Doing What's Right Reloaded

by negative 97

Lisa Lavender, a close correspondent with law enforcement, was always happy to get useful information to the public whether it be warning them about breaches in the wall by Grimm, the whereabouts on Roman's Gang, or the activities of the White Fang. The situation she was about to get wrapped in, however, might prove to be too much for her, but she would endure.

1. Chapter 1 Just Another Day

Ch.1

Just Another Day

RWBY is the property of its respective owners, Ocs belong to me

Releasing a breath and seeing it form into a white mist in front of her due to the cold, Lisa Lavender hugged her trench coat close to her body and adjusted her baseball cap as she walked down the brightly lit street in the dead of night. True, she was at risk from all sorts of threats, particularly muggers, delinquents looking for any reason to fight, and the more...unsavory elements, but the tip she received was too good to pass up so she ventured onward to her destination. Besides, she had her hardballer in her chest holster and her ballpoint pen knives in her breast pocket if worse came to worse. After what seemed like an eternity of subtly looking over her shoulder due to feeling like she was being watched, made it to the nightclub where she got the tip and walked up to the bouncers.

"ID please," one of the axe wielding thugs asked while extending his hand to the reporter who fished her wallet out of her pocket and showed the item in question to the bouncer.

He proceeded to raise a brow and glance at Lisa as if she grew a second head, but gestured for her to go in anyway. Nodding, Lisa entered the nightclub and was immediately bombarded be deafening dubstep and thunderous hip hop making her wince, but kept her composure as she made her way to the bar.

"Hi, I'm L.L.; the Twins asked me to come here for my...package," Lisa discreetly told the bartender who nodded and gave the reporter a glass of water on the house before walking away.

While he was gone Lisa meticulously inspected the water for any drugs. Giving an experimental sniff of the drink, Lisa deemed it to be fine and drank a little bit of it as she leaned against the bar counter and waited for her informants while wondering why they wanted to meet up here all of all places. Suddenly, a young woman wearing a snow white dress and a garish amount of makeup took the seat on her left while another young woman who looked exactly the same as the other save for wearing a blood red dress took the seat on her right, leaving Lisa boxed in like a rat.

"Ballpoint pen knives? You would have been better off with a switchblade in my opinion," the young woman wearing the snow white dress remarked as she set the hidden weapons on the bar counter.

Lisa proceeded to widen her eyes and check her breast pocket to find that her trick weapons had been lifted without her noticing.

"A hardballer pistol chambered for 10 mm rounds and equipped with small dust crystals; clever," the other young woman stated as she set the pistol down on the counter and gently slid it over to Lisa whose expression all but said 'How did you even get that!?'

Shrugging, the young woman wearing the blood red dress held up a hand to reveal sharp, metallic crimson claws and gestured at the back of Lisa's trench coat. Doing so, the reporter felt her blood run as cold as a blizzard when she saw that a hole had been precisely cut in not only the trench coat, but the bottom of her holster as well.

"I'm assuming you two are the Twins who gave me the tip?" Lisa cautiously asked as while she kept up the façade that she was as cool as a cucumber, inwardly she felt like curling into a ball.

"We are, and here's your package," the young woman wearing the snow white dress answered as she slipped an envelope to Lisa and took a swig of the ginger ale the bartender gave her while watching the reporter like a hawk.

Discreetly opening the envelope, Lisa widened her eyes when she saw a copious number of photos of Roman Torchwick, his bodyguard Neo, and a whole assortment of White Fang soldiers raiding warehouses and making off with shipping containers full of dust. Seeing a scroll in the envelope, Lisa pulled it out and saw that it's only file was a video. Grumbling, Lisa cautiously opened the file and what played out was Roman talking to a voluptuous woman in a red dress, a young man who bore a striking resemblance to the late Marcus Black, and a green haired woman with piercing, predatory red eyes. As the video progressed, Lisa jolted when she saw the amber eyed woman's show of force by conjuring a bright ball of fire in her hand and felt a chill go down her spine when she heard that another heist was going to happen at the docks soon.

"I need to get this to the police," Lisa thought as she reached into her trench coat and handed the envelope full of lien to the bouncer in the snow white dress.

The bouncer proceeded to open it, carefully counting the currency to make sure the agreed upon amount was in it, before nodding in approval.

"So, does the VNN approve of this...transaction?" the bouncer inquired, causing Lisa to shake her head, as the bartender gave her a new trench coat and holster at the bouncer's urging.

Thanking them, the reporter put on the new holster and trench coat, put away her hidden weapons, and addressed the bouncer in the snow white dress.

"No, the only way I was able to pay for this is by using the bonus I got from the article I wrote on Roman's Gang," Lisa replied, which the twins grunted at, but otherwise said nothing except 'Well, if you need to know things that you can't get through legitimate means, you come to us again...provided you can pay for it, of course.'

The reporter, who wanted to put as much distance between herself and them as possible, curtly nodded and exited the club while quickly making her way to the police station.

"This is big. Now I at least somewhat know how the White Fang exploded in recruitment rates and why they have top of the line gear and soon, everyone will know too. I just need to get this to Chief Asher and then he can get a SWAT team down to the docks to prepare for the White Fang," Lisa surmised as turned the corner and after walking for a little while longer, saw the police station in sight making her breathe a sigh of relief.

However, she gasped when she felt herself being lifted up into the air by an invisible force and tugged into a poorly lit building. Eyes darting from side to side to see who was grabbing her, the reporter's demeanor quickly went from terror to exasperation upon seeing it was one of the key members of Beacon Academy.

"Mrs. Goodwitch, why did you bring me here?" Lisa asked while narrowing her eyes at the battle instructor who shut the door, locked it, and gestured at the table in the middle of the room.

Warily, Lisa pulled up a chair and sat down, wondering why she had been brought here in the first place.

"Not to harm you in case that's what you're thinking, but rather to relieve you of the information you're holding," Glynda, in typical, blunt fashion, replied.

This made the reporter unconsciously tighten her grip on the envelope and glower at the woman across the table whose frown didn't even waver.

"W-what!? No, the police need to know about this! Chief Asher can get the SWAT team down by the docks and when the White Fang comes, they can ambush them and capture Roman! Think of the things he could tell us!" Lisa vehemently protested, making Glynda clasp her hands together and lean forward, staring at the reporter dead in the eyes.

"Yes, we could, but who's to say that they won't know an ambush is awaiting them and if the SWAT team is capable of apprehending him in the first place? Even more, have you considered that maybe he's just another piece on the board rather than the brains behind this operation?" Glynda pointed out, causing Lisa to snort as she recalled from the video how Roman met up with three of his associates to discuss the dock heist.

"I have, and even if that's the case, we can't just stand here and do nothing while he steals an entire shipment of dust!" Lisa nearly shouted as all Glynda did was push her glasses up the bridge of her nose, sigh softly, and discreetly tighten her grip on her riding crop which didn't go unnoticed by the reporter.

"That is not what we're going to do, Mrs. Lavender. This situation can be solved without causing an unnecessary brouhaha and that's what we're going to do. If all goes well, you'll merely be reporting the aftermath of a short, failed heist," Glynda assured Lisa who resisted the great, overwhelming urge to yell every conceivable curse she could think of at the battle instructor.

"I'm sorry, but no. The police need to know about this so I'm going to walk out that door and give them the information I'm holding. If you stop me, I will press charges against you for assault and kidnapping which will get your huntress license suspended or even worse, revoked," Lisa calmly, but firmly told the witch who grunted, but otherwise said nothing as the reporter got up from her chair and walked over to the door.

Just as she was about to unlock it, she felt herself being lifted up into the air yet again by the invisible force.

"Are you kidding me!? Didn't you just hear what I said would happen if you did this!?" Lisa shouted incredulously as she felt her ankles being bound together by invisible hands and her wrists being restrained by unseen shackles as Glynda slowly walked toward her.

"I did, Mrs. Lavender; I'm sorry it had to come to this. You're more than welcome to go to the docks yourself, wait for the White Fang to come, and then tell the police, but I can't have you disrupting the calm that's fallen over Vale," Glynda informed Lisa as she reached into her trench coat and pulled out the envelope.

Snarling, Lisa struggled and kicked with all her might to free herself from her invisible restraints to no avail. All Lisa could do was glare at Glynda who unlocked the door with her semblance and walked into the darkness with the envelope in hand. After what seemed like an eternity, Lisa finally felt herself being released and landed on the ground.

"You'll answer for this! You hear me!?" Lisa shouted into the void, but all she got in response was silence. Growling, she ran out of the building and meticulously searched for Glynda, but could find no trace of her.

"How did she...it's not important. I need to tell Chief Asher about this," Lisa resolved to do as she walked out of the building, speed walked toward the police station, and entered it where she was greeted by the receptionist.

