Troll in Reviews

As has been noted, there is a troll in reviews spamming guest reviews and trying to frame people by writing their name in the name slot. Just ignore it. It's not worth the effort of paying attention to and I'm only writing this message so people are aware.

He's also pretending to be me by writing my name in guest review slots. I would only ever review something from this (logged-in) account.

Note: Next chapter will be delayed – check dates at bottom.


Cover Art: Serox

Chapter 10


Perry, don't call the nice girl with the weapon to my neck a racist…

Jaune tried to convey the message but it might have gotten lost over the distance, past her arm and in the absolute panic writ across his face. He wasn't a strategist but one idiot alone versus four girls from Beacon didn't feel like good odds. Well, technically he had Lisa as well, but she was still filming, so not exactly useful. His nose was bleeding too. It must have been cracked on the floor when she stamped on his head.

The fingers buried in his hair tightened painfully. "Ow. Ow. Ow!"

"R-Racist!?" the girl holding him hostage shrieked. "I'm not racist!"

"Then why is it such a big deal if we wanted to work with a human?" Perry fired back. Damn it, Perry. Why weren't you – oh, he didn't know – helping him instead of chatting! "I mean, you make it sound like we wouldn't."

"You're the White Fang!"

"Yeah. So?" Perry planted his hands on his hips. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Y-You're terrorists!"

"Against racism," Deery said, for some godforsaken reason deciding to side with Perry. "That's kind of our whole thing, fighting racism against us based on our species. It'd be kind of backwards for us to be the same, wouldn't it? And how do you even know he's a human?"

The girl looked down on him and then up again. "He doesn't have any faunus features…"

"Oh wow." This time, because the world had truly gone fucking insane it was Roman Torchwick himself who clapped his hands slowly, no doubt reading the scene and deciding a delay to talk was in his best interests.

Jaune didn't miss the fact he had his men hastily loading up the dust, but he couldn't speak because he was currently struggling to breathe. Meanwhile, everyone else was focused on the impromptu hostage negotiation.

"I mean wow, truly inspirational." Loudly, he applauded. "And I thought I was the asshole here, but now we have a huntress making assumptions based on a person's appearance. Truly, I'm impressed. Why not judge his sexuality while you're at it? Or maybe you can go for the whole royal flush and decide who is and isn't a villain based on skin, hair or eye colour."

"I… but… but I…" The girl's weapon wavered. "But he's not a faunus…"

"Based on what?" Perry asked. "The fact he doesn't have animal ears or a tail? Faunus features aren't all that obvious. You know what, screw you!" Perry stabbed a finger in their direction. "Acting all high and mighty when you just want to force your opinions on us. I wouldn't care even if my boss was a human. He's earned my trust."

Warm, fuzzy feelings aside, Jaune really wished they'd stop antagonising the crazy girl.

"I'm not…" said girl's entire body went slack. "But I'm – I'm not racist." She turned to the other huntresses. "You all know I'm not, right…?"

The one in yellow smiled weakly. "Y-Yeah…"

The one with the red cloak kicked a pebble off the roof, hands in her pockets and looking the other way with an unhappy pout. Meanwhile, the one in white just looked uncomfortable. None of those responses were very convincing and the girl holding him trembled.

"You can't be serious…?"

"I'm a human," the one in red whispered sorrowfully. She sounded so small and frail that even he wanted to rush over and tell her it'd all be okay. "Should I not be in charge of Team RWBY?"

The one holding him grunted as though she'd been shot. "R-Ruby, no, I didn't mean that!"

"Then what did you mean, Blake?" the white one, Weiss Schnee, asked.

Wait, so this was Adam's ex? Oh, come on, why couldn't anything ever be easy?

Blake shook him by the scruff of his neck. "He's a terrorist!"

"Yeah," the blonde said, "But you didn't say `why are you following this terrorist`, did you? You asked why they were following a human…"

"It was a slip of the tongue!"

"Oh sure!" Perry yelled up at them. "That makes it all better!"

"I-I dunno, Blake." Ruby kicked another pebble away. "I don't want to be on the wrong side of history…"

"It's a trick!" Blake cried, shaking him like she expected candy to pop out. "He's trying to trick us."

"He hasn't even said anything," Weiss pointed out. "And I think he's choking to death."

"What?"

Jaune heaved for air when Blake finally released him. He took a step back, more out of a strong desire to be away from her than any other plan, but she took it as an escape attempt and lunged for him. Naturally, he did his best to dodge, which resulted in her clipping his shoulder and knocking him back. His foot sought purchase and found empty air. With a panicked yelp, he toppled back.

