Jaune Arc turned to his redhead partner, shutting off the news broadcast, and asked, "Is the Fang base really in the middle of a residential neighborhood?"
She nodded with exasperation, "You can see for yourself Jaune."
She slid the combined scroll over to him. He picked up the scroll and carefully viewed the photo on it. The photo showed the giant annotated Fang map.
On the map, a giant red circle enveloped a house in a residential neighborhood. The scribble of text next to the circle confirmed that the house stored the "black box", aka the Paladin.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead in a very Weiss-like fashion. It didn't make any sense how the Fang were able to hide in the middle of a decent heavily trafficked place. But considering their recent experiences with a militarized and organized Fang, he wasn't shocked.
His brow knitted in anger. It didn't matter how the Fang did what they did. He only needed to stop them and make sure they didn't cause anywhere near the amount of damage they did to Vale and its people like in the videos.
They had to protect everyone and everything they loved.
But first, they needed more intel about the house. A fool would go in blind.
Blake stated, reading his thoughts, "Let's find out more about his place."
She leaned over him and typed into his holo comp. He pushed back his seat, giving the black-haired faunus space to work. She nodded in thanks and inched closer, typing faster.
Pyrrha leaned on his other side to get a better view of the comp screen. Blake's hands flew over the keyboard and she pulled up a photographic 3d map of the neighborhood.
She turned around and looked at the scroll in his hand.
He scooted forward and set it down on the table, letting her see the address of the house. She glanced at it. Looking up, she typed the address into the maps search function.
The view of the map spun around wildly, speeding through the streets of Vale and blending the passing by structures into one big blob of gray and green. The view stopped in front of a house.
Blake modified the map controls, giving them a 360-degree view of the house and the surrounding neighborhood.
The house sat in a quaint-looking street block with other houses of similar features on either side of it. The Fang house sat in the middle of the other two houses on the street.
A sidewalk adorned with trees separated the houses from a vehicle-only road. On the other side of the road, another street block mirrored the one the Fang house stood on.
Sort grass took up the small front yard that led to the wooden steps of the Fang house entrance. A line of black fencing, slightly rusted and aged, lined the yard. A small metal gate, a bit taller than the rest of the fence, led into the yard. The gate held a small latch that acted more as a mechanism to prevent the gate from flapping in the wind than to deter any intruders.
The house boasted two floors. It looked like any old regular suburban home. Old red bricks made up the exterior of the house combined with modern gray and white paneling.
A solid brown oak door led into the house. Two curtained windows filled the walls of both floors. A peaked roof, which might contain a stuffy attic, topped the house.
If he passed the house he wouldn't have given it a second thought. But in reality, the house held a weapon of mass destruction somewhere in it.
A white sale sign hung from a pole affixed into the front yard. Large blocky letters, which read "FOR SALE", were imprinted onto the sign. Beneath the letters, small text read the information of the seller.
Blake changed the map into an aerial view. The new perspective showed a pretty sizable backyard behind the house. Blake changed the view, spinning it down and around to the back of the house.
The backside of the house was an exact copy of the front side of the wall, the sole exception being a screen divider that led into the backyard. The two glass doors of the screen divider didn't lend any information into the house on account of the black curtains covering it from the inside.
Blake pulled the view back to the front of the house and turned to both him and Pyrrha.
She pointed at the for sale signpost, "Let's call that number and see if we can get any info about the house, you two look up the house online and see if you can find anything."
He and Pyrrha nodded. He moved closer to his holo-comp screen. Pyrrha closed in on his side. Blake detached the combined scrolls and handed Pyrrha's back to her.
Blake dialed in the contact information of the seller and put the scroll to her ear.
He opened up the web and looked for info about the house. Pyrrha helped him search, but no websites held any useful information about the house that they didn't already know, such as the address.
They didn't find any floor plans available nor any specifics about the house, like the number of beds or bathrooms. All of the websites listed the seller's phone number to learn any information about the house. None of the multitudes of property selling websites listed the house, they only found scraps of information on Vales government websites.
This seller was going to be their only lead.
He sighed, looking at the last website about the house. It, like all the other websites he and Pyrrha had looked through, contained no valuable information about the house except for the contact info.
Pyrrha leaned in on his arm, looking into the holo comp screen, and rubbed his shoulder in support. He turned to her, meeting her emerald eyes which shone with sympathy.
She soothed him, "Don't worry Jaune, we still have the phone number to call."
He nodded, rubbing his forehead and leaning into her comfort, "I know Pyr, but I just don't like having so little intel. If the phone call doesn't pan out we'll be going in blind. With how powerful the Fang have become, that could be Fatal. I don't want to lose either of you just because we weren't prepared."
Pyrrha squeezed his shoulder in comfort, "I don't want to lose you either Jaune. I promise you no matter how we go in, we'll all come out alive. You need to believe that we can get through all of this. Hope is our greatest weapon to change the futures in those videos."
He nodded, feeling the previous dread in his heart disappearing. A bright warm hope combined with fiery determination replaced his negative emotions.
Turning to Pyrrha he nodded and raised his hand to grasp her hand, "Thanks Pyr. You're the greatest partner a guy could ask for."
Pyrrha slowly slid her hand out from under his, blushing. Her cheeks shone redder than Ruby's cloak. She glanced away. Her adam's apple moved in a gulp and she turned back, meeting his eyes with a newfound shine in her's.
