Ruby's POV:
"Yang on your left!" I called out to my sister.
Yang jumped and backflipped over a black tentacle and launched her ammo at it.
"Ugh, what's with these guys!" Yang yelled as Weiss and Blake rushed ahead of her.
"These are some weird semblances," groaned Blake, "I mean, could you even call these semblances?"
"Die huntresses!" yelled the thug. He swung his tentacled arms at us again, smashing the street pavement. We all dodged his onslaught while his friends robbed a store nearby. We had been fighting this guy for almost half an hour, which was getting annoying. Team JNPR was interfering with this guy's teammate, and the damage was getting high. The other thug was shooting light from his eyes like lasers, but he always stopped like it was hurting him.
The thug with the laser eyes sliced through a lamp post and knocked it down toward Nora and Ren, separating them from Jaune and Pyrrha. He pulled out a knife and charged at Pyrrha, but Jaune intercepted with his shield and knocked him back.
"You will not hurt her!" Jaune snarked angrily, and he punched the guy in the face repeatedly.
"Jaune, stop!" called Pyrrha, grabbing his arm.
She pulled him away, allowing the thug to get up and hit him in the gut. Pyrrha round housed his face, knocking out a tooth.
"Crazy bi-"
"Don't you finish that sentence!" shouted Jaune, rushing in with his sword.
He was about to stab the guy in the shoulder when his eyes turned red, and he blasted Jaune backward into Pyrrha. The thug looked pleased until Nora hit him with a grenade, and Ren landed a kick to his face. I was so distracted by seeing that I overlooked the tentacled one preparing to swing at me.
"Ruby, watch out!" called Weiss as the tentacled thug almost smashed me. I used my semblance to escape and managed to land on top of a car. Just as I was about to cut off this dude's arm, his body began to shake, and his weird tentacles shrank back to normal.
"Aw dammit!" he yelled, turning to his teammates, "Dude, I'm out of power over here!"
"Shoot, I'm out too!" his friend shouted as he stopped shooting out lasers, "dammit, we need more!"
Then, at that moment, a fireball exploded in the sky like a signal flare in the distance.
"Grab the stuff, and let's go!" said the first thug. He and his friend threw down smoke bombs and ran away.
"Get back here!" yelled Jaune, chasing them, but when the smoke cleared, they were gone, "oh, you've gotta be kidding me!"
"Jaune calmed down," said Pyrrha, "they got away. It's not the end of the world, okay?"
"But what if they go and hurt someone? What if they hurt...ugh never mind. Let's just go back to the police and tell them we failed. Again."
Jaune put his sword in its sheath and walked away in a huff.
"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Blake.
"Jaune will be fine," said Pyrrha, "I mean, he's always fine, right?"
We all agreed half-heartedly, but we knew the real reason why he was acting like this. As we started to leave, I almost tripped over something. it looked like some kind of vial with fluid inside of it. I wonder what it is?
well I could figure that out later. We headed back to the police station to give our report, and then we all started discussing what to do next.
"Okay," I yawned, "let's head back to our meeting point after this briefing and decide what we do. I'm sure Oscar and Uncle Qrow will want to know what happened."
"I'm so tired," groaned Yang, "these freak attacks are happening way too much. And it's not even ten o'clock yet!"
"Yeah," sighed Blake, "it was difficult enough having to go back and forth from Atlas like this is so exhausting. At least we get to stay here for a while before we have to head back."
"Okay," said one of the cops, "we just finished reading your reports. You guys can head back now," We all groaned, "What'd I say?"
We finally got back to our living space after a tiring thirty-minute walk. We would have stayed with Jaune's sister again, but there were just too many of us, so we rented an apartment nearby to remain close to them. They paid for our stay because we worked with the military for a while. When we got there, we told Oscar and Uncle Qrow what happened with the thugs.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," groaned Qrow, "these freak attacks are becoming too common. This is the fifth one that's happened this month alone! Where are these guys even coming from?"
"I don't know," said Oscar, "but it seems like these guys are just common criminals who want to rob and steal but have these freaky powers. Maybe we should look into where they got them from."
"We don't have the resources, but luckily, I got a call from Ironwood. He, the Ace Ops, and Penny will be headed towards here along with reinforcements to help us with this problem. Apparently, they've had witnesses saying more than two of these freaks out there."
"The Ace Ops?" asked Weiss, "does that mean Winter's coming too?"
"Sorry, Weiss, but with Ironwood and Atlas' elite out of Atlas, they need someone running the operation, so Winter has to run the military in Ironwood's stead."
"Oh," Weiss' head drooped.
We all knew how much she missed her sister on her travels.
"So," Pyrrha said, trying to change the subject, "we're getting help taking down these criminals with crazy powers? Does Ironwood have a plan in place?"
