Fights are surprisingly complicated things and that was a fact that not many people truly understood or appreciated but, who could really blame them? Most people if they were to watch a boxing match and then asked questions about what they saw would probably describe it as two people punching and knocking each other down until one couldn't get back up in time. Sure there were exceptions, people who could talk for hours about the footwork on display, the stances, the different kinds of punches and their applications, the mind games, and the multi-layered decisions making process that occurs over the course of a moment. But even those people would almost certainly not have much to say about the steps taken to remove all outside factors in order to ensure a fair fight that would be decided by the skill, psychical condition, and mental state of the fighters.

However this fight was not a boxing match, it wasn't even a street fight. Absolutely no means had been taken to create any sense of fairness and in fact, the opposite seemed to be true, to start with Iris had no knowledge about her opponent who was acting so confident that she had to assume he knew about her. Furthermore, the place they were going to fight in was an enclosed space that severely limited how she could use her Semblance, the final nail in the coffin was that this was happening right after she got out of another fight that she had only won thanks to her taking that tin can by surprise and having what amounted to an off switch in her pocket. Frankly, the only factor that seemed to be in her favor was that the asshole in front of her seemed to be unarmed while she had a knife. But just because she didn't see a weapon didn't mean he didn't have one and even if he was truly unarmed it might not really matter, Huntsmen who fought armed with nearly nothing but their martial arts skills did exist.

Iris was not a knife fighter but she wasn't a novice either. She knew a few grips, stances, thrusts, cuts, various other techniques, and how to apply them but she wasn't really comfortable with any of them. If only I had my bow… She glanced around the room for anything she could use against the guy who was still just standing there but now he was looking at something… a cushion on the floor. Neither said anything but their body language made it clear that they were thinking the same thing, He thinks I'm going to blind him with the cushion but, instead I'm going to change the script. She moved towards the cushion as though she was going to kick it towards his face as a distraction and just as she hoped, he was already moving hands to try and prepare to catch. You complete amateure! Have you forgotten that I have Aura!? She didn't kick the cushion, instead, she empowered her legs and at the last possible moment dashed past the cushion and towards the guy intending on grappling him to the ground and stabbing him over and over and over again.

A famous Huntsman once said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." On paper, her idea was a good one but she had foolishly underestimated her opponent and didn't even consider the possibility that he wanted her to see the cushion, he wanted her to make the first move, he wanted her to get within range and that was exactly what she did.

There were two kicks, the first one was a basic frontal kick but it was delivered with enough speed that she didn't have time to react as it connected with her gut and put an end to her charge. For the second kick, he turned until he was standing sideways, tilted his body back, raised his leg, and delivered a side kick that came out slower than the first kick but the power behind it was on another level, it knocked Iris clean off of her feet and sent her careering. She hit a wall with enough force that permanent spinal injury would have been all but guaranteed had her Aura not held up, the strength of her soul ensuring that the crash wouldn't even leave a bruise on her tan skin. That being said, while Aura could prevent the damage it couldn't block out pain and right now she was in a lot of pain but it was still at a level that she could deal with thanks to the Huntsman training she did complete. It was thanks to that very same training that gave her enough sense of mind to throw her body to the side before that gray-clad wannabe assassin could attempt to impale her through the guts with his goddamn leg, It feels like he's kicking me with steel beams! While falling to the floor she reached out with her hand to catch herself and then briefly activated her Semblance greatly slowing down her descent thus allowing her to regain her footing far faster than it should have been possible and putting her into a situation where she had to quickly make a choice: Make a break for the door or counterattack while his leg was stuck in the wall.

However, the decision was ripped out of her hands as Mercury suddenly leaped off of the wall with the sound of a gunshot and repositioned himself between her and the exit.

Acting on pure instinct she braced herself for his next assault but instead, he just stood there with an arrogant smirk on his face which was pissing her off to no end, "Well? What are you waiting for?" That taunt was more for her sake than any real attempt at goading him into a mistake, much less intimidating a man who clearly had the upper hand. I can't beat him, not without my bow and some distance. She began to mentally map out the quickest path from her current location to the ledge where she had stashed an extra bow, just in case her little trip to the market ended in catastrophic failure. But before I can do that I need to get past him and through that door.

