LXIV - Alpine
~~~(LXIV)~~~
Above, in the skies of Atlas, Manta airships patrolled the air while keeping in communication with each other over the radio. They could hear a few bits and pieces come through to their ship as they flew. As they approached, a woman spoke to their craft as they got closer to the city. "Manta 5-1. Welcome home. Please continue your approach to Atlas docking bay Omega-12. A security team will meet you there. Over."
Those aboard the stolen Manta ignored the communication and instead looked around at the large military air fleet surrounding the kingdom's capital. It got more impressive the closer they got. Large ships stood ready, watching over the nation below.
"I don't understand. What's happening here?"
"I don't know."
"Didn't you say that Cordovin was worried about the other kingdoms attacking them?" Ruby looked over at him curiously and he continued. "Well, Cinder hacked the knights and Roman took over Ironwood's flagship, destroying the other ones. And before the CCT went down, the whole planet saw Atlas forces attacking Vale. They must be preparing for a possible war."
"But that has nothing to do with why we're here. We just needed to get the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers. Do we know anyone here that might be able to help us?"
Answering Jaune's question, Weiss looked away from the window. "I'm not sure any of my family's contacts would be of any help. They all answer to my father. Besides, I've never seen our forces deployed so aggressively before, they wouldn't stick their necks out for me. If we land in a stolen ship at the landing area, there's no way the security team will let us anywhere near Ironwood. They might even take me back to my father." She looked genuinely worried about that. And for good reason apparently.
"Like hell we'll let em." Oxon gave the girl a confident smile. One that was probably lessened in effectiveness due to the bandages on him. Thankfully Ruby also came to put her at ease.
"We won't let you be taken away again." Her silver eyes were determined in a way that made the nervous girl relax.
"Thank you, both of you."
Blake, wanting to speak and yet not interrupt the moment, tried to shift the subject. "So…"
Weiss suddenly looked up with bright eyes. "Winter!" Weiss brought out her scroll and began looking through her contacts.
Weiss then spoke to Maria. "Put some distance between us and the fleet."
"You don't have to tell me twice." As Weiss walked to the back of the ship, Maria steered the ship toward Mantle. Oxon wanted to follow, but knew she probably wanted to speak to her sister privately. Looking down, they saw knights patrolling the streets. They flew past a giant screen on the side of a skyscraper, and as they did, Ironwood's voice came from the screen, catching his attention.
"- cannot express our appreciation enough. Many describe these as uncertain times, and while that may be the case for the rest of the world, I can tell you what is certain: The kingdom of Atlas will remain strong, and it will remain safe. That is my promise."
Oxon was surprised at the sudden change in appearance of the general. His uniform had changed, as had his face. He was no longer clean shaven, but instead sported a decent beard. I wonder if I could pull that off? His thoughts came to an end as the sisters spoke up.
"General Ironwood. He looks…"
"Tired."
Qrow, being the only one to know the general, looked at the screen with concern. "James, what have you been doing?"
"His best?" The older man gave Oxon an incredulous look. "I mean, his pride and joy were corrupted and turned against him, humiliating the kingdom. Now he has to worry about the other three wanting revenge. Despite it not being his fault. I can't fault wanting to keep his people safe."
Before Qrow could retort, the stolen Manta received contact over the radio.
"Manta 5-1, we've noticed a detour in your route. You are to make your way to docking bay Omega 12 immediately. Do you copy? Over."
"We're kind of running out of time here, kids."
"We need to ditch the ship."
"Agreed. Get lost in Mantle and buy ourselves some time."
Oxon nodded at the old man's plan, though he turned back to Weiss after she returned from the back. "Any luck with Winter? I doubt she'd be enthusiastic about me and Qrow, but did she say she'd help?"
"No, unfortunately I was unable to reach her; perhaps she is busy. But don't worry, my sister can take us to Ironwood safely." Blake, who had been gazing out of a window, looked back to them over her shoulder.
"Uh, Weiss?"
Weiss walked over to Blake's side and looked out the window as a familiar voice played from a giant screen.
"A reminder." It was the voice of Winter Schnee…
"Huh?"
