Hunter's Draught, City of Vale.
Blake swirled the spoon around in the cup as she watched the early morning clouds drifting in the golden sky overhead, infused with a pale yellow and orange glow. She shivered a little at the brisk air chilling her shoulders and looked down at the steaming wisps curling up from the tea.
She picked the cup up and took a sip of the warming liquid, setting it down on the table with a clink. Her eyes flicked up to the golden-haired boy's smirk. The end of his tail hovered in front of his mouth, holding his tea cup as he took a sip.
"I guess you could say I'm a modern-day Robyn Hood." He placed his palm on his cheek and grinned. "Impressive, huh?"
"You stowed away on a boat from Vaacuul and threw a banana at some detectives?" Blake arched a eyebrow and smirked with a short chuckle. "Pretty impressive." He grinned as she raised a eyebrow. 'You're obviously not from there."
Sun held up his finger. "I'm a great stowaway. And you're obviously not the type of person who would go to Beacon Academy." He winced and held his hands up. "Sorry."
The raven-haired girl sighed and shook her head. "No.. you're right." She looked back up. "So how did you get caught by the White Fang and Roman Torchwick?"
Sun grimaced and waved his hand dismissively. "I wasn't paying attention. Usually I'd hear them sneak up on me a mile away."
"Okay. And why steal from the White Fang? You're a faunus."
"What gave me away?" Sun wiggled his tail, grinning at her before seeing the unimpressed look on her. He shrugged. "I don't like the White Fang. I'm not exactly a fan of murdering stealing psychopaths that give the faunus a bad rep. So I steal stuff from them they steal from others..." His eyes slowly slid to the side. "...and sometimes give it back."
She arched a eyebrow.
"Or I break it. Open and shut case, really." Sun beamed as he leaned back in the chair, lacing his hands behind his head.
She slowly nodded, averting her eyes for a few moments as she took a another sip of the sap-tea.
"Well... I used to be a member of the White Fang." Blake murmured.
Sun nearly spat out his tea, going cross-eyed for a moment before he shook his head and stared at her. For several seconds he searched her eyes to see if she was truly serious. He wiped his mouth. "You? Seriously? Uh, no offense, but you don't strike me as a fanatical asshole wrecking things for everybody else."
Blake again arched a eyebrow. "And what do I strike you as?"
"Uh... Someone with a great sense of fashion and excellent color coordination."
She blinked twice, staring at him for a few moments before shaking her head.
Sun grinned again. "So... if you don't mind me asking, what was it like being part of them?"
She looked down, staring at the creamy gold surface of the tea in her cup rather than Sun. "It was good. Felt good. Like I didn't feel like some helpless kid anymore."
Blake looked straight at him.
"They were different back then. The only good thing to come out of the Faunus War." Blake felt a very rare feeling come up as she pictured the old memory. Pride as she remembered how the White Fang used to be. Her White Fang. "No-one could have imagined that there were humans and faunus willing to work together to do away with old prejudices and hatreds on both sides. But they did. Ever since I was little I helped at the peace rallies, making people aware that what the White Fang were doing was something good."
He grimaced and stared down at his cup, clasping his hands. "Sounds like you were part of a different White Fang." Sun said quietly. He looked up. "What changed?"
Blake looked up. "New leadership." she muttered with a bitter tone.
His eyes narrowed. "Alpha?"
"Alpha."
"If you don't mind me asking, how long?"
Blake's eyes flicked to the side than fell back onto Sun's tail as it flexed and curled just above the ground. "I... it was fairly recent for me." ... "The first few months were very difficult. As a former... activist-" Suddenly she closed her eyes and chuckled with bitterness. "-former revolutionary, I had nothing else in my life except trying to make humanity see the faunus as equals." Blake's face fell. "It worked. But it wasn't respect they showed... it was fear."
She expected a smirk to be on the boy, but instead there was a look of sensitive encouragement. "And you wound up at Beacon? That's a pretty strange step."
"It made sense to me." Blake heaved a sharp breath and looked away with a shrug. "I wanted nothing to do with the monsters the White Fang and Adam had become. So I enrolled. To fight monsters."
"...Have you told your friends any of this?"
Her gaze hardened. "When they captured you, did they talk about what they were planning?"
He stared at her for a few moments before shaking his head. "Nah. They were actually being smart and stayed silent around me, apart from the occasional beating and name-calling. That dude, Adam? He was definitely pissed with Torchwick about something."
Blake folded her arms and frowned. "I still don't get why he and the White Fang would be working with someone like that in the first place. It just doesn't make sense."
