Chapter 14

Grimm Studies

Weiss was bored. Undeniably bored. Port was blabbing gibberish and her patience was wearing thin. After this, Ruby was planning on investigating some plot against the kingdom, and granted, she was hesitant, but now she just wanted the bell to ring already.

But to her right, Jaune scooched over to her, much to her disdain for his less than desirable attempts to hit on her and the fact that he didn't know about Team RWBY's plans. "So Weiss, you know, I was thinking that after this, maybe we could go grab a bite to eat?"

When she said nothing, he didn't stop. "And uh, you know I-I've got a couple tickets to that new movie if you want to make the trip to Vale."

"And… then maybe after that we could study together? Because you know, I'm smart and I'm… you know…" Jaune continued, before the bell rang, causing Port to stop speaking.

"…and then I- Oh, uh, timed that one wrong. Well, the stunning conclusion to the story will have to wait until next time. Class dismissed."

"Weiss? Did you hear me?" Jaune asked the heiress one last time, unsure if she heard him due to her silence.

"No, no, no, yes." Weiss coldly answered as she turned to leave with the other students, leading Jaune to groan with his face down on his desk.

"Better luck next time." Yang patted him on the back as she passed the poor boy.
Team RWBY's Dorm

Both Teams RWBY and JKHL are seen preparing for their upcoming operation.

"Alright guys, today's the day. The investigation BEGINS!" Ruby squealed with excitement.

"I'm glad to see that we're taking this so seriously." Blake noted.

"Hey, we've got a plan! That's… moderately serious!" Yang said.

"Alright, everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked the group.

"Ruby, Johnny, Hanzo and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as how I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." Weiss said.

"The White Fang holds regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If Kuai Liang, Liu Kang and I can get in, we can anticipate their next move." Blake said to them.

"I thought Liu Kang was going with me?" Yang asked

"Actually I volunteered to go with you." Smoke said walking into the room

"Tomas?" Ruby asked surprise

Weiss looked at Sub Zero "You told him?"

"We're like brothers. We tell each other everything." Smoke said

"If you know that means…" Blake said but didn't finish

"Kuai Liang made me swear to secrecy not to tell my team. Plus I think this would be a fun experience." Smoke said

"Ooookay." Ruby said

Yang then spoke up. "Okay, I have a friend downtown who knows everything going on in Vale. Getting info out of him shouldn't be a problem. So Tomas, you're with me."

"Aye, aye."

"Great! We'll meet up tonight to go over what we've found. Let's do this!" Ruby said.
Vale

Ruby, Weiss, Johnny and Scorpion walked through a massive park and gazed in front of them at the towering building that was Vale's CCT. The area was littered with hundreds of students, each dressed in Beacon uniforms, each talking amongst each other or flocking in and out of the tower.

"Wow, I forgot how large the CCT building was!" Ruby said not able to hold her excitement

"If I remember correctly, Atlas's tower was the first?" Scorpion asked Weiss.

"Correct. Atlas was the first to develop long-distance instant communication, and shared it with the rest of Remnant. Their gift to the world after the Great War." Weiss answered him.

"Look at me, I'm Weiss and I know facts. I'm also rich." Ruby said failing to impersonate Weiss which caused Johnny to laugh.

"Stop mocking me. Besides, you're the one who wanted us to see the tower when we could have just phoned the library." Weiss said

"I know, it's just so cool! Hold on let me take a picture." Ruby brought out her Scroll but it slipped from her hand landing by someone's feet.

Picking up her scroll, she took a good look at the figure and instantly recognized her.

"P-Penny?"

Penny jumped up in surprise to hear someone say her name, and turned to see Ruby. She remembered Ironwood's words to stay away from anyone, and she began to panic inwardly.

"I-I'm sorry. *hic* I-I think you're m-mistaken." Penny stuttered.

"Huh? Come on Penny, what happened to at the docks? One minute you were with us the next you disappeared. Ruby pressed her

Just then Penny began walking away from the group at a fast pace. Seeing this Ruby started chasing after her.

"Hey, Ruby what are you doing?!" Weiss yelled but Ruby didn't turn around

"I'll go after her." Johnny said as he began chasing after Ruby

Signing Weiss turned to Scorpion "Guess it's just me and you. Let's get this over with."

