Hi everyone, sorry for posting a day late. Yesterday (right before I was about to push out the chapter), I started thinking, and I decided I wasn't happy with the presentation of the chapter for a few scenes. I ended up staying up late to make revisions and decided to make an executive decision to push it out this morning as I was too tired to grammar check it at 2:00 am. This also means I have a lot of deleted scenes for this chapter (Yippie :/), but they may be incorporated in the next chapter.
I honestly didn't mean to take a month-long hiatus, but I'll be honest… I needed it. I've been getting slammed with assignments left and right, and I've not had a lot of time to get a major writing session in for a while. I try very hard to make the deadlines that I set for myself, but I can't do everything because of life in general. From this point forward, I will "TRY" to have an update every Saturday, but if I somehow don't update it by then, I will have it up as soon as possible. I'm also going to be pushing out somewhat shorter chapters for a while, so I have more time to focus on my studies and such. I really don't like shortening the length of chapters, but it's what I feel I need to do for now. Maybe in the future, I can go back and expand on them more when I have the time to do so. Anyways, now that the sappy stuff is out of the way, let's get onto the usual announcements.
1.) I'm putting the one-shots on a semi-hiatus until further notice. One-shots will no longer have an official schedule but will be updated every once in a while. RWBY:SRS-TB will not be affected by this and will continue to be updated as usual. I can, however, confirm the title of the next one-shot, which is "The Mystery of Brunswick Farms," and that I'm currently working on it with the intention to have it out sometime in October. Please keep an eye out for that.
2.) I need suggestions for fight pairings for the upcoming Volume 3 arc. I would like to NOT do any fights from canon (this includes PyrrhaVsPenny, YangVsMercury, Etc.) so please keep that in mind when making your suggestions. You may, however, suggest a 2v2 fight as a 4v4 and vice versa (this means you can suggest a 4v4 RWBY vs. FNKI or another similar pairing). I would prefer not to put teams RWBY and CMET against one another, but I can do a side "what-if" chapter for top requested fights if heavily requested. Team JNPR will be back in time for the tournament, so you can include them in your suggestions. The current plan is to write up at least 2-3 4v4 fights and have the rest be revealed later on. For those wanting Penny and her team to be showcased in a fight, please use team CPPR (pronounced Copper) to indicate as such.
3.) CloudCartoons/The Guy I have to thank you again. I realize how Zwei and Neo's speech format tends to be similar. I'm looking into another text font (like I did for the glitch text in previous chapters) to use for Neo to make it stand out better against Zwei's translations. I will be testing a new format for Neo's speech this chapter, so please let me know your thoughts on the switch. Also, thanks to those who had other improvement related suggestions for previous chapters, these will be implemented later this week.
That's all the announcements for now. Now it's time to jump into the story. Thanks for your support, everyone!
- Lucky
Chapter 20: The Calm Before the Storm - Part I
Land of Darkness - Evernight Castle - 10:30 am
Ruby and Scarlet step off of the bullhead while the servant who was piloting it powers it off.
Ruby looks around at her surroundings, taking in the red sky above her and the pools of black ooze nearby on the ground. She watches as a small Beowolf emerges from one of the pools and stalks off towards a small pack of other small Beowolves playing chase around one of the dark, mangled trees.
"I never knew that Grimm could be so playful." She says in amazement.
Scarlet nods her head, "well, despite what the big, smart, scientists and higher-ups in the kingdoms say, Grimm, do have souls. They are just more instinctive than humans, and Faunus are. They lack a conscious, however, which is what makes them act and seem soulless."
"Woah... Cool" is all Ruby can say. One of the baby Beowolves looks at the two of them then slowly makes its way over. It sits down in front of them and tilts its head.
Scarlet sets her bag down beside her and crouches down to scratch behind its ear. The Beowolf appreciates this and begins to wag its tail slowly. It's even panting a little as a normal dog would.
Ruby stands still. She is still slightly on-edge when she is around Grimm despite her still growing ability to interact with them peacefully. "Hi, there... err... little guy." She bends down next to her sister and scratches behind his other ear. The Grimm looks up at her, and if Grimm could smile, he would be doing so.
Scarlet says, "I think he likes you."
Ruby laughs a little, "maybe, but I'm still not sure about-"
"Nope. The Grimm are your friends, you just need to learn how to connect with them easier. I'm sure that mom can help you out while we're here. We have a few days before we have to be back for the Vytal Festival." Scarlet interrupts.
