Hello again.

Adam Taurus was growing old.

Well, technically he was forty-one, which meant he looked somewhere around his late twenties or early thirties, because Aura is the greatest exfoliant, but ancient in the eyes of the huntsmen community, what with the dangers of the career and short life expectancies.

Salem had been defeated around two decades ago, and with her demise began the dwindling of the Grimm. Yes, the monsters had been around even before her, but she had had a hand in their growth in population and the creation of new species.

Ozma on the other hand had finally ended his wife's curse, but had not been able to lift his own. But in some stroke of luck, his curse of completely overtaking his host's mind was gone, and that Oscar was able to remain as he was, and he was more than happy to share his mind with the immortal.

The only thing he couldn't stand was the fact that he had to share some of his more... intimate moments with Ozma for the rest of his life, making going out on dates with others very difficult.

"Sure, but think of it this way Oscar. You literally have the most skilled man in romance coaching you!" Yang laughed as she punched him happily in the arm. Qrow laughed along his niece, ribbing the now newest addition to Beacon's faculty. "Yang's right, kiddo. There really is no other person who's been in more relationships, break-ups, divorces, and rejections than old Ozzy!"

Oscar promptly let Ozma take over, with which the man began happily thrashing the uncle-niece duo in combat. Adam chuckled to himself at the memory. Now, the years had passed, and Ozma had become more optimistic as Oscar grew. With the threat of Salem finally gone, he could now fully invest himself in the unification of the kingdoms and the bridging of the divide between humans and Faunus.

"It'll take many years, I know. It's likely that the results will finally show themselves after our time." Oscar said, downing a mug of coffee as he multi-tasked between sorting through a multitude of documents and files while holding a conversation between himself, the voice in his head, and Adam, who nodded. "I agree. There are still factions of White Fang across Remnant. They're weak now, but continue to persevere." Ozma and Oscar, after years of getting used to sharing a body, seamlessly shifted personas. A faint golden glow indicated it was now the former Adam was speaking to, but he never lost a beat in doing his paperwork. "So long as discrimination remains deeply rooted in people, I'm afraid groups like the White Fang will continue to exist." Ozma sighed, putting the his pen down and closing the holographic image next to him before directing a faint smile at Adam. "Though, with Weiss at the head of the Schnee Company, along with her sister now being made the leader of Atlas and its military, significant progress has been made in creating change."

Adam allowed himself a small smile, recalling how the two sisters had become adamant in their resolve to fix the damage their father had done. "I'm... glad." Ozma laughed, once again shifting with Oscar. "Look at that - big, bad Taurus actually smiled." Adam merely smirked, "You get one, Pines. Only one. "Appreciated. And have you considered our proposal?"Adam hummed in thought, remembering the offer.

"Becoming a professor here at Beacon Academy, teaching History no less."

"Professor Oobleck is nearing retirement, and we both agreed that you would make a fine replacement. The point of history is to learn from it, and to ensure that those who will come after us will not make the same mistakes their predecessors did."

"And no one knows more about learning from their mistakes like me, right?" Adam said, not accusingly, but more asking himself. Oscar sighed. "I know you've changed, Adam. I didn't know the terrorist that existed before Beacon, but I am brothers with the man standing before me now."

"Tell that to my handlers." Adam grunted, a little anger bleeding into his voice. Before groaning, regretting his words. "It's not your fault. I understand the need for oversight," Adam amended, "no matter my deeds in the last war, it doesn't change the fact that I was a terrorist with innocent blood on his hands."

Oscar said nothing. There was nothing to be said. Both he and Ozma knew the kind of weight Adam carried with him, the regrets he's burdened with. Ozma understood that very well, but he also knew how much Adam had changed. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Adam sighed."Yeah, sure. I suppose I'll give teaching here a shot."

The man with two souls smiled, before an explosion happened outside. Ah yes, it was the beginning of a new school year. The inevitable 'crashing-into-someone-that-had-dust-and-subsequently-blowing-up' had just happened.

Now Adam sat his desk, alone in his classroom. Class had just finished, and his students had all rushed to the cafeteria, eager for what lunch offered them today.

Adam Taurus, former terrorist, now huntsman and teacher, sighed in relief. Yes, he maybe a recovering sociopath with murderous tendencies and anger issues that he couldn't completely get rid of; yes, he was also a survivor of Salem's assault, but a classroom full of hormonal teens with superpowers would leave anyone drained, no matter their experience. And that was just his first class.

