Note: Ah, another weekly update. It's fun keeping a consistent schedule, and we want to keep it going as long as possible. Also, while we did say that we wanted this story to be overall lighter than LUBYP, we still plan on having plenty of messed up elements. You'll start to see that soon enough. We figured if you survived LUBYP, you can survive this, but it's important to give a warning anyway. Thank you to everyone who has supported the story so far. Sometimes fandom can be pretty mean, but most people have always been very kind toward our work and we appreciate that. We often have a lot of doubts about our writing ability, so it feels god knowing that even 700k words in, we still have people who are invested in this world and these characters. Thank you so much. Love you all. Enjoy.

Weiss sprinted out of the restaurant and burst into the open air. She didn't bother retrieving her coat, or taking off her heels, or even hanging up her Scroll. To everyone waiting outside the restaurant, all they saw was a young woman in a very fancy white dress snarling like a rabid dog, screaming into the sky.

"I'm going to fucking end that woman!"

Weiss looked left. Right. Cab. She needed a cab. Where the fuck was a cab? She didn't have Myrtenaster, because if she did, she'd use her glyphs to travel, and she couldn't do that, so she needed a fucking cab right goddamn now. That goddamn limo driver just had to fucking go home and be with his loved ones instead of waiting hours outside their restaurant for them, so where the fuck were all the cabs?

Blake barreled out of the restaurant, her face strown with confusion. Dammit, shit, dammit. She didn't hear what Ruby had to say, but honestly, she was pretty sure she could figure it out. The cold air hit her hard, and she shivered as she looked around the bustling Valian street for Weiss. How hard was it to find an albino heiress? She pushed her way through a crowd of excited people as she tried to chase after her teammate, but the presence of two members of Team RWBY started to attract a lot of attention. They were in a very wealthy part of Vale, with a lot of people who didn't understand social etiquette. Blake needed to get to Weiss before she decided to start murdering.

"Sorry. Excuse me. Coming through."

"Oh my god, can I get your autograph—"

"No, sorry! Not now!"

"It's Team RWBY!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Blake, we love you!"

"Not the time for love!"

Blake managed to shove her way past the group of excited onlookers and burst into an empty part of the street, and only then did she manage to finally spot Weiss, who was standing in the middle of the busy road and flailing her arms.

"Stop already!" Weiss screamed at the cabs that sped past her. "You fucking pieces of fucking—"

"Weiss. Weiss," Blake grabbed her teammate's arm, but Weiss just kept screaming and cursing.

"I will cut her fucking face off!" Weiss bellowed. "That stupid, immature, dumb, fucking, fucking, stupid, moronic, fucking—"

Another cab came into view, and Weiss sprinted in front of it, forcing it to come to a stop. Before the poor driver could prepare himself, Weiss sprinted around to the back in her stilettos, threw open the door and climbed inside, not waiting for Blake to follow her.

"Where to, Miss—"

"Hennig Street! Step on it!"

The driver didn't need to be told twice, and the cab peeled away from the restaurant at breakneck speed, leaving Blake standing in the middle of the road, completely helpless. Blake watched the cab disappear from view, weaving around traffic before vanishing into the city, and she could only bow her head in tired frustration.

"Aaaaaand there she goes," she muttered under her breath. Where did she say she was going? Blake couldn't hear the order to the driver, and she had no idea what Ruby told her about their whereabouts. Should she go to Juniors? That seemed like the most reasonable idea. Follow up on their lead directly. Unfortunately, Blake didn't have time to chase down another cab. Winter had taken her time following Blake out of the restaurant, and she politely tapped Blake on the shoulder, causing the Faunus to freeze in shock. Winter crossed her arms, towering over her father's investment.

"Blake…" she asked calmly. "Is there something about tonight you aren't telling me?"

Blake smiled nervously. "Um… no?"

Gotral.

Faunus Town.

Ruby had never been. She never had any interest in going. She always heard that Gotral was the most dangerous part of the City of Vale. The rumors, prejudices, and legends built up over the decades created an imposing district, and though the Burrough was only forty blocks across, stepping into the town past sunset was like stepping into another world. The buildings morphed from the sleek metal of skyscrapers to old, flat brick. The quality of cars parked on the side of the rode declined, each vehicle showing heavier scratches and dents with each step Ruby took into the district. The number of homeless people tripled, and Ruby felt guilty as she rushed past Faunus with thick pelts and thicker jackets, trying to shamble in the light snow. There was a rush of sounds: soulful music blasting from apartment windows; gangs of teenagers roaming and shouting, reveling in their brief moments of freedom; a car alarm a few blocks away.

