AN: Hey guys I am finally back with the rewrite of ch.1 personal life prevented me from writing this. I hope this much better than the original first chapter, I am much prouder of this I feel I really improved it. Helpful criticism is very much welcomed.

Looking around the barren wasteland, he tried to find some kind of shelter at least, something to orient to, but his eyes found no such luck. The wind was picking up to dangerous speeds and the darkened sky above him gave him no comfort towards a quick end to the inclement weather. Then as he traced his head back onto the boundless earth, he saw it, a light in the distance so bright that it was like a ray of sunshine had fallen through the clouds and had become a lighthouse for wanderers such as himself. But it was in that moment of observation that he was pulled aloft into the air and into the overcast above, his attempts to resist easily opposed by the overwhelming force of air acting almost like reversed gravity. The cloudy abyss he was suddenly submerged in was devoid of seemingly all sensation, the man couldn't feel or see his own body, and despite summoning every fiber of his will to yell, he wasn't able to. His frustration had reached its limit, he refused to be trapped in such a hell, to be helpless and alone in this forsaken place, to be rejected by the world itself. Once again, he willed for something, anything to happen, his right arm materializing into an outstretch in response to his command. A glimmer of light had broken through the darkness, casting the same light had hoped to find before, it growing in intensity as it swallowed the shadow around him. The light began to envelop him, his body regaining it's feeling as it sank into a comforting buoyancy. However, just as he was to fully comprehend the mysterious tangibility that he was surrounded by, gravity took hold again and he felt body drop through the expanse of light until…

Nano awoke, his head shooting awake into activity, needing to take a moment to orient himself with the surroundings of reality. The confusion slowly dissipates as Nano does so, his body relaxing from the tenseness that occured from such a sudden start, needing to take some breathes to finish collecting his clouded focus. As he breathed, his chest did not betray his unease, almost unmoving as the lungs inhaled the soothing oxygen. The nightmares had come back; but then again did they ever truly go away? Nano shook the thought away, he didn't have time to ponder such a meaningless question, he had to stay focused on the matters ahead. Finally able to begin his day, he noticed rain was softly pattering at the window directly next to his bed, leaning up into a sitting position on his bed to get a better look at the outside. The sights of the docks were unremarkable, after all, no one came down to the docks for the food and entertainment, and for Nano, that was perfect. Just as he was about to turn away to continue with his procedure, he spotted his reflection in the window, his red eyes and messy brown hair adorning a rather handsome face. Appearance was an important matter of focus for him, always taking note of the various faces and features of the people he crossed paths with, and in terms of features, he had one of note: the two large 9 foot jet black wings that draped over his shoulders. Other than his Faunus features, he looked like any other human being, not that stopped scrutinizing eyes from looking at him with scorn. Peeling the blankets off of him, Nano rolled into a stand beside his bed, debating on the worthiness of making the bed for a moment before deciding to do so. He cursed himself slightly though, as while he loved the all-black covers over the mattress, he always found it frustrating to find the seams of it against the background of the fitted sheet. Upon completion of his task, he turned around, taking note of the sleeping quarters, it covered in a comforting dark with the early morning providing just enough light to see. Including his own bed, there were four inside the room, two on either side of the two opposite to him were empty, the golden-black one opposite to him was made neatly, the cyan-colored one however was a mess of covers. Along Nano's side of the wall was a bed that housed its sleeping occupant: Nano's older brother Azreal. He was wrapped snugly in his blanket with one of his brother's wings on top of it acting as another layer of warmth. Finding the differentiation between the Azreal's wings and the blanket was always difficult to do in the dark as both shared the same resemblance to the night sky, white dots an accessory to its blackened background. Nano was relieved to see his brother sleep so comfortably, at least his rest was more peaceful than his own.