She said, brightly smiling, "No problem, Jaune. It's just what partners do."
To their side, Blake hissed in anger, pulling them both back out of their heart to heart.
He turned to the cat faunus. Blake slammed her scroll through the air but gently placed it down before it collided with the desk. She huffed and looked at him, anger danced in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" He asked, knitting his brow.
She shook her head in a rare sign of frustration, "The phone number doesn't lead anywhere. Here, listen to it."
She picked up her scroll and shoved it in his hands. He tapped on the recent calls and from there called the seller. After a few beeps, a sharp static sound ripped from the other side of the scroll followed by a robotic voice.
The voice, sounding neither male nor female, stated, "If you are calling for the listed house under the address followed by the beep it has already been sold."
A beep followed and the same voice listed the address of the house. Jaune ended the call as the message repeated. He called once more but the same message greeted him.
He sighed in frustration and turned to Blake, "Is that all?"
She nodded, her cat ears swaying on her head agitatedly, "I've tried calling over and over but nothing comes up. I think we've hit a dead-end unless you guys found something online."
He shook his head slowly. Blake's cat ears drooped onto her head.
Sitting straighter, he asked the two girls, "Is there any other way we can track down who this is?"
Blake and Pyrrh both gave each other looks before shaking their heads together.
Blake stepped in, "I think we've hit a dead end."
He sighed, rubbing his forehead, "It looks like we'll have to go in blind. I didn't want to do this but we don't have any time to find out more information. We have to deal with the Fang as quickly as possible."
Blake and Pyrrha nodded stoically. He took a steady breath, trying to cull the sudden rage that exploded in his head. Even though the mission had a high chance of failing without a plan, they still needed to do it.
He would make sure that he, Blake, and Pyrrha wouldn't get hurt no matter what.
Squaring himself for their most dangerous mission yet, he spoke up, "But we're not going in there totally unprepared. Let's raid a Fang depot and get geared up to the nines."
Blake and Pyrrha nodded, their eyes narrowed in determination against uneven odds.
He turned to Blake, "Is there a Fang depot we can raid near the house?"
The feline faunus nodded and moved closer to him. She typed into the holo-comp lightning-fast, pulling up the map and moving the location some blocks away from the house to an abandoned mechanic shop.
Pointing at the dilapidated structure, she said, "This is the Fang depot."
He nodded, rubbing his chin, a faint brush of stubble rubbed against his fingers, "Then we'll take what we need from there on our way to the house."
The two girls agreed and they started to set up plans for leaving the school and their route to the Fang base. They ironed out their plan for a few hours.
Explaining the last few steps of the plan, Jaune turned off his holo-comp. Blake and Pyrrha followed, turning off their computers and putting all of their materials away.
They all stood up in sync and looked over their section to make sure nothing stood out of place.
Satisfied, he led the two women to exit the library. To everyone else, they looked like a group of students who had completed a rigorous project, and students who wanted to find the nearest soft surface and crash onto it.
They left the library, he and Blake waved to the librarian right before they left, and exited into the halls of Beacon.
Walking through the halls, they went to the dorm building. They proceed up the dorm stairs to their dorm floor. Giving each other goodbyes, they entered their dorms.
He entered team JNPR'S dorm room followed by Pyrrha. Ren sat near his desk scribbling on some homework. Nora sat on her bed listening to some music through her large headphones, bobbing to the rhythm.
She nodded to both of them and smiled, although she did make a gesture between his eyes and hers playfully. He played along with her with a shrug and went over to his bed.
Pyrrha went over to the bathroom with her change of clothes, getting out of her huntsman wear. He plopped down onto his bed and thought about the coming days.
They had a lot of work ahead of them.
He spent the rest of the day spending time with his team. The next day, he, Blake, and Pyrrha had decided to turn into a rest day for themselves. They needed to be in top condition to fight against the Fang.
Instead of putting his team through their usual rigorous training exercise, he instead planned a day of relaxation. He invited Ruby and her team to join, and the short black-haired girl instantly agreed.
They planned out the entire thing and created a fun outing for their eight-person group.
Classes finished, they all got together in one of the many empty common rooms and played a tournament of video games. Even though the tournament was Pyrrhas and Weiss's first time playing video games after they learned the controls they effortlessly wiped the floor with the rest of them.
However, he and Ruby were able to stand up the prestigious pair on account of their sheer experience. The two duos faced one another in a final deathmatch round that made the entire common room erupt into cheers and shouts.
The noise from their fun must have reached several, several dorms, but no one came to complain.
They watched a movie and bugged out on a wide array of snacks all hand-chosen by Nora and Yang. They all laughed at the movie's antics and commentated throughout it.
After the movie, they all got dressed and headed out into the city. They visited an amusement park and rode on as many rides as they could. He rode on the local rollercoaster without wondering about his motion sickness.
He used his scroll to take as many photos of everything as possible, to permanently entrap the memories they made. During the entire event, happiness filled him to the brim. He hadn't been this ha[[y he had been in a long time.
He didn't want to be anywhere else in the world.
They cooled off with a trip to a local restaurant. They all ate like kings, laughing and telling stories. He sat between Blake and Pyrrha and talked with them like they were regular Beacon students, instead of people he shared a serious burden with.
He even made Blake break out into a belly laugh which got the entire table to laugh along with her.
