A/N: Sorry for the big break between this one and the last, this was a particularly difficult chapter to write. I wasn't as sure of how I wanted this chapter to go, and I had some big writers block over the break, so I was sadly very unproductive. Hope you all enjoy it.
Location: Bullhead, Somewhere over the Solitas Tundra
Well, this is awkward Ruby thought to herself, as her best friend and teammate sat across from her, completely silent, and either refusing to look at her, or even worse, shooting her small glares from the other side of the airship.
"Are you excited to be heading back to Atlas?" Ruby asked tentatively, trying to break the silence between her and heiress, who simply glared back, rolled her eyes, and turned back to look out the window.
"Weiss c'mon" Ruby pleaded "I didn't make the decision; I didn't even ask for this. Why are you blaming me?"
"So, you admit that they made a mistake?" Weiss huffed "That you don't deserve to be a leader and should step down from your position?"
"I didn't say that!" Ruby argued defensively "But Ozpin made the decision, and the rest of the team agreed with him. You're the only one who's having a problem with this!"
"Because I don't think this team should be led by a child, who's not even done high school. I've been trained and taught by the best of the best, in all aspects of combat and tactics, and Pyrrha can fight circles around you. You aren't anywhere close to being the strongest or smartest, so why would you be made leader over either of us?" Weiss questioned.
"You heard what Yang and Jaune said" Ruby retorted "Pyrrha doesn't even want to be leader. I've already taken the lead on every mission that we've been on. Don't be jealous just because Ozpin agreed with them!"
"Well of course your sister, and that dunce are going to say that!" Weiss countered "Also, I wasn't the one that ran off to cry, just because Yang got mad at her, and left the team out to dry!"
Ruby's face reddened, as Weiss brought up the incident weeks ago with Blake and Yang "Why are you acting like this? Stop being such a little brat!"
"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss yelled back, "Just because Ozpin made you the leader doesn't mean…"
Their argument was interrupted with the shaking of the bullhead, as the aircraft landed at the Atlas port, with the door opening, and the ramp launching itself downwards.
The sound of heavy footsteps alerted them to the presence of General Ironwood, who stood tall at the bullheads entrance.
"Hello Reaper, Frost Sword. Welcome to Atlas."
-5 hours earlier-
Location: HQ, Island of Patch
Ruby scotched over, as Yang threw herself between her sister and Blake on the briefing rooms couch. Ruby nervously glanced to her right, and saw Jaune, Pyrrha, and Weiss giving her a similar expression. Ozpin had called them down, which wasn't unusual, as he often would brief them for missions, but this time he would be making a personal appearance. Something big was about to happen, and none of them felt particularly ready for it.
Ozpin entered the mission room, and on instinct everyone got to their feet, each expecting the worse to be announced by the Huntsmen. With a wave of his hand, he indicated for them to stay seated before he began to speak.
"I was just in the area, and wanted to make a quick announcement, one that will impact the entire team. This team has grown in size since it's formation, and the impact that it's had, has outstripped initial expectations. Because of that, some structural changes are needed, in order for this team to act at peak capacity. Last week several of Remnant's top huntsmen, including many of your mentors, got together to discuss which of you aspiring young huntress's and huntsmen should be made leader of this team. Of course, you will all have a chance to make your voices heard in this matter, and the leader will only be instated, if the majority of the team is happy with the decision."
He paused as the teenagers took in this information. Many of them looked at each other, each thinking of the potential possibilities of who would be chosen.
Ozpin continued "Alright there is no sense in keeping you all waiting. The leader that has been elected by us is…Ruby Rose, or Crimson Reaper!"
Ruby blinked in surprise as the rest of her team turned to stare at her. The expressions across the board were mixed, with a mostly positive reception to the information.
Blake's expression was neutral, only giving Ruby a polite nod. Yang had one of the biggest smiles Ruby had ever seen, eyes glimmering with pride at her little sister. Jaune lightly patted her on the shoulder and grinned at his friend, offering her thumbs up. Pyrrha smiled warmly at her friend, which had a particularly calming effect on Ruby. If the most skilled fighter on their team was happy about her being made team leader, then Ruby was confident that Ozpin made the right decision. The one whose opinion meant the most to her however, had a much different expression on her face.
