Hello everyone. How are you doing?
Chapter 46 is up. As always, I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks once more for reading/ following/favoring this story. You are all the best! See you all next week!
February 6th, 86
"So, they still can't find anything in your body? That's great news!" Ruby's voice sounded in the snow-covered streets of Mantle.
"I think so, too" Jaune answered her through the scroll. "I hope you will be able to sleep better now; you deserve it. You haven't slept…properly lately…" she lowered her tone, hoping she wasn't as red as her cape.
"Yeah, about that…" thankfully for her, Jaune totally missed the point. "Goodwitch thinks I need a little more recuperation, so my assignment to Nora's division has been delayed. She wasn't pleased."
"Oh, I see… wait what has that to do with sleep?" she asked, confused. "I will be assisting Velvet with the case of opened graves in Vale Cemetery. So, not much sleep for me in the night" he joked.
"Oh" she made a cute sound. "Just please try to rest as much as possible, ok? Don't push yourself." "I will. But don't worry about that- you have something more important to deal with right now."
"YuP!" she merrily giggled. "Speaking of what, we just reached Ms. Flinch's house! So, going in! I will call you later!" "Say hello to them from me. Love you." Rubby giggled again and blushed "Love you too!"
She lowered her scroll and turned around to meet the blank stares of her travel companions. "My only question is" Albus said "how does your scroll never get out of battery?"
"I have absolutely no idea" she laughed the accusation off and stared to Alex for help. The albino girl just yawned deeply, revealing a pair of sharp bat fangs. "Can we go in, already? I am sleepy…"
Ruby, happy for the distraction, knocked the door and shouted "Yaaaang! I am heeeeere! And I have two surprise guests with mee!"
They waited for a while, but there was no answer. Ruby knocked again "Yaaaang! Weisss! Blaaake! Open up pleaseeee!" No answer.
"They know you are coming, don't they?" Albus asked. "Of course!" Ruby took out her scroll again and checked the last message her sister had sent her.
February 5th, 22:32
How are you doing, Rubes? Here things are kinda dull. We didn't find anything of importance in the ball and spent today resting from our hangover. Can't wait to destroy you in Remnant Fighter tomorrow!
"Maybe they went out?" Alex yawned again, as Ruby called Yang's scroll. "And left Ruby hanging? Even you wouldn't do that, honey" Albus replied.
Ruby closed the call and dialed Blake. "Can't we simply pick the lock? I am sure I can do it in one minute" the faunus whined. "I thought you were too sleepy?" her boyfriend teased her.
Weiss was the last one. "I am sleepy! As you remember, I am a nocturnal faunus! I can't function properly in the day!" Albus sighed "you only remember that when it's convenient for you. Like-"
"Guys!" Ruby cut their bickering off. "Their scrolls aren't calling." She looked at them, visibly confused. "And I don't think they all ran out of battery…"
Alex didn't reply. She simply turned around and narrowed her pink eyes as she examined the lock. "Ruby, I will need your pin."
A few minutes later, the door gave in and Alex slammed it open, allowing Ruby to burst inside. She didn't even remove her boots as she strode in.
"If you are lazing around to the point of not checking your scrolls, my fury will make Glynda look like Zwei in comparison!" she tried to sound as menacing as she was worried.
And of course, there was no reply. The house was silent- and considerably cold. "Wow, it's freezing in here! What the heck are those three doing?" the other girl of the company complained.
"Now I am getting really worried!" Ruby replied. Meanwhile Albus walked to the heater and checked the dust supply. "Heater looks fine, so they simply didn't turn it on" he said.
The brunette fumed and immediately burst up and down, right and left, taking in a full view of the house. She appeared back in front of the couple even before the petals fell down.
"There are no signs of struggle; and I really can't imagine someone ambush them, even in their sleep" she said. Alex nodded "even if that happened, they would have at least fought back."
"It's too early in the morning for them to have gone somewhere- unless some really important info came up and didn't have time to send you because they knew you were on the plane" the boy commented.
Ruby's anxiety was slowly and steadily rising. What could have possibly made her team run off so early in the morning and in such haste? Their belongings were all here, plus a few elaborate dressings; only-
"Let's look for the EOL. If something came up, they would have uploaded it there." Both her friends nodded and they split in order to search the house.
Ruby searched Yang and Weiss' room. Her eyes ran around, trying to think about where the EOL could have been stored, but then fell upon something really weird.
Myrtenaster was here, instead of Crown. It wasn't that weird save for the fact her partner preferred to carry both of them when she could do so. No, the weird fact was that Ember Celica was placed right next to it.
Why would Yang go anywhere without her weapon? Save for the ball, she would never have to! I mean, I would have tried to take it even in the ball with me!
