45

Chapter 45Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"You know, we really shouldn't be doing this," Ruby whispered quietly to the rest of Team RWBY (and Penny) as they hid on top of a roof next to the docks area on the industrial side of Vale. Technically Vale had a lot of docks given that there was a big sideways Y shaped waterway splitting the entire city into three, but the industrial area shipping docks were the only place actually called the docks . "I mean, we're breaking curfew and Professor Goodwitch is already mad enough at me for blowing up that lab and having so many unregistered weapons and making her help with the paperwork for my unregistered weapons and destroying part of the sparring arena that one time and also leaving rose petals everywhere all of the time-"

She paused, then sighed and grimaced, pulling back slightly from the scope of Crescent Rose as she observed the shipping yard below- threads of grimm matter entwining around the entire thing to hide it from view and make sure the red parts didn't shine through. "Also, we really gotta be back in… less than two hours. I gotta make sure Cinder's cake is finished and ready for her first thing tomorrow and if I don't do everything just right then it's not gonna be perfect!"

"You do realize that CinCin appreciates the gift more than the actual cake, right?" Yang deadpanned, sitting there with her arms and legs crossed and twitching a little bit irritably at the lack of action- the dockworkers were still unloading the last of the Dust from the Schnee freighter docked at the largest bay, and while that was definitely the thing they'd come to check, the more important thing on everyone's mind was the cake that Ruby had made specifically for Cinder (and the cake pops she'd made with the remaining batter and ingredients). "Like, she's not gonna mind if it's not perfect ."

"Yes, but I will! Also, Penny- it's getting late, don't you have to be back home by now or something? Not that I don't like having you here but…" Ruby motioned awkwardly, looking over at the rest of her team (and Penny)- most of whom were doing… really nothing. Only Blake seemed at all invested, and even she was just squinting out at the docks and waiting for something to happen. Weiss was in the middle of checking her stock portfolio, Yang was doing her weird angry looking meditation, and Penny was standing absolutely stock still and doing literally nothing.

"Not at all- hic! I am entirely allowed to stay out past sundown without Atlesian supervision- hic!" Penny waved off their concerns in the most unconvincing way possible, her smile turning a bit awkward as she continued to stand there like an awkward mannequin. "Regardless of my status here- I am combat ready, and traditional combat doctrine states that more firepower is quite useful when dealing with an unknown quantity and quality of foes!"

"Well. It'll certainly help having some backup," Blake mentioned, keeping an eye out until the roar of a Bullhead suddenly made itself known- a rushing wind passing through twin engines, the gray shape rising almost invisibly in the night sky once the last of the dockworkers had gone home. "There!"

"Fuck me, I guess there really was a White Fang attack scheduled for tonight- we gotta go down there now!" Yang immediately jumped up and cocked Ember Celica as everyone else took ready stances and flung themselves out and over the shipping containers between them and the landing zone of the Bullhead- Ruby leading the charge with Blake, Weiss, Penny, and Yang following with aplomb.

The night sky filled with rose petals and glyphs and shadow clones and flames and the bright green flash of glowing swords flinging Penny into the air and bringing up the rear as she slid herself easily into a supporting role amongst her newfound friends. 

"What in the-!?" came the shout of one very familiar voice- the redheaded figure of Roman Torchwick taking a step back in shock as the five Huntresses in training landed dramatically right around the site of the operation. Rose petals scattered around as Ruby stood and unsheathed Crescent Rose into its full size- having landed on top of one of the nearby electrical poles in such a way that the moon highlighted her from behind and cast her features into sharp, bloody relief- the backlight causing the eye spots on her body to glow with a malevolent orange, her own eyes glowing with brilliant silver. In her other hand, Augury slipped in and transformed with the quietest of mechanical whispers, leaving her standing there with her grimm mask attached to her hair like the second coming of the Grimm Reaper. 

[A Blood Red Rose, Gleaming Silver in the Moonlight]

"Roman Torchwick, members of the White Fang," Ruby immediately called out, projecting her voice with a bassy rumble in the background such that her Aura infused words carried over the entire yard and almost brought some of the weaker willed Fang members to their knees with sheer intimidation. "Drop your weapons and surrender now or we will beat you all up and leave you for the cops!"

"I thought we didn't deal with cops?" Weiss murmured, standing beside Blake in an elegant stance, Myrtenaster held firmly in her grip in an elegant pose as she half-listened to Ruby making her dramatic speech. "Like, I get that there's no one else who could take them, but… c'mon. You told me about a bunch of reasons why we shouldn't ever trust cops."

"In this one case, I think I have to make an exception for clear and malicious lawbreaking," Blake sighed, looking about as peeved as anything as she looked over at the various confused White Fang members and gritted her teeth, hating every second of seeing her former brothers and sisters in the cause working with a human to steal Dust- how had they fallen so far? What happened to the days when the White Fang actually had a point, was actually a political movement worth joining? Was terrorism all that they could imagine now? What a disappointment- and yet… she couldn't bring herself to judge them too harshly. It wasn't like human policy had done overmuch for giving them many other options. Even in Vale…

"As much as I don't like it, we need to stop this from going any further," Blake nodded to herself, firming her resolution and leaping into the fray before Roman could order the White Fang members to open fire- attacking with aplomb as she dashed through the crowd and slashed left and right with her katana and cleaver-sheath, unfolding it every now and then such that she could use the shotgun now integrated into the handle with one hand and bowl over those members with active Aura.

Weiss joined almost immediately after, with her and Yang working flawlessly together to execute a Freezerburn maneuver- Weiss coating a large area with ice Dust to trap and trip the White Fang soldiers before Yang slammed into the mass of ice with a Fire Dust enhanced punch that evaporated the entire thing into a thick cloud of fog that cut visibility for anyone without enhanced senses. 

In the distance, she could hear the familiar sounds of Ruby fighting Torchwick- the man's cane vibrating and echoing like a metal pipe every time Crescent Rose and Augury slammed into the solid construction with such force it cracked the tarmac beneath Roman's feet with every blocked swing and missed slice. 

Penny, meanwhile, simply danced as her swords whirled around her in an endless frenzy of green and black and silver edges, looking for all the world as though she were a conductor of an orchestra than she was a fighter- even with those artful flips and twirls, the way she controlled her swords was… musical . Between the five of them, the White Fang goons didn't stand a chance- and neither did Torchwick really. For all that he was a master criminal and escape artist, the man was woefully bad at dealing with actually good Huntresses- both in skill and morals, and it showed in his ability to actually fight Ruby.

Sure, he was more cunning and street smart, but Ruby was a nightmare of whirling steel that flashed through the moon's light- blood red and gleaming silver leaving arcs through the air as they cut through the night like a shrieking devil and started to nick the fabric of Roman's suit jacket even through his Aura.

For a moment, there was a quiet lull- Yang and Weiss and Blake and Penny had taken care of the White Fang goons with remarkable aplomb, easily punching them into unconsciousness without Weiss even having had to make that many glyphs. For a moment, it really seemed like the five of them were going to stop the entire operation cold and take out the most notorious criminal in all of Vale.

And then Blake's heart stopped as she saw a flash of bloody, familiar red slice through the fog and decimate it into a cloud of rose petals that had nothing to do with Ruby Rose.

"Hello my love ," Adam fucking Taurus stated, his grin becoming nasty as he brandished Wilt towards their group, eyes hidden as always behind his mask. "It's been a while- I see you haven't yet abandoned this group the same way you abandoned me."

Blake swallowed and took an unconscious, shuddering step back.

"A-Adam…"

[The above image, but without the dramatic shadows]