Weiss was patiently waiting out the minute left on her holographic clock displayed from her desk in the classroom of Professor Peter Port, whose dialogue was merely background nonsense as Jaune slid up next to Weiss.
"So, Weiss, y'know, uh, I-I was thinking after this, maybe we could go grab a bite to eat?" He asked, turning to the teacher for a second, then turning back around. "And, uh um, 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." He said.
"Spruce Willis, not bad." Kratos said.
"You just like him because he's bald, too." Dante said, earning a growl from his teammate.
Jaune paused for a moment, seeing his words had no effect. "Aaaand maybe after that, we could study together? I mean, you're smart and I'm, uh... Y'know." He said.
"Ooh, he's about to crash and burn." Bayonetta grimaced.
"A nose dive into an explosion." Ryu agreed.
Finally, the clock in front of Weiss gave a shrill beep as it changed from 3:59 to 4:00 and she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. The professor was temporarily unaware of the alarm. Port posed as a towering monster about to attack. "And then I— Oh." He said, straighteing his stance as the students started to leave. "Timed that one wrong, I guess. Well, the stunning conclusion to this story will have to wait. Until next time!" He boasted.
"Can it wait longer than that?" Dante grumbled, the rest of his team chuckling a bit.
Jaune watched Weiss as she packed up her scroll. "Weiss? Did you hear me?" He asked.
Weiss didn't even look at Jaune as she walked away. "No, no, no, yes." She answered his questions in order.
Upon hearing this, Jaune groaned and did a face-plant into his desk. As the rest of Team RWBY walked out of class behind him, Yang ruffled Jaune's hair without even looking. "One day." She said.
"Take these feelings, turn them into anger and use it in training." Kratos told him as he walked by.
We now see a montage of our heroes getting dressed in alternate costumes for disguises. A closeup of Ruby's hands as she straps the red laces of her shoes. Switch to a closeup of Weiss' hand gripping the handle of Myrtenaster strapped to her side. Switch to a closeup of Yang's Ember Celica over her left forearm as she slides the chamber. Switch to a closeup of Blake tightening the black ribbons around her arms. Switch to full view of Team RWBY's preparations, revealing their new outfits.
Team SCRN enters the room, also wearing disguises. Team RWBY was shocked at the level of preparation their friends and/or siblings did, barely being recognizable, while Team RWBY just changed clothes. Dante was now in a long, silver buttoned blue coat with three separated coattails, a navy blue ascot wrapped around his neck, which hangs over a black, sleeveless vest that reveals his well-toned arms and shoulders, tan, finger-less gloves, a brown, snakeskin belt with a silver buckle, dark green pants with a scale pattern running across its surface and tall, brown boots with two golden buckled straps at the top with his hair slicked back. Bayonetta wore a long white wig and a red skin-tight biker suit with angular shoulders and a vertical stripe design. Her Watch is now placed near her left shoulder, black accent stripes near the shoulder seams that follow inward, going down the length of her body, the black stripes also go down her arms, one on each, she now wears red thigh high boots and gloves, also sporting the stripe design. Kratos was now wearing a suit, his normal tattoo was somehow gone and, thanks to a mirror on the back wall, they saw he had a bar code fake-tattooed on the back of his head. Finally, Ryu was wearing a suit that made him look like a humanoid dragon (the dragon muscle suit).
"Wow, guys! Your outfits are awesome!" Ruby said, looking down. "Aww, but now we look lame, cuz' we're just wearing different clothes." Ruby groaned.
"Well, if we're getting in as much trouble as we're thinking, it pays to make sure we don't get recognized." Dante said.
"Don't worry, dear sister. You look fine just the way you are." Bayonetta assured her.
Blake approached her bunk as she tightened her wraps. "I thought that class would never end." She said.
"Port's semblance MUST be dragging out time so he can bore us with his story." Kratos said.
Ruby cheered up a bit, looking down from her position sitting on the hanging bed. "Alright, guys, today's the day! The investigation begins!" She said, happily leaping off her mattress and onto the floor, arms raised excitedly. She almost landed on Weiss, who was on the bottom bunk.
