It had been well over a half-hour since Jaune had kicked them to the hall. During that time, faint cries, screams, and banging were heard by all. Ruby was desperate to go back in and ask what was happening to him, but Ren, Nora and Neptune kept her from reaching the door. "When he is ready, he will let us back" Ren kept repeating to her in different ways.
The noise stopped after a while and was then followed by a long silence. Everyone started to feel scared as if Jaune had finally hurt himself or worse. Luckily, he opened the door a short time later; but neither he nor the room was in a good state. Jaune's eyes were completely red, and as for the room, the beds were turned over and unmade. His books and school supplies were scattered throughout the floor and the wall had dents of different depths. Jaune then moved back in and sat in one of the beds massaging his face and not looking at any of them. They, in turn, just stood in complete silence in front of him, waiting for the boy to reveal what was happening.
"I believe I know what they discovered…" Jaune finally said to them. He removed his hand, looked at all of them with apologetic eyes, and continued. "Before I tell you, promise me that I will be part of this; I owe her this much. When it is done, I can go away, you'll never hear from me again, you can insult me, degrade me, tell everyone what a loser I am, but let this be the last good thing I do here" he told them almost breaking into tears again.
Having never seen a breakdown like this, no one knew what to respond. Weiss then took a step forward. "I promise, Jaune". She then looked at everyone else and they all nodded with a degree of concern. "Now off with it! What could be so bad?".
Jaune took one final long breath. He then swallowed some spit and gave himself a final talk. 'Here goes nothing…'. "I… I faked my admission papers for Beacon!". After not hearing any sort of noise from the others, he then opened his eyes.
To say all others were shocked would be an understatement. Some looked as if they were still trying to process what he just said. Others looked at him as if he just said incomprehensible gibberish.
"You… faked your… transcripts…?" Blake asked him while also trying to understand each of the words he said. Jaune just nodded.
"So… wait… you failed combat school and somehow got accepted?" asked Weiss trying to understand. He then shook his head.
"Hold on. No combat school either!?" Yang asked surprised. He nodded again.
"And Pyrrha found out about this?" Ren asked him.
"I told her. She then decided to personally train me to catch up with you guys".
"Whew… that explains a lot!" Nora commented with genuine surprise.
The moment of silence that followed was then interrupted by Neptune who quickly ran next to Jaune with a raised fist and delivered a punch straight into his jaw that made the blond fall into the ground. As everyone was now getting ready to scold Neptune, he then began to yell at them. "NO! Not anymore! He is gonna listen right now!".
The blue-haired boy then turned around and looked at Jaune who was massaging his cheek. "What the hell, Nep- whoa!" the blond managed to say before being picked up by the older boy who then started to shake him back and forth.
"She hid this from everyone! She sacrificed her own time to help you become better! How many more signs did you need, you idiot!?".
"Signs… what… help… huh!?".
"She is in love with you, moron! Madly! Foolishly! She would give up an arm and a leg for you! What more proof do you need!?".
"Neptune! Stop it!" Weiss ordered him.
"Oh no, I won't. He needs to hear this!".
Jaune took advantage of Neptune's distraction to then push the other boy away. "How many times do I have to tell you. It-is-not-like-that! Tell him Weiss!" he said that with confidence, but the anger in his face turned into confusion when the girl said nothing and just looked away while stroking her arm. "Well… Ren, Nora, you know Pyrrha. She is… not…". They in turn just crossed their arms and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He then looked at the other three members of RWBY.
"She was not hiding it," Ruby said defensively.
"We caught on to it almost immediately" continued Blake.
"I mean… It was really obvious, 'babe'" Yang said sarcastically.
He might not be dying, but his entire relationship with his partner flashed in front of his eyes. "Oh, come on! Am I that stupid!?" he screamed as he began to hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. Now it all made sense! She was jealous! She was madly in love with him and he just acted as if that shouldn't have bothered her. How many broken hearts had he seen with his sisters and not one served as a clue to him? And then it hit him, he treated her like a sister.
