So many kind words from you all, I just can't not respond this time. If you're not interested in what I have to say, skip to the first line break! :3
Itharax: I hope this update doesn't cause your brain to short-circuit again! I have no intention of canceling or abandoning this story, so I hope that will help with any and every future update! Your prediction was on the nose, and I hope I have provided an adequate enough chapter for all the hype you're feeling. Thank you for the kind words, and I hope to hear from you again!
Kept123: You're welcome!
Greer123: I'm not sure how you got that, but hopefully you aren't disappointed by this update!
TooBadd69: I won't abandon this story, and you will definitely see more of this story soon! I'm currently finishing up chapter 7!
CountOrlock777: I believe I messaged you, but thank you again for the kind words!
Myrinadi: Don't worry about it! Any feedback is good, and I'm happy to know that you're enjoying the story!
Halo 69 (Guest): Thank you, and I will try!
Artem-abramov-2004: Not quite, but soon!
King Crimson Requiem: I appreciate your concern, you Highness, and I won't burn myself out! That being said, I hope you enjoy the update!
Teddy (Guest): I wanted to thank you for your review, but I couldn't message you. I'm so happy to hear that you think so highly of my story. I'd answer your question here, but I don't want to spoil anything.
Matemeo3: I totally agree with your statements! They have not faced an enemy like this before and don't know just how in over their heads they may be! I'm happy that you have zero complaints, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
With his mask donned and hood raised, Kaneki walked towards an airship. There were several White Fang members lifting cargo onto it, but a few of them froze upon seeing him. He ignored their reaction and made his way to the airship where he could hear the familiar voice shouting orders.
"Come on, we don't have all night! Pick up the pace, would you?" Torchwick growled. He turned towards the half-ghoul and nearly jumped out of his skin. "Ah, Eyepatch, you made it. Good."
"What am I doing here?" Kaneki asked coldly. "You didn't exactly give me directions in your job offer."
"You're on bodyguard duty," Roman said simply. "You see, while you were off offing people for my employer, our whole operation has moved to phase two, whatever that is. All you need to know is that we got to get all this cargo to Mountain Glenn and load up a train."
Kaneki nodded; a bit surprised that Torchwick was working for somebody else. The way he carried himself didn't lend itself to one who takes orders but considering how differently Torchwick had begun to treat Kaneki after the incident, he figured that his superior was capable of strong-arming him. "How long are we going to be out there?"
Torchwick shrugged noncommittally. "If all goes according to plan, we'll get there early in the morning, unload everything… then we have to rig the charges… I'd say about a week or so? Once the hard stuff is complete, it'll be a waiting game, and we don't have to be there for that. Why, you got somewhere to be?"
"Yes," he replied evenly. "I would rather not waste my time babysitting."
"You'd rather I find more people for you to kill?" asked Torchwick sarcastically.
Kaneki didn't hesitate. "That would be ideal, yes."
Torchwick's expression fell to uneasiness. "Er, well, I can find more deserters when we get back. This will be a onetime gig, alright? It's not like I'm thrilled working with you."
"Then why am I here?"
"You're kidding, right?" he asked, sarcastically. "Kid, you've struck fear into the hearts of tons of people, but none more than the White Fang. You've exterminated their former brothers in arms, not to mention how disgustingly vicious you were with your first three victims. You being here will make things go much more smoothly, trust me."
Kaneki understood what he was saying and considering how the Fang members reacted upon seeing him, Torchwick spoke the truth. They would likely try to get everything done as soon as possible to get away from him. Nodding to Torchwick, Kaneki walked inside the airship and took a seat. He had no idea where Mountain Glenn was, but given how conspicuous they were, he imagined it was safe enough for a few hundred criminals to wander around. Torchwick and his silent assistant boarded after him, taking a seat across from him.
"Say, Eyepatch," Torchwick began uneasily. "The whole… cannibal thing… why do you do it?"
Kaneki's lone eye looked at him in a glare. "Do you really care?"
"No, not at all," he admitted. He then gestured to the girl next to him. "But Neo, she wants to know. Like, is that some sort of psychological thing you do to rattle people?"
"No, it's not," he replied a bit annoyed.
"Do you get off on it?"
"No."
"Then why-"
"I did it because I was hungry," he snapped. "Keep asking questions and you may pique my appetite."
Torchwick laughed nervously and handed a scroll back to Neo. "I'm going to check on the pilot." The well-dressed criminal got up and headed towards the cockpit, leaving Kaneki alone with the mute girl who continued to stare at him.
