"Blaaaaake!" Ruby shouts out. "Alabaaaaast!"
Yang also calls for Blake and Alabast down the street. "Blaaaaake! Alabaaaast"
Yang, Ruby, and Weiss are walking dow a street in Vale looking for their friend. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha are looking elsewhere.
"Alaabaaaast! Blllaaaake! Where aaaare yoooouuuu?!" Ruby continues.
"Blake! Alabast!" Yang keeps shouting.
Ruby looks at Weiss. "Weiiiiss, you're not helping!" She pleads.
Weiss throws her arms in the air. "Oh! You know what might be able to help? The police!"
Ruby folds her arms across her chest in irritation. "Ugh, Weiss..."
Weiss looks down a side street. "It was only an idea!"
Ruby walks down the sidewalk. "Yeah, a bad one"
Yan walks behind Ruby and next to Weiss. "Weiss, I think we should hear their side of the story before we jump to any conclusions."
"And 'I' think that when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right!" Weiss says in a snobby attitude.
Yang turns to Weiss. "And what exactly were you right about?! Huh? I haven't heard much besides complaining from you! And that's after you mopped around for a day in bed!" Her hair was slightly ablaze but quickly goes away. She was mad, but it was mostly just stress and worrying about Blake and Alabast.
Weiss looks at Yang. "I…"
"Well I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!"
A voice sounds behind Weiss which makes her jump towards Yang and Ruby. All three turn around and see a girl with short curly orange hair.
"Aaaah! Penny! Where did you come from!?" Ruby screams in surprise.
"Hey guys! What are you up to?" Penny ignores the question and cheerfully asks.
Ruby gives a side glance to Yang. "Uhh.."
"We're looking for our friends Blake and Alabast" Yang says in response to Penny's question.
Penny lean back slightly and looks at her three friends. "Oooooh! You mean the Faunus duo!"
Ruby, Weiss, and Yang stare at Penny.
"Wait, how did you know that?" Ruby asks in quickly.
Penny looks at Ruby. "Uhhh, the cat ears?" She points to her own head.
Yang laughs a little, the first time since Friday. "What cat ears? She wears a... booooowww..."
They all just have to boot their brain back up after it crashes from the realization. A tumbleweed blows down the street for emphasis.
Ruby pinches her chin and whispers. "She does like tuna a lot..."
"So where is she?" Penny innocently asks.
Ruby puts her hands on her hips. "That's the thing. We don't know. She's been missing since Friday."
Penny gasps. "That's terrible!" She grabs Ruby by the elbows and gets in her personal space. This makes Ruby uncomfortable. "Well, don't you worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your friends!"
Ruby tries to keep smiling but it's a bit twitchy. "Uh, that's really nice of you, Penny, but we're okay! Really! Right, guys?" She looks at where Yang and Weiss were previously standing. Their blinking outlines are all that's left of their sudden departure from their leader and the strange girl. A tumbleweed blows past them again in the quiet, it goes the opposite direction it went just a few moments ago.
Penny cheerfully says: "It sure is windy today!"
Ruby slightly groans and weakly smiles as she is still held by Penny.
——————
In an alley somewhere in Vale.
Sun has his hands behind his head. "So, what's the plan now?"
Blake stands next to Alabast and contemplates that question. "I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before"
Sun lowers his arms. "What if they 'did'?" He begins pacing side to side. He begins talking and making awkward hand motions. "I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there!" Sun points finger guns at Blake and Alabast. "Right?"
Alabast knows that the White Fang is involved somehow. Even if it is Roman leading them. Sierra did have him work with that idiot on occasion so it's highly possible. But Blake is stubborn to a fault.
Blake thinks for a few seconds but gives up. "The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be"
Sun walks in front of Blake as he remembers something. "Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas"
Blake looks at Sun and holds her chin. "How huge?"
Sun gets closer to Blake and puts his arms above his head as far apart as he can. "HUGE. Big Schnee Company Freighter"
Sun gets even closer to Blake before he dodges a punch from Alabast. Sun nervously laughs as he backs up with his hands up.
Blake moves closer to Alabast. "You're sure?"
——————
Yang walks outside a shop to Weiss. She waved at the shopkeeper inside. "Thanks anyways!"
She gets next to Weiss and sighs. "This is hopeless". Yang looks at Weiss who is looking around nonchalantly. "You really don't care if we find them, do you?" She asks in a sad tone.
