Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
Days After They Left Delfino
After MAJC had spent time at Delfino, they had made their way back to Windpath at the Brooks' family manor, where MAJC had decided to set up shop for their base of operations. They had a lot of maps of vaults to scour across Remnant. One such target they decided to go for was none other than Mona's hometown in Vacuo. Her hometown had a vault located in the town square.
However, unlike the times where Mona was her happy go lucky, jovial self… she was frowning at the sight of her hometown. Her mood had definitely changed when they picked that particular map. The others had noticed Mona's sour mood.
"Part of me should be excited to visit your hometown Mona... but it's not really," Camrin frowned. "You think they're still prejudiced against you?"
Mona folded her arms, her cheeks puffed up a bit. "Hmph! I hope not."
"Don't worry Mona - we're gonna get your revenge," Anthony assured. "I have a plan in mind...however, it's gonna have to require you and Jen to do an act for us."
"Hmm?" Mona looked at him curiously. "I'm all ears!"
"I'm listening." Jen sounded intrigued.
"As are we," Chloe mused, with her brother and Zoey listening attentively.
Anthony laid down a map of the town he made. "Okay, here's the situation. A few days ago I traveled to Vacuo disguised as a humble merchant, in reality I was there to scope the place out. I was able to locate the vault based on the map we have right...here." He pointed his staff at the center of town, with an X marking the spot. "Right in town square."
"Seems too easy, Anthony," Zoey commented. "Do they know it's there?"
"Far as I'm aware they're oblivious to its existence. Hence why they have a fountain over our target," Anthony answered. "But that's not all. They also have a night watch on the lookout for the Faunus. More specifically, our Faunus at heart girl right here."
Camrin sighed. "I was afraid of that..."
The ex-thief looked to Jen and Mona. "And that, is where you two come on. Mona, I hate to ask this of you, but...I'm gonna need you and Jen to stage your 'arrest'. By doing this, we lower the town's guard at night when we're conducting the job. Think you two could do that for me?"
Jen nodded. "Can do." She said and then turned to Mona. "Sorry about this in advance..."
"Hey, don't sweat it." Mona winked.
"Glad you two are on board with this setup," Anthony mused. "Now, for the actual plan itself. Camrin, you'll lead us off. There's a wellhouse that controls water flow to the fountain. You'll sneak in and shut off the water flow."
"Sounds easy enough," Camrin mused.
"Only problem is that it also kind of controls water flow to the whole town, so...try not to shut off water to the whole town," Anthony added. "Chloe, while your brother is doing that, I'll need you to pay a visit to the guard's barrack. Got any sort of sleeping gas?"
"I can procure that today," Chloe responded. "Will that be acceptable?"
"Works for me," Anthony shrugged. "You're going to have to drop that sleeping gas in where the guards are so they don't interfere with us."
"That can be arranged," Chloe agreed.
"Zoey, you're on next. Once Camrin shuts off the fountain's water, it'll be up to you to remove the obstruction from the vault cover. Preferably in one shot," Anthony continued. The cleaning lady gave a nod. "Camrin, Chloe, you'll meet up with Mona in the town square, and once the fountain is shot, Chloe and Mona will remove the vault cover. With Camrin's rope spear, Chloe'll make a rope of thread and Mona will use that to pry it open. Alternatively, we can find some rope to steal instead of Camrin's spear."
"I know where to find some!" Mona grinned.
"I sure hope so," Chloe sweatdropped.
"We'll be in position if you need help," The ex-thief assured. "My staff can be used as a fulcrum if need be. It won't break." He took a breath. "Once the vault cover is off, Jen, Zoey, and myself will cover the rest of you loading up the treasure. When we got everything, we'll use the rope to climb out over the walls and get the hell out of there."
"Sounds good." Jen said with a nod.
"I'm gonna call this heist... Operation: Desert Jewel. Chloe, you get to grabbing that sleeping gas. Rest of us, we're headed out to Vacuo," Anthony mused.
"Let's go!" Mona exclaimed.
After getting everything they would need, the group minus Chloe would set out to Vacuo, to Mona's hometown.
Later…
BGM: Gritzy Desert (Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time)
After some travel, the group was fast approaching Mona's old hometown.
"Now, how are we going to go about this..." Camrin wondered.
"Hmm…" Mona rubbed her chin in thought.
"Well, I'd say Mona runs in first, then Jen runs after her," Anthony suggested. "We'll stay hidden out here and make sure you girls are alright."
Both girls nodded. "Sounds good." Mona said, and it was then that Jen had an idea.
"I'm gonna regret this, but... there's a shiny medallion in the town square!"
"Pfft! I ain't falling for that trick again."
"...Right, I meant to say there are two shiny medallions."
