I Do Not Own RWBY
The Confrontation
Everything I had experienced the day before felt like a dream. As I woke up I almost questioned if my date with Blake had really happened. Checking my supplies I confirmed that I did purchase what I had yesterday, so it must have happened. I nearly jumped with joy, but quickly realized that the rest of my team was still asleep. I sort out what I had bought and made a few adjustments to them. After that I decided to grab some breakfast while I waited for the others to wake up, Beacon's eggs and waffles were to die for.
After successfully filling my stomach, and narrowly avoiding Nora in the process, I made my way back to our dorm where I found Lucas, Aiden and Iris just finishing waking up and getting ready for the day.
Upon me entering the room Lucas turned and glared at me. "So, aside from your successful date with Blake, which I still loathe you for, did you manage to find what you were looking for in Vale?"
"Yes. I'm surprised you didn't manage to see what I picked up while you were following us yesterday." I retort as I pick out the supplies and start handing them out.
"So, while I was in Vale I managed to procure a few upgrades to your weapons as well as my own, and also some dust that I thought you would all find handy."
I hand off Lucas' dust and the new chain I got for him. "Since I felt nice, I got you a new chain for your Rensa Kiba that's lighter and allows for the use of dust. Now with your new ability I also got you some fire and electric dust since I thought you could make the best use out of these two variants."
Stepping over towards Iris I hand her a pouch of dust and her new bow string. "For you Iris I found this higher tensile bow string that will allow you to fire arrows for a longer distance and more power, as well as wind dust to help improve accuracy and maneuverability."
Lastly I hand Aiden his knife upgrade for his weapon and another pouch of dust. "Finally, I got this for you. An add-on for your gun that will give you some close combat options in the future, and some ice and gravity dust."
After looking over their new upgrades, Iris notices that I still have some items leftover. "So, what about those then?" She asks as she nods towards them.
"Well, these are for myself." Picking up the belt and canisters I start switching things out. "I got this new belt which allows me to hold up to four extra canisters of bots, as well as a few more canisters to hold said bots. I also picked up a knife and a handgun just in case of an emergency. As far as dust goes I got a little bit of everything, but I managed to find a good bit of combustion, gravity and hard light dust I want to practice using. I have a few ideas I want to implement using those specifically. Also it's not something I bought in Vale, but while I was there I did manage to think up what I wanted to name my weapon."
Perking up, they all looked to me with furrowed brows. "You mean after all this time you just now have come up with a name for your weapon! What the hell has taken you so long?" Iris asks with a baffled expression.
"Well, I just couldn't really think of anything that held any meaning to me. That is, until yesterday. Blake really got me thinking in a lot of ways that I hadn't before, and while on the airship back I thought of it. My weapon resembles how I used to be in our previous lives, so I could only think of one name for it. Similitude."
"Latin?" Aiden questions. "Seems a bit too archaic."
"Maybe." Peering down on my gauntlets, I clench my fists thinking of the hardships to come. "But it's perfect."
Opening the door, I start to leave. "If any of you want to train, I'll be waiting."
The three team members looked at each other and followed suit, close behind their leader. If things take a turn for the worse, then they all had to be prepared.
A few weeks had passed since I took Blake out to Vale, and the situation at Beacon was slowly progressing. I watched as Jaune overcame Cardin and Pyrrha started his training. Lucas continued to try his luck at wooing Yang to no avail, and Aiden and Iris began training and studying together in their spare time. Over the course of this I decided to take a back seat and try not to disturb too much. That is until one day when I was sitting outside of the academy under a tree reading one of our history books. I wanted to do a little research on the great war to see if I could learn anything from that, when I saw Blake running out of the dormitory.
So today was the day then? I suppose she didn't tell her team that she was a faunus, and Weiss found out like she did in the original timeline.
Slipping my textbook into the inner pocket of my trench coat, I start to follow behind her. I watch as she slows down to look at the statue in the center plaza. Slowly, she unties her bow and lets it fall. From behind her I spot Sun walking up towards her.