Weiss continues looking around. "Don't be stupid"
This surprises Yang a bit.
The heiress twiddles her thumbs together. "Of 'course' I do. I'm just afraid of what they'll say when we find them" Weiss says with a bit of emotion. She actually tells Yang a bit of how she is feeling. She's just used to putting up a grin, keeping it to herself, and not worrying about or relying on others.
Yang looks down at the sidewalk as she thinks about things. Mostly about how Weiss feels about all this. The guy she loves was a part of an organization that terrorized her family for years.
——————
Somewhere else in Vale.
Penny and Ruby are walking down a sidewalk.
"So, Blake and Alabast are your friends?" Penny asks.
Ruby sighs as she looks down at the sidewalk. "Yes, Penny. But Alabast is my boyfriend…."
"But you're mad at them?" Penny doesn't understand that.
Ruby holds her palms up as she responds in an exhausted tone. "Yes… Well, I'm not… Weiss is"
Penny continues with her endless questions. "Are 'they' friends with Blake?"
Ruby shrugs. "Well, that's kind of up in the air right now..."
Penny thinks about the situation her friend is in. "But 'why'?"
Ruby sighs and her pace of walking slows slightly but she keeps walking. "Well, you see, Blake and Alabast might not be who we thought she was... But I kinda knew about Alabast… But none of knows the entire situation…"
Penny gasps. "Is Blake a 'man' and Alabast a 'Wo-man'?"
This causes Ruby to stop walking. "No! No, Penny. Alabast is 'definitely' a 'man'" She then whispers. "I've had personal confirmation" She then blushes and shakes her head. "Blake didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off. And Alabast didn't do such a great job before he left as well"
Penny thinks a little. "I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things"
Ruby sadly looks at Penny. "Me too…"
They start walking down the street again in search for Blake and Alabast.
——————
It's now nighttime. Darkness has come and the sounds of crickets can be heard.
Blake lays on her stomach on the rooftop overlooking the shipment of Schnee Dust containers.
"Did I miss anything?" Sun drops down next to Blake a decent distance away. If Alabast was here he wouldn't have to punch him away at least.
Blake looks over to Sun. "Not really. They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there"
"Cool" Sun sits down and holds an apple out for Blake to take. He has a few more in his arms. "I stole you some food!" He says happily.
Blake tilts her head and questioningly looks at Sun. "Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?"
Sun defends himself. "Hey, weren't you and Wolfe in a cult or something?"Blake angrily glares at him. "Ok, too soon!"
Just as he says this, the winds blow all around them, and they look up to see a Bullhead's searchlights flashing around for a landing spot. It descends in the middle of the cargo containers and extends a ramp for a black hooded individual with a metallic fanged mask to come out of.The person is decently scrawny and has the White Fang symbol on their back. The mask is a light metallic gray.
Blake sees this. "Oh no..."
"Is that them?" Sun asks. He hadn't seen the clothing of the individual yet since he was focused on not falling off the roof.
Blake stares at the bloody wolf on the back of the man's outfit. "Yes... It's 'them'"
The initial White Fang member gets to the ground and looks back at the other members going down the ramp. He motions with his rifle. "All right, grab the tow cables!"
Sun looks at the scene unfolding below them and sees Blake's pained face. "You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"
Blake sadly looks at the scene. "No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right"
She closes her eyes in despair. But they suddenly open when she hears a new voice below.
"Hey! What's the holdup!?"
Roman Torchwick shouts as he descends the ramp with his arms widely opened to the sides. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"
Blake looks at the infamous criminal of Vale. "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like 'that'". She stands up and unsheathes the Katana of Gambol Shroud before walking off the edge of the roof.
Sun gets alarmed at Blake about to confront the entire group. "Hey, what are you doing?!"
Blake falls to the ground in a crouch, then continues on to hide behind one of the containers, peeking around the corner to see Roman berate a White Fang member holding a coil of rope.
"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash" Roman shouts.
Right as Blake is about to move behind Roman and but her blade to his throat she sees a familiar figure walking towards Roman.
"Roman!" The figure shouts. He's wearing a black cloak and a black wolf mask.
Roman's attention gets drawn by the figure, just like every other Faunus around.
Everyone stops and looks at the figure and they all recognize it. The black and silver mask with the red eyes.
The White Fang members all thought the same thing. Even if they hadn't seen him before.
