Patriot-M89: A Hell of a long time since I came back to this one. But, no like the present, eh? Anyway, here we go.

Chapter 6:

The Mad Doctor of Mt. Glenn

'...Vale...it's been a long time since I had last been here,' These were his thoughts, as Merlot looked outside his personal Bullhead Airship as it flew toward Beacon. The last time he was here, it was before the disaster that engulfed the latest attempt to build a settlement outside the Kingdom of Vale. The place where his experiments went awry...

The doctor shook his head at those memories as he focused on his current objective. Now, even though he was 'officially' supposed to just do a medical check, which he actually was in order to make sure the girl was not crippled, or infected with anything, in any way, he also had to find an excuse to get the 'Maiden Knight' into his custody.

...Of course, there was one BIG problem with, and it was in the form of Beacon's own Headmaster himself.

Ozpin...that damn cocoa sucking, paranoid, secret keeping fool who had always mocked him back in their youth. And the fact, from what he learned, the man knew FAR more than anyone else on the planet. Of course, those were his little secrets to keep from the Council.

Right now, he had to think on how to get that girl.

"Sir, we're arriving at Beacon Academy," said the Android pilot of his personal transport, and the Mad scientist looked out the window of the Bullhead, and low and behold, there it was...

...Beacon Academy, where many of the best Huntsmen and Huntresses were trained in order to fight the Grimm. According to Vale, anyway.

"Good, land us at the closest available dock. We don't want to keep Ozpin waiting,"

Glynda stood by the docks as she waited for the Council's 'Specialist' to arrive. She soon spotted a normal Bullhead Airship arriving, but blinked before squinting her eyes to focus on the nose part of the craft, spotting a red colored emblem. As the Airship got closer and the emblem became more clear, her eyes immediately widened at what she was seeing.

'No...it can't be,' she thought as the Airship landed in front of her before the side doors opened, and her heart sank when she spotted a man who was long thought to be dead. The said person stood a head taller than her, wearing a labcoat over a dark red business suit, with red dress shirt and tie underneath. However, she was more focused on the disheveled gray hair, beard and mustache, the one red organic, along with the cybernetic red eye.

When the man saw her, he smirked, "Well, well, it's been a long time Glynda Goodwitch," he said, "Ten years, at least?"

Glynda was frozen on the spot, before she managed to gasp out, "H-How..."

The Mad Scientist gave a chuckle at that, "Let's just say the reports of my death were...extremely over exaggerated,"

When he didn't receive a response, he blinked curiously, as he saw the shell shocked look on her face, still as a statue.

He sighed as he stepped off the ship, followed by two of his androids before he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers in front of the Combat instructor's face, bringing her out of her shocked daze. Before she could make another comment, the man beat her to the punch.

"Though I would love to have a chat with you, Glynda," he said, "But I'm here to see my newest upcoming patient,"

Glynda immediately knew who he was talking about, before she gave a hesitant nod.

"O-Of course," she said, "Please follow me, Dr. Merlot,"

With that, she turned around and walked toward the school with the Doctor and his android guards following her. As they did so, Merlot watched as Glynda attempted to discreetly type something onto her scroll, causing him to smirk. No doubt attempting to warn Ozpin that HE was the Specialist. He mentally chuckled in amusement at that.

'No doubt he's already rushing to get things to go his way,' he thought, 'I'll let you prepare you damn Green Wizard. I'd hate for it to get boring,'

Meanwhile

Unused Dorm

"Is this...really necessary?" came the worried query of one Ruby Rose as she looked at the reason for it. The still unconscious Dorée was back on a bed in an unused dorm not too far from their own dorms, but one key difference from last time...the said girl was now tied to the bed with strong ropes by both her wrists and ankles, so she wouldn't try to escape again once she woke up.

The answer came from her partner, who leveled a deadpan stare at her question.

"After what just happened yesterday, you're really asking THAT?" she said rhetorically, which prompted a defeated sigh from the red hood wearing Rose, but she doesn't say anything as she just looks at her future honorary niece with a sad expression.

'Doesn't mean I have to like it,' she thought to herself, before blinking in remembrance as she pulled out the scroll. Though she wasn't a nosy person, the urge of wanting to know more about Dorée was overwhelming, before she opened it up, and the screen blinked on. She spots a file with the title labeled 'Memories' before pressing on that. She is surprised to see that it's a photo album, which contains numerous photographs, specifically of a young childlike version of the same girl, only with a pure smile on her face and being accompanied by either Ren and Nora, or herself.

