Author's Notes
All right! Saturday! Time to upload the- wait…
*Looks at calendar*
FUUUUUUUUUUUU-
Yeah, got distracted yesterday. By the time I noticed, the day had gone by. Oh well. Enjoy this short chapter. Next one will be on schedule by Tuesday. Or Wednesday if I get distracted again…
Intermission 19.5: It's a matter of consent
"That could have gone a lot worse."
GV, Jaune, and Cardin found themselves returning from the Headmaster's office. In the grand scheme of things, they got off fairly light. Practically a slap on the wrists, a waggle of fingers, and a Glynda-sponsored death glare. That last one might prove a problem down the line.
GV brought a hand to cover his mouth as he let out a massive yawn. It was barely pass noon, but after Forever Fall he could have used at least twenty-four hours of uninterrupted sleep.
"So, Cardin, about our deal."
Cardin grunted, but didn't made any motion to either talk or stop GV. The blond took that as an invitation to continue talking.
"Honestly, I'm not looking for much. Just keep your head down and avoid pissing people off. Agreed?"
Cardin nodded, his frown an ever-faithful companion in his face. "I gave you my word as a Winchester's and I intend to keep it."
"That's one thing you and Jaune have in common," GV offhandedly mention, much to both Cardin and Jaune's chagrin.
"Please don't." Jaune begged.
GV ignored him. "See you later, Cardin. Come on, Jaune, I believe Blake is waiting for us before she chews out Copen."
-o-
"And it never occurred to you to ask for permission!"
Blake was mad. Not quite livid or raging, but still pretty mad. The entirety of the three teams decided on an impromptu meeting at Blake's behest and found themselves gathered in Team JNBR's dorm.
"We already said sorry. We should have told you what Lumen and Lola were doing with the battle data. There's not really much we can do."
Blake glared at Mytyl. "You can start by deleting the data."
Mytyl and Copen were taken aback.
"That's…" Mytyl started but was cut short and abruptly by Copen. "Not happening."
Mytyl would have preferred a more tactful approach, but Copen was not wrong. They were not about to throw away something like that.
"How can you justify stealing from people like that?" The exasperation in Blake's voice was palpable. She turned to GV, the other victim of this debacle, for support. "Help me out here, GV."
"I agree with Mytyl and Copen."
Blake eyes widened at GV's stance. "I said help me out! Not side with them!"
"I was expecting you to simply be mad because they didn't tell you. Not actually ask them to give up their work."
"Time out!" Yang called, placing herself into the middle of the room. "I'm curious about something. Hands up those who think Copen and Mytyl are wrong for stealing and keeping our Semblances."
She raised her own hand, but not before Blake almost detached hers in an attempt to use it as a blunt weapon against the twins. Weiss and Pyrrha followed suit. Nora looked a bit on the edge, but upon seeing Ren had no intention of raising his, refrained.
"And those who agree with Copen and Mytyl?"
Naturally, the twins and GV raised theirs. Jaune and Kohaku also did. Ren followed suit and with him Nora. But what surprised her the most…
"Ruby, you're ok with this?"
With her hand up, Ruby nodded. "I think they should have told us, but… that's just part of their equipment. Is it any different than someone who's Semblance is to copy Semblances?"
"Is that a thing?" Kohaku asked the twins.
"A Semblance that copies other Semblances?" Mytyl clarified. "Sure. There are records of Semblances along those lines. In fact, there are records of a few Semblances that actually steal or permanently disable others."
"You don't even have to travel far," Copen said, "Velvet's is photographic muscle memory. I assure you; she can mimic the fighting style of every single person in this room. Not to mention her weapon is basically a portable Hard-Light weapon copier."
Yang nodded, seeing her sister's point and acknowledging Copen's and Mytyl's perspective. "What about you, Ren?" Yang smirked, not capable of helping herself. "Nora seems to think highly of your opinion."
The ginger glared at Yang, but Ren spoke before she could do anything about it. "I agree with Ruby. Lumen and Lola are their weapons. It just so happens that they copy Semblances. And it just so happens that because we spend the most time with them, they copied ours first. And honestly? If it helps people down the line, I'll gladly give up my own Semblance."
"I'm convinced," Pyrrha said. "I switch my vote."
"I don't like it and I would have preferred them telling us beforehand… but I can see the pragmatism in it. I rescind my vote," Weiss settled.
