The Stage Is Set

"So you understand what you have to do?" Shen smiled at Cinder, who was standing at the door. "Yes…" Shen raised a brow as Cinder forced out another word. "Sir." Emerald, who was clutching her stomach, glared at Shen as he waved. The two of them left without any more fuss. "Are you really trusting them to handle something so important?"

To Torchwick's question, Shen nodded. "Of course I do. After all, if they fail then it's not my anger they're going to have to deal with." Blake seemed slightly unhappy as she questioned. "Do I really have to leave for this plan to work?" Glancing at her, Shen nodded. "As useful as you are here I need you elsewhere."

"If you say so I'll make sure to do my best then." Blake left the room after that, leaving only Torchwcik and Neo remaining. "Torchwick I want you to begin setting the stage for our play. To make sure it's realistic, use real people." Torchwick was a bit taken back for a second as he laugh and spoke, "You really are a cruel guy you know."

Leaving while shaking his head, Shen's gaze fell on Neo. "You'll be shadowing me tomorrow so stay invisible." Neo had her arms crossed while looking at him as he heard her response. "Fine." Tilting his head to the side, he turned in his chair. "Don't tell me you're really that annoyed. Jealousy unbecoming of you know."

'It's strange. Both Blake and Neo show emotions of obsession, lust and jealousy.' He had a pretty good list of people he wanted on as his subordinates. Blake being more of a test run and Neo being on purpose. He also planned on going after the other main cast, including people like Pyrrha.

'But if all of them act like this then maybe I should limit the number of females I use Mental Refitting on. It would definitely be less work.' It was something to think about in the future. But for now, he would simply have to play nice with them. Coming out of his thoughts, he gestured to Neo with his finger. "Fine, then come here."

Neo stared at him before walking over. Grabbing her, he sat her down in his lap. Placing his hand on her head, he spoke calmly. "You do know I trust you more than Blake right? She was being too unreasonable so I needed to calm her down." Without Neo's notice, Shen began using Mental Refitting as he spoke.

"I plan on keeping you with me as long as possible, Neo. So just ignore everything else, ok?" Neo's eyes turned slightly dull and more passive as her body went slightly limp. She grabbed onto Shen to hold herself up as; eventually, she nodded. "Good because I'm counting on you to assist me tomorrow..."

The next day Shen went to the Academy as normal and met up with Pyrrha on the way to class. "Pyrrha you've been a bit quiet, is something wrong?" Pyrrha snapped out of her daze as she looked at Shen. "No, I'm fine just thinking about something. By the way, where is Blake?" Hearing that, Shen narrowed his eyes before responding.

"She had some family business to take care of out of the city. Not actually sure when she'll be back." Shen noticed Pyrrha had a hint of suspicion in her eyes after he answered her. "Anyway I actually have some good news I wanted to share." Pyrrha's head perked up as she looked towards him.

"I wanted to let you know we will probably be working together soon. I plan on signing up like you to protect the places being repaired." Pyrrha had a shocked face as she spoke. "Really? That's great!" Shen nodded. "Actually Shen, what is your semblance? I'm curious." Hearing that, Shen answered with no hesitation rubbing the back of his head.

"Well it's pretty lame and embarrassing really. I have the ability to defy gravity at night. Not useful for huntsman work, I know." Pyrrha shook her head and patted him on the back. "Don't feel discouraged. Even though my Semblance isn't as flashy or cool as other people's, I love it. I'm sure if you practice and work with it youll see how great it can."

Shen gave her a wholesome after hearing her words. "You're right, thanks Pyrrha. Now that you've said that I think I'll go talk to the Headmaster now instead of after class." Pyrrha nodded as she waved him off. "Great! Wish you luck then." As Shen disappeared from view turning a corner, Pyrrha's expression turned a bit dark.

'I swear that day I know what I saw. Blake's face was covered in blood… And she looked like both a Grimm and A Faunus. I know what I saw but...' Staring in the direction Shen went, she showed a look of uncertainty. 'Does that mean Shen knows about it as well? Or maybe she's hiding it from him too. That has to be it right?'

