We arrive in a building built specifically for transfers from different academies. Fortunately for them, they get the same accommodations as well. A standard single furnished bedroom with four beds and one restroom. The trio that Cloud and Ruby bumped into had finally reached their room and made themselves at home.
"So? Did you get a good look at him?" asked the silvered haired Boy.
The mint-haired girl he was talking put her hands to the side and looked at him cock-eyed. "Seriously Mercury? You're asking me if I got a good look?"
"Well, did you?"
"Hell yes! How could I not? She pulled her hair as she paced around the room. "Ugh if only he fell on me!"
Mercury just sat in place and stare blankly. "Uh, Emerald? Since when did you care about guys?"
"Just because I don't find your hideous face attractive doesn't mean I'm not interested." She sighed as she sat down from her excitement. "And besides, who said I cared about him? I'm just giving credit where it's due. It's just too bad that he hangs around that annoying little brat."
Mercury held in his laugh. "You don't even know the chic!"
She rolled her eyes. "Know her long enough to hear how annoying her voice is."
As the two continued to bicker, their leader had bigger things on her mind. Her expression grew more malevolent as she thought about her plans coming to fruition. "Tell me Mercury, did his features match those of what Roman described?"
Mercury smirked. "Oh yeah, no doubt about it. The spiky hair, the crazy lean physique, and eyes as blue as the sky. All he was missing was his uniform and that giant sword he also mentioned. I kinda find it hard to believe he can actually carry a 6ft hunk of metal, especially during combat."
"Not only that, but he can also hurl meteorites!" Emerald chimed in. Plus, he doesn't use dust."
The leader pulled out some files and started to examine them. She was flipping through them at an impressive speed with light bulbs popping out and blinking on.
"What are you looking Cinder?" Emerald asked.
"Some pictures and data on these 'transfers students' from the Smash Academy." Cinder replied.
She narrowed her eyes and grew the same dark smile. "According to Roman, these 'students' shouldn't even be enrolled. If anything he believes they could go toe to toe with the hunters and huntresses of beacon."
"So...why enroll?" Asked Mercury.
She slammed her folder tight and stood up. She chuckled slowly in a low tone. "I have a theory."
"A Game Theory?" Emerald spouted out as she shot up.
"I love that show!" Mercury blurted out.
"Quiet! Both of you!" She shouted as she gave them the death stare.
The duo sat back on their beds and gulped. Cinder opened her folder one more time and turned over to the page with Cloud's picture on it. "Ozpin must have hired some muscle to protect Beacon in a more…'discreet manner.'"
A light bulb shot up from Mercury's head. "You don't mean-"
"Precisely. Most likely from the outside world." She hovered her fingers over Cloud's portrait and gazed into it. "Lucky for us, we have ourselves an outside intervention of our own."
Back on the good guy side of things
Team RWBY were making preparations for the investigations on the White Fang. With school done and over with for the day, they all changed into their alternate outfits. Ruby with the slayer, Weiss with the SnowPea, Yang with the Hunter, and Blake with the Intruder. Accompanying them was Link, who wore his usual heroic green tunic. Only this time, he sported a blue scarf with the Triforce insignia and had a pauldron on his left shoulder. Other's accompanying the team were Shulk and Corrin.
Blake was tightening the black ribbons around her arms while staring at Link. She appreciated the minor touches he added to his outfit that brought out the more heroic look she liked from him. "Funny, she thought. He was the exact depiction of a fairy tale hero. Something she loathed to read in literature. But here she was cracking a smile against her own will once again. Link notice her staring and waved at her. Her reaction to him was quite priceless as she bumbled around like an idiot in silence.
Finally free from the awkwardness, she was able to utter coherent words. "So..just you huh?"
Link scratched the back of his head. "Well, Ike and Marth said they were coming after we eavesdropped last night."
Blake lowered her eyes and gave off a somber look. "So no Cloud then."
The students in the room felt their morale going down, with Ruby's sinking down the lowest.
"I didn't see him this morning. He left and made his bed before we woke up."
"We didn't see the big guy in class either." Shulk added.
Someone began to knock abruptly, destroying the sulking mood in the room. Curiosity ran through everyone's neck and wondered who could be knocking on the door. None of them had told any of Team JNPR.
"Nice! More reinforcements! Said an enthused Corrin. "No doubt it's that hulking guerrilla and Marth."
"I got it," Yang said as she went to open the door. As she pulled and revealed the stranger behind the door. Everyone was in complete shock. Taken aback by a mile, the person they were looking at was eerily familiar, yet different. He wore a black robe with a design that had fighting in mind. His hair spikes were pulled back and more refined. He wore a high collar sleeveless indigo shirt, black pants and boots, and a black cloth covering his left side. He had a black pauldron, and his chest is covered by two straps, held in place by a badge that resembled a wolf.
Yang shut the door immediately and brought the team back to their senses.
"Yang, what is wrong with you!?" Weiss shouted.
Yang placed her back against the door. "Whoa, TIME OUT!" Before you guys say anything, I need to get this off my chest."
Blake tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Was that who I think it is?"
"HOT DAMN!" Yang screamed at the top of her lungs. "He is so going to be my partner for this investigation!"
"YANG!" A flustered little red called out.
She opened the door back up and revealed an expressionless Mercenary.
Her eyelids drooped with one arm hanging down with the other still hanging onto the doorknob. "Helloooooo…."
All eyes were on him, waiting for the SOLDIER to utter a word. "Am I late?"
Blake gave a half smile. "Just in time, actually."
"Dude! No way!" A familiar voice called out from the window. "Neptune, this is the guy I was talking about!"
