That night, Julius was sitting on a roof overlooking the highway, looking over the picture of the murder scene he had taken on his scroll. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking at; whoever did this obviously didn't care that he left a mess behind. He had sent it to Ruby and Weiss and was now discussing it with them.
"I've never seen or heard of anyone who openly murders White Fang soldiers." Weiss said, "This is rather interesting."
"Wouldn't he have been stealthier about it though?" Ruby asked.
"I was thinking that same thing," Julius said, "But there might actually be a reason he did this."
"What reason?" Weiss asked.
"The only reason you would murder someone out in the open like this is because you're trying to send a message. In this case, I think he's sending a message to the White Fang."
"What message?"
"Don't know. What's weirder is that I think another faunus did this."
"Really? What makes you say that?"
"I know different slash marks, and these are WAY too wide and inaccurate to be swords or any other blade weapons."
"He's got a point, Weiss," Ruby said, "These marks are way too jagged."
"So, what you're saying is that there's another faunus fighting the White Fang?" Weiss said.
"That's my only real guess." Julius replied.
Suddenly, Blake called in to each of their scrolls: "Guys, if you can hear me we need…"
"HEEEEEELLLP!" Sun cried, "We're being chased by some giant robot thing! That Torchwick guy's driving it!"
"Where are you?" Julius said, just as he saw a giant mech suit run down the highway some distance in front of him.
"Nevermind," Julius said, deactivating and putting away his scroll. Drawing his sword, he teleported across the rooftops until he reached the road the mech was on, unaware of the invisible figure of Hector Amitola behind him who had been listening in on his whole conversation.
As he listened in, Hector quickly figured out that Julius was not a sympathizer of the White Fang, so he vouched to stay hidden and not attack, unlike the White Fang soldiers he had encountered in an alley earlier that day. Julius was not supposed to see the bodies there, but Hector didn't mind; as long as the White Fang saw the bodies, he considered the mission complete. Then, he had heard Blake's voice over the scroll and was taken aback; Blake had defected? He decided to keep a closer eye on this Julius character in the future.
Meanwhile, Julius made it to the building next to the highway, and saw the mech rampaging down the street. Not bothering to take a second look. Julius teleported straight on top of the mech, driving his sword into it. Then, he realized that the force of the sword caused the mech to lose its footing and fall off the bridge.
"Oh, COME ON!" he yelled as the mech fell. He yanked his sword out and teleported to the ground just as the mech crashed. As he landed, he saw the rest of Team RWBY arrive just as the mech stood up to face the group.
"So, what's the plan?" Julius asked.
"Freezerburn!" Ruby called. Julius had no idea what that meant, but her team somehow did. Weiss and Yang sprang into action, Weiss firing a bolt of ice, then Yang shooting it with her Ember Celica, creating a thick mist around the mech. Ruby kept calling out different codenames for attacks, but, since he had no idea what any of them meant, Julius decided to do his own thing, teleporting around the mech to confuse it, blasting it with his shotgun as he did. Suddenly, the mech backhanded him, sending him flying into a pillar. Collapsing to the ground, Blake ran over with a shout of: "Julius!" Kneeling down, she started shaking him to try and wake him up.
Meanwhile, Yang. Seeing Julius get the daylights knocked out of him, turned to the mech, anger building up; no one touches one of her siblings and lives. She ran towards the mech, firing bolts as she did. The shots damaged, but it still wasn't enough; the mech kicked Yang into the air, then punched her so hard, she smashed right through a concrete pillar.
"Yang!" Weiss said.
"It's okay." Ruby said, "She gets stronger the more hits she takes. It's what makes her special."
As she said this, Yang slowly got up, her eyes turning red and her hair lighting on fire. Charging at the mech with insane speed, she jumped up and drove a fist into the front of the mech, shattering it with one punch. As it fell apart, Roman fell out and hit the ground. As he got back up, Roman turned to see Yang fire a shot at him. Suddenly, Neo dropped down, blocking the projectile with her parasol. Julius finally woke up, and, taking Blake's hand to help stand up, they ran to join the others.
Seeing Julius, Roman narrowed his eyes.
"Well," he said, "Looks like this is my exit. Neo, if you would."
Neo slung her parasol over her shoulder and took a bow, just as Yang shot forward to punch Roman, but as she did, both Roman and Neo shattered into glass.
"What the.." Ruby said just as an airship appeared next to them, Roman and Neo inside. As it flew off, Julius stomped his foot in frustration: "He got away!"