"Fine... but not until we make cookies with Mom. I've haven't had her cookies in years, and now that I know she's been hiding and sneaking them to you for years, I need to claim my share." Ruby responds jokingly.
A soft laugh comes from the steps of the entrance into the dark fortress. Summer takes a few steps down towards her daughters with a small smile on her face.
"Mom!" Ruby cries gleefully as she drops her bags and runs towards her mother.
Scarlet is not sure what to do. While she loves her mother very much, Salem was always right around the corner and the strange woman always influenced her to become more mature and calm. It surprises her when Summer opens her arms wide then motions for Scarlet to come and join the hug. Scarlet does so cautiously, but deep inside, she is giddy. "Hey, Mom."
"I know it's only been a month since we have seen each other, but I still missed you both dearly." Summer says as she kisses the top of the twins' heads.
"Alright, what's gotten into you? Why isn't Salem popping out to greet us instead?" Scarlet asks with both humor and curiosity in her voice.
"She's taking a short vacation, something about plotting and other shit I really don't care about." Qrow pops up from around the corner.
"Hey, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby pokes her head over her Mom's shoulder with a smile on her face. For the time being, they mutually agreed to just call each other by what they are used to. This is so they don't get in the habit and make a mistake around others who aren't in the know yet.
"Glad to see you both too, now let's get heading back to the castle before I get the urge to go hunting." He says jokingly. He recoils slightly when Summer turns her head slightly to glare at him from the side.
"Coming!" The Rose Twins call after their father. Their mother turns to instruct the servant to take their belongings and take them to their rooms as the Branwen-Rose Family make their way up and into Evernight Castle.
-0-0-0-0-
Island of Patch - Xiao Long Household - 10:30 am
Tai continues to flip through the channels on his holographic television until he is broken out of his boredom by a knock on his front door. I wonder who that could be.
He gets up and makes his way to the door to open it up to see no one there. He rolls his eyes and calls out, "I only fall for stuff like that once, Qrow."
A small burst of feminine laughter comes from behind him. "Wrong twin."
Tai turns around in surprise to see his wife. "Rae, err... I didn't know you were coming for a visit... Yang isn't here right now, but I-"
Raven holds up a finger interrupting him. "I know she isn't here. That's why I've come to talk."
"Oh, umm..." Tai clears his throat. "Look, I told Oz and James no, but she apparently was already enrolled in the program, and since she's eighteen now, I can't really do much about it."
"You can, actually." Raven smirks, "I snuck into James' office a few days ago and retrieved this." Raven pulls out a neatly folded bundle of papers. She opens it up and flips through the stables pages then clears her throat before stating aloud, "If the student can not maintain a B or above in ANY of their courses that they are currently enrolled in outside and inside the military training program, then they can be dismissed at a moments notice."
Tai shakes his head, "I'm not going to sabotage our daughter's future, even if she isn't making the wisest of choices right now."
"You can, and you will." Raven takes a few steps closer towards Tai. "Because you know I can have a few words with both Ozpin and General Ironwood if it becomes desperate enough that I need to reveal myself."
Tai scoffs, "You wouldn't."
Raven simply smiles, "I would in a heartbeat."
"You realize how Yang would feel if not only you showed up out of the blue, but how she would feel about you interfering with her life choices," Tai says as he goes to sit down in his leather chair.
Raven stays put, only rotating her head to watch her husband. "Yang won't care one bit because she isn't the one of the driver's seat right now. Our Yang is most likely on the verge of shattering or has already become a husk of her former self. No one has ever lasted this long and was the same after being under Ozpin's control. You said it yourself when you were reporting to Summer last week about Ms. Nikos and her developments."
"She was under Ozpin's control for a lot longer than we expected. She doesn't even remember much after her initiation day. Yang has been under Ozpin's influence for over a month from what we know; she still has a chance to break free on her own." Tai argues.
Raven sighs and sits down on the couch across from him. "I don't really know if that's possible anymore."
Tai raises his eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"
Raven pulls out a ring, the emerald gemstone on top of it is cracked, with a small chunk clearly missing. "This belonged to someone within my tribe." She sits the ring on the table, to which Tai immediately reaches over to pick it up and inspect it. "They never recovered, and they rarely spoke. When they did, it was nearly pure gibberish. It got to a point where I suggested they seek help from outside the tribe, which I would rarely ever recommend. They declined the offer and killed themself with their remaining hand the next morning.
