It was dawn at Team JNPR'a dorm at Beacon Academy, and Jaune was sighing dreamingly as he slept, rolling back and forth.

Jaune: "Waffles..." he mumbled in his sleep. Suddenly, he gets a call on his Scroll, causing him to shoot up and grab it. "Hello?" He answered, only to hear a bunch of screeching static for six seconds from Ruby's Scroll before the call abruptly ended. "Uh, Ruby?"

|—————————|—————————|

In the morning, Team JNPR were making their way to the landing platform where a Bullhead was waiting for them to take them to the village. Jaune was still feeling worried about Team RWBY, wondering if they were in trouble or something, but they didn't seem to be as worried about it as he was.

Pyrrha: "I'm sure they're fine." She assured Jaune.

Jaune: "Are you sure?" He asked with a gulp, hoping that she was right.

Nora: "Probably a butt dial." She answered as she skipped ahead of them.

Ren: "Team RWBY has always performed exceptionally in the field." He stated. "We should be focusing on our own mission."

Nora: "We're gonna be deputies!" She cheered excitedly, suddenly teleporting in front of Ren with her arms raised.

Jaune: "I just got this feeling... I don't know." He muttered out, still unsure.

Pyrrha: "Jaune..." She looked at Jaune, concerned.

Suddenly, the emergency sirens rang out, and they see a large chimney of smoke billowing up from the city of Vale across the lake in the distance. Then the sirens at Beacon began blaring, startling them, with Nora covering her ears at the loud noises of the alarm. Jaune quickly realized that the city is in danger, and they must deal with the safety of the people.

Jaune: "We're changing our mission." He declared abruptly before running towards the Bullhead. "Everyone on board!" He motioned his teammates to follow him.

After a second to process the suddenness of the situation, the rest of them headed towards their Bullhead, with Jaune standing near the door doing a headcount.

Jaune: "Ren," He stopped Ren before he entered. "we'll make it to that village another time." He promised. Ren nodded in understanding and entered the Bullhead, then he turned to the pilot. "Take us into the city!" He ordered the pilot, running inside and the door closed behind him.

The Bullhead's turbines roared to life before it started hovering in the air, turning towards the direction of the pillar of smoke before flying off towards the city.

Cinder watched as the Bullhead flew away nearby. Though, Cinder's attention was mainly on the smoke in the city, the center of it from the looks of it. Which meant only one thing, their plan had been put into motion ahead of schedule. Just then, Emerald and Mercury approached her from behind.

Emerald: "You don't think..." She started, watching the destruction in the distance, due to being in shock at Roman's change of plan.

Mercury: "Sure looks like it." He answered, knowing what Emerald was going to say.

Emerald: "That's still days away!" She exclaimed.

Mercury: "So? What do we do?" He asked Cinder, who was pondering about the situation. She was getting tired of Roman's ignorance.

|—————————|—————————|

With Team RWBY in Vale, they remain surrounded by Grimm as they stand in the middle of the pavilion. They all look around for a moment, with their weapons drawn.

(YN): "Get ready!" He called, and the girls followed his instructions as they all readied their weapons. "We can't let outflank us!"

The King Taijitu roared, and the Grimm charged at the team. First, Ruby jumped up and stabs her scythe blade into the ground as Beowolves encircle her. Then she runs up and spins her scythe, still stabbed in the ground, while she kicked the Grimm away as she moves in a circle.

Next, Yang jumped up, landing on the head of one Creep before using it as a trampoline to shoot up into the air. She fired her gauntlets, the rounds tearing into several Grimm while she is in the air. However, as she cocked her gauntlets, she turned around to see three giant Nevermores crash into her, sending her falling to the ground. Luckily, (YN) sees this and jumped up to catch her bridal-style before landing on the ground.

(YN): "I got you." He set Yang down on her feet. Yang winked at him before getting back into the fight.

