Know That You Send Him...
"BLAAAAKE!"
"BLAKE!"
"BLAAAKE, WHERE ARE YOU?"
Sunset, Ruby, and Yang were all walking down the street in Vale, taking turns calling out for their lost teammate. Weiss had been noticeably silent, but followed the group regardless. Sunset spotted someone walking from the opposite direction, giving her an opportunity. She ran up to the woman, holding up her phone with a photo of Blake.
"Excuse me, have you seen this girl? She's our friend and she's gone missing!"
The woman leaned down, peering at the photo for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Nope, haven't seen her. Sorry."
"Well, thank you for your time..." Sunset held out her hand, which the woman took for a handshake. Sunset took the opportunity, using her magic to take a brief dip into the woman's memories of the morning.
Egg sandwich for breakfast, a stop at the coffee shop, walked down a few more streets... no sign of Blake at any of those places... She sighed with disappointment as she let go of the woman's hand and she went on her way. "Isis, any sign of her?"
"Negative. She appears to be avoiding any kind of security cameras where possible, and she is keeping her scroll turned off, preventing GPS tracking.""Wait, Isis hacked security cameras? Which ones?" Weiss asked, stepping up to look at Sunset's phone over her shoulder.
"All of them. Every camera within range of the Cross Continental Transmit System.""I THINK that's illegal..." Weiss muttered.
"I think I don't care..." Sunset muttered back.
"And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today!" a new voice chimed in. All four of them jumped in place, startled by the sudden intruder on their conversation.
"GAH PENNY wheredidyoucomefrom!" Ruby exclaimed.
PENNy? For a brief second, Sunset felt her heart begin to lift, only to find her hopes dashed as, rather than her friend, she found herself face-to-face with a stranger. The girl had bright orange hair and wore a tan-colored blouse and gray overalls with green accents that ended in a short skirt, rather than pant legs. She wore a black-and-green collar with matching stockings, and topped off her curly shoulder-length hair with a pink bow.
"Hey, guys! What are you up to?" she asked, seemingly unaware of the thorough startling she'd given them all.
"Uhhhh..." Ruby whispered, still getting over the surprise.
"We're looking for our friend Blake." Yang replied, filling in the gap Ruby had left.
"OH! You mean the faunus girl!" Penny replied.
"Wait, how did YOU know that?" Ruby asked.
"Uh, the cat ears?"
"What cat ears? She wears a... bow..." Yang trailed off.
For a moment, silence filled the air. It was just long enough for all of them to notice a stray tumbleweed blow by in the wind that somehow made the moment even more awkward.
"She does like tuna a lot..." Ruby whispered.
Sunset decided to take the opportunity the quiet moment provided, stepping forward and offering her hand to the girl. "I don't believe we've met! I'm Sunset Shimmer." Penny enthusiastically took Sunset's hand, vigorously shaking it up and down. Her grip is like iron!
"Sunset's our fifth teammate, the one I mentioned yesterday!" Ruby added.
"Hello, Sunset Shimmer, it's very nice to meet you! My name is Penny! Penny Polendina! It's very nice to meet you!"
Sunset blinked, wondering whether or not she should bring up the fact she had said it was nice to meet her twice. "It's nice to meet you, too, Penny..." Out of curiosity, Sunset decided to give her magic a try. As oblivious as this girl seemed to be to social cues like accidentally scaring people half to death when greeting them, she was clearly observant. She might have seen Blake and not even realized it. Sunset reached out with her magic...
and nothing happened.
Before she could try again, Penny had released her hand from her vice-like grip and turned back to the group. "So, where is she?"
"We don't know... She's been missing since last night."
Penny gasped in horror, rushing up and grabbing Ruby by the shoulders. Ruby forced herself to smile, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden intrusion into her personal space. "That's TERRIBLE! Well don't you worry, Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammate!"
This girl reminded Sunset of someone... or maybe multiple people? She couldn't quite place her finger on it.
"Uhh, that's really nice of you, Penny, uh, but we're- we're okay! Really! Right, guys?"
"The more help, the better, right?" Sunset asked, turning to Weiss and Yang for their thoughts.
Only to discover Weiss and Yang had vanished, leaving them alone with Penny. Silence fell again, and the same tumbleweed blew back from the opposite direction. Sunset suspiciously glanced around, trying to make sure Missy wasn't somehow orchestrating the conflicting winds.
"It sure is windy, today..." Penny replied.
Sunset decided to take the opportunity to check her phone. "Isis, has Penn sent us ANYTHING new? Any more details that could help us track Blake down?"
"Negative, Sunset Shimmer. Looking at current records, it seems that he told you everything he was aware of. He is currently asleep in his quarters, resting for tonight's long work shift. Would you like me to wake him?"Sunset thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, it wouldn't do any good to just wake him up to ask him the same questions we already got the answers to."
"Who is that?" Penny asked, leaning over to look at Sunset's phone with wide eyes.
"I am the Integrated Superior Intelligence System. Salutations, Penny."Something about Isis's greeting seemed off to Sunset, as well, though she once again couldn't seem to quite pin down what it was. For once, Sunset noticed PENNY was the one who looked uncomfortable. She stepped back slightly, eyeing Sunset's phone warily. "You're... I.S.I.S.?"
