The group didn't want even to say anything, they just wanted to move on to the season finale because there was too much that they wanted to see an end to. But, Raider wanted to get something out before they piled her. "I know you guys want to move on to the last episode, but I want to get in that after we watch the finale, we're going to watch the short of Adam. Remember all those episodes back when I told you he isn't until way down the line? Yeah, so we'll watch his after." That gave them all pause, they were morbidly curious to know more about him.

They all understood and ushered Raider to get going. You ten are getting a little too comfortable bossing me around.

(Volume 5 Intro)

The Mistral police place their beams on the White Fang Members and shout for them to cease fire immediately. They try to run but are stopped by a wall of Menagerie civilians as Ilia stands in front.

"Yes, Ilia!" Blake yelled, so proud that in a world she was able to save her friend and convince her that what she was doing wasn't right. Blake only hoped that she could find a way to do that when they all returned home.

The three members raise their guns to shoot, but more citizens surround them and two of the White Fang drop their guns in surrender.

"It would be wise for you to do the same," Weiss stated, referring to the one who still wants to fight.

"Know when you've been beaten!" Nora shouts.

The third is about to shoot but Ilia whips the gun out of his hands and body slams to the ground, holding him.

"That's another way to get him to stand down," Yang laughed.

Behind her, a woman thanks Ilia and she nods her head.

This time it wasn't just Blake who felt proud of Ilia's strength to move on. They knew it must have been much harder for her than what it did on screen but everyone was so appreciative of Ilia's power.

"I'm going to make you regret ever coming back," Adam grits as he stands back up.

Blake stands by what she said previously, she's got more important things to deal with than just him.

"More police are on their way, Adam, huntsmen too." Adam chuckles as he thinks Blake is still too afraid to face me on your own.

Blake wonders if there will be a time when she faces him by herself, she's interested and scared of how that would go.

Blake's here for Haven, not him. The response angers him and he takes out Blush, pointing it at Blake. The girl withdraws Gambol Shroud and Adam once again, laughs. "You are still afraid, and you should be. I've made powerful friends while you've been away."

"And where would they be? Because last I checked, Hazel got pulled and impaled by Weiss's queen lancer summon, your White Fang members are beginning to stand down, Cinder's dead (at the moment), and Mercury and Emerald are only here because of Cinder," Ruby pointed out.

"There's also Raven, but she's on her own agenda," Yang added.

No one there is fighting for him, and now he's the one who's all alone. Does he really think he can take on that many people and win? It's over for him and he should quit while he's still ahead.

"Oh, yeah? Where?" Sun holds his staff and stands before him. Adam raises Wilt asking if Blake makes all of her classmates fight for her.

"It's a volunteer thing, and I'm also fighting with her," Sun announced.

"Nah, it's a volunteer gig. I'm just sayin', for someone who claims to have such great friends, there doesn't seem to be a lot of people willing here to fight for you." Adam looks around and sees all his help yielding and putting their hands behind their heads.

"You can try and make me regret coming here, Adam, but honestly? I've got more important things to deal with."

"Yeah, so if it's alright with you, you think you could maybe turn yourself in and make this a bit easier for all of us? That would be great." This might be one of the first times that her friends laughed at one of Yang's jokes. The girl silently celebrated to herself with an internal fist pump.

Adam lets out a cry and begins to shoot at Sun, but the boy swings his staff, now turned nunchucks, and deflects them. Blake swings Gambol Shroud and Sun joins her when Adam takes off.

Now who's the coward? Blake thinks to herself.

"And he gives you so much crap for running away, damn hypocrite!" Sun yelled, "Doesn't matter, you and I can take him!"

Blake shakes her head, "No, he plans to separate us and then pick us off one by one. Besides, we have Haven to focus on, not him."

Sun follows after him, and so does the beam of light, but Blake stops Sun. "But he's getting away, we can take him!"

Blake shakes her head as she puts away Gambol Shroud, "No we can't. He wants to lure us away so he can pick us off, we need to protect the school and the people here. Besides, now he can see what it feels like to run away. Thank you."

Blake thanks Sun too, thanks all her friends for staying by her side even through everything. Sun shrugs as everyone needs a little help sometimes. "You've been here for all of us, why wouldn't we be here for you?" Yang asked. Hearing that meant a lot, especially from Yang as she's the one she has hurt the most.

"Ah, we all need help sometimes." The sound of Hazel's grunts catches Sun's attention, "I think there's a few people who could use yours." Before Sun can run off, Blake stops him and tells him to be careful. "No promises."

Blake chuckled, she wouldn't expect anything less from him.

Weiss's queen lancer flies around and Hazel tries to burn it as both teams are on opposing sides of the room. Jaune holds up his shield to stop a few bullets and he asks his teammates how they're doing. Ren and Nora are exhausted and Ren tells Jaune that they're surviving.

