Disclaimer, I do not own RWBY or any of the franchises referenced in this work

Chapter 22: Team ALBA Pt 1

Inspiration: Mass Effect 2

"Welcome back, next viewing is ready." Blank greeted as his audience returned to their seats.

"So, what are we watching this time?" Jaune asked.

"An alternate world where a number of things happened differently in the past, leading to a vastly different present." Blank replied.

"What kind of things exactly?" Ren stared at the orb of light and waited for a reply.

"A few big ones, a few small ones. Most of them happened independently of the other changes but they all contributed to the present. I suppose the earliest change would be the Vale council and the introduction of their Special Tactics and Reconnaissance unit or Spectres for short." Blank said.

"Spectres?" Ironwood raised an eyebrow.

"The Vale equivalent of your Ace Ops, only they answer to the entire council instead of a single military commander. Founded shortly after the end of the great war as an answer to the loss of strength following the disbandment of the military. The Spectres are elite huntsmen loyal only to the council and have carte blanche to do whatever it takes to safeguard Vale from all threats."

"Whatever it takes? Dear god if that isn't an invitation to an abuse of power, I don't know what is." Roman rolled his eyes, convinced he knew where it was going.

"Not exactly. The selection criteria for the Spectres is extremely stringent, yes it is true that that kind of power can go to their heads and rogue Spectres pop up from time to time, but those that stray are invariably hunted down and executed by their own." Blank clarified.

"Hmm… I do recall such a system being proposed in the past, but it didn't take due to budget problems involving reconstruction after the great war. The idea never came up again when a need for it didn't arise. How did they solve the issue of funding?" Ozpin said, recalling the life before 'Ozpin'.

"They didn't. The first Vale council did not have the funds needed to recruit and maintain a force of elite huntsmen and soldiers on a full-time basis with most of the funds going into reconstruction and aid. They sidestepped the issue by having the Spectres secure their own funding and equipment as well as set up their own information networks. In exchange, Spectres are given a blanket pardon on all actions short of high treason to allow them to succeed at that task." Blank said.

"…And oversight? There is oversight right? To prevent citizens from becoming collateral damage?" Ironwood followed up.

"Not a lot. Spectres are the hand of the council, they do whatever needs to be done to see the council's will carried out. Honestly, in any other situation, most Spectres would qualify for international most wanted lists. But they do an excellent job of policing themselves and more than a few are borderline zealots when it comes to safeguarding the people from all threats, even themselves." Blank said.

"That still leaves a lot of room for the system to be abused." Winter said frowning.

"True. But in this world, it's worked very well, and the pros outweigh the cons greatly. I'll just start the viewing now, introducing Spectre Jaune Arc and his team. Instead of his great great grandfather staying in Gallia, the Arc family emigrated to Vale proper and though it isn't an inherited position, the Arcs have been Spectres since Jaune's grandfather. I'll explain further divergences when they come up." Blank flickered and the lights dimmed, the screen coming on afterwards.

"Your request puts me in a difficult position Mr Arc. Aside from the fact that all of you are overqualified to be students, the semester has already started. Inserting your team into Beacon is… problematic." Ozpin knit his fingers together as he stared at the unassuming teenager sitting in his office. Glynda stood by his side, a complicated expression on her face.

"It's only been a week, I'm sure you can come up with something to explain our entry. Trust me, I'm just as enthused by this idea as you are. And my team? Hehhehe… they'll hate this even more than we do. But our admittance to Beacon is non-negotiable. Council's orders." Jaune said with a shrug and uncaring expression.

"I… don't want to go to Beacon? And who's my team anyways?" Jaune asked perplexed.

"You've been a Spectre for about a year at this point, there isn't a need for you to enrol in a huntsman academy since you basically are one already. With all the training and missions you've done up to this point, you're convinced this assignment is some kind of punishment from the council for failure. As to what that mission is and who makes up your team… I'll let the viewing cover those itself." Blank said.

"What do you hope to accomplish in my school anyways?" Ozpin asked.

"That, is a very good question." Jaune pointed a finger at the headmaster before dropping his hand to his side.

"You see, certain issues have been cropping up recently. A little something that involved one of your students and the deputy headmistress if you catch my drift."

"How dare you. If you're insinuating that I or one of our students have anything to do with the recent robberies, I'll-" Goodwitch's tirade was cut off by a wave from Ozpin.

"Enough Glynda, I assure you Mr Arc, no one in Beacon is in anyway affiliated with the robberies of late. What happened was an attempt by a prospective student to stop a robbery that ended with my colleague intervening."

"Yes, I read the official report. But the point is, for all that flashiness, Roman Torchwick still got away. Then there's the issue of your latest batch of students, specifically, Weiss Schnee." Jaune said.

"Ms Schnee is here to become a huntress and improve herself. That is the only thing that matters, I am not concerned with her family." Ozpin said.

"Oh? That's puts you in the minority then. Normally, having a Schnee attend Beacon is great for Vale. But not right now. Dust robberies on one side, rising White Fang activity on the other. The council is worried that all this is the prelude to a new great war." Jaune said, crossing his legs and leaning in to hear Ozpin's response.

"I assure you, the council has nothing to worry about. Neither I nor any of my staff have any intention of pushing the world towards a new great war. War, is the last thing we want." Ozpin said slowly, making sure to get the point across.

"I'm not the one you need to convince, the council doesn't trust you, by extension, I don't either. Your relationship with Ironwood in Atlas is a little too… chummy for the council's liking. In the past the council was willing to let it slide on your excuse of mutual cooperation and what not. But now that Schnee is in Beacon, it's become a problem." Jaune said, smiling thinly at the headmaster.

"If the heiress to the SDC dies on Vale soil at say… the hands of the White Fang during a 'mission' gone wrong. Do you honestly believe Atlas will remain silent on that? Heh, I give it twenty-four hours before the mighty fleets of Atlas come to batter down our walls, on the pretext that we clearly can't handle the situation."

"That wouldn't happen right? I mean, I am training to be a huntress, death is… always an occupational hazard." Weiss asked.