She couldn't imagine Shen would ever get involved with something like that knowingly. He even decided to volunteer and help along with her. 'Ya, I'm positive he doesn't know he wouldn't be able to act so normal about it if he did. But that means Blake is hiding it and possibly using him. It could get dangerous for Shen if she's also involved with The White Fang.'

At the same time, Shen was slowly making his way up the stairs avoiding students and teachers as he walked. "Neo." Unraveling from top to bottom, the empty space next to Shen revealed Neo walking next to him. She was disguised in a student uniform as well. "Our target is the Headmaster named Xander Nix."

Despite being a Headmaster of a Combat Academy, he had a different personality than most. He was very calm and collected and rarely voted on conflict. In Fact, he was considered a saint and was called such by a lot of students and faculty. "Definitely not the kind of person you would consider a Headmaster. But something interesting is that no one knows what his Semblance is."

Soon the two of them arrived on the top floor of Sanctum Academy. This floor was entirely reserved for the Headmaster and his office. Down the hall from the stairs, they could see two large doors. "So stay here." Neo nodded, hearing Shen's reasoning as he walked towards the door. Knocking, he heard a fairly old yet kind voice.

"Please come in." Opening the door, he walked into a very well decored yet reserved room. The walls were lined with books, and furniture was kept to a minimum. Only a large desk with a man who seemed to be in his fifties stood out. His hair was a mix of black and grey, and so was his beard. "If you would lock the door behind you. Before we speak."

Shen suddenly felt a change in atmosphere as he closed the door and locked it. Xander reached for the glasses on his face and took them off before looking at Shen. "This room is soundproof so you need not worry." Shen seemed a bit surprised hearing that. "I didn't know the Headmaster of Sanctum had such taste..."

Xander stood up from his chair as he frowned. "Don't play games with me boy. I find the fact a monster like you dares to parade around acting as if you're one of my students repulsive." Shen's surprise quickly turned to cautiousness. 'Well this isn't going how I expected it to.' Xander came from behind his desk, revealing the full brown and white suit he wore.

Loosening the tie around his neck, he spoke. "I'm sure you were unaware when you came here about my Semblance. Sadly because of that your attempt to trick me has failed. You see, the name of my Semblance is Judicator. It allows me to see the sins of whoever my eyes pass over no matter how well hidden."

In Xander's eyes, he could see everything. How many people Shen has killed, how many indirect deaths he has caused, how many lives he has ruined, everything. And when everything was added up, calling Shen a monster isn't an exaggeration. "Now then tell me, why are you here? Before I end your life where you stand."

Shen's face of caution slowly turned to a smirk. "Looks like my hope of catching you off guard is down the drain." Sighing, he stretched his body out. "You wanted to know my intention? Well to put it simply, I'm here to kill you." Hearing Shen's answer to his question Xander closed his eyes. "I see… In that case."

His acceleration was almost instant as Shen saw a large figure and shadow looming over him. Xander's fist was already raised, and he punched directly towards Shen's head. The force of the punch even caused the air to whistle. However, there was no impact. "What?" Xander watched as his attack went straight through Shen's head.

Still standing still, Shen said something. "You know for an old man your strong and pretty damn fast." The next moment he twisted his body and heel kicked Xander. Xander's face nit itself together as he was sent flying back, crashing into his desk and breaking it. Lowering his leg, Shen held out his hand.

"Gae Bolg." Appearing in a red flash of light in his hand Gae Bolg materialized. Sitting up from the shattered desk Xander had a rough expression due to the kick Shen just delivered. "A lightning based semblance? I see you're responsible for what happened to the Atlas base as well." Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a pair of black gloves.

Putting them on and standing up, Shen saw they had engravings on them. "How did someone as young as yourself fall so low?" Shen thought about the question for a second before pointing to Gae Bolg as Xander. "Not a fan of therapy sadly. But for the sake of argument let's just say I have low standards for reaching high goals."

