Chapter 11: Mission Day
Last time our hero met with his new Tuffle enemies and learned that they are planning something in Vale, then the Tuffles have uncovered the identities of Salem's pawns and have sent them a warning, "Stay away or die!" what happens next now!
Jason shifted in his suit as he approached the ballroom, uncomfortable in his clothing. "Man, why do I have to wear this?!" Jason complained as he tugged his collar.
"Dude, just stop messing with it, or you're going to mess up your tie!" Evan said, slapping Jason's hand away from his collar.
"What? It's uncomfortable, dude how are you okay wearing this?" Jason asked.
"Because I'm not a child," Evan answered.
"Now you sound like Weiss," Jason commented.
"Whatever I'd rather not keep my date waiting," Evan replied as Team JADE entered the ballroom.
"Wow, you guys look great!" Yang complimented as they entered.
"Thanks, but you look better, Yang, so how long till we can dance?" Evan asked.
"Easy there, I still have to work here for a few more minutes, then I'm dancing with Blake. Afterward, we can dance, but don't forget your promise." Yang explained.
"Yep, wouldn't forget it at all," Evan replied with a nervous laugh.
"So, you did get Blake to come nice!" Jason smiled.
"But how did you do it?" Jason asked.
"Sorry, but that's my secret," Yang responded. Then the door opened once more, and everyone turned to see Ruby coming in wearing a red dress and wearing high heels.
"Oh, you look beautiful!" Yang exclaimed. Ruby looked as uncomfortable in her dress as Jason did in his suit.
"Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" Ruby asked. She stumbled a bit as she walked forward and nearly fell but was caught by Jason.
"Careful, you don't want to hurt yourself." Jason teased as he helped Ruby up.
"Uh, thanks. I just have to get used to walking with these shoes." Ruby explained.
"Well, go out there and have some fun little sister, the party's just beginning!" Yang smiled.
"But what am I supposed to do? I can't really dance, nor do I have a date, not that I wanted one at least I don't think I'm ready, but still what now?" Ruby asked.
"Just do whatever look just find someone you know and talk to them or maybe even dance, like Jason, will you accompany Ruby for the party?" Yang asked.
"Wait, what?! I mean, we can hang out, yeah, but I can't dance." Jason replied.
"Cool, you two go on and have fun!" Yang laughed as she pushed the two along, ignoring Jason.
"Okay, so what do you want to do because I just planned to find a corner and stand there?" Jason questioned.
"That actually sounds nice dances aren't for me anyway." Ruby agreed as they walked to a secluded area. Soon they were joined by Weiss, who seemed bummed about the dance.
"Hey Weiss, how's it going?" Jason asked.
"I'm fine. I'm still waiting to see if Yang actually got Blake to come." Weiss explained.
"She did say she had a dance reserved for her, so I think she did," Jason informed. And just as he said that did Blake enter the ballroom with Sun.
"Well, Weiss, there's your answer." Ruby smiled as they watched Blake dance with Yang.
"I'm glad she managed to get her to come. She needed this." Weiss said.
"Was she really that worked up about the White Fang?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, but it's fine now that she is here. I think this will get her to unwind fully." Ruby explained.
"So, Jason, where's your team?" Weiss asked.
"Well, Evan is waiting on Yang for their dance and Damian and Alex…" Jason started as he looked over at his two teammates dancing alone.
"They're doing their own thing." He finished.
"What about you, Weiss, do you have a date?" Jason questioned.
"No, I…I had better things to do." Weiss stammered.
"Really well, we can always just talk and stuff. It's what Ruby and I are going to do." Jason suggested.
"No, thanks. I'm good, you have fun." Weiss replied as she left.
"She seems down, I thought for sure that she would have asked Neptune or something." Jason pointed out as they were approached by Ozpin.
"Aret the festivities, not to your liking?" Ozpin asked.
"No, they are. We're just not the dancing kind of people." Ruby explained with Jason nodding.
"Well, if you think about it, fighting and dancing are two sides of the same coin with two partners interlocked, although if you mess up in a dance, all you'll get is a swollen foot." Ozpin related.
"I don't see it. If it was like that, I think I would enjoy dancing a lot more." Jason commented.
"Do you really only think about fighting and training?" Ruby asked.
"Nope, but I do think about it a lot," Jason answered.
"Still it's not every day an event like this can take place. Where friends can come together and have a good time. To not have to worry about the current issues of the world around them." Ozpin continued.
"That sounds like something a playwright would say, but that sounds pretty good to me," Jason replied. Ozpin then left Ruby and Jason alone as they watched the dance go on by the punch bowl as Jaune approached them.
"I see you two are also hiding at the punch bowl," Jaune said.
"Yep," Ruby replied.
"Not much else to do, or at least that I would want," Jason added.
"Well, to the socially awkward." Jaune toasted as the three cheered their glasses.
"Sorry things didn't work out with Weiss." Ruby apologized.
"Meh, it's fine, Neptune's a cool guy. I see why she went with him." Jaune responded.
"Wait, I thought she came here alone?" Jason asked.
"She did, she says that she has too much to focus on to worry about boys," Ruby explained.
"So she got rejected that sucks." Jason theorized as Jaune looked astonished.
"Really, you think she got rejected?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, if you think about it, it doesn't seem like Weiss, who had a crush on Neptune to not ask the guy out. Someone like her is bound to at least try." Jason pointed out. Jaune looked over to where Neptune was and scowled.
"Hold my punch." He told Jason as he handed his glass to Jason.
