CHAPTER 9

"Guess who's baaa~cck?" Yang Xiao Long sang out with a smile and a pose, spreading her hands wide as she finished stepping into the swirling light and loud music of The Bear Necessities. She felt strong, confident, ready to take on the world and kick the ass of anyone in her way.

Her question was answered by the sound of a dozen metallic clicks as safeties were flipped and guns pointed in her direction.

Geeeez tough crowd, Yang thought to herself, looking at the grim, determined faces of the various black-suited men employed by Junior. Although a part of her noted that they seemed to have learned their lesson about keeping their distance from her last visit.

From the corner of her eyes, Yang noticed Blake and Sun moving up to stand beside her, obviously confused but ready none the less to fight alongside her if necessary. Not that they would need to; there was no way she'd actually start anything. Well, this time. There wouldn't be a point and it would spoil the whole joke.

Then her eyes fell on the other clubgoers. Who were cowering behind chairs, tables, flattening themselves against the walls or frozen where they stood. All looked up at her with frightened, confused faces.

Yang's playful mood was swamped beneath a wave of guilt. Suddenly, all this felt a lot less fun.

As if to ram home just how sour the mood had gone, the house trance mix halted, caught in a skipping loop. It only grated Yang's nerves and was probably enough to make Blake's ears twitch beneath her bow.

Yang glared up at the DJ's stand. The frightened man, wearing a black and red mask shaped like a bear's head, took the hint in an instant. He popped his head out, lifted the needle off the record, cutting the skipping music out, and retreated back under his desk of equipment.

"Stop, stop! Nobody shoot." Junior yelled out, frantically pushing his way through the crowd and waving at his men to lower their weapons. Yang saw with some irritation that some were only doing so with reluctance.

Although she also suddenly noticed that Junior's men weren't the only ones putting away weapons. Behind one of the black staircase, a man and a woman were lowering what looked like some sort of gauntlet and a wicked-looking pistol respectively.

Yang didn't have much time to study them, as she found her attention drawn back to Junior, who'd managed to force his way to the front of the crowd.

Straightening his tie, the owner of The Bear Necessities said, "Blondie, you're here!...Why?" The last was said with more than a hint of confusion and wariness.

"You still owe me a drink," Yang answered, doing her best to ignore his tone, trying to regain some of the light-heartedness she'd walked in with. Grabbing Junior by one arm she half-pulled, half-led the bear-like man through the crowd towards the bar with a touch of Aura-infused strength.

As Yang headed deeper into The Bear Necessities with Blake and Sun in tow, she glanced back over at the man and the woman she'd noticed before. Like a fair amount of the club-goers who weren't trying to get back to minding their own business, they seemed to be quietly watching Yang and her friends with some curiosity. Though unlike most, they didn't seem fearful.

The man was of average height, with short-cropped dark hair and slightly tanned skin. His face was friendly-looking, but a little lean for Yang's personal taste, thanks to his cheekbones. Likewise, his features were sharp and intelligent.

Beyond that, he seemed unremarkable. Being neither very tall nor very short, neither very muscular nor very thin, entirely nonthreatening. Even the Dust-gauntlet on his hand was unremarkable. It was modest, dull steel, with none of the etchings or coloring so common to the weapons of Huntsmen or Huntresses. And thanks to memories of Ruby gushing over a weapons catalog, Yang knew the design of that model was robust, simple and inexpensive to maintain. All very practical; but kind of boring if Yang had to be honest with herself.

The woman, by contrast, stood out more. Some of that was due to her shoulder-length red-gold hair. Although her features were above average and she had a curvaceous form that might rival Yang's own. There was something about her that almost reminded Yang of Blake, but in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on. At first glance, Yang might have been tempted to say it was the eyes. Except that where Blake's eyes were amber in color, the redhead's were a dark gold.

Mentally shrugging that mystery aside, Yang did notice then that the man and woman shared something in common. Their clothing wasn't as bright or colorful as those of the other club-goers. Instead being more reserved, if still tasteful. And, if it wasn't for the fact that Yang had seen them pointing weapons at her before, they would have blended into the background. Just another guy and gal at the bar, with nothing significant about them at all.

For some reason that last thought made her feel a little uneasy.

They also seemed to have caught Yang looking at them. For the man's dark green eyes met hers with a strange, knowing, subtle gaze and flashed her slight smile. While the redhead's full lips curled into the hint of a sardonic grin.

