A/N: I don't own any of the characters associated with the RWBY series. All rights belong to Rooster Teeth.


Setting: Underland Manor

The glorious and colorful mansion that the Underland family has been living in for several generations was partially covered in flames. The fire Silver started in the courtyard began to spread to the rest of the building. Some of the mansion's staff members did their best to douse the flames while others chose to escape the burning edifice before it consumed them. The fire reached the back of the mansion faster than it was reaching the front, mostly because the staff was there trying to put the fire out.

Silver was one of the people who tried to escape the growing flames. At first, he was going to press on and find Violet and take down Marigold for tricking him and his friends, but that changed because of the danger the fire presented. The gunman paid no mind to the consequences of starting that fire in the courtyard. He did it to counter Bluebell's smoke but didn't think about what would happen afterwards. Long-term plans were not Silver's forte.

There was another reason Silver chose to resign from his search was because of Bluebell's gases and vapors. He breathed several of them into his body and the severe effects were gone but they still left his body sluggish and unable to move at full capacity.

The best move for Silver was to regroup with the others. He had no idea where they were, so his best bet on finding them was to return to the front doors of the mansion where he first fell through the pitfall.

"Maybe someone's still there. It's better being with someone else than fighting on my own right now. Please let it be Zelts. I could really use a shield right now,"

Setting: Foyer

The other groups of Team VRSZ were in the middle of their own dilemmas.

Finally regaining consciousness, Zelts woke from his dreamless sleep. He looked at his surroundings to figure out where he was and what happened. The only thing he could remember was being in the Looking Glass Labyrinth and seeing Marigold before everything went black. Zelts started to realize he was on the ground and rose to his feet only to feel a slight throbbing pain in the back of his head, the soreness of his entire body, and heard the sound of metal clashing with metal.

He turned around to see Tigress atop the stairs fighting against three members of the castle guard at once. She used her Flying Eagle to block sword strikes, parry spears jabs, and deflect bullets but she was slowing down. Tigress was extremely tired from fighting so many foes in this mansion. She has already downed at least two dozen guards who found their way here and she was losing steam. These three guards alone were becoming too much for her to handle.

Tigress fell backwards and landed on her bottom near the stairs, unable to stand or fight because of fatigue. The guards saw this as their moment to take her down, but a strong vortex of wind knock them away and smash them into a nearby wall. Lily looked over her shoulder to see Zelts walk past her with Heart of Gold in his right hand. He didn't face her, but his attention was on the person who fought on his behalf.

"I'm not really sure what happened, but I get the feeling I have to say this. Thank you for keeping me safe Lily. Rest. I'll take it from here."

Zelts moved forward to fight the guards and any who would oppose him. Lily, body covered in sweat and breathing very deeply, was relieved to see her Zelts was up and wasn't acting as mindlessly as he was earlier. She figured with him being able to fight meant a tiny fraction of his aura was recovered as well but knew that fact didn't matter to him.

The Knight of the Wind would always stand to fight for and with his lady.

Setting: Underland Manor

Azura was still fighting some of the remaining castle guard while tracking down Remus for foolishly going into enemy territory without aid.

The area she and her five opponents were in had a glass wall with a view of the courtyard or what it used to be. All that could be seen was the rising fire that reached to great heights. Seeing this did worry the guards who wondered if they should be fighting, putting out the flames, or running, but Azura used their moment of doubt to her advantage.

She rushed to them while activating the ice dust in her wrists to cloak her hands and her elemental staff in a thick layer of ice, creating a frozen club. She slammed her weapon against the head of the guard on her left then did the same thing to the one next to her. The other three were finally aware of what she was doing but Azura lifted her frozen staff over her head and brought it down on the fourth guard's helmet. He fell to the ground along with his comrades, leaving a sole guard to stand against the Sky-Blue Warrior. Looking at her, the flames, and his fallen comrades, the lone guard dropped his spear and ran away from it all.

Azura only watched as the coward ran before continuing her pursuit of her younger relative.

Setting: Aster's Hall

Remus was currently in a battle with Aster where he was getting completely overwhelmed and out-played.

"GAH!"

