'I do not own RWBY. It was created by Monty Oum, and is owned By Rooster Teeth.'
Note: Here I am, back again. This week I should be updating everything… Why? So I can rest easy and take a break, while finally getting caught up on some sleep I've been missing… Now you may be wondering: Well Max, why have you been missing sleep?
Let's just say I've been writing like a mad man. (Two massive chapters.)
There's a story I'm posting soon, and it'll be very different from everything I've done so far. Different way of writing, different fandom, different challenges to writing it compared to everything else… And let me tell you, it's without a doubt the greatest challenge of my writing career...
Thankfully, there's some fellow RWBY authors willing to help me out! Thanks to WarrenDSherman, Random O' Panda, Smstanton. You're da best!
Criminal Mastermind!
Chapter XXXVII
He woke up sharply, sitting up in bed as he thrashed his arm out to the side. Grabbing onto his scroll with a snarl, he threw it across the room and it smacked into one of the four walls. Falling with a crack, the already broken thing was letting the blue light shine from the screen and illuminate the small room.
Jaune wasn't in a great mood.
Which, made some sense if we're being entirely honest… What he had been expecting of this job was something far more cushy, and maybe a bit more relaxing. Instead, he had to wake up bright and early, every morning just to make sure they didn't drop some damn boxes!
They were just boxes for crying out loud!
Sure. Boxes were cool… Occasionally, they could even be scary if used right. Or even a useful tool, to be used when escaping snow angels, and jumping off of twenty story tall prisons… But it's not like they were going to bite you or anything!
Gosh, these White Fang grunts really were good for nothing.
Jaune could almost understand Roman's rudeness towards them… They certainly weren't the most competent bunch, and from what he had learned so far, they didn't do all that well even at the things which literally involved pressing a button.
'At least now I know why we shipped them off to Menagerie… Wait, that sounds racist.'
Slipping his legs out of bed, he sat up and ran his two massive hands through his hair. Combing it slightly, he wondered how he hadn't gone insane yet. It would've been totally understandable if he had… After all, there wasn't much to do when you were stuck in a freaking mountain.
Mountain Glenn… His prison, evil fortress, and pet project all at once.
It wasn't pleasant, and Jaune could certainly think of a few ways to spruce up the place for future use one day…. After all, lock a man inside of a stupid mountain, surrounded by fanatics who want do do nothing but please him, and you get a bored man!
Or a crazy sex lord, but Jaune wasn't exactly eager to take on that sort of responsibility.
After all… He was saving his purity for his precious snow angel.
No… What he had to do to have any fun around here took far too much effort. It took enough effort that there was no point for him to even bother doing the work in the first place! No amount of fun was worth shipping in a million plastic balls to be used for filling in one of the empty buildings here.
Though, with Salem's accounts at his disposal, he had enough money to do that!
Standing up, he looked over to the desk, before going and picking up his scroll. It wasn't like his room was bad, cramped, or lacking in ways to have fun… No, they'd given him the nicest room totally willingly… Which was fine in itself, since you should always treat your superiors well and all that…
Though, it seemed sometimes that they'd do anything for him willingly.
It seemed to be a side effect of who he was.
He was the Rogue! The amazing criminal mastermind! He who was infamous, the most wanted man in the land… The king of the criminal castle… There was basically nothing which could hope to stand in his way. Seriously, the law enforcement hunting him was just embarrassing.
His only disguise was a pair of glasses and a suit for Pumpkin Pete's sake!
Sometimes Jaune wondered why he didn't just let them catch him already… Perhaps it was the fact that he now took pride in the fact that he could put: Was once the most wanted man in Remnant on his resume… Or perhaps it was something else.
Though, if he had to be captured by anyone… He'd love to be captured by Winter. It's been two weeks, but still his heart fluttered every time he thought of their night together. He was just so suave!
Thinking back, he could still feel her soft cheek under his lips… The perfume she wore...
Grabbing his scroll, he tossed it over onto the trash can by his bed, before he went and opened his closet. Selecting one of the five identical suits in there, he brushed the lint from it for a moment before heading over to the shower.
Another thing which sucked was that the shower wasn't nearly as nice as the one he had at home. While the shower he had back in his old apartment may have been a devil shower, it was nice sometimes...
This one didn't have the same buttons… Or general feel his old one had. That squeaky clean.
