'Hazredous' Interruptions

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha / RWBY

Chapter 11 - Distractions

- Text IN: SALUTATIONS!

- Text OUT: Hello!

- Text IN: Good Day.

- Text IN: Hi there! How are you?

- Text IN: (Simulated biological response - GASP) You talk back! I didn't expect you to talk back!

- Text OUT: That is correct! May I ask who you are? I am (SECURITY PROTOCOL) RH. My friends are (SECURITY PROTOCOL) B and (SECURITY PROTOCOL) RZ.

- Text IN: SENSATIONAL! You can call me P- Wait, no! That's dirty. Uhm. I am CR!

Her scroll vibrated, three short buzzes in a row. Nanoha disregarded her homework and snapped it up, punching in the passcode. Three short buzzes was Raising Heart's 'attention!' signal. "What's up, partner?"

'I have made a friend! And it did not involve violence!'

Nanoha straightened a little, somewhat taken aback. She felt the frown form on her face. "What the hell? I'm not that bad!"

Arf looked over from where she was reading, prone on her bed with her tail swaying in the air. "What's the matter, Nanoha?"

"I think I just got zinged by my device."

"Ha!"

"Who's your new friend, Raising Heart?"

'I do not know! Bardiche and Reinforce Zwei and I are following proper security procedures. She calls herself 'CR', and she says we are the first wireless nodes to respond to her queries.'

"Wait, what? She's communicating with you over your wireless protocols? Is she using a device to speak with you?"

'I believe she is a device! Displaying message transcripts now.'

Nanoha skimmed through the conversation as quickly as she could, and realized that the lines of text were appearing faster than she could keep up. Timestamps posted on the individual messages were separated by scant milliseconds. "...okay yeah. She's a device. Hey Arf!"

"What? I just got to the good part, Hitako just climbed in through Miyabi's window to steal her away for a midnight date!"

"I'm going to pretend that I have no idea what you're reading-"

"Ninjas of Love! It's great!"

"-and ask you if you could tell Fate to get Lindy for me?"

Arf tilted her head, eyes rolling a little to stare up at the ceiling. "She wants to know what's going on."

"Raising Heart and Bardiche and Rein made a chatroom with another AI somewhere nearby. I think that's enough to warrant her attention?"

"Got it. She's going to CSAL's room now." Arf flipped a page. "Ooo, I didn't expect this page to be illustrated… Okay, Shamal said Lindy's in the library. Fate's going to get her."

It took fifteen minutes for Fate to find Lindy and bring the admiral to NAVY's room. Nanoha spent the entire time trying to keep up with the scrolling chat conversation as the three Intelligent Devices slathered small talk across the re-encrypted radio band. The fourth intelligence was swept right along in the chatter, and Nanoha felt the image of a bright, cheerful girl build in her mind just from reading her words.

Fate closed and locked the dorm room's door while Lindy looked over Nanoha's shoulder. "What is it, Nanoha?"

"Our devices are talking to a local device." Nanoha filled Lindy in on the situation even as she expanded the scroll out for easier reading. Even now it seemed like the various intelligences were discussing the weather.

"And she's just calling herself CR in the same spirit that our devices aren't giving away their full names…" Lindy tapped her cheek. "Can they triangulate where the signal is coming from?"

"They've been trying, but Raising Heart and Bardiche are too close together and Rein isn't actually detecting CR's signal at all. She's back at the ship and is piggybacking off of Raising Heart."

"Well then. I'm as curious as you are, I'm sure. Arf?"

"Shhhh! They're about to-"

"Arf." All the humor was gone from Lindy's voice.

The familiar bounced off the bed and landed on her feet, book forgotten. "Yes, mother dearest?"

Lindy smiled, full of cheer again. "Go with Fate and Nanoha, please. Stick with Nanoha when they split up so you can keep them in contact with each other? Nanoha, perhaps talk to our handlers and have some of them go with you? Ozpin and Glynda are busy with Atlesian diplomacy tonight, but I'm sure some of RWBY will be available."

Nanoha smiled. "On it."

