Chapter 39 – False Advertising

In which Weiss Schnee makes things auk-ward.

"Weiss," said Mother, politely.

"Mother," Weiss responded, in an equally polite tone.

"I'm…I'm pleased that you're calling me."

There were a number of ways that Weiss could respond to that, but without mentioning Whitley, that number dropped dramatically.

"I think it's time we did our best to…put our history behind us and start anew if we can."

Mother, when offered to reconnect with one of her children, had eagerly leapt for the opportunity. According to Klein, her wine glass had actually slid right out of her hand and shattered against the carpet when he'd informed her that Weiss was making a social call.

It was something of a miracle that she hadn't fallen deeper into her alcoholism after Whitley's death, or even tried another failed suicide attempt. In her heart, Weiss knew that the true reason was probably a lot darker than she cared to admit (Willow's life didn't change all that much if Whitley were alive or dead, as he had never been and would never be in it), but she did her best to eschew those morbid thoughts. Mother was here, in front of her (at least on the screen), and that was enough. I̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶.̶

She would also need to block out the guilt at knowing that she herself had been the only thing keeping them apart. Weiss and her mother had always kept a distance between themselves, but once the former had taken the first step to bridge the divide, the latter dove her way with desperation. It hadn't been Mother, certainly, and it hadn't been Father – he was looking forward to having photographs taken by paparazzi of Willow and Weiss in public together eventually to complete his wholesome family image. That meant it had been Weiss.

I had the Belladonnas and a working relationship with Father, and I thought that was all I needed. But it's not just about what I need.

Mother had turned away from Weiss after being forced to bear a bastard at her husband's behest, but she'd regretted blaming Weiss for it over the years to come. It had been bitterness, Weiss supposed, bitterness and a lack of communication on both their parts, that had cost them their mother-daughter relationship.

But no more. That's what I'm calling to change.

"How has Vale been for you, my darling? Are you enjoying the climate?"

Weiss nodded. "While I grew up accustomed to the cold, I must admit that being in what is essentially a perpetual tropic vacation is most pleasant. It's almost like living in Menagerie."

"It sounds lovely. Perhaps I can visit you sometime."

Weiss nodded. "There is the Vytal Tournament coming up soon. Would…"

Willow's smile faltered, and the woman appeared to suddenly be on the brink of tears. "I…I'm due for another procedure, Weiss, but I promise, I swear I would be there for you if I could. I promise, my darling, I promise I would have."

"It's alright," Weiss said. "Next time around, then."

"It's…y-you're not mad?"

Weiss shook her head. She'd spent too much time being mad at her own family to ever waste time on emotions that served no purpose but to stimulate the Grimm. If ever she were frustrated with the Schnees again, she would merely remember how Whitley had to literally die to show Weiss how wrong she'd been.

"Why don't you tell me about Beacon? I'd love to hear about your team. I can barely even remember my own team's faces these days…"

Weiss preferred to think that it was because of time passing and not alcohol permanently damaging her mother's memory, so that was what she chose to believe for now.

"I'm the leader of Team RWBY. The Rose sisters, Ruby and Yang, are my and Blake's partners. Ruby is mine, and she's simply the sweetest little huntress you'd ever meet. As a matter of fact, she's also the youngest huntress you'd ever meet, as she got into Beacon early. Her elder sister, Yang, is Blake's partner."

Mentioning Blake made Weiss suddenly realize that Mother hadn't been informed of the good news regarding the two of them. There was no embarrassment at the fact, but Weiss couldn't help but blush slightly.

"And…A-And…Blake and I are dating."

Mother smiled sweetly. "Weiss, that's wonderful. And who is this Blake boy?"

In that moment, Weiss felt like she'd been on the verge of taking first place in a competition, only to realize at the last minute that she'd actually scored the first percentile.

"Mother, Blake is a girl."

"Oh." Willow seemed to take in what Weiss had said, and she started a little in her seat. "O-Oh! I…f-forgive me, Weiss, I didn't realize that you…m-my apologies. In that case, who is this Blake girl, then? Did you meet her at Beacon?"

"You know Kali and Ghira. You've met them." Weiss tried not to look at her mother with disgust. "Blake is their daughter. You've met her."