(YN) then looked to see many Creeps charging him from all angles. However, (YN) swiftly transformed both his sword and shield into blaster forms and spins his body while firing making a torrent of laser bolts cut through the Grimm before they get close to him.

Meanwhile, Blake ducked under one swipe from a Beowolf before slashing its head upwards and then stabbing it in the head. She then kneeled on the ground and fired eight shots from her pistols, killing eight Creeps that try to attack her.

Next, Weiss slashes two Beowolves before stabbing a third, and then conjured up a glyph before making a giant ice sword in thin air, swinging it to take out several more Grimm.

Yang hits the hood of one car on the street, lifting it up before she punched it at a few more Grimm, knocking them aside and crushing another. Behind her, (YN) was blasting a horde of Beowolves with his cannon that were running at him, then he telekinetically pulled one Beowolf to him and sliced its head off, killing it.

Ruby spins around while slicing her scythe at two Beowolves and then looks up to see the King Taijitu bearing its teeth at her and roaring. Ruby stepped back a moment before she heard a loud boom sound behind her. She and the King Taijitu look up to see Nora, flying in on her war hammer.

Nora: "NORA SMASH!" She yelled out, smashing her hammer on the head of the King Taijitu, crushing it into the ground.

Nora landed on the ground, next to her team that have just shown up to join the fight.

Pyrrha: "(YN)! What's going on?!" She demanded.

(YN): "Torchwick's plan to breach the city walls and bring a horde of Grimm here." He explained the situation. "We need to hold them off as long as we can till more help arrives."

Pyrrha: "Let's move!" She commanded, and they all run forth, while Jaune groaned that she stole his thunder.

Nora: "Smack!" She grinned wildly, batting her hammer into one Creep while Ren kicks two more Creeps, then using the blades on his pistols to slash three times at a Beowolf.

Jaune: "Okay, who's first?" He challenged while running across before he stopped as something big and black landed behind him. He turned around and looks up to see a giant Ursa standing behind him, roaring at his face. "Oh-hoh-oh okay. You're first, huh?" He chortled nervously while stepping back from the Ursa. "Heh-heh okay, no that's, that's fine."

Meanwhile, Pyrrha using her weapon in javelin form, stabs one Grimm before slashing another, then stabs a third before picking it up and throwing it over her. She then stabbed  another Creep in the mouth before looking over to see Jaune's situation. Jaune slowly backed away as the Ursa walked up to him.

Jaune: "Totally fine, done this before, done this before..." He reassured himself, and then sighed.

With a mighty scream, Jaune started swinging his sword like a maniac repeatedly at the Ursa, dealing a flurry of hits onto it. Jaune stopped a moment later and looked to see the Ursa fall onto the ground dead, to which Pyrrha smiled at him proudly at his improvement. Behind the dead Ursa a few feet away, Sun and Neptune finally arrive on the scene.

Sun: "Nobody move! Junior detectives!" He exclaimed, showing a badge.

Neptune: "We have badges so you know it's official!" He added in, showing his own badge and they fist bump each other.

However, a low and loud rumbling was heard from above. Sun and Neptune looked up to see a large Atlesian airship in the sky as well as several smaller ships fly below it. Sun and Neptune stared at the fleet, jaw-strucked, with Sun dropping his badge to the ground.

Everyone else looked up to see the ships as well. One Ursa took the opportunity to attack Ruby from behind, but it gets gunned down by a machine gun turret on one of the ships, saving her, and Ruby gave a salute to the pilot in thanks. The ships then open up their rear doors, revealing many Atlesian Kight-200s that were armed and ready for deployment, and they jumped down from the ships and into the city below.

Once they land, the Atlesian Knights quickly started firing off their rifles at any Grimm they see. One Atlesian Knight shoots a Creep in the head, three bring down an Ursa, two are attacked by a Boarbatusk with its roll charge, and one punched an Ursa across the street, landing in front of Cinder's group.

Cinder nodded her head, signaling Emerald and Mercury to attack the Grimm as she walked off, looking to maintain their cover. Mercury runs up and jump kicked one Ursa away before running to fight more.

