Welcome back, readers! WaterDragonMaverick here with my next chapter of "Sideline: Another Story" and the conclusion to the "Phantom Thief" arc. With this, Fragment Hunter's fights with Team SMKE will end and we'll start to get into Volume 2 of the RWBY canon. After this, it means that there will be more characters that start coming for the Vytal Festival and a few other surprises as well. So, be on the lookout for those if you like reading about the adventures of Fragment Hunter.
You'll never see it coming!
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum (R.I.P)
The only thing I own is this story and the characters in Fragment Hunter and Team SMKE.
As they searched through the factory, Lapis and Vixen were searching everywhere for any sign of Azalea or the thieves. However, Oliver Electrum was checking up on them through the security system he had set up. "Why did all but two of them have to be girls," Oliver muttered to himself before he started typing away at a keyboard and a new screen turned on. Picking up his Scroll, Electrum started to apparently play a video game until the screen showed Lapis and Vixen from behind.
Turning around, the two girls saw a handmade remotely controlled drone looking right at them. A humming sound was made by the drone before it fired lasers at them. Dodging out of the way, Lapis countered with a gust of wind from her trident while Vixen threw one of her iron fans at it. Oliver piloted the drone with precision and skill to avoid the attacks. "Nice try, girls. But, you'll need to do better than that," Oliver said to himself as he maneuvered the drone behind Vixen and shot lasers at her tail.
"OW! That stings," Vixen shouted as she inspected her tail. Thankfully, her Aura protected it from any singing and it proved that the lasers were weak. "Okay. Those lasers aren't that strong, so we just can't get cornered by that thing."
"It's probably because the drone is meant for indoor security. The lasers aren't powerful on purpose. That way, there wouldn't be any unnecessary collateral damage," Lapis observed.
Rolling to dodge more lasers, Vixen managed to grab the fan she threw earlier. "So, what do we do about it," the Fox Faunus asked.
"If it's dodging our attacks, that means it's piloted by someone. They have to see what they're doing," Lapis theorized.
"Well, let's take care of that," Vixen chuckled before she used her Semblance. Creating an illusionary blanket of clouds, Vixen was able to block the lights and leave the drone in the dark while she guided Lapis out of the way.
"Clever girls," Oliver said to himself before he changed the camera setting on the drone to follow after them.
After finding Azalea, Sunset, Slate, and Layla were all happy to find their friend safe and sound. Not only that, but Sunset was able to discover another ability of her Semblance. Being able to telepathically communicate with everyone, Sunset thought of a plan that allowed them to try and deal with the thieves. "Okay," Sunset began. "Time to split up and help the others. They've probably found themselves in fights, so let's see who's where," Sunset said to the other three with her.
Concentrating, Sunset used her Semblance to find where everyone was within the old factory. She sensed Vixen and Lapis were running from something, but she couldn't figure out what specifically. Finding Cereza and Celadon, she also sensed somebody battling them above the catwalk they were on and Cereza was getting impatient. Sensing Vinyl and Rebecca, Sunset was also able to feel somebody being cocky while they fought. Finally, she found Rua and Silver battling a third person who seemed to be having fun while in combat with them.
"I found them all," Sunset declared. "Lapis and Vixen are running from something, Cereza and Celadon are fighting in the catwalks, Vinyl and Rebecca are dueling someone, and there's this wild third guy fighting Rua and Silver," Sunset listed.
"I'll help Rua and Silver," Azalea declared and surprised the others.
"Are you sure," Layla asked as she returned Azalea's Scroll and weapon to her.
"I know who they're fighting and he did want to fight me earlier in the parking garage," Azalea mentioned. "Looks like you'll get your rematch after all, Tremor."
"Alright," Layla said. "Guess I'll help Cereza and Celadon."
"I have a feeling I know who Vinyl and Rebecca are fighting," Sunset remarked.
"So, that leaves me with either helping Lapis and Vixen or finding the loot," Slate presumed.
