Author's note: Some triggers at the bottom, just in case.

Blake was running up to the CCTS relay tower of Argus to disable the military's radar. If she didn't make it, best case scenario, her friends would get locked up for life. Her friends counted on her, and she was running again. This time, however, she was running to help them, not to get away from them. She had steam-dust bullets loaded in her gun, and carried a plethora of other rounds with her as well. She didn't want to hurt the workers, but if she had to, she could. Using her maiden powers, she had covered the sky with black clouds, making it harder for the human workers to see her. Yang was waiting a little bit away from the tower. Blake stopped near the tower, trying to locate the people by the sound of their footsteps. However, she only heard one set of footsteps. Blake whirled around and fired a steam-dust bullet at Adam. He wore a blindfold, likely to keep his ears keen. Just before it hit, she created a clone in front of it, and a second one beside it, and switched places with the second one. The bullet hit the clone and covered the area in fog. Adam tried to hit her with his sword, but she left an ice-dust clone in her place and got out of the cloud, trapping Adam in ice.

"Yang, backup!" Blake said over the communicator in her left human ear. Adam quickly broke free of the ice prison.

"Blake," Adam said, but Blake dashed towards him and surrounded him with clones.

"I! Don't! Care!" Blake shouted as she switched places with different clones to launch surprise attacks at Adam from all directions. Just as he recovered from the third blow, Yang came barreling down in her dragon form. Adam jumped back, evading the attack. Yang spun around, hit him with her tail club and surrounded herself in a cloud of smoke. Adam was launched backwards through a tree and against another one. His blindfold fell off and revealed his scarred left eye, which had the SDC logo burned into it. Yang, now in her human form, walked over to stand next to Blake, and both got ready for a fight.

"So, you really came to protect her," Adam said.

"I'm not protecting her," Yang said.

"And I'm not protecting her," Blake continued, and both took each other's hand.

"We're protecting each other," Yang and Blake said in unison, their auras lit up and they hugged each other. Both huntresses fused into one, and Adam stared in disbelief as the fusion revealed herself. Bumblebee wore heavy brown leather boots with black toes and two black belts crossed in front of the shaft, black pants and a brown pleated belt with multiple pockets attached to it. She also wore a belly-free orange top under a white tailcoat, with golden zippers allowing her to remove the tails if necessary. Her waist-long straight golden hair turned black and curled at the tips, giving it the appearance of smoke. She had two golden bracelets on her lower arms, which looked like bigger versions of Yang's weapon in its combat form, and her right arm was protected by golden steel plate armor held in place by black leather straps. Bumblebee's cat ears were a bit larger than Blake's, and adorned with golden jewelry, and her red eyes looked at Adam for a moment. Bumblebee then took her eyes off of Adam to look at herself, revealing two small dragon wings on her back when she turned around. Seeing the hair billow in the wind, Adam rushed at Bumblebee, drawing his sword to strike. Bumblebee held her right arm behind herself and extended a yellow blade with a black edge from her bracelet, stopping Adam's attack in its tracks.

"Check me out," Bumblebee said, "I'm awesome!" She turned around and punched Adam with her left hand, a carefree smile on her face. Adam absorbed the force of the attack with his sword.

"You're strong, I give you that," Adam said, "But I'm stronger." He started glowing red and unleashed a flurry of energy blades at Bumblebee, but they all disappeared as soon as they made contact with the fusion.

"Nice moves," Bumblebee said, smiled and asked, "But how about you hit me so I can see how strong you are?"

"I don't have to hit you to hurt you," Adam said with an evil smile, turned around and ran towards where the others were. The carefree smile disappeared from Bumblebee's face, and was replaced with a serious expression. Combining her maiden powers with her Shadow Flame semblance, Bumblebee burst into black flames and appeared in front of Adam before he could take three steps.

"Very big mistake," Bumblebee said with a slight growl, and Adam froze in motion as he looked up at the fusion towering over him. Bumblebee put her right hand on his left shoulder, and threw him backwards into the rock formation. The impact crater was filled with smoke, and the ceiling crumbled a bit afterwards, and Adam's aura was gone completely.

"Blake," Adam said, "I don't know if you're in there, but if you are, listen to me, please." Bumblebee stopped in front of Adam.

