Big thanks to my friend once more, who is basically the writer of these chapters, I just clean 'em up. Also to Remnant7, I'm sure that if any of BRAS were there it'd be one sided. Not gloating, but these fuckers are OP. I'll tell my friend that you liked what he's got, he is a good writer, eh?

I am extremely happy that this finally got out, not only because it's been like three months, but because I dislike having nothing for you lot to read. Hopefully these hiatus runs don't go on like this again, hopefully. Enjoy this behemoth chapter my friends.

The water lapped gently against the hull of the ferry, its passengers mostly civilians and three certain people. Yang stood on the deck of the ferry, leaning on the railing and looking out towards the large mass that was Vale. Just another trip for her, but a first on this ferry. It was outdated, barely used and basically a historical artefact in her eyes. But Umber did say it was the best way into the occupied land, and that the other, most used ferry, was damaged and kept in the Vale dry dock.

Yang wouldn't say it aloud, but she was lonely. Her sister was probably in Atlas by now, being 'protected' by the military. At least she has Weiss, whose family could probably do better. Blake was gone, probably told to run by that fucker Raiko, and now her father wasn't exactly happy with her. Last night, Yang interrogated her father and got the truth. Only they got out, the rest of the hunters were either dead or captured and he withheld that information to keep them with him, for 'safety'. Her instincts called in and wanted to go back to the city, but Taiyang was stubborn. Far too stubborn, but not as stubborn as his daughter. Her concerned father watched her pack a couple bags and storm out.

Then she heard Umber and Neo come up behind her, barely ten minutes down the worn path. She swore aloud and turned to glare at the pair, who had their own bags.

"Piss off." She snarled and Umber sighed, leaning on his cane. The blond turned back and quickened her pace, trying to lose the dapper teen. Umber and Neo merely followed at a casual speed.

"You should think this through." Umber stated loudly, twirling his cane, subconsciously in sync with Neo, who blinked in surprise. "I won't stop you, though listening to me is imperative for your own sake." Yang groaned and spun back around, crossing her arms and dropping her bag.

"One minute, one." She said with a scowl and Umber immediately started.

"Favours, a currency I find to be very valuable, most do in this line of work. Two favours are owed to you and your father." Umber explained calmly, Yang then pointed back the way they had came.

"Then go and do my father a favour, cause mine is for you to piss off." Yang snapped and Umber shook his head.

"Shouldn't waste a favour, not very smart. Right now I am doing your father a favour, keeping him from seeing you in a casket. His words. Kill two birds with one stone, get you back to your fellow students and finish this favour." Umber stated cheerfully, sarcasm tinting his words. Yang jerked her chin at Neo.

"What about her?" She asked with a snarl, Neo locked eyes with the blond and started signing. Umber watched her hands fly and nodded his head.

"Ignoring the profanity, insults and such, this was the easiest way back to Vale." He answered for the girl, who glared at him. "What? Do you want me to say them?" He asked and the girl nodded. "No."

"Fine." Yang grunted and waited for the pair before walking again. Not long after they had hopped aboard the ferry and were on the waves.

Her daydreams were interrupted by the call from another passenger of 'Vale!' It didn't take long for the blond to realise that going straight in wouldn't work, they'd be captured. So she pushed off the rail and walked into the cabins belowdecks to find Umber. Yet to her ever growing dismay, she found only Neo leaning against the notice board. It was decorated with old newspaper clippings, but with the major addition of a handwritten note of the new guardians of the kingdom of Vale.

"Where's Umber?" She grumpily asked Neo, who shrugged. "It's important." She hissed, glaring around at an older couple talking past. Neo shrugged again, but pointed at the bathroom door just to their right. Then, as if she had spoken of the devil himself, Umber walked out of the door quickly, Yang had a slight suspicion that this was planned. "Oi, we got a big problem and not much of a plan-" The concerned voice of Yang was interrupted by Neo reaching out and sliding her finger along Umber's brown shirt and rubbing her fingers together. They were covered by blood. Yang and Neo turned to him with terrified and curious looks respectfully.

"Any questions can wait, meet me in the cargo bay in two minutes." He stated and strode across the room and pushed a pair of rooms open and disappeared inside as they swung lazily. Suddenly a group of men in black suits came down the stairs and looked around quickly before one of them pointed towards the swinging doors, a golden ring on his middle finger shining under the light. They charged through the doors and past the two girls, Yang went to follow them but felt something yank on her hand.

"What?!" She almost screamed at Neo, who had Yang's wrist caught with her parasol's handle. The smaller girl tapped an imaginary watch and cocked an eyebrow. Surprisingly, the blond made it a minute by running on the spot before glancing at the clock and sprinting through the cargo bay doors. Immediately the girl was stopped by a flying body, one of the suited men, slamming into the wall just in front of her. His hand gripped a pistol, with a large suppressor on its barrel. She looked to where the man came from and saw a few crates and most curiously a pair of black vans. Yang flicked her gauntlets on and cocked them before moving cautiously through the cargo, Neo behind her making barely a whisper.

They heard a loud thud and some grunted and popped around one of the vans, finding Umber and a few more of the men. He had one of them in a headlock and at his feet three more lay. He looked up and tightened his hold on the man's neck, his fearful eyes popping out of his now blue face before his eyes rolled. The dapper teen checked his watch, then shook his head and dropped the unconscious man.

"Fifteen seconds early, watch might be fast, should fix that." Umber stated as he yanked the golden ring off the man's finger, Yang just gaped at him while Neo looked indifferent. "Assistance would be appreciated." He said and Neo immediately knew what he was asking and flipped over one of the suited guys and took off his ring, Yang joined the pair in taking the rings. "And the guns, ammo as well." Add that to the list. Soon Yang had three rings, emblazoned with a golden anvil and sword. She and Neo handed over their loot and Umber nodded, taking the rings and pocketing them before checking the clips for the guns. "Seven makes the total." He muttered, it took a moment for Yang to frown.

"There were only five here?" She wondered aloud and Umber waved a clip gripping hand in her direction.

"Two in the engine rooms." He answered and Yang blinked.

"Why were you-?" Almost to spite her, the ship rocked and the sound of a loud bang echoed around the bay, the force of the explosion knocked them slightly off balance. At least for Umber, as both Yang and Neo fell into a pile. They looked up at Umber, who was making his way back towards the doors, they untangled themselves and followed after. They reached the top deck and glanced around, finding a large pillar of smoke rising from the stern of the ferry and a certain dapper teen with his cane hook on the roof.

"That's why." He answered calmly then jerked his head. "Let's go, emergency situations call for lifeboats." He stated and lead the pair onto the roof, and to a seprate life boat. It was just a rowboat, but it was enough to get them the rest of the way.


Umber popped the manhole cover up and peered around cautiously before pushing it up and across, quickly leaping out of the drain and reaching down to help Yang up. But of course she smacked his hand aside and got out herself, Neo did take his hand however and was pulled a few inches too much for her comfort before landing on her feet. Yang didn't hesitate to tear into the boy.

"Three questions buddy." Yang snapped as her eyes flashed red. "Why did you blow up that ferry? Why did you kill those guys in suits?! Why did you drag us through the sewers?!" Yang growled angrily, Umber turned calmly and stepped up to her.

"To avoid the customs and searches once we reached Vale, I killed those men because they would've done the same to me, without hesitation. They are from an older line of work, believing I cheated them. Lastly, we went through the storm drain to avoid being instantly captured." Umber answered, the reflection of Yang's red eyes staring back at her. She didn't step down yet.

"How did you know that explosion wouldn't kill people? Also that whole 'believing' you cheated them thing?" She asked with a sneer, Umber stared at the girl in an uncomfortable silence.

"I designed it to cause a hole that wasn't repairable to sink the ship slowly, granted enough time for an evacuation." Umber leaned forwards suddenly, tilted his head ever so slightly. "Do not question my integrity when it involves business, Ms. Xiao Long." He leaned back. "Those suits wanted an Atlesian prototype, one that wouldn't perform to their expectations, I warned them but they ignored it. Prototype failed, blame was stuck to me." The dapper teen stated, stepping away from the stunned girl. "Now, let's move before we attract attention."

With that, Neo and Yang were led by Umber through many side streets, alleyways and small service streets. The half hour they took dodging patrols of Abandoned soldiers gave the group different feelings. Yang felt hatred, deep and well deserved in her eyes. Neo was indifferent, if not a little annoyed at the constant stopping and starting. Umber was curious, always taking long looks at the soldiers' armour and weapons. He heard them talking, their voices harsh and deep and fulled with hatred. One such chat he listened to was about a character named Devrok, whoever that was and how he owed somebody money.

"Where are we going?" Yang asked as the day neared its end, the sun setting.

"My place." Umber said and looked around, their latest stop was in a small, abandoned plaza.

"And how far is that?" Yang asked, patience wearing thin. Suddenly, children's laughter and chatter grew louder. A small group of giggling kids, their faces dirty, bobbed around the teens, smiles shining with innocence. They started to disappear around the corner before the dapper teen's hand shot out and grabbed the scuff of a boy's coat, dragging him back and holding his hand out. The boy's surprise was shared with Neo and Yang, he tried to look around Umber at them but Umber shook his head.

"Don't look at them, look at me. Give me what I want, now." Umber ordered, his voice not the usual calm as before. Yang seemed ready to step in before the brown haired boy tore three wallets from his coat and shoved them into the waiting hand, almost instantly Yang recognised that one of them was her wallet. "Good attempt, distraction and lift were on point. You target choice was very poor, trying to rob a masked man." Umber's voice now held an unexpected tone of approval, which Neo nodded to while Yang blinked. "Risk doesn't always give reward." The child's face was filled with a mix of terror and surprise, fortunately Umber continued. "Find you boss, tell him to meet me in the usual place."

"P-Pitbull?" The child asked, voice squeaking. Umber nodded.

"Go." He said simply and dropped the boy, who immediately broke into a dash and skidded around the corner. The dapper teen turned around and tossed two of the stolen wallets back to their owners, then began to walk away. "Two minutes, then we'll be there."

True to Umber's word, it was two minutes before they stopped before an old and rusty warehouse. The dapper teen walked to an old fashioned fuse box, which opened up to a very modern looking password lock. He punched in the combination and the rickety looking door popped open, Umber led the two girls into the building. They gaped in awe at the vault-like door that seemed so rusted from the outside, then Umber walked past them and towards a hallway.

"Grand tour awaits, come." He said and started down the hallway, a few doors on the sides. The one the right was the first they poked their heads in, Umber waiting as the pair of girls curiously glanced about. They found themselves in a kitchen, which was immaculate and without a speck of dust. There was a large refrigerator to the side alongside several appliances on the benches next to it, in the middle was a counter that had a few hanging pans and such above it. Then their eyes landed on the shelves. Yang gaped in awe at the sight of thousands, or at least hundreds, of packets and cans of food. On the other half of the large room was a dinning table, circular and made of oak, with six chairs around it.

Neo checked the other two doors, finding a pair of identical bathrooms. Stalls and sinks, at least three to each room, and a few shower heads along the wall. When Yang looked in she immediately realised that it was two bathrooms for men and woman, guess Umber did respect some sort of privacy. Soon Umber coughed and continued the 'tour', stepping into a large circle, concrete room. The back wall looked like the parking space, as a large black van and a transport truck were parked there. Next to that was a staircase and another door next to it, Yang moved towards it but the dapper teen grunted.

"Come, time isn't infinite." He stated, pointing his cane towards another blank wall. Yang crossed her arms, jutting her chin out.

"What's up there?" She asked and Umber answered immediately.

"Containment cells, high grade. Impossible to escape." He stated and Neo starting signing.

"Why do you have cells in your home? What are you into?" She asked with a smug grin, Umber ignored the second question.

"Certain situations call for very specific needs." Umber said calmly and Neo facepalmed, then the dapper teen shrugged. "Sue me." Yang and Neo blinked in surprise.

"Was... was that a joke?" The blond asked and Umber shrugged again, before turning and pressing one of the stone panels on the wall. It flipped open and revealed another password lock, which the boy punched in quickly. The entire wall suddenly moved inwards and then split apart, revealing a large freight elevator. Umber turned and gestured with a hand towards the metal contraption.

"Ladies, or girls, first." He said and followed the pair inside, pressing a pretty big and unnecessary button. However he stopped just before he pressed the button, turning his head slightly. "Remember, not even the darkest hole can hide you from me. If you betray me after what I show you, the consequences will be severe. My moral code and philosophy, unquestionable, simply accept them." With that the elevator shuddered then started to descend into the darkness, the only light being from the dim red light above them. "The previous owners, specialised in shady business, had built a living off hazardous chemicals. They brought this little book only a month before going bankrupt, pointless to search for them. You'll never find a trace." Umber stated, his voice had a surprising tone of pride.

The elevator suddenly slowed with a jerk and halted its descent, Umber walked out and turned to the pair. Then with a raised hand he pressed a large button that remained unseen for only a moment, then revealed with a flood of white light. That wasn't the only thing to be revealed, as Yang and Neo slowly looked around in awe.

"Wow." Was all that Yang said, Umber hummed.

"Welcome to the lodge." Was the strangely sarcastic introduction from Umber, waving a hand behind him. The light shone down from the roof, some hundred metres above them. The walls could barely be seen past the shelves and crates, though it seemed around fifty or so metres from the elevator. "You could find anything you would need inside these crates, all two thousand of them."

