*BANG*

The sound of a gunshot is not an easy thing to miss and the small settlement was no expectation especially as the sound began to echo reaching every corner and every ear, inciting a different reaction out of everyone who heard it. Jaune's team, thanks mostly to their proximity, were the first to react and within seconds they had their weapons drawn as they marched out the door to go straight to where the sound originated from. Professor Ann Greene likewise reacted with incredible speed but unlike her wards, she turned her attention to the settlement and began barking orders to the village guards so they could lead the citizens to barricade themselves within their own home for safety, however, once that was done she was going on a hunt and would not stop until her prey was caught.

*BANG*

When the sound waves reached the forest it sent a shiver down the spines of both Curly and the Twins who felt a deeply uncomfortable nervousness creeping in with Curly being especially affected, Slightly doesn't have a gun so who is shooting? Are they shooting at him? I know he told me to wait for the signal but I can't help but feel like things have gone tits up. For a moment he just stood there weighing his options and their consequences before deciding to err on the side of caution even if it meant going against the plan, closing his eyes he began to channel Aura into his hands before pressing his palms into the earth and pouring his fear and anxiety into the dark soil as the Twins prepared their weapons in anticipation for the fight that would soon erupt. For a while nothing happened, but then there was the sound of a snapping twig and a low guttural growl as the first of many Grimm heeded the call to gather and destroy.

*BANG*

The third and final shot pushed the Professor to look away from the citizens and toward the source of the noise in order to check on the students despite the fact that she was still on the other side of the settlement. However thanks to her Semblance that meant every little as it boosted her eyesight beyond what was possible for tools or Aura reinforcement allowing her vision to overcome the distance, lack of light, and even see past obstacles in order to make sure that they were okay. To her relief she saw that Jaune was safe, that the rest of his team were close by and would soon be standing alongside him, then she saw the man that the boy was confronting and for a second her veins ran cold as she recognized him from the previous attack. Once again she had to fight the urge to drop everything else that she was doing to protect the students, They'll be fine especially if they are together but the settlers here won't last in the crossfire especially if the Grimm attack like last time. Her mind made up, she turned her attention back to overseeing the people making their way to the safety of their own homes.

"Sooooo, Captain is this guy a friend of yours?" Nora asked looking at the strange Faunus who was glaring furiously at each one of them while hefting Magnhild onto her shoulder, This guy isn't from the settlement, and the way he's looking at us.., she looked away from him to steal a glance at Jaune and found that he was returning the glare which told her everything she needed to know. Hate, he has nothing but hate for this guy and that makes him an enemy!

Jaune didn't even need to look at his team to know that they were all asking themselves the same question, I can't even begin to imagine what this looks like to them. So without ever taking his eyes off of the man, he answered, "Crew, let me introduce you to the bastard responsible for the attack a few nights ago and who for some reason tried to kidnap me while disguised as my father!" His words had a near-instantaneous effect on all his teammates who now rightfully saw the stranger as a dangerous enemy.

Pyrrha stepped a little closer to her partner and asked, "Is this the same guy the Professor mentioned back then, the one who was disguised as a guard?"

He was about to answer her but then saw something in the forest that demanded his attention, it was two tiny flickering lights that were just quietly floating together in the dark. His first thought was that it was just a pair of fireflies in the distance but, there was also this oddly familiar quality to them that made him more uncomfortable the longer he looked at it. Then more lights began to appear in the distance and everyone started to notice that they were getting closer, Nora tried to say something but she was silenced by Ren who motioned for the others to gather right behind himself, which they did all while keeping the Stranger in their sights who was confused by their actions. Ren then pressed his ears into the ground and then spent some Aura to push his hearing to the limits and just listened, it was faint but he could hear it, the sounds of heavy footsteps coming towards them, it wasn't just one being either however he couldn't tell how many were approaching but he could tell that they were not the footsteps of a person and that was enough for him, "Grimm." That one word was enough to send JNPR into action as they all moved away from the forest in order to get into a more favorable position to fight the monsters and once they were in place Nora began to load an emergency flare into her grenade launcher. Soon the lights in the forest revealed their true nature as eyes ablaze with hate as the air filled with an approaching cacophony of feet, hooves, growls, snapping jaws, crunching branches, and the crashing sound of trees being knocked over by the soulless horde. Without needing to be told, she pointed her weapon into the sky and fired, sending a bright red warning signal into the night sky that would also serve as a cry for help.

The settlement was under attack and the Stranger was reaching for his weapons.

