Hey there, everyone, hope you've all been well. So, apparently, the economy is going to be fully reopening over the next few weeks or so, yeah? If that does happen, how do you guys feel about it? On the one hand, my job in and of itself isn't anything to be super excited about doing, but it was still something to do and get for. But I primarily miss my coworkers who are all really cool, so it would be nice to see them again and talk. Personally, though, would like to maybe hold off on all this until the start of August as an extra precaution, but of course, that's not a decision we the people can make. Just thought I should give my two cents on the matter though.

Whelp, that aside, had a surprisingly hard time writing this chapter – primarily the beginning since for the longest time nothing was coming to mind on how to actually start it. I usually have a brief mental outline well in advance of what to write, but this time around, I just totally blanked. So please forgive me if the chapter feels a little rough. I did my best to edit it after writing it to make sure it flowed normally, but I may have missed a spot or two.

On an aside, almost done with my novel! Just need another two chapters and then I just need to come up with some cover page and it'll just be a matter of uploading it for purchase… though writing a summary to entice potential buyers will be a pain to do… always sucked at those. Hopefully whenever I get around to writing the third/final novel of my planned trilogy, I can improve on that front.

Now, without anymore time being wasted, onto the chapter.

P.S. there will be a very small timeskip between the first section of this chapter and the second section. Just wanted to let you guys know now to avoid any possible confusion.

Chapter 45

Hazel stands in place, unmindful of the Grimm that practically surrounded him. Honestly, over the past week, he's grown somewhat desensitized to having them around him almost constantly now. The faint traces of negativity that he could feel even from here hadn't exactly helped him either and now the man, all but literally invincible in a physical sense, was feeling terribly worn down.

He'd long since stopped holding humanity in a positive light, especially after his sister died thanks to Ozpin's wretched foolishness, but the exposure to humanity's negativity, however slight, hadn't been doing him any favors at all. Sometimes, it was a wonder he could even bring himself to be semi-comfortable in Watts' presence.

Speaking of the man…

Watts' loud chuckle made the man tiredly look his way in time to see the former Atlas scientist expand that virtual space of his roughly ten meters all around. The mustachioed man was practically in a constant state of bliss as he ceased to maintain his virtual space.

Hazel could only shake his head. He would easily admit that the power Watts had gained from his Eternal Motor was truly in a league all its own, but the taciturn man had also been all too quick to notice the 'weaknesses' that Watts' new power has to it.

Weaknesses that he made sure to inform Watts of and his ally did seem to take his words to heart, but it was as clear as day that the man was in constant danger of letting the power go to his head.

Ironic since Hazel felt the opposite about his own abnormal state, the changes resulting from his Dust usage still going on. Though outwardly, he looked the same as always, Hazel could feel it – a shift in the very structure of his soul. As poetic as that might sound, it was quite literal in this case and far from hyperbole. Hazel feared what exactly he was still in the process of becoming.

"…" Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a few Dust crystals and looked at them in an all new and wary light.

For the sake of his goals – killing Jaune Arc and avenging his sister's death by putting down Ozpin – he was more than willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish them. If that meant having to infuse himself with more Dust, then he would do so… but if – when – it did come to that, just what would happen? With the changes he was already undergoing, would his Dust injections speed up the changes, make them more drastic? Result in entirely new and different changes altogether? Do nothing at all?

With him already able to sense negativity and manipulate the elements a little, would further Dust usage increase these new traits of his? Would it warp his mind and soul further? If so, would he even be able to finally take solace in Gretchen's death being avenged at the end of all this?

…If injecting more Dust resulted in him fully losing the memories of his sister or otherwise rendering him incapable of feeling anything for her anymore then just wh-?

"Ah, Tyrian," Watts spoke up with a satisfied smirk. "Are you ready?"

Roused from his thoughts, Hazel looked to the third and final member of their little bunch.

Just yesterday, Tyrian had finally linked up with them, having successfully delivered the Relic of Knowledge to Salem and resting up for a full day or so before making his way here. The scorpion Faunus had taken his time getting to them and on Salem's order at that too – the Grimms' immortal leader had made it all too clear to Tyrian for him to avoid overstraining himself lest he be too worn down by the time of the final stage of the plan to be of much use.

Thus, when the serial killer had met up with them yesterday, he'd immediately taken to resting… and now, here he was, finally up and in peak condition after having himself some rations for breakfast.

Tyrian looked at Watts in mad glee. "Ah, as ready as I could ever hope to be," he replied before cackling in delight, no doubt vividly imagining what would be coming.

Watts' own smirk grew and now the man faced him. "What of you, Hazel?"

"Likewise," he managed to utter without giving anything away. He then looked to Tyrian. "Make sure to wait until Watts gives the signal. After that, however… do as you please."

The final stage of the plan was almost painfully simple: Hazel would order all the Grimm he could command to renew their assault on Vale's southern wall, not with the intention of bringing it down – that would come much later – but with the intent of keeping the forces stationed there occupied and thus distracted. Once that is done, Watts will use his technopathy to disable some comms and other delicate and hackable tech to further cause some chaos along the walls. This would no doubt result in some casualties for Vale's forces, but as this week of rest and training had shown Watts due to fiddling with whatever tech he had on hand, it turns out he could only really control any one piece of tech for up to half an hour before his concentration slips and he loses control. Thus, throwing the entire southern section of Vale would be impossible…

…However, it would give Tyrian more than enough of an opportunity to make it inside Vale and once inside and clear of the walls… well, it went without saying what exactly the crazed Faunus will do.

