Chapter 1

Behind the Masks

Qrow was sipping on his flask when Ironwood and the Mason twins' holograms erupted from the floor in the headmaster's tower. It was time for Zander to check in with the rest of Alpha team.

Headmistress, Goodwitch rubbed her eyes as Nia appeared as well, she was exhausted, but this was important.

"We've finalized our plans for Jacques Schnee; now we're just waiting for the right time," Charlie announced.

Ironwood nodded in agreement and said, "Charlie is quite the tech wiz. not only do we have the data to bring Jacque down, but his analysis of the Black queen virus has allowed us to overhaul our cybersecurity completely."

Qrow gave ironwood a smug look and said, "wow, James, it turns out working with others closely can pay off."

Ironwood turned away, clearly resenting Qrow's bluntness.

Zander pointed to the Mason twins abruptly and said, " oh, before I forget, Z finished the new items you wanted, so he'll deliver them soon."

The Mason twins nodded; the things Z had been working on would be very handy for the mission at Jauque's fundraiser.

"Things are slow here, but I've managed to track down a few white fang members in contact with Adam Taurus. I managed to tap their communications, but for now, nothing of note," Nia admitted.

Zander sighed and said, "I got my wings handed to me by a bunch of new Grimm; seems like Salem's new friends in the Shadow Collective are supplying her with pokemon DNA,"

"Great, even more, new threats from your world…" Ironwood scoffed before backing off from seeing the Mason Twins scowl. He wasn't exactly wrong, but his tone was far too harsh at "Your world."

Zander shook his head and said, "regardless, Team JNPR and Ms. Rose are fine, but Lupin let a bit of intel slip. His group seems very interested in white matter."

"White matter? Is that what Ms. Rose's eyes are powered by?" Gyndla questioned.

Just then, a portal opened, and Connor Malcolm emerged, saying, "Yes, and it's an incredibly rare source of energy. The essence of creation itself, so rare in fact that Miss Rose is only the second being I know of capable of wielding it."

Glynda shook her head at the new arrival and said, "stop doing that….What could Lupin use this energy for? And who have you met with this power?"

Malcolm chuckled and replied, "A story for another time, regardless your guess is as good as mine, scientific data is nonexistent for white matter; all we know is it can power things."

"Did you only pop out of nowhere just to explain this?" Qrow questioned.

"No, more importantly, I've found someone that all three of you will be very happy to see; come on though, my young friend," Malcolm said with a look to Qrow Ironwood and Glynda.

Out of the portal came a short boy around 14 years of age. His skin was tanned, and he had freckles on his cheeks. His hair was black, and his eyes were hazel, the main iris being forest green, with accents of burnt orange and yellow around his pupils. The youth was wearing a dirty, scuffed white shirt that had laces across the chest. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and there was a pocket on the left tricep. Orange suspenders held up his olive pants, which were tucked into worn, brown boots. The pants were patched over the knees, and a quilted cloth hung loosely out of his left pocket. He wore orange gloves, with green straps overlapping across the back of the hand in an X shape and around the wrist. His neck was wrapped with a torn bandage.

"Um...hi...shut, I'm getting there!" the boy said to himself as if someone was whispering in his ear.

Malcolm smiled at the boy's timidness and said, "This is Oscar Pine, who I took the liberty of finding for you, but I believe you know him as Professor Ozpin…."

A dimensional hole opened in the forests of Mistral, and two of Salem's allies emerged.

Lupin was once again shrouded in his robe as he and Watts exited the portal; Watts stood there dizzy for a moment while Lupin panted in exhaustion.

Salem wanted one of her inner circle to accompany him to Raven's camp, and Lupin had specifically requested Watts.

"That will take some getting used to..." the ex-Atlesian scientist said as he nearly threw up.

The mega Lucario was actually panting a little as he said, "the feeling in your stomach will pass, enough trips, and you'll get used to it. Dimensional holes are rather taxing on my power, and that's the third one today. I have an easier way to travel across worlds and dimensions, but it's unsafe for anyone but me."

"You know, you don't look like what I expected under that robe, although I was fairly sure you weren't human," Watts mentioned as he regained his composure and the dizziness passed.

