Team CYAN: Raging Storm

Chapter 7: Halloween Bash!

(Note: I do not own RWBY, all rights to RWBY go to Rooster Teeth in honor of its creator, Monty Oum)

I grab myself a bite to eat while I wait for Nya's results and she calls me back afterwards.

Celena: "What'd you find out about Lee Son?"

Nya: "Check out the picture I just sent." Looks like a picture of three men dressed up in Grimm costumes. Ones a Beowolf, ones an Nevermore, and ones an Apathy. Then it hit me that today is Halloween. This is a social media picture at a Halloween party on Oscuro Academies campus.

Celena: " Which one is Dr. Son?"

Nya: "I don't know. Guess you'll have to go to the party to find out."

Celena: "People might get alarmed that danger is near if I go dressed like this. Guess I'm buying a costume." I hang up and head for the nearest costume store, as well as check up on some specifics on the party. There are some shared details with the photo. Some staff will be dressed up but still acting as security, and luckily for me, anyone is invited to join the party so long as they show legit ID. I end up getting a Batgirl costume and after purchasing it I made a slight adjustment for a tail hole. The mask I'm not too worried about. I decide to wait until I'm close to the school to change. I see a missed call from Grandma while on my way there.

Marie: "Celena, I spoke to Ned's mother, and she loved the idea of him working here. The poor woman's grieving herself, while trying to stay strong for her son... she needs some time to just grieve. And he needs to see that life's still worth living. That was a very thoughtful suggestion, Celena. The kind that makes us all proud." It ends there. I reach Oscuro Academy, my old combat school. I changed in the bathroom of a nearby apartment complex. I kept the shopping bag and put my suit in that, and then hide the bag on a nearby rooftop before I approach the school. I show the guy at the entrance my Huntress license and tell him I went to school here which was enough to let me in the party. There are a lot of people here. Let's see... Dr. Son is dressed as a one of three Grimm... need to find out which one. To the right of the party is a haunted house attraction, and at the front entrance is the Apathy guy.

Apathy: "Come one, come all, to the house of nightmares!"

Celena: "Excuse me, are Dr. Lee Son? I need to find him."

Apathy: "Sorry, but no. He's out in the party somewhere."

Celena: "Right... Sorry for wasting your time." I turn around to see the Nevermore guy up on a tall platform.

Nevermore: "Ca-caw! Ca-caw! Let me hear you SCREAM!" He's throwing around candy as he's flapping his wings. I head over there, grab some candy while I'm at it, and climb up the platform ladder to talk to him. I just stop at the top and call to him to get his attention.

Celena: "Excuse me!"

Nevermore: "Huh?"

Celena: "Sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for Dr. Lee Son."

Nevermore: "Uh, I think he's on the dance floor..." He looks over to the dance floor and immediately recognizes him and points him out. "There he is, the Beowolf." I look over to see a Beowolf dancing around and having fun.

Celena: "Alright, thanks." I climb back down and make my way there... But as I reach the dance floor, a dude dressed as Nightwing cuts me off and tries to hit on me.

Nightwing: "Hey! If it isn't Batgirl? And a cat-bat by the looks of it."

Celena: "Hey, back off! I don't have time for this-Oh no!" A guy dressed as a vampire approaches Dr. Son and grabs him. His Beowolf mask falls off in the process, revealing brown curly hair.

Lee: "Hey! Who... what are you-!"

Celena: "Hey!" The creep stops me again though.

Nightwing: "Come on, where you going? I just wanna get to know ya." A grab my gun and keep ahold of it behind me back, point at the ground near the guys feet, good thing I have mufflers installed, and shoot the ground three times with ice bullets, freezing him in place. The cold instantly hits him and he looks down. "What the-!?"

Celena: "Sorry, but I'm not looking for a relationship. Not for a long time." As I turn and run off towards where the vampires taking Dr. Son. They took him to the schools gymnasium and locked the door behind them. They locked all the entrances. I use my Semblance to get in and quickly hide behind the bleachers. The vampire brings Dr. Son to Nazo and a small group of Riddlers. Nazo does look like the Riddler from DC comics so he could've snuck in and blended in easily.

Lee: "Who-Who are you?"

