"Sis, slow down!" Ruby called out as she followed her sister down the halls, skidding around the corner as her sister finally looked back at her.
"Can't, Have Important Stuff To Do." Scythle said as she prepared to shoot down the hall, only for her cloak to quickly get snagged by her sister.
"How is this any more important than your project?" Ruby asked as Scythle began yanking on her cloak.
"Because This Relates To The Plot." Scythle explained. "Think About It, Ruby: I Have Weapons And Powers I Don't Remember Getting, I Also Have Muscles I Don't Remember Working To Achieve, And I Realize All Of This After Getting Déjà Vu From A Performance Enhancing Drug. It All Connects Somehow, I Know It!"
"Then shouldn't we tell-" Ruby began before Scythle finally pulled her cape out of her sister's hands.
"I Can Handle This!" Scythle yelled as she shot down the hall, leaving a trail of purple rose pedals as she left her sister behind.
Once she made it back to their dorm room, Scythle quickly yanked Weiss's painting off the wall and strung up a map of Vale, jabbing tacks into various locations, pinning pictures of banks and Dust stores up along it. The map threatened to rip itself off the wall as Scythle sped away from it, taking steps back to look at the bigger picture she had made, tapping her chin and bottom lip before darting over to a desk to grab a pencil and a ruler. Approaching the map again, she quickly began sketching lines between all the points, nearly tearing straight through the paper before backing away again, looking through all the lines as her sister stared on through the door in utter bafflement.
"Um…" Ruby began as Scythle traced the lines, narrowing her eyes as she tried to piece everything together. "What are you-"
"I'm Trying To Figure Out The Most Likely Location This Guy Could Have Run To Given All Of The Locations The Fake Attacks Have Been." Amethyst sped through the explanation as she pulled out another tack, hovering over the lines before jamming it into the point of most intersections. "Criminals Don't Often Act Far From Their Home Bases."
"… You've committed crimes in multiple kingdoms." Ruby pointed out, entering the room as Scythle began wrapping strings between all the points.
"I Don't Have A Home Base." Scythle said as she bolted to the other side of the room, looking at the map through her squared hands. "Okay, If My Incredible Deductive Skills Are To Be Trusted – And Given My Status As Main Character, They Are – We Should Be Able To Find This Guy And The Plot At…" Scythle bolted over to the map again, smacking her finger against the paper as she shouted loud enough for the entire dorm wing to hear, "Fantasy Costco's!"
"… The Grimm and Graves store?" Ruby asked before Scythle bolted over to her, grabbing her shoulders.
"Don't You See? It's A Front For Criminal Operations!" Scythle proclaimed before wrapping her arm around Ruby's shoulder and pointing towards the map. "Once We Get There, We'll Find Ourselves Locked In Combat With The Criminals Pretending To Be White Fang, And The Explanation Of How This Drug Thing Relates To Me!"
"Sis, I've been there." Ruby stated, glancing over at Amethyst's grin. "The place only has about three employees, and the front window still has a crack in it from that time Yang couldn't get a new die, three years ago."
Scythle held her grin for a few moments before promptly letting go of her sister, slouching her shoulders as she walked over to the map. "That's It, I'm Out Of Ideas." She said before pulling the collection of tacks out of the paper. "I Have No Idea What I'm Looking For Here. I Don't Know How To Track Down Criminals, I Barely Know How To Track Down My Scroll When I Lose It." Scythle was about to rip the map off the wall before she snapped her fingers, a smirk growing across her face again. "That's It!"
"What?" Ruby asked before her sister wrapped her arms around her waist, lifting her up.
"My Scroll." Scythle began explaining. "Our Scrolls Have GPS Systems That Can Be Used For Tracking Them, Right?" Ruby nodded before Scythle finally let her down, pulling out the device in question. "So, I'm Going To Sneak This Onto The Next Fake White Fang Robber We Find, And Use It To Track Them Back To Their Hideout! It's Brilliant!"
"Uh, Ame, I think you're forgetting a few things." Ruby began, "Namely the fact that you need a robber to put it on."
"Relax, They'll Strike Again Soon." Scythle said as she opened her Scroll, quickly pulling up the news.
"Why?"
"Narrative Convenience, Of Course." Scythle grinned as she read the latest news update, before realizing it had nothing to do with the White Fang or anything crime related. "Just You Watch, Next News Update Will Definitely Have Something To Do With Them." As if on cue, her Scroll buzzed before a new update came up on the screen, causing her grin to widen as she began watching the video.
