"You what?" Dexter Grif demanded. He and Midoriya were standing side by side, both shocked by what Harry and Percy told them the morning of their first day back. Why do they have to get drawn into other people's problems, Grif thought to him angrily. "You're the top fighter at Beacon Academy and yet you sign up for a retard's mission to take down a global terrorist organization all by yourselves. Have you no sense of self-preservation at all?"
Harry and Percy spared a glance to each other.
"Nope." Percy said.
"Guess not." Harry said.
"Aah! I don't believe this. I'm your team leader. I should be part of the decision making process." Grif gripped the side of his head, hissing in anger. What would Sarge do in a situation like this? As horrifying as the concept is, he was starting to see Sarge's view.
"We weren't saying you should come along." Harry added. "We're only saying we're going. You're welcome to tag along."
"Yeah, screw that. I'm still looking for the next thing to live for. And the first lunch back from school break, what do they do? They… violated the lunch hall." Grif let out a sob. "All that food, wasted. And for what? I'm not getting involved in their shit again. It's like I'm back in the Red Army."
"They are reckless for sure." Midoriya added, rubbing his chin. "No situational awareness at all."
"Yes, yes! What he said. We need to listen to him." Grif said, gesturing to him. Finally, somebody else who was sane!
"I think we should join them." Midoriya said, lowering his hand. Grif's jaw dropped open a bit. What the fuck was he thinking?
"Midoriya! You're supposed to be on my side." He whined.
"They're not wrong, Grif." Midoriya said, turning to his leader. "We know the White Fang are here in Vale. If we can capture one of them, or better, find one of their bases, we might be able to get something about them to help the authorities. If their combat proficiency is out there what it is here in Beacon, then it is very effective but also not considering for potential collateral damage. I'm going to keep them in check."
"You're serious." Grif whispered. What did he do for these guys to be so suicidal? "You're all crazy. You're fucking crazy!"
"Grif, we need you." Midoriya pleaded, stepping in front of him. "You demonstrated it on Merlot's Island. You're our pilot and I've seen you practice driving as a stress relief. If you drive half as good as you flew, then we would be able to get out of Beacon and back in before anyone knew we were gone. It'll be quick and smooth. Come on, you're our ticket to make this possible."
Grif looked from him to the Jackson twins, because let's face it, they're basically brothers at this point, and back. They really were serious. "Ugh, fine." Grif grumbled. "We just got back from vacation too."
"It's settled then!" Percy gave his stupid grin. "Operation Spymaster is alive."
"Spymaster?" Grif asked. "Sounds like a bad porno."
"Oh, so it's a porno you'd watch." Percy said
"Eat me!" Grif said.
"That's what she said!" Percy answered. Midoriya and Harry watched the banter, Midoriya turning a little green. Even Percy looked terrified once the words left his mouth. "Gods, I can't believe I said that out loud."
"Trust me, you'll get used to it." Grif waved him off, pulling on the jacket of his uniform. Was it just him or was his uniform feeling a little more saggy than usual? Must be my imagination, Grif thought to himself as he led his teammates out the door of their dorm.
"Morning, guys!" Ruby said, leading her teammates out too. Grif scrunched his nose when he saw Ruby and Yang; he was forced to stay at their house throughout their two-week vacation. Every day, he was bound and force-fed that poison they called salad. And yet, seeing the two sisters training out in the yard, Ruby in particular tending to the family dog, Tai gardening. And he swore to whatever deity existed in this stupid world, if he had to listen to Yang signing along to one more Achieve Men song, he would find his way back to Project Freelancer and somehow go back in time so the motherfucking Meta could crush his skull! Moving on from that, Grif had no idea where the mom was in all this, but it really was a stable family. He couldn't help but feel a twang of jealousy at that thought. Grif quashed that as soon as it came up; his family was all done now. All he could do was survive as he always had.
"It's way too early for your good mornings, Ruby."
Ruby had the audacity to giggle at his comeback. "You're so grouchy. Cheer up. The semester's only just begun." They walked alongside each other. Grif wasn't sure how or why, but something was different about them. What it was, Grif didn't have the patience to work out. "So," Ruby said, hand behind her back, "I'm guessing Percy and Harry informed you?"
"About your stupid plan?" Grif asked. "Yeah. And against my better judgement, we're coming with too."
