Earlier that day...
"Ahhh!"
Sun Wukong stretched out lazily on the rooftop, basking in the rays from his namesake. His first weekend in Vale was turning out nicely, despite the inauspicious start. There were plenty of nice, isolated roofs to hang out on, the cops were far too slow to keep up with a Huntsman-in-training, and the clear skies helped maintain his tan. Most importantly, he hadn't met any more crazy people who tried to blow him up or set him on fire.
He peered curiously into the alley below, nibbling on his stash of bananas. It might be stereotypical for a monkey faunus, but damn, did he love his bananas. Great taste, high in potassium, what more could you ask for? The alley was deserted, save for a lone figure rooting around in the dumpster.. He could make out a jean-clad rear end, a head of shaggy blond hair, and some sort of shiny white vest—was that armor? What kind of hobo wore armor? Sun shimmied down from his roof, approaching the mystery person.
"Yo, fellow blond!" The blond spun around with a startled yelp. Wait a minute. He recognized that face. "Hey, aren't you a Beacon student? What're you doing dumpster-diving?" Sun didn't quite remember the boy's name. He'd been too busy lying on the ground tied up, and worrying he was about to go to prison. Something with a J?
The other boy blinked a bit, then seemed to recognize him as well. "You're the stowaway!" he exclaimed. "Sun, right? Uh...sorry we tried to set you on fire. And blow you up. Sable and Nora can get kind of crazy." He suddenly looked nervous. "Wait, how did you escape from that Penny girl? You didn't...um..."
"Yep! Sun Wukong, that's me. And no worries, bro! All's well that ends well." Sun flashed a peace sign. "And Penny, well, she ended up letting me go. What's a little stowing away between best friends, right? I wouldn't hurt her!" he added indignantly. What kind of monster would want to harm that smile?
"Dang, you moved fast...uh, anyways, I'm Jaune Arc." came the reply. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it. Agh!" Jaune slapped himself a couple times. "Sorry, that just slips out sometimes."
"Nice to meet, you, Jaune!" Sun whipped his tail forward, ignoring the oddly flirty introduction. Jaune's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets, but he awkwardly took the tail and shook it. "You still didn't answer my question, bro! What're you doing, rooting around in the dumpster? Like, I heard some rumors Beacon might get its budget cut, but this is ridiculous."
Jaune's shoulders slumped. "I...you know what, might as well come clean. I'm probably expelled already." He took a deep breath. "Let's just say, I didn't exactly get into Beacon the legit way...there may have been some dodgy combat school transcripts involved. Thought I could fake it till I made it, you know? All I did was get my ass kicked." He laughed bitterly. "Finally let it slip a couple days ago, and there's no going back. Sable's gonna kill me."
Holy crap. He'd actually tried to make it at one of the big four Huntsman academies without proper training? Sun wasn't sure if Jaune was the ballsiest kid he'd ever met, or the stupidest. Probably both. "That's pretty wild, man." he offered weakly. "Why the dumpster, though? Don't you have anywhere to go?"
Jaune shook his head. "Don't want to go back home either. Thought I might try and get a job as a guard or something. I've got Aura at least, and my sword." He tapped the slab of metal on his belt. "Not much Lien though."
"Dude! People don't just throw Lien in the trash! And you're not gonna get a job smelling like garbage." Sun wanted to facepalm. This kid practically screamed 'sheltered country boy'. He doubted Jaune had ever so much as snuck out after bedtime, tasted a beer, or left a library book overdue. "Look, I got some experience living rough, and you definitely could use some tips."
"You think so?" Jaune looked at him hopefully. "I mean, you'd just do that for me?"
"Hey, blondes gotta stick together!" Sun clapped his new friend on the shoulder. "Do you wanna be some smelly homeless person, or a cool, lovable, rogue like yours truly?" He gestured at himself. "Lesson number one, if you're short on Lien, no need to worry! So long as you can grab the stuff and run faster than they can, you're all good. Food tastes better when it's free, so I say—"
Jaune looked uncomfortable. "Um...that sounds kind of illegal..."
Sun shrugged. "Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. And isn't using false credentials a felony, or something?"
