"I'm being… detained?"
"Temporarily relocated, Specialist Winter."
"To a cell. Did you just recall me from the hospital in order to put me to a cell?"
"To a temporary housing unit."
"Soldier, that is a cell. Specifically, one of the six Grimm containment cells in this battleship, designed for capturing and storing new Grimm subtypes until they have been transported to Atlas for further study..."
"I am aware, Specialist Winter. However this order came directly from General Ironwood."
"Why am I being detained?"
"I am unable to say. Please proceed to the cell."
"...Very well. I expect to be briefed about this 'relocation' soon."
"I am unable to comment, Specialist."
"I see. However, was it truly necessary to escort me to a Grimm holding cell of all places? We have regular cells in this battleship. I am not some sort of wild beast that needs confinement like this."
"That is yet to be determined."
"What? I… you… Arc. This is his fault, is it not?"
"I am unable to comment, Specialist. Please stop asking questions and stay quiet."
"Fine. I'm certain this will be sorted out soon."
"Specialist, do not force us to use a gag. Your place in command chain is effectively nullified by the custody, and we have full authority to restrict your mobility and communication in order to ensure your cooperation."
"...Grh, fine. I'll just sit here until Ironwood sorts this out."
"Very well, Specialist. Please wear this."
"A prison outfit?! Just what are you… what is this name-tag? 'Winter Schnee, Specialist, in custody for potential Grimm copulation'?"
"Specialist, you are ordered to wear it until told otherwise. Please stop talking and do as you are told."
"What the hell is going on in here?"
"...Fine. Gag her."
"Ghrtht!"
Jaune burped slightly before putting the empty meat bag to the fourth-year dorm's bathroom trash bin.
He sighed in relief as he felt completely stuffed, and used the sense of satisfaction to activate his Semblance.
He quickly targeted his overgrown 'lower body' with the ability, and used the power to shrink unwieldy piece of his flesh between his thighs to something more manageable and realistic. He shut down the ability before the Shadow could start to affect his mind and his control more than it did passively. 'Ugh, that thing was almost the size of Ruby's or Blake's forearm… Right, it should be back to normal now.'
Jaune sighed as he looked at the now normal-sized shaft which looked far less ridiculous hanging between his thighs. "Alright, time to get this going."
Jaune opened the door and walked into the room where Blake, Ruby and Weiss had frozen into some sort of duel of gazes.
Granted, it seemed that the duel hadn't stopped the girls from finishing off the desserts, but Jaune figured that he probably shouldn't comment on that.
"Erm, what's up?" Jaune blushed slightly as he walked up to the bed Blake was using as chair while Ruby and Weiss were still sitting behind the desk-turned-dinner table that had been dragged next to the bed.
"Something should be going up." Blake commented dryly and reached to poke at Jaune's trouser snake which was currently taking a nap. The girl's finger seemed to be successful in waking it up, and few pokes and strokes were enough to make it stand up in full attention while Jaune blushed.
He wasn't the only one to be embarrassed as he glanced at Ruby and Weiss, who were looking at the spectacle with wide eyes and equally massive blushes on their faces.
"E-er, um…that's really bold, Blake." Ruby tried to open communications but didn't quite manage to formulate proper wavelength and instead just stammered while Weiss reached to cover the red-clad girl's face with her hands to block the view.
"We're this far already so I don't see why I should hold myself back." Blake rolled her eyes at the two girls and grabbed the shaft properly so she could stroke it. "Well, it looks like this is down to more manageable size. Sheesh, that earlier thing was ridiculous… but it might be interesting to experiment with it later."
Jaune blushed and Blake smirked. "Um… s-sure?"
"Hey, stop being so awkward, the two of you." Blake glanced at Ruby and Weiss. "Remember, this was your idea."
"Um… well…"
"Are you getting cold feel already? I mean, the door is over there…" Blake made a motion towards the door while pulling her hand off Jaune's shaft.
'Hmrgh… Yeah, I should probably show some initiative here...' Jaune reached to grab Blake by her waist. Before she managed to react, he hoisted her up, sat himself down on the bed, and sat Blake down on his thighs. 'Right, I probably need to say something romantic to set the mood...'
"Blake, Ruby, Weiss. We'll bang, okay?"
Blake stared at Jaune.
So did Ruby and Weiss.
"Um… erm, well, I m-mean…" Jaune stammered. "Uh… let's uh…"
"I think I already commented about your cheesy lines. But fine, I'll allow it just this once." Blake snorted. "Yeah, let's do it."
Jaune blushed and leaned towards Blake, and Blake leaned towards him. However, a small buzzing sound interrupted their would-be kiss as Ruby appeared between them and kissed Jaune on the cheek.
Blake sputtered as she got a face full of red-tipped hair instead of a kiss, and Weiss let a squeak as she saw the exchange. Ruby had apparently managed to channel her embarrassment into power and used it to just rush into the exchange with no care about defence or consequences.
"W-w-we'll yang, right? Bang, I mean, erm, like, not like guns, but, like…" Ruby's nervous sputted filled Jaune's ears as she pulled back from the kiss and almost whacked Blake in the face with her head. "Uh… erm. Yes. Kinda."
"W-wait! We had an agreement, right? Blake goes first!" Weiss practically pulled Ruby off Jaune before the exchange could get more heated or cause Blake to suffer concussion. Ruby blinked as Weiss hugged the girl protectively and cradled Ruby's head against hers. "Ruby's off limits until you're done with Blake!"
"Uh… that's an interesting way of looking at it." Jaune tilted his head at Weiss. "...Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, sure. Now, you, into Blake, go, green light, commence thrusting." Weiss sent a glare at Jaune and pointed at Blake. "Okay, fine. I'm not exactly good with this sort of wordplay so I'm improvising. Ask Blake if you want to hear sultry words."
"...Alright?" Jaune shrugged. 'Eh, I can take care of that when the issue comes up.'
He lifted Blake a bit and flopped her down on the bed while Ruby turned to ask if Weiss was feeling nervous and why she was lashing out at Jaune.
"Weiss… what are you planning?" Blake squinted her eyes at Weiss.
'Haah… This is so going to start another argument if I don't do something. Jaune sighed internally. 'Fine, let's just cut over the scheming, I don't care…'
Jaune turned Blakes head towards him so he could kiss her on the lips. The girl protested instantly. "Mh! J-Jaune, wait, we need to… mh… mm… a-ask Weiss… hn… w-what she's… plhan… plahnnnin… nnn…"
"Shush. Right now all that matters is you." Jaune pulled off the kiss in order to put his finger on Blake's lips, causing the girl to fall silent and blush heavily. He used the chance to flop Blake over on the bed and climb over her.
"H-hey! What about me!" Ruby protested and broke off Weiss's hug in order to sit on Jaune's back as he was on all fours over Blake in the bed. "I want to hear lovey-dovey stuff too!"
"I-I can do that!" Weiss doved in and tackle-hugged Ruby, causing the two of them to flop down on the bed next to Blake... and to almost fall off it. "Blake, Jaune, make room. We're commandeering this space!"
"Should we just pull the bedsheets down and set them on the floor? More space that way." Ruby pointed out, although her voice was somewhat muffled by the fact her face was buried in Weiss's chest. The white-haired girl blushed as the vibration from Ruby's voice must have caused all sorts of sensations on Weiss's breasts, even if their clothes still separated the two.
"...I think that might be a good idea." Blake commented as the bed swayed somewhat dangerously, clearly indicating that it probably wasn't made to accommodate four people- specifically when one of them weighed three times more than a regular person. "Right, Jaune? Can you make some room… Meep!"
