Small Issues
AN: I'd like to thank the new people who have been faving my works and have begun to follow me. It helps to know that my work is appreciated that much. Now, let's get right to the chapter as it is a longer one full of action!
Vale
Blake sat on the couch that also served as her bed in the house on Baker Street holding an envelope.
One that held the results of her entrance exam for Beacon.
Sure, Basil had helped to push her to use her skills as a Huntress and gave her the courage to go… though it was more like he escorted her to where her exams were being held.
And to be quite honest, she was terrified that the school officials, many of which are Huntsmen and Huntresses themselves, would recognize her as a former White Fang member who had participated in several high profile events from protests to outright attacks on specific businesses, the train being the latest example.
"You do realize that it will likely take years for that letter to open on its own if you are just going to sit there holding it, don't you?" Basil chides her hesitancy with a mock scolding tone.
"It's… it's just that I'm afraid they'll know who I am."
"Hmmm… falsifying your name would be a big giveaway." Basil marks the page in the mystery novel he was reading before setting that to the side next to a violin.
"Nnnnrrrrggggg…" Blake groans in response and her frustration and worries grew.
The violin began to play a soft calming song thanks to Basil, easing the cat in a few seconds. A minute later, the envelope was torn open and the letter removed, allowing Blake to read through it.
"Basil?"
"Yes?" He hadn't stopped playing since he started.
"I need to pack my things."
"Going somewhere?" He smiles having heard her tone.
"To Beacon." She turned the letter to show him that she was accepted.
And he didn't need to be a detective to read her face full of emotion- happiness from something going well for her, anxiety from not knowing what she'd do there, and others that made for a hesitant but excited girl.
It was then that he paused the instrument. "You know… I think you have that part covered." He gestured to the corner of the room where she had been living out of the suitcases since they had gone shopping.
"Hehehe." Blake laughs as that was pointed out and Basil strikes up a cheerful tune.
—
Weiss was on her way to a family vacation home in Vale. To be specific, it was outside of the main kingdom and along the northern coast where her father owned quite a bit of land for business use, mining Dust from the mountains. She wouldn't be alone as there would be the standard staff and tutors who would ensure that she was ready for Beacon.
Leaving home, she had hugged her sister, been polite to her mother, and gave a curt goodbye to her father and brother.
It had been winter who showed the most reaction to her leaving, being both worried and proud. Whitley just seemed to be waiting to see how long this would take to wrap up having expressed earlier that he saw no point in either seeing her off or her desire to leave to be a Huntress. Willow was much like her eldest child, yet tired for reasons Weiss understood.
But for Jacques… his presence was a mere formality and he was obviously angry while doing everything in his power to keep it from lashing out and broadcasting it to the world. He knew that there were cameras around and not just from security and making a scene would only hurt his image. Part of the reason he made sure his son was with them too.
Yet for the three women, if one looked closely they would see them glancing at the man and taking some amusement from his anger, hiding it from him with practiced ease.
"Perhaps Sister, I'll have a mission that takes me to Vale. I may be able to stop by for a visit."
"Really?" Weiss had been elated at the prospect.
Winter smiled, knowing that it was a chance but she would take the opportunity if presented. "Yes. Now your flight will be departing shortly.
The flight lasted only a few hours and Weiss had a personal cabin to relax in. Touching down on Sanus, she had her first look at the house in a few years.
Three stories tall, surrounded by a high white wall emblazoned with the Schnee snowflake emblem every so often in blue while the house was maintained a stark white with a blue roof and accenting furnishings. The biggest source of color variation came from the plant life, several evergreens outside and a number of flowers that bloomed in the early spring.
And it would be her home for the next two weeks as she studied and trained before she'd fly to Beacon.
—-
Pyrrha was sweating.
That was nothing new given her training routine but her coaches had assured her that this was the final day that they were going to push her so hard as the rest of their remaining time would be doing much more relaxing training to avoid strains while maintaining strength.
She just had to get through what may be one of the most grueling sessions that she could remember. It was pushing her to the limit starting with a ten mile run and weight lifting. Then another run followed by calaesthetics.
She was given a short reprieve from the training so she could eat and do some stretches afterwards. Then came the next part- sparring against not just her trainers but several other students from Sanctum who were the top ten combatants under her. More than a dozen fighters all focused on her, veteran Huntsmen and aspiring Huntsmen alike, all armed and eager to fight her.
Many would consider such a thing to be highly excessive, though the other students had their own intense workouts earlier which helped to balance things. The Huntsmen… they were much fresher in comparison.
"Begin!"
And the next thirty minutes became a blur for those participating. But in the end, Pyrrha was the one upright… mostly. She was on her knees and holding herself up with her sword but she had beaten all of the others one way or another, some of which involved making the others hit each other instead of her.
"Good job everyone, I hope that you all learn from this experience." One of the trainers says while clapping her hands.
"Need some help?" Pyrrha looks up to find a tall man in brown armor with short, messy, light brown hair and eyes seemingly ever closed holding his hand out to assist her to her feet.
With her exhaustion and manners making the call for her, she accepted and took his hand. "Thank you."
"No problem. Though it looks like we still can't beat you. He says with a smile.
"Perhaps but you are one who can keep me on my toes."
"Ha! I'll take that as praise coming from you." He laughs and she joins him with a small chuckle of her own. "So… we're both going to Beacon, huh?"
"I believe we are."