"Oh gods, I'm a criminal!" Jaune whimpered. "I should have listened to Mom..."
"...we didn't really get off to the best start, you know? I mean, we met because I knocked him over in the forest, and then I thought he was a girl and tried to hit on him."
"Oh man." Sun cringed. They'd somehow got onto the topic of Jaune's misadventures at Beacon, and boy, did their initiation sound wild. He was glad his first meeting with his partner had gone much smoother. The thought of accidentally flirting with Neptune was uncomfortable; Scarlet might have appreciated it, though. "And then...I better not talk about that part, actually...one thing led to another, and we ended up riding to the end on a Nevermore." Jaune continued.
"Dude, seriously? That sounds kickass!" Sun was impressed. No training, and he pulled off a stunt like that? Maybe the kid had some natural talent after all. He had no inkling how you would even try and steer a Nevermore.
"It was terrifying." Jaune shuddered. "And then I got motion sick and threw up on him. And his sister. And my best friend."
"Yikes." That sounded significantly less kickass. "Wait, you puked on Weiss Schnee?" That name, he remembered quite clearly. He'd damn near gone into cardiac arrest when the heiress to the SDC introduced herself, and again when he realized her brother was the one who'd shot that fireball. The Schnee name was one most faunus knew, for better or worse. Usually for worse. Sun didn't buy into the more outlandish theories, but for a moment back there, he'd imagined himself getting sent down into those mines and wasting away from the black lung, or whatever those poor bastards came down with. Brr...
"Yeah...don't remind me." Jaune sighed. "Man, I puked on a lot of people, come to think. Like...six? No wonder I wasn't popular with girls. Or anyone else."
Sun inched away ever so slightly. His fellow blond didn't look nauseous at the moment, but he didn't fancy becoming vomit victim #7. "I don't think that's it, bro. That whole 'rolls off the tongue' thing, that your go-to line?"
"Yeah? Only got to use it once. On a girl, that is. What's wrong with it? It's confident, isn't it? My dad says women look for confidence!"
"Dude, it's cringe." Sun rated it right down there with 'did it hurt when you fell from heaven' and 'are you from Tennessee'. He never understood the second one. Tennessee wasn't even a real place!"Your dad probably wanted you to stay a virgin."
"He..." Jaune mulled it over. "Okay, that might actually be true."
They walked by a corner café. "Hey, you hungry, man? It's about lunchtime." His unofficial apprentice didn't just need survival tips, he was in sore need of some dude talk, the kind of wisdom best imparted over a cup of coffee and greasy brunch food. "What do you say we sit down, have a bite, and talk about cute girls?"
"Are you going to do your dine-and-dash trick? And do I have to help?" Jaune asked nervously. "I guess I am a criminal now, but I'm not mentally prepared for this serious stuff—"
"Relax, dude. I got enough Lien to cover us for a meal." He honestly had enough Lien to pay for quite a few meals, or boat fare for that matter, but come on. You could take a faunus out of Vacuo, but you couldn't take the Vacuo out of a faunus...besides, those shipping companies made plenty of profit. Stupid overpriced tickets. And the passenger cabin looked about as comfortable as the cargo hold he'd stowed away in. Could you blame a guy for being thrifty, really? Well, obviously some people could...
The café was almost deserted, despite the hour. Maybe he should have checked the reviews first. Screw it, the food was cheap and he wasn't picky. The two boys made their way out to the second floor deck. It was a shame to eat indoors on a beautiful day, after all, and Sun's tan could still use a bit of work.
"So. Girl problems, eh?" Sun stroked his chin, like some great sage of the heavens dispensing holy advice. "Way I see it, there's something to be said for being confident, but you don't wanna come off as some kind of tryhard. You got to be the chill sort of confident, you know, give off that vibe like, oh, it's cool if she swipes right but if she swipes left it's cool too, 'cause you've got plenty of bananas in the jungle."
"Swipe right? Bananas? What?" Jaune was utterly bewildered. "Sun, are you sure you know what you're talking about?"
