A/N: Welp. Chapter 10, here we go.

DISCLAIMER:

VOLDEMORT: CRUCIO!

(PIXELKIND writhes on the ground in agony for a moment, before stopping and breathing heavily)

VOLDEMORT: Now do you wish to continue this foolishness, or will you sign over the rights to Harry Potter and RWBY?

PIXELKIND: (spits blood onto the floor, laughs) I don't have 'em!

VOLDEMORT: (raises wand) Then who does?

PIXELKIND: (cackles maniacally) JK Rowling and Roosterteeth!

VOLDEMORT: AVADA KEDAVRA!

(PIXELKIND falls limp. VOLDEMORT storms from the room dramatically)

[ACT 1]: Viva la Muerte

[CHAPTER 10]: Constant Vigilance

Harry practically bounced down the street, barely avoiding pedestrians and motorists alike. Weiss grabbed the hood of his cloak and pulled him back.

"Harry, I swear to Oum if you took that cursed bag of candy back I will end your pitiful life on every plane of existence I have access to."

He waved a hand flippantly. "Nah, too much work. I just got a hold of my backup."

Yang let out a bark of laughter. "You seriously had another infinite bag of Lemon Drops lying around?"

He shook his head and held out a handful of brightly colored candies. "Jelly beans, this time. They don't have quite the same charm as the Lemon Drops, but beggars can't be choosers." He threw the jelly beans into his mouth, then paused. "It would also appear they have a much higher sugar content. Remind me to actually read the backs of the bags next time."

Weiss pulled Harry even further back, until her mouth was right next to his ear.

"That seems to imply there will be a next time."

He laughed nervously. "Oh, I, uh, I guess it does? Imagine that-"

Her grip tightened further, putting pressure on his neck. "There will be no next time, Harry."

His eyes darted across the streets, searching for something that could save him-

"Salutations, Friend Harry!"

He tore his cloak from his partner's grip and darted behind Penny. "Hey, Penny, what's up?" He turned to Weiss, who was still glaring at him icily.

"Oh look whaddya know there's four of us and we'd cover more ground if we split up I'll go with Penny have fun!"

Harry grabbed Penny's wrist and tried to drag her down the street. Tried, being the operative word. She simply walked at a normal pace, practically ignoring his efforts. Seriously, what was she made of? "Harry, why are you running away from your teammates?"

He shuddered and ducked down behind his new human shield. "It's called a tactical retreat," he whispered.

Penny nodded. "I am indeed familiar with such maneuvers. Allow me to assist."

And with that, she picked him up, slung him over her shoulder, and positively booked it.

Harry was fine with this.

Sun sipped his tea, cup still held by his tail. "So you don't want to go back to your team yet because you want to make sure that the White Fang isn't responsible for stealing Dust?"

Blake nodded.

"And… why is that actually relevant to the problem, again? I think I might have missed that part."

She sighed. "Sun, in your simplest words, explain what a terrorist organization does."

He paused for a moment. "Make things go boom?"

She nodded. "And what exactly happens when you shoot Dust?"

"...boom?"

She smiled at him patronizingly. "Good job, Sun. Now, I'm not quite delusional enough to convince myself the White Fang hasn't become a terrorist organization, so what do you think they would do with that much Dust?"

He paled. Good. He was starting to understand.

"So which do you think is more important right now? My social drama, or the current issue at hand?"

He looked at her dubiously. "Wouldn't it be easier with, you know, your team?"

She winced. "I don't know if they can trust me right now, and frankly it would be entirely justified. Don't worry, I'm used to doing two-person ops. I know what I'm doing." Being Adam's partner had required nothing less.

He nodded slowly, before snapping upright. "I heard something back at the docks earlier - something about a massive shipment of Dust coming in tonight!"

Her eyes narrowed. "Then we better get ready. If it isn't the White Fang? Good. If it is… we're going to have to stop them, one way or another."

By the time Jaune reached the tall, imposing wooden walls he'd seen from a distance, he was reasonably sure he'd lost the pursuing Grimm. Regardless, an actually safe place to rest would be a rather welcome development to him. He knocked on the massive gate.

A shady, scruffy-looking man stuck his head over the side of the wall. "Hand over your Lien and I might think about letting you in!"

Jaune's face fell. He'd come all this way, was so close to civilization, and it had to be bandits.