"Is this really important? We were about to go get dinner and Jaune said he was gonna make extra pancakes." Ruby pouted. She'd really been looking forward to those pancakes, Blake knew, but Nanoha, Fate, and Arf had shown up at their door. Ruby had let them in, and then Nanoha had asked if she or some of the others were free.

Nanoha shrugged, offering an apologetic smile. "Well, Lindy asked us to check something for her. There's an intelligence talking to our devices, and she wants us to try to track down where the signal's coming from."

Ruby blinked. "...what are they talking about?"

Nanoha looked down at her scroll. "...limericks. No, wait, they've moved on to haikus. Sonnets." The mage laughed after a moment. "She's really cheerful."

"Well…." Yang and Weiss were both at the library for the moment. Blake was on her bed reading, but met Ruby's eyes when she looked at her. Blake shrugged, closing the book and setting it aside. Ruby nodded, looking back to Nanoha. "Okay, we're in. How are we doing this?"

Fate cleared her throat. "Bardiche and Raising Heart are both detecting the intelligence's wireless signal. Because they can both detect the strength of the signal and approximate distance, we can triangulate the signal if we split up a bit."

Blake rolled off her bed and stood up. "You want us with you because you want to keep this on the level with the headmaster."

"That's right." Fate smiled at her. "Shall we? Ruby can go with Nanoha and Arf."

Blake tensed up the slightest bit, trying to pass it off as nothing. "If you insist?"

"Mm. I have a few questions regarding the project Dr. Oobleck assigned. I thought that we could talk about it while Bardiche is working."

"Oh." Blake spared a moment to berate herself in the privacy of her own mind. She's not out to get you. You're being too paranoid. "Well of course, I'd be happy to help. Do we need to stop at your lockers to get your devices?"

Nanoha laughed awkwardly. "Oh, no. Uhm." She pulled Raising Heart's storage form out from around her neck. "We keep mock-ups in the lockers in case anyone goes poking around where they shouldn't be. We're good to go."

"Okay. Lemme just leave a message for Weiss and Yang." Ruby scribbled a quick note and left it on Weiss' bed, then followed the others out the door.

The sun wasn't quite setting by the time they made their way out onto the public campus. Nanoha and Fate traded a quick hug before parting ways, and Blake was left to walk alongside Fate.

It was fairly pleasant, all things considered. Fate was quiet and soft-spoken, and quite intelligent. Her questions regarding Oobleck's history lessons were succinct and on point.

Still, every time Blake looked at her, she couldn't help but feel a little didn't take the blonde girl long to pick up on it, and she glanced up from her scroll's display of Bardiche's transcripts. "Something about me bothers you?"

Blake looked down at the ground. You're a cop. That wasn't all, though. "It's… you have red eyes."

"What about them?"

"Well… I only really associate them with Yang, and that's only when her semblance is flaring and she's angry."

"Ah. You're experiencing some cognitive dissonance, then."

Blake grimaced, then nodded. "Yes. Your eyes make me think you're angry, but you're nothing but calm."

Fate shrugged. "It's just eye color. As far as being angry?" She thought about it, tilting her head. "There's so much more to life. Friends and family, people who are willing to be your family when you think everything is lost. I've been angry and sad before, and I'd much rather be happy."

Blake could read between the lines. She already knew that Fate had been adopted by Lindy. "You were abandoned. That's why Lindy took you in."

"Yes." Fate's scroll buzzed in her hand, and she looked down. "Ah. Bardiche and Raising Heart have good data on the signal direction." Blake looked over Fate's shoulder, and could see a blinking arrow overlapping the small camera view from the scroll. Fate lifted it up and started turning, until the arrow was centered on her screen. "Let's see what we have, shall we?"

Spending some time with Nanoha and Arf was fun. The familiar was quite comfortable with her inhuman nature and features, even to the point of playfully demanding a scratch behind her ear because it 'itches so bad' and 'it always feels better when someone else does it,' and so forth. Nanoha just smiled and did as asked, out of long habit.

