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Maximum RWBY

This story's rating is: K+ and contains some older material that may be inappropriate for younger readers, including: thematic humor, subject matter, and action. (provided by ShadowBobcat10). If you disagree with this rating, please contact either ShadowBobcat10 or a local admin.

Genres: Adventure Fantasy.

Incomplete Fanfiction
This fanfiction has not yet been finished.

Crossover

This fanfiction is a RWBY and Maximum Ride crossover.

Angel and Maximum Ride join our favorite huntresses across Vale to battle Grimm and the mysterious Salem. A retelling of the awesome series with a touch of Max.

Prologue[]

Watch Opening


♫ There's a point where it tips
There's a point where it breaks
There's a point where it bends
And a point we just can't take
Anymore

There's a line that we'll cross
And there's no return
There's a time and a place
No bridges left to burn
Anymore

We can't just wait with lives at stake
Until they think we're ready
Our enemies are gathering
The storm is growing deadly

Now it's time to say goodbye
To the things we loved
And the innocence of youth
How the time seemed to fly
From our carefree lives
And the solitude and peace we always knew ♫

Part One: Crossing the Line[]

A Simple Wok[]

Angel stood in front of the large chipped tombstone. On it read, "Benjamin Rider: Best flyer ever." That was all Angel knew how to write when her father died. She was glad she wrote something then.

"So, I've gone to Beacon," Angel began, staring at her father's name. "I know you'd want me to become something, and I'm only six, so you know. This is something." She fought back the sick urge she'd felt at the end of the semester and continued. "I survived, and I'm going to do my best to become the best huntress Remnant has ever seen." Even if I'm still a child, and a young child, at best.

"Ben, wish you were here," Max said. "But your girl's great. They're teaching her all she needs to know to become a great young lady." Max rubbed Angel's shoulders reassuringly. "If you were here she could kick your butt by now."

Fang snorted. "Do you have anything to say?" Max asked Fang.

Fang faced the tombstone. "You would be proud."

"Bye Dad," Angel said.

"Bye Ben," Max added.

They walked out of the cemetery only for Angel to crash straight into the one person they thought they wouldn't see - Ruby.

"What are you doing here?" Angel asked the red hooded girl.

"I'm visiting my mom," Ruby said. "What about you?"

"We just visited Angel's dad," Max said. "We're heading out for lunch. Care to join us?"

Ruby glanced at her feet abashedly, feeling the slightest hint of hesitation. Immediately, Angel noticed. "What’s the matter Ruby? If you don’t want to come with us, you don’t have to."

"No, I want to come!" Ruby said. "Of course I want to hang out with my friends."

Angel looked at Ruby suspiciously for a moment. Only after not finding a hint of deceit in her childishly large silver eyes did Angel finally respond. "Okay. Well we are going to eat at a Simple Wok Noodle House."

"Isn’t that just a stand on the side of the road?" Ruby asked, confused.

Max sighed. "Yes, but the food is surprisingly good from what I hear."

"We've been planning on trying it out for a while," Angel added.

"Isn’t it run by the same old man that runs Dust Till Dawn?" Ruby asked, unconvinced. "I mean, I had no problem helping him. Forgive me for being a little selfish, but I would rather not have to work on my day off."

Angel laughed. "What are the odds that the same people that robbed his dust shop would decide to rob his noodle shack? I mean, even crooks have to eat sometimes."

"But there's no honor in crooks," Ruby pointed out.

"Ruby, everyone has to eat or else they'd starve," Angel said. "Why would a crook hinder their own ability to eat?"

Ruby shrugged. She had been defeated by logic given by a six year old.

Max, Angel, and Fang walked away as Ruby approached her mother's grave. A rose, like her own emblem, was etched on the cold stone. Summer Rose, it read, among other things.

Ruby proceeded to set some flowers on her mother's grave. "Hi, mom. Things are going well at Beacon. I made some new friends." Ruby paused and sighed. "I haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet, so that is cool. I miss you." With that, Ruby wiped a single tear from her eye and walked away.

At least, she started to, until she felt an invisible pressure on her chest, making it extremely hard to breathe. It made her dizzy and lightheaded, as if someone was walking through her. Just as she thought she was going to pass out, she heard her mother's voice, something she barely remembered, but when she heard it, she recognized it immediately.

