RWBY: First Contact!

by Captaindrake123

First contact, the long dreamed of moment when humanity discovers it's not alone in the universe. Well its here, but its not as glamorous as everyone thought it would be. Instead, a sixteen year old boy is ripped from his home by an unknown occurrence, forced to fight, adapt, and learn to survive. "If there's a way here, there's a way back! I'll find my way home no matter what!"

8. Chapter 8 And So He Looks For Answers

Captaindrake123: *Insert Maguire Spiderman meme here*

I'M BACK!

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Warning: Some sensitive subjects about the attack on the World Trade Center on Nine-Eleven are brought up briefly in this chapter.

---

Chapter 8: And So He Looks For Answers...

I only recall falling asleep in a sitting position once, I was working late at night on some English homework I had due by the next day, and had put it off before in favor of playing video games and an oxidation-reduction reaction experiment, I had fallen asleep at my desk and woke up in the morning with a backache.

It was the same this time, I didn't even have to open my eyes to realize that I had fallen asleep in such a position again, what with my face against a cool surface that I could easily deduce as the steel table I got, and the spikes of ache in my spine at staying in such a position for a long time.

"Ugh…" I groaned, fluttering my eyes open-"Guh!" I covered them from the bright light of the apartment window "Turn off the fucking sun…" I grumbled, sounding like a jumbled mess to my ears with my face still against the metallic surface.

After my eyes adjusted I raised my head off of the table, noticing a trail of saliva from my mouth to the spot my face had been resting on "I drooled too? Ugh…" I only drooled when I was fucking exhausted, and considering the events of yesterday I had to admit I was.

My arms felt somewhat sore from carrying so much yesterday, but it wasn't painful. If anything it was my hands that ached, with how much intricate work I did last night it was only predictable that they would cramp up...which they did, multiple times.

'And I didn't fucking stop when they did because I'm a fucking moron like that' I didn't really mean it in the sense that I'm degrading myself, but I felt like I had to get the point across in my head not to do that again.

Letting my hands rest on the table, I looked down at one of the projects I had been working on before I passed out from exhaustion.

While chemistry is what I was most knowledgeable in, I can proudly say I knew a lot as well when it came to electrical engineering, after all you would have to when making an arc furnace. The amperage could easily kill someone if you fuck up.

And if you don't know what amperage is, then you definitely shouldn't be messing with this stuff. What's on my table is what I dubbed the Shock Stick, it's basically a low voltage shock paton.

It produces about fifty milliamps, it can knock out or at least stun most people. The standard for a stun gun, if I remember correctly, is ten milliamps, so I'm probably going overkill on it. But considering the fact that they have force fields that come from their souls...I'm not taking chances.

I could probably go further, but I don't want to kill anyone...a hundred milliamps is considered lethal, so I considered myself safe in that department. Even if they are terrorists, I don't want to kill anyone if I don't have to.

'But I might have to at some point' The thought crept into my mind 'If I'm serious about going after the White Fang to get answers, then I might have to kill someone at some point, I can't expect to put my life in danger by attacking terrorists and not expect to kill someone in self-defense'

Sure, there was that guy I threw over a railing when I first got here, but he was more killed by getting shot at by his comrades than me throwing him...just remembering it makes my stomach churn.

The thought of killing itself makes my heart sink, both in fear for my life and the idea of ending someone else's 'But it hasn't come to that, hell, I haven't even started yet, so I can think about that later' I pushed the morbid thought to the back of my mind and instead thought about my plans.

As for where I plan to search for them, that would be around where I was attacked the last time. For them to assault me in, while not broad daylight, but in an alleyway where there was a possibility of them being seen, they must have a hideout nearby for them to lay low.

I have various gadgets that I had made, potassium nitrate-sugar-based smoke canisters, the taser stick I mentioned earlier, and a pipe bomb.

The pipe bomb was a simple device, a crude fragmentation explosive that is a metal pipe filled with black powder. I distinctly remember that this method was used by some terrorists back home, and it makes me feel dirty to have made one myself.

But I need all the options I can get, it's my last resort if everything goes to shit.

"Heh…" I chuckled out loud, leaning into my chair "I'm planning on assaulting terrorists, what the fuck happened to my life?"

Sighing again I considered what to do in terms of finding the exact location of the White Fang's hideout in the town "It would most definitely be nearby, they couldn't have just been waiting days on end just to ambush me, they had to have had a more permanent set up to keep tabs on me"

Where would that be? Near Patch Delight, my place of work, but far enough away that it wouldn't cause enough attention to alert people of irregular activity whenever they left.

If people just saw someone coming from the building across the street to Patch Delight every time my shift starts someone would probably be suspicious of stalking at some point, and for there to be enough people to change shifts for keeping tabs on me they would need a big place to meet up and take refuge.

"There's also the possibility they could be close to where I live too…" I muttered as I put my hand on my chin, pacing back and forth, passing by the other experiment I prepared last night, it was covered in a tarp.

'Or am I being egotistical? Am I really so important they would establish a base soley just to keep watch over me?' I paused to consider the thought, it was most certainly possible that I'm not their main concern, even if they do know I'm an alien, they are terrorists first and foremost. They also seem to be fanatical, they would likely be more concerned with causing the most destruction possible to strike the most fear possible in the human population to reach their own goals.

"So I have to consider while it may be close to my workplace or home, it also has to be in an area that would allow them to cause the most fear" I walked over to the kitchen after feeling sleepiness in my eyes, and figured that making coffee would help.

As I started boiling the water and getting out eggs for breakfast, I couldn't stop thinking about possible locations to look for their base.

It was getting repetitive, I kept running in circles inside my own head. I have to take into account that they would likely have to be close to my apartment and workplace, so that narrows it down a lot, but what would be a place that best benefited them for their cause?

I couldn't say, the White Fang is an organization that is ambiguous at best and downright retarded at worst. They say they want equality, yet their actions make it seem like what they want is Faunus-supremacy. What's the best way to get equality? Bomb the humans obviously! Terrorists still share the same violent mindset, even on another planet.

Even if in the short term they were to get more attention on them and have their demands taken more seriously, in the long-term all it inspires is hate. Which in turn makes the Faunus oppression even worse, people refusing to give them jobs, or allowing them to live in apartment complexes or even just to get a meal at a regular restaurant based on the assumption that those Faunus could be White Fang terrorists, hell, I wouldn't put it past the White Fang to instigate the hatred just to get more recruits. All of which I had discovered to be quite common in Atlas, Vale, and Mistral, with Vale being the least of them that allow such treatment.

Vacuo is a completely different one altogether, they barely have a working government as it is a giant wasteland with wandering nomads as it's inhabitants. If you survive there, you are strong, no matter your race. They don't care about any discrimination so I assume the White Fang's presence there is the least powerful.

Cooking up the scrambled eggs, I finished making a pot of coffee and poured myself a mug "How does any of this help me…" I muttered, taking into account all of that information, what would the White Fang do if they were in Patch?

In my research of the White Fang and the Faunus themselves, I learned that Patch was probably one of the least discriminating places around, a good portion of the population are made up of that of huntsmen and huntresses, who, fighting life and death every day, are likely not to care about things such as race. There was also a fairly high population of Faunus around here, and while that could point to recruitment, the fact they live so nicely here could bring the possibility of getting a double agent to send back info for their enemies.

If this was the United States the White Fang would've been shot, blown up, and shit stomped on before it could even plan it's next shooting 'But this isn't the U.S' I reminded myself, setting up my plate.

To me, these people seem...almost like rookies, what with how open their attacks and raids are compared to the terrorist strikes back home. Not to mention there doesn't seem to be any anti-terrorist groups formed to speak of by any of the Kingdoms' forces...well, that work anyway.

But back on topic, what does a terrorist do? Inspire fear to achieve their goals...where would that fear be best placed?

It was something to seriously think about, and the idea itself brought back some horrific things I saw from the news back home, things I really hope aren't the correct answer.

"Ugh…" I shook my head, sitting at the lab table again with a plate of eggs along with a banana "I still need more to go off on" I decided, after hanging out with Ruby I'm gonna have to survey the area near my apartment complex and my workplace to scout any potential hideouts.

I raised the fork of eggs to my mouth 'Wait…' then paused 'I feel like there was something important in that line of thought'

.

.

.

"Oh, Ruby's coming over again" I muttered, then just casually took a bite of my food 'I think she said she'd be here by noon' I brought out my phone and then pressed the button to check the time-

11:49

"PFFFFTT!" I spat out the food in my mouth on my phone "You gotta be fucking kidding me!" I shouted, all of my previous thoughts on the White Fang were put to the side in an instant.

She was gonna be here in only a little over ten minutes, and I wasn't even remotely ready. I still needed to shower, pack up my experiment, hide my other gadgets, and not to mention just finishing my breakfast-can it even be considered breakfast at this time? Brunch?

'Why am I so tense? It's not like it's super important, just hide your gadgets and you'll be fine' I thought to myself, and while the thought was sobering, it did not help the feeling that I need to rush whatsoever.

The memory of her excitement at my agreeing to hang out with her hit me like a bull at full speed, how happy she was to talk to me while helping me carry stuff home, the genuine smile she made just for having the chance to accompany me kept coming to the front of my mind.

'Like it or not, I took the responsibility of being her rebound friend, and I need to treat it seriously, I can't just blow her off' And with that in mind, I shoveled the food into my mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

I beat my chest at the pain of swallowing too much as I ran to hide my gadgets, putting them in a nearby kitchen cover on the bottom shelf.

Everything else was a blur, I remember packing up my experiment with a speed only the Flash could match, keeping an eye on the clock-11:53- and then collecting clothes for me to take into the bathroom to put on after the shower, just in case she came by the time I finished and I had to get dressed quickly.

