Due to me having to spend all of yesterday with a client for work, I didn't have time to write this for CF to see. The chapter plan was sent over and discussed, but not the chapter itself.

Beta: College Fool

Cover Art: Kegi Springfield

Chapter 31 – Black and White

It was an awkward procession of eight teenagers who made their way through the deserted industrial sector of Vale. Though he'd never been here himself, Jaune could tell it must have once been a centre for factories and more. Many now lay empty, though given that it was almost ten at night, they could have just as easily been abandoned for the day. Even so, some were boarded over and in clear need of repair.

"Is this the place?" he asked, ducking down into a covered alcove where the others were crouched. "It certainly looks abandoned enough."

"This is it," Blake confirmed. "According to the message, it should be that warehouse over there." She pointed to one perhaps three or four hundred metres away, and true to her word, there was an unusual congregation of people by it. Unusual in the sense that there were people there at all, even before the suspicious way they moved around was any indication.

"It certainly looks like the message was accurate," Ren said. "Blake, do you have the masks?"

"I do." Blake fished them out, and handed them around the group. "I'm not sure we should all enter together, however."

Weiss flashed the faunus an odd look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, your hair is back to normal for one." Blake nodded to the white locks, which had shed their final green tint in the shower that morning. "Even beyond that, this is the actual White Fang we'll be dealing with. We got through the other guys because they're the amateur branch, but we're dealing with professionals now. Professional killers," she added, leaning forward. "They're not going to make the same mistake, and you're easily recognised."

"Pyrrha, too," Yang agreed, flashing an apologetic smile. "I see Blake's point. Your disguise was to wear sunglasses and claim you're a bat faunus, but this meeting is in the middle of the night. It's a little weird to do that now, if you could even see with them on."

"I see your point," Pyrrha said, removing them with a relieved sigh. "Still, what should we do now? Even with the masks, Weiss will be easily recognised."

"We could split up," Jaune suggested.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"W-Well, think about it like this," he said. "Blake and Nora are the ones who snuck in before, and Ren and Yang are unknowns to most of them, so won't be recognised. Yang also has the best disguise with her hair, and Ren's eyes aren't something that can be faked. Team RYBN wouldn't have too many problems getting in."

"That's true," Ren mused. "Where would that leave you and your team?"

"Backup and support, I guess. We can be look outs, or help you guys if you need it." Basically, anything that meant he didn't need to go in and potentially be recognised by Roman Torchwick. "That's my idea, anyway."

The others looked between themselves for a moment, before Blake nodded and turned back to him. "It's not a bad one. Our goal here is only to find out what their plans are. If all goes well, we won't have to fight at all, so the size of the infiltrating party will be safer if it's small. As Jaune says, it's Team WJRP who has the easily recognised members on their team. If you could take up positions around the building in case something goes wrong…"

"I guess we can," Ruby said. "I can get up high and use Crescent Rose to watch it. I'll even be able to snipe if you need me to."

"There are plenty of disused cranes she could climb," Pyrrha added, looking around. "While they look to be in bad shape, Ruby is light enough that she shouldn't have a problem."

"Even if I fell, it wouldn't be as bad as initiation. I have a landing strategy." She shrugged. "I won't fall, though. Those things are pretty big. I'm hardly going to slip off."

Weiss nodded, one hand on her chin as she looked to Ruby, and then to the cranes nearby. There was no telling what went through her mind, but she didn't seem against the idea, which was good. If things went bad, Ruby could keep the enemy pinned while the others escaped, and she'd have no problem getting out with her Semblance.

"It's as good a plan as any," Weiss eventually said. "I'll admit that I might not be the best for infiltration here. If Ruby takes a high position, that leaves the three of us to make a perimeter around the building itself. If you need to escape in a hurry, I can have glyphs prepared for you at the exit."

"And I can slow down the enemy with my Semblance," Pyrrha added. "If you need a distraction inside, I might even be capable of creating that. There's bound to be a lot of metal equipment in there."

Pyrrha's Semblance, of course. She'd told the team about it a while back, and she was right about it being useful. Jaune slowly started to smile as his plan came together. "I can keep lookout," he said once they turned to him. "Since everyone else is taking positions in a way to help or distract people, I'll watch the whole thing from the roof. If you guys need help, you can make some kind of signal, and I'll pass the message on to them."

