A Long Night Out

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest installment of Team WA volume 2! No guest review questions this week so let's head straight into the story!

Atlas Academy: The Remains of a Training Room

"You really think you can just beat me down and be done with it!" Yelled Shadow Wayne as the two clashed for what must've been the hundredth time now, "I will always be here! Always watching, always waiting for the moment that you realize you need to be like me if you're going to survive!"

"I'll fight to the end to prevent that!" Wayne shot back as they continued to exchange blows, "I'll risk my soul without a second thought for my friends but I won't throw it away carelessly!" The identical fighters continued to match each other move for move as they unleashed a series of semblance attacks which proceeded to cancel each other out on impact.

"You've had more than enough time to think it over," said his shadowy double as he readied several dark orbs of energy, "if you intend to face an immortal threat then you have no reason to hold back or show mercy. But I guess that's a lesson which will need to be beaten into you."

"Just try it," said Wayne as he readied his own blue glowing orbs in preparation for his scattering moonlight attack. But as he was about to use it, he felt himself again being pulled out of the realm of his mind and back to reality as the snowy cave he was fighting in melted away and was replaced by the Atlas Academy training room. Or to be more precise, what was left of the training room.

"We really need to get those techs to let us use the training room with extra hard-light dust," remarked Wayne's father as he helped his son to his feet, "I'm pretty sure the staff ain't gonna like this when they see it."

"It's starting to feel like Signal and Sanctum Academy all over honestly," said Aegis as he and their mother approached. Needless to say, his and Jen's section of the training room hadn't fared much better with its own collection of dents, flaming debris and torn panels. "The irony this time around, though, is we're trying not to make a huge mess."

"Not that we really need to try that hard when this academy has such flimsy rooms," commented Jen, "It may be the most well-funded academy but when they invest in tech that's so easily overloaded, it kind of makes you wonder if they haven't taken a step back here and there with all of the advancement."

"In all fairness they can't factor in everything," Tobias pointed out, "even without our little secret techniques the number of varying semblances throughout the world makes it impossible to prepare for every scenario."

"You speak the truth old friend," said Ironwood as the entrance opened to admit him and Clover, "that's why Atlas is always working on continuing advancements in this ever-changing…..what on Remnant did you do to my training room?" The four Ursario's laughed nervously before Wayne spoke up.

"We've been working on some rather specialized techniques in here," he said as he removed his helmet and rubbed the back of his head, "the reason they're specialized is because they're not always easy to control."

"Yes I've seen what Tobias is capable of when he uses one of these 'specialized' techniques," replied Ironwood.

"Well I'd honestly be more surprised if I hadn't seen what you four did to an Alpha Centinel with my own eyes," Clover chimed in.

"Anyway, did you need something General," asked Jen with a hand on her hip.

"I've got some new orders for all of you," replied Ironwood as he signaled for them to follow him, "it'll be easier if I give them to all of you at once."

Atlas Academy: Ace Ops Training Room

Unlike the room the Ursarios had been using, this particular area was intact and contained a number of glowing grid lines. Each line was actually a platform which could be moved and reconfigured into just about any combination of training courses, making it extremely versatile for the needs of most huntsmen and huntresses. Teams RWBY and JNRO were making good use of it with Ruby speeding around using her semblance to break herself apart into multiple flowing red capes while Jaune tested his aura recharge rate against high speed dodgeballs being hit to him by Nora. Ren was concentrating on maintaining his own semblance while Blake and Yang were working on their combination attacks.

All of this activity stopped, however, once the two groups noticed the new arrivals. "I can see each of you is giving it your all," commented Ironwood as everyone gathered into a small group in front of him.

"Well we have too, given everything that's been happening recently," said Ruby with a bit less pep than usual. It was no mystery that she'd been a bit upset about the ensuing riots that had occurred after Jacques Schnee's closing of operations in Mantle. Even though they'd settled down by the next day it was still pretty telling just how bad things were getting down there.

"Admittedly, things aren't going as well as they could be," said Ironwood as he pulled out his scroll and threw up a hologram of the polls. Currently, Robyn Hill was leading the vote by a majority of seventy percent while Jacques, unsurprisingly, only had thirty percent.

"I'll take Robyn over Jacques any day," said Yang as she leaned on Aegis's shoulder.

"Ditto," agreed the half bear Faunus as he and the blond fist-bumped.