"What do you want?" he asked. Neo began to tap away at her scroll and sent a message. Kaneki took his scroll out to read it.
'Your eye changes color, just like mine,' it read. Kaneki looked up to the girl, who now appeared to have two Kakugan. Neo smiled at him teasingly, only for Kaneki to grab her by the neck. Her smile turned to panic, and her eyes changed back to normal. Kaneki released her, leaving her silently coughing.
"You're not like me, are you?" he asked rhetorically, his hands trembling in a mixture of anger and sorrow. Angry because she had struck a nerve in regard to his ghoulish nature; she wore it like an accessory, having no idea the hell he had to live through. Sorrow because for a moment, he almost thought he wasn't alone. He walked back towards his seat, ignoring Neo as she began to write another message.
'Didn't mean to trigger you,' she wrote. 'Sorry :('
"You think this is funny, don't you?" he asked her, to which she shook her head. "What do you want from me?"
'Is it a crime to want to know who you're working with? Not that it matters, we're all criminals here ;)'
Kaneki couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "You're insane."
'I'm not the one who eats people xD'
Kaneki shook his head at her message, but when he looked up to the girl, she was grinning at him again. She wasn't being malicious; she just had a twisted sense of humor. He crossed his arms and stared at Neo. "I'll tell you everything you want to know," he said, piquing Neo's interest. "All you have to do is ask."
Neo immediately began to type messages out to Kaneki, only for him to ignore his scroll. She immediately grew annoyed and gestured to his scroll, but he feigned ignorance. She jumped off her seat and tried to pull his scroll out from his grip to no avail.
"Well, if you're not going to ask me anything, I guess we can just enjoy the rest of the trip in silence," he said to her, grinning behind his mask. Neo then began to throw a tantrum of sorts, as she stomped around and waved her arms at him. Eventually, she sat across from him, arms crossed and an indignant expression on her face.
Ruby sat in Professor Oobleck's class with a downtrodden expression. Weiss was the only teammate that had opted to sit by her today, Yang and Blake sitting on opposite corners of the classroom. She did her best to listen to Oobleck's lecture, but even on her best day, she couldn't keep up, which only added to her frustration. A certain Faunus seemed to notice this and decided to speak up as soon as class ended.
"Hey, Ruby, is everything okay?" asked Velvet, packing up her notes.
"Oh, hey Velvet," Ruby greeted with a forced smile. "Yeah, I mean, things are alright… could be better."
"Are you still worried about your first mission?" she asked. "Or is it something else?"
"It's just team stuff," Weiss interjected, seeing the two talking. "We had a bit of a disagreement, but nothing that we won't get over."
Velvet nodded. "Ah, I see. Well hopefully you figure it out soon. Aren't you supposed to pick your first mission tonight? Wouldn't be great if you're all not on the same page when you select it."
Ruby shrugged. "Eh, I don't think that our mission is really the main issue here," she said awkwardly, before Weiss elbowed her in the ribs. "Ouch!"
"Oh, what is the issue then?" asked Velvet, not noticing Weiss' quick jab. Velvet noticed that the other half of her team had already left and frowned. She didn't like seeing teams fight internally like this but had no idea how to help.
Ruby and Weiss shared a look for a moment. Weiss seemed against the idea but relented. Ruby looked back to Velvet and cleared her throat. "You know that, um, killer in Vale?"
"The Faunus killer?" Velvet asked, uncharacteristically filled with disdain. "Yeah, I know about him…"
Weiss sighed and decided to help Ruby. "We've been looking into him. Newspaper clippings, media coverage, corkboard with the yarn, the whole nine yards. We've hit a few snags and can't really agree how to proceed."
"You're investigating the killer?" Velvet asked in a hushed shout. "Professor Ozpin made it clear that we are not to interfere with the VPD's investigation."
"We know, we know," Ruby said quickly. "And we're not! Everything we've done has been in our free time, and we haven't pestered any law enforcement, I swear! It's just that it's affecting some of us a bit more than others…"
Velvet looked around to ensure they weren't being overheard. "I understand where you're coming from… My team has been looking into it too, when we can, that is. We just came back from our mission last night, so we haven't gotten the chance to get back to it… Maybe when you all get back from your mission, we can exchange notes. Coco has been able to get a few things out of her mom, and I've talked to my mom every day to see if there's been anything suspicious in Vale."
