A/N: Yeah, I know, I'm late again. This is the reason I chose to make this a collection of loosely-related oneshots rather than a properly flowing story. Hard to believe I started working on this before Volume 3 even started. Anyway, this chapter will feature a team of OCs I created called, are you ready for it, Team SHDW (pronounced Shadow; I know, such an original name for an OC team, right). One of the characters was created in response to my cousin asking for me to make a badass, not-give-a-fuck, troublemaker type character for him. After that, I decided to give said character a team and the rest became this story. Hope you all enjoy it.

And a special thanks to my friend Aditya for once again putting up with my bullshit and proofreading this for me.

Chapter 4: Problem Students

Darkness, as far as the eye could see, is all one would find outside the city of Vale at night. Without the modern conveniences of city living, it would be difficult to navigate the fields and forests where the pale light of the moon was the only guide. It was even more dangerous because the Creatures of Grimm became much more active at night; without the protection of the city's walls, it would be very difficult for one to survive very long.

These were all things going through the mind of a young blonde cheetah-Faunus as he sprinted through the plains at full speed, a lone Beowolf hot on his trail. He looked around and ran towards a faint glimmer in the tree line, courtesy of his natural Faunus night-vision. The Beowolf sensed the change in direction and adjusted accordingly, using its superior sense of smell to track its prey. The Faunus kept running until he reached a large metallic structure between the trees, slipping between the bars easily. The monstrous wolf followed, finding itself unable to pursue further; it turned around only to find its path blocked as a metal gate dropped down.

A pair of humanoid figures in hooded black uniforms dropped down from the trees, their grey armor and masks catching the moonlight. They secured the cage as the black creature bashed its white bone-like armor against its prison. The cheetah-Faunus came around to the front of the cage and joined them.

"Nice work." said a man with warthog tusks on the sides of his mouth.

"Welcome to the White Fang." said the other man, handing the blonde a uniform and mask of his own.

The three Faunus turned to see a heavily militarized transport truck pull up just outside the woods.

"Load it up!" called the driver as his passenger got out to help with the cage.

Some heavy lifting and a brief drive later, the truck pulled up to a large abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of the city. The Faunus got out and started unloading the cage. Other trucks with similar cages were being unloaded throughout the truck bay.

Overseeing the operation was a White Fang member wearing glasses over his mask, standing next to a curious looking human woman. Her hair was half brown, half pink, with streaks of white mixed in with the pink. She wore a white tailcoat over a brown corset, white knee-high boots over brown pants, black gloves, and a mess of necklaces covering her chest. She was casually twirling a folded pink parasol in her hands when her pink and brown eyes noticed a Faunus with a clipboard approach them.

"So far everything's on schedule…except for truck fifteen." he said, as the truck in question pulled in, quite worse for wear.

Four Faunus got out with torn clothes, and one of them having to be supported by two of his partners. The driver of the vehicle reported in to the woman in charge.

"M-Miss Neopolitan, um…"

The short woman held up her hand, cutting him off. "What happened?" she asked, tersely.

The two Faunus that were standing by went pale, knowing that hearing their multicolored companion speak meant trouble.

The third Faunus swallowed a lump in his throat as he collected his thoughts. "Um, well, the c-cage broke as we were loading it onto the truck. The Ursa got out and we had to kill it."

Neopolitan nodded as she seemed to contemplate the young man's explanation. Suddenly, she used her parasol to sweep his feet out from under him before raising her leg up and drop-kicking him to the floor. With a quick motion, she drew a thin blade from her parasol and slashed the downed Faunus across the chest; she drove her high-heeled boot into the wound, causing him to scream out in pain.

"Hey Perry," whispered the clipboard-holding Faunus to his bespectacled comrade, "was she always this brutal?"

"No, she's gotten a lot more violent since Torchwick was handed over to the Atlesian General."

They continued to watch their de facto leader torture their failed comrade until Perry stepped in.

"Miss Neo, I think you've made your point."

Neo's gaze snapped to the boy before releasing her victim with a disappointed sigh.

"Somebody get him a medic, then get back to work." said Perry. "Miss Neo, maybe you should take the rest of the night off."

"Y'know, Perry, I think I'll do just that." she said as she headed for the door. "I can see why Roman took a liking to you, you're actually competent."

Perry simply nodded as she walked out of the building.

Professor Ozpin was not having a very good morning. He had forgone his morning walk and was now sitting at his desk, being handed form after form to sign.

"And this form acknowledges that the Beacon grounds will host twenty to thirty stands during the festival." said Glynda, putting another paper on the desk.

"Mmm." mumbled Ozpin, signing.

"And this one covers locker rentals and usage fees for the coliseum and its facilities."

"Am I quite finished yet?"

"The more you focus, the faster you'll get done."

"So much for our morning walk."

"It's a day off for the academy today, if you went on a morning walk you wouldn't be back 'til dinner."

"Perhaps." he said with a chuckle. "What's this?"

"That form acknowledges that General Ironhead is in charge of festival security."

"Glynda." said Ozpin, disapprovingly.

"Basically, it makes that lummox responsible for the safety of our students and the civilians."

"Glynda!"

"What?"

"Please don't be difficult. The council made their decision, we just have to bear with it."

Glynda sighed. "I know."

Ozpin signed the form and moved it to the now foot-tall pile on the other side of his desk. "So, is that the last of it, or do you have something else for me?"

"Just one more thing. I have some student files I'd like you to look over."

"Any particular reason?"

"They're just some students that I've considered problematic since their first day here. I feel like their reckless behavior has gone on long enough."

"I take it you're specifically referring to Mr. Howzer of Team SHDW?" asked Ozpin as he read the names on each file.

"Ah yes, Vermillion, a perfect case in point. I had to lock him up during that inspection to make sure he wouldn't cause trouble. He's actually finishing up a morning detention right now for setting off confetti bombs on Valentine's Day."

"I doubt a little confetti-"

"From the top of this tower."

"Well-"

"It was everywhere."

"Glynda," said Ozpin, getting up from his desk, "I'll look over these later; however, I think you'll find that even the most troublesome students are worth keeping around."

Glynda furrowed her brow. "Well, you've never given me a reason to doubt you."

"Good to know. Now, I believe it is a day off."

"Right, I have quite a bit of work to take care of." she said as she walked out of the office.

Ozpin sighed. "I think that defeats the purpose."

A young man stood watch in the hall next to a door marked 'DETENTION.' He had long hair that was black on one side and white on the other. He wore a black short-sleeved button-down, completely unbuttoned, over a red t-shirt; red and black cargo-pants covered his legs over a matching pair of sneakers. He was entertaining himself by hanging off the wall at an angle and pulling himself back up repeatedly with a set of nearly invisible wires. His expression turned from bored to relieved when he heard the door finally open.