One of the things Academies make a point of beating into their students' skulls was that the use of Aura is not without cost and Semblances were not exceptions, in general, the more powerful a Semblance was the bigger the cost that came with using it. For example, the ability to call and direct Grimm was incredibly powerful and now Curly was paying the cost which left him drained and leaning on a nearby tree for support lest he fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the Twins were looking at him with disdain, "The only thing you're good for is that Semblance of yours, and even then you suck at using it," one of the pair spoke as their doppelganger nodded in agreement before adding, "You didn't even wait for the signal, how unreliable are you?"

Curly clenched his fists in frustration, "Just because my Semblance works off my emotions doesn't give either of you two nameless freaks permission to try and make me feel worse!" Even in the dark he could see that the two were pissed at him for bringing up their lack of a name but honestly, he didn't care, it was their fault for starting a fight they couldn't win and he wasn't done just yet, "My actions saved Slightly! What have either of you two done? Oh, that's right, nothing! You two have accomplished nothing at all except take up space and waste oxygen!"

"Our job is to guard your fatass and make sure you don't try running away like a coward!" One of the twins retorted and his other half was about to respond when a bright red flare flew into the sky and ended the conversation forcing all of their attention on what was going on in the settlement, That's not our signal which means… we might be looking at the worst-case scenario.

"Shit, that was an emergency flare! They were ready for us!" Curly shouted as he turned around and hid behind the tree he was leaning against just a moment earlier as the Twins looked at him with disgust before turning their attention back to the settlement.

"What are we going to do?" The first one asked his brother who replied, "This job is quickly turning sour but if we try running away that employer of ours will tip the authorities and Academy." The pair shivered as they thought about spending time in a prison cell, "I don't want to spend the rest of my life hiding in some backwater-middle-of-nowhere settlement and hoping that huntsmen don't one day wander in." They then weighed their options until an idea popped into their heads about how the situation could possibly be salvaged, "Maybe we can separate that Pirate guy from his friends, rough him up and then send a video to Peter? We won't be able to take the guy with us but this could be enough to convince the croc." With no better options available they made up and with their Dust Revolvers at the ready, the Twins began to trek through the forest and towards a fight.

"Wait!" Curly cried while shuffling towards them, "Where are you two going? You're supposed to protect me! Get back here dammit or I'll tell both Peter and Belle that you ignored their orders!"

The Twins stopped for a second and looked back at him, "You idiot, shut up and listen because if we fail this job there is no going back for us and at the rate, things are going, failure is exactly what's going to happen!"

"But the Grimm I summoned are-"

"Going to be wiped out just like last time and then what? What are you going to do then?" They looked at Curly and waited for an answer that wasn't coming, after a few seconds they rolled their eyes and turned away from him. "Just stay here and keep sending Grimm while we do the heavy lifting," they said as they walked out of view leaving Curly all alone and bitter.

"Just you wait," he spoke to no one but himself as he walked back to his truck, "All of you are going to regret mocking me. Every single one of you will be sorry!" This is the last straw, I'm going to do it! I should have done this a long time ago and when I'm done, none of you will ever be able to do or say anything against me ever again!

Slightly felt confident that had it been just him versus the one-armed-wannabe-buccaneer then he would have no problem teaching that brat a few stern life lessons about what happens when you anger your betters. Sure he would admit that the punk had managed to get the drop on him which led to a rather unpleasant experience, namely getting shot three times, but that was before the Grimm showed up and now that they were here, he was going to get some payback. Then why am I being pressed back? He took that stray thought and pushed it to the back of his head before charging at Jaune with a roar as he went in for a murderous swing of his hatchet but then the boy took a small step back and Slightly hit nothing but air, Why is he always just out of reach!? He tried to pull back but the boy quickly stepped back in and pushed his sword forward guiding the point of the weapon towards the overextended Lost Boy who was barely able to use his knife to deflect the stab. I'm done playing by this brat's rules, time to show him what a real fight looks like! He turned around and tried to break away and into the forest, Just try to chase me and we'll see just how tough you are!

*wwwwwRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZ*

Slightly remembered that sound from the last time he was in the settlement and ducked just in time to save himself from Ann Greene's flying Guillotine which continued its flight through the air, mowing down the Grimm emerging from the forest and even cutting down several trees in the process. For just a moment he stayed on the ground imagining what might have happened if he had just been a second or two slower, however that moment was all the time Ann needed to catch up to him.

"I remember you," she spoke with so much venom in her voice that it was making his spine tingle. "Last time you were here you looked like one of the guards, just what are you trying to accomplish here and the Grimm… how are you bringing them here?" She looked out into the forest and began using her Semblance to search, Back then he ran into the forest to escape, and earlier he tried to do it again, does he have allies in hiding? Some semblances can attract Grimm and the woods at night would make it difficult for most people to find them.

