The words rang out in the city of the dead and doomed. Words that, to the four gathered, immediately set the hairs on the back of their necks on edge. A call of danger, a call to worry.

A sniper. An unseen enemy from an unseen position, or one that was mostly unseen. As Blake Belladonna's ears twitched and swiveled and her own Faunus vision scoured the darkness, she saw the barest hint of a glimmer in the distance, one that slowly swiveled around until that glint caught in her eyes. There were a few things that Blake would ever be grateful for when it came to her time in the White Fang… perhaps it would have been better said that the things she 'was' grateful for could be counted on one finger.

However, the one thing that stood certain in Blake's mind, at that moment, was that she had been grateful to the terrorist group for having sharpened her instincts when it came to danger, that they had helped to align her senses with the elements and potential threats of the world around her. Right then and there, in that moment, those senses had only screamed one word at Blake.

Run.

"Get back!" Immediately Star Platinum plucked Jotaro from the ground and, with their Aura enhanced bodies, the three young women immediately dipped back and away from where they had dropped as yet another bullet struck the ground right where they had dodged, leaving a small hole there where impact had been made. Jotaro ground his teeth together as he considered the situation; they needed to find Ruby and they needed to get away from this sniper, and to the well trained mind of the Joestar descendant, that had left them only one choice.

"We need to get in that hole, now!" The three young women nodded in agreement with Jotaro as they each rushed forward toward the hole, only a small amount of distance having been placed between them and it in their attempts to dodge. However, as they rushed forward, Blake's ears again picked up on the minute sounds coming from the distance. Her amber eyes looked up and widened in shock; the scope and its glint had shifted… but it hadn't been pointing at them directly. No; now it was leading their movements.

Surely a shot wasn't ready to fire already. Surely this sniper hadn't already prepared another round. Even Ruby needed longer in between shots to prepare Crescent Rose. Yet there it was; as Weiss leapt up in preparation to drop down into the hole, Blake heard it; a shot went off, and with the way the scope had lead itself-

"WEISS!" Gambol Shroud's ribbon immediately flew out and snapped around Weiss' wrist, jerking the girl back and keeping her from descending into the hole. The young woman, momentarily annoyed, soon found her own light blue eyes go wide in a mix of shock and fear as the edge of the hole blew up in a minor shower of rocks and debris. Right where the arc of Weiss' jump would've taken her if she had fallen in.

Still, the others felt assured; surely that was it, another shot couldn't be-

At this point, even Star Platinum with its enhanced senses had finally picked up on the vague direction of the sniper and, with a shout, it immediately grabbed its Stand Master and shoved it down, the scream of a bullet flying just where Jotaro's head had been moments before, the projectile crashing into the ground some ways behind them near cover.

"How is it firing this fast?! It's a sniper, Hell, Ruby can't reload this fast!" Yang's declaration was met with another shot that was just barely avoided on her part, the blonde brawler having ducked back again away from the hole as she did so. Jotaro ground his teeth together; while they were out in the open like this, they were sitting ducks and it was becoming immediately clear that whoever this sniper was, they weren't going to let them anywhere near this hole…

Something else also became clear to Jotaro; Yang was right, there was no way a normal sniper rifle could be firing off this quickly. Therefore…

"It can only be the work of an Enemy Stand!" Jotaro's mind ran with the possibilities; if this was the work of an Enemy Stand, then they didn't know its full capabilities or what it could accomplish. In addition, if this was a Stand User who had aligned themselves with Roman Torchwick, then going into the hole at this point was tantamount to asking to be surrounded; the Stand User would follow in behind them and, in all likelihood, Jotaro and what remained of Team RWBY would find themselves pinned in between whatever trouble Ruby might be in and this new Stand User.

That meant that they had to find some way to deal with this Enemy Stand User… that meant finding out their capabilities and then trying to counter them… all on a budget of a 'very' short window of time. In addition, while Star Platinum had honed in on being able to 'hear' when a bullet was coming… his Stand didn't have night vision. In the deep dark of the dead of night, Star Platinum wasn't capable of picking up on the position of the Stand User like Blake seemed able to.

There was only one option; they needed to quickly convene and think of a plan of attack. Which meant that they needed some cover right then and right there. Weiss' Glyphs took too much time to do in 'this' moment…

"Everyone, get in the building!" The three young women couldn't spare the time to snap back to look at Jotaro as their eyes and ears were peeled for any sign of the sniper. This had left little room for arguing as the group of Huntresses nodded and immediately doubled back. Star Platinum and Blake had done their best to pull everyone else out of the dangers of direct fire, helping to dodge around the bullets while they pulled themselves in behind some cover.

"Are we sure this is going to hold up? It's a sniper rifle after all…" Weiss muttered as a bullet struck the wall they had ducked behind, a slight 'plink' following immediately.

"The bullet's damage at impact hasn't been severe; it's mostly just some minor surface damage to areas of the ground its impacted. I don't think we're necessarily dealing with something that's too high impact." Yang gave a quick growl at that as Jotaro and Star Platinum scanned their eyes about, looking for something…

"If that's the case then why the Hell are we sitting here waiting? We should just make a break for the hole! Star Platinum can cover you Jotaro and our Auras can tank the hits from this sniper rifle no problem! If it's just a bullet then we can pretty much just let this guy wail on us while we run!" Blake frowned slightly as she did her best to keep her ears perked up.

"If this guy is an Enemy Stand User like Jotaro said, then we can't be sure of how exactly his Stand functions. Maybe his bullets would just bounce off our Aura if they bounce off concrete, but there could be something else to it…" Blake murmured while Yang turned her gaze to her partner.

"All I know is that my sister is somewhere down underneath this Hell hole and that she could be in trouble without her weapon! If this thing can't break through concrete, then I don't think it's all 'that' special Blake!"

