"Come on, boys!" Torchwick said. "Get a move on! We don't have all night!" He walked around, twirling his cane as he oversaw the theft of the Dust. He was scanning the area to make sure that no one was going to interfere with their plans. Then he noticed someone standing on one of the roofs. "Look alive, boys! We have a visitor!"

He aimed his cane at the roof where he saw the shape of a young woman. The cap of the butt popped up and he fired off a Dust round. She made no effort to get out of the way, and the roof exploded when the round collided with it.

Blake and Sun had gone down from the roof when she left a Shadow. By the sound of that explosion, the bait had worked. Blake had a clean view of the man instructing the White Fang. She just needed to go for it now. Then she'd get her answers.


Ruby had been walking with Penny for hours now. She was exhausted, but she didn't want to give up yet. Then there was a loud boom. The two of them looked in its direction and saw billows of smoke rising.

"Oh, no…" Ruby had no idea what had caused that explosion. She still had to look for Blake, but whatever was going on there, it couldn't have been good. Ruby just stared at the pillar for a good minute, weighing her options.

"Ruby? Are you okay?"

"Penny, I'm going towards the smoke! I have to see what it is! It's probably dangerous, so you don't have to go with me. If you decide to, just be very careful. I might have to fight."

"Roger, Ruby! And don't worry if we have to fight, because I'm combat ready!" Penny said, saluting Ruby. The two girls started towards the source of the explosion, not knowing that their destinations old and new were one and the same.


Weiss had sat on the stairs reflecting that afternoon. With Yang at her side, she felt much better. Much more comfortable. She hoped that Blake was okay. That Ruby's search for her was going well. Then there was an explosion on the other side of the city.

"What was that?" Yang asked.

What was that, indeed? Weiss shot up, her eyes wide. "Yang, I think we need to go."

"Huh? Why?"

"What… what if it's Blake?"

"What would she be doing in an explosion?"

"That's by the harbor we were at earlier today. All big Dust shipments have to go there first to be processed! Maybe she-"

"Went there to see if anyone would try and take them?" Yang shrugged. "I really don't see how you got there, but if you want to check it out, we may as well. Being a depressed girl on a staircase and her babysitter wasn't going to find Blake any sooner."


Blake ran forward as fast as she could. The man and the White Fang members all turned to her when she appeared before them. Before any order could be given to stop her, she was on the man. She rolled behind him, leaving a Shadow. He swung at it, but Blake had her sword pressed against his neck at that point.

"Oh, for the love of…"

"Brothers of the White Fang!" Blake called out. "Why are you working with this scum?! What happened to the frustration you felt with humanity that you're working with a criminal like this? This isn't what we stand for! This isn't what we want!"

"Oho! You didn't get the memo, did you, dollface? The White Fang and I are going in for a joint business venture together."

"Tell me what it is, or you're dead," she whispered, voice cold as ice.

"Even if you do that, you're still going to have to deal with all of your buddies here." The air started whirring above them, and more airships landed on the dock. "And all of our late arrivals, too! Do you like those odds?"

Blake was terrified at just how many of them there were. How many of the White Fang were involved in this? It was a happy accident, but Torchwick knew that Blake was distracted by everyone else who had shown up. Torchwick stomped on her foot and rammed his head back into hers. As Blake reeled, Torchwick ducked away from her sword and smacked her away. He kicked her away and lifted his cane.

"Leave her alone!" Sun had one of his guns pointed at Torchwick.

Several members of the White Fang all trained their guns on Sun.

"You are not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you kid?"

Torchwick fired his cane at Blake as the White Fang fired on Sun. Sun put his hands together and two golden clones bled out of him. He hopped up and the clones propelled him up. The White Fang's rounds hit the clones and they exploded. Sun landed behind some of the White Fang, brandishing his bō staff.

The White Fang was too slow for Sun. He batted them all aside with his staff, slipping past them and their attacks like a slick eel and dancing around them like he was in a dance club.

Torchwick continued to fire on Blake, forcing her to dodge the explosions resulting from his shots. Then more of the White Fang started to encircle her. Satisfied with himself, Torchwick started heading for one of the airships. With those two there, the heist had already gone up in smoke. Best to get out now to fight another day. Before he could board the airship, something flew past. The rush of wind that followed it knocked Torchwick off his feet, as well as all of the White Fang members near him.

