Dr. Oobleck jumped from one specimen to another, clearly hyped on coffee. Or just the thrill of this new thing, Charles thought to himself, chuckling softly. He yawned briefly, wincing as he looked at the time on his scroll. 3:00 in the morning. And he was the only chump pilot that decided to answer his scroll. Seriously, nothing good every comes from Scroll calls that early. In this case, it resulted in him being asked if he could pilot a bullhead for Oobleck, team STRN, and several scientists. Or were they doctors? Meh, It's too early to think about that, and he yawned again, only to jerk back when Oobleck appeared next to him.

"Coffee? Fresh as of a couple hours ago." Oobleck offered, holding out his thermos.

"Ah, no thanks professor" Charles declined a little warily. Seriously, the thermos was part of his gun! wouldn't that change the taste or something? To something that probably wasn't good? Wait, why was that scientist trying to signal him?

Ooblecks eye twitched, and with a strained voice stated "That's Doctor Oobleck. I went through a lot of effort to get my doctorate I'll have you know!"

Charles blinked and rubbed his head in an embarrassed fashion. "Sorry doctor, my head is still functioning a bit slow. So what have you guys decided to do about 'these' things?"

'These' were numerous statues of Grimm, mostly Ursa Minor with one Ursa Major, in various stages of attack or running away. Charles hadn't gotten close to them yet, but they looked amazingly detailed from where he stood. Somebody had made the call around midnight apparently, saying that they had appeared in this field outside of Vale. He wasn't sure why somebody would go through the effort of making statues like these only to perch them in a random field. Seemed kind of pointless to him. Sure, they were of Grimm, but he's sure that they would fetch a pretty penny on the market.

"Ah, that is the question isnt it" Oobleck said, his eyes lighting up. "For sure we are taking one with us. Two if we can squish some people together. With any luck, we can figure out some clues on how they turned into this."

Charles nodded thoughtfully, before blinking as he thought about what was said. "What do you mean 'How they turned into this? Didn't somebody just drag them out here and dumped them here? I mean, it would be stupid to carve these statues out here. The Grimm aren't going to spare you because they were flattered you carved a statue out of them!"

Oobleck's eyes lit up even more, and he grabbed Chareles arm and dragged him closer to the statues. "Nope! That theory was disproved before we got here. Come, look at the fur, the masks. From the smoothness of the masks, to the individual furs, the amount of effort that would have had to go into these statues are astronomical! But the real kicker is over here, at this statue!" As Oobleck talked, his voice got faster and faster, only stopping when they reached one statue that looked like it had taken several hard blows.

Charles looked at it for a second, before sighing, "I'm sorry, I must be tired still what exactly am I looking fo..." he trailed off on what he was saying. he stared for a bit, and then asked "Um, doctor? why does that statue have stone, um, gutts?"

The doctor smirked at him. "That, my dear pilot, is why we are here. That is proof that something was able to turn a grimm completely into stone, from their furry and scaly outsides, to their formerly beating heart and squirming intestines."

Charles stood dumbfounded for several seconds before he spoke up again, "Bu-but how is that possible? A-and for them to get so many Grimm?!" he glanced around. there was 6 statues - 5 Ursa Minor, and 1 Ursa Major.

Oobleck tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm, well, most likely whatever it was is a single target only. Observe the positions of the statues - most are in various positions of fighting, but clearly whoever was fighting them was moving around a fair bit. This Ursa Minor was hit first, and was probably smashed by that Ursa Major soon after petrification. Then, the Ursa Major got hit. If I was a betting man, I'd say that there were other creatures here as well that were fighting whatever it was, and they were killed instead of petrified. That Ursa Minor was probably the last of the lot, and tried to run." Oobleck grinned at Charles, "It's fascinating! Whatever this was, was able to petrify the creatures in a matter of seconds based off of their positioning. Once we get a couple more samples and bring it back to Vale we should be able to determine more, like what exactly was petrified first, the progress of said petrification, the material that they were petrified into, what exactly they..." Oobleck's talking slowly became faster, and he began mumbling other potential questions that he had regarding this phenomenon.

