Well, we finally made it. Here's the final chapter for the V1 section of the story.
And...wow, this is the second longest chapter I've written. Back to back, these are the longest chapters so far. This is basically why I had to split the events of Black and White into two chapters, given the sheer length, but even I wasn't expecting this chapter to be this long. Hopefully when I get back to the story, the chapters will be shorter. I'm hoping for somewhere around a 5K to 6K word length and not an over 10K one.
In any case, I'll be taking a break from this story after this chapter so I can put my focus elsewhere for a while.
Anyway, Gladsome Praetorian was the only Beta Reader this time.
BlazBlue is owned by Arc System Works and RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Please support the official release.
Chapter 28: Quelling the Chaos
Rachel sighed to herself as she closed her eyes and sat alone on Nago's chair form in the rose filled gardens of her castle after what had been a rather boring day for her. She'd read her books, she'd attempted to track down Terumi and his acquaintances wherever they lied, she tried getting in touch with Kokonoe again regarding 'Lambda' or if she knew the whereabouts of their old foe.
Of those three things, only the first was of any success while the other two went nowhere. Tracking the monster down proved as strenuous as ever and Kokonoe was just as unwilling to cooperate or elaborate on anything as she was previously. Even that overgrown red cyborg and woman whose idea of bottom-wear was borderline nonexistent refused to elaborate on anything their immediate and only superior knew, though she supposed she made the mistake of assuming that they knew much of what went on in Kokonoe's head to begin with.
About the only other thing that happened today that wasn't a waste was that she'd recently met with Jubei and saw that he now had a new protégé, a blonde-haired girl who now wielded the Muchourin. If nothing else, at least another Nox Nyctores was now in their possession and away from their enemies.
Interrupting her rest, though certainly not in an annoying manner, was the sound of footsteps from behind her. She turned within her seat and saw her butler, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, dressed in his usual gentleman's suit with gold trim, gold vest, and black steel-toed shoes. In his hands was a tray with both a warm Meissen teapot and teacup, both of which featured a rose design.
"Forgive me for interrupting your rest Madame Rachel," he said, conveying warmth and respect in his elderly tone, "But I believe you requested tea on this fine evening."
Rachel gave a polite nod, "Of course. You have my thanks, Valkenhayn."
She watched as he placed the tray on the table in front of her and poured her a cup of tea before adding a single lump of sugar. She kindly took the cup from him and had a small sip. Neither too hot nor too cold, and delectably sweet. Just as she enjoyed it.
"An impeccable job as always, Valkenhayn," Rachel complemented.
In response, he gave a bow and said, "I'm pleased that you're pleased, Madame."
She gave a short nod of thanks before returning to her tea...
Ragna! Stop!
We need to get out of here!
What was that thing he just blasted out!?
Don't know, but we need to get to higher ground!
…until she found herself bombarded by an overwhelming force of power. One carrying overwhelming anger and hatred. She dropped her teacup, which shattered on impact with the floor, spilling its contents all over the ground.
But she didn't even think of that as the world around her became muffled noise; the wind, Nago, Gii, and Valkenhayn's cries of concern, they all just washed over her as her eyes clamped shut. All she could hear were the cries of panic and terror from children as the wrathful force of might screamed out. She could hear it echoing across her entire realm as if it shook her home to the foundation.
But only she could hear it. Only she could feel it.
What is this!? Rachel screamed in her mind as she clutched at her skull to mitigate the pain, This power feels...it feels so familiar! What is it!?
And then within the darkness of her mind, the force took shape. She saw Jubei's protégé, Ragna, coated with a blackened aura as he lashed out at all around him like a savage animal.
But then she saw a shadow behind him. It wasn't a human shadow. It was something far, far worse.
Something she hoped she would never have to see again in her lifetime.
"Madam Rachel!"
As the screaming slowly started to die down, though never fading away, Rachel opened her eyes and saw Valkenhayn, Nago, and Gii, all looking at her with great worry.
"Are you alright my lady?" Gii asked.
"What in the name of all the gods happened?" Nago followed suit.
While Rachel wanted to answer their concerns, she was still overwhelmed by what she had just sensed. What she had just seen.
"It...it can't be..." Rachel said as she looked down at her hands.
She was trembling. For the first time in the longest time, she was truly terrified.
"It mustn't be..."
"Madam Rachel," Valkenhayn's voice drew her attention back to those around her. She looked back to her family butler as he continued, "What did you see?"
Rachel did everything to calm herself down, taking slow, deep breaths until she had regained her normal composure.
"Valkenhayn," she began, "I need you to bring Ozma here. It is of utmost urgency that I inform him of this."
He gave her a determined nod, "At once Madam Rachel," he said as he stood up, "But may I ask what this urgency is?"
Rachel gave him a haunted look, unsure of how to truly describe what she just sensed. Nonetheless, Ozma needed to know.
"One that even alone could very well herald the destruction of all life on Remnant," she said, "Now bring him here as swiftly as you can."
Ruby felt like her lungs and legs were on fire as she ran to the source of the commotion as fast as she was able to. She used her Semblance whenever possible but could only manage for short bursts at a time. She briefly stopped to catch her breath when she heard even more explosions and saw Bullheads flying towards the source.
After seeing them, she felt like running as she was did nothing but waste time, so she improvised. She vaulted to the top of one of the buildings and got a better glimpse of what was happening over there through the scope of Crescent Rose. From afar, she saw one of the Bullheads crash in blazing explosion, though from what, she couldn't tell, in large part due to the darkness of night, and another drop several people garbed in black and white. Ruby felt her heart drop when she saw those people, as she recognized the masks they wore and had seen them on the news.
"The White Fang," Ruby whispered to herself. Not wasting anymore time, she shifted Crescent Rose to its scythe form and proceeded to leap from building to building trying to get close.
As she neared, however...
BOOOOOOOM!
