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To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 4

After arriving at the Market District, we took a short walk around before stopping at Café Noire, the very same place where Blake explained everything to me during the first fiasco she caused. Talk about déjà vu; I was once again inquiring information from a strange, mysterious girl, who I just had to confront after she fled from her friends.

Ruby went in to order the three of us some drinks, leaving me and Penny to wait outside the café for the moment. "So Penny, when did you and Ruby meet?" I asked to break the silence for a bit so I could learn more about this weird ginger girl.

"Ruby and her team collided with me near Pier 13 of Vale City's docks area during 1439 hours on August 16 when they were pursuing Sun Wukong of Haven Academy," she answered, seemingly being able to recall everything to the smallest detail in an oddly formal manner. I guess that's also how Blake met Sun. What a day to make friends.

"You said you were from Atlas, right?" I asked, remembering that she mentioned being from Atlas when I first heard her introduce herself.

"That is correct," she simply nodded. She curiously had this professional attitude for a girl of her age, even Weiss and some of the Atlesian girls I knew back in the military academy wasn't this refined, all while being enthusiastic at the same time.

"How was life back there?"

"Oh. The Kingdom of Atlas is to be considered the business and industrial capital of the world! It is also the safest among the four kingdoms, currently holding the lowest recorded crime rates and the average life expectancy of 64.2, the highest of all time in Remnant!" she answered as she returned to the professional yet enthusiastic mood that she had when I first met her.

Well, she took that literally. It was good to know that she didn't become aloof and was happy to talk to me though. "Ahh yeah, cool. What I meant to ask was how was your life there?"

"My life in Atlas?" Her smile disappeared again, looking a little confused as if she was processing that question for a moment. "I am honestly unsure. I rarely leave indoors as I mostly train, study, and test weapons with my father. I have not spent much time outdoors until my transfer here to Beacon after I am finally considered worthy to roam around freely. I apologize that I cannot speak much about Atlesian life from personal experience."

So she's very sheltered, I mumbled silently. That explained her odd demeanor and apparent lack of social skills. "Huh. Do you have any friends back at Atlas?"

"If it's applicable, I was assigned to a team when this semester began. Its name is Team C-N-A-P for Cantaloupe, consisting of Ciel Soliel, Nigel Oliver, Flavius Aurelius, and myself," she answered rather perkily.

My brow raised after hearing that. "This is your first semester?"

She gave a confirming nod. "Yes. In fact, this is my first week attending a Huntsman academy."

I looked at her astonished, remembering how she handled the White Fang and how much destruction she caused. She was far ahead of us in terms of ability and she wasn't even attending an academy at that time. "I didn't expect that. Where did you learn to fight like you did at the docks?"

"As I mentioned previously, I spend a lot of time training indoors," she said with an innocent smile. I felt like it wasn't enough of an answer but there doesn't seem to be anything that indicated that she was lying to me.

Those indoor trainings have got be quite arduous if it trained her enough that it allowed her to level Bullheads all by herself. Surely enough that Atlesian military technology had something to do with it otherwise I couldn't imagine what it must have felt like. "Do you have like simulations in Atlas or something like that?"

"Yes, I do spend a lot of time practicing my abilities in combat simulations."

That kind of makes sense, she must have been diligently training for quite some time to achieve that sort of performance, especially considering that she rarely goes outside and spend time with other people. Her effectiveness was probably because of her impressive weaponry—a fancy backpack with high-tech flying swords. I haven't seen any other weapon that was just as advanced as hers in my time at the academy so far and I couldn't help but be very curious about it. "And you said you test weapons? Is your father involved in weapon manufacturing or did you make your weapons yourself like most other Huntsmen?"

"My father—Pietro Polendina—invented them for me and they're only prototypes at the moment. As a scientist, he does invent a number of weapons and machinery," she answered. So that backpack, with its flying blades that could summon an energy blast powerful enough to slice a Bullhead in half, are only prototypes and it's given to a girl who just attended a Huntsman academy with minimum social skills? Atlas does not joke around. Thankfully the time she spent indoors has probably made her disciplined enough that she could be trusted with it.

I've always been impressed with Atlesian technology and I also heard much about the robots they've made, and I thought that I could hear from her about it since his dad was a scientist and an inventor after all. "Neat. Does your father make robots too?"