Blake let a small meow as Jaune pulled her up from the bed and sat himself down on the cushioned chair Weiss had been using during the dinner. He sat the surprised cat faunus down on his lap sideways, and the newly-sized shaft's head poked between her thighs as she squeezed it reflexively. "Blake, I'm sorry, but I can't wait… I want you now."
The cat-girl blushed hard and she opened her mouth slightly. Jaune used the opportunity to lean in and push his lips against hers, and invade her mouth with his tongue as soon as she opened her mouth in surprise. "Mh!"
"...I ...Want to take you… now…" Jaune panted against her neck as he trailed kisses down her cheek and jaw. "I need you… now…"
The panting infected Blake as well and she nodded just slightly before opening her legs. She lifted herself to allow Jaune to adjust the angle of the shaft while she moved to ride his hips, and his tip pushed against the lips of her womanhood…
And the dorm-room's door exploded in wooden splinters.
A half-second after the explosion something fell on the floor, and a loud explosion from a concussion grenade disoriented everyone in the room.
"... own! Get down! On the floor!" A man wearing white, faceless helmet shouted as he entered the room while pointing a rifle at the disoriented occupants, and he was immediately followed by few other human-like shapes.
Jaune felt more than he saw the Atlesian strike team entering the fourth-year dorm-room, followed by Ironwood and Penny. "Wha- what the hell?"
"Arc. Down. Let the girl go." Ironwood pointed his hand-cannon at Jaune as he tried to regain his senses after getting his eardrums blown and flash-regenerated. "Everyone here is under arrest. If you resist, you will be destroyed."
"Wha... " Weiss cradled her head as she had been closest to the grenade and due to her current lack of Aura the concussive explosion had blown out her eardrums, causing a trickle of blood to flow down the sides of her face.
The same effect had happened on Jaune as well, but due to his regeneration he had healed his ears almost immediately. Blake and Ruby had been protected by their Aura and thus were only disoriented by the blast, but Blake was on the brink of unconsciousness due to her cat-ears sensitivity to loud noises. "Wha- wha?"
"Go." Ironwood motioned for the soldiers to move forwards while similar concussion grenade detonations rang from around them- indicating that Atlesian soldiers were likely repeating the process across the entire fourth-year dorm.
The hostile act made Jaune growl threateningly at the soldiers who threatened his pack. And all of the guns in the room were pointed at him instantly.
"The Battleship we brought from Atlas to Beacon has moved to hover above this dorm. We have documented your combat capabilities in the Barrier Square. Should you attempt to assault us and we prove to be incapable of containing you, the battleship is cleared to fire its main battery and level this entire dorm to the ground, and glass the remains." Ironwood told Jaune. "According to our reports, that should be enough to destroy you entirely despite your regeneration. I repeat: Surrender or be destroyed."
"Wha- why- what is happening?" Ruby shook her head and looked up at Ironwood. "What did we do wrong? I'm legally adult I swear!"
"You harbor a potentially city-destroying entity with capability of infecting humans by touch and interaction." Ironwood explained and motioned with his free hand for the soldiers to proceed while his gun kept pointing at Jaune's head.
Jaune glared at them and let a guttural growl at the soldiers, while he kept Blake from falling over on the floor due to her nearly unconscious state.
"Clamp them. Arc, do not move." Ironwood ordered the soldiers.
"Wait, stop!" Jaune tried to halt the men, but they did not listen. The soldiers pulled sets of paired, forearm-length tubes connected with chains and wires, causing Jaune to growl even louder. "What are those? Port assured that everything would be alright if we stayed here!"
"Situation changed. And those are cuffs for Hunters, they drain and suppress Aura by applying chain of kinetic trauma to the skin until the subject's Aura is drained." Ironwood told Jaune. "The subjects won't be mortally harmed during the process."
The soldiers and Jaune tensed as one of the white-helmeted men grabbed Weiss and forced her to the cuffs.
The display caused Jaune to almost lash out at the man as his primal instinct told him to reach out and rip the soldier's head off his shoulders. Jaune's flesh blackened and flowed to form the start of his combat-form as he stood up to do just that... However the sudden motion dislocated Blake from his lap and he had to focus his attention on her to pull the incredibly disoriented girl away from the soldiers before they could grab her.
Ironwood clearly saw what Jaune intended and waved the gun slightly, while the swords Penny carried in her backpack unfolded to form a pair of wings around her back.
The display was making Jaune hesitate as he pulled Blake behind his back. And as he took a step forwards the flying swords blocked his advance towards Ruby and Weiss.
"Who let you do this? Did Glynda…" Jaune asked, or rather, growled at Ironwood.
"Due to the threat you possess and due to your recent actions which clearly show you cannot control yourself, we cannot sit by and allow you to destroy Beacon, Vale, Atlas or other kingdoms." Ironwood told him while the soldier who had cuffed Weiss moved to Ruby, who just blinked in confusion as she was restrained as well.
Ruby let a squeak and then a muted scream as the cuffs activated, draining her Aura. "Ouch! OWwww! It hurts!"
"Friend Ruby, the restraining device will cause few bruises during the draining process, but it will not injure you. They will stop just before your Aura is drained, allowing you to retain your consciousness despite the drained state of your Aura." Penny commented cheerfully as Ruby fell to her knees from pain. The red-clad girl looked at the ginger-haired one with pain in her eyes, and Penny seemed to hesitate for a microsecond before her ever-present cheerful smile returned on her face. "Friend Ruby, please understand that the drain is required to restrain Aura-possessing individuals. However, could you please explain why the device didn't sense Aura within friend Weiss?"
"Ruby! Weiss! You won't take them!" Jaune howled at Ironwood while he positioned himself between the soldiers and Blake. "You won't hurt them!"
"That is not for you to decide. But acting violently right now will only hurt your case- and their case."
"What am I then to do? Watch as you drag them away?!"
"Yes. Threatening me with violence will not help you. Acting upon those threats will only lead to your death- as well as the deaths of your teammates." Ironwood held his ground while his soldiers distanced themselves from Jaune and Blake. Jaune growled as the soldiers dragged Weiss and Ruby away with them.
"Neither Ozpin or Glynda realized the threat you possess, and even I became aware of the true extent of threat only recently. I pray that I am not too late." Ironwood told him with hard tone. "Port's incompetence in analyzing your capabilities must have clouded their judgement and made them think that you are human. Made them think that you could be treated like a human, but you are not one. You are a beast temporarily possessing human form."
"What are you on about? I'm a human!"
"No, you are not, even if you do not realize it yourself. You are a parasite, and you will destroy us all if you are allowed to fester and taint us." Ironwood told Jaune. "Your team is likely already beyond redemption from the prolonged contact with you. However, their fate will depend on results of thorough testing in order to ensure they do not pose threat to the rest of our population. Rest assured that if they are untainted, they will be allowed to go free. I am not a monster- unlike you, who would have subjected them to a far worse fate."
"Wha- you're insane!" Jaune growled at the man. 'Wait, I… Glenn? He's talking about that? My… No, Mercury's memories- the part of me that grew within him... I knew I had something to do with it, that it was partially my fault, but... Ironwood somehow found out exactly what happened by examining the remains? Wait, if so... does he think I'll repeat Glenn in here?'
"I am telling you this one last time. Work with me and surrender peacefully, Arc." Ironwood told him. "If you value your place in Beacon, your teammates, your humanity, then work with me. You won't be harmed."
"I… can't. Not when you threaten my team!" Jaune's mood turned violent as he sensed that Ironwood was dishonest with his words. "You're lying! And I am not going to attack anyone, unless they force me to defend myself! You're insane!"
