Author's note: And now, more bad stuff.
Ruby's Group, General Ironwood, the Ace-Ops, Winter and Penny were sitting in a meeting room and looked at a screen showing the footage currently circulating in Mantle. A building exploded, Yang dropped on the ground, and Blake, foaming at the mouth, came seemingly out of the building, crouching on all fours and with cold determination in her eyes.
"This looks bad," Ruby said after the video stopped, showing Blake's face with the raging fire in the background.
"It looks like you've got rabies," Nora said, and Blake buried her face in her hands.
"I can't believe I fell for that," Blake said.
"No one can tell what will happen now," Winter said, "But it won't be good."
"People will be scared of rabid faunus," Blake said, "They'll demand check-ups and stuff, which will upset the faunus, and tensions will rise."
"We need to stop this from happening," General Ironwood said.
"Where is Sirena when we need her?" Weiss asked.
"If we needed her, she'd be here," Ruby answered, "We have all the skills we need to survive, so we can figure this out ourselves. For now, let's just focus on what we know about that girl." Suddenly, Blake realized what Sirena meant with not being concerned for her safety.
"Her semblance lets her make some form of goop," Blake answered, "It hardens into whatever shape she wants."
"That sounds pretty versatile," Ruby said.
"Don't even think of copying that," Weiss said, "You have enough already."
"I know, but imagine what we could do with it. Shelters, barriers, weapons, anything," Ruby said, "Anyway, Sophie hasn't found anything about her, so she likely used a fake name. Also, we should be ready, there are Grimm coming."
"Don't worry," Weiss said, "Mantle is still protected by an army of flying ice creatures, courtesy of Guardian's Gambit. There are also a few cobweb bats, so the Grimm won't have it easy."
"What's so special about the bats?" Harriet asked.
"Their screams temporarily disable Grimm abilities," Weiss answered, "They also stop lasting effects, like from the Apathy's will-draining screeches." General Ironwood and Ruby both got calls, from one of the soldiers in Mantle and a member of Sophie's swarm respectively, filling them in on the most recent demands of Mantle's human population to have all faunus, and Blake especially, tested for rabies.
~o~
A pack of Sabyr, Beowolves and Alpha Beowolves attacked Mantle, with a single Megoliath trying to break through the wall. Birds of prey made from ice swooped down and struck them, diving into the Grimm with their talons first. The Sabyr and Beowolves died in one or two hits, while the Alpha Beowolves took four to five hits before they died. Despite having the advantage in numbers, the minions were made out of weak ice, so quite a few died when the Grimm swiped at them. The Megoliath rammed into the wall one more time, constantly being pecked and clawed at by the minions, and managed to make a noticeable dent before dying to its countless small injuries. Some of the minions had been old enough to create new ones upon death, and released three lime green lightnings each when the Grimm killed them. The lightnings, unable to find a nearby material, rushed across the tundra in a zigzag pattern, looking for things to turn into minions. Some lightnings reached the partly burned remains of wood that had been used to free the Apophis, and turned them into three large wolf-like creatures, the smallest of which being the size of an Ursa standing on its hind legs. The wolves sniffed the air and began patrolling the area, looking for Grimm to kill.
~o~
The day after they watched the video of a supposedly rabid Blake attacking what looked like Atlas soldiers, Ruby's Group was sitting at a large table in a break room, because Sirena had something special planned. The group was mostly confused why she had told them that she wouldn't come back, only to come back the next day, but Blake had some idea as to what was happening.
"There she is," Ruby said when a red portal opened next to her. The group was happy to see Sirena at first, until a service cart was pushed out of the portal by a servant, followed by another cart and servant, and finally Sirena herself.
"Hello, everyone," Sirena said, with her servants standing by the wall. They wore simple beige shorts and black t-shirts, had short hair, one black and one red, and of course silver eyes.
"Hello Sirena," Ruby said and asked, "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what's this?" Jaune sensed that Sirena used her Telepathy semblance, but couldn't figure out with whom she was communicating.
