Chapter 20) Girls' Night Out

A/N: Howdy all! Sorry for the delay, I got knocked a bit sideways by some stuff and needed to take a little time to myself. But I am back and with a new chapter that I hope you'll all enjoy!

Blake checked her surroundings one more time to make absolutely sure that no-one was tailing her, then she quickly dashed back around the corner to where Yang was waiting for her, leaning against the wall and tapping her foot impatiently.

"I was starting to think you'd gone ahead without me," Yang grumbled.

I almost did, and probably should have.

"I just needed to make sure I wasn't followed," Blake replied, keeping her actual thoughts to herself to prevent yet another argument about this whole mess of a plan. She withdrew a pair of bone-white masks from her pockets and handed one over to Yang. "Now put this on, and don't take it off, no matter what."

Yang eyed the mask with apprehension, not taking it right away. "Y'know, I still don't get the whole 'Grimm Masks' thing. Not exactly a friendly image to put out if you're trying to get people on your side."

Blake donned her own mask, concealing her eyeroll at Yang's question, one she had heard asked many times before. "The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters ourselves."

Yang gave Blake a somewhat dour look. "That's… kinda messed up."

"So was the guy who started it," Blake replied. "Now put yours on and keep your hood up. We need to move."

Yang did as instructed. With the white mask hiding her eyes and the hood of the jacket Blake had loaned her drawn up over her head, she at least looked the part she was trying to play: one more mad-at-the-world young Faunus in a crowd. The only question now was if she would be able to actually blend in as well as they hoped she would.

"Just keep your head down, let me do all the talking, and don't draw any attention to yourself. Got it?"

"Yes Blake, I got it," Yang huffed in annoyance, following after Blake. The pair walked close together as they made their way towards the venue for tonight's gathering.

As they got closer, the foot traffic became denser, and the sound of conversation grew louder. Blake spotted more and more people with weapons concealed ineffectually on their persons', an observation that served to put her even more on edge than she already was.

The Fang never managed to draw a crowd this big before. At least not back in Mistral. Faunus in Vale must be a lot angrier than I thought they were for this many to be interested in a rally.

The sun had set a short while ago, and streetlights in this part of Vale were few in number. The fragmented moon was the only major source of light, blanketing the may run-down buildings in its distinctive mottled-silver glow. Looming in the distance, in-between two taller buildings, was the decaying remnant of the theatre.

The old theatre was in severe disrepair, its old, tiled roof full of holes and many of its windows boarded up. The ruined sign that announced the name of the once grand establishment was no longer legible, the letters having long since faded away. Nestled in the outer limits of the capital, the theatre that once drew crowds from far and wide was now nothing more than a forgotten relic, something that no-one cared enough for to acknowledge its existence.

But on this night, as dozens of masked individuals descended upon the building like a strange facsimile of a masquerade ball, the old theatre felt alive once again.

Blake and Yang arrived at the entrance, where a pair of uniformed White Fang soldiers were acting as security, checking everyone before they entered.

Blake relaxed as best she could, and stepped forwards, withdrawing from her pocket a card adorned with the symbol of The Claw.

"My friend is new," Blake said casually, gesturing with a nod of her head towards Yang beside her. "She wanted to see for herself what we're about. Is that OK?"

The soldiers nodded and waved them through, and the pair entered the building.

"That was easy," Yang whispered once they were far enough away from the door. "They didn't even ask me for anything. You sure you weren't just being paranoid?"

"Bringing one friend won't raise suspicion, but bringing a whole group absolutely would have," Blake explained. "Now stop talking."

As the two of them approached the double doors leading to the main auditorium, Blake surreptitiously unzipped the front pocket of her own jacket by the tiniest amount to allow the camera of her Scroll to see ahead of her without exposing the device.

Outside, some distance from the theatre proper but close enough to be on hand in case of an emergency, Weiss was sitting with her own Scroll expanded on her lap, the feed from Blake's Scroll streaming to her screen and recording everything it saw and heard.

Elsewhere, perched on the roof of a building one block down, Ruby was observing the outside of the theatre through the scope of her rifle, watching for anything that might pose a problem. If she spotted anything at all, she would signal the others with a ping from her own Scroll, the signal to drop everything and get out as fast as they could.

It was far from an ideal set-up, but it had been the best they could manage to agree on in the little time they had had before the rally began. Blake at least took some comfort in the fact that Weiss and Ruby were mostly out of harm's way… and although she would never admit it to anyone, especially not to Yang, Blake was a little glad that she wasn't entirely alone right now.

The auditorium was packed. Blake had never seen so many attend a White Fang gathering before outside of the central stronghold. Evidently, the Vale chapter of the White Fang were doing far better than the Haven chapter had been doing when it came to drumming up grassroots support.

All the seats had long since been removed from the theatre, so everyone was standing. Up on the stage, White Fang banners had been hung up where the curtains once hung from. A screen depicting the White Fang logo sat in the centre of the stage, flanked by speakers that were playing a familiar anthem:

'Behold your flaccid leaders

Too weak to take the prize

Replace them with a warrior

It's time we mobilize

Depose the feeble cowards

Heed this battle cry

Vengeance on the human filth

The time is now we'll rise.'

Blake had never really liked this particular anthem. It sounded far too angry, not hopeful at all. No mention of building a better future, just revenge and violence for its own sake.

The music cut off, and the lights in the auditorium dimmed. Conversation ceased, and all eyes were drawn to the stage as a figure strode confidently into view.

Blake tensed up as she saw who they were.

"Thank you all for coming!" Gainsboro announced, microphone in hand. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Bane Gainsboro, and I have been with the Fang for ten years. In that time, I have seen much, done much, and given all that I have for the future of Faunus across all of Remnant. And I speak for all of my comrades when I say that each and every one of them has done the same, time and time again."

