Chapter 8: The First Large Fight Scene
Azure (1st Person)
"How do you know that?" Weiss hissed. She looked annoyed and confused.
"I have my ways." I said evenly. There. Let them think that it's in her file or some other teacher-acessable thing.
"And I would like to share something that could change your opinion on her." I gathered my thoughts. How to phrase this… "Remember that SDC train that only half of showed up at the train yards?"
"Yes." Weiss said. "It was a few days before initiation… that was her?" She looked angry again.
"More specifically, that was her resignation letter. If she hadn't, the train and all its crew would be charred wrecks and bodies somewhere in the middle of Forever Fall."
The three looked shocked. Alright, using the break to come up with a few responses or deflections.
Yang recovered first, probably just decided to deal with it later. "Do you know where she is?"
"Yes, roughly." I said, grinning widely.
"Will you tell us where she is?" Ruby asked.
"No." I said, still smiling.
"Why?" Wiess asked imperiously.
"Because I'm going to tell you where she's going to be. The docks, tomorrow night."
"How do you know that?" Weiss again.
"I recommended that the take a mental health day, and then go deal with a terrorist organization."
The looks on their faces were worth it.
"Would you like a few more details?"
Blake (3rd Person)
Blake yawned. She was used to late nights, but had never gotten used to stakeouts. It had been nice having a break for the past two days. Wandering around Vale, having meals that weren't in the cafeteria, and plenty of time to relax. She'd stopped by Tuckson's for a book to read. The one distraction was Sun flirting with her but that was… something she could think about later. Now she was lying on a warehouse roof watching a bunch of shipping crates do nothing.
She heard Sun climb back onto the roof. "Did I miss anything?"
"No," She responded. "They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."
"Cool. I stole you some food." Blake turned her head to look at Sun, seeing him handing over a green apple.
"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake questioned.
"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun said defensively. Is that really how people think of us-them? As a cult? Blake thought. Outwardly, she simply scowled.
"Okay, too soon."
"There you are!" Weiss! What?
Climbing up the side of the warehouse were Weiss, Yang, Ruby, and even more surprisingly, Penny.
"What…what are you doing here?" Blake asked incredulously.
"Professor Azure told us that you'd be here. Penny, well… she just found us and asked to come along." Ruby said. That was good to know. Wait, crap. Wiess.
"Well? Are you going to say anything?" Blake asked Weiss.
"Yes, actually." Weiss replied serenely. "Professor Azure said that you left the White Fang, that you weren't at Beacon as a spy to kill or kidnap me, but I need to hear it from you." Her voice turned cold(er than normal). "Are you still part of the White Fang?"
I… never thought of that possibility, she thought. "I left the White Fang a few days before initiation."
Then, because things had to start happening then, they heard the roaring sound of Bullhead engines coming from above the docks. One pulled up above the shipping containers, and a guy with a metallic fanged mask dropped down.
"Oh, no." Blake muttered. A blood-red wolf head was clearly emblazoned on the man's shirt.
"Is that them?" Sun asked.
"Yes, it's them."
The White Fang soldier was yelling something about cables back into the Bullhead.
"We should probably call the authorities." Penny said.
"There's no time!" Weiss said.
"Hey! What's the hold up?" echoed from the dock area. Stepping out of the bullhead was Roman Torchwick. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"
Why would the White Fang work with a human criminal? It doesn't make sense, Blake thought.
"And then Penny - wait. Penny, what can you do?" Ruby's voice was dim behind her thoughts. Were the others making a plan?
"I can eliminate the airship."
There was a pause. "Okay then."
There wasn't time for a plan. Blake drew Gambol Shroud in katana form and jumped off the roof. Landing lightly on her feet, she walked quietly behind one of the shipping crates. Alright, she was only a few feet from Torchwick. She would just have to wait for the guy he was talking to to move away…
"Oh crap, Blake just jumped in!" Are you kidding me? Blake thought. Sun had probably seen her and decided to alert the rest of the group. Annoyingly, this included the people she was trying to sneak up on.
"Stick to the plan!" Ruby yelled.
Blake dashed over to Torchwick, katana aimed at his ribs while her other hand grabbed the cleaver-sheath and brought it around to slash at his gut.
