Team RWBY exited the rundown store and once more entered Weiss' car, Francois, his off-road vehicle, and the rest of Team FAKT were long gone. "Alright, ladies, same as it has been all the times we've done this, let's go!" Ruby ordered.
Yang let a slight smirk slip as they reentered their previous seats, Weiss whizzing away from their meeting place. "Alright, so we've got a bit of a ride on us. Who has a good story of their first big score? I'm not talking petty theft or taking a signed, blank check from your mom's purse, I'm talking at least a comma or slightly below the margin. Blake, you're the new girl, you go first." Yang goaded.
"Why does it have to be me? I don't even remember mine." Blake refuted.
"Oh, come on, everyone remembers there first time."
"Except you, when you're black out drunk at a party the year before our last heist went down." Ruby interjected.
"HEY, you know how I felt about Nathan! I only wish I wasn't so drunk so I could remember my deflowering...and not vomiting mid blow job..."
"Oh, for God's sake, did any of us need to hear that?!" Weiss groaned.
"Hey, he was shitfaced too, probably should have washed it before he..."
"Alright, I'll share my first story," Ruby said, "This was when I was trying to keep it secret from Yang so she wouldn't bug or blackmail me to join her. There was carnival in town that spring, I noticed the dunk tank was getting a ton of attention. So, when it got a lull and the guy was counting his stacks, I pulled my hood over my face, put a knife to his throat and told him to give me all his cash. Granted, I was a bit shorter when this happened, so he nearly took the knife from me, until I jerked my arm free and cut his ear off by accident. While he was rolling and screaming, I made off with the cash. Four hundred sixty-three dollars, not much but, hey, I was young, you gotta start somewhere."
"Oh, come on, Ruby, that the best you did? I always figured your first was that bake sale we held up with slingshots and ball bearings. I still haven't heard if that one girl regained her ability to speak without stuttering. Sister bonding though, right?"
"Well, why don't you tell everyone your first, Yang?"
"Well, if you're going to force me to tell it again for your amusement, it was a grocery store. Cute brunette guy about my height now behind the counter, he talked about how he was at the end of his shift and wanting to meet up later. Said he just got done with a nine hour shift and his X-read report said he made over three thousand in cash alone. Me, being the wise business woman I was, shattered his eye socket and ran off with the whole drawer full of cash."
"Seems you missed a spot, Yang."
"Really? You're gonna do this right now? In front of everyone, Ruby?"
"Either you tell the whole story or I do."
"Fine! I gave him my phone number and home address to meet up later. The cops were there by the time I got home. Pissed away three thousand dollars and a month of community service because I gave a guy I robbed all the information he needed besides what gets me the wettest. Moral of the story, girls, don't make rookie errors, even when you're a rookie."
"Wow, Yang, knowing you I'd thought you had more brains than that." Weiss scoffed.
"Okay, smartass, what was your first time?"
Weiss fell silent, stammering at last, "I...uh...I, um...oh, what's the use? I haven't personally ever stolen more than a five from my dad when he wasn't looking. This is my first time. So, go ahead, Yang, do your worst?"
"Pft, ha ha, what?! Are you saying your a thieving virgin? Oh man, gals, looks like we gotta bust through Weiss' thick heist-men. It's gonna be a tight entry, I can tell you that much."
"Alright, enough, very funny, Yang. Judge me when you've gotten yourself a soul."
"Oh, that hit me right in the heart. You know? That organ you sold with your soul for all of your daddy's money?"
"Hey, he all but disowned me and you know that!"
"Sheesh, sorry, Ice Queen," Yang began, looking in wonder at the police line that had formed on the opposite freeway, cars stopped at the precipice of the tunnel and going on for a quarter mile past the entrance, "Ho, shit, that's gonna give us a little help now, won't it?"
"Yeah, it better, every second counts." Ruby added.
"Alright, now back to Blake, what's your first one?" Yang persisted.
"I told you, I don't remember."
"Oh, bullshit, everyone does if they aren't fucked up. Even if you were, you always go with a buddy who fills you in later. So, quit bullshittin' and let's get to it."
"Alright, fine. Sun and I got a gas station for two thousand..."
"Eh, that's not too bad, kid. That's a respectable amount, especially for your first time." Ruby consoled.
"Well, we never saw any of it. I accidentally set off the ink bomb, the money was ruined. Hell, ever since then, I've been stealing cars worth a thousand times that much and barely got a fraction of that in payment."
"Wow, you sure are a wizard, Blake! Ha ha ha, did you get some in your hair and clothes too, you seem pretty attached to black, almost like you can't avoid it."
"Oh, ha ha, thanks a lot, Yang. I've gotten better though, right?"
"Oh, yeah, you do good enough to convince Weiss to let you join, you're good enough by my standards. Man, feels good to don the old Hunter uniform, she really does the girls justice. Oh, and Ruby's looks good as ever in Slayer and Weiss anorexic like a true Vineyard starlet in her Snow Pea."
"At least my breasts aren't my most important quality aside from raging psychopathy and separation issues."
"You know it sweetheart!"
"Hey, your uniforms have names? What do you think mine should be?" Blake inquired.
"Well, since you broke into my house and we first met then, I'd say we call it Intruder?" Ruby replied.
"What, no..."