"True enough," said Ironwood, "either way the election doesn't bode well for stability on the council."

"Well isn't there a chance we could work with Robyn?" Questioned Ruby, "You might actually get Mantle on your side."

"While an optimistic thought," said Ironwood as he put his scroll back in his pocket, "the likelihood of it turning out that way-."

"But Ruby's right," said Nora, "You have do something about Mantle, if you could get Robyn to actually trust you."

"She'd probably understand if you opened up to her and then she'd know for a fact that you're being framed," added Jaune.

"She might," sighed Ironwood as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "but it can only work if she's open with me as well." Nora wanted to say something to that but Ren stepped in.

"Are you here for our new mission assignments?" Questioned Ren, changing the subject to avoid a possible argument.

"Well we do have new orders," said Clover as he stepped forward, "You see the General and I decided it'd be a good time for you all to take the rest of the day to relax and recuperate."

"As in, a night off?" Asked Blake, more for confirmation than anything.

"I'm ordering you all to take a night off," said Ironwood, "we'll be waking up to a different Atlas tomorrow after the election. So it'd be best if you're all rested and ready for whatever that may bring." A murmur of agreement was his response as everyone filed out of the room, a few of whom were already planning on what to do with their newfound free time.

Team WA's Room: Later That Evening

"Man this is gonna be fun," said Aegis as he adjusted his coat and actually combed his hair a bit.

"It'll be fun for you," said Wayne who was currently stretched out on his own bed reading a book, "I think I'll be just fine right here."

"I still can't believe you wanna pass up going to a dance club," said Aegis, "not that I can really complain about going along with two beautiful girls, but it can't hurt to let loose a little after all the work we've been putting in."

"Letting loose so much lately is the exact reason I want to just relax for the evening," replied Wayne as he flipped to the next page, "not to mention Yang and Blake were invited to hang out at the dance club by team FNKI. I know I can get along with Flynt but I am not gonna strain my ears trying to decide whether the music or Neon is louder and more annoying."

"Alright that's a fair point," said Aegis as he actually thought about it for a moment, "but I still think you should at least go out and do something."

"Like what?" Asked Wayne as he looked up from his book for a second, "go out to-." He was interrupted by their door opening as Oscar and Jaune poked their heads in.

"Hey guys, either of you wanna catch a movie?" Asked the blonde with a wave.

"I already told Yang I'd be going to the dance club with her and Blake," replied Aegis as he pointed at his older brother, "but Wayne here's got nothing to do for the evening."

"Well I wouldn't say I have nothing to do," Wayne pointed out.

"Would you mind coming along anyway," said Weiss suddenly as she also poked her head in the room, "the more the merrier and I need help getting my mind off of the election right now."

"Let me rephrase my last statement," said Wayne as he marked his page and closed the book, "I have stuff I could do here, but none of it is pressing at the moment. So, what exactly are we going to go see?"

Mantle Movie Theater: That Night

"OOOOOOOH," said Oscar, Jaune and Wayne as they watched the unfortunate person on screen go flying through a window and land in a garbage truck. It had been interesting picking out a movie that all of them could watch and enjoy more or less equally as Weiss, heiress or no, had been raised on numerous dramas, thought provoking masterpieces and musicals growing up. It also didn't help that Jaune would get immediately intimidated whenever Weiss showed a hint of disapproval at one of the movie options. Wayne was finally able to convince her that, since she wasn't technically an heiress anymore she didn't need to worry about being caught watching a movie that wasn't considered 'high class' by the wealthy elite.

It was the suggestion of a highly rated comedy movie by Oscar that finally won and so far, at least the three of them weren't regretting it. "I honestly can't believe I can laugh at something this immature in a theater like this now?" Said Weiss as an obscene joke was suddenly thrown into the mix.

"It suits you truthfully," said Wayne between his own fits of laughter, "It's been too long since I heard you laugh at something simple like this."

"I laugh with you and the others all the time though," Weiss pointed out, "at least when things are funny, which they haven't been very funny lately."

"Admittedly," said Wayne, "but that's why we should take the time we have to enjoy ourselves and focus on something besides the fate of the world for a little bit. I know it did Blake a lot of good back when she was sleep-depriving herself hunting down leads on the White Fang. You don't want to end up like that do you?"