Weiss didn't even look at Ruby, instead her face displayed pure shock and surprise. Once their eyes met Weiss's expression went cold, and she turned away from the red cloaked girl.
"Alright, all those in favor of this decision." Ozpin asked. Yang, and Jaune's hand shot up, with Pyrrha's politely joining them a few seconds later. Blake seemed to be thinking the ultimatum over before her hand rose up as well.
"Are you kidding me" Weiss called out, as everyone turned to face her "She's fifteen years old. How are you okay with her being elected leader?"
"She pretty much does the job already" Jaune shrugged "On almost every mission you guy are on, she is the one coming up with strategies, and naturally directs everyone around. The only difference is that now it's official."
"But she's barely older than a child" Weiss snapped back "There's no way that she's ready for this."
"Yeah, and you're a mature seventeen." Yang argued "Weiss we're all kids, get over yourself. Just because you have two years on her doesn't mean that you'd be any better. Hell, we started this team because we were tired of being treated like we were incapable children. She leads us anyway, so what's the issue?"
Weiss ignored this, and addressed her teammates on the other side of the room "Blake and Pyrrha, can you honestly say that you are okay with her being leader?"
"I think that Ruby has shown excellent qualifications for a leader" Pyrrha admitted "I certainly don't want that responsibility."
Blake shrugged "Weiss, like Yang and Jaune said, she does it already. The only difference now is an official title."
Weiss stood up, and was about to storm off in a huff, but Ozpin's voice stopped her.
"Not so fast Miss Schnee. I have some important information for you in particular."
This piqued Weiss's interest, who turned back around to face the huntsmen.
"General Ironwood has a mission for two of this teams' members. He specifically asked for you, due to your experience working in Atlas as a huntress trainee, and Miss Rose. I agreed with him, as it would be a good chance for her to get her feet wet, as a newly official team leader."
The gears in Weiss's head turning at this proposal. On one hand this was a direct request for her from the General, a chance to prove herself to him, and perhaps she could even see Winter. On the other hand, to go on this mission would represent her acceptance of Ruby's status as team leader. The former desire won out.
"Of course, I consider it a great honor to be asked by the General" Weiss replied, now forcing her voice into a polite tone.
Ozpin gave a small smile at this "Excellent, a Bullhead for Atlas will be leaving in twenty minutes. I will expect you and Miss Rose to be on it by the time it departs."
-5 hours later-
Location: Port of Atlas, Kingdom of Atlas
Ruby and Weiss shot up to their feet, with the Reaper copying her teammate, as the Heiress gave the General a small curtsy as a sign of respect. The Ironwood nodded politely at both of them, before turning around and exiting the aircraft, indicating for the two huntresses' in training to follow him, across the concrete airfield of Atlas's Airport.
Wow the General is tall Ruby thought. He stood well over a foot above both Weiss and Ruby, and was at least twice as wide as either of them. Even Pyrrha and Jaune would have been noticeably smaller and shorter than him, making Ruby feel like a shrimp, as she followed silently behind with Weiss.
Ruby hadn't met too many Atlas operatives, but they sure seemed to like white, and Ironwood was no exception. His broad frame was covered by a white overcoat, with his pants matching his coats colour. He wore a black sweater, and grey shirt under the coat, with metallic looking silver boots.
He finally spoke, a commanding stern voice bringing both teenagers to attention. "From what the Wizard has told me, your team has made quite an impact on the dust robberies that have been plaguing Vale. Just last week, you managed to stop a sizable dust transfer conducted by the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, without any help from professional huntsmen and huntresses. Is that assessment accurate, Reaper?"
Ruby stumbled over her words, surprised at being addressed by her huntress name instead of her civilian one "Ummm…yes that is…sir…but I wasn't actually there…Wei…I mean, Frost Storm, Golden Dragon, Shadow Stalker, and Knightstar were the ones who took care of it." She was grateful that she was able to remember Blake and Jaune's new huntsmen names.
