Darkness fell and Shayne emerged from the forest, he knew Ozpin would have most of the teams out looking for him; he didn't want this kind of publicity for his school. He looked down, a rooftop was fifty feet down and his glider had broken as he landed. He heard a rustle from behind him; he turned as a Beowolf leapt from the undergrowth. It stared at Shayne, he stared back, they looked at each other for a few moments until the Beowolf got bored and wandered off.
Shayne breathed out and gasped for air. He hated getting inside the head of Grimm; they were just beasts after all. He turned back to the cliff, he didn't hear the Boarbatusk. He was thrown from the cliff and he sped toward the rooftop.
Lina sat up all night in a panic, she wanted to get going but she was waiting on Dundra. Shayne had left him in charge and he was going around the teams seeing if anyone else wanted to help Lina out. He returned alone.
"So no-one wants to help us?"
"No, they want to help, but they've already been given orders by Ozpin to find Shayne and bring him back"
"Good luck to them with that" Vossler and Ashe wandered over to them.
"Don't you two have things to be doing as well?"
"Aye, we do, we go the same orders from Ozpin, but we're ignoring them"
"You know he'll find out"
"We'll deal with that when it comes to it" a knock at the door was heard.
"Dundra, it's me, Nelwyn" he opened the door and the rest of FLLN stepped in.
"I thought you guys couldn't come?"
"Only because Frank couldn't get up the balls to not do as Ozpin told him to"
"Hey, that's not fa-"
"Shut up Frank" Nelwyn looked at him, grinning evilly.
Lina stood up and looked out the window.
"Thank you all so much, I don't know what we're going to face but its not going to be easy without Shayne"
"Don't worry Lina, we can handle ourselves" Hanna said putting her arm over Lina's shoulders.
They watched the moon rise over Vale.
Shayne headed back to Junior's club, he needed information. The bouncer saw him coming and more security poured out of the door as he drew closer.
"Let him through, he's with me" Melanie pushed two of the guards out of the way.
Shayne nodded to her as he walked up to her.
"Shayne, is it time?" she spoke in a hushed tone.
"No, it's not time, I'm here to see Junior"
"He's not here right now"
"Bullshit, he's always here"
"Fine, but he won't want to see you after last time"
"It's not a question of want" she led him inside and upstairs.
"Wait here" Shayne nodded as she went through a black door.
It opened a few moments later and he stepped in. he stared down the barrel of Junior's Batzooka.
"You have to the count of three to get the hell out of my club"
"You know I'm not going to do that"
"One…" Shayne adjusted his footing.
"Two…" Junior flexed his trigger finger, the Malachite twins shuffled nervously.
"Three" Junior pulled the trigger.
Shayne's fist shot into the barrel, glowing purple and coursing with Grimm. The rockets collided with his arm and the weapon shattered. Flames flared around Shayne's fist. The twins ducked the shrapnel and Junior was thrown into one of the couches along the wall. The explosion disrupted the music in the club and it fell silent.
Shayne stood up straight as Junior regained consciousness. He strode up to Junior and stood over him.
"Where's Cross!"
"Who?" Shayne flexed his hand and the Grimm fluxed around his fingers.
"Alright, I know where he was but he left last night"
"So where did he go?"
"I don't know"
"You know everything that happens in this city"
"But he left the city, that's as much as I know"
"So, how did he leave the city? Which kingdom did he go to?"
"I'm telling you the truth; I don't know where he's gone"
"Shayne, you got what you came for" Melanie said, stepping up beside him.
"Fuck, well looks like I'm outta luck" a crash came from the direction of the club.
Junior barged past Shayne and looked through the one way glass, there were people tearing up the place and beating the crap out of the guards. Shayne recognised them from Beacon.
"Shit! Okay, I'll make you a deal kid, you get rid of these fuckers and I'll see what I can do to help you find this Cross guy" Shayne stared him down, he grabbed junior's untouched whiskey from the table and downed it. He fluffed his collar and strode out, accompanied by the twins.
"Keep out of my way"
"You think we're afraid of you?"
"You should be" Shayne drew his knife and tomahawk.