Another massive explosion occurred, this one far bigger than any of the previous ones. Seeing this, she ignored her exhaustion to the best of her abilities and ran as fast as she could across the rooftops, leaping the distances between the buildings before she finally arrived at the source.
Ruby gaped in shock at what she was witnessing. The entire site was in flames. Cargo freighters were destroyed beyond recognition, and she could have sworn she saw bodies lying on the floor. Scared, she jumped off the roof she was on to get close and inspect.
She ran up to the nearest body and stopped as she recognized the uniform. It was a White Fang soldier, but his uniform was in tatters and he looked like a shriveled husk of a man, as all the life had been sucked out of him. It reminded her of...
No, Ruby thought, He wouldn't. I know he wouldn't.
"RAGNA!" Ruby called out, hoping her friend was nearby. Instead of being met with her friend calling back, she was met with a growl from behind her.
She nervously turned and saw the source. Out of the flames walked the growling figure, one that she couldn't make out as the light of the flames blinded her from seeing who it was, but she saw the blade in the figure's right hand, and recognized who it was from that alone.
"Ragna!" she said with happiness as she ran to get close, but that happiness died down as she saw Ragna fully.
His entire face was consumed by pure wrath. His clothes had several holes in them, as if he'd just taken a beating of some kind, yet he showed no sign of injury. Instead of speaking, he snarled and growled like a rabid dog. To make matters worse, his entire body was wreathed in a dark aura and Aramasa flashed scarlet.
Is that...is that his Semblance? Ruby thought in complete shock. The dark aura surrounding him like it did during his sparring fights and when they fought that odd monster gave the impression, but that couldn't have been it. She'd never seen or heard of anything like this before, and the sight left her terrified.
"R-Ragna, I-is that you?"
Upon Ruby's nervous question, Ragna roared and charged right at her, blade in hand as if he was going to take her life. Ruby just stood there, unable to comprehend or understand what was going on.
"RUBY!" another voice chimed in as Ruby found herself pushed out of Ragna's warpath and carried to the top of one of the buildings.
As soon as she was put down, Ruby saw that her savior was Blake, and she also saw that the rest of Team BRNN and a girl in a green hoodie were here as well.
"Blake, Makoto, you guys are alright!" Ruby exclaimed as she pulled them both in for a hug, which they returned.
As soon as she retracted, she asked, "What's going on? What happened to Ragna?"
"We don't know!" Makoto exclaimed, "It happened after that one psycho chick stabbed him in the back and now he's gone mental!"
"Wait, WHAT!?" Ruby cried out, shocked and concerned about what she'd heard just happened.
"Yeah, and now he's full-blown insane!" Nora yelled, looking scared out of her wits.
Another loud roar was heard and Ruby looked over the edge to see Ragna launch a shadowy wave at another corner of the docks, completely destroying whatever got in its way.
D-did that dark wave have a face! Ruby could have sworn she saw crimson, pupil-less eyes and snarling, jagged teeth on that last attack.
Ruby had to do something to stop this, but trying to fight Ragna directly wouldn't end well for her. He was already much stronger than her on a normal day. A head-to-head fight like this would just get her killed.
But maybe...maybe I can try reasoning with him.
Now determined, Ruby jumped off the building, much to everyone's protest, and holstered Crescent Rose. She walked slowly to her friend and held her hands out, trying to seem as unthreatening as she could.
"R-Ragna, it's me," Ruby said as she neared, "Y-you remember me, right?"
That certainly got his attention, as his head snapped back before his whole body turned to face her. His face still contorted in pure rage. As Ruby got closer, she could see that the sclera of his right eye had turned pitch black while the red iris gave off a burning glow.
"Ragna, it's going to be okay. I'm not going to hurt you, just...calm down," Ruby said in an effort to sooth her friend. While he didn't seem to calm down, he made no move to attack. That seemed like a good sign in Ruby's eyes.
"You remember what you told me?" Ruby asked, her voice becoming more determined as she continued, "You told me, Noel, and Jaune to help you whenever you got like this. Remember?"
Ragna said nothing, but he tilted his head to the side. Ruby couldn't tell if it was in contemplation of something else.
"Hey, Ragna, remember how we got on the back of a giant Nevermore and road it during initiation?" Ruby asked, trying to see if she could jostle Ragna's memories to snap him out of it, "Or the time you cooked lunch for all of us and made Noel jealous of how good a cook you were?"
As she continued asking questions to bring Ragna back down to Remnant, he clutched his head, almost as if he was in pain from her words. Ruby wanted to stop for a second, but she pressed on.
I'm sorry Ragna, but if this will calm you down and bring you back to normal, please just bear with it for a little.
"Ragna, I know you're in there. This isn't the real you," Ruby said holding her hand out to her partner, thinking back to their time at Beacon. Sparing with him, seeing him open up and smile around them more, watching him and Jaune train, both of them giving Noel advice to boost her confidence, laughing when he lost at a video game to her as he took it in stride...well, after a few minutes of grumbling anyway.
"Please, come back to us." she begged, hoping that she was getting through to him.
As Ragna kept clutching his head in pain, Ruby felt a burning sensation in her eyes. From her perspective, it was like a white light was enveloping the corners of her vision. It grew to the point where she couldn't handle it anymore and her right arm rubbed away at her eyes in an effort to stop the burning sensation that was overwhelming her.
Suddenly, it stopped. The sensation was gone, and Ragna's growling had ceased. Instead, she heard the sound of groaning and a sword clattering on the ground.
She moved her right arm away from her eyes and saw Ragna on his knees, rubbing his head in a manner similar to how Qrow did after a bad hangover. The dark aura was gone, his sword lying flat on the floor without its ominous glow. As he looked up, she gazed into his eyes and saw that his right eye had returned to normal as well.
"Ruby?" Ragna asked. Rather than respond, Ruby felt joy overwhelm her as she rushed forward and gave him the biggest, strongest hug she could muster.
"YOU'RE BACK!" Ruby exclaimed as laughter escaped from her lips.
