Julius, Blake, and Sun were now walking down the sidewalk.
"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asked.
"I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies." Blake said, "They've never needed that much dust before."
"Well, not that we would know of." Julius added, "A lot has probably happened since you left."
"So, what if they did?" Sun asked, "I mean, the only way to prove they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely do it, and not find them there."
"That honestly hurt my brain for a few seconds," Julius said, "but I think I know where you're going with that."
"The only thing is I have no idea where that would be." Blake said.
"Well, they need to bring in a shipment to restock the robbed dust stores sometime." Julius said.
"But where would they do that, and when?" Blake asked.
"Well," Sun said, "While I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of dust coming in from Atlas."
"How huge?" Blake asked.
"HUGE. Big Schnee company freighter."
"We gotta be there then," Julius said, "If they're going to make a move, it's going to be targeting that freighter."
"You're sure?" Blake said to Sun.
"Positive" Sun replied with confidence.
Julius cocked one of his pistols. "Then let's do it."
…
Meanwhile, Penny, Ruby, and Novus were still walking in another part of town.
"So, Blake is your friend?" Penny asked.
Ruby sighed. "Yes, Penny."
"But you're mad at her?"
"Yes, but, well, I'm not. Weiss is."
"Is SHE friends with Blake?"
"Well, that's kind of up in the air right now."
"And what about Julius?"
"I'm honestly not sure. He's my friend as well, but he and Weiss almost got in a fight, like you saw. I don't think they'll be friends for a while."
"Can't blame him," Novus said, "Weiss was acting kind of like a huge brat in that one moment."
"But why would Julius and Blake still leave?" Penny asked.
"Well, you see, Penny, Blake might not be who we thought she was." Ruby said.
Penny gasped:=. "Is she a man?"
"That's seriously the first thing that pops into your head?" Novus demanded, trying to erase that picture from his mind.
"No, Penny, no, she's…I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off. Somehow, Julius must have seen her leave and decided to follow her, so he didn't really explain anything either."
"I don't have a lot of friends," Penny said, "But if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."
"Me too," Ruby said, her face full of worry. Novus looked at Penny, confused; he had originally thought of her as just an overly awkward and curious girl. But after that bit of advice Penny gave Ruby, he started to see a different side to her, one he started to admire a bit more. Suddenly, he regretted having thought so little of her.
…
That night, Blake and Julius were hiding at the top of one of the buildings at the docks, watching the shipment crates Sun had talked about be unloaded. Sun came up, holding a few apples.
"Did I miss anything?" he asked.
"If you mean anything exciting, than no." Julius said.
"Not really, Sun," Blake said, "They've offloaded all the crates. Now they're just sitting there."
"And so far, no one's bothered to even touch them." Julius finished.
"Cool," Sun said, then handing the two an apple. "I stole you some food."
"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake asked.
"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun said, only to get glares from both Blake and Julius.
"Okay, too soon." Sun admitted, just as a ship appeared and flew over their heads landing on the loading area amongst the crates.
"That's a White Fang ship alright," Julius said, "Looks like we've got company."
The door to the ship opened, and a group of White Fang soldiers appeared out of it.
"Oh no," Blake gasped.
"Is that them?" Sun asked.
"Oh, yeah, it is." Julius replied, his guns out.
Sun looked at Blake's horrified expression. "You really didn't think it was them, did you?"
"No, I think I knew deep down," Blake admitted, "I just didn't want to be right."
Then they heard someone yell. "Hey! What's the hold up?" as Roman Torchwick exited the ship.
"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."
You and I are gonna have words after this, Roman, Julius thought.
"This isn't right," Blake said, "The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not one like that." Then, standing up, she drew her katana.
"What are you doing?" Julius asked.
"To try and stop this." Blake replied, and she dropped down from the roof, landing safely on the ground and run towards the soldiers.
"She's certainly got spirit," Julius said, "I'll give her that."
"Agreed," Sun said, "Sooo, do we go in after her?"
"Hang on, let's see what happens."
As they watched, Blake managed to sneak up on Roman, holding her sword to his throat. They seemed to be exchanging a few words, then, suddenly more White Fang ships flew in. With Blake distracted by the ships, Roman took the opportunity to fire his cane at Blake's feet, sending her flying back and causing an explosion that Ruby, Penny, and Novus saw from the town.