They talked until the sun had set and the bullheads back to Beacon were nearing their close. They all sat in a booth hugging the wall, piled with empty plates and bowls. Not a dab of food marred the white ceramics. He clutched his stomach feeling that he had eaten his entire body weight plus more.
He looked around at the rest of the table. Everyone else moaned in a similar state. Blake had all but slumped onto his arms while Pyrrha had wrapped an arm around him and used his shoulder as a headrest.
They all leaned against one another for support.
He yawned and leaned back into the soft cushioning of the booth. He sighed and looked around at the two teams, his family. He would protect them against any threat no matter what.
Pyrrha sighed and got off his shoulder. She stretched her arms up and let out a deep yawn. His mouth involuntarily followed her yawn with his own. This created a domino effect, making the entire table echo yawn.
Everyone got up from their slumped-over forms and joined in a group laugh. The laughter naturally ended and a peaceful silence took up its place.
They sat like that for a few more minutes, enjoying each other's company. But they couldn't lazy around forever, he, Blake, and Pyrrha had a White Fang base to bust tomorrow.
He straightened up in his seat, making Blake and Pyrrha turn their attention to him. He cracked a few kinks in his back and faced the entire table.
Coughing to get the attention of everyone, he said, "We should all head back now, I think I might just drop dead here if we don't get back to the dorms."
A chorus of agreements and positive sounds sounded from his teammates. He shifted in his seat and began to organize the stacks of plates for the servers. It would be cruel to make them shuffle through the mountains of ceramics.
He marveled at how much they had eaten. Even though it did make sense: They were huntsmen who burned an insurmountable amount of calories compared to the average man. They needed to eat like kings to maintain their muscles and overall health to be at their best against the endless tides of Grimm.
The rest of the table pitched in, helping clean up. His team and team RWBY stood ramrod straight, alert, and ready to head back to Beacon. He stood and called the nearest waitress for the bill.
Handing him the bill, the waitress picked up one of the stacks of plates and called another server over.
He held the bill in his hands and waved it to everyone, "So are we splitting it up?"
Everyone except for Weiss nodded. He fished out his wallet and everyone else did the same, but Weiss held up her hand and coughed loudly.
She spoke like she was several years older than she was, "Please, everyone, I have an exorbitant allowance to burn, please let me play."
From her jacket's breast pocket she fetched out a compact designer purse and from there pulled out a gaudy card. The card, chrome blue and white, screamed immediate wealth.
Weiss had her eyes closed, no doubt waiting for their immediate polite refusal. He looked between everyone else and everyone else looked between themselves.
Judging from everyone else's looks, except for Pyrrha, their wallets felt as light as his in comparison to Weiss's sudden display of wealth.
He slowly put down his wallet and so did everyone else, except for Pyrrha who looked around naively, her fingers pulling at the edges of stacks of lien from her wallet. He looked over at Ruby and gestured his head to Weiss.
She looked at him with a raised brow for a few seconds. Her mouth widened in understanding and she turned to her partner.
She cleared her throat and spoke in her most polite voice, which sounded like a posh imitation of Weiss, "By the brothers Weiss, you don't have to pay for all of us. You're too kind."
Weiss, eyes still closed, shook her head side to side comically, hitting Ruby and Yang with her rope of hair, "Nonsense Ruby, it's the least I can do to support our teams."
Ruby deflated, letting out some tension. The entire table, including him, but excluding Pyrrha who still looked around aloof, sighed in relief. He handed Weiss the check and she handed it to one of the waiters.
The waiter verified the transaction and came back with Weiss's card. The eight-man group got out of the booth and headed out of the restaurant and into the chilly night air.
Yang piped up as they stretched out their bones from sitting so long, outside of the restaurant doors, "Thanks Weiss for being out Sugar Momma."
Weiss gasped and bristled. Nora laughed along with Yang, making the rest of the group laugh.
He joined in with the laughter and so did Pyrrha and Blake. Pyrrha giggled, hand covering her mouth and Blake smiled, chuckling.
They all joined in and spoke to Weiss in unison, "Thanks for being our Sugar Momma Weiss."
Ruby didn't join in but did smile at them. Weiss's face exploded into a blush and her eyes seemed to go white. The paleness of her skin only heightened the red blush. She huffed indignantly and turned away from them, crossing her arms.
Ruby rubbed her back in comfort. Wiess didn't shy away from her and the corners of her lips scrunched up in a small smile.
They stopped laughing and walked away from the restaurant.
Blake and Pyrrha flanked his sides. They headed to the Beacon airship dock. Along the way they chatted merrily, recalling the events of the day. He, Pyrrha, and Blake all joked and laughed about the day with the rest of the team.
He let any stress melt off of his shoulders. He needed a clear head for the coming day. Today he tried to aim for that goal and had accomplished it in full. His mind was at inner peace talking with his family.
He was ready to face any challenges they would face tomorrow.
They reached the airship docks and managed to board the last Beacon bullhead. Piling into their seats, he turned to face Blake and Pyrrha. They passed looks to one another communicating that they are ready for the oncoming day.
He fell back into the utilitarian seating of the Bullhead and looked at the night sky. Blake leaned into his side, also looking out of the window. He glanced at her amber orbs and she glanced back. They held the look for a second longer than necessary before darting their eyes back to the window.
The lights of Vale grew further and further into the night until they all but disappeared. His and Blake's faces took up the reflection in the mirror where the lights once shone.
