"I don't like this."

"Neither do I." But nothing could be done about it.

Junior thought he had his hands full when crossing Blanco, but getting an invitation to outright invade the proposed hiding place of their whole group was too good to be true. And yet, getting word of all the little kids his boys were pulling out of there proved otherwise. At least Melanie and him shared the same sentiment: this was sketchy as corner store Dust Crystals.

Miltia, on the other hand, drew their attention onto other concerns.

"Have any of you been able to get through to Yang or Josh?" The strawberry sister questioned, scowling as she earned another dial-tone, before rightly calling it quits. "I know Josh doesn't have a scroll, but no matter what I just can't seem to reach Yang."

"I gave it three shots before tossing it aside," her icy twin admitted, eyes still glued to the screen where they watched in real time through livestream from one of the boys as both his, Lil'Miss's, and the White Fang's men all came strolling from the chaos of the entry explosion with children in hand. "But if we see 'em on screen, then we'll have our answers."

Melanie, after failing to contact Yang and Josh, quickly assumed they'd run into a snatch trying to bag Jay. If they were to see even a lick of either three individuals pop out from the smoke, then they would have their answer. But Junior himself, despite falling in with the idea, found it strange how of all times, now was when someone approached all three of Vale's otherwise unsteadily aligned factions with the same news.

And it just so happened to come from Cinder Fall; Roman's questionable employer.

Alongside working with the White Fang and having eyes set on something relating to the Vytal Festival, Junior had nothing else on the woman. So how was it that she'd not only stumbled across Garanite's hiding hole, but also recognised the use of outdated and banned SEMS patches? This whole fiasco reeked of foul play, but sadly, he harbored little more than suspicions and convenience to back up his thought process. Add onto that the quick agreement to a truce in favor of raiding Garanite's joint between both the Spiders and the White Fang, and you had the perfect mix of impossible circumstances; Junior was all but strong-armed into going along with it.

Now he had not only the Fang and Cinder to deal with on top of Jay, but also the Spiders who were showing far too much leeway to a faction they'd otherwise wanted no part of.

It was just a hunch, but due to the speed of it all, Junior suspected Miss Fall may have carried some ties to Lil'Miss beforehand - not that either would ever admit to such.

"And out pops another," Melanie droned from beside him, irritated over being forced to watch the action unfold rather than joining in. While tempting, Junior wasn't about to walk his girls into a full blown trap; they were high-value targets, and regardless of their possibility of finding the other three, this was not a risk he was willing to take. They would find the others eventually, so taking unnecessary actions at the expense of their safety earned a hard 'no' from him.

"Still no sign of the trio," Miltia mumbled, her voice picking up in conflict. "Maybe they're not involved?"

"Like they'd miss an event as big as this." And just as quickly, Melanie dismissed the idea. "Come on, they were chasing Jay. Chances are, he brought this on everyone; probably followed by someone else after his ass while he was ditching us."

Junior doubted the boy could outrun someone like the Xiao Long girl, he didn't discredit the idea that maybe Garanite and his crew had given the kid a few 'outs' should he fall into trouble; they just didn't know what said escape aids were.

Out of nowhere, Miltia's scroll began to buzz, and her face lit up like a light in the darkest sewers.

"It's Yang!"

"Well don't just stand there; answer it!" Melanie fought against her roar, no less excited, albeit far from happy.

.

.

"I don't like this," Josh commented, careful as he followed along in the pitch black, sticking close as she lit the way with her scroll light.

Yang wasn't exactly sure what to expect when they came upon the panel and its single fair-sized crystal in that stupid bathroom, but utter darkness wasn't in the cards; granted, what did they expect when accepting play from a shady dealer?

They got whisked away, there was no doubt about that, but this extra hideout clearly hadn't seen any guests in who knows how long? Cobwebs littered every corner, and she could swear rats were scurrying around in their nocturnal homes, living off of rotten food left around... wherever it may be. They had yet to find a working light switch, and while not at all shocking after you get used to the dilapidated aura this place exuded, neither of them were cool with it.

