Team WA undercover

Wayne tried his best to pay attention to Professor Oobleck, tried, but even he was finding it difficult to keep his mind on the class when his thoughts kept drifting to his friends, especially team RWBY and what they had planned for tonight. Soon enough, fortunately, the bell rang and the class was dismissed. Wayne and Aegis exited the class quickly, moving as fast as they could back to their dorms without drawing any unwanted attention. "So you remember what to do," said Wayne as he donned his new outfit. "Keep one eye on them and keep the other eye out for trouble," Replied Aegis as he slipped on street clothes. "And you remember where they're going and how you're supposed to follow them right?" Asked Wayne.

"I remember," replied Aegis, "I'm going to follow Blake to the White Fang meeting, because I have more Faunus features and will draw less attention, while you're gonna follow Yang to the shady side of town." "Right, and the most important part of this little mission?" asked Wayne as he holstered his weapons. "The most important part is that we're to stay out of sight and not let anyone on team RWBY know we're following them," Replied Aegis, "Mostly because you want to respect their wishes about not involving friends, but you're also way too worried about them to just let them do this on their own." "Bingo," said Wayne as he pulled out the last two pieces of their outfits. Wayne knew that they'd be recognized immediately if they wore their signature outfits, so Wayne and Aegis had pulled out some newer clothes they'd picked up in the city a little while back and added a few modifications to them to make them, hopefully, effective disguises. Wayne's outfit was a much more grayish white coat with no fur trimmings on it and a wolf symbol instead of a bear symbol on the back. Wayne's inner clothing consisted of a dark blue shirt and black pants and boots (again with claw designs on them), a more stylized belt with a wolf symbol for the belt buckle. Wayne's outfit also had black gloves with wolf claw designs on the back of them and a pull up blue face mask that covered Wayne's nose and mouth. Aegis wore much more simplistic street clothes, which differed greatly from his usual battle attire, with far fewer pieces of armor.

"What's with these," asked Aegis as he accepted the white Grimm mask Wayne handed to him. The masks had a bird-like look to them with four eyes on the front and it covered their eyes and noses. "I got these Grimm masks from a local shop, they should keep us from being recognized, and of course, get you into the White Fang meeting," said Wayne as he slipped the mask onto his face, "Since we've got so many transfer students coming in from all over, no one will think it too odd that a couple of guys wearing masks are walking around Beacon or the city, but if someone does stop us, remember, we're visiting from Atlas for the festival." "Yeah yeah," said Aegis as he slipped his mask into his pocket, "I got it." "Good," said Wayne as he opened the door, "Because you and I are about to put everything we've ever learned about tracking people to use."

Wayne and Aegis made their way down the dorm hallway, stopping by team RWBY's door long enough to hear them going over their plan one more time. The two brothers had been taking turns eavesdropping on team RWBY ever since Wayne had overheard their declaration to investigate Torchwick and the White Fang, so they were familiar with their plan. What Wayne and Aegis didn't expect, however, was to hear the voicesw of Sun and Neptune on the other side of the door. "Well nuts," Aegis whispered, "Now what?" Wayne thought for a moment as he listened to team RWBY hesitantly agree to allow Sun and Neptune to come along. "Now we go," Wayne whispered back as he started down the hall with Aegis following close behind, "Nothing's changed, we still keep an eye on them from a distance and jump in if things get too hairy." "Works for me," said Aegis as they made their way down the stairs and out into the courtyard. The next part wasn't so simple, as team WA had to wait for Blake, Yang, Sun, and Neptune to show up at the air platform and then get on the same airship right before them, hopefully without being seen. Wayne wasn't worried near as much about Ruby and Weiss as they were just making a call at the transit tower to look through some data from the Schnee Dust Company archives.

After boarding the airship, Wayne and Aegis took separate seats in order to take turns watching their friends, with Wayne glancing up from a book every so often while Aegis made it look like he was looking out the window, only glancing over when no one was looking in his direction. Wayne found the ride surprisingly nerve-racking, not because he was afraid of being found out by his friends, but because he was worried that his friends might be biting off a bit more than they could chew. No point in worrying yet, thought Wayne, just focus on your cover and keeping your friends in view, we'll deal with any trouble if it comes up.