"Failure to cooperate with Atlas military personnel is a punishable offense. If your sector is under lockdown…"
Weiss looked shocked at the stern tone coming from her sister. "Winter?"
Qrow gave the girl a small frown as he took it all in. "No offense, Weiss, but I'm not sure that's a good idea anymore." Weiss tensed her shoulders and turned to Qrow, fists clenched.
"There's obviously something very wrong. If we can just talk to her, then we-"
"Look, I'm not even sure we should be talking to Ironwood until we know exactly what's going on with Mantle."
"But-"
Oxon unintentionally cut her off as he looked at the huntsman in confusion, which slowly morphed into frustration. "What? But meeting with Ironwood is the whole reason we're here in the first place! I'm sure Weiss' sister would be willing to help us out, this isn't Haven!"
"We don't know that! Ironwood should be loyal to Oz, but what I'm seeing here is so far beyond normal. We need to get more Intel."
Sure, we're worried about whether or not Weiss' dad might try and lock her up again. And I'm not positive on the treatment I'll receive, but surely going up to the academy is our best move."
"Everyone, calm down." The old woman sighed in annoyance before giving a smile. "I know someone who can help with both."
The Atlas air traffic operator was starting to become angry at their ship's silence. "Manta 5-1, you are to make your-"
Maria slammed her hand down, shutting off the radio and giving off an annoyed huff. "Geez, lady, take a hint!"
With her piece said, Maria landed the stolen Manta in an abandoned lot in Mantle. After gathering their supplies, the group followed Maria through the alleyways of the city. Since she was the guide, she had volunteered to check if the coast was clear before the rest walked out into the street. Looking back and forth, she must have seen that the coast was clear, picking up her cane and walking normally, everyone else exited the alley to follow her.
Down the road, the group watched as a small group of Atlas soldiers ran down a street in the direction that they left the ship. "It landed over there, let's go!"
Once sure they weren't about to be caught, the group began walking through Mantle together. Trucks drove past here and there, either with equipment or people while Atlesian Knights stood guard on various sidewalks. Oxon kept the group between him and the bots in case they could identify him.
Further down, he watched as a small child placed a poster of a white-haired woman on a street lamp, looking around, he saw similar posters for this "Hill" person who was running for office. Over a few screens, a variety of news reports were shown. Some more worrying than others.
"Missing Journalist Found Slain"
"Election Imminent! Mantle Hometown Hero vs Atlesian Tycoon"
"Embargo: The Right Call? Pressure and Criticism Continues to Mount on Council"
"Outer Wall Damaged; Resources Stalled"
The group walked past a garage with graffiti art reading "Show Your Teeth." Something that made him think of the Fang, but doubted they had a presence here in Atlas. Hopefully…
"Come on now, hurry! It shouldn't be much of a walk."
Jaune turned to the Atlas native with a questioning look. "Is this many soldiers normal?" The girl looked uncertain as she eyed the high security.
"No. At least, I didn't think so.'
"The city lives up to the tales from the elders. Oppressive leaders and a disgruntled populace…" Even though it seemed like this was outside of the norm according to Weiss, Oxon found the kingdom to be disappointing. The floating city above had looked much more advanced in comparison to the city left in its shadow. Weiss looked uncomfortable at his remarks, making him feel bad. "I'm sure it used to be better, before this."
"I had hoped that when you saw my home, that you would have been impressed. I was excited to show that whatever issues your home had with Mantle, had been wiped away in the revolution…" She looked around at the signs of disconnect at the people above. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, we can blame Ironwood or the council." He thought for a moment before changing his answer. "Or Salem for causing all this division in the first place."
He received a small, grateful smile from the small girl. "Thank y-" The sound of a metal clang has them snapping their head to the side just in time to see some sort of metal object get knocked into the street and run over by a car.
Yang was looking into the street and cringing at the object's destruction. "Ooh…" Yang turned to see everyone else staring at her. She awkwardly shifted her posture and gave them a sheepish smile.
"Maybe we should pick up the pace."
Everyone resumed walking forward while Oxon spared one last glance at the thing. He wondered what it was.