She started to sweat a bit. "Not working…"
"Three. Platinum. Shiny. medallions."
"P-PLATINUM?!" Mona yelled and quickly took off running.
Jen sweatdropped. "What have I done... GET BACK HERE!" She ran after her, as the rest sweatdropped.
"I...don't think that was needed," Zoey said.
"Exactly...Camrin, tail those two and make sure they're doing what we need them do to," Anthony requested. "Do not get spotted."
"Can do!" Camrin went to pursuing Jen and Mona, utilizing freerunning and parkour to keep a higher ground, and to avoid being seen. It was easy to find where they were going, with Camrin following the trail of screams and yelling from the townsfolk.
End BGM
"Where's my platinum?!" Mona yelled as she got to the town square... before realizing what happened. "Not again..." She sighed as she saw some guards approaching her. Showtime! She thought. "Oh hello boys!" She playfully waved at them.
The guards were none too happy to see Mona, all brandishing nightsticks that started humming with electricity. "Take her down!" One of them yelled.
"Preferably not moving!" Another chimed in.
Camrin watched on from his vantage point in worry. Oh dear… He thought.
Mona cracked her knuckles and her neck. "Bring it on."
"Whoa, hold up a second!" Jen said, luckily getting to them in time. "This sneaky one is mine." She said, trying to catch her breath as she pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "You make any sudden moves, and i'm taking you down hard." She threatened. "Now put your hands behind your head."
Mona obliged and did as instructed, and then Jen quickly punched Mona in the stomach to continue the act as Mona hunched over and then Jen handcuffed her. "You stupid faunus. You're going to get a hell of a lashing when I take you back where you came from, you scum!"
That's a relief. Camrin thought before deciding to make himself scarce, as the guards had puzzled expressions seeing Jen.
"Who...are you?" The guard captain asked.
"Name's Jen, but that's all you're going to get out of me. I was hauling this abomination somewhere else when this little turd decided to make its escape." She explained. "Glad you guys cornered it... but no one hurts it but me, you understand?"
After getting the nasty glare from Jen, the guards powered off their nightsticks. "Sure! Break her ribs for me!" One of them grinned.
Jen nodded. "Right, i'll break all her ribs one by one." She said and then grabbed Mona by the neck. "Come on, you little shit. We're going to have a little discussion about your escape!" She said, dragging her away by the neck with some rope.
"Mmph! Mmph!" Mona faked a groan, pretending to gasp for air... but once they were out of sight...
"Are they gone?"
"Mhm!"
Jen released the rope. "Sorry about that, I had to make it look like you were my slave."
"That's fine." Mona said... and then punched her in the gut.
"MMPH!"
"That was for tricking me!"
Jen coughed a bit. "Y-yeah... s-sorry...!"
"Okay, let's get out of here before they realize what's happened," Anthony urged once Camrin rejoined them. "Mona, mind leading us to where your cave is? We'll tell Chloe to meet up with us there."
Mona nodded as she led the way, Jen having to play "bad cop" and beat Mona up whenever she spotted a guard, but when the coast was clear, they were back to normal... which luckily, happened only twice.
"Here's the cave~!" Mona beamed. "Aaaah, this takes me back."
Flashback!
A younger Mona approached a cave after being kicked out of her hometown. "This is my new home." She said as she walked in… and saw an Ursa resting in the cave. "Hey! Bozo, I'm moving in. Get your butt out of here." She said as the Ursa turned its head and snarled at Mona. It walked slowly to Mona, the latter undeterred as it roared directly in her face in an attempt to scare her. Instead, she knelt down and punched the Ursa right in the crotch. It let out a pained groan as it fell on its hands and knees as Mona proceeded to clobber the Grimm with hard punches and kicks before grabbing the Grimm by the arm and spinning it around before tossing it toward a sharp rock, where it was impaled by said sharp rock.
"Oh!" Mona winced as the Grimm faded away. "Alriiiiight! Now to spruce the place up!"
End Flashback…
"Ah, memories!" Mona smiled while Anthony and the others let out a collective sigh of relief once they were clear.
"Phew..." Camrin sighed with relief.
"This is where we'll come to once we're out of the town tonight," Anthony decided, a smirk on his face.
"Sounds like a plan!" Mona beamed.
"Not a bad little cave you got here." Jen mused.
"It's not much, but it's home!" Mona giggled.
Zoey meanwhile, was readying her rifle for the night's heist. "So, I trust you'll be keeping us safe?" Chloe asked.
"Oh, but of course Mistress Chloe. I shall do exactly as the cleaning lady does...and tidy up." Zoey had a smile on her face, but the others could tell she was hoping to shoot the prejudiced members of the populace.
