It was the dead of night as Zero looked out of an apartment window in a residential area of Vale. The buildings in this part were little more than tall concrete blocks, hastily built after the Great War to house those displaced by the fighting. The only thing that stood out in the field of decaying gray monoliths was a police station. Today's prize.

It was less a traditional police station and more of a two-story concrete fort. The doors were made of steel, and the windows were more akin to firing slits. A handful of police vehicles stood in the parking lot just in front of the doors. Ordinarily, it would have made for a formidable fortress. However, the chaos caused by his men and by the White Fang has led to large grimm attacks on the city walls, not to mention a minor crime surge. So the station is likely greatly undermanned.

Zero saw a scrawny man enter his room, one he recognized as a new member of the Black Knights.

"Ah, Scout-1. Your report?"

"We estimate around 20 people are present in the station right now, Zero."

"Estimate?"

The scout winced, "W- We looked at how many entered and left the building. And we could have missed some. We couldn't do more with only two days to prepare. My apologies."

"It'll do. Your team has done well. If everything goes according to plan, they should be receiving their weapons tonight." He handed the scout a small camera, "For now, make sure to get everything on tape. We attack in T minus 5 minutes."

"Understood."

Zero checked the time. His thrall should have started giving out dispatches already. As he looked back at the police station, he noticed a pair of cops getting into a patrol car and driving away. Zero called on his radio.

"B-1, what's your status?"

"This is B-1, I'm in position. There's no wind, so I should be able to make it."

"Copy that. Be careful."

T minus 4 minutes

"Team Green, get ready to move out."

"This is Green-1, final checks done. We're ready to go."

Another pair of cops exited the station in a hurry, entering a police car before speeding away.

T minus 3 minutes

"Team Blue, report."

"This is Blue-1. We've taken positions overlooking the exits. The getaway is ready as well."

"Copy that. Keep a lookout for unusual activity and be ready to provide fire support as we enter." Zero said as he exited the apartment and descended to the ground floor. He found himself in an alley where Glaston and about a dozen uniformed Black Knights with rifles were waiting.

T minus 2 minutes

Peeking out from the darkness, Zero could make out another group of about half a dozen exiting the station and driving off in a police van.

"That place must be practically empty." Glaston was in awe, "Whoever your man on the inside is, he's worth his weight in gold, Zero."

Zero smirked behind his mask, "Indeed. Without him, this mission wouldn't be possible."

T minus 1 minute

Zero looked up at the sky, and he could see a faint black shape leaping from the top of a building and towards the station roof. Blake was wearing a harness with a charge of gravity dust, and just before she landed on the station roof, it activated and slowed her fall. A few moments later, Blake called on the radio.

"B-1 calling in, I'm ready to head in."

"Copy that. All units, on the mark." Zero pulled out his silenced pistol and readied himself.

T minus zero

A stream of automatic gunfire could be heard from inside the police station. He charged alongside Glaston's team, with Azul's blue team providing covering fire on the windows of the station. Zero busted down the door, revealing a vast lobby room with a handful of panicked cops. The men behind him shot them on the spot.

The advance into the complex was swift and brutal. They split up into multiple groups, taking out any stragglers in short order. Those inside were either surprised to see the Black Knights so deep in the facility or were distracted by Blake on the second floor and easily flanked. For the most part though, the place was deserted. Soon enough, he met up with Blake, "I found the armory. It's unlocked." she said before leading them toward the room.

"Must have seen heavy use these days." Zero said before pulling out his radio. "Blue team, get the vehicle here. We've found our target. Green team, head to the second floor, east side."

The armory contained about two dozen rifles and just as many pistols, with the appropriate amount of ammunition to last them a while. There were also many grenades and even some fire dust. The dozen men he had assembled picked up the cargo and hurried towards the exit. Glaston, Blake, and he would provide security on the way. Glaston threw a Molotov behind them, starting a fire.

"Zero, this is Blue-1, we've got incoming from the west side."

"Already? But we just got here."

