While the girls were having a cheerful time, Wally had been mostly left alone.

Victoria didn't seem that interested in him. She ran some tests, and, for whatever reason, his speed ability didn't show up on them as anything except accelerated calories burning.

She couldn't understand how he was able to move as fast as he did--scientifically it made no sense. And Aura didn't compensate for the amount of burn it would cause.

She said she'd deal with him later.

Wally annoyed her by making some quips about her hobbies, and so she'd told him to shut up--and then zapped him when he didn't.

Wally just wished she'd give him snacks if she was going to keep him in a zoo cage like this. Now he knew how Grodd had felt.

He was pretty sure Shine was there somewhere, but she was way out of his line of sight.

The Aura-zapping had not worked on him for very long either, but the fact that it worked at all freaked him out.

"I must have adapted to this world," he mused, while sitting against the wall. "She warned me that happens eventually...but does that mean my power won't work without Aura? I still feel like I can move fast, but I feel weirdly tired too."

He tested it by running the circles, and, after seeing how he felt, he concluded that he could still use his Speed Force, but it was taking more of a toll than before on his Aura. However, like Shine, he had extra Aura power, and that was unaffected.

Curious, he wondered if he could switch gears...rely on just one kind.

"Help me out here." He looked upward.

Trying again, he tried to purposely lean into one kind... He didn't know how to do this, except just thinking it.

But perhaps sometimes over-complicating things is not wise, because his impulsive idea actually seemed to work. He felt different.

"Well, now we're talking!" He ran a few very fast laps.

Luckily, Victoria was distracted at the time.

Now that he was back to full speed, Wally knew he could escape.

He put his finger on the glass and started to vibrate it.

He had to focus on not using any but his extra Aura, or the cage started to zap him...but he got so fast, the cage couldn't even detect it anymore... The glass began to tremble...and then it cracked and shattered.

Bingo!

Wally dashed out before anyone could see.

The alarm system went off.

Raven and Winter, still trapped, covered their ears.

Then they found out that Victoria had put a little safety mechanism in place in case this happened. The floor of their cages began to suck their Aura out.

Raven went grey first and fell to her knees... The machine stopped just at the point where it would have been fatal.

Winter was only a moment later.

Over where Cinder and Shine were, the same thing happened to them.

Cinder screamed as her Aura dipped, and her magic did nothing to help it.

Instead, it made the effect to already being drained worse.

But Shine suddenly realized that the walls around her lost their magical charge as Cinder's body, and perhaps the other two, were trying to compensate for the lack of Aura instead of outputting it.

"Hey, baby." Wally appeared in front of the cage. "Let me get this for you."

"Wait," Shine laughed and then winced. "This is trying to suck my Aura out..." She sank to the floor.

"Of course she has backup..." Wally said.

"Hon, I'm not sure I'm ready to escape yet," Shine said.

"What?" Wally said.

"I've been thinking--if we get out like last time, she'll only do this again and again, until she gets what she wants or it's too late," Shine said. "Perhaps there's something we can learn from being here."

"But...I kind of already escaped..." Wally said.

"This place is going to be on lockdown now that you did that," Shine said, "until she finds you... It's enough to know that you can escape at any time, but if you let her think it was just a fluke for now...we have a trap card--oh gosh, I sound like the kids."

"Huh...sneaky," Wally said. "But are you sure that's smart? She could be making progress."

"I think it's best for us all. You and I could get out of here, but we'll turn her focus back on them if we do," Shine said. "You know the drill--bait and switch. But when it's the right moment, you should escape."

"Okay...how will I know when it's the right moment?" Wally asked.

"I'm not sure," Shine said. "Just...feel for it, I guess. I knew you'd break out sooner or later, but I wasn't sure whether I should, and I don't think so. Just...go with me on this one."

"Okay, I trust you," Wally said uncertainly. "But maybe you could yell or something if she does anything creepy?"

"One thing you could do before you get caught again--could you see if Ruby is here?" Shine said. "If she is, she shouldn't be. And if you see Tyrian around, can you, like...take care of him? I think we can handle anyone else being down here, but being trapped with him is like locking yourself in a pen with an angry bull."

"Ruby? I hope not," Wally said. "Okay, I am on it--but that was pretty impressive, right? You knew I'd get out, because I'm just that good."