Yeah, that's what they want to continue happening. That's the goal every day and they're realizing they're going to need to start pushing themselves harder when they get back to class so they can be more prepared if a situation like this occurs. "That's probably one of the best answers anyone can give," Jaune laughed.

Nora doesn't know how Hazel is still standing, he recharges his aura faster than she's ever seen. Turning from his crow form to human, Qrow appears behind Ozpin, saying he's sheer willpower.

He's that determined to get to Ozpin and kill him. Hazel is equivalent to a brick wall that they just can't destroy! Maybe they have to find a way to go around it instead.

Ozpin moves behind a pillar as a fireball is sent his way. "We just need to get him to his limit."

"And he hasn't reached it yet? How much more does he have in him?!" Oscar shouts.

Weiss's queen lancer flies in front of Lionheart and sends a wave of stingers toward him. Lionheart blocks them with his shield and sends his own line of fire, but the lancer remains standing. Hazel looks up at it and destroys it with an electrical fire attack.

Weiss felt disappointed that her summon didn't last longer. She knew it would get taken down at some point in the battle, she just wished it was further along in the fight. Oh well, she can't dwell on it for long as she more than likely create another one in a different episode.

Weiss looks saddened when Blake jumps through the remnants and bounces off of Hazel, landing next to her friends and frantically asking if Ruby or Weiss are hurt.

None of them were going to joke about Weiss nearly getting killed and they didn't think it would be one of those moments where they could laugh about it later with how close she truly came to dying if it weren't for Jaune unlocking his semblance in the nick of time.

Weiss responds that she wasn't but she just remembers Blake being more of the quiet one as Hazel, Mercury, and Emerald walked towards them.

"Heh, I did too until I met all of you guys, and nothing was ever the same after that."

"Hey, we'll take that as a compliment, we got both you and Weiss to loosen up a little. I'd call that a win." Unbeknownst to Blake and Yang, the rest of the group was giving each other knowing looks.

Blake said that today she won't.

None of them would.

Weiss asked Ruby what the plan was and she gestured to the three in front of them. Lionheart was about to fire at the team when Ruby shot at his shield, startling him, and causing him to flee deeper into the building.

"Great, now he's getting away too," Sun says exasperatedly.

Mercury was annoyed by the man and weirded out by Hazel as he roared through the hall.

"Does that guy always have to be so extra?" Weiss asked.

"How many times has he cried out like that through the fight?" Blake questioned. They didn't bother to count, but it was probably about more than 5 times.

Ruby yells out Checkmate and Weiss and Blake run into action, Ruby isn't too far behind.

It must have been a long time since they did that team move, or any of their team attacks. It was going to be relieving to see all of them again.

"I warned you, Yang, I gave you every opportunity to walk away from Qrow and Oz. So you can believe me when I say this wasn't personal," Raven said as the flowers fell from the tree above.

Yang's face hardened the moment she heard her mother's voice. She anticipated this conversation and didn't know whether it was going to become a fight or not. Judging by the power she's seen from her mother, she hoped it didn't.

Yang simply said Raven opened the vault.

Yep, surprise, your own mom is the Spring Maiden! Yang thought to herself sarcastically.

"Thanks to the chaos you and your friends caused upstairs, I knew you could handle it, you're my daughter after all."

"Me being your daughter has nothing to do with being able to handle myself. I'd be able to handle myself whether we were related or not, I don't need your blood in me to do it."

"Qrow and Oz told me how the Maiden powers are transferred, the girl you found, she would've had to have trusted you if you were final thoughts, cared about a lot."

That brought them to that question. Who was Raven so close to that the previous Maiden trusted her with the powers when she passed? Raven had always been closed off to a lot of people, not even trusting her own family. So, who could it have been?

"Mom…?" Ruby whispered. Everyone looked at the girl and she tried to explain her theory, "She was on a team with uncle Qrow and dad, so she knew her through that, and I noticed while Raven would insult dad or Qrow, she never mentioned mom, never uttered a single bad thing about her."

They didn't have much to go off of, but Tai or Qrow had never mentioned anyone else and they hadn't seen anyone else that Raven trusted besides Vernal, but she must have met her after she'd gotten the powers. That was something they would all surely take into consideration moving forward.

Raven was sure they told her plenty and Yang sat and obeyed. "No, I'm starting to ask questions like you said. So tell me, what happened to the last Spring Maiden?" Yang asked. "Did she die in battle, was it sickness?"

Raven turned around, "What does it matter to you?"

That response…that response sounded more than just irritation by the constant questioning. There was a hint of sadness or guard at being brought up. The loss of the Spring Maiden must have really hurt her and she's just not showing it.