"He's escaping!" Blake cried.

"You just pushed him off the roof…" It was the blonde who replied, but Jaune didn't get a chance to thank her as he dropped like a rock.

Instincts kicked in, body reacting to the danger in the best way it could. He managed to turn in the air so he could see the ground coming up, draw in a deep breath of air and begin screaming. On hindsight, it probably wasn't the best series of actions to take.

"I've got you!"

Strong arms caught him? No. Not really. Frail arms caught him and then swiftly realised he was heavier than he looked. Ilia yelped and was dragged down with him, but she'd at least broken his fall enough that she could land on two feet with only a short gasp of pain. Jaune wrapped his arms around her neck, holding on for dear life and held in a bridal carry.

"I love you!" he gasped.

"Thank you…?" Ilia set him down. "I think. You can repay me by introducing me to one of your sisters."

"Wait, what?"

"Huntresses incoming."

Red, black, white and yellow floated down from above, apparently having set aside their differences for a short moment. Jaune swore and started running, Ilia close behind. Having lost the position of height to see the full docks, he had no idea what Torchwick was doing, but last he'd seen the man had been taking full advantage of the distraction.

"Torchwick is after the dust!" he yelled, hoping Trifa, Bane and Yuma would hear. "We have to stop hi-" His words trailed off as two Bullheads pulled up over the docks, the side door of one open and Roman hanging out, one foot on the railing and the other holding inside. He had his bowler hat in his other hand, which he'd swept out for them all.

"It's been fun, kids. Thanks for the save – I might have fallen prey to the local wildlife if you hadn't stepped in. You really saved me a lot of heartache."

"Racist!" Perry yelled, shaking a fist.

"Why yes," Roman grinned. "Yes, I am. Catch you lovely people later."

The Bullheads swept out over the water, escaping with a full cargo container of dust and all Jaune's hopes of them stopping a robbery. He groaned, watching them go with one arm outstretched, as if to catch and bring them back.

Four huntresses skidded to a stop only twenty paces away, weapons at the ready.

"Looks like you missed your flight outta here," the blonde quipped. "Don't worry, we'll give you a lift to your new home. A nice cell."

"You ruined everything," Jaune complained.

"That's kind of our job," Weiss replied, flicking her rapier. "Ruining the plans of dastardly villains."

"Then you failed your job. You have ruined zero criminal plans tonight…"

"Enough." Blake stepped forward. "You're going to surrender and pay for your crimes."

"Oh hey." Deery and Perry arrived in time to back them up. "It's the racist."

"I'M NOT A RACIST!" Blake pointed at Jaune. "AND HE'S HUMAN!"

"That seems to be a strangely big deal for you," Deery pointed out. "Not that it matters, but he isn't. His faunus traits just aren't obvious."

"Because he's human!"

"Really not helping yourself here, Blake," Yang muttered.

"Let's just finish this quickly and get back to Beacon," Weiss said. "We can sort out the issue of Blake's prejudice later."

"I'm not prejudiced!"

They were acting a little too casual, weren't they? Joking and talking in front of enemies. Even with Torchwick gone, they were still – at least to their eyes – dangerous terrorists. Didn't they deserve at least the benefit of being taken seriously?

Perry flew back into a dust container and made a small crater in the metal. He slid down with a groan. Jaune flinched, eyes trying to track the blisteringly fast attack. The blonde had moved, though for the life of him he couldn't determine when. She was in the spot before where Perry had been, fist outstretched. Deery was backtracking, eyes wide behind her mask.

Oh, that's why they're not taking us seriously…

Because they didn't deserve to be.

Negotiations went downhill from there. Ruby raced in for Deery, who tried valiantly to fend her off but couldn't accomplish much. Yang moved to check Perry was down, and he definitely was. That left Blake and Weiss against him and Ilia, and given the absolute murderous look on her face, Blake wanted him.

And not in the good way.

"Wait, wait." Jaune held his hands out. "There's been a misunderstanding. We're not here to steal the dust. We're good guys."

"Terrorists and murderers…"

"I've not murdered anyone!" he yelled.

"What about Adam?"

"Oh, come on. Does he really count?"

Wrong answer. Jaune only had the sense to move because he felt oncoming death. He'd started dodging even before Blake moved, and that possibly saved his life for her weapon punctured the metal cargo container he'd been backed up against, sticking in and raining dust down onto the floor. Blake yanked on the ribbon, hauling it out with a sickening grate of metal on metal.

