V2E5: Style and Substance

A breathless step and a sudden slide under an attack aimed from his head. Hope kept dodging and running as he was relentlessly pursued, the wind rushing through his hair. He gritted his teeth as he eyed a chain-linked with a small indent in the wall next to it. He took a quick breath before dodging another attack aimed at his crotch.

I have to hurry. The sooner I get to that witch, the sooner I can get rid of this fucking talisman!

A mad dash that was almost killed as soon as it started, were it not for Hope's reflexive hop. He ran as quickly as his body could take him away from his shadowy attacker. Running up the fence then jumping for the indent, he then springboarded himself over the barrier and landed with a roll. Still, on his knees, Hope found himself surrounded by three assailants. He glared around before rising to his full height. He took out of his pocket a small chain necklace made of some grey metal holding a polished bone bead. The talisman was unnaturally cold and it pulsated with some kind of otherworldly power. He looked between the assailants and the talisman before putting it back in his pocket. He cracked his knuckles and his neck.

"Ok... Three on one..." Hope smirked cockily. "Sounds about fair."

One of the figures lunged at Hope, a clumsy strike that saw the attacker winded by a knee to the gut. The other two attacked in unison, their weapons aiming to incapacitate him. He swiftly rolled under the attack and between the two. Hope didn't stop and went all-in on his escape. His lungs started to burn but he didn't let it slow him down as he caught sight of a roof access ladder. Hope felt a rough hand grip his shoulder before being thrown against a wall. The attacker went for a cheap kick but Hope caught it and sent the assailant on his ass. For good measure, Hope kicked the downed man in the head before going for the ladder.

The ascent was a bumpy one as he felt something bouncing off the ladder's cage. Once at the top, the only things he could see were the depts below and other rooftops. His blue eyes kept scanning for any kind of escape route. The closest building was still too far for Anon's taste, with a busy street right below. Hope whipped his head around as one of the shadowy figures made his way to the roof. The figure held his hand out.

"Give us the talisman." His voice rasped with an ethereal echo.

Hope snarled and shook his head.

"Not in a million years."

"Usually, we could have waited that long... But this will not do." The figure held a hand out and sickly green energy poured out of his hand, crackling eerily. "This is your last chance, thief."

Hope backed until he was a meter from the edge. The figure was joined by its compatriots, dark energies crackling like electricity around them. Anon eyeballed the distance between the buildings.

This is gonna be close.

He looked back at the quartet of warlocks and steeled his nerves.

Time to fly.

He turned and ran, bolts of dread powers flying by him as he reached the edge. At the last possible moment, He lept. Time slowed down for him as he flew through the air, the void below threatening to shatter every bone if he were to touch it. His heart pumped faster and faster as he approached the building.

It wasn't enough, He was still too far from the roof.

Hope's eyes watered as he found himself at gravity's mercy, his momentum finally dropping. The talisman began vibrating, feeding on his distress. Suddenly, Hope felt his foot land on something. He looked and saw a greyish green outline of a platform.

Must be the necklace.

Without a second thought, he propulsed himself forward towards the ledge of the roof. Hope fell short but managed to grab the ledge. Hope dangled from the roof's edge, looking back at the warlocks. One of them prepared to launch another blast at him. Hope quickly scrambled over and hid behind the ledge as the warlocks let loose a barrage of magical bolts.

Hope heard some of them cussing as they ran off to try and catch him on his way down. He sighed as locks of hair fell down messily over his eyes. He grabbed one of his bangs and looked at it disapprovingly.

"I need a haircut..."

He sighed again before taking the talisman out of his pocket and kissed it.

"I'm gonna make sure that witch treats you right, you magnificent lifesaver you."

Hope slicked his hair to the side and closed his blue eyes, breathing deeply the cold Sin City air...

Anon exhaled the warm air of Beacon's gymnasium, his hair stuck to his sweat-slick face. His brown eyes shot open as Blake put an ice-cold bottle of water next to his face. He groans slightly before grabbing the bottle and guzzling half of it. Blake sat next to him with a notepad and a pencil in her hands. She frowned slightly.

