Chapter 47: Playdate

Author's Notes

Here's the first in the pre-emptive updates. Remember, if you read all these chapters the day they're posted, you'll be left to ponder the melancholy nature of a post-less existence for two weeks. Up to you, but you might enjoy the benefit of having time to digest this podcast if you stick to only reading chapters on Wednesday and Thursday. But hey, how you budget is your business.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!

In which the little kids have some fun while the mature adults get down to their mature adult business.

If Neo could go back in time, she'd never have engaged the rich bitch and the walking machine gun. It had brought her nothing but the finest smorgasbord of assorted pains. She'd nearly drowned in the frigid ocean waters, the tall guy broke her arm, Mercury shot her in the gut, and now Cinder freaking Fall had it out for her. When the big boss of the largest criminal enterprise Vale had ever seen hated your guts, it was time to skip town.

Except she couldn't. Roman was still in prison, so she was bound to Team Caiman. Plus, to make things worse, there was no Dust bribe waiting at the end of the tunnel. The Schnee's team had sprung the trap early and disarmed the White Fang. All of her promised profits were lost. The situation was spiraling out of control, and every time the clock ticked it got that much worse for Neo.

If Beacon or the cops found her, she was dead.

If Cinder decided she was more trouble than she was worth, she was dead.

If the Castle idiots she'd pissed off came back for revenge, she was dead.

If the Schnee slut or robo-tits saw through her disguise, she was dead.

If she died, she was dead.

The walls were closing in on her, and she was afraid. M̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶R̶o̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶b̶e̶h̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶r̶u̶n̶.̶

For now, though, the only option was complete compliance. Neo was giving Emerald a run for her money in the 'obey Cinder' contest. When Cinder said to suck it up and become besties with the brainless brat squad, she'd whipped out the nail polish and a pillow for the sleepover.

It was fucking humiliating, not to mention redundant. She'd already been punished for going after Red – a scar on her stomach from where Mercury had gunned her down her proved it. Why in the Brothers' name was everything bad happening to her?

Emerald had a smug-ass grin when she'd dropped Neo off at Team Rainbow's dorm saying that the little girl was looking to make friends and wanted to spend the night. Neo wanted to extend that smile all the way around the Mistrilian whore's head and up to her eyes with a knife, but Cinder insisted that she needed to 'make it up to those she wronged' – a.k.a. Cinder wanted to torture her without physically bruising her in a way that would show. So here she was, staring at Red, Yellow, Bitch, and Black and waiting for the friendship to sail.

"What would you like to do?" asked Yellow.

"…"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Um…"

Cinder told her to play nice, so Neo begrudgingly pointed to a desk with some random bric-a-brac on it. There wasn't actually particular on the desk that interested Neo, but these dumb broads would probably pick some random toy and Neo would roll with that.

Red picked up a notebook. "Do you want to see my sketches? Do you like drawing?"

The others frantically waved their hands behind Red, but Neo nodded. The three facepalmed.

"Ooh ooh! Here's a drawing I made of an oatmeal cookie. They're healthier than most cookies, but I try not to hold it against them."

"Hey, Ruby. I just remembered that I have to go pay some taxes. You'll take care of Neo, right?"

"Sure. Have fun, Weiss."

"Yo, Rubaby? I gotta go give Zwei a bath."

"Ruff?"

"Bye, Yang. Bye, Zwei."

Now it was just Black, Red, and Neo's disguised also-black hair. Black stared at Neo intently, and Neo worried for a moment that she was made.

"Do I know you from somewhere?"

Unless you used to roll with Roman Torchwick or the White Fang's Bureau of Dust Theft, probably not.

Red held up a box of crayons. "Neo, Blake, why don't we all draw our favorite desserts together?"

"Crikey! I'm late to my appointment to get spayed. Sorry, you guys!"

Neo held off on rolling her eyes as she accepted a crayon. If she humored Red for a little while, Cinder might focus more on the mission, and Neo could fade into the background once more.

"Blake once told me snickerdoodles are the best. Can you believe her? The nerve of some Faunus."

Neo tried not to pass out from boredom as she began to draw a scoop of ice cream.

"We all know that chocolate chip is the best."

Stupid – wait, chocolate chip? Like mint chocolate chip? Perhaps little Red wasn't brain dead after all.