"Knock 'em dead!" Mona smirked. "That'll teach 'em to mess with THIS faunus!"
"Y'know Mona, if you want to crack a few skulls after we're done loading up the money..." Anthony chuckled. "Be my guest. Just don't let go of the shinies you're carrying, got it?"
Mona laughed. "Implying that I ever let go of any shiny at all?" She teased.
"Just a precaution," Anthony responded, rolling his eye while Mona giggled.
"So now what do we do, Anthony?" Camrin asked.
"We wait for your sister to show up with the drugs, then we move at sundown," The ex-thief explained. "Sound good?"
"I'll be ready," Zoey agreed. "I'll keep an eye out for Mistress Chloe."
"Sounds good." Mona nodded with Jen giving the thief a thumbs up.
Sometime later…
Chloe would arrive with the goods. "Sorry it took me so long, everyone..." She apologized.
"You're just in time. We were about to leave in an hour," Anthony informed.
"Everything's alright, sis," Camrin assured. "We've just been relaxing here...though I can tell Mona might be getting a bit antsy."
"Me? Ansty? I don't know what you're talking about!" She lied.
"Your foot tapping and anxious look says otherwise." Jen pointed out.
"Okay, so I'm a bit antsy..."
"I can understand. You really want to get that treasure," Camrin chuckled.
"Yup." Mona nodded.
Later, when the sun went down…
"Alright, you all remember the plan?" Anthony asked as they were moving to their location. "Camrin, wellhouse. Chloe, guard barracks. Zoey, sniper position on high ground. Get moving. Rest of you stick with me." He said as Mona and Jen nodded. Camrin, Chloe, and Zoey took off to take care of their respective tasks while Mona and Jen went with Anthony.
Camrin scurried towards the well house, staying to the shadows to avoid being seen. In order to enter through an open window, he took a running start and used his spear to pole vault his way inside, doing a roll to land.
"Alright Anthony, I'm in," Camrin whispered over the comms. "I see all these switches here...but no idea what they mean."
"There's gotta be a map or something in there somewhere. Poke around and see what you can find. Do not get spotted," Anthony instructed.
"Copy that." Crouching low, he inspected every nook and cranny he felt comfortable with until he found a chart showing him exactly what switch he needed to turn off. "Of course. It's the flower one, because the fountain is flower shaped." Grabbing the switch, he turned it off and exited the way he came. "Water's off, Anthony."
"Good. Meet up with us at the vault." Anthony shifted his attention to Chloe. "Chloe, what's your status?"
Chloe was moving towards the guard barracks, taking it slower than her brother since that section of town was under strong surveillance. "I'm approaching the guard barracks," She whispered. "What do you need me to do again?"
"The central unit for the air vents is on the roof. Insert the sleeping gas and move it towards the vault. Try not to get captured," The gentleman thief instructed.
"Love the enthusiasm you got..." Chloe deadpanned, approaching the right side of the building. With the rope that she stole with Mona's directions to the shop, she tossed it up at the chimney, getting it on the first try. The nurse climbed her way up the side, avoiding being seen in lit windows when she made it to the top. Taking out a few pellets, Chloe forced open a panel on the central unit with a scalpel, and threw said pellets inside. "Aaaand they should be asleep in a minute or so."
"Excellent. Now hurry over to the vault. We'll need all hands on deck once Zoey is in position," Anthony chuckled.
"10-4. I'm on my way." Taking her rope, Chloe stuck to moving on the rooftops until she was at the meeting point.
Meanwhile with Zoey, she was currently scaling a building overlooking the plaza and fountain - it wasn't that easy for her to find a good spot, but she eventually found one. "Alright everyone, I'm in position. All I have to do is take the shot, right?"
"Correct, Zoey," Anthony answered. "We'll move in as soon as you destroy the fountain."
"Well let's make sure Mistress Chloe gets here first, then I'll fire on your word," Zoey responded, taking a knee and getting in position to fire, looking down the scope for the fountain's weak point.
Good luck, everyone. Jen thought to herself.
Soon, Chloe would arrive next to Mona in their hiding spots. "I'm here, Mona."
"Sweet!"
"Zoey, I'm ready to go."
"Shall I fire now?" Zoey asked over comms, her sight lined up on the fountain's weak point, appearing as a V in her scope.
"Fire away," Anthony responded.
A gunshot rang out in the night from Zoey's rifle, destroying the fountain in one go. Water spilled all over the place, but it didn't discourage the thieves. Anthony motioned for Chloe and Mona to hurry and get the vault cover off.
"What was that?" A man wondered.
"Alright, let's do this!" Chloe mused, using the rope to get some sort of hold on the vault cover where Mona used her strength to pull the vault cover off. Once that was done, they would see the shiny treasures and valuables inside.
