Hey, so any Supermega 'fans' out there? Hahaha what the fuck HAPPENED
That was a bit of a low blow
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
She took a long drag of her cigarette, and exhaled a puff of smoke. This place was a dump. Atlas knew there wasn't any profit here, so they just left them to their own devices. Atlas thrived while Mantle suffered, being cut out like a tumor on the brain.
Joey knew protesting or advocating didn't work. No matter how many petitions or how many elections Mantle people would try to run in, no one would EVER give the time of day to anyone from Mantle. It sucked. The system sucked.
The world sucked.
And the only language that could get a message across?
Direct action.
Joey picked up her gun, and looked at her suit. Polished and ready, she just needed to dress for the kill.
"Here goes." She sighed, walking towards the armor.
There were still a few Atlesian-owned and operated places down in Mantle. Aside from the military warehouses that dotted the industrial landscape, there were also a few businesses. Some of them were in direct support of one of the current election's worst candidates: Jacques Gelé. Of course, that support probably came from the fact that he owned them, either directly or indirectly, but the point was clear.
These people cared more about money and appeasing all those "high-and-mighty" bureaucrats up in Atlas than they did about the people down here. The people who labored away in the Dust mines, in the factories that Atlas bled dry to supply itself? They were just disposables. Up there? All those people on that floating island? That's who couldn't be replaced.
What a load of bullshit.
It's time people realized that Mantle should be its own place, not just Atlas' shadow. Time for everyone else to see it. Best way to start? Jacques' little puppet businesses.
"That's our target." Joey looked through her binoculars at the massive factory. "Look at it. Ugly, like the rest of Atlas..."
"You'd think he'd shut up after he got caught awhile back." One of her partners said- she was fitted in similar armor, although this one was blue in color.
"He's a millionaire. They shrug off controversies like Achillies shoved off all other physical pain." Another woman in yellow armor said.
"Yeah? Well, consider this Jacques' Achilles Heel." Rojo said.
With that, Azul grabbed her gun and did one last check on it. Not likely to jam, full clip of ammo. Perfect.
"Then let's go put an arrow in it," she said, trying to sound badass.
"That sounded better in your head, didn't it?" Amarillo asked, grabbing her own weapon and a set of demolition charges.
"...ok yeah, a bit."
"Only works if Robyn would've said it." Amarillo said, as she jumped off the building. Azul followed suit, but Rojo stayed behind for a moment. She took a deep breath.
"Let's do this." Rojo said, putting on her helmet.
Once they landed, the trio scattered, circling the factory and finding the best place to plant the charges. Knight patrolled the perimeter, but they were easy to take out. Azul came across one and drove a dagger into the bot's neck. Sparks flew and the machine spasmed before it collapsed into a heap. With that, she planted another charge on the factory's wall.
"How long we givin' them?" Azul asked into a radio in her own helmet.
"A good hour long rest." Rojo grinned. "Those tin cans are probably more overworked than the workers. 24/7, on the clock...that sucks, don't it?"
"If these were actual people, I'd feel more sorry for them," Amarillo said. Her radio picked up the sound of glass and metal being slammed against stone, before metal clanged to the floor.
"Sorry about that. One of 'em almost found the charge," the yellow armored fighter said.
"And the workers? If there are any in there?" Azul asked.
"Doesn't look like it." Azul said, turning on her infrared vision. She looked around, trying to see if she could get anything...
...
Something just blipped in her field of vision. It was brief, but...it looked like something with...wings?
Azul looked around again, and frowned. "Rojo. I think something's here."
"...something?" Rojo asked. "The hell do you mean?"
"Well, unless it's a Faunus, there's something with...wings? Like a...giant bug, I think."
"...giant...bug?" Rojo asked. "That doesn't make any-"
Rojo paused.
"Shit, the alien kid's here!"
"Fuck! How'd he know?!" Amarillo shouted. She'd just finished planting the last of her charges.
"Oh, you know." A chilling voice whispered behind Amarillo's neck. "We just happened to be in the neighborhood. Next time, pick a vantage point where no one can see you jumping off a building."
Amarillo's eyes narrowed in fear. If she was going out though, she wasn't going quietly. She turned on her heel and threw a right hook at...nothing. The hell? But she just heard the guy! Where'd he-...her train of though was interrupted when she realized that her fist now encased in ice.
"Oh fuck me..."
"Word of advice- don't try and throw a punch when I'm intangible." Big Chill rasped, appearing before her. Seeing the thing up close was weird- insectoid eyes, barred teeth...and a very skeletal appearance.
"Uh guys!" Amarillo yelled, quickly bringing her hand back against the factory wall to smash the ice off. She quickly drew a pistol and fired. Instead of a bullet, it was a gale force wind forcing Ben back.
Ben flipped through the air, before landing on the ground in a green light. A purple four armed monkey took his place, as it snarled at the woman.
"Nice trump card. Let me take that." The alien aimed its tail at Amarillo, and shot a web out of it.
She quickly flipped a switch on the side of the pistol and fired again, spending out a stream of fire to incinerate the web.
"Two different Dust types, same weapon," Ben thought aloud, "Where'd you get that kinda hardware?"
