"No, no, no. You are doing it wrong!" a young Tomas told Jerrod, the later having problems making his red tie. "Over a million souls and not one knows how tie a knot?".
"We are mostly from realms already conquered by Shao Kahn. It is not our fault that any of those are not like Earth as this world conveniently is".
"Good thing the Lin Kuei prepared us for any scenario…" Tomas gave up and decided to do the knot himself.
Out of the bathroom then came a larger, older and bearded version of Kuai Liang, to whom Tomas just looked annoyed. "You do know classes start soon and we haven't gone to breakfast yet, right?".
"Don't worry, Smoke". He assured him while retrieving his dragon necklace from his nightstand and putting it on. "We are still on schedule, and a Lin Kuei warrior can survive days without food". He noted with humor as his body slowly changed into that of a seventeen-year-old while he dressed.
Tomas, aka Smoke, rolled his eyes. He remembered his hard childhood training regime, but if they could live a normal life with three meals a-day, he would not complain; and he knew his friend since childhood would not either.
While they had their argument, Hanzo was kneeling in front of a framed slightly burned picture of a woman and an infant. He was already wearing his medallion and the Beacon uniform, the later given to them by the headmaster personally last night.
Kuai Liang then sat on his bed and spoke to Jerrod who was now receiving the tie from Smoke. "Do you remember the voice you must use?".
Ermac rolled its eyes and went still for a moment before speaking in just one voice compatible with the age of their container. "Yes. But we demand to be called Ermac!".
"That can be settled, don't worry. Are you done Hanzo?".
Hanzo opened his eyes and placed the picture inside the drawer of his night table. "I am, Sub-Zero. Let us proceed".
"Good, I am starving!" claimed Smoke before Sub-Zero stopped them all at the door.
"Remember: No codenames" he told them before opening the room and leaving.
KHTE were standing in line at the cafeteria. Sub-Zero and Hanzo talked while taking the food they wanted.
"Any thoughts on how we are going to infiltrate the hotel?" asked Hanzo.
"Still working on it. They may not have the scanners like at the club, but if that is their base of operations, it is not unguarded. Have you heard from Raiden?".
"Went to Orderrealm, nothing new since some days ago".
Smoke then stepped into the conversation from behind Hanzo. "Fujin is also out, helping the others".
After some consideration, Sub-Zero spoke again. "Our priority is to get inside the hotel, we'll need to-".
"Um… excuse me?". A tall girl with braided green hair from behind Smoke called the attention of all three boys. "Is… is your friend ok?".
Confused, they turned to look at Ermac who stood completely frozen with his right-hand hovering over some dishes. "We forgot the food schedule!" pointed out Smoke.
To any normal person, deciding what to eat is the work of one voice; Ermac however, had an intense war of voices in his head right now.
"Fruit salad is healthier!".
"We've earned ourselves a tray of bacon!".
"Those pigs deserved to live!".
"Oatmeal tastes like shit!".
The fight went on and escalated to the point that Ermac was already whispering in his multiple voices. "There is more fat than nutrients! The taste is better! I just like them, ok!? I'll shove them right up your-". He was then stopped when his team picked the fruit salad and placed it on his tray; that allowed them to go move the line forward.
Freedom for Ermac came with a price. Although battle and strategy meant survival and therefore a healthy majority of the souls agreed instantly on what to do, it was smaller things that divided them and left the body just standing still.
After getting their food, it was now a matter of finding where to eat. Sub-Zero and Smoke were then reminded of their time at the old Lin Kuei's mess hall. "Hope there is no Sektor table" commented Smoke.
"Hey! New kids! Need a seat!?". A female voice said.
They turned to the source of it and found two blonds, a boy and a girl, waving at them with four empty spots. Seeing nothing wrong, they went ahead and sat.
The blond girl then spoke to them again. "So, how do you like Beacon so far? Jerrod, is it?"
"Better than the woods" he answered and the added in a lower voice "and we prefer Ermac".
"We?".
All other ninjas felt panic when they noticed the slip. "We. As in my team and me. I never felt that Jerrod really represented… all of myself" he mentioned nonchalantly.
"Awww, we just met, and you are already being so open! Anyway, I'm Yang, that is Jaune, over there we have Nora" a small orange haired girl waved enthusiastically, "And this is Weiss" she said pointing at a pale girl with white hair who just raised her hand.
Feeling calm again, the rest of team KHTE presented themselves and went on to have their breakfast in silence. After some time, everyone next to the entrance began to laugh in a mocking tone at a group of three boys. When they arrived at the line, everyone at the table could see Sky, Russel and Dove trying their best to hold their anger and humiliation as they went on to sit at the far end of the hall.
"Those are the boys we faced last night. My guess is that they are not very liked?" commented Sub -Zero.
The blond boy chuckled and answered him. "You have no idea. Your basic bullies".