"You did better than last time," She said. "But not by much."

She shook her head, her expression is now more neutral.

"I shouldn't be this hard, but after seeing how well you have been doing after only a month... Well, I can't help but feel that you can do better."

Anon looked back at the traversal course he just ran, slightly disappointed.

"I don't want to make excuses, but I have been out of it for a few years..."

"You used to do urban traversal?" Blake perked an ear while still looking at her notes on Anon.

"Eh, kinda." He shrugged. "More like, getting into trouble and running for it."

Blake cracked a smile.

"Yeah, you did say that you were quite the hoodlum back in your adolescence."

Anon exhaled exaggeratedly.

"Oh yeah! I was a fucking punk back then, with a bad haircut and a worse attitude!"

RWBY's black cat giggled. After finishing her note, Blake got up.

"You're doing good progress, however, I find that you're far from adequate."

Anon rolled his eyes.

"In general or by your standards?"

"A bit of both."

Anon inhaled and exhaled before pushing himself to his feet.

"Bummer." He rubbed his hands together with a clap. "I guess I'll just have to try harder next time."

Blake smiled.

"Good attitude."

She turned around and walked towards the changing rooms.

"Now, go get a shower. You smell."

Anon's brow furrowed before he lifted his arm and sniffed. He paused before slowly pulling his arm down.

"... Jesus, that's putting it mildly..."

...

Anon left the gym, still drying his hair with a towel. Blake passed him the notes she made for him.

"Thanks."

He heard the fast click clocking of someone running in heels. They turned towards the source. Coco was currently running at breakneck speeds, kicking up a massive dust cloud.

"ANON!" She screamed out his name with fervour.

"Wait, what'd I do?!" He blurted out in fear.

She rocketed past Blake, grabbing Anon by his arm.

"BORROWING HIM, 'KAY THANKS BYE!"

Anon screamed in terror as he was dragged in by the chocolate-coloured fashionista. Blake covered her eyes to protect herself from the dust cloud, her ribbons fluttering dangerously in the wind stream. Once the dust settled, a dishevelled Blake looked on in bewilderment at where Anon once was and where he disappeared along with Coco.

"...What the fu-"

...

Hope stood stoically in front of a mirror inside of a custom changing room.

"You could have just asked you know?" Anon told his clothes-obsessed friend. "I thought you were gonna kill me or something."

Coco was crouched down next to Anon, adjusting the fit on his pant's waist.

"Nah." She waved his worry away. "If anything I'm going to kill my usual model."

She ground her teeth.

"Bastard flaked out on me at the last possible moment! He bloody well knows that this time of year is when that I'm needed most!"

A fire lit in her eyes.

"I'm gonna give Beacon's little boys and little girls the most awesomest of outfits for the dance, gods as my witnesses! And if they aren't, THEN TO HELL WITH THEM!"

Anon adjusted one of his cufflinks to be more comfortable, ignoring Coco's rant.

"Well, since I don't have a say..."

"Nonsense! Of course, you have a sa-"

"No. No, I don't." He looked her in the eyes. "I never have a choice when you're involved. It's either I do it or you force me to do it."

"He's not wrong!" Fox was heard from behind the curtain.

"Oi!" Coco called out. "Shush, you!"

She finished adjusting Anon's pants. With a smack on the ass, Coco sent him to show off. He rolled his eyes before lifting the curtain. Before him sat the rest of Team CVFY. Yes, even Fox. Hope posed in front of them, showing off the outfit from as many angles as was practical. Fox stared pensively.

"I see..."

Anon rolled his eyes.

"Sure you do."

Velvet stared intently, not paying attention to anything else. Her stare was certainly less wholesome than the situation called for.

The last time someone looked at me like that, it was during an office holiday party. I woke up the next day with a sore dick and smelling like booze and shitty kebabs.

Yatsuachi shook his head disapprovingly.

"Forest colours don't fit you much." He criticized. "The fit is good though."

