"Dang, can't get this damn noose to keep it together!"
Sun was wrestling, as much as he could try, with his necktie. He prefers to call it a noose due to how much it felt to the Vacuoan native, like a fish out of water or in this case a monkey ready to hang. Still, just for today, he had enough tact to consider it a formal evening.
"Better a noose than nothing at all." A calm voice echoed, Sun hadn't heard such a thing in a long time, or maybe at all considering the past few days. "I knew a tie would look good on you."
Turning around, Sun saw Blake in an elegant and beautiful dress that mirrors her usual appearance. "Not bad yourself," Sun said happily. "So… uhh… what convinced you? Haven't I been all… y'know pushy this whole time?"
Surprised by the sudden change in approach, Blake pressed into questioning the attitude. "Did one of the tanks talk to you? Despite them not being present until recently?" she guessed.
"Yeah. What was his name again? Sherman, I think? It was through a scroll number I didn't recognize. He texted me about the dance and sorta set me straight. Didn't know how much it bothered you but he did mention it was kind of a good thing."
"Scroll? A tank sent you a scroll message? What did he say?" It was surprising for her to hear a tank of all things sending a message through a scroll. How it could do so was unknown but she'd been desensitized to insanity by this point.
"Well… stuff on a friend's duty to ignore boundaries when they see another friend in trouble. I agree but now that everything has been calmer, I can see what I uhh… act during the past few days."
"If it's Sherman, he spoke about me too. I haven't been… open to anyone-"
"That's an understatement." Sun quips.
"-so I talked to Yang about it and finally got where my friends are all coming from. Also, Sherman did have a point in saying I can't stress over anything. So, ready to head inside?"
"…Does this mean we're going together?"
"Saved my first and last dance for Yang, I think Sherman had the right idea when I talked to Yang yesterday, I should stop being the broody kind, no?"
"Nah, you're way better like this. It makes all the happy moments all the more memorable, doesn't it? Like an oasis in a desert or a rose amongst the snow, a momentary flash of joy is enough and unique when it comes from a source that doesn't show it often."
Blake paused, looking incredulously at the monkey faunus. "And yet again I'm concerned with how you say Neptune is the intellectual type. Where'd you learn to talk like that?"
"...Sherman did."
"Somehow I think those tanks are up to something."
At a top floor overlooking the entire party, two miniature tanks were locked in a battle, not of physical means or even vocal - it was of mental warfare. Who knew the moment you tried making sworn enemies compete, it would lead to such an unexpected yet totally expected outcome?
"Somehow I think you're responsible for this." Sherman eerily mirrored Blake's thought.
Tiger refused to give any moral high ground. "I don't know what you're talking about, Sherman. All I see is German superiority reigning supreme over you mass-produced hunk of weak steel."
"You fucking sabotaged me! That's not fair at all!"
"Oh, and interfering with lend-lease isn't?! Don't think I can't remember what you did in our time. You have double standards, damn American. Besides… where the hell is Iosif? He's the one orchestrating this whole shipping thing. Doesn't he understand that relationships forced by an outside influence don't make sense and break the whole reason why relationships are even made? Honestly, people forcing two people together is just nonsensical."
Sherman clicked his tongue if he had one.
"Why do you care? Don't try changing the subject from your blatant cheating you bastard. I know I didn't talk to Sun but when Sun approached me saying that he appreciated my advice despite me remembering clearly that I didn't speak to him, I know for a fact one of you lousy idiots did something!"
Tiger swung away his turret dismissively "Hmph, accept your loss. I can clearly see that I have won." Down below, Tiger pointed to a trio of girls dancing, more likely failing to dance because of Ruby's unwavering passion for hating what she called lady stilts.
Sherman did not take kindly to the German-made tank. "Oh hell, you did not! Penny is part of them! Iosif said only Weiss and Ruby! I also have a sneaking suspicion that you were also part of that! Didn't Weiss already have a partner that she wanted? I remember well that that Neptune guy enamoured her. You did something, didn't you?"
Flashback
"Do you hear it, Neptune? The sounds of complete and utter humiliation it feels when the second most popular among the first years is dancing with you… then you make a fool out of yourself?"
"No… don't want that…"
Neptune slept in the dorms for foreign students, his whimpering kept the room filled as Tiger snuck in using the Seam and creeping unto the bed. Tiger kept his voice low to emphasize the spooky stuff he was about to say.
"Then what will you do, Neptune? The people are going to catch it, you know? The time where you will faceplant into the floor with your butt sticking out or a photo with your lack of dance experience showing up!"
