You know the drill.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Pokedex"
Pokemon Moves
'Telepathy'
Flashback
"Narrator/Singing"
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Pokemon
Chapter:53 Glimpses and Choices
As the sun begins setting over the mountains around the abandoned Dust mine, four trucks drive up the road to the mine entrance, and Amity Colosseum floats toward the mine.Two people are lying with binoculars somewhere in the area, one of whom is wearing a pin that resembles the one of the council candidate's scarf. Their binoculars bear the same symbol as the pin. They both gaze up at the colosseum, before the one on the right resumes looking through his binoculars.
Soon after the trucks arrive at the mine entrance,Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Team VRMN, Qrow and the Ace Operatives walk outside. Smiling, Marrow looks at Clover and then attempts to put on a more serious demeanor. Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and Mel come together to gaze in dramatic admiration of the Ace-Ops, while Ren, Pyrrha, Blake, Weiss, Yang, Randy and Nomad watch the four with wide eyes.
Nora let out a high-pitched squeal while Jaune and Mel rush over to Clover.
"That was awesome!" Mel said.
"You guys were incredible!" Jaune said as he and Mel switches to being in front of Clover and begins energetically gesturing as they talk.
"Oh, the way you took down that Geist without needing to plan your tactics out, you just knew exactly what to do!"
"It was mind boggling," Mel said.
"Well, Ace-Ops are hand-picked to perfectly compliment one another. So we can focus on our assets and leave our liabilities behind," Clover said as Marrow walks over with a confident smile.
"Some of us are all asset, zero liability," The Faunus said as he poses with a salute and a grin, looking at Jaune. Elm scoffs, catching Marrow's attention. He moves over to her, leaning in to confront her. "Wha-- Yeah? Think I've got some liabilities, Elm?"
"Your brains, for one," The tall woman said as she, Clover, Vic and Harriet laugh, and Marrow groans and pouts. Elm and the former four then walk away.
"You did ask," Vine said as walks away, and Nora approaches Elm with wide eyes and a smile. Elm looks at her
"Hi. Do you need a new best friend?" Nora asked as she moves closer. "Our pair name can be…"
Nora's eyes spark with pink and blue electricity, and she lifts her hammer into the air with both hands. She is suddenly standing on an empty plane with a green tinted sky, with Elm standing nearby. Pink lightning strikes, while green and pink gradient text appears.
"THUNDER THIGHS!!!"
Harriet watches this with a sigh, and Ruby runs over to her.
"Perfect complementary teamwork. Oh, yeah, I want to have my friends' backs just like that," Ruby said as Harriet raised an eyebrow.
"Friends?" She asked.
Elm laughs and said, "This isn't the schoolyard, kid."
Behind Elm, Nora is still posed with her hammer in the air. She looks fine but she is hurt from the inside.
"Thunder Thighs…" Nora said with a husky tone as Ren walks over, lifts the currently stiff Nora under his arm, and walks away with Vic to check his sister. Ruby's teammates join her.
"But, I mean, when you go through so much with someone, it kind of changes things, doesn't it?" Yang asked.
"We get along well enough, sure. I count on them to keep me alive. They do the same. But that's the job. We don't confuse the two," Harriet as she turns and walks away, leaving Team RWBY to look on sadly.
"Speaking of the job…" Clover said as further down the way, General Ironwood is talking on a communicator. He gives a brief order to a soldier, who walks away.
"Duty ever beckons. You all hang back a second," He said as he gestures to Jaune and Qrow.
The Ace-Ops walk over to Ironwood. Ruby watches with a sad sigh, then looks away, thinking. She then gets an idea, smiles and hurries over to her teammates.
"What do you guys want to do when we get back to Atlas? Sightseeing?" Ruby said then gasp. "Oh, what should we visit first?"
Blake let out a yawn and said, "How about our beds?"
The Liepard Faunus then walk away.
"Oh, come on, guys! This is a great time to go exploring! We haven't done that in so long!"
"Ruby, we just explored a whole continent on foot before flying to this one," Weiss said as she also walk away.
"Well, yeah, but... it was only the boring parts," Ruby said as Yang crosses her arms.
