Iris was in general anything but a coward, that's not to say she was reckless though it would be understandable to come to that conclusion if one were to see her in the distance leaping from building to building as she made her deliveries. However, a closer inspection would reveal that she took the risks of her job very seriously and was equipped to deal with any complications that might arise that could prove difficult for the Would-Be-Huntress with a semblance that allowed her to glide through the air. She was brave but cautious and took great pride in that, so when she returned home after a day of honest work and found the door to her apartment unlocked her sensible reaction was to drop everything she was carrying and promptly arm herself with her bow as she carefully and slowly opened the door to peek in... and see nothing.
Nothing was out of place, nothing was missing, nothing had been added and there was no sign of any intruders. At this point, any other person might have concluded they had accidentally left their door unlocked, however that was a problem that forgetful and careless people and neither applied to her. So after scanning the interior one last time she quietly entered her own home and made her way through, making sure to never leave her back exposed. It was a slow tedious process but it was one she was dedicated to seeing through, then her perseverance paid off when she saw that something was out of place in her home and it made her heart drop. The door to her special room was wide open.
"Shit!" abandoning all her earlier caution she bolted inside the room and began examining every inch from the floor to the ceiling and found to her relief that nothing seemed to have been altered, "Oh thank god! It's all still in one piece, but the open door still means that someone was in my apartment, I bet it was that bitch Thumbelina!" Making her way out of the modified closet she walked across her living room and over to her safe, opened it up, and began counting everything inside. It took a few minutes and a couple of recounts but she joyfully closed the safe find that everything was still there. Maybe I did just forget to lock the door but what about the closet? I only open it when I'm going inside and I was saving that for tonight.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door and an unknown voice was heard, "Hello, is there anyone here? Your door is wide open and you left your stuff outside, are you there?"
"Yes! I'm here! Don't worry about anything and I'll be there in a moment!" She called back and placed her bow on the ground so as not to accidentally scare who she assumed was a neighbor.
"Oh don't mind me! I'll just put your things inside for you!"
"Don't come inside!" Iris shouted as she ran to the door only to stop in shock when she saw who it was, Why? Why is Roman Torchwick standing at my door? My bow! I left it back in the closet, Shit!
Roman was just standing there looking smug and out of place has held her things up in one hand while twirling his cane in the other, "Well I have to come inside if I want to properly return this to you like a good law-abiding citizen would do unless of course, you want to come over to me." He waited for her to answer before shrugging and stepping inside her apartment without her permission and placing her stuff on the floor of her apartment. "Alright I suppose my little joke has gone too far so, can we get down to business?"
"Your little joke…you! You broke into my home! You… you saw it!" she spoke that last part in a barely audible whisper but the gentleman thief didn't need to hear her to know what she said.
"Your drug stash and that special closet? Yes, I did and can I say that I am morbidly impressed! I didn't think that it was possible for someone to get hooked on that stuff to the point where they actually figured out a way around the main effects." He took a step towards her and she instinctively took a step back not out of fear but rather to prepare herself for whatever happened next which made the master thief chuckle. "Relax I'm not here to threaten you, I have no reason to. Rather I'm here to give you a job offer!"
"I'm not a thief!"
"But you are an addict and that's what's important right now because your suppliers are going to be history before the end of the week." He paused for a moment to gauge her reaction in order to better decide which direction to take the conversation and noticed that she had a slight tremble despite her attempts to remain in control, Desperation, even the thought of going without Rage is frightening for her. For a moment he felt the pang of the tarred remains of his guilty conscience and considered just apologizing for the inconvenience and walking away to never show his face to her again but that act of kindness came at a cost he wasn't willing to pay. Though even knowing that didn't make him feel any less bad about it.
Torchwick for one moment looked away and that was all Iris needed to push as much aura as possible into her legs and dash towards the closet where she foolishly had left her weapon behind, only for something in the closet to hit her right in the face with enough force to send her sprawling on the ground clenching her head in surprise more than pain. What the fuck was that!? She could hear the sound of heels walking out of the room and towards her but without a weapon at hand, there was really nothing she could do except try and put some distance between her and whoever it was that hit her.
"Thanks for the save Neo," his partner looked right at him and walked towards him, "I was just overthinking a little I'll be fine," she pointed at Iris who was getting up. "Don't worry about her, I think she'll behave from here on. Now please keep an eye out for trouble and we'll rob an ice cream place afterward, okay?" He couldn't help but smile as he watched her happily skip out of the room as her Semblance activated, making her look like a completely different person. After she left he then turned back to the business at hand, "Look kid here's the deal. The police know where the Rage is being stored and they are going to raid it, however, they are not going to find any." This immediately caught her attention and gave her some hope, "What they will find isn't important, what is important is what will be done with the stuff."
She understood what he was getting at, "You're offering me some."
"A lifetime supply," Realizing that she would not reject the offer he reached into his coat, pulled out a picture and handed it to her, "This is your target, tomorrow you'll get a package and inside you'll find a device that you are to use on her as well as all the information you'll need. There is no time limit but I strongly recommend that you get this done as soon as possible as that's when you'll receive payment." He turned around and began walking out of the room.
