TWO FACE

The caves beneath the mountain was wet, hollow, and unsurprisingly depressing. The place was so big that even with the White Fang scurrying around it still felt empty. The light of the scattered lamps did nothing to lighten the mood around this gloomy and desolate place, nor did it scare any of the vermin crawling all over the place. Even with the debris and destruction the grimm has caused, this place still feels familiar. Every fiber of my being is telling me to run away, and if I could I would, even going so far as to erase this place from my memory entirely.

If only. Unfortunately, bad memories ain't enough to sway my resolve to face the problem at hand: Ruby is missing still. It's been an hour and I still have yet to find any clues of her whereabouts. Cinder has cut me off from her plans till further notice, while mockingly dangling the lives of my grandparents in front of me leaving me powerless. Cinder I can deal with, but I don't know how far down the food chain did my newly disgraced status reached the ears of the likes of Roman and Neo. If I'm seen now, the mask stays on, can't risk a fiasco between the White Fang and Team RWBY here. Not now.

"Come on Ruby, where are you?"

I whisper to myself as I scan the room with my OWL mask. I began scouring the entire cave, gliding from whatever oddly shape rock I can perch myself to. At this point, I've seen every corner of this base enough to find an escape route, only such a thing is useless without Ruby. By process of elimination, the only spot I haven't scanned yet is the middle, where most of their operation is being held. The busiest, most inconvenient spot.

"Woah! Thank you, Perry! I really needed this!"

The sound of Roman gloating as loudly as he is right now is enough to send an echo to wake half the people of Vale. My mask is hardly needed to point out the obvious. Ruby has been captured.

"You are so much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool of yours. Seriously red, how did you find out about this place?"

My biggest fear has come to life. Two white fang members have Ruby by the hand, with Roman slowly prowling towards her while he jokingly twirled his cane. Roman's a buffoon, but his instinct as a criminal is just as sharp as mine. If I was in his spot, there is only one real solution to the problem at hand, and that is to kill Ruby Rose.

"Hiya!"

Somehow, Ruby broke loose and started attacking Roman. Without her scythe to back her up however, her attacks are nothing more than a child squirming around while having a temper tantrum. Torchwick easily dodged Ruby's desperate attempts to punch him, but Ruby is clever. She quickly used her semblance and U-turned back around Roman, giving the other two White Fang members the slip.

"Not good."

I quickly glide down, while simultaneously loading my bolas on my gauntlet and instantly firing it at Ruby's feet, causing her to trip just as a bullet flew by the back of her skull, barely missing her.

"WHO'S THERE!?"

Torchwick yelled.

I swiftly glide down right next to him, and gently placed my hand on his cane that's still pointed at Ruby.

"What do you think you're doing? What are you even doing here!?"

He abruptly slapped my hand away from his cane and pointed the barrel at my face.

"She's helpless, and probably worth more alive than dead."

Unconvinced, Roman did nothing but glare at me. I look around, as members of the White Fang began to surround me with their weapons aimed straight at my chest. Not even I can get away from this, so I attempt pursue an alternate route: lying.

"I've been tasked to trail a team of hunters approaching the mountain. Haven't the clue why at first, but now that I'm looking at your whole squad of imbeciles, I'm starting to see the big picture."

Roman scoffed at the thought. He hesitated at first, but seemed to believe it soon after.

"Oh please, I hardly believe little red and her team are enough to throw this operation out of whack."

As of right now, the only people who know my true identity are Neo, Cinder and her two goons. The fact that Roman said her team instead of mine means that he haven't the clue what I do in Beacon. It seems I'm not the only one being kept in the dark. Probably why Neo only blabbed to Cinder first, rather than Roman. Loyal as she is, it would seem she has her own agendas as well. Not really surprised that everyone in this 'team' are keeping their cards close to their chest.

"Her team blew up your Paladin."

Unamused, Roman growled in response.

"A minor hiccup. I have more of those laying around."

I shrug my chest and ignore Torchwick. Slowly, I made my way towards Ruby. I pulled out another one of my bolas with the intent of tying her hands down for now and find a way to sneak her out later, but before I can even lay a finger on her, a sharp and pulsating pain began to radiate on my chest. I felt a force so strong that it knocked me back right next to Torchwick.

