Chapter 10: Prom and Circum-dance
Remnant, Continent of Sanus, Snow Gulch
POV: The Reds and Blues
Premise: A mission to stop a hacker from breaking into the CCT tower forces Caboose to go undercover during a dance at Beacon Academy. The Blood Gulch Crew end up discovering a power that is way beyond their limits.
It had been two days since the encounter with bandits, and Grif's mind was plagued with thoughts. The woman he fought bore so much resemblance to Yang, and she seemed to know who she was upon hearing Grif say her name.
"Hey Grif." Simmons shouted from inside the command center, "We're ready."
Grif tore himself from his thoughts and made his way into the room. Everyone was either standing or sitting around their conference table.
"Alright Grif." Tucker began, "You're gonna wanna hear this, Simmons managed to identify the woman you and Red Team fought."
Grif raised his eyebrows, "Who is she?"
"Raven Branwen." SImmons replied before taking over, "This is where things get big, Raven is the leader of the Branwen Tribe, a group of bandits that follow the rules of survival of the fittest."
"Well, that explains why she said that we upset the balance of survival." Sarge muttered
"Raven and her brother Qrow left the tribe at a young age to attend Beacon Academy, in order to learn how to fight and possibly kill huntsmen, and to keep them away from the tribe." Simmons continued, "Once there, they along with Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao-Long formed Team STRQ, with Summer as the leader."
A picture of the original Team STRQ appeared featuring Raven in the middle. To her left was a man with similar features to hers, black hair, red eyes, etc. He carried a large sword-like weapon on his back. To her left was a man that had bore a huge resemblance to Yang. He had light blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tattoo on his arm. Next to him was a woman that looked exactly like Ruby, she had black hair that was red at the tips, and silver eyes. The rest of her face was covered by a white cloak.
"They were the best team at the time." Simmons continued, "Anytime they caused trouble, they would get away with it. Kinda like Team RWBY."
"What happened to them?" Carolina asked
Simmons swallowed a lump that was growing in his throat, "I don't have all the information but it appears the headmaster of Beacon, Ozpin, told them a secret that shook them all, and Raven became jaded. Afterwards, Raven and Tai apparently fell in love and had Yang. But after a year she left, and returned to the tribe. Qrow, who was already disillusioned by the tribe's methods of survival, stayed with Ozpin and began working alongside him for some unknown assignment. Aside from that, Qrow does work at Signal Academy alongside Tai."
"What about Summer?" Caboose asked, "What happened to her?"
Simmons sighed heavily, "After Raven disappeared, Tai found love in Summer, they married and had Ruby. Tai worked at Signal alongside Qrow, while Summer stayed home with Ruby and Yang, she also took up huntsmen missions around the kingdom, but managed to fit enough time in for family. But 4 years after Ruby was born, Summer went on a mission...she never came back."
The room was silent…
"...With Summer MIA, and Raven just up and leaving Team STRQ was disbanded."
"Jesus Christ." Sarge muttered
"The sins of our fathers…" said Donut
"You mean mothers." Doc corrected him
"Ain't that a bitch." O'Malley muttered
"Ok, so why did Raven leave?" Grif asked, "Nobody just up and leaves unless they had a good reason."
"Like I said, I don't know the full story." Simmons replied, "But right now, Raven will have to wait." the maroon soldier then looked at Tucker, who spoke.
"We found intelligence on our 'four horsemen' case." Tucker explained, "Apparently, one of their agents, and possibly one of the horsemen, are planning to plan a virus into the CCT in Vale this weekend. We can't let that happen."
"What does the virus do?" Doc asked
"We're not sure." Tucker replied, "But we are planning to interrogate whoever it is planting the bug about their operations."
"It will also give us the opportunity to test out my new invention." Simmons announced as he put a small canister on the table, "This device should be able to absorb enough aura from someone without killing them, we can then use said aura to heal Wash."
"Are you sure it will work?" Carolina asked him
"I'm sure." Simmons replied
"We'll be splitting up for this assignment." Tucker explained, "Caboose and Kai will be undercover, while the rest of us will break into the CCT and intercept the hacker."
"Wait, why are Caboose and Kai going undercover?" Doc asked
"Yeah why us?" Kai added, looking her friend
"Because you too will be young enough for the job." Tucker continued, "There is a dance going on at the same time at Beacon. You two will be on the ground making sure no one gets suspicious about the CCT. Also it might give Caboose a chance to dance with Ruby."