"Yes, you're incredible," Shine said. "But can you brag about it later? This is not really the time for me to list your good qualities off."

"All right, all right, but you will later," Wally winked. "I'll go pretend to be weaker than I am, I guess."

He ran away.

Cinder was released by the tank--now that she couldn't possibly have escaped.

She coughed and looked at Shine in disbelief.

"If you want to get out of here," Shine hissed, "you will not mention what just happened to Vic when she comes back. Selling us out just for petty revenge is not smart at this time. We can get out anyway, no doubt, but can you?"

"What is going on?" Victoria came out of a different section of the bunker, looking frantic. "One of my tanks broke?"

She rushed to it to find Wally pretending that he had been immobilized by it.

Luckily, the sensors couldn't prove he was lying.

"It's the worst thing," Wally said. "I was just doing my own thing, and it just blew up. Did you fry a circuit? Why can't I move?"

"The trap worked but the walls didn't?" Victoria bought it, because why would he still be here if he could have escaped? 

She checked her dials. "It's like it just shattered from the inside out... Strange... Perhaps some spike in the magical energy that I didn't predict."

She yanked Wally up. "I'll have to readjust the circuits...which means switching to backup power while I figure this out so I don't blow this whole place up. You are going in the back."

"What? But I won't get a view," Wally protested.

Victoria just pushed him roughly towards the back.

Wally had had inspected at high speed while she was making her way out.

Ruby, he'd found, was locked up in an ordinary stone and metal room that she couldn't escape because of the Aura-blocking restraints she still had on. He could have gotten her out, but not without setting off more alarms.

He also found Watts drinking tea in a room that looked like the breakroom of an office. And reading some science books.

Victoria shoved Wally into a different room and locked that door.

Might be a little harder to get out of here... He hoped Shine's idea worked.

But one thing...Victoria didn't seem to have magical energy protecting these walls.

Ruby was right next to him... If he could make portals, he could get to her.

Well...Shine had said he eventually would be able to do it... Hmm...

"Okay, let's do this." He looked at the wall. "Open Sesame."

Nothing happened.

"Right, take it seriously." He hit his head. "What does she do...just think it? Okay, let's just think it.... Ruby...Ruby..."

He looked at the wall. A portal opened.

Then he saw a light circle appear in front of him.

It wasn't a rectangle like Shine's, or quite as clearly defined, and it was much more orangish-red color, like his signal colors...but it was a portal.

"Whoa...cool!" He tried to poke it, and it sucked him in.

He popped out the other side into Ruby's cell.

"Ah!" she screamed. Then, "Mr. WEST!"

"Shh!" Wally sat up, putting a finger to his lips. "Keep it on the downlow, all right? I don't want Baroness Von Frankenstein to know I'm in here."

"How did you do that?" Ruby asked in a lower voice. "That looked kind of like Shine's."

"I guess I finally unlocked it too," Wally said. "Cool, right? That was awesome... Okay, here's the deal--we're going to escape... Let me see those cuffs."

Ruby held out her hands.

"I think they slide and unlock, don't they?" Wally asked. "Did they have a code?"

"No, I don't think so," Ruby said.

"And no key hole..." Wally started fiddling with them. "So...maybe if I..."

"OW!" Ruby hissed.

"Sorry, my bad.... I could try it this way.... Righty tighty, lefty loosey, right?"

"Uh..." Ruby was about to say that wasn't right, but suddenly they unlocked and popped off.

"Well, there you go." Wally tossed them away.

 "They took my scythe, though," Ruby said.

"Hmm..." Wally pictured it. "Maybe if I think really hard about it... I mean, Shine does it..."

The scythe popped out of the air and fell into the room.

"I love being a DJ," Wally declared. "Did you see that? That was so cool."

"Yeah, wow." Ruby's eyes were huge.

She picked up Crescent Rose. "Great, now let's get out of here!"

"Hang on there," Wally said. "Shine wanted to wait for the right moment. You and I need to be ready for the signal."

"What signal?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, we gotta be ready. But since we've got nothing better to do, why don't you explain what happened?"

So Ruby did.

"This woman is so creepy," Wally said. "Everything is about Aura and magic."

