Chapter 10: A Plan of Attack
The police officer glanced quizzically at the three teenagers standing before him, and the one unconscious teenager being carried by his sister. Near the wreckage of the department store, the three surviving Faunus were being questioned by his subordinates.
"And what exactly were you all doing out this late at night?" he inquired.
"We were…j-just looking around!" Summer blurted out, stopping herself from saying, We were on a top-secret mission from Professor Ozpin. "L-look, we're students of Beacon Academy! We're Huntsmen!"
"Hmm, I see you're all dressed in combat clothes…" the officer admitted. "But I'd like some confirmation, if you could."
"Yeah, alright." Summer reached into her pocket. "I've got it right…huh?"
Her wallet was gone. D-did I drop it somewhere? Summer panicked. No, that can't be right! I had it with me when we first got here!
"…Miss?" The officer was getting impatient.
"Pardon me. I'll provide identification." Raven pulled out a card from her coat pocket and handed it to him." It showed her name, personal number, and the pictures of her and her teammates. The officer nodded. "Okay, that seems alright. You four check out, I guess. So did you see this incident take place?"
"We did not. We merely came running when we heard the explosion." Raven's lying abilities were frighteningly convincing. "We did, however, arrive in time to aid these three gentlemen out of the fire without significant harm, though my brother suffered minor injury in the process." She nodded at Qrow, slumped over her shoulder.
"I see." The man wrote in his notebook. "In that case, you all did a great service…"
"Hey, Summer," Tai whispered to her. "What's wrong? You lost your ID?"
"Y-yeah…" Summer nodded anxiously. "I have no idea where I dropped it, though…"
"Could it have been that girl? The one who ran out of the store before it blew up?"
"Huh? You think it was her?" Come to think of it, the girl had been close behind her for a few seconds, and Summer's mind had been preoccupied with Buck at the time. If it was stolen, I guess it could have been her. "Maybe. I don't know where Raven teleported her to, though."
"I moved her inside the dumpster behind From Dust Till Dawn," Raven replied casually.
"A dumpster?" Tai snorted. "That was kind of a dick move, Rae."
"It's relatively safe, in there, though. Most likely."
"Yeah, I'm not a fan of the 'most likely' part."
"Okay, then, I'll go get her." Summer sighed. "Hopefully, she hasn't already gone."
Summer stepped out of Raven's portal, finding herself behind the From Dust Till Dawn store. The experience hadn't been as uncomfortable as she thought; it really was just like walking through an open door.
She walked over to the dumpster and opened the lid. Sure enough, the girl was still in there.
"Okay…two hundred, four hundred Lien…" she murmured, looking through Summer's wallet. "Aww…it's not as much as I thought, but I guess it's okay..." She looked up, eyes widening in panic as she saw the young Huntress. "Ack! I-it's you…"
"Yep," Summer nodded sternly. "I'd appreciate it if you handed that over, miss." She tried her best to sound strict.
"B-but…" The girl looked up at her with adorable puppy-dog eyes. "Please, lady, I, um…don't have any money and I just wanna eat, and…"
So she's a kid from the streets, huh? Poor thing. Summer sighed, trying to hold back her pity. "In that case, you didn't need to steal it from me, you know. You could've asked me."
"H-huh?" The girl looked surprised. "R-really?"
"Really. So little girl, what's your name?" Summer inquired.
"Autumn."
"Okay, Autumn, do you not have your parents with you?" Summer was pretty sure she knew the answer, but asked anyway.
Autumn shook her head. "Nope. I…don't have any. Never did."
"I see." Summer glanced sadly at the girl's tattered, messy clothes. Even if I don't remember much about my parents, at least I knew them…"So…what were you doing at the department store?"
"I-I…wanted to pickpocket some people for Lien. I…I'm not very good at it." She sniffed. "When that scary lady ran in and started yelling a-about a criminal, I thought I'd been caught, so I ran out, and then…then…" She seemed on the verge of crying again. "So, umm…" she stared at Summer, terrified. "Are you gonna take your wallet back now…?"
"…That was the plan." Summer sighed again. Despite her annoyance at being robbed, she wasn't cruel enough to ignore a little girl living alone on the streets like this. "…But, after hearing about your situation, I guess you can keep some of the cash. I don't have much to be honest, though."
"Really!?" Autumn's eyes widened. "Oh, thank you! Thank you!" She began bowing down to her in a comical, childish way. Summer couldn't help but smile, a warm feeling seeping through her body from seeing the girl so happy.