Meanwhile, Emerald walked down one street as at least half a dozen assorted Grimm stand in front of her, noticing her presence. Emerald pulls out her weapons, a pair of revolvers with jungle-green grips, and started firing them at the Grimm as they run at her. The shots take out most of the Grimm, but one Ursa Major withstands the shots and gets close enough to strike.

The Ursa Major swings his claws at her twice, but she backflips away from the Grimm. She then extends a pair of long, curved blades under the revolvers barrels.

Emerald runs around the Ursa Major, slashing at its tough hide, and then swings her blades, with chains appearing from them and extending their range, at the Ursa Major. She jumps over it while doing a few more spinning attacks and lands on the ground behind the now dead Ursa.

(YN) launched an energy arc from throwing a spinning kick at one Creep, then sliced the head of a Beowolf that got too close to him. Then his Semblance was active when he quickly looked back to see another Beowolf launching at him, its claws raised. Just as (YN) raised his shield, the Beowolf was suddenly shot through the head, knocking it down to the ground dead.

(YN), the girls, JNPR, and Sun and Neptune looked up to see a Bullhead circling around the city with its left door opened. He sees someone inside the airship, holding up a rifle of some kind, and fired at a few Grimm in the head. Then the figure jumped out of the Bullhead, and landed right in front of Team RWBY on one knee with a weapon in hand before she stood up.

Jaune: "Whoa! Who's that?" He questioned in amaze.

Standing before Team RWBY was Rowena Silverthorn - (YN)'s mother. She was a tall, beautiful yet austere-looking and slightly intimidating woman, about the same height as Glynda Goodwitch. She has fair skin, cobalt blue eyes, long, voluminous dark blue hair, and an athletic and muscular physique and build. Her attire consists of a blue, long sleeve, square neck dress with black leggings, and dark blue, knee high, heeled boots. Over her clothing, she wears matching silver armor, featuring a dark blue trim. She has a breastplate with rounded single-piece pauldrons, and a pair of gauntlets and curved elbow guards. Her waist and hips are protected by multiple diamond shaped faulds which is connected to the lower part of her breastplate, her knees, lower legs, and ankles are protected by poleyns and greaves, and lastly she has a blue cape that reaches to her lower back with wave patterns.

In her right hand is a poleaxe with a blue haft with a large curved blade and a long spear head. It also has two rifle barrels on each side of the front of the haft, and at the end of the halt has a gunstock, a trigger, and a handguard.

Rowena: "Hope we haven't arrived too late?" She smiled.

(YN): "Mom!" He exclaimed in joy.

Weiss: "That's your mother?!" She questioned, flabbergasted, and (YN) nodded.

Rowena looked back at the Creeps approaching her, one of them running towards her. Rowena lunged her poleax into the mouth of the Creep, killing it, then pulled it out, spinning it, and slashed another Creep on her left. Four Beowolves came running towards her, and Rowena spun her poleaxe above her head before bringing it down on the first Beowolf on a diagonal slash, then horizontally sliced two more. And as for the fourth Beowolf, Rowena spins her poleaxe to her right, and aimed it at the Beowolf. She fired several rounds at the Beowolf until it fell backwards and landed on the ground dead.

Then another jumped out of the Bullhead, doing a backflip and landed on the ground, holding hilt with a broad stirrup guard with a pistol barrel in his right. This one is a man with short dark brown hair with a mullet. He wore a blue tunic with a light blue shirt underneath, black belt, grey pants, and blue boots with light blue crosses. Over him, he wears brown leather armor: a gorget, vambraces, and greaves.

???: "Hello, (YN)." He greeted. "It's been a long time."

(YN): "Lionel!" He exclaimed with a smile.

Lionel looked over to one Beowolf crouching down, ready to attack him. Lionel raised his hilt, and pointed at the Beowolf. Then suddenly, a double-edged blade shot out from the hilt, revealing to be a spadroon sword. He trilled his sword around and got into his fighting stance with two fingers pointing forward at the Beowolf.