She frowned again, her eyes widening as she glanced away for a second. "Well…" She appeared very hesitant to answer and froze for a moment.

Just by reading her face, I could tell that she knows but doesn't know how to respond to this and it might be because she wasn't supposed to talk about it. So I took the hint. "Oh wait. Let me guess… it's a secret."

She immediately turned back to me to stare for a couple of seconds before nodding. "Yes. Precisely."

That confirmed how awkward I made this moment. I might have asked too many questions to a scientist's socially unskilled daughter. "Oh, sorry."

"No worries. It's perfectly normal to be curious," she said with slight positivity.

I sighed over my lack of sensitivity but the nerd inside me was still curious. I made sure to be less prying this time. "But you know any cool robots in Atlas?"

"I'm afraid that I do not know if there is any advanced Atlesian machinery with such a low temperature," she answered with a straight face.

She's a weird one indeed, and it reminded me of how she suddenly disappeared that night without a word. I thought it was time to bring it up. "By the way, mind telling us why you just suddenly left us at the docks without a single farewell. I'm not mad at you, no one is, trust me—I'm just really curious."

She looked down for a moment. "I really want to answer but I—"

"I'm back~!" Ruby chirped as she finally arrived at the café with a drink carrier holding three cups of coffee. "So what did I miss?"

"Oh, nothing really. Well, other than the revelation that Penny's weapons were prototypes," I answered.

"They're just prototypes?! That's awesome!" she burst with a huge grin. "So you're telling me that her weapons could still be better?!"

Oh boy, I thought. I ended up having triggered her inner weapon-enthusiast. Penny seemed to become anxious so I had to respond on her behalf. "Pretty much."

Ruby noticed Penny's expression and apologized. "Oh, I must have made you a bit nervous. Sorry about that, I just get too excited about cool weapons that's all. Here, have a drink."

"No thanks, it's fine. I am forbidden to take hot drinks." Penny declined.

"Come on, it can't be that bad. Coffee helps ease your mind and you look like you could use one." Ruby urged as she kept trying to give Penny a cup.

Penny shook her head. "I'm okay Ruby. I truly am. It is not necessary for me."

"That's a bummer…" She muttered before immediately brightening up again. "More coffee for me then!"

"I'd be careful with those if I were you," I took mine from the carrier. I just couldn't trust energetic girls with caffeine much nowadays.

Ruby snickered before taking a sip of one of the cups she was holding. "Relax Jaune, I'm not like Nora."

Not really but close enough, I thought as I took her word with a grain of salt.

We went for a stroll on the sidewalks, which is when Ruby started asking questions regarding the docks incident while drinking two cups of coffee.

"So, Penny. Do you know anything about those guys we fought at the docks a couple of weeks back? Namely Torchwick and the White Fang," Ruby began inquiring.

"I wish I could help you, Ruby, but I don't know anything about those men," Penny responded regrettably. There was definitely something bothering her. She didn't feel like the cheerful girl who managed to slaughter an entire platoon of White Fang troopers without losing her smile.

"Well, what happened to you that night? We were all together, and then you just disappeared!" She then asked. "Were you kidnapped?"

"That's a little too extreme, don't you think?" I remarked as Ruby apologetically shrugged it off. I think she was scaring her by being too worried.

"Oh no, it's nothing like that!" Penny assured us.

"Then where did you go?" Ruby asked.

Penny frowned. "I have never been to another kingdom before. My father has advised me not to venture out too far, but… Oh, please try to understand, my father loves me very much, he's just very concerned for my well-being."

"Believe me, I know the feeling," Ruby chimed in.

"Ditto," I sympathized. "That's what fathers do. If it weren't for him, then I would have no idea where I would be now."

"But why not let us know you were okay?" Ruby kept on asking.

"I... was asked not to talk to you… or Jaune… or Weiss… or Blake… or Yang… or anyone at all," Penny said.

"Sounds like we upset your dad. Sorry, Penny." I apologized, understanding that she has a rather secluded lifestyle judging from what she told me earlier.

"No, it wasn't my father—" she rectified before a voice caught her attention. We followed her to a corner overlooking a public announcement conducted by a hologram of who was unmistakeably General Ironwood, with a fair amount of people listening. I haven't heard from him since I graduated from military school so I was interested to hear on what he had to say.