Blake joined in with the round of polite applause from the crowd, slightly taken aback by Gainsboro's demeanour. He was much more subdued than she remembered him being, much less bombastic in his mannerisms as he addressed the crowd.

"Tonight is no ordinary night, my friends," he continued. "Tonight, we have a very special guest who has come to speak with you all. Now, you may have your reservations about him, and I understand fully, but I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have been fighting for."

Footsteps heralded the arrival of a second speaker upon the stage, and Blake's eyes widened as she saw who it was.

"Allow me to introduce to you all, Roman Torchwick!"

Torchwick, accompanied by his diminutive, umbrella-wielding partner, took centre stage as Gainsboro withdrew to the side. The white-coated, cane-wielding crime lord grinned and waved at the crowd, even as they all began loudly voicing their shock and disdain at his presence.

"Thank you! Thank you all for your gracious hospitality! Truly, it is wonderful to be here tonight!"

"What's a human doing here?" one woman yelled angrily, and Blake felt Yang tense slightly beside her.

Blake brushed her hand against Yang's, reminding her that she was here and hoping that it helped put Yang at ease a little bit, even as Blake once again mentally kicked herself for dragging her partner into such a dangerous scenario.

"I'm glad you asked, 'Deerie'!" Torchwick responded jokingly. "Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst! Case in point." He gestured to himself as he said this, smirking at his own little remark. "So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed! It's a very understandable attitude to have."

Blake discreetly glanced around the auditorium, noticing as she did that many in the crowd were visibly confused.

Where is he going with this?

"But, before the claws come out," Torchwick went on. "I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy. The ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms! Government, military, even the schools! They're all to blame for your lot in life! And they're all pests that need to be dealt with!"

The tone of the room quickly shifted. Confusion and apprehension gave way to enthusiasm and receptiveness. But one thing remained the same: the hostility. Only now it had a different target…

"Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room, of course. And I have access to just the right tools for the job."

Torchwick clicked his fingers, and the sound of breaking glass followed as something very large was revealed to the audience.

A collective gasp filled the auditorium, and Blake's jaw dropped as she beheld the sight before her.

A hulking, towering mech had materialised beside Torchwick and his partner, both of whom gestured to it with matching flourishes of their arms and wide grins, as if they were presenting the grand prize of a game show, rather than showing off a piece of stolen military hardware.

"As some of you may have heard, this right here is Atlas' newest defence against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my contacts, we've managed to snag a few before they hit the shelves. Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you with."

The crowd was stunned into silence for a moment, but then one person began clapping and hollering, and before long the entire auditorium was filled with raucous cheers and applause.

Blake, however, could only stare in horror, the full implications of what she saw making her feel sick to her stomach.

He's really going to do it. He's going to start a war.

The sound of shattering glass repeated, and the mech vanished once again as the apparent illusion broke. Gainsboro returned to the centre of the stage, Torchwick and his partner returning to the wings.

"With these tools and more at our disposal, the future of Faunus-kind shall burn brighter than ever before!" Gainsboro's calm and measured demeanour from before had given way to his recognisable bombastic energy as he further whipped up the crowd. "The White Fang are ready to bring about a revolution the likes of which has not been seen since the Great Rebellion of decades' ago! If you would stand with us as we begin this great march, let us hear you roar!"

If any in the crowd had reservations about any of this, they were not making themselves known. The energy of the crowd, the anonymity provided by the masks, and the mob-mentality of being surrounded by so many others all served to unite everyone in the theatre as they began to chant as one.

"HEAR US ROAR! HEAR US ROAR! HEAR US ROAR!"

Gainsboro raised his hand, and the crowd slowly settled back into silence. "Now, it is my great honour to introduce to you all our second speaker for the night. He has travelled far to be here to speak to you all, and what he has to say shall…"

Blake felt the Scroll in her pocket buzz, snapping her out of her daze. It took a few seconds for her to remember what that signal meant.

Blake turned to face Yang, who likewise had received the same signal: the ping from Ruby that meant they needed to get out, now.

Blake turned to face the stage once more, sparing one final glance at Gainsboro before she turned to follow Yang out of-

Blake froze. Her heart stopped, all the blood drained from her face, and the air left her lungs.

Gainsboro had stopped talking while she had been distracted, and a new figure had taken to the stage.

He wore the same mask as many others in the White Fang, but his was stylized with additional red patterns so as to more closely resemble a Grimm.

Adam…

He was saying something to the crowd, gesturing with his free hand as he gripped his sword's sheath with his other while he paced up and down the stage, but Blake didn't hear any of it. White noise filled her ears as her mind was overwhelmed by sheer terror.

Yang was still tugging at Blake's arm, and Blake was dimly aware that Yang was saying something to her, but all she could focus on was Adam as she did everything she could to avoid descending into a blind panic.

He doesn't know, he doesn't know, he doesn't know he doesn't know he doesn't know hedoesn'tknowhedoesn'tknowhedoesn'tkn-

Adam's gaze passed over the crowd, and Blake felt his eyes fall upon her.

All rational thought fled Blake's mind, her panic winning out as Adam looked right her way. She turned and ran, pulling free of Yang's grasp and shoving past everyone in her path, desperation urging her to run as far and as fast as-

The door to the auditorium slammed open, and a heavily-panting White Fang soldier staggered inside.

All eyes fell on them as they doubled over, the sudden manner of their arrival silencing the auditorium.

"Police!" she gasped. "Raid! Everyone scatter!"

No sooner had she finished uttering this warning, when the sound of many sirens became audible from outside.