"I wouldn't be quite so certain of that myself." Jotaro muttered as Star Platinum quickly plucked something off the ground, holding it by its tail end. The three young women blinked slightly, momentarily confused by what the Stand had so very quickly retrieved… but as their eyes focused in the light, realization hit.

"One of its bullets?" Blake remarked, slightly surprised, while Weiss' eyes narrowed in confusion.

"That's… a weird looking bullet." Weiss' assessment, simple as it was, had been quite on the mark for all concerned. Star Platinum, holding onto the projectile by the very end of it, brought it into close view for everyone; and a good thing the Stand had. The bullet had been incredibly unusual; long and slender, not curving out at the sides like a normal bullet would, sharpened at the end rather than rounded, looking more like a stake than an honest to goodness round of ammunition. Weirdest of all was the fact that the bullet, across most of its surface, was barbed, with only the tiny bit of the end that Star Platinum held onto the round by being unmarred by these thorns.

The fact that this very same bullet, this barb, was dripping with… 'something' deeply unnerved all those looking at it.

"It's… covered in something? Maybe a poison?" Blake grimaced; a common enough tactic in the White Fang had been to coat their ammunition in less than savory substances; poison was used often enough, but other times when they didn't have the resources… less savory substances coated these rounds. The idea behind it was that even if the bullet only grazed their target and they could only get the 'one' round off, so long as the bullet broke the skin, then the substance, poisoned, diseased or otherwise, would infect the target, leading to a slow, agonizing death.

The fact that such a weapon had been turned on Blake and her friends had unnerved the young woman.

"I'd bet so. Though… it seems unusual. If it's a poison, it'd have to be fast acting for the purposes of this sniper. Otherwise what would the point be in a prolonged battle?" Jotaro stroked his chin as Yang grimaced a bit.

"I don't get it; why the special looking round and why the poison? Why not just a normal bullet; sure it might not puncture Aura as quickly, but it'd do more damage if it did. Yeah this thing might end up getting through to our skin thanks to the whole needle design," Indeed, Aura often worked as well as it did by taking the brunt of the damage being applied to it and spreading it out over a wider area, the shield of energy dispersing the strength of the blow across its own surface. Exceptionally sharp or pointed instruments could get around this by placing all of the energy into a single point, piercing through Aura before it had the opportunity to disperse the energy. In that way, the fact that the bullet had the energy of a sniper rifle packed behind it made it clear that a hit with the sharp end, or one of the barbs, would tear through Aura in relatively short order, "-but it's a poison. It can't take people down so fast that it ultimately matters… unless…"

Jotaro nodded as the Stand User quickly had Star Platinum fly out… the Stand disappearing from view. "Star Platinum's effective range is short… but when I was a punk-kid, I used to have it extend outside of its range in order to get shit for me. Food, my gramp's imported comics, whatever it could get its hands on. It isn't nearly as fast or as strong when it gets away from me…" A loud squeak drew the three young women's attention as, slowly but surely, they watched as a rat just floated into their field of vision, Star Platinum soon after fading in as well. "But it gets the job done still." Star Platinum nodded, its grip on the rat secure.

"J-Jotaro, w-what's with the rat?" Weiss asked, pulling her legs back away from Star Platinum and tucking herself up against their cover as tightly as she could to avoid being so close to the rodent. Yang and Blake seemed to catch on immediately as Star Platinum adjusted its grip on the rat.

"I'm testing what exactly we're dealing with." Before Weiss could ask for more of an answer, Star Platinum quickly tossed the rat out into the open, a slight blur of movement obscuring the little guy as the powerful Stand tossed it out.

A moment later the rat's body was bodily shot into an entirely different trajectory as it was struck by one of the sniper's rounds. All four hunters winced slightly as the rat was bodily struck by the bullet and sent flying, the body of the rodent just slamming against a nearby wall as it slid on down to the ground and just lay there, the bullet having fully punctured it and sticking out of its gut. However, if they had felt in any way disgusted or unnerved by the sight of something laying dead before, those feelings were immediately multiplied. Eyes wide with horror, the four hunters watched as the area around the rat's wound… Gods, it was hard to put into words, even.

At first it merely looked like the rat was shedding fur and laying bare its flesh, slightly puffy and red with blood oozing out of the wound, though these were expected. What 'wasn't expected was when the rat's wound, for lack of a better term, slowly but surely 'liquified'. As if having been stuck into a blender on the highest setting, the rat's flesh seemed to turn into what basically amount to a meat-jelly, chunks of the rat's flesh sticking out from the increasingly fluid remains of where the bullet had struck. Said bullet slowly slid, with a wet 'thunk' out of the rat's wound as eventually the rat was reduced to little more than a pile of goo with a tail, one of its legs and its head sticking out, and even those appendages seemed to be just 'barely' spared the fate of the rest of the rat.

Weiss Schnee was a tough young woman. She'd seen some horrific stuff in her time dealing with White Fang terrorist attacks on her family and as a Hunter at Beacon Academy. Still, non-gathered in that spot could blame her as she turned her head away from the jellified rat and vomited, as even Yang, Blake and Jotaro himself felt sickened at the sight they were beholding.

"Fuck me…" Yang's exclamation had been roughly what was on everyone's mind as they watched the display and, as Weiss recovered, the young had a minor freakout.

"Is 'that' what would happen to us if we got hit by one of those bullets! Oh my Gods, that's not even humane? What kind of sick bastard has a Stand that can do something like that?!" Weiss decried as she pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away at her mouth.

"Apparently the same sick bastard who's sitting up around in one of those buildings shooting at us, that's who." Blake remarked dryly, though no less disgusted or somewhat traumatized by the sight she had witnessed as she turned her Faunus senses back on their opponent… who had become strangely quiet after the shot had been fired.

