Chapter 77: A Rabbit among Plagiarism

Who knows what I'm going to steal next…maybe Professor Arc?

More people were staring than she'd expected, but Weiss kept her head held high. Even if the whole world thought lowly of her, she would not bow. Never.

Still, their party wasn't exactly bothered for keeping a Schnee around. The looks were there, but only quick glances and double takes without any action or accusations – more surprise than anger. Faunus were running about the port like the end of the world was coming, and none of them had the time to spare on three humans, a robot, and a motorcycle.

"This is…weird, right?" Yang asked uncertainly.

"I don't know." Weiss shook her head and looked into the shallow tide pools, where fish and amphibian Faunus were doing mechanical work on the undersides of the midsized motorboats and trawlers in the harbor. "I've never been."

"Kuo Kuana's supposed to be a hustle-and-bustle top of the mornin' port city and all that shit, but I'd never heard of it being this crazy," said Raven. "This reminds me of Atlas when they're about to take off for battle, or the tribe when we're breaking camp."

Penny, oblivious as always, stepped right in front of a bat Faunus holding a crate and smiled.

"Salutations! We are looking for the White Fang!"

"Wha – look, human, I don't have time for this. Julianus, Ringo, come and help me with these boxes." The bat Faunus waved over two burly looking men. "Scram, kid. We're busy."

Penny was undeterred. "Specifically, we seek to find one Adam Taurus. We are in need of his mediation on a matter of–"

The Faunus grabbed her shoulders with such fervor that Weiss reached for her weapon. "Adam? You're here because of Adam? Are you four huntresses? Did he send you?"

"We–"

"–are," finished Weiss, nodding. "We are the huntresses that Adam sent for. He wanted us to head straight to those in charge."

So, Adam's not here, but his name carries weight. Weiss tucked that away for later.

The Faunus sighed a huge exhale of relief. "Oh, thank fuck. I'd never though Adam would work with humans. I guess it really is the end of days. The high leaders are in the Belladonna mansion." He provided them with the directions.

As they set off, Raven eyed her suspiciously. "You're an awfully good liar, girlie."

"Lying is good for business, and I know business. If we want to complete our quest and find answers about Blake from the White Fang's high leadership, completely transparent honesty is not in the cards. Besides, we are huntresses, and we're here because of Adam."

"Are you sure you didn't just volunteer us to be a hit squad for the White Fang?" asked Yang.

Weiss ignored her.

"This is so weird," said Raven. "I've got my fair share of wild tales from when I was a kid, but you girls have gone and one-upped me. We're literally waltzing into the heart of the White Fang's headquarters on Menagerie as they prep for what looks like the second Faunus War just to ask them if they know some fucking cat."

"She's more than a–"

"Blake wasn't–"

Weiss and Yang spoke over one another in their defense of their fallen teammate. The two girls shared an uncomfortable glance before Weiss spoke.

"Team Rainbow has fought the White Fang before. We know just how dangerous they are, but we also know that they aren't monsters. Not all of them want to extinguish humanity; some just want peace and freedom. If we are calm and reasonable, they may react in kind. And I'd thank you to not refer to Blake as though she were an animal. She may have been a traitor, but she was still our friend."

"Weiss–"

"Yang, I don't want to hear it. You'll get your answers soon enough."

They'd come to find Adam and force him to confess that Blake was White Fang, but Weiss found herself wondering what all the hullabaloo was over. Beacon or not, she was still a huntress. If this was a threat to the four kingdoms, she could not simply ignore it.

Yang didn't take the hint and kept talking. "Weiss, about Blake–"

"Save it. I'm not going to repeat myself."

"I think you're right!"

A quick glance at Penny told the orange haired girl to be on her guard as they walked towards the mansion at the center of the island. Yang might be trying to trick them like before.

"I – I don't think we should ask them whether Blake was a member."

"Afraid of the truth?"

