A/N:
Getting close to the grand finale, I think.
A nice, satisfying pop escaped my knuckle as I drank from my mocha. The cracking sound carried nicely in the heavy atmosphere.
"So, Kaneki." I said, giving an awkward grin. "Yeah..."
He tilted his head, the corners of his lips turned downwards.
"Get out." He said, his eye turning black.
"Hold on." I said, chuckling and raising my hands. "Just here to talk."
"And I couldn't care less." He said, popping his finger.
"Okay, okay, I know you hate me. I may have killed Tsukiyama-"
"That's the one thing you haven't done."
"...Eh?"
A door opened in the cafe, a tall man walking out from the right. He turned, his eyes hardened and black with the Ghoul Kakugan. I swallowed harshly at seeing him. The upper left side of his face was burnt to a crisp, black flaky flesh covering his left eye.
"T-Tsukiyama?" I asked, stuttering.
"Yes, 'tis I." He said, his sword spiraling from his back. "That crash did quite a number on me. Luckily, the helicopter landed sideways, not head on. When it collapsed, it collapsed perpendicular to I, and thus, didn't hurt me other than some shrapnel. The explosion, on the other hand..."
"Why haven't you regenerated the skin?" I asked.
"The burn was so thorough on my face that the blood vessels leading to the section boiled and popped. For all intents and purposes, it was a hunk of dead skin attached to my face. I could go in and tear it off, and let it regenerate, but I wish to keep it like this. As a reminder." He said, standing next to Kaneki. "Now, leave my Kaneki, else I decide to finally see what a Half-Ghoul tastes like."
"I'll trade you an arm to not kill me." I said, holding out my arm. "Take it, I'll regen."
He chuckled.
"Lovely attempt, Jaune. But your flesh lacks theharmony that Kaneki's has." He said, covering his mouth with his hand.
I cleared my throat.
"I want your help."
Tsukiyama gave a 'pfff', throwing his head back in laughter.
"Oh?! The boy thinks after his actions, we will help him!"
"To be fair, Kaneki started it with that torturing."
He shifted uncomfortably, popping his pinkie.
"Anyways," I said, glancing at my watch. "This is on a schedule. We have only 24 hours startiiiiing now."
They both raised an eyebrow.
"Saiko hacked into Atlas Co. HQ. It was a really beautiful thing. When you think 'hacking', you think smashing on a keyboard and breaking through some firewalls or something. Not what happened. She's there, right now, as we speak, with the CCG under the guise of an investigator. Well, I mean, she is one. They're there to test out an invention called the J.O.K.E.R System."
"A handheld Ghoul Scanner" Ozpin said, walking in and tapping his cane down. "Welcome to :RE, Jaune."
"Pleasure to be here."
"Please, continue." He said, sipping from his drink."
"Anyways, she, being a Q, is being gifted one of theJ.O.K. along with the rest of the remaining Q squad. That's why she's there, anyways. She's got a flashdrive with a very particular .avi file on it, as well as a program to play that file. Should the file need some more help playing, I have another very special hacker back home that'll break down anything stopping it, since he'll be connected to the system the moment it goes live. On top of that, should she be discovered, she has a clock on her scroll phone. It's only counts down from 60 minutes. She can reset it at any point. If, she does not reset it with her own password, it will upload the whole scandal online. . Genocidal intentions, Atlas Co. being lead by a Ghoul, it's inventions to further Ghoulkind, the CCG's involvement in it, etc, etc, etc. Should the phone break, it still will upload due to the time being held on a website of her own creation. They could maybe take out the website, but by then it's too late. No way around it!" I said, throwing back my hands.
"What's the .avi file?" Ozpin asked.
I gave a grin.
"I'll save the surprise for later."
"What are your intentions?"
"Viva La Revolución, baby!" I said, laughing. "The Glorious, bloodless revolution 2.0, baby! So tell me, boys! Are you gonna stay here, wanking in your coffee, or are you gonna live?!"
...
Akira:
"Interns, please fetch our lovely guests their J.O.K.E.R systems." Ironwood said, smiling. "5 prototypes, just for your Q squad. On top of that, we pledge our assistance when Project Beacon goes live. All I request is a steady supply of food, and a 'witness protection program' of sorts to make sure my... ghoulishness is never revealed. A simple deal, but I felt that such a momentous occasion should be held in person. After all, time is of the essence."
"What about the Knight program?"