With nothing left to distract him, he took a seat at his desk. It was devoid of anything unnecessary, save for one personal belonging. A picture.

It showed him and his team, ALBT. It was taken during their second term in their first year at Beacon. There was Jaune Arc, still gangly and awkward, trying his best to smile while he struggled against a headlock courtesy of Mercury Black. Mercury smiled sweetly at the camera, as if he wasn't trying to suffocate a man, nor did he show any reaction to the fact that Adam Taurus was coming at him with murderous intent.

On the side was Adam himself, teeth clenched and Wilt unsheathed, ready to decapitate his teammate. The only thing stopping him was their final teammate, Lie Ren, who valiantly held him back, sweat evident on his brows.

Adam could no longer remember what had caused that picture. Frankly, he didn't care.

All he cared about was the fact that in it, they were all happy.

Now, while still very much in touch, ALBT had split up.

Jaune Arc after the war had dedicated himself in the extermination of the remaining Grimm population alongside the rehabilitation of Beacon and Vale. He had truly found himself, growing strong and skilled in the following years, though he was still a bumbling, awkward mess.

He had been named a hero, and reignited the Arc family's reputation as a line of heroes.

He also, to everyone's utter shock, got hitched.

To Weiss Schnee of all people.

Apparently, they had grown close. Jaune had finally moved on from his teenage idiocy (mostly) and matured, which caught the affection of the heiress after years of finally warming up to him.

Of course, it had been Weiss who had popped the question. If it had been Jaune, it would've either taken forever or blow up in his face. Or both.

Now, they were happily married as the Schnee-Arc family, with a son named Arthur and a daughter along the way. The couple along with Winter Schnee spearheaded the many reforms that had been placed in Atlas, with the help of Council woman Robin by their side.

Ren had also married, albeit much earlier. A few years after the war, Nora Valkyrie and Ren hilariously proposed to each other at the same time.

The whole ordeal had pancakes, sloths, grenades, and an actual mission of taking down a White Fang splinter cell, all while managing to be one of the most sickeningly romantic things in Adam's experience.

Now they resided in Vale as reserves. The "Lies" as Nora kept proudly calling them, now consisted of the happy couple and triplets, because of course Nora freaking Valkyrie - nay, Lie Nora would.

Now Ren never truly got the rest he deserved.

On the bright side, they were the leading Huntsmen-Sloth-Massive Explosions themed pancake restaurant in Vale. So there's that.

Mercury on the other hand, didn't have it in him to settle at first. During the war against Salem he had fallen for their enemy, Emerald Sustrai. Fortunately, after a long time of flirting and courting through their fists and trying to bang each other via murder, Emerald betrayed Cinder and sided with them against her former boss.

Afterwards, Emerald had been granted amnesty, though she refused to live in Vale. So she went off to wander Remnant, and of course Mercury would take it upon himself to go along with her.

They had earned the nicknames "The Butcher and the Thief", though now Mercury butchered Grimm and Emerald stole from the criminals and gave (sold) it to the proper authorities.

Luckily, Mercury was always in contact with his old friends. The longest he went without calling had been two weeks, and that was because they had been holed up in a frontier village with no signal. They also apparently eloped in that village.

After a month, the newly wedded couple returned, with Mercury Black now Sustrai.

"Marcus is dead. Let his shitty legacy die with him." he had said after announcing that he had taken Emerald's last name.Now, after many years, their travels had slowed down, staying in Vale for much longer periods of time now that Emerald was pregnant with their first child.

"This is your fault." she sneered at her husband. "You fucking knocked me up you crippled bastard."Mercury smirked in response. "I heard no complaints when I, as you so crudely say, knocked you up."He was bombarded with illusions of Cinder sock dolls for the rest of the week, a reminder of his gross past with the thing.Adam sighed. Team RWBY was just as effectively defunct. Though very much still a family.

Ruby Rose was lauded as the hero who vanquished Salem, and was now one of the top huntresses of Remnant. She is also currently one of the leading ambassadors across the four kingdoms, strengthening their bonds and assuring that they stand united.

Yang and Blake were also both leading interesting lives.

Together. With a plus one.

