It was early morning in Mistral. Ruby was seen lying on the ground on the patio outside of the training room. She watched a group of four birds flying together, before one of them flew away from the group. As she watched it fly, Ruby saw her sisters peeked over her head. "Well, well, what do we have here?" Bayonetta asked.
"You're up early." Yang told her youngest sibling.
Ruby smiled. "Hey sis." She said, looking at both of them.
"Tough night last night?" Bayonetta asked.
"Definitely. There was a lot of information to take in last night." Ruby confirmed. She still had a bit of trouble processing all of it. The whole thing just made her head hurt and made her wonder how much else was out there they didn't know about. Fortunately, her sister had a way to get her mind off it.
Yang smiled and let her hair down, using it to tickle her little sister's nose. "Boop." She declared as she did. Ruby giggled affectionately while Bayonetta simply smiled at their older sister's action. Ruby then sat up as the twins sat down on either side of her.
Ruby sighed as she looked at her siblings. "What are you doing up?" She asked them.
"Can't fall back to sleep." Yang explained.
"Ah, me neither." Ruby agreed.
"I haven't been able to sleep at all since last night. I couldn't stop thinking about how you guys might see me now. And the rest of my team." Bayonetta admitted.
However, she quickly found herself being embraced by both your sisters. "We don't see you any differently. You're still our sister. And nothing's gonna change that." Ruby promised her.
"Yeah. Whatever happened in your old world... That's an entirely different version of you. An entirely different life. The only thing we care about now is what you do in this one. And even if you do screw up, we'll still be here for you. We've definitely screwed up once or twice, but you've stayed with us." Yang told her younger twin.
"Yeah. And besides, it's not like you did anything super terrible in your world, either. Heck, you saved it, twice! That means your even more of a hero!" Ruby added, hugging her sister tighter.
"Still, it is a lot to process, though. Not just your stories, but Ozpin's, too. It was definitely enough to keep me up at night." Yang added.
"Well, fortunately, coffee exists." Weiss said as she carried a tray with three cups of coffee, Dante standing beside her with a cup in each hand and they walked over to join their teammates.
"Yep. There were a few times back in my last life I had to choose between paying my bills and having my coffee stocked up. I chose the coffee." Dante confirmed, walking over and handing a cup to Bayonetta.
Bayonetta rolled her eyes and smiled at this. "You are so lucky you were born into a rich family." She said, taking the cup.
"It may actually be a good thing father made Whitley the new heir. If it had been you, you would squander our fortune in a week." Weiss scoffed as she lowered the tray down so Yang could grab a cup.
"Hey, who's the one that thought to make a separate bank account Pops can't touch?" Dante questioned, causing his sister to growl.
"I can always make more coffee, you know. So it's no problem to waste these throwing them on you." She warned, moving to Ruby.
"No, please!" Ruby pleaded.
"Don't worry, I put in blasphemous amounts of cream and sugar, just for you." Weiss assured her as she held the cup out in front for Ruby.
"Oh yeah! Nice Weiss strikes again!" Ruby cheered. Suddenly, Weiss pulled the cup away just as Ruby was about to grab it.
"I will pour this on you and it will burn." She warned once again. She handed the cup to Ruby, who nervously giggled.
"Jeez, sis. Be nicer to your girlfriend. You missed her so bad, you were saying her name in your sleep and now that you're back together, you're threatening to scald her? And Lady said I was bad with women." Dante teased his sister.
Weiss glared at her brother and tried to throw the coffee at him, but all of a sudden, Dante was behind her with his back to her, drinking from his own cup. Weiss turned around and was shocked to see her brother standing there. "Wha- how?! Did you use time dilation?! How did you make your glyph work that fast?" She asked.
Dante chuckled. "I didn't. We spent a few extra hours after you all went to bed training and like Ozpin said, I found one of my old powers from my last life. Quicksilver, my own version of Bayo's Witch time. Man, imagine mixing that with time dilation, though. That'd just be mean." He explained, handing the rest of his cup to his sister.
Weiss huffed at her brother. "Well, we can't all be demons from another world!" She grumbled as she sat down next her teammates and placed the tray down next to her.
