Chapter 4: Vytal Festival
September 29, 2681; 1431 Hours
Remnant, Vale City
Another week at Beacon had passed, and Ivan was walking the streets of Vale City with Team RWBY. He had fallen into somewhat of a routine over the past few weeks, which was a bit strange for the SPARTAN. He'd wake up every morning around 0700, get ready, go to class until 1700, head back to the dorm, then fall asleep sometime around 2200 Hours. Occasionally, he'd send a report back to FLEETCOM, and get a message of acknowledgement on his Datapad. It was a good system, and ONI was eating up the intel he was sending their way. Sadly, they weren't any closer to sending more personnel to Remnant.
Weiss had dragged everyone out of bed early so she could "greet the other students, as it was her duty as a representative of Vale." Ivan knew what that really meant, Weiss wanted to scout out the competition for the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament. "Oh the Vytal Festival! This is wonderful!" Weiss declared, happily clasping her hands together.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby said, smiling. "It's kinda weirding me out."
"How could you not smile?" Weiss asked, horrified by Ruby's insinuation. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There'll be dances, parades! Oh, the amount of planning that goes into this festival is simply breathtaking!"
"Man, only you could make a festival sound boring." Yang joked.
"Quiet, you." Weiss said.
"Remind me why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting these stupid docks…" Yang said.
"I heard that students from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." Weiss explained. "And as a… representative of Beacon, I feel it is my duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."
"She wants to spy on them to get the upper hand in the tournament." Blake said, the slightest hint of a grin on her face.
Weiss gasped. "You can't prove that."
"I think she just did." Ivan said with a grin.
Ruby stopped in her tracks, turning to look down a street. "Whoa…" Ivan turned his head, spotting a shop with shattered windows, a broken down door, and Dust covering the entirety of the ground around it. There were a few police cars out front, along with a lot of police tape covering the area. Everyone made their way over to the police line, Ruby speaking up to the officer who was typing something into a tablet. "What happened here?"
"Robbery." The bearded officer in aviator sunglasses answered simply. "Second Dust shop to be hit this week."
"That's terrible." Yang said.
Ivan and Ruby's attention was grabbed by the second police officer. "Hey check it out, they left all the money again!"
"It just doesn't make a lick 'a sense." The first officer said. "Who needs this much Dust?"
"I dunno, an army?"
"I'm thinkin'… the White Fang?"
"I'm thinkin' we don't get paid enough."
Weiss huffed. "Hmm… the White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."
"What's your problem?" Blake asked, placing a hand on her hip.
"My problem?" Weiss asked. "I simply just don't care for the criminally insane."
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake said, raising her voice for the first time that Ivan has ever seen. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
"Misguided?" Weiss asked. "They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!" That last bit of information caught Ivan's attention.
"So then they're very misguided." Blake responded. "Even then, it doesn't explain why they'd rob a Dust shop in the middle of Downtown Vale."
"Blake's got a point." Ruby said. "Besides, the Police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into."
"Torchwick?" Ivan asked.
"He's a guy that robbed a Dust shop I was in." Ruby answered. "He took all of the Dust, but left the money. Maybe it was him."
Ivan nodded, but he was cut off by Weiss before he could speak. "That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
"That's a hasty generalization." Ivan said, crossing his arms.
As if to make Ivan's point mean that much less to the heiress, someone from a nearby boat shouted. "Hey! Stop that Faunus!"
Team RWBY turned around, spotting a blonde-haired Faunus with a tail running across the deck of a cargo ship. He shouted something at the dock workers as he jumped from the ship, onto dry land. "You no-good stowaway!" One of the dockworkers shouted as Team RWBY approached.
"Hey!" The monkey Faunus shouted back. "A no-good stowaway woulda' been caught, I'm a great stowaway!" Ivan couldn't help but crack a smile at that.
"Hey!" One of the two officers shouted, tossing a rock at the Faunus, which he deftly dodged from his hanging place on a streetlamp. He had is tail coiled around the neck of a streetlight, hanging upside down with a smug look on his face. "Get down from there this instant!"
The Faunus simply laughed and jumped from his streetlight, running up the stairs towards the actual street. As he passed by Team RWBY, he shot everyone a quick wink as he bolted by, followed by the two police officers. "Well…" Ivan smirked. "You wanted to see the competition, and there it goes."
