RWBY: Book of Thieves
The wind howled in her ears as Ruby stared out the vibrating window into the dreary darkness. By the flash of the continuous bolts of lightning, Ruby could see the rolling waves crashing into them from all sides, threatening to tip them over at any moment. She silently wondered if the little tug boat they had boarded would be enough to weather the storm raging outside. But their captain didn't seem to be worried, so Ruby didn't think there was any reason she should be, though the roaring thunderclaps still made her uneasy.
The Rose Thief turned away from the window and looked around the cabin to see how the rest of her crew was handling it. Blake was practically sitting on Yang's lap, her head pressed into the blonde's bountiful bosom, but Ruby knew it wasn't her trying to act flirty with her girlfriend – Blake didn't do flirty. Blake wasn't afraid of the water as Ruby suspected when she first met her – not like a blue-haired associate of theirs – but she didn't like storms because the loud noises were even more intense due to her Faunus hearing. Yang, on the other hand, was smiling from ear-to-ear like it was Christmas morning and Blake was her present, rubbing the Faunus girl's ears when she had the chance. Weiss rolled her eyes at the display ("Jealous?" Yang teased) and worked vigorously on her laptop, likely trying to gather as much information on their next job as possible. How she managed to get a reception in the middle of this storm was a mystery to Ruby.
With her crew accounted for, Ruby crossed the cabin and approached the captain standing cautiously at the wheel, staring out the darkened window with intense focus.
"Thanks for doing this for us, Matte," Ruby told them gratefully. "It's surprisingly hard to find people who are qualified to steer a boat and not throw us to the cops when we ask them for a lift."
"You've got nothing to worry about with me, Rose," said Matte Skye, grinning back at Ruby. "I know you're a good lot, even if you are thieves. Plus, I owe you for stealing back our cruise ship after it was stolen by the Sea Feilong pirates. I would have lost my job if not for you chaps."
"We were just doing what we thought was right," said Ruby, remembering that particular heist fondly. "Those dirty pirates didn't stop at stealing money from innocent people on vacation – they stole an entire ship and left everyone stranded on a deserted island. We were more than happy to steal it back from them and leave a nice little present for our favorite INTERPOL officer."
"Wasn't that the job where Yang punched a shark's teeth out and Blake got food poisoning from bad sushi?" asked Weiss.
"Yeah, good times," said Yang amusingly.
"Well, it'll be a while before we get to Gale Island," said Matte Skye. "You all rest up and I tell you when we're there."
Ruby nodded in acknowledgement and walked to the back of the cabin, taking a seat next to Weiss, who was still tapping furiously on her personal computer. Making herself comfortable on the floor, Ruby reached inside her backpack and whipped out the file she had stolen from Winter's office only last week, flipping through the pages one by one. She had to admit that Winter covered all her bases: she jotted down Ruby's history from her mother's murder to her first heist in China, mapped out all of her habits and tells, and even made a very detailed profile of her current tricks and techniques; Ruby made a mental note to learn some new strategies. But what she was looking for was near the back of the file – a list of names, backgrounds, and current locations of almost every member of the Grimm.
"The boat ride over gave me the time I needed to study up on Dr. Arthur Watts," Ruby narrated.
She concentrated on the profile picture of a middle-aged Englishman with short, graying hair and a thick mustache. As she read his profile, she imagined him in his younger days, his hair full black and lacking his mustache as he worked in a laboratory, assembling various mechanical parts until it forms a full robot body. Next, Ruby imagine him much older, his mustache starting to grow in, as Dr. Watts attached the skeleton of a robot arm to a soldier's amputated arm. Both the doctor and the soldier were immeasurably pleased when the soldier's robot arm started moving freely as if it were the real thing. And then, she could see Dr. Watts – mustache fully grown – standing among a gathering of peers as he was given an award for his scientific achievements.
"As a young man, Arthur Watts was considered a prodigal genius with a talent for computer sciences and mechanical engineering," said Ruby. "By the time he was twenty-five, he was already making great strides in the field of prosthetics and orthotics using reflexive neuro-sciences that not only simulated human limbs, but actually improved upon them, making them faster, stronger, and more durable than any before. Watts became a huge celebrity in many scientific circles and everyone thought he was going to revolutionize the world. Unfortunately, Watts thought the same thing, but went in a completely different direction…."
