Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)

Chapter 33: Hellblazer, Part 1

November 22nd, 7:15 A.M. (Eastern Standard Time)

Metropolis, New York, United States of America

Ruby could hardly contain her excitement. After spending a week in Metropolis simply acclimating to her new home, things were finally about to kick into high gear. Their break was over, and now they were going back out into the field. Of course, 'field' was a bit of a stretch in this case, but given how their plans for the day directly concerned her eyes, there were other reasons to be excited.

Now if only her friends would get up. To Ruby's frustration, the others were still soundly asleep. Part of her wondered if it was the food coma from the other night, when instead of going out to dinner they and the Titans ate the casseroles Jaune's 'fanclub' gave him. She had to admit, they were delicious, but one of the moms used a bit too much spice for her tastes. She doubted it, though. More than likely, her friends were just being lazy. Luckily, she had the perfect remedy for such an occasion. With a smile on her face, Ruby brought a whistle to her lips and blew into it as hard as she could.

"GAGH!" her friends shrieked in surprise from inside their rooms as the high-pitched shrill of Ruby's whistle reverberated across the hall.

"Everybody up! We have a long day ahead of us! Let's go!" Ruby announced, then blew into her whistle again. Moments later, still blowing into it, the individual doors opened as her tired and sleepy friends dragged themselves out of their rooms and made their way downstairs, clutching their ears in a desperate attempt to block out the noise. Ruby continued to blow a tune into the whistle, glad that her tactic worked. Then, when Weiss finally left her room and walked down the hall towards her, Ruby puffed into the whistle again, only to be surprised when Weiss screamed in rage, ripped the whistle from her hands, and threw it down the hall as hard as she could.

"You blow that whistle again and I swear to the Gods that I will shove it-!" Weiss angrily began, shouting at the top of her lungs, only to stop when she saw the surprised and slightly hurt look on Ruby's face. "I… I'm so sorry."

"N-no, no. It's fine," Ruby insisted, slightly fearful and with a few tears in her eyes. "Using the whistle may have been a bit much."

"That still doesn't excuse me overreacting," Weiss replied. "I'm sorry, it's just…it's 7:20 in the morning, Ruby. We wanted to sleep."

"I know, I'm sorry. I just got so excited that I couldn't help myself."

"Well…try not to do so again. At least until 8:00, 8:30. After that, it's fine," Weiss allowed. Ruby nodded, then the two partners turned around and silently walked down the hall. Weiss briefly stopped to pick up the thrown whistle and hand it back to Ruby, who quietly pocketed it before they walked down the flight of stairs.

The rest of RWBY and JNPR were waiting for them, Ren already getting started on their breakfast. From the smell emanating from the kitchen, it seemed like pancakes, bacon, and eggs were on the table today. Ruby was already salivating at the prospect of eating them, and she couldn't wait to dig in.

"So, rude awakening aside," Yang jested, earning a groan from her sister, "when's our guide supposed to be here?"

"He said he'd be here around 8:30," Ruby answered, pouring herself a glass of milk. She took a large gulp, ending up with a milk moustache on her upper lip. The others giggled, prompting Ruby to quickly realize what had happened and wipe it away with her arm.

"Any idea what he's going to have us do?" Nora asked as Ren plopped a fresh pancake onto her plate, which she eagerly began devouring. Then, with her mouth full, mumbled, "I mean, I know he'll be focusing on you, but what about us?"

"No idea," Ruby admitted, understanding Nora perfectly. "Honestly, if you guys wanted I could just go and leave you all to patrol Metropolis. Today's a free day, after all."

"Ruby, we've been over this," Blake cut in, nursing a steaming cup of tea in her hands. "Whatever your eyes can do, it's important enough for all of us to be there."

"Besides," Jaune added, "knowing our luck, something's bound to happen."

Ruby thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yeah, I see your point."

The eight teenagers continued their breakfast, making small talk regarding various goings on in their lives as well as potential upgrades to their equipment. Yang had come up with an idea for deployable explosive gel, similar to what Batman and his protégés used, that she could plant on objects via Ember Celica before detonating the dispensed gel remotely. She'd already been brainstorming something similar before with sticky bombs, but the Caped Crusader's formula allowed her to adapt it to hero work, being powerful enough to demolish structures while still being (relatively) safe to use against regular people. It was something that Nora was extremely gung-ho about and happily offered to assist in creating.

Yang also had an idea to add arm blades or punch daggers onto Ember Celica, which she felt would have been very useful to have when she almost got eaten by a shark. She was having trouble figuring out where she could possibly fit them into her gauntlets with all the other mechanisms that were already getting stuffed into them, though.

Ruby, meanwhile, had discovered that there was an experimental sniper rifle invented a few years back that fired explosive grenade-like bullets, so now she was working on a new ammo type for Crescent Rose mark two because she thought that sounded awesome.

They finished eating half an hour later, after which they all helped to clean the kitchen then went back to their rooms to clean themselves up and get ready for their day. Ruby, already dressed in her casual attire which consisted of a red t-shirt under a black unzipped hoodie and light blue jeans, chose to instead wait outside on the patio, where she gazed out across the Metropolis skyline and Centennial Park. It was a breathtaking sight, much cleaner and more vibrant than the best views Gotham could offer.

Plus, she had a perfect line of sight to the statue of Superman laying in the center of the park. Every day since they moved in, Ruby liked to walk outside and stare at it for a few minutes. The statue, erected after Superman's resurrection and the Darkseid War, seemed to lift the spirits of everyone in Metropolis. It was a popular sight, which she saw evidence of every day as scores of people crowded around it. She hoped that, once the day was over, they might be able to see it in person. Even still, although she had only seen it from afar, the sight of that statue brought hope to her every time.

"What do you think would have happened if Superman landed on Remnant instead?" Jaune asked, joining Ruby on the patio and leaning against the railing. He, too, was dressed casually, which Ruby noted looked pretty much like his normal Beacon clothes sans armor, with his old Pumpkin Pete hoody replaced by a black hoody with yellow stripes down the sides of his sleeves and an orange interior. She pursed her lips in thought, then smiled.

"Well, obviously he'd be the best Huntsman on the planet," Ruby declared. "With how strong he is, Grimm might not even be a problem. He could just fly around the planet and kill any Grimm he saw, and he'd probably do it for free because it's the right thing to do."

"Great, so I'd be out of a job then," Yang joked, joining Ruby and Jaune at the railing, showing that she was dressed in her yellow undershirt, brown and black-trimmed coat with a furry collar, and dark blue jeans. "Oh well, at least I have my engineering job to keep me afloat."

