All Characters belong to RoosterTeeth etc.
Even though classes had started back up Ruby still took the time to make sure the team was properly bonding as she made them play Remnant the game. It was this fascinating little mind game that allowed you to pick apart your opposition both psychologically and emotionally so it was a big game in the Fall-Rose household. Thought like always there was one Faunus member who didn't really understand how to play and another woman who was trying but was hardly able to scrape together a solid understanding. Eve, not used to playing games like this, had her cards exposed in front of her as she tried to get a grip on the situation, while Weiss was more guarded with her hand as she was mimicking Ruby and Cinder.
The battle of wits was epic as the two sisters were as usual not playing for fun but for reward. Cinder was cheerfully smiling to mask her evil intentions as she plotted loudly, Weiss noticed how she always did this to prevent Ruby from reading her like a book. Though this made the onlookers both concerned and confused as they were unprepared for the devastating mind games these sisters played with like they were dolls. The time finally came for Cinder to attack as she had weaved the web of disaster around Vale, "I deploy the Mistral Naval Fleet to attack the Vale Sea Wall, and with Mistral's two hit bonus I can attack again in the same turn allowing me to simultaneously launch the Mistral Tank division to destroy Beacon Academy. You're soon run out of fresh huntsman and huntresses to fortify your lines, it looks like this is the end young one."
"A devastating attack indeed, but with only your infantry left to defend Haven academy then I think it is time I claim that for myself. I activate the card Traitorous forces, which for the next 2 turns converts any non-mechanical human forces to my side along with any territory they are holding. But that is not the end of my turn," Cinder's eyes went bugged as she listened to her sister's scheme to take over the board, but Ruby just has the confidence of someone with significantly crazier hair, "I then play the Revenge Counter trap card which allows me to deploy forces directly to where I have been last attacked. This means I am able to destroy your tank forces around Beacon while bringing my Navy back from Patch to surround your Naval Fleet. Our fleets have equal stats after the repair disadvantage which means that I have to leave the fate of your fleet up to the roll of the dice."
"Correct but if you roll 5 or below your forces will be destroyed instead."
"I already have a contingency as Eve signed Vacuo over to me, which allowed me to relocate the Vacuo Army within one space of your fleet. It is only a matter of this turn or next that your forces get destroyed." Cinder took this soon to be defeat with grace as Ruby was a clever tactician, but Cinder only ever pretended to be graceful so she could stall for time while making a treaty with Weiss. Weiss had no idea what was going on. Although Ruby's attempt at world domination was only background music for team JAME as they studied.
Well studied is a strong word as Mercury was looking at a comic book, while Emerald was reading a book the size of her head about being more outward. Jaune was looking at several old dusty scrolls with fighting techniques with Arslan meditating while she judged him. Cinder had taken to training him but they were far too different physically so Arslan had to be the bigger person and train his muscles while Eve taught him swordsmanship. Arslan didn't train him in the art of the sword obviously, as that was still a mixture of Eve and Cinder, but she was training him to be able to take a hit even without his aura. Cinder had just dumped a bunch of scrolls on him to play a children's card game with Ruby. The one thing she dreaded was when he looked up and asked her, "Do you know how to do this?"
"Not in the slightest." Good on her to just rip the band aid clean off to prevent him from asking again. Eve walked over and looked at the posture of the scroll and was just as puzzled as Jaune. Eve was the least suited to teach but she still did it anyway.
"Perhaps you put your sword on a rope and swing it, maybe like a whip." This little tidbit of insanity made Arslan actually look at the scroll to see the figure wasn't wielding a sword. Jaune argued aloud about that being a bad idea.
"I don't know if that's what he's doing…"
"Probably cause he's wielding a guandao," Arslan scolded them before she turned back to her meditation. Eve was perplexed and tried to engage when she was cut down by Arslan telling her, "Shouldn't you be losing a children's card game about now?"
"I don't think so…" Eve scratched her head when she turned back to her team, "I'm not used to playing card games where I don't bet my clothes for someone else's amusement but I think I sold my forces to Ruby at one point."
