Uchiha of Remnant

by Baconaddict

Sasuke was used to having obstacles in his path, but trying to find a way home after becoming stranded in the middle of another world was a bit much even by his standards. Similar to everything in his life, his situation is not as simple as it first appears.

13. Who We Are

AN: Has it been one week already? Why yes it has!

A couple of reviewers have been throwing out ideas for why I have the Grimm behaving so oddly. Good on you for asking questions! Not going to give any spoilers, but I will say that the idea that Sasuke can control them or have such ridiculous influence is because of his massive hatred for Itachi is wrong. I know you are probably tired of me saying this, but you're going to have to have some patience to find out the answer. I can't just drop massive plot twists and bombs without some kind of build-up.

KnightofZaku- You have something to look forward to in the not-too-distant future.

Fanfictions4ever- As much as I would like to, I really can't reply to your review without giving spoilers… I will say that Grimm idea sounds so cool though.

Iskandar Hero– I know this story has been rather heavy on the OC's. Not that they shouldn't be used in fanfics, but I do agree with your assessment in the previous chapter. Not to mention that it is much easier to write when there is an established character to work with.

Lector Noob- As of right now Sasuke's chakra reserves are mostly full. Remember his reserves did double when he first arrived in Remnant (it's been a while since that chapter, I know). Not sure how it works in canon, but in this story at least someone who has mastered chakra adhesion for water and wall walking does not use any chakra to perform it. Chakra may be energy per se, but for that particular technique it is acting and used as more of a solid object that anchors the user to a surface. And just like a real anchor it is not discarded or used up when the technique is finished- the chakra is simply pulled back into the body with no loss.

808Joker808- I wholeheartedly agree. I know it's a pain to wait for longer chapters, but I'd rather that than read a 500 word paragraph every other day.

Hyperion210- I have not forgotten about the Curse Mark- and neither should you. It's a ways away, but lets just say that it will not be a useless tattoo forever.

'thoughts'

Uchiha of Remnant

Chapter 13: Who We Are

Winter had officially given way to Spring, and the biting cold that had annoyed the Uchiha in Patch and Vale when he had first arrived had been replaced by a milder climate. Well, at least during the day. In the middle of the night, like it was now, the absence of the sun's rays removed more than enough warmth to give the average person chills.

Sasuke, of course, was immune. If he could ignore the freezing winter temperatures that had annoyed him when he had arrived on Patch, he could ignore this.

His companion, however, was having a more difficult time.

As he ran across the rooftop of what he assumed was some kind of office building, he spared a condescending glance at Neo, who had visible goosebumps and was holding her arms closer to her body than usual to try and prevent heat from leaving her underarms as she visibly struggled to match his pace.

Neo pouted and narrowed her eyes at Sasuke's look of disappointment, but the Uchiha was not going to coddle her weakness. She probably would have been more comfortable if she had thrown a jacket on before they had left, but they had been running so late for Roman's sudden meeting that Sasuke had all but carried her out of her apartment when they had left.

With his bank account in Atlas a mere day or two from being officially recognized and established, the thought had occurred to Sasuke that there was no real reason for him to ask 'how high?' when Roman told him to jump. But as little as he cared for following the thief's orders, he couldn't bring himself to ignore the summons. If he started acting out now, Roman might correctly assume that Sasuke was getting ready to off him and prepare for it.

Even if that wasn't the case, the Uchiha was not about to be late. He was not going to turn into Kakashi.

One more mission with Roman. That was all he would have to do. Rob some random Dust shop, not kill anyone, and not get caught by the cops.

Sasuke had considered just killing the crime lord when he saw him tonight, but it wasn't worth the risk. He had no doubt he could beat him rather easily, but if the fight lasted long enough for one of Roman's loyal followers to rat his name out to the police, or if some random civilian with a scroll was able to capture a picture of his face he would become a known criminal, and the bank would terminate his account on the spot.

No, he would wait until he had confirmation that his financial assets were set up and secure. He would then follow the thief until he was alone, strangle him with the wire strings he still had, and kill him with no witnesses that could reveal him to the world.

Nice and easy.

One more mission, and that was it.

Finally arriving at their destination, a modest-sized warehouse near the outskirts of the city, Sasuke and Neo were let inside after a simple knock.

Unsurprisingly, Roman was not too pleased with their tardiness.

"Finally! Did you have to run an errand in Vacuo first? What the hell took you two so long!?"

"We were sparring and lost track of time."

The words had barely left Sasuke's mouth before he realized with horror what he had just done.

'…I sound like Kakashi'

Roman was ready to believe him; it wasn't a secret that Sasuke and Neo routinely sparred seemingly every time they saw each other. A closer glance, however, revealed a few details that didn't quite add up.

The Uchiha was impeccable as always, not a hair out of place.

Neo, on the other hand, was lacking bits and pieces of dust and rubble on her clothing from where the Uchiha had thrown her into the ground or whatever structures happened to be around, though they still were notably ruffled. She also wasn't giving Sasuke her usual look of mild resentment at being defeated at his hands. In fact, she was a little giddy, giving a slight giggle at the Uchiha's answer as she glanced at him with a mischievous smile that was almost coy-

Roman's eyes widened slightly as he put the clues together. They had been spending a lot of time together after all, and whenever they were together for missions Neo was glued to Sasuke's side so consistently she may as well have been his shadow.

Not to mention several details of Neo's attire that a simple spar couldn't quite explain.

"Yeah, unless you kids can explain how a sparring match could unbutton Neo's pants without tearing the button off, I'm gonna call bullshit."

A small twitch of the Uchiha's mouth was the only indication of his irritation at being called out, though he was certainly not going to apologize.

Neo on the other hand, was wholly unembarrassed of her wardrobe failure; simply covering her mouth with her hand in an exaggerated show of surprise before fixing her pants button in place with a sly smirk, more amused than anything of their elicit activities being common knowledge.

Roman was still not amused.

"I don't appreciate your 'alone time' getting in the way of your job with me- from either of you" he snarled. "We have two operations going down tonight, so the two of you need to get your heads in the game!"

"Two operations?" Sasuke questioned. This was a first, Roman had thus far avoided dividing his forces like this.

"Indeed. Double the work, double the pay," said Roman. "We've got a run-of-the-mill robbery scheduled for a quaint little Dust shop downtown. It's a relatively small one, so I'll only need to take four or five of you with me to clear it out."

It did not escape Sasuke's notice that Torchwick had gestured to the large group of henchmen as opposed to himself and Neo when he had mentioned 'need to take four or five of you'. It was at this point that Sasuke felt the first inklings of suspicion worm their way into his mind.

It was common knowledge amongst Shinobi that once an individual had gained enough combat experience, they would develop a sort of sixth sense alerting them to danger or unusual phenomenon that would otherwise be completely invisible to them. It was hardly quantifiable, usually amounting to nothing more than one or two members of a squad having a 'hunch' that something was wrong, even if everything around them seemed completely normal.

Some had called it primitive instinct- the reason why every creature except man somehow knew to take cover and hide mere minutes before an earthquake while the 'wise and intelligent' humans were caught unawares. Sasuke had been through more than enough to know that when these same primitive instincts, the ones that had successfully guided him to nurse his mother's teat in infancy, and later on allowed him to stand on two legs instead of crawl told his conscious mind that something was off, he listened.

Logically, having Roman handle one job while himself and Neo finished the other made perfect sense. Sasuke and Neo were far and away the most competent of Roman's subordinates, so leaving the second assignment in anyone else's command was foolish.

His gut was nevertheless whispering that there was more to Roman's decision than what he was telling them.

"The rest of you will be rendezvousing with a new business partner of ours a few extra stone's-throws outside of Vale than you're used to. I'm assuming most of you are familiar with a Mistral crime lord that goes by the name 'Stonewall'?"

The Uchiha recollected Junior's warning about the man, and saw that he was not the only one to recognize the name. Most of the henchmen widened their eyes in surprise, and several among them couldn't hide their apprehension as they began quietly muttering amongst themselves. Even Neo was looking at Roman as if he were a zoo manager who had pitched the idea of having lions and gazelles share an enclosure.

"Y-you serious, boss?"

Roman turned to the henchman who had questioned him, one of many whose name Sasuke had not bothered to learn. The bowler-hat wearing thief took a drag from his cigar, looking at the henchman as though he had just told a mildly amusing joke.

"My, my, is that a flutter of unease I hear?" Roman joked, a bemused smirk on his face as the men continued to mutter amongst themselves. "There's nothing to worry about, it's not like he bites!"

"What is the nature of our meeting with him?" Sasuke interjected, instantly quieting the incredulous whispers.

"I'm glad you asked, kid" said Roman, zeroing his gaze on the Uchiha. "We've done a wonderful job of cleaning the city of every shred of Dust on the open market these past few weeks, but despite all of our progress there is still one source of Dust in Vale that we haven't tapped yet- shipping."

"Wait, you mean like cargo ships?" one henchman remarked.

"Exactly. Think about it- where do you think all the Dust shops we've hit get their Dust to begin with? Vale only has a few Dust mines scattered away from the city, most of the Dust in this Kingdom is shipped from Atlas or Vacuo. Until now, stealing ships of Dust was out of our reach. As it so happens our good friend Stonewall runs several major international smuggling operations, and has made several friends in high places that will, let's say, 'lend' him a ship that just so happens to go missing from Grimm attacks that he can use to ship his own cargo."

"The deal is simple" Roman explained, "His men hijack and send cargo ships of Dust our way, or at least give us inside info on general ship traffic for us to plunder the ship's Dust when they dock in harbor, and in exchange we will be providing him with a bit of extra manpower to procure and ship his own cargo in Vale."

"That, gentleman…, and ladies," he added after a brief nod to Neo, "is the simple trade we have planned for tonight. You all go to the rendezvous, meet up with Stonewall, load up the Dust from the ship, and put his cargo in the boat. After both groups are done, we meet back here. I trust such a simple task is within all of your abilities?"