"Is that so? Then what's in that one?" Yang asked suddenly, pointing at a wooden crate with unusual markings. Umber locked unseen eyes with the smug looking blond, then turned on his heel and walked over to the shelves and pulled a clipboard off the side.

"Four antitank, guided rocket launchers. From the Atlesian Military." Umber stated and looked up when Neo clicked her fingers a few times, when she had the dapper teen's attention she pointed to another crate on the shelf next to him. It was small and on the lowest shelf, Umber checked the catalog and glanced up. "Atlas Scorch, one hundred and fifty years old. Flavour still burns." He answered, putting the clipboard back and wandering down the massive aisles. The girls followed after the dapper teen, finally exiting the maze-like shelves into an open area with eight shipping containers, each with wooden stairs and ladders connecting them with large spray painted words and symbols on the front and sides. Alpha, Sigma, Gamma, Delta, Theta, Omega, Eta and finally Iota.

Along the ground next to the containers were a number of tables, benches and stacks of tools. Workbenches for weapons, ammo smiths for custom rounds and even an old smithy forge, they were all here. A few weapons hung from racks, one which Yang could tell her sister would drool over. Over to the side was a shooting range, with wooden targets set up at different lengths from a row of bricks. Next to that was a padded area where gym equipment and weights sat, Yang's eye caught the boxing ring immediately and she had a perked interest.

"Come along." Umber called and regained the girls' attention, motioning towards a strange hexagon shaped hut behind the containers. When they all entered they saw a large round table in the middle of the room, a blue holographic sphere hovering in the centre. The walls around them covered with monitors. Umber approached the table and the sphere flickered, now showing their planet as the teen explained its purpose to Yang.

Who simply nodded and smiled, completely fucking lost on its actual purpose.

However, Umber ignores her completely baffled look and left the room. Neo poked her head out and saw the dapper teen climb up into one of the large containers, then both she and Yang clambered up and peered inside the 'Sigma' crate. Inside was basically a walk-in wardrobe, with a pair of dressers and a closet against the walls. Umber was walking from one dresser to another, in his hand was a black mask, identical to the one that he was wearing, bar the cracks. He pulled a box from a drawer and a shirt from the closet next to it, throwing it over his shoulder. Then the dapper teen glanced over to the pair, pulled two black rectangles from a small drawer and held them up.

"Catch." He said and threw the objects to the girls, both catching them with ease. They saw that the objects were actually boxes, which they pulled open to find a single scroll each, though their colour was a jet black. The dapper teen walked past Neo and Yang and motioned them to follow, taking the chance to explain the gifts. "Those scrolls are special. Unhackable, untraceable and near impossible to breach the security. Taken from Atlas, modified by myself." He stated as they exited the maze of shelves and entered the elevator, Umber pressed the button again and the elevator started to rise back to the surface. "They have a connection to the Lodge, the encryption hides messages from the outside world, from prying eyes." Umber finished with a hum, then the elevator stopped and they walked out into the loading area.

"Thanks." Yang said quietly, Umber nodded at her before turning to the finger-clicking Neo.

"Thank you, Umber. I'm sure to put this to great use." Somehow, that little sentence was signed in a very suggestive way. Umber shrugged, then pulled his shirt over his head. Yang glanced up from her new scroll and gaped, staring with Neo at the teen.

"Take a picture, lasts longer than memory. One time opportunity." He added, Neo unsurprisingly took a picture since, well, it's Neo. Yang merely watched the confirmed human boy in ragged pants, ruined shoes and with an even worse shirt walk down the hall and turn into one of the bathrooms, hopefully the boys. Yang glanced over to Neo, finding her already going through the settings of the scroll, but she had something much more important to do. The blond opened up the messaging app and created a group, inviting Blake, Weiss and importantly Ruby.

Almost immediately, Weiss and Ruby joined.

"Yang?" Ruby asked.

"Sure is Sis." Yang replied with a smile, then Weiss sent her text.

"Prove that you are Yang." The Blond understood the unease and took a quick selfie, popping it over to the chat. It took a second before her scroll was lit up by messages, it buzzed like a hive as she watched the questions fly by. Unfortunately, before she could even attempt to answer them there was a loud click that echoed through the warehouse. Neo and Yang exchanged looks before pocketing their scrolls and moving towards the hallway. Neo herself looked extremely on edge, which in turn unnerved Yang. The silent girl was usually wearing a smug look, this change was weird. They turned the corner and immediately spotted a figure at the end of the hall, fiddling with something.

The two girls rushed down the hall, Yang grabbed the shady character and slammed him against the wall, fist ready to smash bone. Next to her, Neo raised her parasol and extended the thin blade within it before levelling it at the figure's face.

"Shit fuck! Umber it's me!" The boy screamed, catching the pair of teens holding him off guard. Yang would've dropped the kid, if the bathroom door didn't slam open and out came the dapper teen. He held an assault rifle in his hands, which flicked to the end of the hallway before coming to a stop at the trio who stood like deers in headlights.

"What are you doing to Pipsqueak?" He asked, though both of the teens were too distracted to answer him. Neo and Yang expected that the teen wouldn't be overly fat, but it seemed like the boy didn't have an ounce of it on his body. But this didn't draw their eyes, it was the tattoos. The tattoos and scarred body they lay upon. His entire left shoulder was simply a burn mark, wrinkled and red skin that hurt to look at. The other shoulder looked similar, his collar bone had marks of what could only have been a savage animal or Grimm. His right bicep had a line of stitches along the skin, over his heart was a phoenix, the same one from Winter's folder.

A black chained dogtag hung around his neck, which looked new, Yang couldn't remember seeing it. Alongside the single tag was a black ring, made of glass. Over his ribs were lines of text, in a language that neither girl knew of. Then, just under the left shoulder burn, was a collection of dots, within each dot was a different colour, symbol and shapes. Ten dots, in two lines, their meaning also unknown to the girls. His abs were torn to bits, three scarred bullet holes, two long and clean scars and one more than ran below his belt. Somehow, through either magic or plot points, were the marks on his arms. Yang and Neo exchanged confused glances before examining them.

Umber moved the gun, revealing a bar code over his right wrist, which was covered by a scar. His left wrist bore the mark of a cursive C, surrounded by a laurel wreath. Then, to end off his mess of a body, Umber's right side was completely covered with bruises. A strangely beautiful mix of blacks, blues and yellows in some areas. The silence was broken by 'Pipsqueak'.

"First off, its Pitbull. Secondly, did you get hit by a fucking train? Like damn." The boy said with heavy sass in his voice, Umber looked down at the bruises and gently put a finger on them, hissing in pain.

"If said train was the girl holding your head, underdeveloped and full of bad ideas... then yes." The dapper teen nodded, the boy grinned at Yang, giving the girl a wink. The blond merely put more pressure to the boy's neck, turning away to look at Umber as he started choking.

"Who is this asshat?" She asked, disgust filling her voice. The dapper teen hummed before answering.

"A guest, killing him isn't gonna help." He answered, Yang huffed and dropped the kid, letting him cough on the ground. "He may be your best bet for rescuing your friends, escort him to the kitchen. Try not to kill him, please." Umber said with an emotionless voice, then went back into the bathroom to continue getting changed. The trio entered the kitchen and awkwardly stood about, Yang leaned against the bench while Neo sat on top of it and kicked her legs slightly. Pipsqueak simply tapped his foot and winked at Yang again. It was barely a minute before Umber entered, now wearing a new pair of black shoes, cobalt dress pants and a white shirt, its sleeves rolled up. The kid walked up to the dapper teen with a smirk.

"First up, mad respect. I knew that you were all egdy, but mate, two chicks? How long have you been bashing that?" He asked and flicked his thumb towards Yang, whose eyes turned red and her face slowly turned to a snarl. Umber quickly tried to diffuse the situation.

"Pip is the head of an information gathering net, largest this side of Remnant. If anyone can find your friends, or any hunters, it'll be him." Umber stated, putting a box onto the dining table and opening it. He pulled a pair of gauntlets out, black in colour and made of tiny segmentated plates for maximum protection. He pulled them on then over them a pair of black gloves, stretching his fingers in them. Pipsqueak groaned loudly.

"Yeah, yeah, that's all cool and all, like me. But you didn't answer my question." He said and crossed his arms, Umber turned and started at the boy.

"There hasn't been any 'bashing', as you put." The dapper teen almost spat, but the boy just smirked.

"Of course. So she's free game?" He asked cheekily, Umber just turned his masked glare at him. The boy slid over to the bench and leaned on it, grinning at Yang with a shit eating grin. "Heyyy." He greeted and flicked out a finger gun. "Did you sit on sugar, coz you got one hell of a sweet ass!"

Usually, Yang was all for flirty banter. Not now though, her friends are in trouble and she needs to save them. This little shit was wasting time, so she snapped. Her hair burst into flames, her eyes turned red as she yelled in rage and sent a punch at Pipsqueak's face. The punch would've shattered Aura and bone, destroyed buildings and rocked the world... if it hit her intended target. Her eyes widened as she found her fist caught by Umber's hand, his gauntlets made of metal so cold she could feel it through her flames.

"Progress would be made if you left these proceedings, immediately." Umber stated calmly, Yang opened her mouth to argue but the boy spoke once more. "This isn't a suggestion." The blond glared at the blank mask and yanked her hand back.

"Fine." She hissed and walked out, hair still burning, the door shut behind her and she started pacing. After fifteen or so minutes the door opened and Yang quickly turned towards it, finding Umber walking out. He had the last of his three piece suit, a cobalt coat with a black tie. He only had two buttons done up and a red handkerchief sticking out of his breast pocket. Neo was the next to walk out, with a smug and mischievous smile on her face. She hopped past the blond and did a thumbs up, her other hand holding a bag

Lastly, was the shit-for-brains Pipsqueak, who held his crotch and waddled down the hall towards the front door. Once he had truely left and the door clicked shut, Yang dashed in a blur up to the dapper dressed teen.

"What did he say!?" She all but screamed at him, Umber merely hummed.

"The remaining hunters are being held at the docks, the thirty second pier in a makeshift POW prison." He answered calmly, but Yang picked up on something he said.

"The 'remaining hunters'? What does that mean?!" She barked and Umber simply looked at her.

"From the network, a small number are missing. We can't be too sure." As soon as the dapper teen said that, Yang was sprinting towards the door. Yet when a cold hand landed on her shoulder she stopped. "You know the where, but not the who, who or why. You current course of action isn't the best."

"Then what is, 'smart guy'?" She sneered. "We won't get anything just sitting here."

"As a matter of fact, we will." Umber stated calmly. "Pip will give up all the information we need before sunset." Umber said to a befuddled Yang, who blinked in surprise.

"Why would he do that?" She asked and Umber hummed again.

"Double standard payment, as well as previous services he still needs to pay for." He answered as he put a hand to his ribs, interrupting Yang as she was about to poke around to find any holes in the dapper teen's plan. He leaned over to the counter but missed slightly, Yang caught him just as he started to fall towards the ground.

"Hey, you alright?" She asked as she helped Umber onto a seat, the boy nodded in response.

"Fractured ribs aren't the best, Ms. Xiao Long." He answered and Yang cringed, she tried to speak but Umber interrupted her. "You are going through a lot, I understand, but if you want your colleagues then you must trust me." He said seriously before pulling out a scroll and tapping on it. "Go get Neo, I'll show you the weakness of the Abandoned armour." Yang frowned.

"How would you know their weaknesses?" She asked and Umber glanced up.

"I fought team BRAS, they wear the same armour. Their leader, however, didn't." He answered. "Memory serves me well." With that Yang went off to find the petite girl. When they returned, Umber gave them an hour long lesson on the cons of the occupying forces' armour, concentrated on the knights as the dapper teen called them. The eye holes, joints, heavy weight and conductive armour were all taught, yet there was nothing on their fighting styles. Apparently, they were too diverse. At least he told them that the soldiers hit hard, very helpful. "Time for bed, need the rest." He suddenly stated and Yang frowned, checking her scroll.

"It's only nine and we feel fine." She stated, fighting off the incoming yawn. The dapper teen merely nodded towards Neo, whose head slipped off her hand and smacked onto the table, waking her instantly with wide eyed surprise. Umber shook his head.

"Just peachy. Look, the next seven hours is all Pipsqueak needs to get us the information, a necessity to breakout your friends. Half an hour is all we need to for planning." He stated calmly and Yang sighed.

"I guess." She said tiredly, the dapper teen nodded and stood up. Soon there were three mattresses on the floor of the office that overlooked the loading bay, a part of the tour that Umber hadn't shown them. For good reason, it was bare bones except for a comfortable red chair. The trio didn't retire though, merely sitting about. Neo watched a gore filled movie on her scroll as she sat on her bed. Umber was reading a book in the chair while Yang typed away at her scroll, talking with her friend and sister. She suddenly spoke up as the dapper teen neared the ending of his story.

"Does Actium ring a bell?" She asked quietly, Umber perked up and looked over in what seemed like genuine interest.

"In what context?" He asked curiously.

"Well, Ruby and Weiss said that they overheard General Ironwood say something about it." She answered and Umber hummed.

"It is a coastal town, though more of a fortress, in Atlas. It holds the line alongside many other fronts, right now your sister is as save as she could possibly be." He said calmly, yet Yang snorted.

