Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. I don't own the Flash. But I do own this fic.
A/n: And now onto Volume 2. Also, new chapter, yay.
Y/n Pov:
'Wow, today is a surprisingly quiet day. But, police are patrolling for the Vytal Festival, so criminals are either scared or biding their time. After all, some things are multiversal constants. Well, if nothing's popping up, I guess I'll take a break and have some lunch, maybe look for some books while I'm at it too.'
I speed around Vale and do some last microsecond checks before hiding in a deserted alley and letting my suit shift into what I was wearing before, black jeans, a gray t-shirt, a dark blue button-up, a brown pair of Vans, and the necklace I've gotten used to wearing. I walk out of the alley and look for a place to eat.
Third-Person Pov:
Two people are walking through the streets of Vale, a pale young man with gray hair and eyes. And a young woman with brown skin, mint green hair, and red eyes. The two begin to pass by a dust shop with a re-opening banner being hung by a man who, if the rumors about him hold even an ounce of truth, is rather spry despite his old age. The old man begins to climb down from the ladder. Unfortunately, his foot misses a step, and he falls onto the ground. The young man walks past him, but the young woman helps the older man onto his feet, stifling a brief laugh as she does.
"Scuse me, sorry. I'm not from around here. Do you know where I can find this shop?" The young woman asks before getting out a piece of paper with an address on it.
The old man nods his head in agreement and tells her how to find the bookshop. When he's done, the young woman thanks him and walks away. When she passes a corner, she sees her companion leaning on a wall with his arms crossed.
"I knew you were lost," the young man says.
"Mercury, I will pay you to shut your mouth," the young woman says before getting out a wallet full of lien and waving it in front of Mercury's face.
"That's not your money," Mercury says while shaking his head.
"But it can be yours for five minutes of silence."
Mercury's face adopts a thoughtful expression, "Hmm... No deal," he says.
"Fine," the thief says before pocketing the money and throwing the wallet aside and walking to their destination.
"Pfft. Whatever," Mercury says before leaving the wall and following his companion.
The two continue to explore more of the city. Some time passes before.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"So, how much farther?"
"A few more blocks."
"Ugh... Why does this place have to be so boring."
"Well, I like it. Tall buildings, Diverse culture-"
"And nice, dopey people to pickpocket."
The young woman stops walking and looks at Mercury, "That's every city," she says while putting her hands on her hips.
Mercury turns around, "Ooh Emerald, master thief! Please don't take my money. I barely have enough to get by," he says, turning to face Emerald and putting his hands together as if he were begging to be spared.
Emerald glares at Mercury and growls for a second in frustration before walking away from him.
"Wow. You sure are a barrel of laughs today," Mercury says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Mercury then starts following Emerald again.
The two eventually walk into the bookshop Emerald was looking for. The store owner can be heard humming a tune. While a young man with red hair and a blue button-up wearing earbuds is looking around the store with a few books already tucked under his right arm. The two pay him no mind. He'll be gone soon anyway. Mercury stays near the door, looking at some books on display, while Emerald walks to the counter and rings the bell on it. The humming stops, followed by.
"Be right there." The store owner walks out of a set of double doors while carrying two large stacks of books. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun," Tukson says while setting the books down on a nearby shelf away from the counter. He walks to the counter, "How may I," he hesitates, recognizing the two young adults and looking at the red-haired young man who has no idea of the fate that awaits them both. "How may I help you?"
Mercury looks at Tukson with an open book in his right hand. "Just browsing," he says in a jovial tone before slamming the book shut with an audible thump.
Emerald looks at Tukson, "Actually, I was wondering if you had any copies of The Thief and the Butcher?"
"Yes, we do."
"That's great!"
"Would you... like a copy?"
"No. Just wondering." A thump is heard as Mercury closes another book. "Oh, do you have Violets Garden in paperback?"
"He does. Hardback too," Mercury says while waving a book around before opening it and looking through the pages, "Eh, no pictures," he slams the book shut and places it back where he got it. "You got any comics?"
"Over by the front," Tukson says.
"Oh, what about, Third Crusade?" Emerald asks while narrowing her eyes.
Tucson hesitates, "I don't, I uh, I don't believe we carry that book."
Mercury slams another book shut, "Oh," he says, dissatisfied.
"What is this place called again?" Emerald asks.
"Tukson's Book Trade."
"And, you're Tukson?"
"Yes."
"So I take it you're the one who came up with the slogan?"
"Yes."
"And what was it again?" Mercury asks.
"Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun."
"Except the Third Crusade," Emerald says.
"It's just a catchphrase."