Ruby noticed that they were drawing some glances from nearby pedestrians. "Uhm, Arf? Nanoha? People are staring."

Arf snorted. "Fuck 'em. It's not my fault they're not comfortable with us being ourselves, and it's not like I'm running around naked or anything. They'll live."

"Nyahaha… still, she's right, Arf. As much as I agree, we shouldn't be drawing the extra attention to ourselves." Nanoha lowered her hand, offering an apologetic shrug to Arf's pout.

"Fiiine… oh! Fate says they've got good signal. How's ours?"

Nanoha looked down at her scroll. "Strong enough. Let's see here…" Nanoha held the scroll up and looked around through the camera display. "...not seeing anything that stands out, but a device's storage form isn't always noticeable…"

"Are you sure it's one of your types of devices? Remnant doesn't have anything like that, at least that I know of."

"That's a good point, Ruby." Nanoha centered the scroll on the signal, then looked up over it and frowned. "Just a couple people in that direction. Arf, let Fate know that I'm seeing an old lady in blue wearing a sun hat talking on her scroll, a redhead teen in some sort of overall-skirt and black leggings sitting on a park bench, and one of Beacon's maintenance staff pushing a cleaning cart."

Ruby blinked and followed Nanoha's gaze. She heard Arf reply after a moment, even as her eyes fell on the figure in question, a couple hundred feet away. "Fate says she confirms the redhead, looks like she's our 'CR'."

"That's Penny!" Ruby took off like a shot, leaving a trail of petals behind her. Nanoha's exclamation of caution didn't even reach her ears until she was halfway there, and she wouldn't have listened anyways. "Penny where have you been?!"

Penny looked up from the small book in her hands in absolute surprise, standing up just in time for Ruby to glomp onto her in a hug. The redhead awkwardly started to hug back, then froze, arms still halfway wrapped around Ruby. "I- I am sorry, have we met?"

"What are you talking about, of course we've met! I haven't seen you since the end of last semester!"

Penny put her hands on Ruby's shoulders, gently forcing her back a little. "I am sorry. I don't know what you're talking about-hic!"

The words hit Ruby like a physical blow, and she recoiled as if struck. "P-penny! It's me, Ruby! What's wrong?"

There. A flicker of not just recognition, but of guilt in Penny's eyes, just before she looked away. "E-everything is fine-hic!"

Ruby could hear footsteps; Nanoha and Arf… and Fate and Blake as well. Blake's eyes widened when she realized who they'd found. "Penny?"

Penny looked between the two of them, increasingly frantic. "I- I really should be going! Yes, I have a place that I am supposed to be soon-hic! I need to leave now to get there in time-hic!"

"W-what? Penny, what is going on?! I know you know who I am, who Blake is! We're your friends! Why won't you talk to us?"

The redheaded girl slumped, then slid back into her seat, looking around with exaggerated care. Then she looked back at Ruby. "I… I'm sorry, Ruby. Blake. I was… asked… not to talk to you two. Or Weiss, or Yang. Actually, I was asked not to talk to anyone."

Nanoha was muttering something at her scroll, and Blake looked questioningly at her. Penny suddenly froze for a moment, then turned her head and looked straight at Nanoha. "Are… are you 'RH'?"

The mage flinched back in surprise, then glanced at Fate. The blonde rolled her eyes, raising one hand in a 'what can you do' gesture. Nanoha blushed a little at the subtle admonishment, then looked back at Penny. "No, but RH is a friend of mine. Are you 'CR'?"

RH? CR? What are they- Oh. Oh! Hah! Ruby couldn't help it. She started snickering and giggling, and five heads turned toward her. "O-of course she is! She's Combat Ready!" The giggling became full blown laughter.

Even Blake's neutral expression perked up slightly. "Ruby's right, she is. Just ask her."

Penny's eyes flicked between Nanoha, Fate, and Arf. "Ruby? Are these people your friends?"

Ruby felt all the humor drain out of her in an instant. She remembered what had happened the last time Penny had asked her that question. "W-what? Yes they're my friends!"