Jaune did the only sensible thing. He ran. He ran as fast as he could, ducking around a cargo container and yelping at the clash of a weapon striking the corner. He caught the sound of two impacts above, then the metallic rap of someone running across the top of the container in pursuit. He dashed to the left, heard the leap and the heavy landing, then cut right around another container stacked three high to try and lose her.

He ran right into her, skidding to a stop. "Nope!" Spinning on one heel, he charged back – into a second. A second Blake Belladonna. Panting for breath, he stood in the middle of two of the same huntress, eyes wide and heart racing. "O-Okay. This really doesn't feel fair now…"

Both went up in smoke but there was little time to savour the victory. A shadow grew under him, expanding out from his own. He'd later curse himself for it, but right then he stared down at it, trying to make heads or tails of what it meant. It only occurred to him to look up and see her flying down toward him a second later, and by that point it was much too late.

"Ah shi-"

Her feet landed on his chest and kicked back, launching him into a container. Jaune's head cracked back, stars dancing before his eyes. Slumping, he groaned and clenched his eyes shut, trying to shake off the dizziness. He staggered up with one hand on the container, spitting out a little blood and facing her as she stalked forward.

"I don't want to fight you!"

Her sword cleaved the air where his head had been. Even though he'd dodged that, she swept out with one foot and sent him rolling away.

"We don't have to be enemies!" he tried again. "I mean, the voice in my head can't decide whether it wants to kill or make love to you, but we don't…" Jaune trailed off, noticing her confused expression. "Okay. That didn't come out like I meant it." He shrugged helplessly. "Peace in our time?"

Blake's fist caught him by his collar and she dragged him up the side of the container, eyes burning hot and bright. Jaune's feet left the floor. The only thing he could do was hold onto her arm and try to keep himself from suffocating.

"You'll pay for what you've done…"

"I – hrk – haven't technically done anything!"

"Adam?"

"Apart from Adam!" he yelled. "Why does everyone keep bringing that up!?"

"Jaune!" A metallic whip struck and wrapped around Blake's arm, yanking it aside and breaking her grip. Ilia hauled Blake away, flicking her into a roll and releasing her hold, then rushing up to help him to his feet. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"A-Alive. Probably not great otherwise. What happened to the others?"

"Yuma and Trifa arrived to fight them. I came to help with Blake."

The woman in question jumped back onto her feet and stared them down, weapon out before her. Suddenly facing two, she looked less eager to attack. Her eyes roamed up and down Ilia's figure before focusing on her weapon.

"Ilia…"

Ilia swallowed. "Blake."

"I can't believe you're doing this, Ilia…"

"You can't? Why not? I was literally in the White Fang before you left. Not sure why you expected that to change." Though she said it with a laugh, Jaune detected a little panic in her voice. Under her breath, she whispered to him. "Go find help. I can distract her."

"Can you win?"

"I don't know. Not sure I'll have to – she's after you for some reason. Probably Adam."

Meaning she was liable to come racing after him even after he left. Jaune nodded and took the chance available, slipping back among the containers. Blake gave pursuit and tried to leap up, only to have the whip catch her legs and haul her back down.

"Your fight is with me, Blake," Ilia said. "You, me and a whip." She sighed. "This was a lot better in my fantasies…"

/-/

Perry was out. Deery was beaten. Trifa and Yuma were holding their own against two of the huntresses respectively, but they were the only ones who really had any experience of fighting on that level, which meant that despite the odds being nine to four in their favour, it more accurately broken down as four trained combatants against three, with the rest of them essentially being normal people trying their best.

Tukson and Bane were nowhere to be seen. They'd been going for Torchwick.

Presumably, Lisa was off being useless somewhere.

Jaune arrived on the scene in time to be stopped by a small girl in red. "Hi!"

"H-Hi," he shot back, nerves making him stammer a little. It was panic that had him ask the next question. "How are you?"

"I'm okay? I guess." Ruby looked a little confused but politely asked back, "How are you?"

"Oh, you know. Not great. Under attack. It's been a rough day."

"Yeah." She smiled awkwardly but there was none of that in the way she spun her scythe around. The damn thing was bigger than she was. "Sorry about Blake by the way. I don't think she meant to come off like that."

"Psychotically aggressive?"

"Um. More the race thing, though maybe we need to talk about the aggression too," she murmured under her breath. "I don't have anything against faunus by the way. I think they're cool. People should be judged by their weapons, not their physical traits."

