"Can I pay you to leave Beacon and leave my brother alone"
Those were the first words that came out from Heiress' mouth after sitting down. Melanie wanted to snap at her immediately but took a deep breath instead. "Why?" She waved at Neo and Miltia to let her handle this.
"My brother is too soft to be here… he should be at home safe in Atlas." Weiss said calmly then shooting a glare at her. "I dont know how much is true from what Yang has told me in the past twelve hours… but. If any of it is half true about you two. Then I will hurt you if a hair is harmed on him."
Melanie smirked. "Have you watched the footage sent out of the initiation test Princess? He's no softy." She pointed to Whitley. "Believe it or not he's got the making to be a great leader. A strong one."
"How would you know?" Weiss stared at her. "You've known him for a day at most. He's my twin."
"Ooh princess. It takes more than being family to know someone. Let me ask you this, have you ever let him make a decision on his own?" Melanie asked only to see Weiss freeze up. "Besides… we three" Melanie gestured to Miltia and Neo. "Have been around more people trying to be upstarts than anyone here in this room. We can see a phony leader and one with potential from a mile away." She grinned looking at Weiss at the implication of what was said.
Weiss looked at her lap with an annoyed expression. "Just… you better not harm him or let him get hurt. Or I'll make sure there is nowhere on Remnant that will protect you."
Melanie scoffed. "Well watch this fight and then tell me if you still feel the same way afterwards." More footsteps as a familiar blonde's voice could be heard.
"Pft you got another thing coming if you think he could beat my baby sister with no weapon." The blonde said with a scowl that became a bragging smile.
"I- I have to agree with Yang…" Weiss spoke. "My brother has some of the best test scores on the planet. In a fight though… He could barely beat me a handful of times. Father didn't let him use a weapon since his main focus was meant to be becoming the heir to the company. So he only allowed him to learn self defense." She spoke in a matter of fact tone. "He'll lose."
"Hmmm, how much are you willing to bet on that?" Melanie and her twin spoke at the same time as even Neo, looked at the rest of Team RWBY sitting next to them.
"Eh I'll bet Fifty Lien on Ruby." Yang said confidently.
"One hundred on Ruby." Weiss said calmly.
"Twenty five on Whitley." The girl in black said with a stoic impression just watching down at the stage. Her two teammates looked at her flabbergasted. Melanie just looked at her carefully inspecting her. Then saw the bow on her head twitch.
"Blake seriously against your own teammate?" Weiss questioned.
"You're betting against your brother." Blake pointed out. "Plus there is something they…" She glanced at the twins. "...Know that we don't."
"Oooh smart girl." Melanie looked her in the eyes, locking them with Blake. Then she made a point to look at the bow on her head. Blake just squinted her eyes at Melanie before looking back at the stage. Ruby, now coming out.
"I'll match the princess. Miltia will match the bimbo and Neo wil-" A ringing could be heard from Neo's scroll.
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Neo was getting bored while listening to Melanie scold the Schnee girl. She had a fun idea though. Whitley was about to fight that girl she helped Roman get away from a few weeks back. So why not show him the skill Whitley had. So after one click her scroll began to ring. The rest of her team and the rest of RWBY looked at her. She just kept looking at her scroll. Then the video call started as Roman picked up.
"Neo what is going on? You're at school so why are yo-" She just put a finger over her lips.
"Like why are you calling Torchie?" Miltia asked confused and Melanie scoffed as the others looked confused and were mumbling to themselves.
"Yaaa Neo if this isn't important the-" She clicked the button that flipped the camera showing the stage as Ruby Rose walked out and Whitley was standing there watching. "Oh it's Red." A pleased smile came across his face. "Who's the pip squeak standing across from her?"
"That's like our team leader, boss. They're about to spar." Miltia said as she scooted closer to Neo to look at the ginger.
"Well he's gonna get the snot beat out of him. Red there ain't no joke and he doesn't even have a weapon." The ice cream girl snickered at that then begun to rub her fingers together as if to say 'want to put money on that'
"Three hundred Lien on that boy losing Neo." Roman spoke confidently. Neo just stuck her tongue out then gave a thumbs up.
"MISS NEOPOLITAN!" Miss Goodwitch shouted from the stage. "I understand your want to record our lectures for studying later but do keep your extra audience quiet before I alert someone" A glare coming from the blonde teacher. "Now then. Ruby Rose, are you ready?"
"Yes." The girl with the red hood squeaked out.
"Mr. Schnee? Are you ready?" Glynda asked, looking at the boy still in his uniform.