"Tell that to the grey guy who attacked her." She mumbled.

"Ten mile sensor grids, a large response team not including off duty personal, two Atlesian battleships and countless missiles that sleep under the ground." He responded casually, getting looks of surprise from both the blond and Neo. "Infiltration was a thought, one that I almost seriously followed through." Slowly, Yang grew tired and put her scroll down. She closed her eyes and slept, though not for long.


The blade, coiled and burning, rushed towards my chest, the grinning snarl staring at me. I felt the cold, unbearable cold fly through my veins. The towering knight yanked the blade from my chest and raised it, a growing snarling tearing through the burning landscape of ruin and bodies.


Yang shot up and gasped, sweat dripping from her face. She felt her heart threatening to burst from her chest, just like the blood did in her dream.

"Evening." A voice came from her right, Umber, sitting on the red chair with a coffee table in front of him. He was fiddling with something on the small table, his mask reflecting the light off something. She turned her head to find a window looking out over a shady looking club, not Junior's but just as filthy. The dapper teen's blue coat was hung over his cane, which leaned against the wall nearby. In its place was a harness that ran under his arms, a pair of holsters strapped to them. He looked up from the table and watched the blond.

"How long have you been awake?" She grumbled.

"Nightmares. Injuries within them aren't felt, but somehow each scar given is amplified tenfold." He said calmly, ignoring the question as he raised the object he was fiddling with and turned it about. "You and I have very different dreams, yet they are far more common than we could ever think." He nodded to himself and slid the object into the holster under his arm, Yang realised it was a handgun. "Perhaps we should compare notes, information that we've gathered?" He asked and Yang shrugged.

"Got nothing better to do." She said, then blinked in surprise when the dapper teen disappeared. She turned and found him by the door, his black mask staring at her.

"We may be awake, but Neo needs her rest. She fell asleep only moments ago." He said softly, the blond turned and found the small girl lying on her mattress, face red as if she had been crying. "It's curious. Resisting tears and putting on a mask to deal with grief, yet once any sliver of friendliness is shown it crumbles like a ruin. Those barriers so carefully built to only open in the worst of times." He hummed quietly as he lead Yang to the kitchen, giving her a good view of all that was on the harness. Besides the pistol was a knife and a few pouches.

The knife was serrated along the back of the blade, with an angled handle. But there was little time to think about it as they entered the kitchen and Umber began to made coffee, asking Yang to describe her dream. She sat on one of the chairs and sighed.

"It's always this massive knight, killing me by putting a sword through my chest. Bastard looks like Raiko, sometimes I think it really is. It's just... it doesn't feel like it is him." She finally muttered as Umber placed a mug of hot coffee in front of her. "What does it mean?" She asked the dapper teen.

"I could act the part of a therapist, twisting your words and problems to force you to solve the problem. However, I know that you'd hate that. My only advice is that this isn't going to be solved instantly, you need to free yourself of the chains that mark you." He said calmly and Yang chuckled.

"Thanks Sensei, that was utterly useless advice." She stated and Umber chuckled lightly, staring at her. "I mean, that was cliche. You trying your honest best to help me get over my problems, while having your own." Yang laughed and sipped at the coffee, only to find it to be a pretty good hot chocolate. Umber looked away and hummed.

"I wish. I knew what I did, or didn't do, and all the consequences of it. I will be haunted to my last dying breath." He stated coldly, causing Yang to look up at him. "But that is besides the point. Quality in questions is lacking, I have been quite forthcoming in the past few days." He said and Yang shrugged.

"I guess." She answered hesitantly.

"Very good." The dapper teen stated, remaining silent. Once again, it took Yang little time to figure out that he was waiting for her to ask a question.

"Right, well, where the hell did you get that rifle?" She asked. "From the bathroom when that kid walked in?" Umber hummed, then stood up and walked over to a random wall. With a gentle kick to it, a small portion opened up and a small arsenal was revealed. Umber turned and stared at Yang.

"You've been within reach of a firearm this entire time." He answered, a hint of pride in his voice.

"What about those gauntlets, what are they even had of? They were so... cold." She shivered and Umber walked towards her. Yang grew nervous until the dapper teen waved a hand over the table and a screen popped out and buzzed to life. It was a camera system, showing the door outside the warehouse and a figure standing in front of it. The figure looked up at the camera, revealing himself as Pip.

"I learned my lesson, I'm even knocking!" He said, though the camera feed made his voice a bit buzzy. Umber turned to Yang.

"We have a visitor, see him in while I get his payment." The dapper teen said calmly and walked out of the kitchen, the blond followed after but turned left and walked down the hall to the door. She paused and took a breath.

"Don't punch his face, don't punch his face." She muttered and opened the door. Yang expected some comment from Pipsqueak but the boy merely walked past her, not looking at her. He had his hands in his pockets, head down and a determined stride towards the dapper teen, who held a thick envelope.

"Good evening Pip, there's hot chocolate on-" Umber was interrupted however, when Pipsqueak thrust a small black box into his chest. The boy looked up at the black mask with eyes that were filled with fear.

"That's it, I don't want anything to do with this, got that?" He stated firmly. "Those guys are fucking crazy, like actual lunatics. I'd never stick my head out for this, not even for a load of money, not anymore." The boy said shakily, Umber put a hand on the coated boy's shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

"Wait here." He said and walked down the hall, after a few seconds he came back with a piece of paper that had many numbers and words on it. "Call it a bonus, along with the agreed amount." Umber extended the paper and envelope, which the boy took and shoved in his coat but held the paper cautiously.

"The hell is this?"

"A gateway to the Fold, you know of it." Umber answered and like that the boy was smiling like an American on the Fourth of July, what ever the hell those were. "Call that number, say the name and list me as a sponsor. The others should take you through the rest." Pipsqueak was at a loss, but still found the words to say.

"Why now, after I just basically told you to shove it?... and hitting on her and the other girl." Pip added in a mutter.

"Because of a line, a line that wasn't crossed by yourself." Umber stated calmly. "Even in the face of wealth you remained steadfast. Anyway, we have some 'lunatics' to piss off, enjoy your day Pip."

"Yeah sure, have fun." The boy said and cheerily walked out the door, which shut behind him. Then the faint sound of his cheers pierced the thick door, making Umber chuckle. Yang just blinked.

"The hell was that?" She asked, but Umber just shook his head.

"Nothing, but this box. It holds all that you want." He stated and lead the blond into the kitchen and put the box on the table, then Umber flicked the box open and revealed a cube. Suddenly, images shot out from the box, ones of high walls and guard positions. "At least it has walls." He murmured as he adopted a thinking pose. Multiple pictures showed high walls of chainlink fences and concrete, a few showed a number of guard towers on the corners of the walls. Spotlights lined their edges, most aimed outwards. At the entrance was a large chainlink gate, flanked by two barriers that had mounted guns on them. Large and blocky, the round drum on their sides said dangerous.

On the interior was a large, three story structure, which looked like it was under construction. But at the base of the construction, cells could be seen. Along the tops were walkways, no doubt so guards could keep an eye on their prisoners from all angles. Alongside the pictures were numerous red circles, outlining guard positions and... just that. Guard positions, no cameras, no alarms and no combination locks. Just pure manpower.

"Strange, but easy." Umber finally said, making Yang blink and frown.

"This is a fortress, in all terms, but you're writing it off?" Yang asked with increasing volume, the dapper teen nodded.

"This is child's play, there have been many places that put up a bigger challenge." Umber stated casually, his hand flicking one of the pictures away and examining another. Yang found a few of the insides of the cells, and found the familiar faces of teams CFVY, CRDL, but those were the only full teams she recognised. There were a lot of people that were alone, or missing somebody, like SSSN and NDGO. At least JNPR wasn't there. The dapper teen noticed her interest and glanced over. "Recognise someone?"

"A couple, how did that kid get these pictures?" Yang asked and Umber shrugged.

"His network is very unorthodox, I wouldn't doubt that he used the old pizza trick. Probably wouldn't work though." He stated, then hummed. "Relief happens quickly, and a few guards from other patrols take up the empty space." He hummed quietly. Suddenly, he flicked a hand through the air and the pictures disappeared, then he pressed a button on the table and another hologram appeared. This time it was a file out form for something, which Umber moved in front of Yang. "Fill those out." With that he wandered out of the kitchen. The blond was almost done when the door opened and in walked Neo, who caught Yang's eye as she worked on completing the forms. Suddenly, Yang was jabbed in the side. She growled and turned to glare at Neo, who started signing.

"I don't speak that mumbo jumbo." The blond snapped, getting a glare in return. The smaller girl mimicked a tie around her neck, it took Yang a second to realise what she was asking. "Umber? I don't know where he went and I don't care." She muttered, scowling.

"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends." A calm voice spoke from behind Neo, the dapper teen held two duffle bags. "You will realise that pushing each other down will only end with you both at the bottom, so enough hostility." He stated as he swung the bags onto the table, then he pressed the centre and a holographic interface popped up. Umber took a moment to flick through the menu before a loading bar popped up, before looking through the bag with the word 'S.T.O.R.K' in bold letters on the side.

Out came a rifle, an EVO Carbine that had a red dot sight, a double drum magazine and a suppressor that seemed to be custom built, as it had a grip below it that didn't seem connected to the actual gun. Alongside the beastly assault carbine, the dapper teen pulled out a harness which he strapped over his left shoulder and across his chest. Then he connected his rifle to the harness, before letting go of the gun. Only for him to hiss as the rifle hit his ribs, immediately he yanked it into the air and stumbled backwards.

"Are you ok, man?" Yang asked and Umber let out a grunt, his black mask turning towards her.

"It's official, you have crippled my ability to hold even the lightest of rifles." He stated calmly, Yang snorted.

"So you're calling this suicide mission off?" She asked, little remorse in her voice. Her answer was Umber letting out a light chuckle.

"No, this challenge will make this 'suicide mission' enjoyable." Came the calm reply before Umber looked in the bag labeled 'S.T.A.C.K' and pulled out a small 40mm grenade launcher and a belt of grenades, enough to arm a small platoon. The dapper teen strapped these across his chest, over his right shoulder and under his left, while the launcher was put at his waist. He returned to the S.T.O.R.K bag and pulled out three thin collars and a strange sensor module. He clipped the box onto one of the bandoliers around his shoulders then clipped one of the collars open, putting it on and closing it. Yang watched as he pulled out a small earpiece and put it in his ear before his armoured hand was put out and the remaining colars were offered. "You require these, put them on."

Yang took the thin collar and put it on, mimicking Umber. Neo did the same, but couldn't keep a little smirk to herself.

"Collars? You into some kinky stuff?" She signed and Umber stared at her, then sighed. He flicked the holograms off, swung the carbine over his shoulder and grabbed the bags.

"Next guard change is in fifteen minutes, best not to waste anymore time." The dapper teen stated and lead the girls towards the vehicle bay, towards the black van that rested next to a large but old looking military transport truck. He opened the back doors and looked over his shoulder, finding both Neo and Yang staring at him cautiously. "Lost your nerve? Too late for that." He said and threw the two duffle bags inside, then waited for the pair to hop in. Umber shut the doors and walked around the side of the van before jumping into the drivers seat.

The van rumbled to a start and the headlights shone, revealing a large sliding door. Yang didn't remember seeing it, but it was probably on the other side of the warehouse. Umber drove the van up to the door, which opened automatically at a pretty quick pace, then floored it. The trip took little time, as Umber soon pulled to a stop in an alleyway near the waterfront. He turned in his seat and stared at the pair in the back.

"From here onwards, use strict comms. No names." The dapper teen said and pointed to himself. "One-one." Then to Yang. "One-two." Then Neo. "One-three." Suddenly, the boy hopped over the centre console of the van and into the back with the girls, taking a seat in the centre and pulling the S.T.O.R.K bag close to rummage through it. "Plan is simple, ten to fifteen recognised HVTs in the compound east of us. Neo and I will commandeer a small vessel, take it underneath the objective while the cameras loop. It'll be up to us to handle defences." Umber explained while he pulled a tiny black computer chip from the bag, holding it up. "This is for automated defences, if there are any."

The dapper teen put the small chip in a pocket and pulled a can of aerosol as well as a blowtorch from the bag, hooking them onto his belt. He looked up again. "Neo, you will use you semblance to exfiltrate the HVT from the vessel, once in pace." Umber said as he pulled out a handgun, a Jericho 941 with a uniquely designed grip, one that was very similar to a katana's grip. The slide was silver, with a strange object under the barrel and a thin silencer on the end. Yang blinked in confusion.

"What's her semblance?" She asked and looked over to Neo, who had a similar look of confusion on her face."

"The ability to transport herself and others to places of memory." He answered as he removed the suppressor from the pistol.

"How did you know about my semblance?" Neo signed and Umber hummed, placing another long object on the end of his Jericho.

"I know more than I say, think more than I speak and notice more than you realise." He answered cryptically and with little sence, then he pulled his launcher around and flicked it open, taking a grenade and sliding it inside. Yang had a look on concern.

"Isn't that a bit excessive?" She asked and the dapper teen stared up at her.

"Excessive draws attention, useful to divert attention from you objectives." He answered calmly, yet Yang wasn't exactly convinced.

"Still, it looks pretty dangerous." She muttered and Umber let out a light chuckle.

