Chapter 1 / The Past Bites / Patch / Yang Xiao Long / Three months ago

"Authorities are still looking out for this girl - whom witnesses say had a glowing ear. A warrant and bounty for her capture has been set to about $5000. Any hints of her whereabouts and location can be sent to…" Click.

Yang sighed and scrunched her nose as she tossed the t.v remote to the side of her. She knew the situation could've turned out worse. Much worse, but she knew were the girl was. She was safe. Just like she deserved to be. As far as Yang was concerned Velvet hadn't done anything wrong and so far, she was still had every right to deserve her freedom.

But this outbreak was getting worse. More and more news reports of people with glowing body parts either turning into monsters and killing very small amounts of people or people who were just unlucky, caught and arrested. Nobody really knows what happens after that. Yang could only imagine that they were sent to some sort of facility or, well, a death chamber. She gulped and sighed once more.

She checked her scroll - it was time to go.

It was the weekend and the weekend meant conditioning and practice. It took her about an hour to get to the gym so she got herself into gear and drove off on her trusty Bumblebee.

Thoughts raced through her mind. What if there were others who needed help? Innocent people were getting beaten up just because they couldn't help who they were! It just didn't make sense. Why did they turn into monsters in the first place? Because they were getting bullied? Aren't the bullies in a sense, monsters? Some things just weren't adding up.

Yang revved up her bike as she sped down the freeway and alarming speeds as her blood had begun to boil. Surprisingly she had made it to the gym in just under an hour and without being pulled over no less.

She entered and greeted all of the employees as she had quite the reputation within the gym as well.

Junior was already there. As always.

"Heeey! My girl!" he went in for a bro-five. Which Yang responded in the equal to.

"You've got a big match in about 3 months. The rest have forfeited because they can't handle being beaten by The DRAGOON!" He boasted.

"How many nicknames am I gonna have?" she chuckled out as she made her way towards the locker rooms.

"The only nickname you should care about is being THE CHAMP!" he snapped his fingers together in a cocky manner as he slowly followed along and then stopping at the entrance of the girls locker room.

Yang shook her head and quickly changed into her fighting gear. She left the locker room and had begun her routine. She would be there for several hours. Working her form, strength, endurance and all of the likes. She practiced moves on Junior who was surprisingly strong enough to handle some of Yang's moves. It had been like this for the two of them for years, and Yang seemed to have grown substantially from when she started. As a young girl Yang was surprisingly weak, it was only when she started seeing her friends, and even her sister get picked on that she decided to do something about it. Working her mind and body seemed to work as she was now an unstoppable MMA force of nature.

After training had let out, or well, when Yang had decided it was time to stop her and Junior made sure to catch up on all the latest news.

"So, where is my next fight exactly?" Yang asked, wiping the sweat off of her face with a towel.

"Vale. The big city. A dream, innit?" Junior grinned as he squeezed water into his mouth from his water bottle.

Yang's nose twitched at the word Vale. The thought of it brought back the thought of Velvet. She was in good hands, right? Yang shook off the feeling. She was. Yang knew she was, but she couldn't help but worry. She felt like it was her job to worry.

"'Ey, earth to blondie." he waved his hand in front of her face.

She swatted at him. "I'm fine, fine. Just tired." she began to stretch herself to cooldown.

"Mm. So, you wanna know who your opponent is?"

"Isn't it Nora Valkyrie? The Thunder Fist?" Yang guessed.

"Correctorino." he snapped. "They say her thunder fast fists can knock you out in just a few punches. She's new and fresh, almost like you blondie. But the only difference is...you're better!" he clapped.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Don't discredit the underdog, Junior."

"Yet you called 'em the underdog!"

"Doesn't mean they won't win." Yang retorted.

"Awhh, Yang, don't play yourself off like that." he patted Yang. "Go home, get rest, you've got time plenty of time to get your head together." he commented.

"Junior."

