Chapter 13: Are We the Baddies?
I'm back and now we'll be having the cast see a skit my beta recommended. Not sure what it is entirely, and I doubt our audience will know either. Still, they may get a good laugh at it, or just confusion. In any case, enjoy.
"And we're back." Mayden said as the screen was ready to show everybody a universe not as tragic as the last one. The audience now hoping this one will relieve them of the suffering they felt during that last showing. Especially after that What-If world. That one would give them shivers, the 'Good Side' especially.
"Hopefully this one is a bit more fun." Mercury said having actually felt a bit freaked out by the last one. While he didn't mind destruction as much as the next guy, a total planet completely destroyed is a bit too much, even for him.
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but so am I." Emerald quietly said to herself. Not wanting Mercury to act all smug that she'd agree with him.
Cinder on the other side was also thinking about that last world, the war that ended it all. She should talk to Salem about this, and perhaps give advice on the matter. From the looks of it, some of these worlds could provide useful intel. A small smirk settled on the Fall Maiden.
"In any case, time to see another world. This one though will be your own, just with some slight changes." Mayden explained before the screen finally lit up. The cast ready to see what this world brought. The setting showing a very familiar scene that a certain group of faunus recognized.
The first image to appear was a small group of White Fang soldiers digging in for a possible attack. Their commander, a tall dog Faunus named Hans stood next to a table, receiving orders from High Leader Taurus by radio. His mask hung from his belt. Another Fang, a reasonably proportioned Pig Faunus named Eric, was also sitting next to the radio, staring down at his own mask with a very scrutinizing gaze.
Hans listened with rapt attention as his leader spoke. His orders were the following: As the High Leader's team placed the charges around Haven Academy, his unit will wait where they are, ready to serve as reinforcements should the Mistral Police catch wind of their plan. Hans had full confidence in the genius of his master's plan. He knew Adam Taurus was strong. After all, he did hear that Adam Taurus bested Sienna Khan after a heated life-and-death battle of wits and skill, in which the Bull Faunus killed the woman who dared sell them out to Atlas.
How did he know this? Well, Taurus told him. He believed him, since such a paragon of Faunus justice would never lie to his soldiers.
"Not surprising there." Blake dryly said, as she once believed that Adam didn't possess the capacity for doing such a thing. That he would lie to make himself look good. Even other members of the audience looked displeased.
"Huh, guess the White Fang really is a mess." Whitley said quietly enough so Adam could hear. Though even the current heir had to admit, what Adam did was rather pathetic. While he wasn't certain on the details, the young sibling knew about the attack on Haven and how Adam lead them. There was also something about a huntsman killing Sienna. Guess his father was right about one thing, the White Fang members weren't as loyal as they seem.
Even Tock looked at Adam in disgrace. While she hadn't the slightest idea what the White Fang was, she knew enough from the afterlife after talking to other Faunus. How they fought for their 'rights'. But Adam killed Sienna and covered it up with a phony story, and apparently in this world made a fabrication.
"And I thought I was wicked."
"..." Adam sat, but said nothing. Because ever since death, he felt he saw things a bit different. Him killing Sienna before felt so right... But now though, it just felt, dare he say, wrong?
What-What was he feeling? He doesn't exactly know what the emotion he was feeling right now is called, but he did know he didn't like it.
Adam finished relaying his orders, to which he replied, "Very well."
He hung up the receiver, ending their call. Walking around the table, he picked up a pair of binoculars, and approached the outer barricade, telling the men and women under his command, "They're coming. Now we'll see how these Mistralians deal with a crack White Fang squad."
"This can't be good." Glynda said believing only chaos will be happening. Jaune however felt something was off.
'Weird, this is kinda like our world. But, there weren't any reinforcements at all.' Maybe in this world reinforcements from the White Fang came. Guess there was only one way to find out. Eat his conjured delicious burger and find out. Man the food is tasty here.
He looked through the binoculars, observing the area around their position, intent on finding any would-be heroes daring to ruin their plans. As he peered through the glass, Eric rose up, his mask in his hands, and walked over to his old friend.
"Hans…" He said, getting his friend's attention.
Hans looked to Eric, patting the Pig Faunus chest, saying. "Have courage, my friend."