"Can't believe we're actually in Mistral." Yang said in amazement.
"That's what you can't believe?" Ruby questioned.
"Well, yeah! And all the other magic and stuff. But... Okay, you know what I mean!" The eldest sister insisted.
Bayonetta nodded. "We all know what you mean. And you're right. It is amazing that we all made it here and we're together again." She confirmed.
"I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever see you three again." Weiss said.
"Yeah. A lot of this trip has just been one crazy shock after another, seeing people we thought we'd lost forever." Dante added.
"Well, here's to defying expectations." Yang said as she and Weiss clinked cups together, while Ruby gulped her cup down in one go, opening one eye to glance at the others' cups.
"I just wish Blake could be here with us." Ruby said.
Yang looked down at this. "Sh-she'll be back eventually. She just has to sort things out. But she will come back. She promised." Yang said.
Weiss put a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Yang. It's okay for you to miss her. You can admit it. But just acting like she'll show up at any minute is going to drive you crazy." Weiss told her.
"She's right. I know she said she'd come back, I was there, too. But we have no idea how much she had to sort out or how much her inner demons are eating at her. These things are never so simple to just get over. It's like how it took you so long to even put on that arm. There was a lot to deal with before you can move forward. It's the same with her." Bayonetta told her.
"Yeah, but if I got over the things I was dealing with, she should be over her problems, too, right?" Yang asked.
"It's not that simple. Believe me, I had baggage in my old life that lasted me until that life was over. And it's not just the White Fang she was dealing with. She also had to fix things with her parents and who knows how long that will take. But like you said, she promised she'd come back. That's all well and good, but she never told you how long it would take. Missing her and wanting to see her again is fine. Believe me, all of team SCRN was the same with waiting to hear news about Kratos, but just hanging onto that all the time isn't good for your mental health." Dante agreed.
"I get it! You don't have to tell me what I already know! It may not be today, or tomorrow, or even weeks from now, but she is coming back! That's all I need." Yang declared, before storming off, leaving the others to look amongst themselves in concern.
In Menagerie, Alex Mercer patrolled the outside of the Belladonna household. He, of course, had come back to Menagerie after the Fall of Beacon and while things were smooth for a bit, Blake had soon requested him to be brought on as a bodyguard for the family once she learned of the White Fang activity on the island and all but demanded it once Ilia had appeared.
He was patrolling around the perimeter of the mansion when he noticed something that truly shocked him. Sienna Khan, leader of the White Fang, was now approaching the Belladonna household in broad evening light. Alex quickly ran forward, several yards in front of the house, halfway between Sienna and the house, creating his Hammerfists and slamming them into the ground. "First and last chance, Khan. Surrender, or I'll put you six feet under." Alex warned her.
Sienna sighed at this. "Look, kid. I know the White Fang has done some very questionable things, but Adam's wishes aren't mine. He took over the White Fang and tried to kill me. I'm here to help, but I need to talk to Ghira to do that." She explained.
The former virus monster scoffed at this. "I'm sure. Well, you'll be able to talk to him once you're in cuffs." He told her.
Sienna rolled her eyes. "We don't have time for this. You know what to do, sis." She declared.
"Sis?" Alex questioned, before a cat he just noticed at Sienna's side turned into a woman and rushed at him. Once she was in range, Yoruichi leapt forward and rolled in mid-air, preparing to hit Alex with a double flying kick. Luckily, the former mad scientist created his shield to protect himself, tanking the hit, but being forced back before he could strike back with his blade he had just formed. He stabbed the blade into the ground in order to stop himself. He then rushed in and sliced at her with the blade several times while she dodged with relative ease, striking him where he was open each time. Her hits weren't particularly painful or damage, but a strong jolt ran through him with each hit.
Eventually, however, he slammed his shield into her after a near miss with his blade, stunning her and finally allowing him to land a few hits with his blade, before turning his arm into its Hammerfists form and punching her into the air, before changing to his Whipfist, launching it at her and grabbing her in the air, yanking and slamming her back into the ground. Yoruichi got up after a moment with a smirk. "Well, you're not bad. I'm actually starting to enjoy myself." She declared.
