Automne panted heavily, his back pressed against an alley corner. Cautiously, he stuck his neck out and looked up and down the street, his eyes practically bulging out of his head behind his goggles. "Okay…I think we're good." He murmured to Ty, who was crouching next to a couple tin trashcans. "I don't think they're following us."

"Alright," Ty started in a tone that seemed too upbeat for someone who just got shot at. "Well, if that's all done, let's head back. We've got a lot to tell Petunia and Eve."

"T-ty" Automne stammered "A-are you sure we should tell them?"

"What do you mean?" Ty inquired as he stepped out onto the illuminated sidewalk and started to briskly make his way down the street. "Why wouldn't we tell them?"

"I don't know, I was just… kind of thinking, maybe, we could abandon this whole thing. Just pretend we never found those files and just get back to doing normal school stuff."

Ty's swiveled his head so he could leer at Automne for a moment. "Are you kidding? Dude, if we crack this thing open and expose whatever it was that was going on back there, we'll be heroes."

"Dude, I don't know if this whole thing is worth it. I mean seriously, that lady was going to torture us." Automne said warily, following after Ty glumly.

"We've gone through worse. Remember that PowerPoint Eve gave us on personal hygiene?"

"Dude, we could've died," Automne stressed. "They were going to kill us and we barely got out of there by the skin of our noses."

"'Skin of our noses'?"

"I don't remember the saying! You know what I'm getting at." Automne bellowed as they made their way down the sidewalk, streetlights flickering above them. "I just really think we should get out of this while we still have our legs intact. Maybe… maybe turn our information over to Baula or something."

Ty stopped abruptly and turned to Automne with a scowl. "No."

"Oh, come on, it's better than us risking our lives to try and stop some faceless criminal organization from doing something that we don't even know anything about. We're risking our lives for nothing." A worried frown stretching Automne's lips.

Ty continued to scowl at Automne, eyes burning with anger and disappointment. Slowly Ty turned around and pulled his Scroll from his belt. "I'm calling Petunia."

Automne gave a heavy sigh and continued to shuffle forward across the dirty, garbage covered sidewalk.

"Y'know-Ahhhhh!" Ty yelped, whipping his Scroll away from his ear. "What the hell?!" He shouted, covering his ear with his hand.

"What happened?" Automne asked staring at Ty.

"This," Ty grunted switching his phone to speaker mode.

Automne grit his teeth as the Scroll let out a loud, shrill, electronic hiss. "Turn it off!"

"No, let's leave it on." Ty quipped sarcastically before ending the call with his thumb.

"Ugh," Automne groaned, glaring at the Scroll, unsettled. "What was that?"

"I don't know." Ty looked up and down the street. Slowly, he tilted his head upwards to watch the streetlights flicker like dying candles. "We should move." Ty suggested, clipping his Scroll back to his belt and continuing off down the sidewalk.

Automne stalled for a moment, looking back down the street unsurely before trailing after Ty. An unpleasant lump was making itself comfortable at the bottom of Automne's stomach as Ty and him speed walked down the deathly silent street.

The streetlights were still flickering ominously and every window that overlooked the street was nothing but an inky black frame. An assortment of garbage, caught on the breeze, scraped past Automne's ankles lightly skidding against the ground as the wind petered out. Automne swallowed hard as the lump in his stomach clawed its way into his chest and licked at his throat.

Automne could feel them. Eyes running across his clothes. His eyes darted up and down the street; it was still lifeless. Perhaps the most vexing part, at least in Automne's eyes, was the lack of cars. There wasn't a single car parked on the entire block. Automne looked up the street and squinted hard, hoping to see some evidence of life. A thick shroud of fog, appearing from thin air, had no intent of cooperating however.

Automne rolled his shoulders and let out a heavy breath which rolled from his mouth like a small cloud. Before Automne had the opportunity to feel surprised a cold wind blew past him, shaking him like a leaf. "It's getting kind of cold." Automne remarked simply as he pulled his scarf up over his mouth.

