Chapter 4: Ambush
It was a dark, damp room. Not completely dark, but the illumination from the single ceiling lamp was only bright enough to remind its sole inhabitant of how barren and unpleasant it was.
Leatherhead hated it. It was like being in the sewers, but without the comfort and freedom of New York City. And he had trouble sleeping without the sound of leaky pipes and running water.
The mutant alligator tugged at his chains for the umpteenth time. He could have broken them any time he wanted, but he knew that even if he tried a second jailbreak, he wouldn't make it to the door. The first time he tried to escape, the strange powers used by his captors easily put him down. He considered himself lucky that they thought he was too interesting a find to kill outright.
The only door in the dungeon opened. Through it came the one man who was most interested in the Alligator; a man the others called Merlot.
!Break!
The group had returned to the Manta, and after tending to their wounds (Mostly the Turtles and April) were now going through the supplies Team BDY had picked up. Unfortunately…
"This isn't nearly enough dust to get the Manta flying the rest of the way." Weiss sighed, picking up one crystal.
"Sorry, but the locals are keeping most of their dust on reserve in case the village is attacked by Grimm," Blake explained, "The only reason we got this much was because of the missiles we sold to the junk shop."
"Luckily, the spare parts we got along with the dust should suffice." Donatello said, using a screw driver on a piece of machinery.
"Dude, you brought back a bicycle." Michelangelo deadpanned.
"Yeah, what do you expect to do with a bicycle?" Weiss asked incredulously, "There aren't enough seats for all of us, and we don't have a trailer to hook up."
"I was thinking more along the lines of maybe alleviate our fuel issues." Don replied.
"You think you can rig the Manta to run on pedal power?" Blake asked.
"Hey, when you've got an energy crisis, you need to look for alternatives." Don said. He glanced back at the Manta. "Granted, we may need to strip the ship down a bit…"
"Guys, uh, and girls, we need to focus," Leonardo interrupted. He was standing up and pacing. "Right now, we're being tracked by a dangerous criminal organization that operates all over the country."
"Only since yesterday," Yang pointed out, reloading Ember Celica, "It'll take time for Lil' Miss Malachite to send someone after us."
"Aw, big whoop," Raphael snorted, resting under a nearby tree. "We've been racing all over kingdom come huntin' these jerks. I say, let 'em come."
"But we can't start another massive gunfight near the town," Ruby pointed out, "If the people there get too scared of the violence, it'll draw more Grimm."
"What does people being scared have to do with your world's monsters?" Raph asked, confused.
"The Grimm are drawn to negative emotions." Weiss explained, "Fear, anger, sadness…feelings like that are like beacons for the Creatures of Grimm."
"Anger, huh? I guess that explains why they go after Raph." Mikey cracked, leading the other Turtle to shake a fist at him.
"Let's just focus on getting to Wind Path," Yang said, "We can leave the tracking scroll here and the Spiders can waste their time searching the woods for us."
A loud gurgle cut through the air. The sound of it caused several birds to fly from the trees. The entire looked at Blake, whose cheeks had turned red while her cat ears flattened in embarrassment.
"Maybe we should focus on having dinner," April O'Neil said, stifling a laugh. "It's been a rough day, and we'll think better with food in our stomachs."
That seemed like a good idea, so the food supplies were retrieved and divvied up. Because the sun was setting, a campfire was set up. Before long, the nine were cooking dinner over the fire, eating and talking. This time, the Turtle gang wanted to learn more about Team RWBY's huntress duties, as well as the world they fought in. A discussion on the properties of various dust types led Weiss bringing up Lake Matsu and how the gravity dust created a floating archipelago.
"Floating islands?" Don asked, intrigued. "That's incredible! I wish we could see it."
"It might be better if we don't," Weiss said, looking down at her cup of soup. "The gravity dust levitating the land tends to disrupt most aircraft's instruments." Not to mention there might be more lancers there.
"Or we could put up some sails and ride one of those islands!" Mikey suggested excitedly.
"Well, that certainly sounds safer than trying to ride a Grimm." Weiss sighed, shooting a look at Ruby.