This mess was guaranteed to leave her needing a nice hot shower afterwards.

"Perhaps they don't have any power?" Raspberry suggested shakily, also uncertain of what sanctuary this place could possibly offer.

"Even still," Josh's head swiveled, his voice skipping along an uncertain hum, "wouldn't they at least keep it manageable? I mean, if this is their emergency backup, shouldn't it be ready for action at a moment's notice?"

"It should," Yang agreed, herself already fighting up the urge to give into the looming dread, "but I don't really know how criminals of the underground do things, so I can't say."

That was partially a lie; she knew how Junior functioned... to an extent. Granted, the quality of this place matched the crystal that invited them in; coated in grime and refused the light of day for way too long. Actually, every step they traveled pointed out fewer and fewer similarities to their original capture. For instance, the original base could only mimic a genuine home feel, whereas this one seemed like an actual home - albeit a dead one on the verge of collapse.

And maybe that meant they could get a decent word out.

"Hold on," Yang stopped them, bringing her scroll before her face, "give me a second to try something."

"What's on your mind?" Josh asked, and she half expected him to step up and look over her shoulder like Ruby would when she asked that question, but he didn't.

"Well, Gar's place cut off all scroll communication access except those picked out by him. But maybe here we might actually be able to get a signal."

While he'd mentioned it only once when letting them go after Raspberry's interrogation, Yang had been so focused on awaiting Jay that she hadn't really given it all that much consideration. Garanite had effectively disabled all scrolls that weren't under his employ from connecting to the outside world, meaning that even if she wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to call for help; apparently, he had security set up capable of doing just that, and also detecting things like scrolls and higher level tech itself. A brief warning, but enough to keep Raspberry from trying anything shady.

But in a place so unkempt as this, perhaps it lacked those features?

Figuring the idea to be worth a shot, Yang dropped into her contacts and found Miltia's number, having gotten it from Ruby before deciding to pop down and check up on their progress towards finding Jay, who had gotten it from Coco, who had- You know what, those thoughts weren't important right now. A single tap had her on dial-up, and she waited for the rings to go through.

"Yang!"

The ear-splitting volume wasn't what any of them had been prepared for.

"Agh!" Yang hissed, pulling back before shouting herself, "lower the volume please! I'd like to keep my hearing into my thirties!"

"Sorry," Miltia quickly corrected, now at a sensible level.

"Better," Yang took a second to allow the ringing in her ears to fade, but the other end kept on talking, beginning with questions.

"What happened? We've been trying to reach you and Josh for a while now, but couldn't get through. Is he there, by the way?"

"I'm alive," Josh clarified from behind, shaking his head and reiterating, "I mean, I'm here."

"Yeah, about that," Yang paused, pondering on how exactly to put things without immediately starting a riot. "We uh... got a little tied up."

"Where?" Miltia questioned.

"And with what?" Melanie added in. Yang could almost feel the glare the former shot towards her sister, with said sister shooting back, "What? It's clear they got in a scrap of some kind. I just want to know what level of nonsense kept us from getting through. Had to be somewhat competent if it can scramble scrolls; or, in other words, not your usual two-lien-a-piece store garbage."

"Does kidnapping make the list?" Yang clapped back, her eyes widening a second later when she registered her sassy automatic response.

"You're kidnapped?!" Miltia cried, and Yang fought off a groan."

"Yes, kind of; look, it's gonna take a minute to explain. Just... we got out, and it's probably best we talk about it later back at the club. To make a long story short: we're waiting on Jay, and it turns out Garanite... it's complicated, okay; not the sort of thing I can talk about over a scroll call, understand?"

"Fine," Melanie puffed, "if things are like that, then maybe it is best if we wait until the group reconvenes. Think you can get a read on your location?"

"In a few minutes? Probably."