"So, why was everyone pointing guns at us?" Asked Blake from her behind Yang, bringing her attention back to Junior and her friends.

Yang felt a flush of embarrassment crawl up her neck at the reminder of her first visit to the club. What had she been thinking back then?

"It's a bit of a long story." She tried to say casually as they reached the bar, but it came out more forced than she would have liked.

Junior snorted derisively, not bothering to hide what traces of bitterness he held towards her."Not that long of a story blondie."

Yang bit back a retort and glanced away. Her own misdoings aside, she knew she had to find a way to change the topic. There was no way they'd get any information out of Junior if they kept bringing up bad memories. And she doubted a simple apology would cut it.

A glance over towards the side-staircase revealed that the duo Yang had noticed earlier were now making their way up the stairs to the second floor.

Yang turned back towards Junior and jerked a thumb over one should in the direction of the man and the woman.

"Friend of yours, Junior?" She asked, and realized that she was genuinely curious.

"Their paying customers." Junior calmly shot back. "And unlike you Blondie, they didn't wreck my bar."

"Whoa!" exclaimed Sun.

Blake's head snapped around towards Yang. "Wait, you did what?"

-RWBY-

Blake's mind reeled at Junior's words, even as the way he and his men had treated the three of them made a lot more sense.

But there had to be a good explanation for this, right? Yang was many things. Stubborn, brash, hotheaded, and reckless were some of the less flattering traits that sprung to mind. 'Ruthless' was not one of them.

...Was it?

Blake couldn't banish a rediscovered feeling of doubt. She remembered how wary she'd become when she'd first learned of how Yang's Semblance absorbed damage and let her throw it back at the enemy twice as hard. Given how much Semblances reflected personality, the fact that Yang's was so similar to Adam's had alarmed Blake. Made her question if her partner might one day walk down that same path as her former mentor.

But as she'd gotten to know Yang better, those fears had faded away. Now they'd returned stronger than before. After all, Adam hadn't changed overnight. It had been gradual, with little incidents that kept piling up. What had first seemed like accidents became self-defense taken too far and had gotten worse from there. All while Adam had told her not to worry, had even tricked her into believing that what he was doing was justified, was right. Even so, a part of her couldn't help but hope Yang would deny the whole thing.

All that passed through Blake's mind in a tumultuous flash as she stared at her best friend and training partner in shocked disbelief.

The look of shame masking Yang's face was somewhat reassuring. Still, if she hoped that this was all misunderstanding, Blake was about to be disappointed.

"Hey, weren't you a-?" Yang started to fire back, her voice heated as her restraint gave way.

"Not the same thing!" Blake hissed, a chill of panic shooting through her, ears pull flat beneath her bow in response. She knew her partner well enough to realize the action was defensive, reflexive. But that did not change her feeling of shocked horror at what Yang had almost let slip out.

A wide-eyed, mortified expression stamped itself on Yang's features, before she recovered. One hand came up to stroke part of her long blonde hair in a nervous gesture as she verbally backpedaled, her purple eyes darting away from Blake's face. "Sure Blake, whatever you say."

"As fascinating as this is Blondie, you still haven't told me the real reason why you're here. If it's about that Raven woman you were looking for from last time, I still don't have anything to give you."

Blake almost flinched at the sound of Junior's voice. She'd nearly forgotten he was there in the heat of the moment.

"No, no, it's not about her." Yang said hastily, looking visibly uncomfortable.

Blake couldn't help but wonder at her partner's expression, as she did at who 'Raven' could be and why Yang was searching for her. She wasn't certain if she'd ask Yang about it later. Although she did privately resolve to try and talk to Yang later about exactly why she'd wrecked this bar.

Before she could say anything Yang hurriedly spoke up. "I want everything you've got about Roman Torchwick. What he's been up to, where he's hiding out, that sort of thing."

Blake could have sworn, for a moment, that Junior's eyes flickered past them and up towards the higher levels of the club.

"...I don't know," he admitted at last.

"How can you not know?" Blake demanded.

"I haven't talked to him." Junior snapped, then looked over at Yang. "I haven't even seen Torchwick since the night you first came in here."

"Wait a minute!" Yang narrowed her eyes. "Your thugs were the ones that got hired for that Dust robbery?! My sister got caught up in that!"

Junior held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Look, Blondie. It was a business transaction. He hired my men, said he wanted them for some heists, robbing Dust stores and other stuff like that. Next thing I know, I'm having to get them out of jail and he's nowhere to be seen. In fact, no one's seen him for months outside of wild, half-baked rumors."

