Chapter 9:
Yang felt her fist rock the punching back with each strike. She grunted as her knuckles struck plastic, her sweat flowing down her forehead.
The academy gym had its own fair share of equipment, most of which Yang had used or broken since the first day. She remembered the first class of physical training, she had accidentally blasted the punching bag with her Aura, leaving a smelting hole in the middle of the bag and a big scorch mark on the wall. Since then, she resolved to using only her bare hands to avoid anymore 'accidents'.
Glancing to her right, she saw Blake jogging on a treadmill. The Faunus girl was definitely good at keeping up her human front. Although Blake was running at what would have been tiring for humans, a closer examination would have shown Blake wasn't even trying. Sure, maybe she was sweating, but Yang blamed it on the broken air conditioning.
"Geez." Yang grumbled as she continued to attack the punching bag. "Nice of Ruby and Weiss to not let us know of their little plans."
Blake kept on running, her breathing steady.
Yang glared at the punching bag. "Hey Yang," She began, her voice pitched unnaturally high in an attempt to mimic her sister. "Just want to let you know that Weiss and I will be having an excursion to who knows where without you or Blake."
Blake merely kept running on the treadmill.
"Arrgh!" Yang drove her fists into the punching bag, her eyes going from lilac to red. "How dare she! They're probably having fun with painting nails, and trying on clothes, and talking about cute boys!"
With a straight, Yang's Aura finally activated, blasting a hole right through the punching bag. Blake had finally stopped running, looking over to regard the 'mess' Yang had once again caused.
"Hmm..." Blake regarded the punching bag with narrowed eyes. "Looks like we need to convince Ms. Goodwitch in getting fireproof equipment for as long as we're here."
Yang sighed, unhooking the bag and hoisting it over her shoulder. "Thanks a lot partner..."
Blake watched Yang deposit the melted bag over at the disposal area and the gym caretaker groaned.
"Why didn't they at least tell us where they'd be going?" Yang complained, her eyes returning to their normal shade.
"Because maybe you might have killed the moment?" Blake said in monotone. In an instant, she realized her mistake.
Yang did so as well, as she stepped toward the Faunus girl. "You knew?!"
Blake gulped. "Well..."
"No fair Blake!" Yang's tantrum now reverberated through the gym. "You don't keep secrets from your partner!"
"Sorry." Blake smiled. "I kind of promised Ruby she'd get alone time with Weiss."
Yang folded her arms and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "Okay. I guess I could've killed their moment."
Blake chuckled. "You're actually quite proud of her aren't you?"
"Proud? Me?" Yang stuttered. "W-whatever are you talking about?"
"Ruby of course." Blake said nonchalantly. "She's really fitting into the leader role isn't she?"
Yang looked into Blake's eyes. "Yeah. She is..."
"And as her teammates, we have to support her in whatever way we can." Blake replied. "Even if it means we have to miss out on, whatever they are doing."
Yang gave a long drawn out sigh. "I guess. Damn it all Blake, I hate it when you state the obvious sometimes."
Blake turned around as she prepared to leave. Her eyes suddenly caught a small blinking from her bag. She reached inside, taking out her scroll. She had just received a new message.
Help! Mane attacked us and he's got Weiss! He's heading toward the docks. Meet me there.
Ruby
Blake gripped the scroll so hard that creaks could be heard.
"What is it?" Yang asked as she came over. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw Ruby's message.
"We have to move. Now." Blake said. Yang nodded in reply.
Weiss struggled to stand. For some reason, her legs weren't obeying. She opened her eyes, everything just a blur. Her head ached and she tasted something salty in her mouth.
Slowly, her vision came clear. She now saw that she was in a strange warehouse. Stores of cargo boxes were stacked all over the place. The place smelled strongly of fish and all but one of the lights were broken. The lone working light shone on the table nearby. She noticed her pouch and Myrtenaster upon it.
Her eyes darted to her legs. Now she saw that she was seated on a wooden chair. Her hands were tied behind her back with some kind of firm rope. She twisted her wrists, the rope burning into them.
She winced as another pain hit her, the one in her mouth. With her tongue, she realized that her lip had been cut. A slight trickle of blood oozed out, staining her white dress.
She grunted as she tried to move the chair, the wood scraping along the floor.
"Now, now deary..." Came a voice. Weiss turned her head, trying to find the source of the voice. "Don't fret so much."
Someone walked into the light. Weiss studied the lion Faunus closely. He looked, no, he was strong, the muscles attested to that. She noticed a strange gauntlet on his right arm, which she assumed was some kind of weapon. Other than that, he looked like any average delinquent with outrageously long hair wearing black leather clothing.
"Who are you?" She asked, breathing hard as she thought of a plan to escape.
The Faunus bowed mockingly. "Ripper Mane at your service ma'am."
Weiss's jaw tightened. "You're Ripper Mane?"
