Krasnaya 25: Imperfect Copies

"And in other news, Lazer Corp enjoyed a twenty point rise in the stock market after last week's release of the L-Scroll. When asked about his next project, CEO Lyle Laser had this to say…"

"While it is our pleasure at Lazer Corp to provide new methods to improve daily life for the public, I believe I'm ready to venture into more challenging campaigns. Lately, I've considered trying my hand at military hardware."

"You heard it here first, folks; corporate mongol Lyle Lazer has officially announced his entry into the weapons business. Lazer is one of the youngest men from the kingdom of Vale to -"

Commissioner Maroon turned off her radio as she pulled into the NRPD parking lot. As she entered the building, she passed two of her officers as they struggled to imprison a felon.

"You can't do this to me! I'm innocent!" The captive screamed.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say."

Taking note of this, Maroon finished her cup of coffee and threw away the cup before she passed Detective Neon's desk. "Sam, walk with me."

"Yes, ma'am." Sam got up from his seat and followed the commissioner into her office. Once Jane sat down, she pulled a pack of nicotine gum out from her coat pocket and offered a piece to him. "No, thank you."

Jane shrugged as unwrapped the piece for herself. "Boris is paranoid about my health. Made me promise to quit smoking if I lasted more than six months as commissioner." She explained. "Now, what was all that about?"

"Oh, the screamer?" Neon asked, motioning behind him. "Yeah, he was caught shoplifting at a local mall earlier this morning. I was about to double check the surveillance footage for the trial."

"Could I take a look?" Jane asked.

"Certainly. I'll go get the tape." Neon nodded.

A few minutes later, after reviewing the footage, the commissioner spotted something that caught her eye. "Huh, that's odd."

"What is?"

"According to these security cameras, our suspect was supposedly in two places in the mall at the exact same time."

"How is that possible? They have a twin or something like that?"

"Not according to the files that are available to us. As for how it's possible, it shouldn't be, which means that there's more to this situation than we originally thought."

"So what do we do?"

"First we let the suspect know the situation and promise that he'll be released when the real thief has been caught. If he asks why we don't just let him go now, tell him that he could become a target if his look-alike suspects anything. After that, we bring in… her."

Meanwhile, Cyan Robin angrily tugged at the uncomfortable straps of her new training bra as she made her way to the library where her boyfriend worked. Once she arrived, she spotted Boris quietly doing his homework at the check-out desk while a familiar boy read a book in the seat next to him.

"Cyan, you remember Cassian, right?"

Cassian looked up from his book and politely waved at the robin Faunus.

Cyan waved back as she took a seat. "I thought tonight was tutoring night?"

"Yeah, sorry. His sister asked me to watch him at the last minute. Apparently, she's got an interview for a new job, and then a…" Boris cupped his hands over the mute boy's ears. "... booty call."

While Cassian was confused by the sudden action, Cyan merely blushed, lightly.

"Excuse me." A patron whispered. "I'm looking for a copy of 'The Girl in the Tower.' Do you know where I can find it?"

"Of course, ma'am. Follow me." Boris left to attend to the client, leaving Cyan and Cassian alone together.

"So, Boris mentioned that your sister has a…date later tonight," Cyan tactfully remarked, recalling what her boyfriend had said/done earlier, "If you don't mind my asking, who's the lucky guy…or girl? …what's your sister's preference again?"

Cassian smirked here. {"She's straight, and as for who she's currently dating, his name is Jacob Mahogany. I've actually met him: he seems nice, if a bit…catty, for lack of a better term."}

"...I'm going to let that pass, but just so you know, Holly would likely not like that description, what with how her 'father' is a cat faunus."

Cassian - having been informed of who Holly was by Boris prior to this point - merely blinked upon hearing this. {"I'll keep that in mind, though if you don't mind my asking, why does it sound like you put 'father' in quotation marks?"}

Cyan simply let out a chuckle, getting the gist of what the young boy was asking despite her knowledge of sign language being a bit rusty. "Right, I forgot you haven't met her yet. For now let's just say that Holly's situation with her family is rather…unique and leave it at that."

{"Well, anyway, he seems okay. Even if he is a bit weird."}

Cassian thought back to a couple weeks ago when he first met his sister's boyfriend. He had woken up to get a glass of water when he heard the tumblers to the door. When the door swung open, however, the silhouette did not match his sister's. Acting on instinct, Cassian attacked the intruder with a flying kick. But the stranger quickly blocked the kick and pushed him back. Cassian tried to hit him in the stomach, but the intruder blocked that, too. It seemed like no matter what he threw at this man, he could counter it.

"Both of you! Stop! Right now!" Cynthia called out as she turned on the light.

Cassian flinched at the sudden brightness before his vision focused on who he had been fighting. It was a man around Cynthia's age, of Eastern origin, with dark hair, brown eyes, and an excited grin that spread from ear-to-ear.

"Woo! Yeah! That felt good, little man!" The stranger cheered, adding on to Cassian's confusion. "Get some blood pumpin', y'know?! I can't tell you how boring it gets in my dad's dojo. 'Jacob! Stay focused! Jacob! Stop fighting strangers on the streets! Jacob! The Karate Kid is just a movie! You'll never get revenge on your high school bully!' But that was fun, little man! You're fun, dude"

While Cynthia pinched the bridge of her brow in annoyance, Cassian grabbed a vase off of the nightstand and wielded it as a blunt weapon.

The stranger threw his hands up, defensively, still smiling. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's with the aggression?" He asked, innocently. "I thought after our little sparring match, we were boys. What? Were you gonna hit me?"

Cassian frowned, angrily, and nodded.

The stranger finally stopped smiling. "It's like that, huh?" He reached into the back of his pants, pulled out a gun, and aimed it directly at the boy's face. Cynthia was about to shout at him to put it down and Cassian to calm down, but as the man saw the unwavering fearlessness in the boy, his smile returned. "Mmm, tough guy. I like that. I like it a lot." He quipped as he holstered the gun and crossed his arms in respect.