"Get your filthy hands off my sister."

I was wrong. This. This is my biggest fear. I slowly stood up, dazed, only to be greeted by Yang and her fiery red eyes. It would seem one of her bullets hit me straight in the center of my chest armor. Just when I thought the situation couldn't get any worse. Team RWBY has caught up and I'm stuck in the middle between my team and Torchwick. My secret is hanging on a thread, and there doesn't seem to be any peaceful way out of this.

"Oh great, the rest of the circus is here."

Roman gritted his teeth and looked at his lackeys with an annoyed face.

"Spread the word out, we're moving the train. OWL! Hurry up and load!"

I don't think Torchwick is considering the consequences of his actions at this time. That or he has absolutely no idea what's lurking behind these walls.

"Roman, listen! You start the train now with all this commotion, you run the risk of waking up the grimm!"

With a mischievous smile, Roman tipped his hat.

"That's always been the plan."

So this is what Cinder has been keeping from me. At the end of this road lies where my family in the slums used to live. She's been keeping me in the dark cause she knew there'd be opposition on our end. That witch.

I swivel my head back and forth looking at both Yang and Roman, miserably deciding which is the better option, but none of the decisions placed upon me can lead to anything other than disaster, so I begrudgingly hopped on the train with Torchwick. At the very least, I was able to save Ruby.

The sound of the train's turning wheels began to muffle as the White Fang sealed all the doors in the train. I frustratingly stomp my way towards Roman, bumping my chest against his.

"Woah now. What's got you all fired up."

His lackadaisical attitude is starting to get to me.

"You know damn well why I'm angry. If Cinder put you up to this, then you should know where this train will take us."

Undeterred, Torchwick smiled back.

"Yes. To your 'Nest' if I remember correctly."

He knew yet he still decided to come through with it. The people that would have lost their lives... why?

"Set up the bombs."

The instant Roman waved his hands, his followers immediately dispersed and began setting the charges on each cart. My anger began creep up uncontrollably, so much so that I didn't even realize that I was already grabbing his collar tightly on my hand.

"My, my so aggressive!"

I growled back at him.

"Your mask don't scare me OWL!"

I raise my hand and clenched my fingers, extending the talons on my gauntlets.

"Yeah? Maybe after I scratch that smug look off your face with my talons, you'll reconsider!"

I took a swing at his face, true to my word, but a pink umbrella quickly came between us.

"Neopolitan, murder isn't part of the plan!"

I backflip away as Neo began to a send a barrage of kicks and stabs my way. She twirled her opened umbrella in front of me as a sign of mockery.

"It never was, OWL. At least not any plans you were a part of."

Roman began to fix his clothing, tightening his necktie and buttoning back his coat as he arrogantly marched backwards with Neo in between us.

"Cinder knew you were going to be a problem. As a fellow criminal your track record is legendary, except you had ONE flaw."

I raise my hands, ready to jump in on them at a moment's notice, but my curiosity got the better of me and I took Roman's bait.

"What?"

Roman scoffed.

"You've never killed anyone. Meaning you don't have what it takes to go all the way, no resolve to see this whole operation through, and our associate was right."

Torchwick began to laugh.

"We were wondering how we would distract you, but never would I have imagined that you would do it for us. To think you would voluntarily give yourself up to Neo."

My jaws began to drop beneath my mask. It was at this moment, I knew. That my grandparents weren't the hostage Cinder was keeping. She didn't paralyze me, she paralyzed the Nest.

"I am the hostage."

Both Neo and Roman grinned at me menacingly.

"So you're not as stupid as you dress. Your Nest had monopoly on all things criminal here in Vale, mine and White Fang's arrival would have been an act of war against them and we would have been fighting against the wrong people. To think a bunch of kids were all it took to sway your emotions..."

For the last time, Roman smiled then began to walk away, with his final words echoing in my head as the doors began to close behind him.

"Really, you're the OWL that caused all that ruckus in Atlas? Please..."

That one kind of stung, not because I've been had, but because it was true. Neopolitan closed her umbrella and pointed its tip straight at my chest, but just before the two of us can fight, the door behind me swung open.

"OWL!"

I quickly duck down and rolled forward, as a fist clad in a golden bracer barely missed the side of my face.

"Blake."

Yang whispered without taking her gaze off of me.