"Be wary of whom you trust." As soon as that was said, the pressure went away, and Ruby fell to the ground, gasping for air. A shiny sheen of sweat had formed over her face, along with a look of utter terror, like she had seen a ghost.

Maybe she did.

Fate[]

A short while later, Ruby caught back up with Max, Angel, and Fang at A Simple Wok .

"Hey guys. Sorry, I'm late," Ruby said abashedly.

Angel regarded this as if she had simply said, the sky is blue. After a moment's hesitation, Angel seemed to notice, out of nowhere, the unnaturally pale color of Ruby's skin. It was such an oddity that it goose bumps rose on Angel's arms. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

At that notion, Ruby laughed, but Angel could tell it was strained and forced. In spite of Angel's better judgment, she decided not to push the issue. The look on Ruby's face told Angel that if she didn't want to talk about it, it was probably something too serious for her to give any helpful advice.

"So, are you excited about Beacon?" Angel said, trying to distract Ruby from her strange demeanor.

Ruby forced a smile. "Second semester? Heck yeah!"

After a minute or two of casual conversation, Gabi came up to the counter, dressed in an apron. "Welcome to A Simple Wok Noodle Stand. Can I take your orders?"

Ruby was so shocked by the sight of Gabi, yet another classmate from Beacon, that she nearly fell out of her seat. "Gabi? What are you doing here?"

Gabi gave Ruby a look of utter contempt. "Going to the number one monster fighting academy in the world isn't cheap. Do you have any idea how much money I am on the hook for? Almost three million Lien!" Gabi spat.

Ruby recoiled in shock at the sudden outburst. "I… I didn't know that," she managed.

After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence, Max finally spoke up. "I'd like the special, yeah, the one on the wall over there."

Hurriedly, Angel and Ruby placed their orders and Gabi went in the back to prepare the food.

Ruby sighed deeply. What a strange day, she thought to herself. Angel eyed her suspiciously, but said nothing.

Not two seconds after doing so, a suffocating weight fell over Ruby, more powerful than the last, accompanied by an explosive headache that made her want to barf her guts out. With her entire head throbbing and pounding relentlessly and mercilessly, a voice rang so loud that, in Ruby's mind, there was no way that everyone else hadn't heard it. Her eyes burned and watered as her vision teetered out, bright splotches of color dotted what little vision remained.

"Ruby!" The voice screamed. "You are in danger! You need to leave Beacon. If you don't, your fate is sealed! I wish I could be there to protect you. Please, heed my warning!"

Suddenly, everything went quiet except for the constant ringing in her ears, getting louder and louder in her already bleeding ears. The repeating, increasing noise blasted at her thoughts, amplifying her already unbearable headache. It took a while for her to realize that the ringing she was hearing was actually the concerned voices of her friends. After a while, the ringing focused into audible voices, and individual voices made it through the blanketing sound fog.

"Are you okay?" came Angel's frantic voice. "Can you stand up? Ruby, can you hear me?"

Ruby's vision started fading back in, along with a feeling of being extremely lightheaded. Her head throbbed less now, but the back of her head still stung, and the hair around the source of her pain was soaked in something warm and sticky. Eventually, Ruby realized that she had fallen out of her seat and hit her head on the sidewalk during her fit, and the back of her head was bleeding.

Max reached onto the counter and grabbed some napkins. Max asked Nora for a bottle of Vodka, and Nora quickly returned with some. Pouring the Vodka onto the napkins, she began disinfecting the actually relatively small wound on Ruby's head. The alcohol stung worse than a thousand Rapier Wasps.

"Don't worry," Max soothed, her calm voice cutting through the pain. "Head wounds always bleed a lot. It's not as bad as it looks."

After all this, Ruby finally put two and two together and got fish. "What happened?" she asked, shaking her head minutely.

Angel tried to look calm, but her shaky voice gave away her concern. "You were just sitting there when you froze up, and you fell out of your seat. You started convulsing and uttering gibberish. We assume you were having a seizure of some kind."

Ruby looked at them confused. "Didn't you hear that loud thundering voice?"

They shook their heads. Max shrugged this off as some sort of hallucination caused by whatever the heck had happened to her.

"How long was I out?" Ruby asked after the few moments of silence.