But to sum it up succinctly, Tyrian will do what he does best. And he won't simply stick to one sector either, no, he'll make his way throughout every possible part of Vale he could get through and build himself his usual mountain of corpses. In doing so, he'll show the occupants of Vale that there truly is no place safe for them.

Watts would follow not long after Tyrian's spree begins so that he may then use his newfound power to further sow discord, but his primary objective would be to throw the Atlas fleet and Vale's comms into disarray.

Negativity will then surge greater than ever before and Grimm will flock of their own accord even more here. Once enough Grimm gather to form an actual horde, that'll be when he will infiltrate Vale once more and the three of them will raise hell to prevent Ozpin and his allies from mounting a proper defensive against the horde…

…And once that happens…

Hazel grimaced in silence, knowing that would be when Salem will make her own move, after he and the others had properly prepared for her arrival in Vale. A part of him almost – almost – felt bad for the people of that blasted kingdom… but this sensation lasted for all of a split second before it wilted and died.

It was far too late for him to even entertain the notion of pity for humanity. This was a long time coming… he, Watts, and Tyrian were merely speeding things up a bit at this point.

"Oh, I most certainly will…" Tyrian replied, his tail uncoiling itself from around his waist and its stinger raised itself as if ready to strike. The bloodthirsty lunatic was already envisioning his victims, it would seem.

Hazel grunted in response. Looks like there was nothing else to be said then.

Stalking forth, he marched through the forest and towards Vale ever so slightly. Then without the slightest bit of fanfare, he gave the Grimm the command-.

-And the small tide of black and white beasts surged forth towards their target.

James was aboard the main deck of his flagship, staring out towards the great beyond. Though only slightly, he could make out a small flock of large Nevermores troubling Vale's southern wall, where the forces there were making quick work out of the avian Grimm. It helped especially that he'd sent some of his forces to the walls to further augment Vale's own forces.

It's now been roughly nine days since Ozpin had deemed it fit to bring teams RWBY and JNPR into the fold… the Atlas general still wasn't too sure what to feel about that. On the one hand, it went against his ethics to include people so young and fresh into this shadow war against Salem but on the other hand, he and the rest of Ozpin's inner circle were really hurting for options here. It did help that both teams were quite talented, but that was really only relative to the rest of the first-year students at Beacon and the other academies.

During this time, from what he's heard, both teams have taken to training themselves harder than they ever have before, all for the sake of being able to do their part in the battle against Salem, which made James proud, but now in light of this sudden albeit small surge of Grimm attacking from the south, he worried if they would be able to get noticeable enough results in just these past nine days to be of more immediate use.

On that note…

"James," Ozpin called out as he was escorted up to him.

The general turned to greet his friend briskly. Earlier, he'd called Ozpin and asked him to meet aboard his flagship. It'd taken his fellow headmaster a bit longer than he would've liked to come up here, but that was just how things went considering Ozpin no doubt had to coordinate things on Vale's side of things from the shadows, which is far from easy to do.

Motioning for Ozpin to follow him, the general quickly strolled to the far end of the main deck where no one couldn't overhear them unless they got close… and that is something he and Ozpin would immediately notice.

"This is her doing," James immediately said in a quiet voice, motioning towards the south of Vale.

Ozpin, ever so quick to get to the point too despite his love of tangents, nodded firmly. "Without a doubt. Have your technicians made any headway on…?"

Ozpin was referring to what had happened yesterday.

When the new surge of Grimm had suddenly hit, a lot of the equipment by the walls had suddenly started to go on the fritz, automated turrets refusing to turn or aiming at some spot far off in the distance rather than the Grimm closest to the wall. Soldiers' equipment had acted up, ranging from their guns' auto-safety features that prevented them from actually firing to their headsets going offline and preventing them from radioing in with others.

More than a few people had died as a result of this incident and it was the main reason why he'd sent out some of his own forces to back them up, effective immediately. He'd also sent out an entire team of technicians and analysts to ensure every piece of technology there was up and running properly, doing checks for faulty parts and malware. In the several hours that have passed since then, he's heard nothing from them, which was a good thing, since if they had contacted him, then that'd mean they did find signs of tampering.

That said, he wasn't taking things lightly – that's why he had his flagship and one other ship personally monitoring from afar the southern part of Vale's current state. He had bullheads full of soldiers on standby in case something else went horribly wrong.

James made sure to tell Ozpin all this and he watched as his friend swiftly digested all this information. "…Damn it all," Ozpin actually swore ever so lightly, much to James' surprise. It was a sure sign of how tired Ozpin was from all this. "This is clearly her doing, meant to distract us… if only we knew how this was being done, then a proper countermeasure could be made."