"I love it! It describes our work and love lives perfectly. Yang the Hunter, Blake the with the surprise intruding thumb in the ass, Ruby the rod slayer, and Weiss, who's so ice cold and with a hole the size of a pea it makes all men wilt."
"Can we can the sex jokes for now, we're here." Weiss asked, turning sharp into the empty parking lot.
"I wonder how the guy's ride was." Blake pondered as they exited the car with their weapons of choice.
10 Minutes Earlier
The men rushed out to Francois' Mesa, Thatch taking shotgun while Konig and Will sat in the back. Almost as soon as they pulled out, Konig began, "Wow, isn't this great?! We get to make a shitload of cash and then we get to bang those broads."
"We never said we were and get your mind out of the gutters, we need to focus on our job and getting out alive. Why are you always in the gutters, pal?" Thatch asked.
"Hey, come on, you saw how that blonde was gazing at me, trying to cross her legs to contain that waterfall between her legs. Hell, that short one wouldn't be half bad, either. Hell, why not both, you guys can double team the ghost and whoever else can have the woman in black."
"Connard." Francois muttered under his breath.
"Look, I can't be the only one thinking it. We're so getting laid, fellas, I can feel it. Hell, by the end of it, they'll be paying me by the minute for this."
"So they won't be paying you at all?" Thatch quipped.
"Hey, fuck you, I got a libido that puts a track meet to shame. I'm better at sex than the fastest runner is at running."
Konig peered over towards Will, the bald man in his Crystal uniform, hands clasped together in his lap, looking at them. He soon realized the eyes on him, glaring up from under his brow at Konig as he gloated, "See, this guy knows what I'm talking about. Hell, you work with that blonde all the time, how many times you tap that? How easy was it?"
Will slowly raised his head, his eyes blazing at Konig as he said in a low, harsh tone, "How did you get this job? No, really, I'm quite interested in how such a perveted moron like yourself could get requested by someone by boss spoke so highly of. You have no clue what we're in for, do you? Well, you better wise the fuck up, son, or you'll die the moment you step out of this car if you take it any less seriously than you should."
"Whoa, jeez, Sergeant Bonerkill at attention, reporting for duty, am I right? He's just jealous because she turned him down. I bet you got a dick almost as limp as min-mi-my dead grandpa, not that I have seen that in a few months!"
Without warning, Will lunged for Konig, wrapping his hands around his throat and looking directly into his eyes with pure hatred, Konig struggling to breathe even more with each second. "Listen hear and listen good, asshole," Will hissed, "you are not going to make one more sexual innuendo or shitty joke again, got it? We are in a very dire situation and my employer is in danger and, when she's in danger, she becomes the danger. And when she becomes the danger, so do I. Then, when danger comes for those who wronged her, she's the one holding the gun. Me? I am the one who knocks! Now, shut the fuck up, or I'll knock on your door tonight, got it?!"
Before Konig could give a fearful nod, Will began to cough, the simple ailment dragging on and sounding like he was choking, sinking back into his seat and cupping his hands over his mouth to muffle it as best he could. Finally, his coughing ceased, the men in front sitting in amazement as they came up on the road block before the tunnel. "Well, I wonder if that's gonna affect the ease we have with this job?" Thatch wondered.
"Don't put your heads in the cloud, mon ami, lest you end up sitting in a puddle of your own piss at the hands of the Chef."
Thatch slapped his knee and let out a hardy laughter, Konig looking out his window and muttering something about the size not mattering under his breath, Will letting a smile cross his worn, aging face. "We are almost there, camarades, we shall tell this day to our children. And our children's children. They will make folk songs out of us, we will become legends of Vale. Mes amis, to glory and fortune!"
"Why are you speaking Spanish?" Konig asked, dumbfounded.
"Wow, a B-plus speech ruined on a D-minus student, this is just gonna be so much fun, I can already tell." Thatch muttered as they pulled into the construction site.
"Alright, la femme en blanc advised us to wait until the alarm went off, then we attract as much attention as possible and head for the mountains, mes amis." Francois ordered.
Konig lugged a massive bag brimming with all sorts of metallic objects from the car, grunting and dragging it along the ground as he struggled with it, Thatch shaking his head and musing, "How the hell did he get this job? I feel like his most marketable trait is getting it all in the toilet and wearing his helmet when he's told."
"We need to work together, people, let's save the insulting for later. Now, how about we get ourselves set up before they're ready." Will stated, hefting a long, thick machete over his shoulder.
Konig went about placing various objects, among them a large police on the car's hood, a pair of metal pads with two-pronged spiraling pieces attached to the top that he fiddled with, and affixing a parachute to his back, one by the rear passenger side and the other by the opening they drove through, shield to his arm, and spear in his free hand. Will looked back over Thatch and Francois, the naval mercenary dragging the blades of his cutlass swords against one another in anticipation, Francois looking down the sights of his musket before turning it over and cheeking its smooth wood frame. His overseeing was brought to an end by the alarm bellowing away down the street. "Alright, boys, show time!" Will shouted, holding the handle of his machete as the blade expanded into a double-barrel.
"Alright, you girls know the drill, get in, and get the hell out as fast as possible," Weiss reiterated, handing them all a White Fang mask, "We still have an identity to hide, you know? Them knowing our faces is damning at this point, let's go.