He heard a snort come from the other side of the wall. Another head stuck over the wall, this time a darker skinned girl. "Idiot. If the kid had Lien I doubt he'd be here in the first place. That sword, however… I can see it fetching a pretty penny."

Jaune sighed and glared up at her. "Sorry - actually not sorry, but I kinda need it. For, you know, not dying painfully to Grimm?"

She laughed derisively. "What are you, some kind of Huntsman?"

He shrugged. "Eh, depends who you ask. Why?"

"No reason. The offer still stands; your sword in exchange for considering letting you in."

"Yeah, not happening."

She disappeared back behind the wall, although a faint "What a nerd" echoed down to him.

Fine, then. Jaune Arc, Grimmslayer, had no need for walls. Or actual food. Or a real bed. Or shelter of any sort.

Well… he did, it's just that he needed Crocea Mors quite a lot more than any of that.

His musings were interrupted by ominous howling. He turned around to see the Beowolf Pack that had been chasing him emerge from the shadows of the forest. Damn.

Faced with few options, he drew his blade and leveled it at his enemies.

From behind him, he heard the girl speak again. "Oh my God, someone get Raven over here. Watching this dumbass get eviscerated is gonna be great."

Jaune did not appreciate the vote of confidence.

Weiss, Yang noticed, complained a lot.

"How dare he just run off with some random girl and leave us to look for Blake! What kind of team leader does he think he is?"

Yang tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I mean, splitting up to cover more ground does make sense."

"Not when it puts him with the only person who doesn't even know what we're supposed to be doing! He's probably going to start a fight with a noodle vendor or something!"

"Eh, I'm pretty sure most of the time he acts like an idiot it's just to mess with you."

Weiss stopped and stared at her. "Yang. We are talking about the man who uses a literal rooster as an alarm clock. He goes out of his way to spend time with Nora. Tell that to me again with a straight face."

Yang was silent for a moment. "Correction: at least some of the time, he acts like an idiot to mess with you."

Weiss tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Do go on."

"Besides," continued Yang, "It was either he went with Penny, one of us went with her, or she tagged along with all of us."

"You make a convincing argument, Xiao-Long."

She grinned and tossed her hair. "Damn straight I do."

Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's getting late, do you wanna go ahead and head back now?"

Yang shrugged. "Eh, I'll text Harry."

She pulled out her Scroll and opened her contacts, but a flash of motion in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Her head turned just in time to catch a shadowy figure disappear into an alleyway with a familiar, almost feline grace.

Blake.

She grabbed Weiss' arm and dragged her along after them. The Heiress opened her mouth, but Yang shushed her.

"I think I saw something. C'mon, let's go."

"...and you're sure this was it?" asked Blake.

The two of them were ducked behind the air duct of a building overlooking the dock in question. There was a massive ship full of SDC cargo crates, but the scene was entirely devoid of life.

Which was kind of weird for such a large shipment of Dust, especially with how the White Fang had been raiding SDC shipments over the past few years. The lack of security, automated or otherwise, was uncharacteristic.

Sun shrugged. "I mean, it sure looks like a boat chock-full of SDC Dust..."

Blake tilted her head in acknowledgement. Suddenly, her ears flicked upwards.

"Do you hear that?"

He shook his head. "You're the one with cat ears, not me."

She listened intently for a moment. "Bullheads, five of them, approaching rapidly. Looks like this is it."

The two of them ducked further behind the air duct as the Bullheads roared into view. They landed next to the ship, and groups of hooded figures came down the ramps. The symbol of the White Fang emblazoned on the back of their vests.

Dammit.

Come on, Blake, you can do this. Keep a level head - you can't afford to screw this up.

. Primary objective, prevent the Dust from leaving by any means necessary. Five groups of six, each team securing a crate. She didn't like those odds - at least a third of them would have Aura. Frontal attack wouldn't work, so that meant they'd need a distraction-

"Hey! What's the hold up?" An unpleasantly recognizable voice rang out from the central Bullhead. What the hell was Roman Torchwick of all people doing with the White Fang?

"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so how about you animals try to pick up the pace?" How had they not already murdered him?

You know what? Screw it. She turned to Sun. "I'll cause a distraction, you need to do something about the Dust. Blow it up, use it, throw it into the water, I don't care - just don't let them leave with it."

He eyed the White Fang members nervously but nodded. Good.

She unsheathed Gambol Shroud and leapt off the building.

"And you're sure she went this way?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "No, Weiss, I came all the way over here for the scenery."