"You do realize that this door is locked right?" He said almost as though he could read her mind. Then in order to both prove his point and get under her skin, he stepped to the side and put his hands in his pockets, "Feel free to try, I promise to not attack you so don't hold back."

She didn't.

He shrugged, "It was worth a shot." He then took one singular step towards her and smiled when she took a step back in response, "So you really are one of the smart ones but, then why are you resisting? You've already figured out that you can't beat me and you know why we want you. So why don't you just drop your Aura and let me knock you out, I can do it fas-!"

"SHUT UP! Just shut up and let me think."

He shrugged, "Go right ahead, we have all the time in the world."

A feeling of dread began crawling up her spine as she began to notice that there was something very wrong going on here but she refused to let him see any sign of fear on her face, "I'm the one with time to spare, you one the other hand will have a lot to explain to the police once the owners of this place call them in fact, they probably already have!" She did her best to sound as confident as possible but the reality was that she was anything but.

"Sorry to break it to you but, this place belongs to an… ally of ours, seriously didn't you think it was strange how that doll was able to just walk out through the front door without issue or how I was in the hallway waiting for you or even how nobody disturbed you while you had a tussle with Penny?" He began walking towards her while his hands remained in his pocket, a move designed to piss her off and it was working. In response Iris dropped into a sprinting position, pumped Aura into her legs, activated her Semblance, and kicked off the ground at tremendous velocity as she glided towards him with all the force and ferocity of a javelin thrown at an enemy warrior but, she never reached him.

To her credit, she got close but Mercury simply was faster and trained far better than she was. His leg shot forward and intercepted the knife before it could reach him, knocking it clean out of her hands and turning her own Semblance against her as she spun out of control in mid-air and allowing him to land a devastating kick right into her stomach but her Aura held. "That was a good try, A+ for effort but a big fat F for execution." He watched as she began to push herself up from the ground and kicked her again sending her into the wall, her Aura flickered as it started to reach its limit. "Why are you making this so hard? If it's about the drugs I can promise you that what we got will make Rage look like a cheap blunt in comparison."

"By the Brothers, why are you still talking?" Iris groaned as she struggled to get up. "What kind of assassin just blabbers on as much as you?" My only chance is pissing him to the point where he'll slip up.

"Well here I thought that you'd enjoy some polite conversation," He suddenly threw a kick into the empty air which would have earned him some well-deserved mockery from her had a bullet not suddenly barreled right into her chest straining her Aura and knocking her right back down onto the floor. "I guess I should apologize for misreading the atmosphere but can you blame a guy for wanting to strike up a conversation with a cute girl?"

She wanted to tell him to fuck off but was too busy gasping for air while trying to figure out what had just happened, Is there a gun in his pants or I am just going crazy? She then thought back to earlier when he kicked himself off of the wall, I heard the sound of a gunshot back then as well but why? Unless there is a gun in his pants but why would anyone put a gun there and why has this asshole only been throwing kicks so far?!

"If it makes you feel any better, Roman not only has no idea that we're doing this but he really was going to keep his promise. He even went out of his way to secure an entire drum barrel full of pure Rage just for you," he nearly smirked when he saw the look of shock, disbelief, and even relief dancing across her face. He wasn't a sadist but her guard had dropped, providing him the perfect opening for him to strike and he was going to take full advantage of it. One bullet to break the Aura and then an Air bullet to knock her out.

"That… actually does make me feel a little better, thank you." She saw the kick coming and she knew that it was something that she could dodge but then what? She couldn't beat him while she was armed so what was she going to do with her bare hands against someone who specializes in unarmed combat? Even if she could reach the door he'd be able to get to her before she opened it, There really is no way out of this… she chose not to dodge. The first bullet hit her right in the gut and shattered her Aura, the second bullet was a powerful blast of air that struck her head and knocked her out cold.

