Chapter 31: Maybe We Need A New Plan

Disclaimer: I own nothing; this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.

Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.

The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.

'Thoughts'

"Active skill name or magic spell"

'Active skill name or magic spell in thought'

"Activation phrase"

'Activation Phrase in thoughts'

"Speech"

*action*

Time*

Noise*

(Location)

[Skill Name] - Passive or Active - AP cost: or none

Description: Info on skill

[Item Type]: [Type]

[Name]: [Item Name]

Durability: 100%/100%

Quality: Poor - Common - Uncommon - Epic - Legendary - Ascendant

Grade: E-/EX

Value: [System Point]/(Cannot be sold to [Persona System])

Description: Info on [Item Name]

[Extra Info]: [Extra Info]

Chapter 31: Maybe We Need A New Plan

next day*

Days?: Good or Bad?

(Vale: Vale City: Vytal Festival Tournament: Amity Colosseum: Seating Area)

"And that's the match! Team RWBY is victorious!" Peter Port, the professor of Beacon Academy and partner with his colleague, Bartholomew Oobleck, are the announcers for the 40th Vytal Festival Tournament shouted to the crowd as he announced team RWBY's victory against team ABRN in a 4-on-4 team round.

"So...how Weiss dealing with her cut off funding?" I ask Izaya in a whisper tone, as we politely applaud to team RWBY's victory while trying not to attack the noisy people around us, screaming the top of their lungs, but we've to keep self-control during our stay here.

"At first, she was furious. Then, sad for a few minutes, and later mad again as she called her Father and shouted him before he could say anything. Afterward, she hangs up before her Father, even could say a word. So far, Weiss been distance a little from her team and spending more time with me after finding this out. Luckily, you've made sure every one of our members in the group have a separate bank account in all four kingdoms; be it the legal side to the underworld side and temporarily solved Weiss' money problems, but the [Dust] is the main concern for Weiss since she would require purchasing her own [Dust] instead of getting it for free from her family." Izaya didn't say anything, but instead typed it into his scroll and send it to me as a text message since he still trying to figure out a way to help out his fiancee's [Dust] problem.

'Once again, I find myself shocked Izaya's main objective is helping with Weiss' problems. Then again, I would do the same for Shigure and Pyrrha in a heartbeat.' I let out a yawn as I allow Shigure to drag me out of my seat and head over to team JNPR are. And look like they're about to head out to the Vytal Festival fairgrounds to eat.

1 hour later*

(Vale: Vale City: Vytal Festival's Fairgrounds: A Simple Wok)

"Sorry guys, but I don't think we could afford everyone's [Large Bowl of Regular Noodle], including Blake's case of adding a topping with [Fish]." Weiss said to her team before they could order their [Noodles] from the old man, who is continuing to work in a countless number of shops.

"Awww..." Ruby pouted, as she was craving for some [Noodle] and the Shopkeeper tend to make them extra large than compared to the food place back home, where she only saw the food's price being higher than it should be while the old man's would sell them at a fair price with the equal value.

This is what we came across once we decided on what to eat; mostly with Nora than the rest of us wanted to eat here, since anything the Shopkeeper own in food generally tends to be big in quality and quantity in some dishes at a fair price, for now.

"Maybe I could help?" Pyrrha offers to pay for team RWBY's share of [Large Bowls of Noodle]. I glance at Pyrrha for a moment, then look at the Shopkeeper, who is currently rubbing his hands together in delight of more customers coming to his little food stall.

Ruby rush over to hug Pyrrha in happiness, "Pyrrha! You're a lifesaver! We were going to die of hunger!" I watch Ruby shouting in a dramatic manner, which Pyrrha let out a giggle as she returns the hug before Ruby gets off her and give Pyrrha a big happy smile.

"Aw, you don't have to-" Yang was about to stop Pyrrha from wasting too much Lien on some [Noodles], when they could get free food back at Beacon Academy later, but was cut off by her partner.

"But she could!" Blake shout in worry that she would be denied her chance of eating something related to [Fish], then pause for a moment once she realizes I'm standing next to Shigure and Pyrrha, as her eyes gone slit like her cat side about to take over, but quickly shook her head when her brain kicked in to show how her cat's instinct would have caused her some problems later.

