Cost Effective is the name of the game, and since the last one was incredibly short, this one will be longer. Like... two episodes instead of one. So look forward to some action in this one!
Disclaimer: RDF1 doesn't own RWBY, WATCH THE SHOW!
(Chapter Begin)
(Recap)
Ruby smiled, while nodding, before noticing a few people walk by... a few people that weren't supposed to be there. Stepping outside the door, she got there attention, "Excuse me? Are you new transfers?"
Three people turned to look at her, the one in the middle being easily recognizable, not that Ruby would let it show.
"Sorry, visiting from Haven actually," replied the girl in the middle.
"Welcome to Beacon, but Visiting Students have their own dorm. Head East after exiting the building. You can't miss it," informed Ruby.
"Thank you," said Emerald, "Maybe we'll see you around sometime."
"Have a good day," added the boy.
"Sure thing! Enjoy the festival!" replied Ruby, before reentering her room and closing the door, "(sigh) and now they are here."
"Ruby?" asked Yang, "What's wrong?"
"Let's just say Blake's right about one thing, our enemies WON'T be waiting for Graduation. So, tomorrow, we'll investigate and work around things from there, sound like a plan to you?"
WBY nodded their consent and went about setting out clothes for tomorrow, as well as get ready for bed. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
(Recap End)
The next day seemed to drag on longer than necessary. Professor Port continued to drone on and on about his glory days and even history with Professor... Doctor Oobleck, who usually kept their attention with history, seemed to feel more boring today. Thank goodness History was the last class of the day, allowing RWBY to gather their work and head back to their Dorm.
"Finally," said Blake, as they changed into their outfits, they decided to have a small bit of change so as to be 'as' recognizable going out, "I thought classes would never end."
"So, ready to start the investigation?" smirked Ruby, stand off the desk she was leaning against.
"Looks like someone's taking this seriously," quipped Weiss.
"You make me sound like I'm a little kid," frowned Ruby.
"You ARE still two years younger than us, oh fearless leader," teased Weiss.
"Hey, we have a plan, so that's a start," spoke up Yang.
"Everyone knows their parts?" asked Ruby, shifting into Leader mode.
"You and I will visit the CCT to check the Schnee records of other robberies and inconsistencies. As a member of the family and the heiress, access shouldn't be a problem," informed Weiss.
"White Fang holds regular meetings for updates regarding orders as well as recruit new members," followed up Blake, "No one should recognize me, so I should be able to get in undetected."
"Junior has connections across the darker side of Vale," finished up Yang, "If anyone would know where Torchwick is laying low, he'd be one of them."
"Sounds great," said Ruby, before turning around, "you got all that Sun?"
"Yeah, but... how'd you know I was here?" asked Sun, who was hanging outside the window from a tree.
"Monkey dandruff. Kinda hard to keep off," smirked Ruby, "Oh, and is Neptune with you?"
"He's right here," said Sun, pointing his thumb next to the window, causing RWBY to look out it to see Neptune flat up against the wall.
"I was actually kidding, Sun, but whatever..." sighed Ruby.
(AN1)
"Hey," said Neptune in his cool voice, "Mind letting me in? This height is NOT good to drop down from."
Sun and Neptune climbed in through the window and WBY turned to Ruby for an explanation.
"What? You think I included them without telling you? Sun was hanging outside the window long enough for me smell him. If anything, Blake should have smelled, or at least saw him first."
"I feel like I should be offended," replied Blake, raising an eyebrow.
"Forget it," sighed Ruby in frustration, "But, now that you're here, you might as well join us."
"Hey, including friends make things go smoother," said Sun, "besides, Glynda wouldn't like four of her students out in town doing what might be against School rules."
"That's not helping your case, monkey boy," griped Weiss.
"Weiss, this way no one's going alone. Sun, you join Blake infiltrating the White Fang. No one's going to question another Faunus 'joining the cause' as it were," said Ruby, getting a nod from Blake, "Neptune, you join Yang. She'll keep you out of trouble."
"Out of trouble, sis?" chuckled Yang as Ruby pushed a petrified Neptune over to her, "Really?"
"Wait..." attempted Weiss, "Why don't you join Yang while Neptune comes with me? You know Junior better than Yang and since your sisters, you can look out for each other..."
Ruby couldn't help but bust out laughing, "That's funny Weiss. You're funny! We're rubbing off on you!"
Ruby then grabbed Weiss by the collar of her jacket and dragged her out of the room, the others following shortly.
"Sorry Weiss, Neptune distracts you, and that's not good on something 'serious' like this," reprimanded Ruby, throwing her comment from earlier back at her.
