A quick note before you read the chapter: I actually didn't know that the Bumbleby fight was actually going to play into this. It's weird when a story seems to write itself like that.
Enjoy.
"I still don't like this plan." Weiss said as she followed her teammates back to their dorm.
"Look, I don't like it much either." Blake said, "But we have to do it."
"And remember, Weiss, you did agree to do it." Ruby said.
Weiss growled, knowing that Ruby was right.
"So it's decided." Ruby said, "Tomorrow, we're going to infiltrate that meeting and find out what is going on."
Weiss and Blake both knew that, at this point, the plan couldn't be aborted.
The next day, Team RWBY met up with Sun and Neptune at breakfast.
"So, after school, we're going to the docks. Agreed?" Ruby asked.
"Agreed." everyone said, although Weiss was the least happy about this.
"Will I ever get to Fuse with somebody on my own will?" Weiss thought to herself.
"Weiss, are you alright?" Neptune asked.
"I'm fine." Weiss replied.
"Sun told me about how you and Blake didn't get along very well," Neptune said, "but he also said that you two put your differences aside."
"Look, Neptune, it's not that I dislike Blake or anything, it's that I don't want to be what she is. My family has had kind of a...history with the Faunas." Weiss said.
"Well I don't care if you have cat ears or no cat ears, you're still the same old Weiss to me." Neptune said.
"Gee, thanks, Neptune." Weiss replied.
The two teens stared at each other before Sun spoke up.
"Guys? Guys?!" Sun said, trying to get their attention.
"What?" Weiss and Neptune asked.
"Did you guys get that part of the plan?" Sun asked.
"Sorry, we were kind of distracted." Neptune said.
"Okay, I'll explain it again." Blake said, "We're going to scour the docks until we find which warehouse the White Fang is meeting in. That's when Sun, Neptune, Weiss and I infiltrate the gathering, and hopefully find any important information."
"And then what?" Weiss asked.
"Then we leave." Blake said.
"Let's just hope things go as we planned." Ruby said.
"Come on, Ruby," Yang said putting her arm over her sister's shoulder, "when have things never gone according to plan?"
"Don't answer that." everyone else in the group said.
"It's decided then." Ruby said, "Tomorrow, we find out what the White Fang is up to."
Meanwhile, in the White Fang outpost, Savannah's group was making plans of their own.
"So, it's decided then." Savannah's accomplice said to the group.
"Yes." Volt replied, "We'll depart immediately."
"Good." the man said, "Savannah?"
"Yes?" Savannah asked.
"I want you to accompany Volt and Rebecca on this mission." the man said, "But you will not leave their sight. Is that understood?"
"Yes." Savannah replied.
"Good, you will set out in five days." the man said.
Later, in RWBY's dorm, everyone was asleep, except for Weiss.
"Oh, why can't I fall asleep?" Weiss thought to herself.
Weiss looked around and saw that the others were asleep.
"I should go get some fresh air." Weiss thought to herself.
Weiss changed into her day clothes and quietly left the dorm.
Some time later, Weiss was sitting on the edge of Beacon Cliff, pondering.
"Why am I having such a hard time?" Weiss asked herself, "I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust company, I shouldn't be afraid of this."
"You're only human, it's normal to experience fear." Blake said, walking up behind Weiss.
"What are you doing here?" Weiss asked.
"Probably the same thing as you." Blake said.
"I couldn't sleep either." Weiss said.
Blake stood next to Weiss.
"You know that we have to do this." Blake said.
"I know...but I'd prefer not to." Weiss said.
"I'm sure you're not the only one." Blake said.
"Yeah, Neptune seemed pretty nervous about the whole thing." Weiss said.
"I wasn't talking about Neptune." Blake said.
Weiss was kind of surprised that Blake admitted that she was nervous about this, but not too much.
"Why am I not surprised?" Weiss asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake asked, a bit agitated.
Neither of the teammates noticed, but a weird Grimm was lurking in the nearby shadows.
"It's just that I know that you have always been a bit paranoid about things like the White Fang and your Faunas heritage, so I wasn't all that surprised when you admitted that you were nervous about this." Weiss explained.
Blake didn't respond, knowing that Weiss was right...for once.
Even though the twosome weren't generating very much negative emotion, the Grimm didn't have any other negative emotion to react to.
"But that's not bad." Weiss said, "It means that we actually have something in common."
Blake had a very slight smile, knowing that Weiss was actually getting along with her.
"Maybe this operation will go better than we hope." Weiss said.
Suddenly, Weiss saw one of the nearby stones start to roll away.
