Here is the fiftieth chapter in this story released in accordance with my release schedule for this story. It's been longer than I'd hoped but I was out of my area for 3 weeks and had a lot to catch up on when I got home but I'm back now and hopefully I'll be able to pick things up over the next few months, real world depending. Anyway, the Mountain Glenn investigation has turned into a rescue mission now that Ruby as fallen into the underground settlement and with the spotting of a few White Fang grunts who knows what is waiting for them down there as Ruby and Weiss continue their internship. That I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions to answer here there are two guest reviews that need a response so I will do that now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.
To Nathan Ramos (guest), thank you for understanding. As for combo moves, those are a possibility of course but harder to plan this far in advance. It's more of a I'll see what works when I plan out a battle kind of thing when it comes to them and even then it's what works for any given situation. I will say that due to the age gap, it's unlikely, but not impossible, that Yang and Blake would pull off combo moves with anyone in Class 1-A other than Ruby and Weiss due to prior experience. More likely it would be with Togata, Nejire, Magna, Luck, Amajiki, etc. Do keep reading and enjoying my work.
To Guest (guest), thank you for your review. Yeah I went for some MREs to add a sense of realism to the whole field work and mission so glad to see that they worked well. Mountain Glenn is picking up and it's time for the next stage so get ready for what's to come. Do keep reading and enjoying my work.
That is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the fiftieth chapter in Black RWBY Academia.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these three great franchises.
Chapter 50: Change of Plans
The sudden fall was too surprising for Ruby so she didn't have time to activate her Quirk and fly up as she fell away while Zwei looked down and barked at her worry in his bark. However, she did have enough self-preservation, along with decently honed general combat instincts, to realize that she was not in a good situation and quickly activated her Quirk and flew downwards with her fall. It was too far to fly up and out in one go now so this was better as it would allow her to safely reach the ground, assess her situation, and try to figure her way out though she trusted the others to come to her if it came to it.
As it turned out, Ruby really should have looked down before she activated Petal Burst as she suddenly slammed into the rooftop of a building with a loud boom and burst out of her Quirk in an explosion of rose petals thanks to the shock of the impact. She groaned as she lay on her back, her head hurting as she'd landed head first but Petal Burst had protected her from any serious damage, and forced the pain from her mind as she sat up and looked around.
Ruby's vision was a bit blurry but she it came back to her quickly and her eyes widened at what she was seeing. There were tall buildings at just below eye level that extended around her location to form a large complex below her that mirrored what was above only smaller in terms of overall size. It took a second to process it all but Ruby realized that she'd fallen into the underground settlement of Mountain Glenn that had risen up around the train services.
She'd known that this place existed, the history lessons of Mountain Glenn never left it out, but Ruby hadn't realized how large it was. The buildings at least had to be the same height as the tallest ones above ground and still left a decent bit of space between their roofs and the ceiling of the cavern the settlement was in. However, Ruby didn't have time to fully process the scope of the underground settlement as only moments after landing a door behind her burst open and two men she didn't recognize but had the same uniform as the duo that she'd been following burst through it guns drawn.
They'd clearly heard Ruby's fall and as they were already on guard duty as this was one of the access points between the two settlements so they'd been ready to act the moment that the strange noise that was Ruby's arrival was heard. Ruby noted that as she quickly stood up and turned to the sound as the men shouldered their weapons and pointing them at her.
"Freeze!" One of the men said.
"Who the hell is she?" The other asked as Ruby raised her left hand to shield her eyes from the glaring light streaming through the open door that was doing a number on her vision after the darkness of her fall and the bump to her head wasn't helping. "And where did she come from?"
Ruby instinctively backed up and almost fell as she realized exactly where she was. She was on the roof of one of the tallest buildings around with nowhere to run, at least as far as the two men were concerned as they didn't know what her Quirk was.
"You're a long way from home little girl." One of the men said as Ruby instinctively reached behind her for Crescent Rose planning on using some kind of ruse to distract the men before stunning them with quick shots and then bursting into her Quirk to fly around them and up the stairs before remembering that that it wasn't there because she'd dropped it to save Zwei from falling into the hole. "Or your agency judging by that outfit of yours though I've never seen a hero with that fairy tale like get up before. Now come with me, the boss will want to see you."
At that one of the men reached her and lowered his rifle before grabbing Ruby by her left bicep. Ruby's reaction was more out of instinct and training than anything else and in hindsight it was the wrong one as she should have just used her Quirk rather than her fists.
"Hey, hands off." Ruby said as she shrugged out of the grip and punched the man in the stomach. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
Had she been Yang that would have taken down the man with ease, and probably knocked him back into the cavern wall for good measure, but she wasn't. Instead, he took the blow and instinctively punched Ruby back. His fist slammed into the side of Ruby's head and she saw stars as she collapsed to the side her vision blurring and blood starting to run down from a cut on her temple as she looked at the man's boots to disorientated from two blows to the head to focus on using her Quirk.
"The boss will want to see this." The man said as he walked over to Ruby. "This could be an issue if one of the branches, likely the Huntsman branch judging by this ridiculous getup, is here already."
Ruby couldn't do or say anything before the man reached her, raised his right foot, and curb stomped her in the head. It was a controlled blow that wouldn't kill her though it might concuss, not that Ruby was aware of that as she was knocked out cold by it just as the others were preparing their rescue mission above.
They wouldn't be in time to intercept Ruby though as a few moments later she came to and instantly felt the sensation of being dragged, which she was in fact being as she blinked and realized that the two men who'd found her and knocked her out were now dragging her behind them each one holding one of her arms as they moved. She was now clearly on the bottom level of the complex right by some railway tracks and to Ruby's shock she saw large machines that looked like single driver mech suits being used to move cargo around and no doubt had combat abilities as well as they looked near military grade.