"Ms. Xiao Long, the longer you live your understanding of weapons grows, for there are no dangerous weapons..." The dapper teen stood up and opened the doors, hopping out and turning back to her. "Only dangerous people."


Yang found herself on the top of a building, lying prone with a pair of binoculars overlooking the makeshift prison. Its huge walls and many guards striking slight fear into her heart, it was only a few days ago that she was running from them. Now she was back, at least this time she was merely being a nuisance to anyone on the comms.

"Remind me why I'm the spotter?" She sarcastically asked over the comms, though it held a more disappointing tone to it. "Shouldn't I be dealing with my friends, not sitting as far away as possible?" Umber replied quickly.

"You are a liability to this mission." That got Yang angry, as her eyes glowed red and she scowled.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She snapped, hearing a sigh over the radio then a light grunt before a splash of water.

"One-three specialises in speed, that mobility and ability to remove herself from the fight. I have years of previous experience to a point of surgical precision, strategy and remaining undetected is an art." Umber replied over the radio, unamused. "Your experience? Killing beasts, not men. Your tactics include losing control during fights and rage, not something needing from you at the moment One-two." Umber stated, voice always calm. Yang saw the other side of the coin and cracked a grin.

"So you're saying that you're the Yin to my Yang?" There was silence.

"ETA to target is two minutes, have you marked hostiles?" He finally asked, causing Yang to blink.

"What?"

"Have you marked any hostiles?" He repeated, his calm voice getting slightly, slightly annoyed.

"I don't know what you want from me." Yang said bluntly.

"Check the bottom of the bag, ETA is ten minutes." The dapper teen grunted over the radio. Yang found the small book and, thanks to selective reading for two minutes, could confidently work her only tool. She could flick through many scopes and filters, but more importantly could put a white dot on the Abandoned soldiers in the prison, with the dot hovering at their head with white lines representing their limbs. Somehow it could be seen through walls with the binoculars, when asked Umber merely hummed. "It's impressive what you can do with UV rays and harmless radiation."

Yang heard the distant sound of a boat engine and turned her gaze to the water, finding a black boat speeding along. Suddenly, the noise disappeared and the dapper teen rode the boat with his head held high as two spotlights just passed over his head. The boy was in his zone. There was barely a half minute of silence before the radio buzzed.

"Marks confirmed, breaching in thirty seconds." Umber reported. "Also to note, the HVTs will be sedated on retrieval."

"What? Why?" Yang hissed angrily, clearly agitated.

"I don't trust them. Besides, it makes them less likely to be seen, or get shot, or get stabbed. It is for both my safety and theirs." Umber calmly replied.

Coco sighed as she leaned against the bars of her cage, staring up at the plated knights that marched above her. Yet another failed attempt at escape played through her mind before the light sound of splashing water caught her attention, then the manhole cover that dominated the centre of her three-by-three metre cell was pushed to the side. Her eyes widened as she slowly approached it, but hesitated when a spotlight passed over her, but she quickly made up her mind and dropped to crawl her way into freedom. Only to find herself peering down the barrel of a gun, held by a figure whose face was darkened.

The figure slowly raised a hand to their face and extended a finger, telling Coco to be quiet. Suddenly, the surprisingly well dressed man pulled himself out of the hole. He stood up in the cell and took a look around, quickly returning his attention to Coco. "Spread the word. Stay silent, be ready to move at a moments notice." The dapper teen stated, then dropped something in the girl's lap, the rifle slung around the boy's shoulder. Her questioning eyes trailed from the gun back up to the black mask that reflected her own face. "I have little doubt you know how to use a firearm." He said then added. "Call it a precaution, keep it out of sight."

Umber turned and pulled the aerosol can from his hip, spraying it over one of the chainlink walls. It creaked and cracked when he pulled the section off and put it to the side, he was climbing out of the new hole when Coco found her voice.

"One question." She said and the dapper teen turned. "Wool, or linen?" She asked, gesturing to his clothes. Umber hummed.

"Cashmere, high quality." He answered and fully exited the cell, finding himself in a hallway that was made up of more cells. All around him were silent students, teens and scared people. But he ignored them for now, instead taking his grenade launcher and aiming at the closest guard tower. Yang watched as the grenade flew through the air, but felt some disappointment when the tower didn't erupt into flames, or when the other five didn't either. Umber clicked the launcher back into pace and hauled himself onto the wallway above Coco's cell, he quickly caught sight of three soldiers walking away from him.

The one furthest from him was one of the brass plated knights, holding an assault rifle that seemed eerily similar to a Vector. The next was a larger knight who held a breaching hammer near the head and lumbered behind the first Legionnaire, the one closest to him was a light infantry soldier wielding another rifle. To Yang's horror, Umber immediately made a beeline towards the soldiers' backs, his stance calm.

"Umber, what are you doing?" She hissed over the radio, she didn't get a great answer.

"Code names, One-two." Umber stated coldly as he pulled his cane out and put it down before quickly reached around the Auxiliary's neck and gripped the stock of the rifle, with a quick push from his other hand he was choking the soldier out. Yang stared at the other two with wide eyes, watching as they didn't even realise that their comrade was being choked out. The blond turned her attention back and found Umber zip tying the poor sod up and picking his cane back up. Without hesitation the teen pulled his Jericho from his coat and leveled it at the first Legionnaire, causing Yang to speak up again.

"One-one, stop! These guys are dangerous." She cried in protest, but merely got a chuckle over the comms.

"Trust me One-two, I am sure I can handle them." He stated, before firing three silent shots into the back of the knight's helmet. The first one sparked against the metal, but the two others were halted by the man's Aura, which fortunately couldn't stop him from stumbling forwards with a loud grunt. The soldier turned and raised his hammer, but Umber was already upon him with a quick jab with his cane in the lighter armour between his helmet and chestplate. Immediately, the hammer dropped in favour of grabbing his throat as the Legionnaire gurgled. Before he could do anything else, the dapper teen quickly stuck the handle of his cane behind one of his armoured legs and yanked his feet out. Without missing a beat, the teen smashed his cane into the helmet of the soldier, causing him to go limp.

"Huntsman scum!" The last Legionnaire roared as his rifle started to rise towards Umber, but yet he was too slow to halt the teen's quick movements. With a roll the dapper teen was garrotting the soldier against the wallway with a thin wire, his knee digging into the man's back as Umber pulled up with the wire. The struggle stopped and the boy stood up, dusting his shirt off and hopping down from the wallway.

Coco poked her head through the hole in the cell before quickly popping back inside and turning to Velvet, who sat in another cell over from her, the one between them belonging to Fox. The faunus had a determined look on her face.

"We're ready, but what about Fox? We can't leave him." She said quietly and Coco ran a hand across her forehead, letting her gun hang in one hand.

"I'll ask the guy, but don't get you hopes up. He was dragged out days ago-"

"Don't say that!" Velvet demanded, her eyes watering. "We can't give up on our friend!" She stated in a slightly raised voice, quickly Coco raised a hand.

"Shh! Don't get too loud!" The girl in sunglasses hissed, only to give a yelp of surprise when a voice behind her spoke up.

"Ms. Adel, are you ready?" Umber asked calmly. Suddenly, Coco spun around with the rifle raised, almost immediately the dapper teen grabbed the barrel and forced it upwards and towards her face, in shock she released the weapon and stepped back. "Apologies, habits, force of nature even." Umber stepped closer to the girl and looked down into her shaded eyes. "Please refrain from aiming firearms in my direction, most life expectancy is usually doubled when you do. Now, the priority is to remove ourselves from this premise." The dapper teen said as he gave back the rifle then stepped back and looked upwards. "One-three?"

A small black box appeared, flying at the dapper teen who caught the object and opened it. Inside was a large vial of liquid and a syringe gun, he extracted some of the liquid and attached the small needle-gun-thing to his belt. Then he glanced up and spotted Velvet, his black mask staring back at her with little emotion. Umber stepped out of the cell and walked over to her's, using the aerosol can to break the fence and step inside. The faunus felt fear as the teen's form blocked her only exit, her saviour with new unknown intentions.

"I understand that you have a... complicated relationship with the Commander of this occupation." Umber stated calmly, his voice even more unnerving than before. "Two choices are available right now, you are with us, or against us." The dapper teen said and stepped closer. "Choose now." The girl swallowed as sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"W-with you." She stammered, Umber relaxed his posture and nodded.

"Welcome, Ms. Scarlantina." Umber said with a more peaceful voice, before handing her the aerosol can. "Now before I arm you, remind Ms. Adel about what I said about aiming firearms at me." He hummed and the girl frowned, looking around the teen and finding Coco aiming at him.

"Sorry, but it's 'force of nature' when some guy is tryin' to intimidate my friends." She called from her cell, her face serious. "Do it again and I will end you." To both the girls' surprise, Umber chuckled.

"Tell me, have you ever truely killed somebody? Have you ended life, with your very own hands? From you silence, you answer is a no." The dapper teen turned around and stared across the bars at the girl. "Trust me, I have heard greater threats from very dangerous people. Bloody you hands before threatening me again, until then, lower your weapon. Now." The girl obeyed and Umber hummed, turning again and pulling another pistol from his coat and offering the grip to Velvet. "That can will freeze objects to a point where you can break it with your hands, use that pistol as a last resort. Time, and discretion is of the essence." Umber stated firmly and turned to go, but Velvet spoke up and stopped him.

"W-wait! You t-trust me j-just l-like that?" She asked and Umber let out a hum.

"Loyalty, hard to earn. Trust, easy to break. In these next few moments, your actions shall speak louder than words. Now go, free those you recognise."

While Velvet had some difficulty with the spray, she finally cracked open one of the cells opposite her. The girl inside quickly hopped out and ran towards the dapper teen, but not before giving a nod to the faunus who freed her. She stopped in fromt of the boy and quickly spoke.

"Octavia, s-she's been unconscious for a long time. I'm starting think she isn't waking up!" She babbled quickly, tears threatening to burst. Umber was about to respond before another voice spoke nearby.

"Scarlet needs help too, he isn't looking good." Umber turned to find Neptune standing at the front of his cage, gesturing to the boy next to him, whose eyes were bruised black and forced shut.

"Ms. Scarlantina, please retrieve Ms. Ember from her cell. I will cut Mr. David out." He stated calmly, pulling the blow torch from his belt and making quick work of cutting through the bars of Scarlet's cell. The dapper teen yanked the red hot bars of the cell and tossed it aside, entering the confined space to examine the red haired boy. The boy was mumbling as Umber shone a small light into his eyes, finding no dilation and immediately realising the teen had a mild concussion. Though it was little surprise, for the swollen face and blood coating his face were an obvious sign that Scarlet would have some sort of injury.

"O-Octavia's w-worse." Velvet said from behind Umber, who turned and followed her over to the cell holding the red haired girl. The faunus girl was right, since as soon as the dapper teen entered the cell he saw an least eight broken bones, an erratic heartbeat and breathing problems, an orbital fracture and a life threatening concussion. Behind Umber, the sounds of the rest of team NDGO muttering and whispering was growing louder, more so when he turned and walked out of the cage.

"One-Three, come in." Umber said into his comms, thinking for a moment about how the girl would communicate. Luckily, the double tab against the earpiece was confirmation enough. "Listen carefully, for two lives hang by a thread..." His orders were dished out to both the team of girls around him, and to the silent petite woman over the radio. First was to move Octavia as a priority to the Lodge. "Move with haste, move the girl into the 'Theta' container and into bed one. Grab some paper for this next one." He waited as Neo tapped once and went silent, watching as NDGO helped lower their friend into the hole. Soon, two taps hit his ear. "Alright. Cabinet B, top shelf, take the Propofol drip and set it to the second lowest setting. Second shelf has Buprenorphine, give her a dose of five hundred micrograms."

"What's Burp- Bupre-no-fine?" Velvet asked quietly behind Umber as she moved to cut out the giant known at Yatsuhashi, but was ignored.

"Give Mr. David a dose of three hundred, nothing more." He stated and got two taps again, he hummed then turned to give Nebula the injection. Finally, after Yats watched as the dapper teen helped the girl down the hole, he felt enough trust to go over and find out who their saviour is. Passing a confused looking Neptune, mumbling about looking for Sage.

Yats spoke up when the boy returned to the surface. "What should we call you?" Umber glanced over as he was refilling the syringe gun, letting out a light chuckle.

"Offended, but understandable, that you forgot me." He said calmly, putting the gun on his belt and grabbing Yats' outstretched hand with his cold gauntlet. "Umber Iwashita, of the previous team PUMA." Coco and Yats shared the same shocked expression, though the brown haired girl quickly scowled and raised her gun slightly.

"Bullshit. Team PUMA were all killed during the takeover, and no huntsman would be alright with killing people. You are you really?" She snapped and Umber turned his head slowly, staring coldly at the girl as he released Yats' hand.

"I know I was there, those events that I witnessed aren't fake. The deaths of my fellow teammates, Andre, Scott and Codie... and you, staring from the rooftop. Watching." The dapper teen's voice suddenly broke, as a quiet sniff came from the boy. "As I fell into that dark, I saw you turn and run. Not once did you even try to help, not once." Umber stated and waved over the next hunter for the shot. Coco looked shocked, wide eyes stared at the boy.

"I-I'm sorry for your loss." She apologised, only to get a grunt in return.