"I am the only sane person in Beacon right now. Soldiers, proceed." Ironwood motioned the soldiers forward for the third time. "Penny, pin Arc down."
Before Jaune could protest, four blades flashed from the 'wings' around Penny's back and sliced at Jaune's limbs.
He managed to barely avoid the ones going for his arms, but felt sharp, cold pain as two of the swords pierced his thighs and snapped his thigh-bones with surgical precision.
Jaune fell on the floor like a marionette with its strings cut while his legs flopped under him like jelly. 'No! I won't… what is he…'
"What are you doing to them?! Stop!" Jaune growled through the pain as the soldiers grabbed Blake and put the cuffs on her as well, causing the faunus to let a quiet, pained groan before she fell completely unconscious from the combined effect of the Aura drain and the after-effect of the concussion grenade. "Stop!"
The sight of completely naked and unconscious Blake getting dragged off caused Jaune's self-control to snap, and his body began turning black as his Semblance spread its shadowy tendrils throughout his system.
Ironwood said something to Jaune, likely to remind him something about rules and laws, but he couldn't care less anymore.
Yet, this time he wasn't just forcing himself to fight, he embraced it. He could not, he would not allow his pack to be threatened by the two-legged shapes clad in white and gray armor.
The barrier between man and monster became muddled as Jaune charged, the bones of his thighs re-attached as he pulled Penny's blades off his legs.
A gunshot rang in the room, and Jaune's regrown bone-mask broke as Ironwood's large-caliber pistol penetrated Jaune's mask- then penetrated his skull- then brain- and finally exited through the back of his head.
And with the wound, everything in Jaune's mind turned red.
"Goddamit, goddamit, James Ironwood you prick, I'm so going to find you, tie you up and do it like Port to use your ass to bait out the Vale's council members…" Glynda growled as she ran across Beacon's grounds while messaging the teachers of Beacon and the present Hunters to let them know what Ironwood, and by extension, what Atlas was planning on doing in Beacon's dorms. "Wha- the battleship?"
She paused as the massive Atlesian battleship moved from its planned position just beside the Beacon Tower towards the student dorms- specifically towards the fourth-year dormitory. The squad of interceptors Vale had sent to 'guard' the Atlesian ship buzzed around the massive aircraft in clear confusion since the relocation hadn't been communicated to Vale's air control.
"James! Dammit, you didn't… Dammit, is he trying to start a war?! After I warned him?" Glynda cursed the man, cursed his actions, cursed Arc, and cursed the entire day. "Dammit, this day started to nicely, why did it come to this?!"
"Hello! Did something happen?" a jolly voice approached and caused something to pulse in Glynda's temple. She turned to see Port and Oobleck running, or rather, jogging at her. "Glynda! We got a message saying that you needed to see us. And that you weren't mad." Port waved his hand at Glynda in greeting.
"I was quite adamant that the message was, quite in fact, not truthful, and thus should not be taken to full extent of its seriousness." Oobleck nodded five times in a second, indicating to Glynda that the pair had been likely caffeinating themselves in teacher's breakroom when she had sent them the message to rally up. "However it seems and appears that my initial hypothesis was quite wrong indeed. Glynda, if you have the correct answer and not a guess, could you shed light to what exactly is happening?"
"Grhh…" Glynda bit back a venomous retort as Oobleck's 'unique' way of speaking made her head ache even harder than it already was. "General Ironwood's gotten into his head that he needs to arrest Arc."
"Again?" Port asked while lifting his eyebrow.
"Yes, again, after we had the situation under control." Glynda fought the venom down from her voice. It wouldn't do to show unprofessional attitude while the situation was hot. "He's searching the fourth year dorms for the escaped tentacle from Arc's morning's training- and he's gone to arrest Arc himself."
"Oh, yes, I heard of that. A escaped testicle, how scandalous."
"Tentacle, Bart, a tentacle."
"Oh, you're quite correct, Peter. A freudian slip, or perhaps a true intent? Indistinguishable, but possibly..."
"Quit it, the situation is serious!" Glynda's growl cut Oobleck off. "Anyway, Ironwood told me that Arc could possess a threat to Beacon if he was left alone, but as it is, Ironwood's causing a bigger incident by himself. We need to stop both of them before this gets completely out of hand."
"Have you tried to call him?" Port asked and Glynda sighed.
"Yes, he's stopped answering. I fear that Arc has finally gotten a 'enemy' tag in his mind, and he just charged in without a plan for the inevitable fallout, hell-bent on destroying the 'threat' before it could destroy him."
"Sounds like Ironwood." Port nodded his agreement while he adjusted his axe on his back. "I'm honestly surprised it took him this long."
"I believe Ozpin had served as calming influence on him. Presumably Ironwood believed that Ozpin had the situation under control or at least had a plan, but with him gone…" Glynda sighed. "He respected Ozpin, even if their methods rarely matched. I fear that while Ironwood respects me, he doesn't trust that I have a plan nor that I have the situation under control."
"...And thus Ironwood's returned to his earlier 'point front at enemy' mindset. Got it." Port nodded at Glynda while Oobleck adjusted his glasses thoughtfully. "So how do we deal with it?"
"I've already alerted the Hunters- Ironwood will likely apply Atlesian police mindset and arrest everyone, filter out the 'criminals' and release the rest. Unfortunately if the press or people of Vale see Atlas starting to arrest our Hunters- our first and realistically last line of defence against Grimm…" Glynda let the words hang and Oobleck nodded his agreement from the side.
"...They will believe that Atlas is beginning its assault upon Vale, and are using Grimm to do their dirty work. After all, Hunters can't hunt from Atlesian cell. It also directly breaks the agreement between Atlas, Mistral, Vale and Vacuo which was put in place during the Great War, preventing Hunters from being arrested by opposing militaries. The agreement allowed Hunters to prevent Grimm-induced human and faunus extinction after town- and city garrisons were weakened by the conflict and negativity was at all-time high." Oobleck noted. "History, ah, how fickle mistress it can be. The same doctrine caused conflict between Atlas and Vacuo at year…"
"Bart. For now, we need to push back against Atlas. We can't allow them to make Vale look weak- not now of all times." Glynda cut Oobleck's speech off before he could start another lecture on history. "People's faith in Vale is already wavering. If we allow it to collapse, so will our walls."
"Some people will die regardless." Port noted. "Atlesian soldiers will obey or die. Going against their orders is something that has been ironed out of their minds."
"Those deaths are on Ironwood's hands as they are on mine." Glynda growled as she motioned for the group to start moving towards the fourth-year dorms. She picked up faint explosions from the direction of the dorms and the group picked up the pace. "Dammit, don't tell me he's executing students?!"
"I honestly doubt he'd go that far, unless he believes they are Grimm or such." Port commented. "...Does he have any reason to believe so?"
"He told me that it's possible that fourth-years have been infected by Grimm Infiltrators, the ones found in Glenn!" Glynda waved her crop as they arrived to the dormitories entrance, and the roadblock Atlesian soldiers had set on the fourth-year dorm entrance got swept away by a sudden and violent gust of wind. "Dammit, we don't have time to argue and authority-struggle with his rank-and-file troops! Take them out, but don't kill them!"
"This might be… bad." Port commented as he 'bonk'ed one of the remaining soldiers in the head with the flat of his axe, breaking the man's Aura in one blow and sending him to sleep for a good while while Oobleck whacked the remaining two disoriented soldiers with his weapon. "You already informed the others?"