At once, everyone in the auditorium flew into a frenzy of action, yelling and screaming and shoving one another as over a hundred panicked Faunus scrambled to escape.

Weiss leapt to her feet, collapsing and stowing her Scroll as she made her way outside, ready to sprint across to the theatre and help her teammates get out…

Then she paused, and realised belatedly that she didn't have any means of getting to the now trapped pair to aid them in any way. Despite their planning, the team had utterly failed to anticipate something of this nature occurring.

Withdrawing her Scroll from her pocket once more, Weiss hastily selected Ruby's name and hit call.

Ruby answered almost immediately. "W-Weiss! W-where are you!?"

"I'm still in my hiding spot," Weiss replied. "What about you? Do you see Yang and Blake?"

"N-n-no, I don't s-see them. There's s-so many people r-running out of…"

Ruby tailed off, and Weiss heard her partner shuffle about on the other end of the line.

"I s-see them!" Ruby exclaimed. "Yang h-has Blake, they got out through th-the s-side exit."

"Call them and tell them to get to the rendezvous point," Weiss said, once again beginning to make her way out of the building. "You get yourself there as well, and I'll meet you all there."

"Got it!" came Ruby's response, before she hung up.

Weiss broke into a run, but was careful to stay as close to the shadows as she could to avoid being seen. Per Blake's insistence, all four of them were wearing dark jackets, Weiss having borrowed one from Ruby. With her white attire and hair concealed beneath the baggy item of clothing, she hopefully didn't stand out too much.

The sound of the police sirens grew fainter as Weiss put distance between herself and the theatre. A few Faunus were also fleeing in the same direction as she was, but Weiss just kept her hood up and her head down so as to avoid being potentially recognised.

The rendezvous was a small parking lot a few blocks down from the theatre. Following the map on her Scroll led Weiss straight there, arriving to see that Ruby had made it there before her.

"Ruby!" Weiss called as she ran over to her partner. "Where are Yang and Blake?"

"On their w-way," Ruby replied. "Did the r-recording work?"

Weiss showed Ruby her Scroll, opening up the saved recording that had been streamed from Blake's Scroll to hers. The audio quality was shaky, and the footage was a bit out-of-focus, but it was still plain to see what was going on up on the stage.

"I'll send a copy to all of our Scrolls, as well as to my spare back at the dorm just in case." Weiss tapped away at her screen and began doing just that.

"Ruby! Weiss!"

Weiss lifted her head to see Yang and Blake stumble into the parking lot, waving frantically at them.

"Are you OK?" Ruby asked, dashing over to the pair. "Y-you're not h-hurt?"

"We're fine, Rubes," Yang reassured her sister, giving her a pat on the shoulder as she did so. "Right, Blake?"

Blake didn't seem to hear her. She was staring off into space, eyes wide and face blank.

"Blake!" Yang shook her partner. "You OK?"

Blake snapped out of her daze, blinking and focussing on Yang beside her. "Y-yeah. I'm OK."

Weiss let out a long sigh of relief. "Well, that was a little too close for my liking. But I think it all worked out quite well. We didn't get spotted, we have a recording that incriminates everyone up on that stage and identifies them by name, and with any luck the police are currently in the process of placing all of those scoundrels under arrest as we speak!"

The sound of a car door being unlocked drew Weiss' attention, and all four girls turned around to see who it was.

Standing on the other side of the parking lot, one hand on the handle of the door of a car, staring back at the girls in surprise, was none other than Roman Torchwick.

…

No-one spoke or moved for a long moment.

…

"Well, that's just perfect," grumbled Torchwick. "This night just keeps getting better and better!"

Weiss drew Myrtenaster and spun the barrel, pointing the tip of her blade directly at Torchwick. Beside her, her teammates took aim with their own weapons, all staring down the man across from them.

Torchwick sighed and shook his head. "I don't suppose you girls would be willing to just forget you ever saw me, would you?"

"What do you think?" Weiss retorted.

Torchwick closed his eyes, stepped back from the car and raised his hands. "Alright then, you got me. Place me under arrest."

Weiss raised her Scroll and began to dial the police. "Just stay where you are and don't try anything. We have-"

Torchwick thrust one arm forwards, and an explosive round was fired directly at Weiss.

She never even saw him draw his weapon.

Her Aura took the hit, but even so, Weiss was blasted off her feet, Scroll and sword both knocked out of her grasp as she landed roughly on her back some distance away, stars dancing in her field of vision as her head slammed painfully into the ground and left her dazed.

She heard more gunfire, the slamming of a door, a screech of tyres, voices yelling…

Weiss pushed herself into a sitting position, just in time to catch sight of a car speeding away.

"Weiss!" Ruby was at Weiss' side in a flash, red petals drifting in her wake. "Are you OK!?"

Weiss winced at the volume of her partner's panicked shout. "I'll be fine," she grunted. She stood up and retrieved her Scroll and her sword, stowing both away.

"Dammit!" yelled Blake. "He can't keep on getting away like this!"

Weiss walked over to Blake's side. "It doesn't matter. We have it all recorded. Let's just turn over what we have to the authorities, and they can take it from here."

Blake shook her head. "We have to go after him."

Weiss blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Blake walked over to a nearby car and slammed her elbow into its window, breaking it open.

"W-what are you doing!?" Weiss exclaimed. "Have you completely lost your mind!?"

Blake reached in through the broken window and unlocked the door, pulling it open. "You all saw what they have. If he gets away, if the White Fang get access to that equipment… it'll be a war. He'll have the war he always wanted."

Weiss cocked her head to one side. "Who's 'he'?"