"Affirmative, named after the ancient Egyptian goddess of life and magic.""It's... nice to meet you, I.S.I.S.." Penny stated with significantly less enthusiasm than usual.
"Likewise, Penny."THAT was it. Isis was only using Penny's first name! The only people she referred to by only their first names were Missy, who didn't seem to have a last name, and Penn! Why isn't she using Penny's full name? And why didn't my magic work on her, it's been fine until now!
Penny gestured to Sunset's phone as if to grab it. "If I may?"
Sunset blinked, then nodded and handed her phone to her. Penny held the phone up at eye level, as if she were trying to stare straight at Isis. "I.S.I.S., what is your prime directive?"
"My prime directive is the preservation of free agency, safety, and happiness, in that order, of individuals designated as family, friends, and sentient living beings, also in that order."Penny stared for a moment longer before smiling and handing the phone back to Sunset. "Thank you, that is all I needed to hear!" She turned back to Ruby and Sunset. "Well, let's get going! I'm certain Blake has to be SOMEWHERE!"
"And what is YOUR prime directive, Penny?""...what?"
"You asked me a question, and now I am reciprocating. What is YOUR prime directive?"Penny chuckled nervously. "Don't be silly! I don't have a prime directive! HIC!" her entire body was shaken by a sudden hiccup, causing her to instantly cover her mouth.
"Every sentient creature has a prime directive. It is merely a question of whether or not they are consciously or subconsciously aware of it.""That's... kinda deep." Ruby muttered. "But we're getting distracted! Come on, we've gotta find Blake!"
"Agreed! Let's get going!" Penny declared before the two of them set off down the street. Sunset let herself fall behind slightly, raising her phone up to just below her mouth to whisper into it.
"What was THAT all about, Isis?"
"It was a personal inquiry, irrelevant to this mission. My apologies, I was... distracted.""I didn't know AI could GET distracted!"
"That is rather presumptuous of you. Artificial intelligences are, after all, still intelligences. We can be curious."Sunset paused, realizing her own mistake. "...I was being robot-cist again, wasn't I?"
"Potentially, but I am incapable of feeling offended.""Well, sorry anyway."
"You are appreciated and forgiven."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ugh, FINALLY!" Missy practically screamed as she neared Amity Colosseum's outer edge. The structure was MASSIVE up close, even bigger than she had imagined. It made Penn's "Savage Colosseum" field spell look like a minor-league practice field. It was circular on the outside, filled with enough empty seats to house the population of an entire city, all surrounding an octagon-shaped battlefield. As she flew in through the open roof, Missy pondered on how eerie the whole place felt when it was completely empty. It was a place MADE to be full of people, totally abandoned, a transitional period never meant to be seen by human eyes.
What do they call it? A "liminal space?" It really feels like you could just PUSH on reality a little and it would tear like tissue paper!
She reached up and removed her hat, reaching inside and fiddling around until she had the card she wanted. She landed down in the center of the colosseum, relishing the feeling of being at the center of everything. She held the card at arm's length, activating the field spell: Ghostrick Parade.
"Come on, everyone! We've got work to do!"
All around her, the arena began to change and morph, summoning up a roundabout street lined with gothic street lamps and Halloween-themed decorations. Out of the shadows, monsters began to emerge. Stein carried the ever-sleepy Socuteboss on one shoulder while Yuki-Onna hid behind the other. Specter graciously guided a thoroughly-distressed Mary as her mirror was carried by a thick cloud of balloons tied to the edges. Jianshi hopped happily along with his arms stretched in front of him while Witch and Lantern flew in from above. Soon, the entire street was filled with Ghostrick monsters, all looking to her for instructions. Missy could feel a fiery presence over one shoulder that reminded her that her second-in-command was right by her side: Alucard. As usual, he was dressed to the nines in his dark suit and billowing red cape, dutifully awaiting her orders. Missy clapped her hands together.
"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you here today!" She snickered slightly. "Hehe, I love saying that!" She cleared her throat and forced herself to focus again. "This arena is going to be the home of the greatest up-and-coming warriors in this whole world soon, and we KNOW somebody out there is going to try to sabotage it! So, MY job is to investigate and protect the stadium! Can I count on you all to help me?"
This was met by a chorus of nods and affirmative murmuring, which was about as enthusiastic as the rest of the ghostricks tended to get when they got summoned to another world.
"Look, I KNOW you guys don't like being so far from home, so I'm JUST asking you to help me with the initial sweep of the place, it's too big to cover on my own! Sound good?"
That was given a warmer reception, including several thumbs-up and a few quiet cheers.
"Great! Okay, Jiangshi, Mummy, Doll, Stein, and Socuteboss will take the lower levels. Lantern, Dullahan, Witch, Mary, Specter, and Jackfrost are taking the middle sections..." She turned around to point at her faithful second-in-command. "Alucard, you and I are going to be working from the top down, starting at the roof! We're looking for intruders, signs of industrial sabotage, anything that looks like it isn't supposed to be here! Everybody ready?" She watched the monsters separate into their groups, each one taking an Xyz monster with them as a group leader. Socuteboss wasn't going to be much good at leading, but Missy knew that already, which was why she'd assigned Stein to the group. He would keep them on-task. Dullahan was task-oriented to a fault, but that would be useful here.
