"So lemme get this straight… While you guys were out and about in Vale, you stumbled upon a crime scene investigation, which had Weiss call out the White Fang, which then led to Blake trying to defend the Fang as not being all bad…"
"Yeah…" Yang confirmed.
"And when they finally settled down, a monkey faunus was seen running away because he was a stowaway and started the argument back up?"
"That's right…" Weiss said.
"Which carried on all the way back to Beacon, culminating in Blake confessing her identity as a faunus and ex-White Fang member before running off?"
"Yeah, that about sums it up…" Ruby admitted.
"And NONE of you figured it out that she's been a faunus in hiding this ENTIRE TIME?"
"Er… no?" Weiss admitted sounding like she wasn't sure of her answer. "Wait a minute… an EX-White Fang member? You knew?!"
And you're supposed to be the 'smart' one…
"Yes, I knew the entire time," I admitted with a sigh while pinching the bridge of my nose. "And before you ask, no, she didn't tell me. It was kind of obvious from the get-go…"
"How?!" Weiss demanded.
"First, her bow twitches. That's where her cat ears are. Second, her eyes shine in the dark and her pupils expand and contract similarly to a cat's. And third, she wasn't really doing herself any favors by not going under a fake name. Four, I found out her connections while doing a paper for Dr. O's and saw that her parents are the founders of the White Fang, but stepped down in favor of leading Menagerie after a massacre instigated by your father, which, by the way, was the turning point in the Fang to go down a more violent path. Finally, I know she isn't with the Fang anymore, because if she was, you'd be long dead by now." I flatly explained, holding up a finger for each point. "My guess is that Blake left when the Fang started targeting innocent civilians just trying to get by."
Weiss, thankfully, had the decency to look ashamed as she considered my words.
"But why would she hide all this?" Ruby asked innocently.
"Because of me…" Weiss murmured before plopping down on her bed while burying her face in her hands. "I was so caught up with how the White Fang was practically at war with my family, I never considered faunus in a positive light as 'people'. I was no better than someone like Cardin…"
"Don't be too hard on yourself," I told the heiress. "We only truly know and understand our own experiences."
I then turned my attention to my team and the Xiao-Long Rose sisters.
"You guys stay here with Weiss. I'll find Blake and bring her back." I ordered. "It'll be easier if I do this alone. Blake might freak out if everyone shows up."
And with that, I made my way outside and considered my options. The bullheads were down for the night, so that's out… I guess I could fast travel via thunderbolt… Eh, why not? It's easier and WAY faster.
Making sure that the coast was clear, I zapped myself over to one of Vale's parks and surprised myself by spotting Blake going into a café almost immediately.
Well that was easy… Almost embarrassingly so… Oh well, may as well follow her inside. Thank goodness I'm brewing a thunderstorm to hide my arrival so nobody saw me appear or paid me any mind when I rushed into the café.
Blake was already seated inside with a drink and some pastries. She also happened to be conversing with a blonde and tanned monkey faunus. Blake didn't seem to be too enthused by his presence, but was speaking to him regardless.
Then she spotted me and her face lit up, before paleing again as she saw my expression. The storm outside was now in full swing with thunder and hail.
'There is no escape for you now…'
Putting on a more "friendly" face, I seated myself at the faunus' table. "Hey, Blake… Who's your friend?"
(-
-)
"...Okay… I appreciate your 'help,' but please. Drop the flirting." I told Sun, my new "friend." He's cute, sure, but not exactly my type. "I've already got someone…"
While not exactly one hundred percent accurate, it was true. From a certain point of view. Jaune and I have been sort of a thing for a while, just not officially. Then again, maybe I should have a talk with him soon to change that. I don't have anything against "sharing" per say, but I definitely don't want Pyrrha thinking she can steal him away and keep him all to herself.
"And where is he now?" Sun seemed undeterred as he replied.
"Probably back at Beacon from his extra credit camping trip for one of his teammates," I answered.
"And who's here for you right now?" He smugly asked, waving his monkey tail behind himself.
Resisting the sudden urge to throw steaming hot chai in his face and cause a scene, I elected to restate my lack of interest more clearly.
"You're not my type." I stated, matter-of-factly.
"Oh, so what's your type then?" He challenged, unaware of the man who had just entered the café.
"He is…" I nodded towards my unofficial boyfriend. Then I saw the less than pleased look on his face that reminded me of my father's when he was disappointed in me. Uh-oh…
Jaune's expression quickly shifted to one of mischievous glee when he spotted Sun at the table before sitting himself down.
"Hey Blake," he greeted. "Who's your friend?"
Sun nearly jumped out of his seat in surprise. And I could see why. Jaune was wearing a lightly rained on red t-shirt that hugged his torso and really brought out the massive muscles of his arms and pecs.
Sun was stunned into silence for a moment as he registered the biceps that could probably crush his head like a watermelon with zero effort.
"Oh! Ummm… Hey, dude… Name's Sun. Sun Wukong!" The monkey faunus nervously introduced himself.
"Jaune Arc. Thanks for babysitting our little runaway," he thanked him while teasing me.
"Uh, yeah! No problem!" Sun was starting to relax in Jaune's presence.
"I guess you're not that bad for a stowaway…" Jaune then added before turning to me. "I've cleared things up with Weiss. You can come back to Beacon now."