Ironwood considered this, before speaking "Ah…I see…well your team's achievements make you, and Frost Storm uniquely qualified to work with Atlas forces on a little problem of our own. But before I tell you any information on the subject, I need you both to know that I will be expecting you both to be willing and able to follow any orders that I, or any Atlas Elites give you. Is that clear?"
Ruby and Weiss both agreed, with Ironwood giving them both another polite nod, before continuing.
"Alright then, here is the situation. This last week, Atlas and Mantle has had a massive increase in dust related robberies, with at least one SDC shop being robbed everyday. We have no idea where this massive influx came from, but from what we know, they don't seem to have an apparent link to either Roman Torchwick, or the White Fang. We were hoping that you would be able to work with our operatives to be able to get to the bottom of this. However, I need you both to understand that anything that you see past this point is strictly confidential, and can not be repeated to the rest of your team."
He then stopped at the entrance to a large metallic building, placing his hand on scanner, and the door opened upwards, revealing two women who were waiting. Snow Sword, Weiss's sister stood tall, with her hands placed respectfully behind her back, ready at attention.
The other woman was someone Ruby didn't recognize. She was young, looking at most a year or two older than Ruby, and had short curly orange hair, with a pink bow on top. She wore a grey pinafore dress, with green markings over a white frilly blouse. She also wore a pair of thigh high black stockings that attached to her similarly coloured shoes. Her stockings had green lines coming up the sides, with a similar colouring to the markers on the dress. Her freckled covered face had a curious expression, friendly, but her bright green eyes gave off an aura of distinct dottiness.
"Winter!" Weiss exclaimed, but hesitated from hugging her, instead giving her sister a polite cursory in a much calmer tone "...I mean Snowstorm…It is a pleasure to see you again."
"It's okay Frost Storm" Ironwood said, indicating to the orange haired girl "Operative Polendina is a trusted member of this operation, and is aware of your familial connections to Snow Sword."
"Salutations!" Operative Polendina greeted, in a much less professional, and much more bubbly tone than what was to be expected from an Atlas Operative, giving Ruby and Weiss a big wave.
"It's nice to meet you Operative Polendina" Ruby said politely, extending a hand, which Polendina enthusiastically shook, nearly crushing the red cloaked girl's hand.
"It is an absolute pleasure to meet you too, Red Reaper" The operative exclaimed cheerily.
"Sorry to cut the pleasantries, but I need to explain what you two will be doing here in Atlas" Ironwood interrupted "Please follow me to the briefing room."
They walked in silence through the hallway, with Ironwood in front, Weiss, and Winter walking side by side, and with Ruby and Polendina trailing behind awkwardly.
They passed many operatives with traditional Atlas uniforms, including a dark-skinned young woman, with a brown and platinum blonde mohawk like hairstyle, and a tall man with brown hair and a sleeveless atlas uniform. They each gave Winter a friendly nod, and Ironwood a polite salute as they passed.
However, they also passed many unusual operatives in some of the training rooms. The strangest of all was a duo in one of Atlas Fortress's classrooms, being lectured by a huntsman. One was a girl with bright orange bushy pigtails, with blue streaks. She wore a fairly risqué crop top, and pink mini skirt, with a long orange tail, revealing her as a cat Faunus, having what appeared to be roller blades on her feet.
Her partner on the other hand was a black teenager, wearing a dark vest over a white dress shirt, a bright blue tie draped around his neck, with black and grey striped pants. On top of his head was a black fedora, with a blue trim, and was holding what appeared to be a trumpet.
They finally made it to the mission room, and Ironwood stood near a large screen on the wall, with a map of the City of Mantle appearing.
