If I could still breathe, I'd probably be holding it in right now. Vilhelm silently mused while watching the Black Bullhead land in an empty space within the shipyard. The ramp lowered, revealing a man clad in white armor and a mask resembling a Beowulf. In his hands, he carried a gun.
Next to the first Bullhead, three additional ones landed.
"Is that them?" Vilhelm asked Sun for clarification.
"Positive," Sun responded, much more serious than Vilhelm had thought possible of the monkey Faunus.
Glancing over everyone else's positions, Vilhelm noted that Blake's expression would have been almost comical—if not for the gravity of the situation.
Interesting, Vilhelm thought. It seems there are around fifteen combatants per Bullhead. It would be advantageous if we could thin their numbers beforehand.
"Hey, what's the holdup?" a male voice yelled.
The speaker caught Vilhelm's attention almost immediately. Unlike the White Fang members, he wore a white coat reminiscent of a church doctor's, along with a black hat. A cane rested in his hand, and his hair was a striking shade of orange. It didn't take a genius to recognize Roman Torchwick—the infamous master thief of Vale.
That's strange, Vilhelm thought. He seems to be the leader, but he doesn't appear to be a Faunus. Unless… Vilhelm quickly focused his insight on the individual, finding nothing noteworthy aside from a faint glow—evidence of an awakened Aura. No, he's definitely human, Vilhelm concluded. So why exactly is he leading them?
"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment," Torchwick said, clapping his hands together. "So why don't you animals pick up the pace?"
"That doesn't make sense!" Sun whispered. "Why would the White Fang work with a human? A racist one at that?"
"I do not know," Vilhelm answered, noticing a few members moving away from the group. Perfect! he thought.
"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!"
Yet both Vilhelm's silent plan and Torchwick's tirade were interrupted by a sudden thump.
"What th—oh, for f—"
"Nobody move!" A familiar voice cried out, and both Vilhelm and Sun flinched upon hearing it. It was so unbelievable that they needed to see for themselves—and sure enough, there was Blake, holding Torchwick down.
Why is she doing this? Why didn't Penny stop her? Does she have a plan?
A flood of questions raced through Vilhelm's mind, but he quickly steeled himself and turned to Sun.
"There's no time left," Vilhelm said. "Join up with the others and try to save her. I'll take down as many of them as possible."
Not waiting for a reply, Vilhelm slid down the container, calling forth his Messengers at the bottom to hand him a Reiterpallasch and his Evelyn. Though he would have preferred his greatsword, the Reiterpallasch was better suited for the situation—he had to eliminate as many enemies as possible before the others sprang into action.
"Woah," Vilhelm heard Roman say. "Take it easy there, lady."
"Quiet!" Was Blakes response.
What was she thinking? Vilhelm wondered. She could've disposed of their leader quickly and efficiently, throwing his underlings into disarray. Instead, she opted for this theatrical approach.
Vilhelm came to a halt a small distance behind three White Fang members training their guns on Belladonna.
Ah, perfect, Vilhelm thought. I was worried there wouldn't be a clear way to distinguish priority targets.
I can't believe she's doing this, Weiss thought as she looked toward Blake while getting into position alongside a downcast Penny. After Blake's reckless move, Ruby had acted surprisingly quickly—her worried expression barely concealed by her determined orders. Weiss and Penny were assigned to help Blake, while the others took on the rest of the White Fang forces.
"Brothers and sisters of the White Fang!" Blake screamed, a pained expression on her face. "Why are you aiding this scum?"
To Weiss's surprise, many of the Faunus averted their gazes, looking down as if avoiding Blake's accusing eyes. Well, at least she's distracting them, Weiss thought, trying to reassure herself. But her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she spotted a familiar monkey Faunus hiding behind a few crates—perfectly positioned to see Blake's weak attempt at taking a hostage.
"Sun!" she whisper-yelled, causing the Faunus to flinch slightly. "What are you doing here?! Where is Vilhelm?"
"We split up when Blake launched her attack," Sun explained. "He said I should help Blake while he takes out as many grunts as possible."
"How irresponsible of him!" Weiss began, but Sun interrupted her.