Yang knocked on the door.

"Enter."

The voice that beckoned her was familiar. Too familiar.

"Ah, do come in, young huntress! Welcome to the sup 𝓟𝓞𝓡𝓣 group for students. Come in, come in!"

If Yang had know that Professor Port was hosting this little therapy club, she might've had second thots about coming, but she'd already knocked. It would be way too rude to turn around now.

It was a few hours after the Neo girl decided to do community service by distracting Ruby. Yang had been working out in the Beacon gym (those ripped abs didn't come for free) when she'd seen the flyer advertising a chance for students who had rough missions to destress and talk it out in a classroom in the western wing of Beacon's main building. It had even advertised a professional huntsman being there to give advice. That should've been the red flag – professional huntsman at Beacon meant either Uncle Qrow or Professor Poop himself.

Yang stepped into Port's classroom and looked about her fellow sufferers. There were six students beside her seated together in a circle, with plenty of empty chairs for more.

Blake. Of course she was there. They'd shared stories when Blake came back without Hazel and Yang came back without Gretchen.

Nora, rubbing Sky Lark on the back. Sky's torch, Arson, was collapsed into its compact form and lodged under his chair.

Weiss. She sat next to her partner, and they were holding hands. Yang suppressed the unpleasant feelings that brought her and pushed her frustration to the back of her head. This was a therapy group, not a roughhousing club.

Coco, the leader of Team Coffee. Huh, that was odd. Wasn't the fashionista supposed to be a third year? Yang would've expected her to have thicker skin by this point. She didn't mean that in a rude way, just that it would make sense for a huntress who'd gone on numerous missions to be more desensitized after the years of grueling combat.

The last student was someone she didn't recognize. Yang nodded and said quiet greetings to her peers as she took an empty seat next to Blake.

"Excellent, excellent. I'm pleased to see another huntress who does not subscribe to silly notions that seeking help makes one weak. All are welcome here." The tubby teacher looked at his scroll. "It's about time we began. Let's start by going around the circle and sharing our stories. Miss Adel?"

"I'll go first," said the fashionista to Yang's left. "My name is Coco Adel, and I'm a cocaine addict."

"Hi, Coco," the chorus of the room said in unison.

"I suppose you could say that I'm in love with the–"

Port interrupted. "Miss Adel, I think you have the wrong sup ℙ𝕆ℝ𝕋 group. Why don't you go next, Lustre?"

The boy stood up. "Hi, my name is Lustre, and I–"

Yang shot him in the gut with Ember Celica. "No OCs, dammit!"

Port wiped the sweat from his brow. "Two for two. Gadzooks, this isn't going well. How about we open the floor up, and whoever wants to speak can go?"

"Ahem." Nora patted Sky's back, and the gray boy spoke. "My name is Sky, and I've been having a bit of a rough time since my mission."

"I thought Team Castle pulled off their mission without a hitch," interjected Yang.

"Miss Xiao-Long, please let Sky speak. Everyone in the sup ⊥ᴚOԀ group will have their turn to share."

"It's okay, sir. You're absolutely right, Yang. The mission was peachy, and we did the undoable. For the first time in Remnant history, we've got a Grimm behind bars, and it was all because of my actions. But I've been a mess ever since."

Sky picked up his torch and looked at it forlornly. "I made this because I wanted to get better. Losing my halberd to Morrighan was a wake-up call."

Who the heck is Morrighan? Yang wondered. I don't know any student of Beacon by that name. A transfer, maybe?

"Everything changed that day. I lost to a Grimm, but that only motivated me to get better. If a Beowolf had the potential to become more than it already was, so did Sky Lark. I promised myself that I would become stronger and smarter and settle the score between us. And we did! We beat her! We won, and I won, and we won with my strategy, and I finally felt good about myself. But what they told us…it's insane.

"She was brand new. She wasn't a week old when she ran circles around us in initiation, and the others are veterans and have years, decades, centuries of experience and – and – and there's no way we'll ever…it's like beating the final boss in a videogame and then learning that they're the Goombas in the sequel. I'm not sure what to do." Sky's voice broke. "What do I do?"

Sky's face collapsed into his hands as his team leader comforted him. The poor dude looked like he was on the verge of tears. Yang had no idea what he was going on about, but she felt for him, she really did.