"That's… good of you? I guess." Jaune inched back, idly wondering if he should draw his sword and how much of a difference that would make. It might just convince her to attack faster since he was armed. "Look, this is all one big misunderstanding. We're not on Torchwick's side. We came to fight him."

"To get the dust?"

"To save the dust."

"I dunno…" She eyed him warily. "You tricked me before."

"When!?"

"You dressed up as Blake..."

"Oh, come on," he complained. "I was just standing there. You tricked yourself!"

"Proof of just how devious you are."

"Ruby!" Weiss yelled, mid-battle with Trifa and covered in sticky webbing. "Stop talking and fight him already!"

Jaune dragged Crocea Mors out and prepared himself for disaster. What little advice Adam had offered wasn't going to make a big difference, but he slid a foot back and prepared himself all the same. Which was when a cargo container was shoved aside, skidding loudly along the concrete, and Bane arrived on the scene, muscles heaving and masked face swivelling in his direction.

"Bane!" Jaune yelped. "I've never been happier to see you!"

Ruby backed away, making sure she couldn't be attacked from two directions at once and could keep both of them in her vision. The new arrival created a lull in the fighting, Yuma backing off from the blonde and Trifa kicking off to swing up onto a container, leaving the Schnee on the ground. Said girl peeled off some sticky threads of spider silk and tossed them to the ground.

"Whoah." Yang quipped. "You're a big one."

"Another?" Weiss snapped. "Where do your kind keep springing up from?"

"My kind...?" Bane's head slowly turned to the one who had spoken. His mouth opened, a hot gout of breath bursting forth as took in the figure in white. "Schnee…" he murmured, the sound coming out cold and rattling, like chains dragged across stone.

Unlike the gentle giant he normally was.

"Schnee…" he repeated, shoulders bulging and veins standing out. "Schnee. Schnee. Schnee!"

"Yes. What of it?" The Schnee tossed her hair behind her, regarding Bane with absolute disdain. "Oh, let me guess. My family or someone related to it wronged you and that's all my fault. Please, it's a story I've heard before."

"That's not something to be proud of," Ruby muttered.

"I'm not proud. I'm just saying it's ridiculous to blame me for the faults of other peo-"

"SCHNEE!" Bane threw his head back and roared. His face, what could be seen past his mask, was bright red with veins standing out. His neck bulged horribly. With a snarl so evil it could have come from a Grimm, he tore the chainsaw off his back and ripped the cord out, igniting the engine. "I've wanted to kill a Schnee for so long," he hissed. "I've been dreaming of this moment!"

Jaune couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Bane…?"

"RARGH!"

He moved like a man possessed, carving his weapon down into the ground as Weiss ducked back. She was faster, but his ferocity was unmatched and he yanked the weapon back up, ripping concrete free and chasing after her. Weiss ducked the next swing, but only barely, and she was almost caught by his other hand, reaching for her hair.

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled, ignoring him and running off to support her teammate.

He'd gone mad. This wasn't the Bane he knew. Even what he said and how he said it, speaking slowly and menacingly, was far away from the quiet and mostly silent giant he'd become used to. What the hell is going on? This is terrible.

A honk came from the left. Jaune jumped, then saw Tukson hanging out the door of a lorry. With Ruby and Weiss busy with Bane and Yang now under attack from both Trifa and Yuma at once, he was free to scurry over, sheathing Crocea Mors once more.

"Managed to hotwire this," Tukson explained. "We've got to get out of here before more of them arrive."

"Right." Getting away from this disaster sounded perfect. "I'll grab Deery, you get Perry."

Between the two of them they managed to haul their unconscious allies away, Tukson pulling Perry by his hands and Jaune carrying Deery over one shoulder, her face bouncing against his back. They were both the worse for wear, but neither was bleeding badly. Perry had a split lip and some blood on his chin, but it looked to be from his lip and nose. Deery was in better condition but wasn't waking up anytime toon.

With them stored away in the back, the real challenge came from extracting the others. Bane was going to be the hardest, if they could even calm him down. The faunus was currently wrecking his way through the melee, not actually harming any of the huntresses, but fighting with such reckless abandon that neither of them wanted to risk their heads getting in close. They were trying to wear him out from a distance, but it didn't look like Bane was running out of steam at all.

"Try and find a way to get the message to Yuma and Trifa," Jaune said. "I'll find Ilia."

Tukson looked less than pleased with the orders but nodded anyway, no doubt knowing it would be easier to get the message to the people fighting two on one against the blonde than to Ilia, fighting a huntress one on one. He rushed in while Jaune ducked back around toward the containers, tracing the path he'd taken before.