"Well, looks like he's going to speak his mind to Neptune." Jason pointed out.
"Yeah, I almost feel sorry for him," Ruby commented.
"For Jaune or Neptune?" Jason asked.
"Doesn't matter who," Ruby answered, taking a sip of her punch. Over across the room, Cinder Fall was with her two 'teammates' looking like a normal team.
"Do you think she can do it?" Emerald asked.
"There's nothing to worry about, I have faith that Neo has already uploaded the virus to the CCT. All we need to do is act natural." Cinder explained as she slow danced with Mercury.
"With Neo's semblance, she could easily get past the guards and upload the virus." Cinder added.
"Speak of the devil here she comes." Mercury pointed out as Neo walked up from behind them in her disguise of a twin-tailed black-haired girl with green eyes.
"Were you successful?" Cinder asked, getting a nod from Neo.
"Good now let's just keep the façade going. This was easier than what we originally planned." Cinder ordered. Neo nodded again as she walked off into the crowd.
"Where is she going?" Emerald asked.
"Who cares," Mercury replied. Close by, they were being observed by SIKE.
"Should we be concerned about that?" Elias questioned.
"Of course not. There's nothing their little virus could do that we can't override. Our superior knowledge makes anything they do pointless, isn't that right, Kiran?" Silas asked.
"Obviously, I can eliminate anything they do to the CCT in your words, it's child's play." Kiran agreed.
"And besides, I will allow their actions, for now. As long as they don't get in our way." Silas stated. Jason was talking to Ruby by the punch bowl as they watched Team JNPR take the dance floor.
"Wow, who knew they could dance," Jason commented.
"Yeah, they're pretty good." Ruby agreed. Soon as they left the dance floor, Jason felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a short girl with long black hair and twin tails with green eyes.
"Yes, can I help you?' Jason asked, but instead of an answer, she grabbed onto Jason's hand and pulled him to the dance floor causing Jason to drop his drink.
"Hey, wait…what?!" Jason asked as he was dragged away, flailing his free arm. Ruby was shocked at this but didn't know what to do about it
"Okay, bye, I guess," Ruby said as she watched him get dragged away.
"Great, now what am I going to do?" Ruby sighed as she stood alone.
Jason was perplexed and flustered at the sudden situation, he didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings, but he didn't know what to do. She had dragged him to the dance floor and forced him into a slow dance with her. Which at first was odd for Jason had no experience doing so, but she seemed just as bad at it as he was as they bumped into nearly everyone there.
"Um, so I never got your name. Have we met before?" Jason asked as they continued dancing. The girl just nodded as they danced but did not say a single word to him.
"Is she a mute? Wait, her energy seems familiar, and didn't I meet a short mute girl recently?" Jason thought as he began to put two and two together.
His eyes narrowed on the girl as she finished her dance with him and winked at him as she disappeared into the crowd. Jason felt her use her semblance for a split second, and she was gone. "Was that Neo?" Jason questioned.
He exited the ballroom and looked around to see if he can spot where she went but came up empty-handed. Then he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Ruby walking out of the ballroom.
"Oh, hey Jason, I didn't know you were out here too, where's that girl who made you dance?" Ruby asked.
"No idea, she just disappeared. I felt like there was something suspicious about her, so I came out here to see if I could find her but no luck." Jason explained.
"Well, maybe it was nothing, just some weird girl who made you dance," Ruby suggested.
"Maybe, but whatever nothing I can do about it now, so why did you leave the dance?" Jason asked.
"I was just uncomfortable being alone in there, everyone was either dancing or with their date, so I decided to come out and get some air," Ruby explained.
"Well, since we can't leave the dance fully without getting in trouble with our friends, want to continue where we left off then?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, sure, it's better than doing nothing." Ruby laughed as they entered the ballroom once again.
Monday Team JADE's dorm…
"So, you're saying that the girl you were dancing with dragged you onto the dance floor to do so?" Evan asked.
"Yeah, that's the gist of it, and I thought you weren't allowed to look at girls unless you were talking to them?" Jason questioned back.
"Hey, I'm asking the questions here, not you. But still, you got someone to dance with you without even asking that's just unfair!" Evan complained.
"Dude, why are you complaining you went with Yang?" Damian questioned.
"Yeah, and I am happy I did, it was fun going with a friend, but still I just wish girls did the same with me!" Evan explained.
"Still though I have a bad feeling towards when we finished dancing was when I figured out it was Neo, Roman Torchwick's partner in crime, but I have no idea what she was there for," Jason recalled.
"Well, maybe she has a crush on you," Damian suggested.
"That's ridiculous. They've only met each other three times! If you include the dance." Evan denied.
"Look, that doesn't matter. Let's just focus on trying to think about why she was there." Jason insisted.
"Well, who knows for sure, but for now, we should be safe and inform Ozpin," Alex suggested getting nods from the rest of them.
"Way ahead of you, he seemed to act exactly the same as when I told him about Talon's clones. However, the general was also there, and he seemed less calm about it. I wasn't able to stay to hear their conversation, but I'm sure they have it handled." Jason recounted.
"Sweet, so now we need to find out what we are going to do for our first mission today," Evan said, changing the subject.
"I think the best course of action for the mission is to get one that keeps us near the city. I have a feeling that something bad will happen, plus I don't want to leave the city unprotected if Talon's offspring decide to make a move." Jason informed his team.
"Sounds good to me, but I still want something that gives us some action. It would be boring otherwise." Evan commented.