He let out a slight sigh, before moving on to continuing his waking activity. As he made a path towards the bathroom, a mess of his clothes piled up at the foot of his bed, the clothes seeming to animate as he walked past. Wisps of smoke rose off of the pile as it began to writhe, coil, and slither in the general direction of Nano before the illusion of clothes buckled completely unto itself, evaporating as it formed into a swarm of fly-sized insects. The artificial insects were an oddity of its type, with wings that paradoxically made either an awful buzzing sound or at nothing at all, and its viewing optic being a single blood red eye that glowed with sinister intent. Their most notable feature however was also what made them the most deadly among their insect cousins: the large mandibles that could tear through flesh. Fortunately for nature, they were only present in Nano. They flew straight towards their master; Nano unthinkingly commanding their direction, the swarm surrounded him with entracing coordination and then combined with the man's natural form, leaving no trace of the prior mass.

The process happened within steps of his motion, not wasting a moment of thought for the actions that had occurred as he entered the bathroom. Setting foot upon the bathroom's cool white tile, he eyed four sinks and took position at his assigned one all the way to the left. Although he gazed upon himself earlier, he found necessity to inspect over his entire figure in the clearer reflection. His form was that of a healthy man in his early 20's with muscles that, while toned, were subdued within his lithe figure; He dutifully continued to inspect over himself for any flaws or glitches in his structure, pleased to find that he was in full working order. Satisfied with his inspection,he went over and turned on the shower. Just as he was about to step in, he paused, turning himself to the nearest sink counter. Nano then willed his chest and gut to open; however, instead of normal human organs, Nano's torso was filled with dust ammunition packed neatly into pistol magazines and rifle clips. He tenderly deposited the ammunition on the counter, lining each ammo container with the others like it, until his chest was empty. He then stepped into the shower, briskly cleaning grime and filth from every inch of himself, even opening his chest to clean his insides. Once he felt sufficiently clean, he turned off the water, but rather than drying off with a towel like his human counterparts, Nano commanded his swarm to expel the water from himself. Dry as a bone, he stepped out of the shower, moving his hand in a soft sweeping motion in front of his face, tracing it over the counter. As he did so, the part of the swarm that had previously made up his clothes separated from him again, flying over to the ammunition and depositing it back into his chest. Upon the completion of its task, the swarm began to form Nano's clothes, manifesting as if being painted onto his body. Said clothes were that of black combat boots, dark gray combat pants being complemented with a trench coat of identical color and adored with red trimmings, and topped off with a olive green neck wrap that covered the lower half of his face. Finally finished with hygienic tasks, he proceeded back into the bedroom and over to the nightstand beside his bed and opened the top drawer. Inside of it were neatly aligned rows of loaded Dust mags and clips. The criminal without much thought picked up said Dust ammo and pocketed as many of them in the pockets of his trench coat and pants as he could fit comfortably. Once he was packed with ammo, he looked behind him, seeing his brother hunkered under his blankets, his gray eyes forming into a tired stare directed at him..

Nano immediately knew that this meant that Azrael was waiting for him to leave so he himself could get ready and would likely like to have his privacy while doing so. Deciding to grant his brother's wish, he left the bedroom, stepping out into a warehouse full of boxes containing Dust, ammunition, and Lien. Nano walked on through the rows of cargo towards the opposite side of the warehouse, feeling the muggy air trapped between the crates, until he reached his desired door, opening it to feel the wash of the cold gift of air conditioning that awaited inside.

Once he was in the room, he was met with the sight of a man sitting lazily on a couch watching TV. The man was well built, his medium length hair sitting in its natural form without need of styling.. Both his hair and eyes shared the color of a beautiful blue cyan; they adorned his youthful 20's-something face. It was clear that he enjoyed the color of his hair as the composite segmented armor he was wearing shared in this coloring scheme. The only slight outlier to such a pattern was that of his wings, identical in shape and form to that of his brothers, except his were colored in a bright electric cyan, luckily dull enough that observers wouldn't be blinded upon an idle gaze. The wings were currently folded behind it's owner, Cyan, as the second eldest brother watched the TV, a disinterested yet frustrated look on his face.

"Anything worthy of note?" Nano asked, noticing his brother's emotion.

"Nothing, Not even the normal Grimm attacks...something's wrong," Cyan responded.

Nano glanced at the TV to see there was indeed, as there was nothing but pointless dribble on the news channel making Nano narrow his eyes. Usually the news would cover the latest or other Grimm attacks but there was nothing but annoying commentary on politics and weather.