"Go on in, Lisa. Chief's expecting you in his office," the receptionist told the reporter while electronically unlocking the side door.

Nodding gratefully, Lisa walked through the side door where she was frisked by the guards as usual, feeling a little less safe as she was temporarily relieved of her hidden weapons. She pushed such thoughts aside and walked down the hall while curtly, but politely greeting any officer she came across. Finally, she came across Chief Asher's door and knocked on it where she was granted permission to enter and found him drinking a glass of ginger ale like he always did.

"Good to see you, Lisa. Do you have the information?" Chief Asher asked while gesturing at the seat across from his desk causing Lisa to sigh heavily, shake her head, and sit down.

"I did, but Glynda Goodwitch kidnapped me and took it," Lisa replied with a huff causing the lawman to grip his glass so tightly that it broke, making the reporter jolt as shards of glass fell to the floor.

"What, why would she...that son of a bitch. I'm going to call Ozpin and get this sorted out; meanwhile, fill out this form if you want to press charges," Chief Asher stated as he gently handed Lisa a piece of paper, aggressively grabbed his phone, and violently punched in the number to Beacon Academy.

"Hello, this is Chief Asher of the Valean Police! I want to speak Ozpin right now!" Chief Asher yelled at the top of his lungs to the unfortunate receptionist on the other line while Lisa simultaneously filled out the form while listening to the conversation about to unfold.

"What do you mean he's busy!? He always has time to talk that drunk bastard, that know-it-all bitch, and that dumbass war hawk so he'd damn well better make time for me!" the lawman roared making Lisa feel sorry for whoever was on the receiving end of her friend's tirade though she wasn't surprised when she heard the call disconnect.

"Hello? Hello!? Damn it; alright, that's it. If he won't listen to me, then he'll listen to the council," Chief Asher growled under his breath as he poured himself and Lisa a glass of ginger ale and slid the cup over to her causing the reporter to thank him and lift the glass up to her lips.

"There's no need for that, Chief," a voice suddenly interjected making Lisa nearly jump in her chair and just turned her head to the source of the noise where she saw Beacon's headmaster being presented by a projected facecam from Asher's scroll.

"There damn well is! One of your attack dogs kidnapped one of my informants and then took a package that could have helped us prevent a crime before it happened! This is the last straw, Ozpin! I'm reporting you to the council!" Chief Asher boomed as Lisa just watched with a neutral expression on her face as this was the first time she had actually seen Beacon's headmaster technically in person.

"Forgive me, Chief, but I couldn't allow you and your men to make a mess of things as they usually do in these kinds of situations which can be solved with a quieter, more precise approach. You are more than welcome to report me to the council, but I still have their backing despite our strained relationship so nothing will happen beyond a warning," Ozpin calmly pointed out causing the chief to scoff and retort with 'Making a mess? Your damn kids make more of a mess than my boys do.'

"Maybe so, but I digress. You and your men are welcome to engage and apprehend any White Fang soldiers you subdue, but you are to let Roman Torchwick go," Ozpin ordered calmly causing Chief Asher's jaw to drop and look at Ozpin as if he grew a second head while Lisa snarled under her breath.

"Now I know you've lost your mind! Why would we let that scumbag go when we have the perfect opportunity to catch him!?" the lawman thundered with Lisa subtly nodding in agreement as she just couldn't fathom why a huntsman like Ozpin would do such a thing as the headmaster clasped his hands and narrowed his eyes.

"Because Torchwick is merely a piece on the board, not the mastermind herself. If we track where his heists are occurring, we may find a pattern to them which can lead us to not only his base of operations, but the names and locations of his associates as well," Ozpin reasoned, but Asher wasn't convinced, and neither was Lisa as the chief angrily swirled his cup around causing some of the liquid to fly out of the cup.

"Or we can just arrest that piece of shit and make him cough up whatever we want. I'm not risking my men and especially the civilians for this insane gamble you're trying to pull off," Chief Asher responded gruffly, causing the headmaster to sigh softly, shake his head, and look the police chief dead in the eye.

"I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be and if you interfere with that, I will report you to the council for incompetence and given your standing with them, the penalties will be severe. Namely, Mrs. Lavender will be put under house arrest for several months for vigilantism and you will be suspended from the force...possibly indefinitely," Ozpin coolly, but ruthlessly informed Asher who wanted nothing more than to choke the huntsman with his own scarf while Lisa had half a mind to punch him on his nose.

"However, it's like Glynda said; Mrs. Lavender is more than welcome to find a spot near the docks, scope the situation out, and tell us where we would best be able to enter the situation so we could put a quick end to it," Ozpin said in a much softer, genial tone before the ending the call.

Roaring, Asher slammed his cup down on his desk and let out a guttural curse as Lisa reluctantly handed him the form, which the chief helplessly shrugged at.

"Sorry Lisa, I think that form is useless now," Asher told his friend with a slight huff, causing the reporter to nod as she figured as much, as the lawman poured himself another glass of ginger ale and downed it in one gulp.

"God damn huntsman. Where does he get off talking to us like that?" the lawman growled as he poured Lisa another glass of ginger ale, which she thanked him for while thinking of how they could make the most of this situation.

"I don't think he's doing it because he likes seeing us squirm. In either case, we're unfortunately going to have to play his game if we want to get anything done. Do you have any places in mind in which I can scope out of the docks?" Lisa inquired while downing the drink and setting the glass on the table.

The lawman nodded and brought up a projected, holographic map of the docks and the surrounding area from his scroll.

"The apartment complex provides a near perfect image of the area from either the roof or the rooms in the fifth floor and onward, but should something happen, it's going to take us a short while to get to you given how cramped the hallways are," Chief Asher reasoned causing Lisa to nod and put a hand on her chin as the lawman then pointed out the various business complexes near the docks which overlooked the target area.

"If you choose any of the businesses, it won't provide as good a vantage point, but if a firefight break outs, you'll be more likely to get away," Chief Asher continued causing Lisa to rub her chin as she meticulously considered all the variables.

"Can you get me set up in the apartment complex? We don't have much time to act so we're going to have to take a risk," Lisa surmised causing the lawman to slowly nod and grab his phone while pulling out the appropriate paperwork.

"Agreed, I'll get everything set up and then pick you up. Don't worry, I'll position my men near the docks so if you call for help, we'll be nearby. Still, it pisses me off that Ozpin isn't letting us set up a proper ambush," Asher grumbled, causing Lisa to sympathetically pat his shoulder before walking out of the office and mulling over what went down, especially Ozpin's rigid stance against Asher trying to convince him to apprehend Roman to no avail.

Unbeknownst to her, Asher, and the entire department, a lone figure managed to hear their conversation and retreated from her position behind the wall near Asher's office without being seen. Waiting until she was back on the motorboat she came on, positioned in a blind spot in the dock's security cameras, the figure began to slowly drive across the water while calling her superior on her scroll.

"Hey Deshret, you'll never guess what I found out during my scouting mission," the figure said with an ever so slight smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, though one would be hard pressed to see it due to the surgical mask she was wearing.

"I'm all ears," Deshret stated, causing the figure to clear their throat, do a quick scan of the area to see if she was being watched, and when she saw she wasn't, spoke.

"Turns out Ozpin and the police know about the heist we're going to pull off a few days from now and Asher is being ordered by Ozpin to let Torchwick go if things go fubar. Hell, he's not even allowed to set up an ambush for us and the best he can do is rely on Lisa Lavender to help him scope out the situation," the figure informed her superior with a slight laugh.

This elicited a low chuckle from the figure's superior who could practically see the gears turning in her superior's head.

"Then that gives us more time to act though we'll still have to act fast due to the enemy knowing we're coming. Do you know if Ozpin is sending any huntsman?" Deshret inquired, causing the figure to sigh softly and shake her head as she reached up and lightly scratched her eye covered by a black cloth with the old White Fang insignia on it.

"I don't know, but that's most likely going to happen," the figure reasoned, which Deshret agreed with a slight incline of her head before locking eyes with her subordinate.

"Agreed, return to base for now and try not to let anyone spot you. Not because I'm worried of the consequences, but because being reprimanded will waste precious preparation time," Deshret stated, which the figure raised a brow at, stopped paddling, and put a hand on her hip.

"Are you sure? I could always kidnap Lisa since I'm here; it would be one less threat to worry about," the figure pointed out while thumping her fingers against the grip of her sawed off shotgun and then mindlessly tossed the softball shaped bludgeon of her meteor hammer into the air.

"I agree, but it would be too obvious who the culprit is if we kidnapped her now. Let them think they have the element of surprise on their side and return to base; I need to prepare you, Wilma, and Ashanti for combating huntsman level opponents," Deshret told her subordinate who did as her superior said, ended the call, and headed back to base with no one the wiser.