"Quick!" Weiss said. "We have to observe him!" Weiss took off running, followed by Yang and Ruby. Ivan noticed that Blake took just a little bit longer to get going, but he eventually followed behind her. After rounding two corners, Weiss ran clear into a tall girl with… really bright green eyes, red hair, and a pink bow in her hair. "Damnit… he got away!" Weiss said, not realizing that there was a girl lying on her back just underneath her.
"Uhh… Weiss." Yang said, pointing down. Weiss looked down, spotting the bright green eyes and cheerful appearance.
"Salutations!" The new girl said, cheerfully. She had a really upbeat tone, but her movements seemed rather restrained.
Weiss jumped back, standing upright. Ruby spoke up next. "Umm… hello."
"Are you… okay?" Yang asked.
The new girl beamed a smile at Yang. "I'm wonderful, thank you for asking." Everyone looked back and forth at one another before Yang spoke again. "Do you… wanna get up?"
The redhead seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Yes." She gave a nod as she jumped up onto her feet, causing all of Team RWBY to take a step back.
The new girl spoke up again. "I'm Penny, it's a pleasure to meet all of you."
"I'm Ruby, nice to meet you too."
"I'm Weiss."
"Blake."
"I'm Ivan…"
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked, earning her a smack on the side by Blake. "Oh, I'm Yang."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Penny responded.
"You already said that." Weiss pointed out.
Penny seemed thoughtful again. "So I did."
"Well…" Weiss began. "Sorry for running into you." Everyone turned to walk away.
Before she turned, Ruby spoke up again. "Nice to meet you, friend."
As everyone left and started walking again, Yang spoke up. "Well… she was weird."
Then somehow, without anyone noticing, Penny managed to get in front of all of Team RWBY, stopping them dead in their tracks. Even Ivan, with all of his enhancements, couldn't hear her move in front of them. "What did you call me?" Penny asked.
"I'm really sorry!" Yang said, instantly feeling bad. "I didn't think you heard me!"
"No, not you." Penny walked over to Ruby. "You." Ruby stammered for a few moments, uttering "I don't know" more times in one sentence than Ivan thought physically possible. "You called me 'friend!'" Penny said. "Am I really your friend?"
"Uh…" Ruby turned to look at her team, everyone but Ivan was shaking their heads and making hand motions. Ivan seemed indifferent. "Sure… why not?" That prompted everyone, with the exception of Ivan, to smack their own foreheads and sigh.
Penny smiled broadly. "Sensational! We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"
Ivan grinned to himself while Ruby leaned over to Weiss. "Was this what it like when you first met me?"
Weiss cracked the slightest hint of a smile. "Not even close, she seems far more coordinated."
"So… what're you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.
"I'm fighting in the tournament!" Penny explained.
"Wait, you're fighting?" Weiss asked.
"I'm combat ready!" Penny declared proudly, giving a quick salute. Ivan cracked an even wider smile.
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." Weiss said.
"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake said, her arms crossed.
"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss defended.
"Yeah!" Ruby said, swatting the sides of her own dress. She and Weiss quickly high-fived.
"Wait a minute… if you're here to fight in the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed… rapscallion from the boat?" Weiss decided to change her vocabulary to describe the monkey Faunus from a few moments ago, under the… encouragement from an angry glare from Blake.
"Who?" Penny asked.
"The filthy Faunus from the boat!"
"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake demanded, raising her voice again.
"Huh?" Weiss asked.
"Stop calling him a rapscallion, stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Blake said, nearly shouting.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Weiss said. "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can, or this lamppost as a lamppost?"
"Stop it!" Blake demanded,
"Stop what?" Weiss asked. "That Faunus clearly broke the law! Give him time, and he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang."
Blake clenched her teeth and her fists. "Ugh… you ignorant little brat!" Blake stormed away.
"How dare you talk to me like that!" Weiss shouted, following Blake. "I'm your teammate!"
"You are a judgmental little girl!" Blake responded.
"We should probably get going…" Ivan said while Blake and Weiss continued arguing.
"Where are we going?" Penny asked, cheerfully.
Ivan sighed, nodding to Ruby and Yang. "Let's get them back to Beacon before they tear each other apart."
XXXXX
September 29, 2681; 1631 Hours
Remnant, Beacon Academy (Team RWBY Dormitory)
Even after returning to Beacon, Weiss and Blake continued fighting. "So you admit it!" Weiss declared. "The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!"