Ironwood begun "Okay, Snow Sword, Reaper, Storm and Polendina, I'm going to need you to check out these dust shops…"
-1 hour later-
Location: City of Mantle, Kingdom of Atlas
The group took a Bullhead down from the floating city and then transferred into an Atlas armoured vehicle, cruising through the streets of Mantle. Ruby hadn't been to Atlas or Mantle, and frankly neither of the cities impressed her, at least not to the extent that Weiss had bragged about it. The area wasn't exactly a slum, but the appearance of many of the people was similar to that of those that frequented some of the sketchier areas of Vale.
The assignment Ironwood had given them was simple. A Dust Shop a few blocks down had been robbed by thieves of unknown affiliation (The Generals words, not her own), likely with high powered weaponry. He wanted them to investigate the crime scene, and see if they could put together any information from the shop owner's experience.
The ride was silent, with Winter and Weiss sitting in front, communicating quietly about Weiss's time as part of the team. From what Ruby could overhear, Weiss wasn't communicating about the experience favorably.
Operative Polendina was interesting to say the least. It was odd to see an Atlas operative as young as her, not that Ruby was one to talk about being too young for anything. Polendina seemed nice, overly so in fact, comparable to the likes of Pyrrha. But every time Ruby tried to ask her a question that extended beyond mere pleasantries, the girl would decline to answer, changing the subject to something like the weather, or simply tell Ruby that it was classified.
"…So, I got one of these." Ruby said, sticking with her guns and pulling out a photo of Crimson Rose on her scroll "…Do you have a weapon?"
"Crescent Rose, a six feet long combination between a scythe, and a high impact, bolt action sniper rifle. The blade is 5 feet in length, and the sniper rifle portion is capable of holding ten rounds, each firing at over two and half times the speed of sound, for an effective range of nearly two kilometres. The rifle is also capable of incorporating dust rounds for nonlethal attacks." Polendina repeated mechanically "and I'm sorry Reaper, but that is classified for right now."
"So, like your first name, age, and where you came from?" Ruby commented dryly.
"Precisely!" Polendina cheerily replied, "It really is a wonderful day isn't it?"
"Yes, it certainly is" Ruby said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes in a Weiss like manner before it struck her how much Polendina knew about her weapon. "You really did your research huh?"
"Oh, yes" Polendina answered, with her face lighting up "It is standard Atlas protocol that we heavily research both our targets, and teammates before going on a mission, especially when we are paired with less experienced huntress's."
"Hey, I'll have you know that I was elected as our team's leader!" Ruby defended proudly.
"A mistake, that will hopefully rectified." Weiss interjected from the front seat, causing Ruby to become disheartened, putting her head down.
Winter turned, as if she was about to reprimand Weiss, but when she noticed Ruby's facial expression she frowned, before turning to the front once again, the ride continuing in silence.
Thankfully, they soon made it to their location, and the huntress's filed out of the vehicle, and followed Winter into the fairly large dust shop that was robbed the previous evening. The window was shattered, with some dust vials scattered across the floor. The police had obviously done their investigation quickly that morning, as yellow tape covered the front entrance. The shopkeeper, a short balding old man that looked remarkably similar to the one that owned Ruby's go to dust shop on Patch, approached them, nervously greeting them.
"Reaper, Frost Storm, and Polendina, I would like you to do a sweep of the premise to look for any clues. Ensure that you make note of any similarities to the ones that you have encountered in Vale." Winter ordered, and passed them each a small file folder "Here are photo copied police reports that were completed this morning. Ensure that you have returned them to me after this investigation."
The three nodded, and separated to the various corners of the first floor, with Ruby heading to a small room, where the security cameras were located. She decided it would be best to review the footage of the robbery. She opened up the footage from the night of the robbery, and scanned through to the incident itself.
The dust shop was supposed to be closed, but apparently the shopkeeper was working late, restocking shelves, with a dimly lit light over his head. Ruby was focusing in on him, before a sudden movement broke her attention. The door of the shop whipped open by itself, startling both herself and the shopkeeper in the footage, before the light shattered, leaving everything in a coat of darkness.