Now Ruby could imagine the middle-aged doctor standing over a poor redheaded girl who strapped down on a laboratory table while Watts stood over them with a power drill in one hand and a robot arm in the other. It was unknown how much progress the doctor had actually made before the door to his lab was kicked open and a dozen armed soldiers charged into the room. The Rose Thief could almost see Dr. Watts arguing his case against the tribunal before he was quieted by the pounding of the gavel and was sent away, his head hanging in defeat while his eyes burned with a passionate flame.
"Watts didn't just want to fix people – he wanted to improve humanity as a species," said Ruby. "Humans were full of weaknesses and flaws in the good doctor's eyes, something he found disgusting and took it upon himself to correct. His idea was to replace all the things that made a person weak – exhaustion, hunger, sickness – and correct them by replacing their human bodies with soulless machines. When he decided to test his idea, Watts kidnapped the daughter of a fellow scientist and performed a number of experiments on her. But before he knew it, Dr. Watts was arrested by the military and disgraced in the eyes of the scientific community."
A vengeful-looking Dr. Watts was sitting in his prison cell until the barred doors flew open and the former scientists stared up at his mysterious savior in awe. In the next image, Dr. Watts posed alongside the remaining four silhouetted members of the Grimm as they stood under their group's banner: a vertical eye surrounded by an archaic circle with five crystals at the bottom.
"Dr. Watts, driven by revenge and a desire to see his plans carried out, was brought into the Grimm as chief technician, where his evil tinkering genius rose to new heights. The last reported sighting of this mad scientist was in the heart of Gale Island off the northeastern coast of England. A small island that has recently been plagued with mysterious storms over the past few years, making travel to the island nearly impossible. But that's not going to stop us. One way or another, we're going to put an end to this Mad Scientist's mechanical mayhem once and for all!"
Ruby Rose and the Gang
In
The Menace in the Machine
Docking had somehow been even more difficult than sailing through the storm since they couldn't make landfall the normal way without Dr. Watt's security noticing them. They had gone around the side of the island where the hills were higher and could keep them out of sight of the roaming spotlights that flashed over their heads. Twice they had nearly run aground because of the waves crashing into them, but Matte Skye's skill behind the wheel managed to keep them from crashing.
After fifteen distressing minutes of floating around the island, they were able to find a small hidden shore on the southwestern part of Gale Island. Matte Skye temporarily dropped anchor next to the shore and dropped a gangplank to let the Rose Gang cross over to semi-dry land. Blake was, of course, the first one off the boat, making a beeline for the trees to take shelter under, while Yang, laughing her ass off, followed shortly after, carrying the bag of tools they thought would be necessary for the job. Ruby and Weiss had to jump off as a pair because Weiss wanted to use Ruby's cape as a shield to keep the rain from reaching her precious laptop, not that the Rose Thief minded. Once all four members were safely ashore, Matte Sky pulled back the gangplank and started raising the anchor.
"I need to be casting off before my boss realizes that I took his boat without permission!" Matte Skye howled over the raging storm. "You blokes take care of yourselves! And watch out for that Watts chap! Locals say he's a nasty wanker!"
"We'll be fine!" Ruby called back, waving good bye. "We'll call you when we need a lift back to the mainland!"
The sailor offered them a quick salute, then turned their ship around and disappeared into the stormy sea.
Ruby and Weiss quickly joined Blake and Yang under the cover of the trees; Blake was still clinging to Yang, trying to block out the thunder by covering her cat ears, while the blonde held their supply bag over her head to protect her precious hair. Much to Ruby's chagrin, Weiss sat herself on one of the driest rocks available, using her leader's cape to pitch a tent over herself while she opened her laptop. The Rose Thief looked over the hacker's shoulder as she brought up an overhead view of Gale Island, zooming in several times until the digital image locked on to the Rose Gang huddled under the trees; Ruby waved up to the sky, only to get slapped by Weiss.
"I've got satellite imaging of Gale Island – or at least as much as I can focus on," said Weiss. "The storm is making it difficult to get a proper read of the area. And there appears to be something else…. Something unusual…." Weiss trailed off, leaning closer to the screen.
"Can your satellite thingy tell us where we can get out of the rain?" Yang asked, shaking her head like a wet dog, splashing them even more. "I'm getting soaked."
"Yeah, yeah," Weiss said nonchalantly, rolling the image around. "There should be a tunnel around here that leads to the outer perimeter of Watts's base of operation. From the looks of it, the route inside has the weakest security on the whole island."
