And the second volume begins.
I admit that when I started writing the story, I was an amateur and just wanted to tell the story of RWBY in the presence of the Phantom Thieves. But now everything has changed. Some people ask if I would change the heart of Ironwood or not I always answered no, but now I say maybe yes or maybe no.
After the end of the third volume, the story takes a completely new direction and is going to get its own story.
One of the main changes that the story has taken is that when I started the story, I had only watched the P5 anime, but now I have played all three Persona games with some of the spinoffs.
Forget everything I have described before because everything is going to change from now on.
And an important request
I want the name of a powerful demon who is stronger than Lucifer and Satan.
Reply to comments:
Gamelover41592: It was a long and difficult journey but worth it.
Guest: You'll have to wait a long time for that, "spoiler alert" The next one isn't from Vale.
Guest 2: I don't promise to be faster, but I will finish this story.
Blockyblob: I'm glad you didn't find the story lame. And it is not supposed to be like Royal, but maybe some parts will be similar.
Alexisg509: Thank you
And now Volume 2: Cognitive Calamity begins with the "Investigation" arc.
[Vale/Evening]
White Fang members were in an old warehouse loading large military and corporate boxes into a very large truck with the SDC symbol on it. And as usual, everything was normal, until the Joker landed on one of the guards and knocked him unconscious. A nearby guard noticed and raised his gun, but Joker threw the gun from the guard's hand away with the first Double Spin Kick, hit him in the face with the second one, and knocked him unconscious.
The remaining 8 guards noticed, but Crow shot 4 of the guards non-lethally from the shadows with his laser gun, and they fell to the ground in pain. And Joker knocked out the last four guards with his Phantom Dash, like a ricocheting bullet.
Suddenly, 2 guards from the top of the left platform and two other guards from the top of the right platform targeted Joker and Crow. Before the guards on the left could pull the trigger, both were frozen from toe to neck. The guards looked to their right and saw Mona holding an ice crystal in his right hand and Magician marks on his forearm.
The guards on the right were attacked by several black blurs and before they realized what happened, something hit them so hard that they passed out. Then those blurs connected in front of Joker and Crow and formed Artemis.
"Your control over Petal Burst has increased," Joker praised.
"I just combined Petal Burst with Phantom Dash," Artemis said.
"He didn't mean fusing skills. He meant you can now split yourself into smaller parts in your petal form," Crow corrected Artemis' mistake.
"I was able to improve because of you, especially because of your deadly training," Artemis told Crow, her face becoming torrefied.
Mona jumped down from the platform and joined the others. Joker opened one of the boxes and found a lot of Crystal Dust.
"Even here they were moving Dust," Joker said with a bit of surprise
"This shipment makes four," Mona said. "Even if it's to make ammo for guns, ammo is useless without a gun,"
"It's not as hard as you think because they can craft weapons, especially in Remnant where most weapons are custom-made," Artemis explained.
"But training soldiers takes time, especially for terrorist groups that don't have the resources to train professional soldiers," Crow pointed out.
"So, they need a tool to turn a regular soldier into a super soldier," Mona commented
"Do you think Atlas has something like this? Like an exoskeleton for enhancing physical strength, or brain chips for increasing skills?" Crow asked.
"We'll find out in a few moments," Joker then took out his smartphone and called someone. "Hello Oracle... I need you to send me the full list of new Atlesian weapons... Thank you... What?!... General Ironwood is coming to the Vale soon?!... Thank you, Oracle," Joker answered the call. He hung up and then the list of weapons was sent to him.
"Ironwood coming here?" Artemis asked in surprise.
"Not just General, but with the whole Ace Ops and along with your friend's sister, Winter Schnee, and a huge army of robots," Joker said.
"Do you think he came to arrest us?" Artemis asked with a bit of stress.
"I doubt it," Mona said. "We may have made Atlas look stupid and even humiliated Ace Ops, but bringing an army is too much. And besides, we're separated and rumors of the other members' activities in the other Kingdoms are all over the place."
"So it might be because of the queen," Crow used his detective sense.
"This is our best lead to finding the queen," Joker commented.
"Yeah, but unfortunately, if you remember, you caused Foster's change of heart to delay our plans," Mona reminded.
"I couldn't let someone like him continue his crime spree," Joker said proudly.
"I know, but we're a month behind schedule because of this move, and now we have to wait for Leblanc to be ready," Mona said with a bit of frustration.
"All right, we better focus on our work," Joker then went through the list of weapons and came across an interesting one. "Stealing several Atlesian Paladin prototypes near the Vale border!"
"These must be themselves," Crow said
"But what are these Atlesian Paladins?" Artemis asked curiously.
"Mechs," Joker replied very coldly.
"Oh, that's dangerous!" Artemis said in slight shock.
"We need to find out where they hid the Paladins," Mona said.