Sun hopped off the tree and into the living room. The sudden intrusion made everyone freeze for a moment. Trying to make sense of everything happening at once.
"How did you?..." Yang asked slowly.
"Oh we have our ways," Neptune replied as he made his way inside."
Sun slammed his fist into his palm. "So, I see we have ourselves a rag tag team of sorts. Are we getting back at that Torchwick guy?
"We are going to investigate the situation...as a team." Blake stated.
"Sorry guys. We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." Ruby added.
"Psh! That's dumb! We should always get friends involved. That's why you brought these guys!" He pointed at every single smasher in the room and stopped at Corrin to give her a wink. Not knowing why he was twitching, she gave back with an innocent wave.
"You even brought the big guy with you!"
All eyes were on Cloud as he stood with an intimidating posture. The team was still in shock in the fact that he actually decided to show up after last night's hesitation. However, this Cloud seemed different. He carried with him a darker demeanor, something not everyone was used to.
Despite that Blake felt relieved. "So, what made up your mind?"
Cloud closed his eyes to better control the memories this time around. Although it wasn't a lot, he was getting better at controlling his flashbacks. "Well, before enrolling in the Smash Academy, I was a mercenary."
"I see…. a jack of all trades." Weiss stated.
"Yeah, I do whatever's needed."
Blake ears flickered as soon as they picked up that phrase. "Oh, I know where this is going." She stood in front of him with little distance apart from each other. " Say, Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard?"
"Yeah..."
She smiled. "Then you can keep us from getting killed."
Cloud gave them a cheeky look. " Ok, I'll do it… but it'll cost you."
Everyone looked towards Weiss with the Snow Princess blinking in surprise. "No way! I don't carry cold hard cash! Plus father would kill me if he saw a huge withdraw. Cloud looks expensive."
A light bulb popped out of Yang's head with the fiery blonde eyes sparkling. She rushed over to Ruby and pushed from behind. Ruby tried to scrape her heels onto the floor but Yang's strength was not having it. Ruby flailed her arms as Yang brought her closer to Blake and Cloud's direction. The little Red accidentally smacks the feline out of her way with Yang finally done with all the pushing.
Ruby was only a few inches away from Cloud. Trying not to look him in the eye to avoid the awkwardness, she glanced around other parts of his body to ease the tension and saw that he carried four different holsters behind his back housing the many blades he carried. He also carried a larger sword that was not placed onto a holster but instead attached to a magnet. She looked in awe and drooled at its beauty. "We meet again Fusion Swords," She whispered to herself seductively.
Yang cleared her throat. "Ahem! I present to you, our payment!"
"WHAT?" The whole room shouted.
Yang scratched her nose while presenting a smug smile. "You get to have one date with Ruby!"
"Not this again…" Cloud said gloomingly.
"Then it's settled," Weiss stated, "We have an extra hand, you get a date with the dunce."
Cloud glared at Shulk with the Monado wielder holding his hands in front of him. "Don't look at me, I didn't plan this!"
"Speaking of plans, can we get on with this already!?" Said an impatient Corrin.
Everyone in the room formed a circle in anticipation to discuss the current mission at hand.
Ruby cleared her throat. "As you guys know, today is the day. Let the investigations begin!" She leaped up into the air as high as she could.
"I'm glad to see we're taking this so seriously," said a sarcastic Weiss.
"Hey! We got a plan...that's moderately serious," Yang stated.
"Right! Ruby replied. "Everyone remember their roles?"
Weiss stepped up to the plate first. "You, Shulk and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."
Blake came right after. "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If we can get in, we can hopefully find out what they're planning. Besides Sun, I'll be bringing Link and Corrin along since they look similar to the Faunus."
And Lastly, Yang. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard…" She looked over to Cloud and gave him a wink. "Cloud will be my bouncer so it'll keep the little boys grubby hands off me. Plus those blades would make anyone squeak."
Ruby scrunched up her face. "Wait a minute! Shulk has a sword that extends into a lightsaber! He can scare the baddies way better than Cloud can. Let's switch!"
Shulk stood proud and placed his fist on his chest. "Finally, some recognition," Shulk thought to himself.
Yang made a dismissive wave gesture. "Pfffrrrt! Shulk would get eaten alive out there. I think I'll stick to my hunk." She grabbed Cloud's arm and they both walk away in style.
"Wait!" Ruby yelled as she stuck her arm out. "My swords…."
Weiss shook her head and pulled the sullen leader by the hood and dragged her out the door.
"Right! Let's head out!" Blake commanded.
Here we have Ruby, Weiss, and Shulk arriving to a monumental tower that loomed over the crossroads of Beacon Academy.
"Woooow!" Ruby squealed! I forget how big the Transmit tower looks up close!"
Shulk looked in awe. He couldn't help but smile with the advancement in technology this world had over his. "What are these things?"
They stopped walking with both girls looking back at the blonde. "Umm...?"
"Have you been living under a rock?" Weiss asked in a mocking tone.
Shulk started to sweat nervously. "Well...you know...uh, I'm from the country!"
"Ooooooh that makes sense!" Ruby said.
Weiss continued on. "The Cross Continental Transmit System is a communication technology in Remnant which allows instantaneous multimedia communication wirelessly over large distances."
"Amazing," Shulk said softly. "Back where I'm from, we're still using radio."
Weiss eyes darted towards him. "You really should get out more."
Shulk slumped towards the ground. "Not the first time that's been said to me."
"It's so coool! Ooh, I'm going to take a picture!" Ruby digs into her pocket for her scroll, with all her excitement however, she accidentally launches the device from her hands. The scroll bounced along on the pavement until it landed in front of someone.
Ruby eyes widened as her body went through a sudden shock. "Penny!?"