"But she made me tell her about my eyes," Ruby said. "I didn't want too, but she threatened to hurt the others if I didn't...and I had to tell her everything." She sighed. "I wish I had a plan, but I couldn't think of a way to escape... I'm...sorry."

"Oh, it's okay, kiddo. It's more noble to save people's lives than to keep your secrets." Wally patted her shoulder. "You did the right thing. Anyway, we're going to get out of here, and she won't have any Silver Eyes to work with, so it won't matter."

"What if she tells Salem how they work?" Ruby asked.

"I don't think she could make it much worse." Wally hoped that was true.

"Weiss is still by herself," Ruby said. "Can you bring her here?"

"No, I don't think we should give Vicky any more people to threaten here," Wally said. "Better just get her later. Shine can find her once we're out of here. She'll be okay."

"Okay..." Ruby said. "I'm glad you're here, though. I wasn't sure what to do."

"Well, that's why I'm here," Wally said in his best superhero tone.

But Ruby hugged him anyway, making him want to melt.

"I'm supposed to be the hero, but...I didn't know what to do this time..." she mumbled. "I'm not...really that good at this."

"Ah...Ruby, that's not what being a hero is," Wally said, patting her head. "It's not about knowing what to do. I'll let you in on a little secret...I have no idea what I'm doing 90% of the time."

"90%?" Ruby looked up at him weirdly.

"Yeah, maybe 80% on a good day," Wally said. "I just improvise. Even if you don't know what to do, kid, you can't let that break your spirit. There's always a chance, right? And even if there isn't, we're gonna go out acting like there was, and then most of the time there is. I've won just by a hair so many times, I almost don't know how else it works. You just keep fighting. A hero is someone who does what's right and does it for unselfish reasons. That's all. Don't buy into that hype-up slogan we do for publicity. That's just to get people to cheer for us and have something to look up to, but all of us are just doing our best, behind the scenes."

"Really?" Ruby rubbed her face.

"Really. Cross my heart," Wally held up his hand like he was doing scout's honor.

"I think that's the wrong hand shape," Ruby said.

"Whatever," Wally said.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah...you know what? You're right. I should stop letting her get to me. She might be crazy and scary and have a lot of weird inventions, but that doesn't mean we can't stop her!" She made a fist.

"That's the spirit," Wally said.

* * *

Libby had run her route really quickly.

She had a whole bunch of the street riffraff of Vacuo gathered.

"You said there'd be a hustle," they said.

"There is," Libby said. "You know that no good gang The Lost Kids?"

Most of the people she'd found were in their own gangs, or at least posses of thieves who worked together.

They all made sounds of disgust.

"Right, well, they're pulling off a big hustle," Libby said. "In one of those abandoned plants. The catch is, they've got some really advanced weapons. So we're going to have a time taking them down. But I say we show those pretentious pricks that they should stay in their place."

"Yeah!" the others said.

"But how?" said one.

Libby wasn't quite sure.

"Well, we'll work that part out," she said. "You've all done this before...who's good at distraction?"

The group of ruffians and thieves started raising their hands, then some started arguing with each other about who was most skilled.

The whole thing started getting out of hand, but suddenly someone else stepped into the light of the street lamp they were under.

"All right, all of you shut it!"

It was a red-haired guy with a huge weapon and one of those odd accents of the Western part of Vacuo.

https://youtu.be/barWV7RWkq0

"Eh?" The thieves looked at him. "It's a huntsman!"

They backed up.

"All right, don't clear out, I'm not here to bust anyone," he said. "I heard there was some fuss going on over here... This wouldn't happen to be about a white-haired, fancy-looking lass with a big mouth, would it?"

"Who are you?" Libby asked.

"Name's Meridian," the guy said. 

"Meridian...Wallace?" Libby said. "Wait, I know you." She pointed at him. "You're one of the huntsmen who beats up the filth around here."

"That's right," he said. "And if any of you buggers want to test me, I'll show you who's boss right off."

No one did.

"And you're looking for Schnee?" Libby said.

"Yeah, but I haven't got very far," Meridian said. "Who are you?"

"Libby Broom," Libby said. "I'm an...employee of the Schnees...sort of."

"Wait, you work for the Schnees?" someone said. "Traitor!"