Summer really was the last Spring Maiden and she and Raven were close, so it would make sense for her to get defensive as if someone were prodding for the answer to a very personal question.

"I could already see the answer, it's all over your face. How could you?!"

The room went cold… Raven…killed the last Spring Maiden? That would certainly be another reason to get defensive. Thoughts about Summer Rose left when that knowledge entered their minds.

"She was scared when we found her, weak, no matter how much training I put her through she never learned!"

"So that's your excuse for killing someone?! Because you deemed her as weak and incapable of learning?!" Yang yelled.

"So because the poor girl couldn't learn she deserved to die?" Ruby said weakly. That had to be the most backward logic they've ever heard.

"She wasn't cut out for this world and with those powers, she would have been hunted her entire life! What I did–"

"Wasn't personal," Yang bitterly spat.

"It was mercy!"

What part of any of that was mercy?

"Which is it, mom? Are you merciful or are you a survivor?" Yang shouted, "Did you let me walk into that trap because you knew I could handle it, or was it because it meant you could get what you wanted?!"

"It's not that simple, you don't know me."

"You're right, I don't know you, you never gave me the chance to know you. You turned your back on me, on our family, and kept on walking. All I know of is the mom that dad told me about who was troubled, and complicated, and fought for whatever she believed in." Yang hated this, hated how much pain her mother could inflict on her without even doing anything. She hated that a part of her still cared when Raven gave her no reason to. All Raven did was leave a hurt daughter and an even hurt father.

"You don't know what I've been through, the choices I've had to make!"

"You're right, I don't know you." Yang sounds to be on the brink of tears, "I only know the Raven dad told me about. She was troubled, and complicated, but she fought for what she believed in, whether it was for her family or her tribe. Did you kill her too?"

Once again this show really liked to hit all of them where it hurt the most.

Raven's eyes widen and turns her head to look away for a second.

Yang tensed, her vision going blurry as that gave her her answer. Blake saw Yang attempting to keep her emotions together. She wrapped an arm around her and brought a surprised Yang closer. The dam broke as Yang melted into the embrace.

"I've stared death in the face over and over again, and every time I spat in that face and survived because I'm strong enough to do what others won't!"

Yang felt like she didn't have the strength to announce her anger, and she didn't as she let the frustration turn into tears, leaning more into Blake's shoulder.

"Oh shut up! You don't know the first thing about strength! You turn your back on people, you run away when things get too hard you put others in harm's way instead of yourself!" Yang's hand tightens and points it at Raven, "You might be powerful, but that doesn't make you strong."

Raider looks down and has never seen Yang so tired and defeated. Even back in the other room when she let out her anger and broke down. "Showing weakness." Yang's friends turned around angrily, glaring at the entity as they wanted to say something, but Raider put up a hand as she hadn't finished. "Showing weakness is one of the strongest things a person can do. It takes a great amount of strength to show vulnerability, especially in front of another person." Yang raises her head and Raider finishes, "Strength can be interpreted as many things, not simply just physical power. You might feel the urge to apologize for crying in front of each other, but no way does it mean you're fragile. You're all much stronger than you give yourselves credit for."

"You know you flip-flop a lot," Ruby said. Raider hummed in question.

"One moment you're joking around and the next you're supportive and full of wisdom," Weiss clarified. Everyone turned back around but Blake slightly staggered when Yang put her head back on her shoulder.

"If you're okay with it, could I keep my head here? It's very comforting." Yang didn't want her embarrassment showing, but Blake quietly nodded, smiling.

"Who do you think you are, lecturing me?! Standing there, shaking, like a scared little girl!" Raven screams, her Maiden powers flaring from her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm scared, but I'm still standing here!" Yang retorted. "I'm not like you, I won't run! Which is why you're going to give me the Relic." Raven is about to ask why she would do that when Yang cuts her off, "Because you're afraid of Salem! And if you thought having Maiden powers put a target on your back, imagine what she'll do when she finds out you have a Relic. She'll come after you with everything she has!"

Back when Raven said she was going to steal the Relic, they were a little confused about what her game plan was. Salem already wanted the Spring Maiden, which is why she sent her goons, but for Salem to then figure out that Raven stabbed her team in the back and took the Relic for herself? Yeah, they were sure that was going to end well for her.

Salem would come back for her tenfold. For Salem to have the powers of the Spring Maiden, well, it didn't matter which woman was carrying them, now did it?

"Or, she could come after me."

"She can come after all of us, and we'll be waiting for her." Ruby crosses her arms as everyone is on the same stance. They plan to battle Salem together.

Raven's eyes widen as she looks at her daughter. "And I'll be standing there, waiting for her."

