AN: Okay next chapter.

Loki

Plopping down in a cushioned chair in his apartment after another hard day of work.

"This world." He sighed to himself, even after years of being here, he still felt like a fish out of water. He wished he hadn't pulled that prank on Thor, for as different as the two brothers were, he was the only one like him that he was aware of on this planet.

It still baffled his muscle-brained brother had built such a sophisticated piece of equipment. That fact alone made him believe this was one of his Father's punishments, that he had left the knowledge to recreate his powers in his subconscious.

Parental favoritism again, Loki had no such insight.

But to be fair, Loki did have it coming in other ways. Getting up he walked into his bedroom and to his closet. After rummaging through his few belongings, he found what he was looking for, a small box.

Opening it, he felt a wave of warmth wash over his face.

Picking the stone up, it felt hot to the touch, almost to the point of not being tolerable. With it, he felt his old powers flood back into him. Well, that wasn't true, not exactly. The stone was like oxygen to a spark inside him, and his magical strength rose to…if not his old strength close enough to do anything he needed.

But as he did, the stone got hotter, and he had to put it down before it burned him. He already had a scare from the first little prank he played on Thor had left an ugly burn scar on his left hand. Had he pressed the issue, and made the fabricated story about his brother believable to those whom he'd called friends.

It of course hadn't fooled everyone, most of the higher-ups in the Atlas military doubted it and only used the conveniently fabricated evidence to steal a piece of technology they wanted.

At times he wondered if he'd overplayed his hand with that move, making his brother look insane, but the degree of apathy and disregard to look deeper than the surface that permeated the Atlas was astounding. As long as profit was in for someone, no one seemed to care too much if they might profit from it.

Moreover, he was surprised his fake files had convinced the Headmaster of Beacon. He'd cast a spell on the false documents to make all who read them believe them…but he could sense something off about that man that made him think his spell might not work.

Not that the man knew it, but Loki had been to Vale and could practically smell the magic on him, and in that school.

That was the other thing he still had, he could feel magic, it was how he'd found the stone and stolen it.

Which of course had more advantages than messing with his brother. He'd managed to craft an identity for himself after years of being a petty thief to survive ever since he showed up here. And what better job than with the biggest company in the world, in a lab where he had a chance to do some…private research?

His scroll began to vibrate, breaking his thoughts.

Putting the box away, and pulled his scroll out and looked at the called ID. "Weiss." He said to himself. He considered not answering, let her come after him a little bit.

They'd been on two dates and he had a strong feeling she was mining him for information after their first encounter, given his insight into Thor's equipment. Maybe that hadn't been wise, alluding to insight he probably shouldn't have.

In the end, he decided to answer.

"Hello?' He said answering.

"Loki, hi, it's Weiss." Her voice came over the scroll.

"Who?" He said, with a smirk.

"Haha, very funny." Her voice came through. "I was wondering if you wanted to meet up this weekend for coffee." She said it was more of a statement than a question.

"Hmmm." He made it seem like he was mulling it over, but he knew his answer. "Okay." He said.

"Great, same place as last time." Her voice was pragmatic and crisp, but he thought he picked up a tone of amusement in her voice.

"Great see you then." He said with a smirk.

Hanging up, he thought it was funny, reliving his teenage years again but in an entirely different way. But he had his reasons for pursuing Weiss, just like she did with him.

From what he'd managed to learn about Thor, Weiss had been one of his friends, yet she had severely burned him while trying to apprehend him. That seemed wholly out of character from what Loki had managed to glean from her.

She was a bit stuck up but came off as a genuinely nice person under her cold exterior.

The fact that she would so brutally attack his brother was not only odd but he was outright vicious.

The whole affair of Thor's arrest had gone completely off the rails. Thor had been so badly injured that Loki would have never guessed it was his supposed friends who had taken him in. But that aside, he was hoping to learn a bit of what his brother had been up to before he'd pulled his little prank.

Loki was careful to keep the conversations on her friends in generalities, but he'd managed to hear a bit about Thor…mostly complaints about his "boorish" behavior from Weiss, yet even when she complained about him, there was a note of fondness and sadness when he was brought up.

