Team SHDW Volume 2

Chapter 20: The More the Merrier

OH MY GOSH, FINALLY!!! We're here!! Still not gonna do much, but hey, interesting stuff!
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The full moon illuminated the night sky above Haven Academy. On the school grounds, Qrow was taking the lead as the currently present members of Team RWBY, the remaining members of Team JNPR, Team SHDW, Rose, and Oscar followed close behind, SHDW in the back. Ruby stopped and looked up to admire Haven's CCT tower before following the rest of the group to a nearby building.

Then the front doors opened up, and Skyler couldn't help but get the ominous sense of dread. That wrenching feeling in his gut was telling him that entering was a very bad idea. He looked to his teammates and Rose, all with looks that suggested that they were getting similar feelings.

Skyler then spoke to Ruby, "Hey, um, Rubes?"

"Yeah?" she replied.

"I'm not gonna lie..." SHDW's leader admitted, "This whole situation isn't sitting right with us. We're gonna stay outside, okay? If you need us, we'll be right outside. Is that alright?"

Ruby blinked, "Oh! Um... okay."

"Thanks."

Everyone else walked ahead and into the building while Hazel asked, "I'm glad we're being cautious and all, but why continue to let the others into the building?"

"Because if we guard the doors, we'll still be within earshot," Skyler explained, "If this is an ambush and the enemies are inside, it wouldn't be much of a trip to the action. And if the enemies are outside, what a coincidence, so are we. Either way, we're fine."

"Fair enough, I suppose," Walker conceded.

"I'm gonna guard the school entrance," Rose volunteered, "Sorry, but being this far into school grounds for this long is getting to me."

"Fine, but just don't run off like last time we were here," Skyler joked with a smirk.

"Oh please," Bloodmane scoffed, "I know a serious situation when I see it. I'm not going anywhere."

And with that, Rose walked back to the gates of the entrance to the school. SHDW simply stood by and attempted to hear what Lionheart was saying to the others.

Not even two minutes later, Rose yawned while leaning on one of the gates, getting bored. She was shaken out of her tired persona by a voice shouting at her.

"Hey!!"

Rose jumped, startled by the sudden call out, and turned to see where the voice came from. She saw a man with spiked red hair, wearing black attire, and a Grimm-like mask covered the top half of his face. Next to him stood a large man with dark skin and calm expression on his face. Behind the two stood a unit of masked soldiers, a few carrying what appeared to be bombs, as well as a few dozen squadrons of more soldiers, all armed to the teeth, as well as all of them being Faunus.

Adam Taurus and the White Fang.

Rose's eyes widened as Adam said, "Fellow Faunus! Have you been stationed as a lowly guard? Are you with the White Fang?"

Rose didn't even say a word. Normally, she would've said something witty, but she knew what this meant. Adam and his forces were here to annihilate the school and, by extension, the kingdom. So instead, she instantly spotted the gates' lever, walked into the grounds, and pulled the lever, slamming the gates shut. She began to walk away, ignoring the annoyed cries of the White Fang, and pulled out her Scroll, dialed in her house's phone number, and waited for someone to answer, all while being completely nonchalant.

-Hello?-

"Hey, Sapphire," Rose replied while the gates started to creak from the pressure of so many trigger-itchy soldiers pushing against it, "So, yeah, turns out the whole situation was a trap as we suspected and now many, many White Fang soldiers are trying to get into the school. Could you perhaps send PHTM over?"

She could practically hear STAR's leader's eyes roll, -You're lucky that PHTM made the decision to go on their way anyway. They should be halfway there by now.-

"Great," and with that, Rose hung up her Scroll and sent a quick text to Skyler.

The response was immediate, -I'm sorry, what?!-

Then the gates swung open, the bigger man having done most of the work. Adam looked at Bloodmane with an expression of annoyance.

"Very well," he said, "It seems you've chosen your side. Men, attack!!"

As the soldiers charged, Rose just rolled her eyes and turned into a shadow. A lot of the White Fang members looked around in confusion, but a good number of them still kept running, anxious to get to the school, the big guy in particular keeping on walking. But for the ones who stayed to look for Bloodmane, including Adam, Rose popped out of the wall where they had entered and started doing what she had been aching to do for the past month: fight.
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The White Fang was upon SHDW before they knew it. A large, darker-skinned man (a human no less, much to their shock) had simply walked up and tossed them aside before walking inside the building and slamming the large doors. After that, White Fang grunts were everywhere. Skyler had to stop time with his Semblance just so he could gain better bearings on the predicament.

He started time back up to normal again, and began to fight, cutting through a few grunts until he remembered that his teammates didn't have the luxury of a recovery via time-stop. But when he paused to check on them, they seemed to be doing just fine. These were just simple grunts, after all. It's not like it was also-

"SKYLER!!!"

Skyler froze at the voice, it even stopping some of the soldiers around him, startling them to quickly look where it came from. And there, walking towards them holding his sword in one hand and his sheath in the other, was Adam, grinning at the sight of Skyler. One of SHDW's leader's eyes began to twitch, just as Rose materialized out of the ground next to him.

"I tried to hold him off as best as I could," she informed him, "But he's very... persistent."

"Hello once again, Skyler Yin," Adam spoke, just loud enough for Skyler to hear as he dramatically swung his sword, "It's been a long time. I believe we have some unfinished business."
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And with that, Adam's back, and the rematch between him and Skyler is next chapter! It won't be too much though, because if you recall, who else is on Adam's side? Till next time guys!