Nightraze: thanks for the compliment :)
It's good to see that you like it.
Dragonslasher20: if those three letters mean what I think they mean, you seem to have an idea indeed. That being said, spoilers :D
Tuutje07: Yes, the POV thing. I am still trying to grasp the whole third-person limited narrative. One of these days I am going to nail it!
I do not get bored of people reviewing and thinking aloud, on the contrary: I can only hope that even more people will follow your example and leave a review :)
Also, I see your theory. It is a good theory. A theory nonetheless. Spoilers.
Lay Down Hunter: You just read and reviewed ach and ever chapter in this story, you are to be recommended. Unfortunately I can not reply to every remark and idea, but I think that I reply to a lot of them when I say that this story is rated LS for Little Sister. That means that there can be blood and gore and language once the situation demands it, but that M-rated content will still have to wait for proper development in the characters.
So much 'cliché'! It makes me so sad. But hey, all of it's directed at the general romance. So I don't write cliché then? Should I be sad now? :(
Either way, hope that this chapter will provide answers to all of you!
PS: don't depend on it.
"Are you sure of what you saw?"
"Yes sir. Everything adds up. Fall and Cassandra work together."
"I want the subject detained and back at the Hellgrounds at once! Get to Torchwick, get to Cassandra, get to whoever you need to, get it done."
"Way ahead of you, sir. We've already got someone on it."
Day 31, Saturday, JNPR dormitories 8:49
Jaune sighed and rolled to his side, feeling weak because of the lack of sleep. The day before yesterday he had spent the entire afternoon making reports and other forms of homework for Cardin, while simultaneously trying to avoid his teammates. Only in the evening had he finally managed to finish everything that Cardin had wanted him to finish.
"Jaune?"
It just wasn't fair. He had never done anything wrong to Winchester and yet the guy seemed to loathe him. How long was Cardin even planning on blackmailing him? When was this going to end?
"Jaune, are you awake?"
And lovely Pyrrha still tried to get him to tell them what was wrong…he was so incredibly bad at hiding his feelings to the people around him that even Nora had gotten suspicious of him and his behaviour. They had spent the entire yesterday guarding some old museum and that had managed to take Cardin and his knowledge of him off of his mind, but in the evening…he had received a message on his scroll again.
"I know that you can hear me."
Damn it. Just damn it. He couldn't bear facing his friends after how he had attempted to avoid them. He couldn't let them know about him making homework for Cardin –he just didn't have a choice. But…Pyrrha was worried about him and he really was being a jerk in ignoring her, according to his heart.
Jaune got up, knowing full well that he would have to think of some strange excuse for being gone the entire Friday evening. "Morning…" He said, faking his tiredness.
Pyrrha was sitting on her bed, already fully clothed and ready for…something. "Where were you last night, Jaune?"
"Oh you know, doing homework…and stuff."
"What homework?"
"Homework for…the Warfare module…and Grimm studies." He replied.
Pyrrha merely raised an eyebrow. Ren and Nora were still asleep, so he was alone in this.
"You were doing homework…alone? Without talking to any of us for the remainder of the day?"
"Yes."
She sighed and got to her feet, moving over to his location. "Jaune, I told you some time ago that if you needed help, you would just have to ask. But now I think that we need to rephrase that. You need help…and I plan on giving it."
"Pyrrha, I-" He started, but then the rest of his words stalled inside his throat. He just didn't know what to tell her…besides the obvious. Cardin had never openly stated that he would spill his secret when he told anyone else…but the moment that anyone confronted him, something like that was just bound to happen.
He knew that his relation with his team was in serious jeopardy right now; if he didn't do something soon, he would lose their trust. And he could not bear the thought of Pyrrha being disappointed or distrusting with him. So…despite of what Cardin would do when he found out. Besides; perhaps they could all think of solution to get him out of that mess.
"I…" Almost there…almost fully speaking words. "I messed up…I messed up big time. Cardin was there that evening! He overheard us talking and now he knows and he threatens to tell someone about it and unless I do whatever he tells me to do he will get me sent away from Beacon!"
"He what?" Pyrrha softly said, "He…is blackmailing you?"
Even though he was on the verge of either losing the friendship of his team or his admittance into Beacon at the hands of Cardin, he could not help but feel a bit bad for him. Whatever happened next, Winchester was screwed. There was no way that Pyrrha was going to let him live this down.
"Yes. He makes me do his homework and other things and if I don't, he will let Ozpin know about…my thing."
"What thing?" The voice of Ren suddenly asked him.
Great…everybody was going to know.
"Jaune has a secret that might be negative for him and Cardin knows," Pyrrha told Ren, "And now Cardin is blackmailing him into doing his work. And that might escalate."
Nora slowly appeared behind Ren with an angry expression on her face. "Never mind the legs. We will break his spine!" She exclaimed with waving hands. Her seriously insulted face and spastic arms were just too much for Jaune to handle and he smiled, understanding that whatever was going on, his team had his back.
"So Cardin is blackmailing you into doing his homework for him," Ren summarized. "And if you defy him, he will spill that secret. And that will be negative for you?"
"It might well get me kicked out of Beacon…" Jaune sighed, realizing that he had to tell his team just WHAT his secret was. "You see...I faked my way into Beacon. I never attended a combat school…and I got my hands on some fake transcripts. I lied to get here."
He expected Nora and Ren to react with the necessary fuss and anger, but that did not happen. What happened instead was something that he had NOT expected.
"Alright," Ren said and shrugged.
"I KNEW IT!" Nora loudly proclaimed and jabbed her finger at Jaune's stomach.
"Eh…what?" He asked.
"Well, combat experience or not. You are still our leader."
"See Jaune?" Pyrrha smiled. "It does not matter in the end; we still see you as our leader."
"Thanks…" He said, feeling better. He should have come clean to his friends sooner. He most certainly wouldn't have been in the mess he was now if he had just told them the truth but…even after three weeks of being together, he had never expected them to be as close to him as they were right now. It was heartwarming.
"Question is," Ren then stated, "What to do now? Cardin's got you on a leash and there's pretty much nothing you can do about it. And no Nora, we can't kill break his legs."
One disappointed finger went down.
"Well…" Pyrrha then said. "We can always…try to work it out the diplomatic way."
"Diplomatic?"
"Yes," The girl explained. "If blackmailing Jaune is worth less than the trouble it will cost Cardin, he will simply stop doing it altogether."
"So we pressure him into stopping?" Ren asked.