Sun leaned forward over the table. "I've seen it before. They want something this Torchwick guy has or can get for them." His eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he grinned and snapped his fingers. "I did hear something about a massive shipment of dust coming into harbor while on the ship. A huge Schnee company Freighter coming back from Atlas. It should be here soon."
"That's... the only likely target I could think of. They don't need to hit anymore Dust shops with something that huge waiting to be stolen." Blake narrowed her eyes and looked up at Sun. "Can I count on you to help me?"
"I like to help out." Sun smirked. "I'll help you, Blake. One question though." Instead of his finger his tail lifted up.
It caught her eye. She arched a eyebrow as he laced his finger together and rested his chin on them with a very big grin.
"So... is Adam your boyfriend?" Her eyes widened as she blinked at him in silent shock. "I mean, he seems fixated on you."
The tips of her ears burned as Blake looked to the side. "We have history." She shook her head. "We should start looking for that freighter."
Coin District, City of Vale.
Meanwhile Ruby zipped from person to person in every direction she could find. "Have you seen a girl with golden eyes?"
"Uh, no."
Ruby moved on to another. "She has this luxorious black hair. Like ten times better than mine? Seen her?"
"A picture might help. Otherwise, nope. Sorry kid."
"Aw dang it." Ruby sighed and rubbed a hand down her face. She left the man behind. "Thanks, anyway."
She shook her head and frowned, not really watching where she was going as she made her way through the crowd of people. Ruby came out near the entrance to a alley, catching the attention of a group of boys in white suits and coats hanging out on a dumpster, all of them wearing black hats and black gloves.
"Nice hood, red. Are you on your way to grannie's house?" One of them sneered at her as he approached, wearing a bowler hat with a thick ring of mascara around his right eye sniggered and glanced at his idiot friends, getting high-fives from them with a self-satisfied nod.
"Good one, Alex!"
Ruby grounded her teeth, and before she knew it her leg was up and spinning, the sole of her combat boot crunching straight into the boy's waist. His eyes boggled and he loosed a girlish scream, stumbling backwards as he shielded his crotch and fell backwards with a cry.
The other two, both clearly much larger than he was and definitely much larger than her, both paled and took one look at each other before dragging their friend behind them and running back into a nearby alleyway."
"We're not going to find Blake by beating up street punks, sis."
"I'm just worried!" Ruby slammed her fist into the brick wall, cracking dozens of them and shaking the side of the store they were a part of violently. "We've been searching for hours and we haven't gotten anywhere."
"If you show up in the next five minutes I'll buy you all the cans of tuna you could eat for a week!" Weiss shouted with all of her strength, voice echoing off the walls of the buildings around her. She loosed a frustrated grunt. "I promise!"
Weiss stood there, a hand on her hip and another over her eyes as she stood on the street corner, eyes narrowed as she scanned the crowds and workers moving around the place. Some of the stranger ones, men mostly, left lingering looks in her direction when they passed.
She had no idea why.
Ruby followed Yang back to Weiss.
The heiress glanced at them. "Forget it. She's not here. We'll need to go someplace else."
"You're trying to get her to come back by giving her fish?"
Ruby glowered at Weiss.
"What? She likes tuna a lot."
"That's not helping, Weiss." Yang folded her arms and scowled.
Weiss stared at her in shock for a few moments before placing a hand on her chest. "Oh, I'm the problem? All I did was explain to her why the White Fang should be wiped out."
Yang narrowed one eye and raised a eyebrow. "That doesn't sound a little dramatic to you?"
"Hmph. It's the truth."
Ruby walked past, hanging her head. "C'mon. Let's keep looking." she muttered.
They followed her down the busy street, directing glares or scowls at one another. The two girls followed Ruby down the street, passing the front steps of a apartment sitting at a corner of a intersection.
Yang frowned at the way Ruby bunched her fists and scowled as she looked down one street, then up another, loosing a frustrated grunt each time. Suddenly she took off down one of the streets, pushing past businessmen or workers without a second thought.
"Ruby!"
With a growl Ruby whirled around in the opposite direction down a cobbled street. Yang and Weiss followed after her into a area mostly devoid of people, catching sight of her running right at the lone person walking down the street.
"Look out!"
Ruby looked over her shoulder at them, only to look back and yelp as she was knocked to the ground, her arms and limbs entangled with someone else's.
"Ruby..." Ruby shook her head and crawled back from the girl she just ran into, springing to her feet with a squeak.
"...Hello?..."
The orange-haired girl continued to lay on the ground, a open-mouthed smile on her as wide as could be. She stared up at them without even a blink. "SAL-U-TATIONS!"
She popped right up in no time at all. "My name is Penny!"
"We don't have time for this, we are looking for someone!" Weiss stamped her foot, glancing at Ruby and Yang.