The women hastily threw the masks onto their faces, affixing them as tightly as they could."You know it, we're all set." Ruby confirmed.
"Alright, what are we waiting for, ladies, let's do this!" Yang cheered, charging ahead with the others on her tail with their weapons ready and bags strapped over their shoulders.
Yang barged through the door and blasted the nearest security cam, the alarm going off the instant she did so. The trio of employees on before her and the two behind the counter all began screaming, those before her falling flat on the ground immediately following it. "We want a few moments of your time. Get down and stay down!" Weiss demanded, aiming her glowing rapier at those on the ground.
"You two, behind the counter, get out of their and join your friends out here," Yang ordered, the man and woman doing just so and joining them on the ground as Yang continued, "Now, this is gonna go one of two ways, so just cooperate and no one dies. Red, go see what the situation is on that vault, Snow and I got it held down here."
Ruby joined Blake beside the vault's entrance, the main door open but a barred door behind it was locked. Ruby aimed her rifle at it and blew the door off its hinges, whistling aloud as Yang tossed her another bag. "Alright, Kitty, let's make this quick." Ruby stressed, charging in and ripping the nearest deposit box open and dumping its contents.
Blake and Ruby went to work dumping the lock boxes into the bags, Yang noticed a police car pull up outside the bank, a duo of officers getting out and ready to approach the bank as they did earlier, on man in a sheriff hat commenting, "I swear, I'm gonna find the guy who made these alarms and fuckin' shoot him."
"Not if I do first." the other concurred.
Yang kicked the doors open, firing a blast at the officers that blew up before them, sending them flying back. The men crashed onto the hood of the car, sliding off and scrambling behind it on hands and knees for cover as Yang shouted, "Get back, we've got hostages!"
"Oh shit," the first cried out, getting on his radio and calling in, "The two-eleven is confirmed, I repeat, the two-eleven is confirmed! We're gonna need everybody on-hand down here, now!"
Yang charged back in to where the others and Weiss had convened, stuffing the last of the cash into Weiss' now-empty bag. "Fuck, they're here already! There's no way we could have beaten that reaction time."
"Settle down, Goldie, we weren't planning on out-running them anyway." Ruby said, pointing to the wall beside Yang.
Yang feasted her eyes upon a pile of black, a smirk parting her lips as she muttered, "Oh, fuck the hell yes. Wait, there's only three, where's mine?"
Ruby stepped toward Yang and said, "I love you, sis," before slapping Yang across the face and shouting, "You useless bitch, it's all your fault if this fucking fails, you hear me?! Go ahead, get fuckin' mad, you're only gonna die piss, you worthless cocksucker!"
Yang shot up straight and glared at Ruby, heaving with rage as she spun and slammed her fist into the concrete wall, blasting a large hole in it before storming out of the vault and shouting, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
"Oh, yeah, now we've got a fighting chance, girls."
"That's our cue, boys, raise some Hell!" Will shouted.
Thatch posted up against a roadblock that parted the wooden wall beside the road, peering up and watching and waiting for a cop car to come screaming by. His wait was ended as the wailing siren of a cruiser preceded itself, giving Thatch more than enough time to stand and take aim, firing the machine pistols in the hilts of his swords and peppering the doors with bullets, shattering the glass and blowing the men inside to death. The car veered off course and sped into the gas station before the street where the women were, slamming into a pump and making it erupt in a fiery explosion. "Whoa, shit, that'll get there attention!" Thatch called.
"That's gonna be the second smallest explosion aside from what I'm gonna fire off into that blonde, who's with me?!" Konig cheered.
"What did I just say?! Try your luck one more time, you failed coat hanger abortion, and see what happens!" Will threatened.
"Merde, we're done if this idiot doesn't shut up or die soon."
Konig cranked the police scanner's volume up as high as it would go, allowing the men to listen into everything the police said, a distressed man calling, "Shit, that was the gas station! Looks like there's a team in on this, we need anybody we can get at this rate to deal with them, I don't like the idea of taking on those people in the bank alone."
"Yes, they're taking the bait! Any moment now, we're getting stormed and heading out, got it?" Thatch asked.
"That is the plan, mon ami, we will fly to where the eagles perch, but only on wheels."
Thatch peered over the cement barricade to see a N.O.O.S.E. van pull up beside him, firing at the first man to exit the passenger seat and blowing his head off before he was forced to duck down under a hail of assault rifle fire. "Konig, help, I'm pinned down."
Konig grinned as he dropped to a knee and rested his spear over the shield, the melee weapon head popping up to form an aiming visor, revealing a barrel hidden within it. "That wouldn't be the first time I've heard that, but it would be from someone who's fully conscious." Konig muttering training his site on the first N.O.O.S.E. agent he saw approaching Thatch.
Konig fired his sniper, the kicking sending him flopping to his back and clutching his shoulder. His shot was true, striking the agent in the stomach and tearing him in half with a gory blast. "We're gonna need more than this if we want to really help them. Come on, men, let's fuck these pigs up!" Will declared from further down the wall on the left of the site, popping out and blasting each nearby agent in the chest and face with a barrel of buckshot.
More cruisers pulled up before the bank, blocking the parking lot off and containing them, an officer on a megaphone declaring, "You're surrounded, so don't think you're gonna get to the airport. Now, let the hostages go and we'll treat you ladies kindly."
