Alright, time for the next one. I'm gonna level with you here, this one isn't the best. The title's pretty bad too. I had no ideas. I might change it in the future. It's really just a total author insert but I don't care. It's gonna have some point in the plot. Hopefully. I really needed something happy to write because I've been having a pretty rough day. Big thanks to my friends for helping me out today. On to the chapter.
Everyone stared at shock at what was on Ozpin's desk. It was a map. It was covered in red symbols. The map legend up in the upper right corner indicated that the red meant destroyed settlements. There was a lot of red. So much so, that the calm sky blue of Ozpin's display was shadowed in crimson. Windows opened showing video reports of the carnage. Town defenses were overrun, houses were destroyed, and everyone could only watch as each feed slowly cut out one by one.
"These feeds are documenting Grimm attacks over the last two weeks. Grimm Nests are popping up left, right, and centre, to the point of being less than 5 kilometers away from some town borders. This is very concerning, as the last town to be attacked was the town of Ingristead, which is only 20 miles outside of the Greater Vale area. If we do not act, soon all of the other settlements will fall, and Vale will be next." Ozpin said, deep concern evident in his voice. The other members of Ozpin's inner circle began to murmur with concern as well.
"This is why I've decided that we will take action. We are all very accomplished Hunters, and it's our job to ensure the safety of the people. Tomorrow night, there will be a massive Hunter sting, with Hunters across the Vale region attacking various targets. That will include us." Ozpin concluded, grabbing his cane. Everyone murmured their agreement, while Ironwood confirmed that he would be committing some specialist platoons to assist with some bigger targets. Soon after, the meeting closed, and the occupants of the room left to continue with their day. However, Oliver stayed behind.
"Alright Boss, here's the intel." He said, handing the Headmaster the USB thumb drive. "Here's everything from shipping schedules to possible hideouts. They're all yours."
"My thanks, Mr. Auburn." Ozpin responded.
"Alright then. What's my target?" The Spartan asked, ready for some more action.
"You don't have one."
"…"
"…"
"What? Why not?" Asked an incredulous Oliver, doing a bit of a double take.
"You see, while you are one of my most capable fighters, you are still a student, and that means you are under my responsibility. We need you and the other members of the Praesidium Initiative to keep the students safe, and you're one of them. The school dance is also on the day of the sting. Didn't you want to join?"
"Yeah, but don't you think we should have all hands-on deck for this one?"
Ozpin simply ignored that and refused.
"Besides, you are musical, aren't you? Why don't you perform for the students? Keep them entertained. After all, Glynda won't be around to rag on you all." He said with a smirk.
Sighing, Ollie gave in. "Fine. You all have fun then. I'll come up with something." He groaned.
"Alright then. Have a good day Mr. Auburn."
"You too Sir." The Spartan responded in a deadpan.
So, he left without another word.
Later.
After checking in with Team RWBY in the library and seeing that things were going smoothly (no one was dying) he decided to pick the dance's song list. The only problem? He was a guitarist. There was no bass. No drums. Just a single Gibson Les Paul. Oh no. To solve the problem, he would have to alter every song so that there was no guitar and vocals, then enhance all of the backing parts so that they could be heard. Letting out another sigh, Ollie walked down to the music store, picked up a Bass guitar (Not cheap.) and went up to edit.
This is gonna be a long night.
After about 6 hours of editing, he managed to get a 15-song list of hits from the 20th and 21st centuries, as he thought most of the modern music they had in 2555 was absolute garbage. Specifically, ones with an emphasis on guitar and bass, as those would be the instruments he would be playing. He hadn't played bass since he had landed, so he was a bit rusty, but managed to perform almost as good as he did before Remnant. So, the next day passed quickly, and preparations were in place for the dance. The dining hall was transformed into a ballroom with a dance floor and everything. There was even a stage with an EDM mixer, which Ollie assumed was for the DJ. Everyone was getting dressed up, and what was even better, was that Team RWBY was looking the happiest Oliver had seen them.
At least I can do something other than kill. He though contently while setting up his sound system. Maybe I'll be able to be like that someday.