"How about everyone gets one? I think you all earned it after that battle. Also, Weiss, I must say the way you finish your part was good thinking of using your opponent's own attack against their teammate and take them out together afterward." Pyrrha said to everyone, then to team RWBY and praise Weiss' way to beat two enemies from the other team in the 4-on-4 team round.

"I'm also impressed at that display. I would have never thought of just redirecting the enemy's attack to their own teammate before they could stop right in the middle of attacking." Ren agrees with his team leader's partner and knew many great huntsmen and huntresses could do the same. He could do that as well at the right time and the enemy, but with the risk of getting attacked from behind if there another enemy that is a speed based fighter and could easily take him out if he tries this.

"Enough flattering the Ice Queen. It's time to eat." Yang pushes her team members towards the stools, ready to order, with the rest of us joining her.

Weiss let out a huff at Yang's disrespect, but let it slide for now since she is hungry from all the effort she put into the team round and wanted to eat as much as everyone else.

few minutes later*

Once everyone finishes eating, where the Shopkeeper quickly gathers the [Empty Bowls] and vanishes into the back.

"I don't think I could make it without barfing." Jaune said to everyone in a sickly tone as he holds his stomach with the hope it would calm his stomachache from eating so much, and that was just one [Large Bowl of Noodle], too big for his average size meal he eats daily.

"You'll be fine! All you do is grit through the urge! That's what I usually do when I have a tummy ache." Nora tries to help Jaune out by telling her not so secret way of dealing with a stomachache. Of course, Jaune knew Nora's way is much more complex than the way she says it without including all the hidden contest beside by pure willpower alone.

"Well, it's time for us to head off. Our match about to start soon and we need to be ready." Pyrrha stands up from her stool as she gives her sister team: RWBY a polite smile.

"So, you guys are ready for your match?" Ruby asks in a curious tone and wonders how well team JNPR would do against another team.

"Of course! We've got a world-renowned fighter, who could easily snap some of us in two with her bare hands on our team, one's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me! Jaune, we trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh...Jaune! After all, he's been trained by Pyrrha herself!" Nora gestures to each of her teammates while announcing the worthy praise of what each known by.

I pretty much ignored what Nora's ranting about, something about being abandoned, then renaming their team and slowly from a crazy laughing Nora to a sad crying Nora as Ren rub his childhood friend's back in comfort.

"Would team JNPR please report to the Battlegrounds immediately!" Port announces over the intercom system, allowing everyone to know that team JNPR's match is about to start soon.

"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Oobleck adding in his own comment before both went silent.

"Well, it looks like it's time for our match to begin. See you guys later." Pyrrha said to team RWBY before she and her team leave team RWBY behind, as both Shigure and I follow along with them as well.

"Oh yeah, Weiss. Here you go." I just remember what I should do after the first thing I meet up with Weiss and pull out a [Credit Card] from my right pocket before I hand it to Weiss, who look at me with a surprised expression.

"What's this?" Weiss asks me, as she takes the [Credit Card] and notices her name is on it.

"Didn't Izaya tell you that he is planning to help you out with your financial problem? Well, I made a separate bank account for you to use. I've already put in some Lien for your usage until Izaya find a permanent solution for you as this is just a temporary one." I explain to Weiss why I gave her a [Credit Card], that has her name on it already.

Weiss didn't know what to say and is speechless at this. First, the tear begins to appear and next she got out of her stool and give me a big hug. Since outside her family, only her friends have been there for her all her problems up to now. And this just another one she grateful to have friends she would never dare to ruin ever.

RBY look at this with a surprised look on their faces and knew that Weiss wouldn't even dare anyone get close to her let alone hug someone of her own free will, besides her own fiance, but it looks like even Pyrrha's brother is someone Weiss would willing to let her guard down around with.

Both Pyrrha and Shigure walk over to cheer their friend up since they knew Weiss have a family problem that could lead to countless problems already if it weren't for us being friends with her.

Weiss let the tears go down her cheeks as she gives her close friends a happy smile and knew this isn't a pity money, but was something that would help her get back on her feet after her own Father would actually cut her off, which would have endangered her life much higher now that she limited to her resources against future enemies.