"Right. Do that. Let us know where to find you, and we'll pop by to snag you in one of the vans; you'll see me in the window waving you over. Sound good to you?"

Melanie made it seem so easy, but the problems laid in the simple fact that they still hadn't gotten a real clue of where they were. On top of that, outing the location of Garanite's base over scroll call probably wasn't too swell of an idea either. Telling in person? Cool. Speaking over tappable conversations? It's a no-go. That was an easy fix though: they just had to leave the base and pick somewhere else to get grabbed from... in a good way, and with consent this time.

"Right. We'll do that once we snag Jay."

"Call back quickly. We've got... a lot to talk about." Melanie ended it just like that, and after the signifying beep, Josh piped up with a cool and honest comment.

"Well that wasn't ominous at all."

At least someone had the energy for sarcasm; to tell the truth, Yang was struggling a little in that department. On the bright side, the idea of using GPS at least knocked into her head the thought of taking a quick peek at their general area. Ah, the Global Positioning System; the CCT's greatest contribution to the world besides the internet. CCT sends out a series of pings between certified local dishes and stations to triangulate individual devices, cataloging them into its system to track down anyone with either a scroll, or other means of compatible tech - like some huntsmen weaponry and vehicles with built-in radio.

According to the map, they were... eerily not that far from home.

"Okay... New plan." Yang positioned her scroll's flashlight ahead again. "Once we get out, we'll be walking back to the club.

"Why?" Josh asked.

"Because we're about three blocks away at most."

.

.

"Things seem to have taken quite the turn for you, haven't they, old friend?"

Ozpin expected a many strange things to occur in his life, but sitting in the middle of James office on an atlesian warship watching a leaked White Fang livestream running the exact play-by-play of a raid on Garanite's base of operations hadn't quite been something he'd expected to pan out as it did. Truthfully, Garanite should have wound up dead beforehand, with his place being ransacked by those he spent a good many years deceiving in his crusade to rid Vale of its underground slave trade.

However, from the perspectives of many, the White Fang, the Spiders, and the Xiong Crime Syndicate were freeing those children instead from a very evil man.

"Much to my disdain, yes." Tapping his boots, Garanite recounted to himself, "everything I've worked towards, dismantled in a single night. Part of me wants to be happy that others are showing genuine care for the lost and abandoned, but the other side knows it's only a one night stand."

That was true: everyone involved in this little "miracle" of mercy would only be doing so for this very moment. Come tomorrow, or any other day going forward for that matter, the forgotten children of the streets not immediately put into some form of protection will be swept up and sold for even higher profits than before, with their handlers and kidnappers taking extra precautions to obscure their revolting proclivities.

But such was not the worries of right now, and upon cutting the feed, Ozpin circled around to speak with his agent face to face.

"Unfortunate, but temporary. While it will be difficult, I highly doubt you are the only one facilitating a racket similar to this; there's bound to be others out there right now fighting the good fight."

"As you say," Garanite relented, taking up a hardened fold. "But that's not what's at the forefront of your mind, is it?"

"You guessed correctly." Making himself comfortable, Ozpin began their discussion in earnest. "Your last message carried some heavy implications, mainly of which I need answers to; specifically in regards to the woman, or I guess in this case, man that you held in captivity."

"The one with the magic bullet." Garanite scoffed, grumbling to himself and harboring a muffled puzzlement. "Right. It's safe to say that he's not connected to Amber."

"How so?"

"Besides being a man? The magic I saw was far different than that of any Maidens' to cross my path. I can't pin down a source at all, and had it not been for a few extra quirks that peaked my intrigue, I might have tried digging a little deeper into the subject."

"I see. And what would you say some of those quirks are, exactly?"

"For one: he's immune to dust, and anything dust related." That was interesting news indeed, but Garanite didn't let go there. "According to a breakdown from an associate of mine, who is in the middle of relocating him as we speak, the kid isn't affected by changes resulting from dust either. A fiery explosion left him completely untouched, and multiple instances have shown dust itself losing its functionality entirely when in contact with him; until he is removed."