The Beowolf charged at Lionel with a roar, and when it was close, Lionel jumped, did a front flip while horizontally slash the Beowolf's head, decapitating at, and landed on both feet. He then sliced six Creeps, then twirled his sword around before slashing another Beowolf, then performed a series of stabs to the torso, and kicked it away. Then he noticed four more Creeps running at him. Lionel twirled his sword left to right, the blade retracting, and then jumped in air, doing a 360 spin as he shot three Creeps through the head. As for the fourth Creep, the blade reappeared, and Lionel made a diagonal downward slash, killing it as he landed on one knee.

Back at the tunnel entrance, a damaged Atlesian Paladin climbed out, which was being piloted by Dr. Oobleck, and then Zwei jumped off of it before hitting a Beowolf in the head, knocking it away. Zwei then looked up as a Bullhead airship flies by, showing Professor Port along with the second year team, Team CFVY, on board.

The ship hovered over the city, and then Team CFVY jumps out of the airship. They land on the ground, with Velvet and Fox immediately running into the fray while Coco casually walked behind them, and Yatsuhashi stands behind her.

Yatsuhashi looked around as a number of Beowolves land around him, and then draws his large greatsword. It was nearly tall as himself, and is dual-edged and two-toned; the flat parts being a shiny copper while the edges appear to have a golden sheen. The blade is slightly curved, ending in a reversed, barb-like hook.

As the Grimm move to attack him, Yatsuhashi spins around and smashes his sword into the ground, unleashing a shockwave that sends all the Grimm flying and destroying the ground around him.

Meanwhile, Fox and Velvet fight off some Grimm, with Velvet kicking away two Beowolves while Fox punches one Beowolf and then impaled a Creep with his arm blades. Fox's weapons were consisted of a pair of blades attached to the gauntlets. The blades have a bronze coloration while their sharpened edges, from the midsection to the tip, are black. It has a barrel located in the front and the trigger works as the handle.

Even while blind, Fox can notice the several Grimm in front of him, and charges at them. He punches and then backflip kicked one Ursa Major into the air. Before the Grimm hits the ground, Fox runs at it and throws a flurry of quick slash attacks with his arm blades at it before knocking it back into the air. As the Ursa Major falls closer to him, he reeled back and double punches it, making its body bloat up for a moment before flying back and then exploding like a balloon, sending bones shards scattering everywhere and impaling the Grimm around it.

Some of the shards fly at his teammates, but Yatsuhashi shields Velvet while Coco swings her handbag to knock them out of the way and continued walking casually ahead of them.

Coco: "Nice hustle, Fox." She complimented him, playfully giving him a light pat on the buttock as she walked ahead of him. "Good job." Fox jumped back behind her. She walked up to a large Beowolf standing in front of her, roaring at her. She moved her sunglasses down to look at it. "YOU just destroyed my favorite clothing store." She scowled, readjusting her sunglasses and spitting on the ground. "Prepare to die."

The Beowolf swings its right claw at her, but she swatted it away with her handbag and then kicked it in the groin area, sending it onto the ground. The Beowolf looked up at her as she leaned on one leg in front of it, before Coco slammed her handbag onto its skull, killing it. She looked up to see a three Beowolves and a Death Stalker running at her. She swings her handbag around, knocking out two Beowolves and hitting a third, before kicking the third one away. She then jumped but as a Death Stalker tried to impale her with its stinger. Velvet then comes to her side, holding a small case as she's about to open it, but Coco stopped her.

Coco: "Hey, come on, you used one whole semester building that up." She reminded her, making Velvet hold back. "Don't waist it here." She then walked ahead of her.

Suddenly, her handbag opens up and transforms into a giant, brown and gold man-portable minigun. She then fired her minigun, shredding the Death Stalker to pieces, then takes out several other Grimm and finally shoots it into the air at three large Nevermores, killing all three of them. The bodies of the dead Nevermores fall behind Team CFVY as they walk through the pavilion.