"I don't think these losers we beat up know where they are, otherwise I would have personally interrogated them," Crow said like a ruthless killer and everyone froze.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of the police siren, which meant that it was time to leave. The Phantom Thieves disappeared into the shadows and a few seconds later the policemen entered the warehouse and saw White Fang wounded and unconscious ready to be arrested.
[?]
Roman was sitting on a chair in another secret warehouse, waiting for the truck that was supposed to arrive there.
"Why doesn't that damn truck come?" Roman shouted in anger and impatience.
"Don't wait for the truck, it's probably already impounded by the police," Emerald entered the warehouse with Mercury.
"How did the police find them?" Roman asked in surprise.
"No police," Emerald said and then threw some photos on the floor in front of Roman. "Phantom Thieves,"
"And you just stood by and watched? I thought your job was to kill them," Roman said angrily.
"If it was just the two of them, we would attack, but if you look more closely at the photos you will notice that there are two new faces in the photos," Mercury replied.
"Every day is getting better," Roman teased.
"Maybe because you can't kill a few thieves. it is your mission too," came a new voice from the shadows.
A woman in red came out of the shadows, wearing what looked like a party dress.
"Cinder!" Emerald happily said the woman's name.
Cinder walked past the two teenagers and stood in front of Roman. "I remember that I gave you direct orders to kill them because they might become dangerous for us in the future!" Cinder said angrily.
"And I did my best to find you a Phantom while I collected all the Dust in this Vale, and while we have real assassins here and they also have the same order," Roman complained at his criticism.
"You're getting away from the point," Cinder said angrily.
"But I think you don't want to take them seriously, because your boss ordered you to kill them and you ordered me to kill them," Roman said. "If you're a little realistic, you'll realize they're hunters, not pray. One of my men who managed to escape told me they're looking for you two," Roman pointed at Emerald and Mercury with his cane.
"They're not hunters Roman, they're just a bunch of rats looking for a cheese bigger than themselves, and rats aren't worth our time," Cinder said angrily but with low ton. "Now be a good boy and take all the Dusts to Mountain Glenn and be careful not to let the rats get in the way of the shipment this time!" Then Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury moved toward the exit while Roman tightened his fist.
[velvet room]
Susan cocked her revolver and fired a shot at Ruby.
"Why do you have to shoot me every time for a new Persona?" Ruby asked curiously and tiredly.
"The methods of creating new Personas are determined by the reflection of the guest's heart, so it's your fault," Susan answered quite honestly.
"Makes sense," Ruby said. "Susan, what level do you think I am now?"
"You're exactly level 43 right now," Susan replied.
"But I don't feel much of a difference," Ruby said, doubting her strength.
"Levels are for determining what level of Persona you can handle, otherwise physical skills depend on the strength of the Persona and your performance in the real world, although levels affect increasing physical resistance, stamina, and the amount of Aura in your world. If I'm not mistaken, the capacity of your Aura should now be 3 times when you hadn't awakened your Persona yet." Susan explained.
"I'd like to know how powerful a full potential Wild Card would be," Ruby whispered curiously.
"Then why don't you try?" Susan said and then the environment changed in the blink of an eye.
Ruby realized that she had turned into Artemis, and in front of her was a blue-haired boy in a suit and a short sword in his hand, standing in front of him and snorting!
"Let's see what you can do against the enemy of all natures," Susan's voice echoed in Artemis's head, meaning it was time to fight.
"Valkyrie!" Artemis summoned her current strongest Persona. Valkyrie attacked the boy with Rising Slash but the boy didn't even move.
A shocked Ruby pointed at the boy with a shaking hand. "How strong are you?"
The boy took a pistol from his belt and put it on his head. "I don't care about this stuff," the boy said without showing any emotion but with an evil smile he said "Thanatos" Then he pulled the trigger and summoned the gatekeeper of death. "Door of HADES!" the boy shouted and Thanatos started its move.
"Oh s…" Before Artemis could finish her sentence, she turned to the dust by Thanatos.
[Vale Park/After School]
Ruby was sadly sitting on the couch, caressing Morgana, who was lying on her knees. At the same time, Ren and Akechi were practicing hand-to-hand combat.
"Hey Ruby are you OK?" Morgana asked worried.
"I just found out I have a very long way to reach these two," Ruby pointed to Ren and Akechi.
"We didn't start from level 99, we reached there," Ren said as he and Akechi walked toward her.
"If you try hard enough you can reach us in no time," Akechi gave the advice.
"You mean I can become as strong as you and other Wild Cards one day?" Ruby asked with a little more motivation.
"Have you forgotten that our power has infinite potential like the number zero?" Ren said with a laugh.
Ruby got up with an impulse and raised her arms and Morgan got off of Ruby before he fell. "Then I surpass you all no matter what!" Ruby shouted with all her might.
"That's what called spirit!" Ren said proudly.