Tai's jaw drops; he also simultaneously drops the ring, which causes it to spin a little on the top of the coffee table.
If Raven had a beverage, she would be taking a long sip of it while looking down at her significant other.
"Y-your not serious right now... are you?" Tai asks nervously.
"Serious as our daughter supposedly is about joining the Atlas Military." Raven gets up from her seat and makes her way towards the front door.
Tai comes out of his state of shock and quickly gets up and rushes to block the tribe leader from leaving. "Is there any other way we could possibly get Yang back... our Yang?"
Raven smirks for a moment before putting her right hand on Tai's cheek. "I've already told you what you need to do. What I need to do is none of your concern at this moment, but just know this-" She pauses and turns to head for the front door. "It's about time."
Tai gulps, not liking where the black-haired female is going. He is about to speak up, but in the blink of an eye, Raven has already left, only leaving a single feather behind at the door.
-0-0-0-0-
Evernight Castle - Grand Hall - 12:00 pm
Summer sighs as she looks away from her daughters, "A food fight?" she repeats with a bit of annoyance but interest in her tone as well.
"Oh yeah, it was the second one this semester," Ruby replies nonchalantly.
Qrow starts laughing hysterically, knocking over his cup of coffee in the process. "Sorry, kid, but you need to do better than that to get Oz really on edge. Take it from me, I have experience with angry Ozpin."
"Oh yeah, what have you done that we haven't?" Ruby leans back in her chair, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow at her father.
Scarlet sit patiently and watches the two bicker. She looks over at her mother, who is smiling slightly. A rare occurrence. "Are you alright mom?"
Summer comes out of her moment of thought and looks at Scarlet, "Just thinking."
"About?" Scarlet asks. She jumps from her chair slightly when she notices Ruby suddenly standing up and slamming her hands on the table.
"You didn't?!" Ruby asks in shock.
Qrow begins to chuckle, "Yup, and he wasn't too happy when he found out what we did to his office." He smirks then looks at Summer.
"Don't look at me like that. What we did to Ozpin's office was all your idea." Summer crosses her arms and gives Qrow the look. You utter one more word about this, and we will be having a long discussion about this later.
Qrow smirks, willing to deal with whatever punishment shall come to him later on, "We snuck into Dr. Port's office and took the Geist he was planning on showing us that day in class, then we took it up to Ozpin's office and let it loose. The original plan was for us to get a Boarbatusk, but it seemed that Dr. Port already killed it before we could get it. Your mother and Rae weren't aware of the switch became startled and began running in circles throughout his office once it started to chase them. At some point, it started to gather up your mother's rose petals and covered his entire office in them!" Qrow starts chuckling loudly, not aware of the death stare that Summer is giving him currently.
"Wait, what did Professor Ozpin do then?" Ruby asks, clearly interested.
Summer sighs then replies, "He made us clean up the mess, then he had Tai and your father go capture another Geist." Summer smirks at Qrow; oh, I remember that day fondly.
Scarlet catches her mother's look, then glances at Qrow to see him frantically waving his arms and mouthing 'No.' "Oh, tell us, Mom, what happened then," She asks with a small smirk on her face, almost mirroring that of the woman at the edge of the table.
Ruby looks at Qrow and begins to giggle. This is getting good! Why am I not writing this down?
"The Geist proceeded to take your father on a little joy-ride around the Emerald Forest. He wasn't able to take off his cape in time." Summer replies with a small smile.
"Well, excuse me. It was either strangle the stupid beast or making sure I could breathe!" Qrow replies with a bit of annoyance in his tone.
Ruby starts laughing hysterically, "That's even better than the kilt!"
Silence fills the room. It's so silent that a pin drop could be heard.
Qrow's eyes widen. "Why do you know about that?" he mutters quietly. That bastard just couldn't keep shut about it could he...
"Well..." Ruby begins before she is interrupted by a door opening. Everyone looks to see Neo strolling into the grand hall, with Roman in tow behind her.
Summer instantly begins to glare at Roman. One blink later, Salem is in full control. "I see you finally have decided to show yourself, Roman."
Ruby looks between Roman and her mom. She never imagined that her mother was so capable of being so cold. She glances over at her sister to see that even she is glaring slightly at the disgruntled man before them.
"Yeah, well it really wasn't my decision, now was it." He looks down at Neo, who rolls her eyes then walks over to Salem. She pulls out an envelope from her jacket and hands it to her with a small smile.