The oblivious girl blinked at her and nodded eagerly, showing no real sign that she listened. "Really? Because I'm looking for someone too!"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's nice, but we really need to go-" Yang touched her shoulder.
"Just hang on, Weiss. We need all the help we can get." Yang slowly approached the strange girl, who idly stared up at the windows and rooftops of the apartments around them with childlike awe. She waved to get her attention. "Look. We need to know if you've seen anything strange or weird recently. Our friend might definitely be there."
"Strange? Weird?" Penny echoed, falling silent for a few seconds before beaming and nodding to them. "Now that you mention it there was something strange and weird when I arrived. While I was leaving the docks I noticed this big Schnee Company freighter being off-loaded by some strange-looking people in masks!"
"Schnee company?" Weiss unfolded her arms. "Big surprise that the White Fang are there." she muttered.
Yang raised a eyebrow at her before looking at Penny. "Can you show us where this freighter is?"
Penny didn't answer.
Ruby grimaced. "Uh... please?"
Suddenly Penny grinned. "Okay! But only if you help me as well! I'm not familiar with this city and I'm looking for this faunus boy who was on the same ship I was!" Penny frowned. "Although I'm not sure why..."
"A faunus?" Weiss glanced at Ruby. "Did he have a golden monkey tail?"
"Yes as a matter of fact he did! He left the ship very quickly once we arrived from Vacuul not too long ago!"
"Oh, perfect." Weiss muttered, getting a confused look from Yang.
"Thanks! Seriously, you don't know how much this means to us! Come on!"
Ruby, Weiss and Yang turned to head back onto the streetside.
"Does this make us friends?"
Ruby looked to Weiss and Yang, missing their shaking heads and hands before glancing over her shoulder at Penny. She rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh... sure thing, Penny?"
"Great!"
Vale Docklands, City of Vale.
Sun clambered up the last of the pipe and onto the roof of the building. He straightened, glancing upwards at the dusky sky before moving to where Blake sat cross-legged, a pair of binoculars raised in front of her.
He bounced a apple in his palm as he sat down next to her, he took a bite out of it, munching loudly. "Did I miss much?"
"Not really. They finished offloading the freighter as well as the dust collected from their robberies."
Blake raised a eyebrow at the apple he offered.
"Stole you some food."
"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?"
"I'm not the one who used to part of a cult." Sun countered automatically before shrinking a little under Blake's glare. "Sorry. A little soon."
She turned away and stared at the huge white snowflake emblazoned on the side of the gargantuan pale blue hall sitting in the pitch black waters not even half a kilometer away, lit up by dozens of floodlights from the dockside. Sun glanced at her with a worried look.
Shouted instructions and directions echoed up to them as Blake surveyed the maze of freight containers, loading bays and storage warehouses below their perch, eyes fixed in particular on a cavalcade of heavy duty trucks parked next to one another, their backs opened up as masked White Fang members and unmasked humans took dust canisters from them and set them down in the middle of the huge clear space.
"I don't really see how they're going to move that much dust with a couple of trucks." Sun observed.
Just as he said this the wind picked up into a roar, buffeting them around. Blake grunted and Sun shielded his eyes as a huge dark shop dropped out of the clouds hanging over the water ahead, the discharge from the dustjets on its wings glowing a pale fierce blue in the dusky air.
Blake could only stare as the Bullhead landed in the space between the dust canisters and a line of cranes sitting in front of the Schnee freighter, engines dying down but not completely shutting off.
A few seconds later the loading ramp on its rear swung downwards with a clang, revealing Roman Torchwick. She watched as he slid down the flank of the smooth ramp, coming to a stop on the bricks.
Standing near the loading ramp, Torchwick tapped his cane impatiently and beckoned to the White Fang. "Come along, we don't have all day!"
She narrowed her eyes at the scoundrel before catching sight of Adam assisting the White Fang members in moving the dust canisters, glaring daggers at the gaudily dressed criminal.
"There's their transport." Blake murmured.
Blake closed her eyes, her hopes dashed that the White Fang's involvement was a one time thing. Something small. But they proved her wrong. Again.
Sun propped himself up on his elbows and glanced at her.
"See? Told you so." He went back to looking down at the White Fang members as they continued to load canister after canister into the Bullhead. "So I'm thinking we should probably sneak up on them and-"
He blinked as Blake instead got to her feet, brandishing Gambol Shroud.
"No. We stop them now!"
"Wait a sec!" Before he could stop her she had already shot forwards as a black blur, speeding down to a cluster of crates sitting closest to the Bullhead.