The Blue Flicker tumbled to the ground while Aster had her pure dust arrows at the ready. She fired one from her longbow then a second in the direction above him. Remus quickly put his feet to the ground and jumped up to avoid the arrow aimed at him, but that left him open to the second one that was already fired in his exact spot.

Aster quickly created another dust arrow from her dust glove, a lightning dust arrow, but she didn't use it with her longbow. She just kept it in her hand holding its nock and having the arrowhead sticking out.

Not wanting to fall for the same trick a fifth time, Remus used Checkpoint to teleport out of the way of the arrow and planned to teleport into her blindside and attack. He disappeared, avoiding the second arrow and reappeared behind Aster. He was ready to strike her with Romulus, but he stopped his actions when he was stabbed in the stomach by the arrow Aster held. He teleported exactly where Aster knew he would. His speed was no match for Aster's semblance to see into the future.

The lightning arrow began to crackle with electricity then started violently electrocuting Remus. He was stunned and forced to take the full force of this attack until he finally mustered the strength to try and jab his double-bladed staff at Aster who effortlessly dodged by sidestepping out of the way. Her movement caused Remus to fall forward and land on the ground with small traces of electricity coursing through his body. She silently looked at him because she knew this wasn't the end of his assault.

The mysterious Underland was not reading his movements or predicting them. She saw exactly into the future and knew exactly what the young Cobalt was going to do. If he tried to attack, Aster would block it with ease or nimbly dodge out of the way. If Remus planned to dodge, then she would fire an arrow at the exact spot he'd move to. His own super speed meant nothing to Aster. She knew the right time to avoid and evade her opponent because she was aware speed was his forte.

Clairvoyance's accuracy was absolute. It couldn't be tricked.

"Why… why can't I hit her!? I haven't landed a single blow?" Remus thought, heaving heavily after the lightning dust finished shocking him.

He looked up at Aster who said nothing and looked back at him. She was flawless, untouched this entire battle which left Remus feeling absolutely frustrated.

"Is she that much better than me? Or…have I gotten weaker?"

Remus pushed these thoughts into the back of his mind so he could focus on the fight. While still laying on the ground, he twirled his body around in a break dancing fashion. He swung his legs out at Aster in the hopes of sweeping her off her feet.

This action was already seen by Aster's Clairvoyance and she leaped into the air. Remus gripped Romulus and jumped up toward her. Aster was ready for him but her eyes turned toward the glass wall of her hall. She had a good look at the courtyard she loved spending time in being turned to ash. The desperate Cobalt saw this as his moment to strike when she wasn't looking and split Romulus into dual swords and swung from both sides.

Aster may have had her eyes on her mansion being on fire, but she already knew Remus was going to commit to this action so she positioned her longbow to block both his swords, making them clash against her weapon which didn't break to get sliced by his sharpened weapons.

"And why can't my blades cut her weapon?" Remus thought, getting more irritated.

Aster's weapon, like several weapons from Atlas, was made out of a special alloy which was more durable than other metals. It was one of the reasons the kingdom's military was such a global force. This alloy made it difficult for Remus's blades to cut through them, energy enhanced or not.

Not wanting to let up or admit defeat, Remus used Checkpoint to teleport away as well as create a large smokescreen with his blue smoke. She landed back on the marble floor all while still wearing her high heels. This action was something Aster foresaw but what her opponent was going to do next was a complete mystery, even to her.

Aster's Clairvoyance is an extremely powerful ability and it shines the most in the heat of battle, but like any semblance, it possessed its own weaknesses. It allows her to see the future randomly in everyday life, taking a small bit of her aura. In battle, where her body's more exhilarated and her mind is incredibly focused, Clairvoyance's powers are much more constant but only if Aster keeps her eyes on her opponent. As long as she has her foes in her line of sight, she can see their future and keep seeing it as the fight continues, however, if she looks away from them, the visions cease.

When she looked away from Remus to look at the courtyard burning, she only saw up to the point where he used Checkpoint to make a smokescreen. Now she had no idea what was coming next and the blue fog helped him stay out of her eyesight.

This was the first time the unusual Underland showed a face expressing concern.

Aster looked around at her surrounding to find her foe only to spot Remus too late. The Blue Flicker moved through his own blue smoke and made his way to Aster undetected, stopping the energy flow of his swords so the blue light wouldn't give away his position. He reached her right side and swung both his blades down on her. Aster noticed him too late to dodge out of the way but brought her longbow up to take some of the damage.