Jaune was ready to go down the spiral but was thankfully taken out of it by Weiss. "Jaune! Control yourself!" she yelled at him. "Ok… now that we know what they have against her, what is next?".
That seemed to take Neptune's mind off Jaune. "We need to rescue Sun!" he said while standing up. "If all that we heard about The Pyramid is true…" he said before trailing off. "I don't even want to think what they'll do to him".
"What about Pyrrha?" then asked Nora.
Ren grabbed her by the shoulders to try and calm her down. "Trust me, I am just as worried, but I believe Sun is was more danger right now". With that, everyone set their priorities in order: Save Sun and then save Pyrrha.
"Do we even know where that Pyramid place is?" asked Yang.
"Found it!" exclaimed with excitement Blake. That, in turn, turned into disappointment when she kept on reading. "Crap! It's somewhere down the road to Mistral!".
"So?" Asked Nora.
"It means he is already far away. And from the time it took Neptune to get here, they must have already loaded him on a bullhead or kept on driving".
"So that means…?" Nora asked trying to get more information.
"It means, Nora, that It will take us hours to get there. And that is not counting how long it will take us to get a vehicle" Answered Ren.
"Which we don't have" Yang continued that thought. Sure, she had Bumblebee, but two people in one motorcycle against who knows what kind of mechanical monstrosities did not play good odds in their favor.
"Should we tell Ozpin then?" Asked Ruby. "They have a student from Haven. That would also make Professor Lionheart help us!".
"Declaring all-out war against a company like Seido is not that easy, Ruby!" Weiss scolded. "First, they must make sure that we are telling the truth, and Seido would be formally warned, so that would give them time to escape with Sun! Even worse, they will know someone is on their trail".
"Then how are we supposed to get there immediately without Seido knowing? It's not like we have a teleportation device!" Nora screamed.
Almost immediately then, an idea occurred to Yang. "I have an idea, it's crazy, but it might just work!".
Some were confused, some were exited; only Weiss was angry. "Yang! No! you can't be suggesting what I think you are going to say!".
"Do you have a better idea, Ice-Queen!?".
"How do you know they will be willing to even help us!?".
"I don't. But what other choices do we have!?".
Everyone had then figured out what Yang's plan was. But as much of a long shot as it was, there were not many more options.
"I'm in!" Ruby said with a hand up. Soon after, Nora, Ren, and Neptune joined in, some clearly holding back their doubts.
Blake took her time, but eventually joined in. "You better be sure about this Yang".
Even though there was a clear majority, everyone then turned to look at Jaune. "What?" he asked them with fear and concern present on his voice.
"This decision involves all of us Jaune," Weiss said with her arms crossed. "And, for better or worse, I did agree and convince everyone to let you help until Pyrrha is safe". The tone of her voice was revealing enough to him. She always saw him as the weakest link, and now she was able to confirm it. But she was also a woman of her word, so she would not try to get rid of him yet, at least.
Jaune then turned to look at his teammates. "I know you are here for a reason, Jeauney!" Nora said cheerfully.
"I can't say I am pleased; but until further notice, you are my team leader. And you'll always be my friend" Ren told him.
Looking at the rest of RWBY, he was more than able to see the acceptance of Ruby's face. Blake seemed more on Ren's line of thought, and Yang just looked at him with a raised eyebrow before speaking. "Let's see how we come out of this, then we'll talk about revealing secrets".
Jaune could not ask for any deal better than this one. So, without further thought, he announced his decision. "Lead the way, Yang!". He then stood up, feeling better for the moment, and they all marched towards the only people that could help them.
At the library, team KHTE was currently sitting in one of the many desks next to the entrance. The expressions on their faces, however, were not ones of happiness.
"They are now covering three blocks around the building," Smoke told his team with a crude map he drew. "The entrance via the garbage chute is also gone and they change their patrols with an unknown method at unknown times. Our best course of action? We now need to do double the stakeouts".
"That means we would have to constantly miss classes," Hanzo told him.
"And even if we rotate, the teachers will notice and then start asking questions". Sub Zero concluded.