Raven whispers, her eyes returning to normal "You don't want to do this, Yang…"

"Nope, but I'm gonna do it anyway." Yang shoulders her mother and walks to the vault's entry, but pauses. Raven's tear drops to the floor, the woman holding her arm.

"I'm sorry…" Raven's apology is a murmur.

Yang tears up, "Yeah…me too." When Yang looks behind, all she finds is a single feather.

Yang could feel herself crying harder and was about to say sorry and get up because she probably made Blake's shoulder really wet, but Blake shushed her. "Yang…it's okay." Yang didn't know if she was reassuring her for the crying or her clothes, but that became the least of her worries after Blake's solace.

"Thank you, Blake…thank you…" Blake absentmindedly kissed the top of Yang's head and continued to watch. This must have been much harder on Yang than it was for anyone else. And Blake intended to give Yang any peace and comfort she needed.

Yang walks towards the vault and stops, looking around inside for a moment. The sand from each of her steps floats into the air. The energy from the lamp pulsates and thrums as Yang comes closer. She grabs it by the hand and raises it. Upon looking at it, she drops her knees and cries.

Yang quietly sobs and the group gives her time to grieve. The more they sit in silence, they realize that this volume has been the most taxing on Yang. While everyone had their moments during the volume, because Yang's mom was featured more frequently, it affected her much more.

Lionheart burst into his office and rummaged through his desk drawers in a panic. His eyes go wide upon looking up to see Salem's seer floating in the doorway.

Their eyes widened too as a chill ran down all of their spines. They had a terrible feeling that they knew where this was going.

" And where might you be going ?" Salem asked through the Grimm. Lionheart spoke a white lie, telling her that he was just looking for something. "Leonardo, do you have something you wish to tell me?"

Lionheart was quiet before he blurted out it was all Cinder, "She altered the plan, huntsmen showed up here, Qrow, several students, the one with the silver eyes, the White Fang attacked, it was stopped!"

The group wasn't speaking as they were anticipating what was going to come next. They knew as huntsmen and huntresses that watching death would become a reoccurring thing once they got their licenses, but that doesn't stop the fact that they hate witnessing it time and time again.

"I don't know that they'll be able to recover the Relic."

No, they didn't. Yang has retrieved and it will be safe in their hands, away from Cinder and the likes of Salem's team.

Salem gives him silence, the seer filling the room with its crackling. "Your Grace, I can still be of assistance," Lionheart tries desperately, "Finally now, I-I can avoid the authorities and come find you. I'll do whatever it takes!" Salem remains silent. "Your Grace…?"

All of them seemed to be frozen in terror as their bodies forced them to watch.

Lionheart aims his weapon but the seer slashes it off his forearm and Lionheart tries to run, but one of the tentacles wraps around his ankle, dragging him closer. "Ahh! Please, ma'am, I'll do anything! I can still be useful!" The rest of its tentacles, swing and envelop him pulling him towards it. "PLEASE!" All that was heard was the sound of his body being stabbed.

Different reactions ran throughout the room. Ruby hid in Weiss's shoulder as the other squeezed her eyes shut, holding onto her girlfriend. Pyrrha and Jaune gasped, the two of them gripping each other's hands. Yang tried to stand strong as Blake moved her head and ended up hiding in Yang's hair. Ren and Nora were quiet and felt they were the most used to the noise. Oscar and Sun both tightly closed their eyes and looked away. More memories of someone's death will repeat in their minds like a broken record.

"please…" A final stab and Lionheart was dead. Salem stared at the darkened Grimm, looking merely annoyed.

"Coward."

They had a lot to say about that one word, but fear still gripped all of them. This was yet another example of why they were glad that Grimm couldn't get into this dimension.

Everyone huffed, tired, and Ruby shouted while holding Crescent Rose, "That's enough! Just give up." Mercury angrily screams and slams his fist on the ground.

"It's not over! Cinder will come back, she'll have the Relic!" Emerald yells.

Yeah, judging how much Emerald looks up to Cinder, she isn't going to take her defeat lightly.

"And she'll stop all of you! She won't let us down."

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, buuuut…

Emerald's eyes widen when Yang is the one to ascend on the platform.

Yang is the one who has obtained the Relic, and Cinder? They don't even know where she is, probably at the very bottom of the vault's ditch or wherever it ends.

Yang looks at all of her friends, though when she looks at Blake the girl averts her gaze for a second before looking back.

Now would come their time of healing.

Tears brim Emerald's eyes, then fall down her cheeks. She drops to her hands and knees, her sadness palpable.

They still wondered, why care for someone who doesn't show you an ounce of it back? What's gained from that? Does she truly believe that Cinder cares for her? The woman only wants power and doesn't care if she uses people to do it.