"Then…I won't…dance…" Neptune mutters. Tiger felt his triumphant win approaching, it was only a matter of time.
"Yes… yes!"
Flashback end
"Innocent until proven guilty, my dumbass American. Information is always put to good use, Sherman. That is all I will say." Tiger cryptically replies.
"You Nazi little fuck-"
"Guys!" said a panicked tone. Their incessant arguing stops as the two recognize the voice that came nearby. Iosif was going to go more depressed than the great depression but he held his head- er turret high. "I can't find them! Pyrrha and Jaune, I mean. Even after I said that whole speech to him I prepared!"
"Iosif!" Sherman turned and met the Soviet tank. "Look, I think it's the work of the Kraut. As much as I hate working with communists, it's safe to say that I think we need to take this German idiot down!"
"No, you don't understand." Iosif quickly stopped Sherman. "I've been looking for them the entire time! I know team RWBY's the one who organized this stuff but JNPR should be nearby because they're sister teams."
"Well, I did see them a while ago, they were on the balcony here but went away since I've been idling here doing nothing."
Worst case scenario impending, Iosif only simply said, "Shit."
The three tanks stared at each other, to be honest, they felt tired of the entire debacle but one tank had a different mood. "So…" Tiger raised his voice. "Do I win?"
"..."
"Fuck no, see you on the beaches." Sherman counters.
"I guess I can wait for a while, who knows? Winter came when we waited, maybe something else will change." Sherman had a more snarky tone while Iosif had a reserved energy. Still, he kept on believing that Jaune would dance with Pyrrha.
"I swear to God just surrender! Damn, so close to the final victory." Tiger complained, it was for good reason. Despite being the only one that had arguably the most success in Iosif's weird shipping thing, Tiger still hadn't tasted success.
Meanwhile...
The sounds of loudspeakers reverberate in the building, a gentle and common sound for the classical genre. Definitely a better time than what the tanks were doing upstairs, mainly screaming about their dislikes of one another, a lot at that. Groups and couples alike danced and were overtaken by the atmosphere of the tunes. It wasn't that memorable to the young leader but she didn't pay it no mind.
What she did pay attention to was far worse.
Ruby had enough, too many lady stilts for a day but Penny kept insisting it was so easy. Her ankles were just about ready to give up when she first started walking - even her uncle Qrow's training regimen hadn't been so torturous.
Maybe she'd need to become an android as well just so she could calibrate her toes or something.
"Friend Ruby! We must commence another round of social affairs designated as dancing with friend Weiss! Oh, joy!"
"Penny, it's the fifth dance. Can we uhh… you know… take a break?"
"Break? Oh! You mean what your friend Nora says! Don't worry I have a femur breaker built into my mouth!" Penny unnervingly comments, snapping her mouth open and closed while metallic creaks were heard, Ruby thinks it's just robotic parts but a human-like appearance made it so much worse to imagine otherwise.
"Wait what?! First, that's cool but disturbing. Second, no! I mean I just wanted to rest for a while and… not dance? Look, Penny, I'm not like you, I need to take a breather or two… or ten."
"Oh." Penny visibly slumped, making Ruby wince out of guilt. "Am I doing too much again? Is it because I'm a bad friend?" she tilted her head downwards which made Ruby immediately deny it.
"No, no, no! It's nothing! See… look, I can dance again!" Ruby stood up with an obvious shaking in her knees and an ungraceful way she was flailing her arms for balance. She didn't want to ruin the secret android's experience in dancing.
Informing the general of her decision was scary but because of her status as semi-part of the military, Penny had been given the chance, with a few guards of course.
"Really?!" Penny excitedly grabs Ruby by the wrist making Ruby smile half-heartedly knowing she was doing this to satiate the curiosity of a robot. "We have to try out this Viennese Waltz that your tank friend recommends!"
"...What's that?"
"Well-"
As soon as Penny opened her mouth to answer, a recognizable amount of haughtiness grabbed their attention from nearby. "I would take it to remember that you of all people should know, considering you are their leader. Then again, you are still our team leader so I shouldn't expect too much studying unlike me."
Weiss had gone with a white dress that matched her already dominantly pale and white hair. Ruby wanted to groan at Weiss' old habits but she needed to get used to it anyway. "Weiss, Tiger's history of their world is more than ours!"
"I do concede in that regard but it's not a stretch to remember something. Their classical compositions and culture are wholly remarkable, couldn't you even try to appreciate the history of your friends? At least Penny seems to give more attention to it."