"Yes!" Ruby fist pumped the air, swallowing a little when they reached the elevators and other teams starting to leave their dorms.
"What about Team JNPR? Are they coming along too?" Midoriya asked.
"Nope." Ruby replied, way too happy about this situation. "Just us."
Grif and Midoriya shared a look. Maybe he really was onto something with this whole supervisor role. They stepped into the elevator, Grif sighing as the doors closed. He already knew this was going to be a long and likely painful day.
Percy Jackson felt his head resting on the table, eyes closed. Last class of the day, thank the Gods. Normally, he wouldn't have even tried to pay attention at all, he would have just slept and that would be that, but Harry's ground rules were set. As painful as it was for his ADHD, he did have to admit he owed Harry something and if that meant pulling some of his weight, he would try to do it. He had no idea how much they had been brought to Goodwitch's office but it was enough for the sting to be there.
Percy tried, but Port's latest tale of how he fought some Grimm was like being set on fire from lava but encased in his skull, making all other sounds dulled. Percy lifted his head a bit to examine the room. Grif wasn't even trying, just straight snoring. Even Harry and Midoriya had their heads in their hands, trying desperately to pay attention. The great Beacon Academy, reduced to this. Really. Percy felt the wooden panel his head was on rattle and Percy looked over. He had to tilt his head up to look past Yang's impressive figure to see Jaune chatting Weiss up. Come on, man. Get a clue. Percy thought to himself. He couldn't hear what he was saying but it was likely flirting again.
Then, as if Percy thought his existance couldn't be bleaker, the electronic alarms went off. Percy shot up, throwing his stuff in his backpack. "Timed that one wrong, I guess." Port mused. "Well…" Percy had enough of this joke of a teacher, standing up.
"Weiss." Jaune's pleading voice said. "Did you hear me?"
She turned to him as Harry worked to wake Grif up. "No, no, no, and yes."
Percy winced a little at that harshness. Jaune may have been an idiot, but the inevitable result still hurt to hear. Jaune moaned, laying his head on the table as Ruby and Blake passed.
"One day." Yang said as she passed, rubbing his hair in the process.
"Never happen." Percy said, slapping Jaune's shoulder as he passed. That made Jaune moan a little louder. The sooner he gets that through his thick skull, the better. He practically sprinted out of the classroom, pushing other students aside as he got to the elevators. Until the doors closed on him. "Dang it!" He slammed a fist against it.
"Maybe my timing should have been better on the ground rules." Harry said, catching up to him with Midoriya at his side. Grif was huffing and puffing doing a sprint-walk to them. "I had this teacher when I was 12 who was worse than that, but it was too reminiscent of it."
"Reminiscent of that?" Midoriya asked, eyes wide and pointing to the class. "You're kidding."
"No. Gilderoy Lockhart. At least Port teaches something of value in his classes. Lockhart had more air in his classes than a hurricane." Harry shrugged. The elevator doors opened and Delph stepped inside.
"Ha! Losers." Grif called as he ran through the doors and the elevator slammed shut.
"You shouldn't provoke them like that." Harry said, shaking his head in disapproval.
"Meh. They've done to me before, often followed up with fatass remarks. That's how justice works, bitches!" Grif replied gleefully.
The elevator stopped on their door, letting them off. Team RWBY had only just reached their dorm room, pouring in. "Sorry, boys. No peeking." Yang said, winking at them before closing the door.
"U-U-Uh, sure." Midoriya said, stiff as a board and trembling. Percy pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Midoriya," Midoriya turned to Percy, "You really need to relax. They're just girls."
"Just girls?" Midoriya repeated as they walked down. "Before I started hero training, most girls wouldn't give me the time of day."
Percy stared at him for a moment. "Alright, that settles it. There's this big ball coming up…"
"Ugh." Harry moaned, dragging his feet. "Why did you have to remind me of that?"
"Hey, what's wrong with balls?" Percy asked.
"Nothing." Harry replied. "I don't want to talk about it."
Percy turned away then. He knew that tone all too well; it had to relate to his world. But for Harry to react that fast, it must have been really bad. They needed to catch up anyways, get updates on the search and everything. Maybe he could ask about it then. "Anyway, I've been pretty good about getting some of my friends dates for things like that. Maybe I can help."