Soon Glynda announced that the first-year students must meet in the amphitheater. Team JADE got up and left their dorm to head over. It was finally time to choose their mission for the next week. When they arrived with the rest of the first years, Ozpin and Glynda were already on the stage.
"Man, this feels like the first day all over again." Jason thought as he and his team found a spot to stand next to Teams RWBY and JNPR. Ozpin walked up to the mic to make his announcement to the students.
"Today, we stand together united, Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, and Vale the four kingdoms of Remnant." Ozpin began his speech.
"Does he always have to give a long boring speech?" Evan asked.
"Looks like it," Jason answered.
Ozpin went on to tell the tale of the color naming tradition and its meaning as he finished his speech. Afterward, he explained how the missions would work by shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission before dismissing the students to choose their missions.
"Alright, let's do this. I want some fun!" Jason exclaimed as he rushed to the nearest holo terminal.
However, they could not find a mission that would give Jason the fun he wanted near Vale or one that they were allowed to take. So, in the end, they were forced to choose wall repair on the perimeter defense. Jason left a trail of tears as he exited the amphitheater.
"It's not fair. Why can't they have cooler missions near Vale?!" Jason cried.
"You guys are staying in Vale, I thought you of all people would want to go on an exploratory mission?" Weiss asked as she and the rest of Team RWBY walked up to them.
"Normally, we would, but right now, we don't want to leave Vale due to the Tuffle problem we have. We didn't want to leave Vale unattended." Damian explained.
"What about you guys, what mission did you pick?" Alex asked.
"We managed to convince Ozpin to get a search and destroy mission in the southeast," Blake answered.
"Actually, it seemed like he just gave it to us like he knew what we were up to." Yang pointed out.
"Yeah, he just came out of nowhere and changed it for us. Maybe he was listening in on our conversation." Ruby suggested.
"Convinced? What business do you guys have there?" Evan asked.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Ruby answered, playing it off like it was no big deal.
"White Fang?" Jason asked shocking three of the members of Team RWBY of how easily they were found out.
"White Fang." Blake nodded.
"Right, well, you guys have fun with that," Evan said. Just then, several students gathered around the area as they noticed that Team CFVY had returned.
"They're okay!" Jason exclaimed. The group walked up to the team to check up on them.
"Hey, guys, are you okay you've been gone for a while?" Jason asked as he reached the team.
"Oh, hey Jason, we're all fine. Just there were more Grimm there than we first thought." Velvet explained.
"Thankfully, my team looked out for me. You first years should be fine after all. You'll be shadowing a huntsman." Velvet reassured.
"Yeah, we managed to get rid of all those pests after they came for us though sorry you missed the fun," Coco said.
"Yeah, well, I'm glad you're all okay," Jason replied.
"We are too." Blake agreed.
"Thanks, see you guys around," Coco said as she and Velvet left.
"Well, we better get going too, we need to prepare to help with…wall repair." Jason deadpanned as he and his team left.
Southern Wall of Vale…
"Now then, students, how about we get started on this grand adventure!" Professor Port exclaimed as they reached the southern wall.
"I wouldn't call repairing a wall, a grand adventure professor." Jason sighed as he stood slumped behind him.
"That's where you're wrong, Mr. Shin. You see, you never know what can happen just like when I was young, I remember…" Port explained as he began to tell a tale.
"Yay, another story," Evan whined as they entered the worksite.
"I thought you guys would be happy lifting heavy objects and doing some manual labor because you love training." Damian voiced. Jason perked up instantly since he had not thought of such a takeaway from this mission.
"You're right! This could be good for us. I'm now ready to repair a wall who's with me!" Jason yelled with fire in his eyes.
"Great enthusiasm Mr. Shin. Now let's get to work!" Port responded as Team JADE began to work on the wall.
The wall itself had some little damage, but to repair said damage, they needed to take the wall apart and put it back together again. Jason and Evan had a simpler part of the job. Due to their strength, they were tasked with carrying heavy material to and from the wall. While Damian and Alex were tasked with putting the wall together again. Due to their precision skills, this task was a breeze.
Professor Port was overseeing their work and giving them inspiration with tales of his many missions as a huntsman, though nobody except Jason paid any attention to him. By the time the sun had set, the wall was more than halfway done in its repair.
"Well done, students, I never imagined that the repairs on the wall would go as fast as it has. You all will make fine huntsman one day!" Port exclaimed.
"Thanks, but I need to rest now. That was exhausting." Damian complained.
"You and me both." Alex agreed.
"I can still keep going. I bet if we work through the night, we can get this thing done before morning!" Jason declared.
"You can't be serious." Damian sighed.
"While your enthusiasm is appreciated, the worksite closes at night, so we must go back to Beacon and continue tomorrow," Port explained. They nodded as they got up to leave, heading back to Beacon for the night.
Southeast of Vale…
"So is today a bad day?" Torchwick asked.
"Yes, I would say so because not only is this operation so understaffed that we haven't even loaded a third of the train yet, but now I have you, little miss Red, intruding on our operation." He answered himself as he turned to Ruby.
Ruby had fallen into the ruins of an underground settlement project during her mission, accidentally stumbling onto Roman Torchwick and the White Fangs operation in the area. Though that was her plan to find them, she was unprepared for this situation, especially without her Crescent Rose.
"Let me go, you creep!" Ruby demanded.
"No, can do Red. If I let you go now, you'll inform the big guys, and our operation will be ruined, not that it isn't already." Torchwick explained.