The whole night was a bust. Their plan to stop Torchwick was in tatters and they'd now gotten in a fight with some of the good guys, which was going to look all kinds of bad. If that wasn't bad enough, Bane was tearing open the sides of cargo containers, spilling the very dust they'd planned to save onto the ground.

We'll sort that later. Let's just get out of this in one piece.

He arrived in time to see Ilia and Blake locked not in a battle nor even a passionate reunion, but an… argument…? They were still facing off as they had been when he left them, albeit the occasional chip and mark on the floor suggested some fighting. They were yelling at one another when he arrived, Blake easily the loudest.

"The White Fang was becoming no better than the Grimm! Killing, murder and execution of prisoners. What was next? Were they going to slaughter children?"

"We killed people who tried to kill us back! You can't expect us to risk our lives taking prisoners when they're not granting us the same. And it's a bit much to jump to slaughtering children, Blake. Adam wasn't that bad."

"It was only a matter of time."

"So what, the best option was just to run? Oh wow. Great. That'll protect all those children."

"I had to find my own way."

"The only thing you've found is the moral high ground!"

"I'm going to change the system!"

"You joined a school!" Ilia yelled. "How is that going to change anything!?"

"At least I'm trying!"

Jaune swallowed but forced himself to step between them. "Ladies. Ladies."

"What?"

"Get out the way, Jaune."

"This isn't any of your business."

"Blake needs to apologise."

"You must be joking!"

The shouting continued over the top of him, vitriol thrown left and right as he waved his hands in a futile attempt to stop it. They weren't even paying attention to him. Better than fighting, sure, but it all kind of worked to Beacon's advantage since they'd have reinforcements coming to help them out. He doubted she'd planned it that way, but Blake was keeping Ilia distracted.

"Ilia, we need to-"

An explosion came from his last location, throwing a huge plume of smoke up into the air.

Ilia and Blake both ducked, ready to jump away from an attack before realising it wasn't aimed at them. As one, their eyes turned to him, demanding an explanation. Jaune sighed morosely, already knowing this would end poorly.

"What have you done…?" Blake whispered.

"Me? Honestly, very little. I've pretty much just run back and forth- Okay, I did kill Adam, but trust me, I get enough from him about that."

"Ruby!" Blake rushed past him without listening to a word he said. "Yang. Weiss. I'm coming!"

"Aaand I'm being ignored again. You know what, I'm okay with that. Ilia, we need to get out of here fast. Bane has gone insane, Deery and Perry are out cold and I've no idea how long Trifa and Yuma can hold."

"Wait, Bane has…?"

"You can see for yourself. Come on."

The docks were partially on fire by the time they got back. Thick smoke billowed up from several smouldering containers, wreathing the area in smog that helped conceal Jaune and Ilia's approach visibly, but didn't do much to hide their loud coughing.

"Okay. It wasn't this bad a second ago. This is probably a sign that I was right to not let anyone pilot the mega death robot…"

"RARGH!" Bane howled from the smoke. "SCHNEEEE!"

"Especially Bane."

Tukson, Trifa and Yuma appeared from the left, Yuma and Trifa looking worse for wear but still a lot more functional than anyone else. That there were no members of Team RWBY chasing them made Jaune's heart skip a beat.

"Has Bane killed them…?"

"No." Trifa answered with a look back. "The only one he's managed to hit so far is the blonde and she was able to tank it. The others aren't getting close to him since he's gone full berserker. They're taking shots from range."

"They could easily take him four on one," Yuma said. "He's not exactly huntsman level, just going wild and swinging like a madman. But I don't think they want to take the risk of getting close, especially not when he's ripping open dust containers left and right."

That was their chance to get out then. Jaune directed them to the truck and they all hurried over, clambering into the back while Jaune looked back out into the scene of desolation. Lisa could find her own way out most likely – if she hadn't already – but if they left now, Bane was doomed. They might even kill him to prevent more damage. If he didn't kill himself with all that dust.

No one would blame me for leaving him. He's gone insane.

Yuma gripped his shoulder. "What do we do?"

"Tukson…" Jaune sighed. "Let's go."

/-/

Ruby couldn't help but feel everything had gone awfully wrong awfully fast. What was supposed to be a heroic entrance into stopping a robbery had swiftly descended not only into Torchwick escaping, but them looking like idiots and then being dragged into a protracted fight that started out easy but quickly descended into a nightmare.