"Oh please, we all know I'm the one who'd be paying for everything," Weiss countered as she entered the patio, Blake, Ren, Nora and Pyrrha right behind her. As with the others, they too were dressed casually, although Weiss still looked the most formal out of all of them. She was wearing a white button up coat over a skirt, while Blake wore a black and white stripped shirt underneath a black coat and black jeans. Ren was wearing a green sweater layered over a black collared t-shirt, and his jeans were a light grey. Nora was wearing a pink shirt underneath a dark blue coat, her skirt connecting to grey stockings that left her upper thighs slightly exposed. Pyrrha wore a tan shirt layered underneath an open red sweater, and she had opted against wearing her circlet.

Weiss then nodded and continued, admitting, "Still, even I can imagine what Remnant would be like if Earth's superheroes arose. I mean, an entire class of warriors who fight wrongdoing not for money or fame, but simply because it's the right thing to do would create ripples. Especially if they could back themselves up like the Justice League."

"Regardless, there would always be a place for people like us," Blake added. Part of her wanted to bring up the probability that if the Justice League was on Remnant, and not Earth, Brainiac would likely have been defeated, but she refused to point that out. Besides, she knew everyone else thought the same thing.

"You know, I can't help but think," Pyrrha softly spoke up, leaning forward across the railing. "The Green Lanterns are about to fight him directly. I can't help but wonder what's going to happen."

"Well, Brainiac's gonna get his butt kicked!" Nora answered, pounding her fist into her palm. "I'm just upset I won't be able to do it myself."

Pyrrha chuckled, adding, "I know that, but I'm asking about what happens after. What are we going to do with the cities? Remnant's gone, and it's never coming back, so where will they go?"

The others fell silent, deep in thought. Finally, Weiss narrowed her eyes and said, "That…is a difficult issue. I can't pretend to know exactly what is going on in there, but it can't be anything good. Cities isolated, cut off from communications with the other kingdoms, the complete destruction of the supply chains that kept our society running. Not to mention the physical damage each city received during the invasion and the accompanying loss of critical people and infrastructure. All of those things, and more, need to be repaired and rebuilt, and that takes time and resources. Resources they wouldn't have if we just planted the cities on a suitable planet and called it a day."

"So, what you're saying is that putting Remnant on another planet would fail?" Yang asked, and Weiss nodded.

"Not just fail, it would fail catastrophically in my opinion. It would be like taking an entire family whose home burned down in the suburbs and putting them in the wilderness, then saying 'alright, here's everything you need to build yourself back up' before leaving them to fend for themselves. They would have no idea what to do."

Ruby frowned, not wanting to accept with Weiss' logic but seeing no counter to it. Then she had an idea, and suggested, "Why not put the cities on Earth? There's more than enough space, and the other nations and the Justice League could easily help in bringing them back up."

Weiss nodded, but at the same time held up a finger and said, "On the one hand, I do believe that putting the cities on Earth would be the best solution. Assuming Earth's infrastructure isn't utterly destroyed between now and then, it has everything we'd need to start over. The right atmosphere, the right gravity, the same climates and ecosystems. Not to mention a robust infrastructure to assist in rebuilding. On our end, acclimating would be remarkably easy. But even then, there are significant hurdles and issues to overcome."

"Such as?" Ren asked, but he felt he already had a few in mind. Weiss nodded at him, then continued.

"For starters, Earth's prior history of alien invasions," she pointed out. "They might not look too kindly on allowing alien refugees to live among them in large numbers. Especially ones that are more powerful than ninety-nine percent of the population. Plus, there's the question of where to put the cities. No country on Earth will willingly cede territory they claim sovereignty over to allow the cities to be planted. They will only allow it if said city falls under their jurisdiction, something that Remnant will not agree with. If the Green Lanterns fail and Brainiac later invades Earth, causing significant damage in the process, they might not like the idea of using resources that could be used to rebuild themselves on alien refugees instead."

"So, what you're saying is that it's hopeless?" Blake dejectedly finished, but Weiss shook her head.

"No, I don't think so. At least, not yet," Weiss countered. "It'll be hard, no doubt about it, but I think in time we can find ways to convince the people of Earth to give our own a second chance. The Justice League will be a great help on that front. The way I see it, our choice to become superheroes on Earth unintentionally offered us a great opportunity to make our case. Sure, we didn't become superheroes because of it, but it still remains. We are essentially Remnant's representatives to Earth, and by presenting ourselves correctly, we thereby influence how people on Earth view us and our people. The more successful and popular we become, the more goodwill we can build up for Remnant by association. Meaning, in the end, the people of Earth might be more accepting of placing the cities here."

"So, basically a PR campaign?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow. Weiss stared flatly at her teammate, then pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned.

"Yes, like a PR campaign," Weiss clarified. "Still, influencing public opinion can only get us so far. I would say the prospect of ceding territory would be the biggest hurdle to overcome."

"Yeah," Ruby breathlessly said. She thought hard on how best to potentially solve the issues Weiss pointed out, then suggested, "Why not build a place to put the cities on?"

"What do mean? Like artificial islands?" Jaune asked, and Ruby nodded.

"Yeah, exactly. Strike up an agreement with the UN, build some islands in international waters, and boom. No country has to give up anything. It's not like entire continents got bottled, so it wouldn't be that much to build."

"Hmm, that might work…" Weiss hummed, scratching her chin, then felt her scroll vibrate. She pulled it out and saw that it was eight-thirty, and their League partner for the day was waiting downstairs. Weiss put away the device, declaring, "We'll have to continue this later. Right now, we have someone waiting for us."

"Ooh, yay!" Ruby cheered, then burst away in a cloud of rose petals, reappearing at the elevator doors. The others chuckled in amusement, then they walked over to the elevator, grabbing their weapon cases off the table as they passed, and hopped into the elevator as the doors opened.

As the doors closed and the car began to descend, Nora suddenly asked, "You know, I've been wondering. Who would win in a fight: Pyrrha, or Earth-2 Jaune?"

Pyrrha raised her finger, then paused and hummed while bringing her hand to her chin and answered, "That…is a very good question. I don't know, and now I'm curious."

"Part of me wants to say the other me would win," Jaune admitted, "but at the same time, Pyrrha's my partner and I want to support her."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said with a smile, and Jaune nodded back. Then Weiss elected to break up the pair's usual compliment loop by actually trying to answer the hypothetical.

"With all that armor he was wearing?" The fencer shook her head, saying, "I can't see any way for Jaune-2 to avoid just becoming a puppet to Pyrrha's Semblance, no matter how skilled he might be. Although, it's quite likely that this other Jaune has discovered and developed his own Semblance, and for all we know it could completely change the circumstances of such a fight as well. We don't even know what our own Jaune's Semblance is yet to help us guess, and that's assuming we share identical Semblances with our counterparts in the first place, despite our other differences. Without being able to see him in action, there's no way to really tell."

