Author's Notes
Humor me a bit. I recently read a fic that for the life of me I cannot remember. But that's not important. I do remember the author mentioned that, when they began getting reviews/comments, they finally understood why content creators asked for those.
I never thought about that before. I used to have a YouTube channel and back then, just like now, getting comments and that concrete, personal feedback that people are, indeed, consuming (for better or for worse) your work is a hefty motivator, especially when your view count is low. Sure, I can check the stats and see that *checks* in December so far there has been 703 people that have visited this fic and I'm the only schmuck from my country (uncultured bunch). But numbers are hard and cold facts. Comments/Reviews bring a human touch that inspires creators to push forward for the love of art. It's the reason why my prompt for reviews/follows/favs/reviews repeats reviews twice. And they do help shape the story. There are a few details in this story that have been shaped by reviews.
Anyways, just a little inside view on how some creators feel about comments/reviews. I don't think many people realize this. If you enjoy the story, review/follow/fav/review in that order.
Chapter 34: Hello, GV
"Why are we here again? Nothing has happened in the previous rallies; nothing is going to happen today."
The faunus man couldn't really dispute that. His colleague wasn't wrong and was making sure anyone who look her way knew that and more, sulking as she leaned on the lip of the roof and overlooked the masses of potential inductees to the White Fang. No amount of uniform or Grimm mask could make anyone looking to take them seriously if they saw her pouting.
He understood the need of keeping lookout, but by the gods, nothing ever happened! And yet, all it took was one day of not doing their due diligence to have the VPD and Beacon knocking at their door as an empty act of courtesy before bursting through the wall right next to the door, sirens blazing.
"Hey," his colleague spoke up, eyes lost observing the waves of faunus below. "Is it me or are boss man and boss lady jumpier today?"
He could really use a smoke. A sigh would have to suffice. He had noticed that too. Torchwick and that White Fang lady from Vacuo had been adamant about increasing security today.
"Have you seen the guys from Vacuo," he joined her on watching the potential new blood. Mixed among them, White Fang members in full uniform – Grimm mask and white-grey vest – guided the curious faunus inside the warehouse. If the uniform wasn't enough, the snarling wolf over claw marks adorning their back proved beyond a doubt their allegiance.
And mixed among those, a few White Fang stood out, their movement more confident and their eyes constantly scanning the surrounding. On the left breast of their vest, emblazoned proudly and in full display, an electric blue diamond with a stylized quill on top set them aside from the rest.
"Wonder why the Vacuo guys get their own cool emblem," the girl said. "You would think Sienna would want to portrait a united front across all branches rather than let those guys look like they're their own elite thing."
With the crowd thinning, the Fang members retreated inside the warehouse, leaving a skeleton crew to man the entrance.
"Wish I could be there," the man sighed. "Heard they got something big in store to boost our numbers."
A tap on both their shoulders hailed their attention. They felt no hurry or panic, so they took their time to turn and meet the interloper.
"Excuse me," a boy with black hair and a strip of pink hair addressed them. Something about the boy felt off. As if the light of the moon didn't quite reach him. What was he doing here?
"Does either of these bottles smell like chloroform to you?"
*THUD*
-o-
"That was more effective than I expected," Kohaku muttered, poking the unconscious faunus girl with her foot. The girl was effectively dead to the world, barely stirring and with only the slightest of hitch in her light snoring.
"Ren's Semblance, I mean. That is not chloroform," she clarified to the short redhead retrieving the bottles from Ren. "Chloroform doesn't work like that."
"I said it was like chloroform," Gibril said, the slightest hint of a snarl in her tone, as she pocketed the two bottles. "Or at least the movies' version of it. You have to ask either Asroc or Teseo for exact details."
Ren risked a peek at the entrance of the warehouse. "Crowd is thinning. Blake and her group should be entering soon."
With the help of Neptune, Kohaku dragged the bodies away from the edge. She removed the mask from the unconscious girl.
"Please tell me you're not planning on disguising as a White Fang grunt," Neptune pleaded.
"Not quite." Putting on the mask, Kohaku pulled a neatly folded cloth from one of her pouches. It was big enough to occupy the entirety of the pouch. Unfolding it revealed a cloak she donned, alongside a pair of cat ears.
"How do I look?"
"…Please tell me you're not planning on disguising as a flamboyant White Fang grunt," Neptune amended.
"Gotta have to agree with Nep. You're not fooling anyone with those fake ears," Gibril said as she eyed Kohaku.
"I'm not planning on passing as a faunus in the middle of the warehouse. But we cannot keep watch if every time a White Fang looks our way, we must duck. Do you think from a distance they could tell I'm not one of them?"
Ren looked thoughtfully at the disguise. Beside the ears and mask, Kohaku had thrown over her a high-collared, poncho-like dark gray cloak with a smaller yellow cloak below, woven together to create a two-layers article. The gray cloak had yellow highlights on its shoulder and across the bottom edge. The front was cut separate from the rest, being dark yellow in color and looking, at first glance, like a long tunic. It provided greater mobility of the arms than a full, uninterrupted cloak would have given her.
The color scheme was definitely Kohaku, but the style, while not off on the girl, wasn't quite her.
"It's dark outside and even with night vision, faunus should have trouble telling the color of your cloak. It can work," Ren said. It wasn't a uniform, but it didn't scream 'NOT WHITE FANG' like the girl's regular outfit did. Here's to hoping the Fang has people not in love with the white vests. "Where did you get that cloak, anyways?"
Kohaku looked at herself and twirled to better showcase her new garment. "My sis bought it when I came to Beacon. It's more her style, but I can see the charm and why she wears them. It'll do wonders in late Fall and Winter."
"It's not a bad idea," Gibril grabbed the second mask and pulled the hood of her black, white, and red cloak over her head, revealing a pair of horn-like decorations on top. Turns out her casual punk-rock outfit wasn't her battle outfit. At least not entirely. She retained the skirt and boots, but her shirt was replaced by a gray bodysuit with black and white highlights, the fur-lined coat by a hooded cloak, and on her arms were two black and red bracers that ended where her fingers started.
Gibril and Kohaku, adequately disguised, walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. Kohaku squinted her eyes. "I think I see Team FAUN entering the building. Hard to tell with this abysmal lighting. We should prepare to act quickly if necessary."
The ringing from a scroll brought her attention back to the roof. The rest of the temporary and suspiciously named Team KRVM looked at each other. Realizing it was not one of their scrolls, they looked at the unconscious body of the male faunus.
"Shit," Gibril cursed. "What are we- Neptune, what are you doing?"
"Shhh," Neptune called for silence, clearing his throat and answering the scroll. "Yeah? Everything clear. Boring as always. Hmmm?" He picked the wallet from the downed man and search through it. "We'll keep an eye out. Yeah, yeah, Birch out."
"Birch?" Gibril asked.
"His name," Neptune answered, throwing an ID card for the redhead to catch. "We have a problem."
As if waiting for Neptune to say that, Kohaku's scroll beeped with an incoming message.
"…please tell me your problem is the same as mine," the brunette pleaded Neptune after reading her scroll.
