Chapter Four- The Betrayal and The Beginning of Investigations
"This," Alex begins, slapping a folder down on the table that Mercury, Emerald, and Cinder sat around. Pictures of Greg Pineda fell out and spread all over the table. "This is Lance Corporal Gregory "Greg" Miguel Anderson-Pineda. Formally his last name was Anderson until recently when he changed it to his mother's last name. Both parents killed during the US-Federation War back on Earth. However recently it is to be believed that he was originally born here along with his brother, Miguel Pineda." The three each picked up one of the photos and examined them. The one Emerald held up showed the Lance Corporal in his forest MARPAT gear with three other Marines in his squad. "Current United States Marine Corps member with Force Recon training and highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Never ever try to take him on up close. However his marksmanship will make you shit your pants. His father trained him to be one of the top snipers for the United States Armed Forces." Alex points out a picture of Greg and his father two weeks before Captain Deuce Anderson was Killed In Action (KIA).
Cinder picked up one of the photos of Greg and observed it. "You must be joking me that this 'boy' is such the marksman he is," she scoffed.
"No, I'm telling the truth. He can hit the pilot of a helicopter that is moving like it's nothing while under fire. He's better than me in so many ways," Alex replied to Cinder.
"So what, he's gonna take us down if we try to take him by hand to hand?" Mercury asked.
"More like bash you on the head with a book or stab your hand with a pencil. He's notorious for using the environment and objects around him as his weapon. Raiden, Rick, Derrick, even myself have been slammed against the wall, thrown headfirst against a table, and I had the experience of losing a couple of teeth to a book to the face from the Mud Face. He actually used a paperclip to kill this one Federation soldier in a hand-to-hand combat fight. A freaking paperclip!" Alex continues, causing Mercury to raise an eyebrow.
Alex finished his ranting and placed his hands on the table panting slightly. "So, before I started ranting on, he is hard to stop via hand to hand or shooting." That's when a sly grin grew on his face. "But, there is a way to bring him down making him vulnerable..."
"Oh, do tell," Cinder asked placing her hands together.
"He has lost all of his family that was on Earth to the war. He can be easily be set in a rage moment when said family members are insulted. Another weakness is his undying love between his partner, teammate, and girlfriend, Velvet Scarletina." Alex pointed to another photo, showing Greg and Velvet walking together hand in hand down the hall.
"Is there anything else that we should worry about?" Emerald asked.
Alex kicked back in his seat and nodded. "There's Greg's damn team. I almost got my arm ripped off by Randi one day. That, and there's also my team who consists purely of Ghosts."
"Leland "Boom-Boom" Batista is the second most dangerous person on Team GRVL. He has so many explosive devices on his body that could destroy Beacon over fifty times. I think his semblance involves changing the magnitude of explosive reactions because I've witnessed a pineapple exploded in midair when Leland tossed in front of Derrick's face." Alex pointed out showing an image of Leland in his combat gear.
"Rick Grimes is a part of my team. Despite his quiet nature, he is very aggressive when he's in a fight. He utilizes an L.M.G in combat despite to his small size. He also uses a grenade launcher when things get too hairy. Don't go up against him C.Q.C. He is a black belt in a martial art called Taekwondo and is right behind Greg in terms of that play," Alex explained as he showed a photo of Rick kicking off the head of a training dummy.
"Randi Jackson. Daughter of Paul Jackson, founder and CEO of Jackson's A-Teams. Serious dual-wielding pistol user and has a major crush on Boom-Boom." Alex continues, setting down a picture of Randi fighting another student in a combat arena.
"Derrick Haven. Shotgunner. Adopted by a retired marine back in my world, he was quickly taught military combat with guns and hands. Is currently in love with our Ice Queen here at Beacon. He has a soft spot for her and for friends." Alex threw down a photo showing Derrick aiming down the sights with his shotgun at the firing range.
"The final member of Team GRVL is Velvet Scarletina. Mage and Greg's Rabbit Faunus girlfriend. Uses a P90 Personal Defense Weapon when magic isn't enough. This is main weakness of Greg. However she is someone that Greg will tear anyone that wrongs her in anyway." Alex summed up as he placed a picture of Velvet walking alongside Greg down on the table.
Hesitating for a moment pulling the last photo out, Alex took in a deep breath. "Is everything thing alright?" Cinder asked.
"Yeah... Yeah... It's just hard for me for the last one..." He slowly pulled the photo out and placed it on the table. "Raiden Williams... Leader of my team, Team RADR... And my older brother... An inspirational leader in combat which was shown back at Santa Monica rallying a group of army grunts in defense of a counter attack from Federation forces. He is also in some MMA, mixed martial arts, shown when he was fighting off a group if Federation soldiers in a blacked out building... He is also in a current relationship with Yang Xiao Long, member of Team RWBY." The photo showed Raiden with Yang leaning her head on his shoulder in the library.
Meanwhile in Prof. Ports class...
Raiden couldn't concentrate taking his own notes in his own textbook. He was wondering where his brother is currently hold up. Alex may have hated classes, but he always attended them. He heard something snap and he looked down at his paper. He saw the he broke the tip of his pencil. The Ghost Leader then felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to his side to see Yang looking at him concerned. "Are you okay, Raiden?" She asked him.
Raiden shook his head. "Nah, I'm not," he threw out forwardly to her. He let go of the pencil and leaned back into the row. "Alex has been acting weird since we got back yesterday. It worries me..."
"Listen, I know that you're worried about him, but you need to remember that he'll get outta it. The same is with Rubes when we were little. Just... Just give him some time," Yang replied.
Raiden nodded before putting on a small smile at his girlfriend. "Pst, look at what Jaune's doing right now," Rick whispered to Raiden. The Ghost Leader looked up to see Jaune sliding himself over to Weiss and friend flirting with her.
Raiden almost burst into laughter when he heard the snap of a pencil breaking in half coming from Derrick.
