Summer meets Denji. All of Remnant suffers for it.

Yang's life had changed a lot in the past couple of months. When she'd first arrived at Beacon she thought it'd be four years of fun, adventures, and partying. Sure, there was school and the whole 'being trained to fight the embodiments of evil' thing, but she knew that going in. A life safe behind the kingdom's walls didn't appeal to her. She'd take dangerous freedom or confining safety any day of the week.

Recent events made her wonder if she'd changed her mind. It wasn't all bad. She'd met her team, got a great partner in Blake (despite her scaredy cat tendencies), and an amazing boyfriend in Jaune. Seriously, if someone told her that she'd be dating Vomit Boy then she would've laughed in their face.

But of course there was always another side to the coin; and that side was named Denji. The monster of her nightmares. Ugh. It wasn't like she hated the guy or anything. His personality didn't really rub her wrong like it did Weiss and she actually liked that his motives for being a Huntsman were so simple. She loved Ruby and respected the hell out of her for wanting to be a hero, but she also knew that not everyone was as pure; herself included. She just hated the idea of the guy corrupting her somehow.

That wasn't even getting into everything else she'd found out. Apparently there were other worlds, literal devils were real, and her deadbeat mom was some kind of middle-aged magical girl...and now she was too cause of that weird Aura transfer machine they got her in. So far no issues, though Ruby was somewhat pushy on her doing a transformation sequence. Yeah, right.

Right now the magical bruiser was in a bullhead with Ruby and the eldrtich monstrosity. The fact that she was so close to the guy from her nightmares wasn't pleasant, but she could suck it up for Ruby's sake. And if she was being completely honest, she did feel sorry for the guy after what they found out about his past. Finding out that the whole chainsaw monster thing was cause his pet gave its life for him didn't make it any less scary, but it made her feel guilty enough to stay quiet.

They were going back to Patch. The break had finally come and both mom and dad were eager to see them back. Yang missed them too, and it'd be nice to family again to decompress from how crazy life had gotten lately.

...Okay, so maybe mom could be kinda crazy, but Yang just chalked that up to normal Huntress stuff. She was still the best.

She hoped it'd be a break from the scariest thing on Remnant, but Ruby had invited him to come back and meet the family and he said yes. Yang seriously wanted to make Ruby change her mind, but she also knew that her little sis had a stubborn streak a mile wide and puppy dog eyes that could make even General Ironwood pause. It was fight she couldn't win.

Yang crossed her arms and looked to Ruby and the chainsaw monster sitting across from her. Denji was asleep on his seat and snoring despite the early hour while Ruby was just humming and swinging her legs. He didn't take his sister or the dogs with him. Apparently she was staying over in Blake's place at Menagerie and was making herself right at home. The Belladonnas had more or less adopted her. She'd heard her partner moaning about how cruel life was because of it. Drama Queen.

The Bullhead arrived soon after and dad was there to greet them, "Oh, my girls!" He grabbed the two of them in a firm embrace before Yang could stop him. Ugh, dad was so embarassing! Thankfully Denji didn't seem to give a shit.

"Dad, come on!" Yang grunted, voice muffled since she was pressed up against his bicep. Ruby complained too and had about as much luck as she did trying to push him off.

"I'm just happy to see my girls again." He looked past them and his eyes narrowed when he saw Denji. Uh-oh. Normally she would've had some fun seeing dad give the overprotective dad talk, but she didn't want him to get hurt picking a fight. Denji was worse than any Grimm.

Ruby seemed to sense where this was going too and glared up at him, "Dad, no!"

"I'm just gonna-"

"No!" Ruby shoved a finger to his face, "Bad, dad!"

"...Fine." Taiyang Xiao Long, one of the most badass Huntsmen she knew, sighed and shuffled his foot like a kid who got his hand caught in the cookie jar. The fact that it was Ruby, of all people, giving him a lecture wasn't lost on her, "At least let me introduce myself. The guy's gonna be staying with us for the next week."

"I'll be watching, dad."

Dad walked over to where Denji was and looked him up and down. At first glance it looked like no contest. Dad was still close to his prime despite being middle aged and Denji was pretty scrawny, which she chalked up to ten years of living a pretty shitty life.

"Are you dating either one of my daughters?" Dad asked bluntly.

"Dad!" Ruby shrieked, face going as red as her namesake. Yang just sighed and facepalmed.

"I'm just asking a simple question, man to man." He looked to Denji again, "So?"

"Nope." Dad's eyes narrowed, trying to see if there was a lie, "Yang runs away from me every chance she gets and Ruby's a pal." Yang didn't miss how the reaper's expression fell at that. Ouch. As much as she didn't want the guy anywhere near her sister, she knew being friendzoned stung, "Ruby invited me to come so I thought it'd be cool."