Coco poked her head out of the changing room.

"Yeah, you don't look good in that."

Anon groaned exasperatedly.

"Then get me out this chicken shit outfit!"

"Oi! I made that!"

"Exactly!"

Back to the changing room he went. Hope looked at the pile of clothes still left to try.

"We've been at it for like four hours, how long do we have left?"

"Oh! We're almost done actually, just five or six left."

"Good." He started taking his clothes off. "I can see why your usual model skipped out now."

"Come now, you know me!" She pointed to herself proudly. "It's done when it's done, nothing less!"

Anon took off his pants and stood in front of the mirror in his boxers. Coco purred.

"My my~" She grinned. "You that happy to see me, sweety?"

Anon let out a raging scream.

"THIS IS THE THIRD FUCKING TIME YOU'VE MADE THAT JOKE!"

Coco snickered.

"C'mon, you've got at least half a dozen outfits left before we're done."

Anon just gave up, sighing.

"Remember our deal."

"Oh, I certainly will, Hope dearest!" Coco wrung her hands together excitedly. "The janitor will have to work overtime to clean all the jaws off the floor!"

The quick sound of adjusting bootstraps, the proud song of a blade being sheathed, the boisterous racking of shotshells and the soft whisper of a tightening bow. Team RWBY stood in their dorms in their new outfits, ready to start their investigation. Ruby sat on her bunk, wearing her "Slayer" gear, swinging her legs excitedly.

"All right, gang!" Ruby hopped off her bed, raising her hands into the air excitedly. "Today's the day! The investigation begins!"

Weiss, in her "Snowpea" dress, sat down on her bunk with her legs crossed.

"I'm glad we're taking this seriously." She deadpanned sarcastically.

Yang stretched in her "Hunter" outfit.

"Come on, princess." Yang teased. "We got a plan! That's... Kinda, somewhat serious?"

"Do you even remember your role in this?" Weiss sassed.

Yang blew raspberries.

"'Course I do! I go to my 'friend' on the shady part of town, grease his wheels and he gives me info!"

Weiss uncrossed her legs and stood up with a stretch.

"Good, that means you were paying attention." She gave Ruby a pointed look. "Have you?"

Ruby pouted.

"Hey! I was paying attention!" She pulled out a scrunched-up paper from her pocket. "I even took notes!"

The paper was covered in childish scribbles that could be generously be described as a drawing of her, her team and Torchwick on the ground with stink lines above his head and X crosses for eyes. Ruby started listing off the things she supposedly took notes of.

"You and I go to the CCT Network Tower. Since your family has invested in the technology, Schnee Dust Co. has a dedicated floor. You're the heiress, so getting info from there shouldn't be a problem!"

Weiss grimaced curiously.

"I am shocked that you remembered all of that from a drawing."

Ruby looked at the back of the paper before waving downward.

"No, silly!" She turned the paper over, showing her actual notes. "That's just something I do for fun!"

Weiss went to reply but chose to stay quiet.

Meanwhile, Blake in her "Intruder" garb nibbled on her nail. She pulled out her scroll and made one last last-minute check. She was on a dodgy-looking site with multiple combinations of numbers and letters, all scrambled up and incomprehensible.

"Ok," She reminded herself. "Cypher's changed since last time... Shouldn't be too hard..."

Blake kept muttering to herself, swiping her finger across the screen to organize the letters and numbers. After a few failed attempts, Blake somehow managed to decode the cypher.

"...Ok, I don't know how I did it but sure."

"Well, you know how things go," Yang smirked. "Just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks."

"Considering this is Anon's Modus Operandi, I think I would know." Blake retorted.

"To be fair, we also do that a lot."

Blake paused.

"Fair enough." Her eyes scrolled across the screen. "Ok, I got the current White Fang meetup location. With some luck, I can get in and find out what they're up to."

Blake frowned.

"Hopefully, I'll also find out why Torchwick is involved with them."

Ruby brought her hands together.

"Awesome! We'll regroup in Anon's room and go over what we found!" She lifted her arm high in the air. "Let's do this!"

