Disclaimer: BioShock is owned by 2K and Irrational Games, and RWBY is owned and property of Rooster Teeth. I own nothing.
"Alright, let's go over what you learned." It had been two days since Weiss' initial meeting with Frank Fontaine in the Kashmir restaurant and so far the bald businessman had made good on his word of teaching her the ins and outs of the business world. He had offered to meet with her almost regularly in his office at his headquarters in Fontaine Futuristics.
The man certainly had a taste for the unusual if the large stuffed model of a snowy Ursa Major that resided behind his desk was any indication. That and the left side of his office which held various liquors some from Rapture, and strangely enough from some of the kingdoms as well. The only thing that made the office the least bit humble was a large portrait of Fontaine standing with what appeared to be Dr. Tenenbaum and a young Jack and Atlas.
Meeting with Fontaine here seemed like a major contrast from her studies back home in Atlas, but she was learning more here in two days than she ever would with her father.
"Well," Weiss began to answer, "in a company such as mine that is family run each member holds a share within the company."
"And how much of a shareholding do you need to have to be runnin' the joint?" Fontaine quizzed.
"A majority, so over half."
"An' what about other ways of getttin' up to the top?"
"Buying the company out, but that would be unlikely."
"No foolin' it is your ol' man's money an' all," Fontaine half joked.
Weiss thought hard about what else it could be. "Public support?" she answered as a question.
"Bingo," Fontaine smirked. "Now your ol' man might not care much about how his employees are treated, but you… well the fact you're a huntress says an awful lot about your character. An' if some of those faunus workers start to respect you for what you do I'm willing to bet they'll outright refuse to work for your family unless you're the one calling the shots."
"You do know that faunus aren't exactly looked upon in a favorable light in Atlas right?" Weiss asked. "I would need more support than that."
"So? Go to fundraisers donate to charity make people see you'll scratch their backs if they scratch yours."
"And what if my father decides to revoke those hypothetitical donations?" Weiss asked.
"All the better," Fontaine asked. "If people know it was you who gave them money, and him who took that money back, well I know who I would cut ties with." Weiss had to admit, it was sound reasoning.
"If I may ask a question, why are only willing to do business with me in the first place?" Weiss asked. "The answer you gave before was quite vague."
"Cus' Rapture's been isolated enough as it is," Fontaine told her. "Believe it or not I used to have quite a few friends up topside that helped get me where I am now. Partnering with you an' helping you out creates a partner I can trust."
"That is if you don't stab me in the back," Weiss said almost jokingly recalling her first meeting with Fontaine.
"Ha! Jus' don't give me a reason to," he told her in a semi joking manner. "You an' me princess we're gonna make change happen."
"Ladies and gentlemen! Why don't we get a standing ovation for our first combatants in the singles round!" Augustus Sinclair announced earning a large cheer from the assembled crowd. "Time certainly does fly when you're having fun, it seemed like just yesterday students from up topside first made the journey here."
"Right you are," McDonagh agreed. "But in that time we've had more than a fair share of memorable moments."
"And if any of you would like to remember those precious moments make sure to scrapbook," Sinclair quipped. "But without further ado why don't we bring out our fighters?"
"From Haven Academy please welcome Mercury Black!" Mercury received a cheer from the crowd, most notably from the female population, as he casually swaggered into the arena.
"And me newest boxing champion Yang Xiao Long!" McDonagh called as the blonde girl happily gave a wave to her friends in the crowd. "Rules are the same as previous matches. You win by aura depleation, or knockout"
Ryan watched from his personal booth as both teens assumed a fighting stance. Yang got into a boxers position, whist Mercury had his legs spread farther apart, ready to leap into action the match began. He had never taken too much of an interest in the matches before unless it had involved a Rapture team, but he recognized the girls name from something Jack had said. It would appear that his son's team had made a sort of friendship with this Team RWBY which Yang was a part of. A look to where his son and his team sat now next to the three other girls and a team named JNPR if he remembered correct only further confirmed that fact.
Ozpin had said once before that the Vytal Festival has brought students and schools closer together than ever before. But Rapture was not like them. They had chosen to break away from the affairs of life above the sea. Rapture would never fall victim to a foreign presence trying to establish itself in his city. He would die before that happened. But still, so far Ironwood had made no further petitions for additional troops, and he knew Ozpin's reasoning. No one had made a move, not unlike the two current combatants who each moved forward with their own fist/kick based attack.
Yang threw a volley of punches at Mercury occasionally firing off shots form Ember Cecilia, most of them being avoided as Mercury kicked her arms aside before delivering a kick to her midsection pushing her back.
The brawler recovered quickly enough and moved aside as Mercury brought the heel of his boot down where she had been only seconds before. She fired off a shot that forced Mercury to cartwheel backwards to avoid the full impact.
Even from his booth Ryan could hear the loud cheering of Yang's sister, who seemed more into the fight than any of the other assembled students or adults. Personally Ryan found the girls behavior to be quite childish and immature, but all that naivety had an honest nature to it which was fitting of someone her age.
He momentarily took his eyes off the match to look to where his son's team sat next to the Beacon students. Atlas was conversing with a boy with a magenta streak to his hair and a girl with orange hair about who knows what, while Jack and Elizabeth talked to a blonde boy. Eleanor watched as Ruby cheered the fight on, while she herself held a small homemade flag which she waved around similar to a bow wearing girl.