She was struck in the right shoulder and arm with her longbow blocking the rest of the damage though she still suffered a hit to her aura. Aster was knocked out of the smoke screen, sliding against the marble floor with her high heels making an uncomfortable screeching sound until she stopped just in front of the frozen door. Aster wasn't too happy with being struck. Keeping Clairvoyance active throughout this fight was gradually decreasing her aura so it was dangerously low.

Remus's aura, on the other hand, was completely gone. That last Checkpoint drained what remained of his aura. He had no more protection but that wasn't on his mind right now. The young Cobalt was satisfied he finally landed a hit on Aster and he planned to keep up the momentum.

The blue smokescreen finally cleared and Aster had a perfect view of Remus and her Clairvoyance showed her how this fight would end in her victory. She created four ice dust arrows and Remus brought his swords together into its double-bladed sword form.

The final bout between them was about to commence.

Setting: Foyer

Gusts of wind were enveloping the main entrance of the mansion which looked worse than before due to the constant fighting. The floor and walls were covered in cracks, artistic columns were reduced to rubble and all ornaments and decorations were scattered around the floor. The place looked like it was actually raided by marauders.

Zelts swung his wingblade at the guard in front of him who brought his sword up to block the attack. Unfortunately for the guard, his weapon was smashed apart by force of Zelts's swing and the large blade sliced into the guard's armor. The wingblade's force when it hit the guard sent him soaring into a nearby column and the man crashed through it. The work of art broke apart and fell to the ground along with the guard who was now unconscious.

Immediately after that guard was defeated, four more took his place. Two guards came in through the main hallway in front of Zelts, the third came from the hall to his left, and the fourth from the hall on his right. The two guards in front of Zelts armed themselves and the one on his left was coming his way.

"Dammit. They just keep coming and I barely have any aura to actually protect myself. We're getting nowhere. I need to-" Zelts tried to think of a way out of this situation until he noticed something else happening.

The fourth guard that came was on his right didn't join his allies at the top of the stairs to fight Zelts. The armored man made his way over to a fatigued Tigress who was at the bottom of the stairs and still too exhausted to fight back properly, let alone get up to stand on her feet. After fighting so many enemies back to back, Tigress was done.

"NO!" Zelts shouted as loud as he could.

The three guards took their chance and charged at Zelts, but he quickly swung of his wingblade, creating a gust of wind strong enough to blow them into the air and land against the wall behind them. The Knight changed his priority to Lily and sprinted as fast as he could down the stairs.

His body was still badly injured after fighting Silver and Azura in his mad state, so he couldn't run as fast as he wanted. Zelts almost buckled over and fell down before getting himself back up and it slowed him down.

"I'm not gonna make it,"

Lily, still drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, looked at the guard standing before her with a gun pointed at her head. She tried to put up some resistance but it was meaningless against a gun. The guard was ready to fire and the sound of heels clacking on the marble floor could be heard.

Lily looked in front of her to see the guard about to shot her in the head then saw some kind of colorful blur strike the guard's hands, forcing him to drop the gun, then attack him again as he fell to the ground.

Zelts stopped running and stared at the situation before him with befuddlement. Lily looked at the colorful thing in front of her and realized it was a person wearing a colorful dress. The person stood with her back before Lily who had no idea who this person was.

Lily could only describe her as a young girl with very short blonde hair who was wearing a dress consisting of blue, silver, and gold, and purple high heels. The young girl turned around to face Lily. She took note of the girl's purple eyes, faint horizontal scar running from the left side of her nose and beneath the left eye, and some kind of choker around her neck. She also smiled at Lily who didn't understand why.

Zelts looked at the person with shock. He knew who this was. Purple hair or not, he knew who this person was the moment he saw her.

"I didn't expect you to be here with them, Lily," Violet said as she knelt down to give offer her hand, "but I'm glad you're here. It's great to see you again."

"Have… we-" Lily said, taking Violet's hand to help her stand up.

"Violet… it's you," Zelts said as he looked at his long-lost friend.

"Zelts!" Violet said with a great deal of emotion.