"No. I've decided to trust my teammate. Look, the reason I was so bullheaded was the same reason you jumped in to defend Blake just now. Even if I consciously know that she was a murderer, I can't help but remember the good times we shared as a team. You saved me from her, and I'm thankful for that. I don't hate you, and I don't want to fight you. It's just that, whenever I'd see you, I'd remember that you were the reason Blake was gone and react with my gut. Blake is like a drug – I keep swearing to never think of her again, and then I can't stop myself when I do. I'm…I'm sorry. For punching you. Twice."

Weiss' eyes narrowed as she digested the words. This could be a ploy of some sort, but Yang wasn't one to do that. When she was angry, she didn't scheme – she socked you in the face. Her explanation made sense, somewhat; Weiss herself often felt the visceral need to defend Blake whenever someone insulted her, though never to the extremes Yang had taken it. Weiss and Ruby had seen for themselves the lows to which Blake had chosen to stoop, but Yang hadn't. No wonder it was so difficult for it to sink in.

Logically, it made the most sense to trust Yang at her word and forgive her. Weiss even wanted to.

But Blake had taught Weiss an important lesson about trusting someone.

"For the sake of Team Rhapsody's future, I shall accept this. But know that I will be watching my back, Yang Xaio what the fuck."

Impossible. T-That's not possible. How is he…?!

Jaune Arc. Jaune Arc, the dead leader of Team Adventure, was alongside three Faunus and deeply engaged in discussion.

"Weiss cream? What's up?"

Weiss raised a trembling finger. Yang followed it.

The others turned and gasped. Well, Yang and Penny gasped. Raven simply stood there, perplexed as to why she should be impressed.

"VOMIT BOY?!"

Jaune turned to glance at the disruptive noise over his shoulder, shot Yang a single dismissive glare, then paused. His eyes widened in recognition as he saw who was shouting at him, then grew twice as large when he saw Weiss standing next to her

Jaune froze for a few seconds, matching the Rainbows in their own stunned daze, then ran forward and grabbed the both of them into a hug. "Weiss! Yang! You're alive! That…That's impossible! Cinder had you killed!"

Cinder? The tournament champion?

Yang recovered her wits faster than Weiss. "Jaune, you're the one that's not supposed to be alive! Dove was the only survivor from Team Adventure!"

"Dove's…also alive?" Jaune looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"Yes! Me, Weiss, Dove – who else do you think is dead?"

Jaune stammered for a minute before pausing and speaking clearly. "I thought that I was the only survivor of both our teams from that night. Cinder had killed all of the Rainbows, as well as Dove and Russel. Pyrrha and Oz were killed by Qrow, who went mad with grief when Ruby and Yang…died…" He trailed off, his eyes darting from side to side as he digested the sudden burst of new information they'd dropped on him. "Tell me, please. Are they all still alive?"

Yang and Weiss stuttered and spoke over one another, neither sure enough of Jaune's bizarre tale to correct it. In the end, it was Penny that answered him. "Friend Cinder was not behind the attacks on Friend Team Rainbow as we suspected. It was actually Blake Belladonna. She attempted to assassinate Friend Team Rainbow, but was stopped by the combined actions of Friend Weiss, Friend Russel, and Friend Ruby. There were no casualties on Team Rainbow beyond Blake."

Weiss noticed Yang wince, but the blonde girl held her tongue, so Weiss afforded her the same courtesy.

"Russel…?"

"…truly did not survive the encounter. You have my apologies, Friend Jaune."

Jaune closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. "And the others?"

"The official report is that Friend Qrow Branwen killed Ozpin, Friend Pyrrha, and his own comatose sister, but we believe this to be unlikely, as Friends Ruby and Yang did not actually die. I do not know the true culprit – all those present in vault that night are dead, save for you and Friend Qrow, who has vanished without a trace."

"P-Pyrrha…"

"Jaune, I'm so sorry."

Weiss wrapped her arms around him. Yang joined into their collective hug.