"Well then, let's make sure we spar every now and then so we can see how much we compare."
That offer made the tired Spartan light up with a smile, mist of her sores being momentarily forgotten. "That would be grand!"
—
Two girls rode on a yellow motorcycle through the streets of Vale. They were in one of the older parts of the city where the buildings were largely simply built with little flair beyond the shades of paint on their walls, valuing function over form.
One wears a yellow helmet that holds down her blonde mane while the other has a red helmet, her red cloak billowing in the wind as she holds onto the blonde.
Eventually they came to a stop near a series of stores in the late afternoon. "Dinner was pretty good." Ruby remarks as she takes her helmet off.
"Hey, I'm just glad that Dad let us have a night on the town." Yang chuckles. "But yeah, that barbecue place was great."
"Sooooo… what do we do now?"
"Look around, maybe you'll find something that you like."
"What about you?"
"I heard there's a club a few blocks away and I wanna check it out. See if it's up to the hype." She jabs her thumb over her shoulder down the road. "I'll be back in a bit if it's lame… or an hour or two if it's good. Meet you back here?"
"Alright, see you later. Just remember that Dad said-"
"Be home by midnight." The elder sister finished with a smile, knowing that the last ferry for the day that ran back to Patch left at ten, leaving them with just under four hours to catch it. "Don't worry, we'll be there in time."
With that reassurance, Yang restarted her bike and drove off, leaving Ruby to her own devices.
"Hmm… which to go in first?" There's a Dust shop, a toy store, candy… antiques. "Candy!"
—-
Yang drove down the road and made a left turn, screeching to a stop soon after. Taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair before flicking the kickstand with her boot and dismounting, she began to walk slowly towards the entrance of the club, already hearing the bass of the music playing from inside. Any hesitation she had was hidden as she adopted a confident stride that swung her hips and put a smile on her lips.
The club entrance led to a small tunnel that ended with a pair of large translucent doors where she could see the lights being used inside, even her own shadow could be seen thanks to the lighting from behind her which also served to let those on the other side of those about to enter.
Pushing the doors open, the blonde takes a moment to look around and size up the club while adjusting to the sounds and lighting.
This club had its walls and floors all painted black, even the DJ booth and the ceiling. The real draw had to be where much of the lighting came from- the floor as it was translucent like the doors behind her and the white lighting pulsed occasionally, adding a bit of intrigue and fun for those on that dance floor.
The bar was similarly lit with the black bar and illuminated counter while the shelves behind the bar keepers were black with the wall they hung from providing the light. Even has what looked to be a small kitchen to provide food for customers.
Adding more to the club, there were four large pillars that are illuminated in the same way the floor is, giving more light to the patrons. Along the black walls, several booths and tables were populated. Along the ceiling, several spot lights added light from above, mostly in the form of lasers and wide colored beams that would swing and sweep so that no part of the floor wasn't lit at least every few minutes.
The music itself wasn't bad, a bit of pop with deeper bass than usual, though she did hear some rock when she was still in the tunnel meaning that there was some variation to listen to.
But one thing that she couldn't help but notice was the amount of men in black suits, red ties, matching red glasses, and a few of them wore black hats with a red trim.
Either they were a party of men who enjoyed matching or they were the employees. The latter seemed to be the case as she spotted a tall man dressed much like the others but lacking the shades and jacket yet the other men looked up to him, both because of his height and apparently for direction.
However, he was talking to another, one with a black bowler hat, long white jacket, dark brown pants, and lighter brown shoes. The things that stood out with him were his red hair and the cane he carried.
But as Yang made her way towards the bar, the redhead gave the taller man a handful of lien cards, the latter waving him off even as he pocketed the money, half a dozen of the men in suits following after the man in white. The music was too loud to overhear anything they had said, not helped by only coming at the end of their exchange, but it also wasn't really her business to pry into that.
Either way, the apparent owner walked to the bar and leaned on it as the other men left through the front door.
"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice." The man looked up at the sound of a woman giving an order, finding a woman who looked a bit too young to be here. "Oh! And one of those little umbrellas please!" She adds with a bright smile.
He looked her over, she was a bit taller than most women and didn't need high heels either. Long blonde hair that was wild and wavy and barely tamed, wearing a yellow tube top under a brown jacket with a deep collar so that her well developed chest could be seen. Said jacket also has puffy shoulders and very short sleeves that were tight on her toned upper arms and the jacket only reached her waist leaving her stomach exposed.
From there, she wears a pair of short, tight black shorts with a leather belt that not only had a large pouch on the back but held up a leather half skirt that was in turn over a translucent silky white material that was assemetrically cut so the lower end was behind her right knee.
A pair of high brown boots donned her feet with one of her orange socks pulled up over her right knee. The left knee also has a purple bandanna tied around it. The orange infinity scarf around her neck added a bit more color and her hands have black fingerless gloves with large golden bracelets on her wrists.
He pushed off the counter and turned to her with crossed arms. "Aren't you a little young to be in here, Blondie?" The man wasn't particularly impressed, though somewhat glad for the distraction from his most recent dealing.
Yang kept up her smile, not surprised by his deep gravelly voice, reminding her of an Ursa.
"Oh come on! At least I don't have a name like Junior." Yang gives a small giggle.
The man wasn't amused. "So, you know my name. You got a name, Sweetheart?" If she was going to mock his name, he could mock her right back.