"What, I can't help it if he's hot," complained Weiss.
"Moving on," sighed Ruby, rolling her eyes, "It's easy to forget just how tall the CCT really is."
"Not as tall as the one in Atlas though," reminded Weiss.
"Makes sense, Atlas's Ego wanting to have the biggest one," smirked Ruby, "plus it was the first so they had a hard ceiling to keep their ego in check."
"Atlas isn't THAT bad," complained Weiss, "Besides, we could have made this inquiry from the library."
"Do you WANT Oz or Glynda to be onto us in seconds? They'd notice SDC being accessed from the library," countered Ruby, pulling out her phone only for someone to bump into her, sending it across the ground.
"Excuse me," said a familiar voice, "I believe you dropped this."
"Penny?" wondered Ruby, her eyes going wide. Strange coincidence... or fate. Ruby was leaning toward the latter, given her recent history.
"Wait, from the docks?" asked Weiss.
Grabbing her phone, she turned to Weiss, "I need to talk to Penny, Weiss. Head on into the CCT to contact the SDC. We'll meet up later as planned."
Before Weiss could retort, Ruby walked off, grabbing Penny by the hand and pulling her away.
Ruby pulled Penny away from the crowd before letting her go, "Penny, what happened? You disappeared before I could say goodbye. Did Ironwood call you back?"
"No, my father had me picked up. This is the first time I've been outside Atlas, so he set guidelines for me to follow. After what happened at the Docks, he was quite worried, especially when I mentioned you. I mean, you DO know my secret."
"I'm sorry if I got you in trouble Penny," said Ruby, "Did you tell him about me?"
"No, I just told him you accepted me, and that was enough for him to relax. Though, he still didn't want to me talking to too many people. Actually, it was..."
Turning the corner, they overhead a presentation being made, with General Ironwood being the presenter, in full hologram glory.
"Oh you got to be kidding me," groaned Ruby, seeing the new 'knights' acting a bit goofy for the crowd, as per their programming.
"Ruby...?" pondered Penny.
"I'm a weapons nut at heart, but something tells me that Paladin is going to be a pain," sighed Ruby, rubbing her eyes. She could tell even at a distance what the Paladin was meant to do. Having a Human Leader on the battlefield against Grimm would allow for better judgement calls than calculated simulations.
"Maybe we should go..." suggested Penny, tugging on her sleeve.
"No, it's fine," said Ruby, "Let's make this work in our favor."
Both of them noticed two Atlesian Soldiers making their way over to them. Ruby prevented Penny from running off.
"Excuse me Miss, but Miss Polendena will need to come with us. Her father wishes to see her," said one of the soldiers.
"My name is Ruby Rose, and I would like to make an appointment with General Ironwood regarding Penny, if that can be arranged?"
"General Ironwood is very busy, young lady..." started the other, when his comlink buzzed, getting his attention for a few seconds, "Very well. General Ironwood will meet with you the day after tomorrow in Headmaster Ozpin's office, out of respect for your status as one of his students."
"Thank you sir, and give my thanks to Ironwood for meeting with me," smiled Ruby, "I'll see you later, Penny. I got a few things to take care of before then."
"See you Ruby," waved Penny, before turning to the soldiers, "Please believe me when I say that Ruby is trustworthy. She won't betray my secret."
The Soldiers didn't exactly know how to respond to that, but escorted Penny back their ship as the other Soldiers on security duty finished cleaning up the presentation area.
Meanwhile, Yang and Neptune pulled up to the club shortly after sundown.
"So... how do you know this 'Junior' again?" asked Neptune.
"That's a long story, and more so my sister knows him than I do, which is even more complicated," replied Yang, walking up to the front doors, getting the bouncers scared.
Yang felt like she knew where this was going, given her last visit, and realized just opening the door was going to be futile, so she punch it open, sending the two bouncers blocking the door flying away.
"Guess who's back!" announced Yang, her ears catching a very familiar tune as a dozen guns were aimed at her... and the tune was skipping and repeating in a haphazard fashion, causing Yang to glare at the DJ, who wisely took off the needle from the disk.
"You might want to redefine 'Friend', Yang," said a nervous Neptune, hiding behind said blond.
"Don't shoot! You don't want to get Red mad," said Junior, getting through his men, "Blondie... you're here. Why... exactly?"
"You still owe me a drink, plus I'm looking for information on Torchwick."
"Stand down men. Come on Blondie, I'll get you your drink."
"That is awesome," said Neptune, amazed as Yang's authority, before noticing a couple of cuties next to him, "Hey."
