Big Issues

AN: Here we go with the beginning of another two parter! And I would like to thank robertodia6 for the follow, swid16kawaii for the faves of this series and myself as an author, and Justsomeguy2000 for the fave of this series.

As one might notice by the title of the chapter, this is going to be focusing a lot on Menagerie and what's happening there. So buckle up 'cause it's gonna be a wild ride!

War for Menagerie- Part 1

"Ah, Doctor Watts. What do I owe for this visit?" Salem asks as she stands on a balcony overlooking the dark wasteland that she keeps her castle in. The frequent dark clouds, the Grimm being produced by the dozens within her sights, and the rugged terrain that looks alien and was hostile to all but those she allowed in, those were her home's primary defenses.

"My Lady, I come with some good news for you." The tall but lanky man replies, his accent portrays some pomposity but it was something that Salem had grown used to over her association with the scientist, he has proven himself loyal to her thus far, even if for his own personal grudges against Atlas.

Grudges that she was more than willing to take advantage of so long as he remained useful to her.

"Oh? And what news is that?" She only turned her head to look at him with one eye. The man is obviously proud of what he has to tell her and given his usual level of criticism for anything that he deemed a failure, it was likely to be some very good news for her.

"First, I'd like to report that I have finished producing the weapons and bombs for the White Fang. Hazel tells me they are looking forward to using them when he made the deliveries."

"So long as they stick to our plans, they are free to enjoy themselves with your new toys." She couldn't stop the slight smirk on her lips at the barely noticeable twitch he made when she degraded his work. It was fun to keep her followers humbled.

"Adam Taurus has split his forces so that one will be ready to strike at Haven as planned. However, he has taken it upon himself to attack Menagerie as well."

"I see. So he plans to take the new Tower for himself just as they finish building it."

"If I may, My Lady, I believe that his… obsession with the Belladonna family is his primary focus for that particular endeavor. At the same time, Sienna Khan is with the family and he desires to take full leadership of the White Fang."

Salem turns to face the man fully so he knew he had her full attention. "Your critique of his motives is a valid point, however, even if his attack fails there he will have sown more division within the Faunus of the island."

"Very well then, his attack should be happening soon when they have their grand opening ceremony." He pauses as he sees Salem smile at the mere thought of having such a joyous moment ruined.

"Anything else?"

"Yes, we have a good lead on the location of the Spring Maiden." That certainly surprised her and the red eyes focused on him once more.

"Thanks to our contact in Haven, a little birdy has told him the location should be in this area, most likely the Maiden is being held by the Branwen Tribe." Watts uses his scroll to project a hologram of the globe with a point just south of Lake Mashu being highlighted.

"Very interesting. Since you are in charge of the downfall of Haven to retrieve the Relic there, you will be leading a team to locate the Maiden."

"Of course, thank you. Has Tyrian returned yet with his quarry?"

"Unfortunately, he has not. This time you will be going with Cinder and her team."

There was a flash of irritation on his face from that order but he bowed in respect all the same. "It will be done."

"Good, should you find her, go straight to Haven and retrieve the Relic, I'm sure Leonardo would enjoy your company."

"I'll begin my preparations for the mission at once. We'll leave tonight."

Salem turned back to the balcony to watch the shattered landscape once more, knowing that Arthur was out the door quickly. She was counting on him to keep Cinder in check and with Emerald along, they could have another Maiden among her ranks soon.

—-

Sienna growled as she made Cerberus Whip snake through the air to deflect bullets fired at her using the metal links and the blades at the end. Nearby, Ghira was forced to use the trees as cover from the White Fang at the barricade. The Menagerie Guards with them though we're returning fire just as much but some of the Fang held new rifles that shot bolts of pure Dust. Those proved to be deadly as at least two of the Guard had been hit and the results were gruesome.

One of the Guard spun around her tree and the aim from her pistol was lucky enough to hit one of the rifles. The bullet lodged itself in the inner workings and disrupted the delicate parts, causing the gun to jam… at first. A few more squeezes of the trigger and shaking the weapon made things loose inside and the Dust to become agitated.

Ghira watched as the rifle exploded in the man's hands like a grenade, stopping all suppressing fire from the barricade as the White Fang were stunned or injured by the impromptu bomb. And he used that as his chance to close the distance.

By the time the first soldier realized that Ghira was coming, the panther man was already looming over the shoddy wall and reaching for him.

"What? No!"