"We blew up an entire bunker, you'd think that would stir something up in the news cycle." Nano commented.

Before Nano could further analyze the program's content further, Cyan and Nano sensed a powerful soul approaching them from the kitchen that was towards the back of the room. The room all at once the air in the room seemed to practically shudder. It was not so much stifling but borderline oppressing how this soul seemed to influence and leak into reality. A figure stepped into the room; the figure was a man who looked like he was from the same mold as Cyan, even down to his armor, except for a few key differences. This man had brown hair and his glossy black armor adorned with gold trim. Beyond this, the man's wings were completely unique from his brothers in that they seemed to literally be on fire giving them the appearance of burning charcoal, though the way the fire waxed and waned between and underneath his feathers to some unknown rhythm, the flames dancing freely, yet controlled by a strict conductor. Ironically, these wings were not his most eye-catching feature, that acclaim went to his eyes. They were a beautiful gold and to call them captivating would be an understatement, they were alluring and almost seemed to glow. Even the simplest glances might entrance someone as if they promised the viewer everything they ever desired, all they could ever want. But at the same time, there was this fire in them that desired nothing but destruction. This was Nano's eldest and Cyan's twin brother: Virus.

Virus glanced at the T.V before his gaze rested on his brothers, "They are waiting for something, probably the script the police want them to say about us," he finally spoke.

"They know we are in Vale?" Nano narrowed his eyes at the TV and the air around him began to hum with power as what seemed like bolts of electricity began to snake out of Cyan's skin a few inches whipping angrily in the air.

"And we took such care in covering our tracks too..." Cyan said bitterly.

Before he could say or do anything else Virus put his hand on his twin's shoulder to comfort him, "Relax, they only assume we are in Vale. The only evidence they have that we are in Vale is that we were headed in this direction when we left Atlas and that we have not been in Vale in a while. We can still trick them into thinking we are somewhere else." Virus reassured.

"The Vital Festival is soon, all those people are bound to attract more Grimm, There would have been heightened security in Vale regardless. But now? Regardless, if we convince them we are not in Vale there will be even more security," Nano stated with a slight hint of concern in his voice.

"That is fine we can handle police; It is the Huntsman and Huntresses, both in training and the professionals, that will be the legitimate threat to us and I doubt those numbers will change very much, " Virus spoke, "However, we did not come here to fight them, we came here to kill the Grimm that will no doubt congregate due to the event."

"We still will have to be more careful than we were originally planning for." Came the voice of Azrael leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. He was now wearing his typical gear: a robe with a hood and sleeves that parted down the middle with armored gloves that extended to his forearms.

"When did you get there? I did not sense you arrive or even standing there." Nano asked with an eyebrow raised.

Azrael shrugged, causing the middle part of his robe to part revealing his body suit fitted with armored boots and shin guards as well giving a brief glimpse of his chest plate. Nano also caught a glimpse of two sheaths on either side of Azrael's hips that held his back up kukri knives, "I don't know, maybe our scout in his old age has gotten rusty."

Nano narrowed his eyes and growled at the comment, "You're older than me! If I am old what does that make you?" Azrael chuckled at the come back which caused Nano to sigh in resignation.

Before the situation could evolve any further, Virus spoke, "Enough. There is much to do and little time to do it, Cyan, I want you to make a list of our contacts in Vale that we haven't been in touch with in a while so Nano can investigate if they are compromised as well as contact our other branches in Mistral and Vacuo to start spreading rumors. Tell them to start reports that we are located in those kingdoms as well as a bombing or two: we need our enemies off balance and confused, just make sure the people our boys hurt have it coming to them. Azrael, I want you to start taking inventory of what we have here. Nano, come into the kitchen with me. I have a special task for you." Said brothers nodded their heads and immediately set off to do their designated tasks.

As both Azrael and Cyan were out of the room, Virus turned his attention to Nano and led him into the kitchen, Once he did Virus started to go through the pantry, "As you know we don't keep perishables in the hideout but for the meal I am planning we will need some perishables items."