The man lowered his megaphone and chuckled, looking around for other officers who were laughing at his comment. He quickly lost his grin when he looked and found the perpetrators, all except for Goldie, clad in thick, bulky heavy armor from head to toe, their masked faces peering out through their reinforced visors. "Sweet...mother of...shit..." the taunting officer uttered.
The armored figure in the center brought a massive red rifle out before her, taking aim at the closest cop vehicle and opening fire, obliterating it and the officer behind it, as well as planting shrapnel into the necks, faces, chests, stomachs, and backs of the half dozen nearest officers. Red cocked her rifle as Snow, trained her fore and middle finger at her vehicle, a small, red glyph appearing over her fingers before launching the vehicle into a cruiser, exploding on impact and crushing the two officers it landed on beneath its fiery husk. "I hated that piece of shit anyway." Snow said, her voice garbled by static.
"Are you fucks done talking yet? Because I came here to push the shit in of every fuck who gets in my way!" Goldie roared, charging ahead of the armored crew.
Two horrified officers behind the currently last intact cruiser stood and opened fire with their sidearms, the rounds harmlessly passing through Goldie, the wounds closing instantly, and screamed as she brought her fist back and slammed it into the vehicle. The punch let off a bright flash as the car skidded ahead, taking the officers with her and crushing them against a building from the waist down, blood spurting from their pant legs onto the ground with strands of intestine peeking out. "Alright, we're clear, go, go, go!" Goldie cried out.
"We're trying, Goldie, this shits heavy as all fuck, Goldie! Give us a minute." Red pleaded.
"The factory's that way, we better hurry down the street or else the cops will block off the highway, then we'll have to find a new route." Snow stated.
As soon as the words left her mouth, an entire platoon of squad cars and N.O.O.S.E. pulled up and blocked off their escape, several more speeding by and heading further down the road. "Well, at least our boys are doing their part. How the hell do we get by them?" Red asked.
"We blast our way through." Snow responded, pointed her fingers ahead and producing another red glyph on it.
The same symbol appeared beneath the line of vehicles, only exponentially larger, and ruptured with such force the end of the street was carved with a deep, jagged crater. The cars were catapulted into the air along with the men flying beneath them, screaming as they crashed down into the treacherous pit, vehicles crashing down on top of them. "Shit, there goes our exit strategy, now what?!" Goldie roared.
"We push on. Look, there's a way, through that apartment complex. Just one more street and we haul ass to the factory, then we're home free." Red instructed.
Their hopes of escape were immediately put on hold as bullets hit the ground all around them, the team looking up and finding a police helicopter hovering over them.
Chef peppered the side of a N.O.O.S.E. van with one shell and blasted another agent's chest cavity open with a fist-sized hole with the other. While he hastily reloaded, he fumbled one of the shells, growling has be bent over to grab it. It was swiftly met with the butt of an assault rifle to the back of his neck, sending him to his hands and knees. "You're mine, asshole!" the agent declared, pressing the barrel to the back of his bald skull.
A single shot echoed out, the sound of the man above Chef gargling making him look up to find him choking on his own blood, his throat blown open. Chef looked over his shoulder and saw Francois smiling at him, commending, "Nice shot, kid."
"It is what I do, cuisener, think nothing of it until we get out of this Hellhole!"
Thatch ducked down and slammed a pair of clips into the pommel of each sword, shooting back up and firing on a newly arrived armored truck, the men inside hitting the floor as soon as a round passed through the heavily dented walls. The ground surrounding it was strewn with a few dozen corpses of the counter-terrorist forces, holes bored through their chests, stomachs, necks, faces, skulls, and limbs, organs, blood, and a few severed limbs covering a few of them. The driver of the still-ocuppied van ducked just as a bullet flew over his head. Fed up, the hunched-over man with an orange mustache grabbed the radio of his truck and called out, "HQ, this is van four, the other three we've had respond to this were all shot down. No survivors, we're talking dozens more casualties if we keep this up, send all available N.O.O.S.E. to the construction site!"
Konig listened intently to the frequency, the smile spread on his face disappearing as the woman on the other end shot down, "Negative, all available units are dealing with the bank now. We're dispatching Signal forces ASAP. Stand by, t-minus two minutes until they deploy from the sky."
"Shit, you hear that, guys, Signal is on their way hear!" Konig cried.
"Merde, we must flee now, the odds are more in our favor to help our comrades, we can't let this opportunity slip!" Francois ordered.
"Wow, glad to see you're still as much of a snob at orders as always, Frenchy." Thatch retorted.
"Ah, your sarcasm has not worn off a bit over all these years, mon ami. That is the only quality of yours that has not declined all these years." Francois retorted, popping the first man to exit the van right above his eyebrow.
"Oh, shut up, noble boy, I barely see you putting out what I'm firing."
"Ah, you merely fire, I remember when you shot with purpose and accuracy, not just shooting aimlessly hoping for one of the connards to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Whatever, douche, we'll finish this some other time. Get to the car, you too, Chef, I'll cover you." Thatch ordered.