As they walked Oxon stared up at the underside of Atlas, the many connections leading from the surface gave it a rather jellyfish-like look. Like the thing was a watcher, looming over a lesser people. He didn't like it and made his complaints known.
Maria shook her head as they continued forward. "You have to remember, the Kingdom had just lost the Great War. The people of Mantle needed a sign of a brighter future, and that sign was Atlas. After all, a home in the clouds is as bright as it gets." The others looked up at the flying city of Atlas. It was an impressive marvel of technology, but still…
On a nearby screen, the earlier broadcast from Winter played out once again. Its message was quickly drowned out when a pair of trucks drove by with a few miners sitting in the beds. They had a dirty loom from their long day down in the earth. Once gone, they could again hear her broadcast.
"We are here for your safety. Thank you for your cooperation."
Nora spoke up, unimpressed by the cold kingdom. "A "bright future" huh? Unless you're the one having to look up at it."
"This whole city, it just seems awful."
"Yeah, I see why my great grandfather founded Prism. He had the right idea about leaving this place." Weiss begrudgingly nodded her head at the critical opinions, Oxon knew he'd need to try to cheer her up later.
From the side, a drunken voice calls out from nearby. "Yeah?" The drunk man comes stumbling down from the porch of an unimpressive home..
"You don't like it here? There's plenty of space out in the tundra." A second intoxicated man weakly cheered his buddy on.
Blake, ever the diplomat, sighed and made to apologize. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Atlas is the greatest Kingdom in the world, alright?!"
Ruby stepped forward to confront him, but was pushed aside by Oxon. "He- huh?"
"Oh please, Atlas isn't the best city on the continent." The man scowled at Oxon's bashing of his home. "I'm sure some coastal fishing hamlet could outshine this piss-"
Blake stepped forward and pulled on the back of his belt. He paused long enough for her to whisper at him. "We can't cause a scene. Especially not you." Oxon grumbled in annoyance but accepted it anyway. He knew she was right.
The drunk man's stoop sitting stooge, emboldened by his drink, came to back up his partner. "The embargo... The embargo's got us in a rough patch. But it'll blow over, you'll see."
Drunky number one groaned loudly at that. "We try an' help the other kingdoms, and this is what happens? I say let 'em rot!" Well, the embargo was an issue he could sympathize with. It was a big problem for the blue collar workers down here.
"I apologize. I didn't mean to insult you."
The drunk man spat on the ground, glaring at Blake. He sneered at her for a moment before his eyes flicked up. The sneer deepened. "Stupid Faunus like you wouldn't unders-"
That- That was a mistake…
Drunko looked down to unscrew his flask and paused when he saw a black glyph spin to life beneath his feet. His glasses hover off his face for a moment before Oxon stepped forward, placing a strong hand around the prick's greasy neck. His eyes widened in surprise as he attempted to free himself when he was lifted up. The man's weak drunken hands could never hope to compete with Oxon's higher strength. Moving to the nearby alley, Oxon pulled open the lid of the nastiest one he smelled and dropped him into it. To add further insult, Oxon emptied the man's flask on his head while giving him the stink eye.
"He-hey! You can't treat me like thi-" Oxon didn't let the man finish before letting the dumpster lid fall. Muffling any sounds.
Dusting his hands off, he turned to a shocked crowd with a satisfied grin. Weiss had Myrtenaster ready for her plan to use a glyph on the asshole, but he wouldn't let her dirty her hands when he could do it himself. The good should stay good.
Blake had an odd look on her face. It was a mix of surprise, gratitude, and annoyance. "What did I just tell you?" Oxon shrugged without any shame at his actions.
"Hey, it's not like I'm known for my kindness or anything. Besides, the guy had it coming." He sent a glare at the stunned second guy, who took the message and fled down the opposite direction. His satisfaction ended when from around the corner, a pair of Atlesian Knights came to investigate the shouts.
"Ah crud, it's the fuzz!" Yang's strange comment went over his head, but didn't question it.