"I wasn't expecting her to be…I remember seeing the body, but if there was one miracle, maybe there could have been…been…b-but hey," said Jaune, wiping his face into his sleeve. "At least I'm not alone anymore. You guys are still alive, and Dove and Ruby too! Where are they, anyways?"

"They went to Haven to seek out answers about the attack on Beacon from Leonardo Lionheart."

Jaune's face went pale. "Leo–"

"Don't worry, Jaune," reassured Weiss, rapidly. "They know that something's up with Lionheart, and they're not going to trust him."

Jaune grabbed her and stared into her eyes, his voice panicky. "You don't understand! There isn't just something up with Leo – he's full on working for Salem!"

Raven was on him in less than a second. "Salem? Rook is walking into Salem's trap?"

"Who a– yes! Ruby and Dove are going to die if we can't get to them! Ghira! We need to accelerate the timetable!"

One of the three Faunus with whom Jaune had been conferring, a tall pantherine man that reminded Weiss greatly of Hazel Rainart in his gargantuan bulk, nodded and began to bark out orders.

Jaune turned back to the four huntresses. "I think that we all need to have a talk."

Jaune was glad to have all of them back, certainly, but his favorite familiar face had to be Penny. Not that he wasn't glad to hear of most of the Rainbows' survival, just…like, it felt…it was good to have someone who was on Team Good Guys and co, in the know about everything he was fighting for. Technically, Summer counted, but he was still a bit baffled by her whole story.

With Oz taking a Jaune-mandated timeout, James and Winter in Atlas, and Qrow's loyalties uncertain until Jaune could find out in person, Penny was the only other person who knew the full truth about Salem that Jaune felt he still could trust. He'd confided in her such thoughts privately when he had a moment – just a quick word of thanks to her for returning – though he thought it best not to mention Ozpin's presence or his extremely violent actions aboard the ship. Best not to make her question if she was on the right side, not at this critical point in Remnant history.

He'd had them explain their full story to the Menagerie war council – himself, Ghira Belladonna, and both the Albain brothers. Ghira was beside himself upon hearing of Kali's enduring survival, and Corsac and Fennec seemed pleased that the SDC was practically going to be under a Faunus' control, albeit through Weiss' brother Wheatie.

It had been a confusing time on Menagerie for a while, especially for the leader of Team Adventure. Jaune had been thrown into a cell by the White Fang, then released, then interrogated, then given a position of command. He's lost track of how often he'd changed his clothes – his regular hoodie, a prison outfit, back to his hoodie, and then a White Fang uniform. The Albains said that it was important that the Fang only see Faunus in positions of leadership, so he was pretending to be a duck Faunus, with his Faunus trait being… hidden 'south of Vacuo', so to speak, hence his reluctance to show it off publicly. Suffice it to say, no one in their right mind would ask him to open bottles of wine without offering him a corkscrew beforehand.

Some fellow by the name of Adam Taurus was to thank for his meteoric rise in the hierarchy of Menagerie. When he'd apparently sent out a dying plea to stop Salem, the Albains had gradually remembered that they had a human in their captivity who'd ranted about being able to stop her – before Adam had put her at position number one on the White Fang's priority shit list. When it became clear that she was a sincere threat and that Jaune knew all about her (and could independently confirm that she controlled Lionheart in Haven, something Adam had said in report), the two had declared him…something. He wasn't their leader, but more of a guide of sorts. It had been visible that the two were swallowing their pride when it came to taking orders from a human, justifying it as for being the good of Menagerie. Ghira, on the other hand, had welcomed his help with open arms.

And now, the four of them were getting ready for war. Tensions were high on Menagerie – Ghira wasn't thrilled about working with the same Faunus forces who'd ousted him as high leader, nor they him – but the threat real was Salem. Jaune's specific knowledge of the witch's powers and existing forces had confirmed Adam's claims that Salem had the means to exterminate the Faunus. If he were honest, Jaune had no fucking idea if Salem really were targeting the Faunus island, but he wasn't going to turn down a literal army, especially when he'd only set out to Mistral for the purpose of acquiring one.