'Black Wolf'
Roman points his cane at Alabast. "So you've decided to join us? Mr. 'Black Wolf' of the White Fang!"
The White Fang members around back away slightly.
One brave member shouts. "What are you doing here traitor?! You abandoned our cause!"
The red eyes beneath the mask shine brighter as he looks at the grunt. "And you're just an insignificant grunt that can't even do as you're told!"
Alabast walks towards Roman and sees Blake and Sun behind a crate.
Roman claps. "Oooh~. So scary!" He looks to the other Faunus. "Get back to work already!" He shouts.
He then puts his cane on the ground and watches as Alabast walks up to him. "Long time no see! To what do I owe the pleasure this time? Did you miss me already?! It's only been what? Two months? Three? No more than four I'm sure!" Roman cheerfully remarks with his usual charisma.
"Give or take Roman. Now care to explain what you're doing here with the White Fang?" Alabast looks down slightly at Roman's eyes.
Roman smiles widely and motions at the area around them. "What we've been doing for the past few months! It's a shame you left and we couldn't work together on this! Since you left I'm left with these fools that have two left feet and no thumbs!" He chides the Faunus around.
"No. You've changed since I worked with you. I know what changed" Alabast steals a glance at Blake to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. "You no longer call the shots, do you Roman?"
Romans smile is replaced by a frown. "What do you know?! I still make plenty of decisions. Who cares if I get paid from another source. Not like you cared when we worked together in the past"
"I didn't care and I still don't. I just wanted to make sure of something" Alabast says as he looks to the side.
Roman glares at Alabast. He can tell that something is up.
Alabast looks around and doesn't see Neopolitan. "I don't see Ariel"
Romans smile comes back as he tries to get the conversation to swing in his favor. "What? Did you miss her as well? Let me tell you she wants to get payback for the way you treated her last time. She didn't quite like your jokes"
Alabast looks back to Roman. "Nope. Just makes this easier"
"Easier?" Roman repeats like he misheard.
The next thing he knows he's smashed against the side of a metal crate. "Gaah!"
Alabast is standing still with his right arm outstretched. But it was covered in darkness , and that darkness was pinning Roman to the crate.
"New tricks?! I never did like Semblances!" Roman says as he tries to move. But everything below his neck was restrained by darkness.
Blake makes her move. She quickly puts her blade against Roman's throat.
Roman looks at Blake. "What the- Oh, for f-" he rolls his eyes and is cut off by Blake.
"Nobody move!" She demands.
The White Fang members draw their rifles and swords in response.
"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady." Roman shouts. "A friend of yours Alabast?!"
"Alabast?!" Sun shouts in surprise from his hiding spot. But nobody pays attention to him.
As the White Fang start to surround Blake and Alabast, Blake uses her free hand to remove her bow and reveal her cat ears to the world. She lets the ribbon go into the wind but Alabast catches it with his semblance and stealthily brings it to his pocket.
"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"
The White Fang members lower their weapons a little at this development, unsure of what to do. But then Roman laughs.
Roman condescendingly looks at Blake. "Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"
"What are you talking about?" Blake asks through her teeth.
Roman maniacally laughs. "Hahaha! The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!"
Blake presses her blade against Roman's neck so he can feel it beginning to cut him. Even with aura it'll hurt and he won't get away without a scratch. "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation"
Suddenly, the wind begins blowing wildly. The sound of turbines fills the night sky.
Roman looks up. "I wouldn't exactly call it a 'little' operation..."
Two more bullheads are hovering above the heist, and as Blake watches in horror, Roman smiles and manages to fire his cane at Blake's feet, resulting in a large explosion.
Alabast moved his Darkness from Roman to Blake to protect her from the blast.
——————
Ruby and Penny run out of a Fish n Chips shop after hearing an explosion. They see smoke rising into the air near the docking bay a few buildings away.
"Oh no…" Ruby knows that somehow, someway, Blake and Alabast are involved. She hopes they are ok.
——————
Blake gets up from the ground. She holds her head and looks around. She sees Roman fighting Alabast with 15 White Fang members. And Sun is near her holding off 10.
The two other Bullheads have touched down on the ground and more White Fang are jointing the battle.
She dual wields Gambol Shroud and runs to a group of White Fang that were exiting a Bullhead and begins fighting them.
"Needed to make this a fair fight Torchiwck?!" Alabast shouts as he smacks a White Fang member with the flat part of Knights Fall and kicks another. He also has to dodge bullets and explosions.