"Consider it a parting gift," Sirena answered, "You have taught me quite a few things, and helped me grow, so I thought it would only be fair if I showed my gratitude. I have arranged for several kinds of sea weed from my people to be prepared for you, as well as some meat, and other foods. So please, enjoy." She gestured her servants to put the plates and bowls on the table, and everyone saw that the bowls of sea weed were actually labeled based on the type of dust the rocks the weed grew on was infused with.
"Thanks," Ruby said, and the others joined in the sentiment.
"You're welcome," Sirena said, gestured her servants to leave again and sat down next to Ruby while her servants went back through the portal, which closed behind them. She took the bowl of air-goo weed and put some on her plate with her fork, and the others imitated her actions. It was a strange mix of formal dinner, due to a literal queen hosting it, and uncivilized buffet, due to the absence of tongs for the different types of sea weed.
"Sirena, what kind of meat is this?" Ruby asked.
"It's sea dragon," Sirena answered. The meat looked fried, dark brown, with a golden brown hue, and somehow porous.
"Let's see how this tastes," Yang said and helped herself to some fire-goo kelp, only to regret the decision shortly after stuffing her face with it.
"I would be careful," Sirena said with a chuckle. Yang suppressed the urge to scream, due to how hot the kelp was, and just swallowed it.
"Maybe you can counter it with ice-goo kelp," Nora said, ate some fire-, and ice-goo kelp, and said, "Nope, it's worse." Suddenly, Blake made a sound like she just ate pizza rolls fresh out of the microwave, and hid her face behind her hand while chewing with an open mouth and trying to cool the incendiary-goo kelp.
"Blake, you alright?" Yang asked, and Blake swallowed with 'regret' written all over her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Blake answered, "It's just a lot more spicy than I imagined." Blake mostly kept to the incendiary-goo kelp, but changed it up every now and again, while everyone else happily tried all sorts of kelp to find their favorite. The meat was left mostly untouched, until Ruby eventually decided to give it a try. Despite its appearance, the meat was soft and outright melted on Ruby's tongue. It was a firework of flavors unlike any she had tasted before, and she immediately went for seconds, before even fully eating the first bit.
"This is amazing," Ruby said between bites, and shoveled another few chunks of the meat onto her plate. Her friends gave it a try, and one by one was shocked, in the most pleasant way, to realize how good the meat tasted.
"It's… incredible," Weiss said, "I don't know any restaurant that could keep up with this."
"Tastes like heaven," Nora said.
"So that's what I taste like," Yang said, and her awe quickly turned into a cheeky smile. They continued eating until everyone was full and most of the food was gone, then they shared a heart-felt goodbye with Sirena, before she returned to her kingdom for good.
~o~
A few days after Sirena had left for good, the military received a call for help from one of the mines, as there were Grimm attacking the workers, and the guards were starting to be overwhelmed. General Ironwood sent Ruby's Group to handle the situation, and they left immediately.
"Alright, here's the plan," Ruby said as the group approached the mine, "I'll petrify the airborne Grimm, Blake and Ren deal with any stragglers, Weiss reinforces the barriers, Yang and Nora bring the petrified Grimm to the barriers, and Jaune looks if anyone is injured." She dashed out of the Manta, Weiss summoned a Griffon to take her, Blake and Ren followed Ruby's example, and Yang, Nora and Jaune waited until they got there. Ruby flew above the miners' base camp and petrified the Grimm. Weiss used an array of glyphs to make the Grimm fall where they wouldn't cause damage, then created an ice wall around the damaged fence. Ren and Blake arrived and killed the remaining Sabyr and Beowolves that Ruby didn't get. The Manta landed and Yang, Jaune and Nora hopped off.
"Is anyone injured?" Jaune raised his voice a little to get more people's attention and said, "I can help."
"Yes, this way," one of the military's soldiers said, and showed Jaune where the injured soldiers were, while Yang and Nora carried the remains of the petrified Grimm to the outside of the ice wall.
"What happened here?" Ruby asked one of the soldiers after landing.
"Those faunus revolted again," the man answered, "They tried to escape, but we managed to drive them back."
"But then Grimm attacked, right?" Ruby asked.
"Naturally," the soldier answered, "If only these faunus would understand that the kingdom needs this dust. And it's not just Atlas, either. The entire world needs that dust. But there is just no talking to them. They won't listen to reason."