Weiss sighed. "No need to be sarcastic, I was just making sure."

The two of them continued down the alleyway carefully, stopping at the end. Yang peered out from behind the corner.

"What's going on?" whispered Weiss.

"I dunno, looks like an SDC cargo ship is being unloaded- wait no, that's White Fang-"

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out. "Brothers and Sisters of the White Fang!"

Blake really wasn't helping her own case.

Weiss made to step out and, from the looks of it, shout at the large group of heavily armed terrorists. Yang held her back, covering her mouth with a hand. "Dammit Weiss, we don't know what's going on!" she whispered harshly. "We can't just run in there - you don't even have your weapon on you!"

She blinked and patted her hip, where her rapier usually hung, and only found the cloth of her dress. "This is… unfortunate."

Yang rolled her eyes. "You don't say."

She turned her attention back to… whatever it was that was happening around the corner. In the thirty seconds that conversation had taken, the situation had devolved into a gunfight- and was that Roman Torchwick over there?

She deployed Ember Celica from its bracelet form and turned back to Weiss. "Can you work with raw Dust or do you need your sword to use it?"

Weiss drew herself up haughtily. "As a Schnee, excellence is expected of me in all matters pertaining to Dust."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Assuming that's a yes, head over to those open crates and grab some if you want to join the fight."

Weiss paused for a moment, before nodding. "I can do that."

Yang was already gone.

Weiss crept along the side of an SCD cargo crate, carefully keeping it between herself and the fighting. She could help as soon as she got her hands on some Dust, but right now she was pretty much unarmed.

As she neared the open door of the nearest crate, she heard movement. Curses abound. Maybe she could hit them in the back of the head with a glyph? Use a glyph to amplify her own fist? No, she didn't actually know how a throw a punch in the first place - but her heels were plenty sharp, and she was flexible.

She jumped around the corner and came face to face with a semi-shirtless blonde. The same one that they'd tried chasing the previous day. One clearly not wearing a White Fang mask.

He blinked. "Oh, hi! You're one of Blake's teammates, right?"

She swept her eyes up and down his form. "Depends who's asking."

He glanced around him, then snapped back to her. "I swear this isn't what it looks like!"

She raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Well, judging from the trails of red Dust, you seem to be attempting to blow up multiple crates of SDC property."

He looked down at the vial of Dust in his hand. "Well technically yes, but the White Fang stole it first."

She tilted her head in acknowledgement. "That's fair, I suppose. Just let me grab some first."

He stepped away from the crate, watching curiously as she rummaged through the boxes.

"Isn't that, you know, kind of illegal?"

She shrugged and tucked a set of ice Dust crystals into her combat skirt. "I mean, technically this is mine anyways, and I'm using it to defend Schnee property. Not to mention you were going to blow it up anyways."

He stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head. "You are not what I expected a Schnee to be like."

She rolled her eyes. "What, did you expect some sort of baby-eating monstrosity?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Her eyes narrowed. She snatched a red Dust crystal from its case and strode out of the crate, casually flicking a tongue of flames at the spilled Dust along her way.

"Well, I hate to disappoint."

Harry and Penny both paused as a massive fireball lit up the night sky.

Silently, Harry slipped his wand out of his sleeve and dropped it in the open palm of his hand.

"Point Me, Blake Belladonna."

The length of wood swiveled, pointing steadily at the origin of the explosion.

"Well," began the young wizard as the sky darkened once more, "We found her." He turned to Penny. "That's a good thing, right?"

She nodded happily. "Indeed."

They stood silently for a moment.

"We should probably get over there before they blow up the rest of the city," he commented idly.

"That would the the optimal course of action, yes."

A/N: So there's chapter 10! Sorry its a little short but I had to cut it off there for dramatic reasons. Nothing quite like using arson as a counter-terrorism technique, am I right? Weiss and Yang interacting, Harry pulling Penny into his shenanigans, Jaune meets Bandits, and Torchwick finally shows up!

Just one more chapter to go and ACT 1: Viva la Muerte will be complete!

Did I make you laugh? Cry? Throw your laptop across the room? Leave a review, tell me what you liked, didn't like, ect. - I'm still learning and every little bit helps! Thanks!

NEXT UPDATE GOAL: I dunno, gimme like a month? Sorry I can't be more specific but I suck at deadlines (as you have probably already noticed)

Made a Discord Server, so if y'all wanna join go for it. /8VWj8jf

Thanks for reading!