Mercury caught her as she fell and gently lowered her to the floor, he then checked her unconscious body for any injuries that needed immediate treatment. When he found none he then checked inside her purse and underneath her clothes for any devices that could be used to track her, she had nothing other than her scroll. Satisfied with his work he then walked to the couch, sat down, and used his own scroll to call the retrieval team, when that was done he got off of the couch and walked up to the karaoke machine. "Let's see… oh this is a good one," he hit play and cleared his throat to sing along, Too bad Emerald isn't here, it would have been fun to see who was the worst singer out of the two of us.

Arthur Watts was not a man normally prone to outbursts of either jubilation or frustration as neither were very conducive to a scientific mindset however, right now in his personal laboratory he was faced with the powerful urge to do both and to somehow do them at the exact same time. The jubilation part was easy to understand as the mission had been a massive success in every meaning of the word since it resulted in access to a treasure trove of data that would most certainly play a key role in pushing the Grimmification project past the current hurdle. Even the information that had nothing to do with the project would prove valuable in progressing his mistress' agenda and that was something that could only ever end well for him.

So where did the frustration come from? Well for starters the only reason why the mission was able to be completed was thanks to Ms. Sustrai's Semblances creating the opportunity that his newly acquired test subject needed to succeed and Ms. Sustrai was one of Cinder's henchmen. Even was that she had been someone personally scouted and recruited by Cinder which now meant that he owed a favor to one of his least favorite people in all of Remnant… and it somehow gets worse. Seeing the world through the eyes of Penny Polendina allowed him to appreciate what a wondrous piece of technology she really was and having access to her memories only confirmed one of his worst fears of all time; The great Arthur Watts had been surpassed as a roboticist. Even worse was that he had been beaten by an overly emotional cripple with a strange obsession with fatherhood by the name of Pietro Polendia! And yet, that incredible fool had somehow managed to create something that Watts despite his brilliance and funding could not and did not think was even possible: Pietro created a Soul.

"You may have beaten me in robotics but that is all you have accomplished! The field of evolutionary biology is where I'll make my mark upon the world... but first I'll have to erase my tracks." Watts began typing furiously on his computer, first, he would have to edit Penny's memory of the day, I don't have time to create false entries so instead, I'll delete everything involving Ms. Marillia and create an error log to explain away the gaps in her memory banks. When that was done he then made sure that the data transfer was complete and everything had saved properly on his main drive and backup systems, No issues here which means that there is only one thing left to do and that is returning control back to Penny by deleting my program... He was hesitating and Watts was not the sort of man who would have hesitated under any circumstances but this time was different. For starters, it was not some sort of misguided purely emotional, and utterly childish mindset that was keeping from pressing the button to launch the process. No, it was intellectualism and the tantalizing possibility of finally solving humanity's most indecipherable riddle that was holding back his hand.

The Soul was an indisputable fact and yet so much of it was a mystery: It was widely known that Aura was the Soul manifested into the material world but what did that actually mean? How does it actually work? What about Semblances? How do they function? Why did so many of them seem to be a statement on how their users handled life's obstacles? What does it mean when Aura breaks? Why is the easiest and best way to unlock Aura was to have someone do it for you? And those were just the basic questions, more advanced inquiries involved the true nature of Grimm who lacked souls not to mention that answer could theoretically help push the Grimmification project forward to greater heights.

"I'll be taking a big risk but perhaps, yes, if I strip the program down to its bare bones and alter a few lines of code then it won't be detected by most diagnosis systems." He sat back down in front of the computer and began furiously typing, She'll arrive back in Beacon soon and after that, it's just a matter of time before she'll notice something is wrong, I'll have to be quick and delete the most intrusive aspects of my programming. He got to work and in the time span of only a few minutes he was done, the parts of his program that had allowed him to take control of Penny's body were gone leaving only the ability to passively observe. It was an incredible step-down but it would still allow him to gather information even if it meant that he would have to continue to rely on Cinder and Professor Peach to act on his behalf, sure it was a less than an ideal arrangement but in his opinion if all you can work with is the ideal than you were a two-bit hack and your project was doomed from the outset.

