"Ruby!"

The young girl would have said something, but she was too busy having her lungs crushed under the death grip that was Yang's hug. So it was that she found herself struggling to breath, all the while she wormed under her sister's grip.

"Yang... need... air..."

Oxygen filled her lungs as she took several large breaths.

"Sorry Rubes, but I was worried you know. What happened to you anyway?" The elder sister asked.

Ruby would have answered, but found herself interrupted by the commotion behind her.

"I'll tell you later, but right now we have a problem."

"What problem?" Weiss asked, followed by a look from Blake. The door behind Ruby suddenly opened as several Fang goons halted in their tracks. With a sheepish look the young girl faced her team.

"That problem."

Yang wasn't too happy, this was shown by the fact that she'd already drove her fist into the nearest foe. Time seemed to slow for the young man, and he'd swear he saw the woman smirk as her knuckles forced his head back. The blow was more powerful than any of them expected and the man was sent flying back into the open door.

Another grunt tried his hand; he only got the chance to raise his weapon before he felt a pain in his side. Yang wasn't the only one who sprung into action, and Blake's kicks were nothing to scoff at either. While she never had the raw power befit of her partner Blake's strikes were often more precise. They were designed to both cause pain and cripple. The grunt dropped to his knees clutching his side immediately.

Weiss, Ruby, and Dr. Oobleck were left in the back as they watched the chaos just dropped on the goons ahead. Weiss however noticed something off about her partner.

"Ruby, where's your weapon?" She asked as her leader took on a more upset look.

"I don't know. When I woke up I was tied down to a chair in a dark room. I looked all over but my baby was nowhere to be found."

"Do not give up hope, perhaps it is somewhere on this very train." Dr. Oobleck spoke up as he marched ahead, observing the results of Yang and Blake's battle.

"So what grade did we get?" Yang asked with a smirk as Blake shook her head; a hidden smile slipped over the quiet girls face, but only for a moment.

"In terms of subtlety I'd say you'd need more work, but in the case of pure success I'd give a passing grade." The doctor answered as he looked over one of the downed grunts.

"So what's the plan now? We can't just leave them to run amuck." Yang asked as she looked over to her sister.

"We stop them, just like before." She answered with a look of determination.

"Are you sure students? This isn't a small deal. The White Fang are clearly trying something big if it involves transporting this much dust by train. The amount of them waiting at their destination might be too much to handle." The hunter asked as the four gave their own respective acknowledgements.

"Then we just need to beat them down before they get there." Yang said as she cracked her knuckles.

"Whatever they're planning is too dangerous to be left alone, we need to end this here and now." Blake gave as she flicked her weapon into it's firearm form.

"They've been causing plenty of trouble trouble as of late; someone needs to show them how to properly behave." Weiss smirked as she flicked her hair to the side.

"As huntresses it's our duty to protect the people, regardless of the odds." Ruby stood taller, and a small glint could be seen in her eyes.

Dr. Oobleck smiled, adjusting his glasses as he turned front and center.

"Very well. The White Fang are up to no good, and clearly whatever they have in mind is only going to cause more problems. This was never part of your original mission, so you won't be graded for this next segment. However with the mission officially being put on hold..." The man whipped around his thermos, at which point it seemed to extend a long pole from the bottom as the end narrowed into a sort of nozzle. "I will be aiding you for the remainder of our time here."

"Alright! Let's kick some a-"

A massive shockwave was felt throughout the car, followed by a deafening. In a bid of panic everyone rushed out and scampered to the top of the train. Their eyes widened as they looked towards the source of the sound.

"The dust just happened!?" Yelled Yang as her eyes wandered, shooting throughout the tunnel.

Suddenly a wave of heat washed over them, all the while they were able to get a clear look at what was happening. One of the train cars along the back end detached and went up in flames, leaving the girls in a confused state. Before they were able to fully process what was happening another exploded.

"Ack!"

"You okay Weiss!?" Called Ruby as the woman nodded.

"I'm fine. Never brought up my aura in time for that one No burns, just a little uncomfortable, give me a minute."

"Right." The reaper called back.

Ruby understood where her partner was coming from as she'd done the same before; having your aura active for long periods of time was just tiring. Most hunters only brought it up when going into battle, and sometimes flicked it on and off during battle to increase the time they could continue to fight.

Then something caught her eye. Not only Ruby but the entire team had seen it: the sunlight that shined through the roof, and the visible hole that wasn't there before. Even though it was brief they were able to hear a sort of growling screech echo in the distance. Weiss's eyes shot open as the realization hit her; dread consumed every inch of her being as she turned to the others.

"These tunnels... don't they lead back to the city?" The others seemed to realize what was happening.

"They're bringing the Grimm to Vale." Blake finished as her voice shook.

"We need to stop this now!"

Ruby's command knocked everyone out of their stupor. The cloaked girl let out a breath as she faced their supervisor.

"The train must be set to blow piece by piece if what we're seeing is right. Do you have any ideas how to prevent that?"