Nazo: "I'll be the one asking the questions around here. Or rather, the riddles. And I've got one hell of a doozy for you: Two fathers and two sons go fishing. Each of them catches one fish each. So, why do they bring home only three fish?" What? What does that have to do anything? I look to see Dr. Son really thinking on this one but is having a hard time figuring it out. "Gotcha." Nazo raises his hand and does... something, which results in Dr. Son's eyes to start glowing and he stands completely strait. That's right! Nya said he can take control of peoples minds while confused. He intentionally told him a confusing riddle to get him. "There. You should be more cooperative now. Now I've got a question: You recently began working with someone on a big project funded by councilman Jack Storm. What is his name?" That's when I intervene. It's best that he doesn't get that name! I take off my mask and draw my weapon.

Celena: "Shows over, Nazo!"

Nazo: "Kill her!" His men come my way.

Celena: "Or not..." These guys are holding me back pretty good. Nazo, Dr. Son and the vampire haven't moved.

Nazo: "His name?" Luckily I'm not too preoccupied to not listen in.

Dr. Son: "Dr. Benjamin Rika." Nazo looks to the vampire and nods. The vampire gives Dr. Son a gun. "Thank you." As Nazo walks away to the front entrance, Dr. Son puts the gun to his head. This doesn't go unnoticed by me.

Celena: "No!" As I'm in a hold with these guys, but then the shot is fired, and Dr. Son falls to the floor. "NO! Grrraagh!" I get these off me and finish them off quickly before going after Nazo. I stop just outside the entrance wondering where he went. That's when I see him up on the stage with a microphone in his hand.

Nazo: "Attention! Attention everyone!" He gets the whole party's attention. "I have something I'd like to tell all of you! Something very important! What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?" Literally everyone is confused. But this time I think it's out of how he just randomly brought it up rather than it actually being confusing. Nazo takes this opportunity to control everyone and he makes them all fight each other. The crowd is so big I can barely get through like this unless I zip through them but I can't just leave them like this either. Nazo walks away while I try to think of something. Some of the people try to attack me, I don't wanna hurt them but I can't go down like this either. I don't use my weapon. I don't use my Semblance. I just use my fists and knock anyone in my way to the entrance unconscious. Everyone else knocks each other out until there's only one guy left.

Celena: "Oh you've gotta be kidding me..." It's the Nightwing guy who was bothering me earlier. This guy's putting up more of a fight than the other, but it's still not enough to take me as I slip behind him and kick him in the back of the head. Then I call the police and paramedics and quickly go change back into my suit before they get here. The paramedics are attending to the guests while the police take their statements, arrest the Riddlers that were left here, and investigate Dr. Son's body. I call Tyler after giving my statement. "Tyler? I've got bad news."

Tyler: "I've got reports of an incident at Oscuro Academy."

Celena: "Yeah, but I took care of it. I'll explain later. But right now you need to find a Dr. Benjamin Rika. Nazo is coming after him."

Tyler: "Copy that." After a while of helping with the people, he calls me back. "Celena, who is this Dr. Rika?"

Celena: "I think he's the head scientist on this Grimms Blood project. Did you find him?"

Tyler: "Yes and no. General Schnee said they already have him under protection at a safehouse somewhere in the city. But she also said for the sake of not spilling info, she won't tell me where."

Celena: "Hm. Makes sense. Still, I don't like taking chances. I think I have an idea on how to find him. I'll let you know if it works." Nya calls me afterwards.

Nya: "Hey, did you find Dr. Son at the party?"

Celena: "Yeah, but so did Nazo."

Nya: "Oh no, what happened?"

Celena: "Nazo corrupted him and made him kill himself."

Nya: "That's horrible! We have to stop this guy!"

Celena: "Before Dr. Son died died, he gave Nazo a name: Benjamin Rika."

Nya: "Benjamin Rika... who is he?"

Celena: "Not sure, but I bet he works on the Grimms Blood project. Have you learned anything from that Grimms Blood file?"

Nya: "Apparently, a few years Dad had a lab built for it under the table and made sure it stayed hidden from regulators. We already know he gave this file to Malachite to keep it hidden from them."

Celena: "A secret lab? For Grimms Blood?"

Nya: "If it's as dangerous as we think it is, I can see why."

Celena: "Where's the lab?"

Nya: "That's not in the file... all records of it has been destroyed. All I have are invoices from Dads personal account to his own legitimately owned construction company. Knowing Malachite, she kept the invoices around for blackmail material on the councilman."

