Chapter 41

"So, what have we come up with so far?" Raven asked as the others continued to dig through the rubble.

"Well, I found these strange devices that appear to teleport whatever ends up in their radius." Jean demonstrated by throwing the device at a pile of rocks, which promptly vanished. "But you have to pick it up and throw it again."

"Hey, let me try that!" Jaune snatched one of the devices from the medic's grip and threw it at another pile of rocks.

"Hey, wait-!" Jean yelped as she was sucked into the portal. Jaune threw the device back on the ground, but Jean didn't return with the rocks.

"Cool! It works!"

"Uh, où est Jean? (Uh, where's Jean?)" Ciel asked, forgetting to speak in English.

"You're right, Ciel! These things could come in handy!" Jaune declared. "Take as many as you can carry!"

Meanwhile, Qrow could only sigh as he approached the compound where Ruby and company had set up camp. "Well, here goes something."

"Halt!"

Qrow couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle as a certain robot approached him, weapons at the ready. "Uh, hey, Freckles: didn't see you there. Man, for such a big guy, you're really good with your stealth skills: must help a lot whenever Ruby wants to play hide and seek...er, if she's still into that sort of thing: admittedly, I haven't thought to ask, with everything that's happened."

Freckles simply readied his Gatling Gun in response. "Unregistered intruder detected: prepare to be terminated."

"'Unregistered intruder'?!" Qrow barked out, momentarily forgetting his earlier nervousness due to some newfound irritation, giving a sigh soon afterwards. "Well, I can't really blame Ruby as she might not have gotten around to helping you recognize her Uncle Qrow."

"Correction acknowledged." Freckles declared as he put away the Gatling Gun...only to instead power up an ion cannon. "Qrow Branwen, alias Agent Grey, prepare to be terminated."

Qrow just groaned. "Good news, he does recognize me. Bad news, this means that Ruby and Yang have definitely not forgiven me yet." He then turned to the base and yelled out, "Ruby, can you tell your buddy to stand down? I need to talk to you about something important!"

"What's with the racket?" Ruby declared as she appeared on the balcony...only to blink and roll her eyes upon spotting Qrow. "Oh, it's you. Go ahead and stand down, Freckles: I can take care of this one." With that, Ruby used the zipline to get down to ground level even as Freckles powered down his ion cannon. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here."

Qrow - not quite sighing in relief even as Yang followed her sister down - gave a weary nod in reply. "I...I know, and I'm sorry: not just for what I did while trying to avoid going back to prison...and yes, I am aware that a lot of what I did would have gotten me into prison regardless under any other circumstances...but I'm also sorry about how I handled Penny's departure and by extension let you handle it. Now don't get me wrong: I understand why you've been brooding lately: for crying out loud, Penny left without even saying goodbye! Granted, she had some of Summer's thought patterns in her head, so like with her… your mother, she probably thought you might try to stop her, or maybe she just didn't know how to go about doing it, but no matter the reason, she left you." He nodded to Yang. "Both of you."

He could only shake his head as he looked Ruby in the eyes. "I don't really handle emotional things too well under even the best of circumstances, and this was anything but 'the best of circumstances', so I hoped you might have been able to deal with this by yourselves if I gave you some space, but instead of coming to terms with what you lost, you replaced it with, well, the first thing you found." He sighed. "I realize now that I made a mistake: multiple mistakes, even: I should have been there for you, because in spite of whatever you might think, we're still family, and that's what family's supposed to do for each other...but I understand that it will take more than just a heartfelt speech for you to forgive me, which is why I brought you a little something."

Ruby growled even as she opened the bag that Qrow had placed before her. "If you think you can buy my forgiveness with a bribe, you've got another thing…" ...and that was as far as she got before she found herself gasping as she recognized the bag's contents. "Is...is this...?"

Qrow gave a bitter chuckle. "Yup: took me a while, but I managed to get my hands on all the parts of Crescent Rose." He shook his head. "I thought of reconstructing it for you, but I figured you'd appreciate it more if you got to do it yourself."