But from what he could tell, Thor was behaving like his teenage self again. Not that he blamed him completely for it. He felt the impulse control issues he had when younger. Which was one of the reasons he'd done what he'd done to Thor. Just an old mean streak rearing its ugly head.

This may be the reason he hadn't made contact with Thor once he found out where his brother was. The old resentment popping up in his juvenile mind made him…well he could admit it to himself, fear the reunion.

For starters, he didn't know what he'd done to end up here, and the idea Thor might…he didn't want to think about what it might have been. He'd been trying to be better before… whatever happened happened.

Which made his prank all the worse, it was a backslide. True he hadn't expected Thor to be hurt as badly as he was, or for his friends to be traumatized. He didn't even really know why he did it, it just seemed like it would be funny to knock Thor down a peg and make everyone see him as not as great.

He sighed to himself, the old petty anger was creeping back in just thinking about it. But part of him couldn't wholly let it go. Thor got to be a huntsman, while Loki had lived as a petty thief until he'd found the stone.

The stone, his mind wandered back to the stone. If it was here, and Thor, and he was beginning to suspect Mjolnir, after the news from Vale showed some interesting footage of an unknown figure slaughtering Grimm like they were gnats.

Another thing Thor got, was his precious hammer. But still, what other relics came to this world with them?

Going back to his closet Loki took the stone out again. Its warmth calmed him down, which was a surprise, he hadn't even realized he was getting worked up.

He looked at the stone and just wished he could access its full power. The spurts and bits he'd managed were just a fraction of what he could do if he could just unlock it. Thor had managed to get his hammer back if he could figure the secret out…

Weiss

Weiss put her scroll away after speaking with Loki and went to lie down on her bed. Ever since she'd met him, there was something about him that kept her going back to him. He just seemed like he knew things, like with Thor's harness. If it was true the equipment wasn't Atlas tech, and his insight that it wasn't seemed like it might be true, how did he catch it and the other technicians not?

Maybe they had and didn't care. But Weiss herself had done more research, as much as she could anyway, into where that equipment had come from. But other than the files she'd seen back at Beacon, there wasn't anything to indicate it had existed in Atlas before they had taken it from Thor.

It wasn't as though she thought her father was above stealing technology, but that raised so many more questions. Where had Thor gotten the blueprints, he just didn't seem like he could build something that sophisticated on his own.

And why all the effort to steal it if true? She understood it was a twofold mission, get the gear and restrain Thor. But if he didn't steal it, maybe…

No, all those medical documents, and the outlandish nature of what he thought. He had to be unwell.

But she was just confused, and somehow, Loki seemed like he might be the lead in clearing this all up. She'd managed to keep a low profile on their two dates, knowing that her father would not approve of her "dating" such a low-ranked employee. Granted Loki had a very high position for someone as young as he was, but he was still one of the workers, not "proper" for a Schnee to "associate" with them in such a way.

But her motives aside, there was something about Loki she found charming. He was quick-witted and keenly intelligent, their discussions more stimulating than what she had gotten used to back at Beacon. She loved her team, but aside from Blake, who wasn't the most talkative, they weren't known for deep stimulating conversation.

She sighed at the thought of her team. She missed them so much. They had been fractured somewhat internally, but the attack on Beacon had shattered them.

Yang and Blake at least were still together, the last time she spoke with either of them Yang was still recovering… that had been…she couldn't remember at this point. It was hard to call them, just hearing their voices reminded her of how her father had pulled her away from the family she had found. Ruby, the last time they spoke, was on a mission to try and find answers on the attack, but the lockdowns had forced her and team JNPR to travel on foot.

JNPR, gods she even missed Jaune at this point. Granted he'd been leaving her alone, so he was more tolerable now, but she just missed her friends.

Wetness on her cheeks startled her, and she realized she was crying. Picking up her scroll, she looked at her contacts, she wanted to call, but she was scared…of what exactly she wasn't sure. Maybe she was scared that somehow… talking would finalize the fracturing.

She wanted to see them again, but her father…her damned father. Part of her still wanted his approval, even if it was becoming apparent it wasn't worth it. But running away…she didn't know if she had it in her.

Rubbing her eyes she made the mental decision to figure this out later. She knew she couldn't go on like this forever, but she felt there was a business here she needed to attend to.