"Now, just sit tight while…" Torchwick began to say before a large explosion rang through the area.
"Oh come on, did one of you idiots dropped one of the bombs again?!" Torchwick asked angrily. Soon the rest of Team RWBY, accompanied by Doctor Oobleck and Zwei, rounded a corner to reveal themselves wreaking havoc to rescue Ruby.
"Great." Torchwick sighed. Taking the surprise of her team revealing themselves, Ruby escaped and returned to her team.
"Ruby, you're okay!" Yang exclaimed as she embraced Ruby in a big hug.
"Well, girls, it seems we've stumbled onto a secret operation lead by Roman Torchwick, let's bring these evildoers to justice!" Oobleck insisted.
"Oh yeah!" Ruby smiled as she took her Crescent Rose from Weiss and turned it into scythe mode.
"Oh no, not again! Neo, we're leaving now!" Torchwick ordered. Neo appeared out of nowhere and landed near Roman, but before she could activate her semblance, she was forced to bounce back to dodge an attack from Yang.
"Not this time, you're not getting away!" Yang declared, slamming her fists together.
The group then engaged the enemy with Yang, accompanied by Blake attacking Neo while Ruby, Weiss, fought Torchwick. While this happened, Oobleck fought off the few White Fang members that were there with help from Zwei.
"Tell me this why is it that when I am trying to go about my business that you all keep finding me?!" Torchwick asked.
"Guess you're just that unlucky!" Ruby joked as she swung her Crescent Rose at Torchwick.
"And today is where your luck ends, you're going to prison!" Weiss declared.
"Oh, really, I've never heard that before!" Torchwick snapped back.
As he went toe to toe with the two girls. Over with Yang and Blake they were still mid-fight with Neo, who was having trouble keeping up with both of them. If she was able to fight them one at a time, she would have no trouble at all.
But trying to keep up with Blake's speed and agility and Yang's strength was proving to be a problem. Blake attacked Neo with a flurry of blows. However, each attack was countered by Neo. However, she was blindsided by an attack by Yang being sent flying away into several crates.
"Not so tough now, are you!" Yang gibed as she approached the crates. But to her surprise, when she got there, Neo was gone, nowhere to be seen.
"What? Where did she go?" Yang asked, looking around.
Almost as if answering her question. The train next to them suddenly spurred to life, its horn ringing throughout the area. Torchwick turned from his fight to see the train starting to move away with Neo motioning for him to get on.
"Well, ladies, it's been fun, but I must now bid you ado," Torchwick said as he jumped on the train, which began to dart away.
"Don't let them leave!" Blake insisted as she ran towards the train. Everyone soon followed, getting on the train just before it got away.
"Okay, now we must search the train top to bottom to find Torchwick before this train reaches its destination! I am going to try to contact the headmaster." Oobleck ordered. Team RWBY immediately sprang into action as they split up Yang and Ruby taking the inside while Weiss and Blake searched outside for Torchwick and Neo.
"Now what they're on the train, and we have no way of escaping?" Torchwick questioned as Neo operated the train.
"Plus, we're going straight for Vale, the worst possible place to be right now!" Torchwick complained, getting an eye-roll from Neo. Neo then pushed some buttons, changing the display on a security screen showing that they had two bombs that were loaded on the train.
"Well, that can help, send one off to bring in some Grimm to distract those pests and the other for us to escape," Torchwick ordered. Neo nodded and activated the first bomb detaching the train car from the train.
"This is not good," Oobleck said as he saw the train car getting detached. He ran full speed and managed to hop on to the next train car before he was left behind, bringing Zwei along with him.
"That was close, but now there is less train to cover." Oobleck pointed out, adjusting his tie. Soon the train car that was left behind exploded and made a hole in the ceiling where Grimm came falling down.
"And that's another setback." Oobleck sighed as he readied his weapon. Weiss and Blake were nearing the locomotive. However, before they reached, Neo hopped out from inside and stopped them.
"You're not stopping us!" Blake declared as she and Weiss teamed up against Neo.
However, with the help of her illusions, she was able to keep up with the two. Below Yang and Ruby had run into the last train car before the locomotive. But they were stopped in their tracks by the sight of a bomb that was stored inside. Primed and ready for use.
"This is not good," Yang stated.
"What are we supposed to do, Yang? We can't disarm a bomb?!" Ruby asked.
"We don't have to as long as we capture Torchwick and get this off the train," Yang explained. Suddenly the door in front of them opened.
"Well I tell you this, I don't plan on being captured by you!" Torchwick announced as he entered the train car.
"Well, you don't have a choice in the matter!" Ruby shouted as she and Yang engaged Torchwick.
Vale...
Back in Vale, Morning was beginning to come, and the people slowly came out from their homes. Team JADE had already arrived at the work site for the second day on the job, ready to finish what they started.
"Wow, if there's one thing I'm most glad that I got from Kai's training, it's the stamina boost. After only a little bit of rest, I feel good as new!" Damian smiled as they got prepared to work.
"Yeah, I thought that it always helped." Evan agreed.
"Isn't that right, Jason?" He asked his friend. However, he got no answer, and when he looked at Jason, he saw that he was staring towards the eastern part of the area.
"Dude, you okay?" Evan asked.
"Can't you sense it, there's something under the ground over there, and it's moving at a high speed towards the city," Jason answered.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I do, and from what I can tell, there are at least seven people there," Evan responded as he focused his sensing ability.
"I…I think Team RWBY is on whatever is under there," Jason explained.