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Blake said. Ivan sighed as he tossed his concealed pistol into the drawer of his desk.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss said.
"That is the problem."
"You realize that you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."
"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake shouted. "Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"
"People like me?"
"You're discriminatory!"
"I'm a victim!" Weiss half whined-half shouted. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" Weiss slumped her shoulders and looked out the window, watching the shattered moon. "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a child, I've watched family and friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of Dust stolen. Every day, my father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood!"
Ruby walked over, placing a hand on Weiss's shoulder. "Weiss… I-"
"No!" Weiss said, turning to face Blake again. "You know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake shouted. Ivan, and everyone else, took special notice of the use of "we" in that statement. Weiss actually took a step back. Blake stepped back as well, bumping into her night stand. "I… I-" She bolted out of the room, leaving a Shadow Clone behind.
"Blake! Wait!" Ruby called out, but to no avail.
Blake ran from the dorm complex, towards the statue near the center of Beacon. Because it was so late, and on a Friday night, there was no one walking the cobblestone paths of Beacon. She came to a stop at the foot of the statue, commemorating the warriors of the Faunus War, human and Faunus alike, and reached up to undo the omnipresent bow on her head. As she pulled the strip of fabric from her head, the pair of cat ears on the top of her head twitched slightly. She wiped the tears from her cheek with the back of her sleeve.
"I knew you'd look better without the bow!" A familiar voice said. Blake turned around, finding the blonde monkey Faunus to be resting on top of a lamppost. "You alright?"
"No… not really…" Blake said, sniffling.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"Yeah… can we go into town?"
"Sure."
XXXXX
October 1, 2681; 0600 Hours
Remnant, Beacon Academy (Team RWBY Dormitory)
Ruby woke up early on Sunday morning, stretching her arms out. Her expression went from neutral to borderline depressed when she saw Blake's empty bunk. She looked over to the fifth bed in the room, finding Ivan was already sliding his pistol into a concealed holster. "We still going to look for her today?" Ivan asked, adjusting his jacket to cover the handgun.
Ruby nodded, looking around the room, noticing that Yang and Weiss were gone too. "Where's Yang and Weiss?"
"Mess." Ivan answered. "They're getting food, then we're heading out."
Ruby nodded and jumped from her bunk, grabbing her dress, cloak, and Crescent Rose. She made her way into the bathroom, quickly taking a shower and changing into her normal attire. As she came out, she spotted Ivan quickly sliding something into his pocket. It looked almost like a Scroll, but she couldn't tell. "Ready?" Ivan asked, standing up.
"Ready." Ruby answered.
Ruby and Ivan quickly met up with Yang and Weiss, who handed them a small bag filled with their breakfast. They made their way through the courtyard of Beacon, boarded an airship which was bound for Vale City, and began walking the streets of Vale once they landed. As usual, Ivan's imposing stature drew more than a few strange looks as he walked along with two girls in dresses, and another in shorts. "Do you think she's okay?" Yang asked.
"I'd imagine so." Ivan replied.
"Blake's a big girl, she can take care of herself." Weiss said, disinterested.
"Weiss, c'mon, she's one of our teammates." Yang said.
"Is she? We all heard what she said."
"Weiss…" Ivan began, everyone turning to look at him. "Can you do me a huge favor and cut it out?"
"Excuse me?" Weiss asked, indignantly.
"You know exactly what I mean." Ivan said. "It's that very same ignorant attitude that made Blake leave. Based on what she said, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that she's a Faunus. If she is, you essentially told that sweet, shy, bookworm that she was a degenerate, liar, thief, and a murderer. It's that exact attitude that started that horrible damn Faunus War, it's that same attitude that turned the White Fang from a peaceful Faunus Rights Organization into a militant group, and it's that same attitude that keeps the Faunus in their shitty second-class citizenship that they're forced to live in!"
"Now-" Weiss attempted to speak up, but she was cut off by Ivan again.
"I nearly fed Cardin his teeth for what he was doing to Velvet in the Mess Hall a few weeks ago. I nearly kicked his ass through his neck for what he said in Oobleck's that same day. I didn't do what I've done just to let shit like this keep happening. Whatever the White Fang did to you and your family, that's all in the past, and I seriously doubt that Blake is capable of doing what you accused her of doing! I do not want to hear any more of that shit! Am I clear?" Everyone stood in stunned silence by Ivan's sudden outburst of anger, which only seemed to make him even more furious. "Am I crystal-fucking-clear?" Weiss sighed and nodded. "Good. Now, I say we split up. We can cover more ground that way. You three look around downtown, and I'll check the outskirts of the City, like the docks and stuff."