With her Semblance, she easily skirted away from the wild faunus swinging a chainsaw. He wasn't quick or even very skilled with it, but a good hit let him rip through metal and she didn't want to try her luck in close.

More than that, she was afraid of opening fire now with so much loose dust around. What if she missed and hit a container? Her rounds would pierce right through the metal with a lovely shower of sparks and then boom, up goes the entire area. Yang had obvious realised the same and was staying far out of melee to prevent her own Semblance going off. A big gout of Yang's typical fiery Semblance would seal their fates. That only left Blake and Weiss capable of fighting in melee, and while Blake could probably do so, Weiss was a no go because the man kept howling her name and going after her.

"We need to draw him away from all the dust," Ruby called. Weiss nodded to show she'd heard and, as his main target, immediately began to backtrack out toward the open water. It wasn't exactly what Ruby had meant, but at least his chainsaw wouldn't work out there.

Weiss lures him to the edge and we can knock him in. It should work.

"Everyone get to the dock!" she yelled. It didn't really matter if the faunus heard her since he was way too into the idea of killing Weiss to care.

Blake and Yang broke off and followed her order, sprinting through the containers and out into the much more open space where the ships would settle in and forklifts would take the containers to the storage zone. The monstrous faunus rushed out after them, clearing the dust containers and swinging his chainsaw in the open air.

Perfect. Ruby glanced back and saw Weiss balanced on the water's edge, one foot on one of the raised bollards there.

"Over here." Weiss raised her rapier. "You want to kill a Schnee? Come and try."

"Schnee!"

Hook, line and sinker.

The faunus charged in, completely ignoring the three of them and charging down Weiss. Seeing him coming a mile away, Weiss stepped up onto the bollard and leapt back, sacrificing her dignity to take a swim if it meant putting this guy out of action. She splashed down into the water and it honestly looked as though the faunus would go right in after her.

"This vehicle is reversing. This vehicle is reversing. This vehicle is reversing!"

Ruby turned to the loud, beeping voice and froze.

That vehicle was indeed reversing. This, she could agree with. It was reversing quite fast and right for her face, the back door open and several White Fang knelt there with panicked expressions.

"This vehicle is reversing!"

"Eep."

Death by a reversing vehicle. That was kinda lame.

"Ruby!"

Yang tackled her aside, knocking them both out the path of the speeding truck going backwards, its tyres screeching on the concrete as it looped around and drove on by, blaring mechanically about the fact it was reversing the whole time.

It skidded past Blake as well, almost clipping her, before it finished its path – slamming straight into their own ally!?

The faunus buckled, the lip of the truck catching his knees. He was so tall that instead of being swept under, he was knocked back, crashing into the back of the truck and dropping his chainsaw. Numerous hands gripped his uniform and hauled him inside, while one dragged the metal grill down and locked it. The truck hadn't even stopped moving yet and was skidding perilously toward the edge.

Gears clunked. Something grinded horribly. The tyres screeched and smoke billowed from under before the thing came to a stop, lurched sickly and then punched away, tearing past the burning containers and Yang and Ruby.

"Stop them!" Blake yelled, firing Gambol Shroud for its tyres. The thing was moving too fast to get a decent shot off and Crescent Rose had been knocked aside when Yang saved her. No longer reversing or boasting about the fact, the truck tore through a chain link fence, ripping it down, and then tore away into Vale.

Well. There went their victory…

"What's happening?" Weiss yelled from the water. "I can't see anything. Is it over? Did we win?"

A nearby dust container, deciding it'd had enough, went up like a firework.

"That doesn't sound like winning..."

/-/

Team RWBY filtered slowly into the headmaster's office, heads down.

Ozpin was not sat behind his desk but stood, and somehow that distinction made it all the worse. The elevator doors closed behind them, Miss Goodwitch standing there with her arms crossed, expression thunderous.

"Quite the interesting evening you've all had."

They each flinched. The casual tone was worse than being yelled at in part because it hinted at so much more. Ruby's feet shuffled on the floor as she wished a hole would open and swallow her.

"I believe I was quite clear when I instructed Miss Belladonna to leave things to the proper authorities. Did I somehow misspeak?"

"…"

"That was a question, Miss Belladonna. It requires an answer."

"The authorities weren't-"

"Ah. Ah. Ah." He stopped her. "That was not my question."

"No," Blake whispered. "You didn't misspeak."