"And what if I refuse? What's stopping me from just reporting this to the police?"
"Well that's an empty threat but sure, I can play along," he answered while turning around and taking a step towards the door. "The police don't have a clue about us and even if they did they have their hands full with more obvious threats but as for your retaliation. We'll do nothing to you because we don't have to, the withdrawal will do the work for us."
"Withdrawal!?" It wasn't a question but rather a realization of the situation that she was in.
"Everything comes with a price tag and your hobby is no different... I'm going to be frank with you kid. You did this to yourself, I don't know why you did it and I really don't care. But the fact is without Rage you will die and it will not be something peaceful… I'm sorry kid." Roman walked out of the apartment leaving Iris completely alone.
Dr. Riviera handed Jaune a beer mug filled with hot tea and sat down, "So Glynda has been telling me that you've improved significantly since your first exercise session, congratulations!"
"Thanks, it hasn't been easy even with all the extra help we've been receiving but we're pulling through. Though I can't help but feel nervous and it's not about whether we can physically pull it off, it's… what if I'm wrong and this drug has nothing to do with what happened to me?"
"Then I suppose you'll just have to somehow find a way to survive with the satisfaction of only playing an important role in the removal of perhaps the most dangerous drug to ever hit the streets of Vale," the Doctor answered with a smile inciting a bout of laughter from both men.
"Well if you put it that way I suppose it doesn't sound too bad," Jaune chuckled for a bit, "But you are right, I am overthinking it," he took a drink of the tea, "It's funny before all this happened to me overthinking wasn't something that anyone could accuse me of."
"Circumstances change people, besides it's far better to overthink a problem rather than ignore it completely. So please, I don't care how small it is or how insignificant it is as long as it's something you want to get off of your chest."
Jaune closed his eyes for a moment, It was just a nightmare but… "There is one thing that might be nothing or it could be everything." He knew that Rivera could be trusted to listen to everything he wanted to say but for whatever reason, the good Doctor seemed especially interested in what he had to say, which was rather encouraging for the young man. "Recently I had another nightmare and it started the same as it usually does."
"The Docks?" Rivera asked to make sure they were both on the same page.
"Yes exactly, then it transitioned to my house and sisters but after that, it transitioned again into a bar," Jaune explained.
"A bar? That is new, what happened?"
"There was this guy, I couldn't make out his face but he offered me a drink and I…," Here, a toast to the young hero…No! Please No! Keep that away from me… Mom! Dad! Saph! Please someone anyone please help me! Save me! Please! It was just a dream but he had felt so helpless, for a moment Jaune's hands began to unconsciously tremble.
"It's alright Jaune, there is nothing wrong with what you are feeling. It's actually a good thing because we cannot conquer the fears which we refuse to acknowledge." Rivera assured him, Now if only that bitch had learned that lesson...
"Thank you," composing himself Jaune looked the psychologist dead in the eye and told him, "I think I had a memory of what happened to me... a memory of how I ended up this way."
Riviera leaned in completely enraptured by what he was hearing but at the same time deeply concerned, Ozpin will want to know about this in fact he's probably recording all of this right now but that's not the real problem. The actual issue is a case of false hope if this lead turns out to be nothing it... No, he can handle it. He has the support he needs and people who will push him in the right direction.
Taking comfort in Rivera's obvious interest Jaune pushed himself forward, "In this memory or dream whatever it turns out to be, I was in a bar when this guy appeared and offered me a drink that was just wrong… and when I refused he forced the drink down my throat and a part of me just knew… that there something in that drink and that it was responsible for everything!"
There was a lot that Rivera wanted to tell him, for example, Qrow's investigation into what happened to the boy had revealed that there was indeed a man at the bar who according to witnesses had approached Jaune offering to buy him a drink under the pretense of celebrating his acceptance into Beacon. Even more interesting was according to those very same witnesses the man had left just before Jaune's problems began, but, There is nothing apart from an odd bit of timing to suggest that the guy had anything to do with this! Even if that man was responsible, we still have no idea who he actually was! I need to approach this carefully, first I need to find out what He wants to do with this revelation if that is what this is.
"I have this idea that I wanted to run by you before I try anything, " Jaune fidgeted for a moment feeling just a tinge of doubt over his idea but knew that he'd regret not bringing it up when he had the chance, "After the raid, I want to go to a bar and see if I can trigger anything."
"Alright."
"What?" Jaune was confused, That wasn't the answer I'd thought I'd get!
The Doctor was more than happy to explain himself to the poor boy, "If this is something that you feel that you need to do in order to gain some closure then, I support it. All I ask is that you'll allow me to accompany you along with anyone else you want to be there!"
*BBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZ*
The moment was shattered by the emergency alarm on Jaune' scroll going off, without hesitation, he grabbed the device and checked to see what was so important that they needed the alarm to reach him and nearly dropped the scroll when he saw what it was, "The raid is happening now!" he put down the mug and began making his way to the door.
Rivera was so shocked that he thought he must have misheard, "What!? How can that be?" he asked while watching Jaune leave and making no attempt to stop him.
"I'm sorry but I don't know!" Jaune slammed the door shut in his rush to exit leaving Riviera with nothing to do but pray for their success and safety.
