ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
To Survive and Prosper
CHAPTER 15
We went inside the first boxcar and saw a lone guard in it. Doctor Oobleck used his adjustable mace-slash-flaregun thingy—that also happened to be his thermos—to knock him out. It seemed that he didn't bring that thing just to carry coffee while on his travels. Strange choice of a weapon if you ask me, but considering the other dumb things people make weapons out of, it could have been worse. At least it doesn't have anything ridiculous like something sharp like the blade on top of it, just imagine him trying to drink with that.
"It really is those bandits again!" Nora examined the member's uniform. She made it quite obvious that she didn't link them to the terrorists I fought last Tuesday which was all over the news.
"I don't think they're bandits, Nora!" Ren replied while staying on high alert.
"Mr. Ren is correct. Judging by their uniform and emblem, they appear to be members of a White Fang. An organization that I already mentioned in some of my previous lectures that it would be unnecessary to elaborate them further." Doctor Oobleck informed. At least he described them quickly enough that we've only lost a trivial amount of time. I was worried we might have to listen to another history lecture while in a race against time.
"What do you think is going to happen if we don't stop this train, Doctor?" I asked.
"It would crash right somewhere in the middle of the city! So we need to make sure this train doesn't reach its destination while figuring out a way how to defuse the bombs."
I gulped, realizing that now I'm in the middle of what was essentially a bomb crisis. "But where do you think the bombs are placed? I don't see any of them here, and judging from what I've seen of them, they're not small."
"The hatches above the car!" Nora reckoned, saying something that makes sense for once. "They're probably hiding it in those places."
"You're a genius, Nora!" Doctor Oobleck commended. "Alright, children, everybody at the top of the car."
We all quickly climbed above the train's car and opened the hatch and found a bomb there, confirming Nora's guess. I admit, while Nora was infamous for being the most inhumanely insane female specimen I've ever worked with, she does have some decent ideas and surprisingly possesses a good amount of knowledge on technology when she's not talking about weird crap she was taught from a machine cult at least.
"Well, there it is. How do we defuse it?" I hastily asked.
"We could pray to the machine spirit to convert it to our side." Ren proposed, making all of us—but Nora—stare at him in confusion. He stared back at us and went with an alternative. "Or you could cut the wire."
I examined the bomb closely and saw that it has three wires—two blue and one red. "Which wire?"
"I-It's usually the red wire," he answered unsurely. "And even then, it's not guaranteed to stop the bomb unless the other wires are cut in a particular time or order."
Well shit, I thought.
"Enemies up ahead!" Pyrrha pointed at our front, showing a wave of White Fang soldiers climbing above the train as they were approaching us.
"Heads up, lads, we have company!" Doctor Oobleck exclaimed.
To make things worse, the bomb's screen began flashing red, indicating it was about to detonate. I decided that defusing this bomb was not worth it. "Forget it! Let's get out of here! Everyone to the next car! Ren, disconnect this car before it blows up."
"Good call, Jaune!" Doctor Oobleck remarked as Ren nodded.
We all leaped to the next car. Ren went down to the connectors to detach them. While they were detached, Ren wasn't responsible for it. "It decoupled itself!" he said.
"What?" Doctor Oobleck exclaimed out of bewilderment.
"That takes care of that?" I ambivalently, watching the detached car distance itself before exploding.
"There's more of them!" Nora yelled. The Doctor and I quickly looked back and saw another bomb on the hatch.
"No, no, no!" The doctor quickly went to the next car to find another bomb on its hatch. "They all have bombs!"
This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? By then, I wished that I was back to securing a Grimm-infested wasteland, even if it would take a whole day.
The car we were at also suddenly started detaching with the bomb on it about to detonate as well. With that, we quickly leaped to the next car.
"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asked as we turned back to Doctor Oobleck.
"We'll worry about the bombs later! Focus on the hostile individuals in front of us!" Doctor Oobleck said as the White Fang soldiers came to approach us from a few cars away.
