Chapter 4: Red Light District

"How long will you be watching them?" Glynda asked. She was pacing back and forth in the headmaster's office, trying to stay awake. I'm not as young as I used to be, she mused. I used to fight through the wilds for days on end without any sleep. Time catches up with us all. She looked over at Ozpin. Well, with almost all of us.

"Well, for as long as I can," Ozpin responded. He was behind his desk, holding his scroll in front of him with both hands. It was showing video taken moments before from outside the nightclub.

"I can't possibly imagine those two ladies getting along…still, they're probably better off than Mrs. Nikos was." She shuddered slightly at the thought of being given the same partner the gifted young gladiator.

"Hmm…" He was only slightly listening to her, most of his attention being focused on the video. Something interesting was apparently happening.

"I don't care what his-" Glynda began before being cut off by Ozpin.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough." He took a sip of his coffee. "In the meantime, we have a new development. Someone seems to have gotten to Junior first."

"What is your interest in the girl anyway?" Glynda asked as she walked around the desk to look over Ozpin's shoulder.

"Consider it…an investment…in the future, Ms. Goodwich. Now watch carefully. There is much we can learn from this."

"Who's the blonde?" she asked.

Ozpin kept his gaze fixed on the security camera footage that was splashed across his screen. "I don't know…which is all the more reason to watch carefully."

"No, you dolt. What was that?" Weiss pointed as she spoke.

Ruby seemed to ignore her, standing slowly and looking across the street to where a large man and a young woman had just landed. "Yang?" she asked. "Is that you?"

The blonde across the street jumped to her feet, instantly recognizing the voice of her sister even if she hadn't seen her in years. "Oh, hey sis." She waved cheerfully. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Ruby walked across the street, roughly pushing her way through the people that were fleeing the nightclub. "Yang, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, sis. And what's with the weird outfit? You're dressed like a priest or something." Yang rose her hand and felt the small cloak that Ruby was wearing. "Though you do still kinda have your 'Little Red Riding Hood' look."

Ruby began to answer, but stopped when Weiss grabbed her wrist and pulled on it, just a little too harshly. "We can handle introductions and pleasantries later, if you don't mind. We have a mission to focus on. Or have you forgotten?"

"Wow. You're crabby." Yang said.

"No, I'm just concerned about them," pointing at the large man who seemed to have recovered from being thrown roughly through a window and was on his feet again, shaking his head to clear it and making his way over to two women who looked to be twins. He grabbed a wooden baseball bat from what must have been one of his goons who was now fleeing the area.

"Melanie, who are these girls?" asked one of the twins in a monotone. She was wearing a red strapless dress with black accents.

"I don't know, Miltia, but we should teach them a lesson." She crossed her arms.

The large man straightened his tie and pointed his bat at Yang. "You'll pay for that," he growled while he narrowed his eyes. "I gave you a chance to walk away and you didn't take it. You'll come to regret that Blondie…assuming you survive."

"Oh Junior, I was just playing with you. Don't be so sensitive." Yang laughed off ahis threat, tossing a lock of her hair over her shoulder. "Ruby, you might want to go hide where it's safer for the next few minutes. I have to teach this ape some manners." She adjusted the gauntlets on her wrist, then leaned forward, preparing to attack.

"I'm not leaving you, Yang. I can handle myself." Ruby reached behind her back and unclasped her scythe, Crescent Rose. "I've grown a lot since you've left me behind. Just you wait and see."

Weiss also drew her sword. "If that's Junior, then I guess I'm a part of this too. Remember, Ruby, that we need him alive. The same goes for you," she said to Yang.

There wasn't any more time for words as Junior and his two bodyguards leapt into action. Junior headed towards Yang, Melanie raced toward Ruby and Miltia licked her claws as she stared down Weiss.

Yang fired off several shots from her gauntlets as Junior ran towards her. He swung his bat upward quickly, managing to deflect each of the blasts in quick succession. Any injuries he may have received from being sent through the window were apparently forgotten as he moved agilely, especially so for a man his size. The initial gap between them closed, he lunged forward while swinging downward from right to left. Yang fired downward, using the blast to lift herself up, over the swing of the bat. While in the air she tried to punch Junior, but without any footing she wasn't able to put much force behind it. Junior dodged the single punch easily, swinging viciously as he did so.

This time the hit connected solidly while Yang was still in the air, stopping her forward progress and then launching her in the opposite direction. She crashed into a dumpster several yards away, denting it heavily, and some of the trash bags piled on with the least possible amount of care fell to the ground, displaced by the sudden impact. Several mice, spooked by the sudden disturbance of their home, ran away into the night squeaking.

