AN: So it took me three months to get a chapter out this time, and I apologize for that. I had a lot of assessment to work on and by the time I could get back to this I was really out of practice at writing of this kind. As a result it took me way longer to get this chapter out than usual. it is however longer than my previous chapters, something I need to keep improving.

I have also updated chapter 1 as I wasn't happy with parts of it. Yet another reason this took so long.

During his years of training with Professor Tempest, Ozpin had been tutored in the use of many forms of weaponry; though he was partial to swords, Ozpin was capable of wielding nearly any weapon he could get his hands on with at least a moderate degree of skill. The reason for this was twofold, it gave him great versatility and the capability to improvise in situations with multiple weapons nearby, and it aided him in learning the weaknesses of fighting styles using such weapons. This training had included every weapon you were likely to face on a battlefield, from firearms to war-hammers.

It hadn't included scythes.

Ozpin stepped out of range of the oversized weapon as it swung towards him, frowning at his lack of progress. He was yet to break his opponent's defense. As much as Qrow's fighting style appeared to be little more than spinning and hacking with a giant blade on a stick, Ozpin could recognize the level of skill being displayed; the scythe wielder never overcommitted to a swing without leaving himself a means of defense. Between Qrow's skill with the weapon and Ozpin's unfamiliarity with it, the green clad Huntsman was having difficulty overcoming him.

Each time he would get inside the scythe's arc his opponent would be ready, blocking with the weapon's shaft or dodging away from the attack, and then the colossal blade would resume on its deadly arc and he'd be forced back.

Ozpin's eyes followed the blade, looking for an opening. He stepped forwards and left; the arc shifting to defend against his new position as he probed forward with his sword.

He needed to finish this quickly so he could support his allies with their own battles. Mercifully, their adversaries had not utilised their numbers advantage. The swordswoman had planted her sword at her feet and was staying back, her hands resting on its hilt, eyes closed in concentration. Ozpin didn't know what she was trying to pull off, but it was apparently important enough for the girl with the crossbows to be standing guard over her.

A pivot and step backwards brought Oz out of range of his opponent's downwards slash, countering with a small thrust that was sidestepped and then knocked away as the blade swiped at him again. He needed more time if he wanted to disable his opponent, stop whatever the swordswoman was doing, and help his teammates.

'Fortunately,' Ozpin thought, 'time is on my side.'

Somewhere deep in the back of Qrow's mind a small voice decided to speak up, 'I think,' it began, in much the same tone one would use to explain the benefits of vegetarianism to a room full of crocodiles, 'That we may be getting altogether too much enjoyment out of this.'

This stray voice could've caused a deep and intensive introspection for the young man; this self-examination could've perhaps, in time, led to him re-evaluating his goals in life along with his approach to conflict. Unfortunately the voice went unheeded due to the majority of the rest of the brain being occupied with preventing a rather pointy bit of metal from getting stuck somewhere it doesn't belong.

Entering a one on one fight with a huntsman trainee was almost never a good idea. Entering a fight with the student of a huntsman considered to be a living legend was pretty much always a bad idea. Provoking said student by defeating two of his comrades and then cracking jokes was a decision left only to the incredibly powerful or the incredibly foolish. Qrow liked to think he fit neatly into both categories. Regardless he was having a great time. Still sitting at the back of his mind, sulking now, the voice gave a disheartened sigh.

Qrow's adversary meanwhile did not seem to be enjoying himself quite so much. Ozpin had been scowling since before they'd even started. He'd backed off for the moment, likely looking for another angle of attack; lulls in battle such as this were the perfect opportunity to assess an enemy and strategize methods by which to overcome them. Qrow did not capitalize on that opportunity, instead he came to the decision that now was the perfect time to further antagonize the young huntsman.

Qrow's grin widened, "You should really loosen up"

Ozpin's scowl grew, "Be Quiet."

Qrow wondered briefly if it were possible to scowl with your entire body.

"I'm just saying, if you were able to relax a little bit and not be so serious all the time, maybe they'd be able to remove the stick from your arse"

Ozpin's shoulders seemed to have involved themselves in the scowl by this point.