Various murmurs in the affirmative echoed through the warehouse, though it was obvious most of the men present would have preferred to avoid making the company of a man with such a fearsome reputation.

"Not a problem, boss. But, umm, if you don't mind me asking," one of the henchmen piped up anxiously, "why do we need to help them out at all? If Stonewall has international operations, shouldn't he have a base in Vale already?"

Torchwick gave a knowing smile before answering.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, he does have several ongoing projects in this Kingdom already. But as of right now both Stonewall and myself have a bit of an… opportunity. You see thanks to a certain incident a few days ago," he continued, giving a pointed nod to the Uchiha, "our magnificent Police Force is now operating at significantly less than full strength. And well, with such a golden opportunity staring us in the face, it would be a crime to not take full advantage! He just needs a few more strong backs to be able to fully exploit it."

"By the way kid," Roman turned to address the Uchiha, "Stonewall has heard of your recent exploits and is most anxious to meet you. Be sure to make a good impression when you see him."

"Hn. Fine."

"Wait a minute Sasuke, um, Sir…"

The Uchiha casually turned toward the henchman who had addressed him. He experienced it quite often working for Orochimaru, Slate, Junior, and apparently now Roman as well, but it still felt weird being addressed with an honorific. It had become second-nature for him to not use any when he addressed others, even those he was supposedly subordinate to, and had never needed nor cared if anyone spoke to him in such familiar tones. In the Uchiha's opinion it was just extra bootlicking.

"Are you going to meet him all by yourself? Shouldn't you take a few of us with you if you're gonna see him personally?"

The man received a stoic stare that somehow managed to convey the Uchiha's incredulity at such a ridiculous question.

'Seriously? What does he expect to do if Stonewall turns hostile besides being turned into a corpse?'

"If Stonewall is half a terrible as you seem to believe," the Uchiha retorted, "your presence with neither impress nor intimidate him. I do not require assistance."

The man breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but it didn't escape the Uchiha's gaze that he and several of the other henchmen were still giving him subtle looks of concern.

Why did they care? If they wanted to avoid Stonewall then he was giving them exactly what they wanted.

"We may not be as powerful as you, Boss, but don't hesitate to ask for our help if you need it. We still owe you for saving our asses from that ambush."

'Really? Do they actually believe I went out of my way to save them? All I did was my job'

Sasuke did not care for nor about the well-being of his colleagues; why the fools believed the contrary was utterly baffling. The only person he was somewhat close to was Neo, but even she was only important to him because he had something to gain by being her ally.

With the exception of Roman, it was the same story with literally everyone in the room- the Uchiha had more to gain by keeping them alive and out of police custody where he could be identified. He wasn't callous enough to explicitly wish any harm to any of them, but if it wasn't for his own self-interest to protect them he could have abandoned them to the Police during the shootout and not lost a night of sleep over it.

"If the kid needs assistance, then he'll have to find someone else to give it, Marty."

Sasuke and the now-named Marty turned toward Roman, whom the Uchiha noted was holding his cigar with a bit more forceful a grip than usual, and if he had been looking at the man a moment earlier would have noticed a dangerous glint in his eye.

"You're one of the best men who can handle a gun that I've got, so you'll be coming with me to assist in our robbery for the evening."

"Um, understood sir."

"Wonderful! Alrighty then," Torchwick muttered, scanning the crowd of henchmen for what Sasuke assumed were suitable picks for his robbery, "you five, you, the three of you, and… you, get your shit ready, we're leaving in five."

"Oh, and before I forget," Roman added, "take one of the extra tarps and put it on the bed of the truck with some rope."

"Um, what?" one of the men questioned as they shot confused glances at each other.

"Did I stutter?" snapped Roman, "Get an extra tarp, open it up, and put it in the back of the truck. It's not rocket science!"

Dropping his attention from Roman and his puzzled henchmen, the Uchiha felt the stares of the remaining men on him, followed by Neo placing herself on his right side, their elbows almost touching.

She looked up at him expectantly after a few moments of silence before pointing to her throat.

'Right, can't expect the men to be able to follow the lead of a mute'

Well, it wasn't like this was the first mission he was expected to lead. At least he wouldn't have to put up with Suigetsu and Karin's constant bickering.

"Who has the coordinates of the rendezvous?"

Every man present practically snapped to attention, making Sasuke internally grateful that so far they did not seem to be as willing to murmur amongst themselves as they had when Roman was speaking.

"We do, sir" three of the men acknowledged, stepping forward.

"The three of you will each take one truck and lead one other to the rendezvous point on separate routes. We leave immediately."

"Wait a minute, sir, shouldn't we all go together?"

"No," rebuffed the Uchiha, "even if the Vale Police are short of manpower, they'll still be on high alert. A convoy of six trucks is too conspicuous."

"But we won't get to the rendezvous as a group, if Stonewall sees us coming with less men than he was promised the-"

"Stop worrying about Stonewall" the Uchiha interrupted sharply.

He full well understood this man was bad news, but Sasuke was tired of seeing everyone piss themselves at the mention of his name.

"You," he gestured to one of the drivers, "will take Neo and I along with ten men on the shortest route, the rest of you will take the detours."

He paused, rounding to the group at large in front of him that was hanging on to his every word.

"That way I'll get there first. If this guy has a problem with how I run things then he can bring it to me."

That seemed to relieve the men's nerves, who began to sound off with respective 'yes, sir's', before they followed Sasuke's command and boarded their respective trucks.

Beneath his bowler hat, Roman silently observed the Uchiha's convoy set out into the night. Taking a drag from his cigar, he slowly turned toward the four men he had picked to accompany him.

"Well now gentlemen, is everything ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Is the tarp on?"

"Yes."

"Umm, sir, if you don't mind me asking," Marty questioned, "how is a tarp going to help us with the robbery?"

"It's not for the robbery, my good man. Although now that I think about it," Torchwick pondered, "could you fetch that cinder block over there? We'll be needing that too."

A puzzled look on his face, Marty jumped off the truck, thoroughly confused as he retrieved the block, slightly grunting from the effort of lifting it into the truck bed.

At that point one other henchman couldn't hold in his confusion whether or not it provoked Roman's ire. Unloading a truckful of Dust was enough physical labor on its own; adding a thirty-pound block on top of that was not exactly a welcome addition.

"Boss, what are we bringing that for?"

"To make sure Marty's body sinks in the river."

Marty had no time to process Torchwick's words before he felt a hand suddenly spin him around and pin his back to the truck's bumper and lifting him a few inches off the ground, removing his leverage. Horrified, his eyes focused on the white sleeved and black-gloved arm of Roman Torchwick that was pressing down on his chest with enough force that he was almost certain he would be unable to take in a breath.

The next thing Marty saw was the handle for Melodic Cudgel thrusting toward his face with the likeness of a spear. The next thing he felt was Roman plunged his weapon right below his Adam's Apple, crushing his throat with a sickening crunch before the man could utter either a cry for help or a plea for mercy.

With strength unbefitting for his size but average for a Huntsman, Roman tossed the gargling man into the truck bed directly on the center of the tarp that had been placed there. He nonchalantly climbed into the vehicle to his shocked and horrified audience, sparing a brief but disgusted glance at the dying man who was gasping for air as helplessly as a fish thrown out of water, flopping aimlessly in a desperate attempt to escape its inevitable suffocation.

"Do any of you know why I just killed our dear friend Marty?"

Frozen in fear and in shock, the remaining men slowly lifted their eyes to Torchwick, who now was looking more dangerous than they had ever seen him.

Roman was normally a rather nonchalant guy, even when giving orders or direction, there was almost always a sense that he was having a bit of jovial fun. He was fond of slipping small jokes in whatever conversations he had (many of them admittedly at his subordinate's expense), and help himself with an air that was always somehow focused and collected, and yet still upbeat and buoyant at the same time. A guy that was a demanding and often cruel boss, but who somehow gave those around him a glass-half-full vibe that made him seem more harmless than his criminal record would show.

That was all gone now. Green eyes pierced through the shadow of his bowler hat, lit by the soft glow of his cigar waxing and waning with every breath as he stood to his full height, cleaning the handle of Melodic Cudgel with a small cloth as he stared down the three men with a stony glare that would have made an Ursa take pause.

"Because Marty, like all of you, work for me. You do what I tell you, when I tell you to do it. I am your fucking boss."

The crime lord paused, taking in the sight of the men trying to suppress their shivers of fear.

"Marty, do you know what you did to deserve this?"

The man's struggles had weakened, the lack of air taking its toll. Still, he was barely conscious enough to weakly turn his head and look at the man who had ended his life as the last vision of the living world as his sight faded to black.

"Because I am your boss, that is my title. I am well aware everyone has their superiors and seniors amongst our little group, and if you want to call them sir, then fine. What I will not tolerate, from anyone, is addressing Sasuke fucking Uchiha, the upstart teenage punk, as your Boss!"

No one moved under Roman's furious gaze, nervously fidgeting and gulping in fear.

"Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes, …Boss."

The words came out as almost nothing more than squeaks, but Torchwick was more than satisfied with the terror that accompanied their words.

"Good. Now, wrap the tarp around his body and tie it off with the ropes. And make sure that block is in there, we need him to sink nice and deep."

Working with the haste of men with their lives on the line, the remaining henchmen began following Roman's directive as the thief brought out his scroll and punched in a number.

"Jeff? …You still sitting pretty on that Dust like I asked? …Good, bring it over to the warehouse here and set it up like we discussed."

Ending the call with a swipe, Torchwick pulled up the Map App and began to type a name in the search bar.

"From Dust Till Dawn, huh? Catchy name."