This really wasn't good as whatever was going on here was a lot larger of an operation than anyone had expected. Ruby wasn't even sure what she was looking at other than the fact that this was clearly not some smuggling outfit using the abandoned tunnels to smuggle illegal contraband between Vale and Hosu. However she knew that she had to look around as much as possible so that she could report what she saw when the others rescued her and as she was being dragged she heard a loud voice that instantly got her attention.
"Hey, be careful with that, it's sensitive you idiot." A man said and Ruby looked over to see more of the masked men loading a large, hexagonal, device with wires and tubes on it and hexagonal ring things on each end for carrying it into the cargo hold of a freight train that was down here. "Are you trying to get us killed in an explosion?"
The question confirmed to Ruby what it was, a bomb. That really wasn't good and seeing that confirmed to Ruby that whoever this group was, they weren't your run of the mill criminals. No they were something more, a terrorist group and the only terrorist group still active in Japan, that Ruby knew of, was the White Fang.
That was confirmed as Ruby looked up at the men dragging her and noted that both had heteromorphic traits to them. While Ruby had never actually seen a member of the White Fang and as such hadn't been able to identify their outfits and emblem, she was able to correctly deduce that they were criminal group that had set up in Mountain Glenn.
Why they were here Ruby didn't know but she did know that this really wasn't good as this was something that would necessitate the normal heroes as well as the Quirk Knights, maybe even a top 10 hero or a Quirk Knight Captain, so she had to find a way out to report in what she'd seen. That wasn't looking good though as the men dragging her came to a stop by one of the many freight cars in the train and one of them called out.
"Hey boss, we found something that you should see." One of the men, who for some odd reason had circular glasses over his mask, called out. "We could use your opinion on what to do about it."
"Is it a good or bad something Perry because I'm not in the mood for bad news." A voice from one of the freight cars called out, a voice that while Ruby had only heard it twice before it was one that she instantly recognized. "Because let me tell you, I have had one hell of a day sorting all this out and Patry really wants us to move out today to add to his own plans so we need to be ready soon but we're not ready."
"Er, well, it's a little girl in a black dress with a red cape." Perry said clearly unsure how to take his boss's words. "Kinda looks a bit like that old pre advent western fairy tale actually so I guess…"
"That would be a bad something." Roman Torchwick said as he popped out from the opening in the freight car and tossed his cigar to the ground. "Really, really, bad Perry."
"Torchwick what are you doing here!" Ruby exclaimed surprised that he was behind something like this even if she'd recognized his voice. "Since when have you gone from shaking down Dust vendors to aiding terrorists?!"
"That's none of your business Red." Torchwick said as he leapt down from the car and approached her though the simple answer to Ruby's exclaimed question was a mix of money and Torchwick's bet that the AVE would win out in the end. "I could ask you the same thing but you're a pesky wannabe Huntress who constantly messes up my operations so there wouldn't be a point."
"True, we're going to stop this as well." Ruby said as broke free from the two White Fang members holding her, leapt up, and turned towards Torchwick to face him. "And this time…"
Before Ruby could finish Torchwick closed the distance on her and kicked her. At the last moment Ruby got her arms up to protect her face, she'd taken too many blows to the head in the last few moments so she was quick to prevent another. While she did protect her face, Ruby was still flung backwards by the blow and landed hard on her ass, sliding over it for a few feet as Torchwick laughed at her.
"Man you are much more manageable when you don't have that oversized gardening tool on you." Torchwick said grinning as he came to a stop standing over Ruby his left hand on his hip. "Makes me wonder just how did you get into U.A. in the first place when all you have is that. Their standards must be really low these days if they let someone who can't fight without a weapon in."
"I got in because I earned it after showing Ozpin I was worthy of his recommendation when I beat up all your grunts and stopped you from robbing that store!" Ruby shouted as she pushed herself off the ground and rushed Torchwick. "So thanks for that, without you I might not have made it into U.A."
"Now, now, Red, is that anyway to fight." Torchwick said as he casually stepped to the side and let Ruby past his as if she was an enraged bull before striking her in the back with his cane to send her crashing face first to the dirt and sliding over it, something that gave him a laugh. "I must thank you for this Perry, I really did need this after dealing with that zealot lunatic Patry. I've wanted to get even with this little girl for a while now and without that comical, overcompensating, weapon of hers I can. Good job taking it from her but enough of that it's time to get to the real questions."
Perry just nodded at Torchwick and didn't mention that the girl had been unarmed when he found her as Torchwick walked forward as Ruby rolled over and got to her knees, her face scuffed and a bruise forming on her back but she was far from beaten. Torchwick ignored that as he crouched down and used the end of his cane to lift Ruby's head so that he could look into her silver eyes that glared back at him defiantly. The move had the added effect of putting the open end of the cane to Ruby's throat making it clear to her that he could end her in a moment's notice as she was well aware of what his cane could do.
"Now, how did you find this place Red?" Torchwick asked. "I chose this tomb for a reason; you shouldn't be here but in school so I want to know how you were able to locate my current operation."
Ruby just grit her teeth and glared up at Torchwick. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of an answer, he didn't deserve that. Besides, she didn't need to answer him as Ruby could get out of this situation before he could fire a shot from his cane and then quickly regroup with the others to take Torchwick down. After all, her Quirk was near instantaneous.
So, while still snarling at Torchwick, Ruby suddenly activated her Petal Burst and shot to the side in a spiral of red rose petals as fast as she could push it. She was clear of Torchwick and the two White Fang grunts before the first rose petals began to fall.
"Huh?" Torchwick asked confused. "Where'd she…"
"Behind you boss!" Perry shouted.
"Right, her Quirk is annoying like that." Torchwick said as he turned to see Ruby running away between the tracks and towards the wide, man-made, tunnel that would take trains from here to Hosu and back. "Still, we can't let her get away."