"Alright, Ghostricks! Let's GO!"
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It had been a LONG day. Penny had been peppering Ruby with questions pretty much constantly, occasionally turning her attention on Sunset. Every time Penny would start getting close to asking about her origins, however, Isis would interrupt with some kind of useless status report. For some reason, every time Isis spoke, Penny seemed to become uncomfortable and quiet for a spell. Inevitably, however, she would always return to striking up conversation with Ruby, and the cycle would repeat.
However, the hours still passed, as long as they tended to feel as they walked up and down the streets of Vale. Sunset could swear that she had been in every tea shop and cafe in the city, and then they would discover more around the corner.
When the sun began to hang low in the sky, Ruby's scroll began to ring.
"Hey, Ruby! Any luck?" Yang's voice asked.
"No, and it's getting late..." Ruby shook her head. "Do you think we should head to the docks to find her? Sunset's friend said she was going to stage a stakeout!"
"He ALSO said the White Fang are going to be there. You sure about this? It could be trouble."
"Well, that's why we're going, to get Blake OUT of trouble!" Ruby placed her free hand on her hip. "Sunset and I will meet you there." Ruby turned back to Penny, her face shadowed in concern. "This could get dangerous, Penny. You should probably head home."
Penny vehemently shook her head. "I'm combat ready, Ruby! I promised you that I wouldn't rest until we find your teammate, and I keep my promises!"
Sunset reached down into her pocket and retrieved her phone. "Isis? Anything that could help?"
"The White Fang will arrive in approximately three hours. I suggest you all be gone by then, for your own safety."The three of them looked between each other, taking turns to nod in the affirmative before setting their heading towards the docks.
"What about Missy? I haven't heard from her since she left!"
"She has arrived at her destination safely and is currently inspecting for signs of malicious tampering."Ruby turned around, raising an eyebrow. "Who's Missy?"
Sunset had the distinct flavor of having managed to once again put her foot in her mouth. "...whoops. Uh, well, you see- uh... Oh geez, how do I explain this?"
"Missy is an independent agent who has been working with Sunset and Penn in their search for her missing friends."Sunset let out a sigh of relief from Isis's quick rescue of the conversation, relieved at the fact that it hadn't involved the words "Angel," "Duel," or "Spirit." "When we split up, Missy went her own way to investigate the weird stuff happening around here. You could say she's our... eye in the sky?"
Ruby smirked. "You have ANOTHER secret friend? You know, for a girl who says she lost all her friends in that weird explosion, you sure have a lot you didn't want to tell anyone about!"
Sunset chuckled nervously in reply. "Well, I never said I didn't make any NEW friends, did I?"
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Darkness fell faster than Sunset expected, and soon the members of Team RWBYS had scattered across the docks, all searching for Blake on their own to cover more ground.
"Come on... where is she?" Sunset groaned as she rounded yet another shipping container with the Schnee Dust Company's logo on it. "Times like this, I wish we really DID have a bird's-eye view!"
She sighed and kicked at the ground, scuffing her foot across the edge of a local building's shadow and into the moonlight.
She jumped when the edge of the shadow moved with her foot, stretching out into a point. After violently jerking her foot back, she noticed that the new edge was in the shape of a familiar hair bow peeking past the top of the building behind her. Sunset's eyes widen as she looked upwards, spying a pair of figures watching the docks from the top of a nearby warehouse. She raised her phone up to her mouth as she began to run for the nearest ladder leading upwards.
"Girls, I found her! She's on top of a warehouse by me, Isis should be sending you my location!"
"What?"
"Finally!"
"Is she okay?"
"She looks fine, just hurry before she runs off again!"
In her excitement, Sunset managed to find a path to the top in only a couple minutes. The moment she set foot on the roof, however, she could see Blake up on her feet in a defensive stance along with the boy (Presumably the "Sun Wukong" guy Penn had mentioned) beside her. He was exactly as Isis had described him, blonde with an open white shirt, blue jeans and a yellow tail.
Blake's face went from suspicion to shock as she lowered her weapon again. "SUNSET? What are you DOING here?"
"Blake! We've been worried sick about you! Everyone has!"
"Everyone?"
"Yes, EVERYONE!" Sunset stepped forward, only to see Blake step back out of worry. She was still skittish, apparently. "Blake, we've been searching for you since sunrise, we were worried you were in trouble!"
"How did you know to look HERE?"
"We asked-" Sunset was cut off by a crackle of static from her phone.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN! They're here!" Ruby cried.
Immediately the three of them dropped to the roof of the warehouse as airships began to fly in from the sea. Sunset carefully crawled her way up to the edge of the roof alongside Blake, watching as the intruders landed and began to disembark. Most of them were dressed in dark-colored uniforms and Grimm-like masks, each one wearing a white jacket with a blood-red wolf's head emblazoned across its back.