And she is evil. I wouldn't put genocide past her, even if racial prejudice doesn't exactly seem her style.

Things had changed when he knew where Ruby and Dove were going. Originally, Jaune was going to suggest to the council that they bypass Haven altogether. He'd only ever wanted to go there to press-gang Lionheart and his huntsman army to his side. With the full forces of every man and woman on Menagerie, he could've just gone straight to the Grimm pools and eliminated Salem directly. Now, with the two unaware hunters' lives on the line, they'd have to stop Lionheart after all.

The official story was going to be what Yuma had assumed on the docks upon seeing the four human women – Adam had set aside past quarrels and sent four human mercenaries their way as backup before his untimely death from unknown causes. No one objected to the extra pairs of hands, especially when they were hunter level.

Jaune looked over their forces from the flagship, a broad steamer named the S.S. Wildclaw. Yang and Weiss were currently helping load up the White Fang's armada and Menagerie's civilian fleet with supplies for the voyage. Summer was resting from getting the party of Menagerie; her wind semblance would make the voyage so much quicker, so they needed her fresh. Penny was talking with Ghira and the Albain brothers about Salem, filling in the three with any details Jaune might have missed.

We might actually be able to do this.

"Did you doubt it before?"

Jaune frowned. I thought you couldn't hear my thoughts unless I willed you to.

"Our fusion is growing closer, and at a faster rate than I expected. We have but days, so we must hurry. Miss Rose and Mister Bronzewing are students of mine, and I'd never suggest we abandon them, but the diversion could cost you your independence. We could go straight to Salem then loop back around for her…with the queen out of the way, her armies will be much easier to handle."

Oz, Menagerie is, like, two feet away from Haven. Salem's Grimm Fortress is in the wastelands, hundreds if not thousands of miles away from us. Ruby and Dove would be dead before we made the full trip.

"I only seek to safeguard you from that which cannot be undone."

Dust, you really don't care about anything but yourself. I'm honestly amazed you even worry about me…or is that just because you think of me as a part of you?

"Ja–"

I know, I know. All for the good of Remnant. But I'm in control, and I say Haven first.

"Very well. I'd just like to urge you to remember the literal army at your back. Please, do not rush into danger when they may fight your battles instead."

I won't. I'm not stupid.

"There are times I doubt that."

Dude! Seriously?

"What?"

No need to insult me. You chose me as your host, man, not the other way around.

"I…you heard that?"

Yeah. I guess your thoughts are just as un-private as my own.

.

Oz?

.

.

Oz?

Got anything to say? Hello?

.

Apparently, the voice inside Jaune's head wasn't feeling talkative. Jaune snorted. It figured that Jaune's loss of privacy was a sorrowful sacrifice that had to be accepted, but Ozpin was not okay with ANY contact when his own inner musings were at risk of being shared. That probably meant that Ozpin had secrets he wasn't okay with Jaune learning just yet (the survival of Team Rainbow more or less confirmed that he was grossly misled at best and horrendously manipulative at worst). That was not a pleasant thought, nor was the idea of being permanently bound to such a man. Still, the others came first.

Jaune waved to his old classmates. "Penny, Yang, Weiss. Group huddle, real quick."

The girls momentarily stopped their work and came to Jaune.

"Now, I can't help but notice that there are four of us, and we're huntsmen and huntresses, so…I was wondering…"

Yang caught it quickly. "You wanna form a team."

"Just a temporary one, so we can clearly differentiate ourselves from the White Fang's grunts. Not many of them are even aura users, and Ghira, Fennec, and Corsac are more politicians than fighters."

"I seem to recall you're not much of a fighter yourself, Jaune," Weiss noted.