"All right, time to come and practice unarmed combat," Akechi grabbed Ruby's hoody and dragged her to their training ground, Ruby's face becoming corpse-like.
Ren sat next to Morgana on the park bench to enjoy the show.
"I still can't believe that Akechi over there isn't our Akechi," Ren said
"It's hard for me, even though we now know he's another Goro Akechi from a parallel world, where we have another member who is your girlfriend," Morgana continued.
"But do you think he deserves this chance?" Joker asked curiously.
"Looking at him now, I've changed my mind," Morgana replied. "I always considered him a traitor, but now I think he is the one who had no guidance at the most critical time,"
"That's why I accepted him," Joker answered honestly.
"But I still believe that you should have told the others!" Morgana scolded.
"And miss the moment when their jaws drop in surprise? There's no way I'm going to miss this moment," Ren said with an evil smile.
"I knew you would say that!" Morgana said with frustration.
[one hour later]
Akechi kicked Ruby in the face and knocked her into a tree, and then Ruby slipped from the tree and fell to the ground.
"That's enough for today," Akechi said and Ruby became starry-eyed with happiness. "But you still have to do your shooting practice,"
"Yes sir!" Ruby said without losing energy.
A short distance away, Blake walked out of a store called Tukson's Book Trade with a large man. The man left the shop with two suitcases and changed the "Open" sign to "Close".
"Thanks, Blake," the man thanked, pulling a book from his suitcase. "And don't forget... here, the last volume of Ninjas of Love,"
Blake happily took the book and covered it with her body so that no one could see the title of the book. "Well, I guess that means goodbye Tukson!"
"Yeah," Tukson replied simply. "Just when I found a new loyal customer,"
"I'm sure you'll find a book lover in Vacuo," Blake said.
"Whatever happens, I'm sure it's better than risking the White Fang," Tukson said, then picked up his packs. "I must go, the longer I stay in the Vale the more my life is in danger,"
"Good luck on your trip, Tukson!" Blake said goodbye
"I'm sure we'll meet again one day," Tukson gave Blake some hope of a reunion and then left.
Blake was passing in front of Vale Park on her way back when she heard the sound of sniper fire. At first, she thought it was a threat, but a few more shots rang out. Blake entered the park and walked toward the source of the sound, only to see someone she wasn't even expecting. Ruby was shooting something in the air with Crescent Rose in sniper mode.
Blake got closer and saw a black-haired boy and a brown-haired boy throwing trash cans in the air for Ruby to shoot them.
"Why do I have to shoot a moving target closely with a sniper today?" Ruby asked tiredly.
"For the second time, because of the FOV you have in the sniper scope, things seem faster to you." The black-haired boy with glasses explained. "If you can hit a moving target up close with a sniper, nothing can escape your shot."
"You have two choices, either you shoot at least 10 cans by evening, or we continue practicing unarmed combat," the brown-haired boy pointed out and Ruby began to shake like jelly.
"No, no! This is a great practice!" Ruby said fearfully and aimed again.
A boy with black hair and brown hair took two cans each other. "If you can hit two of these, that's 10 and you can go," said the black hair and then threw the cans.
Ruby concentrated in an instant and managed to hit two of the cans with one shot. Everyone present was impressed, but no one was as happy as Ruby. "I did it!" Ruby exclaimed happily.
And finally, she decided to get closer. "I never thought I'd find you here Ruby," Blake approached with the book still in her lap.
"Blake!" Ruby said in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"
"I was passing by when I heard a gunshot, so I came to see why there was a gunshot," Blake replied coldly as always. Blake then glared at the boys. "And I guess one of you boys must be Ren,"
Ren looked at Blake's head and gave a small smile. "Yeah, I'm Ren, Amamiya Ren,"
"You didn't say your friend was a Faunus," Akechi's words made Blake freeze.
"Detectives," Ren muted simply.
"How did yo...! I...I...!" She didn't know what to say.
"A bow on the head of a girl with cat eyes, twitching in the style of cat ears, and your mouth also smells fish, a lot," Akechi said the evidence he understood.
"You're so sharp, many still don't know I'm a Faunus," Blake impressed.
"A detective has to be sharp," Akechi replied. "By the way, I'm Goro, Akechi Goro, private detective, Ms. Blake...?"
"Belladonna. Nice to meet you Goro, and Ren!" Blake said.
Ren looked at the book in Blake's hand and blushed. "I don't want to make fun of you, but there are better romantic books than N.O.L!" Blake froze again.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Blake shyly hid the book behind her.
"Oh! I remembered that the new volume of The Gentleman Thief comes out today," Ren said, picking up his bag. "I better go before Tukson closes up shop,"
"Don't bother, as Tukson left the Vale for Vacuo a few minutes ago," Blake said, making Ren a little upset.
"Too bad," Ren said. " So, I'm going back home. Night!" Ren said goodbye and then put Morgana in his bag.