Smoke then got next to Sub-Zero and whispered "The Sektor table".
"Although… where is Cardin?" the blond questioned.
Hanzo looked at Jaune and asked "Who?".
"You know, the guy who fought… Kuai Liang was it?".
"Yes, I remember. Full of potential, but blinded by his own strength and ego…" that boy certainly reminded him of her own pupil, may she rest in peace.
"YAAAANG!" a voice from someone not on the table yelled. "You were supposed to wake me up! Now I'm late for my morning exercises!".
"Hey, I did my best. Don't blame me for your shortcomings, Ruby!". Yang defended herself.
"Weakly pulling my blanket three times before going outside. Is that what we call 'Do your best' now?".
"Get an alarm clock then!".
"I did! And you threw it out of the window!".
"You are impossible sometimes, you know that!?".
Grumbling, Ruby left the table and went for the door. All four boys saw the altercation, but knew Yang was too altered to give them some context. Smoke then got close to Jaune. "Soooooo… Yang and that girl… is it like girl problems 'GIRL' problems or…?".
Jaune quickly went on to correct him. "No, no, no. Nothing like that. They are sisters".
All other boys looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Half-sisters to be precise" Yang clarified. "If you are wondering why we don't look alike". She sighed and went on to play with the food left on her plate. "I mean, I love her and all; but she sometimes just… grrrrr".
Jaune then kept the conversation going. "Tell me about it! With seven sisters? The fun never ends…" he noted sarcastically. "You guys know what we mean, right?".
They all looked at each other before Sub-Zero answered. "We don't actually. We were all orphaned when we were infants, there were constant grimm attacks on our region. We come from different villages, but share the same fate. None of the survivors were willing to take us; but luckily, our master, Szél Faher found us and took us as his own".
A silence was made at the table. Nora, who had been happily playing on her scroll gave them an understanding look.
"But… he runs a school! Surely you met other kids!".
"Master Faher just took us, and only us. It has been like that for as long as we know".
Yang apologized while Nora pushed further. "I never knew my parents… Do you remember anything before the attacks?".
"Other than our names, no. Everything was lost". Hanzo answered her. "But we don't dwell in the past. We are here to prevent what happened to us, and that is all that matters".
As breakfast ended and everyone started to leave, KHTE went on their way as Jaune, Weiss, Nora and Yang remained behind. Ruby then joined them once the coast was clear with a cookie in hand. "Did it work?".
"Perfectly!" Yang said smiling with her arms crossed while she gave Jaune an all-knowing look.
"Yep. They were definitely lying" affirmed Jaune and then remembering the events of last night.
On Monday nights the library was almost empty. It was the perfect place for Ruby and company to get on with business after Sun and Neptune arrived.
Once everyone was ready, Sun wasted no time and went to the board.
"Security, though tight, is vulnerable. There are indeed no security cameras in either the hotel or the offices; but guards ARE alert to suspicious activity from employees. Luckily, If I act normally on my shift, I won't get caught!" he threw the marker in the air and caught it with his other hand "Now, I know what you are thinking. 'Then how will you be able to snoop around?' But here is where Blake and Ren play their roles! And sorry guys, but it is the only way you can get in".
Sun then drew the basic structure of the hotel. "As you know, the kitchen is in the top floor. A set of 10 trollies leave the kitchen at 12:00 and then a second round at 12:20. Employees have a 50 minutes lunch time at which time trollies need to head back to pick up the dishes; same 20 minutes separation.
"Good. but then how are we going to get Blake and Ren in there?" Pyrrha asked.
"This will be the messy part: The only way to access the kitchen and the trollies before they leave is through the garbage shoot. Since cooking is already done, you should be able to climb it without garbage falling in around… ten minutes!".
Unphased, Blake commented "I've had to do the same with worse conditions in the White Fang. But how are we going to distract the guards? They'll see us going in and out of the cart".
"Broom closets are always unlocked, and guards are constantly on the move. I only need to drop you next to one and then cause a quick diversion to open the door and allow you in".
Ren then questioned his plan "And how will we move around?".
"Ventilation shafts. You'll then need to go to the server rooms and copy whatever you can in your window frame".
Everyone was surprised with Sun's plan; Nora was more than amazed and quickly jumped next to him. "Wow Sun, who knew you could be a great planer!?".
Sun, however, looked at her with a slight amount of offense. "You DO remember I am my team's leader, right?".
"Oh… hehe… sorry. I'll shut up now". Full of shame, Nora did just that and just sat down and began to use her scroll.
After that happened, Jaune got up and looked at the model on the board. "My guess is that the way out is the way in?". Sun nodded. "Great. But what about Hotaru's office?".
Sun stepped forward again and painted twelve doors and circled the fourth one. "You mean: the dragon room. Bad news is that no one is allowed when he is out; and even then, only handpicked waiters are allowed; as you can imagine, I ain't part of the select few. Good news is, that there is always Thursday night!".
