RWBY: The Redeemer
Beta-read by Starlight's Poet
Chapter 28: Second Term (II)
It was morning in the City of Vale - Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black were traversing through the quiet street, filled with decorations to welcome the visitors from other Kingdoms who came for the Vytal Festival tournament.
However, the two did not come into town for sightseeing.
"...So, a terrorist posing as a bookshop owner." Mercury remarked as he walked in a relaxed pace. "Funny how it works."
"Does it matter? We are doing something similar." Emerald replied in a dismissive manner.
"Humor me, Em. We're supposed to get along, right?" Mercury grinned, which earned a grumble from the girl, who ultimately chose not to lash out as she and the man did have a cover to maintain.
The two were heading towards a specific objective, but they could not afford to hurry without looking suspicious. As far as everyone was concerned, Mercury and Emerald were simply a couple of visitors from the Kingdom of Mistral - they needed to act like one.
It did not take long until they began to see more people milling about - small business owners getting ready for the day.
"People are adding up, Em." Mercury notified with a taunting hint in his tone. "We never even visited the place. We're lost, aren't we?"
"No, we're not." Emerald stubbornly retorted with gritted teeth. She took out a small piece of paper to read the letters written on it.
They were supposed to 'visit' a certain someone of interest somewhere within the district, and more people around would make things harder for them to accomplish their mission.
Still, she was no amateur. Considering the number of people was still considered low, she could take advantage of the situation - more people could mean more leverage she could exploit.
The two rounded at a corner, with Emerald planning to approach the locals for quick information, when they - she, in particular, ran into someone.
Emerald 'oophed' when her face was suddenly met with someone's chest. "Sorry." She apologized while automatically took a step back, holding her scowl down beneath a polite expression.
"I'm sorry too. Are you okay there?"
Both Emerald and Mercury paused for a second to regard the stranger they ran into. Rather tall, but not too tall that they had to look up; his outfit was not too different from a civilian, with his face adorned with a thin mustache and beard matching his brown hair, but his skin hinted that he was not that old.
Both teenagers quickly re-composed themselves, they needed to tread carefully.
"Yes, I'm okay. Sorry again for running to you." Emerald quickly realised that she had to reply.
"I was at fault too, no harm no foul." The stranger smiled cordially before his blue eyes regarded both of them for a second. "Are you two new around here?" He asked.
"How can you tell?" Mercury decided to step in, sporting an easy-going smile which he had been using whenever he had to talk while blended in.
"I actually remember seeing you a few blocks back, you two were just wandering around. It's a bit too early for sightseeing, to be honest." The stranger replied.
A small snort while maintaining his smile to show that Mercury was not offended. "The same can be said for you, y'know? We're simply scouting for attractions early before the place gets too crowded."
"Well, I live here, so morning walk around the town is a part of my routine. Not to mention I'm also visiting someone…" The stranger then shook his head and gave them a sheepish smile. "Anyway, I won't keep you around any longer, sorry again for earlier. Welcome to Vale." He smiled one last time while brushing past Emerald, with a small friendly tap on her shoulder, before he finally walked away.
"Actually, can you help us a bit?" Emerald called out, lightly hanging on the stranger's sleeves.
"Yes?" the stranger asked with a mild curious look.
"We are looking for this place here."
Emerald procured the small note she had earlier, and showed the writings to the stranger, who read it for a second before he nodded.
"Oh, I know that place. Just walk down this street and you will find the street name, from there just look for the building number; you can't miss it." The stranger pointed in a direction.
"I see… Thanks for the help. We'll see you around sometimes." Emerald smiled before she left with Mercury.
When they confirmed they had walked far enough, Mercury smirked, "...That was easy."
For once, Emerald actually agreed with her 'partner', albeit she did not voice it. Then again, she also gained a little something in the process, judging from the small smile on her face.
"...Yeah, he was." Emerald remarked as she whipped out a small wallet between her fingers. However, her smile faded slightly when she found the wallet - which she pickpocketed from the stranger earlier, contained no money whatsoever, not even a credit card, only useless promotional vouchers and coupons from some random shops.
Mercury's smirk grew into a grin when he saw the stolen wallet's content. "Aww, don't feel bad. I'm sure you'll get the next one." He said with a patronizing tone.
"Shut up, let's just go." Emerald growled as she discarded the empty wallet. She was about to walk ahead when she suddenly froze with her hand reaching to one of her pants pockets.
Mercury then caught the sight of blood being drained from Emerald's face. "...Em?"
"They're gone…"
Mercury blinked as he watched Emerald patting down her pants. "...What?"
"My wallet! My scroll! They're gone!"
oXo
Inside one of the dark alleys, away from the main street, the 'stranger' was leaning against the wall.
He then proceeded to reach over his head and discarded the fake brown locks, revealing a black with red gradation underneath. He also tore his beard and mustache, which he bought from the local party shop. Finally, his fingers reached to his eyeballs and his blue eyes transformed into silver.
Blinking several times, Claude Rose scowled at the contact lenses he held by his finger before he simply threw them away. "Seriously, I don't get teenagers these days. How can they think putting glasses right on their eyeballs was a good idea?" He grumbled before he returned his attention to the items he had stolen.
Never thought the stuff Rome taught me back in the day would come in handy like this.