"Hey, that worked out fine!" Ruby defended, "It's not my fault you didn't jump."
"Wait, you can ride those monsters?" Raphael asked, intrigued, "Maybe we could try something like that."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Blake said, "Even if we could find a Grimm big enough to carry all of us, we'd only start a panic steering it towards a populated area."
"Yeah, we'd have better luck asking the Spiders for a lift." Yang commented dryly.
Mikey scrunched his face thoughtfully. He then asked, "Do they have a taxi service?"
That got a lot of laughs.
!Break!
The next morning, a large, bus-like vehicle pulled up to the village. Once it was parked and the wheel club was locked in place, a small group of armed men came out of the back door. They were dressed in advanced, albeit banged-up, combat armor like the kind worn by Atlasian army soldiers. Among them was a woman whose scarred face did not fit her energetic, almost manic smile.
"Okay, are they in this village?" She asked.
"No, Chameleon," The lead soldier said, checking a reading on his scroll. "According to the tracker, they're in that forest up there. We're going on foot because there are too many trees in the way."
The woman called Chameleon nodded firmly. "Right, we'd make too much noise driving through. I'll go scout ahead and confirm the enemy's location!"
Striking a dramatic (Actually, it was patently ridiculous) pose, Chameleon's skin changed color, while her jumpsuit seemed to shimmer and do the same. Now basically invisible, Chameleon went off ahead into the forest going up the woods.
"She's gonna get spotted, isn't she?" One soldier asked.
"Yeah, probably," The leader sighed, "But, I figure she'll keep those costumed freaks distracted long enough for us to get in position. Let's go."
!Break!
It was only a twenty minute walk, but soon they reached a clearing in the woods. Four hooded figures were seated around the remains of a campfire. Each one had one of the Turtles' weapons. There were also small belongings and sleeping spaces scattered here and there. Chameleon met back with the soldiers who were still hiding behind the trees.
"You sure that's them?" The leader soldier asked.
"Pretty sure," Chameleon reported, "That's where the tracking device leads, and they've got the weapons mentioned by the survivors from the attacks. Plus, there's no one else in the woods. I checked around."
"Why aren't they moving?" A more subordinate soldier asked.
"I think they're asleep." Chameleon said.
"Asleep? Sitting up?"
"I did it all the time in school," Chameleon insisted, "Or maybe they're meditating. Who cares?"
The leader shook his head and brought up his rifle. He signaled the others to do the same. Soon every other soldier was aiming a weapon at the four around the campfire. Leader motioned again, and as one the guns fired. The four figures were riddled with bullets went down like a sack of potatoes. The soldiers and Chameleon stepped out of the forest to admire their work.
"Well, that's that," The leader decided, "Now what?"
"I think I saw that Manta they stole thataway." Chameleon said, pointing, "Let's go take it back."
"Wait a minute," The soldier who had spoken to Chameleon said, "How come they're not bleeding?"
He took a closer look at the 'bodies'. Pulling a hood off of one, he found not a corpse, but a badly construct of sticks and tree branches!
"They're dummies!" He shouted.
That was as far as he could get. Several small Glyphs appeared on the ground, and large icicles grew out from them. More gunshots rang out, hitting the ice and making them explode. This caused the area to become enveloped in vapor and mist. Then came the sound of yelling, rushing footsteps, blows, and then bodies hitting the ground. When the mist cleared, it showed the Turtles standing over the unconscious soldiers.
"Well, that was easy," Raphael remarked, retrieving his sai from one of the dummies. "Kinda disappointing, really."
Last night, the group had worked out a plan of attack. After dinner, they hastily crafted the effigies using some timber from the woods and the other parts Team BDY bought. Using the Manta's radar system, Don and Weiss were able to detect the Spider forces' transport vehicle approaching the area. After that, it was just a matter of lying in wait.
"Wait a minute, there was that woman who turned invisible!" Leo barked, "Where is she!?"
"Probably invisible again," Don said, spoke into his communicator. "Girls, we need another Freezer Burn!"
"No, I see something going through the trees!" Weiss replied, "Leave it to us!"
!Break!
