Ruby entered the snake room again. Weiss and Pyrrha stopped talking when they noticed she seemed bothered by something.
"Is everything ok, Ruby?" Asked Pyrrha as soon as the younger girl sat down.
"Yeah! Everything is… oh, who am I kidding!?" She then grabbed her hood and put it over her head.
"Ruby, as your partner I've come to expect your weird behavior. But seriously, stop acting like a dolt".
She then raised her hood and looked at Weiss directly. She leaned forward and whispered to both girls. "You don't understand, Weiss. I heard them talking with-".
Ruby was interrupted when the doors opened and in came Hotaru with the waiters. "My most sincere apologies. An important client arrived, and the entertainment got mixed up. Tonight, has not been to my standards, but please, enjoy your meal". With a final bow, the waiters entered with all their food.
While at the beginning chattering was common, now everyone was quiet and enjoying the food. All but Ruby who just took small bites and seemed more interested on whatever Hotaru was doing. She looked at him like she was dissecting his every move and would have continued but then she noticed Ryu, staring at her with the same kind glare she was using; so, she then turned her sight to another place. The silence was interrupted as Hotaru began to talk to Pyrrha; not loud enough for all the table to stop enjoying their meal. "I hope everything is up to your standards".
"Oh yes, it is wonderful". After the failure of trying to get a date out of the situation, she had to admit that service and food had been excellent. "But we haven't been able to talk about that sponsorship deal, I feel we got a little sidetracked".
"Of course, as I was saying: Seido Industries is going to enter the electronics market. So, in order to compete with the Scroll, I present to you: The Zaphyre". He then pulled out a blue square like gem with a black margin that fitted in the palm of his hand. "you don't need Scrolls of two different seizes, this new product can be pulled on all direction, virtually indestructible and has a real time holographic model of whoever you are calling". The Zaphyre then projected an image of Ryu, when Pyrrha turned her head to look at him, he was indeed holding a Zaphyre as well. "You can also adjust how much of the room you want to show". With a move of his fingers, Pyrrha was able to see a blue circle growing and when looking at Ryu once again, she was able to see herself on the hologram. "Don't worry, we are working on color images. But I can assure you, we'll get there with the later models".
Most on the table went quiet with amazement little by little as they noticed the little device; and once the presentation was over, they all clapped in amazement.
"Wow, it's incredible!" Pyrrha complimented.
"Indeed, we want you to be our spokeswoman for the company on the technology division and all future projects. We are ready to pay you twice your current accumulated payment and to begin publicity next month".
This people were pros, she had to give them that. "Well, I have a photoshoot with Pumpkin Pete's around that time, but sure, I can do it!".
Just as everyone began to talk about how amazing the Zaphyre was, Hotaru turned the device off, putted it back on his jacket and changed his face and tone to serious. "I'm afraid you don't understand. You are not going to work with us, you'll work FOR us, Miss Nikos".
She was baffled "Wha- but… I-I-I can understand weapons, but I work with sports companies, vehicle manufacturers, I-I-".
"You don't even make cereal; how can you ask her to leave Pumpkin Pete's?" Jaune added.
"As I said, technology is just our most recent venture. Food and other services are within our interests on the near future, and it is bad for our brand for you to be seen alongside our future competitors and your new image".
"Wait. Image?" Ren asked puzzled at what he was hearing.
"What is wrong with Pyrr? She looks good to me. Great even". Nora added, worried and defensive of her teammate.
"Right now, red and gold seem to be her preferred colors. Unacceptable for Seido and our corporate color scheme".
Everyone at the table was at a loss for words. They were expecting some big wig to give her money or goods in exchange for using her face on product placement, but they were just outright telling her to become their mascot for whatever new thing they would sell.
"So. Should I pass tomorrow with the contract? Or would you prefer to meet me in my office?".
"I- I am sorry… but what you are saying is… I don't even know where to begin…".
At that moment, Hotaru punched the table and raised his voice "I am offering you the deal of a life-time, and you are just going to-". He was stopped midsentence when Ryu put his hand over his shoulder and gave him a cold stare. Hotaru then turned to the other guests, looking at him with shock at his outburst. He took a deep breath, moved his tie a little and talked again more calmly. "My apologies, you are right. It is a big decision. What do you say we meet again with your answer in the close future? Your terms, not mine. You can pass by to visit and we'll discuss any question you have".
Pyrrha was honestly confused by what just happened. But merely out of courtesy, she gave her answer. "Sure, I'll give you a call to tell you the details with my answer".
"Good. Please, have this". He took out a purple Zaphyre and handed it to her. "Think of it as a… friendship token. It is one hundred percent functional and you only need to put it next to your Scroll for information to be transferred".
The dinner ended and Hotaru had to go and meet a surprise guest, so Mr. Onyx had to take them to the door. The trip there was quiet, but once they were outside and Weiss back in costume, they all bombarded Pyrrha with questions and comments.
"Are you gonna take that deal? I mean damn, that's a lot of dough, P-money!".
"Can you believe that brute!? Who does he think he is to talk to her that way!? I mean sure, father would have done the same if he wasn't just interested in dust this, and dust that. But if he were to-".