"Doubt it. Just got told to keep a lookout for people fitting GV's, Copen's, and Mytyl's description."
"Shit." Now it was Kohaku's time to curse, looking again at the two messages she just received from Mytyl and Ruby. "Seems like the Fang brought foreign reinforcement. Get ready." She turned to face the warehouse. "We might actually need to extract GV and company from there."
-o-
"I cannot believe you convinced me of this."
Blake immediately regretted her justified complain, almost shrinking under the sudden glare GV sent her way.
"I convinced you of crashing a White Fang rally?"
"Not that! I mean… this." She gestured at herself.
"Oh… you look fine."
"I am not joining yours and Ruby's gradient hair cult!"
"Technically your hair is entirely purple. We need to carefully take off part of the dye before properly inducting you."
She sighed. "I just do not see why this is needed."
GV stopped on his track and gave her a flat look.
"Really Blake? You, the exiled princess of the White Fang, who vowed to the gods and Roman Torchwick to singlehandedly bring the organization to its knees with your own cat hands, cannot fathom a single reason why you need a disguise to infiltrate a White Fang rally?"
"I took no such vow!"
"Could have fooled me," three voices muttered in unison.
"But… but… my hair. My beautiful raven locks."
"Wow, Blakey. Didn't paint you as vain," Teseo smirked behind them.
"…Let's just get this over with," Blake said defeated.
It wasn't like GV didn't have a point. She was a known factor to the Fang, especially after the disaster at the docks. Same for GV. Not quite as critical for Sun, but even he did the bare minimum to help them blend in.
She was currently sporting a white, zip-up crop shirt with long, black, tight pants. Her outfit wasn't that different from her normal one. To compensate, GV – who she was starting to suspect had an unhealthy obsession with dyes – dyed her hair dark purple, stylized it into a ponytail, and gave her fake glasses.
To her eternal horror, Teseo described her as 'owning that G.G. aesthetic'. Now, her time as Jaune's partner had taught her a little gamer lingo. She hoped with all her heart that was Teseo's gamer cred speaking and he meant 'good game', even if that didn't make sense. To her equally eternal dismay, it meant exactly what she feared: Glynda Goodwitch. She didn't want to look like a Glynda Goodwitch! That was Ruby's dream!
She glared at GV. She wanted to be mad. She really, really wanted to be mad at him. But it wasn't like GV just talked the talk and didn't walk the walk. At the end of the day, the boy who gave Torchwick a run for his money and who once upon a time was an elite White Fang CO wasn't exactly inconspicuous either.
He chose to dye his hair gray and tame it so that it wasn't so egregiously spiky. His regular blue coat, blue crop top, and blue pants were replaced with a form-fitting gray muscle shirt, a hooded dark green-gray long coat with red highlights, and black pants. His ponytail was hidden under his cloak, and the hood hid its existence fairly well. His contact lenses were set so that his eyes were also gray but retained the slit pupils. They needed those to prove his faunus heritage.
To take a word from Teseo's obnoxious vernacular, GV was now an emo. Ugh.
"Well, if you ask me, the hair suits you."
Of course Sun would say that. In his case, the idea of a disguise consisted of a normal shirt, buttoned up. His most distinctive feature were his abs, so covering them was deemed good enough.
"I still think you rule the 'hot librarian' look."
Teseo was an unknown to the White Fang, so he wore his regular shorts, green zipped up sweater, and white lab coat. Lucky bastard.
Cutting through an alley and stopping at the end, Blake signaled the group to stop, inspecting three lines drawn in chalk on the wall.
"Some things never change," GV muttered, pulling his hood up to give him better cover. Under any other circumstance, doing that in the middle of summer would have been suspicious. But assisting one of the Fang's recruitment drive? Blake would be surprised if less than half of the potential candidates had hoods. It gave people a certain degree of anonymity. Same reason they were given masks at the entrance.
"We should be arriving soon. Set your scrolls to silence. We don't need them ringing at the wrong time and attracting attention," GV informed the group.
Discovering that the rally was today had been a stroke of luck and finding it was easy. The Fang were not being shy about promoting it. And that worried GV. It meant one of two things: they were getting desperate for recruits and needed to bolster their numbers quickly for unknown reasons – and that didn't bode well – or they were confident they were able to deal with any unwanted attention.
Or both. Both was the worst-case scenario.
After a few more streets, they stumbled upon a group of faunus being led inside a warehouse by obvious White Fang's members. Bingo.
"We should wait until the numbers thin a bit," GV said, having trouble picking off Fang members out of the crowd. He fell back into the alleyway they were looking out from. "The less time we spend inside, the better."
Sun looked towards the rooftops. He caught glimpses of a few Fang members. "Seems like they are keeping watch."
"It's rare for rallies in Vale to get raided by either Beacon or the VPD, but keeping guard is still to be expected," Blake explained.
GV nodded. "Cut corners one time and that'll be the one time law enforcements descend upon you," he agreed.
"Hope Kohi, Neptune, and company are able to get in place," Sun said with a hint of worry.
"Chillax," Teseo gave him a slap on the back. "Gibs is with them. I'm more worried about the poor suckers that randomly encounter her. G.I.R.L is savage af."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "G.I.R.L.?"
"Guy In Real Life," GV offhandedly explained as he peeked out of the alley to see if they could move in. There were less Fang members, but they could still stand for the crowd a thin a bit more. "Is an old, faux online gaming axiom that plays on the false stereotype that women are neither technologically adept or interested in gaming. So, when you meet a female player character or someone claiming to be a girl, it's actually a guy. Hmmm, just a little longer and we move in."
Turning to face his companions, he was met with owlish eyes.
"What?"
Teseo grinned and opened his arms as if asking for hug. "Jeeves! My man!"
"Why do you know that?" Blake asked, shaking her head in disbelief and nursing an incoming headache.
GV shrugged. "I dabbled a bit in online gaming. Hard not to when you're lying low in self-imposed house arrest and your girlfriend all but forces you to."
"Jeeves, ladies and gentlemen. Smooth criminal, avatar of lightning, and level 100 Druid," Sun exclaimed, highlighting the absurdity of it all.
"Level 80 Gunslinging Huntsman, actually," GV corrected.
Teseo was about burst with glee and understanding before GV stopped him.
"Let's move. Only a couple of people left. Remember to flaunt your faunus trait at the entrance."
Teseo put on an award-winning smile.
-o-
'Too many people.'
Blake eyes darted across the assembled faunus. She had never seen so many potential recruits in one single place.
Not in Atlas, where the faunus had all the reasons in the world to turn against the system that didn't kept its part of the deal in the contract that was civilized society. And not in Mistral, where the political power of the Fang pervaded every nook and cranny of the city, from the lowest of slums to the most affluent neighborhoods and what little faunus lived in them.
So why was it so crowded? How were the new recruits rivaling and perhaps even surpassing in numbers the actual White Fang members? She really wished she had her weapon on her, but Teseo had convinced her and Sun to give him their weapon to hide. They were too noticeable. At least GV kept his, being a simple handgun that he could conceal somewhere in his coat.
"This isn't right. There shouldn't be so many people." She closed the distance to GV and whispered, "how does it compare to Vacuo?"
