No one except for repairmen and other authorized individuals will be allowed on campus for the next few days.

That was how Lionheart had ended his email to the school yesterday, those words in big bold letters. Clark and the others had been waiting for an excuse from Lionheart to get them off campus, but this was more than they'd expected. Only a few people would be allowed in Haven because deteriorating pipes had led to a gas leak. Already teachers and other employees had gathered all the students out and provided temporary housing in Mistral.

The interesting thing was that when Clark checked with his X-ray vision, there were actual damaged pipes releasing gas into the school. If anything, Lionheart was thorough with his lies.

Compared to that, Ozpin's story wasn't nearly so elaborate. But then again it didn't need to be. Ozpin had told Lionheart that they would be searching for a possible lead on Cinder's origins and how she had come into contact with Salem.

That was why they were here in the outskirts of Mistral at one in the afternoon with a rented van. It was plain white and on the sides Solena's Rentals was written in red. The paint was so reflective that sunlight glinted off of it and lit up the ground around it.

"Alright, everyone aboard the Clark Express," Clark said.

"Really? The Clark Express?" Yang asked.

"Hey, if I'm going to be the workhorse of the express, I should at least get to name it."

The nine of them entered the vehicle. Once they were seated, Clark walked behind it and gripped the back bumper. He lifted the van and raced off to the region where the Branwen tribe was most active. It wasn't often that he ran while holding something so large. While its weight wasn't an issue for him, there was certainly an effect on his speed. It took him maybe fifteen seconds to travel the complete distance.

Clark set the van down on a forest trail free from gawking eyes. It was cloudy here compared to the clear sky back in Mistral.

"Smoothest car ride I've ever had," Qrow said, he sat in the passenger seat next to the driver. "So, think you can find them?"

"If they're within thirty miles or so, sure. If not, it'll take me a little longer." As they'd planned, Clark checked the surrounding region with his hearing and sight. He found a couple of towns, but no tribes of thieves and killers roughing it out in the wild.

"Nothing," Clark admitted. "Hold on a second, I'm going to expand my range."

He ran to the edge of his hearing and did another scan. He repeated the process multiple, making sure to cover areas his hearing hadn't reached before.

When he stopped by a lapping brook, there was still no sign of a bandit tribe. However, he heard something even more pressing.

"Shit! It hit the engine!"

The screech of torn metal. The shattering of glass. Screams almost smothered out by wind.

Clark zoomed away.

\\\\\

"Shit! It hit the engine!" The pilot shouted, although Weiss could barely hear him from the cargo bay. One of the Lancers must have managed a lucky strike with their stinger.

The Bullhead now moved forward solely due to inertia, and from the view out of the cargo bay door, they were dropping quickly.

Weiss lifted the boxes of Dust around her with her Semblance and launched them at the Lancers that were still following them. It seemed that it wasn't enough for them that they had downed the aircraft, the vile Grimm had to finish the job.

Well Weiss wasn't going to surrender easily. Her father may have stripped her of her title as heiress, but she was still a Schnee. She smiled as they died in explosions of fire and lightning. Unfortunately, like the insects they resembled, the swarm was so numerous that many still tailed them. Even killing their Queen moments ago had hardly slowed them down.

She stabbed down onto the shaking floor. Her glyphs were the only thing keeping her on her feet, but she'd need to focus on summoning her Arma Gigas.

"Huh?" Was all she could say when red beams of light sliced through the Grimm before her summoning was complete.

"Hold on tight, Ms. Schnee!" The pilot shouted.

Her head whipped around. This was no time to stare and gape! She could figure out what had happened later, right now she had to slow the Bullhead down enough for them to survive.

She aimed Myrtenaster and summoned a glyph in front of the careening Bullhead. It strained against the force for a split-second, then it shattered. She summoned another one, bleeding off some more momentum. It shattered.

Weiss panted. She was going to be out of aura if she tried that again. She had a much better chance of survival if she retained it instead and bore the brunt of the crash.