"Weiss...you okay?" Shigure asks Weiss while tilting her head to the side and look at her friend, with a concern look and wonder if there anything else she could think of that could help Weiss.

"Hey, Pyrrha. You should go. Shigure and I will stay here to help Weiss out. We'll be there to watch your match, and if not, there are our scrolls to use." I said to Pyrrha, who frown a little, but knew she can't keep her team waiting any longer and need to head to the Battlegrounds before they are disqualified from their team round.

"Alright, take care Weiss and remember. We're here for you in your time of need and call Izaya soon. He's not getting any sleep from worrying about you and is still continuing to find a solution to your problems without having any backlash coming back at you if you don't get your connection to your family's bank accounts." Pyrrha said her farewell, then explain her concern for Izaya and asked Weiss to stop him from overworking before the stress build up. With that said, Pyrrha made her team head to the Battlegrounds before they're late.

I glance down at Weiss, who still crying in my arms and feel like the distance between this Weiss and the canonpart is getting further away as I know her by the minute. Compared to the canon version of Weiss, who is a bit of a rebel, pride in her name, lonely, which turned into a cold nature and the constant attacks by the White Fang added heavy strain to her life.

Thanks to mine and the others' presence in her life; turning this Weiss into an emotional girl who isn't afraid to show it to her friends and have more pride in being a member of the group of mine than the Schnee family's name while become more used to the White Fang's attacks to build her strong will.

Of course, this is a downside to this as Weiss' emotions are higher compared to her canon self, since Weiss could be happy one minute, then to a sobbing mess the next. And the only reason she could build up her public image without breaking down crying or screaming in rage. Is because of the training Shigure and Momoyo put Weiss through to give Weiss self-control over her emotions. Mostly Shigure than Momoyo.

However, once a while Weiss' emotions would be too much for her control and would break out like at this very moment, where Weiss crying in happiness and causing her teammates to stares in shock.

"Now, how about you and your team head to the Seating Area to watch team JNPR's team match?" I ask Weiss, as she finally releases me from her hug and wipes her tears away while still giving me a happy smile, then quickly put away her newly acquire [Credit Card] before she loses it somewhere.

"Alright. And thanks, Enma and Shigure." Weiss said to both of us, then quickly give Shigure a hug as well before she walks off to follow team JNPR to the Battlegrounds.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang stand there speechless at this display before their teammate: Weiss called for them to hurry up before they don't find any good seats and was forced to move without having the chance to question either Shigure or me, but that doesn't mean they can't ask Weiss herself later.

Both Shigure and I watch team RWBY leave the Fairgrounds, for a few seconds later before we continue to enjoy ourselves a bit more before we head back to continue our search on which Airships Roman is on or find the right time to grab either Emerald or Mercury, maybe even Neo if she isn't mute in this world.

"So anything interesting happens to you while we're staying here in Vale Kingdom?" I ask Shigure while we walk around the place to find anything catch our interest.

Shigure glance at me for a second before returning her attention back to her surroundings, where all kinds of different foods being sold for anyone want to eat. Along with a few games, we could play for a prize.

"I...found...an...old...book filled with...unknown...methods on how...to make...medicine." Shigure answers me in her usual monotone, then stop in her track and making me stop as well. I was about to ask Shigure why she stops when she pointed to our left, where I follow the direction she pointing at and found out there are two people we are in need to talk with.

"Hey, you think there a chance they may switch out the two?" Mercury asks his colleague/partner in crime before he took another bite of his [Hot Dog].

"I highly doubt it. Now, come on, Cinder is waiting for us." Emerald reply with a frown, as she leads Mercury back to the Battlegrounds.

Shigure and I share a look, which could be a mental conversation about what choices we should decide to do now. Not even a minute went by and we came to an agreement instantly.

I activate [Shadowless Evasion Art] as my whole body disappears from the area while at the same time, Shigure already disappears from the area as well and much faster than me.