"I knew you'd look better without the bow." he states. Blake turns to look at him, shocked that he of all people would find her here.
Stepping out of the shadows, I walked up beside him. "I think now would be a good time for some tea."
Grabbing our order I make my way to our table and slide in beside a still pouting Blake.
"Look if it makes you feel any better, the tea is on me." I assure her as she takes her tea. Using his tail to hold his cup, Sun starts to drink his tea as well.
"I apologize for following you, but you looked distraught. What kind of a person would I be if I just ignored that?" I stammer.
Sighing, Blake sets her cup down. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't just assume things so quickly. Plus if I had just taken your advice from the beginning maybe I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place." Placing a hand over mine, she turns to look at Sun. "So, you want to know more about me as well?"
Shrugging, Sun looks between us. "Only if you want to discuss it. I didn't know you already had someone you confided in with. You just seemed so tense. So on guard when I first saw you. Plus having a Schnee on your team must have been pretty hard on you since you were still hiding it from them at the time."
"No, it's fine. But before we begin I have to ask you something. Are you familiar with the White Fang?"
As Blake began to describe her history to Sun, I could feel her grip on my hand get tighter. I continued to drink my tea as I listened. I had to be here for her. After having said her peace, Sun calmly finished his tea.
"And you didn't tell any of your friends this? If I was you then I would have taken Drew's advice from the beginning and came clean to them. Maybe I'm just too open in that regard, but I feel like that would have been the right choice to make."
Sighing Blake leaned back in her seat. "Having gone through this whole ordeal, I would agree with you. But all of this is a lot for someone who isn't a faunus or hasn't seen any of the hate for faunus to take in all at once. I just kept putting it off until it was too late."
Asking for the check I add my due. "As a fellow procrastinator I understand, but your team is like a family. After all is said and done, there should be no baggage." Paying for our drinks I escort Blake and Sun out onto the street.
"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asks as he walks in front of us with his hands behind his head.
"I still don't believe that the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before."
Knowing that it is them I kept my mouth shut. If I played my cards right I could have a chance to get close to Roman this way.
Sun perked up. "But what if they did? I mean, the only way to prove that they didn't do it is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"
We all stop as Blake ponders over the hastily thrown together plan. "The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be."
"Well, before I ran into you and your team I overheard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas." added Sun.
"How huge?"
At this Sun stretched his arms out to convey the size of the shipment. "Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."
"And you're sure about this?" questions Blake.
"Couldn't be a more convenient stake out, am I right?" I state glancing over to her.
Resolving herself, Blake nods. "Alright, let's go."
It took us a while to find the shipyard, but when we did there was no mistaking it. The amount of containers filled with Dust looked like it was enough to power a small army. After finding a spot on top of a warehouse overlooking the yard, Sun left to quickly grab some stakeout snacks. After a couple of minutes of silence, Blake decided to speak up.
"So, you were pretty talkative back there. Did Sun say something to upset you?"
Thinking back, I suppose I was a bit too quiet. Perhaps she thinks I wasn't being supportive enough? "Na, Sun's a solid dude. I trust him well enough. I just didn't want to interrupt you will you were going over your backstory." At that comment she punched my shoulder. "What? I thought it would be rude. If I'm being honest whenever I'm in groups of three or larger I tend to be more quiet and recluse."
"But I still could have used your support." Slumping back down, Blake stares off towards the shipyard. "I'm still a little on the fence when it comes to trusting people, and after my argument with Weiss my mind has been in complete disarray."
Stupid. How could I forget so quickly what this all was originally about?
"I'm sorry. Being in a relationship is still a bit new to me. But I promise, no matter what, I will always have your back." I declare.
"Even if my past comes back to haunt me?" she asks.
"Especially if it comes back. No matter how strong Adam is, I will be stronger. I swear."
Tilting her head down, Blake uttered "He will come for me, and when he does he will show no mercy."
"Then we'll take him down together. And for his sake I'll try to go easy on him."