"Either way, I'm sure it would be awesome!" Nora insisted, then the car came to a halt and opened to the lobby. They all promptly stepped out, where they saw a lone man with a scruffy beard and brown trench coat waiting for them. An unlit cigarette was held in his hands while the receptionist angrily glared at him for holding it out.

"Relax, love. I'm not going to light it in here," the man insisted. The receptionist narrowed her eyes further, then huffed and looked away. Glad that he was no longer being glared at, the man shook his head and sighed.

"I swear, the people in this country can be so bloody insistent…" he grumbled, then looked up as RWBY and JNPR walked towards him. He stood up and pocketed the cigarette, saying, "Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you'd show up. Been waiting for the past ten minutes."

"Sorry about that, we lost track of time," Weiss replied, then pointed to the hand still inside his pocket. "You do realize that stuff will kill you, right?"

"Meh, I wouldn't worry about it," the man insisted, waving her off. "Besides, I'm magic. With just a few incantations, it all goes away."

"Right, of course. How could I forget?" Weiss dryly retorted, then Ruby stepped up.

"I don't think we really met before," she started. "I mean, I know you worked on me when I was unconscious, but—"

"Don't worry, I know what you meant. And please, skip the formal introductions. I already know who you are, so there's no point," he cut her off, then gave a quick nod. "The name's John Constantine. Now come on, the sooner we get this over with the better."

The Remnantian teenagers nodded, then followed John Constantine outside of the building and into a nearby alleyway. They watched as he looked around for any onlookers, then he held out his palm and closed his eyes to focus. A moment later, a golden glyph appeared before him, which shot forward and turned into a glowing ring with a white center. The white then went away, revealing an eighteenth-century manor surrounded by dead trees and shrubs, along with a small pond and a graveyard next to it. At the same time, looking at the manor felt off, as though they were looking at two places at once that existed in the same place simultaneously. A sense of nervousness shot through RWBY and JNPR, but then Constantine placed his cigarette into his mouth, lit it up with a lighter, and calmly stepped through the magical portal.

"Well, come on. We don't have all bloody day," Constantine called out from the other side. RWBY and JNPR looked at each other, then walked through the portal and joined their mentor for the day. The portal closed behind them, but aside from a quick nervous gulp they continued walking after John until they reached the wooden stairs leading up to the main doorway.

"Kids, welcome to the House of Mystery," John Constantine announced as he prepared to open the doors. "Word of advice: this house gets seriously weird, so don't touch anything."

With that, he opened both doors, and once RWBY and JNPR walked inside, he closed it behind them.

"Wow! Look at this place!" Ruby exclaimed as she and the others loitered in the main hall. It reminded them immensely of Wayne Manor, just with a southern, eighteenth-century edge to it. To Weiss, it reminded her of a plantation home, but from all the dead plants that surrounded the manor, it was clear that nothing was grown here for quite some time.

"Anyone else feel…off?" Ren asked as he rubbed his fingers across the wooden walls, the rustic paint peeling off into small flakes as he did.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I do," Jaune added, turning the flame of an old oil lamp up and down.

"I told you, the House of Mystery is weird," John Constantine replied as he sat on a cushy sofa chair, smoking his cigarette. He took another puff, then breathed out a faint cloud of smoke and said, "If you want to be specific about this, right now we're in two places at once."

"Huh? What does that mean?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That we're in two places at once," Constantine reiterated. "Physically, we're in the state of Kentucky. At the same time, this house is connected to a parallel dimension called the Dreaming."

"The Dreaming?" Blake asked. Constantine moved to explain, but Nora cut him off.

"Wait, let me guess," she insisted. "It's where we go when we dream?"

Constantine and everyone else stared at her blankly, then the occult detective nodded while rubbing the back of his head. He said, "Well, yes and no. You're correct that the Dreaming is connected to, well, the dreams of living beings, and it is where people go when they dream. At the same time, people's dreams grant the Dreaming life and energy, giving rise to beings beyond our wildest comprehension. Some are positively pleasant to interact with, others are absolutely horrifying. Regardless, the House of Mystery exists simultaneously in the real world and the Dreaming, and this focal point causes the house to warp and shift itself constantly. This house is alive."

Everyone was silent as they tried to comprehend what Constantine was saying, then Yang coughed and said, "Sounds like we're in a haunted house."

"Kind of, yeah," Constantine admitted with a shrug. "Course, the things that live here are generally nicer. This ain't the Overlook Hotel."

None of the teenagers knew exactly what he was talking about, but they figured they would find out later and so moved on.

"'Live here?'" Ruby nervously asked. "Who else-?"

Ruby was cut off as a purple-skinned woman who, other than a series of dark purple lines crisscrossing her body and a pair of clear wing-like capes coming off of her back, looked completely naked appeared out of nowhere right next to her. She, and the rest of her team, shrieked in fright. Even Constantine jumped a little, and Yang tried to throw an instinctual punch only for it to go right through the woman's head like there was nothing even there. With wide eyes, Yang pulled back, staring at her fist in shock as the woman turned to her with a smile on her face.

"Hello there," she greeted, seemingly not caring that Yang just tried to punch her in the face.

"Uh…hi," Yang replied, unsure of the situation, then heard Constantine groan.

"Dammit, Orchid. I told you not to do that. Please, use the bloody door next time," Constantine chastised. The woman, apparently named Orchid, merely turned towards John Constantine and smiled.

"Hello, John. I'm glad that you're well," she stated, and Constantine sighed.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, waving her off, then he and everyone else heard Weiss gently cough for everyone's attention. She was raising an inquisitive eyebrow towards him, and Constantine immediately understood what she was asking. He answered, saying, "Kids, this is Black Orchid. She's the magic of the house who wanted to experience life as a human, so she made herself look like…that."

Black Orchid gently smiled and gave a slight bow, folding her hands in front of her waist as she did. While RWBY and JNPR were still nervous, that was quickly ebbing away in favor of curiosity, and they soon crowded around her.

"So, you're the house?" Nora asked, then began to step in place. "Can you feel this?"

"I am, and yes," Black Orchid admitted. When Nora stopped, and held herself ramrod straight to avoid touching anything, the spirit merely smiled and shook her head. "Worry not, I am not offended. In fact, I enjoy it. It's been a long time since I've felt more than one person walk these halls, and each person brings with them new and unique experiences to cherish."

Black Orchid turned to face Ruby, walking towards her while saying, "I feel it in all of you. You're so young, yet have experienced so much loss, pain and suffering. The loss of a home chief among them. But, you haven't fallen into despair as lesser men and women would. Instead, you keep going from a desire to keep moving forward despite all that has plagued you. I can't help ask why?"