Miles outside Vale, Sasuke was doing what he usually did whenever he was stuck in a vehicle with people for extended periods of time- not uttering a word and simply thinking to himself while everyone else around him except Neo made small talk. Normally he would be considering how to complete his seal, or rethink a design feature that he was not completely sure about, or brainstorm a few new jutsu ideas based on the scientific knowledge of this new world.

Now, though, he was thinking about Roman and the rather unusual mission he had been assigned.

Splitting his forces made sense, but the question then was why Roman needed to have his meeting with Stonewall on the same night as his robbery. The meeting he assumed was scheduled, so that much was spoken for, but why did he have to rob a Dust shop at the same time? Wouldn't it be easier and safer to do the robbery the following night instead?

And if Stonewall was as big and as dangerous a player as Sasuke had been led to believe, why in the hell was Roman not going to be present for their first joint operation? The Uchiha had seen enough of these first-contact meetings between parties who were supposed to ally with each other in both Konoha and under Orochimaru to know that snubbing the leader of your potential partner early in a working relationship by sending a mere proxy while the leader had 'other matters to attend to' never ended well. Orochimaru would have turned the offending leader into a human lab specimen without a second thought; something the Uchiha himself had seen the man do on more than one such occasion. Even Konoha, as relatively merciful as it was, would have terminated the partnership on the spot at the very least.

He was going to be on the front lines of a potential war between crime lords while the one he was supposed to represent was taking the D-rank mission of stealing from helpless civilians.

The plan for the entire night was too shady for his taste.

His thoughts were interrupted at the sensation of Neo taking his shoulder in a gentle yet firm grip. Turning to her, he saw that the woman had an uncharacteristically serious look on her face, devoid of any of the playful smiles or winks she normally bore.

It was all the Uchiha needed to see to know that Neo had already had the same suspicions and come to the same conclusions that he had.

Almost imperceptively, Sasuke gave the woman a small nod.

The remaining drive to the rendezvous was spent in silence as the landscape around them gradually shifted from the high-rises of the inner city to older, more dilapidated structures as they left the city limits of Vale. Eventually they reached what appeared to be a factory several hundred yards from the now pitch-black ocean that had to be at least half a century out of date; the vibrant red brick structure had faded with time, and erosion had chipped and cracked away at the once stout and proud edifice.

With boarded windows, weeds growing around and in places up the walls, cracks of all sizes on its walls, it looked like the textbook definition of a dead factory that had been left behind by the relentless progress of the modern age.

The only signs the building was still in use was a soft glow shining through the boarded windows and the edges of the doors; the lighting obviously artificial, the original electrical system of the complex having no doubt long since been rendered inoperable or unsafe from decades of neglect.

Driving to the front entrance the Uchiha could make out the reason for his visit- a group of a dozen men standing at the main entrance waiting for their arrival.

Taking a quick glance at the surrounding forests before the driver parked their truck, Sasuke could see that the entire area around the factory was deserted. As feeble as the light the stars and moon provided, it was all he needed to confirm that no one was attempting to hide in the shadows for an ambush.

Exiting the vehicle, Sasuke wasted no time in making a confident beeline to their presumed escorts, with Neo close at his side and the men he had brought with him following his lead. It was obvious most of the men before them were average grunts that were present simply to be a show of intimidation, but the Uchiha only had eyes for the man at the front of the group.

Despite never having been given a description of the man and in spite of his rather lacking figure, the Uchiha knew without being told that the short, balding man in front of him was the infamous Stonewall. On the surface he was hardly intimidating, but Sasuke was a shinobi that had been taught and trained to look underneath simple appearances. The man's lacking stature could not change the fact that he held himself solidly and confidently, and was judging the new arrivals with an unflinching gaze.

"I take it you are Stonewall?"

The man's eyes narrowed, neither the first nor the last to take slight with the Uchiha's habit of neglecting honorifics, but otherwise making no other indications of his impression as Sasuke took a casual stance in front of the man.

"I am, and I assume you are the infamous Sasuke Uchiha that Roman has told me so much about?"

The Uchiha gave a curt nod.

"Roman told me he would be sending at least fifty men to help with the cargo transfer. Is there a good reason you only brought ten?"

The man did not use any measure of force or volume with his words, but everyone present knew a loaded question when they heard it. Behind him, the Uchiha could sense the henchmen tense, with the notable exception of Neo.

It took an effort on the Uchiha's part to not exhale a small huff of incredulity at the hired help he was essentially babysitting. Business meetings of any kind often began with both sides playing hardball, crime lords doubly so. Did these men not know that showing fear was the last thing they should be doing in this situation?

Inwardly the Uchiha admitted that despite their personal flaws and annoyance, he missed the rest of Team Hebi. None of them would have been stupid enough to openly squirm in their boots when meeting a potential adversary.

Returning Stonewall's stare, Sasuke deliberately paused before giving his answer. He couldn't have the man think he was on the verge of tripping over his own feet to rush to his good side.

"We split up into separate vehicles to take alternate routes to make our trip less conspicuous, the remaining men should be here shortly" Sasuke calmly explained. "In the meantime, I see no reason why we cannot begin our business now."

"Straight to work, huh?" the man lightly chuckled, his earlier tone that bordered on threatening seemingly evaporating. "Roman did warn me you were the nose to the grindstone type. I can respect that."

Gesturing for the Uchiha and his group to follow him, they made their way around the outer edge of the factory. They rounded the corner to reveal over a dozen shipping containers strewn about around the factory's wall. All of them were still packed full of wooden and metal crates, all of which bore the unmistakable logo of the Schnee Dust Company.

There was no way the Uchiha could mistake the snowflake-themed symbol by now; he had seen it plastered on almost every container of Dust Roman had stolen.

A few dozen yards beyond the shipping containers, on the border of the sea, was what appeared to be a modest-sized dock that jutted out into the black waters almost sixty yards. It was obviously a relic of the same age and make as the factory; the strong and unyielding pillars of wood that composed it having their outer layers that were not yet covered with barnacle colonies had long since become soft and spongy from the relentless pounding of the surf.

Despite the structure's age and obvious wear, Stonewall had obviously decided that it was in useable enough condition to function as a loading station for a small cargo ship.

Around the shipping containers, docks, and on the deck of the ship, about seventy or so of Stonewall's henchmen were standing at attention.

Standing on alert, but not working.

That sight, more than any so far, gave Sasuke pause. He had been working with Roman for a while now, and despite his flippant mannerisms the man was a demanding boss who did not tolerate anyone under his command dragging their feet or slacking off when there was a job to do.

It was likely he had ordered his men to not start moving any of the cargo; Roman had promised that his henchmen would be the ones to do the heavy lifting after all.

"Roman promised me manpower to move my cargo tonight," said Stonewall, confirming the Uchiha's hypothesis. "I was nice enough to have my boys unload the shipping containers onto the beach, but it's your crew's job to fulfill your end of the deal."

Turning to six men behind him, Sasuke gave a wordless nod to get started with their work.

His men practically rushing to get started, whether out of respect of his orders or a desire to have an excuse to be over and done with the job as soon as possible he didn't know, but the Uchiha certainly had the latter opinion in his own mind.

This entire job had a foul smell to it, and he had had enough of those to last a lifetime.

"Well now," Stonewall said, a small but eager grin forming on the corners of his mouth that he was certain was not there when the man had introduced himself, "while your men begin loading up the Dust for your boss, why don't I show you the cargo I'll be shipping out?"

At this the Uchiha had to consciously focus to keep the hairs on the back of his neck from standing on end. There was a sly, almost giddy anticipation that accompanied Stonewall's words, a parallel to the tone that never failed to accompany Kabuto's words when the man was going to introduce him to a person or situation that the he knew the Uchiha would find uncomfortable at best and disgusting at worst.

'This job is getting worse by the minute' he thought to himself.

"Very well" the Uchiha briskly answered, before turning to Neo, who had snapped her head toward him with her mouth slightly dropped open in surprise at the utter lack of hesitation to Stonewall's suggestion.

"Stay with the group here, Neo."

When the Uchiha was halfway through his sentence Neo was already preparing to give him a piece of her mind, but her metaphorical words were crushed as he finished his sentence and she looked into his eyes.

Most people needed to adjust the tone or volume of their voice, or add a bit of body language to communicate a secondary message that the spoken words of a sentence left out. Sasuke, on the other hand, could do it with nothing more than a look.

'I'll let you know if I need you'

Neo understood, and gave a small nod in return.

'I'll be ready'

"Excellent," their host said, missing the silent message sent between his guests, "please, follow me."

The Uchiha fell behind him, having no desire to walk in front of the man and show his back to him. Although as he continued to observe his surroundings as he followed the crime lord into the factory, Sasuke thought that perhaps there was no ambush or any sort of double-crossing planned. None of Stonewall's men had followed behind him to box him in, and Stonewall himself hadn't seemed upset or even slightly miffed that Neo, the only powerful ally he had, would not be with him to share his fate if indeed there was a trap.

Sasuke was grateful that Neo understood his silent orders to stay outside. Recalling his memories of his first C-rank mission, the Uchiha couldn't help but contemplate that he probably wouldn't have had to go through a near-death experience at Haku's hands if Naruto had had the presence of mind to attack the outside Haku's Crystal Ice Mirror cage instead of joining Sasuke inside the death trap like a moron.

He was not about to let that happen again.

"So tell me, Sasuke, what do you think of this quaint little place?" asked the crime lord in front of him.

"…It's seen better days." The Uchiha answered honestly, hoping his blunt answer would be enough to end any pointless small talk.

"Well, I can't deny that," the man replied, chuckling lightly to himself. "This factory was built sixty years ago, only a few miles from a huge iron deposit further inland. The Grimm at the time were destroying too many shipments of the refined ore for any factory in Vale to make a profit, so one of the companies built this one here. Close enough for short and easily-protected shipments to make the journey without being destroyed, and a small dock to ship out the manufactured wares directly."

