What!?

What is this!?

How was this even possible?

Standing outside of Tukson's store, I could only peek my head into the building, where the police were currently working, examining the interior of the building, and attempting to determine what happened.

No, this doesn't make sense. He's supposed to be gone!

However, as I attempted to walk into the store over the line, a voice called to me "Hold it right there!" turning to see a detective walking over from the counter. "This is an active crime scene. Stay out." He told me, an air of authority in his voice.

"Sorry, sir." I responded, now staying outside the tape. "What happened here? Another break-in?" I asked, trying not to sound too hopeful about the possibility. However, I knew the likelihood of someone, anyone breaking in to try to get books was a very distant possibility.

"Afraid not." The detective then told me, stopping as if he were wondering whether or not to tell me. "You'll hear about it in the news soon enough anyway…" he started "…the owner of the store was killed. The investigation is ongoing."

There it was, right out for me to know.

Tukson was killed.

That doesn't make sense! It would have had to happen in the literally one day from when I gave him the ticket to when I came back!

The detective must have noticed the change in my expression as dread gave way to disbelief at what had happened. "Are you all right kid?"

Shaking my head, I answered "No, sir. No, I'm not. Tukson was a friend of mine." I then told him, shaking my head again, now leaning up against the door, starting to actually shake a little as I started to process what was going on.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." The detective told me. "Listen, kid. We're going to get whoever it was that did this to him…" setting a hand to my shoulder in an attempt to console me.

Looking back into the store, I asked quietly, after a moment "How do you know someone killed him, anyway?"

Heaving a sigh, he pointed the other side of the counter "You can't see it from here, but there are signs of combat on the other side of the counter… he definitely didn't go down without a fight."

He wasn't telling me everything, obviously: I could see, once I took a moment, the order to the store, despite combat in the back of the store, along with what appeared to be chunks missing from the table, yet absolutely no sign of debris on the floor.

They wouldn't have swept up a crime scene: whoever did this must have tried to cover their tracks by sorting the place out before leaving.

However, right now, it was clear I wouldn't get anything else out of him, and I didn't want to see anyone else right now, turning on my heel, I stated "I'll be going now. Good day, detective. I hope you find whoever it was that did this…" However, I was unable to conceal the bitterness in my tone, at the moment.

I was absolutely livid, and started down the street, making my way through the town, the charming streets, combined with the people out and about, enjoying life seemed to aggravate my general mood of irritation, now heading back to Beacon, where I could at least find enough space to be alone with my thoughts.

Or so I hoped. However, upon returning, I found the rest of the team, having just been hanging out near the entrance to the academy. The group, upon noticing me, came right over, Diamond having spoken first "Hey, Jett. You're back from Vale sooner than I-"

Azure had actually been the one to notice it first: my expression, deathly serious, and not in the mood for any kind of banter. "Jett?" Azure asked quietly, stepping over to me, her eyes alight with concern as she knew something was wrong.

"Hey, Jett, what's going on?" Diamond now asked, as the three of them followed me, all the way back to the room. Laying back on my bed, I looked up at the three of them, sighing in resignation.

After a moment or two of awkward silence, I stated simply "Tukson's gone." Looking on as they all got a confused expression.

"That's… good, right?" Diamond asked, now unsure why I was in this state. "I mean, he should be in Vacuo by now, right? Maybe he's even on that beach you mentioned."

Heaving a sigh, I shook my head and responded "Not what I meant! I mean he's dead! Someone killed him just before he could leave!" trying not to shout, but raising my voice nonetheless.

"Are you sure?" Azure asked, looking shocked at what I was telling her. "He may have just made the place look like a mess to throw pursuit off…"

I was rather surprised by her hopefulness, but how direct my experience had been kept that from me. "Afraid not. The police were there. There was an actual battle that happened there. They know he's dead." It had fallen to me to shoot down her optimism.

"Oh…" Azure started, sitting down on the side of my bed. "…Jett. I am so sorry this happened." She commented, hugging me now, surprising me with her embrace, though I didn't move at the moment.

"Why? It's not your fault." I told her. "It's whoever did this." I stated with what sounded to an outside listener like calm, but it was a simple observation.

"That's not what I meant, Jett." Azure corrected me, still sitting on the edge of my bed.

"That's a damn shame." Diamond stated.

"Yeah, that's an understatement. We'd just managed to get him a way out, a way to leave the White Fang behind and have a better life for himself…" I started to observe, before it dawned on me immediately.