"Hunters across Beacon should be avoiding Atlesians as we speak. And will defend themselves if someone tries to apprehend them." Glynda noted as she pointed her crop at the dorm's atrium. The handful of soldiers who had come to reinforce the team at the gate were swept away by wind and got flung all over the hall like if caught by a small tornado, before being get tossed head-first against the walls with meaty thuds. "Try to keep the casualties to minimum! Dammit, I can't believe I was smooching that man in a elevator just hour ago!"
"What, who did where?" Port got distracted by the latter part of Glynda's curse and was shot in the stomach by a Atlesian Knight-bot. The small-caliber fire didn't break the man's Aura though, and he flipped his axe around to fire its built-in musket one-handed at the robotic soldier.
The booming shot landed solid on the metal-made soldier's chest and caused the war machine to explode into scraps of metal, hydraulic fluid and wiring.
"Still got it." Port made a fist-bump gesture to Oobleck and got one in return as the fight in the lobby came to a´swift end with the Atlesian presence being either wounded, unconscious or in scraps. "Right, we need to go around the rooms. Glynda, should we go and confront Ironwood? We know which room he's in and he can stop this madness before it gets worse."
"Right, Oobleck, start intercepting the soldiers in the other parts of the dorm. Port, with me!" Glynda issued the orders and Oobleck nodded at her before sprinting off. "Dammit all to hell…"
A bone-chilling howl from the direction of the dorm-room Port had used as 'temporary relocation' for Jaune caused all color to drain from Glynda's face.
"We better hurry." Port commented before sprinting to the direction of the dorm-room.
"...Yes." Glynda pulled out her Scroll. 'The battleship… he brought it above this dorm, so don't tell me he's planning on using it to level the dorm in a last ditch effort if he fails? I'd be something that man would do- gets results despite losses. I can't believe I'm about to do this…'
She sighed heavily before using her overrides on Beacon's security. Few taps and flicks gave the automated turrets and heavy cannons on Beacon's many spires and towers a new sets of firing coordinates.
'He won't be persuaded to lose, but perhaps a stalemate might work?' Glynda stashed her Scroll away and followed Port, leaving the towers waiting for the final firing command. 'I just hope I don't have to use that…'
A Atlesian soldier was forced to dive for cover as a Aura-reinforced hairbrush was flung at his general direction.
The man responded with hail of gunfire.
A shower stool hit the man's helmet, cracking it and causing the man to flop over on the floor while his squadmate dragged him away.
'Dammit, dammit, dammit…'
Scarlet dived for cover on the shower floor as hail of gunfire bore chain of holes to the wall at waist height, and broke the door between the bathroom where she was, and the main room, from where the shots were coming from. 'I'm running out of things to throw at them…'
She had been sleeping off the aftereffects of her 'private shower time' when a massive bang had woken her up. Before she had even realized what was happening, a pair of men wearing Atlesian soldier outfits had barged into the shower while she was still getting back on her feet and adjusting to the new weight in her stomach (and to the fact there was a new and lazily squirming weight in her stomach in the first place).
However before she could figure out what was happening, one of the Atlesian men had pointed a rifle at her head and other had pulled out a pair of Aura-suppressing handcuffs. Thus the situation had clicked in her head.
One of three possible things had happened:
One: Atlesians had begun their invasion of Vale, like the newspapers and inter-city Scroll network's doomsayers had foretold.
Two: Atlesians were kidnapping Hunters- or her specifically.
Three: Atlesians had somehow found out she was 'harboring' a Grimm tentacle 'monster'. Glynda Goodwich's private tentacle monster, to be specific. And were intending on retrieving it.
However Scarlet had no plans on complying with the first two possibilities and the third was too embarrassing and horrifying to comprehend as a possibility.
So when the Atlesian man with the restraining device had threatened to open fire if she didn't turn around and let him suppress her, she had done the only sensible thing. She threw the showerhead at the man.
Granted, because the shower head was still attached to the shower, the projectile attack didn't really work, but it distracted the soldiers for split second.
Thus only two bullets from the overwatching soldier hit her before she whacked the first soldier in the nuts, grabbed the restraining device and slammed it on the second man's helmet. The hit disoriented the man, and it was easy to just toss him out of the bathroom and into the main room where she would have more space to deal with him.
But before she could press the attack she discovered that the pair's entire squad had entered her dorm-room when they had heard fighting.
And thus she was laying on the bathroom floor while the Atlesian strike squad was shooting at the wall between main room and shower, crumbling her only piece of cover with the hail of gunfire. She had time to think while the wall still held, but she couldn't hide forever and she was still getting occasionally hit by the gunfire through the wall- although her Aura held just fine. 'Thank whatever god watches over me for my Aura… But those guys aren't joking. They're shooting to kill.'
The sentiment was even truer as she glanced at the man who she had hit in the family jewels. The man's lifeless body was slowly bleeding on the still-wet bathroom floor as the stray shots had broken his Aura and had finished him off. 'Atlesians don't screw around, do they? They just straight-up friendly-fired one of their guys!'
"Hey! Why are you doing this!" her shout rang to deaf ears, and she had to change her hiding spot as the gunfire concentrated on the spot she had shouted from, followed by another concussion grenade that Scarlet barely managed to kick back into the main room before it detonated. The gunfire didn't pause, cluing Scarlet that the soldier's helmets likely protected them from the effects of their own grenades. 'Damn, they're good. Literally pinpointed where I was from the sound alone in all this gunfire. '
She glanced behind herself. 'Although… yeah, I think I should not worry about decency and my stuff when in situation like this.
Scarlet focused on her Semblance, Ironflesh, and hardened her fists and her legs with her Aura before charging straight through the shower's weakened wall and into the group of soldiers who had likely not expected such move from her. A swift kick caused a soldier's Aura to crack alongside his knee, and she flipped the gun around in his hands so she could fire a salvo into a soldier next to Scarlet. First five or so shots were blocked by the man's Aura, but the rate of fire of the gun was enough to punch chain of holes to the man's shoulder and arm.
Scarlet tried to avoid killing blows, but as the soldiers recovered from the sudden charge, the fight became harder for her as the men were clearly trained to fight as a group. A taser-knife hit the back of her waist as she kicked another soldier in the groin, and she felt a sizeable chunk of her Aura disappear as the electricity coursed through her body. Even larger chunk of her Aura disappeared when a rifle barrel was buried to her back and a entire magazine of Dust-reinforced bullets was rapidly dumped into her back before she could swing around and kick the soldier's helmet so hard it cracked alongside the man's neck. 'Guh- Aura's holding, but not for long… Damn, they are waiting for openings while I attack one of them…'
While she was struggling to deliver more damage than she received, the 'passenger' in her stomach was agitated further by the hits and the subsequent shocks, forcing her on her knees.
A stock of a gun flashed before her eyes, and she was knocked on her back as the baseball-bat like hit connected with her face. The hit was followed by another salvo of gunfire aimed at her stomach, and Scarlet let a scream of pain as her Aura was beginning to fluctuate- alongside the intensified squirming in her stomach. 'Gah, not now, little one…'
However the conflict, the anger and the cold killing intent from the soldiers was clearly affecting the creature as it started to squirm and trash inside Scarlet's stomach- and it was clear the soldiers saw it.
"She's infected! Kill it!" The soldiers concentrated fire on Scarlet's stomach…
And the tentacle shot out of her through her 'rear exit' almost as if it was fired from some sort of fourth-year student turned into flesh-cannon.
She heard screams and shouts as she spasmed on the floor, trying to recover from the feeling of getting 'un-filled' in so rapid fashion through her butt. 'Ooowwch… that kinda hurt, ow. No, this isn't the time to be worrying about that!'
Scarlet turned around so she was on her stomach and coiled back to a low striking stance (or tried to, considering she was shaking like a leaf and her legs had lost their strength). And she blinked at the scene in front of her.
