Entering Merlot's lab was the equivalent of entering Hell. Around every corner was a mutated Grimm or a squadron of powerful androids that had to be dispatched. All the same, the group fought their way through level after level of laboratory and storage, and Adam charged up his Moonslice semblance at several different occasions to destroy rows of large container containing the Grimm serum. It took a large toll on his aura, but he didn't care. No serum meant no new mutants, and no new mutants would be helpful if they wanted to survive and find his partner.

"Adam, Dora, Sam!" Ruby shouted as she, her teammates, Team JNPR, Sun, and Neptune fought off a massive mutant Death-Stalker, the girl looking back with narrowed eyes. "Go and find Jenna! We'll finish this!"

"We can't just leave you here!" Dora protested, her eyes narrowing into a glare. Jaune looked back, frowning.

"We might get overwhelmed if we stay in this place any longer than we have to, or Merlot could set the Faunus on us!" He reminded them. "You need to find Jenna so that we can get out of here!"

"... He's right." Adam decided, and Sam and Dora looked at him. "Let's go." With that, the bull-Faunus turned and ran. Sam and Dora hesitated, then they quickly followed him.

"Hm." Anino watched them go, frowning. Sun noticed and looked down at him, then he frowned.

"Go." He advised, and Anino looked up at him. "She's your sister, isn't she?" Anino blinked, then his eyes narrowed as he nodded before running off after the three members of Team AJCS.

Team A(J)CS And Anino made their way through the hallways, dispatching the occasional Grimm or android with ease, before coming to a crossroads. One hallway went left, one hallway went right, and one hallway went forward.

"... Dora, you take the left." Adam said, and Dora nodded. "Sam, you take the right." Sam nodded, his eyes narrowed. "I'll take the straight path with Anino." Anino gave a small scoff, and Adam rolled his eyes behind his ribbon before looking at Sam and Dora. "If something goes wrong or if you find something, try to call. If that doesn't work, shout. We'll get to you as fast as we can... Be careful."

"You too, big guy." Sam gave a light grin. Adam blinked, then gave a light smirk.

"Tch. Whatever." Adam ran off with Anino, and Dora and Sam ran off in their designated directions.

A pair of wine-colored eyes watching surveillance footage narrowed. Jenna stood in a security room, gazing upon the ongoing battles and how her classmates fought them. It was impressive, but still - it would disrupt her father's plans if they were not stopped.

"Napa..." A voice seemed to whisper in her head again. This time, she was unprepared for it, and she spun around, her eyes widening.

"Mom?!" She asked, but there was no response. Jenna raised a hand to her heart, her eyes wide as she felt it and heard it pounding in her ears, then she closed her eyes as her wolf-ears flicked back. "I have to do this. I have to do this..." She opened her eyes, and her eyes fell on a figure running alongside Adam. A Feral Faunus? "Hm."

/\

Dora ran down a hallway, her eyes narrrowed. She wasn't sure about this, about any of it. Her teammate had lied, lied about everything - and it was even worse than when Adam had done it. It was much, much worse... But, she told herself, if they could get Jenna back and bring her home, she could forgive her. She just wanted this whole nightmare to end.

Dora turned a corner, and she blinked in surprise as she saw someone standing there, at the center of the hallway. Her clothes were different and the way she was standing seemed off, but as she looked up, Dora knew it was her.

"Jenna?" Dora asked, smiling in relief. Jenna gazed at her, her eyes narrowed, completely silent. "Jenna, thank the gods! We've been looking for you everywhere! We need to get you out of here and go home!"

"... I am home." Jenna announced coldly, and Dora's eyes widened as she gestured to the surrounding area. "This is where I grew up, Dora. Where I was raised, where I was educated, and where I assisted my father in his experiments. This is where my father is... And now, it is the place from which he and I will finish what we started." Jenna looked back at Dora. "It's time to save the world."

"Jenna-"

"And I'm going to have to ask you to stand down." Jenna declared, reaching back and removing her weapon from its holder, unfolding it into spear-mode. "Or I'm going to have to force you to."

"... Jenna, I'm not going to fight you!" Dora protested, stepping forward. "Now, quit it! We're here to save you, so you don't have to pretend that you're with him, anymore! We need to leave, before General Ironwood bombs the island!"

"It's too late for that." Jenna stated, and Dora blinked. "The Grimm and the Feral Faunus are ready. It's time to send them to the mainland and begin with my father's plan. Preparations are already underway... By the time General Ironwood reaches this place, we will be long gone."

"You can't do this!" Dora snapped, her eyes narrowing. "What your father's doing, it's inhuman! And now, he's brainwashed you into thinking he's right! Snap out of it and help us beat him!"

