A.N: So, first, a big announcement. Last month, I announced the publishing of my first original novel: Age of Heroes: The Hero and the Disciple, in eBook format. Well, I would also like to announce that for anyone who prefers a hard copy, hard copies are now being offered as well! So, if you've enjoyed my work here, I encourage you to check out my original material as well!

I'll also be changing my pen name on this site to reflect my new status as a published author. From now on, when you're trying to find my profile, keep your eyes peeled for Author Nicholas Drew

And with that, Chapter 25 of Wild Hunt. The Atlas Academy Arc is now in full swing.

Chapter 25: Everyone's A Suspect

Until he had received Wolf Fang from Ozpin, there was a certain combination of things that terrified Hansel more than anything. He hated being alone and in the dark. Throughout his childhood, he feared that more than anything, especially after his family began locking him in his room and leaving him alone for hours. In his childlike mind, Hansel had believed that in darkness, he was the least safe. In darkness, there was never any real way of knowing just what was out there, waiting to hurt you. Being deliberately placed in those situations made it worse.

Thankfully, his fears had been somewhat alleviated after Ozpin had returned from the Kobalt Family Estate once more with what would become his partner: Wolf Fang. A family heirloom that had constantly been reforged and improved over the years and one of the twin katanas originally wielded by the family's strongest and most famous member: Erik Kobalt, one of the strongest Huntsmen in history.

Forged by arguably two of the greatest weaponsmiths of Remnant, Wilhelm and Ludwig, Wolf Fang has been in the Kobalt Family for generations. Originally wielded only by Erik, it was eventually passed down to the Kobalt who could pass a certain set of tests. For the past hundred years, not a single person had wielded Wolf Fang because not a single person could pass those tests. It may have been why for the past century, the Kobalts had been more focused on weapons development rather than producing fine Huntsmen. However, per tradition, Wolf Fang and its sister blade were constantly reforged and maintained to fit with the times. And now, it was in Hansel's hands, traditions be damned. Besides Glynda and Ozpin, Wolf Fang was probably the only thing that made Hansel feel truly safe in this world he lived in. It actually reached the point where he always had it resting near him while he slept.

Which was why he hated what he was currently experiencing. He was alone in the dark, and Wolf Fang was nowhere in sight.

This was a recurring dream of his. After God knows how many times he had been forced to experience this nightmare, you would think he would be used to it by now. In fact, it frustrated him to no end that he still hated this.

He frantically looked around, wondering where they would come from first. He knew it would not make a difference. He knew he was doomed until he woke up again.

And so, the first voice rang out in the darkness. "Monster!" It was the voice of a woman he knew well. One of his aunts.

"Murderer!" A man's voice now. One of his uncles.

"You're the one who killed her!" One of his older cousins. A brutal bully of a woman who should have grown up years ago, but did not. Honestly, she had no right to have ever put herself on such a pedestal, considering how reviled the Kobalt name is, but she did.

Hansel desperately tried to block out the voices as they began to ring out in greater numbers. Monster. Murderer. She died because of you. You have no right to be alive. They were the same statements every time he had this dream. Hansel should have been used to them by now. But he was not. God, he was not, at all.

"Shut up!" Hansel screamed furiously, putting his hands over his ears to desperately try and drown out the sound. "Just shut up already!"

The voices persisted. Suddenly, clear, dark purple outlines of shadowy people appeared from the darkness. They were the sources of those voices. Hansel closed his eyes, desperately trying to force himself awake. Also, he could no longer bear to look at those shadowy demons that continued tormenting him. But it was to no avail, as usual. He just would not wake up. "Stop it." He muttered in an almost gentle tone. A defeated tone. "Stop. I didn't kill her. I didn't. I know she died because of me. Do you really think I don't know that? But I didn't...I didn't…"

"Why are you alive?" A new voice spoke out. A voice very familiar to Hansel.

Hansel's eyes widened in terror. Oh Gods, this part. He hated this part more than anything. He almost dreaded looking up. But he did. His body was no longer listening to him. Standing before him was a far older version of himself. Tall, well-built with black eyes and a thick black beard.

"F-father…" Hansel muttered breathlessly, fearfully.

Irving Kobalt looked down at his son in disapproval. "Why are you alive?" He repeated. "Why'd it have to be you who was left alive? Why did we all have to die, and you were the only one who got to survive?"

"I don't...Father...I don't…" Hansel stammered.

"We all had our hopes and dreams...but now they are unobtainable. But you...you are still alive, even though you shouldn't be." Irving drawled in a dark tone.

"Avenge us." Came his aunt's voice.

"We cannot rest until then...and so, you shall not rest either." Said his uncle.

"Do something useful with your life for once, you failure." The cousin now.

"Please, Hansel, my son, avenge us." Irving said in an almost gentle tone, in spite of how sinister he also sounded.

"I'm trying," Hansel pleaded, "you have to believe me, I'm trying!"

"Avenge us!" All the spirits wailed as they began to converge upon Hansel. "You cannot rest until then! Avenge us! Don't you dare go on living while we remain unavenged!"

"You have no right!"

"It is your responsibility as the only one of us left!"

"AVENGE US!" They all wailed once more.

Hansel yelled in terror as the shadows continued converging on him while Irving simply watched with that dark and impassive look on his face. Then, the shadows stopped. Hansel gasped. God no, he had forgotten about this part as well. This part was a bit more random. Sometimes he woke up before, sometimes he did not.