Salem nods her head, "Thank you, Neo. We will discuss in further detail our agreement later on."
Neo grins widely then begins to skip towards the exit. She taps on Roman's shoulder, much to his annoyance, and waves childishly towards him as she exits.
He turns and slyly gives her the finger, then he straights his suit jacket and turns to face the woman who is currently tapping her fingers slowly on the large table. He grins nervously, "So... you wanted to see me?"
"Don't play games with me; what you did was unacceptable." Salem booms.
Ruby recoils slightly in her seat. Her father looks at her from across the table with concern then glances over at Salem. Ruby then feels someone grab her hand from beside her. She looks to see that her sister is holding it tightly, while still keeping her eyes on the ginger-haired man before them.
"Now, don't go blaming me for what happened with the breach; blame your informants for raiding my operation." Roman dramatically points towards Ruby and Scarlet for emphasis.
Ruby responds defensively yet childishly, "Wait a minute, it's not my fault that I fell through the street. Blame... err... nature. Yeah, blame nature."
"You fell through a street?" Qrow asks with an eyebrow raised.
Ruby huffs, "yes, I fell through a street and into the underground caverns under Mountain Glenn, and we've already determined that the blame falls on nature. Can we move on now?" Now that I think about it... I did forget at the time about Dr. Oobleck's detention lesson... I should have known. But no one else on my team would have known that at the time... I was the only one in detention that day. Could I somehow be indirectly blamed for this?
"I must agree with Red for once, let's get this moving so I can go back to business." Roman impatiently taps his foot on the ground and keeps constant eye contact with Salem.
"There is no need to rush," Salem responds. She then glances towards the corner where a Seer is present. It floats towards Roman then begins to wrap its tendrils around his limbs.
Qrow looks over a Roman with slight concern. He knows that Salem is in control right now, but she wouldn't go as far as to mutilate the man. Would she?
Roman begins chuckling nervously, "What are you doing?" He tries to shake off the tendril snaking up his left leg, but it just squeezes tighter. He then jerks his right hand forward and attempts to use his left hand to manually unwrap the somewhat slimy tendril from his wrist, but the one wrapped around his left wrist snaps back. He lets out a slight grunt and glares at the ashen woman with annoyance.
"You were instructed to oversee the operations in Mountain Glenn, were you not?" Salem begins. The door behind them opens, and a figure saunters in quietly, stopping behind Roman.
"Yes, and I was doing my job flawlessly. It wasn't until you sent in Cindy and the kids that everything started-" he is interrupted by feeling a hot sensation on his head. His instincts kick in, and he thrusts his head forward, knocking his hat off onto the carpeted floor. His hat disintegrates as soon as it hits the carpet. "My hat!" He then tries to reach a hand out to the pile of ashes, but the Grimm currently restraining him begins to tighten its grip.
"You should think before you speak." Cinder says menacingly as she steps around Torchwick and the Seer and goes to stand in between Salem and Scarlet. And you should drop the nickname... or else that hat won't be the only thing to turn to dust.
Roman's only response is a series of grumbles.
Ruby sighs then raises a hand slightly, "he's right, you know." I can't believe I'm doing this, why am I feeling bad for him all of the sudden?
Salem turns to look at Ruby, "Come again?"
Ruby stands from her seat, "Dr. Oobleck likes to teach during detention," she sheepishly replies with a shrug. "One time, he told me about Mountain Glenn and how it has these huge caverns underneath the city, which is how they were able to build an entire city underneath after it became unsafe above ground. I completely forgot about it until I woke up on one of the underground rooftops. I should have paid more attention... even if I was focused on making it through detention without my brain exploding."
Roman begins to cackle, "SEE! Not everything was my fault! Thanks, Red."
Ruby turns to face Torchwick and frowns, "You and your men should have been aware that we were coming in the first place." And now I no longer feel bad for him.
Roman instantly freezes, "Wh-What? I wasn't made aware of anything."
Scarlet holds up her scroll, "I sent Neo a text before we headed over. I was too distracted after Ruby fell through to send an update on the situation." Her scroll is currently showing the message history between her and Neo, with one message highlighted specifically, [Care if we drop in for a bit? We have a delivery]. Neo's reply was a simple thumbs up.
The ginger-haired man starts to grumble again. Neo, Neo, Neo. We have much to talk about later, you and I.
Salem sighs and straightens up in her chair. "It seems that I have to punish you both then."