"Kali and…the Faunus? She's a Faunus?"

The wings on Weiss' back stood at attention, flaring up. "Is that a problem?"

This was not going the way Weiss had hoped, and the temptation to simply press the red hang-up button was only growing. All of the reasons she'd chosen to cut things off with Mother were immediately reappearing one after another. Mother might be a Schnee, but that didn't mean that she –

Whitley.

Weiss cleared her throat.

"Mother. I am a Faunus. I am dating a Faunus. Do you have a problem with Faunus?"

Willow took one look at Weiss and broke down crying.

Oh, this was so not going the way Weiss had hoped.

Shaking her head, Weiss counted to ten merely to give herself enough time to regain her composure. She was alone in a booth in the CCT, but deeply ingrained instincts to not cause a scene died hard.

"You can't call me your darling and take offense at me being a Faunus, Mo–"

"I'M SAAUUURRRRY!" bawled Willow. "IT WASN'T…AAAHHHH!"

Willow's face was in her hands, so there was no one to see Weiss as she rolled her eyes.

Remember, Weiss, just because you have a mother in Kali doesn't mean there's no reason to work on this. You have a mother, but Willow doesn't have a daughter.

"…WAS ONLY TRYING TO REMEMBER WHO GHILI AND KARA WAS, AND DIDN'T MEANT TOOOO, AND NOW YOU HATE MEEEEEE! BWAAAAA! I LOVE YOU, WEISS! I LOVE FAUNUS! PLEEEHEHEEEASE!"

"Mother, please calm down. There's no need to cause a scene."

Willow didn't stop crying, but she did switch from coherent words to rambling wails.

"Mother…Mother!"

On the other end of the video feed, Willow actually placed both hands over her mouth and physically held it in place. This was starting to get hard for Weiss to watch.

"Forgive me if I misread your comments, Mother. I heard you reference their species and assumed that it was in the form of a statement of disdain, not a recollection of the Belladonna's most recognizable traits. You have my…"

Weiss stopped at the end of the apology. It was perfectly pronounced and had no grammatical or syntax errors, but it was also a steaming load of shit. If Weiss wanted to reconnect with her family, she wasn't going to do it by giving out lines that sounded like they belonged in company press releases.

"Mother. M-Mom. It's okay. I'm not upset with you."

Willow's…Mother's bottom lip trembled against her top one. "…you aren't?"

It was a frightening sight, to see a person reduced to such a sobbing wreck at the mercy of another's opinions. Weiss' mother was barely holding herself together, and it seemed like every little instance of discomfort threatened to send both of them back into familiar territory – Weiss assuming the worst of the mother she ignored, and Mother surrendering herself to the oblivion that came with inebriation.

"Mother, I'm not. This…This isn't easy for me, and I know it's not for you either. But I still want to do this. It matters to me more than you can know that we reconcile with one another. You're my mother, and I'm your daughter."

Mother nodded. Then, her façade broke, and she weepily whimpered, "I love you, Weiss."

"I…"

She hadn't been prepared for that, and she certainly wasn't prepared to reciprocate. Weiss didn't know if it would be better to let slip a tiny white lie or to give her mother the full truth.

"You don't need to say it back, Weiss." Willow, slightly more composed, rubbed her cheeks and sniffled. "I know I've done nothing motherly to deserve your love."

The irony was that this very moment, where Willow understood Weiss' conundrum and released her from it, was probably the most motherly moment Weiss could recall in years.

"I promise that one day, I'll say it back to you, Mother. I just…I wish to mean it when I do," Weiss said honestly. "I think it would be good if we keep having these little talks. Would you like to make this a weekly thing?"

Mother nodded vigorously. "Weekly, daily, hourly…I'll take anything."

"What time works best for your schedule?"

Weiss' mother let out a little snicker at that. "Weiss, I have no schedule aside from drinking." Her lips pursed, and she immediately followed up by adding, "And I intend to go sober."

"Thank you, Mother."

Weiss knew Willow Schnee had it in her to quit drinking. She'd done it before, plenty of times. The only reason it hadn't stuck then was because Weiss and…and…the rest of Willow's children hadn't been ready to welcome her back into their life. Without anything for which to stay sober, Willow had regressed back to her substance dependence every time.