"What happens on Thursday night?" questioned Neptune.
"The VPs have their dinner. The only time during the whole week! The date is random, but they always reserve the same room ahead of time" he then circled the eleventh door "the boar room".
JNPR and RWBY remembered their night at the Night Beetle. "The Naknada clan!" Weiss said as if it was an epiphany.
"The creepy bosses, yes! I don't have all the details, but I can take Thursday's night shift right now" he said as he pulled his scroll out.
Ruby then stood and went in front of the board as Sun sat down "Do that. Well, anyone has anything else to add?".
At that, Yang raised her hand. "Oh, I got something alright". She then went to stand next to her sister. "I've found a lead on the guys who wrecked the club's lobby!".
Everyone was now looking at Yang with open eyes. "You WHAT!?" managed to yell Nora. Everyone quickly shushed her and looked around to make sure no one heard her outburst.
"Who? When? How?" Jaune asked while placing his hands on the table.
"This guy!" Yang took out a zoomed picture of Hanzo and pasted it on the board.
Confused, everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Didn't you say they were in their forties to fifties, Yang?" asked Blake.
Yang rolled her eyes before looking at everyone again "Here we go… Yes! I know what I said. But none of you were there; that spear throw and the 'get over here' scream where the same. They are also yellow and have a ponytail, waaaay too many coincidences if you ask me".
They all had to give Yang this one her being the only witness of the guys at the club and knowing exactly what happened.
Jaune expressed his concern. "Ok, are you saying he somehow got younger for him to be seventeen right now?".
"Obviously not Jaune, that would be stupid AND impossible!".
"Then if not that, what?".
Everyone looked at Jaune in a condescending way.
"Brothers?" Weiss said.
"Parents" Blake mentioned.
"Other students from their school?" Neptune added.
"Other distant relatives?" Ren said.
Jaune blinked a few times before his face went red from shame. "Right… sorry, got caught in the moment. But… how are you going to find out?".
Yang made a smug grin, cracked her knuckles and simply turned to face Blake. "Hey Blaky, have your bobby pins arrived yet?".
As the members of team KHTE turned the corner to head out of the dormitories, they passed Pyrrha pretending to check her schedule on her scroll. When they turned on another corner, she made a bronze ball roll down the hall, giving Ren and Blake the signal to start their work.
Bypassing the scroll locks was hard, but not impossible. Blake's time with the Fang and Ren's on the streets prepared them for all kinds of security. Once open, they both went on to work while keeping their scrolls in hand at all time in case Pyrrha warned them that the ocupants were heading back.
For being four boys, their room was spotless, not having anything on the desks or night tables. Their closets were normal as well with nothing worth hiding. It wasn't until Ren went through Hanzo's night table and Blake through Kuai Liang's that they found something useful.
The first was a framed slightly burnt black and white picture of a woman wearing a dress like the ones his mother used to with long black hair and a baby on her arms. Blake, on the other hand, found a colored picture in better state of three boys in strange uniforms consisting of black t-shirts and vests made of colored puffy squares and colored wrist guards. One was an older boy with short straight black hair of around fifteen years wearing blue, and two smaller boys of around ten years, one wearing the same tone of blue while the other had gray. The boy in gray had short silver hair while the other blue boy had a messy short black hair. While the older boy just looked at the camera with narrowed eyes and a small smile, the younger boys were grinning and making gestures with their hands. Blake turned it around and found the message Bi Han, Tomas and I written on the back.
Both Ren and Blake took pictures and sent them to Yang while they left the room just how they found it.
Yang was worried when KHTE arrived and got in line. Nora was doing her best to keep people from getting on their saved spots, but they would be useless if Ren and Blake didn't hurry up with their recon. As soon as they noticed Jerrod freezing in front of some dishes, everyone received pictures and brief descriptions of what Blake and Ren found.
"Ok Ruby, you are up! I need you to make some sister drama".
"On it!" Ruby then ran to the opposite of the hall and waited for the other team to sit and let the show begin.
At lunch, JNPR and RWBY were on the yards having been briefed by Yang on their discovery. The pictures proved that Kuai Liang had and knew someone who was either his brother or another student, while Hanzo's picture showed that he had some sort of connection to the woman; maybe his mother and the man Yang saw was his father. The existence of these pictures also contradicted their statements about there being no trace of their past. In the end, they would need to be question later, their objective right now was to throw ideas for what to do Thursday night.
All except Nora who was reading on her scroll. But it was a particular headline that caught her attention and made her call all others. "Guys… we might have more time in our hands for this".
"What do you mean?" questioned Ren.
She then showed them her scroll and the headline left everyone speechless.
"Hotaru Taakoizu, CEO of Seido Industries, kidnapped by bandits from Mistral.
Company's board reveals that the businessman was kidnapped during his most recent tour by land".