I turned to the mob of White Fang soldiers I was about to face. Doing my best to restrain both my anxiety and motion sickness, I took up a confident face. "Alright team, you heard what he said. We just need to get rid of any fangies standing in our way. Remember, we're not fighting the Grimm, so don't give away your attacks." I said as I rallied them forward.
My teammates nodded and leaped toward the proceeding cars above the train. It felt a little nauseous moving around while the train was speeding, but it did not bother me that much since my motion sickness wasn't much of a concern since I had other more daunting priorities. We shortly got near a mob of White Fang soldiers. "Get the humans!" One of them cried.
We went to a formation with all of our weapons ready. Pyrrha still stayed at the front, she switched Milo to its spear mode and attached a wind dust crystal to create a powerful wave from a single horizontal slash that sent the terrorists on the front flying and then falling off the train. Nora leaped in and smashed the top of the car, stunning the nearby hostiles as Ren charged and slashed all of them down. Pyrrha and I went to the next car to deal with another batch of fangies. Pyrrha charged in and dealt with the group while I stay back and provide covering fire while striking down anyone who has gotten next to me, kicking down even one of the terrorists off the train.
Once it was clear, I checked the hatch to see if there were still bombs just in case. Turns out there wasn't any, the same goes for the previous car where the other three were at since Ren checked it himself. On the bright side, we didn't have to worry about those things blowing up anytime soon. [1]
Speaking of which, we looked back and saw the last bomb-attached car explode. The explosion made a hole in the walls of the tunnel, giving Grimm an entrance.
"He's leading Grimm to the city!" Doctor Oobleck cried out.
"What?!" I exclaimed as I went to look at the tracks and found a horde of Grimm coming from a distance.
"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"
"But why would they do that?!" I asked, puzzled at the White Fang's decision.
"I don't know but I do know this: Since this train leads to somewhere below Vale, it would crash into the barrier between this tunnel and Vale itself, giving Grimm an entrance to the city. If that happens history could potentially repeat itself! Only worse!" He explained as quickly as he could.
Everyone gasped except me. "What?" I was confused about what specific part of history he was referring to.
"Oh right, you weren't there when I gave a brief history of this undercity." Doctor Oobleck said.
"W-W-Wait! You're telling me if we don't stop this train, it'll give the Grimm a breach toward Vale?" I said, straightening things out.
"Precisely! You know how horrible that would be so there is no time to discuss this further! With the train carrying fewer cars, it now has less weight and more velocity, meaning it has less time to reach the end of the tunnels! So we must hurry to the locomotive and stop this train at all costs!"
We hastily complied with the doctor's word, leaping from car to car in the effort to prevent a major terrorist attack from happening while I muse on how crazy the White Fang is for trying to go through this and mumbling about what I have gotten myself into.
Seriously, how is this going to tell people to stop mistreating the faunus? Have they ever thought that they'll wind up hurting innocent faunus too? What kind of psychedelic drug did they take that made them do this? They were indeed acting like animals.
As we were getting closer to the locomotive, a stolen Atlesian Paladin leaped up at our front, putting all five of us to a halt. I find it pretty odd that they stored Paladins on this train when they intend to use it to break inside Vale. It felt like a waste of good robots. [2]
"Stand aside, children!" Doctor Oobleck stepped in and hugged his thermos before transforming back into a weapon and firing a single flare which was enough to knock the Paladin off the train before crashing to the ground and blowing up.
While these mechs were normally formidable, it wasn't a good idea to pilot something two-legged and heavy above a speeding train, which was why I was barely threatened with the next Paladin. A single sweep on its legs with Nora's hammer was enough to deal with it.
We continued to go off ahead when suddenly a White Fang member appeared out of a hatch. He was no ordinary member by the looks of it. He was large, muscular and he carried a chainblade. He wouldn't be out of place in a slasher film of sorts.
"I will destroy you!" He said in a deep, menacing voice after making a sinister laugh. He swung around his chainsword as its saws revved.