"Let's go," Sunset declared as she started to lead them back upstairs.
Silver and Rua were struggling against the power that Tremor possessed. Every punch he landed was able to push them back and take down their Aura levels considerably. Rua checked her Scroll to see that she and Silver were nearing red levels that would eliminate them from tournament matches. However, they were fighting in the real world now and Tremor was almost ready to end the battle. "This was a great fight, you two. But, it's my victory," Tremor declared as he got ready to deal another vibrating punch to the members of Team SLVR.
But before he could get close to Rua and Silver, Tremor felt something strike him in the head just out of his view and the impact sent him to the floor. Getting up, he tried to see what hit him, but there was nothing there. Feeling more strikes, he reeled back until he fell back onto the floor. Seeing the sand from the ruined punching bags, he grabbed a fistful and threw it around himself. When the sand stayed in the air like it was on something, Tremor saw what kept hitting him. "I just got this sweater," Azalea complained as she stopped using her Semblance and brushed the sand off of herself.
"Azalea," Rua and Silver exclaimed as they saw their friend was okay.
"Smart trick with your Semblance," Tremor admitted to Azalea. "But, you can't always stay invisible like that. Enemies will manage to find you somehow, just like I did."
"Then, I'll just have to fight you here and now. No invisibility, no Dust, just ourselves," Azalea stated as she challenged Tremor in hand-to-hand combat.
As Rua and Silver's jaws were wide open at Azalea's declaration, Tremor started to laugh. "HAHAHAHAHA! You got a deal, kid. Looks like our rematch is the main event," Tremor exclaimed as he removed his Drill Bit Knuckle Dusters. "LET'S RUMBLE," Tremor shouted as he started throwing a few jabs and straight punches.
Dodging the strikes, Azalea countered with a clothesline to Tremor's chest. The attack was able to push him back and left him open to a leg sweep that sent him to his knees. Quickly adjusting his stance, Tremor countered Azalea's next punch with an uppercut as he stood right back up. After Azalea hit the ground, she got back to her feet and jumped into the air to nail Tremor with an axe kick. Blocking the attack, Tremor felt the sheer power behind it and pushed Azalea back before she could use her free leg to hit him.
"You're good, kid," Tremor complimented his opponent. "But, here's a tip for all of you. Try and stay out of an opponent's reach and take advantage of attacks that fail to connect. You'll have them end up wasting stamina that way," he explained.
"Why are you telling us this," Rua asked suspiciously.
"You kids are giving me a good fight. I should at least pay you back with some battle advice," Tremor said before he started to continue attacking. Azalea saw his next attack was going to be a heavy punch, so she started to use what Tremor just said. Using minimal energy to step away from his attacks, Azalea kept dodging the brawler's punches and saw that he was beginning to exhaust himself from the fight he was in before.
Taking a chance, Azalea went in for a grab and lifted Tremor off his feet before slamming him on the ground hard enough to have him actually bounce from the impact. With a swift kick, she juggled him higher into the air before jumping up and smashing Tremor back to the ground. As Tremor got back onto his feet and saw Azalea heading at him with another punch, he countered by tackling her and delivered a hook at her legs to leave Azalea defenseless as he kept punching.
Tremor kept punching Azalea back and was ready to deliver one final punch to end his combo, but Rua teleported in to help her friend. "C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER," Rua exclaimed as she kicked Tremor in the face to knock him backward. However, Rua's body began to shimmer with a purplish-red sheen to signify that she used up the last of her Aura for the battle with that last teleport. "Get him, Azalea," she cheered as her friend got back on her feet.
After Rua's intervention helped her get out of that last attack, Azalea landed another punch at Tremor's head before delivering a few more blows to his face and chest. Tremor tried to punch at Azalea twice, but she managed to see his punches were slower and more predictable than her own, allowing her to dodge easily. Hitting Tremor a few more times, Azalea finished with an uppercut to his jaw that knocked him back a bit.