Once he was done he checked the time on his scroll, made a few notes, then got up from his seat to walk over to a coffee maker that he had built himself and began preparing a cup. He had a lot of reading and analyzing to do and wasn't planning on sleeping anytime soon besides, even if he wanted to there was no way he could possibly relax with all that knowledge sitting there waiting to be studied, understood, and applied.

Penny didn't remember much about the early days following her creation, she had asked her father why that was the case and while he didn't know for sure he did theorize that it was a problem of hardware. Specifically, it was that the hardware they had available at the time was ill-prepared for the strain that came with containing a Soul and thus wouldn't always properly record which created large gaps in her memory banks. Fortunately, she never forgot anything that was actually important, and even better was that her father was more than smart enough to figure out how to optimize the hardware to better handle her. That being said there were still some issues every now and then but, this time felt different...

In the past, there were always warnings, little errors that would occur just before the recording software would crash, and investigating those errors helped her father pinpoint what had gone wrong. However this time there was no warning, I was standing in front of the Petshop, I asked the guards if we could spend some time inside, and then… I was on the Bullhead being flown back to Beacon. Even stranger were the shopping bags in her hands and receipts in her wallet, proof that she had indeed visited the stores and made the purchases that she had intended to do but no memory of those actions existed. Suggestion: Make Error Log and Run Internal Diagnosis... I can't be active during a truly in-depth scan and hiding away in my room would worry everyone before I knew if anything is even wrong. I'll do a shallow scan now and a deeper one later, I should also attempt a memory restore afterward. For some reason that she couldn't understand much less explain, that last thought made her feel uncomfortable as though something inside of her was trying to warn her about those lost memories. As though she was trying to uncover something that should be forgotten as the alternative was just pain that could have otherwise been avoided.

"Are you okay Ms. Poledina?" asked the red guard.

Penny was surprised but it wasn't because of his presence, thanks to her sensors she knew that the two guards were still close by. What had actually caught her off guard was the fact that he was asking her at all, she wasn't aware that she had been doing anything that would warrant concern, "Y-yes *hic* Why would you ask?"

"Well you've been acting… um." He was was nervous, as though he was afraid about how she would react to his words.

"I won't get upset."

He looked at his partner who gave him a nod before continuing, "Well after the pet shop you started acting differently-"

That uncomfortable feeling she had begun to grow, I've never acted differently before or at least no one ever told me that I did and I can't think of a reason why they would hide something like that.

"-you suddenly weren't interested in seeing the fish. Suddenly the only thing that mattered was getting your shopping done."

The blue guard then added, "I thought that maybe you remembered something that you had to do back at Beacon but then you kept shopping around. At first, I thought that you just wanted to find the best deal possible which made sense but then, you just kept going and going and going long after anyone else would have been satisfied."

"Yeah, I'll admit that it was very impressive at first especially whenever you started to haggle prices, it was like you've been doing it for years but at the same time, it was also a little... N-never mind, it's not at all important." That last part was a blatant lie and everyone knew it.

Penny felt the discomfort grow even stronger as though it was trying to warn her trying to tell her that she needed to drop the subject and move on with her life before it was too late, I need to know. "You can tell me, I promise that you won't get in trouble no matter what it is."

"It… felt like you were purposely trying to waste our time."

She couldn't believe it, she simply could not believe what she had just heard, That doesn't sound like me at all. While she wouldn't deny that she was easily distracted by everything that life had to offer which often had the negative outcome of her retainers having to waste time keeping up with her, she would never purposely waste someone's time just for the sake of wasting their time. I have access to the records of my past blackouts but none that suggests that I've ever acted differently during past memory blackouts, though maybe they did happen but were deemed unnoteworthy. However, that didn't make any sense. A change in behavior no matter how small would be recorded and studied unless… dad kept them secret. Note to Self: Ask dad about my Behavior during previous errors. The odds of that being true was zero and she knew it, if there was any change in her behavior then it would have been recorded and thoroughly analyzed repeatedly until it was fully understood. But, hope could sometimes make even the most logical of people act a little irrationally and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, if a little irrationally was what helped a person make it through a trial then who has the right to call it wrong?

