Author's note: And now, the group tries to find out what Porcia's semblance does.


When Coco opened her eyes, she saw images of battles against colossal Grimm, so massive that they disappeared behind the horizon. She stared a Wyvern in the eyes, screamed her power at it, and it bowed in terror and obeyed. Then, she suddenly found herself in her bed back in the train station, with Velvet sitting by the bedside, looking out the window. Before Coco could even noticeably move, Velvet's left rabbit ear twitched and she turned around.

"Coco, you're awake," Velvet said and asked, "How are you?"

"Hey Velvet," Coco said, sat up and answered, "I… think I had a weird dream."

"Really? About what?" Velvet asked.

"I… don't really know," Coco answered, "I saw Grimm that were honestly too big for my liking, and I stared them down as if they were nothing."

"That does sound weird, yeah," Velvet said, "Anyway, you should go downstairs and grab something to eat. You've both been out since yesterday, and Ruby hasn't woken up yet, so once she does, she'll definitely freak out and try to make up for the lost time, so we need to be ready."

"Got it," Coco said, got up and headed downstairs, where Glynda and Sirena were waiting, while the others went to make sure that the Grimm stayed away from the areas they had already reclaimed.

"And, how are you?" Sirena asked and said, "First-time fusions tend to be the most intense, after all."

"I'm fine, thanks," Coco said.

"We've got something to eat for you," Glynda said.

"Thanks," Coco said, sat down and ate something, and quickly felt her strength come back, even though she hadn't realized it had been gone in the first place. When she was on her third serving, Ruby came downstairs.

"Hey guys," Ruby said, still half asleep, and asked, "Can I have some?"

"Sure," Glynda answered, grabbed a plate and something to eat for her and asked, "So, how do you feel?"

"Have you ever stayed up all night to study for an exam?" Ruby asked as she started eating, and said, "Now imagine the teacher got sick, and you had the PE teacher as sub and he made you run laps around the school first thing in the morning."

"N- no, I have no idea what that's like," Glynda said, her eyes darting from left to right, "But it does sound bad."

"So, what do we do now?" Velvet asked, earning a sour look from Ruby and making her pull back a little.

"You're joking, right?" Ruby asked and said, "Now we need to regain our strength, and then we'll find out what happened back there."

"Sorry, I just figured, you know, you'd rush into action again," Velvet said.

"Well, I don't," Ruby said and went back to eating, "Sirena, you go and fuse with Weiss. Use your Alpha State and her skill with Combat Drone to secure the areas we already reclaimed, so the rest of us can relax for a bit."

"Got it," Sirena said and turned to leave.

"And if you see Jaune, tell him to come here," Ruby said, "We need to figure out what happened with Porcia."

"Couldn't you just use Telepathy?" Coco asked.

"Good idea," Ruby answered and said, "Sirena, forget what I said about Jaune, just fuse with Weiss. And also, visit the museum and have Aurora copy the semblance of the angel's tear there, then use air-goo for the Combat Drones."

"Sure thing," Sirena said and left the train station. While Glynda brought her another serving, Ruby used Telepathy to tell Jaune and Yang to head back to the train station. After finishing another plate, she stretched her limbs and rested for a bit, waiting for her friends to return.

~o~

Aurora stood in the middle of three circles of Glyphs, with her aura manifesting as fins on her forearms and a fish tail protruding from her back. A constant stream of light green Combat Drones appeared around her and began floating away, following paths she had laid out in advance.

"How are you holding up?" Weiss asked mentally.

"I'm doing quite fine," Sirena responded in kind, "My Regeneration semblance finally comes in handy, and the massive aura requirements of using it, as well as Glyphs and Combat Drone, means that my Alpha State is a lot more sustainable than it would normally be."

"So, how long do we do this?" Weiss asked.

"Until there are enough," Sirena answered, "I would say fifty per path should suffice for now."

"So, how many are there?" Weiss asked.

"Not sure," Sirena answered, "But I can use Countdown to find out, but we'd need to stop using the third circle for a moment, so I can keep this up without Regeneration."

"Got it," Weiss said and stopped summoning Drones above the third circle.

"Now, let's see," Sirena said, paused for a moment and said, "Well, we're only twenty seconds away from two hundred."

"Let's get back when we hit five hundred, then," Weiss said.

