Chapter 26
Turning tides.
To say that chaos doesn't happen in small areas was wrong.
Reese activated the emergency island evacuation protocol for Patch for the coming threat.
Now for an successful evacuation it had to be staggered or people sent to different areas, but thankfully Winter was there and she got the atlas forces involved and some airships were on site helping out.
But Reese was on high alert he had all the sensors on his armor working at max capacity, downside of the armor working that hard it overheated and made the armor slightly unpleasant.
"So what are we expecting?" The governor asks.
"I'm expecting a level ten Grimm invasion." Reese says.
"What are they after?" He asks again.
"That's classified." Reese says as he got the governor into his vip craft.
"Anything yet honey?" Yang asks.
"Nothing yet betchya they are hiding in the water." Reese says.
"What if it's a false alarm?" Blake asks as she helps a family.
"Then I'll be exiled from patch." Reese says as he checks something on the armor.
A few hours later patch was a ghost nation the only people that were there is team rwby and a few other military personnel.
Now Reese was given a few hours to be sure there was a threat coming to the island if not there was going to be trouble as the government officials said.
"Patty anything?" Reese asks.
"There is something out in the deep woods but i can't identify what it is." Patty says.
"Is it staying there?" Reese asks.
"It's moving in a odd pattern." Patty says.
"Keep an eye on it, probably it's a scout Grimm." Reese says.
Now among the everyone present was zwei, Reese keept him around for one reason an early warning for when something happens much to Ruby's objections.
Zwei was looking around being the good dog he is, but Reese was watching for the slightest change in his behavior but so far nothing for two hours.
"Reese your time is almost up and I don't want to be separated from you." Yang says with worry in her voice.
"I know I'm getting that impression too but I know something will happen." Reese says as he glanced at zwei.
With ten minutes left Reese was now sweating he knew that he hit a panic button without some form of proof, and probably the cops are receiving their orders to arrest Reese.
But zwei then looked and his ears lay flat on the back of his head and his eyes were locked on a patch of trees.
"Patty trees 79 yards what's there?" Reese says.
"Some figures can't tell if they are human or Grimm." Patty says.
What does the satellite say?" Reese asks.
"Something small. Like human small." Patty says.
Now Reese was watching the evacuation of the island and he gained access to the population list and he did a quick scan everyone was accounted for well except for team rwby and himself.
"Yang guns up we have an unknown." Reese says.
Yang armed her gauntlet and aimed right in the general area where Reese was looking.
"Hey uh Reese the cops are coming for you." Weiss says.
"Probably to arrest me." Reese says as he keeps his eyes on the tree line with zwei.
"What should we do?" Weiss says.
"Do what is right." Reese says.
Meanwhile at Weiss.
"Step aside miss Weiss we need to arrest Reese." Said one officer.
"No I can't allow that." Weiss says.
Blake at the same time took Weiss side.
"Reese has never been wrong when it comes to any sort of attack, please give him a few more minutes." Blake says.
"Sorry misses we gave him his time frame and it has passed." Said another guard as he walked passed them.
But Weiss got a good look at the officer and something was off.
"Reese heads up there is an officer who is fixated on you." Weiss says over coms when they were out of range.
Reese noted the officer and keep his eyes forward.
But when they got within range Reese turned around and looked around them.
"Your under arrest Reese the charges are mass public panic." The bigger officer said.
Reese then held out his hands ready to get cuffed.
Right as the officer touched Reese's hands Reese did a round house kick to his face and as he landed he got a good look at who it was.
The "officer" in question had black and red eyes common characteristics of a Grimm.
"Imposter!" Reese shouted.
Yang then turned and fired some shots at the Grimm.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! grimm down.
The other officer was completely dumbfounded and now found himself looking at two very angry huntsmen.
"I didn't know I swear." The officer said as he threw up his arms.
"Of course you didn't know it was a perfect impersonator." Reese says.
"What happened?" Weiss asks as she ran up with Blake following behind.
"Good catch Weiss your instincts were spot on." Reese says.
"Is that it?" Ruby asks.
Right on que there were screams in that air and that was the other officers in the city.
"Reese what's going on?" Yang asks.
"The attack just happened and we didn't see it." Reese says.
Just then the radios activated.
"I know you can hear me miss rose my name is professor watts your island is now mine for now." Watts said.
"What do you want?" Ruby says in the radio.
"What do I want is you miss rose, if you come quietly I'll hand back your island no questions asked. You have one hour." Watts said as he shuts off the radio.
"What do we do now he's got us?" Blake said.
Reese was now doing a check on his armor.
"Watts an atlas nationalist and highly respected scientist but after a dispute he left and took everything with him has a high iq." Reese says to him self.