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever feel like you were meant for something greater?" Yang asked in a monotone voice as she stared at her towel, scrunching it up in one hand.

"Greater than being one of the best MMA fighters in the world? Hah!" he laughed, an almost obvious answer.

"No, I mean...I don't just want to fight. I want to protect too." Yang sighed.

"Protect? You got fists to do that!" He chuckled once more.

Yang just shook her head and left towards the locker room. She showered and packed her things. She had left a duffle bag in there for clothing transportation and now it was time to take those home.

It's not just that Junior, I think...I'm meant for something greater. I just don't know

/ Weiss Schnee / Atlas / 3 Months Ago /

"Do you believe in destiny?" asked Pyrrha.

"Huh?" Weiss responded as she looked up from her pile of books, a bit confused and fatigued.

"Well this isn't it." Pyrrha joked. "We've been researching for months, Weiss and I don't think Jaune can read anymore of these…" she flipped through a pile of rather large and intimidating books that seemed way too comprehensive and complex for teenagers. Jaune proceeded to groan in the background with his head covered in these large books.

"Nobody said you had to come with me!" Weiss retorted, now full of life.

"Yeah, but Weiss, we're not getting anything out of these books and besides who's gonna keep you sane?"

"Are you saying I'll go insane without you?" she eyed Pyrrha from behind a large book.

"N-no! I'm just saying that this isn't healthy and maybe going out with your friends to places OTHER than the library on a daily basis isn't really...great." Pyrrha gave a cheesy smile, that indicated her distress about the whole situation.

"Can't we go to the mall or something?" Jaune commented from underneath the books.

"What good would the mall do us?" Weiss asked.

"It would be better than this…" Pyrrha outstretched her arms and pointed to every book that covered the entirety of the, including the empty chair at the table.

Weiss set down the book and leaned back sighing in defeat. "Fine. We'll leave early."

"It's a start…" mumbled Jaune now removing the books from his head.

The three of them gathered the books in a neat pile and proceeded to put them in the 'return' pile. Weiss drove them all to her house, both Pyrrha and Jaune beelined for the couch and proceeded to pile on top of it.

"This couch is way more comfortable than the libraries chairs!" Jaune said in a rather relaxed voice.

Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes. "What do you guys want to eat tonight?" Weiss asked now making her way towards the kitchen.

"Anything!" both of them called out.

Weiss was a rather good cook, normally an upbringing like Weiss's meant that she wasn't the one worrying about cooking, but she took an interest when the cooks there let her partake in the process. She instantly fell in love with being able to cook. With the answer she was given she went for something simple. Chicken fried rice was her option. Within 20 minutes she had the meal cooked.

"Ready!" Weiss called out.

The two others ran to the kitchen and began to chow down. A couple moments later the door opened.

"Weiss?" A fatherly voice called out.

Weiss looked at her friends and then walked towards the door. "Hey Father. Uhh, Pyrrha and Jaune are over, just so you know."

Walter, Weiss's father, was one of the richest and most powerful men on earth. He was the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company of course. Of course, to Jaune and Pyrrha he was just Mr. Schnee. To Weiss, he was father or simply, dad.

Mr. Schnee sighed and pulled his daughter to his office, she followed along confusedly and turned back to note her friends were peeking out of the kitchen at her and her father. He closed the door behind him and took a deep breath.

"Weiss, I need you to be serious here."

"Dad, what are you talking about?" she asked a little bit confused.

"It's time for you to know more about the company and start to work and maybe take over." he stated clearly and concisely.

"But you know I don't want to do that. I have no interest in that!" she complained.

"I didn't ask if it interested you, you're going to learn and you're going to go with me to Vale in three months."

Weiss made a face of disapproval and of confusion. "W-what? That's not fair!"

"You're going to sit in on some meetings with me, and I'll take you to the factory there. You will learn." Mr. Schnee stated cool and calmly. Weiss knew she didn't have a choice or a say in the matter.