"As an update to today's weather forecast, we are getting reports of-"
"N-Next Next Update." Scythle stumbled as Ruby rolled her eyes. As Ruby turned away from her sister, Scythle looked back at the map, tilting her head as she looked over all the remaining tacks again. She wrapped her fingers around her chin as she approached it, cocking an eyebrow as she looked between all the locations.
"Or Maybe…" She pulled out a marker, quickly looking over the city map before bringing it down at a few locations, marking them off. "If They're Hitting Banks And Dust Shops…" She took a step back from the map as she looked over the three marks she had made, smirking to herself. "These Are The Only Places They Haven't Hit Yet." She pulled up her Scroll again, closing out the news tab and bringing up the messenger. "Ruby, We're Having A Bit Of A Team Outing."
"Why am I doing this, again?" Weiss asked over Scythle's Scroll as the purple-haired girl and her sister waited outside the small Dust store.
"Because You Just Couldn't Find It In Ya To Say No To Me." Scythle smirked, glancing back in through the store window as the sun set over the horizon.
"I told you to buzz off and then Ruby convinced me." Weiss corrected. "What was her argument again?"
"Come on, Weiss," Ruby said into the phone. "This isn't hurting anyone."
"Ruby, it's almost curfew, and they still haven't shown." Weiss argued. "What makes you think they're going to strike tonight?"
"Look, Just Trust The Plan." Scythle stated. "The Sooner We Find These Guys, The Sooner We Can Lay This To Rest."
"I swear to Oum, Scythle, if you land me in detention, I'll-" Weiss began growl before Blake's image came up in the other corner of the screen.
"They're here."
Scythle's eyes lit up as she pulled the device closer to herself as she and Weiss both proclaimed, "Really?!"
"Yep, same fake symbol and everything." Blake said before the sound of Yang's gauntlet's firing blared through the speaker. "I'll try to get my Scroll on him if he makes an escape."
"No, Let Him Get Away." Scythle stated as she and Ruby got up to head out. "I Need To Get To The Bottom Of This, And It's Easier To Follow Criminals Then Interrogate Them."
"Since when did you start making sense?" Weiss asked as Amethyst and Ruby began to pick up speed.
"Me And Sis Will Be There In A Sec," Scythle said. "Just Stick To The Plan." Before Blake could say anything more on the matter, Scythle hung up, already starting to out-pace her sister before Ruby made up the difference.
"I'm with Blake on this one, sis." Ruby began. "Wouldn't it be easier to just capture them and find out where their hide-out is?"
"Not Likely," Scythle began, rounding a corner as she pulled up a map to figure out her course. "If These Guys Are Organized, They Won't Give Us Anything Good." After setting the destination, she glanced back at her sister. "And If They Have The Balls To Fake White Fang Attacks, The Cops Won't Scare Them. Now Come On!"
"Wait! No!" Ruby called out as Scythle burst forward, nearly pulling Ruby to the pavement as she began to gain speed before turning into an ally. "Sis!" Oblivious to her sister's plead, Scythle quickly grabbed a fire-escape ladder and rushed up it, before racing to the top of the building. Once Ruby got her footing, she decided to go with her sister's path and put on her own burst of speed, leaving a trail of red and purple rose pedals across the roof tops and the duo jumped from one building to the next.
Yang fired her gauntlets at the hooded robber in vain, failing to land a hit as he jumped from one wall to the next, digging his metal claws into them as he landed. He jumped down to the floor before launching himself towards the blonde, exposed arms outstretch from his half vest, the metal blade on his tail scraping the floor as he did so, only for her to lean out of the way and attempt to fire another blast at the closer target as he landed. His long tail curled itself, allowing the blade to block the hit before he pivoted around, extending his leg out to bring the back of his heel into her face. Once again, she stepped out of the way, and as he brought his foot down, he pivoted off of it, bringing his other leg up, quickly following the kick with his bladed tail. His foot was easy to dodge, but the blade slashed across her exposed stomach, causing her to stagger back as he spun around and quickly reached for her, grabbing the side of her head before slamming her into the ground.
Lifting himself to the other side of her, he brought the blade up to her back, and the mechanism connecting it to his tail clicked as it primed itself to fire. Before he could, though, a pair of hands wrapped around his throat and his mask, pulling him back as his new attacker tried to pull the mask off. He swung his tail again, bringing the blade up over his shoulder in an ark, attempting to stab at Blake before she swatted his tail to the side, releasing his mask as he began clawing at her hand, giving her a look at the scorpion tattoo wrapped around his left arm. Bringing her arm down, Blake quickly slipped her Scroll into one of his pockets, before the robber grabbed the hand grasping his mask and leaned forward, pushing his tail up to flip the Faunus off of him. He quickly looked up to see Yang climbing to her feet, ready to throw a punch.