"Normally it wouldn't. But having you be assassinated in Vale is a convenient excuse should someone chose to exploit it." Blank said.

"That won't happen. I guarantee it." Ozpin said.

"Words are cheap headmaster. That the possibility exists at all is enough reason for us to act. Vale doesn't have an army anymore. We have the Spectres and the huntsmen, Spectres will go down fighting, huntsmen? They might fight… or they might simply roll over at your request. And I'm sure the reasons to keep Vale under Atlas control will just continue indefinitely until Vale no longer exists."

"That's impossible, Atlas would never do anything like that!" Ironwood protested.

"No offense Jimmy, but you did kinda do that after the Breach." Qrow said.

"I brought the fleet to provide protection. To stop another Breach from happening and secure the Vytal festival, not to invade Vale." Ironwood defended.

"But not everyone is going to see it that way. And considering ol fire bitch's plan is to turn your army against the citizens of Vale with a virus, he's not too far off the mark actually." Torchwick pointed out, leaving the general to growl in frustration.

"James and I are colleagues, heading huntsmen academies in an effort to train up more huntsmen to push back the darkness. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Sure, and the fact that Ironwood just happens to hold two seats on the Atlas council and heads the only real military force left on the planet is just a coincidence then. Recently, there's been an uptick in deliveries from Atlas through ahh… more clandestine methods. I don't suppose you want to fill me in on those?" Jaune asked.

"If you must know, those deliveries are kept secret since they contain experimental tech we're hoping to use to create better huntsmen and huntresses in the future. It isn't ready for public unveiling yet and we're trying to avoid having it stolen by the White Fang or other criminal elements." Ozpin said, none of his words technically a lie, but even so, Jaune refused to buy it.

The Spectre chuckled and gave Ozpin a round of applause. "Still keeping your secrets even now. Headmaster of Beacon or not, you do realise I can arrest you for lying to a Spectre, right? And you wonder why the council doesn't trust you."

"I have reasons for what I do. But I assure you, the council has nothing to fear." Ozpin said.

"I'm sure you do." Jaune shook his head and leaned back, unamused with Ozpin's reply.

"But don't expect others to trust you. I'm here to observe and keep the Schnee safe, if you become a problem, you will be removed."

"Are you threatening me Mr Arc?" Ozpin asked in a deceptively calm tone.

"Threatening? No. I'm promising. I am a Spectre, we are sworn to the service of Vale. Even if you do manage to silence me, another will simply come by to finish the job. If you're an enemy of Vale, the Spectres will see you destroyed." Jaune said in an equally placid voice.

"Damn, this guy is hardcore. And his self-preservation instincts are severely lacking." Mercury commented.

"Do I really inspire that much distrust?" Ozpin hummed softly as he contemplated the question.

"On the surface, people trust you. But once they get a hint of just how much you're hiding, it's a slippery slope from there. Plus, this version of Jaune Arc isn't your biggest fan thanks to an extremely poor choice of staff members in the past." Blank said.

In the end, Ozpin blinked first in their staring contest, not at all interested in a pointless conflict against a council Spectre. If he wanted to be a student and keep the other students safe, by all means, he wasn't going to get in the way of that.

"Fine. If you want to observe and protect Ms Schnee, go ahead. Although… given the… team you're asking me to enrol. I'm not sure who would be the bigger threat to her, the White Fang or your… team." Ozpin grimaced as he held up the documents containing the details for Jaune's squad.

"Ozpin you cannot be serious. Are you really going to enrol this team of assassins into Beacon? This is a disaster waiting to happen!" Goodwitch protested vehemently.

"I will keep my team in line, and are you really complaining about them when one of Mistral's most wanted bandits is an alumnus of this school? Or how about your own staff, like a certain Dr Merlot? Remember him?" Jaune said, spitting out Merlot's name like a curse.

"Dr Merlot died in Mount Glenn during the fall. I understand that he wasn't the most-" Ozpin was interrupted by a disbelieving huff from Jaune.

"Rumours of his death were greatly exaggerated. The good doctor is most assuredly still alive and personally responsible for the deaths of at least two Spectres and god knows how many other innocent casualties. And just we're clear, I do hold you partially accountable for everything he's done." Jaune said and glared at the headmaster.

"Is this one of the divergences?" Roman asked in a quiet voice.

"The spectre deaths yes, the rest of it, no." Blank answered.

"That son of a bitch is still alive!? Where is he!? I'll rip out his heart with my bare hands!" Roman thundered, his blood boiled at the thought that the man responsible for taking his team from him so long ago still lived.

"He's elsewhere at the moment, but he'll get what's coming to him eventually." Blank replied.

"What does he want? His obsession with the Grimm was bad enough in the past." Goodwitch frowned as she recalled the man.

"The same thing he wanted when Mount Glenn fell. To become a god."

"Ah… someone's ambitious." Cinder snickered.

"I… see. I had thought him deceased during the fall of the city. But we at Beacon had nothing to do with his actions, by the time he left for Mount Glenn, he was already no longer affiliated with the school." Ozpin said.

"And you didn't think it'd be a good idea to inform the council that a mad man with designs on experimenting on the Grimm was headed to the new city? The city whose defences aren't even up and running yet? Excellent foresight." Jaune snarked.

"What happened was a tragedy and we had nothing to do with that." Ozpin stated firmly.

"Sure. Whatever, I'm not here about the fall, despite how much the loss of Mount Glenn cost us, the council is content to consider the matter closed on this end. All that's left is hunting down Merlot and terminating him." Jaune said.

"Tch, of course the council would want to bury the issue." Roman growled in frustration.

"As far as the council is concerned, Mount Glenn is an old wound that doesn't need reopening. But believe me, they're just as pissed as you are over its collapse even if for entirely different reasons." Blank said.

"Lemme guess, they're pissed over the loss of all the resources poured into that city aren't they?" Roman groused.

"Indeed. Mount Glenn's cost was staggering in both human casualties and lost supplies. The kingdom wasn't exactly in great shape after the disaster."