Using his Semblance to create a vibrating field around his fists, Tremor began to attack Azalea again. Dodging the attacks, Azalea kept using Tremor's advice about avoiding an enemy and wearing their stamina down. Eventually, Azalea went for a counterattack, but Tremor used another hook on her legs that left her in the air and followed up with a vibrating uppercut that knocked up before hitting the ground. Tremor tried to stomp down on Azalea, but she rolled out of the way and began to fight again.
As Azalea and Tremor's fists clashed with each other, Tremor's Semblance began to crack the floor when combined with the power of both fighters. Both of them kept getting a few hits on each other during their current clash, but every time that they punched each other's fists, the concrete floor beneath them began to crack away more. As the two went for a big punch against the other, Tremor managed to evade Azalea's haymaker and stepped behind her. Landing a few more punches to daze Azalea, Tremor began to wind up for one last Semblance-enhanced punch. "You won't hear the full ten count," Tremor exclaimed as he slugged Azalea in the face hard enough to knock her to the floor.
Hitting the ground, Azalea laid flat on her stomach and struggled to get back up. She felt her Aura was still active, but Tremor was a powerful opponent. "Is this the end," Azalea thought to herself as Tremor began to slowly approach her from behind. "Are we going to lose to this guy? Am I going to stay down like this? After my friends came here to rescue me? ...No," Azalea thought as she managed to get back on her knees. "I'M NOT DONE YET," Azalea shouted as she slammed a fist to the floor. As her punch left a fist-shaped crater from the impact, the room's lighting seemed to become brighter.
"Wait, what," Tremor asked in confusion as he covered his eyes from what he was seeing. Rua and Silver had to shield their eyes as well because all three were looking at Azalea, but her entire body was lit up like a lighthouse beacon and started to blind everyone who looked directly at her. Distracted by the light coming from Azalea, Tremor was left open to several fast punches that began to eat away at his remaining Aura. Attempting to counter with another Vibration punch, Tremor missed and Azalea punched his arm hard enough to have Tremor recoil from the pain. With him open again, Azalea started to throw dozens of punches at Tremor's face until his Aura was depleted and Azalea finished the battle with one last uppercut to his chin before knocking him to the ground with a lariat.
After defeating Tremor in combat and knocking him unconscious, Azalea was breathing heavily and her body's glow faded. With the light back to normal, Rua and Silver went to check on their friend. "What happened? What was that light," Silver asked.
"I think... that was me," Azalea guessed. "I think it was my Semblance. I was getting pissed that I would lose after you guys came to save me and something just started... burning in me," the Cow Faunus explained what she felt earlier.
"Either way, you beat him," Rua exclaimed as she pumped her fist in the air.
Azalea checked her Aura level on her Scroll and saw that she just entered the red. "Just barely. If he got a few more punches on me when I got up, I would've lost," she mentioned.
"We should still get out of here. We saved you and that's all that mattered to us," Silver stated as he and the girls left the building.
Celadon and Cereza were having a difficult time dealing with Rouge as her Semblance allowed her to change shape. Rouge's current 'keep away' strategy was also annoying Cereza to no end because she was avoiding any projectiles that came at her and the limited space of the catwalk restricted the movements of the rookie Huntresses. "Stay still," Cereza shouted as she fired more bullets at Rouge. Dropping down and using her Semblance to gain a tail, Rouge avoided the attack before using her knives to slash away at Cereza again.
Damaging Cereza, Rouge jumped back and transformed her knives back into pistols. Firing at Celadon as she used her whip spear, the thief was able to get a few shots in on her and took out a small chunk of her Aura. "I have to say, I haven't enjoyed myself like this in a long time," Rouge said with a flirty tone. "You two really know how to give a girl a good time."