{"Cynthia, do you know this punk?"}

The man blinked in confusion before turning to the woman. "What'd he say?"

Cynthia sighed. "He wants to know who you are."

"Ah. Don't worry, little dude, I'm one of your sister's homies! The name's Jacob Mahogany!" He held out his arm for a fist-bump, but Cassian just glared. "C'mon… gimme - gimme a little tap. Gimme a little tap."

Cassian glanced towards his sister, who silently begged him to just humor her friend. Reluctantly, Cassian set down the vase and bumped his fist against Jacob's.

"There ya go! Now, we're friends!" Jacob nodded, happily.

Cynthia knelt down in front of her brother. "Sorry, I meant to text you, but I guess I forgot to tell you I was bringing him over."

{"So he's on the level?"} Cassian asked, wanting to be completely sure the man wasn't a threat.

Cynthia chuckled, lightly. "Yeah, he's cool. We're just… work friends."

Jacob scoffed in offense "'Work friends?!' I've been inside you!"

{"And then Cynthia sent me back to bed."} Cassian shrugged. {"After that, she invited him back for dinner so she could properly introduce him."}

"That's cool: any further issues with communication between you two?"

{"Nah, he's started taking sign language classes to try and bridge the gap between us in that regard, and Cynthia does her best to translate when he hits a barrier in that regard."} Cassian remarked with a light shrug.

"Good to know."

Just then, Boris returned and helped the patron check out their book. Then, he noticed Cassian had finished his own book. "So, pretty good story, huh?" Cassian nodded, signing his favorite parts. "Y'know, if you take that one back to the shelf, I'll get a library card made for you so you can check out the next in the saga."

Cassian happily made his way towards the shelf, eager to see how the story continued.

Cyan smiled as Cassian walked off to find the book. "Y'know, you're really good with kids." She remarked to Boris. "You'll be a great dad someday."

Boris smirked and arched a teasing eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"

Cyan, upon realizing exactly what she'd just said and what it implied, blushed furiously. "I-I mean, not necessarily with me! Just, like, in general!"

"Shhh!" The other library patrons whispered, irritably.

Boris leaned closer to his girlfriend. "Let's hold off on that kind of thinking until we're a little older, 'kay?"

Cyan, still blushing, just nodded and pulled her hoodie over her head as she slumped down to the floor.

Cassian returned shortly after. {"What happened?"} He signed, confused.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Boris immediately called out.

Back at the NRPD headquarters, Commissioner Maroon had turned on the Red-Signal and puffed on her pipe as she patiently waited for her allies. A few moments later, a swarm of rose petals spiraled over the roof as the Grimm Reaper arrived, followed by the stealthy appearance of Krasnaya. Ruby removed the skull mask from her face as she approached her companions.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Mrs. Rose." Jane nodded as she handed the files to the huntress and vigilante. "Multiple reports have been popping up about random citizens seemingly committing crimes despite having perfect alibis."

Ruby glared at the photos. "It's him." She sneered.

Krasnaya immediately took notice of her tone. "What exactly are we dealing with here?"

"A rogue Doppelganger who has unparalleled shapeshifting capabilities," Ruby called out with an unreadable expression. "One who has been a thorn in my side for quite some time now due in no small part to how easily he can slip into a crowd or even into a nearby sewer system before I'm able to catch him with my Silver Eyes. Even with my newfound speed, this shisno has proven to truly be the white whale to my Captain Ahab."

"Who exactly is he then?"

"He was born with the name Illusion, but recently the Shadow Alliance have begun to give him a different moniker: Master Mold," Ruby declared, hatred clear in her voice, showing just how much this particular Doppelganger had vexed her.

"That's all well and good, but that doesn't explain why he's hoping to achieve here," Jane felt the need to point out.

"To prove a point," Ruby remarked. "He firmly believes that humanity will gladly turn on one another at even the smallest provocation, and as such, his standard plan is to cause as much chaos as possible and wait for the city to tear itself apart over the perceived betrayals and/or injustice seemingly being committed by its own residents. He doesn't even care about the things that he's stolen, just the reaction that said robberies will invoke…and yes, I did say robberies as in plural as if I know him, and I like to think that I do, this isn't the first or last time that we'll run into him while he's in the city: not by a long shot."

Krasnaya rubbed her chin as she considered their options. If this Master Mold was such a perfect shapeshifter as Ruby described, that meant anyone could be compromised at any moment. Identifying him would be difficult all on its own; nevermind capturing him. There were a few ideas on how to spot him, but there were many variables to consider for each. Thankfully, she remembered that she still had a sample of Charr Coal's doppelganger-infused DNA back at the lab. And it might tell her everything she needed to know.

"So, what are we going to do about-" Jane turned around to see Krasnaya had already left.

Ruby, likewise, did a double-take as she noticed her friend had seemingly vanished. "Oh, wow… she just… she just left, huh? That's rude."

Jane shook her head in annoyance as the Grimm Reaper also disappeared in another storm of rose petals. The Commissioner sighed and made her way back to her squad car. As she slowly walked down the stairs, she leaned over to her radio for an announcement.

"This is Commissioner Maroon to all officers, Ruby Rose and the Krasnaya are currently helping us with an investigation regarding a rogue doppelganger. Until further notice, I want everyone to work solely in pairs. And everyone watch who you're with… real close."

Eventually, Jane made it to the garage where her car was parked and fished for her keys in her coat pocket. But just as she unlocked the door, she heard something from the other side of the lot. Carefully drawing her pistol, she kept her eyes peeled for anyone.

Meanwhile, Boris was on his way home with Cassian in tow when the communicator Krasnaya gave him went off.

Cassian's eyes sparkled in delight. {"Is it Krasnaya stuff?"}

"Yeah. Must be important." Boris reached into his backpack for both the communicator and his voice-distortion device. "What's up, red?"