"That's it!" I started, standing back out of my bed and moving across the floor, needing some room to pace as I revealed my thoughts. "The White Fang! He was deserting them, they have him killed! It HAS to be who it was! I doubt they did it alone: Torchwick and Chroma were working with them before, no reason to think they wouldn't be now!"

"Hey, Jett, as good as I think your idea is…" Eunry started, holding out her hands "…I wouldn't go too far on a single line of thought, at least until we have more information. It may not have been them, and you'd be going after the wrong people!"

Looking over at her, I justified "Then I would be taking down a terrorist organization that is aiding and abetting Torchwick! I may even find Chroma again! Either way, I win!"

"You win?" Diamond asked, sounding confused at my wording "How do you 'win' having to fight a terrorist group with people all across Remnant, and potentially an old friend that knows how you think and how you do things, not to mention someone familiar with your infiltration methods and combat technique running the show!"

Nodding along, I responded "Very good, Diamond, I can see you were paying attention when I told you what I already knew. I get your point: it's a big enemy. Even bigger than we know, because of whoever's in charge of Roman that Chroma mentioned… But I have to know. I have to find out what happened, and take down whoever did this to him!"

Taking a moment to calm down, I then told Diamond "You don't have to come if you don't want to. In fact, none of you do." I then expanded on the idea, looking at the three of them. "This whole thing is my problem. I asked more than I should have when I asked you to help me at the docks. This will likely be even more dangerous if what I'm thinking is true. What do you say?" I finally asked them.

Shaking her head, looking rather disappointed in me, Azure told me "You should have a little more faith in your team, Jett. I'm in. Whatever happens, happens, but we're not letting them get away with this!"

Eunry, taking a moment to consider this, stated "I will help you, but on one condition. Wait." She told me, stepping over, and putting a hand to my shoulder. "You're still in shock from finding out what happened. I don't want you going after them in this state."

As logical as I knew this course of action to be, this suggestion seemed to rub me the wrong way, before I retorted "Eunry, I can't just sit here and wait! Every minute we waste gives them another minute to get away, or to cover it up! We have to go, we have to fight, and we have to-"

However, my statements were cut off by a prompt slap to the face.

"No!" Eunry stated bluntly. "That's exactly what I mean." Lowering her hand now, she looked me dead in the eye, seriousness of her words almost hitting like their own strike. "You need to wait, Jett. If you go rushing after them in a fit of rage you'll do something stupid, and it won't just be you paying the price for it. It will be the rest of us too! Trust me."

"She's right, Jett." Diamond declared supportively, stepping over to Eunry. "If we go out like that and charge wherever we find them guns blazing, not only will we never know what's really happening, but we may even go after the wrong people, into a fight that would end badly for everyone involved. It may not be what you want to hear, but we have do what you'd do in this situation: think about it a moment!"

What I'd do? This is what I would do!

Is it? Is it really?

Stopping a moment to consider this, I wondered what that really meant.

Even thinking about it now, at the warehouse I walked right in, but that was because I knew the field: I knew how Chroma would fight, and I knew he wouldn't be expecting me one-on-one. But here, I don't know who we're up against, where they are, or how many there are.

"Fine. I'll try to cool off. But if you're waiting on me to be done grieving a friend or something, then I'll be on the job way before that! We can't afford to wait that long! But I can wait long enough to think about it, and plan out what we're doing… that much I can do. You're right, it's not just me. If you're coming with me, you're in for it too." I surmised, managing to get my head sorted out for the moment.

However, as I went to lie down to think about it, a hand grabbed my wrist, Azure pulling me out of bed. "What do you think you're doing? You've gotta cool off, so let's go do something fun!"

Honestly, I was amazed at how quickly she could revert to her usual bright self after that heavy of a conversation. "Umm… all right." I responded, unable to come up with a coherent response even after a brief pause. "Did you have anything in mind?" I asked in my confusion.

"Of course! What kind of friend would I be if I just dragged you along without any ideas?!" Azure reassured me, as the four of us left the room. "We were just about to do something before we saw you come back!" she informed me, now apparently going to do whatever it was that was.

Bringing me out to the part of the entrance they had been at, I noticed a large bag that Azure was starting to drag out from behind a tree. "What exactly is that?" I asked, confused by what she had in mind.

"Have you ever made fireworks before?" Azure asked me curiously.