"Yeah… it is." Ty said distantly as a small cloud of condensation rolled from his mouth.

"Does it usually get cold like this around here?" An unsettling fear gnashing at his flesh as he traced his eyes across the dozens of blackened windows overlooking the street.

"No, that's the-"

"That's the wh-oof!" Automne grunted as he walked into Ty who had come to a halt at the street corner. Automne staggered back and glared at Ty for a moment.

Ty was stiff as a statue. His eyes, cold and hard like steel, were cutting into a figure leaning against a wall on the street corner diagonal theirs.

The figure, from where they were standing, could be described as nothing more than a black human shaped blotch. The head of the blotch tilted slightly. "I've been waiting for you boys." The blotch said with a genuine geniality that made Automne's skin crawl.

"You son of a bitch." Ty spat stepping from the curb and into the intersection. His eyes transfixed upon the dark figure.

"Ah, you do remember me, Deputy Inuhoozuki… Wait," The voice said somberly. "You are no longer with the police. You're a Huntsman." The figure said with disdain as he stepped out onto the street corner. While no longer concealed amongst the fog Automne still had trouble making out the man.

His face was concealed behind one of the helmets usually worn by the Vale soldiers. The mysterious figure had made a few changes however, those being; the bluish-gray threadbare fabric seemingly nailed over the helmet's mouth and its solid, obsidian black paint job. The rest of the man's garb consisted of a worn black leather jacket, adorned with thin, matte, gray metal sheets over his ribcage and a pair of black denim pants bearing matte gray armor on his shins.

His outfit didn't do him justice however. His attire reminded Automne of a simple street thug; just a common low-life. His voice and the very way the fog drifted around him as he stepped into the intersection were something else. His voice, coarse and stern – even in tones that seemed casual – demanded and, with little effort, attained their attention.

"I wasn't sure if you'd remember me or not. It has been a while." Amusement heavy in the man's voice as he reached behind his back, the handle of a sword peeking over his shoulder. "So, to be safe, I brought a souvenir." The man pulled out a police officer's hat from behind his back and tossed it onto the ground in front of him.

Ty balled his hands into fists as he stared at the hat. His body trembling as short, cold breaths rolled from his mouth like steam.

"You were working with Officer Clover that day weren't you?" The man asked with an evident amount of glee. "I actually saw you and your partner meet up with him at that coffee shop on Main. I considered killing all three of you there, but there were too many people in my way. Regardless, his badge makes a nice addition to the collection." The man said with a slight nod.

Automne's eyes darted from Ty to the cop killer fearfully. Automne licked his lips and held his hand out to Ty's back. "T-Ty-"

"Would you like to know what his last words were?"

Ty had had enough. He took hold of his sword and broke into a sprint towards the murderer.

The murderer retaliated immediately. He briskly stepped forward; his hand fastened tightly to his sword's grip; the fog bending around him wildly.

"Oh crap." Automne mumbled to himself as Ty rushed forward and disappeared into thin air a few feet in front of the man.

The man swiftly planted his right foot firmly on the ground in front of him and twisted back to face the street corner behind him. With his free hand the man made an upward, diagonally slicing wave as Ty appeared in front of him.

As Ty raised his sword over his shoulder, preparing for a downward slash, the fog around him crackled deafeningly as an angled wall of icicles burst from the ground at his left. Ty staggered right to avoid being impaled, but was quickly punished as the murderer pulled a long, straight war cleaver from the sheath on his back and brought it down upon Ty without restraint. Ty, stumbling backwards, lifted his sword to block the assault, but was smacked in the mouth with his own weapon as the blades bounced off each other.

The man gave a small chuckle as Ty stumbled backwards onto the curb. "You pigs all act the same. Once I realized that, cutting you down became so simple." The man paused for a moment to take a couple steps backwards. "You want to try again?" He mocked, aiming the pointed tip of his gray cleaver at Ty's throat.