The next day, after classes ended, he and his two partners left their respective teams and met up inside the library.
They went over their plan one more time and Blake checked the location of the Fang depot.
He mused, "After we deal with the Paladin, we should reveal the locations of the Fang depots and safehouses to Qrow so no Fang can use them. Obviously, we should keep some of the gear back here in Beacon, but it's up to you Blake."
Blake hummed and twisted in her seat to face him, "That seems like a good idea. After we deal with this whole mess we can give the information over."
He nodded and squeezed her shoulder. Standing up, he moved over to Pyrrha. She flicked through a bookshelf, mindlessly draping off books and reading a few pages.
They finished confirming their plans and left the library. They went to their respective dorms, agreeing to meet up at the airship docks right at sunset.
He and Pyrrha entered their dorm room and greeted Nora and Ren. The other pair of team JNPR sat side by side, heads deep in homework. He and Pyrrha had already changed into their huntsman outfits and were in the dorm to make sure that they had everything they needed for the raid.
They were also in the dorm to create an alibi for themselves.
He went over to his bed to make sure they had everything they needed.
Pyrrha waved at the pink and green duo to fortify their alibi, "Jaune and I are going to have another training session together. Don't stay up."
Ren nodded, still looking down at his homework, and Nora looked up. The orange-haired bubbly girl narrowed her eyes for a second.
Her eyes softened and she spoke in a sing-song voice, "Have fun you two, remember to use protection!"
Pyrrha squealed and he bristled at his bed, heat rising in his cheeks.
Nora looked between both of them and raised her brow mischievously, "Uh why are you guys embarrassed? You know, remember to wear your armor when fighting. What did you guys think I meant?"
He and Pyrrha shared a look and coughed. They quickly got what they needed and exited the room, still blushing.
They decided not to wait inside of the building. They exited into the Beacon campus and walked the cobbled paths and hedges towards the airship docks.
He found a secluded bench, among an array of perfectly manicured bushes and trees, near the docks. Motioning Pyrrha over, he sat down and made space for his redhead partner. She thanked him and sat right next to him.
They watched the birds of the campus flutter from tree to tree and the nearby flowers sway in the wind. The chilly wind brushed his hair and clothes, but he didn't pay any mind to it on account of his aura. Pyrrha reacted the same.
They both watched the vast campus and the faraway students. It helped that so many places in Beacon were secluded. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to get away with half of the things they did.
He started some small talk, which Pyrrha gladly jumped into. The polite and almost meaningless conversion passed the time and distracted him from the bubble of emotions that always grew in him before a raid on the Fang.
Not only did anxiety and excitement fill the bubble, but a strong tide of hope also filled it as well. If all went well, they take the Paladin off the Fang's hands, dealing a crippling blow to the terrorist's assets. It might even get rid of them for good.
A new emotion welled up from the sudden hope: Fear.
His brow knitted and his breathing hitched up as his strategic mind extrapolated through scenarios of what could go wrong. His mind spiraled further and further into worse-case scenarios and a tremble started to pass through him.
His partner's voice pulled him out of the intrusive thoughts, "Jaune, I think you're crushing me."
He blinked, returning to reality. While he had been in his thoughts, his eyes seemed to have blocked out the world. He took a deep breath and turned to his partner.
She had her mane of red hair against the side of his chest, her arms draped in front of her. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, locking her to his side. He hadn't realized what he had done while thinking.
He quickly unwrapped her and patted her shoulder, muttering, "Sorry Pyr…"
She smirked and rubbed her shoulder for effect.
She moved out of his personal space and leaned on the bench, "While I don't mind you putting me in your arms Jaune-he smiled and looked away from his partner with a blush-I know you wouldn't have hurt me on purpose. What's on your mind?"
He sighed and turned back into the emerald orbs of his partner. She dropped her smirk and leaned in closer, her eyes glowing with worry.
He looked away and spoke to the wind, "I'm… I'm scared about all of this, going in blind and this being our last chance to take the paladin off the Fang's hands."
She nodded and cupped his hands in hers.
Sighing, the redhead tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and spoke, "Honestly Jaune, I'm scared as well. I've been scared since we went into that Fang office. But you can't give in to fear and let it control your every move. Yes, it's healthy at times but if I had given in to my fears every time I stepped into the ring I wouldn't have been able to become a champion. You shouldn't give in to your fear either, or otherwise, you could get hurt Jaune and put us all in jeopardy. We all need one another to do our best. The only way we're going to win against all of this is with hope."
Pyrrha squeezed his hands and looked at him with a fire in her eyes.
He nodded and chuckled, "Thanks Pyr, I don't know what came over me there. I don't know where I would be without you."
She unclasped his hands and looked away bashfully, red tinting her cheeks.
Coughing into her hands she said, "I'm just happy to help Jaune, we're partners after all."
He smiled and she did as well. The fear that had filled his heart all but disappeared, outshone by his newfound hope.
They talked for a few more minutes. His scroll beeped, stopping them. He flicked it open. A text greeted him, from Blake telling him and Pyrrha to head to the airship docks. He relayed this information to Pyrrha and both of them stood.
Looking up to the sky, he jumped at the setting sun. He and Pyrrha must have lost track of time. Pyrrha got up and brushed her thigh guards. She looked up and nodded, ready to go.
