The hospital room was shrouded half in darkness, half in light; upon the bed, Summer Rose sat writing in her journal by the light of a lamp. She yawned and stretched, wincing as she reflexively nearly reopened the wounds underneath her bandages. Bags had begun to form under her eyes and she relented, shutting the journal and sliding it onto the small side table. She leaned back into the bed and closed her eyes.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she jolted to attention, hand quickly finding the revolver she'd set on the end table.

The darkness at the far end of the hospital room swirled and opened. A figure in a hooded black coat stepped out into the room and the darkness undistorted. Summer relaxed, releasing her grip on her gun.

Summer's former-enemy and current-tentative-ally Riku slid his hood back to reveal his long, silvery-blue hair and the blindfold wrapped around his eyes. He strode forward and sat in a chair beside Summer, half in the lamplight.

"The Organization is moving," Riku said.

Summer leaned back in the hospital bed. "Right down to business, huh? So what's the news?"

"I've been observing them," Riku continued. "DiZ and I pinned down their end goal." Summer nodded for him to continue. "As you know, Organization XIII are Nobodies, so they lack hearts."

"Right," Summer said.

"In order to provide the members with hearts, Ansem's Nobody wants to create Kingdom Hearts. But he's not doing it the way his Heartless did it, by destroying worlds, but instead by gathering hearts."

"Gathering hearts?" Summer asked. She grabbed her journal and flipped back through her notes. "That would mean…extracting the hearts from people, like in Ansem's early research. But those just become Heartless, right?"

"If a Heartless is destroyed by a Keyblade, then the heart is sent somewhere. Organization XIII set up a way to capture those hearts and form them into a different form of Kingdom Hearts."

"Because the other way backfired on his Heartless," Summer said. She tapped her pen against the page. "The kid…Sora has a Keyblade, but he obviously can't use it right now. And that King has one too. So we just make sure he knows not to kill any Heartless."

"It's not that easy," Riku said. "The Organization has their own Keyblade wielder."

Summer's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

"I don't know his name," Riku said. "But I think it's Sora's Nobody. And it's worse. They've made a Replica, a body without a soul or heart, and set it to siphon Roxas's powers. Now they have a second Keyblade, even if it's a bit of a sham." He pulled a paper from a pocket on his coat and passed it to Summer. "See for yourself."

The paper was an instant film photograph, not dissimilar to the collection Summer had taken during her adolescence. It portrayed an inky black sky with a bright white castle hovering in the distance, and behind it, a heart-shaped moon loomed ominously in the sky.

"Their base. Kingdom Hearts is already visible," Riku said. He accepted Summer returning the photo to him and slipped it back into his pocket. "If we let them run wild, they could finish it before Sora has a chance to wake up."

"How are they producing more Heartless?" Summer asked.

"Darkness lurks in the hearts of all men," Riku said, holding out a hand. "For some, it would only take a nudge—" He closed his fist. "—and they would lose their heart. And the members of the Organization — who aren't wielding the Keyblade — excel at giving those nudges."

"Then they send the Keyblade wielders after the Heartless they've just made," Summer concluded. She paused. "Does Sora's Nobody know?"

Riku shook his head. "Looks like they keep him on a pretty short leash. I don't think he even knows whose Nobody he is."

"So what's the plan?" Summer asked.

"DiZ wants you to stay put," Riku said. "Even meeting like this is a risk." He pulled another photograph out. This one was closer to home — in a very literal sense. Summer immediately recognized the buildings as Patch's town square. Striding through it, blurred slightly by a quick pace, was a tall, lanky man with fire-red hair in spikes that stuck up to remind Summer of a particularly irate porcupine.

Summer found herself unable to speak for a long moment.

"Axel," Riku supplied in response to Summer's unspoken question. "Number Eight in the Organization. Taken two days ago. I don't think it's a coincidence that he was doing reconnaissance on your world. They're watching you."

"Why?"

"Your interference with Ansem's Kingdom Hearts, if I had to guess," Riku said. He looked at the bandages covering Summer's burns and scrapes and at last realized where they were. "You, uh…"

"You should see the other guy," Summer said with a slight laugh. She winced at the pain it caused. "No, I got tangled up with some things here. It's a really long story."