"I'm glad to see we're taking this so seriously." Weiss said sarcastically.
"Hey, we've got a plan! That's... moderately serious." Yang said, shrugging, Ember Celica's chamber rotating on its own
"Right!" Ruby agreed, looking around at her friends and teammates. "Everyone remember their roles?" She asked.
Weiss stood up as the camera quickly shifted left to each member who states their objective. "You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." She explained.
"Dante, Bayonetta and I will scan the city for any crime activity and, if we come across any White Fang members, we'll tail them to try and find their base. Hopefully, we'll be able to recover everything they've stolen." Ryu answered.
"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." Blake suggested.
"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..." Yang explained.
"There's an information broker who knows just about everything about everyone in Vale. He should be able to tell us something useful." Kratos said. (I kinda ran out of ideas for this part. I promise it'll get better.)
"Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found." Ruby said, pumping her fist. "Let's do this!" She cheered.
"Yeah!" Sun cheered off-screen. The camera shifted right to a smiling Sun Wukong as he hung upside-down by his tail in their open window. The whole group was taken aback.
"Sun!" Blake said in surprise and alarm.
"How did you get up there?" Yang asked.
"Ah, it's easy; I do it all the time." Sun explained.
"That's disturbing." Bayonetta said, her and Dante pulling out their pistols.
"You do what?!" Weiss demanded.
"I climb trees all the time!" Sun explained, without reacting to Weiss' scowl, he flipped into the dorm room.
"You BARELY saved your tail." Dante said.
"So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?" He asked
Blake stepped forward at this. "We are going to investigate the situation... as a team... And another team with two of our members' siblings." She said.
"Sorry, Sun. We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." Ruby said.
"Psh! That's dumb! We should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!" He said, gesturing out the window.
The teams leaned out the window on top of one another cartoon-style to see the aforementioned teammate of Sun's standing outside, cool as can be. "'Sup?" He asked.
"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked.
"I have my ways." He said.
"There is something wrong with these two." Ryu said.
The camera panned out to reveal that he was standing on a very thin ledge circling the building under the windows. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now." Neptune asked nervously.
"We honestly shouldn't." Kratos said.
Inside the dorm room, the group was standing in a circle as Ruby laid down the new plan. "Alright, I'll go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake." She started. As she pushed Neptune past Weiss, he slipped her a wink. Weiss looked mildly shocked but then came to her senses quickly, Dante glaring at the blue-haired boy. "And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?" She asked.
"Uh, can't you go with Yang? After all, she is your sister." Neptune suggested as Ruby pushed him, stiff as a board, up next to yang. When she was done pushing him, he rocked back and fourth, looking nervous. Yang put her hand on his shoulder to stop him from rocking.
"But, then, who would go with Weiss?" Ruby asked.
Neptune slicked his hair back at this. "It'd be my pleasure.
"No!" Dante said.
"I'd rather stick with the plan we have now." Weiss said, stepping closer to Ruby.
Neptune put on a suave look and pointed at Weiss as the team leader cracks up. "Hahaha, nah!" Ruby said, Weiss sighing in relief and following Ruby out.
"Let's rock, baby!" Bayonetta said as the rest of the teams jumped into action.
The scene change to that of a monumental tower that loomed over the sparse trees growing around the crossroads below.
"Woooow! I forget how big the Transmit tower looks up close!" Ruby said in awe.
"You should see the one in Atlas!" Weiss boasted.
"That was the first one, right?" Ruby asked.
"Correct." Weiss confirmed. The two of them were seen walking down the path towards the building. "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." She explained.
"Oooh, look at me! My name's Weiss! I know facts! I'm rich!" Ruby acted high and mighty to mock Weiss, snorting into her hands at Weiss' frown.
"Don't be a pest! Besides, the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much! We could have just as easily made a call from the library!" Weiss huffed
"I know, but it's so coool! Ooh, I'm going to take a picture!" She said excitedly, grabbing her scroll from a pocket on her clothes, but in her excitement, the device was launched from her hands, bouncing along the pavement until it landed at Penny's feet.