"Violet," Lily said, finally recognizing Violet Tulipe.

It has been such a long time since she actually said his name and it didn't hit her until now how long it has been since she last called out to him. Violet felt her body swell with a number of feelings, the most prevalent being happiness, and she ran up the the stairs towards her dear friend.

Zelts saw her come his way and figured she was coming over to give him a hug. The large young man dropped his weapon and raised his arms to welcome her embrace. She ran up the stairs to him then ran right past him which confused her friend. He turned around to see why she was running this way. The three guards Zelts knocked away were back on their feet and prepared to strike Zelts with his back turned.

In one fell swoop, the Violent Flower ran to the guard on the left, leaped up to him and punched him hard in the face. Her fist hit the metal helmet first but with her aura restored, she hardly felt the impact. The guard fell backwards with a fist-shaped dent in his helmet.

The other two guards were standing still. They didn't know what to do. Violet was a member of the Underland family, the family they were sworn to protect, and they all remembered when she fought the entire castle guard in a fit of rage. How could they even think of engaging her in combat?

The two guards were beginning to tremble and Violet could see that. She didn't attack them like she did the first one and gave them an order as a member of the Underland family.

"Retreat"

The two castle guard members complied and ran past Violet, Zelts, and Lily, running out of the mansion to who knows where.

Zelts and Lily were impressed with the power Violet held as an Atlesian aristocrat. Violet clenched the fist she used to punch out the guard and grinned.

"It feels so good to fight again,"

She was taken out of her thoughts when she felt two big strong arms wrap around her from behind. Violet was starrtled at first but settled down when she realized it was Zelts who was just happy to see her again. Violet felt the same way. She was overjoyed at seeing her friend after more than two months and let Zelts hug her as much as he wanted. He even lifted her off the ground before setting her back down.

Lily approached the two with a warm smile. "It's so great to see you again. I'm so glad you're safe."

"Safe isn't the right word I'd use, but I'm doing better now," Violet answered with a smirk. "So, you guys really were here… Guess my scroll wasn't glitching. The delta signal was right. Are Remus and Silver here too?"

The smile Zelts had turned to a thin line. They weren't out of the woods just because they found Violet. Now they needed to regroup with the others before leaving the mansion and Atlas.

"They're here, but somewhere deeper in this place. We…haven't really gone anywhere else but here so we have no idea where they are," Zelts answered honestly, not feeling proud with their situation.

"Remus ran right into this place without any of us backing him up. He was so driven to find you ever since we got here and it's been a real problem. I asked Azura to follow him and make sure he didn't do anything too reckless. I don't know what happened to Silver," Azura informed Violet.

"Really? Azura's here too?" Violet said with astonishment.

She never thought a former enemy would come to help her or her team like this.

The leader of Team VRSZ took her time to digest everything they said. She also noticed how worn out Zelts and Lily were. Something else that caught her eye on the way here was that part of the mansion was on fire, reminding her of the time she set her room on fire in her escape. Violet thought about their current situation and made a decision on what to do next.

"You guys stay here and rest. I know this place a lot better than you guys and the castle guard won't dare lay a finger on me. I'll find the others and we can all get back to Vacuo."

"You have a way to get out of this kingdom?' Zelts asked.

Violet gave him a Cheshire grin and said, "I've been thinking of a thousand ways to get out of here."

She left them in the foyer and ran down the main hallway to find the others. Zelts and Lily took it easy like Violet told them to and sat on the ground to finally take a break. Both of them were smiling at one another as they waited.

The mission to find Violet was a success.

Setting: Tarax's Study

Violet barged into her late father's work space. She walked over to his desk and checked all the drawers to find what she knew was here. She opened the second drawer on her right to find was she was looking for: her Cheshire's Enigmas.

Violet Tulipe smiled at the sight of her weapons.

"I'm back!"

Setting: Underland Manor

Silver was slowly but surely making his way through the mansion to reach the entrance, hoping to find any of the others there. He was walking through one of the hallways that would lead to the foyer but not the main hall. The gunman was going to reach his destination without seeing Violet.

The effects of Bluebell's gas were wearing off and he was feeling much better. He was walking with a better stride than he was several minutes ago.