"Oh. Well… okay." Penny smiled a little. "You two are not 'B' and 'RZ', are you? Because if you are already Ruby's friends, then I suppose that you can be my friends too?"

Fate and Nanoha exchanged another glance, and Fate sighed. "You and I need to have a talk regarding the definition of 'operational security' later, Ruby." Fate turned and gave Penny a smile. "I'm not 'B', but he and I are good friends. I would be happy to get to know you, Penny. My name is Fate, and these are Nanoha and Arf."

"Stupendous! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny jumped to her feet, grabbing the blonde's hands and giving them an energetic shake. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby lowered her face into her hands, feeling her cheeks burn. "Why must that keep coming back to haunt me."

"Oz, what ended up happening regarding that cruiser contact you called me about?"

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, using the moment to compose his answer. James was sitting across from his desk, flipping through readiness reports on his scroll. "Oh, that. It turned out to be much less of an issue than I was worried about."

"Given that you didn't give me another call, I did assume. Still, what happened?"

"Pre-war colony airship came back home. Apparently the descendants decided that civilization was preferable to the untamed wilds."

Ironwood's eyebrows rose. "Paradise wasn't all they thought it would be, then?"

"I think we both know that chasing that kind of paradise is a fool's endeavor. They apparently came to the same realization, so they fixed their old transport up enough for the flight back."

"Not well enough, apparently, if they crashed on the way. Survivors?"

"Indeed. Glynda brought them home. They were quite shaken by the ordeal, but alive."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Because there was nothing to tell, James." Ozpin sipped his coffee again, picking up his scroll to flip through a few reports of his own. "Great war era civilian technology? Even Atlas' civilian airships are orders of magnitudes more capable than that wreck was in its prime."

"Fair point, Oz. What are the survivors planning on doing with it? Correct me if I'm wrong, but Vale law states that it still belongs to them?"

"As compared to Atlas law where it would be claimed by the government? Yes. After reviewing their options, they made the decision to sell it to fund their relocation and resettlement. The scrap value is enough to see them through until they find their place."

James gave a thoughtful frown, nodding slowly. "Lot of tonnage in a ship that size. Salvage the Dust in the flight array, scrap the electronics for recycling… makes sense. Still, I can't imagine they're happy about it."

"No one is happy about losing a faithful old steed. But necessity dictates action."

"Any idea what the survivors will be doing?"

Here we go. "A number of them are quite capable, actually. They'd have to be to survive the Grimm so far outside of any of the kingdoms. So, I made the offer to accept a portion of the ship's scrap value as a tuition fee, and have enrolled them into my academy. They seem to be fitting in well." Ozpin thumbed a message to Glynda while he talked. 'Ironwood asked questions about the ship. Satisfied with reply. May continue to investigate. Let refugees know what to expect.'

"What the hell is this? Kiddie night?"

Hei 'Junior' Xiong could only watch as well over a dozen teenagers poured through the double doors; it was an absolute riot of different colored clothes and hair ranging from black all the way to pink. He did a quick head count. Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-tw- "Oh shit. Her."

"Guess who's baaa~aaack!"

The question was answered by a dozen safeties being flipped as handguns were pointed at the blonde's face. The house trance mix halted, caught in a skipping loop that had Junior's cheek twitching. He glared at the DJ, slicing his finger across his throat.

The skipping music cut out, and in the silence Junior could hear two rumbling growls coming from the pair of wolf faunus that were with the group. A half-dozen hands had gone to weapons, but he wasn't worried about the overt displays of outrage. It was the dozen of them that had gone completely still the moment a threat became apparent. Those were the ones ready to tear the place down around them to keep the blonde safe.

He shouldered his way through his goons as quickly as he could, raising his voice to be heard. "Put your damned guns away, no one is shooting anyone here!"

The blonde slid through to the front of her group, glancing over her shoulder and tossing a bright, reassuring smile back at them. "It's cool, it's cool! Junior and I go way back."

Junior cleared his throat, looking down at her. "Blondie. You're here."

"Yeah!"

"...why?"