"It's false advertising!" Mercury shouts.
"I agree," the redhead says while flipping through a book with one hand, his voice sounding like several people speaking in perfect sync, yet somehow distorted. Everyone in the store looks at the young man, who turns around, putting the book under his arm as he does, his face nothing more than a blur. He takes the stunned silence as an invitation to keep talking. "After all, it's impossible to be under the sun with the gravitational forces that keep Remnant circling around it. But hey, it's just a catchphrase. Oh, don't mind me, go back to threatening to murder him. And then we can have a nice friendly chat about how your boss made Adam Taurus roll over against his will using a power that she stole." If Y/n didn't have their interest before, he certainly has their attention now. "Actually, never mind." The lights suddenly go out before they turn on again. Y/n is now wearing his super-suit, the books are on the counter, his eyes are glowing blue behind the lenses of his goggles, and he's cracking his knuckles.
Y/n Pov:
'Did not think a trip to a book shop would lead me to find two of the people that White Fang member mentioned months ago. I better be careful. I don't know what they can do.'
I feel a weird buzzing sensation in the back of my head. Identical to the one I felt when those two walked in or when someone tries messing with my head. Now I'm facing several versions of the two people that look my age.
"You know two can play at that game." I run back and forth around the store several times over and create perfect speed mirages.'Looks like Dad was right. Now that my own power isn't restricted, I can do more by myself with ease, and to think that this is barely the tip of the iceberg.'
"So, who's first," I say, my voice echoing around the room. The army of duplicates moves to attack me. All of them pass through me and my mirages and disappear until I feel the guy kick me in the ribs with his right leg. Before he can attack me again, I grab his leg and break it, or I would have if I didn't feel and hear bullets making their way to me. I activate my aura, feeling the gentle warmth of it wrap around me and the bullets bouncing off my back. The guy goes to kick me again with his left. I lean back and see buckshot, I phase, and it harmlessly passes through me. I hear the girl shout some less than family-friendly words, along with the guy's name.'So, Mercury's boots are his weapon. That's why the grunt said it looked like he didn't have one. I'd be impressed if he wasn't trying to kill me right now.'
I grab Mercury's left leg while he's distracted and bring my elbow down onto his shin. Instead of breaking aura-enhanced bones, I feel enough pain that I know I'll have to use more force. I lift my elbow again and bring it down harder, and feel his leg give way, accompanied by a metallic creak followed by a loud metallic snap before I'm holding a weaponized boot with a broken prosthetic sticking out. I do the logical thing and take the leg out and phase the boot on, then phase the other boot off Mercury and onto myself. They're a surprisingly comfortable fit. I hear chains rattling, so I turn around and see a pair of blades heading for me. I catch both and vibrate my hands at a high enough frequency that the blades turn into iron sand. All before performing a front kick that would have no chance of reaching the green-haired girl, but with the boots I just stole, I fire some buckshot at her, and she gets sent flying back into a bookshelf.
"You know what, kiddies? I've changed my mind. So go crawl back to your boss, beg for forgiveness, and tell her I'll be putting her behind bars real soon. And if not, a pine box six feet underground." I grab the two by the scruff of their necks and drop them off where no one will notice my lightning, along with the leg. I'm back in the store a second later and look at Tukson. "You have anywhere to go?"
Third-Person Pov:
"I was gonna head to Vacuo for good later tonight," Tukson says in response.
"You knew they were coming, didn't you? That's why you're heading to Vacuo."
"Yes."
"I see. Well, I better get going," Y/n prepares to leave.
"Wait, you're investigating the White Fang, aren't you?" Tukson says, stopping Y/n in his tracks.
"Yeah, but it's slow going. After all, the ability to get information at superspeed is useless when the people you interrogate don't know anything."
"I can help with that. I've been gathering information on the White Fang for a while."
"What kind?"
"Strongholds, safe houses, stash houses, tactics, the names of high ranking leaders and their skills and weapons."
"How far does this information stretch?"
"Years."
"I'll take it. Where is it?"
"In a storage unit near the docks. Unit 42-L, at Vale Self Storage."