"You got me there." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "Whaddaya think about Team APXS, or Team Apexes?"

"Team SAXY, pronounced Sexy," demanded Yang. "Or I'm not doing it."

"Hey now," said Jaune. "I'm the only one among you who's a leader, so my name has to come first."

Penny shook her head. "Technically, Friend Jaune, I was the leader of Team Penny."

"But wasn't that just you?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, but I was still the commander of my own battalion of one. Thus, I propose the following name: Team PAXS, or Pickaxes? It even fits thematically with Friend Weiss' Schachmatt. Ooh, perhaps we can all obtain similar team-weapons!"

"I like it," said Weiss. Well of course she liked it – the name was practically picked for her by her best friend.

"Kinda cheating to use the S to make it plural," grumbled Yang. "Copout-ass motherfuckers. Shoulda been SAXY…"

"Does that me that I am the leader?" asked a cheerful Penny. "Oh, I have so many fun teambuilding activities that we can try."

"It's just a temporary team," said Jaune. "I'm gonna go back with Dove when we meet up, and you girls can form Team Rainbow 2 when you're done."

"NO!" said Weiss and Yang at the same time.

"Polendina…"

Oh, so I take it we're on speaking terms again? This absence of two and a half seconds hasn't exactly made my heart grow fonder.

"Something's strange about her. The synthetic girl."

She's always been a derpy kid. You just noticing that now?

"It's not that…say, do you think I could take over for a bit? Just a brief second."

No. I'd sooner board an airship and vomit myself into oblivion.

"In that case, would you please ask her to inform James of our plans? We could use the backup."

"Hey, Penny. Can I ask a favor from you?"

"Certainly, Friend Jaune."

"You're linked to the CCT, right? And you can still access it?"

"Absolutely, Friend Jaune." She nodded rapidly, more times than necessary. "Would you like me to make a call?"

"Can you check for me who the most recent winner of the Valean V-Ball Major League was? I've been out of the loop for a while."

"One moment, please." Penny's eyes went still, and she froze in place.

"Jaune, Atlas' aid could –"

Eat a dick. As soon as James gets here, he'll defer to your orders, and I think I'd prefer to remain in charge for a little longer. Alas, I suppose this means I've grown power hungry and corrupt. Perhaps we do have more in common than I thought.

"The winners were the Scouts."

"Damn," cursed Jaune. "I was rooting for the Peregrines."

"And I was rooting for the Grubs, but they disbanded when I was banditing in the woods for a decade," said Summer, appearing out of nowhere. "You kids mind if I grab your boytoy for a second? I have need of him."

"Mom, I know he looks like Dad, but you can't just take Jaune and–"

"Not that, Yang. Dust, you kids mature so fast. You used to be so innocent and naïve. I can still remember the time that thought my dildo was a laser sword and used it to–"

"OKAYMOMyouhavetotalktoJaunebye!"

Yang frantically pushed the two of them away for whatever private conference the huntress wanted. When they were off the boat and out of earshot, Jaune sighed.

"Look, Summer, between getting everyone ready for the trip and making sure our leaders are prepared for what's to come, I'm kind of busy. I already need to get back to work."

Summer smiled "That's okay. I don't want to bother you, bud. Actually, I was just hoping you might pass on a message."

"To who?"

"Tell Oz that as soon as he takes over, you die."

Jaune's blood froze. Summer's eyes were silver, just like Ruby's, but Ruby's gaze had always radiated warmth and fondness. Looking into Summer's eyes was like looking into an ocean full of sharks, and he was chum. And not chum as in friend – chum was in torn-up meat about to be ravaged by a million hungry shark-mouths. Her piercing gaze didn't even seem to see Jaune – it was like she was looking through him, past him, gazing directly at the second soul within.

"I'd like to speak with her, if I may."

No.

"You can let him out if he wants, Jaune. I'll keep him in check."

"A-Are you sure? He's tougher than he seems."