The blonde lifted a hand and trailed a finger down his chest, having to raise the limb over her head just to do so. "Yes, Junior, I have several. But…" Her finger trailed lower on his shirt before stopping at his belt.
Warning bells went off in Junior's head about the advances of this young woman and her leads were NOT something he wanted to follow. He didn't want to even have an accusation of such things with a minor going around.
"You can call me Sir!" She finished but when she removed her hand from his belt, she had grabbed his pants a bit lower… along with what was beneath, causing him to squeak in surprise and pain as he doubled over, bringing him down to eye level with her.
"Okay! Blondie… Sir! What do you want?" His voice had become a high falsetto and several of the nearest men in suits quickly moved to surround them, all of them holding axes or red machetes. But they refused to move closer with their boss in such a compromised position.
Yang reached into a pocket and withdrew her scroll, opening it to show the man a picture of a woman wearing black and red, one with a sword and looked very much like the woman showing it only with much darker hair.
"Word on the street is that you know everything that goes on in Vale. Tell me what you know and I'll let you go."
Junior looked at the picture carefully noting the unique sword and sheath, how the picture looked to be part of a larger one as he could see the edges of clothes and weapons at the borders, how the image seemed to be a bit older so the woman he was being asked about would be at least a few years older than in the picture.
"Ugh, I don't know her." He grunts out only to squeal as her grip tightened on his sensitive region.
"What was that?"
His voice was understandably strained when he spoke. "I said, I don't know her!"
Yang let him go after that, much to his relief as evidenced by the massive sigh he released and he was quick to save face as much as he could by standing up to his full height to tower over her. And as he reached into his pocket to pull out a pair of red shades so nobody could see his eyes, she put away her scroll.
And without an order to do anything, the men around them lowered their weapons, parting to let Junior pass as he walked away from the bar and onto the dance floor.
But Yang was quick to follow after him, keeping herself looking as little of a threat as possible by keeping her hands behind herself… though given what she had just done there was little doubt that she was at least something of a threat.
"Oh come on Junior, don't be so angry!" She managed to squeeze by his men and walk aside of him. "To make up for that, how about a little kiss? Nothing more, okay?"
"Hmm?" Junior was taken aback by such a change of attitude but if that was all she was offering to make up for grabbing him like that, there were worse things that could be done and with all of these witnesses, neither of them could do more without raising concerns. "Well… okay."
Both of them leaned towards the other with lips puckered and almost closed eyes. While many of the nearest patrons had paused their activities to watch, the employees turned away and began to move back to their regular duties.
Just as their lips were about to make contact, Yang pulled back and punched Junior in the mouth hard enough to hurl the much larger man through the air to crash land at one of the booths along the outer wall.
And with that single act, all eyes of the employees turned on the blonde and the customers began fleeing and screaming. Few seemed to notice that as Junior sat dazed at the booth, a glass bottle rolled off to fall on his head, knocking him out.
—-
Ruby had browsed the candy store and bought a few treats for herself, her sister, and their father before moving to the toy store. Unfortunately, there wasn't too much that interested her there since she either had little interest in the items or she already had them as in the case of the Grimm figurines. The only parts of the set that she needed were those that the store didn't carry and if she was going to order for them she'd need her father to approve of that.
The man didn't have too much of a problem with his daughters buying stuff that would have to be shipped to their home but he did ask that they run it by him first, especially since he was the one who ultimately pays for it in the end. Though that was only partially true for Yang and her motorcycle that she affectionately named Bumblebee, but part of the deal was that Taiyang would take on the bulk of the payment on it so long as his eldest did work to pay for at least a quarter of it and would keep it maintained. That didn't include the part where Yang had to go through the entire process of getting her drivers license.
Moving onto the other shops, there was a nice little pastry shop that has ice cream where she could get a nice dessert with Yang before they headed home. The antique shop didn't interest her much, though it didn't help that the store was already closed so she couldn't look around if she wanted to. That left the Dust shop as her next point of interest and quite possibly the first place Yang would look for her once she returned..
Stepping in, there is an old man with a simple dull green shirt and a burgundy apron behind the counter doing some simple cleaning of the area. To her left are an array of tubes that were fed by the storage units near the ceiling. Each of them were filled with Dust that was ground down into a powder with each tube containing a different type from Fire, to Wind, to Ice, Earth, Lightning, and even more common mixtures of them. Gravity Dust was among the more expensive and kept to the back, the price displayed at each dispenser along with standard warnings, usage instructions, and the price.
Given the size of the tanks and Dust contained, just that alone could buy the building this shop and the others are in three times over. That didn't include the display case built into the counter to show off much larger Dust crystals, many of which were cut into more eye-catching shapes and would be worth a fair amount for each one.
On the right side, there were racks of magazines and parts meant for weapons of various makes and models. Things from simple daggers and swords to pistols and shotguns were on display along with the materials to maintain them such as whet stones and oils, cleaning cloths, and Dust absorbing sponges.
Almost driven by instinct, she was drawn to the right side and began browsing the selections available, slipping her headphones on to listen to music as she shopped, soon losing herself in a weapon magazine where she could read details on certain components and reviews.
One thing she didn't expect, or even notice was for a group of men to walk into the shop, all led by a man in a white jacket and red hair while the others were in black suits with red ties and glasses.
"Dust to Dawn, nice name for this place." The leader comments with a smile as he walks in the door.