"Oh!" Penny said in surprise, picking up the scroll and extends towards the clumsy teen. "You dropped this." She said.
"Penny?!" Ruby asked in shock.
"Uuuh..." Penny said, similarly surprised.
"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since that night at the docks!" Ruby asked.
"S-Sorry. I think you're confused." Penny apologized. She suddenly hiccuped, throwing the Scroll into Ruby's hands. "Uh... I've got to go!" She says, turning quickly and walking away.
"What was that about?" Weiss asked, turning to Ruby.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Ruby said, walking in Penny's direction as she shouted back to her partner. "You go make your call! I'll meet up with you later!" She called.
"Wait!" Weiss shouted, reaching toward Ruby, before seeing the futility of stopping her teammate. She lowered her hand and sighed angrily.
Ruby ran up to Penny as she descended the steps until she got in front of the non-eccentric redhead. "Penny! Where have you been? It's been weeks!" She tried again.
"There seems to be a... misunderstanding." Penny said awkwardly.
"What?!" Ruby asked in disbelief. Penny continued to walk away, but Ruby slid down the rail next to her. "Penny... Is everything okay?" She asked. Penny continued forward without reaction. Ruby grabbed her by the arm. "Penny, please stop!" She pleaded, at which point Penny finally stopped and listened. "Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you have to listen to me! Those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big, something bad! I need you to tell me what happened to you that night! Please... As a friend." She pleaded again.
Penny sighed, then glanced to her sides swiftly, she walked over to Ruby's side and leaned in close. "It isn't safe to talk here." She explained, looking around suspiciously, much to Ruby's confusion.
Weiss walked through the grand, glowing lobby of the tower with pride, avoiding the central terminal and heading straight for the elevator doors, which slid open automatically and closed when she was inside. The voice of the CCT AI was projected from a panel near the door. "Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?" The AI asked.
"I'd like to go to the communications room, please." Weiss asked.
"Absolutely. Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?" The AI asked. Weiss retrieved her scroll and placed it as directed. "Perfect! Thank you, Miss Schnee." The AI said gratefully.
Upon the elevator's ascent, Weiss' expressions shifted from pleasant to serious. Upon entering the room, four symbols were seen on a computer - twin axes and wreaths, three flying swords pointing down, a spear and shield inside a fragmented circle, and a precise winged shape. Weiss walked up to the front desk where a holographic secretary appears in the seat.
Beeps were heard before the projection spoke in a polite manner. "Welcome to the Beacon Cross Continental Transmit center. How may I help you?" The AI asked.
"I need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas." She answered.
"Absolutely." The AI confirmed with more beeping. "If you could head over to Terminal 3, I'll patch you through." She said.
"Thank you!" Weiss said happily. Weiss smiled and nodded before walking over to her assigned cubicle-like computer, passing a few Beacon students in uniform - one of which was talking to her mother and asking how things are going back in Signal Academy. She sat at her own display, taking a deep, unhappy breath to prepare for the call ahead.
The face of a short-haired brunette appeared on the monitor with the Schnee snowflake rotating behind her. She did not realize who she was talking to until she looked up. "Thank you for calling the Atlas- Oh! Miss Schnee! Good afternoon!" The operator said, shocked. "Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well." She said.
"No, thank you!" Weiss said quickly, but pleasantly. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list." She explained as she produced her scroll, placing it into a slot on the keyboard, creating a series of noises as the Operator looked at the data from her side of the screen.
"I see. If you don't mind... what may I ask is this for?" The operator asked.
"School project." Weiss lied.
"Um... There are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am." The operator said nervously.
"Well, then, I'll be sure to treat them with care." Weiss said.
"Right... Very well." She confirmed, although still slightly nervous, more noises being heard behind her. "The data is being transferred to your scroll now." She confirmed.
"Wonderful! That will be all, then." Weiss said happily.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go?" The operator asked.
Weiss lost her smile, but quickly replaced it. "Yes, I'm sure." She confirmed.