"Ohohohoho… jackpot~!" Mona's eyes sparkled, almost drooling at the sight of the treasure. "Come to mama!"
"Alright, let's get this loaded up!" Chloe jumped in, already starting to load up the loot… while a woman who heard the gunshot looked out her window to see the treasure hunters.
"Son of a bitch, we're being robbed!" She exclaimed.
BGM: Tension (Persona 5)
"Get the guards!" A man exclaimed, also witnessing this
"Fuck that!" A younger teen shouted. "We can take 'em ourselves!"
Anthony nudged Jen, spotting some townsfolk brandishing weapons at them. "Uh, Jen? I think guards are the least of our worries here."
"Dammit..." Jen sighed. "Zoey, you ready?"
"Of course, mistress Jen. I shall do exactly as the cleaning lady does...and tidy up." Zoey loaded a fresh round in the chamber, prepared to snipe anyone getting in the way of the mission.
Jen pulled out her pistol. "This is gonna get messy…"
Anthony readied his staff. "Camrin. Help them load up the treasure."
"Got it!" Camrin jumped in and started helping load up the loot.
Zoey and Jen started firing upon the angry townsfolk trying to get to them, focusing on any still awake guards who were coming to see what was happening, with Jen focusing on those who Zoey didn't get with her sniper rifle.
"Alright, that's everything! We're good to go!" Chloe called after a few minutes.
"Good! You and your brother get to the escape point!" Anthony called. "We'll meet up with you in a bit!" He then turned to Mona. "Mona! Want to get some payback?" He called. "There's still plenty of action left for you!"
End BGM
BGM: Shrouding Dark Cloud (Kingdom Hearts III)
Mona chuckled. "WHO WANTS A PIECE OF ME?!" She yelled as she jumped in the action.
"It's the Faunus!" One woman yelled.
"Take her down!" Another woman said.
Mona grabbed one by the neck. "I thought this town was my family... I thought all of you were my friends... BUT NOW I SEE YOUR TRUE COLORS!"
She threw the woman into the ground while also punching the other in the gut, then felt a headboard hit her upside the head, where she turned to see a man holding it, and then she punched him straight in the crotch to make him scream in agony as she grabbed the headboard and slammed it into him, having it shatter on impact.
"Like we'll be friends with a Faunus, you freak!" A boxer yelled as he punched her but she caught his fist and then punched him in the diaphragm to knock him out cold, as she jumped ahead and used an uppercut to the gut and used a spinning kick on a teenage girl, then picked her up and threw her to some teenage boys.
She then punched the ground to make some rocks fly up as she punched them in mid air to smack three men with torches and pitchforks. As she kept fighting, the townsfolk were getting afraid of her and tried to run, but she caught up to them and punched them in the necks to knock them out, then she went ahead to knock out any stragglers.
End BGM
A tear ran down Mona's cheek. "None of you... are my friends anymore... I have family who are my real friends..." She said, as more tears rolled down her cheeks, as she tried to wipe her tears but more kept falling. A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder as she turned to see Anthony giving her a comforting smile.
"And that'd be us..."
Mona smiled, tears still streaming down her cheeks as she hugged him, her head buried into his shoulders. "Yes…" She whispered as Anthony rubbed her back in comfort. Jen would join in on the hug.
"I hate to interrupt this moment, but we're all at the escape point with Zoey. I've got the rope set up - we're waiting on you three," Chloe said.
"Right. Come on, we can hug it out some more later." Jen said. "We oughta move."
"Yeah." Mona nodded, wiping her tears as the three of them took off toward the escape point. Once they were at the escape point, Chloe took one of the treasure bags and started scaling the wall with Mona taking two and Jen taking one. Soon enough, they were over the wall and hustled back to Mona's cave.
"Great job, everyone!" Anthony said as he, plus Mona, had a massive grin on their faces. The latter looking mighty proud of herself.
"Well, that job went pretty well," Camrin mused.
"The operation was a raging success," Anthony mused. "Ah...I don't know about the rest of you, but I loved that thrill."
"I know Mona did." Jen said as Mona smiled.
"Yup! So… now what?"
"Well, we rest here for the night and first thing in the morning, we head back to Windpath." Anthony said.
"Sounds good to me." Mona said as she fell on her back and fell asleep in an instant.
"Aaaand she's out." Jen let out a chuckle as they rested throughout the night, and when the sun shined through the cave, they all woke up and headed back to Windpath with the treasure in their hands.
When Flash and I RP'd this out in July of last year, I've always wanted to use this little story somewhere in my RWBY fics but I couldn't figure out where we would put it. Then along came Gaiden and then it hit me. "Wait, I can use that for Gaiden. It's perfect!"
And wouldn't you know it, it worked!