"Must be two or three squads of MPs on foot, do we engage them?"

Zero sighed. He didn't like the idea of telling Azul to engage while he was away. "Yes, call all units from other overlook positions as well. We'll join you in no time."

His group went outside where they were met with their getaway van right outside the door. They were meant to ride away with it, but now they had other priorities. Namely the crackling of gunfire not even 200 meters away. His men hastily loaded their cargo and got ready for a fight as the vehicle departed.

"Blue-1, how's the situation?"

"They're shredding us over here, we're barely holding them back." his voice was panicked, no doubt fearing a repeat of his previous encounter with Atlas Military Police.

"We'll provide you covering fire, be ready to withdraw and scatter. Meet us back at base."

"Understood, Zero."

Glaston directed his squad of Black Knights to form up behind whatever small cover they could find, and shoot in the direction of the distant muzzle flashes. Soon enough their volley caused the enemy fire to die out, though Zero doubted that was because they were killed.

"How will we get out, Zero?" Glaston said.

"We'll escape through the alleys we came from. It's a choke point, so they won't be able to push us. Blake will act as our rear guard." he looked over at her, and she gave a short nod. He was infinitely glad he didn't have to instill military discipline in her from scratch. The new recruits were giving him headaches.

After firing another burst of gunfire, they ran back to the place from where they began their charge. The enemy took the opportunity to fire back, killing one of his men and wounding another in the arm.

They made their way through the alleyways of Vale, most of its occupants fled inside when they heard the assault start. The few that remained knew better than to trouble the group of heavily armed people passing through.

The Black Knights split up, heading for several preplanned sites to slip out of their uniforms and dispose of their rifles before blending in with the civilian population. Eventually only Glaston and Zero remained as they neared one such site. Azul radioed in to say he was fine, though three of his men suffered injuries. In the distance, he could hear police sirens and a few occasional gunshots. He could even see the faint glow of the burning police station. Despite the interruption, his daring raid was a major success.

His musings were interrupted by an orange-haired girl who blocked their way. She was dressed in a formal way and couldn't be much older than him. She seemed unarmed, yet her voice was determined as she spoke. "Halt, in the name of the law!"

Glaston pointed his rifle at her, "Don't try to play hero, girl. We won't hurt you so long as you get out of our way."

"I will not do so. You are under arrest, Black Knight." Zero couldn't quite place it, but there was something off about her mannerisms. Her speech was stilted and awkward. But he couldn't ponder it for long, as the girl charged at them.

Both Glaston and he reluctantly started shooting at her chest, but the girl's aura absorbed their hits exceptionally. Several floating blades unsheathed themselves from her back and started flying towards them. Zero barely dodged them, and Glaston's aura suffered from a hit.

"A huntress?" Zero said as he leveled his gun at her head and shot, now aiming to kill. The girl's swords went after Glaston, who was barely dodging them, while she went after Zero. She lept at him, pulling him to the ground with surprising weight.

Her strength was incredible- She wrestled his pistol away from him with ease. While he wasn't physically the strongest among his peers, he was no slouch either. Yet he could not free himself from her iron grip. She surpassed his strength without seeming to strain at all.

While dodging her blades, Glaston managed to get a few shots off at her, which she absorbed and barely acknowledged. With Zero fully restrained, she moved her hands to try and unmask him. Seeing how he was out of other options, he had to play his trump card. Part of his mask opened up, revealing only a single purple eye. Activating his semblance, he shouted at her, "DIE!"

The girl spent barely a moment in confusion before continuing her attempt to unmask him. Who the hell was she? Again he activated it and shouted, "Die!" Nothing changed. He couldn't do anything, and Glaston wouldn't last long either. Surely he wasn't going to be captured by some kid-huntress? Not a chance, he was supposed to be the young hero capturing overconfident villains. Panic overtook him. He'll be thrown in jail, maybe even executed. What would Ruby think? He couldn't imagine her watching him get hanged. What of Yang, Pyrrha, Tai, and Qrow? They'd all be disappointed in him. Tears began to flow from his eyes. The world was such a cruel place, and he wasn't quite as tough as he thought.

