Another day, another chapter. I'd like to thank you all for your continued support and most importantly for putting up with the BS that appear in these chapters. Now, review response time! Cody the Worldwalker; glad you both liked and spotted the reference, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. OutlastTheDark; of course the Reaper is a gentleman, a psychotic killer just isn't a psychotic killer without manners. ChidoriKilledTheBatman; actually, the quote was a reference to one of Reaper's unlockable quotes, "I'm not a psychopath...I'm a high functioning psychopath!" which itself is probably a Sherlock reference. You'll find a lot of Reaper quotes in this fic, trust me. Now, on with the show!
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Chapter 13- The Price of Resistance
One week after FRYA's execution…
"I asked for information Mercury, not another dead end!" Cinder shouted, her eyes flaring brightly to convey her anger perfectly.
"Look, I'm sorry boss! We've found nothing on this 'Reaper' guy!" Mercury quickly replied, throwing his arms into the air in defeat. "No data, no voice matches, nothing!"
"I understand that finding a perfect match will be difficult..." Cinder seethed, her hands curling into balled fists as she slowly paced forward to Mercury who backed away quickly. "But my patience grows thin with every day you return empty handed!"
"Whoever this guy is Cinder, he knows how to cover his tracks." Emerald quickly butted in, causing the false Maiden to turn and face her. "This guy is just too good, he even puts my Semblance to shame!"
Cinder simply narrowed her eyes as she glared at the former thief. It was not a hate filled glare, but it was enough to make the thief back away slowly. Cinder then turned back to Mercury who had now backed away into a corner, like a rat cornered by a cat.
"And what about our 'colleagues'? Have they found anything out?" Cinder asked, her tone now passive, which earned a quick sigh of relief from the silver haired assassin.
"If they have, they haven't told us." Mercury replied, earning a grunt of agreement from Emerald. "The Faunus, Blake, still doesn't trust us."
"And unfortunately for us, she's basically leading this show." Emerald quickly added, leaning against the wall with crossed arms.
Cinder frowned at this. Adam's former 'concubine' was certainly a thorn in her side. It would be easy to just make her disappear, even more so with the 'Reaper' on the prowl, but Adam had a particular treat in mind for her. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by an alert on her Scroll. She quickly opened the device, revealing a message from Neopolitan. A message that might actually lead them somewhere.
"Perhaps I've been too harsh with you..." Cinder said, a sinister smile spreading across her face. This sudden change in mood quickly caught the attention of Mercury and Emerald, who simply glanced at one another before turning to face Cinder.
"What do you mean…?" Emerald asked, her voice cautiously low.
"Perhaps the problem is our approach." Cinder replied, casually tossing the Scroll to Emerald who clumsily caught the device. Emerald quickly observed the message, her face contorting into a confused frown as Mercury quickly peered over her shoulder, his face showing even more confusion.
The message simply showed a Gorilla Faunus in white armour, strolling casually into the ruins of an old Academy. Both assassin and thief looked up to face Cinder who was now holding her hand aloft, an orb of fire hovering over her open palm.
"I think it's about time we made a 'house call'..."
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"Found anything yet?" Blake asked as she casually strolled into the library, placing a large pile of books and old newspapers down on the table with a thud, causing the combined members of RWBY and JNPR to look up from their desks and stare at the pile of paperwork.
"Nothing of relevance yet, sorry." Jaune replied, quickly looking down at the newspaper in his hands.
"Keep looking, we have to find something soon." Blake quickly replied, taking the newspaper on the top of the pile and quickly looking through it.
Ruby was having trouble concentrating on her work, subtly taking sneak peaks from a weapon magazine she had subscribed to when she was confident no one was looking. Weiss was too engrossed into her work to even notice the young leader's behaviour, reading multiple articles on the recent attacks to find any clues that may have been missed. Blake was quickly skimming through the old stack of newspapers, paying particular interest into the ones detailing the corruption of Overwatch. Yang was slipping ever so slowly to sleep, trying her best to not just doze off and fall asleep on the newspaper in front of her, lazily flipping through the pages. Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren were all engrossed in their work, reading through newspapers and case studies whilst Nora had fallen asleep long ago, not even the subtle nudges from Ren being enough to wake her up.
"Hey, check this out!" Yang quickly muttered, causing the other members of RWBY and JNPR (minus Nora) to quickly turn and face the blonde brawler who had suddenly become very interested in the article in front of her.
"What is it?" Pyrrha asked, leaning forward slightly as she stared at the newspaper in Yang's hands.
"It's an article on Overwatch, how it got shut down." Yang explained, quickly pointing to the article in question. "Apparently one of their critics was assassinated by the Shimada Clan. He was high in standing but often outspoken. His death was enough to get Overwatch shut down."
"What makes you think it's important?" Weiss asked, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
"This is the weapon they found." Yang quickly explained, pointing at one of the two pictures on the article.
The weapon was a dagger with runes engraved on its surface, and a large quantity of dried blood on the tip. Tied to the grip of the blade were two sashes. One was grey with what appeared to be two serpentine dragons entwined on one another, one black the other white. They all recognised it as the symbol of the Shimada Clan. The other was a greyish black colour, a circular symbol that they immediately recognised as the crest of the now defunct Overwatch Academy in the centre of the fabric.