"Considering Vale's higher population density? About the same," GV whispered back.
"This mask is itchy."
"They are terrorist's masks. They are not supposed to be comfortable. They are supposed to represent the monsters people believe us to be." Blake told off Sun.
GV gave her a flat look. "Why does that sound familiar," he deadpanned.
"'Represent' being the operative word, GV. They're not actual monsters."
"I agree with Sun," GV switched topics. "These masks suck. Mine was better and cooler. It was black with red visors and didn't scream monster. Just highly dangerous."
"That does sound cooler," Sun agreed.
"Could both of you take this seriously! And where's Teseo?"
And that was the million-lien question. Where is the toothy menace?
"Blake, relax. Nothing has happened yet."
Sun remained unfazed against the glare Blake gave him. As scary as the masks were supposed to be, something was lost when you couldn't see the fury in someone's eyes.
"He has a point," GV said. "Doing anything right now will just draw attention to us." He looked around. "Though I can see what you mean. Given everything I've heard of Vale, there really shouldn't be so many people here."
Soon after, the murmurs slowly faded. At the front, on a stage, White Fang members filed in, diligently standing in line facing the crowd. For a bunch of so-called volunteers, they stood awfully tall and professional. A far cry from the image Blake painted for them during their pregame.
A beast of a man – and Blake belatedly couldn't believe she was thinking those exact words – walked forward. He wore the white vest associated with the White Fang over his orange, long-sleeved muscle shirt. However, that's where the similarities to the normal uniform ended. On top of the vest and shirt was a black military long coat trimmed with gold. His trousers black below the belt while beige and baggy at the legs, tucked into brown boots; different from the black of the standard uniform. In his arms were fingerless gloves of the same beige color with golden knuckles.
More intimidating than his physique was his Grimm mask. Most White Fang's masks covered their upper face, but this man's mask covered the lower half, fashioned after the jaw of an Alpha Beowolf. It allowed for his hard, orange eyes to rove over the crowd with frightening intensity. Given that it did nothing to hide his dark skin and platinum blond hair, it was obvious the man cared more about the intimidation factor of the Grimm mask than the anonymity it could provide. There was no discernible Faunus feature in clear sight, but that didn't much give how easy some of them were to hide. The way his compatriots acted around him, both the ones standing by him and those mixed among the audience, lend credence to the man's right to be there.
The man opened his arms wide and bombastically. "Brothers and Sisters of the White Fang! I welcome thee to this glorious assemble!"
GV leaned towards Blake to whisper. "Did he just break out a 'thee'?"
She shushed him. Then again, he wasn't the only one among the crowd to find the archaic dialect odd.
"Today we are here to welcome our new comrades, who thirst to fight the injustices that plague our society. Today, we take a grand step forward in our righteous battle. A great step forward towards breaking the shackles our ancestors wore and that we inherited."
The cheer from the crowd, both White Fang and potential recruits, caught Blake off-guard. She hadn't expected such blatant acceptance for the Fang. And that worried her.
"But we couldn't have done this alone. Comrades! Today we have a few special guests who have helped us achieve this milestone. I ask thee to keep thy mind open and hear them out."
A crowd exploded into confused mutterings as Roman Torchwick appeared from behind the stage, strutting up and center with unwarranted arrogance. Next to him, a short girl with brown, white, and pink hair followed, leaning towards Torchwick as he whispered something and she responded with a nod, moving to stand next to… an object covered by sheets. There were two of them, big enough that without bringing attention to either, they blended with the wall, like props on a stage.
"Huntress," GV said under his breath, just loud enough for her and Sun to hear. Blake could see it. Hunters have a certain aura to them of self-confidence. They were meant to stand out and inspire trust and safety to anyone who saw them.
And a twisted version of this philosophy held true for Hunter-trained criminals. Just like real deal, they carried themselves with a hair-raisingly chilling poise that kept people on edge. Roman's brand of hubris was disguised as arrogance, but firsthand experience has shown her the master thief was as dangerous as any Huntsman or Huntress. His arrogance was earned. And the woman that walked next to him… she exuded a similar condescension. She was the best and deadliest person in the room, and she made sure everyone knew without speaking a single word.
Next to her, GV watched with rapt attention, gritting his teeth. Whether it was anger or worry, she couldn't tell. Sun wasn't faring better; his usual smile gone and replaced with a scowl.
"Roman Torchwick?"
"What is a human doing here?"
"He's with the White Fang?"
The questions poured from the confused faunus. Blake took note that only the potential recruits spoke. The Fang members, and Torchwick himself, weathered the impromptu interrogation with surprising grace.
"Gentlemen," Torchwick finally spoke as the crowd died down, "ladies," he winked and smiled charmingly. How many women actually fell for the gentlemen thief act? "Yeah, yeah. I'm Roman Torchwick: thief extraordinaire, twice in a row most desirable bachelor this side of Saunus, and the guy daddy warns you about.
"You might be asking yourself: what's the devilish handsome specimen from my dreams doing here? Truth be told, I am as surprised as you are. Not even half a year ago I would have never imagined myself in this position, helping revolutionaries fight the good fight. I understand your apprehension. Really, I do. Humans are the worst. I speak from insider experience. We cheat, we lie, we believe ourselves superior because by pure happenstance we don't share an appendage with Fido."
He slammed his cane into the hardwood stage. "And to be completely honest with you? Half a year ago I didn't give a shit about it all. And even now I don't hold strong ties to your cause. But what I do hold is a motivation and a common goal. I'm a business partner. And my contribution is merely a transaction. I won't insult you by calling you brothers or sisters in arms, so I ask you to not think of me as one. I empathize with your plead." He sounded genuine.
Blake sensed something wrong, turning just to catch GV frozen in place, mouth half opened. The mask hid his eyes, but Blake had a feeling nothing good was reflected on them.
"I feel you," Torchwick gestured from him to the public a few times. "I really do. We share an enemy. Those in power. Those who decided what's right and wrong. Those who play with our lives because we were born with less. Because we were not given the same opportunities. Because we were born in the slums or you were born with a horn, or a tail, or funky ears. Those who decided you are an obstacle to be dealt with because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and didn't took your beating in your knees."
The crowd lapped Torchwick's words, howling in agreement. And as much as she hated to admit it, he was good at rallying the audience.
"I'm a thief! Am I better than them? Who knows!? But if nothing else, I'm honest. And the truth is that history is written by the victor, but even if they are the victors most of the times, there is one thing they haven't been able to erase. Sometimes, you need to stand up and fight! Sometimes, the only option is to take arms and demand change. Change requires sacrifices and you are at a breaking point. It is up to you to take that step, reach out, and grab it! And I am here to enable it!"
The crowd frenzied. Blake looked at her companions, worry etched in her eyes. Things were looking bad. Really bad.
Torchwick composed himself. "Like I said: I am, if nothing else, honest. I look out for number one and two. Once our deal is done, I hope you the best." He walked to the side, standing in front of one of the covered objects. "Now that we know what you need to do and where our delightful relationship stands, here's the first deliverable of my end of the deal. Here is the tool of your revolution!"