"Doubtful." Midoriya said softly to the ground. They reached their dorm room and walked in and started getting changed. Percy made his way to his corner of the room. "No Huntsmen outfits." Midoriya said. Percy held his hand in mid-air about to grab for the case of armor he had. "If we're going to try and get anything out of this, we got to blend in with the populace."
"No weapons either?" Grif asked. "What are we supposed to use? Harsh language?"
Midoriya shook his head. "As long as it blends in."
"Sure. Blends in." Percy grumbled. Damn, he was really looking forward to trying it on. He really couldn't catch a break! Oh well. Percy got undressed real quickly, putting on a pair of jeans, a plain blue shirt and a black leather jacket.
"Where did you get that?" Harry asked while he was getting changed in the corner.
"I found it on my boat trip." Percy shrugged. "Some bikers were riding too fast along the cliffside and flew off. I picked them up and gave them a ride back to land. One of them was so grateful he gave me this. I kinda like it."
"Yeah, dunno about the black but the style's good." Harry replied, pulling out a new pair of round glasses as he put on a white shirt.
"How many of those glasses do you have?" Percy had to know. His old glasses blew up on the Airship so how did he get another pair so fast?
Harry shrugged. "Got some advice from Professor Oobleck to bulk-order glasses after class. Told me that they often break while on missions." He then pulled on a jeans jacket and pocketed a spare pistol he had. Percy couldn't hold it in, he started laughing. "Why are you laughing?"
"Sorry, you reminded me of someone." That someone being those teenagers in those stupid 90s TV show re-runs.
"Hey, that's looking pretty good." Midoriya said, having gone into the bathroom for privacy. "Wish I had something that blended in better." He was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt with a green sleeveless vest and green pants.
"Could be worse." Harry replied as he laced his shoes. "Could be Grif over there."
"What do… Oh Gods." Percy said, stopping when he saw Grif. He was wearing probably the largest shirt that was offered and there was still a little belly dangling below. He was wearing a button-down orange shirt with khaki shorts and sandals.
"What? Did I stain this shirt already?" Grif asked, his hands held out.
"No, not at all." Harry said, "We're just marveling at how well you'd blend into a crowd."
"Huh. Ice Bitch might have been onto something with this. Remind me later to thank her." Grif said, reaching under his bed where his armor was. Percy was going to protest until he saw Grif pull out a huge silver knife. "You like it? Tai got it for me. He insisted I replace the shiv I had so this here," he pointed it to them, "is my new shiv. Fear the shiv!"
"No complaints on our end." Percy said as Grif stuck it into his pants on the back. He'd really not like to get stabbed today by that, thank you.
"Are we ready?" Midoriya asked, slipping on his metal bracelets and clasping his boots together.
"I was born ready." Percy said, sheathing the sword at his hilt. Harry and Grif agreed as well.
"Let's go meet some fucks today!" Grif said, marching to the door and opening it. Percy followed close behind, trying not grimace at how that came out. Once they reached RWBY's door, he started banging on it. "Hey, are you ready or what?" The door opened and it wasn't any of the girls who opened the door. It was a blonde monkey Faunus with an open shirt exposing some decent abs.
"Uh, can you come back later?" He asked.
"Who are you? Are you in the middle of a panty raid or something?" Grif asked, pulling out his knife and pointing it at the Faunus's face.
"Hey, whoa! There's no need for that!" He protested, taking a step back.
"Let them in, Sun. They're going to be helping us." Blake's voice echoed from inside.
Sun turned back and opened the door. "Good reflexes there for a fatty." Sun said.
"Yeah? You should see what I'm capable of if I had my grenades with me." Grif replied stepping through the doorway.
"He's always like this." Percy said as he entered followed by Harry and Midoriya. Team RWBY were standing in a circle, wearing completely different outfits than they usually do. Weiss at least was wearing the white coat and boots she bought when they had that big shopping day but where the other girls got those outfits and why they thought it would not draw attention, only the Olympians knew. Though in Percy's opinion, Yang's outfit suited her the best. Aside from them, one other boy he didn't recognize was standing there stiffly. He had blue hair and goggles on his forehead and wore a red vest and black pants. He looked like those nerds Percy saw when he was in school years ago. The kids at Meriweather College Prep in particular came to mind. "Uh, mind filling me in on who you are?"