"We almost died."
Ruby waves her hands at Yang with an awkward chuckle, and Yang walks away. Ruby then frowns and sighs sadly. She then felt someone patting on her shoulder as she look behind her to see Nomad.
"We need it and you need it too," He said as Ruby cold only nod.
"Hey. Heads up," Qrow called out to them as he points his thumb over at Ironwood, who is talking to Clover while the other Ace-Ops walk away.
"Can I get the team leaders over here? There's something I'd like to discuss with you. You too, Qrow," James said as Ruby, Jaune, Vic, and Qrow walk over to him.
"I need you on the ground, but be subtle. If people see too many Huntsmen milling around, they'll get nervous," He said to Clover as the leader of the Ace-Ops salutes, nods and begins walking away, but before calling out to him again. "And Clover?"
Clover stops and looks back. In the background, Marrow is in front of an open airship, talking to a military Huntsman, while miming punching imaginary targets and waving his arms.
"Don't take Marrow."
Clover looks over at Marrow, then looks at Ironwood, smiling and chuckling with a nod. Marrow recreates his pose from when he froze a pair of Centinel sand then turns around and mimes shooting something. Clover heads in Marrow's direction, and Ironwood turns to Qrow, Vic, Jaune and Ruby.
"New problems in Mantle?" Qrow askedqs the General let out a sigh.
"More of the same, unfortunately," He said as he withdraws and deploys his Scroll, using it to generate a hologram screen in the air in front of him. The left side of the screen displays an Atlas Military Police mugshot of the man who was along with the gang, while the right side displays a photograph of the man's corpse in an alleyway somewhere in midtown Mantle. "Someone in Mantle is taking out public leaders who speak out against Atlas. Specifically, people who speak out against me. It didn't look like a pattern at first. But this is the third murder of its kind in the last week."
Jaune step up and said, "Wait a minute. That's the guy that rode with us after we were arrested."
Ruby looked upset and said, "He died?"
"Your opposition in Mantle dropping dead isn't exactly a good look for you, huh?" Qrow said as Ironwood deactivates the hologram screen and puts his Scroll away.
"Not really worried about my public image, but it is causing unrest. I think someone's trying to frame me and, by extension, Atlas. And it's working. Even our new security couldn't keep up with it."
"Well, if it wasn't for the embargo making everybody so mad, people probably wouldn't be so quick to blame you for everything else," Jaune said till Ironwood frowns and looks at Jaune, who awkwardly clears his throat and stands at attention. "S-sir."
James rubs the bridge of his nose and said, "No. No, you're right. Things in Mantle have been... hard to manage lately. I'm not blind to its issues. In fact, that's what I want to talk to you about."
He then looks at the Amity Colosseum.
"With the launch of this mobile communications tower and tensions down in Mantle, I think there's a lot of good your teams can do here."
"What? Already? Here? No, it's fine. Let him land. I'll deal with him myself," James said in surprise as Qrow and Ruby look each other, and then at Ironwood.
"More Mantle problems?" Qrow asked Ironwood watches an airship fly by on its way to the landing pad.
"No. This one's an Atlas problem."
The ship, bearing the Schnee Dust Company logo, descends onto a landing pad, where Ironwood and Team RWBY are already waiting, with Team JNPR and Qrow standing further back. A ramp extends from in front of the ship's double door, which opens to reveal an angry Jacques. As soon as the doors begin to open, he starts talking and makes his way down the ramp.
"So let me get this straight, James. In addition to this nonsensical embargo of yours crippling my family's business, you've also decided you have the authority to commandeer private property?" Jacques said questioningly as Weiss still look contemplated around her father.
He stops in front of Ironwood, who calmly stares at him, arms folded behind his back.
"When the Council hears about this, you will never--"
"Actually, I've already informed them. As this is now the site of a classified military operation, it didn't even require a vote," James said as Jacques look at him in shock.
"Didn't require a vote?!"
"You might want to brush up on Council law before you lose this upcoming election, Jacques. Now. I've allowed you to land here once as a courtesy. The next time, it won't be a friendly reception," He said as Jacques glared at him.