The barely visible shopkeeper rushed to his desk, likely trying to arm himself with a shotgun he kept behind it. However, just as he made it there, he was sent flying, and was knocked through a shelf. The dust contents of the shelf thankfully, and rather surprisingly, didn't combust, and with that the door opened yet again, with several large figures entering the shop, crowding around a much smaller one, who Ruby could barely make out in the shadow, and was likely responsible for the initial attack.
The thief's formation soon broke and rushed around the shop, filling what looked to be sacs with all the dust they could, with the smaller figure perched patiently on the desk, watching them work busily. The shopkeep, however escaped her notice, and managed to roll onto his front, and crawled on the floor towards where she was sitting. Ruby couldn't make out his movements past that point, as he disappeared behind the desk.
After several minutes however it became crystal clear. Blue and red lights flashed from outside the shop, and Ruby saw the small figure bounce into the air, startled. The shopkeeper must have hit the silent alarm, sending the police officers to the location. The shop became illuminated by flashlights, as officers flooded into the shop, handguns raised in the air.
The small figure waisted no time, and leapt into action, rushing the policemen. It was so dark with lights flailing around, and they was so fast that Ruby couldn't even make out their movements, only seeing the officers get picked off one by one, and tossed in various directions by the unseen figure. Gunfire burst from their weapons, shattering the windows, and several vials of dust, creating small elemental explosions around the shop. The movement suddenly stopped, as the police officers were all incapacitated by the unseen attacker, with darkness once again covering the shop. Eventually, they stirred, and the lights came back on, revealing that the thieves had disappeared, with a significant amount of the stores dust disappearing with them.
Ruby was stunned. The intruder had taken out what appeared to be over a dozen armed officers in under a minute, in pitch black darkness no less. Ruby couldn't even track her movements she was so fast, fighting like she was a part of the shadows themselves, a feat that not even Blake was capable of, at least not at that level. Whoever this person was she was one of the most skilled fighters that Ruby had ever seen, and was most certainly a huntsmen level opponent. She was dangerous, probably even more so than Torchwick.
Ruby turned off the monitor, and rushed over to talk to Winter. However, the specialist was on her scroll, communicating with who sounded like General Ironwood.
"…yes sir, I understand sir. I'll be back ASAP." Winter said, before turning her scroll off, and putting it back in her pocket.
Winter announced "Reaper, Storm, Polendina, the General has ordered my return to Atlas. Have you found anything of substance for this investigation?"
With that both Weiss and Polendina walked over from where they were searching, reporting to Winters command.
"Wint…I mean Ma'am, I was looking over some of the footage from the robbery, I think there's more going on here then we think." Ruby said, rubbing the end of her cloak nervously, as Winter stared down at her.
Winter raised an eyebrow at this "Hmmm, explain?"
"The robbers who attacked this place, one of them was definitely an aura user. She took out over a squadron of armed officers easily. Why would they need someone like that for a standard dust robbery? I think that we should look more into this before we go back to base."
"Are you seriously arguing with the General?" Weiss interjected, stepping between her sister, and Ruby. "If he said that it's time for us to come back, it's time to come back!"
"Frost Storm, you didn't see her, we need to…" Ruby said softly, before being interrupted yet again.
"What YOU think we need to do is irrelevant. We have our orders; we need to head back to Atlas like the General said." Weiss argued, her voice rising with each word "Just because you are leader of our little playdate squad does not mean…"
"You probably wouldn't even listen to me if I was in charge!" Ruby yelled, finally losing control of her temper "What is your issue? Are you being a spoiled brat again, just because you weren't made leader?"
"Are you kidding me! You have done nothing to earn your position! You are nothing but a child, with delusions about being a superhero! Ozpin made a mistake!" Weiss yelled in return, with a cruel look in her eyes after she finished.
"Enough!" Winter loudly interjected, startling all parties present "Frost Storm, The General was ordering me to return, as there is something in Atlas that requires my specific attention. You two and Polendina are free to continue your investigation here, unless you all wish to return at the moment."
"Well then I can go with you!" Weiss countered "Reaper, and Polendina can investigate here, while we work back at the base."