"Sounds good," Sirena said and set the Countdown, then Weiss started using the third circle again. Once she was done, Aurora let the Glyphs disappear, allowed Regeneration to heal her gills completely, and then left her Alpha State. However, instead of going back right away, she used Quick Travel to teleport to Team SSSN. After a quick chat, she split up, and Weiss fused with Sun. After their fusion shared their Fiery Terrain semblance with Sun, and Sirena copied it, they split up again. Weiss and Sirena fused again, and after Aurora petrified a pack of Grimm, she bid her farewell and teleported back to Vale.

~o~

When Yang, Nora and Cardin returned to the train station, they already saw Jaune, Ren and Taiyang waiting there, along with Blake and the rest of Cardin's and Coco's teams, as well as Zwei, Khione and the teachers. Once Weiss and Sirena returned from their assigned mission, everyone turned their attention to Ruby, who still looked fairly grumpy, much to everyone's confusion and concern.

"Alright Jaune, do you know what happened with Porcia?" Ruby asked sternly, confusing Jaune a bit with her attitude. Yang got a bit worried and leaned over to Taiyang.

"Is everything alright with her?" Yang asked in a whisper.

"Glynda said she was like that when she woke up," Taiyang answered.

"Yang, dad, please let Jaune explain what he knows," Ruby reprimanded the two.

"Well, there is this thing," Jaune said, still a bit nervous, "I did sense some strange energy from the fusion, right before the bullets started dealing a lot more damage. It was definitely her semblance, but it wasn't a buffing semblance, so I don't know what happened."

"In that case, we need to figure out what it does," Ruby said and turned to Coco.

"Sorry," Coco said and turned away.

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked, "Why not?"

"I don't… I had this weird dream," Coco answered, "I don't know if it's related to fusion, but I need to sort this out first."

"Are you sure it was a dream?" Jaune asked.

"What else could it be?" Coco asked and said, "I saw this giant, and I mean absolutely colossal, serpentine Grimm. I stared a Wyvern into submission, too. It was… crazy."

"Did it look like this?" Yang asked and sent a picture of the Apophis to Coco's scroll.

"It did," Coco answered, staring at the screen in disbelief, and asked, "How did you know?"

"Just as I imagined, that was no dream," Jaune said and explained, "You likely saw Ruby's memories because Porcia was forcibly split up, and you both passed out. That could also explain Ruby's attitude."

"Wait, what?" Coco asked, her eyes wide, "You guys actually fought something like that? I… I don't know what do say. That's crazy. How did you kill that thing?"

"It's big, so there was lots of room to hit it," Ruby answered.

"But that still doesn't explain why Ruby is so grumpy," Taiyang said, and Coco sighed.

"It's probably my old neighbor," Coco said, "That guy put up too many decorations in his yard, with no sense of coordination."

"No, it's the beauty pageant," Ruby said, confusing Coco a little.

"Why?" Coco asked and said, "I don't remember anything bad happening."

"It's not about what happened there," Ruby said, "You shouldn't put children through that sort of thing, or in that kind of outfit. I have half a mind to run for council and outlaw those things."

"Yeah, I guess it's not everyone's cup of tea," Coco said.

"Can we please focus on clearing out the city for now?" Glynda asked, drawing everyone's attention to herself.

"Alright, what's the situation?" Ruby asked, and Glynda pulled out her tablet and made a map of Vale appear as hologram above it, showing the different areas in different colors.

"We have the industrial district mostly under control," Glynda answered, "However, the agricultural district is still largely under Grimm control, and so far, there has been no success in reclaiming the upper class districts."

"And the good news?" Ruby asked.

"Commercial and residential districts are almost completely under our control," Glynda answered.

"Good," Ruby said and asked, "Now, Jaune, how do I get those memories out of the forefront of my mind?"

"What do you mean?" Taiyang asked.

"These memories are somehow… stuck," Ruby answered, "It's like they're refreshing every couple seconds, so they don't go away, and it's really distracting."

"Sorry, but I don't know what to do here," Jaune said.

"I do, though," Sirena said, "I had something similar happen when I first fused with Talia. It eventually got easier to ignore, but we ultimately fixed it by fusing again."

"Alright then, let's go," Ruby said and got up.

"Sure," Coco said, got up as well and walked over to Ruby, and the two fused again.

"And while we're at it, we should test our semblance," Porcia said, with Ruby's voice being more prominent.

"Then we should also give it a name," Porcia said, this time with Coco's voice being the prominent one, and left the train station to go find some Grimm.

"Hold up, we'll come with you," Yang said and followed Porcia, and Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Ren and Nora followed her as well. Qrow and Glynda exchanged some quick looks, then looked over to Coco's team, who had decided to stay and trust Ruby's friends.