Lina and her friends made for the Bullheads as fast as they could, they all squeezed into one to avoid confrontation. Dundra knew the pilot and asked him to take them straight to the docks, he told him it was Ozpin's orders, and the pilot didn't question it.
Once the pilot had disappeared from sight they stepped aboard another of Eddi's favours, she had called in an old friend to ferry them discreetly to Managerie. It would take all night but he assured them they would get there by sun up.
"Eddi, I don't trust this guy"
"Lina, calm down he's saved my ass in the past and he owes me one, he won't fuck this up"
"You're sure of this?"
"Yeah, as sure as I'll ever be" Eddi stood up and walked to the other end of the boat, Dundra stood defiantly looking out across the ocean from the prow.
"Dundra, can I talk to you"
"Always, what's on your mind?"
"It's not something I want to say in front of everybody"
"Well, let's go below and talk" he walked down a flight of stairs and once they were sure they were alone Eddi spoke again.
"Dundra, I made a mistake"
"What are you talking about, nothings gone wrong?"
"Not about this or the Op, but with us" Dundra blinked in confusion.
"Eddi…"
"Let me finish, I made the mistake of breaking up with you, I thought I couldn't get close to anyone but the time I spent with you changed that"
"What're you trying to say" Dundra held her hands in his.
"Dundra, I want to get back together" he smiled and kissed her gently.
"Let's not let this distract us from helping Lina"
"Okay, but I think I can finally be happy now"
A bang was heard from the deck above them. They ran up the stairs, the boat was surrounded by the White Fang.
"One Miss Honeybloom I presume?"
"No that's me, where are my parents?" Lina said emerging from the lower decks; she had been sleeping up to now.
"They're safe, for now, you'll come with us, all of you"
Eddi looked around at the Faunus that now surrounded them, she nodded and they were separated. FLLN on one boat and SHDE and the Genesis twins on another.
Shayne opened the door silently and stepped in, he held his hand up to the Malachite sisters making them stay out there until he was ready. He left the door open a crack and turned back to the four students that were fighting the guards.
"Stand down" all heads turned to him.
"Shayne, Ozpin wants you back at Beacon now!"
"I know he does, why do you think I'm here"
"We don't want to hurt you Shayne"
"You sound sure that you're going to win"
"Look at the facts, we've got you outnumbered and you're not really going to use your semblance on us are you"
"I've been killing for a long time, you forget I'm 3 years older than you, I've killed many people"
"And that's why we need to take you back to beacon"
Shayne raised his arms, weapons in hand. The four others readied themselves as Shayne started walking towards them.
The twins watched through the crack in the door as he went to work. He was a blur of steel and bone as whenever one of them got anywhere close to him they always seemed to be flung away in a different direction than they had come from. After a few minutes, he settled and the red tint left his eye, he had taken a lucky hit to his left shoulder, the Grimm was tired and he was bleeding, his Aura wasn't going to activate anytime soon either.
"Hey kid, you okay?"
"I'm fine, it's just a scratch"
"I'll get you what you want, just get out before I have to call Beacon about you"
Shayne nodded and handed Melanie his number and strode out into the night.
He walked out into the early morning. He walked slowly, he knew he was being followed; he wanted to test them and see how good they were. He slowed to a halt outside and alleyway. He smiled and sprinted down the alley; he kicked up off the walls and got onto the rooftops. He stopped at the top and looked down at his tracker.
"Come get me, if you can" he walked away from the edge as the stalker scaled the ladder. He reached the edge of the rooftops as they reached the roof.
"Shayne, stop" he turned to him.
"You know better than anyone that I'm not going to do that" a blade was pressed against his throat.
"You don't want to move, Lance has you in his sights"
"So, AGIS is going to bring me back to Beacon, back to my imprisonment"
"Ralen, Silver, get the cuffs" Shayne was restrained and knelt before them.
"What are you doing?"
"Meditating"
"Why?"
"Lance isn't here yet and you can't leave without him" Jiang looked at the two team mates opposite her.