"Well what are we going to do?" Yang asks.
Reese takes off his helmet and looks at Ruby with a grin.
"I don't like that look." Ruby says.
55 minutes later.
"Watts this better work." Salem says over a call.
"It will work I have her home under the palm of my hand." Watts says.
Just then he looked outside and saw some red in the distance.
"I'll be back I see she accepted my demands." Watts says as he hangs up.
Ruby then stops right in the middle of the town square and waited.
"I'm glad you accepted my offer miss rose." Watts said.
"I can't say the same but you better hold your end up or I run." Ruby said.
"Why yes of course." Watts said as he snapped his fingers.
At that moment all the Grimm converged on the town square to encircle Ruby so that she has no where to run.
Watts then went down to admire that his plan was a success and to get a closer look at Ruby.
When watts got within 50 feet of Ruby, she took out her weapon and took aim.
"Hey whoa! I'm not going to hurt you." Watts says as he put his hands up.
"Tell your Grimm to back off." Ruby says.
"You heard her." Watts said to the Grimm.
The Grimm then backed off and gave them some room.
"Now put down your weapon." Watts said.
Ruby hesitated for a moment then put down crescent rose.
Watts then walked up to Ruby and held out his hand.
"I'm watts I didn't get to meet you when you visited our castle." Watts said.
"Well I had a unpleasant visit." Ruby said as she put her hands behind her back.
"Yeah Salem doesn't know how to treat guests." Watts said as he withdrew his hand.
Watts then grabbed rubys hood on the cloak and put it down and saw her face.
"I still don't understand why she had to hurt that face." Watts said.
But something caught his eye.
A leaf came from behind Ruby and passed by and watts noticed a flicker.
Ruby saw it too.
"Wait a sec…." Watts was about to say.
Ruby then jumped for the arm and got it in a wrist lock, at the same time Ruby drew a handgun and dispatched a few Grimm.
The rest of the pack noticed but it was too late a heavy wave of ice,fire, and bullets started to drop them.
After a few seconds the Grimm were dead and watts was now cuffed.
"What the? How did you do that and why is there two ruby's?" Watts asks.
"Take a look at the second one." Ruby says.
Watts looked back to see the doppelgänger smile then the hologram changed into a 5'11" armored figure with a angry red visor looking back at him.
"What are you?" Watts asks.
"I'm the guy who is going to wreck your plans." Reese says.
"Salem told me about you, there was three others, and they fought like no other huntsmen." Watts said.
Yang then saw Reese clenched his fist, apparently that is a sensitive subject for her husband, but she knew that something had to be done or it might get worse.
"Get let him get under you honey." Yang says as she holds his hand.
As predicted Reese's hand relaxed.
"Reese did you get the person in charge?" Winter says over the radio.
"Yes we did his name is Watts." Reese says.
"Wait the scientist Watts that went missing 10 years ago?" Winter asks.
"The same one." Reese says back.
"Reese use your enhanced interrogation and get some information from him." Winter says.
"Uhh shouldn't you or someone else from atlas do that, we probably have time to put him on…" Reese was about to say.
"No time for that hunter Vacuo just got hit with a Grimm attack so 80% of the atlas forces are being deployed there. Now get that information." Winter orders.
Yang just now saw Reese get rigged like as if a high ranking officer was in front of him.
"I'm sorry Yang." Reese whispered.
Just then Reese threw Watts into a stand where it broke.
"What are you doing you can't harm a cuffed suspect, you'll get in trouble." Watts said.
"In any other circumstance you would be right, but what I am is a spec ops who is off the books, I officially don't exist, and those three others you we're talking about were my friends." Reese says as he picks up watts.
"What are you going to do?" Watts asks.
"Let me put it this way if you talk and give me good information it won't be hard, but if you give me trouble it's going to hurt." Reese says.
"You really are going to do this?" Watts asks.
PUNCH!
"Yes. Now what does Salem want with Ruby?" Reese says as he gets straight to the point, plus he wanted Ruby to know why she is so important.
Watts looked away as he is thinking but he is going to buy some time.
"I have no idea why she wants…SMACK! SMACK!"
Reese hit Watts twice in the face.
"GHAHHH!" Watt's shouted.
"Wrong answer bucko, same question." Reese says.
Reese, Jaunes team is en route." Blake says.
"ETA?" Reese asks.
"Five minutes." Blake says.
"Good now answer." Reese says.
"I still don't know the only other person how could know her plans is the one in the black cloak and red hair." Watts says.
Now Reese started to think he remembers the cloaked figure in fact he fought the same one the previous night.
"Now what's the objective to the one who is in the cloak?" Reese asks.
"Probably leading the Grimm." Watts said.