At that, the general could only grimace in agreement. Though he was hopeful that no news was good news, the lack of signs indicating tampering was eating away at him. Obviously, their tech had been sabotaged somehow, but the complete lack of evidence as to how it was being done was enough to drive him up the walls. Combined with the steadily growing number of Grimm attacking Vale's southern wall, he was reaching his wits' end at a steady pace.

"Have you heard anything on your end of things, Oz?" James asked, knowing for a fact that his friend had been busy monitoring things on a more grounded level as opposed to him. Due to how busy they'd been tending to their respective problems this week, it'd been a while since they'd been able to update one another properly.

At his question, Ozpin looked him dead in the eyes and that alone was enough to make James regret asking.

"Some matters have made themselves known to me in just these past twelve hours…" Ozpin began before launching into an explanation. "This surge in Grimm… it goes without saying that it's unnatural, caused by either Salem herself or Hazel, who's apparently been demonstrating traits similar to her, remember? With this in mind though, the surge we're seeing here isn't anything truly worth fretting over in and of itself… rather, what I fear is what will result from this intentional surge of Grimm."

"A Grimm horde forming," James murmured uneasily.

With how many incidents have happened within Vale these past several weeks and months, negativity was as high as it could be without there being a full-blown siege by the Grimm. However, that could change very quickly now with how unsettled the public is.

But even though he and the others were doing the best they can to keep the people at relative ease, the negativity was still very much there. The entire kingdom of Vale was like a pressure cooker at this point and it was on the verge of exploding from excessive pressure… but even without that happening, a Grimm horde would very likely be forming by now out there in the wildlands.

And if they did nothing at all about it…

"…I take it, you've already tried sending some huntsmen out to see if a horde was already forming?" James asked.

"I have," Ozpin answered. "And I made it very clear for them to stop for nothing, not even rest until they reached where a horde would most likely form… and so far, they've yet to respond back."

Chills raced up and down James' spine wildly.

Grimm hordes tended to gather in vast and open areas, where the environment's natural layout couldn't obstruct the Grimm from packing as closely together as possible. Avian type Grimm were somewhat exempt from this due to their ability to fly but even then they tended to try finding spots to land for a time until the horde was large enough to warrant moving out.

It was also worth noting that avian type Grimm always head out first towards their targets, again due to them being able to fly over most obstructions. And while all Grimm barring the much older ones tend to be reckless to the point of suicidal, the avian ones were even more so whenever they were part of a Grimm horde…

…Much like the Nevermores the forces along Vale's southern wall…

"Shit…!" James growled out.

A horde had likely already been forming for a while now. This recent surge in Grimm was just Salem's way of quickening its pace and bolstering its numbers further.

And the fact that none of the huntsmen Ozpin had sent out had reported in yet… that was another terrifying sign of things. With the topography in mind here, the locations where a Grimm horde could reasonably form near Vale weren't many in number nor did it take too long to reach them, especially if huntsmen pushed themselves to the limit.

And at the very first sign of a horde forming, those same huntsmen would immediately report it in and either fall back to Vale or try thinning the numbers out via guerilla tactics until proper reinforcements can be sent to deal with the horde before it grows out of control.

"James," Ozpin began. "It goes without saying that someone has been picking them off – most likely Hazel if not another of Salem's agents. That said, this is not something we can back away from to assess any longer."

James could only nod, understanding what his friend was about to say. "I'll send out some ships, have them blast the horde to dust from as high up as they can get away with." He paused for a moment as he then thought of something. "I can only hope that doing this isn't just playing into their hands further, though…"

This could very well be a trap. Hell, it most likely was – he sends in some ships and they get shot down somehow, depriving himself but most importantly Vale of that much manpower and resources. From a purely pragmatic perspective, that is what he'd do in the enemy's shoes, but at the same time… this horde couldn't go ignored.

It was simply a risk that couldn't be taken, not when this horde had the benefit of Salem's agents stewing their own brand of chaos amidst all this.

"…And," Ozpin continued wearily. "On another note… I believe it's time we finally put RWBY and JNPR out into the field against Salem's forces."

James' attention, which had waned slightly as he focused heavily on what to do next, snapped back to his old friend instantly. "What do you mean?"

Ozpin looked at him yet again in that all too intense way that spoke of how serious this was. "You've been busy up here so you haven't heard yet," he began. "As of yesterday, before dawn, there's been something of a murder spree going on – a house near the southern wall broken into and the couple there slain… followed not long afterwards by a slew of deaths among the homeless population. The trail of bodies, discovered only due to the police's much more extensive patrols, seem to indicate this killer is covering quite the distance between each kill… and rapidly at that too."

James' heart felt like it was beating a million miles a minute. From the sounds of it, it seems like the public was still in the dark on that, but if or when it did become more obvious to them all…

"Do you think they'll be able to handle it?" the general immediately asked. His first impulse upon asking this question was to then follow it up with the demand he send at least an additional two squads along with the two teams in order to find this killer and deal with them as swiftly as humanly possible, but he had to stomp down on that impulse hard. Even if he did do so and he got his soldiers to dress in plain clothes, it would still end up drawing too much attention.

"They must," Ozpin replied. "I've already assigned most of my staff and others students to helping out along Vale's walls as needed, to say nothing of aiding the police with the usual crimes, so it sadly isn't as if we've much choice really… honestly, it's just a matter of deciding if they will be enough on their own."