[Shadowless Evasion Art]: First Stance's [Technique]

Active Effect: This is a customized fusion of four [Skill]. Allowing the user to disappear in plain sight, with only the best of the best people or equipment could [Detect] the user after activating this [Fusion Skill]. As the user is able to bypass almost all [Detection] and have incredible speed, precision, and timing to disappear instantly. Giving the user the ability to escape as far as possible from the area or assassinate someone in the best possible way with this [Fusion Skill].

Type: Active|Fusion: [Advanced Detection Mastery], [Master Evasion Mastery], [Master Presence Concealment Mastery], and [Master Movement Mastery].

Target: Self

Rank: N/A

Cost: None

As we follow both Emerald and Mercury until we find a right moment to capture them without anyone looking at them.

'I really need to get [Master Detection Mastery] soon.' I thought to myself, once again I'm being reminded by my [Fusion Skill: Shadowless Evasion Art]. Since the rest of the [Skill] are in [Master Rank].

30 minutes later*

(Vale: Vale City: Vytal Festival Tournament: Amity Colosseum: Random Tunnel Entrance)

Right before either Emerald or Mercury could even find their seats. Both Shigure and I strike at that very moment; Emerald is taken down by Shigure herself while I drop from the ceiling and smash my right elbow on the top of Mercury's head, knocking him out cold before he could react.

And I was close to breaking his neck if I haven't held back my strength as well having his aura reserve still being full but drained right away from absorbing the extra [Impact] damage from the added [Gravitational Force] behind my elbow strike from falling from the ceiling.

I deploy [Eagle Vision] thrice in a row just in case I missed anything and see if anyone is nearby. After getting the results from activating [Eagle Vision] three times and got what I needed.

Picking up Mercury's unconscious body and swing him over my right shoulder, with Shigure doing the same with Emerald and we rush out of this place before anyone sees us.

Shigure uses her [Stealth Skill] while I reactivate [Shadowless Evasion Art] in order to hide from the crowd around us, as we kidnap our victims out in the open and rush towards somewhere we could interrogate them for evidence on Cinder Fall, and maybe anything else that is valuable to our usage.

20 minutes later*

(Vale: Vale City: Unknown Abandon Warehouse)

Both Shigure and I stare at the still unconscious bodies of Emerald and Mercury we tied them to two chairs with ropes Shigure always carry with her in the cases we needed them something like this. Now, we pretty much waiting for them to wake up before we begin our interrogation.

"Do you think we should have held back a bit more? They're not waking up after a minute we knock them out and it has been over a minute. Think they got a concussion?" I ask Shigure, who is currently poking them with a stick she founding lying around somewhere and felt the need to poke them with it.

Shigure stops poking for a moment, to check on them to see what's wrong with them. But, it looks like Emerald is waking up; however, Mercury, on the other hand, isn't waking up any time soon.

"Never mind, I guess it should be me, who should have held back more." I said dryly, as Shigure throws her stick away and blankly stare at Emerald as she waits for her captive to be fully awake.

"Ugh...what...what's going on." Emerald whispers out in a painful tone, as she shook her head and begin to panic once she realizes she can't move the rest of her body. "H-Hey! Why can't I move?! Who the hell are you two?!"

Shigure looks at me for a second, then back at her captive, who currently struggling in her blind and failing as a result. 'Man, Shigure knows how to tie a good knot.' I shiver at the thought of Shigure having any interest in BDSM because I'll find any excuses to dodge that, even losing the chance of having sex with Shigure.

Luckily, it looks like Shigure didn't tie either Emerald or Mercury in a BDSM way with the ropes at least. Still keeping my guards around Shigure whenever she's holding a rope though.

"So you don't know who we are?" I ask Emerald, with a little surprise tone, since we're wearing our [Arcana Uniform] right now. Unless Emerald's vision isn't fully recovered just yet, or she really doesn't know about us at all.

I raise an eyebrow once I notice my surroundings change a little and discover a few things missing and being added to my vision, as some random little girl appears out of nearby wooden crates.

"Maybe you do know who we are..." I mumble to myself, and only Shigure heard me and found out something or someone is affecting me, at least, in my sense of sight since Shigure couldn't find anything out of the ordinary at the corner of the room, which I'm staring at the moment.