"So am I."

Jaune nodded and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was chopping carrots. The vegetables were uneven and lumpy – he always had such a tough time peeling them right. He could chop them like there was no tomorrow, sometimes ten at a time, but peeling them was just too much for him. Little orange fuckers…

"Oz, would you had me some star anise? I need a touch."

Jaune reached into the second cabinet opposite the stove and opened it. Garlic powder, essence of peppermint, oregano…there it was. Grabbing out the spice, he handed it gingerly to Salem before pushing the carrots into a bubbling cauldron of broth and getting started on the celery.

"Did you hear? Callista was in her school's spelling bee today."

"Is that so?" asked Jaune, eagerly. "How'd she do?"

"She didn't win, if that's what you're asking. She got kicked out on the word clairvoyant. Forgot the I."

"Alas, not everyone can win every time. Losing a competition does not mean one is unintelligent or foolhardy. If you lock a kingdom's ten most brilliant minds in a room together and test their intelligence, one will always be in last place, even though he or she would be considered a genius otherwise. And perhaps a little failure will help her in the long run. Failure is the greatest teacher of all."

Salem grinned. "Well, she did win second pla–"

"Atta girl! Those dunces don't stand a chance against our clever little princess!"

A pair of pale arms wrapped around Jaune's midsection. "Wanna make another?"

"Salem."

"We could heat up some leftovers in the microwave and go right to the bedroom afterwards…"

"Salem. We have rules. One child. No more."

Jaune felt teeth nibble on his ear. "We made those rules. It's up to us if we break them."

Jaune spun around and faced her. "And if we break this rule, what's to stop us from breaking our other rules? It would be so easy, my love, but that's the problem. Our self-control is the only thing that makes these brief respites possible."

"Ozma, we could amend the rules…there's no one who can tell us not to…"

"I do not wish to amend the rules. It breaks my heart to cut off all contact with our children once I pass, but the restriction exists for a reason. They must be absolute, or we'd amend them every time it takes our fancy. If we can have a second child, what's to stop us from changing our rule not to interact with our children after I take a new form? Will we start to ask them to choose sides? Will Daddy ask them to steal relics from Mommy and bring them to him? Will Mommy ask them to drive a knife in daddy's ribs when he goes in for a hug? The only barrier to utter mayhem is ourselves and our rules."

Salem's black Grimm eyes blazed with fury, and her fingers clenched into fists. A deeply colored mist flowed off of her skin when she spoke. "Perhaps mayhem would be preferable. Perhaps I've grown tired of loving you for one incarnation only to have it torn away from me for the next nineteen."

"Salem," Jaune growled dangerously, responding to her belligerent magic with his own green glow. "The mayhem you bring is never the answer."

"And the order you seek is putrid to me." Salem exhaled deeply and closed her eyes. The mist dissipated as quickly as it had formed. "But that is an argument for our next lifetime. For now, I believe we have a dinner to serve, and a daughter to call down from her homework."

Jaune nodded. He didn't like these little spats of theirs, but they needed to cherish what precious little time they had left. There had been a gray hair on his head just the other day. It was but one hair, but he'd seen them enough times in past lives to know what would come next.

"Callista!" Jaune shouted up the stairwell to the second floor. "Dinnertime!"

"Coming, daddy!" called Callista.

"I'm glad we agree on that," said Summer.

"W-What?" Jaune stammered out.

"I don't like it, but the alternative is far worse."

"What's going on? Where's my daughter?"

"Daughter? Oz, what're you talking about?"

Jaune looked around frantically. He was on some sort of boardwalk. In one direction was the open seas, and the other was…the island of Menagerie? He'd been in his kitchen just a minute ago, calling…his baby down for…soup…

"Oh, it's you. Uhhhhh…Josh, was it? Jorge? Guiseppi?"

"Who are you? Who am I?"