"Yeah!"

The girls jolted at the unknown voice coming from outside their window. They turned to see the macaque leader of Team SSSN hanging by his tail on a tree branch and waving a peace sign.

"Sun?!" The girls exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?!" Blake demanded to know.

Sun swung on the branch before somersaulting unto the window's frame.

"A certain someone told me you guys might need some muscles!" to prove his point, he flexed his pectorals rhythmically.

"How did you get up here?" Weiss asked with a questioning glare.

"Oh, that was easy! I do this kinda stuff, like, all the time!"

"You do what?!"

"I climb trees all the time!"

Blake waved her arms around.

"Ok, wait! Who told you to come?"

The door opened, Anon waiting in the frame.

"I did." He revealed.

Blake sighed exasperatedly before turning to face her Partner-In-Crime.

"Why did you bring him into-"

Blake stopped halfway as she and the girls admired what stood in front of them, slackjawed.

Calling him slick would make grease jealous. His mop of brown hair had been groomed and trimmed into a smart haircut. His blue eyes shined in the light with purpose. Instead of his usual baggy hoodie and t-shirt were a velvety blue dress shirt and a rich black coat with shining pale fur trimming the hood. The black of the coat was broken up by a blue thorned vine-like decal that spread from his right shoulder and into his back. The first few buttons of his tucked-in shirt were undone, framing his clavicles in a playful way. The open collar also showed off his refurbished necklace. His blue-lined black pants were fitted to perfection, showing off the shape of his fit legs. Said legs ended with killer-slick heeled leather shoes. Fine leather gloves added another layer of sophistication to the displaced farseer. His rings shone brightly in contrast to the leather, having been polished thoroughly. The small handmade bracelet shyly poked out from his sleeve. The outfit was finished by its centrepiece, a double belt with a custom buckle depicting a bird of prey proudly showing off its full wingspan. The double belt also held his pistol's cowboy-style holster and magazine holders.

He walked into the room with a confident but restrained swagger.

"I asked them to come because if things go wrong, I want as many guns as I can fucking muster."

The sister comically examined him from every angle, changing position by appearing in place as if the animation frames skipped. Anon didn't stop them as they got all up in his grill to check out his new stylish digs.

"Yo!" Yang exclaimed. "You look good, dude!"

Anon smirked.

"Thanks." He pointed at her with his chin. "You don't look half-bad either."

She posed stylishly.

"Bitch! I'm fabulous!"

Ruby held out her swear jar.

"Pay up!" She demanded.

"HE SWORE JUST A MINUTE AGO!" Yang was outraged.

Weiss came closer and held a hand to his face, framing his eyes.

"I can't believe that I never noticed such gorgeous eyes."

Anon felt some red growing on his face.

"I usually wear contacts." He admitted. "I'm starting to think that I should just keep the blue."

Weiss removed her hand in embarrassment, having realized what she did.

"Y-you should."

The sisters kept bickering in the background as Hope opened the window to let Sun in.

"Thanks, bro!" Sun thanked as he swung into the room. "You look slick!"

"Thanks." He cocked an eyebrow. "And Nep?"

"Oh!" He pointed his thumb outside. "He's just outside."

The monochrome girls narrowed their eyes before slowly coming to look outside. The sisters stopped bickering and joined the rest of their team in looking outside the window. Neptune smiled at them as he tethered dangerously on the building's ornamental ledge.

"Neptune?!" Weiss blanched at his position.

"Sup." He greeted casually.

"How did you get up there?" Ruby asked.

"I... Have my ways..." Neptune looked physically uneasy. "Seriously though, could you guys let me in? It's really high up here..."

Pulling Neptune into the room was a laborious process of waiting for him to shimmy across the ledge to then pull him in. Now with Sun and Nep, the plan had to be adjusted.

"So... Are you sure that things will go wrong?" Ruby asked.

Anon inhaled deeply as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"Ok, wow. No need to be so dramatic..." Ruby sulked.