Penny, who was just a surprised looked as if she was talking to a total stranger. "Uuuh…"
"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since that night at the docks!"
Penny held the phone out in front of her. "S-sorry. I think you're confused." She hiccups, and tosses the Scroll into Ruby's hands. "Uh...I've got to go!" She quickly turned away from the crew and walks away.
"What was that about?" Weiss asked.
Shulk held his chin and delved into his thoughts. The words night and dock seem to have triggered his brain. He quickly opened his eyes and snapped his fingers in revelation. "If I recall, Cloud and Link told me something about a girl who took down entire airships! Don't tell me it was her!"
"Oh you better believe it! And because she was there we need her to tell us what happened during that time!"
"Well, alright then! Let's not stand around now, we have answers to pursue!"
The duo set their sights on the orange haired girl and ran after her.
"Weiss, you go make your call! I'll meet up with you later!"
"Wait are you serious!? " She lowered her hand and sighed angrily seeing as it was futile to stop them. "Marth would still be here if Cloud had brought him along."
They ran towards Penny as fast as they could. When they had finally caught up to her, she was still walking as if she was lost in her own thoughts, shutting out the rest of the world.
"Penny! Where have you been? It's been weeks!"
"There seems to be a … misunderstanding," Penny replied dully. She continued on a set of stairs as she continued to ignore the duo.
"What?!" Ruby shouted as she slid down the stair rail. "Penny... Is everything okay?
Penny continues forward without reaction with Shulk grabbing her by the arm. "Hold on now, is that any way to treat a friend? Just pop up out of nowhere and suddenly leave them in the dark?"
She turned around a gave him a sorrowful look. Feeling a sense guilt, Shulk let go of her. She turned towards Ruby and grabbed her by the shoulders. "It isn't safe to talk here."
Penny looked around in paranoia with Shulk and Ruby left standing confused.
The three agreed to meet up somewhere further away from the school. Penny was standing near a cafe of some sorts with patio furniture. She looks around anxiously when suddenly, a hand touches her shoulder. She jumped almost instantaneously with her heart skipping a few beats. She turned to see that it was Ruby her other blonde friend that was less spiky than the last. From there they walked a linear path to discuss the important matters at hand. Penny explained that she couldn't help Ruby and Shulk with their investigations seeing as she doesn't know anything about the White Fang. Ruby pressed on for more info regarding Penny's whereabouts that night. Much to their surprise it was her father that took her away and for most of her life, she had been sheltered from the kingdom.
"I… was asked not to talk to you. Or Ike. Or Link. Or Cloud. Anybody really." Penny said bluntly.
"Was your dad that upset?" Ruby asked.
"No, it wasn't my father…"
Abrupt sounds of megaphone announcements cut off Penny before she could continue. They peeked around the corner to see a platform in the center of a plaza where a holographic Ironwood displayed. Behind him were several androids standing in front of large metal storages. "The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?" The crowd claps as Ironwood continued to make his speech on the technological advances Atlus has made. Ruby and Shulk eyes were glued to the entire presentation. Being the tech junkies they were, it was an event they couldn't pass up. "But... the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine'... Well, that's just not good enough, is it? Presenting... the Atlesian Knight-200!"
"Whooa…"Shulk said slowly. "Do you think he would let me pick inside one of those?"
"I'd still touch it even if they said no…" Ruby said back.
"These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone! Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require... a human touch."
Being close to the event made Penny Anxious. "Guys?"
"So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Atlesian Paladin!"
The hologram transitions its display to present a hulking white behemoth, equipped with large gun arms and a rectangular body.
Ruby's eyes gleamed as drool was leaking out from her mouth. At this point she was pretty much hunched over.
"Okay, that is totally a ripoff of Metal Gear!" Shulk pointed out.
"We also have another cooperation with an up and coming academy that has been taking strides since its creation." The hologram transitions once again into another display. This time displaying a robot that looked awfully familiar. "Introducing a hybrid the machine, R.O.B.!
"What!?" Shulk shouted.
"Now I know what you're thinking, it looks a lot like a toy. It was designed this way to be easier on the eyes for kids. R.O.B. will not only help with civilian work, but also working alongside the police force. The crowd claps and cheers at the odd but unique design of the machine.
"Hey, it seems pretty neat. Can't wait to see those little guys walk around!" The optimistic Ruby saw a disturbed Shulk in the corner of her eye. "What's wrong?"
Shulk dug into his pocket and pulled out his Iphone. He opened the camera app and took several pictures to send as MMS. "Something isn't right. I don't recall Master Hand having some joint business operation to produce R.O.B.s Ozpin wanted only a handful of people to take care of matters here." He pressed his thumb onto the messenger app and sent the pics to everyone in the Smash team.
Ruby was left to ponder why Shulk was whispering to himself. His sudden strange behavior was the least of her problems however, as two guards were pointing right at them. She turns to Penny's direction and realizes that the orange haired girl had bolted away from the scene. "Penny! Wait! Where are you going?" She turns back to see that the Soldiers are running towards them. She grabs Shulk by the shoulders and shook him violently. "HEY! We got to go after Penny!"
Shulk finally shook off from his daze. "Again!?"
"Look!" She said as she pointed towards the soldiers.
Shulk's eyes widened. "Uh oh! We better get a move on!"
The two darted to Penny's direction into an alley to try and catch up as fast as they could. Penny runs across the street with the other two following suit. The soldiers didn't stop look both ways, and a honking car nearly runs them over. One barely manages to get past the hood of the car, and the other touches the hoods just as the driver slams the breaks. A lucky one indeed.