Meanwhile, Zwei walked up to Dr. Oobleck, who had gotten out of the Paladin, as Professor Port joins him, and they nod their heads. They look down one street to see a number of Grimm running at them. Using their weapons, they fire off several fireball-like shots at the Grimm, killing all of them.

As they fall, Glynda walked ahead of them, using her telekinesis to take out two Grimm before she aimed her riding crop at the tunnel entrance. Pieces of the street and the building behind the entrance started to float back to the hole, and in a few seconds, the hole is sealed up, looking like it was never there in the first place.

And with that, the battle is over.

|—————————|—————————|

The student teams, teachers, and friends join together in the pavilion, and look to see Emerald and Mercury giving Roman over to two Atlesian Knights as they arrest him.

Roman: "Oh, I can't believe that you've caught me. You've really taught me the error of my ways." He said mockingly as they take him onto their ship. "Hey, hey! Watch the hat!"

Ruby looked at Emerald and Mercury as they walk up to her, all of them smiling. The people around them congratulate each other on a job well done, Team JNPR exchanging smiles, Sun and Neptune bump fists, Team CFVY likewise smile at each other, and Port and Oobleck do the same while Glynda watched from behind.

Rowena: "Good job, (YN)." She praised him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Lionel: "Your father would be proud of you." He complimented.

(YN): "Thank you." He thanked you Rowena and Lionel.

Yang: "So, (YN). These are..." She began, gesturing to Rowena and Lionel.

(YN): "Oh, right. Introductions." He cleared his throat. "Everyone, this is Rowena Silverthorn. My mother." He introduced Rowena to the girls. "And this is Lionel Banneret." He introduced next, gesturing to Lionel. "He's good friend of my father, my mom, and the rest of Team GRNT. Mom, Lionel, this is Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang." He introduced the girls to Rowena and Lionel. "My teammates." The girls waved at Rowena and Lionel.

Rowena: "Wow, you weren't kidding." She remarked. She then looked at Ruby. "So you're Ruby Rose." She mused, then formed a soft smile. "You look so much like your mother."

Ruby: "You knew my mom?" She asked, surprised.

Rowena: "Oh, yes." He nodded. "Summer was a dear friend of mine and Godred's." Hearing that, (YN)'s eyes widened in shocked.

(YN): "But... how?" He inquired, curious.

Rowena: "Oh, Team GRNT and Summer's team were really good friends, Ozpin even sent us on missions together. Our teams were the best in Beacon." She explained. "After graduating, me and Godred went on some missions with Summer and Taiyang."

(YN): "I didn't know that." He remarked astonished.

Yang: "You and (YN)'s dad did missions with our parents?" She blinked, amazed. Rowena nodded, but looked down sadly.

Rowena: "I'm deeply sorry for what happened to your mother, Ruby." She sighed. "She was an excellent Huntress."

Ruby: "It's okay." She reassured.

Rowena: "You will be a good Huntress one day, Ruby. I can feel it. Just like your mother. If she were here today, she would be very proud of you." She smiled, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "And also, it's finally nice to meet you in person."

Ruby: "Thank you, Mrs. Sliverthorn." She thanked her. "And you too."

Pyrrha: "Hello again, Mrs. Silverthorn." She greeted, getting Rowena's attention.

Rowena: "Pyrrha, it's been a while." She greeted back, and she and Pyrrha gave each a hug.

While Pyrrha was introducing her teammates, as well as Rowena her old teachers, including Glynda, Ruby walked up to (YN), who was with Lionel.

Ruby: "And Lionel?" She spoke up, (YN) and Lionel's attention. "Is he your..."

(YN): "My uncle figure? Yep." He nodded, guessing Ruby's answer.

Lionel: "I was Godred's best friend since my younger days at Beacon while I was a leader of my own team." He explained. "I am surprised that (YN) here is dating Summer's daughter. Rowena told about it when we were on mission."

