RWBY: Return of Knightmares Past
Chapter 6
Time for some Investigation
Hello, sorry this took so long to get out.
Enjoy
XXXX
"Sorry, but I can't do that," Naruto stated with a hint of annoyance in his voice but no emotion on his face, something that James Ironwood felt was off for the boy. They were currently in Ironwood's office on his flagship.
Lifeless, that was always how Naruto described the atmosphere when dealing with the Atlas Military. Any form of artful expression was seen as bad and had to be stamped out whereas in Mistral, the opposite was true…and both had their darksides. He knew of the criminal underworld of Mistral through Sid, but what of Atlas. He had been gone from that world for too long.
"I see," James replied sadly. Honestly, he missed Naruto as much as Winter had, so he had to at least try again and bring Naruto to his side. After all, he brought some life to the Atlas Military. His odd ways of thinking were always a treat. "And I can't order the two of you to stay apart either."
That someone was Penny and she already viewed Naruto as part of her family, so there was nothing he could do about that.
"Nope, but I will trust that you keep Winter safe." Naruto demanded. Oh sure, he knew his sister could kick anyone's ass from here to Atlas in a heartbeat. He just wanted that extra assurance is all.
"Of course, but I feel there is more that you want to ask." James replied. "And I am curious of your disappearance as well."
"Ah, quid pro quo," Naruto smirked as he scratched the back of his head. Ironwood had always been a sharp one, even if he was easy to prank.
"Correct," Ironwood challenged with his own smirk, happy to get the boy's personality back. "That Relic your father made you go on that expedition for…was it worth it?" Because he never saw it as such and he never batted an eye when Winter used her and Atlas' money to find the boy.
"That is a difficult answer," Naruto replied uncomfortably, making Ironwood start to dread the answer. The Schnee took Crystal Clarion from his side and held it horizontally, confusing the man at first. "Despite it looking like junk even a museum would not accept when it was first found in its original form; the weapon itself had quite the quality to it, but you and the rest of the world only saw the aftermath of the cost after it was found and acquired."
"Wait," Ironwood ordered as something occurred to him. "If it was that far degraded, how did you go about modernizing it to something ahead of its time? A number of the concepts, even the ones Atlas are working on, are still prototypes and theories."
At this, a mischievous smile crept onto the Schnee's face and James knew that look. He felt he was going to regret knowing the answer.
"Well, when word got out about my status being the only MIA, the man I call father was quick to shutdown any financials I could access, effectively making me penniless on the streets." Naruto started, the words though were pissing James off because he knew that was what Jacques did, and much quicker than with Winter, showing him that the man thought little of his first son. "So, I dipped into a hidden account I made specifically for scenarios of that type and some others. Plus using some tech skills I acquired from Uncle Pietro and to a lesser extent, that Watts guy, it was rather easy to discreetly liberate money away from that man. Plus, now I can still access the full family fortune; if I so desire and/or in a pinch." Naruto had a rather goofy but smug look on his face that James couldn't help but chuckle at. "So, I had to inconspicuously custom ordered and traded various pieces from Atlas and then Mistral and finally had a few different weapon smiths take care of the rest."
James thought for a moment before he smacked his forehead, making a mental note to go and find those. "Oh….so that was you requesting the prototypes for all those different components."
"You know it." Naruto snickered. "And you know that I could just take the information that I came here for, much like how I did to find out Atlas' Seasonal Secret-"
"I get it." Ironwood sighed. Yeah, he knew that fact better than most and Naruto had proven it time and time again. "So what, you're going to tell me this is for a school project?"
"No." Naruto admitted. "More like a group project for a friend. I need to find out all you know of the dust robberies"
Ironwood stared at the boy from behind his desk with a flat expression. "Fine. I will give you what I know, but I want you to be careful. Some of our military's assets have been stolen as well."
Naruto grew serious at that, catching Ironwood off guard. "And that is why I am doing some information gathering before we do it as one big team."
"I see, you have changed." James carefully replied.
"It was forced on me when I took this sword." Naruto replied after a moment and activating his blade for a few seconds. Ironwood really appreciated the technological craftsmanship on the blade. Shaking his head, Ironwood transferred the data to Naruto's scroll and the Schnee nodded. "I best be going."
"Before you go." Ironwood reached out, contemplating if he should even ask this next part because it could lead to unwanted questions if the boy didn't know. "Does the name, Salem, ring any bells?"