When you had a partner with a mild case of kleptomania, you were bound to learn one thing or two.
The wallet did not contain much, but Claude narrowed his eyes at the ID issued by Kingdom of Mistral, as well as Haven Academy, with some lien but nothing more. The Scroll however, was encrypted and required a password to unlock the device.
Claude pursed his lips as he pulled out a cord, connected the stolen Scroll with his own, and proceeded to do a quick hacking. Cracking the password was not difficult, but the contents of the device, however, brought a frown on Claude's face.
However, he found another interesting picture.
It was a photograph, taken in a manner where the photographer did not want to get noticed - featuring a faunus man surrounded by bookshelves, talking to one young woman - whose only partially shown in the picture. The catch, however, was the partial features were enough for Claude to come to a conclusion - isn't that Blake?
Not that it mattered; Roman's intel was spot-on; the faunus man in the picture was Tukson, a bookshop owner who was also a member of the White Fang before he defected, planning to turn a new leaf in one of the neighbouring kingdoms in near future.
According to the intel, there was an assassination order on Tukson, who had been seen as a loose end.
Claude then heard small voices in a distance - the couple from earlier had realised the thievery and were currently looking for him. Stashing the items for further investigation, Claude then walked away in the opposite direction to avoid the two assassins. He kept walking for a good few blocks while avoiding his pursuers until he arrived in front of an establishment.
Tukson's Book Trade: Home to Every Book Under The Sun.
Not that Claude could not understand the strategy behind the name, but the choice of words could cause some misunderstanding for some people.
He then walked towards the door, where the sign was still read 'closed'. The huntsman frowned, the neighbouring shops had opened, and some of them were already receiving customers, so why was this one still closed?
Claude looked around, noticing the building had two stories. If he was not mistaken, the shop-owner lived on the floor just above the bookshop. The windows and the rest of the building looked pristine, perhaps he slept in?
Claude then decided to test the door, and found it unlocked. His instinct began to tell him that something was off, as Claude opened the door and found no sign of break-in.
Someone else had stepped inside normally, perhaps while the shop was still open from yesterday.
Claude walked a step inside as he looked around the interior. "...Hello?" He called out. "Anybody home? Mr. Tukson?"
Then, Claude froze when the air from further inside the building hit his nose - smell of blood. He wasted no time as he let himself further in, past the cashier, all the way through the staff-only door.
It did not take long to navigate himself to Tukson's living space, where Claude found a body lying face down in the make-shift living room.
"Shit…!" He cursed and immediately went over to check the body. Even without checking on the pulse, the looks alone was enough telling that someone had killed the Faunus. Claude then whipped out his own Scroll and notified his friends and the police about his findings.
Once he had sent the SOS message, Claude then took another look on the body, as well as the crime-scene. There was not much sign of struggle, the furniture was untouched, yet the floor had been covered in Tukson's dried blood.
Closer inspection on the corpse allowed Claude to guess that the man had been dead since last night at the very least. The guy probably did not have the chance to fight back as someone cut his torso diagonally, from his left collar-bone all the way to his right pelvis.
The cut was clean - whoever did this was a professional with a blade.
Then, Claude's conversation with Roman re-surfaced in his mind, particularly about a certain someone who had joined the fray. The thought brought a deeper frown to his face, as Claude's hand reached out to close Tukson's dead eyes.
Back at Beacon, team CBP(R), Glynda and Ozpin were gathering in the latter's office, discussing Claude's finding in the morning prior.
"What happened to Mr. Tukson this morning was unfortunate, but we at least learned something." Ozpin remarked with a solemn tone.
None in the rooms were happy with the development, not when it involved a dead person that could have been saved.
Tukson had already been assassinated before Emerald and Mercury could have made it to the former's abode. Assuming that if it was truly the two who killed Tukson, it would not make much sense for them to return to the crime-scene of their own making.
"Still, at least we know that Roman's intel can be trusted so far." Claude put in her two-cents. "Last time I heard, he was able to get himself back into the fold, but new players are joining in, making things more complicated in the process. But we need to address the Goliath in the room…."
Claude then slammed his hand on the IDs he stole from Emerald; his eyes glaring at the insignia of the ID - the place issuer.
"I'll go straight to the case, Ozpin. Contact Lionheart - I want an explanation on how the fuck he allowed a couple of assassins masquerading as students in his own school."
Claude nearly growled as he asked. Everyone else also shared his sentiments - from what Claude had learned from Barty and Peter regarding the security development on Remnant, Atlas had developed and shared the means to create some unforgeable IDs of huntsmen and huntresses. Making a fake huntsmen academy IDs was still not impossible, but it was safe to assume such a feat would require a considerable amount of time and resources.
If the servants of the Queen could pose as a student of a huntsmen academy, just how deep their true enemy had taken roots in the system?
"I will see it done. Though I will tell you in advance, that Leo has been unresponsive as of late." Ozpin replied with a grim tone.
Claude only scowled, but he had no choice but to accept for the time being.
"Speaking of which, Claude. Care to tell us your first impression on the opposition? You have encountered them." Barty asked.
"Emerald and Mercury…" Claude muttered as his eyes trailed on the two pictures in question on the table. "They've had their fair shares of real fights, and they're definitely no strangers when it comes to murder, especially the guy."