They engaged in a hushed conversation some distance away from him. Shayne concentrated on the cuffs and the Grimm seeped into the mechanism, corroding it. He slipped his bonds and pocketed the cuffs. As Lance walked up to his team and they continues talking Shayne stood up and walked away.
"So what are we gonna do with him, we all know he doesn't want to go back"
"I think we take him someplace safe, I know of a place that might be worth a look" Ralen said pulling out his Scroll
"He doesn't like safe, he prefers danger, as it keeps him on his toes"
"Um, I don't mean to burst our bubble here but he's gone" Silver said walking to where he had been knelt.
She sniffed the air and shook her head. Ralen walked over and tried to use something he had learned in the forest, he listened for anything unusual and he looked at the footprints on the damp roof. He followed them to the roofs edge. The others followed him and stood next to him.
"We've lost him haven't we" Lance asked Ralen just nodded.
"Lost who?" all four turned to Shayne, now sat on a ventilation duct.
"What, how?"
"Cuffs aren't really that reliable" he tossed them to Ralen.
"Corroded, your Grimm I suppose?" Shayne nodded and walked over to them.
"Burger?" he said offering a brown bag to them.
"You broke out of your restraints and went to get fast food?"
"I was hungry" all but Silver grabbed a burger from the bag.
"You not hungry White Lion?" Shayne said cocking his head.
"Tiger…" she said scowling at him.
"I know, White Lion sounds better though"
"I prefer my meat with a bit more life left in it"
"Rare steak then?"
"Very rare" they shared a smile that left the others feeling awkward.
"Okay, so now what"
"I'm leaving, and you guys are going to report that you didn't find me"
"Shayne, we want to help you"
"Nobody can help me with this, it's between me and Cross"
Four figures landed behind Shayne.
"We've been looking for you Shayne, Ozpin sent us"
"I know who sent you Ruby, he's been sending teams after me all night"
"You four had better not be helping him" Weiss snapped.
"So what if they are, they've done nothing wrong"
"Aiding a fugitive is a criminal offence, it won't be ignored" she snapped again.
"Weiss, that's enough" Yang said pulling on her shoulder to stop her from acting rashly.
"I've killed better fighters than you; I don't want to have to fight you"
"Then don't, come quietly" Ruby pleaded
"Blake surely you understand my position better than anyone else"
"I do, but orders are orders"
"Jiang, take your team and go"
"But Shayne…."
"Now!" he snapped, he turned as he said it.
RWBY drew their weapons in readiness. Shayne drew his katanas and stared at RWBY.
"This is your last chance, give yourself up, we are authorised to use force"
"No, this is your last chance, let me go and I won't have to hurt you"
Weiss speared across the distance and Shayne merely parried the thrust, Weiss had never fought him before and hoped to get him on the back foot, she failed. He stepped past her as Ruby swung at him; he ducked under the scythe and swept her legs out from under her.
Yang and Blake knew him well enough to attack together. As Shayne hopped over Blake's sword swipe, Yang punched him in the gut. He flew back a few feet but landed on his feet. The four girls regained their composure as Shayne planted his swords in the roof and removed his jacket. He had acquired a necklace from Lina before she had left, it was just a small silver knife, and it hung loosely on his chest in the space where his shirt was unbuttoned.
He flared purple and looked at the four girls. They stared back at him. He ran at them and they all swung at the same time. He slid under the weapons and whipped their legs out from under them. Only Blake remained conscious.
"Shayne, stop, why are you running"
"Because Ozpin is an ungrateful asshole"
"He's trying to protect you"
"I can protect myself"
"Shayne, go now, quickly before they come round"
"Why are you helping me?"
"Because I made a promise to Lina before they left, I promised I wouldn't let them take you, Silver and Velvet also said the same thing"
"So, I'm just someone who needs protecting then"
"Everyone needs protecting"
"Thank you Blake, I hope to see you all again soon" as he dropped from the roof he threw Blake his necklace and followed Silvers scent to a parked Van, he recognized it instantly.
The door opened and he stepped in.
"I see they didn't take you in"
"Nobody can"
The van pulled away and they headed out of the main part of the city and into the suburbs.