"You'd be surprised what you can learn online!" another voice shouted, landing a right hook into Ben's face. Spidermonkey slid back from the hit a bit, almost falling over from the sheer power in the hit, but he managed to stay up. Azul smirked as she drew her own pistol and flipped a switch. She pressed the pistol barrel to the ground and fired, sending a wave of vines rushing under the ground towards the alien.
Ben awkwardly tried to free himself, as the two women walked towards him.
"Time to end this monkey business." Azul grinned, aiming the pistol at Ben's head.
"...that's seriously your finishing line?" Ben said.
"...shut up."
"Wait!" Rojo yelled. Azul lowered the pistol before turning to her boss.
"But we have him! One good shot and he's gone!" Azul argued.
"I know. But I got something to ask him..." the red armored criminal said, walking up to Ben, "And I'd prefer to ask a human, not whatever you are right now."
"Oh, come on. I don't bite." Ben teased.
Rojo frowned. "Seriously."
"Well, can't really help you there- I got a good few minutes as a furry monkey before I can get back to my good looks-" Ben joked.
"Doubtful." Azul snarked.
Rojo sighed before she just asked.
"You've been up there. You see the kinda people who live in Atlas and, unless you've got the WORST split-personality case ever seen, you don't strike me as the kind who agrees with everything up there. All the shit Jacques' done, Tin-Man Ironwood and his 'military over people' doctrine. So...why work with them?"
"I'm fighting two entirely different battles right now- one being finding some equality for Mantle, and the other being against a force you can't even fathom. I know the Atlas Military is openly flawed, acting more on a 'shoot first, ask later' logic, but it's the best chance we got against...her." Ben frowned.
"Uh-huh. But I gotta ask...you think it's ever gonna come? Robyn's a good talker, but have her words actually DONE anything? Yellow, Mantle look any different to you?"
"Looks like the same industrial hellhole it's always been," Amarillo shrugged after looking around for a bit.
"Blue? Think we're gonna get on the same level as Atlas with fancy speeches?"
"Not at all, boss." Azul frowned.
"And you seriously think attacking one factory is gonna get people to talk about you in a good light?" Ben asked.
"...you know who owns this place right?" Rojo asked, waving over to the factory.
"Yeah, Jacques. And you don't think he'll use his stupid PR team to spin a lie so massive it'll make you ALL look worse than need be? He managed to convince people that Nesmith went mad because of me. Sure, doesn't make sense, but...never underestimate the power of idiots in large numbers." Ben said.
"...so you have no idea what he did in there, huh?"
"...did in where?" Ben asked. But his question was never answered- from behind him, the window smashed open- Ruby was riding on the back of Bashmouth, as the two crashed to the ground.
"...the hell?" Rojo asked.
"Sorry we're late!" Ruby smirked, taking aim at Rojo with her sniper. She squeezed the trigger and fired a yellow lightning round, shocking Rojo before she could react. It hurt, but it didn't bring her down. Azul then flipped a switch on the side of her pistol and fired a large, dark purple blast at the ground underneath Bashmouth.
Bashmouth was sent flying into the air, but that worked for him- he jumped back on a wall, and pounced right at the two women who were foolish enough to give him the advantage.
Amarillo brought up her pistol and fired another gale of wind at him, sending him flying back into the wall. He hit and bounced off of it...but he didn't fall. The Gravity Dust shot was keeping him in the air. Azul brought out a collapsible hammer that was secured on her back before she took a running start. She leapt up and slammed into Kevin's leg, but not before Bashmouth covered that part of himself in armor.
Rojo growled as she brought out her own gun, a large assault rifle with a shark-teeth design painted on the sides. She loaded in a clip of Earth Dust and opened fire on Ruby. She used her Semblance to easily avoid the small stone projectiles that were flying her way, letting them hit soar through the air behind her. Rojo just needed to pin the girl once. The ammo she was using made her rifle more like a nailgun really. If she could pin that kid's cape, maybe...
Ruby began to zip around the place, trying to throw off Rojo's aim a little bit. At this point, she was just firing wildly and blindly, who knew where her bullets were hitting-
Ruby quickly cut Ben from his bindings and snatched him up in her gale of roses. She set him down, to quickly catch her breath.
"Thanks for the assist..." Ben said, rubbing his hands. "They're trying to send a message...or something. I think something happened at this certain base..."
"Think so. Me and Kevin? We found something in there. Back door. We heard the fight before we could look at it further," Ruby said.
"She was probably about to tell me. It's like she's a more violent Robyn. Fight for Mantle, but starting riots instead of doing it officially."
"Also...just a side note? The shark thing? On her weapon? Kinda cool." Ruby said.
Ben gave her a look.
"What, just saying!" Ruby pouted.
As if the universe decided to ruin the moment, Ben saw Amarillo take aim towards. He quickly slapped down on the Omnitrix as the fire streamed out of the gun's barrel. The fire seemed to engulf both of them and Amarillo smirked.
"Not that tough for an ali...en...fuck!" the yellow-clad criminal said, seeing a giant, orange and black armored ball where the two once were. Cannonbolt unfurled from his ball form and let Ruby out from the protective shell.
"'scuze me. Gotta take care of this." Ben immediately curled back into a ball, and rammed himself right into Amarillo, knocking her through a wall, out of the building.