"Magenta? It's me, Azure. We've got a serious emergency on our hands." The Girl Wonder called out.

"What kind of emergency?"

"Well, imagine the worst possible scenario that could ever happen."

Boris winked at Cassian. "Well, my mind is just racing with ideas. But I don't want to say something really exciting only for you to act all deflated and be like 'no, no, someone else just got the same kind of shoes as me.' So why don't you just tell me what's wrong?"

"Okay, smart-ass." Azure scoffed over the radio while the boys chuckled. "Gods, I can't believe I used to find you attractive. Anyway, Krasnaya just got out of a meeting with Commissioner Maroon and Ruby Rose. Apparently, there's a rogue doppelganger running around New Rushland. And he can make himself look like anyone. Boss-lady says she needs all hands on deck for this one."

"Alright, let me just drop off a friend and I'll catch up."

Once Boris hung up, Cassian eagerly tugged at Boris' sweater sleeve. {"Can I come? I can help!"}

"Sorry, bud. Not this time." Boris frowned as his friend pouted and crossed his arms. "Hey, last time was different. You were trying to save your sister. Now, I need you back home to keep your sister safe from this doppelganger guy."

Cassian just sighed in response. {"Okay, but don't be afraid to contact me if you need my help."}

"You got it, Tranquil."

Cassian couldn't help but blink here. {"Tranquil?"}

"Yeah, it's a new codename I thought up for you after our last adventure together. I hope you don't mind."

{"No, no, it's fine: I actually kind of like it,"} Cassian declared with a grin. {"At least it's something until I get my own costume."}

"Don't push it." Boris remarked as they arrived at his apartment. "I just gotta grab my gear and then I'll drop you off at your sister's."

A few minutes later, they arrived at Cassian's apartment where the mute boy immediately jumped up and hugged his sister. "Aw, I missed you too, Cass." Cynthia smiled as she hugged her brother tightly.

At the same time, Jacob sighed with a melancholy grin while he prepared dinner in the kitchen. "Aw, maybe someday my little brother will love me like that."

"Ah, that must be that Jacob fellow that Cassian was telling me and Cyan about," Boris remarked with a grin of his own. "Hopefully things went well on your end of things."

"Still waiting for news on how well my interview was received, but other than that, there weren't any complaints on my end of things," Cynthia declared before she set her brother down on the couch and reached into her pocket for her wallet. "Thanks again, Boris." She handed him a twenty-lien bill.

"So, you're Boris," Jacob declared as he came over with a grin. "Nice to put a face to the name: Cassian and Cynthia have told me a lot about you."

"Good things, I hope," Boris remarked with a smirk.

"Definitely, though they forgot to mention how much of a snack you were."

"I…I'm sorry?" Boris called out with a startled blink.

"Oh, nothing too complicated: just commenting on how you're so cute that I could just gobble you up," Jacob said with a flirty wink.

Boris merely blushes even as he turned to look at Cassian. "I thought you said that they were both straight!"

{"No, I said that my sister was straight: you and Cyan never asked me what Jacob's orientation was like."} Cassian declared with a roll of his eyes. {"Not to mention that I did describe Jacob as being a bit catty."}

"Meow," Jacob jokingly remarked in response with another deliberate wink.

"Uh, that's nice and all, but I don't swing that way," Boris delicately called out.

"Fair enough," Jacob said with a shrug. "Though for the record, just because Cynthia is straight doesn't mean that we aren't open to some…experimentation if you ever feel up to it."

"I...I need an adult." Boris remarked with an uneasy expression on his face.

"I am an adult," Jacob readily replied with a smirk.

"Jacob, please stop flirting with my little brother's friend who is clearly underage." Cynthia called from the other room.

"Aw, don't be jealous, babe. I was just teasing." Jacob snorted. "If I was any crazier about you, my name would be 'Jacob Monogamy.'"

"Hm, you're lucky you're cute." Cynthia huffed with a light smile.

"Rawr." Jacob purred.

"Alright, see you later, Cassian!" Boris shouted as he hastily rushed out of the apartment. Although he kept his costume in his backpack at all times, he was low on the non-lethal adhesive Krasnaya taught him how to make for trapping criminals. Once he had the formula figured out, he could easily synthesize it at home without his mother noticing. Speaking of his mother, she was in the middle of preparing dinner when he arrived.

"You alright, son?" Jane couldn't help but ask, apparently noticing the state that Boris was currently in.

"I'm okay: I just ran into Cynthia's boyfriend earlier and, well, let's just say that he's very open in regards to his sexuality, and that I'll be needing to take a shower later tonight."

"Hot or cold?"

"I…don't…know," Boris called out with a whine even as he buried his blushing face into his hands.

Jane just came over and patted Boris on the back in support here. "Easy, just let it all out: everyone has to deal with this sort of thing at least once in their lifetime."

"Even you?"

Jane just snorted here. "Let's just say that this isn't the first time I've seen this sort of thing in my line of work and likely won't be the last either."

A knock at the door drew Boris' attention. He answered to see a familiar mute child in the hallway.

Boris frowned. "Cassian, I told you, I don't need help."

{"But you do need your mask."} Cassian signed as he held up the fabric. {"You must have dropped it at my apartment. You're lucky my sister didn't see it. For some reason, she's got a grudge against Magenta."}

Boris blushed from embarrassment as he hastily grabbed the mask and shoved it into his coat pocket. "I, uh… I can think of one good reason." He muttered, thinking of the first time he met Cynthia as Magenta.

"Who is it, Boris?" Jane called out from the kitchen.

"Uh, it's just Cassian, mom." Boris called back. "I forgot some homework at his place. He came to bring it back. I'm gonna walk him back home now."

"Aw, that's so cute." Jane beamed. "I was always afraid you'd never get to be a big brother."

"Aw, mom." Boris shook his head in bemusement.

"Sorry, I just can't help it when I see how sweet you are with that kid." Jane gushed. "It's like I always say, Boris; you're gonna make a great cop one day."