"What, I can't come visit my favorite club?"

"The last time you were here we were closed for a month repairing the damage."

"Well, I brought paying customers!" Yang gestured behind her. "That's good business, right?"

Junior looked back at the group, glancing over each one of them. Most of them looked to be around seventeen or so. The young man in the black trench coat seemed to be in his early twenties, as did the brunette with her hand on his arm, and his green-haired sister looked a little older than that. The one in the red cloak definitely looked a bit younger than the average.

One of his goons spoke up. "Boss, we can't let them in. They're undera-mmph!"

Junior clamped his hand over the idiot's' mouth, having caught the first hint of a spark in the blonde's eyes. Give her what she wants and everything will be fine. "Doors are open, Blondie. Just please, don't make a mess."

"Who, me?" She laughed delightedly, and waved her friends toward the dance floor. "Let's go, boys and girls!"

"I can't believe you talked me into this."

"C'mon, Chrono. We're here to relax and have a good time."

"No, this is absurd. First off, I'm standing in a dance club, which is bad enough. Second, I'm in the same club as you. This is mortifying."

Lindy rolled her eyes. "Chrono. I promised you I'm not going to do anything embarrassing. I want to be able to enjoy a few drinks while the rest of you cut loose. That's all."

"Which means in three hours I'm going to be carrying you out of here."

"You… don't think I can hold my alcohol." Lindy raised her eyebrow, slightly surprised. Then again. "Wait. You've never seen me drink, have you?"

"One of the last bastions that my sanity clings to, and you're ruining it."

"Oh Chrono. Go mingle. I'll be fine, really." Lindy turned and waved. "Amy! Come rescue your husband from me!"

"Yes, Lindy!" The brunette grabbed Chrono by the arm, dragging him away. "C'mon! Hayate's ordering martinis!"

"Too many people. I do not like this place."

Zafira rumbled an agreement, scanning his eyes through the undulating mass of people. "We're never comfortable when Hayate and the others go to places like this. There is a difference, though."

Signum raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Aura." To demonstrate, Zafira absently backhanded Signum's forearm. A faint flash of pink light heralded the blow skating off without harming her. "While it may not be as comprehensive as her Knight's Clothing, it is robust, hidden, and easily maintained. If there is anything to be thankful for in our time here, it is that she will no longer be easy prey to a knife in the dark."

Signum's face twisted a little, her brow furrowing. "You make a valid point, but it is no reason to relax our guard."

Zafira shook his head. "It is not, and I would never. But there is something to be said for peace of mind."

"So. Uhm."

"This is a little... overwhelming, I admit."

Ruby and Weiss exchanged a glance. They'd been left standing near the door when everyone else scattered, watching as their friends and compatriots mingled into the night life. "...find a table in the corner and pretend we're watching a documentary?"

"Yes. Let's do that."

"Check out the wallflowers."

Miltiades looked up from her drink, then turned on her bar stool to see where Melanie was pointing. It only took her a moment, as there were really only two people in the club that fit the bill, and her eyes were drawn to splashes of white and red at a corner table.

Then she blinked, and looked closer. "Wait. You don't recognize her?"

"Which one? They both look like fish out of water in here."

"Mel, that's Weiss Schnee."

Her twin did a double-take, eyes widening in surprise. "What's the Heiress doing here of all places?"

"I think she came with that big group that the bimbo brought in." Miltiades finished her drink, setting it on the bar and standing up. "C'mon. Let's go see how accurate the rumors are."

Melanie turned her head, narrowing her eyes at the blue-haired boy who was giving them a cocky smile. "...yes. Let's."

"Damn. They're hot, too."

"And they saw through you like you're made of glass, Neptune. Good job." Sun dragged Neptune to the barstools the pair had just vacated, plopping down and waving for the bartender's attention.

"You could try and be a proper wingman, you know. Two of them, two of us?" Neptune tried one more time.

"Yeah no. They're checking out their color matches. Watch, it might be entertaining." The bartender made his way over, and Sun grinned. "Hey man! What's on tap? My buddy here's buying."