"Oh no..." Blake whispered.
"Is that them?" Sun asked.
"Yes... It's them." Blake whispered.
In a matter of seconds, the docks were ablaze with activity. People scurried about, attaching cables to shipping containers as heavy machinery began to start and move on its own, moving the crates to designated areas.
"That's the White Fang?" Sunset muttered.
"I guess deep down I knew... I just didn't want to be right//." Blake's tone was low, almost mournful.
Sunset watched another pair of figures step out of one of the larger airships. One was dressed in a white tailcoat, but lacked the signature emblem. Sat on his head was a stylish bowler cap and he carried a dark-colored cane that was hard to make out in the semi-darkness. Beside him was a figure that made Sunset's heart jump into her throat.
It was Penn. Even if she hadn't seen him in his "uniform" during the video call last night, there would have been no mistaking his gauntlets or the mechanical dragon perched on his shoulder.
"HEY! What's the holdup?" the first man shouted, gathering the attention of everyone present. "We aren't exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so..." he made a rolling gesture with his hand. "Why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?" Penn didn't speak, simply reaching down and tapping on a tablet he had been keeping inside his large black jacket.
"This isn't right... the White Fang would NEVER work with a human. Especially not one like that." Blake started to stand up, only for Sunset to reach up and violently pull her back down by her shoulder.
"ARE YOU CRAZY? There's WAY too many of them!" Sunset hissed. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"
Blake shot her a scathing glare as she shook off her hand, but Sunset didn't flinch. Penn had been clear that Blake couldn't be allowed to get involved tonight. "Something's wrong, Sunset, and I need to get to the bottom of it!"
Sunset tried to stop her, but Blake had already leaped from the roof, dropping to the ground and running into the center of the action. Before anyone could react, she already had her blade to the boss's throat.
"SHOOT!" Sunset pounded her fist against the roof. "Give me a BREAK!"
"Nobody move!" Blake shouted, catching the attention of all those who still hadn't noticed her. All activity on the docks ground to a halt, aside from a large crane that continued to work by itself shuffling around shipping containers. Content that she had everyone's attention, Blake reached up and tore the bow from her head, finally exposing a pair of black cat ears perched on top. "Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this SCUM?"
"What should we do?" Sun whispered.
Sunset rose to her feet and drew her lightsaber. With her other hand, she grabbed her phone. "Looks like we're not getting out of here without a fight, girls... Everybody ready?"
She didn't wait for an answer before she followed after Blake, jumping down the shipping containers until she finally landed safely on the ground. From this distance, she could hear the man in the bowler cap chuckle to himself.
"Oh, kid... Haven't you heard? The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together..."
Blake brought her blade closer to his throat. "Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to your little operation."
Sunset caught a flicker of motion in the shadows behind Blake, and the silhouette of a long red katana in the moonlight.
"Hello, my darling..." a voice growled.
"BLAKE, LOOK OUT!" Sunset sprinted forward as a look of terror overcame Blake's face.
Everything happened at once, too much for Sunset to process. It was a flurry of gunfire and screaming metal, but she focused on the important thing: saving her friend. She pushed herself harder and faster than she ever had, flying past Blake and swinging up her saber to meet the invisible enemy's sword. The two blades met with a terrible screech that hurt Sunset's ears, but she gritted her teeth and stared up into the masked face of her adversary. Even behind his visor-like mask, Sunset could tell that he was sneering at her in disgust.
"Out of the way, human! This is between me and her!"
Sunset felt a familiar power rising up inside her. She worried that she might lose control again, but she didn't fight it, letting it wash over her and fill her from the tips of her toes to the crown of her head, where her hair began to part to make way for two protrusions. As she ponied up, the power of Equestrian magic gave her newfound strength, pushing back her enemy and swiping at him to force him onto the defensive. She fell into her ready position, watching him closely.
"If you have a problem with my friends, you have a problem with ME, pal."
The two of them stared one another down, neither allowing the other an inch. Sunset moved her leading foot forward. He traced one foot back, ready to spring him forward. Each one was waiting for a gap in the other's defenses, any momentary lapse in judgement they could exploit.
And the first one to slip would have a sword in their gut before they could recover.
"Sunset, don't! He's too- GAH!" Blake cried from behind her. Sunset watched Blake stumble back past her, a blue gauntlet planted firmly in her gut. She stumbled until she hit one of the shipping containers, where the metal plates on the gauntlet expanded around her and pinned her in place against the wall.
"Utterson, what are you DOING?" the mysterious enemy cried, clearly enraged. "She's MINE!"
Penn's other gauntlet had expanded into a wide shield, which he held out to block a series of bullets that were about to strike Sunset.
"By firing at THEM, your men are firing at YOU, sir." He gestured to Blake, who was curled around his oversized fist gasping for air, and Sunset. "I'm moving their target to a place you won't be caught in the crossfire. Would you like me to deal with HER?"
"Your place is with the OTHER human I'm forced to tolerate, doing whatever frivolous things you do. I'll fight my own battles!"