He jumped back, flipping over the shot before firing the gun on his tail, producing a loud *BANG!* as the bullets flew through the air at the blonde. She just closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, feeling her hair light itself as she stepped forward. The robber landed in a crouch, lightly scrapping his claws across the floor as he realized what had happened. As Blake got up, he jumped up towards the ceiling, once more digging his metal claws into the material before throwing himself across it, blasts from Yang's weapons following his tail. As he landed by the window, he saw the white glow of Weiss's glyphs as the white-haired girl landed outside, and glanced over his shoulder at the black and yellow pair before once more back flipping out of the way of their shots, whipping his tail around to fire at the two as he landed.
Blake quickly slashed her sword and cleaver to deflect the projectiles, while Yang simply charged forward towards her opponent. He glanced out the window again to see Weiss pointing her sword at him, a glyph lighting the end of it as it glowed with bright blue dust. Ducking under the window sill, he narrowly avoided taking an icicle to the face before glancing at Yang, digging his claws into the floor before kicking himself off the wall. Slashing a shotgun blast out of the air, he reached his other hand out and grabbed a hold of the blonde, using his momentum to once again slam her into the ground before bringing up his tail to block a slash from Blake.
Pushing the blades back as he put Yang into a quick choke-hold, he looked to the window again, seeing Weiss throw the door open as two other figures landed outside. His gritted teeth peaked out from under his mouth as he quickly kicked Blake back before she could strike again. Glancing around the store as Yang tried to pull his arms off, the eyes behind his mask landed on a collection of Dust crystals, and he quickly stood up upon seeing them. Spinning himself around, he threw Yang into the pile of crystals before firing a shot at them, igniting them in a bright explosion. As the students covered and squinted their eyes upon seeing the light, he quickly turned and jumped over Blake, kicking her in the back of the head as he flew by, before digging his claws into the floor once more, and turning to run into the back room.
Scythle didn't waste any time upon seeing the light, and quickly jumped through the already crumbling window, dragging her sister along with her as she looked between Yang and Blake. "You Guys Get A Scroll On Him?" She asked, to which Blake gave her a thumbs-up, clutching her still throbbing head. "Good." Scythle said as she quickly reached into her pocket, pulling out her Scroll before giving the robber chase.
Following him into the back room, Scythle quickly looked around to see a back door open and would have dragged Ruby along with her had she not gained her footing as she raced out it. Stepping out into light of the setting sun, Scythle opened her Scroll and pulled up the map, seeing a black dot moving between buildings. "Not Getting Away This Time."
Nodding to her sister, the two quickly raced out towards the location through the allies, picking up a trail of wind as they pursued him. Quickly making up the short distance, Ruby and Scythle skidded around a corner, aiming their weapons down the alley as they prepared to shoot him.
Instead, they found themselves aiming at the opening to the streets, causing Scythle's eyes to widen as she looked back at her Scroll. "What?!" She snarled, looking down at the map to see the dot move back towards them. She gritted her teeth as she looked around, trying to figure out where he was as she snarled further. "We Should Be Right On Top Of Him!"
"… Maybe we are." Ruby noted as she pointed down the alley. Following her sister's gaze, Scythle found herself staring at a manhole cover, the lid slightly ajar in its hole, causing the purple girl to smirk.
"Clever." Scythle mumbled as she and Ruby ran over to the metal lid, quickly pulling the metal out of the hole as the rest of the team arrived. Glancing back at her team, Ruby gestured for them to follow as Scythle quickly jumped in. The red-haired girl was quickly yanked into the hole, audibly squeaking as she slipped, before her disappearance into the hole was followed by a loud *Thump!* that echoed up through it.
Glancing down, the three saw their leader spread out on top of her sister in the dying spotlight made from the setting sun's light. As Scythle pushed her sister off of herself, Yang began climbing down the ladder before Scythle pulled out the Scroll again and looked over the map. "Don't Suppose Any Of You Have A Map Of Vale's Sewer Systems?" She asked as she began walking in the direction of the way-point.
"Oh, sorry, that was on my Scroll." Blake snarked as she climbed down after them.