Boris felt a chill run up his spine. Ever since his father's death, his mother had gone to great lengths to ensure that he never had anything to do with law enforcement. But a shapeshifter who had just recently taken over her identity wouldn't have known that. Swallowing hard while keeping Cassian in sight, he decided to put his theory to a test.

"S-so, uh, mom…?" Boris called out, earning the commissioner's attention once again. "I was just wondering, are we still on for dad's birthday dinner?"

Jane pouted and crossed her arms. "Boris, you didn't think I'd forgotten, did you? Dinner's in two weeks, you and me, Mama Magnifica's Pasta Emporium."

Boris internally sighed in relief. "Okay. Thanks, mom. C'mon, Cassian, I'll take you home."

Once the two young humans were gone, "Jane" smirked to herself as she opened the closet door to hang up her apron. Her face shifted back into Master Mold's as he knelt down in front of the real Jane Maroon, gagged and bound on the closet floor. He also looked up at the calendar where the aforementioned birthday celebration was marked along with all of the details. He pulled the gag out from Maroon's mouth.

"Your son was this close to getting himself killed, commissioner." He chuckled.

"If you so much as touch him, I'll-!"

Master Mold laughed. "Relax, I'm yanking your chain. I've got no interest in you or your son. As long as neither of you do anything stupid, and I get to fulfill my plan, you've got nothing to worry about."

The doppelganger placed the gag back in Maroon's mouth and shut the door.

Meanwhile, back at Krasnaya's lab, the Crimson Crusader was dutifully reviewing the data from Coalface's case. Despite the fact that the infusion hadn't stripped Charr of his aura, his DNA sample contained enough traces of doppelganger genes. Hopefully that would help her find the chink in Master Mold's armor.

"You know if you wanted information on how to identify doppelgangers in disguise, you could have just asked."

Krasnaya couldn't help but chuckle as she looked up from her work to a corner of the room where Ruby was sitting while studying a map with points of interest marked in hopes of finding a pattern in Master Mold's movements. "I could, but like it or not, I can't always rely on you to take out any rogue doppelgangers that show up in my city, so I need to be ready to be self-sufficient if and when the need arises like it kind of does right now."

"Fair enough, though I should warn you that even if you do figure out the weaknesses that I'm already aware of, Master Mold has learned how to compensate for said weaknesses, which is at least part of the reason that I still have yet to catch him," Ruby said with a nod. "For example, the one time I had brought in some thermal goggles to take advantage of the difference in body temperature he arranged for the building to be warmer than usual, thus obscuring his natural body heat."

"I'll keep that in mind," Krasnaya remarked, already making a mental note to add thermal imaging to his mask to make identifying the rogue doppelganger at least slightly easier. "Thanks again for helping with my investigation, by the way."

"Don't even mention it," Ruby declared with a neutral expression. "Once I knew who I was dealing with, I'd be helping out here with or without your permission."

"That reminds me: are you doing okay?" Krasnaya couldn't help but ask. "I know better than most that it can't be easy dealing with someone who knows exactly which buttons to push to rattle you, and you were the one to point out that we need to remember what's important in times like this."

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten," Ruby reassured with a light smile. Suddenly, she remembered something. "Y'know, I think Team CFVY ran into Mold once. Maybe they know something we don't."

"About as good of a lead as any, I suppose," Krasnaya said with a shrug. She inserted her scroll into the computer and called Yatsuhashi Daichi.

"Ruby! Svetlana! What a pleasant surprise!" Yatsuhashi smiled as he answered the scroll. "And just in time! My team and I have been pretty low on pleasure lately. Wait! No, I mean - ugh…"

"Are you okay, Yatsuhashi?" Ruby asked.

"Uh, yeah… Coco, Velvet, and I just… we sorta recently realized that sometimes, the things we say sound a little inappropriate out of context."

Ruby and Svetlana shared a sideways glance with each other.

"What? No." Ruby scoffed, dismissively.

"Yeah, that's nonsense." Svetlana agreed before clearing her throat. "Yatsuhashi, we need information about a rogue doppelganger calling himself Master Mold. Did your team encounter him?"

"Well, I didn't. But the others did! I can get Coco and Velvet to come - urk! - I-I mean, I can have them come over here and talk to you. Hey, guys! Ruby and Svetlana are calling!"

A few seconds later, the fashionable team arrived in view of the screen.

"G'day, Rubes!" Velvet smiled.

"Hey, Little Red!" Coco tilted her glasses down to wink. "'Sup, Big Red?"

"Hi, guys!" Fox waved.

"Fox? You seriously kept that pink armor?" Ruby giggled.

"It's lightish-red." The blind huntsman insisted, irritably.

"Thanks for answering, Coco." Krasnaya called out. "So what did you guys learn about Master Mold when you fought him?"

"Not much. It all happened so fast." Coco lamented. "I thought I could take him, but he got a hold of some super-weapon and tore up my insides - uh, wait! No! I mean, he blew out my backside and - ugh! Damn it, this is hard!"

"It's fine." Fox chuckled and patted his leader on the shoulder. "At least you guys are catching it, now."

"Moving on." Krasnaya rolled her eyes. "Velvet, do you have anything to share?"

The rabbit Faunus shook her head. "Nope. Sorry. With me, he turned that weapon into a massive sword and slammed me deep in the throat."

Krasnaya, Ruby, Coco, Fox, and Yatsuhashi all paused to stare at their friend/partner.

"What? I did that one on purpose." She giggled, playfully. "I'm a rabbit Faunus. I'm horny as hell."

"This is pointless." Krasnaya muttered as she prepared to hang up.

"Brain waves!" Fox suddenly shouted.

"What?"

"When I tried to use my telepathy on Master Mold, I noticed an anomaly in his brain waves that didn't match up with any humans or Faunus. Maybe that could help?"