After a moment more of walking, the group approached a building with a glowing green plus symbol above its front door. Some kind of clinic it seemed. As they get closer, the group flinched when the side door opens, and a faunus woman with a prosthetic arm exits, waving cheerfully to the man who spoke to her from inside.
"And no more heavy-lifting, ya hear?"
Taking the lead once more, Maria entered the building with a large smile. "Ah, it's good to see you again, old friend." Once inside, Oxon saw an older man was sitting behind the desk while shuffling things around in a drawer. He didn't greet them, having probably not heard the woman. Maria cleared her throat, startling him, and he lifted his head to look at her while shutting the drawer.
"Ah, yes, yes." The man was pushing a stack of paper aside while he looked at the short elder. "Have we met?"
Oxon sent the woman an exasperated look as Ren walked inside and voiced his annoyance. "Well, this is off to a fantastic start."
"Cybernetic optical implants." The woman pointed to her eyes. "You adjust them. Every ten years or so?"
He stared at her for a few moments before throwing his hands cheerfully into the air. "Maria!" The man began walking out from behind the desk, exposing the robotic chair he was seated in. The sight had Oxon take a small step back in surprise.
"Yes, with the cybernetic optical implants! I adjust them every ten years or so." He offered his hand to her and led her to a nearby examination table with a laugh. "Oh wow, has it been that long already?"
"Ah, I know. I age like a fine wine." Oxon held back from voicing his heavy doubt. "Would've been here sooner if I hadn't run into these jokers. At the time, I thought they might need my guidance while fighting a little old Sphinx."
"Oh, did they?"
"No, no. They had much more complicated issues." Like the Grimm Queen, terrorists working against them and with them, the whole relic quest, and much more personal issues between them all.
Qrow cleared his throat to get a word in. "And this is?"
"So impatient. I didn't think I'd need to introduce one of Atlas' finest minds."
Yang raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Working in a place like this?" As if to emphasize her point, the building creaked, and a ceiling tile fell to the floor.
"He likes to keep a low profile. Something I've come to realize none of you know anything about."
Oxon waved his hand at her indignantly. "Hey, I don't like attention either!" He let the others do everything for the most part. He was a wallflower in Beacon and wasn't about to change now.
The woman gave him what might have been a glare, but it was hard to tell. "Says the school-destroying former terrorist that's not-so-subtly chasing after the richest teen on the planet." He raised a finger to defend himself, but lowered it with an embarrassed blush. She wasn't wrong… He noticed Weiss go stiff a bit further down. She probably was not enthusiastic about that issue being outed…
His blood froze when the old man began to inspect Oxon a bit more. "I-I'm sorry, what?"
He sent the woman a glare from his spot behind the others. He wanted to say something, but thankfully Ruby came to his defense.
"Ahah, she's a real joker that Maria. I'm pretty sure she's misremembering what happened… Oxon helped defend Haven with us, Argus too. He's definitely not a terrorist." It was a less than stellar try… The young girl wasn't good at deceit, clearly…
"Ignoring the comedy act," Qrow put a hand on his niece's head and lightly pushed her back. "We still never got your name, Dr..?"
Pietro looked between the group with a nervous chuckle. "You can call me Pietro. No "Doctor" is necessary."
"He's got the finest heart in the kingdom, too. This pharmacy is just where he volunteers when he's not building the future of Atlas alongside Ironwood, up in the clouds."
That finally seemed to distract him from Oxon, who let out a relieved sigh to be no longer under inspection. "Oh, it's so stuffy up there. Down here, I get to help the locals and have a little fun. I'm currently working on shoes that make you dance. Wanna try 'em on?"
"YES!"
The eyes of the others widened in fear at how Nora might abuse such items. Thankfully Yang intervened. "Before we get to that, we were wondering if you could help us. We came to Atlas hoping to talk to General Ironwood, but um…"
"What exactly has been happening here?"
Pietro coughed into his fist at the question. "Well, the Fall of Beacon took a toll on all of us. James was no different. I couldn't tell you exactly what it was he saw there, but it changed him. He's…"
The man seemed to be looking for the right word, Qrow helped him out. "He's scared."