For a brief moment, the Schnee's eyes flashed red for a second in the midst of a far-off look and frown that both baffled and startled the wizened general for a moment. Naruto looked down for a moment and then started walking towards the door. Once there, Naruto looked back at the man for a moment and then said, "Kind of hard to not know of her, especially after the massacre."
That was not what Ironwood wanted to hear.
XXX
"What will you be needing us for?" Ren asked in the packed room of Team RWBY. Strangely enough, the girls of Team RWBY were wearing slightly different outfits and it worked for them. An odd choice, but he wasn't going to question it that much.
"Think of yourselves as the cavalry in case anything goes sideways." Naruto stated from the middle of the room with his arms crossed. Today was the day they started searching for answers dealing with the dust robberies. Since his meeting with Ironwood, Naruto had a bad feeling something was going to happen, especially when he found out what was stolen from the Atlas Military. Speaking of which, Atlas really needed to up its security. If the White Fang could steal something that big, what else could they do?
"Yeah, that sounds great!" Sun replied from the window, hanging upside down from a nearby tree.
"SUN?" Blake shouted, "How did you get up there?"
"Aw, that's easy, I climb trees all the time." Sun shrugged like it was obvious.
Naruto gave Sun the side-eye since the teen was behind him and then smirked. This was something he had been counting on. "Now that Sun and Neptune are here-"
"Neptune?" Weiss asked before her, Nora, and Ruby looked out the window to see him on the ledge.
"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked.
"I have my ways." Neptune countered with a suave smile…before that was twisted in fear as he looked down for a moment. "But seriously, can I come in, we are like really high up right now."
"Can do!" Nora exclaimed before quickly grabbing him before he could protest and chucking him in the room, making a thud as he hit the door.
"As Naruto was saying." Ruby started for her fellow leader. "Penny and I will go into Vale to see how the Atlas Military is doing and to see if any of their other stuff looks like it is going to be stolen. Thank you for the heads up on that Naruto."
"No problem." Naruto replied with a smirk. He hoped they wouldn't run into any stolen technology, but that was unlikely. "Blake, I like your idea of taking Sid to that faction meeting but please take Gwyn and Sun with you. I'd feel more comfortable if you had more backup…just in case."
"I can handle that." Blake replied with a soft smile. She was actually glad to be working with them again.
"Weiss, you and Neptune will head to the CCT to check the Schnee Records to see if there were any other dust robberies or inconsistencies." Naruto ordered.
"They won't give me any issues since I am in the family." Weiss replied with a smirk.
"Yep and I'll take Naruto with me to see an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale." Yang replied with a smile to the male Schnee. "The two of us there should get the information we want from him."
"Finally, we need Ebony and Team JNPR patrolling the rest of Vale in case things do go sideways." Naruto said that last part after smiling at Yang since she was his partner for this outing. She had been acting a bit differently around him, but maybe this outing would clear away whatever was bothering her.
"You got it, boss!" Nora saluted with her goofy smile.
"Oh yeah, we can paint the town red." Ebony followed up, but at Nora's wide-eyed look, she had to amend her statement. "But not in a literal sense." Nora deflated at that.
XXX
"I gotta say, your brother is good at planning all this stuff out." Neptune mentioned as he and Weiss walked over to the communications tower. He always had to marvel at the large tower that kept the world connected.
"While I admit that Naruto has changed since he disappeared, it is nice to see that part of him has never changed. He was the one to always planned out pranks against father." Weiss smiled wistfully in remembrance of the good old days.
"Man, I am glad Sun took me along for this." Neptune mentioned. To him, Naruto did seem like a fun guy and his sister was easy on the eyes. Smart as well, so he had no issues tagging along. He did idly wonder if Naruto was the overprotective type.
Weiss rolled her eyes, while she still had reservations about the monkey boy, if Blake and Gwyn tolerated him, then she was fine. As for Neptune himself, she did think he was hot. He seemed like the level-headed one of him and Sun. And while she could see he was a bit of a player, especially when he winked at her a few times and called her Snow Angel, she felt he was a good person. She just wondered how far this flirty side of him went. Finally, Sun and him both seemed to really behave around Gwyn. She wondered the story behind that.
After making their way up the tower, Neptune asked if he could make a call back home while Weiss made her call and she didn't mind that. She actually found that it was cute of him to want to talk to his folks. She had always wanted that for her family, but their father went out of his way to keep them all at arm's length, especially Naruto. She never understood why though and their mother just smiled sadly when asked. Naruto did seem to know to a point but felt that she didn't want to know the answer. Sadly, her family was dysfunctional at best.