She looked at one of the photos of her older self holding an eight year old Dorée who was giving her a hug. The look of unquestionable love was in the older Rose's silver eyes. Ruby could only smile at the scene, finding the younger version of Dorée irresistibly adorable. This didn't go unnoticed, as Pyrrha looked in her direction and noticed the soft smile on the leader of her sister team's face. After carefully placing down the hand of her future child on the bed, she proceeded to carefully stand up and began to walk over to Ruby, followed close behind by Jaune after seeing his partner go to his first friend here at Beacon.

The two placed themselves on either side and looked at the screen of the scroll. And their reactions told a lot, as Pyrrha gasped in shock, a hand over her mouth, at the picture of the same girl in her dreams, while Jaune's eyes widened at the sight of the little girl who would become the young woman she was now. The gasp was noticed by the others, as well as team CFVY came over.

"OH MY GOSH! SHE'S SO CUTE WHEN SHE WAS A KID!" came the excited squeal from Nora, causing the Faunus in the room to wince.

"OW! Nora! Inside voice!" Velvet admonished as she used her pinky to massage the inside of one of her rabbit ears.

"I can't help it!" the Pink Bomber said excitedly, before noticing a photo, titled 'Nora Hug' caught her eye, "Oh! Check that one!"

Ruby tapped the image, and She along with Ren, Jaune, and Pyrrha both paled in worry, as they saw an image of an older Nora, with longer hair, giving the same girl a massive love squeeze, with the said time traveler turning blue from lack of air. All the while an Older Ren, bearing a mustache and beard, as well as having his hair in a ponytail, was trying to get the pink bomber to let the poor child go.

"That's ME?!" Nora said in glee, "Oh, even cuter!"

Everyone looked at the hyperactive girl in worry, with Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby, and Ren, all mentally agreeing on one thing.

'Note to self: Protect child from Nora hugs at ALL COSTS!'

"I gotta admit, despite what happened yesterday, she was definitely a cutie," Coco said with a smile as he lowered her glasses to get a better look, "And not to mention all the craziness you explained to us, Yang. I mean, Time Travel? Really? I thought that only existed in comic books or movies."

Yang shrugged, "It still confuses me, but considering she has the same face and eyes as P-Money, and Vomit-Boy's blonde hair, with some red in it, all I can say is that these two lovebirds would definitely make a good kid,"

That answer got both said partners to blush atomic red levels.

"YANG!" Both of them yelled, causing the Yellow Dragon to laugh.

"No regrets!"

Weiss and Blake both sighed at their teammate's behavior.

"She is SO not letting this go," the Cat Faunus pointed out.

"Nope, she most certainly is not," agreed the Schnee heiress.

Ruby only sighed at her sister's antics before continuing to look at the photos, before stopping on one where it shows both herself and Dorée now working on what looks like a weapon of some kind. The said girl was concentrating hard, while the Older Ruby watches on to make sure she helped correct her mistakes or prevent the girl from hurting herself.

"Well...it looks like you rubbed something off on her sis," Yang commented, causing the young Rose to chuckle sheepishly.

"More than you know, Miss Xiao Long," said Sprite as he popped in front of them, resulting in them jumping back in fright.

"AGH! Don't do that!" Weiss shrieked, a hand over her heart at the AI's sudden appearance.

The A.I. just smirked in amusement, which Weiss returned with a warning glare and a twitching eye.

"Sorry, not sorry, Miss Schnee," Sprite said smugly, and continued on before she could say anything or try to break the scroll. "Dorée was not just trained how to fight and break things, but was taught by Ren, Nora, and especially Miss Rose on how to craft her weapons and armor. The armor she's wearing right now, is just her primary armor, which she recently modified with Atlesian Nightshade armor pieces which you saw used that night."

Weiss blinked in familiarity at that before her eyes widened.

"Wait a minute...NIGHTSHADE ARMOR!?" She shrieked in shock, which caused everyone to look at her in worry.

"Something we ought to know, Weiss?" Blake asked.

"Nightshade Armor was a project that the SDC funded two years ago for the military!" Weiss exclaimed, "It's designed to render anything or anyone invisible to the naked eye, but it was shelved cause my father was such a tightwad for money and believed it wouldn't contribute to anything! How did you two get it!?"

