Chapter 2: Setbacks

"You WHAT?!" The voice of the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company could be heard clear through the great wooden doors of her office.

"Weiss, I-"

"YOU DOLT! THERE WAS ONE GUY AND YOU JUST LET HIM WALK AWAY? WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! HE DESTROYED ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WAS THERE AND YOU- YOU DOLT- YOU JUST LET HIM WALTZ RIGHT ON OUTTA THERE! WHY I OUGHT TO-"

"GODDAMNIT WEISS WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR JUST ONE MINUTE!" The fiery blond next to the Schnee CEO burst out. "Just chill the fuck out for a little bit and let them explain."

After the incident at the White Fang safe house, Blake and Ruby had silently agreed that they couldn't waste any time getting a report back to their partners. The two of them sat in Weiss' office, still in their winter gear. Ruby, after being the victim of Weiss' outburst, was trying as hard as she could not to make eye contact with the silver haired girl, while Blake stared out the large window at the view of Atlas, clearly lost in thought.

"Well, Weiss, you see… everything was going fine… well… we were spotted once… but, ah… Blake took care of that… then we made it into the safehouse… and the planning room was destroyed, and there was this guy standing directly in the middle of it and he was completely untouched and he was really really tall and he had red eyes and itwasreallyscaryandBlakeandIcouldn'tmoveandIdidn'tknowwhattodoand-"

"He called himself a god." the black haired faunus spoke for the first time since she and Ruby left the forest. "He called himself 'The God of Nothing'. There was no sign of anyone breaking in before us, all of the guards outside seemed to think that nothing was amiss inside. There shouldn't have been any way he could've gotten into that room. Every instinct I have was telling me that he shouldn't have been there, that he shouldn't exist, and when he walked by us I lost all strength in my body. It was as if… I don't know, but for a second I believed he was a God."

Weiss let out an exasperated sigh, looking carefully at the behavior of her two friends. "I'm sorry, but this was our first solid lead in months, and I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how one man can make two of the best Huntresses in the world lose their cool. I have all the information I need, you two can go wash up and relax for a while and I'll get this stuff sorted out."

Blake and Ruby got up from their seats and started walking towards the door, leaving for their rooms in a nearby hotel that Weiss had reserved for them.

"Weiss, take a break." Yang spoke up from beside her.

"I can't, there's too much going on-"

"Weiss, seriously, slow down for a bit. You're over stressed. You've been having outbursts like that almost daily. Take a break from the Dust Company and focus on your duties as a Huntress for a little bit. The company isn't going to fall apart the moment you look away, and with this new figure in play I'd be a lot more comfortable with all of Team RWBY in the field."

"I suppose you're right," Weiss sighed "what are you going to do?"

"I'm probably going to head over and spend some time with Blake. You should go see Ruby once you're done sorting things out here, I've never seen those two so freaked out over a mission going bad. Maybe we could all go get lunch in a bit, ease some of the tension."

"That sounds like a good idea, just call me once you figure out a plan."

"Can do!" Yang shouted back, waving as she walked out of the office.

Weiss let out another sigh as she slumped on her desk, planting her forehead onto the cold wooden surface. "What the hell is going on?"

Five men sit in the shadows around a dimly lit table in a smokey room. A tall, lanky, and well dressed young man is the first to speak.

"The White Fang safe house outside of Atlas was raided by a team of Huntresses last night, reports say no survivors."

A stocky man in a black jacket sitting on the right of the first was the next to speak up.

"I can't really say I'm surprised, I never expected a bunch of animals to be able to do any good at guarding the damn place."

"You better watch your tongue, or it might not remain in your mouth much longer." a third man in a black trench coat growled across the table.

"Gentlemen, please, let's try to keep this meeting civil." a man in a white labcoat spoke up from the left of the man in the trench coat. "I believe Mr. Parson has more information to give us."

The two that were arguing growled at each other across the table, before the young business man cleared his throat to continue.

"Continuing on, a scout that I had stationed into the area to monitor the safe house reported seeing a tall, black haired man wearing a black duster leave the building a short time after the Huntresses had entered. This man was not observed as having entered the building at any time in the three months since the safe house was set up."

"You're sure about this?" The fifth man at the table finally spoke up, removing the cigar from his mouth.

"That is what the report said, Mr. Alhest." the young man replied.

"Were any documents taken?" the man in the lab coat inquired.

"Neither the unidentified man nor the two Huntresses were observed to have taken anything from the safehouse. Investigation of the planning room had revealed that everything inside, including the faunus soldiers, had been destroyed by what appears to be an explosion originating in the center of the room. Evidence suggests that this destruction and the appearance of this strange man may be connected, but we cannot investigate it further as the Atlesian Military has secured the area." the young business man explained calmly.

The man in the black trench coat spoke up again, leaning in to the light. He wore a white mask with red markings over his eyes and forehead, and spiky red hair swept backwards.

"What do we know about the huntresses who attacked the safe house?"