"Why are we stopping?" Yang asked mentally.

"He's serious," Blake answered, "He really wants to tell me something. I don't know what but… he never says please. Ever." The fusion looked at Adam sitting in front of them, barely trying to maintain some semblance of authority or strength.

"You have one minute," Bumblebee said, "Don't let it go to waste."

"I want to make up for what I did at Beacon," Adam said, "Sirena told me that you two would decide on my punishment, and if you don't, she'll do it. So please, whatever you think is justified, tell me, and I won't resist."

"I will consider your offer," Bumblebee said and retreated into her mind, letting Yang and Blake discuss the matter mentally.

"What do you say?" Yang asked.

"He's genuinely scared of her," Blake answered. Suddenly, images from outside of time and space flooded the fusion's mind, and both Yang and Blake saw the heinous acts Sirena committed to punish those who had offended her, as well as warn any to not repeat their mistake.

"That's… gross," Yang said.

"And illegal," Blake added.

"So, what do we do with him?" Yang asked.

"I don't know," Blake answered, "He'd rather kill himself than face her."

"You think we can make him dress in a maid costume?" Yang asked.

"Sure," Blake answered, "But, I don't see the point of it."

"The point would be having a manservant," Yang said, "Plus, he can address us as Master Xiao Long and Master Belladonna, respectively."

"I don't think we can bring a wanted terrorist to Atlas," Blake said, "And I don't think humiliation would be a good approach, no matter what someone did."

"So, what?" Yang asked, "Do we just tell him to be nice from now on?"

"Good idea," Blake answered, "But we need some way to make sure he behaves and doesn't fall back into his old patterns."

"What if we freeze him?" Yang asked.

"And then?" Blake asked.

"And then he's frozen," Yang answered.

"Seems like a waste," Blake said, "Don't get me wrong, he's an awful person, but you can't deny that he is strong, has a powerful semblance, and can easily gather a large following. We have to somehow reform him, and use his abilities for good."

"Then… let's trap him in a dream," Yang said, "We freeze him, but make it so that he is asleep and dreams, and when he is ready to help the world, he'll wake up. Also, let's get rid of that scar for him."

"Alright," Blake said, and both returned to take control of the fusion again. Adam was still sitting there, his head hanging in defeat and his weapon lying in front of him.

"Adam Taurus," Bumblebee said, and Adam stiffened up, "As punishment for your actions against the people of Vale, and for plunging the world into another war, you will be sentenced to cryosleep. You will dream, and undergo rigorous behavioral reconditioning. Once you are a leader worthy of your power, you will awaken. You are free to choose the pose in which you wish to remain for the duration of your punishment."

"Thank you," Adam said, took his sword and rested the end of its sheath on the ground in front of him. He knelt down properly and held his sword upright. Bumblebee froze him solid with her magic, then let a massive tree grow to protect him until he woke up. She then walked away, made her bike roll up to her and went on her way to help her friends.

~o~

Ruby and the rest of her friends stood on a cliff, facing the Colossus piloted by Caroline. She had landed several hits with the Hellrazer Mk.3 rounds, making them explode with Cinder's semblance and dealing massive damage, but the mech was still intact and fully functional. Ruby put her scythe away, and Caroline used the mech's giant hand to point at her.

"Surrender for your crimes," Caroline demanded, "And face your punishment."

"No," Ruby said, Caroline gasped and Ruby said, "Bigger people than you have tried to stop us, and they have failed. We will get to Atlas, whether you like it or not, and if you try to stop us, you will be the one to fall. We don't want to fight you, but we will if we have to. So, what do you say?" Caroline lowered her mech's hand, but then raised its arm cannon and pointed it directly at Ruby. In that moment, a red portal opened above Ruby, and Sirena shot out of it. She flung a grappling hook on a chain made from ice into the cannon and dove into the ocean, extending the chain from her right sleeve. Once under water, Sirena circled the Colossus and began pulling the chain. Caroline tried to pull the cannon in the other direction, but the mech's motors couldn't match the water friction Sirena generated with her aura.