Here Ruby blinked. "You know, I never did check on that during my previous fights with Master Mold, nor did that sort of thing come up in any of my meetings with the Shadow Alliance: might be something to look into if nothing else."

"Would be hard to test though," Fox felt the need to point out.

"Not exactly," Ruby teasingly remarked as she held up her own scroll. "Don't forget that Holly, my niece, is biologically half-doppelganger and that I'm on good terms with the leaders of the Shadow Alliance. Shouldn't take more than an hour or two to set up the appropriate examinations."

"A bit on the slow side, but I'll take whatever help I can get," Krasnaya replied.

"Great! Glad I could help!" Fox beamed.

Once Team CFVY hung up, Svetlana searched through the New Rushland criminal database to see if there were any MRI scans of doppelganger criminals on file. Thankfully, she found a match that would allow her to study the brainwaves Fox had mentioned. Shockingly enough, the information she gathered suggested that a doppelganger with shapeshifting abilities as advanced as Master Mold's could emit a special brain wave frequency that alters the molecular structure of a certain type of metal, making its appearance just as mercurial as the wielder.

Ruby pinched her brow in annoyance. "Y'know, I'm really starting to miss the days when the weirdest thing I had to deal with was that I'm technically only fifty-percent related to my own sister."

Krasnaya merely patted her friend on the back in comfort. "Well, we'd better get started. I'll brief Azure if you want to run off and pick up Magenta."

"On it." Ruby nodded before speeding off. Her silver eyes enhanced her semblance to allow her to travel down the streets at fantastic speeds. In mere seconds, she arrived at the Maroon apartment and knocked on the door.

Boris was the one who answered, and his jaw went slack. "Oh, my… Ruby Rose is at my apartment."

Ruby smiled. "Can I come in?"

"Y-yes! Yes, please!" Boris happily invited her in. "Mom, it's Ruby Rose!"

"Wait, what?!" the disguised Doppelganger called out, having not expected to run into her so soon before remembering that he was still in disguise. "I…I mean, Mrs. Rose: I hadn't anticipated that you'd be showing up here so soon."

"Well seeing how you were the one to call me in, you should have at least anticipated that I'd be swinging by sooner or later," Ruby called out with a teasing grin. "Anyways, I was just letting you know that we've made a breakthrough in the case and that I was tasked with making sure that you and your son were safely escorted to the police station for the briefing: can't be too careful with Master Mold running around."

"Indeed," the disguised Master Mold replied with a hidden grin, enjoying the irony of how the Grimm Reaper was indirectly aiding him without even realizing it. The antagonist carefully made his way back to the kitchen to prepare a cup of milk, discreetly adding a few drops of poison. "Here, have a drink while you're here."

"Oh, thank you!" Ruby smiled as she accepted the glass, but as she lifted it to her lips, her nose wrinkled. "Wait a minute…"

"Jane" gulped, quietly. "Y-yes?"

Ruby pointed to the glass. "Is this two-percent or skim?"

"It's soy." Boris corrected. "Mom's lactose-intolerant."

"Mmm, then I'm sorry, but I'll just have a bottle of water or something." Ruby hummed in disappointment as she set the glass down.

Master Mold internally cursed his luck as he put on a false smile. But he still had a chance to poison his enemy. "Of course, Mrs. Rose. In fact, you can have my drink. It's just plain water. Boris, be a dear and hand me my mug."

"Sure." The part-time librarian grabbed the mug, but paused once he inspected how dirty it was. "Ah, yuck: how could you stand to drink from this mug, Mom?! It's positively covered in some sort of black dust!"

"Hey, I don't complain about the state of your room!"

"Uh, yes you do."

"...right: I'll need to remember to wash that mug later."

Ruby narrowed her eyes upon overhearing the conversation between Boris and his mother, glancing back at the glass of milk before walking over to the pair. "Pardon me for interrupting, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation: did your son just say that there was some dust on that mug of yours Commissioner?"

"Uh, yeah: why?"

"Well that's interesting, as that's the one of the few flaws that I've found in Master Mold's disguises: over time, if he poses as someone for long enough, he always leaves behind a dusty residue on the things he's been using."

"Wait, what?!" Boris called out. "But that's impossible! That can't be Master Mold! She knew about my dad's dinner party and everything!"

Ruby simply looked at the boy with a sympathetic look before adopting what appeared to be a supportive smile. "I suppose that there's always a chance that I might be wrong, and in the meantime, that wasn't the only reason I came over here. I also wanted to confirm that your mother got my request to inspect the station's armory to see if they could deal with Doppelgangers if more showed up."

"Well of course I did," the Commissioner readily replied. "And while it's a reasonable prospect, I'll be needing to speak to the higher ups about it before I can finalize anything."

"Perfectly reasonable, except for one thing," Ruby declared as she quickly used her Semblance to get Boris to a safe distance and pointed her Crescent Rose at the supposed Commissioner. "I made that request last month and already did that inspection, but you wouldn't know that, as it was kept off the records, isn't that right, Master Mold?"

The disguised Doppelganger merely chuckled in response to this. "Very clever, Grimm Reaper, but not clever enough."

And that was all the warning anyone got before Master Mold used his stolen pistol to take out the lights and make a run for it while everyone's eyesight was obscured. In a state of pure rage, Ruby grabbed the glass she'd almost drank from and rushed after the doppelganger. She jumped on his back, wrapped one arm around his neck, and tried to force him to drink the contents.

"DRINK IT! DRINK IT, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She screamed.

Master Mold kept his mouth shut as the cool liquid poured around his mouth until he finally reached behind him and threw the huntress off of his back. "Are you out of your mind?!" He coughed.

"Die!" Ruby screamed, drawing Crescent Rose and opening fire.

Master Mold converted his own weapon into a shield, causing the impact of the blast to throw him out of a nearby window. The other apartment tenant's entered the hallway to see what the commotion was before Ruby shouted for someone to call the police. Twenty minutes later, Detectives Cash and Neon arrived with a squad to set up a crime scene, keep the crowd under control, and comfort Boris.