Winter looked angry for a moment, but her expression softened as she considered this, before turning to address Ruby "Reaper, you are second in command here, and you are still acting as your team's leader. Is it your wish that Frost Storm returns with me?"
"Umm… sure" Ruby responded uneasily, head down and disheartened with Weiss's reaction "That…that could work."
Winter looked at Ruby, and began to open her mouth as if she was about to comment, but decided better, closing it, and walking towards the door with her hands behind her back, with Weiss following, before the older sister turned one last time to talk to Ruby, and Polendina.
"When you feel that your investigation has been completed satisfactory, alert me on your scroll. We will send a bullhead to pick you up."
Ruby nodded, as the two sisters left, with Weiss not even turning to look at her friend, as they got in the front of the vehicle once again, and drove off.
Ruby sighed in sadness, before turning to face Polendina, with a smile forced upon her face.
"Don't you worry Reaper; we will not rest until we find that stolen dust!" Polendina exclaimed, completely missing Ruby's disheartened expression.
"Oh…right…thanks…" Ruby murmured, following her Atlas comrade as they exited the shop.
Ruby, and Polendina strolled down the back alley of the shop, with the later scanning the area for any clues, speedily puttering around the crime scene. Ruby hung back, trying to focus on the mission, but becoming increasingly bothered, as Weiss, and her nasty comment kept making their way into her mind.
Why is she so rude about this Ruby thought, as she began to kick a piece of rumble down the street, she's never been bothered about me giving orders before. Is it really just because I was given the title of leader, and she wasn't? Is she really just being like this because Ozpin picked me over her. Suddenly her attention was snapped back to reality.
"So is Frost Storm your friend?" Polendina asked, approaching Ruby with a curious expression.
"Um…yeah, she is" Ruby responded hesitantly "We…we go way back…"
"Hmmm" Polendina considered this, as she walked side by side with Ruby "I didn't think that friends would treat each other like that."
"Well, I mean…yeah they're not supposed to, right?" Ruby admitted.
"I don't know?" Polendina said, still thinking to herself "I don't have any to compare it to."
"You…you don't have any friends?" Ruby asked tentatively, not wanting to offend the strange girl.
"I…I have teammates, and trainers." Polendina responded, seemingly unbothered by the question "Is that similar enough?"
"Um, kind of" Ruby explained "But friends, they're a bit different. With friends you do things outside missions, and training together. You love, and care for them, and try to do things that make their lives better. It's kind of like having another family."
"Oh" Polendina said, before continuing with her usual cheery demeanor "Then, no I do not."
Ruby's heart sank a bit, feeling pity for the friendly operative. Sure, she wasn't the most popular girl at school, or anything like that, but she had friends, and the team, they were her friends too. Well, Jaune, Pyrrha and Weiss were. Well Weiss usually was. She wasn't sure if she could count Blake yet, and Yang was technically family. But she did at least have some. To have none, well Ruby honestly couldn't imagine what that would be like.
"Um…sure you do…you got me; I count as one friend." Ruby rubbed her head nervously, still unsure of how to respond to something like that.
Polendina was silent for a bit, making Ruby feel very uncomfortable, before finally responding.
"Am I really your friend?" Polendina asked, stepping uncomfortably close to Ruby, her face getting very close to the red cloaked girl's.
"Um…ya sure, why not?" Ruby said, with a very unconvincing shrug "Although, I think friends typically know each other's first names."
"Oh, if we're friends then that's not a problem." Polendina exclaimed "My name is Penny, Penny Polendina."
Ruby blinked, bewildered at Penny's sudden change. If it was really that easy to get information out of her, she would have just agreed to be friends with her back at Atlas.
"Oh, well…thank you for telling me Penny" Ruby responded, "My name is Ruby, Ruby Rose."
"We both have alliterative names" Penny said mechanically without missing a beat.
Huh, Ruby considered, she never really realized that before. Blake actually did too. Neat. "You're…right, that's…interesting."
And with that she felt a jolt through her body, like she had just stuck a fork in an electrical socket. The electricity raced through her body, tossing her back, straight into Penny.