Extending his arm towards the object, the multicolored girl that accompanied him pulled off the cover.
"Crap."
"Shit."
Sun and GV, respectively, encompassed pretty well her feelings. A feeling the crowd didn't share as they stared in awe. Uncovered for all to admire was a beautiful and imposing white mech. Without a doubt military-grade Atlas tech marred with a decal of the White Fang's snarling wolf.
"Where did he get that!?" Blake hissed at GV. He didn't respond, too catatonic to even make a sound. His eyes glued on the mech.
Glued on the diamond with a quill on top placed next to the Fang's wolf that was painted on its side.
"Of course, tech is only as good as those using it," Roman once more reeled in the crowd with his words. "You came here to possibly join the Fang. But you are wet behind the ears and ready to crumple under the weight of your oppressors' establishment. But that can easily be fixed." He raised a hand and snapped his fingers. "You are not alone. You have allies to help you become the best you can be."
In an orderly and borderline military fashion, new members of the White Fang walked from the backstage and stood in attention behind the thief and next to the first man that spoke. Their uniform was mostly identical to those of the regular members of the fang, with two exceptions. The outfits below the white vests were all completely identical, with zero deviation from the long-sleeved blue military jacket and blue pants tucked into black boots they all wore. It was a stark contrast from the more lenient dress code of Vale's White Fang.
The second exception was an insignia on their left breast of the vests: an electric blue diamond with a stylized quill on top.
Blake was sharply tugged towards GV.
"We have to go. Now!" He said urgently, with panic that made Blake's blood drain off her face. GV never panicked.
"W-what are-"
Silence descended over the warehouse. The rhythmic staccato of weighty heels walking on wood echoed. Looking back at the stage, Blake saw the source.
Another human – at least from appearance and the way her eyes squinted in the warehouse's low light – stood next to Roman. She was a brunette woman, the top of her uniform held a passing resemblance to those of the White Fang behind her, but gray in color and lacking the vest and mask. Her bottom was a short skirt and high knee socks, also gray. On her right arm a red band held the Fang's wolf on it. And on her left, a similar armband held the quill. On her belt, a single handgun was holstered. From the way the White Fang behind her stood, a clear reverence was being shown towards the woman.
Her eyes roved over the audience. Calculating eyes that divulged nothing. Assessing them. Passing judgment.
"Blake!" GV hissed, tugging at her once more. Panic overflowing.
The woman's eyes locked in their position. Her eyes had been assessing the crowd. Judging the crowd.
And searching for them.
Two strong arms grabbed her from behind, the strength of the grip flaring her Aura. Besides her, GV and Sun were being similarly roughed. GV made a move to retaliate but froze as a gun was aimed at his back. She felt the same action being done to her as the cold metal of the barrel made her shiver.
"Don't even think it, Volt," the rough voice of the White Fan, dressed in the uniform as the odds members on stage, warned him. "Water Dust ammo. Just for you. If we see so much as a single spark, even if you don't activate your Semblance, your friends will not be as lucky."
They were dragged to the stage in front of everyone. Both the unaffiliated faunus and Vale's White Fang observe with curiosity, while the Fang with the quill insignia kept a stern face. Soon enough, they were tossed to the floor, unmasked and at the feet of Roman Torchwick and the new woman. Torchwick scoffed in disbelief, sending a grave look at the woman. In return, the woman's eyes briefly met the thief's, nodding at some unspoken conversation before nodding towards the pink, brown, and white girl.
Pink, brown, and white girl…
GV started chuckling, eventually evolving into a laugh. It scared Blake and off-put Sun.
'Please, oh please, don't let him be delirious.' Blake silently prayed. Now was not the time for their strongest fighter to have a mental meltdown.
Torchwick shifted to send them a scornful glare, clearly not thrilled about seeing them again. And definitely not understanding or amused about what GV found so damn funny. Blake could relate.
"Care to share the joke with class, Sparky?"
GV looked at Roman with smug mirth on his face. "She," he nodded his head towards the multicolored girl, who raised an eyebrow at being addressed, "is the one you were referring to when you warned me against tasting strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla at the same time, isn't she?"
The kick Torchwick sent GV's face rang across the warehouse with a meaty thud, as GV's azure Aura ate the brunt of the attack. Blake winced. Even with Aura, a direct kick like that hurt. At least Roman opted to kick GV on the side of his face rather than straight upfront on the nose.
Despite the assault, GV chuckled weakly. "Totally worth it," he wheezed from his spot on the floor.
Blake disagreed. Torchwick disagreed. Even Sun looked unsure. Lucky for GV, it seemed like the object of his little jab did found it amusing, as she left out a barely audible giggle with a smirk on her face. And a cocked eyebrow towards Torchwick, who muttered venomously as he walked to stand next to the girl and glare at GV. Probably sending him a string of curses his way.
"All yours, Nikki," the thief waved them off, as if no longer holding his interest.
The woman in gray stepped up. Despite being three of them, her eyes were only for GV.
"Hello, GV."
"Moniqa," Gun Volt succinctly responded, nodding at the newly identified Moniqa. "What is Quill doing in Vale. What is your goal?"
'Quill?'
"The goal of Vacuo's White Fang is none of your concern, traitor." Moniqa played up the entire sentence and emphasized the last word, for the benefit of everyone watching events unfold. It got the desired result, with the Vale White Fang joining their Vacuan brethren in their glare while the attendees began muttering among themselves.
"None of my concern?" GV asked. "Please excuse me if I don't agree. Not after I thwarted your little party at the docks. And not with my defection. I don't believe no one was sent to retrieve me after I left."
"THEY WEREN'T!"
Blake eyes widened, as well as Sun's and GV's. She felt that. All the hurt, anger, betrayal, reluctance, resignation, and more. This woman, Moniqa, meant those words. And even if she hadn't felt her emotions, the face of anguish on Moniqa's face either meant she was telling the truth, or she was the world's greatest actress.
"There were no orders to deal with you in any way. In fact, we were specifically told to let you be. You think I – me, of all people – didn't know you were at risk of deserting the Fang?" She asked incredulously. And from the way GV broke eye contact, it was clear he hadn't considered it. "You served your time in hell, GV, and we accepted that. We allowed a lot of things. And would have continued to turn a blind eye…"
Her face hardened.
"…until you started to actively fight us. That, Gun Volt, is the one thing we cannot turn a blind eye to."
"Fine, you caught me. Just let the other two go. It's me who you want."
Moniqa sighed. "It's not only you, Volt." Her gaze shifted to Blake. "Adam has a hefty bounty on the Belladonna girl. Captured alive."
Blake face drained of blood. The thought alone of being delivered to Adam on a silver platter sent chills down her spine and triggered a fight-or-flight response she couldn't execute on.
Moniqa turned to face the audience, who look with a mixture of morbid curiosity and apprehension at the events unfolding. "Brothers and sisters of the White Fang. My apologies for the unfortunate show you just witnessed. I will not mince words. The White Fang is not for the faint of heart. We are at the cusp of a revolution and we need people ready to stand side by side with us. Leave now and today never happened. Join us and we expect your loyalty. Betray us," she looked at GV, "and as much as it pains me, there will be consequences."