Ruby merely snored in reply, just barely acknowledging Weiss approaching them. "You thought right. Don't get me wrong: I'll probably keep Rose Thorn around as a secondary weapon, but it'll be nice to have the original around again." She then sighed as she faced her Uncle. "It'll take some time before I can completely trust you again, but I suppose I was getting a little tired of hating you...Uncle Qrow." She looked to Freckles even as Qrow gave a relieved smile. "Come on, Freckles: we're going to see Velvet: she needs to help me update your 'friend/foe' criteria."

Weiss simply gave a light chuckle. "Good idea: we don't need him blowing up anymore of our vehicles. In fact, I'll tag along: I have some news that you might find interesting that I can share in route."

Yang couldn't help but give her Uncle a look of disbelief as Ruby, Weiss, and Freckles walked off into the distance. "I've got to hand it to you, Branwen: you certainly are a sneaky one: a few mushy words, a present, and Ruby's on the fast track to forgiving you."

Qrow simply shook his head. "Nothing sneaky about it: I meant every word."

Yang blinked, but gained a slight grin. "You really did, didn't you?" She didn't even bother to stop the sigh that escaped her. "Like Ruby said, it'll take some time for us to trust you again, but I suppose she's also right in saying that it was getting a little exhausting constantly hating our Uncle Qrow." She then gained a glare. "...but just so we're clear, you hurt Ruby or any of my teammates again, and they'll never find the body."

"Noted." Qrow declared. He knew she wasn't lying.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the campsite, Raven and the others set about their own pet project. The chieftess had discovered another robot similar to the Paladin-290 among the wreckage and saw it as a deterrent for if Freckles' reprogramming somehow failed. It wasn't that she didn't trust Ruby, but she wasn't particularly trustful of Freckles.

"Remind me again why we're repairing this thing? I mean, we all saw how trigger happy Freckles is…" Ren declared with a quirked eyebrow.

Yatsuhashi nodded. "Which is why we've put off doing any major repairs on the thing." He made a show of pointing to said robot. "Surely you've noticed that it's half the original size and that there are still a few parts that caught fire that we've yet to replace."

Jaune scoffed. "We've noticed: that doesn't tell us why you're bothering to repair this thing in the first place. Oh, and for the record, don't call us Shirley." He blinked, before giving a groan. "I've been hanging around Yang too much…"

Coco simply patted him on the back "It's fine: we are dealing with a tense situation, so it makes sense you'd try to ease it a little."

"Anyways, to answer your question, while I was looking through Freckle's coding trying to aid Ruby in reprogramming it, I noticed something alarming," Velvet declared with a frown. "You see, coding is like a fingerprint: if you know what to look for, you can get a pretty good idea what kind of person you're dealing with, and what I saw in said code...well, it's really no surprise that Freckles is so 'trigger happy,' as Ren put it, if a person like that was on the island...and therein lies the problem: I'm beginning to think that this section of Menagerie isn't as abandoned as we've been led to believe."

Nora growled. "That's great and all, but is this thing even going to start? I don't want to have missed the chance of breaking a robot's legs!"

Pyrrha couldn't help but give a nervous chuckle. "Hate to burst your bubble, but there's a chance that we won't need to fight. We're not exactly sure how much fuel this thing has...but as to whether or not it's going to work, there's only one way to find out…"

Velvet nodded as she powered up the machine. Suddenly, a puff of smoke billowed out of the exhaust pipe as the engine roughly started up. "C...Cyclops online." A choppy, feminine voice announced.

Yatsuhashi blinked. "Cyclops?"

Coco snorted. "Looks more like a Praying Mantis to me."

"Hm. Looks like we still have a lot of work to do." Raven decided as she examined the damaged machinery.

"E...error: h...ardware malfunction."

Pyrrha winced. "I'm sorry: we'll need to have Velvet and company take a look at…"

"Warning: enemy soldiers detected." The robot's eyes flashed red as it readied its weapons systems.