However as scary as this guy looked, I didn't have time for showoffs. So I nodded to Pyrrha, prompting her to use her polarity to pull his weapon while he was still holding it. He struggled to control his own chainblade, and his refusal to let go of it caused him to be pushed into falling off the train, and he must have become Grimm food or something. Good riddance.
"There's more of them coming from behind!" Nora pointed at our backs and saw more Paladins and White Fang members coming out, late for the party."
"Nora, come with me! We're going to hold them off." Doctor Oobleck ordered. "The rest of you, keep moving! If my calculations are accurate, the train is halfway to its destination—so best for you to make haste!"
"You sure you'll be okay, doctor?" Pyrrha asked.
"You can trust me on this one, Miss Nikos, this isn't my first rodeo. I'll be teaching these deviants a lesson," he nodded.
"Be careful out there, Nora." Ren regarded, displaying off his more emphatic side which rarely happens.
"You too, Ren!" Nora cheerfully followed the doctor as she charged with him.
"We better get moving," I told them. Pyrrha and Ren both nodded as they accompanied me to the flatbed car containing a few Atlesian Paladins. I would have loved to take one of those bad boys home with me, but sadly I had to stay focused, especially since we were racing against the clock. Innocent lives were at stake and the disaster would be on me if I don't stop it.
We went onto the train. There were a few more cars remaining before we could reach the engine. We had our weapons ready as there won't be a single doubt that we would be facing Torchwick.
After getting in the third to the last cars, the first thing we saw was a hatless Torchwick standing in the middle waiting for us.
I couldn't take him seriously this time though. I wasn't used to seeing him without his hat; looking at him without it always gives you the impression that something is missing, especially with clothes like that.
"I'm gonna have to stop you right there, kiddos," he said. "This area is strictly off-limits to children. So why don't you all buzz off?"
I responded by firing a blast at him without a moment's hesitation, which he dodged by making a hasty sidestep. That sucked because I wanted this to be over with so we could focus on stopping a literal trainwreck from happening.
"I knew you were going to do that," he uttered before his tone became more infuriated. "You still owe me a hat, y'know? Do you even know how much it cost?! Bring it on, twerps!"
He pointed his cane at me and fired at a missile that was blocked by Pyrrha's shield when she went in front of me. Ren charged in and clashed both of his daggers with his cane. Pyrrha joined in and went to Torchwick's back and fought with his xiphos. Torchwick was noticeably having trouble dealing with two Huntsman back and forth, and it was a good opportunity to bypass him."
"You go on ahead, we'll handle him!" Pyrrha said, parrying all of Torchwick's attacks.
I quickly ran to the door of the car. Torchwick noticeably tried to fire a missile at me before I closed the steel door, slightly feeling the missile as it detonated behind it.
I ran straight through the last couple of cars before finally making my way to the locomotive as fast as I could. Looking to the front window, I could visibly see the dead-end from a couple of miles away. I quickly looked around the controls for a brake before spotting the lever.
I was overjoyed after seeing that I immediately went toward it. As I was about to pull it, someone from behind began to choke me with an umbrella and I was pulled away from the train controls. I tried struggling my way out while the umbrella was pulling my throat. I reached for my pistol and began firing at my back, making the assailant dance around until they were forced to let me go.
Gasping for air, I looked up to see my attacker. Horrifyingly, it was none other than The Neapolitan Butcher herself. She blocked the train controls and wagged one of her index fingers. I almost shat myself at the mere sight of her. There were a lot of things I wasn't looking forward to seeing, but she took the cake. I swear, I would rather charge at an army of Atlesian Paladins head-on with only a plastic spoon than be in the same room with her, never mind looking at her eye-to-eye.
Torchwick probably knew that he wasn't going to win this and was trying to hold off us for as long as he could. He only let me go because he knew that his pint-sized sidekick was waiting and I was too caught up with the stuff that was happening that I forgot to be wary of her.
There was no turning back from it. I had to get rid of her and pull that break before it was too late. I holstered my pistol, raised my shield, and charged at her. She dodged to her right and pulled me with her umbrella's crook handle so I could stay away from the controls as she shifted in front of it again. I threw quick slashes at her, all of which she managed to dodge and repel. She pulled her blade from the umbrella and tried to stab me with it but I was able to block it in time. She started fencing me with her blade, even occasionally trying to hit me with her umbrella sheath.