Without hesitation, Chef, peered out from the corner and blasted a both shells into the wide-open van, tearing one man's leg in half at the mid-shin and ripping the lower jaw off another unlucky man right behind him. Chef tossed the shells from his shotgun and tapped a button, the thick barrels flattening into the sharp blade of a machete. Francois took one more potshot with his musket at the driver, poking his head up with curiosity and being met with his brains splattering all over the inside of his helmet. Francois and Chef met each other at the same side of the car, the noble driving his key into the ignition and bringing it roaring to life. "This is your last chance, corsaire, now or never!" Francois shouted, honking the horn a few times for added attention.
Thatch emptied his clips into the van, now polka-dotted with holes from his ceaseless rate of fire, the bodies of all those inside slumped over and nearly torn apart by the bulletstorm. Thatch turned and sprinted for the car as more sirens came screaming in from the distance, closer with each step he took to their location. He finally reached the Mesa, ejecting his clips once more and exchanging them for a fresh one. "Alright, everyone here?" Chef asked.
"I think, you, me, Frenchy, and...Konig..." Thatch muttered, looking out the window to find the missing man.
Konig struggled to regain his belongs, the police scanner, spear, and shield, into his bag he had brought them in, Francois rolling down the window and leaning on the horn, pleading, "Konig, what are you doing?! Get in the car, we must make our daring escape while we can actually get out."
"Just a moment, you guys gotta see this two-way teleporter I made!" he proudly declared, stepping on the receiver nearest him.
The metal contraption began to spin him around at rapid speeds, lighting up before a flash of sparks erupted from it, the giant stumbling off, doing nothing more than making himself incredibly dizzy. Konig fell to his seat, eyes spinning around in his daze as everyone in the car slapped the palm of their hands into their faces. Konig slowly struggled to his knees, wobbling around for a few moments until he crashed to his face, the but of an automatic shotgun nearly caving his skull in. "You're done big guy!" the shotgun owner roared, clad in a green, camo military suit and helmet.
Konig writhed and pleaded beneath the aim of the cannon, bawling, "Please, don't kill me! I can't die a virgin, I can't! Let me go and I'll suck your dick! Hell, you can have my virginity, just don't kill me!"
"Wow, I almost don't want to kill something as pathetic as you." the man laughed, looking down the sights of his shotgun and releasing the safety on his gun.
Konig shut his eyes and waited for the last sound he would hear in the blast of the shotgun, but was instead greeted with the slicing of hardened Kevlar and skull. Tentatively, Konig rolled over and found the man staring blankly ahead of him, a length blade splitting through his helmet and crown of his skull, imbedded deep by a few inches, blood leaking down the bridge of his nose. Konig turned to his savior, a displeased Chef kicking the corpse in the stomach and freeing his blade. "Oh, thank you, thank you! You're a saint!" Konig praised.
"Not yet, now get in the damn car, dumbass!"
"But, my teleporter..."
Without warning, Chef slammed his blade down onto the receiver, shattering it into four large junks. Konig stared with a gaping jaw and mumbled, "Oh, man, I'm so grounded when my mom sees that's missing."
Chef hauled Konig to his feet, one arm hooked under his armpit and forcing him to the car. Not a moment later, a Cargobob flew overhead in the direction of the bank, a tank hooked to its underside. "Shit, now looks like a good time to get the hell out of here!"
"For once, I could not agree more." Francois concurred, throwing it in drive and flying out of the empty lot, turning with a harsh right onto the highway.
Team FAKD passed the carnage before the bank, seeing no signs of Team RWBY, only destroyed vehicles, mangled bodies, and smoke billowing from behind an apartment complex across the street from the bank. Francois adjusted his rear-view mirror and immediately noticed the procession of vehicles behind him. Over a dozen camouflage Crusaders, armored trucks and vans, and cruisers all were in hot pursuit, Francois recommending, "I suggest you fasten your seat belts, we have company!"
"Drop your goddamn guns and surrender, now!" the pilot bellowed over the speaker of the helicopter, a pair of armed men on both sides of the chopper aiming down at them.
Kitty stepped forward and brought her arm back, uttering, "Drop this!"
She whirled her arm around and fired off her gun the moment she released it, propelling it up through the glass and the pilot's chin as well, impaling up through his tongue, roof of his mouth, and brain stem. Kitty heaved on the black ribbon fixed to the grip of her gun and sent her weapon flying back into her hand. The helicopter waved from one direction to the next, throwing each man in the back from the aircraft as it did so. The men plummeted to the unforgiving cement, landing back first and shattering every rib they had, slowly fading from that instant from the inability to breathe and the blood filling their chest and lungs. The helicopter then nose-dived and spiraled down onto the apartment complex it hovered over, landing with an earthshaking explosion. "Ho! Whoa, fuck, nice one kid, let's get moving!" Red stammered, amazed by what she saw.
The armored trio waddled along while Yang rushed ahead through the opening to a pool area and planted her back against the wall, peering out over the destruction they wrought. The helicopter was torn in half, the tail leaving a large crater in the roof where it lie, and the main body smoldering in the empty pool itself. "Alright, we're all clear, girls! Hurry the fuck up, that trains gonna be here in just over ten minutes!" Goldie barked.
The rest of the crew slowly made their way to the pool area, a trio of squad cars pulling up at the opposite, open end of the pool are. "Jesus fuck, if you weren't so goddamn slow, we'd be waiting for the train!" Goldie hissed, hitting one car with a burst of her gauntlet and blowing it up.