Unprovoked, one of the suited men draws a pistol on the old man, causing him to freeze.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" The man in white comments as if he were talking about the weather before glancing back at the other men. "Grab the dust."
Each of the men were carrying large briefcases that held several storage tubes for the potentially volatile Dust, each of them having a padded slot in each case. Quickly, the men withdrew their own tubes and connected them to the dispensers, the sound of grains of sand filling the quiet store.
The leader of the group gestures to the glass case between himself and the clerk. "Open it." He demands as he holds out his own carrying container. The old man complied, reaching into the case for the large crystals that each of them could be a day's business in worth. "Fire, uncut, if you would." The clerk shifted his hand from the green Wind crystal to the red Fire ones on the side, carefully loading them into the case.
But one of the suited thugs had been left to walk a patrol in case there would be witnesses. Everything seemed to be going smoothly with nobody around and as far as anyone outside knew, they were just a group who were doing some late night shopping for Dust.
Then he found someone in the corner. All he could see was the red cloak above black boots, complete with hood over their head. But given their size, he assumed that they were a teenager.
The man drew a large knife of his own from under his coat, the blade a bright red. "Alright kid, hands up and turn around."
No response.
"Hey!"
Still no response.
Lowering his weapon, he reached out and patted their shoulder.
That got their attention, turning to reveal a girl as her hood fell back to reveal that she was wearing headphones. With an odd combination of irritation and surprise, the man points to his own ear with his free hand.
She removed the headphones, letting them hang from her neck and the hard rock music could be heard blaring from the speakers. "Yes?"
"Hands up and be quiet and nobody will be hurt." The man raised his knife again, pointing it at the girl's face.
"Are… you robbing me?"
"Yes!"
"Ooohhh…"
The leader of the group leaned on the counter examining a Dust crystal in his gloved hand as the owner cowered behind it, finished emptying the entire display into the thieves briefcase. The rest of the gang were busy filling up their containers, nearly done with their tasks.
"You know, it's rather good to keep things like this." The man comments as he makes small talk with the elder he was robbing. "Nobody is being hurt, your shop stays intact… heck you even get to keep your Lien in the register. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll never see each other again. Isn't that nice?"
"Hiiyyaaa!" A high voice screamed from the back corner of the shop, accompanied by the sound of a boot making contact with a chest. The man who was hit flying from down the aisle to crash into a low set of shelving below the large window, throwing the products all over the floor as a result.
It didn't take long for two of the other men to run over to investigate, finding a small girl in a red cloak.
One who was running at them before jumping, kicking one of them in the face and chest, practically riding the man into and through the window to land out in the street. She barely took notice of the few people on the street who quickly ran into the nearest open doors to avoid the confrontation that was brewing.
The rest of the men inside the shop, aside from the owner, came to the windows and door to see what just happened to their cohort, just in time to watch as the girl reached behind herself and pull a large red object from her waist and in a few moments it opened and extended to reveal itself to be a large scythe with a blade nearly as long as its wielder is tall. The girl spun the massive weapon expertly in a clear attempt at intimidation before the tip slammed into the paved road, burying itself a few inches deep.
Yet at some point during that demonstration, the girl had removed the headphones from her neck and now held them in her free hand, clicking the power button to turn it off.
"Oookaayy." The leader of the gang drawls as he looks on, surprised but not worried in the slightest.
—-
The men ran at Yang with their weapons ready, the girl just standing there with a satisfied smirk as she slid into her own ready stance.
The first to reach her swung his machete at her head, the blonde leaning to the side to let the blade miss and tripped him with her foot. As he tumbled to the floor and made two men stop their charges, another reached her and swung his axe.
The girl caught the handle in her hand before it could make contact, returning the favor with a jab to the gut that pushed him back a few feet where he fell gasping for breath.
Two more came from either side of her, swinging their weapons horizontally, only for Yang to bend over backwards to let the crimson blades pass harmlessly overhead. Planting her hands on the dance floor, she kicked her legs up and out to strike both with her boots before they could recover.
While both of them reeled from the unexpected form of attack, others joined them to surround the girl who pumped her arms and flipped back onto her feet. Yet when she landed, her golden bracelets had unfurled to become golden gauntlets, complete with shotguns in them.
And upon finding as she punched one man in the face, that he had aura to protect him, weak as it is, she realized that she didn't have to hold back as much.
And thus the guns began to be used.
And the dance floor became a blur of motion as Yang jumped and spun, her leg lashing out to catch a man by the neck even as she punched at another nearby and shooting him in the chest, his aura taking the damage but it took him out of the fight. Another man received a double punch to the gut before she had to block a machete from the right with her gauntlet, her left fist making short work of that man before her boot found the other's chest to kick him into a trio running at her.
More attacked and she took them down with little effort, a few punches and kicks from her were enough to keep them on the ground or at least willing to crawl away to clear the floor, dragging their coworkers with them. And her shotguns would crush their auras with a single shot, leaving them exposed to take her blows and ending their participation in the fight.
In short order, the goons were taken care of and Yang's smile barely faltered the entire fight. Then the DJ got involved.
The man who was dressed like all of the others in the black suit with red tie and glasses wore an accessory- a very large head of a cartoonish looking bear with an open mouth for him to look through.
Granted, his involvement wasn't to attack her with a machete or axe like the others, no, he had taken a machine gun out from under his booth and opened fire at her.
Yang didn't have time to ponder exactly WHY the DJ would have such a weapon on hand but it could be assumed that she wasn't the first to crash the club like this. Especially if half the rumors about Junior's involvement in the underworld are to be believed.