She did, but the pilot didn't. Weiss summoned a final glyph to slow the Bullhead down, draining her of aura completely. The glyph distorted around the Bullhead, and this time it dispersed before shattering.

They were still plummeting toward the ground, but the wind had become less fierce. Hopefully it would be enough. She grabbed onto a handhold with all the strength left in her body, knuckles white.

However, rather than a sudden impact and the rumble of dirt, they came to a stop with a loud clang! from the front of the Bullhead. It had been immediate but gentle. Weiss' view of the open cargo bay tilted down from the blue sky to a green forest.

A man came into view and entered the cargo hold. His hair was black and he looked only a few years older than Weiss. He wore a red jacket and a blue undershirt with jeans. Not as distinctive as most huntsmen.

"Are you two alright?" he asked.

Before Weiss could answer, the pilot came out of the cockpit. He pointed at the young man. "You-you-how? How did you catch the Bullhead?"

Weiss' eyes widened. He shrugged. "You saw me, guess I can't convince you that it didn't happen."

"How?" The pilot repeated, still in shock.

"I'm strong," he answered in a casual tone.

Strong? Strong didn't begin to describe him if he'd caught the Bullhead. How many tons must it weigh?

"By the way, Ms. Schnee," the man said. "Or Weiss, is it okay if I call you Weiss?"

She deliberated a moment before answering. "Yes." Normally she would have insisted that only close friends or family could call her by her first name, but she needed to keep a low profile. Since the man recognized her, she would have to be friendly to convince him not to inform her father about her location.

"Thank you for saving us," she said. "Were you the one who killed the Lancers as well?"

"Yeah, that was me."

She looked him up and down. Strange, she didn't see any weapons on him. She would have expected the attack to have come from some sort of gun. He was looking at her with a smile and an uncomfortable expression of familiarity as well. She smoothed out her wrinkled blue dress, fortunately it hadn't torn anywhere.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Clark Kent. This will probably surprise you, but we have some mutual friends. Ruby and Yang told me all about you."

Her heart fluttered at the mention of their names. "I see. Are they doing well at Haven?"

"Yeah, they're actually nearby." He chuckled. "Well, 'nearby' would be pushing it, but I can bring you to them quickly with my Semblance if you'd like."

She frowned. "I am grateful for your rescue, but I would rather not go along with a stranger." Especially when her aura was low, but if he was dangerous she wasn't going to mention that. His knowledge of Ruby and Yang wasn't proof either, their names had all been announced at the Vytal Festival.

Admittedly, she couldn't think of a reason why anyone would try such a tactic to convince her to go along with them. If he meant her harm it would be less suspicious to pretend to be a stranger rather than a friend of a friend.

"I'm not a complete stranger though. I'm friends with Ruby. Look, I can call her up for you right now." He took out a scroll. "Oh, no signal, great. Never mind, I can show you some pictures of us. This is us at Ruby's sixteenth birthday party."

She accepted his scroll and examined the picture. It was them. Clark was with Ruby, Yang, and team JNPR seated at a table with a birthday cake and candles. The room was decorated with streamers and balloons, and in the corner was their drunken uncle. She swiped to the right to see more pictures of the party. When she saw the close-ups of Ruby, Yang, and the others there was no question of its authenticity.

Weiss handed the scroll back to him.

"Come on, you're still not suspicious, are you? Why would I carry pictures like that around unless I was actually their friend?"

"Alright, I'll admit that you must be telling the truth," she said. "I'd like to see them again. So how does your Semblance work? Do you need me to do anything?"

"No, I'll handle it." Clark turned to the pilot. "But first, do you want me to bring you to the closest town?"

The pilot shook his head. "Nah, I'm going to hunker down in the cockpit and wait."

"Hmm." Clark looked around. "Well there aren't any Grimm too close to here, so I think you'll be safe. Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Goodbye, Ms. Schnee. I hope you get to where you're going." The pilot went back to the cockpit and closed the door.

Before they left, Weiss gathered her luggage. The suitcase was dented, but everything inside should be intact.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes."