Eric, not at all encouraged by the gesture, staring at him with a horrified expression, and hesitantly stated, "Yeah… Hans, I've just noticed something…"
"Notice what, that they're attacking a school full of innocents?" Weiss sarcastically asked.
"These Mistralians are all cowards." Hans said, having seen no intruders yet.
"Oh, Screw you!" Nora shouted in defense of her Home-kingdom. Ren didn't stop her.
Eric, while agreeing with his comrade, still couldn't get his mind off what he just noticed. He then nervously asked, "H-Have you looked at our masks recently?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Roman wondered aloud, to which Neo only shrugged. In her opinion, those masks looked stupid. Maybe the guy on screen figured out how dumb they looked in those masks.
Surprised, Hans lowered the binoculars, and looked at his friend confused. He then asked, "Our masks?"
"The masks we wear, have you looked at them?" Eric asked again, concerned about what his friend would say.
Hans tried to wave the question off, though it came off as him fumbling with a response. "No, yes, maybe, a bit…"
Eric decided that it was better if he finally just said what he was thinking, "They look like skulls."
"...He only realized that just now?" Cardin knew that some people were dumb, human and Faunus alike, but how could the guy not even realize his mask looked like a skull. How could he not have realized it, the dude surely noticed this every time he looked at himself in the mirror wearing the mask.
"I wonder if this is one where the Fang is incompetent." Ren wondered, thinking that to be the case. Nora, feeling too excited, wondered aloud, "If they are, then the good guys will surely beat them up."
Hans again looked at his friend, wondering where that came from. Eric further elaborated, "Have you noticed that our masks resemble actual skulls?"
"I… I don't even…" Hans had no words.
As he tried to speak, Eric finally asked the real question he had been wondering for months, ever since Beacon fell. It was a haunting epiphany that he had been struggling with; one that he felt should be shared now that their organization was under new management.
"Hans…" Eric gulped before finally asking, "Are we the baddies?"
Ironwood just stared at the screen and asked deadpan tone, "Seriously?"
He honestly cannot believe that after destroying Beacon, committing atrocities across the four kingdoms, that it was only until Haven that this man finally realized he was a terrorist. And what was it that caused this sudden face-heel turn? That he finally realized his mask resembled a skull.
"Maybe it's only this one that's idiotic." Winter muttered now fully thinking that the White Fang had a few members that weren't all up there in the head. Even Blake seemed embarrassed by what the guy just said.
"Wow." Yang herself even didn't have a witty pun to add to this. She just found the guy's reasoning that they were bad because of some mask. Just how stupid were these people?
"Wonder how this will end?" Qrow said while sipping on his nice flask taking a good gulp. Honestly, he thought this world was kind of funny.
The screen then cut to Hans and Eric sitting back at the table, going over battle plans.
Hans pointed to a section of a map and observed, stroking his chin. "We should be able to hold them off at this point here, for at least a few hours."
He wondered what Eric's thought were on the plans. Surely, his comrade had a few suggestions to make about their battle plans.
Eric's mind was on a completely different subject altogether, "Why skulls though?"
"What?" Hans can't believe Eric was still going on about this skull-mask nonsense.
The Pig Faunus asked again, "Why skulls?"
Tock asked aloud, "Yeah, why skulls, indeed?"
She honestly couldn't understand how a group that advocated for equal right would wear skull-masks as part of their uniform. If anything, a skull-mask would imply that they were cultists, rather than activists.
"From what I heard, it was meant to be symbolic about Faunus being feared like Grimm, since people treated them like monsters." Ruby explained to Tock, despite the fact the woman tried gouging her eyes out. Tock just gave the girl a quick 'Thank you', ignoring the red-eyed man's glare.
She wasn't going to attack the girl.
Not at the moment, that is. Tock deviously thought, smirking viciously.
Hans, having had enough of this subject, decided that he should end Eric's little moral dilemma. The success of their leader's plans hinged on his unit's effectiveness. He looked to his friend and said, "Well, maybe they're meant to be the skulls of our enemies?"
"Maybe…" Eric began, only to counter that argument with another one. "But is that how it comes across?"
Hans lit a cigarette, knowing that he'll need something to stave off the coming headache. Eric continued with his statement, explaining, "I mean it's not written on our masks, you know, "yeah, we killed him, but trust us this guy was horrid"
Whitley, despite the logic presented by the man, nodded, "I mean he's not wrong."