Amarillo screamed as she went through the walls, stone from the impact. She groaned as she staggered to her feet.
"Boss, what are we doing? We fightin' or?" Azul asked, jumping back from a swipe from Bashmouth.
"Everything's set?" Rojo questioned.
"Enough for what we need!"
"Good!" Rojo tapped the radio in her helmet, "Yellow! We're taking this place down! Blow it on my mark!"
"Uh oh." Ben said. "That's not good."
"You think?" Ruby asked.
Amarillo heard that and brought a detonator off her belt. She was wondering how this would go. She started to run, finger on the button. Azul and Rojo made a break for it too, the red-clad leader firing barrages of stone darts behind them to cover their escape.
"We need to get out of here, now!" Ruby yelled, as she dodged the bullets.
"Easier said than done! Where's Kevin?" Ben yelled.
Kevin was chasing down Amarillo, armor plating up over his torso, arms and head as the yellow-clad criminal fired back at him with a normal gun. The rounds sparked against the armor, bouncing off harmlessly.
"You guys clear?" Amarillo asked.
"We're clear!" Rojo yelled, "Take that fucking thing down!"
"Kevin!" Ben yelled. "Come on, we gotta go!" Kevin snarled in response- Bashmouth hated having to give up his prey, but he made an exception this time...
"Hey Fido!" Amarillo shouted back. Kevin turned around for a moment, just in time to see Amarillo press the button. "Should've stopped me." She smirked, tossed the detonator and ran.
Back with Ben and Ruby, they suddenly heard a rapid beeping come from behind them. The two noticed a demolition charged planted on the wall behind them. The beeping quickly got faster and faster. Ben went over to grab Ruby-
Explosions rocked the factory, fire and smoke rising into the sky. It was earth-shaking, whatever material Rojo and her gang used. Maybe it was the amount they used or something inside the factory, but that factory turned into a fireball in a few short seconds.
Rojo turned back to see the explosion from afar and smirked. She kept running after that, Azul already having a head start. They'd meet up with Amarillo later. Now it was time to lay low, let the fire department put out the flames. Not like they'd stop what she had planned.
Ruby could feel the Earth shake violently around her. She dared not open her eyes, and her ears almost burst from the sound of the explosion- Good thing Ben was protecting her, honestly...her aura could survive a lot, but...an explosion wasn't one of them.
Kevin was racing back to the factory, shifting from Bashmouth to Rush in a flash of red. He was back in a matter of minutes.
"Ruby?! Ben?!" Kevin called out over the still roaring flames and stone thuds dropping against the pavement.
"We need to clear the rubble, now!" Kevin barked at Doppler. Doppler didn't hesitate- he gave him two large claws belonging to Black Parade, and Kevin began to furiously erase rubble.
Ruby coughed a bit, from the smoke, rubbing some dust out of her eyes from the explosion. She groaned as she tried to sit up, get a look around her. The Huntress checked to make sure she wasn't missing anything and sighed in relief when everything was present. She'd probably bruise at worst.
"Thanks for the save," Ruby chuckled. She reached back to pat Cannonbolt on the shell, her hand thudding against the alien wrecking-ball's natural armor. That smirk she had on her face started to fall when she didn't hear a response. She quickly turned around in the rubble and saw him. Ben, still as Cannonbolt, was on his side, unmoving.
"...Ben?" Ruby asked. No response. Ruby's pupils shrank in horror- she quickly slapped down the Omnitrix to revert Ben back to human, and began to examine Ben's body.
His chest seemed scorched, with the front of his shirt shredded. His face was covered in dust from the blast.
"No...no, no, no, no!" Ruby panicked, Her immediate reaction was to check for a pulse. She brought two fingers up to his neck quickly, though she tried her best to steady her breathing so she could feel the heartbeat.
He still had one, thank God. The boy was just...out cold, it seemed. Ruby stared at the body, trying not to break out into tears all of a sudden...
How the hell did this happen?
She played the moment back in her head. They heard the countdown, Ben reached for Ruby and pulled her close, closed up and then boom. But...wait. No...he didn't...he didn't fully close did he? Some of the explosion managed to hit him before he got into his shell. Cannonbolt's armor was tough, it could survive that. But underneath...
Ruby lifted Ben's head to see a big gash, from something hitting his head at the right angle. It looked like it just needed some stitches, but it had seriously concussed the boy.
"A rock...a rock must've somehow hit him in the head..." Ruby said, almost relieved to know that Ben wasn't dead.
"Ruby?! Ben?! Anyone!" Kevin called out, still clearing away debris with his Black Parade claws.
Ruby's ears perked up. "Kevin!" She yelled, as Kevin heard her cries- he began to claw through the stone faster, until he arrived where Ben and Ruby were.
"Ruby!" Kevin yelled, running over. He quickly took note of Ben- his eyes shrank in horror as well.
"He's alive," Ruby said, trying to get those thoughts out of Kevin's head. She knew that look. "He needs a doctor, though. Fast..." Ruby took a hold of Ben's hand and she had no intention of letting go.
"R-right." Kevin said, as he quickly stepped aside to call someone- mentally, he was cursing at himself. If he didn't stop chasing that yellow armored bastard, then he could've been able to prevent this...