"Of course!" Sun said defensively. So what if his experience was limited to getting a 10% match rate on the CCT? He could totally get a real girlfriend if he tried! He'd even befriended a robot girl, not that he could brag about that. "I...um..." his eyes darted around the deck, looking for a way out of the bind, and miracle of miracles, a way out appeared. There was exactly one other person on the deck, a girl with dark hair. "I'll prove it! Watch me!"
He rose from his seat and approached the mystery girl. Be cool Sun, you can talk to her. His credibility as a dashing rogue was at stake here! She was clearly some kind of fighter, judging from the bulky shape strapped to her back. And hmm, she was setting off his faunus-radar too. Possibly feline, going off those yellow eyes? Sun would bet all his bananas there were ears under her oversized bow. A black bow though, not a pink one...nope, wrong time to be thinking about other girls. Should he try out Neptune's thing? Come up with a cute nickname? All he could think of were variations on 'kitty', which sounded sort of creepy. Puss—nope, even worse.
"Hey." he said, waving his tail in a hopefully friendly manner. "I like your bow." That seemed like a solid opener. Complimenting someone's fashion sense was always safer than, say, their body parts.
The girl nearly jumped out of her skin. She shot him a worried glance, then looked as if she'd seen a Geist. Sun's self-confidence died a painful death. Come on, he wasn't that ugly, was he? Was she the type that preferred flat stomachs to abs? Although on closer look, her petrified expression didn't seem directed at him, but at something behind his back. Sun whirled around, but there was nothing there except Jaune Arc, who seemed equally gobsmacked.
"Uh...you two know each other or something?"
"Motherfu...hey Blake!" Jaune waved awkwardly. "Gotta go!" He turned around, clambered over the deck railing, and jumped off the freaking roof. Sun heard a crashing sound followed by running footsteps from below. "What the—" The girl (Blake?) sped past him in hot pursuit.
Sun shook his head and followed after them. Vale was still nuts.
This was her life now, wasn't it? One unpleasant surprise after another. In hindsight, Blake should have booked it to Vacuo days ago, but curiosity killed the cat. She just had to stay and investigate those unexplained Dust robberies. By 'investigating' she mostly meant standing around Dust shops like an idiot, and leaving when no robbery seemed imminent. Surely it was some mundane gang of thieves, not the Valean branch of the White Fang? They'd never needed that much Dust before. Well, except for that time she helped Adam steal an entire train of it. So, it would be the second time they'd needed that much Dust. And she still had no idea what the first was about, since she'd been too busy running away to ask.
Then, discouraged by the lack of leads, she'd decided to take a lunch break, hoping to settle her nerves with a cup of tea and a tuna sandwich, only to meet with two more surprises. There was the moderately concerning monkey faunus who'd apparently seen through her disguise, and the highly concerning appearance of Jaune Arc, her very own teammate (ex-teammate?).
That was how she found herself in her current situation, chasing a blond boy down the streets of Vale. Gods only knew how close Sable was, if his partner was in the area. Probably leading a torches-and-pitchforks mob to drag her back for trial...or maybe skip the trial in favor of an old-fashioned faunus barbecue. Whatever else, she could not let Jaune give her location away. The only option was to chase him down and ensure his silence...nonviolently, of course.
"Jaune! Come back! Can't we talk about this?" Fortunately, speed had never been Jaune's strong point (honestly, few things were), and she was catching up. He looked nervously over his shoulder...and ran right into the street.
"WATCH OUT—"
BEEEEEEPPP!
"AHHH!" Jaune finally processed where he was, and the large truck bearing down on him. Pushing herself forward off a clone, Blake threw Gambol Shroud's ribbon out. It wrapped around the knight's torso, pulling him to safety just before the truck could squash him flat and then possibly transport his soul to some bizarre fantasy universe. Securing the ribbon around him, Blake dragged the boy into a nearby alleyway, to mutters of 'poor bastard' and 'lucky bastard' from various passerby.
"Whew...thanks. But can't you just let me go?" Jaune's eyes were fearful. That hurt, more than she'd expected. Even if they weren't particularly close, they'd spent every day together for months, shared a room at night, and sparred with deadly weapons. But it seemed Blake was no longer a teammate and occasional combat partner to him. Just a White Fang operative who'd dragged a human into a deserted alley for nefarious purposes.