Taking a brief shower, Jaune made sure not to go over the five minutes everybody had allotted to them every day of shower time… A much needed rule which had cut costs here very effectively… Which was a good thing. Since he'd gotten here, Jaune had turned everything around to be more efficient.
Though once more, while they were incompetent, the White Fang were eager to serve him.
Straightening out his suit, Jaune fixed the cuffs before moving his hair over slightly. Shuffling it back to where it was, he left it in the purposefully not caring look he liked before tucking his new scroll into the coat.
From there, he slipped on his new watch, a pair of his now signature horn rimmed glasses, and tucked his firearm into the holster under his arm. Nodding, he looked at himself in the mirror before shooting a pair of finger guns and leaving the room.
Jaune sighed as he stepped out of the room and into the small corridor. One of the side effects of having a mountain base made for holding citizens in time of a crisis, is that everything is cramped, and made to be efficient.
Efficient, and not great for people like him, who were over six feet tall.
Walking down the hallways, Jaune came across the occasional member of the White Fang, rolling his eyes every time he did so. For some reason, they thought it best to either drop to their knees and praise him like the sun, or salute him with a clack of the heel every time he passed.
He didn't quite get why.
Yet still, he gave them all a stern warning for doing that. For some reason they never learned that he didn't like that… Even after a week of him drilling that into their minds. Hell, he even had them chant things like that as he forced them to train and become slightly more competent!
'Don't salute the leader! Don't salute the leader! It should be totally stuck into their heads by now!'
Shaking his head as he walked, Jaune looked at them. The crazy masked men really just had no sense of tact. They were awkward, or dumb, or grunt like! Wait… Was this what Roman had seen him as everytime he screwed up the paperwork!?
Wait a damn second!
Before Jaune's mind could head further down that train of thought, he arrived at the end of the hallway, and at the top of the massive storage room. A pair of gargantuan hangar bay doors were on the entire left wall, and the shelves were massive, covered in all sorts of colourful crates and boxes.
Ah… While not everything was good, it was great to see all that dust.
Just… The feeling of knowing that you owned enough dust to blow up an entire city resonated within you… You know the feeling? Jaune smiled, looking upon it from his high perch, and eventually they noticed his presence.
Upon seeing him, everyone put down what they were doing, and took off their hats, bowing deeply. Another sigh escaped his lips, as they all followed in suit making themselves worship him like the god he was.
As ego fueling as it was, he had to stop them… For the sake of efficiency.
"I told you guys to stop that already! Now get back to work!" He snapped at them, and under the top half of the mask he saw several people smiling at his words… At least one man had tears running from out of his face cover.
"Yes supreme high leader!"
Looking down at them as they hustled back to work, Jaune shook his head. Supreme high leader? Who did they think he was? Jaune certainly wasn't some sort of supreme high leader, and being in a position of power, while somewhat natural feeling wasn't quite a welcome one.
As his new evil underlings started stacking dust, Jaune took out a his new scroll and quickly configured it to his old settings. Putting it back when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, Jaune briefly wondered if it was that Adam guy coming by to pay respects.
He didn't seem all too pleased the last time they'd talked.
But then he heard the tinkle of someone's hand on a plate, and as he finished turning around there was a smile on his face. "Ah! Deery! How's my favorite underling doing this morning?"
The girl in question blushed slightly without his knowing, as Jaune took the sandwich from her hands. Taking a big bite as he watched her, Jaune waited for an answer as some sauce dripped out the other side.
She was the one underling he truly liked.
Deery was a cute girl. Standing at maybe five foot six, she was the perfect height, but made to look taller by the two antlers poking out of her auburn hair. That same hair flowed around her head down to her shoulders, and seemed to have been freshly washed.
Looking upwards into the bright green eyes, and lightly freckle covered face, Jaune found himself smiling.
There was just something about her.
With her slight but soft and kind looking build, she didn't seem like a criminal at all. A bit like a sister, but also like that cute neighborhood love interest all main characters needed to have in order to be complete. It brought him comfort, and the way she talked to him was far more sincere than the rest.
Though he had no doubt that they liked him too.
"Not wearing your mask today Deery? I would've thought you'd be proud to wear it." He said with a laugh and she blushed again, looking away as she shifted her shoulders slightly.