"Don't be, we were distant. Hardly knew them." He said casually, not a single hint of sadness in his voice. "They served their purpose, I got back to Vale and pissed off Atlas. The amount of flak that the Atlesian Military would've received from arresting an exchange student, a huntsman in training no less, that isn't on their territory. It would cripple their public image." Umber explained as Coco fumed, her eyes narrowed at the boy.

"Then what the hell was that guilt trip for!?" She snapped and Umber turned to her.

"I manipulated your emotions, thus you lowered the gun." The dapper teen answered easily. "My name may not be Umber, and I might not be a hunter, but I am freeing you from unlawful captivity. All free of charge." Suddenly, his voice went cold. "Last warning, Ms. Adel. If that gun is pointed that me, then there will be no further need to ask for your presence. Understand?" He asked calmly. There was the sound of impact against the fence and they turned to find a blue haired boy, his skin pale and eyes wide.

"F-fucking... no, n-no. No m-more, can't t-take him too. S-Sage? Sage w-where...?" He muttered in delirious murmurs.

"Neptune Vasilias. Come over, I have something that can help you." The dapper teen said gently, waving the boy over. Neptune quickly wandered over, hands shaking as they latched across his chest. "Do you have any heart problems, Neptune?" He asked softly and the boy shook his head, quickly Umber put the syringe to his neck and pulled the trigger, holding it a little longer that the other shots. "Please count down from ten, Mr. Vasilias."

"Ten. Nin-" The boy slumped forwards into Umber's arms.

"Good man." He said quietly and lowered the boy through the hole, then popped back up. "Anymore?" He asked Coco, who was still glaring at him.

"I can't decide if I hate you, or like you." She stated bluntly, then pointed down the rows of cells. "Just CRDL, down there." Umber looked and found four boys jeering at Velvet, who was clearly struggling with the can of aerosol. "Ah, shit. Those bastards." She muttered and started to move towards them, but Umber halted her.

"Do not abandon your post, Ms. Adel. I will handle this, doesn't take a genius to see a prick." He stated calmly and coldly, walking swiftly over to the last cells.

"Come on, Velvet." Cardin hissed, his eyes worried. He, for once, might not be bullying the faunus girl, but it seemed his team couldn't help themselves.

"Come on! Fucking hurry up, damn animal!" Russel sneered from the cell next to him, staring down at the girl as she struggled to freeze the cell. "If you can shit in a bush, then you can get me out!" He snapped and slammed his hand against the bars, startling the girl into dropping the can.

"For god's sake, can't you do anything right?" Dove spat from the other side of Cardin, peering at Velvet as she tried to find the can in the dark. Then a cold hand landed on Velvet's shoulder, causing her to turn and look up into the black mask of Umber. She was guided to her feet by the boy, who silently looked up at Russel.

"The gun, you have it?" He asked softly, the girl nodded and pulled it from her waistband and held it towards the teen. "Do you know how to use it correctly?" He asked, ignoring the offered weapon.

"N-no." Velvet said honestly, not sure where this was going.

"That's fine, follow my lead. I'll teach you." He said in the same soothing voice, pulling his Jericho out and aiming at the empty cages behind him. Velvet matched the boy's stance hesitantly, but with a nod from him she grew some confidence. "Fine work, now, the ammunition I use is more parts solid than Dust. This means more recoil, and the ability to cut past Aura. Now to counter this, put your other hand over your first and- One-Two radio silence, negative One-Two." Umber pulled the earbud out with a finger, it still buzzed with a familiar voice but Velvet couldn't place a name. "Now, both thumbs forward. Get your eye aligned with that front sight and those grooves at the end, now pull back the slide."

To Umber's surprise, the girl did so quickly and pretty well. "Very good." He stated as Velvet aimed at the cages, though she soon found her arms gripped by the dapper teen and her body turning around. Her aim was now on Russel. The boy's eyes widened, now remembering Umber's explanation of his ammo. Though both the faunus and boy starting to shake, Umber continued. "I have a saying: aim small, miss small. If you aim between his two eyes, you'll no doubt get a bullet stuck in his under developed cranium. Now, if you want to shoot, you want to squeeze the trigger." By now the calming voice that the dapper teen had was gone, now only coldness remained. "Pulling it can mess up a clean shot."

Suddenly, the boy walked over to beside Russel and leaned against the side of his cell. The boy was against the back bars, tears and sweat running down his face. "Interesting feeling isn't it, the feeling of having your life in someone else's hands? Little fact that I'll share with you, if I was in her shoes, your little human supremacist ass would have two clips worth of rounds in it. Fortunate, that Ms. Scarlantia here is in charge of her life, and that she wouldn't even harbour the thought. She is far better than you or I, even after your hell she still hesitates." Umber stated with a hum, pushing off the fence and taking the gun from Velvet's shaking hands. "You thought about it, but didn't follow through. That guilt you show, from simply think about it. It's enough to show me that you are a truely good person." He said calmly, put the gun back in her hands then turned and walked back over to Coco.

Only to stop and turn to the rest of CRDL, staring at Russel over a quickly glance over. "Prejudice. If I see it one more time, or even hear a whisper about it... I'll show you how we all bleed the same." The extraction of CRDL was quiet, the air tense as each boy hopped down the hole. About a minute after, Coco spoke up.

"What has Velvet so scared and why was Russel having a breakdown with his team?" She asked, getting nothing in reply except a nervous shuffle from Velvet. "Ok, let's rephrase that. What did you do to Velvet?"

"Taught her how to use a pistol, no doubt emotionally scarring those boys in the process." The dapper teen answered immediately, Coco raised an eyebrow.

"Bravo." She said, amused at the quick and honest answer. Though her attention was still on her friend, who still shook slightly. "Then why Velvet shaking?" She asked and Umber looked over.

"Her first taste of power, a corruptive experience. Though it no longer matters, let's go." He said, but the pair shook their heads.

"Fox was taken over to the construction site when he said something in the soldiers' language. We aren't leaving without him." Coco stated firmly, causing the normally stoic boy to let out a grunt of annoyance.

"Fantastic. This information would've been welcome, were you planning on telling me before now?" He snapped in a cold tone, turning to Yats, who stood nearby, and jabbed the needle into his neck. "Now we only have six minutes." He muttered and pointed at the hole. "You lot, get in the hole. We leave in five minutes, on the dot." With that, he sprinted from the cell and plugged his earpiece in. His cane in one hand and his handgun in the other, he ran past many cells. "One-two, this is One-one come in." The dapper teen said, already knowing the bombardment of questions.

"Right here. Now you better give some answers-"

"Not now, One-two." Umber snapped, his cool now broken by his whittled patience. "This operation is turning into a clusterfuck, so any questions can wait. I've been informed of another HVT, currently in the construction site nearby. Identify what's between him and I" The dapper teen ordered as he skidded around the corner of another cell, narrowly missing the gaze of a Legionnaire above him. Yang understood the seriousness of the situation and quickly flicked her attention over to the half-built structure.

"There's... only four red and orange blobs, doesn't look like they're armoured." She stated over the comms, causing Umber to pause as the building grew in size as he approached.

"Thermals." He muttered, to the blond he was speaking nonsense.

"What?" She asked.

"Currently, you are operating the thermal vision. Giving thermal signatures, not blobs." The dapper teen answered calmly, Yang just grunted.

"Do what you want." She stated and was promptly ignored as Umber rushed over to the front entrance of the building, two large iron doors. From further inspection, they seemed to be rolling blast doors. Thankfully, the doors were not fully completed, with no countermeasures. Umber jammed his cane between them and pulled, opening the doors a mere crack then wide open. He entered the dark structure and found many guard stations, desks and chairs stationed around. They soon grew less in number as he ran through the hallway, finally stumbling across his first door.

The dapper teen identified it as a password door, with a keypad in the door handle, a jiggle of which marked it as locked. He took a step back and put a hand to his chin as he looked at the wall next to the door, his pause caused Yang to speak up.

"You've stopped, are you stuck?" She asked, only for Umber to raise his foot and slam it through the wall. "Oh." Was Yang's response to the action, Umber just hummed as he yanked his foot from the weak plywood. He reached around and found the handle, quickly opening it and walking through the door. Though he placed a piece of rubble down to stop the door from closing before moving onwards. Only to stop, as his masked face slowly looked up the three stories of boxes that had small barred windows, enough for around fifty people per level.

"I-I'm in." Umber stated, almost tripping over himself. The blond noticed his change in tone and grew concerned.

"You alright?" She asked and the dapper teen nodded, mostly to himself.

"Just bad memories, bad experiences with places like this." He answered, swallowing the spike of nervousness down. Umber started down the first floor of cells, soon coming four that were confirmed occupied by Yang. It was then that Umber realised something. "I have no clue what this target looks like." He muttered, then figured out something as he watched his time dwindle on his watch. "There's a small slide on the side of your binoculars, find it." He stated suddenly.

"Alright then." Yang mumbled as she scanned over the sides of her scope, finding what the boy was asking for. "Found it."

"Move it to 122.2." He said calmly. The blond did so and saw the visor of the binoculars changing, soon the numbers matched and she glanced through them. She saw the clear image of Umber standing outside one of the doors.

"How many fingers?" He asked as he raised a hand, immediately Yang answered.

"Three." The three digits turned into a thumbs up, then his hand removed his gun from his belt and cocked the slide. The dapper teen took a breath then opened the door, finding a girl strapped to a chair and the faint sound of incoherent mumbling. Besides the occupant and the chair, the room was completely barren. Umber slowly approached the figure, where the mumblings grew louder, though still muffled by a bag over her head. With his free hand, the teen reached for the bag and tore it off. Immediately, a pair of wide eyes were staring at him.

"AGENT ASHLEY CARMINE, SERVICE NUMBER 1532-" The near immediate screaming was put to silence when Umber pistol whipped the girl's forehead, quickly knocking her out. Yang gaped as her mind caught up with what the dapper teen just did.

"What- what the hell was that for?!" She hissed angrily as Umber wiped the bottom of his Jericho of a bit of blood.

"She's Atlas." He stated calmly, turning and starting towards the door.

"Where are you going Umb- One-one?" She snapped.

"I came here for a purpose, rescue a male HVT. This is merely a waste of time. Besides, she is my enemy." He answered calmly, turning around and closing the door of the cell.

"You aren't leaving her to a painful death, you know she'll get one." Yang tried to explain, yet Umber was stone set on his objective.

"I know for a fact, what I've done is what she'd do. No, perhaps worse." He stated firmly, moving over to the next door.

"You are taking her." The blond stated over the radio.

"No." Was the immediate response. It didn't take long for Yang to realise that her approach wasn't working, so quickly switched tactics.

"S-she might have a way out, a contact you know? Maybe even a reward!" She tried with a stoic face, going silent. A bead of sweat rolled down her face before she got an answer, though not one she was expecting.

"Amusing. Take this for your troubles, from an expert of manipulation. Make the idea seem like they came up with it." Umber chuckled, stopping and turning around. "Your babbling has made me curious, don't usually see a lone agent. Usually more." He said as he opened the cell again, finding the girl hunched over. He walked over and yanked her head up, examining the agent's features. Her hair was black with green highlights at the tips, it was shoulder length with a ponytail at the back. Gracing her face were a number of black and blue bruises, there was also a very new one on her forehead. Across her face was a noticeable scar, from right cheek to jaw.

She appeared to be around Yang's age, if not at least eighteen. Her attire was casual, with a black hoodie, some jeans and a pair of white shoes. It appeared her attempt to blend in failed. He quickly patted her down for anything of value or information, finding little until he felt something in her hoodie. It was a small USB, which he pocketed and then contacted Yang.

"Ready to wake it?" He asked and the blond let out a sigh.

"It is a person." She snapped, watching as the dapper teen pulled a small tube from his coat and broke it under the agent's nose. "Wha-"

"Nothing lethal, Ammonium Carbonate." He answered swiftly, pulling the vial away as the girl's eyes flickered open. As soon as they landed on Umber, the girl jerked back and sent her chair falling. Fortunately, Umber stopped the fall by putting a foot between her legs and on the chair, he slowly brought the bound girl back to four legs before removing his foot. "You know me, what I'm capable of. Answer these questions, honestly, with straight answers." He leaned in down to the agent's face, her skin turned white as if she had seen Death itself. "Name, rank, service number, age, branch, division, C.O, and objectives in Vale."

It took a moment, but soon the girl gave her answers. "Agent Ashley Carmine, service number 1532009." Came the sharp reply through gritted teeth, her impossibly green eyes glaring up at the black mask that reflected her face.

"Alright, Ashley. May I call you Ashley?" Umber asked calmly.

"No." She spat.

"Alright, Agent Ashley Carmine. I have no intention to kill you, my intention is being used for another purpose. My agenda is currently in the exact opposite of the usual, an olive branch must be given for your freedom. Will you extend it?" He asked calmly, almost with some softness in his voice.

"Agent Ashley Carmine, service number 1532009." Umber sighed as the stubborn agent glared at him.

"Let's fill in the blanks." Umber continued, starting to pace in front of the girl. "Name is obvious. Rank, Agent First Class. Service number has been repeated, so no need. Age is no doubt eighteen. Branch is probably the International Atlas Intelligence, for obvious reasons. Your division, hmm. Counter Phoenix Operations. Your Commanding Officer is Winter Schnee, due to her command of that division. Lastly, the objectives that you are aiming to complete should be on this USB." With that, he flicked the metal drive into the air and showed it to the girl. The face was all he needed, as her surprise showed easily. He slowly turned back to the girl, his black mask not revealing anything. "Last but not least, do you have any pre-existing heart problems that you know of?"