Jaune felt relieved that his team understood the situation good enough to stop sympathizing and start brainstorming, but there was pretty much nothing they could do to stop CRDL from pushing him around, safe from getting violent. And that would make them even worse than those four, as Cardin and his friends' had yet to really trash someone.
If he didn't count them pulling on Velvet's ears, that was. Because that was just plain brutal –the ears of a Faunus were supposedly very sensitive.
"How do we do that?" He asked them. "How do you pressure someone like Cardin into stopping his…activities?"
"We ask someone else to break his spine?" Nora suggested.
He was about to dismiss that suggestion when Pyrrha suddenly smiled, averting her gaze when he threw her a questioning glare. "Well…" She said with a smile, "If we tell Johnson about this, I think that he would stick up for Jaune and frown upon Cardin's behaviour."
The idea of telling a Professor about him having faked his way into Beacon was not the very first idea that would jump at the front of his mind, but…that created opportunities.
"Johnson would most likely snap at Cardin and his friends," Ren said, "making them realize that Jaune told someone. That would make them go to Ozpin or Goodwitch and come clean."
"You are right, Johnson is not a possibility." Pyrrha replied, "But I know someone who is. I think that we can't truly get rid of this whole 'blackmail' problem without help from someone who knows about the system here at school, right?"
"True." He agreed. "What are you planning?"
"Well," Pyrrha said, suddenly looking a bit nervous, "If Cardin can't proof that Jaune's papers are forged, or if Jaune is placed at Beacon permanently with no chance of getting banned, there is no problem here."
"So," Jaune finished her thoughts, "We need to find out just how deeply in trouble I am?"
"Yes." His partner then agreed. "We need someone to validate the seriousness of this situation…and I think that I know just the man."
"Alright…" Ren sighed. "I think I know where this is going…"
"Guys?"
"Are we going to talk to him again? I love talking to him!" Nora squealed.
"What are you talking about?"
"There is one Professor who I personally deem fit to trust with this problem." Pyrrha explained. "And I think that both Ren and Nora would agree, right?"
"Yes."
"Definitely!"
"Who are you talking about?"
"Professor Adamant," Pyrrha stated with a wide smile. "I think that we can trust him with this."
"Are you sure? Are you sure that we can trust anyone with this?"
"Jaune…" Pyrrha then said with a tone that could make him believe that he could do anything that he wanted to do with his team. "You made a big step by telling us this…and right now, we cannot afford to wait until Cardin decides to spill your secret. We need to make the first move and do it fast."
The way she brought that idea made him think that it could actually be viable, telling Professor Adamant about the blackmailing. The man had proven to be trustworthy when it came to caring for the students. He actually seemed closer to the people attending Beacon than the staff teaching at Beacon, as evidenced by the…straining relationship between him and Professor Port.
"You're right," He agreed, "We should probably go talk to a Professor about this…but we should do it now."
"Now?" Ren asked.
"Yes," He explained, "I won't allow CRDL to interfere with this team anymore…not a second longer. This ends today."
Pyrrha tried to hide her complete satisfaction with his decision, but she wasn't quite successful in doing so. But the mere fact that his team was being so supportive with him, going so far as to get up early in the morning to talk with him about his problems and even think of some pretty viable solutions, was more than simply heartwarming; Jaune didn't know what else to call it, but it was pretty amazing.
"Let's go then!" Nora yelled, probably waking teams RWBY and LACG with her loud voice. Ren was able to calm her down before she also alerted CRDL with their plans and then the four of them left the dorms altogether.
Now that he came to think about it, the whole idea of talking to Matt Adamant right then and there was a bit farfetched. He had no idea where the man even was at the moment and for all he knew he could be at the far edge of Vale, scurrying around at the docks.
"There is his office." Pyrrha pointed out after a few minutes of searching.
Who was to say that the Professor even was at Beacon? He could be at Aozon, he could be at Atlas, he could even be on a whole different continent! How could they be sure that Professor Matt was inside of his office right now?
Ren knocked on the door, which then opened after a few second, revealing the hovering head of Matt Adamant.
"Ah! The JNPR's!" He said. His hair looked wet and the fact that he was sticking his face out from behind the door made it pretty obvious that he had just exited a shower…or a bath. But the big smile on his face was pretty much welcoming, so they couldn't actually be disturbing them.
"Ehm, Professor?" Pyrrha hesitantly asked. "Is this a convenient timing?"
"I think he is naked." Nora flapped out.
"Yes…no! One moment." The Professor decided and then retracted behind the door, slamming it shut.
He looked cautiously at Pyrrha, who awkwardly scratched behind her ear in an attempt to ease the rising sense of awkwardness that they were all bound to be having. Ren and Nora were alternating between sharing looks with each other and staring at the door, but before Jaune could even think of something to do for himself to kill the time, the door already flung open again…
…revealing a completely clothed Professor Adamant.
"Boys and girls, what seems to be the problem?" He asked them, leaning against the frame of his door. He was wearing a dark-green bowtie and a brown jacket that ended just below his spine. He looked rather well-garbed for an early Saturday morning; had he something planned? No, couldn't be. He had told them that they weren't disturbing him or anything like that.
"If you have the time Professor, we would like to talk to you about something." Pyrrha took the lead. "It is rather serious."
"Serious? That sounds serious. Come in." He then stepped back, giving them room to enter.
Which they did. And as they all walked into his office, he understood that there would be no way back. If this worked out, he would be rid of Cardin's blackmailing. If this didn't work out, he would be on the very first airship out of Beacon.
"So!" Professor Adamant said and sat down on his chair, placing his legs on his desk. "What seems to be the problem here?"
And then Jaune just opened his mouth and explained his problem. From him having faked his way into Beacon to his ineptness at the subjects that Beacon taught. From his initial doubts of being a leader to Cardin having overheard him talking to Pyrrha on the roof and the subsequent blackmailing. During his "speech", Professor Adamant slowly shifted his stance to a more serious one; he placed his legs on the ground, folded his arms over each other with one hand placed underneath his chin and slightly frowned when he heard the blackmail part.
When Jaune was finished with his explaining, he felt both relieved that he had told an official person about it, but also very scared as to what the man in front of him would say and do. No matter how nice or strange Professor Adamant was to his students, he was still a Professor at Beacon.
And he was a student who had faked his way into Beacon.