Jacques becomes distracted, his eyes widening when he realizes Weiss is present. They stare at each other for a moment.
"You..." Jacques walks past Ironwood, glancing at him as he does so. "You roped my missing daughter into these schemes of yours, too?"
He turns back around to look at Ironwood angrily.
"How long has she been back in your operation? Did Winter know about this?"
Weiss quickly step forward and said, "It was my decision to come here. Just like it was my decision to leave."
Jacques let out a sigh and said, "I know you did, but can a father be worried to his own daughter."
"You never did before."
"Weiss, I am trying to make it up to you, but your mother... she was devastated when you left," He said as Weiss looks upset. "Didn't leave her room for days. You know how… sheg ets... when she's upset. I tried everything to make it up for her, but... I guess it would take a long time."
Jacques looked sad while he speaks, taking a moment to peek at Weiss' reaction. Her eyes glimmer with sadness, and she looks down, frowning. He really regretted it and wanted to change. By that very day, he saw the errors of his actions and really wanted to change, to be the father he should be.
Jacques then looked behind her as he saw the rest of Team RWBY and said, "I guess that they are your team that your friend Vic told."
"Yes... they are my friends," Weiss said as Jacques look at them contemplating the scene.
"Well I suppose that I won't be slightly worried, so be careful my daughter," Jacques said as Weiss looks at him.
"Yes... father," Weiss said as Jacques smiles.
Jacques returns to his airship and begins to take off. Ruby, Blake and Yang look at Weiss with concern, while she still feel conflicted of her father. The ship flies away, and a truck arrives on the platform. Once the truck comes to a stop, Winter opens the passenger side door and peeks out at the ship.
"Oh, now you show up, Winter. You just missed father," Weiss said with a joking smile.
"I wouldn't say I missed hi--"
The Specialist was quickly cut of when Penny came flying down from the sky and crashed right at Vic. The force from her crash sends Team RWBY flying with a small scream, while Winter steadies herself against the shockwave. Penny straightens up and throws her left hand. into the air, the word "CONGRATULATIONS!" appearing above her head as a green hologram, with bright green hologram confetti spawning from it with a party horn sound while she hugs a caughing Vic with her other arm.
"Surpise!" She said as she looks around with a giant grin as the hologram flickers while Vic let out a sigh and shook his head. When she notices Team RWBY on the ground, her grin and the hologram both fade. "Uh, did we not start yet?"
Winter puts her fingertips to her forehead in exasperation. Ironwood stares with a wide-eyed grimace, while faint groaning can be heard from Ruby.
Winter let out a sigh and said, "Apparently, we haven't."
Nearby, Jaune, Nora, Randy, Mel, and Nomad laugh, while Ruby stands up with a look of confusion.
"Start what?" Ruby asked.
After the sun finishes setting, RWBY, JNPR, Qrow, Winter, Penny and Ironwood gather in the center of Amity Colosseum's arena. RWBY, JNPR, and VRMN stand lined up, with Ironwood, Winter and Penny standing across from them and Qrow standing off to the side. The arena lights are on and pointing at the center of the stage where everyone is standing.
"You fought for your school and your friends at Beacon. You fought for the world and the innocent at Haven Academy and beyond. You faced down terrors people can't even fathom. That's not the behavior of students. It's the behavior… of Huntsmen and Huntresses," James said as he looks over at Penny, who happily begins humming and walking past JNPR and RWBY, stopping in front of each person to tap on her Scroll. With each tap, her Scroll emits a beep and someone else's Scroll buzzes. Ren's Scroll is the first to buzz, and he removes it from his pocket and opens it, checking the screen. It displays his student license, which displays a photograph of him in his new outfit with his emblem in the top left corner and a barcode below the photo. The Vale symbol is in the background behind the license information. The license says:
STUDENT LICENSE BEACON
Name: Ren, Lie
LN: 63700 - 16778 - 13563
Place of Issue: Vale
Authority: Beacon Academy
Restrictions: Class C
The screen blinks, and the license suddenly changes. The Kingdom of Atlas symbol is now in the background behind the information. The new license says:
HUNTSMAN LICENSE Atlas
Name: Ren, Lie
LN: 63700 - 16778 - 13563
Place of Issue: Atlas
Authority: Atlas Academy
Restrictions: Class C
"Wait... what is this?" Ren asked as everyone except Vic checks their Scrolls as Penny continues tapping hers.