"Oh, sorry, we didn't introduce you." Ruby said, rubbing her head awkwardly. "This is Sun and this is… Neptune? They're transfer students from Haven Academy." She asked hesitantly. Percy stared at Neptune when he heard that name and acknowledged it. After months of hearing names inspired by colors, hearing his dad's Roman name caught him offguard.
"Nice to meet you?" Neptune said, clearly uncomfortable under Percy's stare.
"Percy, come on. We only just met them." Yang said.
"Hey, wait a minute." Neptune said, pointing to Grif to try and get away from Percy's attention. "I remember you. Aren't you the guy who was kneeling on the ground and sobbing after that food fight yesterday?"
"Shut up! I'm still getting over it." Grif said tearfully.
"Ohkay then." Sun said. "And this is?"
"That's Dexter Grif. He's Team Delph's leader. That's Percy, Harry, and Midoriya." Ruby said, pointing to each of them.
Sun seemed really surprised by that. Percy couldn't blame him, he himself was still surprised some days. "Never would have guessed. And really, what happened to not getting friends involved unless needed?" Sun asked to Blake.
"They're needed." Blake said shortly. That made Percy feel so, so special!
"Alright, guys. Let's focus here." She got them to spread out in a circle. "I'll go with Weiss to the CCT. Sun, you go with Blake. You said there were regular White Fang meetings? We need to figure out what they're up to at their monthly recruiting centers."
"You're sending them in alone?" Percy said incredulous. Is she mad, sending two in alone?
"Yeah, I think so. Faunus are really good at smelling humans and they're the only Faunus here soooo yeah, best not to alert them to us." She then turned to Percy. "And uh, I kinda forgot to consider what you'll be doing."
Percy sighed. This Ruby really likes getting ahead of herself, doesn't she? "We'll ride along on standby if anyone needs any help."
"Perfect! You do that." Ruby said, turning to Neptune. Was it just Percy or was Weiss happy to hang around Neptune? That certainly wasn't on Percy's expectations today. She then turned to him. "And Neptune, you go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner." To Percy's surprise, she actually pushed him to Yang. Weiss herself looked surprised by the idea.
"Actually, Ruby, why don't you go with Yang? After all, you are her sister." Weiss said as Neptune relaxed at Yang's side.
"But Weiss, who would you go with you, then?"
Weiss stuttered, trying to get out an answer. "I mean, I guess Neptune could come with me." She had a warm smile as she said that, raising a hand. Percy looked between the two and started laughing at the same time as Ruby. Holy crap, Weiss liking the dork? He would never have guessed!
The trip to Vale was a quiet one, the group taking the regular Airbus back into the kingdom. For Weiss Schnee, she was still miffed. Neptune was a bit of a flirt but Gods, he was so good looking. It helped that after years of being flirted on, it was nice to see somebody who didn't push it too far. As she thought that, she spared a glance to Harry. Jeans jacket on top of jeans. It was almost painfully plain to Weiss's eye so she looked away. Harry was a really sweet guy, yes, but Neptune, she had a good felling towards. The Airbus landed and they got out, going their separate ways. Weiss's shoulders drooped as she and Ruby walked together through the streets of Vale to the outskirts of town. This is where most of the technology and innovation was. It made some sense to Weiss's eye, but Atlas had it better, setting up the CCT towers in the central block so security can be better. "Wow!" Ruby said as the CCT came into view. It was a giant grey cylinder with windows all along the bottom level with smaller pillars on each of the four corners and holographic banners on the sides. "I forgot how big the transmit tower is up close."
"You should see the one in Atlas." Weiss said proudly. It really was a sight to behold, being seen even from the Schnee Manor.
"That was the first one, right?"
"Correct. Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit system to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War."
"Ooh, look at me." Ruby said, her voice deepening. Weiss turned back to glare at her leader. Was she trying to mock her? "My name is Weiss. I know facts. I'm rich." Yeah, she's trying to mock her.
"Don't be a past." Weiss said, trying to keep her voice calm from the annoyance building up in her. Besides, the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much! We could have just as easily made a call from the library."