~o~

Walking down a road in the agricultural district, Porcia recoiled a bit due to the ground being covered in animal waste, but decided to press on anyway, as she could not only train her semblance, but also help reclaim the city's food supply in the process. She eventually found a pack of Creeps, and got ready to deploy her weapons.

"And now, we wait," Porcia said and stared the Grimm down, preventing them from moving, until her friends arrived.

"Does it have to be this part?" Weiss asked, "Do you know what we're standing in?"

"Could be worse," Porcia answered, "And besides, you seem to have everything under control."

"Out of necessity," Weiss said, looking down at her feet, where her Combat Cloak semblance, acting like it was augmented with water-dust thanks to Douse, washed all the animal waste away in a small radius around her, clearing a path for the others.

"Anyway, get ready, I'm starting," Porcia said. Jaune focused on how her aura changed, and Yang set a timer on her scroll, while Blake focused on the Grimm, to pick up any changes on their end. Porcia activated her semblance, and the Grimm attacked, only to be utterly decimated, no matter how hard or soft she hit them. Weiss washed a nearby bench, removing as much waste and filth as she could, then dried it with air-dust. Suddenly, Porcia split up, and Ren and Nora rushed to catch Ruby and Coco.

"Put them down over there," Weiss said and gestured to the bench, and Ren and Nora sat them down.

"And, what did you find out?" Ruby asked, slightly dazed, but awake.

"It's definitely not a buffing semblance," Jaune answered, "But I don't know what it is, either."

"Those things took a lot more damage than they should," Blake said, "This semblance is definitely powerful, and is bound to help us against the Carcolh."

"Yeah, but it only lasts ten seconds," Yang said, "After that, the fun's over and Porcia's aura breaks."

"Then I say we have you all copy it," Ruby said, "If it's not a buffing semblance, it has to be something else, and if we all use it, and share our experiences, we should be able to figure out what it does more quickly."

"Sounds good," Coco said, "Just let me rest for a bit."

"Yeah, we'll wait for our auras to regenerate naturally this time," Ruby said, "You guys go and make sure we don't get attacked."

"Got it," Weiss said, "Jaune, if you would." Her Combat Cloak disappeared, and Jaune hit her with Douse again, then she made a new one. The group then split up to cover more ground. Weiss, Blake and Yang went one way, and when they reached the nearest crossing, Weiss created a blue Combat Drone to hold the ground, then they split up and each went down another road, to next crossing. Jaune, Ren and Nora went the other way, and when they reached the nearest crossing, Jaune placed an Aura Guardian before the trio split up as well.

~o~

After about ten minutes, during which Ruby and Coco occasionally heard the sounds of combat and wished they could participate, their auras had fully regenerated. Ruby notified her friends via text, and they all returned within a few minutes.

"And also, just so you know, your eyes might hurt afterwards," Ruby said while they waited, "At least, that's what everyone who's fusion had used their silver eyes says."

"Well, that's reassuring," Coco said and asked, "Anything else?"

"I'm primarily using positive emotions to use my powers," Ruby answered, "So it would help a lot if you could think of people you want to protect, and the feelings you have towards them. But I can also use sorrow and grief, if that works better for you."

"I see," Coco said, "But positive emotions work better."

"Got it," Ruby said, "Then we need to get a bit more creative." She took a small earth-dust crystal out of one of her pockets and used Emphatic Beacon to make it attract Grimm, then used Wolfpack to send a single wolf made of earthy-brown energy with rock-like structures on it after nearby Grimm.

"What was that for?" Coco asked.

"We need Grimm to use the silver eyes," Ruby answered, "The rocks resulting from that wolf attacking that Beowolf will attract them, which will make it easier for us."

"Great idea," Blake said as she, Weiss and Yang walked up to the duo, while Jaune, Ren and Nora came down the other road. Once everyone was back, Ruby and Coco fused into Porcia again, and she took the lead, followed by Weiss, who used Combat Cloak after Jaune hit her with Douse, clearing a path for the others.

"You know, this really makes me wish I would've taken you up on that offer back then," Yang said, "It would be great to be able to help."

"I guess I can go back later," Weiss said, "Then Ruby summons a Seer, and I have the fusion let all of you copy their semblance."

"That would be great, thanks," Yang said, "For now, though, I have an idea. Jaune, hit me with Douse."

"Of course," Jaune said and manifested a small orb of blue energy, and sent it towards Yang. After it disappeared into her, she clenched both her fists, and they began glowing dark blue. The glow intensified and grew into large fists, then separated from her hands, giving her two additional fists, which appeared to be made out of water.