"Really?" Caboose groaned
"I thought you'd be happy?" Tucker questioned
"I am." Caboose muttered, "I just don't like being forced to dance...also I'll need to to rent me a tux."
"Right now?" Grif questioned, "What kinda sex are you gonna have afterwords?"
"Fine." Tucker groaned, "I'll rent you a tux. What color?"
"Blue."
"Alright, let's get to work."
POV Change: Yang Xiao-Long
Yang was practically skipping down the halls of Beacon. She finally managed to get Blake to go to the dance tonight, after refusing to go. From what she heard from the faunus, she was already trying to find a dress to wear tonight.
Yang had already got her dress and was bringing it back to her dorm. When she entered, she found Ruby sitting on her bunk. She seemed depressed over something.
"Hey, what's wrong sis?" Yang asked her
Ruby didn't bother looking at her, "Nothing."
Yang shook her head, "Come on, what's the matter?"
Ruby sighed and laid on her bed while looking and looked at the ceiling, "This is basically my first dance, and since the Reds and Blues are possibly on Remnant, I thought Caboose would've been my date...even though I am not a fan of wearing a dress."
"Aw don't worry sis." Yang assured her, "I'm sure Caboose will turn up sooner or later."
"Are sure?" Ruby asked her
Yang smiled, "I'm sure of it."
Weiss then entered the room, she shut the door before pinching her brow.
"Weiss what's wrong?" Ruby asked her
"Neptune called off our date." Weiss muttered
The two sisters' mouths dropped.
"What?" Yang muttered, "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know." Weiss shrugged, "Besides, it doesn't really matter. I have more important things to deal with for dance. At least Arc won't be a problem."
Ruby rolled her eyes, "How come you don't like Jaune?"
"Because he's childish." Weiss responded, "That's why."
"He's trying to be nice to you." Yang retorted
Weiss only replied with a 'hmph' before heading back for the door, "I'll be in the ballroom if you need me."
Weiss then closed the door, leaving the two sisters alone.
POV Change: Beacon Ballroom
The time had finally come, as both students and Beacon Staff made their way towards the ballroom. Yang was standing at a podium greeting newly arriving guests. She was wearing a short, white, halter neck dress with a pale gray hem and white pumps. She fixed her hair as the door opened.
"Oh! You look beautiful!" Yang shouted with glee as Ruby entered the hall. Like Yang, she was wearing a dress. Hers was a short, red, sleeveless dress with a thick black sash around the waist and black trim along the bottom. The bodice of the dress is split vertically to the sash and laced with black lacing. The yoke of the dress is transparent mesh with an opaque collar and hem, as well as opaque lines connecting the collar to her shoulders. She also wore black stockings and pumps. Her hair was also dyed from blue to red.
"Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" Ruby muttered as she tried walking, only to lose her balance slightly. Which made Yang giggle.
"What happened to all of the blue?" Yang asked
"Oh I thought why not go back to the old color." Ruby replied, "Just for tonight though."
"Alright then, I'll catch up with you." Yang said, as Ruby went off into the hall
The brawler then turned to see the door to the hall open up again, and two students walked in. The first was a boy with fair skin, bright blue eyes, and full set of spiky blonde hair. He was wearing a blue tux with a white shirt, black tie and pants, and black shoes. Next to him was a girl that seemed to be a fourth year student, She had tanned skin, long wavy black hair, and brown eyes. She was wearing a dress similar to Yang's but the color was yellow and out lined in black. She also wore pumps.
"Welcome!" Yang happily announced
"Thanks." the girl replied as she and her friend walked into the, "Wouldn't want to miss this, it's just like that strip club I visited once."
"Yeah…" Yang muttered, "Wait what?"
POV Change: Caboose and Kai
"Oh, that was close." Kai muttered as she and Caboose got past Yang at the door. The two made their way up the stairs and to the balcony overlooking the entire dance floor.
"Are you guys inside?" Tucker asked them via comms
"We made it." Caboose responded, "Saw Yang at the front door but she didn't say hi."
"How are you guys doing?" Kai asked
"We're fine, thanks." Carolina replied, "The Prowler is set to stealth mode so we'll be undetected by any Atlas ship. Speaking of them, there are a lot of them flying around and docked at the school, soldiers too."
"Well, should we do?" Caboose asked
"Like I said have fun!" Tucker replied, "You earned it! Go dance with Ruby or hookup for a one-night stand for all I care. Which reminds me, I heard that there was this fashionista that goes to Beacon. Could you try and get her number for me?"