"Oh! Thanks…" I shook my surprise away. How did he manage that? "But I can't. Not yet."
Jaune said nothing but raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Sun was just telling me about a Dust shipment coming in tonight." I explained. "I need to see for myself if the White Fang really is behind these robberies and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am no longer with them."
"To yourself? Or Weiss?" Jaune asked, his expression was now one of sympathy. Or compassion. It was difficult to tell with Jaune, since they seemed to go hand in hand for him.
"That's what I intend to find out." I answered, knowing there was no stopping him from helping out.
"Fair enough," he nodded before looking back outside. "And wouldn't you know it, the storm's gone."
And sure enough, it was.
(--)
Blake and I were situated on top of some giant shipping crate as we staked out the scene where the robbery-to-be was likely going to happen while Sun went to go do some "reconnaissance."
"Anything yet?" The monkey boy asked as he hopped up with an arm full of assorted fruit. I shook my head in reply while Blake glared at him.
"Do you always break the law so casually everywhere you go?" She grumbled.
"Hey! I left some cash at the stall!" Sun exclaimed with false indignation before tossing me an apple.
'Hmmm… Fuji… My favorite…'
"And didn't you used to be a part of a cult?" He shot back.
Blake's ears flattened under her bow. Too soon, bro. Too soon…
Before she could continue the dialogue, she cut herself off as a midsized airship landed. Faunus men and women in matching uniforms wearing grey Grimmlike masks began pouring out and set to work.
Blake's disappointed face told me everything I needed to know.
"I'm sorry, Blake." I said as I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks. Deep down, I think I knew that this was the case." She admitted. "I guess I just didn't want to be right…"
Her eyes then narrowed.
"What is HE doing here?" The cat faunus hissed.
Looking back at the site, a human with a cane, bowler hat, red hair, white coat, and what I can only assume was twenty pounds of makeup (because there was NO WAY he naturally looked like that), stepped out and into view. I recognized him from Ruby's description and from the news. Roman Torchwick.
Looks like he was there to oversee the operation.
"Okay, this seems to be a bit bigger than we anticipated," I began. "While I call the cops, Blake, I need you to-!"
I cut myself off when Blake decided to jump down there and move to apprehend the infamous thief.
"Dammit woman! What are you doing?" I hissed to myself as Blake foolishly decided to hold her cleaver against the ginger's throat and announce her presence.
Immediately, I pulled out my scroll and called Ruby. Who, mercifully, answered on the first ring.
"Jaune! Did you find Blake? Is she okay? Where are you guys?" She rapidly fired.
"Yeah," I answered. "We're at the docks. Blake just picked a fight with the White Fang. Get Ozpin or Goodwitch."
And with that, I hung up and dropped down to enter the ensuing melee.
Welp… I guess now's as good a time as any…
(-
-)
It all happened so fast.
Roman was much slippier than I would have given him earlier. If I was able to focus on just him, I may have been able to subdue him by now. Unfortunately, I had to contend with my former allies as well.
Disengaging from Roman, I used a shadow clone to absorb the hit from a grunt's crimson machete and took a potshot at a second one's thigh.
Sun wasn't faring much better as he had revealed his weapons and Semblance. A pair of gun-chucks that could link up into a bo-staff were blasting away in his hands as he spun them around to take on the criminal mastermind while yellow copies of himself fought off even more grunts.
Roman, for his part, was casually deflecting each of Sun's attacks. He was quite simply toying with us. With the storm rapidly approaching to cut off Roman and the Fang's escape, we had them fighting a bit more desperately and therefore more dangerously. Where was Jaune?!
I took a shot at the criminal's guncane just in time to send his own point-blank shot at Sun's head off to the side. This instant was all that was needed for a particularly large rhino faunus to shoulder check me into a shipping crate, shattering my Aura.
I was completely defenseless as the brute raised a massive mace overhead to finish me off.
"Die, traitor!"
'So this is how it ends? Dammit all!' I squeezed my eyes shut waiting for the impact of a blow that never came.
"ENOUGH!"
There was a crashing, thunderous boom, followed by the simultaneous feeling of being coated in a hot liquid and the sound of metal clanging above me.
I chanced a peak and the first thing I saw was my would-be killer's legs standing before me. Just his legs. A fountain of crimson had erupted and was still giving weak spurts where the torso should have been. Above my head and embedded in the shipping crate was an ornately designed axe-bladed hammer, thrumming with electricity. It looked exactly like Jaune's pendant. Only bigger.
What?
There was a beat of silence as the pair of legs before me fell over to the left, revealing Jaune with an outstretched hand. What truly caught my attention, however, were the glowing markings and Aura of blue fire and electricity surrounding him.
Some invisible force wrenched the sparking weapon over my head free of the crate. It then flew straight back into Jaune's waiting hand.
What?!
As I looked upon the glowing person I had once believed to be Jaune Arc, I could only comprehend one thing. The man I knew was no longer present. In his place was something more. He looked upon me with an almost sorrowful softness before hardening his gaze upon everyone else present.
"CEASE THESE AGRESSIONS OR FORFEIT YOUR LIVES." His voice shook the heavens themselves as thunder and lightning blasted the air while the wind and waves slammed upon the docks.
"SURRENDER YOURSELVES AND KNOW MERCY. CONTINUE AND SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES."
After that, it all went dark…