"Derrick, you officially have competition between Neptune, Ruby, and Jaune over Weiss. You gonna have a hard time with Neptune and Ruby, but Jaune, well once he finds out that Pyrrha loves him, he'll probably stop." Leland whispered over to the shotgunner Ghost, snickering as he dodged a pencil that was thrown at him by Derrick.
"Shut up, Boom-Boom. How about you and Randi, huh? You're all badass and all. But once she's around, you just sink down," Derrick retorted.
"Well um, that's because she's um..." Batista could only blush much to the humor of the group around them.
"What's the matter, you blew off your tongue while making explosives?" Derrick teased back at him.
"Wait don't you have a potential girlfriend to seduce right now?" Leland quickly shot back. Derrick was about the throw his binder at him until the bell went off. "You're a lucky man, Leland."
"Weiss, did you hear me?" Jaune asked the heiress.
Weiss got up without even looking at him. "No. No. No. Yes."
Jaune grumbled and let his head fall down on the row. Everyone passed by him with Yang patting him in the head. "One day."
Much later...
Raiden sighed when him and the other two members of RADR got back to their dorm. Alex still wasn't here. "Is he just like this because I kicked him out of the Ghosts?"
Derrick placed his hand on his leader's shoulder. "Raiden, you did what you needed to do. It's his problem, not yours."
Raiden nodded slightly but had a frown on his face. "Yeah... I guess you're right..."
"Hey, if you two ladies are done talking, I suggest we should get changed. Team RWBY is gonna be looking around for leads now," Rick suggested as he took off the top of his uniform.
Team RWBY's dorm...
Blake sighed as she walked towards her bunk tightening the ribbons around her wrists. "I thought that class would never end."
Today would be the day that Team RWBY and RADR would start going around in Vale looking for leads. "Alright, guys, today's the day! The investigation begins!" Ruby shouted happily as she jumped down from her bunk.
"I'm glad to see we're taking this so seriously," Weiss sarcastically replied when the redhead almost landed on her.
"Hey, we've got a plan! That's... moderately serious," Yang sheepishly replied.
"Yeah, that's very comforting, Yang," Raiden said to her. The girls turned around to see the three members of RADR. Instead of wearing their usual Airborne uniforms, they were wearing their casual clothes instead.
"Good you guys are here," Ruby said to them.
"Everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked her team and the Ghosts.
"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem," Weiss said with such pride in her voice.
"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning," Blake answered for her role.
Yang crossed her arms and grinned. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard..."
"Me and the guys will scope around in Vale. We can eavesdrop on conversations and tail down certain people to find any intel that is important," Raiden added.
"Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found." Ruby pumped her fist into the air. "Let's do this!"
"Yeah!" Everyone looked at the window to see Sun hanging by his tail outside the window.
"Whoa!" Rick exclaimed, instinctively pulling out his pistol aiming it at Sun.
"Whoa! Hold fire there, Rambo!" Derrick shouted, pulling the Korean's arm back who was freaking out still.
"Sun!" Blake replied as they were all taken aback.
"How did you get up there?" Yang asked.
"Ah, it's easy; I do it all the time," Sun answered back smiling.
"You do what?!" Weiss shouted.
"I climb trees all the time!" Sun then flipped himself into the room without any trouble landing square on his feet. "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"
Blake stepped forward and stared at him. "We are going to investigate the situation... as a team."
"Sorry, Sun. We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to," Ruby told him.
"Psh! That's dumb! We should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!" Sun answered back.
"Yeah, we got involved and- wait, what?" Raiden asked in mid-sentence.
Sun pointed out of the window in response. The seven looked out the window to see Neptune on the ledge. "'Sup?" Neptune greeted.
"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked in confusion.
"I have my ways." Neptune then reclined into the wall more. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now."
"Alright, me and Derrick will go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake with Rick right behind you." Ruby then pushed Neptune over to Yang much to Weiss's disapproval. " And Neptune, you can go with Yang and Raiden since you don't have a partner. Everyone good?"
Weiss fidgeted in her footing before speaking up. "Actually, Ruby, why don't you go with Yang? After all, she is your sister."
Ruby turned around to look at her partner. "But, Weiss, who would go with you, then?"
"Well... I guess Neptune could come with me." As soon as the heiress said Neptune's name, Derrick's eye began to twitch when he heard that.
Instead, Ruby cracked up at her partner. "Hahaha, nah!"
'Thank you, Ruby!' Derrick sighed inwardly.
Ruby then walked passed Weiss and began pulling her out. Weiss reached out trying to get ahold of something. "But! But!"
Meanwhile...
Team GRVL, JNPR and Miguel sat in the seating area around the combat arena for combat class. Miss Goodwitch had decided to have some of the students go one-on-one against some of the transfer students, just to see how they would fare against each other. The first two to go face to face was Mercury Black and Greg Pineda.
"Hey, Ms. Goodwitch. Do I have to use my weapon for this?" Greg asked, holding his M4A1 in hand. Miss Goodwitch nodded, earning a groan from the young Marine. Greg decided to wear his Marine combat uniform instead of his normal combat clothing and looked ready to fight anything that came at him. Mercury turned to Greg with a grin on his face.
"Whats the matter? Afraid of fighting me, you big chicken?" Mercury taunted, earning the rolling eyes from Greg. "Nope. Want to make the fight more fair."
"Well come at me then, you son of a bitch!" This insult made something in Greg's mind snap as Ms. Goodwitch called down Team CRDL and at least twelve other fighters to assist Mercury, knowing what was about to happen. Instantly Greg aimed his rifle at one of his opponents.
"NOBODY INSULTS MY DEAD MOTHER!" Greg shouted, poring dust bullets onto the crowd of opponents.
"I think I can get-AHHH! Nevermind..." A student cried out, being sent hurtling to the ground, courtesy of an angered Marine. If Charlie Hinders' rage was one thing, then a Greg Rage Moment was a thousand times worse for the unfortunate victims.
"I FOUGHT IN MEMORY OF MY DEAD FAMILY MEMBERS AND THIS IS THE WORDS I GET!?" Greg roared, bringing down three more students with his rain of fire. Team CRDL and six others were already knocked out in the fight, leaving only six students and Mercury Black to deal with the enraged Lance Corporal.