Sitting down at terminal three, the screen lit up to show an orange-haired girl cheerfully greeting her. "OH! Miss Schnee! Good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you through to your father, I think your sister Winter is here as well."
"No thank you." Weiss replied with a fake smile she felt like she had to use when dealing with anyone in the Schnee Dust Company. A lot of people were fake there and wanted to get close to her and Naruto for personal reasons. She couldn't blame them for that, but it still made her feel lonely at times. The phrase, 'it lonely at the top' was entirely true. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a shortlist on my scroll."
Attaching the phone to the computer, the orange-haired attendant raised an eyebrow at the contents. "I see, if you don't mind, what may I ask is this for?"
"School project."
The orange-haired girl rolled her eyes at the Schnee, making Weiss's eyes widen a bit. "To be honest ma'am, this reeks of your brother's involvement."
"How do you figure?" Weiss asked nervously. This was new territory for her, but she wouldn't be that rich girl who throws a tantrum over this.
The orange-haired girl smirked but also had a small blush on her face. "Come on, we both know Ares is a prankster and while you can too at times, you are known as the responsible sibling. So, if he gets this info, he would probably prank the White Fang or something. But since you are getting it for him, I feel more comfortable since you do keep him in line at times."
"That is a full-time job." Weiss deadpanned. That's right, Naruto did have this habit of roaming the company and befriending people, but this girl she had never seen before. Maybe that was how he partially kept tabs on her and mother. Having an inside person at the company did seem useful. She idly wondered how far that went.
"Well then, the data has been sent to your scroll." The attendant stated with a smirk. "Be sure to keep each other safe and please let Ares know that Winter is on a warpath for him."
Weiss laughed nervously at that. "Oh boy." She stated once the screen went dark.
XXX
"This is awesome! And you built this?" Naruto asked as he rode behind Yang on her motorcycle. He did admit the closeness made him the nervous one this time and he felt he was developing a crush on this girl. To keep his mind off her, he focused more on her bike.
"Yeah, she's my baby. I could help you build one of your own if you want." Yang offered, actually wondering how his would look like. She was trying to keep her mind on other topics as well, instead of his strong arms around her waist. But this interest in her bike made her smile through the blush she had. Seems there were more than a few things they could share an interest in.
"That'd be great, I'd like that," Naruto said, thinking about how a cool motorcycle would go with his other modes of transport. Heh, probably freak people out and then confuse and baffle them to no end. "So how do you know of this place?"
Yang chuckled to herself at that. "I got a tip my mother could be here or at least passed through so I was hoping to get some information since I have been looking for her a while and will continue do to so. It was fun, we may have trashed the place in our battle."
Naruto had to sweatdrop at that last part, making him think they might be running into another fight. But wasn't going to focus on that. "I believe you'll reunite with your mom and hey, she might be closer than you think." He replied reassuringly as he watched a lone raven fly by. He could have sworn it glared at him but he just smirked.
"Thank you, most people tell me to just give up on finding my mom, I am glad you're not one of them." Yang replied truthfully.
"We all have to find our family someday, and those battles we fight for them, are the most fulfilling." Naruto replied encouragingly.
Yang smiled at that, she was finding it harder and harder not to like him. Soon, she stopped her motorcycle next to a nondescript building that she knew to be the front of Junior's Club. "Alright, we're here." She said as decided to tease him a bit by leaning back into him. He had some nice muscles and she liked that. "Come on and keep up. Maybe on the way back, I'll you drive."
"Whoa…what a woman." Naruto quietly said, a bit stunned. Quickly shaking his head, he hopped off the bike to catch up. "Hold up Yang. Do you want to prank the guy as well?"
"You have my attention." Yang replied curiously.
"I could go in first see what's what. Then you come in and cause chaos. I think it would be funny to see their shocked faces when we know each other." Naruto suggested.
Yang gained a devious look on her face. "I like the way you think, it will be quite the shock. Go on."
"Got ya." Naruto replied as he walked through the entrance. He was greeted by a couple of black-suited thugs watching the door for any trouble, but they just scoffed as he walked in.
XXX
The Male Schnee made his way through the loud club with a bored expression on his face but his body language showed that he owned this place, this caused all the well-dressed but lackadaisical, henchmen to leave him alone. A thought did occur to him though. He never asked what Junior looked like. Aw well, with his luck, he would just run into the dude. Looking around, he spotted a bar with a bearded man cleaning some glasses. Not far from him was a pair of girls that looked the same but dressed differently. Twins. Neat.