Charles was still wrapping his mind around the concept as he stared at the others in the field. Team STRN were staring at the scientists as they poked and prodded one of the statues, talking about some kind of chemical analysis they wanted to do. Then he had a sudden thought, "So, this had to be some kind of Semblance, right?" looking at Oobleck with inquisitive eyes.

Oobleck jerked back as he came out of his mumbling spree. "Perhaps. Or it could be the use of chemicals that somebody was testing. Or a new weapon that was being tested. Or even... Something else entirely. The world is still full of unknowns after all." Oobleck finished with a smile. "Hopefully we'll be able to find out with some more testing. There are numerous things that we can search for that could tell us quite..." Oobleck's speech suddenly slowed down, and he glanced towards the mountains. He stared at it for a little while before continuing, "Ahem, yes, as I was saying, it would tell us quite a bit. Alright everybody, I think that we've learned all that we can right now, let's get one of these boys onto the bullhead."

One of the scientists looked confused, "But sir, we can still-" "Nope! You're all tired and not performing at your best! Let's bring it to Beacon, get a nice long rest, and then look at everything with fresh eyes. Sounds like a marvelous idea, don't you think? Now c'mon boys, let's throw your backs into it, altogether now, one - two - three!" Any protests that the scientists had were steamrolled by Oobleck. Charles looked confused for a bit, but shrugged. At least he'd be able to get some more sleep soon, and he walked back to the bullhead and started the engine.

After a considerable amount of grumbling and complaining from Team STRN as they lifted the statue and transported it to the bullhead, Oobleck quickly grabbed a few samples from the other statues and everybody got on the bullhead. Soon they were back on their way to Vale without any incident.

Heh, from the way he was acting, I almost thought that we were going to be attacked or something. I guess the doctor's mind is tired like mine is. Charles thought as he piloted. Soon putting the incident out of his mind, and it went back to the statues. Despite what Oobleck said, he was worried. He had no idea what kind of chemicals could b used to turn something to stone. To him, the only logical explanation was a Semblance. Those things hardly made sense anyways. But something like this? He shuddered. That's scary. And it sounds like the person was doing it away from where anybody could see them, which wasn't something an honest person would do. So a dishonest person with this kind of power? That gave him the shivers. He'd probably need a drink after getting back, just to unwind properly. Junior's should still be open, he thought. I'll probably drop by there...

Flying back, nobody saw the person staring at the bullhead with narrowed eyes.

Oobleck frowned as he listened to the other scientists absently. He'd have to talk with Glynda about teaching the teams to have more situational awareness, especially on missions. None of team STRN sensed that they were being watched. True, he was an experienced Huntsman, but they were a third year team, and they were supposed to be on guard while he was studying the specimens! He pouted a little.

The presence didn't feel... Hostile per se. But it was paying very close attention to them. He would have loved to stay and observe, or even go hunt it out, but he couldn't the large civilian presence they had. He grimaced. He'd come by later perhaps with Port. He could tell the man that he thinks he saw an excellent specimen to show his students. That usually got him pretty stoked.

His mind drew back to the statue. Petrification. Such a thing was unlike any Semblance recorded to date. Was it something that could petrify everything? Or were Grimm different enough that it caused them to be petrified? Too many unknowns to factor in, and he grimaced again. He could understand why somebody would want this to remain hidden. With this powerful of an ability, they would no doubt be hounded by numerous people who would want them. He could understand it, but it certainly made things more difficult on his end. If it wasn't a Semblance... Though it was a long shot, it very well could be chemicals. He couldn't discount that without doing tests first. Or maybe it was a new type of Grimm, and it was having territory disputes. Or something else entirely - he wasn't lying to Charles when he said that. Between Ozpin, the Maidens, Salem, and the Relics, there was certainly enough mysterious things to go around, so what's one more? He'd have to bring it up with Ozpin once he got back.

Well he thought to himself, after I get back and have a chance to study this guy some more. His mood lifted as he thought of the chance to use some better equipment to study the statue. Sleep could wait, and he had plenty of coffee to keep him going. Maybe he could just assign an essay or something for the class tomorrow, that way he'd have more time to look at this...