Summer could very nearly see Riku's eyes narrow slightly under his blindfold. "Did you need any help?"

"No." Summer sighed. "I don't know. Not now."

Summer did, eventually, get to sleep. She woke up the next morning to the sun shining through her window. For a long moment she thought back to the conversation the night before, consulting her notes and agonizing over the pair of pictures now stuffed in her journal.

Then she got up and went to the nurse's station to check out.

Summer, above all else, disliked the necessary bureaucracy in hospitals. After several minutes the nurses, backed up with a doctor, stated she was not free to leave, but she had been deemed well enough that nobody fought her when she said she would take a walk to visit some of the other patients she'd come in with as they finalized the paperwork to release her.

She did feel better, but her Aura was still lower than she would have liked — it had spent the night healing her rather than fully recharging. She plodded along in blue hospital pajamas, consulting with nurses and staff until she had found Qrow and Ruby's other friends.

She stopped at Team JNR's room first. At special request, they'd been put into a single room together. Jaune and Nora were sleeping peacefully, finally cleared to get some rest; Ren was sitting up in his bed, reading.

"I asked to borrow a novel from one of the nurses," he explained, setting the book aside. "Good morning, Mrs. Rose."

"Call me Summer." She jerked her head towards the others. "Are they going to be okay?"

"Jaune had several broken ribs, but nothing worse than that. Nora has a concussion but they're hoping her Aura will have taken care of it when she wakes back up. I, meanwhile, am going to be fine once my Aura repairs my tendons, which will take a few days, according to the doctors."

"That's good," Summer said quietly, still lingering at the door. She quietly shut it. "I think we're going to have to leave without you and Qrow."

Ren nodded. "I know." He looked at the others. "Jaune won't take it well."

"We killed two of Salem's lieutenants last night," Summer said. "And we prevented another tragedy. You should all be proud. Tell him I said that if he's angry."

Ren nodded. "He still won't be happy. But we'll continue our training after we're cleared for duty."

Summer gave a casual salute. "Good. I've gotta go find Qrow."

Qrow blinked, opening his eyes. This time he could see decently clearly and he was in a hospital, which beat out the last time he'd awoken somewhere he hadn't been before.

"I hate surgery," he weakly grumbled.

"Get used to it."

Qrow jolted, looking to his right for the speaker: Summer was sitting in a chair beside his hospital bed.

"I'm checking out once I'm done here," Summer said. "Well, and once I can change out of these pajamas. We're taking it to Atlas."

"But not me," Qrow said.

"But not you," Summer repeated. "You're an injured alcoholic recovering from surgery. And to be frank, I think that Mistral is going to need you more than we will. Most of Haven's teachers are missing and the city doesn't have Huntsmen."

"You'd better take care of Ruby and Yang," Qrow said. "Don't leave them without a mother again."

Summer grimaced. "I wouldn't." She stood. "I hate saying goodbye — so I'll see you later, Qrow."

From the rooftop, Blake Belladonna gazed wistfully out over Mistral. Her thoughts were not of the city.

She'd come to Mistral to stop another horrific instance of terrorism — and to be frank, she hadn't even been certain whether she'd survive another confrontation with Adam Taurus. The scar just below her waist thrummed with pain when she thought about that night at Beacon, even after all those months wandering and recuperating. Something deep in her bones told her even now that it wasn't over, that Adam would return, and that she would once again confront him — as if he were a manifestation of all her ideals twisted to serve cruelty rather than kindness, and the only way to redeem herself would be through his defeat.

But no, things like that only happened in novels.

Adam was just a Faunus, like her. Only he'd grown up in a Schnee Dust Company mine with only scars and bitterness to show for it, and she'd grown up on boats and trains and carts traveling wherever her mother and father went to advocate for Faunus rights.

She sighed.