They walked down the cobbled path towards the airship docks. A glint of determination showed in their eyes that gave them an air of maturity, which made passersby steer clear.
Reaching the airship docks, they convened with Blake, who wore her battle outfit, and pressed into the line of students heading into Vale. They stepped into a bullhead and strapped themselves into the back.
The bullhead rumbled off and into the sky, heading towards Vale City. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, readying himself for the night and battle to come.
Leaning back into his seat, he jolted up as the Bullhead touched down. He looked out of the window to Vale's shining and gigantic airship dock.
The ride hadn't been long but being cooped up and strapped to a small seat had made him anxious. Next to either side of him, Pyrrha and Blake stirred at attention. The two girls gave him a look.
He nodded and unstrapped himself from his seat, the two women on either side of him did the same. They moved into the aisle of disembarking passengers.
Exiting the bullhead and the airship docks, they walked into the massive throbbing crowds of Vale city.
Jaune took a deep breath and took in the air and people of the city. A strong smell of surprisingly clean air mixed in with a strong scent he couldn't quite place made his spine shiver. Hopefully, none of the people around them would have to suffer the wrath of the Fang. They would live their lives blissfully ignorant of the Fang or the Grimm.
He promised himself that no one today would get hurt from the Fang, unlike the civilians on the highway from the video.
Thinking about the video, and more specifically the Paladin fight, a tick manifested on his forehead. Team RWBY should have done the more reasonable thing and not started the fight with the Paladin unprepared. It never should have been allowed anywhere near a high-traffic civilian place like the highway.
Blake placed a hand on his shoulder and brought him out of his thoughts. He took a steadying breath and focused on the mission ahead.
Leaning to her ear, he asked, "Where to?"
Blake responded, "Follow me, I know how to get there."
She turned around and headed towards the nearest subway station. The trio walked side by side, stepping past the throngs of people and into the subway station.
They used their scrolls to enter through light dust barriers into the subway platforms. Their designation as Beacon students allowed them free access to many of the services and places of the city, such as public transportation.
Blake led them into a train pulling into the station. Not many people were on the train but there weren't enough seats available for all of them. He let his partners take two free seats. He stood in front of them, holding onto a ceiling handrail.
He watched the two women as the train whined to life and shot down the light-electric dust tracks.
Pyrrha sat one leg crossed on top of the other, tapping her fingers on one other. Blake sat thighs pressed against one another and feet angled apart, squishing her thighs with her fingernails and looking around at fellow passengers.
People glanced at them but no one stared at their huntsmen wear. Huntsmen worked in the city all the time, there was nothing strange about them being out and about.
A few minutes passed and the train stopped at another station.
Blake shot up from her seat and looked to both him and Pyrrha, "This is our stop."
He nodded and followed Blake out of the train, Pyrrha walking behind him.
They exited the new subway station and into a quiet neighborhood. The houses were exactly like those from the map, not at risk of falling over from a harsh wind like the houses from the Office outpost neighborhood, but not opulent or gaudy either.
A nice middle-class neighborhood. In the distance, some blocks away from them, a large sum of people congregated in the commercial district of the neighborhood. A small slice of excitement right in the middle of the cozy suburb.
Not a lot of people walked out in the night streets. Bright orange autumn leaves grew from the trees, some trees grew no leaves at all, bare-bones dead.
Blake stepped away from the subway entrance and fished out her scroll. She looked at the hanging street signs. Humming, she typed into her scroll.
Her cat ears flickered back. A second later they stood ramrod straight. She turned to them and pointed down a street deeper into the residential area, "The Fang depo is right down there. Follow me."
Nodding in unison, he and Pyrrha followed Blake. A few cars rumbled by them and a few people glanced in their direction, but their path went unhindered.
The lampposts shone down on them, but the light from the moon already allowed them full visibility of the streets.
Blake stopped walking, at the end of the street, and turned on her heels at its corner. He almost ran into her back, too busy talking with Pyrrha and looking at the quiet neighborhood.
He followed the feline faunus down the street. They stopped in front of a dilapidated building.
In front of them, a semi-large mechanic garage stood one story tall. It took up a sizable portion of the street. An open and much better-looking garage took up the lot next to it.
The noise of a large group of people emanated from a small alleyway tucked into the side of the garage. The garage was right at the edge of the commercial district.
On the wall barricade that surrounded the roof of the garage, the words "LUBE" were graffitied in bright giant lettering. Rust covered the name plating of the garage, making it unreadable. Dusty space took up the places of missing letters.
A dusty steel grate shuttered the front of the garage. So much graffiti covered the shutter, nothing created a clear message. Layers upon layers of color caked on top of one another made a colorful mess. It stood in sharp contrast with the otherwise pitch clean walls of the other neighborhood buildings.
He stepped forward and inspected the metal grate, "So this is the place?"
Blake nodded, also stepping forward, "Yep, now it's only a matter of getting in."
He nodded and squatted down, inspecting the bottom of the grate. It ended a few inches above the ground, enough space for him to pinch the bottom edge of it and lift it with his aura. Although, that would create too much noise, which would bring the entire neighborhood down on them.
Turning his head, he spotted the lock mechanism of the grate, hugging a small portion of the wall. Nicks marred the locks casing and trash filled its hole. A broken piece of a wrench stuck out among the trash, plugging the keyhole.