Still trying to catch up with the girl, Ruby sees a high stack of crates and cuts them down to create a diversion. Seeing Penny right in front of them Shulk activates his SPEED Art to cover him and Ruby in a blue aura.
Penny suddenly felt as light as a feather, and could move her feet effortlessly without any pressure on her legs. "Whoa! Is that coming from your weapon?"
"My Monado buffs me and my companions in the right situations. Ranging from jumping greater distances to having enormous strength."
"Okay, definitely tied for first place with Cloud's weapon!"
Shulk runs up and picks up Ruby bridal style. He brought his arms back and closed one eye for a steady aim. "I'll throw as hard as I can! You focus on getting the girl!"
Ruby nodded, and Shulk fired the little red away. Ruby grabs Penny and immediately activates her semblance to carry the momentum of Shulk's throw. Alas, for some strange reason, Penny must have put on a few pounds before they met because Ruby's arms were beginning to strain. With great weight and a dying momentum came two girls crashing down. Ruby's body bounces helplessly all the way into the middle of the street. She gets up slowly with her body fighting back to keep her down. She was in a dazed state, too much so that she didn't notice a truck coming in to flatten the little girl.
Shulk sees from afar with a vision coming into play. The vision shows images of Penny jumping in front of Ruby to take the hit. "No, no, no , no ,NO!" He grabbed his Monado once more and Swung it full force with the SHIELD Art activated.
Just as his vision had predicted, Penny leaps into the scene to save Ruby. She pushes the little Red away and holds her palms out. In just a split second, the Truck and Penny make contact, with the ground crumbling into pieces beneath the two.
Shulk gawked at what just happened. "I guess SHIELD Art was not necessary," he thought to himself. He smacked himself upside the head to get back into gear. He realized that Penny and Ruby had already run off, and pursues them once again. He checks the driver of the truck before he leaves and sees the old man still in good shape and unscathed.
He finally arrives at the scene with Ruby running up to block him.
"Ruby, what's going on?"
"What do you mean? Nothings wrong! Everythings totally fine! She's actually really cute for a robot!" She said frantically.
Shulk tilted his head. "Wait, what?"
Ruby felt a sudden drop in her body. "Oops."
Penny pulled Ruby off of Shulk and pushed her gently aside. She looks at Shulk with eyes that look as if they were tearing up. "Ruby, I don't think…"
Ruby rested her hands on her shoulders. "Penny, he's a friend too. You can trust him. I-I think."
Shulk rolled his eyes. "Oh come now! I chased you all the way here for a reason. We were pals the moment I knew you and Ruby were friends."
Penny's eyes lit up and she lept onto Shulk's arms. While Shulk was ready to catch her, the sudden weight of the world was on his shoulders him causing his legs to lose all support. They both fall with Penny on top of him, not loosening up her strength even by a little.
"I see someone packs some very dense muscles….or your parents are feeding you well!" Shulk grunted. Losing air ever so slowly.
As she was busy hugging the poor boy, she felt small taps on her shoulder.
"Uh..Penny?" Ruby reminded.
"Oh right!" She got up immediately and violently picked up Shulk off the ground.
"Ow, hey you got to be a little more gentle with me." Shulk whined.
After shaking off the pain, he saw that she was holding out her hand. At first he didn't know what to think of it. But the more he paid attention, the more something was off. That's when it finally clicked. Her skin was torn and underneath wasn't your usual insides of a human. More like the lack thereof. He grabbed her hand and gently felt over the metal parts of her palm.
Penny gave him the most confused look she's even given anyone. And she hasn't met that many people. "Shulk… you're taking this rather well."
"It's just so neat! So are you like a machine?"
"Mmhmm. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura. Despite the warm reception, she brings her hands back to herself and lowers her head. "I'm not real…"
Shulk grabbed her hand back towards him which in turn shocked Penny. Her eyes darted back at him and saw a blonde with the biggest grin on his face. "Not true. You can't tell me someone as beautiful as you are isn't real."
Her eyes glistened, and suddenly the weight of lies and buried secrets were kept to rest. "You're a lot less scary than Mega Man that's for sure! Honestly, this doesn't faze me one bit."
She smiled and immediately grabbed the poor boy giving him another proper squeeze session. "Oh Ruby! You keep bringing me new friends my heart is going to burst!"
Shulk was turning blue to the face. He tried with every inch of his being to utter words with what little breath he had. "I'm...really….feeling it.'
Later in the night….
His phone vibrated letting out the signature fanfare his friends knew him for. Cloud, Yang and Neptune were riding off in the ruined parts of Vale. They drove past crumbled buildings and ghetto streets in Yang's Bumblebee and Cloud's Fenrir Motorcycle. Cloud watched the environment and envisioned a better time. It was almost like watching history go to waste. It also reminded him of the slums under the plates of Midgar. While one part Midgar flourished, the other was left to rot. They've finally reached their destination with Neptune lost in a daze due to Yang's passenger, and Yang wasting no time getting off and heading straight into work.
Cloud dug into his pocket to pull out his phone and saw that it was an MMS from Shulk. He swiped at the screen to unlock it and pulled open the messenger app. He was taken aback from what he saw and nearly dropped his phone. "What the hell?" He whispered to himself. A picture of Rob in the middle of Vale, no seeing Rob in Remnant at all was a surprise. He would think Master Hand would tell him if he were to send back up.
"Yo Cloud! You coming or what!?" Yang yelled.
He put the phone back into his pocket and hurried over to the other blonde with Neptune following suit. As they walked closer the music grew louder and the rumbling of the building got stronger. "Who would party all the way over here?" He thought.
There were two Henchmen in front of the door standing guard. At first glance, they looked intimidating. However, one quick glance of the Yellow Devil herself made them almost piss their pants and run inside.