First, there was that horrible laughter. That laughter that could only come from a dark, demented witch. Then, her voice. Her horrible, horrible voice. "Where are you? Are you here? You can't hide from me forever."

"No…" Hansel moaned in terror.

Then, a statement he had never heard before rang out in the black skies. A statement that made his blood run cold. "You can't hide from me forever...Hansel."

"NO!" Hansel shot up from his bed, drenched in sweat with an uncharacteristically horrified expression on his face.

The infamous Blue Demon of Remnant panted in fear, as though he had been running a marathon. And in a strange way, maybe he was. He took a moment to survey his surroundings and heaved a sigh of relief. He was still in his hotel room. Hansel then growled in frustration. "Damn," he muttered, desperately trying to calm his breathing down, "just another stupid nightmare I can't control."

Hansel then grasped his forehead. "Fuck!" He cursed, feeling the throbbing headache hit him like a train. "My head…"

Hansel rose from his bed, clad only in pajama pants. He walked over to the hotel bathroom. "How long has it been since my last dose?" Hansel wondered before remembering. "Shit, no wonder it's hitting so damn hard this time. I haven't taken these since the flight left."

Hansel quickly reached for a container for headache pills and took two out. He quickly plopped them into his mouth. Instantly, he felt the headache leave him. He then took a moment to survey his expression in the mirror. The look of fear from his nightmare was still painted cleanly on his face. His hair was down from the sweat.

"Gah," he splashed water on his face to wash out the sweat and to clear his head.

Hansel looked up once more to see that fearful expression was still plastered onto him. Then, slowly, the voices from those dreams returned in the form of that hellish chant. Avenge us. Avenge us. Avenge us. Avenge us. Avenge us. Avenge us.

"I know!" Hansel shouted, desperately trying to make them leave. "I'm working on it!"

Hansel lowered his head. "Father...everyone, please just leave me be. I know what you people want from me. But I can't give it to you. Not yet." He said in a defeated tone.

"Please, just be patient." Hansel's expression darkened. "I'll have that one's head. Just you wait. I'll make sure you're all laid to rest."

"But after that," Hansel's face softened as he took on a shockingly vulnerable expression, "please don't torture me anymore like this...please…"

Hansel left the bathroom and then saw the clock for the first time. "Three in the morning?" He groaned in frustration.

Hansel then found himself thinking back on the nightmare once more, much to his own frustration. He would much rather just forget the whole thing and just go back to sleep. Realizing he could not, he made the conscious decision to clear some space in the room and just get some light training in. "Four hours of sleep is better than none." He acknowledged with a sigh.

By now, Hansel had grown far too used to having his sleep interrupted by this recurring nightmare of his. However, there was one thing from this particular nightmare he was not familiar with. A part of the nightmare he now clearly remembered.

All because it chilled him to the bone. He should not know the woman who held that voice. But somehow, he did, deep down in his heart. "She knows my name." Hansel muttered. "She knows she's in my dreams."

"Salem...she knows…"

In spite of his nightmarish night, however, Hansel's night was nowhere near as bad as two particular individuals. Scott Alabaster, the young heir to the Alabaster Family, was on his way home after a long evening of enjoying one of Atlas' more...seedier establishments. He honestly had no idea what time it was, and he frankly did not care. What was important to him was how he spent his-ahem, his father's-money. And as far as the young Alabaster was concerned, it was money well spent.

Scott drunkenly bumped into someone he would've recognized as his dream girl, his soulmate, on any other night. The person he wanted to see the most. Rather ironic considering where he spent his money. He ignored the girl and continued to stumble about. He then unknowingly stumbled into a dark alley in his inebriated state. And that was when everything went bad.

Scott's eyes widened at the sight before him. He sobered up in seconds. Lying before him was a woman with her throat slashed and her innards ripped from her stomach from what was clearly knife wounds. Now sober, Scott recognized the woman as a prostitute from the establishment he had just been frequenting. Gods, he had purchased an hour alone with this woman before spending some time partying with his friends in one of the party rooms.

"What the fuck?!" Scott yelled before yelling in terror.

A few hours later, as Atlas security cleaned up the crime scene, Ruby Rose found herself waking up surprisingly early. She instinctively found herself looking at her scroll for the time. It was five in the morning. Ruby moaned in slight annoyance at this situation she found herself in. She wanted to go back to sleep, but then she remembered one of Winter's warnings. Atlas Academy days begin at 6, sharp.

So, Ruby decided to be productive with her time. She quickly reached into her pack, took out some notebook paper and wrote a quick message for her sleeping teammates that she would be out training for a bit before the day officially began. Ruby then took a quick shower, noting with relief that the showers were at least decent enough. She quickly dressed in her training gear and slipped out of her room with Crescent Rose at her side. Inwardly, she was hoping that there was no curfew she had to worry about.

"Now, if I were a training ground, where would I be?" Ruby wondered, gazing at her scroll and observing the time. 5:15 AM. She had to be quick about this.

Then, she reached a window and saw what appeared to be a track and field outside. "Ah, that's perfect!" She gleefully exclaimed before running to find a nearby door to go out to the track and field.

She was quickly outside, taking in her surroundings. "So cool!" She squealed, running to the middle of the field. "This school does have some wonderful stuff."

Ruby almost instinctively brought out Crescent Rose to practice with it, but then she remembered her professor. Wordlessly, she put Crescent Rose down and held up both of her arms like a boxer.

"Hiyah!" Ruby let out a kiai as she threw a punch, trying to will her Semblance into only activating for her right arm.