Two more students were downed when a M203 Dust Grenade round landed right nearby them. Greg was clearly still going strong (mainly because of his Rage Moment), leaving only four students and Mercury left. However another grenade knocked the remaining students right out of the combat arena area.
"THIS IS WHY YOU NEVER MESS WITH A UNITED STATES MARINE!" Greg bellowed before receiving a blow to the head. Mercury had slipped behind him undetected and delivered a kick and a Dust round from his greaves guns, sending the Marine flying into a wall. There was a loud painful smack as Greg impacted against the concrete wall and fell to his knees, drained from his moment of rage. His weapon was resting on the floor on the other side of the arena, giving Mercury the advantage. The teen walked over to the dazed Marine with the intent of winning this duel. However just as he raises his leg to deliver the final blow...
POW! "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mercury screamed in pain from the punch to his cojones that was delivered by Greg's fist. Greg got back up immediately and introduced Mercury's face to the wall. Painfully.
"OOOOHHHHH!" "THAT'S GONNA LEAVE A MARK!" "OH MY GOD!" "REMIND TO GET A SPORTS CUP BEFORE GOING UP AGAINST GREG!" Various shouts erupted from the crowd of observers as Mercury slid to the ground, defeated while holding his sensitive area in pain. Greg walked over to him and got on his knee next to him.
"If you ever insult my mother like that again, I will make the pain worse..." Greg whispers into Mercury's ear before walking back up into the observation area, retrieving his weapon along the way.
While Greg was being bombarded with questions from his team, Miss Goodwitch sent a video of the fight to Headmaster Ozpin along with a message attached to it. She had noticed that instead of showing a blank space where Greg had no Aura, it now showed a full bar with Monty knows how much Aura he had. However it was shown yet to be unlocked. This could easily mean that Greg was originally born and came from parents that were from Remnant. However she had to make sure her assumption was correct before jumping to conclusions. In any case, she was sure that Velvet Scarletina would be the one to unlock Greg's Aura. After all, the two students were practically a couple.
"Hey, Greg. Don't you think that was a bit of a cheap shot you did on the transfer student?" Leland asked, pointing his thumb behind him at the limping Mercury. Greg threw a dangerous look at the pyromaniac, causing Batista to sweatdrop. "On second thought, its cool, boss. Nothing wrong with it."
"Up next is going to be Leland Batista against Nora Valkyrie." Miss Goodwitch announced, earning a gulp from Leland since he had to go up against the crazy girl of Team JNPR.
"It was nice knowing you, Boom-Boom." Greg commented as the pale Batista walked into the arena.
Leland and Nora circled each other, Boom-Boom more nervously while Nora was more predatory. The crowd was intense to see the duel between the two explosive users while Miss Goodwitch monitored the program. As soon as the system is ready, the Professor raised her hand and brought it down.
"Begin!" Nora instantly fired her weapon at Leland, forcing the pyromaniac to jump around and do combat rolls to avoid getting hit by an explosive.
Leland finally caught a break when Nora had to reload and sprung into action. He pulled out two special grenades of his and rolled them across the floor. Nora noticed this and jumped out of the way, the grenades detonating harmlessly out of the way. Nora then chased Leland around with her weapon in its hammer form, much to the amusement of the crowd of students.
The match didn't last long when Nora managed to send Leland straight into the ceiling with her hammer and won the duel. Leland fell to the ground and limped back to the stands over to his team, disappointed. Randi gave him a hug while Greg pat his shoulder.
"You'll beat her one day, man."
"Up next we have Randi Jackson versus Emerald of Haven." Randi readied her two pistols as she walked down into the arena where Emerald already waited for her.
However both the duel could begin, the bell rang for class to end. People started to leave the combat class while Miss Goodwitch began planning out the duels for tomorrow's classes. Randi rejoined her team, now officially done with classes for the day.
"So what do you want to do first?" Leland asked, stretching his sore body for a moment. Greg looked at his twin brother and they both smirked before Greg turned back to his teammate.
"How about a trip to Vale again?" This earned an eruption of yeahs from his team as they started racing each to the airship.
Meanwhile…
Ruby, Weiss and Derrick were walking down the stone trail heading towards the CCT tower within the academy. "Woooow! I forget how big the Transmit tower looks up close!" Ruby squealed in delight when she saw the tower looming over them. Weiss smiled slightly hearing her leader chirping that. "You should see the one in Atlas!"
"Atlas had the first of one of these, right?" Derrick asked her. He recently read a book about these CCT towers across Remnant.
Weiss nodded. "Correct." The three walked even closer to the transmitter. "Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War."
Derrick began snickering when he saw Ruby starting to act all royal. "Oooh, look at me! My name's Weiss! I know facts! I'm rich!"
The heiress spun around and frowned at ten. "Oh, don't be pests! Besides, the only reason we're here is because Ruby wanted to see the tower so much! We could have just as easily made a call from the library!"
Ruby was just a tad bit too happy still admiring the tower. "I know, but it's so coool! Ooh, I'm going to take a picture!"
She pulled out her Scroll and tried to take a picture but lost grip of it. It slid over across the ground before it stopped in front of a girl. "Oh!" She bent down and picked up the Scroll. "You dropped this."
Ruby took a closer look until she widened her eyes. "Penny?"
"Uhhhhh..." Penny mumbled, in a same state of surprise.
"You know this girl?" Derrick asked the two girls.
"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since that night at the docks!" Ruby explained.
"S-Sorry. I think you're confused." Penny suddenly hiccuped before throwing the Scroll into Ruby's hands. "Uh... I've got to go. Sorry!" Penny turned around and then started walking away.
"And that was strange," Derrick commented.
"What was that about?" Weiss asked
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Ruby began to walk towards Penny and turned around to face the duo behind her. "You go make your call! I'll meet up with you later!"
"Wait!" Weiss protested as she outstretched her hand. Grumbling in frustration, se turned around and walked towards the tower. "Are you coming or what?" She asked the Ghost.