Luckily for her, the gunner was too stupid or too hasty to attack to remove the bear head so that he could hold the gun properly, let alone aim. Given the general state of the group so far, it seemed that it could be a bit of both.
Still, the spray of bullets forced Yang to move and raise her arms to guard from any hitting her face or body directly with her gauntlets. She ran towards the DJ in a serpentine fashion before deciding she was close enough, snapping her arms down as she crouched, firing her gauntlets at the same time she jumped to use the recoil as a boost.
She easily cleared the DJ booth, catching the edge with her right hand so she could lash out with her legs, one kicking the gun from his grip while the other made contact with the bear head, spinning it on his shoulders and leaving him half blinded as the blonde landed in front of him.
Stunned from being disarmed, the DJ was open for her to drive her elbow into his gut causing him to double over and she used that opportunity to grab him by the coat and toss him from the balcony, the bear head serving as a helmet once he hit the floor below.
But as Yang took a moment to catch her breath and survey the damage done, she spotted that Junior was now gone from where he had landed, most of the men had dragged themselves and the others to the bar where they hunkered down and watched things unfold… and two girls no more than a few years older than herself walked out onto the dance floor.
"Melanie, who is this girl?" The one in red asks.
"I don't know, Miltia, but she's going to be taught a lesson." The one in white responds.
—
The leader looked at the men around him, all staring out the windows and door at the girl with the scythe. "Well… don't just stand there. Get her!"
One by one they filed out the door and ran at the girl thinking that she just got lucky and her weapon was just for show.
As they expected, she didn't even try to lift it as they drew near but the closest man certainly didn't expect that she would jump up and use the shaft like a gymnast to twist herself around and slam both boots into his face, bringing him to a very fast stop aside from dropping straight to the ground.
But since she still had momentum, she was able to twirl her way out of the path of a red machete, the man stumbling by thanks to the lack of resistance.
One of the men had hung back and pulled out an SMG and opened fire on the cloaked girl, only for her to have seen him draw, tip her scythe over so that it stood on end, and jumped while squeezing her trigger to use the powerful recoil to help her dodge the bullets with ease.
None of them saw that coming, least of all the gunman as they watched the red streak spin and flip until it was too late to realize that the back side of the scythe was coming down on him. Said man was ruthlessly smashed against the pavement and his measly aura shattered like his glasses.
Two others drew their own guns on the now stationary girl and squeezed their triggers. Yet she proved to be faster than anticipated, zipping away down and across the street in short bursts as a red blur… that left rose petals in her wake?
Then the girl darted in on the first who had to reload, swinging her scythe to slam the shaft into his shins so that he fell to the pavement and soon had the head of the weapon, the blunt side, slam into his back and removed him from the fight.
The last one with a machete closed in to cover the gunman as he reloaded but he found the hard way that she had reach over him, smacking the man away with the blunt side.
The last man standing in active combat took aim once more and fired a burst, only for his target to dodge and move in, one swing of her massive blade cutting through his weapon with ease before it came whipping around again to slam into his ribs with the blunt side.
The man in the bowler hat had stood watching the entire fight while smoking on a cigar, looking down as the last of his hired help slid to a stop near his feet.
"You were worth every lien I paid your boss. Truly you were." His words were dripping with sarcasm and disappointment. He punctuated his distaste in their performance by stepping on the man so there would be nobody between himself and the one causing him this trouble.
The man drops his cigar and smashes it with the tip of his cane. "Well, Little Red, I'd say this has been an eventful evening!" He calls out to Ruby, lifting his cane to point at her. "And this… is where we part ways."
The cane released a screaming Dust shell right at Ruby. The girl shoots herself up in the air to dodge the explosion that left a crater in the road, but that was all of the distraction the man needed to make himself scarce.
The shop owner staggered at the door and held onto the frame, something the girl noticed as she spotted her target climbing a ladder on a multi story building. Hefting her weapon and taking aim, said target managed to reach the top and flee across the roof just as she was about to pull her trigger.
"You okay if I go after him?" Ruby asks, receiving a tired nod in response.
With that she didn't waste a second to run across the road and combined using her recoil jump with her semblance to reach the roof just as he got to the other side.
"Stop! There's nowhere to run!"
—-
The girls appeared to be identical twins with everything about them physically the same, even their voices. The biggest differences being the colors they wore.
The same straight black hair, same green eye shadow, same frilly short dresses, same feathers in their hair, same elbow length gloves, same knee high boots.
The big differences between them were that Melanie wears white while Miltia wears red… and that the white twin has large blades on the back of her boots heels that run up her calves halfway while Miltia has a pair of gauntlets with three long claws on each.
Obviously they came to fight and were letting Yang make the first move. If she was so hot headed that she'd pick a fight here just because she wanted to, they knew she'd come sooner rather than later.
For her part, Yang sized the girls up and figured that they were the real security in the club thanks to their confidence and much more customization in their weapons. Quite possibly a real challenge for her.
Plus she should finish this quickly so she could get back to Ruby; she didn't want her to know that she had come here in hopes of finding a certain someone.
With a twist of her wrists as her arms snapped down, the spent shells were ejected from Ember Celica in a shower of red plastic before she reached back to the pouch on her hip and pulled out a pair of strips containing fresh shells. She tossed them into the air and with practiced ease, swung her gauntlets into their paths and the weapons locked the shells in place.