'Still, it's kinda funny.' He thought to himself
Hans sighed, upset that his friend tore his argument down. "Well, No, but-"
He is cut off by Eric, who elaborated, "I mean, what do skulls make one think of?"
He listed off all the worst imagery associated with skulls, "Death, cannibals, beheadings, Grimm… uhm, pirates?"
"Hahaha! Pirates! Good one!" Mercury laughed raucously, thinking that response to be funny. Adam only frowning wondering if this Eric character was part of the White Fang.
"Pirates are fun!" Hans grinned, hoping that will dissuade Eric's silly thoughts.
Eric quickly replied, "I didn't say we weren't fun. But fun or not, Pirates are still the baddies. I just can't think of anything good about a skull."
"Again, he's not wrong." Whitley said, although he did find the pirate remark hilarious.
"What about a pure Faunus skull shape?" Hans countered, reminded of how perfect the Faunus are.
To which Eric disgustedly scoffed. "Even that is more usually depicted with the skin still on."
"Again, the man has a point." Roman responded, with some agreeing.
Han's face fell, upset by having another one of his arguments shot down. He wondered how Eric was able to put a negative spin to anything he said.
"Whereas the kingdoms-" Hans stopped Eric there, this time more annoyed than outraged.
He then asked rather accusingly, "Oh, you haven't been listening to SDC-funded propaganda again, have you? Of course they're gonna say we're the bad guys."
Enraged, Eric nearly shouted. "But they didn't get to design our uniforms!"
Weiss just placed her head in her hands, hoping that this stupidity will end soon. Winter and Whitley shared her sentiments, mimicking her action.
Hans was almost on the brink, he didn't know how much more of this drivel he can take. Eric went on to argue, "And their symbols are, you know, quite nice; axes, swords, lances, and lanterns."
"What's so good about a lantern?" Hans asked, failing to see anything particularly nice about an antiquated light source.
Eric, for once, conceded to his friend's argument, saying, "Well, nothing, and obviously if there's one thing we've learned, in our time here, it's that the entirety of Mistral's city infrastructure is in dire need of modernization."
"Tell me about it." Hans snorted, having spent many nights walking through lantern-lit streets.
"Well, the place is a bit... old?" Oscar said, unsure how to respond to that. He didn't want to sound insensitive toward Mistralian culture. But still, he could contend that Mistral could take more advantage of modern technology. Many in the audience had to agree that Mistral, while it may have its ups, also had its downs.
"But you've gotta say it's better than a skull?" Eric pointed out, before going on to explain, "I mean I really can't think of anything worse, as a symbol, than a skull."
Hans hummed, thinking about that statement. After a few second of pondering, he finally said what he thought would be a symbol far worse than a skull, "A rat's… anus?"
At that, Yang, Qrow, Mercury, and Nora fell out of their chairs, clutching their stomachs, as they let out wheezing laughs. Whitley finally couldn't take anymore and joined them on the floor, laughing so hard that his throat gave out. The rest of the Audience was simply chuckling at the imagery evoked by that statement. Even Cinder shared in the mirth, wiping a stray tear from her remaining eye.
Cardin clapped and said, "Okay, I'll give 'em this."
Never had Adam wanted so desperately to murder anybody like the two idiots on screen. If he ever found these two, he was going to kill them; painfully and in front of their friends, too.
'Wait… did I just think that?' Adam thought in alarm, wondering why he would even consider killing his own men for being incompetent.
As everyone laughed around, Adam began to think deeply about the past year. Has Blake been right about me this whole time? Have I really deluded myself to the point that I've become blind to my own personal failings? That I have become so accustomed to betrayal and hate that I just assume everyone is against me, even the people that say they love me for me? Am I… a bad person?
…
No, preposterous. Everyone else is wrong… I think? He thought, but there was still some doubt laced within that thought.
Cinder noticed his pensive expression from her seat. She figured that Adam must be starting to realize the folly of his the counterproductive crusade.
'And it only took him this long?' She thought, insulting the bull Faunus' worrying lack of self-awareness.
Eric frowned, not at all pleased by his friend's complete insensitivity to his deep moral conflict. He sarcastically, and quite angrily, remarked, "Yeah, and if we were fighting the enemy, marching under the banner of a rat's anus, I'd probably be a lot less worried, Hans."