A Few Minutes Later: The City of Vale

The flight was, fortunately, uneventful as the airship touched down in the city of Vale. Aegis rejoined Wayne as they headed away from the airstrip and towards the storage area where their motorcycles were. Thanks to a couple of misadventures in the city, Wayne knew exactly where the shady side of town was and that Yang would need her bike to reach it quickly. The two brothers mounted their bikes and rode out of the storage area at almost the exact time that Yang, Blake and the others arrived. Wayne and Aegis quickly pulled into an alley out of sight of the others, but still within sight of the storage area. "This is the part where we split up," said Aegis as he grudgingly donned the helmet he normally reserved for passengers. A moment later, Yang, with Neptune as her passenger, went racing by on her yellow motorcycle and, after a brief moment to get his bike started, Wayne followed after her at a safe distance while Aegis picked a random route which would, hopefully, still keep him in sight of Blake and Sun but far enough away that they wouldn't notice him. Good luck you big lug, thought Wayne, knowing how little Aegis actually practiced stealth. Then again, Wayne hadn't exactly tracked a lot of people either, so he and Aegis both had to go above and beyond today.

It was easy to keep an eye on Yang and her blue-haired passenger as they went streaking down the streets, or at least it would've been if Wayne didn't have to avoid certain little things like following too close, accidently passing, avoiding traffic, and generally trying to not look like he was following her. Fortunately for Wayne, though, neither Yang nor Neptune were looking for or expecting anyone to be following them so they rarely looked behind them for most of the way. The few times they did look back, Wayne would either quickly pull behind a car or other convenient object to stay out of sight or, if it was just Neptune looking back, he would slow down and act like he was looking at something else in front of him. Wayne continued following his friends for some time before they finally entered the shady side of town. The sight of slightly older, run down, and shady looking buildings, as well as the smell of dumpsters, people, and other not so lawful stuff going on behind closed doors was a definite giveaway, to Wayne at least, that this was not the part of town you wanted to be in late at night, which was ironic considering night had recently fallen and Wayne was still following Yang's motorcycle, having to be even more cautious due to the lack of cars in the area.

A short ride later: Junior's Club

After another few minutes, Yang finally pulled onto a small street where she slowed to a stop in front of what appeared to be some sort of club. Wayne slowed just long enough to see them stop, before he sped around the other side of the club and parked his bike just out of sight. Wayne secured his bike as quickly as he could and hurried towards where Yang had parked, just in time to hear a loud explosion at the front of the club. Well that didn't take long, thought Wayne as he slowed to a walk in front of the club. Wayne didn't get much farther than the front door, however, as a large group of men wearing suits, fedora hats, and red sunglasses stood on the other side of the open club doors with pistols pointed in his, or rather Yang's, direction. Wayne hovered at the entrance with his right hand in his coat grasping one of his weapons as he readied himself for the worst. What did you do, thought Wayne as the music in the club was suddenly stopped as Neptune asked Yang to define her definition of 'friend.'

Wayne was about to pull out his weapon when someone behind the armed men ordered them to stop. A man in a bartender's jacket pushed his way to the front of the armed men with a confused look on his face. "Blondie you're here, why?" asked the man. "You still owe me a drink," Yang replied as she stepped forward, grabbed the man by his collar and dragged him to the bar. "What a woman," said Neptune as he watched Yang drag the man away. My thoughts exactly, Wayne mused as he removed his hand from his coat and walked into the club. As Wayne was about to walk by, Neptune tried hitting on a pair of twins, one in a red dress and another in a white dress, and both of whom rejected him flat out. "A little more subtlety next time," Wayne said as he passed Neptune with a pat on his shoulder and headed for a table near the bar, taking a seat with his back facing Yang. Wayne had managed to pick a table which was near a rather shiny reflective surface, so shiny and reflective in fact that he could make out Yang and Neptune talking to the man in the bartender outfit.