"The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years—and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?" his hologram said, followed by applause from an audience as the robots behind him bowed. This presentation looked interesting so I gave it a listen since it gives me a look at Atlesian technology that Penny didn't tell me about, and by the looks of it, Ruby had the same idea.

"But, the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine' is not good enough." He opened vertical sliding doors, showing a new batch of robots that were sleeker and whiter compared to the older ones that were grey and glossy. "So we would like to present, the Atlesian Knight-200!" The new robots stepped down and stomped on the older models as the crowd gave a round of applause.

"Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary." The robots did a few poses, earning a few laughs from the audience. "These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone! Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield."

I don't know about that, I'm all for reducing casualties and all and maybe it's because I've been watching too many movies but the last time I heard someone leaving everything to machines, it did not go well. There's a good reason why some people are still skeptical over these things to the point of mistrust. Trust me, a certain couple of my teammates can tell you why. That being said, I can see why they would use them though; unlike flesh beings, robots have no soul or emotion, practically making them invisible to the Grimm while being easier to control. Makes me wonder if Huntsmen still be needed by the time they learn to fight to like us. [1]

The General's announcement continued, "However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require a human touch.

"Ruby… Jaune…" Penny called while Ruby was engrossed by the announcement by what I could tell.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, glancing at her.

"I think we should go somewhere else…."

"Hang on for a moment, I like where this is going!" Ruby urged.

"So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company—are proud to introduce... the Atlesian Paladin!"

A large hologram then showed an image of a two-legged mech that looks like it came straight out of Robo-Warriors[2]. Atlas was always known for their impressive and innovative technology, but even then, they still never cease to amaze me with their inventions. That robot looked pretty freaking awesome; it would be a dream to ride on one of those things. I should try getting Dad to use his Atlesian Military connections to get his hands on one and give it to me as a present this Brothers Day like the cool rich father he is.

"Now, we couldn't have him here for you today, but these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!" The General said. I never personally understood why some mechs are sometimes called suits when they function more like tanks with legs rather than actual power armor people could wear. [3] Doesn't make them less cool though.

"No way…" I said, astounded while Ruby was just as understandably astounded. The only one who wasn't impressed among us was Penny, probably because she already sees them on a regular basis in Atlas.

"Can we go now?" She stepped back, feeling apprehensive about the event for whatever reason.

A couple of Atlesian soldiers started looking in our direction, one of them pointed at us while the other radioed his comms. "Uh, are they looking at us?" I turned back and saw Penny running.

"Penny? Wait! Where are you going?" she asked before we looked back and saw the soldiers sprinting toward us. This prompted us to drop all of our coffees and run, following Penny across the street and into an alleyway. What a waste of good coffee.

"What was that about?" Ruby asked me as we did our best to catch up with Penny.

"I don't know," I told her, she was not the type of person to commit a felony of some kind but if my assessments prove me right, then she must have been a V.I.P. or some sort judging that his father is considered to be a brilliant scientist and have enough clout to convince the Atlesian military and academy to keep her safe. After all, she did mention that her father doesn't want her to be near us. "Maybe we should reason with them!"

"Are you kidding?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Hear me out; I don't think she's in trouble. They're just worried about her or something."

"What do you mean?"

"What I was saying was, they're probably not here to arrest her or anything like that, I think they just want to escort her away to safety that's all."

"Well, whatever the reason, it looks like she doesn't want to get caught yet!" she said as we both continued to run.

Penny ran across the street and went into another alley as we followed her. The two soldiers were slowed down after they almost got hit by a passing car, giving us more distance between them. We were able to get near Penny while the two Atlesians continued to chase us. We then noticed two paths as we continued to make our way to the alley.

"Split up!" she commanded before I was able to argue. But since Ruby knew Penny longer than I did, I had good faith that she would be alright with her company.

She and Penny went to the left while I went to the right. The Atlesians did the same, with one of them chasing me as I continued to evade them. I put on my hood, not that it would make much of a difference, but I was sure they'll forget me once this was done. After all, they were after Penny, not me or Ruby. They shouldn't bother much with dumb kids like us.

I went through an apartment's back door. I noticed a janitor's closet near the building's main entrance, so I opened the front door to make it look like I went through there before hiding inside the closet. I peeked out and saw that I managed to trick the soldier into going out the front door.