"Miss?" The red guard was now extending a hand towards the bags she was carrying, "I'm not an expert in these sorts of things but the least I can do is deliver the bags for you."

"Yeah, hanging out with my friends always helps me destress, it would probably help you as well. Let us handle this so you can go straight to your friends," added the blue guard.

She gave her two new friends a look of pure gratitude before happily handing the bags over to them and running inside, "Thank you! Thank you all so much!" One sincere act of kindness was not nearly enough to get rid of that uneasy feeling, it wasn't even enough to reduce it by any amount for any time. But it was still truly appreciated all the same and Penny hoped that it would be a sign of things to come.

Once inside the academy, her first thought was to seek out her friends, According to their class schedules they should be available at dinner… which put a major damper on her plans. However there was a chance albeit a rather small one that one of them didn't go to class, But then where would they go? The first step to answering that question was to determine who was the most likely not to be in class right now and that led to more issues as her friends were all good students who wouldn't skip class without a good reason. What would count as a good reason? None of them have shown any signs of illness so a sick day is the least likely answer to be true… maybe-!

Penny was so busy trying to calculate where she ought to go search that she never noticed Ruby walking towards her, "Hey Penny! What are you doing out here?"

"Friend Ruby?! This is quite fortunate! I wanted someone to talk to because… because…"

"What's wrong?"

"No! T-there is nothing wrong *Hic* I just wanted to talk to you, that's all. *Hic*" That uneasy feeling was growing again, Running Diagnosis...

"Penny, why are you fidgeting?"

For a moment there was a look of shock in the poor girl's eyes, she hadn't realized what she was doing, what her body was doing without her knowledge or consent, and that uneasy feeling deepened. Diagnosis at 30% no problems detected so far… "I- am sorry I wasn't aware of that." Penny started to become aware of the occasional glances that were being thrown her way by students walking past, she wanted them to stop.

Ruby was quick to notice her increasing discomfort and reached out with a helping hand, "Would you like to go somewhere private?"

"Yes, please."

"The rest of my team is still in the middle of Professor Mulberry's exam so our dorm room is empty. Is that good for you?"

Penny answered without any hesitation, "That would be great." Diagnosis at 50% no problems detected so far…

Together they began to make their way over to the dorms and after a minute or so Ruby broke the silence, "Is there anything you'd like to eat? I'm not as good as Yang when it comes to baking but I can make a mean omelet."

"Thank you for the offer friend Ruby but I don't require sustenance, though my father is interested in creating a digestive system for me to be able to enjoy food." Diagnosis at 65% no problems detected so far… "He already has some plans drawn up but is having difficulty convincing the council to agree, apparently they don't feel that me being able to properly the human condition is necessary to my job." Penny had intended to simply state the situation but there was a noticeable undercurrent of bitterness in her voice even though that wasn't her intention.

"Isn't Ironwood a member of the council? He could help your father."

For a second Penny didn't say anything and when she did speak her tone was noticeably lower, "He wants to help but the others have understandable reservations, bringing me to Vale and having me participate in the Vytal Festival is supposed to be a trial run." A trial run that I may have failed today… Diagnosis at 75% no problems detected so far...

Ruby had no problem admitting that she was not an expert on reading people much less handling them, up to now she had just been emulating her sister. However, even someone as socially inept as her could tell that this was not a topic that she should push, at least not now but she did make a mental note to ask about it later should the chance come. "By the way, how come I haven't seen the rest of your team?"

It was an obvious attempt to change the subject but it wasn't an unwelcome one, "They are still in Atlas but they should be arriving with the other students sometime next week."

"Isn't kinda weird how everyone just doesn't come together? Like how were Sun and Neptune allowed to just leave the other half of their team behind?"