The adorable reaper pouted when she saw her arm not change shape at all. "Phooey," she muttered, "I don't know how the professor does it. His control over his Semblance is amazing."

"Well," Ruby continued, holding up her fists again, "I guess the only thing I can do is keep trying, huh? Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Ruby continued throwing out hooks in front of her, trying to will her Semblance to activate in her arms to increase the speed, and therefore the force, of the punches. Unfortunately, she continued to fail in each punch.

Meanwhile, back at his hotel room at The Elysium, Hansel Kobalt was grunting with exertion as he continued to push himself up and down on one single finger. Sweat dripped from his face and bare chest to the floor while every muscle in use on his upper body bulged out.

"298...299...300…" Hansel counted out.

Ruby continued throwing punch after punch, slowly growing more frustrated. "Seriously, he makes it look so easy." She sighed.

Hansel pushed himself back onto his feet, wiping the sweat from his face. "Ah, damn, I'm still thinking about that dream." He complained. "At this rate, I'm going to start wishing I could just shrug all this off, like Rose does."

Ruby continued to throw more punches, trying to succeed in her latest endeavor. When she finally realized it would not happen today, she heaved a sigh. "Guess it'll be awhile before I can do that." She acknowledged. "Maybe I should talk to the professor about this, he makes mixing his Semblance with punching and kicking look so easy..."

Ruby then remembered something else he had advised her to try. "Ah, right, the kickboxing!" She exclaimed. "Professor Kobalt told me that because I'm going to be spending a lot of my time with Crescent Rose, I should learn to incorporate kicks into my attacks."

At that moment, Ruby finally brought out Crescent Rose. "Sorry, sweetie," she said affectionately to her scythe, weirdly cradling it in her arms like an infant, "Momma didn't mean to leave ya alone for so long."

"Okay," Ruby held up Crescent Rose defensively, "if I'm remembering correctly, Professor Kobalt wanted me to use kickboxing for both offense and defense...like this."

Ruby lifted her leg up and yelled in surprise. She was already stumbling backwards due to the counterweight from Crescent Rose. "Balance! Balance! Balance!" She shrieked repeatedly.

Ruby finally managed to get her balance and tried again. "Hiyah!" She let out the same kiai from before and threw a kick into the air...only to spectacularly lose her balance and fall flat on her back.

Meanwhile, Hansel Kobalt let out an uncharacteristic yell of surprise at the sudden rain of cold water from a showerhead. Bad morning for both I guess…

"Oww…" Ruby moaned in pain. "I am not having good luck with training this morning."

"Hopefully training with the class is better." A familiar voice spoke up.

Ruby yelped and turned to the source. She gasped when she was Winter Schnee standing before her, arms crossed with a look of disapproval on her face. "I cannot believe you're leading my little sister into battle." She said bluntly.

"Oh...hi, Specialist Schnee." Ruby greeted, visibly intimidated by the woman's presence.

Holy whoa that stare. It's like Weiss' but like...times a hundred. And...is that her Aura I'm sensing? She might actually be as strong as Professor Kobalt!

Winter heaved a sigh. "What kind of sloppy training was that, Ms. Rose? It really doesn't look like you've accomplished anything." She bluntly told her. "Shouldn't you be able to do the basics by now?"

"Er...as far as hand to hand goes? No...I've kinda neglected that. Wanted to focus on getting good with Crescent Rose, ya know."

Winter looked at Ruby in disbelief. "Honestly," she sighed, "what do they teach you lot in Vale? We were learning CQC when we were your age."

"CQC?" Ruby looked at Winter in confusion.

"Close Quarters Combat, Ms. Rose. The fact you don't know that is...disturbing. You do realize as team leader you're responsible for your teammates' lives, yes?"

Ruby looked down. "Well, of course I do." She muttered, a bit put off by Winter's attitude.

Winter sighed. "Well, better late than never I suppose." She acknowledged. "If I may, what has prompted this change in attitude?"

"Well, Professor Kobalt's been giving me a lot of great tips on how to mix in hand-to-hand with Crescent Rose." Ruby brightly responded. "I actually landed a pretty good hit on him one time, so I'm definitely seeing the benefits."

Winter raised a curious eyebrow. In truth, she had spent most of last night thinking about how she should feel about her sister being taught by someone so inexperienced, even though she had promised General Ironwood to remain professional around the professional Huntsman and Beacon's student representatives. "I see," she acknowledged, "so, your new combat professor is teaching you useful things."

"Mmm hmm," Ruby remained oblivious to Winter's uncertainty about Hansel, "Professor Kobalt's been pretty tough, but pretty fair. I think everyone gets now that he's hard on us because he wants to see us strong and successful."

"I see," Winter nodded, "he doesn't seem to command too much respect though, considering how much Ms. Xiao Long argues with him."

"Oh, that's just how Yang is." Ruby laughed the matter off. "She loves messing with people. I think that because Professor Kobalt is so close to our age, she feels comfortable doing it with him. She does it because she likes him...er, not like-like, but you know…"

"...I see." Winter nodded once more. "So, would you say he's doing a good job?"

Ruby nodded. "I think he is. I can't speak for everyone else, but I believe in him. He's tough, but he's a good teacher."

"Interesting," Winter nodded, "and here I thought he was doomed from the start, considering his reputation…"

That was when Ruby's obliviousness vanished. "And what's that supposed to mean?" She asked suspiciously.

Winter's eyes widened in slight surprise at the fierce look in Ruby's eyes. That look, it's the same look I had when protecting Weiss from some of those blasted bullies back in the day. She noted.