"Hm. I thought not. Curious, then, that you went and ignored me." He moved to his chair and sat but refrained from offering them the same courtesy. "The damage is extensive but can be repaid. The material damage, that is. The damage to Beacon's reputation will take longer to heal."

"Reputation?" Weiss asked, confused.

"I am of course referring to this." Ozpin clicked on his terminal and projected the scene, a paused video that featured all four members of Team RWBY on the roof, Blake holding Jaune Arc hostage. Their mouths fell open but it only got worse when Ozpin pressed play.

"R-Racist? I'm not racist!"

Ruby cringed as they listened to Blake argue with the others, all the while seeing her, Yang and Weiss linger awkwardly nearby while – and it was clearer now – Roman Torchwick handily stole all the dust in the background.

They'd let themselves be distracted.

The video continued, showing the full argument, the moment where Blake released her prisoner and accidentally knocked him off the roof and more. The person with the camera, who Ruby vaguely remembered forgetting about since they hadn't had a weapon drawn, crawled to the roof's edge and continued to record everything. The fighting, the damage and the escape.

"It's edited!" Weiss snapped at one scene. "It doesn't show that madman going off and trying to kill me!"

"I'm sure it is," Ozpin said easily. "A simple cut here and a cut there to remove instances of their culpability and highlight your own. It's rather well edited, a professional job, and I can guarantee it will be on every news station in Vale by tomorrow morning." He turned the video off. "In the end, it doesn't really matter if it's real or not. I shall spare you the comments below but rest assured that people are currently arguing over whether you are racist, violent or merely incompetent. You may pick which you like the sound of more."

They all winced.

"And added onto that, whether we are incompetent or lacking in how we have taught you." That earned another round of guilty expressions. "Your actions naturally reflect on us, and actions such as this don't reflect well – I can assure you of that. I moved quickly to express my support and claim you acted to protect the dust, but I didn't expect there to be video evidence suggesting you allowed Torchwick to escape." Ozpin sighed. "Now I look like I'm trying to corrupt evidence to protect myself when I merely believed in you and your team. Thank you for that."

"S-Sir-"

"No." He held up a hand. "I think that it would be best for you to keep your comments to a minimum, Miss Rose. Rest assured, you will not be expelled. Your actions – reckless, foolish and downright incompetent as they are – were not done with ill intention in mind. You will, however, be punished. Glynda?"

"Detention with me for a month, community service on the docks, a curfew on your team, a press statement that you will read out to the local news. Worry not, we shall write it for you. Beyond that, Miss Belladonna will be attending a racial sensitivity course."

Blake hesitated. "A what…?"

"It's a course designed to help people understand and combat their unconscious prejudice," Ozpin answered.

"I'm not-!"

"Enough." He stopped her with a wave of his hand. "It's decided and I don't honestly care what you think. I truly believe what you said was an accident, but that doesn't change what we need to do to combat that image. You will be attending this course and you will be happy about it."

They could have easily expelled them. "We're grateful," Ruby said quickly. "And Blake will do the course."

"But I-"

"We'll make sure of it," Yang echoed, wrapping a hand over Blake's mouth.

"Good. You're dismissed and your curfew begins now. Glynda, please see them to their rooms."

Team RWBY sulkily made their way out. As soon as the elevator began to descent, a crow that had been sitting on the windowsill hopped inside and transformed into a grown man. It reached for and drank heavily from a hip flask.

"Well," Qrow said. "That could have gone a lot better. I kinda feel sorry for them."

"As do I, but not enough to let them off after this debacle." The headmaster massaged his temples. "You were told to keep an eye on them. Were you there?"

"I was."

"And yet you didn't intervene?"

"It never looked necessary. They had everything under control," he added before Ozpin could get angry. "The White Fang weren't prepared for them and they struck hard and fast. Half of them didn't look capable of fighting back, Arc included. There was no need for me to step in."

"Incapable of fighting?" Ozpin frowned. "Or unwilling. This may well have been a trap set for us, which would explain their reluctance to fight back…"

"If so, it's one we walked right into." Qrow took a seat and lounged on it. Despite his lackadaisical tone, it was clear he was upset about his nieces getting in trouble. "I should have intervened," he said. "I just didn't see the need and didn't really spot the one taking the video. The action was all down below and I was more focused on making sure none of them got hurt. I thought it better to preserve the secret of my involvement."

"Understandable. It may even have been for the best. I can't imagine how much worse this would be if you were involved, let alone caught transforming from a bird. How did it go so bad?"