What had happened with Thor and the business of his arrest, and Loki mentioning his own beliefs on the origins of his gear.

Once she had some answers… she'd go back to them, her father be damned.

Ruby

This whole mission was starting to seem like a mistake the longer it went on. The checkpoints at every town and settlement, like the one they were going through now, were infuriating for starters. She and the others had gravely underestimated how bad the backlash from the attack on Beacon would be, everyone was super paranoid and only letting people in after extensive vetting.

The fact Pyrrha was with them helped, she was so well-known that she added weight to their travels, but even then stopping in any town was starting to seem like more hassle than it was worth, especially with the limited number of supplies that most towns would even let outsiders buy. Apprently the paranoia had also sparked a hoarder's mentality in most local townships.

Add to the fact she felt like an outsider in the group, she was starting to feel isolated. She knew none of her friends would intentionally make her feel that way, but they were a team back and Beacon. What was more within the team, they had essentially paired up. Jaune and Pyrrha had been a thing since the dance and even if they weren't officially together Ren and Nora were for all intents and purposes a couple.

Even if they didn't do it intentionally, the very nature of the relationships put her on the outside. Or maybe that was just her being weird about it.

But that aside they were making a snail's pace. She'd complained multiple times how much easier it would have been to fly, only to have it pointed out again to her that air travel between the kingdoms had virtually ground to a halt. Even Pyrrha couldn't get them a flight to Mistral.

But then she thought of the alternatives, of staying and going back to Beacon, with a fractured team. She knew Yang and Blake weren't going back right away, and Weiss was gone.

That and she and Yang were still on something of a rocky road to reconciling.

That thought was enough to bring her mood down even more.

She was still mad and hurt over what Yang and Thor had done. But part of her didn't want to hold onto that anger, it made her feel sick.

With Yang, she knew the healing would come in time, she was her sister, and she loved her too much not to forgive her.

Thor was a different case. She wanted to forgive him, but wasn't sure she could, every time she thought about what he did, she'd spiral down into a deep funk. The fact she'd liked him as much as she did made her mad, sad, and sick all at once. What got her going was even after all that had happened between them, she still liked him…a lot.

She found herself swinging back and forth between very strong emotions over the whole situation.

But she'd made up her mind on one thing. Once she saw them again, she'd have to talk it out with them directly, that was if she ever saw Thor again…she had no clue where he'd gone that day, but she knew there was more to him than they had all initially thought.

The feelings of loneliness didn't help with her brooding on her other relationships, part of her wished she had stayed with Yang and Blake and worked things out with her sister. She thought about calling her but she just couldn't bring herself to do it, she felt the next time they talked had to be face to face.

"Next!" A voice called and broke Ruby out of her thoughts and she approached a desk with a middle-aged man sitting at it. "Name." He said.

"Ruby Rose."

"Do you have identification?" He said.

"Yes." She said exasperated, this was the fifth time today she'd been asked to produce I.D. Handing over her student I.D., the man looked from it to her.

"Move along." He said ushering her past as he handed her I.D. back and yelling "Next."

"Wow, that was quick." She muttered to herself, well it was compared to the previous five checkpoints. Picking up the pace, she half walked half jogged to catch up with JNPR, who had all been in front of her in the queue. "So what's on the agenda for today?" She asked everyone, now that they had finally made it into town.

"We should see if we can pick up some ammo." Ren said, "The last town wasn't very generous with what it had to offer."

"Good idea," Jaune said.

"Sounds good to me," Ruby added, almost just to be part of the conversation. She needed to stop that, they weren't boxing her out, she was just being paranoid.

Before they could set off, however, a siren blared.

Ruby knew what that meant, Grimm attack.

Yang

She landed a right hook solidly on Thor's jaw, sending him to the ground.

"I yield." He said holding up his hand "Damn, you hit harder than I remember."

"That or you've gone soft." Yang shot back smirking. Back at Beacon Thor had been harder to beat than any other student except Pyrrha, it felt good to win against him, even if he wasn't at full capacity. Walking over she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

They had been training together for a week now and even with this loss, Thor was adapting to his new limitations pretty well. And doing so without a weapon.