"I'll try, then," Blake said as she walked past the man and towards the mine.
~o~
The air in the mine was thick and difficult to breathe, and without her night vision, she'd definitely be mostly blind inside those tunnels. She heard coughing and some people groaning in pain, but also the sound of pickaxes hitting stone, though it sounded regretful. However, every time she tried to reach the miners, they seemed to avoid her.
"I came to help," Blake said, raising her voice and making it echo through the tunnels, "I'm a huntress, and a faunus." Within seconds, she was surrounded by faunus of all kinds, genders, and ages, and realized that these people knew these tunnels better than anyone. She also noticed, with sinking horror, that a lot of faunus had obvious signs of dust blight. She saw many faunus with one antler and a spike of either ice or stone in place of the other, or burn marks from either fire or lightning. There were faunus with a missing ear, or a tail turned to ice or stone, and other examples of grossly neglected workplace hazards.
"Thank you for coming. My name is Tuyet, and I'm kind of in charge here," Tuyet said, excitedly shaking Blake's hand, "Please, this way." Tuyet, a penguin faunus with a bit of plumage growing from her waist, had green eyes and short, black hair. She wore simple black shoes, old blue jeans and a dirty white t-shirt. Before Blake could respond, she was dragged along into a tunnel, and led around turns she didn't even notice until she saw Tuyet take them.
~o~
Blake was led to a large open area with a mostly defect ventilation fan in the ceiling, and after exchanging pleasantries and introductions, she and Tuyet began talking about why Blake was there.
"So, you really want to help us?" Tuyet asked.
"Yes, of course," Blake answered, "I'm friends with Weiss Schnee, and she can get things better for you all. All she needs is to know what your problems are."
"A faunus who's friends with the Schnee?" Tuyet asked in disbelief, then started laughing, "Now I know that this is just a dream."
"If it was a dream, how would you know this was weird?" Blake asked.
"I guess that's right," Tuyet answered, "Still, it's definitely hard to believe. Plus, we've tried time and time again to talk to those people, but all we ever get is promises, never actions. This place is a death trap, and they know it, but they don't care. All they see us as is money printers. And if we demand our basic rights be met, like the medical care we were promised, they just twist it into an unprovoked revolt and make us look bad."
"Like just now?" Blake asked.
"Exactly," Tuyet answered, "We just wanted some help because we had another dust blight trigger. But instead of getting help for someone who woke up with his tail turned to stone, we just got a beating."
"I see," Blake said, "Yeah, that sounds awful. But the SDC is under new management, and Willow is making an effort to right her ex husband's wrongs. If you want, we can go and talk to my friends, and see what can be done."
"And you're sure this'll work?" Tuyet asked.
"We won't know until we try," Blake answered, and Tuyet pondered the decision for a moment.
"Alright," Tuyet said, and both got up and left the mine.
~o~
After making sure everyone outside the mine was alive and well, Ruby went to talk with Leon, the highest-ranking soldier on the base. She wanted to figure out what happened, or rather, what his version was, so she could try and prevent future incidents. They met in his housing unit, which had proper heating and a generator, so he could watch TV or use other appliances.
"So, Leon, what happened here before the Grimm came in?" Ruby asked. Jaune was sitting beside her, listening intently.
"Like I said, those faunus just attacked us," Leon answered, "They came out of the mine, pickaxes in hand, and tried to kill us all, even though we never did anything wrong."
"Jaune, check that, please," Ruby said.
"Sure," Jaune said, sunk into his chair.
"What's he doing?" Leon asked.
"Astral tracing," Ruby answered, "He senses the ripples in the ambient aura to find out what happened here, and if you're really telling the truth. Basically, as we move, we disturb the ambient aura. This leaves ripples, like how you leave your scent wherever you go, and with the right training, one can sense those ripples. It's pretty useful." Jaune snapped back into reality and gasped.
"Liar," Jaune said, and seemed somewhat disturbed.
"What happened really?" Ruby asked.
"A monkey faunus' tail turned to stone," Jaune answered, turned to Leon and said, "They just wanted to get him medical care, but you beat them down and forced them back into the mine."
"It's his word against mine," Leon said with a smug grin, "And I know who the masses will believe."