"Alright, now how about I get you out of that smelly thing." Summer picked up Autumn and lifted her out of the dumpster, placing her on the ground. She handed her a two-hundred Lien card. "Here you go…Autumn. Get yourself something to eat, alright?"
"Yes! I will!" Autumn nodded enthusiastically. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh yeah! Did you beat that bad person?"
Summer smiled. "We sure did. It's part of our job, after all."
"Job?" Autumn turned her head quizzically.
"Yep. Me and my friends, we're Huntsmen-well, we're training to become them. Helping others and stopping criminals is what we do!" With a sudden burst of confidence, Summer pulled out her bow and aimed it dramatically into the night sky. "We're also the best fighters in all of Remnant!" Well, most of us are, ahaha…
"Wh-whoa! You're…so cool…!" Autumn gawked at her like she was the latest Grimm-VS-Hunters action figure. "I wanna be able to fight like that, too!"
Summer laughed. She was rather uncomfortable around children, since she'd often get bullied by her peers when she was little, but this young girl was different, somehow. Plus, Autumn's genuine awe of her was admittedly flattering.
"Maybe you will, one day," she said gently. "I have to go now, Autumn. Are you going to be alright?"
Autumn nodded. "Yeah! I have a super-secret hideout in the city where no one ever finds me! I…I hope I see you again…miss…um-"
"It's Summer. Summer Rose."
"Oh, okay! See you again, Mrs. Rose!" With that, Autumn ran off into the night.
Will she be alright? Summer wondered anxiously, watching her go. There's not much I can do about it really...and if she's lived on the streets all her life she must know what she's doing…
Summer sighed. At any rate, she'd gotten her wallet back. Still, she felt she wouldn't mind seeing Autumn again.
I need to get back to Beacon. The others are probably heading back now, and I guess I'll need to report to Ozpin…
Summer frowned as she began to walk in direction of her school. The events of tonight were still bothering her-particularly one statement by the masked man, the one who called themselves 'R'.
My master has taken in interest in you, Miss Rose.
What did that mean? Who was this person Buck and R called the 'Grandmaster'? Why did they seem interested in her, in particular? She wasn't anything special, she was just an ordinary student at Beacon!
Summer shook her head, trying to block out those thoughts. It wouldn't do any good to speculate on things she still knew so little about. Right now, all that mattered was getting back before anyone else saw her.
It was lunchtime the following day.
The cafeteria was packed with students eating and talking at the top of their lungs. Summer honestly found it rather disruptive.
"It's really terrible what happened downtown last night," Heather murmured, glancing through the news on her Scroll. "To think the department store would be the target of a terrorist attack…it's terrifying to think about."
"And it was one of my favourites, too," Regal grumbled, pointing to his tux. "See this beauty? I bought it there."
Harriet nodded fearfully. "And since I'm a Faunus, I-I could hear the explosion even in bed. It woke me up. I don't know who would be so…so evil to…to kill all those people." She glanced over at Team STRQ, sitting on the opposite side of the table. "Did you guys hear it too?"
Tai shook his head, swallowing a mouthful of soup. "Nope. It's crazy to think about, though."
"I do hope the perpetrator is arrested soon," Raven added. "Though I don't think the police have any idea who's behind it and where they are."
"Well, at any rate, all we can do is pray that this incident gets resolved," Heather sighed. She frowned at Raven. "Where's your brother today, anyway? He wasn't at Grimm Studies class."
"He caught a fever last night," Raven said unflinchingly. "He'll most likely be in bed for a couple of days, but it isn't anything serious."
"Well that's good." Heather went back to her sandwich.
"Heeeey, you've been really quiet today," Regal grinned at Summer, showing off his perfect white teeth. "C'mon, say something, you're starting to remind me of Tory." He nudged Torrence affectionately, who was quiet as always, eating fish casserole without comment.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. Just thinking about…uh, school stuff," Summer muttered, snapping back to reality.
After they'd met up back at Beacon, they'd rushed Qrow to the school infirmary. They'd expected the nurse to have many questions, especially why they were up so late, but surprisingly she'd simply nodded and put the injured student in bed. Summer suspected Ozpin had something to do with that.
So now, what do we do? She wondered. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get last night's incident out of her head. She wanted to do something-anything-about it, but she wasn't sure how to proceed.
She'd thought that it would be best to wait for further instructions from Ozpin, but that didn't satisfy her. She felt ready for action-she wanted to continue investigating the syndicate, Buck and R, and whoever the 'Grandmaster' was.
