(Three days later)
(Taro Pov)

It's been three days since Lance disappeared. I'm starting to get worried about him. Both Ice and Wendi have done full sweeps of the area around the school, yet no sign of him. I sat on my bed, my face in the palms of my hands.

"I'm running out of ideas, guys. Where else could he be?" I asked. Ice looked at me.

"Maybe he's in Vale somewhere?" He asked. While that is a legit possibility, I doubt it. It's kind of hard to miss a six foot four purple haired silent beast like him. I sighed and looked at Wendi.

"Wendi, you dated him once, right? Where do you think he'd go?" I asked. Wendi shrugged.

"I don't know. He's never run off like this before." She replied. This is hopeless. At this rate, we'll never find Lance. As that thought entered my brain, the door slowly creeped open. We all turned and looked, seeing Lance standing in the door frame. Ice flopped on his bed.

"Oh thank goodness, he came back!" Ice said, very tired. Lance walked back to his bed. I barely kept myself from turning Super Saiyan.

"I'm not even going to bother asking where you've been because I know I'm not going to get an answ-"

"I need your help." Lance said. My mind shattered, reformed and shattered again. Lance can talk!? Finally he speaks up! "Look, I don't have much time, so I'll keep this brief. Blake and I are investigating something involving the White Fang at the docks. Some other person will be there, but I need backup, and I don't trust anyone else but you guys." He put his hand out in front of him. "Team Twilight forever?" I thought about it for a sec before putting my hand on top of his, then Wendi joined in and Ice capped it off.

"Team Twilight forever!" We all yelled, throwing our hands in the air. Everyone grabbed my shoulders as I placed two fingers to my forehead.

"Let's do this dance." I said, teleporting us to the docks. We appeared on top of a building as Blake was looking out over what was going on. We crawled next to her as another Faunus appeared holding an apple.

"Hey. We've got backup. Nice! I stole you guys some food." He said. Blake rolled her eyes.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" She asked.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" He retorted. Blake gave him the death stare. "Right. Too soon." Suddenly, engine roared overhead. We ducked down and saw a ship landing in the center of the docks. As the door opened, out stepped members of the White Fang.

"The White Fang? What are the White Fang doing here?" Wendi asked.

"It's just as I feared. They're behind the Dust shop robberies lately." Blake replied.

"I don't think they're alone." Ice said. A voice rang out from inside the ship.

"Hey! What's the holdup? We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?" The voice asked. I recognize that voice. I clenched my fist, trying to contain Super Saiyan.

"Torchwick! I knew he was behind this..." I growled. Suddenly, Blake jumped off the roof and ran at Torchwick. She grabbed him from behind, positioning her sword on his neck. "Oh boy, here we go." Blake pulled off her bow, revealing cat ears underneath. Blake's a Faunus. Okay, I can deal with that later.

"Brothers of the White Fang. Why are you aiding this scum?" She asked. The White Fang slowly lowered their weapons as the rest of us hid behind the containers of Dust surrounding the area. More ships swirled around the area. I looked to the side and saw Torchwick reaching for his cane.

"Blake, look out!" I yelled, firing a ki blast. Torchwick fired his cane, blowing Blake away. He looked at me.

"Oh, it's you. You were with Red, weren't you? And your little friend too." He said. I pulled out Crimson.

"I'm not the same boy from that night! I've grown stronger!" I yelled. Torchwick smiled. He aimed his cane at Blake, who was still getting off the ground.

"I'm sure you have." He said, firing another shot. Before I could react, Lance ran at the shot, screaming as loud as he could. Sonic vibrations came from Lance's mouth, destroying the shot mid air. Torchwick kept firing, but Blake and Lance managed to dodge every one. As Torchwick approached where the were, a banana peel dropped on his head. The monkey Faunus landed on him, rolling in front of him.

"Leave them alone." He said. Ice, Wendi and I stood next to him.

"Yeah, Torchwick. You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." I added. More White Fang members dropped from the ships.

"You four really aren't the brightest bananas in the bunch, are you?" Torchwick asked. I gripped my weapon tighter.

"Twilight, divide and conquer!" I yelled. Wendi and Ice took on the White Fang members while monkey boy and I took on Torchwick. Monkey boy combined his nunchucks into a staff as I ran at Torchwick. I swung my sword, but he blocked with his cane. I used my tail to jab him in the face and ducked, letting monkey boy vault over me, kicking Torchwick in the face. He rolled back and fired another shot, which I blocked with my bare hands, allowing Blake to leap over my head.

"He's mine!" She yelled, clashing with Torchwick. The blades of her sword clanged as they hit Torchwick's cane. She vanished and reappeared several times before Torchwick beamed her with his cane. At which point, Lance jumped in. He connected his sickles into a chain weapon, swinging it at the bowler hat wearing criminal. Blake recovered as she and Lance charged Torchwick, knocking him over. He fired at a hanging container, which started to fall. I turned Super Saiyan and caught the container, holding it above my head. It was extremely heavy. I groaned as I tried to keep myself from being squashed. Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted. She stood on the building we were on, unfolding Crescent Rose. Behind her was Penny.

"Oh, hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" Roman asked. Ruby turned to look at Penny. Roman took his chance and fired at Ruby.

"Ruby!" I yelled, teleporting in front of her. I outstretched my arms as the shot hit me square in the chest, tearing away at my clothes. It stung a little.

"Taro! Are you okay?" Ruby asked. I chuckled.

"Never better." I said, a little pained. I suddenly fell to my knees as Roman fired another shot. I outstretched my hand to shoot it with a ki blast, but that didn't happen this time. Instead, a torrent of fire erupted from my palm, absorbing the shot. I gasped and looked at my hands.

"Taro... that was your semblance. You can control fire!" Ruby said excitedly. As she said that, Penny walked beside me.

"Penny, what are you doing?" I asked. She looked at us.

"Don't worry. I'm combat ready!" She said as swords came out of her back. She lept onto the battlefield, quickly dispatching the remaining White Fang. As more gunships flew in, she flew back against a warehouse before her swords began to spin. Suddenly, a green beam of energy appeared from her swords, destroying the gunships. They crashed down into the bay behind us as I teleported next to Penny. She was holding another ship in place.

"That's great, Penny! Keep it there! I want to try something." I said, powering up to my max in Super Saiyan. I cupped my hands beside my body as a blue energy ball formed between them. "KAAAAAAAAA.... MEEEEEEEEE... HAAAAAAAAA...MEEEEEEEEE..." I threw my hands forwards, unleashing my ultimate technique. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I screamed, the blast destroying the ship and parting the clouds. As the pieces fell around us, another ship started to take off. Roman closed the bay door. "Hey! Get back here! I'm not done with yo-AUGH!" I tried to fly after him, but I had exhausted my energy. I fell out of Super Saiyan as Roman's ship flew away. The others came to help me with Ruby supporting me since I was too weak to stand on my own. She sat me down next to the others as Weiss and Yang arrived. Ruby and Blake explained everything as Ice put his hand on my shoulder.

"Here. You can have some of my energy. It should get you back to Beacon." He said. I smiled.

"Thanks, Ice." I replied. Ice looked me over.

"Man, you really took a beating, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"How did you do that huge blast!? It was awesome!"

"Well, it wasn't all me. Some of it was Pen... hey, where did she go?" I asked. Penny was right beside me, now she's gone. As I thought that thought, Ruby came walking over. I sighed. "I know, I should've told you where I was, I didn't mean to make you worry and I-" Before I could finish, Ruby kissed me. I quickly shut up and melted into it. When we parted, Ruby hugged me tight.

"I don't care about that stuff. All that matters is that you're okay, and you are. So I'm happy." She said happily. I wrapped my arms around her. "I love you Taro."

"I love you too Ruby." I replied. Ice helped me to my feet. "Let's get outta here." I said as we all made our way back to Beacon, putting this night behind us.

(END VOLUME 1)