Phantom of Beacon
Ozpin raised an eyebrow at the general, pressing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Ghosts? I'm afraid I don't understand the question, James."
"Ghosts, Oz. Poltergeists, specters…Omegas." Ironwood turned to Ozpin on the last word, noticing a change in the headmaster's demeanor. "You remember the stories I take it?"
Ozpin nodded. "The legend of an alternate dimension where Grimm that have lived so long fade into? Yes, James, I remember. But as far as we know, that dimension and these…Omegas are just an old hunters tale."
"What if I were to tell you that they were real? Several months ago, Atlas sponsored a project to try to break into this other dimension. We hired covertly, not giving away the true purpose of our project and not marking Atlas as responsible. All employees were paid lien under the table, and no names were given out. The night the project was to launch, there was an accident in the lab. Something destabilized the portal, and it exploded. Creatures…escaped, and some of the staff were killed. Atlas scrubbed the project, and is moving the portal to a secure location with round the clock guard." Ironwood's brow creased as he looked on at the headmaster. "Oz, I know there was a sighting of an Omega within the past few days, and I would like to ques-"
A thud echoed as Ozpin's fist hit the desk. "Absolutely not, James! My students have already been questioned by the staff and the police, and I would like for them to get back to their regular studies." He took a sip from his mug, slurping ever so slightly. "Let us not trouble them further with this. It was an ordeal, and they did all they could."
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Meanwhile in the library, team JBRY sat around a table cluttered with cards and a game board bearing various pieces. Jaune and Yang look focused in on their cards, while Blake absentmindedly stares off out the window. Ruby glances at her cards for a moment before slamming her fist down on the table.
"All right!" She pointed at Yang menacingly. "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"
Yang grinned and smacked her palm on the table, the slap echoing through the room, causing multiple "SHHHHH"s from around them. "Bring it on!"
"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" She slapped her card down on the table, grinning evilly. Yang feigned a look of shock, causing Jaune to snicker slightly. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!" She made noises like airplanes flying and bombing, pressing her hands together like a bird. "Pew pew pew!" She cheered.
"You fiend!" Yang shouted out, earning another 'Shhhhh' from a random student.
Ruby continuted, leaning back in her chair casually. "And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time is only one turn! Beat that!"
"Pretty sneaky sis, but you've activated my trap card!" Yang reached for a card she had on the table. "I reveal my face down, Giant Nevermore!" Ruby's face went from a ten to about a three as she paled whiter than Weiss' hair. "If I roll a seven or higher, feather fall will slice your fleet to pieces!"
Jaune chimed in, pointing his finger at the brawler. "But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces, leaving it down to me, Ruby, and Blake!"
"That's just a chance I'm willing to take!" The three glared intensely at each other while Blake just sighed aloud.
A few tables behind them, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ren were studying as Nora slept. Ren groaned as Ruby shouted aloud.
"What! How did you roll an 8?! My poor soldiers! They had lives! Hopes! Dreams!" Ruby pouted into the table.
Yang rolled her eyes as she collected her bounty. "Eh, most of them were probably androids anyway. Atlas, right?" Yang began to throw Ruby's discarded pieces backwards towards the PRWN table, one landing near Pyrrha and the next bouncing off Weiss' head.
The heiress stomped over and slammed the discarded piece back on the JBRY table. "Do you mind?! Some of us are trying to work!"
Jaune rolled his eyes, drawing a card for his turn. "Oh lay off, Ice Queen. We're just playing a game. Besides, it's fun!"
Weiss glared at the blonde, crossing her arms. "As if someone like you could ever lead anything more than a marching band, Arc."
"Hey! I'll have you know, I'm a great leader!" Jaune defended, earning a nod from Ruby, Yang, and Blake.
"Says who, your mother?" She taunted back.
Jaune smirked and went back to his cards. "Apparently a better one than you, according to Ozpin."
Yang, Ruby, and Blake burst into laughter as Weiss turned beet red in anger, turning away in a huff.
"Sup losers? Ice Queen." Sun hopped off the top of a bookshelf.