A burst of focused gunfire shot into his assailant, causing her to back off from him. He looked up to see Blake standing on a rooftop, firing down at them. He got up, only to see the girl's swords were now all directed towards him. He tried to leap away, but many of the blades still managed to hit him. His aura shielded him as much as it could, but one of the blades definitely made a hit.

Glaston took the opportunity to unleash his own attack with an assault rifle. Seeing the balance of power change, the mysterious girl retreated. They also fled the scene and ran to one of their prepared shelters. When Zero got into said shelter, an abandoned and boarded-up store, he took off his mask and costume to assess the damage.

He received a large gash on his chest, but his ribs prevented any serious damage. The bleeding was there, but it wasn't alarming. Glaston tossed Blake a first aid kit from the cache, and she went about disinfecting Violet's wound with alcohol.

"Who the hell was that?" she asked.

"No idea. She looked like a young huntress or something, but she was all manner of strange." Violet said.

"Seconded." Glaston said, "Most people react to getting shot, even if it's absorbed by aura."

"It's a travesty!" Violet hissed in pain as Blake cleaned his wound, "She could have killed us. If only I had my scythe on me, I could have done some real damage to her."

Blake smirked, "I suppose you should have thought twice before getting such an eye-catching weapon." She took out a bandage and started wrapping it around his chest.

"Then I suppose I'll just have to disguise it. I'll commission a replica with a different visual profile and a new paint job."

"Ruby's red colors don't suit you anyway, Vio. Will you be going back to base?"

"After some rest, yes. I have to face my men and assure them I'm not dead. Damn it, how the hell did those MPs get there so fast?"

"Yeah, it was unlucky," Glaston said. "What happened to them being spread too thin?"

"Now now, cheer up guys." Blake said, "It was still a masterful raid. Not only did we procure desperately needed arms, and humiliate the Vale PD, but our scouts also got it all on tape."

"True. Though we should cut that last part of the battle out though." Violet chuckled.

Later that night Zero and his companions went back to the ghetto. The Black Knights were usually dispersed across several bases, but today everyone gathered at a single warehouse. Not the most stealthy, but Atlas couldn't storm it on such short notice even if they found out. Most of the men that set out did return. Apparently, only two of his men were observed dying, and more of the scattered people were steadily trickling in. Muted celebrations could be observed when Zero arrived. His costume still bore the mark of a wound.

Azul approached him, smiling, "I'm glad to see you're alive. Bout time you also got scratched."

Zero laughed, "Strong words for someone that needed bailing out again."

"You got me there. Speaking of bailing out, I'd like for you to meet someone who helped us this night." he waved to someone in the distance, and a tanned faunus with a dog tail approached them.

"This is Marrow. We picked him up just before we departed for the assault, so we didn't get to inform you."

"Oh? You armed him instead of the others?"

"He had his own gun. And a killer semblance too. He can freeze people in front of him. Not literally mind you, just stop them. But he bailed one of our men out of a bad situation tonight."

"I see…" he turned to Marrow, "Well, consider yourself welcomed into the Black Knights. I'm looking forward to seeing you in action."

The young man was shivering from nervousness, "Y-yes. It is an honor to be here, Zero."

"I'm glad you've chosen to follow me."

"There is another matter, Zero." Azul's expression grew more grim, "We've been contacted by a White Fang representative. He demands an audience with you. I wanted to cut the bastard down, but the others said I should wait for your judgment."

"Hmm… I suppose there's no harm in hearing them out. See what they're thinking." Zero said. He, alongside Blake, Glaston, and Azul met with the representative in a private room. The agent was a fox faunus with large ears, his grimm mask concealing most of his face.

"Ah, Zero. I'm glad you've decided to hear us out."

"What do you want from us?" Zero barely hid his hostility.

"Please, we mean you no harm. We merely wish to ask for an… alliance of sorts. Our two organizations have many common enemies, after all."