Her dad had stopped by for a day and they had explained Thor's situation to him, excluding his divinity, and he had agreed Thor could stay. As far as her father knew, they were just looking after a friend with nowhere else to go. He'd offered Thor the use of Signal's forge to build himself a new weapon, but Thor had yet to take him up on that.

Her father was away on work again, leaving the three of them alone again.

It was confusing for Yang emotionally, having the two objects of her heart's desire living with her, and feeling like she couldn't be with either of them.

Blake was her partner and friend, and while part of her wanted more, she also didn't want to drive her away if she wasn't into the idea, and the hints she'd been dropping didn't seem to be landing.

Thor was a different kettle of fish, given his past relationship with her sister and what they did. If she pursued him, it would feel like a horrible betrayal of her sister, more than how she already felt.

It just sucked, and she had done it to herself, which was the real kicker.

Her scroll vibrated, breaking her thoughts. Picking it up her heart jumped to her throat.

It was Ruby.

Answering she nearly shouted "Hello?! Ruby?"

"Yang. Ruby's voice sounded strained "Thank god, I tried calling Dad but he wasn't picking up."

Thor and Blake both had heard her nearly shouting into the phone and had walked over.

"Ruby what's wrong," Yang said, her heart racing and her stomach churning, dread washing over her. "Where are you?"

"In a Town called Treble…Yang, it's a Grimm attack, the biggest I've seen since Beacon. We're fighting but…"

"Ruby…"Yang wasn't sure what her sister was saying but her blood was running cold.

Ruby's voice came back over the scroll shaking, she sounded near tears. "I just wanted to say goodbye." Ruby said through tears "I don't hate you for what happened, you're my sister and I love you and I just didn't want this to end with you thinking I hated you."

"Ruby." Yang was now breaking into tears "Don't talk like that, you…you guys can handle a few Grimm, we'll see each other real." The signal was cut off and looking at the scroll she just saw that the call had ended abruptly. Either Ruby had hung up…or...

She started to hyperventilate looking from her scroll to Blake then to Thor, and it clicked.

"Thor, did you hear that?"

He nodded "Can you get me a map." He said.

Blake looked mildly confused as Yang pulled up a map of the town Ruby had mentioned and showed it to Thor.

He didn't say anything else, he just raised his hand in the air and the telltale whistle of an object flying fast through the air grew louder and louder.

"Please," Yang said, tears running down her face, hoping it wasn't too late. "Save her!"

Thor just nodded as Mjolnir flew into his hand and he took to the sky, faster than she would have thought possible.

Ruby

Ruby flew back as the Beowulf struck at her, forcing her to drop her scroll, and put back in the fight. The fact she'd found any time to try and call anyone was a miracle.

She was so badly shaken that she could barely hold her weapon. The initial siren had caused her and her friends' concern, they hadn't realized how big of an attack this was until the Grimm came pouring over the walls like ants.

In the chaos of civilians running and the Grimm rampaging she'd been separated from JNPR. At first, she had been tearing through the Grimm like they were made of tissue, but there seemed to be no end to them she started to flag.

It was becoming clear that this town was lost, but there was nowhere to run. People were screaming, and she had no clue where her friends were.

Then they came.

A New Grimm she had never seen, in person or any book. They looked like huge men riding on horses, Grimm horses, and they all looked like they wore the heads of Beowulf and Ursa, but they all carried weapons that glowed red and yellow.

They seemed to direct the horse of "normal" Grimm, and when she tried to take one down, it fought like a man, with purpose and tactics. In her exhausted state, she had to run, her semblance carrying her to relative safety.

As she killed another Beowulf, her arms were starting to shake. Tears started to come to her eyes, thinking about her last conversation with Yang on her scroll. What she wouldn't have given to say those things to her in person, but this looked like the end.

The sound of thunder broke her from her thoughts as she looked to the sky, confused. It had been a clear day, where was this coming from?

Then a thunder crack went off over her head so loud she felt it shake her.

Then lighting bolts rained down from the sky, striking the Grimm…and only the Grimm.

The creature howled and fell by the score, and soon it started to rain.

Using her semblance to get to the top of the nearest building she was greeted by a sight all too familiar. It was just like at Beacon…

Soon, the lighting bolts started coming in fewer and fewer numbers until they stopped altogether.

And the horde was gone, completely wiped out by the storm.