"Eh… You're still in your uniform. Aren't you gonna get changed?!" Ruby exclaimed.
"I'd rather not scuff up my battle clothes for training. Besides." A grin formed on his face. Neo loved seeing that grin of his like he already had a battle plan formed and ready. "I'm not gonna get hit a single time. So yes. I'm ready, Miss Goodwitch."
Ruby's face became a pout as she unsheathed her scythe slamming it to the ground. A grumble could be heard as she scowled at him.
"Very well you two may…" A glance from the teacher between the two of them. "... BEGIN!"
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Was it wrong to say he wasn't gonna get hit once? No it was all a part of his plan as he saw the young teen rush him with an angry look.
"Like a barbarian." He smirked saying that as he had barely enough time to dodge the wide horizontal swipe at him He ducked under it. He wasn't faster than the girl but if he could provoke her to get sloppy then she would telegraph her moves well enough to where even he could do some basic disarmament of someone.
One hand landed on her wrist and squeezed it causing her to drop the scythe. His other hand caught it. The weapon was a lot heavier than he expected and then before she had time to react he let her go letting her moment from her rush send her flying across the stage. All of this happening in ten seconds.
"HEY! GIVE ME BACK MY BABY!" The girl squealed, grabbing her wrist.
Now onto phase two of his plan.
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Melanie smirked with a wide grin. The rest of Team RWBY was left speechless.
"HOW!?" Yang shouted as she saw her sister get disarmed.
"Tsk not like my brother knows how to use it. It's basically a stick in his hands." Weiss stated eying the red scythe now in her brother's hands as they watched him try spinning it around before stabbing the blade into the stage.
"This thing is heavier than it looks." Whitley said, looking at it. "Ah sorry I hope you don't mind. I didn't have a weapon so I decided it best to take yours." A smirk on his face.
"Pfft you need to be trained to use it. So why don't you jus-" Ruby started speaking, almost pleading.
'C'chunk. CHINK'
Whitley rocked back the bolt on her sniper scythe, a dust round going flying through the air as he then took out the magazine. "Ah sorry can't have you using these." He smiled as he ejected all the rounds from the magazine into his hand. Five of them total.
"Ho- How does he know how the mechanics of my sister's gun works?" Yang asked as she looked at her. Melanie scoffed.
"He's a smart guy and plans ahead for everything." Melanie smiled.
"Ya but how did he plan to face my sister?" Yang was sounding annoyed.
"You think it was just her?" She asked the blonde.
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, looking at them. The rest of team RWBY looked really confused.
"Wow you really don't know how your brother is at all huh?" Melanie smiled.
"He was like, up till two am watching over all the initiation footage from every team that formed." Miltia spoke. "Kept us all up late till we forced the scroll out of his hands." She yawned still feeling tired.
"Why? so he could fight us?" Blake asked.
"No. So he could work with you all in the field if it ever came to it." Melanie sighed. "You're not always gonna have people from your team with you. Sometimes you'll have someone you barely know. So he was trying to gather what he could find on each one of your abilities and skills." She explained. "He spent like a good hour looking at how every single first year's weapon worked. The more complicated the longer it took for him."
"That's crazy!" Yang shouted as a bunch of her classmates looked up at her.
"I- why would my brother do that?" Weiss asked.
"Are you seriously telling me that your brother never spent time locked in his room or something?" Melanie asked, a bit shocked from how Weiss knew so little.
"No he did… I just thought…" Weiss looked at the stage.
"He was like jacking off or something? Nah you don't become the smartest in a room by doing that all the time." Miltia snickered.
"Wha- no I just… didn't realize he was always working so hard." Weiss said with a melancholy in her voice.
"SO! You want it back shorty? Come and get it!" Whitley shouted as the girl rushed at him with her semblance then reformed in front of him with a fist going right at him as she used her other hand to reach for the handle of her scythe. He ducked again and this time grabbed the pouch on her hip and tore it off. Then jumped back from her as she pulled her scythe from the ground.
"So what's he planning then?" Blake asked as she saw him take count of all the magazines in the pouch. Looking at Ruby soothing her weapon sacrificing valuable time. "All he has is a bunch of dust rounds. No gun."
Melanie just smiled. "Well… Schnee Princess. What's your semblances again?"
Weiss froze up. "Glyphs… that can be charged with dust…" Weiss was looking wide eyed at the stage as each five total magazines Whitley had grabbed was emptied into the pouch and he took four rounds and held them in his hands.
