With his teammates already knowing about his secret there was no need for Xanthic to get up as early as he usually did, but he was up regardless. He got dressed within the room, using the curtain that was available to co-ed teams. Just as he was remaking his bed Amelia and Olive stirred awake. "You're up earlier than usual," Amelia thought out loud.

Olive looked at him, but Xanthic didn't meet her gaze. "I was, um, thi-thinking about some stuff and I n-never realized how late it was getting t-till it was light out."

"What were you thinking about?"

"I um… I was thinking ab-bout Humanity…"

"Oh, did something happen with them?"

"Um, n-no… Not exactly. I just, um, I'm st-still not sure actually…"

Riliane yawned awake, "Good morning…"

"Go-good morning."

"Oh, I'm still not used to you being here in the morning," Riliane laughed.

"You d-don't mind, right?"

"Of course not. It's not like I can actually see anything anyway."

"Uh, ri-right…"

Xanthic decided to pin his ears up and deliver the knives like he promised while the girls got dressed.

He took a deep breath before knocking on team SDTM's door. There was a loud groan and he was able to hear the brothers' conversation, though he had trouble telling which voice was which.

"Who is that?"

"Who's even up this early?"

"Answer it and we'll find," he was interrupted by what Xanthic assumed to be a yawn, "out."

"You do it then."

"Fine, fine." Heavy and sluggish footsteps came closer. The door opened and Xanthic was greeted with a mess of red hair and a yawn. "Huh, Xanthic? What're you doing this early?"

"I um…" He searched the face in front of him to try and figure out who he was speaking to. "Well, so-sorry for waking you, Moonracer. I just um, w-well I was talking with Tigre last n-night and-"

"So that's what he was so excited about…" Moonracer thought out loud.

"Wh-what?"

"Hm? Sorry, go on." He said with a dismissive wave.

"Right um, a-anyway I brought these over f-for Dan." Xanthic held the box out.

Instead of taking the box like Xanthic had been hoping he would, Moonracer leaned back in the room and called out to his brother, "Dan, get up!"

"Ugh, fine!" Dan was shirtless and moved his bangs out of his eyes as he took Moonracer's place at the door. "Make this quick, Picto."

"H-here…" Xanthic reached the small box out again, hoping this would indeed be quick.

"And what's this?" Dan asked, clearly agitated.

"Kn-knives… I um, I bou-bought them for you…"

"Why?" He was legitimately confused.

"W-well, Riliane thought that it might be a go-good idea so that we could um, maybe be fr-friends… Or a-at least to be on a little be-better terms," He added quickly.

"Aw," Simba appeared in the doorway and leaned on his brother. If they hadn't been wearing different pants it would have been impossible for Xanthic to tell them apart in that moment. "He brought you a peace treaty, Dan. C'mon, how can you say no to that."

"Easily," Dan growled while shoving his brother off. "But it's early and I just wanna go back to sleep, so thanks I guess." He took the box and promptly closed the door.

Xanthic breathed with relief, "That went better than I thought…"

"And Tigre kept his promise so far, so that's good," Nivens sounded bitter.

"Are you alright..?" Xanthic said quietly while walking back.

"No. I want to break that pink brat's arms."

"Y-you can't! If she- if she really… to Vincent and Jade…"

"I know that, but I get pissed off just thinking about all of this."

"Sorry…"

"Oh please, neither of us thought he'd be this crazy. Considering everything it's pretty amazing you haven't completely given up yet."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, everything might be a mess, but we're still alright."

Xanthic had a grin on his face as he knocked to make sure it was safe for him to enter the dorm again. "Did something happen?" Olive asked noticing the smile.

"Huh? Oh n-no. I just, I think maybe today won't be too bad is all." The girls were all a little perplexed as their male teammate was usually the most pessimistic of the four.

After lunch ROXA headed back to their dorm and Xanthic sat at his desk, where his weapons, Vena, still were laying from yesterday. He picked up one of the gauntlets and examined it carefully, the touch ups Nivens performed included sharpening the claws and adjusting the length of the plates to make the joints more maneuverable. Xanthic put one on and tested the enhancements, "Wow, it's almost like a glove…"

"You could sound less surprised."

"Sorry, but wouldn't that have weakened the barrels' integrity?" As he posed the question to Nivens he fiddled with it for a moment before spinning it back into its primary form. He ran his fingers across the overlaying metal, concerned about how thin it felt.

"They're still overlapping though, so it should be fine."

"I'm not so sure…" Xanthic reached for his scroll then remembered that it was missing. With a short sigh he activated the larger tablet sized one and began browsing through his old blueprints. Just as he pulled up the most recent version a message blipped across the top of the screen.

He put down his weapon and tapped on the icon in an instant. It was a message from Orelon that stated very blandly, "I need to speak with you."

A reply came as Xanthic was still typing. "Where?"

"Crap! She's going to ruin everything."

Going faster as he panicked slightly he managed to send, "I mean do you want to meet now, or later at the same place as before?"

