So sorry it took! My Microsoft Word had some technical problems, but all are resolved now! I can't help but feel a little late, but better late than never! At any rate, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and I'll do what I can now to stay on top of things in my busy life!
Chapter 4: Party Crasher
Once inside the CCT, more unconscious guards littered the ground. Lance and Ruby walked with caution. Lance continued into the center of the room, uneasiness washing over him like a capsizing ship. He wanted to say something, but thought it best to keep his mouth shut.
"Hey, Lance," Ruby said.
She nodded her head towards the elevator.
"It seems like nobody's down here. Let's head to the top," She continued.
"Right. Let's go."
Hopping into the elevator, Ruby pushed the button for the top floor.
"Top floor?" Lance asked.
"If anybody is trying to break in, my guess is that they'd want to head to the top."
"That makes sense. Most of the access is there. It's worth a shot."
The elevator ascended towards the top of the massive tower. Lance shifted his weight, focusing on getting ready for anything that might come their way.
The elevator came to a halt. Ruby brought up her Crescent Rose, and Lance readying Regalia. The doors then slid open with a swoosh. They stood in the elevator for a second. They shot each other a quick look before heading inside. More of the same awaited the room. Although there were beeps whirs coming from the active computers.
"Do these things stay on, or?" Lance said.
"Dunno. Someone has to be in here though."
They moved further into the room. The room had an odd air about it that made Lance that much more cautious.
"Hello?" Ruby called into the room.
Shortly after her call, a woman dressed in black, wearing a masquerade mask stood from behind a desk.
"Excuse me. Y'know, it's not a masquerade party, so why don't you take off that-" Ruby said. Before she could finish her sentence, the masked woman pulled out a cylinder of dust, whipped it in an arc in front of her. In its trail it created dust crystals that she shot towards Ruby.
She spun her scythe, shattering the crystals before they met their mark. She stumbled back at the suddenness of the attack. Lance rushed towards the adversary. Ruby shot back, but the shots were deflected by the masked woman with just a hand; her outfit glowed orange in spots as she deflected.
Lance charged his aura into Regalia and slashed, sending a projectile in the shape of the arc he swung. Fire followed her hands as blades as black as her outfit were put in the flame's place. In one seamless motion as the blades were conjured, she cut Lance's aura attack as it careened off, breaking a few of the windows far behind her.
He closed the gap, raising his sword and bringing it down as he descended from his leap. Their weapons met in a clash. Before Lance could even land, she spun out of the way, disengaging the clash. Lance's momentum carried him as he stumbled forward. She kicked him back, hitting one of the computer consoles.
"Gah!"
Ruby rushed into action as well, firing her weapon behind her, using the recoil to propel her towards the woman. The scythe hit the ground as she back flipped out of the way. She hopped into the air and the blades combined into a bow. She notched three arrows, shooting them at Ruby. The shots exploded in front of her, sending her back a bit without losing her footing.
Lance, seeing an opportunity to attack, rushed towards her. He swung at her, spinning to carry momentum in the swing. The bow reverted back into its double blade mode. She met his blade with her own. He swung another three times in a string of attacks. All of which were blocked.
They both disengaged. Lance stared down the woman. Her amber eyes almost seemed to burn. Just then, the elevator door opened. Lance and Ruby turned to see who was in the elevator.
A man clad in white with short black hair that was greying around his sideburns stepped out. He wore a single glove and gave off an air of formality, as well as command. Lance didn't look for too long before turning back, striking a fighting stance. His eyes widened as he found no opponent in sight.
Lance sighed, lowering his guard.
"What happened here?" The man asked, walking over to them.
"Okay, I know this looks bad, but there was this woman here who attacked us," Ruby explained.
"Okay, slow down. Tell me what happened. From the start."
"Gladly, but who are you?" Lance asked.
"I'm general Ironwood. I take it you are students from Beacon, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right, sir."
"No need for the formalities. I need to contact the authorities. Afterwards how about we discuss what happened?"
"I understand that you two must be exhausted after what transpired, but I appreciate the information you could give us. Please, head back to your dorms and rest," Ironwood said.
"Will do. I'm glad we could fill you in as best we could," Lance said. Ruby nodded after his words.
Ironwood nodded his response. He turned and walked off towards one of the soldiers.
Ruby and Lance descended the elevator in silence. As they left, guards were cleaning up the mess made by the intruder. More soldiers were outside the CCT as well, all working towards the same clean up effort.
"Well, tonight's been… interesting. To say the least," Lance said.
"No kidding. I don't know how that woman broke into the CCT and escaped both of us."
"It's almost as if she just vanished. I don't get it either."
Both of them hung their heads as they continued.
"Well, we did what we could, right?" Ruby said.
"Yeah," Lance said with a sigh. "I guess you're right."
He turned and smiled, getting a smile from Ruby as well.
"At any rate, I think I'm ready for sleep. Maybe we should stop by the dance first?" He asked.
"It's already way past midnight. I doubt that the dance is still going on."
"Fair enough. Sleep it is then!"
He stretched his arms above his head, letting out a yawn as he did so.
"By the way, you fought well."
"You think? Well, I try, heh… Thank you, Ruby. Y'know you fought really well yourself."
"Thanks. I just wish that woman didn't get away."
She brought a hand to her chin in contemplation.
"We did what we could, right? Let's just head back to the dorm and get some rest. I'd say that we earned it."
Lance looked down at his scroll, which was open to a message from Ozpin.
"It says meet in his office at nine. Guess we should get going, huh?"
"Yup," Ruby said.
Lance and Ruby walked on towards the elevator that went to Ozpin's office. Once they made it to the elevator. They went inside and Lance pressed the top floor. Ruby shifted a bit before pressing another few buttons.