And with that, the bullhead pulled into Beacon, team STRN once more complaining about having to carry the statue. Oobleck thought quickly about what he sensed on the mountain. "Whatever it ends up being, I do hope we don't find any human statues in the future. We have enough trouble with the Grimm as it is." And then went back to directing Team STRN. He'd have helped with the statue, but he considered this their punishment for not sensing the presence earlier.

The lady frowned as she stared at the plane that was leaving. A bullhead her mind supplied, seeing it even though she was wearing a blindfold. She cursed herself for her slip. She could have killed them without using her Mystic Eyes, but she wanted to test them to see if they were still effective on these creatures. Turns out it works just fine on the Grimm. Unfortunately, the humans were now aware of her, and would no doubt try to seek her out. The thought made her angry, and she hastily made her way back. There was no way that she would let them be threatened by anyone, and until they knew more, being reclusive was the best option.

Making her way back to where they were, she eventually came to the spot. Seeing them, her eyes started tearing up, and she couldn't help but envelope them in a hug.

Stheno and Euryale. Her sisters whom she had killed after falling under this curse, and the ones that she had never thought she would see again. Despite them all being summoned several days ago, she still could hardly believed that they were here with her, and she found herself needing physical contact with them to reassure herself. After initiating the hug, Stheno grumbled at her, but without any malice, and Euryale returned the hug wholeheartedly.

Stheno came out of the hug first, and looked over Medusa for any injuries, "What's wrong? Did anything happen?" Not that Medusa needed an excuse to hug them these days she told herself with a small smile. As the oldest sister, she had felt the most guilt for allowing Medusa to fall under the curse without helping her more. She hadn't thought much of it until the curse had too deep a hold on her. Never again. Her sister might have more combat experience than either her or Euryale now, but they would assist her. This time, she would not carry the burden all by herself. And if she needed a hug every once in a while to help her get over the trauma she went through in the past, then she would provide that without any issue.

Medusa eventually let go of them. "Humans have discovered the statues of Grimm I killed. We need to move now before they come looking for us." She grimaced, "The knowledge of current events that was given to me is incomplete. I'm afraid that I don't know what kind of people live in the city of Vale, nor how they would receive us." She wasn't sure why her sisters had been summoned with her. Currently, they had the same connection to her that her steed, Pegasus, did when she was summoned in the Grail War. Perhaps that is why she felt so much weaker this time than she had before. If that is so, then she didn't care. She was with her sisters once more, something that she had thought impossible, and she would not risk them. If there was another event like the Grail War, she would not participate. And if they came to her? She would do whatever she could to protect her sisters.

Euryale hummed thoughtfully. "From what you told us, it should take a good amount of time for them to reach Vale, so we should have time to leave." She touched Medusa's arm gently, "They have given no evidence that shows that they mean us harm, so if they do find us, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt." She then smirked, gesturing to a bow and quiver she had, "and if they do decide to make things difficult, then we'll take them on. All three of us will." Euryale refused to let any of them feel down. They were together again, just like she had always believed they would be. Yes, they could plan to prevent bad stuff happening, but she refused to dwell on it. The three of them had been through too much pain in the past to dwell on it anymore, especially her younger sister. She was confident that the would enter human society at some point, and she had no problem with being patient until they had more knowledge and they all felt it was safe enough.

Medusa felt her eyes tear up some more, "Yes, you are correct. Here," and she brought out a paper and started drawing a rough sketch of the continent, "If we can make it to the coast, then there are a couple of islands that we could inhabit. Or, there is an abandoned city close by in the mountains that we could use. We would have to clear the Grimm out ourselves of course in either place, but both options seem valid."

As the Gorgon sisters discussed the pro's and con's of where to go, Medusa felt her heart become lighter. She was a monster, despite what her sisters kept on telling her. With her past and what she's done, she believed that without a doubt. But, it was done to protect her sisters, to protect those that were important to her. She had a brief image of several people she had met during the Grail War. They had tried to convince her that she wasn't a monster as well. She couldn't help but smile. They were wrong, but not completely. Though she believed that she was a monster, she would embrace it so long as she could keep the happiness she felt right now, being with her family. For that, she would go to great lengths to protect.

She looked at her sisters once more as they discussed location ideas further. She didn't care who thought that she was a monster, so long as she could be a hero to them.