Sun's voice disappeared as the wind roared in her ears, leaving a nice tingling sensation in them that she had missed. Blake quickly ducked behind the crates to avoid being seen by the White Fang and Roman, and slowly crept forwards using them as cover.
She watched Roman closely as he moved away from the ramp towards a White Fang member handling a coil of rope. The man fumbled and the rope dropped to the ground at his feet, getting a twitched eyebrow from Roman. "No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!"
Blake took her chance and sprinted out into the open, using her semblance to rush through the air and skid to a halt right behind the unsuspecting Roman.
The criminal's breath caught as he noticed the wicked black blade being held against the front of his throat. He stiffened on reflex before relaxing. "Well, goody, if it isn't-" Blake hissed and pressed the blade even harder to cut him off.
Despite that he still spoke. "Whoa! Take it easy, little lady."
As the White Fang surrounded her, shouldering their rifles and pistols and drawing their swords, she gritted her teeth and tightened her hold on her blade. They suddenly stopped at the sight of her black ears, looking amongst each other with uncertainty.
Roman's smirk fell a little.
"Brother's of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum!" She made sure her voice was as level as it could be, but it still held a wavering edge to it.
The criminal at her mercy chuckled. "Oh, kid, I thought you would have gotten the memo by now?" Roman's eyes gleamed as the White Fang renewed their aim on Blake. "The White Fang and I are entering into a business venture together."
Blake growled and pressed the edge deeper, drawing a trick of blood from his neck. "Tell me what you're doing or I'll put a end to this little operation!"
Roman grunted as the wind picked up to a roaring gale, prompting Blake to look upwards at the appearance of several hovering red and green lights. They blinded her a little as they descended through the clouds, mounted on the bellies of several more bullheads dropping towards the docks.
The huge aircraft stopped at a hover above their heads as Blake stared at them in shock.
Roman chuckled again. "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation."
Her ears flattened as her thoughts whirled, fervently trying to think up a way to-
The end of his cane scraped against the concrete, creating a spark that drew her attention.
The criminal grinned at her, puffing at his cigar as he depressed a button on the side of his cane.
The hollow end glowed a cherry red for a moment before unleashing a roaring fireball.
Sun Wukong's eyes widened at the explosion as he dropped to the ground. The smoke gathered and billowed out as a dense cloud, stopping him from seeing anything. Despite that he moved forward. "Blake!" he called out over the din of the Bullheads hovering above.
He dashed into the thick smoke, teeth gritted as he ran under the sturdy legs of a cargo crane, he came to a stop at the sight of a warm ruddy flash lighting up portions of the smoke cloud's interior, loosing a rhythmic thump followed by a pealing squeal as Roman launched projectile after projectile at Blake.
The smoke thinned out enough for him to pick out Blake as she rolled out of the way of a sparkling crimson missile, its trajectory sending it spinning upwards from the docks towards the Freighter. It slammed into the pure white snowflake emblazoned on the side, shaking the entire ship as it's structure groaned in response.
As Blake continued to dodge his missiles, weaving all over the place with her sword now sheathed on her back, Sun clambered on top of the containers resting against the legs of the crane.
He moved to the edge of the containers overlooking where Roman stood, a frustrated look on him as he tried to track Blake's agile movements.
Before the criminal had the time to spot him, Sun reached behind his back and under his jacket to grab a folded square of red sticks-
Roman's cane whipped up at Blake as she froze, pinned with her back against the a stack of containers.
Sun's eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth, tail curling as well. Time slowed for him when he noticed Roman's thumb moving down to launch another missile squarely at Blake below his perch.
He felt the bulge of a apple in his back pocket. Sun quickly gauged the distance and angle between him and Roman, using the end of his tail to reach into his pocket and drag the apple out. Sun swiped his tail, sending the apple spinning through the smoke-laden air.
Roman noticed him, and whipped the end of his cane up to launch a quick projectile through the air towards Sun.
Sun's breath caught as he straightened, quickly grabbing the red sticks and forming them into a segmented staff, spinning it around in his hands as the projectile neared. The weapon deflected most of the explosion looking none the worse for wear but the force of it flinged him off the containers and onto the ground with a surprised swear.
Torchwick went to smirk when his eyes widened at the fast approaching apple spinning through the air at him. He grunted and stumbled back with his eyes screwed shut. Blake glanced up over at Sun only for a instant before blurring through the air, appearing behind Roman with her blade slashing towards him and a snarl on her features.
"That's not gonna work!" The criminal whipped his cane about with lightning speed into Blake's stomach. She cried out, losing her grip on Gambol Shroud as Roman's hand wrapped around her throat and slammed her into a nearby container with a thunderous clang.