"What is going on?" Caroline asked. The ice chain tightened around the mech's legs and forced them together, causing the Colossus to tumble. Sirena let go of the chain, the hydraulic motors were released, and the giant mech's own momentum made it fall into the ocean. Ruby and her friends saw most of the mech disappear beneath the waves. Caroline tried to get back up and slammed the mech's hand onto the ocean floor. It released a pillar of bubbles and broke away, causing the Colossus to fall into a cave and disappear completely. Caroline got back up and looked around in the dark waters. Sirena swam in front of her. She pointed her mech's cannon at Sirena, who swam into it. The cannon's internal sensors showed that Sirena was hovering at the very end of the cannon. Caroline loaded air-dust into the cannon and waited for it to be ready, then pulled the trigger. As soon as the charge was released, Sirena sat on top of the Colossus.

"I wouldn't contact anyone for twenty seconds if I were you," Sirena said, who had managed to connect her scroll with the protected Atlas military communication channel.

"I don't take orders from the likes of you!" Caroline shouted, "All units, converge on my-" Caroline was cut off when a powerful shockwave hit the Colossus, rocking it back and forth as if it were a car colliding with a wall at highway speeds. Every single glass panel in Argus cracked, and the ones closest to the base were reduced to fine powder. The shockwave damaged the Colossus, knocking several cables loose, which now filled the cockpit with electric sparks.

"It wasn't an order," Sirena said, "It was a suggestion to make sure exactly this doesn't happen." She swam away, and Caroline screamed in anger. She chased after Sirena, swinging the cannon and hand at her and trying to hit her.

~o~

Bumblebee was riding her bike, when she suddenly felt an unbearably strong pain erupt in her cat ears. She screamed in pain, lost her balance and fell off her bike while splitting up again as her aura broke. Blake fell into a bush, shredding her tailcoat. Yang took a few seconds to recompose herself, but then went to check on Blake.

"Blake?" Yang asked, "Blake, can you hear me? Blake, say something, please." Yang grabbed Blake by the shoulders and shook her gently, but her amber eyes were glazed and fixed on a point in the far distance. She took Blake on her back and hurried to the cliff. Someone had to know what was happening, what had caused this, and how to fix it. She hadn't seen anything in Blake's memory, but if it was a faunus thing, they had to get in touch with Argent or his team. They had to know how to help Blake. And if not, then they would at least know who might be able to help them.

~o~

Chasing after Sirena, Caroline tried to grab her multiple times, but Sirena easily evaded the mech's giant hand. Sirena always kept just out of Caroline's reach, provoking the old woman to follow her towards a deep drop. Sirena swam upwards a little, and Caroline jumped after her until the Colossus' cockpit was on the same level as Sirena.

"Got you," Caroline said as she closed her mech's hand around Sirena, who increased her water friction to the maximum and kept the mech suspended above the dark abyss.

"Weird," Sirena said, "I was about to say the same." The Colossus' arm motors broke, causing the giant mech to swing. Sirena grabbed one of its fingers and waited before releasing it, throwing it into the dark and unforgiving depths. Caroline found herself sinking into the deep sea, rolling along the steep ocean cliffs. At some point, the dust stopped working and the emergency power supply activated. The water pressure caused the Colossus to creak, and there were several areas where water broke into the mech.

"Hello? Argus base, this is Caroline Cordovin," Caroline said, trying to contact the base, but there was no answer. The mech hit something, and rocked to the side a little. Caroline couldn't tell where she was, what was going on around her, where up and down were. She was all alone. It was just her against the endless, cold, unforgiving darkness.

"Hello," Sirena said, suddenly appearing behind Caroline after using Talia's semblance to possess her own aura.

"You!" Caroline said, raising a finger against Sirena.

"Yes?" Sirena asked nonchalantly. Caroline hesitated a little, then lowered her finger again and took on a much more submissive pose.

"Please, help me," Caroline said, "You won, I can't best you. I'll let your friends go to Atlas, just please, don't let me die down here." Something else hit the mech, and while Caroline whimpered, Sirena seemed perfectly fine with it.

~o~

Ruby watched as the Colossus disappeared under the waves. She wanted to jump into the water, but Qrow held her back.

"Sirena knows you don't want people to die because of you," Qrow said, "She won't kill her."

"Doesn't mean she has to save her," Nora said, earning a stern look from Ren.

