Not much to say really. I watched the new intro animation for RWBY volume 2 which made me very excited and even more impatient. In the next few chapters, including this one, the canonical parts of the story will be finished. That's it so without further ado,
Chapter 11
Under the Radar
Roman's Warehouse
Roman, DeathGrip, and Cinder were all standing around the heist board. It had been about a week and a half since the night of 'stress relieving' between Roman and Cinder.
"Alright. Tomorrow, during the afternoon, the cargo ship will be pulling into Vale harbour. So tomorrow night is when we will make our move. If you could please turn your attention to the heist board, I will explain the plan." Roman said.
On the board there were pictures of the ship from different angles, as well as pictures of the spot in the harbour that the ship would be docking in.
"I've spent the last two weeks planning this and throughout those two weeks I've thought up a few ways that we could pull this off. But, in the end I decided that this way was the smartest and most effective. It also happens to be quite simple which is very lovely. From the intel that I've been collecting, I have learned that Schnee has ordered for extra security. That means guards, radar systems, alarms, etc. This all means that getting onto the ship won't be easy."
Roman pointed to a picture showcasing the ship and the sky just above it. "The first obstacle is the radar system. The way this system is set up is to detect high flying aircrafts in the vicinity. The easiest way around it is to fly low enough to avoid it. That's why I'll be flying one of the two airships. The other one will be piloted by Adam."
Roman then pointed to a picture of the ship. "This is where things could go a few ways. Depending on how the men that Adam sent me take care of the guards, we could either just barely reach our goal or surpass it greatly. If these mutts decide to go in quiet like I will instruct them to do, then we can silently take out the guards and avoid triggering any of the alarms. In this scenario, with the guards taken out, we can load up the contents of the crates onto the ships and make our way out."
"And what if they don't go in quietly?" DeathGrip asked.
"I was just about to get to that." Roman pointed to a picture of a specific crate. "This crate holds the most value out of all of them. Since DeathGrip is the only one of us strong enough to move that crate, you will be hooking it up to one of the ships."
"Alright."
"After either of those two scenarios plays out we make our escape, still flying under the radar. Any questions?"
"Yeah." DeathGrip called out. "What if something that we don't expect ends up in our way?"
"Well, I doubt there is much that you can't handle but I did think of that. Cinder will be on standby in one of the ships as a last resort in case we get overwhelmed. Any more questions?"
"What if reinforcements arrive before we can load up the cargo?"
"We will have two airships on standby with reinforcements of our own. Is everything clear?"
Both Cinder and DeathGrip nodded their heads. "Alright. You two will meet me here tomorrow so we can prepare. In the meantime, feel free to do as you please. Just don't go too far."
Cinder and DeathGrip began to walk away but Roman put one hand on DeathGrip's shoulder. "There's one more thing I need to talk to you about."
Roman brought DeathGrip back over to the board. He grabbed the bottom and flipped it over, revealing a completely new heist. On the board were now pictures of DeathGrip, Yang, Brick, and the little boy from the Schnee file. "What is this?" DeathGrip asked.
"This is the plan for after we have secured tomorrows score. Tell me, when was the last time you hung out with your brother?"
Vale – Downtown
Team RWBY was walking through town, admiring the decorations that were all over town for the upcoming Vytal Festival. The whole team was there, including Weiss, who had fully recovered from her injuries just a few days earlier. The girls were all looking around while Brick was lost in thought. For the past week and a half, all he could think about was Project Survivor. What was it? Why was it so important? Every time Brick thought he was going to get an answer, he just ended up with more questions.
"Remnant to Brick. Hello?" Yang called as she waved her hand in front of his face.
"Oh what? Sorry. I must have spaced out for a second." Brick said as he snapped back into reality.
"I've been trying to get your attention for like two minutes but you've just been staring off into space. Actually, you've been doing that a lot lately. What's going on?" Yang questioned.
Brick looked at Weiss who was shaking her head. He then looked at Blake and saw her bow twitching. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"This is not nothing. This is something. Tell me what's going on."
Brick sighed. "You really wanna know?" Both Weiss and Blake now had wide eyes. Yang nodded her head. Brick sighed again. "I'm nervous about midterms." Weiss and Blake both almost fell over from relief.
"That's it? That's what's been bothering you for all this time?"
"Yup. I told you, don't worry about it."
"Alright. If it makes you feel any better, I don't feel nervous." Yang said with a grin.
"Why would that make me feel better?" Brick asked.