Jaune bumped fists with Sun as Weiss uttered a 'Hey!'. "What's up, Sun?"
"Just wanted to introduce you guys to an old friend of mine. Neptune, this is everyone!" Sun dragged a blue haired teen over.
He grinned and waved a hand. "Hey guys, Neptune. And I don't think we've met before, Snow Angel." Neptune placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder.
She turned to protest, but melted at the sight of the blue haired boy. "I-I'm Weiss. It's a pleasure to meet you!" She giggled, and everyone minus Neptune deadpanned.
Neptune noticed the cards and the scattered game pieces. "Hey, aren't libraries supposed to be for reading?"
"THANK YOU!" Ren shouted, waking Nora.
"PANCAKES!"
Sun walked over to Blake, resting his hands on the table to her right. "Hey Blake, what's up?"
"Nothing. I was actually just leaving." She stood and began to walk away.
Sun ran alongside her. "Well actually there's that dan-"
"Spoken for." She left without another word, leaving the monkey Faunus stunned.
"What was that about?!" He shouted to no one in particular.
Jaune stood, gathering up the cards and game pieces. "Don't worry, Sun. We'll go talk to her. Come on guys!"
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Blake laid on her bunk in the JBRY dorm, tossing and turning as though she couldn't get comfortable. A click and a squeak were heard as the door swung open to reveal Jaune, Ruby, and Yang. Blake hopped off her bunk to head towards the door, when Jaune raised a hand out to her.
"Blake…stop. You've barely been eating, you don't sleep, and lately you've been antisocial and quiet." He started.
Yang shrugged. "Jaune, have you MET Blake?"
"Ignoring that, what I meant was that you've been that way around us, around me, and I want to know why. So Blake, I ask you: WHAT! IS! WRONG!" On the last word, he'd begun floating in front of her with his hands by her face.
The girls were in dead silence as Jaune blushed and slowly floated back to the ground.
Blake frowned and looked at her feet. "I just, I don't understand how everyone can be so calm."
"You still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby chimed in.
"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one seems to be doing anything about it!"
Yang crossed her arms, sitting on her own bunk. "Ozpin said not to worry! Between the teachers, the police, and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they should have it covered…"
"Well I'm not! They don't know Ad- the White Fang like I do!" A tear of anger fell from her eye, splashing against the ground.
Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. "Blake, I think I have a way to help." He whispered, earning a peck on the neck that went unnoticed to everyone but him. As the two broke apart and Blake wiped her eyes, Jaune took a more adventurous stance. "All in favor of taking matters into our own hands, tracking down Torchwick and the White Fang, AND becoming the youngest Hunters to save Vale, say aye!"
"Aye!" Ruby pumped her fist in the air, jumping up as high as she could. Yang rolled her eyes and said "I'm in!" Blake looked up at Jaune, eyes wide as she nodded and said "Aye."
"Alright, so here's what we're going to do…"
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The next day, Team JBRY rushed to their dorm after class, brushing past PRWN as quickly as possible, getting a look from Pyrrha and Weiss. Yang shut the door behind them, locking it quickly. In a matter of minutes, JBRY was changed into outfits different from their regular combat gear. Jaune stepped out of the bathroom wearing a long gray coat with a black shirt underneath. His gauntlets were worn under the sleeves, making his hands appear metallic. His sword was worn across his back, giving him an entirely new look.
"Yang like…" She drooled as Blake rolled her eyes at the brawler.
Jaune stretched, giving the new gear a test on movement. "Okay, so let's go over the plan…"
At that moment, Weiss and Pyrrha fell in through the door, the lock having jiggled loose. The pair stood, blushing at JBRY. "Are you four doing something illegal?!" Weiss accused.
Jaune shook his head. "No Weiss, and we'd rather keep this as a team affair."
"Really? That's dumb! You should always get friends involved!" Sun said from the window, hanging upside-down from a tree. The girls and Jaune took a step back as Sun flipped into the room. "Besides, that's why I brought Neptune!"
Everyone poked their heads out the window to see the aforementioned boy standing on the windowsill. "Sup? But really though, can I come in now? This is like…really high up."