"Oh, right."
While Ruby went to go talk to Penny, the heiress and the Ghost entered the CCT building lobby and walked towards the elevator. They entered said elevator and the doors slid closed. "Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?" The A.I asked them.
"We'd like to go to the communications room, please," Weiss asked.
"Absolutely. Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?" The A.I asked them. Weiss nudged Derrick to pull out his Scroll. The Ghost nodded and pulled it out. They let the A.I scan their Scrolls before a beeping was heard. "Perfect! Thank you, Miss Schnee! Have a good day, Corporal Haven."
The elevator began to go up and Weiss was changing her expressions from pleased to a serious one. "You okay there, Weiss?" Derrick asked.
Weiss shook her head and she looked at him putting on a forced smile. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine."
The elevator doors opened and Derrick widened her eyes when he saw the extensive room that had all this equipment and monitors. It reminded him of control towers in airports back in Santa Monica. They walked over to a hologram sitting behind a desk. It looked up and she smiled. "Welcome to the Beacon Cross Continental Transmit center. How may I help you?"
"I need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas," Weiss replied to the A.I.
"Absolutely. If you could head over to Terminal 3, I'll patch you through."
Weiss and Derrick walked over to one of the multitude of terminals in the room where other students were making calls and such. "This place seems... Pretty awesome. It looks like a control tower back in Santa Monica."
"Please. If you saw the one in Atlas, this place would be dwarfed in size and technological advancements," Weiss replied to the Shotgunner.
Weiss sat down at the terminal and took in a deep breath to prepare herself for the call. Derrick stood beside her looking out one of the massive windows. He noticed the breathing of the heiress a little shaggy but chose not to say anything. The screen soon lit up and showed a short haired brunette. "Thank you for calling the Atlas- Oh! Miss Schnee! Good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well."
Weiss shook her head politely. "No, thank you! I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list."
Weiss produced her Scroll and linked it in with the terminal she was seated at by a slot. The operator looked at the screen for a moment and nodded. "I see. If you don't mind... what may I ask is this for?"
"School project."
Derrick rolled his eyes at that. "Seriously? That's the best you could come up with?" He whispered to her. Weiss shot him a look making him shut up.
"Um... There are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am," the operator said nervously to the heiress.
Weiss smiled at her. "Well, then, I'll be sure to treat them with care."
The operator nodded cautiously at her. "Right... Very well." A few beeping noises were made before a chime was heard. "The data is being transferred to your Scroll now."
"Wonderful! That will be all, then," Weiss replied to her as she took back her Scroll.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go?" The operator suggested again.
Derrick then notice Weiss's smile dissipate for a second before she regained it in a forced smile. "Yes, I'm sure."
"Well, then... Have a nice day!"
The call was soon disconnected with the screen fading back into black. Weiss tried to keep her smile up but then dropped it in defeat. "Seriously, are you okay? You've been actin' like this for the past few moments."
Weiss looked at Derrick and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. You don't need to treat me like I'm some sort of child."
"Well, I care for my team and friends. And I'm very concerned for ya, Weiss. Not wanting to talk to your father? You're lucky to even have one. I never really knew mine."
On the airship to Beacon…
The five teens got onto the airship and sat down in the seating area as they waited for takeoff.
"So, want to go to Ginny's Café again, guys?" Leland suggested, knowing what the answer would be since it was all their favorite place to eat. Velvet and Greg looked at each other and smiled.
"Actually, Batista, Velvet and I are going to go somewhere else alone. We'll meet up with you guys in the square later on." Greg explained, earning some wolf-whistles and cheers from other students, both human and Faunus. This caused the couple to blush from embarrassment, much to Miguel's humor.
"Nice one, bro."
"Okay, people. Give these two lovebirds some privacy. Need I remind you that some of you still have yet to find a significant other." Miguel announced, causing many of the single individuals to sit down, blushing from the truth of that fact. However a few couples and many Faunus still remained up and congratulating the couple. Most of it was about the closer step towards equality between Humans and Faunus while others simply wished the couple good luck.
"Wait a minute. Why are there two of him now?" A voice piped up, causing most of the people to move out of that person way. It was like Moses parting the Red Sea except it was Aria, the Dragon Faunus, and no one really wanted to get on her bad side. Miguel, deciding to have a little fun with the Faunus, grinned as she approached.
"And who would this young fiery teenaged beauty be here hmm?" Miguel announced, earning a small blush across the Dragoness's face, but she started to glare at him. Apparently compliments actually make the fierce Faunus slightly embarrassed. "I'm Aria. Someone you should never mess with, you flirting fool." Miguel, pretended to look hurt by these words, decided to continue his barrage.
Flirting fool? Look here, Fire-breathing beauty. I'm not a flirting fool like that Jaune kid. I'm a lady killer, Miss Aria." With that, Miguel gives a suave smile that increases the red on Aria's face. This causes laughter to erupt from the bystanders, never have seeing the tough dragon Faunus look so embarrassed before.
"H-Hey, knock it off! Its nothing alright!" Aria stammered at the crowd, earning more laughter instead of decreasing it.
"Sure, keep telling yourself that, beautiful." Miguel grins before walking off, leaving a madly blushing Aria behind.
"Wow. I never knew you to be a suave talker before." Greg commented as Miguel grinned back at him.
"Its useful when needed. Usually I do it when I need information from any beautiful senoritas. However most of the time, I'm polite and well-behaved when talking to women and girls. Also the reason you didn't know is the same reason you were gone for seventeen years." Miguel points out, causing Greg to scratch the back of his head sheepishly.
"Attention all passengers. We are landing in Vale. Wait until the craft comes to a complete stop before exiting. Have a nice day and welcome again to Vale." The PA announced as the airship started the descent to Vale. Many of the students continued their conversation while heading towards the exits to wait.