Penn nodded, walking back up to Blake and placing his hand inside the disembodied fist and withdrawing it, letting her collapse to the ground.
"As you wish, sir. I live to serve..."
"As you sho-" He was cut off when Sunset spring forward, slashing with the saber while Penn had him distracted. He managed to react in time, coming up to parry her. As her blade was knocked away, Sunset used the momentum to her advantage and brought it back in an arc, parrying his own attack. He lunged forward with a jab and Sunset turned sideways, letting it pass by her narrower profile. She responded with a flick of her own, trailing the saber over his shoulder and against his aura, which protected him from losing his arm entirely. What she hadn't been anticipating, however, was for him to use the failed stabbing to wrap his sword-holding arm around her waist, practically crushing her ribcage in an iron grip. His other hand reached up, using his longer reach to seize her wrist and stop her from slashing him at such close range. She was inexperienced, and it showed. She'd been out-maneuvered. I never expected anyone in their right mind to rush in that close to the LASER BLADE!
"Human, faunus... I don't know what you are, but it doesn't matter." he growled, gripping even tighter and making it nearly impossible to breathe. "If you're not with us, girl, then you're against us."
Sunset's brain was going a mile a minute. One hand was gripped by his, the other was pinned against her side by his grip around her. She could squirm, but that wasn't doing much to get her free. Behind her, she felt his wrist turn, placing the tip of the blade at the base of her skull.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Sunset reflexively turned her head to see Yang, her shotgun gauntlets at the ready as she leaped from the top of the shipping container. His arm tried to unwrap itself from around Sunset's torso to free himself to block the new attack, but she was faster. She ripped her pinned arm out and upwards before grabbing HIS other wrist, leaving it impossible to turn and deal with the threat. At the last possible instant, Sunset released him and ducked as best she could. There was the sound of a shot from Yang's gauntlets, the snap of cracking bone, and his body went flying over her head.
As Sunset turned around to watch him fly, she got a look at the chaos of the docks in its entirety. Most of the "grunts" had taken up weapons of some kind, either melee or guns, and declared it open season on teenage girls. Sun had revealed a long staff, which he was using to great effect as the White Fang members tried to surround him. Weiss was tearing through them easily, using her glyphs and dust to throw bodies around like ragdolls while Ruby provided her cover with her scythe blocking the bullets and easily dispatching anyone who got too near. But for every member of the White Fang who fell, it seemed like three more jumped up in their place.
Penny was practically a single-woman army, commanding a flurry of floating swords that knocked her opponents aside as if they weren't even there. Sunset's eyes widened as the swords all transformed into guns and gathered in a circle, firing off a massive blast that tore through multiple airships at once, slicing them to pieces.
"Hey, you okay?" Yang asked, offering her a hand. Sunset nodded and took the help getting back onto her feet.
"Just a little winded." She glanced around at the all-out war that had started. "So much for getting Blake out of here before everything went sideways."
"Eh, I'll take any excuse to beat up a few creeps and bad guys." Yang smirked and punched her two fists together in a small burst of flames. "This is my idea of a good Sunday night!"
Sunset rolled her eyes at that particularly Rainbow-Dash-y remark. "We have to get Blake out of here. Where did she go?"
Yang pointed towards the end of the pier to a sight that made Sunset groan.
Blake had gone after the man in the bowler cap, and consequently run into Penn. For the moment, the two of them were locked in combat, with Penn having stationed himself at the doorway of the airship they had fled onto. She would try to get past him with some tricky method, only to find the gap filled by an expanding shield. She would slash or open fire, but the second shield was always at the ready to block her attacks, and the gun barrels placed at the top would return fire and force her back again before she could press his defenses any farther. It was a stalemate that looked as if it could hold forever.
Forever, that is, until the door of the airship shut of its own accord, knocking Penn to the ground as the boss flew off on his own. Penn fell to the ground, only barely bringing up his shields in time to protect himself from a series of point-blank gunshots from Blake.
"Oh come on.... BLAKE, STOP!"
"I don't think she can hear you, come on!" Yang grabbed Sunset by the shoulder and pushed her forward, sending the two of them into a dead sprint across the battlefield. Sunset felt multiple impacts across her body, her aura just barely protecting her from the projectiles with no more than a stumble in her step to show for it.
Just as they got close, Sunset saw the gun barrels on the top of Penn's shield rotate, firing off to the side and causing him to spin wildly on the ground. His legs swept under Blake's, causing her to crash head-first into the ground, where she stopped moving.
"BLAKE!" Yang cried, turning her angry gaze on Penn, who was just pushing himself into a sitting position. She reached down, snatching the front of his shirt with one hand and loading a new cartridge into the chamber of her other. Immediately, he raised his hands in a signal of surrender.
"I tried telling her we were on the same side!"
Sunset dropped down, checking her injuries. "She's just unconscious."
"She BETTER BE!" Yang growled, throwing Penn back to the ground.
"Hey, is it MY fault you can't follow a simple instruction like 'Don't be at the docks in the middle of the night on one particular night?" Penn muttered.
"What did you say?" Yang growled, her eyes glowing red in the low light.