"You were out for a good thirty minutes," Angel replied nervously. "We called an ambulance. You'll get a CAT scan, and you should be back at Beacon in a few hours. You'll be fine."

That last part sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.

Max finished bandaging up her head and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry," she reassured.

Emerald[]

Meanwhile, an old man was hanging a sign in front of his store. Reopening, it read. He looked at the sign with satisfaction. He began to climb down the ladder. His foot seamed to slip and he fell off. Rubbing his head, he got up and looked up to see a girl with emerald colored hair eyeing him apologetically.

"Hi, sorry about that," she said. "I'm new here. Could you point me in the direction of this shop?"

The old man replied with welcoming, "Um-hm. It's about two blocks that way," he said, pointing in the direction she had come, indicating she had passed it.

"Thanks." She waved as she walked away.

Just as she rounded the corner, Mercury came up behind her. "So, did you get what we need?"

Emerald looked annoyed. Waving a wallet in his face she angrily said, "I will seriously pay you to shut up!"

"That's not your money," Mercury pointed out.

"But, it could be yours for five minutes of silence," Emerald practically spat.

Mercury pretended to think about it for a second. "Um, no deal."

Emerald angrily took the lien out of the billfold, discarding it on the ground. "Fine!" she said and stomped in the direction of their location.

"Whatever. You need me." Mercury said, laughing lightly.

After a few minutes, Mercury got bored. "There's nothing in this city. Are we there yet?"

"Well, I like this city. Tall buildings, diverse culture-" Emerald responded.

"And nice, dopey people who are easy to pick pocket." Mercury cut in.

Emerald rolled her eyes. "That's every city."

"Oh Emerald, master thief, please don't steel my money. I barely have enough to get by," Mercury mocked. Emerald rewarded Mercury with a low guttural growl.

Mercury sighed. "You're no fun today."

After another minute or so, they arrived at Tukson's Book Trade. Emerald was the first to walk through the door. The theme song to Red vs. Blue was humming in the background.

Emerald walked up to the single checkout desk and rang the bell.

"Just, a minute!" a voice called from the back. Mercury wondered off to the front of the store to the comic book section.

The door behind the counter opened and Tukson walked up to the counter. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. How may I-" he paused, looking at Emerald, seeming to recognize her but saying nothing. "How may I help you?" His face softened a little.

Emerald smiled at him. "Every book under the sun, huh? Do you have any copies of The Thief and the Butcher?"

"Yes, we do," Tukson

Emerald looked enthusiastic "That's great!"

Tukson looked a little confused "would you… like a copy?"

Emerald continued to smile. "No, just browsing. OOH! What about Violet's Garden, in paperback?"

This time Mercury responded. "Oh, he's got it, hard back too."

Emerald pondered this. "Options are nice." Tukson was visibly more anxious. "What about The Third Crusade?"

Tukson's smile completely disappeared. "Um, I-" Emerald's intense maroon-rose eyes seamed to bulge out of her head. "I don't believe we carry that one," Tukson said quietly.

Mercury became interested in the counter. He slammed the book he was skimming. "Oh," he said in a deceptively calm voice.

"I'm sorry, what was this place called again?" Emerald asked.

Tukson took a worried breath. "Tukson's Book Trade."

"And you're Tukson?" Emerald asked.

"That's right," he affirmed.

"So you're the one who came up with the catchphrase?"

Tukson nodded nervously. "Yes."

"And what was it again?" Emerald played.

He sighed. "Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun."

"Except The Third Crusade!" Mercury piped in.

"It's just a catchphrase," Tukson muttered.

"It's false advertisement!" Mercury screamed.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," Emerald threatened. Mercury flipped a switch near the door, and the windows darkened ominously. He flipped a second switch, and the door's window darkened, leaving only light from the ceiling. "We heard you were planning on leaving, moving all the way to Vacuo," Emerald continued. "Your brothers at the White Fang wouldn't be happy to hear this, and neither are we."

Mercury proceeded to flip the third and final switch. The lights went off. "Now, do you know who we are?"

"Yes," Tukson said in a detached tone.

"And you know why we are here?" Emerald continued.

"Yes," Tukson said. In the half-light, it almost looked like he was rolling his eyes.

"Now, are you going to fight back?"

"Yes!" Tukson shouted. He jumped on the counter, claws out and lunged at Mercury. Mercury kicked at his face and fired a shot between his eyes.