---

Sighing, Lisa ran a hand over her face as she inspected the docks for what seemed like the umpteenth time from the roof with her camera this early in the morning and glanced at the near perfectly hand drawn map she made. If the White Fang was going to come by land, they would have to cut through the adjacent neighborhoods and the downtown district which would slow down both their assault and escape. If they were going to come by air, they would have to do so from the expanse of forest across the water from the docks as anything else would have easily given them away. By water, they could come by boat, but any bystander, let alone any random dock worker, would have spotted them long before they reached their destination. However, they could send scuba divers ahead of the main force, disable whatever remained of security, inform their comrades that it was safe to come ahead, and then begin the heist. The scenario wasn't too unlikely as there were recorded instance of the White Fang having aquatic faunus among them like sharks, whales, dolphins and fish, but it was still out of the ordinary.

Still, she didn't put it past the White Fang to just brazenly go through the front door, metaphorically speaking, even with their new gear and discipline which would alert anyone within close proximity of the docks who would then call the police. Releasing a breath, Lisa was about to contact Chief Asher to give him an update on the situation...until she saw a girl with a black bow laying in the brush inspecting the docks as well. Raising a brow, Lisa contacted Chief Asher while never taking her eyes off of mystery girl.

"Chief, there's this girl with a black bow inspecting the docks from the brush and...wait, a guy with blonde hair and a monkey tail joined her," Lisa informed the lawman who was silent for a moment as if he was taking it all in before responding.

"...You think they're White Fang?" Asher finally asked after an awkward pause.

Sharing the same, awkward, sentiment, Lisa rubbed the back of her head land looked back through the camera. She could see the duo talking, but was unable to hear them.

"I...I don't want to stereotype, but how many people are just suspiciously scoping out an area from a hidden vantage point besides me at the moment?" Lisa pointed out and for a moment, the other line went silent as the chief of police considered if it was worth it to send out a unit to check on what could be just delinquents out for petty thrills.

"I get what you mean; I'll ask one of my boys who are off duty to go check them out. Hopefully this is all just a big misunderstanding," Asher responded causing Lisa to thank him and go back to inspecting mystery girl and her companion...only for mystery girl to suddenly glower at Lisa through her camera lens.

Letting out a small gasp, Lisa nearly dropped her camera and when she brought up to bear again, she saw mystery girl was gone, but her friend was still there waving to himself for some reason. Widening her eyes, Lisa brandished her hardballer and turned on a dime only for mystery girl to bash it out her hands with a stinging kick to her wrist. Hissing, Lisa quickly unfurled the hidden blade in her ballpoint pen and swiped at the girl in the black bow. However, mystery girl just contemptuously parried the blow with her sheathe and smacked Lisa on the ear with the flat of her blade, causing the journalist to nearly double over from the loss of equilibrium. When she felt her assailant grab her, Lisa stabbed her foe's shoulder which connected, but all this did was make mystery girl grunt as she cleared Lisa's arm away when she went for a follow up slash to her belly and kicked the reporter in the crotch. Feeling her pupils shrink, Lisa sucked in a breath and fell onto her knees, but not before slugging the girl with the black bow in the gut. This elicited a grimace from her assailant who knocked Lisa onto her back and sat on her chest.

"Why were you-" mystery girl began to say only to wince as Lisa grabbed a handful of her hair, elbowed her across the face, and when she was reeling, connected with a headbutt to the nose.

Snarling, the girl in the black bow stomped on Lisa's wrist which pinned it to the ground, pressed her leg down on Lisa's other arm so she couldn't move it, and clamped her hand over Lisa's mouth so she couldn't call for help.

"Now I'm going to ask again, why were you watching us?" mystery girl questioned while pointing the tip of her katana at Lisa's face, making the reporter sweat slightly, as the girl in the black bow removed her hand from her mouth.

"How do I know you're not with the White Fang?" Lisa asked while narrowing her eyes at mystery girl, causing the girl in the black bow to take out her scroll and cycle through her apps.

"Does this answer your question?" mystery girl curtly stated while showing her Beacon Academy student ID to the reporter who inspected it and widened her eyes when she saw the last name of her assailant.

"Belladonna? As in Ghira Belladonna, former High Leader of the White Fang?" Lisa inquired, causing mystery girl to nod and point her katana away from the reporter.

"That's right, I'm his daughter," the girl in the black bow answered with a sense of subdued pride, but all this got was a glower from Lisa who struggled in her grasp only to wince as Blake put more pressure on her limbs to keep her pinned.

"Then your father would be ashamed of you; I've heard about your activities while working with Adam Taurus and even reported the aftermath of some of those incidents. I'm guessing this is another job you're doing for him, right? Well, you get anything useful out of me!" Lisa defiantly yelled despite thinking that this would be the end of the line for her.

However, the girl in the black bow simply huffed as she got off of the reporter who looked up at her with her head tilted.

"Look, I'm not proud of what I did while I was in the White Fang which is why I'm trying to make up for it by being a huntress. That's why I was scoping out the docks because...because I think they might be trying to steal the shipment coming in from the SDC," Blake explained in a much calmer, softer tone as she walked over to Lisa's fallen pistol and handed it to her.

Looking at her gun and then at Blake, the reporter grabbed the firearm with a sigh before speaking again.

"Forget think. The White Fang, working with Roman Torchwick, are going to steal the shipment any time now," Lisa told the former White Fang member while inspecting her firearm for any damage as Blake look disheartened, if only for a brief moment.

"N-no, the White Fang wouldn't work for a human like that," Blake futilely denied Lisa's claim, causing the reporter to grunt, but otherwise say nothing as she inspected the docks with her camera and focused on the waterline where she saw white blips in the distance.

"Well, you'll get your answer shortly," Lisa replied while handing Blake her camera and pointing to where the white blips were which slowly grew in size with each passing moment, making the huntress grunt.

"...I guess I will; it will be safer for you if you stay here," Blake advised the reporter who fervently shook her head.

"No, I want to help and that's what I'm going to do," Lisa calmly, but firmly stated causing Blake to grunt and walk over to the edge of the building where she crouched down like a predator on the hunt.

"Just don't bite off more than you can chew," Blake replied as she leaped off the building and when Lisa looked over the edge, she saw Blake had already made it to her previous position and hopped the fence along with her companion.

"Chief, the White Fang are approaching the docks now by aircraft from the water," Lisa informed Asher on her scroll while looking at the expanse of water and saw the terrorists heading towards the docks in appropriated bullheads.

"I'll tell my boys to move in and hopefully, we can stop them before they do too much damage. Also, you know what? Fuck Ozpin, this is too good an opportunity to pass up and if that means I have to turn in my badge, so be it," Asher passionately stated as the reporter ran down the flight of stairs as fast as she could before jumping over the railing to get to the bottom floor.

"I always admired your grit, Chief," Lisa responded as she carefully crossed the street and hid behind the strangely empty guard station just as the bullheads landed on the ground and a whole cacophony of White Fang soldiers exited the aircrafts.

"Alright you animals, pick up the pace! My boss is pretty adamant we get this done in a timely manner so no complaining about taking orders from the human or any drivel about equal rights or such! My necks on the line here, you understand? Of course you do, so get to it!" Roman barked while stuffing a cigar in his mouth and lighting it up where he gave Melodic Cudgel a little twirl, causing some of the goons to snarl under their breaths or roll their eyes.

"Are you helping us move this shit? No? Then shut the fuck up and let us do our jobs," one faunus, a woman well into adulthood with beetle mandibles on the side of her mouth which gave her voice a noticeable reverb to it, hissed as she snatched Roman's cigar of his mouth, threw it to the ground, and grinded it underneath her boot.

"In case you didn't realize, this heist wouldn't have been possible without me, so you'd best show a little respect to your superiors like the animal-" Roman began to say only for the soldier to grab his bowler hat, toss it into the air, and perforate with quick, precise shots from her daunting arm cannon.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear you say that," the soldier said in a deathly calm voice as she caught Roman's destroyed bowler hat between her fingertips and placed it back on his head before going back to helping her cohorts.

"These animals don't have any manners, I swear," Roman mumbled as he took off his hat and put another cigar in his mouth.

The arm cannon soldier, meanwhile, helped attached shipping containers to the bottom of each bullhead with the help of one of her subordinates, a tall, athletically built woman whose face was obscured by the black, full body armor of a knight and had a single braid of gray hair hanging out of her helm.

"So that girl-"

"Deshret wants us to be the distraction, yes," the arm cannon soldier gently interrupted her subordinate who grunted as her superior's other subordinate, a skinny, but rugged young man with honey badger ears atop his head, offered to help.

Both she and the knight errant assured him they could handle it, causing him to dip his head go back to keeping vigil over the area.