"Oh, shove off! I needed the money, and you'd all do the same if you did," Libby said. "Besides, we're trying to get dust shipped back in here--you blighters ought to be thanking me!"

They growled.

"Well, fair point," Meridian said. "This must be fate, finding you all right now. Do you have a lead?"

"Actually, I have a location," Libby said. 

"Then where is her real team?" Meridian asked.

"I thought it might be best to make this an odd job," Libby said. "We've got a chance of getting the drop on them. But they're dangerous too."

"Danger?" said the crowd. "Hey, maybe this ain't such a good idea."

"Don't tell me all of you are such cowards that you wouldn't want a chance to make a name for yourselves in this kingdom?" Meridian said, and he sounded oddly persuasive. "A chance like this only comes along once in a long while, so you can't afford to let it slip. You're not afraid of a pack of--"

"Mangy kids," Libby said.

"Mangy kids!" Meridian said, just as if he'd thought of it.

"Mmm, you know what? He's right, frick them!" said someone.

"Right! We'll show them who's boss around here!"

"Those pricks won't get the upperhand on us!"

"Ey, you're not bad at this rally thing," Libby said to Meridian.

"Oh, my Semblance really comes in handy at a time like this," Meridian said. "You want some help from some professional huntsmen?"

"As long as you can look like some loudmouth fools," Libby said, "and don't object to working with a mouse."

"A mouse?" Meridian said. "Well, don't be so hard on yourself. You're a hamster at least."

"Not me, you git, a literal mouse," Libby said. "I've a little spy on the inside...at least if there wasn't any trouble."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if it works, I won't complain," Meridian said. "My pal Hamish is up for this too...but you'll have to talk loud to him--his hearing isn't back to normal, but he can still swing it."

"Do you have any ideas for how to get around weapons?" Libby asked. "Aura-blocking ones, to be specific."

"Bait and switch?" Meridian said. "Classic Vacuo strategy."

"You read my mind." Libby tipped her hat. "Let's get a move on."

* * *

Weiss wanted to be relieved when Little snuck back in to tell her that help was on the way--but she wasn't exactly confident when she heard the help was just the little Broom girl who'd been following Whitley around.

What was she going to do against a whole gang? Unless she brought everyone else...but would they just be caught like her?...

She sighed.

The Lost Kids all were saying they'd dropped Ruby off and congratulating themselves for how well this was going.

They left Weiss alone, though, which showed how unprofessional they were. Better thugs would have known not to leave a prisoner alone, but they were getting bored of the whole thing and wanted to get paid, and they were knocking around some stuff in the front of the building.

Weiss, with nothing else to do, sang to pass the time and to relieve her feelings.

"Mirror...can you hear me? Do I reach you...? Are you even listening... can I get through?...

"Part of me that stares back from inside the mirror, part of me that's scared I might be wrong...that I can't be strong...

I'm not your pet, not another thing you own. I was not born guilty of your crimes. Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore. I won't be possessed, burdened by your royal test! I will not surrender. This life is mine!"

https://youtu.be/TiWF_vmJyiI

[This song should make a comeback on the show. It's amazing.]

Weiss began to feel better... She couldn't just give up. She was alone right now--now was the time to try to escape.

She should try to get off the chair.

"Little..." she said. "Can you chew through some of this?"

They'd tied her feet and waist with regular rope. Probably because they didn't have anything else.

Little began to gnaw at it. 

It took a long time, but it was cheap rope, and finally Weiss was able to yank her foot through it.

She knocked herself over and hit the floor on her side.

But, oh well, that actually made it easier to pry herself off the chair--though she got dirt all over her face, to her dismay.

But finally she was off the chair.

She kicked her legs trying to get life back, which hurt.

"Ugh, if only I could get these cuffs off." She looped them under her feet so that her arms were in front of her now. 

They looked like they just slid off...

She tried to use her teeth to move it, but it didn't work very well, then she tried to brace one in her shoe and pull it.

It took a lot of tries, but finally it clicked, and her hands slid out of it.

She immediately felt less smothered.

"Wow," Little said. "That was interesting... Now what?"

"I'm not sure." Weiss rubbed her wrists. "We're still surrounded by enemies with better weapons than us. But..."

She stumbled over to her sword and picked it up, then eyed Ruby's scythe... She didn't know if she could take it with her, but wouldn't it be better not to leave it here?