No matter how much they tried, they were unable to make a new attack plan that worked on their favor. Worse of all, Sektor already knew they were here so his troops were more than ready to counter the infiltration techniques used by both Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu. They kept thinking about what to do until they saw a pencil rolling over the map. That was the alert Ermac agreed to give them when they needed to act normally or when danger was close. Not soon after, a female hand wearing a black fingerless glove slammed their table. All members of KHTE looked up to see Yang. Surprisingly enough for them, she was not playful, angry, scared, or showing any of the emotions they normally saw in her. If anything, it showed determination. She wanted something out of them.
"Can… we help you…?" Sub Zero asked.
"Cut the act, Scarface!" she told him.
Funny enough, only one person in Remnant ever used that nickname on him, and if he looked closely… Yang could almost look like…
"We need your help!" she told them after a while.
Now knowing that more than one person was interested in them, Sub Zero looked at Hanzo. The other boy tapped his pen twice on the table pointing towards behind Sub Zero. There were two behind him. He then looked at Smoke who sniffed twice on his left and once on his right nostril; there were two on Kuai Liang's right and one on his left. Finally, Ermac scratched his eyebrow with two fingers, and he was able to see two people standing still behind another table in front of him.
Sub Zero, however, was calm. They looked to be on the defensive, so there was no risk of this being an attempt on their lives. "We are flattered, but we are not tutoring," he told her as he was then returning to his notes.
"Cut the acting, pal. I know you are related to Seido somehow". All ninjas stopped what they were doing and looked at Yang with eyes wide open. "You use the same dragon symbol they use".
"We do not know what you are talking about, Yang" Hanzo then said. "Now please; leave us, or-".
"I know where the place they use to turn people into machines is!". That did it. The ninjas looked at her once again.
"What did you say?" Sub Zero asked her.
"I know you do not want to hurt us, or the school. You would have done something bad by now otherwise. I also trust Hanzo". She said looking at the yellow ninja. "We have information about their company," she said while showing them quick glimpse and screenshots of their recovered data. "All we ask in return is that you help us recover a friend who is in danger". They said nothing and just kept looking at her, expecting more answers. "A friend of ours was kidnapped by Seido. We also know that whatever that place where they are taking him to is bad. If he returns, it'll be like if he was… a robot".
All ninjas then looked around to see what Yang's 'security' was going to do next. After a moment, they then stood up. "Follow us!" Ermac ordered. "And tell your allies to keep their distance. Or else!".
That last part took Yang by surprise. She expected them to try and be threatening, but there was something in the way Ermac said it that made her believe it. None the less, she agreed to their terms.
Team KHTE took all teens to the bathroom from the other night. Yang then wasted no time expressing her concerns. "So… why did you bring us-". Almost instantly, Smoke turned around and fired a cloud under Yang which made her disappear Just as the others arrived. They were already getting their weapons out but never noticed when Sub Zero used his ice blasts to freeze their feet and then Ermac using his telekinesis to take their weapons away. Then, as soon as they were weaponless, Yang reemerged from a cloud on the roof and fell on her back. Hanzo then grabbed her by the wrists, forced on her knees, and placed the spear on her neck. The situation was tense, but it only got worse when the spear got so hot it started to shine a bright red and white.
"You are right; we do have a connection with Seido". Sub Zero said, but his tone and face emanated an aura of threat and danger. "But you are also right by distinguishing us from them". That calmed things down a little… only a little. "Now… why are you seeking our help specifically? And how did you manage to get this 'information' from Seido?".
Yang was genuinely having a panic attack right now. Even with aura, that spear could still cause so much pain. She then looked at the others, who even though were angry, knew there were no other moves for them to make. She then gulped and answered. "We started following Seido because we found out they were dealing with big-time criminals; but the more we investigated, the stranger things got. One of our friends started to work on the hotel as a spy, and thanks to him we got some files, but we are unable to read them". That checked out. There was no reason as to why Sektor would change the way he did things only because he was now on another universe. "But that friend was kidnapped earlier today. The place where they took him is very far away, there is no way we can reach him by normal means, but we know you guys can somehow teleport".