"Okay, what just happened?" he asked, sounding confused as Ruby released him from the hug.
"Wait, you don't remember?" Ruby heard Ren's voice ask as she turned and saw Team BRNN approach them.
"No," Ragna answered, "The last thing I remember was seeing Roman make a break for it, then I just felt this pain in my chest. After that, I'm suddenly getting hugged by Ruby and the docks are on fire for some reason."
"Wait, you guys were fighting Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asked. She remembered her first encounter with that man many months ago when he tried to rob the Dust shop she was at. It was what led to her getting to attend Beacon in the first place and it was a surprise for her to learn that her friends went out to fight him.
"You mean to tell me that you don't remember getting stabbed by that one psycho chick, shooting out a bunch of dark blasts all over the place, and going on a rampage that blew up the entire dock?" Nora asked, either not hearing or ignoring Ruby's question.
Ragna just shook his head as he stood up, looking around the place. Nearly the entire dock was either ablaze or in ruins. Ruby saw him gaze at the carnage he unintentionally caused before he looked at the corpses of the White Fang.
"I did this?" Ragna asked, his tone sounding despondent.
Ruby grabbed his arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "Ragna, it wasn't your fault," she said to him, conveying empathy to him, "You didn't have any control over what you were doing."
"GUYS, WE'RE HERE!" the familiar voice of Jaune called out.
Ruby turned and saw that Noel and Jaune had finally arrived, both of them running to them as fast as possible, though they also looked like they were running short on breath.
"Hey...guys...sorry...we're..." Noel panted out before she finally caught her breath and looked up, only to gasp in shock at the state of the docks.
"What on Remnant happened here?" Jaune asked, equally as shocked as his partner.
"It's a long story," Blake answered.
"You mean like the story of why you hid that you were a Faunus from us?" Nora asked as Ren facepalmed. Ruby felt shocked at the revelation.
"Wait, Blake's a Faunus?" Jaune asked.
Blake just leveled a small glare at Nora, who sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
"How did you guys figure that out anyway?" Makoto asked.
"Oh, we didn't," Nora answered, "But Penny knew and she told us by accident, right Penny?"
When no one answered, Nora started looking around and saw that whoever she was asking wasn't in the area.
"Wait," Ruby started, remembering the other girl who was with them, "You mean that girl in the green hoodie?"
Nora nodded and went on a long explanation of how Penny accidentally told her and Ren that Blake was a Faunus, how she agreed to help them find her and Makoto, how she fought alongside them using a bunch of floating swords and how she pulled down a Bullhead by herself. Ren even had to clarify that what Nora was saying was true when Ruby expressed disbelief at some of it, specifically the Bullhead part.
She would have liked to meet her, seeing as she helped them out. Maybe they could have been great friends, but it seemed like that wasn't meant to be.
Still, Ruby couldn't help but wonder where she ran off to.
Just as she thought things were winding down, the sound of approaching police sirens interrupted that as multiple police cars entered the scene.
"FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"
"Fan-fucking-tastic, now the cops decide to show up," Ragna grumbled as he raised his hands up. Ruby did the same, hoping that she'd get a chance to explain themselves for what happened.
"Really, that's it!?" Terumi exclaimed, frustrated at the lackluster conclusion to the chaos.
He'd been hoping that the guy in red with that fucker's face and sword would completely destroy the docks and kill off those pests. Would have made for some good turmoil he could use to break him and that miserable old cane carrying fuck later on.
But no. That silver-eyed bitch just had to waltz in and calm him down with the obnoxious power of friendship. And now the lost weapon was gone once again.
Granted, he supposed it wasn't a total loss for him. He now had his sights on two valuable assets that could be made use of later down the road, and now he knew that another silver-eyed warrior was present and available. He had many plans for what he could do to her, but he'd keep them benched until the time was right.
Before he turned to leave, he saw two more people enter the scene, both of them blonde. The scrawny boy didn't look like anything special, but the girl...
He couldn't tell if it was the light from the flames or the darkness of night or both at once, but that girl looked startlingly familiar. He just couldn't get a good enough view of her face to tell why though.
At this point, he sighed and decided that was enough for tonight. Roman and Neo turned tail and ran, the worthless mutts they fought alongside were mostly dead, all that was left was to meet up with the other three and give Roman his punishment for failure.
That thought made him smile. Nothing made him feel better more than seeing the agony in another man's eyes.
With a quick snap of his fingers, Phantom appeared behind him.
"Phantom, do take us to meet up with the others. We all have a business meeting to get to." he said as a sinister smile etched its way onto his face.
Penny ran down the street and entered the building where her and her father's apartment was. After seeing that girl, Ruby if she recalled correctly, solve the crisis with Ragna, she felt it best to get out of there and return home. She had used her abilities and didn't want to risk staying in the same spot for fear of discovery. That was the last thing she ever wanted to happen.
As she entered the hallway where her apartment room was, she slowed her run down to a simple walk and thought over everything that had happened. How she agreed to help Ren and Nora find their friends, how they saw the explosions and told her to remain there while they went to investigate, how she refused to listen and went to help, how she saw...
How she saw Ragna almost die...and how he went berserk after the fact.
It was all so much for her to process in conjunction with how she, for the first time since her escape, engaged in combat.
What if one of them witnessed it? Penny asked herself, Would they find me here?
She approached her apartment door and gave it a quick knock, hoping that her father was still awake. Another thing she was nervous about was if her actions would worry her father. He was the kindest, most loving person she had known in her life, but he always worried about her. She could understand why, but she didn't like it when he did so, if only because it added to the amount of stress he already had to go through.
The door opened and her father answered, eyes widening as he whispered her name in relief.
She was quick to envelop him in a gentle hug, which he warmly returned, to reassure him that she was okay, that nothing had happened to her.
As she exited the hug, she sheepishly looked to the floor and said, "I...I failed to procure our groceries. Sorry dad."
"Don't worry about it darling," he said happily with a tinge of exhaustion, "I'm just glad you're safe."