"You see Jaune…" The Professor started. "…the way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't often soften the bad things, but neither do the bad things make the good things unimportant. Cardin and his petty little 'blackmail' are nothing more than a bad thing trying desperately to get in your way. And you don't need to let him, as you have an entire team of good things to help you."
"But I didn't earn my spot here at Beacon," Jaune tried to explain to the Professor. "I didn't fight my way here-"
"Nonsense. One's fight is not another one's. The mere fact that you came to Beacon is what counts."
"Does it count to Headmaster Ozpin though?" Pyrrha worriedly asked. "If he finds this out, he will send Jaune away and that is where Cardin is blackmailing him."
"Well maybe we are blackmailing him, I like the odds. But! Cardin is not important. I think, to be honest, that you need to have a talk with Ozpin, dear mister Arc."
Pyrrha was about to protest when Professor Adamant brought his index-finger to his lips, somehow managing to silence her with that gesture only. "Alone. And I would do that Monday, after the excursion that Professor Goodwitch has planned with the students. The excursion for which Cardin is going to ask you to gather some rapier wasps to get back at a certain fiery redhead who made fun of him. The excursion where things might go differently for some people than said people expect."
Did Matt Adamant just plan an entire plan for them?
"How do you know what Cardin will do?"
"Let's just keep it at 'it's obvious to me' and say that I always make an effort to understand my students. It's how Cardin is. The wasps are just a media for him to exert his power."
Alright…just take it for granted…"What will Headmaster Ozpin say?"
"I honestly don't know Jaune. But I do know that honesty is like a drug; it is painful, cruel and addicting and it makes you feel good. Whatever happens the day after tomorrow, this should all be over."
He nodded, seeing where the Professor was going. "Thanks Professor." He sighed and looked at Pyrrha, who was looking at Professor Adamant with a vague expression on her face, like she was trying to see something that wasn't there. The remark about honesty was formulated surprisingly negative, but that was about it.
"Professor?" Pyrrha asked, "Might I ask why you are up so early? And why you are dressed so formally?"
"What, can't I look fancy for no particular reason other than to look fancy in the early Saturday-morning?" He replied, obviously faking being insulted. And that did not work too well, considering Ren and Nora's complete lack of reaction except for a synchronized lifting of an eyebrow.
Those two were really well in sync.
"I…guess so?" Pyrrha then slowly said, looking surprised at the answer she had gotten. Matt Adamant then looked down at his still-green bowtie and sighed.
"Like people are going to believe that. No! I am not fancy for no reason, quite frankly the whole reason for me being fancy in the first place –besides the occasional grand scheme of things being that- is me wanting to be fancy for a reason."
Jaune had no idea what that was supposed to mean and he was about to turn around and leave when the Professor spoke again. "Of course, now that you understand how important friends are, you might even find some allies in your own grant scheme of things. Look around Arc. Good day."
He thanked the man for his time and then gestured for his team to follow him outside, hoping that the many new things that he had been told could even be processed in his mind.
"So…" Ren started when they had closed the door behind them. "That was…useful?"
"It sure was." Pyrrha nodded. "But also very vague. What do we now do coming Monday?"
"He said that Cardin wants me to go gather Rapier wasps to get back at you," said Jaune. "No way that he is going to get away with something like that. Just no way." The thought of Cardin wanting him to hurt Pyrrha was infuriating.
"One problem though…" Ren sighed and crossed his arms. "If we get at him in any way, he is going to get clean with Ozpin. And no matter how shallow his evidence actually is, the mere mentioning of faked transcripts is going to warrant a search."
"And then they are going to find out," Jaune finished his friend's line of thought. "So we need to make sure Cardin does not want to go to Ozpin…or make sure that Ozpin hears it from me instead."
"So what are you going to do?" Pyrrha asked.
"Monday…I am going to tell the Headmaster the truth, right after that excursion."
"Going for the truth then?" A voice that did not belong to JNPR chirped, sounding rather feminine. It could not be one of CRDL…but who-?
He turned around and frowned when he saw who had overheard their conversation so early in the morning: Grace and Alessa, members of team LACG.
"What are you two doing here? Wait, don't answer that. What are you two going to do now?"
"Did you hear it Alessa? Cardin is blackmailing him with his secret?" Grace asked her partner with a smug smile.
"I heard it."
"And now they are going to deal with CRDL thanks to Professor Adamant."
"That too."
"What do you guys want?" Pyrrha asked them, not without anger. She was probably thinking that there was some sort of foul play involved, but Jaune did not think so. He had seen how Alessa had behaved when faced with Cardin's bullying. It was not very likely that they had come there to do anything bad.
"Simple," Alessa spoke and stepped forward. "You are going to deal with CRDL. I want in."
He smiled nervously, understanding that the group of people who knew of him cheating his way into Beacon was growing larger everytime he tried to fix it: first his team, then the good Professor and now two members of LACG. It would be VERY hard to keep this all a secret from the people around them…he really had to make his move Monday, but what would he do?
Sunday, Beacon Gardens, 10:04
"Hey Two-Four?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you think of the guys here?"
"Excuse me?"
"Come on, it's rather obvious. Don't think that I don't see you glaring at them."
"I am wearing a helmet Two-Two. I don't glare at anyone."
"Then how do you keep tabs on their movement?"
"Seriously?
"How do you prevent hostile movements if you don't continuously check the people around you?"
"Difference between glaring at boys and glaring at everyone around you…as you are well aware of."
"Excuse me?"
"Come on, it's rather obvious. Don't think that I don't see you glaring at all the girls here."
"I also wear a helmet Two-Four! You don't see anything!"
"So how do YOU keep a tab on their movements?"
"What?"
"How do you prevent any of them from potentially lashing out without continuously checking them out?"
"That is…I…what?"
"She's got a point Two," their newly appointed teamleader said and leaned back in his chair. They had split up from Two-Three to finally get some well-deserved relaxing in the beautiful gardens from Beacon Academy, seating themselves at a white set of tables and chairs.
For investigative purposes, of course. Lima Two-Three had told them that he was capable enough to walk around on his own and quite frankly, Two-One had believed him. The kid might be naïve and a bit weird, but at least he wasn't stupid. He would contact them as soon as he ran into trouble…unlike some members of their team.
Members who would rather choke an Alpha Beowolf to death while naked than tell their team that a pack was attacking their base. But that was a cold case…literally; it had been in the North. Two-Two had a few issues to work around.
"How much girls do we got here at this place? There are literally hundreds of students? Don't tell me you haven't felt the urge to talk to one."