"Except it does," Qrow said, "If she doesn't help someone who she knows will die as a result, it means she'll have killed that person." Suddenly, a powerful shockwave shook the ground, and a few pebbles broke off the cliff. Everyone stepped away from the cliff a bit, just to be safe.

"What was that?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know," Qrow answered. Yang came running up to the group, carrying Blake on her back.

"Please, do something," Yang said, catching her breath. Everyone gathered around Yang, and she sat Blake down and leaned her against a tree. Blake still looked disoriented and just stared into the distance.

"Yang, what happened?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know," Yang answered, "We fused, and then there was this loud noise or something, and then we split up again. She's been like this since, and I don't know what to do." Everyone looked around nervously, hoping that someone would know what to do. A red portal opened behind Ruby, and Caroline came flying out. She landed in front of Maria, was soaking wet and cold, but alive. Maria helped her up, and Sirena noticed Blake.

"Just as I thought," Sirena said and walked over to Blake.

"What is it?" Yang asked, "What happened?"

"Please," Sirena said, "I would prefer not to repeat myself." She put her right hand on Blake's head and it glowed light green. Blake's cat ears started glowing as well, and when the glow faded, Blake blinked a couple times, then seemed completely normal again.

"What happened?" Blake asked.

"Caroline hit a whale," Sirena answered, "He wanted to see what had bothered him, so he sent a sonar to investigate."

"A fish did this?" Ruby asked.

"Whales aren't fish," Sirena answered, "But yes, a whale did this." Caroline let out a short laugh.

"Atlesian craftsmanship is the best!" Caroline announced proudly, "It survived an attack by the largest non-Grimm creature in all of Remnant!"

"He was just looking," Sirena said, "Had he felt he was in danger, things would have ended badly. I have seen an altercation between a whale that size and a pack of Sea Feilong. A single offensive sonar blast can rip a dozen of those Grimm to shreds in an instant."

"Guys, not to sound dramatic, but," Jaune said, pointed at Argus and said, "Grimm!" Everyone turned to the city, where they saw a large horde of Grimm head towards the wall, and got into the Manta, with only Yang heading back into the forest. Maria sat in the pilot seat and tried to get the transport back into the air, Caroline just sat on the sidelines and tried to warm up again, and Sirena grabbed the radio microphone and mimicked Caroline's voice.

"Attention all units," Sirena said, "Protect Argus from the land side, we'll cover the sea. Activate the barrier and defend the wall. For every Grimm that makes it past the wall, every soldier on base cleans the latrines for a month. With their toothbrush!"

"Roger that," one of the soldiers said, and Sirena hung up. Maria slowly got the aircraft to start, and Sirena stepped out of it again.

"Here's the plan," Sirena said, "Ruby, use ice-dust rounds. Aim for those higher up. Nora, turrets. Jaune, Ren, you two come with me." Sirena grabbed Jaune and Ren by their wrists and used Ruby's semblance to get the three of them out onto the open ocean, several meters above the water. As they fell, a massive aquatic Grimm rose from the depths. A series of strategically placed hard-light-dust generators formed two walls shielding Argus against low-flying Grimm from the sea.

"What is that?!" Jaune asked, and he, Ren and Sirena landed on the Leviathan's head. Sirena was silent for a moment, then unleashed her silver eyes, turning the Leviathan and all the surrounding Grimm to stone.

"And now, the weather with Ruby Rose," Ruby said, aiming her weapon, "Hail, with a high chance of dead Grimm." She fired multiple ice-dust rounds into the Grimm, freezing them in spiked ice balls and causing them to plummet to the sea. Weiss summoned half a dozen Queen Lancers and had them fly out to help combat the aerial Grimm. Maria flew along the barrier, and Nora fired turrets at it. Weiss summoned a Seer and used it to relay an ice-dust glyph to her Queen Lancers, making their projectiles freeze the Grimm they hit. The falling Grimm knocked those below them into the water, and Weiss had an idea. She sent one of her Queen Lancers to pick up Jaune and fly him over to the Manta. Ren also held on to the summon, while Sirena remained sitting atop the petrified Leviathan.