Blake paused, then shook herself and got in the car. "Get back to the dorm and make sure that footage is safe."

Before Blake could pull the door shut, a hand grabbed the door and forced it back open.

"Like hell are we letting you go after him all by yourself!" Yang shouted furiously. "Not this time!"

Blake glared back at Yang. "I don't have time for this! He's getting away!"

"Then move up and let the rest of us in!" Yang snapped back. "This isn't a debate, we're coming with you!"

Weiss opened her mouth to begin to protest. After all, this was taking things way too far. Stealing a car? Running down a criminal like a band of vigilantes? They got what they came for, they should just pack up and go home. What was the point in taking on even more risk?

"Weiss?"

Weiss blinked. Ruby had gotten in the car alongside her sister and Blake. All of them were staring at her expectantly.

She sighed. "Alright, let me in."

Weiss took her seat in the rear passenger's-side, as Blake forced a panel loose underneath the steering wheel and began to fiddle with the wires.

"Should I be concerned that you apparently know how to hotwire a car?" Weiss deadpanned.

"I do, too," Yang quipped.

"Same," added Ruby.

Weiss stared at the sisters in disbelief. "Why!?"

Yang shrugged. "Uncle Qrow taught us how. You never know when something like that could come in handy."

Weiss was about to ask what exactly Yang and Ruby expected to be getting into that would require such specific knowledge, when the car's engine roared to life.

"Hang on," Blake said, slamming her foot down on the pedal and speeding off. Weiss hastily fastened her seatbelt to avoid being thrown out of her seat by Blake's reckless driving.

Reaching the main road, Blake sped up, the car hurtling down the mostly empty street in pursuit of the fleeing Torchwick, whose car had long since vanished from view.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" she snapped, gripping the wheel tightly enough to turn her knuckles white.

Weiss briefly pondered the possibility of suggesting that they take this as a sign and call off their insane pursuit, but she had a strong suspicion that Blake would not hear it.

So instead, she drew Myrtenaster and spun the barrel to select the vial of Lightning Dust.

"I might me able to help with that," she announced, twisting around and stabbing the blade of her sword into the middle seat of the car. "Brace yourselves."

Weiss had used the Time Dilation Glyph of her Semblance a few times before now, but only ever on herself, and only ever in very short bursts. It was a very taxing ability to use, and a tricky one to control. And with her Aura already having taken quite a hit only moments ago, there was no guarantee that she would even have enough left to activate it.

Well, only one way to find out.

Ignoring her better judgement, as well as the many, many warnings her sister had given her about overextending herself, Weiss activated her Aura and channelled it down the length of Myrtenaster's blade, infusing her power with the energy of the Lightning Dust she had selected and casting the resulting Glyph directly into the body of the car.

Closing her eyes, Weiss pictured the face of a clock. The hands of the clock were motionless, but then they began to move. Slowly at first, then picking up speed as they began to spin around and around, faster and faster. She felt the Glyph building up energy, stockpiling it in preparation for the moment she unleashed it.

"We're slowing down!" Yang yelled.

"Weiss, what are you doing!?" Blake cried. "Stop!"

"Just a few more seconds," Weiss huffed. "Get ready."

"For what?"

Weiss opened her eyes and released the Glyph, the stockpiled energy rushing out and into the car, as well as its occupants.

The effect was immediate. Outside the windows of the vehicle, everything seemed to slow down. The few other cars that were out this late at night crawled by. A single pedestrian went from jogging to barely moving at all.

The car Weiss was in, however, did not slow down. It sped up, the time within it moving at a faster pace than the time outside was doing. To any observers outside, it would seem like the car had accelerated so quickly as to seemingly vanish from view.

The effect only lasted a few seconds, relatively-speaking. But a few seconds of dilated time was a significant amount. By the time the effect faded, Torchwick's car was right in front of them, the distance between them and it closed.

"Weiss, that w-was amazing!" Ruby exclaimed. "H-how did you do that?"

"Explain… later…" Weiss panted, the effort of accelerating time for so large a target leaving her utterly drained. She felt her Aura flicker around her. She didn't have very much left.

"Well, we caught up," Yang commented. "Now what? Ram him off the road?"

"I h-have a better idea," Ruby said. Leaning back in her seat, she lifted her legs and kicked at the sunroof, knocking out the panel entirely.

I hope whoever's car this is doesn't want it back. That's two windows we've broken now.

Weiss watched as Ruby lifted herself up through the now-open sunroof and deployed her weapon in its smaller rifle form, taking aim at the car in front of them.

"Wait, is she-?"

Ruby fired, and Weiss watched with wide eyes as she shot out the rear wheel of Torchwick's car, sending the escaping vehicle spinning wildly out of control and careening off the side of the road, ploughing headlong into the side of a parked van.

Blake slammed the breaks, and their own car skidded to a halt.

"Nice shot, sis!" Yang said, grinning.

Blake opened the driver's-side door and got out of the car, shedding her jacket and drawing her weapon from her back.

The other three followed suit, Weiss being the last out of the car. She likewise discarded her no-longer-needed jacket as she spun the barrel of Myrtenaster once more to select a new vial.

Alright, let's try this again.

"Get out of the car with your hands up, and leave your weapon on the ground this time!" Weiss barked.

The doors of the crumpled vehicle creaked open, and two individuals staggered out into the open.

"Kid, I just got this coat cleaned!" Torchwick snapped. "This thing is dry-clean only!"

"Oh, spare me!" Weiss spat, her temper getting the better of her. "You're lucky you can still stand up straight!"

"Sheesh, someone's cranky today," Torchwick quipped back. "What's the matter, Daddy not get the Princess the pony she wanted?"