"Imagine all the cool things she could get Ren! I mean, sure, she would have to hide buying neat things we know and love if they also started making the same things… do you think they make pancakes? Would she have to quit eating pancakes, Ren?".
"Well, Seido doesn't seem to be in too much controversies, human or faunus. I don't think they are that bad overall…".
"Guys! Stop!" Jaune yelled.
They all went quiet and then looked at Pyrrha and the troubling look on her face. At that moment, most understood that the decision was indeed a hard one. "Sorry Pyrrha, it's your choice not ours". Yang apologized first. They all did except for Weiss who just stopped talking all together.
Jaune then turned to tell Ruby to apologize before realizing that she had not said a word after leaving the snake room. He then touched her shoulder, startling her and making her quickly turn around and face them "Woah, Rubes! Everything alright?".
Weiss then stepped between them. "You have been awfully silent since you came back from the bathroom. Is everything all right?".
"No, it is not…" Ruby kept insisting. Yang was about to tease her, but then noticed that Ruby was indeed worried about something big.
"Ruby, you can tell us. You know that, right?".
"I'll tell you. But not here". She went back and looked at the hotel before putting a hand over Crescent Rose.
With that, the teens decided the night was finally over and that it was time to head back to Beacon.
Inside the dragon room, which also served as Hotaru's office; he, Ryu and one of the Naknada clan were looking at the screen and then at the window.
"She does not seem to want to sign your contract, lord Hotaru" pointed out the Naknada.
"Patience Kollector, I will get her to sign. Lord Onaga's vision for this world, Orderrealm and Outworld will not be denied by a teenager and her little friends". He then turned and talked to the empty space in the middle of the room. "Find her and look for anything that may allow us to sway her our way. Send it to us once you find something". He then pulled a Zaphyre and a 3D map of Vale appeared. "Her Zaphyre has a tracking device. It should be no problem for you to follow her everywhere she goes".
They all stepped out of the way and had a window open. "Remember: Just intelligence gathering, no fighting, no killing". Thumps were heard going in the direction of the window and then silence.
"Are you sure he will succeed in his mission?".
"He better. If he so wants to build his precious factory here".
The trip back to Beacon was easy enough for both teams. The paparazzi seemed to have left for the day and not many people were left to use the bullhead. It would have been a nice trip if it were not for Ruby checking her back every few seconds and jumping at every noise. Many had already asked her to just tell them what she saw at the hotel, but she refused and insisted that it was better to tell them in the dorms.
When finally arriving to their hall, RWBY entered their dorm while JNPR went to theirs.
"We'll be right there, girls. Give us a second to leave our stuff". Jaune told the other team as he opened his team's room. They left their scrolls and changed to their pajamas. As they were leaving, Nora thought she heard a light thump in the room, she turned the light on but saw nothing.
"Hurry up, Nora! It's important!" exclaimed Ruby from her bed.
"Coming, just checking something". She finally closed their dorm and entered the other room; closing the door and locking it, as requested by Ruby.
It took her some time to finally make sure nothing was wrong. The curtains were closed, the door double locked, and she put a song on her scroll, just to make sure no one outside the room could hear them.
"Would you PLEASE, cut this out and just tell us what was so bad back in the hotel? You are starting to annoy me more than usual" scolded Weiss as she started to take off the makeup.
Yang then continued with Weiss' observation. "Yeah, you were, like, super weird almost all night. You kept looking at that Hotaru guy as if he was planning to kill you".
"Yang, I know he was not trying to kill me!" Ruby snapped at her. She then took a deep breath and started her story "Ok, so… when I was leaving the bathroom, I saw Hotaru and that 'important-client-of-his' and it was, and you are not gonna believe this: Roman. Torchwick!".
While everyone in the room didn't scream or gasp immediately, they did look at her with great surprise; even Weiss stopped what she was doing to look at Ruby. After a long silence, Nora was the first to speak.
"Woa, woa, woa, Rubs. Are you sure you saw him? Roman Torchwick? Just casually walking into a restaurant to talk with some businessman. Are you sure it wasn't some look-a-like?".
"I know what I saw Nora! I fought Torchwick, I know how he looks". She then looked directly at Blake. "Not only that, remember the whole Paladin incident?". She then crossed her arms over her chest and continued "Guess who gave it to them?".
This did get a gasp out of Blake. "Are you saying that Torchwick and the White Fang are working together?".
"Not exactly, maybe at some point; he referred to giving the Paladins as a cordiality to a woman".
Blake remembered the night she and Sun did a stakeout and she saw the White Fang stealing dust crates. Their heist was a failure, but mostly because they were forced to work with low rate criminals. She was heartbroken when she discovered that the organization, where she put her heart and soul on, had become one of thieves; but she was relieved when higher ranks of the Vale circle were captured along with other small-time dust robbers. "Wait… Roman has been off the radar for a long time. Yet you just said he was able to secure Paladins?".
"I don't think he went off the grid. I know he was helped, Seido Industries is covering him".
"How are you so sure about that?" Then interjected Pyrrha.