"And you think that is wise?" the knight errant quietly inquired so as to not catch Torchwick's attention, making the arm cannon soldier laugh under her breath and murmur 'Probably not, but at least we get to drag Roman into this.'

This elicited a quiet chuckle from the knight errant as they banged their fists against the frames of some of the bullheads twice, indicating they could return to base.

"I figured as much," the knight errant mumbled as they both watched five bullheads return to base with three shipping containers each attached to the bottom of their frames.

Resuming their work, they along with their fellow soldiers, were able to get two more bullheads across the water where they appeared as nothing, but white, blurry dots. Before they could get even more shipping containers, the arm cannon soldier suddenly narrowed her eyes and primed her weapon causing the knight errant to brandish her longsword and unfurl her undulating dagger which she gripped with her long, muscular crocodile tail. Their sharpshooter got ready to fire as well, causing the other sentries to confusedly look at another before following suit. Growling, Roman shouted "What the hell are you animals doing? There's no one here but us so get back to work!" However, Roman soon ate his words as armored police choppers, a myriad of police cruisers, and a seemingly endless amount of SWAT vans finally arrived on the scene making the mob boss pinch the bridge of his nose and release a heavy, irritated sigh.

"Roman Torchwick, stand down! You're completely surrounded!" Chief Asher roared from one of the choppers from his megaphone causing the mob boss to put another cigar in his mouth and light it up to calm his nerves.

"This day could not get any worse. Someone shoot them already!" Roman yelled causing the soldier who destroyed his bowler hat to throw down a miniature spider droid down to the ground.

The automaton proceeded to fire large, powerful salvos of super-heated water at law enforcement which sent metal from the police cruisers and concrete from the ground to fly in every direction upon impact.

While the spider droid was busy blowing things up, its wielder took cover behind a wall and was joined by her sharpshooter who downed one officer with a precise shot to their hand making the cop scream before crumpling to the ground. Giving a complimenting nod to her subordinate, the spider droid soldier fired off a shot of her own which completely blew up a police cruiser sending molten metal, debris, and burnt officers sailing off to the side. Her other subordinate, meanwhile, skillfully blocked the bullets with the flat of her blade, batted the projectiles back to sender, or sliced them in half with her razor sharp dagger.

"If this is the best they have, they shouldn't have bothered coming," the longsword wielder quipped as she unclipped one of the explosives from her belt, took note of the officer's positions, ripped off part of the fuse, lit it up, and tossed it into the crowd.

She did this all while continuing to block and slice any bullets headed her way and couldn't help but let a smirk tug at the corner of her lips as her bomb blew up with far more force than an explosive the size of a baseball had any right to thanks to her semblance. She watched as the detonation destroyed a multitude of police cruisers, perforated officers with razor sharp shrapnel, and sent large chunks of the street hurtling into the air.

"Maybe so, but the battle isn't over yet," the spider droid wielding soldier gently admonished the longsword wielder who dutifully nodded as their sharpshooter downed another officer by shooting them in the foot which made her collapse to the ground, howl in pain, and tightly clutch her limb.

The sharpshooter then proceeded to neutralize another cop by deftly nailing them in the hand causing the officer to throw his head back and scream as he fell onto his back while grasping his bloody, mangled hand.

"Good shooting," the spider droid soldier complimented her subordinate who nodded as he shot another cop in the kneecap making the man scream before awkwardly and harshly faceplanting right onto the cold, hard concrete.

While all this was happening, a certain motorboat driven by the White Fang scout inconspicuously made its way behind the docks to the same blind spot the scout used a few days prior where it came to a stop a few inches from solid ground.

"Wilma, you're with me. Jin, Ashanti, you two hit that other warehouse and be quick. It's only a matter of time before the police figure out the battle outside is a diversion," Deshret, a young woman with a stocky, solid frame, dark skin, and gauntlets forged from the ripped limbs of a spider droid told her team who loyally nodded and went to do their assigned tasks.

"You're not worried Ebony is going to tell Torchwick you deviated from his plan?" Wilma, an overweight girl with the big, razor sharp fangs of a rat, concernedly inquired.

Letting out a small laugh, Deshret recalled how the spider droid soldier was more than happy to go along with what she had in mind.

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Deshret responded genially and was pretty sure Ebony was having an absolute blast dragging an unknowing Torchwick into their diversion.

Wilma tilted her head, but otherwise said nothing as they entered a warehouse which housed shipping containers of dust meant to be shipped out to the Valean Militia in the outskirts. Running up to some of the shipping containers, Wilma unclipped a length of rope from her belt, jumped onto the container, and tied the rope around the shipping container's fame until it was taut. Next, Wilma took out a medium sized gravity dust crystal from her pouch, stabbed the storage unit's frame with her combat knife which made a fist sized hole, and pushed the gravity dust crystal inside which rendered the container almost weightless. Doing this until she had ten shipping containers in total, Wilma began tugging her haul toward the boat where her jaw almost dropped when she saw Deshret was carrying five shipping containers on her shoulders and dragging five behind her without using the gravity dust crystals to lessen their weight.

"Showoff," Wilma pouted, making Deshret chuckle warmly, as the White Fang soldier tied the lengths of rope to the end of their boat while her superior placed gravity dust crystals inside the shipping containers she was carrying before following suit.

"Ma'am, we're back! Sorry it took so long. Some foolish dock workers and security guards tried to stop us. As you ordered, we didn't kill them," Jin explained as she and Ashanti dragged ten nearly weightless shipping containers behind them and attached the ropes they were being dragged by like dogs to the end of the motorboat.

"Very good. You're all doing great work here, but don't let it get to your head," Deshret first praised and lightly criticized any of them who might have gotten a big head, causing her subordinates to dutifully nod as she, Jin, Wilma, and Ashanti went about appropriating even more of the shipment with seemingly no one to stop them.

Meanwhile, Lisa was proving to be a crack shot as she neutralized several White Fang goons with accurate shots from her pistol and even managed to shoot a bomb out of the air thrown by the longsword wielder. This, unfortunately, made her a prime target as the reporter gasped and barely managed to dive behind a destroyed police cruiser in time to avoid before shot in the face by the sharpshooter. However, she grimaced as the bullet grazed the side of her head regardless which shaved off a patch of her hair and some of the skin on the side of her head despite her aura not breaking.

"It's strange, why are only some of them trying to make off with the shipment while the others are holding their ground against us?" Lisa wondered as she forced down the pain and tried to peek over the car she was using as cover, but was forced to hide when a bullet whizzed mere inches over her head the moment a minuscule part of it was exposed.

Suddenly, a realization hit her as she scooted over to the edge of the car and crouched down. Sprinting forward, Lisa dove to the car across from her and gnashed her teeth as the honey badger faunus shot her in the ribs the exact moment she was exposed with her aura preventing it from being a killshot. Coming to a stop, Lisa inched backwards until her body was pressing against the cold steel of the vehicle and lifted her shirt to inspect her wound where she winced when she saw a gruesome, bluish-black bruise with some of the skin shaved off on her ribs which began to bleed.

Forcing down the pain, Lisa grabbed her scroll and contacted Asher where she said "Chief, I think this battle is just a distraction while another force is stealing other dust from right under our noses." only for her breath to hitch when she saw a bomb thrown by the knight errant land near her feet. Resisting the urge to scream, Lisa scrambled away from the explosive which put her right out in the open. She realized too late that this was the knight errant's intent in the first place as she shot a crossbow bolt at Lisa while the sharpshooter fired off another shot at her. Screaming as the crossbow bolt embedded itself into the arm holding her pistol while the bullet dug into her leg away from a vital artery, Lisa crumpled onto her belly as the knight errant advanced on her at Ebony's command. Feeling a sense of dread overcome her, Lisa inched her way toward her fallen hardballer...only for the sharpshooter to destroy the firearm with a discharged bullet which broke it in two. Cursing, Lisa turned around and saw the longsword wielder skillfully slice, hack, bash, pummel, and slash any officers who got in her way with her weapons. Soon she was looming over Lisa who, while she did her best to hide it, fearfully looked up at her.

"Lisa Lavender, it is an honor to meet you though I wish it was under different circumstances," the knight errant remarked as she tightly coiled her tail around Lisa's wounded leg like a hungry anaconda, causing the journalist grimace, as she was dragged across the ground by the longsword wielder.

"I do dislike harming those I respect, even if they are a filthy human," the knight errant quipped as she increased the pressure on Lisa's injured leg when the journalist flailed in her grasp, making Lisa curse and clench her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Suddenly, the knight errant was forced to relinquish her grip on Lisa when Blake came at her with an overhead strike with her blade which she blocked only for Blake to flip over her by using a clone. Grunting, the longsword wielder swung her blade backwards as Blake leaned her head and sucked in a breath as the tip of the blade grazed her forehead and cut off a lock of her hair. Kicking the longsword wielder in the gut while she was recovering to gain some distance, Blake grabbed Lisa and seemingly teleported away. Snorting, the longsword wielder jogged back to her unit while Blake gently set Lisa down against an empty shipping container which was away from the carnage.