"It's a sound plan," Ren said, with a quick nod. "We'll need some kind of obvious sign we can use, but also something subtle."

"If I take my mask off, that's the sign," Blake said. "At least it will be if I have the chance. If anything goes worse, we'll have to adapt."

Jaune nodded. "Well yeah. If you start shooting or get found out, I'll alert everyone. I don't think we need anything more than a subtle sign. I'm not oblivious."

"I don't know about that," Ruby mumbled.

Hey, what was that supposed to mean?

"Okay, it's settled," Weiss said, completely ignoring Jaune's questioning look towards Ruby. "Team WJRP will provide support and take up positions once Team RYBN has infiltrated. We won't move until all the stragglers are inside, however. There are too many people to see us right now. If you need help, then any of you remove your masks and Jaune will pass the message on. Pyrrha will cause the distraction, I'll give you a speed boost out of the exit, and Ruby will cover the retreat. Is everyone happy with the plan?"

Everyone nodded, but that didn't seem enough for Weiss.

"And you, Jaune? You were the one to criticise out plans before, after all."

"I-I'm fine," he said, laughing nervously. "I mean, this actually is a plan, so it's fine. We just sort of walked in the front door the last time and hoped for the best."

"What was that, boyfriend?"

"N-Nothing, dear!"

Weiss glowered. "That's what I thought. Let's get the show on the road."

Jaune let out a breath of relief as his partner's gaze moved away. Team RYBN slipped into their disguises and pushed out from behind the wreckage on their way towards the warehouse, while the rest of them waited. Idly, Jaune brought out his scroll and checked the time. It was ten on the dot… not only the point at which the White Fang rally was supposed to start, but also when he'd said he would meet with Emerald.

I'll make it up to her another time, he thought. I'm sure she won't mind.

/-/

Blake kept her mask firmly in place as she made her way towards the crowds of faunus with her team in tow. There had to be about a hundred people in attendance, though some of them were bound to already be members. Out of their own recruitment group, they were probably the only ones to escape the police, which meant the rest had come from other branches. In that way, the White Fang were smart, minimising the chances for loss by having several cells in charge of recruitment, each of which knew nothing about the other.

They were away from such amateur operations, however.

"Do your best to keep silent," she warned her team. "These aren't the same people as we saw at the recruitment rally. This is the real White Fang. They'll be more professional, more alert, and far more cautious. The same tricks won't work on these people."

"You almost sound defensive of them," Yang whispered.

"I was a part of them once, so I know what they're capable of. If possible, just stay quiet and let me do the talking. We don't want any trouble, so our best bet will be to avoid attention and try not to stand out."

So long as they did that, there shouldn't be any problems. The masks covered most of their faces, and the crowd was large enough to get lost in. The only real danger was that someone might see and recognise her. She'd been a visible figure after all, both for her parents, and for her partner.

"You there," someone called. "Halt!"

"Keep moving," Blake hissed, leading them on.

"Wait, stop those four – there, stop them!"

Many of the faunus in the crowd backed away, suddenly afraid, and that only made the team stand out worse. It also prompted three White Fang grunts to move forward, cutting off their path. Yang bumped into Blake's back as she stopped, and the four of them quickly stood back to back.

They'd been found out so soon? How?

"Do you mean us?" Blake asked innocently, one hand slipping behind her back to grasp Gambol Shroud. If it came to it, they could cut their way free, but that would mean they'd failed.

"Yes, I mean you," the first faunus said, storming forwards. He wore his mask and uniform, and it was all but impossible to tell what kind of faunus he was. "I recognise you… I'm sure of it."

Someone who knew her before she left…? Blake's muscles tensed. "You must be mistaken," she said. "I don't recognise you. We were told to come here to join the White Fang. Is that wrong?"

"Not you," the man growled, pushing her aside. He strode towards Nora instead. "You!"

Nora blinked. "Me?"

Blake wanted to scream.

"You are the cow faunus, no?"

"I am," Nora said, unable to really argue. "Why? I'm not showing you my udders if that's what you're asking. That's just rude. Only Renny gets to see my udders."

"I would never suggest such a thing, my lady. In fact, I've heard nothing but incredible things about you from our recruitment agent. He spoke often of your skill and dedication to the cause, even to the point where you were instrumental in saving his life from a police raid."