Both Ruby and Roman become instantly pale, with the former replying with a slight whimper.
The Queen of Grimm replies, "Roman, you are lucky that I don't feel like executing you today. Instead, you will be assisting Arthur with some tasks down in the basement for the next two weeks."
"B-But B-B-But..." Roman is dragged off his feet by the Seer, which is now carrying him towards the exit of the grand hall.
Ruby, who still hasn't moved a muscle, looks over at Qrow for help. He responds with a grin and shakes his head. Ruby whimpers again.
"And you Ruby, will be sent to the training room for an additional extensive training session each day for the remainder of your break," Salem says as she motions for the door to close.
Ruby then sulks and plops down in her chair, "Yes, Mom."
Scarlet can't help but smirk. You're lucky that she isn't sending Tyrian in there with you.
"With Cinder to accompany you since she decided the best course of action to silence Roman was to create a mess on my carpet." Salem glares at Cinder.
Cinder takes a step back, "No way... I'm not training Red."
"Hey!" Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose and unfolds it into its Scythe form, sticking the point into the floor with a thud. "Don't tell me your scared or something," She replies with a smirk.
"Add an additional half-hour to each of your training sessions for the next week, Ruby. What have I told you about having weapons out in here?" Salem grumbles.
"Weapon? What weapon?" Ruby quickly folds it back into its compact form and sticks it under her cape instantly. She then balances on her heels, with her hands behind her back and starts to whistle.
Scarlet facepalms.
Qrow, however, falls out of his chair laughing, causing the chair to fall over onto the floor as well. This makes a loud crashing sound in the room.
Cinder looks over at Ruby. "We're not training together."
"Oh yeah, my mom says we have to so there." Ruby sticks her tongue out at Cinder.
Scarlet looks up at her sister and her close companion, "Can't we all get along? We're on the same side, you know."
Ruby and Cinder both reply simultaneously, "yeah" and "no," respectively. The latter being all but enthusiastic with her response, unlike the now pouting Ruby.
Salem growls, "I've had enough of this." She then gets up from her seat and makes her way around the now bickering Ruby and Cinder and towards the front door. I need some time alone.
-0-0-0-0-
City of Vale - Exact Location Unknown - 2:00 pm
A tall and muscular man, wearing a large hood and a gaiter to cover his mouth continues to pace back and forth in an alley. Where is that son of a...
He is interrupted from his thoughts by a woman clearing her throat from behind him. He turns to see a woman, no... a girl... with long blonde hair down to her waist. "Ozpin told me to bring this to you."
"He was supposed to meet me himself." The man replies with a grumble.
"Unfortunately, the headmaster has his hands full with a certain... mad man." The blonde replies as she takes off her sunglasses to reveal bright green eyes. She begins to wipe off some smudges on her sunglasses with her white cloth hanging from her belt.
The man sighs, "I hope that Ozpin realizes that Merlot can't be trusted."
The blonde shakes her head, "Don't worry, the guy has been giving me the creeps all morning." She shivers dramatically for effect. "What you did with the brakes on the train a few weeks ago, however... that managed to creep me out even more. You know that people could've gotten hurt, right?" She raises an eyebrow at the man before her.
The man grunts, "Ozpin told me to find a way to tamper with their progress at Mountain Glenn, and that was the most logical approach considering I was in a rush."
The blonde shakes her head, "Hmm... yes, but Oz wanted me to tell you to try not to be so reckless next time.
The man nods. He isn't in the mood to reply with words.
The girl then slides her sunglasses back onto her face. "Anyway, the big man expects to hear from you within the week so don't keep us hanging, kay?" She smirks and begins to head back towards the way she came, towards a yellow motorbike.
The tall man nods his head and watches as the girl begins to speed off and back onto the road. He then pulls his hood down and slides down his gaiter to reveal a neatly trimmed beard and hazel colored eyes.
"Don't worry, Gretchen; I'm going to get you out of there." He looks down the alleyway and towards the city to see the tall tower of Beacon Academy.
-0-0-0-0-
Beacon Academy - Ozpin's Office - 2:00 pm
Ozpin grumbles as he taps his fingers on his desk. He follows the man before him with his eyes, clearly ready for this meeting to be over with.
"You see, Professor; if you are willing to grant me the funds that I need to conduct my experiments, I should be able to have a completely controllable army of Grimm at your disposal. I can even use some of the funds to work on my research about implementing Grimm DNA into humans. It would make your emerald soldiers even more powerful!" Dr. Merlot then presses a button on his remote to go to the next slide of his presentation.
