I don't own RWBY. The Phantom Nevermore's leitmotif if you're interested is Zen Conspiracy from Mashed Buddha and you can find it (mostly) on Youtube, so if you want some music to listen to while you read, give it a shot!
Chapter 2: Follow The Birdie
No sooner had Ruby's words left her lips did Yang launch forward with a vicious straight that the team had seen take down Ursa Major before. They smiled as she did so, knowing that she'd definitely keep him on his toes at the very least, and incapacitate him if he didn't dodge.
So you can only imagine their surprise when instead of dodging, the young thief's smile only grew and with a very calm and collected air, did the impossible: Catch Yang's fist.
Yang froze, her lilac eyes widening in shock. She couldn't believe it! He'd not only caught her punch, but hadn't even flinched, or moved! In fact, when she thought about it, it felt like all the force from her blow had simply fizzled out the moment she came in contact with his hand.
"Ah-ah-ah! I didn't say go!" He taunted. "That's just cheating!" He fixed Yang with a stare, although she couldn't see his eyes behind the red tinted lenses that made up the Nevermore mask's eyes. "We begin...now." With that, the thief suddenly flickered out of sight, and Yang felt a sudden breeze pick up as he reappeared further along the room. His hand shot down to his holster and withdrew the cylinder, flicking his wrist and causing it to extend into a baton. "Did you know that the Atlas military actually did some experiments on Aura and the varying Dust elements and how they interact? Interestingly enough, they found out something very interesting!"
The thief suddenly flickered out of existence again and everyone froze looking around the room. Weiss felt a gust of wind, and started to turn around, but before she could, something crashed down onto her neck, and she suddenly felt agony course through her veins, her body stiffening as she felt herself being electrocuted, her vision suddenly going dark as she pitched forward. "WEISS!" Ruby cried out in anger, rushing forward with her Scythe at the ready. The thief simply smiled, and with another gust of wind, reappeared on the other side of the room once more, flipping his baton back into his holster nonchalantly. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" Ruby roared, her silver eyes narrowing.
The Phantom Nevermore put a hand to his chest in mock innocence. "I would never harm such a lovely flower as her! Well, not permanently anyway. Worry not, she's simply joining the rest of the White Fang in a pleasant little nap. See, did you know that our Aura doesn't actively block out things such as electricity? Interesting, right? It turns out that if it did, we wouldn't even function! As for your friend, I simply zapped her with a non-lethal dose of electricity! It simply locked up her muscles and interrupted her body's consciousness, so she's out like a light. Give her fifteen minutes and a nice massage, and she'll be good as new!"
Blake's eyes flashed gold and narrowed. "You're such a gentleman." She quipped, sarcastically.
"I'm so glad someone noticed! I was worried you wouldn't, but then again, you're a smart woman, aren't you Ms. Belladonna?" The thief chuckled lightly, and instantly ducked when Yang rushed at him once more, throwing another punch.
"Stand...still!" Yang cried, launching an unending series of jabs and hooks in an attempt to put the thief out of commission. Unfortunately for her, her assault was dodged with expert precision, the thief laughing merrily the entire time. "Now now, didn't we go over this? It didn't work the first time, so what makes you think it's going to work now?" No sooner had he spoke, then Blake entered the fray, swinging Gambol Shroud in a veritable hail of slashes that seemed to threaten to overwhelm him.
This didn't last long. Another gust of wind picked up, strong enough to blind them and the young man appeared in an instant atop a pile of boxes, sliding his sleeve up his arm to glance at his watch. "Tick-tock ladies! One minute, thirty seconds!" He singsonged, putting his hands behind his back. There was a sudden roar of thunder as Ruby pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose, firing a bullet straight into the thief's chest.
He didn't even flinch. "W-what?! I hit him dead on!" Ruby's eyes widened in shock. That had been a shot from a .50 sniper bullet! Something like that should have at the least launched him backwards, but instead he simply sat there, swinging back and forth, whistling cheerily.
"Thanks! I needed that!" He proclaimed before abruptly vanishing once more, reappearing in the rafters of all places, swinging his legs as he looked down at them. "You know, you could always admit defeat. No shame in that after all!"
Yang growled and aimed her gauntlet at the Phantom, but Blake put an arm on her shoulder and fixed her with a look. "Don't waste the ammo. He's obviously using his Semblance."
"Then how else do you propose we beat him? He took Ruby's bullet like she was firing spitwads!" Yang twitched in irritation.
"I'd suggest we use Weiss as she could hit him with dust, but he took her out first thing. Obviously he can't...do whatever it is he's doing with elemental attacks." Blake explained, glaring at the thief.
"Thirty seconds!" He singsonged. "And I must admit, you are even sharper than I imagined! Deconstructing my Semblance that quickly? I'm impressed! Ms. Belladonna, you're really capturing my heart! I don't suppose you're single?"
Blake groaned, blowing a lock of hair out from her eyes. "Sorry, I have a strict, 'No Thieves' policy in my love life."
"Oh, what a pity! And you know what else is a pity? Your time...is up." He smiled and suddenly flickered from view, reappearing on a catwalk next to a window with a flourish. "I have absolutely adored our little soiree, but I'm afraid that my time is up, and the coach is here to bring me back, so I must bid all of you adieu!"