"This isn't over," Ruby said, got up and left, with Jaune following her. They saw Blake leave the mine, with another faunus following her, and walked over to her. Ruby also waved Weiss over to them.
"And, how does it look?" Ruby asked, "And who's this?"
"This is Tuyet," Blake answered, "She is apparently in charge of the mine."
"I get that this is a horrible place to be in," Weiss said, looking at Tuyet, and asked, "But why attack the soldiers?"
"They didn't," Jaune answered, "They just wanted medical attention for someone whose tail had turned to stone. But with the recent developments in Mantle, it'll be too easy for those idiots to convince people that the faunus just randomly attacked them."
"I see," Weiss said, "Sorry."
"So, what do we do now?" Jaune asked, and everyone looked at Ruby. Unlike before, however, now she knew she wasn't making them trust her, and felt perfectly comfortable with people turning to her for help.
"We first need to know what kind of problems we're having, and why," Ruby answered. The others also walked over to the five of them, and Blake introduced Tuyet to everyone.
"The mines are poorly ventilated," Tuyet said, "This causes dust micro-particles to build up, resulting in dust blight. The fans are old and damaged, and while they have covers to keep snow out, most are completely covered and can't suck in any more air from inside the mines." Ruby knew she could just repair the fans, but she had no idea how she should keep them from being covered in snow again. She thought about the issue for a moment, but got distracted when some of the ice Weiss had used to protect the area reflected the sun into her eyes.
"That's it," Ruby exclaimed triumphantly and explained, "We'll use ice spikes to reflect sunlight onto the fan coverings, heating them up and meting the snow."
"Are you sure this'll work?" Weiss asked.
"Of course," Ruby answered, "It'll be like a magnifying glass, and I've used those to make fires a lot when I was younger. Weiss, I'd need you to align those ice spikes as best as you can to reflect as much light onto the covers as possible. I'll handle the initial repairs of the fans."
"And what about the air quality in the meantime?" Tuyet asked and said, "The mines are much larger now, and there are areas that wouldn't be ventilated now without installing additional fans. And those are pretty expensive."
"Leave that to me," Jaune said, "Just show me where you need air to move away from, and I'll do it."
"We can lay pipes through the mines," Yang said, "Then we attach them to fans, and they'll suck the air out of the deepest corners of the mines. That way, air from here will flow into it, and you'll get a steady stream of fresh air."
"We can use those funny shiny things," Nora said, "You know, the ones that are crunched up and really short, but get super long when you pull them."
"You mean the ones used in kitchens?" Weiss asked and said, "Good idea."
"We can use the central fan for that," Tuyet said, "It has eight smaller openings, but it's covered in snow, and broken, so we'd have to fix it first."
"Just show me where it is in the mine, and I'm good to go," Ruby said, "I can squeeze through any opening with my semblance, and I have a few other tricks up my sleeves as well."
"Alright," Tuyet said.
"And I'll talk to my mother about the conditions here," Weiss said.
"Thank you," Tuyet said, "We were promised warm housing, medical care as needed, paid sick days like the humans, and a break room with a computer with free CCT access."
"So all the stuff the humans have, got it," Weiss said and walked away a bit while she summoned a Seer and contacted Winter.
~o~
Jaune and Ruby followed Tuyet into the mine, but were barely able to see anything. Luckily Jaune had his aura sense, and Ruby could somewhat emulate electroreception with her aura, due to fusing with a shark's soul so often.
"So, here we are," Tuyet said and lit an oil lamp, illuminating a large chamber with a huge industrial fan in the ceiling. The fan had a big opening on the bottom, and two smaller ones on each side.
"Alright, here I go," Ruby said and dashed up to the fan, holding onto it with her hands, "But, Jaune, be ready in case I need more aura." The metal was cold as ice, but she had to endure. She used Retaliation, augmented with fire-dust, to coat herself and the fan in a red aura that heated up everything it came into contact with.
"What is she doing?" Tuyet asked, looking at Jaune. The stone the fan was anchored to heated up, and Ruby started sweating a little.