"Jaune, Ruby, I need a boost," Weiss said. Ruby and Jaune began amplifying her aura, and Weiss had her Queen Lancers shoot projectiles into the water, where each projectile released a single green lightning into the coral reef. Using a combination of her own and Ruby's semblance, Blake made her way onto one of Weiss' summons and began firing ice-dust rounds into the Grimm. A Sphinx flew up to her and prepared a fireball, when suddenly, Yang came flying in her dragon form. She tackled the Grimm and bit its head off.

"Thanks, Yang," Blake said, and Yang grumbled.

"Anytime, kitty," Yang's grumbling meant. Blake smiled a little and rolled her eyes, but then jumped into the saddle on Yang's back, strapped in, and both continued fighting. Ren jumped from one Queen Lancer to the next, using his own semblance to stay invisible to the Grimm and Ruby's to stay mobile, and fired short volleys of ice-dust rounds into the Grimm. The ice pulled them into the water, and knocked down any Grimm it hit on the way, where green glowing sharks made from corals were waiting to tear them apart. If any Grimm made it to the barrier, Nora's turrets took them down in a hit or two.

"Found you," Sirena thought, standing on a ladder leaning against one of the massive pillars in her soul core. She touched Ren's emblem, returned to the waking world and used her Innate Capability semblance to gain the experience of an entire decade's worth of training under optimal conditions. While the Grimm didn't notice her, due to the petrified Leviathan soaking up all her negative emotions that leaked into the surrounding area, there were still enough Grimm nearby to let her trigger her silver eyes. Jaune felt a powerful surge of aura energy as Sirena activated her silver eyes, but used the energy to amplify her aura, and Ren felt the city's civilians calm down.

"What… is happening?" Caroline asked as she saw that the Grimm seemed to lose track of Argus entirely. Maria smugly pointed towards the sea, Caroline turned around and saw the massive petrified Grimm, and her jaw dropped.

"Sirena," Ruby answered, still amplifying Weiss' aura.

"Wait, what?" Qrow asked, "How?"

"It's like back in Mistral," Ruby answered, "When I used my silver eyes on a single Beowolf, I released more energy than I needed, and what I didn't use overcharged my aura. I think Sirena did this exact thing on purpose, keeping all the energy to herself, instead of releasing it."

"That's pretty dangerous," Jaune said.

"She knows that. But she also knows that it's necessary," Ruby said, a bit disturbed by this revelation, and asked, "Weiss, how are you holding up?"

"I still feel like myself," Weiss answered.

"That's good to know," Ruby said.

"Ruby, I think you can take a break now," Jaune said, "If Weiss tones it down a bit, I can keep up with her depleting aura, I think."

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah," Jaune answered.

"Don't worry, I was going to take a break now anyway," Weiss said.

"Got it," Ruby said and fired the last few ice-dust rounds from her current magazine into the Grimm.

"I think we need more air support," Weiss said and summoned another half dozen Queen Lancers. Ruby put her weapon away.

"Well, it's now or never," Ruby said and got ready to dash towards the Grimm in a straight line.

"What are you talking about?" Qrow asked.

"Trial by fire," Ruby answered, used Ren's semblance to hide all her friends and burst into a cluster of rose petals. She stopped on top of a Manticore, closed her eyes and focused on her friends, family, and all that was worth protecting. As she thought of all the fun times she had with everyone, she was about to unleash a burst of light, but the image of Pyrrha's death lit up in her head and stopped her. Ruby opened her eyes and looked around, and saw that all the Grimm were closing in on her.

"Jinn!" Ruby called out in a panic, and time stopped.

"Hello, Ruby," Jinn said.

"I'm sorry Jinn," Ruby said, "I don't have a question for you."

"I know," Jinn said, "But I'll give you some information anyway, just this once. The gods may be powerful, but that does not mean they're competent. Ozpin failed to realize this, and so did just about everyone back then. However, your approach to problem solving has been the most effective throughout history, so I'd keep doing that if I were you."

"Thank you, Jinn," Ruby said.

"You're welcome," Jinn said, "Anyway, get ready, because I don't know if the god of light likes me exploiting his stupidity like this." Jinn disappeared again, and time resumed. Ruby closed her eyes again and focused. Just as Ruby was about to unleash a burst of light, Sirena pulled out a red angel's tear, marked it with her Return semblance and tossed it over to Ruby. After Ruby copied its semblance, Sirena made it return to her and put it away again. Ruby opened her eyes and looked around, seeing hundreds of petrified Grimm plummeting to the sea and feeling no drawbacks. She then felt the weight her body put on her feet disappear, looked down and saw that the Grimm she was standing on, over a hundred meters away from the shore, was also solid stone.