"My apologies, I meant no offense." She assured Ruby. "It's just...I'm sure there were plenty of you who didn't want to accept him, due to the Tragedy of the Flames…"

"Tragedy of the what?" Ruby looked at Winter in confusion.

"You mean...you don't know?" Winter was surprised at this. "Ms. Rose, I really don't think being ignorant about history is a good look for you."

"Oh yeah? And what's so bad about this 'tragedy'?" Ruby asked, half curious, half angry at Winter for pushing the subject.

Winter sighed. "That's...not my place to say." She admitted. "If you really care to know, you should ask your professor about it."

Ruby frowned slightly, remembering her promise to Glynda Goodwitch not to dig too deeply into Hansel's life. She then directed her frown at Winter. "Specialist Schnee, you can't just say awful stuff like that and then not explain anything." She pointed out in a surprisingly sage tone. "That's just…"

"Rude? Unprofessional? Slander, even?" Winter acknowledged with a nod. "You're right, on all accounts, and I apologize for that. I suppose regardless of his family name, the important thing is that Professor Kobalt seems to be teaching things of worth to the students of Beacon Academy and is actually well-liked."

Ruby was silenced by Winter's words. Winter sighed. "You'll get used to hearing stuff like this, the more you hang around with him, Ms. Rose." She explained. "The Kobalts...no, I won't say any more, for you are correct, it is rude and unprofessional of me to do so."

Ruby grumbled. Even if Winter agreed with her, she was still saying all those things about Hansel, and Hansel was not even here to defend himself. Deciding to remain professional, due to her status as a 'diplomat', Ruby changed the subject.

"Why are you here, Specialist Schnee?" She asked.

"This is where I train on a morning basis." Winter explained. "I like to come to the wide open spaces here to practice my summoning."

"Summoning?" Ruby was confused until she remembered a particular event from the Neverland Gorge. "Oh, you mean like what Weiss does?"

"Oh? Is my little sister starting to show signs of that ability?" Winter sounded more interested now.

"Yeah," Ruby nodded, "though, she hasn't been able to since...well, the Neverland Gorge."

"Neverland Gorge? What were you all doing there?" Winter raised an eyebrow.

"Er...well, we were on a training exercise, but it turns out Professor Kobalt was also after Anthonio Corleone." Ruby admitted.

This piqued Winter's interest as memories from her early career came back. "I...see…" she said, maintaining her composure. Instinctively, she looked at her scroll. "Ah, it's 5:55, I can imagine other students will be arriving soon for morning workouts. Impressive foresight to pick this place for your workouts, Ms. Rose."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ruby bowed in apology, "I took up all your morning training time."

"It's fine, Ms. Rose. Speaking with you like this was a surprise, but it was a welcome one." Winter admitted. "It gave me the opportunity to get to know the girl who's commanding my little sister."

"Heh, well, I'm just the strategist." Ruby said sheepishly. "I don't really do much commanding. Weiss and the others are more than capable of figuring out the right thing to do on their own."

"You have a lot of faith in your teammates." Winter noted.

"Well of course, they're my friends too." Ruby pointed out.

Winter shook her head. "I'm sure you know this, by now, Ms. Rose," she began, "but as their leader, you do have a responsibility to stand above your teammates, even if they are your friends. Be a presence they can rally behind."

"Of course," Ruby nodded, "Professor Ozpin said as much."

"Even if you don't wish to be a commanding presence, like a general, you still need to be above your teammates, to act as a paragon and an example in strength."

Paragon. That word reminded Ruby of the warning Hansel had given her back in the Neverland Gorge. "In other words, keep working to better yourself as a Huntress and as a person." Winter concluded. "Lead by example so that your teammates fall in line."

"Well, I mean, I'm out here training, aren't I?" Ruby reminded her.

Winter gave Ruby a small smirk. "Next time," she said, "bring your teammates along for training."

Ruby laughed nervously. "You don't know my team," she said, "one time, I tried to get everyone up so that we could line up for the early release of a new game and Blake hissed at me."

Winter was now confused. "She hissed at you? Like...a snake? Or a cat?"

"Y-yeah!" Ruby nervously laughed, realizing she might have given Winter a big hint. "Because she's not a morning person. Obviously not because she's an animal or anything."

So she is a Faunus. Winter remembered staring at Blake last evening and getting some sort of odd feeling about her. Well, not that I didn't need confirmation. She was not fooling me with that disguise of hers, and certainly not the general. The poor thing's probably paranoid about being here at Atlas...maybe that's why Professor Kobalt brought her along?

"Ruby!" Ruby and Winter turned to see the rest of Team RWBY arriving, along with several similarly dressed Atlas Academy students.

"Hey you guys!" Ruby waved happily.

"Winter? You're here too?" Weiss was surprised to see her older sister.

"Do not mind me, Weiss." Winter shook her head. "I was here for some early morning practice. Little did I know, I'd be partaking in a conversation with your leader here."

Ruby nodded. "Have a nice day, all of you." Winter said to Team RWBY. "And please do keep in mind everything I advised you about yesterday."

With that, Winter left RWBY and the rest of the students. "What exactly were you talking with Winter about?" Weiss asked suspiciously. "You better have been professional."

"Of course I was." Ruby assured Weiss.

I probably shouldn't mention I almost blew Blake's secret though. Ruby lamented inwardly. That was...super not cool of me to do.

"Okay, line up!" A man appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "It's time to begin!"