"And I also have a missing pet case to attend to, so bye Miss Belladonna," Akechi bowed and then left.
Ruby waved and when the boys were out of sight, Blake looked at Ruby strangely.
"I remember you were supposed to introduce us a month ago," Blake said with a bit of irritation.
"After all the trouble and stress, we went through I forgot that promise we made in the cafeteria," Ruby defended herself.
"Fair point," Blake said. "Well, if your training is over, do you want to go back together?"
"Why not?" Ruby replied and together they headed towards Beacon. "Oh, and by the way, what is N.O.L?" Blake turned into an ice statue this time.
"No big deal Ruby!" Blake answered with fear and embarrassment and continued walking like a robot as her cheeks became red, and Ruby just stared at her friend confused.
[An alley in the Vale/ Evening]
To make his route shorter, Tukson decided to take a shortcut through one of the alleys. When Tukson reached the middle of the alley, he encountered one of his former comrades, who had come as an executioner to cut off his head.
"Lieutenant!" Tukson screamed in shock as the muscular White Fang approached him with a chainsaw.
"Tonight, you will pay for your betrayal!" The lieutenant raised his chainsaw and swung downwards, but Tukson dodged by jumping back.
Lieutenant prepared to swing his chainsaw again, but a figure jumped down from the top of the building and blocked him. Lieutenant looked closely at the figure and when he saw a crow mask, he realized who he was dealing with.
After a bit of a struggle, their weapons were separated and the Lieutenant prepared to cut Crow in half, but Crow side-kicked the Lieutenant in the stomach, knocking him back.
"How dare you stop the White Fang, you thief?" shouted Lieutenant angrily.
"I'm sorry, but abandoning a friend at a critical moment is against the code of the Phantom Thieves!" Crow replied menacing with a confidant grin.
"You were the ones I was giving information to!" Tukson exclaimed in shock.
"So, you finally found out you were our informant," Crow said. "Now stand back because the bloodbath is about to start!" Crow shouted and then roared. When Crow roared, a red glow covered Crow's body and he screamed like a psychopath.
"Berserker! That's interesting," Lieutenant was impressed and prepared to fight.
"I would have liked to fight you one on one, but our plan was a surprise show!" Crow said like crazy and charged toward Lieutenant.
Lieutenant prepared to defend himself, but suddenly he noticed a shadow above him. Lieutenant looked up to see Joker landing on his side with a dagger swing.
Joker landed a vertical knife swing on the Lieutenant and after a few quick kicks, he switched places with Crow with a backflip. Like a psychopathic killer, Crow repeatedly hit Lieutenant and then went through with one hit. Joker landed next to Crow and shot the Lieutenant with a round of Fire Dust infused with the Persona's fire element, blowing him up. Because of the explosion, Lieutenant was thrown out of the alley after passing Tukson by inch. He got hurt, but he could escape before they noticed him.
The Phantom Thieves approached Tukson and helped him up. "I didn't even dream that I was helping the Phantom Thieves this whole month!" Tukson said in surprise.
"And thanks to you we managed to stop the Dust shipments, so I guess we can call it even," Joker said.
"No, actually now I own you one," Tukson replied with satisfaction
"So, to make up for it, get to your destination safely," Crow said coldly, then disappeared with a jump along with Joker.
[?]
Roman was overseeing the transfer of cargo to Mountain Glenn when the wounded Lieutenant entered the warehouse.
"I can tell by the looks of you that you didn't make it," Roman said with disappointment.
"If it wasn't for those pathetic thieves, I would have killed him a thousand times by now!" shouted Lieutenant angrily.
"Nice try, but tell me why the Phantom Thieves would have to defend an EX-White Fang?" Roman said.
"Because Tukson was the informant who informed them about our dust shipments," the Lieutenant's sentence made Roman very angry.
"Phantom Thieves, Phantom Thieves, Phantom Thieves!" Roman muttered angrily and bent his cane. "Everywhere I go, I see and hear the names of the Phantom Thieves," he almost broke his cane. Mostly his boss ordered him to kill them while she doesn't have any idea who or what are they. But killing them is good for him too.
"But I have good news, one of those thieves was the leader of the Phantom Thieves," the Lieutenant said, calming Roman down a bit.
"If the leader of the Phantom Thieves is here, we can kill a few birds by killing one bird!" Roman said evilly and angrily. "But how do we suppose trap a Phantom?" Roman asked himself calmly, starting to think.
"They're a couple of kids, maybe students from the Huntsmen academies," commented Lieutenant.
"That's the best news I've heard today," Roman calmed down completely. "Tell Neo to look for them when she's with that scary woman in Beacon, and you know what to do my young friend,"
The Lieutenant liked this idea and went to inform Roman's partner and that crazy bitch.
