Ch. 25

The next day…

Abaddon paced back and forth. "Are they really serious with this?!"

"I'm not surprised. Considering what you informed me about Blake's past and what happened at the docks, I'm not surprised Blake and her team would come up with such an idea," Cinder told him.

They were in Cinder's team dorm room. Everyone else was in the cafeteria for lunch. Cinder had chosen this time to drag Abaddon away and tell him about what she had heard the other day from team RWBY.

"I know. But why not tell us about it? Me, you, and Neo could be of great help to them," Abaddon wondered.

"Maybe they want to prove that they're capable of doing this on their own. What do you suggest we do?"

Abaddon scratched his head. "Hmm, we should go with them, just us two. I'd rather not bring our teammates this time, especially Neo."

"Agreed." Cinder nodded. "With Bantus involved, Neo definitely shouldn't come."

"Did they say when they were going to start their investigation?"

"Not that I know of. I didn't wait for Ruby to come back. But, they would most likely go out during the weekend. This Friday would be the best bet."

Abaddon smiled. "Good. Then after our classes end we go with them."

"Whether they like or not," Cinder added.

XXXXXXX

Friday afternoon…

"Blah, blablah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blaahh…"

Professor Port's speeches always registered in Weiss' mind as nothing more than inconsistent blabbing. Although, there was another voice she was also ignoring at the same time.

"So Weiss, ya'know, uh, I was thinking after this maybe we could go grab a bite to eat?" Jaune asked. "And, uh, I-I've got two tickets to that new Spruce Willis movie if you wanna make the trip to Vale. I hear it's awesome. Aaaand then maybe after that we could study together? I mean you're smart and I'm, uh, ya'know."

Beep! Beep!

The alarm rang meaning that it was four o'clock, the end of class.

"And then I-," Port stopped when he realized what time it was. "Oh, uhh, timed that one wrong I guess. Well, the stunning conclusion to this story will have to wait. Until next time."

"Seems like its time," Cinder said to Abaddon as they saw RWBY stroll past a clearly disappointed Jaune.

Abaddon smiled. "Alright, let's go."

Later in team RWBY's room, everyone got geared up for the operation. They stocked their weapons and changed into outfits very different from their normal ones. Weiss wore her Snow Pea outfit, Yang's was called Hunter, Ruby's was Slayer, and Blake's was named Intruder.

"I thought that class would never end," Blake complained.

"Alright guys, todays the day. The investigation begins!" Ruby happily hopped off her bed and landed in front of Weiss.

Weiss recoiled back to avoided being stepped on. "I'm glad to see were taking this so seriously."

"Hey, we've got a plan…that's…moderately serious," Yang added.

"Right! Everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked.

Weiss spoke first. "You and I will head to the CCT to check the Schnee records for any other dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."

Next was Blake. "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

Then last was Yang. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard."

"Great, well meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found. Let's do this!" Ruby declared.

"Yeah!" All four girls turned to see Sun hanging upside down outside their window. They immediately jumped back in surprise.

"Sun! How did you get up there?" Yang asked him.

"Ah it's easy. I do it all the time," he replied.

"You do what?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"I climb trees all the time," Sun responded, but Weiss didn't look convinced.

Sun jumped into the room. "So are we finally getting back at that Bantus guy?"

"We are going to investigate the situation…as a team," Blake explained.

"Sorry Sun, we don't wanna get friends involved if we don't have to," Ruby added.

"Pfft, that's dumb. You should always get friends involved. That's why I brought Neptune." As if on que, a black and white clawed hand entered the window carrying said boy.

"Sup," said Neptune as the hand let go of him.

"Dude, what is that?!" Sun asked.

"I know, it's weird. Looks like were not the only ones who want in on this," Neptune said.

Then, both Abaddon and Cinder swung into the room from above the window.

"Abaddon? Cinder? What are you two doing here?" Ruby asked.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You thought you could go messing with those bastards without us?" Abaddon chuckled. "You guys know damn well we're needed here."