"What the...?" Weiss asked, watching the stone move to the shadows.
A Geist Grimm floated out of the shadows, attracting the nearby rocks.
"A Geist!" Weiss exclaimed, drawing Myrtenaster.
"What's it doing here?!" Blake asked, pulling Gambol Shroud out.
"It doesn't matter." Weiss said, "We need to take it out before it can posses anything!"
Weiss and Blake rushed at the Geist, but a large boulder moved in front of the Geist, which the beast shot into and possessed.
"Too late!" Blake said.
The rocks began to form around the center, assembling into a giant golem.
"Watch out!" Weiss said as the golem charged.
Weiss and Blake avoided the Geist's initial attack and went to counter, but their weapons just bounced off of the rock body.
"We need a new strategy!" Weiss said.
"And fast!" Blake said.
Blake and Weiss dodged another attack and knew what to do.
"Fusion!" the teammates said in unison.
Weiss and Blake inserted the Dust vials into their weapons and waited for the Geist's next attack. When the Geist's arms came down, Blake and Weiss ran up them and linked weapons. A bright light filled the air, causing the Geist to flinch. When the light faded, a girl shot past the Geist, slicing across it's face and landing on the ground.
The girl had hair that was white at the top that went into a black asymmetrical ponytail, she also had white cat ears. Her left eye was ice blue with a scar over the eyelid while her other eye was gold. She was wearing Blake's top, but the white was red, she also had Weiss's jacket, but the inner sleeves were black. She had a black skirt with a red inside and white leggings that led to black full high-heels. And last, but not least, she had a jeweled head ornament on the right side of her hair. Her weapon looked like Gambol Shroud, but the blade was shaped like a fencing sword and the barrel was longer and had a Dust selector.
The fusion said nothing right before jumping to gain some distance from the Geist. The golem ran at the fusion and slammed its arms down on her, but the real fusion came and hit the Geist in the back.
"Shadow Glyphs." the fusion said, "They're effective."
The fusion hacked at the Geist, making small dents in the rocks. The Geist tired to stomp on the fusion, but she made a Shadow Glyph to distract the beast and get more hits in. After a few more attacks, the fusion realized that she wasn't doing much.
"This isn't working, Blake." Weiss said.
"I know." Blake replied, "We need to try a different approach."
"I got it!" Weiss exclaimed, "Here's the plan..."
After a moment, the fusion ran past the Geist's leg, throwing Gambolnaster into the beast's back and using the whip to launch into the air.
The Geist swung its arms up, trying to crush the fusion, but she was too fast and pulled Gambolnaster back to her.
"You don't know who you're dealing with!" the fusion said as the Dust selector switched between different types.
The Geist looked up at the fusion as she formed a Glyph in midair. The fusion shot off of the Glyph and fired different Dust types at the Geist, knocking it off balance. The Dust loader stopped at Energy Dust and the fusion used a Glyph began to spin around really fast and puncture through the Geist's rock body, smashing it. The Geist flew out of the rocks and began to fly off to save itself.
"Hmph." the fusion said, compacting the blade and aiming the barrel at the Geist, "Checkmate."
The fusion fired an energy Dust bullet at the Geist, causing it to disintegrate.
"I guess that could be our name." the fusion now known as 'Checkmate' said.
A bright white light came from Checkmate, splitting her back into the two girls.
"I am really getting sick of having to rely on this stuff." Weiss said.
"You're not the only one." Blake said.
Weiss smiled before the two teammates headed back to the dorms, each with a new understanding of the other.
Back in the base Savannah was in, the group of teenage White Fang members were pondering about their commander's plans.
"I wonder what the boss has planned." Volt said.
"I'm sure that it's important." Rebecca said.
"It could just be mere grunt work, knowing my track record." Savannah said.
"Don't think that way, Savannah." Volt said, "Who knows, maybe this will be your big break."
"What I want to know is why is this 'Fusion Dust' is so important to the boss and how he knows what it is." Rebecca said.
"Me too." Volt said.
The commander walked into the room.
"You will all find out in due time." the man said.
"Were we speaking too loud?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes." the man said, "Volt, go to your quarters. The rest of you, get some rest."
"Okay, see you tomorrow, Savannah." Volt said as he left the room and followed the man off.
Savannah and Rebecca got dressed for bed and went to their assigned bunks.
"Why is it all so important?" Savannah thought before falling asleep.
I hope you all liked this chapter. It was nice finally writing proper character interaction again. I'm planning to make the next chapter pretty important.
Powerhouse out.