"I thought I told you to not bite off more than you could chew," Blake lambasted Lisa like she was a child while tearing off a strip of Lisa's pants and tying it around the bullet wound on her leg.

"Fighting someone who could shoot me the moment I left cover and someone who could block bullets was not a conscious choice of mine," Lisa growled, making Blake grunt as she grabbed Lisa's arm, snapped the crossbow bolt in half, gently shoved the remains out, and tied the strip of cloth around her arm to stop the bleeding.

"Lisa, please repeat. You said this battle is just a distraction?" Asher asked, causing Lisa to grab her scroll and give an impressed nod when she saw Blake's blonde haired companion not only holding his own against Roman, but several dozen White Fang thugs as well.

"Yes, I think a smaller force went around the back to steal some of the dust in storage while the main force we're combating is just stalling for time," Lisa informed the lawman who proceeded to let out a long sigh before jolting as a girl with silver eyes, a black corset, a red cloak, and black and red hair came up to them.

"God damn it, I can't spare any men to go after them since we've nearly boxed them in, but I saw the girl with the black bow and the blonde haired boy you were worried about fighting these guys. Could you get into contact with them and see if they can lend a hand?" the lawman asked causing Lisa to glance at Blake, the girl in the red hood, and a girl with orange hair and a pink bow on her head who joined them as well.

"I think they'd be willing to help," Lisa replied, causing the lawman to breathe a sigh of relief and thank her before the line went dead.

Saying nothing, Lisa focused on the two newcomers with the girl in the red hood staring at Blake with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Blake, where were you!? We worried sick!" the girl in the red hood shouted at Blake who huffed as Lisa, through gritted teeth, stood back up while clutching her arm and accepted the firearm the girl with the orange hair handed her to her.

"Even Weiss?" Blake skeptically asked her friend who nodded without even having to think about it as Lisa checked how much ammo she had left and grimaced when her arm and leg started acting up.

"Even Weiss...although she has problems showing it," the scythe wielder responded causing Blake to blankly stare at her friend for a short moment before nodding as she readied her weapons and saw Sun get blown back from an explosive charge fired from Melodic Cudgel.

"Uh, hey ladies! I could use a little help here!" Sun yelled as he blocked an overhead strike from Roman and took out a couple of White Fang goons with several swings from his shotgun nunchucks, but several more took their place.

"I calculate that there is a 95% chance that there is a smaller unit of White Fang soldiers stealing another shipment as we speak so you, Mrs. Blake, and Mrs. Lavender should go to the warehouses and apprehend them post haste. I will remain here and assist our ally," the girl with the orange hair recommended as she walked toward the open battlefield and unfurled several blades from her backpack which seemed to float in midair.

"Penny wait, this is dangerous!" Ruby concernedly yelled causing Penny to give her friend a knowing smirk and take out dozens of White Fang goons in one fell swoop with all of her blades.

Next, she embedded her swords into the hull of a bullhead which she proceeded to yank the into the water with a thunderous, earth shaking splash.

"Don't worry, Ruby! I'm combat ready!" Penny proclaimed as she leaped into the fray to help Sun, causing Lisa and Blake to be taken aback by Penny's prowess.

Ruby in particular went wide eyed and had to resist letting her jaw hit the floor upon witnessing her friend's show of force.

"Come on, let's go to the warehouses before they make off with even more dust," Blake stated causing Lisa to nod and follow the huntress where they inadvertently left a stunned Ruby behind.

Groaning, Blake doubled back, grabbed Ruby by the wrist, dragged her to where they needed to go.

"Weiss, Yang, where are you guys? There's this crazy battle-" Ruby, who had shaken herself out of her stupor, began to say to her teammates over the scroll only to have to duck underneath the body of a White Fang thug Penny unintentionally sent flying toward her.

"We know, we heard the explosions so I'm guessing you guys...are having a blast right about now," Yang remarked, causing Ruby to groan internally as Lisa downed several White Fang soldiers with accurate shots while Blake neutralized many more with hacks, cuts, slashes, and stabs from her blades.

"Yang, now's not the time! Blake, Mrs. Lavender, and I are headed to the warehouses so meet up with us there!" Ruby shouted over the deafening sounds of battle as she saw Penny knock the longsword wielder straight into the wall which created spider web cracks along the structure.

The elderly warrior retaliated though, by sidestepping Penny's overhead slash and bashing her across the face with a quick, but stiff jab with the pommel of her weapon.

"Alright, just try not to win the battle without us," Yang responded in which Ruby could practically see the battle happy grin crossing her sister's face.

Suppressing a groan, Ruby ended the call and narrowed her eyes when she saw a motorboat floating in the water with over forty shipping containers tethered to the back of it.

"Whoever these guys are, they work fast," Blake worriedly murmured, and Ruby was inclined to agree as the trio took cover behind the wall.

"Blake, you get up top and be ready to do a super awesome ninja takedown on my count. Lisa, you go around back so you won't be spotted and try to detach some of the shipping containers connected to the boat. I'll go through the front and distract them," Ruby ordered causing Blake to nod and get on top of the roof while Lisa cautiously ran around the back.

As for the scythe wielder, she put Crescent Rose in rifle form, carefully ran up to the entrance, pressed her back against the wall, and warily peeked around the corner.

"Vickers, we're about done here so can you swing back around and get your half?" Deshret requested as she, Wilma, Jin, and Ashanti planted gravity dust crystals in several more of the shipping containers and tied them to the motorboat.

"You got it, but it's going to take some time because there's this crazy girl with orange hair shooting down damn near everyone," Vickers replied, causing Deshret to tell him to proceed with caution, as Ruby saw Blake crouched down next to a roof window and noticed Lisa take out one of her ballpoint pen knives and slowly begin sawing some of the ropes attached to the motorboat.

Sucking in a breath, Ruby unfurled Crescent Rose to its scythe form and rushed into the building, immediately causing Jin, Ashanti, and Wilma to stop what they were doing and aim their firearms at her while Deshret raised a brow.

"Hiya, you're the daughter of Summer Rose, right? My condolences for your loss; she was a skilled warrior who didn't lose sight of her compassion," Deshret empathized with the young huntress who was 14 years her junior.

This made the huntress in training pause as a million questions now ran through her head.

"You met my mom?" Ruby inquired almost breathlessly causing Deshret to nod as she cast a quick glance at the side door and saw nothing as Lisa managed to get behind cover in time.

"Her team came to blows with my allies and I during the takeover of Tenebris Academy in Vacuo. Needless to say, they were unsuccessful in driving us off," Deshret explained, causing Wilma and Ashanti to exchange confused glances with one another, but otherwise didn't say anything.

Jin, however, looked up, only to see nothing as Blake got out of sight in time.

"Then I'll finish what she started," Ruby stated as she readied Crescent Rose causing Jin, Ashanti, and Wilma to inch their fingers closer to the trigger while Deshret just grinned and let out a quiet, amused chuckle.

"You are welcome to try," Deshret replied, making the huntress smirk, as she shouted 'Now!' causing Blake to burst through the window as she chose Wilma as her first target.

While the White Fang grunt was her intended target, Deshret yanked her out of the way with Jin doing the same for Ashanti. Growling, Ruby repeatedly fired at Deshret, who deftly knocked the bullets back towards Ruby by swinging her gauntlets around which were attached to chains. Gasping as she was forced to deflect her own bullets, Ruby proceeded to wide eyed as her enemy took the opportunity to close the distance between them while she was preoccupied. Seeing her foe nearly upon her, Ruby broke down into a mass of petals to gain some distance...only for her opponent to appear as soon as she reformed atop a shipping container. The huntress in training barely had time to process this before the squad leader threw a strong straight punch with her left hand as if it were a spear. Breath hitching, Ruby barely managed to place Crescent Rose in front of herself in time and felt as if her chest was caved in when she blocked the punch which roughly knocked her weapon right onto her sternum.

Grimacing as she was sent flying back, Ruby righted herself in mid-air and kicked off the wall where she discharged shot after shot at Deshret who swung one of her chained gauntlets around to block the projectiles before taking a swing at the huntress. Gasping, Ruby used the recoil from her weapon to dodge the pointed gauntlet hurtling toward her which grazed her corset...only for Deshret to suddenly get right in her face and tightly grasp the shaft of Crescent Rose. Dry heaving as she crashed against the wall which she was now embedded in, Ruby futilely tried to yank Crescent Rose out of Deshret's grasp, but it was like trying to pull Remnant out of orbit. Ruby then felt lighter than air as Deshret viciously headbutted her and then violently wheezed as the warrior kneed her in the gut which forced all the air out of her like a balloon. Not even noticing her weapon slip from her grasp, Ruby collapsed on all fours while tightly clutching her stomach as Deshret snapped Crescent Rose in two by breaking it over her knee and threw the now destroyed weapon to the floor.