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked.
"I'm sure. If I find her, I'll let you guys know immediately."
"Alright, good luck." Yang said, giving Ivan a curt nod. Ivan returned the nod as the three other members of his team walked away, heading deeper into town.
Ivan continued walking along the edge of town. A few people gave him strange looks, but he ignored most of them. After a few minutes of walking around by the docks, he heard a familiar voice, which he recognized as the voice of the monkey Faunus from a few days ago. He turned to look down a street, finding him and Blake sitting at a table off to the side of a coffee shop. Ivan let out a sigh of relief and began walking towards the shop. As he walked, he saw Blake look over to him, then attempt to get up. He held up his hands in a gesture of truce. "Blake, hold on!" He said. Blake stopped for a moment, seemingly willing to hear him out. "I sent the others downtown, it's just me."
Blake seemed to relent and sit back down. Ivan vaulted over the cast iron fence that separated the coffee shop's seating area from the street. He sat down in a metal chair, which creaked slightly as his weight pushed the metal feet against the cobblestone floor. "Uhh… who's this?" The other Faunus asked.
"This is Ivan." Blake answered curtly. "He's a teammate."
"Sun." The Faunus answered, holding out his hand.
"Pleasure to meet you." Ivan said, shaking his hand. "Now, Blake… what happened on Friday? Are you okay?"
Blake nodded. "I'm fine… it's just… what Weiss said really got me angry, and I blurted out some things I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Ivan said. "That's part of the reason I snapped at her."
"Wait… you snapped at the Ice Queen?" Blake asked, grinning slightly. "You're usually almost as quiet as I am."
Ivan shrugged. "I hate ignorance just as much as you do, I guess. But you had us all scared."
"I know… I just needed to get away from Weiss for a while."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ivan asked.
"I was actually just about to tell Sun…" Blake began, sighing deeply. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable talking about it, actually."
"How about a trade then?" Ivan asked, resting his arms on the table. "A secret for a secret?" Ivan had thought it might go something like this if he found Blake first. As a bit of a preemptive measure, he had already cleared his plans with Admiral Bishop, who had tentatively allowed the SPARTAN to do this.
After a moment of consideration, Blake suddenly realized just how little she knew about her new teammate. She relented with a nod. "Alright… I used to be a member of the White Fang."
Sun almost choked on the coffee he was drinking. "Wait, you used to be one of them?!"
"Yeah… I was a member most of my life. You could almost say I was born into it. After the Faunus War, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace between Humanity and the Faunus. Even though we were promised equality, we were still treated terribly. The White Fang started protesting shops that wouldn't serve us, boycotting businesses, being peaceful. I attended every rally, every boycott, every picket. I thought we were doing the right thing, but I was just a youthful optimist. Five years ago, our old leader stepped down and a new one took his place, a new leader with new ideals. Eventually, our peaceful protests turned into armed and organized attacks. We burned stores that didn't serve us, stole from companies that used Faunus labor, everything. And the worst part… it was actually working. We were being treated as equals, but not out of respect… out of fear. So I left… I didn't want to use my talents to brutalize people like that… so I dedicated my life to becoming a huntress."
"Blake…" Ivan began. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Blake replied. "The fact that someone other than me knows about it… it honestly feels like I just got the weight of a truck off my shoulders."
"So…" Ivan sighed. "I'm a man of my word." Blake looked a bit surprised as Ivan's demeanor suddenly shifted. "Blake… can I trust you to keep this a secret?" He glanced over to Sun. "This goes for you, too."
"You can trust me." Blake nodded. Ivan noticed a slight waggle of her bow. "I'm very good at keeping secrets."
"Same here." Sun nodded.
"Sun, with all due respect, I'm not sure I believe that." Ivan sighed. "It's nothing against you personally, I just don't know you."
"I get it." Sun nodded, standing up. "I'll be inside. It looks like something the two of you need to talk about."
"Thanks, Sun." Blake said, smiling. Ivan noted the monkey Faunus' broad smile as he made his way towards the coffee shop, stepping through the glass door and standing in line.
"Alright…" Ivan sighed. "You know how we met for the first time at Beacon about a month ago?" Ivan asked.