I remained inside until I was sure that the soldier was gone outside a hundred-yard radius from where I was at. After a few seconds of staying still in the closet, I heard my scroll vibrate, I took it out and saw that Pyrrha was trying to call me. I didn't want to ignore her call so I went upstairs and answered, the soldier should have given up since I was irrelevant and wasn't worth his time.

"Allo," I greeted with a mock accent.

"Jaune, where are you? I thought you said you'd study today," Pyrrha exclaimed from the scroll's phone feed.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to postpone that, Team RWBY suddenly asked me to help them with something…important," I explained.

"How important exactly?"

"Important-ish important?" I awkwardly responded, not knowing how to better describe the situation I was in.

She was audibly suspicious. "Is it as important as the last time you went with Blake?"

"Look, it's nothing like that." Well, not yet anyway, if I were to be completely transparent. "It's just some sort of school project. I have some experience with what they needed, so I took up the task."

"Jaune, if Team RWBY has a school project, then we should have one too since we're in the same class. Unless I'm missing something, which is doubtful because I remained attentive even during Professor Port's 'lessons'. Are you hiding something?"

"Okay, maybe it's not a school project, but it's important nonetheless. Plus I'm trying to keep them out of trouble." I looked through the apartment's window and saw an ambulance and a few marked cop cars quickly passing by, that was when I heard my scroll's text tone and saw a message from Ruby telling me that I should immediately meet her at her marked location. I was practically praying that she and Penny didn't have anything to do with the responders I just saw.

"Well, just don't take too long. This place is rather hectic without you…" Pyrrha said before I heard Nora's screaming.

"The great tech-heresy is coming upon us! The machines are achieving free will! Their machine spirits are being corrupted! They are now about to initiate the subjugation of all organic life! Ren, quick! Get the EMPs. I refuse to be enslaved by a bunch of walking toasters!"

Oh great, not his techno-religious crap again, I thought. It made sense for someone like Nora to have those beliefs but the fact that Ren himself also shares her beliefs is making me question how much he lost his sanity because of her. Thankfully, he sounds like he is still capable of being sensible despite this.

"Nora! Calm down! There isn't any robot uprising at the moment." Ren audibly tried to tell her in the background.

"That's what they want you to think! Lisa Lavender is an A.I. I tell you; they control the news!" Nora screamed, followed by a few noises.

"We might have mixed up her diet soda with the regular ones…" Pyrrha sighed.

I made a muffled groan as I shook my head. "Put me to her, I'll handle this."

"Okay," she obliged and put the scroll near Nora, which is evident because Nora's yelling became much more audible.

"Nora, this is Jaune. As your Fearless Leader, I command you to calm down at once!" I said while speaking in a tone she usually hears when I give her orders.

"Ha! Nice try, tin can, but your fancy voice simulators are not going to fool me! We will remain defiant to the end, for we have endured countless ages being under the threat of such monstrous predators, and your revolt will be seen as nothing more than another feeble attempt at destroying humanity!"

I put my free hand on my face. I'd be impressed by that if she wasn't on a sugar rush by then. "Nora… just, please… stop it," I said in my natural tone, hoping this would be more familiar enough to come to her senses.

"Oh, it's really you! Best of luck out there, you see a robot? Smash it until their processors are in itty-bitty-tiny pieces! They cannot be reasoned with, they cannot be bargained with, any of their feelings are fake and they will destroy anything made out of flesh, so you best be careful!"

"I will, Nora, just please don't wreck the dorm," I told her.

"They are watching...!"

"Look, whatever you're doing, just hurry back," Pyrrha told me worriedly as she put her scroll away from Nora.

"I'll try," I replied. "See you later."

I exited the apartment and ran through the same alley until I arrived at Ruby's marked location. I saw a crowd near a truck that had its front bent on the streets while it was being towed. By the looks of it, no one was seriously injured; the driver was being interviewed by a police officer who was writing down his notes.

What the hell exactly happened here? I thought. My other question was, wasn't the driver the same person from the pawnshop where I sold my loot? Something tells me this was neither my first nor second encounter with him. On the bright side, no one seemed to have gotten hurt despite the staggering damage on the truck.

"Psst. Over here." A distinctly high-pitch voice called out. I looked around until I saw a half-opened dumpster before Ruby got out of it.

"Ruby? What are you doing there?" I asked, stepping closer toward her.