Blake tapped his shoulder and he got up to face the direction she pointed. Pyrrha stuck her head out from the small alleyway at the side of the garage. She motioned them over, a small smile adorning her lips.
Her mane of red hair flowed in the chilly hair, like a guiding torch. He and Blake went to her and stood in front of the alleyway. Nothing littered its grimy floor and no markings marred its walls.
They needed to walk single file, shoulders brushing against tiled walls, to fit in the very thin alleyway. Thank the brothers he didn't have claustrophobia.
Pyrrha suddenly stopped in the middle of the alleyway. He, walking a few inches behind her, collided with her back. Right before she fell forward, he latched onto her sides. She didn't fall forward but tipped back into his chest.
His amazonian partner leaned on his chest for a few long seconds.
He quickly let go before things got awkward and turned to face Blake. Pyrrha got off of his chest with a small yelp.
The catgirl looked at him with a raised brow. Taking a deep breath and controlling the blush growing in his cheeks, he turned back.
Pyrrha motioned, red in the face, towards a door that hugged the garage wall.
She spoke with a stammer, "This is what I wanted to show you guys."
He nodded and closed in on the door, inspecting it. Red dust encased its entire surface and the lock that locked it, making both of them blend into the brick wall. He wouldn't blame anyone who passed by for not noticing the door unless they were looking for a specific way into the mechanic shop.
He reached out his hands and grasped the padlock. He looked behind him to Pyrrha and Blake and gave them a silent signal. They nodded, instantly transitioning into battle mode, moving to either side of him.
They took out their weapons and held them in loose grips, ready to jump at any attacker who stepped out of the door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed aura to his fingers and crushed the lock open.
The motion created a sharp crack, muffled by both of his hands entombing the lock. He unclasped his hands and placed loose pieces of the broken lock onto the ground.
Squaring his shoulders, he reached out a hand and opened the door lightning quick. Blake ducked under his arm and shot inside of the large room like a black cannon. Her mane of black hair swung wildly in the pitch black.
Her hair, and herself, blended in with the darkness, becoming an indiscernible blob of black. She stopped spinning in place and signaled behind for them to enter.
Raising his feet to muffle his steps, he darted into the room followed by Pyrrha. She closed the door behind her, plunging them into darkness.
He went over to Blake, coughing from the disturbed dust flying through the air. The place needed some serious ventilation. Blake nodded at his approach and slowly looked around like a viper ready to strike.
She found her prey and moved towards it. A switch sounded and flickering warm light spawned, fighting back against the darkness. The light stopped flickering. It buzzed, filling the entire room with the noise.
He blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust. His vision cleared and an old Fang depot greeted him.
Turned over and filthy cots took up one section of the garage, a messy kitchen area, littered with pots and pans, took up another, and storage boxes similar to those in the Fang depot took up one side.
Dust covered every surface. Rusted boxes of scattered tools acted as tripping hazards.
The old vestiges of the building's previous function mixed in with the Fang items. The storage boxes stood on top of the mechanics counter. Tire tracks ran under the cots. The sole light bulb of the room hung from a car hook in a dangerous rig of wires.
He raised his black battle shirt to his nose. He turned to Blake, standing next to a dirty light switch, rubbing a finger on her thighs.
Walking over to her, he said, "Let's get our equipment as quickly as possible before we catch something from this place."
Blake nodded, covering her mouth with her hand. Pyrrha, standing near the storage boxes, sneezed loudly, making him and Blake jump. They looked over to Pyrrha and she meekly waved, rubbing her nose.
She squeaked apologetically, "Sorry!"
He and Blake both passed one another a smile and joined Pyrrha.
They quickly rummaged through the boxes, not wasting time on the ones covered in dust or ones at the bottom of stacks, opting for more clean and high-tech ones.
Behind the boxes, a white Fang flag hugged the wall. Gray and littered with holes from unseen moths, it didn't put the most confidence in the Fang. Blake stopped rummaging and stared at it.
He noticed her sudden motion and moved closer to her. He grasped a hand on her shoulder and she turned to meet his blue eyes. He raised a brow in question but she shook her head.
She turned back to the flag and touched it. She crumpled it into dust with a few scratches and went back to searching.
They searched for a few minutes and found similar stealth suits with headpieces for easy communication and vision goggles to the ones they had used before.
He helped the two women into their suits and they helped him into his, although his suit up took much longer.
They didn't find any other gadgets or weapons but they reasoned that they didn't need them.
Their greatest tools would be their aura, huntsmen weapons, and wits. Everything else was secondary.
He got up from a crouched form and looked over his two teammates covered head to toe in the stealth suit, unrecognizable. He stretched out his suit and dusted off any dust that had clung onto it during his short time wearing it.
Cracking his neck, he turned to the girls, "Are you ready?"
Blake hummed, "As ready as we'll ever be."
Pyrrha nodded, twirling her javelin, "I'm ready to take on anything."
He nodded, taking in their confidence. They would need a lot of confidence to get done what they had to do.
"I'm ready as well. Let's head out," he said, turning to the door.
He led the charge out of the garage and into the thin alleyway.
The trio filed out into the alleyway and used their auras to jump onto the roof of the garage. They landed on the roof and ducked behind its barrier walls.
A small number of stars twinkled in the sky. The giant shattered moon hung high in the air, illuminating the city.
Blake gave him a signal and they stood up. The neighborhood's roofs were squat, easy to travel but hard to remain stealthy. Thankfully their stealth suits made them one with the shadows.