"No!" Ruby cried out, preparing to use her own Semblance in order to stop him. Unfortunately, she was too late, for that very moment he proceeded to flip backwards out the window in a shower of glass. Outside, its propellers spinning with oddly little noise was a black Bullhead, and the Phantom Nevermore landed perfectly into its bay doors, saluting.
"Adieu, my lovely angels! Ta-ta for now!" The Bullhead began to move away as Ruby rushed up the stairs to the catwalk, throwing Crescent Rose down like a tripod and firing away at the Bullhead. Unfortunately, the massive hovering craft was unaffected by the shots and soon had made its way into the distance, causing Ruby to give up with a whimper and a groan.
Blake sighed and shook her head. "Great. We failed. This is going on our record..."
Yang groaned. "You've got to be kidding me! He can freaking teleport around, block sniper shots and has his own Bullhead to escape in?! Who the hell is this guy? Why the hell is he acting like he knows us?! And why the hell wouldn't he accept my deal?!" Yang's partner simply fixed her with an irritated glower at the last statement and shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Let...let's just grab Weiss and get to the extraction point before anyone wakes up..."
[Next Day - Beacon Academy - Cafeteria]
The cafeteria was busy, as it usually was during lunch time. The din and clamor of the students all around made it hard for anyone to have a soft conversation and be heard. It was here that Team RWBY and the remaining three members of Team JNPR could be found, casually eating lunch as Ruby heatedly explained the story of their first failed mission.
"So Ozpin said that he wasn't putting it in our records since there was no idea that someone like that was going to show up. He said he hadn't heard about anyone like that since twenty years ago with some guy who called himself, the Shadow Ursa." Ruby poked at her lasagna morosely. "I can't believe we got our butts kicked that hard though!"
Weiss harrumphed and crossed her arms angrily. "At least you didn't get knocked out three seconds into the fight! Why was I the only one knocked out?!"
Blake took a bite of her tuna sandwich and swallowed. "I'm going to assume that his Semblance doesn't protect him from Dust based attacks, and he must have known that you use such things. You were the only threat to him and he removed you before he was in any danger." This seemed to assuage the heiress as she uncrossed her arm and nodded, almost looking smug.
"Well, obviously. He gauged our strengths and realizing that I was the most skilled, had to remove me before anything could occur. However, should we ever meet again..." Her eyes narrowed as she stabbed her own lunch viciously. "I shall pay him back tenfold for my humiliation."
"Ooh! I should become a Phantom Thief too!" A voice exclaimed from further down the table, one belonging to one Nora Valkyrie. "I'd be...the Sneaky Sloth!"
Her partner simply shook his head and gave a wry smile. "Nora, I don't think Sloths carry the same mystique and danger as a Nevermore."
"But that's what they want you to think! Then...they spring out and attack you!" Nora proclaimed, pouncing on her own food with gusto. "Right, Pyrrah?"
Sitting next to her, lost in thought as always, was one Pyrrah Nikos. Much had changed with her since the disappearance of her friend and partner. First and foremost, she'd taken to wearing Jaune's hoodie with her almost always, making it as much a trademark of hers as it was of his, her own bronze armor over it like Jaune used to wear his armor over it. Weakly, she glanced up, and forced a smile onto her face. "Oh, um...what were you talking about?"
Ruby sighed and groaned. "We were talking about the Phantom Nevermore! That thief who stole the Azure Dust Crystal!"
Ren stepped in, trying to calm things down as he always did. "It's fine, what matters is that everyone is safe. The only thing that was damaged was your egos."
Blake fixed her partner with a smirk and replied, "Some of ours more than others."
Yang crossed her own arms this time and gave a pout. "Here he was, flirting with us, and didn't even have the common decency to give me his number!" She glanced over and Pyrrah, who was morosely poking at her food and her expression softened. "So what have you been up to P-money?"
Pyrrah looked up, still smiling weakly. "The usual. Training, classes, homework."
With a look of concentration, Yang snapped her fingers. "We need to get you out more often! There's a bar in Vale I love with some of the best drinks I've-"
The Spartan interrupted the buxom brawler with a wave of her hand and a shake of her head. "No thank you. I'm quite fine, thanks." Her gaze returned to her food, silent. It was a silence that was shared by the rest of the table soon enough as everyone suddenly felt down. It wasn't her fault, but the unspoken mention of their blonde blunder of a companion never failed to bring them down.
After a few moments, Ren spoke up, standing to his feet. "We...we should go. Classes start soon."
Author's Note: Okay, I know, the "Phantom Nevermore" is a bit on the broken side, but trust me, I have some interesting plans for our mysterious friend. As Blake had pointed out, his Semblance doesn't work on Dust based attacks, so there's that. In addition, this is (despite some depressing scenes) a comedy fic. Mostly. So I'd like to think I can get away with some over the top stuff. Don't worry though, he's FAR from invincible. (Cue maniacal laughter and cheesy lightning effects.) I wanted to give J- er, the Phantom Nevermore some victories under his belt to make him a credible 'foe.' And let's be honest. It'd be pretty boring if he lost so early on. :)
Oh, and please, review!