She stood and gave a wry smile at the nightclub owner, then turned her head as far as she could, cracking her neck. This is going well. How's Ruby? She looked around and saw her sister hadn't moved yet; she was using her scythe as a rifle, firing at the girl wearing white. She seems fine for now. "Is that all you got?" she taunted, turning her attention back to Junior.

In answer, Junior growled again and began to walk toward Yang. "You're going to pay for what you did," he repeated himself.

Yang pushed her fists together in front of herself and gave a small laugh. "Good luck," she said, jumping through the air at Junior. She fired her gauntlets repeatedly, hitting the ground right in front of Junior. The blasts tore up large chunks of cement from the sidewalk, shards flying into Junior's arms as he raised them to cover his face. His vest and shirt were now torn, and blood dripped from several cuts to his arms, hands and chest.

The dust from the ruined cement also created a sort of fog that obscured his vision, and he wasn't able to see Yang until it was too late. With a fury, she threw several punches in quick succession, hitting Junior in the stomach, chest and head rapidly with alternating fists. He tried to swing his bat at her to regain the offensive, but she ducked below it and planted her feet, putting all of her strength into a right-handed uppercut to his jaw.

The hit connected, throwing Junior to the ground and back several feet. He shook his head as he had earlier, trying to clear his senses as he struggled to rise to his feet. He looked at his hands and saw that he had somehow managed to grab some of Yang's hair and ripped it out of her head.

Yang's eyes feel to the hair as well, and she screamed in anger. To Junior, it looked as if she had burst into flames. She crouched low and then ran as fast as she could towards him, barely even caring as he once again tried to swing his bat at her. She formed a fist with her left hand and punched right through it, shattering the hardened wood and leaving Junior disoriented and vulnerable. Continuing her loud scream, she threw a punch with her right hand, accelerating it and amplifying the force by firing her gauntlet. It hit him square in the center of his left cheek, sending him flying backward yet again until he smashed into the outer wall of a brick building, spider web cracks radiating out from the crater he left. Unconscious, he fell to the ground.

Yang smiled in satisfaction at a job well done and turned around, curious as to how the other fights were preceding. She hadn't seen her sisters in years, not since their uncle had first agreed to teach Ruby as a young child. Let's see if she really can handle herself, she thought. I hope so.

Weiss threw up a glyph in the air in front of herself, creating a hard surface to shield her from the wild slashes aimed at her by the girl in the red dress. Her glyph took the form of a snowflake framed by two circles, similar to the small emblem she had embroidered on the back of her dress, in the corner of the blood-red cross that identified her as a Templar.

Miltia rolled to the side and rose to her feet, avoiding the glyph and allowing her to attack Weiss directly. Weiss avoided the blows by launching herself into a series of backflips, each one only barely managing to keep her out of the reach of the long red and black claws. On her final flip, Weiss was able to kick out with her legs, hitting Miltia in the chest and causing her to stumble backward briefly. This bought Weiss a few seconds to gain solid footing and plan out her next series of attacks.

Her sister's voice spoke loudly in her head. Remember your training, Weiss. Head up…check. Shoulders back…check. Right foot forward…no, not quite that far forward…slow your breathing…wait for the right time to strike…NOW!

She sprung forward gracefully in an expert balestra, sword extended, pointing it towards Miltia, trying to end the fight quickly. Miltia leapt over the blade, swinging one of her own towards Weiss' exposed head. Reacting quickly, Weiss adjusted her left arm and drove her sword point first into the ground while using the dust stored in her sword's hilt to generate a thick wall of ice. The ice froze over one of Miltia's claws, stopping them from moving and keeping the girl in one place. Weiss nervously raised her eyes to see just how close she had come…too close. Much too close.

Miltia started to kick her feet into the ice, causing it to weaken and crack. Meanwhile, with her one free hand she began to pry out the one that was locked in place. Knowing she didn't have long, Weiss rose to her feet to try to eliminate her opponent, but she was suddenly hit by a body flying through midair: Ruby's.

The two girls were thrown backward a dozen feet, ending up in a pile of tangled limbs. Their weapons had been lost when they had hit each other, flying off in opposite directions. Probably for the best, Weiss mused. I'd hate to have impaled myself on my own sword. Or on that extremely sharp scythe.

Out loud, she swore as she tried to disentangle herself from Ruby. "Oh, you dunce. I was so just about to take care of her."