"Alright you stupid crap, show me what you've got," Yang said, and her Aura Hands shot upwards, only to come crashing down on a crossing in front of the group, exploding into small floods of water and cleaning the road a lot.

"Well, that works," Blake said, "A bit crude, but I guess Weiss can handle the finer things."

"Great idea," Porcia said. Yang sent a few more Aura Hands, cleaning up spots along the road, while Weiss removed the spots she missed. After a few minutes, the group reached the rock, which was already surrounded by weaker Grimm, which were entranced by it and completely ignored the group. They approached, and once Porcia got close enough, she unleashed a burst of light from her silver eyes, turning the Grimm to stone and letting the others copy her semblance.

"I already feel a bit sorry for Coco," Weiss said.

"Yeah, she's in for a rude awakening when you split up," Jaune said and asked, "By the way, what did you decide to call your semblance?"

"Don't worry, Ruby already told her about that issue, and she's fine with it," Porcia said and answered, "I decided to call it Trump Card, since we don't know exactly how it works, but it still helps us." When she split up again, Coco hissed a bit and pressed her eyes closed, and rubbed them a little.

"I know you told me about it, but that really hurts," Coco said.

"Don't worry, it won't last long," Jaune said.

"Anyway, let's head back," Ruby said and drew her scythe, "This thing will keep attracting Grimm for a while."

"Hold on, I've got an idea," Weiss said and held out her rapier. A blue Combat Drone appeared and floated ahead, stopping above the rock.

"Great idea," Ruby said and asked, "So, anything special about this one?"

"There is, yes," Weiss answered, "I combined it with Deathzone, so that Grimm start taking damage before even getting into firing range. That way, the shots will mostly miss, sending water flying everywhere. Also, it's tied to the Emphatic Beacon."

"That's pretty smart," Ruby said and asked, "But, what does that second part mean?"

"It means this Drone has no set number of shots," Weiss answered, "Instead, it will vanish once the Emphatic Beacon wears off."

"Now that's what I call useful," Coco said, "Well done."

"Thanks," Weiss said, "However, this type of Drone is very difficult to make, and they're immobile once in position. Also, unlike other Drones, these ones can be destroyed by Grimm."

"Well, at least we have this much," Ruby said, "But now, we should really head back."

"Once the Combat Cloak wears off," Weiss said, "Sorry, I can't really turn this off."

"It's fine, we'll just wait a bit," Ruby said. The group waited a few minutes, which Weiss mostly spent walking around the area and cleaning the road. Once the semblance wore off, Ruby opened a portal to Cardin, and the group went through.

~o~

Back at the train station, everyone cleaned their shoes and washed their hands, and whatever other areas they felt needed to be cleaned, went to get a new change of clothes, and then entered their soul core to find out how to use Trump Card.

"And, how did it go?" Taiyang asked, walking up to Ruby.

"Pretty well, all things considered," Ruby answered, "My friends got a new semblance, and once they're ready, we can go and try to find out what it does."

"Sounds great," Taiyang said, "Just don't push yourself too hard, alright?"

"This again?" Ruby asked and said, "I told you, I'm fine."

"People who are fine don't pass out and get replaced by a pirate," Taiyang said, "Just promise me you'll be careful, okay?"

"I- alright," Ruby said, "Sorry I worried you so much."

"Thanks," Taiyang said, "I know you want to help people, but sometimes, the only person you have to protect is yourself. After all, your friends won't be much better off if you're unconscious."

"That's true," Ruby said, "I guess… I just got so caught up in everything going on, and my powers, and just, well, protecting those around me, that I tend to overlook myself."

"Well, at least you know you're doing it," Taiyang said with a smile, and asked, "So, how are you feeling?"

"Yeah," Ruby said and answered, "And, I guess… hungry."

"Got it, hold on," Taiyang said and walked away, and came back with an apple shortly after. He handed Ruby the apple, and she took it and began eating it while waiting for her friends to get ready. When she almost finished the apple, Yang came downstairs and sat down at the table, waiting for the rest.


Author's note: Since the show has yet to go over Coco's backstory, and I consider the books secondary sources, I decided to take some liberties. The neighbor she mentioned is a nod to my old neighbor, who had a similar problem: Everything that's sold in the lawn decoration aisle just gets tossed onto his front yard.

As for the beauty pageant: It was a one-and-done thing, which Coco only did to have done it. Anyway, with how much she helps reclaim the city, Ruby definitely has the political power to ask the council to outlaw those things.