In the next instant Weiss was outside. Overhead was a cloudy sky rather than the ceiling of a cargo bay. Under her feet was grass and the walls around her had disappeared to show a lush forest. She looked around, but the Bullhead was nowhere in sight.

Clark was in front of her and walking towards a van. "Hey guys, no luck on the Branwens so far, but I did manage something else." He stepped aside and presented her.

After a moment of stunned silence, a young girl screamed and burst out of the van in a shower of rose petals. She caught Weiss in a hug. "Weiss!"

"Ruby." Weiss hugged her back. She saw her other teammates leave the van. Team JNPR was inside too, along with Ruby and Yang's uncle and an unknown boy who looked even younger than Ruby.

Blake and Yang entered the embrace as well. "Weiss!" They shouted and laughed at their reunion. Weiss smiled back at them. She didn't recall ever having a group hug with her team before, it had taken a year-long separation to prompt one, but from now one maybe it shouldn't.

Their uncle walked up and asked, "Clark, why is she here? Did you run all the way to Atlas?"

Run all the way to Atlas? It was thousands of miles away. Yang noticed Weiss' bewildered expression and said, "We'll explain later."

"I didn't go to Atlas, I just happened to notice Weiss in the area," Clark explained. "If you want to know what she's doing here, you'll have to ask her."

"Thank you thank you thank you, Clark!" Ruby hopped off of Weiss and hugged him. "Team RWBY's back together because of you."

"What can I say? I got lucky." Once Ruby pulled away from him, Yang walked over and wrapped her arms around him. This time his eyes widened in surprise.

"Thanks, man," Yang said in a voice overflowing with gratitude and admiration. "For real, the team means a lot to us."

"You're welcome," he said, and she stepped away.

Weiss glanced at Blake, who also gave him a grateful look. If Blake had given him a hug, that would have truly shocked Weiss.

"Um, guys?" The tanned boy spoke up in a timid voice. As if he were apologizing for interrupting them. "Ozpin says that this is nice and all, but Clark should really go and continue looking for the Branwens."

Weiss hadn't realized the headmaster was here. She looked around but found no sight of him. They must be contacting him through scroll then.

"Right, everyone make sure to give Weiss the run-down of everything that's going on. See you later." Clark waved, and then disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Weiss asked.

"It's a long story," Ruby said. "Don't worry, Weiss. I'll tell you."

\\\\\

Yang grinned as Weiss held her head and tried to take in what they all had told her. They were outside the van, sitting on the ground because there was more space and they could all see each other. Weiss had preferred to sit on her case.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Let me see if I understand you correctly," Weiss said. "There's a woman behind the attack on Vale who Cinder serves. Her name is Salem, and she can control Grimm. She's the enemy."

"Mmhm." Ruby nodded.

"Not just that, but magic is real. Not Semblances, aura, or Dust, but actual magic. Ruby has magical silver eyes. Your uncle Qrow can turn into a bird."

"Yep." Qrow shifted to a bird and back right in front of her eyes. Judging by the look Weiss gave him she was still weirded out by it, which was fair.

"And you, Oscar, you're actually Ozpin."

"Actually, Ms. Schnee, I share this body with Oscar."

Weiss slowly nodded. "And can you remind me again where the Maidens and Relics fit into all of this?"

Qrow told her one more time about the fairy tale about the Maidens, powerful magic users, was real and that they were the keys to the vaults containing the Relics, powerful magical objects, located at the huntsman academies. Salem wanted them, they needed to stop her, and they were here to find the Branwen tribe because they had the Spring Maiden.

"And in addition to all this, Clark is an alien from another dimension with a wide array of powers. Another alien, who looks just like him and has the same powers, is on Salem's side. I saw that he was fast and strong, and you say he found me with enhanced senses. What else can he do?"

"You'll learn them over time," Blake said. "Honestly, this is already a lot for you to take in. I know because I only learned about it a few weeks ago. Everyone else has already gotten used to the weirdness of it all."

Clark's spoke up from beside the van. "I found them." Something was up, his tone was even and his expression was rigid.

