Big Issues

AN: I'd like to thank laublasco and Axel363402 fot the follows and the latter for faving me as an author. On another note, I'm actually surprised how fast I got this chapter done especially with how life has been and another project I'll talk about at the end. For now, enjoy the final part of the War for Menagerie.

War for Menagerie- Part 3

Dealing with the Mistral soldiers was easy enough thanks to Denko, Anya, and Talon having their Huntsman licenses. Telling them that they were escorting Yang with her mother, Rae, and Weiss to Mistral for their safety was bought thanks to how often that occurred and they were allowed into the city proper soon after.

"So… when were you going to tell me you are an official Huntsman?" Yang narrows her eyes at Denko.

The group had just parked their vehicles in a secure garage meant to be accessed only by Huntsmen and the Mistral military.

"To be honest, I thought I did." The blonde scratches his head.

"Really? Something that big and you couldn't remember?" Raven teases as she follows the couple.

"Hey! The kind of missions we've been on as a team were almost all meant for fully licensed Huntsmen, it just seems to run together after a bit." Denko tries to defend himself.

"Right… and I don't suppose I have to remind you of when we officially hooked up?" Yang elbows his ribs.

"Like I'd forget your birthday or that night." He laughs at the memory.

"Better not." With that she hooks his arm as they walk the streets. It may have been long past sunset and nearly into the next day but the roads were still busy with people going somewhere or leaving some establishment that served meals, drinks, or other entertainment.

"Any ideas where we could spend the night?" Talon asks from the front and serving as their point.

"Mistral has several homes set aside for traveling Huntsmen where they can rest for a few days and gather their teams for missions." Raven offers her suggestion. "They are up close to Haven so we wouldn't have far to get in contact with the cowardly lion."

"Really mom? Insulting the Headmaster already?"

"Trust me, I've met with the man before and if my sources are correct, he's been up to something over the past few years that isn't good for us."

"For us or Us?" Anya made sure to keep things vague while in public but trusted the woman to get the inflection.

"Big Us. If we meet with him, I may be able to verify if my information is correct."

"Fine, then let's get up there and see where we can drop for the night." Talon huffs as she adjusts her bag on her back.

Once near the top of the mountain, the team located the automated kiosk and accessed it to see which homes are available. Given how often that they were used as gathering points for teams not native to Mistral, the screen also displays who was using which home.

"You have got to be kidding me." Raven grumbles when she sees the name of Branwen on the list.

"What are the chances it's him?" Denko asks nobody in particular.

"Him?" Weiss asks from the back of the group.

"My brother." Raven crosses her arms.

"Wait…" Weiss starts to connect the dots from what she does know about the family. "Is that… the Qrow guy who picked a fight with my sister last year in the courtyard?"

"Ha! He's still messing with Atlesians who think they are superior?" Raven couldn't hold back a quick laugh. "Oh, those were some good times back at Beacon doing that."

"Really?!" Weiss nearly shrieked in shock.

"Um… yeah?" Talon shrugs. "You guys pretty much set yourselves up for that stuff all the time. Try seeing what folks say about Atlas back home in Vacuo."

"Oh, I can imagine." Raven grins.

"Let's go see if Uncle Qrow is still up." Yang punches the air and guides the group to the home in question, the lights being on raising their spirits.

—-

"Now, My Love, I'll offer you one last chance to come back to me." Adam says as he holds out his gloved hand.

"No."

"What?"

"I said no!"

"I told you before to take your nose out of those silly books and face reality!" Adam shouts at Blake, swiping his hand through the air.

But Blake refused to budge. "You don't get to decide my life for me! Everything has to be about you! What you want! What you want revenge on! Anyone else is just a pawn to use or an obstacle in your way!" Tears were streaming down her face yet she stayed ready to fight.

"I'm not some trophy to be displayed and I refuse to be some sort of chattel for you! This is my life and I want to be with Sun!"

The blonde in question swelled with pride at her declaration, all of it, and basked in the warmth it gave him. In contrast, the air around Adam seemed to grow deathly cold.

"Then it will be done. You can die together." His voice was low and quiet yet they heard him very clearly. And that was their only warning before he seemed to vanish from where he stood, only to reappear behind them and about to draw his blade.

