(AN 10/5/17: Due to the content of this chapter the writers would like to state that the chapter planning goes about a month back, and as such it's relation to current events is a horrible coincidence. We all feel absolutely terrible about the recent event and our hearts and prayers, for those of us that are religious, go out to the families of the victims. If you are especially sensitive to the topic then please proceed with caution but know that we will refrain from any grotesque imagery as well as being careful to not cross the fragile line of telling a story with tragic events and being disrespectful towards those that have experienced such things.)

As the eight students walked around Vale aimlessly, not sure what to do now that their movie had finished, they came across the CCT and found it surrounded by faunus holding White Fang flags and signs proclaiming their desires for equality. "Oh right," Owen spoke casually, "I forgot that was today."

"What's today?" Riliane asked roughly facing the direction of the noise.

"It's a rally for the White Fang," Celeste described the flags and signs to her.

"It's nice to see so many faunus together, but I wish more humans actually cared," Eve mumbled.

They heard a familiar voice call out from the crowd, "I told you he'd still come!" Two of their classmates jogged over to them. "Thanks to you Moony now owes me five lien," Simba laughed proudly.

"I thought you were joking about that…" Moonracer sighed.

"We were just wandering around, I didn't really-"

"Whatever," Simba interrupted, "You're here now, so why don't we introduce you to everybody?"

"Um…" Owen turned to his friends and with the exception of Xanthic nobody was objecting. "Yeah, alright."

"Great!" Simba grabbed his metal hand and pulled him towards the crowd. Moonracer calmly followed with the others. Xanthic sighed before taking his coat off and folding it over to hide his emblem before joining them. Getting a closer look at the people participating they were surprised to see almost every type of faunus and person. A few older men were leading the unanonymous chants, but there was even a little girl with a fox tail and her reptilian parents. Celeste scanned the crowd as if looking for somebody, but quickly gave up.

"So where are the other two?" Eve asked.

"Dan feels more important when he stands in the middle," Moonracer explained. "And Tigre refuses to let him be by himself."

"Really? I never really pictured him as-" D'art stopped abruptly as the blast from an explosive shook the ground. "What was that!?"

They all turned and saw the crowd now in a full panic as gunshots rang out, "Di- did they actually show up this time!?" Simba was stunned.

"Dan!" Moonracer jumped and moved toward the fleeing people, but was stopped by his brother.

"Tigre's with him, they'll be fine. We need to get everyone else out of here!" He ordered ignoring the questions of ROXA and CODE and the teams in general actually. The two faunus ran off together.

"If anyone is hurt they're gonna need more help," Owen decided and followed them.

"Right, come on guys!" Celeste called in her locker, as did everyone but Olive and Amelia who always have their weapons on them, and lead the others to find who was shooting.

Xanthic put his coat back on while moving to follow them, but hesitated as he saw his own leader stumble and use her staff for support. "A-are you alright?"

"Y-yeah I just… I'm…" She sighed, "We're gonna have to use Golden Eye," She told him regretfully.

"Alright, I di-didn't really wanna get tha-that close honestly…" With a deep breath a large yellowish bubble formed around the partners and Riliane instantly was able to see clearly again now that the overwhelming noise was muffled somewhat. Transforming Laevateinn to its bow form they moved to find a good spot to support their friends.


Seeing a gunman dressed in white amongst the crowd Olive went ahead of everybody by teleporting next to him and slashing his arm. She was surprised to see blood and jumped back when he swung the rifle with his good arm at her. In an instant the weapon was on the ground as Amelia's scarf knocked it out of his hand. An arrow glowing bright green flew past both of the girls and hit the man's right shoulder and burned what appeared to be a uniform. They turned and saw the other members of their team and Amelia gave a short wave. "One down," Olive reported through her face mask as the three members of CODE got closer.

Eve froze upon seeing the man clearly, "No…" It was as if one of her nightmares had suddenly come true. As if her memories and fears had taken over her world without her noticing. There were screams mixed with the sound of gunfire. Cries of terror as adults pushed past teenagers, and teenagers pushed past children. There were families calling out for each other across the space caked with smoke, dust and the smell of blood. Amongst all the chaos, Eve stood still. Her legs were frozen to the ground as she trembled, her eyes wide and unblinking.