"Well, see you later, bro. I have a call to make to the village about your sudden reappearance at Beacon Academy. Also to tell Aunt Claudia that you mentioned some things that I want the truth from." Miguel waved off, separating from the rest of the group when the ship landed. Leland and Randi went off into Vale quickly while Velvet and Greg walked together to the restaurant their date would be held.
The walk through the streets was peaceful and uneventful. The couple waved to the owner of the From Dusk 'Til Dawn Dust store as they passed by. Most of the people either waved at Velvet and Greg or they simply ignored them out of respect. However there were a few sneers and glares directed at the two which was countered by an evil glare from Greg.
West Vale...
Night has already fallen as two loud engine sounds were heard. Speeding out of a corner, Yang came in with Neptune behind her on her motorcycle. Raiden then came out with a jet black motorcycle. He acquired it by asking the police for it. He told them he was investigating deeper into the Dust Robberies.
"How much farther?!" Raiden shouted from behind.
"Not much! Just keep following!" Yang shouted back.
Raiden revved up his engine and sped up. He got beside Yang and they were now driving side by side. "How do you know this guy?! He seems like a pretty shady guy to deal with!"
"Well... He's not all muscle. He's pretty much a wimp. I grabbed his balls when I wanted information."
"Yep. That sounds like you alright."
A few minutes passed on by and Yang turned a corner with Raiden following suit. She hit the brakes and her tired began to screech out as she skidded along the road before coming to a complete stop in front of one of the buildings. Raiden did the same thing but parked behind her.
Yang took off her bright yellow helmet and looked behind her. "Come on, my friend's right in here!"
She climbed off her motorcycle showing a dazed Neptune with messed up hair. "Cool." He shook his head and looked at her. "And where exactly is... here?"
"Here is where we get our intel, pretty boy. C'mon, let's get going before I regret having Yang take us here," Raiden mentioned while taking off his black helmet and climbed off his motorcycle.
Inside the Club...
It was relatively alright. Hei 'Junior' Xiong was behind the bar looking at his new rebuilt club. It has wen a few months since 'Blondie' wrecked her his club. Now it up and running again. Nothing could-
"Close the door - she's coming!" One of his henchmen shouted as he and one of the other henchmen ran back in and started closing the door.
Junior walked up to them and snarled at them. "What are you two idiots doing?!"
"She's back! She's back, Junior. She's-!"
An explosion went out and the doors flew wide open. In came Yang casually walking in through the smoke from said explosion. "Guess who's back!"
Guns ended up being aimed at her head from the numerous thugs within the club. Yang still kept her cool for a moment before she glared at the DJ booth which was on a repeat on the same song that played when she came in. The DJ popped up and removed the needle off the record before cowering in fear again.
Raiden came in with his assault rifle out and pointed it at them. "Drop your weapons," he growled lowly.
Neptune then popped up behind them. "Yeah, so could you define "friend" for me?"
"Stop, stop! Nobody shoot." Junior went between his men while straightening his tie. "Blondie, you're here! ...Why?"
Yang grinned and pointed a finger at him. "You still owe me a drink." She walked past him and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him away.
Raiden slung his rifle and crossed his arms. "Just when I was hoping for some action."
He then saw Neptune looking at a pair of girls dressed in either white and red dresses. "'Sup?" He greeted them.
They shook their heads and walked away. "Whatever," they both said.
The Warehouse District…
A figure stood on the roof of one of the buildings on the outskirts of Vale, scanning the skyline for anything unusual. However she failed to hear Miguel behind her, duster, armor, and cowboy hat on until he spoke up.
"Still looking for me ahead of time, you sleazy bitch?" Miguel questioned coldly, glaring daggers at his aunt. If one should know anything about Claudia Pineda, it was that she was a ruthless woman who turned a group of renowned heroic vigilantes called the Tejanos into a cold-blooded mercenary force for the highest bidder. Claudia smirked as she turned around to face her nephew. "And what brings you here tonight, Michael? I thought you would be happy to go to such a wonderful academy like Beacon."
Miguel visible flinched at the use of the English meaning of Miguel before starting to speak.
"I am happy. In fact, I made a wonderful discovery that you would surely love. I'll give you three hints. First he looks like me. Second he's still alive and third, he goes to Beacon as well." This made Claudia froze in realization at the news, causing Miguel to grin in a small victory.
"You mean that twin monster is here? So now the terror twins are finally united again. So what, Michael?" Claudia replied sarcastically, further angering the twin.
"It means that instead of having one of us to deal with, now you have both of us to fight against. Mark my words, Aunt Claudia. Your corruption of the Los Tejanos will be stopped for good." Miguel warns before walking away. Claudia glares at his back before unholstering her .357 revolver and aiming it at Miguel's head.
Meanwhile in the same location…
Blake traced her fingers over three scratch marks imbedded into a wall. She started to remember old memories as they surfaced again. "This is it," she told the monkey Faunus and Korean.
"You sure?" Blake glared at Sun for saying that as she started to untie her bow. "Y'know, I'm just gonna take your word for it."
"Well, I'm gonna provide some intel from far away. Cuz you know." Rick pointed at himself. "Not a Faunus. No offense to you two," he quickly added in.
"It's okay, Rick. I'd have you be at a distance and be safe rather than having you being at risk," Blake replied to him.
Rick nodded as he began to walk away. "I'll provide reconnaissance. I'll be in if you need any evac or anything."
As the Korean walked away, the two Faunus walked towards the warehouse they found some leads in. "I don't get it." Sun pulled out his mask and looked at the cat Faunus. "If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"
Blake brought up her mask. "The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters."
"Grimm masks... That's kinda dark," Sun commented on the fact.
"So was the guy who started it." Blake put on her mask and continued walking.
"Always sunshine and rainbows with you..." Sun mumbled as he followed suit after Blake.
Blake and Sun walked through the hallway, accompanying other Faunus wearing the same masks as them. When they entered the main compound of the warehouse, they saw over at least a hundred of White Fang militia members. They were all dressed in white armour vests and black hoods with the iconic white red accented masks and their insignia; the bloody wolf and claw marks.