"So we're dealing with an Enemy Stand User who can fire on us from farther away than Star Platinum can see in the dark, who's firing with the equivalent of some kind of sniper rifle, armed with ammunition tailor made to pierce even Aura, even if only momentarily, so that whatever toxin is coating its bullets can do… that to us." Jotaro stroked his chin as rested against the wall. "I can't even risk catching the bullets with Star Platinum, lest it accidentally get itself scratched on one of the barbs… whatever this Stand is, it has a lot of its bases covered.

"That being said, I suspect that all of this means that if we can get up close on our opponent and outflank them, then we could probably take them pretty easily; it can't be a Stand with too many close combat capabilities of its capable of firing such a powerful ability at such long ranges…" Jotaro pointed out the several bullets. "None of the ammunition is dissipating; if we assume that the Stand itself makes these, which we must given how many rounds have been fired in such a short period of time, then the fact that they can continue on existing even this far out from the Stand itself can only suggest a Long-Ranged Stand. The longer the range, the weaker the Stand itself in an upfront fight…"

"The problem's going to be 'getting' into that upfront fight without getting skewered." Yang remarked as she ground her teeth. "No, more than that, the problem is dedicating time and effort to 'pulling that off' while Ruby's in danger! This thing is just wasting our time… if we can't get into that hole, then we can't get to my sister in time before…" The blonde brawler clenched her fists while Jotaro just nodded.

"Indeed, we're short on time and options. We need to get into that hole… but we can't just leave this Stand User behind us. That would be suicide in and of itself. What we need to do is find a way to deal with the Stand User in short order." Weiss frowned as she looked down at Myrtenaster.

"It's a shame we can't leave it behind us… I 'could' wall off a good section of the ground in front of the hole off with ice using my Semblance so that we could safely jump in there… but that's about it. I can't aim my abilities as far off as this Stand is reliably, if at all." Weiss frowned as she looked at Blake and Star Platinum. "Especially if its so far off that only these two are capable of hearing the shot when it's first fired."

"That range is the entire problem, as well as the fact that we're practically still in the dead of night; Star Platinum's eyes are good, but they don't have night vision. I can't catch sight of this thing's scope… so I can't precisely nail in where it is. Even if I could, I'd have to get exceptionally close to the thing in order to try to do anything about it. Sure, I have… some ways of making a difference at range, but still, I'd need to get close… and spend a light of time in its line of sight." Jotaro grimaced as he adjusted his cap. "This is also assuming that this thing doesn't just reposition itself while we're moving, which they might be able to do; its far enough away that Star Platinum can hear the shots going off, but I can't necessarily hear whoever this Stand User is moving from this far away." The experienced Hunter, laying this all out for the other young women, made them grimace; it really seemed like they were short and shorter on options…

Well, Yang and Weiss grimaced.

"Yeah… seems like only one person here really has every tool necessary to deal with this guy right now." Jotaro, Yang and Weiss turned to face Blake, a slight frown on the young woman's face as she turned her gaze toward the corner of their cover. The other three frowned as they realized what Blake was getting at, but the black haired Faunus spoke up before they could talk her down. "I have night vision, I've been able to spot the glint of this guy's Stand this entire time. While I might not be able to communicate it to you all effectively, especially if it would mean trying to get you all to aim for the same spot in a split second in the dark… 'I' can use that information. My ears are sensitive enough that if I get in close enough, I can start tracking this thing myself…"

"Blake, but the open ground-"

"Isn't a problem; my Semblance can take a hit for me and I'm 'very' good at sneaking around. I can play this guy's game but even better; he won't know where I am, but I'll be able to hear him once I get up close enough. I just need an initial distraction to cover myself going into the maze of buildings…"

Something that would draw the sniper's position long enough for Blake to get into a position where she could sneak around.

"Alright, but then what are we supposed to do? Just leave you behind?" Weiss asked, exasperated, as she shook her head. "We're all a team here Blake, we can't just-"

"You can and you will." Blake said, quite firmly, as she turned her amber eyes on her friends and Jotaro. "And it's 'because' we're a team. Ruby's in trouble, without her weapon, and we need to get to her as soon as possible… but we have to deal with this guy or else he'll just follow in behind us. We can't kill him quickly… but 'I' can kill him, if I take my time. Meanwhile, you all can go on ahead and do what you need to do. I'll catch up later." Yang and Weiss seemed ready to fight Blake tooth and nail on this; like Hell Yang was about to let her partner go through with something like this, against an opponent who could 'liquify her' alone, and Weiss wasn't about to let the person who'd fought with her against The Lock go in against an even more dangerous Stand User alone.

Yet, it turned out, it was in neither of their hands.

"You're sure about this?" Weiss and Yang turned to look at Jotaro, stunned that the older man seemed at all willing to hear Blake out on this. Still, Blake just offered a firm nod as she chanced a glance beyond the cover.

"If you guys can even distract them for a minute, use Weiss' ice wall trick to get into the hole, then I can sneak into one of the buildings and start flanking around this guy to… to do what I need to do." Blake tightened her grip on Gambol Shroud as she chanced a glance back at the others. "Then when you all are going ahead, I can keep him from following you all. I wouldn't suggest this if I didn't think I could do it…" There was the obvious counter; that Blake was likely still tired from her extended lack of sleep the previous weeks upon weeks and that she could very well be in over her head…

However, given that everyone gathered lacked sleep and had felt somewhat drained by fighting most of yesterday and exploring Mountain Glenn, none were in a position to argue that particular point. Given their circumstances, Jotaro also knew he was in no position to actually argue the merit of Blake's plan either. So, with a sigh, Jotaro lowered the rim of his cap.

"Yare yare daze… Don't put yourself at extreme risk to kill this guy. The only thing we want is for you to distract him long enough for us to get in, rescue Ruby and potentially do what we can about Torchwick's operation here. Your priority is to distract and 'survive'... don't put yourself into a needlessly dangerous situation just to kill him; wait for us to get back with Ruby. Crescent Rose and her experience with it will make it a lot easier to deal with this bastard." Blake gave a quick nod, satisfied with Jotaro's stipulations. However, she had been about the only one.