Lupin chuckled and replied, "Is that a problem for you?"

As the two began to walk towards their destination, Watts smirked and said, "quite the contrary, your physiology and the powers you command fascinates me. Studying creatures from your world could teach me so much."

"Constantly working for more knowledge, I can respect that. I'm afraid my physiology is very normal in my world, compared to some other Pokémon; the one unique thing is that my skeleton is entirely composed of the metal from my spikes. From what I heard, Atlas disgraced you far before the Paladin incident where you faked your death; what was so wrong with your work?" Lupin inquired; his voice was filled only with curiosity rather than disdain.

Watts noticed his curious tone and explained, "I proposed a plan to study Grimm and find a way to control them with a type of neural transmitter. If we could control Grimm, we could focus less on kingdom defense and more on building infrastructure to strengthen Atlas even more."

Lupin nodded and replied, "an excellent idea, but most saw it as a moral evil and shunned you; I like your outlook."

"Why is that?" Watts questioned.

Lupin chuckled and replied, "you are a man of science who does not let the morality of things interfere with the task at hand. My master would have great use for a scientist like you. Should Salem ever decide you are no longer useful and want to dispose of you, I assure you could find a position within the Shadow Collective."

Watts looked at Lupin in surprise; he was smart enough to know that Salem valued people only when they benefited her and disposed of them afterward, so he smiled and said, "I will seriously consider that offer."

Just then, they came to a clearing in the forest where a massive wooden fence made of spiked poles was; they came to the door and noticed two guards.

"Halt! Who's there!" One of the bandits demanded.

Lupin replied in a formal tone with "we request a meeting with Raven Branwen; we know she is here."

"You can't just waltz in here and give orders; why don't I see if you have anything valuable and then kill both of you right here!"The guard stated coldly.

Watts reached into his jacket, hand tightening around his concealed pistol. Lupin decided to end the fight before it began, however, and unleashed a barrage of aura spheres, incapacitating the guards and reducing the gate to splinters in a single attack.

The duo then walked into the camp unopposed, as everyone present stood there in shock as the new arrivals walked up to the largest tent in the center of the camp.

From the tent emerged Raven, her mask on and her sword tightly gripped.

"Raven Branwen, Salem requires the Spring Maiden, who we know is here, surrender her to us, and we will leave without any further violence," Watts announced calmly.

Raven motioned with her head, and a new girl appeared from within her tent, a young woman with tan-colored skin, short brown hair, and icy blue eyes. She had a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. She wore a light brown vest with dark brown panels on the top, and a dark brown buckled strap on the back, over a torn white shirt that was partially unbuttoned, revealing what appeared to be a black bra, alongside a collar that appeared to be slightly turned up behind her neck.

She also wore maroon-colored jeans with the right side rolled up to her thigh, revealing the dark pink lining alongside a brown belt with a pouch attached to the right side, along with dark brown calf guards with one having a garter styled strap that went under her rolled-up pant leg.

"Vernal, let's give a demonstration of who they're messing with," Raven ordered.

Lupin shook his head and said, "leave us, girl, your not the Spring Maiden."

Both Raven and Vernal gasped at the accusation; even Watts gave a confused look before Lupin said, "when I was in Vale, I was able to analyze the energy of the Fall Maiden. I can sense a nearly identical type of energy within you."

Lupin's robed arm was pointing at Raven herself, not Vernal. Raven tensed as Vernal stood there with her eyes wide in surprise.

Lupin laughed and said, "an amusing attempt at a decoy Raven, with you pitiful subterfuge addressed, now why don't we discuss business?"

Author's note-Thus begins volume five. After today, uploads will be every Monday until Volume 5 is finished.

1. for those of you who read the first 2 chapters of Mystery Dungeon: Silver Gaze, how Ruby and Blake get sent there will be explained in the volume 5 finale. This takes place before Silver Gaze, and I am only spoiling this to avoid confusion

2. Watts has easily become my favorite villain in RWBY besides Tyrian. This is why it pisses me off how his story ended in Volume 8

3. More to come soon! Leave a review