Ruby: "Oh, well, hehehe..." She chuckled, scratching her head with a light blush on her face.

(YN) heard some talking, and looked to his left. Ruby immediately noticed it and followed his gaze, and to see Yang showing Rowena something on her Scroll. It was some pictures of (YN) and Ruby dancing together from the dance, few of them showed them hugging, and one picture showed (YN) and Ruby had their kiss.

Rowena: "Awww. So my baby boy has grown to be a man." She cooed in awe. (YN) and Ruby blushed bright red when they saw the picture.

Ruby/(YN): "YANG!/WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" They demanded, exclaiming.

Yang: "What? I'm just show his mom some pictures of you two." She defended. "I just can't help it, you two look so adorable together!" Rowena chuckled.

Rowena: "Well, me and Lionel should head back to our homes." She spoke up. "It's been a long mission."

(YN): "I'll see you later, Mom." He nodded.

Ruby: "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Silverthorn." She smiled.

Rowena: "You too, Ruby." She smiled back. "Take care of (YN) for me, okay?"

(YN): "Mom!" He pouted, Ruby and Rowena giggled.

Ruby: "I will. See you." She waved. And so, Rowena and Lionel left the city.

Once they left, Ruby immediately hugged (YN), which startled him a bit, but he hugged her back. Weiss, Blake, and Yang also came and hugged them as well. Soon, they break the hug, and suddenly, Yang slapped (YN) in the face.

(YN): "Ow!" He exclaimed, hold his cheek. "What was that for!?"

Yang: "That was for the stupid plan that almost got you killed." She berated.

(YN): "It was the only plan I can think of!" He defended his plan. "I thought it was gonna work, but-" Yang stopped him with a hand up as she and Blake look at each other before looking back at him, and they both gave him a kiss on the cheeks. His face was slightly red. "And... that...?"

Blake: "For saving the day, you big hero." She smiled.

(YN) couldn't help but smile bashfully, and the girls laughed. Unknown to them, Rowena watched the whole thing, and giggled quietly. Lionel noticed her expression.

Lionel: "What's funny, Rowena?" He asked Rowena. 

Rowena: "It's nothing, Lionel." She replied. "It's just... I remember the time when he was little, he always wanted to have sisters." She remembered. "Well," She closed her eyes and smiled. "I guess he got his wish." She turned and walked away. Lionel looked back at Team RWBY, and he too smiled, and walked away to join her.

|—————————|—————————|

Afterwards, Team RWBY were relaxing as they sat at the edge of the landing platform at Beacon, overlooking the city from across the lake as the Atlas ships fly over it. Ruby laid her head on (YN)'s shoulder as the cool breeze blew through the air.

Yang: "Well, we did it." She smiled with hands on her lap.

Blake: "We did it." She repeated with a smile on her face.

(YN): "Could have gone better, but considering the circumstance, I'd say a job well done." He noted.

Weiss: "If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm gonna be seriously disappointed." She frowned.

Yang: "Weiss, a two headed snake literally crushed a bakery." She retorted. "I wouldn't count on it."

(YN): "And a clothing store, and a weapon shop, and a restaurant." He listed off, counting his fingers.

Ruby: "Plus, I mean, we didn't solve everything." She noted. "A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't even know why they did this, or who that mystery girl was."

Weiss: "Well, not every story has a neat and tidy ending." She stated.

(YN): "Nothing ever goes according to plan." He added in. "All we can do now is take what we're given and make the most of it."

Blake: "We might not have all the answers, but we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars." She followed up. "And I think that's something we could be proud of."

Ruby: "Yeah!" She nodded her head. "And if anyone tries something like this again, we'll be there to stop them." Yang stretched her arms and falls back onto the ground.

Yang: "Yay, teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, go team, alright, good job..." She cheered exhaustively as Zwei joined her before leaning on one elbow. "So, what now?"