Ruby was also trying to free herself, and before too long they were able to stand up. Looking around the immediate area, they saw Melanie helping to free her twin sister. Still, we can't do anything to stop her without our weapons, Weiss thought. Finding them has to be our priority. Weiss saw her sword had been thrown to the left, while Ruby's scythe had flown in the opposite direction to the right. Running to her sword she heard one final crack as the ice she had kept her opponent in shattered and fell to the ground.

Without looking over her shoulder to see which one of the twins was following her, Weiss dove forward and grabbed her sword, using her momentum and going into a combat roll before coming to her feet and turning around swiftly to face her opponent. Raising her sword, she expertly blocked or redirected the onslaught thrown at her by Miltia, trying to find an opportunity to launch an attack of her own.

Only a few seconds later, her first opening presented itself. Miltia had leapt into the air to try to attack from a different direction, but Weiss was able to roll under it and Miltia at the same time. The girl in red landed but was unable to turn around in time as Weiss swung her rapier at the exposed back.

The girl was protected to some extent by her aura, but the blade still sliced into the skin and muscles of her back, causing her to cry out in pain as she turned around. Weiss pushed her advantage, quickly dropping into a practiced routine of rapid strikes, finally confident in the flow of the battle. Their earlier rapid pace had favored Miltia as much as it had Weiss, leaving the young women evenly matched, but the injury now hampered Miltia's mobility. She was now hard-pressed to deflect the swings Weiss aimed at her, the blows coming in from a variety of angles as Weiss was able to attack relentlessly.

Miltia altered her stance and attempted a semicircular parry, hitting Weiss' sword up high and deflecting it downward across her body. She cried out in pain as she did so, the movement further opening the wound on her back, causing her to be unable to trap Weiss' blade and launch a riposte.

Weiss knew her opponent was beat, but she didn't allow herself to lose focus or to gloat. Too often she had seen experienced combatants lose after they relaxed their guard. She retreated backward a few steps, thinking quickly. Limited mobility, loss of stamina…lunge, beat attack, remise. She crouched low and then began to execute her attacks, striking rapidly at her opponent.

The series was too much for Miltia, who was barely able to parry the first few attacks. She was not as lucky as the exchange continued, and Weiss scored several hits against her, causing her more pain and forcing her to drop to the ground after a cut to the calf left her unable to stand.

Weiss carefully approached Miltia, knowing that an injured and cornered animal is often the most dangerous. Do I kill her? she wondered. She did attack me…

Weiss kicked her roughly in the head, the heel of her boot knocking Miltia unconscious. No, I'd better not. We might need her.

Her battle finished, she was able to turn her attention to the scene around her. Hearing a loud crash, she turned quickly and saw Junior fall to the ground, a large crater in the building he had been tossed into. At least two down…where did the third go? She caught Yang's eye and the blonde girl waved cheerfully.

There, she thought. Ruby was crouched down next to the girl in white, apparently cradling her head in her arms.

Ruby swung her scythe around several times rapidly before slamming the point down into the concrete, pointing the end of the gun barrel at the girl in the white dress that ran towards her.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The shots rang out as Ruby fired, opening and closing the breech as fast as she could. The shots forced Melanie to halt her charge, her focus on avoiding the bullets instead of closing ground.

How did she do that? Ruby wonderedabout it. after her next shot had launched herself into a front flip heel-kick, deflecting the last round Ruby had fired at her. Ruby didn't stop firing, even as Melanie continued to deflect the bullets with her heels or avoid them entirely.

Melanie was finally close enough to start an attack of her own, forcing Ruby to swing her scythe in a circle to deflect the series of kicks that the girl in white aimed at her. The parries left Melanie unbalanced briefly. Ruby continued to spin Crescent Rose, attempting to build the necessary momentum to swing it offensively.

Spinning it over her head, Ruby brought the about blade slicing through the air, aimed at Melanie. Knowing she couldn't duck under a downward swing, and correctly assuming it would be hard for Ruby to change direction after having built up so much momentum, Melanie split to the side and swept at Ruby's leg, knocking Ruby off her feet and then kicking her again to knock her backward.

Ruby flew through the air and into Weiss, dropping her scythe as she did so. Oh no oh no oh no, she said to herself. She fought to free herself from the mass of arms and legs that she and Weiss had formed when they collided, then as soon as she regained her footing she ran to the right where her scythe had landed.