"No, I never considered it before. The compounds would be something I'd have to go out of my way to get. I can shape things, I can't just conjure them out of thin air." I told her, stepping over to the bag, my curiosity slightly piqued by her telling me this.

"Oh, good! Then this ought to be fun!" Azure responded, opening the bag to show me all manner of powder containers, some of them in different colours and marked with different compounds. "I'm just gonna go ahead and assume you're familiar with chemistry." She then stated, sounding quite certain of herself.

"Of course." I answered. "I was hoping to figure out how far I can go with my semblance, but I haven't found a use for the information yet." Now looking over the vials. "When did you guys learn about this sort of thing?" I asked them curiously.

"Signal." Azure told me. "I was trying to figure out how to make better bullets for my weapons, though I never got much better than high-explosive rounds. Those are fun though!"

"Yeah, why don't you tell him about the time you singed your eyebrows off then? Then you had to make Eunry draw-" Diamond started, before getting Azure's hand over his mouth.

"Hey, hey, let's not go bringing up any more dumb stories, Diamond! I'm sure you wouldn't want me telling him what I know about you, right?" She then threatened, her smile clashing with the red currently in her cheeks.

The response that came out of Diamond was muffled by Azure's hand, before she removed it. "Yeah, I get the point." He then commented, shaking his head. "It didn't look that bad though, don't know why you're so embarrassed about it." Now turning to me, he continued "She taught us a bit about it and we started to do pyrotechnics whenever we actually wanted to. So, if you could bring us to your little shop area, we can do this in private."

Heaving a sigh, I then responded "Just… don't blow anything up, all right? I don't want my friends, not to mention my workshop, scattered across the landscape. I'll have to have a room vented though, you don't want to know what happens with explosions in a pressurized area."

Now, when our group passed through the entrance to my workshop, I closed the entrance behind me, the group now stepping into the shop itself, haphazard construction of the main room now quite shabby compared to the considered proportions of the large room behind it, lined in large shaped stone blocks to create a perfectly flat floor and relatively aesthetic appearance, despite the featureless surface.

Inside this large room was: a half-complete bullhead.

"Umm, Jett?" Eunry started, looking over the skeletal airframe of the craft, practically just the metal frame and the engines installed currently. "When did you start building this?"

"Just after that night at the docks." I explained to her. "I managed to analyze and replicate the engine I recovered relatively quickly, but the one on the left is the one I salvaged – after I repaired it, of course. It's not airworthy yet. I need a lot more time to get it finished in order to make it actually work. So, why are we making the fireworks, anyway? Special occasion, or a 'because I feel like it' kind of thing?"

Diamond, shaking his head, commented "Are you just that guy that likes to one-up everything other people do?" stepping past the incomplete aircraft.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea to bring this little pyro meeting to my place." I responded, looking over at Azure. "I'm learning engineering, but I've been working off as much as I can of what stayed in my mind of the interior of one of those. Though it's not 100% the original design, since I don't actually have their blueprints." Gesturing over to one of the walls, which had a great many diagrams of different pieces of a bullhead.

"Besides." I started "This isn't where I planned to do this. Over there." I gestured, pointing to a smaller room off from the side of the hangar with similar aesthetic. Walking in, I showed the group that the room was, at the moment, empty for a single picture: that of an Atlesian Knight, the current 130 model.

"You don't plan on building one of those, do you?" Diamond now asked incredulously, looking at the picture.

"Of course not!" I retorted, now checking the small venting ports near the ceiling. "I plan on building a good half-dozen knights! Why would I figure out how to build one if I didn't plan on building more?"

"There's got to be some kind of legal thing there." Eunry commented, shaking her head.

"I'm sure there is, but the battlefield doesn't allow for minor details like that to stop me!" I declared, before inviting Azure to set her bag on the table in the middle of the room. "Now, as I asked, what's the occasion for fireworks?"

"I'm not sure you've heard, but there's a dance coming up in a little while. We just wanted to come up with something to help make the evening more special, you know?" Azure stated, looking over the powders currently arranged on the table, along with their prospective casings.

"A dance?" I asked, shaking my head a bit "Seems like a waste of time to me, but not really my role to say. So…" I then started, stepping over to the end of the table "Shall we get to work?"