Ty sat on the ground, glowering at the masked man as he ran a thumb over his lips. "You're nothing but a murderer." Ty hissed as he slowly slid his free hand towards his ankle. "And once I kill you I'm going to take back all the badges you stole."

"Hmm," The murderer hummed, tugging his jacket lightly to illicit a soft, metallic jingle. "It's almost funny, Lieutenant Brooks told me the exact same thing before I cut his head off." He pulled at his jacket again. "I have his badge on me now."

Ty gave a furious growl and grabbed the pistol he was carrying on his ankle. "Die!"

Ty was too slow however, for as he began to pull the weapon from its holster the murderer reached out with his hand, balled it into a fist and pulled it back towards himself. As Ty began to raise the gun a solid pillar of ice emerged from the fog behind him. The ice smashed into the back of Ty's head, knocking him forward with a jolt.

The murderer quickly capitalized. Stepping forward he delivered a solid kick to the side of Ty's face. Broken glass and plastic flew from Ty's glasses as the man drove his face to the ground under the guidance of his boot. The Murderer let out a soft chuckle as he ground the side of Ty's head into the freezing asphalt.

"It's a shame really." He mumbled, sliding his boot down onto Ty's neck, making Ty choke loudly. "The fact that you're not wearing a badge. I guess I'll just have to find something else to take as a souvenir." The man raised his cleaver.

"Pop. Pop." Automne's gun whispered, sending two rounds into the murderer's back.

The murderer, unfazed by the impact of being shot, slowly lowered his weapon and calmly turned to face Automne.

Automne's chest was rising and falling quickly. His drawn weapons quivered lightly in his hands. He readjusted his grip on his pistol and ninjato to show the man he had no intentions of sitting this one out.

The cold air nipped at Automne as he stared down his opponent. Aside from the sound of Ty writhing beneath the murderer's heel there was silence.

The man let out a low growl. "Are you seriously going to stand in my way?" The man asked, annoyed.

Automne trembled slightly. Hesitantly, he puckered his lips and reasserted his stance.

A thick sheet of ice coated Ty's neck as the man removed his boot. He quickly made his way towards Automne. "I'm going to teach you a lesson about standing between me and a kill, boy."

'Crap!' Automne screeched internally. He quickly took a couple steps back and fired two more rounds in the direction of the approaching murderer. As Automne began to formulate a plot in his mind he stepped backwards onto a patch of ice. His stomach rolled in his belly as he fell onto his back, slamming his head against the roadway with a thud.

He let out a loud groan as he scrambled to push himself onto his elbows. The world around him a giant, dark blur which refused to stop spinning. Unfortunately for him his attacker had no such issue.

The murderer quickly stepped forward and kicked Automne under the jaw, sending his head back down to the road with a crack. As Automne writhed the murderer stalked around him, glaring from behind his helmet. As Automne's twisting began to subside the man swiftly raised his cleaver above his head and brought it down upon Automne's chest. He watched Automne squirm for a moment before repeating the assault.

Sharp, sickening smacks sounded through the streets as the murder raised his weapon again and brought it back down onto Automne's chest.

Automne let out a wheezy gasp, his blindness suppressed by the fatigue in his chest he looked up at his attacker with dread. As the man raised his weapon a fourth time Automne channeled his semblance and rolled off to the side, invisible.

'Escape. We gotta escape.' Automne's brain whimpered as he got to his hands and knees. This was proving to be a challenge though since the murderer had just taken hold of the back of his scarf and was now using it to strangle him.

Hunching down, the murderer drove his knee into Automne's spine as he pulled back on his scarf. "Should've stayed out of this." The man hissed as Automne dropped his weapons and began to claw at his throat.

Automne coughed violently as the yellow and black fabric scraped and burned his neck. Automne tried to tug back against the scarf, but it was useless, he was nowhere as strong as the murderer.