Ruby for her part was running as fast as she could. She'd burst away and looped around the villains to avoid all of them before landing between the tracks and taking off. She'd have to burst again but given where she was she wanted some more distance before doing so as she'd have to burst up to get to the top of a rooftop and then again between them to find the right one that would help take her out of the underground settlement. It was a conundrum for Ruby as she had a burst limit but as she needed more distance and quickly she leapt forward and burst into her Quirk for a second time.
Unfortunately for Ruby, Torchwick was ready for this and rather than shoot using the flare gun part of Melodic Cudgel he simply flipped his cane in his hands and timed it so that as Ruby burst into her Quirk he fired off the end of his cane. That part was also a long grabbling hook on a tough, experimental, and highly strong metal alloy filament and Torchwick's aim was as good with it as it was with the flare gun. As a result, the curved end shot off and at Ruby while she was in mid burst so she wasn't aware of what Torchwick was doing.
Therefore it was too late for Ruby to realize what was about to happen so the moment that she reformed Ruby was caught unawares as the end of the cane reached her and snagged her hood bringing her to an abrupt stop. The metal line pulled taught and yanked Ruby backwards causing her to slam back first into the ground with enough force to wind her before the internal winch system of Melodic Cudgel began to reel her back to Torchwick.
"I see that you've got some quick reactions with that Quirk of yours but you're not the only one with tricks up your sleeves." Torchwick said as Ruby was dragged along. "Don't try that again or my men will have to shoot you."
To make a point the handful of White Fang members that were around Torchwick, some of whom had arrived as Ruby was trying to flee, all shouldered and cocked their rifles. Ruby wasn't dumb, she knew that in an open space like this and against the kinds of weapons she'd seen in the hands of the White Fang grunts that it would be tough for her to evade all of them and escape even with her Quirk so she just had to just bide her time and trust that her friends and Dr. Oobleck came for her.
Of course Ruby trusted them completely so she didn't worry as she reached Torchwick's feet and he removed the top of his cane from her hood and looked down at her. It was only a matter of time before they arrived and when they did Ruby wouldn't hesitate to capitalize on the distraction that they would no doubt provide.
"To be clear we are far from done here." Torchwick said. "You're going to answer all of my questions and then I'll decide what to…"
Before he could finish there was an explosion of sorts further down the tracks in the direction that Ruby had been running in, one that kicked up a bunch of dust just past one of the abandoned buildings that was in the same vicinity as the one that Ruby had landed on. It looked more like something had fallen over, an occasional occurrence in this ruin, but with Ruby here Torchwick wasn't going to take chances.
"What now?" Torchwick asked to no one in particular before he turned to the bespectacled grunt. "Not sure what happened over there but Perry can you and the boys go take care of whatever that was, that would be great. I'm kinda in the middle of something."
Perry, who Ruby finally realized was the bespectacled White Fang member, just nodded and he and two others, one of whom was clearly female, turned to head towards the noise weapons at the ready. However, just as they were about to head there another, louder, boom happened that shook the area and caused dust to fall from the ceiling.
"What is going on here?" Torchwick asked as he looked towards the sound just as gunshots began to ring out and a tongue of flame burst from behind the building and into the open area around the tracts. "Why is this place suddenly so damned busy?"
The answer to Torchwick's question had begun a few moments earlier above ground where Ruby had fallen down into the subterranean complex. Right after Dr. Oobleck, Zwei and the girls had turned towards the pit to rescue her, Yang leapt over the edge and down followed by Zwei who let out a bark of excitement at that.
"Um, why'd she do that?" Weiss asked as she held out her right hand and created a mid-sized glyph over the whole that she then jumped onto and turned to her teacher and senior. "I can just get us down on a glyph without an issue though it is a bit noticeable if someone is looking in our direction. Zwei I get, his Quirk is adorable and allows him to survive a jump like that but not Yang's, right?""
"Actually her Quirk can survive the drop providing it's not excessively far." Blake said as she and Oobleck joined Weiss on the glyph and Weiss began to move them down. "Yang's Quirk allows her to absorb and store physical damage so a byproduct of it is that her body is well above a normal human's resistance. There are limits and if the fall is too much she'll use her gauntlets to slow her down, which will give us away, but this is fastest and helps charge her up."
"Right, I've not actually seen her use her Quirk yet as she's not needed it against the Grimm here." Weiss said as there was a thud from below but no shotgun blast indicating that the fall wasn't too far. "Well this will help then."
"So long as it wasn't too much." Blake said. "But it doesn't sound it as Yang is good at judging just how far she can fall without hurting herself. Well, she'll feel this, she feels all the blows she takes, but it won't be enough to take her out of the fight."
Blake was right as a moment later, and after they'd gone far enough that looking down they'd be swallowed up by the darkness, Weiss's glyph illuminated a rooftop that was right below the hole, one that wasn't too far down for someone like Yang but would have broken bones in the others if they'd tried it. That could have been bad for Ruby but Weiss was sure that her best friend would have had the sense to use her own Quirk to get down and avoid getting hurt.
This appeared to be the case when Weiss dropped the glyph and she, Blake, and Oobleck fell the rest of the way to the roof and landed as Yang was looking out over the edge of it with Zwei standing next to her having gone there as soon as she landed. She was looking around for any sign of Ruby as Ruby wasn't on the roof and had seen movement by an old freight train that was at the end of the tracks.
"I think she's over there." Yang said pointing and turned to the others as they arrived while Zwei barked in agreement. "I can't confirm but we need to get there right away."
"Yes, the priority is rescuing Miss Rose." Oobleck said with a nod. "Miss Schnee, get us to the ground and we'll go there right away. No need for subtlety anymore, speed is paramount right now and I trust Miss Rose to use her own speed the moment we provide the opening for her. I've already sent a distress message out so the Coral Peacocks should send a force here right away. They can handle the White Fang that have congregated here, we need to get Miss Rose."
"On it." Weiss said without hesitation and she held her hand out again to create another glyph, one that was slightly larger than before, and leapt onto it. "Let's go."