Deciding to go to the bar, Naruto took a seat and smiled at the bearded man, who just frowned at him. Naruto smirked and said, "I'll take a Screwdriver or a Tequila Sunrise."
That bartender actually snorted at that. "You're kidding, right kid?"
"What?"
"You're a little young for this stuff, don't you think?" the Bartender pressed.
"I don't think so." Naruto replied with a shrug. "I have always said, 'old enough to kill hell creatures bent on humanity's destruction, old enough to drink.' Are you telling me you have a problem with that?"
The bearded man gave Naruto a hard look before he smirked. "Nah kid, just think you're starting off a bad habit."
Now it was Naruto's time to snort, making the man raise an eyebrow as he handed the drink to him. "This coming from someone working with the criminal underworld of Vale, funny."
"And how would you know that kid?" The man asked with crossed arms, a few of the thugs turning towards them and the girls roving their sharp eyes over to them.
Gulping down the Screwdriver, Naruto smirked as he kept a relaxed posture. "Oh, just from a mutual friend of ours. Honestly, I am just looking for some information and another drink."
The man groaned as he grabbed the cup and started filling it. "Who is it you're looking for kid?"
"Another of our mutual friends, but one who has a bad habit of disappearing." Naruto replied as he started to feel the buzz of the alcohol. This was something he wasn't used to but still enjoyed. So, he spun a bit on the barstool he was on until his back was facing the bar and he just enjoyed all the pretty lights. "Torchwick."
"Oh, that guy." The bartender growled as he placed the refilled drink next to the boy. "A few months back, he took some of my men, who never came back. Haven't seen the guy since. The sad part is, I heard they got taken out by a little girl wielding an oversized scythe."
Naruto had been taking a sip just as the bartender said then and nearly choked, opting to spit it out instead before he laughed. "Really?! Aw man, you must be embarrassed!"
"No, I share a relatable feeling of not being happy with my men." The man, now obviously the owner, growled out as he glared at all his remaining men, who just shifted uncomfortably.
"Ah well, what can you do?" Naruto replied with a shrug after he regained himself. Looking around the club, he noticed that there weren't a lot of people but he did notice a stage with some instruments. "Odd how this place is dead, maybe it is the loud music."
"Kid, this is a club." Junior deadpanned.
"True enough, but if want people to come in earlier and get more money, then take a page from the Speakeasies of Mistral," Naruto suggested, making the man stare at him. "Start off with soft melodies to entice your crowd to come in earlier, then get their hearts pumping." Naruto hopped out of his chair and staggered a bit from the alcohol, much to Junior's amusement.
That was when he noticed the white-haired boy going over to the stage and raised an eyebrow. Wanting to see where this kid was going with all this, he signaled his DJ to turn the music down, catching everyone's attention.
"You don't mind, do you, Junior?" Naruto asked.
While a little put off that the kid knew who he was, he was more amused than anything else. "Sure kid, make a fool of yourself. I could use a laugh."
Naruto asked smirked at that. He was still in control of himself, so this should be fun. "Don't worry, after all, this place is where all our bad habits lead to." Naruto replied as he gulped down the last of his second drink and then took a guitar, which he already knew how to use mainly because Ebony taught him. "Ooh, ooh."
(Yes, this is Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran. This song has been slapping me in the face for a while now. Why not use it.)
"Every time you come around, you know I can't say no," Naruto sang out loud while pulling off a soft but enticing melody. As he sang, one of his glyphs appeared underneath him, making Junior a bit nervous as he figured out who this kid could be. "Every time the sun goes down, I let you take control. I can feel the paradise before my world implodes and tonight had something wonderful!" As he sang that last bit, Naruto's eyes turned red along with his glyph before blipping out of existence and causing a change in the club. The lights all converged on him, allowing Yang to slip in undetected with a smug grin on her face. But she was a bit flabbergasted at what he was doing. Not only that, but Naruto took control over the sound system and used them to project his voice not only throughout the club but partially outside as well. And it certainly caught everyone's attention.
He used that sound system to continue the beat where his guitar couldn't. "My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone. Conversations with a stranger I barely know." Junior felt singled out at that line as he shifted uncontrollably. "Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't. I've got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do. My bad habits lead to wide eyes stare into space. And I know I lose control of the things that I say. Yeah, I was lookin' for a way out, now I can't escape. Nothin' happens after two, it's true, it's true. My bad habits lead to you."
At this point, a crowd had actually gathered in the club to see what new thing Junior had in store for them and there were bobbing their heads to the beat with smiles all around. As for Junior himself, he was caught off guard even further when he spotted a familiar blond he really never wanted to see again take the stage alongside the kid and just groaned. He should have known something was off tonight.