The dapper teen dragged the agent out of the cell, leaning her against the wall next to the door. He stood back up and turned towards the next door, his Jericho still in his hand. Umber stood before the closed door, pausing to examine the warnings across the door. Yang once again started to ask questions.

"How did you knock her out?"

"Mind tricks." Umber stated calmly, then paused. "If you believe me?"

"Nope." Yang answered, annoyed.

"Then your answer will come at a later time, not now in a time sensitive operation." Umber replied, still standing before the door. The blond grew tired of waiting quickly.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Warnings. Written in Latin, not a familiar kind though. Modern, updated perhaps? From my knowledge, it says that the occupant has a mental manipulation semblance. Nothing I haven't dealt with." The dapper teen stated, confidence in his voice. He swung the door open and leveled his handgun at the single other person inside the cell, though lowered in confusion. Yang grew bored for the dapper teen's constant pausing, so she glanced down at the open manual and found another option in the binocular settings. She flicked a switch and suddenly a clear picture from Umber's mask filled the binoculars. Instantly, she recognised the dark skinned girl that sat before the teen.

"Emerald?" She muttered in surprise, finding the mint haired girl with a blindfold in place of a bag over her head. Umber seemed to ignore her murmurs and circled around the girl, like a shark in water.

"Something isn't right." Came a grunt over the radio. "There's a heat signature in the centre, and no stench from the corpses." The dapper teen stated, his head turning to glance at the wall opposite him. Yang spotted nothing through his POV, confusing her more.

"One-one... what are you on about?" Yang asked cautiously, Umber let out a grunt.

"Rotting corpses, the flesh should give off a horrid smell." He answered, still not turning from the blank wall.

"But there's nothing there, no flesh or rotting corpses." Yang said slowly. "What are you looking at?" At that, Umber's gaze snapped around to the girl in the chair alongside his pistol.

"What am I looking at, One-two?" He asked coldly, Yang saw Emerald freeze up as the handgun leveled itself at her head.

"Emerald." She repeated, watching the events carefully.

"Three seconds, either you're out of my head or there's something in yours." The dapper teen said calmly, almost as if he was talking to a child. Then his vison snapped up and he glanced around the empty room. "O-one." He said firmly, but shakily. His Jericho flew up and fired at the corner of the room. "Two!" He said loudly, firing at nothing once more before the pistol was thrust against the back of Emerald's head. "Three!" He barked, his finger nearing the trigger. At last, Yang saw Umber finally level his gaze onto the mint haired girl. "Good choice." The dapper teen sighed in relief, the image of the frozen girl suddenly broken to reveal a terrified Emerald.

Umber's hand disappeared around his back before returning with a black knife, its surface glinting in the single lightbulb above their heads. The cold metal was placed against the girl's cheekbone, sending a sharp gasp from her lips. The blade shot upwards across her skin, though drawing no blood and slicing through the cloth around her eyes. As the dirty band fell onto her lap, her eyes stared up at her reflection in the black mask of Umber. It was a tense moment before Umber spoke.

"A mistake, to push a man to violence. A man who has perfected violence to an art." The dapper teen said coldly, his gaze unbreaking from the girl's. She seemed shocked, but her expression changed to anger as she snarled at him.

"Fuck you, you pig shit eating asshole!" She screamed, only to be thoroughly ignored by the dapper teen.

"Her next attempt to get into my head, make it so I cannot fight out of it. The living dead, an easy situation to fight out of." He leaned close towards Emerald. "I should know." He whispered. Her glare spoke for itself, so Umber stood up. "Good, common ground." He said cheerfully, or at least in less of a monotone, as he cut through the bindings around her right hand. It started moving up towards his face, but the knife being buried into the arm of the chair halted that. "You can finish the rest." Umber said calmly and stood up, rubbing a crease from his jacket.

"So, you aren't here to kill me?" Emerald asked, a tone of distrust in her voice, as she started to slice through the ropes around her.

"No, as of now. Though I reserve the right to change that however." Umber answered as he walked towards the door.

"Do you have to be so cold blooded?" Yang snapped over comms, watching as the dapper teen threw a finger to the side of his mask. Her view from Umber was cut, with a grumble she switched back to thermals.

"Don't trust her." Umber replied as he stood outside the last door, waiting for Emerald. Unfortunately, Yang wasn't going to take that answer.

"I get that you don't trust her, but you don't trust anyone else. Seriously." She exclaimed, hearing a hum over the radio.

"That's not the point. You shouldn't trust her, there's been a pattern you haven't found." The dapper teen said calmly, causing the blond to scoff in annoyance.

"Then what's the pattern, jackass?" She sneered, clearly taking his words as an insult.

"These cells are still under construction, yet the soldiers with almost impenetrable armour have housed three people within this place. One speaks their language, knows their culture, maybe even their military structure. The next is an enemy agent, trained in Atlas. Then her, whose immediate assumption was that she was important enough to have someone out to kill her." Umber explained slowly, his voice calm. "If you don't trust my logic, then trust me."

Yang though for a moment, frowning. How could she trust him? He was one of the most dangerous and violent people she's ever met. Yet he hasn't lied, not once. Her debate continued in silence as Emerald walked out of the cell and towards Umber.

"What's this made out of?" She asked, holding the knife in the air. "It so light, like it's a feather. Strong as all hell, but... cold." She trailed off, Umber merely looked at her.

"You ready?" He asked calmly, returning to staring at the door when she have a hesitant nod. The mint haired girl blandly stared at the boy before asking the most burning question.

"What are we waiting for?" Her answer came quickly, in the form of two soldiers. The door of the cell swung inwards and two laughing Auxiliaries walked out, their mimicked White Fang masks shining golden. One had a pistol on his belt, while the other had bloodied gloves. The pair stared at Umber and Emerald, and they stared back in a heated standoff.

"This." Umber said as he dashed forwards at the soldiers, causing a blur of movement from both sides. The teen closed the distance and yanked one of the men aside and kicked him backwards, towards Emerald. Unfortunately, the soldier chose to ignore the girl and turn his attention to Umber. His hand moved towards his holstered gun, sending the red eyed girl into action. She stepped forwards and slammed the knife deep into the back of the man's knee, unexpectedly feeling blood splatter on his hands instead of the push of Aura. The man let out a scream as he crumpled to his knees, dropping his guard further by reaching for the knife. Emerald cringed as she pulled the blade from the man's knee and quickly thrusted it into his chest with a quick spin, burying the knife deep into his unarmoured chest.

She stumbled backwards and fell down, watching with wide eyes as the soldier coughed out blood. He tried to spit it out, but it kept flowing from his mouth, so he moved his shaking hands towards the imbedded blade. His fingers barely touched the hilt as he coughed and let out a sob.

"H-huh... I'm... I-I'm bleeding." Came the shaken voice, full of terror. Emerald yanked her eyes away from the horrific sight, looking for the dapper teen. Only to find the other Auxiliary, leaned against the wall next to an open door. His mask shattered, a single eye blankly staring at her while the other was simply occupied by the boy's cane, driven through his skull. "H-hey, Auther... you r-remember t-that song? I-It was s-something e-else, eh?" The soldier continued, but Emerald ignored it as best she could. Finally Umber appeared, coming from the open door half carrying half supporting a barely conscious boy with dark skin and orange hair. Umber adjusted his grip on the injured boy before reporting success to Yang.

"One-two, high value target secured plus..." Umber turned his gaze from the girl in front of him to the one further down the cell block. "...plus two." He grunted, then turned his attention to Emerald's frozen form. "First time killing a man?" He asked calmly.

"I didn't." She answered with an emotionless stare, causing Umber to look behind her at the struggling Auxiliary.

"Then let me save you from that fate." Umber said coldly, gently moving Fox against the wall. Then he turned and walked over to the bleeding soldier, pistol ready.

"T'was g-grace that b-brought us home t-t-thus far." The soldier spluttered, then screamed when Umber put a bullet into his chest. The intent for a swift death was cut as the last of the Auxiliary's Aura shattered, leading Umber to put two more into his already battered chest. The dapper teen glanced back at Emerald, who stood to the side watching, not flinching during the whole ordeal. Umber turned on his heel and returned to Fox, pulling his bloodied cane from the second soldier's skull. He paused to wipe it against the corpse's chest.

"In my eyes, there is only one type of person in this world that are monsters in all senses." Umber said suddenly, picking up Fox again. "Those are people who abuse those who are defenceless, weaker than they are. Whether they areWardens, Commanders, Fathers, they will see no quarter from me. Yet this isn't the reason for this brutality, it was to confirm something. You are used to brutality, so head my warning... I will find out who you are. Ensure that you are not against me when I do." Umber stared at Emerald for a few seconds before pointed with his cane at the second girl who lay unconscious against the wall, just a few metres away. "Could you please carry that? It's time to move."

Coco was crouching low as the voices grew louder, coming from the newest patrol of Abandoned soldiers. They were a fair distance away, but still too close for comfort. She glanced over to Velvet, her friend's hands shaking. The sunglasses wearing girl turned back and spotted a trio of figures making their way towards them. "Over there! It's them!" She whispered to Velvet, recognising Fox and the dapper teen who supported him. The girl was also familiar, being one of the pair that beat her and Yats in the tournament. Umber quickly helped the dazed and bruised Fox into the hole, the hands of already saved hunters reaching up and supporting his descent. He grabbed the other girl that Emerald was carrying, dropping her into the waiting arms. "Now what?" Coco asked Umber, who turned to her.

Suddenly, a swft pain hit her neck and Umber was placing the syringe back onto his belt, pointing down to the hole. The girl scowled at him, thrusting the rifle back into his arms and jumping down the hole before the dapper teen could offer assistance. Velvet moved to return her own weapon, but Umber shook his head.

"I trust you, now that you know how to use it." He said softly, but even then the faunus girl doubted herself. "Ms. Adel went through this endeavour with the safety on, and not a round in the chamber. Keep it, after this encounter you may need it." Velvet paused for a moment, thinking about his words, then placed the pistol in her pocket and exposed her neck. The dapper teen gently gave her a shot and helped her down into the hole before turning and looking at Emerald, syringe ready for one last shot.

The girl immediately stumbled away when she saw him move closer, her eyes wide. "Whatever's in that thing, I'm not taking it." She stated firmly.

"You aren't leaving without this shot." Umber said calmly, but in a tone of annoyance. "There are other options, crude but effective." The red eyed girl took a moment to think it over, then heard the footsteps of incoming troops.

"Well I'm not putting that in my veins." She finally said.

"The alternative then?" The dapper teen asked, placing the syringe back on his belt.

"The alternative." Emerald confirmed. Without warning, Umber reached into his coat, withdrew and launched a metal bar directly at the girl's forehead. The poor teen had little time to react as she collapsed into Umber's arms, her consciousness gone. Once again, Yang spoke up.

"What the fuck?! Why would you do that?" She snapped over the radio, getting ignored by the dapper teen as he lowered Emerald into the hole before turning and shaking his head in the general direction of the blond. He hopped down the hole and pulled the cover back over the hole, just in time as a Legionnaire rushed around the corner. Under the docks, Umber stared at Neo as he dropped Emerald at the front of the crowded boat.

"Where'd you pick her up?" She asked as the teen sat down.

"With the boy and that girl." He answered, pointing out Fox and the still unconscious Ashley. "All from solitary confinement. The comms were online, weren't you listening?" He asked calmly, the girl shrugged.

"Well how was I supposed to know it was Emerald? I'm ignoring that blond and you said no names." Neo signed and pouted, gaining a glance from Umber.

"Then how do you know her?" He asked curiously, gaining a sadistic little smile from an equally small woman.

"Boy, do I have the story for you." She signed dangerously.


Yang was once again annoyed, with a great hint of concern. It had been fifteen minutes since Umber and Neo, the little prick, had made their escape. Though they had left her behind and were ignoring her attempts at calling them. Now the prison was alive with activity, as soldiers rushed to and from the gates. The spotlights were turned to the streets around the walls, and a large mechanical soldier was directing the troops. It wasn't long before the entire city was awake and hellbent on finding those that rescued the hunters. Suddenly, the radio buzzed to life and Yang didn't hesitate to speak her mind.

"Where the hell are you? I'm sitting on top of a roof, in the cold, while crazy guys that are set on hunting us down are crawling everywhere!" She snapped as her desperation was nearing an all time high.

"We are in the van." Umber responded calmly, causing the blond's eyes to flash red with anger. "Come down when you are ready." He said, but Yang was already moving before he had finished. She threw the binoculars into the duffle bag and flew down the fire escape stairs, finding the waiting van in a side alley nearby. She threw open the side down and hopped in, glaring at the dapper teen.

"What the fuck was up with leaving me in the dirt, huh?" Yang growled, getting ignored by Umber as he started the van. Neo spun around in the passenger seat and quickly signed a message.

"This is far too much activity, you're mad to be driving with this much heat!" With that the petite girl shattered like glass, no doubt back at the lodge, and Umber pulled out into a side road.

"Now we have the stage." The dapper teen hummed, glancing at the rear view mirror. "Now you can ask suitable questions for suitable answers, make this time worth it." Umber stated, but Yang already had a question brewing.

