Mountain Glenn (Night)
"Is that Crescent Rose?" Sapphire asked as he ran up to the crimson blade.
"Ruby wouldn't leave this behind. At least, not willingly." Russo said, looking into the large pit. "I can sense her down there. I think she and Welter fell."
"Down there?" Weiss asked, gazing into the pit as well. "If they fell, then why haven't they gotten out yet?"
"Maybe they were captured." Ivy said, worried.
"Oh, my." Oobleck said in realization. "Of course, of course, of course, of course!"
"What is it?" Blake asked.
"How could I be so stupid!?" the professor said, pacing around the group. Subconsciously, Russo raised his hand. Seeing this, Ivy pulled it back down to prevent her Leader from making a fool of himself.
"Dr. Oobleck, what's wrong?" Yang asked.
"Mountain Glenn, yes!" the man said, approaching the blonde. "An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by Grimm." The man turned to Blake. "Previously home to thousands of people." He then turned to Russo. "Working people, commuting to the city, the main city, developed a subway system to the inner city!" He now faced Weiss. "Grimm's attacks increase, population in danger, now desperately looking for shelter!" He turned to Sapphire. "City evacuates into metro tunnels and what do they find?" He crouched down to face Zwei. "The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"
"Holy sheep." Russo said, figuring out what the doctor was saying. "Do you mean that-"
"Yes, we are not just looking for an underground crime network. We are looking for an UNDERGROUND crime network!" Oobleck exclaimed, surprising everyone.
"They've been working in caves?" Blake asked, wondering what the people of this city were thinking.
"No, no. Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion." Oobleck explained. "It worked for a short period of time thanks to aggressive perimeter defense and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom. Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to help protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start. As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival: They took up shelter beneath the city. In massive caves that had been cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface."
"So, an underground village?" Yang asked.
"In a matter of speaking, yes. A safe haven." Oobleck answered. "Until...an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterrainean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb."
"If your friends are down there, we must get them back." Oobleck declared, getting his weapon ready.
White Fang Underground Base (Night)
"Wow! You are much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool of yours." Torchwick said, standing before Ruby, who was on the floor. The girl tried attacking, but Roman just moved out of the way, letting her fall on her face. "You know, Percy, I needed this." he told one of his faunus subordinates, who gave a thumbs-up in response. "But seriously, how did you find this place, Red?" he asked Ruby, crouching down to her level.
Grunting in exertion, the Rose sped away with her semblance, leaving Roman flustered for a moment before he looked behind himself to find the teenager running away. Pointing his weapon at her, he shot the handle of his cane like a grappling hook, which caught Ruby by her hood.
"I see you've got some tricks up your sleeve." Roman said, pulling the girl back toward him. "Let me make this clear: We're not through yet." Suddenly, an explosion went off in one of the nearby buildings, getting the thief's attention. "Oh, what the- Perry, if you and the boys would take care of that? Kinda in the middle of something." The faunus and his men obliged, seemingly unaware that his boss forgot his name.
Another explosion went off, this time with a vibrant red color. Six White Fang members ran from the site, shooting at something that Roman and Ruby couldn't see. After a few minutes, Russo, Blake, Weiss, Ivy, Yang, Oobleck, Sapphire, and Zwei ran out from behind the building. Seeing her friends, Ruby jumped onto Roman's head and used the man's cranium as a trampoline to get to her Team quicker.
"Somebody kill her!" Roman yelled, shooting at the girl as she sped away. Thankfully, Ruby managed to evade all the bullets, angering Torchwick to the point that he nearly broke his own weapon. "Attach this cart and spread the word: We're starting the train." Torchwick said to a White Fang grunt.
"But we're not finished!" the grunt protested.
"Do it or you're finished." Roman threatened, aiming his weapon at the man's neck.
Meanwhile, Ruby was still running. Eventually, she was cut off by four White Fang members, who all aimed their guns at her. However, they were all taken out when they were frozen into a block of solid ice. "Ruby!" Russo, Yang, and Sapphire said at the same time, hugging their youngest sibling.