But now that I'm here, hopefully she'll have something to look forward to.

"Goodbye, Weiss."

Weiss smiled at the woman who'd given birth to her. "Goodbye, Mother."

Three days remained between the current date and the Vytal Festival, and Team RWBY was not prepared.

"Keep jogging, ladies! We've got at least four more laps around the school to complete!"

Blake kept up, and Yang was probably fitter than Weiss, but it was a wonder that Ruby Rose, the speed demon herself, was faltering.

"I'm build for sprints, and that's with my semblance! I can't keep up!"

"That's fine, Ruby," Weiss said kindly. "You can take a break."

Ruby frowned. "You're gonna do something where you say I can take a break when I'm dead, or that if I don't run I'll get kicked out of the tournament, or something like that, aren't you?"

"I was actually going to imply that by slacking off, you'd be putting in less effort for the tournament than Team Cardinal, but either of those would work as well."

Ruby spat out a wad of saliva, groaned, and continued jogging alongside her teammates.

To be fair, there was more on the line here than sore muscles. The Vytal Tournament didn't come around every year, meaning that this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance here, and in their first year as huntresses-in-training no less. They didn't even need to win the entire thing – merely advancing to the doubles or, Brothers willing, the singles would be a prestigious victory for the team. Well, for Weiss and for the team.

It was also a great chance to improve upon themselves and train together as a fighting unit, something they'd floundered on due to early squabbles between one another. Now that every member of Team RWBY knew that they were all on the same side, now and forever, they could finally start putting in the effort that would push them to their fullest potential.

They weren't the only team being pushed by their leader to practice, however. The reason Team RWBY was running laps around the school was because the upper years had pre-emptively reserved the training rooms, both to use for themselves and as a tactic to withhold them from the younger years in exchange for favors. Team CNBR was lightly sparring in a patch of grass that they'd claimed for themselves, and a few Mistrilian students could be seen in the shade of Beacon's trees, either doing push-up or practicing katas. The air was rich with competitive spirit in all forms.

However, it was also rich with whispered words.

"…she's…one who…awkward…"

"…her…penguin…don't…"

The whispers were nothing she was unused to. The first time she'd left Atlas, Menagerian Faunus had blatantly stared at her, talking to one another about the child whose family had been instrumental in installing a new age for the Faunus. Then, coming to Vale, she'd been a celebrity for both her familial status and singing career; it wasn't uncommon to catch her fellows speaking in hushed tones regarding, presumably, her. She rarely knew for some, as they would take care to not be overheard.

This was just the next edition of the age-old conundrum – wherever Weiss went, she drew eyes and wagging tongues. Now, it was the turn of the transfer students from the other academies, as most of the Beaconites had grown accustomed to her as a person and not a figurehead. These kinds of things tended to happen when one sparred with their celebrity crush on a regular basis; it became impossible for them to see her as anything but Weiss, over time.

"…Schnee…penguin…awkward…"

Weiss turned her head as she continued to jog, catching the eyes of a student team that looked like it was from Vacuo. They had been the ones speaking at the time, and they all consciously averted their eyes. Ironically, this only made it more obvious that Weiss was being gossiped about.

I'm used to this, but not exactly sure what penguins have to do with me.

As soon as she took her eyes off of them, the whispers resumed. "…was a puffin…"

"…penguin…"

"…both…Schnee…awkward…"

Weiss rolled her eyes and stopped jogging. Yang and Blake ran on past her before stopping when they realized she had, and it gave Ruby enough time to catch up to her.

"Oh, are we taking a break?" she gasped. "Thanks the Brothers, I'm 'boutta pass the flip out…"

Ignoring her oaf of a partner, the Faunus made a beeline in the direction of the gossiping team, wiping sweat from her brow. The four humans – all women, as it happened – all turned beet red, realizing that their voices had perhaps been a touch too loud and had gotten them caught.

"Excuse me," Weiss said evenly.

None of the girls could meet her eyes.

"Excuse me, ladies. I am speaking to your team."

Three of them turned to the fourth. Weiss assumed that she was the leader and fixed her flat stare directly on her.

"Were you and your team attempting to get my attention by calling me name?" Weiss asked. "Because if so, I'm here right now and will happily hear it."