"Very well then. Now I've gone through the reports for your team, ALBA… Alabaster huh? If you don't mind, would you kindly elaborate more on them. I am… curious as to how you even put this team together." Ozpin said and returned his gaze to the documents in hand.

"I recruited them all for an assassination mission against Merlot, sadly he escaped our grasp. But considering their effectiveness, I didn't see fit to disband the unit after the mission despite it's lack of success." Jaune sighed and shook his head to clear away his regrets.

"I suppose I'll go over them in chronological order then. First up, Mercury Black."

"Wait what?" Mercury shot up, not expecting himself to be mentioned.

"This is another one of those divergences isn't it?" Emerald asked.

"Indeed. In this world, Mercury Black did not defeat his father but managed to get away, becoming a freelance assassin on his own. For Marcus Black himself, he was recruited by that world's Cinder Fall before ditching her employ for a bigger pay check elsewhere." Blank said.

"There's no way I'd let him live after that." Cinder growled out.

"You had more pressing concerns to deal with than chase down a rogue agent. The plan was to hunt him down after your mission in Vale was complete, but you were beaten to the punch by Mercury." Blank added.

Mercury nursed his drink as the riot of colours and sound in the nightclub added to his headache. His drink, a simple glass of water was still half full and as it slowly drained, his remaining patience drained with it.

An hour, a solid hour of waiting in the nightclub for a client. If the son of a bitch pulled a no show, he would be paying the man a visit to discuss the proper etiquette for dealing with assassins.

He perked up though when the bartender froze midway through drink preparation, continuing to pour until it was overflowing and not even noticing. Junior's expression was one of complete panic as he stared at someone who just stepped through the door.

"Oh god it's you… b-business or pleasure?" The nervous nightclub owner and gang leader sputtered out as a blonde teen pulled up the seat next to Mercury and sat on it.

"Business today Junior. I'll have my usual thank you very much." Jaune said and placed a lien card on the table, enough to cover a cup of coffee. The now very nervous bartender nodded shakily and put down the drink mixer to work on Jaune's coffee instead, occasional sobs and whimpering could be heard coming from the man.

"Man, why's Junior so afraid of the kid here?" Roman asked.

"Spectres are known for many things. Unfortunately, collateral damage happens to be one of those things." Blank replied.

"Mercury Black right? You're a hard man to track down." Jaune said while waiting for his coffee to arrive.

"Well you found me, you a cop or something officer? Trying to arrest me?" Mercury huffed and deactivated the safeties on his shotgun boots.

"Hahahah… not quite. I hear you're here for a job opportunity."

"You the client then?"

"No. I'm afraid your original client has recently come down with a bad case of dead." Jaune chuckled and wondered if the clean-up squads had finished clearing the bodies out of that penthouse. He'd left quite a mess behind before heading to Junior's.

"Huh, well that explains why he's late. So, what can I do for you if you're not here to arrest me?" Mercury rolled his eyes and emptied his glass of water.

"It's more, what I can do for you actually. Forty-two assassinations over the past year, you've tied the record for most active assassin since the great war I believe. Before this, you operated out of Mistral and Vacuo so that's not under our jurisdiction. But now that you're in Vale, it is a bit of a problem for the Spectres. Can't exactly let you run around killing people." Jaune said.

In a flash, Crocea Mors was out and resting at Mercury's throat at the same time one of Mercury's shotgun boots was inches from Jaune's head. Neither said a word as a hushed silence descended upon the nightclub, nobody daring to say or do anything lest they kick off the powder keg.

"Please! Not inside!" Junior pleaded.

"Sorry man, but I ain't letting no blondie tell me what I can or cannot do." Mercury said.

"Relax Junior, the insurance will cover the damage." Jaune added.

"That's not the point! I can't run a nightclub if people have to constantly worry about Spectres showing up to wreck the place! Please take it outside!" Junior begged, seconds away from falling on his knees.

His luck with blondes were truly abysmal, Jaune had wrecked his club twice in the past during pursuit of one of his targets and his father had done it thrice. It was a wonder he had any customers left.

"Damn, he can't catch a break, can he?" Qrow muttered.

"It's a bad guy bar so you can't feel too bad for him." Yang shrugged.

"Still doesn't excuse your actions young lady." Taiyang huffed as Yang chuckled nervously at the reminder of her excursion so long ago.

"Fine, it's a good thing I'm not here to kill anyone today." Jaune shrugged and removed Crocea Mors from Mercury's throat, returning it to its sheath. Mercury hesitated for several seconds before lowering his foot as well.

"What do you want?" Mercury asked.

"I'm putting together a team for a mission." Jaune said simply and Mercury just nodded before leaning against the table.

"So you looking to hire me then?"

"You could say that, but I'm only interested in the best."

"I. Am. The. Best." Mercury stated.

"We'll see. Before I decide whether or not to take you up on the mission, I have something of a trial run for you to finish before that." Jaune said.

"Tch, whatever. Long as I get paid, I'll kill whoever you ask. Just, make sure I get paid. If you try to stiff me… hehehhe… just don't."

"Well you're certainly eager. I suppose I should give a run down of the perks of working with me anyways. First off, the pay's good. Twenty k per mission." Jaune said and Mercury started choking on air, that was more than twice the market rate for an elite assassin a hell of a lot more than he was expecting.

"Next, as long as you're working for me, Spectre clearance is extended to you. Whatever support I can call on will be available for missions. And as long as you kill in service of Vale, you won't be prosecuted, do well enough and you might even get a medal. Third, I believe in quid pro quo, you work for me and if you have problems, I'll see if it can't grease them for you. Consider these incentives to continue working for Vale, you really won't find a better offer elsewhere." Jaune continued, reaching into his jacket and removing a folder, handing it to Mercury.

"Those… are some pretty generous terms actually. Most of the time it's just, here's some money upfront, kill the target, collect the rest. Not even counting the times the employer tries to silence the assassin." Mercury rubbed his chin contemplatively, they were certainly a lot better than what Cinder offered, hell he hadn't even seen a pay check since joining, just a sort of blank check for supplies but that wasn't the same.