After spending the rest of the day going between tinkering with fireworks and ensuring the team didn't blow up my workshop, we returned to our room and got ready for the next day's classes. "Hey, guys?" I asked, now back in the room and ready to go to sleep "After class tomorrow, would you mind coming with me into Vale? I want to look into what happened to Tukson, and I have a couple of ideas where to look."

Eunry was the first to answer "See? Even just a diverting yourself for the day let you get a bit of perspective. If you really want to look into it, I'll go. Besides, there are a couple things I need to pick up in Vale."

"Yeah, sounds good…" Diamond stated with a yawn, before slipping off to sleep.

"Yeah, I'm in. If we're doing something dangerous, we've gotta sleep well. Good night, Jett." Azure then finished with a yawn.

Finally laying down after a trying day, I felt the strength leave my limbs shortly after getting into bed, and fell asleep despite the thoughts of what I was going to do nagging at me.

The next day, classes passed in what felt like a blur, all I recalled was what was written on the board, which I scribbled into my book as if simply taking dictation, none of my mind actually in the lessons. As soon as class was over, I made my way back to the room, noticing that team RWBY was headed back to theirs in somewhat of a hurry as well.

Well, that's something. Every time we do things that take us parallel to them, something always happens! Sure, we end up finding what we're looking for, but things always get screwed-up all the same!

However, once the four of us were back in our room, I pondered a moment:

Perhaps I should ask what they're up to… we could help each other out? Scratch that, I doubt they'll be looking into what happened to Tukson. They must have their own problems.

"So, boss, what's the plan?" Azure asked curiously, as the four of us were now in battle attire.

"I'm going back to the warehouse Roman had been hiding out in. I know he was involved in this somehow. Tukson was working for him before he left the White Fang. That seems like the most obvious place to check first." I reported to them. "Do the rest of you have any suggestions?"

"Eunry and I are going to the police." Diamond informed me. "My dad has some pull in the Vale PD, so I may be able to find out if they know anything about it. Eunry seems like the best one to help me speak to them about it."

Nodding to him, Eunry agreed "Very well, we'll go there after I'm done my business in Vale, and you and Azure will go to the warehouse to see what you can find."

"No." I informed them. "I'm going to the warehouse alone. No offence, Azure, but you're not exactly the most subtle of individuals. This is going to be a stealth mission."

"Seriously? You ask for our help in going to Vale, then you say we can't come with you!? That's stupid!" Azure responded, shaking her head. "I can be plenty subtle!"

"Perhaps you're referring to when you sneak peeks at my homework over my shoulder? No, not really." I commented in response, pointing at her a moment "You're not the one going on this mission. You'll be finding a vantage point and remaining at the ready to jump in in case things get hairy. You'll be coming with me, just not for the infiltration part."

"So I've gotta camp out front and wait for things to go bad? Well, I guess you're better prepared than I thought! I thought you were gonna make me go to the library or something!" Azure admitted, giving an exaggerated shrug.

"Nope. I know something's going to mess up tonight, but I don't know what. So I need someone to have my back, right? You two…" I then gestured to Eunry and Diamond "…try not to make this a date and come help us if we call!"

"What? What makes you think it's a date?" Diamond asked, pretending not to understand me.

"Just be ready if we call, all right?" I then requested, now going over to the door of the room, "Also, if you run into any members of Team RWBY out tonight, make sure to keep an eye on them, things always seem to get more complicated when they're involved."

At this, we left the campus, making our way back into Vale. This trip seemed to get easier every time I did it, despite having to overcome a fair distance to be able to get back here.

"All right, we have a bit of time before I want to go anywhere near that warehouse." I informed Azure, as we continued down the street not long after Eunry and Diamond went to go find out whatever they could. "I want to wait until it gets dark. At least darker than this." I told her, before asking "So what did you want to do while we wait?"

"Well, nothing." Azure stated. At this, I was about to ask her what she actually wanted, as I assumed she was just trying to get me to say something I wanted to do. "Also, not just being coy." She told me now. "I seriously mean that, nothing."

Now wearing a concerned expression, she told me "You know, Jett, with everything that's been going on, I've noticed none of us have really stopped to do, well, nothing. There are some times when that's necessary. Ever since we ran into Chroma, you've been running non-stop doing all this stuff, thief stuff and then stopping thief stuff. Now you're on to 'solving a murder' stuff, and never had a real break in between. Especially since… well, I saw your latest project."