"That would be great!" Ruby said with a bit too much excitement. "We'll be able to get to the bottom of this in no time with eight of us working on it! Thanks Velvet!"
"Don't mention it," she said with a smile, before she realized what they were doing. "I mean, really, don't. I don't want to get caught after Professor Ozpin asked us not to investigate this."
Weiss nodded. "Mum's the word. Come on Ruby, let's go, the Professor is going to give his speech soon."
"Right, I'll see you around Velvet!" she called out. Velvet waved as the two headed towards the auditorium.
As the airship approached Mountain Glenn, Kaneki felt a dull sadness. It was clear to him that many lives, no doubt innocent, were lost in this city. A part of him wished he had more time to research this place but figured that it wouldn't have made much of a difference. As the airship began to descend, he noticed a few Grimm off in the distance. He had read about them, especially after the media had portrayed him as one, so he was familiar with what they were, but he had never seen one in person.
"Damn Grimm," Torchwick said annoyed. "Neo, if you would."
The girl nodded, and jumped out of the airship, surprising Kaneki. As she approached the ground, she opened her parasol, allowing her to land gently. In a flash, she began to kill the creatures with ease. By the time the airship had finally touched down, Neo was sitting on a piece of rubble, casually twirling her parasol.
Kaneki stepped out of the airship and realized now why she was Torchwick's bodyguard. While her attacks did nothing to him due to his ghoul nature, she was beyond skilled with her strange pair of weapons. He turned to Torchwick, questioningly. "Now what?"
"Now we get the mutts to unload everything underground," he replied, leaning against the airship. "We're just here to make sure things go smoothly. If any Grimm show up, you and Neo are responsible for killing them. Simple, right?"
"Are Grimm really that much of a threat?" he asked, surprised.
Torchwick furrowed a brow and rolled his eyes at Kaneki. "Hey kid, not everybody has unbreakable skin, alright? Just make sure none of these animals get killed."
"Is this really all I'm supposed to do for the next week?" Kaneki asked, folding a finger under his thumb. After a loud crack, Torchwick winced.
"Can you not do that?" he asked, shuttered. He added under his breath, "…you masochistic freak…"
Kaneki stared at him and folded his middle finger and repeated the action. Torchwick walked off and began to shout orders. Kaneki was about to follow when he saw Neo smirking at him. He took out his scroll and rolled his eyes.
'Mind if I broke one for you?'
Kaneki ignored her, walking towards the group of White Fang members carrying large crates. He was surprised when he saw a few large robots assisting. They seemed much more suited for combat, but the pilots seemed to know what they were doing, as the crates were all handled carefully. He decided to keep an eye out for any more Grimm, but it seemed that there weren't any around. Instead, he followed a group of White Fang members, who seemed to pick up the pace as soon as he did. Seeing this, he decided that he would keep a larger distance, allowing them to work.
As he looked around, he felt an arm loop around his. He looked over to see Neo grinning at him, using her parasol as a cane. "Can I help you?" he asked. She simply shrugged and pointed off in the distance. There, he saw a pack of wolf-like Grimm. He looked back to Neo, who began to twirl her parasol. "You want me to take care of that?"
Neo nodded, unlooping her arm from his, and began to skip towards the Grimm. Kaneki jogged over to the Grimm, who began to growl at him. He looked back to Neo who wore an expression of excitement. Turning back to his opponents, he walked to the group of Grimm, ignoring their attempt to surround him. He saw a couple of them lunge at him but remained still. When they were finally within striking distance, he jumped and kicked the heads of three of them clean off. He was mildly surprised at how easy the Grimm were to kill. A couple more ran towards him before he could land, opening their jaws to consume him. He raised a forearm to block one, while the other grabbed his ankle.
"These aren't very strong, are they?" he asked Neo, who watched in fascination. The teeth didn't even sink into his skin, and their attempts to rip his limbs off were laughable at best. He jerked his arm back, and kicked the second one with his free leg, once again separating the Grimm's head from its body. He rammed his hand into another Grimm's chest, surprised to not feel any organs in it. The few remaining Grimm didn't last much longer as Kaneki killed them, almost bored. The creatures posed no threat to him, but as Torchwick pointed out to him earlier, not everybody had his physiology. He dusted himself off, and walked back towards Neo, who seemed a bit disappointed. "Did I fail to meet your expectations?"
Neo shook her head and began to pantomime with her arms and wore a crazed expression, before gesturing to him and crossing her arms. Kaneki rolled his eyes.