"With bags under my eyes, not if I can avoid it," said Weiss as she turned her attention back to the movie, "now we'd best get back to watching this. I feel like a good part is coming up." She turned out to be right on this account as they watched the comedic mess unfold onscreen for the next hour, laughing all the way through it. By the time the group exited the theater, they were all smiling to one degree or another.

"How have I not heard about that movie until now," said Jaune, "I guess we really did miss one or two things while traveling a continent for a few months?"

"And I've never been in such a fancy theater," added Oscar, "the closest one to my home has about three screens if you don't count the outdoor ones."

"What's an outdoor theater even like?" Questioned Weiss.

"Basically like camping in front of a giant TV screen," explained Wayne, "they usually only operate in the spring and summer in Vale."

"Well that explains why we don't have any here," said Weiss, "Atlas doesn't really have a Spring or even Fall, just the same frigid climate all year long."

"Well on the upside it means you only have to buy clothes for one season, right?" said Jaune with his thumbs up.

"Yes," said Weiss, "because there's nothing I love more than wearing the same wardrobe all year long." Jaune let out a weak laugh at this before a growl drew everyone's attention to Wayne's stomach.

"Sorry, guess the theater food didn't go as far as I thought it did," he said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"We didn't really have a proper dinner before coming out here," Oscar pointed out, "we should probably find a place to eat. Do you guys know anywhere good around this part of the city?"

"Not really," said Wayne, "most huntsman missions are on the outer edges of the city, so I haven't really explored this section."

"I'm rather lost too," said Weiss, "It took us a fair bit of time just to find the theater."

"Then maybe we should split up this time to, ya know, cover more ground," suggested Jaune, "It would save a bit of time and once one group finds a place we can all vote on it over our scrolls."

"That's," Weiss started to say before she gave his plan some actual thought, "actually not a bad idea. Let's head off this way Wayne." The ex-heiress left no room for protest as she looped her arm through Wayne's and pulled him off in a random direction down the sidewalk. This left a somewhat confused Oscar and Jaune wondering what just happened as they watched their friends disappear around a corner.

Robyn Hill's Victory Party: At about the Same Time

Exo was, frustrated, in a manner of speaking. Currently, he was seated in the rafters hiding in the shadows as he looked upon the large crowd gathered below. A stage had been set up with the poll numbers for both Robyn Hill and Jacques Schnee displayed on a large holographic screen in front of the curtains. Unsurprisingly, Robyn was still in the lead. But, if one paid close enough attention they'd notice that the numbers were changing little by little at a time with the Schnee Dust Company head slowly gaining on his opponent.

A buzzing in his ear alerted him to one of his compatriots trying to contact him. "Are you in position?" Questioned Watts over his ear piece.

"I teleported up here and retrieved my stashed sword twenty minutes ago," replied Exo, "So yeah I'd say I'm in position."

"Does the plan really bother you that much?" Questioned Watts with a sigh over the radio.

"The plan is fine," said Exo, "I just happened to think up a dozen ways how it could be even better while I've been waiting. Remind me again why we can't just take out this Hill woman now and be done with it, because all it would've taken was me 'accidentally' bumping into her on the street or something like that to place a mark on her. Heck, I could've placed a mark underneath the stage or on the curtains, it would be that easy."

"While your enthusiasm for your work is commendable you still fail to see the bigger picture," replied Watts, "We need Robyn Hill to survive so that she will provide even more obstacles for Ironwood, keeping him distracted so that we can go about our own work."

"You say that," Said Exo, "but wouldn't a martyr prove even more effective in rallying people against the one they believe responsible for the death of their great leader? It worked pretty well for the White Fang after-hello, what do we have here?"

"Is there a problem?" Asked Watts with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Depends," said Exo with a hand on his chin as he spied a certain girl with a red hood. Further inspection of the crowd also revealed a familiar hammer girl and her dark-haired boyfriend. "It seems that Ruby Rose and two of her companions are here right now. Which means the rest of their teams are probably here in Atlas as well, and I'd be willing to bet my next paycheck that Ozpin is with them."

"An interesting development indeed," said Watts over the comm before alerting their other member, "Did you get all of that Tyrian?"

"Oh I did," came the serial killer's voice, "and I have a score to settle with some of them."

"Join the club," said Exo, "I'm pretty sure just about everyone in our little organization has got some kind of bone to pick with them at this point."