Ruby was silent for a moment, then she took a deep breath and said, "Because wallowing in self-pity won't change anything. The day Remnant fell was the worst day of my life. Of all of our lives, but pitying ourselves won't change what happened. It won't bring Remnant back; nothing will. But, by doing what we can now, we can ensure that what happened to us won't happen to anyone else. I guess that's why we keep going."

Black Orchid smiled at Ruby's answer, saying, "A wise answer, and from one so young, too."

"Oh, heh. Thank you," Ruby sheepishly replied, scratching her cheek as Black Orchid turned to face Blake and Yang. But, before she could say anything, Constantine coughed loudly. Everyone's attention was brought back to him, and he crossed his arms in slight annoyance.

"While this discussion on everyone's feelings is nice and all, I'm afraid we have a schedule to keep," Constantine remarked. "Orchid, is everything ready downstairs?"

"It is, John," Black Orchid revealed. "Zatanna is waiting as well. May your progress be swift."

"Perfect. Ruby, come with me downstairs so we can get started," he declared, placing his hands in his pockets and turning away to walk down an adjacent hallway towards the basement.

"What about us?" Weiss asked, and Constantine pointed towards Black Orchid.

"She's going to work with you guys on dealing with magical threats," he revealed. "Artifacts and the like. Maybe a few demons out in the graveyard. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just do what she says."

Everyone stared at him as he nonchalantly walked away, Ruby right in tow after an awkward shuffle and wave. Soon the rest were by themselves, and slowly their heads swiveled towards Black Orchid.

"Please, follow me," Black Orchid requested, walking up the stairs. Everyone stared at each other, then all at once followed. As they reached the top of the stairs, however, Ren stopped and turned abruptly towards the front entrance, where massive windows exposed the outside world. Although the ground was as he expected, the sky had turned into a swirling void of otherworldly hues. It was unnerving to say the least, but for a split second, he thought he saw a humanoid figure watching him and his friends through the window. He couldn't make anything out, but he could have sworn it looked like a horned, muscular man with a cape.

"Ren? Did you see something?" Nora asked, breaking her boyfriend out of his thoughts. He looked at Nora then back at the window, only to find that nothing was there. In fact, everything looked normal, with the sky returned to its normal blue. Ren looked back at Nora, who was clearly concerned while trying to see what he saw, then the Verdant Lotus shook his head.

"No, it's nothing, Nora," he insisted. "Come on, we should catch up with the others."

Without waiting for a response, Ren continued down the hall after his friends and Black Orchid. Nora stayed still for a moment, a faint frown on her face, then she walked after him.

If Ruby thought that the main floor of the House of Mystery was weird, the basement was outright foreboding. On its surface, the basement looked like any other, if a little old fashioned. Several crates and barrels were neatly stacked on top of each other, and pipes raced across the roof and walls towards a boiler embedded into the brick wall. The ground was also made of brick, and each step she and Constantine made sent little echoes reverberating across the room. Yet, at the same time, the house itself seemed heavier down here, as though the energy that bound it into two planes at once was more concentrated on this level. If Constantine felt how she did, he didn't show it as he continued escorting her deeper and deeper inside.

"Here we are," he announced as they rounded a wooden wall. On the other side, Ruby saw a circular cage that went from the ceiling to the floor, with a locked door preventing her and Constantine from just walking inside. In front of the cage door was a woman waiting for them, looking like a stage magician complete with a black and white suit, top hat that partially obscured her raven-black hair, and a wand clutched in her right hand. In the center of the large cage was a smaller one that had a blanket obscuring it, and low growls were coming from it that Ruby recognized anywhere.

"You have a Grimm in here?" she accused, shooting Constantine an angry look that he merely shrugged at.

"Yes, we do," he admitted. "Zatanna captured it this morning roaming just outside Blüdhaven. Apparently, not all of them were killed when the League of Shadows were defeated."

Ruby looked at the magician, who she assumed to be this Zatanna, who nodded and revealed, "It wasn't just the one. It was a pack of…what are the wolf ones called, again? Werewolves or something?"

"Beowolves," Ruby clarified.

"Right, Beowolves." Zatanna Zatara nodded. "There was a whole pack of them, numbering about a dozen. Since we needed to figure out how your eyes work, we felt having one of these guys around would make for perfect target practice. So, the Justice League Dark killed all but one."

Zatanna slapped the cage door in emphasis, which caused the Grimm trapped inside to growl angrily. Constantine, meanwhile, rolled his eyes as he fumbled around in his pockets for the key.

"The House of Mystery did not like that one bit, let me tell you," Constantine remarked. "Black Orchid gave me an earful until I fully explained why."

"Can't say I blame her," Ruby noted, then looked at Zatanna as Constantine finally unlocked the door, allowing them to step inside. As the door was closed and locked behind them, a faint purple sheen surrounding the cage bars as it did, Ruby took a deep breath and said, "Okay first, hi! I'm Ruby! Pleased to meet you! Second, Justice League Dark?"

"Zatanna Zatara, the world's greatest illusionist, at your service," Zatanna kindly greeted, bowing dramatically while taking off her top hat and bringing it to her chest. When she stood back up, she rolled her hat end over end across her arm and shoulder, before it popped up to a stop atop her head. Ruby clapped and smiled at the display, and Zatanna smiled back.

"As for the Justice League Dark, we're a branch of the Justice League dedicated to combating the more magical threats," Zatanna explained. "Currently, our ranks include me, John Constantine, Deadman, Jason Blood, Doctor Fate, and on occasion, Swamp Thing. He doesn't interact with us a whole lot, though. Really only does if the 'balance of nature' is disturbed. The House of Mystery is technically our base of operations, even though we don't use it a whole lot, with me as team leader. Constantine used to be, but he got removed from the position due to his…abrasive personality."

"Hah hah," Constantine dryly laughed, crossing his arms and muttering under his breath, "Bunch of ingrates. Wouldn't even be a thing without me…"

Ruby ignored him, saying, "Oh, that's cool. I can see why that might be a thing. Anyway, don't you have a stage show?" she asked, remembering Weiss saying something about that back in Jump City.

"Yes, actually. I have a show in Metropolis for the next few weeks. If you want, I can give you and your friends box seats."

"Ooh, we'd love that!"

"Ladies," Constantine interrupted before the conversation could continue, "can we focus on the task at hand? The sooner we get this Grimm out of here, the sooner the house will stop being mad at me."

Ruby and Zatanna gave Constantine a cross look, Ruby's more akin to a pout than anything, but it was at that moment that the House of Mystery groaned. The basement rumbled and shook, and a few pipes burst along seams, causing steam to shoot out with a loud whine.