The others nodded and leapt on it, or off the side in Zwei's case as he could survive the second fall as well though it was a bit too much for Yang to survive without using her gauntlets so she was on the glyph as well. They weren't trying to be subtle and Zwei's bark alerted a group of White Fang thugs that were nearby so there was a welcoming party as Weiss brought the glyph down towards the ground.
"Zwei, get to cover!" Yang yelled as she leapt off the glyph as it descended and her hair ignited with a golden flame that Weiss hadn't seen before. "Here comes the boom! Impact Landing!"
Weiss just watched as Zwei barked and leapt out of the way as Yang cocked her fist back and landed on the ground in a crouch, punching it and releasing her Quirk as she did in a well-timed move that showed how much she'd practiced it. There was a loud boom and the ground cratered from the force of Yang unleashing part of her stored power, the force of which shook the area and caused dirt to fall from the ceiling while throwing the White Fang members off their feet, two of whom slammed into nearby buildings and either crashed through or crumpled to the ground unconscious, while covering Yang in dust.
However she wasn't done and with a grin Yang burst from the dust and slammed her fist into the mask of the White Fang grunt that was still standing, shattering his mask, and sending him flying backwards his body limp showing that he'd been knocked out by the blow. All this happened as Yang was in the air and she landed only to pivot on her left for and kick another grunt in the chest as the grunt was trying to bring his weapon to bear and sending him crashing into, and then through a nearby building's wall.
Yang finished the spin as a third grunt raised her rifle but before she could fire Yang knocked it to the side with her left arm, grabbed the grunt by the face and swept her legs from her to slam her headfirst into the ground knocked her out. Naturally, Yang wasn't done and grabbed the unconscious grunt's legs and heaved her up, spinning around a few times before throwing her into the group of grunts that were just recovering and getting up bowling them over.
"You want some more!" Yang shouted as she raised her arms above her head, her hair igniting again and her eyes turning red as she used her Quirk to boost her power. "Then have some!"
Yang Xiao Long, Quirk: Burn. Yang's Quirk allows her to absorb kinetic energy from every blow that she takes and use it to make herself more powerful with the subsequent redirection of said energy being about twice as hard as the damage that she has taken. As a result her body is sturdier than that of an average human and she can take more damage than a normal person.
Additionally, she can also store up this power in her body for use later in an even more powerful attack. When she does use her stored power her golden hair ignites with a bright yellow, fire-like effect and her eyes go from lilac to red. Why this happens is unknown but it's pretty cool, kinda like a mix of a power meter in a fighting video game and a temper tantrum.
At that Yang brought her arms down, fist clenched, and slammed them down onto the ground imparting her stored power into it at the same time while directing it outwards and in front of her. The result was an even louder boom that shook more and sent out a shockwave that rippled the earth and knocked the nearby White Fang grunts off their feet and into the surrounding walls while those far enough away began to back up, guns raised, and started firing at Yang.
In the close confines of the street the shots may have hit and if they were actual bullets, which they were, then Yang's Quirk might not have stopped them but that needn't be an issue as before the rounds could reach her a line of glyphs appeared before her and intercepted the shots easily withstanding them. Yang grinned as she looked up to see Weiss's hand out the glyph the others were on neared the bottom and Oobleck aiming his flamethrower.
"Let's move." Oobleck said as he fired sending a tongue of flame out and into the area behind the grunts before causing a small, fiery, explosion that forced the four remaining grunts to flee backwards into the wide throughway where the tracks were, one of them firing as he ran only for Weiss to create another glyph to intercept the bullets. "They know that we're here."
The girls just nodded as Weiss dismissed her glyph and they all ran after the White Fang grunts. Ruby was nearby, it was time to get her out and end this mission.
The gunshots and fire weren't needed to get their attention, already Torchwick and Ruby were looking towards the gap between two buildings as four White Fang grunts ran out and towards the tracks, one of them firing back in the direction that he'd fled from as he did. A moment later they were followed by Dr. Oobleck, Zwei, Yang, Blake, and Weiss who were charging after them weapons drawn and running towards where Ruby was.
Torchwick growled at the intrusion and recognized the male as a pro Huntsman from Beacon called the Caffeinated Doctor while the others looked like U.A. students that Torchwick had seen either while watching the Sports Festival as it was useful in gleaming information on his potential enemies or in the case of the girl in white during the attack on the USJ. This wasn't good and he'd have to do something soon but before he could Ruby used the distraction to leap up and around him with her Quirk before reforming so that she standing on Torchwick's shoulders.
As soon as Ruby was there she pushed Torchwick's bowler hat down over his eyes and was about to push him backwards as she leapt off him and burst away when he reached up and grabbed Ruby's back and threw her off and to the ground. Ruby didn't hit it as she quickly burst into her Quirk and shot away, skimming over the ground between the tracks again and right at the four grunts running towards her but she didn't care, her friends were here and so Ruby knew that she'd be safe as soon as she was past the grunts.
"Gah, will somebody kill her!" Torchwick yelled as he raised his cane, the sights popping off the end, and fired while Perry and a few of the grunts with him raised their own guns and started firing as well. "Kill all of them! Whoever kills any brat or that Huntsman will get a big bonus."
However, yet again Weiss was ready and a wall of overlapping glyphs appeared behind Ruby as she reformed and landed, running as she did to preserve her momentum, and intercepted the shots. Torchwick's flare exploded on the glyphs but didn't breaking them, and the smoke it kicked up gave Ruby the cover she needed.
As she did, Ruby grinned at her bestie having her back and burst into her Quirk again as soon as she was confident she was in range. Said range was the four grunts running at her and reading their weapons but before they could realize what was going on she bowled through them at full speed sending them flying to either side of the tracks before she reformed and landed still sprinting towards the others.
"That's it, change of plans!" Torchwick yelled as he briefly bent his cane but it snapped back to position as he turned to one of the grunts around him. "Attach this car and spread the word, we're starting the train. Patry's going to get his backup chaos."