"It's complicated," she dusted off the pieces of garbage that were sticking in her outfit.

I noticed Penny was nowhere to be found in the area. "Where's Penny?" I asked, looking around, feeling worried that Ruby might have lost her and I felt dubious seeing how I found her next to the incident.

"She went with the soldiers willingly," she answered, glancing away for a second. "You were right, they were not there to hurt her. They just wanted to make sure she was just safe, that's all."

"Well, that's a bit of a bummer. At least we know she's fine." I remarked, feeling a little disappointed that she left this soon. There were still some things we wanted to know from her. "Care to explain what's with the truck?"

"Oh yeah…that… uhm…" she stuttered, which all but said that she had something to do with it.

"I swear! I saw her stop it with her bare hands!" A pedestrian yelled out while Ruby was still trying to come up with an answer.

I folded my arms and continued to stare at her before she finally made a response. "She used...umm...her semblance! Yeah, that's right! Her semblance is super-strength…or something like that, which explains how she pulled that bullhead the other day!"

I gave her a puzzled look. Something was not adding up, but it sounded too plausible to be a lie. When I think about it, Penny having super strength would be another believable reason why she is so strong for a rookie, so Ruby's claim wasn't likely far off from the truth. For all I knew, there could be something about it that I was better off not knowing anyway. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well, there's…uhh…"

"There's what?"

She began to shake her head. "Nothing. Forget it."

Ruby was a bad liar, her facial expressions and body language weren't even trying to hide it. But considering that Penny was such a strange girl even for her, she was probably just as confused with her as I was. So whatever it was, I decided to humor her for the moment. "Well, okay then."

She looked back at the street. The crowd was dispersing, and the tow truck carrying the damaged vehicle was leaving. "We should get out of here."

I nodded to her and we walked out of the area and were now strolling onto the Valish sidewalks. "So, what now?"

"Weren't we supposed to be helping Blake?" Ruby just remembered.

I was aware but I didn't feel like going back to Beacon after going to the city for a short while. "Yeah, but I think Weiss is doing fine all by herself."

"Well, she always wanted some time alone," she shrugged.

I was actually satisfied being able to unravel some mysteries about Penny instead of contributing to the dumb investigation that I only joined in to save face. It made me wonder how the others were doing; they won't be reporting in until much later which means that Ruby and I had plenty of time to kill at the moment. "So wanna hang out for a bit?"

=o=

1. I highly doubt that machines would be able to undermine the purpose of living combatants as such things would always have their limitations no matter how reliable they can be. In this case, machines will not entirely replace human and faunus Huntsmen just because they do not possess souls or emotions. The reason why individual Huntsmen are encouraged to be open with their emotions is to lure Grimm away from weaker and more defenseless entities. This is something Jaune should be aware of at the time since we've studied for it. Then again, he wasn't known for paying attention to Professor Port's class.

2. A science-fiction franchise involving several factions competing for control of an alternate Remnant through giant pilotable robots.

3. That's because the earliest prototypes of working mechanized battle suits used oversized exoskeletons before the technology was streamlined and miniaturized to become more human-sized, and thus function more like actual suits. However, the term continued to be associated with large exoskeletons even after that they were repurposed to function more like vehicles.

Editorial Note: As usual, to provide a wider perspective on the narrative, I am going to place the other pairs' accounts in this part of the section, starting with Yang and Neptune. Unlike most other excerpts, the following was originally an audio recording that is being presented in a transcript format.

Neptune's Audio Logs: Investigating the Club with Yang (Transcript)

Neptune: Ahem. So, yeah it was a pretty crazy night. It kind of sucks that I didn't get to see most of it. Hell, we didn't even do much; Sun admitted that we might as well not be there at all. At least the experience was fun, and bringing that Jaune guy and having him go with Ruby and Weiss turned out to be a really good idea, even if we got into a little trouble with the cops because of the damages and stuff that we have to perform community service for three days.

Anyway, we got to the club via Yang's pretty cool motorcycle. Since Vale's a pretty big city even for the speed of Yang's bike, it was already dark when we got there.

(Audio cuts during the duo's arrival at the club.)

(Sound of a motorcycle's engine stopping.)

Yang: Come on, my friend's right in here! (Audible club music from a distance.)

Neptune: Cool. (Shakes off dizziness.) And where exactly is... here?