That was as far as he got as the massive hand clenched over his face and lifted him from the ground. Ghira's other hand ripped the gun from the man's grip and tossed it away before using the man as a club to shatter the wall in two powerful swings before letting the man drop.

Wading through the remains of the wall, he grabbed two more men who were petrified in fear and threw them at the few others who were trying to get up or find a weapon, creating a groaning pile of limbs.

At the same time, Sienna leapt over the wall and kicked a man in the face as she did, her bladed whip wrapping around one of the new Dust rifles and used that as a flail to bludgeon the remaining Fang grunts into unconsciousness.

"Quickly! Bind them and take their weapons!" The tiger woman orders and the Guard comply immediately, pulling off the grunts' belts and tearing off strips of their uniforms. It didn't make things any easier when they recognized at least two of the prisoners as residents of Kuo Kuana.

KABOOOOM!

Then they heard the blast from the docks and everyone flinched from the sound as it echoed through the town. A pillar of exploding Dust and the resulting smoke could be seen clearly in the sky, blotting out many of the stars.

"No." Ghira hoped that Blake and Sun or Itazura weren't caught in that blast. "Let's move!"

—-

Itazura had her own problems as she had to deal with the hostages being in the way. But the White Fang were stupid or desperate enough to send half of the men they had keeping the townspeople in line to the barricade. That she could work with; three goons for three dozen people.

She snuck around until she could enter the mansion and slipped inside. There she found a pair in full White Fang uniform going through the pantry and eating just about everything that they could find.

"Those rations back at base may have kept us going but now we have real food!" A pig girl grins around her pilfered snack, her curly tail and thicker build made her stand out to her companion.

"I heard from the vets that Kali is a great cook. Makes me wonder if there's anything around?" He was small and thin yet has a long tail that was mostly naked of hair naturally, marking him as an opossum or rat Faunus.

"Fridge is over there." She points at the appliance. "I just found some cookies hidden back here!"

The man opens the doors and starts shuffling things around, it was mostly just ingredients that needed to stay cold like the bowl filled with what looked to be cubed steak marinating in a sauce.

"Damn, you'd think there could be some leftovers or something." He grumbles and takes an apple. "Wouldn't mind cooking that steak though, smelled pretty good."

He closes the door to find Itazura standing on the other side… with a pair of shotguns in hand. "Hiya! Sorry we don't leave much after our meals, we're kinda big eaters."

"Wait! Where'd you come from?" He asks as he reaches for his sword only for the fox girl to vanish from his sight. "What the…"

"Something wrong buddy?" The woman asks with a cookie between her teeth.

"I thought I just saw someone. They spoke to me and disappeared." He scratches his hooded head in confusion.

The woman shrugs. "Maybe the stress is getting to you."

"Maybe, how long do we have to guard this place? There's no one here."

"Whenever Adam tells us to leave. Orders are orders URK!"

Just like the fox girl, the pig woman vanished and scared the man enough that he peed himself.

"Who's there! Come out where I can see you!" He yells to the room with sword in one hand and pistol in the other.

"Wetting yourself at your age? Have you no shame?" He heard the girl speak from all around him.

"Damn it! Fight me properly!"

"You want to talk about fighting honorably yet attack innocent civilians and hold them hostage? Too bad."

He didn't have time to retort when the back of his head exploded in pain and he began to fall, unconscious before he hit the floor.

"Kali isn't gonna like that there's piss in her kitchen." Itazura shakes her head as blue flames fade from the Fang members and herself.

It didn't take her long to remove all weapons from the pair and stash them away. Then she proceeded to bind the pair together so they couldn't escape.

"Onto the guys outside now that they can't get help from here."

—-

The three outside paced around their captives who were forced to sit on the ground. Their new rifles had been provided by Corsac, Fennec, and Ilia and while they were glad that they didn't have to use them, yet, on their neighbors, that wouldn't be the case if anyone got in their way.

"How long until the High Leader arrives?" One asks his partners in the coup.

"About fifteen minutes or so, they gotta get the first wave on the docks so we can really take on the Guard here."

"I hope the barricade holds out, they gotta deal with the Guard and the Huntsmen."

"Are you kidding? That place is a kill zone! Especially with these babies!" He hefts the Dust rifle in his hands and admires it through his mask.

"Yeah, I guess so. Sounds like our guys are doing fairly well." BANG! The explosion came from the barricade. "Hah! And they even got to play with some grenades!"