For a second he just stared at the Professor trying to figure out what she was doing, Why are her eyes glowing and why is she looking towards the... Oh shit. The realization made him go pale but at the same time he recognized an opportunity when he saw one, You're going to regret taking your eyes off of me! Pouring Aura into his legs he leaped at the professor with his weapons held high but then that infernal Pirate stepped in between and once again Slightly was forced to abandon his attack just to defend himself from the rapier's superior reach. With reckless fervor, he gave everything he had to try and kill the shitstain in front of him, regardless of Peter's orders or the threat looming over their heads.

Jaune knew that he had improved little by little ever since he first came to Beacon, starting with the training sessions he had with his team and then later on with Tock but it was only right now at this moment did it finally click just how far he had come. The mad man he was currently locked in combat with would have easily overwhelmed him in the past but right now he could see through the man's swings, there was fury and strength but it lacked precision and tactic, This guy is just swinging wildly and hoping that something will connect! Just like me when I first started but unlike me, I learned from my mistakes! Sidestepping another swing he returned with a well-placed stroke that hit the man's thighs forcing him to kneel the man then tried an upward strike in response but, Jaune was already out of the reach of the hatchet and countered with a strike on the Stranger's exposed stomach. This frustrated his foe so much that he tried to bullrush Jaune who in the past would have panicked and made a fatal error that would have cost him the fight. But now he stood his ground, braced himself, and held out his sword to allow the man to run right into the sharpened point. Had it not been for Aura the fight would have ended right there as the man would have surely impaled himself on the waiting blade, however it did knock the Stranger off of his feet and brought the man's Aura to the verge of breaking.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha skillfully deflected the mighty swing of an Ursa Major, putting the beast off balance and granting her a window of opportunity that she took advantage of, and with a series of stabs aimed right at the legs, she brought the thing down to its knees. The Spartan then switched Milo to sword form and decapitated the abomination before it could even raise its arms to defend itself. Before the Ursa's head could even touch the ground, her sword transitioned into a rifle and she took down a juvenile King Taijitu with several well placed shots through both of its heads, "I have everything handled here captain," she said right before jumping in between two Beowolfs who barely had time to react before she began to cut them down.

"Hey, Ren check this out!" Nora called out to her boyfriend as she rode a Creep right into some kind of horse Grimm, leaping off at the last minute and flipping through the air in an impressive feat of acrobatic prowess. However, that ended when she pulled Magnhild off of her back and came back down like a meteor killing both Grimm at the same time, ending the performance with a bow and a gleeful cry, "Oh! Did ya see that! Did ya see that? That was awesome!" From behind her, a Beowolf growled just before it leaped out of the darkness and tried to take her head off with its claws but Nora, having heard the growl ducked just as the beast leaped. As it flew harmlessly over her head she reached out and caught it by the legs, looking off to her side she saw a Boartusk trying to blindside Jaune so she threw her captive at its kin, killing both of them. "Never mind the first one, that was awesome!" she then ran off to find another Grimm to throw.

"Both were awesome," Ren calmly agreed while cutting the arms off of an Ursa and using its crumbling body as a springboard to lunch himself in between two adolescent Nevermores and gunning both down. After landing he took a moment to reload Strom Flower as another group of Grimm charged at him, remaining calm he finished the reload and let out a hail of bullets aimed not for the heads or chests of the charging monsters but rather aiming the bullets into their legs thus crippling them as one of Nora's grenades flew over his head finishing the whole pack off. Once that was done he looked over to Jaune's fight and saw that the Stranger had somehow managed to put some distance between himself and his Captain and was now trying to escape by running into the forest.

Raising his guns Ren decided to put an end to that idea.

Slightly growled as a shower of bullets impacted the ground around him and cut off his escape route, Dammit the Grimm was supposed to be my ticket out of here but they're getting wiped out by those kids and that damned woman! He changed directions trying to slip past the bullets but out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted the glint of steel rushing towards him and instinctively turned around to face his attacker only to take a full force lunge in the chest knocking him into a tree and knocking the breath out of him as his Aura finally shattered. Looking up he could see the wannabe Pirate approaching him while some other guy was kneeling with his hand touching the ground and looking at him, What is that long-haired freak in green doing? Whatever, that woman is the only one who can track me in the dark and she's distracted. He tried to stand up but suddenly felt an unnatural calm come over himself as all his stress and anxiety suddenly vanished leaving him wondering why he was in such a rush, What's happening to me? On a purely intellectual level, he understood that he was trapped in some sort of mind-altering Semblance thanks to that long-haired freak but knowing something doesn't mean that you can do anything about it, What is happening to me? It's like all my emotions are being suppressed and all my worries have been taken away. I need to run but I just don't feel like it. Right before his eyes, he saw that the one arm brat had caught up to him and before long he was laying on the ground with a rapier pointed at his chest, "What did you do to me?" he calmly asked the freak who was still holding him within the grip of his Semblance.