"But we're not done yet boss." The grunt said. "We need to make sure everything is clear and…"
"I don't care, we'll blow through the barrier and let the heroes clean up the mess, if they can with everything else about to go down today." Torchwick said turning and thrusting his cane under the grunt's chin forcing him onto his toes. "Do it or your finished. We've got no choice with the heroes onto us."
At that Torchwick removed his cane and turned to walk away. Screw slowly making a path through to flood the area with a surprise terrorist attack in conjunction with Patry's attack, Torchwick was going to blow through now and use the chaos to get away. He'd then rebuild, he always did.
"Ruby!" Yang said as Ruby reached the others and leapt into her sister's arms. "We were worried about you!"
"Are you ok?" Weiss asked worry in her voice as Yang put Ruby down her sword out and ready for action as she looked at her best friend and noticed that there was dried blood on her head and scuff marks on her face. "That fall wasn't nice and it looks like you've been roughed up. Whoever did that to you will have to answer to Myrtenaster."
"After I punch them a few times." Yang said noticing what Weiss had and cracking her knuckles and pleased to see that Weiss was concerned for Ruby getting hurt that was another step towards relationship approval in Yang's book. "We'll take turns princess."
"Very well." Weiss said knowing better than to argue with Yang as Ruby's older sister did get first crack.
"Don't worry I'm fine, I used Petal Burst to blunt the landing and got a bit roughed up but nothing that I can't handle." Ruby said dismissing them. "I appreciate the concerns but I'm a Huntress track hero student, I can handle a few blows. Besides, these guys got nothing on Bakugo."
"I guess, just looking out for my little sis." Yang said.
"I know you can handle yourself Ruby." Weiss said. "That doesn't mean that I don't want to get some payback that's all."
"That does mean a lot, oh and thanks for the save Weiss, you're amazing as always." Ruby said grinning at Weiss who went bright red at Ruby's praise. "But listen there's a bigger issue than beating these villains up right now. Torchwick's got all sorts of stuff down there that he shouldn't have. Robots and weapons that are clearly not civilian issue and he's loading them all up onto the train cars. He's working with the White Fang I believe so this seems like some kind of terror attack and not a criminal enterprise."
"What?" Blake asked as she handed Ruby her weapon. "Damn, I knew the White Fang had stolen tech but I didn't know that they'd brought it here or that they had enough for a serious attack. They'd only use it if they felt that the risks of launching a terror attack outweighed the backlash and hero involvement of one."
"Wait stolen tech?" Weiss asked her eyes wide. "As in from the Schnee Dust Company?"
"Probably, most of the high tech in this country is produced by your family's company." Blake said. "The White Fang may hate your father but the SDC does make the best stuff out there and is one of the few companies with a license to make military grade gear."
"True and, well, the secret's going to get out but we've had several major thefts but had to keep it quiet as it was a matter of national security." Weiss said. "My father and the head of the Atlas Agency, James Ironwood, have been developing it to aid heroes but it's top secret for obvious reasons so when the thefts began we had to keep it quiet while Atlas took the lead in investigating and recovering the stolen tech. I don't think they expected it to be this far south or in a place like Mountain Glenn."
"Well whatever the case it's ridiculous to load them onto train cars and use them in an attack right now." Oobleck said as he thought on all the new information. "These tunnels are sealed and lead to a dead end no matter which direction you go in. Yes we believe that there was a smuggling situation here but clearly it's more than that given what they have here. Stolen military grade technology is not something you can move easily and if there's even a hint of it being out there all three branches would converge. What is their end game?"
"Um well they have at least one bomb." Ruby said. "I don't know how powerful it is but they were worried if it went off so I think a major terror attack is most likely."
"Ah yes that does change things as the seals are strong but they can be blown through with enough explosives." Oobleck said. "In that case…"
"Get to your places everybody we are leaving now!" Torchwick's voice said over a PA system and suddenly there was a hiss and a bellow and the freight train behind them began to move. "We are blowing this joint and launching your attack on those no good heroes! Get on and get ready, your moment is near!"
"Where are they going?" Yang asked. "There are two options, right?"
"Yes, Vale or Hosu." Oobleck said as he pulled out a compass and looked down the tracks that they were near as they were the ones that the train was using. "But these tracks, they're the ones that head north so they're the ones that go to Hosu."
"That's not good." Ruby said worry in her voice. "We can't let them get through. Hosu's a major city."
"It's more than that, it's actually a ward in western Tokyo that is so big that it's a city in its own right." Oobleck said. "And worse it's where the Quirk Knight Headquarters are located. This could be a direct attack on them and as this is the White Fang that we're dealing with that is more likely given their history of terrorism and terror attacks."
"Plus the White Fang are often active in the countryside due to the discrimination that heteromorphs face in the sticks." Blake said. "So the Quirk Knights are the main branch that deals with their cells these days. An attack on the headquarters could cause issues in the organization of the Quirk Knights and allow for more recruiting."
"That would only be the case if there are several Captains present who could fall in a surprise attack as the Quirk Knights are pretty good at being autonomous in their regions with the headquarters only necessary for inter region or national level threats." Oobleck said shaking his head. "Whatever the plan is, this is clearly not the smuggling operation that I had expected but that's because I didn't think the White Fang would be involved, especially not with a villain like Roman Torchwick, I overlooked that possibility."
"An easy one to do." Weiss said. "No one expected a common villain like Torchwick to team up with a political terrorist group, it just makes no sense."
"It doesn't you're right Miss Schnee but that is something that we can deal with after this is over." Oobleck said. "Because there's going to be a major investigation into this. However the immediate issue is that if they can break the seal then this could be the worst terror attack in our nation's history as there's also the fact that this could release Grimm into the heart of a major city. The negativity of the White Fang has already attracted a lot here and a terror attack will only increase it."
"We have to stop it then." Ruby said. "Is there any backup nearby."