Instrumental…? Blake's eye twitched. She'd been just as much a part of it as Nora, but no, only her efforts got recognised. Wait, I'm not supposed to want recognition. That's the exact opposite of what I want!

Even if the fact everyone ignored her was getting irritating.

"Oh yeah, I was there." Nora giggled. "That was fun."

"Fun, she says," the man said. He turned to his fellows. "You see, men? This is how a true White Fang warrior acts. How are we supposed to wage a war capable of taking our place in the world if we balk at the mere sight of police officers? We must grasp opportunity with our hands-"

"Or hooves," Nora interjected.

"Or hooves, or paws," the speaker went on, completely missing the blatant sarcasm. "We must be prepared to fight for what we desire, for what we deserve!"

Several members of the crowd cheered.

Blake wanted to shoot them all. The White Fang had never seemed this stupid when she was a part of it. Had she simply been blind to it, or maybe sheltered because she worked with the best? Maybe there was something in the water in Vale that lowered their IQ. There had to be something. She refused to accept that the organisation she'd dedicated her life to would be this… this dense!

"One of our finest leaders is also a cow faunus," the man explained. "They are rare, but considered strong. I had the pleasure of working alongside him once, and he cut a swathe through the enemy with his crimson blade."

Adam…? Blake winced, imagining what her old partner would say if he heard someone refer to him as a cow faunus. It wouldn't be pretty. Also, how could this guy remember working with Adam, but not recognise her?

And why did that annoy her so much!?

"I hope that you too will have a fraction of his strength. The White Fang needs people like you. Oh, and your friends," he added, looking to the three of them as though they were nothing but an afterthought. "I'm sure they'll be great here too."

"I'm sure they will~" Nora shook hands with the White Fang soldier and waved as he went off to talk with the others. She then turned back to the team. "Ah, he was nice."

Blake's palm met her forehead. "Nora…"

"What? I was fitting in."

"We're not supposed to fit in!"

"Actually, it's not a bad idea," Ren said.

"Please don't encourage her."

"Nora needs no encouragement, Blake." Ren placed a hand on her shoulder and offered a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry. Rest assured, I've lived with this for years and know what you're going through."

Blake dared to hope.

"Which is why he's so relieved he got me as a partner," Yang said. "Since it meant he could finally get a break and lump Nora on someone else."

Blake's dreams cracked, but it wasn't until she looked at Ren and he coughed, but didn't dispute the claim, that they truly shattered. She was stuck with Nora. This was punishment for all the things she'd done as a terrorist, she just knew it.

"Blake's impending existential crisis aside, I think we should get inside while we can," Ren instructed. "We're lucky Nora was recognised, even if it's for all the wrong reasons. A distraction is still a distraction, and we might as well not tempt fate with my being a sloth faunus again."

"You got it partner," Yang said, hooking an arm around Blake and dragging her along. "Come on, Blake. Let's get this over with."

It took a few seconds for Blake to break out of her funk, no thanks to her partner, who cheerfully waved and chatted with every potential terrorist they passed. Sure, it worked to distract attention away from them, and if there was one thing Nora was good at, it was drawing attention, but still – this was the exact opposite of blending in and not drawing attention to themselves.

Adam would have a fit if he saw this. I'm not sure who he'd kill first, us, the guards, or himself.

Considering how she could make out various unguarded windows, and doors, it would be all three. Maybe things had been better in their branch of the White Fang. At the very least, everything had seemed more organised, more focused. This was still better than the recruitment faction of Vale, but far less impressive than the White Fang's Mistral operations.

"They seem to lack organisation," Blake whispered. "There's a wilful lack of attention put to security. I'm not sure if it's confidence or arrogance."

"Considering who we saw leading them at the docks, it could be both," Ren replied. "I doubt Torchwick would even care if the majority of people here were arrested or killed. So long as he remains safe, everyone else is fair game."

Blake frowned, but couldn't find room to argue. It was the only explanation which made sense, and that painted a pretty damning picture if it were true. Still, in what world would the White Fang allow a human to lead them? Aiding him on a robbery was one thing, and bad enough, but to follow Torchwick's orders? That was madness.

