A subtle knocking at the door echoed through Ozpin's dimly lit office. He looked up from the holographic monitor suspiciously. Did he have another appointment today he had forgotten about? Glynda was always suggesting he buy a planner, but he kept forgetting about it.

He brought up the live video feed from the camera in the hallway and took a long sip of coffee. It was way too late for him to be forced to approve club registrations, probably ruining his health too, dammit. He peered at the screen over his glasses before realizing just who was outside the door: a short little girl in a green nightie.

Interesting development. Almost like the start of a porno. Wait, ewww, don't think about that kind of stuff.

He called "Come in," and she obliged, tip toeing over the threshold of the huge double doors. Their unnecessary enormity simply dwarfed her all the more.

She seemed... uncharacteristically meek. Was it because of her giant surroundings?

"You needn't be frightened," he beckoned, but she shook her pigtails furiously. They were slowly coming undone and bounced into her face as she swung them. She gagged spat out a few chestnut hairs.

"Sorry, I'm not like this... usually..." she mumbled. Cammo wrung her hands together and tentatively paced towards the chair he gestured her towards. She collapsed onto the stiff red velvet drew her knees up to her chin, bringing Ozpin's attention to her feet. Slender, pale and smooth, but dirty from running on stone tile barefoot.

"What happened, Ms. Deuce? Explain everything."

"Well gee, don't you sound accommodating," she chuckled halfheartedly.

He let the command sit as she shifted back and forth uncomfortably. Finally she gave in.

"It's my teammates."

"And?"

"I can't stand them."

...

"You know, I talked to a girl like you just recently."

"No, it's not that they're stupid or immature like with team RWBY. Sure, they are all that, but it's not their fault really. I'm the one to blame." She waited for his reaction, and he returned the silence, prompting her to continue.

"They're... better than me."

"Well, true, Omobi especially has far greater combat scores, but-"

"That's not it," she said. "When I was younger, my dad left my household. My mom, she... she didn't bother paying attention to me, because I reminded her of him. She was hurting, and I was hurting, and we had a bad relationship."

Ozpin nodded understandingly. Sure, he wasn't the academy counselor ('Do we have one of those?' he wondered), but students were frequently plagued by problems with family.

"As a kid, the one thing I really wanted over anything else was to be recognized. Not by my mom, not anymore, but by everyone else. I changed my looks, I made friends, I studied the status quo, I even put other kids down and used them as stepping stones. Soon enough, my town revolved around me. I became the queen, the empress of my school system. Even teachers would look up to me while I bullied children behind the scenes.

"I got into the world of Hunters and Huntresses when I received my first weapon from my favorite teacher, Mr. Aurelius. It was a really simple one, an AK-sword, and it convinced me my future was in monster slaughter. Of course, my mother objected. It was the first time she talked to me, even acknowledged me in years. My dad used to be a Hunter himself, and she didn't want to see anything related to him in her household. But I fought back. I wasn't going to let her take away my dream: I was going to become the most famous Huntress in the world and bask in glory forever." Cammo slammed her fist into her hand, gnashing her teeth. A determined fire blazed in her eyes. "She tried to grab my weapon, but I ran away. I actually fought her, almost shooting her in the process, good god my nerves were fucking shot.

"I ran away. All I had was the AK-sword, running as hard as I could from that shitty little town. It was too small for me, right? Way too small for the greatest Huntress in all of Remnant. That was the first time my connections really came in handy; I dropped by some of the richer kids from my school and picked up a couple of Lien from them. Hitchhiked and trudged my way to Vale, the capital, the place where legendary heroes are trained. And I was broke.

"You know what kids do when they're broke right? Well, not all kids, but the kids who run away from home, bully their peers and swing around gun/blade contraptions."

"They find jobs?" Ozpin suggested.

"Close: they commit crime. But they get caught, because they're kids. For me, it was fraud, and I was unlucky enough to get caught by the wrong people. Just a stupid girl with an AK-sword and her people skills, trying to con old men out of their Lien at the Club. You know the place, right? You should, a good commander understands the undergrounds of his city just as much as the daylight scene."

Ozpin gave a little "mmm-hmm" of approval. "Though I wouldn't call myself a commander."

"There are dark places in Vale. The kinds of places where human beings truly shine through the monotony of their daily lives. Where a normal salary man can become a high stakes gambler, where a violent punk can become a well known champion."

His gaze narrowed, and he leaned in with new interest. "Arena fighting."

"Exactly. Real gladiators, abandoning their health to the ring for betting tokens. Nothing like the star athletes and Hunters you raise here at Beacon, but bloody messes of children surrounded by cursing, screaming crowds. The same way you have your bars, parties, unlawful assemblies and robberies here in Vale, the illegal practice of betting on arena fighting is broiling right below the surface. Being too small and violent for the sex industry, I got locked into the arena to fight other teenagers who had been fighting for their lives in the alleyways for years.