Neptune was pulled into the room, and Pyrrha shut the door once again. "We want to help! I put Ren on Nora duty, so those two are out, but please, allow us to assist you!" Pyrrha pleaded.
Letting out a sigh, Jaune held up his hands in defeat. "Fine, Pyrrha and Weiss are in. Considering that Weiss has connections with her father's company, this may help us out. She and Ruby can head to the CCT to get information on recent shipments and robberies from the Schnee Dust Company, agreed?" Ruby grinned at her leader, giving him a thumbs up. Weiss rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement.
"I'll take blue boy and cherry pie with me. I've got a friend on the shady side of town who knows everything going on in Vale. Getting some information out of him should be a piece of cake!" Yang said, hitting her fists together.
Blake turned to Jaune. "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. Sun, you'll be with me."
Before Sun could say anything, Jaune interjected. "And I'll be following you two as backup using my semblance." Blake, Yang, and Ruby picked up on his stress of the word, all three nodding.
"Great! Everyone has a team, so we can meet up with Yang and the others after we're all done!" Ruby cheered.
As Weiss raised her hand to protest, she was dragged from the room by Ruby. Pyrrha, Yang, and Neptune headed to the vehicle bay for Pyrrha and Yang's bikes. Blake, Jaune, and Sun headed for the bullheads to catch a ride into Vale.
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Night had fallen in Vale, with Blake, Jaune, and Sun hiding in an alleyway. Blake traced three fingers along three scratch marks on the wall. Blake turned to the pair of blondes. "This is it."
"You sure?" Sun asked, getting a glare from Blake as she removed her bow, her cat ears twitching in the night air. "You know what, I think I'll just take your word for it."
Blake handed sun a half mask in the shape of a Grimm, Jaune raising an eyebrow. "I don't get it, Blake. If you believed what you were doing was right, why did you hide who you were?"
"The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters." She explained as Sun put his mask on and headed towards the entrance.
Jaune placed a hand on Blake's shoulder, looking her in the eyes. "Blake, be careful, alright?"
She nodded, taking his hand in hers for a moment. "I'll be fine, Jaune. Plus, you'll be right there in case anything goes wrong. Just stay focused and keep yourself invisible. The Faunus will know a human by scent, but may not question a half ghost scent."
Jaune nodded, turning into his ghost form. His cloak turned jet black and his shirt a bright white. "Be careful, kitty cat." He squeezed her hand for a moment before taking flight and flying through a wall of the warehouse.
She smirked before donning her mask and running after Sun.
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The couple dozen new White Fang recruits were moved to the left side of the stage as compared to the near hundred of full fledged members on the right side. A lieutenant stepped forward, raising his voice slightly,"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!"
The clicking of shoes signaled the crowd to look to the entrance of the stage, a white coat coming into view. A cane twirled as Roman Torchwick walked forwards, waving mockingly. "Thank you, thank you!" As he spoke, a half pink/half brunette waved from a crate behind him. "Please, hold your applause!"
The crowd went into an uproar, with one voice shouting "What's a HUMAN doing here?!"
Roman rolled his eyes, pointing his cane at her. "I'm glad you asked, "Deerie"! Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst." He pointed at himself smugly. "Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed!"
Sun looked at Blake, raising an eyebrow. "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!" The crowd began to change their tune and began agreeing with him. "Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life!" Blake and Sun shared a look, before Blake looked to the ceiling, finding the green eyes she was looking for. "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." Roman snapped his fingers, a curtain behind him falling to reveal a mech suit at least three stories tall.
Sun's eyes widened under his mask. "Where did he get that thing?!"
Roman continued as the crowd cheered and whistled. "As some of you may have heard, this right here…" He tapped the giant 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? Good! Now will you all please come forward to join up!"
Blake and Sun exchanged a glance as if to say 'uh oh'. From the rafters, Jaune had the same look on his face.
The recruits began to walk forwards, Blake and Sun following the crowd, gaining the attention of Torchwick. "He sees us…" Sun said as his walk became more robotic, letting out a sheepish wave.
"He can't see in the dark!" Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud, transforming it into a pistol. She shot at the power box on the wall, sending the building into a blackout.
