AN: I want to start by thanking everyone wishing my father well. He's only had mild symptoms, and moved into a hotel room to quarantine as soon as he tested positive. He did lose his smell and taste, though. Miraculously, the rest of us tested negative.
Anyway, on to the chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter 33
"Penny, I-I don't understand…" Ruby said, looking at Penny's hands in confusion.
"Most girls are born, but I was made," Penny explained. "I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura."
Wait a minute. Penny was a ROBOT?!
AWESOME!
"I'm not real…" Penny said, looking away from Ruby in shame.
Less awesome. Ruby took Penny's hands in hers as a gesture of comfort.
"Of course you are," Ruby said. "You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?"
"I don't…" Penny said. "You're taking this extraordinarily well."
Ruby really wished she could tell Penny about the other kinds of people she knew existed, like Mickey, or Donald, or Goofy. If 2-6-feet tall talking animals were normal, a robot with feelings was nothing.
"You're not like those things we saw back there," Ruby said, referring to the Knights from the demonstration. She pointed to Penny's chest. "You've got a heart, and a soul. I can feel it."
"Oh….Oh, Ruby!" Penny said happily, pulling Ruby into a bone-crushing hug. "You're the best friend anyone could have!"
"I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower," Ruby groaned.
"Oh, he's very sweet!" Penny said, letting go of Ruby. "My father's the one that built me! I'm sure you would love him!"
"Wow. He built you all by himself?"
"Well, almost! He had some help from Mr. Ironwood."
"The General?" Ruby asked. "Wait, is that why those soldiers were after you?"
"They like to protect me, too!" Ruby scoffed at that.
"What, they don't think you can protect yourself?"
"They're not sure if I'm ready yet," Penny said. "One day, it will be my job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the Tournament."
"Penny, what are you talking about? Save the world from what? We're in a time of peace." At least, as far as everyone in Remnant was concerned. The Heartless were a huge threat, but people didn't know about that. And unless Penny had a Keyblade, there wasn't much she could do about them. So what was she supposed to save the world from?
"That's not what Mr. Ironwood said," Penny said uncertainly.
"Check down here!" a voice yelled from the end of the alley.
"You have to hide!" Penny said, picking up Ruby and lifting her over her shoulder. Ruby became very scared when she realized Penny was headed towards a dumpster with her.
"Penny, wait! What are you doing? You don't have to go with them! I can help you!" Despite her protests, Penny opened the lid and dumped Ruby in the garbage. She held the lid up so she could still talk to her.
"It's okay, Ruby. They're not bad people. I just don't want to get you in trouble. Just promise me you won't tell anyone else my secret. Okay?"
"I promise," Ruby said. Penny closed the lid to the dumpster, but Ruby held it open a smidge so she could look through it.
"There she is!" one of the soldiers said as they entered the alleyway.
"Sal-u-tations, officers!" Penny greeted.
"Why were you running?" the soldier asked. "And what happened to the other girl?"
"What girl?" Penny asked. "I've been by myself all day!" She hiccupped, which Ruby began to realize must happen whenever she tried to lie.
"You shouldn't cause such a scene," the soldier scolded.
"Are you okay?" the other one asked.
"Just a scratch," Penny said, showing them her hands.
"Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this," the first soldier said.
"Please, just come with us."
"Yes, sir!" Penny said. Ruby watched them leave, sad that she couldn't do anything more to help her friend. It was clear that Penny was a on a tight leash, but she wasn't sure why or who was holding it. Was it her father? Or was it General Ironwood?
Before she could think about it more, she heard a rat squeak, scaring the daylights out of her.
Three Years Ago…
"Come on, Firecracker," Uncle Qrow said. "We're almost there." Uncle Qrow had picked Yang up from Signal, but instead of heading home, he had brought her to Vale, and hadn't told her where they were going. It was a part of Vale that she had never been to before, and it honestly scared her a little.
She doubted he had Mom's permission to take her here. Especially since he felt the need to bring Harbinger with him, and told her to bring Ember Celica.
"We're almost where?" She asked impatiently. He finally stopped walking at the end of the street.