M elanie saw where Ruby was headed and attempted to get there first, arriving only barely before Ruby did. She quickly kicked the scythe further out of reach, then followed up with a aflurry of jump-kicks aimed at Ruby's torso. Ruby dropped to her knees and slid under the kicks, then drew one of the throwing knives she had attacked to the belt around her waist. She turned just in time to see Melanie standing on her right leg, lashing out rapidly with her left. Ruby raised her forearm in time to deflect the first in the series, but Melanie recovered quickly and was once more able to hit the young assassin with a solid kick from the side.

Ruby landed roughly, dropping the knife that she had just about drwadddddrawn and rolling onto her back, only barely managing to catch Melanie's heel as the girl attempted to stomp Ruby while she lay defenseless on the ground. Melanie pushed off the ground, forcing Ruby to hold all of her weight while she kicked at her with her free leg.

The kick caused Ruby to lose her grip on Melanie's foot. Now it was Melanie who fell hard to the ground. Ruby seized her opportunity to use her semblance, speeding off in a wave of rose petals, headed towards her scythe. I need to end this fight quickly, she thought. The longer it goes on, the more openings I give her. Her uncle, when he had trained her, had wanted her to be able to fight someone head on. After he had left, though…As an assassin, it wasn't as important. Surprise and stealth are my weapons now, not strength. How can I surprise someone that already knows I'm here?

The answer hit her almost as soon as she asked the question, and she stopped running for her scythe and turned back toward Melanie. She managed to catch the foot of the surprised girl and twisted, throwing her off-balance and driving her into the ground. Acting quickly, Ruby spun herself around, extended the hidden blade on her left arm, and drove it into Melanie's stomach.

Melanie gasped in pain and shock. "My-my-my sis-sis-sister…" She was having trouble speaking.

"Ssshhh," Ruby attempted to calm her, holding her head in her arms. "It is over now…"

"My sister, she needs me," Melanie gasped. She looked deep into Ruby's silver eyes. "I'm scared."

Ruby spared a glance over to where Weiss was standing over the limp body of Melanie's sister, and then back down at the girl she had just stabbed. It's a bad wound, yes, but she might just be able to survive it. Her aura should help her to heal. "Your sister will live, I think. You…you might as well."

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault." Her voice was soft, hard to hear. "Tell her. I'm sorry."

Ruby gently lowered Melanie's head to the sidewalk. Maybe, just maybe she'll survive. Standing, she walked over to her sister, who stared at her in shock.

"Ruby? Are you hurt?" Yang grabbed her sister and started checking her over for wounds. "All this blood, Ruby, tell me you're okay."

"I'm fine," Ruby mumbled. "It's...it's not mine…" She motioned vaguely to the girl lying motionless behind her. "A lot's changed since you left..."

Weiss walked over, joining the two women. She crouched down and checked Junior's pulse. "Well, you left him alive, I'll give you that. Still, we can't question him when he's like this. How long do you think before he wakes up?"

Yang was finally convinced that Ruby wasn't hurt, and tuned towards the heiress. "All right, someone needs to explain to me what's going on here. Ruby, what's happened to you since I left you with Uncle Qrow? Why are you here in the shady side of the city at three in the morning? Did you just kill that girl? And who in the world are you?"

"We're looking for Roman Torchwick," Ruby began. "Yang, this is Weiss-"

"She's Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world. The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

Who was that? Ruby guessed at the direction the voice came from, and tried to peer into the dark alley between two nearby buildings. "Uh, come on out of there," she called, less than convincingly.

"I'd rather not," came the reply. "Either the police or Junior's thugs will probably be here any second now, but I'm guessing whoever is here first probably won't waste too much time asking questions."

"Nonsense," Weiss said. "We came here to help the police, and these thugs attacked us first. We have no reason to worry."

"Actually, she has a point," Yang corrected her. "Junior's connected all over town. A lot of his friends won't be too happy about what happened here tonight, and the police don't take too kindly to kids causing trouble and trying to do their work for them. We need to get out of here."

"I suggest the rooftop," came the voice from the alley. "Meet me up there. I might be able to help you."

"Did you learn what you wanted to?" Glynda asked.

Ozpin lowered his scroll, placing it on the desk and clasping his hands together in thought. He closed his eyes, mentally piecing together what he had just seen. If only the camera had been close enough to catch what they said. "Contact our friend in the police department. We need to have that camera footage deleted. Then encourage them to drop the case."

"That didn't answer my question."

Ozpin breathed deeply. "Exactly." He waved dismissively. "Leave me. You have your assignment."

Glynda walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, Ozpin picked up the scroll and typed out a short message: Are you with us?

The animation indicated the message sent successfully. Now, to wait for the reply…