"Indeed, friend Weiss." Penny declared. "Ever since I downloaded an entire hard drive to my memory, I couldn't stop but wonder how much more we are missing. Although I might have to expand my storage so that I can fit world history detailing a few hundred years."
Penny tapped her head which Weiss found weird. Everything has been strange lately but even she knew when bizarre became concerning. "I've been meaning to ask, Penny. Why do you do that?"
"Do what, friend Weiss?"
Weiss scrunched up her face, finding something difficult while thinking. "Act so… it's hard to say. Robotic-"
"Nope!" Ruby interrupts, putting herself in between the two and making the effort to distract Weiss from questioning further. "No one is a robot! No one at all! Nothing here, no sir!" She kept repeating her denial.
Weiss scoffs. "Ugh… Ruby, I wasn't saying she's a robot. She may act quirky at times but doesn't everyone have some kind of trait in them, like your addiction to grossly excessive amounts of sugar or Yang's bad jokes? Besides, who in their right minds would think Penny is a robot-"
"She's not! I mean, no one is! What a crazy idea, Weiss. Oh! The time is very loud and would you look at the sound!" She pulls up her wrist, thinking she had a watch and points to the speaker.
"Time being loud? Look at the sound? Are you an idiot?"
"Yes, I am!" Ruby sputtered out. "Now, let us go do Volleyball Waldo!"
"Vienna Waltz-"
"Woohoo! I'm so excited about the Veranda Balls, Penny we can take turns or do it with the three of us!" Ruby grabs the two of them by the arms and quickly rushes them to the dance floor in her attempt to keep the subject of Penny totally not being a robot away from Weiss' thoughts. No one had pointed out she wasn't stumbling during that moment.
Palming her face, Weiss smiles, the chaos that was her leader was refreshing to her - more annoying honestly but she'd learn to appreciate her leader. Ruby might not be the best person to dance with or to talk about any subject but it was more memorable than the times her father had put her through during God-awful fancy events back in Atlas.
Weiss could get used to this kind of fun. "Well, if you insist. We can start with a few steps!" she gleefully states.
Meanwhile a few minutes later…
"I never thought the human body can resist body-wide severe torsion stress… or being flipped over a table-" *CRASH* "-multiple tables. Oz, are you sure you're not going to step in and stop that?"
Ironwood picked out the quite observable trio of girls whirling around the place with no regard for their safety or the safety of others. It was satisfying to him that Penny could use her enhanced force due to being a robot but maybe the femur breaker wasn't necessary since from up the second floor he could see Ruby clinging on to dear life.
"No, James. This is great training for their jobs as huntresses. You will never know if a Grimm that can death roll like that would be discovered in the next decade or so. Our nurse can handle damages if it gets too-" *CRASH* "-rowdy."
"Glynda would be angry knowing you are subjecting the students to another cruel punishment. It's a wonder how your 'launching students into the stratosphere' isn't considered a crime against humanity."
"Knowing when and where to pull strings is a gift, James. Glynda means well when seeking the safety of the students but I sought to be the other side of the coin, so to speak. If she is serious, I might be lenient. If she's concerned for safety, I will teach reality."
"Funny, I think making you out to be two sides of the same coin is wrong, it's more like you absolutely love making Glynda mad by contradicting her all the time."
"That-" *SIP* "-would be correct."
"What would be correct, headmaster?"
The venomous bite of a stalking predator wouldn't even compare to the amount of threat Glynda had produced at that very moment. With a stiff stature, both of the men turn to a straight-faced Glynda.
It's a day for them to always remember the saying; fear the look of madness and irritation but yield in the face of controlled fury.
"Glynda, how nice of you to appear so silently behind us. How's the weather lately?"
Glynda sighed, a talk between co-workers and friends was nice but it's been getting old. The veins in her head had already popped long ago, there would be no point trying to beat some sense into Ozpin.
"Headmaster, that would be a subject for another time. I'll gladly talk to you about the weather when I throw you out of the school and into rain for all the pain you've caused me."
"Wonderful."
Glynda walked to their side, a concerned look on her face came as an uncomfortable topic arrived. "On a separate note. Is it true letting Ruby and her team go? I don't question your decision, Oz - but is it truly right to let no more than teenagers take such a dangerous path?"