Sun was already running towards the criminal as he raised the cane again to strike Blake, swiping the staff at Roman from the side. "Leave her alone!"
Roman flicked his cane upwards to block the staff's length with a casual scowl directed at Sun. "Not the brightest, are you?"
The wind picked up to a roar as the two bullheads descended towards them from above, their bellies opening up and ropes dropping down around Sun. White Fang slid down them and landed, quickly surrounding Sun and Roman.
Sun quickly glanced at Blake on the ground, before raising his staff.
The White Fang raised their rifles, fingers already on their triggers when Blake suddenly shifted into a blur and disappeared. All around him men and woman yelled and shouted as a black blur descended on them from all directions, knocking weapons out of their hands and forcing them to scramble for cover.
Roman groaned.
Blake shifted back into view crouched on the concrete next to Sun, his eyes wide in surprise. With a thick black cleaver in one hand and a slim katana in the other, she focused on Roman. "He's mine!" she growled.
Lunging at Roman, Blake's anger fueled her assault. Her slashes, swipes and sweeps quickened with every passing second, blow after blow raining down on Roman's cane without relent, forcing the criminal to backpedal. His smirk stayed however, and despite Blake moving faster and faster, already beyond what the eye could see, none of her attacks touched a single part of him.
The cane's surface remained immaculate as she was forced to pace her breaths with each strike, slowing down more and more even as her every instinct told her to continue until he was nothing.
Her eyes caught the feint too late as Roman's staff slid down the side of one of her blades, slamming into her wrist. She gasped as she fought to keep her grip on the weapon while Roman started to counter.
Blake grunted as another strike landed on her elbow, another on her shoulder, and another still on her other wrist, but she held on, concentrating with all her might on just blocking the bulk of the cane as best she could.
She forgot about her footing and slipped, releasing a surprised breath as Roman slammed the cane against the front of her neck and pushed her to the ground. He already had the end aimed down at her with a smirk, before Sun descended down on him.
He looked up and growled in frustration as he blocked the boy's staff crosswise, ducking back as Sun landed in front of Blake and moved after him. Blake lifted her head and watched as the staff collapsed in his hands into a pair of thick sticks connected by a golden chain.
With one in each hand, their golden ends flashed in quick succession as Sun became a blur, spent buckshot rounds flying all over the place as round after round exploded from the ends of his nunchuks.
Roman gritted his teeth as he blocked each strike, grumbling under his breath as the boy's smirk grew larger. There came a moment when he moved just a millisecond too late, and suddenly Blake had a opening.
She blurred through the air again and crashed her shoulder into him, sending him tumbling back across the concrete with a surprised shout. Blake straightened, gasping air as Sun stood by her side and placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.
She narrowed her eyes as she nodded at him and turned back to Roman. The two of them advanced on the criminal.
They brandished their weapons as Roman's eyes suddenly locked on something above them. He quickly whipped the cane up and fired a rocket. It went over their heads as they ducked for cover, recovering to watch it slam into one of the supports of the crane standing behind them.
The structure loosed a single groan that reverberated across the entire dock before sagging forwards, hanging still for a moment before coming crashing down towards them.
Blake and Sun's eyes widened as they leaped for cover in different directions. Blake grunted as she rolled out of its shadow to open ground, only to notice Sun had rolled forwards, right where Roman was waiting.
"No!"
Sun glanced at her before freezing, his eyes focused on the nozzle of Roman's cane, only inches in front of him. Roman smirked-
Several fist-sized holes were ripped into the concrete all around him and sparks flew as heavy projectiles hit the containers surrounding him and Sun. Roman froze.
"Hey!"
Roman looked up at the sound of that voice, echoing across the open ground to him from a square white building near the fence surrounding the entire area.
His eyes narrowed at the sight of a red-hooded girl with a scythe twice her size by her side. She was joined by three others, one a pale heiress wielding a needle thin blade, another a tall and fiery blonde with golden gauntlets covering her fists, and the last a orange-haired girl with a green bow in her hair, with no weapon at all.
"Oh, perfect." he muttered as he snapped his fingers and whistled.
"How glad you could join us, Red!"
Ruby grinded her teeth in response as she hefted Crescent Rose, depressing a button on its side and shifting it into a snub-nosed carbine.
Penny glanced at her and pointed at Roman. "Is he a friend of yours?"
"Not remotely." Ruby muttered.
Yang and Weiss glanced at each other. "If you don't mind us, we're just gonna start getting to Blake now-." Yang said.
Weiss blinked twice, her face paling as she watched the two Bullheads looming over the docks angle themselves to face the four girls. The thin black twin barrels the base of their noses began to spin.