"This is still absurd, the council would never sanction this would they? Empowering a select group of huntsmen is one thing, extending their pardons and permissions to whoever they hire? There are so many ways that could go wrong. And giving medals to criminals? Really?" Winter commented.

"The Vale council has done everything in their power to ensure their Spectres succeed at their tasks. If that means working with criminals, it's fine, the underworld will be less of a problem if the Spectres are functionally running a large portion of it." Blank said.

"Which brings me to your test. If you succeed, consider this a gesture of goodwill. You'll find the details inside. If you fail… guess you're aren't the best after all." Jaune sipped from his coffee as he waited for his potential recruit to go through the details within.

Mercury's eyes widened as he read through the file. Slamming it down on the table, he stared at Jaune with wide eyes. "Is this accurate!?"

"Confirmed by our intelligence network. Marcus Black… ahh that man's been a thorn in our side for a long time. We've been hunting your old man ever since he assassinated two council members with no luck until recently. He's currently working for Malachite, guarding a little slave trading operation on an island off the coast of Mistral. He'll be there for the foreseeable future and now's as good a time as any to remove him." Jaune answered.

"Thought you might want in on this since I hear you two haven't been on the best of terms for a long time now. You failed to kill him, I'm giving you a second chance, interested?"

"Hahahhaha! You should have led with this, you had me at kill Marcus Black. That old fuck has lived long enough." Mercury bared his teeth in a sinister grin.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your story with him? Not everyday a son is so eager to kill the father." Jaune asked.

"Actually, yes, I do mind you asking. But since you've brought Christmas early this year, I might as well tell you." Mercury lifted his pant's leg to display the artificial limb hidden beneath it.

"See this? That bastard was convinced flesh made me weak, so he chained me to a table one night and sawed off both my legs while I was still awake and screaming. Stole my semblance too, in hindsight, trying to murder him while still getting used to these new legs and down a semblance was a terrible idea, even if he was drunk off his ass at the time. But then, if I waited any longer, he'd probably have sawed off my arms too." Mercury spat out and let his pants drop back down, hiding the prosthetic from view again.

"Okay. That's messed up." Qrow said.

"Merc is that-"

"Yes." Mercury cut off Emerald's question with a curt reply.

"Did you get-"

"What do you think!?" The assassin snapped at his companion in frustration, not wanting to be reminded of the monster he once called father.

"What kind of person would do that to their own child?" Weiss asked in a horrified whisper.

"A monster, that's what." Mercury replied drily, doing his best to keep the anger off his face.

"Then I trust you'll be extra motivated to see this mission a success. Get your things ready, be at the airport by dawn, it's a long flight and the sooner we get underway, the less likely he'll slip away again." Jaune said with a blank face.

Mercury just grinned, at the very least his new employer didn't bother with something like empty pity or let down his guard. Whatever his past he was an assassin now and letting some sob story distract from that fact was usually a fatal mistake. However true the story was, that past is the past.

"Sure thing bossman, I want the fucker dead a lot more than you do. As long as you give me a shot at him, I'm your man." Mercury gave a salute and chuckled.

"Right. Then I'll see you at the airport. It goes without saying but bring your A game. Malachite's little operation is well equipped, he's gonna know we're coming." Jaune nodded and turned on his feet, heading for the door. If all went well, he'd have the first recruit and then just two more after that. One could probably be talked into joining, the other would be a little harder to convince.

"You said this version of me beats Cinder to icing that bastard, right? I take it this is the mission where it happens?" Mercury asked.

"Indeed." Blank confirmed.

"Good. I hope he suffers." Mercury spat out.

"Oh he does. Poetic justice actually."

The sun was starting to sink over the horizon by the time their infiltration craft came within range of the island fortress. The ancient crumbling castle serving as Marcus Black's base sat at the top of the island, surrounded by a dense tropical jungle. The plan was to land undetected, mess up the slavery operation and draw the man out into the open where he could be dealt with.

Skimming so close to the waters surface the waves could lap at the jet's underside, the Spectre and the assassin were busy running final checks on their equipment, especially their rebreathers. Mercury did his prep in silence while Jaune sounded off the list. "Rifle check, drones check, pistols check. Explosives… good to go. Med kit check."

"ETA to LZ, two minutes, get ready to jump. Can't stick around in Mistral airspace for too long, we'll come back for pickup once you signal and the AA is down." The pilot said as he flicked a switch, the back of the jet opening up and granting a view of the seas beyond it.

Jaune gave a thumbs up as he strapped Crocea Mors to his back and hefted the pack over it. Once he was satisfied with the state of his equipment, he made for the exit, Mercury following behind.

Once the countdown hit zero, they jumped. Entering the water with a splash, they submerged and began to swim the rest of the way to the shore. With any luck, the blind spot identified by long range reconnaissance was actually a blind spot, considering they hadn't shot down by missiles on their approach, the hope that they would at least have the element of surprise for a bit wasn't dead yet.

"Woah. This is like some spy movie or something." Ruby said as she shovelled popcorn into her mouth.

"Tch, just so you know, real spies don't do anything like that most of the time." Qrow said.

"Then what do they do?" His niece asked curiously.

"People watching. Lots and lots of people watching." Qrow sighed and started mentally counting just how much time he'd spent in bird mode watching people for information. Being a spy was so much more boring than the movies made it out to be… and the pay sucked, although that might just be Ozpin.

"Ahhh no one's shooting at us yet, that's a good start." Jaune said once they were both ashore. Mercury stared at the Spectre blankly when he realised Jaune was being serious.

"Not being shot at is your idea of a good start? How low are your standards?"

"Not being shot at is always a good thing. Now come on, aerial recon indicates the main operation is located near the beaches for easy transport. How very bold, how very foolish." Jaune said as his scroll's GPS indicated there were just a slight distance away from their target.

"Since there's no welcoming committee, the blind spot must have worked, we go quiet until shit hits the fan." Jaune said, stowing the scroll and drawing Crocea Mors.