"How did you take out those guards without busting their Aura?" She asked suspiciously.

"Good question, difficult to answer." Umber noted. "On the catway, you saw the effects of my Semblance. The ability to excrete metal from my skin, this is that metal." He said and raised his hand, letting a cloud of grey dust flow out and form a metal cylinder. It was passed over to Yang, who had a look of disgust as she held the object made from his skin. "From here, I can change and adapt the shape." Like that, the cold cylinder changed into a pyramid, then a cube before turning into dust again and flying back into the boy's sleeve. "Besides the garrotte wire, everything on that catwalk was thanks to my Semblance. I've named the metal: Numeric Weave." The dapper teen turned off the engine for a moment as a squad of brass knights sprinted across the road in front of them, before long they were on the move again.

"The alloy is almost as strong as the metal itself. Unlike it, I can keep the shape without much concentration. That's why I use it for rounds and armour, though it's less effective the further the bullet flies. Everything has a catch, however." Umber stated. "When wearing Numeric Weave as armour, it stops Aura regeneration. Even if you waited days for it to be at full strength, it wouldn't change from the last hit you felt. I didn't use it in the tournament for that reason, and why I had no Aura in our very first encounter. My armour was the reason why I could choke out that soldier, his Aura couldn't activate completely. How I knew about that Agent, I'm just that good." Was the quick answer to Yang's question, one that hadn't even left her lips.

They entered the warehouse to find Neo, sitting on top of Yatsuhash's sleeping form watching TV, the other huntsmen and huntresses they had rescued laying around them. Yang was quick to growl and step forwards to remove the girl, but before she could take another step Umber interrupted.

"Fight later, find our guests sleeping arrangements." The dapper teen said as he walked down the hall and into the lift, turning around and staring at them. "I will examine the injured, both of you come with me." The girl stuck her tongue out at the blond and appeared besides Umber, grinning at him. Yang jogged over, not so subtly bumbing Neo almost off her feet.. The ride was quick and soon the lights of the underground warehouse lit up like the Fourth of July, whatever that was. They made their way towards the containers, more specifically the one labled Theta. Umber removed his coat and placed it on a workbench outside the box, rolling his sleeves up. "I'll stabilise them to the best of my ability, the critically wounded will be needing help." He hummed as he tossed his gloves onto the coat and grabbed the crate's door handles. "When I am sure the injured are stable, and the prisoners are secured, we will look for an accomplice. One that has no doubt left the city." With that he pulled open the doors

Inside, two of five beds were occupied, just like the floor was occupied by scattered equipment. Umber took a moment to exaime the extent of the damage before slowly looking at Neo, who gave him a raised eyebrow. "You look at me like you expected me to know what a drip was." The tiny girl signed. Umber just sighed as he moved over to the unconscious Octavia, who had an IV Drip haphazardly stuck into her battered arm. The dapper teen gently removed the needle then reinserted it carefully, it was then that Yang realised what Umber had said.

"Prisoners? What prisoners?" She asked, already dreading the answer.

"Emerald and Agent Ashley Carmine." Umber answered as he pulled out the small USB taken from the Agent, plugging it into a nearby drive port which connected to a large screen on the opposite wall.

"Why Emerald?" The blond asked, trying in vain to understand the dapper teen.

"Your supposed friend has a lot to hide, if what Neo revealed about her is true." Umber answered as he placed an icepack against the girl's forehead, lessening the effects of her concussion.

"You mean when she worked as a cutthroat under Torchwick?" Yang sneered at the other girl, who leveled a cold stare at her. The screen caught Yang's eye, as lines of decrypting data flowed across the screen.

"Now you understand." The boy stated, distracted by something on a smaller screen in his hand. The screen made a beep and something akin to a video popped up on another data pad near Yang, she took a glance at the others before pressing play.

The screen showed the view of Beacon, looking at the courtyard at night. The camera shifted and zoomed onto a rooftop, one that wasn't usually accessible to students. There the outline of a familiar masked teen sat, lounging about as if he owned the place. The video suddenly time lapsed till the break of dawn, where the dapper teen disappeared from view.

"An admirable effort from a novice Agent, going against orders and finding me on her own." Umber hummed, lifting his own pad. "Got a decent psych file on me, but now we have little to delay us further." The dapper teen said standing up from the better looking Octavia. "Beds for our guests are second shelf from the bottom near the lift."

Soon, Yang and Neo, but mostly Yang since the smaller woman went to fix her corset, had set up airbeds, mattresses and even a few stretchers for the KO'd huntsmen and huntresses. While the beds were set up, all good for the group of refugees to sleep in, they remained in the pile for now. Yang was about to find something else to do when Umber appeared from the lift. He wore a different three-piece suit, still a cobalt colour. He nodded at the sight of beds, then turned his attention to the blond. Though it was more on her outfit.

"We are leaving on foot. Any chance to wear something more inconspicuous?" He asked calmly, getting a raised eyebrow from Yang.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" She asked, slightly insulted.

"Not a lie when I say you look stunning now, but it would be best to not draw attention to ourselves." He said in a way that could be either smooth or sarcastic, then Neo appeared with an iceblock to add her two cents.

"He's saying you look like a Call-Girl." She signed with a smug look. Yang blinked in confusion, blankly turning to a sighing Umber.

"That was uncalled for." He muttered, a hand covering the front of his mask.

"What did she say?" The blond asked, almost legitimately curious about what the prick called her.

"Unimportant. Neo and I shall get our guests into their beds, you should find-"

"Find something less conspicuous, got it." Yang waved as she entered the female bathroom, taking her duffle bag with her. There was little time to grab anything from Beacon when the Breach happened, so how she found a familiar set of white and black clothes startled her. It was the outfit from when she and her team went to find Roman, that brought back memories. She quickly pulled on the clothes, though leaving some of the armoured pieces off and taking the liberty to wear a pair of pants instead of a garter belt. Yang then took a look in the mirror, locking her eyes onto her hair. The blond hesitated, but soon hand her glorious locks in a ponytail. She was almost unrecognisable to herself.

The many huntsmen were laying in the many beds, Umber stood leaning against his cane while Neo flicked her iceblock stick to the side. She wore a brown shirt over her outfit, doing little but enough. The girl had a smile on her face, one that you usually had when you remembered something fondly. The petite girl shoved Yang aside as she made her way towards the front door, Umber was less rude.

"Good." He hummed, walking down and holding the door open for Yang. She awkwardly shifted past and once again they were in the darkened streets of occupied Vale, once again the thought of capture flicked into mind.

"So how's Octavia, Fox and Scarlet doing?" She asked, trying to start up some small talk. Unfortunately, the dapper teen answered.

"Medical induced coma for Octavia, pumped to the eyelids with blood thinners. Hopeful stops any further brain damage. Alongside broken bones and a highly damaged eye socket, which is above my surgical skill. Fox is fine for the moment, surprisingly durable to his credit. Scarlet is currently blind, a blow to the temporal loop. It'll last until the swelling reduces." Umber stated, then added. "Sage also had an unlucky wound, blade cut down into his shoulder. Nothing major." Like tht the mood stopped, just a moment before Umber turned them down another path to avoid a squad of soldiers examining some rubble.

"So... who's your friend?" Yang asked, breaking the silence again.

"Acquaintance, or acquaintances." The boy corrected. "Two brothers by the name of Joseph and Anton Petrov." He stated casually, leaving Neo gaping in horror.

"The Petrov brothers?" She signed urgently, Umber merely nodded.

"Joseph owes me a favour." Umber said, but it did little to change Neo's expression of terror.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but they made some threats that I don't want to see if they are true or not." Neo signed with a scowl, but the dapper teen just hummed.

"If you are with me, all past encounters with Joseph are redundant." Umber stated confidently. "Trust me."

"I'm going to need something more than 'trust me', I did some bad stuff to him." Neo argued, finally halting Umber for a moment.

"A cartel kidnapped his five year old daughter, because he didn't smuggle their drugs. I came and fixed the problem, you never mess with a man's family. If you say you've interacted with the brothers, you know that all Slavic Atlesians take family above all." He finished as a racket grew in volume, as they turned a corner onto the street they found the source. It was a bar, full of Abandoned soldiers. Bottles were flying out the door and windows, weapons found themselves flung into the night and a few soldiers themselves were tossed out only to run back in. Yang grew nervous but with a glance at the calm and collected Umber, mimicked his casual pace and stance. The dapper teen caught a bottle mid flight, almost flying directly at his face, and dropped it into a bin.

It was an uneventful trip to some fancy hotel, the boring journey continued up to the second floor where it finally got interesting. Umber suddenly let out a curse, an already rare occurrence, then pulled his Jericho from its holster and jogged towards the end of the hallway. Yang and Neo were both confused until they saw the door open, then spotted the actual door on the floor. Umber peered in from outside the doorframe, his pistol peeking around the corner. The teen sent a sign to Neo before moving into the room, Yang moved to enter but found both a parasol and an angry glare blocking her.

"Clear." Came the call after a few tense seconds, after which both girls entered the destroyed hotal room. They found the dapper teen pulling a sheet over a body, either to respect the dead, or to protect Yang. He turned to look at them, then silently turned and silently walked towards a lone closet. Umber reached with one hand towards the handle, his fingertips barely touching the metal knobs before he was blasted back with the sound of a dull thud. He skidded across the ground, firing wildly at the gaping opening in the wooden closet as his Aura flared brightly. The boy was out of breath, winded but still able to get a few words out. "Check... it!" He gasped and held his chest in pain.

The blond went to move, but found Neo had already found the culprit. In her grasp was a tiny girl in a dingy dress, in the other hand a silenced pump action shotgun. Umber got up onto his knees, ignoring and pushing Yang's attempts to help away, and crawled over. He sat back and gestured for Neo to unhand the girl, who immediately sat down and held her knees close to her chin.

"Did you see who did this?" He asked gently and calmly, getting no answer from the pale, unblinking girl. Suddenly, Umber grabbed her arm and exploded into what seemed like rage. "Accents, names, appearances! Weapons! Anything!" He barked, almost ready to bombard the girl before Yang spoke.

"Umber!" She said firmly, causing the teen to turn quickly and stare at her. His gaze slowly turned back to the now shaking little girl, almost immediately the dapper teen realised his mistake. He had seen an obstacle, not a scared child, one that probably had no clue what he wanted answers to. He quietly sighed, placing his pistol on the nearby coffee table and removing his cold gauntlets. Umber sat there for awhile, then offered a hand to the girl. She finally moved her gaze to the hand before jumping and hugging the boy, who seemed unfazed at first. But this action, so simple in nature, started to break down the barriers he had made years ago. Finally, both shaking physically, he looked up at the two girls.

"Let's go." He whispered.


They exited the hotal out of a back entrance into an alleyway, where Umber carried the child in his arms.

"What will we do with it?" Neo asked, curious at this new side of Umber.

"We will take her to Anton until we have this problem sorted, assuming they're related from physical traits." He answered sharply, getting the attention of the little one. She had a curious look on her face, so he took the chance to sort out the confusion. "Dyadya Anton?" He asked in Slavic Atlesian.

"Net, Papa." The girl answered quietly, shaking her head.

"Papa's zanyat." Umber replied, making the girl adopt a cute thinking face.

"O-ok." She said in broken English.

"We have a plan. We won't make it on foot before sunrise, so we will-"

"Hold it... right there fuckers." An angry slur interrupted him. "Show me some... f-fucking hands." The man continued. He might've been drunk, but it ain't no reason to not follow the angry man's orders. Neo and Yang hesitantly raised their hands into the air, Umber merely stood there and turned his head. Seems like a child in your arms impedes the ability to raise said arms.

"May I put down the child?" The dapper teen asked calmly. The drunk let out a noise of confusion.

"Ah, t-that's what that is. Fuck me, t-thought it was a bag." He grunted, then let out a groan. "Fine, put her d-down." He finally said, watching carefully as Umber lowered himself to put the girl down. The child quickly ran and hide behind Yang, who saw Umber unbutton his coat and slowly raise his hands. The handle of his Jericho was visible for a second before the boy turned around, finally getting a glimpse at their captor. It was a soldier, that much was clear from the grey padded pants and brass kneepads. Around his neck was a pair of goggles, flight goggles to be precise. The other two took his lead and slowly turned around too.

"How the hell did you miss this guy?" Yang hissed with a scowl.

"Honestly, drunken stumbling wasn't registering in the sense of being followed." Umber replied, most of what he said was heard by the drunken soldier.

"Hey, I's been f-followin' your asses since the bar... and I ain't'sn't drunk, I'm p-perfect sober." The man stated, pointed the gun in his hand at the group.

"May I ask why you followed us?" The dapper teen inquiried, causing the drunk to quickly grow angry.

"Why..? WHY? Because t-that there blond bitch t-t-took my bird's windscreen out! Now I's bloody grounded!" The pilot roared in anger, waving his weapon into the air. Yang almost immediately realised who he was, he was the pilot who almost stopped them escaping into the forest. Guess he held a grudge. "N-now I'm a... fucking fish outta... outta... outta ocean! That's why, you fuck." The soldier finished, his incoherent mumbles slurring together.

"I think the saying is 'a fish out of water." Umber piped up, causing Neo and Yang to snapp their heads to look at him in pure shock.