With a quick twist of her wrists, the first shells were loaded into their chambers before jumping off the balcony at the twins.
Said twins watched the blonde soaring at them and punched their way, firing a trio of shells in the process. The pair made sure to dodge and did so with practiced ease and grace, and found that doing so was the best decision as Yang has switched from Fire Dust laced shotgun shells to Explosive Dust slugs, each of them destroying the dance floor where they hit.
Without the glass surface, that created a new hazard in the impromptu fighting arena in the form of craters with sharp edges and even sharper debris that would prove tricky to fight on as glass on glass does not provide stability.
Yang landed and rolled out her momentum back into her feet, only to find that the twins had leapt over the hazards to engage her as soon as possible.
Miltia was on her first, claws cutting through the air in a streak of red, the lights from the floor beneath the combatants glinting off their sharp edges. The claws were intercepted by a golden gauntlet. But that was followed half a second later by a white boot from Melanie lashing out for Yang's ribs, only for that strike to be blocked as well.
But now Yang was kept on the defensive, the twins attacking fast and hard, always in synchrony so one was always covering the other between strikes. Their feet kicked up shards of glass, creating small flashes of reflections or becoming prisms that refracted the light in a dazzling display that was lost on the three women.
The blonde was pushed back away from the craters and the twins had more room to maneuver, forcing Yang to split her attention between the girls who were now on either side of her. That ended when Melanie flipped over Yang to land by her sister, Miltia attacking with both sets of claws and occupied both of the blondes arms, leaving her stomach open for both girls to kick the vulnerable area.
As a result of the dual attack, the first solid hit of the entire bout, Yang was sent hurtling backwards similar to how she had thrown Junior for a loop. Though she hit the ground off the dance floor, she took advantage of the space she was granted.
Rolling onto her feet, she used her gauntlets recoil to boost her jump back at the twins, who were caught off guard by her hasty recovery. And it was Miltia who was punched with a shell fired upon contact for extra force, the red twin was sent tumbling through the air and through one of the glass pillars. While she had missed the bulk of the framework, she did not miss the wall not far behind, or the floor when she fell. Either way, her grimace of pain as she lay there was a clear indication that she was out of the fight.
And Melanie was pissed, if her face was anything to go by.
In a flash, Yang was on the defensive again as the bladed boots lashed out in a series of kicks that were pushing the limits of what a human body was capable of given the way she moved and the speed she performed her attacks.
Yang jumped back from a blade aimed for her chin, the razor edge having already clipped her shirt on its way up. Turning that jump into a backflip and handspring combo to give herself a little distance, Yang punched out to fire another explosive shell… only for that to fail as Melanie cut it in half and the pieces flew into a wall on either side of Miltia well outside of risking her health more.
Seeing how close it had come to hitting her sister, even if unintentionally, Melanie increased her efforts to finish the fight, quickly closing in on Yang. From there, it became a matter of footwork and deception as Melanie kept on the slowly retreating blonde and kept making moves that would indicate that she was going to kick only for that to be a fake while others were genuine. Meanwhile Yang was forced to block the attacks while still watching her opponents feet and moving to compensate.
Melanie aimed a kick at Yang's head, one that the girl ducked under with a spin and drove her elbow into the white-clad girls' stomach. Grabbing the stunned girls' arm, Yang twisted herself to keep the kicker off balance before returning with one of her own attacks- a jumping full spin roundhouse right to Melanie's face.
The girl was dropped to the hard floor as she gasped with pain from the kick, landing flat on her back without being able to soften the fall in the slightest.
Yang watched as her opponent groaned on the floor before motion drew her attention to the side. There, Junior Xiong was walking back onto the dance floor with something large and cylindrical held over his shoulder.
"You're going to pay for this!" He states with anger clear in his deep voice. The object on his shoulder was shifted to aim at the one causing him so much ire.
—-
Ruby stared at the man across the rooftop as he slowly turned around.
"Persistent, aren't you?" He asks sarcastically, though he seemed to be stalling for time.
"Give back the Dust you stole!"
"Oh, you mean this?" He holds up his black case with a grin. "I don't think so."
Ruby swung her scythe around and aimed the gun at him. "Last chance."
The man shook his head. "Little Red… I don't think you get it." His smile grew at her combined anger and confusion. "I've already won! And if you shoot me, you'll blow up this building." He made sure that the case was held in front of himself, using that as both a shield and cover as he reached into his coat pocket.
But while Ruby recognized that she was in a deadlock with the thief, she did stand up so she wasn't aiming down the scope.
"Ah, so you can see reason. Good to know." The sound of engines could be heard coming closer as they stood there on the roof. "And what do you know? My ride is here!"
An airship pulled up next to the building, one that was sleek and fast-looking, and the door on the side opened up to allow him entry.
"It's been fun, Little Red! But you wanted me to return the Dust, so here's some of it for you!" He calls from the steps and tosses a large crystal that stopped near her feet. One that is bright red that marked it as Fire Dust and the agitation from being thrown making it spurt out small embers. And that changed once the man aimed his cane and shot the crystal, the combination of his preferred ammunition and the Fire Dust erupting like a volcano.
"Woohoohoo!" The man laughs at the sight.
Ruby flinched but felt no pain aside from the wave of heat washing over her. Looking up to see why, she found that there was a purple wall of aura between her and the blast. It didn't stop the hole from being ripped in the roof but the damage was extremely limited, and the wall had been broken where the hole is as parts of the solid aura broke and fell.
