Omniscient POV
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Inside an abandoned warehouse, hidden beneath the cover of night, the White Fang branch operating in Vale commenced their regulation faction meeting.
The doors opened for the fresh faced recruits tempted by sweet vengeance, each Faunus donning the organization's signature Grimm Mask as they took their first steps into the cause.
Blake and Sun were mixed among the crowd, disguised with masks of their own, while Stiofan surveyed the meeting through a broken window on a ledge.
A large black banner bearing the White Fang's logo hung high and mighty directly over the stage.
As the recruits admired it's illustrious allure and the dozens of White Fang soldiers standing rank and file in front of the stage puff their chests in pride, a towering White Fang officer, wearing a customized mask covering the entirety of his head, wandered on stage, greeting the audience and introducing a special guest to start the night.
Cane in hand, a bright orange haired man in a bowler's hat and white jacket stepped forward.
Off to the side, a woman in a cropped white and pink tailed jacket twirled her parasol, sweeping her differently coloured eyes across the room.
Blake and Sun immediately recognized the nefarious criminal and so did every newly attending Faunus.
The out of control heckling made that plenty obvious.
"Thank you, thank you!" Roman said and waved at his adoring fans. "Please, hold your applause!"
"What's a human doing here?!" said a woman with antlers.
"I'm glad you asked, Deerie. Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans are the worst." Roman touched his hat then chest. "Case and point."
Maybe because it was a great opening line or everyone present was awfully polite enough to hear him out, they settled down and lent him an ear.
Roman paced and flaunted his free hand. "So, I understand why you would love to see us all locked away, or better yet: killed! But before the claws come out, I would like to mention the fact you and I all have a common enemy. The ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans who run our kingdom. Government. Military. Even the schools. They're all to blame for your lot in life, and they're all pests that need to be dealt with."
A wave of nods and agreeable mumbles passed over the crowd.
"Fortunately," Roman moved closer to the banner draping behind him, "I'm the best exterminator around—no offense to any rodents in the room."
He snapped his fingers, and some grunts yanked the banner.
From machine guns, rocket launchers, car sized battle fists, and other thingamajigs of death (name it and it's probably cramped somewhere in there), a towering bipedal battle suit stood tall and powerful.
This was the Atlesian Paladin-290, repainted in the White Fang's image.
Stiofan, Blake, and Sun were mutually slugged in the guts unlike the rest of the room, marvelling at the machine.
"As some of you may have heard, this right here," Roman tapped the Paladin's leg, "is Atlas' new line of defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my employer, we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, hit the shelves." He pulled a cigar from his breast pocket and twiddled it between two fingers. "Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay in the city that's fine. But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you." He pinched the cigar between his teeth and grinned. "Any questions?"
Cheers erupted, deafening the building.
Blake and Sun used the clamour to their advantage and tried to leave. Although, their escape was thwarted when all the new recruits were called forward. Their hesitance caught Roman's attention, and their masks were no better than neon signs ratting them out.
Sun panicked at the way Roman came at them. Blake searched the area and smirked at the junction box on the wall. She shot it, blanketing the entire warehouse in darkness, and because of the Faunus' natural ability to see in the dark, the students had no issues finding and bursting out a window which so happened to be where Stiofan was.
The First Guard fell flat on his back while the cat Faunus laid on top of him, gawking.
"Stiofan?!" she said and jumped up. "What are you doing here?"
"I'd like to ask you the same thing, Blake." He dusted the glass fragments from his combat vest. "Care to indulge me?"
"Uh, guys," Sun paled at the tremors pounding behind them. "We should save the talking for later. Run!"
They agreed and made a break for it.
The stolen Paladin exploded through the warehouse, firing brick shrapnel in every direction. White Fang soldiers piled into their armoured trucks, and from the roof, a Bullhead, a torpedo shaped aircraft with jet engines on either side, lifted off.
Stiofan, Blake, and Sun hightailed it over the rooftops of several small buildings. The Paladin kept pace, skidding around corners, smashing any car, street lamp, and obstacles in its way.
"So, you wouldn't have any form of," Sun flipped over a gap, "oh, I don't know, backup?!"
Blake merged a few calls and contacted her teammates on a single line. "On it!"
At Beacon Tower, Weiss stepped out of the elevator, listening to the cry for help through her scroll.
She scoffed, rolled her eyes, and hurried to the airdocks.