Mane grinned. "The one and only. Was a difficult job to do y'know. I didn't know exactly how to actually kidnap you. I reckoned I'd have to wait till the holidays began. Heck, I could've waited, but then, my payday would be late."
Weiss glared. "You won't get away with this you, you scum!"
"I beg to differ." Ripper smiled. "Your pal Red should be snoozing under a couple of bricks right now. No one knows where you are save for me. So I suppose I can get away with this."
Red? Weiss wondered who he meant. The answer occurred instantly. "What did you do to Ruby?"
"Enough of that Ms Schnee." Ripper said as he set a white duffel bag down on the table. "It's time for our little one-to-one."
Weiss felt a lump in her throat as he opened up the bag and took out all kinds of nasty looking tools, most of which were stained with dried blood. Anyone would know what they were going to be used for.
"Back in my White Fang days, I was good at one thing." He said, twirling a scalpel. "Wanna know what it was?"
Weiss felt her heart beat crazily. She felt cold sweat break out on her forehead as he approached.
Ripper smiled, drinking in her fear. "It was interrogation. I was pretty good at squeezing out info on loads of things from loads of people. Like, um, Schnee Dust shipments." He took out a small towel and wiped the scalpel, as if cleaning it. "Your family's residences..."
Weiss gritted her teeth. She glared at him with dark eyes and her bound hands clenched into fists.
"What's with that face?" Mane said with a glint in his eyes. He brought one hand up and seized her jaw. "Do you hate me?"
"Well, the same can be said for me." Mane snarled, letting go. "You damn humans think you are all so great! We Faunus are just animals to you ain't it?" Weiss merely stared as he ranted. "Well, guess what miss? We don't like you much either. Me the least of all." He bared his canines and Weiss could now smell the horrid stench of his breath. "And I will not rest till I have made sure all you humans give us what we deserve."
"I don't make it a habit to deal with the criminally insane." Weiss muttered. "And according to my friend Blake, you are as psychotic as they come."
Mane growled, grabbing her throat and positioning the scalpel right under her left eye. He noticed the scar that ran across it.
"What's the story on the scar?" He asked, a curious glint in his eyes. Weiss didn't answer.
"I wonder..." Mane exhaled, his rank breath causing Weiss to flinch. At the same time, he took out some kind of voice recorder. "What will daddy do to make sure his little girl doesn't get another?"
The blood drained from Weiss's face as he inched the scalpel to her face. She felt the cold blade of the scalpel lightly touch her skin.
"Oh I wonder how much their heart's will break when they hear you screaming." Mane grinned savagely. "I wonder how long I should give them before I decide to open another? Maybe five minutes?"
Mane now pressed down. The blade was touching Weiss's skin now. She kept still, afraid that even the slightest motion would cause a wound.
A phone rang in the background. Mane grumbled as he stepped away from her to answer it. "What? Yes, I'm starting now! Look, I know the terms. I told you where the Red- wait, what do you mean she's not there? I blew a whole wall down on her!"
Weiss's ears caught his last statement. Ruby was alright! And most probably looking for her. Need to get free... She thought desperately. Straining her wrist as best she could, she found something Mane had missed. The particular rope was a little too long on one end. She tugged at it, feeling the knot loosen.
"Okay, okay!" Mane yelled again. "I'll go and find her. But only after I'm done with Ms Schnee here." He ended the call, slamming the phone on the table.
"Something wrong?" Weiss said, a smug look on her face.
Mane frowned, reaching over and forcefully pulling on her ponytail. Weiss gasped at the pain as he lifted her close to his face.
"I don't think you understand girl." He growled. "You are the one in my mercy now..."
Weiss maintained the eye contact, her hands working as quickly as possible to untie the last knot. Already, she felt it was halfway done. The knot was starting to get loose. "Don't think it's going to be over so easily." She said, trying to distract him and threaten him at the same time.
"Heh." Mane chuckled. "Really? What are you gonna do? You don't have your weapon." Weiss's eyes darted to the table. Myrtenaster was slightly open. She figured Mane would have drained out all the dust from its chamber, leaving it as nothing but a regular sword.
She gave one final tug and felt the rope slacken. "Mr Mane?"
Mane frowned. "Yes?"
"Three words..." Weiss said as she shook the rope off at last. "Knot work classes."
Weiss's hands came out, swiftly slapping Mane in both his ears, the same thing Yang did once to stun her opponent in combat class. Mane may have relied more on his lion ears to do most hearing for him, but it was quite difficult to ignore the ringing in his head and the pain at the sides of his skull. He doubled over, cupping his humanoid ears.
Weiss scrambled away from him and toward the table, grabbing her sword and pouch. She dug through the pouch, dismayed to find only one vial of blue dust left. Mane appeared to have discarded most of what was in it. He definitely was prepared.
As if to remind her, something twirled around her leg and before she knew it, Weiss was thrown off the floor and onto her back. She looked up to see Mane holding some kind of strange grappling hook attached to his glove.