"Do me a favor stay here and cover for me. I'm going to check this out real quick." Jason requested.
"You got it, but are you sure you don't want us to come?" Evan questioned.
"I'm sure the wall repair is still important, plus I'm just checking up on them. Hopefully, they don't need any help. Plus, we don't want to get in trouble for abandoning the mission." Jason explained.
Evan nodded as Jason turned to leave, heading in the direction where he sensed his friends. When Jason reached the part of the wall that was in his way, he looked carefully around before he flew over the top and continued onward. Once he finally reached where he sensed them, he could tell that they were moving fast, so he decided to blast a hole in the ground to enter wherever they were.
Train 2 Miles From Vale...
Blake and Weiss were exhausted, and they were not making any ground against Neo. If it wasn't for the fact they were on a moving vehicle, they would most likely be able to fight her better. However, due to the small space to work with and trying not to fall off the train, they were having trouble fighting the multi-colored mute. Neo cracked a smug smile as she countered another one of Weiss's attacks angering the girl greatly.
"What are we going to do? We can't touch her?!" Weiss asked.
"I don't know, for now, we just have to keep fighting. Maybe she'll tire out soon." Blake answered.
This caused Neo to laugh, a bit amused that the two were having so much trouble and believed that she was as tired as they were. However, she soon stopped as an explosion came from overhead, and a figure came dropping down and landed in between the fighters.
"Maybe it was a good thing I came seeing as Torchwick is here," Jason stated as he got up.
"Hey, guys, hope I'm not interrupting?" Jason asked, turning to his friends.
"No, actually, you came at the perfect time we needed someone who could help us fight her," Weiss answered, not questioning why or how he was there. Jason turned and saw Neo standing in front of him, giving him a small smile and a wave.
"Okay, I can take over from here. You two can get some rest if you'd like." Jason insisted.
"We'll be okay. We're going to help Yang and Ruby capture Torchwick. You can have her." Blake replied as she and Weiss jumped down and entered the train car.
"You know I just thought that this would be a perfect time to ask you why you were at the dance and why you dragged me over to dance with you, but then I remembered you don't talk," Jason informed Neo, who just shrugged as a response.
"But while I have your attention, I would like to thank you for saving my life a couple of weeks ago." Jason thanked, making Neo smile.
Jason charged at Neo, who quickly dodged behind him. In response, Jason threw an elbow behind him at Neo, but her image shattered like glass upon impact. While he couldn't see where she went, he could sense her behind him, and he jumped up to avoid her attack.
"Looks like as long as she doesn't go far, I can still sense her." Jason Affirmed.
"Your illusions won't work here. I know exactly where you go after you use them, so please just surrender. I don't particularly like hitting girls." Jason insisted.
Neo just put her hand to her chin, blushing a little before she started to attack again. But to her surprise, Jason easily dodged every last one of her attacks like it was child's play. Then he jumped up and delivered a spin kick to her face. She went flying to the next train car behind them, struggling to get back up from Jason's attack before falling back down onto her back.
"Shit, maybe I hit her too hard." Jason thought as he walked over to her. Once he got to her, she got up with ease and tackled him to the ground.
"Well, remind me not to trust you if you look hurt?" Jason requested as he looked at Neo, who was on top of him. Neo shook her head as she went to knock Jason out with a single punch.
However, when her punch connected, Jason remained unfazed instead her own hand hurt, and she shook it to ease the pain. Thanks to the distraction, Jason managed to flip Neo off him and get back up.
Before they could continue fighting, Roman Torchwick was sent flying through a new hole that was made and landed in front of Jason. Before the man could get up, Jason stepped on his chest, keeping him down.
"You're not going anywhere, pal," Jason told Torchwick, who scowled.
"Great, when did the tank boy get here?" Roman questioned. Neo looked at Torchwick with some concern then back at Jason.
"I'm not letting you take him away if that's what you're thinking, but if you wish to try, then have at it," Jason spoke as Team RWBY came out of the train car. Neo looked very displeased and stuck out her tongue at them and used her semblance to escape.
"Oh yeah, that helps, thanks, Neo." Torchwick thanked sarcastically.
"Oh well, she'll be back to bust me out in no time." Torchwick thought as he was dragged up by Jason.
"So, do we have anything to tie this guy up with?" Jason asked.
"I think there was some rope in the train hold. I'll go get it." Blake answered.
"Thanks for coming to help, Jason. That would have been a lot harder if you hadn't shown up." Weiss thanked.
"No problem. I sensed you guys close to where my mission was, so I decided to check it out." Jason replied.
"Anyway, is it safe to assume Yang was the one who punched Torchwick through the ceiling?" Jason asked.
"Oh yeah, it was great!" Yang exclaimed as Blake returned with some rope.
"You know this changes nothing. There's still the bomb below us." Torchwick bickered.
"Oh no, the bomb, what are we going to do we can't disarm it?!" Ruby asked, flailing her arms around.
"Children, it's good to see that you're okay, and you captured Roman Torchwick no less." Oobleck smiled as he returned to the students.
"Mr. Shin, how did you get here?" Oobleck questioned.
"Oh, I was just in the neighborhood, but that's not important. There's still a bomb on this train primed to blow." Jason explained.
"Oh well, that's not good. From what I can tell, we are coming up under Vale. We cannot let it explode for a small number of Grimm is tailing the train. While it's not a problem for most huntsmen, they can still cause some casualties." Oobleck responded.