"Whatever you say boss." Mercury shrugged and palmed a pair of throwing knives since his boots were off limits.

Pushing along the beaches while using the jungle for cover, they encountered a single unenthusiastic patrol along the way. Bored and sleepy mercenaries made for easy pickings and one by one they were dragged into the shadows and silenced.

"No alarm, excellent. Camp's right over that ridge, it's about time to go loud." Jaune said as the gurgling of his victim faded away. Removing Crocea Mors from its place inside the thug's neck, he wiped away the excess blood on the man's uniform and started rifling through the corpse's pockets.

"Ooh, jackpot, there must be a thousand lien here." Jaune smiled as he found a wallet, pursing through the contents, he removed the lien and threw away the wallet before continuing to frisk the body.

"Boss… what the hell are you doing? Are you seriously looting the bodies" Mercury stared at his boss in a mix of wonder and revulsion. Wonder that the spectre had the audacity to start looting before the bodies were even cold, revulsion that the spectre was actually looting the bodies at all.

Jaune paused and gave Mercury a baleful stare before continuing to search the pockets. "Looting is such an ugly term. I prefer battlefield acquisitions."

"Damn, I get that money's money, but still… geez, there are lines you don't cross." Roman said, distaste evident in his expression. He was a thief and he had plenty of crimes to his name, but grave robbing was most assuredly not among them.

"And the council is fine with this?" Ozpin turned to Blank for an explanation.

"Carte blanche. Morally reprehensible maybe, but it isn't hurting anyone since they're you know… too dead to complain. Spectre funding has to come from somewhere after all." Blank replied.

"There has got to be a better way to do things." Jaune frowned at the actions of his counterpart before sighing, it was another world, nothing he could do about it now.

"That's not the point." Mercury shook his head as Jaune moved on to the next body after stripping the first one of everything valuable.

"I'm paying you twenty grand per mission, that money has to come from somewhere. Oooh… hardlight dust? Here? This will sell for a pretty penny." Jaune said, hefting a small canister filled with the expensive dust.

"You're paying me with money from dead people!?" Mercury couldn't help but raise his voice upon hearing that tidbit.

"You're an assassin, you kill people for money, are you really in any position to complain about where the money is coming from? If you don't want such a high paycheck, we can always negotiated your salary downwards." Jaune rolled his eyes and fished out a gold pocket watch from one of the thugs. Tossing aside the family photo inside, the Spectre pocketed the watch and started humming a small tune as he worked.

"Fine… I'll shut up. But damnit this is messed up. Didn't anyone ever tell you this shit is wrong?" Mercury made one last futile protest before falling silent.

"You mean the same people who preach about how killing is wrong and second chances and all that crap? I'm a Spectre, I lie, cheat, steal and murder in service of Vale so the people don't have it done to them by enemies of the state." Jaune said once he was done cleaning out the corpses and dusted himself off.

"Considering everything I've done, everything I'm doing and everything I will do to keep my home safe, I don't see the point in arbitrarily drawing a line between actions. Killing is fine but not battlefield acquisitions? Who decided that, and why should I even follow along? Things go bump in the night Mercury, I'm the one who bumps back, and there is very little I wouldn't do to ensure they never get to bump again."

"That's a dangerous way of thinking. It's a very short step to becoming an irredeemable monster." Summer said.

"But he has a point. If the Spectres are already committed to safeguarding the people, holding themselves back for the sake of petty morality might cause them to fail the mission." Roman said, unhappy that he was agreeing with the Spectre.

"So in the end, it boils down to the question if the ends justify the means." Ozpin surmised, sipping from his mug.

"And that depends entirely on who you ask." Blank said.

"That's the camp? Looks like a prison." Mercury said as he beheld the structure, grey walls lined with barbed wire encircled the compound. Several guard towers with armed guards stationed in them had a good view of both the camp and the area beyond. Spotlights roved along the beaches, ready to pick out any interlopers for the guards on duty to fill with lead.

"What were you expecting? Some kind of chalet? This is Malachite's cash cow, ain't no way she's skimping on security." Jaune said, marking all the guards on his scroll with one of his drones. Once he got them all, he started assembling his rifle, an experimental gauss weapon that fired tiny metal ball bearings at several times the speed of sound using lightning dust. An anti-aura weapon that focused on killing targets by applying so much force in a small area that most auras couldn't compensate for it.

"I expected some fences, guards maybe, not… this. Bloody hell, I've seen Atlas military bases less well defended than this. How the heck did they build this thing so close to Mistral?" Mercury said, staring dubiously at the anti-air cannons set up inside the base.

"You know how the saying goes, money makes the world go round. Just grease the right hands and poof! This little slave camp becomes a nice little holiday home, nothing criminal going on here no siree!" Jaune chuckled mirthlessly and stared into the rifle's scope lining up the crosshairs with the guards in the towers, rapidly switching targets between them until he was confident.

"I'll take out the guards up top, you clear out the entrance. Try to keep them focused on you and away from shooting their prisoners in panic. Go on my shot."

"I suppose this is another one of those divergences?" Ironwood asked.

"Indeed, a side effect of the Spectres eliminating enemies of Vale is that it also created a power vacuum in other places once their targets are dead. People like Lil Miss Malachite stepped in to fill the void and this is one of her projects." Blank said.

"At least the corrupt part is right. The Mistral underworld wouldn't be thriving if their council wasn't so easily paid off, but then it's the council, what am I expecting?" Torchwick sneered at the screen.

"Hmmph, at least Atlas doesn't have to deal with this." Winter said.

"Is that so? Oh, wait, now I remember, you Atlesians are too upper class for a word like bribery, no you call it grants or donations instead. It's not a crime if the government and their allies does it now is it? When was the last time the SDC or any of your major companies even faced consequences for your crimes? Spectres or the captains of industry, must be nice having the councils rubber stamp away all problems. At least Mistral tries to hide their skeletons in their closets, you have yours proudly on display." Cinder mocked and smiled as a vein twitched on Winter's forehead but the specialist had no way to refute her words.