At that she recoiled and looked at me as if to ask if I was serious.
"What? I have to give the guy a chance. If I don't then that just brings me down to his level."
Before we could get into a bigger argument over the subject, Sun returned.
"So, did I miss anything?" he asks as he takes a position on the opposite side of Blake.
With a loaded sigh, Blake answers. "Not really. They've fully offloaded the crates from the boat. Now everyone's pretty much clocked out and headed home."
"Cool." Seeming relaxed, Sun pulls out two apples. "I managed to steal some food for you guys."
"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake questions.
I accept the apple and quickly peel the skin off of it using a small blade produced by my gauntlets.
"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun retorted.
I stop midway through my first bite and glare at him. Did he really use that same line even with me here? Perhaps I should correct him. Before I could say anything though, Blake glared at him with an even worse face than I had.
"Okay, too soon!"
A few seconds after that painful exchange, the sound of Bullheads could be heard approaching the docks. Within a few minutes they had reached the containers and started to land, off loading a dozen or so White Fang members.
"Oh no..." Blake gasped.
"Is that them?" Sun somberly asked.
I quickly finished my apple, excited to finally get to meet Roman.
"Yes. It's them." she answered.
"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun wondered
"No. I think deep down I knew." Blake said somberly as she finally took in the situation.
"HEY! What's the hold up!?" Boomed a voice from one of the Bullheads. Finding the source of the voice, the three of us watched as Roman Torchwick began to waltz down the ramp of a Bullhead near the center of the shipyard.
"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?" He yelled at the White Fang members as he joined them.
Looking over at Blake, I barely had time to read her face before she stood up. I think this was the first time I've ever seen her this pissed off.
"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like that." Next, in one movement, she unsheathed Gambol Shroud and walked off the edge of the warehouse.
Peering over the edge at Blake, Sun looks stunned. "Hey, what are you doing!?"
Falling into a crouch, Blake starts to sneak between the shipping crates. Closer and closer, she nears her target. Watching her get closer to Roman, I stand up and ready Similitude. "Welp, here we go." I whisper calmly to myself. I watch closely as Roman approached one of the White Fang members attempting to attach a chain to one of the containers.
"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Roman yells as he confronts the faunus. Next, in one fell swoop, Blake got behind him and held her sword against his neck. Rolling his eyes at the situation, he starts to curse. "Oh, for fu..."
"Nobody move!" Blake yells, cutting him off. Seeing the others start to move in closer, she unties her bow.
"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"
At this I start to cringe. "We're really going to have to work on your speech improve after all of this." I say to myself. This part just hurt to watch. Although some of the members did lower their weapons slightly, looking partially unsure of what to do.
Chuckling at her little speech, Roman spoke up. "Oh, kid. Didn't you get the memo?" he asked her.
"What are you talking about?"
"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!" he answered.
Pushing the blade closer to his neck, she started to get even more outraged by his small talk. "Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to your little operation." At that moment the wind picked up again. I had noticed it before seeing them, but it looked like Blake and Sun were too focused on Torchwick the whole time.
Roman looked up at the looming Bullheads with a smirk. "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation."
Blake watched in horror as several more Bullheads entered the airspace above the shipyard. Seeing his opportunity Roman fires his cane behind him sending Blake flying away.
I watch as Roman engages her in their fight. While I was coming up with a plan to combat him I catch Sun out of the corner of my eye throw his banana peel down at him and leap off the roof. Kicking him in the face, Sun moves to confront him. Well, guess this was a better time than any to enter the fray.
"Allons-y" I walk off the edge and craft a blade in either hand. Flipping once I slash both at Roman which blocked both with his cane. Jumping back I stand beside Sun as more White Fang soldiers fall down to help with the fight.
"Leave her alone." Sun demands as he stares down Roman.
"Hey, that was my line." I tell him off.
"You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you kid?" Roman berates. "You on the other hand scratched my weapon." He said through gritted teeth as he looked over towards me.