While she was looking at it, it disappeared.

Weiss jumped, but then recalled Shine's power... Well...good, right?

But why weren't they saving her?

Something didn't seem right about it.

She decided she couldn't wait for them to show up.

She didn't have anything like enough Aura to summon something big enough to get out of here, though...so she had no choice but to wait...

She'd been resting for maybe 10 minutes, and tensing to hear if anyone was coming in, when she heard a commotion outside.

It sounded like some war cries and howls from some other street kids, and The Lost Kids were yelling back at them some very vulgar insults and threats.

Then she heard footsteps like some of them were running to go fight them.

Little climbed up Weiss' shoulder. "Maybe your friend is back!"

"If that's her, we're in trouble," Weiss said. "It sounds like a riot!"

"Perhaps we could run," Little said.

Weiss went to the door and looked out.

There were still plenty of gang members in front of it, holding weapons. Some of them were going through a box of what were probably the special ones.

"We'll use this to take the Aura out of them, and then we'll have a real time of it knocking them around," said one.

"That's not very sporting," said another.

"Who cares? We can give them a screwing they'll never forget and keep them off our turf forever," his fellow replied.

Weiss backed up.

"We can't go out that way," she muttered. "We need another exit."

She ran around the plant to the other side. It was dilapidated enough, but there wasn't a hole big enough for her.

But then a grate that let air out of the wall suddenly popped off, and Libby poked her head in.

"I knew it would work!" she said. "'Ey, you might want to step back."

Weiss stared at her, and then she stepped back.

Libby put some fire dust around the hole.

"What are you doing?" Weiss cried.

"Get behind something, love," Libby said, slipping back out.

Weiss ran and got behind an old pipe sticking out of the wall.

The hole blew up two seconds later in a blaze of glory.

She heard people from outside asking what that was.

The building was now on fire. The rotten wood was burning quickly.

Then some people knocked pieces of the broken wall out and made a hole.

To Weiss' shock, it was Meridian, and his partner...Hamish, was it?

"You?!" she cried.

"Hello, Snow Tiger," Meridian called. "This is some rescue, isn't it? The fire really gives it some pizzazz."

"But how...?" Weiss sputtered.

"Apparently it was a mouse," Meridian said. "I don't get that."

"Hello!" Little waved.

"Whoa..." Meridian blinked. "Well...that's...buggered... Anyway, come on, Weiss, we've got to run. The rest of the place is going to get blown up."

"Why?" Weiss cried.

"Why, to make it convincing of course," Meridian said, holding out a hand. "Right, Hamish?"

"Right," Hamish said, too loudly. "No one will question it if we blow it up. We do that kind of thing all the time."

"You do what?" Weiss said.

"We cover our tracks all the time," Meridian said. "Come on."

Weiss supposed now was not the time to be picky.

She ran forward and took his hand. "But it's on fire..."

"Hamish, get us an exit," Meridian said.

Hamish took his club and hit the ground so hard it shot up like a catapult, and they all went sailing out the wall hole.

They hit the sand and dirt outside with a thud.

Libby was waiting.

"All right, all clear," she said. "Blaster, go on."

One of the punks, who looked way too happy to be doing this, lit a fuse.

Dust that had been lined along the walls of the building and the rest of it blew up and sent debris flying everywhere.

"We just need some cover now," Meridian said, "and we can be on our merry way."

"Pitch!" Libby called.

A girl with bright pink hair nodded, then she crawled up the wall of a different building and gave a really loud shrieking sound.

The Lost Kids who were fighting with some more people on the other side of the building, while some of them came running to see what had blown up, now looked up at her.

"Hey, over here, suckers!" Pitch called, really loudly. "Catch us if you can! And your little friend too!"

She took off over the roofs.

"Go after her," the gang cried, several others took off that way.

"Stupid oafs," Libby said. "Don't know a diversion when they see it. We can handle this. Mer, Ham, get out of here."

"Will do--and thanks a million, darlin'," Meridian said.

"Right on." Libby tipped her hat.

"Aren't we going to fight?" Weiss said.

"Oh, sure," Meridian said. "But let's thin the pack a little first."

Hamish hopped into some truck or something that was parked nearby and started the engine.

"After you, m'lady," Meridian said.