Celena: "Everything leads back to Jack Storm. It's probably why he cut funding for Mia's lab and Nazo's shelter too. To provide more funding for Grimms Blood. Kanri did say he's been pouring money into it for years. I think it's time to pay him a visit."

Nya: "I doubt he's going to tell you anything."

Celena: "Wasn't planning on asking." Hang up. I normally don't let myself fall into acts like trespassing but I need that info. I end up on the roof of Storm's office building. Any info on the project gotta be in his office. I sneak in through the vents, but he's still there in his office on his Scroll. I gotta wait for him to leave before looking through his computer.

Jack: "I'm way ahead of you, Malachite. I had my people go through all of your files. If you try to expose our business arrangement, it'll be your word against mine, and I'm not the one behind bars right now..." Why is he talking with Malachite now? "God of Darkness statue? What are you talking about?" The statue from the auction house. Their probably talking about that file Alice found. That's when Jack leaves and I notice the security camera in there before going in, so I use my scroll to hack the camera and shut it off. Then I leave the vent and go straight for the computer. I search through it and find the data on Grimms Blood. It's real name is RT-13.

Celena: "According to this, Dr. Ben Rika is the chief scientist, but the location of the lab has been redacted." This whole review was written by Lee Son. Next page. AI controlled CRISPR? If that actually works it could cure any genetic disease... Cystic fibrosis, huntington's... this is crazy." Next page. The good: High efficiency. Consistent results. The bad: Viral delivery mechanism incorrectly targets immune system. Infected subject highly contagious. One subject exposed.(subjects being rats) 7 days later, all 40 subjects deseased. As it shows a picture of all forty rats dead. The ugly: One infected subject could trigger global epidemic. Lab techs nicknamed it 'Grimms Blood'. "So RT-13 is Grimms Blood and it's meant to cure diseases, but in it's current form it's like a bioweapon." Continue development?: Mr. Storm believes the reward is worth the risk. Maintain security: If it gets out, PR nightmare, could bring down all of Storms businesses. Mitigate risk of exposure: Dr. Rika should keep only sample on his person at all times. As it displays a briefcase handcuffed to someone. "That's why Nazo wants him. We find Rika, we find Grimms Blood." Time to leave. I head back out through the vents, the hack on the camera should ware off once I'm out of there. That's when I call Nya... but no answer. So I call Alice instead.

Alice: "Hey Celena, what's up?"

Celena: "Alice. Get this this: Grimms Blood wasn't designed to be a weapon, it's a treatment for genetic disorders. But it's current form is wildly imperfect, in trying to fix the body, it rips it apart. We need to locate Dr. Rika, I may trust Winter but I don't trust her men to contain something this deadly."

Alice: "I think Nya is following a lead on that. Will Kanri is being held at the militaries compound in the park. She said if anyone know Rika's location, it'll be Dads CFO. She's trying to reach him now."

Celena: "'Reach him'? That place is crawling with Atlas soldiers. How is she going to reach him?"

Alice: "Not sure. You might wanna go check on her." Hang up and straight to the park. Meanwhile, Nya approaches the compound front entrance. Two guards stand there.

Soldier 1: "Excuse me, but this area is off limits."

Nya: "It's okay. I'm Nya Storm. One of councilman Storm's daughters, and a licensed Huntress." She's shows them her ID.

Soldier 2: "What business do you have here?"

Nya: "I need to speak to Mr. Kanri. It's urgent business that I need to confirm with him."

Soldier 2: "And why would we do that?"

Nya: "Cause my Dad doesn't take kindly to anything that disrupts his business. You see what I'm getting at, don't you?" They look hesitant for a moment before making up their minds.

Soldier 1: "You take her to see Kanri. Don't let her go anywhere else though."

Soldier 2: "Come on." She follows the soldier to the tent where Kanri is. He's sitting at a desk with his laptop and a coffee. "Mr. Kanri. You have a visitor. They say it's important.

Will: "Let them in. But let us speak in peace."

Soldier: "You've got five minutes, then your outta here."

Nya: "Got it." Now it's just her and Kanri in there. "Mr. Kanri. My name is Nya Storm. I'm your bosses daughter."

Will: "One of them. I know a lot about most of the people I work with. What do you want? Did Storm send you to tell me something?"

Nya: "No. I'm not with my Dad, I'm not with Riddlers, and I'm not with Atlas. I'm a Huntress, just like the girl that saved you, Celena Verde. In fact, she and I are on the same team. I'm here to help her get some info."