"Alas we can't get through while down here, the depth of this settlement is such that a booster was needed back when it was active so sealing of Mountain Glenn ensured that there is no signal down here." Oobleck said knowing what had to be done. "I've already informed the Quirk Knights with a distress signal but it will take them a while to get to Mountain Glenn as the Coral Peacocks don't have a warp Quirk user in their ranks and the one who serves Julius directly tends to have a really busy schedule."
"Then what do we do?" Weiss asked.
"There's only one option to do." Oobleck said as the sound of the train got louder showing that whatever last minute preparations were over and that it was now moving.
"We're stopping that train." Ruby finished as the train approached.
"Correct so you and Miss Schnee have full authority under me to use your Quirks in battle." Oobleck said. "Be careful ladies, lives are at stake and we can't afford to fail."
All the girls nodded, this mission had turned from an investigation into increased Grimm activity into a rescue and now into a train capture and stoppage mission. It wasn't going to be easy but as the train passed them they were ready and rushed it.
Getting on a moving train wasn't an easy task but they managed it between Ruby and Weiss's Quirks and the other three's experiences, Zwei being carried on by Ruby, they managed to leap into the opening on the last car. Alas there was a guard there who radioed in that something was going before he was knocked out by Oobleck's weapon but at least they were on the train and could press forward through it.
The fastest way to do so was to go via the roofs of the carriages so Oobleck opened the hatch in the center of the final car and leapt up through it. The girls followed him with Yang tossing Zwei up and through it before she leapt, and soon they were all standing atop the moving train, air whipping around them and sending their hair flying, well other than Ruby as her hair was short, but they ignored it as they got their balance and adapted to the movement of the train.
"Alright ladies, we must get to the front of this train and stop it." Oobleck said. "Thankfully trains like this have easy to operate emergency stopping systems so that isn't an issue."
"Er, Mr. Oobleck…" Weiss began as she looked down into the final carriage that they'd just climbed through to close the hatch and noticed something they'd missed in their rush to get on and get up to the roof of the carriage.
"Doctor." Oobleck corrected her reflexively.
"What's that?" Weiss asked not bothering to respond to the correction as she pointed down to the silver, hexagonal, device with red and blue wires that was in the carriage. "Because it doesn't look friendly."
"No I don't think it is as it appears to be a bomb." Oobleck said calmly as he knelt down to get a better look while the girls backed up a bit and Ruby at least was certain that it was a bomb as she'd seen something just like it being loaded into a carriage earlier so she turned to look towards the front of the train and noticed something else that was concerning. "So that could be a problem. Best to move quickly to the front."
"That might be a bit harder than planned." Ruby said pointing it out. "We've got villains coming for us, a lot of villains it seems."
Several cars ahead of them were several White Fang grunts that were slowly making their way over the car roofs towards them while even more moved up onto the roof as some kind of commander, a woman with deer horns coming from her head, shouted at the others to kill the heroes. Clearly there was a carriage that was carrying them to Hosu for the attack but now they were getting out of the carriage and onto its roof and heading towards the girls and Oobleck to intercept them.
"Well that's to be expected, we are trying to stop their nefarious plan." Oobleck said. "So they wouldn't…"
Before he could finish there was a strange sound from below them and a panel on the bomb suddenly turned red and began to flash as a noticeable beeping sound began to emanate from it. Even without any training, the girls could tell that the bomb had been armed.
"…easy on us." Oobleck said standing up. "Right time to move forward ladies. Miss Belladona, cut free the caboose so that it doesn't kill us."
"On it." Blake said as they all ran forward and leapt onto the roof of the next car while Blake leapt down to the back of it, sword in her special sheath, and ready to use the sharp sheath it to cut the rear car free. "I've…oh."
However as she was about to slash the coupling and detach the rear carriage it suddenly decoupled on its own showing that whoever was in control of the train had deliberately done so and began to fall behind the train as the train carried on towards Hosu. That was unexpected and confusing to Blake.
"Doctor, it uncoupled itself before I could cut it loose." Blake called up to Oobleck.
"What?" Oobleck asked poking his head over the edge of the carriage and looking down at Blake.
"I guess Torchwick really doesn't want us on this train." Yang said joining him while Ruby and Weiss protected their backs from the grunts that were slowly moving along the roofs towards them. "Good thing we're not on it."
"Yes but why?" Oobleck asked as he looked up and saw the carriage explode, the force of it enough to destroy the tunnel walls which only confused the pro Huntsman even more. "There has to be a reason for that because Torchwick's no idiot, he'd know that we'd leap off before he could separate us from the rest of the train so what's the goal of arming the bomb and decoupling the car? Well whatever the reason, it's not a good one."
"Neither is this." Ruby said as Blake climbed up to the top to join them to see Ruby standing over the open hatch in the middle of the carriage that she'd gone to check while Oobleck was musing on the situation at hand. "There's another one."
"No, no, no." Oobleck said as he ran forward and leapt onto the next carriage to check it before moving to the one after that to confirm that there was definitely an additional move at play. "It's not just the rear two cars! They all have bombs!"
Before the girls could fully process that the bomb in the carriage that they were on, the new rear carriage after the last one had decoupled, began to beep signaling that it had been armed and the carriage decoupled this time with them on it. There was no time to think, they just ran forward and leapt to the next carriage with Ruby grabbing Blake's arm and bursting with her in a red and black swirl that left the corresponding rose petals in their wake while Weiss created a line of glyphs for her, Zwei, and Yang to land on and run over to the next carriage before it got too far away for them to catch up.
"This doesn't make sense." Yang said as the girls landed on the new last car and looked back as the carriage that they'd just been on fell away behind them before they all turned to the approaching White Fang grunts. "What are their plans? This whole situation is all over the place."