"And I could beat them all. I got fucking amazing at my job. It was just so... exhilarating to be cheered on by dozens of strangers, so exciting to be the center of attention, that I just couldn't let them go home disappointed. My first time was a slaughter, and I kept getting beaten down, but I gave them a damn good show. Each time I got better, quicker, flashier, stronger. Soon they were calling me 'Empress' again, like they used to back in my hometown. They became my new family, Narcissus and my trainers, my sponsors, even my fellow fighters were looking up to me. I even got a new pair of weapons out of the experience." She chomped her teeth and showed off her lime green braces. "I started thinking that I could build my reputation as a Huntress from these humble beginnings, maybe one day get recognized by a famous team and skyrocket to superstardom.

"But of course I couldn't have fun forever. Everything gets dug up eventually, so long as someone is out there looking for the truth. Three months ago, the Vale police force busted down the doors of the old warehouse in the imports district we had been hanging out at. The patrons weren't there, but they were arresting every miscreant they could get their hands on. It wasn't fair, seeing my audience taken away from me. Then I did something... I never should have.

"Actually, in the end, it turns out I was lucky that someone had recorded the fight. I mean, it caught your attention, didn't it?" She grinned. "That brings me to present day. But you see my problem now, right?"

"No, I can't say I do. In fact, I think you fit in perfectly fine with your teammates. They are all no better or worse than you," said Ozpin pointedly.

"See, you don't understand at all. Ahab was raised on a mountainside, fighting Grimm everyday. Eido is a super genius who still excels everywhere despite losing his eyes and being trapped in solitary confinement for years. Quincy was stunted at birth, but he survived through hard work and suffered great losses and is still the happy go lucky guy he is today. They're all amazing, they've all moved on from what bothered them. I can't do that.

"Everything that happened to me was all my fault. I was the one who got caught committing fraud, I was the one who ran away from home and I was the one who fought with my mother and almost killed her. I got trapped up in myself, and I still remember what it was like clearly. All because my mom stopped talking to me my identity changed. I'm me mostly because of those years when I was running away from my problems and hurting people. And I still can't move on, can't change who I am now." She began to sniffle.

"They got over it... so why can't I?" Her hands started trembling, and she trapped them between her arms and torso to hide her shakiness. She doubled over, resting her forehead on her thin, pointed knees as if in a subservient pose begging forgiveness. Sniffles turned to sobs, and soon she was convulsing with tears.

Ozpin placed the tip of his cane between her legs and tipped her chin up, staring into her eyes with a whimsical sort of gentleness. "You're no worse than your teammates, Ms. Deuce. Just because your tragedies shaped your self doesn't mean you are worth less than anyone whose life is full of joy. We never really get over the past, simply accept it. Don't think for a second that your teammates don't think the same things when they recall their own struggles. 'What if I hadn't run away.' 'What if I'd just been silent.' Everyone has regrets, but as you said, you can't change who you are now." He chuckled. "Frankly, I think your current self is rather enjoyable. Very different from the you I met two days ago."

Cammo gaped at him. "Uuuuh, yeah. I kind of let myself slip this time around. Sorry about that."

"In that case, please continue to let yourself slip," he replied, drawing himself to slippered feet. He drew his scarf a little tighter and shivered. It was most definitely late and he had papers still left to look over and approve. "Are you going to be alright tonight?"

"Well, I'm not too sure," she muttered sheepishly. "I kind of stormed out of the room hastily, so I don't have a blanket or anything like that with me. And I can't go back there now, can I? That would be way too awkward."

"Understood. Feel free to use the staff room."

"Huh? Really?" She waited for his nod, then jumped out of her seat and raced for the door. "Thanks, Oz!"

He raised an eyebrow at that, but gave up on a retort when she slammed the door behind her. 'Back to the approvals,' he assumed, sighing deeply, only interrupted once more that night when Cammo returned to open the door a sliver and whisper "Thank you".


And so ends the last of the huge backstory chapters. Writing and then posting this at 12:30 AM, so I think it's safe to say this is probably a bad decision. Now I think it's worth addressing the sort of obvious naming 'coincidences' in play here.

Cammo Deuce is based off of the Roman emperor Commodus, who enjoyed climbing in the arena personally and killing people. Her weapon and characters from her backstory are all references to various stories and works of art revolving around him.

Quincy Modo is the even more obvious hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo. His affinity for the church, bell tower and hard work all stem from this connection.

Eido Pitch is a play on the fictional king Oedipus, who (spoilers!) lost his eyes for his hubris at the end of the play Oedipus Rex. His family background and status is all representative of such.

Ahab Omobi is a bit of a stretch, but his inspiration is Captain Ahab from the book Moby Dick. It may not seem so intuitive now, but there are many other design choices based off of this connection that will be explored later in the story.

Hope you're having fun reading my mindless self indulgence (oh hey, they make some good music) and make sure to leave a review, because why not? :D