"And an opportunity will present itself," said Watts, "but right now we must focus on the task at hand. Are you also ready Tyrian?"

"Ohohoho, always," said Tyrian in-between chuckling manically. Exo simply rolled his eyes as he drew his own sword and waited for the signal. Coincidently, the crowd below had begun counting down the seconds to when the election would close and as they reached the final two, the lights cut off. 'That's our cue,' thought Exo as he teleported down to a mark he'd hidden in the middle of the floor and began swinging his sword in random directions.

Tyrian did the same as his gauntlets and new mechanical tail struck out at anyone within range as cries of pain and terror spread through the crowd. Panic ensued as everyone started running in all directions, trying desperately to find an exit as the confused security guards crowded around Robyn Hill. By this point a large circle of bodies had fallen around the mercenary and serial killer as they continued to slash at anyone unlucky enough to blindly run in their direction. "Drop your weapons and surrender!" Commanded the voice of a little girl as the two killers looked over to see the android Penny pointing her blades in their direction.

The pair simply smiled with Exo giving a quick salute as a pair of civilians ran in front of them. In that short instant, Exo teleported while Tyrian slipped out of her sight. As Penny looked around, the mercenary appeared next to one of Robyn's huntresses, slashing them across the waist while Tyrian came from the over side of the stage and used his semblance to cut through the aura, and flesh, of the sheep Faunus huntsman guarding Robyn. Penny managed to fly over and push the lead huntress down before Tyrian could get to her, but the madman simply smiled again as he and Exo both leapt back up into the rafters.

"I do believe that was right on time," chuckled Tyrian as the lights came on to reveal the carnage that had ensued. Numerous bodies littered the floor while the luckier ones clutched at their wounds in pain. Fear and terror gripped the remaining civilians as they hid in corners or behind whatever they could find. Their eyes were all searching for the one responsible, but all they saw was a single Atlesian battle android with her blades spinning around her. "And the winner of the Atlas council election is," said the intercom which had been restored with the lights, "Jacques Schnee!"

"I think we've done plenty of damage this evening," said Exo, "Time to leave before the Grimm show up."

Random Park in Mantle: About the Same Time

"Are we in a hurry or something?" Asked Wayne as Weiss pulled him into an area that appeared to be a small park.

"Not exactly," replied Weiss as she slowed down, "This is just, something I wanted to keep between us and Jaune just gave me the perfect excuse."

"And what brought this on exactly," Wayne questioned further, "I know it was a surprisingly funny movie but I can't say it changed my outlook on life."

"The movie didn't change my outlook either," replied Weiss, "It was you. So often it's been you who's challenged my own views on things and actually got me to think about stuff from a different perspective. Yes, being a part of team RWBY allowed me to loosen up and act more like a regular girl but it was you who reminded me of something my sister said recently. She said throwing off the Schnee name was the best thing she'd ever done and it was the best thing I've ever done as well. But it was when you pointed out that I didn't have to worry about being caught at a silly movie that it finally clicked for me. I don't have to worry about being prim and proper anymore, or dine at fancy restaurants just because I'm a higher class, or know all of the latest gossip surrounding the changing business climate."

Weiss smiled as she put a hand on Wayne's cheek. "And I don't have to worry about the family name when I choose someone anymore. I am free now and I can freely love whoever I want."

"Are," Wayne hesitated as he put his hand over hers, "are you sure you won't have to worry about what your sister-." He was silenced as Weiss put a finger to his lips.

"I'll worry about my sister," she said as she moved her other hand to his right cheek and pulled his head closer to hers, "You just worry about this moment." The elder Ursario had no other words for that as he felt her lips brush his before he wrapped his own arms around her waist. It was one of the most incredible moments of his life and the most surprising thing to him was how warm the girl in his arms, the so-called ice queen, actually was. But it was not to last as an alarm suddenly sounded throughout the city while all of the street lights turned red.

"Grimm," the two said in more than a little annoyance as they were forced to separate and draw their weapons. A similar scene was playing out in another part of the city while this was happening.

Mantle Dance Club

Aegis honestly couldn't remember much of the last few minutes as he and Yang went stumbling into one of the hallways, laughing the entire time. As expected the dance club had been relatively crowded and noisy, even to the point that it drowned out three quarters of Neon's little jabs while Yang and Aegis took turns showing Blake a few dance moves. As the night had worn on, the two had found themselves engaged in conversation about music, games, the weird fashion choices of some of Atlas's elite and even swapped a few of their more hilarious huntsman and huntress stories. When they weren't taking a break for conversation, though, the half bear Faunus and the bombshell blond would find themselves on the dance floor over and over again, more often than not stealing the show while they were at it.