Kai rolled her eyes, "I'm still here Tucker."
"I know." Tucker said jokingly, "Just remember to look for anything suspicious."
"Got it." Kai replied before getting off the comms, "Well, I'm gonna hit the dance floor. See ya."
"Wait." Caboose muttered but Kai had already left, "Crap."
POV Change: Ruby Rose
Ruby stood by the punch bowl while looking at the dance floor silently until Jaune showed up. He was wearing a tux like every other guy in the room.
"I see you're hiding behind the punch bowl too?" Jaune muttered as he stood next to her
"Yep." Ruby replied, popping the 'p'
Jaune then raised his glass, "To the socially awkward."
Ruby giggled slightly as they clink glasses, "Sorry that it didn't work out with Weiss."
"Meh, it's fine." Jaune sighed, "Neptune is pretty 'cool'. I get why she went with him."
Ruby raised any eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Well, come on, not many people can pull off blue hair." he muttered before taking a swig of his punch
"No, I mean, Weiss came to the dance alone." Ruby explained, causing Jaune to nearly choke on his punch
"Uh, what?" he muttered
The two then looked at the heiress, who was wearing a white dress and pumps. She was carefully trying to keep a dying white rose from falling over, but to no success.
"Yeah, she said that she had too much to focus on to worry about boys." Ruby said to her friend
Jaune took notice of Neptune, who was laughing over something with Sun, Blake, and some girl in a yellow dress.
"Hold my punch." he growled before walking away. Not knowing Ruby then decided to sip from his glass.
"Well, I better go find Yang-Gah!"
Ruby was about to turn and go find Yang, when she tripped over her heel. Luckily, she was saved by someone. It was a boy, perhaps a second year student.
"You alright?" he asked her
"Yeah." Ruby replied as she balanced herself, "Sorry about that."
"It's fine." he said to her, "What's your name?"
"Oh right." Ruby said as she straightened, "I'm Ruby. Who are you?"
"M-Me?" the boy asked, "I'm Ca-I mean Michael. My name is Michael."
"Michael huh?" Ruby muttered, "Are you a student visiting from one of the other kingdoms?"
"Uh yeah." Mike said to her, "One in the...southeast."
"Vacuo?"
"Yeah that one." he replied, "Vacuum...something."
This caused both of them to laugh at what Mike had just said.
"Hey uhm…" he stuttered, "I was wondering…"
"Wondering what?" Ruby asked
"I was wondering...if you uh...wanted to dance?"
That took Ruby off guard. No one ever asked her to dance before. Not even guys at Signal Academy. But something about this guy seemed...familiar.
Ruby smiled but not without blushing, "Sure."
With that done, the two made their way to the dance floor.
POV Change: Caboose
"Church help me now!" Caboose mentally shouted as he danced with Ruby. Funny enough, it was almost awkward for the two of them. They both were nervous, but danced as if nothing was wrong.
"You seem confused." Ruby said to him, still not know who he was
"Just not sure what the party is for." Caboose replied
"It's for the Vytal Festival." Ruby explained, "Allows the students from each Academy to get to know one another. To promote peace between them before battle so to speak."
"Peace." Caboose muttered
Ruby looked at him funny, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Caboose assured her, "It's just that I have mixed feelings about peace."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked
"I have a friend who claims that there's no such thing as peace." Caboose explained, "The very thing we call peace is just a delay until the next conflict...then he would try and start a war but that's a long story."
Ruby couldn't help but giggle at that, "Sounds like my friend Blake. But that last part sounds like my sister."
"Heh, uh speaking of friends. Isn't that your friend I saw you talking with earlier?"
The two stopped dancing only to notice Jaune walk into the ballroom wearing a dress of all things. The entire crowd was laughing at him but he didn't seem to care at all. He walked right up to Pyrrha and she herself was laughing. She took his hand and led her to the dance floor, followed by both Ren and Nora. The team performed a well synchronized dance routine that was met with a thunderous applause.
Caboose lost track of Ruby as he watched Team JNPR's dance. He managed to find her at the ballroom entrance.
"Hey Ruby." he said to her, "Is everything alright?"
Ruby turned and looked at him, "Uh I'll be right back, trust me."
"Uh, ok." Caboose replied as he watched her leave the ballroom, heading straight for the CCT tower.
Kai then walked up to him, "Caboose what going on?"
The blue soldier pointed in the direction of Ruby.
"Oh shit." Kai muttered before getting on the radio.
"Guys we got a problem, Ruby is leaving the dance and making her way to the CCT."
"Yep. I see her." Simmons replied via comms, "Wonder she's doing?"
"Probably following someone." Locus spoke up, "There's a figure on the rooftops, heading for the communication tower. Ruby must've noticed her."
"That's gotta be our hacker then." Tucker said, "Grif, get us to the communication's level of the tower. We'll intercept our unwanted guest once she gets there. Caboose get Ruby back to the dance."
"Ok." Caboose replied before running off to find Ruby
POV Change: The Reds and Blues
"Alright men!" Sarge shouted, "Lock and load! We need to take the CCT back from the enemy!"
Simmon then spoke up, "But sir, all we're doing is secure an empty room. There's no one on the top floor."
"Talk about security." Donut muttered
"Securing a top floor that is controlled by the enemy!" Sarge cried, "Now move out!"
The boarding ramp of the Prowler opened and Red Team minus Lopez jumped out and into the communications room. All landing in heroic positions in the process. As for Blue Team and Locus, all they did was jump down and land on their feet before walking casually into the room.
"Really?" Carolina muttered to the Reds
"What?" Simmons questioned "We can't have style?"
"She never said that." Doc retorted, "I for one found it ridiculous."
Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and a figure stood there dumbfounded at the sight of them all. It appeared to be a woman with fair skin, and raven black hair, and fiery orange eyes. She wore a black sleeveless jumpsuit, boots, and mask. Despite not being able to see her entire face, each soldier knew that her expression was one of surprise and anger.
The woman's clothes lit up an orange color before two black swords manifested in her hands. She then charged at both teams. But Tucker took advantage of this by blocking with his sword, destroying one of her weapons in the process.
"Who are you?" Tucker sneered at her, as they locked blades . But the woman said nothing and just frowned before pushing the aqua soldier away from her. She was about to go and slash at him but was stopped, as she was caught in the crossfire of Sarge's shotgun. One bullet hit her in the forehead, but did nothing but blow off a large chunk of her aura.
Carolina decided to take action, and charged at the woman. The ex-freelancer took out her plasma riles and fired several rapid-fire shots at the woman. Four shots hit her, but she managed to dodge the rest. The woman pulled something out of her pocket, which appeared to be vial of some sorts. She whipped it through the air, and several glass shards manifested in front of her before they fired straight at Carolina. But Donut then jumped in the way and deflected all the shards to the ground.
The sound of a grenade launcher going off then filled the air before the woman was hit in the side by an explosion. Grif held the Grif Shot at her face before firing one last shot at her, but she dodged the grenade and flipped in the air. A bow and three arrows then manifested in her hands and she fired the three arrows at the orange soldier. The arrows landed at Grif's feet and exploded, sending Grif flying in the air, and landing on the ground.
Doc then took advantage of the woman's position and fired a single rocket at her feet. The woman flew off her feet, slammed face first into a wall, and landed on the ground with a 'thud'.
The woman got up, and her two swords from before appeared in her hands. She got into a defensive position. While the Reds and Blues raised their rifles.
"Gotch ya." Tucker quipped before the woman was suddenly grabbed from behind by an invisible Locus. She was pushed to they ground and Locus, Donut, and Carolina held her down.
"Donut get her ankles!" Sarge shouted at the lightish-red soldier
"Of course." Donut replied before doing something...weird
"NOT MY ANKLES DONUT!" Simmons Tucker shouted, "THE BITCH"S ANKLES!"
"Whoops." Donut muttered, before doing what he was told
The woman squirmed furiously, trying to get out of the soldiers' grasp. Simmons then walked up and placed a container-like device over her. The maroon soldier then pushed a button and a strange glowing gold substance began to pull away from the woman's body.
She screamed in pain as her aura was slowly being stripped from her.
"Stop!" Tucker shouted after realizing that the container was a quarter full. He then went into the woman's pockets and looked through her scroll.
"Yep, this the hacker." he said before putting the scroll on the ground and smashing it with his foot.
Suddenly, the elevator door opened...
POV Change: Ruby Rose
Ruby exited the elevator and entered the communication's room of the CCT. It looked like a huge battle had transpired before she got there. She then noticed a figure on her knees nearby. The figure got up and threw several glass shards at Ruby. The young huntress deflected all the blasts with Crescent Rose before pulling out Sapphire's Rage. A single blue shot fired from the weapon and hit the figure straight in the face chest, before it fell to the ground.
The elevator door then opened again and out stepped none other than General Ironwood who took notice of Ruby. The reaper smiled upon realizing that she had gained an ally, but upon turning back around. The woman was gone.
POV Change: The Reds and Blues
"I thought I told you to get Ruby away from the tower." Tucker said to Caboose, as the entire team went to board the Prowler. They were now at the cliffside near Beacon Academy, with both Caboose and Kai back in their armor.
"Sorry I couldn't keep up." Caboose replied, "I did manage to dance with Ruby so...that happened."
"Well I guess it wasn't that bad for you." Sarge chuckled
"Did you guys get what we needed?" Kai asked them all
"Not exactly." Simmons replied, "We got some of the hacker's aura, but before we could interrogate her Ruby showed up. We bolted out of there before she could see us."
"Come on guys." Carolina spoke, "Let's get out of here before someone sees us."
With that said, the group boarded the Prowler and flew off back to base.
POV Change: Cinder Fall
Cinder was angry.
She failed at her task, of planting a bug into the CCT. On top of that, she was bested by a group of individuals who weren't even soldiers. Torchwick and Adam were right, they were a threat, and definitely not a pushover. Lucki for her, her aura was regenerating slowly.
She walked up to Emerald and Mercury on the dance floor, and took Emerald's place as Mercury's partner. She was now wearing an elegant black dress.
"Mission was a failure." Cinder blatantly said to him
"How so?" Mercury asked
"Those armored idiots were waiting for me." she explained, "Destroyed my scroll, along with the virus in the process. They also took part of my aura in the process."
Mercury then asked another question, "Did the take-"
"I don't know." Cinder replied, "But now's not the time. Afterall, this is a party."
With that said, the two continued to dance quietly as if nothing happened. But unknown to Cinder, she in fact did lose something.
Something worth more to her than her aura...
POV Change: Snow Gulch
Simmons connected the containment device that held the aura of the hacker they assaulted earlier that night, to the cryo-chamber Wash was in. Everyone stood in the room, eager to see what would happen.
"Alright." Simmons muttered, "Last chance to back down guys."
"There's no turning back." Locus replied, "Do it."
Simmons looked at Tucker then Carolina, both of them nodding in agreement.
"Here goes nothing…"
Simmons flipped a switch on the container and the aura was sucked into Wash's body. Its essence flickered slightly around his body before stopping, and the aura returned to the container.
The cryo-tube opened, and everyone leaned in to see if Wash was ok.
"Wash?" Carolina muttered at the freelancer's body, "Are you ok?"
A grunt came from Wash as he suddenly started to move slowly. His head turned as if he was examining his surroundings.
"Take his helmet off." Tucker said to no one
Sarge went over and helped Wash out of the cryo-tube. Simmons then proceeded to remove Wash's helmet revealing his fair skin, bleached spiky blonde hair, and tired blue eyes. The two red soldiers then looked at his neck. To their surprise, the bullet wound he got that caused his Cerebral Hypoxia was gone.
"It's gone." Sarge muttered
"I-It no longer hurts." Wash spoke up, his voice slightly weak after being in cryo for so long
"Doc, do a scan for us." Carolina said to the medic, "Make sure he's good."
"On it." Doc replied before going up to Wash and took out his medical scanner.
Tucker then looked at Simmons, "Nice job dude."
"Thanks." the maroon soldier replied
"Whoa." Doc suddenly muttered
Carolina looked at him worryingly, "What? What's wrong?"
"Something's radiating off of Wash's bio scans." O'Malley replied, "Whatever it is, it wasn't here before."
Wash then grunted as if he were in pain.
"Wash?" Sarge asked him worryingly
"Agent Washington?" Locus added
Suddenly, Wash slipped from Sarge and Simmons' grasp and fell to his knees. A strange orange-glowing substance radiated off his body floating up in the air right above him.
"Son of a bitch!"
"Son of a bitch!"
"Son of a bitch!"
"Son of a bitch!"
"!Madre de dios!"
The orange substance continued to float in the air before it suddenly moved in the direction of Kai at lightning speed. The substance surrounded her like the aura on Wash before until its disappeared. Kai proceeded to fall to the ground.
"Kai!" Grif shouted as he and Tucker ran over to his sister, "Kai answer me!"
"What the hell was that?" Tucker asked Simmons, "I thought all the aura was back in the container."
Simmons went back over to the container and looked at the schematics, "It is. This is all the aura we collected."
Tucker then pointed at the container, "If that was the aura…" he then looked at Kai's unconscious body.
"...Then what the hell went into Kai?"