"Where's Welter?" Weiss asked, worried for her brother's safety.
"I don't know but listen. Torchwick's got all sorts of weapons and robots down there." Ruby informed. "Androids, mechs, they're all loaded onto the train cars!"
"Then Welter's probably there too." Russo said, making Weiss nervous.
"Ah, ridiculous." Oobleck said, dismissing the girl's claim. "These tunnels are sealed. The tracks lead to a dead end."
"Get to your places! We are leaving now!" Roman said over the speakers, followed by the sound of metal scraping against metal.
"Tell that to them." Sapphire said, looking at the train departing.
"We need backup. I'm calling Jaune." Ruby said, getting her Scroll. Unfortunately, there was no signal. "I can't get through!"
"So, what do we do?" Weiss asked, turning to Oobleck.
"I believe we have only one option." the doctor said.
"We're stopping that train!" Ruby declared, running to the train with her teammates and siblings.
White Fang Secret Train (Night)
Welter awoke to find himself tied to a metal chair, and before him stood a fox Faunus wearing a White Fang Mask. "Where's Ruby?" the Schnee asked, his eyes glowing green. His response was a punch to the jaw. If it weren't for his Aura, it would've broken from the impact.
"I don't have to tell you anything, Schnee." the man said, glaring.
'This is just great.' Welter mentally blanched, looking around. He seemed to be in a train car, and there was very little he could use to break free from his bindings. In the corner of the room, he saw his spear.
The Faunus saw where the boy was looking, then smiled in cruel satisfaction. "So, you want your little stick back?" he asked rhetorically, walking toward the weapon and picking it up. "Too bad, brat." Connor's eyes widened when the Faunus broke the cane in two, tearing it apart with his bare fists.
"You're going to regret that." the Schnee said, his eyes glowing bright green.
"Am I now?" the man asked, smirking confidently. His fists started glowing orange as he approached the white-haired boy. "I've wanted to do this for a long time." he said before delivering an explosive punch to Welter's stomach, nearly breaking the boy's Aura. "You like that? My semblance makes my punches as powerful as a wrecking ball. Sound familiar?"
That description of his attacker's semblance made Welter's eyes go wide. "You worked in the mines." he realized. "Don't you get that I'm not like my father?" This question earned him another punch to the face, sending him flying into the metal wall.
"Don't play the innocent card! You humans are all the same!" the faunus said, lifting his shirt. On his stomach was a brand that read "S.D.C.". "Your daddy gave me this just before I managed to get out of that hellhole."
"I'm sorry for what happened to you, but is this really the way to fix it?" Welter pleaded, trying anything he could to get out of this situation.
"If it means there's one less Schnee in the world, I don't care what the consequences are." the faunus said with a grim smile as his fists turned orange again.
White Fang Secret Train (Morning)
"Hurry, children! We must find Mr. Schnee and get to the front of the train!" Oobleck said after the group managed to get onto the train's roof.
"Uh, professor?" Weiss said, trying to get the man's attention.
"Doctor." Oobleck clarified.
"What's that?" the heiress asked, pointing to an opened hatch on the train's roof. Inside was a machine with several red and blue wires coming out of it.
"Well, I can tell you what it isn't. Something that won't explode in a few minutes or so." Russo said, frightening everyone.
"We've got baddies!" Ruby said, making the group turn to the other cars of the train. Dozens of White Fang members were getting onto the roof, ready to fight.
"Well I didn't expect them to go-" Oobleck was cut off when the bomb started beeping. "Easy on us. Time to go!" He said, making everyone except Blake run to the next car. "Blake, detach the caboose. It will kill us all!"
"On it!" the faunus said, jumping down to the couplers of the train. She was about to slice through, but was surprised when they detached on their own. "It decoupled itself!" she shouted to Oobleck.
"What?" the man said, confused.
"I guess they really don't want us on this train." Yang said just before the caboose exploded.