"Hey, sorry we're not all tough enough to take a bullet to the head. Besides, this shit weighs fifty pounds, Goldie." Red responded, blasting another to bits with her high-caliber rifle.
"You two are so childish. It's miracle you have made it this far." Snow interrupted as Ruby as Yang fired onto the last car simultaneously, making it and the nearby men disintegrate to their frames and bones.
Ruby cocked her rifle and blasted a wooden picket fence down, the group keeping it moving on to the next street. "There, right down that way is the factory! We press through and we're golden, girls!" Goldie urged.
"That's still a ways away, Goldie, one step at a time."
The gang of criminals made their way down to the next intersection. Sure enough, a police blockade was waiting for them, Red making quick work of it with one shot of her rifle, all the tightly-packed vehicles exploding in a chain after the first one. They pressed on through the scattered metal and burning corpses, Kitty rooting, "We're gonna make it! Just one more street, we can take whatever they throw at us!"
As if on cue, a massive helicopter swooped overhead, their jaws all dropping as it flew on with a tank looming beneath it. The Cargobob slowly lowered it flush with the ground and released it from its hook. The military vehicle slowly swung its massive barrel around in Team RWBY's direction, Red ending their shocked awe as she screamed, "Get behind cover, now!"
The crew made a swift change of direction to the nearest building on their right, a liquor store. They were legging it as fast as their encumbered bodies would let them, Goldie several paces ahead and finding herself safely behind the building. They were not quick enough, the tank discharging its shell, striking the ground right behind Snow, who brought up the rear. The blast sent the entire crew flying out of sight, stacked on top of Goldie as they crashed behind the building, a few feet from visibility. "Get the fuck off me!" she demanded, forcing herself up and making the rest of them tumble off like stuffed dolls.
The rest of Team RWBY struggled their way to their feet, Snow crossing her arms and conceding, "Great, just great, fucking perfect! A tank! Why didn't I see it coming, we're taking from the military too, I bet. Well, we're boned, unless anyone has a good backup plan. Oh, and too make matters worse, those idiots aren't responding back. They're dead for all we know."
"Well, look at it this way, at least Konig's dead." Goldie assured.
"Hey, Ice Queen," Red uttered, ejecting her spent clip and ramming a new one with a black cross before chambering the first round, "there's always a Plan B."
Team FAKD made its way up the windy, treacherous passage leading to the summit of Mount Chiliad, only the Crusaders and a Maverick chopper remaining in pursuit, the rest either having no chance at making it up the steep inclines or falling off the mountain and cartwheeling down to its base. Thatch leaned out the window and fired the machine pistol hidden within his sword's hilt, peppering the windshield of the nearest Crusader with bullets and blood. The car swerved off the dangerous road and soared down the mountain, flipping and tearing itself apart on its descent. "We're not getting away any time soon with these cars and chopper on us, any ideas, royalty?" Thatch asked.
"If you would let me think for two seconds and come up with a plant, I would!" Francois snapped back.
"If Yang were here, she'd come up with some crazy plan that'd work. If we had her or her team..." Chef began.
"Wait, that's it! We forgot our earpieces!" Francois declared, quickly ripping his from his pocket and placing it in his ear.
"Mademoiselle Schnee, we are in the mountains as I speak. Sorry for keeping you waiting..."
"Oh, don't even start with me, dickhead!" the heiress screamed over her end.
"Agh, don't do that, it hurts my ear! We're being followed by the remains of the forces who chased us up the mountain, maybe only six cars left out of over twenty, and a helicopter. Do any you or the ladies have any suggestions?"
"Well," Goldie started, "those passages are pretty narrow, any way you could block it off or slow them all down?"
"We tried it already, Yang, they're just falling off the mountain as soon as we shoot them." Chef dismissed.
"Hm, well, this is gonna sound nuts, but get out on foot and leg it. Park your car at the narrowest point you can find and get running. Chef, you know those mountains pretty well, get them down and hide out at the lab for a while until you hear from me."
"What?! Are you nuts?! They've got a chopper on us and they'll just shoot us down as soon as they see us!" Thatch protested.
"Yang hasn't steered me wrong yet, I say we go for it."
"I have to agree with monsieur Chef. If his trust is so high in this woman he does not second-guess the danger of this action, why must I reject it?"
"Oh, you always knew how to talk me into shit, Francois. Fine, I'll go with it! Are you in, Konig?"
"I don't know guys, I have a lot of stuff on me, it's gonna be tough to move with it all."
"What?! Then why'd you bring all that crap?" Thatch demanded.
"I need the gear, it makes me feel...I don't know, compensated? Yeah, that's it. Look, guys, I lied to Weiss. I have no skills for combat, I just carry a ton of useless shit around and hope for the best. Please, can you forgive me?"
"Here, Francois, give me the earpiece," Thatch requested, placing the bud in his ear and stating, "Weiss, we ran into a snag, the chopper above us shot down on us, Konig didn't make it."
"What, I'm fine, what are you ta..."
Thatch turned, aimed, and fired a bullet into Konig's thick forehead, the man's head rocking back with blood and brains splattering the rear window. "Well, that's just a tragedy, looks like Chef earned himself a new safe. We'll mourn Konig later over a round of trying to recall his name in a few hours but right now you have to lose those people on you. We're currently pinned down by a few dozen tons of the zenith of mobilized warfare, we'll call back if we live."