"I'm not going to hurt you." she said firmly. "I'm not going to hurt anyone at Beacon. I know this looks bad, but believe me, I never wanted it to end this way." Amber eyes met blue, willing him to give her some benefit of the doubt. "Let's just go our separate ways, and pretend we never saw each other. Please."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Jaune just looked confused. "Aren't you looking for me?"
"What? Why would I be looking for you?"
"You don't know? How?" Jaune sighed. "Screw it, might as well explain this again. Long story short, I faked my transcripts to get into Beacon. Confessed a couple days ago. Probably expelled now."
"Wait, a couple days ago?" Blake had a sudden sinking feeling. "When was this, exactly?"
"Uh, Friday night? After we came back from the docks—"
Gods fucking damn it. Had she actually fallen for that old cliché? The whole 'hear a partial conversation and jump to the worst possible conclusion' thing? She'd been so mad when it'd happened in Ninjas of Love #9 and extended the whole arc by fifteen chapters. There was no way someone would do something as drastic as abandon their ninja clan based on a few words out of context. No one was that stupid...guess what, Blake was that stupid. She slammed her head against the alley wall. Ow.
"I know it was dumb, Blake." Jaune grumbled, misinterpreting her actions.
"What the hell is going on here?" A voice came from the alley entrance. "Oh gods Jaune, did she tie you up? Who is she, your stalker?"
"No!" Blake shouted, pointing Gambol Shroud's gun half at the approaching monkey faunus. "And who are you?" She had a bad feeling about this random faunus who'd approached her with a knowing comment about her disguise. "You're not with the White Fang, are you?"
"What?! No!" the monkey boy threw up his hands. "Wouldn't be caught dead with those stupid, holier-than-thou creeps!"
"Blake, that's kind of racist. Just because he's a faunus?" Jaune protested. "I mean he might be a crim—lovable rogue, but we've been hanging out for a bit, and Sun's nice, he's been helping me with my...problems."
"Racist? But she's—" the boy began. Blake frantically flapped her arms at him, and he shut up. And now Jaune thought she was a racist. Great, just great.
"I...I apologize. It's been a stressful couple of days." said Blake. "Jaune, do you even know what the White Fang is?"
"A faunus civil rights group, founded in the aftermath of the Faunus Rights Revolution, that's been growing increasingly violent the last few years?" Jaune recited. Blake looked at him in astonishment. "What? I'm not that dumb! We did a whole essay for Oobleck on the Faunus War and its consequences, remember?"
"Oh. Right." Blake said lamely. "Um...I think I need to talk to, uh...Sun, was it? Talk in private, to, you know, apologize further? If you don't mind."
"Uh, no problem. But could you untie me—"
Blake was already pulling Sun away. "Just to be clear, what did you mean about the bow?" she whispered.
"Blake, right?" She nodded. "Sun Wukong, by the way. You're a faunus too, aren't you? Some sort of ears under that bow?"
"...cat ears." she admitted. "And it's supposed to be a secret. What gave it away?"
"Had a feeling. I'm pretty observant, if I say so myself." Sun shrugged. "Not the first time I found someone's big secret on accident. This week, even. What's the deal with you and Jaune anyways?"
Blake gave him a considering look. Could he be trusted? Jaune's endorsement was one point in his favor; most White Fang members did not give off a 'nice' impression to humans. And he didn't exactly fit the psychological profile of Adam's recruits, either. Too much smiling and cheer, not nearly enough brooding and generic rage.
"We're teammates at Beacon." she finally whispered back. "Or maybe ex-teammates? I kind of haven't talked to the others since Friday." She gestured to her bow. "You see...I thought they'd figured out my secret, but it turns they were talking about his secret instead."
Sun stared at her. "Your team has two people with awful dark secrets?"
"At least." Yang didn't seem the kind of person to keep one, but she shuddered to think what kind of horrible things the Schnees were hiding.
"Blake, your team has problems."
"Tell me about it."
"I mean, did you run just because you thought they knew you were a faunus? Seems like an overreaction." Sun said. "There's plenty of faunus Huntresses out there."