Thankfully, the orange haired girl reacted quickly, able to catch Ruby before she hit the ground. The painful sensation faded, leaving Ruby in a dazed state, able to catch her breath in Penny's arms.
"Ruby, my friend, are you alright?" Penny asked concerned, carefully placing the huntress back on her shaky legs, letting Ruby use her shoulder for support.
"Yeah Penny, I'm okay, just a bit…" Ruby said, before noticing what she stepped on. It was a vial of lightning dust, laying shattered under her boot. That was certainly a strange thing to have lying around. There was another one too, a vial of red dust, just a few meters away, right near the door of a small boarded up building, with a large metal door.
Penny, having apparently come to the same conclusion as Ruby, turned to face her "So, it seems that finding these Dust thieves was not as difficult as we thought it would be."
Yeah, I guess not" Ruby responded "You ready to take them down?"
"Don't worry Ruby, I'm combat ready!" Penny announced confidently, a wide smile across her face.
Ruby nodded, as she and Penny stood on either side of the door, backs against the wall. Ruby, removed Crescent Rose from her back, giving Penny another nod. Penny acknowledged this, before whipping around, and smashed her foot into the door.
The door was blown off its hinges, thrown across the room, and smashed into the wall on the other side. It was bent in half, with a foot shaped imprint in its center. They could hear the muffled sounds of panic from the thieves on the inside, as they scrambled for their weapons.
Wow, Ruby thought to herself, Penny could give Yang a run for her money. She couldn't stop to compliment her new friend's strength, and instead rushed inside, using her semblance to get the jump on the criminals, as their bullets passed harmlessly around her. She raced behind a table, kicking it up as a shield, and crouched, firing crescent rose at the criminals. They each fell, courtesy of an electric shock dust round, laying on the floor, temporarily paralyzed.
However, before Ruby could react, the door on the other side of the room was kicked open, and a large man in black, dressed like the rest of his fallen comrades stepped out, holding a massive rocket launcher, and fired at Ruby.
Ruby was about to race out of the room, but before she could react, a sword intercepted the rocket in the air, and exploded barely two metres from where the man had fired. He was sent flying back into the wall, causing a sizeable crater, and Ruby could see a flicker of orange run through his body. Good he was an aura user; he wasn't going to die from the blast. The sword was pulled back by some unknown force, whizzing by Ruby, who turned to see where it had gone.
She looked behind her to see Penny, who had twelve identical blades floating around her, pointed out, as they levitated around her back. How Penny was making them float, Ruby had no idea, but unfortunately, she didn't have time to find out. The man awoke from his concussion induced confusion, and charged the two girls, wielding the rocket launcher like a baseball bat.
Ruby sped in with her semblance, rematerializing right before the man, swinging Crescent Rose, and taking out his legs. He was tossed into the air, and Ruby hooked the scythe around his back, before firing, launching the man across the room.
Penny reached out her arm, as the man slammed into it. She barely even budged, as he was closelined by the appendage. He fell to the ground hard, his aura shattering from the impact.
As he came to, he had several of Penny's blades pointed at his face, and a very annoyed Ruby standing overhead. Frankly, he was far more frightened of the girl who was somehow levitating several swords, each pointed directly at him, with an ominous green glow at their ends and for some reason looking him dead in the eyes with a friendly smile. All loyalty to his fellow crooks and cronies disappeared with that.
"I'll talk, I'll talk, alright! What do you want to know? I'll tell you anything!" He begged, pleading with the two huntresses.
"Where's the short aura user?" Ruby asked, in a surprisingly nonaggressive tone "The one who fought the police at the robbery last night."
"The really quiet girl?" the man asked. Ruby just shrugged her shoulders at that.
"She said, well she told us that she was going to Atlas. Something about stealing something right under the General's nose. Please, that's all I know, I swear." He cried, sweat bursting from his balding head.
"Okay thanks" Ruby replied "Um, I'm sorry about this, but I got to make sure you stay here."
With that she kicked him in the face, knocking him out, and from there called the police to deal with these guys. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay and wait for the authorities.