Weiss wasn't angry, but it was easy to let these girls think she was so that they would be more inclined to answer her.

If there are rumors about me being a, I don't know, a penguin Faunus are flying about, they must be quashed immediately. I am a s̶e̶a̶g̶u̶l̶l̶ swan, and I am proud of it.

Dammit.

"It's nothing, Madame Schnee," said the team leader girl.

"Miss Schnee. I am not running a brothel. And I'd like to know why exactly you're referring to me as a penguin, Miss. I'm not keen on allowing a team who uses racially charged language in public to participate in the Vytal Tournament, and I can have the ear of three headmasters at a single world."

Ironwood wasn't as close an ally as Ozpin and Lionheart were, given his and Weiss' antagonistic relationship, but if the word was 'confession,' he might listen, so it counted.

"It's not – oh my gods, I am so sorry! It's not that, I swear! We were just referencing the ad! It's nothing to do with your wings, ma– Miss Schnee."

"The…ad?" Weiss asked. "What ad?"

The leader swallowed uncomfortably and nodded, nearly tripping over her own words as she yanks a scroll from her own combat skirt. After taking a second or two of typing onto it, she held out the screen in front of Weiss. It was a video from the internet, the bar at the bottom listing it as only twenty-five seconds long.

On the tiny screen that Weiss had to squint to see, not helped by the fact that the girl's hold on her scroll was unsteady due to shaky hands, Weiss made out the image of a man entering into a Dust store. He grabbed some crystal off the shelf, stepped up to the counter, placed his desired product for purchase down, and made eye contact with…

Weiss blinked.

…with a CGI penguin? No, not a penguin. It was some sort of arctic sea bird, that was for sure, but the precise breed Weiss couldn't made out. The bird let out a squawking noise right back at the slightly dejected looking man before the camera unfocused on them both. Text appeared on the screen.

Don't make things auk-ward with other brands.

The camera panned upwards to the ceiling as the text faded out, replaced by the SDC snowflake.

"It's, uh…it's trending," said the girl. "It played during the ad break for the Vytal Tournament alongside the Bronzita deodorant and Count Crunch chips, so it's kinda a thing now."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "And you saw me and was reminded of my company. And that made you feel the need to stare my way and whisper to one another because…?"

"Sorry, we don't mean to make things…uh, uncomfortable."

"Awww, c'mon Weiss," boomed the loud voice of Weiss' blondest teammate. "Don't be a sourpuss. Leave that to Blake. They're sorry, and they've apologized, so no harm, no foul, eh?"

Blake was continuing to motivate Ruby as she failed to jog, but the fourth member of Team RWBY had come and joined them, presumably as a mediator for what she saw as an imminent eruption of Mt. Weiss. However, Weiss was hardly aggrieved by a lighthearted reference to a commercial where no malice was involved.

She was second away from agreeing with Yang's assessment when something about the phrasing made her nose scrunch.

"No harm, no…foul?"

Weiss paused, watching Yang closely for a sudden rush of realization at her potential faux paus, but it never came…meaning it had been intentional.

No harm, no foul.

No harm, no fowl.

"They were just some chicks who were puffin out their chests, trying to get a rise out of you, and now that they've had their fun and gotten chewed out, I think it's fair to say that they paid the piper."

Yang was being a complete and utter idiot, but that was nothing new at this point. The goofy grin on her face was the perfect counter to Weiss' frustrated look at her usual antics, or perhaps to the four girls' nervous visages.

Why do they look so…oh, right, I threatened to report them.

Well, they had been innocent of racism, which had been Weiss' primary concern, so there was really no need to drag this out further.

"This is a serious matter, Yang," Weiss said sternly. "My family company's reputation has been besmirched by these hooligans, who are all but rascals."

Yang's smile dropped at Weiss' harsh words, but she too paused for a moment just as Weiss had moments ago at the slightly odd pronunciation and tone of the last three words. Her tongue ran over her teeth as her eyes wandered emptily for a second.

"All but rascals…albut…a-albatr…"

In spite of her scowl, Weiss' eyes twinkled as Yang slowly caught on to the pun and began to chuckle. She was joined by the nervous laughter of the other girls, who seemed to realize that Weiss was no longer angry and therefore a threat to their continued academic careers.