"Have you seen me flirting, One?" Two-Two laughed. "Only an Ursa would fall for that. No, Four's got a better chance at finding someone here than we got."
"What do you mean, 'we'? Don't drag me down with you," replied Two-One.
"I meant Three, sir."
"'Not gonna work. Three's never reached the girl-point, remember?"
Two-Four smiled, knowing that all this talk about opposite-gender relationships was just that. Talk. Nobody would ever want to hook up with one of them and when the truth about Onyx' true activities in Beacon came out, they would most likely get pulled out again. Or chased out, whichever faction would be faster.
But as long as they were here and they could do good for the people at Beacon, such thoughts did not matter. There was a good choice that nobody would ever find out and if everything went according to plan, they would get pulled out without nasty complications.
"Look what the cat dragged in," Two-Two said and gestured with his head to their twelve o'clock, where four people came walking into the garden. "It's RWBY!"
"You are being loud again!" Two-Four hissed at him when his loud voice echoed across the open area.
"Every time…" Two-One sighed.
Of course team RWBY heard them, but besides a curious glance from their small teamleader and an annoyed expression from the blonde one, they did not respond.
But that was to be expected; Fireteam Lima and Huntress-team RWBY had not actually been properly introduced to each other and the few times that they could have had actual interaction with each other, members from both sides simply turned away rather awkwardly. Only Two-One had had proper interaction with a student and while Two-Three had observed quite a few of them, he had never actually spoken to any of them.
That needed to change. They might have to leave this week, but for all they knew they would be ordered to stay for another month. Might as well have some interaction with the people they were supposed to live with, then.
Two-Four turned to look at her leader and his helmet shifted ever so slightly, indicating that he was also looking at the four students. "Should we go…talk to them?"
"Do you want to?"
"We probably should."
"Seriously? Chastise me about looking at girls and then introduce me to some?" Two-Two complained, thankfully keeping his voice low.
RWBY sat down at a table a few meters away from theirs, whispering with each other.
"No…but we could at least have a normal conversation with them," She replied. "They don't really like us…we could change that?"
"Why isn't Three here? We could trick him into opening a conversation with them," muttered Two-Two.
That was a mean thing to say.
"That only works when we deliver bad news to the higher-ups. They find it hard to get mad at him."
"Can you blame 'em?"
Both sides sat there for at least another five minutes, before the red-haired girl got up from their table. The rest of her team quickly followed her and they looked like they were about to leave.
It was now or never. Two-Four lashed out with her boot and connected with Two-Two's leg.
"Why?" He loudly exclaimed and jumped to his feet, nearly knocking the table over. The four girls from RWBY turned around and stared at them with mixed reactions.
"I mean…" The male hesitated and looked down at her… and she knew that he was pissed. "You sneaky devil…"
"Yes?" The redheaded girl asked him.
Two-Two turned to his new leader and opened one of his clenched hands –that was a cry for help.
"He means hello," Two-Four said and stood up from the nearly tilted table. That was one step taken, now for the other one. "RWBY was it?"
"It was… according to him when we entered the gardens." The raven-haired girl spoke up, her face betraying no emotions but her voice sounding rather…strained. Excellent hearing, moderate emotional control.
"Uh…right." Two-Two decided and straightened his back.
"Weren't there supposed to be five of you?" The blonde girl asked them.
Four felt the need to tell her that their group-activities were classified, but that wouldn't get them anywhere. "Three's walking the front perimeter." She told the four girls and quickly thought of another excuse to prevent too much information from being spread. "The Captain is…otherwise preoccupied."
"Can we go now?" The white-haired girl formulated her own thoughts perfectly.
"I second that," seconded Two-Two.
"I resent that." Two-Four resentfully told her teammate.
"I decide that," decided Two-One.
"I say that!" said RWBY's leader.
"I agree on that," agreed the blonde.
"You do?" The bow-wearing female then asked with shock.
"Not with going, but with the leaders deciding that."
That made some sense, yes. But the girl supporting their leader did not agree with leaving, so she would be supportive of a conversation then.
"What are you…people…even doing here?" The white-haired girl then snapped at them. "Shouldn't you patrol the terrain like you always do?"
"Break-time," growled Two-Two.
RWBY's teamleader looked back and forth between her team and theirs and seemed to decide that enough was enough. "Look, obviously we got off on the wrong foot here…we aren't used to soldiers around here and you guys didn't make a fine impression the first time we saw you."
Two-Two was about to step forwards and say something unflattering, but Two-Four stopped him. "I can imagine that, but it cuts both ways. Our actions during the siege were partially to save you, and should therefore not be judged."
"What logic is that!" The same white-haired girl exclaimed, but she in turn was stopped by the blonde one.
"They kind of did save our butts there, so we should all start over. They're more willing to do that than you were at your first day. I'm Yang."
Two the girl's female teammates looked incredulously at her, but the teamleader also smiled. "And I am Ruby, leader of team RWBY!"
"Is the team named after you?" Two-Two asked, but Two-Four gave him a jab in his side and he quickly shifted gears. "I mean…nice to meet you Yang…Ruby."
Another jab with her elbow.
"I am Lima Two-Two." A robot could have made it sound less forced.
"I am Lima Two-Four." There, that was socially acceptable.
"I am Lima-Two-One, second-in-command of the Fireteam. Two-Three is out scouting and should be back in a few hours."
"Numbers? Those are your names?" The dark-haired girl asked them suspiciously.
"She is called Blake." The redhead told them. "And…" Then she eyed the white-haired girl.
She already knew who that was, but it was not socially acceptable to predict names.
"Fine! I am Weiss Schnee," the girl said and angrily crossed her arms. "Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."
"No shit…" Two-Two softly muttered, but they did not hear him…Four hoped. Unless one of team RWBY was a Faunus…then they might have a slightly lower opinion of him now. But it was only him, so…
The eight of them stood there a bit awkwardly, not knowing what else to say now that the introduction was sort of over with.
"Seriously, what's with the numbers?" The girl called Yang then said, breaking the silence.
"Our official designation as Fireteam Lima, code-name for L," said Two-One.
"You don't have names at all!?" Ruby asked them, looking VERY shocked.
"We do have names, but…those are both classified and irrelevant." That seemed to cause a wave of annoyance and frustration to go through the entirety of team RWBY. Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed explosively, Yang shrieked with annoyance and clenched her hands and Blake looked back and forth between Lima and RWBY, looking surprised at the reactions. Ruby's shocked expression instantly turned into horror and all of them groaned.