"Found it!" Albus' voice sounded from below, making Ruby nearly teleport in her haste. She rushed down the stairs and ran at her gaming buddy as he gave her a small, white scroll.
That was EOL, the Emergency Operation Log. A fifth scroll that team RWBY kept hidden in their temporary bases during operations, especially undercover missions.
It was used as a log, in which they uploaded all new mission info in regular periods of time. The intention was that even if something happened to them, someone would find it and pick up from the point they were stopped.
Ruby opened it and checked the current mission log. She looked at it- and her face immediately darkened. "That… makes no sense" she said.
"What happened?" Alex asked her, now having completely forgotten about her sleepiness. "The latest update is from Yang on February 5th, 1:56 in the morning; more than twenty hours before she last texted me!"
"Maybe they truly had nothing to write?" Albus asked. Ruby shook her head "we always update the log every three hours even when nothing happens, to keep it consistent! Look!"
She showed them the previous week's logs, where Blake and Yang mostly updated 'Nothing Happened' at least six times a day.
"What did the last uploads say?" Alex asked, waiting for Ruby to scroll down. "The second to last said that they found nothing important and Weiss was going to fish Sophia Carmel for info."
She moved on "the last one was ten minutes later and…" she stopped, now even more confused than before.
"Weiss came out and told us Sophia told her some very important stuff. We will go meet her in the Mansion garage; I do mention now and want it as proof for teasing material- she acted kinda weird."
"That… is totally different from what Yang sent you" Albus commented. "What is going on here?" Ruby stared at the EOL. "Where are they?"
Alex ran inside Blake's room and came out immediately, holding a long katana in her arms- Nightfall. "Ruby. Is there any reason, no matter how big the emergency, for Blake to leave her prized sword here?"
"Myrtenaster and Ember Celica are left as well" she replied and then added in a very bitter tone "the only things missing are their scrolls, their coats and the weapons they took with them to Carmel Mansion."
She bit her lips, as inspiration hit her "my team never came back here from the ball- something happened to them. And someone texted me yesterday, posing as my sister!"
In a rare display of rage, Ruby slammed her fist on the wall. The cracking sound filled the room, followed by the girl's worried sniffs.
"That's weird, however. If they somehow got their hands on Yang's scroll, wouldn't they upload fake stuff on the EOL as well?" Albus asked in confusion.
"No. We have the EOL registered as 'Auntie Em'. In addition, Blake insisted we delete every message from our scrolls after it is sent; the only way to get a hold of them is 'Auntie Em' itself."
"If this is true, then what do we do? I don't mean to sound cold, but we-" "We talk to the last of our allies who saw them" Ruby replied and showed them an EOL-uploaded image.
Dressed in a cocktail dress, Robin Hill gave a forced smile on the camera. Tired yet stunning-looking, the bumblebee pair was flanking her. Half- annoyed yet elegant Weiss was standing next to Yang.
"First we talk to the neighbors. Then, we go meet Ms. Hill" she flatly announced.
-o—
Unlike most of Atlas' council offices, the Happy Huntresses' building was rather moderate. The only official building to ever be stated in Mantle, it bore close resemblance to a guild than anything else.
"Wow, they renovated it very nicely!" Alex commented as they reached the plaza. "Well, they had to" Albus shot an accusatory glare at Ruby.
"For the record" a blushing brunette replied "it was mostly Yang's fault!" The couple giggled at her embarrassment and entered the building.
Robin Hill's office was stationed on the top floor. The guard escorting them, after taking a very disgruntled Ruby's autograph, opened the doors and announced in a heavy voice.
"Councilor Hill, Ms. Ruby Rose is asking to meet with you." "Let her in, and let no one interrupt us. Tell Cinna the meeting will be postponed for half an hour." "As you wish madam."
Robin was smiling affectionately as the trio stepped inside. Painted brown and very humble in look, her office was decorated with many photos of huntresses, along with old weapons.
She stood up from the PC and nodded "Ruby, Alex, Albus, it's great to see you again." Above her armchair was a large portrait with a photo of the Happy Huntresses just after the end of the reclaim of Mantle.
"Robin" Ruby smiled back and then took a thoughtful expression. "Is it fine if I call you Robin?" Alex fought a giggle back and Albus sighed "Councilor Hill, it is great to see you."
"First Blake and now you" she reprimanded him "there is no need for such things between old comrades-in-arms, Albus." Her eyes stayed on them for a while "speaking of Blake, where are the others?"
Ruby's stance hardened "This is why we are here. We can't get in touch with Weiss, Blake and Yang." Robin's face changed as well, surprise evident on her features. "I was drinking with them, two nights ago!"