"As flattered as I am, I don't really think that it would be a good idea for me to be with a criminal in the way you're implying," Celadon said before she used her Semblance to fire more gemstones at Rouge. Dodging the attack, Rouge flipped over and tried to hit Celadon with a bicycle kick. However, Celadon raised her hands in front of herself as gemstones were formed in front of her like a barrier.
As Rouge's foot landed on the gem, Celadon fired it at the wall to try and damage the thief more. But, Rouge was quick and jumped off the gem and kicked off of where she would've impacted. As Celadon's attack shattered and dissipated against the wall, Rouge jumped back onto the catwalk and grappled with Cereza. Knocking her tonfa to opposite sides of the bridge, the thief was able to mount Cereza and used her Semblance to have two vine-like tails to hold her pistols while her arms were free to subdue the Huntress-in-training. "I'm afraid our time together has come to an end," Rouge said as she started to strangle Cereza.
"Then, how about we switch partners," Rouge heard a new female voice ask before she was pushed back. Catching her breath, Cereza saw that it was Layla who pushed her attacker away. Using her Semblance, she retrieved Cereza's tonfa with Telekinesis and handed them back to her leader. "Kind of stupid of you to get caught like that," Layla bluntly said as she pulled out her lamp-shaped gun.
"Did you find Azalea," Cereza asked as she ignored her friend's comment and stood back up.
"Of course," Layla replied with a smile. "Now, let's handle this girl," she declared as she aimed her gun and shot a Fire Dust bullet at Rouge. Avoiding the flames, Rouge managed to retrieve her weapons before countering with a few shots of her own. Deflecting them with her scimitar, Layla blocked the attack and allowed Cereza to approach for a punch.
Taking flight by using her Semblance to form bat-like wings, Rouge avoided the punch and Celadon followed up with an attack from her whip. Narrowly avoiding the spearhead, Rouge was left open to Layla using her gun to fire a stream of Ice Dust that froze her wings. With the extra weight, Rouge was forced to land on the catwalk and deactivate her Semblance. As she did that, the girls opened fire with their ranged attacks and Rouge was bombarded with gems and bullets. After taking that much damage, the thief was panting as she stood back up. "Azalea sure does have skilled friends. I know she'll be a great Huntress if she's on your levels," Rouge commented.
"I'm sure she would love that," Celadon replied. "But now, I think we should end this."
"Couldn't agree more," Cereza said as she aimed her tonfa again.
Just as Rouge was about to make her next move, a bright light was shining from underneath the catwalk. "What is that," Rouge asked herself as the four girls peered over the edge of the rail. Thinking fast, Celadon and Layla used their Semblances to create a large gemstone in the middle of the air that captured the light and used it to blind Rouge. With the thief distracted, Cereza used her Time Mirage to deal one last string of combo attacks that knocked Rouge out cold.
"Any idea what that was," Layla asked.
"No clue. Let's just get out of here now," Cereza answered as the three girls started to head down the closest set of stairs.
While Lapis and Vixen were still running from the drone, Oliver Electrum was sitting back at his computers to observe everything going on in the factory as the drone chased the girls down. Seeing that Azalea's friends found her and went off to help the rest of the intruders, Oliver just focused on piloting the drone. "No use hiding, you two," Oliver said to himself. "My drone's camera can find you in the dark, through walls, and even through those illusions of yours."
As Lapis and Vixen ducked into an empty room, the drone passed them and had to turn around. Taking the chance, Vixen used her fans to send a wave of embers at the machine before running off again. Despite the sudden blast of Fire Dust knocking the drone around, Oliver was able to stabilize his robot and fired a few lasers at the Fox Faunus. "Take this," Lapis shouted as she used her trident to send shards of ice at the drone.
"Not today," Electrum said as he entered a combination on his Scroll. As he tapped the screen, the drone immediately turned and fired enough lasers to destroy the ice. As the pieces of ice fell to the ground, Lapis got hit with a few of the lasers as she ran away to regroup with Vixen. "These girls are going to run into a dead end eventually," Oliver muttered to himself as he had the drone follow them.