"So, you admit you were following us the other night?" Hanzo asked her.
"Yeah, obviously I just did!".
"And what is stopping us from getting the coordinates to this 'factory' by other means?" Sub Zero asked.
"Because you are not bad people. I now know you guys might be messed up, but you know we are not your enemies. You would have started killing us one by one otherwise to make sure I was telling the truth".
Sub Zero thought deeply about what to do now. After a long time, he then spoke. "Ermac, break the ice!". The red ninja then used the weapons he was holding to do that. "Hanzo, let her go!". The other ninja just nodded and followed that order.
Yang then fell to the floor as all of team KHTE stepped back and aligned themselves. All the other seven students ran to help Yang, and some looked at the ninjas with anger. That quickly dissipated when they saw the complete seriousness with which the other four were looking at them. "Name your terms". Sub Zero told them.
Ruby and Jaune then stepped forward. "You will take us with you". Jaune told them.
"We know who is it that we are looking for, and he will trust familiar faces after what we think might have happened". Ruby continued.
KHTE did not break their formation. They just looked at each other and nodded in approval. Smoke then stepped out of line and went inside the bathroom. Everyone else stayed still until Smoke returned from the bathroom. "All set," he said before going back in.
"We'll be back with our terms," Sub Zero told them. "It is now we who ask for your trust".
"Do we have another choice?" Neptune asked. A hint of annoyance in his voice.
"We vow to return" was all Sub Zero said.
They waited a few seconds before Weiss then went and opened the door; and just as she was expecting, they were now gone.
- Seconds before -
"Mjr. Briggs, we are ready. Open the portal!" Sub Zero said to a medallion, and shortly after, a light blue portal emerged in the middle of the bathroom. "Gentlemen…" he said while pointing to the portal. All the ninjas walked through it and were teleported to the now little-less-decrepit house where they first arrived.
One of the major changes was that now the living room had fourteen seats, and just as Ermac entered first, a gun was now being pointed on the side of his head. "General Sonya Blade," the red ninja said with his multiple voices and eyes glowing green. "Are we still doing this?" the voices said, clearly tired of this routine.
"You may have gained Raiden's trust, Ermac. But we still have a lot of ground to cover". Said a young blonde woman with a ponytail and a short bang of hair over her left eye wearing a brown leather jacket over a black midriff shirt, camo pants, a black bandana, and black combat boots.
"We apologized for what happened in Outworld years ago". Ermac reminded her.
Sonya then placed her pistol back on its holster before stepping aside and allowing Ermac to enter. "But Jax's arms have not grown back yet, have they?" she asked sarcastically.
"General" Hanzo greeted her before taking one of the seats. "Enjoying the spell of youth, it seems".
"Hey! Scorpy! Eyes off the lady!". A young brunette man with shades, a blue rolled-up blue shirt, black vest hoodie, and jeans said as he stepped in with a bag of chips in hand. Hanzo's smile disappeared as his hand began to produce fire. "Sorry, sorry, forgot about that. My bad".
Another portal then opened and from it, four more figures emerged. "Liu-Liu. Lao" the brunette greeted.
"Johnny Cage… great to see you too" said one of the men in the group, annoyance present in his voice. He was wearing a dark blue vest with a silver dragon design over a blue shirt, blue pants, strapped boots, and a loincloth with red markings on it. His most notorious feature, however, was a metallic hat over his deep black braided hair.
His companion, a young man with shoulder-length black hair wearing a red bandana, a white robe-like shirt, a black vest, and black pants and shoes, on the other hand, decided to ignore the nickname and addressed all others present. "Sorry for the delay. Sadly, Kitana and Jade will not be able to join us this night. It happened just as she announced a bid for student representative".
"Ever the politician," Cage said while patting the other man's shoulder. "I feel you, man. For my lady, it's the army-way or the highway".
Their conversation was then interrupted when one last person: a big dark-skinned young man with metal arms wearing a brown vest over a black shirt, green cargo pants, and black boots smoking a cigar. "Don't worry, Liu Kang. Old Kenshi is also out. Poor guy got stuck in tutor duty".