"Thor?" She muttered to herself.

"Yes?" a voice came from behind her, and turning she saw him.

Not like she had last seen him, but whole, no scars, and his arm was back, and he was smiling at her. He was also wearing armor and a red cape she had never seen him in.

"Thor? What are you…" She began, but as she spoke the image before her began to fade, and like being blown away like smoke, he was back to how she'd last seen him in the hospital.

And as he turned back, he slumped and fell to one knee.

She couldn't believe it, but even as her mind tried to reconcile with what just had happened and what she was seeing, she ran forward to keep Thor from falling over.

"Thor how did you do this!?" She said near shouting. She got no response. "Thor?" He was slumped over, and she gently lowered him so he was sitting on the roof, she thought he might have passed out. But once she got a look at his face, his eye was wide open, staring blankly forward. "Thor?" She said shaking him. This only resulted in his mouth hanging open. "Thor you're scaring me!" She shouted as she shook him even more, with no result.

She needed to get him help. Searching her pocket for her scroll, only to remember she'd lost it in the battle.

"I'm going to get help." She said although Thor had no sign of understanding her. She didn't want to leave him but she severally doubted, as exhausted as she was, that she would be able to move him on her own. "Just stay here."

With that, she was off like a rocket, a million thoughts running through her head. How had Thor gotten here? What was the deal with that storm, the one she felt was connected to Thor in some way? Why had his appearance changed like that?

The first person she ran into was a man who looked lost. She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him "Help!" She said "My friend he's…" The man didn't even look at her but walked off with a blank expression on his face. "Hey!" She called, but he just kept walking.

Running down the street she ran into more people, but they were all either looking for someone, in shock, in the middle of a total breakdown, or otherwise preoccupied.

Cursing to herself she ran back to the roof where she'd left Thor. He was still there, staring blankly ahead.

"Thor you're going to have to stand up on your own ok?" She said, hoping he was hearing her. She tried to push him to his feet, but he was completely dead weight. "Come on Thor!" She grunted trying to get him to move. It was no use, she was too tired and he was too heavy. "Come on!" She nearly cried as she spoke, she was just so overwhelmed with everything that happened today now having Thor…she didn't know what was wrong with him, but it was bad if he couldn't even walk. She walked away from him and stomped her foot in frustration, she was ready to cry.

"Ruby?" a familiar broke her out of her thoughts.

Looking back at Thor's face, his eye was focused and he'd closed his mouth, but now he was sitting looking completely wiped out.

"Thor!" She ran over and enveloped him in a hug, which he returned with his one arm. "Can you walk?" She said as she broke the hug.

"I don't think I can even stand." He said, rubbing his fingers on his nose, and Ruby noticed they came away bloody.

"Thor you're bleeding." She said, looking closer at his face and saw it was just a nosebleed, which shouldn't be too serious.

"You sure you can't walk?" Ruby said.

"I'll try." He said and used his one arm to try and push himself up to a knee, only to fall over.

Ruby ran over to him and helped him back into a sitting position. "I'll go get some help." She'd just done this, but now that Thor was responsive, she was a little less worried leaving him on his own for a bit. If only she had her scroll she could call one of her friends. "I'll be back as soon as I can." And she ran off again, this time determined to find some help.

This time she was less hectic and didn't bother asking people who were preoccupied with their problems. The issue was everyone she saw in that state. Her best bet would be to find another hunter, paramedic, officer, or someone who was trained for emergencies.

"Ruby!" a voice called for her. Turning she saw Jaune running to her. She ran into him and embraced him "Oh god we thought the worst, you weren't answering your scroll."

"I lost it in the fight." She said "How is everyone?" she asked

"Okay, relatively speaking." He said, and it was at this point Ruby saw his hand was wrapped in a bloody scarf.

"Jaune what happened to your hand?" She asked

"Nothing to worry about, come on, let's go meet up…"

"Wait! Before we go I need your help with something."

Jaune

Ruby was being cagey with what was going on, she was in too much of a hurry to stop and explain what she needed help with.

They eventually got to a building that Ruby ran inside too, up the stairs and onto the roof.

Jaune didn't know what he'd been expecting, but what he did see wasn't it.

"Thor?" he muttered "What the hell are you doing here?"