"He left behind Commissioner Maroon's pistol…" remarked one of the officer's in the room in surprise once their eyesight had recovered.

"...because he no longer needs it: not when he has his own weapon that can shapeshift along with him," Ruby neutrally called out.

"Well that's not fair."

"Welcome to dealing with Master Mold," Ruby replied in a tone that was only half-joking. "In any case, I'll go ahead and move Boris to my safe house until the real Jane Maroon has been located."

"Alright. Thank you, Grimm Reaper." Neon nodded.

With a nod in return, Ruby grabbed Boris and his backpack and raced down the streets. But instead of going to the safehouse, they stopped in an alleyway to rendezvous with the Dynamic Duo.

"He…he looked and sounded exactly like her," Boris called out with an unreadable expression on his face. "He acted just like her."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Ruby declared even as she pulled the boy into a hug. "You aren't the first to have been fooled by Master Mold and likely won't be the last either."

Boris merely nodded even as he sunk into the embrace, letting a few tears leak out as an angry expression formed on his face. "If I ever get my hands on that shisno…"

"You'll have to get in line."

A few minutes later, by which time Boris had changed into his Magenta costume, the group had gathered together to discuss their next course of action.

"Alright, here's what we know…" Ruby announced to her allies. "Master Mold can perfectly take the form of anyone he looks at. He also has a weapon that can take any shape he thinks of. We need to take him down fast and hard."

"So wait…" Azure spoke up to no one in particular. "If this guy can imitate anybody, and imitate them perfectly, how do we know who's really themselves? How do we know who we can trust? I-I mean, like, if I was an impostor - a perfect impostor - how would you know it wasn't really me?"

"Because unless doppelgangers suddenly gained auras, my semblance will spot him." Krasnaya replied. The Crimson Crusader had been scanning everyone gathered in the room with her Huntress Eyes, and everyone present was indeed human.

"No offense, but I've already dealt with one imposter tonight, so call me paranoid, but I'll need some proof that you're who you say you are," Ruby couldn't help but call out.

"I understand," Krasnaya said with a neutral expression, knowing full well that Ruby was acting like this due to how Master Mold was her personal Loki, so to speak. "As for my proof…"

…and that was as far as Krasnaya got before she leaned in and whispered something into the hooded huntress' ear…causing her to blush and shove the vigilante away. "I thought we agreed to never speak of that again!"

"It proved that I'm who I say I am though, right?"

"Touche."

With that out of the way and everyone confident that they could trust each other, they set out to search the city for the doppelganger. Krasnaya used her Huntress Eyes to scan for anyone without an aura, the Grimm Reaper raced through the entire city looking for black dust, and Azure and Magenta worked together with a machine Krasnaya had constructed to detect abnormal brain waves.

Half an hour later, the device detected such brain waves emitting from a half-completed construction site. Magenta insisted that they call for backup, but Azure was desperate to capture the chaotic imposter. Drawing her escrima sticks, she cautiously snuck into the building in search of Master Mold. Once she came upon an open area, she jumped down and used her semblance to quietly float to the ground. Continuing through the construction site, she spotted an area that was dimly lit by work lights. The Girl Wonder got an idea, hiding around the corner and using her Faunus attributes to draw Master Mold out by whistling a bird call.

The instant a shadow appeared from the other side of the corner, Azure activated the taser-tip of her escrima and stabbed it into Master Mold's neck.

"Didn't figure on that one, did ya?" She taunted.

Unfortunately, she was a bit too confident, as the doppelganger quickly recovered and sliced one of her escrima's in half. He then captured the girl in a chokehold and sadistically licked her cheek. "The Shadow Alliance are fools. Faunus are just as bad as humans. And I'll revel in killing you once I'm done with you."

"Let me go!" Azure screamed.

"Not happening," Master Mold called out. "After all, on the off-chance that those humans see through my disguises tonight, I need a bit of insurance to make sure that they don't try and kill me right away."

Suddenly, the lights to the building went out, completely drowning the area in darkness. Azure smirked to herself as she realized what was happening. Soon enough, a bitter-smelling smoke poured from the vents, making it even harder to see.

"You're not the only one who can take advantage of the darkness." Krasnaya's voice echoed around the doppelganger.

Master Mold kept his hostage close while slashing his blade at the shadows. As a creature of the night, himself, he was justifiably unnerved that he couldn't sense a mere human in the dark. Without warning, a sharp blade pierced Master Mold's leg, prompting him to let go of Azure who ran into the shadows. Master Mold tried to grab her again, only for the grappling hook dug into his leg to pull him in the opposite direction.

"You're afraid… good." Krasnaya's voice growled the further he was pulled towards her. "I bet you think you don't have to be afraid of humans… but I'm here to tell you that you should definitely be afraid… because you touched one of my kids… and I'm going to fuck you up!"

Master Mold screamed as he locked gazes with the glowing red eyes of Krasnaya. The Crimson Crusader tore her sickle from his leg and slashed him across the chest before swapping it out with her hammer. With a single blow, she dislocated his left shoulder. Another hit took out his other knee. She was about to crush his skull when he used his own weapon to slice her thigh. With a grunt, she fell to her knee, giving him an opportunity to roll away and use his shapeshifting to heal his wounds.

"A valiant effort, my friend…" Master Mold sneered as he snapped his shoulder back in place thanks to his healing factor. "But it'll do you no good."

With that, the doppelganger ducked into the shadows to make his escape. At the same time, Azure was trying to make her way out of the smoky building to call for reinforcements. But with her vision blocked by the smoke, she found herself being repeatedly turned around.

"It's okay, Azure. I got him." Magenta's voice called out.

"Huh? R-really?" Azure asked as she saw her ally's hand appear from the smokescreen.

"Yeah, I got him good. Now, come on. Take my hand so we don't get separated again."