The hours passed, and it was soon time for the festivities to begin. Knowing that playing instruments in Mjolnir gear would be very ineffective, he changed into his street clothes and put on a pair of sunglasses to look cooler and blend in with everyone else a little more. It was also to hide his eyes. Since they were augmented, looking at them would be very disturbing for some, as they looked very ragged and torn, and also because of the augmentations, he was given a sort of night-vision somehow. This led to a bit of difficulty when operating in bright conditions, so he typically wore contact lenses or straight up sunglasses. As the people began to mill about, Ollie stuck to his corner in the back, nursing a cup of punch. The other Praesidium Initiative members threw him some nods and all clear signals. Even if there was a party, some people were still on high alert. About an hour in, the DJ had started playing, and Ollie took this as his cue. He snuck up to the back of the stage and up the ramp to the stage itself.
If there are any bad guys in this building, they'll look at this. He thought.
Grabbing his guitar, he threw the backing track on through a simple hack that Robbo had taught him to sneakily connect to any system. In this case, to the EDM mixer's outputs. Then, he walked up to the mic.
"Let's get this party started, shall we?" He said with a smirk before he started playing. This would be a true test of his skill! He had never really performed much, but he was on a fairly good skill level. Besides, it would be nice to up his favor with the other students. If anything, this performance was more practical than anything. He began to play the opening riff for a personal favorite of his, "Holiday" by a bunch of guys who named themselves after the color green or something. Everything came out crystal clear, and before long the crowd had adapted to the change in sound, bobbing and weaving with the chord changes.
Looks like everyone's enjoying it. He thought happily as he continued playing and the lyrics began. By the time he had reached the interlude, the whole crowd was clapping along. The politically charged lyrics and the heavy beat took the lead, and the crowd was loving the rebellious nature of the song. So as the last chords were strummed, everyone was on their feet. In the sea of faces, Oliver could make out the smiling faces of Team RWBY. He quickly moved on to the next song, and the next, and the next. For the first time in a long while, he was having genuine fun. Honest fun. It was an activity that didn't involve him shooting someone and instead had him playing music for a bunch of superpowered teenagers. Who would've thought? He eventually reached the climax of his show, the 8-minute-long eulogy by a band named after guns and flowers called "Civil War" featuring some of the best guitar solos he'd ever heard. It told the story of a totalitarian government killing off its local leaders and starting a war that eventually dooms the nation. However, at the end of the epic song, he noticed something suspicious. In the back, there was a woman in a black dress and a masquerade mask making her way outside. There was also a slight flicker coming from her fingers.
Finishing up the song, he decided that it was time to cut it and make his move. The crowd roared with support as the final guitar note rang out through the dining hall. He then slipped out from behind the stage and pulled on his combat mask. It was a collapsible mask that had all the technology found in an ODST helmet, VISR and all… but with a fifth of the protection. The thing could only protect against a pebble at this point. It was more of a tool than a form of protection. Getting out of the hall, the crowd had gotten back to dancing and drinking, which left almost no one guarding the entrance.
Pulling out his magnum, he saw the lady take out a couple Atlas guards by simply kicking them. She took out another two, then stepped into the elevator leading up to the top of the CCT Tower. Letting out what must've been the 20th sigh that night, Ollie switched off the safety on his pistol and decided to take the stairs. Get some exercise. He made it up in about 5 minutes. He had expected an evil mastermind hacker girl in stilettos flaunting a key card sitting in front of a display typing away. What he didn't expect to find was two girls up at the top. One was the culprit he was chasing. The other was Ruby Rose. Ruby was wearing a gray dress and high heels. Looked like Weiss managed to get her to wear those. They were both locked in battle and hadn't noticed the Spartan yet, with Ruby opening fire on the woman with her rifle, and the lady simply blocking all of her shots. Falling into his familiar stance, he rushed forwards and threw a hard jab at the mysterious woman, who took a step back to avoid the punch. She smirked at Oliver while falling into a fighting stance. Ollie just pulled his arms up into a basic guard that would be effective against almost everything, as he had no idea of how this crazy lady would fight. She threw a lightning fast kick, and if Oliver had blinked, he would've missed it. However, he didn't, and moved away at a 45-degree angle and swept in for a roundhouse kick aimed for the lady's abdomen. He felt the blow connect but was pushed back by some unknown force. He grunted as he was pushed back a few feet. Lady had obviously felt the blow, but she instead wore a mix of a grimace and a smirk.