"I'm not sure if I want to side with you." Weiss said as Cinder pleaded for an alliance.
"I understand how you think siding with me in a losing battle is a long shot, but I would also like to say that if you don't Ruby wins and we won't be able to go to the dance." Cinder declared with a sure fire reason for alliance as Ruby went to defend herself.
"Alleged world domination, and I said I will not be going to the dance. I do not care if you go one way or the other."
"Is that why you're playing this ridiculous children's card game?" Weiss gave Cinder the look of disapproval.
"Yes, essentially. But the alternative is lying to her and then running the risk of her burning something down the day of." Cinder lowered her head while raising her eyes to Weiss to give the horribly untrustworthy trust me look. Weiss had the choice to either help in the attempt to make Ruby do something she doesn't want to do or to lose a children's card game. Weiss sighed as she shook her head and agreed to Cinder's help.
"Fine, do whatever you need."
"That means I gain the Atlas fleet allowing me to bomb your Vacuo forces. Along with the Mantle repair bonus which allows me to speed up the repair time of my Naval fleet returning it to peak performance."
"Not so fast Cinder. Repairing your fleet activated my trap card, Deadlock Impasse which raises my fleet's strength to match yours," Ruby declared as she was certain she would win, "Using the Mantle repair bonus on your naval fleet prevents you from repairing the Atlas armada anytime soon. This means that the roll of the dice will decide who wins or loses this campaign."
"That's a chance I'm willing to take." Cinder said as she glared heavily at Ruby while she rolled the dice. For once the table was dead silent until it was broken by Trifa hitting on Eve.
"So what are you doing here? Reading I do that all the time-"
"Quiet we're watching the battle of wits between sisters." Eve silenced the poor girl as she ignored the attempts at flirting. But when the dust cleared it became clear who the winning sister was when Ruby rolled a nat 1 and was left hanging.
"I am not going."
"Too bad the dice don't lie! I can't wait to make you such a pretty dress and watch as all the guys flounder over you." Cinder gleefully declared, Ruby just narrowed her eyes at that statement having no interest in guys floundering her. Cinder was doing a terrible little victory dance as she cheered herself on, "This makes it 534 to 416."
"534 to 415."
"I won the first 2 you don't get to not count them because you were too young to understand." Cinder stated as she leaned over the table while jabbing her finger in her sister's face.
"I would, but then you hate it when I bring up the losing streak you suffered after."
"Shut up I was 10!"
"And I was 4!" They were going head to head now only seconds away from going for the throat. Weiss was the only one to notice the nearly 6 year difference between the sisters. If Cinder was supposedly 18 then Ruby would be 12 and Weiss was sure she wasn't. Or at least she hoped she wasn't because that means Ruby was already larger than her and still had time to grow. Eve however was having her attention drawn away by Trifa telling her about the Faunus gatherings in Vale.
"I hear rumblings on the street that say the White Fang is openly recruiting. We should go put a stop to that." Trifa was trying to draw the attention of Eve but was only getting static when Illia told on her.
"Still acting like a superhero, haven't you gotten in enough trouble at Haven?"
"No! They've never been able to prove it was me! And anyway Salamander Girl has never proven herself as a trustworthy sidekick unlike Bullhead here." She said wrapping an arm around Eve while using the other to ruffle Eve's hair causing the hat to fall exposing her horns. Eve just glared piercing blue daggers through the shorter girl with malicious intent.
"Don't ever call me that again." She looked to team JAME where only Mercury was surprised by the horns. Mercury looked to the other members of her team as she tried to see if they had seen but they all looked less than interested.
"She didn't wear a hat the entire beach trip and you are surprised she has horns?" Emerald commented. Mercury slowly pieced together the information as she realized how she hadn't noticed. After several moments of realization Mercury deduced that Eve was in fact a Faunus, but by the time she finished everyone was gone from the library and it was dark out.