Then suddenly bullets flew out from the forest and hit the Pirate right in the chest however they failed to pierce through his Aura but they did succeed in pushing him off of Slightly and breaking Ren's concentration. This broke Slightly free from Ren's Semblance causing his emotions to come rushing back and allowing him to assess the situation before immediately bolting into the safety of the dark forest, almost as soon as he entered he spotted the Twins waving at him so he ran up beside them. But he did not receive a warm welcome from his fellow Lost Boys, "You idiot you're leading them to us!" one of the pair shouted and then his brother added, "Go hide somewhere else before you get us all killed!"

Slightly did not appreciate being spoken to in such a rude manner, "Then why were you waving at me? And what are you even doing here when you two were supposed to guard Curly! What happened to that?"

Before the Twins could answer all three of them had to duck behind a log in order to shield themselves from the bullets, grenades, and flying guillotine heading in their direction. They continued the conversation once they were sufficiently comfortable, "You happened you ungrateful twat and now we're pinned down thanks to you giving away our position!" The other twin then shrieked in agreement, "Our only chance is to run when Curly draws another hoard in our direction."

Slightly just scoffed, "Please you already took out one of those losers, we can take the rest," he soon noticed that his compatriots were staring at him as though he had just said something incredibly stupid. "What? What did I say?"

"Did you forget that Aura exists! Ugh, I should have listened to my father and become a nurse instead of whatever the fuck Peter wants us to be!" One of the Twins bemoaned as his brother nodded in agreement much to the displeasure of their co-worker who wanted to say something but he was caught off by a small can-like object which landed near the trio. All three of them stared at the odd device and wondered what it was, they soon learned that it was a flashbang and all three men fell to the ground with loud screams, this caught the attention of Ann who quickly pinpointed their exact location and with a few skillfully placed strikes of her weapon destroyed the log leaving the Lost Boys out in the open.

"Dammit, where is Curly with the Grimm!?" Slightly cried much to the irritation of the Twins who were trying their hardest to find an exit while foolishly wondering if it was possible for things to get any worse.

Then one of the brats suddenly shouted something odd, "Queen's Anne's Revenge!"

"Who the hell is Queen Anne?" asked one of the Twins just before several grenades hit the ground around them, detonating, flinging them off of their feet, rocking their world with explosions, filling the air with pink colored smoke and the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. By the time he was able to himself off of the ground the fight was already over, Slightly knocked out cold and there was a red-headed girl in bronze-colored armor cautiously approaching him with a spear at the ready, meanwhile, his own brother was still recovering as a guy in green and some chick with a hammer was moving to secure him. As for himself, right before him stood a woman wielding a weapon that looked like some sort of Buzzsaw attached to a chain.

*WWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZ...*

She spoke only one single word to him, "Surrender." It wasn't a request but rather a command that he could choose to either obey or refuse and the spinning blades of her weapon left no doubt in his mind what refusal would bring.

"Fine, I surrender," he then threw his gun away as his brother wisely did the same but at the same time, he could help but wonder, What the hell happened to Curly?

Driving down a dark road in beat-up truck was not what most would consider a pleasant experience but right now Curly felt more alive and free at this moment than he ever had in recent memory, "Fuck Peter! Fuck this constant abuse and pressure! I'm done!" He was speaking to no one but himself as he vented out years of degradation and harassment which he had suffered for years as a part of that group. "What even were the Lost Boys? Are we Bounty Hunter's or Mercenaries? Because guess what, they are not the same thing, Peter!" Reaching down he grabbed a half-drunken can of beer and tossed out of the truck along with countless other pieces of trash that had accumulated over time and against his will, "And how many times do I have to ask you assholes not to leave trash in my truck!? But I guess that even something as simple as that is just too much for you bastards!"

He continued to drive down that road without a care of where he was going, just as long as it was far away from his former colleagues. A few days later he would arrive in a port town and after thinking it over for a while he decided to sell the truck then use some of the money to buy a one-way ticket to Vacuo. Once he was there he used the rest of the money to create a brand new identity for himself named Carlos Eventides and on the very same day, he helped an older gentleman with a small favor who then returned the favor by helping Carlos find a job as an apprentice baker. Five years later he was still working in that very same bakery when a respected food critic walked in and by pure chance ended up trying a cookie that had been made by Carlos, the two would become friends, then later business partners when they opened up a Bakery together. After another three years, Carlos finally worked up the courage to ask for his partner's hand in marriage, and together as a couple they would adopt and raise many orphans saving them from a harsh life in the streets.