Qrow shrugged, "getting it out would probably make your fighting style less rigid too"

At this point there was a burst of laughter from his right; the girl in the white cloak was doubled over snickering holding a hand out in front of her, one finger pointed up, signalling to give her a second to recover. Fortunately for her she was fighting Lonan; the sandy haired blonde had actually stopped his attack and was politely standing in place, waiting for her to recover.

Qrow looked back to Ozpin, "At least someone in your group has a sense of humo-"

Ozpin burst forward, closing the gap between them in a blink, his fist flying into the other teen's jaw. Qrow skidded backwards, tumbling over himself before managing to plant his feet in a crouch.

He stared at Ozpin, 'He punched me, like, 10 metres. I'm pretty sure I didn't deserve… all of that'

Qrow rubbed his jaw where the blow had connected, "You really can't take a joke can y-"

Again the Huntsman rushed forward. To Qrow's credit he managed to dodge the first strike, a punch aimed at his shoulder, but the following kick to the guts caught him dead centre, knocking the wind out of him. Qrow stumbled away from the strike. Ozpin stepped forward, grabbing the back of Qrow's head and slamming his knee into it. The sniper's head snapped back up in time to meet another punch that sent him sprawling.

Qrow's vision swam as he tried to figure out exactly where he was. He was vaguely aware of something hard and cold on his back, he'd lost his weapon somewhere and out of the corner of his eye he could see Ozpin towering over him.

'I'm pretty sure he wasn't that tall a moment ago, wonder how that happened? And why is he sideways?'

…

'Oh, I'm on the floor. Well I suppose I should get up then.'

He tried to sit up, only for a foot to crash down on his abdomen, forcing him back to the ground.

'You know what? On second thought the floor's fine. I'll just stay here for a while.'

Ozpin pointed the tip of his sword at the fallen sniper's neck and the room froze, everyone waiting in tense apprehension of Ozpin's next move.

Silence lingered for a few seconds.

"Seriously Qrow?"

Ozpin's eyes darted to the speaker. It was the girl in the windbreaker, Sienna.

"You got yourself hostaged?"

The hostage sniper glared at her, "That's not a word."

"I don't care; you let it happen to you."

"How was I supposed to know he had super speed?"

"If you must know," Ozpin said to the teen he was holding to the ground, "I manipulated the local temporal field to slow you down, making me appear faster to you."

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "come again?"

"He's saying he slowed time," Taiyang answered.

"You can control time?"

Ozpin looked down at the annoyed expression of the trapped teenager; answering with a nod, Ozpin couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction at the stunned look on his opponent's face.

"This is no joke. I hope you now understand precisely the situation you're in; you've been outgunned, outsmarted, and outmanoeuvred." Ozpin said, the corner of his mouth creeping up into a smile. Despite all setbacks he and his team would be able return to Beacon and tell the Headmaster their mission was a success.

"I wouldn't exactly agree with that"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "How so?" He asked.

The sniper grinned, as if sharing a joke, "Well for starters; as annoying as I am, I don't think that's enough of a reason for you to actually cause me any real injury."

"Keep talking, I'm getting there."

Qrow laughed, and then continued talking. "You wanna say you outsmarted me? Sure, I'll give you that. Outgunned me? Well big as my gun is," he continued, pointing behind Ozpin to where the weapon laid, "I'm willing to say you've got me beat there. But you're wrong on that last point; cause no matter how fast you are, or how well trained, or much experience you've got," at this Qrow's grin turned malicious, as though the joke was now at Ozpin's expense, "I'm never outmanoeuvred."

Ozpin lurched forward as the body beneath his foot vanished into thin air. Something collided with the back of his knee on his supporting leg, unbalancing him further. Still trying to regain his footing, Oz was left defenceless as Qrow appeared in front of him. Qrow snapped his palm into Ozpin's nose. Oz stumbled back. Qrow stepped forward driving a knee into Ozpin's gut. Qrow disappeared again and reappeared behind Ozpin, launching a kick from mid-air that connected with the back of his head. The sniper appeared again, in front of him and down low, performing a leg sweep that knocked the huntsman off his feet. Ozpin hit the ground, knocking the wind out of his lungs. He heard a click from above him. Ozpin turned his head to see Qrow standing there, the barrel of his weapon pointed straight at Oz's face.