Yang smirked as she hip bumped Naruto, who smirked back and brought the microphone between them, offering for her to sing along next to him. Yang's smirk morphed into a genuine smile as she took the lead, making the both of them hop off the stage and continued the song in the crowd. "Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, My bad habits lead to you." She sang out loud but with a soft edge to it, the both of them dancing around each other.
"Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, My bad habits lead to you." Naruto continued alongside her. "Every pure intention ends when the good times start. Fallin' over everything to reach the first time's spark. It started under neon lights and then it all got dark. I only know how to go too far!"
"My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone, conversations with a stranger I barely know. Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't. I've got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do. My bad habits lead to wide eyes stare into space and I know I lose control of the things that I say. Yeah, I was lookin' for a way out, now I can't escape. Nothin' happens after two, it's true, it's true. My bad habits lead to you."
By this time the crowd was really moving and dancing along to the beat and even Junior was having a good time, only because he was heavily entertained and he saw that the two singers were heading to a large group of his men that were dancing horribly. "Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, My bad habits lead to you, Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh!"
"We took the long way 'round. Burned 'til the fun ran out-" Yang was so engrossed into the song and staring into the eyes of her singing partner, she also wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings and was about back into that group of Junior's henchmen, which also had those twin girls she had trouble fighting way back when. One of them smirked at the other and then they kicked Yang in the back, sending her forward. This resulted in both singers smashing their lips together as they connected, stunning the both of them as that both felt electricity and fireworks running through them. The lights of the Club going crazy along with their emotions.
As for the crowd, they loved every minute of it and cheered along, especially when the music and lights went back to normal and people got their hearts pumping for the night. Junior put his arms on the shoulders of the kissing couple with a loud laugh. Their hearts were pumping for other reasons. "Aw kid, you never mentioned our mutual friend was Blondie here. Gotta say, it pissed me off at first, but I am fairly entertained. So I will give you one more piece of information as thanks for the laugh."
Recovering quickly, Naruto cleared his throat and said, "I would appreciate that."
Junior leaned down next to their heads with a semi-serious look on his face. "Torchwick and the White Fang are working together on something big, but they aren't in charge. They are working for a very dangerous but hot lady."
That piece of information made the two snap out of their daze and stand ramrod straight. Another piece to the puzzle, but one that brought on more questions.
"Thanks, Junior!" Yang replied before grabbing Naruto's arm and racing out of the club.
"No problem, Blondie," Junior replied lowly to himself. "But you are in over your heads…heh, in more ways than one apparently"
XXX
"Subtle, but that makes sense." Sid stated as he watched Blake find three white claw marks in a wall of an alley the four of them ended up in.
"Huh, would have never guessed that." Sun replied as he eyed the marks.
"That is because you don't look at the finer details, Sun." Gwyn stated with a snarky smirk to her old friend before that turned into a frown when Blake handed them Grimm Masks.
"But the masks confuse me," Sun stated. "If what you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"
"Probably to separate themselves from their civilian sides," Sid replied as he sadly looked at the mask he was given. "After all, there is more than one mask you wear while in the White Fang."
"Actually," Blake interjected while putting a hand on Sid's shoulder, silently asking if he was alright. He gave her a halfhearted smile. She would figure that one out later. "The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces for monsters."
"Grimm masks though? That is kinda dark." Sun replied while Gwyn mumbled that it was dark in more ways than one.
"So was the guy who started it." Blake glumly replied, causing Sid to do the same for her. She too smiled halfheartedly at him.
"Always sunshine and rainbows with you lot." Sun grumbled, causing Gwyn to smack his arm.
As they made their way into the secret White Fang Rally, the group saw that the room was packed full of people. However, the left side was all White Fang soldiers in their black and white uniforms while the right side was all new recruits. Most of them all had the same small Grimm mask on. But the guy on stage, his mask was bigger and styled differently. It almost took on the face of a Grimm Owl.
"Thank you all for coming!" The man on stage started once it seemed that no one else was joining them for the night. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours. I can assure you that he is the key to what we have fought for so long."
As soon as the guest showed on stage, the new recruits were all roaring their disapproval as it was none other than Roman Torchwick himself. "Thank you, please hold your applause!" Roman replied with heavy sarcasm as he sauntered on stage.
"WHAT'S A HUMAN DOING HERE?" A younger orange-haired girl with deer antlers yelled out.