Having collected dinner for the team Ruby and Cinder were still arguing as they walked through the halls with it clear that only one of them was really invested, "I just think going to the dance will help you grow as a person. You'll see people in a new light. You'll have plenty of fun dancing, maybe even with a boy…"
"I hardly think Jaune wants to have me step on his toes for several minutes," Ruby gave the side eye to her sister as she was sure the real objective was yet to be revealed so she had to ask, "And the real reason you want me to go?"
"It is a sister's job to make sure her sister at least goes to one dance," Cinder said clear as day walking forward, "And since I'm organizing it you're going. It will be a good memory even if it's not fun in the moment, and isn't that what sisters are for? Making memories." Ruby wanted to argue but if she did then she would have to remember this conversation so she just remained silent as she plotted to run away from her sister. When her scroll rang that gave her the perfect opening allowing her to dump her tray in Cinder's hands to check it. It was from Weiss, 'Urgent team meeting,' Ruby was the only one who could call team meetings. Ruby just turned to Cinder who was struggling with the two trays of food and without a second though she did what any sister would.
"Team meeting gotta go!"
"Wait! Get back here you little-" Cinder never finished as Ruby was already darting through the halls. Ruby was free when she rounded the corner and crossed several dorms hallways, she could make it there quickly if she ran through them at top speed, great sentiment until you run into an exchange student. Ruby was knocked down as she debated if she hit a brick wall and was desperate to keep her eyes closed to not acknowledge her failings. But when no words came she opened her eyes to see a tall redhead looking down at her. The Scarlet haired tiara just looked at her with a mix of annoyance and disdain as she rubbed the part of her leg Ruby collided with. Ruby got to her feet intent on running away without saying anything, when as she turned to run she found herself running in place.
"It is impolite to run into someone and not say anything."
"Well as you were not saying anything either I assumed that you wanted me to leave posthaste." Ruby said as she turned back around and did a curtsy to the princess only to see the full team. A tall guy with a pink strand of hair, a small orange gremlin, a gyaru with the mane of a lion and the tall scarlet haired tiara. The orange gremlin giggled when she watched Ruby curtsey, but the scarlet tiara looked terribly angry even if she was extending a hand when she asked Ruby a question.
"Do you not know who I am?"
"I assume a princess of some sort. But we already have one of those, so we do not need you." Ruby said as she felt her belt buckle getting pulled back to the girl. She looked like she had a fire in her eyes while she clenched her fist. But the gyaru stepped in and held back the taller girl when she moved to introduce them.
"That's fine I'm just glad you won't be trying to steal ours," the blonde had a strong look yet soft personality as if she was the big sister that really cared instead of a manipulating witch, "I'm Yang Xiao long. Leader of team YPRN (Yarn), that's Ren and Nora." She motioned to the other two without specifying which was which before she moved onto the scarlet tiara but she never got to finish when Cinder answered for her.
"Pyrrha Nikos, 4 time champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament." She paused or more really she adjusted the trays into Ruby's hands. But when Cinder finished she looked back to the champion and tried to annoy her even more, "But most people know you for being the mascot of a cereal brand."
"Well they only pay star athletes for those roles, and who might you be?" Pyrrha practically said through her teeth.
"Cinder Fall, 1 time Vale Regional Tournament Champion," Cinder said as she took Pyrrha's hand and shook it, "I guess you're here for the Vytal tournament, after all gotta prove to your sponsors that you are the best."
"Excuse me if I don't recognize you." Pyrrha said as she calmly shook the hand of a rival, "and I'm to assume this is your sister, Red Fall. She looks a little young to be at Beacon."
"Well Red is a prodigy after all, as the only reason she wasn't reigning champion was that our mother didn't want to drive for something as petty as glory fighting."
"Just as well I'm sure that losing the title of prodigy would be devastating to someone so young."
"If you two can refrain from treating me like a prize horse that you want to beat to death, that would be great." Ruby chimed in to no avail as the small orange gremlin wandered over to Ruby.
"Does the cafeteria serve pancakes?"