"Yeah, yeah, we know. We're getting on it," Constantine said to no one in particular. After a moment, the rumbling stopped and the pipes repaired themselves, making everything look like it had gone back to normal.

"Huh, guess you weren't exaggerating when you said the house was alive," Ruby noted, and Constantine nodded.

"Quite. Now, love, do you mind getting us started?" Constantine asked. Zatanna rolled her eyes at him, then walked over and grabbed the blanket with her free hand while pointing her wand at the cage with the other. She then ripped the blanket off, exposing the snarling beast the cage contained. It roared and shook, trying to claw its way out, but the bars were magically reinforced. It wasn't going anywhere, and they all knew it. Seeing it reminded Ruby of Grimm Studies with Professor Port, although the atmosphere here wouldn't let her fall asleep.

"Nasty little beast, isn't he?" Constantine dryly noted, and Ruby nodded.

"You have no idea," she said, then looked at her two magical companions and asked, "How's this going to work?"

"You tell us," Constantine admitted. "That's the entire point of this. All we know is that your silver eyes are primed by the Grimm. We have no idea how they bloody work."

"You used them before on Trigon," Zatanna pointed out. "Can you tell us what exactly happened? How you felt?"

Ruby pursed her lips, ignoring the snarls of the Grimm, then replied, "It's…hard to describe. I felt anger, sadness, fear. I was terrified Trigon was going to kill my friends. After that, things just…happened."

"Hmm," Constantine muttered. "We did theorize that an emotional trigger was key to it. Perhaps you can try forcing yourself to feel like you did when you blasted Trigon with them?"

"That…might work," Ruby admitted. Then she nodded and turned to face the Beowolf. She focused her attention onto its blood red, hate filled eyes that promised nothing but death and pain onto her and everyone else. After a moment, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the swirling emotions and memories that filled her.

She focused on everything that had happened ever since she arrived at Beacon. When she and Weiss finally became true partners and friends, when she met Penny and learned she was a robot. She remembered the small moments of her and her team simply living their lives and being happy. Then her memories jumped forward, and she remembered the roar of the crowd as she watched Pyrrha and Yang compete in Themyscira, game night with the Titans where everyone discovered that Jaune was a master at videogames whereas Pyrrha was a complete noob, and she remembered her first flight with Superman, where she began to believe everything would be alright. For a brief moment, her eyes began to flash from under her eyelids, which caught both Constantine's and Zatanna's attention.

Then those happy, warm memories were scattered as she couldn't but remember the bad things that had happened to her and her friends. She remembered Brainiac's attack on Remnant, remembered how so many people lost their lives pointlessly. She remembered Trigon's attack and possession of Raven, how scared everyone, including her, was of the demon. She remembered Bruce's betrayal of their trust, and how it felt to have that image of him shatter before her eyes. The glow went away, and Ruby was left with nothing.

"I…I'm sorry, but…" she sighed and hung her head, opening her eyes to give a sad look to her current mentors. "Did anything happen?"

"Actually, yeah," Zatanna replied. "Your eyes flashed a bit."

"Really?" Ruby asked, not expecting that.

"They did," Constantine said, "then they didn't. What did you do?"

"Well, I just…thought happy thoughts and memories. Then bad ones came and nothing happened," Ruby revealed, causing both magicians to hum and rub their chins.

"Hmm, perhaps happy memories are the key?" Constantine muttered to himself. Zatanna nodded in agreement, then gave Ruby a soft smile.

"How about you try again? This time, without the bad memories, okay?" Zatanna suggested. Ruby nodded in agreement, then turned back towards the Grimm and concentrated once again.

"Geez, this place is creepy," Yang pointed out as she and the others walked down the hallway following Black Orchid. It was a sentiment shared by her friends, but only Jaune looked visibly nervous. Given what Constantine said about the place, Yang certainly couldn't fault her fellow blond.

"How old is the House of Mystery?" Weiss asked as they rounded a corner which met a flight of stairs.

"The House of Mystery is ancient," Black Orchid said in a calm, soothing tone. "Together with its counterpart, the House of Secrets, they have served as a crossroads of the Dreaming and the physical world for eons. Age has no meaning for either of them."

"Wow…" Nora muttered, looking at the oil lamps that dotted the hallway. When they rounded another corner, they found themselves standing before the back entrance of the house. They stopped in front of the doors and they opened on their own with a loud creak, and Black Orchid beckoned them to go outside. Once the teenagers did so, Black Orchid followed them and gestured towards the graveyard at the end of a long, windy dirt path.

"All of you have faced magic before," the spirit began, "but you do not truly know it. It is more than spells and demons and monsters. Magic is the manipulation of reality itself, the scraps of Creation left behind. Not everyone can manipulate it, but everyone can feel its effects. It is a powerful, awesome force that if used improperly can wreak untold amounts of devastation. But, if used properly, can be a source of great good as well."

"Like Trigon and Raven," Ren noted, and Black Orchid nodded.

"Indeed. The Lord of Madness and his spawn are both powerful wielders of dark magic. Some of the most powerful in the world, in fact. Yet, while the source of their magic is similar, their uses could not be more different. Let that be a lesson to you. Magic by itself is not good nor evil, it is merely the actions of those who use it that make it so."

The Remnantians nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with Black Orchid. Especially since they considered Raven to be one of their closest friends. Weiss then moved to ask another question, but the spirit read her mind and cut her off.

"No, none of you are capable of using magic. Only those of magical blood can," Black Orchid confirmed, and Weiss sighed.

"Well, there goes Weiss' dream," Yang joked.

Weiss shot her a cross look, then said, "Oh please, as if you wouldn't jump at the chance yourself." Then she looked back at Black Orchid and cleared her throat, adding, "Before we get started, is there anything else you can tell us about magic?"

"Yes," Black Orchid answered. "In the modern era, there are several distinct schools of magic. This classification does not refer to titles, such as wizard or warlock, but rather the type of magic used. Magicians, such as Zatanna Zatara and her late father, are the most basic, manipulating magic through simple incantations and spells. This does not mean they are the weakest. Far from it, in fact. Some of the most powerful magic users in the world are Magicians. Those who use artifacts to tap into a deeper well of magic are known as Sorcerers. One such example is Doctor Fate, whose connection with Nabu and the Lords of Order afford him great power.

"Others, such as Constantine, have Magic Blood which grants them greater magical ability than any mortal being would be able to handle on their own. Then there are the Champions, whose souls are bound to magical beings such as gods or demons. The Justice League Dark includes one such Champion in their ranks, but Jason Blood's centuries-long bond with a demon has caused him no end of strife. Some beings become selected by the elements themselves, such as the Green and the Red, to become their protectors and living embodiments. They become known as Guardians, with Swamp Thing considered to be the most powerful of them all.

