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"Hello again!"
Pyrrha's greeting earned a mixture of replies, mostly in the form of grunts and nods. A few seemed in good spirits, clearly excited for the group's annual meeting. Others were more interested in the spread of food against the back wall.
"Thank you all for coming! If everyone would take their seats, we'll get started." Pyrrha waited patiently as the assortment of familiar faces - and a few new ones - began claiming spots from the ring of folding chairs in front of her. "First of all, I hope everyone's had a chance to greet our newest members. I'm sure everyone's very busy with plans for tonight, but let's not forget how confused we all were our first time. I'm sure our newcomers have a lot of questions-"
"One, actually," one of the newcomers interjected, raising his hand. Pyrrha smiled as graciously as she could, nodding to the man to continue. "Why exactly are we here?"
"Excellent question, Mister…"
"Call me Dee," the man responded.
"Well, Dee," Pyrrha began, trying to figure out the best way to answer. "As I'm sure you're aware, tonight is Halloween. And seeing as how you're-"
"Dead!"
Pyrrha felt her smile strain at the all too familiar voice in the front row. "Yes, thank you, Mister Torchwick," she forced out, doing her best to stay calm and polite despite the interruption. "As he said, you're-"
"Pushing up daisies," Torchwick unhelpfully added, leaning back in his seat with his feet propped up on an empty chair he'd moved for just that purpose. The former thief took a deep drag of his cigar before unleashing a small cloud of smoke and continuing. "You've bought the farm. Kicked the bucket. Cashed in your chips. Taken the last train to glory." With a slight chuckle, he finished, "To be blunt, you're worm food, pal."
"Thank you, Mister Torchwick." Pyrrha resisted the urge to shift the metal chair out from underneath her fellow member, choosing instead to keep her smile in place. "I'm sure our friend here is aware of his...situation."
"Yeah, I get that," Dee confirmed. "But why are we here? I mean, what's with this whole ghostly meeting thing?"
"Got somewhere better to be, corpsy?"
"Ah, of course! The meeting." As usual, the best way to deal with Torchwick was to ignore him. Addressing the whole room, Pyrrha dove into the topic she'd been preparing for all week. "Tonight is the one night of the year that we get to visit the land of the living. It's our chance to check in on friends or just visit our old haunts."
Pyrrha immediately regretted her wording. "Or do both and haunt your friends!"
"Once again, Roman, please try and refrain from torturing Ruby tonight." The puff of cigar smoke did little to assure her. "And I have to ask you to put that out. There's no smoking in here."
"Why? Worried about my health? How sweet." Despite his protest, Torchwick still extinguished his cigar. Albeit, he did so by crushing it into the empty chair beside him. "Hate to break it to ya, kid, but lung disease isn't exactly a concern anymore. Besides, you don't need to worry about me and Red. We're friends. I'm even saving a seat for her."
Pyrrha rolled her eyes as he patted the ash-covered chair beside him. "Anyways, it was a little confusing for everyone starting out, so myself, Roman," her unhelpful counterpart tipped his hat in recognition, "and Penny started this event to help explain how tonight will work."
A small, yet meaningful cough from the food table caught Pyrrha's attention.
"With Misses Rose's help of course."
"I thought I told you to call me Summer, dear," the hooded woman corrected sweetly. "Or mom. Either one's fine by me." She spared a threatening glare for Torchwick before returning to her discussion with a young woman named Vernal. The moment Vernal had mentioned working with Raven, Summer had cornered the poor girl, unleashing a barrage of questions about her old friend.
"Yeah, yeah. We're the in-game tutorial for your journey back to the real world," Torchwick summarized. "Athena here will tell you how to creep on your old crush. I'll handle the fun parts. And Astro Girl can download a user's manual for you." Penny waved excitedly from her seat, thrilled just to be involved. "Speaking of which, how'd a robot get into this group?"
"I was invited by my friend, Pyrrha," Penny happily answered.
Pyrrha let out an exasperated sigh as Torchwich cackled about his joke never getting old. She motioned to the banner stretched above her head, emblazoned with the name of the annual gathering. "All jokes aside, we decided to create the Departed Entities Assembly Day to help you navigate all the rules and help you get the most out of your time tonight. If this is your first time, Penny will give you a quick explanation of the basics, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask one of us. Now, unless anyone else has something to add, I think this would be a perfect time for our new members to introduce themselves. Dee, why don't you start us off?"
"Um...okay." Dee slowly stood, raising a single hand in a half-hearted wave as he began. "Hello, everyone. My name's Dee. I'm...well, I was a Huntsman in Mistral. My partner, Dudley, and I were guarding a train to Argus when the Grimm attacked. Guess it didn't work out."
"Let me guess," Torchwick piped up. "Bunch of snot-nosed kids with stupidly complex weapons offer to help?"
"Yeah. A few."
