Before anything else, I own nothing but the original characters, and content therein related to them. RWBY is owned by RT, and any mentioned creator's work belongs to them, and them alone. Rest in peace Monty, your vision lives on in us all.
CHAPTER 8
Team's RWBY and SPGL were kept separated in their rooms for the time being. General Ironwood had talked with Yang and Ruby first, as the Red Reaper had pointed a sniper rifle at Atlas military property. After his discussion with the sisters, he moved on to speak with the entirety of Team SPGL. "Children… What you did last night was reprehensible." Ironwood started only to be cut off by Clayton.
"Reprehensible is intending to shoot a girl who's just gotten seven bells knocked out of her." The gorilla faunus huffed.
Ironwood took a second to see if there were any additional comments that would be made. "I understand that what Yang did may not have been entirely her own fault, she was coming off of an adrenalin high, I've no doubt, and might not have been thinking straight." Ironwood said.
"Then what's the problem? She clearly had no clue what was goin' on." Halcyone said.
"The problem is that Miss. Xiao Long broke a man's leg on live television. That kind of action doesn't go over very well with the millions of people watching the tournament." Ironwood said, pacing around the room slightly.
"Did all the people watchin' forget it was a fight?" Pale asked sarcastically.
"I broke Wilhelm's nose in my match, and I wasn't arrested." Clayton pointed out
"That was different, both parties were still engaged in the fight, and Mr. Wilhelm still had his aura. Yang attacked Mercury after he had already lost. And regardless of if it was an accident or assault, the world can tell no difference." Ironwood said sternly.
"Assault implies intent, you can't honestly tell me that Yang, who was walking away from Mercury, intended to hurt him without a justified reason." Clayton argued. "At worst that would be battery under common law, and at best it's self defense."
Ironwood shook his head. "There isn't going to be any sort of trial. Miss Xiao Long does not have to worry about criminal charges… But you four do." Ironwood said darkly.
"What?" Halcyone asked, with half a snarl.
Ironwood sighed. "The four of you drew weapons on Atlesian soldiers in clear states of mind. That in it of itself is indicative of threatening assault, and possibly murder. Now I'm not saying that your actions were out of malice. You saw a friend in trouble, and tried to help. But that does not mean there are not going to be consequences. The Atlas counsel is already asking me to press charges, and I'm in agreement with them." Ironwood said.
Clayton got off of his hammock and stood looking down at Ironwood. "If this goes to court, John Sanguis will be our lawyer." Clayton said. Ironwood and Clayton had a staring match for all of ten seconds, before Ironwood sighed.
"Then let's hope the trial is quick." Ironwood said before turning to leave. "And, one more thing… Mr. Sanguis. You and Miss. Xiao Long have been disqualified from the tournament…" Clayton's lip twitched, as Ironwood left the room.
Pyrrha walked the halls of Beacon... She had made her decision. After the tournament, she would take the responsibility of the fall maiden's power, and with it risk her soul. Jaune had convinced her it was the right thing to do, though she didn't fully explain things to him. But none of that mattered, it was her destiny. Her name had been called to fight in the second to last round. If fate smiled upon her, she would not only maintain her title of invincible, but gain a new one… The title of a Guardian.
Rot Schrodinger looked up into the dark and starry sky. It was likely sunset in Vale. The final round would soon be coming… And all of Cinder's plans would come to fruition. Sighing, though no air moved. Rot looked at the dusty grey ground beneath his feet, then back up to the sky, Remnant sitting squarely above him. He had only recently discovered that his teleportation was not limited to Remnant, and it made things seem so small. Above him, millions of people carried on with their lives, not knowing that there existed an evil in their world so putrid it would see their extinction as a good thing. Looking over to the sun, Rot chewed on his lip under his mask.
It was believed that the gods had the power to be everywhere at once… But that wasn't true. It seemed only Rot was cursed with such an ability. And over the years it had made him soft. It wasn't but 5 years ago he would have killed Halcyone when she begged to go to Beacon after a failure like hers, and now here he was, contemplating saving a school… To be fair, it would be quite the way to get back at Salem for taking everything away from him… Rot grunted, a sudden pain filling his chest… If the cancer didn't kill him first.
Back on the planet's surface, three separate minds were brainstorming furiously in Beacon's dormitory common room. Ruby, Clayton and Pale sat around the coffee table, going over everything in their heads, and combing over just how bad everything felt. "This entire thing smells wrong." Pale pointed out.
"Pale, we can't just assume that Team CMNE intentionally allowed one of their members to get their leg broken, or possibly worse, just to make Beacon look bad." Clayton said.
"Listen, I'm telling you, something is off here. Think… Think about the CCT infiltration. At the very least that proves that at least one person at this academy is up to absolutely no good, screwing with something related to the net. Who's to say it's not an entire team trying to flub the tournoment? Or an entire Academy? Mercury didn't even seem to be in that much pain for having his tibia snapped in half, he could have been high on oxie the entire time." Pale said.
"But why? What's the point?" Ruby asked.
"Fuck if I know. It might not be CMNE, but I've… I don't know, I've seen enough bad shit to get a feel for when it's about to happen… I get phantom pains every time I see a…" Pale said, trailing off, wincing in agony, as said phantom limb gave him a burning hot jolt.
"See a what?" Ruby asked. Pale felt his wooden leg, the minigun bullet hole still leaving a gaping wound in his artificial calf, and his eyes widened.
"Mercury had a prosthetic leg." Pale said, as he stood up.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Mercury took a dive to frame Yang for assault." Pale said, walking back to Team SPGL's dorm room.
"But what for?" Clayton asked, getting up with Ruby as Pale sped up his pace.
"What happens when people panic, when they get all negative?" Pale asked, as he checked to ensure his sleeve revolver was loaded.
"Grimm." Ruby muttered.
"What did the White Fang lead into Vale during the breach?" Pale asked.
"Grimm. You think the breach is conected to what's happening now?" Clayton asked, the facts adding up, as Pale entered their room, addressing Halcyone and Siniy.
"Grab your shit, things just got serious." Pale said, pulling his rifle off the wall.
Halcyone and Siniy quickly put on their combat attire, and grabbed their guns. "Maybe someone is trying to recreate the breach?" Ruby asked.
"Who's to say they weren't behind the original? What if CMNE is working for the White Fang? Look, all I know is the crowd half boo'd Clayton off stage, and the News has had nothing good to say about Yang… What if… What if they're trying to kill someone on international television?" Pale asked.
"It's a bit late for that, there's only like three rounds left in the tournament…" Clayton said, as everyone started leaving the dorms.
"Oh no." Pale said.
"What?" Halcyone asked, as Pale pulled out his scroll to check the match.
"We need to move now. Penny's in danger." Pale said, as he started sprinting towards the stairwell.
Authors note. I am about to make some people cry.
On another note, Pale very quickly picking out details form memory has come in handy, and his experience with prosthetics influinced his conclusion that Mercury took a dive.
Ironwood is being a dick, what's new.