As luck would have it, they managed to avoid detection for the most part after that, even if Yang's hair caught eyes occasionally, and some people looked at Nora with something Blake would later realise was awe in their eyes. She refused to admit how much that irritated her, and instead focused on the stage as the audience went quiet.

"Don't react to anything that's said," she whispered. "Stay quiet and see what happens."

Ren sighed. "You're the only one speaking, Blake."

Right then and there, she wouldn't have minded knocking him out with the bell he'd made her wear. She settled for a fierce scowl as Roman Torchwick strode out onto the stage. Luckily, it went unseen, mostly because the crowd gasped and began to chatter. Apparently the news that the crook was working with the White Fang hadn't reached the new recruits. She'd almost forgotten that.

"Yes, yes, it is I, Roman Torchwick, gentleman, criminal extraordinaire and all around human in front of you." The arrogant man removed his hat and bowed to them all. "Now I know what you're thinking… how does he look so good, how does he pull off his crimes, and why are we sitting here looking at a human when we're faunus? That about right?"

"Yeah!" the crowd kind of said. It was "kind of" because of how most people were mumbling between themselves and only a few dared shout it out. "Human!" another called. "Crook!"

"Thank you, thank you – there's no need for the applause. Suffice to say, my little freedom fighters, we're working together because our goals align. Nothing more. Now don't get me wrong, humans suck." Torchwick swirled to the side, spinning his cane as he spoke. "They lie, cheat, and steal, and I should know since I'm one of them. But the thing is, the White Fang need things. They need dust, tools, weapons, and even brave fighters like you! Should we be asking brave warriors to steal dust from local stores?"

The crowd mumbled and grumbled, and while there was no definite answer, a few people shouted out "no". Blake wondered if those had been planted in advance by the White Fang, actual agents who would shout out the right answers to make the speech work.

"Of course we shouldn't. You are the next generation of the White Fang, the people history will remember as those who won freedom for their children. Why, to steal from humans, you need someone equally despicable – another human, in fact. That's where yours truly comes in, but it's not just me."

Blake's eyes narrowed. Not just him? What does that mean?

"There are so many people in the world who want to see the White Fang succeed," he called, "and working together with them, we've been able to achieve so much more. Take for instance your latest tools."

Torchwick turned to the White Fang behind him and called out an order. As one, they tore the coverings from several figures at the back of the warehouse. Huge, mechanical constructs revealed themselves – emblazoned with the symbol of Atlas. Blake cursed, and easily imagined Weiss doing the same outside. Torchwick had the stolen Paladins. What else had she expected? This was bad. If those things were made for war, then they'd probably be strong enough to overwhelm Vale's defences. Atlas didn't make inferior machines, after all.

"The latest in Atlas technology, prototypes for their next great weapon of war, and now under your control, just a little gift from my associates and I to show you how serious we are. We're in this to win, after all. The last thing we want is to send you into battle unprepared."

His words struck a chord. Whether it was with those who had been frightened before, or those who had seen the self-sacrificial nature of the White Fang in the past, she wasn't sure. Either way, the acrimony towards him seemed to have faded, and the audience were now cheering the news. He was good at controlling them, but that was all it was. She doubted very much him or his associates cared in the slightest about these people's lives.

"But that's not the only event for the night, my friends. Oh, no! You see, I have a very special guest tonight who I thought it might be good to introduce to you. One who you may have seen before, and who is waiting back stage even now."

Hentacle.

He had to mean Hentacle. Blake bit her lip and looked around, suddenly aware of how many others had come to the same conclusion, for several women in the crowd looked a little too eager. She caught Ren's eye, and her leader shook his head, telling her to stay calm. If Hentacle saw them it would all be over, but she had to trust he wouldn't recognise them. They had their masks on, and they'd already known the monster was working with Torchwick. Working and doing a little extra service if the rumours were to be believed.

So long as they remained calm, there wouldn't be a problem.

/-/

Emerald leaned back on the couch of her team's dorm room and checked her scroll for the fifth time. The digital dial told her it was 22:22, which aside from being a neat coincidence, was still twenty-two minutes past when that idiot had said he was going to meet her. Had he gotten lost or something? She wouldn't put it past him.

"Ugh, what a moron… is it so hard to remember a simple time and place?"