Nora took him by the hand. "We don't expect you to understand. Sky asked to come here for a chance to voice what he was feeling without the guys back home finding out. If you all don't mind keeping this private, we'd greatly appreciate that."

The professor nodded. "But of course. What happens in the sup 🄿🄾🅁🅃 group stays in the supⓅⓄⓇⓉ group."

"Sorry for venting. I just couldn't keep it bottled in any longer," Sky concluded, leaving the floor to the Rainbows.

Yang looked at her comrades. Neither of them particularly looked like they wanted to go next. Well, now's as good a time as any to score some brownie points with Blake by showing my vulnerable side and opening up. Chicks dig that sensitive shit, right?

"Sup? I'm Yang, and I also had a rough mission. Ran into the White Fang. Lost my hair." Yang fingered a lock of her now short haircut. "Also, the sheriff I was assigned to shadow…didn't make it. I was with her when it happened."

Port nodded knowingly. "I've stood alongside many a great hunter on missions over the course of my career, and I've had the misfortune of seeing several fall in the line of duty. With the danger we face, it tends not to be a question of if, but when. Is there anything you'd like to get off your chest?"

She was torn in half while I bantered.

"I just wish I could've done more. I won't say I liked the woman, but whatever her faults, she didn't deserve to die. Not like that. No one deserves…that." Yang sat back down.

"Miss Xiao-Long, you were but an apprentice to this professional. If your adversary was so dangerous that a fully trained huntress could not stand against them, there is no expectation that a student of Beacon should. I realize that this shall not ease your burden, but please know that we all feel this guilt. It is a sign that you are an empathetic person. The best way to honor your fallen ally is to make her sacrifice meaningful and live your life as best you can. Waste no moment, let no opportunity pass you by, and continue to fight to preserve our world."

"Thanks, teach. That…actually makes me feel a bit better."

"Miss Belladonna and Miss Schnee, were the pair of you ladies here for the same reason? The tragic loss of your sheriff on Team Rainbow's mission?"

Both shook their heads.

"I'm sorry to hear about Gretchen, but I'm here for a different reason," said Weiss. "I've found my faith shaken."

"Your faith in your team?"

"No. Never. What I question is if being a hunter is the right thing to do. I fought a Faunus who made many bad choices, but in the end, he tried to help us prevent a tragedy. Before he died, he told me things about the people of Mountain Glenn, and how callous and corrupt they were. Hunters, the supposed protectors of the city, let innocents die. The rich and powerful didn't help dying Faunus despite having more than enough resources to do so. That Faunus I fought may have done horrible things, and I'll never think that what he did was right. But he sought to fight the injustice in the world and took more action than real hunters, albeit with methods both misguided and dark. He was killed by Adam Taurus for defecting from the White Fang."

Yang tensed, and Blake clenched her fists.

"When the hunters of Mountain Glenn came and fought Taurus away, they laughed at this Faunus' corpse. They said 'one less animal for us to put down.' I hate that. I hate them. I hate hunters."

Port shuffled in his seat. "Surely those few only represent a small fraction of hunters as a whole."

"Professor, has Beacon ever campaigned to send humanitarian aid or security forces to Gravel Lane in Mountain Glenn?"

"No, but Beacon is firmly opposed to discrimination in any–"

"Between televised tournaments, international recognition, and celebrity status, hunters are the most influential people on the planet. How many have actively used their platforms to protest inequality?"

"Well, not as many as one would hope, but–"

"You said you fought among many great hunters. Have any of them ever fought Grimm on the island of Menagerie?"

"I…er…not exactly. Well…no. No, we have not. Rarely do hunters venture beyond the four major kingdoms and their settlements."

"I'm not trying to blame you, sir. I know you treat everyone equally in your classes. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth to see hunters worshipped as heroes when so many don't care about such a significant percentage of this world's population. And before a few weeks ago, I used to be among them. Whether it's racism or neglect or ignorance doesn't matter to those who get overlooked. It didn't matter to the man who died believing that there was no way besides terrorism to get others to notice his people's suffering."

Yang was stunned that Weiss had been keeping all this in. Her own trauma over the mission was tough, but it was something she'd work through in time. To have your entire worldview challenged like that must have been eating away at the heiress.