The two married, which everyone saw coming a mile away. The only thing no one saw was how they would also include Sun Wukong in their vows.

Now the three were enjoying a quiet life in marriage, shifting homes between Menagerie and Patch. They were big names in Faunus Activism, and when they stayed in Patch, Yang would take up teaching where she used to study.

It also happens that her uncle, Qrow was now the headmaster of that school.

The gods have truly forsaken them when Qrow became a leader of anything.

As for Adam, well he remained a bachelor. After finally patching things up with Blake and finally earning her forgiveness, they became good friends. He had even been invited to their three-way wedding, though he regretted in joining in Sun's bachelor party.

Teama ALBT and SSSN had gotten into a brawl with some gangsters in the club, caused a massive turf war between rival gangs, ended a massive underground criminal network, and Zwei having apparently hid in Jaune's bag, bit the chief of police's crotch as they were being congratulated.

And all of ALBT had been completely sober through the whole ordeal. None of them drank for various reasons, so they became team SSSN's personal group of hangover nannies.

It had been... fun. Truly fun.

"Hey there Profeseor Cyclops."

Adam was surprised out of his reverie by the voice. He turned only to see Mercury sitting on one of the desks. He looked older now, with his gray hair grown out and tied back by a bun. He wore a simple gray sweat-jacket and jeans. But even after all these years, the mischievous glint in his eyes never faded.

"Ah, the cripple. Need me to fetch you a walker, old man?"

"That's rich coming from you, you one-eyed son of a bitch. You're what, forty? And you still haven't grown out of your edge-lord phase."

"Ironic, coming from the cyborg who still listens to the same songs from his childhood."

"They're classics, patchy. Now come here and give me a hug."

Adam grinned and moved to embrace his friend.

His brother.

Separating, Mercury looked him up and down. "Yeah, this'll do."

Adam raised an eyebrow, "What'll this do? Would you kindly make sense, Mercury?"

"Your outfit. It'll do you idiot. Now c'mon, Vomit-boy and Mr. Whipped to his wife is waiting for us at the Emerald Forest."

"The hell are they doing there?" Adam exclaimed in confusion. "Also, I still have classes with the upper years in two hours."

Mercury grinned the kind of grin he wore when he had replaced Yang's conditioner with sour cream or when he had tripped Ruby while she was using her semblance, causing her to crash into Oscar.

Adam's good eye widened in fear. "What did you do?"

"I may have knocked out and tied up Winchester before his combat class and convinced all his students to join a massive free-for-all

"You what?"

"C'mon man! Let's go! The three of us really worked hard on setting you up on a date! We even stole a bullhead!"

Adam wanted to throw up. He also wanted to murder Mercury Black where he stood. His feelings only intensified when an explosion shook the halls, the screams of huntsmen and huntresses-in-training echoing throughout the academy.

Adam, standing there in his classroom with a grinning madman urging him to meet up with his friends to go on a date that they set up, even going through the trouble of commandeering a bullhead and blowing up parts of the school all so he could leave.

All he could feel at that moment was joy. Pure, unadulterated, going to regret afterwards, joy.

"Alright. I'm convinced. Oscar and Ozma can take care of it anyway."

"You psychopath. I love it!"

And so the two man-children raced off, avoiding the sounds of battle and irate professors as they made their way out of the academy.

"By the way," Adam yelled over the noise, "who'd you set me up with?"

Mercury grinned over his shoulder. "That crazy cat faunus chick from Atlas! Name's Neon."

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh no no no.

I genuinely believe Mercury and Jaune would grow their hair out.

Mercury would wear it in a bun on most days, but Jaune now carries the Schnee title so he has to keep his hair short and neat.

Weiss certainly doesn't complain.

I was thinking Adam would look good with a shaved look? Definitely short and easy to manage, something I feel is up his alley.

And while Sun/Blake/Yang isn't my biggest OT3, I think it's a good one. Blake and Sun had a lot of development in the past volumes and have good chemistry, while working well with the very popular ship of Bumblebee which is something RT is now gunning for. Also, c'mon, the sheer blonde insanity of both Sun and Yang just goes so well with Blake.

Finally, I really enjoy writing in this story. It's nicely experimental, and I get to play around with four characters that don't really get that much attention, barring Jaune. I even get a sense of how I improve over every chapter.

Stay safe!