She tried calling his scroll but got a message that told her it was switched off. Well, that or out of battery, and there was no telling which. Swinging her legs over the edge, she hopped onto her feet and set down her drink on a nearby desk. She'd even gone out of her way to dress up for this, assuming his attention would be firmly on her if she looked her best. A tight cream top with a V-neck that cut a little low and trousers that hugged her figure. She'd show him for having no reaction to her flirting the other day!

Well, she would if he ever showed up.

"What could he be doing that's more important than this?"

The door opened and she stuck her head outside, just to make sure he wasn't waiting there and hadn't known how to knock or something. Nope. He was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes narrowed and her lips turned down. Had she been stood up? No way. No one would dare do that to her. A woman walked past the room, a brown-haired faunus with rabbit ears. Emerald thought she looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't place where.

"Hey, you!" she called.

The girl paused. "Do you mean me?"

"Yes, you. Who else would I mean!?"

"Literally any of the other people in the hallway…?" she said, gesturing around. "The area isn't exactly abandoned."

Emerald growled, not quite in the mood to be sassed by some random girl – especially since she reminded her of Mercury for some reason. She tried for her friendliest smile, and managed something between one seen on a murderer pretending to be innocent to the police. "Have you seen Jaune Arc around here?"

"Jaune?" The girl's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but he promised to meet with me to help with something. Look, it's a simple question. Have you seen him or not?"

"I saw him, but he wasn't coming here." The faunus shrugged and looked in the other direction. "He was headed to the Bullhead docks about an hour and a half ago. I think he was off into Vale with his team."

Vale? But why would he be going there, and why with his entire team? The only thing in Vale was…

Emerald's eyes widened.

That son of a bitch!

"Out of the way," she snapped, pushing past the girl and rushing down the corridor. The faunus might have yelled something out, but she didn't hear it. She was too busy panicking. Jaune, the bastard, had given her the slip. He'd lied to trick her into not being in his way, and now he'd gone off to the White Fang rally.

Damn it, that was bad. If Cinder heard about this… no, she couldn't. There wouldn't be anything to hear about, because she'd stop him before he could get himself killed. Either that or she'd be finding the safest and quickest way out of Vale before Cinder killed her. Her legs moved faster as she rushed down the corridor.

She didn't even notice the unusually placed Atlas soldier nearby, how his eyes followed her, or how he whispered something into his helmet.

/-/

"I'll admit," Remy said, "this was actually pretty clever of you."

Jaune smiled to himself and squatted a little lower on the roof of the warehouse, looking down through an open hatch. He could see much of the audience as well as the stage, and had even picked out Team RYBN in the crowd, prepared for their signal. All in all, it was a complete success.

"I'm not an idiot, Remy. If I was in the crowd, then Roman would surely recognise me, and if things do go badly, he'll force me into helping him again. Even if he didn't, Cinder would go nuts if she knew I was here. Better to sit above it all like this."

"Oh, I know. I just had the terrible idea you might ignore conventional wisdom altogether. What do you think about those robots?"

"They look a little… unfinished."

"I know what you mean. There's something missing. Still, if you're whiny team leader is to be believed, it's not a good thing that they have them."

"Weiss isn't that bad," Jaune automatically defended. "But yeah, I don't know why Big Sis would want these things, even less to give them to a bunch of violent terrorists. They're going to use them for evil…"

"Which, I shall remind you, your Big Sis also is. Evil, I mean."

"I know, I know, but she isn't evil-evil. She's more… pragmatic evil." The distinction felt weak, even to him – but come on, it was hard to defend Cinder. She was unabashedly cruel, and actually was quite happy to admit it. In fact, she'd have been offended if he said otherwise. "My point is that she wouldn't do this unless it served some kind of purpose, and wanton destruction wouldn't be enough. She's not some cartoon villain. She has reasons for doing what she does."

"And those are…?"

Jaune's cheeks flushed. "I didn't say I knew…"

Cinder was his Big Sis for a reason, and that was because she was older than him and had helped raise him since he was a child. She knew how to run rings around him, and didn't mind doing so at any opportunity. Even if he wanted to know the truth, it wasn't like she would tell him, and he couldn't just order her around. Sure, she was probably supposed to follow his orders, but she definitely wouldn't. She'd also make him regret ever daring to try and pull rank on her – and he'd be grovelling on hands and knees within days.