"Thanks," Y/n says before leaving the building and gathering all the information Tukson had on the White Fang. Then Y/n returns to his dorm and begins to go over the information. "This can save me months of work, and it's up to date. So, Sienna Khan, that's the name of the White Fang's High Leader. Then branch leaders, Adam Taurus for Vale, the Albain brothers for Menagerie, Remus Lupin in Atlas, oh wait, says here he's dead. Next is Mufasa over in Mistral. Wait, he's also dead and got replaced by his brother Scar, no wait, he's dead too. And with Vacuo being Vacuo, there isn't a need for the White Fang to be there." Y/n moves his head to the side and looks at the small mountain of information Tukson had on the White Fang. "Looks like I'm gonna be here a while," he says before going back to reading at superspeed, finishing in a few seconds. "Uh, too much," Y/n says, rubbing his eyes before blinking. "I should go tell Ozpin about this. But he's not going anywhere, and it wouldn't hurt to fuel up before patrolling again." Seconds later, Y/n walks into the cafeteria just in time to be hit in the face with a blueberry pie.
Y/n Pov:
The pie falls off my face, and I phase to have the rest of it fall to the floor. 'Why is it that this isn't the weirdest thing that's happened to me in a cafeteria. First, there was the incident with the- Wait, how the hell did Nora stack all those tables? Wait, it's Nora, duh, that how.'
"I'm queen of the castle. I'm queen of the castle," Nora says in a sing-song tone.
"Justice will be swift. Justice will be painful. It will be delicious." I look and see Ruby slam her foot down on a table and crush a carton of milk. The rest of her team raises their fists and shout in agreement.
'Just one normal day to myself, that's all I ask. But do I get my wish granted? No, not a single damn time when dealing with those eight.' I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out what I'm guessing would be an audible sigh if it weren't for the massive food fight. 'Is this how the League felt when Dick, Kaldur, and I went to Cadmus and found Conner? No, probably not.' I catch a stray peach heading my way that is surprisingly unscathed by the fight. I take a bite out of it. 'Might as well wait for Ozpin here.' I go to find a seat somewhere that hasn't been touched by the food fight, but the best I could do was a spot near the doors that only has some ruined fruit on it. So I sit down and wait.
"Wait, I know you. You're that guy from the docks," a somewhat familiar voice says to me. I turn around and see the blond monkey faunus from a few weeks ago.
"Oh yeah, you were the guy Blake was with. I don't think I got your name," I say while standing up and turning around to make the conversation less awkward for my spine. I take another bite out of the peach.
"The name's Sun Wukong, and this is my teammate Neptune Vasilias," he points to a guy with blue hair, a red jacket with gray goggles on his head.
"Sup."
"Hi, I'm Y/n. I take it you guys here for the festival?"
"Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't want to compete in the Tournament," Sun says.
I take another bite out of the peach before I decide to throw in my opinion, "Fair enough. Then again-" I don't finish my sentence, courtesy of a watermelon to the back, which makes me drop the peach in my hand. I look at the peach, then the food fight, and the peach again. 'That's it. If they want a fight. I'll be happy to oblige.'
"If you'll excuse me. It seems I have a monarchy to topple."
Third-Person Pov:
Y/n lets out a disturbingly Joker-like cackle that sends a chill down the spines of all who hear it. Next thing anyone knows, he's standing behind Nora, holding a baguette like a sword, with a mischievous look in his eyes, his hair spiking up and sporting a crooked grin on his face. "You done goofed," he says, his voice filled with amusement.
Nora only responds with a "Meep" before being sent flying halfway across the room due to a horizontal slash from Y/n. She lands near her team and stands back up.
Teams RWBY and JNPR look at Y/n, who's standing on the tables that Nora stacked together.
"Well, Nora, if you're the queen. Then I think it's time for a coup d'etat," Y/n says, his aura flaring to life and bathing him in a crimson glow.
Teams RWBY and JNPR look at each other, coming to a silent agreement. Then, they all turn to face Y/n with makeshift weapons in hand.
"So you have chosen... Death," Y/n says, his voice cold and calculating. He holds the 'sword' in his right hand, the blade facing away from him and pointing towards the ground.
"We're not scared of you!" Yang shouts.
"Yeah!" the rest chorus in agreement.
"Then you will die braver than most," Y/n emotionlessly says. Y/n then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a coin, he flips it, and when it hits the ground, he pounces, and the war begins.
Yang goes in to fight him using turkeys like a pair of boxing gloves. Y/n bobs and weaves between each would-be blow at the last possible second, causing Yang to punch faster and faster in retaliation and frustration, but that's when she makes a mistake. Yang overextends her left arm, and Y/n makes use of the opportunity by doubling back before charging at her and performing an upward slash, sending her through the roof.
"Whoops," Y/n says, with a wide-eyed look on his face.
