Ruby looked around for White and his team, and Yang chuckled. Ruby turned to her. "What?"

Yang shook her head, a small smile on her face, and focused back on her food. Ruby frowned and glanced quickly at her other teammates to see that they had similar smiles. "Guys, what is it?"

"Hey, Ruby."

She jumped slightly and turned to White. "Oh, White. Hey…"

He smiled and walked over to where his team and Distant's team were sitting, and the three's smiles seemed to grow a little more. Ruby started to pout. "Guys, seriously. Not cool."

Yang shrugged innocently. "Did we say anything?"

"No, and that's the point! What are you guys not telling me?"

Yang looked between White and Ruby several times, and Ruby's eyes widened. "No…you don't think…"

Yang smiled widely and nodded, quickly followed by the other two nodding with less fervor. "C'mon, sis, it's obvious. He likes you!"

Ruby shook her head, a blush forming. "No…besides, I'm sure he's got plenty of women after him…" She looked around. "Uh…speaking of which, where's Weiss?"

The three looked to see Weiss talking to White. Blake shook her head. "Nope…"

Yang shrugged. "I think she has a shot."

Blake looked at Yang. "Five lien says not."

"You're on."

Weiss walked back over, dejected, and Yang sighed, slapping the money into Blake's open hand. "Damn…I hate when you're right…"

Weiss sat back down, and Ruby looked at her. "Weiss?"

She looked at Ruby. "He said he was after someone in particular. Not me." She sighed and looked down. "I got shot down so hard…"

Blake shrugged, and Yang said, "Cheer up. It could have been worse."

Weiss looked bitterly at Yang. "How could it have possibly been worse."

Yang grinned. "He could have announced it loudly."

Which earned her a punch from both Weiss and Blake.

Ruby sighed as she walked back to her dorms. She had forgotten something in Professor Oobleck's class, and as such, it was getting dark as she walked along the sidewalk.

She stopped suddenly and looked around carefully. "Is…is someone there?"

She heard a rustle from somewhere and backed up against a nearby lamppost, quickly drawing Crescent Rose. "I…I don't wanna shoot you, but I will if I have to!"

She was answered by an evil chuckle, and she shivered. "Well, Miss Rose…you think something as cute as that precious scythe of yours can be equal to me?"

A cold chill ran down her spine. "White?"

The chuckle developed into a laugh, and a figure stepped into the light, making Ruby gasp. "What…"

The figure gestured at itself. "Yeah, I know. Not my first choice for costume, but hey."

To say he looked like White Fury would be an understatement. He had every detail exactly the same, except for the color, which was all black. The figure shrugged. "I assume you know my doppelganger."

Ruby nodded, still in shock. "What…what are you?"

The figure frowned. "I'm still a person. Mostly…anyways, call me Black Fury. I'm kinda White's archenemy."

"Was. He was my archenemy."

Ruby whirled around to see White next to her, and he stepped towards Black a bit. "Way back when, I killed a man in cold blood. That, along with potent dark energy within my artifacts, caused Black Fury to be formed."

Black laughed. "Oh, yay! I love this story!"

White sighed in exasperation. "Anyways, his only goal in life was to kill me, and he got close a few times. The final time…well, let's just say he pissed me off just enough."

Black shrugged and looked at Ruby. "He shot me with fire at close range, and in case you're failing bio, that tends to kill people. And kill me he did."

White matched Black's shrug and countered with "You weren't dead for long…I brought you back, and now you're not evil."

Black nodded. "I'm actually okay with that."

Ruby looked between the two. "So…you two are pretty much the same, except that one's evil and one's good?"

The two looked at each other and nodded, murmuring assent, and Ruby chuckled slightly. "Wow…so white hat and black hat's really a thing…"

White and Black stood for a minute, like they were each blinking, and they both chuckled, which developed into laughter. Ruby looked between the two of them again, and White said, "I never thought of it like that…but I suppose it's true. I'm the white hat, he's the black hat, it's that simple."

Black shrugged again. "It used to be simple. Then I changed."

White sighed a little, his tone growing more serious and a little more sober. "Everything changes…"

Ruby blinked, seeing White a little bit more. "White…"

White shook his head. "Anyways, he also has a team, but they arrived the same day as mine, so they stayed under the radar."

Black smiled a little. "It should be fun to present them…" He teleported away, and White looked at Ruby. "Want me to walk you back?"