"I know, but it's still so cool! Oh, I need to take a picture." Ruby reached into her pockets for her Scroll but in her speed, the Scroll slipped through her fingers and landed at the feet of another girl. She was wearing a very old-fashioned dress with green highlights and curly orange hair. Something about her felt wrong for some reason like she wasn't really there.
"Oh! You dropped this." The girl said picking up the Scroll.
"Penny?!" Ruby asked, her arms dropped to her sides.
"Ruby?" Penny asked, equally surprised. "Uuuhhh…"
"Penny, where have you been? We haven't seen you since that night at the docks." Weiss's eyes narrowed. So, this is that Penny? The one who massacred those White Fang soldiers? Weiss placed a hand on Myrtenaster. She wouldn't end up like those Faunus. She still had a lot of animosity to the White Fang but that was uncalled for.
"S-Sorry, I think you're confused." She lets out a hiccup as she tosses the Scroll to Ruby. "Uh, I got to go!" She walked away at that.
"What was that about?" Weiss asked, watching her go. And she thought Ruby was awkward or Midoriya around girls for that matter.
"I don't know but I'm going to find out." Ruby said. "You go make your call, I'll catch up later."
"Ruby, wait!" Weiss called. What happened to sticking together? But Ruby wouldn't listen, she sprinted off after her, rose petals left behind. She scoffed in disgust. Sometimes, she really was a dunce. Weiss turned back to the tower. "Guess I'm on my own." If only Neptune or Harry were with her now. Weiss started walking when she bumped into someone who she hadn't noticed before. "Hey, watch it!"
"I think you should watch it next time, girlie." A deep, manly voice replied. Weiss looked up at who it was and her jaw dropped. Standing above her was a man who had to be at least 6 feet tall with the broadest shoulders Weiss had ever seen in her life. He was wearing a grey worker's uniform with a hardhat on his head and a cigar in his mouth. "Want a hand?" He held out one of his arms. Weiss stared at it, how the veins were popping in them. His arm alone had to be wider than Weiss's own trunk! She accepted it and pulled her up. For someone so strong, he was very good at controlling his strength. As she stood up, she could make out more details about him. She knew she had never met this man once in her life, she would remember such an occasion, but something about his stare was very familiar to her. "You mind helping me out for a second?"
"Of course." Weiss said, half-whisper and half-statement.
"Could you please tell me where I could find the hatch to the power center? It's my first day on the job, you see, and I wasn't given a map for diddly squat."
"Of course." Weiss said, pointing to the closest pillar. "Power outlets can be found there. My partner wanted to study every inch of this once so I know the area well."
"I really appreciate it." He pocketed his cigar, thankfully. She really didn't want to smell that today. "You can call me Ben Richards."
"Weiss Schnee." Weiss replied, cautiously. White hair, snow flake shown proudly. How did he not guess who she was?
"Really?" He said, grinning. "No need for the cold shoulder, Your Highness. I'm going." He took his tools and left without another word. Weiss watched him as he left. Was this how people saw her or how she sounded? Maybe Ruby was right, she did need to ease up. Weiss spared a final glance before entering the CCT tower base. She strolled through the glass doors which automatically opened up. She walked past the wooden tables with people talking to whoever was on the other end with earplugs connected to the tables, even past the green-glowing central console used for long-distance communications. She even saw the rabbit Faunus Velvet with her teammates at the central consoles as Weiss passed. She went instead for the elevators on the far end of the tower.
"Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?" The automated voice in the elevator asked.
"I'd like to go to the Communications Room, please." Weiss said, laying a hand on her hip. This was where the long-distance meetings or more formal calls were made.
"Of course. Could you please place your Scroll on your terminal to verify your ID?" Weiss did so, waiting for only a moment. "Perfect. Thank you, Ms. Schnee." Weiss frowned, trying and failing to give the best smile she could. She was going to talk with the company so soon after coming back from Atlas. By the Gods, she wished she had her brother's ability to smile when it counted. He's like a little snake like that, able to say and look any way he needed to at the right time. She doubted even father could have done as well as Whitley on some occasions. Weiss was broken from her thoughts as the elevator doors opened. Weiss stepped off, going towards the circular console where a digital hologram of a woman was working.
"Welcome to the Beacon Cross Continental Transmit Center. How may I help you?" The hologram asked.
"I need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas." Weiss said formally.