The slash was aimed at Blake's neck, intended for a quick, clean kill, but the red and gold staff flipped up under the razor edge to knock it off course.

"Damn beast!"

"You heard the lady! Now back off!" Sun retorts with a wide swing that forces Adam to jump back, only to find a ribbon trailing shuriken flying at his head. The weapon was smacked away with Wilt but that turned out to be a distraction for Sun to race in at the bull.

Adam slashed at the middle of the staff, only to be caught off guard by the lack of resistance of any sort. Beneath his mask, his eyes widened to see that the staff had separated on its own and now the monkey used both halves to swing at him from either side.

Wilt took the brunt of one half, though it was at a bad angle and he felt it in his wrist. His left arm was forced to take a blow aimed for his head. And with his arms up, he was left open for the snap kick to his chest that drove Adam back a few steps and was immediately pounced on by Blake.

The cat had put away the shuriken and recombined Gambol Shroud so she could use its full weight in addition to her own substantial girth to deal a heavy blow, but a red blade intercepted the attack, briefly suspending her in the air while his shoes carved shallow trenches in the dirt road.

Once the blades separated, Adam had no time to rest as Sun came in on his right with both short staves in hand and swinging at his shoulder. Likewise, Blake faded from his sight, having been a shadow, and came in at his left.

His response was to lift Blush and use the rifle to block the attack from Blake as Wilt blocked Sun.

A moment later, Blake used Shadow again to come at Adam from behind, though she was using both blades now. And Adam was caught between two fighters that forced him on the defensive, the weapons ringing against each other in a rapid beat.

And that beat may as well have been war drums for Ghira and Sienna, spurring them on to lay waste to the White Fang soldiers. Everywhere they went, they left a trail of bodies behind, some still conscious, some not, some to never move again.

And soon they ran out of dummies to beat on and the pair paused to catch their breaths. And despite the Blood Rage Ghira was using yet, he still recognized his ally and refrained from attacking her, more than once saving Sienna from devastating Dust rounds to the back by way of making meat shields out of his victims.

But now all of the White Fang soldiers were either lying on the ground or wherever they fell, or they were running for the docks in hopes of retreating to the ship that brought them in the first place.

But their retreat was noticed by three combatants in particular and caused a break in the action. "Where are you going?!" Adam screams at them.

The men paused and looked back at him but doing so allowed them to spot Ghira and Sienna and remind them as to exactly why they were fleeing. And they didn't bother giving Adam an excuse as they ran.

"I'll kill you for your treason!" Adam screams after them.

Unfortunately for him, his yelling garnered the attention of the big cats and they began stalking their way over.

"No! This will be my victory!" Adam snaps Blush up and fires at Blake, forcing her to block the bullets with the wider blade of Gambol Shroud.

In response to that, Sun switched his weapons from a pair of short staves to nunchuck mode and started using the short shotguns on the bull. Many of the shots were intercepted by Wilt but a few hit Adam cleanly.

But the shift in focus gave Blake the reprieve to shift to pistol form and shoot at Adam as well, forcing him to run while blocking what he could with sword and rifle. Then a steel blade with a Fire Dust crystal within it impacted the road by his feet and exploded, tearing open a small crater and sending the target tumbling through the air.

To his credit, Adam was able to get his bearings and twist to land on his feet, but his mask was lost in the process.

"I will not be denied what is mine!" The redhead shouts as he begins to glow red. "I WILL be taking your heads! I WILL lead my army against Mistral! I WILL bring Atlas crashing down!"

GRRRROOOOAAAARRRRR!

Ghira announced his arrival to Adam with a roar that made everyone flinch in primal fear. Everyone but Adam who's rage clouded his mind from everything around him.

Blush was raised at the panther man as he fell with Mufasa in hand once more with the full intent on crushing Adam in one blow like the last time they fought.

And with a squeeze of the trigger, the world turned red once more.

—-

"Kali! I think we got everyone!" Ilia calls out as she finishes tying up the last sleeper agent for the White Fang. Having been in on the plans and delivering the weapons to them made identifying the people easy.

Kali dragged a woman by her improvised handcuffs into a closet and tied her to a chair, making sure her feet were bound to it as well.

"That's good. Was there anything else you need to know or can share?"

Ilia watched as the elder woman bound her captive with practiced ease. "Um… you seem to be good at that."