"This might sound rhetorical, but… I take it they are formidable?" Peter asked.
Claude was silent for a few seconds - silver eyes narrowed slightly at the pictures. "...They're stronger than average third and fourth-year students, but not quite on our level yet if we're careful. Still, I'm more worried about their leader." He pointed at another picture of a woman with black hair.
"Yes, the current faux Fall Maiden." Ozpin remarked with his own narrowed look. "Her magic should be limited still, but that doesn't diminish the threat she poses…. Mr. Rose?"
Everyone turned to see Claude to be deep in thought. "Claude?" Peter asked again.
Claude regarded them briefly before he returned his gaze on the collections of pictures and papers on the table. "I'm… just thinking about… this; the past events, Rome's intel and things that might or might not come to be."
The silver-eyed warrior then turned to Ozpin. "Oz, you said that the Seasonal Maidens can access the way to the four relics, right?"
"Not just 'can', Mr. Rose. They are the only ones who can access the relics. I've made sure of that." Ozpin nodded.
"Right, then we have someone, who according to Qrow, was assaulting the Fall Maiden and attempted to steal her power. Why?"
Claude's tone and expression were enough for everyone to tell that he was being rhetorical and wanted them to humor him for the time being.
Ozpin decided to play along, "So they can gain access to the vault and retrieve the relic."
"Right, here's the thing; if I were to infiltrate a fortified place like Vale or Beacon Academy to steal something…" Claude met every single eye in the room. "I would create a diversion. Something to distract every guard, every huntsman, every student from realising someone was infiltrating the school."
The gears began to work in Ozpin and Glynda's mind. "A distraction, you mean…?"
Claude nodded at the deputy. "Rome's intel comes to play here; the White Fang uprising, the Dust robbery, not to mention the fact that Roman is under Cinder Fall's employ. Forget about the relic for now, what kind of diversion these people want to create with so much Dust?"
"Chaos within the city." Ozpin concluded. "...And while we, the huntsmen and huntresses are too busy mitigating the damage, the faux Fall Maiden will come swipe in."
"Should we issue an arrest warrant for those three people?" Glynda suggested. "Our evidence is still circumstantial, but arresting and questioning them should be enough to throw a wrench in their agenda, or at the very least, buy us some time."
"You might be right, but it's not good enough. There are a few things I want to point out." Claude replied. "For one, considering they knew I stole an intel from them, who is to say that they won't be laying low for the sake of caution? Roman said that they are rarely seen with any White Fang personnel, so we can't really proof their affiliation too. Not to mention, we might end up cornering them, and a cornered prey might pull something unpredictable. If they choose to leave Vale, sure we might win, but the victory will be short-lived and we will have a harder time to track them. The enemy will simply try again from another angle we overlooked. It's too soon for us to react."
Glynda frowned, but she did not object nonetheless.
"Then when do you think we should react?" Ozpin asked.
"Once they're in deep enough with nowhere to run." Claude smirked.
"That's incredibly risky, Mr. Rose." Glynda said with a narrowed look. "I might just prefer to simply chase the enemy away from Vale and prepare for possible future attempts. You might have forced a set-back on them anyway."
"We've already taken too many risks, Glyda. Well, Ozpin has." Claude turned to the headmaster. "There's the Fall Maiden, Relic of Choice and silver-eyed warriors within one location, that's pretty much everything inside one basket that can attract the Queen's attention. I don't think they're gonna back off yet at this point."
"I'm afraid Claude has a point this time." Ozpin remarked with a bitter smile. "Even if we deploy every huntsman we have in our reserve, we will simply alert our enemies that we are onto them. Leading the enemy to a false sense of security will ensure victory in the long run."
"I won't get too confident yet if I were you, Oz. For all we know, Glynda's plan might be the best for us." Claude gave a lop-sided smile.
"Oh? After you had raised some valid points? Regardless, I happen to agree with your line of thinking." Ozpin smiled knowingly. "I shall entrust you and Mr. Torchwick to keep tabs on Ms. Fall and her cohorts. The rest of us and the police will look out for the White Fang."
Everyone seemed to agree on Ozpin's current plan as nods were shared.
Then, Ozpin scroll vibrated on the table, halting the current meeting. The headmaster's expression brightened up ever so slightly upon checking the message.
"Ah, that's right. I forgot to tell you people, especially you, Mr. Rose." Ozpin announced. "Our official medical staff has returned to Vale for the Vytal Festival."
Glynda took a deep breath, Peter winced slightly, while Barty fixed his glasses. "...Oh, dear."
"Official? Wait, so Professor Peach isn't our doctor?" Claude asked.
"Professor Peach serves as a substitute nurse since our doctor went for an exchange program at Vacuo. She's been…. Quite eager to return as soon as I notified her about your re-appearance."
Claude blinked, "...'She'? Who are we talking about here? Peter, Barty? Glynda?" Now he realised that the rest was looking not too amused about the news.
Before anyone could have replied, the elevator leading to Ozpin's office rang, and someone stepped into the room.