"Jotaro! You can't be serious! We can't just leave Blake to handle this on her own!" Yang decried, as the older Huntsman just cast his gaze down at her.

"I am your superior at the moment, the leader of your group. I'm not saying you have to like the decision I've come to… but I've weighed the options and, Blake's not wrong, this is the best way we have to secure all of our objectives. That being the case, it's what we're going through with." Jotaro shook his head. "If you have a suggestion to make, speak up. Otherwise, fall in." Yang grimaced a bit at Jotaro's tone, as had Weiss. Both young women didn't like this at all, neither of them wanted to leave Blake behind…

Yet, at the same time, neither could exactly argue against the logic both Blake and Jotaro presented; they 'didn't' have any suggestions, they 'didn't' have any ideas as to how they could both keep this Stand User off their backs while they saved Ruby. A mixture of pride and stubbornness kept them from saying this out loud… but in the end, both nodded in understanding as they readied their weapons.

"Very good. Weiss, prepare your Dust, Blake, get into position… and good luck." The black haired Faunus just nodded, while at the same time shooting her two teammates a look of reassurance and appreciation. As much as they didn't like what she suggested, Blake couldn't help but appreciate the fact that Yang and Weiss were so concerned. Gone was the Blake Belladonna who might've taken this lack of faith, this insistence that she shouldn't push herself, as an insult. Her friends cared about her…

But that they also had the perspective to fall in when Jotaro laid it on the line was important. So it wasn't long before all three young women frowned and turned their attentions to readying for their various tasks, all the while Jotaro slowly raised his hand in the air to prepare a signal.

"I'll be heading out first to draw the initial fire: I'll use Star Platinum's Time Stop to let this guy try and sink two shots into me. Two seconds after I dash out, I want you all to start your moves as well. Don't run in directly behind me; worst case scenario would be that you'd end up being hit by the bullets that would be meant for me. Stay off to my flanks while we're running and as soon as you all hear both shots hit the ground, Weiss, I want that wall of ice up. It is 'imperative' that we follow this plan to the last detail." The three members of Team RWBY had not needed to be told that. They were well aware of the stakes in this moment. They all had one shot at this, one opportunity. Either they'd pull this off, Blake would get to her hiding spot and the rest of them would slip into the hole leading down into the underground of Mountain Glenn or… well, one or more of them were going to be peppered with those bullets if Weiss couldn't put the wall up at the right angle or the right time.

Meanwhile, Josuke and his healing touch were miles away back at Vale, too far for any of them to get to in a reasonable amount of time. No, they couldn't depend on Crazy Diamond for this. They had to run this little gambit of theirs perfectly. So all eyes were on Jotaro's raised hand as the experienced Huntsman took a deep, long breath. As he felt an ease fall over him, as he found a balance, Jotaro's body suddenly stiffened as he slammed his hand down.

"Two seconds!" He shouted as he immediately dashed out into the open away from the cover, Star Platinum phasing in just behind him. One second passed and Star Platinum could hear one gun shot go off. Another second soon after and a second round followed up. In that moment, he heard three sets of feet immediately begin to follow his movements, either closing in behind him or dashing off to the side.

Perfect.

"[Star Platinum: The World]!"

THUUUUuuumm…

TICKTOCKTICKTOCK TICK TOCK tick tock tick…

Jotaro choked in some surprise as he ducked out of the way of one of the bullets, just barely a few inches from his face from when he had activated Star Platinum's ability. Way too close for comfort but just close enough for success, which he would gladly take. Adjusting his cap quickly, Jotaro turned to take in the trajectory of the bullet and where Yang and Weiss fell in behind him. Yang had her eyes peeled and Ember Celica raised up in a protective manner, perhaps hoping she could negate one possible hit by bouncing them off of her bracelets. Weiss, on the other hand, had her hand in the middle of the air, Myrtenaster at the ready behind it, as she slowly formed a Glyph in front of her, with a matching one forming on the ground just beyond the hole.

Both of them were safely outside of the trajectories of the two shots and remain so. This allowed Jotaro a sigh of relief as he turned his attention back toward the hole, grinding his teeth together as he narrowed his gaze.

"One second has passed. Time resumes."

… thuuUUUUUM!

tock tick tock TICK TOCK TICKTOCKTICKTOCK!

There was a momentary yelp in surprise behind him as time resumed, presumably either because the two bullets impacted the ground in between Yang and Weiss or because he had just suddenly teleported around without their notice. Either way this surprise was short lived as, instead, Jotaro heard Weiss take a deep, focusing breath as the sounds of a winter chilled wind passed by his heard, a momentary sensation of cold passing by him in the same instance. More shots went off as their enemy took the time to fire off his Stand once again, but by this time it was too late.

Weiss' ice wall saw to that. A large wall made up of a handful of separate ice pillars shot up from the ground just beyond the hole and, as if it were music to the group's ears, they heard the shots bounce off the other side of the ice wall ineffectively, the sniper not having had the angle to score a hit over it, nor were, presumably, Jotaro, Yang or Weiss still in view of the enemy Stand User. With a triumphant 'woop' from Yang the trio jumped down into the hole, Weiss having withdrawn her hand from the glyph she had summoned to brush it back through her hair, a highly satisfied smile on her face.

"Very good. Now then, bearings." Jotaro immediately turned his head about as they hit the floor, looking to establish just where the Hell they were going. It didn't' take long; the path behind them was totally caved off thanks to the falling debris, there wasn't a way back in that direction. Meanwhile, on the other hand, there was a tunnel just in front of them that lead down into the depths of Mountain Glenn…

A tunnel that Star Platinum, funnily enough, noticed had a series of footprints walking off down them, with two drag marks following in between the footsteps… presumably someone being dragged off.