"Oh you know, back when I was with the White Fang, I was one of those who never needed to hurt anyone to get the information I needed. Keeping them in place helped with that. I'm just glad that we rarely had to resort to such measures and we always turned them over to the police."

"I… I didn't know you did that."

"It's a skill that's kept pretty quiet, though it does come in handy in the bedroom." Kali shrugs as her grin became teasing. "Where do you think Blake got it from?"

Ilia's eyes went wide at the implications and her face became flush.

"Apparently, Sun doesn't mind either. He and Ghira are more alike than they realized at first." Kali continued, enjoying as the chameleon's face became fully red… without her color changing abilities.

"Um… have you heard anything from the tower? I know Adam wants to use it as a bargaining chip against the world."

"It's been a few minutes since I checked with them. Everything is clear so far but I did send a few more volunteers to help guard it and the gates."

"I hope so. The plan called for taking the people here hostage so the soldiers could march up and lock everything down, the tower and school. I-I guess the Guards and the others stopped them."

"And that's something we should be grateful for." Kali gives her a warm smile as she rests a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"But Adam is coming… or he's already here."

"And our forces will stop him like we did last time."

"Last time you got stabbed."

"Trust me, I didn't forget that." Kali feels the phantom pain at the scar, one that matched her daughters.

"Do you… should I go down there and help them?" Ilia stares at her shoes, still getting used to not seeing boots or her tight fitting bodysuit being replaced by a white dress.

"That's up to you." Kali smiles at the girl before drawing her into a hug. "And while we don't appreciate the deception and the pain you caused us, we do understand the risks you went through for us."

"Do… do you think Blake will forgive me?"

"Hard to say. The part where you had to lie to all of us? Most likely. Almost killing Sun… that will take a long time to heal."

"She really loves him, doesn't she?"

"Yes, yes she does. But he has been such a light for her to guide her from the darkness, it would be a shame for them to ever split up. That would likely destroy all of the progress she has made since they met to be a better person."

"Would it be that bad?"

"Ilia, once you find that person in your life who makes you want to live for them and them for you, to do everything and face any challenges in your way… I think you'll understand. I had to learn that, Blake is just realizing just how much she had been missing until know, and you…"

"Me?"

"You, I think are starting along that path as well." Kali adds with a warm smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll understand someday. Now go and help them kick Adam's ass off our island!"

Ilia looks up to Kali with determination on her features and salutes her with a fist over her heart. "Yes madam!" With that she runs to the door with Lightning Lash in hand.

"Don't forget to say hi to Itazura!" Kali calls after her, grinning widely as the chameleon stumbles at that and disappears into the night.

—-

Pain erupted through Adam as his aura was drained from his last use of Moonslice and the rest was shattered by Ghira's own final attack. The use of his semblance through his rifle was something he held back on using as only a last resort but this time it was to prove a point.

The unfortunate part came from miscalculating how much Ghira would push just to hit him. It was only a glancing blow to his arm but it felt as though it had been torn apart. A glance at the limb showed that it was still intact, but his aura had been used up just to survive the hit. The same couldn't be said of Ghira, making Adam smirk in satisfaction.

"Got him that time."

"You monster!" Blake roars and swings her swords at him and finds that even without his aura, Adam was still the better swordsman and easily blocked her attacks.

Likewise, Sun was just as pissed off seeing the man he was willing to call a father to himself being taken down. And he joined in on the fight as Adam kicked Blake in the hip and pulled back to slash her back.

Ryuji Jingu Bang snapped back into staff mode and swung to successfully block the blade. As the cat rolled out of her fall, the monkey moved in with his staff as nothing but a blur of red and gold whirlwind around him, striking at the bull from every angle. Nearly all were blocked by sword or rifle but without the threat of his aura, Sun could lay into him as hard as he wanted to, finally ending the exchange with a jab at Adam's sternum.

Adam failed to block the attack but soon realized that it wasn't done as the staff shifted slightly and extended to nearly double its normal length in a second. Not only did that change catch him by surprise like the hit, but the force threw him backwards to tumble unceremoniously across the dirt road a short distance.

He was surprisingly fast to rise to his feet but a collapsible shuriken flew to lodge itself in his leg, inflicting a yell of pain that was only made worse as the ribbon it was attached to ripped it back out.