Again, James wanted like all hell to send some men to back up both RWBY and JNPR in this endeavor, but he had to hold back on that. He's learned that acting too rashly was just as bad a move as any, really.

"…You've spoken to me of their potential," James managed to say evenly. "So let's see if they can deal with this. But at the very least… let me send along just one person to back them up. Whoever this killer is, they're clearly doing this on Salem's orders to stew more chaos… and I highly doubt she'd have chosen someone that could be easily beaten by first-year trainees to carry this out."

"Then call your person, James," Ozpin immediately responded in a firm tone. "I'll gather the teams and have them sent into Vale right now. I'll let them know to meet your soldier near Vale's bullhead transport deck."

That was all the man had to say before immediately taking his leave, just barely even bothering to acknowledge the general's nod. Not that James minded this, really. After all, this was indeed an urgent matter.

As Ozpin took his leave, the man's scroll already in hand, James approached the nearest operator of his flagship.

"Get specialist Schnee on the line," he commanded. "Tell her there's a new assignment for her… and that she's to take care of it immediately."

As soon as the headmaster had called him and his friends to meet near Beacon's bullhead docks, Jaune knew that this was it – the official start of their own efforts against Salem and her forces. Well, official in the sense that their actions were being supported by the headmaster and others.

Needless to say, he was feeling quite riveted, but at the same time, his elation at being able to do some good was tempered by wariness. And sure enough, after they'd all been briefly informed of the situation and sent posthaste into Vale, Jaune was more certain than ever that they had to be on their toes.

Disembarking from the bullhead upon arriving at a docking center further into Vale, Jaune and his friends were quick to take note of someone approaching them – and someone familiar at that too, if only to a few of his friends.

"Winter?!" Weiss called out in surprise nearby as a woman, looking very much like an older and sterner version of her, strode right up to them.

"Weiss," the woman – Winter – replied in a professional tone but there was no doubting the slightest bit of warmth there too, indicating how much she cared for her younger sister. "As nice as it is to see you again, I'm afraid we don't have any time to waste. You've all been briefed?"

"We have," Ruby spoke up, the chipper girl deadly serious now. "You're here to help us out and stuff, right?"

Winter nodded. "That's right. Alas, as we will need to split up to search, I won't be accompanying your team, Ms. Rose."

Jaune quirked an eyebrow. "Then you'll be with us?" he asked if only for spoken confirmation.

Winter nodded. "That's right. Now let's not waste another second more. Here – earpieces. We'll be staying in touch through them since trying to pull out and use your scroll in the middle of a potential conflict would be tough to do." She quickly passed them out and continued speaking as they all put the earpieces on. "General Ironwood had already informed me of the areas this perp of ours has targeted… seems like whoever it is is moving throughout the surroundings areas in a zig-zag type pattern. As there's no guarantee this will continue, both teams here will split up to cover as much ground as possible. Now let's go."

Ruby and Yang, mainly the former, did their best to avoid spluttering in surprise due to how fast things seemed to be progressing, but settled down an instant later and just nodded resolutely. The headmaster had told them of the stakes here and thus time was a very precious commodity right now.

There was no time to do things slowly anymore, no time to spend strategizing before enacting a plan. They had to go out there now and get this done. The overall situation was just too strained as it is.

Thus, without any other comments to be made, both RWBY and JNPR were off, jogging lightly alongside Winter Schnee as to avoid causing the citizens out and about right now too much worry. Thanks to everything going on recently, the citizens have slowly gotten used to seeing police and huntsmen going about much more frequently nowadays, sights they'd been put somewhat at ease by, but seeing them act too urgently could potentially invert that marginal sense of security around very quickly.

Truly, what a delicate balance this was.

Alas, this was something they couldn't afford to pay much mind to, Jaune sadly realized.

But that aside… were he and his friends ready? That was the main question on his mind right now. It's been roughly nine days since they all tripled their efforts to get better in their own ways. In some cases, such as his own, results were quite noticeable, but in most of their cases such as Ren's, results were heavily lacking. Which is perfectly natural, of course; after all, it's not possible to significantly improve one's own strength and endurance in just a bit more than week. Well, except for him of course, but he was an exception not the norm. As for improving one's combat skill and technique, that was a much more difficult to assess variable. The only way to know would only be through combat.

And combat would no doubt be coming all too seen…

At some point, they split up. RWBY went to do an all-encompassing sweep of Vale's southeastern districts while Jaune, his team, and Winter covered the southwestern districts.

"Anything in particular we need to be aware of?" he asked Winter as they arrived.

This was technically a question that had already been asked earlier before both teams went their separate ways, but this time Jaune asked in reference to the area itself.

"Nothing in particular," Winter immediately replied, picking up on his meaning. "Before the more recent incidents, this entire area used to be made up of small motels that tourists used, at least those who made the travel to Vale from the south and wished to avoid the car and foot traffic that naturally can be found deeper into Vale's more metropolitan areas. However, many motels have closed down due to the recent surge in Grimm presence… and the killings haven't been helping either."

"But aren't the killings being kept under wraps for now? How would people know about that then?" Pyrrha asked, his partner frowning as she spoke. Although the reason for keeping the killing spree out of the news was understandable, it just wasn't something that sat well with her for obvious moral reasons.

"Word gets around quickly in areas like this," Jaune answered in Winter's stead, earning a quirked eyebrow from the woman. For what reason did she seem surprised, he knew not, but he continued speaking. "There will always be those areas in every kingdom or large enough town where people are especially close-knit, to the point where even if technology is lacking and thus making long distance communication harder, word of mouth is still enough to make up for the difference a bit. Even if people don't know what exactly is going on, all it takes is just for someone trustworthy to have a bad feeling about things and pass that feeling along to others… the attack on city hall definitely didn't help put people at ease either."

Pyrrha grimaced but nodded. Her hands itched ever so lightly towards her undrawn weapons, but she was doing well to keep this urge in check. The same could be said too of a tense looking Nora and Ren.

Jaune himself was no different, really.

This was something Winter seemed to take note of as she walked next to him. "…Are you able to use all those swords?" she asked, looking at the rather ridiculous sight he must pose.

For just a few days ago, the very swords he'd asked of the headmaster had been delivered to him, sheathes and all, including the unmodified blade he'd given to the headmaster that one day too. Needless to say, he'd had to go out and buy some additional straps for his waist so that he could properly equip all seven modified swords, and while he was able to ensure he wasn't risking a blade unnecessarily jutting out, even he had to admit he must look ridiculous, what with seven swords literally strapped to his waist, just over his own butt.

Even so, Jaune answered confidently. "I am, yes." To prove his point, he reached for the most difficult to reach blades with zero strain and virtually no unnecessary movements, drawing them out with nary a sound before sheathing them again just a second later. "…Just how high are the odds, however, that I will need to prove my prowess today?"

He didn't say that to imply he was craving a fight or not taking this seriously for that just wasn't true at all, but rather this was his own little way of trying to assure the Atlas specialist that he was ready for whatever would come next.

"Hard to say," she replied as she kept on walking, now picking up her pace as she headed. Though she didn't turn her head much at all, Jaune could clearly tell all of the woman's senses were on high alert. At the very first sign of something amiss, she'd respond in an instant. "From what can be determined, our serial killer will likely be hitting this particular area next… but calling their travel path a 'zig-zag' may have been too generous of me – whoever this person is, they could just as easily head to where team RWBY will be searching or perhaps even find a way to bypass us all entirely."

Jaune and his friends could only nod and make quiet sounds of acknowledgement. That made sense, though it didn't put them at ease. Further adding to their worry, the places this person had targeted were all over the place – some crime scenes had been within small houses or shops or even inside motels like the ones in this area. Homeless people have been killed in alleyways, during nighttime or even daytime, indicating that this killer was either bold or flat out reckless. Of course, given that this person had gone uncaught and unidentified so far, that said something about their skill and strength.

And considering this very likely had something to do with Salem…

Jaune inwardly bristled. He very highly doubted it was Hazel behind these killings. Behind this sudden surge in Grimm, sure, but not the killings themselves. That said, if whoever was committing them was even remotely close to Hazel's level…

It took Jaune a split second to realize his hands were unconsciously going for two of his seven blades and he lowered them hastily. There were still some people about. The last thing he needed was to accidentally startle them with any rash actions. To do so risked a spike in negativity that would inevitably draw even more Grimm to Vale's walls or even worse, somehow cause the killer to get hastier, assuming they were nearby.

"Weiss, report," Winter suddenly said as she tapped the earpiece. "Anything so far?"

Thanks to their own earpieces, Jaune and his friends were able to continue walking and looking around unimpeded as Weiss' voice came in crystal clear. "Nothing yet, no. We've decided to start searching at the last known crime scene and try to track our… runner… from there, but so far, no noticeable signs."

The area RWBY was searching in was on the nicer side of Vale, so anything out of the ordinary would stick out like splotches of black paint on a pure white canvas. And from what the headmaster and Winter herself earlier had told them, the crime scenes had been quite… messy. To avoid leaving any tracks further spoke as to this killer's experience.

"Copy," Winter said. "Don't bother looking for any tracks in that case – I doubt you'll find any. Just plot out the possible paths the runner may have gone and start from there. We've no time to stand back and deliberate in length."

"Right… Winter… be careful, okay?" Weiss replied, those last four words being spoken in a much softer tone.

Winter said nothing out loud but her expression told Jaune plenty. She really was a sterner version of Weiss, but just as good a person underneath that seemingly icy exterior. Jaune could really quite admire that in a sense.

"Has…" Ren suddenly began as they continued their trek now through some nearby alleyways, no one else around to potentially overhear them. "Has the general informed you of what's really going on?"

That got Winter to pause momentarily. "…Yes," she answered quietly. "From what I understand, he's yet to tell Ozpin that I'm in the know now, but I can't be sure of that. It has been a busy week."

"I see… just thought I should ask," Ren replied, somewhat apologetically. "Given how badly things have gone for us due to being in the dark on all this, I thought it best to make sure we're all on the same page here… that said, you seem to be taking all this quite well."