Speed is king, that was a lesson that every Huntsmen worth the skin on their back knew by heart but it was so much more than physical speed, though that too was important. Situations could change in a moment and Huntsmen had to be ready to respond whenever and however it happened and they had to be flexible in their approach even if it meant doing something uncomfortable. Jaune put that lesson into practice by heading straight for the launch pads rather than the locker rooms instead he used his scroll to the send his locker on ahead to his final destination, sure it would mean having to change in public with nothing but a flimsy curtain to provide privacy but it was a small price to pay in order to arrive at the said destination as quickly as possible.
The reward for this course action was that in mere minutes he was able to reach the landing pads where his team as well as Sun and Neptune already inside the Bullhead waiting for him, "Sorry for making you all wait!" Jaune said as he climbed aboard noticing that his team was like him still dressed in their school uniforms while Sun and Neptune were already in their combat gear. Do either of them actually have a uniform? "Well I guess that means I won't be the only changing right in the middle of the street," he said with a laugh that the rest of his friends reciprocated as the Bullhead took off.
"Oh, don't worry about it Jaune! In situations like this, the lockers are programmed to land close enough to each other so that the curtains can be used to create an impromptu dressing room," Pyrrha explained with a smile before a thought entered into her head, "That does, however, mean that we'll all have to share the room with each other, will you be okay with that?"
"Absolutely," Jaune and Nora answered at exactly the same time much to the amusement of each other and of everyone else that happened to be there.
Sun opened his mouth to add something when Neptune gently elbowed him and pointed at his scroll, "Thanks man, I nearly forgot!" Sun then turned his attention to team PRAN and said, "Hey guys I'm sorry to have to kill the mood like this but this something that you all need to see before we get there," he said as he offered his scroll to Jaune and Pyrrha while Neptune shared his with Nora and Ren.
It was a live news report coming from their destination, "This is Tony Chamomile reporting live from the site of one of the two major car crashes that have completely cut off a portion of 13th street resulting in the total isolation of the buildings caught between the two accidents." The cameraman then panned away from the reporter to gain a better view of the chaos around them as a small but growing crowd was being pushed away from the police and behind the officers, there was a truck stretching across the narrow street with a couple of smaller cars closing up the gaps in such a manner that Jaune and his team soon realized were far too complete to be just an accident and the cameraman soon proved their suspicions correct as just past the impromptu wall of vehicles were several now empty vans which had been parked right in the middle of the street and past those vans laid another makeshift wall of vehicles preventing any entry. The building in question appeared to be a narrow eight-story tall apartment building that was never really completed, the first five floors were fine but after that faults began to make themselves known eventually resulting in the topmost floor missing entire sections of the wall.
But it was the sight of the barricade that made Pyrrha's eyes widen in shock as the realization hit her with the force of a train, "They knew we were coming! They somehow know that the raid was scheduled for the end of the week but, how?! Unless…," She didn't say it but they were all thinking the same thing, There's a traitor. Either in the police or… in Beacon itself.
The reporter then continued, "So far there has been no report of injury but at the same time there is currently no news in regards to the condition of anyone that may be inside the isolated buildings." The cameraman then refocused on Tony, "According to witnesses a convoy of cars drove up to what we have been told is an abandoned apartment complex early in the morning and parked right on the street as several still unidentified individuals left their vehicles and entered the building. Shortly afterward the truck then crashed itself into the walls of a neighboring building which was then followed by some of the other cars which proceed to crash the truck and into each other creating the wall that we see here and cutting themselves and the apartment off from the rest of police have arrived on the scene and attempts to communicate with ones inside the building have been made but so far they have received no response."
Jaune tightened his fists with such force that his nails began cutting into his palms but he didn't feel any pain, he didn't even notice when he started bleeding all he felt right now was his growing frustration, This was my chance to finally learn what happened to me! Even if the drug turned out to have nothing to do with it at least it would be one less thing for me to wonder, but I guess even something like that was just too much to ask! Suddenly he felt all that anger fading away, he noticed Ren's hand on his shoulder and could feel his friend Aura washing over him and taking away all that rising fury, "Thanks Ren, I needed that."
"Anytime Jaune," Ren answered as they turned their attention back on to the news.
The reporter walked up to the police captain in charge of the scene who had been waiting for him, "With me right now is Captain Jacqueline Dews who has graciously agreed to explain the situation and dispel any rumors about what is actually going on," He then offered the older woman the microphone, "Captain?"
"Well, I'm not going to waste anyone's time by beating around the bush and giving you all some half-baked truths, because at this point, you'dn't believe me and I don't blame you. So here is what's really going down, we are moving forward with the assumptions that the witness reports are true and therefore we are treating this as a hostile takeover," she explained.
"So what does that exactly mean?" Tony asked for the sake of the audience.
"It means that we're bringing in a SWAT team to breach and enter the building which we will do so with the aid of some of Beacon's students who are on their way as we speak. Furthermore, my officers are doing their best to find all other possible entrances into the building while police negotiators will continue to attempt to make contact all the way until the last moment. Vale's Central Hospital has been informed and is sending paramedics over while preparing to receive patients," she stated bluntly to Tony's surprise.