"Bingo. We're going this way." Jotaro pointed off down the direction of the tunnel as Yang and Weiss nodded in ready agreement, the trip sprinted off as they sought to make the best time possible. As the trio moved along, it had been Weiss whose head suddenly shot up to attention, her light blue eyes scanning about as they tried to find something… and then proceeded to 'not' find it.

"Oh my gosh! Where's Zwei!? I haven't seen the little cutie ever since we made a break for it during the initial shots!" Jotaro snapped to attention at this as well; he hadn't noticed Zwei at any time while they were preparing their plans or even when they had been running about. The dog had just, seemingly, disappeared. For a moment, Jotaro's mind thought back to the rat that had been struck, and a slight fear gripped at his stomach; perhaps that dumb mutt had gotten shot in the initial fire and none of them had noticed? Sure you'd expect a dog of that size to at least make a noise, but-

"Hey, don't sweat it, Zwei's fine." Yang declared quite firmly as the other two just looked back at her with surprise in their eyes.

"Yang, how can you be so calm about this! Your dog's missing! The little baby could be anywhere right now, or worse-"

"Zwei 'isn't' dead. He didn't get 'shot' by that Stand User. I would've noticed it." Yang stated firmly, as if it had been an absolute certainty, as she looked back ahead. "Zwei might not look the part with how dopey he can be, but he's a tough little pup, just like his dad when we adopted him way back when. He can handle himself; he's safe, we don't have to worry about him." Jotaro frowned slightly at this, though he couldn't deny that he did feel… better about the prospect after hearing that.

"So you think your dog's handling itself just fine but that Ruby's in some kind of terrible trouble." Yang just chuckled slightly as she grinned up at Jotaro.

"You haven't seen Ruby try and fight without Crescent Rose; in a scrap between her and Zwei, I'd put money on Zwei hands down." Weiss just shook her head at the mental image, her expression clearly spoke volumes about how scarcely she could believe such a thing… yet Yang's certainty just ended up causing Weiss to resign herself to feeling shame on her partner's behalf, once again. Jotaro on the other hand just adjusted his cap as he turned his gaze back forward.

"Well if you're certain, then that's one less thing we have to worry about. Right now; full speed ahead, we're getting down this tunnel and finding out just what's happened to Ruby… and, if we're lucky, we'll end up being able to shove a foot up Roman Torchwick's ass before we hand him over to Ozpin and the others." The two young huntresses couldn't help but smile and nod along at that, their spirits buoyed despite the exhaustion that somewhat hit their bodies as they ran along, their purposes fully realized.

On the other hand, the enemy Stand User paused; the trespassers… they'd gotten away 'again'. They'd managed to sneak in and out of the territory 'again'! Human things that had struck it with the weapon in the first place had once again made a mockery of its strength and its dominance within its domain! The Stand User growled to itself as it, for a moment, subsumed its Stand back into it. It wouldn't allow this to happen. 'Not' again. Not after last time. It was going to pursue, and if the other-

BANG BANG BANG

The Stand User screamed in its own tongue as it immediately booked it away from its spot, a hail of bullets striking down in the location that it had previously been in. Off to the side, Blake growled to herself, knowing that her shots hadn't landed; from the distance she'd managed to sneak herself to, the little bastard had managed to get away before any of her shots could actually land. In fact… she could… hear it moving. It wasn't footsteps like a living, breathing person. No; no leather, no metal sole, made the sound against concrete that this Stand User's feet did.

One might assume that it was merely bare feet, and for a moment Blake could've conceded that… if it weren't for the fact that, ever so distantly, she could hear claws scraping against the ground… four steps of them.

Blake… couldn't be sure. Not yet. However, either her Stand User was a Faunus who decided to go barefoot with claws on its hands and feet… or she was dealing with a wild animal…

The latter was absolutely preposterous; wild animals couldn't have Stands… could they?

Blake sighed as she shook her head. In either case, that meant her advantage on Faunus senses would only extend to her ears; very likely this Stand User would have night vision as well… and though claws signaled that the Stand User wouldn't have animal ears as a Faunus trait, Blake wouldn't make too many assumptions quite yet.

She needed to be at the top of her game then; this would be a true game of cat and mouse… Gods, Yang's puns were actually starting to slip into her vocabulary, the damn cat puns. Anyway, it would be a game where her opponent could very well see her in the dark and where she could see and hear her opponent. She couldn't hold back; she needed every advantage she could get here. Her cat ears twitched behind her bow as she picked up the sound of metal suddenly hitting the ground; presumably the Stand User had dragged his Stand back out. Still, it was hard to hear… and it would remain so while Blake's hearing was being obstructed.

With an unsteady breath, Blake Belladonna reached up for her bow and undid the not, dragging the cloth down off her head and placing it into one of her coat pockets. Free from their confines, her cat ears twitched and maneuvered about… and she could hear her prey far more clearly. Reloading Gambol Shroud, Blake bit her lip slightly as the former terrorists slipped back into the darkness, ready to stalk her prey until either her team was ready to call her back to them… or this Stand User was dead.

This Stand User wouldn't be getting into that tunnel. Blake would make sure of that.