"I can deal with the bomb if you guys can deal with the Grimm," Jason suggested.
"Sure, let's do it!" Ruby shouted as her, Weiss and Yang went to fight the Grimm.
"I'll stay here and make sure Torchwick doesn't escape," Blake said.
"And I will try and stop the train, Mr. Shin, whatever you plan to do, do it fast. We have no idea when the bomb will go off." Oobleck told Jason.
Jason hopped down into the train car and examined the bomb noting its size, and made sure it wouldn't go off the instant he picked it up. After he confirmed that he could do it, he made sure that Oobleck was in the front of the train and that he could not see him.
"I'd rather not explain to him how I can fly, though Torchwick may see, but who cares about what he thinks." Jason thought.
"Though then again, he might have seen me when I fought Talon's clones, so either way, it doesn't matter." Jason thought. He then picked up the bomb and put it over his shoulder. He could hear it start to beep fast, indicating that the bomb was going to explode soon.
"Better get out of here," Jason said to himself.
He took off and flew away from the train as fast as he could towards the other end of the tunnel, passing right over Ruby and the others heading for the hole he made to get in the tunnel. As he inched closer, he could hear the bomb beep even faster, indicating that it could go off at any second.
"No time to spare better, throw this thing away!" Jason decided as he tossed the bomb at the other end of the tunnel. It blew up on impact with the ground, causing a cave in closing the tunnel behind them.
"Just in time," Jason smiled as he turned around and went back to check on his friends. The Grimm were almost all gone, and it seemed like his job was done here.
"Although I might as well use this opportunity to test out my new move, I don't think they'll mind if I borrow a few Grimm." Jason opined. He charged up his energy white aura now surrounding him until he let it loose.
"SPLITTING FLARE!" Jason yelled as he brought both hands in front of him, blasting two beams of energy in front of him, which split into several separate beams, one for each Grimm, killing them on impact.
"Yes! Another successful move that I created, I'm so glad that it didn't explode like the last time I tried it." Jason beamed.
"Wow, that was so cool. Was that a new move you created?" Ruby asked as she dashed up to Jason.
"Yep, I've been working on it since I learned how to fly since my energy control has improved in large strides," Jason explained.
Soon they could hear the train come to a halt, and they decided to return to it. As they returned, they saw Blake, Oobleck, and Zwei holding onto Torchwick making sure he doesn't escape.
"Exceptional students, you just saved many lives today. I hope you are as proud of yourselves as I am and how the headmaster will be when he and the Atlas officials come to take away Torchwick." Oobleck complimented.
"Thanks, I'm happy that their plans didn't come to fruition," Ruby replied.
"Well, once I get out, I'll just do it again!" Torchwick declared.
"Who said you were getting out, idiot?" Jason asked as he flicked Torchwick's forehead causing the criminal to be even angrier than he was. Soon a specialist team cut open another hole into the tunnel and retrieved Torchwick to lock him up and get everyone out.
"I'm so glad that's over I need some rest," Weiss complained as she sat down on the nearest bench.
"Me too, I could sleep for a week." Yang agreed, sitting next to Weiss.
"Well, I should get back to my team and help finish up the repairs on the wall. See you guys later." Jason smiled as he waved goodbye.
"Bye, Jason, thanks for the help!" Ruby yelled as he left.
Over on a nearby rooftop, Neo looked down on the scene frowning as her focus went on Jason. She soon turned away in a huff of annoyance as she left. As Jason returned to the worksite, he noticed a lot of work had been done while he was gone. In fact, it seemed almost done save for the concrete exterior.
"Good to see you've returned, Mr. Shin. I do hope you can explain where you went off to." Port said as he noticed Jason.
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that, professor. I had to go help some friends who were in trouble." Jason explained as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, well, as long as it was something that benefits someone else, then that's perfectly fine, I'm happy to see such a good student prospering," Port replied.
"But now it's time to get back to repairing the wall. All we need to do now is finish the concrete portion." Port stated. Jason nodded as he returned to his team, and they began to finish the wall.
Nearby…
"Well, looks like the breach was a total bust." Mercury spat as he watched Torchwick get taken away.
"Really, what made you think that? Was it the fact that the train was nowhere near ready when it left, the fact that those girls interfered again, or was it the fact that no Grimm came into the city and Torchwick was captured?" Emerald questioned.
"Everything that entire part of the plan went down the drain!" Mercury snapped back. This argument went on for some time until Cinder snapped.
"Quiet both of you, it's not important that this part didn't work. We still will make it work overall." Cinder asserted.
"But what are we going to do most of the White Fang doesn't trust us anymore because they're scared that they'll die from those mask freaks?" Mercury asked.
"They may not trust you anymore, but they still trust me." An unknown voice said. Suddenly a tall man stepped onto the rooftop. The group was on wearing a mask reminiscent of a Grimm.
"The White Fang will listen to me, so don't worry about any more setbacks in support only if you show results," Adam informed.
"Good to hear, Adam, I'm glad you still believe in our partnership, and don't worry, you'll see results." Cinder thanked.
"Well, that takes care of the trust issues with the White Fang, but what about Neo? I got a message from her that the typical disguise she used for our team was compromised." Emerald asked.
"Tell her to change into a different form similar to the one before to not raise any suspicion." Cinder ordered.
"How the hell did she even compromise it?" Mercury questioned.
"Apparently that guy she liked put two and two together, but don't worry, she said that she won't make the same mistake by the way she words it, it almost sounds like she hates him now," Emerald explained.