"Thank you for sharing so much Captain I'm sure everyone back home appreciates your honesty!"
"It was my pleasure, besides if there is even a fraction of a chance that whoever is inside is watching this then it's wor-!," suddenly she was cut off by an alarm on her scroll going off and grabbing her attention. She quickly checked the scroll to see what was going on before silencing the alarm and turning back to the reporter, "I'm sorry Tony but I'm going to need you to make some space, the assistance from Beacon will be here soon."
"We will?" Pyrrha asked much to the confusion of Sun and Neptune.
"You live here, so shouldn't you know?" Neptune asked.
"Actually, I'm a student here, not a citizen. If anyone knows how close we are it would be Jaune," Pyrrha answered much to Jaune's surprise.
"Why would I know about Vale's capital, when I'm Mistralian?" He asked.
"What!?" Nora shouted, "How come you never told us you were from Mistral? I'm Mistralian too and so is Ren but you already knew that, wait... Wait for a second!" Her eyes narrowed as she started to scratch her chin in deep thought, "How is it that Team PRAN is made up of four foreign students all from the same kingdom when the process was supposed to be random? And on top of that, we are working together with two other students from the same kingdom!" With dramatic flair Detective Nora made her case, "There is something foul afoot!" She dramatically declared capturing the full attention of everyone around her!
"Actually, I'm from Vacuo," replied Sun.
"Well there goes that theory and I guess it's really isn't that weird now that I think about it," Nora admitted.
However Neptune wasn't ready to let it go just yet, "Wait, how is that not weird?"
Nora gave the guy a big smile before happily launching into an explanation, "Well Rem and I were always going to be partners, likewise Pyrrha had already decided she wanted Jaune as her partner, and let's be honest there was no way he was ever going to escape her!" Realizing how bad that sounded Pyrrha tried to interject in order to explain but Nora just kept going much to her embarrassment, "After that, we all just happened to pick the castle piece resulting in PRAN! So how does Haven make teams?"
"Well you go through initiation first and if you worked with anyone during the trial then you're partnered with them and after that, it's a lottery to fill in the gaps," Neptune explained, "I worked with Sun which made us partners and both Sage and Scarlet were from the lottery."
Sun opened his mouth to help explain, further stopped when he felt the Bullhead slowing down and then the doors opened up revealing the barricaded street below. Looking out he saw the police keeping people away from the lockers that were already there and awaiting their owners, "Alright, Neptune and I will go talk to the captain while you guys get ready! Deal?"
"Deal!" They answered together before jumping out a team.
The plan itself was rather simple: Jaune and Nora, who were the most durable, would be a part of Entry Team A which made up the bulk of the SWAT forces. Their job would be to breach and enter the building from the front which would hopefully draw the attention of all potential hostiles. That would allow Ren, Neptune, and Sun who were stationed on the roof with Entry Team B to enter the building from either the door or the windows, once inside they would sweep the upper floors for any stragglers, hostages or anything else of interest. Meanwhile, Pyrrha who was the best marksman out of all them would be hidden outside in a strategic location working together with the other riflemen teams who would be providing watchful eyes and, if absolutely necessary, supporting fire. The rest of the police force would form a perimeter around the building ready to catch any runner or intercept any reinforcements and Captain Dews would be observing the situation through the built-in cameras on everyone's equipment and issuing orders through the use of earbuds and radios that everyone had equipped. Lethal force was to be avoided if possible however as long as Rage was taken off the streets for good the Council was prepared to accept all responsibility for whatever may happen here.
Given the weight of everything, Jaune couldn't help but feel nervous as he stood in front of the building with Nora and an entire Entry Team right behind him but he wasn't scared and he knew that he wasn't alone in feeling this way, after spending so much time with Nora he learned how to tell when she was jittering around out of excitement and when she was doing it out of nervousness and this time it was a little bit of both. Even the men behind them seemed a bit apprehensive and who could blame them? You cannot conquer what you refuse to acknowledge, that was perhaps the best piece of advice that his father ever gave him, It's certainly much better than, all you need is confidence. Deploying his shield but leaving the sword in its sheath for now he took a few practice swings with a police baton that he had been generously lent, it would take some getting used to but thanks to Glynda's training he wasn't a complete novice and if things went wrong then… he looked at his sword, Let's hope that things don't go wrong. Marching up to the front door he stood to one side as Nora stood on the other with Magnhild in grenade launcher form. The only thing keeping them from going through the door was that they were awaiting the signal from Captain Dews who watched wearily as the Negotiator grew more and more frustrated with the lack of any response before finally giving up.
The signal received, Jaune took a deep breath and kicked the door wide open and moved out of the way as Nora fired a flashbang that soon went off signaling the true start of the raid. With his shield raised, he led the charge and entered the building's main lobby and found it to his great relief found it devoid of people but also noted the lack of furniture, Well that explains why they never answered back. In mere moments he was joined by the rest of the Entry Team who began spreading out and searching the floor for any sign of the drugs or for anybody at all, it was a thorough process that required entering every room and searching it from top to bottom peeking into every corner and investigating anything that could even be conceivably be used to hide anything at all. To be frank, it was a task that would require the rest of the day to complete to satisfaction, But if it is what it takes then I'm more than happy to do it, he thought to himself as he entered a room and began sweeping it.