"Ruby, when I said that you assholes were action-adventure protagonists, I wasn't joking." He explained. "You fuckers have a horrible tendency to get yourselves into trouble."

He sighed.

"Look, are you gonna complain about having three sets of extra guns?"

"... I mean when you put it that way..."

Ruby hummed pensively.

"Ok! New plan!" She declared. "Me and Weiss will go to the CCT as planned. Then..."

Ruby hesitated hard, which made Anon shake his head.

"Sun goes with Blake."

Blake glanced over between the two, glaring slightly at Hope.

"Did you..."

"I haven't. Just know that if you go to a White Fang meetup, it's better if you bring a Faunus with you."

Blake sighed.

"Right... Sorry."

Anon came closer to scratch behind her cat ears.

"Don't be, hun," he told her gently. "Doubt is a good thing to have, as long as it's in the right places."

Yang made an annoyed face.

"You guys are totally dating."

Blake groaned.

"Not. Canon."

"What does that even mean?!"

Ruby ignored the two.

"That leaves Neptune to go with Yang." She turned to her sister. "That good?"

Yang sighed at her partner's stubbornness.

"Wha? Yeah, I'm cool with it."

Weiss glanced at Neptune.

"Actually... Why don't you go with her, Ruby?" She asked. "She is your sister."

Anon tried to hide his smile. He failed.

"Yang's going to a bar."

Yang smacked his shoulder.

"Oi! Don't tell 'em!"

"Since she's a minor, Ruby can't come with us."

Weiss deflated.

"D'aw..."

Yang had to double-take.

"Wait, us?"

"Yeah? I'm coming with," Hope revealed.

The room was completely silent which confused Sun.

"Wait, why wouldn't he come?" Sun asked.

Blake rubbed her arm.

"Anon... We know you want to help but-"

"It's about the damned docks, isn't it?" He replied flatly.

The girls looked away uneasily. Anon sighed.

"Fuck's sake, I already told you guys that getting hurt comes with the job."

"Yeah well, we can take it!" Yang countered. "We can take the hits! You can't!"

"What other options do you have?! You're going to Junior's!"

"So what? I'll just make him sing like last time!"

"Last time, you grabbed him by the nuts, destroyed his bar and sent him flying into a pile of garbage! And you didn't even get the info you wanted!"

He stepped forward, putting his chest against hers in an attempt at making her back off.

"Unlike you, I can make him sing."

She stood her ground.

"Can you?"

Anon paused, giving her a dead stare that told many stories.

"Yes." Was all he said.

Yang stood her ground but finally faltered under his sinister stare.

"Alright... Fine..." Yang backed off. "You can come."

"Thank you." He said quietly.

He turned to the Lil red reaping hood, a grin slowly forming on his face.

"And the Big Gun?"

Ruby jolted to attention before squeaking with excitement. She rushed to the room's closet and opened it. Anon stepped back as a veritable torrent of stuff cascaded onto the floor, burying Ruby.

"I told you to not do that!" Weiss scolded at the slightly moving pile of random junk.

Ruby popped out of the pile, hugging an oversized gun case. It was quite a bit taller than she was, almost to a comical degree.

"That's a big case..." Yang commented, surprised at the size.

"Outstanding," Anon said, grinning.

Ruby held the case out for him.

"Morrigan is ready!" She puffed her chest out with pride.

Anon relieved the crimson leader of Team RWBY of the case. It easily weighed over thirty kilogrammes, maybe even forty. Anon pulled out a cigar and lit it for dramatic effect. He popped the latches open and peered into the case. Anon took a puff from his cigar with his eyes wide in astonishment. Ruby grinned from the side.

"We happy, Hope?"

Anon looked up, holding back an excited chuckle.

"Oh, we happy!"

He closed the case and held it on his back by a strap he found in the pile on the floor. He patted Ruby on the head.

"Awesome job as always. Great work."

Ruby leaned into his hand, grinning happily. Weiss stared at them, her eye twitching in exasperation.

"Could you stop that?" She demanded. "If you keep spoiling her, she'll turn into a brat!"