Summer glanced around the cafeteria. Heather was helping Harriet with History homework. Regal and Torrence were still eating. Tai was trying out lame pick-up lines on Raven, who was trying her best to keep a straight face. Over on a nearby table, Jin Shi-Huang and his teammates were making fun of random students.
It was a perfectly ordinary school day. Yet Summer couldn't help but feel that whatever they had gotten themselves into was anything but ordinary.
"I can't wait for the Vytal Festival Tournament," Regal said cheerfully, stabbing at a sausage on his plate. "Team HTHR's participating, obviously, and with Miss Champion over here and I, we've pretty much got this in the bag!"
"Oh?" Tai grinned. "Aren't you forgetting about someone? Maybe the coolest team in all of Beacon?"
"Funny, because I'm pretty sure I just mentioned them," Regal replied with a smirk.
Summer breathed a sigh of relief. Something normal to think about. The Vytal Festival-a huge celebration commemorating the end of the Great War over sixty years ago. It was held every two years, with one of the four Kingdoms playing host. This year, the host would be the Kingdom of Atlas.
The main event of the Festival was a large-scale tournament, in which students from all four Huntsmen Academies fought to claim the grand prize for their Kingdom. Every tournament always brought with it heart-pounding action and charming personalities that made each one unique.
Summer realized she'd probably be participating in the tournament this year. Mere weeks ago, she'd feel terrified at the idea. She still was, but now she felt confident enough to face such a grand challenge-after all, now she had her friends with her.
"At any rate, it wouldn't do for Beacon to lose, especially this year," Heather noted with a frown. "Considering that Ozpin himself will be observing."
"Whoa, seriously?" Tai raised his eyebrows. "But headmasters don't usually visit the other Kingdoms for the festival."
Summer was also intrigued. This was indeed a rare occurrence. Does this have something to do with the Revenants problem?
"That's true," Heather admitted, "but maybe he's making a special case this time. Ozpin has known the headmaster of Atlas for a long time. I only heard about it from my father."
"Your dad?"
"Yes, he's rather well-known in Atlas. I never saw him much growing up, since I was raised in Vacuo by my mother. He does communicate with us from time to time, however. There was one time…"
The rest of the conversation was lost on Summer. Once again, all she could think about was the conflict she seemed to have been dragged into. First, there had been the attacks by the Revenants in Atlas, and then Vale. And now, Ozpin was going to visit Atlas for the Vytal Festival.
It could just be a coincidence, Summer thought desperately. But she doubted it.
Turning to Raven, she saw that the long-haired Huntress was staring at her intently. She nodded as she met Summer's gaze. She must have the same idea, too.
"I think we're done here," Raven announced, getting up from the table. "We still have time before Science class, so I think we'll play Brother a visit. 'Get well soon' and all that." She gave Tai a significant look. "Isn't that right, team?"
"Wha-? But I'm not done my crepe…oh. Right." Tai sighed dejectedly. "Yeah, ok, let's go." He and Summer got up and prepared to leave with Raven.
"See you in class!" Heather called after them.
"I hope Qrow's not hurt too bad!" Harriet added. "Tell him to get better soon!"
"We will," Summer smiled, touched by her concern. "See you!"
With that, Team STRQ left the cafeteria, leaving Tai's apple crepe lying lonely and half-eaten on his plate.
"Goddammit, this is embarrassing," Qrow moaned, massaging his bandaged chest.
"Hey, hey, don't be a wimp," Tai grinned at him. "Are you really going to let a little wound like that get you down, Birdy?"
Qrow sighed. "It's not serious, but it still hurts like hell." He seemed to have accepted his nickname. "I guess this makes us even, huh?" he said to Summer, glumly.
"Hmm? Even for what?" she replied.
"I told you not to do anything stupid and that you were a weak little brat, but in the end I was the one who screwed up and got hurt." He glanced at his wound. "I could tell…that masked man-R-he shot me in a non-lethal spot on purpose. To teach us a lesson. If he wanted to kill me, he would have."
He looked up at Summer. "You did good," he said grudgingly, "Sorry if I underestimated you."
Summer raised her eyebrows. Despite everything, she couldn't help but be amused. "What, you're finally apologizing to me?" she smiled at him. "Maybe you're not such a jerk after all."
"W-what's that supposed to mean?!" Qrow spluttered.
"Come to think of it, it is pretty weird," Tai smirked. "Okay dude, who are you, and what have you done to Qrow Branwen?"
Qrow glared at them, his face red. "Ugh…out of everyone I've ever met, I think I hate you all the most."