"Yeah…" Blake nodded, eyebrow raising.
"Well… that wasn't exactly the first time." Ivan continued. "Not for me, at least."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"The Emerald Forest, about a month and a half ago." Ivan answered. "The Deathstalker and Nevermore? The 7.62 and 14.5mm casings on the cliff's edge?" At his words, Blake's eyes went wide. As far as she knew, nobody on Team RWBY had told Ivan about that. There was Ozpin, but she heavily doubted he'd just go around sharing something like that.
"No way…" Blake shook her head.
"Or, two weeks later, Forever Fall Forest." Ivan answered without missing a beat. "The clearing, where you helped Jaune and Cardin against the six Ursa?"
"That was you?!" Blake asked, her voice remaining low. "The black armor?!"
"In the flesh." Ivan smirked.
"Where is the armor?" Blake asked, looking for further proof.
"Why do you think those crates under my bed are locked up so tight?" Ivan asked, rhetorically. "Not sure why Ozpin put me on your team, but if there's one thing I've learned at Beacon… he's always got a plan."
"And the rifle?" Blake asked. "The big one you used to put down the Ursa?"
"Safely dismantled and tucked away in those same crates." Ivan answered.
"Wow…" Blake sighed, leaning back. It was like Ivan had just dropped a mountain's worth of weight on her shoulders. At least now he knew who the mysterious figure was. "Where did you get the armor?" Blake asked.
"Ah…" Ivan held up a hand. "I promised you a secret, not all of them." He felt a smirk cross his face. "Please, for my sake, let's keep this between us."
That sounded rather ominous. Blake immediately nodded. "Of course, but… are you going to tell the others?"
"When the time's right." Ivan nodded.
"I expect proof." Blake responded with a smirk.
Ivan chuckled. "I expected as much… I'll show you the armor when we get back."
Ivan gave her a smile, which she actually returned for once. "So what's the plan now?" Ivan asked, looking over to the window of the coffee shop and waving Sun back over.
"I still don't believe that the White Fang are behind these attacks… they've never needed this much Dust before." Blake explained.
"What if they did?" Sun asked, drawing the attention of everyone at the table as he returned. "Think about it! The only way to prove that they didn't do it would be to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there… right?"
"As convoluted as that may have been, that actually makes a certain kind of sense." Ivan said, smiling slightly.
"The only thing is… I don't know where that would be." Blake explained.
"Well… while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming from Atlas." Sun said.
"How huge?" Blake asked.
"Huge!" Sun said, holding out his arms to better accent his point. "Big Schnee Company freighter."
"You're sure?"
"Pretty sure."
"Well…" Ivan said, interrupting the planning. "What're we waiting for?"
"You're not going to call the others?" Blake asked.
"Not unless we really need help." Ivan said, drawing a smile from Blake.
"Thanks." Blake said, smiling.
XXXXX
October 1, 2681; 1900 Hours
Remnant, Vale (Dockyard 3)
Ivan looked through the 2x optical scope on his Battle Rifle, scanning the central area of the docks for any activity. Blake was lying beside him, looking through a pair of binoculars. In the center of the docks was a massive pile of crates which had "Schnee Dust" painted on the side. They had been watching the area for almost two hours, and nothing has happened yet.
"Anything happen while I was gone?" Sun asked, lying down next to Blake.
"Nothing at all." Blake answered. "It's all just sitting there."
"That's good, right?" Blake nodded from her position. "I got you some food." He handed an apple over to Blake, who gratefully took it. "Thanks for the Lien, by the way." He said, giving Ivan a nod.
"No big deal." Ivan replied. A gust of wind suddenly startled everyone on the warehouse rooftop, causing them all to look up. Ivan spotted a police airship, which was scanning the area. The airship eventually set down, allowing a ramp to be lowered from the rear. After a moment, a man in a white tunic with black pants and a mask stepped out. On his back was the symbol of the White Fang, a wolf's head with three claw marks behind it.
"Oh no…" Blake whispered.
"Is that them?" Sun asked.
"Yes… It's them." Blake said.
"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Ivan asked, noticing Blake's depressed demeanor.
"No… I think, deep down, I knew. I just… really didn't want to be right."
"Hey! What's the hold up?!" A rather angry voice shouted. "Don't you animals know that we're not the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment? So pick it up!" The voice belonged to a man with red hair. He had a bowler hat on, wore a white suit with black pants, and carried a cane, despite being able to walk perfectly fine without it.