"Whoa," Yang looked at her scroll, "we really are beginning at 6:00 AM sharp. These people are insanely punctual."

"That's Atlas for you." Blake sighed, rubbing her eyes, still clearly tired.

"Quiet down, all of you!" Team RWBY instinctively stood at attention at the sound of the Drill Sergeant's booming voice. The man continued. "Okay, maggots, normally I'd just kick right into our workouts, but since we have some new faces, I'm going to waste valuable time explaining how we do things here at Atlas Academy."

Are we seriously getting singled out already? Yang was surprised at this. This place is brutal compared to Beacon.

"So! Drop and give me a hundred pushups, now! And maintain your form!" The drill sergeant yelled.

"One...hundred." Weiss blinked.

Ruby was already on the floor, ready to push up and down. "You are way too eager for this, Ruby." Blake heaved a sigh.

Ruby had a lot of pent up energy after her own training. She was going to expend all that energy. Though, even Ruby had to admit that Atlas' morning workouts were rather...excessive. Especially when one considered they had to do this every morning at 6 AM.

After going through a hundred pushups with that drill sergeant counting them all out, they were asked to do a hundred crunches. The drill sergeant counted those out as well. A hundred jumping jacks next. A hundred squats And then, to wrap it all up, Team RWBY was running a 10k run with the rest of Atlas' student body.

As the Beacon Team ran with the Atlas students, each of them, with the exception of Ruby, could not help but notice that several students were glaring at them throughout the run. Yang could not help but glare back.

Guess they didn't get the memo that this whole thing was about cooperation. She noted inwardly. Can't help but wonder why they're so pissed at us. Is it because of me? Is it because Weiss' company smashes a lot of the competition, like with that Flynt guy? Or are they just petty for whatever reason?

When the 10k run was finally complete, Yang, Weiss and Blake were panting, nearly hunched over, but thankfully able to stay upright to better catch their breath. Ruby, however, was still upright and surprisingly in a chipper mood. "I swear, Rubes," Yang panted, "you are in a perpetual state of sugar rush."

Ruby giggled. "Well, all those cookies had to amount to something, right?" She joked. "And besides, you saw me training this morning, didn't ya? I had some extra time after waking up, so I decided to take a little initiative."

"I guess I should be glad you're taking things so seriously." Weiss groaned, the closest to actually falling over.

"Ten minute break!" The drill sergeant yelled. "Catch your breath and change into school uniforms! You have classes to attend!"

"Could do without his screaming." Yang muttered to herself. "Gosh, I can't believe I'm about to admit this, but I'm starting to miss Oobleck's tedious lectures and Port's hammy storytelling."

"Are you kidding me?" replied an outraged Blake Blake, "Oobleck and Port are worse; at least this drill sergeant has the discipline to end class on time!"

Remembering the various times Oobleck got carried away with his signature tangents, Yang agreed and further commented, "Oh yeah, now that you mention it, we do have a habit of repeatedly losing five to ten minutes of breaktime to Oobleck's rants."

"Five to ten minutes that could have been spent on reading and napping," lamented Blake.

"Five to ten minutes that could have been spent on eating cookies," lamented Ruby.

"Five to ten minutes that could have been spent on additional studying for the upcoming pop quiz," lamented Weiss.

It was then that Team RWBY's other members turned their heads towards Weiss in brief shock, having been thrown off guard by her buzzkill of an answer.

Teasingly shaking her head, Yang said, "You need to get out more, Weiss. Anyway, the point still stands, I can do without Drill Sergeant Nasty's screaming."

"You're at a military academy, Xiao Long." A familiar voice pointed out. "I don't know what you expected."

Team RWBY turned to see Hansel Kobalt standing before them with his arms folded. Ruby smiled. "Professor Kobalt!" She said chipperly. "Good morning!"

Hansel raised an eyebrow at Ruby's energy. "Uh, yeah, good morning." He said. "Just thought I'd check in with you four before I start my own investigation. You girls doing okay so far? Adjusting well? Haven't started any fights yet, have ya?"

"Are you seriously asking us that? You're not our dad ya know." Yang frowned. "And for the record, I'm still pissed at you for getting to stay at an awesome hotel while we're stuck in bunk beds that are hard as concrete."

"We're doing fine, Professor." Ruby quickly assured him before he and Yang started arguing again.

"Good," Hansel nodded, "you four shouldn't expect to see me again for the rest of the day unless it's lunch and dinner time. I'm going to be busy the rest of the day."

"Professor Kobalt!" Hansel looked over his shoulder to see Winter Schnee approaching him.

"Oh, it's you." Hansel nodded. "You're Winter, right? Schnee's older sister?"

"People respect rank around here, Professor Kobalt." Winter shook her head. "I must insist that you refer to me as 'Specialist Schnee', to avoid any issues. There are people here who take rank very seriously, almost to an extreme. If people heard you refer to me by name so casually..."

"Fine, fine," Hansel sighed, "so, Specialist, what are you doing here, exactly?"

"General Ironwood assigned me to aid you in your...affairs here at Atlas Academy." Winter glanced at Team RWBY, trying to maintain secrecy. "For the rest of this week, we'll be working closely together."

"Ice Queen Senior working with Teach? That's not a recipe for disaster at all." Yang whispered into Blake's ears, who just groaned at Yang's behavior.

Hansel sighed, noting Winter's attempts at secrecy. "Specialist, it's fine, they already know about the other reason I'm here."

"You should be more secretive about your duties, Professor. Especially around people who are technically civilians." Winter reminded him.