"Ruby?"
"What?" she said, pressing a few more.
"What are you doing?"
"Nooooothing."
She pressed the last button and stood next to Lance with a smile.
Lance sighed, but couldn't help smiling looking at the satisfaction on her face.
The elevators stopped at each floor, making their ascent a slow one, but the elevator finally reached its intended destination. The door opened after a few beeps.
As they walked in Lance noticed General Ironwood and Glynda in the room along with Ozpin who was sitting at his desk.
"Sorry it took so long. Someone accidentally hit all the buttons in the elevator on the way up here… It wasn't me," Ruby said.
"Thank you for coming Ruby. Lance. How are you two feeling?" Ozpin said.
"Okay, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad guy catching record wasn't oh for three, heheh."
Lance cracked a smile but then saw the serious tone on the faces of Ozpin and the others.
"Okay, that's the tone we're going for. Got it," Ruby said.
"I'm doing well, Ozpin," Lance said.
"I feel it's appropriate to let you two know that what you did last night is exactly what being a hunter and huntress is all about. You recognized a threat, you took action, and you did the best you could."
"Thank you sir," They both replied.
"Now, the general here has already informed us of the events that transpired last night, but now that you've rested we were wondering if either of you had anything to add," Ozpin said.
"Was anyone else with her? Did she look familiar at all?" Glynda asked.
"I… uh… I don't know. She was wearing a mask and she never said anything to me. But I know she fought with glass. I don't think that was her semblance though. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked," Ruby said.
"She knew what she was doing too. Her weapons were glass like Ruby said. The weapons she used were two swords, but they also became a bow," Lance added.
"Hmm. Save for the glass weapons that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby." Glynda said.
"Embedding Dust into clothing is an age old technique. It could've been anyone," Ironwood said.
"Wait. You think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ruby asked.
Ozpin raised a hand to his chin.
"It's possible… But we still lack the required evidence to link the two together."
"Actually, I think I remember her saying something about a hideout or something in the South East. Just outside the kingdom. Right, Lance?"
"Oh, uh, yup! I recall her saying something about a hideout."
Ozpin cracked a smirk.
"Interesting."
"I thought you said that the intruder never-" Glynda began.
"Thank you for your cooperation Ruby and Lance. Why don't you go spend some time with your team? You have a big day ahead of you." Ozpin said.
"Anytime," Ruby said.
"No problem," Lance said.
They began heading towards the elevator.
"Oh, and please try and be discrete about this matter," Ozpin said.
"Yes sir," Ruby said.
"Of course," Lance also replied.
"That was a risky move," Weiss said.
"No, I think you handled it well," Blake said.
Lance nodded in response.
"To be completely honest, she did most the talking. She did really well."
"Heh, thanks. I hope so," Ruby said.
"I'm sure everything will be alright, Ruby," Yang said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, I know what will cheer you up!" She continued.
"What's that?"
"I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us and I thought we could open it together."
"Ahhhh, something from home!" She squealed
Yang grabbed a small poster tube from the desk next to her. Ruby reached for it, but with a single motion, Yang opened the tube. Out popped a shape the size of the tube. It bounced twice, then on the third bounce, it popped up into a small dog with dark fur and stubby legs.
"Zwei!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping in the air as well.
"He sent a dog!?" Blake said.
"In the mail?" Weiss added.
Ruby had Zwei in her arms. Lance looked down at Zwei as well, petting him a bit too.
"Oh, he does stuff like this all the time," Yang said.
"Your father or your dog?" Blake said, who somehow was on the top bunk with a sour expression on her face.
"Sounds like you guys have got a pretty cool dad," Lance said, petting Zwei, who hopped into his arms and started licking his face.
"Haha, hey!"
"Are you telling me that this mangy… drooling… mutt… is going to wive wif us fowever? Oh yes he is, yes he is!" Weiss said.
"Please keep it away from my belongings," Blake said.
Just then Glynda's voice came through the schools intercom.
"Would all first year students please report to the amphitheater."
Lance set Zwei down.
"Well, looks like that's us."
"Well we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week," Weiss said.
"Look, there's a letter," Yang said.
She reached into the tube and produced a sheet of paper.
"Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang."
She flipped the tube upside down and cans of food spilled out onto the floor.
"Uhm, what? Isn't that a lot of food? Plus it's canned…" Lance said.
Yang reached in and grabbed a can opener from the tube.
"There! Problem solved. C'mon, Zwei will be here when we get back."
Yang dropped the letter and threw the can opener on the pile of canned dog food. She then left for the door.
"Oh I'll miss you so much, we'll be best friends, I can't wait to see you again," Weiss said, as she made her way to the door.
Blake hopped from the top bunk to the desk, then leapt for the door.
"Wait, can he really open these cans himself?" Lance asked, attempting to catch up.
The amphitheater was filled with first year students. Lance smiled as he walked in. It reminded of his first day at Beacon. Not only first years from Beacon were there though. Students from the other schools as well were in the theater grouped by school.
"Quiet. Quiet please," Glynda said.
She stood on stage with Ozpin at her side. Ruby set her backpack down with all the other bags and joined the rest of her team. Team JNPR were right behind where they were standing as well.
"Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin."
Glynda walked off stage as Ozpin stood in front of the microphone.
"Today we stand together united. Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day nearly eighty years ago the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons; one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware that was something many could not stand for."
Lance stood, captivated by his speech. The whole room was quiet, save for Ozpins voice.
"As a result, those who opposed this Tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself. Color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it was a trend that has held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united, but this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses work to uphold it. As first year students you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."
He walked away from the microphone, an applause accompanying his leave.