Pietro shook his head briefly. "Paranoid would be the more appropriate term. You have to understand, it wasn't just the Grimm. Someone completely dismantled Atlas security code, made it their play-thing, and made us look like traitors to some and buffoons to everyone else. Whoever managed to do that is either a genius or one of our own. I fear the answer may be both, and so does the general."
"Maybe Atlas isn't as safe as we thought."
"After we came all this way, we can't just leave, can we?"
"Soooo…. Vacuo?" Oscar gave him a shake of his head.
"No, it will be too difficult to commandeer another aircraft now that we're in Atlas."
Weiss stepped forward with a conflicted look on her face. "How does the council feel about all of this? Or Winter Schnee? Do you know anything about her?"
"Well, the council's so scared, they'll agree to whatever he wants. Though, some representatives from Mantle…" The man trailed off as he looked more at Weiss. "Wait, you're… You're Weiss Schnee!"
Weiss gasped and took a nervous step back, with the others looking just as nervous.
"That gonna be a problem?" Oxon crossed his arms, he knew from Beacon that not everyone loved the Schnee name. Flynt was a prime example. The man made to speak before Yang stepped forward.
"Wait, what was it that you were trying to say about Mantle?"
Pietro ignored her words, instead he was looking at the prosthetic arm of hers. "You painted it."
Yang paused, confused by his weird mumblings. "What?"
"Is everything okay?" The man began looking around at the group with a wide eyed gaze. Eventually, he realized something and gave them a big grin.
"You're team RWBY!" The girls of said team looked at each other in confusion.
"You know us!?"
"Oh, my girl, I do. I most certainly do. And I feel like such a dunce for not recognizing you sooner. My daughter's told me so much about you." Wait… What!?
Oxon nervously looked around the office for any signs of danger. The man seemed harmless, but that hardly meant anything in this world. If this guy had a daughter that went there, she might have known about me… Maria's words might clue him in on my identity as well. I don't know how televised my arrest and trial was here in Atlas, but no doubt some people might recognize me!
Ruby looked at the doctor as Oxon inched closer to the door. "Your… daughter?"
Their conversation was blessedly interrupted by the sound of an alarm blaring outside, accompanied by the not so welcome sound of people screaming. Looking outside the glass doors, they watched as civilians were running around and the lights in the street lamps turned red.
"Ah, trouble."
"Grimm, most likely." Oxon had never been happier to have the shadowy monsters turn up. This was a nice and easy way to excuse himself out of the building and away from the high up Atlas scientist who may hold a grudge against anyone who helped attack Beacon.
"Ox!? Wait up!" He didn't listen to the sounds of Ruby as he rushed outside. He definitely ignored the yells from the balding man asking them to wait.
As the first outside, Oxon beat everyone else in the group and drew his weapons first. There was still a bit of soreness from earlier in the day, but his test on the ride had him feeling refreshed. His aura was not quite full, roughly in the low seventies when they landed.
"I guess the city defenses aren't doing much."
"I saw a report on a screen that said repairs had been stalled for the wall here. So this might be a recent issue. That or Atlas doesn't care."
"Somehow, neither one would surprise me."
Down the road from them, growling is heard and increased in volume. From around a corner, an Atlesian Knight was thrown against a lamp post, breaking both. Another robot was thrown into a building, and three more back up into view, shooting at some sort of feline Grimm, which tackle and destroy them one by one.
"Well, we didn't come this far to fail now!" With that, Ruby changed Crescent Rose into its scythe form and aimed the barrel toward the cats, which finished destroying the Atlesian Knights and after seeing them, charged toward the group. Oxon aimed Bulls Breath, hoping to thin their numbers before they even arrived.
As she loves to do, Yang charged forth using recoil from her gauntlet to propel her into the fray. She was quickly followed by Ren launching himself forward. Much to his partner's annoyance.
"Hey!"
Getting an idea, Nora looked to Jaune, who looked startled by the grin on her face. She used Magnhild to pole vault toward Jaune, who put up his shield in quick response. This action allowed her to land on it and kick off from his shield, launching herself after the other two.