"Huh, that was really good timing," Jaune said.

"I was waiting for you to help Weiss catch up."

"You shouldn't have waited, Clark," Uncle Qrow said. "We don't have a lot of time."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that now. The Branwen tribe is dead."

"What? Are you sure?" Ozpin, at least from the sound of his voice, asked.

"Get in the van and I'll show you."

They piled in. The world outside the windows flashed by for a split-second and they were in a field in front of a wall of logs surrounding a campsite. Entire sections of the wall had fallen over and revealed the settlement they'd been protecting. A mess of torn red tents, abandoned campfires, broken furniture, and various other objects.

They left the van and even from here Yang could spot the dead bodies. They looked mostly intact, they still had skin and no bones were showing. Although as she walked up closer she could see them crawling with flies. She backed away out of disgust for the sight and the smell.

"How did this happen?" Uncle Qrow asked.

"I guess negotiations went bad," Clark said. "A few of the bodies have wounds from blades, but most have broken necks and no surface injuries. I think it was the phantom. He could have done it quickly and I remember him saying he gets annoyed at getting blood on his clothes."

Everyone else stayed back while Qrow and Clark entered. They came out a few minutes later with a sword.

"Whose sword is that?" Ruby asked.

"Raven's," Uncle Qrow said. He watched Yang, as if gauging her reaction.

She crossed her arms. What did he expect? She knew what it meant. It was disappointing but Yang wasn't going to break down over her death when the woman hadn't even done anything to help raise her.

"Her body's not here though," Clark said. "She might still be alive."

"Why would your double let her live?" Blake asked.

"I don't know. Amusement? If she's alive though, we have a chance of learning about what happened here."

"Oz, what do you think we should do?" Qrow asked.

Oscar's posture changed. He stroked his chin and pondered. "Is there anything which indicated the Spring Maiden's fate?"

"We don't think she fought back," Qrow said. "This camp's in ruins, but there's no sign of any scorching from any fire or lightning attacks she would have tried. Most of the tents are still up so she probably didn't even get a strong wind out."

"How old do you estimate the bodies to be?" Ozpin asked.

"Several days, a week at most," Clark said. "But it's weird, Salem told Lionheart two days ago that she would begin negotiations with Raven."

"Then this must not have been a result of negotiations," Ozpin concluded. "Perhaps, when Salem's followers approached, Raven abandoned her tribe. She could have used her Semblance to escape with the Maiden. After all, if she went through her portal, then not even your double would know where she went. This slaughter could have served as a message to Raven as to the consequences of refusing Salem."

Uncle Qrow looked unsure. "Maybe, but it doesn't make sense for Raven to just leave her sword."

"This is a confusing situation. Is there any other explanation which fits what you've found?"

"No." Uncle Qrow sighed. "We should try to find where she went. I haven't heard anything from Tai, and she didn't come to me or Yang, so she must have formed some new bonds."

"Yes, we must hope that she's keeping the Spring Maiden out of Salem's hands," Ozpin said. He turned to Clark. "Can you bring us to the nearest town? We may be able to find tribe members who weren't present during this massacre and ask what they knew about Raven."

Clark nodded. "Sure."

After a blink-and-you-miss-it trip on the van, where he set them down a distance away from the town so nobody would see their sudden appearance, Uncle Qrow drove them inside its stone walls. It was called Higanbana, and they reserved rooms at an inn.

Before going into the rooms, they left to ask around if anyone had heard about the Branwen tribe. They split up in groups. Yang, Ruby, Uncle Qrow, and Clark went to talk to the authorities at the town hall. The rest headed for the merchant stalls to see if they'd heard anything from travelers.

The three of them kept glancing at Yang as they walked, like they were worried she might snap. After a few minutes, she confronted them in the street. "Hey, if you have something to say to me, just say it."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked with her best innocent expression. It didn't fool her.

"About Raven, and how she may or may not be dead. I don't care either way, we're only here for the Maiden."

"I can tell that's not true," Clark said.