Turning to look at her worried look, I nodded along "I get that. I mean, I've been going pretty much from one crisis to the next, just trying to take everything in stride, or I thought I might trip and never get back up. I've never even thought to take the time to sit back a minute and unwind. Even our team's 'unwinding' activities are exciting!"

"I know!" Azure responded, smirking a bit, as she was at least partially responsible for a lot of those activities. "That's why I wanted to help you relax for a bit, if we have the time before we go there. Let's go! It's time for a normal day in Vale without thinking about all that stuff!"

There it is: that child-like joy that seemed to define Azure's actions most of the time. It reminded me of living back home, before I started training with Stahl, and had to think about fighting the grimm, and about what might happen were a sudden attack to hit our town again.

"All right then, what's first?" I asked her, deciding to let the Vale native take the lead.

"First off, we'll go on a walk through town to the park, going through the square. I don't think you saw the main square last time we were in the main part of town! Then we'll go get some coffee over at the café by the park! I know you're not the biggest fan of coffee but there'll be other stuff!" she then declared, grabbing my wrist and guiding me in the right direction.

As the two of us went down the streets, I could feel a calm sense of reassurance coming over me as we walked, Azure's presence next to me telling me that even if things went wrong tonight, it wouldn't really matter, because everything would somehow work out anyway. It was a feeling foreign to me, so I had no idea how to actually process it at the moment, so remained somewhat quiet during the walk.

Now, as the two of us started to pass through the center square, I spotted something in the square, looking to be some kind of demonstration: Atlesian Knight 130s being kicked over by different-looking robots while some Atlesian official went over the advantages offered by the less aesthetic units. For him, making them less menacing took something away from them.

"Hmm. Not bad, though." I commented, looking over the units. "Maybe I'll have to borrow one at some point later." I then stated before snapping a picture from this distance.

"Jett. No." Azure responded, her hand on her forehead. "No stealing Atlas military units."

"Nothing like that, Azure! It's just that, well, judging by our luck, we'll find one or two wrecked units at some point." I then suggested, before the official announced the Atlesian Paladin, some kind of piloted mech that they didn't have for display in Vale. "Scratch that. I just found what I want for my birthday!" I then told her, getting another shot with my scroll before turning back to her. "I've seen all I needed. Lead on!"

As the two of us continued, I found myself sneaking glances over my shoulder at my shorter teammate: her hair seemed to bounce slightly with each step, short though it was, and her gaze firmly on the sidewalk ahead of us, the sun glinting slightly from her aqua-blue eyes. I hadn't noticed I was staring until I nearly tripped on a passer-by.

"Hey, watch it!" the grey-haired guy responded, sounding aggravated.

"Apologies." I told him, bowing slightly "I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"Well, keep your eyes on the sidewalk instead of on your girlfriend, and maybe that won't happen!" the green-haired girl next to him retorted.

"I'm sorry, I…" I had started, before realizing what the girl just implied. "…that's not it at all!" I responded, feeling my face getting hot before turning back toward the sidewalk, now resuming to walk with Azure. "The nerve of some people." I muttered to myself as we continued.

However, as we did so, Azure giggled "Well, that's a new state for you: flustered. Never thought I'd see it!" though I thought I noticed her cheeks were redder than before while we continued walking.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I stated, the two of us continuing until we finally reached the café.

"So, Azure, you told me students at Signal forged their own weapons?" I asked her curiously.

"Yep! Tempest Lance is the best!" Azure responded with a smile. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I was curious the process you used to build it." I informed her, "I don't typically use tools, considering my semblance."

"Well, the tools we got for building were Signal's, but you've seen my maintenance kit." Azure told me, "I'm more curious how you do that. My semblance feels like the water just bubbles up from above my skin and goes where I need it to." She described before asking, her eyes aglow with curiosity, "What does it feel like when you use yours?"

"My semblance?" I confirmed with her before responding "Well, my semblance feels as if – well, I can feel the object in my hand. Or in the case of shifting the ground, I can feel the whole area resonating with me." I told her, my hand now at my chin as I attempted to describe how it felt to use my semblance. "I can feel the entire thing as if it were in my hand, and then, forming an image in my mind of what I want it to be, I change it to become the image in my mind. But there's something else I found out recently…" I started to tell her, picking up the napkin off of the table, I held the thing flat in my palm, before my hand started to glow slightly, the napkin actually shrinking in my hand. It seemed to be sparking slightly, before I lobbed the napkin into the air, where it began to come down like a dead leaf, now clear the napkin had been glowing, not my hand, before prodding it with the end of my fork, the paper now crackling with blue sparks, seeming to explode into tiny pieces of charred paper.

"Wh-what was that!?" Azure asked in surprise, having been watching the entire time trying to figure out what I was doing.

"It's the equivalent of squeezing with my aura." I told her. "It can actually slightly shrink the object, but doing so pushes part of my aura into the object as I force it to get smaller. At that point, it becomes unstable as the amount of energy exceeds what the object should be able to hold. So once it comes into contact with something, the energy dissipates, violently as you can see."

"So you can make things explode?" Azure asked, seeming to summarize where her thought process went with my demonstration.

"Well, if that helps you understand it better, yes. It makes small objects that explode on contact. I've yet to figure out a way to actually apply it, though. Anything I make like that would have a very short combat lifespan." I told her, continuing to think.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Azure told me, in an obvious attempt to be reassuring. Watching her turn one of the charred pieces in her hand, I hadn't noticed that we had gotten closer, before almost bumping her head. Realizing at this point, I backed up, and considered what kind of object would be usable in combat were it to explode on contact.

Not long after we left the café, and took a nice walk around the park, the two of us now wound up at the warehouse Roman used as a base before now, looking over my shoulder to see Azure atop another building nearby, before turning my head back toward the warehouse, moving quickly and jumping from surface to surface along the side of the building: forklift, pipe, edge, roof. Now on the roof, I stepped quietly over to the side of the building, putting a small hole in the ceiling and looking into the building.

Inside was row upon row of dust containers, though it was clearly not as many as there had been during the 'phantom' period.

He must have started moving the dust out of the building by now… but there don't seem to be any white fang in the building. Where is everyone?

I was able to hear the noise of some manner of announcer coming from one or two buildings over. Getting an idea of what was going on, I looked over the positions to find the nearest drop from the ceiling, closing the eye-hole, and forming another hole in the ceiling over the catwalk, dropping from the ceiling before re-sealing the hole.

Nobody here. Good. Then I can 'liberate' their stolen dust crates…

Jumping from section to section, I landed next to the racks of dust crates, I started to get an idea of how to get these crates out, before the sound of gunshots could be heard from the next building over.

Not good…

Starting toward the entrance of the building, no crate in hand, I then heard a resounding crash from the same building, moving through the door to see: one of those paladin mechs from the demonstration now charging after two figures, too far for me to recognize at the moment in the dark.

Doesn't matter though. We've got to stop that mech! Hopefully intact enough to get a good look at.

As I started to move toward the road to pursue the rapidly-vanishing mech, however, a shot rang out from behind me, striking my shoulder and sending me skidding a few feet. Turning to see the source, I now saw several of the Atlesian Knights I had spotted in the square earlier, and at the center of the largest group of them: Chroma, smirking at me smugly. "Going so soon, Jett? I thought we'd stay here and chat, one criminal to another, or were you just taking a tour of our property?"

"What the hell is going on here, Chroma!?" I demanded angrily. "Not only are you armed with Atlesian military tech, but killing people!? I would have thought you'd be better than that!"

"Oh, come on, Jett, spare me the lecture, please!" Chroma retorted in irritation. "You shouldn't have been helping traitors! That guy got what was coming to him!"

So Chroma DID help have Tukson killed!

Tightly clenching my fists, I shouted "Are you kidding me?! He didn't want to be any part of it anymore!" Though, as it was clear I wasn't going to get anywhere on that front, I started "But, getting back to the now…", now starting to mentally count how many knights there were here.

10. Should be a challenge, especially if I have to fight Chroma at the same time.

"…what's with the mechs, Chroma? Atlas is just starting to introduce them!" I demanded again.

"Jealous much?" Chroma asked with a smirk, well aware of my penchant for technology. "You needn't worry where we're getting these. We have more than enough. Had you stayed on, we might have even given you one. Ah, who am I kidding? We were going to set you up at the docks if you were still with us. Some people just outlive their usefulness, don't you think?"

Who was this? How did Chroma become so damned inhuman?

"I don't know who poisoned your mind like this, but it has to stop, Chroma! You're working with terrorists! You're even armed with stolen military tech!" I told him, before taking note of another detail. "Though I notice you never did replace your weapons." Seeing him armed with a conventional rifle.

"Yeah. You enjoying those?" Chroma asked angrily. "But that doesn't matter now. Because I notice you're without that pointy stick you were using last time. Didn't think enough of us to come armed?"

The mechs still surrounding me, I smirked a bit. "I guess learning isn't a habit you maintained, eh, Chroma? You should have moved the dust already, as soon as I turned on you guys, the location was a liability!" a small mechanical whirring able to be heard under my coat.

"Oh, I learned, Jett." He responded, trying not to act like I had any advantage on him. "We've already moved most of it to the new place out south-… heh, you almost got me with that one, Jett. Almost. Kill him." He directed to the knights, taking aim himself just before a shot sent him staggering back, two more downing the nearest mech as I jumped behind the knight to my immediate left, Stormbringers sending a lightning arc through every knight in my immediate vicinity, stunning them a moment.

Just before the furthest was able to fire, a weapon's point came through the faceplate, before retracting back through its head, Azure standing behind it as it fell. "Meh, these things aren't so tough." She commented, shaking her head at it.

Rushing over to her before sending another arc of lightning at the knights, I stood back-to-back with her a moment as some of the white fang who had been gone started to come back, joined by the knights from before. "So, you wanna take the ones on the left, or the right?" Azure asked me as I got there.

"Don't be dumb." I responded. "If it were just the mechs, I'd agree, but there's too many of them here for just us. Did you call them?" I asked, shaping the ground to form a circular concrete barrier around the two of us at the moment.

"Yep! As soon as I heard the gunshots." Azure told me cheerfully "So, how are we getting out of this one, boss?"

"Stall. Big stall." I commented, before I could hear Chroma shouting at us from the other side of the barrier.

"Come on out you cowards! Come fight me like a man, Jett!"

Picking up a piece of the concrete, I smiled slightly as I formed it into a small curved sword, concealing it quietly before readying my weapons. "You ready?" I asked Azure, smiling just a bit.

"Let's do it." She responded, as the sound of gunfire continued to grind down the barrier. Feeling the ground and barrier around me, I sent out the barrier out in a wave, the wave knocking back any of the enemies immediately around us. The two of us now charging at the white fang and mechs on either extreme side, a wave of lightning stunning the group momentarily before I punched forward, a wave of wind coming from my hand, knocking several of them back before I bounded over to Azure, the two of us passing each other as I knocked back one of the thugs that had been about to shoot Azure.

Turning on the spot to the next closest thug, I used my next gauntlet to blast him back as well. Shifting back until I was back-to-back with Azure, just in time to see Chroma get struck by a water surge, sending him back into a nearby car. "Nice one!" I complimented, before a shot from one of the guns knocked Azure's weapon out of her hand. "Hang on!" I stated, before firing my wind blast at the ground, knocking the two of us over toward her fallen weapon, rolling for our landing as Azure grabbed her weapon off the ground, opening fire on the now-more-distant opponents.

As the group continued to advance on us, I ducked behind the car near the two of us, the hostiles continued advancing, shots ringing out to keep us suppressed, while I drew the curved blade from its concealed position. "We need to scatter them a moment." Azure told me seriously, holding her closed scroll, as she must have found something out a second ago.

"Got you covered. We just need to stop them a second. Water the floor?" I responded, the curved blade starting to shrink slightly in my hand, my aura forcing them to a smaller state, glowing dark blue and issuing sparks of black aura "This is going to be loud." I commented. That napkin had made a nice noise for its side. This was not only thicker, but much longer and a much denser material.

Just have to stop them first.

Coming up from behind the car as Chroma got close to it, with the ground now covered in water, I managed to avoid the first shot made at us, swinging at him to hit nothing but air with the blade, a small wave of energy coming from the weapon that was radiating my aura at the moment, slightly pushing Chroma back toward the rest of his 'friends', before I jumped back, firing the arc lightning from my off-hand weapon at the wet ground before landing on the car.

With the group of them momentarily immobilized by the shock that went across the entire puddle that engulfed the whole of the enemy group, I threw the blade at Chroma now, a strangely nervous expression coming over him, though slightly relieved when the blade only passed over his shoulder.

Right up until the sound from behind him.

As soon as the glowing weapon hit the concrete, there was the immediate sight of crackling energy as the ground under it gave way with a resounding crack, the explosion underwhelming compared to the shock-wave that sent not only them, but myself and Azure flying back in every direction.

Winding up across the road from where I had been, I looked up to see a crowd of knights and thugs getting back up from where they had been. The shock-wave hadn't been as powerful as I had first thought, rather more flashy than actually consequential.