~o~

After Ruby unleashed a burst of light, Yang landed on the Manta to let Blake get off, and then flew over to catch Ruby. The petrified Grimm slowed her down, and she saw Ruby disappear beneath the waves. In the corner of her eye, Yang saw Sirena give her an approving nod, telling her to save Ruby, and that she'll be there in case anything unexpected happens. Yang plunged into the water, and the icy waves embraced her scales, like death was gripping her soul.

"Come on Ruby, where are you?" Yang thought as she dove through the icy water. She used her wings to move forward, and in the depths, she saw a red aura light up, as well as a bright orange one, but both merged into a dark orange aura. The relic floated upwards, and just as Yang tried to snatch it with her jaws, it was sucked sideways by an ocean current.

"Damn it," Yang thought, hesitated for a moment and thought, "Sirena can help Ruby, I'll grab the lamp." She started to shiver, transformed back and created a force field around herself. Her bike sunk to the dark abyss below.

"Guys, new plan," Yang wrote in a message to her friends, "I'll get the relic back, and Sirena takes care of Ruby. We'll meet up at the fireball." She created a magical flame and sent it to the surface, making it stay above her and drawing her friends' attention. Yang followed the lamp as fast as possible, focusing on its blue glow. Just as the relic was within reach, something swam past her, and she took a picture of it.

"What is that?" Yang thought as she looked at the picture in her mind, analyzing all the details. The creature had a female humanoid torso, but a roughly four meter long fish tail for legs, which ended in a vertical fin. Her entire skin was a mix of mud brown and ash gray, and her long, pitch black hair floated in the water. She had razor-sharp claws for fingers and bone spikes running along her spine. While Yang had trouble keeping up with the relic, the mermaid seemed to just casually swim after it, as if she was entranced by its glow and color. As the relic got caught up on a rock formation, the mermaid just circled it, allowing Yang to get a look at her face. It was flat, like some sort of aquatic predator or deep sea monster, and the mermaid had three rows of triangular, twisted, razor-sharp teeth. But the most shocking detail for Yang were her eyes. Silver.

"Ruby?" Yang asked. The mermaid took her eyes off the relic and eyed Yang curiously, as if trying to remember something from long ago.

"I… am… Ryn," Ryn said slowly, as if she was just learning how to speak. Ryn smiled at Yang, clearly recognizing her, and Yang slowly floated over to hug her. Suddenly, Ryn growled and Yang jumped back a little. In the blink of an eye, Ryn had dashed past Yang and sunk her claws into a Sea Feilong. The Grimm roared as Ryn sunk her teeth into it, and black ooze began pouring out of the Grimm. Yang grabbed the relic, attached it to her belt and watched the fight, not sure what she could do. Ryn twisted her body, using her bone spikes like a saw to cut off one of the Grimm's arms. The Sea Feilong shook her off and hit her with its tail, slamming her into the rock formation. Ryn split up into Ruby and a shark, and both their auras were depleted. Yang immediately went to get Ruby into her force field. Before she could reach her, the Sea Feilong attacked the shark and grabbed it with its remaining arm, punching her against the rocks. Ruby unleashed her silver eyes again, and Yang closed her eyes. After the light faded, Yang saw her sister trying to grab some of the shark's bloody remains, picking several teeth out of the water. Yang dragged Ruby into her force field, and Ruby took a deep breath. Ruby shivered and was soaking wet, and spat out a lot of water.

"Ruby, are you alright?" Yang asked, starting to panic.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said, coughed up more water and began sobbing.

"It's fine," Yang said, trying to comfort her sister, "We got the relic, Argus is safe, everything is good." She slowly rose to the surface.

"I couldn't save her, Yang," Ruby said, looking at the shark teeth, "She had children, and she fought so hard to keep the oceans free of Grimm. Sirena saved her a few years ago, and since then, she has been fighting the Grimm. She unlocked her aura. She was so strong. She relied on me to protect her, and I failed, and now she is gone."

