So far so good. The story is still a blast to write and I hope that you all continue to enjoy it as much as I do.
Blake tried hard not to scowl as she and Sun watched from the rooftops. Sun was, quite loudly, eating an apple and Blake only found herself annoyed by it. She was trying to be stealthy and remain unseen but it wouldn't surprise her if his chewing alone alerted the entire dock.
As they watched, a ship pulled into the port. It was as massive as the monkey faunus had said. It also looked to be stacked high with several containers of Dust. It was more than enough to restock the entirety of Vale and then some. More than likely for the Vytal Festival.
This also seemed like a huge score for the Dust thieves as well.
And just a few moments later, a Bullhead pulled in from overhead and landed by the warehouse. A tall human in a white suit jacket and black bowler hat, twirled a cane as he began surveying the cargo ship. Behind him, two dozen White Fang members stepped out from the bullhead, splitting themselves on both sides of the human. In a few of their hands were cable lines with hooks. In others were machine guns and other weaponry.
"Is that them?" Sun asked. A grunt turned his back to them to reveal the emblem of the organization.
"Yes, it is..." Blake muttered.
"That means your friend was right. They are up to no good."
Blake clenched her fist. "No, this can't be right. This has to be some kind of mistake."
"They're grabbing the Dust," Sun argued, pointing at them.
The man in the bowler hat was pointing out several different containers and a group of faunus would move to it. They ripped open the containers and would pull out a crate for the human to look over. Once he nodded, they returned the crate and began to tie the cables to it.
"Well, the Fang are now stealing the Dust. That proves that they are the thieves and that they need to be stopped," Sun continued.
"Why are they taking orders from a human?" Blake wondered, her pride still blinding her. "Something is very wrong here."
"Uhhh, hello, Remnant to Blake, they are still stealing," Sun replied. "I'm a petty thief and have stolen, but this-?"
Blake leapt from the warehouse roof, landing without a sound and moving towards the human in charge. She easily snuck up on the unsuspecting man as he was barking orders and held her sword to his throat.
"Oh for fucks sake..." The human groaned with a roll of his eyes.
The Fang members noticed immediately and quickly surrounded the two, weapons at the ready. Blake wasn't deterred and, with her free hand, untied her bow and threw it away. The two feline ears atop her head flicked back and forth, free from the fabric cover.
"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?" Blake addressed loudly.
Sun facepalmed and groaned. He did this to himself, trying to be the nice guy and help. He initially expected her to simply see that she was wrong and hopefully make up with her friends. But this, this showed him a different side of Blake.
"Stealthy was never my thing anyways," he groaned.
"Whoa-ho, take it easy there, little lady," the human said easily. "Didn't you get the memo?"
Blake narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you talking about? Talk!" She pressed the blade closer to his neck, just enough that he felt the blade kiss skin. He wasn't fazed.
"The White Fang and I are going in on a business venture together."
Blake lifted his chin with the flat of the katana. "Tell me what it is, or I'll end this little operation of yours."
The roar of another Bullhead sounded above and both of them looked up with differing expressions. Blake in surprise and the human with a smug smirk.
"I wouldn't call it a 'little' operation," he answered. And, without alerting the cat faunus, he moved his cane just over her foot before pulling the trigger.
Boom!
-Flash-
The explosion rocked the docks and was loud enough to be heard for several blocks. It also created such a shockwave that a few of the Dust containers shook. One of the nearby containers didn't take kindly to being rattled. Or, to be more specific, the one who was inside it.
"Damn it..." Jaune cursed. It was odd for him to blurt but, then again, he was in an odd situation.
He held his head, trying to nurse the throbbing headache from having his head rocked against the metal wall. Looking around, he remembered where he was and blinked whatever little drowsiness was left from his vision.
It had been a blur of time since he had escaped from Atlas. It had also been that long since he was freed of whatever Ironwood had done to him. He still hadn't come any closer to remembering anything before Atlas but he had come to realize that if he was to find answers...he had to find Adam.
The shouting from outside the container caught his attention and he moved to stand.
"He's mine!" Came a shout. The soldier braced his hand against the wall and lifted himself up. There was another explosion but the shockwave came a few seconds after and Jaune stumbled back into a stack of crates of Dust, spilling several of the fire Dust vials within one.
"Hurry up! Get those containers strapped before more of them show up!" He heard a man shout.
The blonde moved to the doors, which had been "carelessly" left unlocked, and cracked it open without making a creak. He spotted several White Fang members moving towards him with large cables and hooks. They didn't notice him as they moved to both sides of the container and began to strap the cables to both sides as a Bullhead moved over to hover above them.