Torchwick picked himself up off the ground and saw a face he hadn't seen for a few months now. The little girl with the red hood and the scythe again. This was supposed to be a simple job. How the hell had it gone so wrong?

"Why hello, Red!" Torchwick said. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"The White Fang…" Ruby said, ignoring Torchwick. "What are they doing here?"

"Ruby!" Blake shouted.

"Blake! You're okay!"

"We can talk later!" Blake pointed her katana at Torchwick. "He's their leader! Stop him and we can learn something about whatever's going on here!"

"On it! I'll hold off the small fry! You go after him!"

Ruby thrust Crescent Rose into the ground and started shooting. When one magazine was emptied, she loaded in another one and continued covering Blake. Torchwick pointed his cane at Ruby. When he fired on her, Sun jumped in between them, deflecting the shot with a spin of his staff.

"He's mine!"

Blake dashed in front of Sun and charged at Roman. Blake was undoubtedly quick. Torchwick, though, was astonishingly agile. He only got a single hit or two in, but he moved with enough speed that not even one of Blake's attacks met their mark. Even when she used a Shadow to get behind him, he was still able to react and protect his back. After making one of her Shadows, Blake felt her Aura breaking. Had she really burned through it that quickly? He broke through Blake's defenses, knocking her away.

Before he could follow up, Sun swooped in. He had decoupled his bō staff into its two component nunchucks. Just like Blake wielding both sheath and sword, Sun was using two weapons. Still, Roman held his ground. Then Sun started shooting. The young faunus fired a furious flurry of shotgun shells at Torchwick point blank, but he came out of the encounter without a single singe on his pristine white coat.

It was all so fast, and furious. It was exhilarating, and the fact that they hadn't left a mark on him had Torchwick's ego through the roof. Just as he started laughing, satisfied with himself, Blake hit him from the side, sending him flying.

Torchwick saw the two approaching him, then he looked up. Someone had left a crate of Dust attached to a crane. Whoever it was, they probably weren't being paid enough, to leave something that dangerous just hanging up there. Torchwick pointed his cane at it and fired. The explosion destroyed the cable holding it and the crate came crashing down. Blake and Sun had to roll out of the way to avoid being crushed, and Torchwick used the opportunity to run.

"Ruby!"

Ruby swung Crescent Rose, smacking away a series of grunts with its snath before looking behind herself.

"Penny?! Where did you come from? This place isn't safe!" Ruby heard the whirring of an airship engine, and she saw even more of them approaching overhead. "This isn't good…"

"Don't worry, Ruby! I'm right behind you!"

"It's fine, really! Just go somewhere and-"

Ruby turned to Penny again, and there were swords floating behind her. There were a dozen of them at least. Where had they all come from? The blades started rotating before Penny, a green light coalescing at their center. Penny snapped her fingers, and the light shot forward into the air, cleaving the airships in two.

Penny rushed forward as one of the airships began to lift off, lifting up a crate of Dust. With a swipe of her fingers, the blades flew through the air, cutting down whoever was in her way. When she had a clear shot, several of her blades shot up at the ship. When they connected, the ship stopped rising. Penny shifted as if she was tugging on a rope, and the ship crashed down into the dock, exploding on impact.

Torchwick had since boarded an airship, and it was leaving in all of the confusion. He looked on in disbelief at whatever it was that was going on down there.

"These kids are getting weirder and weirder…"

With Torchwick's ship gone, his mission was over, an abject failure. The members of the White Fang he had left behind didn't have much choice but to surrender. With the explosions, it was only a matter of time until the police arrived.

Ruby, Blake, and Sun were sitting on some crates after the ordeal. Ruby had wanted to tell Blake that Penny helped her, but when she tried calling her, she was nowhere to be found. With how Penny performed at the end of the battle, she probably wasn't too bad at taking care of herself. Ruby was worried, but not as worried as she would've been before seeing whatever it was she had seen.

"I want to thank you," Ruby said to Sun, "for helping Blake."

"Couldn't just kick back when I saw someone crying in an alley. That's just weird."