She was wearing the rest of the uniform, complete with a tight fitting black top, white vest, and black slacks that everyone else had, but on her it looked good. Really good. Fitting her figure perfectly, it emphasized all the right places.
"I've got the full uniform already! Besides, we're all among friends, and it's not like the masks are any help in the dark." She said, blinking brightly at him. Ah, right. He'd almost forgotten about their natural night vision.
"Ah you're right… Anyways, seeing as they're getting to work, care to walk with me? I've got a few duties to attend to today." He offered her, and she bounced happily. He tried to stop himself from noticing how other things bounced, but couldn't help himself.
What could he say… He was a man.
"I'd love to supreme high leader!" She said, before moving to Jaune's side and holding onto his arm slightly. Surprised at the sudden closeness, Jaune felt her head press against his shoulder as they walked.
"You alone give me hope for humanity! Adam always thought they couldn't be saved, but you make me think that maybe they're not all bad." She said, and Jaune blinked for a second before looking down at Deery.
Don't get him wrong, having a very cute and good looking girl who adored you hanging off of one arm wasn't a bad thing at all, but it wasn't common… Did this perhaps mean what he thought it meant?
Did she like him?
It was on that day that Jaune had an epiphany.
~o0o~ Criminal Mastermind! ~o0o~
Winter took in a deep breath, her lungs heaving for air as she slumped against the wall behind her. The foreign apartment was a nice place, expensive and certainly not like any of the apartments she's been in for the past week.
In front of her was a destroyed living room.
The battle had been quick, but destructive and made more than enough noise. While she'd been totally unharmed, and the enemy incapacitated for interrogation, there was still bound to be people coming to collect her sometime soon.
But she wasn't like the Rogue… She couldn't simply vanish.
Looking at the man she'd extracted information out of after interrogating, she looked at his slumped body. He was a big man, and there was no way she could use his clothes to slip out in the form of a surprise… But the question was: Was it worth it?
She'd say: Absolutely.
The trail that the Rogue had led her down had been long, and uncomfortable at times. Facing the biggest powers in the government, the underworld, and the school system all at once? He had seemingly led her on a wild goose chase for weeks, before finally she had found evidence of what he had been talking about.
There was a secret organization under everyone's noses… And nobody even seemed to care.
There was secrets kept from the public, and she had vowed on exposing them. Contacting her sister a week ago, Winter had let Weiss know that she should probably cover up any and all weak points the Schnee Dust Company had before she found any real evidence.
While she hated her father, she didn't' hate the company. Not under her sister's much more friendly rule.
Sighing, she continued heaving for air before finally calming down. Checking her pulse, Winter ignored the blood staining her clothing before wiping a small amount from her lip. That had just been where she'd bitten herself, having been going too fast to stop in time.
Thankfully she hadn't bitten off her tongue.
Holding the file still in her hand, she sat down on the wooden floor of the apartment and opened it. Getting the combination to the safe hadn't been easy, but using some mind games taught to her by the academy, and some good old fashioned force she had gotten it no problem.
Though in hindsight, using dust to melt it open would've been more dangerous, but effective.
Opening the file, with her heart pounding in her ears, Winter wondered if this is what the Rogue felt like when he opened it for the first time… Potentially the biggest secret in the world in her hand, and she was about to read it… Understand it. Comprehend the conspiracy.
Then… Winter would see what she'd do with it.
Opening the file, she started with the first page. The more she read, the more intrigued she became. This… This stretched just about everywhere you could imagine. While most people assumed they controlled themselves, this suggested something entirely different. This suggested a chain of command, which was altering not only the course of world events, but the course of history.
Recorded, and yet to be recorded.
They were shaping everything. The trends, the way people thought, what they were taught, everything. Imagine learning that suddenly everything you knew, might be a lie? Just like a snap of fingers, everything would prove untrue, and your entire world would go dissolving apart.
Freaky right?
"Shit." Swearing for the first time since her specialist training courses, Winter continued reading over this… Now that she knew what was in here, she knew that there would be more… More documents, more proof, more evidence which could take the entire thing down.
That would free the people of Remnant from the invisible hand…
The top one percent of the top one percent. People like her father. People like her sister.
This couldn't go public. No… The pandamonium, the misunderstanding, the doubt, the fear, the anger. All of it would draw the grimm, and destroy the world itself. Whoever survived the war would just control everything, and then they'd be in a worse off place than where they currently were.
