RWBY: Keep Moving Forward
Chapter 19
Inside Cinder's team room, Dean leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. Emerald sat cross-legged on her bed, reading a magazine while Mercury did pushups in the center of the floor. As for Cinder, she had her legs crossed as she stared at her scroll.
"What're we doin' today?" Dean asked.
"We..." Cinder didn't shift her gaze as she went through her scroll. "Are marking down possible threats."
"Like who?"
Emerald answered for Cinder. "We aren't sure yet. But if you have anyone that comes to mind..."
Dean rubbed the back of his neck. "I might know a few people..." he wasn't a hundred percent certain about telling them unless he knew what they were up to. "You only plan to destroy Beacon, right? You won't hurt anyone unnecessarily?"
Cinder looked up at Dean. "People will get hurt." she told him. "But you shouldn't care. I doubt the people you call friends wouldn't care what happens to you."
"I highly doubt that." Dean growled as he crossed his arms.
"You're a killer, Dean." Cinder said softly. "If your friends found out, they'd want nothing to do with you. You'd be a monster in their eyes."
Dean scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What do you need me to do?"
"I need y-" Cinder was cut off as her scroll rang in her hands. "Roman Torchwick." she answered the call. "What?"
"A White Fang recruitment meeting is taking place in a few hours." Roman's voice came from Cinder's scroll. "Adam wants Deano there as extra manpower."
Cinder looked to Dean who just nodded his head. "He'll be there."
"Good ta hear! The meet's in Vale. An abandoned warehouse. Let him know."
With that, Cinder ended the call. A ding came from Cinder's scroll a second later with the address of the warehouse. "Here." Cinder said to Dean as she showed him the message. "Might wanna prepare for that."
Dean nodded again as he left the room.
A few seconds after the door closed, Cinder looked to Emerald. "I want you to make him lose faith in his friends. Get him to join us. He'll be a valuable asset."
Half an hour later
Having gone into the warehouse, Dean found his White Fang helmet and as well as a sword backstage. Along with them were White Fang clothing. Putting the clothes and helmet on, Dean attached the weapon onto his hip, before walking onto the stage.
The crowd was massive. Certainly a lot more than Dean had expected to see. Also, on the stage, was a curtain covering a massive object.
Standing on the left side of the stage, Dean rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, placing his other hand on his hip.
"Thank you all for coming." The White Fang Lieutenant said to the crowd. "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!"
Roman entered the stage, smiling confidently even as the crowd starts protesting.
"Thank you, thank you!" As he speaks, Neo walked out from behind the sheet. "Please, hold your applause!"
"What's a human doing here?!" a woman shouted.
"I'm glad you asked, 'Deerie'! Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst." Salutes as an example. "Case in point. So, I understand why you would like 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: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms!" the crowd's protests began to die down, the crowd now agreeing with Roman. "Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life! And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room."
With a snap of the fingers, the curtain falls, revealing an Atlesian Paladin-290 behind it, a giant Atlas mech with the mark of the White Fang painted on its shoulder.
"As some of you may have heard, this right here..." Roman tapped the giant mech. "...is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my 'employer', we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, 'hit the shelves'. Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?" The White Fang's roaring applause tells him the answer.
"Will all new recruits, please come forward!" The White Fang Lieutenant stepped forward.
The crowd began to move towards the stage.
Looking over the crowd, Dean couldn't help but be impressed by Roman's speech. He, a human, managed to turn all of these Faunus, Faunus who hate humans, to their side.
Glancing over at Roman, he noticed his gaze was locked onto the crowd. Following his line of sight, his eyes landed on two Faunus that weren't moving. One blonde monkey Faunus.
And a black-haired cat Faunus.
Suddenly, Blake pulled out her gun and shot the fuze box, engulfing the warehouse in complete darkness. However, Dean's eyesight quickly adjusted to the pitch black.
"Don't let them get away!" Roman shouted.
"Sun! The window!"
"Stop them!"
Seeing the duo make a dash for the window above the stage, Dean quickly sprung into action.
Jumping after them as they broke through the window, Blake and Sun ended up on the adjoined building's rooftop. Landing after they did, Dean rolled to his feet before sprinting after them.
Once the three jumped to the next rooftop over, the giant mech burst through the warehouse wall, chasing Blake and Sun as well. Glancing back at the mech for a split second, Sun stopped in his tracks as he activated his semblance, sending out a single clone of himself towards Dean.
As Dean turned to continue the chase, Sun's clone reached him, tackling Dean off the rooftop and down to the alley below. With Dean gone, Sun chuckled to himself, glad to be rid of one chaser, before turning back and following Blake.
Bouncing off the other building's wall, Dean landed on his back on top of a dumpster. Coughing as the wind escaped his lungs, Dean rolled over, falling off the dumpster and onto his stomach.
Taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Dean slowly pushed himself up, holding his side as he sat back on his knees. "Damn...it..."
Placing his hand on the side of the dumpster to keep himself balanced, Dean slowly got to his feet. Leaning against it, Dean took a few more seconds before pushing himself off and stumbling towards the street.
As he reached the end of the alley, a certain pink and brown haired girl stepped in his way. Her parasol rested on her shoulder as she looked at Dean with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey..." Dean greeted before wincing softly.
Rolling her eyes at Dean, she got his attention before closing her eyes, a pink aura flashing across her body. Raising her eyebrow at Dean once more, this time with a smirk.
"I forgot to engage my aura, I get it." Dean said as he stretched his back. Having fully caught his breath, Dean stretched his arms before engaging his aura, the pain he felt quick subsiding.
Smiling at Dean, Neo turned on her heel, gesturing for him to follow.
"Where are we-?" Neo interrupted Dean by simply glancing back at him, her index finger pressed vertically against her lips.
Sighing, Dean followed Neo in silence.
Minutes later
Arriving at a parked Bullhead, Neo boarded the aircraft followed by Dean. Turning to Dean, Neo gestured to the pilot's seat.
"You want me to fly?" Dean asked, getting a nod in reply from Neo. "Alright, I can do that." Dean sat down in the seat, taking the controls. "My uncle Jun taught me how to fly these things way back. It's been a while though."
As the engines roared to life, the Bullhead began to take off from the ground. Once it got a few feet into the air, it suddenly jerked to the left, causing Neo to stumble over as her eyes turned white with surprise.
"Sorry!" Dean said as he quickly steadied the aircraft.
Having regained her balance, Neo tapped Dean on his head with her parasol. "Yeah, my bad!" gaining altitude, Dean began heading back towards the warehouse. "I got it."
Once hovering over the warehouse, Dean followed the massive trail of destruction leading to the highway. As they followed the heightened streets, Dean spotted Team RWBY fighting Roman's mech. And from the looks of it, he was losing.
Flying over the fight, Neo opened the Bullhead's side door, leaping out. Landing in front of Roman, just as his mech was destroyed, Neo blocked an incoming blast from Yang.
Landing the airship a few yards from them, Dean was about to get out and help when he saw Roman and Neo rush onto the Bullhead. Looking at Team RWBY, Yang lashed out at nothing. "Get us outta here!" Roman ordered.
Doing as told, Dean took off again, passing over Team RWBY as Roman and Neo stared down at them.
End of chapter 19