Best day ever - it was what Ruby Rose thought as she laughed with her team in the mess(y) hall. Tables, chairs and benches had been upturned and destroyed; valuable food and resources wasted, and the entire team had been covered in sauce, cream, drinks, and other food remains sticking on their hair and uniform, but they did not mind in favour of celebrating their small victory over a food fight against team JNPR, who was looking satisfied next to the wall that had been painted over with an assortment of sauce and food splatters.
It all began during the simple lunch-hour, where team RWBY and JNPR were gathering to discuss their plans for the coming term. However, Yang's bad pun, combined with Nora's shenanigans in responding to the said pun, led to what Ruby believed as the most epic food fight she had ever had.
She had already forgotten the plan she had concocted and compiled on Weiss' binder, things were already looking up - she had gone more accustomed with Beacon, she had gotten close to her partner and her team, but most importantly, she found that she had an uncle - a link that could connect her with her late mother.
Speaking of which, Ruby wondered if she should talk with team JNPR about Claude.
The door to the hall was slammed open, revealing an irritated-looking Goodwitch stomping her way inside with Ozpin and Claude in tow - speak of the devil.
The deputy whipped out her riding crop and her Semblance did its magic; tables and chairs that had been thrashed were re-arranged back to where they were originally, along with the food remains as well. No matter how many times, Ruby did not think she would ever get bored of seeing Professor Goodwitch's Semblance in action.
Then, when Glynda just finished rearranging the mess hall, Claude stepped forward with an unamused expression on his face. Seeing her uncle with that expression caused Ruby to feel nervous all of sudden, even team JNPR was feeling sheepish in the face of three teachers, considering what they just pulled.
"...Really? A food fight?" Claude began. "You kids basically just disturbed the other students, wasted hundreds of liens worth of resources, even destroyed some of the building's infrastructures…" He pointed at one of the pillars that crumbled down due to the fight.
"...And you didn't even invite me?!"
Wait, what?
Everyone blinked just in time Glyda's crop smacked the back of Claude's head.
"Idiot." The deputy merely remarked before turning to the students. "Children, please. Do not play with your food." She then turned back to Claude. "And Mr. Rose, you shouldn't encourage this kind of behaviour on your students."
"But... Food fight!" Claude actually whined at the students' ruined appearance.
Soon team RWBY began to laugh at the spectacle of Claude and Glynda Goodwitch bickering. Team JNPR also joined, although they could not help but notice the way Glynda addressed 'Sterling' earlier.
When Glynda turned to talk with Ozpin, Claude walked to team RWBY. "So, how is it going, girls?"
"Claude!" Ruby beamed at the sight of her uncle. "We kicked butts!"
"That you did." Claude nodded before turning to Yang. "Oh, Yang? I rate this one…. 8.5 out of 10, since you did not cause this on your own."
Yang pondered on what Claude said for a second before she recalled their previous conversation in front of a certain night club. In response, she grinned while pumping her fist. "Eh, progress."
Then, team JNPR made themselves known again. "Hey, err, Ruby?" Everyone turned to Jaune. "Why did you call Sterling, Claude? Who's Claude?"
On the side, (still) oblivious from everyone else, were a pair from Haven Academy - Sun Wukong, and his partner with blue hair. They were about to make their presence known when someone else entered the room.
"Excuse me, coming through!"
The newcomer's voice seemed to attract everyone's attention as well as the two Haven students, while Claude let out a quiet groan.
The newcomer was a female goat Faunus with a curvaceous figure and a pair of curved horns jutting out from her tawny coloured locks on her head. She had a lightly-tanned skin that was clad in a yellow blouse, long and baggy skirt that covered her knees, which were sporting a pair of black stockings and heels covering her feet. She completed her looks with a white medical coat, showcasing her status as a medical personnel.
"Aww, everything has been settled already? I was hoping to see a patient or two…" The woman pouted, like a child that had been denied her birthday gift.
When her eyes met Claude's tired ones, her face brightened up once again. "Claude!" She greeted jovially while making her way towards him and team RWBY. "So this is our only batch of first-years, eh?" She asked as her eyes roamed around the girls.
"Yes, yes, they are, Jersey." Claude replied before turning to his students, who were eyeing the faunus woman. "Kids, this is Jersey Apelsin, our official nurse at Beacon. Jersey, this is Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. The other four are team JNPR - Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren." Claude introduced them to each other.
"Nice to meet you all, children. Dr. Jersey Apelsin at your service." the doctor waved her hand with a friendly smile on her face.
"I thought Professor Peach was our medical staff?" Weiss remarked.
"No, she's merely substituting me. I shall be the one you ran to if you ever need someone to kiss your boo-boos." Jersey replied with a wink.
The first-years then found Jersey had stepped closer with her eyes scanning them, making them feel a tad awkward under her gaze.
"...But I have to say, we have quite an interesting bunch of newcomers, with interesting team-ups too." Jersey remarked while rubbing her chin, throwing a knowing glance at Ozpin and Glynda, before she addressed team RWBY.
"Descendants from team STRQ." She pointed at Ruby and Yang, who blinked at the mention of their parents' team.
"Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company." Jersey then moved to Weiss, until she arrived at Blake.
"...And the daughter born from the founder of the White Fang."
The ribbon on top of Blake's head twitched as she immediately looked left and right. Her peers also did not expect the school nurse to rat her out so casually. Blake's eyes widened when she noticed Sun, as well as one boy who she did not recognise - he looked rather confused of what was going on.