"Oh, that's easy! Teaching students how to plan and arrange their own transportation is a major part of the process of turning trainees like you into proper and fully independent Huntsmen! Over time you will be expected to handle more and more of your traveling and housing arrangements until you're managing everything." Diagnosis at 85% no problems detected so far… How much further to the dorm? A quick calculation revealed that they were almost there, How is this possible? Analyzing situation…. Possible Solution: You were distracted... Diagnosis at 90% no problems detected so far…

"Here we are!" Ruby opened the door and held it open for her friend who gratefully entered before she followed in afterward closing the door in the process, "Just make yourself comfortable and don't be afraid to ask me for anything."

Penny sat down on the closest bed and for a couple of seconds didn't say anything, Diagnosis at 95% no problems detected so far... "Friend Ruby?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever had a really bad feeling even though there wasn't an obvious reason to feel that way?"

"That's an odd question."

"Really?! I'm sorry if I'm bothering you."

Ruby waved her off, "You're not bothering me at all. It's just weird hearing someone ask about something that everyone has experienced before."

"So it's just part of human experience?" Diagnosis Complete no problems detected. Suggestion: Perform a Full Scan. That would take too long. Suggestion: Wait till night to perform the Scan. Until then inquire with Ruby about the feeling and spend time with friends. "How do you deal with it?"

Ruby thought about it for a few seconds before answering, "We just sort of learn to live with it." She quickly realized just how vague and unhelpful her answer was so she decided to expand on it. "My dad once told me that the feeling I think you're describing was usually the mind making connections that might not actually exist and jumping to conclusions."

"So it's nothing and therefore we should just ignore the feeling?" A not-so-small part of her was hoping that Ruby would say yes but then her friend shook her head.

"I asked my dad the same thing and he told me that we shouldn't dwell on it but we shouldn't dismiss it outright. We should keep it in mind and look a little deeper especially if things aren't adding up but that we shouldn't obsess over it."

"Your dad is a Huntsman, correct?"

"Everyone in my family is a Huntsmen, Yang and I grew up in a community filled with retired Huntsmen. I love almost everything about this and I honestly cannot imaging myself doing anything other than following in their footsteps."

"Do… Do you ever doubt yourself?"

"All the time."

Penny was taken aback by how quickly Ruby answered but more importantly, she was impressed by how self-assured the young Huntress managed to sound even as she confessed to having self-doubts. It was strangely encouraging, Why am I keeping this to myself? She already knows that something is bothering me, perhaps she can provide some kind of insight. "Ruby, I'm about to tell you something that is going to sound very strange but I promise you that it is all true." There was a pause and during that pause, Ruby moved closer until she was close enough that Penny could whisper what she wanted to say. It was a small gesture that the young Huntress had learned from her older sister Yang who would use it to create a feeling of intimacy and secrecy, it made Penny feel safe like whatever was spoken here would stay here.

"Early today I went to the market square accompanied by a couple of guards…" Penny told her friend everything that she could remember about the trip including what the guards had told her afterward. She even went as far as including the scan that she had just completed as well as her plans to do another later.

"So what can I do to help?" asked Ruby without any hesitation.

"Right now the best you can do is keep track of my behavior, let me know if you notice any irregularities no matter how small. Also…-" Penny nervously began to play with her hair, "-I would really appreciate it if you could keep an eye on me if I were to ever act… strangely again."

It was at this moment that the door to the dorm opened up, Yang walked in, immediately spotted the pair, and took notice of how closely the two were sitting together on the bed, "Oh, I'm sorry! I'll come back later." She was in the process of closing the door when Ruby called out to her in a desperate attempt to explain the situation away.

"It's not what it seems!"

Yang stopped and looked right at her litter sister, "Really? Because right now it looks like the two of you were in the middle of a very serious and private discussion"

"You're wrong! We were just in the middle of a serious and… wait… huh!?" It took the young lady a few seconds to process what her sister had just said. "Th- that's exactly what was going on… how did you guess that?"