Yang and Blake looked down at the stage. Whitley was now rushing at Ruby dragging and snapping each bullet out of the casing. Dust powder going flying through the air. Ruby was caught off guard by this and backed up. The cases went flying to the ground as four more of the sniper rounds were pulled out only to have their bullets broken off the casing. More of the red Dust powder going in the air. Ruby began to cough as she tried swinging at Whitley, her eyes squinting. She missed the slash as she tried to get her bearings.
"First I prep the canvas." Whitley said as he rolled behind Ruby. A kick going to her back as she stumbled into the red dust cloud. Whitley then pulled out eight dust rounds, four in each hand, from the pouch he stole from her, breaking off the bullets and throwing the cases right onto the floor of the dust cloud she stood in.
"Then I wet the brush." He said taking out another four rounds more dust going through the air as he kicked Ruby's feet from out beneath her dropping the casings onto her body. Then jumping out of the cloud of dust leaving her. He looked into the pouch. Pulling out two more rounds. Melanie smiled. "And then with a flick of the wrist." Whitley snapped his wrist as a red glyph appeared under Ruby as she started to get up in the cloud of red Dust.
"RUBY!" Yang shouted as an explosion of fire erupted onto the stage.
"A beautiful…" A smile on his face as he dropped the casing that was empty of dust onto the ground. "... Painting."
Ruby went flying across the stage and her aura on the screen showed dropping below the threshold. Whitley still had a majority of his aura. The only bit lost from using his semblance. Yang jumped down and ran down to her sister. A glare shot at Whitley. Melanie just begun clapping and looked at Weiss.
"Still think he's a softy Princess?" She teased her. "Don't forget we expect payment by the end of the week."
Weiss scowled and rushed down the steps towards her teammate. Blake looked at Melanie and then followed as well. Melanie just looked down at the stage before taking a bow to Glynda.
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"Neo, where did you find that guy?" Roman had a shocked look on his face as he saw the ending of the fight. Neo just rubbed her fingers together and Roman scowled. "Ya ya transferring it to your account now."
"Isn't he like totally the best, Torchie?" Miltia asked as Neo just nodded rapidly in agreement. "He's like sooo cool in a fight."
"Yeah. But the brat will be a problem in the future." Roman stated with a bit of annoyance. Neo just shook her head. Roman looked at her puzzled. "Whatever I got work to do." The call ended as Neo just looked at the stage as Ruby was helped up by her teammates. Neo just jumped over her desk and went down to the stage and held up Whitley's hand as if he had just won a match in a boxing match.
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Whitley was sweating as he watched the explosion happen and Ruby was sent flying as her aura reached the red. A smile on his face. He wasn't one hundred percent sure it would KO her. Which was why he was happy he had a few extra rounds left in the bag. Eighteen total. They weren't his so he'd give them back to her.
"The winner is Whitley Schnee." A look from the teacher with a glare at him before her eyes softened up as she looked at Ruby who was being helped up by her team. "Miss Rose next time don't let your emotions get the better of you. You let him goad you into making sloppy attacks which led to him getting your weapon and ultimately the dust he needed to win."
"That's not fair though! He looked at footage from the initiation last night! Any other fight he wouldn't have known how to use their weapon!" The blonde girl shouted at him as Neo landed beside him lifting up his arm. She just smiled at her. He looked at the blonde.
"It's called gathering intel. You think I did that for just your team leader? I did that over everyone here so I could know how to work with you all in the field." He explained as he looked at the teacher. "If that is wrong, my apologies." He was raised to be meticulous with everything he did. Every single lesson he took he went over it with a fine tooth comb. Making sure not to miss a single detail.
"No, there is not, Mister Schnee. Just next time do try and be a bit more respectful to your opponent." Glynda scowled at him before looking out to the students. "Next up is Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester. Everyone else return to your seats."
Whitley started back towards his seat as Neo clung to his arm. He wouldn't fight it. No point as he knew she would just get upset if he did. He still didn't understand her clinginess. As he reached where the rest of his team was sitting he saw Melanie smile at him. "That was what I meant this morning. You had the elegance and finesse you were speaking of this morning." A satisfied look on her face.
"You like looked so cool Whitley." A smile from Miltia as he sat back down finally pulling his arm away from Neo as she pouted at him leaning against his shoulder.
"I know." He said confidently to the twin's comments to him. They just smiled back. "Thank you."
They nodded to him as he pulled out his stylus and began working on finishing the first design of his weapon once again. The base design, almost being done.
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The rest of their classes ended without anything of note happening to the rest of Team WMMN. They all went back to their dorm room for the last of their afternoon. Whitley was sitting in his bed sketching on the design for his blueprint already finished with his homework and private classes homework. Neo was lying on his lap playing a game on her scroll. Miltia was working on her history homework.