Blake's shoulders slumped, bitter disappointment washing over her as she digested Junior's words. She'd been caught up in Yang and Sun's enthusiasm and had allowed herself to hope that they'd learn more here. Blake found herself leaning into Sun's pat on her shoulder.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why are you being weirdly helpful?" asked Yang at last. "You never give out information for free."

"Roman's teamed up with the White Fang. Which means he's bad for business and going to draw more attention to the rest of us." Junior said, actually surprising the three of them. Seeing their expressions, he laughed. "Don't pretend you didn't know, I know about how you guys were at the docks and what really happened there."

Blake's ears twitched, hearing someone approaching them from behind, distracting her as the conversation between Yang and Junior shifted.

"Are you like, new in town?" said an unfamiliar voice.

"Uh yeah, sort of." Sun's reply drew Blake's attention, "I'm actually a student at Haven, I'm in town for the Vytal Festival."

Sun, she saw, had wandered off to the side a little and was speaking to a pair of dark-haired teenage girls. They were almost identical, save for their choice in clothing; one dressed in red, the other in white. The twins, Blake didn't know their names nor did she care too, were circling Sun like a pair of sharks eyeing up a baby seal. She had to resist the urge to flatten her ears in response to the looks they were giving him.

"Oh Mistral?" said the sister in red.

"We're from Mistral too." The one in white added, "But we've lived in Vale long enough to know our way around."

She placed a hand on Sun's shoulder, an action her twin mirrored, making Blake bristle.

"So would you like to hang out sometime?" The red sister asked suggestively, "Could be fun."

"I'm sorry ladies," Sun's replied awkwardly and pointed at Blake, "I already have a fun guide to show me around."

She felt her cheeks warm as he disentangled himself from their clutches. Don't make a big deal about it, Blake told herself, he probably didn't even realize they were flirting with him.

The cat Faunus then noticed Sun was looking back at the now dejected-looking twins. He scratched the back of his head looking a bit sheepish, before pulling out his Scroll.

"Hey I have a teammate or two who'd be happy to have you two show them around." The twins looked at each other thoughtfully before taking the scroll, "That's Neptu-"

"Swipe left." The one in white ordered, the sister in red did so without hesitation. Two sets of green eyes went from disdain to approval.

"Oh my gods I love his hair Militia." The white one said.

"I love that pirate get up of his," The now-named Miltia commented with a small smile.

Sun cringed and muttered something about 'wrong tree' before clearing his throat. "Uh, Scarlet, might only be interested in a friendly tour...he kinda has a boyfriend back at Haven."

The twins sighed and swiped left on the Scroll before perking up again.

"And that's Sage!" Sun explained.

"Dibs!" The one in white called out.

"No fair Melanie!"

"Those are our rules." Melanie reminded Militia, who folded her arms and sighed.

"Fine, I guess I can ask Scarlet where he got his ink done."

"Alright matchmaker ready to head back to Beacon?" Blake's partner asked, butting in playfully.

Sun nodded, visibly excited to tell his teammates about the twins. "Sure can't wait to tell the guys!"

As the trio headed out towards the entrance of the club, Blake noticed that Yang had slowed, looking up at the upper levels of the club. A frown was on her face.

"What is it?" Blake asked.

Yang picked up her pace. "Probably nothing," She admitted as they climbed the steps out of the club, "But did you see the man and woman by the staircase when we came in?"

Blake shook her head, mystified at her friend's question.

At that same moment, Sun answered, seeming just as puzzled as Blake herself felt, "Not really, why?"

"Nothing, its just that they were strangely familiar. Like I'd seen them somewhere else before." Yang said, as the trio left the club behind them.

"Maybe they were regulars at the bar?" Blake suggested, to which Yang answered with a shrug.

Blake shivered as a gust of cool wind slipped through the streets of Vale. Her mind flashed back to her days in the White Fang, and the times she'd spent with them hiding out in the forest outside of Vale. Which, if, anything, told her that the next few nights would be cold ones. Possibly even that Fall would be coming early to Vale. She pushed the memories of the White Fang aside as she followed her friends in something approaching a brisk walk. After all, they probably didn't have long before the last airbus to Beacon for the day.