Mercury charged the gate as soon as the crack of the first shot broke the peaceful silence. As bodies started tumbling from the guard towers, he reached the panicking guards who were only just snapping to attention. Several kicks and shotgun blasts later, they were all food for the birds.

Alarms blared and the compound kicked into a panic as Mercury hit the switch to open the gates. As reinforcements surged to the breach trying to deal with the intruders, they were met with precise sniper fire from Jaune, the high-powered rifle easily able to kill multiple targets in one shot. It helped that most of the guards were just thugs who didn't even have their aura unlocked.

The only real threat they posed lay in their numbers but the goons failed to utilize their numbers advantage effectively in their panic. Instead of holing up and pouring fire down on the duo while others flanked them, they clumped up in small groups, making for easy pickings.

"Wait! Wait! Don't shoot! I surrender!" One of the surviving thugs had the brains to throw down his gun when he saw the writing on the wall. Before his comrades could damn him for his cowardice, Mercury had already iced them all.

"Mercury, see if he knows anything about your old man. I'm gonna see if there's any supplies worth salvaging from them. Ooh, gold wedding ring, nice." Jaune instructed and started searching through the pockets of the nearest corpse.

Mercury shook his head at his boss's rampant kleptomania before turning his attention to the shivering man. "Alright, Marcus Black, where is he?"

"A-at the fortress up top. He um, he still has his mechs to guard him." The prisoner answered hastily, not wanting to give Mercury a reason to put the hurt on him.

"Mechs? What kind of mechs?" This was new, Jaune's briefing hadn't mentioned anything about mechs, only enforcers from Malachite's employ.

"Old AK models the boss provided and he upgraded with rocket launchers. M-Marcus Black is just going to remain inside until the mechs are gone… a-and he has an airship docked and ready for escape."

"I see. Boss, we got mechs with rockets ahead. And the son of a bitch has a ride out of here." Mercury shouted over to Jaune.

"Haah, why can't things ever be easy for once? See if he knows anything else." Jaune said.

When Mercury reported back that the man knew nothing, Jaune smiled drily and raised a captured pistol. It barked once and the man fell over with a new smoking hole added to his forehead. "Hardlight pistol? Damn, where are these guys getting all the toys from, I'm adding this one to my collection."

"He just murdered him! But he already surrendered!" Goodwitch exclaimed in shock, her feeling on the matter was matched by the students. They'd seen worlds where Jaune was a killer, but this was the first time they ever saw one of their friends execute someone in cold blood without any hesitation or emotion at all.

"Ice cold baby, ice cold. If there's any doubt he's a professional, it's gone now." Mercury said, whistling in appreciation.

"W-why would Jaune kill him like that?" Ruby asked softly.

"Just keep watching." Blank said.

"So… we kill prisoners now? Not that I've anything against that or what not. Just didn't think Vale was that kind of place." Mercury said, sparing the fresh corpse one last glance before walking over to Jaune.

"Normally we don't. But we're here to kill one man, everyone else here is technically expendable. Besides, considering what they're doing here, I don't have a lot of mercy to spare. Come, I suppose you should see for yourself." Jaune said and led the way to one of the larger buildings in compound.

Throwing the doors open, they were met with the smell of disease and death before they so much as put one foot through. Soft moans and whimpering could be heard from the 'inhabitants' of the place and Mercury took one step back cursing.

"Fucking hell! What is this shit!?" Mercury found himself at a loss for words as he stared at the cages stacked inside the building, all of them crammed full of faunus and humans, old, young, the infirm, they were packed into the cages like sardines, most of them just skin and bones now.

"They're like… they're like… fuck! Even animals are treated better than this!"

"This is the reject pile, where those unlikely to be sold are crammed into and left to rot on the off chance someone might choose to buy them eventually. Sickening isn't it? One of Malachite's goons saw this and ran to us with the info. Threw himself out the window afterwards." Jaune sighed as he remembered receiving the incident report from a fellow Spectre.

"And this is just one building, the… goods… in the others are slightly better off, but not by much. And the guards here, they're known to ah… take their liberties with the slaves whenever they feel like it. I'm honestly surprised the Grimm haven't already destroyed this place with all the negativity here."

"Sweet fucking hell! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!" Mercury swore a blue streak and scratched at his head in frustration.

"Yeah, I kinda don't have any mercy to spare for the ones responsible for running this place. If we had the time for it, I'm honestly more for taking them all alive and then burning them at the stake for this atrocity." Jaune said as he moved deeper into the building, hacking off the locks on the cages with Crocea Mors and allowing the prisoners their freedom.

Mercury spat to the side in disgust one more time before joining Jaune in freeing the prisoners. Once they managed to get through to the terrified captives that they were here to free them, not kill them, the hope that blossomed on their faces was almost disturbing to see for Mercury. That several of them tried to kiss his metal feet just cemented his desire to see this entire place burn once they were done killing his old man and rescuing all the captives.

The audience was completely silent as the prisoners were set free. Not even Cinder had some mean-spirited comment to throw out.

"How? How could anyone do something like this?" Blake was the first to find her voice, the distress in it palpable as her ears were pressed flat against her head.

"How could they do something like this and not even care?"

"And me old man's part of this. Figures, it's right up his alley. Hoo… at least he pays for this when I get my hands on him." Mercury said.

"It's… easy… if you just don't see your victims as humans like yourself." Ozpin spoke slowly, recalling his earlier lives and the treatment of the faunus back then.

"Monsters, they're all monsters then." Roman summed up.

"In effect. It's one of the reasons why the spectres are the way they are. To effectively fight such abominations, more than a few of them turn themselves into one, to become the biggest, baddest, meanest one of them all… and force the others in line." Blank said.

"So what do we do now?" Mercury asked once the two of them were done freeing the slaves. Those still healthy could go on to liberate the other buildings, which left them free to deal with Marcus Black.

"Now we push onwards, holding here and waiting for him isn't an option, if those rocket troops start firing wildly, it'll be a bloodbath. With any luck, he'll be pissed enough to face us instead of trying to flee in his airship. If he does… well, the AA is under my control now, he's not making it out in one piece." Jaune said as his scroll pinged, a reply message already here after his request for reinforcements went out.