"Hm? Why are you all looking so scared? Is something wrong? Is it something that I said?" Jersey tilted her head in complete wonder as she watched Yang and Ruby move to shield Blake, even Weiss also stepped in.
Seeing the girls' behaviour, Jersey then looked between Blake and her teammates. "...Now that I take another look, why are you covering your extra ears with a ribbon….?" She trailed off and went silent for a couple of seconds before her eyes widened. She then placed her knuckle on her palm in epiphany.
"Oh, I see! It's supposed to be a secret!" She then broke down into small giggles, her face looked sheepish in embarrassment. "...Oh, dear, I'm so sorry! I thought for a second your ribbon was some sort of a fashion statement!" She spoke as if it was a joke.
The students were caught off guard at the abrupt 180 degrees shift in the atmosphere. Blake then brought herself to ask. "...How did you know, if I may ask?"
"Why, from the students' roaster, of course!" Jersey replied with the obvious. "I mean, with your looks, your surname, anyone with a lick of knowledge about the recent history should be able to connect the dots. Who was the founder of the original White Fang?"
The reactions were varied - Jaune, Nora, Ruby and Yang shared a quizzical glance as they were not the type who followed history books. Pyrrha, Ren, Weiss and Blake, on the other hand, blinked as they caught up with what Jersey said.
"...Oh." Both Pyrrha and Ren felt slightly embarrassed of themselves for not noticing sooner.
"Um, what is she talking about?" Yang asked.
"The founder of White Fang, Ghira Belladonna, with his wife Kali Belladonna…" Weiss muttered before she ran her hand over her flustered face. "Of course, I should've noticed sooner."
"Well, duh…?" Jersey retorted, before she turned to Blake. "...Please don't tell me you're trying to… infiltrate Beacon with only that get-up on your head?"
Blake, on the other hand, was biting her lower lip as she could not meet anyone's face. So much of wanting to move on from her past. Why did she not try to change her name, or perhaps, undergo plastic surgery?
Then, her head shot up as she glared at the doctor. "I was never infiltrating!" She then calmed herself "I… want to make a difference."
Seeing Blake's conflicted expression, Jersey pondered before she turned to Claude, who was mildly glaring at her, along with Glynda, while Ozpin's face remained passive. Knowing what he wanted to convey with the looks alone, the doctor shrugged with a sigh.
"Alright, alright, I guess I've overstepped my bounds." Jersey held her hands up as she turned around to leave the scene, not before she glanced one last look at everyone. "Still, in any case of injuries, illness, or even if you are simply feeling under the weather, please do come to my office. See you later, children!"
Jersey Apelsin then finally left.
The hall was quiet for a few seconds at the doctor's departure until Yang broke it. "Okay… That happened. What's with that lady?" She asked. "Claude, do you know her?"
Claude sighed in reply. "Yeah, I do apparently. She's… sort of an acquaintance back during my days at Beacon."
"Dr. Jersey Apelsin…" They turned to see Weiss browsing on her Scroll. She replied when she noticed her teammates' gazes. "I just felt her name was familiar. Now I remember that she was mentioned during my study in Atlas; a renowned scientist with phD on genetics, bio-chemicals, bio-engineering and several medical fields. I didn't expect a person of such calibre to work as a nurse at Beacon."
"Those are just hobbies for Jersey. For all I remember about her, her passion had always revolved around human anatomy, Aura and Dust." Claude then met everyone's gaze. "...A word of advice, though. If you kids ever get injured, I suggest you keep seeing Professor Peach. Don't ever look for Jersey unless it's an absolute emergency."
"Um… Okay?" Ruby could not help but wonder what was really going on between her uncle and the doctor.
Seeing that the reply was the best he could get, Claude sighed and patted Ruby's shoulder. "That will do for now. Now go get yourselves cleaned up. People from other Kingdoms are coming and you're gonna represent Beacon."
"Are you going to be at the opening ceremony?" Ruby asked.
"Sure I am, Rubes." Claude smiled and caressed Ruby's head, eliciting a giggle from her. Then, Claude left the hall with Ozpin and Glynda in tow.
The two students from Haven - Sun and presumably his partner, finally found the chance to step in. "What's up, guys?" He greeted before gesturing at the boy whose outfit was not spared from the food fight between JNPR and RWBY. "I was just looking for y'all so I can introduce my best buddy Neptune. What was that all about?"
"...And who the hell is Claude!?" Nora finally asked.
Surrounded from all sides, team RWBY could only exchange glances while not sure of what to address first.
The night had fallen upon Vale, and at the secluded warehouse where Roman designated as his base of operation, the master thief was treating himself for a particular spectacle.
"...Allow me to summarize."
The owner of the voice was an attractive young woman with amber-gold eyes and flowing black hair over her shoulder, clad in a red dress that screamed a dignified femme fatale.
"Not only have you disobeyed my order by acting independently, you lost your scroll to some random stranger?"
Cinder's tone clearly showed that she was not amused by the sight of her two direct subordinates standing before her. The girl with mint-green hair was bowing her head in fear and shame, while the young man with grey hair was more relaxed, albeit he knew better than misbehaving.
"M-ma'am, I can explain-!"