She nodded as she walked in, taking off her shoes and leaving them at the front carpet as her father closed the door behind them. She was unsure how to explain to her father the events that occurred today.
"Dad," she started as she faced her father, "Do you wish to know why I was late today?"
"I would, but if you don't want to tell me, it's alright then," he said, "I don't want to force the issue."
Penny gave a thankful nod, "Thank you father, but I feel like you should know what happened. It's...it's rather important."
After a quick sigh, she sat down on the couch as her father neared her, "I...there was a commotion at the docks. I saw people that I consider friends in danger and...and I partially activated to fight the aggressors."
There was silence for several moments. Penny looked to the floor, not sure how her father reacted, as he made no noise at all in that brief time. Eventually, he rested a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up.
"Penny, it's okay," he said, "I understand. Your heart was in the right place."
Penny gave her father a quick hug and said, "I'm sorry if I worried you. I know you are already under enough worry as we are now."
"And while I'm glad you followed your heart and helped your friends," he said as she retracted, but remained close, "I can't help but be concerned that it may have drawn the wrong kind of attention."
Penny gave a short nod, "That's what I'm worried about as well, but I was wearing my hood the entire time, and no one saw me summon my blades. I think if I become discovered and questioned, I could try to play it off as me having a Semblance that allows me to levitate swords."
Her father frowned, not seeming convinced, "It could work, but I don't think that'll fool everyone. Especially who we're hoping to fool."
While Penny agreed with her father on that, especially since it had its own holes and was a rather flimsy excuse, it was the best way she could spin up a story if questioned about her abilities. If there was another alibi she could come up with, she needed a lot more time.
Just as Penny opened her mouth to speak, her father began coughing. It wasn't a small cough either and went on for several seconds. Getting worried, Penny rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She also searched and found the container for her father's medicine.
Her father took the pill and drank the water, but he didn't completely stop coughing for a good few seconds. When that was done, he looked better, but tired. It could have been because the medicine typically induced drowsiness as per its description, but Penny was certain that it was more so because his previous worrying for the past few hours exhausted him.
"We should get you to bed," she suggested. It took some convincing, but her father reluctantly agreed to get some rest.
She took the rear handles of her father's chair and helped roll him to his bedroom. As Penny walked him in, she took in the sight of her father's cluttered desk; research notes on Aura and various theories scattered around. Even though he had left that life behind to keep her safe, he was still a scientist at heart.
After stopping his wheelchair at the side of his bed, she carried him out of it and laid him down before draping the blanket over his body as he gave a loud yawn.
After a brief, tired chuckle, he said, "Huh, I'm supposed to be taking care of you, but here you are, taking care of me."
Penny smiled, "I would like to think we take care of each other," she then gave her father as gentle a hug as she could, "Good night, dad," she whispered before she turned to leave and rest herself, giving another wave goodnight as she closed the door, leaving it open only a small crack.
"Thanks for helping us back there, Professor Ozpin," Ruby said, grateful to Beacon's Headmaster for clearing things up back at the police station.
After the police took them in, they were all questioned in regards to what happened, some of them even sounded accusatory. She remembered hearing Blake and Makoto bringing up that the White Fang were launching an assault on the docks and that they were trying to stop them, which was true, but the police at the time either were unsure on their story, or in one jerk's case, distrusted them solely because Makoto was a Faunus.
Thankfully, one of the cops called in Professor Ozpin and he helped clear things up with them. Further helped by them finding the...the corpses of the White Fang that Ragna killed during his rampage, which did lend credence to their story.
Still, he told them that while things were cleared up with the police, he wanted all of them in his office when they got back to Beacon for further questioning. Ruby was certain that they were still in trouble, but it was better than being thrown into jail.
"It's no problem Miss Rose," Ozpin said with a smile as they exited the Bullhead and he started leading them, "Just don't make it a habit for us to meet in interrogation rooms late at night."
All Ruby could do was rub the back of her head as her face heated up from embarrassment. She and the rest of her team, as well as Team BRNN, continued following Ozpin to his office. However...
"Ruby!"
Her sister's voice called out to her and as soon as she turned, she found herself enveloped in a worried hug.
"Are you okay?" she asked frantically, "We just heard what happened."
"Don't worry Yang. I'm fine," Ruby replied as she returned the hug before her sister let her go. From the corner of her eye, she saw Weiss giving a passive glare at them with her arms crossed, Tsubaki hug Noel and Makoto while Blake looked down and rubbed her arm.
She probably feels responsible for us getting into trouble like this, Ruby thought as she saw the guilt-ridden expression on Blake's face. Before she could think too much on it, Pyrrha also walked up to her and Yang and gave her a quick hug.
"You alright, Ruby?" she asked, voice filled with concern.
Ruby simply nodded in response. Like she told Yang, she was fine. The only thing that bugged her was...well, whatever happened with Ragna earlier. It wasn't just Ragna going on an unexplained rampage like that, it was also that odd feeling of pain she felt in her eyes when she tried to calm him down. She didn't know what that was or how to explain it, nor could she remember a time in her life where that had happened before.
"So, do you people want to explain just what you were doing out there?" Weiss asked, interrupting Ruby's musings, "Seriously, what were you thi-"
"Can it, snow bitch," Ragna bluntly said, drawing Weiss' ire, "If you're looking to point fingers at someone, you can blame me."
Huh!? Ruby thought, and it looked like she wasn't the only one, as Jaune, Noel, and Team BRNN, particularly Blake and Makoto, looked at him with shock and confusion.
"I snuck out when I heard that there was some trouble in Vale and wanted to fight it," Ragna lied, "Everyone else had to come bail me out."
"No, wait," Blake began, but Ragna sent her a withering glare that seemed to silence her. Why was Ragna so insistent on taking the blame? He was following Blake and Makoto, and they in turn followed after them as well.
"Ragna," Tsubaki said as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why do you insist on being such a troublemaker?"