"She's not completely gone," Yang said, "Remember, when you use your silver eyes after someone dies, you absorb their soul. Just like with Pyrrha."

"P- Pyrrha," Ruby sobbed, "She was- one of the- the best- friends- I ev- ever- had."

"But she's still with us," Yang said and wiped the tears off Ruby's cheeks. Ruby cried for a bit more, and hugged Yang.

"Salem will never take anyone else from me," Ruby whispered with an almost terrifying level of determination and clarity, but when Yang turned to look at her, she had passed out and was sound asleep.

~o~

Yang flew into the Manta and laid Ruby down, leaning her against a wall. Her hands were tightly closed around the shark teeth, and Yang didn't know whose blood was streaming down her sister's hands. Ren went to check on Ruby, using pressure points to relax her hand muscles so she would open her hands. He took the teeth and handed them to Nora.

"Are you ok?" Weiss asked, "What happened?"

"And where do those teeth come from?" Nora asked. Jaune started using his semblance to amplify Ruby's aura, so her wounds would heal.

"Yeah, we're fine," Yang answered, "As for the teeth, it's… a long story. About four meters, to be exact." Oscar looked at the teeth.

"Looks like a long-finned mako," Oscar said, "It's a type of shark that usually lives near Vale's northern region." Weiss snatched the teeth and started cleaning them, removing bits and pieces of the previous owner.

"Wait, hold up," Nora said and asked, "I thought you grew up on a farm. Did you plant sharks there, too?"

"No," Oscar answered, "Ozpin told me."

"He did?" Yang asked.

"He's back?" Qrow asked.

"I think he… never really left," Oscar answered. Everyone except for Blake was visibly surprised to hear that.

"I sort of expected that," Blake said, "But I didn't want to say anything, to avoid making him hide longer."

"Wait, how did you know?" Weiss asked.

"I read the book," Blake answered, "It's actually a lot easier to understand the whole reincarnation thing if you read the book about it."

"You don't happen to have a copy with you, do you?" Oscar asked.

"No, sorry," Blake answered, "But I'm sure we can find one in Atlas."

"I don't think you'll find one," Weiss said, "Atlas is more focused on real things."

"Then we won't have a problem," Blake said with a smile.

"You mean like how Atlas students are more by-the-book?" Yang asked with a smirk, remembering her and Weiss' tournament match. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Yes Yang, just like that," Weiss said with an annoyed undertone.

"So, Yang, what's the story behind the teeth?" Nora asked.

"Ruby fused with a shark," Yang answered, "And then she turned into a mermaid."

"Don't you need aura to fuse?" Nora asked and looked at Jaune, who nodded simply.

"Sirena had a run-in with that shark," Yang said, "She saved her, and since then, the shark has been fighting Grimm. Eventually, she unlocked her aura."

"A shark fighting Grimm," Ren said, "That is highly unusual."

"Trust me," Qrow said, "There are a lot of crazy fish stories. And as you can probably imagine, the crazier ones are usually more true."

"So, what happened then?" Nora asked.

"A Sea Feilong killed the shark," Yang answered, "Ruby absorbed her soul, but between using her silver eyes to fuse with it, and turning such a strong Grimm to stone, I think she pushed herself farther than she should have."

"How did she act?" Blake asked, drawing the attention to herself, "The fusion, that is. How did she act in general?"

"She didn't seem to recognize me at first," Yang answered and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"Argent told me something," Blake answered, "Generally speaking, the longer a faunus lives among humans, and ignores their instincts, the harder it is to unlock the abilities he taught Sun, Ilia and me. On the other hand, if an animal were to unlock its aura, it would learn these abilities almost immediately."

"It's because of your instincts, right?" Jaune asked.

"Exactly," Blake answered, "Humans don't have animal instincts, so you have more trouble learning things like breathing under water or predicting the weather. When Ruby fused with the shark, she was somewhere between animal instincts and human reasoning. Not quite like a normal faunus, but there are stories of faunus who got lost in the wilderness at a young age, and developed seemingly impossible abilities as a result. Those faunus usually had little to no base-line for how to act, since they had little time to learn from their parents, so they did what kept them alive and followed their instincts. They still keep their ability to reason, but they don't use it beyond what their instincts care about. Argent's family calls them Omega Faunus."