Her problem wasn't Adam, at least not right now. Her problem was the fact that her old team from Beacon had miraculously reformed in their own effort to stop Haven's destruction, and now she was torn between helping her parents, Sun, and Ilia deradicalize the White Fang or helping Ruby, Weiss, and Yang stop some sort of insidious schemer who had been behind the Beacon and Haven attacks. It was a patently ludicrous story involving the Queen of the Grimm — but it wasn't a product of Ruby's naivety. Someone had been manipulating Adam into pushing the White Fang into an all-out war.

The door opened; even without an extra set of ears, Blake would have heard it. She turned, to be met with the spikey-haired swordsman from the night before, whose name she was completely forgetting in the deluge of information that the other members of RWBY had provided.

"Hey," he said, stepping up to the railing beside her. "Nice view."

"It is," Blake agreed. "Sorry, I don't remember your name."

"Cloud. Cloud Strife," he said flatly.

"I'm Blake."

"Breakfast is ready," he said. "But I don't think you came up here because you were hungry."

Blake inhaled. "Have you ever had two paths you could follow, but you could only pick one?" she asked.

Cloud ran a hand through his hair coolly. "Can't say I've had a lot of choices in my life."

Blake bit her lip. "All my life I wanted to help the Faunus. But now, it feels like wanting to do that is…just running away again. This Queen of the Grimm — isn't that the real problem?"

"This is the real crisis for the Planet," Cloud said, his voice light and lost in his memories for a second. He shook his head slightly. "Salem could destroy the world. I had a friend who fought to give us — to give me — a future. That's why I fight. So my friends can have their own future."

"Could I fight to give the Faunus a future?" Blake asked.

Cloud nodded tersely. "Yeah. But remember: there's no getting off this train we're on. Not until we reach the end of the line."

Blake and Cloud returned to the apartment to find that, as they'd talked on the rooftop, Summer had arrived. She looked haggard even as she embraced her daughters. She'd just changed into her shirt from the night before — as evidenced by a large singe mark where Cinder had almost blasted her, and bandages were visible, peeking out from her collar and sleeves.

"How were they?" Summer asked Cloud, as Ruby scurried over to prepare a plate of pancakes for her mother.

"Rowdy," Cloud said. "But nothing I couldn't handle."

"I'm impressed Raven is sleeping through this," Summer said. She slumped down on a stool and accepted the plate of pancakes from Ruby. "Thanks. If there's one thing that doesn't change, it's hospital food." She began to devour her breakfast.

"How's Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"He's alright," Summer said. "Your friends, too. But it'll take a bit for all of them to be released. Even with Aura, recovery's gonna take time, and time we don't have. We need to start packing up."

"And just leave them?" Yang asked.

"Yeah," Oscar said. "Oz says we need to head for Atlas. Their Vault is more secure. Oz trusts J—uh, General Ironwood."

"We'll have to take the Argus Limited," Summer said. "This afternoon, if we can."

Weiss balked. "That's so soon."

"It's prudent," Raven said, emerging from the bedroom. She sat beside Yang at the counter and Blake was struck by their resemblance as Summer passed Raven a pancake. "We have to assume that Salem will know about what happened last night very soon. It would be better if we weren't in the city. The faster we can hide, the better."

"I'll have to say goodbye to my parents," Blake said quietly.

"You're coming with us?!" Ruby half-shouted.

"Yeah," Blake said.

"Alright!" Ruby said, pumping her fist. "It's not Team RWBY without the 'B'!"

"It really isn't," Weiss said, stepping over and hugging Blake. Ruby and Yang stepped over and it became a hug between the entire team.

The group hadn't even really unpacked, so it was relatively easy for everyone to get ready to go. They stopped by the hospital for RWBY to say their goodbyes to Qrow and JNR and to deliver their luggage before swinging around to Tifa's apartment to pick her up — Cloud had gone ahead of them to let her know their plans and she was just finishing handing off her keys to the building supervisor when the rest of the group arrived.

Waiting for them on the benches outside the station were Blake's parents and an excitedly-waving Sun Wukong.

"I messaged my parents saying I would be leaving with you all," Blake said, visibly misty-eyed. "I guess I should have expected them to see me off."