A man emerged into her view with an assault rifle, he shot several shots into the air and cackled. The left side of his shirt was ripped off, revealing a black tattoo on his shoulder. It was a brand of some sort. A chill ran down Eve's spine as her eyes fell upon the mark, as the very same one on rested on her shoulder.

The man rammed his gun into the side of a faunus that was huddled on the ground. They coughed and rolled onto their side. Eve covered her mouth with her hand as her breathing became shallow. The face of the faunus was scrunched up in pain, a familiar expression that stirred something within her. Eve shook her head and took a step backwards. Her vision swirled around her before she lost consciousness and became swallowed in a long lost memory.

...

Pain. That was the expression on it's face. Eve stared at it, silent. The faunus crawled up on itself and spat blood at her feet, it's eyes boiling with hatred and loathing. I'll kill you. They seemed to say. Eve instinctively looked away before Vincent grabbed her chin and forced her to stare at it again.

"Look at it." He hissed into her ear. Eve winced.

"I didn't know the training regimen consisted of watching torture." Eve snapped.

"I didn't know you would care." Vincent pushed her back. "Your eyes should be trained for something for this, I don't know why you're reacting in such a way." Eve was silent.

"I understand that this is rather soon. You're only ten or so. But you need to learn how to live with this." Eve shook her head. Vincent continued, "You're one of the best fighters here but you don't deserve that title if you're going to act like this." Eve grit her teeth but said nothing as the door slammed behind him. Only her and the injured faunus were left in the room. She was seething, anger boiling inside her as her hands curled into fists. Outraged, she screamed and rammed her fist into the concrete wall. Pain seared through it like a hot knife, but she didn't care.

The faunus was staring at her, blood dripping out the corner of it's mouth. It's eyes were black. They were filled with hatred, intermingled with hopelessness. It was the same expression Eve saw whenever she looked into a mirror. Trembling, she slid down to the ground and cradled her hand. The faunus continued to look at her, it's eyes unblinking.

"Stop it." Eve whispered. "Don't look at me." She pulled her legs to her chest and hid her face. And then she cried. Tears slid down her cheeks as she began to bawl uncontrollably. The faunus peered at her, emotionless.

Eve didn't know if it was dead or alive.

...

"Eve!" D'art screamed unaware of her current reality. He spun around, searching for his partner. One minute she had been standing there and then she had disappeared with the panicked crowd. Worry ate at him relentlessly as his eyes scanned across the battlefield. Where are you? Come on Eve. And then he saw her. She was sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Cursing under his breath, D'art sprinted towards her and, with a grunt, picked her off the dirt. Gunshots whisked past them, nearly making him fall.

"Oh come on." D'art snapped. "Eve wake up! We could really use your help right now!" He yelled as he dodged a swipe from a random grunt and sprinted in the opposite direction. Eve was silent, limp as D'art carried her across the battlefield.

It took them what seemed like an eternity to reach an abandoned shop near the square. It's roof had been destroyed, leaving a canopy of concrete that leaned against the ground. Carefully, D'art set her on the rubble.

"Eve, wake up." He shook her, but Eve remained silent. D'art's eyes widened. He grabbed her arm and felt for her pulse, letting out a breath of relief when he felt it.

"Look at you." He muttered. "Taking a cat nap when everyone else needs your help." D'art knelt next to his partner and kept his hand tightly on his weapon. Despite his every urge to join his comrades on the battlefield, he stayed by his partner's side, silent.


Back in the chaos the combat halted for nobody, Celeste charged at one of the gunmen nearby. Knocking his weapon out of his hand, she slashed across his chest with her blade.

"Celeste, they don't have aura," she heard Amelia yell. She quickly looked at the man to see blood soaking his shirt. She pulled off her coat and pushed it onto the wound.

"You owe me a new coat," Celeste said to him before knocking him out with her elbow.

...

In the shadows, a man and a woman watched the chaos from the sidelines. The woman curled her dark blue hair around her finger and frowned.

"They're going down faster than expected." She drawled, her voice lacking of any care for the grunts.

The man beside her replied with the same lack of emotion. "They are nobodies. I didn't think they would amount to much."

The woman chuckled, wrapping her fingers around her partner's arm. "If only Vincent actually tried to train them like us"

"Reina." The man said, looking at her. "You know he would kill you if he heard that."