"Did Jaune tell you who our leader is?" Blake avoided the question. Half her hand was already showing, and considering Sun's stated opinion of the White Fang, she was going to keep her ace in the hole close to her chest instead of going all in...something like that, she didn't play cards. The last thing she needed was for Sun to turn her in for being a 'stupid, holier-than thou creep.'
"Oh right, the snowflake. Is it that bad?" Sun tapped his chin. "I mean, he was kind of a prick, and he tried to set me on fire..."
"You've met? And he did WHAT?" Blake did not have a great opinion of her team leader, but it was kind of disturbing to hear that he went about committing hate crimes.
"No! I mean yes, he did try and set me on fire, but in a non-racist way! I think?" Sun said hastily. "Couple days ago, I...kind of stowed away on a boat to get here, and the sailors were yelling and making a scene about it, and he just shot a fireball at me from his sword. Then some girl with orange hair tried to blow me up with a grenade, so it wasn't even the worst thing that happened." He paused. "But does it matter? I mean, your secret's safe after all, right, so can't you just go back?"
"I don't know." Blake frowned. "I haven't spoken to them in two days. There's no way they'll just let that go, and I don't have a good explanation."
"So you just gotta come up with an excuse that'll make the Abominable Snowman happy, right?" Sun's tail scratched his head. "Maybe...you were kidnapped, but managed to get away?"
"No." Blake rejected it immediately. Knowing Sable, he would insist on avenging the team's honor again, probably by burning her imaginary kidnappers at the stake. "I'm not going to invent an entire criminal organization!"
"Okay, maybe that's too much. Uh, you ate some bad fish and passed out for two days? Someone's Semblance teleported you to Vacuo...without your Scroll? You did an escape room and it was really hard?" Blake stared at him incredulously. "Okay, what were you actually doing the last couple days?"
"Investigating Dust robberies. There's been a spate of them lately, and there were some...rumors...the White Fang might be involved. Only I have no idea where they might strike, if it's even them." Blake answered honestly. That wasn't too suspicious, was it? "Because it's not like I have any special knowledge about their plans! And I doubt you do either."
"You'd be surprised!" Sun's tail stroked his chin thoughtfully. "When I was on that ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge Dust shipment from Atlas. Big freighter, from the Schnee Company too. Now, if I were a terrorist who wanted a lot of Dust, and had a grudge against a certain corporation, well..." He grinned. "How's that for a lead?"
"That might work?" Blake could scarcely believe her luck. This was almost too good to be true. She could report that she'd spent her weekend keeping SDC property safe, or even return with some valuable information on the Fang! Sable would still be annoyed at her for running off without a word, of course, but it should be good enough to get her back in the fold. "Yeah, that might work! So, the last two days I've been investigating White Fang activity, trying to stop them from stealing Dust, his family's Dust at that, and I didn't tell anyone because...uh..."
"Because you're too noble to put them in danger!" Sun pumped his fist. "Genius! And you can make up a story about how it's personal, because the White Fang, like, killed your dad—" he faltered at her disturbed expression. "Shit, they didn't actually kill your dad, did they?"
"Hello? I'm still tied up here!" Jaune called. Blake had nearly forgotten about him. On top of everything, there was also the opportunity to return their wayward teammate, literally gift-wrapped. She felt a twinge of guilt at the idea. Was she really going to sell the boy out to curry favor with a Schnee, of all people? Blake gritted her teeth. Jaune had probably been expelled already. Most likely he'd just be sent home with a slap on the wrist. And that was best for him, better than wandering around Vale as a vagrant.
...wait, they had both been out of contact for two days. Oh gods, she did not want to imagine how Sable and Yang were taking it. Based on the lack of explosions and screams coming from the direction of Beacon, maybe they'd both dropped dead from rage-induced aneurysms. Blake turned on her Scroll. If her secret was truly safe, it wouldn't hurt to give a few reassurances.
New Message from Yang Xiao Long: reply or we burn your smut
WHAT.
It had been a terrifying, confusing day for Jaune Arc. As a rule, most days since he'd started at Beacon were, but this one particularly so. Meeting the nice monkey boy was a nice start, even if some of Sun's 'life hacks' were more suited for a criminal than a Huntsman. Then they'd run into Blake in that cafe and things had been downhill from there.