"Do you really expect me to believe for even a second that you swept Penny off of her feet and brought her to Our dorm in order to get to third base? Hell no, the only possible explanation is that you two were having a serious conversation and that reason you're so close to each other is because you are copying me in order to make Penny feel safer."

"It is a rather effective maneuver, I appreciate you showing it to her," admitted Penny.

"You're welcome and I'm happy to see that my sister is able to help you," Yang then stepped out into the hallway and was about to close the door when she paused. "Oh! And before I forget, I have a rather important announcement to make at dinner so please show up on time at the usual spot, it's about the White Fang." She was then about to close the door when she added, "And don't worry about Weiss or Blake waltzing in and ruining your alone time, I'll keep them out so go ahead and work whatever this is out."

Finally, Yang was gone and the door closed leaving Penny and Ruby once again alone but at the same time not quite sure how to pick up from where they left off. Eventually, Penny broke the silence, "You can tell her if you want."

"Huh?"

"The things we talked about here, I'm alright with you telling Yang about it."

Ruby gently shook her head, "I'm sorry but I don't think that I should. What you've told me is very personal and I am afraid that I'll say it wrong or say something that you'd rather keep a secret for now. I'm happy that you want others to know but I think you ought to be the one to tell them."

"I suppose you're right, no, you definitely are right. No offense to Yang but I don't know her as well as I do you or Jaune… hopefully, that will change. The friends I've made here are the first friends I've ever made on my own, I want this to last."

Ruby smiled and placed a hand on Penny's shoulder "Trust me, you are going to have plenty of chances and not just with Yang but with Weiss, Blake, Nora, Ren, and everyone else as well! You'll see, we are all going to remain friends even after the Vytal Festival and beyond!"

Logically Ruby's statement was absurd, it was already difficult to calculate all the possibilities that could come to pass within the next few seconds, and that only became harder the further into the future you tried to predict. Trying to calculate the possibilities of the Vytal Festival had many factors which grew exponentially when taking into account the months separating now and then which ultimately rendered any attempt doomed from the outset. Needless to say that Ruby's prediction that they would all remain friends even years down the line was objectively naive and statistically incorrect.

And yet Penny wanted to believe that she was right.

There was an odd nervous silence hanging over the group as they gathered in the cafeteria for dinner. The nervousness only grew when everyone except for a singular exception had arrived, the nervousness reached a climax when they realized that the missing person was the one who requested that they all gather in the first place; Yang Xiao Long. Now it must be understood that no one was worried about the brawler's safety, she was a powerful fighter, was intelligent, had great people skills, possessed common sense, and currently dwelled in an academy fortress filled with people who were more than a match for any would-be ne're do well. What was actually making them nervous was the unknown nature of the announcement, all they knew was that it had something to do with the White Fang and that did little to narrow things down.

"Did something happen recently?" Asked Nora when she could no longer stand the silence.

Neptune shook his head, "Nothing but unsubstantiated rumors."

"Patients dying isn't unsubstantiated," Blake retorted.

"Dying!? What do you mean?"Jaune asked while looking towards his team for clarification.

Blake was more than happy to answer, "Remember the video that White Fang released?" It was a rhetorical question as there was no way anyway could have forgotten that "Remember how there were Faunus patients suffering from Rage in that video?"

"Oh no."

"Recently someone appeared online claiming to be a nurse at the hospital and they began to spread around the idea that those people were dying. Naturally, the hospital tried to deny it but then the morgue came clean."

Sun then interceded, "There has only been one confirmed death and it was a man who was already in critical condition! There is no reason to assume the worst."

"Except that he was a member of the White Fang!" Blake shot back earning a look of shock from all present, "Tuskon was a member of the White Fang just like I was."

"But then why would they hand over one of their own to the authorities? Was his condition so bad that they had no choice but to hope they wouldn't realize who he was?" Asked Weiss who wasn't challenging her friend but rather seeking to better understand the situation.

