King: ...

Knox: You okay?

King: Damn Microsoft and their subscriptions... I can't even work on the old ideas any more! Why not just pay for the extra features but make the actual work free to use?! But no! I can't even save a project to work on!

Knox: Then... how are we here?

King: I had to improvise! But here we are and it's out damnit! Hope you enjoy!

Inspiration: N/A

/\

The gang gathered was going over what had just happened as the screen sparked to life once more.

The screen was a void of black, a constant hissing sound filtering through the speakers.

"What is that?" Ruby's head tilted slightly.

Penny, after an analysis of the particular sound, answered with, "It seems to be the hiss of a gas valve. Specifically one connected to a larger canister close at hand."

Winter turned to the automaton, "A flamethrower?"

Penny shook her head. "No. The sound is inconsistent with flamethrowers. I believe it is strictly gas based."

The black of the screen was starting to corrode in the center before falling away to reveal a man in a full suit of cloth and iron. Everything about the man was covered head to toe, from his boots that sealed onto his pant legs to his gas mask and sealed helmet. All together, his body was completely sealed within, not even air could get through without traversing the filters of his mask. Each breath came with a filtered sound, one that would haunt lesser men.

Everyone couldn't help a quick chill running up their spines.

Ironwood blinked upon seeing the man. The attire was clearly military-based, but there was clear contributions from a hazardous material suit.

The man looked around and looked as though he would step through the screen, but the camera moved away to show him enter a warehouse through a metal wall. The man walked through the area, inspecting the various items strewn about the storage area. Most of the warehouse was empty save for the shelves, falling apart from their age. The man walked through, his footsteps echoing through the old building. He looked at one of the shelves before kicking it and collapsing the entire structure.

"Why did he do that?" Ruby couldn't make sense of this guy.

The man continued his way inside before reaching a side office, once used by the management of the warehouse during its operational years. He tried the doorknob, but found his boot was far more likely to get the sheet of wood open. As the wood collapsed to the ground, he walked inside the office and tried to see if he could get anything off of the computer. The screen didn't even turn on, so he just smacked it and stood upright again. "That's unfortunate."

Nora gasped, "That's Jaune?!"

Jaune sighed and gave the desk a kick before walking back into the main building. Once more into the breach, he made his way back outside to the world of Remnant. The warehouse was revealed to be on a SDC mining site, a rather large one, in the Atlassian tundra.

Ironwood nodded, "That could explain the suit. Insulation would come in very handy in the tundra."

Jaune walked into the central courtyard and looked toward the primary mine. It wasn't the largest mine in Atlas, but it was the site of its worst collapse in 30 years, killing 20 miners.

Ilia tensed up. She recognized the mine, a little too much. This was the site where her parents worked before a cave-in killed them both.

Jaune glanced around, half expecting something to come around to attack him for whatever reason. Given the Grimm had supposedly taken over the mine, it wasn't exactly that crazy a concern.

Ilia felt her grip on her chair tighten. The thought of the mine enraged her, the thought the Grimm took over what was basically her parents' tomb wasn't helping.

Jaune looked up toward the sky, thinking out loud, "It's not here. I was hoping this would be easy, but it seems I need to reevaluate my plans." Jaune paused as he saw the snow on the tundra flying up in a path toward him. Jaune wasn't sure what it was just yet, so he ducked back inside to observe from a safe location.

A large troop transport slowed to a halt at the edge of the mine. Based on the logos and the winter gear of the occupants, it was shown to be an Atlas branch of the White Fang. There was something in the back of the truck covered by a canvas, a crate hidden away from view.

One of the Fang members hopped out of the front passenger seat and looked around. "Scan the area. I don't want Atlas hearing about what we're doing until it's too late."

"What are they planning?" Sienna knew whatever it was had to be big, but it was difficult to tell what.

Jaune watched as they fanned out and a pair unloaded the crate from the canvas. It took them awhile before they nodded and opened the crate. Jaune was stunned once they opened the crate, however.

Now sitting on the frozen ground was a bright gas canister the size of a small human. Nothing too crazy, it was common for cooking gases or fuel. But those symbols on the side are what really got his attention. A blue skull centered over a red X and a black cloud emanating from either side.