"Exactly" Alex commented. "And that was the last time we know someone saw them" Albus completed her. "We even talked to the neighbors; nobody has seen or heard of them since the ball."
Ruby stepped forward "we got a message yesterday from Yang, but I believe it was fake- someone was simply trying to not let us notice until we reached Atlas."
The woman stared at them and nodded "and you are here because you know I met them at the party." "Yes" the brunette replied. "Please, we need any help we can get."
Violet eyes closed and opened after a couple seconds. "When you first came to Atlas, you made a choice" she said as her gaze fell at the portrait.
"You chose to stay with us; you saw Mantle, worked with the people down here, fought and bled along them. And despite that, you never stopped trying to pester me work with Ironwood for the greater good."
"That goes without saying, but…" Robin motioned her to stop "what I mean is; there is no need for such formalities; of course I will help you."
She sighed "The only think though I can tell you for sure is when I left they were all fine- not even drunk."
"Another thing that goes against Yang's last text to Ruby" the bat faunus pointed. "She claimed they all had hangover." "No way. I don't know what happened after I left, but Weiss was drinking-"
"Apple soda all night long. Weiss loves this stuff more than water." Ruby face palmed "I should have thought it! There is no way she would ever get a hangover!"
"Even if you had noticed, you couldn't possibly do anything" the boy comforted her. "Still… I should have noticed…" she said. "Anything else of importance?" Alex tried to get the conversation back in track.
"Blake told me about your mission and how they were tailing someone in Carmel Company." Ruby's eyes lit up. "Maybe someone overheard you talking?" Albus asked. "And waited till you left to ambush them?"
"I am pretty positive no one could have heard us. But that's the extent of my knowledge on that aspect. I wasn't even aware they had been missing until now."
Ruby exhaled "I see… thanks a lot Robin. I guess the only thing left is to ask Ms. Carmel herself to check her security camera records." Albus scratched his chin in thought "will they let us do that?"
"Probably not" Robin told them. "But they will let me" she picked her scroll. "Cinna, apologize to the council for me" the woman winked at Ruby earning a bright smile from her "something important came up."
-o—
"What do you mean, we can't see the records? This is a direct order from a member of the Council!" Robin stood next to a very nervous and increasingly angry Ruby at the door of Carmel Mansion.
And face to face with a very serious and extremely annoying professional-looking butler. "I understand madam. But until Mr. Bishop arrives, I will not permit anything."
"Since when does Carmel Family defy the laws of Atlas and Mantle?" Robin fumed. "Since when do council members act without a search warrant?" the man raised his nose a little.
"If you insist on this uncivilized farce, I will have to ask you either let me escort you to the waiting room or let security escort you away from here, Ms. Hill."
Robin's eyes opened wide in anger and she tried to retort, but Ruby grabbed her arm. "Please show us the way" she addressed the butler.
"Very well" he opened the door wide and led them to a small room covered in glass panels. He provided them a pair of comfortable seats and left, closing the door behind him.
He barely managed to see the Council Woman getting up and moving silently up to his undefended back. Before he could react, she grabbed his shoulder and activated her semblance.
"I will ask only once. Do you know anything about the disappearance of the rest of team RWBY?" The man, overwhelmed by her ability, replied.
"I only know after they talked to Ms. Carmel, they bid farewell to everyone and left the ball. However, instead of letting me send them off, my Boss asked me to allow them entrance to the garage."
Both women exchanged a worried look. "Show us the way to the monitor room. NOW!" Ruby screamed.
-o—
"Gah, that sucks. Why do they have to be the diversion and we have to do all the work?" Alex groaned as she avoided another camera, running across the well- tended garden.
"That's probably because they are a respectable member of the Atlas Council accompanied by one of the greatest heroes of the modern era" Albus replied crouching behind her.
"Meanwhile we are two nobodies who refused to even appear on TV after the victory over Salem. I think this plan is quite reasonable" he continued.
"Hmm~" she hummed. "You find breaking and searching for data into someone's house reasonable? Sounds like I am rubbing to you quite a lot~"
He smirked. The humming of his girlfriend continued and he had no intention of interrupting her. "We suspect them of treachery, for all that's worth."
"Exactly. And that's something you would be not willing to do once upon a time~" They rolled under a few thriving bushes and behind a weird-looking statue, carefully brushing the snow off their uniforms.
"Two more cameras and a megaphone in front of the monitor room. Three guards at the entrance~" her hum kept on. "How do we get past them?" he wondered, fixing his special earphones in place to not fall off.
"I can always seduce them~" "Rejected" he shot her down. "The point is to not be noticed." "It's a good thing dogs aren't so common in Atlas. I must have scared all the birds in the area, however~"
"Irrelevant. The question remains- how do we do it?" "Wait. Someone is coming~" He raised his head a little. "It's an old guy with a leather armor he doesn't even bother hide under his suit" he ducked again.