Raven, meanwhile, was eerily quiet. She was standing by her brother's bedside, lost in thought.
"Hello?" Tai inquired. "Earth to Rae."
"Er-ah, yes." Raven looked focused again. "Apologies, I was just thinking about…something. At any rate, shall we begin the meeting?"
"Meeting?" Tai looked confused. "Didn't we come here to check on Qrow?"
Summer, Raven and Qrow all stared at him in disbelief.
"You…really didn't realize?" For the first time, Raven looked genuinely baffled.
"You're…kidding me, right?" Qrow grumbled.
"W-w-what?"
Summer sighed. "Tai, we came here to discuss what happened last night. About the syndicate, and what we're going to do now."
"Oh, right!" Tai laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I knew that, I was just testing you, haha…"
"At any rate, there are several things to think about regarding this incident," Raven started. "It seems the syndicate isn't quite what we thought it was."
Summer nodded. "They're supposed to be targeting Faunus, but they have a Faunus in their ranks. They wouldn't do that if their motive was just discrimination like we first thought."
"Exactly." Raven smiled approvingly at her. "Well, at least we know more about their members." She took out a notepad and set it on the bedside table. "Tai?"
"Ah, got it." Tai pulled out a pen from his pocket and began drawing. "Ok, so they've got Buck London, a serial killer slash war criminal…" he said while drawing the middle-aged Faunus and his chainsaw-gun. "The boss of the gang seems to be that masked guy, who called himself 'R'…" he drew the mysterious figure next to Buck. "And he seems to taking orders from someone he calls the 'Grandmaster'. No idea who that is, but they've got their hands on some crazy technology. And R mentioned someone named Simon. Probably another underling of the syndicate." He drew two question marks on the paper.
His drawing skills are really good, Summer noted. "And that's all we have?"
"Guess so," Tai sighed, shrugging. "Personally, I think we should find out who R and this 'Grandmaster' really are. Any ideas, guys?" He looked around. Summer and Raven shook their heads.
"I might have an idea," Qrow grunted.
"Really?" Tai's eyes lit up. "Alright, let's hear it."
"That guy…had long red hair," Qrow explained. "Yesterday in History, we saw a picture of that Faunus girl who was killed before the war started…and she had the exact same hairstyle."
"Violet Fortune, right?" Raven frowned. "Now that you mention it, I see the resemblance. Are you suggesting-"
"No, Sis," Qrow sighed. "I don't think Viola-whatever is R. I don't believe in dead people coming back to life."
Tai raised his eyebrows. "That's not what Rae told me. In fact -"
"Goddammit Tai, shut up!" Qrow yelled. "Look, point is, I can't help but feel like this girl and the Revenants are connected somehow. I mean, she died, and the Faunus War started. Now it turns out one the syndicate's members is someone from that same war! Personally, I think that's too much to be a coincidence!"
"You're not wrong, it is suspicious," Raven admitted. "But we can't say for sure; after all, auburn hair isn't a rare trait."
"Hey, you want a lead, or not?" Qrow grumbled, laying back down on his bed.
Summer remembered how Qrow had seemed so intrigued by Violet's picture. So this was why.
"What about the 'Grandmaster'?" she asked. The one who's so 'interested' in me…
"No clue," Qrow shrugged. Tai and Raven also seemed stumped.
"Alright," Summer sighed. "So, what now?"
"Right now, our best course of action is to await further instructions from Ozpin," Raven replied immediately. "I'm certain he knows of our involvement in yesterday's incident. Soon, it will be time for all the first-years to choose assignments; and we'll just have to pick something that leads us to clues."
"But in the meantime, we'll keep investigating, in our own way," Qrow growled. He cringed from his wound. "Well, you guys'll probably get a head start."
"Sounds like a plan," Tai said cheerfully. Summer agreed.
"In any case, it seems that's all we can do for now," Raven concluded. "Come on everyone, or we'll be late for class." She turned towards the door; Summer and Tai followed.
"Just cause you're hurt doesn't mean you get to skip homework," Tai grinned at Qrow as he walked out. "Remember what happened to you in pre-school?"
"I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch…" Qrow moaned from within his blankets.
From inside headquarters, Buck angrily patched up his wounds.
"Those brats…" he muttered. "Think they're so tough…I'll get 'em next time."
From beside him, his comrade was shining his big black boots. "Well sir, we were supposed to wait for the order before-"
"Silence, Simon," Buck rasped. "Have you forgotten who your boss is?"
