Chapter Seven: Cats Out of the Bag
"Phoenix! We found you!" Yang exclaimed after bursting into Phoenix's room, followed by Ruby.
"Two things. One, I was in my room, you don't need to act like you've been on an epic quest to find me," Phoenix said, pausing the game he'd been playing, "and two, KNOCK BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BREAK DOWN THE DOOR TO SOMEONE'S ROOM!"
"Sorry, but this is really important!" Yang shouted.
"Blake is missing. She left and hasn't come back for two days," Ruby said, much more calmly.
Immediately losing his joking demeanor, he said, "Before I can help you, I need to know exactly what happened before she went missing."
As they described what happened the day she left, the pieces of what caused her to leave came together in Phoenix's head. Just before they finished their story, Phoenix commented, "Let me guess, she slipped up during her argument with Weiss and accidentally admitted she was a Faunus who was part of the White Fang at some point."
The girls gave him shocked looks and Yang said, "Uh… yeah. How did you-?"
"I had my suspicions that she was a Faunus from the start. Her defended both the monkey-tailed Fanus and the White Fang all but proved it."
"So will you help us?" Ruby pleaded.
"I did say I'd help you if you needed it, right?"
"Weiss! You're not helping," Ruby said, annoyed by her friend's refusal to aid in the search for their teammate.
"You know who might be able to help? The police," Weiss responded.
"Look Ice Queen, all we know is she was a member of the White Fang at some point," Phoenix pointed out. "They started out as a peaceful organization. Knowing Blake, she likely left shortly after their transition to more violent tactics. We won't, however, be able to find out which it was until we find her."
"Phoenix is right," Yang replied, "we shouldn't jump to any conclusions until we've heard her side of the story."
"Well I think when she tells it you'll all see I was right," Weiss said, still being incredibly stubborn.
"And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today," a new voice added to the conversation.
"Gaah! Penny when'd you get here?" Ruby exclaimed as everyone turned around to see the new arrival.
"I take it you two know each other," Phoenix said, looking at Penny.
"Oh, Phoenix this is Penny," Ruby responded, gesturing to the new arrival.
"It's nice to meet you. Shame that it can't be under better circumstances though."
"Yeah," Yang continued, "We're looking for our teammate Blake."
"Oooohhhh, you mean the Faunus girl," Penny replied.
"She must have a brain like a computer to figure that out faster than me," Phoenix thought. There was an awkward silence as the team RWBY realized how obvious Blake's identity really was, and a random tumbleweed blew by.
The silence was only broken when Ruby said, "She does like tuna a lot."
"So, where is she?" Penny asked.
"We don't know. She's been missing since Friday," Ruby answered, sounding slightly dejected.
"That's terrible! Well don't you worry Ruby my friend, I won't rest until we find your friend," Penny said with an intensity comparable to Nora.
"Great, now there's two of them," Phoenix thought, hoping that she wasn't as obsessed with explosives Nora.
"Uh… that's nice Penny, but we're fine, right guys?" Ruby asked somewhat desperately. Her remaining teammates had abandoned her however.
Just as he was about to help them in their search, Phoenix got a reminder on his scroll that read "Prep for stakeout of SDC cargo at shipyard." "Damn it!" he thought to himself, "How the hell am I supposed to get away?" "Ruby," he said, "I think the others had the right idea. We should probably split up. We'll contact each other if we find anything," he said, hoping she'd agree with him.
"Okay…" she replied dejectedly. He hated doing this to her but he had no choice. He couldn't tell her the real reason, especially not while someone they just met was around.
After obtaining his gear via rocket locker, Phoenix made his way to the shipyard. He had expected to find White Fang stealing the Dust. Instead, he found… "Blake! What're you doing here? And who the bloody hell is he?" Phoenix asked, gesturing to the tailed Faunus next to her.
"Phoenix?" She asked, confused by what he was wearing.