Pyrrha and Blake, using bread as swords, try to take Y/n by surprise, but his absurd reflexes and years of experience kick in. He evades their sneak attack with ease. The three then become locked in what many would assume is a dance. Neither girl can strike Y/n. He simply blocks, parries, and redirects their attacks. Causing them to hit thin air or each other, along with Y/n delivering a few hits of his own. Y/n delivers a kick to Blake's stomach and sends her flying back. With Blake down, Y/n focuses on Pyrrha, and the two make no headway in getting the other to surrender. In fact, their fight becomes more intense, then an idea makes itself known to Y/n.
"Hey, look, Jaune lost his shirt," Y/n says, pointing in behind Pyrrha. The latter looks, which quickly proves to be a mistake as Y/n swiftly kicks her in the ribs and sends her crashing into a table.
The remaining five all gang up on Y/n, but nothing works, and they can't even get him to break a sweat. Every time Nora swung a flag pole with a watermelon on one end, Y/n would bend backward and shout "Limbo time! How can I go!" at the top of his lungs. Weiss tried to skewer Y/n with a swordfish, but he kicked her into a pillar that thankfully didn't break. Ren tried fighting Y/n in unarmed combat, but that quickly ended with the boy becoming overwhelmed by how fast Y/n can fight and his surprising knowledge of pressure points that's left him unable to use his arms for the time being. Jaune, his attempts were, ineffective to say the least.
That leaves Ruby, who's staring down Y/n in the eye.
"You would be wise to surrender?" Y/n says with a fierce yet stoic expression on his face.
"Yeah. Probably," Ruby replies. Before she disappears in a burst of rose petals. Y/n follows the trail with his eyes but doesn't react, opting to wait and see what happens, and instantly regrets it as he sees a whirlwind forming and heading his way. Y/n closes his eyes and accepts his fate. He ends up crashing against a wall and cracking it from the force of his landing before getting covered in food. Y/n manages to pry himself off and land feet first onto the floor. Then, a loud bang is heard, and everyone turns to see a furious Professor Goodwitch walk in. She uses her semblance to put the cafeteria back into working order. And eight of the nine students responsible for the food fight near each other so she can lecture them.
"Children please," she adjusts her glasses, "do not play with your food," she says.
Nora burps, and that causes the gathered students to try and fail to stifle their laughter. They eventually stop once Yang crashes through the roof and lands on Y/n's back. "I'm okay," he rasps out.
Goodwitch looks ready to lecture them again, but Ozpin places a hand on her shoulder. "Let it go," he says.
Goodwitch lets out a sigh, "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world," she says.
"And one day they will be. But right now, they're still children," Ozpin looks at teams RWBY and JNPR who are laughing along with Y/n who's being held up by Pyrrha and Jaune, "so why not let them play the part? It isn't a role they'll have forever. Mister Garrick can attest to that." With that, he begins walking back to his office.
"Um, Professor Ozpin," Y/n says, getting the silver-haired headmaster's attention.
"What is it, Mister Infantino?"
"I kinda need to talk to you about something."
"Well then, we can discuss it in my office," Ozpin says.
Y/n Pov:
After a few awkward minutes, Ozpin and I arrive at his office. We both take our usual seats.
"What did you need to speak to me about, Mister Garrick?"
"Two of our fugitives are here in Vale, and I'm betting that the third isn't too far behind."
"That can't be good."
"Yeah, it isn't. And I ran into them in the dumbest way possible. But that isn't important right now. Anyway, they're here. Which means we need to prepare."
"And how will we do that?"
"Don't know. But they look around my age, which means they may try sneaking into Beacon with a third party or a very reluctant ally. Depends on how they were motivated to join. Either way, prepare for any students named Mercury and Emerald that match the physical descriptions I gave you a while back."
"And what makes you so sure that they will come to Beacon?"
"The Vytal Festival and the fact that Vale's CCT Tower, the building we're in, is on academy grounds, with one of the Maidens is stashed away in the basement. And I have the feeling that whoever took Amber's power isn't only after her power. No, these types of people only see power as a means to an end. An end we don't know yet. World domination is my guess, based on personal experience," I shrug my shoulders, "Other than that. Nothing concrete. But if they do come as students, then that means one of the other headmasters may be in on the plot to steal Amber's power and anything that comes after." 'Really hope this isn't another mole situation.'
"That's," Oz clenches a fist, "Not impossible," he says, probably remembering countless betrayals he's likely experienced over his many lives. "Unfortunately," he adds as an afterthought. Ozpin turns on his computer and pulls up the records of the incoming exchange students. Finding three people matching the descriptions I gave weeks ago, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, and Cinder Fall.