"You wanted to see more?" he asked. Neo nodded then pouted, which amused Kaneki. He would never understand this woman. "If I ever do resort to using the full extent of my abilities, I suggest you don't stick around to see it."
Neo raised an eyebrow, seemingly taking it as a challenge. She once again looped her arm around his and began to walk back towards the White Fang's base of operations.
The next few hours were uneventful, although Kaneki was surprised to find out about the underground city. Torchwick had assured him the Grimm wouldn't be as big a problem once they were underground but should keep a vigilant eye just in case. He decided to take residence on the rooftop of a taller building to keep a watch of the operation from afar, as his presence made most people uncomfortable. Neo had joined him a few times, before being called back by Torchwick for one reason or another. Eventually, he got a message from Torchwick asking him to patrol, as the White Fang were falling behind schedule. He groaned, and replied with a simple, 'on it.'
Kaneki made his way back above ground and began to wander around, looking for any Grimm that may wander in their direction. As he turned down another street, he grew annoyed as he saw Rize leaning against a building.
"Why have you been ignoring me, Kaneki dear?" she asked with a pout.
"Shut up," he said harshly. "I have nothing to say to you."
"You don't have to be so harsh," the apparition said coyly. "You know why I'm here, don't you?"
Kaneki scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "To further annoy me with your endless bullshit?"
"No, no, no, Kaneki dear, that was Yamori's job," she said with a laugh. "No, it's simple. I'm starting to get hungry, and if I'm hungry, then you're hungry."
Kaneki ignored her comment, but realized she was right. He had not taken any meat from his previous victims due to his lack of ability to store any of it. He started to become more aware of his hunger as she mentioned it, but decided to ignore her comment about the hunger, but instead thought about her mention of Yamori. The last time Kaneki remembered seeing him appear was briefly when he was assigned his first hit. He just couldn't figure out what it meant.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of wings flapping overhead. He looked up to see more Grimm flying around, although they were small. Even for the native residents of Remnant, he figured that Grimm of this size weren't really a threat. Ignoring them, he followed where they were flying towards, when he caught a glimpse of more Grimm off in the distance. These resembled elephants, although they would dwarf any species he had heard of. He toyed with the idea of going out of his way to kill them, but they seemed to be unaware of his and the White Fang's presence.
Deciding to continue his patrol, he continued to wander around the wasteland.
Ruby sighed as she kept first watch, looking through her scope to see if any Grimm would wander to their location. She quickly grew bored and began to pretend to shoot her rifle, making quiet 'ping' sounds as she did. She looked back to her teammates, who were all asleep around the campfire and sighed again. The arrival of Zwei had thankfully calmed Yang down enough that they were able to choose a mission. Fortunately, Blake had also rested enough when she collapsed that she was able to think more logically and decided to focus on the current mission. Unfortunately, Ruby was aware that they would have to address the elephant in the room when they returned to Beacon. Deciding to make the most of her team being on the same page, she resumed her lookout duties, and looked through her scope again to find a strange site.
It appeared to be some man wandering around lost. Her first instinct was to jump down and approach him, but something inside her told her to wait. She continued to watch as he seemed to be talking to somebody, which brought her some relief. Even if she couldn't see the other person, having company improved his odds of survival. After a few moments, Ruby began to wonder if she should ignore her hesitant feeling and jump down to approach him, but when she turned around, she felt her blood run cold.
The man's face was mostly dark and had a toothy grin, which already unsettled her, but his lone eye that resembled those of Grimm made her question everything she knew. The more she looked at him, the more she made connections in her head. The all-black attire, the white hair, his black and red eye… he was a Grimm wearing a human face, a wolf in sheep's clothing. Before she could compose herself to alert her team, the killer walked off beyond her field of view.
Almost immediately, Ruby headed to Weiss, shaking her awake. "W-Weiss, wake up," she said, fear lacing her voice.
"Ruby?" she asked tiredly. "I thought Yang had second watch."
"Weiss, I saw him! He's HERE!" she said in a hushed shout. Weiss rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes and noticed the waver in her voice.
"Who's here? What's wrong, Ruby?"
"The Faunus Killer," she said. "I saw him wandering the streets little ways away."
Weiss got up from her sleeping bag and pulled Ruby away from the campfire. "Are you absolutely sure? We're hundreds of miles away from Vale, why would he be here?"
"I'm sure, Weiss," she said, recalling his terrifying face. "He really does look like a Grimm. He had no lips, and only one eye… but from behind he looks human, and he was even talking to somebody. Grimm can't talk!"