At this point the Uchiha was wondering why the man was choosing to make idle talk with him. There were only two possibilities: one, he genuinely liked to chat up his help, or he was trying to make a casual enough atmosphere that Sasuke would drop his guard.

Based on the man's blunt initial criticism of the Uchiha's smaller than expected group, it was safe to rule out the former. He was not the buoyant character Roman was.

But then, the second possibility didn't make much sense either.

If the man was planning to attack him, he had passed up multiple opportunities to do so. Focusing his hearing Sasuke could still hear no footsteps following them, so there was no one coming to take advantage of his blind spot.

Sasuke briefly considered the possibility that his suspicions were incorrect, but dismissed such foolish thought almost as quickly as they had come. He had not survived his years with the Sannin by dismissing anomalies and abnormalities as mere coincidence.

"The remote location is another bonus," the man continued, approaching a rusted door that presumably led to whatever cargo he was planning on smuggling out. "We can't exactly use the Vale harbor as a permanent base for this operation. With what we're shipping, it wouldn't be long before someone found out."

"And what exactly are you shipping?" asked the Uchiha, realizing that neither Stonewall nor Roman had actually told him what the cargo they would be shipping out was.

He had not forgotten Junior's description of the man and his supposed business. If what he had been told had any truth to it, he was going to have a decision to make.

The man turned his head toward him, and gave Sasuke a look that made his stomach start to turn. Stonewall was grinning at him, but it was certainly not one of happiness or joy. No, he was in a state of, and there was no other word for it, eager anticipation.

"Roman seems to think Dust is a good business to get into," the man began, "but it's still a legal product you can buy or sell anywhere, so the price you sell it at is still at the mercy of the market."

"But if you put yourself in the trade of something illegal, with the only competitors being ones whom the public find so despicable that no one would question or care if they… mysteriously vanished," he said, a malicious glint in his eye, "well then you can set the price as high as you want."

He opened the door, and beckoned the Uchiha to follow.

Sasuke walked into a scene so familiar to him he almost had to remind himself that he was no longer in one of Orochimaru's lairs and was in a separate world altogether.

It didn't matter what universe it was; he recognized human trafficking when he saw it.

There were over sixty people in the room who he immediately identified as prisoners, with very likely more in adjacent areas. As Sasuke looked upon them it was obvious that despite the similarities, there were several key differences between what he saw before him and the memories of the Snake Sannin's test subjects. Orochimaru's prisoners had been just that- test subjects, and as such the only quality they had to have to be considered worth taking was that they were in good health. Aside from the very sick, very old, or helpless babies and toddlers, Orochimaru did not discriminate much further than that.

That was not the case here. There were humans and Faunus alike, and with a handful of exceptions almost all of the captives here were female. A good number of them were… well even by the early marriage standards of the Elemental Nations would have been considered significantly underage.

Slaves, not test subjects, that was going to be their fate. And judging from the… body fluids on the mouths and clothing of some of the captives, some of the guards were already breaking them in.

Despite what people who had never seen such a practice might have assumed, the idea that people were shoved into large cages was for the most part incorrect. Particularly strong individuals like Orochimaru's test subjects that were expected to have a potential growth in strength, such as the animal hybrid groups he had freed, were the only ones that were contained in such expensive and space-consuming confinements. Civilians such as the group before him needed no such measures. The entire group was simply latched onto exposed sections of piping and machinery with stolen handcuffs, ropes, or chains. For those who were less submissive addictive substances or anesthetics were often used to keep them under tighter control, both to prevent any single prisoner from going on a kamikaze spree out of sheer desperation and to prevent the more well-behaved prisoners from getting any ideas about joining up with any rebellious individuals.

Sasuke automatically pushing down the disgust in his stomach at the sight before him out of sheer habit. As vile as it was to consider, some of the experiments he had seen with his former teacher had been worse.

What was not so easily dismissed were Stonewall's henchmen that were present. That in and of itself wasn't surprising, it would be foolish to leave such a large group of prisoners unsupervised to talk privately amongst themselves even if escape was unlikely. What set off alarm bells in the Uchiha's head, however, was their sheer number.

Normally only a handful would be needed to oversee such a helpless populace, but he counted over thirty. Far more than what was necessary.

Perhaps more disturbingly, he could see that despite their rather amateur attempts to appear casual, every guard was tense; their hands too stiff and far too close to their weapons.

"You know Sasuke, I am very grateful Roman agreed to send you here for the first meeting of our partnership" he said, continuing into the room as the Uchiha followed him, half listening and half thinking. He was still wearing a malevolent grin, but mixed in now was small flicker of curiosity. "Now that the Vale Police is nothing but a skeleton crew, we have a few weeks to make massive shipments."

The man turned his head, his only visible eye observing the Uchiha behind him.

"And it's all thanks to your efforts!" he exclaimed. "And that being the case, I do feel obligated to thank you for making all of this possible."

Sasuke couldn't help himself from narrowly furrowing his brow.

"I highly doubt you could offer me anything I would care for."

"Well that may be true," he admitted, "I did hear that you turned down lien payment from Roman, and I won't pretend that I can offer you more Dust than Roman can."

"I had considered giving you your pick of the merchandise here to keep for yourself," he continued, gesturing to several of the battered and defeated but still admittedly attractive women handcuffed to the surrounding piping. "But with your looks I imagine you have ladies waiting in line to warm your bed already."

It was only Sasuke's years of experience burying his feelings from the outside world that he was still managing to keep a neutral face. It was revolting enough that he seemed to be cursed to bear the company of those who quite literally made a living out of violating the most basic rights of anyone less powerful than they were, but the idea that he willingly entertained such barbaric practices himself after the unending suffering Itachi had put him through was enough to almost make him empty his stomach.

"There is one thing I can offer you that I know no one else can," Stonewall continued, wearing a smug smile. "My boys managed to abduct over a hundred poor souls from the streets of Vale for this particular shipment, and I have it on good authority that you are acquainted with two of them."

At these words the Uchiha's mind began to race in alarm. He was not concerned about his supposed 'friends'; there were only a handful of people in Remnant whom he had bothered to even learn a full name. And even if he had cared about them, he found it incredibly unlikely that Stonewall would have been able kidnap any of them.

He had seen Melanie take down two (admittedly drunk) men twice her size with such ease that he was sure her finishing shot from her heel to the man's groin was more for her own satisfaction than by any necessity to drop her opponent. Junior was a small mountain, and could certainly do serious damage with the bat he kept near his person if someone was stupid enough to pick a fight with him.

Briefly, for only a moment, Sasuke's recalled another face; a far younger one with silver eyes whose innocence could put a newborn fawn to shame. Ruby Rose, that was her name, who for some reason he was still unable to fathom had been willing to risk the freezing cold of winter to put up wanted posters in an unnecessary attempt to ensure his safety.

Forcing his mind to stray away from the confusing moral oxymoron that was Ruby Rose and her apparent spontaneous care for his wellbeing, he had no reason to be concerned about her being captured either. She was certainly naïve enough to be deceived or tricked, but even without her scythe she was far too fast to bother catching when there were other targets just as valuable that would give their abductors far less trouble.

No, the factor that was making Sasuke push the panic button was that Stonewall would go out of his way to find people that he believed the Uchiha would have some connection to. This was not a spontaneous thought the man had come up with on the spot, nor was it the friendly gesture the man pretended it to be. Stonewall had specifically sought out leverage on him and was showing his hand. That could only mean he wanted something from him.

And Sasuke had a pretty good guess as to what it was. The deal with Stonewall that Roman knew the Uchiha would not approve of, Torchwick's absence, and the excessive number of guards. It all pointed to one conclusion.

Now how to deal with it?

As Stonewall led him a bit further, it wasn't long before the Uchiha could see their destination.

The first thing he saw was a man, a quite thin man with a bright blue suit that had his back to him. On closer inspection the man was hunched over what he assumed was another victim of Stonewall's business, though the man was standing in front of whoever it was and blocking the Uchiha's view of them. What Sasuke could see was disturbing enough; pale and thin fingers actually petting the person's head in a possessive manner, and the Uchiha's ears were beginning to make out quite spine-chilling whispers from the man.

"Shaves," Stonewall called, breaking the thin man's psychological torment of his victim, "enough of that for now, our guest has arrived."

Shaves rose to his feet, turning around to reveal a smile that even Sasuke found disturbing. If the Uchiha was known for his stone poker face then Shaves was the polar opposite; in the span of two seconds he was absolutely sure that every muscle in the man's face had twitched or jerked half a dozen times.

"Ohoho, oh we've been waiting for you!" Shaves exclaimed, his smile growing to a size Orochimaru would have been proud of. "We've heard such rumors about you, it's a pleasure to finally meet!"

He gave an exaggerated, mocking bow, and now the Uchiha could see the man's unfortunate victim behind him, with a very familiar head of purple hair that he had been sure he would never see again.

'Lavender, if I recall'

Well that was her stage name at least, he wasn't sure what her real name was. Sasuke wasn't sure if the woman was just unlucky enough to fall victim to human traffickers or if she was stupid enough to somehow get involved on her own, but at this point it didn't really matter. She was hanging her head, out of a sense of utter defeat or a vain attempt to shut out Shave's incredibly disturbing words the Uchiha wasn't sure, but she certainly had the appearance of one who had given up.

"Violet dear, please raise your head," Shaves said excitedly, "it's rude to not greet a guest."

Slowly, the girl raised her head. Her eyes were almost lifeless orbs at this point, but that changed when she at last realized who was in front of her.

There was a brief pause as her mind began to catch up with what she was seeing, but after a moment her eyes shot open in alarm, her diaphragm forcing her lungs to take a sharp inhalation as what was left of her fight-or-flight instincts kicked in.

Sasuke Uchiha.

He was here.

Standing right in front of her.