Ruby looked at him, hesitating a moment. "I…"

White smiled reassuringly. "Hey, I'm just trying to be nice."

Ruby hesitated a little more. "I…" She nodded. "Alright. I'll take you up on that."

White smiled and offered his arm, which Ruby promptly took, and the two began walking towards Ruby's dorm.

Ruby thought a minute, then looked at White, then looked away again. But not before he noticed. "Something on your mind, Ruby?"

Ruby glanced at him, but kept her gaze front. "Uh, nope. Nothing."

White thought a minute. "Do you think I like you?"

Ruby stopped walking, and White did as well. "Uh…what…uh…"

White smiled and chuckled. "I overheard you and your team talking earlier in the cafeteria. Apparently, they think I like you."

Ruby blushed and looked down, resuming her walk. "Well…you gave me that rose, and…you shot Weiss down so fast…"

White shrugged. "I wasn't interested in Weiss. Simple as that."

Ruby looked at White. "And the rose?"

White smiled a little. "Well…oh, we're here."

Ruby looked away, and sure enough, they were back at her dorm. "Oh…yeah…"

She walked up to the door and turned back to White. "So…the rose."

White nodded and looked down. "Yeah…like I said. A rose for a Rose."

Ruby looked down, still blushing. "Um…are…uh…are you single?"

White looked back up, his expression neutral. "Yeah. Quick and I used to be something, but we kinda drifted. Why?"

Ruby blushed more and looked down. "No…no reason, just making conversation…"

White gave Ruby a look, presumably, and he shrugged. "Alright. If there's nothing else, I'd better get going. Unlike Black, I don't teleport unless I have to."

He started to walk away, and Ruby started to say something, but forced it back down, shaking her head. She walked into her dorm, and White looked back. "Rose…"

"Rise and shine, sis!"

Ruby sat up quickly at Yang's outburst, hitting her head against the headboard as she did so. She glared at Yang. "Yang. You'd better have a damn good reason for waking me up on the weekend. Waking me up early."

Yang beamed. "No one else wanted to hit the gym with me, and I figured you'd be up for it. Eh? Eh?"

Ruby frowned and sighed. "Alright. Give me a minute to wake up…"

Yang laughed, and a few minutes later, Ruby was ready to go. As they approached their door, Yang said, "Oh, by the way, I invited a few others."

Ruby looked at Yang. "A few?"

Yang opened the door, and there stood both White's team and Distant's team. "Mass training!"

White shrugged. "We do kinda owe her after kicking her ass so many times."

Yang's expression faltered, but only slightly. "Anyways, the Revivers and the Limiters say that another team'll be joining us. Just a heads-up."

Ruby nodded without a word, and as she and Yang got out of their room, White mouthed to Ruby 'Sorry.'

Ruby shrugged. Nothing to be done, she figured. Yang could be…forceful.

A few minutes later, they were all in one of the many available sparring rooms around Beacon, and Yang turned to White. "So. Who's going first?"

White glanced around. "You."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. And…I suggest you send out a punch to your right. About…now!"

Without hesitation, Yang did so and made contact with something. She looked in that direction. "What the hell?!"

A girl appeared, rubbing her nose and glaring at White Fury. "Jerk."

White smirked. "Sorry, Camille. One time only, I promise."

Ruby took in this new girl, with her black hair and green eyes. "How'd you do that?"

Camille smiled. "I have the ability to blend into the background. Got some Kec-uh, chameleon genes back in my family tree somewhere."

Ruby nodded, ignoring the slip. "You part of that other team with Black Fury?"

Camille blinked. "You know about him?"

"I kinda made myself known last night."

Everyone turned to see Black with two others guys Ruby didn't recognize. One had light-green eyes and black hair, and the other had light-red eyes and blue hair down to his neck along with an odd pink scarf covering the lower half of his face. The one with black hair wore a black pin-striped suit with a purple shirt and tie, and the one with blue hair wore matching light-blue pants and a jacket with a light-yellow shirt under the jacket.

Black raised a hand in greeting. "Good to see you guys."

White nodded. "Good to see you brought Edgar and Jed."

The one with black hair shrugged. "Hey, if Jed was coming, someone has to be along to make sure he doesn't go too crazy."

Jed rolled his eyes, pulled out a light-blue shuriken, and started absent-mindedly playing with it. "Says the guy who used to try and kill White."