"What the heck was that?" Novus asked.
"Oh no," Ruby said.
Meanwhile, Blake got back up, and then kept running around, dodging Roman's continued shots until she ducked behind a crate.
"Here, kitty, kitty," Roman said, just as a banana dropped onto his head. Roman looked up to see Sun just as he dropped down on top of Roman, flipping and landing a few feet away.
"Leave her alone," Sun said. Then, another White Fang ship arrived, the soldiers inside jumping out and surrounding Sun.
"Well, looks like you're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you?" Roman taunted. Some of the White Fang soldiers charged at Sun, who then suddenly retaliated with a flurry of attacks, unfolding a staff in the process and quickly dispatching the soldiers. As he turned to face Roman, three soldiers snuck up behind him and prepared to shoot, just as Julius teleported behind them, kicking away two of them with a wide sweep and then bringing his metal fist into the third one's face, sending him sprawling.
"You're welcome!" Julius said, walking up to Sun. Roman narrowed his eyes at Julius, who did the same.
"You want first crack at this guy?" Sun said, just as Blake dropped down and yelled. "He's mine!" before dueling Roman.
"Oookay, guess not." Sun said. Julius just rolled his eyes. Blake lashed out at Roman with an insane flurry of slashes and kicks, but Roman seemed to counter every single one with his cane, then knocked Blake away just as Sun joined the fray. Turning his staff into its gunchuck form, Sun swung them around, firing at Roman as he did, but with the same amount of effectiveness Blake had. However, it allowed Blake and Julius to run in, and smack Roman, sending him flaying backwards. Standing back up, Roman shot a cable suspending a crate in the air, sending it dropping down on the three huntsmen. The three jumped out of the way just in time, but Sun turned around to see Roman pointing his cane gun right at him.
"Hey!" a voice shouted. Roman turned to see Ruby, her weapon in scythe mode, and Novus, holding his super shotgun, appear on top of a nearby crate. Penny stood behind them both.
"Well, hello, Red." Roman said, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Ruby, are these people your friends?" Penny asked.
"Penny get back." Ruby said, only to be shot backwards by a blast from Roman's cane. Seeing that, Penny turned to face Roman, a determined look on her face; she walked forward.
"Penny, wait!" Ruby said.
"Don't worry, Ruby," Penny said, "I'm combat ready!"
A compartment on her back opened up as multiple blades appeared and unfolded out of it, somehow hovering in the air. Penny jumped down and began taking down White Fang soldiers rapidly, spinning the blades in a circle like a deadly cyclone.
Novus loaded his super shotgun. "Finally, some action!" and he jumped down too. Running forward, he fired his gun into two soldiers, blasting them back. Then, holstering the gun, he grabbed a charging soldier and drove his fist into him, sending him flying through the air before denting a crate, much to the shock of the others. Then, he whipped out the Gauss Cannon, charged it up, then fired a blast into a group of White Fang soldiers, taking them all down instantly.
"Penny, look out!" he called. Penny turned to see three White Fang ships fly in, firing their guns at Penny. Blocking them with her swords, Penny jumped a ways back, then, using the swords, charged up a green laser that then sliced through all three ships. Ruby and Slayer watched from where they were.
"Holy crap," Slayer said, "She's a badass!"
Then, he turned to see one of the remaining ship attempt to escape with a crate.
"Penny, don't let it leave!" Novus shouted. Penny then sent a few of her swords into the side of the ship and pulled back, somehow keeping it from flying away. Taking an opportunity, Julius teleported to inside the ship, dropped a live grenade, then teleported out before anyone noticed.
"Keep it steady," Novus said, bringing out his rocket launcher. Aiming at the engine, he fired three consecutive shots, destroying the engine, just as Julius's grenade went off, sending the ship crashing down. Roman ran back to one of the remaining ships, and, looking as the last one crashed, said, "These kids just keep getting weirder." Before closing the hatch to the ship, and it took off and flew away from the scene.
…
Later, some cops had arrived at the scene and were looking around. Ruby, Penny, Julius, and the others sat on some nearby crates.
"I had no idea you were THAT amazing of a fighter!" Novus said in amazement.