Another steel blade with an Ice Dust crystal in it flew at Adam, courtesy of Sienna. Just as it was about to hit the bull, a gust of wind blew it off course where it hit the ground and erupted into spires of solid ice the size of a house.

"This isn't over!" Corsac shouts as he and his brother raise their sai and combine their elemental attacks, creating a whirling inferno that tore down on the fighters.

"Get behind me!" Sun yells over the roaring flames and begins to spin his staff as fast as he can, whipping up his own whirlwind to deflect the worst of the flames.

The flames abated to reveal that Sun was successful in defending Blake and Sienna, at the cost of most of his aura.

Worst of all, Adam was gone.

"Now brother, shall we finish this?" Fennec asks with an eerie smile.

"Yes brother. We shall cleanse this land since they refuse to join us." Corsac agrees as they both pull a matching remote with a single red button from their pockets.

"What is that? What are you doing?!" Sienna yells at the Albain brothers.

"Just a little fail safe that we built in case humans invaded Menagerie." Corsac answers vaguely.

"Or for a situation like this." Fennec adds as both of them flip the covers from the buttons and hold their thumbs over them.

"Now, this is your last chance to surrender. Do so and Kuo Kuana will be spared. Refuse and we will all go to the Great Beyond." Corsac offers the ultimatum.

Both sides glared the other down, though neither made any moves as the stalemate stretched on for minutes.

"What will it be, ladies? Brat?" Fennec grins as they grew irritated at the 'pleasantries'. "Adam and whatever forces we have left will have already retreated back to the ships and well outside of the blast range. And we are not afraid to become martyrs to our cause."

"For the good of the Faunus." They intone as one.

"Yeah, I had them pegged right as psychos when we first met." Sun scoffs.

"And just where is this bomb of yours?" Sienna asks, trying to buy some time to think of a way out.

"Ha, where else? We built it in the White Fang headquarters here in Menagerie." Only those who have proven to be the most loyal to our goals even know about it at all." Fennec boasts.

A bit of movement from the alleys turned out to be some of the White Fang soldiers who had regained consciousness and heard what was going on. Rightly, they began to panic and crawled their ways to the docks in an attempt to flee.

"Your decision?" Corsac reminds the trio with a shake of his hand.

Sienna reluctantly dropped Cerberus Whip to the ground. The act made both teens snap their attention back to her.

"Sienna?" Blake's voice trembled.

"They win this round but we will beat them in the end." The tiger declares.

"Ah, good. Thank you for finally seeing reason, Lady Sienna." Fennec gives her a small mock bow. "Now you two."

The couple were hesitant to give up but they slowly set their weapons down.

"Good, now all of you step over here." Corsac orders, punctuated with a wave of Inferno that was still glowing red and ready to be used.

The three silently followed his direction, leaving their weapons behind.

"Now this is real power, absolute control over one's enemies." Corsac laughs.

"No! I won't let you!" A voice calls out from the darkness. One that was rather familiar to all of them.

"Wait, what?" Fennec whips his head and ears around in an attempt to locate the objector, only to hear the air being cut as a razor sharp whip made contact with his brother's wrist.

And severed the hand holding the control.

"Aarrrrggghhh!" The taller fox screams as he holds his stump, dropping Inferno to do so.

"No! Brother!"

"You are not destroying what we've worked for so long to build." Ilia warns as she seems to melt out of the shadows themselves, even with a white dress.

"Ilia? But why? Why turn your back on us in our moment of triumph?!" Corsac manages to speak clearly around the pain.

"Because I haven't been with you for a while. I'm not going to let the White Fang kill us all for Adam's delusion!" Lightning Lash crackled with electricity to emphasize her point.

"Then die traitor!" Fennec screams as he blasts the chameleon with a gale, slamming her into a wall. The smaller brother kneels and pries the remote from his brothers hand. "For that insolence, killing you all will be a fitting end! Say goodbye to Menagerie!"

Both buttons were pressed at the same time… and nothing happened.

"Huh?" All six of them had the same reaction to the lack of reaction.

Fennec presses both buttons again. Then a few more times. Then separately a few times each. Even going so far as to checking if the batteries to power the signal were good.