"Calm down," Weiss said, putting her hands on Ruby's shoulders. The younger girl nodded and took a deep breath. "Look, we're on a mission and you're our leader. If you want to investigate this right now, then we'll do it, but if you want to tell Dr. Oobleck and let him take charge, that's alright too."
Ruby began to weigh her options. If she kept this from Yang and Blake, it may cause more discourse between them. But if she tried to investigate without telling Dr. Oobleck, they might be on the grounds of being expelled. Professor Ozpin had made it clear that Oobleck had the power to send them home for any shortcomings, and insubordination seemed high on the list. After a few moments, she made her decision.
The team leader walked over to the lead Huntsman, standing a few feet from him. "Um, Dr. Oobleck. I have something to report."
The caffeinated professor jolted awake. He adjusted his glasses and looked up to Ruby. "What is it, young Miss Rose? Grimm? White Fang?"
"No, not exactly." Ruby fidgeted a bit, before steeling her nerves. "Doctor, I think I saw Vale's Faunus Killer."
Doctor Oobleck became deathly serious and rose to his feet. "Are you sure, Miss Rose?"
"Yes, Doctor Oobleck," she confirmed.
"Ruby, tell your team to pack their things. If what you're saying is true, we must request backup, and I cannot allow your team to engage in this mission any longer."
"Y-yes Doctor," Ruby said, having expected this outcome. She turned back towards the campfire, to see her sister's sleeping roll empty. In her panic, she didn't notice that Zwei was also missing. "Yang? YANG?!"
Her shouting awoke Blake and caught Weiss' attention, and the two began to look around confused. "Yang's missing?!" Weiss asked, alarmed. "When did she disappear?"
"Doctor, Yang is missing!" Blake alerted, as she frantically looked around. Oobleck's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. He sighed in disappointment.
"Girls, we are going to find your teammate, but know that her actions will not reflect well on your team. If we find her, we are to leave immediately. Any questions?"
"No, sir," the three girls said in unison.
"Very well, leave your things and grab your weapons."
Torchwick had noticed that Eyepatch was acting a bit different when he returned from his patrol and offered to let him take a rest in the train. For some reason, it surprised him when he took him up for that offer, as Torchwick almost thought that the freak that was the Cannibal didn't need to sleep. Once he was out of sight, he noticed the White Fang seemed much more relaxed, although they were as incompetent as ever.
"No, you idiot, that's not how to set those!" he shouted at one. He jumped onto the back of a train car where one of the bombs was nearly armed. "Do you want to blow us all up?! Here, move, let me do it."
"Sorry, sir," the Faunus man said, stepping back. He watched as the human began to fiddle with wires and tap away at the screen. Torchwick groaned as he realized he would have to rewire the entire thing.
"Everybody who's wiring the bombs, stop!" he shouted. "It's come to my attention that some of you don't know how to rig a simple explosive, so gather round, I'm not going to show you again."
Neo laughed silently as she watched grown men gather like grade-schoolers around the train like Torchwick was teaching a class. It didn't help that his condescending tone dripped off every word he spoke. She had a particular hard laugh when he pointed to something and asked, 'Does anybody know what color this is?' and a few members raised their hands. Soon, the scene lost its humor, and she decided to check in on her fellow bodyguard, who was resting at the front of the train. When she arrived, Kaneki was asleep on the ground in the corner of the train cart. Curious, she approached him, although not too close. She heard him muttering nonsensical sounds in his sleep.
"..." Neo contemplated peeking under his mask but didn't want to risk him waking up. She took a seat on a crate, content with just watching the anomaly that was Eyepatch. She had to admit, had she not witnessed his abilities, she would never have considered him a threat from how unimposing he looked. He was rather thin, skin sickly pale and even asleep he appeared tired. He tossed and turned in his sleep quite a bit, muttering all the while. She listened a bit closer, and noticed he was reciting numbers. If he weren't wearing his mask, Neo would be able to see the anguish on his face.
Suddenly there was a distant explosion that shook the train a bit. Kaneki sat up, his Kakugan wide as it began to scan his surroundings. When he saw Neo, he calmed down. "What was that?" he asked.
Neo shrugged, and gestured to the back of the train and pantomimed an explosion with her hands. She hopped off the crate and offered a hand to help him up. Kaneki hesitantly accepted, unsure what to make of the strange woman. She smiled at him and made to loop her arm around his again, but he pulled away.