"I see. And what would this 'alliance' entail exactly?"

"The White Fang is a powerful organization. We can share our vast resources with you, and our men would go on raids together."

"We will not be assimilated into the White Fang."

The man laughed nervously, "No, of course not… I never meant it that way."

"Right." Zero said, "We can have an informal truce while Vale is in chaos, and we can coordinate our attacks together." the members of his entourage were taken aback, this wasn't what they were expecting. "But we shall conduct such attacks separately. Are those terms acceptable to your superiors?"

After some deliberation, the man answered, "We understand your concerns, and we will always be ready should you wish for greater cooperation. This, however, is a good start." he offered Zero a handshake, which was accepted.

"I mean to remain here as an ambassador of sorts if that is fine with you." The agent said.

Zero sighed, "Just keep a low profile. I'll talk to you more later."

The man nodded before leaving the room. Once he did so, Blake exploded at him, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, Violet?"

"Yeah, this isn't what I signed up for," Glaston said. Azul was giving him a death glare.

"We're in no position to fight them right now. Once we have the opportunity, I promise we will wipe them out with extreme prejudice. For now, we'll do our best to sabotage them. They seem willing to tell us where they're operating, so it should be easy enough to do."

They didn't look too happy about it, but their concerns were appeased and they didn't argue further.

"Ruby? You in there?" Violet opened the door to team RWBY's dorms. Ruby and Yang were present, and they were frowning. Ruby spoke first, "Vio! You've been absent from Glynda's class again. How do you expect to improve if you never spar?"

"And your team's been looking for their leader all morning," Yang added.

"Oh. About that, I got my aura shattered last night and I didn't want to explain it if Glynda called me up. Sorry."

"Shattered?" Ruby's expression became concerned.

"So, Blake and you were out fighting again?" Yang said. She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him. He winced in pain, "That's right, sister. And don't even try telling me to stop."

"I- You've made your feelings clear on that. But still…" Yang's eyes were watering, "One day… one day you'll leave and you'll never come back. Just like mother did."

"That won't happen Yang." Violet tried to reassure her, "I can take care of myself."

"I bet she thought the same thing too. And Vio, you did get hurt last night."

"What? No, I just got my aura shattered. That's all."

"Vio, I've seen you do this a million times. I can tell when you're hiding your pain. And besides, Blake told me."

"She did?" he sighed, "That traitor."

Yang smirked, "Blake is my partner, after all. She's not all yours, you know?"

"You… you're okay though, right?" Ruby asked.

"I am. It'll heal in a day or two. While I'm here, can I get the Mordred's schematics from you?"

"Schematics? What for?"

"It's… the dust loader is jamming. I want to fix it."

"Is that why you got hurt? Jams only happen if you don't treat your weapon right, you know?"

"Of course. I only need to spend hours obsessively cleaning and oiling every single tiny component. Still, can you send it to me so I don't get lost in the disassembly?"

"Sure thing Vio! I'll send it to your phone." Ruby giggled, "At least now you'll treat your scythe with the love she deserves."

Yang facepalmed, "Yeah, like that's the most relevant part of it all. Listen Vio, if you are putting yourself in harm's way to fight the White Fang, I'd like to keep you safe. Consider it payment for yelling at you so much recently."

Violet laughed a little, "Now, I did intentionally provoke you a few times."

Yang rolled her eyes, "Of course you did. But you know what, I think I get it. Kinda. I also did a lot of stupid, reckless shit when I was in my rebellious phase."

That's certainly one way to put it. "You're still the rebel here, sis. Need I remind you of your many recent exploits?"

"Oh, I'm aware of it. But it is a big sister's duty to make sure you don't fuck yourself up too much while going through puberty. So what do you say, little bro?"

He sighed, "I guess I can work with that."

"Vio?" Ruby said, "Can I go as well?"

"No." he deadpanned.

"But-"

"I won't risk you getting hurt too."