Oxon raised an eyebrow at the interesting way of closing the distance as he kneeled down to give himself more stability. With a trigger squeeze, a bullet flew true, impacting into the open mouth of a Grimm, just in time for Yang to attempt to punch it and instead hitting smoke. She looked back at him with red eyes.
"No kill stealing!"
"Uh…Sorry?" Oxon didn't understand the issue, dead Grimm was dead Grimm. But he decided to focus on supporting those who might appreciate his help. A few rounds to help Blake, who still had her broken weapon, allowed her to easily deal with her own foes.
Down the way, he noticed a pair of them turn their attention to Oscar. The first charged him, and he leapt into the air and stabbed at its skull with Ozpin's cane. Oxon gave a surprised smile as the blow killed the beast, but focused up once more when the second came at Oscar's back. It leapt at the distracted kid, only to be sniped by him and Ruby simultaneously, hers hitting it's head while his tore open it's throat.
Oscar gave a thankful wave and thumbs up at the two and made to fight some more. And it seemed like Ruby was done playing support now. It was fine, he was more than enough to keep watch over the others.
None of the Grimm got near him, they were being decimated by the rest, while he shot a few here and there. His easy time had lasted too long, it seemed. From behind him, a group of the large cat Grimm were coming at them. Letting out a tired sigh as he stood up, he put Bulls Breath on his back and put his left hand on the grip of New Leaf.
Oxon waited as the first got closer, and he waited until it was almost upon him. Twenty feet… twelve feet… nine feet… three feet! At the close proximity, the large toothed mouth of the monster opened up as if to take off his face. Oxon quickly drew out his shotgun and shoved its barrel into the jaws of the beast. It tried to bite through his heavy gauntlet, but he'd pulled the trigger before it could regret it.
It turned to smoke with a loud bang and the momentum meant the haze covered him. "Shit, I think I swallowed some of it…" Spitting out the black vapor, he knew he'd need to wash out that taste.
Stepping out of the black cloud, he saw three others quickly sprinting at him. He quickly slid a fresh shell into it and held it at the ready and tensing. He didn't need to. The three beasts became enveloped in a black light, pinning them in place, and he knew who had done it.
Not letting her effort go to waste, Oxon shoved a bit of aura into his legs, giving him a boost of speed to begin hitting the stuck Grimm. In scant seconds, he chopped through them with his smaller ax blade. Once done, he found himself next to the one who gave him the easy prey. The girl and he shared a smile as yet more came at them.
"This brings me back, it's been a while since we've fought together like this." The girl sent him a smile as she sent a bolt of lightning at a charging Grimm, destroying it. "Right after the dance, if I recall."
Oxon bashed one with his fist, cracking its mask, before sinking his ax into its compromised defense. "If I recall, your team seemed to be a magnet for chaos back in Vale. On multiple occasions. I'm not sure if it's nostalgic or worrying that the trend has held strong since. Vale, Haven, Menagerie, Argus, and now Mantle. I bet Vacuo is going to turn us away if we ever try and go there!" His smug grin was met with a pout as she sent a spike of ice over his shoulder into a mid-air Grimm.
"I'll have you know, none of those were my fault. I still believe Blake to be the true magnet for trouble." She sent an eye to the others as they fought, probably at the black haired girl. They and the rest were doing well, but more Grimm - Sabyrs, Weiss called them - continued to pour out into the street. "Besides, I distinctly remember you being present at the chaos in the recent locations. Menagerie especially."
"Fair point. But Blake and I showed up late to Haven, that ones all you guys."
Weiss and Oxon worked in tandem, supporting each other and making sure neither took a bit from the beasts. The elemental barrage either killed or put the Sabyrs in a position for Oxon's to finish them. Conversely, Oxon's shield saw occasional use in halting the charge of one before it could reach the small girl, a good bash often stunned it long enough for Weiss to end it.
"Either way," Oxon slugged a Sabyr in the face and Weiss struck it in the heart. "I don't think it's a coincidence that bad things happen when we roll through. Just one town, one town without things going wrong. Is that too much to ask for?"