Weiss gritted her teeth and prepared a Glyph, ready to activate the Fire Dust and blast Torchwick with everything she had.

"You're not getting away this time, Torchwick!" Blake yelled. "You are going to answer for what you've done!"

"Oh, you mean like you have, Belladonna?"

Blake took a step backwards, and Weiss could see the stunned look on her face. "What did you say?"

Torchwick chuckled. "Oh yeah, I've heard all about you, kitty-cat. Your boyfriend told me everything."

Weiss saw Blake's hand begin to shake, and she could hear the other girl's breathing speed up and become shallow.

"Not that I blame you for leaving him, to be honest. Guy's a psycho, through-and-through. So why don't we make a deal? You let me go, and he never has to know that you were here. Sound good?"

"I have a better deal," Yang cut in. "You get on your knees and surrender, and we won't have to put you in a hospital."

Torchwick rolled his eyes. "Welp, can't say I didn't try to be reasonable. Neo?"

Beside him, Torchwick's diminutive partner twirled her umbrella and winked playfully.

Weiss activated her Glyph, and launched a fireball directly at the pair of them.

Ruby spun Crescent Rose around her body and deployed her weapon fully, scythe at the ready to leap into combat, just as Weiss' fireball slammed into the wreckage behind the criminal pair and set off a sizable explosion, forcing Torchwick and Neo to separate from each other.

Pointing the barrel of her weapon behind her, Ruby fired and launched herself forwards with the recoil, straight towards Neo.

The image from that night at the docks flashed briefly in Ruby's mind once more. Her sister, beaten and unconscious, blade against her neck…

I won't let you hurt my sister!

Crescent Rose sliced through the air, but Neo simply ducked underneath it, avoiding Ruby's slash with minimal effort.

But Ruby did not relent. She spun her scythe around her body and flowed into yet another slash, and another, and another, and another…

Neo stepped back, twisted, ducked, flipped around… Over and over, she avoided every one of Ruby's attacks, but in doing so she was forced backwards steadily, until she was pinned between Ruby and the wall of the building behind her.

Her opponent trapped, Ruby twisted her grasp on Crescent Rose, switching from a horizontal grip to a vertical one. With a yell of effort, Ruby brought the blade of her scythe downwards, straight upon the head of her enemy.

Neo's umbrella deployed, and the sturdy canopy stopped Ruby's downward strike dead. With a smile on her face, Neo delivered a powerful kick to Ruby's gut, knocking her backwards and driving the wind from her.

A metallic sound rang out, and a long, thin blade extended from the end of Neo's umbrella as she thrust forwards, aiming for Ruby's eye.

A second sword swatted the strike aside, and a gust of wind pushed Neo backwards.

"What have I told you about rushing in without thinking?" Weiss said sternly, standing beside Ruby with her sword held in a defensive stance.

"S-sorry," Ruby replied, sucking in a breath and standing back upright. "I got a l-little… angry."

"So am I." Weiss spun the barrel of her weapon once more. "So let's do this together."

Ruby nodded. Racking another round into the barrel of her rifle, Ruby retook her own stance and stared down Neo once more.

Two-against-one…

"Go!" Ruby cried, dashing forwards alongside her partner.

Scythe and sword moved in tandem, and Ruby and Weiss swung at Neo from both sides. Neo leapt upwards, flipping over the twin attack and landing lightly on her feet behind her attackers.

Ruby pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose and let the recoil kick her weapon backwards, the handle of her weapon sliding smoothly through her hands as the pointed bottom end of her scythe's shaft stabbed towards Neo, who quickly parried the unorthodox attack to one side with her now closed umbrella.

Weiss capitalised on the opening this gave them, spinning around and stabbing forwards with a thrust of her own, the tip of her sword striking Neo's shoulder and knocking her slightly off-balance.

Don't let up. Don't give her a moment to recover!

Crescent Rose once again came down in a hammer-strike at Neo's head, who once again blocked the attack by opening the canopy of her umbrella. This time, Ruby fired again, the added recoil giving her strike even more weight and forcing Neo down onto her knees as she continued to defend herself.

Weiss stabbed her sword into the ground and cast a Glyph around Neo. In an instant, ice encased the crouching girl up to her neck, trapping her entirely.

"Ha!" Weiss barked out a laugh. "Not as slippery as you thought you were, huh?"

Ruby turned her gaze towards Yang and Blake, who were presently engaged in combat with Torchwick. Just as he had done when Ruby had fought him alongside Sun, Torchwick was keeping both girls at bay with astounding skill, defending and attacking while fighting them both at the same time.

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled. "We have to help-"

The sound of breaking glass filled the air, and Ruby felt something sharp slash at her back.

Crying out in pain, Ruby dropped to the ground. Taken completely off-guard, she hadn't been able to stop the slash with her Aura. Her back was on fire, and she felt blood trickling out of the wound she had just received.

"RUBY!" Weiss screamed. The sound of metal-on-metal followed.

Ruby focussed as much as she could on her back, willing her Aura into action. The pain dulled somewhat, allowing her to push herself into a sitting position to see Weiss engaging Neo one-on-one, their respective swords clashing repeatedly.

Ruby looked over to where Neo had been imprisoned in ice only seconds ago, to see that the ice had been broken open from the inside.

How is she that strong? A whole army of White Fang soldiers couldn't break through Weiss' ice that quickly.

Shakily getting to her feet, Ruby clutched her scythe tightly and slammed the tip of its blade into the ground. Staring down the barrel, she lined up a shot and prepared to fire.

Come on, Weiss. Get me an opening, and I'll knock her down.

As Weiss and Neo continued their duel, Ruby also heard the sounds of her sister's gauntlets firing rapidly. She tuned that noise out, focussing only on the one target that mattered in that moment.