So that's Junior, thought Wayne, recalling the story Yang had told him once about blowing up a night club full of mob thugs. He should be a bit more subtle too, thought Wayne, the atmosphere in this club reeked of criminals. Wayne recalled having to visit this part of town one more than one occasion, normally because he had to track Aegis down when he got lost chasing down another Faunus hater or criminal he ran into while he was shopping or exploring the city, and each time Wayne could almost swear he could smell the stench of the dirty deals being made. But none of that mattered right now, the only thing that mattered at this moment was keeping an eye on his friends.

City of Vale Warehouse District: At the Same hour

This sucks, thought Aegis, as he pulled around and parked near an alley that Blake and Sun had went down, leave it to Wayne to come up with such a complex plan which only promised the 'possibility' of beating up something. Oh well, not like I had a whole lot else to do this evening. After a moment, Aegis removed his helmet, secured his bike and made his way to the alley, following Blake and Sun's scent. Aegis did his best to keep out of sight by creeping along the walls and peering around the other side before quickly pulling his head back behind the wall. Blake and Sun had stopped at a spot where white claw marks had been drawn on the wall, indicating a White Fang meeting location.

Here goes, thought Aegis as he pulled out the Grimm mask Wayne had given him and fitted it over his face. The mask only covered his nose and eyes, but Aegis figured since Blake hadn't seen his new outfit, and if he followed at a far enough distance behind them, then he shouldn't be spotted. Aegis waited another moment for Blake and Sun to head down another alley, both also donning Grimm masks, before he headed down himself. Soon enough, Aegis spotted one of the White Fang members in their usual black and white uniform ushering Blake, Sun, and several other Faunus into a warehouse. Here goes nothing, Aegis thought as he proceeded into the warehouse, doing his best to keep a few people between him and his friends so they wouldn't spot him if they looked over their shoulders. The inside of the warehouse was much larger than Aegis had first thought, in fact if Aegis hadn't known any better he would've thought they were at a rock concert with all the people crowding around, making it hard to move and, if Aegis had been shorter, hard to see.

Several rows of White Fang members stood in multiple rows, all wearing their uniforms, while a few more patrolled the cat walks above. Aegis, Blake, and Sun, were on the right side of the warehouse where all the new recruits were dressed in plain street clothes. Aegis knew he was supposed to keep an eye on Blake and Sun, but he couldn't help but keep glancing up at the stage, where a rather large White Fang member, likely a lieutenant, was pacing around on the stage with a full face mask on. The crowd quieted down as the Lieutenant spoke, thanking everyone for showing up. Aegis wasn't really the type to listen to speeches of any kind and would've stopped listening to this guy fairly soon, if not for the fact that he introduced a man, a human, wearing a white coat and black hat who was carrying a cane. Torchwick, Aegis thought, paying full attention now, what's he doing here? Several other Faunus started yelling in protest, also demanding to know why a human was at a White Fang meeting.

"I'm very glad you asked dearie," said Torchwick to one of the audience members who was demanding to know, "Now I'll be the first to admit, humans are the worst, case in point." Here we go with the speeches, Aegis thought as Torchwick began to carry on about how humans and their institutions were all to blame for the Faunus's lot in life. The guy's a criminal, Aegis wanted to shout, nothing he says can be trusted, why are you even working with this guy? Aegis's unvoiced question was quickly answered when Torchwick signaled for a curtain to be pulled, revealing a fifty foot robot with two large cannons for its hands, several smaller gun turrets dotted around its body and a rectangular cockpit on the front of the robot, all of which was supported on two large legs with exposed hydraulics. An Atlesian Paladin, the name sprang into Aegis's head, Ok, that's a pretty convincing reason, Aegis thought awestruck by the machine's pure intimidating presence. Aegis was so awestruck, he almost missed Torchwick mentioning that the White Fang had a hideout in the Southeast. Ok, I think it's time to go, thought Aegis as he saw Blake and Sun trying to do the same. "Will all new recruits please step forward," The lieutenant yelled, causing the crowd to surge forward, preventing Aegis or his friends from going anywhere but forward. Ah # #, thought Aegis, I hope Wayne is having as much fun as I am right now.