"That may be the case, but we can't deny his effectiveness. Look."
He directed Weiss's gaze toward a White Fang member who suddenly vanished into the darkness—something unseen tightening around his neck as he futilely clawed at the restraint.
"That's the fourth one I've counted," Sun continued, noticing Weiss's horrified expression. "He's exclusively targeting the ones with ranged weapons, too. I'd almost say this isn't the first time he's done this."
Roman snickered, but before he could say anything, a blonde blur crashed into a large gathering of Faunus, sending most of them tumbling. One unfortunate soul was flung into a crate, where they lay motionless.
As if on cue, Sun, Penny, and Weiss leapt from their positions, sprinting toward Blake and Torchwick.
"Sun, we've got this," Weiss said. "Help the others."
Though visibly disappointed, Sun obeyed and rushed to aid the rest of Team RWBY, fighting off the White Fang grunts. Weiss turned her attention back to Blake and the thief—just in time to see Roman shove Blake away and point his cane at her.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted, kitty," he sneered. "But this ends now!"
He fired—but instead of striking Blake, the shot was caught in a glyph, giving her just enough time to dodge before it detonated harmlessly against the concrete. Torchwick's eyes widened even more when he spotted Weiss and Penny charging toward him. He barely managed to catch himself in time to block Weiss's strike.
"Well, well, well," he drawled. "Look who we've got here. Come to defend Daddy's Dust? Don't worry, m'lady, I won't ruin your manicure."
Penny chose that moment to circle around and strike with one of her swords, forcing Torchwick back and allowing Weiss to press her advance. Step by step, the thief was being driven backward.
"It seems like this time, things aren't going as planned," Weiss remarked. Though, she thought, I probably could've come up with a better line.
"Seems like it," Torchwick admitted, before grinning. "But that's why we have Plan B."
Weiss barely managed to summon a glyph in time to block a hail of bullets from an incoming Bullhead, shielding both herself and Penny. But the strain of summoning it so quickly gave Torchwick the opening he needed—he swung his cane, striking Weiss hard. If not for Penny's fast reflexes and floating array, her Aura would have shattered then and there.
Torchwick evaded one of Penny's strikes and leapt onto a nearby crate—but nearly stumbled over one of Penny's wires, which connected her swords. Weiss took a moment to glance at her teammates, only to be shocked at the sight before her.
Blake had recovered and was now fighting alongside Sun and Yang, fending off a group of enemies desperate to reach the stored Dust. Ruby was in the thick of battle, vanishing in bursts of rose petals and reappearing in completely different positions. But the most striking sight of all was Vilhelm, engaged in combat with five Faunus at once.
Using his antiquated pistol and an eccentric rapier, he fought off five Fang grunts. Before Weiss's eyes, he shot one Faunus in the leg, then struck him in the head with the butt of his pistol. As another charged, Vilhelm pointed his rapier at him—and from a hidden gun barrel within the blade, another shot hit the enemy's Aura. The Faunus staggered, falling to one knee—an opening Vilhelm exploited, shattering his opponent's defenses with a slash.
Then, to Weiss's surprise, he noticed her gaze and tilted his head toward Penny, who was still locked in combat with Torchwick.
Astonished, Weiss nodded and propelled herself forward using one of her glyphs.
Seeing her approach, Torchwick fired two rockets—one aimed at Weiss, the other forcing Penny to retreat. Weiss summoned another glyph, using it to propel herself sideways before landing on a crate next to Ruby.
"I'm terribly sorry," Torchwick said mockingly. "But this kiddy party is getting a bit too crowded, so I'll be taking my leave."
Turning, he jumped off the crate and sprinted toward his waiting Bullhead, which was already revving its engines. The remaining White Fang grunts, seeing their leader's escape, decided that following him was the best course of action. As Penny gave chase, Team RWBY tried to stop as many of them as possible, but there were simply too many.
Vilhelm, however, had other ideas. He took aim with his old pistol and fired.
Instead of a normal bullet, a deafening blast rang out—and the right turbine of a Bullhead shattered as if it were made of glass. The resulting chaos gave Ruby just enough time to reach another Bullhead and sever one of its wings.