The boy opened his red eyes to see another young man step out of the room. This one had short, silver-streaked brown hair, and red eyes. He wore an open black combat vest, over an orange tank-top, and baggy black shorts with orange pouches that reached down to his shins. The outfit was completed by a pair of orange and black high-top sneakers.

"Yo, I'm so glad to be outta that place." said the orange-clad boy, before noticing he had company. "Oh, hey Crimson."

"V, you know it was your fault you got detention, right?"

"Only 'cause Goodbitch caught me."

"I told you not to set off the confetti bombs on top of the CCT."

"You're right, I should'a done it all around campus so she wouldn't know where to look for me."

"That probably would've only made things worse."

Vermillion shrugged it off with a toothy grin. "Relax, man, I'm just joking. Yo, let's head down to lunch, I'm starving."

The two boys headed across Beacon campus to the dining hall; they made their way over to a table where two other students were waiting.

"So, finally out of detention V?" asked a girl with blonde hair and tan skin. She wore a small black vest over an orange tube-top, baggy white pants, and gold bands on her wrists and arms.

"Nice to see you, too, Amber."

Golden eyes narrowed, as she crossed her arms. "Don't give me lip, Vermillion."

"Don't call me that, it's V, I hate being called Vermillion!"

"Alright, will you two calm down." said Crimson, trying to restore order.

At that point, the third boy sitting at the table looked up. He had dark grey hair with a long black headband. He wore a short-sleeved white v-neck and an unzipped ghillie suit with the sleeves tied around his waist.

"Yeah, c'mon guys, can't we just have lunch in peace?"

"What Onyx said, eating is good." said Crimson.

"Fine," Amber said, rolling her eyes, "sit down, we still need to talk about tonight."

The four teammates sat down and started chatting away; meanwhile, Team RWBY and company were having their own conversation one table over.

"-but man, your headmaster is scary." said Neptune.

"Oh, he's not so bad," said Ruby, "I mean, he's nice to me."

"Everyone's nice to you Ruby." said Sun.

"That's not true, Weiss was horrible to me when we first met."

"Hey!" cried the Heiress in question.

"I'm with Ruby on this one," said Jaune, "Ozpin's not so bad. He…um, he was actually a big help to me the other day."

Ren and Nora shared a knowing glance while Pyrrha simply smiled.

"Well, wish us luck, we're gonna be tailing him all day." said Neptune.

"Can I come along!?" asked Ruby, excitedly.

"You sure? You kinda almost got detention last time you tried to help us." said Sun.

"Oh that was just Professor Goodwitch overreacting; besides, tailing Professor Ozpin sounds like great stealth training. I could become a ninja like Blake, oh, or an infiltrator like Solid Serpent from the Metal Cog games!"

Blake and the others laughed at Ruby's enthusiasm, all except Yang who seemed more interested in the chatter coming from the next table. She thought she recognized two of the students and quickly found herself eavesdropping on a conversation about something a thrill-seeker like her could appreciate, racing.

"-so the route is set. How's turnout looking?" said Amber.

"So far, so good." said Crimson. "We've got messages back from twelve people."

"Oh snap!" exclaimed V. "That's already two more than last time, this is gettin' good."

"Good thing I scouted such a wide track." added Onyx.

"Have room for one more?" chimed Yang, adding herself to the conversation.

"Who's askin'?" asked V, as he and his team turned to their guest.

Yang slid over and sat down at their table, drawing a curious glance from Crimson. "That you, Xiao Long?" he asked.

"Yup. I thought I recognized you guys, you're Crimson and V from back at Signal. How've you guys been?"

"Oh y'know, same old. I heard you were at Beacon, but never-"

"Damn, you got hot!"

"Oh stop it V, you're flattery is 'Crimsonal.'"

The whole table groaned at Yang's pun, except V who was practically laughing his head off.

"And I see you still have the same…unique sense of humor." said Crimson, trying not to insult his old friend.

"Oh yeah, my little sister Ruby's here too, she's my team leader." said Yang, pointing towards her table proudly.

"Wow, she ain't half-bad eith-ow!"

Crimson glared at V after giving him a stern elbow to the ribs.

Amber cleared her throat, getting the attention of everyone at the table. "You guys wanna fill us in anytime?"

"Oh, right, sorry. This is Yang Xiao Long, V and I knew her back at Signal."

"Nice to meet'cha." said Yang.

"Likewise, I'm Amber Sahara. You clearly already know Howzer and Dicer, and the introvert next to me is Onyx Wybert. Together, we're Team SHDW."

"Cool, I'm on Team RWBY, they're-"

"Yo yo yo," interrupted V, "enough with the catching up. You came here 'cause you wanted to race, right?"

"Oh, right. So, you guys are setting up a street race?"

"Yes, we are." replied Crimson. "You want in?"

"Any vehicle restrictions?"

"None."

"Good, Bumblebee and I will see you on the track."

"We'll send you the place and time." said Amber.

Yang nodded and rejoined her circle of friends, drawing some curious looks as she sat down.

"Who was that?" asked Ruby.

"Just some old friends from back on Patch and their team."

Ruby squinted to get a better look. "I think I remember them; aren't they brothers or something?"

"Cousins."

"Oh, right. You hanging out with them later?"

"Yup. Prob'ly gonna be out late so don't wait up for me."

Ruby just shook her head at this, knowing she would end up waiting anyway.

With the day off from classes, the students all boarded airships and dispersed into the city of Vale. Some went shopping or on other errands, some spent the day at the movies and hanging out with friends, and a select few made their way into the seedier parts of the city.

A sinister trio walked through the slums, their bodies covered in hooded black cloaks they put on while sneaking in the alleys.

"You're certain we weren't followed?" asked the leader, a woman with a cold, detached voice.

"I'm sure." said a female subordinate.

"Good, we can shed the disguises for now."

The three removed their cloaks as they turned down a particularly abandoned alleyway. The leader strode forward in a strapless red mini-dress with an intricate gold trim, her raven hair falling over her shoulder and covering her left eye. Her black glass heels clinked on the ground as her golden eyes scanned their surroundings.

"The safehouse shouldn't be very far." said her female companion.

The girl had dark skin, red eyes, and mint-green hair. She wore a pair of white capris and a white-strapped green tank-top that bared her midriff and a significant amount of cleavage.

Like she had said, a small, seemingly abandoned house soon came into view. It looked like any other condemned building; but, if one knew what to look for, they would see it was much more than that. The vague shape of a security camera in the window, a motion sensor hidden in the overgrown bushes, and some damage on the house that looked a little too deliberate.

"Stay out here and keep watch." said the red-clad woman as she made her way to the door.

The other two did as they were told and stood at attention on the edge of the property. The green-haired girl eyed her companion anxiously. The grey-haired man dusted off his black pants as he finished checking the weaponized greaves he wore on his feet. He patted the shoulder pads on his grey shirt before noticing his partner.