"Getting the snow off the cover," Jaune answered. They both watched as Ruby clung to the fan, and Tuyet wondered what that was supposed to accomplish. Just as Ruby wanted to take a break, a drop of near-freezing water dripped on her forehead, and then another, and another, until the water was trickling into the room all around, and over, her. The water was too cold to evaporate completely before passing through her aura, allowing it to cool her off, and the more the water trickled on her, the colder she got, allowing her to slowly put more energy into Retaliation, speeding the process up.
"I think I see the light," Ruby said after a few minutes. More snow fell off the covering, and the sun shined into the room for the first time in over a decade.
"That is incredible," Tuyet said and asked, "Now, how do you plan to fix the fan?"
"Like this," Ruby answered, turned off Retaliation and used Repair on the fan. As the fan creaked and bent back into place, Jaune sensed that Ruby was running low on aura, and began recharging it.
"What are you doing?" Tuyet asked.
"Recharging her aura," Jaune answered, "Once she's done, she can go out there and tell Weiss where it is, so she can set up the reflective ice spikes to keep it warm." After Ruby was done fixing the fan, she dropped back to the ground.
"Alright, time for the next step," Ruby said and dashed out through the fan. Jaune knew she was probably not herself right now, due to using those two semblances so much, but he hoped that this combination of pushing back against anything trying to get her down and the desire to fix things would work out in their favor.
~o~
After Ruby, Jaune and Tuyet had left, Weiss finally got in touch with Winter when she summoned a Seer of her own.
"Hello Winter," Weiss said, "I need to ask a favor of you."
"Hello Weiss," Winter said and asked, "What kind of favor?"
"I'd need to talk to mother," Weiss answered, "It's somewhat important."
"Of course," Winter said, "I'll go see if I can find her, then contact you again." She made her Seer disappear and Weiss waited for a few minutes, then Winter contacted her again.
"Hello Weiss," Willow said and asked, "What did you need to talk to me about?"
"Hello mother," Weiss said and answered, "I'm at one of our mines right now, that just saw a Grimm attack. The faunus workers want to have the same rights as the human ones, and I feel like we should give them those. It would make life easier for everyone, since we wouldn't have to invest so much into repairs, new employees, and security every month. Also, we would need a lot of aluminum air ducts, to improve ventilation."
"Yes, of course," Willow said and began typing on her computer. She still was a bit disoriented, though she was mostly not used to working so much.
~o~
After Ruby had sent her the coordinates, Weiss was riding a Griffon to meet her, and landed next to a large dome suspended on metal bars and protecting a fan from snow falling into it. Ruby stood next to the cover and waited for her.
"That's bigger than I expected," Weiss said.
"Yeah, same here," Ruby said, "But let's get going."
"Alright," Weiss said and created an ice glyph near the cover. Normally she didn't think much about the shape, since she only ever needed 'spiky' in combat. She focused on the shape of the spike, trying to see all its tiny intricacies before her inner eye, and tried to make it as reflective and focusing as possible. An ice spike rose from the glyph, and when it was fully there, the duo saw a small bright spot on the stone near the metal covering. Weiss let out a defeated sigh.
"It's fine," Ruby said, "This way, the metal at least won't melt. But we should still do something to keep the water out of the mine." She looked at her hands as if she was thinking of something, but then drew Thief's Respite, loaded earth-dust rounds and fired them onto the fan where it connected to the ground, creating a barrier to keep the water out. In the meantime, Weiss created more ice mirrors, focusing the light on the ground near the fan, rather than the fan itself.
~o~
Blake flew over the mine and saw a large array of ventilation fans dotting the landscape. They looked haphazardly strewn about, and none were functioning perfectly. The ones that did work were audibly damaged, and had hiccups every once in a while. Using her maiden powers, Blake sucked the air out through one of the vents, and a thick gray cloud of dust and debris erupted from the ground. She looked at the spectacle, disgusted at how anyone could be fine with letting others work in such conditions, regardless of species. She continued her work until after sunset, then everyone returned to Atlas.
"Hey, Jaune?" Nora asked on the way back.
"What is it, Nora?" Jaune asked.
"I've been thinking," Nora answered and asked, "Could the two of us maybe fuse when we get back?"
"Sure," Jaune answered and asked, "But, why?"