Chroma shaking his head as he stood back up, looking down at his sparking rifle before throwing it to the ground in disgust. "Got a new toy, do you Jett!?" I could barely hear him shout over the ringing in my ears.

"You could say that!" I shouted back, my hearing only starting to come back slowly, just in time to hear gunshots coming from the direction headed back to the city, a glance enough to tell Diamond and Eunry were opening fire on the scattered enemies, the sound of sirens able to be heard from behind them.

Good, they got here. Wait, sirens?

Sending another arc of lightning at Chroma, I watched as some of the white fang began to actually retreat, the knights continued to fight defiantly until each and every one had been destroyed. Chroma now rushing out of the area once he was the one at a disadvantage.

I wasn't just about to let him get away again!

Sprinting off after him, I saw the bullhead he was moving toward, firing the Stormbringers in an attempt to take down the aircraft. Arc lightning impacting the side of the craft. However, it only seemed to knock it to the side slightly, before Chroma jumped in from the side, turning around as the bullhead took off, his expression catching me by surprise: fear.

He was scared of me? What a shame.

Taking another couple shots in an effort to slow the craft down, I groaned angrily as the aircraft took off, headed to another part of the city. "Damn it!" I shouted, striking the ground below me before Azure rushed over to where I was.

"Come on, Jett. Let's get going!" Azure told me, now grabbing me by the wrist.

"Yeah, just give me a moment." I responded, rushing over to one of the fallen knights, briefly removing its head and chest casing, before extracting any of the intact computer systems from inside the knight, bagging them and taking off.

"Isn't that stealing?" Diamond asked, confused.

"Not stealing. It's salvaging!" I retorted, now taking off before the police showed up to round up the white fang that didn't get away in time. "Besides, they were stolen in the first place!"

As the group of us now moved through Vale, we started to tell each other what we found out. "South? That's hardly specific." Diamond commented, shaking his head.

"True, but that does give us somewhere to start when it comes time to go looking for them. Did you get a look and who was being chased by the mech?" I asked them, curious what route that fight actually took.

"I saw someone from Team RWBY going after that thing - Weiss. Not sure if their whole team got there, but I doubt that thing's intact enough to salvage. The police will be there shortly as well." Eunry informed us at this point.

One sideways glance on the way out had told me there was enough left for the police for them to find the contents of the warehouse, so that much was done for me, but now still came the question of finding Chroma in this southern base and capturing him, stopping him from hurting anyone else.

"So… head home?" Azure asked curiously.

"I think we've done enough for one night. Besides, my ears are still ringing a little from that shock-wave." I admitted, rubbing my ears in an attempt to stop the feeling.

"Actually, just one thing." I then added before getting my scroll. Placing a single call, I heard Ruby on the line answer.

"Hey, Jett. What's up?" She asked me, sounding a little out of breath.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Walking around, doing stuff, fighting bad guys. You?" I told her casually, managing to calm down enough in the time since the fight to be convincing at it.

"Heh, same." She told me. "What happened to you?"

"White fang. Atlesian Knights. You?"

"Giant robot. Want to talk about it later?"

"Sounds like a plan. Usual meeting time?"

"Okay! With the team right now, so gotta go, bye!" the girl chimed in her usual cheery tone before hanging up.

"'Usual meeting time'?" Azure asked, looking at me with suspicion.

"Oh, that?" I asked her, rubbing the back of my head "Yeah, we normally get together to work on weapon designs and upgrades and what-not. She's quite good at it and I like having someone to talk shop with. It's pretty much all weapon-talk though." I informed her now.

"I see." Azure replied with a smile, not letting on at all if there was something wrong with this idea.

"Speaking of weapons." Diamond started. "I notice you only brought the Stormbringers. any reason you didn't bring any of your main weapons?"

"Oh, that." I stated. "I needed to be lightly armed in order to infiltrate effectively, especially if Chroma or Roman knew I'd be coming. I was more than confident enough with Azure with me that I wouldn't need anything of my heavy equipment for this investigation. Didn't suspect there would be so many knights, though. Oh well."

"Anyway! Now that that's cleared up, let's head back! Sounded like they didn't need any help!" I decided, before the four of us went back to Beacon, the only thing to show for tonight pretty much the robot brain in my bag.

There'll be plenty of time for further investigation tomorrow.