Yang sent Blake a sympathetic smile. "I was convinced after Ruby made her case. Sorry Blake, the jury has spoken. I hereby declare Copen and Mytyl free from all charges."
"This wasn't a trial!"
"Court dismissed, Blake." Yang said.
"I appeal!" Blake insisted.
"Denied."
"I appeal to their sense of guilt!"
Mytyl sighed. "Tell you what Blake, how about I treat you to the best seafood restaurant this side of Vale."
Blake narrowed her eyes, but slowly nodded her head in agreement.
"Great!" Ruby said happily. "Can I go next?"
Mytyl tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"
"Copy my Semblance next! I want to see how it looks!"
-o-
"Is this all?"
Roman felt like he could be forgiven by the incredulity he was feeling at the moment while he stared at his… employer.
"'Is this all'? Why, yes Cinder, this IS all." He gestured at the ceiling-high containers occupying a most of the warehouse. "This is all the Dust in the city that doesn't have a Hunter or the police stalking it in the hopes of catching me."
Cinder hummed in contemplation. She still needed the thief. Preferably he would be able to deal with this problem on his own but failing that she needed to do something. Time was at a premium and her plans, while salvageable, would be negatively impacted, nonetheless.
Provided the right motivation, Roman proved his worth, however temporary that worth is. She carefully observed him, considering every one of his mannerisms. He was hiding something, undoubtedly waiting for her to spring the question would paint him as indispensable. She could throw him a bone, regardless of how fruitless it'll be when the time to cut loose ends came.
"Do you have a plan to resolve this… issue?
As she expected, Roman smirked at himself with more self-aggrandizing praises than he deserved. "As a matter of fact, I do have a plan for such an occasion. We attack the Dust shipment arriving at the end of the month."
'Oh? Leave it to the grand master thief of Vale to figure out when such a shipment would be arriving,' she thought with a hint of sarcasm. Cinder could have found out herself, of course, but with the scarcity of Dust plaguing the city, that information must have been carefully guarded.
"What do you need to carry out this heist?" she asked.
"I'll need a way to get out the Dust, as well as hands on the ground to identify and move containers, and deal with any prying eyes."
Simple enough. "Done. You'll have your bullheads and a platoon of White Fangs at your disposal."
Roman groaned. "Those animals? No offense, Cinder, but I have seen lemmings more competent than those imbeciles. We lost half a dozen of crates from mishandling the other day!"
Cinder closed her eyes and measured her breathing. Couldn't the man just shut up and do his job like the good, little, expendable pawn he was? Still… Vale's White Fang did leave much to be desired. She would prefer more competent canon fodders.
"Endure it. I already… requested… more competent aid from an associate. They should be arriving next month. Unfortunately, you'll have to work with what you have." She was fully prepared for Roman to lose half the shipment either to his own idiocy or the White Fang's. Despite her treatment of Roman, credit where credit is due. They are a bit ahead of schedule and could weather one or two drawbacks.
"Make sure to keep me updated. I'll be checking on you soon."
"Aye, aye, Captain." Roman mockingly saluted her.
She didn't let that slide, as she quickly grabbed him his gaudy scarf and applied a bit of heat. "Careful Roman. Play with fire and you're bound to get burn."
With that, she left Roman to his own device. The fool was not going to betray her any time soon for fear of his life. And he should rightfully fear for it.
For his part, Roman watched his employer leave. Inspecting the damage to his scarf, he growled and rip it off him. "Bitch. Wouldn't be playing with fire if it was up to me."
Author's Notes
Transitory up next arc. It's going to be great! It will have a Penny puppet, and the ****ing Monkey King, and a sassy bowl hat!
Now, if I could only figure out how to make Blake run away.
I have time to think. There is one more chapter left before we get there, though… God, my pacing sucks.
Oh, fun fact: Originally
Reviews
Blue Bragon: Admittedly, I've been fretting over the story's pacing for quite some time. And the relatively short length of my chapters doesn't help. I assure you, there is a story to be told, with questions, answers, twists, and the likes.
I just suck at properly pacing stuff. It's a learning process.
And thanks for putting into words something that at some level I knew, but the term evaded me. I do take a Slice of Life approach when I'm not moving the story forward. Glad you sort of like it and think the characters have chemistry. I do want to make it look like they really are friends.
Because as heartwarming as Jaune hugging Blake was in Volume 6, it sure came out of nowhere.
Guess I'm craving the simplicity of school life. Letting the characters bask in it before Cinder happens. :)