"There's plenty more where that came from if you don't back off." He warned her.
Sienna had enough at this point. "Alright, enough! If you two keep at this, the White Fang attack will be over before we ever get near the house." She told them.
Alex raised his blade at this. "So you were planning an attack?" He demanded.
"Trying to stop one." Yoruichi corrected.
This shocked the former virus. "What?" Alex asked.
"I already told you, Adam Taurus acted against my will to enact the Fall of Beacon with the others. And he knew I'd be against the attack they have planned on Haven, so he tried to assassinate me. Thankfully, my sister saved me, but taking me out is only one of Adam's plans. He's becoming unstable and he's blaming the Belladonna's for all his troubles. So he's trying to have them executed. They have an attack planned tonight. It will be happening soon." Sienna explained.
Suddenly, they heard to sound of windows crashing, doors being broken down and gunfire behind them. "What!? No!" Alex shouted, realizing what they were saying was true.
"Damn. They must have snuck through the woods to get to their home. We distracted each other, now no one warned Ghira and his family!" Yoruichi cursed.
"It's not too late. It could've only just started. We can stop it before anyone gets hurt! You go through the front and find Ghira. I'll look for Kali." Alex instructed, creating and launching his Whipfist, stabbing it into a balcony of the mansion and swinging around the side.
"Ooh, I like him." Yoruichi said.
Sienna sighed at this. "Keep your mind out of the gutter and onto the fight, sister!" She snapped as they rushed towards the front door.
Back in Mistral, Yang sat alone on a bed, looking at the "New Friends!" photo of Team RWBY. She heard a knock on the door and quickly put the photo away. "Yeah?" Yang said. The door opened, but Yang didn't look up to see who entered. "Look Ruby, I really don't want to talk about it, okay? Can you just leave me alone for a bit?" She requested. Yang finally looked up, but was surprised that it was not Ruby, but Bayonetta who was at the doorway. "Bayo... What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Just wanted to make sure you don't drive yourself crazy and wind up doing something stupid again. I know you can be pretty hard-headed at times." Bayonetta explained as she closed the door behind her and sat on the bed opposite to Yang.
Yang sighed at this. "I know I shouldn't obsess over her like this... It's just hard. Everyone has left me at some point. My mom. Summer. You. Ruby. Dad was always there, but he shut down for the longest time. I thought Blake would be the one person to stay with me, but now she's gone. And I want her back. I need her back. All of this... It's too much for me to deal with alone." She explained.
Bayonetta placed a hand on her sister's shoulder at this. "You're not alone. You have Ruby and Weiss, Uncle Qrow, team JNPR. The members of my team are there for you, too. And me. I'll always be there for you." Bayonetta assured her.
Yang smiled and hugged her sister. But after a while, she pulled away and looked down again. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I've already learned the hard way what blindly obsessing over something or someone winds up doing when we were kids and I almost got us killed by those Beowulves. But I still can't let go." Yang said sadly.
Bayonetta sighed. "Obsession is a powerful thing. Trust me, I know. In my last life, I had a relentless obsession that almost wound up destroying the Earth. After I was woken up after being sealed away, I had no memory of my past. I knew I had a gem that I thought was the Left Eye of the World and I thought if I found the Right Eye, it would help me unlock my past, but it was all a trick by my father to summon Jubileus, the Creator. Despite being called the Creator, he planned to control Jubileus to destroy the world, remaking it in his own image. I nearly caused the world to be destroyed because I had to learn about a past I could never get back or interact with again. There really was no point in the end besides I just wanted to know. So, it's not just you. I likely would've had the same obsession with finding our mother if I didn't know better." She explained.
Yang chuckled at this. "Everyone always said we were complete opposites, but it looks like we're a lot more alike that we thought." Yang said.
"Indeed. It's not easy to get over, but that's why you need friends to help keep you in the right track. And if you ever start going off it, I'll be here to get you back." Bayonetta promised.
Yang smiled at this. "Thanks, sis." She said, to which Bayonetta smiled back.