"You really don't get it, Specialist." Hansel sighed again. "These four will just get in the way if I don't say anything. Telling them will make sure they stay out of this."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Winter eyed Team RWBY suspiciously.

"It's nothing important." Hansel assured her. "Now come on, you've got some stuff to show me so that we can get started, yeah? I'd like to start now so that we can get this done before the week's up. And these girls still have classes."

"...Right, of course." Winter nodded.

"You four behave yourselves." Hansel ordered as he began leaving with Winter.

Yang instinctively stuck her tongue out at Hansel, making Weiss smack her across the head. "Come on, break is almost over." Weiss told her. "We need to get changed and get ready for class."

Inside the changing room, Team RWBY found themselves with their own space, changing into their school uniforms. "So, be real with me, Weiss." Yang said, buttoning up her dress shirt. "How long is it before Teach starts arguing with your sister?"

Weiss sighed, adjusting the ribbon around her collar. "I have no idea what you're talking about. There will be no such thing happening." She promised. "My sister is a consummate professional."

"Didn't she get into a fight with Ruby and Yang's uncle?" Blake reminded her shrugging her blazer on.

"A fight Uncle Qrow totally won by the way." Ruby grinned, sitting on the benches and pulling up her stockings.

"It was a draw." Weiss insisted with a frown. "And that was a fight he provoked. Winter won't argue with Professor Kobalt as long as he himself stays diplomatic. And since this mission is of great importance to the professor, I think he'll be taking this very seriously."

"Well, even if Uncle Qrow did drunkenly provoke Ice Queen Senior, she kinda retaliated and escalated the whole thing." Yang grinned, placing her feet on a bleacher to pull on her own stocking.

Suddenly, a student at Atlas 'accidentally' bumped right into Yang, making her lose her balance and fall on her rear unceremoniously. "Hey!" Yang yelled, eyes turning red.

The student gave Yang a mock look of concern. "Oh, sorry." She clearly did not mean that apology before heading for the exit with a group of friends.

Blake sighed and moved to help Yang up, only for Yang to get up on her own, still glaring at the girl that clearly bumped into her on purpose. Her hands clenched into a fist. "Easy there, Blondie." A familiar voice suddenly spoke up. "Picking a fight here? Bad idea for you four."

Team RWBY turned to see a familiar girl with multicolored hair and a cat tail. She was vastly underdressed compared to them. Probably had taken her time in the showers and was just now getting dressed.

"Oh!" Weiss gasped, recognizing the girl. "It's you! From the tournament! Neon, right?"

Neon Katt of Team FNKI grinned. "Yep," she said, "long time no see, Schnee, Blondie. Offer is still open to party sometime, for the record."

"The hell do you mean I shouldn't pick a fight here?" Yang asked.

Neon grinned. "Ain't it obvious? They're hazing you just like they've hazed everyone else who first came here." She replied before giving a slight frown and adding. "Though, considering that you're from Beacon, they're probably going to do much worse."

"What? They don't like that we're from Beacon?" Ruby was surprised.

Neon chuckled. "You need to pay attention to the news, Shortstack." She said. "In a hierarchy of popularity, Beacon's at the tippy-top, and Atlas is dead last. We've seriously lost the beat after the Vytal Festival. Everyone's a little peeved about the whole thing."

"You don't seem too bothered by that." Weiss admitted.

Neon ignored Weiss and continued. "Point being, you're gonna have to expect this kind of stuff. Just let it wash off your backs like the showers here and you'll be just fine."

"Have you been hazed, Neon?" Blake asked curiously.

"Huh? Of course. We all were as first years. Flynt, Kobalt, Ivori, me. We all had to deal with it. It's a little outdated sometimes, but when you're trying to become a professional Huntsman at a military school that heavily encourages service after graduation...well, it's just one of those things we tolerate to separate the ones who can handle it and the ones who can't."

"I...guess what I'm trying to ask is, was your hazing particularly brutal because you were a Faunus?" Blake uncomfortably asked.

Weiss instinctively shot Blake a glare for trying to cause trouble. Neon shook her head. "Are you kidding?" She grinned. "If any of the drill sergeants found out that Faunus were being hazed for being Faunus, the upperclassmen would get worse workouts as punishment."

"R-really?" Blake was surprised at this.

"Worst thing I've experienced were a couple of glares and some bad Faunus jokes during lunch hours." Neon admitted. "But for real though, I don't have the time or the energy to care about those guys."

"Could've fooled me." Weiss muttered.

"Here at Atlas Academy, attitudes like that tend to get stamped out through basic training. Whether you're Faunus or human, once you graduate, you're in the army." Neon explained.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Ever heard the old saying that you'll never meet an atheist in a foxhole?" Neon inquired. "Nowadays, you won't meet too many racists in one either. Soldiers who mistreat each other over something stupid like race tend to not last long, considering its our fellow soldiers who keep us alive."

Blake fell silent at this. Yang and Weiss both looked at Neon in disbelief, having plagued her for an airheaded thrillseeker. "Like I said, I know I'm going to deal with glares and bad jokes, it's just part of the gig. But if the whole world was against Faunus, gals like me wouldn't even be allowed to join the army and have the possibility of making a life for ourselves." Neon pointed out with a big smile. "As far as I'm concerned, that fact alone makes this school worth sticking around, and this world worth fighting for."

"Neon!" An official looking girl marched up to her from behind Team RWBY. "Why are you still in your underwear? You can't be late again, you fool."