"Y'know Emerald, I know I'm good looking and all, but you're staring is making me feel self-conscious." said the man, sarcastically.

"Shut it, Mercury, I'm just on edge. Why do we have to stand out here while Cinder goes in alone?"

"If the boss wants to go in alone, that's all there is to it."

"Still, I don't like it, meeting those two by herself. What if they turn on us? They could attack her, she could be in danger in there."

Mercury rolled his eyes. "Em, she could kill us all, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Don't call me 'Em' you arrogant jackass!" she yelled, frustrated with Mercury's nonchalant attitude.

Meanwhile, in the safehouse, Cinder made her way into the living room. There were a couple of couches, and a coffee table covered in monitors and computer equipment. Sitting on one couch was a short woman with pink and brown hair. On the other sat a young man with spiked red and black hair, a set of horns clearly visible among his locks. He wore a silver mask with an intricate red and black pattern, black pants, and a long black coat with rose patterns embroidered on it.

"Good, we're all here now." said the man, sternly.

"Adam, Neo, I take it we're prepared?" asked Cinder.

"My men are ready." replied Adam while Neo simply rolled her eyes and nodded.

"We're short a few, correct?" asked Cinder, turning to the multicolored woman.

"Yes." said Neo, quietly.

"That's on you, Adam."

"I know, I picked better this time, and the men who fucked up will be punished…severely."

"Very well. Transport the Grimm tonight as scheduled; Neo, see that they get it done."

"Hold it, there's something we need to discuss about Shorty here."

Neo gave the horned man a venomous glare before Cinder raised a hand, telling her to back off.

"We've gone along with her so far, but last night went too far. The White Fang will discipline its troops on its own terms, not hers."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that this 'partnership' of ours is already strained, the White Fang would've already deserted you if I weren't here. Reign her in…or we can come up with our own solution."

Cinder contemplated Adam's words before turning to Neo, whose eyes were both pink as her face turned absolutely livid.

"You have been rather prickly lately." said Cinder, disapprovingly. "Care to give me an explanation?"

Neo simmered down slightly. "It's been weeks, when are you planning to break Roman out of prison?"

Cinder smiled as she walked to the thief; she placed one hand on Neo's shoulder while the other raised her chin up and forced eye contact.

"My dear Neopolitan, I know you miss screwing your boss after every other job, but now is simply not the time to retrieve him." she said, as her amber eyes glowed threateningly. "Until then, you obey me. Don't take your bad mood out on our allies again. Understood?"

Neo felt the palm on her shoulder heat up, her eyes turning from pink to white as the message stuck; defiance meant death.

"Y-yes, Ma'am."

"That's a good girl." said Cinder, releasing her. "And Adam, keep in mind that Neo here is not your follower to punish."

The Faunus swallowed a lump in his throat as the temperature in the air fluctuated around him. Satisfied that her loose-cannon allies were kept in line, Cinder left the building. Adam looked over to his remaining companion, making sure there was no chance that Cinder would walk back in, before speaking his mind.

"You're lucky she decided to cover your ass, pipsqueak." he whispered.

Neo looked up with a bitter pout and drove her heel into his foot before heading towards the back door.

Cinder stepped out of the safehouse to find Mercury and Emerald standing guard, diligently. She could tell by their body language that there had been some kind of argument between them.

"It just never ends, does it?" she thought. "Meeting's over, come."

"How did it go?" asked Emerald, enthusiastically.

"Oh, the usual criminal politics, nothing special."

"So, what's next on this wonderful day off?" asked Mercury, sarcastically.

"Enjoy yourselves, you have to keep up appearances. I have errands to run in town."

"Don't work too hard." said Emerald as they parted ways, brandishing their black cloaks once again.

Aura, the manifestation of the soul, was the most useful asset a person could have on Remnant. Those who could harness this power, could shield their bodies, heal injuries, and even sense the presence of others nearby. It was also through this power that someone like Professor Ozpin could tell that three students had been tailing him since lunch.

"Have to admit, they're pretty well hidden." he thought as a flurry of rose petals flew between the rooftops.

Ruby wiped the sweat from her brow as she landed on the lecture hall with Neptune in tow. Sun climbed up the back of the building and joined them.

"Sorry for wearing you out like this, Rubes." said the blue-haired boy.

Ruby caught her breath, worn out from using her Semblance to carry another person. "It's okay, I could use the practice."

"Too bad you guys can't just climb up here. So, where's Ozpin?"

Ruby pulled Sun down against the roof, before his enthusiasm became too conspicuous. Sun nodded in apology and the three students crawled over to the edge of the building. They spotted Ozpin strolling along the path next to the dorms, admiring the campus gardens.

"We've got him in our sights." said Neptune.

"Guys, what exactly is the plan here?" asked Ruby.

"I dunno," chimed Sun, "we were just gonna follow him all day."

"Great plan." said Ruby, rolling her eyes.

"He's on the move." Neptune warned.

Ozpin smirked as he deliberately looked away from the building his tails were hiding on. "Staying low, very good; but how long can you keep it up?"

He moved into the garden, where a myriad of flowers, hedges, and the occasional fountain waited for his pursuers. There was no high ground in the gardens, so the trio would have to keep themselves hidden at ground level.

"If we're going to play this game, I'm not making it easy for you."

Ruby made the first move, using her speed to move from the roof to a space behind a hedge, without being seen. Neptune slid down a pipe on the side of the building and hid behind a lone fountain, keeping himself low against the ground. Sun jumped down into a tree, using the foliage to keep himself hidden. They all watched as Ozpin made his way deeper into the garden.

Ruby moved between hiding spots invisibly thanks to her raw speed while Sun hopped from tree to tree. Neptune was the slowest of the three, limited to using whatever decent-size objects he could find to conceal himself. This went on for fifteen minutes, with Ozpin changing paths or doubling back every once in a while, until he finally disappeared behind a particularly tall hedge.

"What's taking so long?" asked Sun, as he regrouped with Ruby.

"Don't know, this is the edge of the garden, maybe he left."

"Couldn't be," said Neptune, joining them, "I would've seen him."

The three moved over to the hedge, they nodded to each other in agreement before peeking around to the other side. They were shocked to find that Ozpin was not there waiting for him.

"What, where'd he go?" asked Sun. "He couldn'a just disappeared."

"Maybe he could have;" chimed Neptune, "you think his Semblance could be invisibility?"

Ruby pondered the thought. "I don't know, I don't think so."

"Still can't believe he slipped away, he was probably on to us the whole time." said Sun.

"Yeah, Beacon's Headmaster is kind of a badass, I'm impressed."

"And I'm impressed that such normally loud students can sneak around so quietly." said a voice from behind them.

Sun and Neptune leaped over the hedge and bolted in the other direction as Ozpin looked on with an amused expression.

"Um, hi Professor."