"Then what're we waiting for?" Blake cried, flinching from another thunderclap. "Let's get out of here already!"
The rest of the gang didn't need much convincing. As they trekked through the wilderness, Yang kept her arm firmly wrapped around Blake's shoulder, which significantly calmed her even if she still flinched from the loud bangs of thunder. Thankfully, the journey was short and they found the entrance to an old, naturally made tunnel at the base of a steep cliff. The entrance had been sealed off by a gate, but it didn't seem like a lot of effort went into blocking it and the flimsy bars were rusted over. Yang ripped the gate out of the wall with little effort, stepping aside to let the others in before replacing the bars behind them. Once they were all safely inside, Yang opened up the tool bag and tossed a towel to everyone, having the foresight to carry a few when headed to a stormy island in the middle of the sea.
"Geez, what is up with this freaky weather?" Yang complained, mopping her wild mane. "Is it just me, or does the storm just seem to get stronger the further we head inland."
"It's not just you," said Weiss, pulling up her laptop again. "Satellite weather imaging shows that the storm clouds are nearly covering the entire island…except for the section in the middle, which just so happens to be where Dr. Watts is hiding out. It's the only place on the entire island that isn't being bombarded with sleet and hail."
"That's not natural, is it?" asked Ruby.
"Of course it's not," said Weiss, rolling her eyes. "Obviously this isn't a natural storm. Watts must be doing something to create a perpetual storm around the island, likely to keep out any unwanted intruders. And he seems to – ugh, come on," Weiss groaned, slapping her laptop irritably. Ruby leaned over her shoulder and saw that the computer screen was partially fragmented before it returned to normal. "Something's not right with my computer. It's acting…odd."
"Well, we are in the middle of a hurricane," said Yang.
"Yang, you're not the bright bulb of the bunch, so leave the thinking to the people who are," said Weiss insultingly, earning a growl from Yang. "A storm wouldn't cause this kind of interference. There's something else to it. But I can't work with all this thunder drumming in my ears. We should head to the center of the island where it's clear."
"Yeah, there might be a problem with that," said Blake from the opposite end of the tunnel.
Ruby, Weiss, and Yang padded over to Blake, who was leaning her head cautiously outside the tunnel exit, her ears flat against her head as the thunder clapped above them. The rest of the group joined her in a comical lineup with Ruby on her hands and knees at the bottom, Weiss leaning over her back, Blake hover over the hacker, and Yang standing dangerous on her tiptoes over the Faunus. They were all staring in the direction of a tall, wrought-iron gate that blocked off the entire valley leading into the heart of the island. Under normal circumstances, Ruby could have just easily climbed the walls with Crescent Rose and unlocked the gate from the other side, but there were a pair of tough-looking guards standing attentively on the other side of the gate. Beyond them was a series of roaming spotlights that Ruby suspected where designed to trigger an alarm if anyone stepped underneath.
"Well, that's going to complicate things," said Weiss.
"Should we try to find another way around?" asked Blake.
"It would take too long," said Weiss, shaking her head. "Besides, every other entrance is a hundred times more fortified. This is our best bet if we want to get in without alerting the whole island."
"But we can't climb over without the guards spotting us," said Yang, frowning. "And we can't knock out the guards quietly because they're on the other side of the fence. And if we try to force our way over and take out the guards, those spotlights are gonna find us while we're in the middle of fight. Then we'll be dealing with a whole island of baddies."
"Aw, you're worrying too much," said Ruby, waving off her concern nonchalantly. "I've totally got a plan to get us in, but we need to do something about those lights first. They're probably running on some kind of computer, so do you think you can hack into them, Weiss?"
"Hmph, can I?" said Weiss with a confident smirk.
"…Can you – ?"
"Of course I can!" Weiss snapped.
"Just clarifying!" Ruby yelped, throwing her hands up in surrender. "If Weiss can take care of the lights, Blake, Yang, and I can take out the guards. Easy-peasy."
"What's the plan, lil' sis?" asked Yang eagerly.
"Time for Operation: Anchovy!" Ruby declared enthusiastically.
"Wha – Operation: Anchovy? Are you being seriously?" asked Blake, staring dumbfoundedly at her grinning leader. "Ruby, we're on an uncharted island in the middle of the biggest storm in history. There's no way those guards are dumb enough for fall for Operation: Anchovy."