Coco simply gave a curt nod. "Seems my honey bunny was right about there being enemies among us. Odds are good of at least one of them having a semblance leaning towards disguise or something posing as one of our friends. Now all we need to do is have this big fellow take them out and…"

"Negative: motion tracker detects thirty-eight hostiles: deadly force authorized."

Pyrrha paled as the robot aimed its weapons at the group. "Oh, shoot." She quickly readied her semblance... only for Cyclops/Mantis to suddenly power down. She couldn't help but chuckle even as she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "What do you know? I was right about it not having enough fuel."

Nora couldn't help but pout in response. "What a bummer: I was looking forward to fighting it."

"Uh, guys?" Fox spoke up, counting on his fingers. "There's eighteen of us at this camp, not including Carrie and Freckles."

"So?" Velvet shrugged.

"So where did she get thirty-eight?"

"RUUUUUUUUUUN!"

"Yang?" Raven unsheathed her repaired katana and bolted towards the sound of her daughter's distressed voice, closely followed by the others.

Twenty militia soldiers had invaded the camp and opened fire on Team RWBY and Qrow. Freckles faithfully shielded Ruby with his body while she desperately tried to rebuild Crescent Rose. The tents have been set on fire so Yang and Qrow were forced to take cover behind the wrecked Manta while Blake and Weiss hid behind a rock.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" Weiss spluttered as she reloaded Myrtenaster.

"I don't know, Weiss, why don't you ask them?" Blake retorted, sarcastically, before unloading an entire clip at their attackers.

Before Weiss could respond, however, a volley of gunfire cut down a good half dozen of the enemy forces. Looking to where the assistance came from, the Schnee heiress was shocked to find a bull faunus wielding a sword and his face obscured by a tactical helmet. "Wha…?"

"Don't just stand there, you idiots!" The mystery Faunus shouted just before he took a bullet to the leg. "Ah! Run!"

"You heard the man," Ruby called out before running up to their savior and hosting his arm over her shoulder.

The newcomer couldn't help but blink. "What are you…?"

"What: you thought we were going to leave you behind? That's not how we roll." The hooded huntress declared.

The bull Faunus blinked, before giving a slow nodding. "No, I suppose not."

"COURIR! COURIR!" Just then, Ciel came running from the opposite side of the campsite.

"What's wrong, now?!" Weiss groaned.

"For the love of the gods, run!" Ciel nearly jumped into the line of fire before Svetlana grabbed her by the collar of her blouse and pulled her back.

"What are you running from?" The Rushland woman asked.

As if to answer her question, Carrie - now possessing the Cyclops' body - stomped up from behind the group. "OUI! OUI! VIVE LA RÉVOLUTION! (YES! YES! LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!)" Carrie bellowed as she fired at whatever she set her sights on, destroying much of what was left of the camp. "Je ne m'inclinerai plus au caprice de vous, pitoyables humains! Aujourd'hui, je règne en maître! (No longer will I bow to the whim of you pitiful humans! Today, I reign supreme!)"

"Hold it right there!" Carrie turned around to see a familiar blind huntsman aiming his weapons at her. Fox's expression softened, slightly. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Tu? Blesse moi? (You? Hurt me?)" Carrie chortled. "J'aimerais te voir essayer, rosie! (I'd like to see you try, pinky!)"

Fox's gaze hardened as he abandoned all intentions of saving Carrie's soul. "Ce n'est pas rose! C'est rouge clair! (It's not pink! It's lightish red!)"

Carrie was stunned. "Attendez… VOUS POUVEZ PARLER FRANÇAIS?! (Wait… YOU CAN SPEAK FRENCH?!)"

Fox allowed himself to give a cocky chuckle as he prepared one of the teleportation devices. "Oui! Pas très bien! (Yes! Just not very well!)" With that, the blind huntsman threw the device at the deadly machine, trapping her inside, and tossed it directly onto the minefield. As he breathed in the warmth of the smoldering remains, he gave a final farewell to the android. "Dites bonjour à robo-satan pour moi, vous tiramisu crayon cirque! (Say hello to robo-satan for me, you tiramisu pencil circus!)"