"So feisty..." He snarled, leaping upwards. His glove shifted to expose three serrated claws with which he drove down toward her. Weiss quickly lifted her own blade, parrying his attack. Still, she could feel his physical strength slowly overpower her, pushing down against her. The claws were now inching closer to her throat.
"C'mon!" Mane yelled, exhilarated. "I thought you'd be tough! Is this really all you've got?"
Weiss strained against his strength, her eyes looking around for anything that could be of help. Suddenly, she noticed her scroll blinking, something else it seemed Mane had not yet taken care of. After a few seconds, a message popped out. It was faint, but Weiss squinted enough just to see the last line.
...keep your head down!
Ruby
"Maybe not..." Weiss replied the Faunus. "But someone else does..." With a roll, she threw Mane off and covered her head with both hands.
Mane moved to attack the defenseless heiress. But he fell short as suddenly, the door of the warehouse was blown open with something he could only make out as an explosion. Instantly, a girl with flaming blonde hair rushed in, giving him an uppercut straight in the jaw. Mane flew ten feet into the air before crashing into a bunch of old wooden crates.
Weiss's savior, who was definitely Yang, punched her fists together, her entire frame exploding with the flaming silhouette of her Aura. "Pal, you and me are in for a little talk."
Weiss looked up to see Blake and Ruby dash in as Yang rushed at Mane again. Blake had gone to help Yang while Ruby rushed towards her.
"Weiss!" She said as soon as she knelt down in front of her. "You okay?"
"Mostly..." Weiss panted. "But I don't have a lot of options now..." She said, gesturing to the single vial of blue dust. "I only have one shot at freezing him."
"Let us give you that one shot." Ruby grinned. "You can still fight right?"
Weiss smiled. "Of course you worry wart. I'm not letting some criminal psychopath take me out so easily."
Godammit... Mane groaned inwardly as he felt Yang's punch throw him halfway across the warehouse. Never before had he fought a human with strength like that. Still, he was a damn Faunus for crying out loud!
As Yang delivered a straight his way, his hand shot out, grabbing her wrist. He drove his clawed glove right at her, ready to impale her through the chest.
He sensed movement to his right, redirecting his attack at the raven-haired girl who had flanked him. Her sword bounced off his claws, but he was now open to a roundhouse punch from Yang.
"Shit!" He coughed as her last attack broke his nose. He looked up at Yang and Blake, whom he recognized instantly.
"Why hello Blake." He said, panting heavily. "How's life as a pet?"
"Shut it Mane." Blake removed the sheath of Gambol Shroud, holding it in a backhand style. "You would never understand."
"Of course I wouldn't!" He snarled. "Why'd you go and defend Ms Schnee there? Last I checked, you weren't on good terms with her family's company."
"Maybe not with Schnee Dust..." She crouched low, swords raised. "But Weiss is a friend. And I protect my friends..."
Blake dashed forward, her speed easily outmatching his. Mane parried every blow she threw at him, but he couldn't get a solid hit in. Blake had used her Aura, creating shadow clones that threw him off. He could only follow them to an extent where attacking was all but possible.
And he didn't exactly remember that Blake wasn't alone. He did only when Blake flipped backwards, allowing Yang to rush in and give him a one-two punch combo.
"Yang!" Ruby called out, rushing over with Weiss right behind.
"Sorry little sis." Yang winked. "I think I did a number on him already..."
"Don't let your guard down." Blake mentioned. "Mane doesn't give up that easily."
As if on cue, the lion Faunus straightened up. His glove was now smashed apart, but now he held a sub-machine gun in his hand.
"Oh boy..." Yang gulped as the four of them ran, taking cover behind a large metal container just as Mane started firing.
"Well that's perfect..." Weiss groaned.
"He needs to reload sometime..." Ruby mentioned towards Crescent Rose. "Then my sweetheart will be talking back. And while I do that, you and Yang should be able to get close."
"Okay." Weiss nodded. "Good plan."
"Yeah." Yang grinned, her eyes going red. "Let me at him!"
"Guys..."
All of them turned to Blake, who had lifted off a loose floorboard. "We have another problem..."
Team RWBY huddled around Blake's discovery. What they saw was a small square shaped object with a small blinking red light.
"Bomb..." Ruby gulped.
"Most likely planted all over this place." Blake frowned. "This was a trap. He has the trigger somewhere I'm sure. He'll probably only set them off when he knows the best time to escape."
"Okay." Weiss breathed, maintaining her cool. "Now what?"
Ruby thought for a while over the sound of gunfire. "Well, I have another plan. But Weiss, it's quite, uh..."
"Ruby. Spit it out." Weiss demanded.
"It's really insane..." Ruby gulped, not sure how she would respond.
Weiss thought about the deathtrap they were in with the psychotic lion Faunus and compared it to her leader's possibly insane idea. "What is it?"