"... Dora, my father is trying to help the world." Jenna looked down, frowning. "His methods may seem extreme, but maybe extreme is what we need."

"Jenna, he's insane!" Dora exclaimed, glaring. "He's one of the reasons why Mountain Glenn fell, and he experimented on his own children! He experimented on you!"

"I know-"

"Then, what is this?!" Dora continued, scowling at her teammate. "Some sort of Stockholm Syndrome?! Jenna, you can't trust him! We have to stop him!"

"... I can't stop him." Jenna looked up at Dora, frowning. "He's doing this for all the right reasons. He's put the proper failsafes in place. He's not a bad person - he wants to help."

"What do you mean, failsafes?"

"While the bite of a Feral Faunus can infect a normal Faunus, the bite of a cured Feral can restore a wild Feral."

"So?"

"In each Feral Faunus, my father has implanted a capsule of proven cure. If he presses a certain button on his remote, all of the Feral he has created will be restored to their proper minds, and they can be used to cure the infected." Jenna announced simply, and Dora's eyes widened. "Similar capsules have been placed in the Grimm, but they will kill them if my father deems it time... Dora, no one needs to get hurt."

"Jenna-"

"If the White Fang stands down and the kingdoms agree to enforce Faunus Civil Rights laws, my father will cure the Ferals and his Grimm will slaughter the Grimm that plague the kingdoms! He's only doing this because we've run out of options! People are dying, Dora! People like Adam's parents, people like my mother!"

"But what happens if the White Fang doesn't stand down?! What if the kingdoms don't agree to help bring the peace?!"

"Then, the people placed in power will be even more foolish than my father believes!"

"So, what?! You're just submitting to your father's beliefs?!"

"No! They're my beliefs, too!"

"That's a load of-!"

"Dora!" Jenna put her weapon away, stepped forward and grabbed her teammate's shoulders, her eyes narrowing. "When my village was destroyed, the kingdoms did nothing. When Mountain Glenn was destroyed, the kingdoms did nothing. Now, the White Fang runs rampant and Faunus are slaves and the Grimm are stronger than ever, and the kingdoms sit in wait - like they're expecting a messiah of a Hunter or Atlesian invention that will never, ever come... My father offers a solution. I know that it's controversial, and I know that there are risks. But the people who have done this world wrong need to be brought to justice and held accountable if there is ever to be peace."

"... And what is your definition of justice for these people?" Dora asked quietly, and Jenna blinked. Then, her eyes narrowed again.

"That depends on their willingness to seek redemption for what they've done." She replied, and Dora blinked. "Changing yourself is difficult, thus it is punishment and justice in itself... If the people who have committed all of these wrongs decide to change their ways and help the world as my father did, then that's justice enough. As for those who continue to seek conflict and death, imprisonment is justice enough - as, in prison, they will get neither of those things, not even their own deaths... Dora, we're trying to make things right. I have to help my father, and you have to understand."

"... I'm sorry." Dora announced, taking Jenna's hands from her shoulders and taking a step back, reaching for her bag. "I can't go along with a plan that involves using people against their will, regardless of this failsafe that can turn them back. They'll be shot in the streets before they can be cured. People will die... I have to stop you."

"Well... Then, I'm sorry, too." Jenna glared, taking a step back and reaching for a button on the wall. "... You've left me no other choice." Jenna hit the button, a door opening and revealing a mutated Beringel. Dora stepped back, her eyes wide, and Jenna raised her hand to point at Dora, glaring. "Take her to the docks. Don't harm her."

"It... It listens to you?!" Dora asked, then she yelped as the Beringel picked her up in one of its massive hands. Jenna nodded as Dora stared down at her, her eyes still narrowed.

"Of course it does. After all... We're both lusus naturae."

Dora kicked and fought as the Beringel carried her down a hallway, her eyes wide.

'Jenna's head is really twisted around. She really thinks that her father isn't going to use the power he has to kill people?! I have to talk some sense into-!'

"Whoa!" Dora shouted, surprised, as a crimson blade sliced the Beringel's arm off, then she yelped as she fell, only to be caught by someone and held bridal-style. Dora looked up, stunned, to see Sam holding her as Adam sheathed his blade, having killed the Beringel.

"You know, if you two keep pulling stunts like that, people are going to get the wrong idea about your relationship." Adam announced, turning to Sam and Dora as the boy quickly set the girl down. "... Dora, have you seen Jenna or Merlot?"

"... I saw Jenna." Dora admitted, looking down. "Her head's really messed up. I don't know how exactly, but her father has her convinced that she's as freaky as the rest of his creations and that his methods are the only way to bring peace... She's helping him, but she doesn't want anyone - including us - to get hurt. She even told me how to stop the Grimm and cure the Feral - they have capsules implanted in them."