"Hey, robo-skirt, chalk up another kill for Red!" Pyrrha didn't even bother trying to stop Penny from agreeing, choosing to shift her attention to the other newcomer hiding in the back row. Well, maybe not hiding. More like sulking.
As much as she was sure she'd regret it, she opened the floor to the man. "And what about you, Adam?"
"Tch," the broody man responded before rising defiantly. "I am Adam Taurus. True leader of the White Fang."
"As if." And just like that, Pyrrha knew she had a problem as the angry woman who had spent the entire meeting glaring daggers at Adam jumped to her feet. "You managed to destroy the White Fang in a single night. Guess I should've expected such a bullheaded move from someone like you, Taurus."
"Adam had a vision. A vision of-"
"I don't require your assistance, Fennec." Adam's fox-eared fanatic was easily cowed by the sudden snap from Adam. "Everyone knows I was the more popular."
"Are you kidding? People barely even met me and they still loved me more."
"Any votes for Adam?" The argument was cut short as Torchwick hollered over them both. Other than Fennec, not a single hand went up. "Other than the boot licker? No? Alright then, how about Sienna?" She proved equally unpopular. "See? Nobody cares. Personally, I'd vote for Tukson." The quiet bookstore owner, who had purposefully kept his distance from both former leaders, nodded gratefully. A few hands actually went up in agreement.
"Tukson currently leads in votes," Penny announced, which only angered Adam further. Sienna seized the opportunity to continue her needling.
"At least Tukson went out against a trained assassin. Must be embarrassing to fall to a pair of children."
"Kitty cat and blondie?" Torchwick asked incredulously. "Dang. Ice Queen better step it up. Half a kill each for them!"
"Scores have been updated," Penny reported.
"Now that we've met everyone," Pyrrha cut back in, hoping to calm things back down. "Adam. Dee. Penny will go over some information with you. Everyone else, feel free to enjoy the food Misses Rose prepared."
While the two newest members - plus Fennec, who followed Adam everywhere - went to listen to Penny's lecture, the rest of the room fell into small talk and snacking as they awaited the appointed hour. All things considered, Pyrrha felt the meeting had gone okay. She honestly expected more problems with Adam and found herself grateful for Torchwick cutting in. The man could be supremely aggravating, but she couldn't deny his usefulness. He'd even helped set up the small room after they got booted from the larger hall at the last moment. Apparently, the Attack on Titan group had a need for more space, so they were bumped to a smaller room. The banner, streamers, and balloons helped cheer up the cramped space and keep everyone positive rather than focusing on how they each got there.
"Is this the room for dead characters?"
Pyrrha was snapped out of her thoughts by the gruff voice at the door. She turned to find a small crowd of White Fang gathered, waiting awkwardly in the narrow hall. "Oh. Hello, everyone. I didn't realize you were coming." In all honesty, she hadn't bothered to invite them. There were easily more people in the hall than inside the room.
"Well, we're here. So can we come in?" The sea of matching uniforms and masks waited impatiently, shuffling and elbowing one another in the limited space. Pyrrha knew there was practically no room for them inside and the spread of food wouldn't last long with that many mouths. As much as she wanted to let them in, she was just as desperate for a slice of Summer's famous red velvet cake.
"I'm not sure…"
"Sorry, guys and gals." Torchwick slid beside Pyrrha in an instant. "This is a private party. Named characters only."
"But you let them in!" The apparent leader of the group declared, pointing to a pair of their fellow grunts inside.
"You mean Deery and Perry?" Torchwick asked. The two waved nervously before ducking out of sight. "They're great. More importantly, they have names, so they're in. No name, no entry. But, hey, I hear there's a minor character party in the next building. Knock yourselves out." The spokesperson hesitated, hoping Torchwick would relent, before finally turning and convincing his fellows to try next door.
As they slowly filed away and around the corner, Pyrrha breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Roman. And that was really nice of you telling them about the other party."
"Don't sweat it, kid." Despite his words, Pyrrha had come to realize his actions proved he actually cared. "As for the other party, I wouldn't go spreading that around. Pretty sure I just sent them to the My Little Pony party."
"Roman!"
"What? It was the first one I could think of, okay? And don't go hating on the bronies. Plus, don't they have, like, horse-human hybrids or something. That might as well be faunus." Pyrrha made to complain, but Torchwick cut her off. "Oh, don't give me that look. You were drowning there, so I gave you an out."
"It was mean!"
"It was a joke!" Torchwick shot back in a poor imitation of the redhead. "So what if it was mean? I lied, cheated, stole, and much worse in my past life. Heck, I helped a crazed psycho attack my own city. And then there was this one time…" Pyrrha's disapproving stare ended his criminal reminiscing. "Point is, if there was somewhere bad to send people, I'm already there. If anything, it makes me wonder what sort of person you were to be here with me."