"Go after Torchwick. Me and Weiss can handle this."

This is starting to become too much even for me. I look back at Neo, who was just moments ago was ready to brawl with me, but now the situation's changed. If Neo decides to fight with Yang and Weiss then I'm screwed, thankfully, she knows all too well the dangers of Team RWBY so she simply rolled her eyes at me and pointed her weapon at Weiss. Honestly good to see that I have a chance to live to see another day, but I'm honestly not too thrilled with the idea of fighting Yang either.

"So, you're OWL. The one that hurt my baby sister."

Leaving Neo to Weiss, Yang raised her fist and readied to fight. I focus my mask's eyes on her without flinching. All things considered, it'd be rude not to answer such resolve. With my voice changer on, I answer back as smugly as I could.

"What if I am?"

Yang gritted her teeth and flicked her arms behind, launching herself with her gauntlets.

"HIYA!"

I immediately flip forward and jumped over and began to fight her in hand-to-hand combat. Under normal circumstances, I'd be no match for her this close without all my weapons, but I've seen her train enough to know most of her moves. At this point, it's just a matter of using that information to my advantage. For instance...

"Right here!"

Yang favors her right side more than her left. Her right hooks are much deadlier than her left, so she uses that side to feint before launching a haymaker from her right. Knowing all that, I block her strike from her left then immediately ducked her right hand swing. I pivoted my feet and twirled around her so she'd lose sight of me for a brief second. As soon as I saw her back exposed, I instantly swung my legs up for a kick, but her footwork is absolutely flawless. My fast movements were nullified by her quick feet that were fast enough to reposition her whole body and dodge my attack at the same time.

I try to quickly rush towards her, but Yang fired a round off her weapon, slowing my dash to a grinding halt. She took that split second of opportunity to turn the tables and put herself on the offensive. Her punches were unrelenting and unforgiving, make sense since this wasn't training but real life and death combat. For her at least. I extended my talons outward and gripped one of her gauntlets, preventing the use of her right hand.

"Heh."

But it would seem that Yang was expecting that. She pulled me towards her and used my momentum to throw me over her shoulder and slam me on the ground. For a brief moment, my vision became blurry, but I was able to make out enough to see her fist coming towards me. I clumsily rolled away and stumbled my way up, tripping Neo in the process.

"!"

Neo glared at me then quickly shifted her gaze to parry Weiss' incoming attack. She then opened up her umbrella to block a bullet from Yang. Me and Neo annoyingly looked at each other then switched dance partners.

Weiss began to back pedal, with each step she covered her tracks with various gravity glyphs in an attempt to knock me off balance. I shift my body to left then began to run up the wall and parkoured across the boxes scattered all over the place, avoiding her glyphs. I leapt as far as I could and twirled my body sideways, as Weiss proceeded to shoot icicle spears my way. I cock arms back and slammed it against her sword as soon as I landed, putting all the pressure on her.

"AHHH!"

Weiss' determination was unbelievable, but determination enough won't make up the difference in our physical strength. Her knees began to shake as I put more and more of my weight on my gauntlets till her poise began to break and I overpowered her. She quickly rolled away and dodged my strikes till her back hit a wall. This is it, I've backed her into a corner. I'll try not to injure her, just enough to knock her unconscious.

"Trapped ice queen.."

Weiss glared at me, then began to scoff arrogantly.

"Am I?"

I look down and saw a line of white glyphs emanating from where Yang is. As soon as I look up, I was met with Yang's fist, crushing the lower part of my mask's jaw, and catapulting me against the wall and knocking the wind off my chest. With my consciousness slowly starting to slip away, the last image I saw was Neo, Yang, and Weiss duking it out.

When I came to, however, it was a completely different story. Weiss was gone, and Yang is laying down on the floor unconscious with Neo, holding thin blade in her tiny hands.

"What do you think you're doing!?"

Seeing Yang on the brink of death jolted my legs in to working again, brushing away the pulsating pain in my jaw and in the back of my head. I rushed to Neo's side fast enough for me to grab her wrist just before the tip of her blade touched Yang's head.

"..."

I felt my grip slowly start to slip, so I quickly grabbed a feather kunai in my back pouch and threw it at Neo's head, forcing her to retreat.