Mutterings erupted from the crowd. A few of the faunus did took up on the offer to leave. But most stayed. A frightening number stayed.
"Who are you?" Someone asked.
"You are a human, are you not? What right do you have to call us 'brothers and sisters'?"
A wave of agreement washed over the audience. Moniqa faced the suspicions thrown her way stoically.
"Of course, I didn't introduce myself, did I?" She answered with ease. "My name is Moniqa Grau, second-in-command of the Vacuo's White Fang chapter."
Exclamations of disbelief erupted from the audience. Blake herself had a hard time believing it.
And GV opened his damn mouth. "Congratulations on the promotion."
Moniqa glared his way and a kick from one of Vacuo's members met him right in the midsection. This time, Blake agreed; he deserved it.
"You ask me what right I have to call you brothers and sisters? And I remind you the White Fang fights for equality. We are not looking to subjugate humans. We fight to claim your rightful place at our side. I call you brothers and sisters not because I am a faunus. I call you brothers and sisters because I fight besides you. My brothers and sisters in arms. I haven't experienced your pain. But I understand it. And you will learn that I truly understand. That I feel it like you do."
A wave of familiar pain washed over Blake. The pain of alienation. Of discrimination. Of being considered less for just for the sin of existing.
"Her Semblance," GV muttered next to her with gritted teeth. "Cannot believe she can use it on so many people at once."
'What?' Blake looked at the crowd. They were mystified by Moniqa's words. They felt her commitment to her cause.
The horror of the situation dawned on Blake. They felt Moniqa's commitment, but could they tell it was hers and not theirs?
"I call you to action. Will you join us? Will you rise and fight? Will you reach out and claim your birthright?"
The crowd eagerly shouted their support.
'No.' Blake looked at the crowd with dread. Even with the woman's Semblance affecting the crowd, why was the White Fang garnering so much support? Were so many faunus really that dissatisfied? Was there a fast-approaching breaking point she hadn't seen coming?
Moniqa smiled at the overwhelming acceptance towards her speech. She extended an inviting hand at the audience. "Then I welcome you to the White Fang."
"HAHAHAHA, NOPE! NO WAY. I AIN'T HAVE TIME TO FOLLOW U."
Everyone looked towards the ear grating voice. Towards the uncovered Paladin. On top of it, a sharp teethed boy sat on top of the cockpit, with a massive smile that Blake hoped with all her heart Teseo could justify.
"Who are you?" Moniqa asked at the interloper.
With a snap of his fingers, a White Fang mask appeared on his hands. Teseo placed the mask on top of his face and cleared his throat.
"Hai, I'm Nikki, hugs and kisses, bros and sisters!" Teseo said with a falsetto in a terrible impression of Moniqa, if she was a valley girl, "I'm, like, second bitch of the Lame Fang, Desert edition, and I'm here in Vale because BIG STRONK sugar daddy leader wasn't giving me a good dicking. And I heard Lickwick was in the market of being a bitch."
Blake gaped. Sun gaped. Torchwick and Neo gaped. Every single Vacuo White Fang gaped. Some of the Vale's Fang members and the audience gaped.
GV gaped. And perfectly put into words what everyone who knew Moniqa was thinking.
"Oh shit!"
Blake had read many books and the notion of killing intent always came across as silly to her. Where did people get the idea that someone could exude a murderous aura by wishing someone dead really, really hard?
Well… she was quickly reevaluating her opinion on the subject matter and constructing a very convincing and plausible hypothesis regarding the origins of the phrase. Turns out a lot could be waved away when you add Semblances into the mix.
A guttural snarl erupted from deep within Moniqa's soul.
"KILL HIM."
Blake even felt the slightest of pushes to do as told, lunge at the reptile boy, and claw his eyes off. Whatever the woman was doing, was effective.
And when you're already willing to follow your boss's orders, one might say it was too effective. All Vacuo's Fang members on stage turned to shoot at Teseo, regardless of the cover the Atlas's mech provided.
All of them… including the ones that were holding them, and specifically GV, at gunpoint.
"Guess that's my cue," GV muttered as he unholstered his handgun and turned to the man that had been restraining him only a few seconds ago.
"STOP GUN VOLT!"
Moniqa's warning came too late, as a dense sphere of electricity was shoved right into the man's chest, just as he turned to realize his mistake. The unfortunate faunus was sent flying straight into the Atlas's mech. And straight through the mech, as the machine dematerialized, leaving behind a green wireframe that dissolved into specs of light that disappear into the air soon after, leaving nothing but Teseo holding his hand forward.
A question for another time. GV aimed his gun at Moniqa and fired. The woman reacted in time, diving out of the line of fire. And leaving a straight shot to the junction box; for the needles to stick stubbornly into it.
"Eyes closed," GV commanded, sparks of electricity starting to coalesce around him. Blake and Sun didn't need to be told twice.
Even through her eye lids, Blake saw the blinding light that flooded warehouse as the lightbulbs supercharged and exploded soon after, but not before leaving almost everyone around them writhing in pain and rubbing their eyes.
"Dudes and dudette! Here! GTFO! GTFO!"
Following the voice, Blake saw Teseo standing in on a catwalk above the audience. How did he get there? And when did he pick up sunglasses? Without warning, he slammed the handrail of the catwalk and a ladder, a very long ladder, materialized and dropped on the stage, providing a haphazard bridge to cross.
"Move!" Sun ordered, being the first to run up the ladder. GV grabbed Blake by the arm and they followed.
"Door to roof," Teseo pointed at the end of the catwalk, tapping the ladder he created and making it disappear into wireframes and then nothing. The shouts of surprise that followed pointed at the Fang being hot on their heels before meeting the floor.
They ran for the hatch to the roof but stopped on their tracks as their bodies suddenly became heavy.
"What the…" Blake exclaimed as she struggled to take one step.
"The stage!" Teseo pointed.
Looking back at the stage, GV spied the Fang member with the long coat and the bottom-half mask extending his hand towards them.
Snapping Dullahan into Dart Leader, GV fired actual bullets at the man. In response, the White Fang brought his second hand forward and swiped both arms to the side, forcing GV's bullets to swerve to either side of him. And before he could resume his assault, Teseo ran to the railing and threw a spherical device at the man, exploding into a contained inferno that force the White Fang member to defend further.
"Move," Sun yelled. The effects of whatever the man was doing left their bodies and the distraction was enough for the group of Hunters-in-training to make it to the roof.
Bursting out of the hatch, all four of them stumbled out, making a run for the edge.
"What now?" Sun asked.
"Here," Teseo threw each of them a gun with a hook at the end, as well as Blake's and Sun's weapons at their owners.
"Is this a grappling hook?" Sun asked.
"Where do you keep pulling stuff from?" Blake asked, glad to have Gambol Shroud where it belonged.
"Questions later," Teseo quickly said, looking left and right in search for something. "There! That building!"
"What's with that building?" Sun asked.
"TESEO YOU PUBLIC MENACE WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"Ah…" Sun said, quickly noticing the angry redhead jumping up and down, catching the attention of everyone in the vicinity.