When the giant icicles popped up, Chameleon had instinctively turned invisible, and fled when they exploded into mist. As convenient as her Semblance was with the help of the invisibility suit, she spent the last decade learning how its advantages could be countered- the hard way. She had no intention of reliving those painful moments.
I can't believe I walked us into an ambush! Chameleon thought, How did those things realize we were coming?!
Chameleon darted between trees, doing her best to avoid stepping on anything that could make too much noise. After a few minutes, she stopped to catch her breath and turned off her invisibility. The suit helped a great deal, but even with it, her Semblance still cut into her aura. Besides, she was certain she left those…ugly Faunus behind a long ways. She needed to think of a plan to salvage this fiasco.
Chameleon was well aware that her place among the Spider gang was…contentious. Too many screw-ups in the past, only saved by quick thinking by whatever partner she had at the time. She even suspected that Lil' Miss only kept her around for entertainment value, and as a way to test newbies. "Can you fix whatever mess Chameleon made? If so, then you have a place in the Spiders!"
Okay, maybe I can do this on my own, Chameleon told herself, Those guys probably think they got the entire squad. Maybe I can wait until night and get them in their sleep. Yeah! She punched her other palm. "They won't see me coming!"
!Break!
"I see her!" Ruby said into her scroll. She was currently stationed in the tallest tree in the area, looking through the scope of Crescent Rose. "She's turned visible, now! Go south-east of the camp!"
Much lower down, but not at ground level, Blake swung through the branches by the ribbon of her Gambol Shroud.
"I''ll get her," Blake responded, "Just keep an eye on her for now."
"Roger!"
Blake knew she had to be careful. If there one thing Team RWBY had learned from their fights with Neopolitan, it was how dangerous someone who could blend into the scenery and disappear could be. They were lucky that whoever this woman was, she was more inclined to run and hide than take the offensive.
Landing on one branch, Blake ducked around a tree. Poking her head out, she saw the Spiders' remaining enforcer. The woman seemed to be fiddling around with the body suit she wore. Blake's eyes widened as she saw the fabric shimmer and seemed to disappear, making the Spider look like a floating head briefly. During her time in the White Fang, and then in Atlas, she had heard that the Atlas Army had tried developing a special uniform with special camouflage capabilities. Looks like the Spiders had somehow stolen the technology for their own use at one point.
"Blake, are you almost there?" Ruby's voice came from Blake's earpiece. "The Spider-woman's trying to turn invisible again!"
Not wanting to alert the 'invisible-girl' with her voice, Blake sent Ruby a quick text in response. Luckily, it hadn't seemed like-
Uh oh. 'Spider-woman' was gone.
Blake went very still. Her cat-ears pricked up as she tried to catch Spider-woman's movements by hearing. She could faintly hear crunching from footsteps. Was Spider-woman sneaking away, or sneaking up?
"Got ya!" Chameleon, her skin orange, crowed as she swung her fists down onto Blake's head.
Instead of the sound of a concussion, what followed was a faint wind blowing as Blake's form faded away.
"Huh?" Chameleon's skin turned blue as she stared at the empty space.
Crack!
Chameleon's skin turned to normal and her eyes rolled up as she fell unconscious. Standing behind was Blake, still bent over from crowning Chameleon. Straightening up for a moment, Blake kneeled down to check that- yup, the woman was out cold.
Activing her scroll, Blake said, "Okay, I got her."
!Break!
Ruby and Blake, with Chameleon hoisted over her shoulders like a sack of potatos, returned to the campsite where Weiss, Yang, and the Turtle crew had just finished tying up the captured soldiers.
"We're back!" Blake greeted, "And we- why are all these guys in their underwear?"
"We didn't have enough rope for all them, so we'd figure using their pants and shirts should work just as well." Raphael replied.
"Is that the last one?" April asked, nodding at the woman Blake laid onto the ground.
"Yup," Ruby said, "I saw her go into the woods from their transport- a big van they left by the edge of the village."
"I wondered what these were for." Yang said with cheerful sarcasm as she waved a car key in the air.
"Looks like we've got a new set of wheels," Michelangelo piped up.
"I like the way you think." Yang chuckled.