Yang glared at him. Damn him and his super eyes or super ears or whatever super bullshit he used.

"Seriously firecracker, we can talk about this if you need to," Uncle Qrow said. "We have time."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't I be saying that to you instead? You knew her a lot better than I did, she was your sister."

"I've accepted she could die like this a long time ago. She's strong, but her lifestyle isn't one you grow old with."

"You can talk to us, Yang," Ruby said in a quiet voice.

"Fine, but it's not like it's a big deal, okay?" They completely ignored what she said and gave her their rapt attention. "After I learned about Salem and how Raven had the Spring Maiden, I thought she might be able to explain. She never visited when I was a kid, never even wrote a note or gave a hint that she cared. But now I thought maybe there's a chance she does care. Maybe she did want to come but was too busy keeping the Maiden away from Salem. I thought that when I came here I might get to at least rule out that possibility and get on with my life."

"Yang . . ." Clark said.

She held up a hand. "Don't turn this into a pity party. Especially you, Ruby. Summer was our mom. Even if Raven could explain herself it wouldn't change that."

"And if we find her, what if you don't like her explanation?" Uncle Qrow said.

"Then she's as good as dead to me. I'm not going to cry over it."

The two of them faced Clark. "It's the truth," he said.

"Thank you," Yang said and continued walking. "Now let's go and ask these people if they know anything."

\\\\\

Shay had shuddered when he'd seen him walking around. Clark Kent. He'd looked so much like Trav that Shay's knees had almost collapsed. Clark had come to Higanbana, just like Trav had said he would.

It was midday when Shay had spotted him, but back then it hadn't been time to approach him. Now, it was eight at night, and he knew what inn Clark was staying at. He was with Qrow Branwen, Raven's brother, and a bunch of kids.

Shay entered the inn, then asked the innkeeper to call down Clark and pass along the message that Shay could tell them what they wanted to know. After a minute, he came down the stairs along with a crowd of people, Qrow and the students they'd brought with them.

"You have information?" Clark asked.

Shay nodded. "I can tell you what happened to the Branwen tribe." He frowned. "Do they all have to come with you?"

"It'll be more convenient for them to hear what you say rather than us repeating your story," Clark said.

Any thoughts of arguing vanished. "Okay, but the one who attacked us did things. Things I don't want to talk about out here." There were a few other customers at the inn's bar and tables.

"Do you have a large room that can fit all of us?" Clark asked the innkeeper.

"Yeah, I have one in the back. I don't usually get a party this big, and you're already paying for so much that you can use it for free."

"Thank you," Clark responded.

Shay stared at him. As much as he looked like Trav, he wasn't him.

They went into the room, which had several couches and a coffee table with old magazines. Once they sat down, Qrow was all business. "Talk," he said.

"I used to be a member of the Branwen tribe until five days ago," Shay said. "When the tribe was killed."

\\\\\

Shay stood on guard with the others as the strangers approached their camp. It wasn't often that they spoke to outsiders, at least not peacefully. This time was different, Raven had ordered the tribe to let them in to negotiate for the Spring Maiden.

Even Shay could see how problematic that was. Raven had drilled them all into lying about Vernal being the Maiden, but these people would have to see through it eventually. What was going to happen then?

'Eh, no point worrying about something I can't change.' All Shay had to do was stand guard. These were dangerous people if Raven's mood was anything to go by.

His eyes were drawn to the black-haired big one first. The guy was easily over seven feet tall, maybe even eight. He wasn't shy about his muscles either, his forearms bulged with them and his jacket gave a hint of his chest. If it came to a fight, Shay was going to leave him to someone else.

Next was someone just plain weird. He was tall too, at least by normal standards, easily over six feet. He looked normal at first glance, with a face that the city girls probably loved, curly black hair, and his clothes were ordinary compared to everyone else. A blue jacket and red shirt with black pants. The weird thing about him was how he was faded, dark. It was broad daylight out but compared to the others it was like someone had taken a picture of him with a scroll and lowered the brightness all the way down to the point he was barely visible.