"Oh, I assure you both Goliath and Knight units have reached their final stages. We already have multiple prototypes of each unit that we are willing to include in the deal."
I tapped my chin.
"We get the blueprints to at least one, as insurance. We can't have you bottle-necking our forces and how many units we have, I hope you understand. To do so is to become a marionette to the Atlas Company."
"Of course. We will be generous and offer you the Knight unit instead. While not as powerful, I imagine they would craft a majority of the squad's numbers."
"Yes."
"Well, is that all? Should we discuss the future plan of the Beacon plan? It might benefit us, and I don't want to make the long trip all for this. Interns, please get us some coffee." He said, giving a soft smile.
"Err, is there an extra?" Neptune said, holding up two J.O.K.E.R systems.
Ironwood furrowed his brow.
"There were 5 to be prepared, correct? I believe they were Akira, Neptune, Juuzo, Shinohara, and Saiko, no? Those where the names included." He said, glancing around.
"Oh yeah, where is Saiko?" Neptune asked. "I don't remember her in the elevator."
I frowned, the door opening.
"Sorry, sorry!" She said, her eyes drooping. "I had to use the bathroom, so I went across the way to , then fell asleep on the toilet." She said, blushing profusely.
"Oh, well, I'm glad you are here now." Ironwood said, turning his chair to the TV behind him. "Here, I'll pull up a map of the city. I want to know which wards go first in the program. Saiko, your J.O.K.E.R system is right there."
She lifted it up, flashing her gaze to Ironwood. For a second I felt just a tinge of animosity, as if Saiko intended to use it on him. I rolled my eyes at the thought, Saiko always had that cranky look.
The interns handed out the coffee and turned on the television.
It displayed the news, at first. Then a commercial I knew all too well. It had pictures of homeless, and other sad pictures of people. At the end, it simply asked 'Ghoul or Human'? After, it said 'Does it matter? The White Fang Association. True Equality'
Yes, the White Fang had officially gone peaceful, from what the CCG could tell.
The intern switched it to HDMI, plugging it in to a desktop at the side. loads of wires were hooked up to it, including power cords and ethernet cables, making it look almost furry with the absurd amount.
It flickered, and gave static.
The city of Vale showed up- and flickered away- only to return for a split second- then it was gone.
"Are we experiencing technical difficulties?" Ironwood chuckled. I took a small sip from my coffee, a face flickering onto the screen.
It was the Midknight Owl.
"Hello, one and all. Atlas Co. and the City of Vale. I am the Midknight."
"What is this?" Ironwood chuckled, looking back and forth.1
"At this moment, I have a bomb planted within the HQ of Atlas Co. Not one, though. I have several C4s planted along the structural steel pillars located at the -4F floor, ready to be activated. These bombs are set to go off in 24 hours."
Ironwood's eyes hardened.
"What the hell is this, get this off my screen!"
"Should you disarm all these bombs, I will personally destroy the building. As an official SSSS ranking Ghoul, the only of its kind, I think it should be in no question that this is within my power. This is not Ghoul Terrorism, this is me using my assets to achieve what I desire. And my desire is to take down the man who created me. Should this attack fail, you will learn what that comment means. That is all, Midknight Owl out."
It ended, Ironwood's eyes stretched open in fear.
"What was that?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Created?"
He pulled at his suit, shaking his head.
"I must ask you all to leave, now. In the interest of the safety of my employees, I must evacuate the building. Excuse me while I call the police for a bomb squad." He said, walking towards the door.
"Is the information accurate?" I asked. "The floors, and the plans? the -4F and the support beams. Could it be taken down like that? Did they really have true intel?" I asked.
He cleared his throat.
"Many months ago we had a breach in security, it had to have happened on the inside. I don't mean to pry, Ms. Mado, but we suspect it was Investigator Cardin Winchester. He must have come in on his own, or perhaps with the early negotiation team for the planning of Project Beacon. Several data plans were stolen, as well as intel on Atlesian affairs, but that was it. Now if you'll excuse me."
He said, turning to the door.
"I have a bomb threat to deal with."
...
Jaune:
I rested on the rooftop, taking out a snack and throwing it in my mouth. The jerky tasted great, almost as good as the taste of success. The fake bomb threat had worked. There were, of course, no actual bombs. C4 is hard to come by!
No, the goal was to evacuate the building.