"You are fortunate that Mercury was quick on his feet to notify me of this blunder of yours, Emerald. " Cinder interrupted, not giving the female thief any chance for excuses.
As she had stated; that morning, Cinder suddenly received a text message from Mercury that he and Emerald had been compromised. To begin with, the pair's small excursion, which involved tying up a loose end in the form of a certain White Fang deserter, was never authorized as Roman claimed that he had it covered.
If Cinder ended up not knowing of this blunder and made contact of sensitive nature to Emerald...
"Was there anything worth concerning inside your scroll?" Cinder asked with a seething glare.
"No! Nothing sensitive in there." Emerald replied rather quickly. "I've deleted past messages and contacts just yesterday. That lost Scroll is pretty much worthless by this point."
"Are you absolutely sure?" Cinder pressed on, which Emerald replied with a fearful nod.
The faux Fall Maiden kept her glare on her subordinate for another few seconds until her glare softened. "...Very well. I shall see if I can procure you another Scroll."
Emerald was visibly relieved.
"However, Emerald dear…?"
Emerald looked up again and her eyes were met with Cinder's blazing orbs, as the latter placed her fingers by the former's chin, lifting Emerald face directly in front of her. "...See that this blunder does not happen again."
The warning was simple, yet Emerald was too terrified to even nod as she swallowed a small lump.
Daring himself to lift up the atmosphere, Mercury spoke up. "I… just want to say, Tukson's already dead, even before we arrived at his house. Anyone had an idea-."
"...I did."
Cinder, Emerald and Mercury turned towards the source of the new voice, while Roman hid his grimace with his hat while taking a drag from his tobacco.
The newcomer was a woman with a fair figure and lightly tanned complexion, clad in a professional suit with a loose tie, along with some loose buttons to show a hint of her cleavage, but nowhere near to the point of being scandalous; her get-up was finally covered with a knee-length black coat. She possessed dark-brown hair and dark grey eyes, the bushy tail on her hip suggested the woman as a wolf Faunus. A thin scar could be seen across her face - along the bridge of her nose, to be precise. Her looks were completed with a long katana held by her left hand, which was covered in a customized metal gauntlet.
"Brunsteid Shamir." Cinder remarked with a scowling face. There was a hint of grudging respect as she addressed the older-looking woman. "...So it was you who took care of our loose end."
"Yes." the woman - Brunsteid nodded as she made her way to the group. Her eyes met with Roman's and she gave him a nod, which the man returned.
"Shamir."
"Torchwick." Brunsteid replied with a stoic face. "...You have delayed too long."
Knowing what she was implying, Roman scoffed while puffing out a smoke. "You're just impatient. Rather, I didn't peg you as the type who would kill your own kind."
Brunsteid simply met Roman's taunt without a word, her eyes kept looking at him impassively.
"Enough, Roman." Cinder stepped in. "Shamir has a point. You did say you're the one who would take care of Tukson."
"I was going to, alright?" Roman sneered in defence.
"Tukson was going to escape to Vacuo this morning." Brunsteid swiftly interrupted, before she addressed Emerald and Mercury. "Ms. Sustrai, Mr. Black… Were you not given the instruction to keep low-profile?"
"Doesn't the same go for you?" Mercury retorted back.
Brunsteid did not even flinch. "As a matter of fact, no. Otherwise, I would have gone to Vale to drag you two back instead of finishing the job… Your job." She threw a quick glare at Roman, who merely frowned in return. She then returned her gaze upon the youngsters. "Considering the current turnout of events, I believe some reviews of our plans are necessary, what do you think, Ms. Fall?"
Cinder narrowed her eyes at the faunus woman, as she inwardly wanted to be the one in charge. However, considering her other 'colleagues', sadly enough, the faunus woman was one of a very few people that Cinder could tolerate.
"...Yes, I believe we do." Cinder conceded as she kept herself calm. She then walked away with Emerald and Mercury in tow, not before giving Roman one last glance. "Oh, and Roman? We are still entering the next phase. See that you fulfil your task properly this time."
As soon as Cinder walked away, Roman quietly mocked her behind her back, and he was suddenly met face-to-face with Brunsteid standing in front of him. "...I honestly never expected you to be in cahoots with these freakshows."
"My choices are none of your business, Torchwick; but we digress." Brunsteid never lost her calm. "...I've heard a little bird telling me that a certain dead man has returned to the world of the living." Her lips grew into a tiny smirk.
Roman took a drag of his cigarette and blew a mouthful of smoke right in Brunsteid's face, who did not even blink. "...Is that so? I guess you did strike me as a horror-fan type."
Seeing no point in conversing any longer, Brunsteid then began to walk after Cinder with her eyes remaining on Roman for another few seconds - it was an unspoken claim that she would keep her eyes on him.
Once he was alone in the building, Roman puffed out another smoke and squashed the cigar beneath his shoes.
"...Fuck my life, seriously."
It was the following morning.
Glynda was frowning - watching several airships landing just outside of the Beacon Academy grounds. Ozpin, being his unflappable self, merely sat on his desk with a set of mugs and pot of coffee prepared.
However, beneath his calm persona, Ozpin inwardly shared the same distaste as Glynda, particularly towards a fleet of Atlasian battleships that tagged along and occupied some of the landing pads.