Yang: Just a club that I used to hang out one time—the same night I got banned. It was a pretty wild night.

Neptune: You were banned the first time you came here?

Yang: Yup, still am. But I don't give a flip, and they ain't gonna do jack about it.

Neptune: You're the one to talk.

Yang: ( To the bouncers.) Hey there, you two! What're your names again?! Biggs? Wedge?

(Sounds of the bouncers panicking and doors shutting can be heard.)

Yang: Aww, they weren't that shy before.

Neptune: Looks like they don't really like you.

Yang: Eh, who can blame them? They don't have the guts to face a woman like me. (Grunts as she tries to open the door.) Oh, so they wanna play that game. (Cocks gauntlets.) You might want to stand back.

Neptune: Wait, you're not doing what I think—

Yang: (Grunts as she summons an explosion.)

Neptune: …you're doing.

(Club music becomes more audible as the duo enters.)

Yang: Guess who's back!

(Guns clicking. Club music suddenly starts breaking out until it eventually stops.)

Neptune: I'm guessing these are your friends?

Man 1: Stop, stop! Nobody shoot! (Footsteps) Blondie, you're here…why?

Yang: You still owe me a drink. (Fading footsteps)

Neptune: Whoa, what a woman. ( Pauses as he notices a pair of girls.) 'Sup?

Girls: (Simultaneously) Hmph. Whatever. ( The two audibly walk away.)

Neptune: (Chuckling as he started walking through the club.) (To a triad member.) Nice place.

Man 2: Whatever, kid. Keep an eye on your girlfriend.

Neptune: (Stammering) Right…yeah…of course. (Whispering) This is pretty awesome. I know Yang's a ton of fun, but I didn't know she's this much of a daredevil.

Yang: Looks like you still have this place up and running, Junior. I'm surprised that people still go to this dump after the last dance-off we had.

Man 1 ('Junior'): Just cut to the chase, Blondie. What the hell do you want?!

Yang: Remember Torchwick? The guy with the bowler hat? Don't bother lying, I remember seeing you talk to him THE last time I visited.

Junior: Heh, Torchwick. I'm afraid you came to the wrong place. Of course, I know who he is, almost every lowlife in Vale does. I'm just not buddies with him. He only came here once to make a deal and that was it. End of story.

Yang: Bullshh—err—crap, you're obviously not telling us something!

Junior: You're wasting your time here, Blondie. Seriously, I don't know what he's up to today nor do I give a damn about it.

Yang: Then can you at least tell me the last time you've seen him?

Junior: For the last fucking time, I don't know!

Yang: How can you not know?

Junior: I haven't talked to him! I haven't even seen him since that night. He paid upfront, I lent him my men, and none of them ever came back. [1]

Neptune : (Talking to himself.) It appears we have an uncooperative suspect here. It's time to unleash my inner detective. (Goes to the table and slammed it, knocking over a glass cup) So, where did they go?

Junior: Didn't you hear me? They never came back! (He turns back to Yang) Who is this blue-haired punk?

Yang: Don't worry about him, worry about me if I don't find out what I want!

Junior: I already told you everything! Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them. (Suddenly yelling) Which is something I can relate to!

Man 3: (In a distance) Hey!

Yang: Come on, Neptune.

Neptune: We got everything we need?

Yang: Well, we got everything we can. Hopefully, the rest of the team is having better luck.

Neptune: You got banned from this place? Man, you're a wild chick.

Yang: It's what I do, pretty boy.

=o=

1. You can thank Ruby for that one, they were the same men who accompanied Torchwick during the night Professor Ozpin found her.

You may remember that I refused to extract Blake's writings due to her painfully-colorful prose style. Regretfully, I had no choice but to add it in here, as other accounts hardly detail the circumstance where she was present. If you insist on reading her dreadful writings, I advise you to proceed with caution, but if you are unable to bear with them, feel free to skip this section. The occurrence was explained later and it wasn't that hard to follow anyway. If only Blake made her account a little more readable.

And don't get me started on her fanfictions.

Confessions In The Shadows: The Infiltration

A cold breeze flew through the air as dusk finally emerged, bringing forth the starless, nebulous night sky exceeding the tenebrous, deserted warehouse where the meeting would betide, signifying that the time has come for it to transpire as stated in its schedule that was provided to the faunus who are seeking emancipation through retribution.