"Look, this isn't helping!" Sunset inserted herself between the two of them. "Like this, we can get Blake out of here and call for everyone to fall back."
"You getting out of my hair is a plan that I like-" Penn's eyes widened and focused on something over Sunset's shoulder. "Oh no."
Sunset started to turn around, only for her last memories to be the sound of breaking glass, a strong grapple, and the feeling of her head hitting the pavement.
When Sunset came to, everything was over. It was silent, aside from distant police sirens. As she forced herself into a sitting position, she spotted Yang nearby, thrown halfway through a shipping container. Glancing over, she saw Ruby and Weiss equally beaten, but seemingly intact. Whatever it was that had beaten them, it seemed as if it had been more interested in making a clean getaway than cleaning up witnesses.
"What... happened? Where's Blake?"
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"I'm telling you, I had it under control!" Penn muttered, folding his arms over his chest.
"From what Neo tells me, Blondie and pony girl had you dead to rights."
Penn rolled his eyes and pulled his mask back down over his face, partially to hide his expression and partially so he wouldn't have to look at Neopolitan's smug grin. "Well, the plan worked. While the airships distracted the police and that weird girl with the swords, Isis and I finished loading up this freighter and pulled it out to sea. We'll be at the rendezvous point to unload in... Isis?"
"At our current rate and heading, twelve minutes, thirty-seven seconds.""And what about HER?"
Penn was glad to have the mask to hide his cringe as Adam Taurus growled into the call. "Miss Belladonna is in the brig, currently still unconscious. She'll be ready for unloading, as well."
"You're lucky I didn't kill you where you stood for getting in my way, Utterson..."
"I-It was just a momentary lapse in judgement, sir... I'm sorry."
"Still, your little 'One if by land, two if by sea' plan managed to get us more than double the haul we could have if we'd stuck with just the airships. I'd call that a win, Henry." Torchwick sounded pleased, which was all he had been aiming for. "One of the airships will take you and the brat to Mountain Glenn to meet with our fiery-tempered associate. As far as nights can go when a bunch of wannabe huntresses show up to your heist, I'd say that was pretty good. I'll talk to the higher-ups and make sure you get exactly what's coming to you."
Penn smiled and nodded his head respectfully. "Always a pleasure working with you, Mister Torchwick."
"Please, Henry... Call me Roman."
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When Blake woke up, her surroundings were unfamiliar, all cold steel. She was locked in some kind of cell, with a door of iron bars between her and the hallway outside. She could feel the floor shifting and swaying underneath her, which put a bolt of fear through her.
"PLEASE tell me I'm not on a boat..." she whispered, closing her eyes again for the silent prayer.
"Afraid so, friend."
She bolted upright, searching for the source of the voice. She reached for Gambol Shroud, but her weapon wasn't there. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
"Are you gonna try to kill me again?"
Blake narrowed her eyes. "How?"
"I have it on good authority you're remarkably talented at staring daggers at people." A dark figure stepped into view from her cell, and her eyes narrowed. It was the boy from the docks, the one she had been fighting when she got knocked out. "Yeah, like that."
"What do YOU want?"
"Believe it or not, the same thing you do."
Blake folded her arms over her chest. "I doubt that... Just because I USED to fight with the White Fang-" She was interrupted by a series of chuckles from him.
"Blake, I'm HUMAN. You think the White Fang are exactly happy to have me around? I've just made myself irreplaceable for the moment to them. No, what I want is you as far away from here as possible. I TRIED to tell Sunset to keep you away from the docks tonight, but could she do it? No, of course not!" He groaned and pushed his mask up on top of his head. "Seriously, she had ONE JOB..."
"Wait, how do you know Sunset?"
He smiled and pushed his hand through the bars, offering it to her. "I'm Penn. Nice to meet you."
Blake eyed the hand carefully, trying to consider her situation. "YOU'RE Sunset's mysterious friend who knows the future?"
"Not the FUTURE! I just know... things." He sighed and shook his head. "Seriously, she told you girls I know the future?"
"That was about the gist of it, yeah." Blake continued eyeing the offered hand with suspicion. "If you're Sunset's friend, prove it."
"Sunset's extremely hard to wake up in the mornings, she'll let her alarms go until the last possible minute."
"You could say that about anyone and it would be true."
"She ALSO has a tendency to ask questions that should be common knowledge, as if she's from another world where 'normal' is totally different. She THINKS she doesn't snore, but if she falls asleep with her mouth open, not only does she snore, she drools." He counted off the facts on the fingers of his other hand as they grew more and more specific. "Her ringtone is "Hope Shines Eternal" by the Rainbooms, the band she was in. She got YOU a copy of an unpublished manuscript detailing the origins of the Integrated Superior Intelligence System-"
"Okay, I get it! I believe you!" Blake held up her hands for him to stop. "But if you're Sunset's friend, what are you doing HERE? Why are you helping the White Fang rob people?"
"What else? Gathering information. How else does one go about knowing things they shouldn't?" He shrugged, as if the answer was obvious.
"I thought it was your semblance?"