"Guess it's our little secret, Damon." She beamed. Damon looked back towards the battlefield.

"I think it's time to help a little." He grabbed his weapon, a flamethrower and glanced at the woman beside him. Reina grinned and pulled up her sleeves exposing the same tattoo as the other grunts except with the number 37 etched underneath.

The man snapped his goggles over his eyes and turned on his machine. Then he pulled the trigger, grinning as flames emerged from the nozzle. As everyone's eyes were drawn towards him, Reina sprinted past her partner, her hands swept past the flames and then she flicked them towards the fleeing crowd. Fire flew across the plaza.

...

"That's a thing." Celeste muttered. She hissed under her breath and sprinted towards them, dodging a wave of fire and slashing at the woman. Reina dodged, her fingers brushing the ground and summoning shards of dirt. Celeste rolled to the side to avoid them.

Turning to face the new combatants Riliane spoke quickly to Xanthic "I should be good now, go help the others." With a nod Xanthic deactivated his semblance and ran towards Reina jumping over Celeste claws outstretched towards the woman. Before he could hit her, Damon jumped in front of his partner and kicked Xanthic aside while unleashing a blast of fire at his opponent. Xanthic cried out in pain, his aura taking serious damage. His pain suddenly subsided as Tigre appeared out of seemingly nowhere, his eyes flashing with anger, and jumped over Xanthic to protect him from the rest of the blast.

Riliane pulled back an arrow, aiming at the man and releasing it. It whistled through the air barely missing the intended target as he moved slightly causing it to graze his arm. Damon glanced in her direction and sneered, moving his weapon towards her. Before he could use it however, Celeste slashed his side and he fell backwards with a grunt.

"Grab Xanthic!" Tigre cried out. Before Celeste could move, Reina kicked Celeste's legs out from under her and punched her in the face. Holding her cheek, Celeste rolled away and rushed towards Xanthic to replenish his aura.

"You can't run from me." Reina called out in a sing song voice. She ran her fingers across the ground and summoned a large sword made of earth. She threw her arms down and the sword crashed down, inches from Celeste who had barely dodged it.

Reina muttered under her breath before a scarf wrapped around her wrist and yanked her backwards. Amelia threw her arm out and another side of her scarf grabbed her opponent's legs, lifting her off the ground and throwing her across the dirt. Recovering quickly, Reina brushed off her clothes and sneered at Amelia.

"You're way in over your head kid." Reina taunted, flipping her dark blue hair over her shoulder. "Little girls should watch where they play."

"I"m not little." Amelia replied calmly as she infused her scarf with air dust. Riliane stepped beside her friend, her hand gripped tightly around her bow.

"I've got your back." She said quietly.

"Go for Summer Rain?" Amelia whispered. Riliane nodded. Almost in sync, Amelia dashed forward and Riliane grabbed three arrows, nocking them on her bowstring. Reina only had the time to block Amelia's attack before Riliane released arrows. They whistled through the air before hitting her in the arm and leg. Reina hissed and sent a gust of wind towards them, throwing them off their feet before glancing around the battlefield and then back to her opponents.

"I'll remember you two." Reina snarled before lifting herself up with an air torrent. Riliane pulled out another arrow and aimed it towards her opponent, but Reina easily dodged it and starting retreating . Riliane stepped towards her but Amelia pulled her back.

"Let's go."


Nearby, Tigre blocked another blast of fire with a grunt of pain, his form staggering. Xanthic stared at his friend, his eyes wide.

"Xanthic sit back." Celeste commanded with a snap. "I need to replenish your aura.

"B-But Tigre is…"

"He's taking the hits so you're safe, we need it right now." Celeste's eyes fluttered close from exhaustion before she opened them again. Now only a few feet away from them, Tigre and Damon had become locked in a fist fight.