In the alleyway near the Town Square, Ruby smirked at her scroll while Cooper leaned over her shoulder for a peek.
She dragged him away. "We're not missing this!"
"By all means," his lips split in glee, "lead the way, love."
Outside a club in the shadier side of Vale, inside a black pickup truck with bronze accents parked several car lengths away from Yang's motorcycle, Roderick and Alexander waited.
"Ugh." Roderick sank into the leather seat. "What's taking them so long?"
Alexander grunted.
The club doors barged open a second later, and the two they've been waiting for finally appeared.
Snarling, Yang hopped on her motorcycle while Neptune slid in behind her.
"That was a total bust." She clicked on a helmet and threw on a pair of shades. "Hopefully, the others will have better luck than us."
On cue, her scroll rang.
Yang placed it on speaker at full blast, and Roderick and Alexander lowered their windows.
"They got a robot!" Sun said. "That Torchwick guy's in it, but it didn't eat him. He's like controlling it or something!"
Yang started up her motorcycle. "Where are you guys?"
As the words left her mouth, Sun's screaming grew louder until the monkey Faunus himself, Blake, Stiofan, and the giant robot zipped past the end of the street in front of Yang.
Neptune pointed. "I think that was them."
"Yeah, I got it!"
Yang gunned after them.
"Wow." Roderick gave Alexander a look. "It was actually a good thing we came."
Alexander twisted the key, and Roderick gave Cooper a call.
The chase continued over onto a three tier network of elevated highways where the fleeing students dropped from the highest highway to the middle highway, each of them landing on a car and skipping across more passing by.
The Paladin crashed down, paving its own lane and smacking aside anything unfortunate enough to be in the way.
Yang and Alexander pushed their engines to the limits and weaved between the mess of cars left in the robot's wake.
Roderick pointed at the top of a delivery truck. "There's Stiofan!"
Alexander maneuvered towards their teammate.
Before they could make it, the Paladin got there first and rammed the side of the truck. It teetered on two wheels. Stiofan gasped as he clung on for dear life and tried to stay upright, but the Paladin's fist cracked the truck, sending it tumbling out of control.
Stiofan leaped and hit the ground hard like an out of control rubber ball.
"Alex!" Roderick said.
Alexander lined up with Stiofan as Roderick opened the back window and crawled out onto the truck bed.
"Don't worry," Roderick said and leaned over the side. His prosthetic whirred. "I got you, buddy!"
He scooped his partner, dumping him onto the sanctuary of the truck in the form of a belly flop.
"Ugh." The First Guard cracked several bones and made sure every part of him was still intact. "Gratitude. However, that could've gone better."
Roderick chuckled. "My bad, man."
Further down the street, Neptune fired electrical bolts at the Paladin. He transformed his gun into a guando, lunged off the motorcycle, and the blade split apart into a trident before sticking it into the robot.
Sun activated his Semblance from on top of a semi-truck. Two golden clones of himself shimmered to existence, and they flipped towards the Paladin, exploding on contact and slowing its pace.
Sun charged next, but the robot shook Neptune free and tossed him into his teammate.
The collision knocked the Haven duo off the highway, ejected from the chase.
Further ahead on the highway, Weiss dropped in from an airbus and landed in the middle of the street. She did a couple fancy spins, stabbed the ground, and spat out a wide blanket of ice.
The Atlesian Paladin slipped and slid, plummeting to the depths below. Blake and Weiss dove after it, and Yang parked to the side before following after them.
Alexander stopped next to Yang's motorcycle.
Team RTLS stepped out and went over to the edge, observing the ensuing battle below.
"How do you suppose we should descend?" said Stiofan.
Roderick shrugged. "Anyone got a landing strategy?"
An arrow embedded into a column beside them. Attached to it was a rope, leading up and over to the top highway where the T of their team ziplined into view.
"Hiya, mates!" Cooper tucked and rolled and flaunted his arms as if asking for a hug. "Did ya miss me?"
Alexander snorted while Roderick and Stiofan shared a laugh.
The reunion was cut short by a buzzsaw of engines cutting down the highway until a convoy of White Fang armoured trucks spotted Team RTLS. The lead truck screeched to a halt, and the others trailing behind instantly did the same, forming a messy blockade a short distance away from the students.
Roderick recoiled, offended. "What the heck did we do?"
Stiofan glanced at the SDC emblem on his vest, and his face grew warm.