"Hey jackass," Ty croaked from the center of the intersection, sword in hand. "I'm not done with you." He said as he pressed forward on his weapon's handle to set the tips of his sword ablaze.

The murderer paused for a moment before he released Automne with a sigh. "Like I said earlier; you all act the same." The man calmly stood and began to make his way towards Ty.

Automne gave a heavy gasp. As oxygen started to flow back to his lungs, weak, raw energy burned at his intestines. He scooped up his weapons as fast as he could manage and quickly pushed himself onto his feet. His scarf scraped against his face as he charged at his attacker's back with the small amount of energy he managed to muster up.

His right hand gripped tightly around his ninjato and the distance rapidly closing Automne drew one final breath.

He stabbed outwards.

The murderer gracefully dodged. Spinning around, he grabbed Automne by the wrist and slashed at his right calf, splattering blood across the ground.

Pain shot through Automne's leg as the murderer yanked him up by the wrist and pulled him close. As Automne stared into the madman's mask an ice cold piece of metal pierced Automne's back. Warm liquid began to soak the back of Automne's clothes as the man released his wrist and shoved him backwards onto the freezing ground.

"Automne!" Ty shouted, his eyes jumping from the murderer's blood soaked blade to his teammate.

"Now then," The man started, turning back to Ty. "Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to our business." He said as if he had just killed a pesky fly.

Ty gritting his teeth broke into a sprint. As his opponent gave a chuckle and prepared for his assault Ty snapped his sword to his belt. With a deep growl Ty used his semblance to jump through the murderer. Reappearing with a pop, the chilling fog bending around him, Ty landed at Automne's feet. Hurriedly he grabbed his downed teammate's weapons and scooped up Automne in his arms.

"Hey!" The murderer barked as he turned to see Ty rising with Automne in his arms. "We're not done here."

Ty scowled at the man. "No, we're not." His gaze lingered for a few more moments before he broke into a sprint and blinked his way down the street.

The man turned silently to watch Ty disappear around a corner. His gaze still fixed on the corner he gave a heavy sigh, causing a thick fog to seep out from behind his mask.

"Aggggggghhhh!" Automne groaned in agony as Ty pressed a wadded up newspaper against the stab wound on his back.

"Quiet, dude. That guy could still be out there." Ty warned as he pulled a roll of duct tape from a plastic bag and began to unfurl it.

"Ty, take me to Eve." Automne whined as Ty cut the tape with his teeth. "Actually, no, don't take me to Eve, she'll be upset with me."

"Dude, quiet down and stop moving." Ty demanded as he pressed the tape down against the newspaper.

"Ahhh! Easy!"

"If you want 'easy', go to Eve. This is the best you're getting from me, a corner store, and ten Lien." Ty snapped as he broke off another piece of tape and put it over Automne's calf.

"Ahhh! Shit!"

"Yeah, well if you think that's bad, imagine how it's going to feel when we try to take it off." Ty joked as he tossed aside the roll of tape and got to his feet. Slowly, he lifted open the lid to the dumpster they were hiding in and looked around. "I don't see anyone. We'll wait a minute and, if it looks clear, we'll book it."

"Ty," Automne started softly. "If- if I die, I wa-"

"Dude, don't say that, you're not going to die."

"No, Ty, I need to say this." Automne said earnestly through heavy breaths. "Ty, if I die, I want to let you know that this is your fault."

Ty gave a heavy sigh. "Really?"

"It's also Petunia's too. Like, I'd probably be in bed, sleeping, if it wasn't for you and Petunia… I also probably could've gotten laid if it wasn't for you."

Ty rolled his eyes and lifted the lid to the dumpster. "Anything else?"

Automne paused for a moment. He glanced around the dumpster and reclined back against one of its garbage soaked walls. "Can… can you tell Eve that I'm sorry."

There was a brief moment before Ty turned to Automne. He stared at his blood soaked partner and gave a soft sigh. "No… You're going to have to tell her yourself after I drag your stupid ass back to Beacon."