There was an unusually long pause that worried Xanthic even more. Though the response wasn't very settling. "I suppose it can wait until tonight."

"I'll see you at the usual time then." Xanthic breathed in relief and leaned back in the chair. Another blip from his scroll startling him.

"Where and when is the usual?" the number was marked as his own.

"I can't tell you that." He waited for a response that didn't come and sighed.

"So much for being a good day?" Riliane asked carefully.

Xanthic stiffened at being reminded of her and his other teammates' presence in the room. "Oh, um, ye-yeah… I need to me-meet Basil tonight."

"Oh…"

"I could trail behind if you want?" Olive offered.

"N-no! I-I mean if th-they were to see you… I don't know wh-what they'd do…"

"Alright." She went back to reading her comics, assuming it was Mic Jay that made it plural.

"Are you sure you're really okay doing this?" Riliane asked.

"Ye-yeah… I mean it's t-too late to stop now…"

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard, Xanthic. I don't want you to overwork yourself."

"Th-thank you for worrying, but I-I'll be fi-fine." He assured her and buried himself back into working on his weapon until going to an afternoon class, doing some homework and getting diner with the rest of his team.

As the sun was going down Xanthic took off the jacket and vest of his uniform and put on a plain long coat before heading out. It was dark by the time he arrived in Vale. He slowed down as he approached the restaurant to catch his breath before entering. "You're earlier than usual," Basil pointed out as he was wiping down a table.

"We-well it seemed k-kind of urgent," Xanthic explained while turned away from him.

"Indeed it is," Orelon stood up and drew Xanthic's attention.

"I'm sorry I was bu-busy with school earlier."

"No worries, in truth there were still some final arrangements to be made." He rested some of his weight on his black and blue cane as his eyes coldly looked over the small boy in front of him. "I have decided to advance my plans to tonight after the discovery that Vincent and Jade have failed to defend themselves against that rampant faunus." Xanthic stiffened at the mentioning of them. "Did you already learn of this?"

"Um, n-n-no… I'm ju-just surprised i-is all."

"I would appreciate if you did not speak lies to me, boy."

"Th-the truth is we-well she um…" Xanthic stepped back as he clutched the brim of his hat. "She f-found me wi-with his scroll a-and came to Beacon-"

"You had contact with her previously?"

"N-no. Not aft-ter the factory."

"I see… What reason did she have for sparing your life?"

"W-well I think that's bec-cause she- well she kn-knows um," Xanthic glanced over at Basil, who was now leaning back against a freshly cleaned table. "She knows ab-bout me…"

"So she does have a soft spot then, that is very good to know."

"Um, c-could we get back to wh-why you asked me here, pl-please?"

"Of course. Claire shall be arriving back home within the hour and I have made arrangements with all four branches of my organization for a simultaneous assault within the kingdoms, which should be the final breaking point for the faunus. However, they are all waiting now for my word to begin as there is something that must be taken care of first. Your classmates have proven to be the most troublesome bunch of children I have ever had the displeasure to meet and they must be taken care of as I have no doubt they would find a way to ruin another procedure."

"Y-you mean…"

"I for one believe that pests should be exterminated, unless you know of some alternate solution."

Xanthic swallowed, "I-I don't…"

"Then bring them to my office tonight." With that Orelon walked past him as if he wasn't even there and left the building.

Basil looked at Xanthic's quivering figure, "You won't have to fight anyone."

"R-right… Um, e-exuse me, I sh-should be going now." Xanthic turned and slowly exited. He could see Orelon rounding a corner and heading towards the Picto Corporation's Vale branch building.

"Let's go." Nivens was determined.

"Y-you wanna go through with this!?" Xanthic questioned as he was running back to Beacon.

"Of course not. I'm thinking with the nine of us we might actually have a chance, besides even if we don't do anything he'll know we've double-crossed him. At least this way I can finally blow off some steam."

"I suppose you're right…"

"Of course I am."

Shortly after he burst back into his dorm room startling all three girls, "Xanthic!? What's going on?" Riliane asked in a panic.

"Call your girlfriend and get ready to leave," Nivens ordered as he went through the closet and changed into his own combat gear.

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"He's gone too far this time… We need to stop Humanity tonight." He tossed his hat onto the bed and removed the bobby pins from his hair, "What are you people waiting for? This is what you've been talking about doing for the past few months now."

"Er- Ri-right." Riliane made herself focus and called Celeste to pass on the message as the four headed down to the locker room.

They met with Team CODE down there. "Are you sure now is the right time?" Eve asked while collecting her weapon.

"Tomorrow will be too late," Nivens told her while flexing his hand inside the metal glove. "Let me borrow your scroll Olive," Already knowing what he had planned, Olive complied without question. After sending a quick message out he gave the device back and began walking, "Come on, we need to hurry."

Nivens had been ignoring all of his classmates' questions until Celeste froze as they all rounded a corner, "Is that Yuki-"

"I'm surprised she found the Picto Corporation building so fast," Nivens stated.

"You knew she'd be here?"

"Of course, I told her to meet us here."