"It doesn't matter in the end. All we need to do is keep watch and help the others get out. Once this is all over, I won't have to worry about Roman or the White Fang again."

Remy didn't respond, but also didn't disagree. There really wasn't much more to be said. Jaune edged closer to the opening, testing the roof beneath him to make sure it wouldn't give way. Despite the ramshackle nature of the building, it seemed strong enough to support him. There was still no sign from down below that Team RYBN needed an out, and although he couldn't make out Roman's words, it was clear the whole thing was going as planned.

Maybe this would be an easy night after all.

The foot that was placed in the centre of his back disagreed.

The world spun as he was non-so-gently thrust forward, and he caught the briefest flash of colour before he was sent through the hatch. There was a loud clang as his body struck it, one that reverberated through the warehouse. It was followed by a high-pitched cry and an altogether louder sound as he impacted the wooden stage.

Directly in front of Roman Torchwick, of course.

The crowd froze.

Roman did, too.

It lasted barely a few seconds, during which Jaune cracked his head up to look into the criminal's eyes. He saw fear there, fear mixed with panic and helplessness. He understood why. Roman knew he'd be in trouble if he did anything or let him get hurt, but was also clearly terrified because Jaune kind of had threatened to kill him if he caused him trouble again. On the other hand, he couldn't do nothing – not in front of the White Fang, who even now were stirring to life and drawing weapons.

It all took less than ten seconds, but it felt like a lifetime, during which Roman looked to him, to the ceiling, to the crowd, and then back to him.

Jaune imagined his friends were in much the same predicament.

"W-Well," Roman eventually laughed, "If this isn't a surprise, huh? Someone's out a little late at night, isn't he?" He looked to the audience. "Don't fuss, ladies and gentlemen. It's just an unannounced guest. There's no reason to panic. I'll just deal with him…" Roman hooked an arm under Jaune's and hoisted him to his feet. "My associate back stage has actually been looking for him, and will be far more vicious than I. Just…" he tugged Jaune back a bit, "You lot all wait there, okay? I'll be back in no time at all!"

Roman dragged him bodily off the stage and back through a door before he or the crowd could complain. The moment they were alone, Roman pulled him in front and stared at him.

"What are you doing here!?" he hissed. "Cinder said you were supposed to be busy!"

Jaune stared pointedly at the hands gripping his collar.

"S-Sorry," Roman stammered, ducking back a little and letting go. "Wait, why am I saying sorry? What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Investigating the White Fang," Jaune answered honestly.

There didn't seem to be much point in lying.

"Inves- oh for crying out loud, all your little friends are here as well, aren't they?"

"No."

"You're as bad at lying as you are at sneaking around." Roman ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Okay, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but if you have some way to alert your friends – then do so now. Tell them you're okay or something. If they ask later, tell them I didn't frisk you for your scroll or something and you got a message off."

Jaune eyed the man warily. "Why would you let me do that?"

"Ugh, do I have to explain everything? Because I can't kill you otherwise Cinder will have my head, and I can't refuse to get rid of you or the White Fang will go nuts. Meanwhile, if your friends decide to go crazy over this, things are going to get complicated and we'll end up in another fighting for our lives situation." He sighed. "It would be easier if they stayed quiet and everyone walked away without any problems." He bit down on a cigar and growled. "And yes, I know that means you brats will have interfered with yet another of my plans, but at least you'll have done it quietly! I can run damage control on that, at least."

"Remy, do you think it's a trap?"

"I doubt it. Like he says, he can't do anything to you or Cinder will kill him. Even if he tried, you could just kill him."

True, he supposed. With his friends away from him, he could transform without problems – and that would make him strong enough to deal with Roman. He shrugged and fished out his scroll, and then sent a quick message to everyone to tell them he was okay and was looking for a chance to escape. "It's done," he said. "They should hold off for a bit."

"Yeah, I certainly hope so," Roman grunted. "Why did you fall in, anyway? Don't tell me you're that clumsy."

"No, someone pushed me in. I didn't see a face, but I thought there was a flash of pink." Jaune paused when he noticed Roman flinch. "Someone you know?"

"No, no," Roman blatantly lied. "I was just thinking how I need to have a talk with a little friend of mine, because I asked her to do me a favour and I think we're on different wavelengths here." He trailed off and growled something under his breath. "Anyway, now I've got to figure out what I'm supposed to do about you!"