"We need to get a bullhead now!" Ruby called to Penny as they sped walked out of the small building, sirens blaring in the distance "Weiss, Winter and the General need to know what is going on."
Penny nodded as they ran down the street, rushing as fast as they could to catch an aircraft back to the floating city.
Location: Atlas Fortress, Kingdom of Atlas
A couple of the fortresses many security systems had been tripped, and due to the sensitive area of where the systems went off, Ironwood only trusted Winter to examine the footage, and agreed that Weiss would be allowed to help, as long as she kept all information confidential.
Despite the alarms clearly having gone off at the sites, there appeared to be no activity that would have triggered them, at least that's what Weiss could gather from the footage she was assigned. After, an hour of near silence between the two, the tension finally broke, with Winter addressing her sister.
"Why are you deliberately disobeying your team leader?" Winter asked bluntly, surprising Weiss. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the younger of the two sisters responded.
"Winter, Ruby's my friend, and she's a good huntress, but she is completely unqualified for this position, and the fact that she doesn't even realize it makes it even worse." Weiss said exasperated "How am I supposed to follow orders from someone that childish and immature. Pyrrha, me, or even Yang should have been the leader of the team, not a fifteen-year-old who isn't even done secondary school!"
Winter countered "But Ozpin was the one who made the call to suggest Reaper be made team leader. Are you questioning his judgement, despite his many years of experience over both you, and I?"
"Maybe!" Weiss exclaimed "Ozpin is incredible, but he's human, just like the rest of us. Is it not possible that he made a mistake?"
Winter sighed "Weiss, I have put my complete faith in General Ironwood. When he first took me under his wing, he was hard on me, far harder than I have ever been on you. I never disobeyed an order, and that's what kept me alive, and more importantly, what made me the huntress I am today. He has that same trust for Ozpin. For that reason, I trust Ozpin's judgement here."
"So, you would just blindly accept his decision, no matter how ridiculous? You know that I'm capable of doing this." Weiss argued.
"Weiss you have come far in our training, but no, I do not think that you are." Winter stated calmly, looking her sister dead in the eye "When we were deciding who would be leader, I voted against giving you that position."
Weiss was shocked, as tears came to her face "Wi-Wi-Winter, why? Why w-w-would you do that?"
Winter approached her sister, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder "I didn't feel you were ready for that burden. In truth, I do not believe any of you are, but I can not speak for the rest of them. You have spent your entire life getting exactly what you want. At this point leadership would not suit you."
Weiss's shock turned to anger "That's not even remotely…"
Winter raised her eyebrow.
"Well... not entirely true." Weiss said.
Winter continued "Do you really believe that acting like this towards your team leader would cause Ozpin, and the rest of them, to reconsider their decision?"
"No" Weiss admitted, calmly hanging her head "I suppose it wouldn't."
Winter let out a small smile "So instead of worrying about what you are not, instead remember who you are. A Schnee, and a talented huntress in training. Continue to hone your skills, perfect your techniques, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be."
Weiss nodded, and wiped her eyes, before turning back to finish reviewing her footage. A little over a minute into their review, Winter's eyes widened, an expression of fear and shock crossing her face.
"Weiss, come over here!" Winter ordered frantically, with the Heiress running over to join her sister.
Weiss quickly understood why Winter was so startled. The footage showed an empty hallway, but as the video continued a small figure appeared momentarily on the screen, before vanishing yet again, reappearing in the next hallway in a matter of seconds.
Winter was in the process of pulling out her scroll, when the lights flickered around her, before shutting off suddenly, leaving both Schnee's in a blanket of darkness.
"Weiss, we need to get the general." Winter said, calmly and slowly, but every word dripping with urgency "I need you to go find him in his office, there is something I have to attend to."
Sensing her sister's seriousness, Weiss nodded, before quickly getting up, and rushing out the door. She raced down the darkened hallways, before finally making it to the last one before the elevators. Unlike the rest of them however, this hallway was lit, and had a woman standing in Weiss's way.