Jaune continued to survey the area and, not long after, he noticed a ginger-haired man in a bowler cap holding his weapon at the head of a girl with black hair and cat ears.
-Flash-
Blake was confused and lost as she stared back at the barrel of a gun that was also a cane. Anything she tried against Roman Torchwick had failed. He had the White Fang following his every order. He had been able to see through her shadow clones and beat her in combat. And even Sun had not been able to hold his own. And now, they had been separated and the remaining White Fang who weren't stealing Dust had rallied behind the human and were ready to kill her, just as any human.
How could all of this happen? What had happened to the White Fang since she had been gone? This wasn't what they stood for, even in their terroristic reform. This wasn't what they were trying to stand for. So why?
"Nighty night, kitty cat," Roman taunted.
Crack!
Roman was gloating. What stupid thing did those damn animals fuck up that interrupted his gloating?
The human turned to see the shattered remains of a crate of fire Dust. A few vials were broken and, amongst the packing material, a grenade sat in the middle of it all. A grenade without its pin and fuse. He looked back to where his hostage should have been only to see her missing.
"Can't I gloat for once!?" Roman shouted to no one in particular.
BOOM!
Blake could only watch as the human was sent flying back by the explosion. He slammed into a container before sliding down onto his ass. She'd say that it felt right that he had if she wasn't confused by the entire turn of events.
It wasn't until she was finally let down to sit back against the warehouse wall that she finally could see the new arrival. Her eyes widened and her jaw fell slack as he stood up and turned back to the recovering Roman and White Fang.
Sun was quick to join her side and look back at the fellow blonde cautiously.
"It's fine. I have no problem with you or her."
Sun eyed him carefully before nodding. "Alright, dude. But what about them?"
The soldier looked back to see the group starting to recover. Roman was lifting himself from the ground and the White Fang were starting to gather their numbers once more.
"Stay out of this." Was all he said.
"You got it," Sun instantly replied, not looking to argue with the cold, commanding tone the one armed man used.
Jaune then began to walk, slowly but confidently to the enemy. Two White Fang members were helping a third up, wrapping one arm around each of their shoulders. One of his ankles had been twisted and both were burned severely from the feet up to his thighs. Jaune moved quickly, before they even noticed him. He was no longer The General's soldier but he would not allow the White Fang to do as it pleased nor endanger people as it has done.
The first member, a dog faunus, could only cry out in surprise as his wrist was shattered with a brutal grip and his machete was ripped from his hands before being buried into his throat.
The second one, a rabbit faunus, tried to reach for her weapon but there was a blur of painted steel and she realized her hand was gone. Blood spurt from the open wound, coating the other two with splatters of red. There wasn't even time to scream out in pain as the blade was brought down on her head with a force that split her skull in two.
The last member, who had been dropped by the two helping him, tried to crawl away.
"P-P-Please, let me go!" He pleaded. He threw away the mask, revealing the narrow, pointed facial features. His eyes were wide, tears staining the corners as his mouth was agape in horror. He looked to be a rat faunus, judging by the furless, pink tail curled behind him.
"You ask for mercy after aiding in the attempt to steal and take the life of that young woman?" He asked.
"I-It was just orders! I had no choice!" He shouted out.
Jaune's eyes narrowed, dangerously sharp. His head throbbed and he took what looked to be a threatening step forward, albeit it actually being a stumble. His vision started to blur and he could hear soft whispers in his ears. They were familiar but why couldn't he place them.
Only a few seconds later did he open his eyes and the small glint of light disappear with the dark cobalts returning.
The soldier looked down at his feet to see the spear the other faunus had been unable to grab. He bent down and picked it up, twirling it expertly before turning back to the faunus.
The Winter Soldier said nothing. The faunus met the cold eyes of the man before him and realized his fate all too late. He tried to crawl back but the soldier stomped on his kneecap. The grunt let out a cry in pain, falling to his back as his arms went stiff at his side.
The soldier showed no emotion as he watched the faunus cradle the broken joint. It was only a moment later that he stabbed the spear through the faunus' throat. The faunus' eyes went wide and he let out a choked gurgle before he fell back limp.
The blonde looked back to see more White Fang surrounding him. They had heard their fellow terrorist's cry and would meet the same end as him.
The Winter Soldier stepped on the grunt's chest and pulled the spear free with the sickening wet sound of skin and flesh being ripped and pulled.
He turned back to face the members of the terrorist group, stoic as the soldier was trained. The mission was a priority. The White Fang needed to be defeated. It always was his mission and he never thought anything more of it.