"Well, then... Have a nice day!" The Operator said, hanging up. The call was dropped, and so too was Weiss' happy act, seen in the screen's reflection.
Kratos looked around to see if anyone was watching, before entering the large apartment building. He had reached the apartment that the info broker, Izaya Orihara, lived in, entering it and heading towards the middle of the room where the broker sat behind a desk, talking to a girl in a black motorcycle suit and a black motorcycle helmet that appeared to have cute little cat ears on it. The girl was clearly agitated, however, slamming her fist on the desk and shoving her scroll right in the broker's face. "I'm sorry to say, I've heard no new information about your sister, transporter. Perhaps you should've kept a better eye on her, she wouldn't have run off with public enemy number one." He said smugly. The girl trembled in anger, before storming past Kratos. "My, my. As I live and breathe. One of the champions of Mistral. To what do I owe this honor?" He asked.
"What can you tell me about Torchwick and the White Fang?" Kratos asked.
"Ah, that's quite the popular subject these days, it'd seem. I'm not really a fan of that organization, so I don't tend to keep a following on them. However, I do know that they seem to have gone into a partnership with Roman Torchwick." He explained.
"I already know that." Kratos said.
"Well, then, why don't you tell me what you DON'T know about the organization and I can fill in the blanks." Izaya smirked.
Kratos growled a bit. "Don't play with me, Izaya. This is serious business. People's lives could be on the line here." Kratos said.
Izaya sighed at this. "Very well. I'm afraid I can't tell you where they are now, I've heard Torchwick is preparing to move his forces Southeast." Izaya explained.
"Thanks." Kratos said, placing some money down and leaving.
However, as he walked through the door, he saw the girl from before standing there. She looked down and quickly typed a message into her scroll, showing it to Kratos. [I heard you're going after Torchwick and the White Fang?] It read.
"So what if I am?" Kratos asked cautiously, ready for a fight.
She quickly typed a new message into her scroll. [Then, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like you to help me find my sister.] It said.
"Your sister?" Kratos asked...
Penny stood alone near a two-story building with patio furniture and she was looking around nervously when a hand grabbed her shoulder, causing her to jump. She turned to see Ruby grinning. She smiled in return. The scene moved to the two strolling down the street. "I wish I could help you, Ruby, but I don't know anything about those men." Penny admitted.
"Well, what happened to you that night? We were all together, and then you just disappeared! Were you kidnapped?" ruby asked worriedly.
"Oh, no! Nothing like that!" Penny quickly assured her.
"Then where did you go?" Ruby asked.
"I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but... You have to understand, my father loves me very much; he just worries a lot." She explained.
"Believe me, I know the feeling." Ruby confirmed. She grinned and Penny grinned back. "But why not let us know you were okay?" She asked.
"I... was asked not to talk to you. Or Team SCRN. Or Weiss. Or Blake. Or Yang. Anybody, really." She explained.
"Was your dad that upset?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"No, it wasn't my father..." She started to answer.
Before she could continue, she and Ruby heard the sound of megaphones announcing something, turning around the corner to look at the platform in the center of a plaza where the holographic image of James Ironwood was seen before six AK-130 Androids, who are in turn standing in front of two large metal storage cases with the spear-and-shield emblem on their doors.
"The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?" He asked, the clapping of the gathered audience caused the drones to take a jerky bow. "But... the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine'... Well, that's just not good enough, is it? Presenting... the Atlesian Knight-200!" Ironwood announced, the doors to the cases rolled up, and six new, bulkier, shinier automatons stood at attention before knocking their obsolete predecessors down to the applause of the watchers. "Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary." He said as the robots flexed and posed as a demonstration. "These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone! Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require... a human touch." He built up the suspense.
The last line drew Ruby's attention. "Ruby..?" Penny asked nervously.