"Yes, while I see where you are going with this Merlot, the council will surely notice a dent in the budget, and then they will begin to ask questions about where it went. I can't just give you 43 billion Lien for a project you have yet to give me results on." Ozpin sighs. "I think it would be best if we continue to develop the collars and rings to their fullest potential rather than putting our time and focus on something that might not even work."
Dr. Merlot begins to panic internally, alarm bells blazing in his mind. "Please, Professor, you don't understand. It really does work, see... look at this." Dr. Merlot then goes over to a covered crate that he rolled in with him when he initially entered Ozpin's office at 8:00 in the morning. He then pulls back the white sheet to reveal a Beowolf. Not just any Beowolf though... before Ozpin is clearly a mutated beast.
Ozpin leans forward in his chair, planting his elbows on his desk as he looks at the mutant Beowolf in awe. "What can it do that's different than normal Grimm?"
Dr. Merlot begins to rub his hands together excitedly. "It is much stronger, much faster, and while it has a much more concentrated train of thought... it is controllable. I've been working on those collars you see... and anyone with the right equipment installed on the collars can control these beasts with little to no effort."
Ozpin chuckles, "Well, I stand corrected. I will make sure that you get all the Lien you need to work on these experiments, but only if you tell me a bit more about those DNA experiments.
"Ahh yes, Project X." Dr. Merlot grins and lets out a chuckle as he bends down to retrieve his briefcase next to the cage with the Mutant Beowolf roaming around inside. He opens it up and pulls out a file folder and a small metal box. He then takes a few steps towards Ozpin's desk, slides the folder towards the intrigued man, and then begins to open up the metal containment unit.
Once he opens it, he spins it around so Ozpin can get a look at the eight vials within it. Each one has the small silhouette of a different Grimm. The liquid is a bright green, more of a neon green, and it gives off an eerie glow.
"What are these exactly?" Ozpin asks as he pulls one of the vials from the case. The vial has a depiction of a King Taijitu on it.
"These, my good friend, are the product of stolen research from a former colleague of mine. Does the name Arthur Watts ring a bell, perhaps?" Merlot asks.
Ozpin groans, "Yes, unfortunately, that bastard was a thorn in my side for years."
"The feeling is mutual." Merlot responds, "Anyway, before I was rudely sent away from the queens' fortress, I managed to snag some of his research on my way out the door. This was one of his most prized research expositions, and I do believe it can allow for us to fuse the DNA of humans and Faunus with that of Grimm. If successful, we should be able to control them to control a wonderfully massive and destructive army of Mutant Grimm." Dr. Merlot spreads his arms wide, "AND THEN WE CAN TAKE OVER THE-"
Ozpin raises a hand in the air silencing the man before him. "There's no need for you to yell in my office, Merlot." He then looks back at the vial in his hand then puts it back in the case. He looks up at the mad scientist before him and sighs, "You'll be getting far more than that grant, Doctor, I'll also provide the facilities and any assistants you may need. I'll even provide you with potential subjects, and I have a few in mind." He adjusts his glasses and leans back in his chair. "If that is all, you may gather your things and make your way to the basement. I'll have Professor Peach escort you downstairs."
Merlot scoffs, "I know my way around this school. I used to teach here myself, you know." He then grabs the white sheet on the ground and covers the cage with the mutant beast inside. Next, he retrieves the metal case on Ozpin's desk and puts it back into his briefcase before making his way with the cage in tow towards the elevator.
Ozpin leans forward once the elevator doors close, he clasps his hands on his desk. "I'm putting a lot of trust and faith in you, Merlot. Do not let me down."
-0-0-0-0-
Evernight Castle - The Kitchen - 6:00 pm
Scarlet opens the fridge and begins to look around for something to munch on. She's in the mood for something sweet, but she can't really decide.
Ruby groans as she comes through the door and shuffles over to one of the tall swivel stools and begins to spin around in one of the chairs. "I... Hate... Cinder..."
Scarlet, not really caring because she is focused on finding something to eat, replies, "What did she do this time?"
Ruby stops spinning and lays her head down on the table, "She sat around while I was the only one training. She absolutely refuses to train me."
"She'll come around eventually," Scarlet responds as she closes the fridge door then turns to lean on the counter. "I'm hungry, but I don't know what I want."