Sprite was silent for a moment before speaking, "Well, the facility where it was placed was not heavily guarded, so it was easy for the man she hired to get it. And two...Atlesian Security doors suck,"

Weiss facefaulted at that.

"You've got to be kidding me...," she groaned.

Everyone either chuckled or, in Yang's case, laughed at the poor Atlesian native's plight.

However, that stopped as soon as the door to the Dorm opened, and in entered Professor Ozpin, who had a unhappy frown upon his face which the students took as not a good sign at all.

"Professor Ozpin?" Ruby said in concern, "What's wrong?"

The Headmaster sighed tiredly, "The...specialist that the Council has sent has arrived...," he started, the students note the unhappy tone matching his expression, "...However...the said person is someone whom I have VERY suspicious doubts about his intentions for Dorée,"

Both Ruby and Team JNPR didn't like that part one bit, while everyone else was wondering what he meant by that. However, before they could ask, the door opened again, and in stepped Glynda who looked as pale as a sheet. But it was who followed in after her that really set everyone on edge.

The man who came in, white coat and all, was the same man whom Sprite had shown to them all...The infamous Doctor Winston Merlot himself. And the picture didn't do him justice, as seeing him in person made the tension in the air feel like heavy lead.

"Greetings, Doctor Merlot," Ozpin said politely, but everyone could tell by the look in his eyes that it was a totally different story. "It's to see you in good health despite the...alterations to your body,"

If Merlot was offended he didn't show it, as he gave the Headmaster a stoic expression.

"Likewise, Ozpin," he said, before he looked around, seeing the large number of students, but paying them no heed as his eye landed on the form of his 'patient', who would soon be more than that.

Pyrrha soon noticed Merlot's eyes landed on Dorée, and quicker than anyone had ever seen her, immediately moved right in front of her unconscious future child, Akouo up and Milo in hand. She is quickly joined by her team, along with their sister team, as they enter a stare down with the Cyborg Scientist.

Merlot smirked internally as he stared at the children in front of them, especially the famous Champion of Sanctum herself as she stood like a mother lion protecting her cub. It was so absurdly amusing.

"I'm only just going to examine her and get a sample of her blood children," he said flatly, "There's no need to act so defensively. Especially for a person you've only just met,"

Everyone felt rubbed the wrong by that comment, but more especially for Pyrrha, Jaune, Ruby, Nora, and Ren. And for damn good reason.

This was the man who was responsible for bringing Dorée into existence, but who also made her life a living hell. Ruby, Ren, and Nora will literally raise the poor girl like she was part of their own family, especially since she is technically Jaune and Pyrrha's daughter, no matter how she was born.

The rest of team RWBY were sticking with their team leader no matter what, with Yang most definitely since she knew that her little sister was falling in (familial) love with the young woman who was once the little girl in the photos. And she'll be damned if she let this creepy robotic eye nutjob do anything to upset her little sis.

Team CFVY was on standby, keeping a close eye on the situation and planning to intervene in case things got messy. They got along with Team RWBY and JNPR because both teams actually stood up for Velvet when she was being bullied by Team CRDL. And they were gonna repay debt one way or another.

Ozpin immediately intervened and gave the students a silent signal to let him through, while his expression told them that he'll stop him if he did anything funny.

The students hesitantly moved aside allowing Merlot, and his two red colored android guards to move in.

Pyrrha and Ruby's eyes watched the man as he knelt down to look at Dorée's outcold form. The scientist could feel their eyes upon and his amusement only increased. However, he still had a 'job' to do, and began his examination, first lifting an eyelid, revealing the vivid green eye, then proceeding to check her pulse rate which he used a gadget on his cybernetic right arm to do so.

While he was doing this, Merlot noticed the heavy duty ropes tying her to the bed.

"What's with the ropes?" he asked no one in particular.

Ozpin, though reluctantly, decided to answer, knowing the man would figure it out sooner or later.

"She woke up in a rage, and tried to escape the school grounds," he said, "Thankfully we managed to apprehend her before she could,"

This caused the man to actually laugh out loud, which caused the students to get even more nervous.

"She almost got away, huh!?" he exclaimed, "A man like you, nearly letting one girl get away. Oh Ozpin, you're going soft! Don't tell me all the years teaching brats has left you dull,"

Merlot chuckled, while Ozpin couldn't help but agree with that statement. Yes, he has gotten soft, and from what he learned from Sprite and the message from the Future Ruby...complacent. Too complacent. Something he would need to rectify.