"I don't know!" Blake answered exasperatedly, "He was working undercover as a bookstore owner so they could have…," She recalled a conversation from back when she was in the White Fang, Tuskon seemed pretty upset about the last mission, heard him say that he was going to try to get out of combat duty." A gasp escaped from her lips as a terrible thought came into her mind.

"Did you remember something?" Asked Pyrrha.

Blake leaned in close prompting everyone to do the same, "I didn't know Tuskon very well but I heard rumors that he was being overwhelmed by stress, the bookstore was supposed to allow him to recover while still contributing to the cause but in hindsight, it could have been a test of loyalty."

"And I'm guessing he failed that test." spoke a new voice that was a little flirty and dripping in confidence. Together they all looked to see who had spoken and they found standing right behind them was a brown-haired statuesque woman wearing the Beacon Academy uniform and a fashionable pair of sunglasses that covered her eyes. The woman Coco Adel, a 2nd-year student, the leader of team CFVY, and standing right next to her was Yang.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting but I wanted to hash out a few things with Coco's team first before saying anything." Yang then stepped forward and waited till everyone's attention was firmly on her. "Coco and I spoke and we decided that for our date that we should volunteer at the homeless shelter! So-"

"THAT'S IT!?" Nora shouted as she threw her hands into the air as everyone else agreed with her.

Even Ruby made no effort to defend her older sister, "Really Yang!? You told me a Penny that this was going to be about the White Fang, what does your date have anything to do with this?"

Yang rubbed her forehead out of frustration before reaching into her pocket and handing Coco some Lien before addressing everyone's concern, "Remember what Velvet told us? She told us that there were members from the White Fang trying to talk to people there, inviting them to a recruitment drive. We are going to be volunteering at that same shelter and this meeting is to decide who is coming with us."

"Obviously it's going to me and Blake," Stated Sun.

"Neither you should go," replied Ren who then explained the problem. "There is a small but real chance that someone from Blake's past could be there so she's out. As for you, remember the raid we participated in? It was televised which means that there is a far bigger chance that you'd be recognized as someone who has worked with the police. "

"That's a good point…"

Neptune took a quick look at everyone at the table and made a mental checklist, "The only one among us who can go inside or anywhere near the shelter is Ruby."

Penny then raised her hand, "I understand why Blake and Weiss were excluded but how come I was as well? I was not present during the Raid so my face would not have been on tv and neither am I a former White Fang agent or a Heiress for an exploitative company."

"True but you have been seen walking around Vale accompanied by Atlas guards. If anyone there happened to have seen you then they'll probably assume that Atlas is somehow getting involved."

"Excellent point."

"Well then it's a good thing I'm here," spoke Coco becoming the center of attention once again. "I already talked to the rest of my team and they were more than happy to take your place."

Yang excitedly stepped forward, "Trust us guys, Velvet is a great actress, Fox and Yastsuhasi have semblances that are perfect for information gathering, and when we're done we'll have Blake double-check everything we find."

Blake gave a small smile, "I'll do my best but I'm not sure how much help I'll really be, they never told me what the plan for Vale was."

"And what am I going to do?" Ruby asked.

Yang smiled, "You'll be volunteering with us!"

"And the rest of us?" Asked Jaune.

"That is why I wanted to call this meeting in the first place, we're scheduled to arrive tomorrow bright and early and this is probably going to take the whole day so we need a plan today."

Authors Notes: Honestly, I'm not too happy with how this chapter turned out but at the end of the day I was able to cover what I wanted to, get where I needed to go, and plant some seeds that will come into fruition later. But more importantly, we are getting very close to the big mech fight of vol 2 and I'm going to say it right now; There will be no Mech fight in this fic and that includes the on in vol 6. I have nothing against the Mechs but this is supposed to be a horror story and I have something far gorier in mind. I don't plan on killing any major character that didn't die in canon but, that doesn't mean I can't give them a rough time.

Either way, say goodbye to Iris because she isn't going to appear again for a long time.

Finally, the quote about getting punched in the face originated from an interview with the Boxer Mike Tyson who was talking about his upcoming fight with Holyfield... a fight that Tyson hilariously lost!