24

Pyrrha was trying to distract herself while she watched over Jaune, but she was doing a poor job of it. Every moment that passed without him waking up seemed like an eternity, and it was eating away at her. What had gone wrong? Could she have done anything to prevent it? The answer was likely no, but logical thinking rarely helped to clamp down on negative emotions like this. She looked over his sleeping form again, hoping that he would surprise her. That he would wake up with a smile and crack some stupid joke or… or something ! She just wanted her partner back, even if he hadn't been "gone" all that long.

His eyes fluttered.

"Jaune?!" she jumped out of her seat, at his side in an instant.

"Pyrrha? I need to…" he trailed off, his eyes out of focus when he opened them fully. She wasn't sure if that was simply him talking with Second Thoughts or if it was medically relevant. He looked around the room, disoriented. "I'm… right… Where is everyone?"

"Ren and Nora are probably back in our room, just give me a moment and I can call them over." She went to pull out her scroll. "You had us worried sick, Jaune! What happened? Oh, wait, I should get the nurse first and make sure-"

His hand clamped down on her wrist.

"Pyrrha. Where is team RWBY right now?"

"Team RWBY?" She didn't see how that was important, but he looked serious. "They're away on their mission right now, almost everyone is."

He wrenched himself out of the bed, the medical equipment hooked up to him going haywire as it was unplugged. But she saw what the last reading was for his aura.

"Jaune, what are you doing?! Your aura is only at twenty percent! That's an improvement from what it was, but clearly you're not rested enough to be-"

"Pyrrha."

Dumbfounded, she just nodded, waiting for him to explain.

"Get Ozpin. Or Goodwitch, or… actually, get everyone you can. We need to go."

"Go? Go where, Jaune?! You're not well enough to be running off without at least getting looked at first!"

"We need to get to Vale. Team RWBY is in trouble."

Despite the timeline having been moved up by several days, Adam had seen to it that the plan went off without a hitch. With a few modifications of his own, of course. Cinder would never find out, so long as things appeared to be the same as she expected on the Vale end of things.

Really, what did she think was going to happen? "Yes, of course, Ms. Fall. I'll send my men on a train rigged with explosives and headed straight for a blocked off section of Vale so that they can die in the crash, be killed by the grimm, or get arrested at the other end."

He wouldn't be surprised if some of the newer, weaker Vale recruits went along with such a thing. Or rather, that they would not think about what happens to them after they get on the train. Perhaps it was for the best that the clown had been arrested. He was the one originally in charge of setting this plan off, and Adam was certain that the fool would have no problems with sending members of the White Fang to an early death for no reason.

He supposed that it didn't really matter now. His part was done, the train was taking off towards the city, and now all that was left was to leave this ghost town for greener pastures.

Or at least, that had been the plan until gunshots could be heard around the corner, yells echoing through the cavern. It was to be expected that a few grimm would be attracted to all the commotion, and the rumbling of a train depot in use for the first time in a long time had opened up a few holes in the roof of the cavern. His men really should be better about handling a handful of grimm, but he could save chewing them out for after he saved their lives. His hand fell to Wilt's hilt as he started to approach the gunfire.

But it would appear the gunfire was going both ways. His men were running towards him, fleeing some unknown enemy, both sides trading fire. Who though? What sort of fool would think to investigate Mountain Glenn at all, let alone when he just happened to be doing this? The timing was suspect.

Perhaps Cinder's little theory had some merit to it… or she had set him up for this from the start. How convenient that they would appear just after the train had set off, a time that she had changed only recently? He had done his part, and now she was tying up loose ends? She definitely seemed the type.

A Huntsman he had been warned about certainly would fit that bill. He shouldn't have met Oobleck until their later plans went into action, and that was if they happened to cross paths in the chaos. But a concerned student tipping off one of the staff members about a rumor they had heard… her little lackey had an illusion based semblance, didn't she? Fake a Faunus trait and it would be all too believable that they had been approached by the White Fang themselves.

Someone of his caliber might be a bit of a concern, though that really depends on who he had with him for backup. Had the entire calvary been called in? Trying to stop the train before it took off and conveniently drawing them all away from the crash site?