When she had asked Shaves to get her out of Vale by any means necessary, she had not truly considered the implications of what she was asking. It had quickly become apparent that she had made a huge mistake in giving her trust to the man, the conversations the henchmen had regarding her and her fellow kidnappees made it clear that dying was preferable to the fate that awaited her. Despite this, even as the man had drugged her and thrown her in the back of a van with other victims, she held on to the faint silver lining that at the very least Sasuke Uchiha would not be a part of her living hell.

It was all for nothing. He was here, they had invited him here no less. She had sacrificed her life and her future, all to escape a monster that her captors had summoned to torment her anyway.

Above her the Uchiha stared at her passively, watching as she slowly realized her life was over. She didn't cry, or weep, or start begging, or start mumbling nonsense about being in a nightmare or some other form of denial. She simply continued to stare at him; her trembling breath and shivering body betraying her utter fear as she gazed at him in utter horror, as though she were a fair maiden chained to an altar as a sacrificial tribute for a Dragon, wondering which method the beast would choose to end her life.

It was a look he had seen many times before in Orochimaru's lairs- that of someone who had given up all hope and was only praying to themselves that the end would be quick.

"Not even a hello for our guest?" said Shaves in mock shock, "And for someone you know, no less? My word Violet, your manners are atrocious!"

"Now, now, don't be too hard on her," Stonewall interjected, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Remember Sasuke traumatized the poor girl to the point of begging us to smuggle her out of Vale. Try to be more understanding of her predicament" he finished with a small chuckle.

"As for you, Mr. Uchiha," Stonewall said, turning toward him, "I do hope you aren't too uncomfortable sending her off to such a tragic fate."

At this the Uchiha's attention perked. He could detect the small hint of expectation in the man's voice, as though he were waiting for his response.

Stonewall wasn't the only one. The surrounding guards had begun to drop the pretense of monitoring their prisoners and had begun to not-so-covertly watch him from the corners of their eyes.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Well, despite your rather impressive reputation we have heard several rumors that you have a certain distaste for murder as well as-"

"It is not a rumor," Sasuke said firmly. "No murder. No human trafficking."

He turned to Stonewall, who was now scowling.

"Those were my exact words to Roman. I don't know what makes him or you think I have changed my position on the matter."

He could hear the guards surrounding him begin to grip their weapons, though it was significantly less intimidating when he could see every guard in his line of sight also breaking into a cold sweat.

There were perks to having a fearsome reputation.

Many of the prisoners also turned their attention toward them as they sensed the building tension. Some of them notably shot their eyes open when they saw him, almost as if they recognized him.

Ignoring the growing tension in the room, Sasuke began gathering a small amount of chakra into his left palm. Focusing his senses, he found what he was looking for- the small wires and circuits of the meager lighting system. More specifically, the electric current they carried.

What he did miss was Violet turning her gaze at him in utter disbelief. This had to be a trick of some kind- surely there was no way in hell this demon would want anything more than to create and spread as much pain and suffering as possible?

Stonewall did not share either Violet's skepticism or slowly blossoming hope, nor his henchmen's fear.

"Well now, that's a problem," he said, his beady eyes focusing their ire on the Uchiha. "Roman and I are going to be business partners for quite some time, and you're out of your mind if you think I'm going to give up a profit margin like what I'm expecting for your chivalrous bullshit. And you know too much for us to just let you walk away if you can't stomach the job."

That confirmed Sasuke's suspicions- a loyalty test. The signs had been there from the start, but it was only when he was shown the kidnapped soon-to-be-slaves and told that there were two people among them he personally knew that it became a certainty.

The man walked up to him, bringing a heavy hand up to his shoulder in a threatening grip that even by his standards was quite impressive.

"The adults have made their decision, boy. Be smart." The grip shifted slightly, the tip of one of the man's fingers now touching his windpipe. "It's not worth your life."

Everyone in the room collectively held their breath. For a moment no one spoke; the only sound being the almost inaudible buzzing of the feeble bulbs struggling to light the room with their meagre glow.

The guards in the room, and even Stonewall, all began to feel tremors of fear run down their spines. The boy had not yet done anything, he didn't even appear stressed. But that was just it- despite Stonewall's clear threat and being heavily outnumbered, Sasuke remained as cool and impassive as he had when he had walked in.

He was not afraid of them.

"Not worth my life?" the Uchiha spoke, breaking the silence. "No."

Twin black orbs turned to Stonewall, who only now saw just why Violet had been so utterly terrified of him. Behind the relaxed and placid gaze that he showed the world, Sasuke Uchiha had the shaded, murderous eyes of a killer who had a stack of bodies to his name.

"It isn't worth yours."

The lights shut off.

The sharp noise of a strong blow, the shout of pain from Stonewall, and the crack of his body impacting the brick wall behind him were the only sounds anyone could make out from the inky blackness before everything erupted into utter chaos. Flashes of muzzle fire briefly lit the area surrounding them, revealing the desperate, terrified faces of the henchmen as they fired as many bullets into the air as they possibly could in the faint possibility that by pure chance one would be lucky enough to hit their target.

Violet sank to the ground, terrified as she covered her ears to protect them from the deafening sounds of point-blank gunfire, barely having the courage to lift her head up just enough to look around to see if she could make out anything at all from the pandemonium surrounding her. It was a pointless exercise, the only ones who had a chance in hell of seeing a damn thing were the Faunus amongst them.

After a few seconds, however, there was a change. The intense gunfire that had started off as a near continuous chain of explosive blasts slowed. Small, almost imperceptive pauses in the roar of fire, gave way to more. The deadly orchestra continued to subside, gunshots that were ever more isolated punctuated the darkness, until there was only four guns still flashing in the dark.

Then three.

Then two.

Then one.

Her ears were still ringing, but Violet could tell even with her crippled hearing that the inky blackness was now utterly quiet. Her heart was hammering in her chest, the fear of having her head blown off by a stray round replaced by fear of the unknown.

Inwardly, the girl could only fathom one possible outcome. She had heard far too much about Sasuke's exploits under Roman to believe the trap he had been brought to here would be anything more than a small annoyance to him.

In an instant, the lights returned to life, bringing the room back to visibility. Violet's breath froze and eyes widened in horror as more than a few of her fellow prisoners screamed at the sight before them.

In a word, it was a massacre. Strewn about the room were the bodies of their former guards, blood pouring out of their bodies that formed streams and pools of red on the concrete. Eviscerated arms littered the floor, still grasping the firearms they carried in a now literal death grip. And etched on every face of every corpse, expressions of absolute terror.

And much closer to her than any of the bodies, directly in front of her less than three feet away, was their killer.

Sasuke Uchiha stood before her, every bit as imposing as she remembered. She had expected him to win, of course. To slaughter any and all who had the nerve and the stupidity to challenge him. What she had not seen coming, and was more terrifying than any of the bodies around her, was his utterly immaculate appearance. She had expected to see him covered head to toe in blood and gore, as if he were a savage demon that bathed in the blood of those he had slain.

But no, his appearance was as flawless as it had always been when she had the misfortune of crossing his path. His clothes were impeccable, not even a fold or wrinkle out of place. The only thing that betrayed the slaughter he had just committed was the thick coating of blood that glazed the sword he was holding.

Sasuke Uchiha did not bleed. His enemies did.

Her fear only grew when she looked up to his face. Before now, she had only seen him with a neutral, uncaring expression. At the moment, though, he was staring right at her, looming over her like a titan casting judgement, and he looked annoyed.

"I let you go once already, girl."

He raised his sword, bringing her heart to a complete stop. This was it- he couldn't leave her alive now, so he was going to finish her here. She closed her eyes, awaiting the end.

Only, it didn't come. The sharp ring of metal on metal rang through the air, and suddenly she felt a newfound freedom in her arm. Daring to open her eyes, she was met with the sight of her handcuffs cut in half, the part still on her wrist now dangling uselessly.

"This is going to be the second time."

Scarcely believing her eyes, she turned to look upon her would-be murderer in disbelief.

"There will not be a third."

He dropped a set of keys in her hand, a set she recognized as the one several of the guards carried for their handcuffs.

"Release everyone else here and go home."

Violet was frozen in shock- there was no way he was actually going to let her go! He had to be lying- just as in the recurring nightmares that haunted her, he was going to let her think she could escape, and then kill her right when she thought she was free just to see the hope die in her eyes-

She was abruptly shaken out of her thoughts by the very monster in her dreams roughly grabbing her by the front of her tattered and grubby blouse with a single hand and pulling her to her feet.

"Why is it that your legs have such difficulty with their basic motor functions when in my presence, Violet?" he snapped, losing his patience waiting for her. He spun her around before giving her a shove toward her nearest neighbor who was still chained to one of the pipes. "Hurry up."

It was a rhetorical question, Stonewall's explanation of her presence here was more than enough to confirm his efforts to terrify the girl into silence had worked a bit better than he had really needed. Still, as far as Sasuke was concerned, that was no excuse right now. There were still dozens of Stonewall's henchmen outside that had no doubt heard the firefight, and he couldn't dismiss the possibility that some or even all of the henchmen he had brought with him, Neo included, were in on the trap Roman had set. Even if they weren't, Stonewall's men heavily outnumbered them to the point even Neo might have some difficulty.

He tore his eyes away from the still dumbstruck girl who was now at least starting to follow his instructions, though still with the sluggish motions of someone in utter shock, he made for the exit. He didn't hear any gunshots from outside just yet, but that was hardly a comfort. He had to take care of business outside quickly and get back and question-

"Sasuke?!" a familiar voice shouted.

He turned around, only to see another person he had not expected to see here. Handcuffed in a small corner, with a black eye and a noticeably bloody lip, Shyla stared back at him as though he were a pig that had sprouted wings and flew.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing here?! How did you do that!?"