The four remaining soldiers were lying on the floor.
Dead and torn like rags put through blender, while a white and black form was coiled through and around their bodies.
And the 'tentacle' was looking far more different than before. 'Oh… oh.'
Scarlet paled as she looked at the creature that had grown chitin-like bone-armor and small, sharp-looking legs like some sort of long, nearly forearm-thick Grimm centipede. And instead of having vaguely phallus-like head, the creature's head was tipped with a cruel-looking, scarlet bone-blade that was either coloured so by nature or coloured so by the human blood that covered it. For all intents and purposes, the creature was more reminiscent of the savage and wild Grimm she had fought in the wilderness, completely different from the oddly pacifist Grimm she had found in her shower. 'Uh… erm… t-that was in me just now?'
Almost as if it sensed her thoughts, the creature started to shed its skin and the blade-like head cracked, allowing the more peaceful-looking creature to slither out. 'Whoa… it's shedding its skin? How'd it get that armor? Did it just grow the armor just now or something?'
The tentacle closed towards Scarlet immediately afterwards before she had even recovered properly from her 'projectile attack'.
She realized what the creature was planning on doing and closed her legs. "H-hey, are you coming back 'home' already?"
'R-right, Glynda might have had a point, this thing's not entirely tame yet.' The tentacle paused and Scarlet forced herself to breath out and calm herself. 'It somehow changed shape and attacked those soldiers, so… they were angry and tried to kill me, it sensed the anger and replicated it in action? Kinda fits the earlier theory. So if I just act calm and collected, it should return to its earlier, calmer state, right?'
She breathed in and out while reaching to nudge it gently with her foot. The tentacle, completely clean after shedding its skin, responded by nudging her leg in turn. 'Eh, sure… Someone tries to kill me and I can't win, I poop this at them and then run for cover? Fine by me. I should probably go and help the other students… and I can't let them see this thing. Also the 'secret weapon' part doesn't work either if it's plain to see.'
She sighed and pulled away from the tentacle. 'Yeah, I have to take it 'in' again'. At least until the situation calms down.'
Scarlet nodded to herself and reinforced her body with her Semblance before flopping down on her back and opening her legs. The tentacle didn't need more invitation than that, and Scarlet bit her finger as the creature re-entered her butt, invaded into her intestines and rubbed her body from the inside in a way that would have forced her to change her underwear if she was wearing any. 'Ugh- c-come to think of it, why exactly am I keeping this thing with me in the first place? This… hng... doesn't make any sense… but somehow… I don't really want to separate myself from it… urgh… why am I arguing with myself? Did that thing do something to my head when I passed out?'
After few seconds that felt like few minutes the creature's other head disappeared into her body as well, and Scarlet rolled over on the floor so she could get up. 'Hn… I'm so going to get addicted to this feeling. I wonder why it's that… good? Odd. I need to think about that later, it can't be natural… or I'm a total pervert. Eh, that might actually be fairly good guess as well.'
Scarlet flexed her arms and legs before sprinting out of the dorm- or rather, jogging out of the dorm as her now-full stomach looked like she was three or four months into pregnancy and it was making it quite hard to move quickly.
However before she got far she remembered that she was still naked, making her double back to her dorm, step over the bodies, walk to a wardrobe and pull on a red, Mistralian form-fitting one-piece dress from her wardrobe. She figured was the fastest to put on and would make it easy to 'deploy' the tentacle without ripping the clothes if need be. Not to mention that it was one of the only piece of clothing she had at hand that could accommodate the new difference in her waist-size, mainly due to the fact the dress's side was high-cut on both sides to show risque amounts of thigh- and more importantly, it was cut all the way up to her sides with braided cords connecting the cuts.
She adjusted the cord until the sides of the dress were loosened and the waist-size was good. Scarlet hummed as her stomach felt comfortable in the dress, and the tentacle reflected the though with a small churn around her lower parts, making Scarlet's knees weak for a moment. She didn't have time to entertain the creature though, and instead picked her basic wilderness survival kit and her Scroll which she attached to the back-waist of her dress.
'I really need to get going, this thing is insatiable. I'll have time to play with it later, er, if I want to keep it with me.' Scarlet blushed at the thought and tied to her long, dyed-red hair to a bun before charging out the destroyed dorm-room and running down the hallway.
A Atlesian bot attempted to open fire on her and she drop-kicked it, sending the machine flying with a massive dent in its chest. The bot flew at a man who flung hits bat at it, redirecting the bot at Scarlet and she axe-kicked the war machine down to the ground. A lurch from her stomach informed her that she should try to remember that her mobility was limited while the tentacle was 'occupying' her stomach, and she made a mental remark to stay away from flashy martial arts for the time being.
She was about to charge the man at the end of the hallway before the green hair and massive, round goggles the man wore registered in her brain. "Pro- professor Oobleck?"
"Ah, good, it seems that Atlesians invasion of our lovely Beacon hasn't managed to go very far, or so it seems. What would you say to this situation, miss Scarlet Honeydew? Also, congratulations for your pregnancy. Forgive me that I wasn't aware, but then again, young people bloom so quickly these days." Professor Barthomellow Oobleck asked as he offered his weapon at Scarlet, making her confused for a moment before she realized what the eccentric professor intended. She sighed heavily as she remembered what the man's weapon was- a coffee pot that turned to a bat and to a flamethrower.
"No thank you, I'm more of a tea drinker." Scarlet refused the offer, not that she had a mug to begin with, and blinked as the professor walked off without further clarification. She hurried to follow the man "Right, what's happening? Are we at war with Atlas? Invasion? A bunch of them attacked me in the shower, and I… defeated them."
"Defeat, described as: to render unconscious, to make them submit to you, to kill in cold blood and dance in and on their internal organs, which is a misnomer as the said organs are at that point external. Which description would fit the best for your current situation?" Oobleck asked as he rounded a corner and slammed his bat-form weapon to Atlesian soldier's helmet, cracking it and tossing the man aside with little difficulty. "We are trying to limit the casualties, you see. I'm afraid that this conflict may or may not be the result of a terrible misunderstanding, in which case sending 'killed in action' reports to families would be both terribly tragic and terribly embarrassing. Or this could be the start of a potentially world-ending scenario, however due to butterfly effect, that is a given for any situation from wide-scale war to sneezing when waking up."
"R-right." Scarlet sighed while following the professor who was knocking the soldiers aside with almost ridiculous ease, using the flamethrower part of his weapon to blow hot steam on long range targets to pacify them before closing in. 'Yeah, I kinda forgot how strong our teachers are since they spend most of their time telling stories and well, teaching.'
She sighed as she thought about her first years when the team had constant co-operative missions, but now days the team took more solo missions than co-op ones, meaning that she was currently the only member of her team in Beacon as the others had opted to take guard duty in Vale's walls, help the police, or poke at the mass of Grimm beasts that had begun gathering outside Vale's walls.
However the line of thoughts brought her to the Atlesian presence in the dorm, specifically who they were gunning for.
"Professor! The students!" Scarlet stammered at Oobleck as he finished bowling around a squad of soldiers that came out of some dorm-room and Scarlet went in to check if the student within was alright. They discovered that the female student within was lying on the floor, bound with the cuffs, completely unconscious, out of Aura... but ultimately alive.