Two-Two smelled at his armpit and whispered: "Did I do something wrong?"
"No…" She replied.
"Something I said?" Two-One asked them.
"Everytime I hear those words I feel the urge to punch someone!" Yang exclaimed and her eyes turned red –that was not within their boundaries of expectance. "What is it with you people and your secrets! Seriously, how can a damn NAME be irrelevant?"
"You said the word too…" Ruby whispered.
"I KNOW!"
Two-Two instantly took a step backwards when faced with so much feminine fury, but Two-Four admired RWBY for their attitude. Not many females were so…expressive. Not that she would be an expert in females, as she spend ninety percent of her time around males.
"I meant no offense," said Two-One, "but that is regulation. We don't use our names, only our callsigns."
"That's sad." Blake muttered.
"I know," said Two-Four
"So you work for Onyx too?" Ruby suddenly asked.
"Depends on 'too'," said Two-One. "Where did you learn that name?"
"Will told us." Blake replied. "Speaking about Will, do you know where he is?"
"Will…who's that?" asked Two-Two.
"Pale guy with small scars on his face…grey-blonde hair…got the snot beaten out of him when you guys first showed up?" said Yang.
"And he's gone?"
"I guess so…" Weiss said. "We haven't seen him around since Friday…and he said that he came from Onyx Academy. And you work for Onyx Academy, so you should know where he went."
Oh no…digging students. This was getting dangerous.
"We don't really work for Onyx Academy; we were…employed by them," Two-One told the four curious students. "I would guess that he went back to his Academy, but-"
"Sir!" Two-Two suddenly exclaimed. "Message from Two-Three. He wants us to join him."
"Then we should probably go now."
Silence. It really wasn't any use to say 'goodbye' to RWBY, as the tension in the air was heavy enough to crush a Puma LRV. Those four ladies really disliked them, but that was alright. They didn't come there to be nice anyway.
"So…what was the emergency?" She asked her leader a few minutes later, when nobody could overhear them talking.
"New Intel from Onyx." He answered her.
"Do you think they know about students knowing about them?"
"I wouldn't know about Onyx knowing about students knowing about Onyx," Two-One bit back. "I don't know anything but you two blatantly ignoring the captain's orders to go and…mingle…with the present students."
"The captain is not here now is he?" Two-Two replied.
"You forget about the ability to pluck Intel out of thin air, which runs deep in our business," Four told the larger male. Poor Two-One was right; they shouldn't have done that.
But something had just compelled her to…it was as if she somehow expected that they would be stuck at Beacon for a longer while so that she might compensate for it. Two-Three had better have some good news for them, otherwise all the trouble they had gone through would have been for naught.
And she hated doing things for naught.
Hallway between JNPR and RWBY dormitories, 21:19
Sunday was supposed to be one of those few days that nothing strange or messed up happened, but that tradition didn't seem to hold up very well for the people of Beacon. Just this morning she had taken her team for a stroll in the gardens to relax and have some fun, but they had ended up talking to Fireteam Lima instead. Weird and very awkward people, every last one of them. There had been three of them: one lady, who seemed like the most sensible out of them, one male that didn't talk as much, who seemed like the leader judging by his words and one other male…a very big one.
That one seemed less awkward in human conversation but more…uncontrolled. He had said the name RWBY a bit too loud when they had entered, while those soldiers had all been very stealthy and sneaky in their movements around Beacon initially.
It was amusing but also frustrating to see how they all did have different personalities: the leader, the girl and the brute. It made the black and white vision of murderous mercenaries a bit complicated to uphold. Ruby truly wanted to believe that everyone was capable of doing good, but these people –who apparently did NOT work for Onyx, but that had been a straight lie- were so twisted in their actions and words that she couldn't help but feel worried by them.
And yet there was something undoubtedly intriguing about them…the sheer innocence with which they had been sitting in those beautiful gardens, trying to talk with them about things like names and…well, that was it actually.
But thankfully they had left after a few minutes of poorly-attempted interaction, leaving them to enjoy the pretty flowers and excellent odours.
Blake had been disturbed by the conversation for a good half hour though…and Weiss also seemed to be troubled by what they had all talked about.
It was just how it was though; they were Hunters, the protectors of humanity and all that was good. Fireteam Lima were mercenaries, weird people ready to kill for the money of a highest-bidder.
And eventually, those too would be a threat to the innocent and the defenseless. On the other hand, there was their connection to Onyx and Will. The former was an enigma, the latter a good guy in the end. They were so alike, in more ways than just their armour.
"Hey Ruby."
"Jaune?"
Ruby was about to enter her dorm again when a familiar voice called out to her. It appeared to be Jaune, alone. Unaccompanied. What was he even doing there? Why wasn't he with the rest of his team?
"What are you doing here all alone?" He asked her.
"I was looking for something in a classroom," she said. "Something of great value to a certain older sister of mine. What are you doing here?"
"Making preparations," He explained. "Things of great value to a certain…well, me."
"Oh?" She sat down at the wall and looked up at him. She loved hearing explanations. "What sort of things?"
"Well…I am kind of…planning…you know Ruby, I have never been very sure of myself as a leader."
"Yes."
"And I always thought of myself as a failure-"
"Nope."
"Excuse me?"
"You are not a failure."
"I know, I was just saying-"
"Nope."
"What now?"
"You are still thinking of yourself as a failure. Stop doing that."
"I just started to explain that I am NOT a failure!"
"Jaune…" She started and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Your face kind of gave it away already. Even though something happened to give you hope, you still believe that that hope is not truly hope to help you. You think that you are a failure in letting it slip away."
"I eh…" Jaune fell quiet and simply decided to join her at the ground
It was blatantly obvious; the nervous stance of his shoulders and the way he moved his feet indicated stress and worry, while the genuine smile on his face signaled that he was still being comforted by something. That something was hope…but to him, it was not enough. It should be.
"Whoever taught you to do all this…is a very weird individual."
"You have no idea."
"But you are right…I don't think that everything will be over that easily."
"This is about Cardin, isn't it? Did he do something very bad?"
"You could say that."
"One of these days you will have to confront him Jaune. It's kind of only thing you can do about now."
"Well Ruby, I don't really know how to do that. I mean…we are planning on doing something, but-"
"You are planning?" She asked him, wondering what it could be that he wanted to do against Cardin –and by extent, CRDL as a whole.