"Just aim and shoot. Activate aimbot as needed," Teseo instructed and showed the class how it's done. With a satisfying hiss and thunk, his grappling hook was securely embedded into the edge of the rooftop where Team KRVM (Blake let out a little smile at the reminder of the name) was waiting.
"Gibs, babe, catch me when I fall!" Teseo allowed the hook that reel him in.
Blake and Sun winced. Face first right into Gibril's waiting boot. That had to hurt.
"What's wrong with that guy?" Blake asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Maybe he's a masochist," Sun proposed.
Taking aim and shooting her hook, Blake spared a glance at Sun. "You would know, wouldn't you?"
Sun pouted. GV, pulling to make sure his hook was secured, spoke up. "You of all people shouldn't kink shame, Blake. Jaune has told me the kind of smut you read." Before Blake could answer, he allowed the hook to whisk him away.
Meeting the lookout team on the other roof, Blake accepted Ren's helping hand in pulling her up. Kohaku and Neptune did the same for GV and Sun. Teseo wasn't as lucky.
"You idiot! You imbecile! What part of low profile are you incapable of wrapping your big, empty head around!?"
Teseo curled on the floor, protecting his head from Gibril's continuous kicks and abuse. "It wasn't my fault!" Teseo half-cried, half-whined, "GV scorned a woman."
All eyes shifted to GV. He narrowed his. "He's not wrong… but not in the way it sounds. And I wasn't the one who took Moniqa's dirty laundry and aired it for everyone to see in the most insufferable way possible."
Blake's and Sun's eyes widened.
"Wait," Sun said, "you mean that what Teseo said is true!?"
"Oh yeah. Moniqa has a very bad and very obvious crush on my previous boss." He looked at the miserable pile of open secrets that was Teseo. "We all just know better than to call her out on it. Even less like you did."
"How did you even know?" Blake asked Teseo.
"You hacked her scroll," Gibril said flatly.
"I hacked her scrolled," Teseo confirmed.
A crash from below stopped their conversation. Down on the streets, an awfully familiar mech stood menacingly, looking around before locking on their location.
"…crap," Kohaku said with utmost eloquence.
"They had another one!" Sun cried.
"There were two covered objects…" GV said.
"GV," Moniqa's voice boomed from the mech. "Give me that green cretin that's with you and I'll even leave this mech for you to take.
They all turned to Teseo, who gave them a big grin in return. Surely they wouldn't exchange him for the mech, right?
…
Right?
Gibiril sighed. "Tempting, but we cannot give them Tessie just like that."
"Pity," GV muttered. "Moniqa! How about one of his fingers and you keep the mech?"
"WHAT!?"
"An arm and we keep the mech," Moniqa opened negotiation, to Teseo's utter dismay and disbelief.
"Do I get I say on this?"
"Both his arms and you give us an arm of the mech."
"Nope. Nuh-uh. I saved your collective butts and I'm cashing in my favor. Not for sale."
GV groaned. "Sorry Moniqa. He's cashing in the favor for getting us out of there."
The voice from inside the mech chuckled. "I always did enjoy your dry sense of humor, GV. For what is worth, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
Nodding in understanding, GV turned towards his companions and their bewildered expression. "We should run."
-o-
Mytyl's scroll rang.
"We received Kohaku's message. We're on our-"
"NO!" Ruby yelled through the scroll. "We got cut on our way there. They had Fang members ready for reinforcement and we're pinned down." A Dust explosion was heard on the background. "Copen, Nora, and Asroc broke through. Yang and I stuck around to help the two Huntsmen Ozpin assigned to this. Send Weiss and Pyrrha our way. The rest of you find another route. I'm out."
Before Mytyl could respond, Ruby hanged up. "Guess she wants Team RWPY together."
"We better go and assist then," Weiss said as Pyrrha stood beside her. "Be careful out there."
"Same," Mytyl responded and waved her scroll. "Doesn't sound like they're dealing with random volunteers."
Weiss groaned in frustration. "We just had to be right," she grumbled before running in the direction leader and teammate were fighting. Pyrrha followed.
Mytyl turned towards Jaune and Pantera. "We better get going. It'll take us longer if we need to skirt around RWPY's fight."
The leaders of JNBR and PTGA nodded. With a waved of her hand, a purple mirror appeared next to Pantera. "I'll go ahead. Would bring you with me, but transporting other people does a number on my Aura."
"Your Semblance is teleportation or something?" Jaune asked.
"Or something," Pantera kind of confirmed. "See you soon," she said before disappearing into the mirror, which proceeded to shatter.
"…Mytyl, you have your rocket boots and I'll just slow you down. You should go ahead."
Bringing her index finger to her chin, she pondered on the suggestion for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Lumen," she ordered the little pod. Without any explanation, the ACP synchronized to Jaune and activated the Aura Burst module.
Jaune's eyes widened in trepidation.
Mytyl smiled. "I know being Ruby is… intense. But try not to puke."
-o-
"So… Kohi… what's with the fake ears?"
"Not the time, Sun!"
"No, please, continue. I want to know too."
"Blake…" Ren sighed.
"We're fast approaching the residential area!" Gibril yelled as they landed on yet another roof. On the street next to them they could hear the mech closing in.
"So?" Blake asked.
"So? So!?" the redhead repeated as if Blake was the stupidest person she had the disgrace to meet. And she was teammates with Teseo! "We cannot bring a giant military robot to the middle of Vale! Gods, you guys are so icky first years!"
"What about the highway?" Sun asked.
"Bzzzt, wrong answer," Teseo answered. "Even this late, people use those. Rule number 9 of the Hunter's Manual for Dummies. Do not endanger civilians needlessly."
"How many rules are there?" Kohaku asked.
Teseo smiled wildly. "Eleven hundred and seventeen. Thirty-four will shock you!"
"Perv…" Gibril muttered. "Drop off the roof."
The eight students landed at ground level, letting their Aura take the brunt of the damage. It was an open space with a few trucks. A parking lot for cargo trucks, most of them guessed. And there was only one entry to the lot, so a dead end too.
Teseo turned to the fast approaching mech and unnecessarily clapped his hands.
"Equivalent exchange, bitch!" He produced a giant red cloth and allowed the mech to get wrapped in it as he dodged to the side. With her visibility hindered, Moniqa crashed into the building at the end of the lot.
"Why do you have a giant red cloth in that," Gibril pointed at the glove on his left hand.
Now what he was actively showing it rather than covering it with his lab coat, Blake noticed the glove had a keyboard and a screen attached to it. Must be his weapon and how he manages to summon items.
"Terabytes of ones and zeroes, Gibs! You'd be amazed how much stuff and porn is in this stuff." He pointed at Blake and shined a grin. "Maybe we can exchange material. Never tried smut, but I'm open to new venues."
'Must not strangle him,' both Gibril and Blake thought, to limited success as their fingers inched towards Teseo's neck. The whirring and scrapping of the mech saved the reptile faunus from their wrath, as it turned to face them.