"Well, he didn't outright say it, but it did sound like he was still working under instructions from Onaga himself".
"Hold on, did you just say Onaga? As in the owner of Seido Industries Onaga?". Ren asked.
"Yes, I overheard them from behind the door. I heard his voice. He sounds big and mean if you ask me. He said he has a plan for Remnant. Whatever that means".
"What about that 'her'? you said Torchwick used to work with a woman, right?" Asked Yang.
"No name ever came up. She was the one working with the White Fang, but right now she doesn't seem like much".
"Did any of them see you?" Asked Jaune.
"Not exactly… Ryu was able to smell my scent. I think I was able to convince him that I just wanted some time outside. Maybe he would have pushed more but he seemed more concerned with the musician".
Everyone went quiet. After a long time, Pyrrha stood up and addressed everyone "Well, this settles everything then, I am out of this deal. I will not be part of this".
"You can't…" Everyone then turned towards Weiss. "If you do, at least now, then whatever excuse you'll give him won't work. He'll know something is wrong and that Ruby might have something to do with it".
"Well we can't just stay and do nothing!" Replied Nora "That is still a dangerous criminal walking all around Vale without a care and a pocket full of cash to back him up!".
"You are also ignoring a bigger picture". Interjected Blake. "He gave altesean military equipment to this woman. Military equipment that she then gave to the White Fang for their use".
"We should tell the authorities about this".
"Not wise. If he has worked with Torchwick this long without being caught, telling the cops about him would make him clean his tracks. It would be impossible to track him then". Ren responded.
"So… what should we do?" Asked a now more annoyed Yang.
After a longer pause, everyone was talking with one another. It was the combo of Ruby and Jaune who then turned and called for everyone's attention. Jaune then began the explanation. "Well, the way I see it we have two targets: One is Seido Industries and Torchwick. The other is the mysterious woman and the White Fang. If we catch either of them, they can reveal information on the other".
"And how, exactly, do you propose we do that?" Questioned Weiss.
This time, it was Ruby who answered. "We would need two teams, one who would look into Seido's business from the inside. The second would need to look for the White Fang".
Yang raised her hand and happily proclaimed herself in the White Fang team "I know a guy, Junior. He knows all that happens in the criminal world, I'll get him to talk".
"I'm with Yang" claimed Weiss. When she noticed that everyone was looking surprised at her, she immediately added "What? Seido employees will instantly recognize me. Besides, imagine what the media would say if the heiress of the SDC is working to bring down their rivals in a direct way". That made sense to all.
Ren then turned to Jaune once again. "Ok, that is one. But how are we going to infiltrate Seido Industries?".
"Remember how most of the hotel bellhops were faunus? If we could get someone to work as a part-timer, we could gather recon to get evidence of Torchwick and Hotaru working together".
"Alright! Fearless leader is on fire!" Nora yelled while rising her fists in the air. "But… where are we going to get a faunus who trusts us, is unknown to staff and won't be associated to us by being a student of Beacon".
As soon as Nora finished, they all looked at Blake. All thinking of the exact same person. "I can ask him. But I don't guaranty he'll join us!".
"Good enough! Ren, Blake, I think your abilities are best suited for the Seido team in case we manage to get Sun on the inside". They both nodded in approval.
"My guess is that I'll be on the Seido team?" Pyrrha added. "If Sun somehow fails, we can use my meetings as a last resort to get information on Torchwick".
"Only as a last resort". Confirmed Ruby.
The final distribution to infiltrate Seido included Blake, Ren, Pyrrha and Ruby while those looking for clues on the White Fang conspiracy included Yang, Weiss, Nora and Jaune.
Everyone felt good overall. If they succeeded, they'll be taking down Torchwick, the White Fang, a criminal enterprise and a possible terrorist threat.
After all was said and planed, JNPR retired to their dorm. Everyone was getting ready until Pyrrha went to check her scroll. It was almost dead.
"Strange…"
"What is Pyrr?"
"I left my scroll charging, but it has even less power than when we got here".
"Maybe you didn't plug the charger in?"
She went to see the power outlet and, indeed, it was disconnected. "Yeah, you were right. But still, I remember that I left it charging".
"Well, you'll need to leave it charging overnight. Good night, guys". Jaune finally said as they all turned the lights out.
Two hours later, no one noticed the window slide open and then close itself.
On the outsides of Vale, on an abandoned house a crackling noise was heard by the animals that now lived there. Then there was an explosion and a blue round portal opened in the middle of the room.
Fourteen cloaked figures stepped out of the portal and an uncloaked one wearing white robes, a blue vest and a blue cloth decorated with gold designs. He also wore a straw hat that seemed to produce electricity at random. "Our intelligence suggests that our enemies have already begun to act on this world. Do not fight unless it is necessary, and if you do, do not let anyone know who we really are or where we come from. You are all the best in all the realms; may the Elder Gods watch over you. Dismissed".
With those final words, all but one of the cloaked figures began to walk away in groups of four. "I don't know how much damage has already been made, old friend. But I can sense that the fate of this world has already been changed by our arrival; one way, or another".