"Tch, none of your business why I do what I do," he replied as he turned away and kept walking past everyone, including the professor, who seemed rather perplexed by his words.
"Well, if you're going to pull stunts like this, then the least you could do is not drag everyone else down with you when they happen," Weiss said as she glared daggers at Ragna, "You put your entire team at risk with that stunt."
"I'll keep that in mind," and with his last statement, Ragna just kept walking away.
"Regardless, I believe we were on our way to my office for further questioning?" Ozpin said, drawing all their attention.
He continued leading them away, this time with Ragna far in front, and gave both a goodnight and a solemn apology to Team TSYP for the late-night disturbance. As Ruby waved goodnight to them and walked with both her team and Blake's, she couldn't help but be troubled by Ragna just...shouldering all the blame. It legitimately wasn't his fault, so why would he blame himself like that?
"Welcome to the height of Beacon's tower," Ozpin said to his students as he sat in his desk, "For those who are just now visiting," he nodded to Ruby, Jaune, Noel, and Team BRNN, all of whom seemed in awe of the room's intricate design and the height they were up, "And those returning," he gestured to Ragna, who simply stood there apathetically as he crossed his arms.
"So, would anyone care to explain what happened at the docks?" he asked as he folded his hands in front of him.
Miss Belladonna opened her mouth to speak, but Ragna beat her to the punch, "Already told you, I went out and everyone else had to bail me out. Can you just let everyone else run off?"
Ozpin gave a smile, "Mister Ragna, while it is admirable that you're willing to shoulder all of the blame for this, might I recommend learning how to lie? You're not very good at it," he then looked back to the cat Faunus in hiding, "Miss Belladonna, I believe you were about to speak?"
She hesitated at first, but she found her voice and spoke, "I...I overheard that the White Fang were robbing Dust stores in Vale. I felt I needed to do something to stop them. Makoto tagged along, then Ragna followed us, and that just led to everyone else following after me. If there's anyone to blame for what happened today, it's me."
"Blake, that's horseshit," Miss Nanaya said, "If anyone's to blame it's Torchwick, the White Fang, and that psycho chick."
"But it's my fault that the White Fang are the way they are now, it's-"
"Blake, that's enough of the self-blame," Makoto interrupted before grabbing Blake's shoulders and looking her square in the eye, "Look, none of that was your fault. Could you have stood up then and fought back? Maybe, but I get the feeling it would have been a short fight, and not a good one for you. You did the only thing you could do at the time, and you went out of your way to try an stop an operation of theirs when you could have just stayed hidden."
"Hold up, hold up," Miss Valkyrie stepped in, "What are you guys talking about?"
"It's...a long story," Blake said, "I'll explain it when we get back to our room."
"Speaking of," Ozpin said, gathering everyone's attention, "While I cannot publicly condone your actions, and while I am glad to see students being more proactive when it comes to the work that we Huntsmen must do, might I strongly suggest that if you ever plan on doing this a second or even third time for whatever reason, that you try to keep collateral damage to a minimum?"
With exception to Ragna, they all had a flustered nod at his request. Ozpin had no doubt that they would likely try this again in their time here, and since he had no interest in preventing them from writing wrongs where they saw them, the most he would do was try to get them to mitigate the damage their efforts may end up causing. The last thing he wanted was for any of them to get killed in their efforts and advising them to exercise caution could go a long way.
That and if he were honest with himself, he'd also rather avoid any nightmarishly large amounts of paperwork as a byproduct of it all.
"For now, I think it would be best that you all get some rest after such a long day and that I let you off with a warning," he explained to the exhausted students in front of him, "However, do not let me catch you doing this again, understood?"
All of them nodded in understanding, with the two teams turning to leave.
"Hold up, Mister Ragna," Ozpin said to prevent the eldest student from leaving, "Rest assured, you aren't in trouble, I just have something I want to ask you."
The white-haired swordsman turned to his teammates and gave a short nod before turning back to him as everyone else left. Rather than continue standing, he pulled out one of the chairs in the corner and took a seat right in front of the desk.
"Okay old timer, what is it?"
Ozpin pulled out his scroll and activated its holo-feature, showing images of what the police showed him back at the precinct. Specifically, the bodies of the White Fang soldiers that were found on the scene.
"Forgive me if I come across as too upfront or blunt in this instance, but when I was conversing with the police and convinced them to show me what was found in the aftermath of what occurred, what caught my eye most were these," he explained as he scrolled through the various images, all of which seemed to get a reaction out of Ragna, one that looked reminiscent of how he appeared when he was first brought to his office months back.
"According to the police files, they wrote off the cause of death as being burned alive, mainly due to the large amount of fires caused by the conflict, but I think we both know that isn't the case," Ozpin then leaned in, "So may I hear what happened?"
Ragna remained silent. Ozpin mentally sighed and continued.
"Like I said, you aren't in trouble here. Having to use your Semblance, even one as...unique as yours, in self-defense is perfectly accepta-"
"That's just it," he spoke up as he looked him in the eyes, "I don't even know what happened."
That made Ozpin curious, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that the last thing I remember was getting stabbed by some crazy bitch with brown and pink hair in the back. Next thing I know, I wake up, Ruby's crushing me in a hug, and everything's on fire."
He looked down again, "All I know is I caused all that shit. According to everyone else, I went on some kind of out-of-control onslaught after I got shanked and laid waste to the rest of the White Fang there. Don't even know how or why."
Ozpin mused to himself, thinking over what he'd just been told. That was something he couldn't remember encountering before. Ragna's rampage occurred after he was lethally impaled, and from the looks of the bodies, he'd used his Semblance on them. But that didn't add up. Semblance could only be used with Aura, and for Ragna to have been wounded in such a way, he couldn't have had any to draw upon. Yet if he was injured to such a degree, he'd show visible sign of it even now. But aside from the tears in his clothes, he showed no sign of injury. If anything, inability to remember the events aside, he looked to be in perfect health.