Port sighed. "I don't believe there is anything I can say to ease your worries, Miss Schnee. I'm sorry that I cannot offer you the answers you seek."

"I understand, professor. Like Sky, I didn't expect to be handed a magical solution. I just needed to let everything out. And I can say for certain that there's at least one cookie-loving dork of a huntress who does care. That ought to be enough for now."

"Miss Belladonna, perhaps my counseling can be of greater assistance towards the resolution of your concerns."

"I have the same issue as Yang. I feel guilty about my involvement in our hunter chaperone's death."

Unlike Gretchen's blaze of glory, Hazel had died in Blake's arms. How horrible must that have been? To feel completely powerless and do nothing but watch as a good man faded away? To hear his last words and final prayers? To see his eyes close for the last time? Yang hoped that Port could give Blake some measure of closure. It would be difficult, though, since Blake couldn't give specifics on why she felt guilty. Team Rainbow had agreed that the knowledge of Blake's old ties to the White Fang should be buried alongside the Rainarts. They'd all left something behind on the train ride home.

"I just feel like I've left so much suffering in my wake. I've always wanted to make Remnant a better place, but when I look back, I can't remember anything but pain and failure. Is fighting and hurting the only thing I'm good for? Is it even worth it? Should I just quit?"

"Never." Port rose from his seat, his eyes blazing, his stomach bulging, and his mustache unrelenting. "You must never feel that way, my dear. To give in to our despair is to let the Grimm and all that is evil win. Life is a great mystery, but our only constant is the fact that we may choose where it takes us. Here, I can and shall offer you some concrete advice. If ever you feel beaten down by the trials and tribulations of the hunter's life, think not of the past. Think of the future. As Miss Schnee pointed out, there are far too many who need our aid in this world to sit idly. We can, nay, we must continue to fight for those who cannot, whether that is on the battlefield or elsewhere. We have been blessed with the greatest gift of all, and it is not aura to which I refer. It is the chance to help the innocent, to protect the weak…"

Yang was taken aback by Port's words.

Woah. Who knew this guy had it in him? I'm almost inspired by Professor Tubby.

"…and to give them our sup 𝔭𝔬𝐑Ť."

"Oh, you guys are such a riot!"

The guys on Team LIME were not, in fact, a riot. Mercury Black, on the other hand, was on the verge of starting a riot if he had to listen to these boring suckers for another minute.

"Tell us, Merc. What's it like being on a team of three hotties?"

"You mean four hotties," said Mercury. "I just so happen to be quite the lady-killer."

That part was entirely true; Mercury had killed several women.

"Hah, he's got you there!" said the dumb one. Oh, wait. They were all the dumb one.

"It's actually not just sexy times all the time," explained Mercury. "Cinder may be smokin' hot, but she's also smokin' hot. Literally. A roommate with a fire semblance can be a bit of a problem, especially when she has a temper."

"I know, right? Leland here has a wind semblance, so every time he farts it blows away my papers."

Too easy. It's almost like they don't guard every single slightly personal detail. Buncha weirdos.

The conversation wound down, and Mercury walked away with the knowledge of three semblances and two weapon descriptions. All it cost him was Cinder's already very public fire semblance and Emerald's weird sickle-gun-chain thing, but fuck those two. If they wanted to go around ordering him to gather intel, they'd better be prepared for him to give out a little. It seemed like a fair trade.

As Mercury stepped by the door of some first years' dorm, he managed to overhear the room's residents and paused at their soft conversation.

"…with the headmaster…"

"…you the one to…"

"…power beyond comprehension…"

Power beyond comprehension? Now that sounded interesting. Mercury looked around but the halls were empty. If he missed out on a scoop like this, Cinder might never forgive him. Well, she would never know if he missed it, but it wouldn't hurt to have a little something in his back pocket that could impress the boss, especially given how testy she was after the whole Neo-ice-cream-and-murder debacle.

Mercury put his ear up to the door and listened in.

"All I'm asking is that you come and meet with him. He'll be the one to make the proposal. I'm just being a middleman."

"Jaune, I'm just not sure how ok I am with how everything is going. He singles you out and grooms you, then all of a sudden Team Adventure is his private investigation force, and you're having hushed conversations with two headmasters, and Penny's a robot, and Ozpin's talking about you dying!"