"Gah! Oh crap!" Neon's eyes bugged out. "Sorry, Ciel! Er, nice talking to you, Team RWBY. I do hope we can party sometime if you've got a chance! And remember what I said about the hazing! Don't let it get to ya! Never miss a beat!"

Neon ran to her locker to grab her school uniform and get dressed. "That goes for you four as well." Ciel Soleil said to Team RWBY. "None of you want to be late to the first class of the day. It sets a poor tone for the rest of the day."

"Right, of course, thank you." Weiss replied on behalf of the rest of the team.

Ruby, for her part, could not look Ciel in the face as she finished dressing herself. She was Penny's old teammate, after all…

Meanwhile, Hansel found himself sitting across from Winter in her office. It was nowhere near as grand as Ironwood's, but it was still nice. The walls and floor were as white as her hair. Her desk was black. On the desk was a picture of a little girl with a much older woman. "Is that…" Hansel spoke up.

"Ah, my mother and me." Winter nodded. "This was...an old picture. I think I was five when it was taken. It was a happier time."

"Your sister talks a lot about you and your dad. But as far as I remember, she rarely mentions your mom." Hansel noted.

Winter sighed. "For good reason. Mother was once a wonderful and kind person. However, she has not had much of a presence in the lives of my siblings."

"Siblings?" Hansel raised an eyebrow, knowing about the one, not multiple.

"I have a younger brother as well, his name is Whitley." Winter acknowledged. "Anyway, with how she is now...it may be for the best she's not present. Mother has unfortunately become a rather...heavy drinker."

"That why you don't like Qrow much?" Hansel folded his arms.

"There are a lot of reasons to dislike Qrow Branwen, Professor." Winter told him before adding gently. "But...yes, I suppose being around that drunk drudges up some bad memories."

Hansel sighed. "That part I get." He acknowledged almost instinctively.

Winter took a deep breath, changing the subject. "Now then," she said, "I believe I owe you everything we currently have on this investigation?"

"Yeah," Hansel nodded, "the general sent me a bunch of files on the case last night. But there wasn't much to go on."

"Well, tell me what you know so far." Winter told him.

Hansel nodded again. He had memorized just about everything Ironwood had given him last night. "The incident took place three weeks ago." Hansel began. "Someone broke into your 'secret projects' vault, and made off with a wristband that was supposed to be mass-produced and placed on inmates to discourage running away, or they'd be injected with a necrotoxin."

Winter nodded. "Right now, there are no major suspects. Mainly because the security footage of the area around the vault had been corrupted. Currently, they suspect the perpetrator had placed a virus in the security system." Hansel continued.

Winter nodded once more. "At the moment, security has been increased around the vault to avoid a repeat of the incident. Furthermore, all Atlesian personnel with clearance to enter the vault are required to have a soldier accompanying them."

Hansel took a deep breath. "So, is that everything, or am I missing something?"

"Yes, that is everything." Winter replied.

Hansel nodded. "Okay, good," he said, "with how you've responded, you've at least managed to keep our perpetrator from doing this again. At least until they find a workaround to your new system."

"You expect them to do so?" Winter raised an eyebrow. "Even with heightened security?"

"I know they will. They found a way around your security before, they can do it again." Hansel promised. "These guys are persistent, Specialist. Trust me, I know."

"But there is one thing I'm still trying to understand," Hansel continued, "one thing the case files emphasized was the lack of suspects. Why? Are you telling me three weeks later you have no suspects for me to work with?"

Winter shook her head. "What about the guards that had been on duty during the first robbery? Weren't they able to tell you anything?"

"Both guards are dead." Winter responded bluntly. "Murdered."

Hansel was surprised. "What? Dead? Was it during the robbery?"

"It's...complicated." Winter admitted.

"Explain." Hansel ordered.

Winter sighed. "When the robbery first occurred, one guard: Private Richard Eerie, was killed. His throat was slashed and a look of surprise on his face...as though he had been ambushed, by someone he had never expected to do so."

"What about the other guard?" Hansel did not like where this was going.

"That was Private Bud Brunswick." Winter explained. "He vanished after the incident. He was actually the prime suspect."

Winter sighed. "We had been prepared for a major manhunt all across Atlas, even in Mantle if necessary. But of course, the first place we checked was Private Brunswick's apartment, which he returns to whenever he's on leave. He was...kind of a green recruit. He had probably thought he'd have more time to experience the good parts of Atlas, so he bought an apartment he could use during his time off from the army. Poor fool didn't realize how bad an investment that actually was. Anyway, we went to Brunswick's apartment...and that was when we found him dead as well."

"A murder-suicide then." Hansel concluded, disappointed that the trail might be going cold. "Either that or someone higher up at Gray Jackal decided to silence him."

Winter shook her head. "If it was a suicide, then Brunswick picked quite the way to go out." She muttered with a grim tone. "Though if someone at Gray Jackal did silence him...they are quite brutal in silencing those who outlive their usefulness."

"What happened?" Hansel asked.

"Brunswick...his face had been ripped off from his body." Winter admitted.

Hansel, to his credit, felt sick to his stomach upon hearing this. "His face? He ripped off his face to kill himself?"

"More specifically, the skin." Winter explained. "It was...an unpleasant sight. I can imagine even a sewer rat would've vomited upon seeing the state that Bud Brunswick had been left in. All that was left was the muscles, his skull, and a look of terror etched on his face."

"Any other wounds?" Hansel asked. "What about an autopsy report? Surely there must've been something to explain Brunswick's death?"