[Beacon]
"Wait wait! Did you really see Ren or are you kidding me?" Yang asked Blake in surprise.
"I saw not only him, and his friend Goro," Blake said. "And they're both extremely smart, especially Goro because the moment he saw me he knew I was a Faunus,"
"I remember something about that guy named Ren," Weiss said crossing her arms.
"He's been Ruby's trainer since that incident, and we were supposed to meet him, but after you got rescued and the Phantom Thieves card was found next to your pillow, we all forgot about him," Blake answered.
"But Ruby was still meeting him, and she was trained by him until now," Weiss added.
"Now that you mentioned that boy's name, I remembered that I wanted to see him and find out what it was about this boy that could steal my sister's heart," Yang said with her usual smile and Ruby threw a pillow at her face.
"He didn't steal my heart Yang, he's just a good mentor and friend," Ruby explained.
"No need to be shy sis!" Yang joked again and another pillow smashed in her face.
"It's too early to judge, but from what I've seen of him, creative, well-read, and quiet," Blake said.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg, when you hear his jokes, you'll know what a sharp tongue he has," Ruby said and the girls were a little surprised.
"Now I must see him one hundred percent," Yang said with certainty
"So, in three days, you can meet him when he opens his cafe," Ruby said and all the girls got curious.
"That guy makes coffee!?" Yang asked in surprise.
"The best coffees in the Remnant!" Ruby rubbed her stomach imagining the taste of coffee. "Actually, he used to work at the Ink Restaurant, but after the manager suddenly confessed to the crimes of abusing and blackmailing Faunus and his staff, he wanted to set up a café for himself with Goro's help," Ruby explained and everyone nodded.
"But why don't we see him tomorrow?" Weiss asked.
"We don't have a training session for the next three days so he wants to help Goro with some of his cases, and I, don't know where is his office" Ruby answered.
"I forgot to say Goro is a private detective," Blake said and the other two girls looked at her.
"Well then, we can't see this mysterious boy, but we can see another special person instead!" Weiss said with unprecedented excitement.
"Who?!" Yang asked in surprise.
"You will see her tomorrow! Goodnight!" Weiss said with more excitement and then went to her bed and fell asleep or acted like she was sleeping.
"Well, I think we should go to sleep too, good night," Blake said and went to her bed.
Yang also went to sleep, but before Ruby went to sleep, she quickly sent a text to Ren to inform him that General Ironwood would be there tomorrow.
[Beacon/Morning]
Joker, Crow, and Mona entered Beacon through Mementos, which was now filled with Grimm creatures and even Shadow Personas due to the Phantom Thieves' high activity.
After a rough drive, they reached the Beacon and Joker jumped on the roof and looked at his team members. "This is the part we'll separate. When I called you for backups, come here,"
"We're waiting for you in the Emerald Forest, come over when you get the information if they don't spot you," Crow said and Mona drove into the forest.
Joker took his phone and exited Mementos. When the Joker entered the real world, he quickly climbed the Beacon Tower to reach Ozpin's office window. Joker managed to climb the tower without being detected and take cover in the blind spot of the window. From where Joker was, he could easily see General Ironwood's fleet. Was a fleet really needed to arrest them? No, of course not, the case is much bigger and more complicated.
"Well…" Ozpin's voice drew Joker's attention inside. "What brought you all the way from Atlas?" Ozpin said as the coffee poured into the cup. "You know headmasters don't usually travel with students in the Vytal Festival," Oz said as he handed the general a cup of coffee.
"You know how much I love the Vale at this time of year..." The general took a flask similar to an alcohol flask from his coat and poured it into his coffee. "And besides, I have a few people to settle,"
"I'm worried about the Phantom Thieves too, but I don't think you'll need a fleet to capture just a few of the entire Phantom Thieves," Ozpin sat down at his desk and poured coffee into his mug.
"Actually, I brought this fleet for something else," Ozpin stopped sipping his coffee.
"We live in a time of peace, a show of force like this will only create illusions," Ozpin told the general.
"But if what Qrow said is true…" The general tried to say something but
"If what Qrow said is true, we need to handle it tactfully, especially when it comes to showing unity and peace. So, I suggest you don't scare the people by sending hundreds of soldiers across the world," Oz interrupted the general and said his sentence.
"I'm just cautious, especially since I have a feeling they're connected to her," the general said with some concern.
"I'm cautious as well, that's why I'll continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntress. And besides, we can't attribute anything out of the ordinary to her," Ozpin said.
"Believe me I'm cautious Oz, but the power of change of heart isn't something you see every day," the general tried to reason.
"So far they're just people who fight for what they believe in, and if I'm being honest, they've helped us a lot by now," Ozpin reasoned.
"Maybe you're right about them, but you have to ask the question, do you really believe that these guys can win the war?" Ironwood asked Oz suspiciously and Ozpin just kept silent.
