glanced at him.

"Harsh much?" Ilia asked.

"I wasn't trying to be," he defended.

"You could've said something like, 'Hope she's feeling better' or 'I'm sure she'll snap out of it'," Ilia informed. He shrugged. "Once a gargoyle, always a gargoyle, huh?" He stopped for a moment and thought it over.

"I'm not as bad as I used to be!" Titus exclaimed. He jogged to catch up to her.

"You could still be better," she noted.

"You sleep well last night?" Bái asked as she sat down at their usual table in the middle of the cafeteria with Lykos. Cobalt looked down at the bracelet he was working on for her and finished adjusting the last screw as he held it up and admired it, finally acknowledging both of them with a nod.

"You want the truth, or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear?" Cobalt asked.

"What's that?" Lykos asked.

"Another inhibitor for Bái, even better than the last one," Cobalt explained proudly. Lykos shook his head and raised his palm to Cobalt, confusing the leader of the team for a moment.

"No," Lykos replied.

"Why not?" Cobalt asked. Bái glanced away, redding slightly as she picked up her toast and took a small bite out of the corner.

"I want to see how she does today without it," Lykos told him. "If we have any issues during the fight today, then I'll reconsider letting her wear one again." Cobalt was hesitant to accept the terms, but he knew that Lykos was smart and that he only had Bái's best interest in mind, so he let it go, for the time being, shoving the bracelet into his pocket and nodding.

"To answer your question, I slept alright," Cobalt admitted. "This whole chance for us to take first place has made it a little harder to sleep at night, but I have confidence in the four of us." Tawney slammed her tray down as she flopped down next to Cobalt, dark bags under each of her bloodshot eyes suggesting that she maybe hadn't slept at all the night before. She held up a finger to them, slamming an energy drink before tossing the crushed can away from them towards the opposite end of the table. "Did I say four of us? I think what I meant to say was the three of us."

"Calm down, would you?" Tawney groaned. "I got some sleep last night, I just got up early this morning to get in a couple of extra hours of training." Tawney chucked as she threw back the majority of her orange juice in a single gulp. "There's no way that Neela is going to outdo me today."

"Is it true?" Lykos asked. "That they had a tussle with the White Fang yesterday?" Tawney shrugged.

"Probably not," Tawney coughed with her mouth full. "Eliana probably just made it all up so that the attention of everyone here wouldn't be taken off of Team NITE."

"I kind of think they're beyond that kind of thing," Bái argued.

"They are," Cobalt reassured her. "It's nothing to worry about, though it does sound like Neela was a bit shaken up from the whole thing so we might be able to use that to our advantage." Tawney perked up at the news and glanced amongst them.

"Nobody told me that!" Tawney declared leaping to her feet.

"This is why," Cobalt muttered.

"Might is the keyword in that sentence," Lykos pointed out to Tawney. "Neela's tough, she might have bounced back from that by now." Bái nudged him and he glanced back, noting their rivals entering the mess hall and grabbing their trays, the entire team together in a small huddle of sorts as they moved through to get their food. Neela laughed at something that Eliana said before Titus asked for something and they all laughed again. The hope of using Neela's bad mood had gone right out the window and they felt their nerves kicking back in as they had been all week. It could never be easy. They needed to prove that they deserved it.

NITE sat at the table across from them and Eliana gave a nervous wave that Bái returned and Lykos nodded at Eliana in acknowledgment.

"Good luck today guys!" Eliana called out with a smile before she turned back to her teammates. "We're going to destroy them, right?"

"That's the plan," Ilia noted as she sipped on the milk from her carton.

"Give credit where it's due guys, they aren't number two for nothing," Neela reminded them.

"But they also aren't number one for a reason," Titus pointed out. Neela looked across at him.

"What's that?" Neela asked.

"Because we are!" Eliana exclaimed. Titus looked at Neela who smirked and he shook his head.

"She's not wrong," Ilia agreed. "Seriously though, they are going to put up a fight."

"What are we doing today anyways?" Titus asked. "Coco was pretty cryptic the first time she talked about this training exercise."

"She only told me that we're supposed to meet her and Team CBLT at the Vytal Fest arena at one this afternoon," Neela answered.

"We going to do some last-minute training?" Eliana asked. Neela looked at Ilia and Titus with a shrug.

"We could probably work on a little bit of strategizing before we get into it," Neela agreed. Titus nodded.

"I'm in," Titus said. Eliana leapt up with her tray empty and swung around back towards the kitchen.

"Hurry up, we're wasting time!" Eliana declared as she ran across the room to return her tray.

"We only just sat down," Ilia noted.

"She never stops, that for sure," Neela laughed as she took another bite of her eggs. Titus glanced at Ilia who motioned to Neela with her head.

"You doing okay today, Neela?" Titus asked her. He glanced at Ilia again who nodded in approval. She met both of their eyes before nodding earnestly and shoveling in another spoonful of breakfast potatoes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine guys," she replied knowing exactly what they were asking. "Don't worry about me, invest all of your thoughts on CBLT. They aren't going down without a fight and something tells me that we're in for more than just a 'capture the flag' match this time."

Raven saved NITE just in time, but what if she's not around the next time? Next Week, Chapter 93 - Defusing the Situation!

A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.

Until next week, stay classy!