Nano gained a look of confusion, "We are going to eat?"

"Yes, with all that has happened lately we could use the moral boost, we are Vice-Versa's and eating is a luxury, but I think we deserve this." Virus said.

"Everything was going fine till Qrow interfered." Nano said bitterly.

"Well he is one of the best Huntsman out there currently, even if he's not one to stand in the spotlight," Virus said as he inspected various spices and various other food items, "Besides this was bound to happen eventually, we couldn't hide forever... we were lucky our time in the shadows lasted ten years."

"I get that," Nano responded, "But what I don't get is, why us? Surely Qrow has better things to do then pursue and fight us?"

Virus sighed, "Things will not be easy going forward, I doubt we will fool Qrow long, if at all, I have a feeling we will have at most until The Vital Festival before our presence here is outed."

"What do we do then?"

Virus smirked as he put his hand on Nano's shoulder, "We answer your question. Qrow should have better things to do than hunt some former big shot criminals."

"I wouldn't necessarily call ourselves former big shots." Nano commented.

Virus's smirk grew, "Exactly. Most people have absolutely no idea how much power we still hold; yet, not only was Qrow completely aware of this, he knew where we were and where to strike. Now we must not only answer why Qrow is after us but how." Virus chuckled before continued, "But for now go to the market and get some food, we could use the moral boost."

A young blond man with blue eyes inspected a box of eggs. After making sure none of them were broken he gently put the eggs in along with the rest of the food the man planned to buy in his basket. Another man with brown hair and eyes discreetly watched the first from the corner in the store. He needed money, his current boss refused to raise his pay even though he worked more than 40 hours a week. He also had told her his rent had gone up and he was already struggling to feed his family and she still refused. His wife was struggling to find a job due to her being a fanuas. He was left with no other option than petty crime. It was difficult at first, choosing targets that were not only worth robbing but also not protected by any gangs that would kill him and his family.

Today he found the perfect target, the man was an outsider even though he did not act like one. The man had obviously more lien than he was showing off judging on how he did not even look at prices and always bought the best version of every item. Eventually the man seemed to get everything he wanted as he headed to the cash register. However, as he walked towards the register he paused at a stack of newspapers. He watched as the man stared at the headlines with an amount malice that would give even the most hardcore racists he's encountered pause. The man even curled his lip in a silent growl before he huffed and continued to register. After nonchalantly approaching the newspapers he saw they were reporting about how several towns had fallen to Gimm.

"Yea it's a shame, Grimm attacks seem to be on the rise lately." The husband heard the clerk say to the outsider.

"Quite... I look forward to the day the Grimm are eradicated from this planet forever." The Outsider said with a surprising amount of malice especially when he uttered the word 'Grimm' as if the very word itself ws bile in his mouth. After paying for and bagging his items the Outsider quickly left the store with the Husband not far behind.

The Husband made sure to stay a safe distance behind his prey as the Outsider no doubt walked home. The would-be robber also made sure to keep an eye on the amount of people about and any cameras waiting for an opportunity to strike. Before said opportunity arose however, the Outsider stopped along with a crowd of people to look at a TV store that displayed several TVs broadcasting the news. The news was covering those Vice-Versa brother's from decades ago reemergence in Atlas and how they blew up a bunker 5 miles out from Mantle. The husband was shocked, he remembered how ten years ago the authorities had announced the brother had been killed at the Restoration Of Order. Although he was extremely surprised that even if they survived the battle they were still alive; Vice-Versas did not live long after all and the brothers were getting up there in age. The husband was so lost in thoughts that it was only now that he noticed the crowd was getting rowdy and was starting to shout.

"They're back? I thought they died!" One man said.

"I've heard how they are Vice-Versa's. How they will suck and consume your soul!" Another shouted

"They're probably working with the White Fang too!"

"What the fuck have our Huntsman been doing!? They said the brothers were dead and now they're back?"

"What else are they lying about?"

The crowd rapidly continued to grow in size and discontent. The Husband was starting to lose track of his target and started to panic. Thankfully the man managed to spot the outsider at the last second, leaving the crowd and heading into a nearby alleyway. The Husband followed quickly, putting on his ski mask knowing that this would be his opportunity to strike.