While backing away along with Hazel, Mercury whispers for Emerald to get up. Emerald shakes her head, holds onto it, and screams. A pillar of smoke fills the air confusing everyone until it formulates into Salem.

That's the first time their counterparts are seeing who they're going up against. They already got used to the face a while ago, now they get to see how the others react. The bigger thing to focus on though was Emerald being able to create something like that. Was her grief so powerful that it manifested a hallucination that big?

They would have wanted to ask Emerald if she was mentally okay, but it seemed that that hallucination was a means to escape.

It screeches at the group and flies through them. Ruby is covering herself with Crescent Rose, shaking and terrified.

Weiss held Ruby just in case that same emotion transferred to her.

Blake, shaken up, asks what that was. "And illusion, but an accurate one. That was Salem."

While that was scary, that didn't shake their resolve to fight her.

Outside in a Mistral forest, Hazel carried an unconscious Emerald on his shoulder as Mercury ran behind them. From somewhere, not that far away, Adam silently watched them before taking his leave.

Blake was apprehensive about how they would meet him again, but she realized it would more than likely be the final time as it would result in a fight to the death.

Blake lets out a sigh, though her ears perk up when she sees her family running towards her, Sun not far behind. They all hug one another and Kali tells Blake that the police rallied up the rest of the White Fang members.

"Well, that's nice to hear. We don't need any more escaping," Oscar exhaled.

Ghira informs that Adam was the only one to escape. "It's okay," Ilia said, appearing in the opening, "He was the only one to escape tonight. Those in the White Fang that followed him, won't support a leader that abandons his people, he won't have their help after this."

Normally anyone else, they be more relieved as the man wouldn't have an army at his call, but Adam was the type of man who didn't need anyone else's help to be that army alone, unfortunately. Still, it was good to hear that the White Fang weren't following him and that would mean a new leader would need to take his place.

All in the room are in favor of Ilia. Who was once troubled by constantly picking the wrong choice, she can be the light and symbol for others that they don't need to hold onto that hate for the humans, you can be able to move on for the better for yourself and others. She would make a great new leader for the White Fang.

"All in favor of thinking that Ilia should be the new leader for the White Fang, say I!" Sun shouted. Going around the room, all of them agreed.

"They'll have no one at all, and the White Fang will be left divided."

"We've been fighting amongst ourselves for too long. Perhaps it's time for a new brotherhood, a new family for Faunus truly working towards a better word," Ghira stated. Kali places her hand on her husband's chest, saying that they'll need a new leader.

Both Ilia and Ghira would be good options. But, they guessed the latter over the former due to his experience.

Sun sees his friends and waves to them. He uses his tail to swing Blake around, the girl yelping in surprise, but frowning when she sees them.

"Hey," Yang mumbled, "They can get through just the same as we all did. And I'm sure I'll be able to as well…it just takes time." Blake looked at Yang for a moment then nodded.

"Yeah, time."

Yang walks down the foyer steps with the lamp and gives it to Qrow. Her uncle asks what happened. "I don't know exactly, when I got down there Cinder was gone and Vernal was dead."

"And Raven?"

"Gone."

Wait, what?

They were all astonished and taken aback that Yang didn't tell Qrow the full truth, but the more they thought about it, the more it made sense to them. Yang had been down there and had just recently gotten back from a very emotionally heavy argument with her mom and she wanted to appear collected in front of her team to show them that nothing was wrong, getting the majority of what happened in as few words as possible. She told Qrow that Vernal was dead and Cinder was gone.

On a different note, her going down there and seeing that Cinder was gone should cause a little worry as they don't know where she is, but Yang must have figured that things were fine because the Relic was still there. As for Yang not telling Qrow about Raven, was she protecting her mother from being hunted and searched. Knowing that Raven is the Spring Maiden and telling Qrow would have all of them going back to search for Raven, as well as Salem's team doing the same if they ever caught wind of it. Yang took one from Ozpin and kept her mother a secret.

Do they all fully like that Yang kept the identity of the Spring Maiden from the group? Not especially. Do they all have a better understanding as to why? For the most the most part. They're sure there's probably more to it than what they pointed out, but it's all in Yang's hands if she chooses to tell. They all have a feeling that this will cause strain on the team once it's revealed that she knew and that she didn't tell any of them.

"Well, we're all glad you're still here firecracker." Qrow places his hand on Yang's shoulder.

If there was a small part of Qrow that knew she wasn't telling him everything he didn't speak up about it as he figured that Yang has already been through enough as is.

Ruby, exhausted, drops to her knees and Weiss is immediately by her side, asking if she's okay. "I feel like I should be asking you guys," Ruby panted. Yang rests next to her sister. "So, Blake, heh, what are you doing here?"