"Hello Ruby." he responded, as he removed himself from the hedge. "Not going to leave like the others?"

"Nope." she replied, cheerfully. Ruby was used to talking to the mysterious headmaster, she found nothing to fear in him catching her goofing off. "Were you onto us the whole time Professor?"

"More or less, so I decided to have some fun of my own." he said, as they started to walk around campus together. "I'm a bit disappointed it was only you three, though. Where are the rest of your teams?"

"They all had things to do in Vale."

"I see. So tell me, why are you three so interested in following me all of a sudden?"

"Oh y'know, we just thought it would be good training tailing you and all." she answered, nervously.

"You're a terrible liar, you know?" Ozpin said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I know."

Ozpin waited for Ruby to collect her thoughts, knowing the good-hearted girl would come clean eventually.

"Truth is, Sun and Neptune have been kinda curious if there's something between you and Professor Goodwitch; I just tagged along 'cause I thought it would be fun."

"I see, I figured it was something like that." said Ozpin as he broke into a fit of silent laughter.

"So, you're not mad?"

"Of course not, this sort of thing happens every year."

"Really?"

"Really, I still remember when Miss Adel dragged her whole team into a week-long investigation into the matter."

Ruby couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Coco rampaging through the school over something this trivial. "So, how do you deal with this happening every year?"

"I've simply learned to take it in stride, and it's always fun messing with the students that think they can go over my head."

Ruby laughed at the fact that the Headmaster had such a devious sense of humor, it wasn't something she expected from him.

"You seem to be having fun."

"It's just funny," she said, regaining her composure, "I never thought this would be the kind of problem Beacon's 'illustrious' Headmaster would have to deal with."

"Well, it beats sitting in my office all day."

"I guess so. Now I'm curious though; is there something between you and Professor Goodwitch? I mean, if that many people it's true then…"

"Alright Ruby, since you were honest with me, I shall do the same." said Ozpin with a smile. "The truth is, Professor Goodwitch and I have been happily married for decades."

The red-clad girl's eyes widened. "Wow!" she exclaimed, before breaking into a snicker.

"Something amusing?"

"It's just hard to picture Goodwitch happy is all."

"Well, I do give her a fair bit of trouble sometimes." he said with a laugh.

Ruby snickered along with him. "So, why do you keep it a secret?"

"To put it simply, my position carries with it a great deal of responsibility, but also falls under great scrutiny from the public and the government. To ease the burden on us, Professor Goodwitch and I decided to keep our relationship out of the public eye, and privy only to a select few individuals."

"Okay, I get it, you just didn't want people…bothering you." she said, downcast.

"So, Miss Rose, can you keep a secret?"

"Sir yessir!" she said, perking up immediately.

"Good, now I do believe I see your friends looking for you." said Ozpin, pointing out Sun and Neptune nearby.

"Oh, Sun, Neptune!" she called, as she ran over to them. "See you later, Professor!"

Ozpin smiled as he waved to the energetic Huntress-in-training. He walked off, reminiscing about a certain other student who had helped two boys find out his secret. She, too, had been in it just for the fun rather than genuine curiosity, but he ended up telling her anyway.

"She really does take after her mother."

Sun and Neptune scrambled up to Ruby as she met them halfway.

"Ruby, what happened!?"

"Yeah Rubes, we thought you got in trouble for sure."

"Nah, Professor Ozpin and I just talked for a while."

The boys stared at her, awestruck at her apparent bravery.

"How do you do that?" asked Sun. "Ozpin still scares us shitless."

"He's just messing with you. Besides, he's actually really nice when you get to know him."

"More importantly," said Neptune, "did you find anything out?"

"Yeah, I….um, I mean, nope, nothing, nothing at all."

"But you were just about to-"

"C'mon Rubes, tell us."

"Can't, it's a secret."

The two Haven students lost it, but simmered down after they realized Ruby wouldn't tell them no matter how many times they asked. The three of them decided to head into Vale for the rest of the afternoon to try and meet up with their teammates.

Yang sped down the road, Bumblebee roaring beneath her as she weaved through traffic. She had spent all day working on the motorcycle and was now speeding towards the meeting place near the outskirts of town. She took the exit ramp off the freeway and searched one of the more ramshackle neighborhoods until she found a large crowd gathered around some cars.

"Glad you made it!" called V, as he noticed Yang pull up.

"Of course, I wasn't gonna miss this."

"Well, I hope you're ready to lose 'cause you're gonna have to go up against me and that."

Yang looked over to where he was pointing and saw a silver coupe with metallic gold rims and a spoiler. It had a vent in the center of the hood and a large tailpipe. The license plate, which read 'V HOUSE,' had been moved to the side of the front bumper, and several decals on the sides and windows showed off the names of parts manufacturers.

"Whoa, is that a Pleiades Inspira Coupe!?"

Sure is, fully customized and everything."

"Oh yeah, what's under the hood?"

"Twin turbo, forged pistons, and nitro, for starters."

" Then it's a good thing I've been race-tuning Bumblebee all day."

V flashed a toothy smile, confident he was going to win, but grateful for the challenge. The two kept chatting until they saw Crimson walking over to them.

"Alright bro, race is about to start. Good luck out there."

"You're not racing with us?" asked Yang.

"In a way, I'm gonna be driving Amber around on the sidelines while she films the whole thing."

"And Onyx is our eye in the sky," chimed V, "he's on some tall building nearby."

"Oh, well see you at the finish line then."

"If you get there first." boasted V.

Crimson walked off towards a race-tuned red coupe outside the crowd, while Amber could be seen rallying everyone into their starting positions. The blonde belly-dancer came over to Yang and lined her up.

"Here, you're gonna need one of these earpieces." she said, handing Yang the small device.

"Thanks. Make sure you get my good side while you're filming."

Amber laughed a little. "I dunno, not sure I can get all of you on camera at once." she said, sarcastically, as she left Yang to wait for the race to start.

"Testing, testing, can everyone hear me?" asked a familiar voice over the earpiece. "My name is Onyx Wybert and I'll be your overwatch for this event. I'll be keeping you updated on any hazardous conditions as we go, so do please pay attention and have a safe near-suicidal competition."

After Onyx gave his little speech, Amber walked to the center of the starting line with a megaphone.

"Alright, we're about to get started! A map of the course was sent to your scrolls before you got here; if you don't know where to go by now, not our problem!"

She tossed the megaphone to someone on the sidelines before removing her black vest and holding it above her head, drawing some cheers and whistles from the crowd. The racers all revved their engines in anticipation. Yang did the same as she checked her helmet and slid her goggles into place. When the roaring of the engines died down, a voice could be heard shouting over the megaphone.

"THREE!"

Everyone revved up again.

"TWO!"

Engines roared to life yet again.

"ONE!"

One last show of horsepower.

"GO!"