"Probably." Weiss grumbled as a pair of Sabyrs charged the two. Oxon held up Bulls Breath and Patris while Weiss spun her rapier's cylinder, causing a small bit of flame to dance on the tip. Right before they could attack, however, a bright beam of light cut the two in half. Oxon and Weiss looked on in shock as more rays rained down from above and soon, the alarms throughout the city stopped, and the street lamps changed back to their normal color.
The assembled fighters watched as a figure with long orange hair flew into view, with green jets coming from their feet. The figure, a girl, twirled in the air and slowly descended. In only a few seconds after she landed, he heard Ruby gasp at the girl with a look of recognition.
"Penny!" It was indeed the once dead robot girl. The one he'd helped kill… She looked like new, and looking much different as well.
Oxon took a nervous step back at the sight of her. What in the hell..?
~~~(LXIV)~~~
Crazy to think we're already in season seven. If I'd known it would have been so quick to get here, I'd have written more chapters for the Vale Arc. Ugh.
Going on my fishing trip today after this has been posted. Pray for my success, yeah?
Omake: We're not menaces, right? Right?
~~~(LXIV)~~~
"What on Remnant is this nonsense!?"
Ruby looked up from her pancakes as her partner looked at something on her scroll. Ruby was still tired and sore from the events of the previous night. Fighting Torchwick at the docks after a day of searching for Blake left their team pretty tired. Except for Weiss apparently.
It must be that "espresso" she always goes on about.
"Yo, Weissy, what's wrong?"
The icy girl looked up to give her sister a flat look. Though it soon morphed into one of frustration as she looked down at the source of her anger.
"It's this news article about our team!" She leaned forward and positioned her device for the sisters to see. "It has you and Blake painted as some crazed, destructive teens. That Ruby and Blake did more damage than the White Fang!"
On the screen, there was an image of Ruby, Blake, Sun, and an irate Gynda in front of a police cordon. Above it was the headline: "Heroic Huntresses, or Juvenile Menaces?" It definitely wasn't a good image, especially with the still-burning dust containers in the background. She just knew dad was going to flip out when he saw this.
Yang saw it too and cringed at the article. Though she did ask a very important question.
"What news site is that?"
Weiss responded immediately. "The Daily Valley."
Yang made a sound of realization at that.
"Sounds about right, something like this is pretty on brand for them." When Weiss sent her a questioning eyebrow, Yang clarified. "They're known for writing the most absurd articles in hopes of getting more views, and therefore, more ad revenue. They've been sued multiple times for libel and such, but their lawyers are something else. They usually win."
"But this is a blatant lie! Our team, half of us at least, defended my family's shipment of dust from terrorists. How can that possibly be seen as bad?"
"Wellllll~ you guys did set the docks on fire…" The four members of RWBY sent a variety of glares at the ginger bomber of JNPR. "What? You did!"
The rest ignored her while Weiss continued to grumble and read the trashy article.
Ruby had never been so embarrassed. Especially since it meant Nora was able to call them out on destructive behavior. Her team had recovered from the temporary schism and got along better now. Hopefully this issue with the White Fang would fade away soon…
~~~(LXIV)~~~
"Are you kidding me? Again!?"
Yang looked over to see her teammate glaring red-faced at her scroll. They were eating dinner as a group while her sister and her chatted with team JNPR and Oxon. Weiss, it seemed, was not pleased by something.
"Ice Queen, what's got you all worked up?"
The girl just narrowed her eyes at the nickname as she looked at whatever it was that was bothering her. "This is the second time this journalist has tried to smear team RWBY's name! And now it involves all of us!"
Yang peaked over the girl's shoulder to get a look at whatever was causing this rage. "Mechanical Monsters and Ignorant Students: A Tale of Destruction!" Seeing the article title, and the publisher, everything made sense. It was an article from The Daily Valley about their run in with Torchwick and the Paladin. Yang had to admit, trash site or not, it wasn't a great look.
Especially since now she was on the cover. The image showed her when she was in top of Robo-Torchwick and looking like some southern Vale rodeo star. Yikes…
Her dad had seen the whole thing live, of course, and had been pissed. It had been a close call for him to not travel to Vale and help Goodwitch punish their team, or more specifically her and Ruby, himself. She dreaded to imagine what the two would have come up with.