"Oliver Auburn. The Wrath of Arkados. My mistress is interested in you." She said.
"How do you know about that?" Oliver spat as he heard the title she had given him.
"My mistress makes it her business to know about these things." She calmly responded.
Grunting, Oliver leaped forwards once more to launch a flurry of precise strikes, which the lady dodged. She ducked under one of his kicks and attempted to sweep his legs, but Ollie was faster and jumped out of her range and fired off a few shots from his Magnum, the reports deafening in the enclosed space of the CCT Tower. However, she just defused and blocked the rounds with her bare hands, each round fizzling in a shower of sparks before falling to the ground.
"It is futile. I already have what I came for. Like I said, my mistress wishes to see you." The Lady said snarkily.
"Well tell your mistress that I'm not interested and that she can go ahead and choke on smoke because I sure don't want to work with insane people like you." Oliver angrily shot back.
"That wasn't a question."
Alright, now she was asking for it. Oliver jumped right into the fight again, throwing a hard punch at the woman, who dodged. The same routine repeated, with both sides attacking, but was met with no avail. Then, the woman used her special move. She grabbed a vial of dust from her belt and threw it in the air and blew on it. Within seconds, the dust turned into shards of ice and flew right towards the heroes. Luckily for Ollie, Ruby stepped forwards and spun her Crescent Rose around in a circle, smashing the ice spikes to smithereens. She then proceeded to launch a counterattack, swinging her scythe around in a wide arc. The woman was taken aback by the sudden attack and was forced out of turn. Oliver took this chance and threw a hard push kick into the woman's abdomen, sending her careening into the window. She leaned against the glass, stunned until all three were brought to the attention of the elevator. Oliver and Ruby whirled around to see who had arrived. Standing there in a crisp, white uniform was General James Ironwood of Atlas. In his right hand, he held a Revolver. Raising the hefty hand cannon, he pulled the trigger and fired a shot right at the woman, who instead of blocking, dodged. The shot instead impacted the glass behind her, shattering the window pane. Smirking, she turned to Oliver.
"My mistress awaits." Then she jumped out the window, leaving the Spartan, the Huntress, and the General alone in the room.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Funny isn't it? She stole the mouthful of bread, but you broke the window pane. How ironic." Oliver's pointed jab directed at Ironwood was lost on the stern-faced man as he turned to face the two.
"Good job. Her escape was my fault. You did the right thing chasing her up here." That was all he said before walking into the elevator. Sighing again, Oliver made his way over to one of the displays.
"I'll call Ozpin. The man in the high tower ought to know what happened. And thanks for the save back there Ruby. Otherwise, I would've been human swiss cheese." He said, hunching over the CCT interface, plugging in his scroll.
"No problem." She replied, a small grin gracing her lips. "You did good too. But I have to ask, what did she mean by the 'Wrath of Arkados?' I don't know what that is." She asked. Oliver tensed.
"It's… a tough subject." He got out through gritted teeth.
"Ah…! Sorry for asking." She said, looking a little downtrodden now.
"Relax. It's just something personal. Can you come over here and help me give the Headmaster the debrief? You were here first." Said the Spartan, to which Ruby nodded and she made her way over across the shards of broken glass.
"Also, what's Swiss Cheese?" Ruby asked.
Another long night for me.
Alright. I hope it wasn't too bad, and if it was, I'm sorry. I really needed something loose to write. This will probably the last "happy" chapter I'll write for the next bit. Things are gonna get darker in the next chapter. I had kickboxing today as well, so I'm aching all over. I also have swimming. Send help. I mentioned this in another story, but I have a certain song playlist that I listen to, so I can get into the writing mood.
Here's the one I use for Oliver. Give it a listen!
Note: All the songs can be found on Spotify and Apple Music. Or just go on YouTube.
Glory – The Score
My Blood – Twenty One Pilots
Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
Do Your Worst – Rival Sons
Could Have Been Me – The Struts
Amerika – Wintersleep
When the Curtain Falls – Greta Van Fleet
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths
There Goes the Fear – Doves
Bandito - Twenty One Pilots
All These Things That I've Done – The Killers
This is what I have. Check them out!
I'll see you all later.