"Junior's," he said, gesturing towards a night club. She could hear the pounding music, and smirked at Uncle Qrow.
"Uh, no offense, Uncle Qrow, but I don't exactly want to go out clubbing with you," she said. "An old man like you is just gonna cramp my style."
"First off: Not old," he said. "Second off: I can still dance circles around you, Firecracker. And third: We're not here to have fun. We're here so I can teach you about a valuable resource for us Huntsmen." He walked up to the door, nodding at the bulky man in a suit standing by the door. The man nodded back, and opened the door for them.
The music got louder as they crossed the threshold, until it was a pounding pulse in Yang's head. The dance floor was all lit up, and she could see a DJ wearing a large bear mask up on a platform. The place was pretty busy, with couples, hookups, and people otherwise looking to score taking up the floor. They walked past the dance floor and headed right to the bar in the back of the club.
"Uh, I'm still confused," Yang shouted so he could hear her over the music. "How is this an important resource for Huntsmen? And didn't you quit drinking?"
"Just wait," he said, flagging down the bartender. He walked over, a tall man in a black suit and red tie. He had short black hair, and a close-cut mustache and beard.
"Qrow," the man greeted.
"Hey, Junior," Uncle Qrow said. "I got someone I want you to meet." He gestured for Yang to come stand next to him, and she did. "Junior, this is my niece, Yang. Yang, this is Hei Xiong, better known as 'Junior'."
"Uh, hi," he said.
"Why'd you bring her?" Junior asked. "She looks a little young to be in a place like this."
"That's cuz she is," Uncle Qrow countered. "She's only fourteen, so I'd better not see any of your boys getting handsy with her if they want to keep them. I brought her cuz she wants to be a Huntress, so I figured I'd show her some of the more useful parts of the job." He turned to look back at Yang. "Yang, Junior here isn't just a bartender. He's also an information broker."
"Best one in Vale," Junior said in self-promotion.
"Information broker?" Yang asked.
"Yup," her uncle answered. "He knows pretty much everything going on in Vale, and all that info is sold to anyone willing to pay for it. Us Huntsmen go to him for information about targets, or just to get an idea of what's going on in the criminal underworld. In return, we leave him alone. It's a symbiotic relationship."
"In other words, as long as you've got the cash, I can tell you anything you want to know," Junior said. "And if I don't know it, I can find out."
"Speaking of…" Uncle Qrow said, sliding a lien card towards Junior, "About that thing we discussed last time…"
Yang brought her motorcycle to a screeching halt, stopping a little harder than she really needed to, just to annoy the blue-haired boy riding bitch behind her, clinging to her a little too tightly. She took off her helmet, and looked up at the familiar club, the music as loud as ever.
"We're here," she said, getting off the bike and leaving Neptune frozen in place in his seat.
"Cool…" he said, still in a daze, before shaking his head to snap out of it. "And where exactly is here?"
She walked up to the door, nodding at the bouncer outside the same way Uncle Qrow had shown her all those years ago. He opened the doors for them letting her walk into the club. She saw the twins on the way in and waved to them, strutting past all the patrons and headed to the bar to see the guy she came to see.
"Junior!" She greeted happily.
"Blondie," he said. "You here for business or pleasure? Cuz if it's pleasure, I'm pretty sure you're still too young.
"Business," she said.
Blake traced her fingers over a trio of scratch marks on the side of a building. She looked around the corner to see a pair of Faunus being escorted into a warehouse.
"This is it," she said.
"You sure?" Sun asked. She glared at him. "You know, I'm just gonna take your word for it." She turned the corner to approach the door, taking her bow off in the process. Once inside the building, they passed by a table covered in Grimm masks. Knowing that all recruits were supposed to wear one, she picked up two and handed one to Sun.
"I don't get it," he said. "If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"
"The masks are a symbol," she answered. "Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters."
"Grimm masks… That's kind of dark."
"So was the guy who started it," she said, putting hers on.
"It's always sunshine and rainbows with you…" Sun said, putting his own on as well.
It felt weird, wearing the mask again. She had eventually stopped agreeing with Adam about being monsters, along with everything else, and had thus stopped wearing her mask long before she left the White Fang.
They came out into a large room with about a dozen young Faunus about to make the biggest mistake of their lives, and the group was surrounded by full members of the White Fang, wearing the black-and-white uniforms and carrying weapons. A stage was set up in front of them, with a large tattooed and masked man speaking in front of a large white sheet with the White Fang logo, the sheet clearly hiding something.
Something big.
"Thank you all for coming," the large Faunus addressed the crowd. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!" With a gesture, his "comrade" was revealed to the crowd.
Roman Torchwick.
The Faunus in the crowd were outraged.
"Thank you, thank you!" Torchwick said sarcastically. As he spoke, a short girl with brown and pink hair stepped out from behind the sheet. "Please, hold your applause!"
"What's a human doing here?!" a woman with antlers yelled, pointing angrily at Torchwick.
"I'm glad you asked, 'Deerie'!" Torchwick said. "Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans are the worst!" He pointed to his chest. "Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or better yet, killed!"
"So, is he going somewhere with this?" Sun asked, leaning closer to Blake.
"But," Torchwick continued, "Before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms!" The anger from the crows began to die down, being replaced with interest. "Government, military, even the schools! They're all to blame for your lot in life!" To Blake's horror, the crowd started to cheer. "And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around…No offense to any rodents in the room."
Torchwick snapped his fingers, dropping the sheet, revealing a massive mech suit with the White Fang logo painted on its shoulder.
"Whoa, that's a big robot…" Sun said.
"How did he get that?" Blake asked.
"As some of you might have heard," Torchwick continued, "This right here is Atlas's newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my employer, we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, 'hit the shelves'. Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast."
The southeast?
"If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine," Torchwick continued with his speech. "But if you're ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?" The room erupted in applause.
"We should get out of here," Blake said, starting to become very scared at seeing first-hand what the White Fang had become.
"Will all new recruits, please come forward!" The large Faunus yelled. Blake and Sun tried to leave the room, but the crowd pushed them forward.
"I don't know where he is," Junior said.
"How can you not know?" Yang demanded.
"I haven't talked to him," Junior said. "I haven't seen him in months, and trust me, I've been trying to find him. Last time I saw him, he wanted some hired muscle. He paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever came back."
Yang had a feeling she knew exactly where those men Torchwick had borrowed went. Ruby probably had something to do with it.
Neptune pushed Yang aside to look Junior in the eyes.
"So where did they go?" The boy asked.
"…What kind of stupid question is that?" Junior asked. "They never came back! Who is this guy?"
"Yeah, Neptune, we're not doing good-cop, bad-cop," she said. "Just let me handle this." She turned back to Junior. "So you really have nothing for me?"
"Trust me, I want to find this bastard just as much as you, but I can't give you what I don't have."
"Come on, Neptune," she said with a sign, walking away from the bar.
"We get everything we need?" he asked.
"No, but we got everything we could. Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck."
Blake looked around nervously as she and Sun continued to be pushed forward by the crowd, searching for a way out.
"What are we going to do?" Sun asked.
"I'm thinking…" she answered.
"He sees us…" Sun said, audibly getting more nervous. Blake noticed an electrical box on the wall.
"He can't see in the dark," she said, drawing Gambol Shroud and firing it at the box, killing the lights and plunging the warehouse into darkness.
The building instantly erupted into chaos, with the White Fang members that could see in the dark firing their weapons at the two teens and Torchwick shouting orders at them.
"Sun! The window!" Blake shouted, and the two of them burst through one of the warehouse's windows, the giant mech breaking the rest of the wall down to chase after them. They jumped off the roof of a nearby car to get to the roofs, the mech chasing them on the streets.
"So you wouldn't happen to have some for backup?!" Sun yelled to her.
"On it!" she answered, putting her Scroll up to her ear.
Yang's scroll suddenly rang, and she pulled it out, realizing it was a call from Blake.
"Everyone!" Blake yelled into the call. "If you can hear me, we need back—"
"HEEEELP!" Sun's voice screamed, interrupting her. "Big robot! And It's big! Really big! That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him! He's, like, controlling it or something!"
"Where are you guys?" Yang asked. At that moment, they saw Blake and Sun running down the street with the mech right behind them.
"HURRY!" Sun screamed.
"I think that was them," Neptune said.
"Yeah, I got it," Yang said sarcastically, revving up Bumblebee and taking off after her teammate.
Of course the dum-dum had let one of those brats infiltrate that White Fang meeting. What was Pussy Cat's obsession with Roman anyway? And what the hell was Roman thinking, driving the Paladin to go after them? They were supposed to keep the stolen Paladins a secret, and here he was, openly chasing a couple of teenagers through the streets of Vale.
Neo realized she should probably do something about this, since she would definitely need to bail him out again. Now, she cared about Roman, but she also knew that he was an idiot. But first, she pulled out her scroll, and recorded video of the kids being chased by him. She opened up her contacts, copied the video, and hit "send".
Roman wasn't about to let those little brats get away. That girl in particular was the same one that interrupted him at the docks, and she needed to learn to not mess with him.
Besides, he was having way too much fun.
He noticed that the Kitty cat and Monkey Boy were trying to lose him on the freeway, and he smirked.
"Roman, what the hell do you think you're doing?" a voice yelled out from his scroll. "Why am I seeing you piloting the Paladin in public?"
"What do you expect?" Roman said. "Those kids infiltrated the White Fang meeting. I'm teaching them a lesson."
"You'll do no such thing. Stand down."
"Why?"
"Because we're supposed to keep the stolen paladins a secret!" she seethed. "And you're about to end up on the evening news! Now back! Off!"
"Urgh, fine," he said, and disengaged from the teenagers, turning around and bringing the Paladin back to the hideout.
Ruby was still en route to help out Blake and Sun when a voice yelled out from her scroll.
"Ruby Rose!" Mom's voice shouted. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Mom?!" Ruby asked, surprised.
"Why did I just see a video of Blake and Sun being chased by a mech with the White Fang logo on it?! Get back to Beacon right this second! You and your team are in so much trouble!"
Aqua paced back and forth in front of Team RWBY, plus Sun and Neptune, in Ozpin's office. She had been sent a video from an anonymous source showing Blake and Sun being chased by a giant mech, and she immediately realized that they must have gone out on their own and somehow gotten attacked by the White Fang.
To say she was livid would be an understatement.
"What were you thinking?!" She yelled at the students. "Not only did you go out to investigate a terrorist organization on your own despite explicit instructions to leave it to the proper authorities, you let a mech chase you through the streets of Vale."
"We needed—" Blake said.
"Stop," Aqua said, cutting her off. "What you needed to do was leave it be. Not only did you put yourselves in danger, you put no thought into the collateral damage fighting a Paladin would cause."
"But—" Ruby tried to say.
"I don't want to hear it!" Aqua yelled. "I can't even begin to describe how monumentally stupid your actions tonight were!" She turned to Ozpin. "Are you going to punish them, or are you going to let them 'be children' again?" Ozpin sighed.
"The six of you are hereby confined to Beacon's campus until your missions are assigned," he said.
"What?" Yang asked.
"If you ask me, you're lucky that's all you're getting," Aqua said. "Now get out."
AN: I know that people were looking forward to seeing the fight with the Paladin, but the reason why I had it not happen boils down to one thing:
I have no idea why Team RWBY didn't get in trouble for all the collateral damage. Especially since Ozpin and Glynda acted like they didn't know about it at all, and I have no idea why. This entire thing actually makes no sense when you think about it. First off, why did Blake and Sun let him chase them onto the highway? They were clearly not thinking about collateral damage. Second, why did Torchwick publicly chase them in a stolen Atlesian mech? Wouldn't they want to keep that secret? And then there's the whole Ozpin ignoring it thing. There is no way that no one was hurt, but they weren't punished for it, or for engaging in essentially vigilantism. This entire plot makes no sense, so I changed it. Even though the fight never was brought to the freeway, Aqua was still furious and basically had Ozpin ground them all. Ozpin also had to finally actually punish them since he was being directly called out for being too lenient with them.
Also, basically, Neo sent the video to Cinder, and Cinder sent it to Aqua.
Next time, we'll have a little more of Cinder, and the next practical exam.
As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time!