Weiss: "I suggest training for the tournament, but I guess we have that covered at this point." She replied.

(YN): "Should train anyways, even though I'm not able to compete in the tournament." He said. "But, I'll be cheering for you."

Blake: "So then..." She began, waiting for a suggestion.

Ruby: "Uhh... Time for bed?" She suggested.

(YN): "Sounds good to me." He agreed with Ruby. "Girls?" He asked the other three.

Weiss: "Oh, please, yes." She agreed without question.

Blake: "Absolutely." She nodded along with a yawn.

Yang: "I'm going to sleep forever." She groaned, eager to be in bed.

With that agreed, they stood up and walked back towards the main campus as they returned to their dorm from a long night.

|—————————|—————————|

Meanwhile, Ozpin was in his office, starring out to the city aloofly while holding his coffee mug in his hands as he holds a conversation with the Council, the leaders of the kingdom of Vale.

Councilman: "Ozpin?" He called him, but no answer. "OZPIN!" He called him again. Ozpin turned in his chair towards his desk.

Ozpin: "Yes, councilmen." He answered. On the screen was the council members of Vale, and a smaller screen with Ironwood was in the corner.

Councilman: "You've left us with no choice!" He stated sternly. "The Vytal Festival Tournament cannot be broadcast, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens." Ozpin didn't say anything, he just of a sip from his drink. "Ahem... Therefore... we have reached out to the Atlas Council, and together have decided that the best option, is to appoint General Ironwood as head of security for the event."

Ironwood: "Thank you, councilmen." He thanked gratefully as he appeared on screen. "Our kingdom is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to ensure that this event runs as smoothly and SAFELY as possible."

Councilmen: "And we thank you, General." He thanked back for his cooperation.

Ozpin: "Will THAT be all?" He asked, tired of this conversation.

Councilman: "For now." He replied, but Ozpin knew they weren't done with him."But after this festival comes to a close, we are going to have a serious discussion regarding your position at Beacon Academy. General Ironwood's reports of these last few weeks have left us somewhat... concerned. I'm sure you understand."

Soon, the video feed of the Council disappeared, leaving Ironwood on the other end alone with Ozpin. They silently stare at each other for a moment.

Ironwood: "This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise, I will keep our people safe." He vowed. "You have to trust me." And with that, he hanged up the call.

Ozpin then turned his chair around to look at the large Atlesian Ariship outside his window.

|—————————|—————————|

Onboard his flagship, Ironwood, with his hands behind his back, walked over to the window and looked towards the academy and Ozpin's office.

Ironwood: "You brought this on yourself." He muttered out as he lowered his head with his eyes closed, chastising Ozpin once more to himself.

He then turned away from the window and walked towards a holding cell where two soldiers were guarding. They saluted to Ironwood as he stood in front of the door, just as it opened to reveal Roman with his head down, albeit without his signature hat.

Ironwood: "Leave us." He ordered them, and the soldiers did as they are told, leaving him alone with Roman. "I've been informed that so far you've refused to co-operate with the authorities." Roman lifted his head to look at him.

Roman: "I know this might be hard to believe, General, but uh... I'm not the biggest fan of local law enforcement." He frowned with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Ironwood: "How about the world's strongest military power?" He asked rhetorically, crossing his arms. Roman knew he was referring to the Paladins that he stole.

Roman: "Hmm.. first impressions... not great." He answered, causing Ironwood's eyes to narrow.

Ironwood: "I'm going to give you ONE chance." He offered sternly. This peaked Roman's interest, and gave a small smirk and a jerk of his head. "Who's REALLY behind all of this?" He questioned.

Roman: "Isn't it obvious?" He began, leaning closer as Ironwood leaned his left ear towards him to hear his answer. "You're looking at him." He answered rhetorically, leaning back with his arms spread out and up.

Ironwood: "Hm..." He sighed, eyes closed. "Very well then." He started walking away with his hands behind his back.