Ruby Rose was very much 'not' having the time of her life right now. It had been one thing to fall into some deep dark pit, that was enough of a pain but one that she could have very quickly recovered from if given the time. Heck, she may have even been able to use her Semblance to quickly scale back up the hole and get back to the surface. Bad enough that she had been spotted out by some White Fang goons when she had fallen and had been approached, ready to be dragged away to who knows where. She could've easily taken them under the right circumstances…

Not, worst of all of this was the fact that the young woman had been separated from her dear, dear weapon, her baby, Crescent Rose. She must've dropped her Sniper Scythe somewhere in the midst of the surface above her having collapsed and dropped her into this dark tunnel in the first place! Then she had Zwei run back to try and get the rest of her Team and Jotaro to come and find her and… well… she did 'try' to put up a fight and resist being man-handled by goons that she and her team normally had a pretty simple time of knocking out and dispatching…

But without her weapon, Ruby Rose was about as threatening as a newborn puppy trying to pick a fight with something that 'wasn't a newborn puppy. Yeah, she could seriously distract you for a moment, and her random flailing was certainly cutesy, but eventually you were just going to pick her up by the scruff of her neck and carry her off. So the silver eyed Huntress ended up being grabbed by her arms and dragged along the ground, her skirt and shoes leaving drag marks in the dust of the initial, concrete tunnels before it transitioned into pure dirt.

She had been thankful Yang hadn't been here; she sure as Heck wouldn't' have been able to live this down if her older sister had been around to see it. Worse yet, Yang might try to restart that training she had done before she went off to get ready for Beacon, which Ruby had most definitely 'not' been a fan of. Now, one might have found it odd that Ruby had preoccupied herself with all these thoughts rather than having narrowed in on the fact that she had been captured and had currently been on her way to who knows where thanks to her enemies. That she might have been having a freakout thanks to this very scenario being the nightmare situation for a number of people…

However, Ruby Rose had been nothing if not an eternal optimist. She hadn't looked at this situation with dread, but more a mix of embarrassment and patience. Her team would come for her. Jotaro would come for her. Zwei would make sure that they knew where she had fallen and then it'd be only a matter of time. Of that Ruby had been absolutely certain. Plus, whoever these guys were, there had been no way they'd do such serious harm to her, with her Aura, that she wouldn't have been able to bounce back sooner rather than later, especially if she just stayed cool and let them take her to wherever they had wanted to go. When she could spot an opportunity, then she'd try something.

For now, she had been confident enough in her comrades that she was willing to sit back and wait. Things would be fine. More than that, this had given Ruby a fantastic opportunity; if Ruby had guessed right, then these guys had been in the process of taking her into their base! That meant Ruby would find who knows what here and, more than likely, would end up seeing Roman Torchwick himself! By having allowed her to come into their base, they would seal their demise once the rest of her team and Jotaro showed up to kick butt! As embarrassing as this accident had been, Ruby had been more than willing to chalk it up as a… happy accident.

That was the attitude that Ruby Rose took upon being dragged past the dark and dirty tunnels and into… well, Ruby was actually at a loss for what to describe it as for a moment. There were lights strung 'everywhere', with free-standing lights connected to generators having been scattered about in order to light the entire area. There were 'tons' of boxes everywhere, tons and tons of them, with many of them in different shapes and sizes. Some boxes were open topped before being slammed shut, presenting hundreds of little containers of Dust within. For Ruby, this was a moment of clarity; this was all the Dust that was getting robbed. This was what Roman Torchwick had been after this whole time. Still, Ruby hadn't been able to help but quirk her brow; why the Heck was it here? If he had some kind of plan, why spend all the time and energy moving all this Dust out of Vale and out into the middle of nowhere in a… a…

Train station? Ruby blinked as she looked around, the word so suddenly coming to her mind in a flash. It seemed like a ridiculous notion, that underneath Mountain Glenn there was some kind of full on train station but, as Ruby looked around, it became more and more clear that this was the case. There were refueling stations near a set of tracks that disappeared into a tunnel and, hey would you look at that, a giant cargo train. It just seemed so bizarre; an underground train system. Not like a subway like she'd heard existed in Atlas, but like an honest to goodness, old-timey train. Such things hadn't been really possible in a long time thanks to the abundance of Grimm on the surface outside of cities but… hey, here it was.

This had thrown Ruby for something of a loop. Something else that'd thrown her for a loop was the sheer 'number' of people that had gathered in this spot. There were easily dozens, if not over a hundred, members of The White Fang scattered about this train station, all carrying or delivering boxes. Some of them even seemed to have some kind of rudimentary Stand that had gone on to assist them with loading the train, making the process of getting all these crates of Dust back on board. Speaking of, that had been something Ruby couldn't quite figure. Now, being underground as she was, Ruby didn't exactly have a 'great' sense of direction… but she did have an ounce of common sense.

There was no way this train station was going out even further away from Vale. After all, Mountain Glenn had, apparently, been the farthest settlement out. It had to have meant that there was no station beyond this that the train could go. No, the only other place that it made sense for this train to be connected to was… well, Vale. So had that meant that Roman Torchwick had used a train in Vale in order to get this Dust out here…

WHAT TRAIN IN VALE!?

Ruby's mind ran at one-thousand miles a minute. There was no train station in Vale, no line to be connected there… but it was the only thing that made sense… AND IT MADE NO SENSE AT ALL! What was going on? Why was this Dust here, why had Roman gathered all of it and, most importantly, what was the point of having dragged it out of Vale if he was going to send it all right back…

For some reason, that last thought had chilled Ruby's spine for a moment, as if there had been some dark insinuation that had accompanied that imagining that had momentarily slipped its way into her mind. All of this Dust, being gathered onto one train that could have only been aimed right at Vale. The idea of it set her on edge as it danced around the very periphery of her thoughts, though she lacked the cruel, dark imagination to have fully pieced together the entirety of the plan.

"Be careful you animals! All of this Dust is worth more than your lives! If something goes wrong here, the boss will have my hide… and I'll make sure I have YOUR hides before he gets the opportunity to take mine." Ruby's ears immediately perked up, her silver eyes narrowed as she recognized the source of the voice that rang out across the entire train station. Ruby braced herself as the two goons dragged her up toward the train where, before her very eyes, stood Roman Torchwick, the Crime Boss of Vale chomping on the end of one of his cigars as he nervously handled his cane.