"Well, my team and I are planning something for Monday."
It was obvious that he trusted her deeply, otherwise he would not tell her this. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Not yet…perhaps we will think of something that you could do to help us but…no, not yet."
"Alright then. Give us a yell when you need our help."
She got to her feet and was about to enter her dorm when a new thought jumped into her head. "Oh, and Jaune?"
"Yes?"
"You really are a good leader. The fact that you plan before getting back at Cardin shows that."
"Thanks Ruby."
She smiled and entered her dorms, where the rest of her team was waiting for her. She had expected Jaune to come up with a plan to get back at the bullies, but he would need to be good at improvising when things went ugly. That or he should have back-up plans ready up to plan G.
Day 33, Monday, Forever Fall Forest -8:37
"Professor Peach has asked you to bring her multiple flasks of Red Sap from the Forever Fall Forest. I am here to make sure that nobody gets killed by the roaming Grimm."
The large group of students walked deeper into the lovely red forest. It was a beautiful day outside; the sun was shining and the trees had a red glow that made them look even more alive than usual. But most of that went unnoticed by Jaune, as he kept on thinking about the plan that Cardin must have cooked up to get back at Pyrrha. If it involved the Rapier Wasps that JNPR, Grace and Alessa had gathered together, it would be very bad. And he was NOT planning on letting those jerks hurt Pyrrha.
The two raging emotions inside of him were competing for control; one of them was an intense form of worry, as he had no idea what would happen and how he was going to set his plan in motion. The other one was plain anger, the bottled up collection of everything that CRDL has done to him in the past week. And the realization of what Cardin wanted to do to Pyrrha, of all people, made it obvious to him which feeling was stronger.
He was definitely mad at Cardin. But Sergeant Professor Johnson had told the students one thing concerning emotions during his last warfare class: 'Don't make promises when you are happy, don't make decisions when you are angry or sad.'
And he was angry, so he really shouldn't be making decisions. Then again, Professor Matt had told them that human emotions were a 'beautiful part of human nature that should be nourished and cared for and combined with rationality.'
So which one would he do?
"Alright students, we have arrived at the heart of the forest. Keep close to your teams and don't get too spread out. I'll be around if you need me."
And with that, Professor Goodwitch –who had been escorting them up to this point- left them alone in the forest with dozens of big jars that they should use to gather the stuff they needed from the trees.
Professor Adamant had turned out to be an excellent source; no sooner had Ruby left the hallway last night, or Cardin had sent him a message telling him to go "gather some rapier wasps" and to make sure that they "had some reaaally big stingers." Good thing that nobody had gotten themselves stung during that gathering. It had confirmed that Professor Matt was right about Cardin and that had been taken one step further when the Professor had visited them an hour after they had gathered those wasps. The still-bowtie-wearing man had told them that Rapier wasps were attracted to the smell and taste of the Red Sap that they were going to gather.
And then he had left again. Was this what the Professor had meant? Wasps and tree-juice to be used by Cardin to hurt Pyrrha?
Pyrrha led Ren and Nora a few meters ahead, initiating phase one of their plan. Cardin thought that he had driven him away from his team and that would make him an easy prey.
"Come on Jaune, buddy. Let's come with us!" Cardin said from behind him and placed a large hand on his shoulder.
Pyrrha looked over her shoulder and gave him a subtle wink when the bully wasn't looking. She knew that he was going with CRDL, so they would be ready for phase two.
He walked with team CRDL for a while, until they reached a wide open area. There, the bully ordered him to take six empty jars and fill them up with the red sap –which he did. If everything were to go according to plan, he would need to follow Cardin's orders right till the end. This wasn't about Cardin threatening him anymore; this was about him threatening Pyrrha.
And the anger that he was about to face because of that.
"Now Jaune," Cardin started as soon as he had delivered all six jars to his slacking team. "I am sure that you wonder why I had you gather SIX jars when there are only FIVE of us here, right?"
"That is one of the many things I have asked myself in the past hour, yes," answered Jaune. He didn't feel too well; it had been one hard hour of working and gathering and he was sure that his stamina wasn't too high right about now.
"Why don't you come with me and I shall show you."
It was time. Cardin was going to reveal his plan and, if JNPR and Matt Adamant were correct, use him to do the dirty work.
CRDL dragged him to the edge of the higher part in the forest where they were stationed, revealing a ridge from where they could keep an eye on the rest of JNPR. Half a dozen meters behind them was team LACG, doing their own version of work. But right below him were Ren and Pyrrha working hard to gather their own juice, while Nora kept on sneaking in stealing a few gulps of the stuff. So it was edible to humans after all?
"There she is," growled Cardin.
"Pyrrha?"
"That's her alright. Red-haired little know-it-all! Well, it is time for her to find out not to mess with me."
He pulled the box of Rapier wasps –out of nowhere, as Jaune had not seen that box before- and put it down in front of him.
"I heard that these critters pack a nasty sting…and that they love the red juice that is formed by the trees in the Forever Fall trees. It drives them to a frenzy…one that can be…induced easily."
Cardin grabbed a jar of the stuff and pushed it into his arms.
"What?" Jaune muttered, pretending to have no idea what was going on.
"You are going to throw it, little Jaune. That, or I am going to step to Goodwitch and make sure that you get send back to home."
Blackmail…as much a tool for a bully as wasps and red honey. Cardin wanted him to cover Pyrrha with that juice, so that the wasps could go in a frenzy and…nope, not gonna happen.
Jaune got to his feet and aimed at Pyrrha, making sure that Cardin had the thought that he was going to do it.
They had all planned on this to happen after Professor Adamant had told them that the wasps loved that stuff they were going to gather.
"What's the matter Jaune, do it!"
But that would not happen. He had a different plan; if he was going to Ozpin the same day, it did not matter what Cardin thought of him. It only mattered that he thought the bully that he did not mess with his friends.
The box was right on the floor, between him and Cardin. If he was quick, he could nail that.
He spun around and threw the jar at the bully using the element of surprise to make a dash for the box of Rapier wasps. The glass container hit Winchester right on his chestplate, covering him with the red sticky sap that he was going to utilize against Pyrrha. Before anyone could act, Jaune had reached the box of wasps and kicked it open.
One would think it very stupid to run towards a big, heavily built bully after you had effectively thrown honey at his face. One would be correct to assume that. Fortunately, they were too slow to catch him before he could pop the box open and once he did, he was delighted to see the caught horde of Rapier wasps swarming around.