Junior's Nightclub

Well this is just great, thought Wayne as he was forced to take his eyes off of Yang and Neptune to deal with another problem, or rather two problems. The two twin girls, one in a red dress with a short skirt and the other in a white dress with a short skirt who Neptune had tried hitting on earlier, were now standing over him with annoyed expressions on their faces. "We'll ask one more time," said the white twin, "Are you," "Or are you not here to cause trouble?" the red twin said, finishing the white twin's sentence. "Well first off," replied Wayne still trying to keep his head down, "What makes you think I'm here to cause trouble?" "You came in here right after the last trouble maker," said the white twin, "And you're wearing a Grimm mask," said the red twin, "Both are rather suspicious." "Well you see," said Wayne, "what are your names?"

"Melanie," said the white twin, "Militia," said the red twin. "Well Melanie, Militia," Said Wayne, trying to sound friendly, "you two can relax, I'm just visiting from Atlas, I'm not here to cause trouble, in fact I intend to prevent any trouble from happening if I can help it." "So you're not with them then," asked Melanie, indicating Yang and Neptune. "Oh I'm just keeping an eye on them for a friend," replied Wayne, "Now that I think about it, I heard she was the one who tore this place up the last time she was here right?" "Don't remind us," both twins said at the same time. An idea began creeping into Wayne's head, maybe he could do more than keep an eye on Yang and Neptune. "You know, if Junior doesn't give her the answers she wants, what do you think the odds are of her trashing this place again?" Asked Wayne. Both twins shifted uncomfortably, obviously not wanting to think about the possibility.

"Tell you what," Wayne said, "What if I told you I could stop her from tearing this place apart again in exchange for, oh I don't know, a little bit of information, heck I'll throw in a couple of drinks while I'm at it if you like." The twins looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Wayne. "What makes you think we know anything going on around here?" asked Melanie. "Oh come now," said Wayne, "Two beautiful intelligent ladies like yourselves know very well to keep your ears open for all kinds of stuff, especially if you're working for a guy who's supposed to know everything." "If we say no," asked Militia. "Let's just say I've heard it's easy to set her off," replied Wayne pointing his thumb in Yang's direction, "So why don't ya'll take a seat and we can discuss a few things over drinks." The twins glanced at each other once again before slowly sitting down while Wayne signaled the waiter to bring them some drinks. "So what do you want to know?" Melanie asked. "Well I was hoping you two might be able to tell me about a rather colorful character named Roman Torchwick."

Wayne questioned the Malachite twins, he found out their last name a few minutes into the conversation, with every question he could think of. As it turned out, however, Torchwick had become rather scarce ever since the incident at the docks, in fact neither he nor the men Junior lent him had been seen since before the start of the semester at Beacon, and even the Malachite twins were almost unaware of the fact that Torchwick and the White Fang were now working together. "Ok, so you don't know where he is, where Junior's men are, or why Torchwick is on a dust robbing spree?" Wayne said in summary. "If we did believe me," said Melanie, "We'd tell you," finished Militia, "But like we said, we haven't seen him," "Since the night that blond over there tore this place apart." "Well that's a pain," said Wayne, "Anything else you girls think I ought to know, anything out of the ordinary in the criminal underworld?" "Nothing having to do with Torchwick," said Militia, "Or the White Fang," said Melanie.

Wayne took a moment to contemplate a few things as he glanced over to where Yang was at again, making sure she wasn't about to blow something up. Fortunately, Yang didn't appear to be in the mood for blowing up clubs tonight as she turned and headed towards the club's entrance. Judging by Yang's expression, she had had about the same amount of luck questioning Junior as Wayne had had questioning the twins. "Well at the very least," said Wayne as he turned back to the twins, "It appears nothing in this club is blowing up this evening." Wayne got up from his seat and laid a few lien on the table. "It was a pleasure talking with you ladies, and maybe next time we'll have a more pleasant conversation, 'til then, enjoy your evening." Wayne turned and headed for a side door he'd seen coming in, which wound up exiting near the alley where Wayne had parked his bike. I hope Aegis is having better luck than I am right about now, thought Wayne.

And the build up continues, but don't worry, next chapter will feature team WA in action, and against some rather tough opponents too. If you want to find out who, be sure to read the next chapter, and as always, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've given this story a chance, you make this worthwhile. 'Til next time.