[What do you mean, what do I think I'm doing?]

Neo, annoyed, raised her scroll at me.

"Why would you try and kill her?"

[Isn't it obvious!?]

I bend my knees down and gently caressed Yang's head. It would seem that she's just out of it, and not injured in any sort of major way. I began to scan the room in search of Weiss, but she's not here. The thought of her gone immediately flooded my body with fear. Confused, and nowhere else to turn to, I shifted my gaze to Neo and began to demand answers.

"Where's Weiss!?"

[Relax. I was gonna kill her after your girlfriend. She's over there in the other cart.]

She twirled her umbrella in her fingers and continued to type.

[That Schnee has a bit of a fight in her I'll give you that, but that girl of yours. Wow.]

H-how did she know!? The Nest is no longer here sure, but the moment she stepped into the Nest, we were already aware of her semblance. We placed every precaution we could have possibly placed to protect our information, and yet I- we were still compromised. Which can only mean one thing: Neo might have led Cinder towards the Nest, but her leverage didn't come from her, it came from someone else. Someone that shares the kind of semblance Neo has- an outcome we never prepared for simply because we never thought of it possible.

The look on Neo's face was terrifying, if she could beat Weiss and Yang, then beating me in my shaken up state is nothing more than child's play to her. I pull my dagger hidden in my gauntlet, fully prepared to resume our interrupted fight earlier.

Looking at Neo, she seems to share the same sentiment as me, but before we could fight, our dance was interrupted once more by the appearance of a red portal...

Yang

"Why would you try and kill her?"

My vision faded in and out, and my body was heavy. I try and rack my brains trying to figure out what happened just before I passed out, and all I could remember was the boot of that short ice cream chick clocking me across the side of my head.

The steel floor was cold, and tracks beneath the train were rugged and noisy, but oddly enough, those weren't what shook me awake. It was the sound of Ezra's voice...

"Ezra?"

I begrudgingly stood up, trying my best to shake the pain away as I slowly regain my vision. I haven't seen Ezra in a couple hours. It's weird that I saw Ruby before I did him, which means something bad probably happened, so I call out to him once more.

"Ezra!"

But he's not here. I could have sworn I heard his voice...

Ruby

I struggle to comprehend how people in movies fight the way they do on top trains like this. The gust of the rushing air and the shaking of the clunky railways is making it extremely difficult to gain any sort of foothold. Weiss, Blake, and Yang all went inside to fight the White Fang and look for Ezra, leaving me and Professor Oobleck to deal with the influx of Paladins coming our way... and Zwei, who's excited for all the wrong reasons.

"Ohhh, I hope Ezra's okay!"

Oobleck rushed forward and swung his bat as hard as he could, knocking one of the Paladins off the train, then quickly made his way back next to me. Hard to believe the old man's... old.

"Ms. Rose, if you're worried about Ezra and your team, maybe you should go ahead and find him."

That has always been plan: to hold down the fort topside and bottom. It was an intricate plan set up by the professor. For him to suggest that we split up is odd. So can he really blame me for looking at him stupid?

"Go! Me and your dog here can handle the rest."

I look down at Zwei who had his head tilted to side with his tongue out. He barked at me once enthusiastically to reassure me so I nodded at Oobleck and decided to take him up on his offer. I waved at the two of them then jumped off the roof of the car I'm standing on and phased out using my semblance.

"NEEEOOO!"

In the midst of all this commotion, I hear a familiar voice and before I could even make out who's it was, my body instinctively floated that way.

The echoes of steel clashing flooded the dark and empty cart. The voices were faint at first, but as I cautiously creep forward, it became clearer and clearer.

"I'm gonna get you for this!"

That voice! It's Ezra!

I turn the corner eager to rush to his aid, but before I could take another step, a snow white feather whooshed pass me at blistering speed.

"OWL is here too... is he fighting Ezra!? NO!"

I immediately threw caution out the wind, and phased in and out of my semblance, darting pass obstacles as fast as I can till I reached the source of the conflict.

"Damn it, she got away!"

I paused momentarily to catch my breath, and griped Crescent Rose as hard as I can ready to fight.

"Ezra! I'm *huff* here! Don't worry!"

I look up, fully expecting to see my friend, but to my surprise, Ezra wasn't there...

"OWL!"