Will: "Well I do have one thing to share. Something I already told the military but their completely ignoring it."

Nya: "I'm here regarding the location of Dr. Benjamin Rika. Where is he?"

Will: "His safehouse is on Vapor Street, they're moving him to a new safehouse tomorrow at noon, but they're totally ignoring Coquina station."

Nya: "The train station between here and Coquina?"

Will: "The Riddlers were talking about it when they held me. They didn't say what's so important about but I heard they're going there tomorrow."

Nya: "The military may be ignoring it, but not us. We'll look into it. Thank you Mr. Kanri." She leaves and let's the guard escort her out. I see her at the park entrance and go to talk to her.

Celena: "Hey! You okay? Your not hurt, are you?"

Nya: "No I'm fine. It was pretty easy, but here's what I got. Rika is on Vapor Street. Atlas it moving him tomorrow at noon. But apparently they're ignoring Kanri's warning about something he overheard while being held by the Riddlers, they're planning something at Coquina station tomorrow too."

Celena: "Not good. Alright, divide and conquer. I'll handle Rika on Vapor, you and Alice handle Coquina."

Nya: "Sounds like a plan. I better go fill Alice in on this. See ya." She walks off. Then I get a call from Ned's Mom.

Celena: "Hello?"

Liz: "Ms. Verde? It's Liz Fuko. I want to thank you for getting Ned the job at the shelter."

Celena: "Glad to. And please call me 'Celena'. 'Ms. Verde' is... probably someone more together than me."

Liz: "I should tell you, he has reservations. I finally gave him a choice: this or more therapy. He needs this, he just hates to feel like a victim, or be pitied. But he doesn't exactly do anything about it."

Celena: "I heard from Nick that he's an acceptional fighter but lacks confidence. Perhaps something like this will help him in that department. I'll let Grandma know, and I'll make sure I'm there his first day."

Liz: "Thank you again. This means a lot to both of us." Mia calls me afterwards.

Mia: "Celena, I'm about to to begin another test. I could use some help."

Celena: "Right. I'll be there soon." Man, I'm just going all over the place. It's pretty close to sunrise once I reach the lab. I hope Mia realized how late it was... right? "Hey, sorry I'm late."

Mia: "Morning, Celena. Or is it evening? Ah, doesn't matter. Anyway, I just need to borrow your guns for second. Until I can get the right parts for one, I don't have any guns on me for a shooting test. I need to test the durability of this armor you see before you and guns are next on the agenda. Just stand on the X over there.

Celena: "Sounds good." I do as I'm told and across from me is a test dummy wearing an upgraded version of current Atlas armor.

Mia: "I just need you to shoot one of your guns five times straight in the chest piece with regular bullets. I'll move on to Dust infused weaponry at a later date." Draw one of my Senshi, take aim, and...

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!*...Nothing more than a scratch in the paint, the armor itself remains unscathed.

Mia: "Perfect! Thats all I needed Celena. Thank you." She tried to hide it but I notice her arm slightly twitch as she picks up her clipboard. I'm concerned.

Celeba: "Mia, what's going on?"

Mia: "Hmph. It's become that obvious, huh? My doctor's call it a 'degeneratice neurological disorder', probably caused by overexposure to toxic chemicals in my... reckless youth. Heh."

Celena: "Sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

Mia: "You already are. The worst part is it only affects the muscles... the mind continues to work, but it can no longer do." Now I'm even more concerned. "You're the only one who knows, Celena. I'd like to keep it that way. Not even my daughter's can know." I don't like hiding things like this from peoples families but we've got bigger fish to fry right now. We can't afford to have them worrying over something unrelated.

Celena: "Of course." This still leaves me concerned though. Things might get complicated if I leave her alone with these weapons of mass destruction while like this. I should probably make frequent visits after I finish things with Nazo. That's when I get a text from Grandma.

Marie: "Are you coming by today?"

Celena: "Um, Mia, I'm sorry. My Grandma just texted."

Mia: "No worries, Celena. I was thinking of taking a break myself. As soon as I check our telemetry data."

Celena: "Thanks. I'll be back in a few hours."

(Were you able to solve the riddles in this chapter? If not, here are the answers. If you want to figure it out yourselves, don't read this!

Riddle one: the group grandfather, father and son

Riddle two: the letter 'M')