"Please let someone be there,"

Setting: Penthouse

At the penthouse of the hotel Team VRSZ was previously staying in, Ebony Vantablack was sound asleep in her room. She went to bed satisfied with how things went her way at the SDC Charity Concert and enjoyed the pleasant dreams that filled her head.

"L…Eb…"

"Lady Ebony"

Ebony was stirred awake and she moaned in slight annoyance. She sat up in her bed to see the person who woke her was Blood, her nocturnal retainer.

"What is it?" she said in the middle of a yawn.

If he woke her up for something trivial, Ebony planned on punishing the bat faunus by making him sleep in the bed with her so she could spoon him.

"Two things, milady. The first is something you have to see out the window," Blood said as he gave her his hand.

She grabbed it as he helped her out of bed and escorted her to the window of her bedroom. He pointed at something and Ebony followed his finger. She was surprised to see a large tower of smoke coming from the direction of the Underland household.

This was enough to get Ebony to wake up a little more than she was before.

"Also, there was an incident inside the hotel. A dead body was found in one of the rooms and the person who died was Tarax Underland."

"Really," Ebony said, not sounding surprised or sad.

"Yes. I think these two incidents are connected," Blood told her.

"And I think you're right. Our Violet must be taking some drastic measures to escape. I didn't think disabling her collar would bring about this predicament."

"What do we do?"

"This may have been unexpected, but it's nothing I can't control. We just need to go to the mansion and secure Violet doesn't get arrested by Atlesian forces. I'm sure they'll be there to contain and assess the situation."

"Understood," Blood replied.

"Ash, fly there and reach her first. Figure out what's happening. I'll be there shortly," she instructed Blood.

"Yes, milady," Blood answered before opening the bedroom window. He jumped out of the window and spread his wings. The bat faunus flew high in the sky as he made his way to the Underland Manor.

Ebony went to her dresser to change clothes and rendezvous with Blood at the manor.

"Looks like I'll have to accelerate my plans,"

Setting: Underland Manor

Zelts and Lily were sitting on the ground on top of the stairs where they relaxed with satisfied expressions. They were glad their part was over after all the fighting they had to do these past few hours. The two of them enjoyed each other's company in relative silence. Lily did the most fighting and almost felt like taking a short nap. It didn't help that her eyelids felt heavy. She began to close them and rely on Zelts to wake her when needed.

"L-Lily!"

She woke up only a few seconds after closing her eyes. Zelts shook her awake with a hand on her shoulder. She wanted to ask why he woke her but noticed the expression on his face. It was an alarmed look.

The sound of boots hitting the marble floor echoed throughout the foyer. Zelts looked on as Lily turned to see who was coming. At the destroyed entrance of the mansion were two newcomers neither of them has seen before.

The first was the Underland known as the Paragon, Zinnia Underland.

The second was a tall woman with white hair tied up in a bun at the rear left corner of her head with bangs falling over the right side of her face. She had slate blue eyes and wore a white coat, greyish-blue shirt and white pants with garters incorporated into them. The woman's weapon of choice appeared to be a rapier on her left side. She carried herself with an air of discipline and authority.

"So, these are the brigands attacking your home?" the woman said in a stern voice.

"They appear to be," Zinnia answered. "Thank you for coming to help me arrest them."

"It's nothing. Think of it as a gift for your ascension to Atlesian Specialist and how we'll be working side by side from here on as colleagues. Let's go Zinnia."

"Yes, Winter."

Zinnia Underland and Winter Schnee enter the fray with their eyes on the fatigued duo of Zelts and Lily.


Violet has finally made her way back to her friends and teammates and it only took three-quarters of the volume to do it.

Aster has trained to be a fighter since she was young. She did so to better her chances at surviving the 'Game of Thrones' style of the Underland family. She trained with Zinnia when they were children and were regular sparring partners who were evenly matched despite Aster's Clairvoyance. It wasn't until they were older that the tide turn to Zinnia's favor and proved to be the better fighter. Zinnia besting Aster repeatedly is how she got her nickname, the Paragon.

With Zinnia being an Atlesian specialist I thought it would make sense for her to have some kind of relationship or connection with Winter Schnee. The two of them are operatives though Winter is Zinnia's senior by a few years and Zinnia sees Winter as a model military officer.