I don't like bandying power over people like that, but I'd fain not allow a Faunus-hater…or an anyone-hater for the matter…to be trained in the ways of the hunter. That kind of power can't fall into the hands of bigots or cowards, not when it can be abused to such disastrous results.

"So we're not…auk-ward anymore?" said one of the girls. "That's good to hear."

Literally just repeating the original joke, but okay.

"Okay, that's enough. G-Gannet, you lot!" shouted the leader. "G-Get it? Can it, gannet?"

Yang nodded. "Well, at least you four and Weiss have lame puns in common. I can't believe you have the gull to make these shitty jokes."

Gull. Of course. It always wrapped back around to…

Weiss sighed. The jokes weren't about her in this case, they were just bird jokes because of the memetic comedy commercial her father had put forth. Rather, her father's company.

In this one case, Weiss decided to be an adult and not let the word 'seagull' get to her. It was a weakness, one she'd allowed herself to be haunted by time and time again, and the fact that Torchwick had appropriated it for use as his own personal weapon to dispirit her (as handed to him by Whitley) was the last straw. In spite of her entire lifetime of activism, Weiss had spent so long being ashamed of her own Faunus trait. It matter little that she'd done in so secretly that it was limited to the privacy of her own head; to some degree, she was a self-hating Faunus.

I am a seagull.

I am a seagull.

I am a seagull. And that's not bad.

"And then the stupid turkeys got roasted and served up for holiday dinner!"

All six of the girls turned their heads to see a boy from an Atlesian team smiling over at them and waving an arm. He and his team had been among the others doing exercise and workouts in the shared Beacon space, and they'd evidently caught wind of the pun-off and decided to join.

By the gods, these jokes just keep getting stupider and stupider. Eventually we're just going to be listing bird species one after another.

Yang wiggled her eyebrows at the newcomer. "Your puns leave something to be desired, buddy. It left me in pen-guin."

"And your teammates lame-ass wings make her look like an idiot," said the guy, reaching forward and grasping Weiss' feather.

Weiss instantly pulled away. "I'd rather not be –"

"Oh, look at Miss I'm A Swan flap her feathers, fellas! She's gonna drop enough down to sew up a pillow!"

The Atlesian huntsman-in-training had been joined by his team, two girls and one other boy, who all wore smirks.

Oh. This is no longer a friendly pun-off, then.

Weiss couldn't risk taking out Myrtenaster until they'd struck first, but she figured that was only a matter of time at this point.

"Eh…w-what?" Yang asked. She didn't know of Weiss' reputation among the 'upper' circles of Atlesian elite, especially among the students of their rival academy. Thus, it was natural that it would take her longer to cotton on. "Uh…how about those birds, thou–"

"Little Princess finally showing her face, eh? I'm not surprised that a traitor like you ran as far away from Atlas as you could, right into the arms of an enemy kingdom."

"Would I have been welcome in Atlas?" Weiss neatly asked.

One of the Atlesian's teammates answered for him. "Your kind aren't welcome anywhere."

"Then I wonder why I'm a traitor for not attending. If you'd rather I stay far away, then was I not fulfilling your wished by matriculating at Beacon?"

"The hell do you mean enemy kingdom?" Yang asked, color starting to leave her face. "Last I heard, Vale and Atlas were all buddy-buddy, so unless you're watching a different news channel then I am, pal, then –"

"Don't you pal me," said the Atlesian team's leader, roughly shoving Yang. "You may not know it, bitch, but your pal here has killed good men and women…humans men and women, like the racist she is."

"Weiss? She's offed people?" Yang scoffed.

"The SDC likes to make a game out of gathering up all the Dust they can find, then hoarding it all for themselves until they can pass whatever laws they want. But what you corporate fucks don't get is that soldiers like me and my team might need Dust to fight the Grimm. It can mean the difference between life and death, so deciding that you're gonna withhold ammo just so you can have more control over the legitimate government is kinda fucked up? That auk-ward enough for you, you Schnee dumpster?"

"Legitimate," Weiss said, pursing her lips with a nod. "I take it you voted for Ironwood when he was elected then."