"Deactivating dust upon physical contact, while being impervious to its volatile properties... That is a rather useful, albeit deadly "quirk" he possesses." Not to mention incredibly abusable, if taken up by the wrong hands.

"That's just one aspect of him; his mental state isn't exactly altogether either. From what I gather, he seems most at ease when put into a scenario where choice is not afforded to him. He still upholds his own morality, but he shows less stress when control is out of his hands."

"He shuns responsibility." Ozpin knew plenty of people like that; few of them what he'd classify as "good."

"I thought so too, but then I noticed his responses to... outside reactions."

"Oh?"

"He... I suppose you can say he "flares up." I first caught on during one of my initial questioning sessions, before we put him to work distracting Vale's police force while moving around. It's hard to put into words, but he seems to "act up" whenever questioned on anything regarding himself, on a personal level. Good or ill, when attributing anything to him distinctly, he has this almost instinctual outburst of extremity, playing up any given opinion or reaction into an almost parody of what you'd expect to see."

"Seems to me that he's attempting to hide his true views on any given subject." Ozpin, once more, had seen this numerous times; usually by those who feel shunned for a particularly unpopular opinion, or anything going against the social norms of whatever area the individual lingers within.

"You'd think that, but this is where it gets tricky. He doesn't just defend any stances or ideas he may have. He actively goes out of his way to almost justify not his beliefs or ideas, but whoever it is that's conversing with him."

That... was new.

"Pardon me," Ozpin interjected, "but are you saying he's trying to reinforce anyone's already given disposition towards him."

"Precisely."

"And... you're saying it's instinctual?"

"Maybe not quite instinct, but rather, I'd argue it comes off more as an adaptation: a self-taught skill. But he doesn't use it as a skill, it employs itself almost subconsciously."

"He's taught himself how not to be himself," Ozpin simplified, and Garanite nodded.

"Yes, and in all the worst ways. He isn't simply adjusting to people's expectations, but instead, he's actively rejecting the possibility of deep social bonds. That's the difficult part I've yet to unravel. People learn skills and traits in pursuit of some benefit or goal, but I fail to see what can be gained from heightening others' negative presumptions."

"Does he have no control over it whatsoever?"

"None. I'll admit, it's not entirely negative, but he's actively hiding his deeper personality and self. A small element I've picked up on over these past few days had always been when I'd made attempts to understand him. He wouldn't speak up honestly when uncomfortable, but then I started tossing out some guesses as to his ideals or views on either this or that, picking at who I thought he was."

"And how did that fare?" For only holding this individual for a few days, Garante managed to garner a fair level of understanding about them.

"Whenever I missed the mark, he'd show no substantial change in attitude, but whenever I hit the nail on the head, the stress would become visible for a second; again, regardless of whether the assumption was either positive or negative towards him. Seemingly, it didn't matter the morality or acceptability of the correct predictions, only that I was correct."

It was becoming eerily clear that their person of interest seemed more unreceptive, subconsciously at the very least, towards the simple act of being understood. Such a strange habit to develop; one with far more detrimental sides than benefits.

"Might I ask the name of your captor?" Ozpin requested, all but knowing through overt confirmation who it was they spoke of.

"A man going by the name Jay Williams."

"I figured as much."

Author's note

…

Alright, done again.

With Beyond Destiny finished, you're looking at the first of the new Friday schedule. And what a weird one to start off with too; again, I'm undecided on why I'm not happy with this chapter either.

So far, we have Junior's opinion on the raid - as promised. We've got Yang, Josh, and Raspberry on their way home. And finally, we've got Ozpin and Garanite's speculation and discussion regarding both Jay's "magic bullet" and the boy himself. Sadly, they can only make so many guesses, and to varying results. Are they right? Are they wrong? You'll just have to hold on and see.

Until next time.