"Maybe." Dr. Oobleck faced forwards. "If each car is going off individually then we must assume there is a bomb on each and every one. We'll need to find and deactivate them. Assume that they're on set timers: if one is stopped that doesn't mean the others are either. We need to deal with all of them." The girls nodded, and were ready to march ahead into the thick of things.

And then Weiss felt something.

The world stopped.

The tunnel flickered.

Her vision blurred.

Weiss recognized the feeling; the horrid, frozen feeling that locked her in place. Everything felt so... surreal, like her soul was crying out in pain. As her sight returned and her breathing settled she was able to take in her surroundings.

She looked up to the woman above her bed. Soft pale hair cascaded down her shoulders as she lay her hand over the blankets. Weiss pulled the covers over her shivering body. She never expected to get sick so badly, and all the doctors told her to do was get some rest.

Weiss was so cold, so very very cold.

Her nose was stuffy and she couldn't get comfortable. The only sense of peace she felt came from the woman at her side. Mother had always spent so much time working, but for once she was able to come see her. Weiss felt bad that mother had to worry about her catching a simple cold, but the older woman told her it wasn't a problem.

But even so she felt bad, she felt very bad.

The feeling was clear now, as clear as the day she first felt it: on her knees as the cold pavement bit into her skin.

The void was empty as a cloudy fog settled. The pain gnawed at her neck, and she instinctively reached for it, only to trail her fingers across the cold metal of a blade. The shadow stood above her, it's crimson eyes bore into her very core as it stilled.

For a moment the gaze softened, and it's eyes dulled. The shadows cloaking it flowed along it's arms, into the blade and rendering it's true form visible.

Fear, that feeling was fear.

The emotion that flooded her that day, the terror she felt as she looked into his eyes. Weiss was sure she would die, but luck seemed to be on her side and she'd somehow survived.

But it was different this time.

As she looked upon him she noticed that the horror his eyes radiated was gone. Instead it was possessed by and odd warmth; familiar even. For a moment his eyes flashed, the crimson burning a bright white, only to flicker away.

His body seemed to fade, leaving only the shadow cloaked blade; just barely cutting into her neck. The shadows flowed and her neck felt warm. The blade was gone now, and the world faded to white.

She tried taking a step forward, only to stop as she heard a splash. Her vision trailed down, and Weiss was able to see she was standing in shallow water. Her reflection gazed back at her, and along her neck she could see something.

A black cut.

It looked almost burnt, with black veins seeming to extend outwards as if trying to climb away. It felt warm, yet there was a pressure pulsing from it. However before she could reach for it she froze.

Ruby stared back at her, and she realized she was no longer looking into the water. The void was grey now, and Ruby's eyes were dull. The younger girl reached for her hand, taking it and pulling it.

Weiss let her guide the limb, leading it over to a doll.

The doll was grey, much like the void, and had a feminine shape. Ruby raised her hand towards the doll's neck, and Weiss let her fingers take hold of the neck. Her leader looked to fade away, and Weiss felt a warmth flow across her fingertips.

The heat from her neck flowed down to her arm, and she saw the darkness flow through her veins. She felt calm as the heat moved through the limbs in a sort of wave, leaving the veins behind uncorrupted as they returned to their natural dull hue. The shadow seeped from her hand, clouding it momentarily before fizzling away.

Everything changed as the shouts filled her ears.

Weiss felt herself snap back into focus as the others called her name.

The tunnels returned, the rush of wind came back, and she finally noticed where she was. The heiress looked down and saw what she had done. Her hand was clasped around the neck of a woman she'd never seen before, and said woman was clawing at her arm as she choked.

In a panic Weiss let go as she jumped away. All her questions were replaced with panic when she saw the uniform the woman wore.

The White Fang.

Weiss drew her weapon as the woman grasped her throat and coughed, only to stop. She felt something drip down the side of her neck. Weiss reached up, just barely touching the liquid, and brought it to her vision.

Blood.

There was blood trailing down her neck, and a subtle burn as well. She had no time to ponder as the woman tried to stand, only to be stopped as Blake got hold of her and held a blade to her neck. Weiss was shaken as Ruby took her hands with a panicked look.

"Are you okay!?" She cried as Weiss tried to focus.

"I... I think..." She felt light headed. "What happened... I feel... tired." Weiss didn't know what to say, and she didn't get time to think as Yang ran over.

The blond moved her head slightly and looked over her neck. Seconds later Yang let out a sigh.

"Good, it's only skin deep."

"What happened?" Weiss asked as she got worried looks from the two.

"What do you mean!? You just nearly choked someone to death! Are you saying you have no idea!?" Weiss shook her head as Yang let out a breath.

"Right, questions later. We turned to ask if you wanted to take the first car when we saw you in the grips of the grunt over there." Yang pointed to the woman, who looked to be tied up by Blake as Dr. Oobleck looked over her.

"Her?"