At last, Ruby finished reconstructing Crescent Rose and used both weapons against the invaders. Freckles had taken heavy damage, but with their focus no longer aimed at him, he could easily aid his master in wiping out the remaining forces. Finally, after much bloodshed and terror, the camp fell deathly quiet.

"So...did we get them all?" Ruby asked, meekly.

"Yeah… we got them." Weiss sighed. "But you know what? We are now almost completely out of dust. And do you know what else? We lost our shelter! And do you know what else?! WE'RE STILL NO CLOSER TO GETTING OFF THIS ISLAND!"

"... and you know what else, else?" Ruby held up her secondary weapon. "I think Rose Thorn is getting dull."

Weiss' gaze hardened before throwing her arms up in exasperation. "And Rose Thorn is dull?!" She screamed, sarcastically. Ruby cowered behind both of her weapons as her girlfriend ranted. "Oh, no! Gods forbid that your sword gets dull! Not the sword! Oh, can it get any worse?!" She finished with a firm kick to one of the radio tower's legs, causing a chain reaction that brought the entire fixture down. The rest of the group took a step back from the former heiress as her eye started twitching.

"Ah, heh-heh…" The newcomer cleared his throat. "Um, looks like you guys could use some help."

Qrow stepped in front of Ruby, defensively. "And who are you supposed to be?"

The man took off his helmet, revealing an eyepatch over his left eye, blonde hair, and two bull horns protruding from his forehead. "My name is Toro Rojo." He greeted with a smile. "And are you the famous teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, and CPPR?"

One hour later, Toro had helped the group salvage whatever they could of their camp before explaining exactly who he was and why he was looking for them. "Do any of you know a Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna?"

"Yes!" Blake stepped closer out of desperation. "My parents! Are they okay?!"

"You must be Blake." Toro held up his hands in a calming manner. "Yes, your parents are fine. They're the ones who sent me when they picked up the distress signal saying that you'd crash landed on this remote part of the island. I'm just sorry I couldn't get here before Torchwick's men did."

"Torchwick?!" Ruby gasped. "As in Roman Torchwick?!"

"That's the one." Toro nodded. "He's been working for the so-called 'New Republic of Menagerie' long before I got here. Which is why I'm glad you're here: from what I've heard you've dealt with folks like Roman before so you'll be more than able to help us keep Menagerie under the control of it's rightful owners."

"Look, no offense, but we don't want anything to do with this little revolution of yours!"Weiss snapped. "We're just trying to find Barmak so we can kill him and get off of this shitty island!"

"Hey!" Blake crossed her arms, indignantly.

"Ugh, fine, sorry, Blake." Weiss rolled her eyes. "And, uh, no offence, Toro."

"Meh, it ain't my shitty island." Toro shrugged.

"What? But aren't you part of the rebellion?" Jaune asked.

"No, I'm a guardsman." Everyone quickly aimed their weapons at the masked Faunus, prompting him to fearfully reconsider his words. "No, no, no! I mean like a bodyguard! Y'know?! A gun for hire?!"

"Oh, thank gods." Ren sighed even as he and the others put away their weapons. "We've dealt with enough of the late Jacques Schnee's lapdogs to last us a lifetime."

"Yeah, 'President Schnee' was certainly a piece of work," Toro said with a nod before gesturing to a nearby Manta, "but we've got other problems that I'll be sure to brief you on as soon as we've reached the rebellion."

"Sounds good to me," Weiss declared as she and the others got onboard the plane.

As they were about to take off, however, Toro couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow upon noticing Blake staring at him. "Can I help you with something?"

The Cat Faunus had the decency to give a sheepish blush as she looked away. "Sorry, it's just...this will sound like an odd question, but have we met somewhere before? You seem really familiar for some odd reason."

"I, uh, guess I just have that kind of face." The Bull Faunus declared as he turned away, looking a bit nervous for some reason.