As the girls ran through the hall, they ducked into a room and shut the door. As they heard the drone fly past, they thought they were safe until they saw where they ended up. "Uh oh," Lapis and Vixen said as they noticed three more drones activating and charging lasers at them. "RUN!"
"Just like a video game," Oliver chuckled to himself as the three extra drones turned on. Using his Scroll, Electrum began to enter commands on his Scroll until the video feed he had split into four different ones. "And you two just ran into a monster house," he smirked as the drones began to fly on their own. "Thank you, auto-pilot."
"These drones are going to kill us before we find Azalea," Vixen said as she ran with her fans ready to counterattack.
"I don't think these ones are lethal. This is a thief's hideout," Lapis mentioned before deflecting a few lasers with her trident. "Why would they kill if they just stole things? These drones are probably for security and are piloted by someone with a connection to them." As she explained this, a few more lasers hit her and started to leave burned holes in her clothing. "Now, I'm going to need a new outfit," Lapis muttered to herself as she saw the damage.
"How are we supposed to find them," Vixen asked. "It's not like we can ask for an error in the CCT." As the girls of Team SLVR rounded a corner, they found themselves trapped by a dead end and the drones hovered in front of their only escape route. "Ah, Grimm paste," Vixen uttered as she saw the drones charging their lasers.
Before the robots could fire though, a single gunshot was heard and each drone went down from the blast. Seeing where it came from, Lapis and Vixen smiled to see Slate managed to save them. "We found Azalea. Let's go," the gunslinger said as he holstered his revolver. As the three went on through the building, something caught Slate's eye as they passed a particular door. Breaking it down, Slate and the girls entered to see a young man in front of a few monitors as he tapped away on his Scroll.
"Come on! What happened," Oliver said to himself before he heard a gun cocking behind him. "Crap!" Seeing Slate with his revolvers aimed at him, Oliver immediately raised his hands to show he wasn't going to hurt them. "I'm defenseless! Don't shoot," he exclaimed.
"Vixen, keep an eye on him," Slate told the Fox Faunus. "Something tells me he's hiding something in this room. Lapis, help me search."
As Vinyl and Rebecca tried to attack Smoke, he was able to either dodge their attacks or use his 'Phantasm' Semblance to have their strikes harmlessly go through his body. Countering with blows from his cane, Sombra was able to knock Rebecca down constantly while Vinyl was forced to use her hard light disks as shields to block. Using her Semblance, Vinyl kept trying to blast Smoke Shadow to find when he deactivated his Semblance. However, he was quick enough to dodge each energy projectile and managed to get in close to her.
As he went to strike with his cane, Vinyl headbutted Smoke before he could hit her. Recoiling from the damage, the Raccoon Faunus stumbled back a little before getting kicked by Vinyl as she dropped to the floor. Getting hit in the legs, Smoke fell down and saw that Rebecca was heading at him with her wakizashi drawn for another attack. Using his Semblance, Sombra managed to avoid getting stabbed and rolled into the next room through the wall. "Crap," Rebecca muttered before she prepared to defend herself.
Phasing through the walls and striking the girls with his cane while it was sparking with electricity, Smoke Shadow managed to chip away at their Auras with impacts and shocks. Rebecca and Vinyl were panting as they tried to stand back on their feet. "You girls don't know when to quit, do you," Sombra sighed as he idly waved his tail and leaned on his cane.
Before the two members of Team SAFR could try and attack, they heard something. "Get down! I'm going after him," they heard Sunset call out despite Rebecca and Vinyl not being able to see her. Listening to their leader, they fell to the floor and Smoke was confused by their action. Hearing something behind him, he turned around to see a giant torrent of fire coming right at him. Eyes wide at what he saw, Sombra quickly used his Semblance to avoid damage from the flames, but he still felt the intense heat and had to shield himself. As he took a deep breath, Sombra was hit in the stomach with a sword swing and the attack took out a good chunk of his Aura.