As I continued to trade blows with The Neapolitan Butcher, I suddenly heard Nora exclaiming through a speaker. "Conductor, we have a problem! Conductor, we have a problem! Conductor, we have a problem!" She kept repeating herself and I wondered what she was blabbering about in an intercom when she and Ren were still presumably fighting Torchwick. That was before I looked at the window behind my opponent and saw that the dead-end was only a mile away, prompting me to swing my sword around, desperately trying to hit the Butcher or at least get her out of the way.
She continued to parry my attacks before she began rapidly stabbing, pushing me back every time she hits my shield. Suddenly the door behind me opened and I heard Pyrrha call my name. With that, I stepped to my side as the Butcher was pulled to the last car when Pyrrha magnetized her weapon.
Without wasting another second, I moved toward the brake and pulled it as hard as I could. The rails began to squeal as the speeding train decelerated while its momentum pushed it to get near the wall within half a mile. I quickly looked back and saw the Neapolitan Butcher widening her eyes as she looked into the front window and suddenly disappeared when I glanced away for a moment.
Pyrrha and I watch the locomotive's window as it shows the tunnel's end getting closer. I slowly walked back as the train increasingly slowed down as it was reaching the wall within a few more yards. While the locomotive's very end touched the wall, the train fully stopped, with the barrier barely scathed.
I almost fainted as I caught my breath, panting heavily and wiping off my sweat, mumbling in disbelief that we were able to make it. "W-We did it..."
Pyrrha later entered the locomotive and rushed to check on me, no longer was she engaging the Neapolitan Butcher as she suddenly just vanished. "Jaune! Are you okay?"
"Yeah… we made it…" I puffed, mustering words with my remaining strength. I felt nauseous after holding it off since I rode this train and because of all the adrenaline that pumped inside me. "I think I'm going to throw up."
I exited the locomotive and vomited near the rails. After being a student at Beacon for almost half a year, this may have been the wildest event I have experienced, putting every other adventure in which I had the misfortune of being into shame, and I was not happy about it. Still, it could have been much worse, which is why I was glad that it came to this instead.
Pyrrha and I headed back to the preceding cars while going around, searching for items, and even breaking some crates in the process since I wasn't able to loot bodies in the rush. I found some ammunition and a few dust crystals, while they were underwhelming—they were good enough for me. At least I wasn't going to leave that mess empty-handed.
Strangely and also amusingly, I also found a well-hidden stash of human porn on the caches. This was rich coming from a group that despises humans. [3] I suppose it's true that people tend to fetishize what they hate. I decided to take it when Pyrrha wasn't looking, I needed something that would help me 'de-stress' after this anyway.
We reunited with Ren and saw Torchwick lying on the ground, cable-tied and handcuffed. I can already see that he ran out of aura. Good, at least he's not getting away this time. Pyrrha probably made sure of that.
Ren was leaning on the wall, panting. "Is it over?"
"Yep. There won't be any breaches at this hour." I asserted with a smirk.
"What a relief," he remarked after taking a deep breath, still panting off the excitement he had been having.
Torchwick just chuckled. "You only won the battle, kid, but not the war." He sneered before coughing. "You can't hold me like this forever! I've broken out of the joint before and I'll do it again!"
We decided to just ignore him, it's probably just ramblings of a defeated criminal after an operation he must have spent months planning was botched.
Nora and Doctor Oobleck arrived a few minutes later. Both of them looked just as tired as us, which was saying a lot since these two are known for having energy that's off the charts.
"You guys did it!" Nora bounced to Ren and hugged him while still holding her hammer in its full form with only one of her hands.
"We did it," I corrected Nora. Honestly, I mostly said that because I thought it would make sense for me to say it and because it was simply a fact. I doubt that I would have been able to reach the end of the train if it weren't for everyone's help
"You sure right we did!" She chirped, letting go of Ren, and pumped a fist.