He was less delighted, however, when he saw that they did not go towards Cardin or his goons. On the contrary; they all flew towards the edge as if they had a completely different goal on their tiny minds.
And as he and the guys from CRDL followed the swarming insects with their eyes, Jaune reached a likely conclusion as to WHY the wasps did not seem to follow his plan, which depended on them attacking Cardin- and safe him from a beating.
Who would have guessed that Lisa and Cho from LACG would accidentally break TWO jars?
He watched the Rapier wasps angrily swarm towards the two students, only to be noticed by a loud scream courtesy of Grace –who then incinerated them all with a long stream of her flamethrower.
So much for plan A. About his only plan, really.
"Oh Jaune…you should NOT have done that," Cardin growled and reached out to grab him, but Jaune had had enough of that guy's crap. Bullying and ridiculing him was fine. Threatening and blackmailing him was bordering a line. Threatening to hurt his teammates? That was across the line.
Trying to get him to hurt Pyrrha? The line was a dot to Cardin now.
Because that line signified the extent to which he could put up with the people around him. CRDL had crossed it too many times…and then proceeded to take a leap of kingdoms across it with attempting to get him to mess with his own team. If he couldn't deal with them by unleashing a swarm of insects on them, he would deal with them how he should have dealt with them a long time ago.
With fists and steel.
As soon as the brown-haired guy attempted to grab him, Jaune jumped backwards and pulled out his sword and shield. His team would not interfere; he had told them that he needed to do this on his own. Memories and images flashed through his head. The fight at the southern compound, witnessing dozens of people get gunned down without mercy, screaming at the captain in charge of said slaughter. Cardin had nothing on all of that.
"Want to fight tough guy? Let's do it then!" Cardin snapped and grabbed his oversized mace, ready to clubber him into submission.
The rest of CRDL stuck near the back to avoid getting in their way. Cardin swung at him with a sideways blow, which Jaune blocked with his shield. But the power and speed behind the mace was too much and he was flung to the side. Even though he had managed to resist that attack without his shield getting destroyed, the blow had jarred his arm and nearly knocked all the air out of his lungs. It was reminiscent of the time he had taken a blow with a sparring match between him and Cardin…and he remembered how that had ended up. He needed to change the rules of the fight.
He got to his feet and jabbed at his enemy's ribs, but his blow was parried and he barely had time to avoid the mace that was swung at his head. Then he lashed out with his shield and knocked it into Cardin, but that barely fazed the guy. In order to keep avoiding the counterattacks, he took a few steps backwards and made some distance.
"What's the matter Jaunie-boy?" Cardin sneered. "Lost your courage already?"
"I won't let you hurt my team!" He yelled back.
"I will hurt whoever I want to!"
In his blind boasting, Cardin did not notice the dozen Ursae approaching their position from behind.
Jaune however, did. It did not matter; first he would settle his match with Cardin and then he would focus on the Grimm-
-wait, what? Was he insane? There was no way that he could beat Winchester and those Grimm were about to tear them apart with their bare claws! What was he thinking?
He stumbled backwards and managed to maintain his balance. The monsters were rapidly approaching them now and he could actually feel the ground trembling. Cardin made good use out of his distraction and swung his mace overhanded at him, intent on hitting him on the ground.
But Jaune was still faster and he rolled to the side, avoiding the metal head that came crashing down. Then he jumped to his feet and once again attempted to bash Cardin with his shield –just as the bully turned around to see who was shaking the ground so much.
"Holy-" Winchester muttered, but before the bully could say anything else a shield bashed him in his face, knocking him back.
"Ursa! Ursa!" One of CRDL screamed in panic and then all four members of the team suddenly shifted their attention to the charging Grimm. Six of the giant beasts simply ignored them and continued on charging down the slope, heading towards teams RWBY, LACG and JNPR.
The other six however, stopped to sniff the air and then turned around to face them. They had their sights on tasty humans and they would not give up their meal that easily.
Well, they had to wait for their turn. Jaune refreshed his grip in his sword and swung at Cardin once more, who was forced to block him with has mace. The rest of the group grabbed their weapons and moved to deal with the Grimm, but it appeared that Cardin wasn't as sure of what to do anymore.
"What are you doing? There are Grimm attacking us!" He desperately yelled.
He didn't care. This might just be a fun game for Cardin, but not for him. The fun had been lost the very second that Cardin had started physically bullying him…and this had turned serious with him threatening his friends. He swung his sword sideways and caught Cardin on his armoured plate, which managed to repel his sword.
"I don't care!" Jaune snapped and lifted his sword to attack once more. He was getting the feel for it now.
"What? Are you crazy?"
"You threatened my friends, the Grimm aren't important!" He had to admit that he didn't feel half as confident as he let on, but Cardin didn't need to know that. In the middle of CRDL fighting the attacking Ursa, the chaos that was their own battle went unnoticed. If there were other students fighting somewhere, he did not hear them.
Despite the raging Grimm, his secret about to be spilled to Headmaster Ozpin and the probably mortal danger that he was not in, the simple look of terror in Cardin's face was enough to make him feel confident again. He could see that the rest of CRDL wasn't much of a match for the giant bears and that they were being beaten all over the place.
Cardin was about to move backwards when a Grimm knocked him forwards, causing him to lose his balance. Simultaneously, a powerful blow in Jaune's own back sent him sprawling towards the ground –right next to Cardin, ironically.
Both of them got to their feet and turned around to face their respective assailants. His own enemy was a pretty nasty Ursa with large, bonelike protrusions from his back. What was the purpose of those again? Why hadn't he paid better attention during the Grimm studies…?
Cardin was probably facing an equally powerful enemy, as he felt the bully being driven backwards until their backs touched each other. There was an awkward 'clunk' when their armour touched each other, but that was the only indication he got that the fight had started. As soon as he and Cardin made contact with each other, the Grimm attacked and lunged forward. It was the kind of swipe that Winchester had used himself, and he finally knew how to properly act during one of those.
He let himself drop to the floor and pulled Cardin down with him, allowing the both of them to avoid being ripped in half by the monster. The paw missed its initial mark and kept going, hitting the head of its partner.
While the two screamed and snapped at each other, he managed to crawl away from underneath their crashing bulks and got to his feet.
Cardin did the same a few feet away from him and he quickly pulled him up by his elbow before he could get stepped on by one of the Ursa's.