"Let me go."

"Can't, kid."

"Allow me to rephrase." Jaune's eyes flashed red, and he pulled a smile Cinder would have been proud of. "Let me go or I'll transform and let myself go."

Roman's face turned an interesting shade of white, and he took a step back. It definitely looked like their last meeting had made an impression, probably when Jaune pinned the man to the side of a Bullhead and threatened to kill him.

"I-It's not that I don't want to, so much as I can't. You need to at least stay here until after the animals up front are gone. You can escape after that, but if you run now, those idiots out there will try to hunt you down. It might put your friends in danger," Roman added, right when Jaune had been about to protest.

His mouth clicked shut. Roman was right.

"Fine," he said, sighing. "Take me as a prisoner or something and lock me in a back room. I'll keep my scroll handy and pretend I smuggled it in. Then, once this is over, I'll sneak out and we can both go our separate ways. How does that sound?"

Roman rubbed his forehead. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation, and with a brat so young as well. I used to be someone. My name used to mean something. What went wrong? If the old mob bosses could see me now, I'd be a laughing stock!"

"Roman…?"

"Give me a moment. I'm mourning here."

"He's more dramatic than Tyrian and Watts combined," Remy grumbled. "I wish you could just dispose of him."

He personally agreed, but felt it might be a little rude to say that out loud, and his Big Sis apparently wanted him around still. Jaune crossed his arms instead and looked towards the ceiling for answers. So much for not drawing attention… who was the person who pushed him, anyway? He was certain no one had been on the roof with him. Remy would have seen them otherwise.

"Don't you have a crowd to get back to?" Jaune asked. "Just put me in a room and leave me there. I'm not going to cause a scene when that would be bad for me as well."

"Yeah, not quite," Roman said. "I didn't lie on stage. My associate really has been looking for you, and she'd rip me a new one if I didn't deliver you straight to her. Let's just say she isn't the kind of person I want on my bad side right now."

Uh-oh…

"Uh-oh, indeed…" Remy echoed.

Cinder was here…? Jaune swallowed his fear, but couldn't entirely keep it from showing. This was bad. This was very bad. Not in the "threat to his life" kind of way, but something infinitely worse. Cinder was going to be furious.

"How about we don't…?" he suggested. "I mean, you could just tell her I was never here, and neither of us has to get in trouble. We'd both come out looking good."

"And run the risk of her finding out? Not a chance, kid." Roman caught his arm before he could escape and dragged him down a corridor. "This is more than my life is worth – and don't think about transforming to break free, either. I'll just point her after you. Right now, I'm more afraid of her than I am of you."

Sweat ran down his brow, and much like he had whenever he'd done something bad as a child, he started to run through the different scenarios he could give her. He'd been moon bathing on the roof when he fell in. No, that wouldn't work. He'd been taking a walk and got lost? Gah, she'd never believe it.

Oh, perfect – he'd been kidnapped by White Fang radicals, and they'd dropped him through the hatch. No, that would lead to her asking for names and descriptions, and Roman already knew the truth.

He was screwed. He was actually screwed! His eyes clenched shut as a door approached, and he took a deep breath as he heard it open. His only choice now was to employ his only defence, the one thing he knew might work. It was tried and tested. It was his only hope.

"Jaune, no…"

"There's no other choice, Remy. It has to be done."

/-/

Weiss bit down on a snarl as she clambered up the side of the building with the aid of a few glyphs. That idiot, that absolute idiot! Ooh, she was going to make him suffer when they rescued him. How the idiot had managed to fall through the roof, she had no idea, but now he'd been captured, and Team RYBN had no idea what to do. The message she'd received from him hardly helped.

Leave things in his hands while he escaped?

What did he think he was - some kind of super hero?

Who did he think she was - some kind of monster who left people behind!?

"Leave things in your hands," she whispered, "Yeah, right. I couldn't leave sitting on a roof in your hands apparently. I'm not doing this as well." She crawled over to an open hatch, maybe even the one he'd fallen through, and looked inside. The crowd was talking loudly between themselves and clearly distracted. She used the opening to call a number.

Blake answered it, voice low. "We have a problem…"

"I know," Weiss hissed. "What happened? Why didn't you do anything?"