Weiss ran and jumped into the car. Meridian hopped on the back of it.

Some of the gang saw them.

"Hey, stop them!" they cried.

"One little weakness of their weapons we did figure out," Meridian said, as Hamish revved the engine and took at a pace that made Weiss clutch the back of her seat, "they only work short range for the most part. Must be so that people you didn't intend to hit don't get zapped and blow your cover. Or maybe it's so no one can get too crazy with it. I don't understand The Dealer's methods, but we've just got to stay ahead of them."

One of the thugs shot a dart, and he ducked.

Then he turned his weapon into a kind of shield.

"Bloody snipers!" Hamish cried. "Get down, Snowflake."

Weiss ducked. "Hey, I can help!"

"Be my guest." Meridian was firing some cover fire at them.

Weiss adjusted her sword and shot some rock dust at
the Kids who were running after them.

They were getting farther away, though.

Hamish managed to shake the others in another few seconds.

"They'll catch up once we stop," Meridian said. "But that's all right. We took out most of them--we can take a few of 'em as long as we keep a safe distance... How are you at ranged attacks?"

"If I can get a good vantage, I can do it," Weiss said.

"Well, then we should get a bit closer, to the upscale area," Meridian said.

"How did you guys know to find me? " Weiss said. "I mean...why?..."

"Well, Broom did most of the work," Meridian said. "But I wasn't going to let that cockananny stand after yesterday. And Hamish wasn't going to give them the last word on it either. So we were looking 'round for any clues about where they took you and your friend, and by some stroke of luck, I found Broom and her group of associates planning a rescue. She got tipped off by your rodent friend there, apparently."

"And...my team?" Weiss said.

"According to Broom, she left them out," Meridian said. "Those Kids weren't expecting us. We folded 'em all. They thought we were just having a regular go of it for the sake of the turf--we can catch them off guard with that rescue bit. Brilliant, right?"

"And you did this for me?" Weiss was stunned. "But you barely know me."

"Don't matter," Hamish said. "No one in Vacuo kidnaps people and gets away with it. Some things you just don't do."

"It's true that," Meridian said. "It's our jobs..."

"Oh, right," Weiss said.

How long had it been since anyone just wanted to even help them because it was their job? She'd forgotten what that felt like.

"But it doesn't hurt that you've made quite the impression on me," Meridian said slyly.

"Oh, save it for after the fight, Meri," Hamish said.

"You want your arse kicked?" Meridian said. "Hammy?"

Hamish tried to hit him with one hand, and the car swerved.

"AH! Can you fight after we park!" Weiss screamed, grabbing the side again.

Hamish pulled over not long after that, and they ditched the car.

Sure enough, the gang did catch up not long after that, but only a handful of them.

Weiss and Meridian got up on a roof, and she managed to summon a queen lancer and shoot it at them.

Meridian's weapon morphed into a bow and arrows, and he shot some ice and fire dust at them.

Hamish waited in the shadows and then jumped them while they were distracted before they had a chance to use their other fancy toys.

"Psych!" he said. "Not so tough when you don't have the drop on people, are you?"

He kicked the guns out of their hands.

"Wow...that was actually not that bad," Weiss said. "I thought I'd be exhausted after that, but I'm kind of pumped."

"Oh, that's probably Mer's Semblance," Hamish said.

"Your Semblance?" Weiss said.

Meridian jumped off the roof, then held out a hand to help her down, which she took.

"Hype," he said. "At least that's what I call it. Not sure how it works but I always seem to boost people's mood a bit when I'm in gear. Also seems to boost their courage. Real handy fighting in groups--the Grimm hardly even touch us. But it kind of boosts energy too sometimes, since people feel stronger when they're hyped up."

"That's...useful," Weiss said. "What's yours?" she asked Hamish.

"Momentum," Hamish said. "I get enough movement going, and I can hit pretty hard. You saw it back there with the floor. But you have to watch for the recoil."

He rubbed his arm.

"We should take whatever weapons off these fools that we can," Meridian said. "No reason to let them torment anyone else, then I say we get Weiss home before her family loses their minds."

https://youtu.be/SHcMVDC1WYo

[AMV by Primordial Paper to "Feel Invincible". They are one of my favorite AMV channels for RWBY. Check them out.]