"And I didn't know you could blow things up so fast!" Penny said.
"Yeah," Ruby said, having a weapon fangirl moment and getting all up in Novus's face, "What kinds of guns do you use?"
"All kinds: shotguns, pistols, rocket launchers, heavy assault cannons, I even have a chainsaw."
Ruby was getting pretty wide eyed as Novus listed the guns.
Julius turned to Blake. "How you feeling?"
"I'm not sure," Blake said, "Just tired, I guess."
"That makes two of us."
Just then, Weiss and Yang walked up. Seeing them, Ruby walked up.
"Look, Weiss, it's not what you think; she explained the whole thing. You see, she doesn't just have a bow, she has kitty ears, and they're actually kinda cute."
However, Weiss ignored Ruby and walked right up to Blake. Julius tensed, waiting for what was about to happen.
"Weiss," Blake said, "I just want you to know that I am no longer associated with the White Fang and that…"
"Stop," Weiss interupted, "do you have any idea, how long we've been looking for you? Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this, and in that twelve hours, I've decided…" Everyone tensed up here before Weiss said: "I don't care."
"You don't care?" Blake said.
"You said you're not one of them, right?"
"No, I haven't been ever since…"
Weiss cut her off. "I don't want to hear it. What I want to know is that next time something like this comes up, you'll come to your teammates, and not some…someone else."
Blake looked at her other teammates, who smiled at her, then back at Julius who simply shrugged.
Looking back at Weiss, she said. "Of course."
Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "Yes! Team RWBY's back together!"
Weiss than looked at Julius. "And you…"
Julius crossed his arms. "Save the insults. I'm not interested."
"Good, because I wasn't planning on that."
Julius looked confused. "You weren't?"
"No, I wasn't. What I am going to say is that in those same twelve hours, I've decided…to give you another chance. If you're willing."
Julius thought for a moment, then said. "Never thought I would say this, but…" then he held out his hand for Weiss to shake, "I actually am willing to start over."
Weiss shook his hand. "Good."
"And just so you know," Julius added, "Blake actually came to me first, Sun just tagged along,"
"Well, I trust you enough," Weiss replied, then, turning to Sun, "I still don't know what to think about you."
Sun chuckled, taking a step back. Julius turned to Blake and said. "Well, looks like you got your friends back."
Blake nodded, then smiled at Julius and said, "Yes, but even if I didn't," here she leaned up and kissed Julius on the cheek, "I still have you."
Julius's face immediately turned bright red, causing some laughs from the other girls as well as Sun to give him a thumbs up. "Smooth."
Then, Julius fainted, causing a bigger laugh from everyone else. Then Ruby looked around. "Hey, where's Penny and Novus?"
In a nearby car, Penny and Novus sat across from a holographic projection of Samuel Hayden.
"You should not have gone out there like that," Hayden told them, "It was too risky; our cover might have been blown."
"I'm sorry, sir." Penny said, as the car drove away.
"As am I," Novus said, though he didn't sound completely sincere about that; he enjoyed having a good fight.
"Do not worry," Hayden said, "Your time will come, and I feel it may be sooner than later."
Meanwhile, Ozpin sat at his desk, watching security footage of what happened at the docks. Just then, he got a message from Qrow which read: Queen has Pawns.
Ozpin narrowed his eyes as he read the message; he hoped he was right about the two students he was putting his trust in…
…
Roman walked into his warehouse, going over in his head what had happened earlier. Putting down the only case he had managed to steal on a table, he suddenly heard. "How very disappointing, Roman."
Roman whipped around to see Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury standing at the door of the warehouse. "Woah! Hehe, wasn't expecting to see you guys here so soon."
"We're expecting…more from you." Cinder said.
Roman chuckled. "Hey, you were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang."
Cinder held out her hand, summoning a small flame as she spoke. "And you will continue to do so. We have plans for you, Roman. All we ask is a little cooperation."
As she spoke, Roman thought, Whatever you're planning, kid, it had better be good…
Author's note: And so ends the events of Volume 1. One down, six more to go before we reach Volume 8, so just hang in there and enjoy as I go through the next few volumes! As for those of you wondering about Hector, don't worry. He'll be along soon enough.