"Of course. If you could head over to Terminal 3, I'll patch you through."
"Thank you." Weiss made her way past Beacon students and businessmen alike for the terminal. She plugged in the cords and placed the pods in her ears. Weiss let out a sigh as the screen booted up. This was the part she was dreading the most.
A woman with short brown hair appeared on the screen now with the SDC symbol behind her. "Thank you for calling the Atlas…" She started then paused her script. "Oh! Ms. Schnee. Good afternoon." She tried to put on a smile herself but Weiss could see now nervous she was as well. "Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well. Your brother Whitley is currently on call with the Mistrali consulate if you'd like to talk with him."
"No, thank you." Weiss said, putting on her best smile, her vision a little squinty. She had enough of father-daughter time during those two weeks for her fill. She honestly couldn't believe her brother was talking with someone as big as the Mistrali consulate. Why would they want to talk with him? Did it have to do with what kept him so busy she barely saw him during her break? Not that she was complaining though. As much as she would like to Winter, though, today she would have to pass. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list." She placed her Scroll in the console.
The receptionist watched the requests appear on her screen. "I see." She said, raising an eyebrow. "If you don't mind my asking, may I ask what this is for?"
"School project." Weiss replied, still keeping up her smile. "It's a study on Huntsmen maneuvers and how such circumstances can be prevented."
"Um, there's some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am." The receptionist said, her mask of joy now fully gone.
"Well, then, I'll be sure to treat them with care." Weiss said
"Right." She really didn't look convinced by that, but Weiss didn't care. She came here to get the job done. "Very well. The data's being transferred to your Scroll now."
"Wonderful!" Weiss added in a little peppiness in her voice to make it more convincing. "That will be all then."
"Are you sure you wouldn't like for me to patch you through to your father before you go? I know he'd make time to see you. I've also been notified that your brother just got off his call too."
At the mentions of both of them, Weiss's smile slipped. She brought it back up as she said, "Yes, I'm sure."
"Well, then. Have a nice day." The receptionist gave her own smile as the transmission was cut. Weiss's smile slipped. Thank the Gods, it was done. She pulled out her Scroll and pocketed it. She would examine what she found tonight with her team. She stood up and made her way back to the elevator.
"Well, glad that's over." Weiss stopped in her tracks. That voice was so familiar. It was like Ruby's voice but older and had a higher pitch. She turned to the source; it was a woman with the same black hair with red tips as Ruby's wearing but longer and wearing a red dress. She stepped on the elevator.
"Excuse me!" Weiss said, raising a hand. She got a glimpse of a silver eye as the elevator door slammed shut. What was Ruby doing here? Wasn't she chasing after Penny? Weiss saw another elevator where the doors opened and Weiss ran for it, pressing the ground level key. "Come on, come on!" Weiss said, slapping the button when the doors finally closed. Thankfully, no prompts were required as the elevator started speeding down. Weiss had never met someone else with silver eyes. Was this just a coincidence? No, the hair and voice were too similar to be a coincidence. So why was she pretending to be here? The doors finally opened and Weiss turned to look. The doors were already open. Weiss turned to the front entrance. There she was, walking out the door. "Ruby, wait!" Weiss shouted, sprinting between the lines of tables to try and catch up. The woman turned a corner, Weiss would be able to catch her. The doors slid open as Weiss ran outside, trying to find her. But Ruby was nowhere to be found. Weiss dialed Ruby's number, hearing it ring. Weiss couldn't hear a receiving call though. "Weiss? Now's not a good time." Ruby's voice came through.
"No, it is." Weiss said. "I just saw you leaving the Transmit tower."
"That's not possible." Ruby said. "I'm downtown, still trying to get Penny to open up." A ding, and Weiss saw the picture Ruby sent. It was indeed downtown, the new Atlesian Knight 200s father spent a good chunk of her break talking about being debuted for the world to see. Right next to a Paladin. "Weiss, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Ruby." She then hung up, staring at the picture. "Am I going crazy?" Weiss asked herself, staring at the picture. She then scrolled back to one she took while running. No, the woman was there. It wasn't some hallucination. Whatever it was, Weiss was going to get to the bottom of this. A Ruby look-alike through town? Vale might not be able to handle it!
"Huh, that was weird." Ruby said as she hung the phone up.