"Err…sorry, sir," Simon muttered nervously, his cat ears twitching.
"Anyway…I suppose we might as well test this out," Buck grumbled, staring at the artifact R had given him. He held it out in front of him, creating a small black-and-red void. He could sense a strange presence emanating from it.
"What the hell is this?" he exclaimed.
Greetings. A voice came from within the void. I believe this is the first time we've formally spoken to each other, Timber London and Simon Carabas. It is good to meet you.
"You're…the Grandmaster?" Simon asked, staring at the swirling shape in front of him.
That is the name your benefactor chose for me. I don't mind it, the voice replied. R has informed me of the events that took place last night. How was your experience, Mr. London, or would you prefer 'Buck'?
"It was all fine until those brats from the Academy showed up," Buck spat. "I'm not sure what you've been telling your lackey, but that girl in white doesn't seem to be anything special. Just another soft, pathetic human."
Ah, is that so? Then please, explain to me why you were so soundly defeated.
"They got lucky," he sneered. "They needed to fight me four-on-one to even stand a chance. I don't see how that makes her a 'danger' to the plan."
Nevertheless, they bested you, and you would have been finished were it not for R's arrival. In addition, you overstepped your boundaries and took action without R's order. I hope you understand this is the one time I will pardon your insolence.
"Kh…if you insist." Buck spat. "But then what in Frith's name am I supposed to do now?"
"Remain in the shadows, as you should have done from the start," came a voice from behind. From seemingly nowhere, the masked man walked up to the two Faunus.
"R!" Simon exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
This is certainly a surprise, R, the Grandmaster mused. Considering your position, is it really wise to join us at this time of day?
"They won't suspect anything," R replied dismissively. "There are places and passageways in Vale even Ozpin is unaware of. You taught me that, Grandmaster."
Ah. So I did. To what do I owe this pleasure?
"I'm here to make sure my comrade hasn't gotten rebellious again…but while I'm here, I'd like to deliver some good news," R explained. "I've received confirmation that Ozpin will be visiting Atlas for the Vytal Festival."
Excellent, came the Grandmaster's voice. The plan is proceeding perfectly. If all goes well, we shall snuff out both Vale and Atlas in a single strike. Continue with your preparations, R. And continue to observe Summer Rose.
"Yes, Grandmaster." R bowed.
"Wait a damn minute," Buck sneered. "How come you get to do the dirty work while we're stuck here for months until the Vytal Festival?"
"Because I have yet to disobey the Grandmaster's orders, Buck," R replied coldly. "Can you say the same?"
"You insolent…I hired you!"
"You did not. We offered to lend our assistance to your cause. Do not mistake your place." R turned away. "I must go now. You two, use that artifact whenever you need to contact the Grandmaster. I will be out of touch for a while." With that, they walked out of the room.
"Good riddance," grumbled Buck. He turned to the Grandmaster's voice. "I'm not saying I don't appreciate your help, but I'm a suspicious man. Just who the hell are you, really?"
I'm someone who has a score to settle, the Grandmaster replied simply. And I will stop at nothing to crush my enemy, and make them savour true despair. Really, we're quite the same.
"I doubt it." Buck looked dissatisfied, but did not continue his questioning. "Whatever the case, now we've got a way to talk to each other, so I think we'll continue this later. In the meantime, I'll begin boring myself to death." Angrily, he shook the artifact, causing the void to dissipate.
"Master Buck…" Simon said nervously.
"It's alright, lad," Buck rasped. Turning his head up, he laughed. "We'll bide our time for now. But once my dream has been fulfilled…those two will know what it means to try and control me. Everyone will. Just wait and see. Heheheh…"
Within the infinite darkness, the thing smiled to itself. Whether it be humans or Faunus, mankind never failed to amuse.
How passionate they were. What fire in their hearts as they pursued their beloved ideals.
What despair awaited them when they crumbled and fell against their destiny.
The thing laughed, a laugh that seemed to echo in every horrid corner of the universe, resonating in the darkest depths of reality, where even gods feared to tread.
Brave plans indeed…but what would come of them?
Trivia:
Simon Carabas is based off of the cat from Puss in Boots, as "Marquis of Carabas" was the name the cat chose for his master.
Also, Timber 'Buck' London is a reference to author Jack London. A dog named Buck is the protagonist of London's The Call of the Wild. London also wrote a novel called...White Fang. Buck's first name is a reference to the IMI Timber Wolf carbine, and the grizzly-brown colour of timber wolves.
Anyway, that's it for now, enjoy and leave a review!