They heard a knock at the door, which opened up and revealed Ruby, Weiss and Dante. "Quite the speech, Bae. Very inspiring." Dante teased.
"You were all listening in? How naughty." Bayonetta countered.
"We just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Weiss assured them.
"Everything IS okay, right?" Ruby asked.
Yang smiled. "Yeah, it is." She agreed. The rest of the group soon smiled back at them.
Back at the Belladonna's home, a scroll was seen vibrating on the table with Blake's portrait and the text "BLAKE CALLING" on the screen. Gunfire could be heard. Suddenly, the table was knocked to its side as Kali and a Menagerie Guard take cover. Just then, Alex burst in through the window in his armored form with his claws at the ready, cutting down a couple of thugs instantly. "Alex!" Kali said, popping up a bit.
"Sorry I was late. Good news is we've got some back-up." Adam explained.
Noticing that Kali popped up, a couple White Fang soldiers took aim at her. "Get down!" The guard yelled and got up to fire back at the two White Fang soldiers. He managed to shoot one of them down, but he got shot down by the other.
Alex looked back at the fallen guard and growled at this. "You're next." He said, lunging at the soldier and clawing him down, creating his shield and crouching down as more white Fang members broke in.
With the guard incapacitated, Kali took his pistol and started firing back. "Get out of my house! Ghira!" Kali cried out. As she called out to her husband, Kali was forced to take cover again from the gunfire.
Meanwhile, Ghira and a couple of other Menagerie guards fended off some White Fang troops in the entry hall. One of them tried to kick Ghira, but he grabbed his foot and slammed him into the wall. Ghira dodged a sword slash from another White Fang trooper. A guard managed to knock out another trooper after a brief scuffle and Ghira knocked out the troop that attacked him by punching him in the diaphragm and slamming his head into the ground.
"Go find my wife!" Ghira ordered. Another White Fang troop approached Ghira with his fist drawn back, but Ghira grabbed his wrist and knife handed him in the neck and then tossed him aside. Another trooper came at Ghira, but he was hit in the side of the head by a kunai on a chain. He gasped at this and turned to see a person he never thought he'd see again, let alone on his side. "Sienna..." He said in shock.
"It's been a while, Ghira. But we'll have to save the pleasantries for later. For now, just know this: I'm on your side. Adam took over the White Fang and ordered this attack on you and I'm here to stop it." She explained.
"No worries. With us around, you're as safe as can be. Those foxes don't stand a chance against a couple of tigers." Yoruichi declared, referring to herself and Sienna.
Suddenly, another guard got shot while protecting Ghira and went limp. Ghira caught the guard's body and dropped it to the ground, with Ghira wincing at his fallen comrade. He then growled as he turned his attention to the Albains, who had their weapons out.
"I believe it's time our dear chieftain stepped down, brother." Corsac declared
"Yes brother, I'm afraid I'm inclined to agree." Fennec agreed. He then noticed Sienna and Yoruichi. "Ah, yes. Our beloved former High Leader. Unfortunately, your services are no longer required he said.
Sienna growled at this. "Well, it's gonna take quite a bit more than you two to make leave the line of duty." She declared.
"Very true. Fortunately, we have just that." Corsac said as the group heard heavy footsteps approaching, before a massive figure walked up behind the brothers.
He was a massive man in a wrestling singlet with orange fur with black markings, three-toed cat-like paws for feet and large hands with clawed fingertips, a black and white mask covering the top half of his face, but keeping his jaguar-like mouth and nose free. This was Bane, resurrected after finally falling to Batman in such a way that led to unavoidable destruction at his own hands, revived on this world as a Faunus similar to the mutant he became when infected with the TGRI Serum. "Ah, Sienna and Yoruichi. And Ghira, my old friend. Now, we shall finally answer the question, can a jaguar kill a tiger, or a panther?" Bane wondered.
Ghira let his claws out and ripped his coat off. He bared his fangs and made a feral growl at the two brothers and the former luchador, before letting out a mighty roar as everything went black.
[1] Watch Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And before anyone says we don't have any full-body animal Faunus... Tock. That's it.