"Um, Ruby, maybe we should go somewhere else." Penny said. Ruby saw Penny staring at two Atlas soldiers with blue highlights, one of them pointing Penny out. Without a word, she turned back and running away.
"Penny. Wait! Where are you going?" Ruby called. What was going on that alarmed her so much? Ruby guessed it still had to do with the killings at the docks, but she disappeared. Did she break out of prison or something? Ruby saw the soldiers running for her too. Oh, crap! Ruby activated her semblance.
"Joe, down here. She went this way!" She heard one of the soldiers say. They needed to go faster if they were going to escape. Ruby saw a wooden platform suspending wooden crates. Perfect! Ruby grinned as she unfurled Crescent Rose, cutting down some of the pillars and spilling the crates behind her. They couldn't outrun them now, but there was something Ruby could do.
"Hold on!" Ruby shouted, catching up to Penny. She placed both feet against the wall and with a single burst of semblance, pushed off. She caught Penny who watched in surprise as Ruby closed her eyes against the wind. Unfortunately, with only one burst like that, it could only last so long. Ruby felt her shoulder rub against the concrete and a second later, Ruby had landed in the middle of the street. Ruby forced herself to her feet, hearing a car horn blaring. Ruby held her arms over her face. Was this the end? She felt herself shoved aside. She saw Penny standing where she did, her hands raised. "Penny, no!" Ruby held out a hand, but to her shock, the truck collided with Penny's hands, coming to a halt.
Once the truck stopped, Penny kept running. "Penny, wait!" Ruby called out. At last, she did stop. "What's going on? Why are you running? How did you do that? How did you use the blades so well on the docks?"
"I-I can't talk about it. Nothing's wrong!" She gave a hiccup.
"Penny. If there's something wrong, I can help you!"
"No, no, no. You don't understand."
"Try me. Please!" Ruby pleaded. Nothing made sense to her. She desperately needed to know!
"You're my friend, yes?" Penny asked after a long while of silence. "You promise you're my friend!"
"I promise." Ruby said softly.
"Ruby… I'm not a real girl."
Ruby tilted her head in confusion. What was that supposed to mean. All she could let out was "Oh."
"What do you think? Think they'd have any luck at all?" Harry Potter asked. They were all sitting at a table at one of the local noodle bars for dinner. Behind them rested a large, very beat-up red van that they had commandeered after finding it abandoned on their way in.
"They're stubborn girls. They'll find something." Midoriya said as he sucked down some of his noodles. The way he used those two wooden chopsticks was artful.
"It's been several hours." Percy said as he used a fork for his noodles, same as Harry. "Why haven't we heard from them yet?"
"Dunno." Harry shrugged. He did have to admit that when he wasn't the one doing the investigating, he was getting jittery regarding thoughts that something went wrong. Something, anything, everything. It was maddening.
Midoriya returned his focus on his noodles.
"They're not trained investigators." Grif said, not even trying to use either and just draining the bowl with large gulps. "We should be out there helping out."
"But we're not." Percy said, twitching a little. Percy wanted to be out there as much as Harry himself did. "Let's try and talk about something else." He turned to Harry. "What did you do for your break, Harry?"
Harry gulped down some noodles, thinking on it a little. He got too much in that bite, though, and started choking on it. It tasted alright, very flavorful, but man did it burn! "Sorry. I went back to Mistral and stayed with my godfather. He taught me some tricks for Huntsman training and flying."
"Is he a good flyer?" Grif asked, sounding interested.
"Not really, but he and my dad were friends and he was a great flier. I want to be half as good as him." Harry said. "You've done good teaching me, Percy, but I…" Harry swallowed. This was harder to get out than he thought. "I don't have the best experience with using a sword. I feel clumsy every time I use it."
"Gotcha." Percy didn't look particularly happy by the admission but he thankfully didn't press further.
"But being in the air, if I wasn't on the ground training I was in the air. It feels like freedom to me."
"Huh. Everybody's got their kicks." Grif said, taking another big gulp from his tipped bowl. Harry glanced to the elderly man running the stand who was glaring at Grif, crossed arms and all. Apparently, that's not the right way to have noodles.
"Yeah? What do you do for kicks? I mean, aside from being an arse and annoying people?"