On that final word, Amber swung her arm down as all of the vehicles sped past her in a Dust-fueled rumble. When they had all cleared the line, she put her vest back on and slid across the ground towards Crimson's car.

"Get after them!" she cried, as she slammed the door shut and got out a camera.

"Right." said her teammate, as he floored the gas pedal.

Yang weaved around the first few cars in front of her, the maneuver being effortless for her more compact vehicle. She throttled up, but was met with resistance; the two drivers in front of her were driving hatchbacks, and they were more reluctant to give up their position. They were racing neck-and-neck in front of her, blocking her from advancing and switching places every time she saw an opening. Yang looked around and spotted an opportunity, a narrow incline on the side of the curve ahead. She revved up to a higher gear and went straight for the makeshift ramp, pulling up as hard as she could at the very end. The jump put her right in front of the two cars as she stuck the landing. She turned and waved to the shocked drivers before leaving them in her dust.

Crimson watched with awe from the film-car as he tried to maintain a proper distance from the course. "Damn, she's good."

"I know, right." said Amber. "I think we have a new top contender tonight."

Crimson floored it, eager to catch up to the new star racer.

Yang's real challenge began when she caught up to a trio of bikers and a girl on an ATV. Like her, their vehicles were a lot more maneuverable than those of the other racers. They all weaved between the cars around them as they fought for the lead. Eventually, they noticed the road end up ahead as the race moved onto the dirt.

"Perfect." thought Yang.

Two of the bikers wiped out immediately upon going off-road, their motorcycles unprepared for the shift in terrain. Yang had anticipated this, she had made sure to equip her bike with off-road tires and shocks. Unfortunately, one of the other bikers was smart enough to do the same, to say nothing of the ATV. Yang stuck to the smoothest ground she could find, slowly gaining on her rivals. The bumpy ride the other biker chose eventually took its toll; Yang had just caught up when the young man went off a big jump, too big for him to handle. He cursed and slammed his fist into his crashed bike as Yang sped past.

Finally, it was just Yang and the ATV. This was a different beast entirely, a vehicle purpose-built for off-road racing. Try as she might, Yang couldn't keep up, only try to stay as close as possible. She would have to wait for the next section of tarmac to make her move.

The filming car was keeping pace on the sidelines as Amber continued recording the intense race.

"This is going to get so many hits online." she said, enjoying every second of the footage she was capturing.

"She might actually give V a run for his money." replied Crimson, eyes locked in front of him.

"I know, right. It's no fun watching him just blow everyone away all the time."

Yang and her opponent finally made it back to the road, with Yang trailing only a few meters behind. Finally back on an optimal surface, Yang revved up to full throttle and rocketed past the quad-riding young woman, earning herself an obscene hand gesture in return.

Yang sped forward, hugging turns and blasting straights, trying to reduce her travel time as much as possible. Up ahead, she spotted V's custom Pleiades as the sole leader of the race. She stated directly behind it, intending to draft as much as possible to avoid extra air resistance. V quickly caught on and tried to shake her off as much as possible. Yang was persistent and stayed on his tail, her bike able to easily keep up with all the swerving. They kept going like this until Yang finally managed to pull up alongside him.

"Wow, you actually caught up!" yelled V, after rolling down his window.

"Hope you're ready to lose!" she said, echoing his previous boasting.

"Aw hell no, you're the one who's gonna lose!"

"We'll see!"

The two turned their attention back to the road. They fought over first place fiercely, neither one wanting to give up the top spot. Their vehicles almost collided with one another on more than one occasion.

"If you scratch my car, I'll kill you Xiao Long!"

"Your car, what about my bike!?"

The racers veered off onto an unfinished part of the now-abandoned old highway, hitting the rough surface of the incomplete asphalt. Neither vehicle lost an inch as their drivers pushed them to their limit. Yang smirked, knowing she would have the advantage soon. The map had said there was a massive jump ahead. Her motorcycle would fly much farther than V's heavier car. V had anticipated this and wasn't particularly worried. Their eyes narrowed as they saw the jump approaching. That was when they heard a familiar voice call out to them.

"Hey guys," said Onyx over their earpieces, "you've got a problem. There are a bunch of trucks crossing the outskirts ahead."

Neither of them slowed down, confident they could just weave between the trucks.

"Guys, I'm serious, this looks pretty bad."

Still no response.

"Guys! Are you listening to me!?"

Too late, they reached the jump. Yang's bike soared through the air as she pulled back on the handles. V smirked as he used a large burst of nitro; the volatile green liquid flooded his engine, green sparks and flames shot out of the exhaust as the car was propelled into the air. He and Yang flew side-by-side off the side of the cliff, both screaming excitedly from the adrenaline rush. Their excitement quickly turned to horror, however, when they saw what was waiting for them in the muddy valley below. A huge convoy of trucks was moving across the open landscape with very little space between them. Yang must have counted around twenty or thirty of them in the time she had to process the view, time that was extremely short lived as she remembered where she was.

Yang and V turned their vehicles ninety degrees and slammed on the brakes, grinding to a halt thirty meters away from crashing into the moving wall of metal in front of them. Yang quickly hopped off her bike to see if her friend was alright.

"V, you okay!? V!?" she called, as the young man got his bearings.

"Me? You're the one on a motorcycle."

"True, so come check on me first next time, jerk."

"You're a big girl." he retorted. "Anyway, who the fuck is driving all these trucks in the middle of nowh-"

V was cut off by the sound of automatic fire, as a group of masked men exited three of the trucks.

"White Fang!" yelled Yang, diving behind the car and readying her weapons.

V dropped out of the door and joined Yang behind the car. He pulled a mechanized cylinder out of the passenger seat before looking in horror at what was happening.

"They're shooting up my car! Hell no!"

He grabbed the cylinder and twisted a large switch on the side. The cylinder lengthened, parts spun into place, and a handle swung out of the side. He rested it on his shoulder as the ends opened up.

"Whoa, that's your weapon!?"

"It's called Thunderstorm, this is why!"

V moved out from behind the car and fired at the attackers. A huge shockwave left the front of the weapon, sending White Fang members flying and knocking their trucks over.

"Yeah, how do you like it when I wreck your rides!?" V yelled in triumph.

A White Fang member jumped out to his left, trying to blindside him. Before either could fire, the terrorist was shot down, the sound of a sniper rifle cracked through the air soon after.

"I don't think they really care about their cars as much as you, V." said Onyx over the earpiece.

"Yo, Onyx, why didn't you tell us there were White Fang in these trucks!?"

"I was on top of a high-rise in downtown." said Onyx, as he sniped another White Fang member. "What do you think I have, HD infinite zoom?"

"Well, we could really use a hand over here!" said Yang, as she fired a few explosive rounds from her gauntlets.

"I'm making my way down to you." said Onyx, taking out yet another enemy. "Amber and Crimson just arrived on site."