Why exactly Blake Belladonna had chased him down the street, saved him from getting run over, tied him up, and dragged him into an alleyway, he could not fathom. Same for all that weird stuff she'd said about not wanting to hurt anyone, the racist accusations she'd aimed at Sun, and whatever she'd read on her Scroll that made her scream like a cat getting its tail stepped on. At least she'd apologized for the racist bits. A very long apology at that.
Though he felt their current situation was a really weird way to apologize. The three of them were camped on a rooftop by the docks, staring at a bunch of crates marked with a familiar-looking snowflake. Jaune had done more boring things in his life, but not very many. Then again 'exciting' in this case would mean a bunch of terrorists showing up, so maybe boredom wasn't the worst thing.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked, for the umpteenth time.
"I'm sure it'll be fine." Blake stared intently at the crates. "All we're going to do is camp here for the night, observe what happens, and report back to Beacon. Odds are no one will even show up."
"Imagine if they did, though? That'd be something!" Sun was lounging around, eating yet another banana with help from his tail. Where was he even storing those...Jaune didn't want to think about it. "Besides, kind our duty to keep an eye out, as f...full-time Huntsman students." He gave Jaune a sidelong glance. "No offense."
Jaune sighed, turning Crocea Mors over in his hand. He wasn't quite sure whether he was here as backup, or as a prisoner. Either way, there was no running. Escaping from Blake hadn't gone well the first time, and besides, it simply didn't feel right, leaving his teammate (ex-teammate?) and new friend behind, to face things on their own. And hey, the watching and waiting was good practice for being a mall cop, or whatever his future job prospects were. If he had any prospects besides a prison cell, that was. How long a sentence did you get for defrauding a Huntsman academy? Oh gods, he needed to practice making shivs! And not dropping the soap, whatever that meant! And what if they sent him to the electric chair...and forgot to wet the sponge...
"Do...do I have to go back with you?" Jaune said in a small voice. "I mean, it's gonna be super awkward to face everyone after that." Sable might just behead him on the spot and spare him from standing trial. Yang would no doubt make some crack about Vomit Boy becoming Convict Boy. And oh gods, what would Ruby think of him? 'Jaune, how could you lie to us like that?' the imaginary Ruby demanded, silver eyes full of unshed tears. Jaune felt his sins weighing on his neck. "Never mind. I deserve this." He was the scum of Remnant. His great-great-grandfather looked down on him from the heavens and shook his head in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Blake! I'm sorry I lied to you all!"
"Jaune, please calm down." Blake patted him on the back awkwardly. "Look, um...the bad things we do, they have a way of catching up to us. I think it's admirable that you can...um, reflect critically on your past actions? And quite brave of you, to go back and face the consequences. A lot of people can't do that..." she muttered.
"You...you think I'm admirable? And brave?" Jaune babbled. He could take no more. "Oh my gods you're a better friend than I deserve, and could you please come visit me in jail some time it would mean a lot to me only if you want to of course I get it if you don't—"
"Please get off me..."
"PFFFT! HAHAHA!" Sun burst into maniacal laughter, rolling around on the roof. "Jaune, you dip, they don't hand out life sentences for fake transcripts! It's not like you committed terrorism!" Blake twitched. "Especially since you're a minor, and you obviously don't have a record. Worst case you'll get community service and probation." He peered at Jaune's face. "Holy crap, are you crying?"
"Huh? No! Not at all!" Jaune lifted his head from Blake's shoulder—for the life of him, he couldn't remember putting it there—and wiped his eyes. "It's allergies! Uh...must be some Forever Fall sap nearby."
"Guys, quiet down." Blake hissed. "Someone's coming."
A sudden wind kicked up, and they saw a Bullhead touch down amidst the crates. A sinister-looking figure came out. A gray fanged mask with slits for eyes covered its face. On the back of its white tabard was a snarling beast's head overlaid with three claw marks, all in crimson.
"Oh no." Blake whispered. "It's them."
So that was the White Fang. Jaune thought they looked pretty obviously evil. Menacing masks and blood-red emblems were never a good sign. He wondered if that had been their uniform since the beginning. If so, people really should have seen this coming.