Blake, taking the first leap, led them towards the Fang outpost. He and Pyrrha followed closely behind. All of them easily tucked into the shadows and avoided the moonlight. Pyrrha easily kept up this time and didn't pull off any showmanship acts. They jumped through roofs or went low and tucked into alleyways.
Blake ran into the darkened yard of a house and jumped onto the house's roof. They followed her, not tripping the house's motion sensor lights.
On the roof, Blake stopped and signaled them to lower themselves. He tried to make himself smaller but the tiled slanted roof didn't help. Pyrrha did the same, squatting near Blake.
He took deep steady breaths. They had traipsed through the neighborhood extremely fast, pushing their bodies. But, because of his training, he still had a lot of energy left.
Blake motioned him and Pyrrha forward. They crouch walked to her side, careful not to slip off the roof.
In front of them, the Fang outpost stood exactly where the map had shown it to be. The moonlight didn't touch it, putting it in pure darkness. No lights shone in or around it. A stark difference to the houses next to it, which lights shone in.
The curtains, drawn shut, didn't allow any views into the inside. There wasn't an attic window for them to enter through. From their vantage point, he couldn't make out any easy entrances.
But when had anything ever been easy for them?
He whispered into Blake's head, "We should do some reconnaissance and try to find an entrance."
Blake hummed into his head. She pushed aura to her legs and leaped onto one of the houses next to the Fang house.
He and Pyrrha followed her. They crouched on the other house's slanted roof and viewed the side of the Fang house. No entrances took up the side of the building.
They jumped onto the roof of the outpost house, but they didn't find a chimney or entrance
Jumping over to the house on the other side of the outpost, they again didn't spot a hidden entrance.
Blake hummed and turned to both him and Pyrrha, "We have one last place to check."
She pointed at the outpost yard. He nodded and braced himself to jump back onto the outpost roof.
Blake flexed her aura and jumped onto the backside of the outpost roof. He jumped after her. and Pyrrha jumped after him.
At the edge of the roof, they looked down into the yard. His night vision goggles allowed him a perfect clear view, although tinted blue like a scroll screen. He couldn't make out any clear indentations or lines in the grass of the yard indicating a hidden bunker.
He angled his head down but nothing in the patio looked like some sort of entrance. The thick curtains of the glass divider, even up close, didn't allow an inch of the house interior.
He sighed, his frustration mounting to angering levels.
They could go into the yard and try to find some clues, but even in the darkness, they would most likely alert the Fang to their presence.
He turned to Blake and whispered into both her and Pyrrha's heads, "Looks like we're doing this the old and hard way."
Blake nodded, cracking her fingers. Pyrrha shuffled behind them, going over to the front of the roof and peering down. He and Blake followed her.
The trio surveyed the dark street. No one would be walking out this late, but they surveyed for an extra minute or so to cover all of their bases.
Confirming the street's complete desertion, they dropped down from the roof and onto the steps leading up to the outpost front door. Their padded feet hit wood, not making noise.
He climbed down the steps, leaving Blake space to go up to the doorknob. He backed up behind Blake and stood next to Pyrrha. Both of them kept their heads on a swivel, acting like Blake's sentries.
Blake took out a small black box from a pocket and opened it. She deftly took out a small array of lock-picking tools and got to work on the doorknob.
He surveyed the street and houses. Curtains covered most if not all of the houses' windows, although light shone through most of the covering cloth. Hopefully, no one would have the sudden urge to peek out.
The small sound of a metal click alerted him to Blake's successful pick. He and Pyrrha turned around. Blake got up from her crouched position and slowly opened the door.
When no one came out to attack them, she quickly went in and motioned them to enter. He and Pyrrha rushed in quietly, and he closed the door behind them, cutting off their view of the outside world.
Turning towards his partners, bright lights flashed like mini suns in his night vision goggles. He shot a finger to the goggle's switches and turned off the night vision before the light blinded him.
The blue filter of night vision fading, he blinked to focus his surroundings.
All of the house's light fixtures glowed a bright orange hue, casting the place in coziness. He and his other two partners stood in a foyer leading into a large living room. They slowly walked towards the living space, looking for any signs of the Fang.
Fuzzy carpet flooring met their padded soles, creating redundant noise reduction. No items clung to the nondescript white walls. A lone sofa and a few chairs, mixed in with a light dust holo-projector were the sole furniture of the room. A mantle under the holoprojector led to a fake electric fireplace.
They stopped in the center of the living room and looked around uneasily, waiting for a sudden squad of Fang to rush them.
Creating a diamond formation, their chest sticking out and their backs to one another, he whispered into their heads, "Let's sweep this floor and then the second floor. After that, we'll go to the yard. Remember to stick close to one another."
The girls hummed in acknowledgment. They slowly set off to the kitchen right near the living room. They entered through the kitchen arch and into a white tile and marble countered room.
A small table and four chairs took up the middle of the kitchen. They spread out and tried to find any leads but nothing stood out. He even went on his knees and searched the crevices beneath the counters and oven, but found nothing. The cupboards, the fridge, and anything that could store items were all empty.
No dust or grime-covered any of the furniture.
They left the kitchen and went up the stairs to the second floor. They searched the bedrooms, which each only had a bed and a desk, and the local bathrooms. None of them found anything of use.