"That's not good." Oobleck said.
"And neither is this!" Ivy said, standing next to another opened hatch with Weiss and Ruby.
"Wait, there's another bomb?" Sapphire asked, horrifying Oobleck.
The green-haired man ran across the roof, going to the next car down. He opened the hatch there, finding another explosive. "They all have bombs!"
The car the group was on started to decouple itself, forcing them all to move to the one Oobleck was on. "This doesn't make sense!" Yang said as the White Fang members drew closer.
"Get the humans!" a deer faunus yelled.
Knowing that a fight couldn't be put off any longer, Team RWBY and the remaining members of Team XISR started battling the White Fang members. Russo fired off a few concussive blasts of fire from long range, then threw his sword at a crowded area before detonating it, knocking around 10 of the grunts off the train. Sapphire, seeing his brother defeat so many enemies at once, tried to one-up him. He stabbed his scythe into the floor he was standing on, creating a film of ice that covered everything in front of him. The White Fang members slid off the roof, not used to fighting on icy ground.
The attack managed to hit Russo as well, making him lose his footing before he stabbed his sword into the ice so there was something he could hold onto. Huffing in anger, he melted the ice below him and turned to his brother with his eye glowing red. "Why'd you attack me too!?" he yelled.
"It was an accident, I swear." Sapphire said, smiling. He then continued battling, shooting ice shards at his opponents.
"Don't think this conversation is over!" Russo shouted, still angry.
Face-palming, Ivy tried to focus back on the task at hand. She got up close to a group of White Fang members, then slashed them all with Fire Dust. Seeing a few more left, she swapped the Fire Dust out with Gravity Dust and slashed at the air in front of her, creating a wave of blue/purple energy that shot at the remaining White Fang grunts, repelling them all off the train when it landed.
Oobleck turned back at the car that was just decoupled, watching as it exploded. The force of the detonation broke a hole in the ceiling of the cave, letting a few Grimm come through, including a large King Taijutu. They all started moving toward the train, chasing it. "Oh, dear." the man said, finally understanding the White Fang's intentions. "They're leading Grimm to the city!" he told the rest of the group. "It's the cars! They detach and explode, making openings for the Grimm!"
"That's insane!" Blake said.
"No offense, but how smart did you think they would be when they're trying to ram a train into a dead end?" Russo asked rhetorically.
"We have to hurry!" Oobleck said. "Russo, Sapphire, Ivy, Yang, Weiss, and Blake will go below and try to disarm the bombs and find Welter."
"What about us?" Ruby asked.
"We're going to stop this train." Oobleck said, repeating what Ruby said earlier.
"Yeah, I know. I said that." Ruby said as the rest of the group went into the train.
She, Oobleck, and Zwei all ran as fast as they could to get to the start of the train. "Up ahead!" Oobleck warned. An Atlesian Paladin was running toward them, showing no signs of stopping unless it turned the group into paste. Oobleck, seeing this, took a drink from his thermos, which then transformed into a large bat with a flame burning at the end. Zwei jumped up, allowing the doctor to strike him, turning the canine into a living fireball that destroyed the Paladin as soon as it made contact.
White Fang Secret Train (Morning)
"I guess this is what we've trained for." Yang said after entering the train.
"Here, this should help." Weiss said, handing a case of Dust to Ivy and Blake.
As they ran through the first car, their path was blocked by Neo. "You guys go ahead. This one's ours." Yang said, looking to her younger brother. Sapphire's eyes were glowing bright blue, and frost was accumulating on the ground he was standing on. The rest of the group ran past Neo, who was unable to stop them thanks to Yang firing off a dust round.
"Time to die, Shorty!" Sapphire yelled, swinging his weapon at the heterochromatic girl. Neo simply moved out of the way, dodging the attack. Angered, the boy kept swinging, leaving behind ice particles that remained in the air. The particles then shot at Neo, who deflected them with her umbrella before sitting down on a crate, smirking at the boy.