Chapter 23
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Adam groaned as he awoke to the sound of the corgi barreling into their camp. It didn't take long for him to realise something was wrong. Ruby was missing.
"Zwei? What's going on?" Yang asked, voice full of worry. The dog ran right up to the blonde and continued to bark at her.
Adam furrowed his brow and sent out a pulse of his Aura. He immediately turned and pulled Weiss up, ignoring her indignant squeal. "Ruby's missing." He said without missing a beat. Weiss' eyes widened and she rushed to grab her weapon. Yang froze in place. Adam had seen it before, worry and terror at the fate of someone you cared about. He'd dealt with it plenty of times in the White Fang during raids.
He walked up to her, grabbed her by the shoulder. "Yang! You need to focus! You freeze and you put her in danger!" It brought an instant reaction as her eyes turned crimson and she grabbed his wrist, squeezing so hard he had to reinforce it with Aura.
"Don't you dare-!" She snarled.
"Children! Calm yourselves!" Doctor Oobleck said firmly as he dropped down from the ceiling. "If Ms Rose is in danger then we must follow! Leave the camp gear, grab your weapons and prepare to fight!"
Adam and Yang let each other go, allowing him to grab Wilt and Blush. As they left the camp he gave Yang an intense look. "Yang. Keep your head. I meant what I said, freezing up could put her in danger. The best way to help her is to keep your head in the game. Alright?" His voice was softer than usual.
Yang growled but took a deep breath. "Don't ever say I'm putting her in danger. Got it?"
Adam shook his head. "I can't promise that, one day you might be."
Yang's face settled into an expression like she wanted to argue that point, but she knew that he was right and Ruby was in danger, this wasn't the time. So she turned and left with the others.
The group ran after the corgi, who led them to a massive hole in the ground. Sitting beside it was a familiar red coloured weapon.
"She must have fallen down…" Weiss whispered.
"Or it gave way from underneath her." Adam replied. "I doubt she would have dropped her weapon if she had just fallen." He knelt at the edge and gazed down into the abyss. He couldn't see much, his blindfold obscured most of his natural night vision.
"Team. I believe Ms Rose has encountered the enemy. At this point, the mission has changed. Our objective is the safe return of your team leader, all other objectives are secondary." Doctor Oobleck spoke seriously, his usual speed and energy gone. And then he drew his weapon, transforming from his thermos into what amounted to a flame-throwing bat. "Team, let's go."
And he jumped down the hole. Yang followed after a second. Adam gave Weiss a look before jumping down as well. He could hear her following after.
They would need to act quickly.
"W-what do you mean?" Ruby asked, internally cursing her stutter. Blake seemed to sigh, almost disappointed.
"Really? He lets you lead when you can't even figure out that much? Behind his blindfold is a nasty scar, he's ashamed of it. It's his reason for hating humanity and why he slaughtered so many people."
At Ruby's silence, Blake laughed again. "He didn't even tell you about his body count?! He really didn't want to let you close, did he? He's a monster. A murderer. He taught me how to kill. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"You're lying!" Ruby shouted back, thrashing in the hold of the two grunts, who laughed at her feeble attempt. "He might have been in the White Fang but he wouldn't kill anyone!" He couldn't! The teachers wouldn't have let him in if he had!
Blake laughed again. "Well, you can keep believing that." She looked at the grunts around them. "Tie her up and leave her for the Grimm, then get out of here." And then she was leaving, ignoring the saluting of her soldiers. She jumped onto the train and disappeared inside.
And then Ruby heard it. The sound of the train preparing to move.
"Alright let's get this done." One of her captors said with a sigh.
"Well, we could have some fun before we leave her." Another said.
"You wanna get eaten!? We don't have the time. Let's just get out of here." A third yelled back.
"Well if we took her with us-" The second was cut off by an explosion from behind them. They turned and fired. Ruby took her chance and used her Semblance, pulling out of their grip and dashing towards the explosion.
Gunfire rained around her, a couple bullets pinged off of her Aura. Suddenly a figure soared over her and landed in a roll. He drew a crimson blade. He used it to cut down every bullet heading towards them. "Adam!"
"Ruby! Duck!" She flattened herself on the ground. She narrowly avoiding the flaming form of her sister as she charged her former captors. Ruby cringed as her sister tore through the poorly trained grunts.
Weiss zipped over on her glyphs and deposited Crescent Rose into her hands before heading off towards the fight. Ruby grinned and deployed her scythe. It felt great to hold her weapon once again, even if it had only been a short time apart.
Ruby raced after her team. "Torchwick is on the train! They're planning something!" She shouted over the combat. Instantly the team redirected and began pushing towards the train. Ruby dashed through the crowd and took out several grunts as she passed.
It didn't take them long to jump onto the train. They gathered together in the back compartment, Ruby gave them all a big smile. Yang pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, earning a pained squeak.