"It's not like that. The secret conversations the boys and I have won't be secret anymore because Oz will explain everything to you when you meet…er, I mean, if you meet with him. Penny? That was as much a surprise for me as it was for you. Well, it was the first time around. As for the mission, we only took it because I wanted to go after Cinder for what she did to Ruby in the CCT. I know how you two have been best friends since…"

Mercury was long gone before Arc finished the sentence. He had a distinct feeling that this was above his paygrade. If Cinder hadn't filled him in on an attack on something she'd done to Ruby Rose or the CCT, that meant he wasn't supposed to know. Right now, his best option was to pretend he'd never been there and that he knew nothing about anything. Should Cinder find out that he was privy to a secret of hers, there was no telling how she would react. That crazy broad was one bad day from a full meltdown of volcanic proportions.

Between the four losers and everything else he'd gleaned, he'd probably have enough for today to return back to home base and not look like a fool. Mercury paused to gather himself before leaving for the transfer dormitories. This mission was absolutely insane with a capital I. His father had trained him for close combat, stealth hits, and assassinations, not whatever he was doing here. This whole 'infiltrate and gather intel' job that Cinder was having him pull was getting real old real fast. At least the good part was finally here. The Vytal Tournament began tomorrow, and he'd get to put all that knowledge they'd gathered to good use by beating the shit out of these annoying brats. Mercury smiled at the thought of grinding Team LIME into the ground as he opened the door to his dorm.

Cinder was clothed. Emerald was not.

Mercury shut the door just as Cinder turned and looked at him from her seat. Her seat, in this case, being Emerald's face. The green haired girl had been lying flat in her bed with Cinder cross-legged above her, tapping on her scroll. As he left, Mercury tried to not devote too much brainpower to wondering why Cinder was the only clothed one between the two of them when she was on the receiving end…Dust, those two were weird. This did explain a lot, though.

Oh, fuck. I just realized – they pawned off Neo to a babysitter and sent me out chasing intel to get some alone time.

Now that his own room was off limits, Mercury really had nowhere to go. Here he was at the premiere educatory establishment in the kingdom. There had to be something that could keep him entertained for…however long it took women. Five minutes? Ten? Merc had no idea. Maybe he should find some overnight accommodations, just to be safe.

The sun was starting to set, so Mercury headed to the western wing of Beacon. He'd heard there was some kind of group therapy going on. Maybe he could wring a little fun out of watching some traumatized children talk about the specifics of why they wanted to die.

And he wasn't just trying to be edgy when he thought that. The idea that these oafish toddlers thought that they had it bad irked him to no end. They'd had everything anyone could ever want – money, food, laws that protected them from being beaten half to death by a world renowned assassin. Now they thought that just because some Grimm had scratched their brand new, expensive armor on a mission with training wheels, they were entitled to all the sympathy in Remnant. Mercury's first mission was to kill some company bigwig and his entire security detail, including two hunter-level guards. It earned him two fractured ribs, just enough blood loss to not kill him but hurt like a Beowolf up the ass, and a concussion or two – and you didn't see him asking for a private counselor. T̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶.̶

A noise stopped him in his tracks as he was on his way to the misery circus. Mercury paused and listened to what sounded like singing. He didn't think he could handle overhearing any more shocking revelations and mind-bending secrets, but he didn't have anything better to do. Most likely, it was some lyrical first year practicing for the school play. Mercury would bust 'em in the act and have a laugh at their expense.

The sound was coming from behind a locked door. It wasn't locked for someone like Mercury, though.

When he switched the lights on, Mercury found him in a hallway. The corridor was deserted, and it seemed to be full of training rooms. Extra large training rooms. The hallway was probably two hundred feet long, but there were only three rooms on each side. Odd that Beacon would decommission an entire floor like this, especially when everything seemed to be in perfect working order.

The noise was coming from the one of the rooms, the one on the end. Unlike the others that were full of equipment and bleachers, this one had its windows blocked by thick sheets of metal. The door was bound by tightly wound steel chains. Whatever they were keeping in here, they didn't want anyone to get to it. And that fact alone made Mercury all the more interested in it.