"I am glad you asked, deery" Roman started off with a poor pun, getting some to stop talking. "Now I'll be the first to admit that humans are the worst. Case in point, me. So I understand why you would like to see us all locked away or better yet, killed."
"What a way to start." Sid replied with annoyance.
"Yeah, he going somewhere with this or…" Sun whispered.
"But I would like to mention that the fact that you and I all have a common enemy." Roman continued over the heavy whispers. "The ones in control. The people pulling the strings, the dirty rotten humans that run our kingdoms. Government, Military, even the schools. They are all to blame for your lot in life. I should know, I too am a victim of that system as well."
Now those in the crowd were starting to cheer him on and Sid grew annoyed. He figured that is what these were like. Simple mob mentality at its finest. Easier to control. Just use a bit of shared sympathy and you have their support. Hearts and Minds, all of it.
"And they are all pests that need to be dealt with," Roman stated before another suave smile was used to win them over even more. "Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around." His eyes widened slightly at what he said and made a small amendment. "No offense to the rodents in the room."
With a snap of his fingers, the tarp on the object behind him on stage was removed to show a rather intimidating sight. One of the items that were stolen from the Atlas Military. The Paladin. A powerhouse of a mech, armed to the teeth.
"Damn, Naruto's intel was right. I was hoping it was wrong." Gwyn groaned.
"But how did they get that?" Blake asked, but her avian friend had no answer.
"As some of you may have heard," Roman replied smugly as he knocked on the metal of the large mech, "This right here, is Atlas' newest line of defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my employer, we have managed to snag a few before they…hit the shelves. Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine, but if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal that I can provide you. Any questions?"
That sent the crowd wild, no pun intended. And when the new recruits were told to step forward, the group froze in place as the rest of the crowd went forward. Unfortunately, this action caught Roman and Neo's attention. It took a moment, but Roman was able to recognize Blake and Sid…then at least Sun. He had no memory of Gwyn because she fought from the air.
"Oh shit, he sees us." Sun panicked.
"He can't see in the dark." Blake suggested, nodding her head to a power box.
"But we can." Gwyn replied with a vicious smirk as she took out her halberd and used shotgun mode on the box right next to her, causing the place to go dark and chaos to ensue. Sid and Blake burst out of the entrance while Gwyn grabbed Sun and flew out of one of the high-rise windows.
No sooner had the four escaped the building and used the rooftops as a means of escape did the large form of the mechanized paladin come charging in after them with Roman inside of it. These kids already messed up one thing, he didn't need another thing on his mind. Plus, he wanted to get them before that odd Bunny Grimm came back. That thing was too freaky.
"BACK UP WOULD BE NICE ABOUT NOW!" Sun freaked out.
"On it!" Blake replied as she made a call to her friends. "Everyone, we need backup."
"It is as bad as we feared." Sid stated his piece.
"I didn't see how big those Paladins were before!" Sun cried out.
"Calm down Sun, we've been through worse in the desert as kids," Gwyn yelled out to her old friend. "That nest of dark stalkers was far worse, we just have to focus!"
XXX
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Naruto growled from his place behind Yang on her bike. The reason he was annoyed was that they found the Paladin chasing their Faunas friends through heavy traffic on the multilevel highways.
"Got a plan to deal with this or are we winging it?" Yang asked her partner.
"I have a plan but Blake is going to hate it." Naruto commented, making Yang sweat nervously.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about that?" She asked.
However, Naruto ignored her question in favor of making a call. "Ren, is the cavalry ready?" when he got a confirmation, Naruto smirked. "Let the show begin." The Schnee backflipped off the bike as one of his summoning glyphs appeared.
XXX (Please put on 'Who let the dogs out' by Baha Men.)
"Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who, who?!"
Roman smirked as the stolen Paladin closed in on its Faunas quarry, only to become irritated when something struck a leg, causing a brief drop in momentum. Then he really lost focus when he heard that phrase echoing through the air behind him. It sounded like it was coming from all around him but mostly from behind. "What in the hell is going on now?"
"Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who, who?! Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who, who?!"
Roman turned the main camera to look behind him and he could not keep the flabbergasted look off his face as he saw a pack of six white Beowolves, with speakers hanging off their sides, hot on his tail, almost literally tailgating him. What made the picture more absurd to elicit his reaction was that there were people riding said Beowolves, and the one in the lead, was literally standing on theirs, arms crossed, a bored unfazed look on his face. At least he wasn't the only one taken aback by the odds sight. The rider of the yellow motorcycle next to them was looking at the scene as if she lost her mind. Not to mention the dozens of other drivers on the road. "At this point, I'd have taken to fighting that Grimm Bunny or whatever it was." Roman grumbled to himself.