"You are being granted your Huntsman licenses, today," Winter said as Penny finishes using her Scroll to grant everyone their licenses and walks away with a big grin. Her Scroll displays the Atlas Huntsman License Registry.
"I know this is coming a little ahead of schedule, but Brothers know you deserve it. I only regret that I couldn't do something a little more ceremonious for the occasion," Ironwood said as Ruby stares in awe at her license.
"I-" Ruby glances to her friends. "We… we're honored, General Ironwood. But you really don't have to do th--"
"Please," James cuts her off. "With the threat of Salem still out there and tensions rising in our Kingdom, I certainly could use more trustworthy fighters by my side."
As Ironwood walks away from them, Team RWBY look at each other. Yang and Weiss' faint smiles fade, and Blake's cat ears droop.
"I should be so lucky to have all of you," He said as he stops for a moment, then looks at Team RWBY and smiles. "It's okay. It's a big moment." He then walks again. "And what better way than to celebrate here? When this tower is ready and communications are back up and running, we'll tell the world about Salem and face down whatever comes at us after that, together."
RWBY, JNPR, and VRMN stand in silence.
Ironwood then sighs, awkwardly adjust his tie and said, "That's… just about all the pomp I have in me. If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to running this operation. Um…" Thr General then turns away. "Well, then. Enjoy the cake."
Ironwood walks away, with Winter following. Penny pops up with a hand raised in the air.
"Your speech outros are improving, sir!" Penny said in an encouraging tone while RWBY, JNPR, and the three members of VRMN look at their licenses.
"After everything we've been through, I almost forgot this is what I wanted in the first place," Yang said.
"When Beacon fell, I didn't think this would even be possible," Blake said.
"It almost feels trivial now," Weiss said.
"Never really imagine myself being a Huntsman," Randy said while Mel jump in joy.
"Who cares?! We really deserve this," Mel said.
"The kid is right, so lighten up and enjoy while it lasts," Qrow said.
"Finally! Someone said it. Let's kill some cake, huh?" Nora said as she moves forward, throwing a fist in the air. "Because I can eat two slices before Ren even eats one. Who says I can't? Who says it, huh!?"
"Nora, nobody is arguing with you about this," Ren said but Vic quickly stood by her side.
"But I can! I can eat three slices before you can!" Vic said as Nora look at him intently.
"Is that a challenge little brother?"
"Who says that it wasn't?" Vic said as the two siblings look at each other competitively while Ren let out a sigh.
A short while later, all of the teens except Ruby gather around a cake. Ruby instead sits nearby in the bleachers. Penny uses six of her swords to cut the cake into even slices. Weiss and Ren stand together, eating their personal slices, and Nora moves over to them with a stack of six slices with Vic carrying two more slices than her.. Ren and Weiss stare in surprise as Nora and Vic eats an entire slice in one bite.
Yang shows off her prosthetic arm to Penny, who looks at it in awe. Yang then offers to shake Penny's hand with the prosthetic arm, a sneaky grin on her face. Penny happily takes her hand, only for the arm to detach, causing Penny to gasp in surprise. Yang Nora, and Mel laugh, and after a moment, Penny and Vic laughs, too.
Blake and Randy stand alone, eating their cake in calm silence. Suddenly, Yang and Nomad swiftly moves up beside the two, Yang putting her arm around her and holding up her Scroll with the camera function on. Blake and Randy looks at the two with wide eyes and a confused smile, and when the Scroll's camera begins rapidly clicking, the two turn their heads and grins at it with a small, awkward laugh.
Ruby watches as Yang continues to take selfies with Blake, Nomad, and Randy, Nora and Mel talks with Vic and Penny, and Jaune and Pyrrha talks with Weiss and Ren.
"Big day for you, huh, kiddo?" Qrow then walk over and sits next to Ruby.
"It's… definitely a lot to take in," Ruby said.