"And what about them?" Mercury nodded to the prisoners, most of whom were simply laying on the ground sobbing, not daring to believe their ordeal was almost at an end.

"The White Fang will handle them, I put out the call and the Mistral branch is on the way." Jaune replied and returned the scroll to his pocket.

"The White Fang? Seriously? We're handing them over to terrorists?" Mercury questioned.

"They're the only ones equipped to deal with this aside from the Mistral council, but since I'm a Vale Spectre, for political reasons, I can't call the council. Given that they let this happen under their noses, I'm not inclined to do so either even if I could. As to being terrorists… well, the White Fang isn't as unified as it used to be, so many factions now… this is a favour to the Mistral branch. All the positive PR from this rescue and a chance to slap the Mistral council in the face will go a long way towards generating some goodwill between Vale and the White Fang if the Mistral branch comes out on top." Jaune shrugged.

"The White Fang is fractured? Mistral is headed by Sienna Khan herself isn't it? Who could challenge her authority?" Blake queried.

"It's one of the divergences I'll explain later when we get to the third member of the team. As to who could challenge her… quite a few actually. Just as there are plenty who believe your parents didn't go far enough, there are just as many who believe Sienna isn't progressing the cause fast enough." Blank said.

Pushing towards the castle at the top of the island was an exercise in frustration. Marcus Black may have been an assassin by trade but he certainly knew how to set up a defence. Rockets and machinegun fire constantly rained down on Jaune and Mercury from dug in AKs. By the time they made it to the castle, both were sore, tired and very pissed off.

"Tch, I recognise that smell of booze anywhere, come out you old fuck, I'm here to kill you." Mercury's nose twitched as he recognised that familiar stench in the air.

One second.

Two seconds.

Then clapping as Marcus Black stepped out from behind a pillar. "Look who came crawling back. You failed the last time, what makes this time any different?"

"Marcus Black, you are guilty of assassinating two members of the Vale council as well as several hundred other counts of murder and crimes against humanity. The sentence is death." Jaune declared and raised his gauss rifle.

"Oh, a Spectre eh, my I'm honoured they sent you after me. Wonder who they'll send next after I drop your body in the middle of Vale. Never killed a Spectre before, but first time for everything." Marcus Black grinned and the fight was on.

Jaune squeezed the trigger, the metal ball bearing split the air as it surged towards the older Black before being deflected to the side, impacting against a stone pillar and demolishing it. "Ricochet right?"

"Yep, one of the semblances he stole long ago, short of point-blank range, most guns don't work on him. Good thing is, it takes the same amount of aura to deflect every kind of shot no matter the speed, so just bury him in bullets." Mercury confirmed as he charged, lashing out at his father with a kick to the head.

"You stupid boy, don't you know it's rude to spill family secrets? After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me? Filthy ingrate." Marcus Black fired back and met Mercury's kicks with his own, their fighting styles completely identical and a mirror match. Jaune stood back and harassed the elder Black with his pistols, trying to distract the man long enough for Mercury to get a good hit in while wasting his aura at the same time.

"Fuck you! You sawed off my legs and stole my semblance! Give it back you asshole!" Mercury roared in anger as he continued attacking with greater fury.

"What was your semblance again? I don't even remember anymore, besides I can't give it back anyways, it doesn't work in reverse." Marcus's words caused Mercury to stumble in surprise and he didn't miss the opportunity to slam a kick into his son's midsection, his own shotgun greaves firing and causing Mercury's aura to flare up.

"What?" Mercury perked up upon hearing those words, for so long now he'd been convinced that he lost his opportunity to get back his semblance by killing his father early. Did that option never exist in the first place?

"Y-you bastard! You promised you'd give it back!" Mercury roared again as he rose back to his feet.

"Yes, well, I lied. It's not like that crutch would have saved you anyways. What a shame. Even after I upgraded your legs, you're still a weakling." Marcus tutted in disappointment before jumping away when a grenade rolled to a stop at his feet and exploded.

"Big words for a man hiding behind a stolen semblance. Dear god, you need crutches so badly you had to go steal someone else's? What? Can't stand on your own feet? Upgrade yourself then and spare us the hypocrisy." Jaune said as he continued shooting at Marcus, the bullets being deflected but slowly chipping away at his aura reserves all the same.

The veteran assassin's face morphed into a frown for a moment before returning to the cocksure smirk he'd been wearing since the start. "You have a point. Guess I am due for an upgrade, it'll make squashing you insects so much easier."

"Oh boy, that's not going to end well." Qrow muttered, sensing the imminent ass kicking.

"It burns through his aura quickly, but there's nothing stopping him from using every single stolen semblance at the same time, and he's stolen quite a lot of them." Mercury said.

"So it's attrition then, to see which side collapses first." Pyrrha analysed.

Marcus Black's body shimmered as an aura cloak formed around it, the pitch-black glow almost demonic in the shadows. Jaune blinked in shock as the assassin vanished from view, in the next instant, pain flared in his chest from a heavy impact and the Spectre was sent flying, only aura kept Jaune's ribs from being shattered with that blow.

"Super speed times four, super strength times three, increased durability times two, increased flexibility times four. Amazing how some semblances just work so well together isn't it?" Marcus chuckled as he stopped Mercury's kick with one hand, even the shotgun blast was simply absorbed by his palm.

Chuckling some more as Mercury failed to free his foot, Marcus swung, picking up his son and tossing him into the wall like a ragdoll. "This is where the two of you die. You've cost me quite the profitable gig here. So forgive me if I make this hurt."

Jaune coughed as the breath left his lungs, Marcus's boot lifting him into the air and a follow up roundhouse kick sending him through several pillars. Undeterred by the pain, Jaune scrambled back to his feet and hastily brought his hands up to guard the incoming kick.

"Kuh!" Jaune grunted as the impact sent him skidding backwards and his hands were starting to go numb from the force of the blow.