Winter actually snorted. "Like I just said, it's been a busy week. I haven't had much time to process all this so far… but in a way, I feel like I've always known there was more to everything than just Grimm being what they are…"

It was now Jaune's turn to speak. "I'm guessing you've met a Maiden…" he commented very quietly.

"I have," she said. "Not that I knew it at the time but given how much importance the general placed on her being taken care of, it would make sense in hindsight why that is." She turned ever so slightly towards them. "That said, if you think this is all some ploy to get towards the Maiden here in Vale, I rather doubt it. From what the general has told me, it would seem the enemy has found a way to get around the need for the four women in the first place."

"I feel the same. This is all likely a way to stir up enough chaos to cause a horde to form," Jaune replied grimly, more grimly than he's ever spoken before.

His words had an impact on his friends too, who now drew their weapons openly due to no civilians no longer being around to potentially scare.

Their classes with both professor Port and doctor Oobleck have made it all too clear how big of a deal a Grimm horde is. And with just how much negativity Vale has been outputting recently, a horde must surely be forming somewhere out there.

Winter drew her own weapon now, an immaculate looking sword. "Yes… which is why we can't take afford to waste any more time now. No matter how skilled our killer is, there's only so many ways they could travel from one area to another. The rooftops, the alleyways, the sewers… these seem to be the most likely ways the killer could be traveling. While audaciously taking the streets isn't entirely unfathomable, it's nowhere near as possible or efficient."

Jaune nodded, coming to that same conclusion. That left only one thing to do – for them to split up and search. As tremendously risky as this move was, it was sadly the only thing they could do and they can expect to do so on their own too, no support whatsoever; with the police focused on dealing with the fluctuating crime rate and numerous trainees assisting in this task while huntsmen, most of the Atlas fleet, and the more experienced trainees dealt with border security and Grimm suppression, they were more or less on their own. Backup wasn't out of the question entirely, but if something happened, it probably wouldn't reach them quickly enough to matter much.

But as was constantly being stressed just now, they had to get this done as soon as possible.

Turning to face his team, Jaune was quick to issue some orders. "Pyrrha, take the rooftops. With your overall ability and semblance, you'll be able to spot anything out of the ordinary and either snipe our target or use your polarity to grab their attention and keep them occupied. Nora, go with Pyrrha as support. Just make sure not to get any civilians caught up in the crossfire if you do start shooting your grenades." Both girls nodded firmly and he looked to Ren. "Ren, stick with specialist Schnee here and take the alleyways and street. If anything does happen, you'll have plenty of room to maneuver since your weapons are perfect for enclosed spaces like these."

Ren nodded. "What about you?"

"I'll take the sewers," Jaune replied. "Though not to the same degree as a Faunus, my night vision is pretty good – the result of many travels through the night on the frontier."

At that, his friends looked to him in concern.

"But won't using your blades be difficult to do in that situation?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah. I know you're our fearless leader and all, but isn't there a chance your earpiece thingie will not work down there?" Nora added.

He opened his mouth to reply, only for Winter to cut him off before he could even utter a syllable. "So long as he doesn't go too far down into the sewer system, his comms should work just fine. That now said…" she looked at him critically. "I'd rather you just do a quick sweep of the areas near the sewer entrance – just because we must take risks here doesn't mean we should push things that far. This will all be useless if we negatively impact our efficiency that much."

"I understand," Jaune replied evenly.

"…Will you really be okay?" Pyrrha asked. She was worried still, not because she doubted his strength, but just because she was just that wonderful a person. Also… "I mean, even if you do have room to properly fight down there… I mean, if you use Dust…"

At that, Jaune looked just a bit sheepish. Though his control over Dust has improved immensely thanks to the revelation he'd had nine days ago – plus some tips after that from Weiss – that didn't change the fact that the effects of said Dust usage were… significant. There was a very real possibility he could cut through the sewer all the way up to the surface and cause a collapse if he wasn't careful.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll try to stick to just unarmed combat though just to play it extra safe," he answered.

This very brief exchange got Winter to quirk an eyebrow, mildly confused by the implications here, but she didn't bother commenting. "Then we're decided – let's move."

Replying in the affirmative, Pyrrha and Nora quickly hopped onto a nearby wall and kicked off it, traveling upwards until they reached the roof of the building next to them. As for Jaune himself, he headed for the nearest big sewer entrance, which lied further down these alleyways.

As he quickly dashed over to it, he looked back to see Winter and Ren depart for somewhere deeper into the alleyways.

The search was now truly on for their killer… now it was just a matter of time until they either found the killer…

…Or the killer found them first.

Tyrian stalked his way through the sewer system with a massive smile on his face. He has been smiling ever literally since he'd begun his spree. Not even the repugnant odor that permeated the sewer could get to him. And why should it anyways? After all, the trash found down here was exactly the same as the trash up above, those that he's killed and will kill.

In any case, he felt he was making good progress. So far, he's killed a few dozen people as it is – some families, business workers, and mainly the homeless, his prowess as a killer having allowed him to pick them all off at his leisure without even a bit of genuine resistance. Ah, how he'd love to have taken his time with some of them, but he was sadly on a bit of a time crunch here.

As per the plan, it was up to him to start the final stage of it off with a lovely little bang thus his usual MO wasn't viable. But this was not a problem at all, for it was all for his goddess.