Melanie was letting out a sigh. "Whitley, I got to do something with my boots. Apparently according to Nico I have to make them more versatile." She scoffed.
"Makes sense. The only deadly side of them is the heel and it's ineffective to kick with the heel constantly." He stated as more sketches were done before a ping from his scroll came. "Alright time for my other classes… well the class work. I already know all this stuff." He scoffed as he began to click on his scroll and a lot of tapping happened on a keyboard.
"Even more classes?" Miltia asked.
"Yes. I took some of the business and finances classes but now I have a problem solving and reflexes class to take and look over the notes for." He explained. "Have to be able to make quick smart decisions that are the best when running a company."
Miltia seemed satisfied with the answer looking back at her.
Melanie looked at her boots and was wondering how she could even improve them. Miltia then spoke up. "What about like a hidden toe blade? You could pop it out when they don't expect it." She said as she tapped at her homework.
"That's not a bad idea sis. Although… hmm." She began to sketch over the blueprint of her boots.
'A hidden toe blade in the front. On the top of the boots could be a studded steel plate for bludgeoning and shin guards could cover up the laces of her boots. Maybe guns in the heels?'
"Whitley. Take a look at this." She showed him her scroll.
"Not too bad." He glanced up from his scroll to look at her own. "Might take time to get used to the extra weight… but it's definitely better than what you had. The guns in the heels might take some time to get practice with." He then looked back to his private classes.
"So like. Are we gonna address the elephant in the room yet, Whitley?" Miltia asked, Melanie just sitting back on the bed looking at Whitley.
"If this is about your criminal history?" He quirked an eyebrow at her looking at Miltia then to the rest of them. Neo just barely looking up from her game before looking back to her scroll.
"Then no I told Melanie I'd ask you tonight but I still need to finish up this coursework then you all have your homework to finish." He looked at Neo. "Yes even you."
She stuck her tongue out before pulling out her scroll tapping on it then showing it to him.
"Hmm shocked you already got it done. Good job I suppose." He complimented the ice cream girl as she just scoffed and went back to her game. Melanie just squinted at Neo wondering when she had time to finish it. "Alright give me an hour and we'll talk. Time for team bonding" He sighed as he went back to his private course work.
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Author's note:
Ok put down your pitchforks. Yes Ruby is a very very talented fighter and yes Whitley doesn't have nearly as much combat experience as her. HOWEVER. Even the best fighters can lose to an amateaur if they don't have a plan and fight on pure emotion. Plus this Whitley isn't like the Canon. He has self defense classes he's taken that involve disarming people and playing defensively. Plus he comes from a dust based family and has a semblance that has a mastery of dust. This is like day one of Beacon classes as well. So that means these are not their characters at their peak. Ruby has already been shown in the initiation to let her emotions get the better of her and also not be strong in unarmed combat. I initially didn't plan to have Whitley win but I changed my mind because I figured. "Fuck it these are my Protags. Let's show what they are good at."
Yes the twins would still lost to Yang. Neo would still win against Yang. The twins could probably beat Weiss. Whitley would probably lose to Blake and Yang as well. Neo honestly could body all of Team RWBY on her own and that's been shown in the canon show as well. If Whitley and Ruby faced again before he got his own weapon he would probably lose.
Now then some notes about the canon of my universe.
Roman and Neo met while Roman still worked for Lil Miss. Cinder wasn't the one that saved Roman from Ruby and Glynda but rather Neo who was under disguise with her semblance. Use your imagination on how Neo got them out of that pickle. It ultimately doesn't matter.
Roman has taken an interest now in Whitley. It's seeming to get closer to Whitley going on that job with the Twins and Neo when it happens. So far it's only Monday night in the story. Initiation happened on Sunday. Whitley has until friday to make his prototype. Will he make it in time?
Sorry for the short chapter. Felt like it was best to save the crime talk for chapter 7.
Chapter 7 - team building.
Chapter 8 - dust sciences with Ein.
Chapter 9 - intel gathering class with Qrow, whitley showing he knows how to hack and has really good grasp on technology (this was hinted at back in chapter 1).
Chapter 10 - Weapon building with Nico.
Chapter 11 - Yang vs Whitley
Chapter 12 - Team WMMN go clubbing.
Chapter 13 - The mission weekend
Hope you all are excited for these next chapters planned and I hope you all enjoyed this short one.
We hit over 500 visits and 1k views. Not to mention almost 25 follows and over 10 favorites. I love reading your reviews as well! Love seeing what you guys think of the story so far!
~ Cawme.