Automne gave a chuckle as he ran his sleeve over his eyes. "My leg's feeling kind of dead, can you carry me?" Automne asked with outstretched arms.

"That depends, are you going to start singing that stupid song again if I do?" Ty asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Automne gave a loud chortle as he wiped at his nose. "No homo, bro."

"Well, I guess I'm leaving you here then." Ty said, pushing the lid to the dumpster open.

"Fine, I guess I'll just live in here with Wilson then. Ain't that right Wilson?" Automne joked as he lifted an almost empty pizza box which he had quickly painted a smiley face onto with his blood . "That's right Automne!" Automne said in a high pitched voice. "We're going to eat garbage, and live with rats an- cough cough!" Drops of blood flew from Automne's mouth as he coughed.

"We need to get you some medical attention." Ty said simply, grabbing Automne by the underarms.

"Yeah, we probably should."

A bitter frown sat upon the face of Rouge as she angrily sifted through the pages of a luxury home décor catalog. Her lips pursed and her eyebrows furrowed as she ran her eyes across pathetically average looking coffee tables.

"Ma'am," A brunette wearing nothing but her underwear said from the doorway.

"I said: I don't wish to be disturbed." Rouge hissed, her eyes still on the catalog which she loathed.

"Yes, of course, but you have a visitor." The girl replied. Wordlessly she stepped aside to allow a man wearing a black helmet to enter.

Rouge glanced up at him, gave a tired sigh, and tossed aside her catalog. "Did it go well?"

The man unhooked the fabric from one side of his mouth piece and let it hang. "Define: 'well'." The man groaned tiredly, taking a seat on the sofa opposite hers.

"Arsenic," She chided, giving him an exasperated glare. "Did they get the message?"

He paused for a moment. "I was very clear… If you don't believe me, ask one of your informants. How many did you have following me? Two, or was it three?"

"I just wanted to hear your take on the subject."

"Well then, what's your take on the matter?" Arsenic retorted with a scowl.

Rouge fell silent. Her eyes scanned over him a few times before she snapped her fingers causing the blonde at the bar to jump to life. "I was told you were very… thorough."

Arsenic cocked his head to the side. "Is that an issue?"

"Do you think that was wise?" Rouge held her hand out to the side where a highball glass filled with crimson alcohol was delicately placed in her fingers.

"I think I made an example out of Noire. He'll survive… Speaking of which," He chimed as he shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small square tablet. "I attached that device to Automne's Scroll."

"Excellent," She said with a smile, staring into her drink. "All I have to do now is have my technician activate that device and we'll be able to hear everything Noire hears."

Arsenic gave a small smirk. "Eyes and ears on the pests. Ain't that a relief?"

"If we were thorough enough tonight, we won't even need to worry about them anymore."

"Let's hope so," Arsenic sighed as he looked down at the shattered remains of the coffee table. "What happened to your table?"

Rouge glanced down at the table from over the rim of her glass. "I smashed it." She admitted disinterestedly.

"Hmm, well, at least that's one less thing for you to complain about." Arsenic mumbled as he slouched back on the sofa.

"I just hope I'm able to find a decent replacement before phase four begins." Rouge sneered, throwing her head back and emptying her glass.

"Don't worry, I'd say you have a few more weeks." The sadistic murderer grumbled tiredly. "After that you can redesign the entire city if you want."

Rouge gave him a sinister smile. "I'll toast to that." She chuckled, raising her glass into the air.

I hope y'all enjoyed it. This was an amazing year (Posted Dec. 31, 2015) and I hope you all have enjoyed the ride. There's more to come in the future so I hope you stick around until then.

A huge thank you to all you fans out there. I love writing and I'm glad I'm able to share this with all of you. And thank you to my editor and the close friends whose opinions and input are invaluable.

It was a fun year and I wish you all many more to come. Stay tuned, but until next time peace out.

-CS