CRACK!
Reese crushed watts hand.
"Why did you do that? It was the truth!" Watts shouted.
"It was half the truth. I just fought the cloaked figure last night." Reese said.
Right at this point JNR just arrived and now coming to Reese.
"Hey Winter sent us as your…. Oh my MONTY!" Jaune shouted.
"First time seeing Reese do his job?" Weiss says.
"Yeah I thought he just shot Grimm and did other stuff." Jaune says.
"He is half right." Reese thought.
"And you seem to be comfortable with what he is doing." Ren says.
"Well I…..team rwby had a sit down with winter some time ago, and we got the full details of Reese can do on the condition that we keep it a secret." Weiss says.
"Any way why does Salem want Ruby?" Reese asks.
Watts then looks back and forth between Ruby and Reese, from the looks of it he was contemplating what to do, but Reese made that decision for him.
Squeeze.
"Ok I'll talk." Watts says as his other arm felt pressure.
"Salem wants Ruby because of her eyes." Watts said.
"Go on." Reese said.
"That's the thing i really don't know why she wants Ruby, if I had to guess it's to…" watts was about to say.
WARNING WEAPON INBOUND! The on board warning from the armor alarmed.
Reese moved out of the way and the weapon barely grazed him but Watts wasn't so lucky.
Reese looked around from where the unknown weapon came from and saw the cloaked figure standing on top of a building.
Then a shriek from Ruby brought back reese to see watts impaled to the wall by a somewhat familiar weapon he has seen before, the weapon in question looked like a spear with red and gold color accents.
"No." Jaune said with dread in his voice.
Just then the spear was yanked from the wall by an unknown force and went back to the cloaked figure and promptly disappeared.
Reese looked back at Watts and found that he didn't look good.
"Is he?" Nora says in a worried tone.
"He has expired….damn we were this close. Patty condition?" Reese says in mixed tones.
"Island is all clear any Grimm that was here is now gone." Patty says.
"Good contact the government and give them the all clear." Frustration was creeping into Reese's voice.
After 12 hours everyone on the island got back home, team rwby and jnr went back to tai's house to get whatever sleep they can get.
The next morning it was time to rebuild several structures that were damaged during the attack.
Reese, jaune,and ren we're helping out with moving materials and putting up materials for buildings.
Meanwhile the team rwby was helping out by serving food and giving out supplies, except for Nora she had the special job of if a building can't be saved well demolish it.
This went on for several days and sometimes a Grimm or two would attack, but they would not get far Reese would dispatch them before they get within a mile of the city.
After one particular day of hard work everyone was at the house trying to relax but jaune had a hard time letting go of one nagging feeling.
"Reese that cloaked figure. Who is it?" Jaune asks.
"I don't know. I have encountered what ever it is several times." Reese says with a questioning look.
"I have a theory it's Pyrrha." Jaune exclaims.
"Doubt it." Reese says.
"It's her!" Jaune says with aggressiveness.
"On what facts?" Reese says now with confrontation.
Jaune takes a breath.
"That was her weapon that impacted watts, secondly when the spear went back to her it was her semblance that did that." Jaune says.
"His logic is correct we as team JNPR knew how each member fought." Ren says as he backs up jaune.
Reese then looks at Nora who nods to confirm the argument.
"K and what do you expect me to do about it?" Reese asks.
"Get her back just like you did with Ruby." Jaune says.
Reese was surprised at that but he shook his head.
"Sorry not possible." Reese says as he sits down next to Yang.
"What do you mean?" An emotional jaune asks.
"When we went to get Ruby from the castle that same cloaked figure was next to Salem, that tells me one thing she is compromised I'm very sorry." Reese said.
WACK!
Apparently jaune has the strength of a thousand angry Beowulf's, he sent Reese flying over the sofa.
"Jaune!" Yang says.
Now Yang saw Reese was in a slight daze and jaune was seeing red, she did the only thing she could do.
Yang vaulted over the sofa and put her body between jaune and Reese.
"You will stop right now!" A stern voice from Yang said.
Reese got up from his daze and looked right a jaune.
"I know you had a thing for Pyrrha, but if she was on our side she should have not attacked me or Winter." Reese said.
Now it was Jaune turn.
"She is there I know it!" Jaune
Reese shook his head and walked away but stopped in front of Ruby.
"Now the main question I have is….." Reese said.
Ruby then tensed up at the sudden look from Reese.
"Why is my team leader not keeping her end of the deal, as in what is so special about your silver eyes they just keep coming up as a subject matter." Reese said.
The room fell silent waiting for Ruby's response.
"I don't know the only person who would know is Ozpin." Ruby says.
"Not him!" Reese said with anger.
END