"How do you think the meeting went?" Pyrrha questioned, ignoring the playful jab. She often asked his opinion, knowing he'd give an honest answer. Well, once you got past any stupid jokes.
"It was better than dying again," Torchwick laughed. "You did fine, kid. Besides, you know we're all just here for the cake."
"Thanks, Roman." While they would've never gotten along in their past lives, Roman had become a strange sort of friend here. Sure, he loved causing her trouble and seeing how he could mess with Penny, but the three of them were doing some real good together. Pyrrha nudged him with her shoulder, earning a soft chuckle.
"Guess I've gone soft. So, any big plans for your night back in Remnant? Offer still stands to go clubbing with me and Tukson."
"Sorry, Roman. I've got...other plans." After all, this was the closest she could get to her team each year, and she intended to spend every second of it near them. She wondered what embarrassing costume Nora had picked out for Ren this year. Of course, she knew Roman had a visit in mind as well. "Say hi to Neo for me, though."
"Your loss," Torchwick shrugged, keeping up his facade to the last. A late arrival brought a grin to his face a moment later. "Well, well, well. If it isn't old man Ozzy. Dropping by or dropping off?"
"Picking up, actually," the immortal advised, scanning the room for a moment. His eyes lingered on the white-haired headmaster across the room, who merely raised a steaming mug in response. "However, first I'd like to catch up with an old friend. Excuse me."
"Guess the new kid's got some fight in him after all," Torchwick idly commented. Pyrrha could hear the small hint of respect in Roman's voice for Oscar's absence, but chose not to mention it. "Well, better go steal some food before it's all gone. You want anything?"
"Would it matter if I said yes?"
"Not in the slightest, Invinci-girl." Torchwick twirled his cane as he sauntered away, laughing at his little joke. Pyrrha could only shake her head at the flamboyant display. Instead of following, she took the time to mingle with a few friends. Roy was gearing up for the trip to Vacuo, but promised a spar after he got back. Deery and Perry were disappointed she wasn't coming to Junior's club with them. They only relented when Pyrrha agreed to a karaoke night next week. She was certain she'd regret it. None of her new friends' antics really surprised her.
What did surprise her was Penny's announcement.
"What do you mean you aren't coming back?"
"That's actually why I'm here," Ozma answered for Penny. "Miss Polendina is needed elsewhere. I swung by to bring her the good news. I'll be taking her to Atlas with me."
"Father will be so pleased to see me again," Penny cheerfully explained. Pyrrha did her best to look happy for her friend, but Penny could see through her pleasant mask with ease. "Is there something the matter, Pyrrha?"
"Nothing," Pyrrha lied. Neither Penny nor Ozma bought it for a second. "It's just...well…"
Penny's hand came to rest on Pyrrha's shoulder. "Do not worry, Pyrrha. I will watch out for our friends as you watch over them. Nothing will happen to them on my watch. After all, I'm combat ready."
"Thanks, Penny." It helped to know someone would be there for them.
"Is there anything you want me to tell them, Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha's eyes lit up for a moment. A chance to send a message to her team? Or even Team RWBY? She could feel her hands tremble at the possibility.
Ozma clearly didn't agree with the idea. "I don't think that's-"
"Just tell him…" Pyrrha took a deep breath. "Tell Jaune I'm proud of him. Of all of them." A simple message, but one that she knew would carry weight for her team leader. Hopefully, it would be enough.
"Can do," Penny saluted, turning to look for the missing member of their trio. "I should say goodbye to Mister Torchwick before I leave."
Seeing an opportunity to get even with the arrogant troublemaker, Pyrrha offered, "Roman's gonna miss you. Make sure to give him a big hug."
An ominous whirring sounded as Penny crouched and leant forward, ready to charge. "Attack hug mode activated." The dust she kicked up as she shot across the room forced Pyrrha to look away for a moment, but there was no mistaking the scream of her target, nor the crash of a table.
"It was good seeing you again, Miss Nikos," Ozma commented as he snatched his coat from the rack near the door. "And may I say, I respect the maturity of your message. I am sure it will mean the world to Mister Arc."
"I hope so."
"How is Mister Taurus handling his new...situation?" Even Ozma could sense the trouble brewing there. "I do hope he is not planning to cause any further trouble for Miss Belladonna or Miss Xiao-Long this fine evening."
"Don't worry, sir," Pyrrha reassured the man. "I'm pretty sure Sienna has made it her mission to ruin his plans." Sure enough, the spiteful woman was busy stalking her prey, sending a quick wink toward the pair as she poured salt into Adam's cup when he wasn't looking. Summer was already on her way over with napkins by the time he spewed the foul mixture all over Fennec.
"Quite. I'm glad to see everyone getting along," Ozma paused as Adam screamed Sienna's name. "Well, almost everyone. In that case, I must be off. Enjoy your evening, Miss Nikos. It should be about time for our worlds to merge for the night, so...oh dear."