"She told you this?" Adam asked, and Dora nodded. "Then, there's still hope of reasoning with her... The three of us-" Out of nowhere, Anino leapt up and hugged Adam from behind, grinning childishly. Dora and Sam's eyes widened as Adam deadpanned, then the bull-Faunus rolled his eyes behind his ribbon. "The four of us nend to go after Jenna, convince her back onto our side, and go after Merlot together."

"Adam, I don't know." Dora shook her head. "Jenna... She really believes in all of this."

"... Beliefs can change." Adam announced simply, and she and Sam blinked. Then, he turned and ran down the hallway, the other three hesitating before following him.

/\

Jenna walked amongst massive containers of the serum in one of the storage rooms, her head bowed and her hands folded behind her back. Her wolf-ears were flicked back, and her eyes were closed as she paced, trying to clear her thoughts.

"Napa..."

"Mom?" Jenna turned, frowning as she opened her eyes. Silence fell again, and she sighed. "I'm losing it..."

From catwalks above where Jenna was pacing, Team A(J)CS and Anino watched the young woman with concern.

"She's not doing good, man." Sam spoke quietly, shaking his head. "What are we gonna do?"

"... I'm going to distract her." Adam decided, and the other three looked at him. "Anino, lead Sam and Dora to your father. They can help you stop him." Anino blinked, then looked down at Jenna with a frown. "I know, but you're our best chance at stopping Merlot. I need you to do this."

"Hm." Anino closed his eyes, then he looked up at Adam with a frown. "You her... Friend?" Adam nodded, and Anino nodded in response. "Save her?"

"... Yes." Adam agreed, and Anino nodded again. Then, he turned and scurried down the catwalk, Sam and Dora having no time to say goodbye as they had to follow him. Adam watched them go, frowning, then looked down at his partner. "Alright... Let's get this over with."

Jenna hugged herself, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"I'm going crazy. I'm going crazy..."

"Now, that's when we agree." A voice spoke, and Jenna's eyes widened as she turned to see Adam standing there amongst the canisters as well, only a few yards away. "You really have cracked." Jenna blinked, then her eyes narrowed as she reached back and grabbed her weapon. "Don't."

"Where are the others?" Jenna demanded, her wolf-ears twitching. "Sam, Dora, and that Feral."

"I sent Sam and Dora with our new friend to go and take your father out." Adam replied coolly, and Jenna blinked. "It shouldn't be too hard for them. After all... Anino knows this place better than anyone else." Silence fell as Jenna's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?"

"Anino is alive." Adam told her bluntly, and she looked down, stunned. "And he wants to stop your father from hurting anyone else... Help us."

"... Ani?" Jenna finally whispered, astonished. Adam blinked, then frowned.

"Jenna?"

"I..."

...

"Read the story again, Ani! Please..!"

"Alright, alright. Fine. Heh... The First Story, Which Describes a Looking-Glass and the Broken Fragments..."

...

"Am I doing this right, Ani?"

"Almost. Just tilt the beaker a little more."

"Like this?"

"Eh... Now, you've killed us."

"What?!"

"Ha!"

"Ani..!"

"Haha! You should have seen the look on your face!"

...

"I've given you life,

My lusus naturae!

Open your eyes..!"

...

"Ani!"

"G-go!"

"No! I won't, I can't! Ani, just hold on! I'll-"

"G-g-AHHHHHHHHH!"

"ANI!"

...

Jenna gazed at the floor for a long moment, then she looked up as she grabbed her weapon and shifted it into spear form.

"... You can't stop him." She announced quietly, her eyes meeting Adam's. "No one can... It's too late." Adam placed his hand on the hilt of his blade.

"What happened to you?" He asked, glaring. "Was everything at Beacon really a con? And if so, what was the point of it all?"

"I was a prisoner in that place, Adam." Jenna scowled, her ears flicking back. "But now, I'm free. And I remember exactly who and what I am."

"And that is?" Adam asked, his eyes narrowing further. Jenna sighed, closing her eyes, then she looked up, seeming forlorn.

"My name is Napa Merlot, and I am a lusus naturae." She replied, and Adam blinked. "A freak of nature." Adam's eyes widened as her eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry, partner... But this is for the greater good." With that, the daughter of Doctor Merlot darted forward and struck.

Well, then... Yeah.

I'm sorry for such a short chapter. The next two are almost done, and they will be much longer - I promise. I just wanted to get this one out there because I didn't want people to think that this story is dead. It isn't, I'm just experiencing crunch-time due to finals.

I only own my OCs. Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks! :)