Things grew a bit quieter after that from the barricade but they were too far away to hear anything being said but the screams of pain were clear enough and they had a few buildings and trees blocking their sight. "I guess that got them."

KABOOOOOOOOM!

Everyone flinched and ducked down, more than a few civilians screamed in fear as they saw the burning plume rising from the docks.

"What the hell!? They better not be shelling the place!"

"Why would they? The bosses cleared the docks of the Guards!"

"You guys are in trouble now." Itazura calls out as she jumps from the mansion's front steps and kicks the nearest man in the head so that he lands within the group of captives.

"What? How'd you get here?!" One of the remaining two men asks as he raises his rifle.

"Doesn't matter! Shoot her -Ack!" He was cut off thanks to a shot to the leg from his target, the sudden injury making him drop his rifle and one of the women grabbed it.

"That's it! They were going to be spared but you forced my hand!" The last Fang standing yells as he aims at the small crowd and squeezes the trigger.

—-

Yang woke up thanks to a disturbance in the Scarab. Looking around, she found that it wasn't coming from any Grimm outside, nor was it from Weiss sleeping in the driver's seat, or the sisters sleeping just outside the Scarab under the shell that was only half deployed on that side. Denko was calm as he lay next to her and she wanted to lay back down in his arms. But it was Raven in the passenger seat who was making noises and shaking her head; a sight she knew far too well from Denko, her father, and her own experiences.

Even as she slept, tears and fitful groans escaped the woman, hands clenching or reaching for something only she could see.

For the tubby blonde, it was painful to watch. She was used to nightmares by now and being comforted when she had them and caring for others when they had them. Her empathy was too great to not act on it.

She made sure that Denko was still covered by their blanket as she scoots forward until she was as close as possible to the front seat where her mother lay.

"N-no… don't take… my baby."

Yang stiffened at the words being said and began to wonder about what Raven was dreaming of.

"Don't hurt her… Yang!" The fitful sleep continued and the blonde looked around to see everyone else still sleeping, though Denko looked a bit restless now. But Yang turned her attention back to her mother and began stroking her hair while humming a song. It took a few minutes but Raven began to settle down and relax.

"With a touch of my hand, I'll turn your life to gold." She sang the final line quietly.

"I know you've made my life much better." A pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

"And you did the same for me." She replies as she leans into Denko's hold but never stops the comforting touch on Raven.

"That's sweet and all but can you keep it down?" Weiss asks but remains unmoving in her seat/bed.

"Just trying to help mom sleep better so the rest of us can." Yang whispers at her friend.

"And I thank you for doing that, she already hit me once."

"I doubt she was trying."

"I know. Think she's good now? After what she told us what happened…"

"Maybe. But what happened… I practically have sisters that I never knew about… and one of them I'll never meet."

Denko gave the soft girl another squeeze as she began to be overwhelmed by her emotions again, missing the privacy that they had at home to really sit down and talk things out. Those talks may not have solved everything but they usually felt better that they had been able to vent a little.

"Yang… um, I don't think I've ever brought it up before but I have a younger brother." Weiss says into the dark.

"Huh? Why bring this up now?" The distraction was welcome but she recognized that the subject had only shifted slightly.

"It's just the bit about unknown or neglected siblings. My brother Whitely is the youngest in my family."

"I only knew your sister, Winter. You wouldn't shut up about her when she was at Beacon."

"Yes well… that's more because Whitely and I never really got along, at least not that I can remember. Same with Winter. And it didn't help that he began to mimic our father."

"Yeesh, so your dad has his own mini-me?" Denko asks as he drags the blanket over his shoulders and Yang's.

"You could put it that way. The last time I spoke to Mother, she said that Father is considering stripping me of being the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and giving that to Whitely."

"Really!" Yang could barely contain her shout to a loud whisper at the news.

"I haven't been home as far as he knows and I've refused to speak or see him at all. I have a reputation of defying him and when Winter joined the Atlas military to get away from him, he stripped her of the title and passed it to me instead. Looks like it will happen again until he gets to someone he can control."

"Sounds like he needs to get his ass kicked a few times." Yang grins maliciously.

"Trust me, he's well deserving of that." Weiss traces the scar over her left eye. "This was the result of a test he set up that I had to win in order to go to Beacon."

"Really? What did you have to do?" Yang asks as she adjusts the shared blanket a bit.

Weiss responds by lifting a hand and summoning the Arma Gigas in her palm, complete with its sword.