So, Winter did the responsible thing.
Quickly hustling over to the bathroom where she remembered seeing a metal trash bin, she put it in the center of the living room before tossing in the folder. Opening her trusty weapon, she poured out a small amount of dust into the bin, careful not to ignite it prematurely.
Walking to the kitchen, she grabbed a bottle of what appeared to be very expensive whiskey off the wall. Walking over to the bucket, she poured it down the side carefully, soaking the file before nodding in satisfaction and standing back. Hiding behind the kitchen counter, she raised her hands.
Then, swirling from her fingertips came a glyph.
One of the seven different glyph types she had learned, and arguably the most important one, it swirled to life in a beautiful reflection of her own soul. This was something passed down by the Schnee, not something her father would've had.
He married his way in.
Jacques had never felt the power in a glyph, the control you felt when it appeared to your exact parameters… When whatever you wanted to happen, happened. All because you thought of it.
Summoning a small Nevermore in white and light blue, it did a tiny screech pecking towards her before she blew on it. Flying away on the miniscule breeze, she felt it, connected by her soul, as it flew across the room and swooped into the bucket.
From there, it accelerated.
Digging the talons that it had on it's small, soul construct of a body, the bird began flapping faster and faster, digging into the metal sides of the bin. Whirling around, being slowed down and accelerated by itself and itself along, the sound of scratching metal became louder and louder, before it sounded like bits were tearing off.
Then the sparks started falling, and all of it ignited in a absolutely incinerating blaze.
Sitting behind the kitchen counter, she waited for it to start smouldering before looking towards it. Normally there would be thick, black smoke, but thankfully there wasn't any of that this time. It was safe to assume the air conditioning systems automatically flushed out the fire.
Or something. She had never been a huge science person.
Walking towards it, she looked inside careful not to put her face over the still expelling heat. That was just asking for a burn. Satisfied that literally nothing remained but ash, she grabbed a few towels and grabbed onto the hot sides of the bucket.
Taking it over to an window she'd opened in preparation, Winter dumped the ashes out, and they were carried away with the wind, to be lost forever.
Sighing, she looked at her scroll. The time was such that she had no time to escape… Meaning that she would have to do something only the Rogue would be able to do. Vanish from plain sight, disappear. Or, do something else entirely.
There was always multiple ways out. Something she'd learned from Jaune a long time ago.
But this was it wasn't it… Her scavenger hunt, brought to an end. There was nothing left to find, she had solved the puzzle. Found the corruption. Exposed the smaller ones in the organization, all the while not quite realizing just how largely this was spread around the entire world.
So, she did what she had to.
Winter spent the next few minutes tidying up the apartment. Call it her obsessive behaviour, but it calmed her for what she knew was coming next. Could she have tried to run? Probably… Would she have been successful? Almost certainly not.
They would've been staking out the building for a few hours by now, already knowing she's inside.
They'd watch for suspicious behavior for a while, before busting in and arresting her while at the same time preserving the life of the hostage. Winter knew this for a fact… She's been on their side of the operation multiple times before, so it wasn't anything new to her.
Then, she woke up the man, spraying some water in his face.
"Wake up pig!" Winter said, looking at the man. Normally, she'd only say 'boob', but he has been controlling the masses, all with the help of some other people. That was unforgivable. "That's right! Now, wait here, and say nothing about your little organization."
The man nodded, tears streaming down his face. Already he had started sweating again.
He'd already gone through his multiple layers of clothing, and stained through completely to the other side… They hadn't had a particularly kind conversation earlier. So it made sense that he'd be scared out of his mind talking to her again.
Hearing the boots already outside the in the hallway, Winter walked over. Taking off the hat she'd been wearing, she let her long hair stream down her back. Tying it up in a bun with no effort, like she's done thousands of times before, she walked to the front door.
Kneeling in front of the door to the apartment, she heard the man behind her squirm.
He was wobbling around in the chair, either trying to fall over, or escape his bonds somehow. Good luck with that. There's no way he'd be able to escape her bonds, not without outside assistance.
Putting her hands on her head, Winter waited, before hearing the hushed countdown beyond the door.