The other end shredded with static, Francois gnashing his teeth and ripping the piece from his ear, gripping it tightly in his fist as he muttered, "Jesus!"
Francois let the car creep further up the high-angled pass they drove on, getting to a wide section on a turn and parking it there, Thatch already on his case, "Why are we parking it here?! They'll just drive around it!"
"Because, Thatch," Francois reassured, reaching over to the glove box and producing a detonator with a blinking red button, "I never let anyone trace me down for my diverse tastes."
The remnants of the team bailed from the vehicle, struggling their way up the steep incline as the pack of vehicles closed in, slowing down as they drove around the parked car. "Ready for the fireworks, messieurs?"
Without a second opinion, Thatch plunged his thumb onto the button, the vehicle's explosion corresponding in the same instant. The blast made the surrounding trio of vehicles erupt into flames, being blown away and sent flipping down the steep slope. The remaining vehicles parked at bay, the men inside getting outside and cautiously moving towards the destroyed Mesa, the pilot above declaring, "Alright, assholes, you asked for it!"
The chopper slowly turned to its broadside, the man on its right side readying his rifle and steadying the aim. Francois returned with the barrel of his musket pointing to the sky, smirking as he pulled the trigger. The round whizzed into the air, striking the window opposite the pilot. The round had barely enough angle to dig through his helmet and crown of his skull, popping it open like a well-shook soda of blood and gray matter. The aircraft spun to the ground, hurling its occupants to a messy death further down the mountain. The vehicle fell down towards the remaining men chasing them, the tail rotor slicing the man at the head in two vertically. The tail snapped off and tumbled into the next men, slamming into their chests and pinning them to the grounds as the other half of the chopper slid down and crushed them from crotch to skull with its landing gear. The vehicle caught on the crushed bones and flipped over, landing on its back and mulching every last mun unlucky enough to be underneath it. The wings tore themselves part, leaving a nauseating mess of gore and shattered metal, the Maverick continued its movement until it slid clean off the mountain, crashing to an explosion several seconds later. "Whoa, shit! I underestimated you, Francois, you still got it!"
"Thatch, I've never lost it, mon ami. Now, Chef, you will kindly lead us from this place, no?"
Chef let a smile slip from his lips, uttering, "You're goddamn right. Hope you boys enjoy a walk, it'll be dark by the time we get home."
The remaining part of the second team turned and headed back down the mountain road they had come up, Thatch and Francois sticking close to the man who knew this mountains best. The path would take them back to the forest below, over a tunnel, across a rickety bridge, and all the way back around the lake to the dingy store for a night on some rusty cots.
The tank lumbered ahead for its hidden prey, cannon slowly swiveling to its left to find the women in hiding. Suddenly, the women in hiding all came out and stood in the center of the street, all being faced down the entire time with the tank's looming cannon. The driver inside smiled as he centered the crosshairs on an armed Red, her rifle aimed at the ground, and saying to himself, "Goodbye, freaks. Hello, payday!"
His dreams were instantly quashed as the three accomplices wrapped their arms around one another in a tight embrace. "This better work, Red, you know how I hate this hugging, family bonding shit."
"You and me both, Goldie." Red concurred.
The hysterical, knee-slapping laughter the man in the tank endured gave them their chance, Ruby grunting as she fired the powerful round from her gun, launching them through the air until a sonic boom blasted off of them with a flurry of rose petals. Team RWBY all managed to remain clasped to Ruby as the sluggishly catapulted over the tank, a collective, "Oh, shit," being cried by them all. Red's eyes fluttered, barely able to remain conscious from the strain as they soared over the tank. Her last conscious act was blasting her rifle once more to boost them to the entry way of the factory, the round soaring into the cabin of the tank and leaving a massive entrance hole. The group slammed into the ground, falling apart and tumbling beside one another into the wide-open garage door of the factory. Moments later, smoke billowed out of the hole and the entire turret flew off with a thunderous, flame-filled explosion from with, the top half crashing back down on the dank and crumpling itself in like a tin can under the stomp of a foot. "Holy fuck, Red, you did it!" Goldie cried, slamming her hand into the mastermind's back.
Red remained motionless, lying on her face and bringing a sharp spur of worry into their hearts. "Red?" Snow pleaded.
The team rolled Red onto her back, her eyes shut and face calm, peacefully out-cold in the midst of the chaos. "Oh, fuck, did she get shot?!" Kitty asked, her voice muffled by shock.
"Hell, no, the only thing getting through this armor was that tank. She overclocked her semblance, she'll be out for at least a few hours after all that." Snow confirmed.
Blondie growled as she scooped Red up in her arms, slinging her over her shoulder and taking her rifle in-hand, demanding, "Well, are we gonna sit on our asses and wait for more to show up? Train'll be here in...two minutes, let's go!"
The crew pushed on through the factory, walking through room after room that was covered by thin strips of plastic in each doorway. Chickens in cages bucked ceaselessly as conveyor belts all around them pulled headless, skinned chickens to around to be packaged. After snaking their way through the building, they found the loading dock, the rear door to the train dock left wide-open. Their anxiety of being too late was ended when they heard the distant blow of the train's whistle. "Fuck yeah, we did it!" Blondie cheered.