"Not at night." Much to Ren's dismay she would not be getting her pancakes tonight. Though their conversation was short lived when Cinder and Pyrrha's insult parade came to an end.
"Well I can't wait to see you in the tournament. I'm sure you will give a lovely show."
"I'll try to wait for you in the finals," Pyrrha added as she broke off the handshake finally, Cinder took great pride in that fact. Cinder also made it a point to walk straight through them as she led Ruby passed the tall Pyrrha. Only to be stopped by Yang.
"We've been wandering for a little while now and haven't been able to find our dorms, You wouldn't happen to know where they are? " Yang asked as she raised the team's room number only for Cinder to barely look at only to immediately ward her off.
"Oh I'm sorry. This place is like a maze and I only know the route to my own dorm, but if you go to the secretary headmistress' office then I'm sure she will lead you through the dorms." Cinder said with a smile as she led Ruby around a corner before she leaned over and said to her, "Do you think Neo will be as helpful to them as she is to us?"
"Thanks," Yang said as she made her way out of the maze of dorms, "for nothing. I mean she didn't even look at the number."
"I don't like them."
"Save it, now we have to go find this secretary headmistress." Yang hated to be stuck acting like a child in this hormone filled enterprise of 'higher education'.
Back in the dorm room Eve was debating whether she should help Trifa when Weiss noticed her friend's inner turmoil, "What seems to be on your mind chum?"
"Wha-" Eve gave Weiss the look you give your dumbass friend who uses terrible lingo unironically, "No I'm fine. Are you having a stroke? Do I need to go get a doctor?"
"What? No! I'm fine. I'm just worried about you. If this is about the White Fang then I'm sure you should talk about it with your team and friends," Weiss said as she placed a hand on Eve's shoulder as they were level with each other. Eve sighed as what her teammate said was true.
"Alright. Step down and we can talk about it." With her agreeing to talk Weiss stepped off the chair and sat on her bed to talk to Eve. Eve followed her and sat right next to Weiss, a little closer than the pale girl would have liked but that wasn't important.
Eve felt responsible the actions the White Fang are taking after she was a part of it for more than a little while. She had to stop whatever they were planning even if it was just a riot. She hoped it was just a riot, "I'm worried what the White Fang will do next..."
"You can't blame yourself for what those terrorists do..." Weiss was conflicted on this subject as on one hand she thinks anyone who associates with them is by default a terrorist but then again Eve was just indoctrinated thanks to the honeyed words of a recruiter. She hoped and hesitantly said, "But I think they need to be stopped..."
"But how, they are a massive organization and I'm just a single small person who's all alone."
"Really you think your small," Weiss said giving a look over the taller girl who was struggling to fit under Ruby's bed without hunching her head, "Even if you were small, you aren't alone. It may not be in your nature to lean on anyone, but I want you to trust me when I say you can lean on me." Eve looked at the Schnee thinking this girl would have to be nuts to help, "Even if it is just us we can bring down the White Fang, I won't leave your side until we do!"
Eve looked at her like she was the sun all bright and annoying, but at the same time Eve felt like she had a friend again. Eve and Weiss just sat there staring at each other Eve not knowing what to say while Weiss was terrified of what she would. They were only interrupted by the two sisters entering the room and declaring they had dinner, Cinder was the one who witnessed the scene unfold and made the executive decision, "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you two were making out. We'll come back later."
"What! No that's not- I am- No- we-" Weiss's face was as red as the beach trip. Eve however was as tactful as ever.
"Weiss was just telling me how she won't leave my side."
"Oh, the prude Schnee knows how to drop panties," Ruby said as she dragged a chair in front of the bed and took a seat to get a good view. Weiss however was looking more panicked than ever when she had to declare what they actually are doing.
"I said I'd stay by her side until we defeated the White Fang!"
"Oh, them again," Cinder said as she just finished dragging a chair like Ruby had, "And what do you expect us to do about them? It's not like you can expect a bunch of teenagers to take down a criminal organization on their own." When Cinder was greeted by silence Ruby had to inform her.