Ruby could pay attention to none of it. She was too busy panicking, trying to find smoke trails in the sky.

How had this gone so wrong? She was just supposed to have a chat! Ten minutes. In and out. No harm, no foul. She should not have been sprinting through the City of Vale in the middle of the night, convinced that one of her not-exactly-friends was going to get herself murdered. Weiss made that abundantly clear when she blew a gasket over the phone about Ruby's recklessness, and Ruby was now convinced that if she somehow survived SPIDER, she wouldn't survive the wrath of her girlfriend.

And God knew she shouldn't start thinking about the effect this would have on their public image. Two Huntresses, still-in-training, supposed role models, racing off on their own to fight evil criminal gangs without any licenses, permission, or otherwise. It wasn't ego that drove her concerns on that front, but their long-term survival. They only survived Ironwood because of Jacques, and they only were useful to Jacques if people liked them, and they could only get people to like them if they didn't engage in reckless, stupid things like this.

Focus. Hennig Street. Have to make it to Penny. Have to stop her before she does something horrible.

For Yang, this was all ticking familiar boxes. Chatting with Sun at Junior's? Throwing herself after low-level criminals with one of her teammates? Having no idea what she was doing? Yep, it was like the Forever Fall incident all over again, only without the voices in her head—and hopefully without a giant bird trying to eat her. But hey, the night was still young. She followed her sister's lead as they barrelled across empty roads and trash-covered sidewalks, and though Yang's cardio was normally excellent, the combination of non-stop running through half the city with her recent lack of physical training caused her to start wheezing.

"Can't you just… Semblance us across Vale?" Yang asked desperately, struggling to keep up. Ruby's cape fluttered behind her, and the young Huntress didn't stop for a moment.

"Using my Semblance to carry another person is exhausting," Ruby said quickly.

"This is exhausting!" Yang countered. She grumbled. "Goddammit, Penny. Couldn't you carry us with you?"

Penny's trail had gone cold by the time they reached Hennig Street. They skidded to a halt, staring long down the avenue that looked identical to so many before. Where the hell was this woman? One would think that a flying, cybernetically-enhanced soldier wouldn't be too hard to find. Ruby and Yang turned their gaze upward, peering down the street in desperate hopes to find their schoolmate before she did something she would regret. The smog of the city had long ago blocked out the night sky, and the clouds of matted grey provided a perfect backdrop to see a glowing girl dancing among the heavens. Ruby found her quickly—but not quickly enough.

The building was eight stories of featureless concrete, its windows heavy and dark and its balconies sealed off. Its side wore a graffitied spider like a battle scar, and a thin fence of metal lined its edges. A sign out front, worn and missing its letters, displayed a name: Perfect Gardens. An apartment complex, probably long since unused, resembling a prison more than any habitable living. It was a block down from Ruby and Yang's current position, too close for them to avoid falling into trouble and too far to do anything about the chaos that was already unfolding. Up in the sky above the building, Ruby and Yang saw the green lights from Penny's jets, dipping in and out of the roof like a bird dive-bombing its prey. They heard yelling, saw a few bright sparks of gunshots, and every few seconds Penny would emerge from behind the roof unharmed, gracefully escaping danger. Ruby and Yang raced closer. Penny appeared in their sights again, and now having closed the distance, Ruby could see that Penny held another man in her arms, high above the ground.

Ruby got an even better look at the man when he suddenly plummeted and crashed two feet in front of her, nearly crushing her.

"Ahh!" Ruby yelped and jumped back, the man crashing with a wicked thud as his own cries became silent. She and her sister equipped their weapons out of instinct, only to realize that it was not necessary. The man in front of them wasn't moving, save for a few twitches in his legs indicating a death rattle. Penny had dropped him from such a great height that there was no chance he would survive even if he was using his Aura, and as Ruby examined him, she doubted he possessed such a gift at all. He wore nothing but a grey hoodie and sweatpants, less to be inconspicuous and more because it was the only clothing he possessed. His face, thin and beady, made him appear more aged than he probably was. Blood seeped out from beneath his clothes, and Ruby seized from the sight of it.

Then, like an angel, Penny gracefully touched down in front of her classmates, saluting them with a cheerful grin.

"Salutations, Ruby and Yang! Good to see you found the place," Penny eagerly clasped her hands together in front of her face. "I believe I have found the location of the Emerald that you are looking for. There is an unusual amount of criminal activity coming from this building. My best estimate is that Emerald is hiding out in one of these old apartments."

Ruby couldn't respond. Too many awful thoughts were racing through her mind. Penny… Penny just deliberately attacked the most dangerous criminal gang on the planet. She killed one of their members. That was bad. That was so, so, so insanely fucking bad. Her words became caught in her throat, but Yang was able to challenge her.

"You… you killed him," Yang said, her voice wavering. Penny tilted her head.

"Hmm?" She noticed the blood seeping under her boots, and she realized what Yang was talking about. "Oh yes. There were three active guards on the roof. I incapacitated them before they could alert anyone else. Although, I don't know how loud that gunfire was…"

Yang snapped.

"That's not the point, Penny! You just fucking killed this dude! What the fuck is wrong with you!"

"We likely won't get in trouble," Penny said defensively. "He was hiding a fugitive from the law, and we can always retroactively claim lethal action was performed in self-defense. My research indicates that Valian law enforcement doesn't tend to favor the perspectives of those with lower income brackets anyway."

Yang raised her hands, stammering as she tried to process the horrifying implications her schoolmate so casually ran through. "That's… that is so not the point! You just… you just ended a man's life. You killed a guy for fucking nothing! Why would you do that?"

Penny didn't seem to understand, and she scratched her head. Yang looked ready to pounce. Ruby's face was contorted in terror. This really didn't make sense at all to her.

"You're mad that I… murdered someone?" Penny asked casually.

"Yes!"

Penny paused for a moment… then burst into laughter. "You Beacon students really are silly. General Ironwood was correct. You haven't worked out any of your contradictions."

"Contra—what the fuck are you talking about?"

"We are Huntresses, Yang," Penny stated the obvious. "Our job involves using deadly weapons to fight bad guys, and yet you still attempt to act as if there are arbitrary moral restrictions on Human life. You will become a much better Huntress when you learn to stop holding back on people who don't deserve your respect."

Yang's mouth curled into a sneer and she stepped forward. If Penny really wanted to see what happened when she didn't hold back…

Ruby finally snapped to her senses. They all needed to stop talking. They were out in the open. There could be bystanders. Witnesses. Or worse, other guards. Someone had to hear something from within the building. Then again, those gunshots were silenced and the building's walls were thick. It was possible those within didn't know there was trouble outside. Still, too risky. They had a chance to leave. Get away from the evidence.

"We… we really shouldn't be standing here," Ruby squeaked out.

"Agreed!" Penny said, turning toward the apartments. "Come on, we have a fugitive to capture."

No, shit, that wasn't what she meant!

"Penny, wait!" Ruby cried as Penny walked to the front door of Perfect Gardens. "This is way too dangerous. We have to leave now!"

"I cannot leave until I have captured the thief," Penny said calmly. "A Huntress does not abandon her mission."

"Someone is going to get hurt!" Ruby begged. Penny glanced over her shoulder with a smug smile.

"Yes. Yes, they are."

Penny pressed her hand against the apartment entrance, but she suddenly felt someone grab her wrist. Yang had stormed up next to her, her hair aflame and her words fierce.

"Oh no, you don't!" she screamed. "We are getting the fuck out of here before you—"

Penny's reaction was swift and brutal. Yang didn't notice her arm twisted out of position as Penny maneuvered out of her grasp, but se did feel the heavy titanium of Penny's shin collide into her chest and send her barreling down the street. Yang bounced into the middle of the road. Ruby cried for her sister in panic. Yang came to a stop in the street, the fresh bruise on her chest sending a rush of energy into her system. She felt her muscles grow stronger, and she pushed herself back up to her feet within seconds, ready to take on the world. If had to kick this Atlasian's ass to save her life, she would do it. She would pummel her until she broke in two, snap all of her stupid fucking limbs off until she could no longer move and Yang had to drag her broken body all the way back to Atlas. She would show her the meaning of strength.

And then, Yang noticed a few things. She saw Penny, cool and confident, ready to challenge Yang and defeat her as if she was nothing. She saw Ruby's face, gripped with terror—not at the thought of the damage Yang could do, but at the thought of losing her sister. And Yang thought of her therapist's words to her, her warnings: You are not ready for this. And all of Yang's fire burned out, and her anxieties and fears took hold of her, and the dragon froze in fear. Fear over what would happen if she destroyed Penny, and fear over the fact she could not.

You are not ready for this.

Penny just smirked. "As I said… someone might get hurt. So, let's get a move on, shall we?" With a simple push, Penny forced open the door to the apartment, and stepped inside, disappearing into the dark. Ruby chased after her. Yang hesitated, then moments later, followed her sister.

"As I said… someone might get hurt. So, let's get a move on, shall we?"

The computer screen flickered. Three women entered the apartment complex, and the image was rewound another moment.

"As I said… someone might get hurt. So, let's get a move on, shall we?"

A young woman watched the monitor with uncaring eyes. Her cheek rested upon her knuckles. Security duty was normally so boring, staring at the endless rows of cameras while all the interesting things happened behind her. She had spent all night listening to tortured gurgles and groans and pained screams, unable to watch any of the fun because her eyes had to be glued to the screens in front of her. But now, there was something for her to see. Something new. Something intoxicating.

Was that Team RWBY? No, couldn't be. But it totally looked like them.

The young woman had eyes of green and hair of black, straightened bangs falling over her eyes. Her red dress was too nice for the building she was hiding out in, or the part of town in which she was forced to stay under Mama's orders. She tapped her pale knuckles against the table in front of her, her tongue flicking out of her mouth like a cobra. Her voice was whiny and irritable, and when she called out to the woman behind her, she didn't reveal her eagerness.

"Hey, Melanie. Come take a look at this."

She heard another scream of pain from behind her, and then a voice that sounded identical to her own responded dryly.

"Kind of busy, Miltia."

"No, seriously. Come look at this."

Miltia heard a groan of frustration, and then another scream of pain, and then Melanie walked beside her. Miltia calmly glanced up at her sister's matching face, her gaze briefly flicking over her stained white dress. With all the blood covering her, they looked more like twins than usual.

"What is it?" Melanie asked, crossing her arms. "I'm having fun."

Miltia calmly pointed to the screen in front of her, to the paused image of three mysterious young women entering their hideout.

"Look what the cameras just picked up," said Miltia. Melanie squinted at the image and her face became sour.

"Huntresses? Here?" she asked with frustration. "When did this happen?"

"Literally just now."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I literally just did."

"You are so stupid."

"No, you are. Look," Miltia pointed again at the screen. "They aren't Huntresses. That's Team RWBY."

"Team RWBY? The Grimm people?" Melanie asked, confused. "They're, like, uber famous."

"I know."

"Who's the redhead?"

"That's Ruby Rose—"

"No, you fucking idiot. The other redhead."

"Oh. I don't know."

"You are so stupid."

"But anyway, Team RWBY is here."

"I know."

"Why are they here?"

"I don't know."

"Oh." Miltia stared at the screen for a long time, then calmly asked her sister. "Should we, like… do something about this?"

"I mean, probably," Melanie sighed. "They're Huntresses. They are probably here to arrest us or something."

"But we totally paid off the local Huntsmen to not come here."

"Yeah, I know."

"So, why are they here?"

"We didn't pay them off—God, how the fuck am I related to you?"

"We… have the same parents?"

Melanie slapped her twin in the back of the head, and Miltia winced in pain. Melanie rolled her eyes and calmly walked away from the computer screens. She couldn't stand her sister's unfathomable stupidity for a moment longer. It seemed like their night was about to get a whole lot more interesting, and that meant she had to tie up her loose end. She returned to the center of the room, where her captive was currently kneeling in a pool of his own blood. A burlap sack was over his head, and his clothes were stripped off so that he was naked and exposed to the elements. His arms and legs were bound together, and the poor, bruised thing was quivering in Melanie's presence.

She looked down at him with disdain, the same way an artist would critique an unfinished painting. His entire body was covered with slashes and bruises. Three of his fingers were missing; the rest had their nails forcefully plucked. She already stomped on his other bits and pieces, and his whimpers from that had long ceased as he became numb to sensation. It was a fun few hours, but he was no more different than any of the others she tortured. She supposed she just lacked motivation to do anything unique. All he had done to earn her wrath was shout an obscenity at her when she was walking down the street. Not exactly great torture material.

"Okay, good news," Melanie sighed, checking her nails. "I'm done playing with you."

The man sobbed underneath the burlap sack. What was his name? What was going through his mind? Did he actually think he was free? Melanie honestly couldn't care less about what worthless things entered the mind of a dying man. She looked down at the floor, where her various tools and playthings were laid out neat in a row. They were dripping with blood, but other than that they were well-polished and cared for, unlike the dingy building she was forced to sleep in. She grabbed the item in the middle of the pile: a pistol. She liked putting the pistol so close to the victim. It was really funny. If only they could see…

The man's groans of pain were eternally silenced when a bullet ripped through his skull. Melanie wiped the excess blood off her face. Miltia continued to stare at the screen, her head throbbing from the slap and ears ringing from the gunshot. Another day, another case of Melanie hogging the fun all to herself. Ah well, it didn't matter. There were three new women coming wandering into their web. Hopefully, she could get her turn to play, too.