"Yang!.. Can't.. breath!.."
"Don't do that again, okay!?"
"Hate to break this up but we need to stop this train." Adam said. "Whatever their plan is it can't be finished."
"I agree, Mr Taurus!" Ruby let out an eep as their teacher seemed to appear out of nowhere, placing Zwei onto the floor. "The majority of the White Fang are on board! We must push toward the front and stop them!" He tried the door but it didn't budge. He paused for a second, nodded and raised his bat. A burst of flame was sent at the ceiling hatch. The hatch fell open, it's lock having been melted off.
The group climbed onto the roof and made their way to the next car. Then it detached. The empty car began to lag behind and when it was at a sufficient distance it exploded. The ceiling collapsed, and Grimm came pouring into the tunnel.
"No. No no no no!" Oobleck muttered and he jumped to the next car, pulling open a hatch there. RSTY shared a look before following. There, hidden inside the train car, was a large bomb hooked up to crates filled with Dust. The previous car detached and exploded, bringing more rubble and Grimm into the tunnel.
"That explains the need for so much Dust." Adam muttered.
"But why this? How does this help them?" Yang asked.
Oobleck waved them on, jumping to the next and then the next after. "Mountain Glenn and Vale used to be connected by a train network! It was sealed when the expansion failed. If they repaired it without anyone knowing then they could lead these Grimm directly into Vale! The casualties would be immense!"
Ruby gulped and hurried after their teacher. They jumped from car to car several times before hatches ahead of them burst open as the White Fang climbed on top, shouting to get them.
RSTY burst into action.
The sounds of further explosions undercut the battle. The train slowly lost cars. Adam tore through another group of the grunts, knocking them out and leaving them on the roof as he pushed forward. He hoped they didn't fall off.
"Team!" Oobleck cried as he zipped near them. "We will have to split up! Ms Rose, you and I shall continue to battle the White Fang here. The rest of you, enter the train and attempt to stop the train!" He then zipped past, launched a large ball of fire and sent several White Fang off the edge of the train.
Yang punched down, blasted off a hatch and jumped in. Adam and Weiss followed. The train cars were dark and empty but they stopped for nothing and kept moving.
It didn't take too long to meet their next obstacle. A young-looking woman in a variety of colours. The same one to have rescued Torchwick weeks ago.
"You two go ahead, I got her!" Yang yelled. She charged in and blasted both of her gauntlets, forcing the woman back and to the side. Adam and Weiss rushed past and into the next car, leaving Yang to her battle.
The next car passed by without incident, but the one after felt… off. They were halfway through it when he felt it. He pushed Weiss to the side and raised his arm. He grunted in pain as a black sword carved into it. The short blade, attached to a ribbon, retracted into the dark around them.
Adam placed a hand on Wilt. "Weiss. Go on ahead. This is my fight."
"You lost last time!" The girl in white argued. She stood and took a defensive posture. Adam growled.
"Go! We have to stop the train, not stand around fighting! I'll survive, trust me!" Adam turned, drawing his blade and cutting down a flurry of bullets that would have hit Weiss' back. "Weiss go!"
The girl hesitated for a moment before she nodded and ran towards the next car. Adam opened fire into the shadows in order to keep Blake from attacking Weiss when her back was turned.
The door slammed shut and sealed Adam in with his oldest friend. He sucked in a deep breath and sheathed his blade.
"Blake… I want to talk."
"We can talk when you're dead!" She shouted as she dropped from the ceiling and attempted to skewer him with her twin blades. Adam managed to raise his sheathed sword and block the blows.
Blake kept up the pressure with her katana but slashed towards Adam's midsection with her cleaver. Wilt clicked free and flashed down as he blocked her attack.
Blake disengaged and jumped in front of the entrance Weiss had exited through. He could feel the glare directed his way, even behind the mask. His old mask. "Blake. We need to talk! Please!"
"Why should I talk with a traitor! You abandoned the White Fang! You abandoned me! Did it mean nothing to you!?" Blake cried out, voice dripping with venom.
"You meant everything to me!"
"Liar!" She opened fire on him. He slashed down each and every bullet.
How do I get through to her?
A/N: Here we go! The big second fight between Adam and Blake. Who will win this time? Though this is a good time for a quick PSA about Adam's Semblance. It's a confusing Semblance, mainly because it's never really explained. It takes in energy and redirects it in various ways. Obviously empowering Wilt enough to cut through Yang's Aura and then her arm. And V6 showed he could create clones and ranged wave-based attacks. The biggest issue is really figuring out how much energy he needs to do each thing. I assume it takes quite a bit, especially for something like what he did to Yang or the Spider Droid from the black trailer. His best attack would realistically take more energy then he is typically going to get from a normal fight. He probably fought several different people at Beacon in canon before he cut Yang's arm off. Yang and Blake Vs Adam is the best showcase of his realistic abilities. It's a hard Semblance to write for really.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!