Faye found the ferry, and made sure it got back. While Duelists tried to disable to ship, there were soldiers from the MDF who fought off the Grimm effectively. They docked at Haven where Crystal and the others waited. Faye jumped off the top of the ferry, and glided down with ease.

A Karkinos climbed out of the water behind her, so she pulled her wings off, turning them into swords, and sliced off its right pincers and eyestalks. It reeled back into the water, trying to grab her as it went down. She jumped back, assisted by the jets of her flight pack.

Behind her, soldiers directed the few passengers and crew off the ferry, and to the school. It was a good place to be in an emergency, at least in comparison to the docks. There were not many onboard to begin with, so they disembarked quickly.

Just when she thought everyone was off, two more came running out. One she thought she recognized from Haven, a girl almost as tall as her with almost shoulder-length light blond hair and turquoise eyes, dressed in chartreuse colored clothing and gunmetal gray armor favoring her left side, carrying a deadly looking weapon. Next to her was a similar looking woman a bit older, with short hair a shade darker and blue eyes instead of turquoise, and mechanic's garb. They could have been sisters.

Faye was distracted for a moment by the weapon. It looked like a large, heavy tonfa, with tiny spikes along the longer section of it starting a few inches from the handle. The one carrying it had a backpack on with a rocket poking out the side, which made Faye think it was ammo for the weapon. For a moment she wondered what kind of person made a monster of a weapon like that, but then she realized that the owner probably did.

Just as they got off, another Karkinos jumped out of the water, its pincers aimed at the possible sisters. The moment the armed one noticed the Karkinos, she threw her companion out of the way, and readied to block. The claws stopped instantly upon her tonfa, surprisingly enough, as the Karkinos landed.

The girl turned around and said, "Get out of here, Wini!" The girl's companion nodded, and ran for it. Fortunately she was smart enough not to watch, unlike some.

Then Faye realized that she was not doing anything but watching. But as the girl and the Karkinos dueled, Faye realized there wasn't much she could do. To interfere might cause the girl to lose concentration. Besides, she could probably hold her own against one Karkinos.

As another Karkinos climbed up the dock behind the girl, Faye attacked it. While she would not interfere with the girl's battle, the least she could do was watch her back. The Grimm was easily dispatched.

The girl hit the Karkinos in its main body so hard that the shell shattered and it flew across to another pier. She was either strong or it was her semblance—it did not particularly matter which it was right now.

As the girl panted, she turned around to attack Faye, but the look on her face as she stopped told her that she did not mean to. It was likely that she had mistaken Faye for a Grimm behind her, so she did not mean to harm her. She continued to pant as she said, "Name's Peri. Yours?"

"Faye."

"Good. Now let's get some killing done."

Storm helped his mother load another arrow into her bow when she said, "Hold." He looked questioningly at her, but the look she sent back told him not to ask yet. She pointed to the docks, and he followed that point to see the Grimm starting to retreat.

He couldn't believe it; they'd beaten off the Grimm! He was ready to jump for joy when a dropship arrived, and Lord Taryn climbed out.

He marched over to them and said over the roar of engines winding down, "I thought I'd find you here."

"What is it, Dustin?" Mom said.

"I thought you should know the attack was caused by a power failure at the city power plant." A blackout probably caused by the White Fang. It was a dirty trick, but so were a lot of things they did. "I'm going to Haven to see what the damage is. Do you want a lift?"

She nodded, and Storm followed the two of them onto the dropship.

Everyone was ecstatic. They'd driven the Grimm off, unlike in Vale. The Grimm had been stopped!

Crystal was glad too, but not as visibly as some. It was a great occasion, but then again, they'd driven the Grimm away at Vale as well, if only because of quick response. What if there was going to be another attack soon, one that they could not stop?

Nobody seemed to care though; they were too happy. In fact, it seemed to be infections. She could feel a smile creeping onto her face.

Sakura seemed especially happy. "We did it," she shouted as she jumped in the air. "We won." Without warning, she ran to each of her teammates, and gave them a tight hug. She even included a kiss on the cheek for Rowan.

When she got to Peri, who was holding her mechanical shoulder, her hug was unwelcome. "Get off of me Sakura," Peri said, somewhat in pain.

Sakura had a concerned look on her face that matched what Crystal was feeling. "Are you okay, Peri?" Sakura asked, her spirit dampened.

Peri smiled in a way that seemed to try and fail to be comforting. "I'm fine," Peri said. "I'm just going to go lie down." And she walked towards the school, grasping her arm.

Crystal was worried. She thought that Peri had gotten her arm fixed. Why did she come back if it still hurt?

Before she could contemplate too much, two arms wrapped around her torso from behind and squeezed. "Your turn, Crystal," Sakura said, cheerful again.

Crystal groaned and shrugged her off. She turned around and said, "Has anyone ever told you that you give really tight hugs?"

Sakura's smile grew larger. "I think everyone has."

Rowan shrugged. "You get used to it as much as you get used to Sakura." He paused and added, "Really, you can't get used to her."

Sakura laughed and rustled Rowan's ginger hair. "You're weird too," Sakura said laughingly.

Then, a dropship came down and hovered near the docks. Mrs. Sapphire, Storm, and her father climbed out of the dropship before it flew off again to land. Her father was here—that could only mean trouble.

He found something to stand on and did. "Students of Haven," he said. "Your valor is impressive. With little aid from the MDF, you have singlehandedly fought off a Grimm attack. You're all to be commended for this. But you must remain vigilant; in this way, you will become heroes of Mistral!"

That seemed to please most students, but not Crystal. The speech was dull to her, and seemed reminiscent of something she'd heard as a child. He was losing his edge for speechmaking; he'd have to get new material soon.

Storm was walking past to the school when Crystal stopped him. "Storm," she said, then realized there wasn't much to say to him.

"Yes, Crystal?" Storm said tiredly.

Then she came up with something. "Who won the match?"

Storm shrugged. "It had to be called due to Grimm invasion. And I doubt either of them would want to fight after this." That sounded right, considering the circumstances.