"PPffffrrt! Don't pay no mind to them! My friends love me!" Yang reassured.
"You know Tifa says the same thing and she doesn't have many friends"
"Well, I'm a little better than Tifa." She winked and rocked her hips in front of the Swordsman. They made their way in with only a few more steps to take to reach the Main door. She pulled back her arm and swung full force; the bullets exploded and caused the doors to fly to the other side of the room. The explosion created a dramatic entrance for the trio as they walked slowly through the smoke.
Yang striked a pose and pulled off the most cocky smile. "Guess who's back!?"
All the goons inside the club had their guns pointed right at her. Angry and read, the henchmen were more than eager to pull the trigger on her. Though this doesn't faze her one bit. She turns her head towards Cloud and gave him a wink. "You know what to do big guy."
Cloud got in front of her and towered the goons in front of her.
"I don't care how big of a sword you got pal! It was a big mistake bring knives to a gunfight!" One of the goons held their gun closer to the SOLDIER's face. Unfazed by their taunts, he used his aura to create blue streamlike lines to grab the weapons behind his back. They lines quickly unsheathed all his weapons and brought them to each henchmen's neck. Shaking by the knees, and sweating furiously, Cloud couldn't help but chuckle as they shook their guns uncontrollably.
"Stop, stop! Nobody shoot." A man yelled as he cut his way through the crowd of goons. He had a buzz cut and beard reminiscent of a typical bartender. "Blondie, you're here! ...Why?"
"You still owe me a drink." She grabs him by the collar and drags the helpless body relentless towards the bar.
"Neptune gawked at the woman and one could have sworn his eyes were turning into the shape of hearts. "So...Cloud? "You calling dibs?"
Cloud shrugged. "She's all yours buddy. I've dealt with her kind."
"Don't mind if I do." He quickly followed her tail all while being fixated with her strongest assets.
"Poor bastard," Cloud thought to himself.
They all meet up at the bar, with Yang pressuring him to spill the beans. Try as she might, the only reply she could get was a clueless one. Junior either had no answer, or gave a convoluted one. He slams his glass down as he sits behind the par that separated him from the interrogators. Frustrated at each other, Neptune rushes in to put in some kind of input. Unfortunately it was a rather pointless one only leading to a more Frustrated Junior and Yang.
Cloud shook his head and pulled the main blade. He held it to Juniors neck and unlocked its battle mode. "Enough! Either tell us what Torchwick has been doing, or...he lowered the sword closer to the bartender's abdomen. "I'll chop them off."
Junior's eyes shook with fear and a sudden switch in his head turned on. "Ok! Ok! Look, you gotta cut me some slack, otherwise word might get around that I snitched and well, you know sleeping with the fishes is not my style."
He fixed his tie to regain his composure and took a deep breath. " I first met him when he paid up front so he could borrow some muscle from me." He took a sip of water before he continued. "The second time he came to visit he dropped them off, all unconscious. Said he wasn't happy with them."
Cloud looked around the club and saw the henchmen were the exact same ones him and Ruby defeated a while back. "Yeah...sorry to hear that."
The bartender gave him a funny look. "Anyways, he came back with some…..foreigners.."
Neptune immediately raised his hands. "Wait, how would you know they were foreigners?"
Junior's face grew even more bleak. "Kid I've been around Vale long enough to know that those guys didn't belong here."
"Go into more detail," Yang demanded.
"Most of them were pretty disproportionate. Super short, super tall, super strong. To top it all off, some of them weren't even human. Maybe it was an evolution of the Faunus. But that sure as hell was no Faunus I've ever seen."
Cloud held his chin and put all the information together in his head. "R.O.B, foreigners...this isn't part of the script.." He thought. He pulled out his cellphone and sent a group text to everyone in Smash.
Cloud: Keep your eyes out for suspicious individuals. Apparently we got some "foreigners."
In another part of Vale in a secret recruiting facility.
Blake's team were blending in with the new recruits in an unknown facility. Surprisingly Corrin and Link made for some pretty convincing Faunus thanks to their ears. They were surrounded by all different types of Faunus. Teens, Young adult, Man, Woman, the inexperienced and experienced. To top it all off they were smack right in the middle of White Fang soldiers. Blake's team had the honor of hearing Roman Torchwick give a villainous speech, building riling up plenty of angry Faunus who wanted nothing more than to revolt all humans.
Link and Corrin felt their IPhones vibrate, and both pulled it out simultaneously.
Cloud: Keep your eyes out for suspicious individuals. Apparently we got some "foreigners."
Corrin smirked. "What in the world is he talking about?"
And just before Link Could Answer, Torchwick brought in the climax of his speech. He snapped his fingers and the curtain lifts revealing the giant Metal Gear like mech, and R.O.B.
Link and Corrin jumped back with their expressions scrunched.
"Why is R.O.B. here!?" Corrin asked.
"As some of you may have heard, this right here…" He taps on the metal giant. "...is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my "employer", we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, "hit the shelves"."
The man flipped his hair and grew the most crooked smile. "And this little guy….Ho ho! They don't look like much, but I'm telling ya, he's got strength and numbers. Best part? We're getting them all over Vale."
"I have a hunch," The green hero looked at his IPhone once more. "Foreigners...Corrin! You don't think he was sent her on a mission by Master Hand do you?"
Corrin scratched her head and thought up some scenarios. "No, last time I checked with the big guy we were enough! I mean come on, even with the nerfs we would destroy everyone here."
"Uuuhhh...guys!" Sun interrupted as he pointed at R.O.B. The robot had its scanners set on Blake's team.
"Whatever he's doing. It's kinda creeping me out!"
