I'm back! Thanks to everyone who stuck with me there, it's just been one thing after another. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, updates might be erratic, so I'm sorry in advance. Anyways, without further ado, here's the next chapter of Conjuring up smiles!
"I don't think we thought this through very well." A monkey-tailed faunus delivered a swift kick to the stomach of a White Fang lackey, sending the attacker flying. Blake rolled her eyes as she brandished Gambol Shroud, scanning the advancing line of White Fang members.
"That's the least of our worries right now, Sun." It was true. Blake had met Sun earlier that day, and due to the vulnerable emotional state she found herself in, had ended up telling him about her background in the terrorist organization. He had proven to be a good listener and a good friend, offering to help her investigate the docks to see if the White Fang was intercepting a shipment of Schnee Oil. For whatever reason, Blake had decided that if she could stop the White Fang from their raid, she could compensate for the years she fought for them. Sun, who was unable to resist the thought of a good fight, had tagged along, which was lucky, as there were many more members than she had expected to see.
Unfortunately, things didn't look good for the dynamic duo. They were surrounded at this point, and while your average White Fang member wasn't the most skilled with a weapon, sheer numbers posed a serious problem.
"Come on, guys. You don't want to fight us. We're all for faunus equality! Maybe forget about those guys I kicked a few seconds ago, and we can call it a draw." Sun coaxed, a winning smile on his face.
"A very appealing offer that I'll have to turn down." A voice dripping with sarcasm replied as someone new stepped out from behind a shipping container, a cane in his hand. This man wasn't donned in the usual White Fang garb, and didn't appear to be a faunus at all. He wore a gray bowler hat and had bright ginger hair that was parted to cover half of his face.
"I'm afraid you kids have stumbled across something bigger than a few stolen oil barrels, and we can't let you get away." The man continued, a sinister grin on his face. He raised the cane, the bottom popping open to reveal that it was not an ordinary walking stick. Blake barely registered this before Sun shoved her out of the way, the explosive ammunition from the cane barely missing them and colliding with a stray oil barrel. Said oil barrel promptly exploded, sending a fiery cloud of smoke billowing into the sky. Their attacker grimaced.
"So much for showmanship. That was a poor choice." Blake and Sun took the opportunity to turn tail and run, with their unknown assailant yelling, "Get them!" As they fled.
Weiss and Yang, as luck would have it, arrived at the shipyard before Ruby and Penny. They could hear yelling and gunfire as they approached, but couldn't dive directly into the fray. The docks were a labyrinth of shipping crates and oil barrels, which meant that they got turned around almost immediately. It wasn't long before they rounded a corner and almost got their heads blown off by a White Fang grunt that Yang promptly punched into a shipping container. Once they had confirmed that their attacker was unconscious, Yang exchanged a grim look with Weiss. If the White Fang was present, they might be fighting against Blake as well.
They decided to tread more cautiously as they continued, and after a few more startling encounters with White Fang members, they located the source of the commotion. Blake and an unknown monkey faunus were fighting a horde of White Fang members. Weiss felt a brief moment of relief when she saw that Blake was fighting against the White Fang, but the relief was quickly extinguished by the need to help her teammate. However, Yang beat her to the punch.
Once she saw her girlfriend in trouble, the blonde brawler seemed to glow with determination, rushing forward into the fray. Weiss followed shortly after, and together the four of them managed to incapacitate the group with relative ease. Yang swept Blake up in a hug, but their celebration was short lived.
"Aw, how touching." An unknown voice crowed before the group was knocked off their feet by an explosion. Once the dust settled, they were met with the sight of a ginger man in a bowler hat pointing what appeared to be a cane flare gun at them.
"I won't miss twice, kiddos. Your move." Weiss's heart dropped as she noticed unmarked bullheads swooping down over the docks, dropping off more White Fang members. It seemed as though there was no hope.
"Hey! Leave them alone!" A familiar voice called out. Ruby stood atop a shipping crate, Penny at her side, with Crescent Rose unsheathed to her full glory. The man's condescending smile grew wider.
"Oh, hello, Red! It's good to see you again. Say, isn't it past your bedtime?" Weiss's eyes widened, first at the revelation that Ruby knew this man, and then again when he raised the cane above their heads. She looked up to see a shipping crate dangling from a crane above them. "Make a false move and you can say goodnight to your friends." Ruby looked from him to her friends, then disappeared in a flash of rose petals, sweeping the man off his feet with Crescent Rose. However, once he hit the ground, his cane arm swerved to face Weiss. He smirked at the heiress before pulling the trigger.
Everything moved far too quickly. There was another flash of rose petals, and Weiss felt herself being shoved out of the way. Then Ruby, who had suddenly appeared by her side, was blasted backwards into one of the shipping containers.
There was a beat of silence. Then Yang let out what sounded like a roar and dove for the man in the bowler, matching him blow for blow, cane against gauntlets. Penny conjured swords from nowhere, and to the shock and awe of the group, pulled two airships out of the sky, slicing one cleanly in half before running off at the honk of a car horn from the streets above.
The rest of the battle passed in a blur. With so many against him, their unknown assailant with the cane disappeared as quickly as he had appeared onto one of the remaining airships, and before the remaining White Fang could lay a blow on the students, the police arrived. But Weiss didn't care about any of that. She had rushed over to Ruby before the battle ended, and in the shock and panic of the whole matter, she couldn't tell whether the magician was even breathing or not.
A short chapter, I know. Sorry about that. Hopefully I'll have more time for the next one. As always, leave a review if you want or if there's anything you want to tell me about the story.
As always, thank you for reading and have a great day.