He moaned ever so quietly in sheer bliss, already anticipating how he'd be praised by the goddess for his efforts. That he'd already been thanked simply for bringing her the Relic of Knowledge had filled him with immense joy.

Invigorated more than ever before by such thoughts, Tyrian picked up his pace, effortlessly traversing through the pitch blackness found within the sewers, the night vision granted to him by his Faunus heritage serving him well in moving about.

Reaching a ladder that would take him up to street level, he was quick to mount it and climb, only slowing when he reached the manhole and gently lifted it so that he wouldn't draw any undue suspicion just yet.

Peeking his head out slightly, the scorpion Faunus saw he was in the clear… and just near some shops.

He chuckled darkly. Most excellent.

Waiting a moment for any and all traffic on the street to clear up, he made his move. Like a streak of lightning, he bolted from cover and rushed towards the nearest shop.

Only vaguely did he register the fact that said shop appeared to be a flower shop of sorts, not that it mattered much to him. What did matter is that no one was around to stop him.

Up until now, he'd been quite the sneaky one, having settled for silently breaking into places and killing his targets in relative silence so that whenever someone came by, they would notice his handiwork and be truly shocked and horrified by it.

But now? Now, it was time to start ramping things up. Watts would soon be joining in on the fun, likely within the day or so, thus now was the time to start really making a statement.

Thus, rather than settle for just quietly opening the door and silently taking out everyone within the shop, this time he just straight up slammed against the entrance, his lanky frame belying the surprising strength he possessed.

The door to the shop was instantly shattered into pieces and of course, this was by no means a quiet sound. The several or so people within the shop naturally took note of this and all of them cried out in startlement as they wildly turned towards the source of the sound.

But Tyrian moved faster than what the eyes of any civilian could ever keep up with and he took stock of his newest batch of victims:

A cashier, around college age.

Someone in the barely visible pathway to the backroom, an older man.

A middle-aged man and his two kids… ah, been a while since he'd slain anyone that young. It'll be nice to see how well their soft flesh holds up to his blades.

Lastly, there was a woman, no, a girl likely in her teens, all on her lonesome. She'd been looking at some plants closest to the door…

And so, it was this girl that ended up becoming his first victim.

Tyrian set upon her in just a millisecond, if that. With two swift motions, he cut her right across the eyes with his second strike opening her throat. He'd delayed the second strike just enough for the beginnings of a gurgle to fill his ears before he moved onto the next victims.

Immediately, he opened fire with his guns, unloading into the wide-eyed cashier, the blood splattering onto the counter and plants nearby. As he fired, Tyrian was already moving upon the man and his children.

With a dark cackle, he lashed out with his tail, using it to grab the man by his throat and hoisted him up to expose his torso. With masterful precision that would impress even a master artisan, Tyrian hacked away at the man's stomach, fully intent on disemboweling him. He then tossed the man onto his children, their little cries muffled as their now dying father collapsed onto them.

Glancing towards the backroom, Tyrian opted to just open fire again through the corner rather than head after the older man back there. Empowered by some aura, his bullets pierced through the wall like nothing and his finely tuned ears made out the familiar sounds of bullets rending through flesh very well, sounds followed quickly by a loud thump as the now dead man fell to the floor.

Tyrian knew he had to go now – plenty more people to kill before it was time to really be out in the open – but as he immediately pivoted so that he could take his leave, he paused for just a split second.

After all, just how could he leave without forgetting the kids?

Tyrian looked down upon the trapped and wailing children with a malicious grin before grabbing them by the heads and tugged them free from under their father. The man in question was amazingly still alive, trying to utter something and even tried to reach out for Tyrian's leg. No doubt, the man was pleading for him to let his kids go.

It would almost be touching if they all weren't such filth standing in his goddess' path. Oh well.

A swift flick of his tail was enough to ensure his stinger cut open the dying man's check, injecting just a little bit of his venom into the man.

With that distraction now out of the way…

Tyrian looked at the kids struggling futilely against his grip and grinned, an idea coming to mind…

And so, just half a minute later, Tyrian took his leave, exiting through the same manhole he'd come out from. His gunshots and actions have sent any and all people nearby long since scrambling away in terror and so he went unseen…

…However, moments later, when the police swiftly arrived on the scene, the responding officers got to see his handiwork.

As he traveled through the sewers once more, Tyrian chuckled yet again in satisfaction, wondering if the police will appreciate the 'welcome' sign he'd made thanks to those kids.

He now traveled northwest, heading ever deeper into Vale. It wouldn't be long until his spree, now escalating in scale, reaches Vale's downtown area.

And when it does… oh, how he so looked forward to seeing how much trouble he could stir up there.

Watts sat all on his lonesome at an outside café, the former Atlas scientist enjoying his own company very much in addition to a well-made cappuccino. Even one such as he couldn't help but enjoy such things, more so when there was work coming up that was of great importance.

As planned, he'd made his way into Vale not long after Tyrian had done so, though the man was absolutely certain that Tyrian didn't know he was even here yet. In all fairness, the main idea had been for Watts to head into Vale a few days or so after Tyrian did, yet he here now was, a day or so ahead of schedule.