"What a pathetic faunus." Damon slurred. Tigre hissed, lunging to kick him before Damon twisted his opponent's arm behind his back. His grip loosened as a sharp pain hit him in the back. He turned to look but found nothing. Then suddenly a kick came from his side. Damon swung his weapon blindly towards where a person should have been and missed Tigre who narrowly dodged out of the way. The third time he noticed the wind change direction and jumped away from it, finally seeing Olive. Instantly his reaction was to blast flames at her. She cartwheeled out of the way. Rotating to keep up with her movement Damon foolishly turned his back on Tigre and was grabbed on the arm. Following tigre's pull he swung his gun making the hot barrel smack harshly against the faunus' face. Tigre stumbled back and fell down. Damon readied a sniper round and aimed down at his heart, "So long-" As he pulled the trigger the rifle was kicked up by Olive who disappeared from his sight instantly. Tigre took the opportunity and grabbed Damon's leg and yanked him towards the ground. Climbing over him, Tigre put all his strength into a single punch. His fist collided with Damon's jaw, forcing his face to snap back from the recoil.

"Don't call me pathetic." Tigre hissed, grabbing Damon's shirt and pulling him up towards him. Damon snarled and slammed his head into Tigre's. After pushing him away, Damon grabbed his weapon off the ground and glanced over seeing his partner leaving the battlefield.

"Retreat!" He yelled, commanding the attention of the few uninjured grunts around him. There were sounds of confusion before several gathered around him and they made their retreat.

"I don't think so," Olive chuckled. Ignoring the pain in his body Tigre attempted to follow Olive's lead against the fleeing assailants, but both of them were stopped via ice around their feet.

"I don't think so," Celeste walked up and began transferring part of Olive's aura to Tigre. "We're hardly in a position to be fighting them now. You idiots would only manage to hurt yourselves more."

...

A few minutes later the group took a collective sigh, the fighting subsiding and the dust settling. Grunts laid injured across the square, with the newly arrived police quickly pinning down and cuffing them. "Good." D'art said, bringing Eve with him and looking back at the damage in the wake. "Maybe we can get some answ-" he was interrupted by shots ringing out across the calm, striking down each incapacitated grunt. Everyone hit the deck, D'art protectively covering Eve.

Tigre, still angry, stood back up and yelled at the snipers "Fight me, you cowards!" The snipers ignored him, leaving none of the captured grunts alive, the blood mixing into their uniforms like dye in water. After a few tense moments of silence it became clear that the extra attackers were gone as quickly as they had appeared, having disposed of the grunts and nothing else.

With the active threats gone the rest of the first responders poured into the rally grounds, alarms of all kinds echoing across the city. A small crowd gathered, taking videos and pictures of the carnage. News crews crept in, the aftermath drawing them like moths to a flame. A police commissioner stepped up, overseeing the first responders and crowd control. "Where was the security?" One reporter shouted out.

The commissioner turned around and looked to the carnage and back. "We had received previous threats for rallies such as this but none of them were taken seriously. We don't know exactly who or what did this, but we will begin investigating immediately." The commissioner waved off others, returning to talk with his officers.

Tigre walked over, staring up to the slightly taller man. "Obviously it was Humanity!" Tigre declared, pointing to the devastation. "Shouldn't you have known about this!?" He was about to explode when his brothers walked up, Simba was carrying an injured Dan in his arms.

Moonracer marched up to the man and grabbed his suit. "Why did you do nothing to prevent this!? It's the police's job to protect people isn't it!?" Letting go he could feel tears crawling down his face, "My brother had to do your job for you and just look at what happened to him!"

The commissioner adjusted his suit, staring back at the Faunus students. "We didn't act because they never acted on their threats. Now if you'll excuse me…" said the man moving to meet with the hospital staff on scene.

His face turning red in anger Tigre let out one final shot out across the devastated area: "Do you only act on threats to humans?" The crowds and staff fell silent, understanding the impact of his words. Murmurs rose back up, between Faunus and humans alike. Knowing his words rang true, Tigre stormed off with his brothers and relieved Simba of Dan's weight.

While the arguments were happening, D'art pulled Eve aside, still trying to bring her back to reality. "Eve, Eve, réveillez-vous…" he said, gently shaking her. Eve came too, still groggy and unsettled. "Eve…are you alright." She let out a slight nod, shaking off some rubble from her hair and shoulders. "Eve…" D'art started, looking back to the group, "You know you can tell me anything right? Partners for life." Eve gave another small nod. "Ok. Then tell me what happened. Did you recognize those grunts? Anything about them?"

Eve looked back to the groups, arguing about what to do next, who to blame, what to say. She looked to the crowd, filled with worried moms and fathers. She stared at her partner, then to her hands, cut by the stones she fell on. "...No." she finally managed to say "Not at all."