"Boss, looks like we have some company." Roman Torchwick groaned slightly as he placed his face in his hand and turned toward the trio who had just arrived.

"Seriously? We are right on the cusp of pulling off the boss'-" Roman's voice cut off as he saw exactly 'who' said company was, the man seemingly stopping right in place as he took in who was in front of him. Eventually, his frown seemingly melted into an easygoing smile as he reached up to readjust his scarf. "Well well well… what do we have here? Ruby Rose! Perennial thorn in my side and busy body! Haha, good to see you, brat? What brings you here?" Roman's cool demeanor immediately dissolved as he grabbed one of the two White Fang holding onto Ruby by his collar, the other one quickly grabbing Ruby's other arm to make up for his compatriot's absence. "No, really, 'what the Hell is she doing here'! We are 'literally' just a day away from getting this ball rolling and you bring HER, of all people, HERE?!"

"W-Well sir, I mean, boss, we found her in a collapsed tunnel by herself without her weapon! We thought she'd be easy pickings! Why not bring her here?" Roman slapped his forehead as he shook his head.

"Why not? WHY NOT? How about 'the rest of her team is probably here' why not? How about 'why not leave her lost without any direction of where to go to find us' why not? How about 'you've given her Team and anyone who was following her incentive to track her to find us and kick our asses' why not!" The two White Fang goons looked at each other for a moment, before they returned their gazes to Roman, the White Fang goon in Roman's grip having decided to speak up.

"So you want us to actually answer those questions or-"

Roman's cigar was promptly put out in the face of the White Fang goon that he had a grip of, causing him to cry outas Roman just dropped him flat out in order to free his hands,. His hands freed, Roman reached up to rub his temples as he tried to fight off the impending migraine.

"I swear… what did I do to deserve this? Why do 'I' have to be the one to put up with all this? Why couldn't it be someone else?" Ruby couldn't help but glare at her erstwhile enemy as she just frowned deeply.

"Oh I dunno, robbing people, hurting innocent people, being a real jerk. I think those are some pretty good reasons." Roman Torchwick seemed to snap out of his own state of self-pity.

"Wasn't exactly asking you Ruby, but hey, now that you've brought this little topic of conversation back to you, let's address that little problem, shall we?" Roman nodded his head off to the side of the train car, the other White Fang Goon who had not been dealing with a cigar burn to the fact just nodded and quickly fell in behind Roman as he sought to 'not' raise the ire of the obviously annoyed crime boss. The goon dragged Ruby with him, the girl doing her best to just be dead weight and inconvenience her captors until she had an opportunity to make an escape.

"You know, I could not have asked for a 'worse' sign of how today was going to go then having you of all people show up Rose. I mean, really, of all the bad luck I've had these past few days, you're a reminder that things can 'always' get worse! It'd almost be inspiring if I weren't so utterly and completely sick of dealing with all this at this point…" Roman sighed as he pulled out another cigar and lit it, the man having taken a long drag of it before he turned back to face Ruby. "You know you're so terrible to me. The least you can do… or, I should say, the least you're 'going' to do right now is tell me who exactly is here and what exactly you all know." Roman took another long drag off his cigar as he waited for Ruby's answer…

Only for Ruby to just glare up at him silently, her silver eyes defiant in the face of his bluster. "Oh-hokay, maybe I haven't made myself clear? I am 'really' not in the mood to deal with this kiddy bullshit of yours right now. Right now I am riding a 'very' thin line right now that depends on everything going right with this little plan, Ruby. So what I need you to do is to go ahead, realize that you're in a situation that I can make 'very' unpleasant for you right now and spill your guts before I spill them for you… how does that sound?" As Roman spoke he leaned down further and further until he was just about in Ruby's face, cigar held off to the side as he lightly blew smoke in the young woman's face…

What Roman had been met with was a big old raspberry, spit flying into his eyes and across his face as he just snapped back a bit.

"Well, can't say I didn't try. Alright boys, get the sticks ready, if this piñata isn't going to spill its guts willingly, then we're just going to have to do it the fun way." Sweat formed on the surface of Ruby's forehead; Roman's threat here hadn't exactly been subtle, and Ruby knew what exactly he meant. Ruby glanced off to the side, toward the tunnel she'd been dragged through to get here in the first place. After a moment's thought, Ruby just sighed as she returned to glaring at Roman; her Team and Jotaro would arrive in time. She knew they would; there was no way that Zwei hadn't informed them that she was missing and where she had fallen, and Yang, Weiss and Blake were really smart… not to mention how strong and experienced Jotaro was.

They would find her. They'd find a trail of her, they'd follow it here and then they'd help deal with Roman and his goon squad. If Ruby panicked over Roman's threats an spilled their numbers… that would take away their element of surprise. Sure, Roman knew that at least Ruby and her team were here, but he didn't know Jotaro was around yet. There was no way they could be prepared for Star Platinum in such short notice. So long as she kept quiet, they'd bust in, leading a surprise charge and knock these guys silly. She'd be fine…

She'd be fine. She didn't need to worry about Roman's threat. So with a deep breath Ruby watched as Roman readied his cane and-

BOOOOOOM!

'OH THANK THE GODS!' Ruby celebrated in her mind, a wide smile on her face as Roman and all the other White Fang goons immediately turned toward the tunnel that Ruby had been dragged through.

"What the Hell was that? One of you, call in the patrol that's supposed to be guarding the main branch of tunnels leading here, get them to figure out just-"

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA - ORAAAAAA!"

Immediately the makeshift tunnel doors having lead into the train station were blown wide open, the beaten, battered and partially frozen bodies of numerous White Fang goons having been sent soaring through the air and crashing into several crates and comrades as they collapsed onto the ground. The dust kicked up and, for a moment, no one inside the train station could have seen what exactly had been going on beyond the busted down doors.