"Pokémon trainers do it all the time and they are only 10, but even if we disrupt one rally it does not mean we have destroyed the whole organization."
"It will be a start." Eve said as she stood up valiantly to lead them, but Ruby just smacked her down when she took the position of leadership. Cinder rolled her eyes before they immediately perked up again.
"If we're doing this then we'll need something..."
"Please do not say disgui-"
"Disguises!" Weiss was confused by Cinder's need to make clothes but then again she had an entire wardrobe back at Schnee manner dedicated to copies of the combat dress she usually wears. Cinder however upped the anti when she pulled a trunk from under Weiss's bed which opened up to reveal a sowing station along with every hundreds of types of thread. She however only had a few shades of fabric in stock, which Weiss found suspicious.
"Now don't get mad Ruby."
"I make no promises."
"Good enough, I already made all the disguises."
While making a nice pea coat and scarf was simple it begged the question could she have done more. Either way Cinder was proud of her new outfit. A red pea coat with lengths of black leather dotting the coat, and she may have only had a simple pair of her combat jeans underneath but the best part was the black scarf carefully woven with several layers of dust that glowed like it was already on fire. This out fit had all the class of her typical combat dress with a pedestrian vibe.
Ruby however was trying to free herself from the clutches of being a doll for her sister. Only to be shoved in a set of black overalls that opened up into a skirt then for added insult a red overcoat thrown on top. Cinder was intent on her swapping out the cape for a nice sleek scarf but that was shot down by Ruby who, before her sister could stop her, wrapped herself in the cape. Cinder undeterred placed a pair of ray bans and a baseball cap on top of the exposed head of Ruby.
Much to Weiss's dismay Cinder had prepared a disguise for her as well. It was a large white overcoat with a red lining that made Weiss look and feel like a mafia boss, this was accented by a short blue pencil skirt underneath and a nice poufy top that Weiss pulled out of her closet. Weiss hardly felt disguised so Cinder brought out the floppy hat that made Weiss want to scream. Just for her it had a hole cut out in the back for her ponytail to escape, allowing the white hat with a red band to not break up her silhouette. Weiss's addition was a pair of big rounds sunglasses that scream 'I have more money than you.'
Eve had a fun time getting into hers as it was real clothing instead of an ill fitting sports coat. It was more a turtleneck converted into a coat as it had a off center zipper that went down instead of up. Eve didn't bother closing it passed her abs which left the skirt exposed as it was just a piece of fabric wrapped around her waist that ran short at left thigh and the belt was just as slapdash being a piece of red fabric as Cinder clearly wasn't done with this one yet. The top was done though as Eve's logo was present on her left breast to her shoulder.
When they were all ready and had equipped their weapons Ruby asked the real questions, "What is with all the coats?"
"I got into a rhythm and finished the first three before I realized they were all the same design." Cinder said as she shrugged her shoulders and when there were no more questions she asked, "Now lets go over the plan one more time."
"Or once would be enough," Weiss added in as she fiddled with her coat.
"I'll go check out one of my contacts in Vale and find out if he knows anything," Cinder listed off.
"Ruby and I will go to the CCT tower and get the Schnee shipping records to see how many shipments have been stolen," Weiss added.
"Trifa and I will investigate the White Fang rally to see what they are planning," Eve said firmly as the rest of them nodded before Weiss pointed out.
"Wait, don't you think you should ask her?" A reasonable statement asked to an unreasonable person. As Eve walked to the window opened in and asked the tree.
"Trifa we're going to investigate the White Fang rally."
"Bitchin'." Trifa said as she climbed out of the tree and into the dorm. Weiss had a look of concern as the girl exited the tree and Trifa noticed it so she calmly eased her mind, "Don't worry, usually Eve closes the curtains before I see anything good."
Before Weiss could protest Cinder piped up, "Wait, does that mean that I'm the only one who's going alone?" With several glances from the other people in the room there was a consensus that she would be heading out alone. Cinder however took this gracefully and declared, "Screw that I'm not going stag if you all have dates."