Yet the roar of engines caught everyone's attention—Torchwick's chosen escape vehicle was lifting off… only to be held in place midair by Penny's swords.
Weiss saw Penny struggling against the ship's immense power, the engines roaring louder as the Bullhead fought against her grip. Then she saw Vilhelm sprint toward Penny, ask her something she didn't quite catch—then, without hesitation, leap onto the wires of Penny's floating swords and sprint up them toward the Bullhead.
Weiss's eyes went wide.
"Did he just go mad?!"
Was it excessive? Was it counterproductive? Dangerous? Were there a hundred better ways to handle the situation? Most likely. Yet, he simply couldn't help himself—the smell of blood, the fear in their eyes—all of it brought back memories of countless nights of the hunt. And the moment it was clear that Penny could keep the Bullhead in place, he simply had to do it.
Heck! If it weren't for the etiquette taught at Cainhurst, he might have just jumped straight onto the wires without even asking. And the fear in the thief's eyes made it all the better.
The thief leveled his cane and pulled the trigger multiple times, but Vilhelm was prepared. Every shot was intercepted by a Quicksilver bullet, fired from either the Evelyn or the Reiterpallasch. The closer he got to the Bullhead, the more the thief's desperation grew, his screams directed at the pilot—words Vilhelm didn't bother to listen to.
That was until the sound of another Bullhead grew louder. Looking to the left for a split second, Vilhelm saw that this new Bullhead was equipped with an advanced version of a Gatling gun.
Thinking quickly, Vilhelm slid his arm along the blade of the Reiterpallasch, using the blood spewing forth from the wound to create a shield covering his entire left side. Yet, the barrage never came. Confused, Vilhelm looked back at the Bullhead and realized with dread that the weapon was instead aimed at Penny, who was still holding the other Bullhead in place.
Understanding that the thief had won—at least for now—Vilhelm leaped with all the strength his artificial body could provide, ramming the Reiterpallasch into the Bullhead's left turbine with all his might. With a whine, the aircraft tilted, sending its ammunition wildly off course into empty space.
But now, missing one of its engines, the Bullhead lost altitude rapidly, spiraling toward the ground. For the first time in a long while, Vilhelm found himself grateful for his artificial body's lack of exhaustion. He launched himself off the Bullhead in another tremendous leap, landing solidly on both feet. The Bullhead and its pilot weren't as lucky, crashing directly into a concrete wall.
Quickly turning toward where the thief's Bullhead had been held in place, he could only barely make it out flying off into the night before vanishing completely. With a disappointed sigh, Vilhelm turned toward the wreckage, hoping to find something of use. But before he could take a single step, something red was thrust into his view.
"That was so cool!" Ruby shouted, giving Vilhelm a strong sense of déjà vu. "First, Penny caught the Bullhead, then you jumped on her strings, and Torchwick was like, 'Oh no!' and fired rocket after rocket at you, but you just hit every single one! And then when the other Bullhead showed up, you jumped on its wing and brought it down yourself!"
"That's all well and good," Vilhelm interrupted, trying to steer the conversation to a more pressing topic. "But what happened to Torchwick?"
Ruby's excitement dimmed significantly. "Oh…" she muttered. "When you jumped off the threads, he fired another rocket at Penny, and she had to let go of the Bullhead to defend herself."
"Anyway!" Ruby quickly continued, regaining her signature enthusiasm. "Can—can I touch it?" She was looking at the ground, eyes locked onto something.
"What?" Vilhelm asked, clearly not following.
"The rapier!" she almost shouted. "Can I please touch it?" she finished, her voice turning into a pleading tone.
"You can keep it if you'd like," Vilhelm said, unholstering the Reiterpallasch.
"Really?!" Ruby's eyes widened with excitement.
"Of course," Vilhelm answered, handing the sword to the ecstatic girl. "I have more than I will ever need, and they would do nothing but gather dust." He paused, wondering if dust—both in the ordinary sense and the unique kind—would even exist where the Messengers stored the things he gave them.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ruby exclaimed, giggling like a madwoman. "You are the best!"