The three of them walked on in silence. Blake wasn't sure what her partner or Sun were thinking or what personal demons they might be wrestling with. For her part, Blake was thankful for the silence of the city. Even if it was only a comparative silence, with the distant sound of traffic, the occasional car passing along the street they were on, and the sounds of footsteps. Either their own, or of people walking by them.

It was only after they'd gone a fair distance from the club, with no one else passing by to share the sidewalk with, when Yang gave a shallow sigh and turned to Blake. "Blake, I'm really sorry for screwing up back there."

Blake shook her head. "Don't apologize. I know you didn't do it on purpose. Just...be more careful, alright?"

"I will." Yang returned quickly, and Blake found herself giving a reassuring smile in return.

"That said, we need to have a talk at some point about why you wrecked Junior's bar." She'd meant the words to come out….well, not casually, but not nearly as accusatory. Sun looked visibly discomforted at this turn in the conversation but said nothing.

Yang didn't answer for a long moment. Worried, Blake glanced sideways at her partner, wondering what her reaction would be.

Compelled to speak, Blake added, "You don't have to talk about it right now."

Yang shook her head, giving a shallow sigh, her brows furrowing but not in irritation.

"To be honest? I don't know why I handled that the way I did, like I'm looking at a different person." Yang said, visibly ashamed and sounding almost confused."Anyway, sorry this whole thing was a bust."

"Don't be, it was a good idea and even we didn't find anything I feel better that were at least trying to do something." Blake reassured her.

"Yeah, don't worry we'll find out what those creeps are up to eventually!" Sun exclaimed.

"Your confidence is admirable," a woman's drawling voice spoke up from behind them.

Blake spun around, aware of Yang and Sun doing the same besides her. The feline-Faunus's hand reached for the butt of Gambol Shroud with practiced ease.

Even to Blake's Faunus night-vision, the dark-haired man and a red-haired woman who emerged from the alleyway seemed to step from the darkness itself.

"Yes?" Blake asked cautiously, almost tempted to reach for the hilt of her weapon, "Can we help you?"

"We'd like to think you can." The woman replied. Despite her polite expression, Blake couldn't help but shake the impression of a cat waiting patiently by a mouse-hole, "My name is Paula Blackwood."

"And I am Justin Darkwater." The man said, his accented voice clear and smooth and very civilized.

"Nice to know your names," Blake replied sardonically, "but what makes you think we can help you?"

"Because if I had to hazard a guess," the redheaded woman answered, "I'd say that you three were trying to get information on Roman Torchwick?"

"Maybe we are," Yang replied coolly, crossing her arms to project confidence. A gesture Sun mirrored, though it was less than effective. "What's it to you?"

"It just so happens my partner and I have an interest in him as well." The trio exchanged glances, Yang's finger caressing her compacted gauntlets, a question in her eyes.

Blake ever so slightly shook her head, the pair hadn't done anything, so no need to escalate things.

"You misunderstand us," Justin said, perhaps picking up on the mood. In a reassuring tone he continued; "We're on the same side as you. Paula and I have been investigating Mr. Torchwick and his new friends for some time. All we want is a few words with and then you can go on your way."

"Are you VPD?" Blake asked not knowing rather to feel relieved or worried.

"Private investigators," Paula corrected, "To be honest we'd hoped to run into you here."

"We know about your involvement at the docks as well." Justin added, answering the question on the trio's mind, "Seeing as we're both after the same thing, we might be able to help each other. We could even work together if you're interested. Assuming you want to of course. Although I suspect this isn't the time or place for us to be comparing notes."

"But perhaps we could arrange such a meeting?" Paula held out a card, Blake hadn't even noticed her pulling it. No doubt while Justin had been speaking. Blake wasn't sure if that meant they'd planned this before approaching them or were just that good at reading one another.

"We'll consider it." Blake replied cordially as she examined the card, it had their agency's name and contact information. It gave them an air of legitimacy but Blake knew how easily such things could be manufactured. Yet this could be the best lead they had; this would have to be discussed at length when they returned to Beacon.

"That's all we ask. We'll be in touch if you want to talk."

Blake watched the pair walk back into the alley they stepped out from, vanishing from even her eyesight. Perhaps some sort of cloaking semblance? Beneath her bow her ears twitched and pivoted as she followed the sounds of their footsteps until they too disappeared. Before she could ponder the strange encounter any further an odd thought struck her.

"Wait," She turned back to her friends, pocketing the business card "What time is it?"

"Uhh...Seven fifty!" Sun reported, pulling out his Scroll.

All three of them froze, realizing just how little time they had left before the last airbus ride to Beacon.