"Done running away?" Moniqa asked as the mech planted itself on the ground, ready to launch its ordnance at a moment's notice. "Always a bleeding heart, GV…" she muttered as the mech locked in on the eight students in front of her. Had they run past the industrial district and into the residential area, their chances would have been much better. She didn't need to beat them. Just buy enough time for Roman and her reinforcement to catch up.
She flinched back as a needle struck the glass in front of her, stuck securely without penetrating the armored glass. And when a needle and GV were in the general vicinity…
A tendril of electricity rushed towards the mech. He fully expected Moniqa to react and block the lightning bolt with the mech's arm, probably rendering it useless in the process. What he did not expected was that, instead of the arm rising, a thin blade to extend from it and his bolt to be redirected to it.
"One year at Beacon wasn't enough to work around that one-trick pony crutch you have going, GV?" Swinging the blade, Moniqa sent the absorbed electricity back at the group, who dispersed as lightning struck.
"No way Atlas built a mech with a lightning rod just to counter you," Kohaku yelled to her teammate as she shakily stood up.
"They didn't," GV groaned. "There's a Quill member with the know how to modify the mech to deal with me. Let's just hope he doesn't show up."
"Reassuring," Gibril growled. "Teseo, cover me." Two wicked, blood red blades appeared from each of her gauntlets as she took on a feral grimace and similarly savage stance, like a wolf ready to lunge and bite. "I'm tearing that thing with my own hands."
Faster than anyone anticipated, Gibril dashed to the mech. Teseo, on his end, knelt into position and summoned a 'portable' multiple rocket launcher.
"MISSILE MASSACRE, HAHAHAHA!" Was the only warning as a barrage of missiles flew the mech's way. In a showcase of Atlas's engineering prowess, the automatic targeting system managed to destroy a good number of them, but a few still hit their marks.
To less than expected results.
"Bummer," Teseo groused.
"Can I assume that whatever you summon isn't as strong as the real deal?" Ren asked.
"In ELI5 terms, pretty much. It's 'kay. Gibs will gib that mech."
Teseo's barrage fulfilled its goal, buying Gibril time to reach the mech and jump above the clumsy punch it sent her way. She slashed at the mech's arm, managing to cut through metal and at some of the circuitry before she was forced to jump off by the blade used to absorbed GV's attack. But not before ripping a sheet of the slashed metal with her bare hands and taking it with her.
Moniqa aimed the machine gun on the mech at Gibril, who quickly used her souvenir and bend it into a sphere around her. The bullets pinged on the surface of the defense, sending her rolling back to the other students.
"Gibs!" Teseo slid to a kneel next to the metal ball. "You ok in there? Speak to me. Insult me. Gibs! GIBS!"
A groan was heard from inside. "Shut up!". She was upside down inside the metal shell as she reopened the sphere and crawled out. "Moron." She inspected her body. No holes. "Bleh. Could have used some blood. Atlas doesn't skimp on their military toys, it seems. That's some quality metal."
"Plan B?" Sun asked.
"Put your weapons down and surrender," a distressingly familiar voice called behind them.
"Glad to see you joining us Roman. Was the evacuation successful?"
Roman nodded at the mech pilot. Standing behind him were White Fang members, both Vacuo's and Vale's, as well as the ice cream colored Huntress-trained criminal. "Inductees being inducted at our safehouse as we speak. Your guest speaker will rejoin us at our rendezvous point." He turned towards the Hunters-in-training. "Now. Sparky, Kitty Kat. The offer still stands. Give us Teeth over there and we can all go our merry way."
"Come on!" 'Teeth' whined. "It was a joke. A JOKE. A 'ha ha ha' joke. I swear, you need to get laid SOOOOOOOO BADLY!"
The air tensed. Roman calmly took a cigar from his inner pocket and light it up. Taking a deep puff out of it, he exhaled a generous cloud of smoke and proceeded to just stare at Teseo, raising an eyebrow for good measure.
All while multiple laser sights centered on Teseo's body.
"I'm not a smart man," the reptile faunus lamented.
"Well, at least you own up to your stupidity. That puts you leagues above most idiots." Roman quipped. "I would have preferred to retrieve the stolen Paladin from you, but we accounted for the possibility of losing them, so pissing over your dead body will have to do. All yours, Moniqa."
A hail of bullet was fired just as Gibril took the metal sheet she stole to shield her teammate while Teseo himself summoned a few shields that were easily destroyed. Soon enough, between the bullets and Teseo were only the metal sheet and Gibril, losing a battle of attrition.
The rest of the students made to rush the mech, only to be met with Torchwick and the tricolor criminal Huntress. Roman clicked his tongue as he wagged his finger in negative.
"When did he got there," Blake asked, bewildering looking back and forth between Roman and his previous location.
"Gibs! Below us! We're saved!"
Looking down, Gibril saw what Teseo was babbling about and smirked. She threw away the makeshift shield.
Kohaku made to yell but stopped in her tracks as Gibril and Teseo shattered into glass.
Roman's eyes widened and looked at his partner, who was quick to shake her head,
"A lovely group of gallant Huntsmen and Huntresses arriving at the nick of time. Say, Tes, what does that make us again?"
"Big damn heroes, ma'am!" Teseo said from where he sat next to the voice's owner, on top of one of the roofs close by.
"I like the sound of that," the blonde pinkette said, smirking at the audience below. With a flick of her wrist, the magenta cylinder resting on the hilt in her right hand extended into a spike reminiscent of a short jousting lance. Her left hand held another spike, closer to a dagger in length. The 'hilt', if you could call it that, became a segmented, metal whip that connected to the weapon on her other hand.
Roman opened his mouth to ask just who the hell she was when…
"BANZAIIIII-AHHHHHHH!"
"Not this time!' Roman shouted, batting away the overly loud metal ball that tried to ram him on the face. Again.
"Got you!" Kohaku said, jumping to catch Lola before she was thrown further off her intended path.
Next to her landed a welcomed white-haired boy. "Do not go ahead so recklessly, Lola."
"REN!" Nora bounced towards her partner and hugged him.
"GIBRIL! DID TESEO DO SOMETHING STUPID?" Asroc yelled from across the lot, on the opposite roof where his team was.
"WHA-"
"YES!"
"THEN SMACK HIM ON THE HEAD FOR ME!"
"WHY- OUCH!"
Roman had enough. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEACON AND THEIR ICKY FIRST YEARS!?"
No one answered. Then he heard the one word he has come to dread the most, albeit from a less mechanical voice.
"BANZAI!"
Roman swung his cane, ready to destroy the obnoxious volleyball once and for all.
And was sent flying as a veritable mass of metal and crescent shapes crashed into him like a runaway truck. Seeing her partner's unfortunate fate, Neo swung at the lanky boy that appeared out of the storm of little moon with her parasol. Only to have her attack deflected by a kick from yet another interloper. She swiped at the newest nuisance, who jumped over her attack and into a handstand on the shoulder of the lanky boy. With a gun aimed at her face, Neo opened Hush to block and the instant the gunfire stopped, drew the hidden blade to slice whoever dared to shoot at her.
Her blade met only fading blue and white butterflies.
-o-
"Never again," Jaune wheezed as he knelt and kissed the blessed floor. "Ruby… Ruby is a monster!"