White Fang soldiers of every shape and size piled out, armed to the teeth.
Alexander's beanie unfurled around his head into a helmet. Tereo, his backpack, transformed into a shield, and he unsheathed his sword, Tharros, out of it.
Cooper raised his bow, Merry Outlaw. "You lot are buying me dinner after this."
Stiofan drew the pair of short swords from his back, Red Fury and Yellow Fury, and changed them into spears. "I'll cook us a meal once we return to the dormitory."
Roderick slowed his breathing and brandished his sword and dagger, Rex and Tyrannus. "You guys ready?"
"Sorta, mate."
"Indeed."
"Hmph."
The White Fang released a collective battle cry and charged.
"Stiofan, wedge them apart." The leader changed the dagger into a revolver. "Bring the heat!"
Stiofan activated the Dust crystal on his red spear and spewed a breath of fire.
Those standing in its path came to a dead stop and dove out of the way, keeping the White Fang divided on either side of the flame. Those who were too slow to move came out of it more toasty than they would've liked.
"Alex, Cooper." Roderick shot at the ground in front of the soldiers facing him. "We got the right side. You two handle the left."
They nodded and broke off.
The soldiers crossed over the bullets embedded in the concrete, some even snickering at the crappy aim, and got the surprise of their lives once the switch on the side of Tyrannus flipped.
The bullets erupted, engulfing them in a series of miniature explosions.
Those who weren't knocked out wobbled to their feet.
Roderick whipped Rex at a guy's arm and pulled him off balance. Stiofan slapped Yellow Fury across his cheek. Braced against a car, one of the soldiers tried to stand, only to witness Roderick's boot dent the side of the door with his face. A flicker in the window caught Roderick's eye. He slipped under sharpened steel at the last second, grabbed the wielder's vest, and slammed his head through the window. From behind, a soldier rushed Roderick with a club. Stiofan tripped her with Red Fury, and Roderick jammed his knee into her nose.
The remaining soldiers grouped together and unloaded their rifles.
Roderick and Stiofan scrambled behind a car.
"Cover me," said the First Guard. "I have an idea."
The leader changed Rex into a rifle and returned fire, drawing their focus on him.
Like before, Stiofan channeled Aura into the Dust crystal behind the blade of his yellow spear.
A soldier caught sight of Stiofan and shot at him. The bullet whizzed past his eye, tampering his aim as he released a lightning bolt. It struck the ground near the firing squad. Only handfuls were electrocuted, and the impact alone stunned the rest.
Stiofan grimaced at the miss and ducked behind cover as the soldiers focused fire on him.
Roderick slid over the hood. "On me!"
The first person he saw got blasted by Tyrannus, and the people around him were blown aside once the bullet detonated. Red Fury streaked past the smoke. It dinged a soldier's chest and bounced high. Roderick swung Rex up under the spear, passing it back to Stiofan, and cut down the closest soldier while Stiofan came around, both spears changed into swords.
Crimson and silver blurred between the soldiers, carving their way through in a whirlwind of forged steel.
Roderick used a speed loader filled with regular rounds on Tyrannus.
Stiofan slashed a soldier trying to catch his partner off guard and stepped aside to let Roderick shoot the next guy. Roderick withdrew. Stiofan jerked forward. Yellow and red minced aparted a row of fresh game. Stiofan bent over as Roderick vaulted over him, shot off Tyrannus, and took Rex out for a swing.
The final soldier screamed and held down the trigger while backing away.
Roderick whipped Rex at his leg, yanking him off his feet, and before he hit the ground, Stiofan pounced off of a car and spiked the soldier to the street.
The teammates shared a grin and low fived.
Meanwhile, on the street next over, Alexander stood his ground right in front of the soldiers, soaking up all their gunfire with the red painted surface of his shield. Cooper went invisible and positioned himself on top of Alexander's truck, laughing and picking off anyone trying to reach his partner's flank.
The soldiers who were randomly taken out left the others panicked and perplexed until Cooper's Semblance hit its time limit.
Cooper paused, checked himself, and groaned at the soldiers pointing him out.
A few of the soldiers ran up to the truck, but the archer flipped off and fired a couple lightning arrows between them, engulfing them in a shocking flash. Heavy thuds made Cooper whirl and juke away from a pair of meaty arms. He detached his arrow magazine, changed bow to staff, and flicked it between the famous spot between all mens' legs.
Very simple. Very easy.