R.O.B. then spazzed out of control and started to spin and jump. "Intruders! Intruders!" The lights that were emitting from the robot was reminiscent of red emergency lights.
Torchwick started to laugh uncontrollably. "YOU SEE!? Already doing his job! Looks like we got some intruders in here!" He pointed towards the crowd with his cane. "Let's play a game. Find out which one amongst you is a fake, and maybe you'll be paid handsomely by yours truly."
Sun began to fidget and pace in place. "Aw crap! Anybody got a plan?"
Blake tried to look over the crowd but alas, most of the Faunus towered over her. Corrin got on all fours and her clothes began to take over her body.
"Corrin! What are you doing?" Blake shouted.
"There's no time to explain! I need all of you to hang onto me NOW!"
"It's better than what I got planned." Sun blurted.
"You mean nothing?" Link replied.
"Same thing!"
Corrin fully transformed into her beast form and extended her wings as far as she could. The Faunus looked in awe as they saw what they thought was one of their own turn into a mythical being. With charged up, and flapped her wings once to launch the entire team into the air, shattering the roof above them! Knowing she couldn't carry them forever, she held a glide for as long as she could before completely descending onto the rooftops. From there on, they continued to run as fast as they could.
"Somebody contact Cloud! Like NOW! Tell him to bring the whole calvary!" Sun yelled at the top of his lungs.
"I'm on it!" Blake shouted. "You two! See how many is following us."
Link did the honors and quickly turned his neck. His eyes shot wide open when he saw the vast numbers of R.O.B. units and the giant mech. "Corrin, don't look back!"
"You think I want to!?" She barked.
Shulk and Ruby were walking towards downtown when suddenly their phones started to ring violently. Ruby immediately pulled hers out hoping for exciting news.
Blake: "Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-"
Sun: "HEEEELLLPPP!"
Corrin: IT WAS ALL LINK'S FAULT!"
"Everyone's counting on us! Let's move quickly!" Shulk ordered.
"Oh believe me, I'm so not missing out on this!"
Cloud and Yang were racing on their motorcycle with Neptune barely hanging on to the Yellow Devil's waist. They zoomed through the streets so fast the buildings began to blur. When they slowed down a little they were already in a different part of Vale. They made it to the highways and even from a distance they were able to spot jumping monkeys and a R.O.B. army on their tail.
"Holy crap! What did they get themselves into!?" Yelled Neptune.
Cloud revved up the Fenrir and accelerated even faster. "What the hell are a bunch of R.O.B. units doing here!?"
Yang's team had finally caught up to Blake's, trailing just behind the giant mech.
"We've gotta slow it down!" Yang ordered.
"Slow it!? You mean slow all of them!" Neptune said in disbelief.
Just when things were looking tough, a futuristic yellow spacecraft appeared on the scene. The roof opened and exposed all the Smash heroes along with Ruby and Weiss.
"Cheers love!" said an eccentric Ruby.
"The cavalry's here," Weiss said begrudgingly.
Samus focused in on the R.O.B. units and fired her laser beams. Wave after wave of units were destroyed causing debri to trip the giant Mech and falling over the highway. Blake and her team jumped on ahead to confront Torchwick.
"He better be dead this time. I swear if he pulls another team rocket stunt," Samus scoffed.
Before making another move, two more ships came into the fray. A red ship which zipped in between Yang and Cloud, almost causing them to crash into each other. The other shooting right at Samus' ship. A red and grey color scheme similar to Fox's Arwing.
"Crap! Guys give us a minute to bring this guy down!"
Phase 1: Team Yang vs Red Hawk
While Samus' crew were busy with the other intruder, the one that nearly got them killed came back and rammed Cloud's motorcycle against the guardrail. Spark and metal shred as he struggled to push back the hovering vehicle. The cockpit opened with a gun ready to greet Cloud's head. The blond heart jumped realizing who the figure was. The driver pulled the trigger with Cloud immediately braking and ducking his head. Yang came to the rescue and slammed into the intruder's vehicle.
Neptune brought out his weapon and extended it to a trident. He stabbed the vehicle hoping to bring it to a crawl. The intruder slammed the breaks and nearly took Neptune's arm with him. He aimed at the Bumblebee and fired multiple shots. Cloud quickly got behind her and drove the Fenrir with an 180 degree reverse thrust. He pulled out the main blade from Fenrir and deflected every single bullet. With everyone at even speeds, Neptune lunged forward and stabbed the hovercraft once more, finally disabling it. Knowing he wasn't going to drive much longer, the driver leaped from the cockpit. Cloud leaped just right after so that he may end him with his blade. As Cloud brought his arms back, he pulled in as hard as he could with the intention of taking this victory with one blow.
However, instead of slicing through, he was met with the knee of injustice! Cloud yelled in excruciating pain as the electrifying knee sent a sensation throughout his entire body. The enemy landed with grace as Cloud came dropping down like a fly, feeling as if his ribs were broken. Yang and Neptune came to his side protecting the SOLDIER.
Cloud looked up and glared at the enemy. "Blood Falcon!"
The red man laughed hysterically. "Finally some recognition."
"Can't stay in your own game?"
"What was the point in waiting? When I can invade this world and call it my own. Besides, once master hand finds out one of his trophies is missing; he'll have to send in Cpt. Falcon, giving me the chance to finally kill him!"
"You know this lunatic?" Yang asked.
"He's a copycat of a friend of mine back at the academy." He smirked and stood tall pointing his sword at the enemy. "He's the reason why we haven't gotten another F-Zero game!"
Neptune gasp. "You jerk! That's one of my favorite racing games of all time!"
"You take that back!" Blood Falcon demanded.