"So that's why she didn't recognize me?" Yang asked.

"Yes," Blake answered, "She probably tried to figure out if you were food. It can be difficult to keep these instincts in check, even if you were born with them, like me, so I can't imagine what kind of problems Ruby had. Animals generally don't think the way humans do, and at times, my feline instincts want to tell me something and I have to figure out what it is and how to interpret it. Part of the training was also to learn how to decipher what my instincts try to tell me, but since Ruby didn't have this training, and actually was hit with fully developed shark instincts right away, it's likely she doesn't fully remember what happened, since her mind was probably busy understanding the shark's instincts."

"I see," Yang said, turned to Ren and asked, "How's she doing?"

"As far as I can tell, she's fine," Ren answered, "The bleeding stopped, her aura should handle any foreign bodies, and she looks stable. But, I'd like a second opinion, just to be safe." He looked over to Blake, who sat down next to Ruby, opposite of Ren, and listened for her heart beat and breathing.

"Sounds fine to me," Blake said, "Though, I'm no expert." The group spent the rest of the trip to Atlas in silence, not sure what to say or do. Yang sat next to Ruby, and Ren and Blake occasionally checked on her to make sure she was alright.

~o~

Tyrian walked up to one of the chairs in Salem's throne room, which had a red egg resting on it. He carefully wiped the layer of dust off the dark red shell. It had become a daily routine of his, and he felt he was doing something good. Suddenly, the shell cracked and Tyrian froze in motion. He was afraid he may have damaged it, but quickly banished the thought, as only Salem could damage these eggs. And maybe Sirena. Normally, he would immediately discard the idea that anyone's power could compare to that of his goddess, but his nightmares would only become worse if he insulted Sirena. The egg shell cracked further and further, and as Tyrian went to inspect the large egg, a leg came out from the inside and kicked him across the room. Tyrian got up again and saw the egg evaporate into red smoke with a yellow hue. After the smoke was gone, he saw a woman sitting on the chair, and a strange, warm feeling overcame him.

"The hell am I doin' here again?" the woman asked, "And who're you?"

"Welcome back, Tock," Salem said as she entered the room.

"Hello boss," Tock said, looked at Tyrian and asked, "So, he's my replacement?"

"Yes," Salem answered, "I expect you two to work together from now on."

"I see," Tock said, took a good look at Tyrian and said, "Well, I certainly ain't complainin' about that." Tock smiled at Tyrian, who returned the gesture, and all three heard Arthur groan from his chair.

"It's been five seconds and I already miss hell," Arthur said.

"Arthur, welcome back," Salem said, "I expect you to not throw away this second chance. You, Tyrian and Tock will go to Atlas, and bring me the girl."

Triggers: Gore, Tyrian having a crush.

Author's note: Yang would rather keep Adam as her and Blake's personal assistant than turn him over to the police, or do something else.

My initial idea for Ruby fusing with an aquatic animal had her unlock a squid's aura and fusing with that, using the fusion's tentacles and color change abilities to imitate clothing. But then I watched Mysterious Mermaids, and realized that we need more heroes who look utterly horrifying, so here we are. Good thing I had Sirena help those sharks in chapter 1.

I don't know what happened with Tock and Tyrian. The two were supposed to hate each other.

Sirena can gain up to 10 years experience with any skill almost immediately, but she can use that semblance only once on any skill. Also, if it takes less than 10 years to master a skill, she only gets that much experience. Also, sensing emotions is a different ability, so Sirena can only mask people's emotions. But she's really good at it.

There actually is a difference between using the silver eyes to overcharge aura and entering a heightened state of mind, like the Alpha State or Mushin. The former is for an immediate power boost, and the second one is for prolonged use.

When I started writing this fic, I realized the good guys would become too strong eventually, and decided to make Salem powerful enough to bring back up to 5 dead people. That way, I could introduce villain OCs as her new minions whenever necessary, to keep the story engaging. However, I realized that the most glaring issue with this was my inability to write actual villains, rather than just people who lost their way and need someone (Ruby) to show them the right way. So, I was forced to wait, until I either learned to make proper villains, or the show introduced a villain I could bring back.

This marks the end of my version of V6.