Ruby pouted and held his hand on her head.

"Don't listen to her!"

"And there it is!"

Yang sulked.

"Oh, so when I do, it's treating you like a kid but when it's him, it's fine. I see how this is."

Blake couldn't help but sigh.

"This... This is going to be a long investigation..."

Beacon's garage was perhaps the most disappointing thing about the whole campus. Anon had expected some sort of crazy engineering nightmares to take up space or the garage itself being some sort of crazy extravagant place with tonnes of bikes, cars, scooters or whatever. Sadly, it was rather mundane if still a huge garage. It was comparable to an entire car retailer in terms of size but the insides were nowhere close in terms of being pristine. The floor was asphalt with greasy rags and mechanic tools strewn around. Large tool cabinets lay against the wall, keeping the workbenches company. Toolboxes, mechanical cranes, hydraulic jacks, canisters of gas and oil. While it wasn't grand nor clean compared to the institution the place belonged to, it was clear that Beacon spared no expense in order to keep their mechanically inclined students and faculty members equipped.

Yang's bike, Bumblebee, was parked alone in an open section of the garage. The closest vehicle was further in the back, similarly on its lonesome. Yang was off getting the sidecar for the bike. Anon leaned against one of the cleaner cabinets, looking at the empty spaces of the garage.

"Huh... I expected it to be more packed." Anon mused. "Maybe it's a culture thing."

"What does that mean?" Neptune asked.

"Where I'm from, high school and college parking lots are filled to the brim with parked cars and scooters."

"I mean... it's kind of easier to just take a bullhead down."

"I mean, it's easier to wait for a bus but do you see people only use the fucking bus?"

"Fair, I guess?"

Yang came in, rolling the sidecar next to her bike.

"Actually, there's a parking close by the bullhead station." She waved an arm around. "This here garage is reserved for the people who what to mess with their ride."

"Is that why you park it here?"

Yang smiled.

"Nah, I just want an excuse to ride this baby as long as I can."

Using a crank wrench, Yang safely secured the sidecar to Bumblebee. She slapped the bumper playfully.

"There she goes!" She turned to the guys. "So who's-"

"DIBS!" Neptune yelled.

He hopped into the sidecar, smiling like a dork. Anon snorted.

"Oh, you are going to regret that."

Anon tossed the gun case onto Neptune's lap. The sea god cried out in pain as the heavy case crushed his thighs. Anon smiled shittily.

"Hold on to it," His smile disappeared. "We'll probably need it."

Yang whistled as she twirled her keys by the keyring. Anon eyed her apprehensively, to which Yang smirked evilly.

"Well now~" She sang.

She got close to him, still twirling her keys.

"I guess you'll just have to hold me tight then~"

Anon snatched the keys from her.

"I'm driving." He told her.

Yang pouted, seeing as he wasn't asking.

"Fine... Just watch the paint."

"Bitch, I'm not a reckless driver like you!"

He straddled the seat and adjusted his position.

"Been a while." He mused nostalgically. "I wonder if my old bike is still in our old garage."

He shook his head.

No need to remember that old place. Not anymore.

He strapped a spare helmet on his head before patting the seat behind him.

"Hop on, dragon. We have a gangster to coerce."

Yang strapped her helmet on before taking her seat behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, smirking to herself.

"So this was your plan all along, huh? Sly dog."

Anon looked in front of him as he started the bike, the engine roaring to life.

"If I wanted to cop a feel, I'd ask."

This elicited a chuckle from the little sun dragon.

"Do you now?" She smirked slyly. "I don't remember you asking when you caught a handful back at the docks."

Hope shrugged.

"Needs must, at the time at least."

"Sure it did." She drolled.

Her voice was drowned out by the mighty roar of the engine as Anon worked the throttle. He kicked the kickstand out of the way and stepped on the gearshift. Hope sped out of the garage and drove out of Beacon's campus, his taillight leaving a trail of red in his wake.

V2E5: END!

NEXT ON PLAYLIST: V2E6 - PLAY?