The leader of the pack, Naruto, lost his bored look to a smirk as he brought a microphone to his face while the other riders took out their weapons if they hadn't already and quickly surrounded the metal monster. Nora's was already out from her own grenade shot. "I tell the fellas stop the name callin' Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo. Then them girls respond to the call. I hear a woman shout out!"
Naruto tossed the microphone to Nora and she belted out "Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who, who?!" Everyone of the riders, except Ren, shouted the same with giant smirks on their faces. Team JNPR and Ebony were having the time of their lives with this madness.
Roman's head was still reeling from the oddity, but he saw red when the lunatic in front of him, used his free hand to flip him the bird. That angered the master thief more than he'd like to admit, he felt more gunfire from his sides and his anger and bafflement grew when he saw Ruby and Weiss join in on the hunt, riding on moving cars with the rest of the group. "Of course, she would be in this madness!"
"I have no words to describe this other than I hate it." Blake grumbled as she swung around with Gamble Shroud, shooting at key places in the Mech's armor.
"Eh, it could be worse, trust me." Sid deadpanned. "But at least he came in with style."
"That's putting it lightly!" Sun cheered at the absurdity he was witnessing. Gwyn wisely kept her mouth shut and readied her halberd.
Yang shook her head at the idea Naruto came up with and when the microphone was sent her way, she was also too eager to continue. This was just too fun, "I see ya' little speed boat head up our coast; She really want to skip town. Get back ruffy, back scruffy; Get back you flea infested mongrel!"
The paladin swung its right arm forward to strike the pest in front, followed up with the left, then two rights, another left, and then an uppercut from the right. However, to Roman's surprise, the first four strikes were parried before the remaining were redirected into a hammer, then an ax finally countered on the last strike by a halberd from the air.
"I'm gonna tell myself I might not get angry; Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo." Sid said as the Paladin jerked sharply to the right thanks to his shield's Gatling gunfire. Seeing that Weiss set an ice trap behind the machine he forced it to slip on the ice with a pile-bunker boosted shield punch. That sent the machine tumbling on the level below everyone.
"Have a nice trip, Torchwick!" Naruto called out happily as Weiss dropped down next to him, happy that her ice trap worked with Sid's help. "See you next fall!"
"Cliché much, Naruto?" asked Weiss with a deadpan look, making Naruto smirk with mock menace.
"Don't make me comment on your 'ice' timing, oh sister mine." Naruto replied making Weiss scoff and roll her eyes before the two jumped down after the others.
"To hear dem girls calling them canine; Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo!" Nora and Ebony roared as Hammer and Ax plowed the machine off another level and fall all the way to the ground. "But they say hey man dat is part of the party; Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo!"
"Them woman in front and they man behind; I hear ah woman shout out!" Pyrrha sang with giddy abandon as her, Jaune, and Ruby all knocked the machine on its ass as the rest came falling down, raining down gunfire at it. "Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who, who?"
"Had enough yet?!" Naruto taunted Roman, as the Beowolves were directed to start moving around the downed machine, Sun and Neptune now riding them with their weapons at the ready.
"As if you crazy weirdo!" Roman barked back as it tried striking Sun down, only for Gwyn to come down crashing into the limb with her Halberd, followed by an electricity-powered strike from Ebony's Ax.
"Freezer burn!" Ruby shouted. Weiss nodded as she used her ice to freeze the paladin in place and the area around it. Only for Yang to come down with a fire-enhanced punch to turn it all to mist, obstructing the machine's view of them.
"A doggie is nothing if he don't have a bone; All a doggy hold ya' bone, all doggy hold it. Ah doggie is nothing if he don't have a bone; All a doggy hold ya' bone, all doggy hold!" the group sang, disorienting Torchwick further.
Naruto spared Jaune a glance and they both smirked at each other before rushing the machine from opposite sides, carving a large X into the front of the machine's hull. All the while, Blake swung around the machine and shot off various gun parts with the help of Ren and Gwyn.
"Double checkmate!" Ruby ordered. Weiss and Blake struck at the front of the legs and freezing off parts while Naruto and Ebony weakened the back of the legs.
When they were batted away by the large arms of the machine, Blake grunted as she landed next to Sid. She saw Penny flying in, using her swords to puncture the metal and keep the machine busy for a moment while everyone recovered. Once Blake saw Penny, she was reminded of a certain device that Naruto and Penny resigned not too long ago for her. The SHIVA Project. Taking it out of her pocket, she nodded to Sid, who nodded back with a tired smile.