Ozpin suddenly switches to a serious tone in response. "A path I wish I wouldn't want them to travel but as you have seen, they can take care of themselves. The aid of her friends and the world-bending nature of her special tanks tipped the scale for me. I fear our war is much closer than we thought, knowing what came off from one Roman Torchwick."
The general nods while at their side. "He's a resilient man, no wonder our methods aren't working with full intensity. We only know of an operation big enough to steal dust and work with the White Fang. Oz, please give me permission to take action."
"James, we may be in an isolated part of the room but exercise caution when talking about highly secretive information. The answer to your question is… not yet. Miss Rose is far more than enough but as soon as we have yet to gain footing, we have to wait. I also have a sneaking suspicion that more of Ruby's friends will respond to her call to arms - when that time comes, we support them."
Ironwood sighed, another failed attempt for immediate military intervention, though at least there's a chance now. He will admit that Ruby's tanks were already a military intervention in itself but he could always be safer than sorry. "In that case, I'd be excited to tell you of the success in making parts for improvements to them, there's also a message from Pietro to Miss Rose, I trust that you can deliver it to her?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I? Other than that, wouldn't it be time for you and Glynda to dance? It's not common for such an occasion to warrant some leisure activities away from all the stress."
"Is it now? Well, may I have this dance, Glynda?" Ironwood offers a hand to the blonde woman in question. With a soft smirk and a small sigh, she raises her own arm in acceptance.
As Ozpin was left alone among the three, he contemplates what comes next. Being afraid of the future was always a mistake in his mind, but as much as he taught that lesson to himself long ago in one of his many lifetimes, he couldn't help but be plagued by the reality that these tanks brought. Worlds intertwined, history distorted, and a foreign land beyond what they can comprehend.
He sips his coffee, closing his eyes to relish the flavour, perhaps more of an escape from a cruel fate. "I wonder if the Brothers are to be suspected. Knowing them, it wouldn't be hard to stitch a soul within a tank and send them to Remnant. Doubtful but it's always a possibility."
The headmaster stopped short of talking further, he was starting to monologue to himself again. To be fair, he was a reincarnating wizard, talking to oneself was common. He chuckles at the thought before commenting on a new situation below.
"Ah, I see Mister Black is now tied to a table with his pants pulled down… and a furious Miss Xiao-Long gripping garden shears. Should I stop them?" He didn't even get to ponder for a few seconds before saying, "No, I think this will be a wondrous evening to remember. It'll teach a few hormone-filled teenagers about the harsher side of ladies."
When a bullhead arrived well into the darkening night, a group of four and an additional two tanks were carried by the palms of the leader and her bunny faunus teammate travelled with haste to the dorms.
They thought they would miss their chance, a mission like that needed days just to search for the villagers but after finalizing their mission and sending off the displaced people to another settlement, they could finally surprise everyone with an unexpected visit from the second-year team.
"Wow, you're rocking that dress, Bun. Who knew your shoulders popped when it's exposed? Actually, don't answer that, I already saw everything before." she nudges the faunus and starts rubbing her chin towards the embarrassed girl.
"Please don't tease me…"
Coco took one look at the expression and a sly grin arrived. "Nope."
"Geez!" She tried raising her voice to prevent more of the hugging but failed since being feisty will only keep Coco enjoying every moment. "Can we just get to the dance?"
"No worries, we just have to wait for the boys to be done." Coco finally let go of Velvet, a little banter between teammates was always welcome especially for someone like Coco. "Centurion, do you think this matches with my ensemble?" She holds up a black-to-brown gradient necklace and presents it to the tank seated on their bedside table.
Coco had gotten acquainted well with the British tank. It could be because his accent closely mirrored Velvet's or the fact he was willingly following her orders. Nevertheless, he was insistent on being able to meet any of the team's needs which meant Coco took up his offer and got close to the tank.
"Quite lush."
"Grand, I'm guessing the boys are done now. Let's head out." She kept velvet to her side as she helped up Centurion while he shrunk. He could easily travel alongside them while in the Seam but he might as well save on gas.
Later…
The journey had been uneventful, mostly the two tanks just talking about the war and how Centurion missed it by a couple of years. Still, they had much to discuss concerning Ruby and how she must be with multiple other tanks considering their very misplaced introduction.
"Everyone." Centurion made the group stop in place. "Do you all see that?"
"Nope, if it's the darkness, then sure." Fox joked.
"Apologies, can the ones who aren't blind see that in the distance?" His barrel was hard to follow when he was smaller but everyone apart from Fox narrowed their eyes at a figure jumping around on the roofs of buildings.