A certain White Fang militia member was on the stage. There was a huge sheet covering something. Something big by the looks of it. Looks of it was that he was a high ranking officer within the ranks. "Thank you all for coming. 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 for so long!"
A man walked up from behind the sheet and was grinning when he was revealed. Rick from afar gritted his teeth and cursed in Korean. "Roman Fucking Torchwick tears his ugly head again."
"Thank you, thank you!" Roman in a mocking way greeted the newcomers of the White Fang.
Most of the Faunus newcomers were now protesting as they sneered, swore and jeered at the human standing on the stage. "What's a human doing here?!" One of the Faunus hoisted, pointing her finger at him.
"I'm glad you asked, "Deerie"! Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst." He saluted to them and nodded. "Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed! If you haven't heard already, a few months ago, we were judging trying to get some supplies for our endeavours until this team of highly trained humans came and beated your brethren into the dirt!" Roman announced.
Blake was disgusted at how he twisted the information. The Ghosts were the ones who stopped them because one, they're stealing, and two, they did what was right. Sun leaned over to her. "So, is he going somewhere with this?"
"But, before the claws come out, 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!" This seemed to win favor for him since the crowd changed their tune and started agreeing in union. "Government; military; even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life!" The crowd cheered even louder for him in the similar agreement of their suffering. "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."
With a snap of his fingers, the sheet was taken off the object and it was revealed to be the Atlesian Paladin-290. A high tech new defense robot piloted by a person. Rick almost dropped his binoculars when he saw this. Hell, not even Seoul was that advanced than Atlas. "That... Is soo beautiful. If only I had my router here, then I could be in business."
"Whoa, that's a big robot..." Sun commented when they saw the massive mech before them.
"How did he get that?" Blake questioned.
"As some of you might have heard, this right here..." Roman tapped on the side of the mech. "is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my "employer", we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, "hit the shelves". 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?"
On the warehouse roof above...
Miguel spins fast and fires twelve .357 Magnum rounds at Claudia and reloads with impossible speed before Claudia pulls her trigger. The La Tejana dodges the fire before returning fire as well. The two relatives soon were in one of their famous gunfight arguments so common in this area that the White Fang was used to it by now. However this time it was more intense than ever before.
Miguel's weapon, a set of .357 Revolvers named Quick and Draw, suddenly merged together to form a .357 lever action rifle named Quick Draw, allowing Miguel to place some distance between Claudia and himself. Claudia jumped back to dodge the fire before continuing to fire her weapon as well.
The gunfight continued loudly, both sides not giving up their chance of victory. In fact, it started to get so intense that Dust rounds start to penetrate the tin roof they were standing on. Finally weakened from the constant fighting of the two western styled fighters, the roof that Claudia and Miguel were fighting on failed. They both fell through the ceiling and landed on the floor in the middle of the White Fang meeting.
Rick widened his eyes when he saw this. "Holy shit! What the fuck?!"
Sun and Blake were in equal confusion with the other Faunus by the appearance of Miguel and the strange woman that fell in with him.
"Easy, people, easy! This is a regular thing. Let them fight it out!" The White Fang Officer shouted at the crowd.
Miguel and Claudia stumbled around for a moment until they realized they landed in the middle of a White Fang meeting. They looked sheepishly around before Miguel pointed an accusing finger at his aunt. "She started it."
"YOU LITTLE-" Soon the gunfight started back up again, however this time people were getting caught in the crossfire much to Roman's annoyance.
That's when Roman soon recognized two certain Fauna in the crowd. "He sees us!" Sun told Blake.
"I'm thinking," Blake shot back. She looked around a little more until she saw a transformer panel. "He can't see in the dark." She pulled out Gambol Shroud and aimed it at the junction box and fired a shot. This resulted a power failure rendering the room of the light.
When the lights went out, Miguel decided to make a tactical retreat out of the building, leaving Claudia behind in the dark. "This isn't over, Aunt Claudia. Things will be right soon."
Rick lifted his binoculars up since he couldn't see a thing. "Shit."
He then saw his girlfriend and Sun jump through the windows. Soon, the wall broke down revealing the mech. It then started pursuing them through the desolate streets of nighttime Vale. "Perfect," Rick muttered before running.
Miguel ran up alongside Rick and noticed him there. Rick also noticed him and asked him the same thing he was going to ask.
"What were you doing there?" Miguel turned to him, offering a shrug. "Have a family feud with Aunt Claudia."
"Who is Aunt Claudia?" Rick questioned, which caused Miguel to frown. "Thats the bitch I'm fighting. She also works for Torchwick."
"Well... That's mighty awkward," Rick mentioned to him. "I'm here gathering intel."
"Not so much, is it now?" Miguel retorted back to him.
"Not so much, no."
Earlier, The Club...
Junior placed his glass down at the counter as he sighed. "I don't know!"
"How can you not know?" Yang questioned him.
Raiden was standing beside her with his arms crossed, his sleeves of his hoodie rolled up to his elbows. "You better tell her before she gives you a beating."
"I haven't talked to him! I haven't even seen him since the night you first came in here." Junior got up and pointed a finger at the blonde brawler. "He paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever. Came. Back."
"So where did they go?" Neptune suddenly asked as he came up beside the brawler and Ghost Leader.
There was a long pause with Junior, Yang and Raiden staring at him. "What kind of stupid question is that? They never came back!" He looked at Yang. "Who is this guy?"
Yang pushed the blue haired teen away. "Don't worry about him; worry about me."
Raiden pulled out his pistol and comes it causally. "If the lady doesn't get what she wants..."
"I already told you everything! Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them, which is something I can relate to!" He shouted, the last segment of his comment to his own men.
Yang sighed as she turned around to leave. "Come on, guys, we're leaving."
"What a waste... Nothing outta him," Raiden commented as he and Neptune followed her.
"Well, we got everything we can. Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck."
Elsewhere...
"Wow. The food was amazing here, Greg. How can you afford to pay such expensive prices?" Velvet asked, the waiter picking up their empty plates. Greg smiled as he payed the bill before turning to his girlfriend.