"All right you brats, let's see you handle this!" Torchwick screamed as the mist was starting to dissipate and he was able to see them. Opening hidden missile launchers all over the machine's body, he launched them all in one go, going for the scorched earth approach.
Quickly applying SHIVA to the back of her neck, Blake took hold of Sid's hand and hoped beyond all hope that the power upgrade she got from this was worth it in this situation. Her form vibrated for a moment before Sid and her randomly teleported all around the machine, each jump left behind a clone. The idea was to block or deflect the missiles away from them and maybe back onto the Paladin. In the rush of it all, Blake thought she saw that Sid's eyes were closed, but with each jump, he managed to predict where the missile was coming from and even deflect some back on the Paladin while the rest just exploded on their clones.
She supposed it had something to do with his semblance, but as soon as they landed a moment later, completely exhausted and unable to move, that thought left her mind. She was even too exhausted to register Gwyn flying down next to them with a yellow glow overtaking their bodies, making them feel a bit better.
However, Torchwick decided to capitalize on their exhaustion and try to punch them into the ground, only to hit Yang instead, sending her flying into Naruto's arms.
"Jaune, Pyrrha, try and take out the arms!" Naruto ordered as he held Yang. "You ok Yang?"
"I'll be fine." Yang grunted as she got back up. "This is my semblance; I take that kinetic energy and send it right back."
"I see," Naruto observed, although powerful, it was a double-edged sword in his opinion. One day, it will bite her in the ass. He needed to figure out a way to help her with that. It wouldn't end well if she continued like this. For now, he would keep his mouth shut as to not anger her. "Let's both hit him hard then."
"Huh?" Yang asked as the arms were taken out. She barely paid attention when Penny came back in to further deepen the X-shaped gashes on the Paladin or when Nora worsened the structural integrity with a well place hammer strike. Yang's attention was on the ball of swirling energy formed in his hand. He offered his hand to her and she numbly put it under it. As soon as their hands touched and auras connected under that now golden ball of energy, she felt stronger.
"Who let the dogs out?" Naruto offered with a goofy smile.
Yang stared at the male Schnee with wide eyes and a small blush across her cheeks at their closeness. In fact, she swore she saw him blushing too! But most of her attention was how she felt. She felt her aura and kinetic energy flow into the ball with ease, making it stronger. It even added her burning gold aura.
Realizing she was staring and that he was expecting an answer, she put on her cocky smirk and nodded. "Who let the dogs out!" she retorted.
The two smiled at each other before running towards the Paladin at top speed.
It never had a chance.
As soon as the attack hit the middle of the X, it completely blew up, sending Torchwick careening backward and into one of the highway's support beams, denting it with his body.
"…ow…" Torchwick groaned in pain as he realized his aura shield was barely hanging on. Sure, he felt that but the aura took most of the blow. These kids were something else. "Ugh, crushed by a bunch of teens singing Who Let the Dogs….I think I am done here…and I just got this jacket cleaned too."
"I'll finish him off! Force Smite!" Jaune declared as he raised his sword skyward while gathering his aura to the blade-like Naruto taught him. Swinging down at the recovering thief, the blond released a wave of powerful energy that tore up the ground, only for it to be completely blocked by a certain Ice Cream themed girl's parasol. "W-what?!"
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it's been fun." Roman replied sarcastically while giving a salute. "Neo, if you would."
The ice cream-themed girl just gave everyone and bow with a cocky smirk, angering a few, none more so than Yang as she rushed forward to smash the girl's face in, only to shatter the image in front of them. Soon after, they saw the same couple escaping in a bullhead.
"So I guess he got a new henchman," Yang growled.
"Yeah, she sure shattered our expectations." Weiss joked, making the entire group groan at the pun while Naruto and Yang both laughed. They heard each other's laugh before looking at each other. Now that the chaos was over and their adrenaline was wearing off, they remembered two specific things. One, the impromptu kiss they shared at the club and then the feeling they felt when they held hands during their big attack. It made them both blush pretty hard and turn away from each other in nervousness. That was something they'd have to talk about eventually. Weiss and Blake certainly saw it and smirked at each other.
There will be teasing later for sure
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Anyway, I hope you liked that crazy paladin fight!
Heh, naruto will have a field day with Neptune, especially when he finds out that Weiss ask Neptune and rejected her like in the show. Just not in this chapter.
Please review