"I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"Is that how it is, little bro?" Yang said, "You get to play hero, but Ruby doesn't? She accepted your decision to skirt the law and fight people, but you don't accept her wish to accompany you?"

"It's different. Fighting people isn't the same as fighting grimm."

"I always beat you when we sparred, Vio. I can handle other people." Ruby said.

"That's not what I meant."

"Violet, you call me out for being overprotective yet you do the same thing to Ruby. You'll be protecting her best if you let her become stronger."

Violet sighed again, "I suppose you've got a point. Alright, Ruby, If you agree to bolt it with your semblance if your aura goes below half, I'll allow it. And try not to kill any people please."

"Because that's your job, right?" Yang said.

"Hurray!" Ruby was jumping up and down in excitement. She disappeared in a flurry of rose petals before reappearing with Crescent Rose in her hands. She started psyching herself up by spinning the weapon, creating a terrifying vortex of death around herself. No, she would be fine, he thought. He didn't plan on doing anything big, and if he got both of their teams working on it she should be safe. He won't escalate things with his sisters, of course, his real target was getting Pyrrha into this. And after the leap of vigilantism, getting her into the Black Knights.

He reluctantly entered his own team's dorm room, sat down on his bed, and started work on his laptop to modify the Mordred's schematics. After about half an hour, the rest of team PRVN arrived. A very pissed-off Ren stood over him, "You missed combat class, Violet."

"That I did," Violet said nonchalantly. He closed his laptop and looked up at him, meeting his steel gaze.

"You also missed out on our scheduled team practice yesterday."

"Also true." He could feel a slight undertone of contempt in Ren's voice. Pyrrha and Nora were trying not to look at him.

"And you've been unavailable far more often than the rest of us combined."

"I don't deny it."

"So tell me, Violet, why should you be our leader? Nora and I were hoping to acquire top-notch skills here, only to be stuck with someone as lazy as you. What the hell are you even doing at Beacon?"

"This wouldn't have anything to do with your… incident," Pyrrha said. Nora and Ren both gave her a questioning glance.

Violet sighed. "I may have taken upon myself some… extracurricular activities." He pulled his shirt up, revealing a large, bloodied bandage wrapped around his chest. "Namely by fighting White Fang terrorists."

They all winced at the sight. Ren's anger subsided, though he was still not done with him. "I see… And why didn't you feel the need to tell us about it?"

"Aren't you three from Mistral? It's not your fight. Besides, it's not legal to-" Pyrrha slapped him, "We're supposed to be a team, Violet. We shouldn't hide things from each other. And the White Fang is an evil that threatens the whole world, you know?"

"Personally, I think beating the shit out of some thugs is way better than Port's or Oobleck's lectures," Nora said.

Violet smiled, "Alright, I get it. So… what do you think of a team PRVN field exercise?"

"I think it's a decent enough idea." Ren said, "If you can lead us as well as you can give speeches in history class."

"My speeches are very good though. So It'll be tough." he laughed a little. "Nora? Pyrrha?"

"Let's go break some legs!" Nora shouted before throwing a flurry of punches in the air.

Pyrrha looked down at the floor and fidgeted, "I- I'm not sure. I mean, we don't have any authority to apprehend anyone. So we would be breaking the law."

"And?" Violet said, "You just said the White Fang was a great evil. And the Vale police seem incapable of protecting the people from them. Will you just let them terrorize innocents with impunity?"

"I… You're right. But what if I'm recognized? I'm famous, and I'm also not a citizen here so I could get in a lot of trouble if I'm arrested."

"You can wear a mask if you want to. And do you think I'm not afraid of getting arrested? Hell, I almost died yesterday."

"I suppose when you put it that way, my worries do seem insignificant. I will join you this one time."

Violet nodded, "I'll also be involving team RWBY if that's alright with you all."

"Of course," Ren said, "They're a great team."

"And I can't wait to see Yang smash some baddies!" Nora cheerfully added.

Violet couldn't help but smile. This won't be a problem after all. "Of course. I've got an approximate location I suspect the White Fang is using as a base. I'll tell you in a few days. We'll smash them then."