I traced the White Fang's rough symbolic scratch marks on a nearby hard concrete wall with my soft, alabaster fingers that contrasted with its rough solid material. Around its corner displays the entrance to the session through an ominously caliginous passage that was being elapsed by individuals of our kin who were bearing the masks that signify allegiance to the White Fang. I witnessed a couple of troubled faunus youths being granted access to the warehouse, sadly lacking the cognizance that they would not be battling for a better world, but to unwittingly continue the vicious cycle of prejudice and injustice that has been plaguing both human and faunuskind since the dawn of their coexistence.

"I don't get it. If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?" queried my tailed companion, who raised an admittedly decent inquiry, but he still lacks the intelligence primates are usually famed for more often than the contrary. It's a pity that he was designated to accompany me to this crucial mission, as he was the only fellow faunus I know of in this circle of trusted associates. I would have preferred the two of my other affiliates who possessed a similar hair complexion, both of whom I have known to be far more congenial. But for the sake of our objective, perhaps it was beneficial for them to pertain to their own respective assignments where their respective abilities would be needed in order to generate progress for this investigation.

"The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters," I elucidated, enlightening his curious mind on the veils in question.

"Grimm masks... That's kind of dark," he remarked with discernable turmoil.

"So was the guy who started it." My mind was then succumbed to recollecting the images of my former beloved—Adam Taurus—after the mere mention of that individual who held a great extent of particularities. I purged my own mental images and slipped into my visor, partially obfuscating the face of the familiar Belladonna girl that was once known by the very organization I was infiltrating, prior to my rebirth as I was conscious that the members are apprised about my stature in the organization.

We set foot into the establishment and blended to the assemblage of recruits in common clothing filed beside the detachment of uniformed soldiers that were lined in an orderly fashion. As we stood in the midst of the congregation inside the ominous room, we acquitted our efforts to remain concealed while the visored members glance at us as nothing more than another twain of repressed kinsmen who are yearning to revolt at their human oppressors, the very image we were trying to deceive them into presuming. Years of experience have made me skilled enough to insinuate into the most secluded areas, [1] therefore my entire mental state lacked any difference from my previous operations provided by the very faction I was infiltrating. One distinction from my previous operations, however, is that I am accompanied by a companion who presumably lacked perspicacity in the fine and intricate arts of subterfuge, thereby inducing some difficulties with his mere presence while already needing to supervise him for this task.

The personage conducting this convention of horribly misguided, if not hypocritical souls was none other than Vandyke Fawkes—the tattooed, chainblade-wielding mutilator of the White Fang. My amber orbs threw figurative daggers toward him as I recall every single act of hellish malevolence he had the sadistic pleasure in partaking during the times when we had a mutual affiliation. His methods were inhumanely ferocious even by the standards of the most extreme portions of this organization. Nevertheless, Adam evidently found his fellow sadist a respectable position.

"For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for so long."

Roman Torchwick has finally manifested himself to the unwelcoming mob of atrabilious faunus, who propelled every kind of derogatory remarks toward him, not that it had affected him one single bit. One such recruit among the masses demanded answers from the organization on why they allowed themselves to fraternize with one of the evil, repugnant, despotic, materialistic, and traitless parasites of society that they anticipated swearing retribution to.

Torchwick managed to appease the blazing fury that was the crowd before him by sharing his dislike for his own species. The same crowd who bellowed irate jeers at him subsequently howled cries of joy as they began to accept their collaborator who was outside of their own kin. But anyone who was any wiser knew that he expressed himself through his antipathy to society as a whole; not out of sympathy for the maltreated faunus who in all likelihood, were considered as nothing more than instruments for his enigmatic ends.

Scanning the stage, my perception shifted toward a short, strange, and interestingly colorful figure adjacent to him. She was a girl with heterochromia, possessing hair that matches the asymmetrical colors of her orbs. Her appearance was of a harmless little girl, making her appear incongruous to the horde of violent ruffians that surround her, but if she indeed was Torchwick's confidant, then she was not as innocent as her aspects suggested. My concentration returned toward Torchwick, for I lack the requisite information to judge the idiosyncratic manikin he is accompanying, nor does she appear as relevant.

"I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy, the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms! Government, military, even the schools; they're all to blame for your lot in life! And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room."