"Outstanding work, children! Simply outstanding!" Doctor Oobleck congratulated. "I have accompanied students in my lengthy career more times than I could count, but this is easily the most remarkable one to date, which is especially more impressive when you consider that you are only freshmen on your first mission! So, I guess it is true that this generation of Huntsmen would be extraordinary." He looked over to Torchwick who stared at him back in disgust. "Not only that you were able to prevent a terrorist attack that would have resulted in a breach that would threaten the safety of the kingdom, but you managed to seize a major criminal who the authorities had been hunting for a long period of time.
"Good gods! Take a damn breath. Geez, Louise." Torchwick shook on the ground whilst still tied and cuffed. "This nerd here is your teacher? Holy crap, I can't imagine how you catch up with this guy. Now I remember why I dropped myself from school; teachers just don't know when to shut up."
Believe me, I know the feeling. But if there was someone who deserved to shut up, I'm pretty sure the answer is obvious and it's not the doctor himself.
"Fancy meeting you too, Roman Torchwick. Wanted for several accounts of armed robbery, racketeering, kidnapping, arms dealing, parole violation, possession of illegal items, hijacking, grand larceny, and more recently, being an accessory to terrorism." Doctor Oobleck replied.
"Why, I'm flattered with the recognition. Too bad I can't sign you an autograph when I'm tied like this." He scoffed.
The doctor smirked. "That wouldn't be a problem. I'll be more delighted to see you in a maximum-security cell."
I looked around inside the train car and picked up his cane after I found it. "Hey, don't touch that," Torchwick yelled.
Oh? Alright then, I'll just give it to Nora. I tossed it to her and when she caught it, gave a nod as she already knows what to do with it. She gripped it with both of her hands and bent it firmly until it snapped into two pieces.
Torchwick's reaction was what you'd expect. With that, he had lost his smug demeanor. "Gods Damn You! This is some Grade-A bullshit! That was my sweet little baby!" He threw a temper tantrum on the floor. "Neo! Neo! Where is she?! What have you done to her?!"
Being reminded of his midget sidekick made me a little more cautious, knowing she was still likely alive and could ambush us off-guard at any moment. But to my surprise, she thankfully didn't appear at all when I expected her to.
"Do you even know what you're up against?!" Torchwick continued to snarl. "I work with pretty dangerous people, you damn white knight. When you find out who they are, you'll be wishing you had stayed at home today. Mark my words!"
I faced away and took a few steps. The thing was, I already wished I stayed at home, and it's true that I have no idea who is even behind Torchwick, but I do at least know that he lost and I threw a wrench on his works and I couldn't be bothered to listen to him babble. While I was indeed terrified of whoever Torchwick is working for, they could use a hint. As shameful it would be, I am the Hero of Podunk, after all; so maybe they should be reminded of that.
"Nora." I gripped my fists and turned to her, making her stand upright as she waited for her order. "Break. His. Legs."
For a second she paused, unsure if I was serious but then she made an affirmative smirk and readied her hammer. "With pleasure."
Torchwick froze in fear and prayed to himself that I'm bluffing. "You wouldn't!"
"No brakes on the pain train!" Nora said as she slowly walks to a tied and panicking Torchwick.
"I don't think I want to see this..." Pyrrha calmly, yet nervously remarks as she turns away from the impending violence.
"Trust me, you haven't seen the worst of her yet," Ren responded.
I looked away too; the thought was already terrifying enough that I'd rather not think about it in my sleep by witnessing it with my very own eyes. The sounds were no less haunting, with Torchwick screaming as his bones break while a large hammer thumps. If this wasn't someone who committed numerous crimes and almost made Grimm leak to the city while giving liars and cheaters like me a bad name, it would have been a million times more uncomfortable.
"Is this necessary, Mr. Arc?" Doctor Oobleck commented, looking genuinely surprised. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have done it while my teacher was still in front of me.