"Should a magic user rise in power and skill, they have the ability to become known as Archmages. These mages are so powerful that they transcend into a higher state of being akin to godhood, while others are higher beings who fell onto your mortal plane, but they rarely show themselves and often act enigmatically. The Phantom Stranger is one such Archmage, cursed millennia ago to wander the Earth as a stranger on an eternal path towards redemption.

"Finally, we have the most powerful magical beings of all. Known simply as Judges, these beings are bestowed their powers by the Presence, and if allowed to reign freely, can become apocalyptic in scale. To prevent this, Judges are limited to set tasks over which they preside over. One such Judge, and the most powerful, is the Spectre, who is tasked with enacting just vengeance on those who have sinned greatly."

Black Orchid finished speaking, allowing the teenagers to absorb this wealth of information bestowed upon them. They all felt it was confusing and hard to understand, but Weiss was simply fascinated by all of it. She had been taking extensive notes on her scroll while simultaneously recording the lecture, and she couldn't wait to learn more.

"Well, that's cool and all," Yang admitted, honestly finding the information just as fascinating as Weiss but wanting to carry on with their day, "but how are we supposed to defeat a magic user? We've seen how powerful Raven can be, and I'm not ashamed to admit she'd kick my ass easily if she really wanted to."

"Fear not, for there are ways for nonmagical beings to overcome magical threats," Black Orchid insisted, waving her hand over a fountain filled with still water. The liquid rippled, then a small black box rose up from the bottom and rested on the surface of the water as though it was solid. She opened the box, pulling out a thick cloth wrapped around several objects, then handed it to Yang.

"What's this? Iron?" Yang asked, holding up an iron stake. Next to it was a green slab of an unknown metallic substance. Weiss recognized the trademark sheen of Nth metal as well, alongside powdered salt.

"As you are aware, there are elements that are capable of resisting and in some cases outright nullifying magic," she explained as the materials were passed around. "They have long served as valuable tools to safeguard against magical threats. Of these materials, the most potent are Nth metal and orichalcum, but unfortunately their supplies are limited. As such, iron and protection salt may serve as more useful tools. Fae and demons alike are repelled by lines of salt, and the touch of iron burns their presence away. Properly blessed holy water has also proven to be quite useful against a wide array of magical beasts, but its function is not universal. Other tools and weapons are more limited and specific, such as a wooden stake to the heart of a vampire or the use of silver against monsters."

Everyone nodded towards Black Orchid, who smiled and nodded back before suddenly waving her hand. Then, to their surprise, they felt their weapons disappear straight out of their hands as they were magically torn away. In their place were simple tools made of iron alongside vials of salt and wooden stakes. Before they could protest, they heard groans and the rumbling of dirt come from the graveyard, and at once they knew what was about to go down.

"Your training begins now. Return back inside once you have dealt with these undead, then we may continue," Black Orchid declared, then she vanished without a trace. The two teams of Remnantians stared blankly where she once stood, then they turned around to face the growing horde.

"Talk about a trial by fire," Yang quipped, clutching an iron-bladed wood axe that Black Orchid had bestowed upon her. Nora, wielding a small iron hammer, had a manic smile on her face while Ren, dual-wielding an iron dagger and wooden stake, shrugged nonchalantly. Weiss took the forefront, holding out a thin iron sword towards the rumbling graveyard, while Jaune took position next to her with an iron bat held in two hands. Blake dual wielded an iron cleaver and knife, while Pyrrha held forward an iron fencepost like a spear.

As though the world held its breath, everything stopped and went still. Then, as though straight out of a horror film, they saw rotten arms burst out from the dirt, the skin long decayed and showing the bones underneath. The undead creatures dug themselves out of their graves, dressed in greys and blues that reminded them of the uniforms worn during the American Civil War. Out of a nearby stone tomb erupted a cloud of white, translucent ghosts, their faces warped and their limbs stretched out an unnatural length. A cloud of bats soon joined them, and they saw a man dressed in black with pale white skin, pitch black hair, and a pair of pointed ears walk outside. His eyes were closed at first, then they shot open and bored into the Remnantians who defiantly stared right back. He didn't say anything, instead smiling hungrily and exposing a pair of pointed canines for all to see.

"Zombies, ghosts, and a vampire," Jaune determined, tightening his grip on his metal bat. It wasn't exactly what he was used to, but the general shape was the same so felt he could get used to it. "Perfect."

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Jauney!" Nora exclaimed, bounding in place as she could barely contain her excitement. Before she could charge, however, Weiss held up her free hand.

"Wait, we need to play this smart," she insisted, causing Nora to pout. Given how the undead were not leaving the bounds of the graveyard, Weiss felt confident they had enough time to plan. "The vampire looks like the biggest threat, so we should take him out as fast as possible. Ren, Blake, you two are the nimblest, so while we deal with the zombies and ghosts, you head towards him. Jaune, Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, you four take the bulk of those zombies while I deal with the ghosts with my Semblance."

"Sounds like a plan," Jaune said, tensing up as he prepared to charge forward. Everyone else did as well, but before Weiss could give the signal, Nora had enough and zoomed ahead on her own.

"Alright, guys! Let's do this! NORA VALKYRIE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she charged into the fray.

Everyone stared at her with wide eyes and their jaws slightly slacked, then Jaune whispered, "Oh my God, she just ran in…"

"…Stick to the plan! Stick to the plan!" Weiss shouted as she and everyone else raced after the Pink Lightning, Ren already hot on her heels. As soon as they crossed the iron fence separating the graveyard from the rest of the House of Mystery, the undead were on them in an instant.

But the Huntsmen and Huntresses were more than ready for them. As creepy as the undead were, they were nothing to a Grimm, which was demonstrated as the teens began swinging their weapons as hard as they could. Knees were crushed, arms severed from their sockets, and bodies flung away from blows powerful enough to break all the fragile bones in their bodies. True to her word, Weiss focused on using her Semblance to form nets to catch the ghosts with, which she promptly sprung towards with other glyphs to meet them head on. She tried stabbing the first one with her iron blade, but shockingly, it did nothing. The ghost attempted to strike back at her, and Weiss could feel its ethereal claws rake across her Aura, but she managed to shackle it completely with other careful applications of her glyphs as she searched around for something to use. To her surprise, she felt a few coins in her pocket, and she fished them out and recognized them as being made of silver.