The first step was to make sure that the dwelling was truly unoccupied which was a lesson that Glynda made sure that he and the rest of his team understood and knew how to do properly. Fortunately, a few other members of the Entry Team followed him through the door and if they ran into any trouble there were plenty of others that would come to their aid. But it would be even better if they didn't have too, thought Jaune to himself as he carefully looked inside a closet only to find nothing which was begging to worry him, The whole reason we are here is because of that wall of cars just outside and the men who forced their way inside this building so if we can't find them here than that means they are on the upper floors. He continued his search through the room this time moving to what he assumed would be a bathroom and entering it with his shield raised but just like the closet, it was empty. But why? Why go to the upper floors? They knew we were coming henceforth the cars to slow us down but then why go to where there is no way out… What's their goal? Suddenly his radio came to life and he heard Pyrrha and more importantly, he heard the concern in her voice.
"There's movement on the third floor," Pyrrha reported through the radio, "It's a man, he's alone and appears unarmed but he is acting weird, I think he's sick!"
"Copy that, continue to monitor him and keep me up to date," Captain Dews answered her before addressing everyone else inside the building, "Clear the floor you are on first before heading upstairs, remember that they can't leave the building without us knowing so focus on checking everything!"
"Yes, sir!"
Jaune was feeling rather conflicted over that news, on one hand, it meant that he was now one step closer to learning either something about his condition or crossing a potential lead off of the list which also helped him but, Ren, Sun and Neptune will probably be sent in soon and now we know that there are people up there which mean that a fight might be unavoidable… Leaving the bathroom he found that the officer that had entered with him had already checked every other room in this particular dwelling and were about to move on so with no reason to stay he joined them so they could continue the search elsewhere, This isn't a big apartment building so we must be nearly done on this floor which means that we'll be-!, He was snapped out of his thoughts by Nora's voice coming through his radio.
"Um, I think we might have a problem," she suddenly spoke, "I'm standing in front of a wall that according to the blueprints you gave us to study, shouldn't exist. I'm sending you a picture of it now"
Captain Dews quickly answered, "Copy that, I've received the photo and we have your location we're going to double-check this against our own copy of the blueprints so, for now, standby and await further instructions, Jaune I want you there with her and be ready for combat. The rest of Entry team A can ascend to the second floor as soon as the first is secure. Entry team B, I want you to enter the building now and do a sweep through, prioritize caution. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
The sound of several boots hitting the floor echoed through the hall as Entry Team B landed safely on the topmost floor and began to sweep it, which was a process that was wouldn't take any longer than a minute or two since the construction on this floor was never finished leaving very few places for someone to hide or hide something. Soon enough they were done and were making their way down to the seventh floor with Sun leading the charge, "I don't like this," the leader of team SSSN spoke to his friends Neptune and Ren as they went through the door to the seventh floor and began the process again, "We're going to end up trapping these guys between ourselves and the Entry Team below when that happens there's going to be a fight and that's not something I'm looking forward to," Sun explained.
"Do you doubt we can handle it?" Ren asked as he made the way through the barren floor finding it almost as empty as the one above, "Or do you think we've been tricked somehow?" he added remembering the wall that Nora had found.
"Definitely the latter, everything about this is just too weird," Sun answered.
Pyrrha's voice came through the radio again, "The man earlier is heading to the stairs, he's going down to the second floor and… there's someone else and… they're fighting each other!"
Captain Dews quickly answered, "Entry Team A, send some people up there now! Nora, I need you to wait a little longer."
"Right away, Sir!"
The line went silent and without anything needing to be said the three of them along with the rest of the Entry Team made their way to the sixth floor where once again they found nothing and no one out in the open waiting for them but, unfortunately, they couldn't move on just yet. When the apartment had been built the construction workers had been able to build a few rooms on this floor which had to be searched before they could move on, "There's no doors or furniture up here so the chances of anything hidden here is small," Neptune observed as he ran into one of the rooms and just like he had hoped found it devoid of anything at all, "Clear!" he shouted before running into another room to repeat the process but then the radio came to life again.
"This is Franklin from Entry Team A, we've found the two men from earlier, they're dead. I don't know what happened but it seems that they killed each other. Wait second, I just heard something… there are people locked inside the rooms here!"
"Damn it," Captain Dews answered grimly, "Let the people in those rooms know that help is coming but wait for the rest of your team before trying to-!" Suddenly Pyrrha's voice along with several of the other riflemen joined together in a confusing chorus that interrupted the Captain who along with everyone else was trying to interpret what they were saying, "Enough!" The Captain finally shouted, silencing everyone, "Browns, what is happening?"