Ozpin felt his body go cold. That's impossible…

Jaune was stunned long enough not to notice the White Fang grunt sneaking up behind him and pointing a gun at his back, "Don't move."

Jaune growled, a little angry he didn't notice the man, but he had hopes to get closer to the canister.

That, Ozpin had to comment on, "Why on Remnant would he want to get closer?!"

Ruby jumped at the sudden shouting, "What's going on?"

Oobleck adjusted his glasses and thought back over his memory of his work. Once he realized what it was, all he could muster was a high pitched sound.

Jaune was marched to the truck and the canister with a gun at his back. He looked to the canister, almost amazed by it. His attention had to be snapped away and over to the leader.

The leader wasn't much taller than he was and dressed in heavy winter gear. The only thing showing he was a faunas was a pair of large fangs in his mouth at poke out through his mouth. He grinned seeing Jaune as he approached, "What have we got here? A snooping human?"

Jaune looked the man in the eyes, not that he could really tell that given the mask. "Where did you get this canister?"

"What?"

"Where did you get that canister?"

"What do you care?" The leader gestured for his associates to prepare of a recorded execution, like the Schnee board member the other day. Another dead human would do wonders for the cause in their twisted minds.

Weiss clenched her fists and slammed it onto her chair. The Board of the SDC had always been targets, almost as much as her family and anyone that actively associated with them. It was the main reason she hated the White Fang as much as she does.

Jaune remained resolute, and very honest, "I want it."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. I want the gas inside that canister."

The two that actually knew what was in there were scared silent and frozen in place, leaving the rest to only guess and worry based on their expressions.

The lead Fang member burst out into laughter. "Is that right? Too bad. This was the only one, and we've got plans for it."

Jaune looked toward the canister. "That right? What for?"

"You're a little too curious for your own good."

Jaune turned back to the man, "You're going to kill me anyway. Why not give me an idea what would happen with it?" The camera fell and zoomed in at his wrist to reveal a small nosile sending out something they couldn't see directly. The only way they knew something was happening was the distortion at the end.

The leader took a breath and chuckled, "I guess I can do that much for you. Scare you shitless before we kill you. Sure. I'll tell you. We plan to unleash it on Atlas, watch those damned humans drop one by one~" He liked the idea of that a little too much.

Sienna growled in anger. She refused to believe this man was a member of the White Fang, but it was becoming clear she was losing control of the organization at this point.

Jaune looked to the canister and back to him. "That's such a waste…"

"Waste?" The man scoffed, "Oh please. What would you know?"

"A lot actually. Are you aware of what that gas is?"

"Huh? Of course I do. It's…"

"Galaxtripatoximin, or GTT" Jaune interrupted. "A gas first developed in the dark era and last used in the Great War. If that really is the last of it, I won't let you use it on your frivolous cause."

That really pissed him off, "F-frivolous?! You son of a bitch! I'm going to…" The man seemed to stagger a bit, "going to…"

Jaune shook his head, "No, you won't." He jumped back into his captor and knocked him to the ground with little effort. Before any of them could fire a shot, he swiped his arm in an arc in front of him as a bright white gas flowed out from his hand, causing them to lose control of their legs and fall to the ground.

Nora gasped, "What just happened?!"

Jaune stepped over the group and toward the canister. "P-6 gas, originally designed as an anesthetic, I kicked up the concentration. Exposure to high concentrations can cause loss of muscle control in small doses." He reached the canister and rubbed his gloved hand against the shimmering metal. "But GTT… that's a real gas. Exposure to low concentrations can cause bleeding of the eyes, muscle tearing, blood accumulation in the lungs, and so on. It tears you apart from the inside."

Ruby shivered at the thought, and almost puked at the thought, "Oh gods, why…"

Cinder was wide-eyed and interested in hearing more.

"You could kill an army with how much you have here if you tried. If is was low. But this? This is pure GTT!" He placed his other hand on the canister like is was an altar of the gods, "This could eat away at the body until nothing is left! Enough to turn a kingdom into a graveyard and kill any scavenger that tries to approach the corpses!" Jaune's fingers tightened and his breathing got a little heavy. "Oh~ What a beautiful chemical of death~"

Yang leaned away from the screen, "Um… is he okay?"