Activating her aura so that the wooden splinters wouldn't tear her to pieces, she felt her lip begin healing faster as the cells recreated at a quicker pace. Trusting her soul to take care of it, she waited, for a second, before finally it went off.
There was a muffled boom as the explosive charge went off, destroying the door. Charging inwards, the team cleared the corners of the room looking for any enemies, surrounding her in moments before securing the hostage.
Like clockwork they went in.
She's been on that side, she knew what would happen next.
Feeling her wrists be put together as she was brought to her feet, Winter winced as they roughly gripped her hands. Forcing them into handcuffs, one of the officers read her her rights.
"...Anything you say can and will be used against you."
"Take me to General Ironwood. Tell him I know." She said, leaving it at that before the man reached upwards to a radio on his vest. She heard some garbled distortion, before the man behind her nodded.
"Yes Ms Schnee. Apparently he has quite the desire to speak with you." The man said, before handling her towards the door. Winter smiled, as everything was once more going according to plan.
First, she'd meet with Ironwood, and rip the truth from his own lips.
Then, she'd do what she realized she must… Winter would find, and join with the Rogue, to fix the world. Winter too, would become a rogue against the rules of society, working to free them from the invisible hand… The one percent of the one percent.
Together, they'll reshape the world.
~o0o~ Criminal Mastermind! ~o0o~
Note: Done! Now, it's getting late…
As I'm sure you noticed, there was quite a lot going on. Jaune learning things, Winter understanding her true destiny lies in the dark side… They have cookies after all. There is a lot waiting for our favorite hero and heroine… Much more awaits.
Next chapter will be full.
Anyways, like I said. New fic coming soon, for a very different fandom, for a very different type of fic which certainly wouldn't work in a place like the RWBY fandom. So, look out for that, and don't read it if you're not interested!~ I never force people to read my stuff.
Now please, drink a Pepsi, leave a review, and have a wonderful evening!
Review Responses:
Glasses Writer: Haha, I'm sure it is.
Random O' Panda: He is suddenly here.
Mustafao0: If he were to reveal it, the repercussions would be terrifying.
DrakeFiske: Already do, already memorized the songs. Thanks though!
casvalo03o: Yeah, I'm taking a break in another fandom for a little.
DuplicateUserName: Oh, you have no idea what I've got cooking.
J0K3R Of Monday: Indeed! Hey, the butterfly effect is there for a reason.
Sm0keyPanda: Some will be surprised with (J)NPR, some will not be.
Axius W. Xanzux: Considered, but I've got a lot to watch.
Trey of the rebellion: One day…
X3runner: There's only one faunus in RWBY though! Unless you meant Beacon. Also, Ruby is very insightful.
ZHsteven: Indeed… I haven't had time to read. But, it's coming back. I just need a proper break.
infadinityfollower: Here's more.
FateBurn: Thanks.
Benthino: Very first chapter haha! (First heist.)
TypedSomeWords: Yeah, I'm getting it back. Didn't miss it, Whitley first mentioned last chapter. All of RWBY was first introduced last chapter actually. Don't worry, I'm getting better again.
fall equinox 1: Haha, thanks! That comment made me smile! (Though, all of them do.)
NyaNyaKittyFace: You never know… Assume money got Whitley into Beacon.
CjHoax: Ahhhhhh! You get it now.
96hanzo: I'm doing it. Getting a lot better about it.
desdelor97: Ah, here till the end… You're still awesome desdelor.
R-king 93: Thanks!
LasTheJihadist: I'm going too fast? I remember when everything was once a week. :D
The Wizardrous Magicman: Haha, I'm getting a lot better now. I reaffirmed my own faith in the series by accident, so I think I'll get into it a lot once chibi starts again.
p0k3: DarkSouls on PC sucks dick. The controls are terrible.
Cat Poster: See above.^
Kiunwakizashi: Thanks!
MrWhitecoal: We'll see. Don't worry, Neo'll get some love.
Guest: Haha, for sure.
Guest: Never played that one, but I like games by Telltale.
KarimHD: I love you so much ;)
The Impossible Muffin: When did I write that? I know I did it somewhere… Also, I never said they liked him.
yesboss21: Haha, thanks man!
Big Bad Beowolf: Thanks!
When answering reviews, I accidentally deleted the entire chapter. Thank you, whoever created the 'undo' feature.
-DragonManMax