Within a few seconds, the White Fang were on us. Most of them were easy to take out, so I decided to leave most of the force to Sun. Jumping over the heads of some of the members I try again to slash at Torchwick. As he dodged backwards I rolled into a crouch and try to go for his stomach only to have him block that blow as well. Our exchange went on for a couple more seconds before Roman decided to try and shoot Sun in the midst of our battle, to which Sun successfully blocked.
"He's mine!" Blake yells as she jumps down in front of Sun and joins me in fighting Roman. As Sun finishes off the last of the White Fang, me and Blake pair up to simultaneously fend of Roman's barrage. Following a few glancing blows, Roman manages to knock Blake down.
"Damn you Roman!" I scream as I launch into a flurry of attacks to try and break his guard. Following my onslaught, Sun joined in having finished off the last of his attackers. Transforming his staff into his gun-chucks we both try our hardest to knock Roman down a peg. Finding an opening, I dash in and pull one of his legs out from under him, to which Blake having gotten back up rushes him from the side and hits him with the cleaver part of her sheath.
Tumbling backwards, Roman realizes that he might just be outmatched by these punk kids. Seeing an opportunity above him, he takes aim and fires at a crate suspended in the air above us.
Watching Sun and Blake dodge in different directions, I realized I wouldn't have enough time to roll out of the way of this one. Readying myself, I quickly create a small exoskeleton and brace myself.
Boom!
Before the crate fell, Blake saw where Drew was standing. Watching the dust start to settle, all she could feel was fear. Fear at the thought that he might not have made it out from underneath that, but what she saw was nothing she could have expected.
Fuck this thing was heavy. Catching the crate had caused a crack in the concrete beneath me. Glancing over quickly I saw the horror on Blake's face as she saw me standing underneath the container, barely holding it up for dear life. Pooling the rest of my strength, I willed my limbs to move and throw the container to my side. Slumping down I began to feel the exhaustion start to creep into my joints and muscles.
"Damn kid. I didn't think you would have it in ya!" exclaimed Roman as he stood in front of Sun. "Unfortunately for your friend here, I don't think he'll be as solid as you." he stated as Sun stared down the barrel of Melodic Cudgel.
Spotting Ruby and Penny across the yard I stammer. "He doesn't have to be."
"Hey!" Ruby shouted with a loud, piercing voice from across the way. Spinning Crescent Rose behind her she stabs the roof.
"Oh, hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" Roman teases back to her. Seemingly distracted by something behind her, Ruby takes her eyes off of Roman for only a second. Using that second Roman fires off a shot at little red hitting her directly.
As he begins to laugh, I notice Penny walking up to the edge of the roof. "Now it's time for the fun part." I mutter. I watched as Penny activated her swords and jumps down to engage with the rest of the White Fang. As she utterly obliterates them I noticed Roman running off to retreat in one of the last remaining Bullheads. Having completed what I came here to do, I just lean back against the container I threw and watched the rest of the fight go down. That is if you wanted to call it a fight. Watching Penny take down most of the Bullheads was rather daunting.
Roman, having made it to the safety of his ship looked back to see the utter devastation Penny was causing. "These kids just keep getting weirder!" he exclaims as he takes off. Having gotten away he relaxes in the cabin of the ship, until he notices that something was different. Why did it feel like there was something in his coat pocket.
Reaching down inside revealed what looked to be a black business card. On one side there was a scroll number, and on the other was simply written Jack o' Lantern. With a sheepish grin he began to wonder who could have put it there while he was distracted.
After all was said and down, I sat with Blake, Sun, Penny and Ruby as the police did their business. After a few minutes of waiting, I spot Yang and Weiss hastily approaching us.
Jumping up, Ruby tries to talk Weiss down as she approaches Blake but to no avail. Standing up, Blake confronts Weiss. I stand up beside her to give my support.
"Weiss. I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with..."
Weiss puts her hand up to cut her off. "Stop. Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" she asks sternly. "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours do you know what I've decided?"