"If I had to guess they're trying to collapse this tunnel so that they can use the other one to escape with whatever stolen gear that they have left." Oobleck said thinking as the girls rushed forward to intercept the grunts that were now almost upon them, weapons ready with Yang and Black swapping out ammunition from Grimm to human rounds so as not to kill. "These lot are likely the soldiers designated to carry out the attack with no expectation of remaining free at least, maybe even expecting to die, while doing as much damage to Hosu and the heroes there as possible. Torchwick is a complete wildcard, however, all of this is beyond his usual M.O."
"Ponder this later doc." Yang said as the first grunt reached them and attacked her but she ducked his swing from him before sweeping his legs from under him and with a wink punched him in the face so hard as he was horizontal to the carriage that he crashed through the roof hatch and into the carriage below. "We need to deal with them now and stop the train."
"Yes just remember the laws girls." Oobleck said as Blake rushed forward her short sword drawn. "Don't kill, incapacitate. That said this situation may cause incidental death so make sure all attacks are non-lethal as there will be an inquiry into this."
Blake understood this well and flipped a switch concealed in the hilt of her sword that sent a charge through her blade and altered the sharpness of it. It was her non-lethal solution for fighting human opponents with Gambol Shroud drawn as her sword was made with a specialized, high tech, and slightly experimental, blade that could change it's sharpness with an electrical current. It turned her sword into a baton of sorts but without changing the weight so she could wield it as she normally did.
Before the grunts to process that, though, Blake was already past them and with a few precise slashes as she moved through them had taken them down with blows that broke limbs, knocked them out, or in one case that Blake didn't want to think about sent the grunt flying off the train. That wasn't good but given the situation it was unavoidable so when the inquiry took place Blake would be cleared if the grunt died due to her use of non-lethal force. That was because any environmental deaths would be classified as accidental providing that Blake's actions were not deliberately done to knock the grunt off the train.
Still, it wasn't great and only the start as Weiss was right behind Blake creating a line of glyphs that she shot over as she rotated the lightning Dust chamber in Myrtenaster's revolver cylinder into place in and activated it coating Myrtenaster in lightning as she shot through a line of grunts. As with Blake, Weiss used precise slashed to non-lethal spots to hit each of her targets, barely flicking her blade as she did, imparting a charge onto each as she passed knocking them out and sending them tumbling to the rooftop. Thankfully, none fell off but that might not last as Weiss joined the other two past the first wave.
There were still a few that had made it past the three girls as fighting on a train rooftop wasn't an easy thing so they couldn't get all the grunts but that was fine as Ruby was still behind them and could clean up the remaining grunts. Ruby did so by shifting Crescent Rose behind her, activated the latest addition to her sweetheart, and firing a shot.
Even though she had her stun round in, the recoil was enough to blast her forward and at the approaching grunts that were conveniently in a line having moved into one to avoid the other girls. This didn't help them though as the reason for Ruby's attack was to allow her to use the inner crook of Crescent Rose to sweep through the grunts so being in a line was the worst formation that they could possibly be in. It wasn't lethal because the sharp blade was now covered by a thin, blunt, barrier that was charged with lightning Dust and shocked the grunts as she passed them.
This was her latest addition to Crescent Rose; one Ruby had added for villain subjugation with Crescent Rose's blade after seeing how well Weiss's use of the method had worked and she'd made sure that the charge was enough to knock out but not kill a fully grown human with no Quirk based resistances to electricity. As such, the grunts were unconscious before they hit the roof of the carriage and either remained there or crashed through the hatch and into the carriage while Ruby got past them and joined the others.
As she did, however, there was an explosion behind them that caught all the girls' attention, Oobleck had already been looking there trusting the girls to handle the grunts that were coming for them, that caved in part of the tunnel's ceiling tore a hole in the side wall at the same time. That explosion had been the second carriage exploding and from the holes Grimm that had been drawn to the negative emotions but couldn't reach the manmade tunnel suddenly began to fall or leap in depending on the hole.
"Well this isn't good but this does explain the carriages decoupling and exploding." Oobleck said as the Grimm began to roar and run after the train unable to catch it but clearly following it as it was basically a beacon of negativity at this point. "Torchwick's leading Grimm to the city!"
"What?" Weiss asked. "Why? They already have enough weapons and munitions on this train to stand up to a whole army of heroes short of someone like All Might, the don't need to add to that with Grimm."
"I can't say if this is part of the original plan or some backup that Torchwick made to add chaos to an escape attempt while the White Fang are executing their terror attack but that doesn't matter now." Oobleck called back. "The detaching and exploding cars create openings for the subterranean Grimm that have been drawn here by the negativity of the White Fang's members but couldn't reach the settlement so were in the tunnels around it. Now they're in the tunnel following said negativity!"
"That's insane!" Blake said. "Even by the White Fang's standards this is too much. They'll never achieve their goals this way, not that terrorism was working to begin with, but this is so extreme that it will set back heteromorph rights decades!"
"Regardless of why, we have to hurry!" Oobleck shouted as the last car, the one behind him, decoupled and he began to run towards the girls knowing what was to come. "Schnee, Belladonna, Xiao Long, go bellow and try to find out who's arming the bombs and decoupling the cars and stop them! Disarm the bombs if you can as well but if we stop the engineer behind this that should be enough. This has now become a two pronged mission."
"What about me doctor?" Ruby asked.
"You're with me." Oobleck said. "We're going to keep pushing forward up here to stop this train from above."
"Ok." Ruby said as they all began to run. "But there will still be the issue of the Grimm behind us regardless of what happens."
"Don't worry about that." Oobleck said. "So long as we complete both objectives that won't be an issue. The seal in Hosu should hold against any Quirks present and I can contact someone once we get to the seal who can get us out of here with a warp Quirk."
"Ok well we're going to have to deal with something else as well." Weiss said as they neared a point far enough along for the three assigned to go down could do so. "There are mechs on this thing and if my family's company made them then enough of them working together will destroy that seal. They need to be destroyed as well as disarming the bombs."
"Leave that to me." Oobleck said. "Just get down and go through the carriages."