A five-minute shower later, I quickly dried off and got completely dressed, putting on one of my Star Trek shirts, it had a big starfleet command symbol in the front with a galaxy inside of it. I then floundered around for a bit as I tried to pull up my blue jeans, glancing at the clock-11:58- and then making a run for my jacket…

Ding-Dong!

'She's here!' I glanced at the clock again.

11: 59

"Coming!" I shouted 'Well isn't she punctual' I thought to myself as I put my arms through my jacket's sleeves, pulling it forward and around my torso, I then quickly made my way to the door.

Putting my hand on the doorknob, I let a deep breath 'Alright Drake, you got this'

I opened the door, putting on a small smile at the sight of the red hooded girl across from me "Hey Ruby, your right on time"

The girl smiled...and then just stood there staring at me.

I blinked in confusion at the reaction, or lack of one for that matter '...do I have something on my face?'

"...pft" Ruby giggled at me, further confusing me as she pointed up at my head "Drake, your hair"

Blinking again, I put my hand on my head...and was immediately bombarded with the sensation of wet hair, a drop of water actually fell in front of my eyes "...oh" I let out lamely.

'I seriously forgot to dry my hair'

"You slept in, didn't you?" She asked with a hint of a smile on her face "And when you woke up you rushed and forgot to dry your hair?"

.

.

.

Ruby: 1

Drake: 0

"Do you wanna come inside or not?" I asked straightforwardly, my face feeling a little hot at being caught like that 'Can't believe I didn't notice, my shirt is even wet…'

"Yep!" She smiled widely, skipping past me and into my apartment, looking absolutely satisfied with herself "I mean, I sleep in all the time too-"

"Not talking about it" I closed the door behind her "I still gotta finish packing my experiment, although I do have some cooked eggs leftover if you want some"

Ruby pouted at me for having interrupted her, but immediately became interested at the idea of food "You made eggs? I didn't eat anything yet, so-..." She realized her mistake as soon as she saw my smirk.

"Oh? Let me guess, you were so excited about our hangout you forgot to have breakfast?" I asked with a teasing tone in my voice.

"S-Shut up!" She shouted with a red face "I was really looking forward to it okay!"

Ruby: 1

Drake: 1

"Yeah yeah, help yourself to the rest of the eggs on the stove, I can also make some toast if you want"

"...yes please" She muttered gratefully.

After going back to the bathroom to dry off my hair, I went back to the kitchen made some toast for myself and Ruby, the girl herself having helped herself to a nice helping of scrambled eggs, it was only when I saw her sitting down did I notice the large red squarish-shaped object attached to the back of her waist.

"Is that Crescent Rose?" I asked, remembering some of the pictures Ruby showed me a few weeks back as I set down the plate of toast for her, holding a piece for myself in my other hand.

"Yef!" Having a mouthful of eggs and toast in her mouth 'When did she get the toast in?' she answers me with vigor, afterwards she quickly swallowed it and continued "This is her compact form, I'll show you how awesome she is when we get there!"

'It's a lot bigger in person, even when compacted' I thought to myself, the very idea that this girl-who is five foot freaking two mind you-is wielding such a large weapon that I would definitely have a hard time carrying like she does is a baffling enough idea as it is. It reminds me she's not a normal girl, but a warrior in training.

"Mmm...this is good! Did you put cheese in this?" She asked as she shoveled the food in her mouth.

"Yeah, I melted some cheese and spread it in, it gives it more flavor" I explained 'Yet when I look at her like this, I can't picture it at all' I think as I watch her give a goofy smile and say that it's 'delicuss' with her mouth full.

As she eats I go to pack up my experiment into my empty backpack, it could be taken apart so it was fairly easy to put in, I also grabbed my phone off the table...and then proceeded to clean its screen from the food bits I spat earlier.

But after that I set up my backpack, everything I needed was in order, so I looked back at Ruby to see she was done eating "Breakfast was good I take it?"

"It was awesome, thanks!" She said, letting out a small puff as she patted her stomach in satisfaction, but then picked up her plate and looked a little awkward "Um, where should I…?"

"Just put it in the sink, I'll wash it later" I said with a shrug, and she did just that, and as she walked over to me I saw her taking glances at the lab table.

"Is that the table you got at the junkyard?" She asked curiously while seemingly surprised, looking it over. I felt somewhat...uncomfortable at how closely she was examining it but rationalized that she was just curious "Wow, there's so much stuff already put together, you work fast"

"Um...thanks, I guess?" I said in uncertainty, not sure how I'm supposed to respond "It's not done yet, still a few things it will need for it to be really complete, and when it is I'll be able to do a lot more"

"I see you got the leg problem under control" She noted, looking at the book under the short leg of the table, it was a hardcover book I had in my backpack I was planning to read while on my camping trip, but considering how that turned out I decided to give it a more practical use.

"It really does look very sciency, what kinda stuff are you gonna make?" Ruby looked over at me, her eyes full of intrigue and curiosity.

Normally I'd be hesitant to answer, but the genuineness of her expression was undeniable, she really did find it interesting and wanted to know. It was refreshing.

A moment passed by before I just made an impulse decision "...tell you what" I put my backpack on as I spoke "when I finish it, I'll show you"

Her face perked up "Really?" She asked in surprise.

"You're not gonna try and destroy it, right?" I asked, half-jokingly and the other half in warning.

"No no no no!" She shook her head violently while waving her hands in front of her "Of course not! I would never do that, especially after what you told me…" Ruby said the last part quietly "I understand how it feels when some people just don't care about something you care about a lot"

I nodded in understanding, appreciating her saying that "Then sure, I don't mind" I paused, shuffling in place for a moment " After all, you did help me get the parts to make it, I think you deserve to see it when it's done...at least once"

Whether or not she owed me the money, she still helped me make it, so I figured she deserved a look. I plan to get something to cover it from viewing eyes later, perhaps a shower curtain, it would also keep from anything that might splash onto other furniture well contained.

"Oh, okay!" Ruby smiled widely "I look forward to it!" She then paused and leaned over to the right a little to see my backpack "Is the experiment in there?"

"Yep"

.

.

.

She crossed her arms, staring at me, completely unamused. I know what she wants to ask, and I know she knows I know, but I wanted to hear her say it "...can you tell me what it is?" She asked the question.

I gave her a small smirk in response "Nope"

I then promptly turned around and started walking to the door, but not before I caught a glimpse of her jaw-dropping at my blatant copyright infringement. I will neither confirm nor deny that I enjoyed it.

Ruby: 1

Drake: 2

Can't have her getting cocky now after all.

"Well come on, you gonna show me this forest or what?" I asked as I held open the door for her and no matter what she may say my face was not smug, but I was holding back a shit-eating grin.

"You…" Ruby huffed, and then childishly stomped her way past me, I simply rolled my eyes with a small smirk as I closed the door.

---

As I followed Ruby through the forest, feeling the branches brush up against my jacket, I can't help but compare it to the camping site my family was going to. We went there every summer, a dense forest with a river nearby, along with a giant tree right in front of our usual spot. There was no giant tree here, but I could vaguely hear a river not too far away.

It made me wonder what my family was doing right now- I mean, they are certainly not camping. To think, if none of this happened I would be back home, only worrying about my mosquito bites and everyone else's whining about theirs…

"This place is beautiful" I commented as I walked over a fairly large log, hoping to start a conversation to focus on something other than my family "I can see why you come to spar around here"

"Yup!" Ruby skipped over another fallen log, only it was larger than the other one "See all these logs? Some of them are from trees my sister punched down with her gauntlets"

I was definitely distracted now, I turned my head to look at her in slight alarm "Your sister...punched them down?" I asked cautiously.

"Yup!"

I shake my head in mild disbelief, trying to remember that I'm on an alien planet now and that it's probably the norm 'Just who the fuck is your sister? The Hulk?' I think to myself "That's...neat" I said hesitantly, then decided to switch topics "Can't imagine it's good for the environment though"

"Hehe…" Ruby laughed awkwardly, taking a glance back at me as she walked on "Yeah...Yang can be a little... aggressive" She said the last part more quietly.

Her voice sounded a little hesitant as if she was thinking about something else...and she definitely didn't seem happy about whatever it was, so I tried to think about ways to take her mind off it "Well...I imagine Crescent Rose is a more precise tool compared to all of this blatant destruction" I joked.

"Oh definitely!" She immediately twirled around to face me while continuing to walk backwards "She can snipe a Grimm's head off from fifteen-hundred feet away!"

I whistled in appreciation 'Impressive, considering it's also a transforming battle scythe' "I'd love to see it" I commented, but also noted the use of the 'Grimm' term being used by her. So they might indeed exist and are not just some sort of propaganda symbol about fighting back the darkness…

'Definitely need to look into that later...add that to the already LONG list' I think to myself tiredly, there is so much on my plate already 'But that can all wait for now, just try to enjoy yourself' I reminded myself.

"Oh you'll love it! And when I swing my scythe it'll be all woosh! Wah!" She made sound effects as she made exaggerated ninja chops with her hands, I felt the beginnings of a smile form on my lips, but my eyes widened at an upcoming tree behind Ruby.

I reached out and grabbed her shoulder "Ah!" She let out in surprise as she stopped, she looked at me in confusion and I simply pointed to the tree behind her, she turned herself around to see a wall of wood a few inches from her face "O-Oh, thanks"

"No problem" I said as I started walking beside her, she walked around the tree and we continued "Just watch where you're going, you're supposed to be leading me, remember?" I lightly teased.

"Oh, ha ha…" She drawled sarcastically, sounding annoyed but had a small smile on her face "Speaking of which, take a look up ahead!"

Doing as she said I took a good look, just a bit further ahead of me was a fairly large open field, I could scarcely make out sudden potholes of dirt, scrapes along with the land, and damage among the trees surrounding the field itself.

If I didn't know any better I'd say it was the site of a small battle that took place rather than a regular sparring area for two teenage girls.