"Whoa! That was rad," Vinyl exclaimed as she saw Sunset standing in front of Smoke with her sword in her hand.
"What was that," Rebecca asked as she questioned why they heard Sunset without her alerting Sombra.
"I found out something new with my Semblance," Sunset telepathically told her teammates. "Now, we can communicate with our thoughts." After explaining her newly discovered power to Vinyl and Rebecca, Sunset pointed her blade at Smoke as he stood up. "Smoke Shadow, it's time you pay for your crimes."
Smoke looked at Sunset with interest and twirled his cane around as he spoke to her. "Nice shot, miss. But, I'm afraid that you won't be able to take us to prison," he said.
"We'll see about that," Sunset said as her jacket's sleeves and back began to light up. With wings of fire appearing behind her back, Sunset went into battle with her sword and flames. As Smoke and Sunset clashed, sparks of fire and electricity flew off their weapons during their initial strikes. As they swung their weapons at each other a few more times, Sunset threw her hand forward and prepared to snap her fingers. Sombra looked down at the floor and gasped as he saw a circle that flashed different shades of yellow, red, and orange while giving off a high-pitched sound like a bird's cry.
With a snap of her fingers, Sunset made the circle erupt in an explosion of fire that engulfed Smoke Shadow. As the flames died down, the Raccoon Faunus barely hurt by the blast as his coat and tail were shown to be slightly singed. "Yeesh, you're a fiery gal... I like that," Sombra said to Sunset as he tried to dust the ash off of himself.
"Flattery and puns will get you nowhere," Sunset warned as she readied her blade again. As she attacked Smoke again, a trail of flames followed her swing and the thief had to use his Phantasm Semblance again. As the flames burned where he stood, Sombra jumped back away from the fire and took deep breathes. Sunset and the others noticed this before the three of them began to continue fighting.
Vinyl prepared her Hard Light Projection Braces and Rebecca grabbed a handful of shuriken as Sunset started the attack. The leader of Team SAFR threw a punch at Smoke and followed up by spinning quickly to swing her sword, but Smoke dodged the attacks and soon saw Rebecca's shuriken flying at him. Using his Semblance, he let the blades go through his body and hit the wall. As he ran past Rebecca, Vinyl tried to kick Sombra to try and hurt him with a roundhouse before his body became intangible again. As her leg flew through Smoke Shadow's head, Vinyl smirked and the thief realized that it meant bad news for him as loud music blared through the speaker of Rhythm Scratch.
"AAARGH," Smoke screamed as the noise caught him off his guard and Vinyl took her chance by kicking him again in the stomach. As Smoke stumbled back, Rebecca followed up with a few punches to his kidneys and kicked him away toward Sunset to let her get in a few punches and kicks. As Sunset ended the onslaught with another explosion from her Fire Dust jacket, Sombra was forced to dodge the blast and the attack left a hole in the wall. "You girls are good," Sombra said as he coughed. "How'd you figure out how to beat me?"
"You kept taking deep breathes before and after you turned intangible," Sunset stated. "I figured that you can only be a 'ghost' for as long as you held your breath. So, my flames could help deal with that by burning through the air you already had. And to get you out of your 'Phantasm' faster, Vinyl could get you to exit it with some good music. Then, we just needed to make sure that you couldn't immediately phase through anything," Sunset explained.
Smoke panted as he took in Sunset's words and looked back at her. "Smart, strong, skilled, and pretty. You single," Smoke asked as he smiled at Sunset. Caught off-guard by his question, Sunset stepped back a bit and the thief used a smoke bomb to cover his tracks as he fled out the hole in the wall. "I feel like that we'll see each other again, gorgeous. Until next time," Sombra said as he escaped.