"O-okay…" Azure slowly reached out to take his hand, when…

"Azure, no! It's a trap!" Another hand appeared out of the smoke.

Azure reeled back in shock. "Huh?! What?!"

"Don't listen to that imposter!"

"You're the fake, you liar! Don't trust him, Azure!"

"No, Azure, listen to me!"

The girl wonder's breath became more rapid as she tried to think of a solution. Suddenly, she got an idea. "Remember when we first met Team JNPR at that thing?! Remember what Ms. Valkyrie did?"

"Uh… what thing?" Both voices asked.

"Before we entered the sewer system to chase the drug dealer, Ms. Valkyrie freaked out because she didn't like tight spaces!"

"Oh! Oh, yeah!" The Magenta on the left called out. "I remember now! Man, that was funny!"

Azure smirked and converted her escrima sticks into a taser. "Oh, yeah?" She shot at her target and sent fifty thousand volts through their body. The false Magenta screamed in pain as his form violently shifted into multiple different appearances before slumping to the ground as the true doppelganger he was. Azure crossed her arms, proudly. "Well, you couldn't have remembered it, 'cause it didn't even happen!"

"Nice one, Azure!" The true Magenta high-fived his friend in triumph.

"That does it!" Master Mold snarled as he readied his weapon once again. "I will not be humiliated by children!"

"That's fine," Cyan called out as her faunus hearing picked up the familiar sound of a certain hooded huntress' semblance and that it was getting closer. "There's actually someone who hasn't joined the fight who will do the job of humiliating you for us."

"Hey, asshole! Remember me!?" the Grimm Reaper suddenly called out as if on cue as she attempted to take out her rival with her scythe, only for Master Mold to dodge with an arrogant chuckle.

"Good to see you again, Grimm Reaper," Master Mold teasingly declared.

"It won't be for long, you fiend," the hooded huntress called out with a growl. "This ends tonight."

"Catch me if you can then," the Doppelganger mockingly remarked before giving himself wings to try and fly away.

Ruby merely responded by pulling out her Rose Thorn. "From hell's heart I stab at thee," she snarled out, once more acknowledging her parallels to the captain from Moby Dick. "Step back, kids. This is between him and me."

Magenta and Azure wisely stepped aside while the Grimm Reaper and her enemy circled each other.

"Tell me, how's the frigid bitch these days?" Master Mold smirked.

Ruby scowled. "Are you referring to my wife?"

"Hmph, suppose I am. The Grimm Reaper may be able to melt the Ice Queen's heart, but she's still as icy as the mountains in Atlas."

"Is that true?" Magenta couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"No!" Ruby spluttered. "I mean, yeah. When we first met, she was pretty distant. But it was a different time. She was under a lot of pressure."

"Hey!" Master Mold shouted, indignant at being ignored. "We're in the middle of a fight!"

"And we're in the middle of a conversation!" Ruby snapped back. "Sheesh, I know you're evil but you don't have to be rude."

Master Mold rushed forwards to strike, only for Ruby to use Crescent Rose to block his one blade while she stabbed at him with Rose Thorn. Unfortunately, the metal blade shifted into a dual-bladed sword that allowed Master Mold to block both weapons at once. Ruby sneered at his cocky demeanor as their weapons continued to clash. Eventually, the Grimm Reaper managed to move so fast that Mold's only option was to force all weapons out of the fight. By tricking her into hooking Crescent Rose onto his own weapon, he slashed it out of her grip and used it to knock Rose Thorn out of her other hand before tackling her to the ground. As they struggled with each other, the doppelganger transformed himself into an exact copy of the woman. At last, they both got back on their feet.

"Damn it! Not this again!" Magenta groaned as he aimed between the two huntresses.

"Just shoot both of us to be sure!" The Ruby on the left shouted.

Magenta instinctively shot his adhesive at the Ruby on the right, trapping her against a concrete wall. Unfortunately, the Ruby on the left immediately transformed into Master Mold who shot the young vigilante in the shoulder before making his escape. The dynamic duo arrived shortly afterwards, with Azure tending to Magenta's wound while Krasnaya reached for the freezing agent in her utility belt to free Ruby from the adhesive.

"I-I'm sorry." Magenta groaned. "I just thought you'd say something as noble as that."

"Eh, it's not your fault," Ruby called out with a sigh. "This actually isn't the first time that something like this has happened, so at least you can take comfort in knowing that you weren't alone in your mistake here."

"That's not very comforting at all, actually," Magenta felt the need to point out with an unreadable expression.

Once Ruby had recovered, the group continued their chase. Thankfully, the doppelganger had left behind an obvious trail of dust due to his own injuries. Ignoring her pain and allies, Ruby rushed forward, drawing Rose Thorn once she finally caught up to him and tried to stab it into his leg, only for her to take a slash to the stomach area in response. Master Mold merely chuckled as the Grimm Reaper held her stomach in pain. "Still not fast enough to catch me, I'm afraid."

Ruby blindly swiped at her foe with both weapons. "I'm going to stop you! I will stop you!"

"It's only a matter of time before all of this city is in flames, and there's nothing any of you can do to stop it," Master Mold boldly declared.

"Are you sure about that?" …and that was all the warning the rogue Doppelganger got before he was shot in the side.

"Ack! Who…?" Master Mold started to ask before gasping at the sight of the person who shot him. "Wha…you?!"

"Hey, buddy, did you miss me?" Jane Maroon mockingly asked as she readied her gun in case Master Mold made any sudden moves.

"How did you…? How are you…?" Needless to say, Master Mold wasn't quite sure how to react to what he was seeing.

Jane couldn't help but chuckle at the shocked expression Master Mold was giving her even as Sam walked up beside her with his own weapon at the ready. "Officer Neon stopped by my house a little while ago and freed me from those restraints you so kindly gave me."

"But…but I sent him on a wild goose chase using your voice to try and find a man whom I had supposedly posed as: there wasn't any reason for him to come back to your house!"