She went across the hall and knocked only for Emerald to open and stare knowing that if she stared to long she would be roped into it, "Jaune your girlfriend is here."
"She's not my girlfriend," Jaune, in his footie pajamas, said firmly as he got up to the door to see Cinder, "Hey babe." Cinder stared him up and down before tossing him a coat.
"I'd recommend changing, but then again I'm sure you've gotten laid a lot in that getup." Cinder said with an evil and manipulative grin as she practically dragged him out of his comfortable bed and out into the streets.
"I may not look cool, but at least I'm comfortable." He said almost standing up to her. Cinder was about to reply but then again the last time she was really comfortable in her clothing was a while ago. So she just kept her mouth shut. He shut the door and a second later he was out in his jeans a white button down shirt and the coat Cinder threw to him. A nice black piece with gold accents on the cuffs and lapel while the inner lining was the same orange as his sleeves. They made their way out of the dorm but were greeted by an exhausted team YPRN being lead through the halls by Neo.
"How's it going? Having fun? Well bye." Cinder made the niceties as quick as possible but was dragged back by Pyrrha as she had a look even darker than night.
"I thought you said the Secretary Headmistress would help us? What is this!" She screamed the last bit as if her final bit of sanity was slipping.
"Well to be specific I think I said she'll lead you through the dorms, not that she'll show you to yours." Cinder countered as Neo stood there as innocent as ever. Pyrrha was about ready to throw hands when Jaune asked the simple question.
"What's your room number?" Yang just shoved the notice into his hands as Yang went to backup Pyrrha. He looked at it for a second before he came to the conclusion, "Oh this one is on the third floor of the east wing. Yeah somebody swapped all the room numbers around so there is no way to navigate. But once you get lost here long enough you start to figure it out."
This quieted the two girls as they were ready to commit a crime or two but with this they all looked to each other before agreeing to listen to him. Pyrrha was the first to speak up when she thanked him, "Thank you -uh."
"Jaune Arc, short sweet rolls right off the tongue. Ladies love it."
"No we don't."
"Well, Jaune I look forward to seeing you around."
"You to miss-"
"The Scarlet Tiara."
"Miss Scarlet Ti- Hey, wait a minute."
"Pyrrha Nikos, 4 time champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament." Pyrrha echoed Cinder's words back to him. If this annoyed Cinder she show it.
"Well, it was nice to meet you Pyrrha." He said as Cinder dragged him away. When they were just out of earshot Cinder couldn't help but comment.
"I could almost see sparks flyin lover boy."
"Because any interaction between people of different genders is considered romantic."
Cinder just scowled at the boy as she lead him through the campus until they got to the parking garage. Cinder got into the Roadrunner and Jaune looked over it like it was the holy grail, "Is this a Plywood Roadrunner? I've only seen these in old comics. Where did you get one?"
"Well I was walking home from work one day and I passed a junkyard that was selling old broken down cars for cheap. So I went through and found the cheapest one. 6 months later we fixed it up so that it wasn't a pile of scrap anymore. Then 2 months later Ruby finished her modding frenzy to turn this thing into a tank," Cinder said as she herself was unclear what kind of car it was, "Now get in."
"So what's on the agenda?" Jaune said as he climbed into the passenger seat.
"The others are already looking into their leads we fell behind when I waited for you to keep me company. Well we have to go interrogate a contact I have, then if we don't turn anything up I don't know; sex in the backseat."
"Cool, cool... wait. WHAT!"
Back again. Next chapter will have the action and the rest of the arc.
I was recently asked what happened to team STRQ, all I can say is it is directly linked to Yang so in 7 volumes we'll get an unsatisfying flashback about how she was treated. Probably not.
Pyrrha finally showed up, can't wait for people to start asking questions. She has the same backstory and everything, if you can't wait to see how this turns out. Well me too.
I recently went through several of the earlier chapters and corrected some of my grammar and messed up lines. So look out. Now the real question is since it's nearly been a year since I started this; do you think I can finish the next chapter by the date and get it out or nah.