Something akin to sympathy flickered across Qrow's face as he squeezed the trigger, "Seriously. Tense."

Ozpin's head swam. Indistinct noises were fading in and out all around him. It felt just like the time he woke up after challenging Professor Fallow to a sparring match; his head was throbbing and the rest of his body felt like it had played chicken with a goliath stampede and lost. Ozpin opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust his eyes. He was lying in a stretcher. People, 'Officers,' his mind corrected upon recognizing the uniform, were moving around outside a building a few metres away. The lights of several patrol cars and, strangely, a bullhead that had touched down behind them were serving to light up the area far better than the sparse, flickering street lamps could manage. The building was familiar to him.

'The warehouse.'

His memories flooded back to him. Oz started forcing himself upright. A hand on his shoulder forced him back down gently. The owner of the hand stepped into Ozpin's view.

Ozpin's eye's widened, "Professor Tempest."

'I suppose that explains the bullhead.'

The headmaster smiled, "Are you alright Ozpin? I'm told you had a rather nasty case of being shot in the head."

"I…It's just a headache sir, I'm fine. Are the others-"

"They're fine. A few damaged egos and some bruises, but nothing serious. I'm told they'll have all made a full recovery by tomorrow morning."

Ozpin let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding.

"Sir I'm sor-"

The headmaster raised a hand, silencing Ozpin.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"Sir, I was responsible for planning the assault. I underestimated the enemy and-"

"You underestimated the enemy because the information you were given on them were inaccurate."

Ozpin clenched a fist. "Intel can't always be relied upon; I shouldn't have underestimated them just because we were told they weren't a significant threat."

Ozpin exhaled, calming himself, before sitting up. This time the headmaster allowed him to rise on his own.

"They knew we were coming Sir. I don't know how, but somehow they were prepared for us."

"So I've been told," Tempest said. The fact that these children had managed to ambush some of his best students was indeed concerning; they could become a major threat if they were to fall into the wrong company.

'Best not to unsettle Ozpin right now,' Slate concluded.

Tempest returned to addressing his pupil. "While this news is worrying, you'd best not concern yourself with it for the moment. Presently I'd suggest you go talk with the rest of your team. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go and find whoever was responsible for that abysmal intel and give them a stern talking to."

Then, with a nod, the headmaster turned and walked off. Ozpin felt a small shiver of pity go through him. Though he'd never been on the receiving end of one of the professor's stern talks, Ozpin had seen it happened before; he was still sure that attempted mugger had walked out of the alley sniffling.

Ozpin found the others in various stages between standing, leaning, and sitting next to the bullhead. Breathing in deeply in preparation he moved towards them.

Summer started grinning the moment she saw him.

"How you doing Oz?"

"I'm fine," He answered.

'Wait for it'

"Good, good. I'm glad to see you having that attitude to this whole situation. I guess it's true what they say," she continued.

'Oh boy, here it comes'

"Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet," She finished.

'And exhale.'

"It seems that you're all fine then," he said. Summer could generally be treated as a sort of warning system, if she was conscious around other people and wasn't making jokes then either she was eating or something was wrong.

"What happened after I was knocked unconscious?" Ozpin asked.

"After bird boy finished making you eat curb, the lot of them just bailed."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "did you manage to track were they were heading?"

Taiyang sucked in a breath. "Umm," he said slowly. "Well you see. The interesting thing is… they didn't exactly leave in a way we could track them."

"What do you mean?"

Taiyang opened his mouth, and then closed it slowly. Then he cocked his head to the side, eyes staring up in the classic pose of someone trying to physically look at their brain for answers.

He remained in this pose until Glynda spoke up. "Oh spit it out you buffoon. What's so difficult to explain here? How did they leave?"

"It was a…swirly… reddy,black…" Taiyang waved his hands vaguely in front of himself, searching for the right words. "Well it was, kind of a hole."

Ozpin gaze was level, directed solely at Taiyang.

"But it-it didn't lead anywhere."