There were four Ursa left and the rest of CRDL was pretty much falling back or incapacitated. And while Cardin was efficient in keeping the attacking Grimm back a bit, he didn't do much of a job in actually killing them.
Three of the four Ursa broke off their attack and charged off to a location Jaune could not see, but the remaining –and largest one- kept forcing them on the defense. It was probably the leader of this pack, ordering its packmates away for…some reason.
It knocked Cardin to the side and was about to go after him too, when he pressed his own attack. He had already started to swing his sword at the moment Cardin fell, but the Grimm's attention suddenly shifting away from the bully and towards him like that was pretty much NOT something he had expected. The strike simply came too quick; there was no way he could dodge that.
The Ursa lashed out at him with impossible speed and he almost expected it to crush him right there, but that did not happen. Instead, a warm feeling spread through his body and a white flash almost blinded him. Its paw was deflected by an outside source and bounced right back, leaving the Ursa's head open for any retaliation.
That opening he took. He braced himself with one leg, feeling way lighter than natural all of a sudden, before he counterattacked with his sword –
-cutting the Ursa's head clean off with one swipe. The head spun through the air and a fountain of black liquid and gases escaped the stump that was left of the neck. He brought his shield up to protect himself from most of the foul substances. He felt…strangely warm and cheerful, like something had cheered him up.
"Jaune!" Someone yelled and he turned around, only to realize that he had an audience. While most of CRDL was lying on the ground, he was not. That alone should be enough to be proud of, right?
"Ruby? Pyrrha?" He asked, feeling faintly embarrassed that the whole scene had been monitored by his friends. RWBY, JNPR and LACG were all standing near the ridge, surrounded by the bodies of every Ursa that had gotten the good idea of attacking them.
"Holy crap!" Cardin muttered and slowly got to his feet. "That was close!"
He looked at the former bully and frowned. A sickening sensation took over in his stomach and he balled his fists. Then, before Cardin could say another thing, he punched him in the face. His hand impacted dead on his nose and knocked his head back "Don't ever mess with my friends again…you got that?"
Winchester simply nodded, reaching for his nose. Nod nod, yeah right. You just nod Cardin, He thought. Damn, his hand hurt! It was worse than anything the Ursae had done! Was that how punching people felt?
Jaue saw Ruby smiling and wrapping an arm around Weiss, while Yang and Blake merely smiled with satisfaction. He saw Grace giving him a thumbs-up while Alessa nodded at him, with Lisa and Cho applauding in a low-profile. He saw Nora hug Ren and Pyrrha cross her arms as she too nodded at him, looking very proud at what he had achieved.
And he knew that it was time now. There was only one more thing he could do now, after all this. It was time to have a talk with Headmaster Ozpin.
Headmaster´s office, 19:27
"And that is how I managed to get into Beacon." Jaune Arc finished his story, bringing the cycle to a stop. It proved once again that the truth was the hardest yet best way to go with…now Headmaster Ozpin only had to think the same thing.
"I see." Ozpin said folded his hands into each other. "And did it once occur to you that you might die due to your lack of knowledge and skill?"
"Ehm…actually not."
"Hmm…tell me again; why did you do this?"
"M-my father, my grandfather and my grandfather's father were all warriors, they were all heroes. I wanted to be one too but…I was never good enough."
Matt Adamant looked back and forth between Jaune Arc and the Headmaster, feeling for the first time that Ozpin might know something that he did not. He did not like that thought. Reaching out with one hand, he straightened his bowtie and resumed standing rigid without looking interested. He had talked Jaune into doing this; the least he could do was be there when it came back to bite him.
"So you took the faked transcripts, thought that nobody would notice and snuck your way into Beacon," Ozpin concluded. "Cardin Winchester found out about this and blackmailed you for his own…rather petty interests. You dealt with that, I assume?"
"Yes sir."
"And you came here to tell me the truth?"
"Yes sir."
"I see." They remained quiet for at least thirty seconds before Jaune spoke up again.
"So what now?"
"What now? I think it is rather obvious what happens now."
Jaune sighed. "I'll go gather my things…"
"Whatever are you talking about?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why would you go gather your things, if not to go practice?"
"I don't think I can follow you sir."
Ozpin sighed, but that betrayed his current feelings. Headmaster Ozpin was incapable of sighing to show that he was upset or disturbed; sighing was a way to show that he was satisfied. Like people sighing after a good cup of coffee. "I think that you should start practicing really quickly now, as your inept actions will be the death of you soon. Perhaps you should seek assistance with your teammates?"
It took Jaune a few seconds to process what had been said, but once he did his reaction was…not mild, to say at the least. "I can stay? I don't have to leave? That is amazing! That! I mean- thank you so much sir!"
"You won't thank me when you are knee-deep in Grimm. Now leave mister Arc, I need to take care of many things today."
"Yes sir!"
A very enthusiastic Jaune left the room, leaving the two of them alone to ponder over what had just transpired.
It was rather obvious in hindsight; the whole reason why Ozpin didn't make such a fuzz over this. The skill and knowledge never was important to him; it was the utilization of said knowledge and skill. Jaune's limited background and Beacon's reputation for only taking the best did clash violently, but he WAS JNPR's teamleader after all. They could never replace him –as Ozpin well knew.
History had a tendency to fluctuate; it could repeat or never happen again. And Ozpin would most likely not want to deal with fallen or disgraced heroes again.
"You knew that the transcripts were forged all this time didn't you?"
"Of course."
"And the reason you allowed him to stumble his way in and out of this mess was…purely didactic, right?"
"I am sure that I don't need to explain this to you of all people, Matt. Everyone deserves a second chance."
"And Cardin's blackmailing?"
"I have…several places of interest that might be threatened if our mutual enemy keeps his activities up. I shall send them there tonight."
"Good luck with that then."
"How did your day go?"
"Good. I took a shower. Talked with JNPR about things…fixed my clothes."
"And the woman you were chasing?"
"Never found her. She left a message, belittling, me, but that's just a game. I'll get her or my underwear is a bow-tie."
"Of course."
"Team CRDL. On the grounds of incompetence during a crisis, plagiarism of multiple essays and the blackmailing of a fellow Hunter in your education, you are ordered to travel to the North part of the city and find the Museum of Credibility. You are to guard that museum at all costs and contact us tomorrow morning. You will return tomorrow evening."
"Damnit…"
"What was that Mister Winchester?"
"Nothing Professor…
- Conversation between Glynda Goodwitch and Hunter-team CRDL, 20:05
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