"Looks like he's found a new henchman," Yang said.
"I guess you could say she made our plans…fall apart?" Weiss said.
Ruby and Julius chuckled, but Yang walked by saying, "No, just no."
"What? Hey you do it." Weiss asked.
"There's a time and a place for jokes."
"Was this not one of them?"
"No, it just wasn't very good."
"Well at least I'm trying." Weiss said, following the others as they walked off. Julius came up next to Weiss and said: "That actually was pretty good. She's just jealous because it was better than 90% of the puns she makes."
"I heard that!" Yang shouted.
Weiss smiled: "Well, at least someone appreciates when I try. Come to think of it, Julius, I actually admire your music skills as well."
Julius furrowed his eyebrows: "You could hear that?"
"Well, our rooms aren't exactly soundproof; I can hear you playing on that guitar every night."
"You actually like it?"
"Of course. I have an ear for musical talent, being a singer myself."
"You can sing?"
"Mhm. One of the best in Atlas."
Julius thought for a bit, than came up with an idea.
"Y'know, Weiss," he said, "I can sing a little bit, but I could use a second singer like you, if what you say is true."
"You're saying we should join our talents in music?" Weiss said, starting to light up.
"Only if you want to." Julius said, "I won't force anything on you."
"You won't have to, because I accept. To be honest. There is a song I have been thinking of making, but I never had the time to do it on my own."
"I'm open to ideas. So, you wanna team up."
Weiss smiled at him: "I would be honored."
"If you and Julius are teaming up on music," Yang said, "I'm interested to see what you guys come up with."
"Same!" Ruby said, "I'm getting excited just thinking about it."
"Well, we gotta make a song first," Julius said, "I'll start with whatever Weiss has in mind. The sooner we get that down while it's fresh in her mind, the better the song will be."
"Can't wait." Blake said.
"Oh, and thanks for helping me wake up back there, Blake," Julius said, winking at her. Blake turned away and smiled, blushing: "You're welcome, Julius."
Yang and Ruby looked at each other and smirked; Blake and Julius were DEFINITELY into each other, whether they admitted it or not.
After a few moments of walking in silence, Ruby said, "Wait, where are Sun and Neptune?"
Julius looked around: "Don't know, but they definitely missed out on the fun stuff, and now WE get to rub it in their faces."
"Yeah, we do," Yang said as the and Julius fist bumped.
…
That night, as Team RWBY slept in their bunks, Blake woke up to something tapping on the window. Walking over, she opened the window and looked out, but nothing was there, and she was about to go back to bed.
"Wait." Said a voice. Startled, Blake looked to the right to see Hector materialize right next to her, hanging upside down from a branch with his tail. Blake almost gasped in fright.
"Hector?" she said.
"It's been a long time. I'm surprised you still recognize me." Hector said.
"What are you doing here?"
"Sabotaging the White Fang. I heard they were up to something big, and so I'm here to stop it."
Blake remembered to before they had gone to bed, when Julius had showed them the picture of the murder scene. Suddenly, the slash marks on the bodies became familiar.
"YOU killed those White Fang soldiers." She said.
"I was sending a message to the White Fang."
"What message?"
"That I'm still here, and I'm going to stop them."
"I'm all for stopping them as well, but you can't just kill everyone. Those are other faunus too."
"They've been doing the same thing to other faunus for a while; that's what made me leave the White Fang to begin with. It's about time those murderers got what they deserved."
Blake sighed, there was no changing his mind, and she said, "There has to be another way. If we do what you're doing, we're no better than the White Fang ourselves."
Hector scowled: "Have it your way. Just keep in mind that I'll so everything I can to crush the Fang, one way or another."
"Well, that's one thing we can agree on. Come to think of it, why are you even here?"
"I overheard one of your friends discuss the little mess I left behind. When I heard your voice, I thought you had abandoned the Fang, as I did. I came here to make sure, to see if I could finally find another ally."
"I'll help you, but I won't kill them."
"Fine, more enemies to take down for me." And with that, Hector vanished. Blake sighed; Hector was always a bit trigger happy, but it seemed as if he was starting to go insane from his desire to destroy the Fang. She knew she had to help him soon, or he might end up too far gone. For now, though, she closed the window and went back to bed, she would need all her strength for tomorrow.
Author's note: Yes, Hector Amitola has finally appeared. He'll be a more minor character until a later volume. I'll specify which one when we get to it.