"Hmm..." Dad gave him one more look and then he suddenly grinned, "Good enough for me. Welcome to Patch, Denji. You can call me Tai." He put his right arm around Denji's shoulder then did the same with her and Ruby with his left. Yang didn't bother fighting him off and just let him lead them back to the cottege. She'd never admit it, but she really did miss this.

They talked as they walked, mostly about what Raven was up to now. Because of the Aura transfer she was much weaker now and still had an outstanding bounty, so she had two options. Take her chance with the Mistralian court - which likely meant a summary execution - or stay as a ward of Beacon. She chose the latter and was currently making a living as one of the janitors, because there was no way Ozpin would put her in charge of a class.

She was also making a half-hearted attempt to talk to Yang, which she reciprocated with half-hearted attempts of her own.

"Summer's gonna be so happy to see you two," dad said, "She's been going through the empty nest hard since you both left."

"We talk to her every week!" Ruby protested.

"It's not the same as being here."

They were close to the house when mom came rushing out, "Oh, my babies!" Dad stepped away just in time to avoid being tackled by the full force of Summer Rose's embrace. Even with their Aura up, both siblings almost found themselves crashing to the ground before the petitie woman hefted them both up with ease, "Oh, I missed you both so much!"

"W-We missed you too, mom!" Yang struggled to reply.

"Mom, you're embarassing us..." Ruby blushed, though like Yang she made no effort to push her off. She was always more of a mama's girl while Yang had more in common with dad. Amazing jokes, for one.

"There's nothing embarassing about parental love!" Mom beamed and spun them around. The display lasted for a few more seconds before she set them down and noticed a third blonde that she wasn't expecting, "Oh! Who's this?"

"Name's Denji." He offered her a hand - something Weiss taught him to always do, apparently - and mom did the same.

Yang felt something wrong stir in the air as soon as their hands made contact. Mom's eyes widened and she looked at Denji as if she was undergoing a religious experience. Denji was the same. He suddenly stood ramrod straight and his mouth parted, eyes glazing didn't notice, but Yang and Ruby could tell clear as day. Something had happened in those few seconds.

Back at Beacon, Raven Branwen suddenly burst into hysterical tears for reasons she couldn't explain.

"Summer Rose." Mom smiled, but there was something off about it, "I trust you've been taking care of my girls, Denji?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ma'am? Since when the hell did he call anyone that? He even said 'yo' to Professor Goodwitch!

"Good, good."

Yang went inside with the rest of the group and breathed in the familiar smell of her home. Oh yeah, she missed this. Her eyes glanced over at the pictures on the walls. Mom and dad were big believers in public baby pictures and no amount of begging and arguing would convince them otherwise.

It also included a picture of a proud Taiyaing carrying an egg the size of Zwei with a baseball cap on its top.

...

Yeah, apparently Raven gave birth like a bird too. Weird, but she'd had seventeen years to deal with it. That and the fact that when mom first saw her she assumed she was just an oversized chicken egg and tried to turn her into an omelette. Again, seventeen years.

The next few days only compounded the weirdness she felt. Mom spent a lot of time with them, but she also spent a lot of it with Denji. At first she'd assumed that it was just mom being nice and trying to make him feel at home, but this was just odd. They were leaving all by themselves at odd times of the day and having conversations low enough that no one else could hear. She really wished she had Blake over.

If it was anyone else she would've jumped to the obvious conclusion of an affair, but she knew mom. She hated cheaters. Despite her proclamations of wanting a harem - which Yang was sure was just a joke that she refused to let go of - she made it very clear that she valued honesty in a relationship. Apparently it was why she hadn't jumped dad sooner. Raven got to him first and she sucked it up.

Didn't mean that she liked her mom and the chainsaw monster going off on their own, though. Neither did Ruby, "What are they doing?" her sister asked one morning, arms crossed and face sour.

"Beats me." Yang shrugged.

"Do...Do you think they're-"

"No."

"But you saw how weird they acted when he introduced himself!" Ruby threw up her hands, "And you all know people keep trying to flirt with mom." They did with dad too, Yang didn't say. Dad was, according to her Signal friends, a total DILF (ick, ick, ick!) while mom had weird genes that made her look like she was frozen when she turned twenty five. It gave Ruby a bit of a complex.

"And you know mom wouldn't do anything." She wasn't sure about Denji, though. Apparently he liked older women, something that made Rubes really sad to hear.

"But what if they- shut up, Yoru! Don't make you put you in the dark place again!" Ruby said, looking off to the side. Yeah, apparently she had a new imaginary friend. Bit old to have one at her age, but Yang let it go. It was cute.

Another day passed. Yang went down the next morning and saw the rest of her family and Denji sitting around the dinner table. The mood was weirdly heavy, "Uh...who died?" Yang joked.

"No one, sweetie, we're just talking about some things." Mom smiled. Yang got a glass of water and drank it, "I'm thinking about adopting Denji."

Yang spat out her drink. Unfortunately she was sitting right next to Ruby and her sister was dead center in the splatter zone. Ruby shrieked and frantically wiped away the barrage of spit while dad just sighed, "Summer, no."