"Name's Raven, but you two insist on calling me Summer 'cause you're dicks. Your name is Jaune Arc. Yang says it's…short, sweet, and rolls around the lips, or something? I don't really get whatever joke that's meant to be."

"Jaune Arc…Jaune. I remember now. Usually, when he gives or takes control, the world disappears in a cloud of smoke. This time, it was like I teleported from the memory back to the real world."

"When you get closer to mixing, you start to have trouble. Happened to Ozpin when he was still Ozpin and not Ozma. Sorry, kiddo. Honestly, I really am. You didn't ask for this, so it's kind of balls that you have to deal with it."

Jaune wiped away the tears. Callista was gone. She'd died over 140 years ago, six iterations of Ozpin's soul ago. "I did ask for this."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "You don't get to ask for this. It's random."

"It's based on likemindedness. Oz made me likeminded, so I'd be next. And yes, before you say anything, he did offer for me to back out. At first."

"You wanna be him?"

"I didn't know how bad it was going to be. Plus, my sem–"

The muscles in Jaune's mouth all suddenly cramped at the same time. Pain shot through his chin, and he nearly fell backwards.

I get it, don't bring up the plan. Now make it stop! Please!

Jaune's lips unfroze, and he gently massaged them. Summer was looking at him really weirdly.

"So, what did you two talk about? If it's not some big secret."

"Just hashing out an agreement. I've decided that I won't kill him or anything – Salem's more active now than ever before – but we're through after that."

"Did you used to be one of his councilors?"

"One of his enforcers, more like. Actually, I was two of his enforcers. I quit when he tried to make me think he killed my family to trick me into going on a suicide mission."

With that bombshell dropped, Raven turned around and walked away. The worst part of it all had to be that Jaune didn't doubt for a second that Ozpin was capable of it.

Next Chapter: Ineluctabilis – In which new visitors to Haven find their place in the big city.

Omake

Yang: I don't need to ask the White Fang about Blake. I choose to trust Weiss.

Penny: Nah, that's cool. It's not like I exerted myself for hours on end to drag out boat out here or something. Totally cool.

Author's Notes

Blatantly ripping off the premise of a beloved and far more popular fanmade story in which Jaune becomes the leader of the White Fang – have I no shame? I'm despicable!

And so, all our main characters finally converge towards the same location. Team Pickaxes and Raven head to Mistral from the south; Ruby and her blond himbo-squadron are already there; and the villains hold the school towards which they are all headed. Soon, we shall have the fated meeting of all…eight heroes? Are there really only eight left?

Ruby, Dove, Sun, Yang, Weiss, Penny, Raven, Jaune…yeah, I guess there's only eight good guys. Whatever happened to my ensemble cast with three full teams plus Team Sun and Penny and four professors and Winter and James and everyone? And that's even counting Penny and Jaune as heroes, even though they're both working for Ozpin and Salem. Jeez, we're down to only six protagonists.

With her mother's support and the realization that her temper-induced actions have consequences, Yang is now officially over her toxic phase, and I promise there shall be no more relapses onto her Blake-addiction. However, only time will tell if the damage she's already done to her relationship with Weiss can ever be bridged.

It's fun to have flashbacks, and it's fun to write about past Ozpin iterations that we haven't seen. They teased them in the show, so it's a blank slate for new ideas about what Oz was doing all that time that I can just put every cool idea I think of with little to no consequences to the plot. Unfortunately, I think this will be one of the last ones, if not the last one. Still, it's one of my favorites – Ozpin and Salem willingly taking a break from their hostilities and just Netflix and chilling for an entire lifetime.

AND BEFORE YOU SICK FUCKS EVEN ASK, IT HAPPENS EVERY 20 OZPINS, AND THE MOST RECENT ONE WAS 6 OZPINS AGO, SO NO, JAUNE DOES NOT PORK SALEM.

For God's sake, the fact that I even need to clarify it means you people are horny sickos. I'm deeply and personally disappointed in you all.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!