"Scatter!"
Yang and Ruby stared at her in the split second before a hailstorm of autocannon rounds shot towards their rooftop. Weiss grabbed Yang and leapt off the roof as the constant spew of hot lead poured into the concrete, explosively ripping the roof apart around Ruby.
She grabbed Penny's hand as she ran forward with a scared squeak. "Get moving, Penny!" They tumbled off the roof towards the concrete below as a spiralling red rocket slammed into the building behind them.
Ruby aimed Crescent Rose behind her and pulled the trigger, using the recoil to blast the two of them forwards towards the cover provided by a group of containers at the edge of the docks. The autocannons stopped spinning as the pilots of the two bullheads lost sight of them, staying in place over the center of the docks and releasing more White Fang to join the fight.
Penny giggled as she skidded to a stop, with Ruby frantically searching around for Weiss and Yang, spotting them behind a container nearby. Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that was close."
Weiss cupped her hands and called out to her. "None of us can reach those aircraft! We're pinned down!"
Next to her Yang growled as she peered around the container's corner, watching as more and more White Fang surrounded Sun and Blake. "We can't reach Blake without taking those things down!"
Ruby gritted her teeth in frustration and hissed, only to glance up and frown at Penny. The strange girl had moved out from behind the containers into the open.
She blinked twice. "Penny?" She paled and waved frantically to try and get the scatter-brained girl's attention. "Penny! Get back here, it's not safe!"
Penny had a slight scowl on her as she took a deep breath and extend her arm to the side.
Yang and Weiss blinked twice and exchanged a look.
Penny's green eyes flashed as a wickedly curved sword with a grey blade materialized out of nowhere from the depths of her clunky the same time, a green symbol on the disc-shaped hilt pulsed briefly as it settled into position by her extended arm.
"What?" Ruby mouthed, staring at the girl now.
She advanced, more and more swords identical to the first coming out of her open backpack and floating around her. The autocannons of the bullheads above swivled to aim down at the girl, their barrels spinning to life.
"Penny!" Ruby shouted in alarm, hefting Crescent Rose and aiming at the barrels in desperation.
The autocannons flared to life, spewing a molten stream of lead at the girl. The swords flashed as Penny made spun her arm once and flicked her wrist. The swords responded immediately, clumping together in the shape of a flower and hovering in between the girl and the sputtering autocannons, shrieking and grinding as they blocked each and every bullet with ease, spinning furiously.
"What!?"
The autocannons slowed, ceasing their firing after a few seconds, clicking empty.
Penny raised both arms, her eyes narrowed to green slits. The swords responded instantly, billowing outwards for form a empty area in the center of their formation. For a single moment they stayed like that until Penny pushed her arms forwards.
The green symbols on their hilts flashed to life, burning furiously as they each bred a small arc of green energy, snaking away to join with the others in the center of the formation, forming in a crackling green nimbus of pure energy.
Ruby's eyes boggled. "WHAT?!"
Weiss and Yang stared in awe at the girl as she extended her index finger, pointing at the bullheads.
The crackling nimbus billowed, shrieking as the gathered energy shot upwards in a thick burning column, searing the very air with its passage as it punched right through the belly of one of the gunships, tearing through the hardened alloy hull like paper.
Penny swept the beam through the air, leaving the stricken aircraft to drop like a stone towards the deck of the Schnee Freighter, ripping itself apart in a fiery explosion on impact.
Below the White Fang members scattered as she advanced, running towards them with a mechanical expression. They fired at her from all angles and vantage points as Roman glanced around and made for the Bullhead still landed on the ground.
Her swords flashed as they blocked each and every stray shot. And she responded in kind, slashing the swords into anyone caught in the open and shredding apart the shipping containers as she went along.
Ruby finally regained her thoughts and looked at Weiss and Yang. "Let's go!"
They nodded and the three of them ran forwards, catching up to Penny as she finally stopped in the middle of the utterly destroyed docks. Over the roaring flames of the bullhead wreckage and the sagging groans of the Schnee Freighter, sirens pierced the air.
The White Fang froze in their tracks and quickly dropped their weapons when Penny looked at them.
Ruby caught up to her, staring at the Bullhead as it lifted higher and higher, already turning to fly away after the lone one speeding over the harbor already. Roman gave her a look and she responded by hefting Crescent Rose.
Ruby loosed a frustrated shout, firing round after round into the bullhead's hull without caring for aim. Roman stared down at her with a smirk, tipping his hat. "I've got a meeting to attend, Red. This isn't just about one Dust shop anymore!"
With that the Bullhead finally reached its full speed, leaving her with his echoing words.