"You're going to have to learn to take hits in order to become a better warrior, young Rose," Deshret genially advised Ruby who was too busy sucking down big gulps of air to notice before she went limp as the warrior stomped on her head which rendered her unconscious.

Grunting, Deshret grabbed the spare chains she kept on her person and tied them around Ruby's wrists and ankles so when she regained consciousness, she wouldn't be a threat. While all this was happening, Wilma, Ashanti, and Lisa were engaged in a firefight after the White Fang goons discovered what she was doing while Jin and Blake circled each other like vicious, rabid predators about to throw down over a territorial dispute.

"First you run from your responsibilities in the White Fang, and then you run from your responsibilities as a huntress," Jin pointed out with as much vitriol as she could muster before unfurling her meteor hammer which, upon hitting the ground with a loud thud, created a small crater.

"What are you trying to say?" Blake huffed as Jin leveled her sawed off shotgun right at her face.

In response, the former White Fang soldier pointed her pistol right between Jin's eyes with neither flinching in the slightest.

"Blake Belladonna is a coward," Deshret's subordinate coldly remarked, causing the huntress to growl before lunging toward Jin who discharged several shots from her firearm which Blake blocked though her arms nearly went numb in the process.

When Blake was mere inches from her, the White Fang soldier swung her flail at her former ally's head only to hit a clone. Capitalizing on this opening, Blake cut the back of her foe's knee, forcing the soldier to the ground. Hissing, Jin rolled forward to avoid the follow up slash to her back and fired off another shot from her shotgun which Blake deflected only to wince as the flail nailed her in the nose while she was still parrying the bullet. Forcing down the pain, the huntress continued to deflect any bullets discharged at her until her foe finally ran out of bullets. Undaunted, Jin charged at Blake and swung her meteor hammer at the huntress...only for Blake, with precise timing to kick the flail, sending it erratically flying out of her hands. The former White Fang hoped this would make her former ally flinch, giving her an opening, but that hope was dashed as she was forced to lean her head to the side when Jin, unbothered by the loss of her primary weapon, swung her empty shotgun at her head like a club. Hissing as some of the skin on her forehead was peeled back when the firearm grazed her, Blake proceeded to block the follow up bash to her nose with the flat of her katana while wrapping her ribbon around Jin's shotgun and wrist.

Twisting her opponent's arm so she was forced to release her shotgun, Jin cursed as she fell to her knees before twisting around and connecting with a spinning elbow strike to Blake's ribs. Wincing, the huntress's grip slackened just enough for her foe wrench her arm out of Blake's grasp, enabling her to roll forward and grab her fallen meteor hammer. Wrapping the chain around one of her hands and clutching the melon shaped bludgeon in the other she, she advanced on her former ally. Deshret's subordinate proceeded to grimace as she was pelted with a flurry of pistol rounds, which her aura absorbed, and struck at Blake's chest with a superman punch with the bludgeon which the huntress avoided by using her clones.

Hissing as a painful slash to her back sent a painful tremor up her body, the terrorist swung behind her and only grazed Blake's bow as the huntress cut her across the thigh with both her blades and then kicked the side of Jin's knee by using her clone to get to the other side. Screaming, the terrorist staggered back and barely managed to block the slash to her shoulder with the chain of her weapon. Striking her foe in the eye with her bludgeon, huntress yowled before mercilessly shooting her former ally in the crotch. Sucking in a haggard breath as her pupils constricted to the size of dots, Jin crumpled onto all fours with a violent hack and glared at the huntress. Just before the huntress could deliver the knockout blow, the White Fang soldier managed to envelop herself in noxious, sickly looking green fumes with herculean effort.

Coughing wildly and feeling tears uncontrollably well at her eyes, Blake stumbled back while continuing to hack erratically as she felt as if someone was burning her lungs from the inside. Hissing as the fumes burnt her skin, Blake covered her mouth and doubled over as she vomited the contents of her stomach onto the floor. Knowing she had to take advantage of this, an exhausted Jin tiredly limped over to Blake, grasped the huntress's, shoulder, and tiredly spewed a plume of sickly fumes onto her face. Screaming bloody murder, Blake blindly swung at Jin with her sheathe which struck the White Fang on the side of her neck. While the terrorist was staggered, the huntress in training planted her boot against her opponent's chest, sending the White Fang soldier tumbling to the floor back where she, due to her injuries and the strain of using her semblance for the first time, was unable to get up.

Reeling and then collapsing onto all fours, Blake clutched her partly burnt face as one of her eyes was now bloodshot while the other was grayed out. Suddenly, Blake screamed as she felt like her head was knocked clean off of her shoulders when Deshret punt kicked her across the face which made her head snap to the side. Seeing the huntress go still, the squad leader restrained Blake with her spare chains and then knelt down next to Jin where she placed a hand on her subordinate's stomach which began to glow a bright, burning orange as if it were a star.

"We still need you, my friend," Deshret said as she increased the temperature ever so slightly so as to not harm her subordinate which slowly, but surely began healing some of her wounds.

"Ugh, I didn't expect using my semblance would take so much out of me," her subordinate commented while grabbing her head as if it had been split in two by an axe.

As she said this, her superior pulled her to her feet and clasped her shoulder.

"I hear that's the norm for those who've only recently unlocked theirs, but I never had need of one," Deshret replied, causing Jin to tilt her head.

Before she could ask "Weren't you just using your semblance?" Wilma was sent flying into a shipping container with a pained shout from a strong, stiff punch from Yang which was amplified by the slugs in Ember Celica. Neither Deshret or Jin flinched from the noise when the metallic box folded inward, though they both looked at their ally in concern before turning their attention to their new adversaries.

"Ruby, Blake!" Yang shouted when she saw her unconscious baby sister tied up while her partner was lying in a heap on the floor causing the blonde brawler's eyes to turn a shade of bloody crimson.

Releasing an ear piercing, skyward scream that shook the heavens, Yang was enveloped in a halo of vibrant, searing hot flames, evoking the imagery of a phoenix from old myth. Jin nervously growled under her breath and readied herself while the squad leader glanced at Wilma and prepared to help her, but paused when her subordinate held up a hand. Raising a brow, but otherwise nodding when Wilma indicated that she would be able to get herself out, the warrior turned her full attention to the huntresses and sized them up.

"Which one of you is responsible for this!?" Weiss demanded as pointed Myrtenaster at a glyph restrained Ashanti who flinched when the tip of the rapier was pointed right between her eyes, causing Deshret to beckon a wounded Jin to stay behind her.

"Hiya, I am. Never expected to meet Raven's daughter or Winter's little sister, but hey, funny world, right?" Deshret lightheartedly remarked as Yang was immediately upon her and attacked the warrior with a wild, furious frenzy of haymakers, hooks, straight punches, and the occasional kick.

Throughout all this, Deshret allowed herself to be pushed back while just blocking or redirecting the blows away from her with her right arm as if it was a shield so she could isolate Yang from Weiss. In her anger, the former was oblivious to this, but the latter wasn't fooled. Weiss assisted Yang by trying to restrain Deshret's limbs in her glyphs, which the soldier broke out of nigh instantaneously, or tried to get a stab, thrust, or kick in by using her glyphs to zip around Deshret whenever the blonde brawler let up in her assault. However, the warrior wasn't to be outmaneuvered as she would always force Yang back with a quick front kick or shove and then weave around the heiress's strikes before landing a stiff punch to Weiss's gut, making the heiress gag, or a powerful kick to either of her legs, which made the fencer feel as if her bones were being reduced to powder.

The blows quickly began to take their toll on Weiss, who was now limping with a grimace etched onto her face as she felt as as if her legs were going to snap in two and her internal organs were going to burst at the seams. While she wanted to smirk at her strategy coming together, the squad leader kept her wits about her. Ducking underneath Yang's hook punch to her face, she rammed her elbow into her hip like she was bashing Yang with a shield, making the blonde brawler grimace and nearly fall over. Deshret then used the momentum to spin around a thrust to her gut from Weiss and throw a kick at the heiress' face. All Weiss could do was stare at the incoming strike with a deer in the headlights gaze, but fortunately Yang blocked the blow, which caused her feet to sink into the ground, rubble to shoot up in the air, and the shockwave to shatter the windows. Letting out a war cry, Yang tugged Deshret's leg toward her while throwing the strongest punch she could muster at the warrior...who fell onto her back to avoid the blow and planted her foot against the blonde brawler's chest. Wheezing, Yang was knocked onto her ass while the warrior rolled to her feet and eagerly beckoned her opponents to come at her as Weiss looked like she had been put through the grinder while Yang was beginning to take in deep, labored breaths.