"Give me your money man. I don't want to hurt you." Demanded the Husband as he raised his gun once the both of them were deep enough in the ally.

The Outsider paused at the voice but did not turn around. The only other movement he made was to put down his groceries.

"TURN AROUND AND GIVE ME YOUR MONEY NOW!"

Nano quietly cursed, of course this happened to him when he needed to keep a low profile. Although he had known the man was following him since he left the store; he had hoped the man would not actually be foolish enough to make a move against him. Obviously he was wrong, lucky even though he had his back turned to the man he could still see a fuzzy outline of a man in a ski mask raising a gun to him. He could not shoot the man, even with a suppressor, it would be way too loud. He also could not risk punching him as that might give the assailant time to fire his would mean this that the best way to defeat the man would be to-

"YOU HAVE FIVE FUCKING SECONDS TO TURN THE FUCK AROUND OR-" Before the man could even finsh his sentence Nanos spun and flicked his arm so fast that the man did not have even have time to properly process Nano had even begun to move before two throwing knives hit his gun and his throat. The man began to choke on his own blood before he even hit the floor. Like a shadow Nano approached the rapidly dying man. Once Nano was right beside him he knelt down and started to look through the man's pockets taking all the Lien in his wallet.

"P-Please I-I have-e a family," The man just barely managed to choke out as Nano inspected his ID.

"Good," Nano said as turned to look the man dead in the eye, "They're next."

The anger, hate, and fear in the man's eyes as he said those words produced such an exquisite feeling of pleasure in Nano before he took one of his knives from the man's throat and drove it in the man's forehead. He had lied about the man's family, they were safe from him, unless they tried to seek revenge that is. Though Nano very much doubted they would ever find the true 'culprit.' In fact, he doubted the police would even care, as far as they were concerned this was a typical criminal on criminal crime. Or maybe just another robbery in a poor neighborhood chock-full of other crimes and robberies. Now having taken everything of value the man had owned, Nano retrieved his groceries and disappeared into the shadows leaving yet another family fatherless.

Thankfully for Nano there were no further 'interruptions' as he returned home. Virus was able to whip quite a decent breakfast quickly after Nano came home. The moment Nano took his first bite of his meal he instantly realized Virus was right, they needed this. They were Vice-Versas, they only required energy from Dust and/or Aura to survive and they needed a lot of it. Young Vice-Versas quickly learned that the only benefit to eating conventional food was the taste and thus it quickly became luxury. The constant hunger for energy even to just barely function had led many Vice-Versas a dark path that ended with them being killed. Nano was lucky and thankful that this had not happened neither to him nor his brothers.

As he further dug into his food he appreciated how it afforded the opportunity for him to sit back, relax, and converse/joke with his brothers. Moments like these were rare for them; their lifestyle and biology kept them either too busy or asleep to truly relax and enjoy the moment. It was somewhat sobering though, that they probably would not be able to do this in the near future with how things looked. Thus Nano made sure to enjoy it as much as possible.

Eventually the meal came to an end with Cyan and Azrael headed off to do more tasks that needed to be done around the warehouse. Nano helped Virus clean up the few dirty dishes that needed to be clean.

"I ordered some dust from Roman Torchwick that will need to be picked up by you." Virus said as he put the last dish away.

"Roman? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Nano did not doubt Roman's reliability, so long as they brought the money they would get the goods they asked for. No, Nano doubted Roman's ability to keep his mouth shut that they were in Vale.

"While my trust in him is very limited. He knows what would happen if he betrayed us." Virus stated.

Nano nodded, trusting in Virus' judgment, "I shall go now." Virus silently nodded too. Nano then turned around to gather the Dust when Virus put his hand on his shoulder.

"Here I bought some of the higher end stuff to try and compensate for what we lost at Atlas," Virus said as he put some extra Lien in Nano's pocket before he brought Nano in closer, "Remember to be careful, especially with Roman. Do not take any unnecessary risks and for the love of the two gods try not to kill Roman."

Nano chuckled, "I'll try."