Roman shouted from the darkness of the stage. "Don't let them get away!"
"Sun, the window!" Blake shouted.
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Yang groaned as her group exited the nightclub. "Well that was a waste of time…"
"I'm not so sure, Yang." Pyrrha chimed in. "We now know that Torchwick is using only the White Fang for his soldiers, so other human criminals are being kept out of it."
"Yeah, but-" Yang was cut off by her scroll ringing on a group call. She flipped it open placing it on speaker. "Blake, what's going o-"
"Everyone, we need-" Blake started.
"HELLLLLLLP!" Sun screamed. "It's that Torchwick guy! He's got a robot, and its big! He's inside it! Well, it didn't eat him, but he's like, controlling it or something!"
Jaune piped in from his com piece. "Everyone, I'm right behind them! There's White Fang soldiers chasing after us! Pyrrha, Weiss, can you handle them?"
"We'll take care of it!" Pyrrha shouted, taking off towards Weiss' coordinates.
Neptune piped up from the back of Yang's motorcycle. "How close do you think they are?"
Just then, Blake and Sun leaped from a nearby rooftop, heading towards the freeway with Torchwick right behind them.
"I think that was them…"
Yang groaned, revving up the engine. "Yeah, I got it!" She took off towards them, taking notice of Jaune flying right behind them.
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Blake and Sun jumped from car to car, Torchwick smashing through all in his path. "Whoah!" Sun shouted, continuing to bounce along the cars.
Yang and Neptune sped along, weaving through the wrecked cars. "We've got to slow it down!" Yang shouted.
"Got it!" Neptune rose up, grabbing his gun off his back, firing off a few rounds into Torchwick's mech before flipping it into pike mode and leaping off the bike, stabbing the blade into the back of the mech.
Torchwick thrashed about, trying to throw Neptune loose. "Neptune, hang on!" Sun shouted, clapping his hands together. Two energy clones appeared, rushing towards the mech and exploding on impact. Sun leaped towards the mech with his gunchucks, but Torchwick threw Neptune free right into Sun, and the two fell off the side of the freeway.
"Blake, I'm in position!" Jaune shouted over the com. He landed in front of the charging mech, hands in a primal stance. The mech continued to charge towards him before Jaune slammed his hands on the bridge, turning it intangible, causing the mech to fall to the ground below.
Ruby, already in position had Crescent Rose out in scythe form, shortly being joined by the rest of JBRY.
The mech stood back up, pointing its guns towards the team.
"Phantom Flame!" Jaune shouted, Blake and Ruby leaping backwards. Jaune created a shield of energy above him as Yang leaped into the air, slamming her fists down on the shield as the energy exploded, creating a green mist in the area.
Roman activated the mech's laser sensors to make up for the loss of sight, but it barely caught the afterimage of Blake and narrowly missed Yang rushing past. A gun managed to fire at the area between Blake and Yang, but out from the blast came Ruby, who slashed at the metal with her blade, causing it to falter.
"Black Specter!" Jaune shouted, drawing his sword and charging it with energy. Blake joined him, the pair each attacking the feet. Jaune jumped up and slashed at the cockpit before turning intangible to dodge an attack. Roman lifted the Paladin's foot to crush Blake, but Jaune grabbed her, flying away from the mech. Roman growled and fired off multiple missiles, but Jaune swerved around each before one came right at him. He turned intangible and brought himself and Blake underground as the explosion struck.
The pair emerged, Jaune throwing Blake forwards. "Black Widow!" He shouted as Ruby shot herself forwards and cut at the robot's legs. She turned towards Blake the pair aiming towards at the giant metal feet of the mech. They both rushed forwards and attacked simultaneously, circling around the Paladin with each strike until they both launched themselves into the air and came down together on the shoulder, cutting off the left arm entirely.
Before Jaune could shout out another attack, Yang flew out of nowhere, landing on the back of the mech and began unloading her gauntlets into its back.
Roman growled as he was tossed around the inside of the cabin, but managed to move the mech crashing backwards through two pillars before he transformed the mech's arm into a large hand, striking Yang and sending her flying through another pillar.