More trucks kept stopping to let out enemy soldiers. Even the trucks that had been further ahead were turning around to help their allies. Yang and V were putting distance between themselves and the veritable battalion, returning fire every chance they got. A large group of White Fang charged forward, ready to mow down the Hunters-in-training.

The charge was short lived as they soon found themselves being restrained and flung aside by an unseen force. Yang looked over to see Crimson jump into the fray, tossing enemies aside, practically by waving his hands around. When she looked closer, Yang could just barely make out what appeared to be wires flexing through the nearby air. When Crimson got to them, she could see the wires were clearly coming out of the black half-finger gloves he was wearing.

"Get back!" he said, as he sent a huge weave of wires forward.

A dozen White Fang froze, tangled in the web of threads around them. Crimson pushed a button on each of the gloves' metal wrist-cuffs, causing an electric current to run through the wires. The enemies fell over, their Auras spent, they laid unconscious on the ground to be retrieved by their reinforcements. Crimson opened the metal plates on the back of his gloves, swapping the spent Shock Dust cartridges for fresh ones.

"Who's next?" he asked, quietly.

A large number of White Fang still stood their ground, some of them radioing for even more backup. A squad of six took point and advanced on the defending students. Amber came sliding in from the left; in one fluid motion she tripped one, kicked another, and threw a third by catching his neck between her legs. She drew a pair of scimitars, with circular shield-like hand-guards, from behind her back. The blades flipped over their hand-guards, turning the swords into a reverse-grip form. Amber blocked some gunshots with the shields before using them to punch the gunman into submission. She slid over and cut another one down before noticing the final enemy retreating. Switching back to fore-grip mode, she crossed the scimitars together and created a small sandstorm. The blast of dusty wind sent the White Fang member flying, as Amber slid her way to her friends.

"Where'd all these trucks come from?" she asked, as she looked over the situation.

"Beats the hell outta me." said V.

"It looks like more are on their way." said Crimson.

Amber nodded. "Onyx, where are you?"

"Right on the edge of town, I shouldn't be too long."

"Hey guys," said Yang, "the 'more' are here."

The team looked up to see an additional two dozen trucks full of White Fang show up.

"They're certainly well funded." said Yang.

"Where are they getting these things!?" complained V.

"Doesn't matter." said Amber. "V, make us some cover. Crimson, you and I are running interference. Onyx, set up where you are and cover us 'til he's done. Yang, stay close to V please."

Once Amber was done giving out orders, everyone went straight to work. V blasted the ground with Thunderstorm, creating a deep trench to take cover in. Crimson weaved his wires into square meshes, using them to block incoming fire. Amber whipped up another sandstorm on the White Fang's front line to obscure their vision. Onyx's rifle could be heard picking off White Fang amidst the chaos. Yang stayed close to V, firing off the occasional explosive round.

The White Fang quickly smartened up to Amber's tactics and began using wind-based weapons of their own to blow away the sand. Once it cleared, the enemy became much more coordinated. Crimson had to work harder to block their fire, Amber eventually stepped in to help with her shields.

"V, I need that line broken up, now!" ordered the team leader.

"Roger!"

V fired a shockwave at the ground, launching himself high into the air. With the turn of another switch, the cannon split in half. The halves fit over his arms as cylinders slid out, pieces locked into place, and antenna-like devices extended outwards.

"Better watch your backs!"

Some of the White Fang members turned around, as if they heard the voice from behind them. The formation was wide open as V rained down blasts of red lightning. The exploding shots sent White Fang flying in all directions. Crimson wrapped some of his wires around his falling cousin, who fired another volley as he was pulled back to cover.

"Nice work." said Amber. "Wait, what!?"

Unfortunately, V's last salvo seemed to have been deflected, causing minimal damage. When the dust settled, a short woman holding a pink parasol stood at the point of impact. Her stylish attire and tri-colored hair made her easily identifiable, especially to those who had seen her before.

"Damn." said Yang.

"What is it?" asked Amber.

"That woman with the umbrella, she's the leader."

"Got it!" said V, enthusiastically.

"No, don't," said Yang, "I don't know if we can take her."

Neo flipped to the side as a sniper shot rang through the air. She dodged another three rounds before one finally hit her. She shattered into pieces on impact, reappearing near one of the trucks.

"Yang's right," said Onyx, over the radio, "she's good."

On the other side of the battlefield, Neo was sizing up the opposition. She already learned the hard way that they had a sniper nearby, so she turned her attention to the others. They looked fairly young, still students most likely. The boy that had attacked their front line seemed to specialize in heavy weapons, she would have to defend her forces from him the most. The boy next to him didn't have any weapon that she could see, she knew better than anyone that an unknown was something to be careful about. Next, she noticed a shock of blonde hair and a pair of swords, the one that kicked up all of that sand.

"No, that's not her." she thought, remembering another blonde-haired Huntress-in-training.

She turned her attention to the other blonde-haired girl in the group, immediately noticing the brown during jacket and gold-plated gauntlets.

"But that is!" she thought, as a wicked smile spread across her face. She already knew what this girl was capable of, and how to handle her.

"Shit, I think she saw me." said Yang, as she ducked into the trench.

"Well, at least now she'll have something to focus on." said Amber, as she started thinking of a plan. "Crimson, what do you think?"

Crimson looked over the enemy line, blocking the occasional bullet with his wire meshes, as the enemy started their next attack. "Hmm, they're using their trucks as cover, we could blow 'em."

"Alright. V, hop to it; Onyx, cover him. Yang, you're gonna distract Pinky over there while Crimson and I cover you."

The trio got into formation, as V flanked to the right. Anyone who tried to shoot the cannon-wielding racer was swiftly dealt with by a sniper shot.

"Alright, let's have some fun." said V. "Hey loser, heads up, behind you, to the right, your other right."

Several members of the White Fang looked around in confusion, unsure of where the taunts were coming from.

"How's he doing that?" asked Yang.

"It's his Semblance, he calls it Trashtalk." replied Crimson. "It lets him project his voice from anywhere, even right in your ear. Makes a great confusion tactic."

Neo had her main force focus fire on Yang's position. The salvo kept the three students pinned down while Neo moved in for a close-quarters fight, intent on playing with her new favorite victim. Meanwhile, V had made it to higher ground where he had a clear shot on the enemy trucks.

"Here goes nothin'." he said, as he opened fire with the dual arm-cannons.

With the White Fang in disarray and Neo preoccupied with her own targets, the explosive shots had no trouble reaching their target. Onyx helped out by taking shots at the fuel tanks of the trucks, causing processed liquid-Dust to leak out. The whole line was quickly reduced to a burning wreck.

Neo whirled around, her eyes widened with fury as she saw the exploding trucks. "Dammit, how could I be so stupid!?"

"Nice shot!" yelled Amber, over the din of the explosions.