Did you like the bit where I personally gave the middle finger to Ironwood, saying I'm rebelling against my creator? If Kaneki was right, so long ago, Ironwood was the actual surgeon who helped Kanou make me into a half ghoul. I knew that comment would get under his skin. He knew, given my past record, I wasn't foreign to slaughtering others.
Saiko was officially back at the CCG with Ironwood (who held him for protection purposes.), and was on the inside. The media had exploded with the bomb threat, and it was on every major news outlet.
The time was 1:24 in the morning. It was a lovely night, or day I think. The sky was black, but I'm not sure if it's considered day or night. Either way, it was lovely.
Atlas HQ was beautiful. It rested in the only district not incredibly... metropolitan. It stood in the middle of a giant lot, far away from any other buildings. There were grasses, fountains, and lovely hedges. To top it off, at the end of the massive lot, there was a large fence. A ghoul could probably leap over it, but a human couldn't.
It was the perfect fortress.
I grabbed my walkie-talkie, speaking into it.
"Team RWBY, go, go, go!"
"Roger." Blake said, shooting forward. The three ghouls and investigator shot forward under the night sky, leaping over the fence. Weiss, being a Q, was also able to leap over it with relative easy.
"Look's like I'm over and out." Yang said, giggling.
"Ugh, Ghouls." Weiss said, shaking her head.
"Let's go guys! We're almost there!" Ruby cheered.
They sneaked inside, entering the building.
"Ground lobby secured. We'll see if there are anyone else." Weiss reported. She, like me, had fantastic hearing. I could hear over the radio her clacking her tongue. In the absolute silence, it would create an effect of echolocation. The clicking of her tongue would echo through multiple floors, mapping it out for her.
"Nobody on any floors at least up to 30. We'll go up and secure the rest. You guys are clear to join."
Ren placed his hand on my shoulder, turning to Nora.
"Oh, I'm so excited! My first terrorist mission!" Nora cheered. Ren placed a finger on his mouth, shaking his head.
"Oh, right, quiet." She said. Pyrrha smiled, glancing through her sniper and scanning the lot.
"Team TKO, are you there?" I asked. "Team Total Knockout?"
"Yes." Ozpin said. "Ozpin reporting in."
"Kaneki reporting in."
"Tsukiyama, yours truly, reporting."
"You are clear to move in. Stay on ground level until the all-clear from team RWBY." I said into the radio.
Under the night sky, the three shot forward, leaping clear over the fence. They vanished, the silhouettes, entering the building.
"We're in." Kaneki reported.
"Floors 30-60 secured." Weiss report.
"Team JNPR, let's roll out." I said, standing. Nora and Ren sprinted forward, jumping from the rooftop and flying through the air. I leaped off, hitting the ground with a roll. The moment my shoes touched the ground, I shot forward, halting off the trashcan clear over the fence. The moment I landed, I darted to the left, my kagune boiling out of my back. It flung from my back, wrapping around the lock of the fence, hardening to a thick bone. It wouldn't for away for a very long time.
"Floors 60-90 clear."
We stepped inside, temporarily blockading the door. The place was dark, but comfy. We pulled apart the furniture, making as many makeshift beds as possible.
"Floors 90-120 secure." Weiss reported.
We went upstairs to floor 40, going into the cafeteria and grabbing all the food. Pyrrha had fun preparing it all, though there wasn't much we could do since we couldn't turn on the power until the morning. We'd alert them if we did.
"Floors 120-150 secure."
We returned to the lobby, scavenging the hard paper files for information that might help us. There wasn't really anything new.
"Floor 186 secure. We have control of the building! Ironwood's office is badass!" Yang cheered.
The elevator dinged as it opened, team RWBY walking out. Yang let out a cheer, several bottles nearly falling from her arms.
"Guess what we just found? Blooood chammmpaaagne!" She screamed. Blake set down a box, grabbing a glass from within.
"I found the glasses."
"Blood... Champagne?" Weiss said, furrowing her brow in disgust.
"Fermented blood, gets us drunk." Yang said, popping it open, sending the cork flying. "Tastes damn good too!"
"Ugh, Ghouls." She said, glancing away and crossing her arms.
I shook my head with a chuckle, turning to walk away.
"I'll go find some more blankets. It'll be a big day tomorrow!" I said.
"Aw, lighten up!" Pyrrha said, handing me a glass.
I sighed, taking it from her.
"Let's not get too drunk, alright?"
Everyone gave another 'woo!'
"Cheers." I said, holding up my glass and clanking it against Pyrrha's.
"Cheers!"