"Oh, that would do it." Yang's wide eyes were clearly seen thanks to the brightly glowing figure.

"Especially if that was the full size back at the camp." Denko adds.

"And it would be best if you got some sleep."

"Raven/Mom!" The trio nearly shout in surprise at seeing the elder woman looking at them all, her red eyes boring into them.

"Seems I wasn't the only one with a shitty dad. Your will to defy him is something I respect."

"Um… thanks, Raven. I'm actually hoping the evidence collected will help put him in jail."

"Hmm… that humiliation would be worse than death to a man like him. And it would be poetic for him to be held in a cage like he held everyone else around him." Raven smirks at the thought.

"That will be something pleasant to dream of. Now I'm going back to sleep with that thought."

The mother and blonde pair watch as the heiress shuffles into the seat and covers herself with the blanket again.

"How much did you hear?" Denko asks, his thumbs rubbing the soft belly under them.

"When you were talking about her daddy issues."

"I'm still awake."

"We get it, Ice Queen." Yang laughs as she pats the girl on the head before Denko begins dragging her back to lay down.

"Yang?"

"What is it?" Raven had caught her daughter while she was still propped up on her elbow.

"Did… did I say anything?" She seemed embarrassed even in the dark of night but Yang figured out what she meant.

"Just a little but it wasn't clear."

"Hmm… okay." Both women lay down and settled into their seat or lovers arms.

Yang felt a bit guilty about the small lie she told her mother but there was a part of it that she actually liked. 'She was actually worried about me.'

—-

Back in Kuo Kuana, Blake and Sun reached the top of the steps in time to look down the road and see Itazura dealing with two of the White Fang and the third raise his rifle at the hostages.

"No!" Blake shouts in fear.

"We're not gonna make it!" Sun had the same fears and realized that it would take a full minute at a full sprint just to get to the civilians.

"No, you're not!" A voice filled with cruel joy came from above and before the couple knew it, Sun had the air driven from his lungs as someone dropped on him from behind with both feet driven into his back. The blonde slammed into the dirt road with a strangled gasp from the shock of being hit so suddenly.

"Gah!"

"Sun!" That was all that Blake could do when she was surprised by her arms being bound to her sides by what felt like a sticky net. The cat girl only remained standing because she was yanked by the net from behind.

"Ah-a-ah! You're not going anywhere." A woman spoke from behind Blake as she pulled on the 'rope' connected to the 'net'.

Looking over her shoulder, Blake glared at her captor, a young woman with pale skin, blue-grey shoulder length hair and similar colored eyes. She wears a black and dark grey bodysuit with gold buttons and zippers similar to what Ilia regularly wears, though the zipper was pulled down to reveal a bit of her chest. But what was most notable are the dark grey veins that ran across her chest and down her arms where they disappeared under her black disconnected sleeves and emerged at her grey hands. One of those hands had a line of webbing coming from her palm while the other wound up the web to keep it tight as she drew closer with a knife in that hand.

"Yeah, stay still so we don't have to rough you up for Adam. After all, you should look good for your execution." The man on Sun's back tells them.

The man is tall with tanned skin, spiky brown hair swept back with a matching goatee. He wears a similar outfit as the girl but he stood out thanks to the large brown bat wings on his back.

"Trifa? Yuma? No!"

"Awww, you remember us." Trifa coos as she is now only a step away from Blake and holds the web tight to limit her struggles.

"Adam's favorite pet is going back to him, all wrapped up. Care to give her a bow?" Yuma gives a smug smile as Trifa slaps her free hand over Blake's mouth and leaves a thick web that prevents her from doing any more than mumbling.

"And we have the spare." Trifa comments as she looks at Sun.

"Oh, Adam can have his fun with this one." Yuma grinds his heel into Sun's back as the young man grew unusually still, the pain making him grunt.

"Mmmhmm!" Blake cried out as she struggled to get free but to no avail. The best she was able to do was to throw her weight around and drag Trifa a few inches before the spider woman brought the knife to her throat, making her freeze.

"Now that's a good kitty. Adam doesn't want us to kill you before he gets his chance." Yuma warns her before his tone becomes maliciously happy. "But he didn't say anything about hurting you to make sure you can't escape."

With the focus on Blake, the assassins didn't notice the golden glow below them until it was too late.

"What the- URK!" Yuma was cut off by a golden clone rising from Sun with an uppercut already swinging.