"Ironwood- it's Kevin. We're at West and 9th Street, where a Schnee Dust factory USED to be..." Kevin began. "Criminals got away- man down. I repeat, man down- Ben Tennyson is unconscious..."
Ruby just stared at the unconsious Ben, and held his hand tighter and tighter...
Soon, the place was abuzz with activity. Medical personnel, soldiers, firefighters, everyone was out in force. Ben was loaded onto a stretcher and the paramedics moved him onto a medical airship. Firefighters were working diligently to put out the blaze, with a fresh detachment of AKs forming a perimeter around the site along with local police.
Ruby watched Doctor Holiday examine Ben's wounds. She wouldn't have an answer immediately, but it wouldn't stop her from asking.
"So...how's his condition?" Ruby asked.
"Stable, thankfully. Aside from the nasty blow to the chest and the head wound, Ben's aura should be able to slowly heal that up. The concussion, on the other hand...he'll be out for a day or so." Holiday said.
Kevin heard that and cursed under his breath.
"But...he will come out of it," Ruby sighed, relieved.
"Yes," Holiday reassured, "He's going to be fine, Ruby. I promise."
"Sorry, sorry...just after...well, Cinder..." Ruby began.
"Your boyfriend's gonna be fine." Harriet said, cutting Ruby off. Ruby gave Harriet a confused look.
"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked the Ace Operative.
"You just got mixed up with the wrong kind of criminal. And I'm here to investigate the damages." Harriet said.
"Only thing she got was the factory..." Kevin said.
"Right, but why. Place hasn't been used in a while. No workers, nothing too...damaging to Jacques if this was political. Which, after everything, there's no doubt about that," Harriet said.
But then Ruby remembered that back door. The one she and Kevin found before the fight.
"...Harriet. We need to show you something." Ruby said. "Kevin and I found something interesting..."
Harriet raised an eyebrow.
Ruby led the Ace-Op into the bombed ruins of the factory, stepping over the rubble and destruction once the fires had been put out. Military and police officers were looking for pieces of the bombs, anything they could use for hunting down the group responsible.
Ruby soon found the back door and pushed it open. It led deeper into the factory, but into a part that no one seemed to know about. Dust hung in the air and lined the walls and floor. No one had been in here for a while it seemed.
"Not getting a good vibe from this..." Kevin said, feeling the dust on the walls.
"Obviously not." Harriet said, as the trio reached the door. Harriet noticed it was locked, and sighed. "Stand back, I'll bust it down." Harriet went back up a few steps...and smashed into the door, knocking it down.
It flew off its hinges and crashed down...into a sprawling lab. Tables and research stations filled the room, some even still had clipboards and beakers still on them. Others had shards of glass, papers, and trays littering the floor around them.
"...that 'mystery gang' joke fits a helluva lot more now," Kevin said.
Out of all the mad scientist gear though, something caught Ruby's eye in particular. It was all the way at the back. If she didn't see the window, she might've thought it was just the back wall. And then her eyes saw them, stacked up against each other near a vaulted door.
Cages. Large, military-grade, iron cages with the SDC logo printed cleanly on the lock and each one big enough to hold at least a few people.
Or a very large animal.
Harriet looked around, disturbed and disgusted. "It makes sense now..." Harriet muttered to herself.
"What makes sense?" Ruby asked.
"Can you explain to us what the hell some Animo test facility is doing under here in the first place?" Kevin snarked.
"You two knew about Jacques'...situation right? Kicked out of the family, lost a good chunk of influence with the SDC board?" Harriet summarized.
"Yeah? I...always thought it was like...a labor law violation or it got out he was sleeping with some secretary," Kevin said.
"Neither. The official report said 'unlawful experimentation.' I always thought that meant he was trying to make super soldiers to get a paycheck from the military or something. Dust injected directly into the body's a good weapon...but they never said who or what he was experimenting on."
"Were they...testing on animals or something?" Ruby shivered- she thought of Zwei back home, and Ben's old dog that he had once...the thought of them getting tested on put a nasty taste in her mouth.
"Far worse. They were using Grimm." Harriet frowned. "Say what you want about the Grimm, but even they don't deserve that kind of treatment."
"Wait, wait, wait, Grimm? He was experimenting on GRIMM? In MANTLE?!" Kevin yelled, "That was just begging for disaster! What the fuck was he trying to do?!"
"He was trying to see if he could...tame them. Domesticate them." Harriet said, as she walked past a cage. "He wanted to give the Atlas army an edge it never really needed. Eventually, it was brought down...and that's a story and a half."
"Tell me about it..." Kevin said. He knew that his foster parents met taking down Jacques...he didn't know the crime was that bad. Guess they had to keep hush about a few things...
"He tried everything. Even heard he brought in some...disgraced doctor from Vale to help," Harriet continued, "None of the experiments worked. The Grimm were either unstable or..."
"Or...?" Ruby asked.
"...or mutated."
"So, Rojo just wants to uncover this all? Reopen an old wound?" Kevin said.
"A bit petty on the surface, but there's more to it." Harriet went on. "Must wanna hurt his reputation or something."
"Would definitely hurt his election chances if all this came to light," Ruby said. But...there's no way that was it. You don't come to the middle of Mantle with hi-tech armor and special Dust weapons just to dredge up old wounds.
"We're also trying to figure that out. No way that was stolen from Schnee or Jacques or even us, but no way to determine who made it." Harriet said. "Sorry for the exposition dump, but...you kids seriously got into some shit this time."
"What about the armor? Was that some...secret Atlas project that got leaked?" Kevin asked.
"Nope. Believe me, if those guys had that armor? I'd have that armor." Harriet said.
"Well...there are two other possibilities," Ruby said.
"And those are?"
"Either the armor's alien...or they built all of it from scratch."
"...either or, honestly." Ruby huffed. "That armor sure as hell isn't from Earth..."
"And where would someone get alien armor? Last time I checked, this wasn't Bellwood. No Undertown here," Harriet said.
"Maybe not...but what's one of the biggest industries in Huntsmen communities?" Ruby asked.
"...weapon shops. Parts, upgrades...and that means there could be a paper trail to one of 'em."
"Eh, let's focus on that later...there's a few more factories around the area. And a big one in Atlas..." Harriet took a deep breath. "We're gonna have to keep watch over them."
"Wait...so we're not going after them?" Kevin asked.
"We only have theories right now. All we know is that they've got custom gear, with parts probably sold by one of the biggest industries in Mantle. We don't have the time to hunt them all down before they attack again. Next time, anyone caught in the blast might not be as lucky as your boyfriend, Red."
"And that's gonna be the last person they harm." Ruby coldy announced, storming out of the building. Kevin followed behind her, as Harriet stood there in the basement.
"...this is gonna be a long day," Harriet sighed.
Ruby looked at the destruction around herself once more. Ben had been flown back to Atlas, where he'd be on bedrest until he woke back up. Ruby knew it wasn't her fault- Ben would've saved anyone in her position, whether it be hero, villain or a commoner.
Ruby took a deep breath, and looked into the night sky.
"Ruby?"
Ruby cocked her head a little- Yang and the others had arrived a while back. She never even noticed.
"Sorry, Yang...didn't...didn't hear you guys show," Ruby sighed, turning to face the others, "Kevin filled you in?"
"As best he could." Ceres said, stepping forward. "How about you? Are you feeling better?"
"Just...more confused." Ruby frowned. "I get it- Weiss' dad was a bastard."
"Damn right." Weiss nodded.
"But...I don't know, I'd try smearing his campaign, not blowing up factories in populated areas. There's gotta be a reason why she's doing this beyond being petty." Ruby said.
"Forgive me but...personally, I say we can learn her motives after we have apprehended her," Rook said.
"Speaking of that...you said had something to go on?" Blake asked.
"It...it's not much. They had custom gear. Armor that Harriet said would be used by the Ace-Ops if Atlas made it and custom Dust weapons."
"One minute they're shooting vines at you, the next they're turning gravity off with a pull of the trigger," Kevin added.
"Way too advanced for humans. Has to be alien." Ceres said. "I know you guys have some crazy weapons- example, Elm's rocket hammer- but there's no way you can achieve that."
"And honestly, Rook? I think the motive thing is gonna really tie into the case. Is there anything on Rojo's file? Any past affiliations we can investigate?" Ruby asked.
"We read up on it on the way here. Nothing that'd even suggest she'd try something like this. She was...before today she was a biker. Took part in some riots against the SDC, never liked Atlas. Biggest crimes she has on record are assault and vandalism," Blake explained.
"And now she's graduated to full blown terrorism," Yang said.
"Anything else? Like, there has to be something..." Kevin hummed.
Kylie scrolled through her file on her phone. "Well...it says here she was recently a part of the Happy Huntresses..."
"From what I heard...sounded like she thought they weren't doing enough," Ruby said, "But maybe Robyn knows more about her."
"So, you gonna go be Batman or something?" Yang asked. "Ask some questions and stay in the shadows?"
Ceres looked at Yang. "...you missed a gold opportunity to call her Batwoman."
...Yang slapped her forehead. "Damn it!"
"Well...I was actually gonna try my luck with the weapon shops," Ruby admitted, "Besides, she knows some of us already. Better someone she trusts ask her about this, right?"
Kevin frowned. "Doubtful. From what I saw, those weapons were custom made- they're probably not even bought. May be the same case as the armor."
"I mean unless you can think of some other place to get high-grade receivers and magazines specifically made for Dust," Ruby countered.
"In Mantle? No. In Atlas? You'd think they'd let people from Mantle buy THAT kind of grade artillery? They'd be arrested on the spot. Stealing it is a no go as well." Weiss explained. "Even the most skilled heist people can't break through the security."
"Well...I just...I'm just trying to think of something we can use, something we can follow up on! We have nothing on her outside of a file and whatever Robyn knows! None of that even covers where she got the hardware!"
"...I mean, it wouldn't hurt to ask Robyn." Kylie said. "Maybe we can get something out of her, at the very least."
"You're...you're right. I'm sorry, I just..." Ruby trailed off and sighed.
"Hey, hey. You're totally stressed right now. Boyfriend in a coma, I know." Kylie said, patting Ruby on the back. "It's serious. But, right now, we wanna prevent you from crashing and burning. We're doing what Ben would do to with you."
"Right," Ruby smiled. She needed a clear head now; she'd never catch Rojo if she let the stress take over.
"Ok," Ruby said calmly, "Where can we find Robyn?"
"Robyn's currently on her weekly house check with the other huntresses to ensure everyone in Mantle is getting the stuff they need, and handing out some care packages." Kylie said. "They just started, so...they should be in the western area of Mantle."
"...how did you know that?" Blake asked.
"May invited me once." Kylie shrugged.
"How'd it go?"
"Really well, actually."
"West side of Mantle, here we come then," Ruby said.
Kylie, Ruby and Kevin walked on the sidewalks of Mantle's western side- it was a bit of a cleaner place, compared to the rest of the city. That was a good sign, Ruby noted.
It didn't take them long to find Robyn, either. She and Fiona were walking along through the neighborhood, both carrying packs full of care-packages. Fiona was also carrying a clipboard with her, just in case there was something a family needed and it wasn't in the care package, specific medicines for instance.
"So far so good," Fiona said, looking over her list. If anyone needed any of those specific items, there was a big enough window for them to get some.
"Hey!" Kylie said, waving down to them. Robyn looked up, and saw Kylie approaching with Ruby and Kevin in tow. "Hey, Robyn- sorry to...kind of interrupt you on your mission right now..."
"Was wondering if you two spent too much time up there and forgot about us," Robyn smirked.
"You know how it is up there," Kevin shrugged.
"Who's your friend?" Fiona asked, gesturing over to Ruby.
"This is Ruby, leader of Team RWBY." Kylie explained. "She...has some questions for you."
"Do...you know a 'Rojo'?" Ruby asked.
Fiona and Robyn froze for a minute and shared a look of concern. Robyn sighed and rubbed her temple.
"Joey, the hell did you get yourself into..." the Happy Huntress' leader muttered to herself.
"...so you do know her?" Ruby asked.
"I know her very, very well..." Robyn sighed. "What do you need to know, kids?"
"Was...there any reason she'd hate the SDC? I mean aside from Jacques being...well himself," Kylie asked.
"Outside of the usual workers' rights violations and all of the shit he pulled when he ran the place? Nothing specific comes to mind. She and I...we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things but...she always thought I was Mantle's best shot."
"Then something else changed. She said you weren't doing enough," Kevin chimed in.
"Yeah. One day, we did our usual raid of an SDC factory. A few of us raided some documents to find some stuff out..." Robyn said. "And...after that, Rojo departed from the group."
"Do you know what was on them?" Ruby asked.
"From what I remember? Employee records. You know, current assignment, job performance reviews, that stuff. She must've found SOMETHING on them, though, cause after she read them? She had this look on her face like her whole world just...collapsed around her," Robyn explained.
"...know anything about her backstory?" Kevin asked. "Could be a hint there..."
"When she first joined she wasn't too open about it, but..." Robyn trailed off for a minute before Fiona spoke up.
"I...talked to her about it," the sheep Faunus said, "She...had a mostly normal life, y'know? Born and raised in Mantle, wanted to open up her own mechanic place down here. Fix up motorcycles and all. And...then her mom died."
Ruby's heart ached a little from hearing that.
"…think there's a connection?" Kylie asked Ruby.
"Huh?" Ruby hummed. "….oh. Oh….oh, my god."
"What?" Fiona asked.
"Rojo. What's her last name?" Kylie asked.
"...Her full name is Joey Jett." Robyn said, not really understanding everything going on.
"Ruby, you mind in filling us in?" Kevin asked.
"The factory. The one you guys hit, where was it?" Ruby asked.
"It was at…uh, the furthest one out from here." Robyn said. "Middle of the tundra."
"Where there cages?"
"What?"
"Where there cages? Just stacked up in a corner somewhere?"
"N-no...none that I saw. Just a bunch of documents."
"…do you still have any of them?" Ruby asked, hopefully.
"Yeah. Thought we could oust some of Jacques' higher-ups. You know, expose some of his bootlickers with dirty secrets," Robyn explained.
"We actually did, remember? We got at least three of his mine supervisors and some others fired," Fiona added.
"Oh you're right! We did."
"We may need to look through them." Kevin said. "Because my theory right now is-"
Kevin never finished- the ground shook, as Kevin, Ruby and the others flinched.
"...the hell was that!?" Robyn asked.
Fiona looked around, trying to see if there was a source for the shaking...and then her eyes found a massive plume of thick, black smoke rising into the air.
"Oh my god..." Fiona muttered.
"...we need to go." Ruby said, as she and Kevin took off. Kylie stayed behind for a moment.
"A-ah! Thanks for helping!" Kylie yelled, as she ran after them.
"...you don't think..." Robyn started, turning to Fiona.
"All the questions, asking if we had the documents...that's the only thing that makes sense," Fiona frowned.
Rojo walked through the fire and rubble, unaffected by the chaos around her. It was all so, so worth it...
"Vindication...am I right?" Rojo sighed.
"Can't stay long. After the last hit, they're probably twitchy, be here sooner," Amarillo said calmly, looking around for any sign of law enforcement.
"Still won't catch us. If the alien kids couldn't stop us, what makes you think they could?" Azul smirked.
"A fair point..." Rojo smiled. "We're on top of the world, girls! No one can take us down."
Right as she finished that last word, a sniper shot rang out and zoomed past her head. A perfectly still target like her? Impossible to miss, unless it was on purpose.
"So, we're going again?" the red armored leader turned to see Ruby, still aiming her rifle at the criminal.
Ruby's eyes were full of contempt, but there was an odd sorrow to them. Rojo noticed, but she didn't think much of it. "So, you back for more?" Rojo yelled. "Come on, kid! Your little boyfriend couldn't beat me! What makes you think you can?"
"Easy," Kevin yelled over the roaring flames as he adjusted the dial on the Antitrix, "You didn't have to deal with my sister last time."
"Your sister?" Rojo asked. "Please. No one could beat this armor!"
"Yeah but...I don't see filters on those helmets of yours. So, I doubt the armor's air tight."
As Kevin finished, the three armored criminals suddenly found that their eyes were starting to water, vision turning blurry.
"The fuck?" Amarillo asked, wiping away some of the tears in her eyes.
"Teary eyed, are we?" Kylie asked, as she faded into Amarillo's vision, holding a gun in front of her face.
"T-the hell!?" Rojo asked- she was distracted. Perfect time to strike.
Ruby suddenly rushed forward in a flurry of petals, planting both of her feet into Rojo's chest, knocking the gang leader back. The Huntress flourished her scythe before rushing in again, blade at the ready. Kevin slammed down on the AntiTrix and in a flash of red, Kevin's usual form had been replaced with the clawed, multi-eyed form of Blink 182. Several of the eyes extending out from his right arm moved together into a cluster and fired a red plasma beam at Azul, nailing her in the chest and sending her flying. Kevin raced after her, keeping her away from the other two. Amarillo quickly brought her arm up, smacking away Kylie's gun and throwing a left hook at her.
Kylie quickly dodged the blow, and quickly dissipated in the wind. Her wispy form wrapped around Amarillo's neck, before she wrapped her legs around her in a chokehold. Kylie's legs were stronger now- she saw Ceres smash a watermelon with her thighs and she WANTED to do that so badly.
Amarillo's arms shot up to grab at Kylie's legs trying to pull her off. In response, Kylie just tightened her hold, putting the yellow-clad criminal off balance. She soon fell, both her and Kylie thudding to the ground. She kept trying to pull Kylie off, but when that didn't work, one of her arms tried to open a pouch on her belt.
Kylie quickly put her hands over her face, and began to release some noxious gas from her palms. Amarillo began to gag and choke, overwhelmed by scent.
She fumbled around, her hand mostly grabbing dirt and debris, until she felt the pouch. She quickly opened it and pulled out a Wind Dust crystal before slamming it into the forearm of her other gauntlet. She clenched her fist and fired out a short gust of wind at Kylie, hoping that, since this girl seemed to be made of gas, she would be literally blown away.
Kylie was sent sky high, but the woman quickly dissipated into gas once more. Amarillo huffed. "This is seriously annoying!" She hissed.
She looked around, trying to see if she could predict where Kylie'd come from next. She turned her eyes to the smoke pillars, figuring that the girl would use them as cover.
Kylie instead reformed behind Amarillo. Expect the unexpected, Kylie thought, as began to fill the air with a sleeping gas.
Amarillo shook her head, her mind already feeling fuzzy. She suddenly turned on her heel and threw another wind-infused punch at Kylie.
"Is that all your gonna do?! Fucking...turn to air...hide?!" Amarillo yelled, struggling to stay awake. She kept trying to mentally tell herself, stay awake. Stay. Awake.
"Now, let's try and take a look at this armor..." Kylie said, pushing Amarillo to the ground. She knew the girl wouldn't be getting back up.
Amarillo grunted when she hit the ground, struggling to keep her eyes open.
"F-fuck...you..." Amarillo managed to get out before her eyes became too heavy to keep open.
Kylie looked over the armor, the sounds of combat echoing around her. It was certainly well made, strong enough to survive some of the strongest hits that could get thrown at them. The lack of protection against air-attacks was telling though. An oversight or was that intentional? She wasn't sure.
"Gonna have to ask Ceres to scan this..." Kylie said, pulling out some energy cuffs. "Hope the other two are doing okay..."
Ruby and Rojo were going at it like it was a full on war.
Ruby slashed out with Crescent Rose, but Rojo quickly brought up her rifle to block the hit. The red Huntress was surprised to see the gun hold up so well against a blade like her's. She was even more surprised when she saw pieces of the weapon start to shift. The sides of the gun closest to the barrel suddenly unfurled into sharp blades as the stock suddenly extended out into a shaft. The trigger even rotated into a more easily reached position. Rojo's rifle had transformed into a massive, double-sided axe, the signature shark-teeth paintjob displayed proudly on the blades themselves.
The former Happy Huntress pushed back against Ruby's weapon and took a heavy swing of her own against her opponent. Ruby quickly zoomed out of the way as the blade easily sliced into the stone ground. Rojo squeezed the trigger on her weapon and fired a shot, dislodging the axe from the ground. She caught the weapon in her other hand and gripped the shaft tightly.
"Surprised you're not the only one with a combo-weapon?" Rojo smirked.
Ruby's eyes moved away from Rojo's cool weapon, and back to her opponent. "I know why you're doing this. At least, I think."
"Really?" Rojo scoffed. "What, so I can screw over Jacques? Yeah, no shit."
"Not only that. This is an act of love and revenge, isn't it?" Ruby inquired. "Jacques screwed over an employee- your mother- and it's connected to those test facilities underneath the factories."
"...how did you..." Rojo started but she already knew how the kid knew.
Fiona.
Of all the people in this world, she never thought the sheep Faunus had it in her to just...betray her like that. Ruby could actually see that Rojo looked from the revelation.
"...just cause you know doesn't mean you're stopping me," the former Happy Huntress growled, gripping the weapon in her hands tighter.
"I know. I'm in a similar boat with you, with my own mom..." Ruby sighed. "In...a weird way, I get it. Your mom got screwed over. You got left alone and got angry...but, unlike me, you bottled it all up and..."
Ruby shook her head. "Sorry. I'm rambling."
"Shut. Up," Rojo seethed, "Don't even try to say you're 'in the same boat' as me. If you were, you'd be helping me! But no, here you are, one of 'Atlas' finest' trying to stop the big bad terrorist! Well guess what?! I'm not stopping until that fucker gets what he DESERVES!"
"I'm not one of Atlas' finest! I'm a normal girl, with normal knees!" Ruby yelled. "I know how you feel! You want to strike back and lash out at such an impossible threat, but he just KEEPS coming back to haunt you somehow! It sucks! I've LIVED IT! To find out the awful, awful truth about something you knew differently for years!"
"Ok...so we both have our monsters. There's just one big different between us," Rojo swapped out the clip she was using with a new one, a stylized flame emblazoned on it, "One of us has the guts to fucking KILL theirs!"
The former Huntress yelled out as she slammed her axe blade into the ground, pulling the trigger on impact. Three streams of flame roared out from the impact, cracking the ground and snaking their way towards Ruby.
Ruby didn't even move- the second before the flames hit her, Ruby turned into rose petals. She traveled across the ground, and reformed before Rojo's eyes. Ruby's eyes were filled with hate.
"I've had more guts to do things you've never even dreamed of." Ruby hissed, as she swapped her weapon into its energy blade mode. Her blade turned bright white, as she slashed through Rojo-
Rojo was instantly frozen solid.
Azul, meanwhile, was on the complete defensive. She was dodging and rolling under a barrage of various energy blasts from Blink 182's eyes. Each beam that missed left a different effect on the surroundings. Sparks flew, stone was scorched even more, ice crystals formed on the rock, and other effects coated the surroundings. Azul was firing back with her Dust pistol at every chance she got, forcing Kevin to avoid the shots and miss some of his own blasts so he wouldn't get hit.
"Come on, dude! You ain't got legs! What makes you think you can keep up with me?" Azul taunted, before she noticed her boss was frozen solid. Her eyes widened. "Shit..."
"Ohhhh, your boss must've pissed her off even more. She doesn't get the ice blade out early," Kevin smirked, trying to scare Azul. Eyes clustered together into three groups before they charged up together and let out a massive plasma beam at Azul, almost like Kevin was channeling Iron Man here.
Azul knew she couldn't fail here- Rojo's revenge needed to happen, the world needed to not forget such a travesty buried by bureaucrats!
Azul loaded her weapon with a round of flame dust, as she fired a bullet at her boss...
Azul couldn't get out of the way in time and she took the full brunt of the plasma beam. But her plan worked. The fire round impacted on Rojo's frozen form and engulfed her leader in flame. Shards went flying as Rojo staggered out of her frozen state and coughed a bit.
"Son of a bitch," the former Happy Huntress muttered, shaking some of the ice off of her. She looked around and noted everything. Amarillo and Azul were down, she was outnumbered. She needed to run.
Azul managed to stay conscious long enough to see her boss slot in an earth Dust clip and slam her axe into the ground, causing a series of small tremors and raising a series of stone walls to cover her escape.
"Fuck 'em up...Joey..." Azul smirked before she blacked out.
"No!" Ruby yelled, as she began to give chase to Rojo. Rojo knew she was gonna get followed- she quickly turned her weapon around, and fired a shot of ice dust.
"Eye for an eye, kid!" Rojo yelled, as the bullet hit Ruby's leg.
Ruby was just second too late. She felt ice encase her leg, freezing her to the ground.
"FUCK!" Ruby yelled, shifting Crescent Rose into its pure rifle form. She took aim at the ice and fired a precise shot, giving her the chance she needed to break free. When she looked up, there was no sign of Rojo.
Kevin ran over. "She got away again!"
"I noticed..." Ruby huffed.
"Look on the bright side." Kylie said, dragging Amarillo behind her back. "We got two of them. And we can take a look at their armor up close..."
"...they might know where she's going," Ruby sighed, shaking her head, "When we get back...can you guys..."
"Yeah. The guys asking questions are gonna beg for them to stop talking once we get the info," Kevin smirked.