"Fuckin' idiot." One of the Atlesians spat in Weiss' direction. "Ironwood wasn't elected, you traitor."

Weiss said nothing.

"Oh, you…what…he…he earned his position fair and square, unlike you Schnees who bought it!"

"I'm sure," Weiss said, nodding along.

So far, she hadn't done anything but agree with the people bandying accusations against her and allow their own words to ruin their arguments. If any of this leaked to the press, she was in the clear in terms of liability.

Of course, I expect it's going to devolve into violence shortly, so words might not matter momentarily.

"Wow," said one of the bird-pun girls from before. "I'd heard Atlas was like this, but I'd never –"

"You better believe what you hear about us, Vacuoan." The teammates seemed to form up around their leader. "We aren't some woke joke of a school, unlike yours…all of yours. There's a reason they call us the greatest kingdom, and it isn't because we have the most guns."

Actually, Atlas called itself the greatest kingdom. The others called it the kingdom of greatest military might, definitively because it had the most guns, but that was neither here nor there.

"Yeah, I think we've had enough of this. Sorry for dragging you into –"

Weiss pre-emptively held up a hand before the Vacuoan leader could apologize further. "I know this wasn't what our little bird-pun fest was about. This is no fault of yours."

"Fuckin' cowards," cursed the Atlesian as the other team departed, making a rather rude hand gesture. "Fuckin' run away, eh…traitors and Vacuoans and…"

The girls' lips curled in disgust, but they clearly didn't want to stay here any longer. Weiss couldn't say she blamed them, although she wasn't pleased by the notion that there were now more enemies than there were allies.

Weiss watched them go, then turned back to the Atlesian team. "Now, then. Do you have anything productive to say besides throwing about insults like birdseed?"

"Birdseed, like..c-cuz…I bet you…"

Something Weiss had learned a long time ago was that if you used a racist's own limited range of insults before them, the need to plagiarize what you'd just said tended to put them off their game. She'd been the one to bring up bird seed, but there was no way he could trying to liken her to a bird without sounding like a broken record now that she'd initiated the topic. Nothing these four could say was anything she hadn't heard before, and she was fairly confident there was no chance she could lose control of the battle while it remained verbal.

"Just fuck off and keep your fucking family's industry out of our kingdom," griped the Atlesian girl.

"That Dust in your firearm is SDC-brand," Weiss went on. "The Dust that lights the lights in your house is SDC-brand. The Dust that powered the slide-projector your teacher used in primary combat school is SDC-brand. So, it makes me wonder – when my family's industry is keeping your kingdom afloat, literally and metaphorically, would you truly like us to quit?"

Gods, I don't think I've ever sounded as much like Father.

"You think the rules don't apply to you because you're rich?" raged one of the Atlesians. At long last, all pretenses were dropped, and she went straight for her sidearm. It wasn't uncommon for students to carry their weapons around the school – Weiss was doing it right now as well – but aiming one? That took it to the next level.

Yang's eyes flicked red. "Whoa, buddy, how about you –"

In spite of the fact that it was their own teammate escalating the situation, the rest of the Atlesians all somehow saw the drawing of a firearm as a sign that it was time for them to get their own weapons. Two of them also had guns of some sort, both visibly mech-shift, while the last (the leader, as it was) had a scimitar that looked like it was just a sword. Still, it was quite pointy, and Weiss didn't want to find out just how pointy.

"Atlas does not back down in the face of aggression," said the aggressors.

"We're not the ones holding the guns," said Yang, crossing her arm. Her cocksure attitude granted Weiss some measure of confidence – if Yang felt like she could take them, then Yang and Weiss could surely take them.

Two against four is bad odds, and Ruby and Blake have jogged off to who knows where. There are no other teams present. We can probably handle them. Probably.

"Who're they gonna believe – four students or the Faunus and her friends?" asked the leader, murder in his eyes.

This…This right here was Atlas' problem. It was so insular, so isolated within itself, that these four had truly been brainwashed into believing that they were right because they were Atlas. To them, it was inconceivable that the rest of the world didn't bear the same prejudices that had held back Weiss' home kingdom for so long. The rest of the world had progressed to accept the Faunus, but Atlas was waiting for the clock to turn back.