"Well…?" I heard Ruby ask beside me as I stared at it "What do you think? Pretty cool right? Away from people, a nice open area…"

"You sure make good use of it" I said as I cracked my head to look at some of the battle damage on the other side of the area, and then turned to look at Ruby "But yeah, it's perfect" I agreed as I started to take off my backpack-

"I'm first!" Ruby suddenly shouted and zoomed to the middle of the field, a trail of rose petals falling behind her.

I just stood still and stared at the spot she was now twenty feet away from "...okay then" I shrugged 'This should be interesting' I think to myself, I'm about to witness the use of one of these planet's more strange but exotic weapons, it would certainly be enlightening.

'But I suppose the question is which weapons are better: Earth or Remnant?' Now that would be important to consider, I could research it all I want, but if I wanted to get a good grasp on huntsman or huntress weapons and where I stand with them then I will have to experience it for myself.

Not to mention it would just be plain fucking cool to see a scythle in action.

Setting down my backpack by a nearby tree, I plop myself down next to it and criss-cross my legs.

"Alright!" Ruby shouted to me as she held her folded up weapon in her hands "You ready!?"

"Dazzle me!" I gave the go-ahead, watching attentively.

I caught a glimpse of a confident smirk on Ruby's face from the distance, just before she began to twirl the giant red box in her hand, and it started to unfold…

Almost seamlessly, the box spread out the blade with a long black handle extending in Ruby's clearly well practiced hands, shifting and turning gears, I could see the unfolding of the scope on top of the receiver of the rifle mechanism itself, and the back of it extended into a black spiked blunt end.

But the most beautiful part was of course the scythe blade itself, I already knew how the mechanism worked from my talks from Ruby but to see it for myself was something else. It was bigger than the rest of the weapon, much bigger, at one point I thought she would fall over from the sudden weight difference and imbalance, but she handled expertly, from what must have been years of training, as she twirled it around her body.

Ruby twirled it around one last time before planting it's spiked end into the ground beside her, holding the mighty weapon in satisfaction.

I blinked slowly, partly wondering if it would just disappear after I blinked, it did not.

"...well!?" Ruby lost her cool composure as she energetically asked for my opinion with a big smile.

I opened my mouth, there was a lot to process, and I'm not even sure what to say...but if I had to pick one word there is something that comes to mind.

"...awesome" I said with a shaking head "That is too fucking awesome" I decided, a small laugh coming out of my mouth.

"Swear!" Ruby automatically shouted, then paused "...but yeah, I know right!?" She started getting excited again, even jumping up in place a few times.

"Hell yeah!" I shouted "She's a beauty!"

It truly was, the mechashift mechanism was truly intricate and well designed, making it incredibly smooth and amazing to watch as it unfolds. I've never quite seen anything like it outside of cartoons or TV shows.

But there was a problem with it though…

"Alright, I admit she looks awesome" I raised my hands to show acceptance on that fact, Ruby nodded smugly and gave a small curtsey "However…" I could practically feel her annoyance at my audacity to add a 'however' when talking about her creation, which I can perfectly understand "How powerful is she?"

Ruby simply smiled proudly as she twirled the large weapon in her hands, and aimed it at the distance "Very!"

This was what I was waiting for, watching the performance of a projectile weapon in this world would give me an idea of how they compare to the ones of my world. I am half expecting their handheld weapons to be superior if the amount of work goes into them half as much as Ruby's was…which is actually doubtful.

'I wasn't able to make an observation when I first got here, I assumed they were normal guns when I landed in the warehouse, and the gun I got from the fang is all out of bullets to test with, but now...I know that they run on a different propellant than cordite or black powder, all of Remnant's projectile weaponry runs on dust from what I've read' I think to myself, passively aware that I'm supposed to be enjoying myself on this outing but instead focusing on scientific observation.

Well...scientific observation is fun for me too, so I'll let it slide.

I found myself staring intently as she crouched down and aimed the barrel of Crescent Rose outward. "I'm gonna hit that tree over there, the one with the berries growing out of it!" She pointed over to said tree as she aimed through her scope.

'This is it' This would give me a definitive answer, part of me wanted to record it with my phone, but I didn't want to have to answer why I was doing it to Ruby. No, I would just watch, that's all I need.

Her finger laid on the trigger, my eyes darted to the tree…

Bang!

The first thought I had the moment she fired was 'Not as loud as I thought it would be' And the next moment I saw the bullet ram into the tree, causing large chunks of wood to splinter off where the bullet struck, lots of little wooden splinters flying in all directions.

.

.

.

I stared at where the bullet struck '...what?'

"Ha! How was that!?" Ruby shouted proudly "I mean, it's not the highest quality rounds ever, but it's good for killing common Grimm and taking out criminals"

'The fuck?' I think to myself, quickly standing up and staring at where the bullet struck.

"Drake?"

'That's not right' I'm not a total expert on guns, but I know for absolute certainty…

I should have not been able to see that bullet hit the tree.

'Did I imagine it?' I questioned my perception, even rubbed my eyes, because it made no sense in the way I understood it.

"Drake!"

I snapped out of my trance "Huh?" I looked to see Ruby looking at me, gone from her previous position and now right in front of me "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking"

"You looked surprised" Ruby noted, and I kicked myself internally for it, Ruby then adjusted her hold on her weapon to grasp it more comfortably "Did you see something weird?" She paused "Wait, there's nothing wrong with Crescent Rose right!? I know I double-checked the firing mechanism!"

I blinked slowly "Uh, no...I just...was thinking about how fast the bullet was going" It wasn't a lie.

Normal Terran bullets fly through the air at five-hundred and thirty-six meters per second on average (there are different calibers and different speeds, and it also depends on what type of gun it is as well, but on average that's how fast they are), that's a whopping twelve-hundred miles per hour, and that's not even the fastest our bullets can go. You would not see a Terran bullet fly by and hit you, no, one instant someone would pull the trigger, and the next you would be dead.

"Well, the bullets most huntsmen use go about a hundred meters per second" Ruby stated, like it was a simple fact.

'Wut?'

My thoughts completely derailed, and I tried my absolute hardest not to show my shock as I looked to Ruby for an explanation.

The short girl raised a finger while holding her weapon in her other hand "Yeah, there's a bunch of different ratings for dust and their projectile velocity strength" She explained, making a sigh as if it was something disappointing "Basically, it all depends on the purity of your dust in the cartridges"

'Purity? Oh, wait, dust is mined isn't it?' I think to myself, so from what I understand it's all depending on the purity of the dust as it affects the propulsion of a projectile.

And suddenly it hit me why it was disappointing to her "...and the higher the purity, the more expensive it gets" I summed up.

Ruby groaned "Ugh! Exactly! I would love to get some of the really high-grade stuff! I could tear through a nevermore with a few shots! But it's made through a bunch of processing techno stuff, and really precise purification something, and a bunch of safety procedures are put in to make sure it doesn't blow up...I dunno all the details exactly, but it gets expensive"

'...well, that's a thing' Was the only thing I can think "Well I guess that makes sense...if it really is that difficult to get such high purity dust, then the cost would go up" I stated simply. What a strange concept.

Not that dust needed purifying itself, but rather...how dust functions, I really needed to research the subject more, but from what I understand so far dust is a shit propellant by my standards.

"Well, the elemental effects are still worth it though, right?" She laughed "I mean, just put in a fire dust magazine in and BOOM! Your enemy is on fire! Still pretty effective!" She laughed.

'So while the dust may be in lower quality, you can still get elemental effects out of your bullets with the right modifications?' I think to myself, finding the idea interesting and an important bit of information.

Everything I've gathered so far suggests that the average bullet for Remnant, at least for huntsmen, is a hundred meters per second...definitely not the fastest, compared to Earth, but it would obviously still gravely injure you if shot near a vital spot...if you don't have aura. And that's not including elemental effects, which would just set you on fire or incase you in rock…

Dust is so damned confusing, making fucking rock out of nothing, but I might have an advantage that I can exploit with enough time to build them.

Ideas were already swarming my head but were interrupted by a poke on said head, I looked down to see Ruby right in front of me, index finger right in front of my forehead.

"Alright, your turn!" She said as she lowered her hand back to her side "Why were you so surprised?" Ruby tilted her head in confusion "You said you knew a bit about guns, and I know you do, so you should've known the average speed of a bullet"

She has a point…and I'm not sure how to answer.

If Remnant's guns can't fire bullets at the same velocity as Earth's can without major purification on their propellent, then if I were to give the information on how to make even something like black powder, it could revolutionize some of their warfare and economic feasibility to produce such weapons.

A much simpler and more powerful method of firing standard weapons? They would fucking eat that shit up! And who knows how that might tip the balance of power…

The point being it could be dangerous, I need to watch what I say around militaristic or powerful people. They might just decide to 'borrow' my services for the 'good of the kingdom'.

Ruby already knows about my unique knowledge on these things though, so I'm gonna have to make sure that she doesn't mention anything either.

"Is this one of those non-dust things?" She asked, hitting the nail right on the head, and looking kinda excited "Oh! Is it some sort of non-dust bullet!?" Ruby leaned in expectantly.

Ruby: 2

Drake: 2

Damn it, she actually guessed it! 'What have I done?' I questioned myself, thinking quickly. Ruby clearly does not have bad intentions, and... I think I can trust her enough not to mention anything so long as I ask her not to. So it should be safe...

I don't want to lie to her, or just straight up refuse to answer. The first one would be caught easily, and the second would just as come off as rude and off-putting. I've done enough of the ladder half to her already, and I already promised myself I wouldn't. Obviously I can't tell her how to make it, but I don't think mentioning it's existence would matter too much. But if it got out it could mean trouble for me...

Looking down at Ruby's face, seeing how excited she was, I had to make a decision.

"..." I sighed, painfully aware of what decision I was leaning towards "Promise you won't tell anyone else?" I asked seriously.