Shay recognized Torchwick, the famous thief from Vale. There was also some guy with a mustache and a smug kid with silver hair. There were a couple of women with them. A green-haired dark-skinned girl who was just begging for men to get into her pants with the outfit she was wearing. Seriously, her cleavage and midriff were out for all to see, and she had a nice curvy figure too. The other girl was pretty hot too, pale and petite with interesting white, brown, and pink hair.

The strangers entered the camp, where Raven was waiting for them.

"Greetings," Raven said. Many of the tribe members stopped to watch even though she'd told them to continue as if everything was normal.

"Hello," the mustached one answered. It seemed that he would be leading negotiations for them.

Raven looked them over. "I didn't expect this many of you."

"Is that a problem?"

After a second she answered, "No. Your names?"

"Of course. I am Watts."

Shay matched the names to the faces. Mustache was Watts, big guy was Hazel, faded guy was Trav, then Mercury, Emerald, and Neo.

"Let's get down to business," Watts began. "We only need the Spring Maiden to open the vault at Haven for us. Nothing more. Once she does so, she can return to you with no consequences. In fact, you will never have to see us or any of our colleagues again."

"When do you want her at Haven?" Raven asked.

"By next week. We have certain plans in place regarding Haven that will need to wait until then."

Raven watched them carefully. Shay hardly ever saw her this cautious, since the tribe usually just took what they wanted from others without exchanging words. In the rare cases anyone with serious combat ability resisted, Raven cut them down.

"Very well, I'll agree to have her open the vault."

"Good, where is she?"

"Vernal." Raven turned to the brown-haired girl. She walked forward.

"Really, Vernal?" Trav said with a snicker. "That's seriously what you decided to name the Spring Maiden?"

"Yes, do you have an issue with that?"

He tilted his head, amused at her. Even from the side, his gaze made Shay uncomfortable. "Nah. Guess I can't really say much when Cinder decided to go with the last name Fall." He faced Vernal. "You, you're the Spring Maiden?"

Vernal scowled at him. "Yeah. What, you think she called me out here for no reason?"

"No, of course not, that would be silly." Trav raised a finger. "Hold on a second, we need to have a private discussion." He started walking away.

"Now?" Watts seemed annoyed at him taking charge, but a few of the others followed Trav without a word.

"It's important, I promise."

They went outside the walls where no one could hear them. It wasn't a long conversation, just a few minutes. They returned, a couple of them stared at Raven and Vernal with suspicion.

"Apologies for the delay," Watts said. "Now, of course we require a demonstration that she's actually the Maiden. If you would?"

"Do it, Vernal." Raven brought her mask up and wore it.

Vernal breathed out and brought her hands together. Her eyes closed, and above clouds gathered to block out the sun.

Then everything changed.

"Well well well, would you look at that." Trav had Raven's mask in his hands. He crushed it into smithereens.

Raven was in a different spot, although Shay hadn't seen her move. She was in front of Vernal now, and he caught just the faintest glint of light from her eyes before they turned back to normal.

"Wh-what did you just do to me?!" Raven demanded.

Trav ignored her and turned to his allies. "See? Not only was our little birdie here lying, she turned out to be the Spring Maiden."

"Answer me!" Raven shouted. She was scared. The lie had been exposed, and a few of the visitors looked upset. Especially Hazel, he was frowning.

Trav finally addressed her. "Shut up. You lied to us. I don't feel particularly forgiving of that."

Torchwick sighed. "Whatever happened to honor among thieves?"

"Be quiet," Watts said. "Although Trav does have a point. We don't appreciate your attempt at deception, Raven. Now will you agree to come with us, or must we use force?"

"Think carefully, by the way," Mercury said. "I already took down one Maiden."

"Blah blah blah. Are you guys going to keep pretending she has a choice?" Trav said. He disappeared. A sickening crack echoed throughout the camp.

"Vernal!" Raven yelled. The tribe erupted in gasps and shouts.

Vernal's body fell to the ground. Her head twisted the wrong way around.