Jaune started to laugh, "Such a rare beast needs to be preserved and I cannot allow you to waste it on your movement."

The lead ground his teeth together and started to rise back up to his feet, albeit slowly and shakily. He raised his gun toward Jaune, a shaky hand making aiming difficult.

Oobleck tensed, "Oh… that's not good."

The man fired a shot toward Jaune. To his credit, it did hit him in the head, but said head was covered by aura and a sloped helmet, both of which caused the bullet to ricochet off and put a hole in the canister. Realizing just what happened, the scene went quiet, not a single sound, as the canister was blown open. With no gas.

Ozpin and Oobleck collapsed back into their chairs in relief.

Jaune was still before his hands clenched into shaking fists, "It was… empty?" Jaune's body was shaking before a white cloud rose up around him.

This allowed them to transition to a flying bullhead with the Atlas logo on the side, still in the air. The camera moved inside to show Clover of the Ace Operatives looking over a hologram of the mine as he addressed his unit of Atlas military for the mission. "Alright people, remember, the White Fang think they have a real canister of Great War gas."

Ironwood sighed and nodded, "So it was a trap."

Clover continued, "That means they're going to be more careful around it, and we need to act the part as well for now. If they get desperate enough to try to take us down with them, we can use their confusion to take them all in at once. Get ready people! We're touching down!"

The camera moved to show the pilot stretching his neck a bit to look to the ground, "Uh… Sir! You might want to rethink this plan."

"What?" Clover moved to join the pilot at the main window. What he saw was more than a little disturbing. First was the broken canister, meaning the White Fang would know it was a trap. They would likely be waiting in ambush, if they weren't sprawled out around it. Clover knew it could still be a trap, however, "Take us down further in. We'll walk."

One landing and cautious run in formation, the Atlas group reached the scene and finally got a good look at what was before. Any pretense this was a trap melted away from Clover's mind. Vomit, blood, and melted skin surrounded the bodies of the White Fang. There were no injuries they could find on the bodies, but it was clear however they died, it was in an intense amount of pain.

This got many to lurch and/or vomit from the scene. It was safe to say they'd seen terrible things, but this took the cake. Even Cinder found holding her lunch down difficult. She'd charred bodies, and they'd screamed in pain and torment, but whatever caused this was on another level altogether.

Before one of the soldiers could approach to survey the bodies appropriately, Clover raised a hand to stop him. There was a lingering scent in the air, innocuous and almost forgettable, but to Clover it was all too familiar. A scent he was lucky to catch before getting any closer, "Reaper-3. There's still a little in the area. As long as we don't approach the bodies, we'll be fine."

The men backed away almost immediately. Reaper-3 was a dangerous gas designed for warfare in the dark ages of Remnant. Exposure guarantees death, even lingering after around the bodies. As long as they keep their distance now, they would be fine. That said, it was a controlled substance that no one should be able to get their hands on without a license.

One of the soldiers looked over the scene, "Who the hell would do this?"

Clover took a heavy breath away from the scene, "There's only one man I know who would use Reaper-3 so openly."

"Is that a bad thing, sir?"

"Truth be told, he's probably the only person in all of Remnant I would trust with it."

The scene changed to show General Ironwood looking over a personnel report. On the hologram was a picture of Jaune with his mask and helmet finally removed. He looked similar to the version in the seats, though his hair was cut much shorter and he had a more gruff appearance. The information underneath it read out to fill in the blanks.

[Name: Jaune Arc]

[Occupation: Huntsman / Chemical Engineer]

[Notes: He specializes in gas-based chemical creation and cataloging. Creator of Omen Gas, used to predict incoming storm fronts. He is willing to work for access to rare gas weapons to add to his collection. He often states such rare findings should be preserved rather than wasting away / wasted by use.]

The world came to close soon after seeing this.

This got the majority to sigh in relief. Cinder was less than thrilled. She had hoped the scene from before would give her a real show. But he's just another huntsman.

King popped in again and laughed, "How about a quick intermission?"