Weiss' hand strummed Myrtenaster…

The scimitar leaned forward towards Yang but didn't swing…

Preliminary sparks began to fly from Yang's fiery hair…

The guns were raised…

Until they attacked first…

"HEYOOOO! What's goin' on, bros, how's it hangin'?"

One of the guns discharges at the sudden appearance of a fourth party, but the owner also had jerked towards the direction of the newcomer and was aiming as empty space when it fired, so the Dust bullet only hit a wall.

"Careful," said Adam Taurus, appeared from out of thin air it seemed and sticking out his tongue. "Misfires can be a dangerous thing."

"Oh, well, we're sure Miss Schnee is so proud of her family's Dust that she's just eager to be reunited with it."

"Yeah, I heard. Schnee do love their Dust, don't they? But we gotta be careful, cuz, like I said, misfires could be dangerous. Like, someone could've gotten hurt, bro, and we don't want that."

The scimitar swung towards him, but he caught its midair by the blade.

"I mean, we're got this tournament thing comin' up," the bull Faunus went on, nonplussed by the attack. "And it'd just be horrible if someone couldn't participate because they got hurt. Like, imagine if someone broke a bone or something."

Weiss watched as the leader's sword tried to move from Adam's gloved hand but was unable to budge. The boy's free fist took a swing at Adam's face, but he merely caught it with his other hand.

His expression hadn't changed a touch, though – he still seemed entirely pleasant in his demeanor. "I had a bro who had a gnarly broken arm one time, and he was out of action for, like, a week, dude. Shit sucks, yo."

"Atlas…will not be…intimidated…"

Struggling to break his wrist free of his grasp wasn't working, so the boy clicked his tongue, and two guns turned on Adam. He merely raised his eyebrows at them.

"Yeah, I'd just be such a shame if we got hurt before the tournament. Cuz, like, this is my first one, bro, and I've been so lookin' forward to it, man. I think you know my team…they eliminated yours last time, and they didn't even have their leader with 'em."

"F-Fire at him," said the leader, but his two teammates hesitated. "Fire!"

Adam let go of the Atlesian's empty hand, throwing it aside, and used the freed-up arm to grab him by the throat. His forefinger began to rhythmically rap against the chin of the captured huntsman.

"Broken bones are, like, the worst, bro. I mean it when I say shit sucks, yo." He puffed out his cheeks and smiled as the Atlesian's feet were lifted a good three inches above the ground. "So we wouldn't want to break anything, now would we?"

The teammates fingers were now on their triggers, but Adam's smile was unabated.

The Atlesian didn't speak, instead glaring at the Faunus with pure, unadulterated hatred.

Adam released his hold on both the boy's weapon and the boy's neck and set him down. The teammates lowered their guns and rushed forward to check on him, but he angrily brushed off their concern.

"Let's get out of here. The general will need to hear what these Faunus have done."

"Give Jimmy my best," Adam said. "He and I are bros – met a million and five times back when he tried to stonewall nonhumans from participating in Vytal. Lost that one, Jimbo did."

"He tried to stop White Fang terrorists from participating," growled the huntsman-in-training.

"Athletes, bro." Adam's shoulders rose as he chuckled. "Or is a representative member of the Atlesian military formally changing their official stance and thereby policy on my capacity as a participant in the upcoming tournament? Because I'm sure James will love to hear that you did that."

"Let's just go," said one of the two girls.

The rest of the Atlesians had no snappy comebacks about cowards running away as they were forced to retreat by the lone Faunus. Weiss and Yang could probably have handled them – probably – but Adam's reputation as unbeatable spoke for itself, enabling them to avoid an outright confrontation. As the leader of the Menagerian 'athletes,' he was a well-known figure in the circles of people interested in participating in tournaments for having the same win-loss ratio as Pyrrha Nikos herself.

"You're welcome, Schnee."

Weiss looked up to find the tall Faunus grinning her way.

"Yes, fine, thank you, Adam. I'm sure Yang and I could have handled it, but I appreciate it nonetheless."

"Enough put in a good word for me with my soulmate?" asked Adam.

"Not that appreciative," Weiss said.

He shrugged. "Literally just saved your life, bro, but I guess we can call it even in exchange for nothing then."

