Crushed

Yang

After Blake and I shower, Goodwitch announces over the loudspeaker that she needs to see Team RWBY immediately. We meet up with our teammates outside her office then knock on the door.

"Come in," Goodwitch tells us. We enter, and see the Huntress looking really tired. There are bags under her eyes and her hair is a mess. "Sit," she says, motioning to the chairs in front of her desk.

"You're probably wondering why you're here," Glynda starts. "Professor Ozpin sent me a message, saying he had information on Torchwick's whereabouts, and specifically requesting that I send you four to pursue this lead. He said he'd go himself, but he has to get back here."

"Good. I can get payback," I growl.

"Another thing, Ms. Xiao Long. If Torchwick is there, he is to be brought back alive, along with any information you can find about his plans."

"That's fine. It means I can make him beg for mercy," I reply.

"As long as you're not bringing back a corpse, or someone who's suffered too much head trauma to form coherent sentences, you are permitted to go to any means necessary," Goodwitch says. "Professor Ozpin's lead points to a disused supply tunnel in the north of the city. Be careful; we don't know what you'll find."

"Yes, ma'am," Weiss answers, before getting up to leave. We all follow her to our dorm room where she and Ruby grab their weapons. Blake and I already have ours from our sparring earlier, so we head out to find Torchwick.

Fifteen minutes later, we're in the city, heading north. Somehow Weiss knows exactly where this tunnel is, so we're following her until we reach a decrepit old building that is clearly abandoned. She checks her scroll, then tells us there's an access point to the tunnel in the building. She probably has a map on her scroll. That would explain a lot. Weiss tries the door, and finds it to be locked.

"I got this," I tell everyone, then punch straight through it. Luckily, it's made of wood so it doesn't hurt. Feeling around the inside of the door, I find the latch and undo it, then pull my hand back and open the door.

"Could you be any more uncivilized?" Weiss asks me. I ignore her, and make my way inside.

It's really dark, so Blake takes the lead because she has night vision. She spots a light switch and flicks it, but nothing happens. Instead, she tells us to be careful and not trip. Following her down a hallway, we stop when she tells us there's a staircase leading down.

"Wait here. There's a door at the bottom; there may be light on the other side," Blake says, before heading down and opening said door. Thankfully, she was right and light spills out, illuminating the staircase enough for people without night vision to descend safely. At the bottom, I find that the door leads to a long hallway that splits at the end. Suddenly, I see Blake's bow twitch, and figure she must be picking up sounds too faint for her human ears. "Someone's coming," she whispers, and we all prepare to fight.

Two people come round the corner at the end of the hall, and stop when they see us. They're both wearing Grimm masks and White Fang uniforms, and try to run before we do anything. Unfortunately, Weiss is too quick, and freezes them in place with an ice attack.

"I call handling the interrogation," I say as we walk towards the White Fang soldiers. "There's two ways we can do this. One, you tell me what I want to know and I knock you out with minimal pain. Two, I beat the information out of you," I tell them with a smile on my face.

"Wh-what do you want us to tell you?" one of them asks, sounding scared. The other is struggling to break free of the ice.

"Where's Torchwick?"

"No way, he'd kill me if I told you," he replies. I raise my fist threateningly, and he changes his mind. "Turn right at the end of this hall, then keep going straight. Be quick though, he said he's not staying long."

"Thank you," I say, before knocking out both soldiers with a punch to each of their heads. I sprint the way I had been told and come to a metal door. A long-range blast from Ember Celica knocks it off its hinges, then I burst through the hole it had occupied and see something that makes me stop dead.

I'm in a large tunnel, maybe a hundred feet across and fifty feet wide. It's teeming with White Fang soldiers all doing various things. They look like they're preparing for a war, with lots of crates that I assume are full of stolen Dust. There are also dozens of cages, each containing Grimm of all kinds imaginable. They all have the collars we saw during the attack on Beacon, so I figure the White Fang, or more specifically Torchwick and his employer, are controlling the Grimm to use them for some illicit purpose. Another thing that worries me are the fifty Atlesian Paladins being stocked with ammunition. Luckily, the general racket of all this activity drowned out the blast from my gauntlets, so no one knows I'm here yet.

Unfortunately, this doesn't last long, because the metal door lands in the middle of the tunnel with a resounding clang, causing White Fang members around it to look around in confusion.

"Mr. Torchwick! The blonde girl is here!" one of them yells when he spots me. I mentally kick myself for not getting out of sight, and briefly wonder why my teammates haven't arrived yet. Before I can process anything else, I see four dozen assault rifles pointed at me. Well, shit, I think, before my combat instincts kick in and I roll to the side, where there's a conveniently placed box for me to take cover behind.

I start planning my next move, then hear the distinctive crack of high-caliber sniper fire. I turn and face where I'd been standing before and see Ruby, Crescent Rose at the ready.