Carlos Eventides would die painlessly of natural causes at a ripe old age and surrounded by all of his loved ones who would never find out about his past as Curly, he was buried on a lovely hill overlooking the city he called home and on his tombstone is written a line from his favorite song.

Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run.

There is still time to change the road you're on.

Back in the present Slightly was starting to wake up, "Ah! Damn it my head hurts!" He mumbled to himself as he tried to remember everything that had happened, "Did we win?" He then tried to stand up only to find that his hands and feet were bound which was almost always a bad sign, "Why am I tied up?" Looking around he could see that he was inside a cabin of some sort and that the Twins were with him and tied up as well but Curly was nowhere in sight, That can't be good. Wiggling around a bit he was able to shift his position a bit and gain somewhat of a better view of his surroundings which was an idea he immediately regretted having when he saw the psycho with the Buzzsaw and those damn kids unbound, armed, and angrily looking right at him, "Well shit."

"Alright who sent you? Talk or am I gonna have to break your knees?" Nora pulled out Magnhild and stood menacingly over the captive trio who were now regretting many of their life's decisions with attempted kidnapping being the foremost amongst them.

With a chuckle, Professor Greene tapped the girl's shoulder and with a soft smile gently led her away from the terrified captive, "I like your energy kiddo, really I do but you all have already done more than enough. I want all of you to go to bed and you better sleep in, you've more than earned the rest, and thanks to that flare of yours assistance is already on its way." She watched as Nora and the rest of JNPR did as they were told, with the Valkyrie in particular happily skipping out of the room holding hands with her boyfriend, however, Jaune was a bit hesitant to leave. "Don't worry, it'll be fine now go and join the rest of your team," he then gave Slightly one final hate-filled glare before walking out the door where the rest of his team were waiting for him.

"Oh, thank god that psycho bitch left," one of the Twins spoke.

"Psycho bitch?" Professor Greene looked at them with such fury that each one of them wondered if they were actually safer with the hammer girl. "You are the monsters who unleashed Grimm into this community twice and for what? The first time you stole Jaune's scroll and his prosthetic arm but this time you've disguised yourself as his father than even tried to kidnap him! Why!? And don't try and tell me that it was for money because then you would have gone for Pyrrha!"

"I'll talk," one of the Twins quickly answered seeing no value in loyalty to an asshole like Peter, "I'll even tell you how we got the Grimm to show up both times." His brother stared at him for a moment before sighing and with a little resignation continued where his brother left off, "There was a fourth member of our group named Curly, you'll find his picture in our scrolls along with everything else you might want to know."

"What are you doing?'' Slightly screamed at his comrades, "You're betraying everyone!"

"Peter's a goddamned idiot who's responsible for this shitstorm and we should have bailed on the deal a long time ago!"

"Deal, what deal?!" Greene was now towering over them and they realized to their horror that they had said far too much. The captured men tried to make up for their mistake by keeping silent but she refused to drop the subject, "Cut the bullshit! Now I will say this only once so pay attention! You are responsible for significant property damage, the loss of innocent life and now we are going to add attempted kidnapping on top of that, do you have any idea what consequences are awaiting you? At a minimum you are all going to be locked away for years and depending on other factors, it could extend to the rest of your lives." She stared them in the eye long just long enough to make them nervous and wonder if she was telling the truth, "You will tell me everything you know and in return, I will do everything in my power to make sure that none of you will be left to rot away in a cell. Resist or if anything you say turns out to be false and I will personally make sure that none of you will pass from this world in peace!" Oz is not going to like this mission report, none of this was supposed to happen.

Team JNPR did what they were instructed and began to walk slowly back to their room taking time to survey the village. Unlike the first attack, there was no loss of life and most of the structural damage was limited to a few large holes and scratches on the walls of a few buildings with one they were staying in suffering the worst. The wood would have to be replaced but that was something that could wait until tomorrow and thankfully the Professor's weapon had already felled several trees which would no doubt be utilized by the restoration efforts. However, the damage caused by the attack went beyond the physical, it had dealt a critical blow to the morale of the settlers and that was a potential death sentence for the settlement. After this night most of the settlers would doubtlessly move away, turning the place into just another ghost town and adding it to the long list of failed expansions. It was a depressing reality but it was also one where the locals were without fault, that belonged to the ones behind the Breach and them alone but knowing that did nothing to make any of them feel better about the situation, they won the fight and caught the bad guys but it still felt like they had somehow failed.