Realizing that Shyla must be the other person he knew who Stonewall had kidnapped, the Uchiha suddenly understood how strange seeing him here must have been for her. Unlike Violet, the blonde had only ever seen Sasuke 'fight' at Slate's and at Junior's Club, and while she certainly knew he was a strong fighter she had never seen nor had any reason to suspect the superhuman abilities he had just shown. Not to mention the massacre.

"I was invited here," the Uchiha answered truthfully. "How did you get here? Don't tell me you were foolish enough to sign up like she was," he said, gesturing to Violet.

Whatever methods Stonewall's men had used to pacify Shyla had clearly not been effective as her face instantly morphed into bitter fury.

"I was jumped and thrown into a goddamn van after I left you at Junior's!" she shouted furiously. "And I really would have appreciated it if you had picked up your fucking phone when I tried to call you for help you asshole!"

'So that's why she called me that night' he realized.

"Holy shit, that's that Bouncer from Junior's! I thought I recognized him!"

"He's the reigning champion at Slate's, what the hell is he doing here?"

"Who cares?! He's getting us out of here, that all that matters!"

Inwardly the Uchiha grit his teeth as the rest of the prisoners began to realize they were in fact being set free and began to find the courage to speak again. He really should have seen this coming- he was a familiar enough face with his jobs at Slate's and Junior's that it was inevitable at least one person would recognize him.

Loud cracks began ringing through the factory, silencing the chattering of the ex-prisoners as everyone turned toward the unmistakable sound of gunfire coming from outside. The victims began to panic, most of them searching aimlessly for some kind of exit or way out, while a few sent pleading glances in his direction.

Unlike the prisoners, the sounds of live ammunition outside were a blessing for the Uchiha. It could only mean that of the men he had brought, a large enough number of them had begun shooting Stonewall's men when they heard the first gunshots inside the factory.

And that meant that it was a near certainty that Neo was not betraying him. Had that been the case the woman would have easily killed the small number of henchmen he had brought with him before they had a chance to fire off a single round.

He still had allies, but even with them and the several trucks of reinforcements coming that would aid them they were still heavily outnumbered. Sasuke was going to have to go help them to ensure they weren't overwhelmed.

"Shut up and get out of here, Shyla," said Sasuke. "I have more important things to do right now."

The Uchiha was barely finished with his sentence when the shrill, groaning sound of metal bending from heavy strain met the ears of everyone present. It was difficult to discern the source of the sound with the enclosed room, and the civilians looked around aimlessly to try and identify the curious pitch.

Sasuke knew what that sound was. It was a rare occurrence; one he had only heard a handful of times in his life. The sound of tempered, reinforced ninja wire, a single strand capable of suspending a Hippopotamus, getting ready to snap from strain.

With a sharp crack, the multiple wires he had set up on the ceiling above them gave way. Impacting the floor with a thunderous thud that the Uchiha could feel travel through his bones, Stonewall threw off the remaining wire hanging uselessly from his shoulders and stood to his full height.

"And where do you whores think you're going?"

The feed slaves froze in their tracks, eyes widening in horror as they realized their newfound freedom might be short-lived. Many simply stopped in their tracks as if they were deer in the headlights, while others turned toward their unexpected savior in desperation.

Despite whom it was the man was addressing, Stonewall never took his eyes off of the Uchiha, who similarly did not have eyes for anyone else in the room. The two men appraised each other wordlessly, silently staring at the other. Both the Uchiha and Stonewall had believed before the first gun was fired that they had the decisive edge over the other and were assured of victory, but it was now obvious as they reassessed their situation that their fight would be more difficult.

Sasuke had punched Stonewall almost vertically when he had first shut off the lighting with Mizuchi before promptly pinning him to the ceiling with some of the ninja wire he still had so he could question the man after he finished killing his men. He still needed to find out exactly what Roman's plot was.

Only for the man to break out of his trap. Not a small feat by any means, even Sasuke wasn't strong enough to snap the strengthened ninja wire he had used with pure force alone without resorting to a chakra-enforced blade or his Chidori. The Uchiha was uncertain how the man had done it with no weapon of his own, but it meant he could have a serious fight on his hands.

For Stonewall, the Uchiha's speed and power were less of a surprise. He had heard the story of the now infamous Dust Shootout from Roman's own mouth, and knew Sasuke was not to be underestimated. Nevertheless, it had still been an eye opener to have the lights flash back on after less than half a minute of darkness to reveal the corpses of dozens of his men; slaughtered as easily as if they were a newborn litter of rabbits that were crushed one by one in the jaws of a wolf.

"So a bunch of cops get in your way and start shooting at you, and you send them to the hospital" Stonewall said, slowly walking toward the Uchiha. "But when my men do the same, you decide to kill them all without any hesitation."

He continued forward, his burning gaze never leaving his target.

"And for someone who was desperate enough to hide himself to get a fake ID, you seem to have no problem letting all of my slaves, who know your name now, out into the world to shout your secret from the fucking rooftops!"

He paused for a moment, seemingly collecting his rage as his face turned red.

"Now why would you slaughter my men and leave the police alive? Why would you allow people who will rat you out to the authorities to escape instead of killing each and every one of them so they take your name with them to the grave?"

Stonewall began tapping his chin in an exaggerated manner in a mocking mimicry of pondering his answer.

"Oh, I know why!" the man exclaimed. "Because it's not that you won't kill; you just won't kill innocent people! Torchwick made the right call cutting you out; behind your little tough guy act you are a soft bleeding-heart bitch."

There was a pregnant pause, the Uchiha remaining silent at the outburst, his eyes cast down. When they rose, everyone, even Stonewall took an involuntary step back.

Black pits fixed a gaze of pure, white-hot hatred at the man standing on front of them with such intensity it seemed as though the glare alone could set anything in its sight aflame with the sheer will of the enmity behind it.

Sasuke Uchiha was pissed.

The Uchiha clenched his fists, the shameful memories of his time with the Sannin returning to the front of his mind. He still remembered watching the seemingly endless deaths, some of them looking at him with hatred for his voluntary association with the one responsible for their suffering. And few, a very few, looked up at him mere moments before they lost their lives, right to the end holding on to the non-existent hope that he would help save them.

Sasuke had not helped them. No one had come to their rescue.

He had made all kinds of excuses for himself. He wasn't strong enough to do anything, he would die with them if he interfered, the Sannin would refuse to train him.

For the victims, none of that mattered. They had died at the whim of a madman.

Just like his clan.

Death and power to take lives were no strangers to Sasuke, or any shinobi really. But they were to be used for a greater purpose, to protect the village, to protect those you loved. Shinobi slaughtered, tortured, and killed to protect those who could not protect themselves, so their loved ones might enjoy true peace and safety in their lives that the shinobi that brought it to them would never share.

At least, that was what was supposed to happen.

Itachi and Orochimaru had used their power for their own gain. All of the lives they took were for their own twisted, selfish designs that benefited no one but themselves. Orochimaru and Itachi would have served Konoha well if they had spent their talents furthering the prosperity of the village that birthed them, but they had not. Their power, intended to shield and protect those who could not defend themselves, had been turned against those that had needed and deserved their protection the most. It was a blasphemous perversion of what a shinobi was supposed to be and what they were supposed to do. Even now, almost ten years later, Sasuke could still feel the utter disbelief, the pain, of seeing Itachi repay the love Sasuke and his parents had for him by shoving his sword through his Father and Mother's hearts.

The Uchiha could hardly claim to deeply care for any of the prisoners he had freed, hell, he only knew two of them by name. But that didn't matter. Stonewall was more powerful than his victims were. He was using his power to enslave and abuse them so he could line his pockets, and Roman and Stonewall had the nerve to expect Sasuke to help them.

That was personal.

He had already betrayed everything he had stood for, everything he had hated Itachi for, when he had stood at the Snake Sannin's side while the man played God with the lives of others. He still was unsure which evil was greater; the evil of creating death and suffering, or the evil of being the one who sat back and did nothing to stop it.

Whether it was an excuse or not, Sasuke had been too weak to stand up for his beliefs for three years.

That time, however, was over.

He was no longer a fledgling Uchiha.

He was no longer too weak to do something about it.

"I spent three years of my life with a man like you," said Sasuke, his tone low and furious. "He didn't care about the harm or pain he was causing either- he saw everyone as either a tool to be used or as garbage to be thrown out, and I sat back and watched."

Sasuke looked at Stonewall with an expression of pure disgust, bringing his hand to his sword as he spoke his next words with pure venom.

"I am never going to be a part of that again."

Stonewall simply stared back for a moment before giving a small nod of understanding.

"An idealist, huh? I figured as much. Roman was right on the money with you."

Stonewall's gaze hardened, and he began advancing on the Uchiha again.

"Well too bad for you. It goes without saying that I can't have you leave and be a thorn in our side. Torchwick's boss has big plans for Vale, and if this is too much for you there's no way in hell you'll leave us be when we really get started."

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes, his mind racing at Stonewall's words.

'So I was right, Torchwick is working for someone'

It made sense, the fact that Roman never did anything with the Dust he stole except hide it by the truckload into warehouses spoke of a long-term agenda that had nothing to do with manipulating the Dust market or selling it for a profit windfall.

Fighting back a headache, the Uchiha was beginning to feel as though Junior and the Malachite's opinions of him being in over his head may have had some merit. He hadn't even known about Stonewall until a few days ago, and now there was an even larger player that by what little he knew was going to start shaking down the entire kingdom of Vale in short order.

Any further pondering was interrupted by the sound of Stonewall's footsteps thundering toward him as the man continued toward him at a brisk pace.

"But enough talk. We both know there is only one way this is settled."

Sasuke realized the man was activating whatever semblance he had when the sound of his next footstep, which had been loud enough so far to make his stealth-minded psyche grimace, hit the ground with a thud that sounded more like the footstep of an elephant that drowned out the sounds of the ex-prisoners all fleeing through the doorways as quickly as they could.