As he pitied the poor guy writhing and coddling his gonads, Cooper dove behind his partner and played a game of peek-a-boo, sniping out anyone who either came at them or held a gun.
"Pretty dandy, huh, Xander?"
Alexander simultaneously waved his sword and shot anyone who got too close.
"I know how we can make this better." Cooper slipped out a crystal of fire Dust from his backpack. "Hang tight."
He tossed the crystal up and over at the soldiers and hit it with a wind arrow mid-air.
A wheel of fire roared to life, gobbling up the soldiers in bunches and spitting them out in whichever direction it pleased.
Every member of the White Fang not sleeping on the street realized their chances were a complete and total loss, and they turned tail (literally and figuratively) down the highway.
However, the moment they were gone, a new threat sailed inbound.
The White Fang Bullhead from the warehouse passed overhead. Its turbine engines rotated, allowing it to hover in place, turn right around, and a turret slid free from a hatch under its nose.
Cooper groaned. "Bollocks."
"Run!" Roderick said.
The pilot laughed and let loose.
Like a white hot stream of blood thirsty piranhas, the seemingly infinite amount of bullets nipping at the students' heels devoured anything it touched.
Alexander shield bashed an open car door in his way.
Cooper slid underneath a semi trailer. "Can't believe this is happening!"
"Worry not, friend!" Stiofan hopped into a van and came out the opposite door. "We've fortunately trained for this!"
Roderick whipped Rex around a lamppost and reeled himself to safety several times in succession. "Just keep running!"
When the war torn graveyard of metal and rubber finally opened up, Team RTLS entered the desolate concrete fields of the highway.
Alexander's knee buckled, forcing him to stop and cover up as the Bullhead focused fire on him.
"Everyone on, Alex!" Roderick said and reconverged to him. "Turtle!"
The others squished themselves behind Alexander as the turret gave everything it had.
Everyone's ears stung from the Dust rounds shrieking against Tereo. Alexander roared under the pressure driving him further back no matter how hard he held his ground.
Cooper slammed himself into Alexander's back. "Don't just stand there. Push!"
Roderick and Stiofan followed his lead and offered their support.
Team RTLS yelled and squeezed dry every last fiber in their muscles until the pressure equaled out.
Alexander locked in place.
"Cooper," Roderick said at the top of his lungs. "Think you can take it out?"
"Are you daft?!" Cooper's eyes bulged beneath the brim of his cap. "Those things are flying tanks."
He readjusted himself and pushed harder. "What about your Dust?"
"Wouldn't even leave a scratch. We need something more potent." Cooper turned to Stiofan. "Mate, why don't you give it a shock?"
"It's too far," Stiofan said through clenched teeth. "The closer, the better."
After a quick mental gloss over of their inventory, Roderick conjured any possible way they could be used and put a plan together.
"Cooper," the leader said and gave him a look as if the entire world rested on his tail, "got some more rope?"
Cooper slipped but managed to find his footing. "Plenty."
"Do you think—" He stumbled and fought to stay upright. "Can you stick an arrow in the Bullhead?"
"With Merry Outlaw at full power, it shouldn't be a problem." He took a breather and doubled his efforts. "Got something in mind?"
Roderick wiped the beads of sweat off his face and grinned.
When the Bullhead finally finished its onslaught and the red hot turret came to a sizzling stop, Alexander slumped to his knees.
Tereo smoked, and a breeze peeled bits of the cracked and flaked red paint, revealing a hidden layer of intricate lines etched in the bronze beneath.
The rest of the team crumbled out from behind him.
"Cooper," Roderick got ready and held the end of a rope in his hands, "you're up!"
Cooper spun the dial on his bow. The bowstring tightened. He manually nocked an arrow, mustered all the strength he had left to draw it back, and let it sail.
The arrow zipped, dragging along the rope tied to it, and pinned the underbelly of the Bullhead.
Roderick reinforced the rope with Aura and wrapped it around himself until the slack vanished. With a green vial of Dust inserted in his prosthetic, it whirred as he yanked and released a gust of wind to blow himself in the opposite direction.
The Bullhead jerked forward, startling the pilot. He pulled away, and to his utter shock, the Bullhead struggled to move.
The veins on Roderick's brow bulged as he sank into a low squat and leaned into a near perfect forty-five degrees, yet despite his efforts, he still got tugged along.