"Hmm..." Ruby thinks for a moment. "Cookies."
Scarlet perks up a bit, "Cookies it is!" She then pushes herself off the counter and begins searching through the cabinets for what she needs.
Ruby also gets up and heads over to the fridge, pulling out the things needed to make their mothers special cookies.
Around this time, Neo skips into the kitchen and nearly plows Ruby over as she heads for the freezer.
"Ow, Hey!" Ruby nearly drops the carton of eggs on the floor but catches it quickly. In the process, however, she loses her grip on the milk jug, which causes it to go flying into the air.
Scarlet notices that it's coming for her and says, "I got it!" Her mind is only focused on the jug itself and in response, she carelessly drops everything in her arms to catch the milk. While the milk may have been saved, the flour, sugar, and chocolate chips, however... are sent flying and end up covering the tiled floor below them.
"Scarlet, are you ok?" Ruby asks with concern. She sits the eggs on the counter and goes to make sure her sister is ok but accidentally slips on a chocolate chip.
Neo, who was barely paying a lick of attention because she was focused on locating her Neopolitan ice cream in the freezer, shuts the freezer door and takes a step forward. A moment later, she is on the floor tangled up in Ruby's cape, and the gallon of Neopolitan ice cream has been displaced from its container and is now slowly melting as it mixes in with the massive mess on the floor.
Scarlet begins to laugh hysterically at the two girls piled on the floor. She barely notices her mother and Cinder strolling into the kitchen. She doesn't realize that her mother was behind her until, she is also on the floor... completely soaked in milk and covered in head to toe with flour. She looks up at her mother who tapped her shoulder moments before.
Summer, who can't be an ounce mad, starts to giggle softly. Cinder, on the other hand, is snickering and taking as many photos as she can.
Neo promptly gives Cinder the middle finger.
Summer sighs, "Should I even ask what it was you three were doing in here?"
Ruby holds a hand up, still unable to get up because Neo has yet to get off of her, "Making cookies, as you can see, we've gotten everything mixed up already."
Scarlet pipes in, "except the eggs."
Neo then starts to get up off of Ruby, but as she stands up and uses the counter for balance, she accidentally knocks over the carton of eggs. The carton opens up, and a moment later, Ruby becomes covered in cracked eggs, the yolks spreading through her hair and getting her cloak even dirtier.
Neo winces and signs, ꜱᴏʀʀʏ.
Scarlet clears her throat, then sheepishly adds, "nevermind."
Summer shakes her head, "You three go get cleaned up, I'll have the servants come and clean up this mess, and then we can reconvene here in a few hours to bake some cookies, how about that?"
The three girls repeatedly nod their heads in unison. The twins get up from the ground and slowly make their way out the door, making sure not to slip. Neo, on the other hand, goes up to Salem and signs, ᴄᴀɴ ᴡᴇ ɢᴇᴛ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ɴᴇᴏᴘᴏʟɪᴛᴀɴ ɪᴄᴇ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴍ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴢᴇʀ?
Hello again, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter.
This chapter is setting up the stage for the V3 arc and future events beyond V3. From the start, I wanted to include Dr. Merlot, and I wasn't planning on introducing him to the story until MUCH later. During my brief hiatus, however, I thought of another way to introduce him, while also mixing things up with V3 events. For those who are unaware of who Dr. Merlot is, he is the main antagonist from the game RWBY: Grimm Eclipse. He's always been an interesting character, and I wish he could get some screen time in the actual series, but he's hardly been mentioned since GE has come out. I wanted to do my own spin on Dr. Merlot by making him a bit more comedic than he is in the game. I may also be taking some inspiration from a character in a particular comic universe (not RWBY related), by all means, guess who if you wish (there may be a hint featured somewhere in my profile). Anyways, tell me your thoughts and give any suggestions you may have for Dr. Merlot.
Initially, I was going to put a baking competition scene between Neo and Ruby+Scarlet as a nod to the bonus scene in the last chapter, but alas, it was one of the scenes that I wasn't happy about with the delivery, and I want to rework it a bit before releasing it. The next chapter will be a continuation of this chapter, and it will focus a bit more on other characters such as team JNPR, Coco+Matt+Velvet+etc., and the gang stuck in limbo. I'm planning on continuing the kitchen scene, and I may toss the baking competition bit back in depending on if I can work it in.
Anyways, that's all for now. Please don't forget to review (it really helps), and I'll see you next time. :)
- Lucky