"I've been working part-time at this place as a host. The meals are half-priced for me and any date I bring which is you." Greg replied earning a blush and smile from the rabbit Faunus. However suddenly there was shouting outside, causing the two to get up from their seats and exit the building. There they saw Miguel, Rick, Sun, and Blake get chased down the seat by Roman Torchwick in a robot suit. The two sighed at this scene, knowing that their date had just ended.
"Well at least we know where Sun, Blake, Rick and my brother went off to..." Greg deadpans, both him and Velvet sweatdropping at the scene.
Greg turns to Velvet with a smirk on his face.
"So you want to help out those three fools and my brother before they get into deeper trouble?" Greg mockingly asks, unslinging his M4A1 from his back before loading a round into the chamber with a loud metallic sound. Velvet gave him a small smile, pulling a P90 PDW from her bag and held it in her hands. "Sure thing, sweetie."
Greg opens the door and holds it open for Velvet. "Ladies first."
The two teen rushed out of the building and started to go after the running fight. They leaped over obstacles and cars as they tried to keep up with the chase.
"Good grief! What the heck is that thing!? It looks like a robot from those Mecha-suits video games that Raiden had back in Fort San Monica!" Greg exclaimed in disbelief while Velvet offered a small shrug in return.
"Alright! Lets give Torchwick a new pain in the a-rear to deal with!" Greg quickly corrected himself, trying to avoid cursing in front of Velvet. Fortunately she didn't noticed as the two started to fire at the backside of the Paladin.
Roman sneered when he heard the pinging of the bullets popping off the back of the Paladin. "These kids don't know when to give up.
He was hellbent on crushing the two Faunus in front of him as well Miguel and Rick. Miguel transformer his pistols into Quick Draw and fired round after round into the Paladin behind them with inhuman speeds. His semblance was a combination of speed and reaction time. His accuracy was something that all members of Los Tejanos were trained heavily on. Not that he was a member of the group anymore. Unfortunately all the rounds effects were merely scratching the paint of the Paladin, forcing Miguel to sling Quick Draw and run faster, zooming by Rick.
"Hey! No fair!" Rick shouted as Miguel passed him. He felt the ground shaking as the Paladin was getting closer. "Oh fuck me!" He shouted he looked behind him.
"I got you now, you pest," Roman sneered as she reached for the Korean.
Rick took in a deep breath and his clothes began to glow a bright orange as he continued breathing deeply while running. He reared his fist back and punched it forward. A stream of fire fired out from his fist, hitting the Paladin straight on.
Derrick and Weiss...
The duo was exiting out of the CCT tower when Weiss's Scroll chimed. "Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-" Blake managed to say before someone else was heard in the background.
"HEEEELLLLP!" Sun shouted.
Weiss rolled her eyes and began running, a small smile prevalent on her face as Derrick followed suit.
Ruby...
"Big robot! And it's big! Really big!" Sun shouted in the Scroll.
"Oh, I am not missing this!" Ruby excitedly chirped as she ran off to join in.
Yang, Raiden and Neptune...
"That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something!"
"Where's your current location?" Raiden asked Sun from his Scroll from behind Yang on his motorcycle.
As if on cue, Blake and Sun were running down the road behind them with the Paladin right on their heels. "HURRYYYY!"
"I think that was them," Neptune mentioned.
"We got that," Yang said as she and Raiden revved up their engines and began driving down the road after them.
Back at the chase scene…
"What the heck..." Greg trailed off when he say the fire trick Rick pulled and immediately thought about his unknown and yet to be unlocked semblance and Aura. It made him feel jealous about how his friends were using Dust-infused clothing when all he had was his skills and weapon. He would have to ask Velvet to unlock his Aura for him later. Right now he aimed his rifle at the Paladin and opened fire again at its back, grabbing Roman's attention.
"Damn, these kids are persistent!" Roman shouted. He pushed a couple buttons and grinned. Two hatches were revealed at the top of the Paladin to reveal middle hatches. They soon fired out, flying directly towards Greg and Velvet.
Greg was about to get Velvet to safety until the missiles exploded in mid-air. "What the?"
"Here comes the cavalry!" The two looked behind them to see Derrick running towards the Paladin. His clothes were glowing a faint brown and green light as he slammed his foot into the ground making a huge chunk of the road fly up into the air before he punched it, making it fly towards the Paladin.
Greg quickly shook off his shock and joined in, firing Dust Grenades from his M203 Grenade Launcher. The force of the combined explosions and rock caused the Paladin to stumble, but it still remained upright.
Derrick growled as he started running beside Greg and Velvet. "Hey, Greg! How was your date with Velvet?" Derrick asked them as fire kept on being poured onto the Paladin thanks to Rick.
"Oh just fine really! Well up until Roman decided to rear his ugly head here downtown! Now he is going to get his butt kicked for ending our date early!" Greg shouted back over the sounds of multiple firearms being fired at the Paladin. Miguel fired Quick Draw and reloaded with instantaneous speed that would make Ruby jealous while Greg and Velvet poured down their own storm of Dust bullets and Grenades as well.
"Wonder where Yang and Raiden are though!" Greg shouted to Derrick who was having trouble hearing him over the gunfire.
Soon the chase was on the highway with multiple cars becoming casualties in the crossfire from the teens.
"We could use some help right now!" Rick shouted into his Scroll as he was running low on fuel for his legs.
Soon, Yang and Raiden came in on their motorcycles with Neptune on Yang's. Raiden had his own M4A1 rifle out and was taking shots at the head of the Paladin. "Cycles here!" Raiden shouted.
"This is the most dumbest idea I'm about to do. Ever. Of all time." Greg talks out loud before leaping from car to car, leaving a bewildered Velvet and Derrick. The Marine managed to hop onto the back of the Paladin and proceeded to "rodeo" it, hanging on for dear life. He began to fire into the back of the Paladin again, however this time at point blank range.