"She'll recover. However, we need to kick Atlesian presence off the dorms before the situation gets worse or spreads out of the dorm- most of the students were out of the dorm when Atlesians invaded so only a small fraction of fourth-years were caught. Still, losing even one student is unacceptable." Oobleck noted. "I do hope that Ironwood has ordered these soldiers to only restrain and gather the students, instead of say, cuffing them under the excuse of law enforcement, gathering them to some convenient hole in the ground and executing them on the spot like they did eighty years ago after the long and gruelling siege of Peach village where Atlas massacred the entire populace of a village to demoralize the nearby towns. They aimed to have the villages surrender without a fight as the ultimatum was given."
Scarlet blinked and her face paled.
"That might have even worked, if Valean people had any faith on Atlas keeping their promises. Fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case here, but Atlas confronting people in Vale in the current atmosphere is bound to create conflict. Even more so as Atlas tends to consider human and faunus life as material assets rather than, well, life." Oobleck's quick, casual and almost uncaring words caused something cold to flow down Scarlet's spine. "I believe Glynda would quite literally tear Ironwood a new one and insert his Battleship into it should he attempt to kill her students. However with the talk of a Grimm Infiltrator infiltrating the fourth-year dorm, I feel that the Atlesian soldiers are fairly tense, and Glynda likely feels the same but towards the soldiers- so it probably wouldn't take much provocation for the soldiers to get violent. And when the opposing Hunters are both restrained and of fairer sex, bad things may happen. While I doubt neither side intends conflict, the ingredients are in the pot to create huge bang. Unfortunately it seems that Ironwood either chooses to ignore the potential of conflict or considers the collateral casualties acceptable."
"Y-yeah." Scarlet felt anger but forced it aside as she felt bubbling in her stomach. She patted her stomach reassuringly and the feeling went away. 'Wait, Grimm Infiltrators?' "P-professor? You said something about Grimm…"
"Oh, Ironwood seemed to have gotten the impression that a new subtype found in Glenn had entered Beacon somehow and had started to infect people. I am not well versed in the specifics, you'll have to ask Professor Port about the details, but apparently it is something that causes massive mutations in the host body after infecting it. However I find the rumor somewhat unlikely as the 'infiltration' was likely made not by that specific subtype, but by a Grimm tentacle which apparently escaped after molesting a female Atlesian Specialist this morning." Oobleck rattled on.
Scarlet was trying to focus on the man's speech but the disconnected and jumpy speech made her both disoriented and sleepy at the same time. "Atlesian Specialist was molested?"
"...So I believe that this may, indeed, be the result of a potential mis-misinformation, which while quite tragic, must be resolved in a way that paints Vale as capable of defending themselves as Atlas has chosen to use drastic and quite flashy methods, as it usual to them, to resolve the issue." Oobleck ignored Scarlet in favor of continuing his speech. "Unfortunately by arresting our Hunters-in-training, Ironwood, and by extension, Atlas have violated the agreement regarding the freedom of Hunters to operate, which is to say, that Hunters are classified as neutral faction and cannot be arrested unless they are breaching a law of the local government. Naturally, during wartime it was more of a guideline than a hard rule since information was patchy and incomplete at best so burying few 'incidents' wasn't overly hard, but at peace it is far easier to draw attention to breaks in the agreement, meaning the tensions between Vale and Atlas will rise as Atlas arrests Hunters who have not breached Vale's laws in Vale. The concept of law differs between the nations as well, since Atlas assumes guilty unless proven innocent, burden of proof being on the arrested, and Vale considers innocent until proven guilty, with burden of proof being on the arrester..."
"Agreement of what? Arrest what, how?" Scarlet blinked as the speech had largely gone over her head due to how disconnected Oobleck's speech was, and by the fact there were muffled explosions going off around them- indicating that the Atlesian assault on the dorm hadn't ended yet.
The answer for Scarlet's questions would have to wait though, as the pair walked to a hallway that connected the dorm-wings and the atrium. A click turned a gout of steam to arcing electricity as Oobleck used his weapon to clear a group of closely-packed Atlesian bots that were guarding the hallway.
"Erm, anyway…" Scarlet merely walked behind the man and tried to not fall over on the scraps of Atlesian metal the professor left behind. "About the Grimm, you said something about 'Infiltrators'?"
"Yes indeed. Anyway, I believe so anyway. Atlesians were supposed to knock on doors and ask if someone had seen or been molested by a Grimm tentacle monster and if yes, point us at the general direction where it went afterwards." Oobleck nodded as Scarlet was likely paying more attention to his speech than his average student. "However it seems that Ironwood somehow substituted the tentacle, which I have been told is fairly harmless creature, outside the obvious mental trauma a attack from it can cause to a prude student, with a Grimm Infiltrator, which is in fact quite dangerous, and possesses the capability to inflict extensive mental and physical trauma. Thus the whole fiasco with full scale assault instead of polite knocking. Although the Atlesian approach to diplomacy might place the two as equal. The fact Ironwood and Atlesians effectively cut communications after starting the assault didn't help."
"Wha…" 'Hold on, what exactly is this thing? I should have probably checked that before well… doing that and this... Although I'm too far gone to have second thoughts now. Dammit, ' Scarlet tried to make sense of the professor's words. "Assuming say, a student was molested by a tentacle-thing-whatever, what would happen? I mean, if one of my friends was molested, I'd hate to hear her getting deported or something…"
"Knowing General Ironwood's general attitude towards things like this, I would consider a swift bullet to the head and-or a dissection in some shady Atlesian lab to be more likely. All for scientific purposes and for national safety of course." Oobleck noted. "It would fit with Atlesian m.o when regarding potentially city-threatening events, as he seem to think Grimm tentacles are in fact, Grimm Infiltrators, when in fact in fact, there is no definite proof as of yet the tentacles being infiltrators, or infiltrators being tentacles. Or perhaps there is, and I don't know it yet."
'Ugh, I should have known this was a bad, bad idea. In retrospect doing 'that' was absolutely crap idea… I should just make a personal rule to never make decisions in a shower.' Scarlet held to her head as she tried to keep herself calm despite Oobleck's rambling speech. Luckily the man was facing away from her so he didn't see Scarlet having a small mental breakdown. 'So… if Atlas finds out I have 'this' thing, and that I did… things with it, they are going to kill and dissect me. Awesome. I'll have to lay low for a while, perhaps take a vacation or something while this blows over. Hopefully Atlas gets this done fast, perhaps writes the tentacle off as escapee or something and things settle down so I can come back.'
A chilling roar caused her follow-up questions to come to a halt, and caused something to lurch in her stomach. 'Oh? What… happened?'
The professor's free hand stopped Scarlet from advancing. "Miss Scarlet, I hate to say this to you, but I fear I need to ask you to leave."
"Wha- Why?"
"Your enthusiasm is commendable, but please remember you are fighting for two people right now. Retreat and take care of your young one." Oobleck noted while he waved his baton in the general direction of Scalet's stomach, causing the girl's face to turn as red as her namesake. "The next generation must live and so on. Off you go, get out from the immediate area. If you feel compelled to perform heroics then help your fellow students or retreat to Vale City and recover. However, try to stay in the dorm until the battleship above is dealt with, as Ironwood has likely ordered it to prevent people from leaving. With artillery barrage, if you need specification."
"R-right." Scarlet recognized the dismissal and turned away. 'I can use this time to figure out a place to hide, or at the very least, dump the tentacle somewhere private so Atlesians can't figure out I had it… Do I want to leave the tentacle behind though? Yes, yes I do.'
She blinked as she made her way out of the dorms through the way that Oobleck pointed at, which was presumably already cleared by either Oobleck or by his fellow teachers. 'Why am I arguing with myself about the tentacle? It's a Grimm, not worth risking my life over. But why do I feel so… empty when I think of separating with it?'