"Sun! What the hell!"

"Arf, you're not joining us? We're about to start dancing!" Nanoha was giggling, already a little rosy-cheeked from the one drink she'd had. Hayate was as well, and they each had a hand on one of Fate's arms, guiding her toward the floor.

"Not yet. I might join you later though!" Arf smiled and waved them off, resting her elbow on the bar and waiting. The aces moved off, cackling and smiling in turn.

It only took a few moments longer for one of the bartender to deliver her orders, and Arf dropped a few Lien notes on the counter. She took the pair of drinks in hand, pushing off the bar and sashaying through the crowd, tail swaying behind her.

It wasn't hard to find him. Yuuno was standing near a table, still looking a little shocked at the sheer volume of noise and people. Arf bumped her hip into him, then offered him one of her drinks. "Doing okay?"

"Y-yeah. Just a lot to take in. Too used to quiet places. The library and archaeological digs, you understand?"

"Yup. Well, it won't do to leave you on your lonesome." Arf plopped onto a seat, and motioned for him to take the other. "I'll keep you company."

Yuuno looked a bit thankful, and sat down. Of course, though, his next words weren't concerning himself. They never were. "Don't you want to spend time with Fate and the others?"

"Nah. Fate and I talk all the time. We have to try to keep away from each other." Arf rapped a knuckle against her head, smiling. "Besides, Nanoha and Hayate will make sure she has fun. I'd rather hang out with you."

"Aren't you a bit young to be here, Little Red?"

Ruby started, blushing like she'd been caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Two black-haired young women had walked up to the table while she'd been distracted staring at the crowd. "Er, uhm. Well, I… just sorta tagged along? I'm not drinking anything, I promise!"

Now that Ruby was looking at them, she wasn't sure exactly how to take them. They were dressed in obviously expensive cocktail dresses, complete with feathered collars, necklaces and more. The one in red had claw-like blades mounted on her gloves, spring-mounted and ready to snap forward from their place around her forearms. The white one's heels were steel-armored and bladed, obviously weapons in their own way.

They both rolled their eyes in the exact same way- Oh hey they're twins- and turned to look at Weiss. "Ms. Schnee, are you finding everything to your satisfaction?"

Weiss' posture stiffened as she was suddenly caught in the spotlight. Her eyes flicked from one twin to the other, skittering up and down their outfits almost too quickly to watch.

Then as if a switch was flicked in her head, Ruby's partner straightened her back and returned their gazes steadily. "This is not my usual kind of locale, but it does have its own form of… charm."

The one in white smiled, and Ruby could tell there was something off about the way her lips quirked. Not quite predatory, but… amused. "We just wanted to make certain. You seem soout of place here, we were worried there was something wrong."

"I am quite fine, I assure you." Ruby could feel the chill in Weiss' voice as it locked into the upper stratosphere of social refinement. "It is very considerate of the both of you to show so much care. I absolutely understand your concerns that your establishment might not be holding up to the expectations I bear."

The girl in white took a step back without realizing it. The red one opened her mouth, but Weiss cut her off before she had a chance to even voice a syllable. "Your dresses are lovely,by the way. The sheer effort that you put forth in your attempt to display your self-perceived value is laudable, if sadly misguided. And it's so unfortunate that they clash with your eyes; it's rare that I've seen such a clear color of green on display."

Weiss waved a hand dismissively. "Again, thank you for your concerns, but my friend and I are doing quite well. Please do not feel that you need to bother us again." Ice-cold eyes narrowed. "Because you don't."

The two girls retreated without another word. Ruby was left staring at her partner as she took deep breath and slowly released it, then slumped back in her seat. "...Weiss? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Sorry you had to see that, Ruby. I swear, I can't go outside without some pompous, spiteful, jealous idiots trying to see if they can get a rise out of the youngest Schnee."

"That's what they were doing?"

"It was. They wanted to compare themselves to me. So I obliged." Weiss let out an unladylike snort, then smiled. "It did feel good to lay into them, though. I try not to do that very often."