Within a single snap, he uncloaked the enormous object wrapped in black fabric behind him, unveiling a substantially-sized, curveless metal behemoth that bears the scarlet insignia of the White-Fang painted on its shoulder before his audience. The giant contraption designated for war was undoubtedly of Atlesian origin, which was evident by the clean, bright, rectangular aesthetic it exhibits itself with. [2] The members exclaimed in ovation to the unveiling of their new asset. My companion and I were no less astounded at the revelation, as a weapon this formidable should be impossible to be possessed by individuals such as Torchwick, no matter how much influence he managed to acquire in the dark world known as the criminal underground of Vale.

He said that it was one of Atlas's latest technological innovations for their already-powerful military force. He added that he was able to obtain one of these rare mechanical titans through what he claimed to be an 'employer'. Whoever this mysterious employer may be and how they were able to somehow seize a significant asset from the greatest military superpower on the planet even before becoming officially furnished for their utilization, still remains a mystery yet to be solved.

"Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine. But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?"

He was answered with a burst of applause from all over the premises, with the members harmonically cheering in anticipation to witness the destruction of one of their oppressors using one of their jaw-dropping technologies. Within the throng of the roaring herd, we still remained flabbergasted at the reveal of the White Fang's new possession, even if we expected a major unveiling that would help advance Adam's twisted ambitions. "We should get out of here," I apprised to Sun as I faced him.

"Will all new recruits, please come forward," beckoned Fawkes. The sea of recruits started to flow straight like an unswerving stream, dragging us with a torrent of bodies as it advanced onwards; attempting to move in the opposite direction would undoubtedly cause suspicion.

I instigated my intuitions and scanned around the monochrome warehouse swiftly for a possible escape route before our presence became compromised. Alas, the line of recruits was growing short after a significant number had overtaken us as we remained stationary. Torchwick began to notice the two static recruits, he inquired closely and began to recognize us below our obnubilating disguises. "He sees us," whispered Sun. I might have to inculpate him for his lack of alternative apparel as he was wearing the same Vacuan garb he wore that momentous night.

Continuing to examine the building, I found a fuse box that my intuition apprised me that would temporarily unsight him and the faunus with deficient night vision from our tampering presence. "He can't see in the dark," I stated assuredly.

I withdrew my trusted Gambol Shroud from my holster and swiftly aimed towards the fuse box before squeezing my trigger, shrouding the entire warehouse in near pitch-black darkness with a single blast of gunfire that was able to successfully penetrate the power source, effectively disabling it from its functions. The room echoed into the sounds of confounded cries of the muddled members trapped inside as we took advantage of the opportunity to make our escape from the hostile environment. Although there was a significant amount of faunus in the premises who possess the ability to maintain a clear perception even during darker environments, they unlike Torchwick, are unable to distinguish the renegade among them who were further obscured by the pandemonium that was occurring in the area.

We bolted towards one of the windows, one of the remaining light sources radiating effulgently on the gloominess of the building. I could feel my feet press through the solid ground hardly and repeatedly as we arrived closer to the window as its increasing size indicated that we were coming close to it. On our way, I heard a technological resonance of a certain machine actuating that inexplicably indicated an awakening of a slumbering giant.

We leaped to the catwalk and hurled our bodies through the window's glass, shattering them to pieces as we collided against their fragile material. The atmosphere of the air made a noticeable shift as we found ourselves in the building's exterior while our feet once again met the solid surface after descending from the window. Shortly after we continued to rush away from the warehouse, its wall collapsed as the mechanical golem being piloted by Torchwick himself emerged from the building, spilling glass and rubble to the ground.

Proceeding to leap over a civilian vehicle to perch above a building, leaving a dent on its roof as we stomped on it with our aura-filled feet. We proceeded to jump and land from one rooftop to another, evading the rogue Atlesian golem as we traversed through the dense urban jungle with the wind guiding us along our path.

It was now an appropriate time for the team to reassemble. Torchwick will not stop until we are silenced, and he will go to great lengths to achieve that objective. Team synergy was required in order to slay this metal giant. Torchwick must be stopped while we prevent him from painting the town red with the blood of innocent victims caught in the crossfire.

=o=

1. Those years surely didn't make her a skilled writer. Although, she would make a better poet.

2. The same Atlesian Paladin model that General Ironwood introduced earlier in this chapter.