Hey guys, here is the newest chapter of the story. Sorry it took so long, I recently started up my second year in high school. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
*78 years later*
Once again, dark clouds loomed over Mantle. But this time, the weather was slightly different. A thick fog covered the roads, making it hard for drivers to navigate them. Through the fog, a single military transport truck drove down the street. It was being operated by two guards from Vale's Police department. The vehicle itself had the insignia of Beacon Academy on its side. The truck's passengers where none other than team RWBY, who were on a top-secret mission. The academy's headmaster, Professor Ozpin, decided to let them go on it, claiming that it would be good experience out on the field. The team of girls were faring well in the back of the truck, or at least some of them were. Ruby was getting motion sickness from all the bouncing, Weiss was trying to take a nap, Blake had her nose in a book, and Yang had headphones on, and was jamming out. The truck ran over a large bump, causing Weiss to fall to the ground. She groaned as she sat back on the seat.
"I swear to Oum," she growled, "if they drive over one more bump, I will sue them for reckless driving!"
"I think you shouldn't be blaming the drivers, but the road that they're driving on." Blake said in response to Weiss's grumbling. "These roads haven't been used in years." She continued. Next to Weiss, Ruby groaned louder than she did before.
"Guuuuuyyyyysss," the queasy red head moaned, "I dooon't feel that good."
"Oh, suck it up Ruby!" Weiss snapped.
"Yeesh, take a chill pill ice queen." Yang joked. Before Weiss could beat Yang to a pulp, the truck came to a sudden stop, making all the girls fall flat on their faces. When they all got back to their feet, the sliding doors opened, revealing one of the guards standing there. She wore a brown police uniform, had sunglasses on, and had long green hair tied into a ponytail.
"Ok girls," she said, with a British accent, "were here." The second guard proceeded to exit the dirver seat of the car, and went over to his partner. His uniform had a lot more body armor on it, and he had a brown mustache.
"C'mon you four, we have no time to waste." He demanded with a gruff voice. All of team RWBY grabbed their weapons, and jumped out of the car. They all looked around their new environment, and saw a large building next to the truck. The building was the Bodega Bay Inn, but it wasn't as luxurious looking like it was before. Some of the windows on it were smashed, and small cracks were in the foundation of it.
"What is this place?" Ruby asked.
"This building is the Bodega bay Inn," the male guard explained, "it used to be a hotel for visitors and vacationers."
"Yeah, but it got shut down due to a series of murders." the female guard added. All of team RWBY were shocked and horrified when she said that word.
"Wait, you mean to tell me people were killed in there?" Blake questioned.
"Correct Ms. Belladonna." the male guard replied. "No one knows why the murders took place, that's why you four are here. We're going to investigate the hotel, and see if we can find any evidence."
"But why us?" Yang interrupted, "we're just students."
"That's not what Ozpin said, he said you were the best team for the job." the female guard stated. Ruby seemed to blush a bit.
"Ok then, let's do it girls!" Ruby shouted, pumping her fist in the air.
"Fine," Weiss sighed, "but I suggest we split up, so that we can cover more ground."
"Lisa, take the red and white one, I'll take the other two." The male guard said to his partner.
"Sounds like a plan Nigel." Lisa replied. And with that, everyone entered the hotel through the main doors.
*JUMPCUT RETURNS*
The inside of the hotel, just like the outside, had seen better days. Cobwebs covered the walls in the lobby, and there were no sources of light.
"It figures that there's no power in this dang place." Nigel muttered under his breath. "Alright Lisa, you take those two upstairs, the rest of us will check out this floor." He ordered.
"Better said than done." Lisa said. She took Ruby and Weiss upstairs to the second floor, While Nigel, Blake, and Yang explored the lobby area. While she was upstairs, Ruby decided to ask Lisa some questions.
"So uh, Lisa, do you have any information about the murders?" she asked. Lisa dug into her pocket, and pulled out her scroll.
"As a matter of fact, yes." she answered. "The first people that bit the dust were a group of psychics, claiming that they were 'summoned' here. After they came, some of them started to die one by one, in pretty gruesome ways. One of them was found with a large wound in her head, and another one had her throat slit." Weiss gagged a little bit, and Ruby's mouth was open agape. Lisa continued reading from her scroll, "After that, a team of paranormal investigators came to this place, and a lot of them died to. Several months passed, and the murders ceased. But you know kids these days, they always want to break in somewhere old and abandoned, and steal stuff. I arrested one of them, who was covered in blood, and had a scared look on his face. He kept on claiming that, 'It was the god damn puppets.'" Ruby and Weiss looked at each other with confused looks on their faces.
"Puppets," Weiss repeated, "what do they have to do with anything involving the murders?"
"I'm in the dark as much as you are Ms. Schnee." Lisa replied.
Meanwhile, Nigel had brought the other two members of the team into the dining room. Yang was being super cautious about her surroundings, checking behind her every so often.
"This place gives me the creeps." she stated.
"This sort of place will do that to ya." Nigel said. "You two find anything?"
"Negative." Blake responded. Suddenly, Yang backed up into an old vase, causing it to fall to the floor and smash into pieces. She screamed and punched at the air frantically, sending out blasts from her gauntlets. Blake grabbed he by the shoulders, and whispered to her until she calmed down. Yang opened her eyes, and saw that she managed to knock down the chandelier, and make several bullet holes in the walls.
"Oops." was all that she could say
Back with Ruby and Weiss, they had just moved up a floor since they couldn't find anything on previous one. While they were walking down the hall, Ruby noticed that one of the doors wasn't bolted shut.
"Hey Lisa, how come that door isn't bolted like the rest of them?" she asked.
"Oh, me and Nigel forgot about this room, never did a thorough search in it." The officer explained.
"Maybe we should check inside it for evidence" Weiss suggested. Lisa nodded, and used her keycard to unlock the door. The room inside was in a state of disrepair. The walls were chipped and cracked, every corner of the room was covered in dust, and the windows were fogged up do to the humid weather outside. There was even an old workbench in the room, along with a tipped over rocking chair. Ruby scanned her eyes around the room, and noticed something off. One of the designs on the walls were crooked. She went over to it, and teared it off the wall, revealing a secret compartment.
"Hey guys, I think I found something!" she called to Lisa and Weiss. Lisa called Nigel on her scroll, and told him to meet them in the room. Soon enough, everyone was in the room.
"I can't believe we never noticed this!" Nigel said. Ruby's eyes squinted as she poked her head into the hidden space. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a large object. She grabbed it with both hands, and with a lot of effort, pulled it out of the wall. Everyone gathered around the object, to see that it was a large trunk, with the words "property of Andre Toulon" engraved on its side. Ruby's eyes lit up when she saw the name.
"I've heard of this guy before, I've heard of this guy before!" she shouted excitedly.
"Heard of who?" Blake asked.
"Oh yeah, now I remember." Yang chimed in. "This Andre Toulon guy, was a puppeteer. Me and Ruby saw one of his shows when we were kids.
"It was so amazing!" Ruby interrupted, "It looked like the puppets moved on their own, without any strings on them!"
"That preposterous," Weiss declared, "puppets can't physically move by themselves, they're just wooden dolls."
"Well in any case, we better bring this trunk back to the police station in Vale, it could be evidence." Lisa said. Everyone agreed, as they headed back outside to the truck, with Ruby hauling the trunk.
Little did Ruby know, that by finding that trunk, Ruby had triggered a series of events that would change her life forever.
Worth the wait, Amiright? So yeah, Ruby just discovered Toulon's puppets, and it won't be long until she wakes them up. Until then, leave a review or PM me. PEACE OUT!