"Run!" Yang yelped. "Go, go, go!"

-RWBY-

With a certain feeling of amusement and a small smile, Paula Ravenwood watched the teenage trio take off down the sidewalk. Besides her, she was aware of Shaidar Gorthule doing the same.

It had been his idea to have her be the one to approach them at the start. Because she was another woman, he'd argued, the trio wouldn't feel as intimidated by her. At least not to the same level they might if he'd been the one to do so. Likewise, it had been his idea to offer them the choice to work with himself and Paula.

"Well, that was interesting," she commented to him as they began making their way back to their apartment.

"That is becoming a reoccurring theme for them," he pointed out mildly in reply. "All things considered, I think that went rather well."

"True." She paused, recalling the conversation they'd had a little earlier after overhearing the conversation between the trio of teenagers and Junior. "You're certain they're Nexus points?"

Nexus points, Shaidar had once explained to her long ago, where people or, in some cases, places that held an unusual influence on the course of history. A person could even become a nexus point by simply being in the right place at the right time.

"Quite certain," He asserted, "...even if they are younger then any I've ever heard of. To be truthful, I was starting to suspect what they were when you told me about Ms. Rose's encounter with Roman. Between the dockyard, what you told me about Ms. Belladonna's heritage and the last piece of the puzzle we overheard tonight, they're too well connected, too pivotal to be anything else."

"That last piece? Yang's apparently memorable last visit?" Paula asked.

"A visit that happened to take place on the same night that one Mr. Torchwick was here to hire on some extra muscle..."

"...That Roman then used to rob Dust 'till Dawn..." Paula glanced at Shaidar, the two of them slowing to a stop. "So how do we proceed?"

"If Ms. Belladonna and Ms. Xaio Long take us up on our offer, getting the rest of Team RWBY involved as well will be the next step. Which I don't seem much difficulty in."

"If even one of them gets involved they all will eventually," she agreed. "Duty, idealism, and camaraderie will see to that."

"Which is good, it'll allow us to be more hands-off."

"So what do you have in mind?" Paula asked him, her expression knowing. She suspected that she already could guess what his plan would be.

"If Miss Rose and her friends are determined to be heroes, then I say we help them along, place the metaphorical breadcrumbs on the correct path and hope they'll take it."

"Play the Merlin to their King Arthur?"

The Techno-mage smiled a little at that. "Yes, though hopefully things will turn out better for them than for King Arthur...and the risk of sounding selfish I hope that things will turn out better for us than they did for Merlin."

Paula raised an eyebrow at that. "So you're hoping for a happy ending? Awfully optimistic of you. Given that it look likes everything's riding on a bunch of teenagers, hard to predict how this will go."

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." Shaidar shrugged, and some uncertainty slipped into his expression. "Though as you pointed the fate of this world, and potentially, our own lives depends on a group of teenagers and their friends."

"...You wanna head back to the bar?"

He gave her an uneven smile. "To celebrate finding a path forward or to numb the horror of the revelation?"

"Both, if I'm being honest," she admitted.

He shrugged. "You won't need to either way. When I began to suspect the truth about Ms. Rose and her friends I took the liberty of acquiring some rather potent drinks."

Paula chuckled and shook her head, "Always thinking ahead."

She took Shaidar's hand in her own. For a moment, the two shared a reassuring look before they walked off together.

Chapter Notes:

I confess this chapter was in part something of an attempt to fix what I saw as issues I saw with the canon scene. Yang and Neptune didn't accomplish much of anything in their scene in canon. While Weiss learned something, Blake and Sun learned several somethings and Ruby was with Penny and got foreshadowing.

Plus it just felt like a natural place to tie the storylines of the Interlopers and Team RWBY together. And a little demonstration that the devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns.

As always comments, questions and reactions are welcomed and indeed, help fuel my writing.

Lord Jaric
Not just yet no. They will be Soon (TM). And Shaidar and Paula being thrown off their game by Yang's appearances were supposed to be a little funny, given how composed and on their game they've more or less been so far.

RiseFromAsh
I'm quite pleased you enjoy the story so far, the effort I put into it and that I was able to dispel your concerns about my original characters. I'm also happy to say that we'll be seeing more of is the intrigues by the various factions and people. As well as more of the 'secret war' elements. Like you, I quite miss those in the more recent Volumes of RWBY. On the subject of wrench-throwing into plans...well, the fun is just getting started.