"I got ya, mate," said Cooper. He secured Roderick's feet with an ice arrow, hugged him from behind, and offered an extra dose of strength. "You fly kites often?"
If he weren't under so much strain, Roderick would've laughed.
"Alex, Stiofan!" Roderick growled and pushed his muscles into overtime. "You're up!"
Stiofan sheathed the long spear and gripped the short spear while Alexander angled his shield underneath the First Guard's rear.
The pilot of the Bullhead banged the cockpit over the fact that the automatic reload was taking too long.
"On my mark," Stiofan braced himself for the pain to come. "Three. . . Two . . . One. . . Mark!"
Charged three-quarters of the way, Alexander propelled Stiofan upward with his Semblance and rushed over to help his teammate win the tug-of-war.
Stiofan chomped on the pain rattling his bones. The wind rushed past his ears and rolled off his skin. He soared above the Bullhead, everything going to a standstill at the apex of his ascent where his momentum finally ran dry.
Stiofan fired a lightning bolt; it rattled the Bullhead and burst open the windows.
Frustration huffed from his lips.
In that moment, as he entered freefall, his mind raced for any solution that could possibly takedown the aircraft.
Only one came to mind.
Stiofan threw his limbs wide, guided himself towards the Bullhead, and plunged Yellow Fury into the hull. His feet slid off the sleek and rounded exterior, but he clung onto his spear and lit up the Bullhead like a second sun.
The stream of electricity washed the pilot out a window and dumped him onto a car.
Roderick and Cooper went limp, all smiles over the fact that their plan worked, but they quickly went pale once the Bullhead teetered in the worst direction possible.
It hit the streets and surged towards them in a wave of sparks.
"We can't outrun it!" The leader tossed the rope and chipped away at the ice like a madman. "We gotta jump!"
Cooper gawked. "You must be joking?!"
With a single buckshot, Alexander destroyed the ice and swept them off the bridge, narrowly avoiding getting run over, and Stiofan leaped after them from on top of the Bullhead.
Roderick yelled over the wind. "Shoot a wind arrow under us, Cooper!"
Nobody had to tell him twice.
The sudden updraft slowed their fall, yet they were still coming in hot.
Dread burned Cooper's gut when another arrow didn't come out. "That's the last one!"
"Alex." Roderick tightened his grip and prepared himself for whatever happened next. "Use your Semblance!"
Alexander charged up as much as he could and released it right as they were about to go splat. The recoil jerked them slightly back up, making them float for a moment until Stiofan bashed into them.
Thanks to Tereo cushioning their impact, they were reduced to a moaning heap rather than a stain.
"I can't believe we're alive." Cooper crawled out from under Roderick and Alexander, breathless. "That was something else."
A fiery scream came from nearby where Team RWBY battled the Paladin.
Ruby and Weiss impaired the robot with a combined flurry of bullets and ice while Yang held onto Gambol Shroud as Blake spun her in orbit.
The blonde bullet boosted herself to maximum speed, let go, and slugged the Paladin so hard it crumbled to pieces.
Roman Torchwick rolled out the destroyed mech and dusted his suit, grumbling more about how dirty he was getting rather than at the destroyed multi-million lien weapon at his feet.
Gauntlets cocked, Yang fired an explosive round, but a pink, white, and brown blur landed in front of Roman, taking the shot in his place. Through the smoke, a parasol twirled, revealing the woman who was with Roman at the White Fang gathering.
Recognition pinched Cooper.
"Ladies." Roman joined Neo's side and tipped his hat. "Ice Queen."
Weiss stomped the dirt. "Hey!"
The well dressed criminal fixed his collar. "Always a pleasure. Neo, if you would."
Neo nodded and gave Cooper a big wink.
Everyone looked back and forth between them, and Ruby's chest tightened.
"Catch you later," Roman smirked at the raccoon and saluted, "old buddy."
Cooper's eyes widened.
Yang had about enough and lunged, punching them into literal glass shards
Or so it seemed.
A Bullhead zipped across the sky with the two criminals already inside, disappearing in the distance.
The moment they were gone, Yang and Blake stormed towards Team RTLS.
"I don't know why or how you're here," Yang scowled and crossed her arms, "but you got a lot of explaining to do, Roddy."
"As much as I agree with, Yang," Blake narrowed her gaze at the only other Faunus in the area, "I want to know more about what Roman meant by 'old buddy.' "
Cooper stiffened, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, his secret was out.