Just what happened back there? Ozpin thought. He needed to figure that out, and soon.
Ozpin stood up, "Thank you for answering, Ragna," he said, "You are dismissed."
As Ragna walked out, Ozpin turned in his seat to face outside the window at Remnant's broken moon. As he mused, he thought that, looking back, he probably shouldn't have dismissed the rest of Team RNJR and Team BRNN so early. Considering they were witnesses to Ragna's sudden fury, they could have helped paint a clearer picture on what happened back there. Either way, he had no intention of calling them back in just so he could get answers. After a long day, they all needed rest.
In the reflection of his window, he saw a portal open behind him. Normally, he would expect Rachel to appear, but instead, another figure came out of the scarlet hued vortex, one that was admittedly a more welcome sight than his master.
Ozpin turned and got out of his chair to face his old friend, "Valkenhayn," he said as he walked around to warmly greet him, holding out his hand as he approached, "It's been quite some time."
The suited, lupine Faunus gladly returned the gesture with a firm handshake, "It's good to see you as well, old friend."
As Ozpin pulled away from the handshake, he noticed that the portal had yet to vanish.
Interesting, he thought before speaking, "So, why have you decided to stop by? Surely not to catch up on old times."
"Actually, Madam Rachel sent me to bring you to the castle for a moment," the Alucard butler said before he stepped aside and gestured to the portal, "I'm afraid it's rather urgent."
"It must be if Rachel is bringing this directly to her home," Ozpin mused before he turned to Valkenhayn, "Very well, lead the way. We'll see what's troubling her."
Valkenhayn gave a nod and led the way through the portal, with Ozpin following as the vortex to both his office and Remnant closed behind him.
It's certainly been some time since I walked through the halls of this place, the headmaster of Beacon thought to himself as he took in the sights of Rachel's castle. They walked through the halls as the scarlet, unbroken moon of the realm shined through the windows. From what he recollected of his last visit, he was being led to the rose gardens.
No surprise there, Ozpin smiled at the thought, given Rachel's love for the flower, Nice to see that some things may never truly change as time passes.
Even the castle itself didn't seem to have changed that much since his last visit, or the visit before that, or even the visit before that. One thing Ozpin knew for certain about Rachel was how much she loved her father, the late Clavis Alucard, and that love seemed to extend towards preserving her home as it was when he walked its halls.
Valkenhayn stopped as they entered the gardens and stood to the side, giving him a bow, "I shall leave you two alone. She wishes to speak privately," he said before he walked away back into the castle.
Ozpin walked up to take a seat in front of the Alucard clan head. Approaching, something bothered him about Rachel. Despite appearing the same, there was a look in her eyes that showed something else. Something he just wasn't used to seeing in Rachel.
Fear, trepidation, and anxiety. All of these were in her eyes for moments, yet that was enough for Ozpin to understand that something was very wrong.
"Take a seat, Ozma," she said, referring to him by his true name, confirming his suspicions, "What is to be discussed here is of utmost importance."
As Ozpin took his seat, he asked, "It must be if you're bringing me here directly. What happened?"
"Ozma," she started, "Before I tell you, you must understand that what I am about to tell you here must not leave this place. Only the two of us can know, for I fear how the others will react to this knowledge," she took a short sip of her tea before staring down at the contents of the cup, "I fear that how they react may be worse than if they were to learn the truth regarding Salem, or even the truth regarding you."
Ozpin felt his anxiety grow as he remained outwardly calm. Rachel was deathly serious as she spoke, far more than he'd seen or heard in a long time. If what she said was true, and it was in all likelihood, he wouldn't take it lightly.
"You have my word that what is to be said will not leave this castle," Ozpin promised, "Now, what happened?"
"So..." Nora said as she sat on her bed, "You used to be one of the White Fang before you ran off?"
Blake sat silently on her bed as she nodded. After they all got back to their room, Blake took the time to explain what she'd told Makoto this morning. She explained her past in the White Fang, the escalating acts of violence, and how she left them to go into hiding.
"Yeah," she said with guilt and shame in her voice, "I couldn't risk telling anyone. I didn't know how they'd react."
"Well, you finally told us," Nora said as she stood up, "And I say that if anyone tries anything, doesn't matter if they're White Fang after your head, racist assholes, or just vanilla assholes, then we'll break their legs, and this time I mean it."
Ren nodded as he stood beside his partner, "In all honesty, it doesn't matter to us where you came from or what you did beforehand. You're still our friend and leader, Blake. Nothing is going to change that."
Blake smiled at his words and Nora's vigorous nodding, feeling her face heat up as Makoto gave her a one-armed hug from the side.
"See?" she said, "You didn't have to worry about how the rest of the team would react."
"Guess you were right on that one," Blake admitted before she turned to Nora and Ren, "But could you promise to keep this in the team and no one else?"
Nora stood on her bed and placed a hand to her heart, "Blake, you have my solemn vow that I, Nora Hammersmith Valkyrie, will not tell another soul outside of those in this room right now."
Well, that's a step up from Nora Asskicking Valkyrie, admittedly, Blake thought as Nora changed her middle name again.
Ren muttered something about 'fourth middle name this week' before he nodded along, nonverbally promising that he'd help maintain her secret as well.
Blake yelped as Makoto then pulled all of them into a large group hug and lifted them off the ground with impressive strength.
"Aw yeah! Look out Beacon, cause Team BRNN's now bigger and better than ever!" she exclaimed as she released them from the hug. Impressively, Blake didn't feel out of breath from the amount of strength Makoto put into the hug. Perhaps she was adjusting to it?
"To commemorate the occasion, I've been working on some 'bestest friend' bracelets for each of us," Nora said, "Is what I would say if I actually did that, but I haven't started yet. I'll get to work on it right-"
Before she could continue any further, Nora fell flat to the floor, the sound of snoring emanating through the carpet.
"I think for now we should get some sleep," Ren said as he picked up his partner and placed her on her bed, "At this point, I'm exhausted."