"There were signs of a struggle." Winter acknowledged. "We were able to tell as much during the autopsy. His neck showed signs of being grabbed violently. However...not tight enough to strangle."

"An untraceable poison then?" Hansel suggested.

"We entertained the thought, but we just don't know, Professor." Winter admitted. "Whoever killed Brunswick...they're a professional. We even interviewed the people around the neighborhood and they simply could not place anyone or anything at the scene of the crime. The only thing that was even relatively out of the ordinary was that a woman often visited Brunswick...with how often she visited, all the other tenants wrote her off as his girlfriend. But...Professor, there is something else I feel I should point out to you. The time of death makes this even more complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"Bud Brunswick...was found to have died a week before the robbery." Winter revealed, shocking Hansel.

"A week? That's impossible, you're telling me a zombie killed your other man?"

"It's certainly a mystery, isn't it?" Winter mused. "But that was what the coroner had said. He was dead long before the robbery."

"What the fuck…" Hansel muttered to himself.

"And there was more, we managed to procure Brunswick's personal items, such as his scroll." Winter noted. "He was...a very private and shy young man. He didn't have many contacts outside of his family. Not a single contact could've been a possible girlfriend."

"And what about this woman? Were you able to track her down?"

Winter fell silent at this. Hansel gaped at Winter in disbelief. "You're kidding...she's dead too?" Hansel said in shock.

Winter nodded. "She was identified as a previous murder victim from a completely different case. However, her body had been found in a similar state. The skin on her face had been ripped off. However, that was where the similarities ended. Her throat had been slashed and her guts had been torn from her stomach. We suspect she died of those injuries and then her face had been taken."

"Fuck." Hansel muttered in disgust.

Winter sighed. "Indeed," she acknowledged, "that victim was identified as Blanche Amaranth, a local prostitute. That itself torpedoed the idea of her being Brunswick's girlfriend. Brunswick was shy, but he was also well-known for being a clean cut kid. No way he would date a prostitute. That was what his comrades said."

"You do realize what this means, right?" Hansel asked, the gears in his head turning. "Whoever's doing this is stealing faces of people they've killed. Must be some kind of Semblance."

Winter nodded. "We were able to discern that much." She acknowledged.

"And you still weren't able to come up with any suspects?" Hansel asked.

Winter shook her head. "My apologies, Professor," she said, "all our leads have died. All we have to go on is whoever this mystery face-thief is."

"Sheesh," Hansel rubbed his head, "I swear I read a comic book that had a villain like this when I was a kid…"

Hansel sighed. "Okay," he said, "guess that means we've just gotta go back to square one. If one lead dies, that means you have to backtrack and start over until you can find a new lead. Specialist, can you show me whatever's left of the security footage the night the tech was stolen, real quick?"

Winter nodded and turned her monitor towards Hansel. She quickly cued up the footage. Hansel's eyes widened. It was so...ordinary. Two guards showed up-Brunswick and Eerie-to the vault for their shift. And they just...stood there. No one else came along. No one spoke with them. They just stood there, occasionally making small talk. And then, all of a sudden, the footage was replaced with snow and static.

"And that, as you can see, is when the virus goes to work."

"Have you been able to figure anything out about the virus?" Hansel asked curiously.

Winter shook her head. "It deleted all its source code when it was done. Must've been part of the programming."

Hansel sighed. "Like I said," he said, "we're going back to square one."

"What do you mean?" Winter asked curiously.

"Specialist, how many people have clearance into the vault?" Hansel asked.

"Six." Winter replied. "General Ironwood and five military scientists who answer directly to the general."

Hansel nodded. "Alright then, inform the general that as of now, he and those five scientists are prime suspects."

Winter instinctively shot out of her chair at this. "General Ironwood is not the perpetrator. He would never-"

"Specialist, I can't take any chances here. If Gray Jackal's allowed to continue doing this, who knows the kind of damage they can do. For all we know, Atlas could just be a test run. They could be planning other kinds of infiltrations to destabilize all four kingdoms. We need to stop them here, no matter what, even if it means treating a respected public figure like General Ironwood as a prime suspect."

Winter fell silent. "Now, I want you to send me all the files you have on those scientists." Hansel ordered. "Furthermore, get me all the security footage of the night of the robbery, along with security footage of the vault entrance in the month leading up to the robbery."

"Why?" Winter asked.

"I want to see who was going in and out the most." Hansel replied. "That could maybe narrow it down. But that's a big maybe because it's only circumstantial. Can you get me all of this?"

Winter regained her composure and nodded. "Yes," she said, "General Ironwood has assigned me to aid you in this case, so I can."

Hansel nodded. "Good," he said, "for this to work, we need to ignore the connected murders for now. That clearly did not get who we were looking for. Do you understand, Specialist?"

"I do." Winter nodded.

"Okay then," he said, "then let's start by reviewing those files. I want to know everything about those five scientists. Afterwards, I want you to take me to the vault. I want to see it myself so that I can understand just how a mole pulled this off."

Winter nodded, still somewhat reeling over the fact that the boss she deeply respected was a suspect in this. Hansel, inwardly, was realizing something he simply could not tell Winter, for the sake of the mission and for the sake of cooperation.

It was not just Ironwood and those five scientists who were suspects.

Everyone was a suspect...

A.N: Man we go through a lot during these chapters, huh? Pure nightmare fuel for poor Hansel. Some humor with Team RWBY. And then, we get right back into the nightmare fuel as Hansel launches his investigation. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Stick around, because in celebration of 25 chapters being posted, I've got something a little special for next chapter.