"I don't know what you're trying to pull, but we are not friends," he said coldly. The truth was he had no reason to dislike Neo, but the fact that she worked with Torchwick made him cautious. "We're working together for the time being, but that's as far as our relationship goes."
Neo genuinely frowned, though it seemed to be more disappointment than anything else. Surprisingly, she kept her distance and walked off ahead of him. Kaneki felt a pang of guilt, but quickly pushed it aside. As he made to follow, he heard shouting and what sounded like small explosions. He immediately broke into a sprint, noticing that the train had begun to move, and tried to find Torchwick.
Yang had managed to slip by Ruby and Weiss while they discussed their initial plan. She had been unable to sleep, so she easily overheard her sister talk to her partner about seeing the killer, but when she heard that Ruby was going to inform Oobleck, she couldn't miss her opportunity to find him. Yang was able to find the hideout relatively quickly, having Zwei sniffing around for anything unusual. Upon getting to an entrance, she ordered Zwei to head back, which he reluctantly did.
She stood in front of the door, her hands trembling. If the killer really was in this area, she had to do something. Unable to calm herself down, she allowed herself to get angry. Her fury grew inside her. She repeated in her head like a mantra, 'He's a monster, a killer. He feels no remorse.'
Her eyes burning red, and her hair starting to glow, she kicked the door down and rushed inside.
To her surprise, she found White Fang members, but she didn't let it deter her. Unleashing her anger, she drove through them, but they just kept coming. By the time she got to a clearing, only a few dozen remained. "Where is he!?" she shouted, cocking her gauntlets.
"Who are you talking about?" asked one of the members, pointing a rifle at her.
"The bastard in charge! Who else?!" she roared. "Bring him to me!"
Torchwick walked out from behind the group of White Fangs, confused. "Who the hell are you?" he asked. Yang looked shocked, not expecting to see Torchwick. He took in her appearance and realized he had seen her before. "You're the angry brat whose friends with Red, aren't you?"
Yang began to think that Ruby might have been mistaken about what she saw, which took the winds out of her sails. She knew that this was their original mission and decided to fulfill that until backup arrived. Yang readied herself again, managing to calm herself down enough to face her opponents.
"What are you all waiting for? Get her!" Torchwick ordered, angry at the hesitancy. As they swarmed, he noticed that Yang's warpath had already wiped out most of their forces by causing some of the Dust crates to explode. He took out his scroll and radioed Neo. "Neo, get the train moving, and find some mutts to man some of the mechs. We're moving ahead of schedule."
Neo didn't bother replying, and rushed back towards the front of the train, hooking a nearby White Fang member with her parasol as she did. Meanwhile, Torchwick reached into the cargo on the car he was on and took out several Ice Dust crystals and tossed them between Yang and the train, shooting it with his cane to trigger them with yet another explosion.
Yang covered her face as several shards flew towards her. She glared towards the eruption to see a massive wall of ice separating her from the train, several feet deep. She tried to punch through it, but at the rate she was going, it would be too late. The train slowly began to move, causing her to shout in frustration.
"YANG!" The blonde brawler turned to see her team and Oobleck arriving being led by Zwei. Ruby burst into petals and nearly tackled Yang off her feet. "Yang, why did you go off on your own?!"
"Miss Xiao Long, I hope you understand that this will reflect poorly on not just you as an individual, but your team as a whole," Oobleck said coldly. He looked around to see many unconscious White Fang members and began to analyze the situation. He stood in front of the four girls and began to pace back and forth. "We do not have time to wait for reinforcements now, but we cannot just allow them to enact whatever their plan is. Team RWBY, know that this is no longer a scouting mission, nor a search and destroy mission. We are now engaged in a bounty mission, with the culprit being considered exceptionally dangerous."
Oobleck transformed his thermos into its flamethrower torch form and pointed it at the wall. With a single click, a massive stream of flames immediately began to melt a hole in the wall.
"Miss Rose," he said seriously. "I hope you can manage your teammate better from this point on. Let's go."
The five of them, and Zwei, rushed through the hole, chasing after the train that had just begun to pick up speed.
And there we have it! I hope you're all happy with this update, and thank you again for all the kind words in the reviews. They mean the world to me, and knowing that I'm making people happy by sharing my attempt at a story just feels great.
I have begun writing a Pokémon fic, if anybody is interested in checking that out! It's only got one chapter out now, but I plan to update it along side this story. If you're not interested in that, that's okay! Thank you for reading this story!
Love you all,
~Liz