Hans has finally had enough. This whole pointless debate about symbols, morality, and anuses has worn him down. He seriously needed some coffee and a good blend too. Coffee always made things better. He pulled out his coffee mug, putting it on the table. He then noticed something rather odd about it.
It was shaped like a skull. Hans looked worryingly at Eric, who simply stared back at him with a look that said, "See what I mean?"
Nora pointed at the skull and shouted, "Red Flag!"
Hans watched Eric nod over to the side, as though he noticed something that he should really be taking a good look at. Turning in his chair, Hans looked back, noticing three of his soldiers sitting about, waiting for further orders. He noticed one soldier was reading a book, while drinking from his own coffee mug, which had a white skull painted onto it. He then looked to the left of that soldier, and noticed that another was knitting a scarf, one with an already stitched skull pattern staring back at him. The last soldier was using a sketchbook, and was drawing a rather intimidating looking skull.
"Red flags! Large, obnoxiously flaring red flags everywhere!" Yang cried out, hoping the men will finally take the hints.
"Those flags are so deep in the red, they're practically crimson!" Nora added.
Now Hans was starting to worry. His face went pale; all color draining from his face, as he finally understanding what exactly his friend had been complaining about. Skull-themed masks, skull-themed memorabilia, and probably skull-shaped gravestones in their future.
Oh, my gods, we really are the baddies. Hans horrifyingly realized.
"Okay, first, did they seriously only just realize this now?" Weiss asked before looking to Blake. "And second, are the White Fang really that obsessed with skulls?"
"Not that I'm aware." Blake simply said, as she didn't recall any members with an unhealthy fixation of skulls. This must be a quirk of this world's White Fang. Still, there was a silver lining. At least these men found out the truth and were now going to take responsibility for it.
'Even if their process of doing so was rather dumb.'
He looked over at Eric, whom held that same horrified, knowing gaze. "Well… so…"
Both men took a few seconds to think about their next course of action. They were in Mistral, dressed in skull masks, planning to destroy a school, waiting to be attacked by heavily-armed police, and under the orders of a man who was probably quite insane.
Adam scowled at the insult, scrunching his nose and muffling a growl. Mercury just laughed at the face he made.
None of that sounded like it was for the benefit of the Faunus. If they stayed, they'll die and if they chose to follow their orders, they'll still die, but will be remembered as the cowards who tried to blow up an academy.
They decided what to do in a heartbeat. They looked at one another and a single message was conveyed in their eyes.
"Fuck this shit, I'm out!"
"Smartest move they've made… for animals, that is." Roman insultingly complimented, ignoring some nasty stares thrown at him. Not like he cared, he just said those things to rile people up.
Why would he do that? Because people are gullible chumps and he finds that to be extremely hilarious.
"I'll say. That was smart," Tock oddly didn't seem too insulted. Then again, she didn't really care what most thought of her. Of course, those who had made fun of her usually ended up dead. Good times.
They scrambled to their feet, knocking their chairs away, and ran off to surrender to whatever Mistralian authorities they could find. Jail was preferable to working alongside people who were so obviously evil, that they wondered how exactly anyone would join up and not notice.
And that was the story of how Adam's reinforcements never came.
"..." Adam had no words to describe the idiocy he had just witnessed.
Adam knew he never received reinforcements. But he wondered if this is the reason why he never received them. A part of him was seriously hoping it was something else and not the ridiculous scene he just saw.
"Well... at least they're doing the right thing." Ozpin told Oscar who gave a halfhearted nod. While the method these men used to ditch the organization was weird, at least they did the responsible thing.
"Actually, that was kind of funny." Cardin admitted.
"Sure... um, are we going to see something else now." Ironwood asked their host, who gave them a mighty 'Yes'.
"What are we watching next?" Nora asked excitedly. She wondered if they'll see some other cool stuff. Maybe they'll see a world with pancakes, pirates, or maybe Pancake-Pirates. With this viewing screen, the possibilities were endless.
"You'll find out in just a bit. Though, this one focuses on another special group." The Keeper told them making them curios. They couldn't wait.
The end of the skit. Hope you liked that. Next time will show a popular manga/anime many know. It involves super heroes...not! Till next time.