"Hmm, I wonder…" Weiss muttered to herself, thinking back to Black Orchid's lecture, then took one of the coins in her fingers and jammed it into the ghost's forehead. It screamed and wailed in pain, and before long, it dissipated into a cloud of harmless vapor. Weiss watched it drift upward into the swirling, multicolored, otherworldly sky. That surprised her more than anything else, as just a few moments before it was a clear blue. If there was any better proof that they really were in two planes of existence at once, Weiss couldn't think of one. Regardless, she had an exercise to complete, and so she trapped another ghost that was swooping towards Blake and Ren, who themselves were bounding across the bodies of zombies between them and the vampire, and carefully aimed the clenched fist of her off hand at it. A small glyph appeared in front of the silver coin she had clenched between her forefinger and thumb, right before she flicked it through, launching the improvised projectile in a straight line through the specter.

Jaune, Yang, Nora and Pyrrha continued to engage against the zombie horde with unchecked ferocity. Physically the strongest members of their teams, the zombies were proving to be no match for their brute strength. Yet, another problem was rearing its head as despite how injured the zombies were becoming, they refused to stay down. They ignored crushed ribs, treated the loss of an arm or two as a mild inconvenience, and if their legs were crushed they simply pulled themselves forward along the ground with their working arms. Their wailing moans filled the graveyard, and by now Yang couldn't help but feel they were like nails on a chalkboard.

"Will you shut up already?!" Yang shouted as her eyes turned red and she cleaved her axe into a zombie's chest. She then kicked it away, the force powerful enough to shatter its spine, yet as with all the others it continued moving towards her. "Oh, come on! Seriously?!"

"I know!" Jaune yelled over the chorus of moans as he batted away the zombies surrounding him. Each blow sent scores of the undead flying, a few of which were impaled on the pointed iron fence surrounding the graveyard. When the flung away zombies picked themselves up, and the impaled ones attempted to pull themselves off the fence, Jaune couldn't help but groan in frustration.

"How do the movies do it?" he wondered aloud, continuing to swing his bat. Next to him, Pyrrha was thrusting her fence post through the hearts of several zombies at once. It was how she 'killed' Solomon Grundy, so she saw no reason why it shouldn't work now. When she pulled free, she spun her makeshift spear around to sever their limbs, then she used her Semblance like a catapult to fling the spear through the hearts of other zombies. But like her partner, her fallen foes refused to stay so, and after a few moments began rising up.

"I hate zombies," Pyrrha admitted. She was never the biggest fan of horror movies to begin with, but the frustration she felt solidified her stance. It was then that she noticed Nora happily hammering away at her targets, striking the heads with her small iron hammer. When they fell to the ground, Pyrrha quickly noticed that they stayed down, and at once realized what to do.

"Guys, aim for the head!" Pyrrha shouted, recalling her spear then jabbing it into the eye of another zombie. It stirred futilely for a second, then it fell to the ground as dead as it should be.

"Ah, so they're those types of zombies!" Jaune declared, taking his bat to the cranium of one at the same time.

"And here I was thinking that was simply bad movie logic!" Yang admitted, cleaving her axe into the heads of any zombie she could and splitting them open. Putrid rot and goo sprung forth from the open wound, and Yang did her best to avoid it was much as possible. The last thing she wanted was to get that into her mouth, or worse, her hair.

"You guys just figured that out?" Nora asked, happily hammering away. "I started doing that first!"

Her teammates rolled their eyes and continued the fight. On the other side of the graveyard, Blake and Ren worked in tandem to attack the vampire. As Weiss predicted, he was proving to be a challenging opponent. Every time they got close, he'd disappear into a cloud of mist or a swarm of bats that then recollected into his humanoid form. At the same time, he'd attempt to batter them away with his vast physical strength, his blows powerful enough to shatter stone, but Blake and Ren were too nimble for him to reach. Whenever he got close enough to Blake, she'd simply escape with a Shadow taking her place, while Ren twisted and turned at the right moments to accomplish the same.

"This isn't working," Ren pointed out when he and Blake regrouped. Overhead, they saw a zombie fly through the air and hit the top of the stone tomb, falling to the ground with a loud and wet clunk. He could see that the top of its head was partially caved in alongside a crushed chest, telling him what had happened.

Blake nodded, her eyes darting around to try and find an opening, when she noticed where the vampire was standing. He was standing in the shadow of the tomb, out of the sunlight that was now beaming from above as the sky returned to normal. It was then that she remembered one of books Raven had recommended to her back at Jump City, and realized why the vampire was acting that way.

"He doesn't like the sunlight," Blake pointed out, gesturing with a sharp tilt of her head.

Ren understood her meaning immediately, and the two had a quiet conversation before they sprang into action. Ren taking the front while Blake went behind, the two engaged the vampire from both sides, attempting to catch him off guard and force him into the sunlight. The vampire appeared to realize what they were trying to do and instead retreated back inside the tomb, silently daring them to pursue. Instead, Ren and Blake nodded at each other, then the martial artist jumped on top of the tomb and sank into a low stance while concentrating his Aura. His hands then slammed into the stone with a shattering force. Inside, Blake saw the vampire's face warp with panic, and before it could escape, the roof fell free and the sunlight beamed in from overhead.

The vampire screamed and flailed in agony as his body was set alight by the sun's rays, the skin boiling away and putrid smoke rising into the air. Blake was on her opponent immediately, lunging forward and tackling the monster to the ground. Ren was beside her right afterwards, and together they held the vampire down long enough for Ren to stab the wooden stake he held into the vampire's heart as hard as he could. The vampire's blood red eyes went wide in shock and he attempted to wrap his rapidly thinning hands around the shaft in an effort to remove it, but to no avail. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, then his body fell to ash. Ren and Blake stood up, breathing heavily as the adrenaline left their bodies, then together they walked back outside to see that their teammates were finishing up their opponents.

What once was an intact, albeit creepy graveyard was now a broken mess filled with shattered gravestones and mangled bodies. The Remnantians looked proud of themselves, Yang and Nora giving each other a fist bump while Weiss chastised Nora for charging in so recklessly. Given how the fight still ended in their favor, Nora wasn't too concerned. In the end, Weiss was forced to sigh in resignation, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose before she walked outside of the graveyard fence.

"Come on, we shouldn't keep Black Orchid waiting," Weiss pointed out.

The others followed her immediately, but as the last of them left the graveyard, they felt a rumble from underneath their feet that almost caught them off-balance. When it stopped, they swiveled their heads around to try and determine what exactly happened, then Pyrrha gasped and pointed her hand towards the graveyard. Everyone else turned around, and to their shock saw that the ruined graveyard was now completely repaired. In fact, if they didn't know any better, it was as though nothing had happened at all.

"…Let's just ignore that and move on," Jaune insisted, trying his best to not notice how the sky had shifted once again. The others readily agreed, then they continued down the dirt path back to the House of Mystery.

"So, what do you think she's going to have us do next?" Nora asked, her hammer still clutched in her hand as Jaune and Yang opened the double doors for everyone.