And then several shotgun rounds suddenly fired out and slammed handfuls of White Fang goons in the chest, knocking them unconscious even through what little Aura they had. A series of Glyphs appeared around others, their weight suddenly increasing many times over as they collapsed onto the ground, depressed and practically crushed under their own weight. Roman and the rest of the goon squad had momentarily panicked, their eyes having gone wide from the spectacle before them… which had been all of what Ruby had been looking for. With a quick jump up Ruby got to her feet, momentarily drawing the attention of Roman and the goon who had a hold on her.

That hold had been immediately compromised when Ruby 'slammed' her foot onto the goon's and, when he nearly stumbled over from the pain in his foot, Ruby slammed her head back into his face, instinct having caused the goon to let her go to hold onto his broken nose.

"NO YOU IDIOT, DON'T LET HER-" However, Roman's words had been too little too late as Ruby immediately activated her Semblance and darted off, first appearing only a handful of feet away from Roman Torchwick before she, eventually, disappeared entirely, coming back into view as the dust from the doorway settled down. When the dust cleared, everyone save for Ruby 'panicked'.

Yang Xiao Long dropped a White Fang goon to the side as she ran up to Ruby and hugged her little Sister, Weiss Schnee ran up, keeping Myrtenaster at the ready, as she kept an eye on how her leader was doing and, perhaps most panic inducing of all for those members of the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, Kujo Jotaro casually strode on into the room, Star Platinum floating silently behind the man as it held its fists up at the ready, the Stand clearly ready for a brawl.

Roman's blood ran 'cold'. It would've been bad enough to have Team RWBY, that long-lasting pain in the ass, here, but to have Kujo Jotaro of all people here? To have 'him' be present? It was all a little too much for Roman to have considered. He gripped his cane tightly, panic evident on his face, and for a moment it had been unclear as to what he needed to do…

"Now now Mr. Torchwick, I wouldn't fret if I were you. You've yet to completely run out of options, yes?" Roman's panic attack ended abruptly upon being spoken to, the man having turned his gaze to a nearby train car that had slid open. The man ground his teeth together at the sight of the two fellows on board; his 'backup' procured from Vacuo by Whitesnake.

"I don't think you two quite comprehend the mess we've gotten ourselves into. This is Kujo Jotaro, and he-"

"He's a Stand User. Strong as he is, he still has weaknesses. Weaknesses I am in a position to exploit." One of the men said as he took out a cigarette and took a nice, long drag on it, producing a long wisp of smoke. "My friend here should be able to handle the other… children just fine." The other figure dipped down a wide-brimmed hat at having been mentioned.

"I would still suggest we pack up though; this fight is bound to do damage to the train and Dust supplies. We aren't exactly in a position to sit around now that they've shown up; backup will probably be here sooner rather than later." The other man mentioned as Roman just choked a bit.

"Are you kidding? We have all this Dust we still haven't loaded! We need-"

"What we need has been taken care of Roman. Trust me, we're quite… set, as it were. All we have to do is send your dear employer their signal early to give the others time to get into place." The man again took a drag on his cigarette before he dropped it onto the ground in front of him. "Now… are you going to get this train going with at least 'most' of the Dust loaded, or are we going to sit here and ensure 'none' of the Dust gets to where it needs to go? Not sure if your employer would like that very much." Roman just ground his teeth at that, the man just glancing off to the side. It was true that with the help of the various White Fang Stands that they'd been able to load a lot of the Dust…

It was also true that, at this point, a lot of the Dust was better than no Dust at all. The former would 'maybe' still keep the plan in motion… the latter would most definitely have costed his hide.

"... Everyone get on board and into position! We're heading to Vale!"

While Roman and his own guests settled this little affair, Yang finally let Ruby go and, with a quick bit of flair, handed over Crescent Rose. "Man, you go on talking about how Crescent Rose is your baby and you leave her behind? Not cool sis, what kind of mother are you?" Ruby's silver eyes went wide and shimmered in excitement as she quickly took her beloved weapon back into her hands, practically having cradled it as she unfolded it into its scythe form.

"OH CRESCENT ROSE, I WAS SO WORRIED! Thanks Yang!" The blonde brawler just smiled as she slapped her sister on the arm.

"You weren't the only one who was worried… I'm glad you're alright sis." Ruby smiled warmly back at her sister, her silver eyes having scanned the group… before narrowing in some worry.

"Where's Blake? Why isn't she here right now?" Weiss heaved a sigh as she shook her head.

"There was a Stand User on the surface who held us up for a bit. Blake had to stay behind to help take care of them… she seemed confident that she'd be able to." For a moment, Ruby's worry deepened as she frowned, looking between the entire group… up until she saw the stern, even expression of one Kujo Jotaro.

"She'll be fine. She had a good plan." The older man stated firmly. Ruby, for her part, just sighed and nodded.

"Blake will be fine… she's really strong and really talented. I just worry because… well…" Jotaro nodded in understanding as he pat the young woman on the hand.

"Right." After that, however, Jotaro's gaze narrowed further, as did everyone else's, as they turned their attention back to the main draw of the moment; Roman Torchwick, the White Fang goons and the train, the latter of which the former two had currently been boarding. "Seems to me that we have you back, you have your weapon back and you're safe… so how's about we go ahead and deal with our target?"

"Sounds good to me." Ruby intoned as she swung Crescent Rose around for flair. "Team RBWY… and guest-" Jotaro nodded, "-let's go kick some butt!"

-To Be Continued- The Breach (Act 5)


A/N: Not much to say this time around; good to be back, had a nice, if cold, holiday and this chapter wasn't that bad to get out now that I've recovered from finals. I'll be sure to alert you all if school starting is going to end up messin' with plans but, for now, count on the next chapter coming out on the 11th.

Hope you all had a great Holiday, and Happy New Year!