"Uh, Am-" Ruby attempted to say to her sister.
"Why don't you have a map of it?" Yang asked, follow the sisters as Scythle pulled out a flashlight, shining it down the tunnel.
"You Don't See The Cool Criminals Using Sewers." Scythle commented. "Mostly Because You Don't See The Cool Heroes In Sewers, Like Glynda."
"Okay, Am-"
"Or Peach." Scythle continued, her voice and footsteps echoing through the tunnels. "Or Ironwood, Or Winter, Or-"
"Amethyst!" Ruby blurted out in a loud voice, catching the group's attention. "It's almost curfew, don't you think we should be heading back to Beacon?"
"Come On, Rubes," Scythle shrugged. "If We Wait Too Long, They'll Find Blake's Scroll. We Might Not Get Another Shot Like This."
"But we'll get into so much trouble!" Ruby pointed out. "Once they realize what we're doing, they'll give us so much detention!"
Scythle felt a shudder run down her spine as she realized where that would lead, and how much of a point her sister had before she turned around and pointed at the group behind her. "You Three!" She commanded, causing the trio to stop in their tracks as Weiss stepped off the ladder. "You Guys Head Back To Beacon And Make Sure They Don't Suspect Anything."
"Thank Oum." Weiss sighed loudly, for once happily going along with what Scythle said as she climbed back up the ladder. "I was already sick of that smell."
"We'll See You Guys Tomorrow." Scythle stated as she turned back down the tunnel. "With Any Luck, They Won't Even Notice We're Gone."
As Yang brushed passed Blake, the Faunus looked back at her partner before turning her attention towards the red and purple sisters. "I'm going with you two." She said to her leader and her twin, making up the pace between herself and the duo.
"Blake, They're More Likely To Notice Three People Missing Than Two." Scythle noted as she looked back at her raven-haired teammate.
"I know." Blake began before sighing. "But they're ruining whatever good name the White Fang has, and they're doing it worse than…" She stopped herself again before pushing out a cold breath, looking up at the purple-haired girl with more pleading eyes. "Please, Scythle, I need this, too."
Scythle silently hummed to herself before sighing. "Fine, Come Along." She said before glancing back at the blonde brawler as she climbed the ladder. "Yang, You And Weiss Cover For Us."
"Roger." Yang began, quickly trying to come up with a joke about how quiet Blake usually is.
"And Keep It T Rated You Two." Scythle called back with a smirk before walking further into the tunnel.
"Oh, screw you!" She heard the duo yell back, faintly making out Weiss stammering as she tried to clarify what she meant as Scythle looked back at the map, seeing how much distance was left between them and the robber as the way-point slowed down. She smirked to herself as she looked between her sister and her teammate following her.
"Alright, You Two." She began, guiding the pair into the shadows of the tunnels. "Let's See Where This Rabbit Hole Goes."
Ruby felt like she was going to throw-up as she and her group continued down the tunnels. Breathing through her mouth rather than her nose helped some, but not much, and pinching her nose shut didn't help much either. Not helping was how long their journey through the tunnels had lasted thus far, exposing her to the noxious fumes far more than she would want. Seeking something to take her mind off how dizzy she was feeling, she glanced at raven-haired teammate. "Hey, Blake."
"For the last time, Ruby," Blake began through her own pinched nose. "I do not have a clothes pi-"
"No, it's not that." Ruby began. "I just wanted to ask, are you sure that was a fake White Fang uniform?"
"Had the symbol wrong, and we didn't make vests like that." Blake said.
"You're sure?"
"Very." Blake stated, turning her attention back to the tunnel in front of her.
"Cause I can't figure out how the rhino guy would have gotten down here if they are working together." Ruby noted, causing Blake's eyes to drift downward in thought for a moment.
"Maybe he jumped off onto something to absorb his impact?" Blake suggested. "Do you remember seeing thrown out mattresses or anything in that ally?"
"… There might have been a dumpster with soft garbage?" Ruby said, sliding her fingers up to the bridge of her nose while still trying to keep the smell out. "I can't really remember. What do you think sis?"
Scythle remained silent as she shined her light down the tunnel, scanning the area before her sister tapped her shoulder. "Sis?"
"Huh, Sorry, I Wasn't Listening." Scythle answered, shaking her head as if she was just awoken from a trance.
"Too focused on the case here?" Ruby asked.
"Nah, I Just Thought The Chapter Ended After I Said, 'Let's See Where This Rabbit Hole Goes.'" Scythle admitted, earning an annoyed sigh from Blake and Ruby. "I Mean, The Author Did For A While, Too. So, Can You Really Blame Me?"