The two burly guards paced back and forth behind the gate as they were assigned to do, irritably pulling on the hoods of their ponchos when they started slipping down. Neither one of them were too happy to be stuck guarding the back entrance to the island, deep in the creepy wilderness, in the most least likely place anyone would enter. If it wasn't for the fact that the doctor paid them handsomely for walking around, they probably would have left a long time ago.
They were doing what seemed like their hundredth round for the night, their boots squelching through the mud, when the searchlight over their heads suddenly went out. Both guards grunted curiously as they looked up. A second searchlight went down shortly after the first, and then the next one in line, until, one-by-one, the path behind them was cloaked in darkness.
"Oy, what's all this then?" said the first guard with a heavy English accent.
"Bloody doctor probably forgot to pay the electric bill – again," grunted the second guard.
"You would think a bloke who owns his own island wouldn't be so cheap," sneered the first guard.
They suddenly heard something knocking on the gates followed by someone shouting, "Like, pizza delivery for ya, bruh!" The guards spun around and approached the gates with deep scowls as they peered through the bars. Oddly enough, they noticed Blake with her long, black hair pulled up in a ponytail dressed in a plain t-shirt and very short shorts that Yang was absolutely loving from behind, topped with a cap labeled "Rosy Pizzas" in fancy looped writing. She was carrying a pizza box with the same label and a picture of a cartoonish version of Ruby smiling while giving a thumbs-up with one hand and holding a steaming pizza in the other. The guards grunted in an obviously confused way before the first guard said, "What the bloody 'ell you want?"
"Like, got yer pizza right here, broskis," said Blake in a thick, stereotypical surfer's accent. "Like, for some doctor dude or whatevs. So, like, can ya let me in, or – ?"
The guards looked at each other again, and the second guard said, "We didn't order any pizza."
"Aw, c'mon, bruh," Blake whined theatrically. "My boss dude is, like, totally gonna bust me down, bruh, if I don't deliver this. Cut a girl a break, bruh!"
"We're telling you, we didn't order any pizza," said the first guard. "Now go away."
"Aw man," Blake complained, her shoulders slumped. "But it's, like, already paid for and stuff."
That seemed to catch the guard's attention right away. A pizza that was paid for meant it was free, and they would have to be completely stupid not to accept a free pizza from a random stranger that showed up in the middle of nowhere.
Unbelievably, the guards threw the gates wide open and stomped up to the disguised Faunus, completely overlooking Yang, who was crouching conspicuously on the side. The brainless brutes zeroed in on the pizza box, snatching it swiftly out of Blake's hands without even a 'Thank you'. Blake slowly walked backwards away from the guards, her hands folded behind her back with a Cheshire grin. They were practically salivating when the guards threw the box open, happiness and hope gleaming in their eyes. That glint instantly died when they looked inside and found no pizza.
"Oy, what gives?" the first guard complained.
"Hold on, there's a note inside," said the second guard. He picked up the sheet of paper, focusing his eyes on the tiny writing as he read aloud. "'Sorry…for…the…headache…' What heada – "
Neither one of them noticed that Yang had practically strutted up behind them until she grabbed both guards by the heads and knocked them together so hard that there was an audible "THUNK" before they slumped facedown into the muddy ground. Yang clapped her hands, cackling, as Ruby came out from her hiding spot and poked the guards with a stick she found. Yep, they were unconscious, all right.
"Did I mention how much I love Operation: Anchovy?" said Yang proudly.
"Yeah, it's kinda funny that they fall for that one all the time," said Ruby, still poking the guards.
"No, I mean the part where I get to see Blake in those really tight shorts," said Yang, grinning perversely. "I can't get enough of that Bella-booty."
Blake walked out from the cave at that moment, dressed in her normal clothes, much to Yang's disappointment, and said, "I swear, Yang, if you keep saying that, then this 'Bella-booty' will having you sleeping on the couch for the next six months."
"Hey, if you got it, flaunt it," said Yang enthusiastically, throwing her arm around her girlfriend's shoulders while the Faunus girl rolled her eyes.
"UGGGGHHH! Weiss, please tell us where to go next before we have another incident like the one in Rio de Janeiro," Ruby groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose irritably as Yang threw back her head with a barking laugh and Blake, turning red as Ruby's hood, muttered something about 'parade floats'. But when the hacker didn't respond, Ruby looked up at Weiss, who was sitting on a rock and staring at her laptop with a deep furrow on her brow. "Weiss, are you okay?"