V began showboating as all of the White Fang's cover blew up in their faces. The terrorists were reduced to screaming helplessly as they ran and dove away from the chaos.

"Um, guys!" called Onyx, over the radio. "That doesn't look good!"

The excited students turned and watched in horror as the convoy's cargo revealed itself, they were transporting Creatures of Grimm. Beowolves and Ursa scampered from the wreckage, their durable bodies protecting them from the flames. Once they were free of the danger, they quickly turned their attention to their now helpless captors. Members of the White Fang screamed as they were savagely thrown around by the monstrous animals, those who were still standing fought back in an attempt to stop the onslaught.

"This is getting out of hand," said Crimson, "we can't let the Grimm get to the city!"

"I'm calling my team for backup!" said Yang, as she dialed up her scroll.

"Well, you might wanna make it quick," called Amber, "because we've got company!"

Yang looked up to see a clearly seething Neo in front of them, flanked by two members of the White Fang.

Glynda Goodwitch stood at the top of a building in central Vale. She was an hour into her patrol and all was quiet so far. Even though school was out for the day, she was still a Huntress and it was her turn to go on patrol tonight. Criminals and Grimm didn't take days off, so they couldn't either.

"Enjoying the view?" said Ozpin's voice from her earpiece.

"More like enjoying the time to myself."

"Sorry to intrude."

"It's fine," responded Glynda, with a laugh, "I like it when you keep me company."

"Not sure how much company I can give you over the radio."

Glynda laughed, sharing her husband's sentiments. "True enough. Try not to stay up too late waiting for me."

"You know I can't sleep without you here, I'll be here for you if you need me."

Glynda shook her head and took one last look at the skyline, before deciding she should move on. She was about to leave the rooftop when she noticed something unsettling in the distance.

"Ozpin, there's a lot of smoke coming from the Southwest."

"Give me a second." replied Ozpin, who could be heard typing on his smart-desk. "Sentries just reported some kind of disturbance in the outskirts, they're keeping an eye on the situation."

"And the police?"

"Already notified."

"Alright, I'm going in."

"I'll let you know if anything new develops."

Goodwitch jumped off the highrise, sliding down the wall before jumping to a lower building. She made her way across the rooftops, as she raced towards the growing plume of black smoke in the distance. She made it as far as downtown Vale before Ozpin came through on the earpiece.

"You have Atlesian soldiers making their way to the gate."

"I'll deal with them!"

"Try to be nice."

"As much as I can bring myself to be!"

The Huntress reached the gate, just as the soldiers were asking the sentries to let them through.

"Hold it!" she called out.

"Glynda Goodwitch?" said one of the soldiers.

"I'm handling this situation."

"With all due respect, Ma'am, we've got this covered. We don't need a Huntress."

Goodwitch narrowed her eyes. "With all due respect, Atlas is here for the Vytal Festival. The city of Vale is not under your jurisdiction, it's under mine."

The squad leader and his second-in-command looked at each other, nervously, before turning back to the Huntress. "What can we do to help?"

"Set up a perimeter and keep things calm in this district. Stand by for my order to move in."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Satisfied that the soldiers were being compliant, Goodwitch motioned to the sentries to open the gate. They let her out and closed the gate behind her, as she rushed towards the orange glow of fire in the distance.

"Well, you handled that well." said Ozpin over the communicator.

"Just because I think Ironwood is an idiot doesn't mean I'm going to take it out on his soldiers."

"Good to know. I was almost more worried about you hurting them than whatever is outside the walls."

"I'm just glad they're out of the way, they'll be safer inside the city."

Glynda made her way through a lightly wooded area before arriving at a muddy valley, she was shocked to find a large number of burning trucks surrounded by what could only be described as a warzone. A large number of White Fang were fighting a small group of young Hunters, with both sides fending off the Creatures of Grimm as well. She looked closer and recognized the Hunters as students from Beacon.

"Ozpin," she said, as she moved down into the valley, "there are students of ours down here, fighting the White Fang."

"Oh, and how are they doing?"

"I don't care how they're doing, they're all officially on my shitlist!"

"Now now, let's not be too hard on them."

"Ozpin, did you know about this?"

"I may have had my suspicions."

"Ozpin!"

"I did not knowingly put our students in danger…this time."

"Ugh, we'll talk about this later, right now I have to clean up this mess."

The battle was becoming far less chaotic as more and more of the Grimm were struck down. Onyx had finally arrived in the valley and was helping V fend a few of them off. He collapsed his sniper rifle, Sureshot, into a semi-automatic assault rifle, a weapon better suited to the closer range. V sent an Ursa flying with a shockwave while Onyx took out a Beowolf with a headshot. The marksman's Aura alerted him to a White Fang member sneaking up on his flank. He grabbed the handle on the left side of his rifle and blasted the man away with the built-on shotgun.

"Beowolf!" called V.

Onyx aimed sideways and fired, sending himself spinning and using the momentum to slash the creature with Sureshot's bayonet. He followed up with a stab to the chest and a shotgun blast to the throat, killing the beast.

On the other side of the battle, Yang and Crimson fought off a large group of Grimm while Amber kept Neo busy. The blonde belly-dancer and the diminutive criminal twirled around one another, flowing smoothly from one move to the next, as each of them looked for an opening. Neo seemed to stumble on a rough patch of ground, Amber slid forward for an overhead slash. The Neapolitan-haired criminal raised her parasol to block the swords and followed up with a high-kick to the face. Amber slid herself back as Neo jumped to her feet, smiling deviously at her newest blonde plaything.

Yang fired explosive shells all around, getting the Beowolves to group together. Crimson pulled at his razor wires, dicing the pack to pieces in one move.

"Nice one." said Yang.

"Thanks."

"We might wanna help you're leader."

Crimson looked over to see Amber and Neo exchanging a flurry of kicks before swinging and throwing each other in opposite directions. "Yeah, you're probably right." he replied, flatly.

Yang reached Amber first, and then noticed the angry expression on her face. "So, hate her yet?"

"That damn smirk on her face just pisses me off!"

Neo got up, only to notice the glimmer of razor wire heading right for her. She weaved her way through the wider spaces between the wires, while blocking the more tightly-woven meshes. She was looking for an opening to counter-attack when a purple glow in the distance caught her attention. She looked over to see streams of violet light striking down Grimm and White Fang alike. At the source of the light-show was Glynda Goodwitch, a Beacon Academy Huntress and Ozpin's number two.

"This is getting too out of hand. Time to disappear."

Neo jumped back and vanished in a flash of white light. Crimson pulled back his wires, disappointed that his target escaped.

"Is that Professor Goodwitch?" asked Yang, walking up behind him.

"Yep."

"We're in so much trouble." said Amber, as she joined them.

"At least we'll have help finishing up here." said Crimson.