"Yo," Sun said, walking up to the group. "You didn't think we would just let you leave without saying goodbye? Not this time!"

Ghira and Kali Belladonna stepped up to embrace Blake in a tight hug.

"I don't think we can tell you to stay out of trouble," Ghira said, "but at least stay safe."

"Make sure you're eating alright," Kali added. "And don't set anyone's house on fire."

"Thank you," Blake said, close to sobbing in the embrace.

"Oh," Sun said, looking around. "Ilia went in to grab some coffee, she'll want to say goodbye, too."

"Why don't you all head in and find someplace to sit?" Summer suggested. "I'd like to have a word with, uh, the Belladonnas here."

"Got it," Tifa said, ushering the group along. As they passed into the train station, the wind picked up slightly.

Summer stuck out her hand. "I'm Summer, Ruby and Yang's mother," she said awkwardly.

Kali shook it hesitantly. "Aren't you…a bit young to be their mother?"

"Yes. Yes I am. It's a long story," Summer said. "I'll have to tell it to you someday."

Ghira stepped up to shake Summer's hand. "We'll take you up on that, Gods willing," he said.

"You'll…look after my daughter, right?" Kali asked. "She's strong — stronger than she knows — but I'm worried about her."

"Well, I'm a licensed Huntress," Summer said. "I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best to keep them all safe."

"I think that's the best we can hope for," Ghira said. "Take care of yourself, too."

"No promises," Summer said.

This train station was completely unlike the rural one Summer and Oscar had met at scant days ago. It was opulent and massive, with over a dozen platforms and a massive board displaying arrivals and departures, the individual letters of the displays flipping to show a new set as Summer strode up to the counter.

"Tickets for—" Summer did a quick mental headcount. "Nine, I guess. To Argus. Next available."

The clerk manning the counter joylessly scanned Summer's ID and took her Lien as payment before printing the tickets. Summer picked them up and began to stride across the station towards where the rest of the group was sitting.

Summer felt a sudden chill run up her spine. She looked across the platform she was walking past.

There, on the opposite platform, was a man staring directly ahead — at Summer. His graying black hair was tied back in a ponytail and he bore an eyepatch, but otherwise he was dressed the same as anyone else in the station. People bustled and moved around him, but he stood as still as a statue, barely breathing.

Summer tensed as he raised his hands—

—and pointed them at her in a pantomime of firing a pair of pistols, just as an arriving train blocked him from view.

Summer exhaled. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath. She hurried along towards the group.

Two men had stood themselves between Summer and the group, which had parked themselves and their litany of bags on a pair of benches. As Summer approached, she noted their weapons — held prominently, but casually. That would make them Huntsmen, and more than likely, somewhat recent graduates spared the bloodletting of local Huntsmen purely out of the dumb luck of landing a steady contract with the rail company. Ruby and Yang, standing, were visibly tense as they spoke.

She could catch what one of the men was saying as she approached from behind: "...for a generous tip, we can make sure your passenger car gets extra-special attention — should things get dangerous."

"Oi," Summer said. The men turned around. "You'd better not be fleecing my—" Summer hesitated for an instant, trying to find some way to not raise any questions. "—little sister. We can take care of ourselves."

Both Ruby and Yang had prepared to make silly faces at the Huntsmen, but were instead looking at Summer with an expression of bewilderment.

"We're not fleecing anyone," the Huntsman with the spiked mace said. "We're professional—"

"Professional Huntsmen," Summer completed, cutting them off. "The fact you carry those weapons says that much; the fact you display them so prominently says you're inexperienced. Try again the day before yesterday."

Ruby stuck out her tongue at the men behind their backs; Yang mockingly pouted.

"We don't have to take this," the rifle-bearing Huntsman said, turning and storming off. His partner followed after shooting a glare at Summer.

"I got tickets," Summer declared.

"Fantastic," Weiss said, completely deadpan.

Their group was now large enough to occupy two compartments — with one extra in a compartment. Team RWBY had gravitated into their own compartment, clearly used to it from their time at school. Summer could already hear them preparing to hunker down and play video games for the duration of the train ride.