Suddenly Jaune felt a warm hand on his shoulder as Pyrrha tried to comfort him, "It's okay, the people are safe and that's what matters. You did what you thought was right and it worked, we all did good tonight."

"What I thought was right? What do you mean by that?"

It took her a moment to find the words to explain herself but when she did, "I know that you had everything under control and I know that it was no coincidence where you chose to confront the man or that you had asked us to gather there ahead of time but what if something had gone wrong? If it wasn't for the gunshots it wouldn't have mattered that we were so close, we may have not noticed anything until it was too late! You didn't have to risk yourself like that! You could have asked us for help so, why didn't you?!"

He stopped in his tracks, "You're right… you're completely right, I didn't have to lead him anywhere, I knew he was a fake from the moment he opened his mouth. I could have, should have exposed him right then and there but no, I just had to handle it all on my own, and for what? A sense of control?" He turned to face his crew, "Guys I'm so sorry, I feel like such an idiot. Goddammit, I put Tock through the wringer for trying to do things on her own, and then I go and do the exact same thing? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," Ren said while reaching into his pocket, "Sure you made a mistake and even repeated it but if it was easy to overcome our faults then the Grimm would be just a story to scare kids." He pulled out a scroll and handed it to Jaune, "Call Tock and tell her everything that's happened, fix your mistakes and do better."

"Leave RWBY to me!" Nora shouted as she pulled her scroll but before dialing, she turned to her captain and said "Oh! And when we're done here you're gonna sit down and explain to me and Ren what the hell happened tonight and what your Not Dad had to do with it!"

"Oh! That's right! You two weren't there when Jaune's fake dad showed up!" Pyrrha declared.

"Wait, you were serious about that? I mean, I did hear you say something about his dad but I didn't think much of it at the time especially since I was busy gawking over how he looked like such as baddass as he threatened some random guy with a gun which sounds bad without any context which to be perfectly honest was something that Ren and I didn't have at the time. We all just kind of assumed that guy was a villain but it all worked out in the end so I guess it's all okay! Is it going to be okay? Seriously, guys, I like it here in Beacon and it's going to suck if Ren and I have to sneak out of another kingdom!"

"We could go back to Vacuo?" Ren thoughtfully suggested.

"But pancakes are so expensive there since they have to import most of the ingredients and then you have to find a cook who doesn't put booze in everything! And don't get me started on the sand, it's so rough, coarse and it just gets everywhere, even the pancakes aren't safe from the grainy menace!"

"We once spent a winter in Vacuo, it sucked." Ren calmly explained leaving Jaune and Pyrrha with even more questions than before.

Dawn broke over the horizon with beautiful golden sunlight washing over the Emerald Forest and slowly climbing over the wall before finally pouring into the Kingdom shielded by that ever-present and ever steady guardian. It was a beautiful day and Tock almost felt like she could dance as she and her crew made their way through the streets of a city still in the process of waking up, an observer with romantic inclinations might describe her as a woman who had found love last night and awoken to find that it wasn't a dream. A far more observant person would note the swords attached to her lower back, how well armed the men accompanying her were, and conclude that perhaps this was a situation that they wanted nothing to do with. Neither one of the two observers could be called truly right or wrong, they were simply lacking the context to make sense of the sight of this particularly joyful and well-armed woman and her happy and equally armed friends. In this particular case, the context of the situation was that she received a phone call last night and was now out for blood.

"This is it wee jimmies," Tock declared, "In ainlie a few mair hours this hail nightmare wull end 'n' we kin finally be free, even better we'll be heroes!" She suddenly stopped walking and began clenching her fists and grinding her teeth, "Bit maist importantly, ah will git tae break Peter fur that stunt he tried tae pull against Jaune lest nicht 'n' dinnae even git me stairted oan that fankle in th' settlement!"

"Death is too good for that guy," said Turley agreeing with his captain. "But we can't forget that there's a bigger problem just behind those Lost Boys, not to mention that according to Jaune there is still one bastard still out there."

Cecco however was a bit more optimistic, "That guy probably just saw how bad the fight was going and bolted and that's, of course, assuming there was even a fourth at all. They could have just been bluffing in a desperate attempt to lead them all on a wild goose chase so they could escape. Hell, we did that once ourselves, remember Black Murphy?"