"That's them," I say, looking at the pictures of the 'students.' "Sustrai or Black can create visual and auditory hallucinations using their semblance. Sustrai's weapons are a pair of revolver-like guns with chains and blades. I turned the blades into dust, but that's all I did to damage her weapons. Black has at least one prosthetic leg and had a pair of boots that fire buckshot rounds. I stole those, thinking of using them while replacing the live ammunition with rubber. As for Fall, you're the one that knows what a Maiden can do, so there is a baseline for the threat she poses."
"It seems that we've been betrayed," Ozpin says, reading more of the individual files and seeing that they're posing as students from Haven Academy. "What do we do now?"
"We prepare, we plan, we wait," I say. "Now, if you don't mind me, I'm gonna go on patrol. I finally had a breakthrough with the White Fang." Before Oz can protest, I phase through the ground and head back into Vale.
Third-Person Pov:
Hours later, in the dead of night, Emerald and Mercury limp into a warehouse filled with White Fang members that the Flash and the police haven't captured yet.
"Where have you two been?" A figure asks from the shadows.
"Trying to tie up Torchwick's loose ends," Emerald says, trying to hide her frustration, all before dropping Mercury onto a nearby crate.
"Spoiler alert, it didn't pan out," Mercury says, holding up what remains of his left leg.
"What happened?" The figure asks, not out of concern for the two but intrigue of what could cause the two to fail. She selected them for their skill, and to think that there is someone who can make them retreat, it may be time to go recruiting again.
"The Flash happened. Turns out he likes reading. Was at the book shop for a while before we were even inside," Mercury says, killing any ideas of recruiting whoever caused them to fail.
"Him again. Always throwing a wrench into things," the figure says in contempt.
"Cinder, he knows," Emerald says with a slight amount of fear.
"Knows what?" Cinder asks, stepping out of the shadows.
"The Flash knows about the Maidens. That you stole-"
"I didn't steal this power," Cinder says, cutting off Emerald's statement, "I was merely claiming what is rightfully mine. And don't worry, speed or no speed, the Flash can't stop what's coming."
"On the contrary. The Flash can and will stop whatever you're planning," a deep distorted voice says. Cinder sends a fireball in the direction the voice came from, but whatever said those words merely sidesteps it with a brief flash of blood-red lightning. "Too slow," the voice says mockingly. Cinder throws another fireball, and this time, it passes harmlessly through the figure, showing a tall, humanoid, yellow creature with glowing red eyes that seems to be phasing in and out of reality. "As I was saying. The Flash can and will stop you. But I can level the playing field."
"How do we know you're like the Flash?" Mercury asks.
Thawne speeds over to Mercury, his hand vibrating through the young man's chest, ready to kill. "Oh, I'm not like the Flash at all. In fact, some would say, I'm the Reverse," he says, taking his hand out of Mercury's chest, leaving the young man quite disturbed. Thawne turns to look at Cinder, "But I can aid you, and my price is a simple one. I'm the one who kills the Flash. And if any of you get in my way. I'll kill you too. After all, a shark-man doesn't just appear out of nowhere. Nor two men who have weapons capable of harming the Flash," Thawne says while raising his voice.
"And why do you want to kill the Flash so badly?" Cinder asks.
"My goals are beyond your understanding," the Reverse-Flash speeds out of the warehouse and reappears a moment with a confused Roman Torchwick lying on the floor. "But consider this a gift. You have your master thief back, and I have a guarantee that the Flash lives so that I can kill him myself."
Cinder considers the offer, hiding her fear of the monster before her. "And what else do we get in exchange for you killing the Flash?"
"Someone who can go toe-to-toe with the Flash, provide distractions in the form of people who know how to fight him and other Meta-Humans. All in exchange for me being the one to kill him."
Torchwick stands up and looks Thawne in the eye. "And why the hell do you get to put him in the ground!? What you got some weird obsession with him or something? That why you dress like him." The Reverse-Flash visibly bristles with rage, causing blood-red bolts to arc off him.
"Because, unlike you, I have a proper reason to want him dead. You, you're nothing but an afterthought to him. A simple thief he'll forget. And because you'll be too dead to try killing him," Thawne puts his hand through Torchwick's chest and quite literally rips out the man's heart before dropping it on the floor and crushing it beneath his heel, blood staining the ground and coating his already red boots with the liquid. Thawne stops vibrating and removes a glove, and offers his hand. "So, what do you say?"
"I think we can come to an arrangement," Cinder says, accepting the handshake.
"Well then. It seems I have some work to do," Thawne says before disappearing with a shower of blood-red lightning bolts following him.
A/n: Ta-da, I'm not dead yet. That isn't for a few more decades... Hopefully. Also, Happy New Year. May you be fortunate and stick to your resolutions.