The rhythmic noise stopped when he shattered the links of the chain with a kick, but this door's lock took longer to pick. It was clear that the door to the corridor was locked as a cheap and easy way to keep snooping children out, but this room got the heavy-duty security measures. Mercury's curiosity burned within him, and he found himself getting excited for the first time in a long time, in spite of himself.

The mechanism clicked, and Mercury opened the door. Inside was the gnarliest looking Beowolf that had ever grossed out the planet, strapped to a table with a muzzle over its snout. Either this was the Beacon experimental research division or the kinkiest thing he'd ever seen since…well, since two minutes ago in his own room.

"Huh. I didn't know they could even capture Grimm. What's so special about you to merit all this cloak and dagger stuff, I wonder."

The Grimm's eyes were crying out some dark liquid, but for some reason it felt like it was looking right at him. Muffled growls emanated from beneath the muzzle. That explained the noise. He must've misheard the creature snarling and mistook it for human vocalizations.

"Gggggrrrrrkkkk!"

"Don't suppose you were singing to pass the time, eh?"

Mercury made to step out of door, but the Grimm's growling intensified when he moved. Honestly, it was negligent of whoever had gagged this thing to not do it properly. It was clear that Beacon was trying to keep this on the down low, but he'd only been drawn in here by the cries. Mercury didn't spook easily, but the next poor soul who overheard and decide to poke their nose in might be in for a shock.

Now that sounded like a real riot.

Hmmm…

"Hey, I'm going to take off your muzzle, but you gotta promise not to bite me, 'kay?"

It didn't matter. Mercury flared up his aura around his fingers as he unwound the buckles and clips. Even if this Grimm did try to get a taste, there was nothing it could do. Mercury had all the power in this situation, just the way he liked it.

The muzzle came off, but the Grimm wasn't growling.

"What if the ice cream sandwich had a toothpick through it?" said Ruby. "That would add additional support."

Pint Size: Good start, but not a toothpick. Too short. Too flimsy. Possibility of splinters.

Ruby looked at her scroll and scratched her chin. "Hmmm…"

Inspiration struck, and Neo furiously sketched a knife stabbed through the cookies instead. This was the – ninth draft? Nineteenth? Ninetieth? She'd lost count. It didn't matter. She'd make a thousand blueprints if she had to. Ruby was an absolute godsend – her knowledge of how crumbly cookies were, which were best for support, and what went best with which flavor of ice cream was extraordinarily valuable on their quest.

"Perfect! And when you're done eating, you can use the knife as a weapon."

Pint Size: You like weapons?

"I love weapons!"

A shortstack after Neo's own heart – it was too good to be true. Neo delightedly wrapped her arms around her fellow murder enthusiast as the younger girl squealed in teasing protest and tried to pry herself free.

The premise has started simple – find a better way to make ice cream sandwiches that didn't leave you with an awkward mess of crumbs and melted goo on your fingers by the last bite. Now, the duo was on fire. Triple decker ice cream cylinders with alternating cookies in between, a ginger snap interior helical support structure for its rigidity and spice, even thermally resistive candy coating for insulation. No idea was too wild for the two of them. Neo finally had someone who could match her craziness, her love of weapons, and her sweet tooth.

Praise be to Cinder for sending me her way.

"But the knife increases surface area to mass ratio. The higher that gets, the faster the heat transfers out. We're essentially adding a conductive fin. We'd lose everything we gained from optimizing the cylindrical dimensions."

"You two are still going at it?"

Neo turned to see White peeking into the room from the doorway. The clock by the wall read…3am already? There was hardly enough time to finish before classes started tomorrow! Raising her middle finger to the interloper, Neo resumed her work.

"Yeah, Weiss. Get outta here, we're busy. Go pay your taxes!"

"But…the dorm…sleep…"

"You're the heiress to a rich Dust company. Buy a mattress store."

Dust!

Pint Size: If we added an ice Dust chamber to the knife, it would solve the heat transfer and make the knife even more lethal!

"Genius! And let's give it a gun!"

Neo was more of a bladed weapons gal herself, but she made sure to add it in. Only the best for her new bestie.

Omake

Yang: No OCs, dammit!

Lustre: But you had Grimm OCs! And Toby!

Yang: Grimm OCs don't count. And the scene with Toby was crack.

Coco: Did someone say crack?

Next Chapter: Round One – In which Team Caiman meets their match, and a new contender enters the fray.