"Still standing? How much aura do you have left Spectre? You must be running low by now." Marcus mocked and approached slowly.

"Aura? Heh, hardly a problem for me." Jaune dug deep and released his breath slowly. White aura flared around him as his reserves recharged to full rapidly and he started firing on Marcus with his pistols again.

"What was that? Aura doesn't recharge that fast." Goodwitch blinked in surprise as the display defied everything she knew about aura.

"It can, it just usually doesn't. Aura is tied to the soul, there's nothing to say it can't refill that fast, it's more a question of willpower. That level of rapid regeneration though is only displayed by two individuals, Hazel Rainart and Jaune Arc." Blank said.

"Stubborn fool. No matter, I'll just beat you till you go down. Maybe I'll take your semblance too." Marcus Black sighed as his opponents continued to resist as expected. Neither his son nor the Spectre intended to go down without exhausting everything they had.

It was frustrating, no matter how hard he wailed on them, they simply refused to stay down. The Spectre had some way to constantly regenerate his aura and refill Mercury's, not to mention match his own strength and durability if not the combat skill. It was almost certainly thanks to his semblance but the two of them wouldn't give him enough time to get steal it away and his aura was starting to burn low.

As doubt begin to seep in, Marcus Black grew more and more desperate to end the fight, resorting to riskier and riskier plays for more punishing blows. And eventually, it happened, overreaching one too many times opened him up for a counter attack.

As one of Jaune's pockets was torn open by the assassin's knife-like fingers, a single canister fell out. Jaune's eyes widened as he grabbed it and shoved it into Marcus's face and pumped his aura into it to ignite the dust within.

Screwing his eyes shut as the canister of hardlight dust detonated, a wave of blistering heat seared his arm and the lights burned his eyes even through his eyelids. Marcus Black screamed as he took the full brunt of the attack to his face, reaching up and clawing at his burnt mug, his semblance enhanced strength doing more damage to himself than the exploding dust canister.

Mercury staggered back to his feet and shot forwards, shotgun greaves loaded and ready. As Marcus Black felt his approach, the man looked up with one ruined eye and received a shotgun kick to the face that shattered his aura and sent him tumbling back, defeated.

"Whoo! They won! Suck on that bad guy!" Nora applauded before pausing mid-cheer when she recalled she was cheering on both Jaune and Mercury at the same time. Her mind started twisting itself into knots as she tried to figure out what she should be doing.

"Just calm down and enjoy your popcorn Nora." Ren said and directed her attention to the half empty bucket before her mind could fry.

"Right you bastard, this is for everything you've put me through." Mercury growled out and walked over to his father, ready to put an end to things once and for all.

"Whoa, hold up, you're being too hasty here." Jaune said as he stopped Mercury from finishing off Marcus.

"Are you fucking serious!? You expect me to let him live!? After everything he's done!?" Mercury yelled, incredulous that the Spectre was asking him to stay his hand now.

"It's because of what he's done that I want you to reconsider putting a bullet in him. A quick death is more than he deserves." Jaune said.

"So what do you suggest then boss?"

"I don't know." Jaune rolled his eyes and retrieved his med kit from his pack, pulling out the saw inside and shoving it into Mercury's hands.

"Get creative. Now if you'll excuse me, he got in a few good kicks to my stomach and I can feel my dinner coming back up. So, knock yourself out." Jaune started wobbling towards a corner before giving up the fight and retching in the middle of the chamber.

Mercury stared at the saw, glanced at his legs then glared at the monster he once called father. Slowly a smile spread across his face as he began to walk towards the unconscious man, it was a good thing he had several fire dust crystals on hand for cauterizing wounds.

Oh he was going to enjoy himself, he was going to enjoy himself so much.

The screen faded to black as Marcus Black's screaming could be heard for several seconds more before being cut off.

"Damnit, I wanna see me saw off his limbs!" Mercury complained, dissatisfied with the cut and disappointed he didn't have the opportunity to do that in his own life. It would have been worth losing to his old man just to pay him back in full later.

"Yes well, you don't saw off his legs immediately, you start with the toes, then the fingers and slowly move your way upwards and once the limbs are done, you get even more creative with Jaune Arc keeping him on life support. I would show that except I'm pretty sure the boss will have my head for showing a few hours worth of torture porn." Blank said.

"Tch, oh well, at least he got what he deserved. But man, that Jaune Arc is someone I can get behind." Mercury grinned.

"Thanks? I think?" Jaune furrowed his brows in a frown.

"So what happens to all the freed slaves? They safe or what?" Yang asked.

"Indeed, the White Fang under Sienna's direction rescued them all and treated them all equally. A major PR coup for her faction and thoroughly embarrassing the Mistral council in the process. Jaune Arc's gambit with them pays off later on." Blank said.

"And what about Malachite, the one behind all this?" Ironwood asked, on one hand, he was satisfied the immediate perpetrators had been dealt with however… brutal the methods were, but on the other, the mastermind was still free to do this again.

"She pays in full don't worry, that's part of the next team member's recruitment. But for now, I'm having some technical issues, go for a short break and I'll be back with the rest of the viewing." Blank said, dispersing his audience while he worked to get the viewing back online.


Author's notes: Well, I've done it, first time I'm splitting a giant chapter into two parts. I wanted to do it all in one go but I ran out of time with work commitments. I could delay the chapter further and release it once it's done but it's been two weeks since update and I don't want to delay any longer. So, this one is more of a Mercury focus then I initially planned. This chapter was partially inspired by another fanfic featuring ALBA although it's been awhile since I read that fic and I can't remember its name. Since Marcus Black has no characterisation in canon beyond being an abusive drunk who can steal semblances, I tried working with what they gave and the more I did, the more he turned into All For One from MHA, so if I ever do an MHA chapter, that's the casting choice for him right there. If you can guess who the remaining members L and A are, you deserve a cookie.


Inspiration list:

Jaune Arc as Renegade Shep

Mercury Black as Jacob Taylor

Marcus Black as Ronald Taylor & All For One

Lil Miss Malachite as ?