"No!" Trifa yells as another clone pops up and grabs the hand holding the knife and pulls that away from Blake.

Using the distraction, Blake escapes the webs with Shadow, leaving the spider with nothing but a fading clone on one hand and a bright one on the other. But the assassin didn't have any time to react as her former captive brought a left hook to her face and connected solidly.

With both assailants down, the clones merged back with Sun as he stood up and brushed himself off. "You know, if this is the best they can offer, those glass jaws are a big liability."

"Mmhmmhhmm!" The webs on her mouth had remained despite most of the webs that had caught her were gone, a few strands still clung to her clothes and skin.

"Sorry, let me get that for you." Sun apologizes as he starts to work his fingers under the webbing. It was slow going due to it being stickier than the net had been and left her mouth red.

"Ah! Thanks." She could only move her lips and jaw to get them feeling right as she rubs her face.

"Ha, I haven't seen your lips so red since your dad slipped those spices into my food and you took some." The blonde tries to alleviate the tension.

"Very funny." Blake deadpans before rubbing her mouth with his haori and took off the remaining webs that way.

"Nah, this is funny." Sun boasts as he jumps up and pulls down a string of lights, careful to not unplug the one end. Together they dragged the assassins to the pole and wrapped them thoroughly and upside down off the ground, after removing their weapons and scrolls and tossed them to the side.

"Okay, that's those two. Now we just need to watch out for Ilia and Adam." Blake says as she helps to secure the final knot.

"Right, and we should probably keep an eye out for those creepy brothers." Sun agrees as he drops down to the ground easily.

"Yes, and the… the civilians!" Blake suddenly remembered what they were about to do when they were attacked.

"Damn it!" Sun turns to look back at the people held hostage and sees them still there. "Huh?"

—-

In Sirius Academy, the sleeper agent blinked at the girl's demand. His finger was still tight on the trigger but he was stunned at the bravado the girl had to look her death in the face without flinching. Even the gasps of fear from the other hostages showed that he wasn't alone in that. A glance at the window revealed that Kali was just as afraid for the girl.

"Hmph, you want it so badly, you'll be the example to anyone who defies the White Fang and Adam!"

"No! Don't do it!" Kali could be heard screaming through the door.

The girl was kicked to the floor and the rifle aimed at her head.

PPPHHHEEEEEWWWWEEEE!

The rifle let out a squeal as a puff of glitter shot out, much to everyone's surprise.

But none were as surprised as the man with the gun. "What the hell?! This thing was supposed to work! I saw the others shoot just fine!"

In contrast to his rage, the relief felt through the room was like a wave.

PPPHHHEEEEEWWWWEEEE!

The other man tried to shoot another hostage with the same result.

"Surprise asshole!" The girl yells as she stands up with a scowl. Reaching up, she pulled the pin keeping her hair gathered up to drop freely… and to reveal Lightning Lash.

Her colors flashed a bright red and yellow as she deployed the whip sword and drove her knee into his face with a jump. Upon landing, she threw the pin into the other man's shoulder before her whip lashed his other arm with a little jolt for good measure.

"Get them and hold them down until the Guard come back to lock them up!" Ilia lets her colors fade back to normal as the civilians pounce on the men. With that done, she walks over to the door and unlocks it to find Kali still staring at her in shock.

"Ilia?"

She had the decency to look down as a blush of shame overtook her face. "Um, hi Kali."

"But… how? Why? You nearly killed Sun!"

"I'm sorry but I had to do it! Corsac and Fennec needed to think I was still on their side!"

That made Kali pause for a moment and see the tears falling and hands trembling.

"We made the plan to make the White Fang think they would be in control when they attacked. We rigged the guns that I had to take to the undercover members so they would be useless to them."

"We? Who is 'We'?"

—-

PPPHHHEEEEEWWWWEEEE!

A puff of glitter splattered over the civilian who had the rifle pointed at him and everyone else looked on incredulously at what just happened.

"Wha-what?" The Fang member stutters as he stares at his gun.

"Yeah… you really should check your gear before you use it." Itazura comments as she walks closer to the man with her shotguns in hand. "And don't think that you're going to be let off easy just because you didn't shoot anyone. I helped to make sure of that."

"What? What do you mean?" The man backs away as he drops the rifle, but he didn't have far to go until he found a wall.

Itazura's tail lit up with blue flames and cast a terrifying silhouette in the dark of night, the lights around them casting her face in odd shadows that fought with her flames and her green eyes seemed to glow.