Some time later, Ozpin noticed via his terminal that someone was requesting access to his office. Shortly after accepting the request, the door leading to the office was opened, revealing two men in white-themed military uniforms.
The one leading was a well-dressed man, who was slightly taller than Ozpin; followed by a young man clad in a similar uniform, albeit with a hint of informality from his sleeveless tops.
"Ozpin!" General James Ironwood greeted with a cordial tone, sauntering towards Ozpin with his arms open.
"Good to see you again, General." Ozpin approached back with Glynda following behind him.
The two then shook hands. "Please, drop the formalities." Ironwood replied with a smile, which widened when his eyes landed on Glynda. "...And Glynda, it's been too long since we last met."
"Oh, James…" Glynda's tone sounded exaggerated in sarcastic manner as she waved at the general, before her tone shifted slightly colder. "I'll be outside."
The deputy walked to the exit, returning a nod given by the other man in uniform before she finally left the room.
"She hasn't changed…" James remarked with a somewhat fond tone.
"I'm afraid not." Ozpin replied with a hint of amusement in his tone, before he had his sight on the man accompanying Ironwood, who still remained on stand-by. "…. And may I assume the gentleman behind you is the one you told me before?"
The general nodded and made a way to show the young man behind him. "You assume correctly. This is Clover Ebi, one of the recent top-graduates from my school, as well as the leader of my newly assigned Ace-Ops team."
The newly introduced Clover then stepped forward and bowed lightly in respect. "It is an honour to meet you, headmaster Ozpin. The General spoke highly about you."
"Please, the honour is mine. I've read through your records, Mr. Ebi, and I'm impressed." Ozpin replied with a friendly tone as he invited the younger man for a handshake, which was returned in kind.
Ozpin then proceeded to serve a few mugs of coffee. Clover politely refused, while Ironwood accepted the offer, not without adding some brandy from his personal flask into the hot beverage.
"Now that I'm looking at you in person… I can see why General would want me to let you in… to our inner circle." Ozpin remarked as he sipped his own coffee, his eyes were watching Clover analytically.
"Yes, Clover and the Ace-Ops have proven me numerous times that they are trustworthy, as well as capable…" Ironwood commented with pride in his tone before his expression turned slightly sheepish. "On that note, though… There's actually another member of the Ace-Ops who came with me here, but I'm afraid she had to make sure that my students don't get into trouble before she can join us."
Ozpin did not miss the fact that the person in question was a woman. "That is no problem, James. She can join us when I explain the details in our next talk. Now, do you remember the other thing we talked…?"
"Ah, that's right. It's time to fulfil my end of the bargain, isn't it?" Ironwood smiled knowingly. "Though, I must ask, to whom is this favour related to…?"
Long-story short, it was an agreement between Ozpin and James Ironwood - the former would allow the latter to recommend a few selective individuals to join them in their crusade against The Queen, while the latter would owe the former a favour regarding a certain young huntsman.
Before Ozpin could have replied, however, he received another request from someone outside to access his office. Smiling knowingly, the headmaster then tapped onto his Scroll. Soon, the door opened and a voice was heard.
"I just saw Glynda on the way here. She's looked pretty pissed."
James Ironwood believed himself as unflinching. But when he heard that familiar voice, anxiety crept up to his head. When he turned to look at the newcomer, he thought his heart stopped beating for a second, to the point that he lost the grip on his mug - which shattered upon reaching the floor.
The newcomer's silver eyes stared and blinked at him before he asked with a narrowed look, "...Jimmy? Is that you?"
Clover was watching with a mixture of amusement and curiosity at the young man who addressed General James Ironwood so casually. In addition, the general himself was looking as if he just saw a ghost.
Claude, who just entered Ozpin's office and saw James Ironwood inside, walked closer to have a better look. Soon, his eyes widened and his lips slowly broke into a grin. "Holy crap, it is you! Look, Oz! It's Jimmy here!" He addressed Ozpin while pointing at Ironwood.
"Yes, he is, Mr. Rose. Yes, he is." Ozpin replied with an amused smile.
Ironwood's face actually paled when he heard the surname. He looked back just in time when Claude engulfed him into a gruf hug.
"Oh, man! It's actually good to see you again!" Claude laughed.
"C-Claude…?" Ironwood managed to speak. "But, you, I-... You're dead!?"
"Well, clearly I'm not." Claude broke off the hug in favour of feeling Ironwood's right side. He even rapped his right arms, right shoulders, even right stomach for a few times. "...Rather, what the hell happened to you?" He asked with a genuine concern in his voice.
James held his right arm with his left hand. "This is, um…"
"Mr. Rose." Ozpin finally intervened. "Perhaps you need to give the general some space, clearly he's overwhelmed by this development."
Claude blinked at the headmaster, albeit he took a step back away from the general. "...Oh. But didn't you brief him already?"
"I… might have let it slip my mind." Ozpin did not sound regretful whatsoever.
"Yeah, of course you are…" Claude gave a lop-sided smile before he returned to Ironwood. "So… James. Yes, as you can see, I'm back and it's good to see you again." He patted Ironwood's right arm. "...And whatever happened for the past 20 years hasn't been kind to you."