He moved quickly. He moved brutally. And, even without an arm, he moved efficiently. He shattered their knees, he snapped their arms, he severed their limbs from their sockets, and he made damn sure that not a single soul was spared. Each step had purpose, each attack had meaning, and each member did not survive.
It left the question of what this man could do if he had another arm.
Sun had kept himself in front of Blake. As she nursed her leg injury from when Roman separated them. Sun could only peek around the corner that the human had disappeared behind and the massacre he witnessed made his eyes go wide. The blood splattered and limbs lost. This was something he could never have fathomed himself, or Blake, doing to these people.
Even if they would have had no problem doing it to him or her.
Then, he turned from an unmistakable loud roar and eyes widened as he saw a Bullhead beeline straight for the guy. "Hey, watch out!"
Jaune blinked and the blurring cleared before he turned to see the blonde monkey boy moving the girl out of the way and then he turned his attention to the aircraft coming straight at him. He wasted no time turning and leaping behind a shipment container just as a hail of bullets rained down on where he once stood and the Bullhead passed overhead.
The soldier looked around for another weapon to use but found none. He looked back up to see another Bullhead with its guns set on him ready to make its own strafing run. He went to move again but not before a massive green laser shot overhead and sliced the Bullhead in half. The other Bullhead behind it had also fallen prey to the powerful blast that lit the sky and started to fall at a rapid pace. There was no stopping it as it blasted through several of the containers through the port. The sounds of metal clashing and groaning as he dragged across the ground forced the blonde to cover his ears as his head throbbed from the volume as it skidded past.
Once it groaned to a stop, he looked over to where it had crashed and noticed that it had revealed one criminal trying to make his escape in the confusion.
Head a little more clear, Jaune went to move towards him but kicked something at his feet. He looked down to see that the object under his boot was a shield. A small round, probably dropped by someone from the Dust explosion.
Lucky him.
-Flash-
Roman Torchwick had decided that he'd had more than enough of all of this. Not just with the new arrival decimating the stupid animal activists but of everything in general since he got roped into this entire ordeal. First the girl in the red hood and now the one armed murder machine! It truly was becoming hard to find good help these days with all the weirdos.
That wasn't mentioning that the killer container hobo had backup in the form of someone who could destroy Bullheads. So, yeah, call him a coward for running off and leaving those terrorists. But he knew when it was time for a tactical retreat and he'd much rather live to see another day.
The dapper thief moved to hop into the waiting Bullhead with whatever Dust he had managed to load onto it. As he placed his hands down to lift himself aboard before a shield whizzed past his head and buried itself into the hull of the aircraft. Roman jumped away, heart in his throat, as he spun around to face the professional discus thrower.
Having been so distracted with trying to make off with something before the cops arrived, Roman had taken little time to see just what those kids had been capable of. Flaming bits of burning scrap covered the grounds with other precarious vials of Dust that had somehow not exploded. Then there was the Bullhead that had been buried beneath the water with one of the engine wings sticking out. Oh yeah, and the bountiful bodies of dead White Fang members at the crazy guy's feet. The criminal raised his cane, the Melodic Cudgel, as he met the eyes of the one handed ship hopper who had somehow decimated an entire SDC dock.
There were very few people who made Roman nervous. The cold, unfeeling look that this kid was giving off and the unaccounted for laser shooter had just given him and whomever VIP access to join the small number of others that made Roman nervous. However, he kept his cool and tipped his bowler cap as he smirked despite the pit his heart sunk into growing deeper.
"Alright, kid," he said slowly. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Gotta say, popping out from that container was a surprise. Destroying my people like that, even more so. I'd say that's some mean muscle and I could use a guy with your talents. Care for a business offer?"
The soldier said nothing. He shot forward and the distance started to close. Fast. There was only a moment between Roman stumbling backwards and a hand reaching for his neck.
"Neo!"
As the grip tightened, almost like glass, the criminal shattered along with the Bullhead behind him. Jaune finally heard the roar of its engines and shot around to see it taking off into the sky. There was one Roman Torchwick on-board and, with a dramatic wave of his hand out the hatch, he disappeared into the night.
The assassin sighed and turned back to the battlefield. The moment gave him time to cool and think once more. The headache was gone and the haze along with it. The whispers had also disappeared but left him with many questions. However, he was still on the battlefield and there were still remaining White Fang left behind. Not to mention those other two who had tried to stop them.
Jaune returned from behind the destroyed containers and took note of the two White Fang members crawling from the Bullheads wreckage. The marks on their uniforms revealed they were not the average grunt and were higher up the chain for the terrorist organization. He couldn't understand why the haze had returned nor why he went on such a killing spree before. But, now, with his head clear, he understood the value these two held. While killing them was his original objective by The General, he was no longer a mindless soldier sent to simply eradicate targets. He understood the valuable information these two would hold.