The last that caught his eye was that of Pyrrha Nikos. She smiled same as the others, but years of dealing with businessmen taught Ryan when someone was faking a smile. No doubt the fighter was still internally conflicted. Not surprising seeing as her deadline for the end of the tournament was drawing closer by every match.
"And who says you can't walk on air?" Sinclair called out drawing Ryan's attention back to the match. It would seem to avoid being knocked out Mercury had fired off two shots to boost his momentum and land back in the arena where he would continue the match with Yang.
What followed was a flurry of kicks from Mercury, all of which fired off shots towards Yang who was doing her best to dodge out of the way, not taking notice of the "tornado" of Dust rounds taking shape round them.
"Well I'll be a son of a gun, a tornado under water, the weather men certainly have their next headline," Sinclair commented as Mercury's tornado of Dust rounds all suddenly converged down on Yang dropping her aura by a significant amount basically securing Mercury the win. "Looks like things are just about wrapped up," Sinclair concluded as Mercury brushed some dust off of his clothes.
"Oh they are, just not the way you think," McDonagh said as the arena lit up with fire as Yang rose to fight once more with her eyes glowing red. She made a straight charge towards Mercury who didn't react fast enough to block the incoming punch.
Punch after punch was thrown with such force that Mercury's aura began to drop by the second as he was unable to block or dodge Yang's renewed assault of punches. Yang delivered one last punch that broke the last of Mercury's aura effictivly eliminating him from the match.
"Now things are over," McDonagh concluded as the crowd cheered Yang's victory. The blonde went to exit the arena but stopped all of a sudden as she turned her attention back to the still fallen Mercury. She walked back to where he was kneeling on the ground, and fired a round off into his leg, surely breaking it.
Silence fell over the onlookers as they took in what they just witnessed and then the whispering started. Ryan heard Sinclair call to have the broadcast shut down instantly as a few of Ironwood's Knight's made their way into the arena, followed by Police Chief Sullivan who was ordering a very confused Yang to stand down. He saw Sullivan pull out his scroll and not a second later Ryan's own went off signaling he had a call.
"Mr. Ryan," Sullivan spoke through his scroll. "What do we do with her?"
Team RWBY's temporary dorm was crowded to say the least. All four gurls were present and sitting on their respective beds while the adults present questioned Yang extensively. The adults consisted of Professor Ozpin, General Ironwood, Andrew Ryan, and lastly Bill McDonagh who had been keeping quiet as he listed to Yang's answers.
"I'm telling you," Yang pleaded, "he attacked me first."
"The cameras tell a much different story," Ryan said not sounding too convinced.
"Andrew please," Ozpin tried to reason. "Let her tell her finish telling her side of the story."
Yang sighed a breath of relief knowing that Ozpin would at least hear her out. "After the match ended I was about to exit the arena, but I heard Mercury say something," Yang explained. "I turned around and he came flying at me ready to attack, so I attacked back."
"Well that certainly is not what everyone else saw," Ryan told her.
"I have to agree with Ryan on this one," Ironwood reluctantly admitted. "Even if Miss. Xiao Long's story is correct that is not what everyone else believes. What they saw out there was a brutalization of another student. And that creates some rather negative feelings."
"Indeed," Ryan confirmed. "I've been informed our sonar has detected a rather large Grimm movement heading towards the city. I'll have to send a Big Daddy unit to try and divert it."
"Why don't you ask Mercury about it?" Ruby innocently asked. "I believe Yang so why not-,"
"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Ironwood replied solemnly.
"What do you mean?" Blake asked.
"A bathysphere took Mercury and his team back to the surface where he will receive treatment and be with his family. He won't be able to be questioned until after he has been checked into a hospital."
"So what does that mean for our team then?" Weiss questioned which led to Ironwood and Ozpin sharing a pitied look.
"I am sorry Miss. Schnee, but we have little choice but to disqualify your team from competing," Ozpin answered.
"Hold on a minute," McDonagh finally spoke up.
"Something to add McDonagh?" Ryan asked.
"Jus' that I believe the girl is all," the older man declared. "I've seen her fight. She's hot headed and stubborn sure, but attacking someone when they've already been beaten enough isn't her style. For what its worth."
Yang couldn't help but swell with gratitude towards the architect. Maybe McDonagh's word would mean more to Ryan than her own.
"You might believe that Bill but I highly doubt that others will not call her psyche into question," Ryan told the other man.
"Are you calling me crazy?!" Yang snapped.
"Oh? Problems with the psyche? I'm disappointed you didn't call me Ryan," the voice of Dr. Sophia Lamb spoke from the threshold of the bedroom. Ryan fixed the other woman with a withering glare.
"I wasn't aware you were invited to this conversation Lamb," Ryan said with an oily tone to his voice.
"I like you saw what happened," the psychologist said. "It is not uncommon for those in the heat of battle to experience stress induced hallucinations." Yang was now glaring at the woman similar to Ryan. "I am prepared to offer my services and help cure her of any other episodes she might experience while battling Grimm back on the surface."
"I'm not crazy," Yang said with a deadly undertone. "I know what happened."
"I never said you were crazy," Lamb countered. "Merely under much stress. And I am sure Mr. Ryan would rather someone be in my care than locked up with the cities more deranged inhabitants."
"You're suggesting therapy sessions?" Ozpin questioned.
"As punishment," Ryan corrected. "Any session with Lamb is punishment enough."