As he approached the fight, the rest of the Huntsmen group finally came into view. A shrimp of a girl who was abnormally fast didn't concern him. A blonde bimbo would likely be a cakewalk as well. Was this just a first year team? How insulting that they would think that would be enough. Especially with how frail the third-

-was that a Schnee?

Perhaps he had assumed too quickly. It seemed that Cinder had sent him a gift. One Schnee head, served on a silver platter. He would enjoy this.

But assuming victory when he hadn't even looked at the last team member would be a foolish mistake. You could never know what sort of abilities they might-

He came to a stop.

His hand fell from Wilt.

"...Blake?"

"That's ridiculous!" Goodwitch complained. "What reason could they possibly have to do such an outrageous thing?!"

"I can't say the actions of terrorists always make sense to me, but us not understanding it doesn't mean that we can risk ignoring it." General Ironwood answered as they got on the ship. Staff and students aplenty were joining them, both on the Atlas fleet and the bullheads owned by Beacon. Anyone that was available was pouring in, eager to answer the call for assistance.

"I've already sent out an alert to anyone in the immediate area, but we should make haste." Ozpin added. "We've no idea how badly this could go."

"Arc didn't say?" Winter asked him, having only just caught up to the group.

"His semblance has proven to be unreliable, don't become dependent on it for details." Ironwood answered her. "But from what he told us, the problem in this situation is that apparently Torchwick is meant to be the one in charge of this operation. That doesn't exactly match up with the fact that he's currently in our custody. With the White Fang doing the grunt work, there's no reason to think that it wouldn't happen, but we have no clue who would be leading it. All we know is that things played out in a similar manner, with Oobleck leading team RWBY off to Mountain Glenn. None of them can be reached by scroll right now, which is odd, even with how far out they should be. It's possible that we'll all look like fools and nothing will happen, but that's not a risk we can take."

"Where exactly are we headed, sir?" The pilot called out to them as they began to take off.

"Well, Ozpin?" Ironwood looked to him. "You're probably the only one present who knows the subway layout off the top of your head."

"A small park with a stage in the center, an area that lies directly in the path of the old subway line…" There was only one spot that really fit that description, and Ozpin shared it with the man as they flew towards the city.

"Let's hope that we can make it in time."

Cinder glowered as her subordinates followed her towards the bullhead. "How could they have done this? I changed who was in charge of it, I changed the date, Arc is in a coma, and yet still we're being called out for a likely grimm breach within Vale ?"

"Maybe Arc was a red herring?" Mercury suggested.

"He could have woken up. A warning like this would see them up in arms quickly." Emerald countered.

Neo was silent, as usual.

"We'll just have to head there ourselves and investigate. Perhaps the fool responsible will out themselves and have an unfortunate accident in all the chaos. This Arc will pay whether he is the one responsible or not, if only for wasting my time." She considered her teammates and their capabilities. Neo's semblance would be more useful with so many people present, but she couldn't' discount the possibility of betrayal. This would be an opportune moment for Neo to out her to all the Huntsmen present.

"Emerald. If the opportunity does arise, you will be responsible for making sure our actions are not seen."

"Yes ma'am!" Emerald preened, likely having figured out that she held the most of her trust in the group. "I won't let you down!"

"See that you don't."

"There's no need to down all of them!" Bart shouted to his charges as they shot at the retreating White Fang. "We need only clear a path to the train! We cannot allow them to delay us, lest we be left behind and unable to stop it!"

The final barrier between the tunnels and Vale proper was not that far from the surface. If it got up to full speed and crashed directly into it, it would not be good. And that was assuming that the thing hadn't been filled with some sort of explosive! The many Dust robberies prior to Roman's arrest could be unrelated to this, but if even a small portion of it was on board when it hit the end of the tunnel…

Of course, it was at this pivotal moment in time, when civilian lives could very well be at risk, that one of his students' past reared its ugly head.

He didn't look behind him, too focused on the objective, but he heard Blake gasp. "Adam?!"