Blake tried to suppress the urge to yawn but found that she couldn't and let one out. Next to her, Makoto did the same.
"Yesh..." the squirrel Faunus said through her yawn as she flopped onto her bed, "Imma go get shome zeez..."
Blake waved goodnight to her team despite Ren likely being the only one awake enough to wave back and flopped onto her bed as well, feeling lighter than she ever felt in a long time.
After Ruby had changed into her pajamas, she laid down on her bed, though less from exhaustion and more from being lost in thought. The events of the past few hours kept replaying in her mind. No matter how much she thought about them, she always jumped back to one thing; that pain she felt in her eyes.
It didn't feel like some form of standard eye discomfort, it felt more like something inside her was trying to burst out, but what that was she just couldn't understand.
The light that started to form around her field of vision also drew her attention. Back then, she thought it was a shining white, but upon further introspection, it didn't seem that way. If anything, the more she thought about it, the light looked less white and more...silver. Just like her eyes.
"Hey, Ruby, what are you thinking about?" Noel's voice shook her out of her thoughts as she turned to face her shy teammate, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed and looking at her.
"Nothing Noel," Ruby said quietly, "Guess my mind's still on all that crazy stuff that happened back at the docks."
Noel nodded as she looked down, "Hard to believe what happened actually happened. I can't imagine how Ragna's feeling about it."
Ruby remained silent. She tried talking to Ragna about that, specifically when he came here to change into a new set of clothes, but he refused to talk about it, and no amount of pleading moved him.
As she thought, the bathroom door opened, revealing Jaune Arc walking out in his onesie while still brushing his teeth.
"Whash up guyshh?" he asked, mouth still full of toothpaste, "Shhoming wrong?"
"It's nothing, Jaune," Ruby said as she got off her bed and walked to the window, "I'm gonna say goodnight to Ragna. You guys get some rest."
She opened the window and jumped out just as she heard Noel and Jaune say goodnight, landing on the grassy ground as she walked to Ragna's sleeping form, or rather, what looked like his sleeping form.
As Ruby got close, she crossed her arms, "Trouble sleeping, Ragna?" she asked.
"Tch, that obvious, huh?" Ragna snorted, not bothering to open his eyes as he spoke.
Ruby hummed as she took a seat next to him, deciding to just enjoy the quiet for a change. She let it all wash over her; the chirping crickets, the gentle rustle of wind, the calming light of the broken moon. It all reminded her of the camping trips she used to take with her dad back when she was a kid.
It was...nice. Peaceful. She could see why Ragna liked sleeping out here so much.
"Hey, Ragna, I have something to ask you," Ruby said.
"If it's about what happened back at the docks, then like I said, no fucking clue why I went batshit nuts." he responded, once more refusing to even open his eyes.
"It's not about that," Ruby retorted with some annoyance in her voice, "Well, not entirely anyway."
Ragna simply grunted, "Ask away then kid. Doesn't guarantee that I'll give you an answer though."
Ruby closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened them once more, and asked, "Why did you try to take the blame for the whole thing?"
That actually got Ragna to open one eye. A deep green eye looked right into her silver ones, processing her question.
"Come again?"
"For the whole thing with the docks, you tried to take the blame for Blake and Makoto," Ruby elaborated on her question, "Why would you do that?"
Ragna went silent again, this time opening both eyes and staring at her with full attention.
"Look kid, like it or not, it kinda is my fault," he said as he sat up, "Whatever happened, I just started going wild and destroying everything. Don't know how, don't know why, but I did, and I gotta own up to that."
"Ragna, you weren't in control of yourself."
"Doesn't matter. Still did it."
Ruby just sighed as she hugged her knees and looked away from her partner, though her attention was still on him as he spoke.
"As for why else, well, you know me at this point. I'm pretty much the asshole who gets into trouble. So why not take the fall? If it means you guys get off Scott free, all the better."
"Ragna, you can't be serious," Ruby said as she stood up, "What if the consequences are more than you can handle? What if you get expelled or arrested and there's nothing we can do?"
"Then I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." he replied dismissively.
"No, I'm putting my foot down," Ruby crossed her arms, "If this happens again, and I get the feeling that it will, then you let all of us take the fall with you. No ifs, no ands, and no buts about it. Promise?"
She gave him a look that made it clear that she wouldn't tolerate him refusing to comply, but she also did her best to convey that she was hoping he'd understand and accept. They remained like this for a few more seconds before Ragna gave a small, but noticeable nod.
"Thank you," Ruby said as she turned back to the open window and walked away from her partner.
Before she entered, she turned back to him and continued, "Ragna, I just don't want to see you take more than you can handle. We're supposed to look out for each other, so please, just let the rest of us share a burden every now and then. Good night."
She then burst upward in a flurry of petals and entered the room before closing the window. She looked around and saw that Noel and Jaune were already asleep. Smiling, she climbed into her bed and proceeded to doze off, the events of the day finally catching up to her.
Ragna looked on from where Ruby left, the rose petals fading away. He thought back to what she requested of him, to let the others take the same fall he intended to take should they get into trouble again.
He knew the consequences would be pretty significant if this happened again, but if they all took the fall, what would happen to them?
For all he knew, they could all get expelled at bare minimum. Both Ruby and Jaune clearly wanted to become Huntsmen for their own reasons. In Ruby's case, to help people. In Jaune's case, to live up to his family legacy. While Noel never told him her reasons for wanting to become a Huntress, she was a kind, loving person who, despite her issues, wanted to help as much as Ruby did.
Getting expelled because of something like this would crush those dreams.
But him? If he suffered those consequences, so what? He could just opt to go back to what he wanted to do prior to his master sending him here; become a bounty hunter. Unlike them, he didn't have anything to lose from shouldering the blame if it came to that. His siblings were elsewhere living their lives without worry, so unlike his friends, he had no family to disappoint. No legacy to live up to. Nothing to lose from falling on that grenade.
If it came down to it, it was better that way.