He blocked both attacks with his cane, but Blake kept up the attacks, shifting around to the sides as she did so. Up, side, down, dodge, Semblance clone to distract while she made a jump attack - and then half a dozen bullets slammed into her back and Aura, knocking her off balance just long enough for Torchwick to use his cane to grab and throw her, before blasting her with a flare in midair. It hurt. A lot. She managed to twist in air and backflip, dimly noticing her friends (and Penny) going after the assorted soldiers as another two bullheads pulled up and Roman just launched another flare at her. She backflipped to dodge, and did the same for another two flares.
She finally landed on her feet, quickly shifting Gambol Shroud's katana section into its gun form and firing three quick shots. Torchwick was not skilled enough to dodge bullets, and so all three impacted. She dashed back in, and started sword fighting him again.
Ruby (3rd Person)
Ruby swung her scythe and knocked another grunt away, their Aura flickering, even as they passed out. This was not the plan. They were supposed to have Weiss scatter them first, with Ruby or Yang as a bodyguard in case the White Fang decided that targeting the Schnee Heiress would be better than escaping. Penny would deal with the Bullhead - somehow - while the rest of them took out the assorted grunts one or two at a time. The plan would be great as long as the White Fang didn't have reinforcements.
Then Blake jumped in before they were ready, and the White Fang had reinforcements. Two more Bullheads had pulled up and dropped more grunts before they started to pick up the shipping crates.
The group had been fighting the White Fang grunts, trying to get to Blake and Torchwick. And no more time for thought now because another grunt got right in her face. She quickly switched Crescent Rose into its smaller gun form and shot them in the face. Their aura broke and they slumped to the ground. To her right, she could see Penny send two swords up at one of the Bullheads and start to wait WHAT?
Penny was dragging the Bullhead around by two of ten floating, remote-controlled swords and slammed it into the ground. Ruby wondered exactly how they worked. The Bullhead exploded - somehow, airships used gravity Dust instead of fire Dust - barely avoiding damaging the shipping containers full… of… Dust… oh no.
"Penny!" Ruby yelled. "Be careful!" She used her semblance to dash past a couple grunts and move towards Blake. "If you hit the crates they'll explode!"
Penny simply yanked her swords out and swung all ten in a broad circle, wiping out a bunch of grunts. She pulled the swords together into a circle and fired a freaking huge laser. Sun took advantage of that and was sprinting for Blake and Torchwick, firing a couple of shotgun blasts on the way. Speaking of, he had a quarterstaff that turned into a pair of nunchaku with double-barrel shotguns built in. That was so COOL! Ruby would have rushed over, but she was currently dealing with a small squad of goons that showed up from nowhere. Seriously, where did the White Fang get this many people? They had taken out twenty and more were coming. She swung her scythe in a broad arc, trying to knock away the grunt squad. It worked. She activated her Semblance and rushed at Torchwick. She could see Penny rocketing down as well. Torchwick saw them coming, grimaced and fired a flare at the ground, knocking everyone back. The noise and light stunned Ruby for a few seconds. When she could focus again, she saw Torchwick flying away in another Bullhead, and heard police sirens. She looked around at her tired teammates (and Penny and Sun), the unconscious grunts, and the bullet holes, blast marks, and melting chunks of ice dotting the area. Oh no, we're going to have to explain this.
Ozpin (1st Person)
I sat down in my chair. It had been a long night. I thought about my debriefing of Miss Belladonna while I swirled my cocoa. Then a message popped up on my scroll.
Qrow
Queen has Pawns.
That was worrying. Salem had agents in the city. Perhaps the ones who attacked Amber…
The next message - or more accurately, who it was from - made me sigh in frustration. How did I forget to tell Qrow…
Azure
No, they're more like two knights and a bishop.
Qrow
?
Azure
Also, the bishop is looking for a promotion to queen. The Wicked Witch of the West is more of a king, using standard chess motifs; slow moving, most important piece on the board, but can't be captured. Queens are fast and can go anywhere, but can be taken out like any other piece.
Qrow
How did you get this number
Qrow
And how do you know about her?!
Azure
The same place I got the name Scarecrow for you, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for Ozpin.
Qrow
Oz who the fuck is this guy?
Azure
Language!
Ozpin
An ace in the hole.
Azure
Stop mixing metaphors, unless the game has switched. Then again, I like Risk more than Chess or Poker. It's like Remnant: The Game, but with less unit variety and cards.
A/N: The short version of why the White Fang had so many more people this time is that they wanted to be able to try and win a shootout like the one mentioned in the last chapter. Also, sorry this is late, I have a lot less time now and wasn't able to write for a full week. To Be Fixed this summer.