The two of them walked into the building and took in the impressive architecture. The interior was in a very similar style to the Academy, with large wooden doors headed by tall paned glass providing a skylight that illuminated the tower's interior with warm sunlight.

They walked into the elevator, and a female voice spoke from the speaker. "Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?"

"We would like to go to the communications room please." Weiss said

"Absolutely. Would you please place your scrolls on the terminal to verify your identities?"

Weiss and Scorpion both took out their scrolls and held them in front of the terminal, with a short beep confirming their verifications.

"Perfect. Thank you, Ms. Schnee. Mr. Hasashi." The receptionist kindly said before the elevator began to ascend slowly.

The two of them exited the elevator and entered the communications room, a large space occupied by sets of monitors and seats, with students video-calling friends and family. They walked up to the counter, where a hologram of the receptionist waited and greeted them. "Welcome to the Beacon Cross-Continental Transmit Center. How may I help you?"

Weiss spoke up. "I need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas."

"Perfect! Ms. Schnee, if you could head over to Terminal 3, I'll patch you through."

Walking to the terminal, Weiss sat down with Scorpion behind her with his arms fold. Weiss took a deep breath, but sighed.

The monitor sparked to life and Weiss was greeted with the face of a receptionist with the Schnee snowflake symbol in the background. "Thank you for calling the Atlas- Oh… Ms. Schnee! Good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well."

"No thank you, I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I made a short list." Weiss held up her scroll and plugged it into the terminal, sending data to the receptionist's monitor.

"I see… If you don't mind… What may I ask is this for?" The receptionist asked her, rather skeptical.

"Err…School project." Weiss said, not willing to raise suspicion.

"Um, there are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am." The woman said to her with a cocked brow.

"Well, then I'll be sure to treat them with care!" Weiss reassuringly replied.

"Right… Very well. The data is being transferred to your scroll now." She said while typing on her monitor, with a beeping noise on Weiss's scroll confirming the transfer.

"Wonderful. That will be all then." Weiss said.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Weiss said, her voice faltering before ending the feed.

"Is there a reason you do not wish to speak with your family?" Scorpion asked

"It's complicated, plus I wouldn't want to bore you." Weiss said

"We still have enough time till we meet up with the others. You can tell me on our way out." Scorpion suggested

Slightly shocked by this side of Scorpion, she finally spoke "So, where do I start…"

Elsewhere

Finally catching up to Ruby, Johnny sees her talking to Penny.

"So why did you leave?" Ruby asked as Johnny got closer

"I didn't want to leave, but my father is a little overprotective of me." Penny said

"Believe me, I know that feeling." Ruby said, remembering her dad's first reaction to Crescent Rose.

"But still! Why not let us know?" Ruby asked.

"I was asked… not to talk to you…or Weiss… or Blake… or Yang. Anybody really." Penny said

"Your father worries that much?" Ruby asked Penny.

"No, it wasn't my father…"

But just then, they heard a loud voice play over a loudspeaker. The four of them turned a corner and noticed a hologram of none other than General Ironwood speaking in front of a large crowd.

"The AK130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years. And they have done a fine job, wouldn't you agree?" The general said, with rows of robots standing in line.

"But the Kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation. And fine, well that's just not good enough, is it? Presenting… the Atlesian Knight 200!" Ironwood announced, cueing new robots to appear behind the AK130s. These robots were white and black as opposed to the chrome and blue. They were also sleeker more humanlike than the bulky machines.

"Smarter, sleeker and admittedly, a little less scary. These models will be active later this year, but they won't be alone. Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that undoubtedly require... a human touch."

"So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company are proud to introduce… the Atlesian Paladin!" The general proclaimed, revealing a giant hologram of a huge mech suit.

"Now, we couldn't have them here for you today, but I can assure you, these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending our borders within the year!"

Ruby, was drooling at the glorious sight of the Paladin, with her "weapon nerd" mode taking control. But Penny was on edge. "Ruby? I think we should be going."

Two soldiers at the square caught sight of Penny and began running towards the three of them. Penny ran off, much to Ruby's confusion. "Penny?"