"Cute outfits by the way girls," Cinder said.

"Like I just said, we didn't want to get friends involved if we don't have to," Ruby repeated.

"Well, now we've got 5 huntsmen in training, an ex-White Fang, and two former vigilantes. That should be more than enough to cover your asses," Abaddon said with a smile.

"We're well aware of that," Weiss added.

"You're all here now, so let's decide who goes with whom," Ruby said. "Alright, I'll go with Weiss and Cinder, Sun and Abaddon, you can go with Blake, and Neptune you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"

"Actually Ruby, why don't you go with Yang?" Weiss suggested. "After all, she is your sister."

"But, who else would go with you and Cinder then?" Ruby asked confused.

"Well, I guess Cinder could go with you and Yang while Neptune comes with me," Weiss said.

Ruby laughed in response. "Nah."

But before Ruby could leave with Weiss, Abaddon pulled her back by her hood.

"Hold on little red, let me fix this real quick. Neptune, you go with Weiss and Ruby because I need to go with Yang to make sure she behaves around her 'old friend.' Cinder, you go with Blake and Sun. While they're inside the recruitment meeting, you snoop around for anything suspicious they may have in store. Okay, no questions please, we got things to do."

XXXXXXX

"Wooow! I forget how big the transit tower looks up close!" Ruby exclaimed in uncontained excitement. She stood in front of the CCT, a gigantic tower, with Neptune and Weiss alongside her.

"You should see the one in Atlas," Weiss

"That was the first one right?"

"Correct," Weiss replied. "Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit system to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the great war."

"Oh, look at me. My name is Weiss. I know facts. I'm rich," Ruby giggled.

"Really?" said Neptune.

"Don't be a pest. Besides, the only reason were here is because you like the tower so much. We could've just as easily made a call from the library."

"I know but it's so cool! Oh, I'm gonna take a picture!" Ruby fumbled with her scroll and ended up dropping it. It bounced on the ground until it landed at someone's feet.

"Oh. You dropped this," said Penny as she held Ruby's scroll.

"Penny?!" Ruby said surprised.

Penny's eyes went wide. "Uhhhh."

"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since the night at the docks," Ruby said.

"Sorry, I-I think you are confused," Penny replied as she tried to avoid Ruby's question. She hiccupped, causing her to toss the scroll into Ruby's hands. "I've got to go."

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Well, she was strange."

"What was that about?" Weiss wondered.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. You go make your call with Neptune. I'll meet up with you guys later." Ruby ran off after Penny, leaving Weiss and Neptune alone.

"I guess it's just you and me now snow angel," Neptune mused.

"Just the way I like it," Weiss thought.

"Shall we?" Neptune nodded in the direction of the CCT.

"Of course." Weiss walked into the CCT with Neptune beside her.

Neptune whistled at the sight. "This looks a little wider than the one in Mistral."

"Oh really? I should take a look at that someday," Weiss said. "What's it like in Mistral?"

"Oh, it's nice like it is here in Vale. But I think I like it here better. I favor the city life," Neptune told her.

"Well, maybe after this we could, I don't know, explore some of the city?" Weiss asked.

"That'd be pretty cool," Neptune replied.

They entered the elevator that would take them upstairs.

"Hello, welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?"

"I'd like to go to the communications room please," Weiss said.

"Absolutely. Could you please place your scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?"

Weiss held up her scroll to the terminal as instructed.

"Perfect. Thank you Ms. Schnee."

As the elevator ascended, Neptune caught sight of Weiss making weird faces.

"What're you doing Weiss?" Neptune asked.

"Huh? Oh nothing, just trying to put on a good smile is all," Weiss sighed.

"Hmm, family problems?" Neptune guessed.

"No, no, no. Everything's alright. I just like to have…a bright smile for my father," she lied.

The elevator doors opened as they reached the communications room. "I'll contact the Schnee Dust Company and get the intel I need. Then afterwards, we can probably grab a smoothie."