The sound of heels on the roof next to her drew her attention, and the thief's once he saw her through the clearing smoke.
A woman with her blonde hair tied up into a bun, green eyes behind her glasses, and standing about as tall as the thief himself. Wearing a white blouse with a keyhole that revealed her upper chest, a tight, black skirt, dark, translucent stockings, and black high heeled boots with golden heels, she looked as though she belonged in a library. But she also wears a short cape, black on the outside with a gold crown in the center as her emblem and a deep purple on the inside, with the cape itself looking tattered but is actually purposely cut for the lower third to have wavy tendrils with arrow-like tips.
She held a riding crop in her right hand as she adjusted her glasses with a finger, the wall vanishing. But the sight was enough to send the thief running inside the airship.
"We got a Huntress!" He called out to the pilot, the woman behind the controls quickly switching places with him. In that time, the new arrival pointed with her riding crop at the airship and enveloped it with a purple glow, giving her crop a yank towards herself and the craft was pulled onto the roof and rattling the occupants.
Though none were as rattled as those on the craft, the thief had barely gotten in the seat before being tossed around, now having to pick himself back up and made sure to strap himself in before doing what he could to restart the engines and other systems so he could leave. The other person, a woman, had been thrown into a wall before hitting the floor thanks to the forced landing.
"Come out with your hands up!" The woman who had saved Ruby yells at the aircraft.
There was silence for a moment before there was the sound of glass tapping on metal a few times. Then from the shadows of the open door, bright orange lit up the inside in interesting patterns, revealing itself to be attached to the clothes of the woman inside.
But what she was doing was an old trick known by the blonde- working Dust into clothes and weapons to be used at a moment's notice. And this woman was using Fire Dust as evidenced by the trio of small fireballs that were thrown out onto the roof together.
But the fireballs didn't explode or set fire to the roof, more that they merged with the surface, soon making the areas around them glow bright with growing intensity.
The blonde realized her intention and raised her crop just as the other woman raised her hands sharply, the roof exploding.
The pair outside were saved by the blonde using her semblance again to shield both them and the building from the worst of the blasts, and quickly made use of the debris to return the favor as she gathered it up into what almost looked like a snake.
Then that 'snake' struck.
The fiery woman defended herself with a trio of fireballs that scattered most of the debris launched at her but the blonde never let her control over it fade, instead having it become three smaller 'snakes' that struck from different angles.
One struck near the cockpit, making the thief flinch instinctively as the glass was scratched and cracked to nearly breaking. Another struck the roof just over the open door, tearing open a few small holes while the third hit near an engine with similar results.
The blonde regathered the debris in front of her and made it firm a cone that began to spin like a drill. Faster and faster it spun while still being condensed before it was launched straight at the aircraft.
The woman inside responded with her clothes lighting up brighter than before but her face was shrouded as her eyes seemed to be in flames before a massive gout of fire was hurled at the drill.
The two attacks clashed in the middle and while the drill had managed to draw close to the woman shooting fire, that was also where the heat was at its most intense as well as the thrust. The drill formed of random debris was burned away, though the effort to do so made the fire woman end her attack once the immediate danger was gone.
By that point, the thief got the craft started and began to take off, whipping up strong winds and blowing away any light debris along with extinguishing any small fires on the roof.
As the ship rose, the woman could be felt watching the two on the roof with smug superiority. And Ruby collapsed her scythe so it was just its rifle configuration, opening fire on that woman.
Said woman didn't seem fazed as she lifted a hand and intercepted all three bullets with a flash of light from them being incinerated.
Yet as the craft pulled away into the air and the door closed, Ruby shot a few more rounds that did minimal damage at best before it was out of range.
And with that danger now gone, the blonde turned to the teen with a stern glare.
But she wasn't fazed. "You're a Huntress? How did you get here so fast? Can I have your autograph?"
"Children." The blonde grumbles as she pinches the bridge of her nose. Collecting herself she looks straight at the girl. "In order… Yes, I am a Huntress, Glynda Goodwitch. I was responding to the call about a robbery in progress because I was in the area. And no."
She watched as Ruby seemed ecstatic until the denial of an autograph, but even that barely dampened her high spirits.
"And I need to take you down to the station to answer some questions. I've already untied the store owner from behind the counter."
Ruby's face fell at the thought of having to go to the police station… and she was only fifteen! But she did catch what was said about the old man who ran the shop. "W-wait… you said he was tied up?"
"Yes, is that a problem?"
"Yeah! He was at the door and said I could go after him!" Ruby points at the sky where the aircraft was last seen flying over the city.
Glynda folded her arms as she thought about that. If what she was saying is true, then either there was an opportunist or the criminal had yet another accomplice. "We are going to the station now to write up the report of the incident."
"Umm… My sister is in town with me and is supposed to pick me up in a few minutes."
"Really? And do you know where she is?" Just as she asked that, her scroll buzzed and she looked at the message about another incident nearby.
"She said she was going to check out a club a few blocks away."
Glynda was really getting tired of this, and she was sure that what was happening tonight was linked… and not just because of this girl and her sister.
—-
"Uh-oh." Yang mutters as the rocket launcher fires. Though instead of a single large rocket, it turned out to be several smaller rockets that took seemingly random paths to their target, intended to prevent the ability to dodge them all. Instinctively, she started shooting at the rockets as fast as she could, only able to get three before being forced to move as rockets rained down on her position.