"Sir, on the third and fourth floor…"
Before the man to could finish Sun, Neptune and Ren were already speeding down the stairs skipping past the fifth floor and going right into the fourth floor and when they got there they were struck with the sight rattling doors, their ears were assaulted with the sound of pounding limbs and angry screams and then one of the doors suddenly broke wide open and a man came stumbling out of the room his fists clenched in fury and his knuckles raw and bleeding. The sight of that blood made the trio realize to their horror that the man before them did not have his Aura unlocked which meant that he was almost certainly a civilian and when he turned to face them their hearts sank further, "Rage," Ren spoke in a soft whisper, "That man is high on Rage which must mean the other two men that Pyrrha saw earlier, the ones who killed each other… shit."
With a feral cry, the drugged man threw himself at the huntsmen not caring how much damage he did to his own body as long as he had something he could take his fury out on but he never reached them as Neptune raised his rifle and shot the man bringing him down. "He's not dead," Neptune explained, "Tri-Hard uses lighting Dust and I can lower the settings to turn this thing into a taser but…," Another door broke open and before the occupant could fully emerge a bolt of electricity shot through his body and rendered him unconscious just like the first man. "Aura or no Aura these guys are not going to stay down forever," Several doors broke as a handful of men and women both human and Faunus started forcing themselves out and some of them were even armed with makeshift clubs made of what looked to be broken furniture and whatever else might have been in those rooms.
While both Sun and Neptune braced themselves for a fight Ren used his radio to contact the Captain, "There are civilians trapped in these rooms and they have all been drugged with Rage, we need to-!" Sun pushed him out of the way of a brick that had been thrown by one of the many people suffering in that hallway and they watched in horror as the sound of the brick hitting the wall behind drew the attention of every single one of those people.
"Those guys are armed!" one of the drugged men cried pointing at Neptune.
"Are you trying to fuck with me?" screamed another as the entire mob turned their entire focus onto the three in front of them and began surging forward.
Ren holstered Storm Flowers as Neptune switched Tri-Hard into Trident mode and Sun engaged the safeties on his own weapon Ruyi and Jingu Bang but kept it in staff mode, they were prepared to defend themselves but would be damned if in the process they killed or crippled any of these victims but behind them, they could hear the footsteps of the approaching Entry Team and below themselves, they could hear the of some commotion on the third floor and they shuddered. As well trained and experienced the SWAT were, they were not Huntsman and that meant they would have to try to fight harder and go further to keep themselves safe. No matter what they did here, people were going to die.
The sound of violence occurring just upstairs could not overpower the thunderous sound of Magnhild hitting the fake wall with the force of a lightning bolt tearing it down with a loud crash and kicking up a cloud of dust and debris so thick that Nora had to use her arms to cover her face while Jaune simply used his shield to cover his, the pair then waited for the cloud to settle down before peeking through the destroyed remains of the wall finding what appeared to be a small room no bigger than a walk-in closet. For a moment they felt an incredible wave of relief wash over them, then they looked down and their blood turned to ice when they saw a trapdoor leading to god knows where. Jaune hesitated for a moment and glanced at the ceiling, I should be up there fighting but anything could happen down there, and if anyone has to get hurt I'd rather it be me. He took a step forward but stopped when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Nora looking right at him.
"Go on up Jaune, I can handle this." She said with a smile as she tried to take a step forward but then felt his hand on her own shoulder holding her back.
"I appreciate the offer, I really do but your weapon isn't really suited for fighting in a tunnel but mine is. I should be the one doing this while you help Ren out," Just saying that made him feel like scum and that feeling only grew when he saw the way Nora narrowed her eyes as he brought up her partner and best friend. I know it's a low blow but this way if something goes wrong only I'll get hurt.
"Jaune… I know that I act like a hyperactive squirrel but I'm not an idiot, I know what you're doing and I hate it." he didn't know what to say and Nora wasn't going to give him a chance, "You want me to go up there because you know that no one up there can hurt me but maybe something down there can, that's why you brought up Ren, that's why you're trying to go down there so you can take the risk yourself! Well, I'm not going to let you do it alone!" Nora angrily declared.
"Then how about I go downstairs?" Both Jaune and Nora turned around to see who was it that spoke and found their team leader Pyrrha standing there and looking at them both, "Captain Dews was upset that you didn't wait for her permission to smash the wall but, she changed her mind when she saw the trapdoor and sent me," She said as she pointed at the camera that they were all wearing as part of the raid.
He, however, wasn't ready to give this up "Pyrrha you don't have to, I can-!"
She cut him off, "As your friend, I'm asking you to trust me and to stop pushing yourself so hard, just because you can regenerate doesn't mean that I or any of us are okay with having to watch you constantly having to literally pull yourself together every time something goes wrong." She watched as a pained guilty look came across her partner's face however she didn't relent but she didn't want him to feel bad either so with a Champion smile she added "Besides, neither you or Nora actually want to go down there so let me do it!" her smile faded and turned into a frown, "Besides things aren't going well up there, they're holding them back for now but Rage… does things to people, now go!"
He stared at Pyrrha for a moment before turning to the door and walking out with Nora but before he was gone he had one more thing to add, "When this is over I have something I want, no, I need to tell all of you. So until then you better stay safe." Ozpin isn't going to like this but he doesn't have to know, with that thought he and Nora headed upstairs towards the fight as she watched them both leave.