"What is wrong with this thing?" The man begins to rage until he throws the controls to the ground and kicks them out of frustration. "Argh!"

—-

Back at the White Fang Headquarters on Menagerie, Itazura clapped her hands with a smile. "Thanks for the help Amelia! Without you, this would have been tricky!"

"No problem!" The woman waves the trickster off as she waddles up to the device. Dressed in just a blue bikini, the brown haired woman with matching eyes steps up to the now inactive bomb. Holding her bloated stomach that made her look like she was carrying triplets at the very least, she spits out a torrent of water from her mouth to flood the inner workings to further disable the bomb.

In a minute, she had emptied herself so that she was as thin as the fox, her particular talent thanks to being a pufferfish Faunus.

"That should do it. Go help put out any fires you can and I'll help deal with the idiots causing the trouble."

"I'm on it!" Amelia Fugu waves and runs for the nearby stream to fill up again.

—-

"Nonononononono!" Fennec freaks out and has a tantrum that would make a toddler embarrassed to see.

"Umm… should we stop him now or…" Sun trailed off.

Thankfully, Ilia was quick to intervene with a kick to his back, sending the man to the ground and shutting him up.

"Fennec!"

"Don't move." Sun warns as he stands ready in front of Corsac. Behind him, Sienna and Blake retrieved the weapons.

"Huh, and I thought I was going to surprise you all with news that I disarmed the bomb down the street." Itazura walks out from a corner nearby holding a couple wires in her hand.

"You! You did this!" Fennec growls at his fellow fox who grinned smugly at him.

"Eh, only partly. Got a little inside help." Itazura shrugs as she winks at Ilia as she approaches and tosses the wires at Fennec.

"You… You're all TRAITORS!" Fennec screams as he sweeps Ilia's legs out from under her and grabs his brother's weapon. Rolling to his feet, both sai glow with their respective elements and blew Ilia and Itazura away where they landed in a heap together. At the same time, Sun got hit with a fireball, the worst of it taken by his arm guards and what remained of his aura.

"Sun!"

"Ilia!"

"Ugh, I feel the love." The younger fox grumbles as she rises to her feet and helps up the chameleon with Sienna running to join them.

"I'm fine but my aura is busted." Sun tells his girlfriend as she helps him up and hands his staff back.

"Yeah, and you're looking great charred." The sarcasm was dripping from her mouth as much as her concern. Didn't stop her from taking a defensive stance between him and Fennec.

"You are ALL going to die! I'll be rewarded greatly by Adam for finishing what he started here tonight!" The man's eyes showed how much his mind was being twisted and broken, and his body began to twitch as the weapons in his hands glowed again.

"Take out the fat cat! Roast her and watch the brat break! Then let him join her in the flames!" The madman cackles as he sprints at the couple.

"Brother! Wait!" Corsac reaches out to grab him but had the grim reminder that he lacked the hand on that side and his family ran away.

"NOW DIE YOU BI-!"

RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!

Fennec was a step away with the flames and winds swirling around the sai when a sonic blast wave hurtled him away and through the air until he crashed through the wall of a house. Then the elements were released, creating an explosion that blew out the rest of the wall, brought the roof collapsing down, and what remained was quickly engulfed in flames.

Corsac could only stare silently at what became of his brother. Everyone else snapped their attention from the pyre to the source of the sonic blast.

Ghira lay on the ground with his right hand on Mufasa, the open mouth wafting a bit of smoke from the attack. However, his left arm was gone, all the way up to the shoulder and even then some of the flesh having peeled away making for a nasty looking wound. The armor that had been there was completely gone, as was that side of his coat.

But the growing puddle of blood under him was the real concern.

"Ha! We defended our home." The man smiles as his head falls back.

"Dad! No!"

Ghira!"

Itazura had her scroll in hand. "Kali! Send the doctors down here now! It's Ghira! We'll get him to the hospital ASAP and hopefully the people there can help!"

Ghira was quickly wrapped in the remains of his coat and Sun took him over his shoulders with Blake and Ilia supporting his legs.

Sienna made sure to grab Corsac and drag him with her to the hospital. "Guards! Make sure to round up every one of those invaders! We'll begin the interrogations as we assess the damage to our town!"