'Ugh, I should... I should... probably keep it with me, for now. It's not hurting me, so I guess it doesn't matter...' Scarlet shook her head as she half-ran half-wobbled to hide in the atrium that looked like it had been hit by a tornado, waiting for her chance to escape. And also to send the news to her teammates via Scroll.
And perhaps update her profile and relationship status in Remnet from 'open' to 'busy'. And make few other social media updates as well, since she was likely going to go offline for a while.
Glynda dodged as a massive crash accompanied a chilling howl.
The second after she dodged a dorm-room wall, against which she had been leaning, exploded in splinters as over seven feet tall creature of bone and muscle burst through it..
She dodged some of the wood and concrete rubble that accompanied the creature, and waved her crop to direct the rest of the flying shrapnel away.
The rubble converged into a pillar which swept the creature off its feet, giving her some breathing space. Beside Glynda, Ironwood stood up from the floor as he had gotten knocked over by the blast.
The creature tried to get up and Ironwood used the chance to aim his handheld cannon at its head, but a gust of wind threw off his aim and a shot aimed at the Grimm monster's head impacted against one of its tentacles.
The creature returned fire with forearm-length bone-spikes that struck the opposing wall with violent thuds, largely thanks to Glynda's attempt to destabilize the projectiles flight path with her Glyphs. Luckily Ironwood dodged all of the projectiles, and used his gun to swat one off the air before it could hit the man's stomach.
The creature, Jaune Arc, let another chilling howl that seemed to come through the scorched, slowly re-knitting fist-sized hole he had in the middle of his bone-mask. The exit hole of the handheld cannon's shot had already closed, but the gross display was making it extremely clear that the monster would not die easily
"Glynda! The situation is far worse than I expected!" Ironwood displayed his tactical genius by analyzing the situation as the group fought against the creature- Or rather, Ironwood tried to fight Jaune, but Glynda was hampering the man from attacking Arc as much as she was trying to prevent Arc from causing further damage. Port had been separated from the group during the initial stage of the fight and was currently busy keeping the Atlesian strike team from interfering with the 'fight'.
"I can tell that the situation has gone bad! Pull back! Get out of the dorm!" Glynda shouted at Ironwood as she was forced to dodge a brutal-looking tentacle that tried to skewer her through the chest. She used her crop to crack the floor under Arc and throw him off his balance again. "Let me lure Arc out of the dorm and release Rose, Schnee and Belladonna! They can help get Arc under control!"
"No, we must kill him or we risk losing Beacon!" Ironwood denied. "Penny!"
A series of flashing blades caused Knight-form Jaune Arc to stumble as he sprung up from the floor like missile made of bone and flesh aimed at Glynda and Ironwood, but a chain of blades skewered him from behind and caused the shapeshifter to stumble.
Ironwood nodded at Penny who had hopped through the hole in the wall Arc had made in order to join the fight. Ironwood's gratitude was short-lived though, and was replaced with rage as Jaune's tentacles flowed backwards and grabbed Penny's leg while she was balancing herself on the rubble. The tentacle jerked her off her feet and flung the petite girl out of the window like a doll before she could react or pull her blades off Jaune's back.
The Arc-Knight let a howl as he tried to follow the Atlesian girl, presumably so he could finish her off, but Ironwood managed to land a solid shot on the creature's knee and caused the Knight to come to a halt with explosion of bone-shrapnel and blood.
Glynda seized the opportunity to kick Ironwood in the back of his knee and disorient the Atlesian General in favor of channelling her Glyphs and create one directly below Arc, and one directly in front of window- the first one to repel gravity, and the second one to do the opposite.
As a result the heavy Grimm-human beast was turned lighter for brief moment and the opposing gravity well managed to grasp him and suck him out of the window like a black hole, before losing its strength to hold onto him when he exited the first Glyph's range.
Or, as it was more visually apparent, Knight-form Arc was sucked out of the window and blown clear off the dorm.
Glynda slapped her crop down and made another gravity-repelling glyph just outside the window and hopped out, allowing the glyph to slow her fall and making her descent far more graceful than Arc's 'flight' that had ended up burying the man-monster up to his waist in the ground, face-first.
She had no time to waste though, as the creature had began to burrow into the ground. Another few flicks of her crop created circles and circles of gravity around the creature, lifting the beast up from the ground as the gravity well negated itself around the creature and caused Arc to start bobbing around weightlessly, trapped in a gravity bubble fifteen feet in the air.
The tentacles were lashing around the rolling Arc-Knight but were unable to disrupt the glyphs that had started to form a semi-solid seal around it, like the legends told of ancient runes prisoning a dragon of darkness inside the moon.
After few more seconds the seal was complete, trapping the Knight into a floating ball of zero-gravity with crushing walls that prevented anything inside from exiting- and also prevented everything else from everything.
Glynda let out a breath as the situation seemed to calm down… until she saw another wave of assault transports detach from the Atlesian battleship that was hovering above the dorm.
"Good work, Glynda!" Ironwood told her as he jumped out of the dorm's window and landed behind her with a sizeable thump and billow of dirt. The man pulled out his Scroll instantly upon landing. "We can eliminate Arc when he's vulnerable! Battleship, prepare to fire while we…"
Glynda hissed at Ironwood while she patted the dust off her pencil shirt, and a flick of her crop caused the Atlesian General's Scroll to snap off his fingers and land on her hand. "Ironwood, we're going to talk about your methods in Beacon. In fact I'd like to respectfully request you to remove that battleship from Vale, right now. And remove Atlesian presence in Beacon with it."
"Glynda, I can't do that while Arc still poses a threat to Atlas and Remnant!" Ironwood replied. "Return my Scroll."
"No!"
"Glynda, I…"
"No, you bull-headed buffoon! Can't you see all this devastation was caused by your idiotic charge? Release Arc's team and we can get him under control and put him back to a Grimm holding cell while we figure out just what is going on! I don't care if he's a Grimm Infiltrator, the wraith of mid-winter feast or the god-king of Mistral himself in disguise! We need to stop this madness before it spreads to Vale!" Glynda hissed at Ironwood and pointed at the sky where the Atlesian battleship was disgorging its smaller transport craft from its belly. "Call those assault boats off, we don't need more Atlesian strike teams on the ground to cause more issues. The Hunters are already on the verge of starting to kick your precious troops out of Beacon, and that was before your assault on the fourth-year students dorm! Don't give them- no, don't give me more incentive to kick you out of Beacon through Emerald Forest!"
"...I can't do that. Glynda, I told you about the Grimm Infiltrators, how they operate, you must see that…"
"No, you don't see that your actions have consequences! You're not in Atlas, you can't just brush this under the floor and expect us, expect me to just take your invasion of our facilities in a stride!" Glynda growled. "Order the battleship away!"
"I will not do that. I am sorry." Ironwood lifted his arm to press something beside his head, and Glynda heard a small click. At the same time she realized Penny was nowhere to be seen, despite her being flung out of the dorm in the same direction where Glynda had thrown Arc.
'Wait… oh crap, Ironwood mentioned having a info-link in his skull, connected with Penny, who can then communicate with the battleship! She must have retreated so she can start the data transfer, that whole Scroll request was just a show!' Glynda paled as she saw the assault boats detaching from the battleship starting to converge towards Beacon's grounds while the Valean interceptors around the Atlesian battleship pulled away from the larger craft- away from the battleship's massed short-range anti-air guns.
Glynda realized what it meant- Vale's air control was incredibly confused over the sudden movement of the ship and was ordering the aircraft to pull range so they could engage if they were given the order. "Ironwood! Stop this, you're going to start a war!"