"Stonewall is just my nickname. Let me show you how I got it!"

Before his very eyes, Stonewall's skin began to darken. A shade of light gray at first, before shifting to ever darker shades that made the man look very much like a stone sculpture.

The next step the man took hit the floor even harder than the first, powerful enough to shake clouds of dust off of the surrounding structures.

The next step made small cracks in the floor.

The step after that left an actual footprint in the concrete.

Sasuke had been watching the man approach, almost curiously observing his semblance activate as the sounds of his footsteps grew exponentially louder with every stride. It was only when the Uchiha saw the man pull his arm back to throw a punch did he put it together.

A Semblance that increased one's own weight by over an order of magnitude in a matter of seconds. Enough mass to cave in solid rock with his weight alone.

That was what he was about to get punched with.

Quickly discarding the idea of blocking such a powerful attack, the Uchiha chose instead to sidestep it. Sasuke watched, honestly impressed, as the fist hit the wall behind him instead. The structure did not so much as break as it did shatter into countless fragments that themselves shot forward like a shotgun blast to blow away the second wall behind the first in a storm of gritty smoke and rubble.

Sasuke prepared a counterattack of his own, even as he gained a newfound respect for Stonewall's raw power. Even by his standards the force behind the blow was astounding.

He stepped forward quickly, his own arm raised up preparing a punch of his own as he ignored the screams and shouts of the ex-slaves around them that were now trying to run away from the oncoming fight in a panic.

Inwardly the Uchiha still did not consider Stonewall to be too difficult an opponent. His Semblance made it impossible to trap him with his wire, and a damn near death sentence to get hit with a solid blow from him, but it didn't make up for the fact that that man was as slow as a Tortoise. Every Hunter he had faced had possessed superhuman speed that untrained civilians would have no chance with keeping up with, but Stonewall had so far not moved with any such swiftness. It made sense; a semblance that increased his weight meant that any kind of speed was out of the question for him.

It was a crippling weakness; one so obvious that Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how the man had lived so long. Surely someone had been able to take advantage of it?

Sasuke's fist flew forward, straight at the man's exposed cheek.

The Uchiha's knuckles had barely made contact with the dark-grey skin of his target when he realized he had made a serious mistake.

Pain. Instant, burning pain flared in his hand as he punched what felt like an immovable, indestructible barrier. Sasuke's eyes widened, unable to completely mask his surprise or the agony in his hand as he hastily drew it back. Clenching his teeth, the Uchiha saw that bruises were already beginning to form on the areas he had struck. Every twitch of his fingers, every movement of his hand brought searing pain.

With a start, the Uchiha realized he had almost broken his hand with a single punch. Looking back at Stonewall, he became more astonished.

The man pulled his hand away from the walls he had shattered with not a care in the world. His face, which the Uchiha had struck with a not-insignificant fraction of his full strength, was as undamaged as if he had been struck by a charging butterfly. Even the man's head had refused to budge so much as a millimeter from the attack.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing had happened.

"What's wrong, kid?" Stonewall smirked, "Don't tell me you thought my Semblance was just making myself heavier?"

He shot a confident grin at the Uchiha, cracking his knuckles.

"Let me give you a little lesson about physics, kid. When you increase the mass of an object but do not change its volume, what else increases?"

Still flexing his hand to try and force the pain away, Sasuke realized the answer.

"Density" he grimaced.

"Bingo! Give the bright kid a prize!" Stonewall said in a mock cheer. "My Semblance is called Density Shift. I would tell you what it does, but…" he gave a knowing glance at Sasuke's hand, now sporting ugly purple bruises, "I think you've got the idea."

The Uchiha let out a huff of annoyance, though in his head he was far more concerned. He was still far faster than Stonewall, whose agility was glacial in comparison, but that was the only advantage he had.

He had actually heard of a jutsu like this in his own world. The Tsuchikage, he recalled, knew and Earth-style jutsu called the Weighted Boulder Jutsu that could increase or decrease the weight of a person or object at will. The man was supposedly extremely adept at it, but Sasuke had not heard of that jutsu increasing the density of its target as well.

There was no way to tell with any precision, but based on the force Sasuke had put into his punch and the complete absence of results from it Stonewall had increased his mass to more than that of an adult elephant.

Chakra reinforced body or not, a hit from that was going to do serious damage.

And the density… with such a high mass crammed into his relatively small body, Stonewall was now sporting a body that made reinforced steel look like cardboard.

In the back of his mind the Uchiha remembered that he recovered spent chakra at a snail's pace in this world; the main reason he had decided to not use any ability that would spend or waste his chakra except in an emergency.

'I'll try a few probing attacks, it's possible he has a weakness of some kind. Even with skin that tough, there's no way he can touch me if this is as fast as he can move'

Sasuke rushed forward, Kusanagi in a reverse grip as he swept past his charging opponent's fist to get to his unguarded side. He focused, applying his chakra to the blade to augment its cutting power.

He still held back, applying as much chakra as he could without wasting any. The results were going to be far less impressive than a Chidori Katana, but perhaps it would have some kind of effect.

He swung the blade straight at Stonewall's exposed neck, his chakra applied to the weapon like an invisible coating.

Kusanagi was almost forced from his hand as the momentum of the swing was stopped dead by the bare, gray skin with a sharp clang. Sasuke drew his sword back, his arm actually tingling from the shock of his attack abruptly rebounding off the nigh impenetrable hide.

His attack had bounced off.

Honed eyes zeroed their gaze at the small patch of Stonewall's skin he had just hit.

No effect. Not so much as a hairline scratch.

Sasuke furrowed his brow in annoyance as he leapt back to avoid a sluggish backhand, putting distance between him and his enemy.

"Did you just try to cut me?" Stonewall mocked, smirking as he brushed invisible dust from where the Uchiha had attempted to behead him. "I wasn't sure- I didn't feel much of anything. Maybe it was a mosquito?"

Sasuke had to quash a wave of indignation- it was the first time since his one-sided fight with Itachi his opponent had brushed him off as a non-threat. The fact that he knew he was holding back did nothing to blunt the sting to his ego.

Putting aside his emotions, the Uchiha realized his list of options for ending this fight without wasting chakra was rapidly shrinking. As of now they were at an effective stalemate. Stonewall was far too slow to hit him, and none of the Uchiha's attacks that he could perform while conserving chakra were going to do any damage.

Briefly Sasuke considered firing up a Chidori and just ending it, putting this scum in his place and continuing on his way. The next moment, however, he reigned in his short-sighted instinct. Chidori would almost certainly be enough to kill Stonewall with a single hit, but Sasuke's night was not going to end here. He still had to kill the rest of Stonewall's men outside, make his way back to Vale, find and kill Roman, possibly kill any other criminal low-lives Roman had teamed up with, and then make his way to an airship bound for Mistral.

And even if that all went his way, the very real possibility existed that the seal he eventually made to go home was going to need every drop of chakra he had. If he spent too much here or in any subsequent fights, he could theoretically be forced to wait years before leaving.

No, there was no point in taking a shortcut if it only lengthened the path he had to travel.

"You actually still think you can win?" said Stonewall, an incredulous look on his stone-grey face. "I can see it in your eyes- you still think you have a chance!"

He threw his head back a bit, chuckling lightly to himself.

"Most people I fight have lost hope by now. When you can't even damage your enemy, it doesn't take a genius to figure out how the fight will end."

Sasuke maintained his silent tongue, years of both natural habit and the good practice to not risk revealing information that could aid an enemy serving him well. Still, he was unable to stop an eager smirk from forming on his face. Despite Stonewall's ridiculous Semblance and his own massive handicap, the Uchiha couldn't help but feel hungry to continue.

Neo had no problem playing with prey weaker than her, but for Sasuke it was both a waste of time and a dishonor to his own power and skill to willfully pick fights he was destined to win. Taking the lives of Stonewall's men had been necessary, but that was not the same as enjoying it. He appreciated friendly spars with the likes of his heterochrome partner provided they could somewhat keep up, but he took no sick satisfaction in deciding to end a life on a mere whim because he could.

He was not Itachi.

Stonewall was different. He was a power-crazed sociopath, and he was no pushover. Here, at last, was an enemy on Remnant whose life was both corrupt and evil enough to not bother sparing, and was powerful enough to be worth his time.

"Oh, I know!"

The man stood in a relaxed pose, his lead-weighted limbs hanging loosely with a knowing grin on his face as he deciphered the Uchiha's thoughts in his mind.

"It's too easy! You think you're going to keep dancing around me with your speed?"

Stonewall crouched down slightly forty feet away as though he were a sprinter at the starting line waiting for the starting pistol to fire.

"There's no way this old fatass can hit me if he can't catch me," he continued with a mocking tone. "Is that what you're thinking?"

At this the Uchiha couldn't help the sensation of apprehensiveness from writhing in his gut. He had maintained his confidence with the knowledge that he had not yet played his full hand just yet. His enemy's choice of words, however, forced him to consider the possibility that he was not the only one with a surprise play.

"You dumb motherfucker; do you honestly believe you're the first person I've fought that hasn't thought of that?"

His movements still going at the same sluggish pace as before as he sprang forward, his feet leaving the ground with a thunderclap.

And then Stonewall's skin lightened, dark grey turning to a shade only a bit removed from his normal tone. He didn't run or dash forward- he flew.

In a fraction of a second Sasuke's eyes, honed by both his heritage and his training, followed Stonewall as the man crossed the distance between them in an almost literal flash.

The man's skin flashed back to dark grey, halting his inexplicable burst of movement as quickly as it started, his feet cratering the floor mere inches from the Uchiha's toes.

Stonewall was right in front of him.

Sasuke leapt back with a start, his battle-honed instincts taking over to get out of striking range of the fist aiming for his stomach that was mere inches away.

