Team RWBY flew up the fire escape and hopped onto the rooftops. There, they dashed over gaps and ledges, keeping themselves away from the left ledge where the Crusaders might be possibly looking. They didn't want to get caught and fail this mission, not like last time.
Ruby spotted the rooftop of Atlesian Delights, where there was a rooftop door that stood alone at corner of the roof. Nobody there was there. That was good. She looked to the others and gestured her head towards the door. The others gave back affirmative nods. Everyone gathered at the door and primed their weapons.
"Alright, quick game plan." Ruby looked at everyone with the utmost of seriousness. "Blake, go in first and scout the area. Yang, you go first after Blake checks the second floor. Weiss, you're with me. We'll go in behind Yang. Got it?"
Blake nodded. "Understood."
Yang grinned. "Gotcha."
"Affirmative." Weiss kept her gaze on the door.
Blake was the first to go in, and surprisingly the door wasn't locked. Still, she took the advantage and proceeded down the stairs. From there, she kept her feet light and listened for any particular noise downstairs. When she reached the bottom, she found herself facing what looked like another door. Slowly she opened it and peered her head out, Gambol Shroud's barrel pointed outwards. She was looking at the tiled floor of a large, and well stocked, kitchen. Everything looked orderly, as if all the staff went on break. Blake did not see anyone, nor did hear anything out of the ordinary.
She turned towards the stairs and whispered as loudly as she could, "Entrance clear!"
Ruby looked at Yang and the latter nodded. Yang descended the stairs, hands slightly clenched into fists and Ember Celica already locked and loaded. Blake raised her hand at Yang as Ruby and Weiss followed behind Yang and Blake went further into the kitchen. Everything looked clear so far. The rest of Team RWBY filed into the kitchen and spread out.
Blake looked at the double doors, which presumably lead out to the serving area of the restaurant. However, she looked at another particular door, which was situated off to the left of the double doors, a bit farther down. She approached the door and peered inside, looking at a downstairs of some sort. Ruby and the others gathered around the door and watched Blake descending down into a ninety degree spiral. Blake saw a door at the bottom of the stairs, presumably the way into the ground floor kitchen.
A peer into the room, and indeed it was a kitchen. She cupped her ears and definitely heard both the Crusaders and hostages. There were whimpers and cries from the hostages while the Crusaders murmured among themselves anxiously. She entered the kitchen and found this one just as empty. Fortunately, the serving area was separate from the kitchen via similar double-doors like the one above. Blake went back and whispered for the others to come down.
Quiet as the night Ruby, Weiss and Yang came down, their boots whispering squeaks and mutters. Blake pointed at the double doors.
"There, I think that's where we can expect the Crusaders."
Ruby looked at it, pursing her lips. "Crusaders, huh? Hmm, how are we going to approach this? We need to both surprise them and get all the hostages out at the same time."
Yang cracked her knuckles. "Just let me handle those bastards. I can take them all on."
"That much is obvious," Weiss murmured. "Ruby, your thoughts?"
"Weiss, you and I will save the hostages. Yang and Blake, you two will surprise the Crusaders. Now, we must time this right, okay?" Ruby looked at Yang and Blake. "You two will surprise the Crusaders first to confuse them, and I'll use my speed to go around and pick off any Crusader that is far from the main group. As for Weiss, she'll be the one to swoop in and save the hostages with her glyphs. Does everyone have any questions?"
Yang playfully raised her hand, grinning. "Ooh, ooh, I got a question!"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"What's gonna happen outside if and when we bust in there and start beating the shit out of the bastards? I can't imagine the STARs and Royal Guard will just be standing around while all this happens."
Ruby smiled. "Good point, Yang." Her smile became solemn. "I'm not counting on the STARs and Royal Guard to immediately storm the restaurant, even though they will most likely will if we do this. We need to pull this off as if there's no backup coming for us, which is why I want you and Blake to go around and disorient the Crusaders as much as you can so they don't shoot the hostages. We can't fail this one, everyone; innocent people are counting on us to save them."
"You know, Ruby," Weiss said, staring at her with a small smile, "I think this is the second time I've seen you acting this mature, and on the same day of all times. That's… admirable."
Ruby smiled back at her. "Thanks Weiss. That actually means a lot to me."
"Alright guys," Yang snickered, "you two can kiss and make out later, we got a job to do."
Weiss, staring at Yang in shock, opened her mouth but Ruby nodded at Yang. "Yeah, we do. Okay everyone," she looked at each and every member of Team RWBY with a serious gaze, "ready? There's no turning back after this."
"I've already been ready, now let's kick some ass," Yang said, hands already clenched into fists.
Blake steeled herself and faced the double-doors. "I'm ready, as well."
"Same," Weiss said, Myrtenaster pointed forward. "Are you ready, Ruby?"
"Yeah," Ruby nodded, then faced the doors as well. "It's either do or die. Let's go!"
Team RWBY, practiced and filled with purpose, charged through the doors—Yang, Ruby, and Blake first.
Okay, that took far longer than it needed; months have literally passed since I've last updated, and this is a fairly small part.
That said, now that I've returned to An Unexpected Incident, I'm intent on finishing it off in the next few weeks or so. My apologies for the unexpected wait (heh—though that reminds me, I should probably change the title soon to something more appropriate thematically-speaking). Still, we're almost at the end, anyhow, so I hope you've been enjoying the read so far.
-Sda.