"I-I…I was gonna ask you three the same thing?" Ruby looks at the rest of the team and tells Blake that that's a loooooong story. "Well, I'm not going anywhere."

Everyone huffs, wondering why every volume finale has to be so draining in one form or another. It was probably from watching all the buildup to this moment and once it's finally over and all of it comes onto them in a single episode that leaves them all spent.

But, what was important is that they're all together now.

"That's all that matters, that we're all here together, right?" Ruby asked as she looked at Weiss and Yang. Yang is looking down and Blake's ears flatten in her guilt. Yang slowly nods, a small smile appearing as well. Yang agrees and a tiny grin replaces Blake's frown. Weiss opens up her arm and Team RWBY embraces in a hug.

Team RWBY now, does the same, bringing each other closer and shedding their own tears, thankful that they're all still together. That's how they all plan it to stay. Together.

Also, at some point, they wouldn't mind hearing the full version of this song.

Jaune, Ren, and Nora happily watch the exchange as Oscar gasps for breath and Qrow kneels in front of him. "I don't know how we did it."

"Yeah, if we're being honest we don't know either," Yang joked from inside the hug. This got a few chuckles and some were glad that Yang was gradually getting her spirit back.

"Oz, you okay?" Oscar says that he's alright and Qrow is a little confused that it's Oscar who is present. "Kid?"

Oscar sways, holding a hand to his side, "He's resting. Too much energy fighting." Qrow worries for the boy and tells him not to strain himself. "No! He had a message."

Message? What kind of message? Like, where to go from this point?

"We must…get the lamp to…Atlas…"

Everyone looked at Oscar in worry as he struggled to mutter those words. "I'm doing a lot better than my on-screen self," Oscar said, "But, it looks like I could use the rest." They all could at this rate. Once this episode was finished, just one more short and they could all take a break from all this.

"He wants to…go to Atlas?" Weiss said, already despising the idea. After all the trouble she went through the leave, she has to go back?

"Hey, it'll be different this time," Ruby reassured, "Because you'll have all of us going with you. You won't be alone." Weiss nodded. Yeah, she'll have all her friends with her. No, not friends, family.

Oscar fell unconscious and Qrow gently laid him on the ground. Qrow raised the lamp and stared at it, its blue light pulsing and becoming brighter and brighter.

The screen went black and the credits began to roll. They were about to comment when Raider grabbed the remote and skipped the way to after the credits, "There's just a tad bit more." They were curious as to what she meant by more.

Back in Patch.

They were already intrigued. Why was it showing Yang and Ruby's home, more specifically their dad?

Tai was tending to his flowerbed in the front when the sound of wings flapping grabbed his attention. He turned his head and saw a single black feather, but he didn't seem all too pleased.

That was the end and it left the kids wondering why Raven went back to Patch. Was her place of choosing to lay low for the time being? Judging, by Tai's reaction, it doesn't seem her visit will be all that welcomed. They were upset that they didn't get to see more, but there were more pressing matters like why Ozpin wanted them all to go to Atlas next, especially a very upset Schnee. Could they be going to Atlas to see General Ironwood? He was a person that Ozpin trusted with these things.

Unfortunately, they could already predict that getting to Atlas isn't going to go as smoothly as they wish and whatever happens is going to be kept under lock and key from General Ironwood due to them not completely trusting him. Professor Lionheart was a trusted man of Ozpin who turned his back on him, who's to say it won't happen again? They would just need to wait and see.

The more they think about this, the harder it's going to be to try and change all this without revealing that they went to a whole other world to watch themselves and the future to figure all of this out. Well, that can be something to think about when they've all had their rest after watching Adam's short.

Four Faunus wearing bandanas walk up to the generators of a dust processing unit.

They're confused as to why they are wearing their regular masks. If that's the case then who was the one who started the trend?

A dog Faunus turned off the lights and another dog Faunus asked that there were no cameras. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure–"

"Pretty sure?" A cat Faunus cuts off, flabbergasted that he doesn't fully know, "You work here."

"I work in labor," He defends, "I'm not even allowed near processing."

How far back ago was all of this taking place anyway? They seemed a lot less…professional and unprepared than the White Fang now.

The third man sighed, saying that this didn't feel right. The girl sighs and the one who works here suggests they leave.

"Yes, 'cause what you're all doing is wrong!" Ruby exclaims.

"No," Adam announces, his sword in hand as his shadow walks across the wall, "It's time we stood up for ourselves." The girl is surprised to see Adam. "Our kind's been beaten, murdered, treated like dogs." The more examples he gives, the harder the other's resolve becomes. In his hand is a white mask.

Was Adam the one who made the masks a trademark for the White Fang? Blake's ears flattened and would highly remain so throughout this short. Adam was a man bred from the hate and cruelty of the word, conditioned by circumstances that could have been avoided. This doesn't that she likes him by any means, simply empathy. Her friends were about to see it as well.