"It's happening again," Wiess mumbled distractedly, absentmindedly tapping the keypad. "Some kind of an interference…or a type of bug – I don't know, something just doesn't feel right about this…. I'll run a thorough scanning algorithm just in case," she added vaguely, her fingers springing to life across the keyboard."
"Well, while you're doing that, you might want to take a look at this!" Yang called, having climbed the muddy hill above them.
Ruby and Blake trekked up the slippery, carrying Weiss by her underarms, who was more focused on her laptop than the mud being splattered all over her nice, clean clothes. They joined Yang at the top of the hill and the blonde pointed out at something in the distance. Ruby pulled out her binoculars for a better look.
The first thing that caught her eye was the strange patch of starry clear sky as if it had been cut out of the clouds, leaving the small town underneath dry and storm free. At least a hundred men were moving in between the buildings, carrying crates of various items like circuit boards, electrical wires, slabs of different metals, and Ruby wasn't certain, but she thought she saw one of them carrying a robot head. And hovering over the town was a large metal airship emblazoned with a giant, stylized "W" that was emitting a massive amount of black smog that wafted into the surrounding storm clouds.
"How much you wanna bet the good doctor's in there?" Yang said to Ruby, referring to the airship.
"It does seem like the most fortified place in the whole area," said Blake, her Faunus eyes giving her a better view of the town in the pitch darkness. "But it's very strange. The entire island is being drenched in this storm, but the town is the only place that's clear. Why is that?"
"Maybe it has something to do with that ship," Ruby suggested, turning her binoculars toward the flying fortress. "You see that smoke that's coming out of it? Maybe that's what's causing the storm."
"Whoa, whoa, back up," said Yang astoundingly. "Are you saying the doc invented a machine that controls the weather?"
"Even if he is a villain, Doctor Watts is a certified genius," said Weiss, showing that she was paying attention even if her eyes never left the laptop. "It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility if he invented a weather machine. It would explain why the storms never let up around here. He probably uses it to keep people away from the island."
"People like us, you mean," Blake added.
"It doesn't matter," said Ruby determinedly. "Because rain or shine, we're going to steal back the Book of Thieves. And if Watts gets in the way, then we'll just take him down, too."
"Aw, I'm so proud of you, sis!" Yang squealed joyfully, trapping Ruby in a headlock.
"Yang – chocking – CHOCKING!" Ruby wheezed, quickly tapping out.
"We might wanna hold up on the frontal assault until we actually manage to sneak into that town," said Blake, turning to Weiss. "Speaking of which, how are we going to do that without the hundreds of guards noticing us? Just asking."
"Huh? What?" said Weiss inattentively, finally snapping out of it when she realized Blake was talking to her. "Oh, right, getting in. Yeah, hold on a minute." Ruby and the others glanced at one another, frowning as Weiss viciously tapped the keyboard. It wasn't like Weiss to lose focus during a mission. "Right…yes…okay, I've got it. I think it goes without saying that Watts will have the whole town guarded from all sides. Goons located at the front gates, the back gates, and every opening in the outer perimeter. With all the searchlights flying around, chances of sneaking in through an aerial drop is next to impossible. Which, unfortunately, leaves only one option left."
"We have to underground," Blake concluded.
"As much as it disgusts me, yes," said Weiss, grimacing. "There's an opening into the sewer system nearby. If we climb through, we should be able to reach the heart of the town unnoticed. Afterwards, we can set up a base of operations and start plotting the next phase of the mission, and hopefully find a shower with running hot water."
"Yeah, I'm all for being dirty, but not that dirty," said Yang in a joking tone.
"Somehow, I get the impression the sewers are cleaner than your mind, Xiao Long," said Weiss bluntly, to which Yang did not retort.
Ruby and her gang slowly slid down the muddy pathway, though Yang had to throw Weiss over her shoulder when the hacker was too enthralled with her constantly glitching computer. The band of thieves cautiously ducked in between the trees as they walked around the outer edge of the town, ducking below the bushes when a searchlight flashed near their location. Weiss was none too thrilled to be repeatedly throw down into various degrees of mud puddles, which Yang was no doubt doing on purpose, and Ruby wasn't too happy either; she liked Weiss's pretty snow-white hair. It took close to Half an hour of dodging and sneaking before they made it to the back of the town.
Just as Weiss had predicted, the back entrance to Watt's personal village was heavily guarded by four soldiers armed to the teeth, much more dangerous than the two from the jungle trek. But the gang disregarded them and continued moving forward until they reached the very edge of the island leading to a steep cliff. Ruby and Yang leaned over the edge, staring down at the dark waters crashing against the rocks with the force of speeding trucks. They scanned left and right across the face of the cliff until –
"Ruby, over there!" Yang shouted urgently.
It was difficult to see through the blustery winds, but Yang was able to point out an exposed pipe lodged into the side of the cliff, spilling out a steady stream of something that Ruby didn't want to think about. The pipe was large enough to fit them all as long as they crouched, but that also put their faces closer to whatever…waste products were being dumped. But, Ruby thought resolutely, they didn't have a choice. Just think about the Book of Thieves, she told herself – think about the Book of Thieves….
The Rose Thief withdrew a length of rope from her backpack and handed one end off to Yang, who tied it around the trunk of a nearby tree while Ruby wrapped the other end around her waist. She then pulled out Crescent Rose, stabbing the miniature scythe into the rock wall before climbing down the cliffside.
"I told you it was a climbing axe," Weiss decided to point out when Ruby was halfway down the rock.
"It's a scythe, you dummy!" Ruby retorted vehemently.
Weiss rolled her eyes with a noncommittal noise before diving back into her laptop, her brow furrowed as her fingers danced across the keyboard. Meanwhile, Ruby continued climbing down the cliffside when one of the footholds broke under her boot, nearly causing the Rose Thief to fall off had she not been clinging to Crescent Rose. Yang was tempted to pull her sister up right there, but Ruby sharply waved her off the moment she felt the blonde tugging at the rope; Yang frowned, but reluctantly let go. A few more tension-filled moments later, Ruby had successfully managed to climb down beside the pipe, only to be met with a new problem.
"Of course he would seal up the sewers," said Ruby, grimacing at the rusted metal bars covering the pipe. She grabbed one of the bars and pulled; the grate made a dangerous creaking noise. "Hmm…doesn't look like it would take much leverage to break open, but I can't use Crescent Rose or I'd drop…. Hey, girls!" She called up to her team. "You got anything sturdy up there that I can pry this open with?"
"Sturdy how?" Blake called back.
"This vent is pretty much rusted to heck!" Ruby shouted up. "I just need something tough so that I can take it off of the opening! Like a crowbar, or something!"
"Don't know where we're going to find a crowbar in the middle of the forest," said Blake, but nonetheless looking around.
"Maybe I could climb down there and rip it off with my bare hands," Yang suggested enthusiastically.
"Yang, you would slip on the rocks and die," Blake rejected immediately, making Yang deflate. "We need something like…. Hold on a minute…."
Blake turned Yang around and opened their tool bag, shuffling through the towels and various supplies they brought with them until she found what she was looking for. Ruby wasn't the only one with a thieving weapon, she reminded them – Blake had her own Kusarigama (or "chain-sickle" as the cultureless heathens liked to call it) forged from black steel, emblazoned with her personal emblem on the handle, and attached to a long stretch of black ribbon for long distance attacks. She called it Gambol Shroud, though Yang thought Kitty Claw was a better name.
Blake carefully walked over to the edge, kneeled down, and began lowering Gambol Shroud by its ribbon. Ruby fumbled to grab the weapon, then turned to the rusted grate blocking their way. The Rose Thief stabbed the bladed tip with all her might, lodging it between the small crevice with a skin-crawling screech. It was a lot more difficult to apply pressure with Gambol Shroud than Crescent Rose since Crescent Rose had a lot more surface area – and the fact that she was hanging fifteen feet in the air from a watery grave. Ruby grunted loudly for her efforts, practically throwing her whole body against the chain-sickle, until she heard the relieving pop of the rusted bolts coming loose. One more push, and Ruby finally dislodged more than half the lug nuts off the grate and pulled it open just far enough to create an opening.
Ruby held the handle of Gambol Shroud between her teeth – Blake would be so angry if she lost her weapon – and leaned sideways on Crescent Rose before throwing herself at the sewage pipe. Her foot slipped on the raw sewage and scrambled to grab the edge of the pipe, making her skin crawl as the muck poured between her fingers. Ruby fought back a shudder and steadily climbed back up until she was crouched safely in the pipe. She undid the rope around her waist and gave it a few tugs, signaling for the rest of her crew to follow her example.
Yang came down first, sliding along the rope like it was a fireman's pole and swinging herself into the pipe with total disregard for her safety. Blake was next to follow, though she was much slower and cautious about her approach, especially when she kept looking down at the great waves crashing below. And then there was Weiss, who was the slowest to ease down the rope partially because she was carrying her laptop, and partially because she was clearly hesitant to go mucking around in the sewers. But no matter how reluctant she was, Weiss swung over to the pipe and joined the rest of the Rose Gang crouching ankle deep in who-knows-what.
"This is the fourth disgusting thing I've ever done since joining you girls," Weiss grumbled disgustedly.
"Nothing's ever gonna top that New Jersey job," said Yang, grimacing. "Seriously, what is wrong with those people?"
"Okay, Weiss, we made it this far," said Blake, desperately trying not to look down. "Please find us a way out, and fast. It may stink for you guys, but it's five times worse for a Faunus nose."
"All right, we should be headed – oh, wait, my scanning algorithm is done," said Weiss as her laptop chimed loudly. "It'll just take me a second. Just have to check for any…. No…. no, no, no, no, NO!"
"Weiss, what's – " Ruby started to say when Weiss suddenly slammed her laptop shut, spun around on her heels, splashing sludge around, and threw her computer out of the pipe with all her might. In the distance, they could hear a faint crunch that was likely Weiss's laptop smashing into the rocks below. Ruby, Blake, and Yang stared openmouthed at the hacker as she wiped her forehead with a relieved sigh.
"Uh…not that I don't like watching you destroy your personal property…," said Yang slowly, "but what the hell was that?"
"Its Watts! He was hacking me!" Weiss shrieked frantically.
"Say what?" Ruby gasped.
"All those times my computer glitched out," Weiss spoke very quickly, shaking her hands like she was itching to grab something. "That was Watts breaking through my firewalls. He must have intercepted my laptop's wireless signal and implanted some kind of…Queen Virus that allowed him to slip into my software undetected. It would have been invisible if I hadn't used the scanning program I personally designed. He was trying to upload a tracking program onto my laptop, but I got rid of it before the download was complete."
"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Weiss," said Blake, grasping the hacker by her shoulders. "What does this mean for us?"
"Its means…," said Weiss, taking a deep breath. "It means that Watts knows we're here."
High above the small town, safely secure in his flying fortress, Dr. Arthur Watts took a delicate sip of his freshly brewed tea while observing the personalized laptop sitting open on the side table. The computer had been opened to a three-dimensional map of the island with a little white snowflake occasionally blinking somewhere around the edges. But when Watts checked the computer again, the snowflake had disappeared and a large red banner flashed across the screen saying "CONNECTION LOST". Dr. Watts scoffed lightly.
"Clever little girl," he said. "So she finally noticed the virus I uploaded. I suppose I should have expected as much from the infamous 'Snowpea'. It was my mistake for underestimating them. And I don't make the same mistake twice."
Dr. Watts reached into his pocket, retrieving his personalized phone, tapped one of the names on his contact list, and waited. The disgraced scientist drummed his fingers on his knees impatiently by the fourth ring, grumbling over the unnecessarily long wait; he really needed to find more attentive henchmen. Finally, he heard the call click on the other side, and one of his minions answered.
"Yes, I need you to contact INTERPOL at once," said Dr. Watts coolly. "Tell them that Ruby Rose is on Gale Island."
The Rose Gang has a network of friends and people who they've helped during their thieving career. Truthfully, I hadn't considered Matte Skye at first because they were such an obscure character even for RWBY, but they were the only one who would seem likely to drive a boat for the gang. Various other characters will appear as cameos as the story goes on, and even some will play big roles in the story itself.
This story will not be semi-linear like it was in the Thievius Raccoonus, but with a mission-based plotline like in Band of Thieves and Honor Among Thieves so that all the characters will have a chance to have central roles in the story rather than just Ruby doing everything herself. And I am giving you, the readers, a chance to decide the order of the missions. When you are done reading this post-chapter note, there will be a poll waiting on my main page. The mission with the highest number of votes gets to go first.