"Hey! What's the holdup?" Someone yelled, clearly audible even from the rooftop. There was...a man, he thought...yes, that was a man's voice...walking out of the ship. Though he didn't walk so much as swagger out of the Bullhead like a pro wrestler. Between the long white coat, gray kerchief, bowler hat, eye-searing orange hair, and honest-to-gods pimp cane, this was clearly someone ranked above your average grunt.
"This isn't right." Blake muttered. "The White Fang would never work with a human."
"Are we just going to assume his species?" Personally, Jaune thought that was a bit presumptuous. For all they knew, the man could be hiding cat ears under his hat. And who was Blake to decide who the White Fang would and wouldn't work with? Maybe they were branching out into equal opportunity terrorism, in which case good for them...well, bad for them, but not racist-bad.
"Especially not one like that." Blake ignored his question. She took her weapon off her back, and leapt down from the roof.
"Blake, what are you doing?"
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Blake was still concealed behind containers down below, but inching ever closer to the goons. Oh gods, was she planning to fight the entire White Fang by herself, over their employment policy? And he'd always thought Blake was the normal one on the team. Sun looked equally alarmed, muttering something about a 'stupid fucking cat'.
Not daring to call out or wave to her, Jaune settled for thinking 'Blake no' very hard. Maybe he could unlock his telepathic Semblance in their moment of need. Damn, no dice. There were four goons in sight, an unknown number in the ship, and the bowler-hat guy just oozed 'boss enemy' vibes. Even if Sun joined in it was five-on-two, and Jaune was Jaune. And was that two more Bullheads heading their way? They needed more people to stand a chance...a lot more people.
Jaune swallowed hard. He reached into his pocket, and for the first time in two days, turned on his Scroll.
Ring...ring...
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Roman Torchwick grumbled, as if having a katana at his throat were an everyday occurrence. Maybe it was for him, who knew. Blake held Gambol Shroud firmly in place. Even with Aura, taking a sword to the Adam's apple was going to leave a mark. She would know. It was, rather appropriately, one of Adam's favorite places to stab people.
"Nobody move!" Blake shouted. Four White Fang soldiers advanced on them. "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"
"Huh?" one of them demanded aggressively. "Do I look like your brother? You human bitch!"
Oops. Her bow was still on, and it had better well stay on. At least it worked on faunus not named 'Sun'. "Uh...I mean, aren't we all brothers against the Grimm?" she backpedaled. "Humans and faunus alike?"
"Am I seriously being held hostage by some hippie?" Torchwick groaned. "And to answer your question, the White Fang and I are going on a joint business venture together. Also..." he smirked. "Look up, dumbass."
She did. Two more Bullheads were hovering above their heads. When had they gotten here? This just was not her day. Blake Belladonna, out-sneaked by an aircraft? Anger clearing from her head, Blake took stock of her predicament. Against her were three Bullheads full of White Fang and one Roman Torchwick; backing her up were a monkey faunus of unknown ability and a boy with fake transcripts. Okay, maybe this hadn't been her best idea—
Torchwick fired his cane, and Blake went flying.
"Gotta go! Gotta go!"
Jaune threw the Scroll aside. He could only hope the others found them in time. Sun vaulted gracefully to the ground, introducing his shoes to some poor bastard's head. A moment later Jaune's own face smacked into the concrete, rather less gracefully. Ow. His landing strategy still needed some work. The White Fang took a glance at the two of them. One masked faunus rushed his way, while the rest all swarmed around Sun. That was kind of insulting, though Jaune couldn't fault them.
The terrorist's opening blow bounced off Crocea Mors with a solid thump. Using the ancient shield as cover, Jaune quickly pushed himself to his knees, then back to his feet. If there was one thing he'd practiced a lot, it was getting up after being knocked on his butt. Clang. Clang. Clang. The White Fang member continued his assault, and Jaune continued blocking hits with the shield. Honestly, he wasn't very good. Even to Jaune's eye, the goon's strikes were slow and heavily telegraphed, giving him plenty of time to shift Crocea Mors into place. He didn't hit very hard, either. Compared to what Yang did in training, it felt like getting whacked with a twig.