Ruby blinked, but then something occurred in her eyes that I didn't recognize, but it was gone a moment later as she then nodded quickly in understanding.

'Can't be constantly afraid, she already knows what I can do anyway' I decided, lowering my head to her level, part of me wishing that I had sunglasses "What if I told you...that I know of bullets that can go over fifteen hundred meters per second?" That's around the fastest our bullets have gone.

.

.

.

I stared at her silent form, she went completely still "...Ruby?" I asked in concern 'Did I break her?' I waved a hand in front of her face, she didn't respond right away.

"...fi-..." I heard a mumble from her lips, as she stood still in what looked to be shock "fifteen….fifteen…"

"Hundred" I finished for her, finding myself a little impatient.

"Fifteen...hundred!" She suddenly shouted, making me lean back from her, her jaw is dropping "Th-that's...even some of the highest purity can barely reach five hundred…that's...over three times the speed of sound" She muttered, her hands shaking...in excitement?

"You're a gun nut alright" I decided, I can see the absolute glee in her eyes, the desire to know more, I already knew what she was gonna say next-

"Tell me!" I found myself getting a bit manhandled by a girl much shorter than me by having my shirt grabbed and pulled down to her level "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

"Alright! ALRIGHT!" I shouted in panic as she shook me 'She is much stronger than she looks!' I raised my hands in surrender "Relax before you shake my head off!"

Ruby stopped at that, and then took a moment to realize what she was doing...and then promptly let go and took a really quick step back "Oh...hehe…sorry" She mumbled awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head.

I readjusted my shirt as I eyed her somewhat wearily "Right...just a little excited, huh?" I asked, and her face turned reddened to the same shade as a tomato.

"Y-You know how much I like weapons! I-I couldn't help it!" She sputtered in a weak attempt at a defense.

"Yeah yeah, just don't grab my shirt again and we'll be fine" I shake my head, I gotta remember that she is stronger than she looks with that aura of hers "Anyways, you promise not to tell anyone? I don't want to go blabbering about it to everyone, I'd rather not have certain people knocking on my door saying 'I heard you have a new weapon'" I stated evenly.

"Oh...well, of course! I can understand that" She nodded readily, and then made a big smile "It's our little secret then!"

'You look oddly happy about that but good enough' I nodded, satisfied "Alright then, so you know I'm from outside the kingdoms right?" I asked.

She nodded readily.

"Anyway, we didn't really have any dust up where I was, too far out to trade or buy it, no place to mine it either, but we were smart" I started out, it would elaborate more on the backstory I have in place for here, and it was the safest explanation with the least amount of lying possible "So we experimented in different propellants to use for cartridges, and came up with something called gunpowder"

"Gunpowder…?" Ruby asked curiously, taking a glance at her own weapon's ammunition "I've never heard of that"

"Doubt you would" I seriously did, these people seem to be so reliant on dust they even use it in their cartridges, they either never bothered to learn any other ways or didn't have the know-how to "But essentially that was what we used to propel our bullets, allowing them to go at much faster velocities by using a powerful and easily made source"

Ruby looked fascinated, but a moment afterward her face morphed into one of skepticism "...I dunno, it sounds kinda too good to be true" She says doubtfully "I mean, it would be really cool! And I'm not saying you're lying or anything…" She trailed off.

"You want proof" I said bluntly, and she nodded the moment after I said it "I don't blame you, I'd probably be skeptical too in your place now that I know what it means to you"

To her it sounds revolutionary, to me it sounds like something that's been around for hundreds of years. Well, can't say it isn't nice to have the tables turned for a change.

As I spoke I reached for the backpack I set beside me, and brought it up for her to see "Unfortunately I don't have any cartridges with gunpowder and a gun to fire it, but I do have the next best thing" I started walking over to a clearer area, waving her to follow.

Setting down my backpack and opening it, I took out the parts for my experiment "Gunpowder's simplest form, black powder, is often used for propelling rockets"

One of the last things that I brought with me from Earth…it'd probably be better for me to just salvage it, take the gunpowder, and make another pipe bomb or two for dealing with the White Fang.

But...I worked hard on this rocket and practically made it from scratch. I waited for over a month to go camping and launch it, so as to not disturb any neighbors or passersbys. It'd just be a shame not to see it go off.

'Besides' I thought as I set it up 'It's not a complete waste, it's a good opportunity to observe how the rocket is affected by Remnant's atmosphere' Obviously it's breathable for me, but there may be small differences that aren't noticeable at first glance.

Turning my head to the right I see Ruby looking down curiously at it, I hold up the main body of the rocket and show the opened end to her "See that?" I point to the black soot and powdery substance packed inside it, she leans in closer to get a good look "That's black powder, this stuff burns incredibly quickly, it'll propel the rocket easily" I said with confidence as I continued to put it together.

"You made a rocket?" She asked, looking intrigued, crouching down to watch as I work "Wow...I have never seen one like this before"

I stopped working for a moment to look at her, feeling confused at the statement "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well...I mean, I've seen rocket launchers and stuff but I've never seen anyone build a rocket like this one I guess" She shrugged.

'Why wouldn't-?' I stopped that line of thinking and mentally facepalm 'That's a dumb question, of course they wouldn't! I literally just went over how dust works as a propellant and I know they don't have space travel'

Another cultural difference, one based on our societies' very different points in their history. Why did Earth have so many people building rockets in their backyards? Because of inspiration: space shuttles being launched from rockets, the moon landing, the international space station, all of that led to people trying to build homemade rockets-some of which even made it to space.

Remnant simply doesn't have that, dust doesn't work in space at all so no one ever bothered, not to mention what the cost for the quality of dust must be like to even reach very high into the sky.

"Well I guess you're in for a treat then" I stood up the rocket, rolling out the wire connected to the fuse so I can launch it from a safe distance.

The launching mechanism isn't too complicated, it works a bit like a tiny arc furnace, although obviously it doesn't get as hot, it uses the same principle of using electric arcs.

As I hold the controller to launch it I feel a bit prideful 'Launching a rocket on another world, one small step…' Taking a glance at Ruby for a moment, she has an expectant gaze, I then looked directly at the rocket before pressing the button.

The response was immediate, I see the fuse at the base of the rocket light up from the wire, and a few seconds later the magic happened…

FWOOM!

"WHOA!"

I allowed myself a small smirk in satisfaction as the rocket shot up into the sky and Ruby let's out a gasp in awe while muttering a "So fast…!".

Watching it get higher and higher into the sky I let out a small chuckle '...one giant leap for mankind' This really is the coolest-

Hold up.

The rocket suddenly curves and flies at awkward angles 'That's...not right…' I think as my eyes widened at the sight of it curving towards the ground straight towards us!

"GET DOWN!" I shouted as I quickly lunged forward and shoved both Ruby and myself to the ground, hearing a rush of wind above my head and-

BOOM!

A huge booming noise came from behind us, and a cloud of smoke rushed over my vision, some of it I breathed in "Ugh! Aphew…!" I coughed and spat out some of the dirt, I heard Ruby doing the same.

Taking my arm off her, I wave away some of the dirt in the air, my mind catching up trying to figure out what the hell happened!

I looked to see some of the dust falling down, revealing a rocket with it's front end stuck in the ground, while it's other half was torn apart, pieces of it laying everywhere and scattered around the area...there was a small crater around the front end of the rocket.

"How…?" I questioned 'I triple-checked everything before doing this! How did something go wrong!?' I think, looking down at it in disbelief 'How could I have missed anything-?'

Sleep deprivation, my mind immediately supplied.

I shut my mouth as that answer came to me...I can't say I've been sleeping well lately, all things considered, but still 'It shouldn't have blown up!' My mind raced to find a reason, and a memory of my first night here came up:

"UGH!" He stumbled forward and grunted in pain, but recovered quickly as he twisted his torso and swiped the chainsaw behind himself, but the force of gravity saved me by dragging me to the ground after I struck him.

With the backpack cushioning my fall...

I landed on my backpack. How did I not remember that?

Sleep deprivation.

'Fucking damn it…wait, Ruby!' I turned around quickly, she should be fine, but I'd rather be certain "Ruby, are you oka-?"

The red-hooded huntress took a deep breath "THAT!" She jumped up to her feet "WAS!" and spread her arms into the air "AWESOME!" She shouted with a huge grin on her face.

'...what!?' I deadpan at her reaction.

"I mean-the rocket went all ZOOM! into the air!" She shouted, making sound effects with her mouth "And it flew really high into the sky-so high! And then it went racing towards and KABOOOM! HAHA!" Ruby yelled out excitedly as she looked at me and pointed at the crater.

.

.

.

"Uh…" I let out awkwardly "...it wasn't supposed to go kaboom…" I slowly got up, looking at her pensively "Also...sorry for putting your life in danger?" I asked more than stated, genuinely confused as to if I should be apologizing or not 'Of course you should! Damn it this planet is messing with my head!'

"Huh?" Ruby asked in confusion, tilting her head at me "Uh...I guess, you're forgiven?"

We both stood, awkwardly staring at each other in silence for a full five seconds "...I...thank you?" I said in confusion.

"...pft" She giggled, covering her mouth as if trying not to laugh "Hahaha!" And laughed anyway.

"Hehe…" I chuckled a little at it, finding some humor in it, but still rightly confused "...but, uh, yeah...it shouldn't have blown up, something definitely went wrong" I looked at the rocket itself "Sorry about that"

"It's no biggie, I deal with explosions all the time!" She waved it off with a smile on her face.

'...that's not concerning at all' I think sarcastically as I looked her over, mostly to reassure myself she wasn't hurt, and was relieved when all I found was some soot on her face and clothes "Well, I'm just glad you're alright" I sighed in relief.

She seemed to smile at that, but her expression quickly changed to excitement "That was still really cool though!" Ruby suddenly shouted, in front of me the moment I blinked as she bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly "I-I mean it was so fast! And it's fuel lasted so long!"