"Whatever." Ruby sighed. "I was just asking if-"
"Hey, Look!" Scythle interrupted her sister, shining her light on a ladder at the end of the tunnel besides a series of pipes running into, out of, and up the wall. She looked back down at the map in her hand, seeing how close the target was as her smirk widened. "This Has Got To Be It! We're Too Close For It Not To Be!"
"Uh, Si-IS!" Ruby stuttered out as Scythle pulled her towards the ladder, shining her flashlight up at a hatch above it as she pocketed her Scroll. "Amy, wait, we don't know what's on the other side of that."
"Answers, That's What!" Scythle proclaimed as she stuffed the flashlight into her belt before climbing up the ladder as quickly as she could. She quickly forced the valve open with a harsh squeak before pushing it up, poking her head out of the hole to see a room filled with various more pipes, dull yellow walls surrounding her.
"Hm." She hummed as she pulled herself in, looking around the room. "Well, On The Bright Side…" She began before taking a deep breath as her sister entered. "Smells Better, At Least."
"What is this place?" Ruby asked as Scythle pulled out her Scroll again, scrolling the map out before cocking an eyebrow.
"I…" She muttered to herself, tracing her eyes across the words on the screen. "I Think It's Some Sort Of Water Treatment Plant?"
"Are you sure you're reading that thing right?" Blake asked as she climbed up, before Scythle showed her the screen. Blake pulled the device at of the purple girl's hand, cocking an eyebrow herself as she confirmed what Scythle said, before looking back at the rest of the group. "This place was abandoned after a Grimm attack. The place was crawling with them, why would they hide out here?"
"Maybe it's a trap?" Ruby asked as Scythle looked over her shoulder, eyeing up the metal door behind her.
Juggling the possibilities of getting mauled by a horde of Grimm, Scythle scoffed before turning back to the hatch into the tunnels. "Great, This Chapter Had Been A Total Waste Of Three-Thousand Nine-Hundred And Forty-Two Words. Now We Need To Figure Out A Cover Up Story For How Blake Lost Her Scroll."
Blake let out an annoyed sigh as Scythle stuck her leg onto the ladder's rung before the Faunus looked at the door, her eyebrows raising as she took note of its shine. "Guys, that's a nice door." Blake said as Scythle began climbing down the ladder.
"We'll Buy You One Just Like It On The Way Back." Scythle snarked as Ruby approached the hatch with her.
"I mean, there's no rust, no dents, no claw marks." Blake went on, causing Scythle to stop in her tracks before sticking her head out of the hole again. Just as Blake was saying, the door looked new, without any sign of damage from any Grimm or aging.
Jumping out of the hole, Scythle rushed over to it, running her hand along it, observing the frame surrounding the door. "Frame's Good, Too." She commented before reaching for the handle, pushing it down before slowly pushing the door open.
Glancing out the crack, Scythle's eyes widened as she saw the rest of the facility. Lights shined brightly overhead, illuminating crudely polished walkways holding thick carpets. The walls were brightly colored blue, as opposed to the withering yellow of her current room. The windows shined in the moonlight they allowed to enter through them, with star patterned, dark violet curtains pulled away from the glass. There were no cracks, no holes, no damage to any of the windows. Any holes in the walls, meanwhile, were in the process of being repaired with plasters and wooden boards.
For an abandoned water treatment plant, it looked very lived in.
"Guys." Scythle stated, stepping into the room, still trying to comprehend what she was seeing. "I Think We Found Their Hideout."
Once again, this chapter was harder to write for some reason. I just didn't know how to get to the next plot point. I didn't feel any of the scenes I was writing, and I was mostly figuring it out as I went before I got what I did. And as Scythle said earlier, I did consider ending the chapter after that scene, because I just couldn't figure out where to go from there. But I decided the chapter would be too short if I did that.
This is also another example of me writing out of order. I wrote this whole chapter not knowing how to clarify what I implied last chapter, that Scythle might have used the drug at some point, before I decided to add a bit before what I had down as the beginning of this chapter, which was when Scythle was putting up the map.
I also edited the gag where Scythle counts the number of words this chapter, 'wasted' twice as I proofread this. According to Word, there is 3942 words leading up to that one line. You can count them if you'd like.
With all that out of the way, sorry for any delays, and I'll see you next update. It's October once more, ladies and gentlemen. Time to go back to my song fic.