Ren relaxed a little. He looked over at Nora, and back at Violet, "So, you've had multiple encounters with the Fang?"

"That's right."

"And you think we are capable of taking them on? They must have a lot of experienced people."

"What's this about? You were eager to test your mettle just a few moments ago."

"I'm trying to make sure you don't get us killed," Ren said.

"I see. Well, I've faced them before and emerged victorious. Team RWBY can attest to that."

"I would never have guessed you were that adventurous, Violet," Nora said, "You seemed like the type that would rather just sit and brood."

Violet chuckled, "I do give that impression sometimes. Rest assured I know what I'm doing. We-" Violet's burner phone rang.

"Excuse me." he exited the room and ran to a secluded spot on a balcony before answering the call. Apparently, it was from an anonymous number.

"Hello, who is this?"

"You should know already, you asked for me, after all. Junior gave me the number." A woman's voice said. She sounded somewhat mature, and her tone had a hint of danger to it.

"The contractor, of course." He looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping.

"Yes. I understand you need help with… accessing certain systems. Do you mind divulging what system, specifically?"

"Beacon Academy." He was afraid that she would refuse to compromise such a reputable and powerful place. Hopefully, she'd only think he was a spoiled student who wanted to manipulate his grades or something trivial like that.

The woman smirked, "I see… And you said you could infiltrate any place to implant the virus?"

"Without a doubt."

"I can give you such a program in a few days, but it will cost you a lot."

"How much?"

"20 thousand lien."

Only that much? He was almost having second thoughts. Did Junior think he couldn't afford a real expert? "And do you guarantee the virus would remain undetected?"

"So long as you don't manipulate things too much and arouse suspicion."

"Then your terms are acceptable. Oh, and one more thing. Do you happen to know of a discreet weapon maker?"

"Oh? Where's this coming from? Junior never mentioned you needed that."

"I- It's fine if you don't. I was just wondering if you had any contacts for that. Seeing how you're part of that sort of world."

After a period of silence, the woman answered, "You're in luck. I happen to know a competent and reliable man who makes weapons for people from the fringes of society, and he only applies a 20% markup when compared to high-end huntsmen smiths. All he needs is a schematics file."

"I can send it later today. Don't worry, you'll get your cut for this favor."

"Very well. If everything goes well, you should expect the USB and weapon to be delivered at Junior's by an agent of mine."

"Just make the packaging discreet, alright?" he hung up the phone.

"My, my. Discreet packaging?" Violet jumped at the intrusion. It was Blake who stood behind him. "One would think you were ordering the latest volume of ninjas of love."

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" he said. Blake blushed slightly. Violet grinned.

"So, when is your new weapon coming? I never got to see you use it in person. Not in a proper fight. Other than a brief glimpse during initiation."

If she overheard him talking about the virus, she didn't show it. "In a few days. They've tightened security in Vale recently so we'll have to plan our raids more carefully. Not to mention how most of our men are busy training recruits. It should be delivered by the time we're ready to go out again."

"I'll probably see you using it earlier though, since you've seemingly decided to attack the White Fang in the meantime."

"They told you, I see."

"In a way. On an unrelated note, Ruby could learn some subtlety." her voice became serious, "You said you wouldn't involve them."

"And I don't plan to involve them in the Black Knights. This is entirely separate from that. Besides, weren't you the one complaining about us not stopping the White Fang?"

Blake sighed, "Fair enough. Is anyone else going?"

"Only teams RWBY and PRVN."

"You got PRVN on board?"

"It's part of a team exercise. And I have been slacking on team bonding activities. So my planned raid will accomplish multiple things at once." he smiled. "Not to mention that I would like to recruit Pyrrha into the Knights."

"Of course you do. We've established that your ambition knows no limits. But Pyrrha doesn't strike me as the roguish type."

"If it's in the name of justice, she will learn. And one more thing. I've yet to tell Weiss about this, do you know where she might be?"