Joker had already gotten a lot of information, but if he was lucky, he could get even more.
"I believe they can," Ozpin replied simply.
"As I expected you," the general then wanted to leave the office but stopped in the middle of the road. "And what about Amber?" Ironwood asked a sudden question that caught Joker's attention more.
"Unfortunately, her condition has worsened, but as long as she's in the Beacon Vault, she's safe, but we must find her successor as soon as possible," Ozpin replied and Joker smirked as he had come there to catch fish, but he caught a shark.
[Beacon Dock]
From the time the sun rose until the General arrived, Weiss was very excited, as if the best event of her life was about to happen. The rest of the team even doubted that the ice queen was Weiss-cream.
Whatever the reason was, it didn't really matter, as Weiss took everyone in the group running to the dock with her. All the members ran towards the dock and reached the Atlas ships.
"Weiss, what happened? Why are you so excited?" Ruby asked as she panted along with Yang and Blake.
"Winter!" Weiss said like a doll, glaring at another white woman who stand near several new Atlassian Knights.
"Winter! Your older sister!?" Blake finally stopped breathing and asked her teammate in surprise.
"Winter!" Weiss called her sister without paying attention to the others and hurried to meet her and the others followed her. Winter heard her sister's voice and turned to her, and immediately Team RWBY stood before her. "I'm so happy to see you..." Suddenly, Weiss made a sudden mood change. "...we are honored by your presence," Weiss saluted like a royal princess. Ruby and the others tried to copy Weiss' move, but they didn't succeed.
Winter put her hand behind her back like a military commander and walked forward step by step. "Beacon, it's been a while," a short pause. "The weather is different,"
"Well, it's spring, and it should be warmer," Ruby said, scratching her back in embarrassment, and Weiss, without turning her face away, punched Ruby in the shoulder and staggered her.
"So, why did you come here?" Weiss asked with a smile.
"Classified" Winter answered like ice.
"I don't think you could call it classified," came another girl's voice from behind Winter.
Everyone looked at the source of the sound and saw a brown-haired red-eyed girl exiting Winter's ship with another girl hiding behind her but no one noticed her. Team RWBY especially Weiss were surprised to see the new girl.
"Weiss, who is she?" Ruby whispered into Weiss's ear.
"I don't know," Weiss answered in a whisper.
"Makoto, I think I ordered you and your friend to stay inside the ship," Winter said without showing any emotion.
"You ordered but the problem is that we are not under your commands," Makoto answered with a small smile.
"Ahem," Young cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the others.
"Oh, sorry," Makoto apologized, walking past Winter and standing in front of the girls. "I'm Makoto, Nijima Makoto, the bodyguard of Dr. Pietro Polendina, nice to meet you," Makoto bowed in Japanese style.
"Yang Xiao Long, a member of Team RWBY and the older sister of the team leader," Yang introduced herself with a big smile and hands at her sides.
"Blake Belladonna, another member of Team RWBY and Yang's partner," Blake said simply and then bowed like Makoto.
"Ruby Rose, I'm the leader of Team RWBY," Ruby said energetically and did the proper Japanese bow.
"Weiss Schnee, heirs of..." Weiss wanted to introduce herself proudly as usual, but...
"I know who you are Weiss, your sister told us a lot about you," Makoto said very politely.
"Really?!" Weiss said excitedly and looked at her sister but Winter didn't react.
"Ice Queen V 2.0," Yang whispered in Ruby's ear and Ruby chuckled.
Suddenly, everyone's attention was drawn to the second girl hiding behind the robots and peeking. "And who is that little lady?" Yang was the first to point at the girl.
"Oh, she is my friend Futaba," said Makoto. "The Dr. Pietro Polendina apprentice,"
"So many people!" Futaba said like she was seeing ghosts.
"Sorry, she is kinda… shyest girl in the world," Makoto apologized because of Futaba's shyness.
Ruby dashed toward the Futaba and she hid her body completely behind the robot. "Hi! I'm Ruby Rose, nice to meet you Futaba," Ruby said with the warmest smile she could give.
"F-Fu-ta-ba, Sa-kur-a Futaba! 15 years old," Futaba said while putting her head out of her hideout.
"Hea! No way you are in my age!" Ruby shouted excitedly.
"Wait, really?!" Futaba said shocked.
"Yeah!" Ruby said with more excitement. "I love weapons, what do you like?"
"I don't fight, I'm a computer programmer," Futaba said shyly, hiding further behind the robot.
"This is awesome!" Ruby was still excited. "Can you make video games too?"
"Making games is child's play for me," Futaba answered now with a strange, mischievous confidence.
While Ruby and Futaba were becoming friends, the older ones were watching but decided to continue their discussion.
"So, what did you come here for?" Yang tilted her head and asked.
"Futaba and I came to explore the Vale Kingdom, but Winter was sent here to catch the Phantom Thieves," answered Makoto.