As the smoke cleared, Sunset, Rebecca, and Vinyl saw that Smoke Shadow was nowhere to be seen. "Crap. He escaped," Sunset telepathically said to Fragment Hunter. "Come on, let's just get out of here."
"Sunset, is that you? When did you get in my head," Cereza asked mentally.
"I think the more important question is, 'Why can we hear you while we're outside, Cereza'," Silver retorted.
"We've got a lot to talk about when we get back," Azalea said over the telepathic conversation.
Sunset could only smile because they managed to rescue their friend. However, the next voice said something that caught her attention. "Guys, we found something you might want to see," Slate telepathically said. "Meet you outside with what we got."
As Fragment Hunter was waiting outside for the police, they began to discuss what Slate discovered. "You found them," Sunset and Celadon exclaimed in surprise as they saw Slate holding both the crown stolen from the museum and the bejeweled sword that was shown on the news footage they saw before.
"Yup," Slate said as he handed the weapon to Sunset. "They were in a room with the hacker that controlled the drones Lapis and Vixen fought."
"You really do need a new outfit, Darling," Celadon said as she saw all the damage the drones' lasers did to Lapis' clothing.
"I know," Lapis bluntly stated as she looked back at the holes in her shirt and sleeves.
"Can we get back to the whole 'Sunset can get in our heads' thing," Silver reminded. After a brief explanation of how Sunset discovered her telepathic abilities while they searched for Azalea, everyone was amazed at how Sunset's Semblance was growing. "Man, can you imagine all the crazy awesome stuff we could do with our Semblances if they were all like Sunset's," Silver asked in amazement.
"It would be cool," Vinyl remarked as she put her headphones on and started to listen to her music.
Soon, the Vale Police Department arrived and the teenagers explained everything. Listening to what they said, the police took the previously stolen items from Sunset and Slate to be processed. "Thanks for your help with this, kids. But even if you're all training Huntsmen and Huntresses, this wasn't the smart thing to do," an officer said.
"Some of us weren't thinking straight because our friend was taken. But, we managed to find them as soon as we could," Slate replied. "Somebody had to do something and you were all busy with the museum itself."
"Either way, just know that you can't solve everything by yourselves," the policeman said as he went to talk with his boss.
As Fragment Hunter stood around, they all had the same thing on their minds. "This year is definitely going to be interesting," Cereza mentioned. "And it isn't even the second semester yet. We're going to have plenty to look forward to."
After another minute, a few officers exited the factory to speak with one of the detectives. "There were signs of a struggle, but nobody's inside there anymore," the cop stated. The information of Sombra's crew not inside giving Fragment Hunter the same feeling that they would meet back up with them again.
Leaving Vale's borders, a Bullhead was shown flying over the mountains below. "Well, I can say that was a fun time," Smoke Shadow remarked as he flew the aircraft.
"Yeah, for you guys maybe," Oliver dryly stated as he started to look at something on his Scroll. "Should we head off to Mistral now?"
"I say that we find some small jobs first. Maybe go to Kuchinashi," Rouge suggested. "Those girls are going to make great Huntresses," she mused as she looked out at the view of the landscape.
"I'm looking forward to a rematch with Azalea," Tremor said as he unwrapped a candy bar. "Her friend kicked me in the face when me and her were in a one-on-one match. I'm itching to go again," he stated before taking a bite out of the chocolate.
"We'll meet up with them some other time," Smoke replied. "Right now, we'll stay away to get stronger and do a few minor jobs. I'm looking forward to seeing those lovely ladies again, anyway." The four thieves discussed more of what they were going to do as the Bullhead flew off past the horizon.
In the middle of the night at the village of Higanbana, a poker game was being held in the local tavern. Some of the players were a few locals while the others were traveling through town. As the game continued, conversations changed topics frequently and a waitress in a red dress stopped by at times. "Can I get you boys anything else," she asked as she gave one man a glass of whiskey.
"I'll take a hard cider," a deep voice said from a darker corner of the table. The waitress nodded and went back down to the first floor to get his order.