"But what do we do with them?" Blake asked, giving a brief gesture to the downed Spiders. "We can't just leave these people here."
"These 'people' tried to gun us down," Raph deadpanned, "I say having to walk home is too good for 'em.
"Hold on, maybe we could question one of them," Leo suggested, "They might have some intel we can use."
"I dunno, Leo," Don piped up, nudging one of the soldiers with his bo. "These guys look a bit more put together than the usual thugs we've taken down. They may not spill easily."
"I think I know how to get some answers," Weiss said, and the rest of the group looked at her.
And so, a plan was made. Blake, Yang, Don, Raph, and April would go into town to 'fetch' the Spiders' van and trade their now-unneeded airship for more supplies. Meanwhile, Ruby, Weiss, Leo and Mike would handle interrogations.
It didn't take long for one of them to wake up. Thankfully, it wasn't Chameleon. (They don't know her name, but we do.) It was one of soldiers. Leo and Mike ducked into the trees.
"Uhhh…what happened?" The soldier moaned.
"That's what I would like to know." Weiss said in her most imperious voice, "Why are Atlasien soldiers shooting up a campsite? With a member of the Spiders Gang, no less?"
"You…you're Weiss Schnee!" The soldier said in shock.
"And you haven't answered my question." Weiss replied, channeling every ounce of 'Rich brat energy' she could muster.
"Well, uh…" The soldier looked awkward. He had trouble formulating a cover story due to the throbbing headache. "Which question was it?"
"Why are you here?" Weiss answered through gritted teeth. Next to her, Ruby giggled. Weiss irritated was always amusing.
"We'e just…we needed work after Atlas fell," The soldier admitted sullenly, "No one else wanted to hire us. We got a work order to take care of some guys that were messing around with Lil' Miss Malachite's operations."
"Does this have anything to do with the Spiders' hideout in Wind Path?" Weiss asked, trying to avoid the sharp pain in her heart.
"How do you know about that place?!" The soldier asked in shock, then looked away awkwardly. "I mean…I have no idea what you're talking about."
Weiss and Ruby exchanged smug looks. This would be easier than they thought.
"That's too bad," Weiss said, looking away purposely. "I was willing to pay for some info on one of the Spiders' hideouts…"
(In the foliage, Mikey muttered, "Money! Why didn't we think of that?" and got nudged by Leo.)
Weiss reached into her pouch and pulled out a lien card. The soldier's eyes widened and he stared at it like it was the holy grail.
"I…I don't…know if there is really is a place in Wind Path," he said slowly. His eyes kept darting to see if any of his squad-mates were awake and watching this selling out. "B-but I've heard that the boss bought up a bunch of old fortresses from the Great War."
"How many castles can one kingdom stop using?" Ruby asked, and got elbowed by Weiss. She got the message and instead asked, "So, I guess a place full of bad guys would probably attract a lot of Grimm, right? Because, as Huntresses, it's our job to take care of Grimm."
"Oh, no, we don't have to worry about that," the soldier said, "I've heard that Malachite's managed to get some equipment to keep the Grimm at bay."
"You're surprisingly well-informed." Weiss noted.
"Chameleon- that lady- likes to brag about what the Spiders are doing," The soldier said, nodding at Chameleon. "She talked a lot before the C.O told her to shut up."
"Did she mention anything else before that?" Weiss asked.
!Break
"…Okay, that should do it," Donatello reported as he reconnected a wire in the van's dashboard. "We are officially off the Spiders' radar."
While Blake, April and Raph had gone into the village to trade, Yang and Don gave the Spiders' van a quick once-over to make sure any tracking equipment that might have been installed. While Don worked inside, Yang had the hood lifted to check out the engine.
"You sure?" Yang asked, "I'm really tired of getting screwed by our gear having a 'secret off-switch' that the bad guys can flip whenever they want."
Don held up a device that had the words 'TRACKING DEVICE' printed on it. "Pretty sure. How's the engine?"
"See for yourself."
Don turned the key, and the van's engine let out a noise like a lion's roar. Looking in one of the rear view mirrors, he could sworn he saw flames coming out of the exhaust pipes.