"Considering it's you? I'm way underprepared!" Roman shoots the ground below Alabast's feet causing a smokescreen to occur.
"At least you aren't dumb!" Alabast shouts as he grabs the ankles of a White Fang grunt with a Darkness tentacle from his left arm and swings him in circles to hit his fellow grunts taking them out. He throws the grunt at Roman. The smoke already disappearing.
"What are you fools doing?! Attack him!" Roman shouts after rolling to dodge the grunt projectile.
Alabast gets swarmed by White Famg members. Some choosing to stay away and fire at him while others recklessly charge him with melee weapons drawn. There were too many for Alabast to deal with. If he could kill them it would be easier. But he doesn't want to resort to that.
Roman gets away from Alabast and swings his cane. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty…."
"No the fuck you don't!" Alabast shouts as he punches through a group of White Fang with a darkness fist and collides with Roman's back.
Alabast didn't appreciate Foman using his nickname for Blake in a taunting manner like that. He needed to find a new nickname anyway.
"Butt out Mutt" Roman snips back.
"Only when you learn you're place you mongrel!" Alabast shouts back and gives 3 White Fang members concussions before they even hit the ground.
Just because he doesn't want to kill them doesn't mean he won't make sure they remember this.
Alabast gets swarmed double from before and can't help Blake anymore for the time being.
"Where was I?" Roman dusts himself off. "Oh, I remember! You~" He points his cane at Blake.
Roman's shot is interrupted when a banana peel lands on his head, causing him to toss it aside then look up and growl at the assailant eyes widening.
"Woohoo!"
Sun leaps from the container above Roman and drops down on the criminal's face feet-first, rolling up and readying himself to fight.
He had already dealt with the Fang members he was previously fighting and got to an advantageous position.
"Leave her alone!" Sun shouts.
More White Fang pool out from the Bullheads to join the fray. Some join behind Roman to fight.
Roman smirks at Sun. "You are not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you, kid?"
The White Fang take that as the signal and charge at the monkey Faunus. Sun manages to dodge slashes and get some of the soldiers with his fists and kicks until he rolls out of the way of one's sword.
"Haha!" Sun laughs, enjoying the fight.
He reaches behind his back, beneath his jacket, and pulls out a collapsible red staff. He swiftly uses this to beat down on each opponent that approaches him. Taking down each one in a single flaming blow when he twirls it around, even creating a scorching shockwave to beat the last of them.
Blake peers around the body of a White Fang to watch Sun jump around and beat another White Fang soldier, landing on his back and causing him to fly over toward Roman's head. The fashionable crime boss ducks and then growls in annoyance as he aims his cane at Sun, firing a shot that he defends himself from just when Blake leaps into the action. She had been pushed back by the sheer number of enemies but dealt with the ones that went after her.
"He's mine!" Blake declares as she gets between Roman and Sun.
Blake goes in close and becomes a blur of afterimages as she slashes both blades at Roman, who backs away and deflects each would-be blow with his cane at unbelievable speeds. Blake continues to dash, hop over, and slide around Roman to try and find a weak spot. Finally landing a blow after using her Semblance but he quickly recovers, deflecting several more attacks before attempting to punch her in the face. Only to hit a clone as she flips away. The two clash weapons again, then Torchwick jabs her in the side with his fist.
"Hahaha!" Roman devilishly laughs. He lands a few more hits on Blake until one final beating to the head with his cane causes her to go down.
Just as Roman deals with Blake, Sun appears right behind her. Vaulting over Blake he kicks Roman in the chest and disconnects his staff into two spinning circles of flame-firing shotgun nunchucks.
The nunchucks spinning and firing so fast that untrained eyes would just see blurs and flashes.
Sun swings each gun at Roman while firing everything he as at him. Even with the rapid series of shots and flying bullets, Roman manages to defend himself against every bullet and hit until a millisecond-long pause allows Blake to get a slash in and knock him back.
On his back, Roman notices a container hanging by a crane right above the two Faunus hanging up on him. He doesn't like getting his hands dirty, he prefers to be the mastermind. Not the muscle of operations.
He gets up to fire his cane at its supports. Blake leaps behind it as it falls, but Sun barely dodged the heavy container when he jumps forward, ending up right below the nozzle of Roman's cane.
Just as Roman's about to fire, his and Sun's attention are drawn to a familiar, feminine, voice.
"Hey!"