Ruby then looked ahead of them to see the soldiers catching up. "C'mon!" Ruby said, causing her and Johnny to run as well.

The three of them ran down an alley, and then they crossed a small street. The soldiers followed, only for a car to brake right in front of them, stalling them momentarily. Johnny looked ahead to see a scaffolding supporting a bunch of crates. Johnny sent a green energy blast at one of the legs, bringing down the structure and blocking the way.

Ruby then realized the soldiers wouldn't give up so easily. "Grab on to me!" She called out to her friends, causing Johnny and Penny to grab onto her. Ruby then summoned her Semblance, bursting forward with lightning fast speed but buckled at Penny's weight. Ruby was able to keep her energy in check for a while, before she began to slump over, completely drained from over-exertion of her Aura.

She crashed on the ground, rolling onto the street. As she got up, she heard the sound of a truck's horn behind her, but it was too late for her to move out of the way. However, Penny pushed her away and held out her arms, somehow stopping the vehicle in its tracks with her hands, the force of the impact driving her feet into the asphalt.

"Are you okay?" Penny asked the driver, who hesitantly nodded from the shock of what had just happened.

"P-penny?..." Ruby asked with wide eyes in disbelief.

"I…" Penny stammered, before running off.

Not too long Ruby and Johnny caught up to Penny.

"Penny! Please! What is going on?! Why are you running?! How did you do that?!" Ruby asked hastily.

"I-I can't! Everything's fine, okay? (hic) I-I don't want to talk about it! (hic)" Penny said, obviously panicking.

"Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!" Ruby insisted.

"You're my friend, right? You promise?!" Penny asked Ruby.

"Of course! I promise!" Ruby said.

"Ruby…" Penny began, revealing her palms.

"I'm… not a real girl." Penny's hands were open, revealing metallic alloy under her ripped skin.

Ruby stared in disbelief, only able to mutter, "Oh…"

With Weiss

Walking out of the CCT building, Weiss has just finished explaining to Hanzo about her family issues, also letting him know how she got her scar.

"So, what's your input?" Weiss asked Scorpion once she was done talking

"Your family is quite complicated, but from what you said, your relationship with your sister is far better than the rest and if you ask me, I say you should speak with your sister more, cherish the moments you have with her. As for your father, I think there is more to him, still I have never met him or the rest of your family but I believe you joining Beacon is the right choice." Scorpion monotoned

"Hmm, if I didn't know better I would say you've had a similar experience." Weiss noted

"My clan, the Shirai Ryu is a clan of Ninja's. My father was our leader." Scorpion said

"Wow. What happened?" Weiss asked

"When I was younger, it was always my dream to join our clan and help my father. But my he had forbidden me from joining our clan. Saying the way of a Ninja was filled with guilt and he didn't want his son to bear such a burden."

"Against my father's judgment, I trained secretly and participated in our clans tournament to recruit new ninjas. Imagine my father's anger when he found out I had not only disobeyed him but won the tournament as well. For sometime he refused to speak to me, but as time grew on he finally accepted me as a Ninja." Scorpion said

"That's amazing!" Weiss said impressed by Scorpion's determination

"I also had a younger brother who was very close to me. Though we argued a lot, we got along well. He was a wolf Faunus similar to my mother with me just retaining some Faunus senses." Scorpion said remembering his family

"That would explain why Blake gets along with you well." Weiss said before she noticed something "You said had? Does that mean-"

"My family and clan are dead, I am all that remains of the Shirai Ryu. I do not need your pity, I already have enough of my team and Blake." Scorpion said

"Still, I'm sorry for your lose." Weiss said feeling guilty for bringing up the past

"You don't need to apologize. Besides I want you to strengthen your bond with your sister, if possible try reconciling with your family. It won't be easy mind you, but it's worth a shot. Life is too short and you can't tell when you'll lose them." Scorpion said

Taking in his words she finally spoke "Thanks for the advise Hanzo."

"You're welcome."

"Eh, Hanzo do you by any chance…Nevermind." Weiss stuttered

Raising a brow at what she wanted to ask he just ignored it and kept walking.

With Ruby

Penny, I-I don't understand…"

"Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the first synthetic person capable of generating an aura." Penny said to her confused friend, but had a sullen look on her face.

"I'm not real…"

Penny lowered her head in sadness, but Ruby gently took hold of her hands and said, "Of course you are."

"You think that just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?"

Penny raised her brow. "I, um… You're taking this… extraordinarily well."

"You too." She said to Johnny

"Hanzo kinda briefed me. He has this kinda force sensing ability." Johnny said

"Wow!" Both girl gasped

Ignoring their shock Johnny stepped forward. "Penny, those machines we saw at the square are nothing like you are."

"Yeah, he's right. You've got a heart and a soul, I can feel it!" Ruby continued, placing a hand over her chest, where it felt slightly warmer than the coldness of metal.

"Oh, Ruby! You're the best friend anyone could have!" Penny said, her voice breaking as she hugged Ruby tightly.

"Hey, what about me." Johnny whined

"You too." Penny said pulling him into a hug as well

"So, your father built you all by himself?" Ruby asked.

"Well, almost. He had some assistance from Mr. Ironwood!" Penny said.

Johnny raised his hand. "Wait… General Ironwood? Is that why those soldiers were chasing us?"

"Oh, they love to protect me too!" Penny answered him.

"They don't think you can protect yourself?" Ruby asked her.

"Well… they don't think I'm ready yet. One day, it'll be my job to save the world. But I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the tournament." Penny said.

However, Ruby was confused by her words. "P-Penny, what are you talking about? Save the world from what? We're in a time of peace."

"That's… not what Mr. Ironwood said…" Penny awkwardly answered her.

But then, the group heard a voice call out from down the alley. "Check down here!"

Penny's eyes's widened and she grabbed Ruby and Johnny by their shoulders suspending them in the air. "Ruby, you and Johnny have to hide. I don't want to get you two in trouble." She said as she dropped then in the nearest trash. Closing it before they could protest, she turned towards the soldiers.

"Salutations, officers!" Penny said to the soldiers.

"Why were you running? And where are those other people with you?" The soldier sternly asked Penny.

"What are you talking about? I was by myself" Penny said to them, hoping they would buy it.

"Well, you shouldn't create such a scene, Penny! Were you hurt?" One soldier asked.

"Just a scratch. I can get it fixed right away." Penny held out her palms for the soldier to see.

"Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this. Please, come with us." The soldier told her.

Just as they left Johnny and Ruby got out of the Waste Bin.

Downtown Vale

Yang parked her bike on the side of the road, and stared at the large doors to Junior's club. She took off her yellow helmet, letting her long hair free and hopped off the bike.

"C'mon! He's just in here!"

Smoke did the same and gazed at the place. "Hmm…what is this place?"

Inside the club, Junior was washing some shot glasses behind the bar. But then he heard some of his men screaming and rushing in from the door, hurriedly closing it.

"What're you two idiots doing?!"

The men were yelling, trying to warn him, until the door burst from its hinges in a fiery blast, and walking from the smoke were none other than Yang with Smoke behind her.

"Guess who's back!" Yang said, only to have every bouncer draw their guns in their faces, however, they weren't fazed.

"Is this your idea of friends?" Smoke asked

The music then began to stall, and Yang glared at the DJ. Junior signaled for him to kill the music

Yang walked up to confront them, calling out to his men. Last time a fight broke out here, he had a dislocated jaw and was sinking in debt from repairs. "Stop! Stop! Nobody shoot! Blondie! You're here! Why…?"

"We want to talk. Besides, you still owe me a drink." Yang said, dragging Junior by his ear."

Smoke chuckled to himself. "What a woman…"

He then noticed Melanie and Militia beside him and said, "Hello there?"

General Kenobi (would have been the perfect star wars reference but meh)

Both girls simply scoffed and strutted away. "Hmph. Whatever."

White Fang meeting, Unknown location

Blake gazed over a mark on the wall, scanning it. She drew her fingers over the claw marks and looked to her side to see a man letting several faunus through a certain alley.

"This is the place. I'm positive." Blake said, causing Sub Zero and Liu Kang to nod as she began removing her bow, revealing her feline ears.

They walked past wearing similar masks with Blake, and the man let them in, their Grimm masks giving them a pass.

"New recruits, keep to the right!" A burly lieutenant called out, trying to usher the recruits into the meeting.

Blake took of her mask staring it, her thoughts adrift. Sub Zero noticed this and patted her on the shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

Blake sighed. "N-no. Just Remember some things?"

Sub Zero then said. "It's in the past."

Blake smiled and placed the mask on her face, walking into the large warehouse. Hundreds of faunus were in the room, with a quarter of which were new members, wearing mixed attire, eager to join the Fang. In front of the room was a large stage, with a large banner adorned with the White Fang insignia.

The lieutenant on stage spoke up once everyone was in the room. "Thank you all for coming. Now, for those of you just joining us here tonight, let me introduce some very special comrades of ours. I can assure you, they are the keys to obtaining what we have fought for, for so long."

And out of the shadows, two figures emerged. The first was none other than Roman Torchwick, the other was Hsu Hao.

"I hope you have this under control." Hsu Hao said to him under his breath.

"Please, leave this to the professional in the room." Roman threw back, before stepping out to speak, being met with jeers and outrage from the extremists.

"What's a human doing here?!" A recruit asked out loud.

"I'm glad you asked, dearie. Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans are the worst. Case in point." Roman began, gesturing to himself.

"Now, I would understand why you'd want to see us all locked away, or better yet; killed! But before I get into details, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy."

Hsu Hao then stepped out. "Take a look out there. The ones in control, pulling the strings of society. The dirty scumbag humans that run our kingdoms. The government, the military, even the schools are all the monsters who send their own children to fight a war that isn't even there. They ignore our plights and struggles, living in ignorance of true injustice!"

Roman then continued for him. "These pests have to be dealt with don't they?! And no offence to any rodents in the room, but let's just say I'm the best exterminator around."

Hsu Hao then flicked a knife at the rope holding up the banner and as the banner fell, the gigantic form of an Atlesian Paladin was revealed, earning a massive applause from the crowd.

"How did he get that thing?" Blake quietly asked.

"As you may have heard, this thing here is Altas' newest line of defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my employer, we've managed to snag a few before they, uh… hit the shelves." Roman announced.

Hsu Hao then continued. "Now, some of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay in the city, that's fine. But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal we can give you. Now, who's ready for a field test?"

The crowd cheered with a loud and combined chant, but Blake was getting uneasy. "We need to leave. Now."

"Will all new recruits please come forward." The lieutenant called out, causing the crowd to step forth.

Roman looked through the crowd and his eyes fell upon Blake and Sub Zero. He narrowed his eyes and nudged Hsu Hao with his elbow.

"He has seen us." Sub Zero said.

Blake noticed the fuse box above the stage she whispered "Not for long."

Junior's Club

"I'm sorry, but I don't know anything!" Junior insisted.

"What?! How is that even possible?!" Yang asked him, annoyed.

Junior sighed. "I haven't talked to him. I haven't even seen him since that night you two came in here. He paid upfront, I lent him my men, and none of them ever came back."

Yang cocked her eyebrow. "You never bothered to know what happened to them?"

Junior placed a palm on his forehead. "I guess Torchwick wasn't happy with my boys, and he got rid of them. Which is SOMETHING I CAN RELATE TO!" Junior said the last part quite loudly, not so subtly referring to his guards.

"Well this is a waste of time." Yang said as she left with Smoke.

"Well, not a complete lose as I got to ride a bike with you." Smoke said

Yang coughed a bit, but had a light smile on her face. "Smooth. But still thanks."

Warehouse, Downtown Vale

Blake drew her sword and fired it in its pistol mode, cutting off the power and giving them an escape route. The three of them jumped out the window amongst the chaos, only for the massive Paladin suit to burst from the wall and pursue them.

Sub Zero, Liu Kang and Blake jumped atop a building and ran, freerunning across the rooftops as the Paladin rampaged through the streets.

"We need backup now!" Liu Kang called out.

"On it!" Blake replied, pulling out her scroll.

Beacon Cross-Communications Tower

Weiss and Scorpion were about looking for Johnny and Ruby, when Weiss's scroll began to ring, causing her to pull it out. Blake's voice was heard. "Everyone, if you can hear me, we need backup now!"

Weiss and Scorpion looked to each other, but before Weiss could start running Scorpion stopped her.

"Give me a sec. I can find where they are." He told the confused heiress as he stood there for some time expanding his senses.

"Found them." Scorpion said placing his hand on the still confused heiress shoulder, encasing the both of them with fire before teleporting.

With Ruby

Just as Ruby and Johnny started walking towards the CCT building, Ruby's scroll went off. Answering, she heard Blake on the other end. "They've got a robot! A really big one! We need help now!"

"Oh, I am not missing this!" Ruby said as she started running off with Johnny behind her

Junior's Club

"Torchwick has control of a Paladin! He's after us and we need assistance now!" Blake yelled over her scroll.

"Where are you guys?!" Yang asked, only to see Blake, Sub Zero and Liu Kang run pass them with a giant mechsuit on their tails.

"I think that was them…" Smoke commented.

"I know. Hold on!" Yang said, revving up her bike and giving chase.

Vale Highway

Blake, Sub Zero and Liu Kang jumped off of the roof and landed on a car, proceeding to leap from vehicle to vehicle down the highway. Roman was following closely behind, barging through the traffic.

The three hurriedly quickened their pace, but Roman only charged faster, pushing aside any cars in his way.

Beside the Paladin, Yang managed to keep up in her motorcycle, with Smoke in the backseat. "We've got to slow it down!" Yang called out.

"We can't do much from here." Smoke said as he teleported Yang and himself along with her bike towards the far end of the highway.

"Woah, gonna take a while getting used to that." Yang said referring to the feeling of teleporting

Just then, a tornado of flame appeared in front of them revealing Scorpion and Weiss.

"That was weird." Weiss said

"You'll get used to it." Scorpion said

Noticing the mech chasing her allies, Weiss took out her Scroll

"Blake, I'm in position!" Blake heard Weiss call out over her scroll.

Weiss stood at a ready stance as the Paladin barreled down the road. Weiss narrowed her eyes and tapped the ground with Myrtenaster, coating the road in ice, causing Roman to lose his balance and slide off of the road, to where Ruby was standing in wait with Johnny.

Seeing the Paladin fall off the highway away from civilians Sub Zero signed in relief before jumping of the highway. As he landed he created a blizzard that started freezing the mech down on a molecular level while shattering it in the process bit by bit.

Seeing this along with his terminal blinking red Roman jumped out of the mech to avoid getting frozen. Turning around he noticed the Paladin shattered completely after being frozen.

Dusting himself off. "Ugh, this is not going to end well!"

"Guess you didn't need our help that much." Johnny joked while standing next to Sub Zero.

Landing away from the highway Yang glared at Roman and cocked her gauntlets, taking a shot at him, only for the blast to be blocked. The gang looked ahead to see a petite woman even shorter than Ruby. She wore a white and pink jacket, brown pants and a brown corset with black and white high-heeled boots. Her most notable feature was her face, with her irises a different color of brown and pink, with one side of her hair brown and the other pink with white streaks, with a Neapolitan ice-cream type color scheme.

She raised her parasol with a smile as Roman saluted them. "Ladies. Gentlemen. Ice Queen."

"Hey!"

"Always a pleasure. Neo, if you would?" Neo bowed, and Yang sprinted forward with a fist drawn back.

However, when she hit them, their images simply shattered into glass dust. Yang looked around her, and saw Roman and Neo flying off in a Bullhead.

"I guess he got a new henchman." Yang said

"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans… fall apart? Eh?" Weiss joked, much to the rest of the gang's disgust, even Yang, surprisingly.

"No. Just… no." Yang said

"What?! But you do it!" Weiss complained.

"There's a time and a place for jokes." Liu Kang said.

"Was this not it?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, it just wasn't very good." Scorpion bluntly responded.

"Well, at least I'm trying!" Weiss whined.

"Man, I'm beat!" Johnny groaned, stretching out his limbs.

"Hey, who wants dinner? I know a noodle shop not far from here!" Ruby asked.

Everyone quickly agreed, and walked away to take a well-earned break.