"She is no ordinary girl, Doctor," Ozpin gave his retort, while the said only grinned.

"Oh no, she is most certainly not," he said, "If her track record is of any indication."

The students all looked at the doctor as he proceeded with the removal of the gauntlet on Dorée's left hand. Curious about the time traveler's record, but still wary of the man.

"Wiping out an entire Human Supremacy Group, the Steel Gauntlet, located in Solitas that has been the cause of many Faunus murders...but no charges were filed due to many members being part of Atlas' social elite," he began, which caused the eyes of the Faunus of the group to widen in shock, having heard of the Steel Gauntlet and their numerous crimes which went unpunished. Both Velvet and Blake looked at the girl in a new light, knowing that once she wakes up, they will have a large debt to repay her.

Merlot brought out a syringe as he continued listing Dorée escapades.

"A month earlier, a rather nasty Bandit Tribe, the Squirrel Tails, who had been attacking caravans between Argus and Mistral, were all found massacred," he said causing the Mistral natives' eyes to widen in recognition, having heard of the Squirrel Tails and their reputation as ruthless murderers, considered on the same level as the Branwen tribe, "The methods in which they were killed though, varied, from the injuries examined, they were either killed by a sword, their skulls smashed, and the most brutal way...impalement by iron spikes which seemed to have risen from the ground,"

Many felt on the verge of throwing up at the impalement part, especially Jaune, while Pyrrha was horrified at how ruthless Dorée's methods in dealing with the bandits was.

"Two months before that...," Merlot resumed, "Huntsmen from Vacuo were tipped off anonymously about a terrorist group, called the Crown, who were kidnapping students from the Academy for their powerful semblances and were given detailed information on how they were planning a coup in order to overthrow Shade, and reestablish the Monarchy of the Last Queen. However, it turns out that the so-called 'Heirs' were nothing more than impudent frauds. A strike team was sent to their hideout, but when they got there they found all the brainwashed victims knocked unconscious, and the Crown leaders, except one, found dead. I would tell you what she did, but for the sake of the children, I'll spare them the gory details,"

Gulps were heard, the students not wanting to know what happened to the Crown leaders.

"There are more...but, I have a job to do at the moment," Merlot said, before he clutched Dorée's hand in his cyborg one, "Another time perhaps,"

Ozpin's eyes narrowed before he spoke, "Are you finished yet?"

Merlot could only chuckled in amusement.

"Aww, getting tired of me already, Ozpin?" he snipped, hoping to get a rise out of the Headmaster, who didn't even twitch.

"I got tired of you since the day we met," he retorted back which resulted in a 'tft' from the Grimm Obsessed scientist.

"You still blame me for the incident at Mountain Glenn?" he asked, half rhetorically, which caused everyone to tense up at the mention of the said incident.

Ozpin was quick on the subject, "It was because of your experiments that the Settlement was overrun in the first place," he mentioned, his tone having a slight growl.

"You forget the fault goes to those miners who delved too deeply into the mountain in which they broke into that lair of subterranean Grimm." he countered, which resulted in everyone giving bristled expressions at the man's shifting of the blame onto those who were just doing their job. However, Merlot just mentally ignored them, before he inserted the needle into Dorée's hand, and began drawing her blood, which caused Pyrrha's eyes to glare daggers into the Mad Doctor's head. Her grip on Milo tightened, as she held herself back from running it through Dorée's future tormentor.

Thankfully, it ended as soon as it began, as the cyborg completed his extraction of Dorée's, before he signaled one of his androids over. The said machine did exactly that as it walked over, before it's chest opened up with a hiss, revealing a compartment inside, showing a small cradle inside with latches. Merlot place the full syringe in the cradle before the latches closed, followed by the chest itself. The students blinked at the spectacle before the white haired cyborg turned to them.

"They're more than just for being my bodyguards," he said, before turning to Ozpin, "There, it is done, Ozpin...Of course, I would have to report to the council of what I've seen and heard."

Ozpin's eyes narrow at that statement. "Yes, I assumed you would," he said, as Merlot gave a neutral.

"Indeed...and I will petition them to hand the girl over to me in my personal care,"

THAT did not sit right with everyone else in the Room, especially the five who were linked to her past.

Ozpin knew that something was not right here, as this was not part of the deal he made with the Council.