Once they were gone Pyrrha offered a silent wordless prayer for their safety and when it was done she found herself surprised that she did it at all, religion was never a passion of hers and while she believed in Fate, the subject of deities was another matter. But still, that unspoken prayer did help alleviate her worries just a little and that was enough for her. Turning her attention to the task before her, she walked up to the trap door and began to search it for means to open but found nothing. There must be a mechanism somewhere or I can just use my semblance, There was no contest and in mere seconds the door was forced wide open.
Then the smell hit her, it was oddly sweet in a rather sickening way but there were other smells mixed in as well that she couldn't identify, she reached for the radio and called it in," Captain I've opened the door and there's a passageway with an odd smell so I'm going to request a mask before a go in… thank you, Captain," Now all she had to do was wait.
Iris was in general anything but a coward but she was desperate and despite how much she might want to argue she could not deny that Roman was right, she was hopelessly addicted. That was why she was standing on top of a building nearby the site of the raid, that was why she abandoned the professionalism that she always prided herself for having just so she could stand like a slack jaw idiot and do nothing. Damn, you Roman! You knew that I would come here, that's why you told me about this raid because you wanted me to suffer! Deep down she knew that wasn't true but right now she couldn't care less about the truth.
"This is Delta four, three hostiles on the third floor west hall are about to break free from their room," said an unknown speaker which caught Iris' attention and sent her on the hunt.
Carefully following the voice she soon found the source, it was a rifleman and his spotter at work in their sniper nest overlooking the raid just like she was but most importantly they were not aware of her presence, how could they? Semblances like hers were rare and even then this was pure coincidence, it was by pure chance that the building they chose to set up happened to be the same one she chose to land on, it wasn't their fault for not taking this extreme rarity into account. But now that I'm here, what I'm I going to do next? Maybe I can… for a moment she imagined herself taking the rifle from their hands and using it to sow chaos among the officers in the building, It would be easy to take care of these two… she thought as she lifted her bow and reached for her quiver. Besides, I need that stuff or I'll die! Their actions are going to get me killed, so this isn't murder, this is self-defense!
The first arrow struck the rifleman in the neck killing her instantly, the second arrow struck the spotter in the shoulder as he turned around to face his attacker and the third arrow hit him in the chest and pierced his lung filling it with blood, realizing that he would soon die he tried to reach for the radio. However, Iris reached him first, and with a knife finished him off, afterward she pulled her arrows out of their bodies and used her knife to mutilate the wounds, enlarging them and making it impossible to tell that it had been an arrow that killed them.
She then took aim with the rifle.
Jaune and Nora reached the second floor just as the first bullet shattered through a window and hit an officer right in the gut causing him to bend over in pain with a cry that startled his comrades who sprung to help him. Then a second bullet flew into the room and hit another officer who fell, splitting the remaining officers' attention between the two who had been wounded by the unseen sniper and the horde trying to overrun them. Unfortunately, even in their drug-addled state the victims of Rage recognized an opportunity when they saw one, so they surged forward, their bodies crashing into the weakened human barricade of the SWAT and tried to dismantle it with a chorus of feral angry cries and bleeding knuckles with broken fingers lashing out and occasionally landing blows, their augmented strength causing every hit to strike with far greater force than normally possible and further destroying their hands in the process.
"Everyone cover your eyes!" Nora cried as she fired a flashbang into the savage crowd, blinding them as she ran past the officers alongside Jaune only stopping when they had reached the front line of the fighting. With her hands she grabbed the first of the blinded attackers and held him over her head before throwing him back towards his kin and knocking them over, "Everyone whose wounded or tired get out and warn the Captain about the sniper," She cried before running into the fight.
Jaune could hear bone cracking with every swing of his borrowed baton, each impact causing another person to crumble to the floor and lay still, for a moment he regretted ever coming here, "Brothers, these must be the people who've been disappearing ever since the Drug hit the streets… who would do something like this?" He wasn't asking anyone in particular and he seriously doubted he would be getting an answer in this lifetime, somethings just could never be understood and the sheer malicious that a person would need to have to have in order-
A bullet hit the side of his head and he fell to the floor.
Fortunately for him, the bullet did not enter his brain, it hit far too low for that but that didn't mean that it was harmless, far from it. The bullet penetrated through the cheekbone which shattered upon contact with the hot lead which as it continued its journey blazing a singed trail of gore in his flesh and popping his eyeballs as it made its way through his head until emerging from the other side in a shower of bone and blood and before finally coming to a rest inside a wall. For a moment Jaune was blind but he could still hear the sound of someone shouting his name, he could feel the blood pouring out of the wound and covering his face, he could feel his flesh starting to knit itself back together and he could feel someone grabbing a hold of him and pulling him forward, at first he thought that it was Nora keeping from falling, "Thanks for the-!"
A fist smashing against his face soon dispelled that idea, then he felt another set of hands grabbing Crocea Mors and trying to pull the shield out of his hands, Shit I can't let them disarm me! Ignoring whoever it was punching him, Jaune swung the Baton at the person who was trying to take his shield and broke their arms, then he swung again this time was whoever it was who had struck him and broke their jaw. By this time his eyes had regenerated enough to allow him to see blurry shapes and colors, the fight was beginning to come to a close as Nora used her grenade launcher to fire nonlethal shock grenades into the group to bring them down as the rest of the SWAT swarmed forward to secure them.