"I don't know," Weiss admitted, "but I guess—"

She was cut off as she entered the manor, only to notice that she and her teammates were utterly alone. Black Orchid was nowhere to be seen, and only a roaring fireplace greeted them. A fireplace that should have been in the front of the house, not the back.

"What the…?" Weiss muttered to herself as she heard three pairs of footsteps come up behind her. She turned her head to see that Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha were with her, but to her alarm, Ren, Blake, and Nora were nowhere to be found. After a moment, the others noticed their disappearance as well, and Yang groaned.

"I'm taking this is the next test, isn't it?" Pyrrha asked to no one in particular. Taking the silence as a 'yes,' she nodded to herself then said, "Well, we obviously need to find them. I say we—"

"Pyrrha, if you say, 'we should split up to cover more ground,' best friend or not, I will smack you," Jaune interrupted, giving her a blank stare. Pyrrha blushed in embarrassment, telling Jaune that he was right on the money.

"I don't see how that's a problem," Weiss pointed out, but Yang shot her a look.

"Are you kidding? Splitting up is the worst thing we could do right now," Yang declared. "You never split up. Splitting up gets you killed in these situations. Come on, guys, that's horror movie one-o-one."

"I highly doubt movie logic applies here," Weiss insisted, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh, yeah?" Jaune asked, raising an eyebrow. When Weiss stared at him, Jaune nodded back, then walked towards the nearest hallway door. The others, after a moment, followed him, and stood behind Jaune as he placed his hand on the handle. He opened it with a loud creak, showing that the doorway entered into a seemingly endless hallway, and at the end were two little girls dressed in identical blue dresses.

"Come play with—" the girls creepily chanted, then Jaune slammed the door shut and began walking away.

"Nope, not dealing with that," he declared without looking back.

Pyrrha, Weiss, and Yang all stared at the door Jaune opened and promptly closed, then decided it was the right decision and went after him. At the same time, much to their surprise, they heard a roll of thunder come from outside, accompanied by the pitter patter of rain. The abrupt weather change only served to heighten the creepy atmosphere, and as they passed by a darkened window, a flash of lightning illuminated it. To their shock, the flash of light revealed a dark silhouette that was staring at them from outside. They weren't able to make out much, other than skin that appeared to be yellow in tone and blazing red eyes that bored into their souls, but it was gone almost as soon as it arrived. When the lightning flashed again, the figure was gone as though nothing was there.

"What the hell was that?" Yang asked, holding her iron weapon at the ready, as did the others.

"I don't know," Jaune admitted, "but it looked like a man."

"That was no man," Pyrrha insisted, her heart beating just a bit faster. Weiss nodded in agreement, then swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Whatever it is, it's watching us," Weiss declared. "We need to find the others, now."

Jaune, Pyrrha, and Yang nodded in agreement, then together continued on deeper and deeper into the House of Mystery.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Hunters of Justice! Special thanks to Jesse K and NaanContributor for all their help in bringing this to life.

This chapter, and part 2 of it, is all about magic in the DC universe. Plenty of horror references as well, given the subject matter. I felt it was appropriate, and yes they were intentional. You guys are really going to enjoy part 2, we have some pretty fun stuff happening there.

Now, onto the Q&A:

KenSanders: Oh yeah, now that they're in Metropolis, expect some Superman villains to pop up. However, Superman isn't the main focus of this arc so they won't be major focuses unless I deem it necessary.

RandomName3064: Oh yeah, last chapter was great. I'm really happy you all enjoy the jobs everyone got. As for Waller, she is a foil to Batman and Ironwood, for the purposes of this story. More on that later. Same with the Joker.

Crossovernaru: Hello there! I'm so glad to have you with us and that you enjoyed the story so much! It really means a lot to me. I'm especially happy that you enjoy the universe we've concocted thus far. One of the reasons why we did that was so we had unlimited creative freedom, which we wouldn't have had if we plopped our characters in a preexisting DC incarnation. I'm glad you enjoyed how we handled Arkos. Despite how it ended, we set off with every intention of handling it with care and grace. And yes, we don't just focus on RWBY and JNPR, as doing so allows us to expand and flesh out the world more. I mean, if we just followed RWBY and JNPR, I wouldn't be able to show you guys what else is going on with Brainiac, the cities, and what not. Happy to hear that our efforts are successful. As for Penny, we have plans for her. You guys will just have to wait and see. Same with OC Grimm. Don't expect a whole lot of those, though.

Guest1A: I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully you can give this story another shot.

Alank2: That's the thing about Waller. And yes, Blake in the Daily Planet was a blast for me to write. Don't worry, I don't intend to underestimate Yang's engineering abilities. She's not as good as Ruby, but she's still pretty good.

The Viking Stranger: Yep, Chibi is source of good fun. In moderation, at least. Too much and it drowns everything else out. And yeah, the Metropolis Mom Squad was a great source of fun for me. Not so much for Jaune, but that's par for the course. As for Weiss and her singing, that'll come up from time to time, don't worry.

gordhanx: Nah, this isn't the Metropolis Arc. As mentioned earlier, this arc is all about the Grimm.

Luffy L Deathwalker: Nope, Pyrrha's fine with it. She's a good friend like that, if open to a little teasing. As for Ruby, she honestly views Jaune as an older brother figure. At least in this story. I like Lancaster, too, so I don't judge. Please note, that does not mean Lancaster is happening in this story.

Jacob9594: Oh yeah, their new home is nice. It's where they're living for the rest of the story, after all. Wanted to make it that.

einosaur25: Nope, Jimmy does not.

Alexbaker42: From time to time, but mostly the smaller-scale threats for cold opens, cameos, and the like.

D. : Yeah, this was a refresher chapter. Have to do that, otherwise things get too heavy.

Notros: At the moment, Jaune is still using his Volume 1 to 6 hairstyle. Whether or not he changes will be revealed in due time.

Jackalope89: Balancing work with civilian life is a challenge for any superhero, and I intend to show that in this story. Luckily, they have help and proper scheduling as Weiss is nit picky like that.

Knight of Fate: Both, feel both. Glad you feel like the jobs made sense to everyone.

Vein Bloodborne: Yep, the Grimm are increasingly becoming a problem. Which makes sense, given how this is the Grimm Arc.

Steelrain66: I understand your thoughts on JNPR's jobs, but we honestly felt that they made the most sense. Besides, they're mostly needing the spending money. Bruce (and Weiss) handles most of their actual expenses. That gave us some more breathing room. Glad you really liked RWBY's jobs. I will admit, it was easier for me to find jobs for them.

triscythe59: Glad you liked the chapter! And yes, I intend to show off more of the world besides superheroes. Hence the UN scene, which I felt did a fantastic job in showing that.

That's it for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy and let us know what you think!