"Even though they saved Weiss?!" Yang asked in surprise and Winter was completely shocked as if she didn't know until that moment.
"Eh! Yang, I haven't told my family about this yet!" Weiss said with stress, but suddenly a palm hit Weiss's head hard and an apple-sized swelling grew on her head.
"Explain!" Winter ordered angrily.
"A month ago, Weiss was nearly killed by a Nightmare but the Phantom Thieves saved her at the last minute," Blake explained very simply and Winter glared at her sister and Weiss scratched the back of her head with a scared smile.
"Well, I guess you owe them a thank you," Makoto said, then headed over to the ship to grab her things to settle down. "But I still have to arrest them,"
Futaba was still talking to Ruby when she realized she had to pack her things. "Nice to see you, Ruby!" Futaba said with a smile and entered the ship.
Winter turned her attention back to her sister. "So how are you now?" Winter asked seriously.
"I'm great now," Weiss answered with a trooper's stress.
"So how about you tell me about your adventures in your dorm," Winter said with a smile, making Weiss smile as well.
"You'll love it but I must warn you, the bunkbeds look unstable!" Weiss said while walking with her sister.
"Bunkbeds?!" Winter was confused.
Blake, Yang, and Ruby, who had joined the others, went after Weiss. Everyone was on their way when suddenly Ruby's scroll vibrated. Ruby checked her scroll and found a message from Ren.
Ren: Come to Leblanc, we have an important meeting.
Be here in an hour.
Ruby: Understood.
Ruby turned off her scroll and put it in her pocket. Ruby had to think of a good excuse, one that would be believable. Ruby thought for a while and remembered that she hadn't had a cookie in weeks and the only place that bakes her favorite cookie is in Vale. Ruby found her excuse.
"Guys!" Ruby called the others and they all turned to her. "You please show Winter around the academy without me while I go to the Vale for some cookies," Ruby suddenly disappeared in a wave of rose petals.
"She left the guest because of the cookie!?" Weiss asked in surprise.
"Because the cookie is one of the things that reminds her of mom," Yang replied casually, but there was a certain sadness in her voice.
[Leblanc/Morning]
Ruby opened the door and slowly entered the yet-to-be-established cafe. "Hello, I'm here,"
The cafe was exactly like the original cafe where Ren worked with Sojiro, but Ruby didn't know because she was never there.
"You came in time, but you still have to wait," Akechi said as he came downstairs.
"What do we have to wait for?" Ruby was surprised because all the meetings were held like this. Ruby would come to the place and the meeting would start.
"For now, sit here and eat some cookies, because we're going to switch up the activities today," Ren said from behind the bar, placing a plate of cookies with a cup of coffee milk on the counter.
Ruby sat down on the chair in front of the counter and started eating the cookies very fast. While eating cookies, she noticed that Ren had pulled out his scroll and was recording a video from the door.
"Why are you recording the door?" Ruby asked with her mouth full and Ren's glasses flashed.
"You'll soon understand," Ren said simply but there was a demonic energy behind his words.
Suddenly, Leblanc's door opened and Makoto and Futaba entered and were surprised to see Ruby but did not notice Akechi.
"Well, it looks like everyone who needs to be here has arrived, now we can start the meeting," Akechi approached calmly as if he had never betrayed the team.
Makoto and Futaba just stared at Akechi without making a move for a few seconds.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. The screams of the girls filled the whole neighborhood.
Futaba hid behind Makoto and started shaking like jelly and Makoto took her fighting stance and was ready for anything Akechi would throw at them. "A-A-A-Akechi! What are you doing here? You are here to kill us right?" said Futaba who was white as chalk.
"Calm down, I'm your ally, or at least for now," Akechi replied very coolly, causing the two girls to look at Ren. When they saw Ren, they realized he was laughing while recording.
[A few minutes later]
"So, you're a Goro Akechi from another timeline who has been given a second chance because of your help in restoring reality, by a masked guy because he thought it would be fun," Makoto said and took a sip of coffee.
"Quite right," Akechi replied.
Makoto turned away from Akechi and glared at Ren very angrily. "And you didn't say we had a new member along with a new Akechi just to see our reaction," Makoto said angrily.
"That's also quite right," Ren replied with a black eye over his right eye but he healed it.
"Wow, I can't believe you're a Phantom Thief too!" Futaba's happy voice caught everyone's attention. Futaba was sitting next to Ruby on the chairs in front of the counter and they were eating snacks together.
"I joined a month ago," Ruby said with her mouth full then she swallowed what she was eating. "My friend was attacked by a Nightmare and we had to enter her palace and I awakened my Persona there,"
"What Persona do you have?" Futaba said excitedly.
"Well, Asena was the first Persona I got, Tsukiyomi was the second, then..." Ruby was naming her Personas when...