"Make me." Cloud got into his fighting stance with the others following suit.
Blood Falcon cracked his knuckles and lunged forward. Yang charged in aiming to deliver a shotgun blast to the face. They trade blows as they danced around and choreographed each hit. Blood Falcon short hopped and did a quick one-two kick to Yang's gut; kicking her straight into a guardrail.
Neptune came in and made furious swipes at the copy. Blood Falcon dash-danced back and forth to dodge each swing and round house kicked the blue haired hunter. Yang came charging in behind Neptune; only for Blood Falcon to perform a Falcon kick and set ablaze to his opponents. As they were in the air he lept up and performed his signature stomp. Hitting with so much force, Yang and Neptune's body nearly shattered the highway.
"Hahahahahahaha! You can't even protect your new comrades in this world. I'll tell them to say hello to Aerith for me."
"What did you say!?" Cloud angrily yelled.
"Oh don't worry, I'll make sure the pretty little red one suffers the same fate as well. All while torturing the kitty kat."
His brain snapped and limit Aura burst from his body. Blood Falcon charges at him with a Falcon Punch with Cloud unleashing Limit Blade Beam to blow him back. Cloud then switched fighting styles using the dual wield back blades. One had a straight edge to cut clean and the other with a saw-toothed edge to rip them apart. Cloud rushed in with Falcon still on the ground. He swiped downwards with his opponent dodging at the last minute. The Copy punched with full force barely missing Cloud's face. The mercenary was a little startled, feeling the wind rippling from his fist. He swiped again with enemy performing a backflip just at the right moment.
Pulling his sword back, he thrusted with all his might. Piercing through the air only for the enemy to deflect with a high kick.
Cloud smiled, and saw the opportunity. "Now!"
His opponent confused, Neptune brought back his weapon and swung full force! Hitting straight into Falcon's fake family jewels!
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" Electricity sparked throughout his core, spine, and even his face. Most of all, a certain something could really fall off right about now.
"Yo Blondie! You're up!" Neptune barked.
"With Pleasure!" Yang circled around Falcon so he could see her face one last time. A tear was running down his face as he was helpless to do anything. Her semblance set her body ablaze as she got into a stance. She striked his gut with a right uppercut. Punching so hard his abs felt as if they were nonexistent. "Metsu...
"Gulp,"
She used and uppercut again with her left! This time shattering his chin! "SHORYUKEN!" She launched him straight into the air leaving his body floating in the air.
Cloud soared into the sky with his Limit on deck and performed five slashes. Using the dual blades as paint strokes he paints the Kanji KYO and reverts Blood Falcon back to his trophy status.
"Stay where you belong...back on the GameCube."
Yang walked up to the two boys and jumped on them while wrapping her arms around their neck. "Well that was a thing!"
Neptune looked towards the horizon where the other team still waged war. "Hopefully they have it better off than we did."
Phase 2: Team Blake vs Torchwick
Underneath the highway, our heroes set their sights on taking in Torchwick once and for all. The hulking behemoth he was piloting shook the ground with each step it took. Big as it may be, it was not enough to faze the fighters of Smash and Remnant.
"Well well well...if it isn't my little Kitty, Monkey, and Elf. I see you brought another cute friend with you. I'll be sure to give her the same warm welcome I gave you kids."
"And I'll be sure to bring housewarming gifts !" Corrin Yelled.
"Everyone! Scatter!" Blake ordered.
Everyone jumped and danced around the mech as the machine tried its best to keep up with multiple targets. Fed up, Torchwick shot a barrage of missiles to chase down the little rodents. Blake let out multiple shadow clones to fake out the missiles. Sun leaped into the air and claps his hands; releasing brighter versions of his shadow clones to blow up the missiles on contact. Seeing that Sun was busy fighting his missiles, he shoots Sun with a plasma shot and knocks him out of the sky.
Torchwick then sets his sight on Blake, aiming the railgun at the Black Faunus.
"Not on my watch!" Corrin lunges at one of his legs with a drill arm, digging into the components and causing it to become unbalanced.
"GOD D***IT! You are just as annoying as the rest of the little punks!"
With the mech preoccupied, Link takes aim with his arrows imbued in ice. Corrin jumps off as he takes two shots freezing both the limbs.
Getting a thumbs up from Link, Sun charges in with his Clones while Blake twirls her gambol shroud. "SUN-WU-KONG!" Him and his clones chant as they all kick the mech into the air. With the mech flying helplessly, they all leap into the sky and perform a somersault kick! "SUN WUKONG BARRAGE!"
The mech crashes into the ground, causing the ground to crumble into pieces. As Torchwick fights to get up, Blake hooks him with her weapon and throws the handle to Link.
The green hero looks at her with confusion. "Wait, what am I to do?"
"I've seen the ball and chain in your room!"
"That's a ball and chain!"
"Well, he's the ball, and my weapon is the chain!"
Link pulled with all his might and to his surprise, was able to slowly spin the mech around.
Corrin ran to the far end of the battlefield to ready her fangs. Link spun with all his might until his muscles couldn't take it anymore and he throws it to Corrin while passing out on the ground afterwards. Corrin widens the mouth of her fang shot and just as the mech comes in range; she crushes the mech! Breaking down the metal piece by piece.
"Wait where is he?" Corrin asked.
"Emergency eject B****es!" Torchwick soared through the sky with the red Arwing coming in to swoop the villain in distress.
Corrin stomped the ground as hard as she could. "You've got to be kidding me."
Link watched as the fake Arwing tried to shake off Samus' gunship. "It's up to them now."
Phase 3: Team Ruby vs The red Arwing
Samus and the red Arwing made swift movements around each other; shooting lasers, missiles and performing barrel rolls. Samus' system's communicator turned on automatically with the face of a wolf appearing on her dash.