Melanie and Miltiades Malachite weren't impressed and walked off in a huff.
"Look, I'm not sure how much I can help you," said Junior, having fixed up Yang's Strawberry Sunrise, minus the ice, "Last time Red needed some info was weeks ago. Guess being at Beacon has taken up a bit more time than usual. If you're looking for Torchwick, I can't really help you. I only know what comes through the grapevine."
"Be straight with me, Junior, I saw Torchwick last time I was here," countered Yang, "You can't tell me you don't keep tabs on people employing your men."
"He went underground after Red stop his attempted Dust Robbery. My people were detained after that and I haven't seen them since. The only reason I'm not raising a fuss to Red about it is because I made the decision to loan my men to Torchwick, so that's on me. Last thing I heard about Torchwick was what went down at the docks, where he was spotted with the White Fang fighting some students, your sister and a few others."
"You're the guy to go to for information on the shadier part of Vale. No one knows more about Vale's dark side than you," retorted Yang.
"And that's the problem. Torchwick hasn't been seen in weeks, and even before then he's kept his tracks covered. None of my sources have seen him, not since the Dock Incident, I swear on Red's life."
"You're just lucky Ruby trusts you, otherwise I wouldn't believe you're being completely honest here," huffed Yang, before finishing her drink, "Thanks for the drink. I'll tell Ruby you said 'hi', Junior."
"Thanks Blondie," said Junior, as Yang grabbed Neptune and headed out the door, before groaning, "I need to improve my sources."
(AN2)
Meanwhile, Ruby was starting to head over to the meeting point when her scroll beeped.
"What's up?" asked Ruby.
"Need some backup here guys!" called out Blake's voice.
"Some kinda of machine!" came Sun's voice as well, "He's inside it, controlling it somehow!"
"Oh crap, I hate it when I'm right. Lead him over to the Bridge Intersection. Weiss and I will meet you there."
Hanging up her scroll, she raced off towards the new destination. She had a bad feeling when seeing that Paladin before, and now it proved right. If the girls could listen to her without question or complaint, then the battle should go smoothly and end without too much hassle.
Getting there, she noticed Weiss up on the bridge higher than where Blake and Yang were, while Sun and Neptune somehow got lost, which may have been for the best. She didn't have team combinations with them yet, so better they don't hinder RWBY. Speaking of hindering, Weiss notified everyone she was in position and froze the bridge, forcing the Paladin to jump over it and break the barrier, falling down to where Ruby was. WBY showed up a few seconds later, and everyone got combat ready!
(AN3)
Roman, who was piloted the Paladin, started approaching them in a menacing fashion, but Ruby was ready.
"FreezerBurn!" ordered Ruby, as she and Blake moved out of the way.
Yang jumped up while Weiss froze the ground around her before moving away herself, allowing Yang to use a Fire shot to evaporate the ice into mist, taking away Roman's ability to see normally around him. The Paladin had countermeasures, but they weren't as efficient as the pilot's sight, allowing WBY to dodge the Paladin's attacks giving Ruby an opportunity to strike at the cockpit cover.
'Let's weaken those knees,' smirked Ruby, "CHECKMATE!"
Blake and Weiss rushed forward, keeping the Paladin on the backfoot, allowing Weiss to destroy one of the scanners, blinding it further. The Paladin attempted to step on them in response. Weiss was able to move back, but Blake wasn't so lucky, forcing Weiss to use a Glyph to get her out of there. The Paladin opened up missile launchers on its shoulders, with Weiss using another Glyph to keep up their momentum to avoid the missiles. Unfortunately, Roman managed to notice Weiss's movements thanks to the scanners and shot her away before sending more missiles. Luckily, Weiss was prepared for this situation and used a Time Dilation Glyph on the ground near Blake, allowing Blake to move to the center to receive the full effects.
'Sorry Torchwick, you're just too slow!' thought Blake, who thanks to the Time Dilation was able to move her swords so fast she was able to create Blade Beams, slicing through every single missile that came her way.
"Ladybug!" called out Ruby, running past Blake and swiping at a leg, giving Blake their target as the Time Dilation wore off.
Blake and Ruby moved in sync, each attacking a leg, keeping Roman off balance. Roman tried to fire at Ruby, but she jumped up alongside Blake and with both Crescent Rose and Gambol Shroud, the two of them were able to take off the left arm of the Paladin, reducing its offensive capabilities.
"Yang, Enabler!" called back Ruby, as she moved back.