Roman: "What's the matter, General? I thought you wanted to talk." He taunted, slyly smirking.

Ironwood: "The council's given me custody over you for as long as I see fit." He threatened coldly as he continued on his way. "So you can make yourself comfortable. I can be sure that you'll have plenty of time to talk."

Roman: "Oh, wonderful. Hehehe..." He laughed maniacally as his cell door closes.

|—————————|—————————|

At Vale, Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury were now standing on a rooftop overlooking the city as they took in everything that had happened today.

Cinder: "All in all, I call today a success." She declared remarkably.

Emerald: "Those stupid kids really made a mess of things." She reminded her.

Mercury: "Yeah. A lot of Faunus didn't make it out the tunnels." He added notedly, looking at where the tunnel entrance had once been there. "You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us?"

???: "No." Spoke a new voice.

They looked to the side, and stepping up to the group was a tall, male Faunus with a lean built and auburn hair that spikes backward in a windswept way. While most of his hair was red, he had streaks of brown. His Faunus heritage was a bull, as he had two reddish-black horns, one on each side of his head, also seemingly slanted back. He wore an asymmetrical black, long-sleeved, double-breasted stylized high-collared blazer with slit sleeves along with red thorn sigils adorned with a white crest that lined up on his left shoulder. His suit jacket had crimson lining atop his red shirt, with red thorn sigils atop a black flap attached to the bottom of the left hem and his wilting rose emblem on the back over an emblazoned white sigil resembling the curved stems and flower of the deadly nightshade plant. His blazer was half-buttoned, exposing a red shirt with a black line running parallel to his collar under it.

His mask was whitish-tan with red, horn-like symbols decorating the front and two slits on each side presumably to allow for vision. This is a redesigned version of the Grimm masks typically worn by most members of the White Fang. He wore long black dress pants, black shoes with red soles and black gloves with red sigils, and wore a black belt with white domino marks on it. His color palette generally consists of black and red. And in his left hand is a gray scabbard with great resemblance of a rifle with his sword sheathed.

This is the one that Blake mentioned back at Mountain Glenn. Her former mentor. Adam.

Adam: "But they'll listen to me." He reassured them.

|—————————|—————————|

It was late at night and Team RWBY were in their dorm sleeping peacefully. Classes were cancelled for the whole day, letting teams recover from the battle. (YN), however, couldn't get any sleep as he laid on his left side. He was in deep in thought about what Merrick had said. If what Merrick says is true, then there are more like him. People with Hero powers. But why would Ozpin lie to him about being the last. For now, it will have to wait. The Vytal Festival Tournament is coming up.

Just as (YN) was about to shut his eyes, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He turned over to his right side to see Ruby sitting on her knees on his futon before him, holding a pillow.

(YN): "Oh, hey, Ruby." He greeted as he sat up. "You can't sleep either?"

Ruby: "Yeah..." She nodded admittedly. "Can I... sleep with you tonight again?" She requested.

Even though this wasn't the first time she asked him this, she was still flustered. (YN) gave a soft smile, and cupped her left cheek. He gently pulled her into a kiss, in which she closed her eyes and kissed back. After a five second kiss, they broke away.

(YN): "Of course you can." He responded kindly. "After all, we are together, aren't we?" Ruby formed a small smile, and nodded.

Ruby laid down on the futon as he pulled the covers over them. He pulled her close with his arms while their legs intertwined. They pressed their foreheads together as they starred lovingly into their eyes. (YN) moved his right hand to her cheek, caressing her skin for a moment before they kissed again. They began their kissing session in a very slow, tenderly pace. Maybe this might help them to go sleep. After 10 minutes of their kissing session, they began to feel tired, and separated themselves as they looked at each other.

Ruby: "Goodnight, (YN)." She whispered. "I love you." (YN) smiled softly, and gave her one more kiss.

(YN): "I love you, too, Ruby." He whispered back. And with that, Ruby snuggled into his chest, and they both fell into a peaceful slumber.

The End