Coco smirked at the sight. "Well, either that person is practising some late-night parkour or they're up to something. Just when I thought I could relax for one moment. I don't have my aviators but I still got some ass to kick."
"Hold on a moment, we can't just assume. Shouldn't we get a teacher just in case?" Yatsuhashi recommends. The rest of the team was more aggressive than he was but he still had some kind of point that they shouldn't just attack. The team didn't even have their weapons.
Coco thinks for a moment. "I'll take responsibility for any mistakes but I don't think anyone in the middle of night time would be jumping from rooftop to rooftop without a good reason. As for our weapons, we got them." She points to the two tanks sitting on top of Velvet's hands. "I'm pretty sure their machine guns count despite only having a belt left. Don't worry, big boy, Fox will get the teachers."
"Aww come on! You really got to make the blind guy miss out on this? I'll sue you for mistreatment." Fox complained.
"You don't have eyes but you still have legs. Get running or you'll miss out more when we're done with this sneak."
Yatsuhashi was still worried. "Coco, we can't. If they're really dangerous then they would be prepared. We can start by following whatever they are up to and then decide to take them on."
"...I got a better idea, why don't Centurion and Pershing do the following and let us know when to go in? Happy, Yatsu?"
"That sounds better."
She turns to the tanks and lets them down on the ground. "You heard him, get to it."
That's when everything went weird.
They drove without much urgency, they were confident they could catch up if the suspicious person ran away. They were ahead by a small distance while team CFVY trailed behind minus Fox who was forced to run towards the dance.
Both of the tanks couldn't believe it when they were close enough to determine the intruder had karate chopped a man behind the head knocking him unconscious. Not only that but the person who was sneaking around was a woman.
But that all went away as soon as they took in the full appearance, and I do mean, full.
The beautiful art of mother nature lay a good foundation for most of humanity's love for the world. It's a nice term for a valley such as this one. Deep crevices that shaped so nicely it could make Picasso faint just from their existence.
Picturesque.
Scenic.
Pleasing.
Boob window.
So, yes. It wasn't the landscape that comes to mind in this situation. More often than not, this is the primal instinct in the sapiens' brain that makes their neurons active entirely without ceasing.
Was it really essential to a spy outfit?
Who knows? God created humans, so why can't this?
Tanks may not have the necessary impulses to gain a sensation toward women but a gentleman always knew to question such… fashion choices.
"Centurion? Shouldn't we start hollering at Coco and the others at this time? Even ranchers don't stop this long for bandits when they see 'em stealing their livestock."
"Pershing, while I might not understand or like to hear your comparisons to ranching, don't you know to strike at the opportune moment?" Ah, yes. The old tradition of waiting and exploiting for a favourable situation is a pastime for the Brits but horror for anyone standing in their way.
"Opportune moment? When would that be?" Pershing asked, not used to whatever the Brit was saying.
"At the opportune time." Centurion dead-panned.
Pershing looked at the other tank, he decided not to question it. "Alrighty then."
Cinder finished knocking out the last of the first-floor guards at the CCT. Her mission? Unknown, at least for now. To both of the arguably post-WWII tanks, the suspicious individual was already well spotted by the war veterans, seeing the soldiers drop to the floor made them sure it wasn't a visitation the Atlesians expected.
"Now do we call for 'em?"
"You can do that, Pershing. I'll head on over with the lady before she does anything more."
Centurion kept following while Pershing went back to inform the others that they could start, probably going to take weapons off of the unconscious or hopefully not dead members of the army.
The elevator opened just in time for two soldiers to be face-to-face with the masked woman. Without more than a simple back away motion, the soldiers step aside foolishly and it was obvious what would happen next. Centurion got a front-row seat to see the capabilities of the intruder, blade expertise, maybe much more - he thought.
"Who in their right minds would go to the CCT for? I understand it's a communication device so she might want to take it down…"
Thank God for magic tanks. If not for the Seam, they wouldn't have been able to get so unnoticed by anyone.
As the elevator came to a stop, the tank followed closely to the girl, she smirked, he could clearly see this was what she had wanted. Not risking anything else in the pursuit of information, he grew back to full size and exited the realm in between worlds.
Just like many of the other tanks, he couldn't keep his spirit for war kept behind his calm exterior. His barrels, both machinegun and cannon, pointed straight at the girl. Noticing the change in her peripherals. Cinder turned to the right just as she was about to take out the virus she needed to plant into the computer.
Her jaw dropped at the sight.
"Tally ho!"