Over many decades of technological advances, holographic images had become a normal part of life in Remnant. They served as signs, banners, and markings strewn across day to day life among the kingdoms. The technology had grown advance enough that holographic greeters became commonplace in many buildings such as communications centers, big businesses, and libraries. Holographic projections, unlike humans and faunus, don't need paychecks, they don't have family to take care of, they don't need lunch breaks in the middle of the day, they don't have mood swings, and they don't need to go home at night to sleep. Holographic projections, outfitted with simple AI and connected to whatever data banks might be needed, fill the menial customer service jobs across Remnant that nobody really wants to do. However, on this chilly winter afternoon, the holographic clerk at the Public Library of Atlas was about to play a simple part in a very significant chain of events. As a tall man in a black duster walked up to the desk, the sensors let the system know that a patron was in need of assistance.

"Hello, welcome to the Public Library of Atlas, home to all the information and literature produced across Remnant in the last five hundred years!" the holographic clerk recited its pre-programmed spiel in its computer generated female voice. "Can I help you find something today?"

"I'm looking for the archives of global events for the past decade." the man in the black duster replied, closely inspecting the holographic clerk with a curious glint in his red eyes.

"I can bring up all of the major news articles from the past ten years on a terminal for you… there! You can browse through the requested information, it should already be up on the first row, fifth terminal down on your right! Feel free to come see me if you need anything else!"

"Thanks." the man waved at the projection as he walked off and sat at the indicated terminal. After browsing for an hour or so through the news archives, he came across something that caught his interest. "The Coalition… and Cinder Fall…" he muttered to himself. He got up and went back to the front desk, the holographic clerk flickering on as he approached.

"Hello again, what can I find for you this time?" it chimed cheerfully in its electronic voice.

"I'd like to see all available information pertaining to Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick, the White Fang, and 'The Coalition'." he stated.

"Done! All the information you requested should be waiting for you on your terminal!" the clerk chimed back.

"Excellent." the man grinned as he went to continue his research.

Blake stood in the shower of her hotel room, feeling her muscles relax as the warm water ran down her back. She couldn't shake the unnatural vibe she got from the strange man. The way he stood, the way he talked, how he stated his title of 'God' as if it were a simple fact of the universe, the way his blood red eyes seemed to pierce into her soul… everything about him screamed that he didn't belong in this world, that he belonged in a different universe entirely. The thought made a chill run down her spine. She let out a sigh as her faunus ears picked up the sound of someone entering her apartment. After a few moments, the intruder opened the door to the bathroom.

"I don't want to talk about it Yang." Blake spoke to the blonde haired invader.

"How did you know I-" the blonde was interrupted.

"I can hear you coming from a mile away. You don't exactly put a lot of effort into being sneaky." Blake sighed as she looked up at her partner, now moving with the obvious intent to invade her personal space.

"Well, whether you wanna or not, we're talking about this, kitty cat." Yang stated as she entered the shower and moved close to Blake. "I haven't seen you this shaken up since that time in our second semester at Beacon. I don't like seeing you upset, Blake." Yang embraced Blake from behind, resting her chin on the faunus' shoulder. They stood there silently for a few minutes, letting the warm water from the shower head wash over them, before Blake spoke up again.

"It was like he was from an entirely different universe…"

Weiss walked briskly down the hallway of the hotel. She couldn't take her mind off her friends' account of the stranger they had encountered on their mission. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't imagine anyone who could cause those two to falter and choke simply by existing. Yang was right, the Schnee Dust Company could operate without her interference for a few months, she had spent the past two years making sure of that. Right now, she needed to focus on her duties as a Huntress. She needed to be there to back up her friends, and her partner, especially if this man is as much of a threat as Ruby seemed to think. She approached the door to her partner's room and knocked, before opening the door.

"Ruby, it's me." Weiss called out as she entered the dark hotel room. Ruby lay face down on her bed in her pajamas, red hair splayed across her back and shoulders. She let out a small grunt before rolling onto her side to acknowledge her visitor.

"What do you need, Weiss?" Ruby's silver eyes watched as her white haired partner walked up and laid down next to her.

"I came to talk. I'm sorry about flipping out on you earlier, I should've let you explain before I jumped to conclusions." the young Schnee whispered as she moved closer and touched foreheads with her partner.

"Thanks, Weiss." Ruby smiled as she rested her head on her partner's chest. They lay there silently for a few minutes before Ruby spoke again. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Weiss replied, grinning.

"We should go get something to eat, maybe that new restaurant that opened up downtown. I heard the food is really good, and the owner, I think he's a dog faunus of some sort, always personally asks if his customers enjoyed their visit."

"That sounds like a great idea, Ruby. I'll text Yang and tell her and Blake to meet us outside." Weiss said as she reached for her scroll.

"If they're with each other, you should give them at least an hour for you-know-what." Ruby propped herself up on her elbow, grinning at Weiss.

"Yeah, I know. You need to get cleaned up anyway. I can't have you going out after a mission without taking a shower first." Weiss jokingly scolded Ruby.

"No complaints here." Ruby stood up on the bed and stretched, before hopping over Weiss onto the floor and entering the bathroom.

"She's still such a child." Weiss mused, staring at the ceiling of the hotel room.