Glancing around I notice everyone looks a bit scared and wary of Weiss.
"I don't care!" she states.
I could see Blake's eyebrow curl up as she questioned the Schnee. "You don't care?"
"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss asks.
"No, I. I haven't been since I was younger..." Blake starts to explain.
"Upupupupup! I don't wanna hear it. All I want to know, is that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates. And not some..." As Weiss looks over between me and Sun, she takes a moment to rethink her description.
"Someone else." she concludes.
Wiping away a tear of joy, Blake answers. "Of course."
Jumping into the middle of us, Ruby throws her hand up in joy. "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"
With a stern look, Weiss points at me and Sun. "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you two now!" At that Sun laughs nervously. I simply raise my hands to defend myself.
"Hey. In all honesty I did advise her to talk to all of you about this a while back."
Looking at me quizzically Weiss asks "Then why didn't you say anything before now?"
"Not my past to tell." I answer with a shrug.
As we group up together Ruby starts to look around. "Hey, wait a minute. Where's Penny?"
After that we all decided to head back to Beacon together. On our trip back I began to think about what was going on right about now. Ozpin had probably gotten Qrow's message about Salem's pawns by now, and Roman. Well, he's most likely already back to his safehouse.
As he entered his little warehouse Roman let out a deep sigh. He had not expected that level of offense from those kids. No, students. How in the hell did they even know about that location. And to top all of that off there was the card.
"How very disappointing Roman." A menacing voice from behind him spoke up causing the thief to jump slightly. Turning around he saw who it was that managed to sneak up behind him.
"Whoa! Haha… Wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon." This bitch wasn't supposed to check in for another week, and now she shows up right after we failed one of our biggest heists!
"We were expecting, more from you." Cinder states as she stays within the shadows.
Laughing nervously, Roman thought of an out. "Hey, you were the ones who suggested working with these stupid mutts from the White Fang."
"And you will continue to do so." Cinder snickers. Lifting her left hand she starts a fire in it, lighting up her stiff companions behind her. "We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is a little cooperation."
After tormenting Roman for a little while longer with her presence, Cinder saw herself out. Damn it Roman, how are we supposed to get out of this one alive. Looking up into the rafters he spotted the soul person he could trust in this world.
"Neo." At the sound of her name, she dropped down to stand with him. Showing her the card, she nodded. They had to find a way.
I took the day after the heist to rest up a bit. I deserved as much, I was completely sore from my fight with Roman. After we had gotten back from Vale Blake had been called to the headmaster's office, so I've just been wandering around biding my time. It was around 9:00 PM when I got the call. Picking up my scroll, I answered.
"Hello?"
After a long silence I heard what I had been waiting for. A voice hesitantly stated "Jack o' Lantern"
Smirking evilly, it took a lot to keep myself from cackling like a villain. "Glad you could call, Jack o' Lantern. I would like to talk face to face. You never know who's listening. How's this Saturday noon at the Crowbar? Sound good?"
There was a pause, and then he answered. "I'll be there."
"Good. Oh, and make sure to bring your little friend along with you. Wouldn't want her to miss out on all of the details now would we?" I leave it at that and hung up leaving him no time to argue. Everything was falling perfectly into place.
After I hung up, Aiden walked out of the bathroom. Aside from him the other two were out getting supper for us.
"I take it everything went well?" he asks.
I look at him with glee in my eyes. "Everything went splendid."
At that, Aiden pulled out his scroll. "Good. I'll inform the other two and prepare ourselves for Saturday."
"Thanks." I say to him as I'm looking down at my previous calls on my scroll. "Looks like I have a speech to prepare."
I could not wait to write Roman into this, and I can't wait to write more for him and Neopolitan. What else can I say about this chapter other than I can't wait to properly write Penny in since I didn't have a chance to add the rest of team RWBY out looking for Blake and stumbling into Penny. I figured it would pretty much go the same since none of my OCs would be involved so I didn't bother with that whole part.