"Just die!" the goon yelled in frustration. Defend. His heavy blow slid off the shield, pushing his sword arm out at an awkward angle. Counter-attack. Jaune took the opportunity to ram Crocea Mors into his face. The man's head snapped to one side. Press. He lowered a shoulder and body-checked the faunus, sending him to the ground. Disarm. He stamped on his opponent's wrist, and his sword clattered to the dock. Finish. Jaune raised Crocea Mors and slammed it onto his masked face. And then again...Wham. Wham. Wham. Eventually the goon's yells of pain stopped. His head lolled back, a trickle of blood running out from under his mask. Holy crap, he'd done it! He'd won a real fight on his own! He looked over to see how Sun was faring. The monkey boy casually knocked a goon down with one fiery burst from his staff, joining the growing pile around him. Jaune felt inadequate.
"Useless animals!" Bowler Hat shouted. "Can't even handle tall, blond, and scraggly over there!"
"He's mine!" Blake rejoined the fray. She and Sun went after Bowler Hat together, and Jaune honestly had no idea what was going on. Sun was wielding what looked like two spinning wheels of fire, and he counted six or seven Blakes in there. Bowler Hat's cane swung in a black-and-red blur, somehow holding off their assault. Well, he clearly wasn't the boss for nothing. Several levels above the tutorial grunt Jaune had just beaten, for sure, but he ran towards the battle anyways.
"AAH!" Jaune swung the sword half of Crocea Mors at Bowler Hat's side. His strike was laughably sloppy compared to what Blake and Sun were doing, but the criminal was forced to jump back, his cane unable to be in three places at once.
"Butt out, noodle!" he snapped. "Can't you see the grown-ups are talking?"
"Jaune, get out of here!" Blake ordered.
"No way, Bowler Hat!" Jaune shouted back. A voice in the back of his head screamed at him to obey, that he was in far over his metaphorical pay grade, but yelling helped him ignore it. "An Arc never leaves his friends! Uh, if you guys are cool with being friends I mean—"
"Bowler Hat? Really?" the criminal exclaimed in disgust. "The name's Roman Torchwick! Vale's number one criminal mastermind!" He leveled his cane. "Your funeral, kid!"
"JAUNE!"
There was an ominous whistling noise from the cane. Jaune resorted to his signature (and only) move: shielding. A dull boom rattled his bones, and a wave of heat washed over him. The walking stick packed quite a hit; Jaune rated it about 1.5 Yang Punches. He swayed backwards, steadied, and stayed on his feet. Yes! Bending his knees worked! He gave Blake and Sun a thumbs-up. Another milestone reached. He'd taken a shot from a criminal mastermind, and...not died instantly...welp, baby steps.
"Tch. Tougher than you look, huh?" Torchwick scoffed. Blake and Sun stepped between them, weapons at the ready. "Hippie. Tail Boy. You want more? You got more!" He gestured lazily with a gloved hand. More White Fang were pouring out of the Bullheads now, moving to encircle them. Dear gods, how many people fit in those things? It was like one of those circus cars with twenty clowns stuffed inside, except with terrorists instead.
"Gods, this is all my fault..." Blake whispered. "I'll hold them off. You guys need to run. Especially you, Jaune, you're human—"
"No way!"
"Blake, you're human too." Jaune reminded her. "And—"
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Jaune, Blake, Sun, Torchwick, and all the White Fang members turned to the source of that loud, metallic sound, as if someone had hit the pause button on their fight. There were four tall shapes sitting on the ground that had definitely not been there before...wait a minute. That coffin-like profile was seared into his nightmares, and the churning in his stomach only confirmed it. Those were Beacon rocket lockers...and that was a gun barrel poking out of one of them. "Put your hands up!" Ruby Rose's voice shouted.
"Not again..." Torchwick's eye twitched. "Get her!"
"DIE!" A familiar scream and a jet of fire burst from another locker, setting an unlucky grunt alight.
"—we've got backup." Jaune finished, with mingled relief and fear.
Almost a whole chapter without our boi putting in an appearance...alas, no one can be so lucky. And look at Jauney, finally getting in the win column! Poor Nameless White Fang Grunt #11 never stood a chance.