Before Vilhelm could respond, a giggling Ruby was pushed aside by a rather disgruntled-looking Weiss.
"What were you thinking?!" Weiss demanded, fixing him with a disapproving glare.
Vilhelm wasn't sure how to respond. He believed he had done his part—thinning the White Fang's numbers at the beginning, participating in the ensuing battle, and even taking down two Bullheads. What was the problem?
"I'm sorry," Vilhelm began, carefully choosing his next words. "But I don't understand the issue."
He immediately realized his mistake when he saw Weiss's face contort with anger.
"The problem?" Weiss repeated, taking a deep breath as if preparing herself. "The problem is that you did one of the dumbest things imaginable—with no Aura! And look at you!" She pointed at his sleeve, tainted red with blood.
"Wait, you have no Aura?" Penny asked, tilting her head curiously.
"I'll explain later," Vilhelm said to Penny before turning back to Weiss, who was still waiting for an explanation.
"Not to worry," Vilhelm tried to calm the situation. "I cut myself so I could use my blood to shield myself. However, I must admit that the thief caught me by surprise when he ordered the Bullhead to fire at Penny, so I had to improvise." He quickly continued, seeing that Weiss still didn't seem convinced. "Besides, the wound has already healed."
To prove it, he held out his arm, showing that no more blood was spilling.
Weiss opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of sirens in the distance interrupted her.
"Well," Yang said as she joined the small gathering with Ruby, Sun, and a downcast Blake, "maybe we should stay here and explain to the police what happened. Besides," she continued, glancing at Weiss, "do you think you could convince your dad to pay for the damages? We did kinda save his Dust, and except for Pretty Boy—"
"Hey!" Vilhelm interrupted.
Yang continued, unfazed. "Your father's probably the only one who could afford to pay for this mess."
Taking a couple of deep breaths, Vilhelm said, "Very well. I still have to hand over my pile of White Fang members to the police. I just hope none of them escaped."
With that, he turned and walked toward a police vehicle that had just pulled up at the edge of the docks.
Entering the warehouse he operated from, Roman locked the door with a sigh of relief. Luck had truly been on his side when that madman showed he still had something akin to feelings and jumped off the threads connecting the Bullhead to the strange girl.
Leaning against the now-locked door with another sigh, he immediately tensed up when a female voice emerged from the darkness.
"How very disappointing, Roman," the woman began. Her form was obscured by shadows, revealing only fair skin, a single yellow eye, and a glimpse of a red dress. A slight movement in the darkness signaled to Roman that her minions were hiding behind their boss.
Quickly thinking of an explanation that would, preferably, not get him melted, Roman put on his most confident exterior and began, "Well, for one, you forced me to work with those White Fang morons. And secondly," he said, looking directly into her one visible eye, "you didn't tell me that there was an entire squad of Huntsmen-in-training waiting for us. One of them held a Bullhead in place, and another madman just ran up the strings she was using. If it weren't for a Bullhead sacrificing itself, I wouldn't be standing before you right now."
He finished his explanation, noting with pride that he had managed to keep his composure.
"So what?" she said in a bored tone. "A little time in prison wouldn't be too bad for you."
"No, you don't understand," Torchwick continued. "I've seen his kind. If he had gotten to me, there wouldn't have been enough left to send to prison." He shuddered. "I saw it in his eyes. They were devoid of all emotion—he only saw me as an obstacle to be removed."
He paused for a moment before adding, "And it really didn't help that his eyes were so uncannily similar to Little Red's. It gave me the worst case of uncanny valley I've ever felt."
"Describe him," the woman said, now sounding much more interested.
"Well," Roman began, pulling out a cigarette, "he was quite tall, around 6'1" to 6'4". White hair. Dressed real fancy. Used some kind of rapier-gun hybrid and another old-looking firearm. Oh, and his Semblance is most likely blood manipulation."
For a moment, silence filled the warehouse as the woman seemed to consider his words.
"Very well," she finally said. "We've got enough Dust either way. Tell the White Fang to transport it to our base in the South. We're done here."