"Not yet, but he's planning to research who their leader is. Attacks like these don't just happen randomly; they must be planned. The only problem is we don't know where to look. So before they get here, you guys need to keep your eyes out for them if they're on the streets."
"We could do that," said Jaune, "then we just need to locate their hideout and take them down."
"And how do we do that, Jaune," asked Qrow.
"Uh, I am not sure."
"Exactly. The idea is good but means nothing unless we have a plan."
Jaune looked upset and frustrated. He hadn't been doing well for a while, and we were all worried about him.
"Uh hey," said Yang, eager to change the subject, "why don't we go and pick up some more ammunition. I saw an SDC building on our way back, and my gauntlets need some recharging."
"Yeah," I said, following my sister's lead, "I need more magazines and clips."
"And my weapon uses a lot of dust along with my semblance," said Weiss, "I need to get some more."
"I don't need dust," said Oscar, "but it'd be nice just to get out and stretch my legs a bit."
"Sick of me already?" asked Qrow.
"No."
"Yes," said Weiss.
We all snickered as Qrow rolled his eyes. So, my group headed outside while the others headed to their rooms to sleep. We all kept our eyes on Jaune as we walked down the street. His aggressiveness during combat was starting to be a problem, and it affected many of the missions we had in Atlas when it came to Grimm. We all thought he had grown since Beacon fell, but now it seemed like he was even worse than before he enrolled. It wasn't hard to figure out why since that night.
"Hey, Jaune," I started to say, but then I bumped into someone on the street.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said the guy I bumped into.
"No, it was my fault," I replied.
"Summer," said the boy.
My heart skipped a beat.
"What did you just say?" I asked.
"Oh, sorry, I'm on my scroll," said the guy, returning to his conversation, "Yeah, that's my favorite season. Fall is not the best!"
I sighed. Yang put her hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked, "did that guy say something weird to you?"
"No, he was on his scroll and... I thought he...never mind," I sighed.
"Look, I know you're a little off because the anniversary is coming up, but let's not think about that right now, okay?"
"Okay."
"What anniversary?" asked Oscar.
"The anniversary of our mom's death," said Yang.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's fine. This time of year is hard on our family, and we always get through it, but... sometimes it hurts too much."
"Let's go," I groaned, "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
We all began to walk away, but I felt a weird feeling in the back of my head. I looked behind me and saw that guy from before staring at me. As he started, he kept dodging, avoiding collisions with people, and not running into a mailbox.
"Ruby?" called Weiss, "Hey, Ruby!?"
"Uh yeah," I said, startled.
"What are you looking at?"
"That guy keeps staring at me."
"What guy?" asked Oscar.
"That guy-" but he wasn't there when I pointed in his direction. It was like he was never there, "where'd he go!?"
"Where'd you go?"
"That guy I bumped into! He was just right here, and now he's gone!"
"Maybe he disappeared in the crowd," suggested Yang.
"No, no, he-he ugh, fine, he disappeared," I groaned, exasperated, "Let's just go get some refills. My head hurts from today."
We walked down the street, and when I looked back, the guy was there again, still staring at me. Who is this guy?
???? 's POV:
Earlier that day
I had spent a few hours flying to the city where the mutant sightings were and landed in a nearby forest. I scoured the area to find traces of mutants or unusual energies but didn't pick up anything. I guess whoever was here got away or was arrested; the mutants can't keep their powers for long, so they probably had to escape when things got dicey. I pulled out my scroll and called the commissioner.
"Hey, big C," I said when he picked up, "there's no trace of mutants here."
"I know," he replied, "I just got an alert that the local huntsmen apprehended them, but they got away. Stand by until I can get their locations."
"Roger, I'm gonna teleport inside the city and see if I can find anything alone."
"Good call. I'll message you when I get more news," then the commissioner hung up.
I teleported inside the city and began walking around with the citizens. It had been so long since I was in a city outside of my home like this; I missed it. I remember walking down the streets of different cities and towns when she was still here. If only I could see her again and hear her voice again.
Remember, Alias, you can earn, inherit, or be born with power. There's no one way to obtain it.
Her words always got to me. I always missed-ow!
I bumped into a girl on the street.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, but when I saw this girl, she triggered something in my head, and for some reason, a word came to mind, "Summer."
"What did you just say," the girl asked.
I panicked for a moment. I feel like I will have an episode, so I need to think fast.
"Oh, sorry," I said quickly, pulling out my scroll, "I'm on my scroll. Yeah, that's my favorite season. Fall is not the best!" I walked away from her quickly before things got weird. But as I walked away, I had this intense headache caused by her appearance. Why did she make me feel this way? I looked back at her while dodging, avoiding collisions with people, and not running into a mailbox.
But I couldn't shake the feeling I saw this girl before. Why does that girl make me feel like I'm forgetting something?
This is gonna drive me insane.
If I already wasn't.