"Yes madam!" All in the area salute and begin to get to work, quickly needing to improvise to cuff and restrain the White Fang.

Unnoticed, Amelia waddles by with another belly full of water and begins dousing the flames as best she could. She'd have three more rounds done before emergency teams would arrive to help with the fires, prisoners, and injured.

—-

Talon volunteered to ring the doorbell, the chimes being heard through the walls.

"So… what are the chances of Qrow being passed out drunk on the couch?" Raven asks to lighten the tension as they waited.

"At this time? Pretty good." Anya shrugs.

The door opened a crack, enough for the one inside to see the small crowd outside. Then it opened fully to reveal…

"Ren? What are you doing here?" Yang asks upon seeing the ninja, taking note of his new clothes.

"I- I should be asking you the same thing." The reserved boy days as he steps back and waves them in.

"Hey Ren? Who's at the door?!" Qrow's rough voice calls out from the couch where he was busy playing a game with Ruby and Nora.

Ren glanced at the newcomer's and took notice that he didn't recognize the older woman among them but it was hard to not notice the similarities between her and another.

"You may want to look for yourself."

"Ah, good timing then, we're in a good spot to stop since we just beat that boss monster." Qrow stands up and stretches, not caring that he was making the guests wait. Ruby and Nora did much the same but a bit faster so they could see who was here.

"I sure hope Leo is paying ya overtime for this…" He trails off when he saw the familiar faces of those he did not expect to see anytime soon, especially one in particular.

The two girls were shocked into silence at the sight, though Ren closing the door may as well been the signal for tears.

"Yang?" Ruby nearly squeaks as tears ran over her cheeks.

"Hey sis, did ya miss me?"

"Yang!" The blonde was nearly bowled over as Ruby jumped onto her, almost catching Denko in the middle.

"I missed you so much."

"I love you too sis." Yang squeezes her sister in a tight hug, feeling her doing the same as her shoulder grows damp from tears. "You better not wipe your nose on me."

Looking up to retort, Ruby's words died on her tongue when she saw her best friend who she hadn't seen since the Fall of Beacon last year.

"W-Weiss? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, you dolt." There was no heat in the words from the girl, but affection.

Ruby only needed that confirmation and a small push from Yang to latch onto Weiss. Feeling the others' soft body against them, Weiss being surprisingly cool on contact was contrasted by Ruby's gentle warmth, the relief of finding their best friend after so long… it made them hold for that much longer.

Off to the side, Yang and Denko whispered to themselves. "I think they needed that."

"And Ruby hadn't noticed your arm yet."

"You're really interested in seeing how long it takes her?"

"Aren't you?"

"Yeah, it's kinda fun."

On the other side, Talon and Anya walked around with Ren to join Nora who had an odd combination of expressions on her face from excitement, to relief, to longing, and curiosity.

"Hey, Ancient Tomes. Haven't played that for a long time." Talon caught sight of what was on the television projection.

"Want me to kick your butt again?" Anya challenges.

"You wish. Maybe we can see how they've been doing in their games?"

"Good thing we didn't wager anything on Qrow being drunk."

As for the adults…

"Raven? What are you doing here?" Qrow was shocked enough at seeing his niece and her boyfriend walking in, let alone the team and the Schnee. But his sister?

"I made some promises that I intend to see through." Raven crosses her arms. "And we have some things to talk about."

"Really? Last time we saw each other, you didn't really want to talk much."

"That was then, this is now."

"Ugh, I really hope that it's a good reason that you're back."

"It was a promise to family."

Qrow narrowed his eyes at that, remembering that at their last meeting she acted like she didn't care about her family much at all. "Must have been one hell of a promise."

"It's… one of the many things we need to talk about." She refused to meet his eyes, preferring the wall.

"I see. Well, we're not going anywhere for a bit ourselves so make yourself at home. Just ask the kids to move their things so we can sleep comfortably."

Raven quirked an eyebrow at that. "Fine but one thing."

"What is it?" Qrow groans as he begins to think of what insufferable demands his sister might make.

"Those two I know are going to want a room together." She points at the blondes behind her. "I just want as many walls between me and them as possible."

"Wait, what do you mean by…. Oh… oh boy."

"Yeah, they may have kept their hormones under control on the trip here but now that they can relax…"

"And you're okay with that?"