"Awwww, help a brother our and be our knight in shining blazer's wingman," Yang begged, her grin as wide as Adam's as she patted him on the back and turned to Weiss. "Who's the lucky girl for Romeo, here?"

"The most beautiful cat lady you've ever seen," Adam answered, his eyes glistening as he lit out a lovestruck sigh. "A gorgeous black-haired, black-bowed goddess in Faunus form."

Weiss merely raised her eyebrows at Yang.

"Ah," said the blonde. "I see the problem."

Adam looked back at the two girls, not understanding. "What? What's the problem? Did something happen to Blake?"

Weiss cleared her throat. "Nothing bad, just…she's, uh…taken. By me."

"By…y-you?" Adam coughed. "Izzit too late to call back those Atlesians? I'd be content courting a widow."

"Don't even joke about that," Weiss snarked. "But Blake and I are dating."

"Ho–"

"Yes, Adam, lesbian sex is extremely hot. I am aware, as every huntsman within a twenty mile radius has informed me of this when they learned of it."

Adam raised up his arms and cracked his shoulders. "Guess that makes us love rivals. Spar for her hand in marriage?"

"I already have her hand and thus have no incentive to spar for it."

"I'll spar you for Blake's hand in marriage," Yang offered, her eyes now purple again.

"Eh, better a chick like you than some guy who'd ruin her, I guess. And you are a Faunus. If Blake were dating some human guy, I'd probably run him through."

Surprisingly, Adam wasn't actually carrying Wilt or Blush with him, which only spoke to the fact that his reputation was something fearsome. Weiss had actually sparred with him once at Ghira's suggestion, many moons ago, at which point they'd mutually agreed that it would be better for them to spar with partners on their levels as opposed on one another.

There was a very real chance that Menagerie was going to be winning this year's Vytal Tournament.

"I'll have to settle with being there to pick her up when you break her heart, I suppose," Adam declared with finality.

"Unless I'm lynched by my own former kingdom first," Weiss joked.

"Nahhh, you'd be more likely to be assassinated by Anthrosurgent first. Those fuckers are slippery."

Weiss nervously laughed. "I think Beacon is safe from –"

Adam looked down at Weiss, his smile strained. Slowly, from side to side, his head twisted back and forth.

"That bad?"

"Ghir, Sienna, and I have scoured the kingdoms and the colonies from stem to stern, and we haven't found a trace of them other than the messes they leave. And this is some professional shit, Weiss – burned fields of crops with the fires in the shape of Schnee snowflakes and White Fang logos, trains coming into the station with all of the Dust cleared out but no other harm. They don't even have their own symbol, just mockeries of ours. I mean, I've fought other assholes before who –"

"Adam," Weiss said pointedly. They were in public, and Yang was present. This was the kind of stuff that they weren't supposed to let the world see.

"You trust her?" Adam's eyes met Yang's. "You need to know this, dude, and the sooner the better. We're alone 'cept for her. You trust this chick?"

Yang didn't seem like she wanted to be trusted with this right now, given the somewhat frightened look on her face at the topic of combatting professional terrorism, but Weiss did have wholehearted faith in her, so she nodded.

"We've fought baddies before, man. The Fang under Ghir ground 'em to dust. But it was always the same tactics before – they destroyed everything they could, they hurt as many Faunus as possible. Blunt instruments. These humans are different. They could've done a lot more damage, but they're doing less in far more complicated ways, just to show us that they can and still get away with it. And they are – the Fang might be able to fix all of the damage they do before lives are ruined, but we haven't nabbed a single one of their agents yet."

Weiss didn't exactly like what she was hearing. The implication that this terrorist group was showing off its power implied that they were showing off for something. And now, the world's largest stage was being set.

Amity…

Next Chapter: Lists

In which Weiss Schnee meets up with old friends and family, some slightly colder than others.

Author's Notes

Normally I try to avoid politically charged language like calling something woke as an insult unironically, but in this case, it feels like how teenagers looking for a problem would actually speak.

Only one chapter into V3, and we've already got four plot points swirling around. Willow, Atlas, Vytal, Anthrosurgent - I wonder if I could fit in any more...hmmmm...

Happy rats, and don't do crime!