Violet went to the library, where he found Weiss studying alongside Ruby. Wiess looked up at him, "Do you need anything?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment?"

She seemed puzzled, doubly so when Ruby took the opportunity to leave the two of them. "Where's this coming from? Is everything alright?"

"I think so. Do you have anything planned this weekend?"

"Ruby asked me the same thing today. Do you two have something in mind? Whatever it is, it can wait until we're done with the upcoming midterms."

"You're a real joykill, aren't you?"

"Someone needs to keep up academic standards. Your sister is woefully unprepared for the rigorous education here. I'm just making sure she passes."

"Right, I am thankful for that. I hope she isn't causing you too much trouble."

"At times it seems hopeless, but the dolt can learn when she wants to."

"She just needs a good teacher. I remember a time when she was awful at combat."

"Really? She seems like a born prodigy to me."

Violet chuckled, "And suppose she was, but it took Uncle Qrow's personal training to manifest it. Now I can't remember the last time I beat her in a spar."

Weiss had a wistful look on her face, "I wish I had someone like that. My instructors in Atlas were so cold and detached. They were certainly competent, but it always felt like something was missing."

"I heard your sister was a huntress though?"

"Yes, but…"

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it. Family can be a complicated matter."

"Yes. Do you mind telling me what your family is like? I tried asking Yang why her last name was different from yours but she got angry and refused to talk to me for the whole day."

"Yup, sounds like something she would do."

"So what's her deal then? She does seem like an outlier compared to you two in so many ways, yet Ruby insists you're all biological siblings."

"Well, the truth is, Yang is our half-sister. Her mother abandoned her when she was young. So it's a bit of a sensitive spot for her especially."

"I see…"

"Though she sees Summer as her real mother anyway. Not that it makes things any better, she's been MIA for a decade." Vio resisted the urge to cry. This whole week was an emotional rollercoaster, and he had to pull through the final stretch.

"That's… profoundly sad."

"It is what it is. We can only strive to strive to make things better. Speaking of, what do you think of the current situation in Vale?"

"Is that what you meant to ask? It's strange, I never really thought there was so much rebellious energy here when I arrived."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"Of course. But even so, the Black Knights have done an impressive job of wrecking everything. One has to wonder if they're being propped up by some other entity."

Violet chuckled, "They can't claim all the credit though. The White Fang is still more powerful and more destructive than they could ever hope to be."

"Where exactly are you going with this?"

"It is as you said, everything is wrecked and in chaos. I was hoping to enlist your help. To fight the White Fang ourselves."

"Heh, so you're not content with just Blake following you around?"

"I'm afraid so. I've talked the rest of team RWBY and PRVN into joining as well."

"Didn't you speak of how dangerous it is? Especially if we get caught by Vale's police?"

"I did. But it's the right thing to do, and so I want to do it anyway. And besides, field expeditions will help our teams improve far more than Glynda's classes ever could. We will leave our peers in the dust this way."

"I suppose you've got a point. I learned a lot more during initiation than any other class I took."

"Exactly. Sterile classrooms can teach you a lot, but the real world introduces so many more variables. Fighting there is a different discipline altogether. Blake and I have that experience, I trust you remember our work at the docks?"

"I don't think I could ever forget that. And I don't love the idea of bypassing the law. But I am curious about it. About the real world fighting, as you put it. I wonder when my sister had to learn that, and I don't want to disappoint her if we ever fight side by side."

"So is that a yes?"

"I suppose it is. You better not make me regret it, though."

I sure do wonder who the new agents from Atlas might be.

Right now I'm aiming to release a chapter roughly every 2 weeks. I wanted to do it weekly but since I'm starting another university semester and the chapters are getting longer I think this is more realistic.

I would also like to create a buffer of writing so I can sit on my chapters and change minor details as I think about them more. I really shouldn't have released the last chapter right when I wrote it, I think some of the scenes could have been handled better. In any case, it has been exciting doing this and I've learned a lot about writing so far.