"What did she get dumped?" Mercury asked.
"Who cares? We should go. We don't want anyone to get suspicious." Cinder insisted as she began to leave.
"Really, you climb to the top of a roof to have a secret conversation in broad daylight and you only now don't want to seem suspicious, I have to say you're doing a piss poor job." An unknown voice spoke from nearby.
Cinder stopped in her tracks as she heard an all too familiar voice, the same voice that she heard during her talk with Torchwick over the scroll. She looked up to the adjacent roof to see a man dressed in black with a hood and mask hiding his face.
"You!" Cinder hissed as her anger grew.
"Me," Silas replied as he floated over to their roof.
"Here, I thought the failure of this attack you had planned would shatter your drive, but it seems your dead set on doing this plan of yours." Silas began to say as he circled them.
"Do you fear your boss that much that failure isn't an option?" Silas asked.
"You don't know anything about me, just who do you think you are?" Cinder questioned as she approached the man.
"I am the ultimate power on this planet, and once I'm done with what I have planned, I will also rule over the entire universe," Silas explained.
"Excuse me?" Cinder asked, confused at the last part.
"You don't know how small you really are, there is an almost infinite universe out there swarming with several different forms of life, some that make the Grimm of this planet look laughable." Silas began.
"But that's not important. I told you to stay out of my way, to either leave or end your plans, but you still insist on continuing, but it ends here." Silas stated as he stopped in front of Cinder.
"I'd like to see you try and stop me. You underestimate my power." Cinder declared.
She summoned her weapons and attacked the man, but to her dismay, instead of dealing any sort of damage, the man countered and parried every attack with his pointer finger like it was nothing. Then he grabbed onto both of the blades and shattered them. The man then kicked her away, knocking the air out of Cinder and breaking two of her ribs.
"No, you underestimate my power. I told you that the power you wield is nothing but a toy in my eyes, and when you use it like you do…" Silas began until he rushed at Cinder at a frightening speed, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up.
"…you're just like a child, having a tantrum." Silas finished as he choked Cinder. Emerald became furious as she attacked the man but was sent back by a blast from the man giving her a large burn on her stomach.
"Think before you act, idiot," Silas commented.
"This guy, the feeling of power he gives off and superiority it's just like those two!" Adam thought as the image of two boys flashed in his mind. The thought infuriated him, but he was unable to move his body, knowing that he was too weak to fight against the masked figure.
"You think you can kill me like this? I won't be taken out so easily!" Cinder growled.
Her right eye began to glow as she exploded with power, sending the man skidding backward. However, the man was still unfazed by her sudden rise of power and walked back forward towards her.
"You are just an ignorant fool who refuses to learn from her mistakes, I'm actually disappointed I was hoping to have some fun, but the powers you possess are wasted on you." Silas began.
"I hope that the next time someone with power like this challenges me, they actually make it challenging," Silas said as he raised his hand.
But before he could attack, the ground below him exploded, sending him flying up. Cinder used this chance to make new swords and attack him midair, cutting all around his body until tossing him to the ground and blasting him with another explosion. Cinder slowly sank back to the ground with a couple of bruises on her spitting out the blood from her mouth.
"Like I said, don't underestimate me." Cinder spoke as she looked at the smoke that came from the site of impact.
"That's one less obstacle we need to pass." Cinder continued.
"And that's another thing…" Silas spoke as he rose up, making Cinder once again freeze in place.
"…you think everything is so easy and that things always go your way even if your plans fail." Silas continued as he exited the smoke dusting himself off. Cinder's eyes were wide at the sight, she had put her all into that last attack, and he didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
"Yes, that's the right expression, fear, that is what you should have felt the minute you saw me, but your ego and overconfidence has blinded you. This is how the real world works where nothing goes your way without true sacrifice and hard work. Where the strong…" He began as his body was surrounded by a dark red aura.
"…prey on the weak." He concluded as he stood in front of Cinder, who fell to her knees.
"You never deserved that power," Silas stated.
She shook in fear, her eyes as wide as humanly possible. How could someone be so strong? She could tell that even with the full power of the Fall Maiden that he would still dwarf her in terms of power. Everyone else there was in a same state of shock. No one could even move. Adam was reaching for his sword but couldn't make his hands grab hold of the hilt.
Cinder couldn't move an inch as he charged up his attack. She knew there was nothing she could do, even her mistress would be powerless before him. Then there was nothingness as the man blasted Cinder into ash, killing her, and turned to leave, ignoring the others without a care in the world. Adam was the first to speak, wanting answers from this man.
"Who do you think you are human? Do you think you're above us, especially the faunus, you and your friends have killed many of my men?!" Adam questioned. This caused the man to laugh, angering Adam greatly.
"Oh, you little fool, I never said I was a human or a faunus. But there's nothing to worry about, once my brothers and I are done here, there will be no more humans or faunus left on this world." He explained as he suddenly vanished from sight.
Adam sighed in relief and confusion, he didn't understand what the man meant by his words, but he could now tell that whoever this man was, he was neither human nor faunus. He hadn't felt this weak or inferior since that time three years ago when he encountered those two children who took out an entire White Fang squad by themselves easily. The images of the two boys appeared once again, causing him to clench his fist in anger.
It is what drove him to become strong, and he had believed that he accomplished that, but he was wrong. He needed more, more power to make his goals a reality. Emerald was frozen with both fear and grief. Cinder was dead, and it happened in a matter of seconds. What would she do now the plan was over without Cinder, there is no way it could work.
