Chapter 2

Threats

Charlie was scanning the yellow stain on the black jacket, and as the results came up, his fears were confirmed.

"Talonflame DNA, not good" Charlie admitted.

"At least it's not Moltres DNA like we thought, better get up there.." his sister reminded him.

The Mason Twins rode the elevator up to the top of Beacon Tower where Glynda, Oscar, and a hologram of Ironwood were waiting. The general gave them a stern look at first, but shook his head and ignored them. Glynda had managed to smooth things over with him, but his trust with the Mason twins was at an all-time low.

"upon examination of Dr. Watts's jacket, the DNA belongs to Talonflame, a bird pokemon with incredible speed and proykenntic power. Not much of a threat of its own…but adding its ability to airborne Grimm would be bad" Charlie explained as he pulled out his phone and transmitted the image of Talonflame to the new hologram table in the center of the room.

"I can't believe Watts is still alive…but now I've got a question for you two" Ironwood began.

Kelly cut in with "what do you need to know general?"

"You mentioned the name of the shadow collective's leader, Darkrai, what is he capable of, what does he look like?" Ironwood questioned.

Charlie nodded and said "we thought he was dead for quite a while, but if he's alive, then the shadow collective is even more dangerous than we thought"

Everyone tensed as Darkrai's image appeared. He was a pitch-black, shadow-like Pokémon. He had a small head with a white fog-like ghostly plume billowing from his head covering one of his bright blue eyes, with the portion on his face resembling hair. He also had a red spiky growth around its neck, and one could even see what looked like a small mouth within it. The shadowy figure had skinny arms and long black tatters hanging from his shoulders. He also had black, claw-like hands. His body almost appeared as if he was wearing an old, ripped cloak, he had no visible legs and simply floated.

"He looks like a Grimm…" Qrow noted.

Charlie nodded and replied, "his species is often misunderstood, as most of his kind live in isolation to avoid hurting others, but he is very unique among his race."

"How so, and what are his powers?" Glynda pressed.

"His species is known throughout the multiverse as the being of nightmares, as his mere presence creates horrible nightmares. These powers are passive, and few Darkrai wish to hurt anyone, but he is the exact opposite." Kelly added.

Ironwood tensed as he continued with "what was the first act that put him on your radar?

Charlie sighed and replied "Darkrai nearly destroyed the very fabric of time and space on earth 43, he created a dark world that he ruled over for 150 years. Luckily his plans were stopped in the past and that dark timeline ceased to exist, however, he survived the changes to history and fled. He is very powerful and very dangerous"

"We have developed means to counter his nightmares, but if he's back, he will be very careful about coming out of hiding, for now, we can't focus on him" Kelly admitted.

Oscar nodded and his eyes flashed as Ozpin gave him control back.

"Sorry…I'll leave," Oscar said meekly.

Charlie stopped him and said "look…Oscar, you are as much of a part of this as Oz, and if you ever want some help with training or just someone to talk to, you can ask me or Kelly"

Oscar nodded and left, still not wanting to open up.

On the other end of campus, an abandoned warehouse had been converted into a makeshift lab for Nia and her father. While Alpha team operated mostly on their own, Z was the link between the team, Professor Malcolm, and the only other remnant of the MDIA.

The Multi-Dimensional-Intelligence-Agency was a secretive organization, only about 1000 people, divided into teams for tracking down inter-dimensional threats. Unfrontantly, the lack of funding and new agents had caused the agency to shut down, all that remained were Alpha Team, and a four-man squad that Z sent on other missions. Alpha team was mostly self-sufficient and had more than enough funds thanks to the Mason family's history.

"Any progress on the search?" Nia asked, still in her human guise with the Faunus ears.

Z, not bothering to hide his appearance as he put the hair samples from Ruby and Blake in vials and then in a large box chilled with liquid nitrogen.

"Unfortunately the DNA scan will take time, we're looking for two needles in a literally infinite haystack. Dimensional holes faded too fast to be tracked, and they were immune to Malcolm's gaze. In about two months, we'll have a scan of earth one through five hundred," Z admitted as he went over the holographic display of the multiverse.

Nia nodded and asked, "that all we can do…right?"

"Not exactly…there is one more.." Z was cut off as Weiss Schnee entered the room with a neutral expression on her face, she had the keycard that had been left with Qrow.

After doing a double-take at Z's uncloaked appearance, Weiss sighed and said, "Yang wanted me to check in, Qrow left the card in his room, he's out drinking…again" Qrow had taken the truth about Oz's history with Salem rather poorly, and was hardly ever sober enough to talk.

Z sighed and said, "there is one way to find her other than waiting for months of the DNA scan."

"How?" Weiss questioned with hope in her voice.

Z the front panel on the massive table the hologram was emanating from and said "while the main scan is taking place back at Malcolm's headquarters, I've found a way to monitor the multiverse in another way that may provide some results…emphasis on might"

The table deactivated and the Zoroark showed a glass tube with wiring on it, inside was a glowing white orb, no bigger than a walnut.

"This is white matter, the rarest energy source in the multiverse, and the type of energy Ruby's silver eyes give off. If she uses them, the energy signature will be picked up" Z explained before putting the power source back in place and using the keyboard on the table to switch to a display of the multiverse, showing a massive ring of planets, all forming a circle.

"These are the primary earth, one through one thousand that all realities branch off of, given Remnant's location here, Ruby and Blake likely ended up in a prime earth" Z explained as a red orb representing Remnant appeared slightly above the ring on the right side.

Just then earth 43 blinked, and Weiss went wide-eyed, only for Z to hold out his hand and said "don't bother getting excited, Earth 43 is home to a Pokemon by the name of Alex. He has white matter powers and uses them every now and then. All that means is the scanner is functioning properly"

Weiss bowed her head as Nia put her hand on the heiress's shoulder and said "we just have to hope..and wait"

Author's note- more setup...a bit slower

1. I have seen so many followers and favorites, but now reviews. PLEASE give me some feedback!

Next time- Zander begins some training of his own, while Watts and Damien continue their project!