The two walked outside as if nothing happened.

"What's that?" Emerald said, pointing to the comic in Mercury's hand.

"What? I like the pictures."

Best Day EVER![]

Blake's mind felt ablaze. No. Her mind felt like it had been added to a strawberry banana smoothie, blended with ice and a hint of futility. Her binder, full of dead end leads and bewildering notes, lay in front of her, mocking her. You won't find it, it seemed to sing nonchalantly. You'll never catch them. Nobody will.

Despite all that, she was still trying. Still trying to piece together the puzzle, trying to find out how the White Fang fit into this, how Adam fit into all of this.

Adam. He's a monster, Blake reasoned. That was why she left. But he was her first friend. At one point, he was her only friend. But you have you team now, she told herself. You have–

"Whatcha doing?" Yang asked, breaking Blake out of her daze. She returned to the school cafeteria. First day back at school. So there was always a crowd of people staring at her from every direction. Blake quickly slammed the binder. Max, sitting across from her, shot her the bird.

"NOTHING," Blake replied, her eyes almost challenging Yang and Max to say otherwise. "Just going over some notes from last semester."

"Lame!" Yang mocked. She didn't seem to catch Blake's slip-up. Nora threw a grape across the room. Yang nimbly caught it.

"Blake, what was in that?" Angel asked.

Blake held her breath. "Um, it was–"

Suddenly, Ruby jumped onto the tabletop holding a binder that looked suspiciously like Weiss's binder from last semester. "Sisters, friends… Weiss."

"Hey," Weiss protested.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream," Ruby continued.

Yang smiled. "This ought to be good," she said, catching the berry Nora lobbed at her.

"A dream that one day, the four of us will come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had… ever!" Ruby announced triumphantly.

"Is that my binder?" Weiss asked. Blake wasn't wrong. That was Weiss's binder.

"I am not a crook," Ruby said, flashing peace signs and her smile.

Blake rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Ruby pointed at her. "I'm talking about kicking off this semester with a bang!"

"I always kick off my semesters with a Yang. Eh? Anyone?" You know who said that. I know you know who said that.

And we know whose face Nora's apple hit. "Boo!" Nora yelled.

"If I do say so myself," Blake whispered inconspicuously to you, only turning her head slightly, "that was a horrible pun." Yes. She said that to you, the reader.

"Who're you talking to?" Max asked.

"Nobody," Blake claimed.

Max looked suspiciously at Blake. "You're acting weird today. You know that, right?"

"You're very blunt. You know that, right?" Blake commented in her bored voice.

Max forced a sarcastic smile. "Yes, thank you very much."

"But Max's right," Angel said, jumping straight into Max and Blake's conversation like a sharpshooter on a roof. "Why were you talking to the audie–?"

Until she was interrupted with a pie to the face. The pie slipped unceremoniously to Angel's lap. "IT'S ON, NORA!" Angel screamed triumphantly, forgetting her previous train of thought and getting up onto the table beside Ruby.

Meanwhile, outside the pandemonium erupting in cafeteria, Sun was talking with Neptune.

"And I met the awesome girl. She's a Faunus–" Sun stopped for a minute, remembering. "But, you can't tell anyone, 'cause that's a secret!"

Neptune winked. "I got it. My lips are sealed."

"And not a, 'I'm going tell Scarlet as soon as Sun turns his back,' secret," Sun said. "I'm talking about a secret secret."

Neptune stopped walking. "Look, dude. I got it."

Sun then stopped at the doors in front of the cafeteria. "Okay. My friends are just in here. I really want you to meet them, so act cool, okay?"

Neptune looked at him like he had just said the most stupid thing in the world. "Dude, who do you think you're talking to?" he asked, looking like the epitome of cool incarnate.

"Okay." Sun opened the door to a face full of bread. All he saw was chaos, but he seemed pleased. Neptune, on the other hand, not so much.

"Food fight!" Angelica screamed.

On one side of the cafeteria, Nora stood on top of a stack of tables, singing "I'm quean of the castle, I'm quean of the castle! Ah-ha-ha-ha!"

Ruby stood on top of a table holding a carton of milk that read, "Utter Satisfaction." Pointing her finger at Nora, she screamed, "Justice will be swift. Justice will be painful. It will be... DELICIOUS!"