"Yeah." Yang clarified. "She laughed, taunted, the usual, and threatened to kill you if we didn't drop our weapons. She had her dagger in your neck and we didn't know what to do. Then out of nowhere you froze."

"What?" Weiss asked as Yang sighed.

"It was weird, you never reacted to anything she did. You just froze, grabbed her arm, flipped her over you, and got her by the neck."

"I... did tha-" An explosion knocked them out of their talk and Dr. Oobleck called out.

"Students we must move!" He called as Yang looked to Weiss.

"We'll talk later, now let's go!"

Weiss gave a shaky nod as they rushed over; Blake let the defeated woman loose as she followed along. The woman jumped down into the car, appearing to chose flight over fight.

They didn't have any more time to waste as they didn't know when the next bomb would go off, and the explosions sounded too close for comfort.

Blake however was more worried than ever as the feeling had returned. She'd also witnessed the scene along with the others, but she had some new suspicions. That spot on Weiss's neck was the very same spot from before. The very same patch of skin where their 'not so reputable' ally edged his blade.

Did he do something to Weiss before? It would line up with all the trouble he'd recently brought. But that still left the question of why. Why would he do something when he was about to kill her? Blake quickly rid herself of those thoughts; speculation on it's own would accomplish nothing, and even then it made little sense with how he acted afterwards.

She needed more info.

The group leapt to the car ahead as they raced along, taking note of just how many were left before they reached the front. Just then a barking could be heard, and Yang reached for the backpack she wore. As she opened it Zwei hopped out and ran headlong towards a certain spot.

He stopped and started barking repeatedly as they focused on him.

"What is it Zwei?" Ruby asked as the corgi started to growl.

The dog stopped dead in his tracks; snout pointed directly at something just ahead of them. Yang felt some confusion flow over her as she paced ahead and stared at the object.

"Huh?" She let out as she picked up the small chunk of metal. "A bullet shell?"

It was small, noting of major concern, yet Zwei didn't let up as he started to bark again, only louder this time. Then she noticed it, the faint glow that it radiated started to grow brighter.

Her curiosity was put on hold as she saw a hand grasp the tiny metal bit. With wide eyes she watched the panicked Blake fling it away. It exploded seconds later and Yang felt herself tense.

A bomb.

The dust!? How!? How do you even make a bomb that small!? Let alone one that powerful!?

The explosion nearly forced her back, but she held her ground. With wide eyes she saw Blake draw her weapon.

"Don't trust anything! No matter how small or insignificant!" The cat girl yelled with a slight edge in her voice.

"Blake what's going on!?" Yang asked as she brought up her fists.

"Semblance! He can make anything a bomb!"

"Who!?" Cried Weiss as her head danced around desperately in an attempt to locate their assailant.

"One of the recruits from back before I left had a bomb semblance, he was new when I ran!"

"And a full fledged member now."

Her head whipped around as she scowled at the cocky look on his face. He stood defiantly ahead of them, blocking off the rest of the train as he twirled the tiny ball in his hand.

"Gold." The name came out in a low tone as he smirked.

"Blake."

"What are you doing here?" She kept her gaze on him as he shrugged.

"Backup. Was supposed to be guarding Torchwick until the plan was finished, but you botched that up now didn't you?" He taunted as her gaze hardened. "I guess it doesn't matter now, you won't be causing much trouble anyway."

"What do you mean?" She asked as he let out a laugh.

"You'll see soon enough. Adam want's you brought back alive... but he didn't say in what state." His smile twisted. "And I've always wanted to be the one to off traitorous scum like you."

"Apologies, but you won't get the chance." All heads turned to Dr. Oobleck as he approached.

"Sir?" Weiss questioned as he aimed his weapon forwards.

"Time is short, and we can't waste any of it. I'll deal with our friend here, you four go ahead and stop this train." He spoke as the others reluctantly nodded and ran ahead.

Gold didn't even try to stop them.

"So what? You think you can stop me all on your own?" He scoffed. "You couldn't stop me before, so what makes you think you can take me this time doctor?"

With his gaze aimed directly into Gold's eyes Oobleck adjusted his glasses one last time before taking a stance.

"You're right, I failed to save you before. But as I said back then: I leave nobody behind."

"You'll fail, just like you always do." Gold growled as he charged.

With one last look of pity Oobleck steeled himself and charged forward, intent to meet him in the middle.

No. I promise this time I'll save you.

All four of you.

Author's note

...

Here we are, back again and in a much better mood. Gonna be honest here I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, something I'm sure you can tell. Getting close to the end of this arc, soon gonna hit the next major event; one of the several I've had planned since the beginning.

Anyway this chapter focused on RWBY again, mostly because I want to get this segment out of the way. Don't worry though, it won't be rushed; I just don't have much in the way of action until Vale.

Next chapter may end up being the last of the train... maybe.

Anyway, get excited because we're soon going to start hitting the meat of things to come! I just love setting plot into motion and playing off it, even when you have no idea what it is.

That's all for now so tell me what you think.

See you next time!