Team RWVBY
Chapter 20
Blake's fingers traced three scratch marks on a wall before peeking around its corner. They had been searching for the rally and after a few try's it looked like they finally found it. Blake saw a pair of horned Faunus as they were ushered into a building by a bearded man. She turned to Sun next to her.
"This is it." Blake said.
"You sure?" Sun asked and received an intense glare. "Ya know, I'm just gonna take your word for it."
"I just texted Jaune the location. Team JNPR should be close enough so it shouldn't take them long." Blake said as the two of them walk inside. They passed by a hallway filled with cases, before the passed another man announcing,
'New recruits, keep to the right!' at the young pair as they follow.
"I don't get it." Sun Held out the half-mask in his hand. "If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"
"The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters." Blake explained.
"Grimm masks though… That's kind of dark."
"So was the guy who started it." Blake put on her mask on and continued on.
"Just a ray of sunshine and rainbows aren't ya…" Sun lamented as he followed Blake.
The new recruits to the White Fang were moving in a line to the side of the stage, a mere few dozen compared to the hundreds of white-vested, black-hooded soldiers to their left and up above in the balconies. Blake and Sun look around themselves when they stop, and a fully-masked man with tattoos standing started speaking before the large sheet emblazoned with the bloody wolf and claw marks.
"Thank you all for coming. For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!" The Lieutenant addressed the crowd.
Roman Torchwick confidently walked up on smiling confidently even as the crowd starts protesting. Melodic Cudgel tapping away as he strode forward.
"Thank you, thank you!" Roman waved and bowed mockingly. Blake noticed a peculiar haired short lady appear next to him. "Please, hold your applause!"
"What's a human doing here?!" An angry Faunus with antler horns asked.
"I'm glad you asked, "Deerie"! Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans… are the worst." Roman pointed to himself "Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed!"
"Is he going somewhere with this?" Sun leaned in and whispered the question to Blake.
"But, before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms!" The crowd stopped booing and started agreeing with Roman. "Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life! And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room." Roman gave a snap of his fingers, the curtain falls, and the whole mass of Faunus applaud at the sight of the Atlesian Paladin-290 behind it, the mark of the White Fang painted on its shoulder.
"Whoa, that's a big robot..." Sun said in awe and horror.
"How did he get that?" The question fell off Blake's lips.
"As some of you may have heard, this right here..." Roman tapped the giant mech. "Is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my 'employer', we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, 'hit the shelves.' Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?" The White Fang's roaring applause told Roman all he needed, grinning as everything fell into place.
"We should get out of here." Blake said cautiously.
"Will all new recruits, please come forward!" The lieutenant spoke out and as the line surged forward Blake and Sun had no choice but to follow.
"Welp!" Sun let out. "What are we going to do?!" He whispered in panic to Blake.
"I'm thinking..." Blake said eyeing their options.
Roman was leaning on the robot smoking his cigar and laughing with the girl beside him when something caught his eye. A certain black haired, cat eared brat who made his life a nuisance back in the docks of vale.
Sun picked on that and said, "I think he sees us." He faked a smile and waved.
Blake noticed the junction box on the wall.
"Maybe, but he can't see in the dark." With that, Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud, transformed it into a pistol, and shot at the box, making the lights go out for the whole building.
"Don't let them get away!" Romans voice could be heard through the whole room.
"Sun! The window!" Blake shouted.
"Stop them!" Before Blake and Sun could ever crash through the window and land outside, the Altesian Paladin crashed through the wall of the building in pursuit of them, opening fire immediately. Blake and Sun ran as fast as they could; Jumping, flipping, and sliding as they dodged gunfire and missiles.
Amidst twirls in the air Sun asked, "So, where's that backup?!"
Almost immediately a grenade had impacted off the Paladin's head, knocking it back.
"Bullseye!" The voice of Nora could be heard from above. Looking up, Blake saw team JNPR on top a nearby rooftop. They jumped down to join the fray.
Blake wasted no time in getting more help. She grabbed her scroll and called her team. The call had opened up and everyone on her team could hear her. Blake was about to talk when Sun ran up at her and screamed into the scroll, "Giant Robot, lots of guns. HURRY!"
Missiles were flying right at them. A black outline wrapped around the missiles as their course was altered, the missiles turned towards each other exploding half way. From a far, Pyrrha's arm stretched out as she focused her semblance.
"We gotta get away from here, there's too many buildings." Jaune pointed out as he ran towards them.
They all started running and dodging as the paladin chased. Nora and Ren fired backwards as they ran to slow it down.
"There's a highway near here, we could try to lose it there." Sun suggested as they ran.
"Too many civilians on the road, we can't risk them getting hurt, but that gives me an idea. Under the overpass should give us enough space to fight without harming anyone." Jaune started to plan. "We can lead the mech there and hopefully hold it off for enough time for the rest of team RWVBY to arrive."
"Good idea Jaune." Blake said as they began leading Romans mech towards the underpass.
Pyrrha's semblance came in handy haltering the mech but its size and force prevented her from outright stopping it completely.