"I was under the very clear assumption that I was to have her here as student of this Academy in order for her to be trained as a huntress," Ozpin countered.

"Correction...," Merlot stated, "...the deal was if you can convince the girl to stay here. Clearly, you haven't managed to succeed in doing that, which means with my report, it will not be hard to convince them to order you to turn her over."

Now everyone REALLY didn't like that, and they were about to make a very clear comment on that...

"Like...hell...," a voice groaned out, making everyone blink before they turned and saw the very topic of the discussion, now wide awake, with one eye shut, her face grimaced, as she strained to sit up before she gave the most venomous glare she could muster and direct at the Cyborg Scientist. "Like Hell...I'm going with...you,"

The Second Android attempted to restrain Dorée but a black surrounded it before it was flung away and smashed into the wall. Pyrrha looked down and saw that the now uncovered hand was glowing the same familiar glow as her own Polarity semblance. However, her musings were cut by what she heard next.

"I hate Ozpin's guts...more than you can imagine," Dorée ground out, "But you...I hate you more than any living thing on this planet."

The other android, the one carrying Dorée's blood, that didn't get thrown attempted to do the same as it's counterpart, but an order from Merlot told it to stop and back. This gave the girl the que to continue.

"And while I don't enjoy the thought of working with this arrogant bastard." The glare increased as she finished her statement, "I would rather be dead than be sharing the same room with YOU for one. More. SECOND!"

And with that, and before Merlot could make a comment, the black glow surrounded the cybernetic parts of his body before he was unceremoniously flung out the door of the dorm, barely missing Glynda as she jumped out of the way, and the cyborg slammed into the wall outside.

"HOLY CRAP!" Nora and Coco yelled at the same time.

"Damn! And people say I have a temper tantrum," Yang commented only to receive an elbow from her partner.

Everyone was completely gobsmacked by the raw power that Dorée's semblance just used, especially Pyrrha as she noticed that Dorée didn't need to move her hand much just to fling a full grown man out of the room. Her analysis was short-lived as she heard a familiar sound of a blade unsheathing and turned back around and saw that one of the ropes holding down the time traveler was cut, freeing her arm. She noticed the gauntlet on her other hand had a small blade coming from under her wrist, before she moved to cut the other rope holding her down.

Reacting quickly, Pyrrha ran over and stopped her from cutting another rope.

"Don't leave! We won't hurt you!" she pleaded with the girl, which caught everyone's attention, which resulted in Jaune immediately going over to help his partner.

"Hey take it easy!" Jaune said, "No one's gonna do anything to you!"

However, Dorée didn't listen to them as she attempted to stand up.

"I need to...get to it," she muttered, her voice still holding a hint of drowsiness, "Have to make sure...it's safe...,"

Both partners blinked at that, with Pyrrha asking the question.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, "Keep what safe?"

Dorée doesn't answer her questions and instead tries to push them off. But the pair are not deterred as they force her back on the bed. This unfortunately causes her to begin thrashing.

"No! Get off of me!" she screamed, "I need to get out of here!"

"You're too exhausted! You need to rest!" Jaune pointed out, and almost got a fist in his face for his trouble.

"LET ME GO!"

Soon Nora and Ren were by their teammates' side as the latter began to use his semblance on her while Nora used her strength to help hold her down. As soon as she saw the faces of the second JNPR pair, Dorée immediately stopped to look at the two, eyes widened in shock with a small mix of betrayal in her eyes which both of them noticed.

"No...not you too," she whimpered out, as her colors faded to gray, thanks to Ren's Tranquility. "Please...not...you too,"

Glynda immediately pricked another sedative syringe in the girl's neck, knocking her out once again. This caused everyone to relax somewhat. However, what she said to Ren and Nora, hit the two with feelings of inner turmoil, making them wonder if what they were doing was right.*

"What the heck was she talking about?" Yang spoke up, breaking the two out of it, "What is 'it'? And what's so important about it?"

Sprite immediately spoke up, "I will tell you, but after Merlot leaves," he said gravely, "He cannot be trusted under ANY circumstances,"

"No need to tell us twice," Coco said with a shudder, "Guy gives me the creeps...,"

Ozpin fully agreed and walked out of the dorm toward the downed Bane of Mountain Glenn as he was being helped up by his androids.

"It appears that Dorée has made it...perfectly clear that she doesn't want to be anywhere near you, Winston," he informed, with slight hint of mocking, "And I advise you do not push your luck any more than you've already have,"

The scientist made a scoffing sound as he straightened himself out.