"...so you believe me?" I asked curiously.

"YES!" She shouted, pointing to the rocket "After seeing that why wouldn't I!?"

"Touché…" I muttered, still feeling somewhat sheepish "Um, tell you what...let's get out of here and I'll tell yah all about it at an ice cream shop or something, my treat" She looked excited again at the prospect of frozen desserts.

I still felt a little guilty about that explosion-okay maybe not just a little, I glanced at the remains of the rocket.

I should probably go over all of my equipment again when I get back to the apartment...just to be safe.

---

I subtly looked over the girl at the register of the ice cream shop, didn't find any faunus traits 'Not sure what I would do even if I find any though' I think as I pulled out my money and handed it to her "Here you go"

"U-Uh, yeah, thanks for your service…" The girl said hesitantly, probably put off by the soot and dirt on my clothes.

After she closed the service window I turned around and headed to me and Ruby's table, promptly sitting down in front of her "Whelp, the girl at the register probably thinks I'm suspicious, let me know if you hear sirens"

Ruby giggled while waving her left hand without worry "It'll be fine, you worry too much" She set her hands on the table before looking at me expectantly "More importantly…"

"You sure have a one-track mind" I muttered, she incessantly pestered me about it the whole way here, I have no idea how this girl talks so long without breathing "Alright, might as well answer questions until the ice cream gets here, what do you wanna know?"

"How do you make it-!?"

"Not answering that one" Come on Ruby, you know better.

The red-hooded girl puffed her cheeks as she crossed her arms "Fine!" She paused for a moment to think about it "...who invented it?"

I blinked at the question, a bit surprised, but attempted to answer "Let's see, what was his name…" It was invented in ninth-century China "Chloe...Muson? No, Chloe Museon" That seemed right.

Can't believe that I remembered that.

Her face scrunched up, and she seems to be thinking "Never heard of him" Ruby finally said after a few moments "It's definitely not a color name, and sounds kinda old, so he must have lived before the Great War, right?"

'Right, the color naming rule...seems a little counterintuitive if you ask me, restricting them naming of children and saying it's an expression of individuality' But that was neither here nor there, I need to figure out how to answer her question.

"Well, gunpowder was invented over a hundred years ago" Not un-true, it's just...a lot more than a hundred years "Why do you wanna know anyways?"

"I was wondering if I would recognize the name" Ruby shrugged "Because, ya know, if somebody discovered that black powder stuff it'd be pretty big news, at least in the weapons industry"

"And you thought you might know the person who made it…?" I questioned in confusion.

"Maybe?" She phrased it like a question "I knew about the names of a few weapons specialists who left the kingdoms, only never to be heard from again, thought maybe one of them came to your village"

"Not that I know of" I honestly wouldn't 'Did people from Remnant come to Earth?' There was an idea, maybe I should look into disappearing person cases that were never solved. It might give me a few leads aside from pursuing the White Fang.

"Alright, next question!" Ruby suddenly piped up "Why don't you want people knowing about it?"

"Because I know they aren't smart enough to use it responsibly "I didn't even need to think about my response to that question.

Ruby seemed to be taken back by the blunt response "S-Seriously? But it could help fight against the Grimm!"

I gave her a flat look "Suuure...they totally wouldn't also use it to strong arm other Kingdoms with their new technology to get whatever they want" I scoffed, I've read this place's history, they're not slick "Its politics Ruby, tipping the balance of power hardly ever ends well"

"I think you're exaggerating a little…" She rested her chin on her palms "I mean, how bad could it be?"

I raised an eyebrow, considering how to answer, and decided to answer her question with another one "How tough is your aura?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"How tough is your aura?" I asked again, staring at her "How many shots from say...normal rounds, ones most huntsmen and huntresses use, how many could your aura take?"

"Uh...I dunno" She said quietly, looking down at the table, clearly thinking about it "Maybe...thirty? My aura is pretty high, but not crazy high"

Alright, let's roll with that "Okay, you can take thirty shots, let's just go with that" She nods in understanding "Alright, now imagine bullets that can go two to three times the speed of sound, how many could you take?"

"..." It seemed to make her think for a moment "Maybe...one? Two?"

"Uh-huh, let's say you can take two, if any at all" I said, feeling lenient "Now, imagine a hellstorm of those bullets" Her eyes widen "Bullets going two to three times the speed of sound pumping out of automatic weapons...by an army of soldiers"

"..." She stayed silent, the thought passing through her mind.

"I'm not even mentioning the possibility of the criminal body getting ahold of it-" I started.

"Alright! Alright!" Ruby exclaimed, interrupting me as she waved her hands at me "That's enough! I can see how it can cause trouble!"

"Thank you" I said simply "Whether or not I'm overreacting, the fact that the possibility of that happening is even only a little over one percent is enough to make me keep my mouth shut"

"Fair enough" She sighed "...could you teach it to me though?" She asked hopefully "I promise I won't tell anyone else!"

"..." I stared at her for a moment 'You really want to know that badly' I realized, considering my options: Say no and risk a sad Ruby, or say yes and possibly tip the balance of power in this world and cause another Great War.

Alright, that last one is quite a stretch, but still.

"...maybe, we'll see" I decided, I don't need to think about it right now.

"That wasn't a 'no'!" Ruby smiled brightly while pumping a fist to herself in victory.

'This girl is going to be the death of me' I sighed tiredly, glancing around the place, there was only one other person here, and he didn't have any animal traits 'Which isn't even a perfect indicator that their White Fang' I reminded myself.

Deciding to change the topic to distract myself, I looked to Ruby about a question I had for a while now "So...maybe you can answer something I've been wondering about, what exactly is the job of a huntsman?"

Ruby blinked "...don't you know?" She asked in confusion, as if what I said was strange.

Seeing that look I quickly figure out why she made it, I shake my head "No, that's not what I meant, not the answer everyone knows like 'Fight the Grimm' that pops into your head right away" I paused to consider how to explain it "...how would you describe it? What is a huntsman supposed to do? And what is a huntsman to everyone else?"

It would be good to get perspective on it, especially from someone who was training to be one, so it was a good opportunity to ask about a subject that I don't know too much about, considering most of the stuff I find is too 'flowery' for it all to be true.

"..." Ruby paused for a moment before her back straightened and she answered seriously, looking me dead in the eye "Be a hero"

.

.

.

She stated that so confidently and with such seriousness I couldn't find it in myself to roll my eyes or scoff at her answer, instead I could only stare at her, waiting for elaboration.

Ruby immediately lost her composure when the stare dragged on, her cheeks going red "U-Uh, I mean, y'know! Save people! Ehehe…" She giggled awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck "I think...a huntsman is supposed to save people, to be a light in the darkness, a symbol" She rambled.

I blinked, latching onto a single word: "Symbol?" I asked suddenly, seeing Ruby stop in surprise at my question "What do you mean?"

Ruby calmed down after a moment, rubbing her chin to think about it "Well...I guess, what I mean is that we represent the spirit to never give up, huntsmen and huntresses are constantly at the frontlines to fight against the neverending hordes of Grimm, so when people see us, it's as their protectors, never giving up the good fight"

"That's kinda why the huntsmen academies are so important, y'know?" She continued "They're symbols of unity, they even house the transcontinental towers, which everyone needs to communicate, they are schools that train the fighters that keep people safe"

I let that information sink in 'Symbols of unity…the academies are that important?' Maybe it didn't seem that way to me because of where I'm from, but if I were to make a comparison to my world-

"Hey!" Ruby interrupted my thoughts "What's with me suddenly getting grilled on these questions anyway?"

"You were grilling me earlier, figured I return the favor" I smirked at her annoyed look, ignoring the bad feeling in my gut from earlier thoughts.

"That's not the same!" She exclaimed.

"Sure feels like it" I shrugged, and then heard a voice from the ice cream counter saying "Blue raspberry slushie and a strawberry sundae!", I stood up from my seat and went over to pick it up.

When I got back Ruby immediately swiped her strawberry sundae from my grasp, the speed of which she did was nothing but a red and black blur to my eyes "Thank you!" She exclaimed.

I think I'm starting to get used to her eccentricities, don't know if that's good or bad "Your welcome"

Ruby took a bite of her ice cream, smiling at the taste before looking up at me again "We should do this more often"

I paused, just about to take a sip of my drink "..." I still find myself surprised at her, it came out of nowhere.

"Uh-when you have the time of course!" Ruby quickly said, looking nervous and cringing as if she felt like she said something wrong "You know, after your work and whatever else you do to live…we can talk about weapons and science, and maybe show off more of our work?"

The last bit she said with a bit more confidence, but it still has a tinge of worry in her tone of voice, as if somewhat preparing for a rebuttal but hoping for the best. I've noticed aplenty that Ruby sometimes feels she's walking on eggshells around me at times...and while I can't say her reasons for it are logical, they are justified.

Hell, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells too for the same reason, because I'm afraid.

The reason for said fear between us stems differently though: Mine being that I am an alien and have to watch what I say, while also keeping an eye out for White Fang terrorists who may be watching me. For Ruby it would be because she doesn't want to lose her only 'friend' after that betrayal, she doesn't want to be alone.

Fear is something to listen to, to help you understand when you're going too far or are in over your head, I've learned to trust fear even before coming to this stupidly hostile world.

But with that being said...

"...sure" I told her "I wouldn't mind showing you some of my creations, and I'd love to see Crescent Rose in action again" I told her honestly.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and a wide smile followed "Yeah! I-I'd love that! And I can totally show off my baby! You haven't even seen how she performs in a fight!" She laughed excitedly.

Fear is something to be trusted, but you cannot let it control you. Because if you do, you will miss out on things that make you wish you were bolder.

Even if this friendship of ours is only temporary, I don't want to spend time with her having us both be afraid all the time. Not only is it unhealthy, but it goes against the promise I made to help her.