Not that this made a difference, really, though since either way he would've had to wait for Tyrian to make some kind of ruckus.

And thanks to his technopathy, Watts was most pleased to see that Tyrian's escapades have finally picked up some genuine steam.

Ever since entering Vale, he'd made it a point to dig up everything about Tyrian's killings so far. Though said killings have occurred in areas where people were fully capable of keeping things under wraps, the fact of the matter is that police had still been called in all those cases and thus there existed reports of those incidents as well some occasional footage. Nothing that showed the killings in and of themselves, but what had mattered to Watts were the location details and timestamps.

The idea here was to make it known to Vale at large just how recent these killings were as well as how close these killings were to the other residents here. It's always been one thing to hear about a murder spree going on in the other kingdoms or in some work of fiction, but it was another thing entirely to learn of such a thing happening here and now in their own kingdom. And with just how horribly tense everyone was right now, well…

Watts then let out a chuckle. To some of the people around him, such an action must look rather sudden and absurd, but obviously not to him.

Even now, he was using his technopathy to compile his findings… and just now, he'd managed to hack from a safe distance the live recordings that every police officer had. Through this, he got to see up close and personal the mess Tyrian had made of that little flower shop. The way those cameras even managed to pick up the horrified gasps and retching sounds the responding officers made too as they witnessed Tyrian's handiwork – Watts almost pitied those children, truly, he did – just made things all the sweeter.

A bit of a shame that the flower shop didn't seem to have any security cameras inside that he could hack, at least as far as his newfound senses could tell, but the footage he was getting from the unknowing officers still sufficed.

In an instant, he took that footage and opted to stream it directly to some reporters at the Vale News Network, particularly Lisa Lavender's computer at her desk, followed by an email containing the files hastily written up about Tyrian's recent murders too. He also made it a point to send the footage from the policemen's cameras to as many emails he could dig up in the following minute, selecting from a long list of people that consisted primarily of civilians though he was also able to get the email address to a council member or two in the process too.

There, he thought in satisfaction as he took a sip from his drink, that should get the ball really rolling. The murders in and of themselves would be attention grabbing during these trying times, but a little note at the end of the email that made it clear the police department and some of the residents in those areas had tried to keep things hush-hush would really set the populace off.

Watts could practically feel the explosion of negativity already and it would be just a bit before it even happens, heh. He could only imagine what it would feel like for Hazel once the media reports on it.

This would no doubt lead to a large influx of Grimm, which definitely wouldn't go unnoticed by the public. More huntsmen would be then be sent out to deal with the undoubtedly forming Grimm horde and the Atlas fleet would very likely be mobilized in its entirety too in support. Of course, Hazel had been more than capable of dealing with the pesky ones already sent to check out the location of the forming horde, so it wouldn't matter at all however many more huntsmen are sent his way…

…But as for the Atlas fleet, when the fleet here in Vale finally did make its move, that would be up to Watts to personally deal with… and he very much looked forward to crushing Ironwood's forces beneath his heel.

Ah… he could already imagine the look on the feeble general's face. The mental image was more than enough to make the man that much more eager for things to get to that point, so eager that it bordered on being physically painful just to hold himself back.

But hold back, he did. He's patiently waited years to get revenge on Ironwood. Another day or so at most was nothing.

Until then, he would amuse himself with following Tyrian's actions. If nothing else, his crazed accomplice served as excellent entertainment, more so when it came at Vale's expense.

Yeah, so as you can all see, shit is beginning to hit the fan pretty quickly now. Up until now, Jaune and the 'good' side (for lack of a better way to put it) may have been able to gain small/personal victories, but ultimately it's Salem's side that has the advantage in the overall situation.

In other words, they may be winning most battles, but Salem and her forces are still the ones winning the war.

Anyways, if it seems like things are suddenly moving very fast, just let me say that this is quite intentional. By this point in the fic, Salem has pretty much amassed her remaining forces right outside Vale and with everyone now in place, there's very little to no reason for her agents to wait around. Watts' new abilities have especially helped in facilitating this sudden turn in the situation, abilities that will be put on better display very soon.

On that note, as Hazel had stated in his narration, Watts' abilities do possess some weaknesses/shortcomings. The technopathy may be a hell of game changer but not one that he can abuse for very long periods of time. Same thing goes for his virtual space thing, which will be shown in action and elaborated upon in the near future.

One weakness that I can freely mention here and now though is that both abilities are concentration based, which is to say that Watts needs to concentrate significantly in order to use them. If his concentration is interrupted for even the slightest of instances, that'll be enough to stop or at least slow down whatever it is that he was doing. Of course, this really goes for just about anything/everything in fiction and real life, but it's especially important for Watts. Again, this will be explained in further detail once he really starts showing off what he can do.

Now, on a different note, I do hope that how the situation ultimately turned out makes sense – that is, with JNPR and RWBY being the ones to go and stop the murder spree and all that, and not, you know, the police or Atlas soldiers. I tried to make the reasoning behind it all at least plausible so do bear with me if it feels weird for whatever reason.

So… yeah. Shit is really going to be hitting the fan soon and expect things to really begin escalating, especially once Hazel joins the fray because I really have some plans for him.

Until next time, everyone. Stay safe.