"Because of this dust creation thing," Nora answered, "It's powerful, but dangerous if I can't control it. And you're the best at controlling your aura out of all of us. So I figured, if we fused into one, you could help me get the hand of this so I don't hurt you guys again."
"Sure. And maybe I can get Pyrrha to help us as well," Jaune answered, "She's just as good as me, if not better, and three heads are better than two."
"Thanks," Nora said. They sat the rest of the trip in silence, mostly due to being too exhausted from working so much, helping the miners move the carts through the tunnels, helping repair some things, fighting off the occasional Grimm, and so on. After they returned, they would all be checked for dust blight, just in case.
~o~
After the group returned to Atlas, they had to stay in the medical bay and get tested for dust blight, just to be safe. Weiss' tests came back positive, most likely due to her spending the most time in the mines, and she had to have some infected tissue removed from her left hand. It was a simple standard procedure that only required local anesthetic, but it still took close to an hour. Afterwards, they were too exhausted to do anything else and went to bed.
~o~
The next morning, after breakfast, Jaune and Nora went to a training room to fuse, while Weiss tested how far she could move her hand. Due to her aura, post-surgery recovery was much faster than in normal people, but she still had some issues, so she decided to use her right hand for a few days. Unsurprisingly, it didn't go well at first.
"Ready?" Jaune asked, holding his hand out to Nora.
"Yep, let's go," Nora answered and took his hand, and both hugged each other. At first, nothing happened, then their auras flared up a bit.
"Why isn't this working?" Nora asked in a whisper, still hugging Jaune.
"We need to focus more," Jaune answered, "Normally there is someone initiating the fusion, or it's Pyrrha and I, but we have to start from square one." They focused more on one another, and their fusion. Their aura's flared up stronger, and began merging with one another.
~o~
Ichigo walked along the wall, which already had a few cracks from Grimm trying to get through. In the distance, she heard another argument between a human and a faunus, and could practically taste the faunus' sweet sorrow.
"Look, I'm just worried about you," the human man said with a dismissive undertone, slightly upsetting his friend.
"But this is too far," the faunus defended himself, "You know my kind struggles with this kind of discrimination. My wife is already on the fence about this, and our daughter is scared and confused. I thought I could at least trust you." He walked away from his friend, leaving both of them feeling deliciously hurt by the other's actions.
~o~
A few days after their trip to the mine, Ruby's Group saw the first of many material transports leave Atlas and head to the mines to improve working conditions for everyone there. Just as they were about to go back to training, Ruby stopped in her tracks.
"What's wrong?" Yang asked, and her friends turned around to see what was wrong.
"Grimm," Ruby answered, "In Mantle!" She dashed out the hangar and fell towards Mantle. Weiss, Yang, Jaune, Ren and Nora followed her, while Blake went to tell the Ace-Ops about the situation. She didn't exactly feel comfortable going to Mantle, mainly due to the people there demanding her to get checked for rabies.
Author's note: I'm honestly really proud of Ichigo. She's my first villain OC ever, not including those that were mind controlled, misunderstood, or pure evil.
It's actually thanks to someone on the RWBY subreddit that I was able to make her, because they pointed out that RWBY villains are fairy tale characters that met a bad end. Cinderella never met her fairy godmother, Hansel lost Gretel, and the scorpion survived killing the frog.
So, I decided to do something like that as well, took a character, and removed one thing.
Initially, it was planned that Jaune uses Retaliation, augmented with air-dust, and shockwaves from his shield to push the bad air out of the remote corners of the mine and to where it could be taken by the fans. But that would've taken too long, so I had it happen off-screen.
The thing with Blake saying she's a huntress and a faunus was kind of inspired by one of those crime shows. You know, those with Navy or whatever in the title. One episode I watched had a guy run a seminar where he taught people how to get with A-cup women, on the basis that no one wanted them anyway.
Looking back, dude was the definition of an incel.
He also kind of cheated to work around the issue of women rejecting his advances, so he could claim his method had a higher success rate than it actually did, if you catch my drift.
One of the main characters of the show contacted a former victim over the internet and wanted to arrange a meeting, but got nowhere until she wrote that she was a cop, and a woman.
I just remembered that scene when I wrote this chapter, and decided to put it in.