"One of the White Fang lost their shit. The video was cut like the girl said. He wasn't any more an equal for the girls, but he was indiscriminate and kept causing more and more damage. It was a recipe for disaster and they knew it. The team tried to lure him out and away from all that dust, but that opened up a chance for the White Fang to escape."

"And Roman…?"

"He fled early on. To be honest, Oz, it really did feel like him and the White Fang were at odds. I got a full view of the scene before the girls struck and the White Fang were moving in on him. That wasn't two factions working together. It was an ambush."

"Vying over dust? Or something more…"

"Whatever the case," Qrow said, "We stuck out foot in it and came out looking like idiots."

"Yes. I'll be dealing with the fallout for a few days at least." Ozpin sighed. "I expect the White Fang will lay low as well, but I cannot guarantee anything. What he may lack in combat, our foe more than makes up for in PR. He's exposed corrupt businessmen, saved workers under contracts that left them as slaves and now been caught trying to foil a robbery. If this keeps up, people are going to start asking why we need the White Fang to do all this for us."

"Maybe we should fight fire with fire?" Qrow suggested.

"That is a-" Ozpin froze. "Wait. You mean a PR push?"

"Uh. Maybe? I was just throwing an idea out; I don't know anything about tha-"

"No. No. The idea has merit. More than I ever thought." Ozpin already had a notepad out and was scratching on it. "The White Fang are trying to earn the trust of people by being seen doing good. If we run around trying to stop them, of course we're going to look terrible. We need to beat them at their own game."

"Out-good them?" Qrow asked. "I mean, that shouldn't be hard, right? We're huntsmen. We save lives all the time."

"Not enough. Saving lives is valuable but not public, and most of that takes place outside the walls. Out of sight, out of mind. It needs to be work done within the city. We need something to show off. A symbol – or symbols. Something people can look up to."

"What you're describing is basically a comic book superhero," Qrow said with a laugh.

Ozpin looked up, eyes wide.

"Oz, no. Oz, no, no, no."

"People love their heroes, Qrow."

"Ozpin. We can't dress you up in a cape and spandex and have you bust villains."

"Not quite what I meant. The theory is sound, though. Someone to stand as a beacon of the good we can do. A central figure, or figures, that can represent us, much like how many are now calling Jaune Arc the new face of the White Fang, we need a new face of Beacon."

"Hm. That doesn't sound too bad. So, it's like a mascot?"

"Sort of. They'd have to be seen to do good – it would be a hard task, and they'd also be in the spotlight, so plenty of public speaking and interviews. It's not an easy task by any means. We may need assistance from professionals in image and marketing."

"Isn't the Nikos girl basically a perfect fit for that?"

"She would be, but Glynda informs me she has been steadfastly avoiding any such attention. I fear she might refuse such a plan and it's not entirely fair to force her. On the other hand, we already have a PR mess to clean up, so why not kill two birds with one stone."

It took Qrow a second to figure that one out. "Team RWBY!?"

"Everyone loves a redemption story, and they're already scheduled for community service. We shall build them into our anti-White Fang taskforce."

"Isn't that basically rewarding them, though? Especially the edgy one?"

"I think you misunderstand." Ozpin smiled deviously. "They will not be fighting the White Fang through traditional means, and I doubt Miss Belladonna will appreciate what this entails." He pressed a button in his intercom. "Oobleck, can you summon Miss Adel to my office? Be sure to inform her she's in no trouble. I have need of her services."


What nefarious scheme does Ozpin have up his sleeve with the perfidious Coco Adel?

Well, this fight went by quick. I wanted to keep it such because despite Jaune and Co being a fairly big squad, their combat prowess is… well. It's the Mountain Glenn train. Deery is the girl who pushes her head through the hatch and is basically knocked out. Perry is the guy with glasses who doesn't even rank against them. Bane is the chainsaw dude who admittedly does give Weiss some small pause, but hardly ranks on her level.

Yuma and Trifa… I like to think they're tougher, but even then on the level of a first-year student just starting out. Like, the level that Team RWBY would have been at during the docks scenes in the show, before they'd had a lot of time to gel and get stronger. Ilia is probably the strongest and I'm not even sure she was on Blake's skill level.

They're not going to be fighting Team RWBY equally. Here, Team RWBY backed off from Bane out of caution and a desire to mitigate risk.


Next Chapter: 31st March – THREE WEEKS

I have my expo and speech and stuff going on in two weeks, so there will be no updates from the 23rd – 29th March. As this would normally fall into that, I'm pushing it back a week, which means the next chapter of this will come the week after.

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur