AN: Hey. Sorry it's been a while. Lack of motivation gets me all the time. It's a curse.

Anyway, onwards!

Chapter 136

Qrow looked over the scene before him in a panic. He once again found himself floating in the air of what appeared to be the dining room of Aqua's childhood home. The last time he had been here, waves of darkness had begun rolling off of her father after he struck her.

To Qrow's horror, it seemed like he was going to be forced to witness the continuation.

Aqua's father clutched his head and groaned in pain, as the dark waves rolling off his body grew in intensity. With a scream, he was fully consumed in a dark sphere. Seconds later, a Neoshadow appeared in his place. Aqua and her mother screamed in terror, her mother jumping in front to defend her. The Neoshadow lunged forward, slashing at Aqua's mother with its claws.

It sliced her back open, knocking the woman away. Aqua screamed, and the Neoshadow jumped onto her mother's prone form, slashing away at her chest.

After several agonizing minutes, Aqua's mother finally stopped screaming. The Neoshadow turned around and directed its attention to Aqua, who was cowering in the corner. It took a few steps towards her, and then lunged.

"No!" Qrow shouted, reaching his hand out useless towards her. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the Neoshadow was sent flying. When the light faded, Qrow saw that Aqua was carrying a weapon in her tiny hands.

Her Keyblade.

Aqua looked at the weapon in confusion, but the Neoshadow quickly recovered. But before it could launch another attack at her, a blast of fire suddenly slammed into its chest, destroying it. Both Aqua and Qrow looked behind her, and saw a man wearing a very familiar black coat with the hood pulled up.

"That takes care of that," the man said, and Qrow recognized his voice. It was the Master of Masters. "About time you awakened to your powers."

"W-Who are you?" Aqua asked.

"Not important," he said, reaching out a hand to her. "You, on the other hand, are extremely important. Or, at least, you will be. With a little training. And I know just the Master to give you to." A transparent wave of energy flew from his hand, and Aqua's eyes suddenly became heavy. A few seconds later, she closed them completely and collapsed, the Master catching her.

Qrow suddenly found himself in a different location, this time a large monastery at the top of a mountain. Qrow figured this was the Land of Departure. Aqua was asleep on a rock in an opulent garden. A few seconds later, a man wearing robes with black hair pulled into a ponytail stepped into the garden. He was alarmed when he saw Aqua, and ran over to gently shake her awake.

"Are you okay?" he asked as she opened her eyes.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in my home," the man said. "My name is Eraqus. What's yours?"

"Aqua," she said as she sat up.

"Where did you come from, Aqua?"

"I…I don't know."

"So, first thing's first," Clover said as the others had gathered in a briefing room, a central hologram turned on to display the details of their first mission. "There's been some changes in personnel, so we need to officially re-designate teams." Ruby looked at the floor sadly at the reminder that her sister had left. "So, it's been decided that Tifa Lockhart will take Yang Xiao Long's place on Team RWBY. Do you have any preference in what you want the new name to be?"

Ruby put a hand to her chin in thought. "Team RWBL."

"Rubble?" Clover asked.

"Yeah. It fits." Weiss put a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder.

Clover gave a small nod. "Team RWBL it is, then. Now, Team JNPR has a bit of a special situation. Jaune, Pyrrha, I understand you two brought your son with you."

"That's correct," Pyrrha said.

"Arrangements are being made with Doctor Polendina to have your dorm room converted into something more suitable for a baby," Clover continued. "Once it's finished, the General feels that it would be best for Achilles's development for the two of you to take turns. When one of you is working, the other is at home caring for Achilles."

"Hey, that sounds like a good idea," Jaune said.

"But what about the rest of us?" Nora asked. "We'll be down one teammate when one of them is watching Achilles."

"For that reason, Riku will be filling in for whoever is absent," Clover said, looking at the silver-haired Keyblade Master.

"I can do that," Riku said with a firm nod.

"Good," Clover said with a smile. "From now on, you'll be Team JNPRR. However, for this mission, the four original members of Team JNPR will be working together while Doctor Polendina watches Achilles and gets the room ready. Riku, you'll be with me."

"And what exactly is our mission?" Blake asked.

Clover smirked. "Our mission is the secure the launch site for the Amity Communications Tower." Ruby's eyes widened in surprise at the importance of their first mission. "The designated area is an abandoned Dust mine. Since its closure, the Grimm have moved in." The holographic display showed several Huntsmen battling a Geist. There was a written overview of the mission.

Reported Petra Gigas near Huntsman Post North. Huntsmen secured area but were unable to eliminate Petra Gigas. The Grimm was seen retreating to abandoned SDC Mines No. 2 located in Zone 3. No casualties were reported, three Huntsmen suffered minor injuries.

Recommended Course of Action: Send in ACE Operatives to clear SDC Mine No. 2.

The hologram also displayed the portraits of team RWBL and Team JNPRR as the Active Huntsmen, along with the Ace Ops.

"Good news is that all that untouched Dust is still down there, too," Clover continued. "Science team says they'll need it for the first phase of the launch. Atlas military are already hard at work clearing the surrounding tundra. But recon has identified a powerful Geist that's managed to evade destruction and take several lives. After we increased our numbers, the Geist was smart enough to retreat into the mine itself, meaning it's old and extremely dangerous." He pressed a button on his scroll, and a picture of the large Geist was displayed prominently on the hologram. "This is our target." With another button press, the Geist's image was replaced with a map of the mine. "The mine was a labyrinth back in the day. There's all sorts of tunnels and chambers the Geist can move between, so if we're gonna kill this thing, we'll have to split up and corner it. General Ironwood says you've seen your fair share of combat. I trust that man with my life, so tomorrow, I'll be trusting you all, too. Any questions?"

"So, basically, we just have to go into an old mine and kill a Grimm?" Riku asked. "Sounds easy enough."

"I like the confidence, but be careful that you don't get arrogant," Clover said with a chuckle. "In that case, dismissed. I think Doctor Polendina should have your gear ready for you."

"Apologies for the mess and for holding onto your weapons for so long," Pietro said as he led Teams RWBL and JNPRR into his laboratory. He was certainly correct about there being a mess, as there were containers and papers strewn haphazardly about the place. Ruby had always heard that really smart people were also supposed to be super unorganized, so she supposed it fit. "The upgrades you requested were, uh… well, they were more than I anticipated." He laughed as he directed them to a series of shelves, each containing cases marked with their names. Everyone approached the shelves and picked up their case. "Your new weapons and armor should be as requested, but I also took the liberty of reviewing your combat footage from the Vytal Festival Tournament. Well, those of you that participated, at least. There's some additional enhancements I'd like to suggest. Oh, but for now, these should serve you well enough."

Ruby watched as Nora opened her case, and her eyes went wide from excitement.

Jaune sat on his bed in team JNPRR's dorm (and boy was it going to be weird having a fifth member), gently rocking Achilles while he looked at the contents of the open case on the floor in front of him. He could see a new set of armor, and he could already tell that Crocea Mors had been enhanced in exactly the way he had requested. He smiled slightly, and looked down at his son's peaceful, sleeping face. After a few minutes, he heard Pyrrha step out of their bathroom.

"So, how does it look?" she asked. Confused, he looked up, and his jaw hit the floor. Her hair was now much shorter than it was before, now reaching just past her shoulders, and styled to look like it was falling in waves. She still wore her brass tiara, though. She had a big, beautiful, if nervous, smile on her face.

She looked absolutely beautiful.

Nora let out an impressed whistle. "Looking good, girl!"

"Very nice," Ren said.

"Looks great!" Riku said enthusiastically.

"Wow," Jaune said. "It looks really good."

Pyrrha giggled. "Thanks."

"You know, I was thinking about cutting my hair, too," Jaune said. "It's kind of long, and I just—"

Pyrrha shushed him.

"Don't you dare."

In Team RWBL's new dorm (And Ruby wasn't sure she ever wanted to get used to calling her team that), the others were busy inspecting their new gear. Tifa slipped some new black leather gloves on, these ones with short spikes protruding from the knuckles. She gave a few experimental punches in the air, and smiled confidently.

Ruby reached into her case, and pulled out a new red cloak that was sitting on top of the pile. She held it up and examined it closely, a small smile on her face.

"Hey… Ruby?" Oscar asked. Ruby turned and saw him standing tentatively in the doorway to the dorm room.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Can we talk?" he asked nervously.

"Sure," she said, stepping into the hallway. "Oh, before I forget!" She unclipped the Lamp from her belt and handed it to him. "Uh, probably shouldn't keep running around with an ancient Relic on a keychain… you know?" she said, before handing it to Oscar.

"But—"

"I know you'll keep it safe in Atlas," she interrupted him. He sighed.

"Ruby, hiding things from Ironwood, doesn't that feel like what Ozpin did to us?" he asked.

Ruby looked away from him. "Yes. But I still stand by my decision. Right now, none of us really trust him, and after seeing what he did to Mantle, I don't think it would be a good idea to tell him everything until I feel better about how he'll react."

"Until 'you' feel better?" Oscar asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Do you really have the right to decide who knows the truth and who doesn't?"

"It doesn't matter if I have the right to or not," Ruby said. "I still made that decision. But it's up to Ironwood now to prove that he deserves the truth."

"Ruby…" he said, his expression changing to one of worry. Ruby suddenly became very nervous.

"Uh, I have to go get ready for the mission," she said, bolting back into the dorm room and slamming the door closed behind her.

Did he have a point?

Did she have the right to decide who knows the truth about Salem?

No, that's ridiculous. It was obvious Ironwood couldn't be trusted with the truth. She just had to have faith that she could convince him to see things from her point of view.

The next day, three Manta airships quickly flew above the tundra of Solitas, each one carrying different teams to the Schnee Mines. One contained Team RWBL alongside their Ace Ops companions, Harriet Bree, and Marrow Amin. The second one carried Team JNPR, alongside Elm Ederne and Vine Zeki. The third one carried Riku and Clover. Ruby looked around nervously at her teammates, the four of them donning their new combat outfits, and some with new haircuts. Ruby wore a new black-and-red corset with a mesh undershirt, both of those worn above a long-sleeved white blouse. She also had a red pleated skirt with shorts underneath, alongside black thigh-high boots and mesh tights.

Weiss wore a short white minidress that was designed to look like a military jacket and white cap, with black stockings and white high-heeled shoes. Her hair was still let down, flowing down her back.

Blake wore a black skintight bodysuit with a white jacket over it zipped up in the center. Her hair had been cut shorter, now stopping just above her shoulders.

Tifa wore a black cropped tank top over a white sleeveless undershirt, black knee-length shorts, and a half-cape behind her waist, along with black sneakers. Her hair was also cut slightly shorter, now falling mid-way down her back, and her shorts had a hole cut in the back to fit her tail.

"We're approaching the drop zone," Clover's voice said over the radio. The Team stood up and took position in front of the Manta's door. After a few seconds, they felt it stop moving forward, and the door opened, revealing the entrance to the mine underneath them. "Let's make it happen, people."

The four members of Team RWBL all leaped out of the Manta, each one using their landing strategies to slow their fall. Weiss used a series of glyphs, Blake used her ribbon to swing from pieces of machinery, and Tifa grabbed a horizontal pipe on the way down, and swung up so she was falling from a shorter distance. Ruby simply dove, tucked, and rolled when she hit the ground. Harriet and Marrow landed nearby.

"This is my favorite part!" Elm shouted excitedly, jumping out of Team JNPR's Manta without hesitation. Vine, by contrast, calmly stepped out, followed by Ren. Nora was just as enthusiastic as Elm was. Pyrrha put a comforting hand on Jaune's shoulder before leaping out. Jaune took a deep breath, got a running start, and leaped out, unfolding his shield. He activated the new upgrade, a wall of Hard-Light Dust extending the surface area of the shield. He held it aloft, using the shield as a glider to slow down his decent. As he approached the ground, he pointed the shield downward and used a burst of Gravity Dust to cushion his fall. He drew his sword triumphantly, and Pyrrha enthusiastically applauded for him. He looked at the proud faces of his teammates, all wearing their new gear. Ren was wearing a green tunic with a pink armored right sleeve, and his hair was pulled into a long braid. Nora wore a white minidress with a long pink jacket. Pyrrha wore a full bronze breastplate and shoulder pauldrons, a black knee-length skirt with ribbons of armor woven into the fabric, and thigh-high armored leg plates. Her red sash was now worn as a scarf. Her shield had also been enlarged.

"Ha ha! Perhaps you kids won't get yourself killed after all!" Elm said before entering a tunnel. Team JNPR's excitement deflated.

"She meant that as a compliment," Vine said.

"This is Alpha Squad," Ruby heard Clover's voice, prompting her and the rest of her team to rest their fingers against the communication devices in their ears. "LZ's clear. Proceeding on foot. You've all got fancy new Scrolls, so don't forget to use 'em. Keep your eyes and ears open. I want an update if you encounter the target. Alpha out."

As Clover spoke, Ruby saw Blake pull out her new Scroll to examine it. It was a much smaller model, the main body consisting only of a small rectangular device that displayed a holographic screen. It could also be looked at quickly to glance at their teammates' Auras without displaying the full screen.

"These things are really cool," Tifa said, looking at the device with wide eyes.

"Definitely a lot more cutting-edge than the last models," Blake agreed before putting her Scroll back in her breast pocket.

Marrow shook his head disapprovingly at the girls' enthusiasm. "Man, I did not sign up to be a babysitter."

"Yeah, well, the rest of us babysit you all the time," Harriet said, before walking away. Marrow scoffed and crossed his arms before following her with a pout.

Weiss brushed some snow off of a piece of metal, revealing three very familiar letters.

SDC

Weiss and Blake's eyes widened, and they immediately looked at Ruby, who was staring at the letters intently.

"…Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"…I'm fine…" Ruby said, brushing Blake's hand away before following Marrow and Harriet. "Let's go."

Blake and Weiss shared concerned looks, and Weiss cast one last disgusted glance at the logo, before the two of them and Tifa followed their leader towards the main entrance to the mine. Eventually, Ruby stopped, rubbing her upper arms and shivering.

"Oh, it's freezing out here!" she shouted.

"Without heating or projected Aura, the cold of Solitas can kill you in a matter of hours," Weiss explained.

"I suddenly don't feel as bad about leaving Oscar behind," Blake said.

"Are we… are we sure we're doing the right thing?" Tifa asked. Ruby saw that Harriet and Marrow had gone far enough ahead that they were out of earshot.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Are we sure that not telling Ironwood what we learned from Jinn is the right thing to do?" Tifa asked. "About Salem? About what really happened to Oz?"

"We will," Ruby said. "Eventually. But you saw how things looked when we flew into Atlas. And after how he treated Mom, I'm not ready to trust him."

Blake sighed. "We're supposed to be on the same side, but it's hard when he seems to do everything in his power to make us not want to trust him."

"But I still think he deserves to know the truth if he's involved in this war just as much as we think we deserved it," Weiss said. "No one deserves to go into this war blind."

"But, he also knows that we don't trust him, so I doubt he trusts us," Blake said. "Who knows what secrets he's keeping from us when he knows we aren't really loyal to him?"

"I suppose that's true," Weiss said. "And I agree that he only has himself to blame for how little trust he's gained."

"I just… I don't like it," Tifa said. "All this deceit. All this mistrust is only going to ruin us in the long run."

"Hey!" Harriet shouted. "You coming or what?!"

"Let's save this for later," Ruby said, and the team headed towards the entrance to meet back up with their Ace Ops teammates.

"This is kind of exciting," Riku said as he and Clover walked through a tunnel with different color Dust crystals sticking out of the wall. "I haven't really worked with other people long-term before."

"Really?" Clover asked. "Even with the other kids?"

"I only met them a couple weeks ago. Before that, it was just me and my friend Sora. You know, we're not really allowed to let anyone know about the Keyblade, so we mostly just stuck to ourselves. Easier to keep the secret that way."

"Well, that's a shame," Clover said, before touching his communicator in his ear. "Alpha here. Give me an update."

"The connecting ice tunnels seem clear," Vine said to Clover through his communicator. "We should be approaching the actual mine any minute now."

"This is so exciting!" Nora said. "It feels like we're an actual Huntsmen team! I wish Oscar could be here to see us, and my cute new outfit."

"Can we please just focus on the mission?" Ren said, continuing to walk without looking at her. Nora sent a glare to the back of his head. Pyrrha put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure Oscar will love the outfit, Nora," she said. "You really do look lovely."

"Yeah, if you want the dorm to yourselves for a little bit when we get back, Pyrrha and I can take Achilles somewhere," Jaune said.

"Thanks, guys," she said, still frowning in Ren's general direction. They had been best friends for so long, but now that Nora had a boyfriend that wasn't him, it was like Ren wanted nothing to do with her. And despite it being explained multiple times, he still didn't seem to grasp that it was treating Nora exactly the way he was treating her now that drove this wedge between them in the first place.

She may not love Ren anymore, but she still didn't want to lose her best friend. But since when was he so stubborn?

"Bravo checking in," Harriet's voice said over the communicator. "Hit a bit of a snag."

"There's been a cave-in in the main entrance," Harriet reported as she, Marrow, and Team RWBL stood in front of a pile of rubble in the tunnel. "Not sure if it's recent or was caused by the original accident." At Harriet's words, Blake realized something, looking around with an alarmed expression. Was this mine…? "Either way, we'll have to do a little problem solving."

"Understood," Clover said. "Let us know if you need anything."

Blake had stopped looking around, and had settled on a sad expression.

"You okay?" Tifa asked.

"I just realized where we are," Blake said. "This mine was closed off after an explosion."

"I remember," Weiss said. "Or rather, I remember how furious it made my father." She breathed in deeply, and exhaled. "I wish I could take back the years of pain my family has caused the Faunus, and all of my complacency in it. I used to think there was something I could do, some way to undo it and redeem the family name, but now…" she looked angrily at one of the crates with the SDC logo on it, and Blake put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"This society is set up for Faunus to be at the bottom, and humans are willing participants," Marrow said. "They benefit from doing nothing to help us. But there are still those who actively abuse us. Anyway, I didn't come over here looking to solve systemic societal issues. Harriet found a gap in the rubble we think one of you could fit through, ideally someone with a knack for seeing in the dark." He looked at Blake, who rolled her eyes.

"Uh-huh," she said.

"I'll go with you," Tifa said.

"Uh, I… don't think that'll work," Marrow said, suddenly looking very embarrassed.

"Why not?" Tifa asked.

"Um, the space is a little too small for you."

"Me and Blake are the same height, though," Tifa said.

"Um…" Marrow struggled to answer, his face growing redder by the second. Finally, Harriet sighed in exasperation.

"He means that you won't fit because your tits are too big," she said, causing all of Team RWBL's faces to explode in embarrassment. Blake silently walked over to the opening and squeezed her way through.

Considering how tight of a squeeze it ended up being, she was starting to think that Marrow had a point about Tifa not being able to make it, as much as she hated to admit it.

She finally made it to the other side, and drew her katana once she was free.

"All right, Blake, take a look around," Marrow's voice said into her communicator. She folded back the blade of Gambol Shroud, prepping the gun. "Is there any Dust in the immediate area?"

"Mine carts… debris… no Dust, though," she reported back.

"Great, then it should be safe to blast out way through."

"Okay. Heading ba—" Suddenly, a Geist swooped down and lunged for her, forcing Blake to use her Semblance to flip away. As soon as she landed, she began firing her pistol.

"Damn it. Blake, stand back," Harriet's said, and a second later, the rubble pile exploded, allowing the Ace Ops and the remaining members of Team RWBL to enter the tunnel with their weapons drawn. Upon seeing them, the Geist began fleeing down the tunnel.

"Get after it!" Tifa yelled, giving chase. The others followed, but soon a Grimm burst out of the ground in front of them. It looked like a giant bug, its body made up of a segmented carapace, and its jaw ended in a pair of bladed mandibles. "What the..?" Tifa asked. The Centinel lunged at her, but she grabbed it by the mandibles, ripped it out of the ground, flipped it over her head, and slammed her heel down into a segment of its carapace, shattering it and spraying green blood everywhere. "Oh, that's gross."

Several more Centinels burst out of the ground, and Team RWBL immediately got to work, their weapons and bodies a blur as they slaughtered the Grimm left and right. A pair of Centinels twisted their bodies around each other and charged towards Marrow, but he pointed his finger at them.

"Stay!" he shouted, and the Grimm suddenly froze in place. He held the pose, and Harriet sped forward, moving so fast that she was trailing electricity, and slammed her weapon, a small robotic exoskeleton that fit over her arms, into the Centinels, killing them.

Harriet put her hand to her ear. "This is Bravo! We found the target, but it fled deeper into the mine. Engaging Centinels!"

Let's pick up the pace!" Elm shouted, prompting Team JNPR and their Ace Ops handlers to jump down a steep, icy decline in the tunnel. Three Centinels burst out of the tunnel walls.

"Contact!" Vine shouted. He used his Semblance to create glowing, stretchy arms to stick to the ice and stop his descent. Elm stomped her foot, creating similar-looking golden roots to spawn and hold her still. Team JNPR, on the other hand, just kept sliding, their weapons a blur as they made short work of the Grimm.

"A very…head-first approach," Vine said once everyone was at the bottom of the slope.

"Yeah, well, that's just kind of our style," Jaune said, he and the rest of the team trying their best to look confident. Elm gave them an approving nod, and once the Ace Ops passed them, Team JNPR sagged their shoulders in relief.

"One left!" Weiss shouted, the other Centinels having already fallen.

"I got it!" Ruby said, and began locking on for her Shotlock. But before she could release it, Harriet sped past and plunged her fist through the Centinel to kill it.

"Whoa!" Ruby said. "Your Semblance makes you super fast, just like me!"

"Very cool," Harriet said. "Though, based on your reaction time, I'd say I'm a little faster."

"This is Alpha! We've engaged the target!"

"All squads head towards our position!" Riku was launching magic at the Geist, while Clover launched the hook of his fishing rod at the Grimm, just barely missing it. The Geist jumped inside of a large chunk of ice with a mine cart embedded in it, and gathered ice chunks, pieces of metal, and rocks to form a body. Clover engaged it, but Riku noticed that a chunk of ice was pressing against a support beam, steadily pushing it off of the wall.

"Look out!" he shouted. Clover looked up and saw the beam, which broke free and landed between him and the Geist. When the dust settled, they saw a large hole in the ground where the Geist was previously, the Grimm likely having escaped through it.

Clover looked down the hole with a frown. "Darn it." He reached up to touch his communicator. "Target escaped, last seen headed east." He turned to look at Riku. "Thanks for the call-out. That could have been bad."

"We're just lucky it missed you," Riku said.

"We can thank my Semblance for that," Clover said, confusing Riku. "I bring good fortune."

"Huh, cool," Riku said. Clover put his hand up to his communicator again.

"Charlie, Bravo, you should be able to cut off the target at the heart of the mine. Riku and I won't be far behind."

Team RWBL eventually came out of the tunnel into a giant chamber filled with Dust veins and large crystals. They could practically feel the energy radiating through the air. As they stepped into the chamber, some particles were kicked up, and floated into the air. Ruby looked up and saw Team JNPR on an upper platform.

"Guys!" she called up.

"Everyone use caution," Vine said over the communicator. "This room is highly active with Dust energy. Triggering it could ruin the launch site."

"And vaporize us," Marrow said. "How is that always second with you?"

"I thought the target was supposed to be in here," Nora said. A low rumbling sound from above prompted everyone to look up. The large Geist clung to a chunk of ice hanging from the ceiling. It turned to look at them, and Ruby started several purple Dust crystals embedded in its body. It jumped down from the ceiling, crashing through a stone arch on the way down.

"It added Dust to its body?" Ruby asked. "How are we supposed to—"

Harriet and Marrow rushed past her, engaging the target without a second's hesitation.

"Elm!" Vine shouted, using his Semblance to wrap one of his Aura arms around one of the Geists's legs. He used his other arm to grab onto a support beam. Elm ran up to the leg and used her Semblance to root herself in place and grabbed onto the Grimm's leg.

"Vine!" she shouted. Vine let go and climbed up the cliff. He then used his Semblance to grab one of Grimm's arms, forcing the creature to stretch out.

"Marrow!" Vine shouted. Marrow threw his boomerang, severing the Geist's arm. However, one of the Dust crystals embedded in the Grimm's body began falling.

"Harriet!" Marrow shouted, and the short speedster used her Semblance to catch the falling crystal in mid-air. Marrow used his boomerang to cut off the other arm, sending another Dust crystal flying. "Crap!"

The others followed the crystal's path with their eyes, but saw Clover reach out and catch it, standing on a cliff with Riku.

"What would you guys do without me?" Clover asked with a chuckle before tossing the Dust crystal to Riku and jumping down to join the fight.

Ruby was starting to see why the Ace Ops were considered the best team of Huntsmen and Huntresses in all of Atlas. Their Semblances complemented each other perfectly, and their teamwork was impeccable.

Honestly, she and the rest of the team were content to just watch and learn.

Eventually, the Ace Ops finally killed the Grimm, but another Dust crystal was sent flying through the air.

"Harriet!" Clover yelled. Harriet ran as fast as she could to try to catch the crystal before it could hit the ground, but before she could reach it, Ruby sped past her, using her Semblance to scoop the crystal up. She landed on the ground with the crystal safely in her arms, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Thought you said your Semblance was like mine," Harriet said.

"It…is?" Ruby said in confusion.

"I've seen other speed Semblances before, but that was different. I think there's more going on than you think."

"Just wait until you see what her Keyblade can do," Tifa said. "Might knock off your high horse a little bit."

"I'd pay to see that," Marrow said, prompting Harriet to punch him in the arm. Elm let out a triumphant cheer, and lifted Ruby up onto her shoulder.

"Atlas Control, this is Clover. Mission accomplished."

Yang looked at the sign on the door incredulously.

Happy Huntresses

"They seriously call themselves that?"

"I'll admit, the name is a little silly, but no one has done more for Mantle than Robyn Hill and her Happy Huntresses. I'm sure you'll fit right in."

"Uh, yeah…thanks," she said, kind of hoping that he would leave before he started getting weird. With how obsessed he was with Robyn, Yang was honestly surprised he hadn't said something about wanting her to step on him. She didn't want to be rude by saying anything, but he got the hint by he silence.

"Well, I hope you find what you're looking for," he said, quickly bowing out and walking away.

"Yeah… me too," Yang said, before grabbing the handle and stepping into the office.

Considering the sterling reputation the Happy Huntresses had among the people of Mantle, Yang found herself a little surprised at how quaint and humble the team's headquarters looked. It looked more like an apartment, with a small living area containing a couch, a couple chairs, and a television set, and she could see an attached kitchen off to the side, and through a door in the back she spotted a work bench.

There were four women in the room, and all of them turned to look at her when she entered. All of them wore the same knee-length jackets, but in different colors. One of them was tall and muscular, with short spiky green hair. One of them was short, thin, cute-as-a-button woman with white hair and small sheep ears poking out from underneath, marking her as a Faunus. The third woman had shoulder-length blue hair, and the final woman had bright blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. Yang recognized her from the campaign poster as Robyn Hill. Three of the four Huntresses had similar weapons, a long staff with some sort of blade/crossbow combination at either end. The only one of them with a different weapon was Robyn, who had a bladed crossbow attached to her wrist.

Robyn stood up from her seat on the couch and approached Yang. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"You certainly look like you can use all the help you can get," the blue-haired one said. "Who the hell wears a crop top in the tundra?"

Yang took a deep breath. "My name is Yang. And yes, I need help. I… don't really have anywhere else to turn to. My mom talked you up, so I figure you'd be able to help me."

"Your mom?" Robyn asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"Aqua," Yang said, and Robyn's eyes opened wide in recognition. Robyn grabbed her hand and shook it enthusiastically, surprising Yang.

"It's really nice to meet you," Robyn said. "Aqua talked about you and your sister constantly. I don't know if it's possible for a mother to be more proud of her daughters than she is of you."

"…Thank you," Yang said, smiling at the memory of her mother.

"How's she doing?" Robyn asked, and Yang's smile fell. Robyn noticed the change in Yang's demeanor. "…What's wrong?"

"She's… she's gone," Yang said, immediately being pulled into a hug by the older blonde.

"I'm so sorry," Robyn said. "What happened?"

"…I don't want to talk about it," Yang said. It was partially true. She genuinely didn't want to talk about it, but she also couldn't reveal exactly what Mom had been doing when she died.

"Aqua mentioned that you had a sister," Robyn said. "Is she…?"

"She's up in Atlas," Yang said. "With the rest of my team…or, former team, I guess. They're, uh, working with Ironwood."

That got the attention of all the Happy Huntresses.

"…What?" Robyn asked. "After what he did to Aqua?"

"I know, I know," Yang said. "It's why I left. But trust me, if Ruby felt like she had a choice, she wouldn't be working with him."

"So why is she?" Robyn asked.

Yang thought for a moment about how much she could tell Robyn. Her mother trusted her, so she supposed she could, too. "He has something on her. It's, uh, actually the same reason he treated Mom the way he did. She's afraid that if she doesn't do what he says, he'll try to do it to her."

"…I see. And you left your team because you refused to work with him," Robyn surmised. "And what did you come to us for?"

"Well, I don't really know where to go or what to do, so I was hoping that you'd be able to…I don't know… point me in the right direction?"

Robyn chuckled. "I'll do more than that. Aqua was a friend, and I take care of my friends. Since you have nowhere else to go, how about you join the Happy Huntresses?"

"Wha…?" Yang asked, dumbfounded. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," Robyn said, turning to look at her teammates. "What do you think, guys?"

"I think it's a great idea, Robyn!" the sheep Faunus said happily.

"I'm curious to see what Aqua's daughter is made of," the blue-haired one said. The one with green hair just nodded silently.

"But I don't have a license," Yang said. "Me and friends almost got arrested earlier for fighting Grimm without licenses."

"I'd love to see them get through me," Robyn said. "No one but those stuck-up asswipes in the Ace Ops have the balls to actually try and enforce any laws where the four of us are concerned."

Despite herself, Yang couldn't hold back the laugh that forced its way out. "Well, uh, how can I argue with that?"

"Great!" Robyn said. "Now, for formal introductions. My name is Robyn Hill."

"Yang Xiao Long," Yang said. Robyn pointed to the other Huntresses.

"That's Joanna Greenleaf, May Marigold, and Fiona Amicitia," Robyn said, pointing to the green-haired woman, the blue-haired woman, and the sheep Faunus respectively. "Yang Xiao Long, welcome to the Happy Huntresses."

AN: And there we go. So, Ruby and Blake's outfits are the same as canon Volume 7, Weiss is wearing her Ice Queendom outfit because I was not about to try to describe what her canon Volume 7 outfit looks like, and Tifa is wearing her Advent Children outfit. And Pyrrha saved Jaune from making a huge mistake with his hair. Yang is also still wearing her Mistral outfit, but without her biker jacket.

So, Team RWBY becomes Team RWBL (Rubble) because Ruby feels like the team fell apart when Yang left. As for Yang, she's joining the Happy Huntresses.

I'm also surprised no one seemed to notice that Ironwood mentioned that someone else besides the Ace Ops, Penny, and Winter was told about Salem, the Maidens, and the Relics.

I want to remind everyone that this story has a Tv Tropes page!

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!