"It's one way to keep him out of trouble next time, he did say already broke out of prison before," I replied in a matter-of-factly tone. He's already seen us crippled, if not outright killed, several faceless White Fang goons a few minutes before this. Why should he even bother that I broke the bones of a wanted criminal who has been outrunning the law for who knows how long?
He stared at me for a few more seconds still looking unsure. I must have shocked him so much that he didn't speak fast or say something drawn out. "You are indeed an Arc…and maybe I should leave at that," he said, followed by more silence. I don't know what he meant by that, but as long as this isn't affecting my grades too much I honestly couldn't care less.
Nora was finished turning a crime lord into a cripple. With that, it was safe to turn around and look at him again. "That… was uncalled for! Arg!" he grunted, weakly shaking his upper body as his lower body remained numb.
"Like bombing the tunnels to summon Grimm trying to crash a train so they could get in the city?" I snidely retorted.
"Screw you, kid! My employers are going to kill you and they are dead serious about it."
"I looked forward to seeing them then. Your boss could use a message." I feigned confidence to give him an impression of the hard-as-balls hero I've been pretending to be since the beginning. I admit, it felt cathartic giving this guy what he deserved, but I hope his employers would just buzz off and realize that I'm not worth it. Really, they'll be doing both of us a favor.
"Yeah, tell 'em, Fearless Leader!" Nora cheered. "Whoever they are, we'll be ready for them!"
He groaned. "I knew working with those stupid fucking sheep wasn't worth the pay," I heard him mutter to himself.
"Alright, that's enough." Doctor Oobleck stepped in and took everyone's attention. "Now, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the Grimm are still in the tunnels, and given the amount of negative energy within this train coming from the defeated opposition, they will arrive shortly."
Oh, crap we almost forgot. While they were a couple of miles away with the bodies for them to play with, which gave us time, there was still a massive horde that would overwhelm us and which we wouldn't be able to handle because we used almost all of our energy and resources on the previous battle.
"The good news, however, is that there's an emergency exit nearby that would lead us to Vale's sewers. After getting through that, we'll be home in no time."
"The sewers? Eww." Nora repulsively said.
"It would be worth getting through that if it means getting back to Beacon," Ren stated.
"I agree, after everything we've been put through, I'd say the stench of the sewers is the least of our concerns." Pyrrha chimed in.
No objections. It was easier to endure the smell of shit for a relatively short moment than hold a line against the Grimm in a long tunnel. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go home before the Grimm catches us."
Everyone went to get off the train. Nora carried Torchwick while he was still tied. We could already see the emergency exit from a few feet while hearing growls of incoming Grimm from the tunnels.
"At this point, I just want the Grimm to just kill us all already!" Torchwick yelled. I had a feeling that he was just going to keep talking until we put him out of his misery. Not a chance, he's going back to jail with broken legs and we're going to get paid for it, one way or the other. Just need to make the trip back to civilization a little more bearable. I wasn't going to have him throw a fit my whole way out here. I prefer that he saves it for the unfortunate coppers who would be babysitting him.
"Somebody, please shut him up," I demanded. Nora complied and tapped his head hard, putting him out cold and decreasing the negative energy in the area to feed off the Grimm in several ways, one of them being that it gave us peace and quiet now that we don't have to listen to his whining anymore. "There, that'll knock some sense to ya'."
Once we made it to the exit, it was pretty much over. Traveling through the sewers felt like a walk in the park compared to what we had to go through.
That was one hell of a first mission. I knew that a mission labeling itself as having moderate Grimm activity sounded too safe and easy to be true. I needed sleep; I haven't slept that whole night. That would be a good enough reward for me.
=o=
1. The White Fang was only able to make a few bombs since they weren't able to gather enough resources to make a sufficient amount, their previous failed robberies being one of the few factors. That is not even mentioning the bombs that were not able to be loaded due to Team JNPR's abrupt entrance.
2. They were supposed to be unloaded but due to Team JNPR's discovering one of their hideouts, Torchwick had to depart the train early.
3. Additionally, they are staunchly against interracial relationships, viewing them as much of an act of degeneracy the same way their human counterparts hate it.