"It was too sudden! One second everything was fine, the next Jaune fell through the roof – then he was gone five seconds later. We didn't even have the time to process what was happening, least of all what to do."

"Jaune says he's fine," Weiss reported. "I suppose we could wait until the White Fang start to leave before we rescue him. If Torchwick tries to take him away, then we can-"

"We can't wait," Blake hissed. "Weiss, he's here! Hentacle is here!"

Her heart stopped. "You're sure?"

"As sure as I can be. Torchwick said his associate was here, and when he captured Jaune he said his associate wanted to see him, and that they would be `more vicious` than he could ever be. Who else could he mean?"

Not good. Not good at all. Weiss gnawed on her lip as she struggled for an answer. It was up to her now to come up with a plan since Team RYBN were busy trying not to get caught below. Did they break in now and cause chaos, using that time to find Jaune? If Torchwick and Hentacle were together, it might be a hard fight, though. Would it be better to wait for Torchwick to return to the speech and attack at that point, while the two were separated? The fight would be easier, but Jaune's location unknown and all the White Fang would join in.

Nothing came to mind, but she was the leader, and she'd promised she would do her best to lead them all with honour and care. That meant not leaving any of them behind. Weiss' eyes hardened as she drew Myrtenaster. "Blake, stay down there with your team. We're going to break in a back entrance and try to find my partner. If you hear a commotion, I need you all to distract the White Fang and try to find us."

"Understood," Blake said. "We'll be ready."

The call ended with a click, but another one came through before she could even think to put it away. Weiss checked the screen to see it was Ruby, and answered soon after.

"Weiss, we have a problem!"

"I know, Ruby," Weiss growled. "We're dealing with it right now. We're going to save Jaune."

"Not that! We have another problem. Look behind you."

"What do… you…?" Weiss' eyes widened. "Oh…"

It wasn't behind her per se, so much as in that general direction, but that hardly mattered because it wasn't like she could have missed it. The airship dominated the empty sky, lit not only by the moon, but also the various lights across it. Several searchlights were aimed towards the ground, and it was clearly coming closer.

Weiss recognised it easily enough. How could she not. It was her sister's personal ship.

"I don't know what to do," Ruby cried in a panic. "I don't think I can scare it off with sniper fire. I don't think I could scare it off with a dust missile!"

Oh… well, that wasn't good. How had Winter found out about this? How did she know where it was? The questions came to mind, but probably weren't quite as important as the question of what on Remnant they were supposed to do now.

"Weiss, are you still there? I'm uh… now would be a really good time for you to come up with a plan. I could really use one right now!"

"Yeah," Weiss sighed. "Me too…"

/-/

They reached their destination in only a few short minutes – all the while Jaune prepared himself. It was when the door opened that he moved.

"Okay, here we go-whoa!" Roman almost fell forward when Jaune broke out of his grip. He staggered and caught himself on a wall, even as Jaune leapt into action. He sailed through the air, hit the ground shoulder first, and came to a stop with his hands and forehead on the floor.

"I'm sorry!" he yelled. "I didn't mean to, it was a mistake, I won't do it again, and I'll give you as many massages as you want. I'm sorry, Cinder. Please forgive me!"

"I no longer know you."

"As many massages as I want, hm?" a feminine voice giggled. "Oh my, it looks like Cinder has been taking advantage of you. I'll have to talk with her about that, won't I?"

Jaune's eyes widened. That... wasn't Cinder.

His head rose up off the floor as he looked up at a pair of tight denim jeans leading up towards a white blouse. The girl was pale, but that made sense since she also had white hair and red eyes on black sclera. It was the ringlets that framed her face which gave her away, falling in curls around her shoulders. There was a sword at her hip, but it looked out of place, as though the wielder was too sweet to imagine with such a weapon. She was not. He knew full well she could - and would - use it.

The girl smiled a beautiful smile and tilted her head to one side. Several tentacles twitched happily behind her.

"L-Lavender…!?"

"Hello big brother." Lavender Salem Arc said. "I've been looking for you!"

And oh dear, the Salem family have reared their heads. It was bound to happen eventually. It is the family business, after all – and what would a White Sheep be without the family of black to compare it to.

More answers next chapter as usual.

Next Chapter: 24th August

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur