Chapter 6
The week had finally come to an end for the turtles, and not only that but the semester was also coming close to an end. Donatello was currently walking down the halls towards the dorm room that Team LMDR currently resided in, his nose buried in his Scroll. He was in the middle of reading up on some of the culture of the world, taking a break from his busy research on Dust to learn more about the world they were a part of. Behind him, his brothers were busy talking amongst each other about what they'd be doing next. Mikey, for instance, had a little companion next to him in the form of Ruby Rose.
"So you're sure that Jaune knows where the good comics are?" Mikey asked the little red head, who nodded confidently.
"Yep he showed it to me earlier this week, and I think you're gonna like them. There's this new series recently coming out with these two super heroes that I particularly think you'll enjoy." Ruby added, to which Mikey grinned with excitement.
"Ah shell yeah! Finally, I've been starving for some decent comics! I don't think I've ever gone by this long without them!" Mikey said, sighing wistfully. Raphael rolled his eyes and turned to Ruby.
"Please take him there ASAP, we can barely stand any more o' his belly achin'." Raph grumbled, yanking on the comedian's orange bandana. Mikey groaned and angrily took the strands out of Raph's hands. Ruby giggled and shrugged.
"Sure, maybe we can go this afternoon?" Ruby suggested, before another teammate of her's suddenly interrupted.
"No, you cannot! We already have plans for this afternoon." Came the high pitched voice of Weiss Schnee. Ruby looked over to her partner, rubbing the back of her head in confusion.
"We do?" Ruby asked, and Weiss nodded.
"We do. We are going down into Vale to watch the preparations for the Vytal Festival!" Weiss stated confidently. Before any of her teammates could could protest, the confused voice of Michelangelo spoke up.
"Uh... what's the Vytal Festival?" The goofball turtle asked. The four girls looked over, somewhat shocked at his words. All the more confusing was the similar looks of confusion that Raphael and Leonardo also shared.
"How do you not know about the Vytal Festival?!" Weiss demanded, staring each of the brothers in the eyes. Donatello looked up upon hearing her loud accusation.
"Hmm, the Vytal Festival huh? Funny, I was just reading about it." The brainiac turtle stated, turning to his brothers, closing the Scroll.
"Apparently it's a massive international festival celebrating peace and unity among the four kingdoms. Every two years the festival is hosted in a different kingdom, and people from all over the world attend to celebrate each other's culture. It honestly sounds quite astounding!" Donnie added, a bright smile on his face. Raphael, on the other hand, was less than thrilled.
"Great, how borin'." Raph stated, adding a yawn for effect. Don chuckled and turned to them.
"Well for those less inclined to learn and experience the world's cultures, there is something I think more in tune with your interests, Raph. It seems that the main event of the festival is the Vytal Festival Tournament." Don stated. Raph raised an eyebrow.
"Tournament you say?" Raph asked. Behind him Yang nodded.
"Yeah Raph, I'm surprised you didn't know about that. See, students from the various Huntsmen Academies will compete in a massive combat tournament to show off who's the best." Yang stated, to which Raph smirked.
"A combat tournament featurin' all these high class warriors, huh? Well that sounds right up my alley." Raph stated with a smirk. He was pushed aside by his younger brother, Mikey.
"I believe you mean, my alley." Mikey said, a devilish smirk on his own face. Don and Raph immediately saw what was coming. Raph growled.
"Mikey, you betta not mean "
"After all, I am the..." Michelangelo added, before pausing dramatically.
"BATTLE NEXUS CHAMPION!" Mikey added, throwing his hands in the air and walking around with a high and mighty attitude. Don and Raph both groaned and face palmed. Leonardo frowned. He tapped Mikey on the shoulder and pointed to their confused guests. Ruby was the first to raise her hand.
"Um... Battle Nexus?" She asked. Donatello was quick to think up an excuse.
"Uh... yeah, the Battle Nexus. It's one of Mikey's favorite video games." Don quickly stated. Yang and Ruby both nodded, seemingly accepting that answer. Weiss rolled her eyes.
"The Vytal Festival Tournament is hardly similar at all to some stupid video game." She stated haughtily. Mikey frowned, feeling his thunder getting killed.
"Hey, that's not " He was interrupted by Raph wrapping his arm around Mikey's throat and pulling him back with a gag.
"Not another word, bonehead." Raph quietly threatened. That seemed to get past Mikey's ego enough for him to realize what had almost happened.
"...Right. A video game." Mikey relented. Raph let him go, a smirk on his face at seeing the proud Battle Nexus Champion so thoroughly humbled. Seeing all of this done, Weiss looked them over.
"Clearly you four need this travesty to be undone. You are coming with us." The Ice Queen said, no, demanded. The four looked at each other. Leonardo shrugged.
"I mean... I'm free. Me and Pyrrha aren't doing Aura training today." Leonardo stated.
"You kidding, I would love to go! There's got to be so many fascinating cultural items to watch!" Donatello stated.
"I mean... I guess if y'all are goin' no need for me ta stick behind." Raph shrugged.
"I suppose so... but when we're done, Ruby, you're totally showing me that comics store." Mikey stated, to which Ruby happily nodded.
"Sure thing, Mikey!" Ruby stated.
Teams RWBY and LMDR were walking down the streets of Vale looking all across the proudly decorated buildings. Streamers, balloons, and even signs were starting to be put up.
The turtles weren't in their usual state of dress. Sure they weren't actively hated like in their own world, but it was better to avoid people asking questions and staring. So the turtles had adorned large, bulky hoodies and sweat pants, pulling up the hoods. Leonardo had also adorned a large, wide brimmed hat to help cover himself up.
Feeling far more relieved at being out and about, the turtles allowed themselves to get into the feeling and happy atmosphere. All sorts of people were walking around, people the turtles were instantly able to recognize as tourists. However, the most excited one was easily Weiss.
"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" She stated, raising her arms in amazement. Ruby looked over at her excitement.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss." Ruby said slowly. Mikey chuckled.
"Yeah, what did the heat finally start to melt your icy heart?" Mikey joked, chuckling and getting a high five from a grinning Raph. Weiss was less amused by the harmless joke, so she turned to Ruby, choosing to ignore the uncultured swines.
"How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" Weiss stated excitedly. Unfortunately, not everyone was as impressed with her about this.
"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang sighed, crossing her arms. Raph nodded in agreement.
"It's like Donnie talkin' 'bout some gadget he invented." Raph jabbed at his brother. Weiss dismissed the two as she lead them down the roads towards the docks.
"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang stated, annoyed.
"Ugh, they smell like fish!" Ruby gagged. Mikey shrugged.
"Hey I dunno, the docks don't smell too bad to us. Then again, we have lived in worst places." The orange banded turtle defended. Once again, Weiss jumped in to attempt and salvage the discussion.
"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!" Weiss stated approvingly. Unfortunately, not everyone bought her story, and for the first time Blake spoke up.
"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake casually noted. The turtles started to chuckle at that, especially when Weiss indignantly turned around.
"You can't prove that!" She demanded, but before an argument could escalate, Ruby noticed something.
"Woah..." She said softly. Just down the road, a small Dust shopped was taped off by the police. Standing in front of it, two detectives were examining the scene. Curiosity gripped the group, and the two teams walked over.
"What happened here?" Leonardo asked, mostly to himself. The detective heard him and muttered his own answer.
"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." And with that, he walked over to his partner.
"That's terrible." Yang muttered sadly. Next to her Raph gritted his teeth.
"More like infuriatin'. I hate when no good punks get away wit' stuff like dis." Raph said through his teeth. Meanwhile the detectives were continuing their conversation, when one of them mentioned the White Fang. That also seemed to set off Weiss.
"Hmmph! The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates!" She stated, crossing her arms. Raph turned back to her.
"Ain't the White Fang dem awful Faunus terrorists or somethin'?" Raph asked. Before he could get a response, Blake surprised the brothers by speaking up, and fairly accusatorily.
"What's your problem?" She asked critically of the two.
"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss defended herself. Blake was not through.
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake countered. Weiss gave her a confused look at her attempts to defend them.
"Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss accused.
"So then they're very misguided." Blake retorted. At that, Mikey raised his hand.
"Um... that sounds like a bit more then just misguided." Mikey questioned, to which Raph nodded.
"Yeah, gotta agree. If they're goin' that far, there's really no defending them." Raph said, crossing his arms. Blake just glared back at the brother, before sighing and trying to not lead this particular argument.
"However, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale." Blake noted. Raph rolled his eyes.
"Ain't Dust how you get bullets an' stuff? Enough of a reason there." Raph debated. Ruby spoke up softly, trying to keep things cool.
"Well, I mean... the police never caught that Torchwick guy we ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him?" Ruby offered. Weiss was clearly not done.
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal." Weiss accused, to which Raph nodded in agreement, while Blake was clearly growing upset, particularly at her word choice.
Leonardo took a step forward to try and calm things down. But before he could say something, a loud and angry voice was heard from the docks.
"Hey! Stop that Faunus!" the voice was heard, and the turtles and team RWBY quickly dashed to the docks again. Across the docks on a boat, the two teams could see a group of sailors chasing after someone else.
This person was tanned, had golden, spiky hair, and wore an undone button up shirt and jeans. Most noticeably was the long monkey like tail he had. He got on the edge of the boat and chuckled something at them before leaping onto the docks, leaping up onto a lamppost, hanging upside down from it with his tail. Almost to complete the stereotype, this Faunus pulled out a banana.
"You no good stowaway!" One of the sailors muttered angrily.
"Hey, a no good stowaway would've been caught. I'm a great stowaway!" The Faunus corrected, peeling his banana. But teams RWBY and LMDR weren't the only ones to hear the disturbance. The two detectives from the crime scene walked down to the pier and looked up at the troublemaker, clearly annoyed.
"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" One of the detectives yelled. His response was getting a banana peel to the face. He was not amused.
The Faunus swung up onto the lamppost, leaped across, and started running, the two officers giving chase. As he ran up and past the group, he quickly shot the two teams, Blake in particular, a cocky look, before vanishing, the officers behind him. The eight looked past, confused.
"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes…" Yang stated, breaking the silence. Weiss jumped to life immediately and took off running.
"Quick! We have to observe him!" Everyone else decided to humor her and followed Weiss. Unfortunately as Weiss turned around a corner she ran headlong into someone. The two tumbled to the ground, ending the chase. Weiss looked up and could only watch as the stowaway and detectives vanished from sight.
"No, he got away!" Weiss said in distress.
"Uh, Weiss... you're not the only one on the ground there." Donnie's calm voice stated. Weiss was pulled out of her misery induced tunnel vision and she looked down. There she saw the smiling, freckled face of a red haired girl, her green eyes beaming. Weiss was startled and quickly got up.
"Salutations!" The girl stated, still smiling. Even Mikey was getting a bit unnerved.
"Um... hello." Ruby said, trying to be friendly while still a bit unnerved.
"Are... you all right miss?" Donnie also asked, slowly shuffling over, just in case.
"I'm wonderful, thanks for asking!" Said the girl, still smiling and laying on her back. This would be comical for the brothers if it weren't so awkward.
"Um... do you need help getting up?" Donnie once again tried to ask. The girl seemed to think for a second but soon shook her head.
"No, I am all right." She soon pushed her body up with her hands, leaping up. It surprised the turtles a bit that she was able to do that, but they didn't have time to think on it as she turned to the eight.
"My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny stated with the same enthusiasm she'd been showing since they met. The eight stared back, before Ruby nodded.
"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby!" She attempted to clear things up. Donnie nodded.
"And I'm Donatello." The brainiac stated. The rest of the other teams also said their names...
until it got to Yang and Mikey.
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked.
"Or weren't turned into some zombie?" Michelangelo asked. Blake was quick to hit Yang in the side, while Raph smacked Mikey upside the head. The two got the memo and introduced themselves. Well, Mikey did when he was done rubbing the back of his head. Penny never lost her grin.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeated. Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"You already said that." Weiss confirmed. Penny paused and looked confused for a second, before smiling.
"So I did!" She said enthusiastically. Mikey raised an eyebrow and leaned over to whisper to Leo.
"I've seen robots more coordinated then this." Mikey whispered, to which Leo nodded. Everyone seemed to have had enough of this awkward conversation, so Weiss decided to kill it.
"Well, sorry for running into you." She turned around and Ruby waved at her.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby stated and Don nodded.
"Catch ya' later, pal." Donnie stated as the eight walked off. Yang was the first to say what everyone was thinking.
"She was... weird..." Yang stated. Raph shook his head.
"No, Mikey is weird. She was... something else." Raph disagreed. Weiss once again took charge to change the topic.
"Now, where did that Faunus riff raff run off to?" Weiss asked before stopping. In front of her stood Penny, staring deep into the group.
"What did you call me?" She asked slowly, her smile and enthusiasm gone. While Weiss stood baffled (no one could blame her, even the turtles, masters of stealth and ninjutsu, were stunned that she could sneak past them), Yang widened her eyes, thinking that Penny meant her.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang said. Raph chuckled and elbowed her.
"Yeah, 'cause that makes it better." Raph teased. Penny shook her head.
"No, not you." She walked forward, pushing past everyone until she was face to face with Ruby.
"You!" She then looked up at Donnie. "And you!"
Both the turtle and teen girl looked confused, wondering just what they had said. They both stammered, trying to figure out what they had said, but Penny interrupted them.
"You called me "friend" and "pal". Am I really your friend?" Penny asked. Ruby looked over to see her teammates were signing for her to say no. Donnie's brothers were not so helpful, only shrugging or trying not to laugh at the genius turtle.
"I dunno, this is sending creeper vibes to me. Next thing you know, she'll turn out to be some possessive serial killer." Mikey joked. Hearing that, Donnie struggled to think of a kind, polite way to basically say no. Unfortunately for Donnie, Ruby interrupted him.
"Y Yeah sure! Why not!" Ruby said, before smiling. Penny smiled wildly, taking her answer to mean both of them. Ruby's teammates just fell down, unable to believe she said yes. Donnie's brothers, however, couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune.
"Sensational!" Penny exclaimed with joy. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"
Donnie looked over at what she said, and raised an eyebrow at her suggestions. Penny looked over and tilted her head before realizing that Donnie might not appreciate said activities.
"Oh um... well we can talk about you then!" Penny cheerfully suggested, oblivious to what she implied. Donnie's hand met his covered face. His brothers' chuckles did not help the situation.
"Aw ain't dat adorable, Donnie got himself a new friend!" Raph smirked. Leo looked over.
"I dunno, she seems more like a little puppy to me."" Leo said, joking as well. Yang decided to try and keep them off that particular topic.
"So... what're you doing in Vale?" Yang asked, seeing how her clothing didn't match that of Vale's.
"I'm here to fight in the tournament!" Penny stated confidently, to the surprise of everyone within earshot.
"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked confused.
"I'm combat ready!" Penny saluted.
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." Weiss addressed. Raph rolled his eyes.
"Says the spoiled princess in a dress." Raph muttered, crossing his arms. Weiss turned around indignantly.
"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss argued. Ruby dashed next to her, agreeing. The two shared a brief high five. Raph shook his head.
"Oh wow, combat skirts. Meh, ain't got nothin' on shell powa." Raph argued, giving a quick high five to his brothers. Before the shell vs. skirt debate could begin, Weiss widened her eyes with realization.
"Wait a minute. If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey tailed..." Weiss stated, grabbing Penny by the shoulders. A quick glare from Blake made her reconsider her word choice. "...rapscallion?"
"The who?" Penny asked confused. Weiss quickly pulled up a drawing that eve, Mikey would be ashamed of.
"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss stated urgently. Blake refused to stay quiet over that particular choice of words.
"Why do you keep calling him that?!" Blake demanded. Weiss turned around confused as Blake started to berate her teammate. "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"
Weiss was not someone to back down, especially when being called out.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?" Weiss stated, pointing to the nearest items. The turtles felt slightly uncomfortable from her choice of words. Sure they weren't Faunus, but Weiss wouldn't know that, even if they doubted she meant to be so... callous.
"Stop it!" Blake shouted, clearly growing more upset. Don and Mikey looked back between each other. They'd seen enough fights between Leo and Raph to know where this was going.
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time, he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!" Weiss argued. Leonardo decided he should try to play diplomat, stepping forward.
"Okay now let's calm down a bit. Now Weiss, isn't that stretching it just a bit?" Leo asked. Raph shrugged.
"I dunno bro. I mean, we've seen similar happen before." Raph added ambiguously, although Leo knew he was talking about the Purple Dragons. Leo shook his head but before he could say anything, Blake rounded on him.
"Oh, so you're saying that just because you've seen it happen before it will happen now?" She questioned angrily. Raphael frowned and narrowed his eyes, not appreciating the tone she was taking with him.
"I ain't sayin' that, Ms. Dark an' Dreary, I am sayin' its possible!" Raph fought back. Leo put his hand on Raph's shoulder, feeling things were starting to get out of control.
"Look Raph, she kind of has a point "
"So what, ya disagreein' wit' me?" Raph accused.
"Hey now, I never said that." Leo argued, getting a little defensive.
From the side lines, Ruby, Yang, Michelangelo, and Donatello all saw the four of them beginning to engage in a four way argument. Ruby and Yang looked both concerned and slightly embarrassed, while Mikey and Don sighed, shaking their heads.
"Um... I think we should probably go..." Yang offered.
The four had attempted to move the conversation out of the way, but it hardly mattered, the other four were stubbornly stuck in their debate. Even trying to move to RWBY's dorm room didn't extinguish it, as Raph was too hot headed to let it go and Leo was too stubborn to let him leave. It didn't help that Weiss would draw the turtles back in at every supposed offense they sent her way while Blake would constantly tick Raph off whenever he said something in the heat of the moment. The debate had lasted well past sun down, and it didn't seem like it would end any time soon. Ruby sighed as she watched them go back and forth.
"Are they ever going to stop?" The red cloaked girl asked. Mikey shook his head next to her.
"You learn to get used to it." Donnie added, going back to watching the argument. Weiss was up next.
"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Weiss argued. Raph turned on Leo after that.
"Mind explaining why yer defending that again, Leo?" Raph questioned. Leonardo glared in frustration at his brother.
"Again, Raph, I never said I was defending them, I " Blake cut Leo's answer off.
"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake countered, to which Raph loudly scoffed.
"Dat is a load a shell." Raph argued crossing his arms. He got a harsh glare from Blake, but it didn't faze the hot head.
"Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!" Blake argued back. Raph frowned.
"Again, wiping out humanity is not excusable, no matter how these dirt bags try to justify." Raph argued back. Instead of following his logic, Weiss was still seemingly stunned by Blake's accusation.
"People like me?!" Weiss demanded.
"You're discriminatory!" Blake yelled. Weiss had had enough.
"I'm a victim!" Weiss shouted. This new information silenced everyone in the room. Weiss took a moment to collect her thoughts, but the anger in her eyes was clear.
"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood." Weiss angrily stated. Mikey slowly noticed how Blake turned her head away at that last accusation. This new information sobered Leonardo and Raphael up a bit, causing their heads to clear. It was fairly obvious this debate was far more personal then their little spat intended, but they still didn't realize just how personal. Ruby got up.
"Weiss, I "
"No!" Weiss angrily shouted, unable to take it anymore. The sudden exclamation had jolted even Raph and Leo. Weiss rounded on Blake, who looked no less angry.
"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" Weiss accused, forgetting about the turtles next to her.
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake yelled in anger. After a second she noticed everyone was all looking at her. Blake quickly realized what she had said. We. Weiss slowly backed up, and Blake started to panic.
"I... I..." Was all she could say before dashing out of the room. Ruby ran to the door and called out.
"Blake! Wait, come back!" She yelled futility. In the room, the turtles and teammates were too shocked to really do anything about it. Leonardo gripped his hands. He felt partially responsible, he was trying to calm things down but he'd only made them worse.
"I'll be back." Leonardo said, and quickly leaped out of the dorm window.
Landing on the tree next to it, Leonardo swiftly made his way up to the roof of the building. Dashing along it, he tried to get a bird's eye view and find her. It didn't take too long, but there she was, right in front of the statue in front of Beacon. As he watched her, Leo noticed that she had reached up and was pulling the bow away. And sure enough, just underneath it rested cat
ears. Leo thought that it made sense in hindsight and it wasn't particularly shocking after their argument. Leonardo couldn't help but feel surprised as he saw her do so. As he was about to move though, Leo saw that kid from the docks, the monkey Faunus in fact. He walked over to her and said something. Leo decided now might be a good time to talk. Leaping down, Leo walked over to the two.
"Blake!" He called out. Blake looked up, startled. She widened her eyes as she saw someone she knew walking towards her, especially with her bow off. The newcomer looked back and forth between the two, doing a double take at Leonardo's appearance.
"Blake look, I'm " Before Leonardo could go on Blake ran past him, shoving the turtle to the side. Leo gasped, momentarily stunned. Frowning he charged after the teen.
The two ran towards the building, and Blake looked up. She pulled her weapon out, launched the blade at the wall, and used it to swing up towards the roof. Leonardo frowned and launched himself up, kicking back and forth between the walls to climb up. Leaping into the air, the ninja pulled out one of his katanas and swung the blunt end at Blake's ribbon, hitting it hard. Blake felt the harsh tug which sent her sprawling onto the ground. Leo landed on the roof ahead of her. Looking up Blake saw the turtle with his sword drawn. Widening her eyes, her mind already in "fight or flight" mode, she yanked on her ribbon, pulling Gambol Shroud towards her. She aimed the pistol at Leo. Leonardo widened his eyes.
"Woah, easy there! Sorry I didn't mean to look so hostile. Just let me put it away..." Leonardo stated slowly, sheathing it. Blake seemed to relax, but only barely. She lowered and then sheathed her own weapon. Leo took a breath and turned to her.
"Blake... come on, you didn't need to run. You were among friends, friends you could trust..." Leo said slowly.
Blake visibly bristled at the word trust.
"Trust? How can I trust any of you!" he demanded, pointing a finger at Leonardo. "I don't even know what you are!"
"W what do you mean? Blake I'm a Faunus, just like yo "
"Stop it. You may have fooled everyone, but I knew from the moment I laid my eyes on you that you are not a Faunus! You and your team have been lying and deceiving us this entire time too!" Blake accused. Leonardo swallowed hard. It seemed that his suspicions about her had been correct.
"Blake... I..." Leonardo said slowly, before sighing. "You're right. Me and my brothers... we're not Faunus."
Blake kept her eyes narrowed, but seemed surprised that Leonardo was so willing to say it. On the other hand, Leonardo wasn't quite so sure why he was saying it either. Was he really trying so hard to earn her trust back? And if so, why? Blake shook her head.
"Then... what are you?" She demanded. Leonardo looked up.
"I... I'm sorry, but I can't say. I can't say what or where we are from." Leo said with a hint of defeat. Blake narrowed her eyes once more. "Blake it's not because I don't trust you, you'd never believe me, you'd think I'm "
"Crazy? You don't trust me to believe you?" Blake accused. Leo stopped and didn't say anything. Seeing that Leonardo didn't have anything to say, she backed off and left, Leonardo letting her go.
The next few days that had passed by were fairly tense. Blake hadn't turned back up her team's dorm that night. Or the next night either. Her teammates had started to get worried (or at least most of them) and it'd be a lie to say the turtles weren't as well. Blake may have been the most stand offish person they'd met in this world so far, but they'd begun to accept her, sort of like another, more introverted Raph. They also knew very well what RWBY would be going through. They knew all too well what it was like to lose a member of your team.
Which explained why the turtles were out on their Sunday afternoon. Raph was riding down the streets in the Shellcycle while Leo, Mikey, and Don had taken to the rooftops, all split up. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were all walking on the streets, looking around and asking people if they'd seen her. Leonardo in particular seemed the most willing to help. That Friday night, Leonardo had come back, but he didn't seem himself. The only thing he'd say was he couldn't get Blake.
The search seemed to grow all the more futile as the sun began setting. Michelangelo stood on the rooftops of one of the buildings near the docks. He thought that maybe because that's where the fight had started Blake would head back there? It wasn't incredible evidence, but what can we say, Mikey's not quite Donnie.
Leaping across, Mikey sprinted towards one of the cargo docks, seeing a warehouse. Just as he was about to leap over, Mikey could see a couple shapes trying to stay hidden in it while watching the docks. As Mikey landed, he could see that one of them was indeed Blake. The other was the stowaway from earlier in the weekend.
"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Came the voice of Blake. Before the stowaway, who's arms were filled with likely stolen apples, could reply, Mikey smirked and dropped in behind them.
"Thievery is a crime that shan't go unpunished when justice is around!" Mikey stated, using his "Turtle Titan" voice. The two shot up, Blake putting her hand on the handle of her blade and the monkey Faunus raised his arms defensively. Mikey smirked.
"Hey chill guys, it's just me, Michelangelo!" Mikey said. The blonde haired teen looked down at Blake.
"So... friend of yours?" The kid asked. Blake frowned. Mikey looked over.
"So, monkey king and Blake, what're you doing here! My bros and your team are looking all over for you!"
"Monkey king? The name's Sun!" Sun said defensively, but he was ignored by Blake.
"I am proving once and for all that the White Fang are not behind this." Blake stated defiantly. Mikey grinned.
"Oh, this a stakeout? I am so in, dudes!" Mikey said, squatting down on one knee, looking out excitedly over the docks. Blake shot Sun a questioning glare, who just shrugged in response. That all ended when a bright light shot over the cargo and a massive wind blew over everyone. A large hovering vehicle flew down over the cargo, before coming in for a landing. Mikey smirked.
"Welp, seems we got your suspects." He said, standing up, and leaping to a nearby crane. "I'll keep a bird's eye view!"
Mikey looked down over the Bullhead as it landed. The doorway opened and a ramp extended down. Out from it came several disguised people, wearing cloaks, masks, and uniforms. On the back of said uniforms were the markings that Mikey recognized from the news stories. The White Fang.
"Bummer... that's gotta sting Blake." Mikey said slowly, feeling fairly bad that she turned out to be wrong. Lowering himself, he moved across stealthily, unseen. Several were armed, and the members started to lash up the cargo crates. From out of the Bullhead came Roman Torchwick. It'd been months, but Mikey sure recognized him. He frowned.
"Well isn't that interesting..." Before Mikey could get more of a look, he saw Blake dash out from behind one of the containers, putting a blade to Roman's neck. Mikey sighed and crawled over, pulling his new nunchucks out.
"Yeah, that's a D in ninja school there, Blakey." Mikey grimaced. He saw the White Fang who were out either pulled out guns or swords. Mikey noticed that the swords that were being wielded were... different. They had arcs of electricity flowing around the blades, sparking and
snapping. He leaned in and saw Blake pull off her bow, proving with her cat ears she was in fact a Faunus.
"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?" Blake demanded. Mikey saw that the members only lowered their weapons to look at each other in confusion. Mikey shook his head.
"Doesn't look like that's gonna work." Before Mikey could leap in to help, he was almost deafened by the loud noises of several more Bullheads descending from the sky. Distracted, just like Blake, Mikey heard a loud explosion just below him. Looking down, Mikey saw Blake was several feet back on the ground, while Torchwick approached her. Smirking, Mikey leaped down with a yell.
Landing on one of the Whit Fang members, Mikey took him out, then spun his nunchucks around the gun of one of the surprised members, pulling it away. Mikey gripped his weapons and felt his Aura flow into it. It seemed Leo's lessons were really coming along for him.
"Sorry to rain on your parade, but do you guys happen to know where I can get one of those junk masks? I lost mine." Mikey taunted, before pressing the small button on his chucks. The tips lit on fire, and Mikey spun them around in a dazzling display. The Faunus charged and the turtle met them head on, swinging his nunchucks, smashing one in the face to knock him back, ducking under another one as he tried to fire his rifle before swinging his fists up under the assailant's chin. Looking back, Mikey saw there was just one terrorist with a sword left. However, the enemy swung his blade down, and an arc of lighting launched towards Mikey, taking him offguard long enough for it to hit him, sending the turtle back.
"Ugh... why do the bad guys always get the cool toys?" Mikey grumbled, sitting up. He looked up and quickly screamed as the White Fang operative charged him, ready to swing his blade...
only to get knocked back several feet, a loud gunshot filling the air. Looking up, Mikey turned back to see Donnie standing on one of the crates, his bo in its rifle mode. Leaping down and changing it back to a bo, Don smirked.
"I dunno, I'm thinking the good guys have the cooler toys this time around." Don added. Mikey smiled and got up.
"Donnie! What're you doing here?" Mikey asked.
"You kidding? I bet half the city heard that explosion, I just happened to be nearby." Don said. The two turned around, just in time to see Sun leap down and kick Torchwick in the head before rolling and flipping over to the turtles, facing Torchwick.
"Leave her alone." Sun stated. Overhead the Bullheads opened up and out from them leaped several White Fang members, each holding a rifle, pistol, fancy sword, or some combination of the three. The three were surrounded as Roman got up. Don grimaced as did Mikey.
"Hmm, surrounded by masked criminals with fancy swords and high tech gadgets. Am I having deja vu?" Donnie joked, while Mikey swung his nunchucks about.
"You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you, kid?" Roman smirked, then looked over at the turtles. "And if it isn't the four freaks who I had the displeasure of meeting last time. How wonderful, my old shoes were getting just worn out."
The White Fang charged in, and the turtles (plus Faunus) stood their ground. Mikey lashed out, his flame engulfed nunchucks knocking aside weapons and smashing masks, while Donnie used his bo to pole vault over several members, lashing the end back to catch two of them in the face. He heard Mikey call over.
"Hey Don, seems you got some competition with the ol' stick there." Mikey joked, kicking off the face off a pistol shooting Fang. Looking back, Don saw that Sun had pulled out his own bo staff. And he used it quite impressively. Don frowned.
"Anyone could do that." He justified, before narrowly dodging a swing from a blade, hearing the electricity crackle. At that moment Roman fired at Donatello. Thankfully Mikey wrapped a (fire extinguished of course) nunchuck around his hand and pulled him to the side. It shot past them right for Sun who spun his bo, blocking the shot.
At that moment, Blake leaped out from one of the cargo crates, launching herself at Roman. The two battled it out, Blake furiously charging at Roman, using all of her speed, almost blinding with it. Amazingly, Roman was able to keep up with her, deflecting every blow, even landing a punch himself, before swinging out and delivering several hard blows with his cane. Sun frowned.
"You guys handle these chumps, I'm gonna help Blake!" Sun stated, before charging off. Mikey backhanded a Fang member trying to sneak up on them.
"Of course, we get clean up the minions and he gets the boss." Mikey complained before leaping off Donnie's shoulder then back down, catching the bo, so Don could launch Mikey at two members. Don looked up and saw Sun leap at Roman, splitting his bo into two nunchucks. Donnie smirked.
"Hey Mikey, seems you're not the only chucker extraordinaire." Don teased. After delivering a harsh kick to one of the Fang, Mikey looked up.
Sure enough, Sun was swinging around nunchucks with skill Mikey had only ever seen... well, by Mikey! But that was not the end of it. Every time Sun swung his nunchucks, a shotgun blast fired out at the end. Mikey felt his eye twitch.
"Shotgun chucks?! That thief, he stole my idea!" Mikey yelled angrily, swinging his own chucks at a Fang trying to gun him down with a pistol. Probably more amazing then Sun's shotgun chucks, however, would have to be Roman once again deflecting every single shot, easily a match for the stowaway Faunus. As he blocked, Blake leaped at him, kicking the criminal away.
Roman was a quick thinker. He quickly got up and fired at the crane Mikey had been on, knocking a crate down towards the two Huntsmen in training. Sun rolled forwards while Blake leaped back, meeting the two turtles who had just finished off the last of this group of White Fang. The two rushed around just in time to see Roman aiming his cane gun at Sun. Donnie turned his bo to a rifle, ready to aim, but everyone was interrupted by a small but powerful voice.
"Hey!"
Everyone looked up to see Ruby Rose walking forward on top of the warehouse, Crescent Rose in her arms. She spun it around behind her before planting it on the ground. Despite her small stature and young appearance it was still an intimidating sight, Penny walking just behind her. Ruby turned back to say something, and Roman took the chance. Raising his cane up, Roman fired at the girl, sending her flying.
"Ruby!" The two turtles shouted before glaring at Roman. They both charged at the laughing criminal, several White Fang members moving in to intercept. However before either group could do anything, several swords launched down, striking the White Fang and sending them flying. Standing between the turtles and Torchwick was Penny, several swords seemingly hovering behind her, like a deadly set of floating wings. She casually swung the group to her left and right, taking out several White Fang with ease. She then had the swords spin in a circle and threw the deadly ring of blades at a charging group of the Fang. The turtles were stunned by just how she was doing this.
"So... Ice Queen was right about the White Fang, but dead wrong about Penny." Michelangelo said. Ahead of them, the group of Bullheads flew towards them, and under each one a machine gun revealed itself, firing right at the turtles. Mikey screamed but instead of feeling hot lead and Dust hit them, the brothers saw Penny in front of them, using her swords to spin ahead of her, deflecting the bullets.
"Oh, hello, Donatello! A pleasure seeing my pal here!" Penny said cheerfully. Donnie just nodded slowly.
"Er… and boy am I glad to see you here as well." Donnie said.
"Exactly! Now, I hate to be a bother, but I need to get between you for a moment." Penny said. Then her backpack opened up and two more of those swords unfolded out of it and launched back between the brothers. This close, they could see that tiny, thin wires were how Penny was controlling them. Speaking of, those wires yanked Penny back, flinging herself as well. Proving that she was just filled with surprises, Penny had the swords spin in a circle ahead of her, a green glow forming in the middle. Suddenly she stopped and thrust her arms ahead, several large lasers also firing at the oncoming Bullheads. They sliced clean through two of them, the crews falling out from them.
It was at that point that Roman Torchwick decided he may have over stayed his welcome, and began to retreat. Jogging over to the resting Bullhead, Roman was interrupted as Don and Mikey landed in front of him.
"Sorry pal, but you're not going anywhere!" Don threatened, as he and Mikey aimed their weapons at Torchwick. Torchwick grumbled and raised his cane.
"I can't believe I have to be the one doing this." He stated, before charging in. The two turtles swung their weapons at Torchwick.
Torchwick swung at Mikey, who slid under it towards Don, who leaped into the air. The two turtles kicked their legs into the air. Don flipped over Roman and swung out with his staff, catching Roman and sending him stumbling into Mikey's flaming nunchuck surprise. Backing up, Roman grimaced and glared at the two. He fired several times, but Mikey was able to deflect both shots and the two edged closer.
"Give it up Torchwick, it's finished." Don threatened. Roman shook his head.
"Kids, freaks, or whatever you are, it's not even close to being finished." Torchwick threatened before the curved head of his can shot out between them, a long cable connecting it to the rest of the cane. It hooked around one of the discarded swords and he pulled it back. Catching it, he swung the blade, sending an arc of lightning at the turtles. Grimacing, the two leaped back to avoid it. Roman took the chance and dashed ahead. Turning around, Roman swung the sword into the ground, a shockwave rushing back and hitting the two turtles as they landed, knocking them backwards. They groaned as they looked up and saw Roman get into the rising Bullhead, joined by the last surviving Bullhead, the two flew off.
Many police cars had made it to the scene of the crime, Don and Mikey were a bit uncomfortable being surrounded like this without a disguise. But, they didn't feel that running away and leaving Blake, Sun, Ruby, and Penny behind was the right thing to do. So they toughed it out. Hearing the sound of a motorcycle humming, the two looked up to see Raph with
Leonardo on the back of the Shellcycle. Parking and jumping off, the two ran over to their brothers.
"Don, Mikey, what the shell is going on?" Leonardo asked. Mikey chuckled and shook his head.
"I... well, we found Blake." Mikey chuckled. Leonardo sighed and looked around.
"But are you two all right?" Leo asked, concerned. Mikey brushed it off.
"You think some crazy terrorists with guns and fancy swords can do anything to two bad mutant ninja turtles?" Michelangelo teased. Raph sighed and looked around.
"Well glad you two boneheads are alright." Raph said. The four looked up and behind them, seeing team RWBY talking in a much more friendly manner. "An' it looks like t'ings are back ta normal for them as well."
Looking back at them, Blake walked over, sighing.
"Look Leonardo I... I'm sorry for what I said. I was doing the exact same thing as you." Blake apologized sincerely. Leonardo smiled and shook it off.
"No its fine... you're not the only one who was wrong about how they handled things." Leonardo said, and for the first time Blake gave the four brothers a small smile. As she walked off back to her team, Raph leaned in.
"Uh bro, what da shell was that?" The hot head asked. Leo shook his head.
"I'll tell you all when we get back." Leonardo said.
Meanwhile in an abandoned section of Vale's industrial sector, Roman Torchwick walked into an abandoned warehouse, the crate in his hand being the only Dust he got in tonight's failed robbery. Roman sighed as he set it down on a table, still stewing in tonight's failure.
"How very disappointing, Roman." Came a smooth but deadly voice. Jumping up, Roman turned around before calming down as he saw who it was.
"Whoa! Hehe... I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon..." Roman stated softly. Ahead of him stood three silhouettes, the one in the center having glowing eyes and dark flowing hair.
"We were expecting... more from you." She said, a thin veneer of a threat dripping from her smooth voice. Roman chuckled before going on the defensive.
"Hey! You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang. And not only them, you just had to have me work with that nutjob's stupid toys." Roman said, slightly bitter. His apparent boss seemed to just chuckle in amusement.
"And you will continue to do so. We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is... a little cooperation." She stated darkly. However, her voice was soon interrupted by that of another bombastic voice.
"And I'd also suggest you refrain from calling me such names, unless you want one of my "toys" to have a fatal... malfunction." Came a voice from behind Roman. Roman turned around, his eyes narrowed.
"Oh... I wasn't aware you were here." Roman stated dangerously. Walking into the light was a gray, cybernetic body with the only sign of humanity being the brown false skin and black false hair. The woman from earlier looked ahead.
"The test run with your weapons was most pleasing." The woman stated. "I expect to see more fine work in the future."
The cyborg smirked happily at the praise.
"Of course you will see many improvements in the future, as long as you keep providing me with the right materials. After all, you do have in your employ the brilliant Dr. Baxter Stockman!"
AN: And with that ends Volume 1! And now you also learn that the turtles are not alone in their adventures.
I'd like to once again thank my readers and beta readers so much once again!
This is a bit of a secondary note, but a brief update on the foreseeable future regarfing this fic. Fanfic is having issues with me uploading chapters to the site (something I'm not alone with). However, I found a way to do it with my phone, so chapters should be back on schedule. However I apologize if there's any formatting issues in this chapter and any in the future.