"Which part? The finally getting to Atlas part, getting your license part, or the not quite disclosing everything to Ironwood part? Or… all of the above?" He asked as Ruby let out a soft laugh.
"All of the above. I'm trying to do what I think is best, but I really can't tell if what's best is what's right, or if I'm no different from Oz," She said.
"Ruby, Oz only trusted himself with the whole truth. You're trusting others, but you're making sure they prove themselves first. I think that's a pretty big difference."
"I hope so," Ruby said as she withdraw her Scroll and checked her license. "This says I'm a Huntress now. But I don't feel like I know much more than I did at Beacon."
Qrow laugh a little and said, "That feeling never goes away. Your mom, Summer, would be proud of you."
She smiles at him, but that smile soon fades as she thinks to herself and said, "Her… last mission. Was that another Oz secret?"
"Hm. There were a lot of those back in our day. But this one was a Summer secret. When she didn't come back, Ozpin seemed just as in the dark as myself and your father. Still, who knows what he may have hidden from us over the years," Qrow said.
"What do you think she would've done if she learned the truth about Salem? That she can't be destroyed."
"Pressed on, I think. Like you. She was always the best of us," Qrow said as he pulls Ruby over to rest her head against his shoulder, smiling. "Bit of a brat, though. But hey, I like brats."
Ruby playfully elbows him in the ribs and laughs.
"Hey, Ruby! Come check this out!" Yang called out as she points behind herself with her thumb. Ruby zooms over to the group, who are staring at something.
Ruby gasps and said, "Oh my gosh, is that a mission board? It's an app now!?"
She zooms over to the mission board, pointing at different missions.
"Can we ride a Megoliath? Stop an underground crime ring? Do I get to go…" Ruby turns away, puts on her hood, and turns back to Penny and Vic, while doing a dramatic expression and a fake accent. "...undercover?"
Ruby flares her cloak out, knocking the hood off her head, and begins shaking Penny up and down.
"Maaaybeee!" The gynoid said.
"You just have to find out," The gynoid's boyfriend said.
"Hey, do you guys smell that?"
Marrow's voice comes from nearby, and Ruby stops shaking Penny. He walks in with Elm and Vine, dramatically sniffing the air.
"Smells like…fresh meat," The Faunus said.
Vine sniff the air and said, "That's odd. I don't smell meat."
Ren sniff the air as well and said, "Neither do I."
Adding insult to injury, Randy did as well, "Same."
Marrow groans at this and said, "You know what? Nevermind."
"Let me get this straight. You've only been official for an hour now and you're already looking for Huntsman work?" Elm asked.
Weiss hold up her finger and said, "To be fair, we've been official for a whole…" She withdraws her Scroll and checks the time. It is 8:42 and she looks disappointed. "Fifty-seven minutes."
Nora and Mel playfully roll their eyes at Weiss.
"I'd like to remind you all that the real mission here is ensuring the successful launch of the communications tower," Vine said.
"True, but we can also keep training and improving by helping where we can," Ren said as Elm let out a happy sigh.
The tall woman did a fist bump and said, "The enthusiasm of youths!"
"Well, it's hard to argue with that. Okay, let me show you how it works," Marrow said as he walks over to the mission board, scrolls up on it and selects an Escort mission. "Ooh, here's an important one. Who wants to volunteer?"
He turns to look, and RWBY, JNPR, and VRMN all raise their hands, calling out "Yes!" and "Alright!"
"We need someone to escort children to pre-primary school down in Mantle. There's not actually any danger, but the parents fret, and that attracts Grimm."
Everyone but Jaune drops their hands down.
"Perfect! Thanks…" Marrow stopped in uncertainty. "Juan… Jwan… Jim?"
"Close enough, I guess," Jaune said as he awkwardly chuckles. "Wow, my first Huntsman mission."
Elm slides over and knocks Marrow aside with her palm, causing him to scream.
"Next!" She quickly swipes down on the mission board, causing the missions to scroll by rapidly. She slaps one of the missions, bringing up a Search and Destroy mission with an image depicting a rotating 3D model of a Sabyr. "A massive Sabyr is loose in the Mantle sewers! We need two brave warriors to flush it out!"
Everyone but Jaune raises their hands, gasping excitedly, and Jaune looks around, bewildered.
"Wha-- But-- Why didn't I get a choice for that one?"
His friends begin laughing at him while Pyrrha pats him on the back.
Jacques sits alone in his dimly lit office, drinking from a glass with a spherical ice cube in it. The door opens partway to show Whitley with Neige the Snom on his shoulder.
"Father, you, um… have a visitor," Whitley said.
"I'm busy here Whitley. Why did you let them in?" He asked.
"I didn't. He... let himself in," Whitley said as the door is forced open by another hand to reveal itself to be Watts, walking into the room as Whitley moves out of his way while Neige shakes in fear on his spot.
"A spitting image of you, this lad, Jacques. Creepily so, I might add," Watts said as Whitley stands in the hall, holding the door open and watching with Neige as Watts walks around Jacques' office. "He's definitely inherited your… affect."
"Arthur," Jacques said in shock as his left fists tightens. He quickly takes a second to gather himself, then looks at Whitley. "Whitley, leave us. And shut the door."
Whitley looks confused and then looks suspiciously at Watts along with Neige.
"Now!" Jacques said in a commanding tone as Whitley closes the door. Jacques turns his attention back to Watts. "I-- You're supposed to be dead."
"That is what I wanted people to think. You're right. However, I've heard things about you too, Jacques. Namely, that you have an Ironwood problem," Watts said as Jacques look at him warily.
"I suppose I do, the embargo really put a huge drop of the company's income because of Ironwood. I just couldn't understand that man's mind, I just hope that the election would solve the situation," Jacques said as Watts sits in the chair next to him.
"What if I said you can have your cake… and eat it, too?"
Omake:
RWBY Chibi: VTR Version
Halloween Special
In Mantle, C. Team VRMN walks through the city in their costumes.
C. Vic is a barbarian, C. Randy just used his Semblance to become a ghost, C. Mel is a zombie, and C. Nomad is a pirate.
"Ah. Halloween, the day were you dress up to something creepy and either go to parties or trick-or-treat," C. Mel with a smile
"And we are going to the Halloween party in Penny's house since it's also Ruby's birthday," C. Vic said as they slowly reach their destination.
They entered the Polendina Household to see everyone enjoying themselves.
C. Ruby, C. Yang, and C. Nora still wore there costumes from last year's Halloween while C. Jaune is a knight, C. Pyrrha is an amazon, C. Ren is a samurai, C. Blake is a ninja, C. Weiss is a vampire, C. Oscar is a scarecrow, and C. Penny is a mummy.
The adults are there as well but they decide that they don't want to wear costumes.
C. Nomad took a deep breath as he released it and said, "This will be a perfect night."
C. Randy nods at this as the all male team was about to enjoy themselves till C. Vic and C. Mel saw a familiar doll sitting on a table and did the only reasonable thing.
"AHH!" The two best friends screamed as C. Mel jumped to C. Vic's arms. Everyone look at them weirdly as C. Ruby approached them.
"Hey, what's wrong?" C. Ruby asked as the two could only shakily point to the doll at the lampshade.
Everyone followed to where they point to see the Banette doll sitting on the table, and C. Ruby, C. Yang and C. Nora screamed in horror and joined C. Mel in C. Vic's arms. The others look at them confused till C. Weiss approaches it.
"Oh please, what could a..." They then heard a creepy laugh. "... doll... do."
Everyone eyed the doll fear as it slowly move and immediately came to life and screamed.
"BANETTE!!!"
"AHHH!!" Everyone immediately screamed and ran outside and left the Banette to laugh maniacally then left the scene.
Omake end
And that is it for this chapter.
Boy I have a lot of things to do, especially for next chapter.
I could do a short bonding time with Team VRMN since I haven't shown them together a lot through the story, so next chapter is that and you could guess what it is.
I also have another story that I am planning to do and I won't spoil it yet till I finish planning it out, so I have to do two other stories that I planned but I have to work on with one of them.
There a lot of things I could do with RWBY but I am out of it because of my class, but I'll keep it up.
For now, I just hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.
Vic out and Happy Halloween.