Oz didn't seem to be blinking. Tai instinctively lent back from the other student

"Well it led somewhere, obviously," He corrected. "But it was just kind of hanging in the air-Portal, that's the word I was looking for, swirly red portal. So yeah, they beat you, Glynda and Bart, then they stopped fighting us and they said bye and thanks for the fight and stuff, and then the girl with the swords made that swirly red portal thing by cutting air, and then they all stepped into it, andpleasestopstaringatme," the boxer finally finished.

Ozpin broke eye contact and exhaled slowly. Taiyang meanwhile breathed a sigh of relief at being out from under the other boy's stare.

Oz slumped against the side of the bullhead, sliding until he was sitting on the ground; His head supported by a hand lightly rubbing his temple. "So just to clarify, we came here to subdue a gang of thieves, were subsequently ambushed and either beaten or fought to a standstill by said thieves, who then proceeded to escape in such a manner that we have no way of possibly trailing them?"

"Yep," Summer answered, sitting down as she did so, her normal, arrogant smirk not present. "That about sums it up."

The other members of the group sank to the ground with them.

"We should focus on the positives," Port declared, loud as ever. "We are all still in good health. And though our tenacity was not enough to overcome our foes this day," Summer could have sworn she saw a tear in Peter's eye at this point, he could get creepily passionate about things sometimes, "our efforts here have ensured a better understanding of the capabilities of these fiends. Thanks to us the authorities will have far better information during future attempts to apprehend these ne'er-do-wells. Why, we have managed to learn not only what these insidious larcenists look like, but also some of their weapons and abilities."

Oobleck looked over at his partner, "By any chance did you discover precisely what form of firearm was responsible for incapacitating me? I was unprepared for the incoming projectile and had not concentrated my Aura to the targeted area, by the time I was aware of what was happening I was being thrown across the room. I'm afraid I was far too concentrated on healing the damage I'd sustained and keeping myself conscious to be paying attention to anything else."

"Well it was like this… sorta, umm," Taiyang began to explain, stopping when Ozpin started staring at him again. "Maybe someone else should explain," he said.

Oz turned his attention back to Oobleck, "I couldn't identify the model the Sniper was using, it was definitely a custom job. The rounds it fired were extremely high velocity and didn't seem to be dust based."

Oobleck raised a hand to his chin, his index finger resting just under his nose. "That would make sense. It would be considerably difficult for a group of thieves of this nature to steal Dust. Is there any other facet of this weapon that made it stand out?"

"Do you count turning into a scythe as significant?" Ozpin answered dryly.

"Turned into a scythe?" At this the bespectacled student leapt to his feet. "Ozpin do you know what this means? We have a means of tracking this group."

"What means?"

"Mechashift weapons such as this are largely unique," Oobleck explained. "They are made by only a few of the most skilled craftsmen in the four kingdoms. I could count the number of places that weapon could have originated from in Vale on but a single hand."

"How's that gonna help?" Summer asked.

"As these weapons are custom made, and quite difficult to manufacture they are rather expensive. As such, it is common practice to install trackers on the weapons to prevent them from being lost or stolen. If we can locate the original manufacturer of the weapon then we should be able to access its tracker. Even assuming it lacks a tracker, we may still be able to at least learn who commissioned the weapon and how and when it was stolen from them. That in turn may allow us to find more information about our adversaries' movements and tactics."

The team sat in silence for a moment.

"It's as good a plan as any," Ozpin admitted. "Are we all willing to take part in this?"

The other five nodded in unison.

"Very well, we'll start looking for the manufacturer tomorrow morning. Hopefully they'll lead us straight to the thieves, if not we're going to spend tomorrow looking for clues."

Summer's grin returned. "So what you're saying is that we're gonna spend tomorrow looking for a smoking gun?"

Glynda groaned.

"Those thieves better watch out, we'll be gunning for them."

Oz dropped his head into his hands.

"We'll find them, and then we'll go in gun's blazing."

Taiyang sighed. "Please stop."

"Can't do that Tai. I'm the kind of girl who sticks to her guns."

The team let out a collective groan.

AN: As always I'd appreciate any feedback or advice. I'll try to have the next chapter out much faster than this.

The Wandering Cactus.