Weiss jumped up, vaulting off of one of her Glyphs to somersault over Neo's head, landing and striking with a thrust in one smooth motion. Neo pivoted and parried the thrust aside like she had done so many times already, but in doing so, Ruby noticed that the action left Neo ever-so-slightly overextended.

It was the opening that she needed.

Without missing a beat, Ruby fired.

…

But the shot never hit its target.

A blur of red-and-black materialised in-between Ruby and Neo, and Ruby's shot was blocked by a half-drawn sword.

"You should learn to watch your back, Neopolitan. You almost suffered the same fate you inflicted on this girl."

Ruby recognised the man in front of her from the recording of the rally. Dressed in black, his long coat coming down to his knees. Red-and-black hair, with a pair of horns poking out from underneath the messy locks. A Grimm-patterned mask hiding his eyes, held in his hands a sword that he had fully returned to its sheath after blocking Ruby's shot.

"So this is what Blake chooses to spend her days with now. A child… and a Schnee."

The man in black spat Weiss' name with utter contempt.

Ruby fired again, but the man in black simply sidestepped the shot, moving aside so quickly that he almost seemed to teleport to one side.

He's fast.

The man in black crouched low and griped his sword. The red of his hair, as well as the red lines of his mask, began to glow.

Ruby raised Crescent Rose in front of her, ready to guard against whatever attack was about to come her way.

Dimly, Ruby registered Blake screaming in panic.

"ADAM, NO!"

In an instant, the man in black was right in front of Ruby. He drew his sword and slashed in a single motion, accompanied by a blinding flash of red light.

The blade of the man in black's sword cleaved right through the handle of Crescent Rose and sliced into Ruby's stomach.

Ruby's Aura broke, and she was sent flying backwards from the force of the strike, slamming into the wall behind her.

Strangely, it didn't hurt as much as she had expected it to. She felt oddly numb, slightly queasy, and very, very dizzy. She slumped to the ground and lay there, feeling a warm wetness spread over her back and her head.

Am I bleeding again? I think I'm bleeding…

Everything was muted and muffled. Her sister's voice sounded distant, faint, barely audible. Darkness ate at the corners of her vision, the world growing dim.

It's so quiet… so dark… I feel so tired…

A small part of Ruby's mind was aware that this was not good, that she was very badly injured, almost certainly going into shock from blood loss and in need of urgent medical care…

But the rest of Ruby felt eerily calm.

It's so quiet here… so… peaceful… so…

That was the last thought Ruby had before her world went black.

Yang stared in horror at her little sister's body, lying in an expanding pool of her own blood, her demolished weapon on either side of her, the man responsible standing over her and staring down at his handiwork…

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Firing Ember Celica behind her, Yang launched herself at her sister's attacker, activating her Semblance mid-flight. Her eyes burned red and her hair burned gold, her blood burned in rage and tears burned her face as she prepared to hit this monster with everything she had left, to break him for daring to harm her sister…

A mechanical roar came at her from the side, and Yang felt herself swatted from the air by a powerful strike.

"Your coming to my aid was unnecessary Bane, but appreciated nonetheless," the man in black said simply, not even bothering to spare Yang a glance as he spoke.

"We should depart at once, my Captain," the Lieutenant growled, his chainsaw still whirring at his side. "The human police will be here soon."

Yang leapt back to her feet and threw herself at the Lieutenant, aiming to knock him aside so she could take down the man behind him, get him away from her sister-

An explosive round hit Yang's back, stunning her and causing her to loose her focus on her Semblance. The fire faded from her, and the strength it would have given her vanished.

The Lieutenant's chainsaw slammed into her side, her Aura managing to keep her from being bisected, but Yang was nonetheless knocked back down to the ground.

"STOP!" cried Blake. "Adam, stop, please!"

"Hello, my darling," the man, Adam, said with fake sweetness. "This was the last place I ever expected to see you again."

Yang raised her head to see Blake standing across from the two new arrivals, Torchwick moving away from her to re-join his partner, who had just finished knocking Weiss unconscious.

"Please, Adam, don't hurt them! I'm begging you!" Blake sounded close to tears herself.

"Look what has become of you, Belladonna," spat the Lieutenant. "A snivelling coward, begging for mercy that you do not deserve."

"I'll handle this, Bane," Adam cut in. "You get the Torchwicks in the car and ready to go."

The Lieutenant nodded, and moved to usher Torchwick and Neo towards a car that Yang hadn't noticed arrive.

"You and I were going to change the world, remember?" Adam said, turning back to Blake. "We were going to ignite the fires of revolution together. But you left. Why? Why, Blake!? Why did you abandon me!?"

"I… I…" Blake didn't respond. She just stood and stammered, the first few tears beginning to run down her face.

"You threw your lot in with them!? With these humans!?" Adam stamped his foot on Yang's head, grinding the heel of his shoe into her temple and making her cry out in pain.

"With a Schnee!?" Adam pointed at Weiss, who was lying on the ground unconscious after Neo defeated her.

"These are the people you abandoned your own kind for!?"

Yang grabbed at Adam's ankle with one hand and held on tight. Cocking the gauntlet on her other hand, she slammed her fist into Adam's leg and fired, blasting him point-blank with a shotgun round.

Adam grunted in pain and reeled backwards, but Yang did not let go. She drew back her fist and prepared to strike again, to knock him down so she could unload every round she had left directly into his face…

A red blade stabbed downwards and pierced Yang's hand, going straight through the metal of her gauntlet and skewering her flesh, pinning her hand to the ground.

Yang screamed in pain, her grip on Adam's leg loosening. He delivered a kick to her head, causing Yang to see stars and almost black out.