"Seems that you don't know as much about us humans as you think you do." Neon smirked.

"It's over, Mold." Ruby sneered as she aimed the barrel of Crescent Rose at her enemy in spite of her injuries. "You lost."

Unfortunately, Master Mold had one last trick up his sleeve as he shifted into a familiar green-eyed redhead.

"You wouldn't hurt me, would you?"

The Grimm Reaper could only freeze at the familiar voice. "P…Penny…"

"That's right," the disguised doppelganger mockingly declared. "Look at you, frozen in fear at the sight of your beloved. You know that the only way to take me in is to shoot the person you love the most, but can you? Can you dare to harm someone you care for so strongly?"

"What are you talking about? I don't even know her." …and that was all the warning anyone got before Master Mold was zapped via a taser in the back by Magenta, knocking him unconscious as a result.

Twenty minutes later, the NRPD had arrived to take the doppelganger criminal away and a doctor arrived to give Ruby stitches in her stomach. After she was patched up, the Grimm Reaper joined Krasnaya, Azure, and Magenta in accompanying the escort to ensure that Mold wouldn't get away. At last, they arrived at the precinct to lock Mold up and release the false arrests.

"I…I'm sorry," Magenta felt the need to declare.

"No, it's fine," the Grimm Reaper called out with a sniffle. "It wasn't really her, after all."

"Thanks for your cooperation," Jane remarked as the man who had been caught earlier was led out of the precinct.

"Not a problem: I'm just glad this whole misunderstanding was cleared up," the man said with an understanding grin.

Once the last of them had been released, everything seemed to calm down for the group.

"So how does it feel to have finally caught your white whale, Captain Ahab?" Commissioner Maroon asked in a good natured manner, purposely referencing what Ruby had said earlier after arriving in New Rushland.

"I'd feel a lot better if I actually believed that the story was over," Ruby remarked with an unreadable expression. "After all, this wouldn't be the first time that he managed to give me the slip."

"Well hopefully history won't repeat here," Officer Neon remarked before adopting a curious expression. "By the way, why didn't you use your silver eyes on Master Mold back when he was posing as Jane back at her house? Seems like that would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"Yes it would, but unfortunately using the power of my silver eyes on a Doppelganger in disguise merely freezes over the outer shell which can be easily shed, not unlike how certain lizards can detach their tails to get away from predators," Ruby said with a groan. "I can't even tell you how many times I've caught Master Mold with my silver eyes' gaze only to find that he merely molted his skin like the cockroach that he is…assuming I'm even able to use them in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"My silver eyes work by channeling my desire to protect those I love, which is hard to do when facing a Doppelganger who knows how to readily provoke me," Ruby said with a slight sigh. "I hate to admit it, but there have been more than a few instances where my genuine hatred for Master Mold was stronger than my desire to protect those around me."

"I don't believe that," Jane said with a supportive smile. "If that were true, you'd have taken him out right away after his cover was blown while he was with my son, but instead you ensured that my son was safe before trying to get him to stand down. Seems to me that even when you can't quite get your eyes to work for you, your first thought is to protect those around you, meaning he hasn't broken you quite yet."

"Thank you, Commissioner," Ruby declared with a light grin. "That means more than you know."

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from down the halls, prompting the group to run towards the source. Once they arrived at the holding cell, Ruby was mortified to find an empty cell with nothing but a tape recorder inside. She walked inside, picked it up, and pressed the play button.

"Is this thing on?"

"What the…Master Mold?!" Ruby cried out even as the recording continued.

"Ah, whatever. If you're hearing this, it means that I'm using this device correctly. It also means that I was able to set up this recorded message and make my escape without you even noticing. Credit where it's due though: aside from the Grimm Reaper and those traitors in the Shadow Alliance, you folks in New Rushland have come the closest to actually containing me, but you should have kept a closer eye on the guard at my cell door."

As if on cue, the ceiling fell apart and an officer's corpse dangled from a wire wrapped around his neck. Magenta and Azure instinctively hugged each other while Krasnaya quickly sliced the wire with her sickle to get the deceased officer down. Ruby's glare hardened at the device in her hand.

"Humans: nothing but hilarious playthings for a superior being such as myself. I've enjoyed our little game tonight, but I must be off. I have a lot of planning to do in order to top this. See you around, Grimm Reaper," Master Mold's voice mockingly called out before Ruby crushed the device in her hand.

Ruby merely let out a scream of anguish as she flipped over a nearby table to showcase just how angry she was. "I'll get you, Master Mold, if it's the last thing I do!"

The hooded huntress was so enraged, she had forgotten about her injury and tore her stitches. She buckled in pain, gripping her stomach as she collapsed to the floor and started bleeding again. Krasnaya hastily rushed to her friend's side to treat her injury as she slipped into unconsciousness. A few hours later, Weiss arrived to take her wife home.

"Thank you for taking care of her." Weiss sighed as she used Arma Gigas to cradle Ruby. "And thank you for keeping her alive."

"Just make sure she gets some rest." Krasnaya nodded.

Weiss hugged the Crimson Crusader in gratitude before carrying Ruby onto her private jet.

"Is she going to be okay?" Magenta felt the need to ask in regards to Ruby.

"Physically? Yes. Mentally? I'm not so certain," Krasnaya admitted with an unreadable expression. "All I know for certain is that this likely isn't the first time that Master Mold has pulled this sort of trick, which adds another layer to why he's Ruby's white whale."

"Yeah, it's not that she couldn't capture him: it's that he makes sure that she can't. How could she bring herself to kill someone she loved, after all?" Azure rhetorically asked with a look of understanding.

A few hours later, Weiss and Ruby had returned to their beach home in Patch. After tucking her wife into bed, Weiss was just about to go check on their daughter when Ruby suddenly gripped her arm.

"...I'm sorry, Penny…" Ruby whimpered in her sleep.

Weiss tenderly removed Ruby's hand from her arm and sadly left the room.

To Be Continued