"He can't walk Jaune," Ruby said, not letting him get his answer "I can't lift him on my own."

Jaune walked over and hooked Thor's arm over his shoulder and hoisted him to his feet. Ruby got on Thor's other side and tried to stabilize him.

"What are you doing here?" Jaune asked again as they moved Thor to the stairs.

"I…can explain later." He said, "Need…rest first."

"I think we need to get you to a hospital," Jaune said

"No." Thor said quietly, "I'm just exhausted, just need rest"

Thinking that in his current state, he wasn't going to get anything out of him, he decided to focus on just moving Thor.

"Ruby, how did you find him?" He asked as they got him down the stairs.

"He found me." She said, "I think anyway, but that storm hit, and…there he was."

Jaune wasn't sure what she was getting at, the whole situation was just confusing him. One minute he'd been in a fight for his life one minute then a freak storm rolled through, killed all the Grimm and his brain still hadn't fully comprehended that, just that it was just like back at Beacon.

Thor had broken out of his cell when that happened back at Beacon and now he showed up here when the same thing happened.

Jaune shook his head, he was exhausted and couldn't puzzle this out.

It struck him they didn't have anywhere to take Thor, the attack had come almost as soon they got into town, no time for them to set up somewhere.

First thing, get back to everyone else, which was at the park where they had regrouped after the sudden end of the fight.

It took the better part of an hour to get there at the pace they could move Thor.

However, once he spotted Ren he called him over for help.

Ren came running over and surprise came over his face "Is that…Thor."

"Yeah it's him, and no I don't know how he got here." Jaune said, "Help me get him onto a bench so we can rest."

With Ren's help, they managed to get Thor to one of the park benches and Jaune let out a sigh of relief.

"Jaune! Ruby!" Pyrrha and Nora shouted as they ran and embraced the two in turn. It took them a moment to recognize the man on the bench next to them.

"Is that?" Nora began

"Yes, don't ask how he got here we don't know."

"I'll tell you all tomorrow," Thor said, his eye closed. "I need to get somewhere I can rest for now."

Jaune thought that would be tough, the attack had the whole town in shambles. If there was any place to stay, it may not be functioning. The emergency response teams were working overtime from what he could see, and if a bunch of people had been displaced, shelters may have been set up.

"We're going to have to see if any of the hotels or motels are still up and running. Barring that, maybe they set up a shelter for everyone who's been displaced."

The others voiced their agreement, but then they looked at Thor. They couldn't drag him around while looking for shelter.

"You guys go look," Ruby said

"You sure?" Jaunse asked.

"Yeah, you guys try and find us someplace to stay. I'll wait here."

"Maybe we should just head to the hospital." Pyrrha said, "Thor looks like he needs attention and Jaune."

"I'm fine." Thor and Jaune said at the same time.

"I'm just wiped out." Thor said, "I just need sleep."

"And I'm not hurt that bad," Jaune added.

After another ten minutes of discussion, they agreed to split up in pairs to try and find someplace to stay.

Ruby

With that, she was alone with Thor, whom she was pretty sure had fallen asleep. As she sat and thought, she knew she had to get another scroll to replace the one she'd lost. She needed to call her sister and let her know she was still alive. She felt a little guilty over it now, but at the time she had genuinely thought she was going to die.

She'd just have to borrow Jaune's scroll to call her sister.

She looked at Thor and thought about how he looked just before he collapsed. Whole, better than ever even.

And the storm.

"Hey, squirt." Her uncle's voice caught her off guard.

"Hey Uncle Qrow." She said. Her uncle had been tailing them for a while, but he kept his distance, which he explained because of his semblance. He'd made contact with them after their journey became painfully clear it was going to go at a snail's pace.

He'd been keeping Grimm off them and that had frustrated her a little, like he thought she couldn't take care of herself.

"So who'd this?" He said nudging Thor with his foot.

"Thor…a friend from school."

"Oh, so this is Thor…" He looked him over "Looks a lot different from his pictures."

"Yeah, well, he's been through a lot." She muttered. "Uncle Qrow can I borrow your scroll, I lost might in the fight."

"Sure thing kiddo," He said reaching into his pocket to retrieve it.

Handing it over, Ruby immediately dialed Yang.