Though it wasn't a mystery to Aegis why that usually was as he spun and got spun around by his beautiful friend. Well maybe 'friend' wasn't the best term to describe her, especially lately. Aegis had been finding it harder and harder these past few weeks to think of her as only that. They'd gone on several missions together as a newly licensed huntsman and huntress and it wasn't always his decision for them to team up. In truth, he supposed he'd always felt like the two of them were kindred spirits of a sort.

"Well," said Yang between breaths, "I think we might've drawn a little too much attention with that last dance."

"We knocked over a table, that happens all the time at places like these," Aegis assured her, "I still think it's funny that Neon just happened to be on it when it happened."

"We did manage to lose her, right," said Yang as she checked up and down the hallway.

"I don't see her, smell her or, thankfully, hear her," replied Aegis as he strained his senses for a moment, "I think we're in the clear for the time being."

"Well she'll probably forget it even happened in an hour anyway," remarked Yang, "I mean I blasted her out of the sky and she cheered about how awesome I was."

"Any one of us could've told her that," Aegis pointed out, "but some people just have to find out the hard way I guess."

"Well we've been doing a lot of that ourselves lately," said Yang as she leaned against the wall, "It seems like forever since the last time we were really able to relax."

"I hear that," agreed Aegis, "and with everything set to change tomorrow I'll take every minute I can get."

"Huh, every minute," Yang repeated as she looked thoughtful for a moment, "you know I just realized. If Ironwood's plan succeeds, what kind of world will we wake up to tomorrow?"

"Well it'll be a mess for a while one way or the other," said Aegis, "Atlas might be prepared but like I said when I first heard the plan there's still the rest of the world that's gonna be panicking and drawing Grimm in. The mapping guys are probably gonna have to do more than a little redrawing."

"We might not even recognize it afterward," said Yang, "do you remember what I said when Oobleck asked us about why we wanted to be huntsman and huntresses and I answered that I wanted to travel the world and get wrapped up in crazy adventures? What if there's nothing to see after all this?"

"I think the world has a better chance than you think," said Aegis, "I know my own hometown will do what its always done in an emergency: everyone will pull together and work through the problem be it a harsh winter, an attempted bandit raid or a Grimm invasion. Even when the world's going crazy I'm still confident it'll be one of the out of the way places that makes it through."

"It must be quite a place for you to have that much confidence in it," noted Yang with a light smile.

"I try to be optimistic about things," replied Aegis, "after all, optimism has seen us through more than a few situations so far. Honestly I'm surprised you're not more optimistic. After all, your usual confidence is something I've always loved about you."

"It has been shaken up a bit lately," said Yang as she stepped towards Aegis, "but ya know it has helped me realize a thing or two. I still want to travel the world and get wrapped up in crazy adventures." She put her hands on Aegis's shoulders as she continued. "But now I know that it wouldn't be near as exciting if I don't have someone to share it with. So let's see what we can do about getting my old confidence back a little." The younger Ursario brother wanted to ask what she meant but never quite got the chance as she leaned in for a kiss.

But as their lips met, the ringing sound of Yang's scroll broke them apart as the now annoyed blond pulled out her scroll to see that it was Ruby who was calling. "Ruby could you-wait what? Did you say Tyrian is here and-a massacre at the warehouse-Ruby slow down." Aegis waited patiently as he listened to the conversation silently. He'd heard enough on Yang's side already, though, to piece together what was going on.

Tyrian the crazed scorpion Faunus was in Atlas and if he was hearing right, so was Exo. That meant that Salem was making her move. The sound of the music cutting off and alarms blaring told them the other half of the situation: whatever Tyrian and Exo had done was now drawing a lot of Grimm. 'So much for a night off,' thought Aegis bitterly as he and Yang readied their weapons before heading out to gather the others. It would turn out to be one long night after that.

As they say 'all good things must come to an end,' and in this case that includes the all too abrupt end to our hero's night off. Now switching gears for a bit here, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and as always feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to drop by next time as our heroes are forced to make a few decisions that Ironwood might disagree with. 'Til then.