Summer leaned against the second compartment's sliding door, keeping it held open.

"You're on edge," Raven commented, putting a hand on Summer's hip as she slipped past her. She deposited her luggage on the rack above the seats; it was comparatively small — her nomadic lifestyle evident in her sparse belongings.

"We've had bad experiences on trains," Cloud commented, already seated.

"I'll be fine once we're moving," Summer said. "We're probably heading for the safest place on Remnant now."

"We glossed over this when planning, but how exactly are we getting to Atlas?" Tifa asked. "I'm not an expert, but locals talked a bit about them closing their borders."

"Which is concerning," Oscar said, in the hesitant way he did when he was relaying information from Ozpin without Ozpin assuming direct control. "But we can send a message to General Ironwood."

Cloud shifted in his seat. "It'll get lost somewhere in the chain of command."

"There's always the direct way," Raven said, with a raised eyebrow. "Summer's trained in basic airship flight. If we commandeer a military airship and take down the Argus base's communications—"

"That's our last resort," Summer said sharply. "I'd rather not get locked in an Atlesian brig again."

"It's good to keep our options open," Raven replied with a teasing lilt. "Besides, the food wasn't so bad."

With a lurch, the train began to move. Summer stumbled and braced herself against the doorframe before stepping in and shutting the door behind her. She sighed as she sat down.

"Here we go again," Cloud said.

"So she goes in for the punch, and Cloud just steps aside, and at the last second she hits a patch of sleet and falls down the entire hill," Tifa explained.

"No kidding," Summer said, completely entertained.

The entire train car shook violently. Summer braced herself against the compartment's wall as it subsided, clambering out and into the corridor to peer out the window.

It was snowing. The sky was a blinding white to very nearly match the snow, but Summer could see dark shapes. It took her a moment to recognize them as Manticores — decidedly fearsome Grimm. She counted them haphazardly. They didn't have a solid formation, but more and more were emerging from the storm.

Ruby and her team poured out of their compartment. On the opposite side of Summer, her own compartment had followed to get a better look for themselves.

"Manticores," Summer explained. "I've never seen a flock this large."

"Those Huntsmen are going to need our help," Ruby said.

"I think you're right," Summer said. "But we approach this tactically. Ruby, I need you at the front of the train. Focus on any that land on the train. The rest of your team will focus on keeping you safe. Yang, I need your bike."

"No way," Yang said. "Not without me."

Summer grunted. "Fine. You're driving me, then. Raven, you protect Ruby."

"With my life," Raven said, putting her mask on.

"Tifa, Oscar, I want you on the caboose," Summer said. "Take out anything that lands."

"And me?" Cloud asked.

Summer smirked. "Well, let's hope there's another motorcycle for you."

They rushed back into the cargo section, past racks of bags and suitcases and packages bound for Argus and Atlas. At the very back were Yang's motorcycle, Bumblebee, and another motorcycle under a canvas tarp.

Yang swung a leg over her bike as Cloud stepped past and flung the canvas tarp off the other bike.

It was a motorcycle which reveled in being a motorcycle. The engine was large and exposed, with twin exhausts jutting out to the rear. The front wheel's fender had been removed, and the entire thing had been painted black and gunmetal gray.

Yang whistled in appreciation. "Now that's what I call a chopper."

Cloud swung a leg over it and ran his hand over the bike's dark metal. He drew in a breath, closed his eyes, and nodded seriously. "I can work with this."

"Got it," Summer said. She paused. "And how are you going to start it?"

"Magic." Cloud snapped the fingers of his left hand over the ignition. An arc of electricity jumped from his fingers into the metal, causing the engine to start; it sounded more like a feral beast than a motorcycle engine.

Yang started her own bike.

Summer slid open the cargo door, letting in a blast of cold air. She ran back to Yang and climbed aboard the motorcycle. She pulled her rifle out.

Cloud smirked. "Try to keep up."

With that, his motorcycle roared into action, leaping out of the car.

"Hold on tight," Yang said, gunning the throttle of her own bike. They hit the frozen ground and accelerated up.