"A small-scale conflict at best, the diplomats can apologize later. This conflict is preferable to extinction. Considering Vale council's average decision-making speed even in emergency situations, we'll be extinct by the time we can start removing the strain hosts with their blessing." Ironwood's tone was resolute as he let his hand fall to his waist, his orders likely sent and confirmed. "Arc- no, Arc's master can and will destroy us all if we allow the hosts to survive. Hell, it will destroy us all if we allow any part of the strain to survive. We must inspect, and if necessary, purge everything he's touched, everything he's interacted with. It is the only way to stop the infection from spreading in Vale- and from spreading across Remnant."
"Ironwood, even if that is true you can't just start rounding up our people like this! If you choose to go with this path, I have no choice but to take custody of you and your men, and destroy that battleship if you won't be persuaded to remove it from out airspace!" Glynda tried to call Ironwood for his bluff. She hoped it was bluff- that the man could be persuaded to stop. "Doing things your way will just provoke another war! I won't allow it! We have our own ways to deal with things!"
"Would you stop me to protect Arc? After all you've told me of your opinions about him?" Ironwood called Glynda out for bluff, but she was resolute. "As for your methods, I must confess my doubts. While I... respect you, Glynda, all I have seen in Vale is incompetence in various forms. I would not insist so heavily on my involvement if it merely concerned Vale, but something like this has very real chance of spilling over to Atlas!"
"Arc is no model student nor do I have a bond with him, but he shows potential- potential to end the Grimm threat as much as you say he's going to end us! Even Ozpin realized that, surely you must realize it as well! But that is not the point- even if he's what you say he is, you can't just start locking up people indiscriminately!" Glynda replied while she reached for her Scroll under the disguise of stashing Ironwood's Scroll to her belt. "Moreover, what you're implying is something far more radical than just killing Arc- what exactly do you mean by 'purging'?"
"It is as you hear. Lock his hosts up and unless we find how to separate them from the strain, we must destroy the hosts. It is the only way." Ironwood seemed to grow frustrated. "Glynda, why won't you see the threat? Vale is not invincible, and it may very well be in the verge of destruction- which comes insidiously in the quiet of night, unseen, and from within while our eyes are in the enemy outside the gates! We must sort out the hosts, go through the entire city if need be, and filter out the taint before it has spread too far! Glenn showed us twice now that no city or outpost is safe! Hell, if what my researchers tell me is true, losing Vale would start a domino effect that will wipe out all the remaining kingdoms as well!"
"I…" Glynda paused to gulp. She could already see the scenario unfolding before her very eyes- Atlesian soldiers going from house to house, pulling the residents to streets and flinging the 'tainted' to the corpse-carts after executing them in cold blood. 'What he told me in that Scroll conversation in my office… if that's true, then that apocalyptic scenario is possible, but at the same time I can't just let him start killing our people…'
Glynda knew what inevitable backlash would result from the 'purge' Ironwood detailed. A purge that was far too reminiscent of Atlesian actions of old, back during the Great War. The 'purge' sounded like one of the systematic man-hunts Atlas had performed on the populace of northern Vale in order to reduce partisans and hamper guerrilla warfare- and people of Vale would remember. Vacuo would likely cry for war as well when their old allies were threatened by the very same white-clad oppressor they threw from their land long ago, and the conflict would only escalate from there.
Glynda's hand moved from Ironwood's Scroll to her own and gripped the device in her waist-pouch. 'I… can't let that happen. And as long Ironwood has the battleship above Beacon, he won't be persuaded otherwise- he's in position of power, or so he believes. He thinks I'm bluffing, that I won't retaliate…'
"...I see. So that's how it will be, huh." Glynda spoke softly as she tried to feverishly think of a way to get Ironwood to settle down. 'What exactly is the reason he doesn't believe me, that I can take care of this? Hm... Could it be that he doesn't believe in my ability to safeguard my students, my people… Or he thinks that I've grown as indecisive as Ozpin was during my career in Beacon… or he started to think of me as 'his woman' after that elevator 'incident'.'
'Or… Atlas has chosen to go with the flow of things, taking advantage of the chaos in Vale.' She froze as the last theory came to her head, except this one was far more chilling and realistic as she knew Ironwood was no fool who would be led by his emotions more than his rationale. 'I know for a fact he's more loyal to Atlas than to any single person, well, beside Ozpin perhaps. In that case Atlas would be trying to poke at Vale, see how far they can go before we retaliate, how much they can get away with. Taking over police duties, arresting students, now full-scale air-to-ground invasion… All that escalation, and we haven't retaliated. But he's is right in one sense- the diplomats can apologize later.'
"Ironwood… no, James. Why are you doing this, really? Did Atlas tell you to do this?" Glynda felt faint but she wanted to give Ironwood the chance to come clear with her, so she hesitated for one more time. "I… I don't want to do this, I don't want to stop you. But I will, if you force me to."
"Atlas?" Ironwood furrowed his brow and motioned to the ball of energy that sealed the Knight-form Arc in the air behind Glynda. "No, Atlas did not order me to do this. However you are correct in that I am doing this for Atlas- and for people of Remnant. I do not need orders to do so."
"I… see."
"Glynda, I… do not wish to harm you, but if you continue to hinder my advance, I have no choice but to take you into custody alongside the infected students. I will do my best to get you released as soon as possible… as soon as I am done with the threat." Ironwood's face was uncharacteristically pained and indecisive as he lifted his weapon at Glynda. "I… am sorry. I do not want to do this, not to you of all people. But I see no alternatives if you choose to stand in my way. In time, I hope that you realize I do this only to protect us all."
'So, even in the end, we're at impasse. He won't stop, and I can't let him continue.' Glynda felt faint as she grasped the Scroll in her pouch.
"I'm sorry, James." The Headmistress of Beacon's tone was quiet and her hands were cold. Her face was pale but resolute as she pushed the button that finalized the firing orders in Beacon's tower-batteries.
"What are you…" Ironwood furrowed his brow at her but was cut off by the sound of emergency air-raid sirens echoing through Beacon.
And a deep, booming crackle of emplaced cannons accompanied Beacon's defence towers turning and opening fire on the Atlesian battleship's belly, nearly point-blank as far as aerial warfare was concerned.
The steel behemoth above them let a high-pitched humming sound as its energy shields activated and blocked the artillery.
The craft stood defiant of the assault, but was clearly not built to sustain the combined barrage from Beacon's entire emplaced anti-air arsenal. Within seconds the shield had been wiped out, exposing the hull of the ship to the barrage. The large-caliber Dust-forged rounds made to destroy massive Grimm Goliaths tore into the ships's superstructure and within moments the proud Atlesian battleship's lights started to flicker and its hull turned into scarred, blackened mess of twisted metal and fire.
The sky turned black and orange as the battleship skid across the sky on its damaged hover-engines, the light-blue hue of anti-gravity Dust becoming replaced with gouts of fire and smoke, until the massive craft finally crashed to the forest bordering the cliff to Emerald Forest with a massive, resounding boom and sent gout of fire that illuminated the sky.
General Ironwood of Atlas stared speechlessly at Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch of Beacon.
"I… wish there was another way. It didn't have to end like this, but… you gave me no choice." Glynda pointed her crop at Ironwood as the ground shook from the after-effect of the battleship's violent but semi-controlled descent. "James Ironwood of Atlas, you are under arrest for illegal attack against Beacon."
An: Two chapters again (10k and 12k words), took two times two weeks to get out so I guess I'm somewhat still on the schedule?
Next chapter in two weeks or so. I'd suggest following the story if you want to be notified when a new chapter goes live since the update schedule is somewhat erratic.
Do review.
Oh yeah, by the way, things are going to get fairly weird soon.
