The day before the Tournament

"Ruby, you need to calm down." Weiss said as she saw Ruby fidget as she sat on a blanket in one of Beacon's gardens.

"I'm sorry!" Ruby blurted as she gained a huge smile. "It's just that the tournament starts tomorrow and I'm so excited!"

"Don't worry Rubes, we're gonna kick all kinds of butt, eh Blakey?" Yang said as she looked at her partner.

Deciding to loosen up for a bit, Blake only gave a small smile as she waved her tiny team RWBY as she read her book.

"See? Nothing to get worried about!" Yang said as Ruby stopped fidgeting.

"Okay..." Ruby said as she stood up. "So what are we gonna do next? I'm kinda bored..."

As the team began to think about what to do they suddenly heard a familiar voice call out to them.

"Hey guys!" Jaune called out as he and Pyrrha walked up to them. "Me and the others are gonna have a movie marathon, wana join?"

Before WBY could answer, Ruby blurted out "Do you have the 'Deadly Arms' movie?!"

"Every single one." Pyrrha said.

"Ohhhhh!" Ruby squealed as she shot up. "Okay let's go!" She said, not leaving room for her team to answer.

"I'm game." Yang said, shrugging.

"I don't mind." Blake said as she snapped her book close.

"I suppose so." Weiss said.

"Great! Let's go, Nora and Ren are waiting in our dorm." Jaune said as they began to walk towards JNPR's dorm, not aware of their 'shadows'.

Beacon Courtyard

"-Ren's making the snacks." Jaune finished as he looked towards RWBY.

"Ohhh... That's good." Yang said as she rubbed her belly.

"Well at least there will be decent food." Weiss said as she looked at her scroll.

Nodding, Jaune said "Yeah, plus after words we can play some video games or..." As he began to trail off Pyrrha noticed that the girls had become awfully silent.

"Jaune." Pyrrha said, interrupting him grabbing the blondes shoulder.

"What's up?" Jaune asked before he realized that RWBY was silent.

Turning around, Pyrrha began "Are you four ok-" before she stopped as she noticed their expressions of fear.

"Hey! What's wrong?!" Jaune said as he noticed their conditions.

"This... This feeling..." Weiss muttered as her eyes darted around nervously.

"It's so familiar..." Yang said as she turned her head started to look everywhere.

"What's wrong? You can tell us." Pyrrha said as she began to worry for them.

"No... It can't be." Blake said as her eyes widened.

"What!?" Jaune said as he began to nervously shuffle his feet.

"It's him." Ruby breathed.

Jaune and Pyrrha's eyes widened when they realized who they were speaking of.

"Oh no... We need to get out of here!" Jaune said as he drew his shield, much to the confusion of nearby students.

But before the others could react, a familiar white and purple barrier surrounded team RWBY.

"No!" Jaune and Pyrrha yelled as they saw the barrier appear.

All of team RWBY was shocked when they saw the barrier appear, but they were even more shocked when they heard the voices.

"We have found you... Our Mistresses."

Cinder had always prided herself in being able to keep calm most situations.

She had kept her calm in the CCT, when Torchwick had accelerated the breach, even when she and her pawns had fought the maiden.

It was because of this that she did not panic when the man in the black coat had appeared through a dark portal. Nor the fact that he was defeating Mercury with ease.

"Gah!" Mercury yelled when the man appeared behind him and hit him with his blades of energy.

"Move." The man said as he kicked Mercury into a wall.

Finished with Mercury, the man turned to face Cinder, not noticing Emerald sneaking behind him.

'Yet there isn't a sign of her semblance.' Cinder thought as Emerald leaped at the man, only to phase through him like a ghost.

"Wha-" Emerald said, only to be interrupted when the man suddenly grabbed her by the throat.

"A petty illusionist, just like him..." The man muttered quietly as he threw Emerald to the side where Mercury was recovering.

With the pawns out of the way the man turned to face Cinder, who only responded with a calm and cold glare.

The seconds passed by slowly as the two looked at each other, the silence almost deafening.

Then, faster than Mercury and Emerald could hope to react, Cinder's eyes lit up like a flames as she raised her hand and shot lightning at the hooded man, who proceeded to counter with his own beam of black-blue lightning.

The clash of lightning only lasted for a few moments, but it was a fierce one as both beams redirected each other towards the ceiling.

Taking a moment to observe the results of their clash, Cinder returned her gaze towards the stranger and said "What do you want?"

"I'm glad you decided to take the diplomatic route." The man said as he lowered his arm.

Cinder only responded with a glare that caused the man to chuckle.

"Then let's get to business." The man said as he began to pace around the room. "To put it simple, I know what you're planning to do, quite the devilish scheme, unleashing those... paradoxes into the city."

While Cinder showed no outward reaction, though she did question why he called the Grimm paradoxes, Mercury and Emerald froze when they heard that.

"Is that it? Do you want us to stop? To repent for our crimes?" Cinder questioned in a sardonic tone.

This only caused the man to release a deep chuckle. "I do not care what befalls this city; I only wish to protect my investments."

"Investments?" Mercury questioned.

Snapping his fingers, a creature suddenly appeared before it bowed to the man. The creature was colored white and silver, and it was shaped like a suit that had no one inside.

"Give it to them." The man said as the Dusk handed a folder to Cinder before returning to the man's side.

Slightly surprised by the strange creature, Cinder opened the folder and raised an eyebrow at its contents.

'Are these... The ones from The Breach?' She thought as she gave the man a questioning look.

Seeing her look, the man said "All you need to know is that when you proceed with your plans, those four will not be harmed. I have invested much time and resources into their growth."

"Is that all?" She questioned.

"Well, I am not an unfair man." He said as he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, a multitude of creatures appeared behind him. Some looked like the first, while others had different appearances.

"When they're not busy, use them as you wish, just make sure that you give them a place of operations and I'm sure that you'll find may uses for their talents."

Cinder contemplated this offer for a few moments before gaining a slight smirk. "Well then, I think this is the beginning of a wonderful partnership."

"Indeed it is my fair maiden…"