Goodwitch said nothing to the students as she helped them finish off the remaining Grimm. She called the Atlesian troops and a squad of Vale police over to bring in the White Fang, both the living and the dead. The rest of Team RWBY showed up shortly afterwards, relieved to find their teammate safe and relatively unharmed; although, Ruby was fairly disappointed that she missed the massive three-way battle. No one said anything on the flight back to Beacon, but they could all sense the fury radiating from the Huntress in their midst.

Just what were the five of you thinking!? Hosting a street race through the outskirts of the city, I don't think I've ever heard of something so irresponsible!"

"Aww c'mon Glyndy, it's not like anybody got hurt…'cept for, y'know, those White Fang guys."

"Silence, Mr. Howzer! I thought that even you would know better than to do something this stupid the same day you just finished a previous detention sentence, speaking of which…"

"Oh boy, here we go." said V, rolling his eyes.

"Two weeks detention for all of you." she said, addressing Yang and the rest of Team SHDW. "Except for you, Mr. Howzer, you get three weeks."

"Oh man!"

"Be glad that you stopped the Grimm and helped apprehend the White Fang, otherwise those sentences would be in months. You're all dismissed."

The five students left Goodwitch's office, walking down the hall with the rest of Team RWBY, who had been waiting outside.

"How'd it go, Sis?" asked Ruby.

"Two weeks," replied Yang, "we got off easy."

"Easy!?" cried V. "Yeah, you did! I got three weeks, th-"

"Quit complaining!" yelled Amber, cutting him off with a pull of the ear. "At least you're used to getting detention, I'm gonna be bored to death in there!"

"My parents are not going to be happy if they here about this." added Onyx.

"Look at the bright side," said Yang, "we kicked some White Fang ass and had fun doing it."

"I still can't believe I missed it!" chimed Ruby.

"You can always play hero another day." said Weiss.

"We still need to have a rematch of our race…" said V, "y'know, as soon as I get my car fixed up."

"You're on." said Yang with a chuckle.

"In the meantime," he continued, "I've got a couple of AchieveMen tickets lying around. Y'wanna go with me?"

"Hmm…nah, I think I've had enough fun with you for now. Beat me in that race though…"

"So…maybe, got it." said V as the two teams parted ways in the lobby.

"Y'know," said Crimson, "two years younger and she's still out of your league."

"Shut up."

"C'mon V," said Onyx, with a yawn, "let's get some sleep, we had a long day."

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, wait up!" he called out, chasing the rest of his team, as they headed back to their dorm.

Meanwhile, Glynda had arrived in Ozpin's office, intent on finishing their conversation from earlier.

"So, how did it go?" he asked, as Glynda approached the desk.

"Well, none of the Grimm got near the city and the police have around forty-or-so White Fang in custody."

"I meant with the students." he replied, chuckling at her feigned exasperation.

"Oh, them. Well, you know, I figured a few months of detention would teach them a lesson."

"Glynda."

"Alright, I only gave them a few weeks. Tell me though, did you know they would run into the White Fang tonight?"

Ozpin shook his head. "No, but I had a feeling that Team SHDW would eventually encounter criminal elements. With the more illicit activities they partake in, such as the occasional street race, it was only a matter of time."

"Kind of a haphazard way of doing things."

"The academy alone sometimes isn't enough. The students need actual combat experience to be ready for life as Hunters."

"Well, a skirmish with a band of international terrorists will certainly give them some extra practice. What if I hadn't intervened?"

"I'm confident they would've succeeded regardless, but thank you for looking after them."

"No need to thank me; I don't know how I'd live with myself if anything happened to them, even if they're nothing but trouble half the time."

Ozpin smiled, happy to be reminded that Glynda truly cared about the students she usually showed open disdain for. He was also glad to know that she still trusted his training methods after all these years, no matter how unorthodox they were.

"Well, I'm going to get ready for bed. Don't work too late."

"Before you go," said Ozpin, stopping her, "James called earlier, after you joined the battle in the outskirts."

"Oh, and how did that go?"

"It went well enough. He's cooled off quite a bit and apologized for taking things too far, he never meant to put my job in jeopardy."

"And I suppose all he has to do is apologize and all is forgiven."

"This is a very unstable and unprecedented situation, we're all under a lot of pressure. Fighting amongst ourselves won't help anyone."

"Fine," Said Glynda, with a heavy sigh, "I suppose we can put off the discussion about conflicts of interest until after the festival."

Ozpin nodded in agreement as Glynda saw herself out. He let out a sigh of his own, as the elevator started its way down. Glynda would not be as willing to forgive James as he was, but he had to reconcile the two if they were to stand against the enemies among them; after all, such enemies would only bring more to their doorstep.

"Most of the operation was blown, my men are either dead or in prison, and both our asses are on the line now, all because of you!" yelled Adam Taurus, chastising a bitter-faced Neo.

"…"

"You're lucky this failure was as much their fault as it was yours, otherwise I'd have killed you already!"

"…"

"Well, don't you have anything to say for yourself!?"

"Enough." said Cinder Fall, as she sauntered into the dark room. "About a third of the trucks still made it to their destination, we now have more than enough Grimm to carry out the operation. I'd say this was a success."

"A success?" asked Adam, incredulously. "Most of the men I sent on this job are locked up now, to say nothing about the ones that died! Unless your operation includes a prison break, I'd hardly call this a success!"

"Mind your tone, or perhaps you've forgotten who's in charge." she warned, eyes glowing. "Worry not, springing the jails was always part of the plan."

Adam calmed down upon hearing this, while Neo looked up optimistically. "Alright," he said, "so what's next?"

"The White Fang will cease all activity for the time being. Organize your forces and be ready, the time to strike is near."

"Understood."

"As for you…"said Cinder, turning to Neo. "I have a special assignment for you, one I'm sure you'll enjoy." she said with a menacing smile.

A/N: Well, how was that? What did you think of the OC team? Drop a review if you wanna let me know what you thought and if there's anything I can improve on. I'll also give a shout out in the next chapter to anyone who can name what car the Pleiades Inspira is supposed to be in real life.

And yes, this was started before Volume 3 started (SPOILERS INCOMING). I had no idea there was going to be a character named Amber in the show (at least not this early, I mean it is a pretty obvious name to use in a series where everyone is named after a color). I had no idea the White Fang were going to smuggle Grimm into the city. I did want Neo to break Roman out, and they gave us that. It was all a happy coincidence. The only parts that were written with Volume 3 episodes in mind was some of the stuff towards the end really.

Anyway, I'm already outlining Chapter 5 and I'm gonna make a few updates to previous chapters (just some minor changes in light of some new info). School just started, but I'll try not to take 6 months to write it (I mean, there was also that MonCon entry I blitzed out and I started teaching myself animation). I'm also planning a couple of things involving Roman and Neo, so that should be fun.

Thanks again and see you all next time.