His brow knitted in anger and he almost slammed the door shut of the bedroom he had just searched. Anger bubbled in his stomach at their slow progress. They needed to find the Fang and stop them tonight.
His fist involuntarily clenched and he shuddered, trying to reel back in his anger. Blake glided over the soft flooring. She took his clenched hand into hers and slowly unclasped it.
He met her blue lensed goggles and could feel the worry behind them in her amber orbs. He took a steadying breath and squeezed her hand in comfort. His anger melted and his mind sharpened to a point.
The only way they were going to win was with their wits. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, still holding onto Blake's hands. He opened his eyes and nodded at his feline partner.
She unclasped his hands right as Pyrrha came out of one of the bedrooms.
He turned to her and raised a brow even though she couldn't see it.
His redhead partner seemed to sense his questioning gaze and shook her head, "I didn't find anything."
He nodded, "Then let's check the attic."
Blake nodded and went under the attic trap door. She pulled it down, revealing a thin set of stairs leading up. They climbed it, wincing at every creak it made.
They needed to crouch down, him and Pyrrha especially, to avoid the low roof of the attic. They quickly searched the dark and musty place but found nothing.
Getting out of the attic, they convened in the living room. They stood in front of the large glass dividers leading into the yard. They searched the entire door and, when they didn't find anything, they opened it up and exited out into the backyard patio.
Searching there, he huffed when they didn't find anything. He looked out at the yard and contemplated searching it, but that might instantly alert the Fang. It would be too much risk for a chance of a reward.
Turning back to his teammates he motioned them back into the living room.
They complied, stopping their search and going through the double glass doors. He looked back at the yard. A prick of paranoia stabbed the back of his head. He slowly followed his teammates, not ignoring the paranoia.
Walking over to them in the middle of the living room, he looked over the two women. Blake darted her head around, still looking for secret entrances. Pyrrha met his gaze, rubbing her hands over her arms in a cross-like fashion.
She spoke into both of their heads, dejected, "I think we might have gotten the wrong information. We've searched high and low and haven't done anything at all. I think the Fang aren't even here."
He sighed and stepped towards her, pleading, "Let me search around for a few more minutes. If nothing comes up we'll leave and try to get more information."
Pyrrha looked away from his gaze but slowly nodded. She stepped over to the staircase and stood under its banister. Blake joined her and they both turned to one another.
Judging by the way their heads tipped towards one another, they were having a silent conversation over a private channel.
He shrugged and moved around the room, intending to do what he had promised. He scrounged around, scrutinizing every single inch of surface. Right as he was about to give up, a whispering electric whine stopped him dead in his tracks.
He turned towards Pyrrha and Blake but the two women were still deep into conversation with each other. The sound didn't come from them, it buzzed nearer. He closed his eyes and let his hearing guide him.
Slowly putting his feet out he stepped towards the sound. He stopped in front of the noise's source, where the faint buzz sounded at its loudest, and opened his eyes.
His face stood in front of the shut-off electric fireplace. He blinked and stepped back, momentarily shocked. Shaking his head, he put his ear to the fireplace screen. A loud buzz tickled his ear.
But the fireplace wasn't on.
Squatting in front of it, he slowly unzipped his stealth suit and fished out his hand. He put it in front of the electric fireplace. No heat warmed his hands. Satisfied but confused, he zipped up his stealth suit and put his eyes to the screen.
No light greeted him.
He stepped back, rubbing his chin in thought. Suddenly an idea struck him and he groaned for not thinking it. He switched on the thermal mode of his goggles. A bright angry square of red popped up inside of the electric fireplace.
Faint symmetric lines and bumps grooved the red square. It was some sort of piece of tech.
The buzz from the square spiked up for a second before it turned off. A bright angry light popped up on the machine, creating a deep red splotch in his thermal vision. The light disappeared as quickly as it came. The square's heat signature blinked out of existence, melting the square into the cold blue thermal of the fireplace.
He moved back, spooked.
A second later and another tick echoed from the fireplace.
Letting huntsman instinct take over, he launched himself at his two partners. He outstretched his arms and caught both of the women in a tight grab. He pulled them in close and pushed aura to his arms, breaking all three of them through the stairs and into the wall.
A gigantic thunderous explosion blew up behind him. Pure white light filled his vision and a tearing sound filled his ears. The sound vanished with the rest of his hearing, blown out like a.
Pure skin melting heat and a shockwave ripped into his aura, rocking him, and his two teammates inside of his grasp, further into the hollow wall. His head smashed into onto the tops of both Blake's and Pyrrha's heads, earning pained gasps from them. The trio hit the floor of the dark hollow in a heap, fire pushing them.
The explosion ripped through the house, burning and breaking anything that stood in its path. Fire rushed into their broken crevice, turning it into the interior of the sun, but their aura's flared up in unison, cocooning all of them.
His hearing came back in the form of a migraine-inducing ringing. Muffled booms of breaking ceramic and brick accompanied the ringing.
Blake and Pyrrha grunted under his weight but didn't fight back, instead, gripping tightly onto him.
The fire disappeared as soon as it came. A deep foreboding noise filled the vacuum: the sounds of hundreds of bricks and metal plating breaking in on themselves.
Jaune, still blind, shuddered at the noise creeping up to a terrifying roar around them.
The noise reached its highest point and the house shuddered, falling onto them.
AN:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!