Smoke billowed from the crashed bullhead and the freighter as everyone gathered around Blake and Sun.
Breathing heavily, Ruby turned to look at her friend. She gave a tired smile. "Hey, Blake."
Her thoughts about Roman immediately disappeared, worry and relief taking place instead.
Blake looked away and hanged her head while Sun continued to stare at all of them, backing away from Penny a little.
Yang chuckled and lunged at Blake, wrapping her in a bear hug. "I'm so super glad we found you, buddy!"
Sun raised a eyebrow and folded his arms, his eyes going up and down Yang for a few seconds before flashing a grin at Blake. "Buddy, huh?"
"Stop it." Blake muttered with a quick glare, before smiling at Yang. "It's- great to see you as well, just need a bit of air-"
Yang quickly dropped her and Blake recovered, gasping in air. She straightened only to see Weiss staring at her with hands on her hips.
The heiress marched forwards. "Okay. We need to talk! Right now!"
Blake's eyes widened at the angry look in Weiss's eyes before they softened. She glanced around at her teammates, and then at Sun before hanging her head. "I'm so sorry, let me explain everything. I used to be with the White Fang but not anymore, and now-"
Weiss held up a hand. "Twelve hours."
Blake's breath caught, while Sun raised a eyebrow.
"That's how long we've spent searching for you... and that's also how long I've had to think about this." Weiss stopped for a moment. "I've come to a decision."
Blake sighed.
"I don't care about your past." Weiss's expression softened a little. "The next time something this big comes up, you come to us. Not..." Weiss gestured at Sun. "Not... him." She looked back at Blake. "We're your team."
The faunus girl stared at Weiss for what seemed like forever, before quickly wiping her eyes and nodding. "Of course."
The group fell into silence as the four girls smiled at each other. Ruby suddenly jumped and down, pumping her fists. "YES, team Ruby is back together!-"
Her shouting was interrupted by the squeal of tires and sirens as police cars poured through the open gates of the docks, stopping all around them. Officers clambered out of them, some stopping in their tracks to stare at the wrecked aircraft and freighter.
Weiss placed a hand on her hip and looked at Sun. "I'm still not sure about you, though."
Sun laughed nervously just as Jaune and Pyrrha barreled out of a side-street near the fence and ran straight for them. Sun quickly noticed the fiery beauty, also noticing a bouquet of flowers she held tightly onto. He smirked at Jaune as they approached.
"Guys, we saw the smoke and..." Jaune trailed off as him and Pyrrha came to a stop, staring for a moment at the damaged wrought to the dock before he saw the group hug.
Jaune raised a eyebrow "I think we missed something huge." he whispered to Pyrrha.
As he said this, a black limousine with blacked-out windows drove away from the dock, disappearing down a side-street.
Ruby noticed it driving away and frowned. "Penny?" she whispered under the chatting of everyone else.
Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale.
Glynda slammed her palm down on the edge of the thick desk, practically shaking the room and disturbing Ozpin's Mistrallan Owl awake with a hoot of surprise as he sat in his cage. "What do you all have to say for yourselves!?"
Ozpin raised a eyebrow, saying nothing as he patiently waited with his hands clasped in front of him.
Ruby shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, scratching a spot on her elbow while Yang looked upwards at a insanely interesting crack on the ceiling. Weiss stared straight ahead while Blake hanged her head.
Off to the side Jaune and Pyrrha stood stock still with paled expressions.
Sun Wukong had a amused smirk.
Glynda loosed a frustrated growl. "Vale's Elders are demanding that you all be held accountable for the damage you wreaked on the docks, not to mention dozens of townpeople reporting the unnecessary volume of high-grade weapons fire and dust usage!" She glared at each and every one of them, ignoring the looks of confusion on Jaune and Pyrrha. "Well?"
"Uh...Sorry." Ruby mumbled, looking to the side and pushing the tips of her fingers together.
Yang scratched her hair and shrugged with a careful grin. "Whoops?"
Weiss glanced at them both before bowing her head. "My family can pay for the damages-"
"You are a huntress, Ms Schnee! You are responsible for your actions!" Glynda closed her eyes and expelled a breath, calming down before opening them again. She looked at Blake, who had been quiet the entire time. "And you, ms Belladonna!? We haven't heard from you in days! I never expected you to be so reckless and irresponsible!"
Blake hanged her head, clasping her hands. "I'll accept any punishment you see fit to give me, professor Goodwitch."
Jaune halting held up his hand. "With al- all due respect, ma'am, me and Pyrrha weren't even."
"MR ARC!" Glynda bellowed, shutting him up immediately.
On the other side of the mahogany desk Ozpin started to spin around in his chair, each time making it squeak a little.