"Great…just…great now the plan is done over. We can't hope to go against that guy, what are we supposed to do?!" Mercury questioned fear embedded into his being.
He knew, deep down, he knew that they weren't strong enough. They should have just abandoned the mission, but they didn't, and now Cinder was dead. Where would he go, and what would he do? He didn't know or care.
"Well, it looks like our partnership is over. Your plans are done. I'm leaving and refocusing the White Fang. One way or another, the White Fang will one day show the humans we are the superior beings, whether it's tomorrow or in three years!" Adam declared.
"I could care less about what you two do," Adam stated as he left. Unknown to them as Cinder perished, the maiden powers that she had stolen flew off and went to return to its other half deep down in the depths of Beacon.
Beacon Rooftops Later That Day…
Jason sat down on the rooftop of Beacon, meditating, expanding his senses out to the entirety of Vale. He was training to expand the total area where he can sense energy. However, at the moment, while he could sense the life energy over everyone in Vale, he could not differentiate them from one another unless they were close.
So, he breathed steadily and focused on his own Ki stabilizing it into a calm ocean as he increased his senses. Slowly he began to differentiate people in Vale, and soon he was able to tell the difference between everyone in Vale.
However, he could not sense where Neo was in the city, he was concerned having a loose end like her out there because he knew that people like her would try to break Roman out, but he also felt like she couldn't be all bad, why else would she so kind to him when they first met. But he knew he could allow that to cloud his judgment. She was most likely trying to get on his good side.
As he began to retract his senses back to himself, he had a thought, if the enemy could do this, that means they could find him at any time, was there a way that he could hide his energy? Maybe if he concentrated and lowered his energy output, he could do so.
He decided to test out this theory and lowered his energy output to almost zero. Jason couldn't tell if it worked for, he couldn't sense his own energy, so he decided to ask Evan. He took out his scroll and dialed up Evan.
"Yeah, man, what's up?" Evan asked as he picked up the scroll.
"Just a quick question, can you sense my energy right now?" Jason asked.
"Let me check, hm uh wait, I can't. What did you do?!" He asked.
"I lowered my energy output to near zero. I thought that hiding my energy so that no one could track me if I don't want it." Jason explained.
"Wow, that's awesome. I'm going to have to try that sometime." Evan replied.
"Yep, well, thanks," Jason thanked as he hung up. Every day Jason felt that he was growing in his knowledge of Ki discovering new ways to utilize it and make it work better.
"Might as well call it a night. Better get some rest for tomorrow's training for the tournament." Jason decided as he exited the roof. Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched from afar by Elias, who studied his training.
"Still haven't become strong enough. You better not disappoint me, Saiyan. I want to have a good fight between true warriors." Elias said as he jumped off the roof.
Beacon Sub Basement…
"It can't be!" Ironwood gasped as he and Ozpin traveled to the sub-basement.
They had an alert of movement inside and were worried that the enemy had broken in to kill Amber, but when they went down, they found something unexpected. Amber herself was out of her pod, moving evidentially. She had woken up and broke out, inspecting her current whereabouts.
"Well, it seems things are going in our favor," Ozpin said as they approached Amber. She still seemed to be recovering from being in a coma for so long, for she could barely stand when they arrived.
"Amber, are you okay? How do you feel?" Ozpin asked as he helped her up.
"I am fine, just tired, Ozpin, is that you? I can't really see right now, where am I, what happened?" Amber questioned.
"Don't worry, you're safe. You're at Beacon." Ironwood answered.
"You were attacked by an unknown assailant who somehow managed to take half of the Fall Maiden power from you, but thankfully Qrow intervened before you could die. Since then, you have been here on life support." Ozpin finished answering as Amber looked shocked.
"But I…I feel the entire maiden power still with me," Amber replied. Ozpin and Ironwood both were the ones who were shocked by this information. How could have the other half of the Fall Maiden power return to her?
"Oz, if that's true, then wouldn't that mean that her assailant…" Ironwood began to ask.
"Yes, whoever attacked Amber must have met her end, but what worries me is who killed her, whoever managed to kill her must have been incredibly strong," Ozpin explained.
"What's going to happen now?" Amber asked, still confused at her situation.
"For now, we will need to get you to a doctor to see how you're doing," Ozpin answered as he and Ironwood led her out of the basement.
"While Amber waking up is an excellent turn of events, I feel as if the person who killed the false maiden is still out there. Could it be the Tuffles that are in Vale? If so, then I must be cautious about going forward." Ozpin thought as they reached the elevator.
Cinder's plan is in shambles as she perishes at the hands of Silas, causing Amber to waken from her slumber. What is the Tuffles master plan for Remnant, and why is Elias so obsessed with Jason getting stronger. Find out next time!
Author's Note:
And another chapter done I've got this one done pretty fast (I finished on the same day I uploaded chapter 10), and I got to write one of my favorite scenes that I have planned when Silas finally confronts Cinder face to face and shows her true fear. If you're wondering why the breach didn't occur, it's because of the fact that the Tuffles attacked the White Fang, diminishing their numbers and scaring off new recruits.
Meaning that there are not many to help out in the southeast, so they would be even less prepared for the plan than they were originally in Volume 2, so the only real threat there was Roman and Neo. And about Jason's Primal state, it's just the power up Broly had in the Dragon Ball Super movie. However, I do not plan on making Jason a legendary super Saiyan. Next chapter, the Vytal Festival Tournament begins! I hope you liked the chapter, and I'll see you next time.