I'm not a people person, I'm not very social at all, to be honest, but I want to try to be her friend.

"I've got a few things in mind" I say as I take a sip of my slushie.

"I'll look forward to it!" She smiles again, I notice the soot on her cheek moving with her smiling muscles "This is the most fun I've had in awhile, and I can't wait to see what you make!" Ruby was much more relaxed than before, and I felt myself feeling glad.

"We might wanna clean up first though" I pointed to her and back to me "That rocket didn't do us any favors in the cleanliness department"

"Psh! Whatever, it's no big deal I get dirty all the time while training...although this might take longer to get off than some mud" She attempted to wipe it off, only to find it spread out on her skin "Ugh…"

"No biggie, right?" I smirked a little.

"Shut up! You're the one who had an exploding rocket!"

"That rocket was not supposed to explode, alright!? It was an accident!"

"How is it a rocket if it doesn't explode!?"

"Only a weapon nut wouldn't see the other applications of a rocket other than 'explosions'"

"Explosions are cool though!"

"Of course they are, but that's not the point!"

It continued on like this, trivial and nonsensical talking. Nothing but two people just talking about whatever comes to mind.

---

After a while Ruby had to leave, saying her dad needed help with the plumbing back at her house, so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, and with me taking a detour to the apartment.

I never really bothered heading this way before in the entire time I was here, for a while it was only work, getting groceries, materials, or hanging out with Ruby. I haven't fully had a chance to explore the place by myself, and I doubt Ruby would want to take me to her school.

I stood in front of the entranceway to Signal Academy, staring at the structure itself, the landscape.

'It's...a little extravagant, but also...patriotic? No, that's not the right word, more symbolic' I think to myself, there was a statue beyond the gate to the school, it seemed the school leads deeper into the forest and has a good amount of space to itself, and I could vaguely make out well cared for flowers, which had a bunch of different bright colors, or bushes near the entranceway.

'Talk about nice looking, I mean, my school didn't look bad or uncared for by any means, but doesn't this look like the image of an expensive private school?' I shift my focus to the statue itself.

It was a man and a woman, both wearing unique clothing, each having their foot on a downed werewolf looking creature-I assume it's a creature of grimm.

"..." Maybe I wasn't far off on the patriotic thing, Vale from what I've read is the biggest backer of individualistic expression, with Atlas being more formal and militant, Vacuo not caring, and Mistral more traditional.

The unique clothing on each of them could symbolize that individuality helps them fight the grimm, that it's something to use rather than suppress.

"A huntsman is supposed to save people, to be a light in the darkness, a symbol" Ruby's words come back to me, but it gives me far from comforting feelings of safety that they are intended as, rather it gave an uncomfortable twist in my gut and a heavy heart.

"Why did I come here…?" I asked myself quietly, but I already know the answer.

"That's kinda why the huntsmen academies are so important, y'know?" Her words come back to me again, along with a heavier feeling in my chest "They're symbols of unity, they even house the transcontinental towers, which everyone needs to communicate, they are schools that train the fighters that keep people safe"

To finish my thought earlier during my conversation with Ruby, if I were to compare what Ruby said the academies in this world were, and pick an equivalent from my world...I would say…

Uncomfortable memories of my old history class popped up, a video of rescuing survivors underneath concrete rubble, and the burning of what were the tallest structures in the world.

The World Trade Center.

'What does a terrorist do? Strike fear' I think to myself again, looking down at the ground, and then turning away from the school to walk towards my apartment 'What better way to make someone afraid than to make them watch as their symbol crumbles to the ground?'

"Is that their end goal…?" I wondered, it was too alarming. The increase in terrorism, the lack of a proper defense force against them, and now their being here in Patch?

Too much of it adds up, too much of it clicks, it shouldn't.

I have no proof.

I'm assuming the worst, based on nothing but history from my own world and making parallels with this one.

History repeats itself.

If it's true, that phrase would take on an even grander meaning for other worlds.

I shake my head 'I shouldn't focus too deeply into this, just on the part I need' I'm not going into this to stop the White Fang as a whole, merely to gather information. It's not my job to deal with something like that.

But still, the idea of something like that happening here...I wasn't even half a year old when that attack on the trade center happened, so I don't know what it was like to feel that fear...and quite frankly, I don't want to know it.

If I am going to assume that the events of this world are leading up to something like the WTC attack, then based on that assumption I would think they would start small, but hard. But nothing too extravagant, somewhere remote...like an island on the coast of Vale.

Such as Signal Academy, a place where huntsman and huntresses-in-training, a place that prepares people for an academy that symbolizes unity, a school that is also on a remote island and somewhat disconnected from the regular populace of Vale.

'The more I think, the more I realize that this would make a great target for them' I grew more convinced by the minute, and I just reached my apartment complex.

My face scrunches up at the idea of an attack in the school, and Ruby being in there while it happens…

'Stop it, your only theorizing, circumstantial evidence is cause for concern, not definite' I opened the door and shut it behind me as I walked into my room, I took out a notebook from my desk along with a pen.

I write this down to clear my thoughts, putting down my theories and my dealings with the White Fang to make sense if they were possible.

I then wrote: Where would they hide to gather information?

Circling the sentence, I tapped the pencil against the paper for a moment in thought before I made a line connecting it to another that said "Near my workplace" and "Close to Signal".

Most of the paths toward the school are fairly familiar to me, and as I thought about my walks through them on my path to work or with Ruby, I rattled my brain for anything that looked suspicious, not thinking I'd find anything in my memories...but...

Something clicked "There's...surprisingly quite a few small shops that are down, something about renovations or repairs" I couldn't remember any construction throughout the week besides the repairs on the water tower. I connect it to another event on the paper as I wrote: Water Tower

'Could they use the repairs on the water tower to help cover up a hideout in one of these 'renovating' shops?' I couldn't remember exactly which shops were down, I would have to search for them myself.

It's a suspicion, but I know for absolute certainty that there is a hideout nearby-probably not where they are mainly operating, but a way of laying low without suspicion. I would assume their main base would be either somewhere in the forest far away from the populace, or in some other low-profile area.

Setting down the pen and paper, I took one more look at the page, going over the information in my head again, before ripping said paper out of the notebook and tearing it up. No need to leave something like this around, I don't need Ruby reading it by accident.

'Alright, I have my suspicions laid out, now I need to investigate' I throw away the shredded paper into the trash. I went over to the cabinet I hid my gear in, and having some of it fall on my feet when I opened it.

I stopped for a moment and stared at it, a heavy feeling in my chest "...tonight" I decided "Tonight I'll see if I'm right"

In the meantime, I'm gonna go over everything I've made to make sure it's all in order, I can't leave it up to chance that I missed something in my sleep deprived state.

My gaze hardened, the heaviness in my chest was forgotten, and I got to work.

---

When it got dark out I proceeded to search for the base, donning a fully black outfit and a ski mask with night vision camera goggles I made strapped on top of my head, along with black rubber gloves. I probably looked like a thug, but I wasn't planning to be looked at in the first place.

Searching along the paths of my home to Signal Academy was somewhat difficult, I cannot be seen to alert the White Fang of my presence so I need to cover my face from the beginning, and that means I had to hide as I search as to not appear suspicious and have the cops called on me by any passerbys.

Being constantly alert, climbing over walls to avoid any cameras or people, staying out of sight no matter what...it took a lot of patience and planning, I snuck around for hours, checking every building...and just as I was about to call it a day, it happened.

I found them.

I stood across Hollow street, opposite the brick-made building, I stood atop a rooftop taking notice of the lack of light in the windows, despite other buildings still having some. It wasn't a big difference, one that could easily be overlooked.

After all, who needs lights when you have natural night vision?

'This is stupid…' I think to myself, pulling on the strap of my goggles, making sure it's secured to my face. I peeked out from over the ledge, seeing if I could make out any movement, but it was too dark, even with the night vision feature-

But then I caught it, it was just for a moment, but I saw some movement for a split second that I could barely make out; somebody was in there, multiple people.

Why would there be so many people, late at night at that, on an upper floor of a building said to be undergoing renovations and repairs?

Not able to make out much else, I ducked back into my hiding spot "This is dangerous" Second thoughts invaded my mind about this endeavor as I muttered angrily to myself " I am going up against armed terrorists, I am not fucking Batman, I am a sixteen your old nerd with a few toys to back him up"

My hand settled over my gun, and then my thermite grenade, smoke grenade...and then the pipe grenade, it didn't feel like enough if I'm being honest. The pipe grenade itself somewhat unsettles me, it was only a last resort, but the idea of using something back home that was used by terrorists kind've makes me feel...dirty. But it was also ironic that I'm using something used by terrorists back home against terrorists here, so that made me feel a little better I guess.

I also have the taser stick, it was only good for a few jabs before it runs out of power. My throwing knives were sharpened and I've been practicing with them, with what little good they would do me in a gunfight...I've wasted nothing in preparation for this, but I guess it wouldn't feel like enough no matter how much I prepared.

'Last chance to back out, you can always try again later when you're more prepared' I think to myself, taking a deep, slow, breath 'At the cost of this chance slipping away…'

Unacceptable.

I already made my choice, I'm not going back on it...or rather, there is no other choice for me, they won't hide out in that building forever, they could very well be leaving tomorrow and packing as I think this. There is no other choice.

Not for me.

I closed my eyes to remember, the place I belong, a red brick house with a wooden porch, a father and a mother, and three younger siblings...

.

.

.

Taking a deep breath through my nose, my beating heart calmed itself. I got up from my hiding spot and climbed down, jumping off from the building and into an alleyway, I started to move across the street. Making sure to avoid any public security cameras that I could see, I ducked and moved by the nearby vehicles.