"Not my place to have a say. It's been done, they've claimed to have done it more, and they'll keep going."

"Argh… please tell me they are at least playing it safe."

"From what I heard from them, yes, aside from the first time."

"Great… just great." Qrow grumbles. "And you said you have things to tell us?"

"Later. How about letting us get cleaned up, something to eat and some sleep?"

"Fine but you better be ready to answer a lot of questions."

"I'm sure you'll have them." Raven starts to walk by for the bathroom she spotted through the glass walls. "And before I forget, those two know about the Relics and our little trick."

"Hmm…. Good to know. My group knows about the Relics too."

"Interesting." With that, Raven carries her bag into the bathroom and shuts the door.

"I missed you so much." Ruby gave one last tight squeeze.

"I missed you too, Ruby." Weiss finally let go so they could pull apart and see each other better, though keeping their hands on their shoulders.

"I see you got a new dress."

"You changed your look a bit too." Weiss wipes the tears from her eyes. "Did you lose any weight since we were at Beacon?" She didn't miss that Ruby had grown taller, making her a bit jealous.

Ruby couldn't help but sweat a little at that question, scratching the back of her head as she laughs nervously. "Well… I did put on some while at home but I'm pretty sure I lost that on the way here."

"And to think that I was here for a few months for a mission and left earlier this month."

"You were here? On a mission?!"

"Yes, yes. I'll tell you all about it later."

Denko steps up to the girls with a smile. "Yeah, we're all in need of showers and something to eat."

"And we'll have to rework the sleeping situation a bit while you're here." Qrow adds.

"What about it?" Yang asks, unfamiliar with how the house is.

"We don't have enough space for everyone to have their own room now that you're here. So some of us will need to move." The older man explains. "Ren, Nora? Think you two could move your things over with Jaune and Pyrrha?"

"Okay!" Nora salutes and zips up the stairs as Ren simply nods and follows at a normal pace.

"Umm… where are Jaune and Pyrrha? Are they sleeping? I know it's late." Yang asks as she looks around for her friends.

"Oh yeah!" Ruby quickly grabs her scroll from the couch and brings it back to show the others. "They're out on a date!" And she began cycling through the photos of the pair as Weiss and Yang squeal in delight.

"It's about time." Weiss comments with a smile.

"You said it sister!" Yang gives the shorter girl a pat on the back.

"With those two moving their things, that'll be enough room for everyone to double up." Qrow says as he pointedly looks at the blondes, who both got the message that he knows of their relationship.

"Yahoo! Weiss we can bunk together like at Beacon!"

"Ruby? Waaaaaiiiiiiiiiitttt!" Weiss was dragged up the stairs and out of sight in a flash, the sound of a door opening and closing cutting her off.

"Doesn't look like she changed at all." Anya comments from where she was leaning on the couch.

"Not really too much." Qrow shrugs before turning his attention to his niece. "So… you two are together now?"

"Yeah?" Denko responds as Yang moves to stand next to him

"Hmm… looks like you two are doing pretty good so far. I take it your dad knows?"

"Yes." Yang rolls her eyes at the question.

"Does he know how far you've gone?"

That made the blondes blush a bit.

"Yeah, your mom told me. But I'm guessing Tai doesn't know that part. Fine, just remember that we are going to be watching for any funny business."

"We're keeping things safe." Yang states flatly as she crosses her arms.

"Good, give it a few years. And you might want to ask Raven about the Branwen family quirk."

"Family quirk?" Denko tilts his head a bit.

"Yeah… you should be there too, just so you get the warning." Qrow shits his attention to Yang. "And it's good to see you up and going again, Firecracker. Sorry about the arm."

"Yeah, it's not like I can just regrow it but someone here was kind enough to make sure it was made for me." Yang elbows her man lightly.

"Hey, it got you really up and moving again. No more moping around and getting fatter." He teases as he pokes her belly.

"Shit up, I know you liked me bigger."

"Okay! That's enough. Just go drop your stuff in the room at the end of the hall and get your shower stuff ready. Raven should be out any minute."

"We'll find our room then." Talon grabs her bag and follows after the couple with her sister in tow.

Just then, Raven stepped out of the bathroom in a waft of steam wearing a red yukata and black shorts. Seeing all of the kids gone and the light thumping of feet overhead she looks to her brother.