"Weiss! Blake! Yang! Go, go, go! I'll cover you!" she yells, and I figure she means go towards the enemy and attack, and attack I do. I charge the White Fang and start punching anyone in range. The first few guys don't even register what's happening before they go down, and the next few blink in surprise. I prepare to attack them, but then I see a black blur fly past and hear metal clanging. Several more soldiers drop, bleeding in various places and I see Blake, both swords out, her face a stony mask. Suddenly, she becomes a black whirlwind, swords moving too fast for me to track, so I join her in taking down the enemy. Weiss stays back, casting various glyphs to support us.

"I'm going after Torchwick!" I hear Ruby yell, and I figure she must have seen him trying to retreat. Ninety seconds later, most of the soldiers are dead or unconscious, but most of the Paladins are activating.

I look at Blake. "Time to go?" I ask.

"Time to go. WEISS, WE'RE LEAVING!" she yells the last part.

We run down the tunnel, towards the end that seems to lead outside. You could say we're following the light at the end of the tunnel. Behind us, the Paladins start shooting and I hear one of the few remaining foot soldiers yell "open the cages!". That's not good.

We burst out of the tunnel and see Ruby, who has managed to catch up to Torchwick and shoot him in the leg. The criminal's cane is nowhere to be seen, so I figure Ruby must have thrown it away from its owner. Knowing the Paladins and an army of Grimm are still chasing us, I throw Torchwick over my shoulder and keep running.

"You lose," the scum I'm carrying whispers in my ear. "This was all planned."

"Shut the fuck up," I growl back, but secretly I'm a little worried. What was planned? Us finding the hideout? Capturing Torchwick?

I don't have long to think about it, because a pack of Beowolves is suddenly in our path.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Ruby asks. Instead of answering, we kill the Grimm easily. Well, "we" don't. Ruby, Weiss and Blake do, because I'm carrying Torchwick. While they do that, I look around and see smoke rising from quite a lot of places around the city.

"What the actual fuck is happening?" I spit at Torchwick, throwing him to the ground.

He laughs in response, so I punch him, breaking his nose. "Fine, I'll tell you. Ozzy isn't as smart as you think. My employer let him know where I was, so that we could get you four out of the school. Meanwhile, the traitors at Beacon knock out the power and take the school out of the loop, so they have no idea what's happening down here. As for what that is, exactly what you Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to prevent," he tells me smugly. "And let's not forget the Dust you guys leave lying around in the armory."

"What does that have to do wi- Oh," I say, realizing what he meant. As I do, I hear a colossal explosion to the south, and I turn to see Beacon, heavily damaged by the Dust explosion. Before we get a chance to do anything else, two Deathstalkers appear, ready to kill us.

"These beasts are tame, ladies," Torchwick tells us. "They'll only attack if I give the word. Lay down your weapons and leave, and I'll let you all live."

"I don't think so," I reply, stomping on his good leg. I feel the femur break under my foot, and I know he won't be going anywhere. My teammates and I prepare to fight the two large Grimm when I hear a familiar voice.

"No one threatens my nieces," my uncle Qrow declares from behind me. I assume he unfolds the scythe Crescent Rose is modeled after, because there's a series of mechanical clicks. "You four take the one on the right. I got the other one."

Ruby turns and sees our uncle. Her face lights up, before she turns back to face our opponent. The four of us target the Deathstalker Qrow told us to kill, and Weiss freezes its pincers shut with an ice blast. It howls in range, and Ruby shoots into its mouth, which it closes in a hurry. Blake jumps up and grabs its stinger, then starts firing Gambol Shroud's pistol. It roars in pain and shakes her off, and she lands gracefully.

"I guess cats really do always land on their feet," I call out, winking at my girlfriend.

"Not now, Yang," she replies, smiling. Before I can say anything else, Qrow yells that it's ridiculous that he can take down a Deathstalker on his own faster than the four of us can take one down together. I roll my eyes and slide underneath the beast, firing both gauntlets at its underbelly. The force lifts it up, and I get to my feet and run out of the way before it crushes me. It twitches once, then lies still.

"Took you long enough," Qrow banters, before pulling Ruby and I in for a hug. "Ozpin was suspicious, so he sent me to follow you in case you needed help."

Weiss and Blake stare at him suspiciously. "I'm Qrow, Ruby and Yang's uncle," he tells them. "We need reinforcements. There are Grimm and Paladins everywhere." When he finishes speaking, he pulls out his scroll and types a message. I can't see who to.

"Now what?" Ruby asks.

"We kill Grimm and destroy mechs," Qrow answers. "Yang, I suggest you let me hit you to activate your Semblance."

I nod, and prepare for the impact. Qrow swings his scythe and hits me with the flat part of the blade, sending me flying. I get to my feet and crack my knuckles, anticipating what comes next. My team, Qrow and I make our way to the city centre, where we see a dozen Deathstalkers, twenty King Taijitus and a few Paladins massacring civilians. I'm gonna enjoy this, I think, charging the nearest Paladin.

Cinder

Ozpin has played right into my hands. This attack has gone exactly as planned so far, and the Hunters won't be able to stop it. I doubt I'll even have to participate…