"Because I'm your girlfriend and you should care about my wellbeing." Yang replied. Since the day that Yang confessed to Brick, they had been on a couple of dates.
"Fair enough." Brick said. "I guess it does make me feel a bit better now that you put it that way."
"I told you." Yang said.
Weiss cleared her throat to get their attention. "Can you two focus on something more important? Like how the contestants from the other schools will be here soon."
"Why do you care so much anyway?" Ruby asked.
"Because this event is fantastic. It celebrates us as a nation and brings all of us together." Weiss explained.
"You really know how to make a fun event sound boring." Yang said.
"I bet you just wanna spy on the competition." Blake said.
"You can't prove that." Weiss said with her arms crossed.
Just then, they heard shouting coming from the nearby docks. They looked in the direction the noises came from and saw two police men chasing a monkey Faunus. The Faunus dashed passed them but looked at them for a brief second as he ran by.
"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss shouted before running off after him. The rest of the team followed her. They turned a few corners and came to a sudden stop when Weiss ran into a girl. Weiss quickly got off of the girl she crashed into and apologized.
"Are you okay?" Weiss asked.
"I'm fine. How are you?" The girl asked while still lying on the ground.
"I'm alright." Weiss asked with a nervous tone.
"Do you wanna get up?" Ruby asked.
"Yes. Yes I do." The girl said before quickly standing up. "My name is Penny. It is nice to meet you all."
"I'm Ruby."
"Weiss."
"Blake."
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Blake elbowed Yang in the stomach. "I mean, I'm Yang."
"And I'm Brick."
Penny gasped. "You're a brick? You don't look like one. You are far too big to one brick. Are you sure you aren't made up of many bricks?"
Yang and Ruby stifled their laughter while Brick sighed. "I think you misunderstood. I'm not a brick. My name is Brick."
"Oh. Well that makes much more sense."
"So what brings you here?" Ruby asked.
"I'm here to fight in the tournament." Penny said as she put her hand up as if to salute them.
"You're fighting in the tournament? You don't look like it." Weiss commented.
"Coming from the girl in a dress." Blake remarked.
"It's a combat skirt." Weiss said defensively. Ruby dash over to Weiss's side and put her hand out for a high five.
"Oh trust me, I'm combat ready." Penny said, saluting once more.
"Well, take care friend." Ruby said before her team joined her in walking away.
Once they rounded the corner and thought they were out of earshot, Yang spoke. "She was kinda weird."
"Well now that that's done, we should keep looking for that scoundrel."
They were about to continue walking when Penny appeared in front of them. "What did you call me?" She asked.
Weiss kept looking back and forth in between Yang and Penny.
"I-I didn't think you could hear me." Yang stammered.
"No not you." Penny said as she walk towards Ruby. "You."
"Me?" Ruby squeaked out.
"You called me friend. Am I really your friend?" Penny asked.
Ruby looked over Penny's shoulder to see her friends gesturing for her to say no. "Uh…yeah. Sure. We're friends…"
Penny had a big smile on her face. "Seeeensational! We can go shopping, and paint our nails, and talk about cute boys!" She said with glee.
Ruby leaned over to Weiss. "Is this what I was like when you first met me?" Ruby asked.
"No. She seems far more coordinated." Weiss answered. "Oh wait. Maybe you've seen him."
"Seen who?" Penny asked.
"That scoundrel." Weiss said, but Penny still looked confused. Weiss pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket with a poorly drawn picture of the guy that she was looking for. "That filthy Faunus from the boat!"
"Why do you keep calling him that?" Blake shouted.
"I have a few questions too." Brick said as he half raised his hand. "Since when do you have pockets, and when did you have the time to draw that?" Weiss just Brick a cold, disapproving look, which made him sulk a little.
"As for what you said Blake, I keep calling him that because that's what he is. Do want me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamppost as a lamppost?"
"That guy is still a person. Stop calling him filth. Stop calling him a scoundrel." Blake exclaimed.
"Why are you defending him? You saw that he clearly broke the law." Weiss retorted.
"People break the law all the time! I don't hear you calling them scum. How about Roman Torchwick, or that DeathGrip guy we saw on the news? Huh? Are they filth?" Blake shouted.
"Of course they are? I just haven't ever seen it up close before." Weiss said.
The other four continued to watch as Weiss and Blake continued to shout at each other. Penny leaned over to Ruby. "Are we having fun yet?" She asked. Ruby just sighed.