"Taking this dust is only illegal in the eyes of the same people that call us animals." Adams puts on his mask and the others nod their head in agreement. Faunus one asks about the custom mask as it kinda makes him look like a Grimm. Adams walks to the door while he talks, "We may not want them to know who we are, but we should make sure that they never forget what we looked like." All of them nod and Adam breaks the lock with his sword. "Now, it's time we got what we deserved."

Blake remembers when all the masks were being mass-produced for all the White Fang members to wear. It turned what was once a peaceful activist group into a cult that scared the people into respecting them.

"The backstory for those masks is horrible," Pyrrha shudders. Knowing the reason for them and what they symbolize will be carried over when they all get back.

The four Faunus rush inside and the shirt of one of the members is focused on while shots are in the background.

Why were the guns already when they've just broken into the place? How had the security gotten there so quickly?

Bullets are hitting the side of a cargo truck as Faunus is ducking.

Oh, a different event. That made much more sense.

The White Fang members grit their teeth and Ghira hides behind the hood.

Blake's eyes widen as she remembers what this was. It was the day she heard the news of the attack and Adam's first kill.

Ghira shouts that they're just trying to pass through, but he ducks when an electric bullet hits the windshield of the car.

"So they're attacking them unprovoked? What the hell!" Yang shouted.

"If they're just trying to pass through then they haven't done anything wrong!" Weiss added. All of them were shouting at the injustice of this.

"Well, you animals pass through the wrong town," The man holding a gun says.

"Rude!" Sun yelled.

The man aims his gun and Ghira rises, saying that there's no need for violence. The man takes the opening and shoots, breaking Ghira's aura.

"Dad!" Blake shouts worriedly, she knows this happened a while ago and her dad is fine, but she hates seeing him get hurt.

Sienna and Adam share a look, the woman nods, and Adam bounds over the car. He beats down one of the guys, deflecting the bullets from two others with his sword. Sienna helps Ghira up and the man watches in shock.

They all wished that this didn't have to turn into a fight and they all could have passed peacefully, but sadly the world wasn't fair.

Adam sweeps a woman off her feet before kicking her to the ground and collects the energy into his weapon from another guy before he quickly defeats him as well. Adam runs toward who's shooting at him and switches and fires the handle into her stomach.

All of them winced as they watched each of them get taken out one by one. Thankfully, they were all still alive, but once again, the answer shouldn't have been to attack, from either side.

Adam takes the energy from another man's bullets and behind a tree, the first man breathes heavily and charges towards Ghira. Adam, who was holding the man below him by his foot, saw this and released all pent energy from his sword. It cut into the man and his body slammed against the car, his blood painting it and the ground.

Some were covering their mouths in either shock or horror. "This was one of the main catalysts to Adam's destructive path." To play devil's advocate, it was in self-defense, as the man was running for Ghira and his intent was to do more harm.

They all agreed that it was a horrible situation for both sides.

A woman yells that they're all freaks, fleeing with another man.

"Shut up! You started attacking all of them when none of it was necessary!" Yang yelled. It was a difficult thing to judge as it resulted in a man's death, yet the act was protecting someone else. No one else was killed except for him.

Adam gritted his teeth and Ghira sternly said that wasn't necessary. All of the surrounded the scene, "This is the very reason they think they can trea–"

Sienna abruptly cut him off, "Ghira, he saved your life, he's a hero." All the other members began to cheer for him and he looked up confused.

"No! Yes, he saved Blake's dad, but no way does that mean that his killing should be celebrated," Ruby said. They're giving Adam the wrong message! They supporting him for taking a man's life!

Both Ghira and Sienna glare at each other as the other members cheer.

If everyone was encouraged for killing someone then this entire world would be full of serial killers and monsters, and people would be no better than Grimm being attracted to negativity. This must be one of the moments that Blake meant this Adam was born from circumstance, stuff like this.

"Blake, I'm sorry, I told you it was an accident," Adam apologized as Blake had her back to him.

"Was it? This isn't the first time humans have died on missions you've led," She retorted.

How many more people have died on those missions? Yang squinted her eyes as the colors of the background looked oddly similar to a certain flag. She didn't know if it was just her so she shrugged it off, but she decided to keep it in mind.

"How many more accidents are there going to be?"

"I don't know, I'm out there fighting for us, and when you fight people get hurt. What, do you want me to just abandon our cause, like your parents?"

"No!" Blake shouts, "I'm not saying that!"

That was low to mention her parents in an argument like that.

Blake doesn't know. Adam apologizes as he shouldn't have brought them up. "I just get scared when it feels like you don't believe in me anymore."