Nora jumped off the table, shouted, "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" and flipped a table with watermelons on it over, sending the green, watery fruit flying.

"YANG! TURKEY!" Ruby shouted. Yang grabbed two turkeys and put them on like she would with Ember Celica. She obliterated the watermelons as they flew towards her, pink-orange juice exploding every which way.

On the other side of the battle, Ren armed himself with leaks. Blake faced him and grabbed some French bread.

"It's on," Ren said in his Ren fashion.

Ren sliced at Blake and she blocked fiercely. Dicing and stabbing, Ren and Blake locked themselves in a stalemate. Ren broke free and jumped through the air, launching leaks like missiles at Blake.

Nora jumped up and grabbed the flagpole, impaling a watermelon and wielding it like a hammer. Yang jumped at Nora and they swung their weapons at each other. Everything slowed down as Nora and Yang tried besting each other. Nora, whacking the hammer, gained the upper hand swung Yang through the ceiling.

Meanwhile, near the soda machines, Pyhrra summoned her polarity and manipulated soda cans. Forming a tornado, she launched the aluminum cans at Weiss.

Unable to shield herself, the cans propelled Weiss into the wall, actually doing significant damage to the wall. She fell, unconscious but still alive.

Ruby quickly caught Weiss's fall. "Weiss, Weiss," Ruby screamed. "Don't leave me. NOOOOO!"

Fury building, Ruby set Weiss down and climbed on top of the tables. With a determined look on her face, she raced across the room kicking in her semblance. Her cape wrapped around her as she became more rose petals than actual flesh and bone. Ruby accelerated exponentially, and as she broke the sound barrier, time began to slow.

Ruby reached the wall and stopped with a rippling effect, forming a crater on the wall. She jumped out of the way just in time for all the debris, soda cans, and other students to crash into the wall, sucked in by Ruby's slipstream.

Suspended on the wall, the students lingered for a second in rainbow color. They slowly peeled off, leaving gaps in the mosaic of soda colors.

Professor Goodwitch stormed through the door. With a wave of her wand, she righted the mess hall, tables leaping into place as if summoned. "Children, please do not play with your food," the professor said firmly.

No sooner than she said that, Yang fell back through the recently repaired hole in the ceiling.

Glynda scowled. Ozpin set his hand on her shoulder. "Let it go."

Glynda gave Ozpin a questionable, yet trusting look. "They are supposed to be the defenders of the world."

Ozpin smiled patiently. "They will, but for now, let them be children," Ozpin said. He started to walk off. "After all, it isn't a role they will have forever.

Phase Two[]

The White Fang moved crates in an old warehouse. In the shadow of a crate labeled with the Schnee Dust Company symbol, Emerald and Mercury emerged.

"Oh, look! She sent the kids again!" Roman said. "This is turning out just like the divorce!" Without another word, he wrapped the two in an unwanted group hug.

Emerald shivered out of Roman's grasp in disgust. "Spare us the thought of you procreating."

"That was a joke," Roman sighed. "And this... just might tell me where you two have been all day." Roman flashed a piece of paper at Emerald.

"What!?" Emerald squinted. "Agh..."

"I'm a professional, sweetheart," Roman said, smiling. "Pay attention, and maybe you'll learn something." Reading, he paused. "Why do you have this address?"

Emerald smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yeah, I would," Roman shot back. "Now where have you been all day?"

"Cleaning up your problems," Mercury shot in. "One of them, at least."

"I had that under control," Roman sneered in disgust.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise," Mercury countered.

"Listen, you little punk," Roman sneered, his "cheerful" façade gone. "If it were up to me, then I would take you and your little street rat friend here and..."

"Do what, Roman?" Cinder's voice echoed in the warehouse. Cinder walked on a platform above them. She stepped onto an automated lift, riding it down to their level.

Roman laughed nervously "I'd, uh... not kill them?" he said, though it sounded more a question then a statement.

"Cinder!" Emerald shouted excitedly, her deep red eyes lighting up.

"I thought I made it clear that you would eliminate the would-be runaway." Cinder said.

Roman stutters slightly. "I was going to..."

"He was going to escape to Vacuo!" Emerald interrupted. "Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat."

"I think he was some sort of cat, actually." Mercury added.