"Aren't you a little young to be smoking, Major?" Asked the man with the hat.
"Very funny, Kung Lao. I've been dying to get one of these for weeks! Damn academy rules!".
Soon, everyone took a seat and Sonya activated a small machine which then projected a hologram of Fujin. "Thank you for coming on so short notice, everyone. Master Kuai Liang, I beg of you to make this meeting short. You all are more than aware of the amount of energy that requires communicating through the tears" the hologram said.
Wasting no time. Sub Zero stood up and addressed everyone. "As you know, the invaders from Orderrealm are based on Vale; and our most recent plan to infiltrate them was ruined because of the terrorist attack". Everyone nodded in acknowledgment. "Not only that, but we are now more than sure that Sektor is a full-time collaborator of them, but knowing him, his main factory is not in the hotel".
Sonya then leaned forward and spoke to him "Well… then we just need to figure out the coverup they are using for the factory, get there, make a plan, and attack". Everyone but the ninjas nodded in agreement.
Sub Zero then took a quick breath before continuing. "About that… we have bad news and good news". Now everyone was looking disappointed. "Seido Industries has well over fifty facilities and businesses throughout Remnant".
"That is not including their more than one hundred third-party businesses" Smoke added.
Cage then sighed before interrupting them. "You are not making a good pitch here, guys. Better get things up or the investors are gone!".
Hanzo then stood up. "The good news is that we have a source, that we believe is trustworthy, who can pinpoint an exact location for the main factory".
Johnny Cage was about to begin a preemptive celebration but was then stopped by Sonya. "Looking at your faces, I have a feeling we won't like what is coming next". She then crossed her arms before resting her back on the chair once again. "There are conditions, aren't there?".
The ninjas went silent for a moment, but then Sub Zero continued. "One of their friends was captured by Seido Industries. They are offering the factory's location and classified information in exchange for us allowing them to come and help their friend".
Everyone then turned towards Fujin, their de facto guide, who was thinking deeply about what to do. "Maybe we can convince them to let us do the rescue. We would need to reveal ourselves slowly before negotiations start".
"Actually…" Smoke then said. "We need to attack tonight".
The quiet and formal discussion then turned into a nagging fest as everyone present but Fujin expressed their discontent for the situation. After a while, Sonya then shot pink energy from her wrist-guns and managed to make everyone silent. Johnny then raised his hand and spoke soon after. "Guys, we can't do it without raising suspicions. We are here now because it's free time, but Sonya scheduled a meeting with General Ironwood about following a lead on a new black market boss; and if we miss it, White-haired Sonya is going to grill us and keep us under surveillance twenty-four-seven!".
While Cage was telling the truth about Ironwood's right-hand woman punishing them for missing the meeting, Sony had more than made clear her dislike of said comparison. "For the last time, Johnny: I-am-no-thing-like-her!". She then looked at Jax while pointing at Johnny.
To her dismay, he did not back her up. "Come on, girl; don't make me do this".
It was then Liu Kang who expressed his concern. "We are unable to help as well. As soon as Kitana's event is over, we must follow a shady investor from Mistral. We believe he has proof of the Brotherhood of Shadow acting up in our kingdom. If we lose him tonight, there will be no more leads".
"Ok, ok, everyone, I know we all look hot as hell, but let's think this like adults". Johnny told everyone before he faced the ninjas. "Maybe your source is a good and reliable one. So, who is going to reveal the location of the Tekunin horror-shop?".
Sub Zero and his team could not blame the others for being against an immediate raid. They were also more than sure that the next piece of information would do anything but help their cause. "It's a group of huntsmen…" Sub Zero started and everyone listened. "Their main negotiator is named Yang Xiao Long". Now came the big one. "And they are students from Beacon".
Surprisingly, no one in the room said anything. They just looked at the ninjas with concern. "Pass!" Johnny Cage then said before turning around and sitting down.
"Wait… what?" then asked Kung Lao.