"I said STOP!"

Gunfire rang out, and Yang felt the foot pressed against her temple to move away. Groggily, she lifted her head to see Blake firing over and over at Adam, who had let go of his sword and stepped away from Yang to avoid the bullets.

"Blake…"

Blake charged at Adam. Yang could see plainly the anguished look on her face, pain and anger and terror all at once.

Adam caught Blake's attack with his free hand, and jammed the end of his sheath into her gut before pulling a trigger on its side, shooting Blake in the stomach.

Yang saw Blake's Aura flash to absorb the impact, saving her life from the bullet, but not entirely alleviating the pain from the shot. She doubled over and coughed, only for Adam to swing his sheath upwards into her jaw, knocking her head backwards and sending her staggering away.

"You've brought this on yourself, Blake," Adam spat. "I wouldn't have to be doing this, if you'd just behaved!"

He struck Blake again with his sheath, the blow to her face knocking her down.

"Because you're selfish!"

He hit her again, this time striking her ribs.

"You're a coward!"

Again he struck, and this time Yang saw Blake's Aura flicker and break, leaving her defenceless.

"So this is what you deserve!"

Over and over and over, Yang watched helplessly as Adam mercilessly beat Blake with his sheath, kicked her, stomped on her. Blake had long since stopped reacting to the blows, she must have lost consciousness at some point, but he carried on hitting her anyway.

"Stop it…" Yang gasped.

Beside where she lay, her sister was bleeding out.

Across the street, Weiss was lying face-down, her condition a complete unknown.

Right in front of her, Blake, her partner, was being savagely beaten.

"Stop it."

Yang lifted her hand and gripped the blade pinning her other hand to the ground. With a grunt of pain, she yanked it free, tossing the sword aside.

"Stop it."

She pushed herself to her feet and clenched her uninjured fist. She still had some Aura left, so she channelled all of it into her arm, bolstering herself for her next move.

"Stop it!"

It wasn't enough, she knew that. But she focussed every last drop of her energy nonetheless, drawing on everything she could to ensure that this one strike would do something, anything.

"STOP IT!" she roared, sprinting ahead and closing the gap between her and Adam.

Adam lifted his gaze, Yang's shout drawing his attention away from his assault of Blake. Lazily, as if he didn't even care, he lifted his sheath to block Yang's punch.

Yang felt her eyes burn, her blood burn, her tears burn, her rage burn… Twisting and putting all her weight behind her, Yang punched at Adam with all of her might.

Pain surged up the length of Yang's arm as her fist struck Adam's sheath and crashed right through it, shattering it into pieces. Onward her fist travelled, straight into Adam's ribs. His Aura flashed crimson, and he was blasted backwards, off his feet, his body sent flying and landing in a heap some distance away.

Yang fell to her knees, clutching her arm as it now dangled uselessly at her side. She had almost certainly just broken it with her punch, but she had done it. She had knocked him down.

Adam surged to his feet. He stared down at Yang. Even with his eyes covered, Yang could tell he was furious.

"You'll pay for that, human." Striding over to where Yang had tossed his sword, he picked it up and pointed it at Yang.

"I'm going to take your-"

Sirens could be heard in the distance, causing Adam to stop his rant. He lowered his blade and turned his back on Yang, walking over to the car waiting on the side of the road.

"You'll pay!" Yang shouted after him. "I'll kill you! I swear it, I'll kill you for what you've done!"

Adam turned to look back at Yang. "You're not the first person to say that to me. They all died before me, and so will you."

The car sped off, Adam, Torchwick and the rest escaping into the night.

Shortly after, a number of police cars pulled into view, and a number of police officers emerged.

"Hands above your head!" one yelled, pointing his gun at Yang.

"You're letting him get away!" Yang cried, taking a step forwards. "He's in a black car, it's going-"

"I said hands above your head! Don't move!"

Several other officers took aim at Yang.

Yang raised her one working arm. "Fine, but at least get them to a hospital!"

One officer strode over to Yang and grabbed her arms, cuffing them behind her back. She hissed in pain as her broken arm was roughly pulled about.

"We have three, possibly four injured teens a half-mile from the raid site," one officer said into his Scroll. "Send ambulances ASAP, and contact Beacon. Suspects appear to be students at the academy."

"Suspects!?" Yang cried. "What the hell!?"

"Stow it!" barked the officer holding her arms. "Now get in the car!"

Yang allowed herself to be bundled into the back of the police car. She gazed out at where Blake was lying in a heap, where Weiss was lying unconscious, where her sister was still laying, a pair of officers attending to her, pressing their jackets against her back and her head…

Yang leaned forwards and threw up. The sight was just too much for her to bear.

'I'll handle this, Glynda. Give yourself a break for once.'

Professor Greene found herself partially regretting her decision to take ownership of this latest RWBY-related fiasco, and partially relieved that she was the one dealing with this instead of her colleague. Given the severity of this situation and Glynda's fraying patience with these four girls, her reaction to the sight that greeted Professor Greene at this moment would likely have been less-than-ideal.

"They will all make a full recovery in due time," the doctor beside her explained. "Young Miss Rose was the most severely injured, but she thankfully did not require any surgery. A blood transfusion to replace what she lost and some stitches to fix up her back were all that were required."

"And the rest?" Greene asked.

"Painkillers for Miss Belladonna, a cast for Miss Xiao Long, and an ice-pack for Miss Schnee. That is all. That said, Miss Xiao Long is incredibly fortunate her injury is not worse. Her x-ray showed signs that she may have overclocked her Semblance and over-burned her Aura."

Greene sucked in a breath. "Stupid girl," she muttered.