Weiss sighed. "I never get to do what I want…" Weiss mumbled quietly to herself.

Mr. Schnee just shook his head. He knew damn well that this wasn't the full truth. Weiss had more than enough freedom, especially for a woman of her status. Weiss had begun her life in private schools but was able to convince her dad to go to a public school in the beginning of her freshman year of high school. Where she met Pyrrha and Jaune. Two people who had treated her normally, even if she was extremely rich. They weren't there for the money, but for the genuinity of Weiss. Weiss wasn't as snobby as they had originally expected. She was mostly one to break the stereotype. Most had avoided her for that reason, and mainly that reason alone. She was in reality, a force to be reckoned.

Weiss left the room mumbling to herself and returned to Pyrrha and Jaune.

The two were sitting at the table with empty plates and worried looks. "What happened?" Pyrrha asked.

"I have to go to work with my dad. I'm going to Vale in three months." Weiss sighed as she sat in the chair across from Pyrrha.

"Whoa! That's great!" Jaune commented with a smile.

"No, it's not!" Weiss barked back almost immediately. Jaune recoiled, and slouched in his chair.

"Hey, whoa...think of it as an opportunity. Didn't you say that the outbreaks are worse in other countries? Vale, being like the biggest?" Pyrrha mentioned.

Weiss momentarily paused at the thought. Almost as if she had an epiphany right then and there. An epiphany due to Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha! You're like a total genius!" she immediately perked up. She stood up, excitedly and paced around. "Think about it. I could start doing field research! I've been stuck in a dreary old library and now, I can explore almost all of Vale?"

"You said three months, right? You should check out that MMA fight between the Great Fire Dragon of Patch versus the The Thunder Fist!" Jaune added in.

Both Pyrrha and Weiss paused and looked at him funnily.

"What? I like watching girls fight...so what…" he mumbled now twiddling his thumbs in a slight embarrassment.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and Weiss lightly scoffed. "Go on." Pyrrha turned back towards Weiss and wanted to let her continue on her tirade.

"Imagine if I do run into one of them! Wait, what would I even do if I did run into one of them. I don't think they'd be hostile, but what would get them to even trust me? Ugghh…" Weiss's excitement quickly wavered as her thoughts seemed to encumber her. "How would I even go about finding one? I can't just walk up to people and ask 'Hey, are you a monster? I'm trying do research!'" Weiss stopped her pacing and looked slightly defeated.

"Whoa, whoa...Weiss, don't get too worked up about it. You have a full three months to plan this out." Pyrrha commented. "Besides, you have two best friends who want to help you succeed in whatever...just as long as you're happy with what you're doing."

Weiss gave a small smile towards Pyrrha and Jaune, who were both giving nods of encouragement. Jaune added a thumbs up for extra measure.

"Thanks you two, really...I don't know what I'd do without you guys." she had a bright smile on her face.

"We'll you'd be lonely without us!" Jaune joked.

Pyrrha and Weiss chuckled and shook their head in joking disapproval. Though, it was a joke to them and Weiss could understand that, she knew deep down that without them she would in fact be lonely.

"We can start our real work tomorrow!" Weiss stated.

"More work?" Jaune stated.

"Yeah, we're working in the kitchen, starting with the frozen gelato." Weiss grinned widely.

"All right!" Jaune and Pyrrha quickly hopped out of their seats and into the kitchen with Weiss.

Mistral / Three Months Ago / Roman Torchwick

"So, everything is in motion." He spoke into his scroll, away from the rest of his crew. "Understood. We'll keep our eyes open. We won't be the one's, but we'll be nearby. Yes. Goodbye." he ended the call and set the scroll in his back pocket.

ME02, Mercury, approached Torchwick with a questionable look on his face. "Who was that?"

"A source to end this problem." Roman smirked.

"You mean completely wipe out the monsters?" Mercury asked.

"Precisely."