"Yowza," Don remarked as he turned the engine off, "I guess we can make the drive to Wind Path in this thing."
"It's too bad we don't have any gravity-dust," Yang commented as she shut the hood down, "Can you imagine the tricks we could with just a little bit of floatation?"
"Remind me to never let you behind the wheel." Don answered.
Yang stuck out her tongue. She straightened up when she saw Blake, April, and a trench coat-wearing figure that was unmistakably Raphael.
"We're all set," Blake said as they approached the van. "The guns we donated will help the village out in case anymore Grimm show up."
"In return, the shop gave us more computer parts to work with," April said.
"You guys were in there a little longer than I'd thought," Don commented, "Did someone want to haggle?"
"Nah, some of the locals wanted to dance," Raphael grinned evilly, "So we danced."
Yang and Don exchanged looks with Blake. They knew exactly who Raph was talking about.
"Anyway, where's the rest?" Raph asked, "How long can it take to shake some guys down for some chumps for what they know?"
"Not long at all," Leonardo said as he and the rest of his group came out from the trees. "We just finished up."
"Is everyone done with their parts here?" Ruby asked, and when the others nodded, she said, "Okay, I guess there's no point to stick. Let's load up and head out."
"Hold it," Mike went up to a post box at the village's gate. He slipped a package down the slot, then rushed back to the others, snickering like a hyena. "Okay, we can go."
"What did you just do?" Weiss asked, "Are you mailing a letter?"
"Just the scroll we picked up," Mike said, picking up a bag. "I figure, the Spiders can track it away from where we're going."
"So we send them on a wild goose chase," Blake smiled approvingly, "Brilliant!"
"Yeah, I'm basically the team genius," Mike replied, rubbing his chest and preening. "The team wouldn't survive without my cunning and guile."
"C'mon, Street Fighter!" Raph snapped, throwing a bag into Mike's arms, "Let's putting stuff inside the car."
It wasn't long before the van was packed with huntresses, ninjas, and their supplies. After a brief scuffle over who would drive, and a slighter longer scuffle over who would ride shotgun (Resulting in Raph being banished to the back of the van), they were on their way.
"Are we there yet?"
"Mike!"
!Break!
It was late-afternoon by the time the van reached Wind Path. It was a larger town compared to the villages the group had been to before. It took some driving around before they could find an appropriate place to park the van. There was talk about going to someplace more public and getting lost in a crowd, but the Turtles' appearance meant that would be impossible. They would need a shelter they could hide their new transport in as well. They found an abandoned inn on the edge of the residential district. While the Turtle crew worked on setting the place up as a command center for their plans, Team RWBY would go out and look for the Spiders' base. As huntresses, people would assume they were patrolling for Grimm.
"We know the Spiders are hiding out in a nearby castle," Weiss said, "But where is it?"
Ruby was looking at the GPS on scroll, but shut it off. "There's nothing on any official maps."
"We can just ask around," Yang said, "An old fortress would be hard to miss. Right, Blake?"
But Blake didn't answer. She was looking back. Back at where they had left the Turtles and April.
"Blake?" Ruby asked, "Are you okay?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry," Blake said, "I was just thinking…"
"About the Turtles?" Weiss asked, and shrugged dismissively. "They'll be fine. We left them in a secure place, perfect for hiding."
"That's just it," Blake said, "Remember back at Beacon, when I wore a bow over my ears?" She was referring to her cat ears, which twitched.
"Sure," Yang replied, "Kind of a shame- those ears are so cute!"
As Blake blushed, Weiss said, "You were hiding that you were a faunus. What about it?"
"I was hiding my faunus traits because I didn't want to deal with bullies who pick on faunus," Blake explained, "But even so, I could still go out in the open like a normal person."
"…And the Turtles can't." Ruby finished, getting it. She remembered the first time she visited Mistral. Ozpin had her and her friends cooped up in a timeshare 'for their protection'. Nora complained endlessly about it…especially after Oz walked the entire group into a trap set by Cinder Fall.
But that had been for a month. From what the Turtles had told the girls, they had to live that way forever. Always keeping themselves hidden away from the rest of the world, only able to go out at night or in far away places.