Ruby nodded slowly, looking out over the crowd again. One of the bouncers nearby caught her eye, and she blinked. "Wait a minute. Isn't that the guy that tried to rob me?"

Dammit. Tukson's right. I hate these masks. Least of all because I can hardly see a damn thing through it.

Richard pressed the hard Grimm-mask to his face, settling the strap behind his head and fussing with it until it settled properly, filing through the darkened warehouse along with a throng of younger disaffecteds. Taurus is sending the wrong message with these things. They wear them to instill fear, and it works, but it's hard to get accepted as people when you wear the images of monsters. But the mask also provided anonymity, which would prove rather useful in keeping his own ass alive if tonight went as planned.

The corridor opened into a large, open storage room. A stage had been hastily constructed at one end of the room, and dozens of young faunus, obviously civilians from their garb, had gathered in front of it. Members of the Fang wearing the usual black and white uniforms stood next to them in not-quite orderly rows, well over a hundred strong.

A large man with short-cropped black hair and a full facemask stood on the stage. Richard wanted to spit when he saw who it was. Him. Asshole's not even in it for the movement, he's just in it because it lets him play at being a killer. The man paced back and forth, voice echoing off the walls. "Thank you all for coming; For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for, for so long!"

And there he is. Damn it all. Roman Torchwick walked on stage, full of swagger even as the new blood started rumbling in discontent. "Thank you, thank you! Please, hold your applause!"

A girl in a teal shirt pointed, shouting in affront. "What's a human doing here?!"

"I'm glad you asked, deerie! Now, I'll be the first to admit; humans are the worst. Case in point. I understand why you would love to see us all locked away, or… better yet? Killed! But before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy!"

Richard turned around, for a moment, and saw a familiar figure looking back at him. He nodded. Now.

"And that common enemy is why you're putting hits out on people in the White Fang who dare to disagree?" The voice blared through a couple speakers that Richard's people had hidden in the rafters earlier in the day. No way to determine where the speaker was standing. Perfect.

Torchwick's composure hardly faltered; Richard had to give him that much credit. "Whoa, whoa! Hold on a second, please! I promise you I had nothing to do with whatever you're talking about!"

"Because you're not the one calling the shots. That human bitch that has Taurus licking her heels is, and she thinks we're expendable!"

"Would you please calm down so I-"

"No! These people are here to fight for their own rights, not for that bitch's grand schemes! They should know the truth! The truth is that as soon as we're not useful to you anymore, we'll be cut down and tossed aside just like everything else her filthy hands touch!"

Shouts and screams of outrage. Torchwick gritted his teeth, holding up his hands placatingly. "Would you all please stop acting like a pack of anima-"

"AND THERE IT IS. That's all we are to you! Animals, waiting to be put down!"

Someone threw a rock. It didn't matter who; it didn't even matter that Torchwick effortlessly sidestepped the projectile. Richard couldn't let himself smile, even though he wanted to. Instead he joined in the building anger, adding his voice to the rumbling mass. The words he used didn't even matter. Rabble-rousing. It's easy when you do it right. And it can go straight to hell if you do it wrong. Take a lesson, Torchwick. You're dealing with professionals.

More rocks flew, and the cracking report of a single gunshot split the air. It hit nothing but an overhead light; Richard had been clear on that point to his followers. But the light exploded, raining glass and sparks. The crowd broke and scattered, whether civilian recruits or members of the Fang. People screamed, some fleeing for the exits, others rushing the stage.

Total pandemonium, shattered the human bastard's image in the eyes of the Fang's newest recruits and steadfast veterans. Torchwick backed away from the press of enraged people, then put a hand on his hat and ran.

Just as planned.

"I tell you, Ren. This way madness lies."

"Now you know how it feels to be the only sane man."

Jaune and Ren sat occupied a table near the dance floor, a dozen unopened bottles of water occupying the surface. Jaune was nursing a beer, and Ren was sticking to nothing harder than soda. Most of the girls were out on the dance floor, laughing and carrying on. Every so often a few of them would stumble back to Jaune's table, and he'd wordlessly pass along a bottle of water. "Nah. I know all too well what this is like."