Weiss barely managed to block a strike. His slender form belied his strength as he pressed his advance—three more rapid strikes forced her to give ground, a weakness her opponent masterfully exploited. Repositioning himself, he lunged forward with a stab aimed at her left leg, which Weiss narrowly dodged.
Noticing, however, that his left hand was unguarded, she quickly adjusted her footing and went for a stab at his hand. Unsurprisingly, he managed to pull it out of the way, yet instead of repositioning, he caught Myrtenaster in a steel grip and held his own weapon against her throat.
"Not bad," Vilhelm said, removing his Reiterpallasch from Weiss's neck. "Your form is nearly perfect," he continued. "You could loosen your grip a little, but a stiff hold can be useful when fighting Grimm. Everything else is just a lack of experience."
That got Weiss wondering. How much experience does he have?
"Say, how much experience do you actually have?" she asked. "You're not much older than me, right?"
"Indeed," Vilhelm answered. "I am only eighteen years of age. However, I fought my first beast when I was… how old was I again? Thirteen? Fourteen? I was a bit younger than Ruby. But I began my training at six."
"At six?!" Ruby shouted from the stands of the arena, only to immediately turn her attention back to the Reiterpallasch resting on her lap.
At the moment, only Weiss, Vilhelm, and Ruby occupied the arena. Blake had gone off to gather more information regarding the White Fang, while Yang had refused to leave her bed. Given the state of their team, Weiss had decided to ask Vilhelm for some advice regarding her combat style—after all, he used a similar weapon with remarkable efficiency. Ruby, wanting to test out her new Reiterpallasch, had tagged along.
"Yes," Vilhelm replied, not the least bit perturbed that Ruby seemed more interested in the weapon than in him. "Theoretical training began after my sixth birthday, and a year later, I was introduced to our arsenal."
"Huh," Weiss responded, not having expected such a thorough answer. "Your family must have really taken their duties seriously if you were trained at such a young age."
"It wasn't all that bad," Vilhelm answered, lost in thought. "I had a decent childhood, even if that wasn't my parents' doing."
What does he mean by that? Weiss wondered, but before she could pry further, Ruby asked,
"Hey, what gun did you use to destroy the Bullhead's turbine?"
Weiss paused, recalling how it had shattered. Deciding she could ask her own question later, she waited for Vilhelm's answer.
Pausing for a second, Vilhelm shrugged. "Eh, why not? It's not much of a secret anyway." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag. "You can come closer. It isn't dangerous."
Complying, Weiss walked forward. Ruby, however, vanished in a flurry of rose petals, reappearing next to Vilhelm with a curious expression. As Weiss got closer, she saw why—inside the small bag was a fine, light gray powder.
Seeing their questioning glances, Vilhelm elaborated, "This is Bone Marrow Ash."
Both Weiss and Ruby recoiled slightly in disgust.
"Yes," Vilhelm said with an amused expression, "it's exactly what it sounds like. And it effectively triples the damage caused by bullets."
Hearing that, Ruby quickly got over her disgust and leaned in closer. "Could it work with Crescent Rose?" she asked, seemingly unfazed by the morbid nature of using someone's bones to enhance a firearm.
"I can't think of a good reason why it shouldn't…" Vilhelm began.
"Awesome!" Ruby shouted excitedly. "I'm getting Crescent Rose! Wait for me at the target range!" Before anyone could respond, she disintegrated into rose petals and sprinted off toward her room.
"Do you think this is a good idea?" Weiss asked, wondering just how powerful that… substance was if it had enhanced Vilhelm's old gun to the point where it completely destroyed a Bullhead's engine.
"It'll be fine," Vilhelm assured her. "Worst-case scenario, we'll have to replace a target or two."
Author's Note:
This chapter flowed much more smoothly than the last, and I'm much happier with it. From now on, I'll also try to slow the pacing down a bit, as it was really too fast before.
As for the previous chapter, I'm still unsure how I should rewrite it. I definitely won't be changing the entire plot—probably just tweaking some dialogue—so you won't have to go back and reread it.
As for the next chapter, it'll likely be a bit longer, as it will cover the entirety of the semester trials and more.