---

"Ugh...agh," Blake moaned as her eyes slowly fluttered open and felt the worst pain she ever felt erupt in her cranium.

Gritting her teeth, the huntress forced down the pain, and took stock of her predicament. She was tied up, her friends and Lisa Lavender were locked in vicious combat with a surprisingly capable White Fang unit, and thus far, she didn't know if law enforcement was making any headway in pushing the White Fang back. Wriggling around until she was on her back, Blake writhed out of the chains restraining her and hobbled toward Ruby who was still lying face down on the ground.

"Ruby, c'mon. Get up, please," Blake implored while untying Ruby from her bonds and flipping the scythe wielder onto her back.

Ruby, however, remained unresponsive, causing tears to form at the corners of the huntress's eyes as she buried her face in Ruby's chest.

"This is all my fault! You guys wouldn't have gotten hurt if I hadn't ran!" Blake sobbed as she tightly gripped her fallen friend...only to widen her eyes when she felt Ruby gently rest a hand on top of her head.

Removing her head from her team leader's chest and looking at her with a shocked, but otherwise relieved expression, the scythe wielder, though in clear agony from the injuries she sustained thus far, still found the strength to comfort Blake with a weak, but nevertheless warm as the sun smile.

"It doesn't matter, we would have gone looking for you regardless," Ruby assured Blake while weakly sitting up with a grimace, causing the former White Fang soldier to grip her team leader's shoulder to keep her upright.

"I don't deserve your kindness," Blake mumbled, which Ruby huffed at, as she saw Deshret slowly, but surely overwhelming Weiss and Yang.

Lisa, meanwhile, was about to get overrun by Wilma and Ashanti.

"You're going to get it anyway. I'll help Lisa, you help Weiss and Yang," Ruby ordered, causing Blake to dutifully nod as she rushed over to the squad leader and used a clone to distract her.

This momentary distraction was all her partner needed as Yang was finally able to land a hard, solid punch across to the warrior's face. While their foe was reeling, Weiss conjured a series of white glyphs around Deshret and swiftly sped around each one, striking the warrior with precise thrusts which made the squad leader stagger about from each one. Before Deshret could recover, Blake kicked her across the face, making her head snap to the side, and then winced as she received a full power punch from Team RWBY's heavy hitter right on the face, sending shockwaves throughout the area which shook the ground and cracked the walls. The squad leader tensed up as not only did her head violently snap back, the resulting kinetic energy carried her backwards as well until she harshly hit the wall, partially burying her underneath debris. In spite of this, Deshret just pushed the rubble off of her and inspected her wounds. Seeing that a trickle of blood was pouring down her mouth, as well as taking note of the copious amount of slashes and bruises marring her body, the warrior gave the huntresses an impressed nod of her head and grinned.

"You guys hit hard," Deshret stated as, to Weiss, Yang, and Blake's dismay, the same flames Deshret used to heal Jin covered her wounds and began mending them, rendering their previous efforts for naught.

Meanwhile, Ruby broke down into a mass of petals, sped toward where Lisa was, and let out a war cry as she kicked Wilma in the gut. The White Fang goon hacked as the momentum behind the blow not only made her feel as if her insides imploded, but sent her tumbling across the ground like a stone across a pond. Widening her eyes, Ashanti's expression then settled into a fierce glare aimed towards Ruby and opened fire on the huntress only for Ruby to get out of the way long before the first bullet left the chamber.

"Hold still!" Ashanti yelled causing Ruby to shout 'Only if you promise not to shoot me!' over the hail of gunfire causing the White Fang goon to snarl and try to predict where the huntress was going to go.

Her rifle was suddenly yanked to the side as the reporter, having run out of ammo, slugged her across the face. Hissing, Ashanti staggered back as Lisa kneed her in the crotch, making her double over, and then bashed her over the head with her own gun. Snarling, but otherwise still standing, Ashanti tackled Lisa against the wall and dug her fingers into the open wound on her opponent's arm. Screaming bloody murder, Lisa tried to shove Ashanti's arm away only to shriek as the White Fang goon proceeded to pound the bruised abrasion on her midsection with strong, vicious punches.

"Hold on!" Ruby yelled as she did a quick run over to where her team was and knocked Deshret slightly off balance with a surprise kick to the back of her head, allowing Weiss to connect with a flurry of stabs amplified by her light blue glyphs and lightning dust.

Sprinting toward Lisa who ate another shot to her midsection which made her cough up blood, Ruby prepared another kick only to be tackled out of mid-air by Wilma who managed to predict her movement patterns.

"Well done, Wilma!" Deshret complimented her subordinate who gave a curt smile before wrapping her arms around the scythe wielder's neck, picking her up, and slamming her against the wall face first.

"I'm sorry about this," the White Fang goon apologetically told Ruby while wrenching the huntress's arm behind her back and pressing her forearm on the back of huntress's neck, making the huntress futilely writhe around to break free.

Seeing that Ruby was now the one in need of help, Lisa tried to dislodge Ashanti's grip by bringing her elbow down on the back of her head, but the White Fang goon's grasp was like iron as Ashanti pushed her fingers deeper into the open wound and savagely kneed Lisa's wounded leg. Throwing her head back and letting out a pained, agonizing howl, Lisa managed to place one of her feet against the wall before pushing off of it with herculean effort. As Lisa expected, Ashanti quickly overpowered her and began shoving her toward the wall again, but this time Lisa twisted to the side, allowing Ashanti's momentum to uncontrollably carry her forward where she harshly crashed against the wall with the crown of her skull.

Screaming, Ashanti hobbled back while clutching her head causing Lisa to bring both arms back before striking Ashanti across the face with fierce diagonal hammerfist with all her weight behind it. Cursing, Ashanti crashed against the wall with a loud thud where she covered up and tried to regain her bearings causing. With her foe temporarily disabled, the reporter sprinted over to where Ruby was now that she had the chance.

Snarling when she saw Wilma reluctantly punch Ruby in the kidney and then headbutt the back of her skull when she continued to put up resistance, Lisa wrapped an arm around the White Fang goon's neck and kneed her in the base of the spine, eliciting a choked croak from the White Fang goon. When Wilma still didn't let go, Lisa repeatedly elbowed the back of the White Fang goon's head, making Wilma let out sharp cry of pain from each time the strikes landed. Still, the White Fang goon stubbornly refused to relinquish her hold on Ruby. Before Lisa could continue her assault, she shrieked and crumpled to the ground when a volley of bullets tore through her other leg like wet paper, causing the reporter to tightly grasp her bloodied limb where the red liquid leaked in between her fingers.

"You're pretty good, Lavender," Jin praised while leveling her shotgun at Lisa's face before gesturing for Ashanti to grab Lisa.

Nodding, the White Fang soldier angrily stalked toward the reporter who bashed Jin's shotgun away from her face and kicked Ashanti in the kneecap which made the White Fang soldier hobble back. Hissing when a pellet grazed her shoulder in spite of her efforts, the reporter rolled to her feet where she dodged a front kick from Wilma and ducked underneath a punch to her head from Ashanti in spite of her wounds. However, the eyepatch wearing soldier put a stop to Lisa's heroics by bashing her in the face with her shotgun before planting her boot against the journalist's chest, sending Lisa harshly sprawling to the ground. Cussing, the reporter tightly grit her teeth as Jin stomped on the journalist's freshly wounded leg, making Lisa throw her head back and wail at the top of her lungs.

"Now grab her," Jin ordered as Ashanti roughly hauled Lisa to her feet with a tight bearhug, making Lisa's face turn red as she desperately gasped for air.

Hissing as the White Fang soldier dug her fingers into her open wounds yet again, tears formed at the corner of Lisa's eyes as she instinctively struggling in her captor's grip. Crying out as Ashanti gave a restrained, but stiff knee to her newly injured leg to let her know what would happen if she tried something like earlier again Lisa begrudgingly ceased her struggles and stared at Ruby where she mouthed "I'm sorry, I tried." Ruby, while hoping her ally's efforts would have freed her, nonetheless gave the reporter an appreciative nod as the eyepatch wearing terrorist hollered something at her squad leader.

"Ma'am, I had Vickers leave the bullhead behind while having him take our boat back to base!" Jin informed her superior while motioning for the AI piloting the aircraft to come closer to the ground.

"Very good, then it's time we depart as well. We spent more time here than we should have," Deshret replied as she locked eyes with Wilma while blocking a punch from Yang, avoiding thrust from Weiss, and stopping a kick from Blake and gestured for her to get on the vessel along with her hostage.