"Yang!" Blake and Jaune shouted.
Ruby grinned at the pair. "Don't worry! With each hit she gets stronger, and she uses that power to fight back! That's what makes her special! That's her semblance!"
Yang slowly got back on her feet, her hair burning a brilliant white as she clenched her fists. Sensing victory, Roman threw a punch at her, but the brawler caught it in her left hand, the ground cracking beneath her. Her eyes blazed red with rage as she smashed her right fist into the second arm, shattering it under her force.
Roman kicked Yang aside, the blonde flying through the air. "Dark Dragon!" Jaune ordered from the side as Blake launched her ribbon towards Yang, swinging her towards the mech. Roman jumped backwards, the mech still having full use of its legs.
"Ruby, we need to slow it down!" He charged Crescent Rose with energy causing it to glow a ghostly green. "Spectral reaper!" He grabbed her and flew into the air, spinning her around and launching her towards the mech. Just as he threw, she activated her semblance, spiraling in a cloud of rose petals at the metal monstrosity. She slashed through the right leg and the machine fell on its side, just as Yang was launched towards the mech.
Her fist connected, shattering the machine into hundreds of pieces. Roman was thrown across the ground and began to skid until he crashed into a pillar. "Just got this thing cleaned!" He said as he began to dust off his coat.
Yang frowned and fired off a round at the thief before the pink/brown haired girl from before appeared and blocked the shot with her parasol, smirking evilly towards JBRY.
"Ladies, Ghost boy, always a pleasure! Neo, if you would?" Roman said as the Neo bowed towards the girls, freezing in place.
Yang ran forwards, slamming her fist into the parasol, only for Neo and Roman to shatter like glass, having long fled. "Guess he got a new henchman."
"Yeah, and she can teleport or something. And here I thought my powers were crazy…but hey, that's a semblance for you." Jaune said, scratching the back of his head.
Blake nodded. "Jaune, a semblance tends to be one thing, be it afterimages for me, damage absorption/powering up for Yang, speed for Ruby, or even teleportation like that girl. Your powers grant you so many abilities, it would be hard to simply classify your powers as just a semblance. They…they're something more, Jaune."
He nodded before looking around in distress. "Uh guys…where are Sun and Neptune?"
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Sun and Neptune sat eating bowls of noodles, their weapons sitting at their sides. "You think they'll be okay?" Sun asked as he slurped up a few noodles.
"Oh don't worry, they'll be fine!" Neptune said as he grabbed a piece of meat from his bowl.
A/N: There we go everyone! A 4k chapter! I busted my butt on this one, and I'm honestly pretty proud of it! Obviously I was able to play off the canon for the fight a bit, but I tried to work in a few things of my own! I'm glad most of you are enjoying this, giving feedback and helping me out, so on to reviews!
Jack Lycan: Well, all I can say it keep reading and find out! Haha, but I'm glad you're enjoying things.
Dieter17: Another review of someone telling me that I'm going too fast, especially when you left a review on chapter one. Realize that there are now 6 more chapters than just that initial one, so please, don't judge a story by the first chapter alone. I have a solid plan for this story.
Nexus Bladeguard: I will continue to make you feel all gross and fuzzy with my Knightshade fever thank you very much! :D You've hit the nail on the head with Ironwood just about, as he really is the 'paved with good intentions' character. Gonna have to wait a bit more for his part of the story to really take shape, but glad you agree on that. As for the overshadowing bit…stay tuned ^.^ You're the loyalest of loyal reviewers, and mah boi. Thank you!
NoxXelor: So the first chapter implied a bit? They're teenagers. If I was in high school and my pants dropped in front of three girls, lord knows how they would react. Pyrrha would be a bit flushed, Blake probably enjoyed, and Weiss well, Weiss is Weiss. Girls having a positive reaction to a pantsless male does not instantly mean Harem Fic.
Anyways everyone (I feel like I always end like this), this was chapter 7! Action packed, plot moving, and fun! Hope you all enjoyed, so stay tuned for chapter 8! In the meantime, review!