The room fell silent as an unexpected figure stepped into the room. Everyone froze as a pair of silvery eyes took in the scene for a moment. Pyrrha wasn't sure how Ruby could see them, but see them she did. She gasped in surprise, clearly shocked with what she saw.
"Aw, you guys! I knew you didn't forget my birthday!" Pyrrha nearly fell over as her young friend reached the completely wrong conclusion. Rather than recognizing who she was surrounded by, Ruby took in all the wrong details. A banner. Balloons. Punch. Even a cake.
"Friend Ruby?" Penny's familiar voice finally broke the silence as the soon-to-be living again robot girl spotted her first friend.
"P-p-p-penny?" Ruby stammered, looking like she'd just seen a ghost. It took Pyrrha a moment to realize Ruby had just seen a ghost. A room full of them, in fact. "B-but how? When? Why are you here?"
"I was about to ask you the same, Ruby." As always, nothing really rattled Penny.
Ruby's eyes frantically looked for something - anything - to calm her. Instead, everywhere she looked, she found more cause for alarm. "Ozpin?" The former headmaster jumped as his mug tipped, burning his lap. "Pyrrha?"
"Hello again," Pyrrha waved sheepishly. This would not be easy to explain. Though there was someone else she should have been concerned about.
A tray clattered to the ground, drawing Ruby's gaze to the equally shocked woman across the room. The hooded pair stared wide-eyed at one another in silence, neither believing what they were seeing. Ruby rubbed her eyes before checking again, but Summer still stood there, a warm smile slowly overtaking her face.
"Is that...Mom? Is it really-"
"Ooga-booga-booga!"
"Holy Cats!" Ruby screamed as Torchwick pounced in front of her. The young girl stiffened for a moment before falling backwards. The back of her head bounced off the carpeted floor, but she didn't get back up.
Ruby had fainted.
"Roman!" Pyrrha yelled.
"Oh my word!" Torchwick cackled, gasping for air as he bent double. "That...that was totally worth it! This is the best Halloween ever!"
"Roman Torchwick!" His laughter softened as Summer Rose stormed over and grabbed him by the ear, dragging him to the side. "How dare you frighten my baby girl like that! You are in so much trouble, young man."
"What're you gonna do, spank me?" Summer instead smacked the back of his head, causing him to fall on his face before she stomped back to check on her daughter. "Still worth it," Torchwick laughed from the floor.
The clock chimed the hour, heralding the moment they'd all been waiting for. Most of the room tiptoed past the absurd spectacle and out of the room. Penny was the last to leave, skipping merrily behind Ozma. The last Pyrrha heard was her excited proclamation of "This is going to be so much fun!" With only her, Roman, and the two Rose girls remaining, Pyrrha knelt beside Summer to offer her assistance.
"Go on, dear. Don't waste your time here."
"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked.
"Of course, Pyrrha." Summer took off her cape, folding it into a small pillow for Ruby's head. Her hand gently stroked her daughter's short hair. "I think I can take care of my little girl. Just make sure Roman leaves with you. Also, feel free to hasten his journey down the stairs." Summer's eyes stayed glued to her daughter as she waved everyone else away.
"C'mon, Roman," Pyrhha sighed as she helped the idiot to his feet. "Let's get you out of here before you cause any more trouble."
"That was perfect. A real Halloween miracle." Pyrrha wasn't surprised how remorseless he was. Summer would make him pay for this later, but for now, he didn't have a care in the world.
"I wonder what she was doing here, anyways?"
/- - - - - - - - - -/
Down the street, in a nearly identical room, Weiss impatiently checked the clock yet again. "Where is she?" Weiss had gone to a lot of trouble to arrange this party for her partner. Strawberries. Cookies. Pin the tail on the Grimm. It all seemed a little childish to her, but she knew Ruby would love it. She was just grateful Jaune's sister knew how to bake a cake.
She'd offered to pay, but Saphron had refused, saying it was a gift for her baby brother's new friends. Still, she'd slipped some lien to Terra in thanks.
"What's taking her so long?" Weiss demanded, pacing in frustration. Doing so in heels wasn't easy, but she managed. "She should've been here almost an hour ago!"
"Beats me," Yang shrugged.
"You did give her instructions, right?" Jaune asked.
"Of course I did!" Yang assured them. "Seven o'clock. Building six eighty-six."
Weiss screeched to a halt. "Building what?"
"Six eighty...six?"
Blake quietly scooted away from her partner as the room suddenly felt colder. Weiss turned, her eyes burning with indignation for Ruby's sister. Even from this distance, Blake could hear the girl's teeth grinding together. Fists clenched, Weiss growled, "This is building six thirty-six, you imbecile."
Yang looked to Blake, who nodded in agreement. "Heh heh. Oops?"