"Ruby's body is better suited for her Semblance," Mytyl dismissed his words, leaving it to his team to comfort their leader. At the end of the day, they got here faster and that's what matters. "Hello, oh partner of mine. How you do?"
"Cannot complain," GV said, looking warily at the mech and Moniqa. No comments from the mech? Given Mytyl's…. telling looks, that made him wary of Moniqa's thoughts.
Team PTGA joined them on the ground. "How do we tackle this?" Pantera asked. "I think we can take them on with our numbers."
"Neptune and I can take the small fries," Sun pointed at Vale's White Fang.
"Copen, knowledge on Atlesian Paladins?"
"We practically built those things."
"KVKC will take on the Paladin," Mytyl decided.
"Tes, Gibril, Asroc, you deal with the scary looking Fangs," Pantera ordered her team. "JNBR, pick either Torchwick or the girl and beat them quickly. I'll stall the other."
"Roman," Blake decided, glaring at the thief.
"Sounds like a plan," Mytyl said. "Team Blake's Obsession, GO!"
Blake hissed.
Author's Notes
Why do I insist in having so many characters in a scene?
Then I reread Teseo's banter with Moniqa and I remember. Oh right, because this is, at the end of the day, a fic centered around KVKC, but I like the side cast too much.
That, and this is the only chance I have to pit Neo's Overactive Imagination against Pantera's Phantasm Mirror.
Speaking of, let's do a rundown:
Seasons in Remnant and Kohaku's cloak: I'm making an assumption here: the "Equator" of Remnant is closer to the bottom of the map of Remnant. Close enough to Menagerie AND where I positioned Kohaku's hometown for their weather to be relatively stable all year round. This means that Kohaku doesn't normally wear winter clothes because she doesn't need them. That's no longer the case in Vale, hence the clothes.
Chloroform: That is one Hollywood idiosyncrasies for which I'm never sure what exactly the science for it is. Just assume Dust is one hell of a drug.
Gibril's battle outfit: Unlike Teseo's, Gibril's civilian clothes make me cringe a bit when I think of her fighting in them. I also wanted to incorporate her cloak from her Grimoire form (she is based on Little Red Riding Hood), without outright using her Grimoire form and the super villain vibes surrounding it. So, I mixed her civilian's skirt and boots with her Grimoire form's bodysuit and cloak.
The Fang: I would say that it was around this chapter (and unfortunately inspired by real life events) that I… not finalized but congealed my actual plans for the Fang in the overarching story. I always knew the broad strokes of the story and the Fang's role in it, but it was while writing this chapter where I decided upon their overall importance and whether they are a footnote in the grand scheme or a more antagonistic and independent antagonist to our heroes. While we are on the subject of the Fang.
Quill: To nobody's surprise, this namedrop pretty much establishes what can you expect of Vacuo's branch of the Fang. Unlike canon, Quill are an antagonistic force, and not just from the top brass of the organization. Also, the name is not an acronym this time around, but it does have a meaning other than just being a convenient name plucked from ASG canon.
If you don't know, you can search for QUILL in the ASG wiki to see their logo. In this fic, it's the one the White Fang are wearing alongside the traditional wolf head.
The White Fang's not-lieutenant: Yes, he is here and on Quill's side. Originally I wrote the actual lieutenant (commonly referred as Banesaw) giving the speech, but changed when I saw the opportunity. Given his Septima is basically Pyrrha's Semblance, I decide to focus on one peculiarity of his Septima to make his Semblance, rather than having a third character that can use something akin to magnetism.
Blake's and GV's disguises: I always found it weird how Blake feel so… relatively unknown for the White Fang. I wouldn't be surprised if the fact she's the daughter of the Fang's founder was conceived long after Volume 1 and 2. Also, give me buckets of paint and I'll draw you a rainbow. Don't worry, unlike Nora and Pyrrha, she won't be seduced by fashion.
As for GV, his color scheme is based on his Hard mode sprite's color scheme in the original ASG. You can look on Youtube for a Hard mode run of ASG1 to see more or less how he looks.
The fight on the highway: While visually interesting, the amount of collateral damage in the canon fight is such that, quite frankly, the only reason RWBY wasn't outright expelled from Beacon is because Rooster Teeth never bothered to address it. Again, visually stunning, but DAMN it stretches one's suspension of disbelief.
Big Damn Heroes: Never saw Firefly, but I'm an adept reader of TV Tropes.
Teseo's 1337 speech: How many references can I fit in Teseo's words? I wonder.
Teseo's Semblance and Weapon: Might as well write those here. Teseo's Semblance is Hack the Planet (same as his Septima in canon). Unlike the game, where he is literally able to rewrite reality, in this fic he is able to digitize and store nonliving objects, and vice versa… Well, technically that's the strict description of his Septima too, but come on. I'm having a hard time believing that's all he can do in canon. He needs a hard drive to store this digitized object, otherwise he must focus (and spend Aura) on maintaining the data as an orb of green light. That's where his weapon comes in.
His weapon is Circuit Rain (Named after the mimicked ability Copen gains after defeating Teseo). In the fic, it's… a glove with a computer and I/O interface built in. He can store the data of objects into it and recall them at-will using his Semblance. It also has some offensive capabilities akin to how Circuit Rain is used in the original game, but the Semblance bit is its main purpose.
So basically… his Semblance and Weapons are an in-depth look to a variation of Fiona Thyme's Semblance.
Same, but for Gibril: Gibs's Semblance is Metallica (because of course it is and because I couldn't let the pun sail into the night unnoticed). The Septima's original name is Metallon. But come on. Metallica. It, well... it allows her to control metal. So… how is that different from Pyrrha's? Gibril's is what I've been calling invasion-type Semblances. She must physically push her Aura into the metal by touching it before being able to control it and it has a shelf life before the Aura dissipates and she loses control.
There is one notable exception to this rule. You can probably guess what it is.
As for her weapon, I went with the obvious choice: two bladed blood-red claws called Iron Maiden. Because of course they are. Because it's a pun. Because she's canonically English. Because her desperation move in the game is called Iron Maiden. Because all her moves in game are based on Iron Maiden's songs. Because, quite frankly, if I didn't used this name for either her weapon or Semblance, people would be legally entitled to shoot me out of principle.
The claws do have some… Dust functionality, so to speak. Just not quite.
On another note: Reading Gibril's canon backstory… I want to write a happy family for Gibril SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. Baby girl was this close to growing up normal. But then fate remembered this is Azure Striker Gunvolt. Nobody can be happy.
Reviews
Also, if you don't want me to respond to your reviews in this section, feel free to say so on the review itself
98kazer: I live for hipster GV.
UnfortunateGVFan: I knew it was blatant. Just not "the game literally spell it out for you" blatant. Mainly because the localization doesn't really localize that particular detail. Doesn't help ASG has a lot of supplemental material.
Yeah, Nori is pretty great. I'm lowkey excited about exploring her more.
Yep. Look how I create a Semblance for them and Gunvolt 3 invalidates my artistic liberty.
It is kind of weird for Quill to disappear after ASG1. You would think they'd have a bounty on GV's head.