He did wonder if Willow knew of all of this. Of the possibility of her large shipment being at risk. And, if she did, was this also another step in her plan to give him a new start. The soldier almost wanted to applaud her for such a tactical move albeit him losing himself in the battle.
Two birds with one stone as many would call it.
Jaune moved towards the crawling faunus and knocked both out with ease. He lifted one over his shoulder and dragged the other by the back of their collar as he returned to the monkey and cat faunus' side. The former had moved them closer to the guard's box and sat her against the wall that surrounded the facility.
Sun also had a fair share of unconscious White Fang around him, revealing just how much man power was brought for the job. As well as how much had just been taken away from the White Fang's numbers. Blake was still nursing the injury to her leg but, otherwise, was fine and not in any threatening state. Her weapon was also in hand, so she hadn't been useless in staving off the White Fang.
They had yet to notice him and only picked up his footsteps when he grew close. His fellow blonde was the one to notice him first, turning with his staff ready. Jaune didn't react as it only took two seconds for the faunus to recognize him. The first response was shock at his return before awe took its place.
"Bro, what the hell?" He greeted as the soldier dropped the grunts by their allies.
Jaune only raised a brow. "'Bro'?"
"You slaughtered all those people! You had Roman on his heels! You destroyed those Bullheads! That's... That's..."
"That last one wasn't me," Jaune admitted, reminded of the giant laser that had aided him. There still was an unaccounted variable.
"That was me, actually."
The group turned and there were two small girls. One that had black hair with red tips and silver eyes. And another with sunset orange hair and bright green eyes.
"Ruby? Penny?"
"We found you, Blake!"
-Flash-
"I don't care."
Blake looked at the heiress in surprise.
"You don't?"
"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss asked, hands on her hip.
"N-No, I haven't been since-."
"Ah-ah," Weiss interrupted, holding up a hand. "I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up you come to your teammates first and not..." She paused as she looked over at Sun who was sitting on a crate. Then she looked to Jaune who was finishing up a conversation with the police. "...Not someone else."
Blake's eyes widened, as if reminded of something, and she too turned to Jaune and stared at him with a very foreign look. "..."
Weiss watched her and looked back to the soldier once more, who was now making his way over to them. She looked back at Blake and then back at the soldier.
"The officers will take it from here and have decided to let us go," Jaune announced, as he entered the team's circle. "I assume you'll all be safe getting back to wherever you're from?"
Blake didn't say anything but she did move and wrapped her arms around the blonde soldier in an embrace. The group was, in short terms, surprised. Even Jaune had a hard time keeping his composure from the sudden gesture of affection.
"U-Uh..." He stuttered. He stuttered. He stuttered!
"I can't believe you're alive," Blake whispered into his rags.
Jaune suddenly felt an uncomfortable heat build up within him. It was very foreign and he did not like it at all. He looked towards her team and the monkey faunus for some kind of help but all they offered were wide eyes and slack jaws. Except for the blonde girl with lilac eyes who smirked with a glint in her eyes. He didn't like that.
He looked back down to Blake who had lifted her head to look up at him. Her amber eyes were glowing in the night and he felt a moment of pain in his chest with the longing look she gave him. It wasn't a bad pain but not necessarily good either.
Still, he needed answers. "I, uh-."
And was abruptly cut off once more as she shot forward and pressed her lips to his. The sounds of several gasps and one whoop was the best he got from the onlookers. Was anyone actually going to help him?
"I must say, this is quite something. Is this the new young love or am I missing something, Glynda?"
There was a sigh. "I do not know, Ozpin. That, I do not know."
Everyone turned to the two new arrivals. The older gentleman sipping at his coffee didn't seem so upset. The blonde hair and green eyed woman with the crop in hand did.
[Headmaster Ozpin!] The group, except Jaune, exclaimed. There was a huff from his partner but everyone ignored it.
"Yes, me," he replied with a carefree grin. Then his eyes landed on Jaune. Their eyes met for a moment before the older gentleman took another moment to look him over. He noticed the rags of clothing, the cloak barely covering his body, and the more noticeable fact of the missing arm.
"And who do we have here?"
The plot thickens.
Are Blake and Jaune going to be a thing? Probs not but you never know, mwuhahaha
Jaune now reaches Vale and now meets the wizard of old and the man who leads Ironwood
Will Weiss or Jaune recognize one another?
So many questions, so little chapters. Maybe I'll write faster some day.