They leapt from the train car, the motorcycle slamming down on the cold ground alongside the tracks. Yang slammed down her heel and pivoted the entire motorcycle until it was parallel to the tracks. They rocketed off alongside the train.

The crack of Ruby's rifle sounded over the howl of the wind; Yang swerved as a disintegrating Grimm slammed down in their path.

The Grimm had converged around the rear of the train — Oscar and Tifa were up there, along with the pair of hired Huntsmen. Along the length of the train, automatic turrets swiveled and fired at nearby Grimm. At the front of the train, Ruby had taken up a sniper's position and was picking off any that approached the train.

Before them, Cloud swung the Buster Sword in a sharp arc that sent a wave of energy up and into another Grimm, which slid apart in midair.

Summer took careful aim and fired up into the horde — the Manticores had plating, but only on the upper side of the head. Attacking their heads from underneath was an effective strategy.

"Hey, Alpha," Summer mumbled to herself. She grinned to herself. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

The surviving Grimm — those who had enough intelligence to not attack immediately — hesitated for a moment. Summer reloaded her rifle.

From within the fog behind the train, a great shape moved, and a bellowing roar echoed. At the call, the Manticores swooped in, several landing on the train itself. Tifa and Oscar began to head up the train while Blake and Weiss moved down it.

The massive shape darkened until it came fully into view — a Manticore twice the size of the others, which swooped down viciously on top of the two hired Huntsmen. Its head came down viciously to chomp down on one of them, and his Aura flared into visibility to resist its bite before cracking and shattering. The Manticore lifted the man and bodily threw him into the forest.

Yang's head whirled around for an instant, tracking the arc of the man's descent.

"Keep on the train," Summer ordered. She switched from her rifle to her revolver, firing wildly at the massive Grimm.

Ahead of them, a giant tunnel loomed. Cloud and Yang, nearly in sync with each other, slammed the brakes, sending twin plumes of snow up before they kicked back into gear and leapt onto the tracks.

The Alpha leapt off of the caboose just as the front train cars began to enter the tunnel. Its wings flapped harshly to slow itself before it hit the wall. Below it, Summer clung tighter to Yang with her left arm as they sped into the tunnel.

"Is that it?" Yang asked.

Summer looked back. The Alpha had resumed its pursuit, the remainder of the Manticore swarm ahead of it — and they were quickly catching up.

"No," she said plainly.

Cloud gently decelerated to ride alongside them.

"Plan?" Summer asked.

"Catch me," Cloud said, before decelerating again into the Manticore swarm. With each swipe of the Buster Sword he cut down another Grimm. He spun his bike around, cleaving through the air to create a whirlwind that tore through all the Grimm save the Alpha. As Summer watched, Cloud stepped up atop the bike, front foot on the seat and rear foot on a handlebar.

"Oh, he's joking. Yang! Hit the brakes," Summer called out. Yang complied, and the bike slowed dramatically. They ducked their heads under the Alpha Manticore's wing as it passed overhead.

Cloud leapt from his bike with a flip and cleaved straight through the Alpha's plating and through its skull.

Yang swerved the bike to dodge the Grimm's corpse and catch Cloud, who landed on the front of the motorcycle. The other bike flipped end over end and exploded in the face of the few Grimm that were still pursuing.

"Get us back onboard," Summer said coldly as they exited the tunnel. "I have some questions for Ozpin."

Summer threw open the door of their compartment. Inside, Tifa was busy using magic to heal some of Raven's wounds, and Oscar was looking out the window, concern evident on his face. Team RWBY huddled behind Summer, each curious as to what was happening.

"I need to talk to Oz," Summer said. "That wasn't a normal Grimm swarm." She pointed sharply to her bag. "Were they after it?"

Oscar nodded, his eyes flashing as Ozpin took over his body. "Yes," he said softly.

"I need you to tell me everything about what this is, what it does, and how we can use it," Summer said.

Ozpin silently nodded. "I will tell you — but not here. Not in public. Soon."

"When we get to Argus," Summer said.

"When we get to Argus," Ozpin repeated.

The train barreled onwards at full speed into the fog.