The two of us lock eyes, both dumbfounded by each other's presence.

"Where's Ezra!?"

I expected OWL to fight me right away, but instead, he slowly backed away then quickly hopped off the cart.

"WAIT!"

I ran as fast as I can after him, leaning out the door and swiveling my head, desperately looking for him.

"Ruby!"

But Yang's voice shook me back to reality.

"Yang, you're okay!"

She flashed a smile my way and immediately squeezed the living crap out of me.

"What're you doing looking out like that?"

I put Crescent Rose away and decided to let my guard down seeing as Yang is here.

"I- I don't know. I thought I heard Ezra's voice but it was just OWL... nevermind that! Are the rest of the team okay?"

Yang crossed her arms and looked at me dumbfounded.

"Yeah, everyone's A-okay... but wait, you said you saw OWL? I could have sworn I knocked him out earlier... you said you- you heard Ezra's voice?"

The two of us looked at each other in silence, contemplating what the heck is going till Weiss and Blake came out of nowhere huffing and puffing.

"What're you two doing? Ezra needs help!"

Hearing that, Yang dashed outta where we were like a madman, yelling.

"WHERE!?"

Without missing a beat, Weiss responded then quickly went after her.

"In the front of the train! He's been keeping White Fang soldiers busy."

Not wanting to be left behind, I stumbled after them. When we came to the front of the train, Ezra was already duking it out with Torchwick and two other White Fang soldiers.

"Oh! Nice of you. AGGHH! To show. Hiya! UP!"

All things considered, I'm just relieved Ezra is okay and is still himself. Not too long after that, me and the rest of the team joined in and quickly dispatched the bad guys.

"Where have you been!"

Yang grabbed a panting Ezra by his shoulders, who was bent down on his knees with exhaustion.

"I *huff* got captured before I could save *huff* Ruby. Got away with style shortly after, then I ran into this ice cream looking chick, fought her. Lost. Woke up to a moving train, a lot of yelling, explosions, and Oh! Yeah! How could I forget? Grimm!"

That about sums up our end too.

"That was reckless Ez! Don't ever do that stupid crap ever again! I was worried sick when I didn't see you with Ruby!"

Me, Blake, and Ezra were stunned at how worried Yang was to the point that it was fairly obvious that she was holding back tears. I lived with Yang all my life, and I've never seen her like this. Actually, now that I think about it, I've never seen Yang act the way she does when she's with Ezra, and I've seen her flirt with boys before.

"Sorry I made you worry, Yang."

Even the way Ezra interacts with sis is a bit... off. He's usually confident and unapologetic, but with Yang he's a bit softer.

"Blake?"

I ask Blake who seemed to be sharing the same curios look as I have.

"Hmm?"

"Something going on with those two?"

Blake smiled, but never answered. She had a look on her face that obviously meant she knew something, but has absolutely no plans of telling what it is. Mildly annoying.

"Guys focus!"

Weiss yelled at all of us and pointed at the other end of the tunnel. I twitch my head that way and saw that there were nothing there but a bunch of rocks. If I had to put my two cents in, Torchwick probably planned on opening up this tunnel by jamming the train against it and releasing the grimm trapped inside the caves into the city.

I stood there dumbfounded, and at a lost for words, till Ezra grabbed everyone together and started to envelop all of us in mist.

"WEISS NOW!"

At his signal, Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster on the train, creating a wall of ice around us. I remember my heart beating fast right after that as we brace for impact. Next thing I knew, everything was shaking, and I can feel myself getting tossed around against a bunch of times. My vision was blurred and half my body was in pain. I swiveled my head back and forth, desperately trying to find my teammates.

"Weiss? Yang?"

A sense of relief began to wash away the pain in my body as I begin to see all of them stand up one by one, dazed like me, but okay.

"We're not out of the woods yet..."

Blake backed up close to us with a tense gaze, as a horde of grimm began to surround us. Our situation looks dire, and the odds of us getting out of here alive look... well, grim. That's a good joke, I should say it out loud.

"Well this looks GRIM!"

The rest of my team sighed and growled. They just don't get what comic relief really means.

"Now's hardly the time Ruby."

True. I guess making a joke while staring impending doom right in face wasn't exactly good comedic timing on my part.

"Now what?"