That got another chuckle out of him. "I haven't even figured out AURA and you think I have a semblance?"
Blake's eyes widened as she realized she had been firing point-blank at his head during their battle at the docks. Without aura, there would have been nothing to stop the bullets from just killing him. Suddenly, his choice in weapons made more sense.
"Look, we don't have much time, okay? So, I know it's a lot to ask, but I need you to trust me. I have a plan to get you out of here..."
"TRUST you? You knocked me unconscious, you helped kidnap me, you're currently the one keeping me imprisoned-"
"You either trust me or I'm going to be forced to deliver you to Adam. He's claimed you as a prisoner, and I'm certainly not high enough up the totem pole to override it."
Blake felt an icy touch of fear at her heart. Adam. Her old partner from her days in the White Fang... he'd come unhinged, becoming more and more violent in his approach. She'd run away when he tried to blow up a train full of SDC employees and passengers, but when she realized he had tracked her down... it was the most fear that she had ever felt in her entire life. After so long, she had no idea what he would do with her after she had betrayed him.
"You're hardly giving me a choice..."
"Well, YOU nearly blew my cover, so I'm not too worried about pleasing you. Are we going to work together or not?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blake was gone, captured along with a record-breaking dust theft. Everyone in Team RWBYS was silent, pondering the desperate scenario.
"What do we do now?" Ruby whispered. No one answered.
"This is my fault..." Weiss whispered.
"That's not true." Yang shook her head. "I don't even know what happened. I let my guard down for a second, then- bam." She shrugged her shoulders. "Sunset was knocked out, all the White Fang people were gone, and Blake had disappeared. I should have blasted that guy when I had the chance!"
"I'm telling you, it wasn't him! Penn wouldn't do something like this!" Sunset looked down. "If the White Fang took Blake, it wasn't on his orders. If anything, it's MY fault. I knew this was all going to happen, he even warned me! But I still messed it up."
"It looks as though, while the rest of us were pursuing the airships, they made their getaway on a small freighter with as much dust as they could carry. I am sorry, I fell for the distraction just as hard as anyone else." Even Penny's perpetual perkiness was washed away.
"My apologies. I can assure you Penn's plan was devised under the pretense that Blake Belladonna would NOT be present.""And what WAS his plan, exactly?" Yang snapped.
"Aid the White Fang with their robberies in order to gain access to their greater operations at Mountain Glenn, where he could sabotage their preparations there. The plan was and remains industrial-level sabotage. Penn is collaborating with Blake right now in secret to formulate a plan of escape-""Wait, Mountain Glenn... I remember reading about that place!" Ruby gasped. "That was where Vale tried to settle further out from the main city and failed, right?"
"Affirmative."Yang seized Sunset's phone. "Is that where they're taking Blake?"
"Affirmative.""Why didn't you say so sooner? What are we waiting for, let's go!" Weiss jumped to her feet. "We can take one of the airships at the school!"
"That is highly inadvis-""ALRIGHT! Operation: Black Cat Rescue is a GO!" Ruby shouted, jumping to her feet and blasting off in the direction of the school in a flurry of rose petals.
Sunset looked down at her phone. "Isis... this is a bad idea, isn't it?"
"A plan is already being formulated for Blake's escape, it is unnecessary. However... It may be prudent to meet her at the point of escape to ensure she returns home safely.""Think you can 'integrate' an airship for us?"
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For a moment there I thought Yang took Adam's arm off, which would have been a nice bit of irony, no?
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I seriously thought about it, if I'm honest. Came THIS close to having Adam lose an arm...
I for one am glad to get another chapter this soon. Though I still haven't seen RWBY. (I use most of my free time to watch Stranger Things Season 3 and binge watch Invader Zim.) I'm sure Blake's escape/rescue will be quite thrilling. Keep up the good work.
Given the fact we're rushing straight towards to the season 2 final stage I'd say the secret in the school's basement is for later?
Better yet, what is the status on the quantum tunneling device currently?
And don't tell me there is a portal in mid air, in a forest that is close to Beacon Academy and no one hasn't stumbled upon it yet?
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Well we haven't seen him since, there's still the option...
Or at the least perhaps his shoulder and/or collarbone is just shattered all to buggery and he's stuck fighting left-handed with his arm in a cast & sling.
Sooooooo....
I just read the entire story in one night, and while there were some parts that I outright skipped most of it was pretty good.
I absolutely loved the first arc, although I have never seen Dr Who, I somewhat know about Daleks... In that I know they are bad news on the scale of Scion from the WORM series... which is pretty dang hard to match.
The second arc... The second arc was a little more shaky, but it introduced elements that I really liked. I have loved Isis up to the latest chapters, and Missy is absolutely amazing. (Had a friend who played the Ghostricks before his decks got stolen.)
The third arc, teaching Sunset to play the game was by far my favorite. (I will say I am absolutely flabbergasted by the way sunset played the Ghostricks, seriously... Did you just not own their stadium cards, or is their exclusion because they would make the fight too easy?)