"Sorry Ruby," Ragna muttered to himself, "But that's one promise I'm gonna have to break."
Okay, so now we finally finished the V1 section of the plot.
Like I said before, I basically had to find a stopping point for the last chapter because it was getting far too long and it necessitated a split for the V1 finale into two chapters.
For those asking, yes, the pain Ruby was feeling in her eyes was her silver eyes going active. They didn't activate all the way though and so they aren't actually put to use here. That'll be for much later.
We have another scene with Penny and her father, and while I established it earlier, this is more overt with showing that Pietro is in rather poor physical health. You can blame two things on it: Escaping from the facility, which led to the loss of the ability to use his legs in this story, and the constant stress of looking over your shoulder wondering if one of your former employers will try to kill you off for, in their eyes, 'stealing the weapon', as they would put it.
And so we also have Rachel sensing Ragna's rampage and it genuinely frightening her. More on that later, but I'll say now that I do want Ragna and Rachel to finally meet in the V2 section of the story, same goes with her meeting Ruby as well. Better get to work on practicing my snark.
I'm also kinda excited on getting to write Penny and Noel's first meeting when it happens in the V2 area.
Needed some help from Gladsome with writing Jaune talking with toothpaste in his mouth. Had no idea how to write for that since I didn't know what the dialogue would read as.
Also, Ragna's "His siblings were elsewhere living their lives without worry" thought in his POV...I feel like a cruel asshole for that one.
Also got to give minor hinting to other characters existences here. For starters, in Rachel's POV, I made reference to three; Tager, Bullet, and Platinum.
Unlike canon, where Bullet joined up with Sector Seven after the events of Central Fiction, she's already part of them and working with Tager and Kokonoe. As for why, I'll just say that her unit's encounter with a certain Angel of Death went differently this time.
Now, I'll say that Platinum's backstory is rather altered a lot due to me being not too familiar with the prequel novels that explained away Bell and her whole deal with Trinity and Platinum, so things aren't the same here. I'll leave it at that.
Still hoping that someone likes this story enough to make a tropes page for it. It still hasn't happened yet, but hey, a man can dream.
Now, seeing as this is the end of the V1 portion, I'll be taking a break from this story to try and focus more on my other story, The Silver Raven, seeing as I haven't worked on it in a while and would like to continue it. I'll see you guys next time. When that next time is? Don't know, but hopefully it won't be too long...hopefully.
And, just like Chapter 10, time for an epilogue.
Damn those annoying kids, and damn that monster, Roman cursed to himself as he applied medical gauze to the wounds on Neo's right arm as she kept her sleeve rolled up.
They'd managed to get away from whatever that thing was and hid in one of their old warehouses, leaving the rest of the mutts to cover their escape, by which Roman actually meant that they left them to die and keep that freak of nature away from them.
Either way, he and Neo survived, as they always did.
He'd already finished patching up Neo's other wounds, and he found it disturbing how she still had this many cuts and bruises even after her Aura came back. He was no expert on it, but he was sure that her Aura should have patched up these kind of injuries by now.
Unless the damage really was that extensive.
"Neo, any idea what that freak was?" Roman asked, hoping his partner in crime had more answers than he had.
Instead, he was met with her shaking her head and a faraway expression. Clearly, she was still terrified or what that bastard did to her.
"Neo, look," Roman got her attention, "I have no fucking clue what that was, but whatever happened is in the past now, right? We survived it, so we just gotta avoid it next time we see it," he then put both hands on her shoulders and gently said, "Okay?"
Neo still looked afraid but gave him a small smile and a thumbs up. If nothing else, she seemed to be getting better.
"Well that was a disappointment," an all too familiar, seductive voice said from the darkness of the warehouse.
Oh shit, not them, Roman hesitantly turned around to face Cinder, who hid in the shadows as an open flame in her palm illuminated the dark to reveal her face. Her amber eyes having a glint of condescension as a mocking grin adorned her face. He could spot some movement in the shadows beside her as well.
"You know, for a supposed 'big time' crook, it's funny how you can't handle a bunch of kids half your age," another mocking, male voice insulted from Cinder's right. Roman didn't need to think to know who that was.
Okay Mercury, that's it! Now thoroughly sick of the insults, Roman started stomping towards the three and yelled back, "Okay, first off, you were the ones who wanted me to work with those useless animals in the White Fang! Second off, tell me how in the name of the gods I was supposed to expect one of those brats to start smashing and ruining the dock like that!?"
"Simple, you couldn't have. That's what made your failure all the more hilarious."
Upon hearing the cocky, almost trolling voice come from behind him, Roman only had one thought.
Oh no.
Suddenly, he found himself ensnared and lifted off the ground by an ethereal black snake with a green hue. The serpent-like chain coiled around his neck before he was forcibly turned around to face its wielder.
Once again, he was face-to-face with that smug, condescending, fedora wearing, green-haired jackass, who gave him a malicious and cruel look. Roman winced in pain as the serpent-chain tightened its grip on him, its owner letting out a chuckle.
Now that he was turned around, he saw that Neo wasn't where she originally was. Before he could question it alongside dealing with the pain Hazama was putting him through, the green-haired bastard suddenly reached to his right and the image of shattering glass appeared as he lifted Neo by her neck. She winced in pain as she dropped Hush to the floor. It's clattering echoing throughout the warehouse.
"Let...her...go!" Roman rasped out as the coil tightened.
Hazama clicked his tongue as Cinder and her two associates, Emerald and Mercury, stood beside him, "Now now, no need to be such whiner. We have some business to discuss after all. Granted, we already know a good deal of this shit, but it doesn't hurt to hear your side of this sad, pathetic sob story."
Hazama then pulled him in close, making look into his sinister, snake-like eyes.
"So Roman," he said with a smile that bared his teeth, "Tell us everything that happened."
Volume 1: END
And now we're finally done with V1. Thanks for reading along so far. I'll see you all next time when we start Volume 2.