Beacon Academy – Team RWBY Dorm
Blake and Weiss were still arguing, and it was starting to get late. Brick, Ruby, and Yang still stayed out of the fiery argument. Brick had a different perspective on the whole argument. Since he knew about Blake's secret, he actually understood why she was defending a group of terrorists. And because of this, despite as much as Brick wanted to agree with Weiss, he just couldn't.
"Do you wanna know why I despise the White Fang?" Weiss said. She walked over to the window and stared out into the night. "Do you wanna know why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they have been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. People missing, board members executed. And I'm not the only victim from all of this. Just ask Brick. He knows the pain that the White Fang brings to people."
Weiss turned around and faced Blake again. "Stop defending a race that hates humanity!" She exclaimed.
"WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"
We all stared at Blake. She had a frightened look on her face. She stammered, as if trying to say something, before dashing out of the dorm at a speed that rivaled Ruby.
"Blake wait!" Ruby cried out, but it was too late.
Brick looked around at his remaining teammates. "Well? Aren't we going to chase after her?"
"Are you sure you want to?" Weiss asked. "What if we find her and she tells us exactly what we don't want to hear? Besides, Blake's a big girl. She can take care of herself."
"She's our friend. We need to go after her!" Brick exclaimed. "Come on Yang. Let's go." Brick made his way over to the door when he noticed that Yang wasn't following him.
"Come on Yang! Aren't you coming?"
Yang sighed. "Maybe we just need to give Blake her space. And Weiss is right. She can take care of herself."
"Alright then. I guess I'm on my own then." Brick said before storming out. The three girls watched him leave, only to see him come back about ten seconds later.
"Back already?" Weiss asked sarcastically.
"I…forgot my stuff." Brick said dejectedly.
He went over to the desk and grabbed his swords and his scroll. He caught a quick glimpse out the window. His eyes widened once he realized that his search was going to be much easier than he anticipated.
Brick ran through the halls of Beacon as fast as he could until he finally reached the courtyard. He found Blake was curled up in a ball on the ground next to a fountain. She was holding her bow in one of her hands.
"They're cute you know." Brick said.
Blake looked up. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet from tears. "What?" She asked with a sniffle.
"Your cat ears. They're cute."
Blake sniffled. "Thanks. I'm sorry for losing it back there."
"It's alright." Brick said. He walked over to Blake and sat down next to her. "You wanna talk?" He asked.
"No. I just need some time." Blake said.
"Alright then. Listen, I'm gonna go back to the dorm. I'm not gonna tell them where you are. If you want to be found, they are only one message away and if you need anything, so am I." Brick got up and started to walk away but paused. "Oh, and Blake. Be careful." He walked back into the school leaving Blake alone.
She looked back at the ground when she heard more footsteps.
"You look much better without the bow."
Schnee Dust Company HQ
Mr. Schnee was sitting in his office with one of his officials. "Is everything set up for the ships arrival?" He asked.
"Yes sir. All of the security measures have been put into effect." The official said.
"Great."
Just then the door opened and Mr. Schnee's secretary popped her head in. "Sir. Mrs. Underwood is here as you requested."
"Excellent. Thank you Janice. Please send her in." Janice exited the office. "As for you." He said to the official. "I appreciate your assistance. You are dismissed."
The official opened the door to be face to face with Cherry Underwood. He went around her and Cherry entered the office. "Thank you for coming in Mrs. Underwood. Please have a seat." He said as he gestured to a chair across from him.
"You can drop the formalities with me, Kevin." Cherry said as she took a seat.
"If you say so, Cherry. Anyway, I have called you here for a few reasons." Mr. Schnee said. He pulled open one of his desk drawers and pulled out a file. "Does July 28, 2334 mean anything to you?"
"Should it?" Cherry asked.
"Yes, it should. That was the day 22 years ago that the Schnee storage facility codenamed The Fridge, was hit and 50 million lien worth of dust was stolen. But that wasn't all that happened on that day." He pulled out a picture from the file of a woman who looked exactly like Cherry did when she was younger. "It was also the day your sister, Cynthia, disappeared."
Mr. Schnee pulled out two more photos. He slid them across his desk towards Cherry. "Do you know these two people?"
"Well, this one is Roman Torchwick." She said pointing to the first picture. "And unless I'm mistaken, that is me." She said pointing to the second.
"You are indeed mistaken. This is Cinder Fall. She is a confirmed associate of Roman."
"Why are you showing me all of this?" Cherry asked.
"Because we believe that Cinder Fall is really Cynthia Fall. And if we are correct, then your son Brick is in great danger."
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