Rick widened his eyes when he was about to punch his fist forward. "Shit!" He managed to angle his arm up a little more up when his fist extended out. Fire spewed out of his hand and nearly grazed Greg's hair as it sped past him. "Sorry!" Rick shouted in Korean before Raiden grabbed him and plopped him on his motorcycle.
"JUST SHUT AND LETS STOP TORCHWICK FROM HURTING ANYMORE PROBLEM!" Greg shouted back, causing him to be slightly distracted. A sudden jarring movement forced Greg to hold on tightly, his weapon slipping from his grasp and falling into the road below. In most cases, a hunter or huntress who loses their weapon in mid-battle can end up as a dead one. However, Greg isn't just a hunter in training, he was also a Force Recon Marine. Instead of giving up, Greg continued to rodeo the Paladin, using his M1911 instead of his M4A1 Custom AR.
"Rick, we ain't trying to roast Greg alive! Watch your fire!" Raiden shouted.
"I'm trying!"
They continued the road little more down, soon losing Neptune and Sun in process. "This keeps getting better and better," Derrick muttered.
"Look, Jarhead! Its the end of the road for you so get off!" Torchwick shouted, trying to swat Greg off the Paladin's back with little success. Greg still clinged onto the Paladin in hopes of finding a way to stop it. The solution presented itself when one of Derrick's rounds managed to hit a certain panel compartment open on top of the Paladin, revealing the wires of the control system. "THANKS FOR THE SOLUTION, DERRICK!"
Greg immediately clambered up to the top and immediately ripped out the wires. This caused the Paladin to sudden stop and fall, sending Greg flying off. The Marine landed on his back on top of a parked car's roof, crumbling it on impact. Greg groaned in pain but was fortunate that no one was in the car and that he was still alive.
The Paladin feel off the highway down to the very bottom below the multitudes of highways. Derrick, Rick and Raiden looked down from the edge to look at it. "Is it dead?" Rick asked.
Miguel rushes over to glance at the robot before running with Velvet to where Greg had landed. His twin laid there groaning in pain as the two help him up and supported him. "Should have had a better landing strategy huh?" Miguel joked, earning him a glare from his brother before Greg groaned in pain again.
"Miguel...Just be quiet and help me get back to Beacon alright." Greg replied before passing out. The fight had exhausted him really greatly combined with the rage moment he had gone through earlier. Velvet and Miguel just smiled as they started to carry Greg back to the airship.
Raiden then chuckled when he saw the remains of the smoking Paladin. "I guess you could his plans... Fell off."
Derrick shook his head. "Dude, you've been hanging with Yang too much."
But to their dismay, they saw a bullhead rise up from beneath them. The doors were wide open showing Roman. He was glaring at the teens and pointed his cane at them. "This isn't over!"
What some of them noticed was a girl standing beside Roman. "Hey, doesn't she remind you of Neapolitan ice cream?" Raiden asked everyone as the bullhead flew away.
Leland and Randi arrived just in time to witness the Bullhead fly away from the site. Leland tried firing at it, but the bullets bounced off harmlessly as the ship got away.
"MONTY DAMMIT! Why can't I have a rocket launcher like Greg told me about from his world!?" Leland cursed out loud, stomping his feet in anger.
"Because if we did, everything we know could've been leveled by you, Leland," Derrick told him.
"Yeah, trust us. It's too much power in a single shoulder fired rocket..." Rick mentioned. He shuddered when he remembered using a rocket launcher for the first time. He flew back with the launcher as the rocket flew out.
"Who cares about power!? I just want to bring that airship down before Torchwick escaped!" Leland whined, slipping into his accent and cursing in another language. This language and accent was similar to Gaelic and Irish. This caused the Ghosts to be confused while Randi escorted the cursing pyromaniac back to the airship to Beacon.
All the while, Rick and Derrick were pumped. They were finally able to try out their new Dust powered clothing. "Ya know, this reminds me a lot about Avatar: The Last Airbender," Rick mentioned as he had a small flame ignite in his hand. It flickered here and there.
Leland turned to the two Ghosts with a shocked look on his face.
"Ye fricken kiddin' me!? Ye care aboot only ye Dust-infused clothin' when freakin' Torchwick got away!?" Leland shouted in disbelief, the accent making it harder for the Ghosts to understand him as he and Randi walked off towards the airship.
"Even if we were able to use our Dust-infused clothing to get Roman, we would be outta range," Derrick commented as he crossed his arms.
Raiden sighed. "Damn, I never even got the chance to use my Dust clothing yet."
Raiden bit his lip before clapping his hands together. "Welp, I guess we can call this a night. Agreed, you guys?" Raiden said to his team members and the other teens.
Yang nodded as she yawned. "Yeah, I'm beat." She then leaned on her boyfriend and smirked at him. "I don't mind if I get... A little frisky tonight," she mentioned making the Ghost Leader blush.
Meanwhile back in the Bullhead...
"Really, Miss Tejana? You had to get into another shoot out with your rebel nephew again on the warehouse roof?" Roman glared at the no-caring leader of the corrupted Los Tejanos, who twirled her .357 Revolver casually in her hands.
"And let the brat walk away alive again? No. He needed to be killed and its unfortunate that your Paladin failed to kill him." La Tejana shot back, holstering her weapon in her hip holster. This only made Roman fumed at her angrily before focusing on what they would do next. Claudia remained silent for a moment before turning back to Torchwick. "So how did it feel like to be rodeod?"
It was at that point that Roman wished that Claudia would shut up for the rest of her life.
Whats up, guys? Marinerecon here with the newest chapter of Ghosts of Remnants: Season Two. Anyway, sorry about the delay. We had to do this while dealing with school so Mentor and I apologize for the delays once again. Also as you can see here in this chapter, Leland is actually Irish or the Remnant's version of the Irish since he has an Irish name so I figured why not. Anyway I hoped you enjoyed this chapter so please leave a review once you're done. Seriously we need every single review we can get. Also the scene with Aria and Miguel. That was mainly Miguel showing off his suave skills when talking to the opposite sex so he and Aria are not going to be shipped. However do you want him to be shipped with Ruby? Send me your answers please. Marinerecon out.