"Hmmm~ Wait, he is looking towards us!" "Fuck" Albus let his breath escape. "He looks quite trained if the indications of his- shit they are coming towards us; him and three armed guards" her tune stopped.
"Any ideas?" the boy asked, removing his earpiece. "We surrender at first and see what they intend?" she replied, as the footsteps became louder, coming towards them.
A few seconds passed and the duo found three rifles aimed at them. The tall man brushed his long white beard. "Alexandra Specter and Albus Duskwood… may I ask what are you doing snooping around?"
"We were looking for a hairpin our friend Weiss Schnee lost in the ball two days ago" Albus said. Alex tried her best to not roll her eyes.
"I didn't get to live up to twice your age my boy by believing nonsense. Try again; because right now you are trespassing Carmel property."
"Look, we-" "Found it!" Ruby's voice echoed in the garden through the megaphones. "There is erased video data matching the time they left the ball from the parking area! Authorized by the CEO herself!"
Peros' eyes opened wide in shock. "We- are going to kick your asses!" Alex ducked and knee kicked the man left to her, throwing him to the ground.
"Shoot them!" the old huntsman jumped away and drew an antique-looking yellow axe. He landed and waited for his men to pepper their enemies with gunfire, but-
Albus had already dispatched them, his white and blue mechanical staff sizzling with energy as the flame-like tip channeled the implemented dust inside it.
"You are surrounded!" Ruby screamed through the megaphones. "Please drop-" Before she could finish her request, the old man rushed to Alex.
The girl rolled on the ground to avoid him- and slammed on something solid. Albus ran towards her and slammed on an invisible barrier. "What is this?" he asked incredulously.
Peros stood up, his axe at hand. "My semblance allows me to create impenetrable barriers. Unfortunately, it seems you will not be able to help this young lady over here."
Alex stared at him and drew a silver pistol. It was really large, with an extensive curved blade underneath the barrel. "You actually tried to isolate yourself with me? You are seriously underestimating me!"
"Young lady, with all respect to your skill, I was fighting fellow huntsmen as an Atlas specialist before you even wet your diapers. You should better drop your weapons."
"Alex!" Albus slammed the barrier again and again with his weapon. "You are going to pay if you do anything to her!" he screamed. "Shout as much as possible; as long as I am standing there is no-"
He immediately brought up his axe and blocked a volley from the girl. He dashed towards her, allowing a few shots to graze his aura.
"Alex! Be careful!" she ignored her boyfriend's scream and blocked the axe's slice with the gunblade. "Fool" he pushed with all his might and slammed her on the wall. "NO" a scream was heard from behind her.
The faunus punched with her free arm, but the elder man was considerably stronger, twisting her arm and throwing her weapon off. "GAH!" she groaned.
"I am deeply sorry" Peros whispered. "But I can't afford being caught here. For Lady Carmel's sake." "You are all so arrogant" she replied. "So full of yourselves- you never bare attention to fine details."
Suddenly, a powerful force grabbed him. Peros tried to resist, but felt as if his entire body was being seized. He turned his head around, trying to see how-
"Hi-yah!" Alex unfurled her punching dagger, going for his throat with her hidden blade. Peros dodged the blow, but the enemy trying to restrain him took advantage of that.
Dark tendrils of energy, coming out of his own shadow, engulfed the veteran huntsman. He gasped in awe, as he saw the thin line of darkness connecting his shadow and Albus'.
"Unfortunately for you" Alex grinned "your barrier seems to not be shadowproof" she giggled, before kicking away from him. "And now tell me, Mr. Bishop. How much do I have to kick you for the barrier to fall?"
There was no need for that much, however. After a few minutes of resistance, the elderly man dispelled it.
Alex and Albus high-fived each other. "Nice playing the anxious boyfriend" she winked at him. "Nice playing the helpless victim" he replied, as a red-black blur crashed on the ground next to their captive.
Ruby didn't even wait to address the couple; she grabbed Peros from the collar. "WHERE IS MY TEAM?" her scream nearly deafened her comrades. "ARE YOU THE ONE WORKING WITH ALIZAR?"
"I am not… telling you. I am prepared to even get tortured…" he coughed. "But I will not tell you a thing. I am sorry, Ruby Rose" he replied.
Robin walked right behind them, her eyes clouded in anger. She glared at the man and removed her glove as she touched his shoulder. "Oh, I think you will" she exclaimed.
One important thing I forgot; special thanks to my proofreader and dear fried FenMa who is also the designer for all of team RWBY's costumes and hairstyles, since I suck at fashion. I can't even express how grateful I am to her!