A flustered Weiss asks, but before any of us could answer, Jaune and Team JNPR arrives to slightly even the odds. Not long after, that students and faculty from Beacon began to flock the streets of Vale. Even General Ironwood and his Atlesian robots began to join in and quickly turned the tide.

The extermination itself took a couple of hours, but we managed to save the city in one piece. We even apprehended Torchwick and his henchmen. Not the ice cream chick though, but it's still a win!

I look at my team, sweat drenched and all, and ran as fast as I can towards them to give em' a good hug!

EZRA

How I managed to get a way from there with my identity in tact, I'll never know, but the fact that I did is a blessing I'll never take for granted. I decided to take advantage of the commotion during the extermination and blow my team off, cause Cinder decided to have a 'team meeting.'

It was a wash, nothing really particularly new to talk about other than her 'plan' that I still have no idea what's it about. The thought that Cinder planned on invading Vale through my old stomping grounds bothered me to no end. The confessions Roman told me today... I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it. I wanted to confront them, but I've been beaten up too badly today, and starting a fight then and there would have been a death sentence so I was force to let it go.

But the biggest let down was the fact that we were able to stop Torchwick and the White Fang, but was very quickly replaced by someone more... menacing. Adam Tauros. Worst part is, he's a faunus so the White Fang will be more inclined to listen to him than Roman. All that hard work Team RWBY put in, all washed down the drain, in an instant. It's just heartbreaking to think about.

After the meeting, I made my way back to Beacon Academy were all four of my teammates were waiting for me at the edge of the school by the river.

"Over here Ezra!"

Yang's warm smile and enthusiasm will never get old. Seeing her is smile is the best medicine to any sort of emotional pain I have. I ran over and squat down behind her, with my face close enough to caress her blonde hair.

"Family?"

She asks.

"Yeah. They're okay."

Blake leaned back and rested her body on top of her outstretched arms, probably to make eye contact.

"I keep forgetting you're from around these parts. Explains why you just disappear every now and then. I imagine if I had family close by, I'd go to them everyday too."

The irony in what she said is painful, seeing how my three younger sisters are in Vacuo right now while my elder sister is still missing. I smiled at Blake and ignored her for a bit. Hearing Yang worried about me today made want to hug her, but I can't right now, so lean forward and rested my forehead on top of her head. I stayed like this for a few seconds, before I finally notice a curious glare from Ruby.

"Something on your mind?"

I ask, but before she could answer, Weiss chose to speak for everybody instead.

"So, when will the two of you plan on telling us?"

Yang snapped back, flustered.

"W-what do you mean?"

Weiss frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not stupid. I know the two of you are dating. Pretty sure Blake knows too."

Blake nonchalantly replied without even looking at us.

"I've known from the beginning."

That's not really surprising, we do spend a lot of time together, and me and Yang aren't exactly shy about our public displays of affection recently. It was only a matter of time till they found out. No, what's really surprising is that Ruby has never caught on. This whole time.

"Wait, you two are dating?"

I laughed at Ruby's still confused face. Looking at her like this makes me want to bully her.

"YES! Ruby, we sneak out every night and make out behind your back!"

Ruby jerked her whole body back with a disgusted look in her face. Yang jokingly punched me after hearing my obvious sarcasm.

"No! That is not true! Well..." She looked at me with a cheeky grin. "Not every night."

"Ew."

Weiss' response on the other hand, is not so exaggerated. Expected, but still surprisingly irritating.

"Well, I'm glad the two of you are happy! I for one am excited that I don't just have you as a friend Ezra, but as a brother."

Ruby really knows how to pull on a person's heartstrings does she.

"Guess we don't have to hide anymore..."

I look at Yang softly as the distance between our faces began to shorten. With no hesitations anymore, and no more fear about our relationship, our lips gently touched each other till we locked them together in a kiss.

"Ew. Get a room."

Yang pulled her head back with her hands still wrapped around my cheeks. She winked at Weiss and smiled.

"Aww, jealous ice queen?"

And with our laughter echoing across Beacon, our hectic day comes to a close.

Author's Notes:

in the process of moving houses so no upload next week. possibly the week after that, but chances are, I'll be back by then. on a brighter note, volume 2 is done and the next chapter brings us to volume 3. Cheers! Thanks for the support.