Author's Notes:
This chapter is one of the first harbingers of things to come. There are a few things hinted at here that might cause trouble later. Anyone who can identify some of them in a review will get nothing. But just imagine how awesome it'll feel to know you were right later on!
Team RWBY were in their dorm.
Ruby looked over at Clark, sitting comfortably in his stroller, "So we should probably talk about how Clark sneezed the side off an entire building."
Yang commented, "I mean, we should have expected that more abilities would pop up over time. We didn't expect him to be able to fly or see through walls either."
Weiss asked, "But where does it end? How many more things can Clark do that we don't know about yet?"
Ruby thought out loud, "Well lets try and think about this logically. The first power was his laser face. He took out the Nevermore the first day we found him. Next came the flight, strength and invulnerability. He flew across the room and caught the bed before it could crush me. After that was the X-Ray vision. We used that to find Blake. Now he gets… what do we call this anyway? Super-sneeze?"
Weiss shook her head, "That's it. I give up. There's no pattern. For all we know he could learn to read minds next."
Yang tapped a finger against her chin, "I don't think so. So far all his abilities have been purely physical in nature. I don't think he's going to be transforming furniture into frogs or painting the future anytime soon. More likely something along the lines of Super-Hearing, or maybe ice powers."
Ruby nodded, "Well I suppose the most we can do is just to expect more to show up at some point and prepare to face the consequences once they do."
Weiss looked over at Blake, "You've been awfully quiet."
Blake glanced over, "I'm just a bit tired still. It's early."
Weiss frowned, "Even if that were true, you've been quieter than usual ever since that night at the docks."
Blake looked away, "It's nothing."
Yang exclaimed, "Bullshit!"
Ruby calmed the situation slightly, "Listen, guys, if Blake doesn't want to talk about it we shouldn't force her to. I'm sure that if she needs our help, she'll ask, right Blake?"
Blake nodded, "Of course."
Ruby continued, "There ya go. Now that that's settled, we have a few errands to run today. Someone needs to go to the city to pick up more supplies for Clark. Someone else needs to stop by the CCT and research any other meteors that might have found their way to Remnant. A third group needs to go check on Clark's spaceship and make sure no-one's found it yet."
Sun said from his position hanging at the window, "I'm sorry, did you just say spaceship?"
Everyone looked over at the monkey boy in the window.
Yang asked him, "How long have you been there?"
Sun flipped into the room, "Obviously not long enough. Why does Clark have a spaceship, and more importantly, why don't I have one?"
Team RWBY exchanged a silent conversation weighing the pros and cons of letting someone else in on their secret.
Ruby said after several seconds of silent debate, "Because, Sun, you are not an alien. Clark is."
Sun gave a thumbs up, "Coolness. Hey Neptune! Did you hear that? Clark's an alien!"
Team RWBY stuck their heads out the window and saw Neptune standing on a very thin ledge.
Neptune looked down, "Sweet. That's really cool. Hey, can I come in? It's really high up here and I kind of maybe don't want to die."
Once everyone was inside, Team RWBY explained the whole story to Sun and Neptune.
Sun nodded, "That's awesome! Can I go with whoever's checking in on the spaceship? I wanna see that for myself."
Ruby agreed, "Sure, you and Blake can do that. She's good with the wilderness, so you two are unlikely to get lost. Weiss, you and I can go research meteors. Your access to Schnee records should help with that. Yang, Neptune, supplies are up to you. Yang is the only legal driver here."
Blake complained, "We would have money for public transit if someone didn't insist on buying all the best imported soaps from halfway across the planet."
Weiss defended herself, "You know I have an allergy. My skin gets itchy if I use the regular kind. I just wish I hadn't used up my allowance for the year last semester buying things for Clark."
The four set out on their individual objectives.
Ruby and Weiss arrived at the CCT tower. Ruby was about to send a message to the others when she dropped her Scroll. It bounced across the floor until it landed at someones' feet.
Penny picked up the Scroll and carried it over to Ruby, "You dropped this."
Ruby immediately started to question her, "Penny!? Where have you been? We haven't seen you since that night at the docks! You ran off in the middle of the battle without even saying goodbye."
Penny looked nervously side to side, "I think there's been a misunderstanding. I should go. Goodbye."
Penny started to walk off.
Ruby quickly turned to Weiss, "You keep going and investigate meteors without me. I've got to see if I can help her."
Weiss tried to stop her, but Ruby was already running, "Wait! Ruby! We don't even know if she needs help!"
Ruby eventually caught up with Penny, "Penny! What happened that night? We were all together and then you just disappeared! Where did you go?"
Penny cringed, "I'm sorry. My father asked me not to venture out to far. He worries a lot. I was asked not to talk to you, or Weiss, or Blake, or Yang, anyone really."
Ruby asked, "Was your dad really that upset?"
Penny corrected, "No, it wasn't my father."
She was interrupted by the sound of a nearby demonstration. The two wandered over to watch.
A holographic image of Lex Luthor stood onstage, "The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. But the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and fine just isn't good enough anymore. Presenting the Metallo 200!"
Several doors opened on the stage and a new line of white android soldiers stepped out for the world to see.
Luthor continued his speech, "Smarter, sleeker, and with a revolutionary new fuel source that guarantees over a decade of continuous operation with zero maintenance. These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone. Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing people from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that undoubtedly require... a human touch. So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Lexor Warsuit."
The holographic image of Lex was replaced with an alternate image of Lex Luthor wearing a giant green suit of mechanical armor. He struck a few battle poses in the warsuit for the cameras.
A pair of guards noticed Penny and she immediately started running.
Ruby ran after her, "Penny! Where are you going?"
Ruby followed Penny into an alleyway. The two narrowly escaped the guards, but in the process Ruby wound up in the middle of oncoming traffic. Penny lept and pushed Ruby out of the way. She then stopped a large truck in its tracks with her bare hands.
Ruby couldn't help but feel that she had seen this kind of power before.
Author's Notes:
Ok, so I guess without Penny's lying quirk there isn't really any reason for the chapter to be called what it is. Ah well.