"As I was saying," the man who got the whiskey said as he prepared to continue his story. "After I got back to the shop, I saw that one of my employees tried to sneak a kitten into the store because it was raining. They thought I didn't notice and kept trying to hide it from me throughout the whole day," he chuckled at the story. After having some of his drink, he continued speaking. "Seriously, the whole thing was like it was ripped from TV. Especially when she tried to hide it in her uniform and it started purring loudly!" Everyone at the table laughed at the story before they looked at their cards. "Teenagers. Am I right? You ever have to handle them, Granite?"
"I've had my fair share of those kinds of antics," the man in the shadows remarked as he signaled he was checking in the game. As the next card was revealed, half of the table folded their hands and three were left. "I'll raise," the man said as he placed some more chips on the table and leaned into the light slightly enough to show his red eyes.
One man was sticking his tongue out in concentration before he called the bet and placed his money in the pot. The man with the whiskey downed the last of his drink and went all in. "I hope that you two can match this," he said with a slight slur.
"I'm out," the third man stated as he folded. "What about you, big guy," he asked the red-eyed man in the dark.
Looking at the pot and the man's face, 'Granite' pushed all of his chips forward. "All in," he laconically stated before the last cards were shown. As their hands were shown, the first male had an ace high while the shadowed figure revealed a pair of queens. As he realized that he couldn't continue playing, the first man smacked his head onto the table. "Don't beat yourself up over this," the winner said as he collected the chips and the waitress brought his drink. "Thank you, miss," he said before removing the bottle cap with his teeth.
"Doesn't that hurt," one player that previously folded asked.
"Nope. Had plenty of practice doing this," 'Granite' stated before continuing the poker game. After several rounds, he managed to win the entire match and soon headed off to the inn with his winnings. However, a man in the tavern saw that 'Granite' was leaving with a lot of money and followed him. As they exited, the man pulled out a pistol and placed it against 'Granite's' back.
"Give me the money and I won't pull the trigger," the gunman said with a slur. 'Granite' could easily tell that he had too much to drink to use common sense and just sighed in exasperation. "Give me your money and I won't shoot!"
Turning around slowly, 'Granite' looked at his would-be mugger and could see him wobbling a little. "You can't even get one shot on me," he calmly declared.
"Don't even try to get out of this," the mugger exclaimed. As he jabbed the gun into 'Granite's' stomach, the weapon sudden fell to the ground and took the gunman's hand with it. "AARRGH," the man screamed in pain as his hand was pinned to the pavement by his weapon. As he looked back up at his 'victim', the male saw that a foot was pulled back and he felt the impact of a heavy boot meet his face.
As the mugger was knocked unconscious, 'Granite' sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "When will they ever learn... You don't try and mug a professional Huntsman," he said to himself before taking the pistol and removed the bullets. As he entered the inn, he spoke to the manager. "I need a room for the night. Just need to get some sleep before going to Vale."
"Going there for the Vytal Festival this year," the manager asked in curiosity.
"Yes. And a few other things," 'Granite' answered. "Let's just say that I'm meeting someone important there and she needs to be taught a few things."
Geez, this took forever! Sorry about the wait, but life and writer's block happened. Now that the "Phantom Thief story arc" is complete, it's onto something for the Volume 2 canon for Sideline! And if you're reading both this and my RWBY Rangers story, I've got something special planned for Halloween.
For the fights, I have some music that would work GREAT with those scenes. For Azalea vs Tremor, listen to "I'm Back (To Rise)" from Killer Instinct. "It's All About Me" from Anarchy Reigns is for the fight with Rouge. And Smoke Shadow fights with "Last Surprise" playing in the background. Check those songs out if you want!
Who was that mysterious man? How did he stop that mugger before kicking him? Why is he going to Vale? Find out next time on "Sideline: Another Story"!
Until then, WaterDragonMaverick signing out!