"This isn't right…" Blake began. "The White Fang would never work with a Human, especially one like that. Cover me." Blake quickly unsheathed her blade and jumped from the roof, landing gracefully on her feet and ran over to take cover behind a crate.
"Hey wait!" Ivan said, sighing to himself.
"Is she always like this?" Sun asked.
"Nope… this is a first, actually." Ivan said, looking back down the scope of his rifle. He watched Blake run up behind the Human, quickly grabbing his shoulder and bringing her blade to his throat.
Ivan could clearly hear Blake's yelling as the White Fang raised their weapons at her, then lowered them as she yanked the bow from her head. Ivan finally got a look at her cat ears, although he wished it were under different circumstances. "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?" The man said something inaudible, but Blake's voice carried over to him. "Tell me what your little game is, or I'll end it right now!"
Suddenly, two more airships descended from the cloud layer, shining their searchlights at Blake and the man. "I wouldn't exactly call it little." The man shouted, firing an explosive charge from the bottom of his cane, throwing Blake back a few meters. She skidded across the ground, but quickly got to her feet before a second explosive landed where she had been mere moments before. Blake quickly dodged another barrage of explosive shots and ducked behind a crate.
Ivan and Sun had already dropped from the rooftop, but Sun had quickly climbed on top of a crate, and dropped an apple core on the man's head. He looked up, only to see the soles of Sun's shoes for the briefest moment before his head connected with the shoes, then the ground.
As Sun was surrounded by a dozen White Fang with assault rifles and swords, Ivan rolled out from behind a crate with his rifle primed. He fired a quick burst of gunfire, felling two White Fang with rifles. The others quickly turned to face the sound of gunfire, then were met with Sun's quarterstaff. While Sun focused on the White Fang with blades, Ivan focused on the ones with firearms.
Ivan moved with the deadly efficiency and speed that only a SPARTAN was capable of, making every shot his rifle fired count. As the last White Fang fell, the hat-wearing man stood in between a super-soldier and a Faunus with a staff. He moved with a speed that Ivan wasn't expecting. He fired an explosive at Ivan, then at Sun. The explosive slammed into Ivan's shields, causing them to flare up, but absorb the impact. His retinal implant showed that it had drained his shields by forty percent, and they had already begun recharging. He was very happy that he had decided to head back to the dorm to grab his rifle and shield generator. Ivan was still pushed back a few feet and knocked onto his back. Sun was able to dodge the blast more effectively, as he anticipated it once he saw what happened to Ivan.
Before the man could fire again, Blake dropped down from the top of a stack of crates, using her semblance to flash forward and begin striking at the human. The man, much to everyone's surprise, was able to keep up with Blake's agile and quick fighting style, and even managed to land a few hits of his own. He must've seen Ivan getting to his feet, since he fired another blast in his direction once he knocked Blake back. This second impact reduced his shields by another forty percent, dropping them down to fifty percent. Ivan heard a familiar voice sound off from across the docks. "Hey!" Ruby shouted out, catching the man's attention.
He turned to face Ruby, a sinister smile crossing his lips. "Oh hello, Red. So great to see you!"
Ivan saw Penny behind Ruby, and she attempted to step forward. Ruby told her to stay back, but that gave Torchwick the time he needed to fire another shot from the base of his cane towards Ruby. Ivan's stomach twisted as it smacked into Ruby's chest, sending her flying back. Torchwick let out a loud laugh, but he was quickly silenced when Penny propelled herself from the rooftop, easily landing two hundred meters from where she started. Ivan's eyes went wide when he saw what was floating behind her, at least a dozen swords, all of them sharpened to a razor edge.
Three airships flew overhead and began strafing the center of the docks with nose-mounted autocannons. Penny somehow willed the blades to connect, as their designs permitted them to fit together like a puzzle piece. She blocked the incoming barrage of autocannons fire and somehow managed to throw one of the swords using a form of telekinesis, sending it through the cockpit of one of the airships and into the engine of another. Both spiraled out of the air and landed in the water. Torchwick quickly ran into the awaiting cargo hold of the one surviving gunship, muttering to himself. "These kids just keep getting weirder…" The airship managed to escape, even as Ivan continued firing his rifle at the engines. He sighed and dropped the rifle down to his chest once his magazine finally clicked empty.