"Summer, yes!" Mom shot back, "He's an orphan, Tai, an orphan! Just like me! He's just like me for real!"

"What the fuck?" Yang mumbled then looked to Denji, "Why are you just sitting there? Are you okay with this?"

"Why not?" he asked back, "Summer's cool and I've never had a mom before. Could be awesome." He smiled. To anyone else it might've looked sweet. As someone who knew him for the monster he was, it was anything but.

"I don't agree with this!" Ruby shrieked, slamming both hands on the table, "Denji's my friend! It'll be super weird if we're suddenly siblings!" And probably because she didn't want to have to resort to getting stuck in the washing machine to get anywhere with him.

"It's okay, Rosebud! Vale allows step-siblings to marry!"

"...Really?" Ruby looked tempted.

"No, no, no!" Yang shouted before Denji could get an inkling of her little sister's crush, "Mom, you can't just...adopt a guy you've only for a few days!"

"Why not?" Mom blinked at her in confusion, "Tai knows how happy I was when team STRQ became a family. It's like I was made whole. It's our responsibility to make sure that Denji can have the same joy that I did. What's wrong with that?"

"I should probably tell you that I've got a little sister and I think Blake's family is adopting her too," Denji cut in.

"I'll talk to Kali. We can sort it out." Mom waved a hand. Yang was too stunned to ask how the hell she knew Blake's parents, "But fine, I see you guys aren't gonna budge on this. I guess we can save the adoption talk for later."

"Much later." Dad sighed.

Things continued as usual after that. Mom and Denji went out and they tried to pretend everything was normal. Yang just desperately tried to ignore all talks of adoption and hoped that it wouldn't come up for at least a few more years, maybe decades if she was lucky.

And then the news came.

A horde of Nevermores were flying over Patch with an Alpha at the head. It was something straight out of a nightmare. One Nevermore could destroy a whole village - it was the reason killing one made their team big names after Initiation - but an entire flock? Worst case scenario the entire island could be wiped out.

It was all hands on deck. Yang put on Ember Celica while dad and Ruby got their own weapons. The Nevermores were landing at the south beach according to the reports. Signal was mustering whoever they could, but they were closer and could keep the horde distracted while everyone set up traps and defenses if...if they failed.

Yang took a deep breath and clenched her fists. This was what she was waiting for. Sure, being a Huntress gave her freedom, but it also meant she had to put her life on the line to protect others. Besides, she had these new magical powers that she was just itching to try out.

Mom and Denji were nowhere to be seen. Dad and Ruby tried to call them earlier, but neither picked up. Damn it. As much of a scary bastard Denji was, he would've been real useful right now.

The three were just about to leave the house when dad's scroll rang, "Tai, honey! You called?"

"Summer, where the hell are you?! There's a flock of Nevermores-"

"Down at the south beach. Yeah, I know." A Nevermore's roar echoed in the background, "Me and Denji decided to get a headstart! Come down here before we have all the fun!"

And then she cut the call. She, Ruby and dad just looked at one another before they booked it over there. She and dad rode Bumblebee while Ruby ran ahead of them with her Semblance. It didn't take them long to hear the sounds of fighting, squawking, and the rev of a chainsaw.

Yang had expected the worst when she got there, but even she was surprised at what greeted her. There was no horde, and the Alpha Nevermore was so mangled that she almost felt sorry for it. One of its wings had been cut clean off and so were both of its eyes. Numerous cuts and gashes lined its multi-story tall body and it limped pathetically against the ground as it desperately tried to fly away on its one wing.

Then she saw mom and Denji.

"Denji, let's finish this! I wanna have fried chicken tonight!" Mom screamed, brandishing her glaive.

"Hell yeah!" Denji raised both his chainsaw arms to match her.

Yang winced and looked away as the two of them bisected the thing from head to tail on opposite ends. The revving of the chainsaw seemed to linger in her head even after the Nevermore finally died and Denji turned back to normal.

"That was awesome!" Denji shouted.

"Fuck yeah it was!" Mom shouted back. Why did hearing her curse sound so weird?

Then they started dancing. Well, she said dance, but really it was more they were were swinging their arms and legs up and down like a couple of loons. Dad was too busy gaping at the fact that those two had just killed an entire horde of Grimm the whole island was preparing to fight. They didn't even look tired! She knew mom was a badass, but seriously?

"Hey, Rubes-"

"Don't leave me out!" And now Ruby was dancing with them. Yang groaned and covered her face with both hands. How the hell was this her life right now?

Poor Yang. Actually, everyone on team RWBY seems to be suffering around Denji. Only Ruby seems cool with it. Next chapter is...actually, not sure at this point. Yang intervention? Next chapter of Kobeni's suffering? I'll decide later.

Also, if you guys wanna support me so I can write faster, then check out my page. I won't hold chapters behind a paywall, however. This is just for support.

P a treon . com (slash) Vendetta543