Trav pointed at her. "Remember, you just proved that we don't need this girl. In fact, you just proved that we don't need anyone else in your tribe. Now, what do you think we'll do with things we don't need after you lied to us?"

"No!" Raven's eyes glowed.

Her head slammed into the ground face first, digging into the dirt. Trav stood in front of her, again Shay hadn't even seen him move. All the tribe members stood frozen.

"You better not have killed her," Hazel said.

"Relax, she's still breathing. Although her brain rattled around her skull a bit. Do we need her to wake up? I can knock it around a bit more if we don't."

Watts answered. "Let's err on the safe side of not causing her any further, possibly fatal, brain damage, please."

Trav shrugged. "Alright. Now who wants to join me in wiping out these losers?"

"Raaagh!" Shay pulled out his gun and fired.

Trav caught the bullet with hardly a glance. "Dude, I don't like holes in my clothes." He flicked it back at him and struck the gun out of Shay's hands.

"Agh!" Shay fell to his knees, cradling his hand. It fucking hurt! Were any of his fingers broken?

Roland, one of the older members of the tribe, ran for the gate. A few others followed him rather than fight, but none of them made it more than a few steps. They fell to the ground, their necks bent or twisted at unnatural angles. The others who'd been about to follow them stopped, afraid. Shay had almost been one of them.

Trav continued, unmoved. "Anyway, who wants to give me a hand? Not really fair making me do all the work."

Mercury and Neo walked forward.

Torchwick joined them. "You know, I wish you wouldn't make us kill more than we have to. It's messy for us."

"Hey, I never said you have to. Watts, Hazel, Emerald, you're not going to join in?"

"No, killing them is your decision," Watts said. "We have what we came for."

Hazel lifted Raven's unconscious body. He, Watts, and Emerald left.

Trav turned back to them. If they ran they'd die, if they stayed they'd die. There was no way out. "Don't worry, you three. I appreciate your support, I won't leave too much work for the rest of you."

They attacked. Shay saw Neo stab Carl in the chest. Mercury was kicking people, leaving shattered limbs and ribs, chests sunken inward as a result. Torchwick used his cane to shoot and strike at the tribe members. A few tried to fight, but their strongest members were already down. All around them, corpses fell, and people screamed.

The world shifted. Shay wasn't in the camp anywhere, he was in a forest. In front of him was Trav.

"No no! Please, no!" Shay cowered, using his arms to shield himself.

Trav laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Relax buddy, you get to live. Congrats!"

"I-I do?"

"Weeell, you get to live if you do this one little thing for me." Trav raised a finger. "Think you can do that?"

Shay could live? "Yes! Whatever you want, I'll do it!"

Trav grinned. "Great. Now, I'm going to leave you in a town called Higanbana. Soon, someone important is going to arrive there. His name is Clark Kent, and he's sort of my twin. It's a bit more complicated than that, but the point is you'll recognize him when you see him because he'll look exactly like me. Now, and this is the most important part, there's a message you have to leave for him in exactly five days at the exact right time. If he shows up earlier, wait until then to tell him. Otherwise you die. Remember all that?"

Shay answered with frantic nods.

"Repeat it to me."

Shay did. For once, when his life depended on it, his memory didn't crap out on him. He recited the instructions almost word for word.

"Good job. Now here's what you need to say . . ."

\\\\\

"What's the message?" Clark asked after Shay finished his story. Everyone else in the room had grave expressions.

"It has to be at the right time." Shay took out his scroll. Trav had come every day since then to make sure he was following orders. As a result, he'd practiced telling the story over and over again in front of the mirror. Living through it repeatedly so he would know how long it would take him to tell his tale. All so he could survive.

It was nine p.m. exactly. Shay had done it. He'd delivered the message. He would get to live. "Trav said that he's waiting at Haven for you."

They were confused. Shay didn't know why Trav was waiting there, and he didn't care. He never wanted to see or hear about him again.

"Go Clark!" The tanned kid in their group shouted. "He's waiting at Haven, and he has the Maiden. You can't let Salem have the Relic!"

Clark vanished.