"So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Atlesian Paladin! And the Atlesian Dragon!" Ironwood announced as his image was replaced with two holograms: one of a robotic white behemoth, featuring hinged piston legs, large guns for hands, and a rectangular head, standing at least twice as tall as the Knights below it. The second was a massive drone-like airship with an extended cockpit that looked quite similar to a dragon's head, a large horn-like cannon on each side of the head and the mouth of the dragon was also open, the hologram revealing it to have a powerful laser cannon in it. The top of the ship was also equipped with a number of missile launchers while the underside was lined with machine guns.
"Now, we couldn't have them here for you today, but these mechanized battle suits and air crafts will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!" Ironwood's voice explained.
"Whoa..." Ruby said breathlessly, hunched in awe.
"Ruby? Maybe we should go somewhere else." Penny said in concern. At the side of the stage, two armored soldiers saw Penny, pointing her out and calling in backup. Penny backed away and then broke into a dead run, which snapped Ruby out of her weapon-awe-induced stupor.
"Penny! Wait! Where are you going?" Ruby called after her. Ruby turned to look back at the soldiers chasing after her friend, and realizing Penny's situation, swiftly followed her in an attempt to catch up down the winding alley.
"Down here! She went this way!" The Atlas soldier shouted, gesturing to his partner.
Penny and Ruby ran across the street with the soldiers following them, though a honking car nearly ran one over. He managed to brace his hands against the hood, which somehow stopped the vehicle, and his partner runs along after the girls.
Ruby was still trying to catch up with Penny, but a high stack of crates on a flimsy support was easily cut down by Crescent Rose, causing a wooden avalanche of boxes to block the path. Seeing Penny right ahead of her, Ruby leapt into the air and landed on the alley wall, ricocheting off and grabbing Penny around the middle. "This way!" She shouted, grimacing before the two disappear in a flash of red and rose petals.
Ruby dashed away as fast as she can while carrying Penny, but the strain was too great, and they crashed to the ground a short while later, with Ruby falling all the way into the street. She got up slowly, and in her dazed state, she didn't notice the large truck coming up from behind her until the honking was too late of a warning. She stood up just as she was about to be hit, but from out of nowhere, Penny pushed Ruby out of the way and held her palms out.
In the split second where the two made contact, the ground beneath Penny cracked and crumbled into pieces, and the From Dust Till Dawn truck was lifted a little ways into the air by the girl's sheer strength. She put it down, and the Shopkeep stared in awe at the crumples in his hood, just like the Huntress who got saved.
"Penny..?" Ruby asked, eyes wide, terrified and uncertain.
"Are you okay?" Penny asked the shopkeep.
"Uh-huh..." The shopkeep mumbled, obviously scared. Penny backed away, looking at Ruby's frightened expression, then at the bystanders murmuring to each other in an attempt to understand what just happened. In her panic, she ran from the Atlas soldiers still chasing her down and bumped into Ruby, knocking the poor girl out of her stupor as her friend tried to get away again.
"Penny! Come back!" Ruby shouted as she started going after Penny as the people looked at the destruction Penny caused with her bare hands and the soldiers finding they lost their target.
"Um... Uh..." Penny said unsurely, coming to a stop once she got out of the alleyway, looking around for where to run next.
"Penny! Please! What is going on?! Why are you running? How did you do that?!" Ruby shouted, exasperated, coming up to Penny.
"I-I can't! Everything's fine!" Penny said nervously, but hiccuped with each lie. "I-I don't want to talk about it!" She said, hiccuping again.
"Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!" ruby offered.
"No! No, no! You wouldn't understand..." Penny said, retreating from her friend.
"Let me try! You can trust me!" Ruby pleaded.
Penny finally relented, coming up to Ruby's face desperately. "You're my friend, right? You promise you're my friend?!" She asked hopefully
"I promise." Ruby said softly.
Penny was silent for a second, then, looking down at her hands. "Ruby... I'm not a real girl." She said.
Penny showed Ruby the toll of stopping the truck that would have killed her: parts of her palm's skin have ripped away, revealing the gray metal underneath. Penny stared sadly at Ruby's face, now completely astounded by her friend's secret as all she can simply say before the screen goes black and the credits roll is...
"Oh." She said in shock.