Oh dear. And if the state of the young man he could see between them and the train was any indication, the problem was directly in their path. Even with the half mask over his face, his shock was clear.

"Ms. Belladonna! There are lives at stake here! Please save any personal issues for after the crisis has been averted!"

He hoped she would listen, but he was well aware of how stupid children could be at times.

The young man in front of him shifted his stance, apparently recovered from his shock. He hated moments like this. What was the correct play? Deal with the criminal himself and send the girls after the train? Bypass the boy and go for the train himself, hoping that the students would follow uninterrupted? Take him out as a group and then hope the train is still close enough to catch up?

Any one of those choices could very well mean the deaths of innocent people. But in times of crisis, decisions had to be quick and decisive.

"Ms. Rose! Go ahead of us! Catch that train and do what you can to stop it!" She was the fastest by far, and trying to keep pace with the rest of them was only slowing her down.

"What?! I can't leave you guys behind, what about all the White Fang?!" She shouted back at him.

"We'll be right behind you! Now go! If someone doesn't stop that train, civilians will die!" She was the heroic type. It felt wrong to try and manipulate her with her sense of duty, but what he had said was at least true.

"Is that really a good idea?!" Her sister shouted, likely not feeling comfortable with sending their youngest member off on her own. But by then it was too late. A blur of rose petals had passed him by, and in an instant they were boarding the train. It was really picking up speed now, they had taken too long getting down here. Ruby gave them one last guilty look before running for the locomotive.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the final car. If they didn't get on that train now it was going to leave them behind. Hopefully Ruby would be able to stop it, but he didn't exactly hold a lot of hope that a fifteen year old would know how to safely stop a train on their own.

"Ms. Schnee! A speed boost would be appreciated if you can manage it!" he pleaded. He hadn't seen how far she could push her glyphs yet, and truthfully he didn't know if she could manage to use it on all of them at once, but he sincerely hoped that she would be able to pull it off.

"Leaving already?" the White Fang member called out to them. "And we've only just been reunited! It's good to see you again, darling."

Wonderful. Simple recognition was bad enough, but they had to run into his student's ex-lover of all people?

"I guess I should have known that you'd run away again. That you'd become a coward ." he spat the word out. His sword was unsheathed as he prepared to take them on. "You betrayed the White Fang. Betrayed me! And for what? To play Huntress? To run around with a Schnee ?!"

"Adam, no! I-"

The glyphs sprung to life beneath their feet, and the group was launched forward. Adam shifted his blade, preparing to use their sudden momentum against them and slice them in half. But who was the target? The boy didn't seem to be looking at him, and being in the front of the group Bart quickly passed him by. He transformed Antiquity's Roast mid-air, firing upon Adam's back, hoping to distract him, but the flames did nothing against his aura.

Yang had been just behind him. Bart watched on in horror as he flew towards the train. The red blade flicked forward, ready to bisect the blonde brawler.

But he shouldn't underestimate his students. Even at these speeds, Yang was able to use her gauntlets to redirect herself in midair, launching herself clear over the blade and out of Adam's reach.

Blake and Weiss were next. So close together that he wouldn't have time to slash twice. Would he target a single one of them or attempt to cut them both down with a single stroke? His back hit the train, distracting him for a moment as he found a foothold. When he looked back up, the girls had passed him by, shock on Weiss' face and tears running down Blake's. Adam had turned towards them, a black figure dissipating behind him. Blake's semblance? Had she managed to distract him?

"I'm sorry Adam!" Blake cried out, her voice raw and her face a mess.

"You will be!" He made to chase after them, but with them having barely caught the final car, and the lack of a speed semblance on his part, left him trailing behind as the train sped off down the tracks.

"Blake, are you okay?" her partner asked as the group made their way inside the car.

"Who was that guy?" Weiss added.

"Now is not the time!" Bart regretfully interrupted. "We can get emotional about it once the train has been stopped! Follow me, let's hope we can catch up to your team leader!" He ran through the cars, hoping they would keep up with him and that they weren't too late.

He would not allow Vale to become a second act of the fall of Mountain Glenn.