"We got this!" Someone shouted, "Go on and help the guys on the next floor, they're about to be overrun!"
Jaune headed toward the stairs following a pink and white blur that he assumed was Nora and has his eyes recovered he found to his pleasure that he was right about who that blur was but that soon faded as he thought about what had happened back there, Who was firing at us? Why would they fire at us? He pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and followed Nora as she was about to open the door when she suddenly slipped and fell backward, fortunately, he was able to catch her.
"Thank you for the save, Jaune." Now back on her feet, she looked at the floor to what it was that had made her slip and gasped, it was blood. There was blood seeping from under the door and onto the floor, to make matters worse the pair were slowly becoming aware of just how eerily silent everything was, the fighting was already over."We're too late…," She whispered as she looked at her weapon and wondered to herself, If I had just used the hammer instead of holding back… no, I can't think like that. She nodded to him and took up position right behind him with the Magnhild in grenade launcher form at the ready and together they went through the door.
There were several bodies on the floor, some SWAT but it was mostly the victims of the drug, fortunately, none of the bodies were that of Sun, Ren, or Neptune though that didn't necessarily mean they were okay. Something had gone horribly wrong and it wasn't too hard to figure out what had happened, "That sniper, that goddamn sniper I swear if they harmed even a hair on Ren's body!" Nora growled as she stepped forward alongside Jaune who was using his shield to protect himself and her just in case the gunman was still out there looking for a target. Taking a moment to glance at his face she found that it hadn't fully regenerated leaving a scar that would fade in time, as for his eyes they weren't done just yet, Looks like I'll be doing this by myself. She carefully walked up to the first police officer and began checking to see if he was okay, Unconscious with what appears to be a head wound but alive thanks to his helmet.
"Shit, we were too late," said Sun as he walked into the hallway from a door on the other side of the building as Ren and Neptune followed.
"Ren!" Before anyone else could say anything Nora bolted across the hallway and embraced her best friend and partner who was more than happy to return the favor. "I was so worried about you," She turned to Sun and Neptune and pulled them into a hug as well, "I was so worried about all of you! We all were!"
"Guys, what happened?" Jaune asked.
Neptune answered while looking at the carnage in front of him, "We heard there was trouble on the second floor so we went on ahead and cleared a path for the guys who were with us… that damn sniper ruined everything," nothing more needed to be said and after a few more seconds they got to work trying to save as many as they could.
When the requested Gas mask had arrived it came with a group of police officers eager to finally put an end to the raid, which was something that Pyrrha could understand and appreciate but as she descended the stairs into the basement she couldn't help but feel nervous wondering if she would have what it took to defend these men should something happen, None of them have their Auras unlocked and they aren't even SWAT but then again I suppose they do know what they're getting into… She ran up ahead, not to try and get away from them but rather to make herself the target of anyone or anything that was lying in wait.
But there was no ambush, there was no opposition of any kind. What she and cops found was a storage room with rows of well organized and sealed barrels, a safe that had the combination written on a note taped onto the front and a bookshelf filled with several notebooks that upon inspection was a complete and detailed account of the entire operation and finally one last door all the way in the back that opened to a crudely built tunnel that led to the sewers which sadly meant that people they were after were already long gone.
The feeling that Pyrrha and the others had was complex, on one hand, everything that they had found in this room was enough to shut down the whole operation several times over and even take down many dealers in the process, so in that regard, the raid was a slam dunk success. However, the casualties that had been sustained made it hard to celebrate and the fact that the people who had triggered the raid were gone without a trace made everything else feel almost hollow. They didn't even have any idea about who the sniper was or whether they had anything to do with people behind the drug. It was technically a victory but, This feels like a defeat, she thought to herself as she searched the room once, this time using the notebook for double-checking everything, "16, 17 and finally 18barrels in total and according to this," she flipped through a few pages, "These barrels contain Rage," for a moment she considered opening one to see how the stuff looked like but soon decided against it, Perhaps there some information in the notebooks. She began flipping through notes, Let's see, according to this they started with 30 barrels and used up 11 before we, wait they only used 11 barrels?! She put the notebook down and began counting the barrels in the basement once more, attracting the attention of the cops who were with her.
"Did you find something?" an officer asked, eager to find any lead.
Pyrrha held up the notebook and pointed towards the barrels, "According to this list they started with 30 barrels and used up 11 but there are 18 barrels here! There is still a barrel full of Rage somewhere out there!"
Author's Notes: Well that's the end of the Rage arc and it only a hint of what is to come. But before any of that, I am going to rewrite the story up to now. Don't worry, I'll be working on the new chapter as I rewrite but I won't upload it until I'm done, as for the rewritten chapters you won't have to read them to understand what's going on. I'm just rewriting them in order to expand, clarify, and keep everything as consistent as possible.
Also, I will keep everyone updated on which chapter has been rewritten along if any changes, thank for reading and I hope you'll stick with me I continue to drive this trainwreck!