Ivan watched in amazement as Penny drew all the swords back to her, folding them up, and slotted them somewhere in her back. Blake ran over to help Ivan up, seeing that he was still lying on the ground. Ruby and Penny ran over, ecstatic to finally see Blake. "Blake! You're alright!" Ruby ran over, wrapping her arms around Blake, who smiled at the gesture. "And you didn't call us when you found her!" Ruby said, looking to Ivan.
"To be fair…" Ivan began. "We kinda ran into some trouble."
A few moments later, ten police cars pulled into the area and began blockading the entire dock. Sixteen officers ran over, their weapons drawn, and shouted for the Beacon students, Sun, and Penny to hold their hands out. After a brief search, short questioning, and a confirmation of what happened after they consulted the security footage, they handed everyone their weapons back and let them sit on a few crates while they waited for further orders.
Weiss and Yang walked through the police line a few minutes after Blake finished her explanation. Ruby jumped off of her crate and ran forward. "Weiss! It isn't what it looks like. Blake explained the whole thing she doesn't actually have a bow she has kitty ears and they're actually pretty cute…" Ruby babbled on, but Weiss simply walked past, standing face to face with Blake. Ivan was fully ready to stand up and break up a fight.
Blake spoke up first. "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang-"
"Stop!" Weiss said, surprising everyone. "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" Everyone remained silent, which Weiss took as a cue to continue. "Twelve hours today, alone. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this and I've come to the decision that… I don't care!"
"You don't care?" Blake asked, confused.
"You said you're not associated with them anymore, right?"
"I haven't been since-"
"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah…" Weiss said, stopping Blake in her tracks. "I don't want to hear it. All I want is for when something this big comes up… you come to your teammates, and not some…" Weiss looked at Sun for a moment, then made the conscious decision to change her vocabulary. "Someone else."
Ivan watched as Blake teared up slightly. She wiped the tears away with the back of her sleeve, looking to all of her smiling teammates, even Weiss. "Of… Of course."
"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed happily. "Team RWBY is back together!"
"I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you!" Weiss said, pointing to Sun, who laughed nervously.
"Wait…" Ivan began. "Where's Penny?" Everyone looked around, noticing that the eccentric redhead was gone. She was sitting next to Ivan a few moments before, now she was gone.
"Penny?" Ruby called out.
"She's probably talking to the Police." Blake explained. "She's the only one they didn't talk to before you guys showed up."
"Makes sense." Ivan said.
"I don't suppose we could go back?" Blake asked. "We have midterms tomorrow morning, then the semester's half over."
"Oh shit…" Ivan said. "We all forgot to study for those."
"They shouldn't be too hard." Weiss said.
"Oobleck, though." Ivan said, causing everyone's eyes to go wide.
"Let's go!" Everyone said, in near-perfect unison.
XXXXX
October 1, 2312 Hours
Remnant, Beacon Academy (Team RWBY Dormitory)
"Wow… you weren't lying." Blake commented, looking down at the collection of crates that Ivan had pulled out from beneath his bed. After Ruby, Weiss, and Yang had gone to the cafeteria to get some coffee to keep them going, Ivan had pulled Blake aside to make good on his promise.
He had placed his hand against some sort of scanner on each of the crates, causing each of them to open with a pressurized hiss. Within, Blake saw the various pieces of armor that he had described. It looked unbelievably advanced. "Certainly seems like Atlas tech." Blake commented.
"Yep." Ivan nodded, keeping his voice level as he lied. Much to his surprise, he actually felt bad about lying to Blake. She had confided a secret with him, and all he could offer was a secret wrapped in a lie. "State of the art." He reached into the crate containing the helmet, rummaging around for a moment. "And just to make sure you don't still think it's a coincidence…" Blake watched as he pulled out a large magazine. He pressed down on one of the massive rounds, sliding it out of the retention arms and handing it over to Blake.
She looked at the bullet, and couldn't help but laugh. It was the same one from both the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall. "So… I guess we did have a guardian angel."
"What was I supposed to do, let the Ursa chomp on Ruby?" He chuckled, taking the bullet back into his hand and slotting it back into the magazine.
"I guess not." Blake laughed, watching Ivan re-seal all of the containers and slide them back into their proper places. "Any plans to use that soon? Maybe go save another bunch of students out in the forest?"
Ivan laughed. "Maybe soon."