Getting to the underpass was easy, now was the hard part. They were away from houses and people, but on the downside they were out in the open giving them little cover from attacks.
The Paladin readied to charge at them.
"White Rose!" Large icicles shot past them and impacted with the Paladin. The icicles kept firing until the ice completely envelops the robot's body.
Ruby, Weiss, and Neptune joined them.
"How did Torchwick get an Atleasian Paladin?" Weiss asked.
"We don't know, but the ice isn't going to hold for long." Blake said. The Paladin was shaking and the ice was already starting to crack. They had minutes at most.
"We need to take out its sensors, it's sees any attack coming ahead." Said Jaune as he studied the mech.
"I have an idea to help but we need Yang." Ruby said and as if on cue the revved up engine of Bumblebee came screeching in as the yellow motorcycle dropped down from above. Yang turned the bike sharply to the side, bringing it to a skidding stop.
"Great! Ruby if we can get the Paladin distracted and take out it sensors I think we stand a chance at." Jaune looked to robot again. It's legs and head seem to be it's weakest limbs." Jaune turned to his partner. "Pyrrha, I know your semblance can't outright stop it but maybe if you and Cassian work together you both can hold it long enough for us to take it down." It was a good plan, even Weiss looked impressed. The group nodded and readied their weapons as the Paladin finally broke free.
"Freezer Burn!" Ruby calls out another team attack as she and Blake jump back out of the way as Weiss stabs Myrnester into the ground creating a large pool of ice. She quickly backs out of the way as Yang jumps into the air and hits the epicenter with her weapon creating a wave of mist that surrounds Roman. Immediately, the Paladin activates its laser sensors to make up for the lost sight. While the sensors might have helped Roman see in the mist, it also gave everyone else their exact location on the mechs body.
"Scatter!" Jaune called out. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake took to the right taking calculated shots at the sensors.
Roman pointing the mech towards them opened fire before being hit by a barrage of gun fire from the left. Where Cassian, Yang, Ren, and Nora were opening fire.
All of a sudden Neptune came jumping on top of the mech his weapon in its spear form and drove it into the top of the Paladin.
Sun had sent two glowing copies of himself with his semblance while Pyrrha covered him with her rifle. The glowing copies exploded into a blinding light upon contact to the Paladin and Sun leapt forward with Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang held high. Roman decided to focus on them buckling and turning hard enough to send Neptune flying off and knocking into his leader, sending them both far away.
"Checkmate!" Ruby calls out and this time, Blake and Weiss move in, each girl going for the feet until Weiss jumps up and stabs a sensor before leaping off of a white glyph. Roman lifts the Paladin's foot to crush Blake when Jaune ran in, shield held up high covered in aura and blocked the stomp. A burst of white light enveloped them as the foot impacted on his shield and the Paladin stumbled back.
Yang and Nora using Jaune and Blake as springboards, bounced off their teammates and hit the Paladin with full force knocking it down on its back.
"Pyrrha! Cassian! Now!" Jaune called out. This was their best chance. Cassian called forth his semblance as did Pyrrha. A black aura wrapped around the giant robot preventing it from getting back up, while gray chains crept up and around the Paladin enveloping it completely till it was pinned to the ground.
"Everyone!" Both Jaune and Ruby shouted in unison. So began the all out attack, each going for a different limb on the Paladin, dismembering it one by one. Ruby and Blake cut off a leg, Jaune, Weiss, and Ren went for an arm, Nora and Yang smashed the other leg, and to finish it off Cassian and Pyrrha ripped off the final arm with their semblances.
Roman Torchwick ejected out from the Paladin before it was completely destroyed. He was dazed but unharmed. He dusted himself off as he stood up and said, "Just had this thing cleaned too." He looked up to see Yang and Nora both fire a shot at him.
Just as the explosives were about to hit him, Roman was saved at the last instant. The pink-and-brown girl Blake saw before dropped in front of him, opening a parasol and deflected the blasts entirely. This new arrival hangs the umbrella over her shoulder and smiles.
"Brats, Ice Queen..." Roman gestures.
"Hey!" The shout came from Weiss.
"Always a pleasure! Neo, if you would..."
The pink-and-brown girl curtsied them with a bow. Cassian ran at the two criminals knife in hand for a lunging stab only to break through them as if they were made out of glass. He turned just in time to see them escape in a bullhead.
Both teams walked over to Cassian.
"Who the hell was that…" Cassian asked.
"I don't know, but we should get back to Beacon and go over everything we learned." Blake suggested. There were shared nods.
"Wait... Where's Sun and Neptune?" Ruby asked when multiple spot lights shined on them from above. They covered their faces from the bright light, looking up, they saw five Atlas Bullheads hovering in the air.
...
Sun and Neptune are sitting in the middle stools of a noodle house called Simple Wok, eating their plates of noodles, their weapons leaning on the other two stools.
"They're probably fine, right?" Neptune asked.
"Probably." Sun responded.
Author's Notes: The people getting hurt on the highway never made sense to me watching in Vol 2. Hope you enjoy.