Johnny then wasted no time expressing his concern. "They can't be any older than eighteen; they are still children. And I, for one, am not in favor of leaving any parent child-less!".
On a past time, Johnny's words would have never left his mouth. But now, they understood where his concern came from.
"The conditions of this universe shape the fates of teenagers in a different way, Johnny Cage". Liu Kang said calmly. "They know that danger and death await at a young age and some train to fight against it".
"Uhh, no. They train to fight mutant animals, not to be maimed by killer ninja robots! Hell, maybe the sicko wants some teen-droids or something. Are they even aware of what they are digging themselves into!? Besides, what happened to complete secrecy!?".
Sonya, surprisingly, then patted his back. "Johnny, you know this is not on the same level as Cas, right? You know she would travel any known and unknown realm to help one of her own, those kids are doing the same". His face still showed he was not on board, but at least he was listening. "Liu Kang is right, what they do at a young age it's amazing, and if they are willing to bring him back it's because they are capable. You are right, I am not entirely comfortable sending kids to Sektor's shop, but if the masters trust them, maybe we should?".
Johnny thought for a moment what she about what she said, and after a long time, he then replied with one question. "How many are they?".
"Eight" Hanzo answered.
"You only take half at most! Also: You do the fighting IF there is any; they get their friend and get out".
The ninjas nodded among themselves and then everyone looked at Fujin's hologram. "I can't say I am in favor of having inhabitants of this world fighting our battles. But I also know that time is of the essence. When this is over, all of them are out of this. No one else finds out, understood?".
The ninjas then placed their left fist against their right palms and bowed. "Understood, Lord Fujin".
"Good. Dismissed!".
"Do you think they bailed on us?" Weiss asked a worried Ruby.
"I want to believe they didn't" she answered her partner.
Most of the conspirators were sitting on the floor in front of the bathroom doors. Only Yang and Neptune were standing; Yang tapping her foot against the floor hopping her gut was right telling them they knew some of the truth about Seido Industries, and Neptune walking back and forth, dreading what could be happening to Sun right now.
Everything then changed when they heard the mechanisms of the door turning, and their hopes went up when KHTE emerged from the bathroom to form the same line as before. They all then looked at Yang, and she walked away from her group to stand in front of Sub Zero. When she was in place, the other boys then took a step back. "Before we agree to anything, we have conditions," he told her; and even though she was trying to appear intimidating to them, they still emanated dread with only the seriousness on their faces. "One: Only four of you will accompany us to this mission; where we are about to go is beyond dangerous, and the fewer people go, the better. Two: You will stop conspiring against Seido; there is more to this than you know, and you are better not knowing beyond what you will see tonight. Three: You are not to tell of what happens tonight to any other living soul; if you do, we will find out".
They knew from the tone and way he said it that the last part was more than truth. Yang then turned around and faced the whispering faces of her allies. After a moment, they all nodded. Jaune then quickly got to the front and spoke to the ninjas. "I have one more favor to ask after this: Please save Pyrrha Nikos. She is being held hostage by the heads of Seido, and I fear for what could happen to her".
Kuai Liang's face showed no emotion. Tomas then whispered something on his ear, and he seemed to consider what the other said. He then looked at Jaune and answered his request. "Fine. But all of you will owe us a favor; no questions asked. We promise the favor will not put any of your lives or reputations in danger".
"Deal!" Yang quickly said and presented her open hand. Kuai Liang then shook it.
"Choose the four people who will come with us. We will all go to the dormitories, so leave five minutes after us. Make sure no one follows you" was all Kuai Liang said before he and his team left.
When the five minutes head-start was over, the eight teens then made their ways to the dormitory building.
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Sorry if I didn't have all members of the other teams show up. Too many cooks in a kitchen.
For references:
-MK11 Normal Liu Kang
-MKX human Kung Lao
-Mk11 Jade (Honored tradition costume)
-MK11 Kitana (Edenian Blue)
-MKX Johnny Cage
-MK:SM Sonya
-MK11 Normal Jax (No beard)
-MKX Normal Kenshi