Weiss just nodded at that as she, Blake, and Yang came to a stop at hatch leading into the carriage that they were standing on while Oobleck and Ruby moved on ahead. Naturally, she was worried for Ruby but trusted that she'd be ok with a pro Huntsman to look out for her. She had to do her part as well of course and do so she would as Yang opened the hatch with a kick and the trio leapt down and into the train car below them to begin their push to disarm the bombs and take out whoever was behind them.
Ruby was just as worried about Weiss as Weiss was about her though she was also worried about Yang and Blake as well. However, Ruby knew how capable all three of them were and was certain that they'd get their job done while she aided their teacher in getting to the front. It made sense really; she was the fastest one here so if it came to it she could go on ahead and shut the train down while the others handled their own jobs.
That eventuality seemed a lot more likely a second later when a mech suddenly leapt up from wherever they were being stored and transported and onto the roof of a carriage several cars in front of them and began running over them towards her, Oobleck, and Zwei. Unfortunately not only was the mech of high enough quality that it could easily run over the carriage roofs but the tunnel was large enough that it had the space to do so putting the machines fully in play.
"This is a problem." Oobleck said as they came to a stop facing the charging mech and Oobleck proceeded to quickly chug the rest of his coffee before he grinned and cocked his thermos turning it into a flamethrower again, though it was the first time Ruby had seen it and she had stars in her eyes at her teacher's cool weapon, and he held it in front of him and above Zwei who was standing before the humans a smile on his canine face. "But not for long. Flamming Furball!"
Zwei barked happily and leapt up, rolling himself into a ball as he did while Oobleck shifted his stance and swung his flamethrower, Antiquity's Roast, like a baseball bat. The result was that he hit Zwei's body with all his strength and ignited it, Zwei feeling nothing because of his Quirk, and sending the now burning ball of happily barking fur flying at the mech as it raised its guns to fire at them. It never got a shot off before Zwei crashed into the mech and then through it, his Quirk and flaming body stronger than the machine.
The result was that the machine partially exploded, buckled in on itself, and then fell off the side of the train rolling into a ball as it did. There was no way that someone could survive that and Ruby was certain that someone had been in the mech's cockpit.
"Er doctor." Ruby said as they began to run to catch up to Zwei who'd come to a stop a carriage past the mech just as another one appeared on the carriage roofs. "Aren't there people in the mechs."
"Very likely." Oobleck said.
"So then…" Ruby began.
"I know but given the lethality of the machinery that will be classified as a justifiable use of lethal force in self-defense." Oobleck said. "Also, Zwei's the one who did it not me and you can't punish a dog for that."
As if to back it up Zwei barked in agreement though that might also be a challenge to the mech that was turning towards him. However, before it could Oobleck fired off three shots of fire from his flamethrower that slammed into the mech's chest staggering it away from Zwei. He followed it up with a spinning leap that allowed him to slam the body of his weapon into the burning mech and send it crashing to the side and off the train with an explosion as it hit a wall that partially broke up the tunnel as Oobleck landed past it his hand on the brim of his hat.
"Rose, go down and use your Quirk to get to the engine car at the front via the carriages." Oobleck said as another mech leapt up for them to deal with. "That will be fastest now that these mechs are involved. I'll take them out, you just focus on getting to the front and stopping this train!"
"I can help with the mechs though." Ruby said Crescent Rose still in her scythe mode in her hands. "Together we can get through them pretty quickly."
"Don't worry, Grimm Reaper." Oobleck said surprising Ruby by using her hero name for the first time. "I can handle this by myself, I am a Huntsman and a U.A. graduate after all. You need to use your Quirk to get to the front though aid the others if they need it. Being a hero, no matter what the branch, means knowing which battles to fight, which to run from, and which to go to based on your strengths and weaknesses. Understanding this is key when in the field so learn this now as you have the makings of a great leader who will have to do this yourself one day. You're role now is to stop the train and mis is to teach these mechs a lesson."
At that Oobleck ran towards the approaching mech flamethrower out and at the ready. Ruby wanted to help but she knew that Dr. Oobleck was right, she was a Huntress hero and part of that meant knowing where to allocate resources based on your team's skills and the mission at hand and right now priority was on stopping the train which Ruby was the best suited for.
Ruby would do her part but as she looked down to the nearest hatch to get to the carriage below her she saw Zwei who was standing in front of her looking sad as he stayed with his mistress. She smiled at her dog knowing exactly what he wanted to do.
"Go, help him I'll be fine on my own." Ruby said and Zwei barked happily as he ran off after Oobleck just as Oobleck destroyed a mech.
Ruby watched Zwei for a second before she turned back to the tasked at hand and with a kick she opened the hatch on the roof of the carriage as she collapsed Cresent Rose into her standby mode and put the scythe in the holder on her back. Ruby then dropped down and as soon as she landed she pushed off the ground and burst into her Quirk to get forward as fast as possible while following the useful path of destruction that Yang had left for her by blowing through the doors. It was time to stop this train before it reached Hosu and put countless lives in danger. That was easier said than done, however.
I think that that's a good place to end this chapter on. As with many chapters in this story, I had planned on it running all the way to the moment they crashed into Hosu but the chapter was running long before I even reached the solo battles so I decided to cut this chapter in half as this was a good place to break it up. It also means I can give the duels their own moments with the change of ruby going down to help out which is a major change from the show and thus that effect will be seen next chapter. This has also slowed the girls down and changed how the lower battles work but there is a good reason for all this that will be clear in the next chapter. Said next chapter will be the climax of this arc as we near ever closer to the convergence moment so stay tuned for that. That is all that I have for y'all, however, so I will leave this chapter off here. That is all that I really have to say about this chapter, however, as it is a simple and straightforward one so I will leave it off here. If you like this story please follow, favorite (this story and me) to keep up with it and leave a review or PM; your support is what helps motivate me to keep up this work and any questions posed before the next chapter is uploaded I will try to answer. Until next time.
Stringdog