"My harsh criticism aside, I think the article is being a bit heavy." Over Weiss' other shoulder was Oxon: the new, quieter member of their friend group. He seemed to be reading over the accusations with a critical eye and his trademark neutral frown. He'd been more than critical of their plan a few minutes ago, but it seemed like he was trying to give them some slack now. Which was nice after his yelling at Blake earlier.
At his close proximity to the girl, Weiss' cheeks dusted pink for a small moment. It was short enough for Oxon to not see, but long enough for Yang to notice. Notice and grin at.
Hmmmmmmmm. Interesting…
"Why thank you, I'm glad to hear you don't agree with this waste of ink."
"Waste of good paper, too. I feel bad for the tree that got chopped down for this."
Yang held back a laugh at Weiss' more than pleased expression. She had a feeling something was going on here, and she'd be damned if she didn't fan the flames.
"You're still going to the party tomorrow night, right?" She knew he would, but it was always good to confirm it.
He looked up from the online tabloid to give her a confused look. "Hmmm? I did say I would, didn't I?"
"That you did. That you did. Just making sure, I'm sure we'd be sad to party without the other birthday boy present."
He raised an eyebrow at her words but nodded anyways. So serious! She gave him a grin and sent a wink to Weiss, who only became confused at the action.
Don't worry Weiss-Cream, I'll find a way to give you both some alone time. I'm sure Nora would agree to spin the bottle if it means she can try and kiss Ren.
Plan forming, Yang smiled as she went back to her food.
~~~(LXIV)~~~
"I don't know why I'm even surprised anymore…" Weiss could feel her frustration rising as she read over the article on her scroll. "It was inevitable, really, but I'm still disappointed."
The article on her scroll was a frustrating one to read. The author tried to claim their it was due to her team's negligence that the White Fang and Roman Torchwick were able to enact their plan. Pure fiction, plain and simple. He was not there to see how many of the terrorists they had defeated, or how close they had come to an unmidigated disaster. If they hadn't been there to stall the Grimm before help arrived, them many more people would have died.
Of course this site only cared for creating and profiting off of people's emotions and attention grabbing headlines. She was annoyed that she fell for it as well.
"What's wrong?" Weiss definitely did not jump slightly at the suddenly close voice of Oxon. He had his face close to hers as he looked at what was on her screen "Hapless Huntresses Endanger City!". It was an article about The Breach from over a week back. "Oh, another of those stupid articles. Wait, didn't you tell me not to pay attention to these kinds of things?"
A blush, from either embarrassment at being exposed as a reader of this sort of thing or from his close vicinity, spread over her face.
"Ah, well, it's different for me." He gave her a look, not one of doubt, but of curiosity. "As a Schnee, one needs to maintain a proper image at all times, so monitoring what people say is important."
"Riiiight, famous family and all that." He looked like he believed her, thank goodness. She didn't really want others, especially Oxon, knowing she actually read this kind of thing. That would be too mortifying. "Glad I don't have to deal with that, I'd lose it if people kept hounding me."
"Like with that reporter the other week? When you and Weiss went out to Vale?"
"Exactly!" He nodded at the words from Jaune. "I really don't like being in the spotlight, so being randomly interviewed on the street was a chore. If I hadn't been with Weiss, I probably would have done more than break his camera. Probably said a few not so viewer-friendly words. I don't know how she or Pyrrha deals with those people."
"With a lot of practice." The red haired girl gave a light smile at his words.
"And the patience of a saint, seriously…"
The others at the table laughed at his sour face, and Weiss couldn't help but think what he would act like back in Atlas. After all, that was where the biggest media outlets wrote about her family, not just the tabloids. She could only imagine the chaos he'd cause if the Atlas Eye tried to grill him. She kind of hoped he would, just to see the look on her father's face.
She giggled to herself at the image, missing the gentle smile the tall teen sent her.
~~~(LXIV)~~~
Hope you enjoyed the omake, it was going to go in a different chapter, but I decided to place it here when I was editing this chapter. Just a little bit of fun character development from back in Beacon.