"Don't think this is over, Ozpin," he warned, "One way or another, I will get what I want,"

Ozpin knew that wasn't a threat, but a promise.

"True...but not today. And hopefully, not for a very... long... time," he said, punctuating the last three words, which caused the cyborg to glare, his red cyber eye glowing.

"We will see," with that said, the man turned and began marching down the hall, with Glynda following him, making sure he didn't try to do anything funny.

Nothing was said for a long while as they waited for the all clear that Merlot had left Beacon, and soon Ozpin got word from Glynda that he was gone and they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Glad that's over for now," Weiss breathed out.

"Yeah, I don't how much longer I could've stood with him around," Velvet said as she trembled, just remembering the Cyborg made her jittery. Thankfully Yatsu placed a hand on her shoulder in order to calm her down.

Ozpin agreed with the young Rabbit Faunus as she turned to Ruby who held up the scroll which displayed Sprite's holo-image.

"Now, can you tell us what it was that Dorée was talking about?" he asked.

Sprite debated with himself before he gave a sigh.

"Tell me Ozpin. Did you really think the Relics of Creation, Destruction, Knowledge, and Choice were the only relics with such incredible power that exist?" Sprite said, causing Ozpin's eyes to widen.

"Are you saying...?" Ozpin tried to ask, but was almost afraid of the answer, but Sprite nodded his head in confirmation.

"Yes...though these Relics were created separately from the others by the Sisters, and without the Brothers' knowledge." the A.I. informed, "They were only to be used as Last Resorts, incase your failing mission DID fail,"

Ozpin actually winced at that. He REALLY didn't like being reminded again and again of his failures, including his future ones.

Ruby took that moment to ask the question for Ozpin.

"What...are these Relics?" she asked, and Sprite nodded as the others came to hear the story.

"The Relics of the Three Sisters each represent one of the Sisters: Dia, the Goddess of Time, Palk, the Goddess of Space, and Gira, the Goddess of the Afterlife. For the Relic of Time, it's an ornate Hourglass, it has the power to send someone back to a specific point in time. However, it's a one way trip, and it takes 200 years for it to useable again, purposely put in place by Dia herself, in order for it's power not to be abused and cause too many Butterfly Effects,"

That caused everyone to shudder in horror, having watched movies and shows that showcase such consequences of time travel. Sprite then continued onto the next Relic.

"Next, we have the Relic of Space, which is a Celestial Globe. It has the power to teleport to anyplace on the planet, which Dorée found out for herself. But, it could only be used a certain number of times, before it can't be used again until a specific set time. In the Globe's case, at least 100 years...and I STRONGLY advise caution when using it or you might accidentally end up in a volcano,"

Everyone grimaced at that, immediately took Sprite's warning to heart. Especially Nora. Hey she may be eccentric, but she prefers to live to an older age, thank you!

"And finally, we have the Relic of Spirits, which is a gold necklace with a chakra stone pendant. This Relic has the ability to allow you to communicate with ONE soul for ONE hour. After that, the Relic, again, cannot be used for a specific amount of time,"

After he had finished everyone was astonished at the powers these relics possessed.

"Wow...," Ruby said in awe as stars sparkled in her eyes.

"No kidding...," Jaune agreed.

"Definitely something that shouldn't be toyed with," Weiss stated.

"Exactly...and again...," Sprite's voice took a sterner turn, "...I must stress that they ARE not to be used LIGHTLY! Especially you, Miss Valkyrie! So don't even THINK about messing with them! These Relics can, and are, very dangerous if used in the wrong hands! Especially if Salem learns about the Hourglass and tries to get her hands on it,"

Ozpin, along with everyone else, immediately paled at that thought. The said Green Wizard knew that if Salem learned about the Relic of Time...he didn't even want to imagine it. Especially since if it was already used, she could just wait until the allotted time was up due to her immortality.

"Okay we got it! Relics are very dangerous, and are not to be handled like toys, and keep them away from the creepy Grimm Lady...gotcha," Yang said in order to calm the A.I. down.

"You better... ," Sprite growled.

"Can you tell us where they are?" Ozpin asked, "I know she has good intentions in wanting to hide them away, but I would prefer that they were kept under better watch,"

Sprite actually doubted that last part, and didn't want to betray Dorée's trust than he already had. However, he was not expecting Ruby to speak up..