"Wha- how'd you know-?" Then it hit him like s SDC shipping crate. "Damn it! My voice!" he thought, realizing that he'd forgotten to disguise it due to the shock of finding Blake. "Look, I'll explain later, after we've stopped this robbery."
"What robbery?" the other Faunus asked. Before he could answer, a Bullhead landed, and multiple White Fang members got out. "That them?" the Faunus continued his questions.
"Yes," Blake replied, sounding disappointed.
"You didn't really didn't think they were behind it did you?"
"No… I think deep down I knew, I just didn't want to be right." Their discussion was interrupted by a new voice, one that Phoenix recognized from the day he first saw Ruby.
"But if he's with them then…" he thought to himself.
A few weeks ago…
"No! Nonononononono! I am not getting on one of those floating death traps!" he responded stoically.
"Phoenix-" Ozpin tried to say before being cut off.
"Not listening. Trying to watch… the… video…" he said, his voice slowly fading into silence as he saw the new arrival on the screen. "Her…" he muttered, as he saw his mother aid in Torchwick's escape. "So, they're working together. Well…"
Present
"…Shit," he mumbled.
"This isn't right, the White Fang would never work with a human, especially not one like that," Blake started, drawing her weapon and jumping off the roof they were on.
"Blake wait!" Phoenix yelled, jumping down after her.
"What the- oh for fu-" Torchwick said as Blake put her blade to his throat. She pulled off her bow, revealing a pair of cat ears.
"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?" she demanded to know.
"Haven't 'ya heard. The White Fang and I are goin' in on a joint business venture."
"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."
"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation," he replied as more Bullheads flew in. He used this distraction to fire his cane into the ground, creating an explosion that could probably be seen halfway across the city.
"Blast it!" Phoenix exclaimed as he jumped off the crane he'd been standing on top of.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Torchwick asked when he saw him.
"I am getting really sick of people asking who I am!" Phoenix yelled, drawing his swords and charging into battle.
Soon after the showdown began, the monkey Faunus entered the fray, devoting most of his efforts to defending Blake. Just when they thought they had the upper hand, Torchwick shot off a couple of the wires holding an SDC shipping container, causing it to swing down. Blake and the other Faunus got out of the way. Phoenix, however, wasn't so lucky, and got hit in the face by the container. When he opened his eyes, he was looking up the barrel of Torchwick's gun. "Hey!" A new voice yelled.
"Why hello Red. Isn't it past your-"
"Get down!" Phoenix shouted, but it was too late. Torchwick fired at Ruby. The blast, however, was quickly intercepted by a round of Dust. "Don't you dare lay a finger on her!" Phoenix yelled, pulling out his lighter and setting off a tornado of fire around the two of them. He unleashed a frenzy of strikes his opponent was barely able to block. Outside the inferno, sounds of explosions and a giant laser could be heard. Phoenix had finally broken through Torchwick's defense, but before he could finish the criminal off, half of one of the airships flew through the tornado, causing Phoenix to lose focus and the tornado to dissipate. Torchwick took advantage of this and ran for the last remaining airship, the others having been destroyed. Phoenix sprinted after him, yelling, "Get back here so we can finish this you scum!" The criminal had a head start however, and was able to reach a ship before his pursuer could catch up. As it flew away, Phoenix fired multiple rounds at it, but the ship's armor held.
Afterward, pulled out his scroll and texted Blake, saying, "We'll meet up in the courtyard. Go there once the rest of your team falls asleep. I'll explain everything. And don't. Tell. Anyone." She she quickly received the message, looking over to him nodding in agreement. Ruby walked up to him, nervously asking,
"Uh… what's your name?"
"The Flaming Shadow." Police sirens could be heard in the distance, causing Phoenix to say "Well, that's my cue to leave. I hope we can work together in the future." With that, he grappled off.
Sorry about the pun in the chapter name, but I couldn't resist. Anyway, the next chapter is going to be the obligatory flashback chapter. Also, be sure to leave suggestions and reviews. If you leave the reviews and it's something I can fix, I'll update the chapter. As always, thanks for reading!