"I'd expect no less from the galaxy's best bounty hunter!"
Samus smirked. "Wolf O'Donnell….still salty that you couldn't attend Smash 4?"
"Bah!" I could care less! I have Project M."
"Wolf, we all know Project M has been abandoned."
"Shut up Woman! I'll make you eat those words!"
Wolf let Torchwick take over piloting and steps outside the Arwing, hanging onto the side.
"Let's be done with this riffraff!" Marth said.
"I'm with him, shoot these fools out of the sky." Ike added.
Wolf lunges forward and hijacks the Gunship. Extending his claws and tearing in a hole.
"Oh no you don't!" Ruby transformed crescent rose into sniper mode and fired away at the furry. Wolf dodges the bullets and leaps onto the back of the Gunship.
"Shulk, and Ruby I need you to get that *sshole off my damn ship! Weiss, I need you to patch the damages with your ice to keep us from dying!"
Weiss readied her glyphs. "Just leave it to me."
"Roger!" They both bust through the hole Wolf made and confront the savage animal.
"Oh boy, I'm feasting on some youngins tonight."
"Shulk pulled out his Monado and imbued both him and his partner with the JUMP Art."
Ruby's body felt as if it was going to take off at any moment. Her body lost all concept of what body weight is. "Ok, I'm stealing that weapon."
"Sure, if you want to die."
Ruby moaned. "I never get to use anything cool."
"Enough chit chat! I'm here to get paid." Wolf announced as he shoots them with his Blaster.
Ruby and Shulk zip around as with each coming for an attack on both sides. The space pirate uses his Wolf Flash and to propel himself to slash Shulk and meteor smash Ruby. Samus hears the loud bangs on her ship as the two dropped like rocks.
"Hey! Watch it!"
"Persistent aren't we." Marth stated.
"You two! Hijack his ship! Let's see how he likes a taste of his own medicine! Robin I want you to use your magic to slow down his ship."
Ike readied his sword. "You heard the lady, let's bust some skulls."
Back to to the fight with Ruby and Shulk, they struggled to get back up after getting hit with just one of the Smash Veteran's attacks. "Look, I know Melee gave me a lot of crap for being casual. But man, Smash 4 made you soft Shulk."
Shulk looked towards Ruby and saw the huntress grabbing her stomach. "We can definitely do this Ruby! We haven't lost yet!" Shulk brought his Monado in front of him and changed the Art to BUSTER. "This is the Monado's power!"
Ruby used her semblance to zip behind the ship and aim towards wolf. With the added power of buster she tore through the skies. She created winds that would cut open flesh if anyone dared to get close.
"Seriously little girl I see you coming a mile away."
Shulk then changed his Art to SPEED and charged straight to Wolf.
"You think a little speed is going to scare me? Better watch where you're going!" He unleashed his Fire Wolf and charged right back at the Monado boy. But at the very last minute, Shulk initiated his Vision just as Wolf came into proximity. With time coming to a crawl, Shulk slashed Wolf into the direction of Ruby. The force of the Monado was too much for Wolf to make an air dodge. With a series of flips, Ruby springs into a shooter position and fires at Wolf point blank. With a pull of the trigger Wolf is blasted into oblivion with Torchwick coming in to catch the body.
"That's it, time for extreme measures!"
Before Torchwick could react however, Ike uses his quick draw to bring him and Marth to land on the Arwing. Marth then uses his dancing blade to cut off all the vital parts of the ship including the wings and cockpit. Ike brings them back with Robin charging a spell the entire time.
"Son of a - "
"THORON"
The ship explodes leaving our heroes to believe no one could have survived. As the pieces of the Arwing crumble into pieces, none of the enemy's bodies were to be found.
Later in the evening, they all meet back up in Cloud's dormitory. Discussing the events that had occurred.
"So now we know for sure the White Fang are working with outsiders from your land." Blake sighed. "It was dangerous enough with just them."
"Seriously, those guys hit hard." Yang said clenching her fist.
The whole Smash crew looked at each other. Not uttering a word. Team RWBY couldn't help but get caught up in the tension. Weiss just about had it, and grew angrier by the second. "That's it! You guys can cut the act! You're hiding something from us aren't you?"
Ruby grabbed Weiss by the shoulders. "Weiss, we don't need to yell at them."
Weiss shoved the little red away. "Yes we do! More of us are going to get hurt if we don't!"
Robin was the first to break the silence. "We weren't expecting visitors from our own Academy."
"That explains why they hit hard…" Yang said.
"None of were. We're all shaken up right now."
"Sooo..you guys aren't like pals right?" asked.
"Those nasty guys are known as the 'Villains of the Smash Academy'." Ike replied. "Once they're outside the campus, the rules don't apply to them."
"But why come here?" Blake asked. "Why work with the White Fang?"
The Smash team looked to each other again. Even they didn't know how and why they are here in the first place."
"We'll just have to contact our headmaster to teach those boys a lesson," Samus said as she stretched and yawned.
Marth had just finished up preparing the sleeping bags for everyone for the big slumber party. "Must we make such a big fuss tonight? Obviously everyone is one edge and none of us can muster the brain power for the answer right now. I say we sleep it off for tomorrow!"
Weiss glared at Marth with the hero king dropping a sweat. She sighed and smiled at him. Although she had much more to ask, she couldn't bring herself to fight against Marth.
Cloud stared off into the distance. His eyes focused on the shattered moon of remnant. Too much was going on at once in so little time. For his team's sake, and Remnant, here's hoping Master Hand have some answers. "Something big is coming...and I don't know how to stop it."