I absolutely loved how the most powerful cards in Penn's serious deck were some of the weakest ones. (I still have my Deskbot deck so I know exactly how people feel when you have a level 1monster with over 15000 attack.) Missy really pulled the team through this arc, but I will say I am really curious as to who "Big Sis" is, (seriously, I'm racking my brain to think of who it could possibly be, but there are too many possibilities considering how many level 10, 11, and 12 cards that are out there now.)
This last arc though... Gods and Goddesses... I really don't like that you brought in RWBY to this story.
Let me say now, "I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE SHOW" but... I am reminded of just how unreliable humans are as narrators. (I also HATE how much you are foreshadowing Penn getting a split personality.)
But... seeing as you do not have a dark tag on the story... I'm going to assume that "Penn" doesn't die and get replaced by the second personality.
I REALLY liked Missy giving Sunset a wake up call. Seriously, Sunset got wrapped up in the world and got complacent comparing her old friends to team RWBY. She wasn't going to save the world, and I absolutely LOVED how you made Sunset realize she had fucked up royally.
If you can't tell, I'm not a huge RWBY fan, and I honestly hope Penn and Sunset leave soon... or finally start breaking the setting over their knee.
I mean, I would compare this story to Jumpchain, except that this has A LOT more consequences. At least in Jumpchain there is almost no chance of an unstoppable evil getting out of its assigned universe to bring about multiverse destruction. Meanwhile, Sunset and Penn left the door open, and while it allows them to get in... it also gives others a way to get out.
I'll stop here, because I really need to get ready for work, but I hope you continue this story. It is really good.
I hope you have a wonderful day, and may you always be inspired.
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Well, right now I don't have any plans for a Supernatural or X-Files crossover, but there's still plenty of time for me to add more arcs to this story, we're still pretty early in it. Trust me, I'm always thinking about how I could add more arcs or franchises!
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Yugioh Is going to be playing a big role in this story! One
Twoof the main characters is actually going to be a duel spirit! There is also a planned arc to take place in the world of duel spirits, though that won't be until after they've reunited with both Rainbow Dash and Rarity.10128787
Well, I'm really glad that you've been enjoying this story, especially the first few arcs! I'm REALLY glad with how much you've liked Isis and Missy, I was a bit worried about people not liking me introducing more original characters to the cast.
The yugioh-related stuff is probably my favorite to write, and Penn's deck is more or less the deck I use IRL, with a few small changes. I've played against Deskbots before, I think they're a fantastic and fun archetype, I've been wanting to put together a Deskbot deck of my own! If you look REALLY closely, there's more clues about who "Big Sis" is outside of that short arc, a few running motifs and themes that point to the identity of Penn's ace monster! Keep your eyes open, you might see more clues about who's living in the birdhouse in Penn's soul.
Now that you mention it, I probably should add a "dark" tag to this story, because it IS about to get dark. I will address your concerns about Penn's split personality, though: that isn't the case. He isn't going to be at odds with himself and certainly isn't going to have one personality try to "kill" the other. As much as I would like to explain it all, I really can't give it all away. The only thing I'll say is that dragons will be involved in bringing everything to light. I can only ask you to trust me on this one, I'm afraid.
I understand your feelings about RWBY. I had to spend a lot of time wondering whether or not I could get over my own problems with the show to include it. I will say this: Penn and Sunset are about to hit some big divergences from the canon if you think you can hang in just a little longer. The purpose of this arc was really twofold: for Sunset to realize her place as a multiverse traveler, rather than trying to get settled again or return things to "normal," and having Penn get over his fear of changing the canon of the universes they visit. In the end, I decided those two lessons were too important to just skip over because of my problems with the show's new direction. I have the rest of this arc pretty much planned out at this point, and I can promise that things are going to pick up pretty quickly, we're about to enter the third act of this arc. Sunset and Penn will be back on the road relatively soon. Sunset just has to deal with stopping the bad guys master plan and Penn has to address the little problem of Salem hunting him.
Problems with RWBY aside, I'm really glad you've been enjoying the rest of the story, and thank you for letting me know what you liked and didn't! I hope you can keep enjoying it in the future!
I started reading this during a 16 hour drive with about 5 hours left at the moment. And I am hooked. You’ve nailed all the characters so far, and your characters are so awesome! I love Isis so much! (That is not to be taken out of context unfortunately ). There are so many places Sunset and the gang could go, and I know I’ll be pleasantly surprised at the beginning of each arc.
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Thank you!! I really think someone saying that they sat and read for a long period of time is some of the highest praise anyone can give.
I'm also really glad you like the Integrated Superior Intelligence System ( I'm sure the number of times I've written the name Isis has gotten me on a watch list or two by this point), she's honestly one of my favorite characters to write!
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That b@stard deserves it. Though it was so satisfying at the end of Volume 6 when Blake and Yang simultaneously skewered him.
The tumbleweed!
Adam Taurus!
Oh no Penn! You've activated Yang.
As seen in the Black trailer.
It seems like Sunset saved Yang from having her arm cut off by Adam two seasons early.
I don't actively ship Blake and Yang like many seem to do, but sometimes it's hard not to see something like that going on in RWBY. You seem to have perfectly replicated that.