I draw out my [Beretta M93R Auto9 Custom] and fire a [Mana Bullet] at Emerald's left leg, causing her to scream in pain from the [Impact] damage as her aura shield almost broke from this low-powered [Mana Bullet].

[Item Type]: [Modify Pistol/Mana Gun]

[Name]: Beretta M93R Auto9 Custom

Durability: 100%/100% (Weapon)|N/A (Mana Bullet)|20/20 (Bullet)|0/20 (Dust Round)

Quality: Epic

Grade: B-

Value: 15000 System Point

Description: A modified [Pistol] that's a [Beretta M93R Full Automatic Machine Pistol], but with cosmetic barrel modifications. Also, this modified [Pistol] been customized into a [Mana Gun] thanks to the knowledge belong to the creator of [Mana Gun]. Giving the user to convert their [Mana] into [Mana Bullet] without having to reload this modified [Pistol]. But, it could still use normal ammo. As well, there is a special feature, which made this a very powerful gun that could easily destroy a spacetime barrier depending on how much time is used for the [Charge Shot].

[Arcane Custom]: Allows the user to convert their [Mana] into [Mana Bullet]; making it possible for the user to continue shooting without the need to reload as long the user has sufficient [Mana]. But, only work with those with [Mana] to activate this.

[Mana Bullet's Effect Control]: The ability to change the effect of the [Mana Bullet] to become [Explosive Bullet], [Piercing Bullet], [Anesthetic Bullet], and so on. Its efficiency depends on the magical abilities of its user. But, at the price of increasing the amount of [Mana] required depending on the magical abilities for the [Mana Bullet].

[Charge Shot]: Require voice command: Charge, for charging up a single [Charge Bullet] before firing. Upon voice command: Fire, for firing the [Charge Bullet] that had been charged up. The minimum seconds for charging a [Charge Bullet] is 3 seconds before stabilize it or else it dispels upon interruption. The [Charge Shot] requires massive amount of [Mana] in order to activate this [Charge Shot].

I could feel [Edea Florence] sending me a disappointed feeling for using such a powerful [Mana Gun] just for threatening instead of using it to destroy something deadly with it.

I cough a little, and feel a bit embarrassed about using such a powerful [Mana Gun] for something like this when it uses for bigger target or a group of targets and could feel [Edea Florence]'s emotion of shame and disappointment.

"Please...don't annoy my...partner." Shigure said to Emerald; and of course, with the way, Shigure pause in between her words would lead to countless people connecting Shigure's speech pattern with our group could end us up in trouble.

However, thanks to [Edea Florence]'s knowledge and being the creator of [Arcana Uniform]. Shigure's [Arcana Uniform] is further modified with an extra feature, where anyone who is listening to her speaking would hear no pause in her words. Took a month to get it right though.

"How the hell did I annoy him?! If you haven't noticed! I'm tied up! So how can I possibly annoy him at my current position?! And if anything, I should be the one annoy! The bastard shot me!" Emerald scream at Shigure, with a red face now and waking Mercury up from her screaming.

"Would you quit shouting? Ugh, my head." Mercury shook his head of the headache he's having at the moment.

"Anyway, enough shouting before I blow your head off." I threaten Emerald in a casual tone, which made it more terrifying to the poor thief since she knows this familiar tone when she always hears it from her savior/boss: Cinder Fall, even Mercury sober up instantly once his instincts scream at him to pay attention for everything that could lead to his death.

"If you haven't realized who we are. Then you're dumber than I thought you would be." I mock Emerald, who got her fire back from being mocked at and snarl at me right before a Beowolf appears out of nowhere and jump at me.

I didn't blink and fire my [Mana Gun] once more at Emerald's right foot, causing the Beowolf to disappear at the very moment it's about to tear my face off with its claws.

And the way Emerald screams louder than before in pain; I've to guess I broke her aura shield and true my guessing. Emerald's right feet have a [Bullet] wound and leaking out blood.

"Shit! Woah! Hey, man, no need to be trigger happy! What you guys want, we'll tell you! No need to shoot!" Mercury shouts in a panic and knew these two in front of him are not playing around.