Edgar glared at Jed. "It wasn't personal, Nevermore had specific intentions…anyways, I quit after they disbanded. You know that."

Jed nodded, and his eyes crinkled, like he was smirking. "Yeah. It's just fun to piss you off now and then."

Edgar went to retort, but Black sighed loudly. "Guys, we're all friends here. This is kinda why it's us four…checkered pasts and all."

Jed nodded. "We know. Team Renewal. Making new futures from our pasts."

Camille nodded. "We've heard it a lot from you."

Black nodded as well. "Because it's important to me."

"Hate to break this up, but who am I gonna punch?!"

Everyone looked at Yang, who recoiled slightly, and Jed sighed. "Fine. I'll take you on."

Yang frowned. "Let me rephrase that: I wanna fight White!"

White sighed with exasperation. "Yang. You already know why not."

Yang turned to him and pouted. "Aw, please?"

White shook his head. "No."

Yang continued pouting, and Jed sighed. "Well, might as well…"

He pulled out another shuriken and flung both at Yang, which she noticed at the last minute and dodged quickly. "What the hell?!"

Jed shrugged. "If you're gonna be stubborn, I might as well break the tension. You gonna get even with me?"

Yang frowned. "Fine, Jed. I'll gladly kick your ass!"

Jed's eyes crinkled again, and he pulled out a katana. "Good luck."

He faded into shadow, and Yang whirled around. "No use hiding!"

"It tends to work…"

Yang whirled towards his voice, but he reappeared and started slashing at her several times with the katana, which had begun glowing in a dark color. Yang parried as best she could, but Jed had still caught her off guard. She faltered, and he slammed her into a wall. She charged at him, and he leapt straight over her, grabbing her shoulders as he did so, and slammed her into the ground.

Yang stood slowly. "How'd you just do that?"

Jed's scarf whipped around, like it had a mind of its own. "You promise not to judge?"

"Promise."

Jed nodded. "My scarf? It isn't one. This is my tongue. I'm a Faunus. Frog hybrid."

Ruby looked closer at his 'scarf', and she could see the pores in it. "Wow…how do you talk?"

Jed looked at Ruby. "Hell if I know…I don't question it, I just go with it."

He charged at Yang, and she held up her fists. He leapt up, though, and on his way back down, he hit her with the katana, which had begun glowing sky-blue. She went flying back, hit another wall, and stayed down.

White sighed and shook his head. "You just can't win, can you…?"

Yang stood slowly and glared at White. "I could beat you…"

White laughed. "You just keep telling yourself that…"

The doors were suddenly forced open by Weiss and Blake, who ran into the room with heaving breaths. Ruby went over to them. "What's going on?"

Weiss took a deep breath. "Something's going on in the quad. You have to come see."

Everyone ran out to see a large circle of people around two people arguing. Ruby and her team, along with White and his team, worked their way to the front to see Cardin and Jaune arguing.

"You're not a hero, Jauney Boy! You're just a coward!"

Jaune frowned. "Then why am I here, huh, Cardin?"

Cardin scowled and turned his gaze to Crocea Mors. "Your sword never had energy blasts like that before. You messed with it!"

"And what, that's a crime? We all mess with our weapons from time to time."

"Yeah, but you're not smart enough to figure something like that out! If we're gonna improve our weapons, you should do it yourself!"

White stepped forward. "Cardin, if you're gonna be pissed, be pissed at me. I borrowed his sword and merely increased its potential."

Cardin's scowl deepened, his voice starting to drip with venom. "Of course. It had to be you…ever since you've been here, it's been different!"

"How is that bad?"

Cardin laughed wryly. "Jaune's not supposed to be powerful! You can't upset the status quo like you have!"

White walked over to Cardin. "Or what."

His tone made it obvious to any normal person that he was serious. Cardin, however, couldn't take the hint. "Or I'll kick you off Beacon myself! And if I'm gonna do that, I wanna see your face!"

He reached for White's hat, but White grabbed his wrist. "Don't. Touch. The. Hat."

Instinctively, the circle widened a bit, and White positioned Cardin. "Revivers! Attack Plan Eta!"

Quick, Short, and Long leapt out from the crowd, and Short called out, "Eta for elimination! I love this plan!"

Cardin's eyes widened. "Wait, elimination?!"