"Are you kidding me? It's impossible for us to have 3 Wild Cards in the team right now!" Futaba said in shock
"Yes, Futaba. Ruby is a Wild Card like me and Akechi, or a Joker Card in the parlance of the people of this world," Ren confirmed and Futaba became extremely excited.
"Do you have any idea how much this can help us in the battles?!" Futaba was so excited she didn't know what to say.
"Calm down Futaba," Morgana said. "We have an important meeting about our main goal right now," the atmosphere inside the café completely changed.
"I was able to listen to an important conversation between General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin," Ren raised his glasses and then said.
"From what Ren found out, it seems the headmasters of the two academies are secretly fighting the Grimm Queen," Morgana summarized what Ren had heard.
"Apparently the General is concerned that we are the queen's accomplices," Crow continued.
"That's why the general brought Winter Schnee and Ace-Ops here to find and arrest us," Makoto said.
"But that's not all, because the General and the Professor mentioned two people," Ren continued his report. "Just two first names, Qrow and Amber,"
"Qrow! That's my uncle's name!" Ruby exclaimed in surprise and everyone was shocked for a few moments.
"Are you sure?" asked Morgana.
"Uncle always told me how much he was friends with Professor Ozpin, plus he most often never came home, especially after Yang's mother left and my mother died. There's no doubt about that." Ruby said but there was doubt in her voice as if she couldn't believe it.
"This could rush our work a lot," Makoto said with her hand under her chin in thought. "And Amber?"
"She's an important person in this secret war, because one, Ozpin has her hidden in a vault in Beacon, and the general is asking about her health, as she seems to be badly injured and they need to find a successor for her," Ren completed the report.
"Here," Futaba said, showing everyone her scroll screen. "Amber Flaxen, a Huntress in training who entered Beacon at the age of 14 without entering any combat school or entrance exam, and was privately trained by Ozpin himself and another unnamed teacher,"
"Now that's the most suspicious of all," Akechi said with some surprise. "Does she have something special like silver eyes in her bloodline?"
"No, she was orphaned and lived by a Huntress who died a few days before Amber entered Beacon," Futaba answered.
"A few days before?" Ren said in surprise. "Futaba who was that Huntress?"
"I tried but there is no information about him, we don't even know if he was male or female," Futaba said sadly.
"So whatever it is, it's probably an inherited secret. I think she is the successor of that hunter," Akechi commented.
"We're at a dead end again, but this time with the clues we have we can solve the puzzle faster," Makoto said seriously. "And I'm now certain that the Headmasters are related to the Eternal Warrior, or that one of them is the Warrior himself,"
"And the last question," Akechi said coolly. "Where is Qrow now?"
"Wait a few seconds," Futaba said and then began to type something on her scroll. "He's at a bar in Mistral right now,"
"Uncle is getting himself drunk again," Ruby said sheepishly, placing her hand on her forehead.
"Does your uncle get drunk a lot?" Futaba asked curiously.
"I don't remember ever seeing him not drunk," Ruby said more embarrassed.
"So let's begin the new operation named Blind Eyes," Ren announced, standing up from his chair.
"Me, Morgana, and Ruby, we'll search Beacon and find the vault," then looked at Makoto and Futaba. "You two and Akechi investigate the assassins who tried to kill Morgana last month, or find Torchwick," the three nodded. "And Futaba, tell Yusuke and Haru to keep an eye on Qrow. But we will take the actions together unless we have to keep our cover,"
"No one disagrees?" Morgana asked and everyone fell silent.
"Then let's prepare the show," Ren said, then raised his right hand and crushed the blue flame into his fist.
This was just the beginning of the story. Many paradoxes have arisen and I have not changed anything from the past, but the presence of the Phantom Thieves has changed many events in the main story. For example, Emerald and Mercury are the ones who kill Tukson, but in this timeline, because they focused on the Phantom Thieves, they did not look after Tukson to kill him.
Winter has come to Vale earlier with Ace Ops.
What I wanted to show about Cinder is that she doesn't think the Phantom Thieves are worth her time and that an under foundation should take care of them. Kinda like Jango Fett when Palps ordered Dooku to kill Padme and he ordered Jango Fett and Jango ordered a shapeshifter to do the job and the shapeshifter ordered a droid and the droid ordered two worms. I feel sorry for her... almost.
Phantom Thieves's Semblance is selected and most of them are based on their Specials from Persona 5 Strikers. For example, Skull gets Super Armor, which makes him able to withstand more hits and absorb the shock. But for some it is different. Like Mona, whose power is something similar to Weiss's Glyphs, but it's like the Magic Circuit that Rin Tohsaka uses from the Fate series, which gives Mona the ability to manipulate Dust (because Mona is a Magician Arcana, and Strikers also say that his character class is a magician). And if you are wondering what Joker's Semblance is, I have to say that it is a deleted ability from Persona 5.