Mercury's instinct alone is what suppressing his ego from trying to get his two kidnappers from attacking him. Also, because he tied to a chair, that for some reason can't be broken even with the help of aura enhance his physical strength. So that's another reason why he is trying to see what is going on and how to take advantage of it until he finds a way to escape.

I look at them, then at Shigure, who is still blankly staring at Emerald for a while now. I could tell, the only reason Emerald isn't shouting at Shigure at the moment is that of my presence. Plus, the fact that I shot her twice now would do the trick of putting the [Fear] into her.

"Want me to leave it to you or do you want me to do the questioning?" I ask Shigure, as I tried not to speak Shigure's name, which could be easily be used to find out who she is and spread the words on how Shigure is in our hidden group, even in the other three kingdoms. They're trying to find anything about us, and I know for sure these two will tell Cinder and use it against us.

Shigure places her right index finger on her chin to think for a moment, then nodded her head at me. So, I just leave the interrogation to Shigure while I begin to think if this was a bad idea or not. As I turn my back on them and begin to think carefully about what to do next, along with the pros and cons of our actions.

'On one hand; Emerald and Mercury are "innocent" to the public while I know they are anything but innocent. Then there my friends who don't fully trust me without solid evidence like always. Only Shigure and Pyrrha would trust me completely. Well, unless it too farfetched unless I prove it to them before their very eyes.' I didn't know if capturing Emerald and Mercury is better than getting Roman. At least with Roman, he is already a criminal like us and doesn't really need to gather evidence to capture/kill him.

Ignoring the screams behind me, 'Then there Cinder, who should be either panicking or changing her plans at this very moment with both Emerald and Mercury missing. I could always capture herself, but then I wouldn't have kidnapped these two behind if I wanted to capture Cinder instead.' So many what if, that could lead to many outcomes.

"AH! Why?! Why do you have something like that?!" Mercury scream in [Fear], as he watches what's happening to Emerald before his very eyes.

I continue to ignore this since I rather not find out what Shigure is using at the moment. I've no idea what else Shigure uses besides those sharp weapons of her's. But, if the way Emerald is shrieking and Mercury shouting in panic. I would have to say it should be something related to her stash of sharp weapons.

'Maybe I should have just kidnapped Ironwood instead. Since he is the one who brought a fleet of Airships to the Vale Kingdom. So he should know which Airships should contain Roman.' I am beginning to really rethink about my current plans at the moment.

I glance back for a sneak peek to see how it's going and begin to think maybe leaving it to Shigure may or may not be a bad idea right now. Because Shigure is literally torturing them without even asking anything so far and healing them back up with her medicine pills.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?! YOU SOCIOPATH!" Emerald shout at Shigure, with tears going down her cheeks and shaking her chair enough to fall over.

Shigure pause for a moment, then look back at me with a small teardrop to show Emerald's comment actually hurt her feeling.

I sweatdrop at this and made a gesture for Shigure to come over for a hug to cheer her up, which she gladly did.

"I'm beginning to think she really didn't hurt your feeling at all." I whisper to Shigure, once I notice how she pressed her breasts against me while ignoring the sobbing mess of Emerald and Mercury continue to make deals for his release.

"Sorry, but I...don't want to...waste anymore...pills." Shigure whispers me and prove my point that Shigure's feeling isn't hurt at all if anything, this just to show me that Shigure have great [Acting Skill], I think.

'I'm beginning to think Shigure isn't sane at all.' I stop Shigure from continuing to torture Emerald further once she was done hugging me. 'Then again, I'm not completely sane either.'

"Okay, no need to continue further." I said to Shigure, causing Mercury to let out a sigh of relief while Emerald continues to cry from her awkward position on the ground since she still tied to the chair.

"Now, how about you tell me everything you think is valuable. Every information would make it much faster for your release." I said in a gentle tone to them, but for them, it sounds anything but gentle and Mercury begins to release all information he got.

'Okay, so Mercury isn't fully loyal to Cinder at all. Compare to Emerald is still crying and glaring at Mercury for betraying Cinder at the moment.' I thought to myself, as I nod at Mercury every once a while.

Shigure has already taken out her scroll to record all these little information from Mercury's mouth and continue to stare at Emerald with her unchanged blank expression.