Sighing heavily, Wilma carried an unwilling Ruby toward the bullhead making the huntress uselessly flail around in Wilma's grip, futilely dig her feet into the ground, and pointlessly grab the walls to try and stop her kidnapping.

"No, you're not taking my sister!" Yang roared as she temporarily forgot how she was running on fumes at this point and charged at Wilma with reckless abandon with her fist reared back.

While the White Fang goon froze in place, Deshret's second in command didn't as she pushed Wilma out of the way. Eating the full force of the punch which made her temporarily black out, she and the huntress tumbled to the ground in a heap. In spite of feeling like her head had been punched off of her shoulders, Jin still managed to pull out a patch of Yang's hair, making the blonde brawler viciously slug Jin across the face. Rendered even more punch drunk than before, the barely conscious Jin groaned like a drunkard as her limp form was roughly hauled to her feet by Yang who wrapped an arm around her throat.

"If you want your friend back, you give us back Ruby!" Yang demanded as she slugged Jin in the kidney with a semblance enhanced, shotgun amplified reverse punch to emphasize her point, making the White Fang goon hack up blood.

"Don't, Deshret! Just get out of here!" Jin begged before gagging as Yang tightened the pressure around her neck, causing her squad leader to narrow her eyes while Wilma and Ashanti gritted their teeth as they waited their leader's decision with bated breath.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Deshret released a heavy, long winded sigh and locked eyes with her second in command.

"We will come back for you," the Conqueror of Tenebris Academy sincerely assured Jin with Wilma and Ashanti fervently nodding in agreement.

In spite of feeling like her insides were put through a meat grinder, the eyepatch wearing soldier allowed a grin with bloodstained teeth to form on her face as her friends began to board the bullhead.

"W-wait, we have your friend! You have to give us back Ruby!" Yang barked as she took a step toward the White Fang goons and only stopped when Blake put a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from doing something rash.

"If you let Ruby go...I'll go in her stead!" Blake shouted at Deshret who, after getting a foot in on the aircraft, paused and looked over her shoulder at the White Fang soldier turned huntress.

"From what I've heard, neither Adam or his current right hand, Adolf, are fond of you so if I bring you back, you can expect your stay to be...bloody," Deshret told Blake whose resolve didn't waver as she stepped forward, threw Gambol Shroud to the ground, and put her hands behind her head.

"I guess you were wrong about Blake, Jin," Deshret observed, which her captured subordinate snorted at, as the warrior looked over at Wilma and gestured to the three remaining members of Team RWBY.

"Blake, no, don't do this!" Ruby shrieked as Wilma gently set her on the ground while Deshret grabbed Blake's shoulder and led her onto the bullhead, making tears well at the huntress's eyes.

"Blake, we looked for you for twelve hours and now you're just going to leave again!? I can't believe you! What I'm trying to say is...I don't care that you were with the White Fang! You're my teammate now and that's good enough!" Weiss yelled, making a smile tug at the corner of Blake's lips, before she grunted as she was forced onto the bullhead.

Taking one last glance at her friends, Blake sadly grinned, opened her mouth, and told her teammates "Thank you all...for everything." before the bullhead took off into the air, leaving them all behind.

Ruby proceeded to fall to her knees and bury her face in her hands, Yang to tightly ball her hands into fists to the point blood began dripping onto the ground, and Weiss to cover her eyes with her hands as tears started to fall down her face. Meanwhile, Deshret and Wilma guided their hostages to the very end of the vessel where they made them sit down next to each other, buckled them in, and restrained them with the chains their squad leader had on her.

"Such good friends are rare to find, Blake," Deshret remarked as she walked over to the cockpit and took manual control over the bullhead, making the huntress snort.

To the reporter's surprise, Ashanti walked over to them and knelt down in front of Lisa.

"Sorry about targeting your wounds, Mrs. Lavender. I was just fighting like I was taught is all," Ashanti told Lisa as she placed bandages on the reporter's arm, midsection, and leg.

All this did was make the reporter scoff and turn her head, making the White Fang goon huff, but she supposed that sort of reaction was expected.

"Wilma, Ashanti, we're going to pick some of our friends up so get your weapons ready!" the duo's squad leader exclaimed, causing the duo to grab their rifles and bring them up to bear.

Stopping the aircraft at the side of the docks where Ebony and her unit who were surviving against the swarm of police officers, Sun, and Penny, but not making any significant process in driving them back, the warrior cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Ebony, to me!" Deshret roared causing Ebony to internally sigh in relief that someone came for them.

Barking at her subordinates to retreat, which they were more than happy to oblige, they sprinted toward the bullhead as fast as their legs could carry them. This, however, caught the attention of Sun who ducked underneath a swipe at his head which hit the unfortunate thug's ally and before they could process what happened, Sun knocked one of them out with a strike across the face with a slug amplified bash with his nunchuck. Downing another one by sweeping his legs and bringing his staff down on her midsection like a sledgehammer, the kung fu fighter looked to where the White Fang soldiers were retreating to and widened his eyes when he saw Blake in restraints.

"Mr. Wukong, we must act swiftly before the White Fang escapes with our allies!" Penny told Sun while flinging her blades at the bullhead, something Deshret maneuvered the aircraft out of the way of, which knocked Sun out of his stupor.

"R-Right!" Sun declared as he and Penny charged toward the aircraft with Penny blocking any saturation fire from Wilma and Ashanti to cover their ally's retreat with laughable ease.

Chaining some of her swords together, Penny fired a powerful, but precise lance of light at the bullhead at nearly undetectable speeds. While the squad leader managed to get their means of escape out of the way in time, Wilma wasn't as maneuverable as she was blasted right of the aircraft with a shocked scream and landed in the water with a big, painful splash.

"Wilma!" Ashanti cried out as she tried to see if she could reach down to get her, but they were too high up. Looking over at her squad leader who shook her head, the White Fang soldier balled one of her hands into a tight fist as Deshret shouted something down at Wilma.

"We'll come back for you, Wilma! Don't worry!" Deshret assured her subordinate who lifted a dazed hand out of the water and gave her thumbs up while giving Ashanti a kind smile so she wouldn't worry.

Ashanti weakly smiled back as Ebony and her unit leaped into the aircraft with the knight errant throwing several bombs at their pursuers while Ebony took careful aim as adrenaline furiously pumped through her veins, causing the world around her to seemingly grind to a near halt. Firing off many accurate shots that connected with the bombs, Ebony shielded her face with her forearm as the explosives detonated with earth shaking force thanks to the longsword wielder's semblance, sending shrapnel flying through the air and searing hot fire to blanket the surrounding area. Penny, despite her strength, was forced back as while her aura shielded her from getting impaled by shrapnel or getting turned to mulch by the kinetic energy, she still suffered damage to her frame like burn marks and slashes which shaved off parts of her synthetic skin. Ignoring this for the time being, Penny righted herself by firing the lasers from her swords in the opposite direction and gently floated down to the ground while Sun jumped through the inferno and leaped toward the aircraft while twirling his staff to block any any projectiles hurtling toward him. Locking eyes with Blake, he determinedly reached a hand toward the bullhead...only for it to fly away at the last moment. Cursing, Sun landed back on his feet and took several pot shots at the aircraft which didn't slow it down in the slightest as the warrior looked over her shoulder at her passengers and saw Ebony tending to the knight errant's wounds.

"Roman?" Deshret tersely inquired as Ebony placed a bandage over a gash on her subordinate's shoulder and wrapped some gauze around her slashed thigh.

"Captured," Ebony curtly responded as she wrapped another bandage around her subordinate's bruised midsection.

Nodding the squad leader, briefly looked at Ashanti whose face was buried in her hands before focusing on the path back to base.

"Then Adam is going to be pissed if only because Cinder is going to be as well," Deshret replied, which Ebony said nothing to as she patted her subordinate's shoulder and told her to rest up before sitting in the co-pilot's seat.

"Fucking great...thanks for coming back for us," Ebony said after a moment's pause.

The warrior smiled as she looked over her shoulder at the longsword wielder who, instead of resting, sharpened her undulating dagger on a whetstone while never taking her eyes off of Lisa and Blake.

"How's Lacey?" Deshret asked while gesturing with her head toward the knight errant who set her undulating dagger aside and proceeded to sharpen her longsword.

All the while, she made sure to emphasize the serrated edges on the blade which, rather than running along the full length of the sword, were located at the base to better catch oncoming weapons.

"She took some pretty bad hits, but she'll live. The old bitch is tough," Ebony quipped causing Lacey, without even looking up from sharpening her longsword, to playfully flip her off causing the Ebony and Deshret to chuckle.

"So it seems," Deshret replied as the first thing she would do after delivering the dust back to base and tending to Ashanti's emotional trauma was to draw up plans on how best to free her captured subordinates.