"Please tell us...," The Rose Reaper stressed, "I want to help her...and I know it's not just me,"

She looked to Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora.

"They want to help her, too," she continued, "We don't want Dorée to do this on her own anymore. She needs to know that she's NOT alone! That future or not, she is our family, and we're gonna help her, whether she likes it or not,"

The A.I. blinked at the speech that the Rose just and looked at the serious expressions everyone was giving him, before sighing in defeat.

"Alright...," he said, getting 'Yesses' of victory from the teens, while Ozpin looked proudly at Ruby, "...the Relics are sealed in a chest, in the basement of an old Valean Military Base from the Great War, located on the Northern Coast just south of Vytal Island, Fort Cobalt,"

"Fort Cobalt, eh?" Weiss said with a thoughtful expression, "I heard about that place. It was long since abandoned since Grimm attacks were getting out of control after the war,"

"Understandable," Blake concurred.

"Well! We know where they are, let's go get'em!" Yang said eager for a new adventure.

"I wouldn't recommend that," Sprite said urgently, which made everyone look at him, giving him the go ahead to elaborate, "Dorée placed traps around the whole forest that serves as the perimeter of the base, except the main road to the gate, so no one could sneak in. Everything from mines, including the bouncing types, snares, swinging spiked logs, spike pits, you name it, it's there. She had set them up so as to deter ANYONE from going in there, including bandits and souvenir hunters, etc. The occasional Grimm sometimes comes by, and they're proven effective against them,"*

Everyone immediately gaped at that.

"Okay...yikes," Weiss said with a grimace on her face.

"Dang, girl's not taking any chances, huh?" Coco said, impressed with preparations.

"That's just the first line Ms. Adel," Sprite said, getting the students to groan at what else could be there, "Since Atlas was phasing out the AK-130 series in favor of the newer 200 models, Dorée managed to buy out, with the lien she...again liberated from the corrupt rich elites who supported the Steel Gauntlet, and used it to purchase a whole Battalion of 130's to protect the base...,"

"A WHOLE BATTALION!?" Everyone of the students shouted in shock causing Sprite to deadpan.

"Yes, albeit, these have been modified with much better programming created by, thanks to your truly," The A.I. said with a little smugness to it. "Then, there is Adler,"

Everyone blinked at that.

"Adler? Who's that?" Jaune asked.

"Adler was a prototype drone, the design based on the raptor which his name comes from, that was serve as a scout for Elite Atlas Specialists such as the Ace-Ops," Sprite explained, "Dorée found him in another SDC warehouse gathering dust, no doubt another victim of Jacques 'Fake' Schnee's money saving schemes,"

Weiss' eyes only twitched more aggressively, before she stood up from her seat and walked over to a nearby wall.

"...Father," she muttered, taking a deep sharp breath...

...and proceeded to bang her head against the wall.**

The other's watched silently as the heiress continued this for ten seconds before stopping, releasing a sigh before she straightened out her hair and clothes and returned to the group.

"Continue, Mr. Sprite," she politely said to the A.I. who only blinked before responding.

"Right~. Anyway, Dorée found him, fixed him up and he now serves as the sentinel of the base, and is in control of the 130s guarding it, and would contact Dorée if there was a breach. He also, controls the automated defense turrets," he finished, causing everyone to sigh.

"Well, that's just great," Yang groaned, "Traps, turrets, and a battalion of warbots commanded by a robotic bird,"

"Is there a way you can get Adler to let us in, or guide us through the traps?" Ruby asked the A.I., who only sighed.

"Sadly, no," Sprite said with a shake of his head, "Adler is programmed to only listen to Dorée. And no, using Ms. Nikos to convince him won't work either. He'll notice the difference immediately."

'CRAP!' everyone thought at the same time.

"So...what do we do?" Blake no in particular. "It's not like we can just walk up to the front gate and say: 'Hello, we're friends of your mistress who we are virtually holding as prisoner back at Beacon,'"

Ozpin suddenly felt an idea hit him on the at the Cat Faunus' words before he hummed.

"I believe I may have solution to our problem,"

Patriot-112: Yes! Managed to get a chapter out before this month was over. Now for the (*) I placed.

*: Let's just say she placed enough traps to make the Viet Cong jealous.

**: Hint, "...Clouseau"

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and now I'm off to plan the next one. Wish me luck!