Sun Wukong glanced at the stricken look on Jaune and snickered.
"And who is this?"
The faunus boy grinned and inclined his head, clasping his fists together. "Name's Sun Wukong, beautiful."
Glynda stared at him for a few seconds, purple sparks appearing at her fingertips. "I-" she grinded her teeth. "I will deal with you later!" Glynda swept her hand. "Dismissed! All of you!"
As quick as they could Ruby and her team rushed out of the room, followed by Jaune and Pyrrha while Sun lazily sauntered after them, tossing a wink at the flustered woman over his shoulder. "Glad to meet ya!"
She gripped the edge of the desk, the engraved wood cracking audibly as she seethed.
"That's mahogany, Glynda. Do be careful."
Glynda turned on Ozpin, who still spun in his chair, tapping away on his scroll. He looked up at her.
Slowly, she loosed a sigh and relaxed her hand, pushing up her glasses with a heavy breath. "Those kids are going to be the death of me." she muttered. She looked at Ozpin to check his reaction before groaning. "Headmaster? Don't you want to weigh in?"
Ozpin shrugged. "They were performing their duty as friends and Huntresses. That's my opinion. Anyway, the kingdom's Elders have too much money on their hands and the city docks do need a bit of a facelift."
She huffed and narrowed her eyes. "Honestly, I don't know how I put up with you."
"My charm helps in that regard." Ozpin lowered the scroll and stopped spinning in his chair, looking straight at her. "I know that look, Glynda."
"You know as well as I do what this means. They had no idea what they were up against."
"No they didn't. It can be useful sometimes."
Glynda nodded. "Roman Torchwick and the White Fang working together is strange enough, but-"
"You thought Cinder would be there?"
"I did." Glynda muttered.
"You and I both know she'll show her hand when the time is right."
The Gala of course." Glynda glanced at him. "We can't let that happen. It's too risky."
Ozpin sighed. "We must if we are to stop them. We'll continue on with business as usual. Host the gala for all of the other representatives from the other kingdoms like we always do. Paint a target on our backs just for them."
He smirked. "And from the sounds of it, the scope of organisation down at the docks already confirms what they plan to do. But we have a advantage over them."
"Those kids revealed what they plan to do."
She loosed a sigh and leaned against the desk. "We won't be able to do this on our own." As she said this she glanced at the screen on Ozpin's scroll, looking at him as soon as she saw the portrait of the man displayed. "You're bringing Qrow in on this?"
"Just sending him a invitation to the gala. With his niece here maybe this time he'll accept."
White Rabbit Imports, Vale Docks.
"Kids these days. Why can't they just stick to videogames and Clicker?" Roman muttered to himself, voice echoing a little in the massive and dark space.
He shook his head and sighed as he took off his hat, spinning it in his palms for a moment before placing it on the table. He glanced down at the white briefcase standing at his feet and picked it up, laying it on the table in front of him.
Roman stared at it for a moment before flicking the catches on the lid, narrowing his eyes.
"How very disappointing, Roman."
He quickly dropped the briefcase and whirled around to see the three of them standing there. He gave a nervous laugh at the sight of the raven-haired woman's little smirk. "Whoa! Hehe... I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon..."
In the darkness her golden eyes burned with a fierce inner flame, glowing intensely as she advanced, she and her companions wreathed in shadow.
"We were expecting... more from you."
Roman held his arms out. "Hey! You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang."
"Temper, temper, now." The raven-haired lady cautioned as she came to a stop, her head cocked a little. "Where is the Faunus agent?"
"Our angry little cow is making his report to the head honcho of his group of fanatics. It would have been nice if the simple-minded brute could have stuck around, but no." Roman muttered.
"We have the amount of Dust we need, my dear Roman. Don't worry."
Roman raised a eyebrow in disbelief before scowling. "You already have the dust? I pulled off several high-profile heists these past few weeks. Even the cops would have noticed by now. I've done a lot of the grunt work for you and I deserve a little something back."
The raven-haired woman chuckled in response, freezing him to the spot. "And you will in due time. We just have to a wait a little while longer before everything comes together. It's all part of the surprise."
Torchwick folded his arms and grumbled.
"That transcript I provided worked wonders did it not? Jaune successfully got into Beacon, all thanks to you, Roman."
"Giving that kid the transcript was a waste of my time."
"And you performed remarkably in that regard. We needed to make sure that someone with that level of Aura usage got into the Academy." She fully stepped into the light while her companions remained in shadow, grinning slyly at him.
She stared through him as a flame sprang to life in her hand, light flickering over the deep rich red of her bare-shouldered dress. "
His development is integral to what we need him to do."