Ironwood only regarded Claude for another few seconds before he sighed in defeat and slumped onto a nearby chair, running his left hand on his face. Ozpin, on the other hand, only hid his amused smile by drinking from his mug.
Clover then dutifully sauntered over the general to tend to him, which Ironwood placate him in return with a simple wave of a hand.
"Um, sorry for butting in, but… May I know what's actually going on here?" Clover spoke to Ozpin and particularly at Claude. "...And who might you be?"
Claude looked at Clover for a few seconds before he replied. "...Yeah, sorry. I actually only noticed that you've been here all along. How do you do, I'm Claude Rose." He apologized before offering his hand.
Omake
"Claude~! Oh Brothers, it's really you! I missed you so much!"
The aforementioned man could only blink in a mild confusion as he was trapped in a woman's arms. He was not sure of what had happened either; one second a goat faunus woman suddenly entered the room and abruptly paused in her greet when her eyes met his.
The next second, Claude was engulfed in a hug - his cheek was pressed and rubbed against hers, slender yet strong pair of arms were wrapped on his back, and he could feel the woman's breasts against his torso.
From the side, Claude's team and colleagues were watching with varying degrees of amusement in their eyes.
It took a good few seconds for Claude to finally recognise the woman hugging him. "...Jersey?"
"Yes! You remember me! It is I, indeed, your favourite doctor!" Jersey squealed as she pecked Claude's cheek.
"Um… Yeah, it's... good to see you again, Jersey." Claude awkwardly patted her back as he began to feel uncomfortable within her arms, his eyes helplessly darted to the others, silently asking for help which was ignored much to his chagrin.
Then, a few seconds later, Claude decided to push Jersey away, which was easy enough; and kept her at arm's length by her shoulders.
"Err… Jersey?" Claude asked. "...What is that thing you're hiding inside your skirt?" His eyes trailed down to the bulge that was poking his stomach earlier.
Jersey's lips broke into a grin from ear to ear. "Fufufu… I'm glad you asked!"
She took a few steps back so she could address everyone in the room. "Truth to be told, I have no idea of how and that those so-called barbarian colleagues from Vacuo are capable of making such a breakthrough - magnificent bastards."
Claude shot worried glances at the rest, who returned his anxiety in kind, more so when Jersey reached down to the hem of her long skirt.
The doctor then lifted her skirt up high, revealing what was concealed and poking Claude's stomach underneath. "Behold, ladies and gents!"
Collective gasps and cries were heard from Claude, Barty, Peter and Glynda. Ozpin himself choked and spat out his coffee upon seeing what Jersey had been hiding.
"WAAGH!"
"FUCK!"
"Dear Brothers above…!"
"Good Heavens, what have you done to yourself, woman!? And why is it hard!?"
Peter's squinted eyes were wide open, Barty's glasses cracked as he dropped his mug to the floor. Claude and Glynda were mortified - the former, especially, flinched back with a pale face at the fact his stomach had made contact with that thing, as he ran his hands vigorously on his clothes as if trying to clean it off something vile.
"Like I told you, I can't remember!" Jersey actually sounded mirthful as her grin remained, the thing attached between her legs was twitching. "All I remember is that I was having a party with my co-workers at a tavern near Shade and when I came by, it's already there! And my word, it feels great to know that I don't need to go to the restroom as much as I used to, and it feels amazing every morning!"
While everyone else was still looking aghast, Ozpin managed to take a deep breath to calm himself down. "Dr. Apelsin, have you been… walking around under that state?"
"Why, of course! Well, not exactly like this all the time..." Jersey replied with a shrug. "However, I have also understood the men's perspective in regards to birds and bees." She then sent a knowing wink. "I have to say… You people are lucky to be born male; and Glynda? I can't help but wonder if you actually had taken this inside you during your times with James." She grinned as she lightly swung her new 'appendage' around.
The men grimaced at the gesture until the flustered-looking Glynda pointed her riding crop at the doctor. "Jersey…. I will only ask this once - turn yourself back." She said with a scathing glare behind her glasses.
"...And why would I do that?" Jersey asked challengingly.
"Because it's disturbing and wrong in more ways than one!" Glynda pressed on.
"I'm afraid I am with Glynda on this, doctor." Ozpin chipped in. "Can you please, at the very least, keep it under control while you are interacting with the students?"
"No, that won't cut it, Oz." Claude put in his two-cents as he pointed his Mjolnir Mk. II at Jersey's crotch. "Jersey, I know what you can do, so for the love of everything under the sun, take that thing off, or I - no, we'll remove it for you."
Jersey regarded everyone else in the room who was still glaring at her for a tense few minutes. Eventually, she sighed and she put her skirt back. "Fiine…. I'll see what I can do within this month. The pictures about the relatable diseases are too horrifying to me, anyways." She then turned around towards the exit. "Oh, and Claude?"
The man blinked at Jersey who gave him one last look.
"...I'm sorry about Summer. She didn't deserve whatever happened to her." Jersey then finally left the room.
Claude only starred with an unreadable expression, at the door where Jersey had vanished, before he and everyone else dropped on their seats with a heavy sigh. "...Anybody have any idea how to unsee that?" He asked around.
Without a word, Ozpin bent down to the drawer under his desk and procured a set of glass with a bottle of Atlesian wine.
As usual, please review! (^_^)