In another warehouse a man in a bowler hat, white suit, and black pants twirled his cane as whistled a tune. Right beside him like a shadow was a petite girl whose hair was colored like neapolitan ice cream and held a parcel. The man was Roman Torchwick and the girl was his second in command:Neo. Roman then huffed as he checked his watch for the time.

"Everyone be on guard. He will be arriving soon." Roman said. A group of men in suits with red ties and sunglasses nodded and went to several vantage points in the warehouse. Honestly it was another stereotypical deal with the brothers. Roman actually quite liked dealing with the brothers; they had something that was rare in the criminal world: reliability. They never asked more than they could pay for and always paid what they owed or more. They were also easy to deal with as they almost always showed up when they said they were gonna show up.

"You know one could interpret it as a threat to have a deal surrounded by guards and your second in command that you did not mention would be here when your buyer specifically asked for privacy." Came a male voice above them

Everyone at once looked at the source. On top of a large container sat the spitting image of Neo with 'her' legs crossed and parcel opened and resting on 'her' shoulder. The imposter's true identity was revealed when the imposter Neo's eyes flashed red.

"Also for what reason would the "Great Torchwick and Neo need Juniors men?"

"Relax. They won't tell their own mothers and wives about this and we will know if they do." Replied Roman.

Nano growled, "If our location in Vale is compromised because of you or your men it will be your head that we will come after first."

"That won't happen." Roman stated with confidence.

There was silence in the room at first, not a single soul moved or blinked. The guards were sweating buckets with some even fingering their weapons although none were foolish enough to actually draw said weapons. However, Nano, Roman, and Neo seemed perfectly calm, not moving as Roman and Neo locked eyes with Nano as he did them. As soon as it began the moment ended when Nano sighed and shrugged,

"As long as you know what's on the line." Nano said dismissively. Nano then got up and stood on top of the container and jumped down. As he did so before everyone's eyes the imposter's skin and clothes shifted in various nauseating ways until they regained Nano's normal appearance. After he landed, he calmly walked towards the pile of boxes that Roman and Neo were standing beside.

"There aren't a lot of these boxes. " Nano commented.

"Not as much as usual, no. But Virus wanted the higher quality stuff and I gave you guys nothing but the best. You can check for yourself; but at the end of the day I still have to make a profit."

Nano nodded as a small swarm separated from Nano that proceeded to fly towards one of the boxes and ripped open the top before diving in. Nano nodded once more before the swarm returned towards him.

"Looks good," Nano stated before he turned back towards Roman, "Although you never answered on why you have or need Junior's men."

Roman dismissively waved his hand as he spoke, "I just needed some muscle for an upcoming robbery. And once we see how that goes I might use them more often."

Nano huffed as once again that did not really answer his question but decided to let it pass.

Roman had his own gang and everything yet he still needed Junior's men? Nano could tell something wasn't adding up but Roman was being defensive about it and pushing further on the topic would do more harm than good. So Nano decided that he would investigate it later and handed the money to the crime lord who accepted. However, As Nano was going to pick up the goods, Roman put his hand on Nano's shoulder.

"You are going to hate me, but my boss wants to meet you before you leave."

Nano normally would have been upset that Roman told yet another about their meeting except Nano was shocked that, "You work for somebody!?"

Roman looked away, "A lot has changed since you guys last left Vale. We all had to do what had to be done in order to survive," Roman then brought his attention back to Nano, "Besides, working for her does have its benefits."

Nano raised an eyebrow, "And where is this woman?"

Roman pointed towards an office in the corner of the warehouse, "Over there."

Nano and headed over there immediately ready for anything. This woman knew that he and his brothers were in Vale and that was a problem. He just hoped he did not need to kill her, if he was even able to. So ingross was by his thoughts that he did sense or read the soul he was approaching until he opened the door and was taken aback by what he saw or more accurately sensed.

"A Maiden!?"

AN: Thanks for Reading! The writing schedule so far is: Unknown Waters ch. 3, Exceptions ch. 4, and Exceptions ch. 2 rewrite. Hopefully I can get those out in a timely manner. Again please review!