Xander took a ready stance as he nodded. "Very well then." Shen's entire body flashed as he turned into lightning, appearing behind Xander in the air. Spinning Gae Bolg, he thrust down towards Xander who's eyes immediately sidestepped the stab. Gae Bolg got stuck into the floor as Xander launched a kick directly at Shen's stomach.

However, his attack went straight through just like before as Shen balanced himself on Gae Bolg, kicking Xander in the side. Grunting in pain, he was sent sliding back as he clenched his fist. The dust engravings on his gloves activated themselves as he punched twice towards Shen. "Hmm?" Shen felt something heavy strike him directly in the chest as a second hit landed.

He was sent flying back, slamming into one of the nearby bookcases before falling onto his feet. 'So Dust and Semblances are the only things that work on him. Quite a terrifying ability.' Shen looked up at Xander with a smile before saying something. "It's been a while since I've actually fought someone properly. But I can't draw this out."

Practically teleporting Shen's figure left five afterimages as it approached. Firing off five blasts of air at each one, Xander's eyes could hardly keep up. "Ha!" Yelling as Shen appeared right in front of him, he tried to punch down on him. Stabbing Gae Bolg into the ground, Shen held out one hand, stopping the punch mid-swing while placing his other hand directly on Xander's chest.

"I wonder how a saint like you fairs with his demons?" Shen's words caused Xander's eyes to open as purple lightning began to escape from Shen's palm against his chest. "Karmatic Lightning: Sango." Increasing dozens of times in volume, Shen's vision was blocked out. Purple lightning enveloped everything in front of him as the force and sound shook the room.

[Level Up!]

By mixing Karmic Retribution with Goro Goro Shen could greatly enhance the overall effect. This purple lightning not only caused damage physically, but it applied the Karmic effect as well. "And wouldn't you know it, Aura is a manifestation of the soul. Meaning it's practically a perfect ability against Huntsman especially when they're as strong as you."

A hole had appeared in Xander's chest as his body fell to the ground, and Shen took a step back. Picking up Gae Bolg, he signaled for Neo to enter the room. "You know what to do." Neo nodded as she began utilizing her Semblance over the entire room. Xander's body on the ground turned invisible as Neo's form shifted.

No matter how soundproof the room was, it was impossible for no one to notice that attack. Soon two teachers rushed into the room. "Help the Headmaster was attacked!" Shen, who looked injured, was sitting next to an injured yet alive Xander, who had a wound on his throat. Shen then pointed to what looked to be a fleeing figure of the White Fang.

The figure quickly jumped out of the hole he created in the wall and completely disappeared from view. "The White Fang again! Damn those Faunus!" One of the teachers quickly ran to help Shen and Xander. 'And just like that Sanctum Academy is mine. Let's hope Torchwick and Cinder follow suit soon.'

The entire thing was like clockwork. Soon three pieces of news surfaced within Argus, causing a pure outrage. The defensive barriers that protected Argus from Grimm attacks by sea and land had gone down due to espionage. This news alone caused panic among the citizens as everything began going into lockdown.

The second bit of news made the situation all the worse. The White Fang had attacked and permanently muted the Headmaster of Sanctum Academy. The blame once more fell onto the Faunus. And with the true White Fang knowing they had no part in the attack, they, along with the Faunus in Argus, began to riot.

Shen was looking down at his scroll while dangling over the roof at night. However, despite it being night, there was no peace. Faunus was marching through the streets as he watched a video playing on loop. Argus Police shooting and massacring Faunus with no justification. It was pure and utter brutality. And utterly fabricated by Torchwcik before being posted to the news.

"Perfect… The White Fang are being accused, Faunus are being 'massacred' on the streets and people are in total panic and outcry. Methods from my world work wonders in a world like RWBY." Closing the scroll in his hand, he smiled to himself. "The stage is set and negative emotions couldn't be higher."

Standing up, he overlooked Argus. "It's time to burn this city to the ground."