He couldn't get out much more than that, because after that the Revivers began to quite simply beat the crap out of him. Short landed a flurry of punches, Quick a flurry of kicks, and Long a series of blasts. They stopped, and Cardin dropped to a knee, burned, bloody, and beaten. "I give…"

White stepped in front of Cardin. "This is not a match. You don't call uncle."

White's fists started glowing white. "I'm getting real tired of your attitude, Winchester. You belittle, you bully, you mock, and if your brawn matched your brain, you'd be outta here! Well, since it doesn't, I figure I'll give you some free time in the infirmary."

Cardin's black eyes widened as much as they could. "Uh…can't that kill me?"

White shrugged. "Dunno. Don't care."

Long started a little at that. "Uh…don't care? Don't you remember what happened last time you didn't care?"

White paused a moment. "Oh…yeah…" He sighed, seemingly sobering up. "You're right…"

White turned around to walk back to his team, and Cardin stood weakly, pulling out his mace. Ruby called out, "White!"

The mace fell. But not enough.

Cardin's face turned from triumph to shock as he took in White's hand on the mace. "Uh…I can-"

White punched Cardin, and he flew backwards, almost off the cliff. White ran over to him and looked down. "You ever try something like that again, and it won't be almost."

White turned around and walked back to the group of people, and they all backed up, except for the new teams and Ruby's. White sighed. "Everyone, you don't need to be worried. That only happens when someone really pisses me off. I can control my emotions."

No one looked really reassured, and White sighed again, more to himself then anything. "Yeah…I figured…"

He and his team left, and Ruby looked after them. "White…"

"Damn…he really beat Cardin badly…"

Blake nodded. "And just think: You wanted a part of that."

Yang shuddered. "Remind me not to piss him off…"

Weiss looked at Yang. "You and me both…"

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno. I believe him."

The other three looked at her, and Yang chuckled nervously. "You did see that, right? How he beat down Cardin Winchester without any good reason?"

"He went for the hat."

Blake rolled her eyes. "That's not a good reason."

Ruby nodded. "It is for White. Superheroes have to keep their identities secret."

"See? She gets it."

The four jumped as they turned to White standing in front of the door. "Dammit, White, couldn't you knock?"

White shrugged. "Sorry, Weiss. Sometimes it's fun to scare people."

Blake frowned. "Maybe you shouldn't be here. We're not exactly your biggest supporters, and we wouldn't want to say anything that would land us in the hospital."

White frowned. "Guys, I'm not that kind of guy. I can control myself."

None of them looked reassured except for Ruby, and White's frown deepened. "Guys, don't be like that."

Yang looked him over. "And to think I wanted to fight you…"

White sighed. "What's it gonna take for me to reassure you?"

Ruby's eyes lit up with an idea as she got down from her bunk. "I might know."

She slowly reached for White's hat, and the other three stepped back. "Ruby, he'll beat you down!"

She kept reaching, though, and even got to touch it before he gently removed her arm. "Don't touch the hat, please."

Ruby turned to her team. "See? Not psycho-murderer."

Her team relaxed slowly, and White smiled a bit. "She's right."

Blake walked up to him. "How do we know you're not just acting?"

White sighed. "Man, y'all are a hard-trusting bunch…"

Weiss shrugged. "That's what happens when you've been through what we have."

White laughed without humor. "Yeah, like trying to beat Roman Torchwick hardened you all into Huntresses without hearts. Please. I've seen things that would chill you down to your bones."

Blake scowled. "Hey, we had to work hard to get that bastard behind bars!"

"And you never stopped to think that they were others?"

The team recoiled at this, and Yang asked, "Others?"

"Yeah. Roman had people to report to, too. Why do you think a master criminal like him got caught? To make you all relax. The big fish are still out there."

They all looked among each other, and White continued. "Even here at Beacon."

They all whirled to him, and he chuckled a little. "Yeah. I know the three you all should be worrying about."

Ruby's eyes widened. "How-"

"I have my methods. But before I tell you, I need your word you will not act on it unless I say so. Confronting them early could ruin any chance of finding out any other plans they have."

Ruby nodded instantly, followed by Weiss and Blake. Yang pursed her lips. "I dunno…if we kick-"

"Yang Xiao Long, give me your word!"

Yang recoiled slightly at White's sudden outburst. "Alright, I give my word! Now, who are they?"

White looked at the four of them in turn. "Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald."

The four gasped, and White nodded, going over to the window and opening it. "Remember. No acting."

He leapt out the window, and Ruby rushed over it and looked down. "Who's acting…"