"H-how about that saying 'shut y-your fucking mouth?!" The pilot barked, leveling his gun at the teen.

"Umber. Stop it, he's the one with the gun." Yang stated, only for the dapper teen to chuckle.

"So am I." He replied, watching the pilot aim up his shot shakily. Only to suddenly dry heave then rush to the side of the alley, throwing up behind a dumpster. The trio of teens exchanged glances before Umber casually dropped his arms and walked over to the soldier, his attention solely occupied on throwing up.

"Hey, mate, need some help?" Umber asked, dropping his usual tone and adopting a less... civilised way of talking. Surprisingly, though not really, the pilot nodded.

"'Er, hold this and... watch t-those bastard huntsmen, yeah?" He mumbled then hurled again, handing over his abomination of a weapon. It was a mag-fed shotgun with essentially no barrel in Umber's eyes and only a pistol grip, the dapper teen recoiled at the sight of the weapon. He took little time to disassemble the gun, tossing the mag out and unloading the shell before tearing the components of the shotgun apart. The sound of clattering metal caught the drunk's attention, who turned to find the towering form of Umber above him.

"Duh fuck my l-life." He muttered, then had a look of thought. "Wow, I's about t-to die in some far-fuck-away land, c-covered in my own bloody guts, and m-my last words are 'fuck my l-life." The pilot slurred, in some sort of weird meta moment. Umber merely tilted his head at the whole unrealistic scenario.

"Tonight doesn't have to mean the end, not just yet." Umber said calmly, getting a harsh chuckle from the man.

"It's either you... or o-or, I dunno. Just d-does... don't hit my f-face please." He mumbled with dazed eyes.

"There is a possible situation, everyone leaves happy. All in one piece." The dapper teen hummed.

"A-a-and what's that?" The pilot asked as he blinked a few times.

"We are the only ones here. You are a loyal soldier, so you tried to fight all four of us." Umber answered, though the meaning didn't get across immediately.

"But one o-of youse is a kid." He stated.

"That's not what it says in your report." Umber replied.

"But that's ly-" The man paused, then his face lit up. "Ooooh. B-but what's in it for you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow sluggishly.

"Your injuries and current state making your assailants foggy memories, and saving the little one from seeing two bodies tonight." Umber answered, turning slightly to look back at the tiny girl. The drunk did the same and sighed slightly.

"G-guess that makes sense." The pilot muttered as Umber turned back.

"Good. Unfortunately, your word won't work alone. It must be believable." The dapper teen said calmly as he spun a blue knife from a separate pocket and raised it, its material unlike his usual knives. "Trust me, I have trained as a medical practitioner. Do not remove that blade, the Aorta Artery resides far too close." Suddenly, the once distant sounds of clanking armour and thundering footsteps grew louder. Umber shoved something into the startled and blank staring man's hands. "Hold this, the effects will knock you out." Was the rushed whisper before the teen turned and dashed towards the trio behind him.

"HALT!" Came the echoing bark, snapping him frozen. Just a metre from the girls. "Hands up, now!" The soldier ordered, Umber slowly obeyed with closed fists.

"Don't do it." Yang hissed as she watched the stubborn and stoic teen give up in her eyes.

"Neo, get them out of here." Umber stated slowly, but calmly. Neo raised her hands and began to sign, slowing down the movements to now aggravate the soldiers.

"I can't reach you." Neo said with a pained expression, the dapper teen merely nodded.

"I can see that. Take Ms. Xiao Long and the girl back to the Lodge, if I haven't returned within twenty four hours... they're yours." Umber said, taking quite the risk now. Neo wanted to argue, but felt her head nodding hesitantly. "Ms. Xiao Long, how many and where?" He asked casually, waiting for the blond to peer around his shoulders.

"Two on your left, eight standing at the entrance in a wedge formation slowly coming closer. They're all knights." She answered, looking back with scared eyes.

"Thank you." Umber said calmly, but inwardly he started to grow wary that his plan might not work. Either way, the soldier grew tired of the conversation.

"SILENCE! Stop talking immediately and do not move!" The order was shouted at the teens and child, of course Umber ignored his order.

"Too late. Neo, go!" He ordered firmly, the petite girl quickly grabbed the pair on either side of her and yanked them close before the hail of bullets reached them. Luckily, the only thing they hit was the glass replicas. The Legionnaires behind Umber grunted in anger, but continued still. Even if they had lost a large number of their captives, they'd bring back at least one.

"Kick that cane back over here!" The soldier snapped, the dapper teen used his foot to gently kick it behind him.

"We'll make you regret doing that to Fern, fuckhead." Another called out, causing some of the soldiers to growl and snarl in agreement.

"My only regret... is that it didn't go off sooner." Umber stated loudly, silently turning his head to stare at the closest soldier. Then he opened his fist, exposing the single grenade pin stuck around his index finger. The man behind him recoiled and spun around, just in time for the rest of the occupants of the alleyway to hear a loud ping. They collectively watched the hands of the pilot drop a cylindrical object that rolled into the centre of the enclosed space, right between the larger group and pair of Legionnaires. With that, a thunderous bang and blinding light tore past their visors, into wide open eyes.

"Holy shit! I'm fucking blind!" Came the cry from the first Legionnaire, who quickly dropped his vector to raise his visor and cover his eyes.

"Damn flashbang!" Another cried, ducking behind his shield to wait for the ringing to stop.

"WHERE'S ALEX?" Came the last coherent shout of pain, coming from a soldier who held a bolt-action rifle.

The screams and groans were ignored by Umber, who immediately turned and grabbed his cane off the ground, ignoring the slight ringing from the flashbang. He thought about killing the soldiers, or at least crippling them, but it was washed away when he saw the first two slowly getting up. The dapper teen dashed over the Legionnaires, skidding out of the alleyway and turning down the street.

Only to feel a great pain erupt against both his back and near depleted Aura, stopping him as yellow sparks ran just above his skin. Umber ducked under a second projectile, catching sight of it as he turned to great his aggressor, quickly identifying it as a yellow lightning bolt. He stood tall and saw a pair of Legionnaires, wearing the same brass armour with a mirror-like shine to it. In the left soldier's hands, a great halberd with a head designed like a dragon's; though it was stained black as a hideous contrast with the golden brass. The second on the right held a large sword over his left shoulder, its length only interrupted by the point of the blade and a second handle about halfway up the blade. In his right hand was a round shield, glinting brightly.

This pair felt familiar to Umber, who realised why when the halberd soldier spoke.

"What's up? Feeling a bit shocked to see us again?" He sneered with a cheerful tone, swinging his halberd up to land in his other hand. "Too bad it's in this situation, eh?"

"Quiet, we have our orders. Capture and bring back any huntsmen we find to Raiko." The second grunted, unknowingly letting Umber know exactly who they were.

"Sam and Alex, quite a long time since our last meeting." He stated calmly, flicking his cane back and revealing the rapier blade. "You're with them." The dapper teen nodded towards the groaning soldiers back in the alley, Sam let out a chuckle.

"What gave it away? The armour? Or maybe the bloodlust!" Sam suddenly let out a roar and charged forwards, followed instantly by Alex rushing around him in a wide arc. Umber calmly waited then smacked the halberd's head down, placing a firm foot upon it. The twin let out a grunt of surprise as he was launched over the teen's back, hand still gripping his weapon. Umber turned to face Alex, only to be knocked back by his shield as he slammed his entire weight against the dapper teen. Umber had to slide to the side as Alex slashed downwards with his greatsword, but then had to duck under the surprise thrust from the recovered Sam.

The dapper teen had to quickly dash back as Alex swung his sword around, only to find Sam on his tail with a great leap. The twin smashed into the ground and swung his halbard in a wide arc, missing Umber by inches. The teen moved to stab at Sam, but Alex appeared from the side and deflected the thrust before punching with his shield. Umber stumbled and jumped to the side as the greatsword came flying towards him, only to stop as Sam thrusted Blitz Fang ahead of him. The twins quickly spun and swung both weapons together, trying to crush Umber. Alas, they failed and the dapper teen rolled backwards. He let out a shaky breath, then adopted a stance: his rapier held upright with the blade against his mask.

Sam and Alex merely stalked forwards, then Sam stomped and pushed his halberd forwards. Another bolt flew at Umber, who dashed to the side to find Alex sprinting at him with his shield raised. He had to roll again to dodge the downwards smash, causing Alex to glance up and grunt in annoyance. Sam charged from the side of his brother, running straight at the teen who prepared to parry the thrust. Only for the twin to suddenly turn on his heal and swing his weapon around behind him then across his body at the teen. The attack missed thanks to Umber's reflexes, but left Alex enough time to kick Umber in the knee.

Alex pulled Thundering Brass into the air with a loud, and exaggerated, grunt before bringing it down upon the downed Umber. The boy had to roll yet again to dodge the savage blow, then leap to his feet as the twin reared his blade back again. Across the street, Umber spotted an Auxiliary sprint around the corner with no visible weapons. The soldier locked eyes with the dapper teen before reaching behind his back and yanking a horn out, bringing it up as he took a great breath. Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of the warhorn, a great angry sound that would no doubt attract attention.

He was reminded by Sam and Alex as the latter jumped through the air, both hands gripping the notches and holding the sword above his head. Umber gracefully spun around the impact, but was winded by a surprise blow from the blunt end of Blitz Fang.

"This isn't a challenge, you put up more of a fight in the tournament!" Sam sneered, slamming the handle against his chest. Umber remained quiet as he quickly formed a plan, one that involved the rooftop behind the taunting boy. Alex swung his blade forwards, nicking Umber as the boy dashed to dodge, leaving him stumbling off balance. "Come here!" Sam roared and stomped forwards, his free hand reaching back with clawed fingers. He lunged towards Umber with unexpected speed, grabbing his shoulder with an iron grip before turning and flinging the teen backwards. The boy fell and turned to stare up at Blitz Fang as it was pulled behind Sam and into the air, blocking the view of two bullheads approaching their position.

Suddenly, the dapper teen's plan was put in motion as he leapt to his feet and stepped backwards. The blade of the halberd slammed into the ground in front of him, leaving Sam exposed. But instead of striking the twin, Umber stepped onto the blade. Sam seemed surprised, though didn't hesitate in bringing the weapon back into the air to fling the teen off. Only when Umber flipped through the air and landed on the rooftop did Sam realise his mistake.

"Coward!" He barked, rushing forwards and swinging his halberd low to the ground behind him. The twin stopped and swung Blitz Fang around and thrusted it up towards the peering mask of Umber, who leaned over the edge of the building. The face quickly disappeared as a huge black claw appeared and attempted to strike Umber from his perch, not reappearing as the great claw spasmed. The twins were in shock as they witnessed the half-formed Grimm claw quickly shrink and disappear into the blacked end of the halberd. The dragon's eyes almost seemed to glow a faint red, not unlike those of the beasts of darkness. Leaving Sam to say only one thing as the Vulture airships flew overhead and the squad of Legionnaires joined them.

"When could you do that?"

This day was definitely not his best. Umber had not only shown two uncooperative people his hideout, not only allowed a child into the Fold, not only broke a huge number of hunters out of an occupied city... but he also almost got bitch slapped by a Grimm claw, appearing from the blade of Sam's weapon. So thus to spite him, Umber's escape was short lived as he dropped from another rooftop to hear a pair of Vulture transports fly overhead. One touched down and unloaded a large crew of twenty soldiers, both Auxiliaries and Legionnaires, while the other swung around and leveled two gatling guns at the teen. He checked behind him, finding the wall too high to climb. Umber quickly swung his attention back to the armed squad in front of him, all readying multiple weapons

Some wielded ranged weapons, vectors and rifles, while others held swords, spears and shields. One in particular had nothing in his hands, but his presence made the soldiers tense. Perhaps a commanding officer, or a Captain. The few with melee moved forwards cautiously, those with shields taking the vanguard of the movement.

So Umber readied himself, pulling his Jericho out and keeping it at his side as the air around the rooftop tore though. His coat bellowed and his mask was blank, his rapier poised for attack just as his pistol was ready to fire. This night, blood would spill, just like the many times before.

Then the dapper teen felt a hand on his shoulder and was spun around, the solid grip almost like a vice. Umber barely had enough time to blink as he felt his face and Aura smashed, he figured out why when the second headbutt came. The teen was sent flying onto his back by a powerful punch from the mysterious figure, who stalked towards him and slowly began to raise his hand.

"Perit tua fortuna!" Came a harsh voice, the blurry image of the figure raising a thumb and keeping it horizontal then changing it to a vertical position. Umber could barely make out a pair of enraged eyes from the yellowish blur, no doubt he was concussed.

"Dulce somnii!" Was the last thing Umber heard as the thumbs up finally landed upside down and a boot flew towards his face. Not the best way to end a night.

Like that the chapter ends, finally this ends and actually gets out! Honestly guys, I'm sorry for the delay. Nothing much I could do except bother my friend, but eh. Anyways, expect the next one to take at least another three years to get done. I'm joking, it'll be out faster than this behemoth.

Ah, translations for the end. "Perit tua fortuna" means "Your fortune dies", and "Dulce somnii" means "Sweet dreams"... at least that's what Google Translate says. The end may seem rushed, but I'm just over this sitting here collecting dust.

Next chapter is the Abandoned reaction, growing closer to chapter 40... the end of this volume hopefully. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Cheers