"Despite never actually existing, that man is still a hero near and dear to my heart," Mason agreed with a laugh before turning to Tock. "But all jokes aside we are about to meet what's left of Peter's gang and we are doing this on his turf, the man is going to be desperate. Now I know that Jaune told you to expect help from his friends but that still leaves the question of how we're going to handle this because as far as I can tell, we're planning on swinging first and asking questions never."

"Mason, a'm gaun, tae be honest wi' ye, ah dinnae hae a plan apart fae showing up 'n' gaun alang wi' whitevur Yang haes planned," she answered bluntly and apologetically.

"So you're going to rely on help? That isn't exactly your style... you've changed Captain and in a good way," Mason observed. "The old you would have either ducked out of this city a long time ago or run into this fight guns blazing but you would have never opened yourself up to those kids and you would most certainly never apologize for anything you've done."

"Th' situation changed 'n' ah changed wi' it, that's a'."

Turley shrugged his shoulders, "So what? I once knew a guy who was a real asshole then one day he found himself completely alone and do you know what he did? He pretended to be a good person and little by little the lie became the truth so you can try and underplay it as much as you want but the results are the same, you're becoming a better person. Sure many wouldn't call you a good person now or ever but fuck those guys. You're getting there and it's something that's been going on long before you met your cute little husband, all he did was speed ou the process."

Turley then added, "Never forget Captain that the reason we are in this situation is that we were tricked. You would have never accepted the job had you known then what you know now and don't you dare let anyone tell you anything different."

"Guys…," Tock didn't know what to say.

"You're still kind of a bitch at times but we got plenty of time to work on that," Cecco playfully jabbed at her and laughed as she jabbed back laughing alongside him.

"Heads up, we're almost here," Turley announced.

And just like that, the entire mood shifted from happy and carefree to serious and deliberate as each one of them prepared themselves mentally for the confrontation ahead of them. For Tock, it was as easy as closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. When that was done she checked her scroll and set an alarm, they were one hour early which was just enough time to scout the area out a bit but they had to keep track of time. If they took too long Peter might get auspices and just leave rendering all of their hard for naught, within the hour they had to try to figure out everything that they could beforehand while keeping watch of each other's back and keeping in mind the very real possibility that they were being watched.

The key then was to take in as much as they could without doing anything that could be interpreted as hostile, a simple task that was as easy as walking down the street which seemed harmless but it proved an observant eye with some surface-level information that wasn't available on any map. For example, any map could tell them they were in the district of Bloomsbury and that they were on the 14th street which according to Yang was coincidentally near the train station where the Breach occurred. What the maps couldn't say was how people had been trickling out of the neighborhood long before that horrible day and most of the houses were abandoned save for the occasional squatter. It's clever, Tock thought to herself as she took in everything, Na witnesses even in pure wide daylight 'n' even if someone wis tae come by 'n' ca' th' cops, thay wid tak' thair sweet time comin' aroond 'ere 'n' that juist gives Peter a' th' time he needs tae disappear. She made her way down the street taking a good hard look at every house she passed by looking for any sign of life within their walls, If th' meetin is taking steid ben o' they houses he'd be able tae scouk wha kens wha or whit in th' rooms nae tae mention he'd hae mony avenues o' escape 'n' o' coorse thir's th' possibility o' traps. Damn, mibbie he isnae as stupid as we a' thought he wis. She turned to her companions, "What do you guys make of all this?"

Cecco hefted his hammer onto his shoulder and pointed at one of the houses, "These things were built with the possibility of a Grimm attack in mind which means the walls are thick and the windows are made of impact glass either which is far from unbreakable but it's also not something you can just break accidentally, it'll take a little effort especially in the case of the walls. If he tries to run then it will be through an opening that already exists."

"But we won't run," a voice behind them suddenly spoke making them immediately turn around to confront whoever the speaker was and this case it was a petite dragonfly Faunus who had somehow snuck up on them and was now angrily looking at them with a suspicious look on her face, "You guys are here early, why?"

Tock and her crew weren't sure how to answer this strange girl and frankly, that was the least of their concerns about her, Howfur th' hell did she sneak behind us lik' that? We wur peepin' ilk other's backs th' hail time, th' ainlie wey she cuid hae is… Tock, glanced at the women's wings for a moment before dismissing the thought. She coudnae hae flown, nae wi' they wings. Unless o' coorse she hud some kind o' semblance that cuid hulp wi' that bit, whit cuid it be?

"Are you going to stand there like slack-jawed idiots or are you going to follow me to the meeting point?" Without giving them a chance to respond she began walking away, "You don't have to follow me if you don't want to but I'll warn you right now that we're desperate so if you try something funny we will make you pay the price. Sure we'll be taken down in the process but we just don't give a fuck anymore and to be honest, it took everything that I have to keep myself from stabbing you in the back when I had the chance. So follow after me and maybe just maybe we will all walk away from this."