The team stepped up onto the concrete platform, looking out and seeing the train plow ahead through the the gap between the mountain and some low hills. "Shit, why isn't it slowing down?" Kitty worried.
"Fuck, they must have ordered a no-stop on the area to make sure no one takes it. Looks like we'll have to find a new way on." Snow revealed.
The lead car zoomed past them, all looking for someway to safely get on. With little time left, Kitty flung her kusarigama ahead, skewering the door of a distant car and pulling on her ribbon with what remained of her strength. With herculean effort, she forced the door open as it approached, Blondie ordering, "That's it! Jump!"
The team hurled themselves into the train car, passing through the doorway with no issues. Snow hastily got to her knees and made her way over to the door, sliding it shut to keep any suspicious eyes from spotting them. "Oh my, God! Are you fuckin' kidding me?! There's now way in hell we just pulled off what I think we did..." Blake said, dazed in her own shock.
"Yes, we fuckin' did, kid, we're home free! Weiss, how many stops until we're in Vineyard?" Yang asked.
"Three, so strap in for three, long hours girls." Weiss answered, beginning the process of freeing herself from her suit of armor.
"I still can't believe we did that! We had, what, five agencies on us and we still got out! Not even a tank could stop us." Blake continued, taking her own struggle of removing her armor as Yang did the same for Ruby.
"There, we'll give her some breathing room out of that damn suit for now. Yeah, it's all sinking in here, too, Blake, but you better believe we did it." Yang affirmed.
"Oh, I can't wait to sit down tonight and count out how much we stole from them. I guarantee the bulk is my father's, so it'll be that much sweeter. If I had a guess, I'd say we have well over a couple hundred million since we filled up four bags bigger than Yang's well of inhumanity."
"Normally, I'd be pissed at such biting remarks, princess. But, that's only the tip of the iceberg. Sure, we took their money, but now we forced them to spend even more. Think about it? Sure, we took a shitload of money from the IAA, FIB, police, Signal, Cardin, and the Schnee Company, but, at the end of the day, it's just money. They can earn that all back in a few weeks, maybe a month if we hit them that badly. But, it's when it comes out of their pockets that it gets more , funerals, clean up, reconstruction, reinforcement, cover-up, and, last but not least, that tank are all going to drive all those people into a hole. Fuck, they'll also have to answer to why this place was hit so hard, why it cost so many lives, and what they're all hiding. If they wanted to fuck with us before, they're gonna wanna kill us now."
"Speaking of cover-up," Weiss repeated, drawing her leg from the pants of her armor and grabbing a hand-held radio in it, "we have a scanner to listen to."
Weiss fiddled with the dial, searching through the static until they came to the urgent, familiar voice of a woman, "This is Paleto, anyone? Come in! Suspects have disappeared into the chicken packaging factory. No signs they have left it. Other half has disappeared in the mountains, everyone up there is gone. Everyone on the ground is gone. Is anybody there?"
"This is FIB agent Roman Torchwick, do we have any sort of visual or recordings of the suspects?"
"Negative. All devices were aboard the planes. Before we could activate the live feed they went down. No news crews were allowed access to the town, the only thing they'll have for the evening news is a punch of burnt-out vehicles and bodies everywhere."
"What the fuck happened up there?! Can you hick dumbasses not handle a small bank robbery?!"
"This was no small robbery, sir, it was very well-coordinated. They split our forces in two and destroyed them separately. They took every last cent from the vault, nothing's left."
The man on the other end growled like an angry dog, shouting incoherently as he slammed his phone onto the ground, the end ringing dead. The woman began to call in for any more forms of help, Weiss turning it off as she said, breathless, "Did you hear that?! They don't even know it was us. Sure, they can suspect any of us, but they have no proof it was us! There were no survivors, no one can rat us out or describe anything about us! We're home free for phase two!"
"And...what would that be?" Ruby stuttered, slowly sitting up.
"Ruby! You're okay!"
Yang threw herself at her sister, wrapping her up in her arms and nearly crushing her groggy sister back into unconsciousness, Ruby quietly pleading, "Please...stop..."
Yang released her sister, further commending her with, "Ruby, that was fucking insane what you did! But it worked. You got us out of their and free of that tank. You get yourself the biggest cut out of all this."
"Hey, what about me? This was all my idea!"
"Weiss, it's fine, you can have the cut. I just want everyone to get their equal piece out of this. Weiss, what's the next step in this revenge quest?"
"In due time, Ruby, I'll let the person in charge of that know tomorrow and let the details trickle to you. For now, lie down and rest, you need it."
"Fine, wake me up when we're back in Vineyard, I wanna go home and see my family."
Ruby laid back onto her side, slipping into slumber the exact instant she closed her eyes. "I'm not gonna lie, after all this, I can't wait to see my aunt and Sun again. I never thought I'd be so afraid to lose them as I was back there. Hell, I never thought they were so important."
"That's what family is, Blake. You either think you hate them and don't know how much you truly love them until it's too late or you want to love them and you hate them for what they do to you."
"Is that your life story, Weiss?" Yang jibed, resting her sister's head on her lap and stroking her hair.
Weiss chuckled at the question and shook her head with a smirk, replying, "Yang, we all know my stance after I put a rip in his wallet bigger than the one in his condom the night by ungrateful bitch of a sister was conceived before me."