Yang rushed up to the back of the Paladin, jumped on it and started wailing shot gun shells to its back. Roman was annoyed by this and used the Paladin's legs to move backwards, through one support pillar and cracking another. Roman turned around and pulled out the fist of the Paladin, punching Yang through the broken Pillar sending her crashing to the ground.
'Roman's still good. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he had a semblance, and it works with momentum,' thought Ruby, noticing how hard it was to keep him off his game.
(AN4)
"Yang!" called out Blake, worried for her partner, before Ruby held a hand up to stop her.
"FULL COUNTER!" ordered Ruby.
(AN5)
Yang smirked as she heard those words. Getting up, she crossed her arms to absorb the impact of one more punch, feeling her strength spike even further, she looked at Roman with a scowl as she brought back her left arm and SMASHED through the Paladin's right arm, leaving in pieces. Roman gathered his bearings and kicked Yang back, but Ruby was ready.
"BUMBLEBEE!" called out Ruby, as Yang went flying past them.
Blake immediately mecha-shifted her sword into her pistol and launched it at Yang while pulling back on the line she had attached to it, swinging it counterclockwise, giving Yang Momentum for a final punch. Yang, grabbing onto the pistol, raced around the circumference with Blake giving her momentum and nearly hit the Paladin if Roman hadn't pulled back in time.
"ICE FLOWER!" ordered Ruby as Weiss moved next to her, swinging her Scythe around and planting the tip into the ground.
Weiss followed with multiple Ice Glyphs, enchanting the Sniper Rounds Ruby was firing, getting large chunks of ice on the Paladin and making it harder to move. Blake gave one more swing with all her might as Yang used her shotgun in her right arm to continuously build momentum as she launched one final full powered punch into the Paladin, turning it into scrap.
"Dang it!" complained Roman as he got up from the wreckage of the Paladin, "I just got this thing dry cleaned too."
Yang wasn't done though and sent another shot at Roman, only to be deflected by an Umbrella that popped down from the sky. The umbrella moved to reveal a young girl wielding it with a smirk on her face. Roman grinned as well as his getaway vehicle hovered nearby.
"Ladies..." dismissed Roman, "Ice Queen."
"HEY!" yelped an indignant Weiss.
"Neo, if you would," said Roman, as Neo gave the girls a bow, and winked at Ruby, keeping her smile.
Yang rushed in while her strength was still going, but Neo used her Semblance to allow her and Roman to get out of dodge unseen while Yang shattered the image she left behind. RWB walked up to Yang as a ship flew off into the distance.
"I guess he got a new henchwoman," pointed out Yang.
"Well, I guess she really made our plans... fall apart?" joked Weiss.
Ruby couldn't help but chuckle a bit, before feeling her emotions dull after the adrenaline started wearing off. Her emotional state had been improving the past few months with WBY, but some days she couldn't help but feel her emotions mute at the wrong times.
"No," retorted Yang, who was now done with the day, "just... no."
"What, you make puns all the time? How is that one bad?" countered Weiss.
"It wasn't bad, just..." stalled Yang, now she felt awkward.
"What your the only one who can make puns?" pushed Weiss, "I'm trying to be more social, less... standoffish."
"Come on girls," said Ruby, folding away Crescent Rose, "We gotta find Sun and Neptune. Need to tell them off for ditching us."
(Chapter End)
RWBY vs Roman Mech. Arugably the peak of RWBY's teamwork. Ruby, in the original, said four words for team attacks and the mech went down. Sure she had a bit of dialogue plus explained Yang's semblance, but don't underestimate what happened here. This was the BEST RWBY's teamwork has ever been in the show proper... And I loved every second of it! Now, this version of Ruby is even more confident in her role as leader and WBY is more ready to move as she gives the word. This easily could have turned against them, as the Author Notes will expand further.
Author Notes...
AN1: And Ruby really was. Again, she's not omniscient, and she's more socially attuned, so a joke like that fits.
AN2: More detailed scene with Junior. Why? Because Ruby knows him and that's a connection that can apply to this story. Plus, More acceptable than just 'I don't know' and it has to be taken at face value. This mentions Junior's network as a functional web, though Torchwick is smart. He'd stay off Junior's radar as best as possible.
AN3: Oh come on! It's fully appropriate.
AN4: Seven Deadly Sins much? Also, it's not Meliodas's version if you're paying attention. It's his 'Brother's'. The one Escanor fought and evaporated a lake over. "Who decided that?" LOLZ!
But anyways, hope this makes up for the shorter chapter last time.
Sorry for the late update. Some family issues came up and took priority. Things are improving now. Until next time!
Until then...
Later,
RDF1