They waited until she was a fair distance away before discussing what to do next, "I say we follow her," Turley suggested before explaining his reasoning. "It's beyond a shadow of a doubt that she works for Peter in some capacity which means he now knows that we've arrived early and is probably already suspicious."

Cecco was frustrated but had to agree, "Everything about this sucks but you're right, we can't pull this off unless we play along for now."

"Let's juist git this ower wi'," Tock said before she started to follow after the girl while making sure to maintain a fair bit of distance between them. It wasn't much but even the tiniest bit of precaution could potentially make the difference between uncovering a trap or walking into one, especially when your guide was someone who had already confessed to wanting to kill you and your friends. Eventually, they were led to the front of a house that had its curtains drawn preventing them from being able to look inside without first entering, this was a massive red flag and they were not about to walk blindly inside.

However, their hesitation pissed the girl off, "Oh for Pete's sake! There is no trap, we're just waiting for you in the backyard!" Neither Tock nor anyone else in her crew took a step forward which irritated the guide even further and for a moment it looked like she might just storm off and leave them behind but after a while, she rolled her eyes and addressed them directly. "Okay, so you don't believe me, fine. Then just pick a house and break into the backyard and reach us through there, everyone has already moved away so you won't be getting into any trouble! Just don't keep us waiting too long or we'll just assume you've screwed us over," With that, she slammed the door shut and assumedly went to rejoin with her boss.

Tock on the other hand just stood there pondering the best course of action, How come wid she gies th' option tae` tae dae that? Thare is na wey that peter boobytrapped a' thae houses if ye build a trap yi'll waant tae leid yer target tae it, bit she's nae daein' that... Bugger it. She turned to Cecco who was eyeing one of the houses and called out to him, "Howfur lang wid it tak' ye tae smash yin o' thae walls?"

Before answering he walked up to the side of the house they had been led to and tapped the wall a few times in a few different places with his knuckle and then once with his hammer, "I think I can manage this, it will take a bit of Aura but I should still be in the green."

"In that case dinnae try, tis better if ye save yer Aura in case thir's foul play," Tock said before turning off the alarm on her scroll and addressing her crew as she made her way to the front door, "Ah will gang in foremaist then signal if th' coast is clear meanwhile a'm waantin' yin o' ye tae tiext oor mates in Beacon while th' ithers keep watch. If something goes wrong a'm waantin' ye tae git in 'ere 'n' raise hell!"

"Aren't you supposed to tell us to leave you behind and save ourselves?" Mason asked rather amused by his captain's choice of words as he pulled out his scroll and began to type.

"Weel a'm aye a bawherr o' a boot 'n' forby tis nae lik' ye guys wid hae follaed an order lik' that," she replied with a smile before drawing her swords, kicking down the door and cautiously walking inside as her crew nervously kept watch from the outside.

The interior of the house was a mess though that wasn't a surprise given how the place had been abandoned for a while now and that just meant more places where a trap or an ambush could be hidden. She trod lightly through the hallway using her swords to carefully prod and examine every pile every nook and cranny as for the floor, it was scoured for any tripwires or anything else that could pose a threat and even the ceilings were not spared from examination. It was a slow process but it was also a necessary one, eventually, she reached the back door, and only after a thorough examination did she call out to her crew, "Th' coast is clear!" before kicking down the door and cautiously stepping through.

"Took you long enough," the annoyed and perpetually childish voice of Peter grated against her ears causing her to grip her weapon even tighter. "Well let's get this over with," with a dismissive tone in his voice the manchild reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll which he placed on the ground before his feet.

"Whit urr ye daein' 'n' whaur is that wifie fae earlier?" she asked as her crew emerged from the door and gathered right beside her.

"You prepared for the worst so it is only fair that I get to do the same thing," Peter answered before using his Semblance to push the scroll forward as Tock and her crew wearily watched him while keeping an eye out for any tricks. Before too long the scroll reached her foot and started ringing, for a second she just stared at it before carefully picking it up. "I don't know why you're so important but this is what everything has been leading to, so don't keep our boss waiting."

For a moment she was tempted to just take her sword and stab it right through the scroll but, then again she had so many questions about everything that has gone on, This cuid be th' best chance ah will ever hae tae fin' some answers. Her mind made up, she put the call on speakers and answered, "Wha is this?"

"Hello Mrs. Arc, my name is Salem and it is a pleasure to finally get to speak with you."