"Indeed," concurred the doctor. "The police are done with them for now if you would like to see them. I imagine you have a lot to say to your students."

"Indeed," concurred Greene. "Thank-you, doctor. I'll take it from here."

With a nod, the doctor withdrew and made their way down the corridor, presumably to see other patients.

Greene sighed, gathered herself, and entered the room where the four girls were recovering.

All four were awake, all four were in hospital gowns, and all four had one hand cuffed to the side of their beds. An officer was standing guard inside, leaning against one wall. He waved at Greene as she entered, and she gestured for him to leave them alone.

"Well," Greene began. "You four clearly didn't learn your lesson after last time."

"Professor, I can explain," Weiss started, her free hand clutching an ice pack to her forehead. "We never intended to get involved in another fight, but the situation was-"

"I'm well aware of what the situation was, Weiss," Greene interrupted. "I saw the recording you made. The officer in charge of your case showed me already."

Weiss blanched at that. "Are… are we going to be arrested?"

Greene kept her face blank. "You could be. Given the seriousness of your actions tonight, you could be looking at some time behind bars."

All four girls looked close to freaking out at that, so Greene decided to put that issue to bed right away to prevent any potential meltdowns.

"As it happens, however, the chief has elected to let the four of you off the hook, owing to the fact that you have provided them with intelligence that will prove vital in their investigations going forwards."

All four girls visibly sagged in relief.

"You are not, however, entirely off the hook in the eyes of Beacon."

All four girls stiffened once again.

How does Glynda do this? These kids just went through hell, and I have to make their night even worse…

"The four of you have already broken the rules regarding operating without licences before. Not to mention the many other incidents you have been involved in on school grounds. You have been punished, even suspended for these infractions, yet you still carry on acting as if our rules do not apply to you."

"Professor, we had to do something!" Blake said emphatically, albeit rather slurred owing to the painkillers coursing through her system. "Were we supposed to just ignore what we knew was going on?"

"Of course not," Greene responded. "But you should have raised your concerns with us. While you are students at Beacon, you should be able to come to us if you have any concerns about anything at all. Don't forget, all of us are Huntsmen and Huntresses as well. We can act where others cannot."

"Then why didn't you?"

Greene narrowed her eyes. "Careful, Blake. Right now, I'm just about the only ally the four of you still have."

"Are… y-y-you going to… expel us?"

Greene turned to face Ruby. The young girl looked dreadful. Paler than normal, with puffy eyes from where she had apparently been crying at some point, and bandages around her head. She was staring at Greene with clear fear in her eyes, terrified that she was about to have her future dreams ripped away from her.

"No," Greene said. "You are not being expelled."

"You mean it?" asked Weiss hopefully.

"Make no mistake, I am putting my neck out for you four by doing this, but I have managed to persuade Glynda… Professor Goodwitch, to allow you to stay at Beacon."

"That being said," Greene continued before the girls could respond. "This is your final chance. As of this moment, Team RWBY is officially on formal probation. If even one of you steps out of line one more time, all four of you will be expelled at once. You will be blacklisted, unable to ever enrol in any of the four academies ever again, and forever barred from attaining your Huntress licences. Understand?"

The four girls stared at Greene with wide eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Yang asked. "I mean, not that I'm not grateful for it, but… why?"

Greene allowed her expression to soften, just a little. "You almost died tonight, Yang. You all almost died, and it's only by sheer dumb luck you didn't. And while I cannot condone putting yourselves in harm's way like this, I also cannot deny the fact that your actions tonight, getting the video evidence that you did, will probably save lives. So… think of this as my way of saying… thank-you."

Yang blinked. "Well… could you maybe do one more thing before you go?" she asked, rattling her handcuffs to indicate exactly what she was asking for.

Greene nodded, and called the officer back into the room.

In short order, all four girls were uncuffed, and the officer departed once again, for good this time.

As soon as he left, Yang got out of bed and walked over to her sister's side, pulling her into a tight hug with her one good arm.

"I thought I was going to lose you," she said shakily, clearly on the verge of tears.

The other two girls likewise got out of bed and joined the sisters, all four clinging to each other and appreciating the fact that they had survived, against all odds.

Greene withdrew from the ward and began to make her way out of the hospital, giving the four girls their privacy. No need to intrude on this moment between them.

The world needs more people like you four. Don't let me down.

Hello again to everyone, and hello to any and all new arrivals who I am increasingly running out of new ways to say hi to! I'm Not Scot.

Before I say anything else, I would like to give a huge thank-you to everyone who has followed this fic. We passed the 100 follows milestone! To JaiAlaiJedi specifically, for being the one to push us over that threshold, thank-you in particular!

This chapter was both fun and stressful to write. This marks the first really big deviation from canon I'm making by having Adam cross paths with the Team earlier than normal, and I needed to make sure to sell his true introduction and establish the threat he poses. So, following the example of Tite Kubo, I had him and his allies utterly obliterate the heroes to establish the gap in power level that Team RWBY will need to surmount going forwards. Did I do it well? Let me know in the reviews what you thought.

I also dropped a few hints about other plot points here and there, relating especially to the abilities of certain characters. What does it all mean? You'll have to keep reading to find out.

Next chapter is our second World of Remnant chapter, covering Aura and Semblances. If you are wondering what the doctor was referring to when he mentioned 'Semblance Overclocking' and 'Aura Overburning', this will explain what he means.

Well, the temperature where I am is dropping fast, and I can't really afford to put the heating on right now, so for now, I shall take my leave and go wrap myself in my blanket in bed.

Until next time,

Not Scot.

P.S: Changed my profile image again. I made a few different ones to switch between depending on my mood.