Chapter 1

Roman Torchwick and Ozpin

The two stood face to face while the bloodshed happened around them. Weapons clashed with an unparalleled hatred against one another, the Hunters and Huntresses that owned them being far too young to understand what the word even meant. But on this grey and rainy day, they were being forced to fight for their lives inside their sanctuary that was no longer a haven.

Whether Roman knew what he was doing or not, Ozpin didn't know. He didn't care. Even back in their own school days, Roman was one to charge right in without a plan, believing his fists could get all the answers he needed. Admittedly, Roman had done some preparation before invading his school. He had been busy recruiting quite the army. Tame Beowolves and Ursi stood alongside members of the White Fang and even some ex-pupils of Ozpin's own academy.

How Roman could make contact with his students and even persuade them to join his cause, he didn't know. There was no way he could've used his own wiles, which suggested that the dark haired woman that stood in the entrance of the cargo bay of the hovering airship had something to do with Roman's sudden competence. Yet, here he was spouting the same kind of weak slander as in his school days.

"You never were one to take action, Ozpin!" Roman jeered. "Sitting behind your desk all day, keeping yourself to yourself. How were you expecting to make the world a better place?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Ozpin asked and he happily watched Roman's face flush and stammer his reply.

"L-look around you, Ozpin." He gestured widely as a grin stretched across his face. "Your little students are overwhelmingly outmatched against my forces. They'll drop like flies soon enough and then we'll take your academy by force and the last beacon of hope will fall by my hands!"

"Your hands?" Ozpin chuckled. "Please, Roman, I think it's clear to everyone here that Cinder up there in the airship is the one calling the shots. You're down here like the rest of us common rabble. You're nothing but a pawn to her."

"A pawn?!" Roman cried. "Open your eyes, squinty. I'm down here because she knows that I'm stronger than any one of these half-baked fighters."

"Is that why as you walked over here, you gave every single person an incredibly wide berth?" Ozpin pushed his glasses up. "That's not the kind of thing I'd expect from someone that's... how did you put it? 'Stronger than any one of these half-baked fighters', was it?"

Roman's face burned a little brighter as he picked up his cane and levelled it at Ozpin.

"Enough talk."

"I was trying my best to get you to shut up for the last five minutes." Ozpin told him as Ozpin readied his own cane. "But it didn't look like you were getting the message."

With a cry Roman pulled the trigger and a bright, red projectile raced towards Ozpin. But the headmaster moved even faster. Pointing his cane upwards ever so slightly allowed the subtle impact of the tip of his cane with the bottom of the missile. The volatile object bounced upwards again with just the right trajectory to nudge it over Ozpin's shoulder without as much as a scratch.

The next move Roman made in the cover of the projectiles smoke trail was entirely predictable. Ozpin watched Roman bring the cane down through the thick smog in an attempt to strike Ozpin and it would have if he had not stepped out of range long before Roman was even within striking distance. Roman's eyebrows raised as he recognised the incredible opening he'd just given Ozpin as his cane struck the floor and Ozpin's foot came through the subsequent sparks to step on Roman's cane.

Ozpin almost felt like giving Roman a speech while he was down on his knees, but he decided to heed Roman's own advice. Maybe it was time he "took action" to make the world a better place and as Ozpin spun his cane around so the sturdy handle was facing downwards, he felt that he'd done a wonderful job of it.

Ozpin's casual golfing hobby came in useful in that moment as his flawless driving swing came in to contact with Roman's chin, the Aura driven action knocking the fiery haired man back several feet, losing his ridiculous bowler hat in the process. Roman shot another projectile at Ozpin and this time he let it slide down the length of his cane before flicking it back even faster straight in to Roman's chest.

The man with the scorched, white coat flew backwards and skidded across the floor until he landed in a heap by the side of a crater made by a completely different battle. Roman had dropped his cane upon impact and it had been blown off behind Ozpin so he felt comfortable approaching the fallen man with a little less caution.

"Come on then, you evergreen piece of shit." Roman cursed as he flipped over on to his back to reveal his tattered clothes and burnt chest. "End it."

"That's not how this works, Roman." Ozpin said. "You can't repent on your ways when you're dead."

Roman sighed.

"Are you gonna lecture me?" He asked. All the malice in his voice had suddenly drained away.

"Maybe."

"Oh god, that might be a fate worse than death."

Despite their situation, the two laughed together like all those times they had in their own Beacon days. There was silence for a few seconds after before Ozpin gathered himself again.

"I'll come by later to sweep you up."

Roman grinned.

"I'll be counting on you."