Instead of going directly to the building-there was a camera in a direct line of sight of its front side-I went to the one a few ways over to the right 'There...' I found a perfect spot to climb, making my way up the wall of the windows and metal pipes on the side for its electrical systems, careful not to put too much weight on any one thing.

Pulling myself to the rooftop, I looked over to the destination in question "Okay…" I examined the things between me and said building, a path already forming in my head 'Start with a good run, jump onto that ledge-there's a window ledge underneath if I can't make it- and I can run around and walk across those railings to the Fang building'

Route planned, I got into a running position '...go!' I sprinted, making my way across the rooftop in no time, and leaping off to the next.

I was able to grasp onto the ledge on the other side without a problem, pulling myself over and jumping onto a chimney, and then hopping over to the railings behind the other building.

Glancing around for anyone who might've noticed, I didn't see any movement or hear anything of note, so I didn't test my luck and started quickly speed-walking towards it, quietly climbing over to the next railing, and then onto the next.

'...this will do' I think to myself, seeing a perfect path to climb up the Fang's hideout. I jumped up and pushed my feet up the wall, grabbing more window ledges, and carefully maneuvering myself over to the metal attachments on the side of the building so I could have a better chance of not being spotted.

'Assassin's Creed style, Ezio would be proud' I joke to myself to ease some of the nerves I was feeling, I wasn't far from the top…

"...-tupid guard duty" I stopped the moment I heard a voice, frozen stiff and clinging to the building "No one's gonna come up here...knew I should've joined Adam's sect"

'One guard?' I didn't hear any other voices 'I need to be sure, I doubt I could get away with knocking him out if someone else is there'

Definitely not, this isn't some video game where the guard just forgets about the guy who was there after you take them out. So I carefully climbed up a bit further-

"Huh? Is that creaking?" 'Fucking damn super hearing!' I thought as I grabbed onto the stone edge above me, swinging my legs away from the building and moving myself with nothing but my arms away from it.

I looked to my left to see a man looking over the ledge from my previous spot, he was hooded-not the same uniform from the warehouse I appeared in, if anything his clothes looked normal…

But I could never mistake that mask on his face, the same mask of death that I stared down and barely escaped from 'This is the place, there's no doubt now' If I needed any more proof then I just got it.

"Grr...could've sworn I heard fucking something, am I going crazy?" He muttered to himself.

My arms strained, they were getting tired. Sweat ran down my head and soaked into my mask, both from strain and fear 'Move already!' I controlled my breathing, trying to stay as quiet as possible, if he caught me now I will be dead.

It's very hard to be hanging like this for such a long period of time though, just letting myself hang like this with nothing but my arms is going to exhaust them, and I don't dare move my legs to help prop myself against the wall for fear the noise would draw his attention.

.

.

.

He scoffed, annoyed "I really am going crazy...knew I should've gone to Vale" And then moved away, angrily grumbling to himself and complaining.

'Oh thank the universe' I hastily pulled myself up over the edge, careful not to make too much sound with my footsteps, I crouched and and moved over and behind a corner to the entrance of the rooftop.

I looked past the corner to the man walking to the other side, looking out over to the other rooftops 'A single lookout for in case any huntsmen showed up...I'm lucky he didn't spot me, but maybe that's because I'm not a huntsman…'

Most wouldn't sneakily climb up a building or take a longer way around, but rather jump from one rooftop to the next with that aura of theirs enhancing their muscles. They wouldn't expect someone like me to come by.

'Why would they? You're auraless and going up against armed terrorists, it's practically a death sentence for most people' I reminded myself, trying not to think about how I'm one of those said people, and instead thinking of multiple scenarios to take out this lookout.

But if he's a lookout he might need to check back in regularly, I could try sneaking by him, but he would probably hear me opening the door...I could try going in a window, but that could risk me being seen by someone as well in the interior of the building, leaving less space for me to maneuver and escape.

There's no surefire way that I can think of that is without substantial risk, but the least of which would be knocking out the lookout. It would take time for them to figure it out. I'll have a limited time frame, but it's not like I planned to stick around for long anyway.

'Here goes nothing…' I let out a quiet breath to ready myself and then started creeping up along the wall of the entrance to get closer. He held his weapon in his hands so if I fuck up he'll shoot immediately, and even if it doesn't hit its mark it will alert everyone in the building.

"What bullshit…" I barely heard him mutter under his breath "I'm supposed to be taking the fight to the damn humans, and here I am on guard duty, this isn't what I signed up for" He sighed, his shoulders losing their tension, and his finger moved away from the trigger…

'NOW!' I sprinted, closing the gap between us.

"Wha-" Just as he started to react, I grabbed him from behind, grabbing the arm that held his gun and angling it up against his back, "Ah-!" and my left hand wrapped around his mouth to muffle his voice.

I pushed his arm upward as he squirmed, the pain made him lose whatever grip he had on the gun, I positioned my foot where it would land, stopping it from hitting the floor so it wouldn't make any noise "Mmmmm!"

The man squirmed, he was fairly strong, but the position I put him in won't allow him to do anything, I lifted my right leg up as I held him and then kneed him in the liver.

"Mm!" His legs immediately buckled in pain and his knees hit the ground and started to curl in on himself, I immediately took the opportunity to release his arm and dig my finger into and around his collarbone.

His entire body tensed, and squirmed for a second, but after a few moments...he relaxed, going limp.

I double-check to make certain, turning him around and taking off his mask, I see his eyes closed and his breathing is even 'Definitely out' I sighed quietly in relief.

The whole process was very unnerving for me, I'd never done something like this before, just how...he kicked and squirmed in my grasp, how easy it was, holding his limp body made me feel like some sort of serial killer.

A shiver of disgust crawled up my spine.

Shaking my head, I ignored that comparison 'I'm not gonna kill him, but I do need to restrain him' I grabbed the gun off the ground as I made to move him.

Pulling him over my shoulders, I carried him firemen style over to and behind the entrance to the roof, setting him down against the wall. I pulled out a rag, tying it around his head and against his mouth, I then zip-tied his hands behind him and his legs together.

Double-checking to make sure his restraints are secure I felt satisfied that he was and made my way to the door, I switched on the safety of the gun after looking it over 'Same kind as the one I got from last time, must be a standard weapon that they can consistently smuggle to their cells'

I pocketed it as I reached the door, can't use it though if I want to stay unseen. I attach the white fang mask I got from the guard to my black mask, removing my goggles so I can get it in place.

If I take a peek through the door wearing it and someone sees me, I have a better chance of catching them off guard or slipping by...although it's a small chance, I'll take anything.

Putting my ear against the door I tried to listen for any activity on the other side '...some very faint echoes, but definitely not on the stairs' I nodded to myself, taking a deep breath to steel my courage again, I slowly opened the door.

I see the stairs, nobody else was nearby, I crept inside and quietly shut the door 'Alright, I'm in the building, step one complete'

Now for step two.

If the White Fang is keeping tabs on me, then they will likely have taken pictures or written down notes of my whereabouts and activities. Terrorists normally, at least back home, work in a clandestine cell system: Meaning that members of a particular group only know the identity of one another, and thus if one of them gets captured they will not have the knowledge of any higher-ranking individuals in their organization.

So most likely I will not be able to find the name of the leader ordering them to keep an eye on me, however, if I'm lucky I might be able to stop him or her from gaining any further information, such as where I live.

I might also be able to find out their messaging system, and how they deliver their information to the higher-ups, they can't do it in person as that would risk an identity being revealed if this group got captured and interrogated, and thus if I can find out the messaging system I can use that to start tracing it back to the one who knows why I am here.

Part of me feels glad that I know this much, although the reason for why isn't something to happily look back on. I researched it because of the news I received from my French teacher of a terrorist attack in Paris a few years ago, so many people died back then…

'These guys are no different' I think angrily, I've seen the news of some of their recent operations, these bastards are the same as the ones back home, preaching that they're fighting for their people while only wanting power and striking fear into others.

'But if there is one thing to be thankful about them...is that compared to back home, their amateurs' After surveying the area once more, I then made to move down the stairs.

Slowly but surely I made certain that they wouldn't creek, I peek out to the hallway that the stairs led to, my eyes darting left and right to find anyone- 'One, no, two!' Two of them were to my right, they haven't noticed me.

They're facing away, but they won't be that way for long. I duck low and quickly made my way to the opposite end of the hall and around the corner, I pressed my back up against the wall next to a door to hear them out.

"-ow long do you think we'll be stationed here?" One of them asked.

"Probably only for a few more days, wouldn't be surprised if we have to leave tomorrow though" The other said thoughtfully "Good thing too, those construction uniforms are annoying, I got a rash on my scales the other day"

'Construction uniforms? Is that how they got around?' I narrow my eyes behind the mask 'They don't seem to be getting closer, if anything their probably getting farther away-'

Creak!

My body jolted, and my head whipped to the source of the creaking sound of wood-'Shit! Someone is coming up those stairs!' There was another set of stairs down the hallway I'm already in, I made to move- only to accidentally hit the wall behind me with my holster.

"The fuck…?" I stiffened as I heard their voices speak up 'Shit!Shit!Shit!Shit!SHIT!'

I was starting to panic, I can't go back the way I came-there are White Fang coming in from both sides. I need to act, hide, something!

My eyes caught the door beside me 'No time to check!' I quickly but quietly open the door, slipping through to the other side without so much as taking a peek, before shutting it behind me in a hurry.

'Get away from the door, find somewhere to hide!' I looked into the room I was in, feeling somewhat surprised at the pink paint of the room, the stuffed animals littered about, some of which were torn to shreds, and a boarded-up window 'Looks like a young girl's room'

Making my way further inside, I hear the voices behind the door "What the hell do you think you're doing wandering around, get back to your post!"

'Shit! So close to the door!' In my hurry, I glanced around the room-

And met the terrified stare of a young, tied up, and gagged girl and her family in the corner of the room.