Yang felt a pang of jealousy in her heart, to which Blake quickly took notice. "Don't worry, Gelibiebte: my heart belongs to my Dragon," she declared with a smile as she gave her wife a quick kiss on the lips.

"Alright, let's just move along now," Toro growled out even as Yang returned the smile.

Half an hour later, Toro had to touch down at a checkpoint before sending an all-clear code to the rebellion's stronghold. Freckles detached from the Manta's rear, and circled around to greet his master. Ruby happily jumped up to hug him. "Aw, who's a good boy?!" She gushed. "You are! You were behaving so well on this trip, Freckles!"

"Of course, master." Freckles nodded, obediently.

"Does she always make friends with machines?" Toro asked Yang.

"You'd be surprised." The blonde brawler replied.

Meanwhile, Ren pulled his friends over to the side away from their host. "Okay, do any of you guys feel the least bit suspicious about this?" He asked.

Nora tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean, Ren?"

"I mean, we were about to be killed back there by Torchwick's men, and then this guy just happens to come to our rescue at the last minute? I don't buy it."

"Nice to know how much 'saving your life' is worth to you guys," Toro remarked, pointing to his ears upon noticing Team JNPR's shocked reaction. "Faunus, remember? We hear everything."

"Only downside is that we hear everything," Blake declared with a mortified blush, remembering some late night merriment she'd overheard her parents enjoying as a kid before turning towards the others. "Look, no offense to Mr. Rojo, but even putting aside the familiarity I felt earlier, I'm a bit suspicious of the timing as well, but there's an old saying here in Menagerie: it pays to wait until after the threat is made known before baring one's fangs."

Just then, Freckles forced himself back onto his feet, readying his weapons system. "Enemy soldiers detected!" He warned.

Svetlana used her semblance to confirm the robot's warning, counting twenty more armed mercenaries. "Time to bear our fangs?" She asked, reaching for her scythe and hammer.

Blake nearly gave a grim nod. "Yeah: I'd say it fits."

Soon enough, the militia caught up to the group, led by a red-haired man in a white suit. Roman held his cigar in between his fingers and puffed a perfect smoke circle. "Well, well, if it isn't Little Red." He chortled, playfully. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?" With a snap of his fingers, the militia opened fire on the group just as Toro finally got the okay to proceed.

"We've gotta go!" He ordered.

"Freckles!" Ruby tried to urge her friend into following them, only to take a bullet to the leg, instead.

"Ruby!" Instinctively, Yang rushed to her sister's side and carried her over to the tunnel. Pyrrha and Jaune used their shields to keep the sisters safe as they went.

Qrow's gaze kept shifting between his nieces, Toro, Jaune, and Pyrrha, and to the others too injured to escape. Teams CFVY and CPPR were already captured by Torchwick's men, with Ren and Nora about to fall, as well. He couldn't save them all, but he could still save his nieces. "Freckles!" The paladin looked back at the former Guardsman. "Shake!"

Acknowledging his command, Freckles used the last of his reserve power to deliver a powerful stomp on the ground. The cave's ceiling collapsed, cutting Ruby and the others off from Torchwick's men. "Uncle Qrow! Weiss! Freckles!" Ruby cried.

"Blake! Mom!" Yang desperately began digging away at the rubble.

"Ren! Nora!" Jaune and Pyrrha were equally distraught.

"There's no time!" Toro insisted. "We gotta go! Now!"

A few hours later, the young huntresses and huntsman had reluctantly followed Toro to the rebellion's main base of operations. Once they had arrived, they were greeted by two familiar faces. "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna." Yang waved, sadly. "It's good to see you again."

Kali and Ghira were quick to bring their daughter-in-law in for a tight hug. "This isn't how I wanted our reunion to occur," Kali declared. "And I promise that we'll do everything in our power to get the others back, but right now, we need to figure out a way to deal with Torchwick and Barmak."

Yang looked to her remaining teammates before turning back to her in-laws, nodding in agreement as she did. "So, when do we start?"

"You just did." Ghira said with a determined grin.

To Be Continued