"What it means is that I knew of your attack tonight and made arrangements to make your jobs much more difficult."

"Y-you knew? But how? Nobody knew everything!"

"Not nobody, just those who were putting the plan into action. Let's just say that I have a woman on the inside who had earned the trust of the idiots in charge and gave you those weapons AFTER we played with them."

"B-b-but only the loyal…" The man stuttered as the fox was only a few steps away and he had nowhere to run. "It was for the good of the Faunus!"

""Sorry, but what part of this is good? You are attacking your fellow Faunus and their human allies for what end? All you have done is ensure that there will be no support for the White Fang from any of those you had claimed to protect and fight for."

"But Corsac and Fennec promised… us…"

"Eh, we'll get to them later if they decide to show themselves." Itazura shrugs before kicking the man in the gut to drive the air from his lungs and follows that up with a whack to the back of his head to knock him out.

"Help has arrived!"

It was about that time when Ghira and Sienna led their forces around the last corner to find all of the hostages now having captured their assailants, the Chieftain being the one who had shouted.

"Wait, is that all of them?" Sienna asks as she looks over the three men on the ground, one of them bleeding from his leg.

"Two more that I know of in the house." Itazura points at the mansion. "They've been dealt with already. Don't know how many more might be around town though."

"They may be waiting to ambush us anywhere." Sienna thinks out loud.

"Maybe, and I'm sure there are more on the way." Ghira adds. "Captain, have some of your men make sweeps through the blocks. The rest of the civilians will be escorted up to Sirius until this ordeal is over."

"What about the traitors?" One of the villagers calls out.

"Take them with you, we'll get all of the information we can out of them and see how big this plan of theirs really is." Ghira responds as the Guard Captain follows the orders.

Soon, two teams of three Guards were sent off to search the nearest blocks while a dozen were sent as the escorts along with those who were injured during the fight at the barricade. That also meant that they would be retrieving the White Fang members who were restrained to go along with the five they already had.

"Dad!"

"Ghira!"

The shouts of his only child and her boyfriend as they closed the final stretch of road between them brought the Chieftain joy to see them looking well enough for the current situation.

"Blake!" He didn't hesitate to wrap his daughter in a hug as soon as she was in reach.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"At the moment I am. But was that explosion?"

"Hehehe." Sun drew attention to himself with a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck and was glad that the civilians were already moving away. "That would be my bad. Didn't look at what was on the forklifts when I rigged them to drive at the goons gathering on the docks. I just wanted them to scatter so we could surprise them." By the end he was hanging his head.

"Hmmm… nothing we can do about that now. Are there more coming?" Ghira asks as he looks to the top of the hill.

"We're pretty sure more will be coming but we got ambushed by Trifa and Yuma on the way here to help." Blake explains quickly.

"Well, you're obviously fine. What happened to them?" Sienna was curious as she knew the pair when they claimed to be loyal to her and had 'taken care' of a few people for her.

"Left them tied to a pole with lights. Can't miss 'em." Sun grins as he points up the road where they could see a much brighter splotch of light from a pole.

"Hmm, very good then." She turns to a couple of the Guard standing nearby. "Go and arrest them properly."

"Yes madam!" A quintet salute her and runs up to follow her orders.

"So, what do we do now?" Blake asks as she looks around at the remaining dozen Guard.

"The majority of their forces are coming by sea so we'll have to set up our line of defense in the best location possible, likely at the top of the steps so we can look down on their position and see their every move." Ghira explains.

"Then we'll get ready for Adam there." Itazura promises as she waves for the Guard to follow her.

"Adam? Adam is coming here? Tonight?" Sienna was shocked at the news.

"Yeah, the goons kept bragging about him coming. Apparently he really wants to go after the Belladonna's." The fox shrugs.

"And no doubt he'll be targeting me as well." The tiger-woman tightens her grip on her chain whip.

"More than likely. But he doesn't have hostages to barter with anymore and his element of surprise is gone." Blake says with some amount of confidence.

"Not unless he wanted to draw us out." Sun warns as he spots a familiar pair walking towards them, the ears and tail unmistakable with their clothes.

"Corsac and Fennec." Itazura growls. "They give foxes a bad name." Her own ears folded back in anger as her tail swished. It wasn't hard to notice the two cats with ears doing the same.

Following in the shadows behind the brothers stood a man in black with an easily recognizable sword at his hip.