'What-!? Hostages!?' My eyes were wide behind the White Fang mask-but then they looked to the sound of the doorknob turning 'NO TIME!' I quickly moved to the opposite end of the room away from the hostages, cursing the fact that this room was so pink and contrasting with the black outfit I'm wearing.

My eyes darted around the room before settling on the closet, I immediately went for it as I heard the door opening, quickly swinging it open without letting it hit the wall, and then closing it just as quietly, hoping against all the odds in the universe that their super-hearing didn't pick up on that.

"Ah, so you fuckers are awake" I hear a gruff voice on the other side of the door, not addressed towards me, likely the hostages "Just doing a daily check-up...honestly, I don't know why we keep you alive…"

My mouth settled into a frown at his words, it seems I'm hidden for now, but the tenseness of the situation immediately dampened any relief.

"Mmm!" A feminine voice muttered out through their gag, likely the mother.

"Oh shut up…!" I heard a loud thump against the floor and a muffled scream "Don't act like you would have treated us any differently, you humans made us into monsters, you have no one but yourselves to blame"

I grit my teeth 'Blame others for what you're doing, huh? It makes it so much easier, right!?' I think to myself in anger, but then shake my head 'Calm down, there's nothing you can do! Just stay quiet and he won't find you!'

After this I'll call the police and report this place, that'll help them-

"Hey! Quit your crying kid!" My eyes widened, realizing that there were muffled sobs...my curiosity got the better of me, and I cracked open the closet door to look.

The woman was on the ground with a bruise forming on her cheek, the man was squirming angrily in his bindings, and the little girl…

She was crying, sobbing through her gag as she looked at her mother on the ground.

The heaviness in my heart grew tenfold at the sight, and it got worse as I saw the terrorist walk up to her and look down on her crying form "Hey, I said shut it!" The terrorist growled.

I watched as the man in binds squirmed even more, glaring angrily at him in response to the growl...only for the terrorist to hit him in the head with the bottom of his pistol.

'There's nothing you can do...there's nothing you can do…' I told myself over and over, I had other priorities, they'll be fine as long as I called the police afterward...right?

I took a shaky breath...and then started to close the closet door-

"Your so damn lucky, why the hell do you humans get to have such a nice cozy life...and a daughter…" The terrorist growled again, his fist shaking "My daughter died in the mines because of you humans, why the hell do you get to have everything while my daughter is left to rot, huh!?" He grabs the little girl by the collar, and then lifts her sobbing face up to eye level.

My eyes go wide, thoughts of closing the door gone.

"Why the hell do you get to live where my daughter didn't, huh?" He asked her "I wonder if your parents will know how it feels to watch as you can't do anything to help them"

I opened the door further, quietly pushing it until I could fully see them…

"Did you know your Dad used to live in Atlas kid? He was a supervisor for a dust mine, one my daughter worked for"

I started taking careful steps forward, the terrorist's back still facing me.

"He's the reason why she died, because the bastard couldn't pay to have it up to code...he lost his job when that mine collapsed, and I lost my daughter"

I take out my taser stick as I approach the back of the distracted terrorist…

"Thought he could run away here, start a family? When I heard I was so damned glad, when this is all over I'll make you watch as I shoot your daughter in the head-!"

All self-control I had vanished, if I had any left at all, as I heard those last words. My arm shot up and over his shoulder before slamming my hand on his mouth "MMmm!?" He dropped the girl in surprise, she made a loud thump as she hit the floor.

The bastard tried reaching up to grab my right hand off his face-"RrrrRRhhhRRggh!" and I jabbed the taser stick into his side with the other, the cackling of electricity making popping sounds as he convulsed.

'I knew there was a reason I wore rubber gloves' I thought as he convulsed and went limp, while I was perfectly safe from the current with my non-conducting rubber gloves.

As the power in my taser stick went dead, I moved my arms to catch the unconscious terrorist before he could hit the floor.

I looked away from the terrorist and towards the girl on the ground, who was looking up at me...in hope.

And all I could think was 'I screwed up' as I heard footsteps towards the bedroom door.

---

Captaindrake123: So...been a while…

I've had a few people ask me if I'm dead, so there's that.

Before you ask why I took so long again, I will say this, LIFE. It's a fucking bitch. With this whole Coronavirus thing everything for college has been switched to online which was rocky at first before they got their shit together. And then there's people hoarding or rioting as if that will solve all their problems, and then even more issues came up... with all of this going on I honestly just kept putting this aside. I had other things to worry about.

But I'm back and writing! Starting off strong this year, but from now on I am not promising ANYTHING with my update schedule, if I ever do just call me out on it. I will take it with humility. Clearly life is not gonna smooth out anytime soon so just don't expect consistent updates, new chapters come when they come, but I will definitely try (emphasis on the try) to send them out more. Hopefully 2021 will do us all better.

All I can promise is that I will finish this story. Happy late new years everyone, take care of yourselves.

---

Omake: The Police Chief's Busy Day

"Hah…" Teal rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance after sending out another officer for the umpteenth time that day "Can we really not find anything?"

He had his force working around the clock, patrolling, digging, and yet he had not found out a single clue as to why the White Fang was here, or even where they were operating.

'Are we just incompetent!?' He thought in frustration 'I know we haven't dealt with something like this before, but this is ridiculous!'

Normally Patch was fairly peaceful if a bit rowdy at times. Delinquents, scuffles from kids from Signal that need to be broken up, the occasional petty thievery...and even more rarely, a murder. For a place that's popular for retired huntsmen, it's very peaceful.

He glared down at a file, another lead that became a dead end, the White Fang had already packed up and left by the time they checked out that old house in the woods.

There were more just like it, they always seemed to be one step ahead of them...and quite frankly, that made him suspect a leak in his force.

'I don't wanna believe it, but...this is too coincidental, I don't have any proof though' He hated to think about the idea, but he has to consider it at this point.

There were rumors that Roman Torchwick was working with the White Fang, a seasoned criminal, the most known criminal in Vale, and even worse there were small rumors that he had connections in the police force in Vale.

'Does that extend to even Patch?' The Chief shook his head, he was going in circles at this point 'I don't know, I'm going off a stupid rumor...damn it, have I really gone this low?'

They were planning something, a terrorist organization that's not afraid to even use the creatures of grimm in their attacks, to this island and he can't make heads or tails as to what that plan is.

Teal sighed again as he took another sip of his coffee-

SLAM!

"PFFFT!" Teal spat out the coffee in surprise at his office door slamming open, Detective Mauve walking through.

"I found something!" He slams a folder onto the Chief's desk...which was soaked in spit out coffee.

The Chief glared at the private detective with a twitch in his right eye "...have you tried knocking? I hear it's popular nowadays"

Mauve rolled his eyes "Whatever, read it" He said while gesturing to the folder.

Teal sighed "At least close the door behind you" He glared at the detective again, who finally relented and closed the door behind him. Teal then took a look at the folder, sighing in annoyance at the somewhat drenched state it was in.

He opened it up, just as Mauve started talking "I haven't found where that Lieutenant went just yet, name's 'Banesaw' or something, don't care, but what I do know is that he went to pick up messages for the White Fang a few times along with some other shady characters"

Teal raised his eyebrows in interest, reading over the file. It was filled with people's testimony on seeing Banseaw along a given path, along with pictures of various areas with men in construction uniforms "What is this?" He questioned the relevance.

"The construction workers, right?" Mauve asked without even looking, starting to light up a cigarette in his hand, only for the lighter to flicker out every time he tried, he growled out his next sentence "Ugh, some of them are disguised White Fang, I caught one with a mask on a stakeout, but he escaped and he managed to squirm his ass away when he saw I was onto him"

Looking at the picture with a construction worker pulling out a fang mask for a moment, he continued "How does this help us?" The Chief flipped the page in the folder-and then grimaced as some coffee splattered on his fingers.

"I didn't think it did for a while, but then it hit me!" Mauve exclaimed as he got up and slammed a hand on Teal's desk "What's the most heavily construction-needed area in this town right now?"

Teal looked up at him with narrowed eyes "The water tower? You think they're based somewhere on Hollow street?" He glanced down at the folder "You think they would be bold enough to operate somewhere close by where we investigated the scene?"

"Why not?" Mauve shrugged, he had given up on lighting his cigarette and instead fully put himself into explaining the case "Their sneaky little bastards, they can hide in plain sight, without a mask or a uniform we wouldn't be able to tell them apart from a normal everyday person other than their animal traits, and I don't think either of us wants go down the racist route and start rounding up all the Faunus"

Teal looked through the window of his office to the entire workplace of his force "Unfortunately some of us didn't get that memo, a few of my officers are already starting to get paranoid and bringing in people without proper cause" He straightened them out of course, but if it was already getting that bad then he needed to be making strides on this case.

"Figures, something this big has never happened before, some of the newer guys are bound to get jumpy" Mauve shrugged as if it was totally normal "But you get my point, right?"

"...maybe, but that's still a big assumption" Teal said doubtfully "To think them bold enough to stay so close? Even if it's just a small base to help their operations, I can't see them staying so close-"

Mauve blinked at the sudden stop "...what?"

He stopped speaking, noticing something outside his office window...Teal then stood up from his chair and walked to his door, opening it-

RING! RING! RING!

RING! RING! RING!

RING! RING! RING!

Many scrolls in the police department's desks were going off, some officers were rushing about to respond to every one of them. Mauve walked up behind the Chief to look at the commotion himself "The hell…?" He muttered.

"Chief!" One of the officers ran up to him, a scroll in hand "We're getting a lot of calls in-"

"Wow, we didn't notice that" Mauve said sarcastically.

The officer gave him a dirty look before turning back to Chief Teal "Almost all of them are people reporting about an explosion on Hollow street! Some are saying it came from the bakery shop!"

Teal and Mauve stood still at his words, one of their faces forming into an annoyed grimace, the other a shit-eating grin.

.