Yet despite all of that, she managed to dodge being hit directly while taking the blast waves and shrapnel from two rockets that hit the floor within arms reach. Rolling to her feet and letting some of the newly broken glass fall off of her, she caught sight of Melanie limping her way over to her sister, though her focus should have remained on Junior.
The tall man adjusted his hold on his rocket launcher as it shifted into a massive club nearly as long as Yang was tall. Before she knew it, he had crossed the distance with his enormous strides and was already in mid swing by the time she could react, barely putting up her arm in time to soften the blow aimed for her shoulder. The force was more than she could withstand, sending her stumbling backwards. Then there was another that caught her in the hip and threatened to send her to the floor.
Before she knew it, Junior spun around and really put some effort behind his swing, catching Yang in the gut and sending her flying back into a table along the wall and breaking it under her weight.
Junior stood back and rested his club over his shoulders, taking satisfaction in that last blow as revenge for the punch to his face.
But then Yang stood back up, looking ready for more and slamming her fists together as her hair seemed to start to glow and wisps of flames trailed off the golden strands as she stalked towards him. And that stalking turned into a run with her fists held to her sides with no way to tell which would fly first.
Junior swung quickly, the girl ducking under the blow just barely and lashed out with her left into his stomach, pushing the man back a step but little more. Her right fist was intercepted by the club but she pushed on as her left struck his thigh.
The retaliatory swing was deflected off her gauntlets and left him open for a pair of quick jabs to the core that pushed him back two more steps. And with that bit of distance between them, they both wound up for power over speed and swung.
Fist and metal bat met in the middle with a loud clash, the two opposing forces pushing against each other for what seemed like seconds before both were repelled as they proved to match, both fighters being blown back a few strides each as they tried to regain their balance.
Junior proved to be faster than he looked, switching his weapon back to rocket launcher mode and locked onto his target.
Yang saw the rockets flying her way, this time choosing to run towards them and tucked herself in tight as she twisted around their paths, allowing them to fly by and explode against the floors and walls behind her.
But as she drew close to Junior, he switched back to melee mode and swung, missing as Yang spun around the downward blow. But now he was open and was assaulted by several strong punches in quick succession and he dropped his weapon as a result.
But as Junior stumbled back, the number of blows he had taken proved that his earlier knockout was a fluke from being surprised and he still looked ready to go another round, unarmed if needed. He raised his fists but something gold was caught in his black gloved fingers- apparently in that last exchange his hand had gotten into her hair and came away with a few strands.
But what he did see was the pure shock and unbridled rage that crossed the blonde's face, putting a cold feeling of fear into his core that he hated.
And the blonde hair went from glowing to a golden bonfire as her lilac eyes turned red before she charged, firing her gauntlets behind her for an added boost of speed. Time seemed to stretch as the distance was closed before her right fist made contact with his face, sending the man flying through the air until he crashed into the black wall next to the main entrance, leaving an imprint of his body.
Now on the floor, he struggled to rise again as his aura broke and he stopped trying to move, choosing the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.
And with no one else to fight, Yang took a deep breath and her hair faded back to normal as did her eyes. At that time, she looked around and noticed how much damage was really done to the place and decided to make herself scarce. A glance at the bar where she saw several of the suited men watching her with fear in their eyes, the twins trying to attend to the others' injuries, the sight only hastening her departure.
"Sorry about the mess." At least she sounded remorseful before she walked out, dropping some lien next to Junior.
What she didn't expect when she got out to the street where her motorcycle is parked was for Ruby to be waiting there for her… with a rather stern looking woman with her.
"Yang! Over here!" Ruby sounded both excited and a bit apprehensive… not a good combination.
"What more trouble will this night bring?" Glynda mutters as she uses her scroll to call it a squad to handle things here as she had done at the Dust shop.
That would prove to be a bad question to ask in hindsight.
AN: Now how was that!? Yeah, I always thought that the Yellow Trailer and Episode One of Volume One could have been merged and so I did here. Plus, those of you who have read Big Issues may recognize a small bit that was mentioned fairly early on, Chapter 11-12 I believe.
As for the fights, I hope bouncing back and forth didn't give you guys and gals too much whiplash. Or mind the slight tweaks that I gave the fights to help smooth out the lore with aura and such... and I was working on those fights from memory alone. Plus we got to see Blake get accepted into Beacon, Weiss leaving home, and Pyrrha having one last intense workout! Oh, and feel free to guess who her friend is and where I had gotten that idea from.
Now if anyone wants to know about my thoughts on RT being shut down... considering how many of their employees had been treated, the various scandals, pretty sure that we only heard of half of what went on, the massive firings and layoffs just from when V9 was done... and that for many, what we were getting from them was ever decreasing in quality. I have no real positive opinions on RWBY content of last year as there was very little that I found to be positive. And some of the other series... I was actually surprised to hear that Camp Camp was still going after season 2. RvB I had given up on during the season after the Chorus Trilogy, though I had given the first episode of Zero a try. Had no idea that series was still going after pretty much everyone who gave it life was gone from RT.
In short... I can't say that I didn't see it coming and with things that were going on that it wasn't deserved. My biggest sympathies lie with those lower in the ranks, the ones who made the day to day stuff actually go, not the higher ups who allowed for the worst things to persist.
Enough of that, reviews are welcome as always!