"What? Like a puma?" Emerald asked, mildly entertaining the humorous statement.

"Yeah, there ya go," Mercury said.

"Quiet. Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?" Cinder scolded. Roman laughed, pointing a finger at the pair.

"I just thought..." Emerald started. She glared at Roman as he mimed a slit throat.

"Don't think... obey," Cinder instructed.

"Yes ma'am. It won't happen again," Emerald apologized, eyes cast downward.

Cinder turned her angrily glowing gaze to Roman "And you. Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

Roman gestured to all the stolen dust around him. "Uh…? Eh…? Eh…? EHHHHH! Sorry if I've been busy stealing every speck of Dust in the Kingdom!"

Mercury gasped with mock admiration and thick sarcasm. "You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski mask." Emerald laughed in agreement.

"Look around, kid. I've got this town running scared!" Roman shouted proudly. "Police camping out at every corner, Dust prices through the roof, and we're sitting pretty on an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with!" He smiled for a second, as if he did have an idea for what to do with all the dust. "Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand master plan, it might make my next string of robberies go a little smoother!" He emphasized that last word, clenching his fist.

Cinder approached him, extending a hand to his face. "Oh, Roman. Have a little faith," she said, placing her hand on his face. "You'll know what you need when you need to know it." Roman appeared entranced for a split second, but then looked away with a grunt. "Besides, we're done with Dust," Cinder continued. She turned to walk away.

"O-okay, then. What now?" Roman asked, confused.

"We're moving. Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight," Cinder ordered.

"Coordinates?" Roman asked.

Cinder paused, turning back towards Roman. "We're proceeding to Phase Two."

Cinder, Mercury and Emerald turned away and walked back towards the shadows of the dust crates. Roman attempted to light a cigar, only to realize Emerald had stolen his lighter. Emerald turned around and stuck her tongue out defiantly, flashing Roman's lighter proudly.

I'm a professional, too, "sweetheart," Emerald giggled to herself.

Pieces in Play[]

Meanwhile at Beacon Academy, Glynda and Ozpin were having a meeting of their own.

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels," Glynda remarked as Ironwood's ship passed overhead.

"Well, running an academy and a military makes him a busy man," Ozpin remarked, eying the hideous metal monstrosities outside his window. "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore."

A chirping beep sounded, and Ozpin turned to see a hollow-message, "Access Requested," on his desk. "Come in," Ozpin said through the mike.

The doors opened to reveal Ironwood. Ozpin got out of his desk.

"Ozpin!" Ironwood said cordially.

Ozpin stood at attention. "Hello, General," he replied.

"Please, drop the formalities," Ironwood said as they shook hands. "It's been too long. And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met," Ironwood added.

"Oh, James!" Glynda said before giving him a personable wave and then dropping all pleasantries. "I'll be outside." Glynda headed out.

"Well, she hasn't changed a bit." Ironwood mentioned.

Ozpin sat down at his desk. "So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas?" he asked, picking up a kettle and pouring a cup of coffee as he speaks. "Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival." He turned and offered the cup to Ironwood.

"Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year," Ironwood said, producing a canteen from his inside coat pocket and pouring its contents into his mug. "Besides, with you hosting, I thought that this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up."

Ozpin nodded, pouring himself some coffee. "I can certainly appreciate the quality time between friends." He paused, looking out the window. "However, the small fleet outside my window has me concerned."

"Well, concerned is what brought them here," Ironwood replied.

"I understand that travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult," Ozpin offered, whether out of sarcasm or ignorance.

"Oz, you and I both know why I brought those men," Ironwood interrupted.

Ozpin took a sip of coffee and set down his mug. "We are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this are just going to give off the wrong impression."

Ironwood sets his mug down.

"But if what Qrow said is true..." Ironwood started.

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully." Ozpin interrupted. "It's the Vytal Festival, a time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest that you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

Ironwood replies with a sigh. "I'm just being cautious."

"As am I," Ozpin adds patiently. "Which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can."

"Believe me, I am," Ironwood responded, turning and walking away. He stoped near the door and looked back at Ozpin. "But ask yourself this: Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?"

Taking a deep breath, he continued to the elevator.

Ozpin sighed. "I hope they never have to."

Not Poker[]

In the Beacon Academy library, Team RWBY played Remnant: The Game.