He wasn't quick enough. Stonewall's previous embarrassing show of speed had caused the Uchiha to commit a cardinal sin for a Shinobi- he had relaxed his guard.

The Uchiha tensed his abdomen, using every bit of chakra he could muster in such short notice to reinforce his body; and not a moment too soon. Stonewall's fist did not hit the Uchiha- it buried itself in his flesh.

Excruciating pain shot through his stomach, his abdominal muscles shocked and torn from the offending object stretching them to far beyond their natural limits, his internal organs unlucky enough to be in the way screaming in agony as they were forcibly misshapen and displaced. Air and spittle shot out of Sasuke's mouth like a geyser as the blow forcing his lungs to expel his breath.

The Uchiha's world became a blur; pain and nausea overwhelming his senses as he shot back like a missile. He flew through seven brick walls before making a crater in the eighth.

Half-embedded in the masonry, the Uchiha fought through his shock. He groaned, unable to suppress the absurd levels of pain his body was enduring. His gut felt like it had been torn in half, every muscle and organ of the region flooding his brain with sharp, nauseating pain that almost made his stomach empty its contents. He had still not completely regained his bearings, but that didn't mean the Uchiha didn't comprehend just how close to death he had come.

Sasuke had been punched many times in his life by powerful foes, but the blow he had just taken had set a record. Not even Naruto in his Tailed Beast Cloak form at the Final Valley had hit him this hard.

He had reinforced and toughened his flesh with his chakra, forgoing his concerns about efficiency and just pouring as much of his raw life energy as he could into his tissues. That was the reason; the only reason, he had survived. If he had acted a fraction of a second slower, or his opponent had been any faster, Stonewall's fist would have punched clean through his entire body.

He was fortunate that the warm sensation of heavy internal bleeding around the hit area was the worst damage he had taken.

And then there was the obvious question…

'How the hell did he just move that fast!?'

Sasuke had thought the man, by the very nature of his Semblance, would be unable to perform any kind of speed feats. But that dash, however he had done it, was comparable to his Teleportation Jutsu!

Physical hits stronger than any he had seen. Speed somehow almost as fast as his own. Invulnerable to physical blows or bladed weapons. Too heavy to force off his footing. Too strong for any hold to restrain.

Stonewall was powerful.

It was time to get serious. He still had a few ideas to try before he resorted to his chakra-hungry Chidori, but the time had come to stop using kid gloves.

'I hope Neo doesn't take too long finishing her opponents off outside' he thought to himself. 'This is one fight I just might need some help with'

---

Miles away, far removed from the battle taking place, was a far more tranquil setting. For the nocturnal inhabitants of the surrounding forest, it was a night just like any other. Crickets chirped beneath the leaf litter, the soft hooting of owls were occasionally heard, and the high-pitched squeaks of bats filled the forest with a beautiful symphony that went unheard by the daytime creatures currently slumbering.

Had those been the only sounds to be heard in the forest, any human would find themselves at a comfortable ease, the choir of the night a relaxing symphony to their ears. Any rational human, however, would want to be anywhere other than the forest at night when the sounds of its other inhabitants were heard.

The low rumble of a Beowolf's breath, the pounding of the earth beneath the massive weight of passing Ursai, the loud clicks of Deathstalkers passively snapping their pincers, and the occasional shrill cawing of Nevermores. Even the patient, lumbering Goliath herds had made their way here, their colossal bulk blotting out the stars behind them for anything caught beneath their massive shadows. Amongst the dark foliage and the small beams of moonlight, an army of thousands of the creatures of Grimm had loosely assembled across the miles upon miles of woodlands.

Any human would rightly be terrified at the prospect of being anywhere remotely close to such a gathering of malice and destruction. At the moment, however, there was nothing threatening about them. They had always ignored any wildlife around them, passing them by as though they were invisible. Sleep and rest were foreign and unnecessary functions for Grimm, so even out in the wilderness the creatures still never rested. They slowly wandering until the picked up the scent of fear, spite, or hate from their mortal enemies.

Lately, however, any human observer would have witnessed an unthinkable sight- Grimm sitting down on the ground, resting. Grimm had no need for sleep, but even when they weren't attacking humanity they never stopped moving. Never ceased their search for blood in the water.

Now, however, much had changed.

Their instincts were the same as they had been for ages past- destroy, kill, annihilate humanity. Said instincts were, however, overwhelmed by a stronger instinct- obey their Master.

And their Master, their superior of unrivaled power, had made his desire clear to the countless hordes that followed him.

Hide. Wait. Do not kill.

If Grimm had been capable of coherent thought they would have found such desires abominable; a betrayal of their basic nature and purpose. But the creatures did not possess higher comprehension, so they did as they were told, and waited. They avoided humans when possible, and ignored the dark pang of hunger that demanded death and destruction when they felt their sorrow or fear.

And so, they sat. They waited. For what they did not know.

Then, by a silent cue, the creatures of Grimm in the forest, large and small, all snapped their heads towards a single point on the dark horizon. Their dark limbs and muscles, which moments before had been relaxed and eased, now cracked and tensed with purpose.

Their Master- his thoughts were no longer of peace.

Hard hit. Pain. Tough fight.

What was once a mere large gathering of Grimm, all merely resting or wandering on their own whim, had in a split second transformed. They were no longer individuals; they were an army. Black bodies as dark as night rose in unison, ready to stand, sprint, or anything in between. Blood red eyes, thousands of them, gazed at their shared focal point on the horizon.

Their Master was there. He was fighting.

They were ready to kill; to slaughter all humanity and their creations that stood in their way. They just needed the word.

One fight. Might need help.

An explosion of ground-trembling noise shattered the quiet of the night was shattered in an instant. From the roar of Ursai and Beowolves to the earth rumbling trumpets of Goliaths and everything in between, every Grimm gave a deafening battle cry that echoed across the land.

Then they charged.

The Nevermores flew ahead, a few of the more intelligent ones gathering more modestly-sized Beowolves in their talons to bring to the coming battle. On the ground, the forest was wiped clean as the stampede of creatures rushed forward at full speed at reckless abandon. There was no time to go around obstacles- they had to get to their Master.

They ignored the trees and brush in their path. They ignored the nocturnal animal life desperately trying to flee from their relentless march.

They even ignored a small group of Huntsmen and Huntresses out on night patrol- the pitiful creatures firing their weapons into the veritable tsunami of raw power and malice that was sweeping toward them. The humans were lucky; fortunate enough to clamor onto a large boulder not in the path of a Goliath that saved them from being crushed underfoot of the stampede.

The Grimm could have scaled the rock easily, overwhelming the humans and slaughtering them in seconds. But there was no time for that. Even as the Hunters, bewildered by the Grimm's sudden flight and ignorance of their presence, brought their weapons to bear on the passing Grimm. Despite killing and wounding many who passed, not a single one so much as slowed down to destroy their historic enemy.

The Grimm had no true conscious mind or thoughts as humans did; but they had instincts in spades. And their instincts were all screaming the same thing.

Get to the Alpha.

Help him.

Ignore everything else.

Just. Keep. Moving.

Their initial panic beginning to fade, the Hunters took note of the Grimm's direction with alarm.

They were headed North, straight for Vale.

One member of their squad ceased firing his weapon long enough to call in the magnitude and location of the coming Grimm attack to the Command-and-Control of the Grimm Watch of Vale.

The Grimm Watch was a well-oiled machine tempered by veteran staff and officers and battle-tested countless times. It took less than five minutes to organize a response to the massive Grimm attack from the South. On-duty night shift Hunters, along with two Companies of Vale's Army were alerted and called to their airship docks to be sent out to meet the coming threat.

The Huntsmen, Huntresses, and troops had not even begun to board their transport airships when another call came in. A large formation of Grimm, spotted by an outpost, coming through one of the Mountain Passes from the East to Vale at speed.

Before last of the on-duty forces were called up, another alert was called in.

The on-duty officer handling said alert had barely given the coordinates of the latest mass of Grimm to his commanding officer when another alert was sounded.

And another.

And another.

And another.

Minutes later the men and women at Command-and-Control had faces that were bleached white and uniforms soaked with cold sweat.

Masses of Grimm, tens of thousands of them, were sprinting, flying, and swimming to Vale at top speed from all directions. Even on the coastal sea to the West, too shallow and too full of jagged coral for any large Grimm to traverse, the Valerian Navy had sighted and was now engaging schools of small and modest-sized aquatic Grimm swimming toward the Kingdom at full speed.

This was not a Grimm attack. It was a Blitzkrieg.

The two top officers present, realizing the scale of what they were facing, gave each other a nod of apprehensive understanding.

The senior commander went to the central computer's main terminal, briefly pausing to order his subordinates to contact every active, every off-duty, and every reserve unit of Vale's Armed Forces and send them to their battle stations. He then retrieved a set of red keys from his pocket. He used the keys to open a small panel on the Master Control on the main terminal, revealing a small dial, as well as a large, red button.

He turned the dial to its highest setting, and he pushed the button.

Across the city of Vale, warning sirens sprang to life, their ear-splitting wails ringing through the streets and rudely awakening slumbering souls. On the rooftop of one particular building in Vale, Ruby Rose and Glynda Goodwitch covered their ears from the painful noise even as Roman Torchwick jumped onto a hijacked airship to make his escape.

The sirens softened their wails after a few moments before a pre-programmed voice echoed through the city.

ALERT. INCOMING GRIMM ATTACK. THREAT LEVEL TEN. PLEASE SEEK SHELTER IN A CALM AND ORDERLY MANNER.

---

AN: Hope you all like Stonewall so far- for those of you who are curious he's partially based on the villain 'Heavyman' in the Static Shock cartoon (Holy crap that show was fucking gold; I miss it so much!).

Speaking of which I do owe a shoutout to Fortitude501 for coming up with the name 'Stonewall' for him- thanks again!