"Yeah…that does suck," Yang sighed, "But what can we do about it?"
That was the million-lien question. And unfortunately, it was one neither member of Team RWBY had the answer to. However, they were able to learn where Wind Path's abandoned castle was. A man running Tours Through Scenic Wind Path pointed them in the right direction, although he warned that the place had started to attract Grimm. Thanks to that, they were able to find a building similar to the one from the one where they met the Turtles.
"Is that really the place?" Weiss asked.
Ruby, checking it out with Crescent Rose's sniper scope, said, "It looks like a castle. But I don't see any Grimm."
Blake's cat-ears twitched. "Does anyone hear a buzzing in the air?" The others looked at Blake in confusion. "I hear this weird sound."
"Maybe you're hearing something like a dog whistle?" Yang suggested.
"I guess…" Blake muttered, "It doesn't sound like a whistle…
Weiss remembered something the bribed soldier told her. "I heard Lil' Miss has some device that should help defend the area from Grimm. do you think that could be it?"
"I don't know…"
Ruby had gone back to scoping the castle out. She then announced, "Hey, I see people!"
Through her sniper scope, Ruby could see two men standing out on a walkway around the castle's wall, leading from one balcony to another. Blake went ahead- besides being the best at quiet infiltrations (At least among Team RWBY), she could see if the buzz she heard was coming from the castle. Sure enough, as she approached the fortress, the buzzing seemed to increase in volume. Fortunately, it wasn't so bad that she couldn't hear what the two men were saying.
"Do you ever wonder why we're here?" One asked.
"You mean, like, what the meaning of life is, or something?" The other replied thoughtfully.
"No, I mean, why the heck are we out here on perimeter duty again? It's hot as balls out here!" The first complained.
"Hey, it beats being inside," The second said, "Any distance we can put between us and that huge lizard isn't far enough, if you ask me."
All four of Blake's ears pricked up.
"Yeah, that thing creeps me out. Some of the guys claim it talks."
"Wasn't talking when it tried to break out last week. Nearly destroyed the west wall, too."
Good to know… Blake thought. Looks like the Turtles' lost friend was here after all.
"Well, I heard the boss finally found some science company willing to buy it, so we won't have to worry about it anymore."
"Thank the Brothers…"
That's not good. Blake thought, and decided to head back. Plus, the buzzing was getting on her nerves.
!Break!
When Team RWBY returned to their hideout with the good news, they found that the place had been renovated. Several computers had been set up, all connected to the van's battery. April was typing away at one terminal, so intent on her work that she hadn't noticed the huntresses entering. Meanwhile, the Turtles were sitting cross-legged in a circle. Their eyes were shut, and their mouths were set in determined frowns.
"Uh…what?" Ruby said, taking it all in.
Hearing Ruby's voice, April looked up from her work. She said, "Oh, girls! Welcome back!"
"You guys have been…busy." Blake observed.
April stood up and stretched, saying, "Yup. This is going to be our command center for tonight's mission. I'll be acting as support and logistics."
"And what about them?" Yang asked, nodding towards the Turtles. "What are they doing?"
"Meditating," Leonardo stated. He and the other Turtles got up to face Team RWBY. "We've been trying to contact Leatherhead through our minds."
"You can do that?!" Ruby gasped.
"No." Mike sighed, "Be cool if we could, though."
"Then, why do you keep trying?" Weiss asked.
"We've done it once with Master Splinter," Don explained, "But I guess Leatherhead was never the most spiritual mutant."
"Which means we gotta do this the old fashioned way," Raph said, "Speaking of which, I hope you girls had better luck than we did."
"We did." Ruby said, and quickly told the Turtle gang where Team RWBY found the castle.
"All right!" Raph whooped, "Let's get over there and save Leatherhead!"
"Hold on, Raph," Leo cautioned, "We need to case the place first. We get this wrong, and we could be putting Leatherhead in danger."
"Actually, Raph has the right idea," Blake put in, "While I was scouting the place, I heard two guards talking. Apparently, Leatherhead is going to be sold like a piece of property.
"If we want to rescue your friend, it has to be tonight."
To be continued_