Grif took another gulp and set the bowl down. "I like to drive. There's vehicles in the Beacon Academy parking lot and I take them out on the track. Speed is my game, not the ladies'" Harry laughed a little at that, looking back down at the bowl. "You know, I'm looking forward to getting back and getting some sleep. The nightmares have been getting bad lately."
Harry stopped chewing, turning to look at Grif again. "What kind of nightmares?" Midoriya asked, also setting his chopsticks down.
"I must have seen a really bad movie recently because some bastard's been stalking my dreams lately." Grif said, setting the now-empty bowl down. "I mean, I can't remember the last time I dreamed at all. Yet, these last few weeks, some asshat named Faraday's been appearing in them."
Harry stared at him. "Faraday? As in Russell Faraday?"
None of the boys spoke for a moment, just staring at Harry. "How the fuck did you know that?" Grif demanded, rather loudly.
Harry shushed him, turning to the old man running the stand. "I think we're good to go. Can we have our bill please?" The old man grunted, giving the machine to Harry. He examined it, trying to figure out how to work it.
"I got it." Midoriya took it from him, and pulled out some metal card, placing it against the surface. It dinged and Midoriya handed it back. "Thanks."
"Good night to you, boys. Good luck." He said.
Harry nodded, getting up and making his way to the van. "Shotgun!" Harry said.
"Shotgun!" Percy called, realizing he was late. "Crap!"
"Got you now!" Harry grinned as he sat in the passenger seat. Midoriya and Percy got into the spacious and empty back and Grif in the pilot's seat.
"Okay, do I mutter in my sleep. How did you know that name?" Grif demanded.
"I've been dreaming of him too." Harry blurted out. "The nap I took before we reached Dr. Merlot's Island? That's when it started for me. He wanted me to give him that message those Can-Toi creatures gave the madman."
"No shit." Grif said, staring at him for a but before looking forward. "My dream had him hanging me upside down on an ice shelf. He wanted me to do tell him something about Ozpin and two strangers that had just shown up lately. Fuck if I knew anything."
Harry turned to Percy who looked stricken. "What about you, Percy?"
Percy shook his head. "I always have bad dreams, but they've been getting worse. My last one had Faraday holding me by the neck. We were standing out front of some place he said he seems to really like. Marsten House, I think he said? Yeah. So he held my neck as these people with pale skin and glowing eyes left the house. He wanted me to tell him details of Beacon Academy like entrances or exits and if I didn't, I'd be food for them."
Harry's breath hitched as he heard that. If those are the sorts of dreams Percy's used to, then no wonder he's always falling asleep in class. "What did you say?"
"Nothing. I'd seen enough bad people in my life to know when not to say anything, and that smile he gave rocketed him to the top of my list which is saying something since I have a long list to speak of. They never got to me, I woke up before that happened."
The three boys now turned to Midoriya. "What about you, Midoriya?"
Midoriya looked between them, eyes wide. "I can't believe it's not just me. I've seen him last night too. I've seen All Might, my mother, my father, everyone I've ever known lying dead, stacked high like a mountain. He came to stand by my side, said he could save all them all. What he asked in return is that I use my strength to help him. I don't dream usually and this one felt so real. I was scared."
"What the hell is going on?" Grif demanded, still staring at Midoriya. His usual sass was gone, now replaced with actual fear.
"My guess is that this is someone tied to the White Fang." Harry said after a moment of silence. "I think they're trying to get a foothold at Beacon for some reason."
"We may not have agreed." Percy added. "But if you're right, then other students will get it too. With how angry he is, I can imagine people like Cardin doing something stupid and helping him."
That was a thought Harry really hoped wasn't the case, but now that he was confronted by it, it was undeniable. Before any of them could answer the unsaid question, their not-Scrolls started ringing. Grif picked up one of them and static came through before the voice sharpened.
"Everyone, if you can hear me, we need backup." Blake's voice came through the radio. She was cut off at the end by Sun's frantic screaming.
"Big robot! And it's big. Really big!"
"Come on, Grif. Step on that pedal!" Harry said, stomping on Grif's foot. It was go time!
"Hey! Keep your body on your side of the car!" Grif shouted as the van sped off across the highway. As Grif was so fond of saying, they were probably heading into some serious bollocks now.