"Adam!" Blake gasps as she steps back with her eyes widening in fear, unaware that she was trying to hide behind Sun.

Trifa and Yuma had been freed and followed after their leaders while leading a group of at least twenty soldiers in full White Fang uniform.

"Captain, take your men and scatter. Surround and take out their troops. You know the town better than they do." Ghira orders quietly.

"What about you, sir?"

"We'll take on the leaders of this coup." The large man declares as he presses on a device on his belt. What followed was the sound of shattering glass and the sound of a rocket. A rocket that soon landed in front of Ghira and a door opened to reveal pieces of armor. At the same time, the Guard ran off to follow their orders, the Captain also ensuring that the other teams and Kali would know.

It didn't take long for the armor to be worn, after shedding his usual coat, the pieces were held over his limbs and body where they extended and clamped down, covering most of the panther man in a titanium shell. One final time he reaches in and withdrew his weapon, Mufasa, a massive tetsubo with a stylized cat head on the end made of solid metal with clearly razor sharp fangs in the open jaws and thick studs running down the shaft that were only interrupted by eight larger spikes. The weapon tapered down until the handle proper where the end looked like a coiled tail to prevent it from slipping from his grip.

In short, he became a massive and intimidating figure that glared down on the approaching forces. Sienna stood by his side with Cerberus Whip ready to be used at any moment, as was Itazura with her shotguns, Loki and Lugh, with their blades locked into ready position.

But Sun and Blake stood behind them, mostly because that was just how the impromptu lineup was made. The blonde stepped back and put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. "Hey, we're in this together. This is our home and our people we're fighting for."

"I know, Sun. But he just…"

"Yeah, well… think of it this way; we're the only ones here who can stop him and we both know he'll do worse to anyone else."

"I don't want to see you get hurt." Movement from her father glancing back and a pair of ears twisting her way caught her eyes. "I don't want any of you hurt."

"And we don't want you to get hurt either." Sienna tells her, yet not letting up on her glare at the fox brothers and bull.

"Then fight with us and help put an end to this madness." Ghira adds.

"And hey, we might be able to hold up my promise for tonight, if we kick them outta our town." Sun gives Blake a grin. "You know I'll always fight by your side, no matter what."

The young cat woman could only stare at her boyfriend in shock for a few seconds as his words resonated within her. A look at the others showed that they weren't going to back down and the teasing grin from Itazura let her know that she knew, somehow, what the pair's plans were for the night.

"Right, let's end this now." She nods as she takes Gambol Shroud off her back.

"Together forever no matter what?" Sun asks as Ryuji Jingu Bang was brought out.

"Together forever no matter what." Blake responds with conviction as the pair step up next to Sienna.

Adam drew near but stopped a few paces away and his masked face contorted into a smile that promised pain. "Ghira Belladonna. Sienna Khan. My Darling."

Nobody missed that he skipped over a pair of names. Whether that was from lack of interest in learning their names or an insult, it seemed clear that they both took it as the latter and neither looked happy.

"Shall we skip the pleasantries, brother?" Corsac asks.

"I have no problems with that. What say you, High Leader?" Fennec looks to Adam.

"We seem to be missing one major player in this grand game of ours, but we have a schedule to keep and I'm sure she'll be along soon enough." His grip on Wilt and Blush tightened.

"And their deaths?" Fennec asks.

"Hmph! Spare them for now if you can. If not, no real loss. We're going to be having the entire town and perhaps the world see what happens when I am opposed."

The brothers drew their sai, Cyclone and Inferno, as Adam motioned for the troops with him to scatter into the town to hunt down the Guards.

"Payback time for that cheap shot." Yuma cracks his knuckles before taking hold of his twin scimitars and gives them a quick twirl. Beside him, Trifa drew a second knife.

"Come now, My Darling, and watch as I kill the beast!" With those words, Adam gripped the hilt of Wilt and rushed straight at Sun.

AN: Things have been exciting on Menagerie lately, haven't they? And they will stay that way for a while. And if anyone remembers Sun and Blake tinkering with their weapons, you'll get to see what they did in the next chapter.

In other news, don't be surprised if my updates slow down for the next few months as I'll be moving this summer. I'll still be aiming for a chapter a week as always knowing that it'll likely be a bi-weekly thing without some serious luck. I've also been getting a fair amount of art for the series on my DeviantArt page, if anyone is interested. More on the way.

As always, reviews are always welcome.