"Hmmmmm.... All right... All right!" Ruby said, pointing at Yang. "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

Yang thrust her elbows down and balled her fist. "Bring it on!"

"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Ruby said, slapping her card down on the table.

Yang feigned a look of shock.

"Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!" Ruby said, making airplane noises and bombing sounds as she made a bird with her hands.

Yang feigned indignance as she pointed at Ruby. "You fiend!"

"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time is only one turn" Ruby announced.

Suddenly, Yang laughed arrogantly. "Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!" Yang shouted, flashing the card to Ruby.

Ruby gasped, disturbed.

"Giant Nevermore!" Yang screamed. She slammed the card down on the table. "If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

Ruby smiled. "But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

Yang grinned. "That's just a chance I'm willing to take." The two glared at each other. Yang rolled the dice.

Team JNPR, over in the back of the library, sighed as Yang screamed triumphantly, the sound echoing across the entire building. Ren and Pyrrha were studying, Nora was drooling as she slept, and Jaune was pretending to study while reading a comic. Team AMGL was nowhere to be seen.

Ruby's piercing scream followed. "Nooooo!!! My fearless soldiers!"

"Eh, most of them were probably androids," Yang cut in.

Ruby sobbed. "Goodbye my friends. You will be avenged."

"Not until I draw my rewards! Which are double this round thanks to the Mistral Trade Route!" Yang said in a snarkily.

Ruby sighed in exasperation "Bah!"

"Oh. Have pancakes," Nora said, sleep talking and snoring.

"Oh, and what's this? The Smugglers of Wind Path?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha cleared her throat and confiscated a comic book Jaune was reading, trading it for her textbook.

"Bah! Bah, I say!" Ruby cried in exasperation, again.

Yang grined. "I say, it looks like I'm drawing two cards in my hand!"

As Pyrrha read Jaune's comic, Yang threw Nevermore player piece over Jaune's shoulder. Another piece bounced off of his head.

"Have you no heart?" Ruby begged before collapsing on the table, crying. "Nooo!"

"Well, Weiss, it's your turn." Yang said, back to her friendly voice.

Weiss looked around, confused. "I have... absolutely no idea what's going on."

Yang slid up beside her. "Look, it's easy!" Yang explained. "You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus."

"That sounds dumb," Weiss said.

Yang started looking through Weiss's hand. "See, you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge... Oh, oh! Resourceful Raider! See, now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet—"

"Nooo!" Ruby moans.

"—and put it in your hand!" Yang said.

"Okay," Weiss nodded

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom!" Yang said, pointing at Weiss. "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war," she added, back in character. She pulled away and returned to her seat.

"And that means..." Weiss asked.

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby balled.

Weiss stood and a thunder clap accompanied Weiss's overjoyed psychotic laughter. "Yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces!" Weiss declared. "Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!"

"Trap card..." Yang said, smile as wide as the sun.

"Huh?" Weiss asked, confused.

Yang shuffled the pieces on the board, Weiss's pieces disappearing in a puff of smoke. "Your armies have been destroyed." Yang declared confidently.

Weiss slumped in her chair, tearing up. "I hate this game of emotions we play."

Ruby hopped into Weiss's lap. "Stay strong, Weiss! We'll make it through this together!" Ruby said in the most melodramatic way possible.

"Shut up!" Weiss cried as she hugged Ruby. "Don't touch me!" Weiss said, being a total Tsundere.

"Alright Blake, you're up!" Yang said, again back to friendly helper mode.

"Oh, um, sorry, what am I doing?" Blake asked.

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the Kingdoms of Remnant!" Yang responded.

"Right," Blake said with fake interest.

Angel walked in the library, noticing her friends in the middle. "Can I play?" she asked.

"Sorry Angel, we've already got 4 people," Ruby said.

"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess," Weiss said, not noticing that she was being more mean then she meant to be.

"Uh, you attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago," Yang pointed out, to Weiss's annoyance.

Angel laughed at the irony. "How do you attack your own fleet?"

Weiss blushed. "Like you could do any better! Child!"

"TWO HOURS LATER"

"That was even easier than I thought,"" Angel said, leading back.

Weiss stared, stunned "But how?"

Angel tapped her head. "Telepathy?"

Weiss really blushed at that. "Well, whatever."

Chapter 8[]

To be continued...

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