"You do seem to be an old hand at keeping them hydrated." Ren sipped his soda, keeping an eye on Nora and Pyrrha both. Nora was under strict orders to stay away from anything alcoholic, and was instead partaking in energy shots.

"Seven sisters, Ren."

"They took you clubbing?"

"Repeatedly."

"You poor soul."

One of the chairs at the table pulled out with a scraping sound, and Chrono sagged into the chair, rubbing his face. "My cheeks are numb and my wife is molesting one of my subordinates and I can't stop from saying the things in my head. This is why I don't drink."

Jaune and Ren looked at the bar to see Amy and Hayate leaning on each other, obviously drunk and not really caring where they were grabbing to hold each other up. Somewhere they could hear Vita laughing, but they couldn't see her in the crowd.

They exchanged another glance. Ren passed Chrono a bottle of water.

Signum's scowl threatened to make Zafira's beer go sour as she tried to tame her hair back in place. Finally she gave up, untying the ribbon holding her lengthy ponytail and regathering it in her hands. "Unacceptable, Zafira."

"To be fair, I don't think we've ever seen Vita drunk before." He sipped at his beverage. "Anger, I could expect. Even melancholy. But not this level of... dopish enjoyment."

"She gave me a noogie. Not even Hayate has ever tried that before."

"I'm surprised you let her get away."

"Vengeance will be swift. Vengeance will be painful. It will also be unexpected."

He rumbled a laugh. "You mean she caught you by surprise and got away before you could react."

"So why aren't you out there with all your friends instead of depleting my stock? Not that I'm complaining; your money's good. But you're drinking my men under the table."

"Oh, well. You know. I've always been something of a mother hen to everyone, and I wanted to give them the chance to have fun without me looming in the shadows." Lindy smiled and accepted the shot that Mr. Xiong poured for her, tossing it back with ease. "Sitting here at your bar, they know exactly where I am and don't feel like I'm looking over their shoulders, but I'm close enough that I'm here if they need me."

"It looked like you kids are all pretty close, but now you're making yourself out to be the older one."

"Just a couple years. Young enough to be part of the group, but old enough to be respected. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I guess I do." Junior scratched his beard. "Another?"

"Please!"

"Junior!" Yang practically slammed into the bar, Blake trailing behind her.

"Hell, Blondie, you don't need to break all my things. What's the problem?"

"I was just talking to my sister and she said one of your goons tried to rob her a while back!"

"Well I'm sorry, but it's not my fault it happened. Couple of my guys got hired out for a gig. He paid up front, so I didn't ask questions. Then the next day I have to go pay bail for the whole lot of them because they were involved in a Dust store robbery that got blown because of a girl in red with a fucking scy-" Junior cut off, looking out across the room. Having been a nightclub owner for a while, it only took him seconds to spot the girl in the red hood staring at him. "...no shit. She's your sister?"

"Yes!"

"Huh."

"Wait a minute!" Yang narrowed her eyes. "If your thugs were the ones that got hired for the Dust robbery, that means you talked to Roman Torchwick."

Junior held his hands up. "Look, Blondie. It was a business transaction. He hired my men, no questions asked. Like I said. The gig got blown, I got my boys out on bail, a couple days later he shows up to express his disappointment. That was the last I saw of him. Whoever he's hiring to do his dirty work nowadays, he's sure as hell not going through me."

Yang and Blake both exchanged a glance, but after a moment seemed to accept the statement at face value. They took seats at the bar next to Lindy. "I guess that makes sense. Still, as long as I'm here, gimme a strawberry sunrise! With one of the little umbrel-"

A tremor shook the ground, and then the whump of an explosion slammed into the side of the building. Half of the lights went out, and the music cut off. Yang glanced around. Every black-suited punk in the place was looking right at her. "W-what? It wasn't me this time!"

Junior waved them off, tilting his head. Lindy cocked an ear as well, listening.

Muffled by walls and distance were the shouts and screams of a mob.