"Only room left now is with me or the couch."

"Really? Not going to give me the room and take the couch yourself?"

"Call it petty vengeance for the crap you've done over the years." Qrow shrugs as he walks over to the kitchen. "Mind at least helping to get some food ready?"

—-

A Bullhead flew over the wilds of Anima. Inside, a team of four were either flying the craft, waiting in the back, or watching the controls.

"We've been in the target area for hours, don't you have anything yet?" Cinder asks but there was hostility dripping from her words. She had never liked the pompous man next to her, not even when they first met, but she'd admit that he had his uses.

"Unfortunately, the region that the little birdie provided us does cover hundreds of square miles of forests and mountains. That's not including the towns that we've been able to rule out as locations for the Branwen Tribe." Watts reminds her as he flips between different screens to widen his search as they flew.

"And what makes you think his info is good?" Mercury pokes his head into the cockpit.

"Because, Boy, Qrow Branwen is primarily Ozpin's informant. He has gone to Leonardo and requested a mission to attack the Tribe and secure the Spring Maiden for himself. Unfortunately, he also had several tagalongs with him, some of which I believe you know well, Cinder."

"And it doesn't help that Branwen has the combat skills to be a significant factor if we should ever engage him." That was as close to agreeing with the scientist as she was willing to say.

"Very true, my dear Cinder." The man was extra smug that Cinder was under orders from Salem to follow his instructions. "Qrow Branwen would pick you apart and the only one present capable of defeating him is our Fall Maiden." It was as interesting as it was vexing that the man could praise and insult at the same time.

"You really think I can't beat him, old man?" The assassins tone took a mix of pride and warning at once.

"I'd rather not see the legs I made for you be reduced to scraps. They may not be the highest quality I could have created but I take pride in my work and hate to see it wasted."

"Mercury, just sit down or something, you're giving me a headache." Emerald's voice drifted through the doorway.

The boy was hesitant but a glance from Cinder was all he needed to follow his teammates' request. Dropping back in his seat across from the master thief, he saw the mocha-skinned girl munching on a chocolate bar as a way to pass the time.

"Em? How many of those did you eat today?" He couldn't help but ask given that he saw at least three other wrappers nearby.

"Ah! It looks like we found the camp!" Arthur could be heard sounding excited.

"Do we have them?" Cinder glances over to where he was working the settings.

"Hmm… just over to the left, Cinder." He orders and she complies. Slowing the airship as it soon began to circle the encampment in the forest.

"It's abandoned." She notes with a touch of anger.

"True but it was recently abandoned. I'm already tracing the tracks they left behind." He manipulates a holographic screen for a few moments as the rings on his fingers glow blue. A swipe of his hand and the screen was now in front of Cinder on her own displays. "Follow the trail and we'll catch up to them in no time at all. I doubt they have much of a lead and we'll find them tomorrow."

Cinder gave Watts a narrow eyed glare but followed the nap that was updated as they flew, the sensors and programming updating the map as they went.

—-

If Team DAYT, Weiss, and Raven had arrived late, Jaune and Pyrrha were definitely much later. They didn't even come back in time for the light meal, everything was cleaned up and they went to bed happy.

Though part of that may have been due to spending hours just walking around Mistral and taking in the sights. At least twice stopping for snacks and drinks and once finding a small stand where they played a few rounds of fair games.

But the big thing was most likely the kiss on the cheek from Pyrrha before they went to bed. Keeping the lights off and too distracted from their night- now early morning- they missed that their rooms now had occupants.

AN: I hope you all enjoyed how the fights went in this chapter. But hey, at least Blake didn't set her own house on fire this time. Unfortunately, Ghira lost an arm defending his home. But Jaune and Pyrrha had a successful date, though how will they react to a bunch of new people in the house once they wake up?

Anyway, I began a little project to create a prequel to Big Issues. I estimate that it will only be about thirty chapters long but it will cover the events leading up to V1 and all of V1 up to where Big Issues begins shortly after the food fight. I don't intend for that to slow down my work for this series but it might along with things going on in my life that will be hectic for the summer. So I hope you all will enjoy that series as well.

Anyway, reviews are welcome as always and I'll see you all next time, most likely when I post the first chapter of Small Issues.