Blake's face hardened, I stopped believing you all a long time ago. You wanting to kill those passengers on the train was the straw that broke the camel's back, showing absolutely no regard for innocent lives.

Blake puts a hand on Adam's shoulder and shakes her head, telling him that she wasn't saying that. "Thank you, Blake, it's nice to know I've still got you."

While that might have sounded thankful, it felt like that was a double meaning. It was just the way he said it like he was saying he still had Blake under his grasp. It might just be them that are paranoid because they only know the Adam now, but that be a different Adam.

They don't want to hold their breath though.

Blake's ears flatten and tree leaves fly around them, floating to cover Blake and Adam to reveal Sienna using her weapon to fight the original Atlesian bots.

Weiss's eyes widened as she tried to remember when and where this was. There were so many of these happening that it was hard to even keep count.

Sienna destroyed one after the other and smirked as one bot ran up behind her. She bounded off its front to help Ilia. She swung her chain and one of the tips broke off and stuck into the bot. It looked down as Sienna smiled in victory.

This was a while ago judging by the design in Atlesian security. What they were getting from this is that it started all the way in the past and probably made its way to the future where they last saw him. Knowing what Raider had told them it will show events that they recently watched, like Sienna's death.

The bots charged their hands into guns and one fired, almost hitting Ilia if it weren't for him protecting her. Adam spun his blade, deflecting the bullets and allowing Ilia to rush them. While running she swiped away some of their attacks and sliced through the metal, electrocuting the final one in front of her.

Blake smiled to herself as she was glad in some future she was able to be on the same side as Ilia again. And not in the White Fang.

Adam ran forward, cutting three bots. He ejected his sword and it spun. Stomping on the bot, he kicked his spinning sword to impale the bot's head. A door opened and guards came running into the corridor, firing. Sienna, Ilia, and Adam hit behind opposite walls. Sienna and Adam looked down at a capsule that revealed itself to be a smoke bomb. The two began coughing and dust workers smirked.

I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch…

Adam and Sienna ran out of the smoke, Sienna bounding off the wall, grabbing one of the guards' guns with her chain, and using it to knock out two before kicking another. Adam slams one of the workers into the wall and begins to repeatedly slice at the others. Ilia takes off her mask and watches in dismay.

Yes, Ilia, you know what he's doing is wrong! They all wished she had seen it sooner and not had her emotions guiding her. Adam is the personification of that person, a person who's constantly clouded by their own feelings and letting them make his decisions.

Sienna swings her chain and wraps it around one of the worker's necks, pulling him to the ground. She breaks away one of the heads at another man and it freezes the gun in his hands. Adam slams the end of his sword into a guy and raises it above his head. The man shakes his head and if it weren't for Sienna the man would have been dead. Sienna tells him it's time to move and the rest of the members follow.

He was about to kill that poor man in cold blood! That silently thanked Sienna for that, even if it was unintentional because if it weren't for her, he would have been dead.

"You continue to be an extraordinary resource to this organization," Sienna praises.

"Everything I do is for the Faunus," Adam replies, bowing.

Now if that isn't the biggest load of bull they've heard.

"I'm sending you back to Vale, you are to assume control of the brotherhood there." Adam rises and thanks her, taking his leave, but is stopped. "Adam, if you continue along this path, you might just find yourself standing beside me at my throne."

The man is already standing there, just not in the way you anticipated.

Adam leaves the room and the door closes behind him. The fire along the wall crackles and four White Fang members rush into the room. "High Leader!" One of the Faunus exclaims, running to Adam who is on the throne.

This was earlier in the volume, but Raider mentioned that this came earlier than she thought it would. Whatever that meant.

"We received a message from Hazel, the raid on Haven is gonna be more complicated than we thought."

"Don't worry, nothing will stop us now," Adam replied, "It's time I got what I deserved."

"Yeah, and what you deserved was your defeat!" Yang shouted.

In the woods, Adam dropped his mask and was stumbling, everything went dark until there was nothing.

That must have been why Raider wanted to wait to show them that because they would have assumed that was after the fight for Haven. All of them sat up and stretched, and began conversing as they made their way to their dorms. They were all so mentally and emotionally drained that they needed this more than anything. They planned to discuss everything they learned when they all woke up. For now, they just needed some sleep and damn it were they going to get it.

Stepping inside their rooms, all the doors closed one by one. As soon as each of their heads hit their pillows they were out like lights. Raider floated around the room and began to clean any messes that were forgotten. Thankfully, they all kept it relatively clean, remembering the letter where she told them she wasn't their mom who had to remind them to pick it up for themselves. She knew they were going to be in for a ride come the next volumes, but that can be talked about at a later time. With the clap of her hands, the room went dark.