"I wanted us to leave our weapons, but I guess it's a good thing Weiss said we should take them, huh?" Ruby asked. "She's been really obsessed with this tournament…"

"We… never got those tune ups she wanted, did we?" Blake asked. "I guess we're going to need to come back at some point. Well, if she still wants me around…"

Ruby hadn't seen Weiss all afternoon. She wanted to tell Blake that she was sure Weiss would want to see her again, but even she couldn't be sure of that.

"Ruby! Blake!"

Yang and Weiss were running towards them. Glynda was stomping behind them, and she clearly wasn't in a good mood.

"Yang!" Ruby waved at the two of them.

"Weiss…"

The two of them stood up, not sure what to expect from Weiss. Yang reached them first, but Weiss pushed right past her and wrapped her arms around Ruby and Blake. She was sobbing.

"I'm so glad to see the two of you safe and sound!" She let them go, and focused her attention solely on Blake. "I'm so sorry, Blake. I really am… I've been a terrible teammate, and an even worse friend. I hope you believe me when I say that I'm so relieved to see that you're okay!"

"Unless you're that good of an actress, the tears are really convincing." Blake said.

"Now isn't the time." Weiss wiped her tears away. "But I want to talk to you sometime soon. I think we need to, really."

"Yeah… you're right."

"Ruby Rose! Blake Belladonna!" The two stood at attention at Glynda's booming voice. "What were the two of you even doing out here this late?!"

"Um, with all due respect, ma'am!" Ruby said, arms firmly at her sides. "I saw an explosion, and I really wanted to check it out, in case people needed help!"

"And you, Belladonna?"

"I thought I saw some suspicious people, so I went to investigate, ma'am."

"Well, I suppose the initiative is commendable…" Glyna said, massaging her temples. "We'll discuss this in more detail later. You're too young to handle these sorts of things all on your own. And you, young man!" She turned to Sun, who tried slinking away from the group. "An instructor from Shade mentioned that one of their students had gone missing. A monkey faunus. This is where you've been the entire time? You're coming with us, too!"

"I guess trying to get away would only make things worse for me, huh?"

"The fact that you've even dare ask that… follow me. I've procured transportation to the air dock, then we're heading back to Beacon. Get your rest, and then we can discuss this in the morning."

The girls followed after Glynda, Sun in tow. Yang wrapped her arms around Blake and Weiss's shoulders, and the two smiled at each other. The first step towards reconnection had finally been made. Or maybe it was more appropriate to just say 'connection'? Either way, their room was probably going to get more lively and feel a bit more homey once the two of them got to spend some more time together, now that they both seemed ready and willing.

The last few weeks had been busy. They had been stressful. Starting at Beacon so early, and having so much responsibility thrust upon her shoulders was exhausting. Ruby liked to think that she was getting used to it, though. Even then, she desperately wanted a break. Summer vacation was coming up, but it couldn't arrive soon enough.


With this, the first part of Volume 1 ends. I'm giving myself a limit of two volumes per kingdom, and with the Beacon Arc being Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of the show, I had to shuffle things a little bit and cheat, hence Volume 1 Part 2. The next chapter won't be Volume 1 Chapter 10. It'll be Volume 1.5 Chapter 1.

The idea of Volume X.5 is mainly to act as buffers of sorts between each volume, or in the middle of, if it's appropriate. They are not intended to be supplementary or filler, or anything. You could skip them, but I'd advise against it. They're there to introduce concepts and characters that will be important, or flesh out existing characters, in between the major parts of each volume. They're short story arcs, or collections of a single chapter or two about some character that's important, rather than something like the nine chapter arc Volume 1 Part 1 was. Volume 1.5 will be the summer vacation leading into the second semester that Volume 1 Part 2 will cover, Volume 2.5 will be bridging the gap between the end of the Beacon Arc and the start of the Mistral arc, and so on.

If you don't want to read about any specific character, for whatever reason, here's some brief synopses about what'll be going on with them, so you can just skip one of the next six uploads. The order they're mentioned is the order their chapter will be uploaded in.

Ruby/Yang - Going to an amusement park with Taiyang

Weiss/Blake - Spending the day together to bond after the events of this chapter

Blake - Going home to Menagerie for the summer, as she mentioned

Jaune - A family trip to Argus for his nephew's birthday

Pyrrha - Spending the day with Jaune while he's still in Argus
Ren/Nora - A few summer jobs the two get while still in Vale