But that wasn't what caught their attention, it was the blade itself that caught their attention.
"I've seen that dagger before...in Ozpin's office." Ruby whispered as her mind went back to the time she was called up their after the incident at the Cross Continental Tower nearly a month ago. "There was a plaque with that exact same dagger on his wall...but it looked like there used to be two of them."
"You think it could have been stolen?" Jaune asked, raising an eyebrow in response.
"Stolen...or given." Ren replied, pointing to the second picture of the article.
The picture was from a CCTV camera in a dark corner of the city. One was garbed in armour clearly based off of the design of a ninja, a katana strapped to his back. They couldn't make out their face due to the helmet they wore, but could clearly see the same black and white dragons on the figures shoulder. An assassin of the Shimada. The other was a figure hooded and cloaked, their face hidden in shadow. The cloak also covered their form, making it impossible to distinguish their gender or identity. A heavily covered arm was outstretched, in it the same dagger as shown in the above picture.
"Are you suggesting...Beacon framed Overwatch?" Blake asked, her voice low to not attract attention.
"It would make sense. I mean, who in their right mind would plant evidence framing their Academy on the murder weapon?" Yang asked, turning to face the Faunus with a raised eyebrow.
"And it also makes sense why this 'Reaper' is attacking Beacon students." Ruby added. "Maybe he was a former Overwatch student who found out."
"It just doesn't make sense." Weiss replied, crossing her arms across her chest. "If this is all true, why wait this long? There have been other more opportune times to pull this off, why now?"
"I don't know..." Yang replied, slowly shaking her head as she gazed down at the article. "Anyone else got anything?"
"That guy in the picture with Morrison, definitely Gabriel Reyes." Jaune replied, pushing forward an old file that detailed Gabriel Reyes statistics during his time at Beacon. "Apparently during his time at Overwatch, he and Morrison were like brothers but then at Beacon they just drifted apart."
"Wow...he was pretty good." Yang stated as she and the rest of RWBY skimmed through his statistics chart. Top marks in every subject and often described as a 'cold and ruthless tactician'. In short, not someone you wanted to mess with.
"You said that Gabriel died with the rest of his team, how did he die?" Blake asked, turning to face Yang.
"According to this...he died after an explosion at some factory." Yang explained, quickly passing an old report to the Faunus.
"What was this factory?" Blake asked as she continued to read the report.
"Apparently it refined Dust for use in weaponry, guess who used that Dust..." Pyrrha replied, gesturing slightly behind her.
"Beacon..." Weiss whispered, earning a small nod from Pyrrha in return. "Wait...you don't think that-"
The Heiress was interrupted by a loud cough that quickly caused the two groups to turn in the direction of the noise. Standing a few feet back was a haggard old man with a long bushy beard and thinning grey hair. He was staring at the two groups with a raised eyebrow that seemed more inquisitive then judgemental.
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" the elderly man asked, turning to face each individual as he spoke.
"We're sorry sir, is something the matter?" Ren asked, bowing slightly as he regarded the old librarian.
"No, not at all. It's just that I'll be closing the library in fifteen minutes." The librarian explained, turning to walk away before stopping again. "I would advise you perhaps start thinking about putting your things away before I accidentally lock you all in."
"Of course, thank you." Blake replied, nodding slightly as the librarian proceeded to turn and walk away. "I guess that's our cue to leave then."
"Agreed, we should go get some rest." Weiss added, gently closing the book she had been reading before turning to face the other students. "We certainly need it."
"Finally, I can get some sleep..." Yang yawned, stretching her arms and nearly falling asleep on the spot before Ruby prodded her side, causing the blonde brawler to quickly wake.
Team RWBY quickly filed out of the library, leaving the members of Team JNPR at the table who were neatly stacking the books and newspapers they had been reading.
"I guess we should head off as well, maybe catch a bite to eat?" Pyrrha suggested, shrugging her shoulders innocently.
"Good idea, what do you think Ren?" Jaune asked, becoming slightly suspicious when Ren didn't immediately answer. "Ren?"
A loud thud suddenly sounded behind them, causing the two to turn and look in shock as Nora was somehow sprawled on top of Ren who had obviously attempted to lift the sleeping Huntress...without assistance.
"I think I might need a little help here..."
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Ozpin sat in the gardens of Beacon, his eyes closed as he listened to the tranquil sounds of birds and insects going about their daily business alongside what remained of the student population. He used to come down to meditate in the peaceful gardens only on a few occasions, but with the recent attacks he had come down more frequently. Ozpin quickly opened his eyes as he felt a presence behind him, one he was expecting.
"You took your time..." Ozpin murmured, turning to face the figure.
"I was busy..." the figure quickly retorted, quickly taking a swig from the flask in his hand.
"Doing what if I may enquire?" Ozpin asked, shrugging his shoulders as he walked past the figure.
"Busy doing...stuff." the figure finally responded after an uncomfortable amount of silence had passed, taking another swig from the flask in his hand.
Ozpin grunted in amusement as a carefree smile spread across his face, placing a hand on the figures shoulder. "It's good to see you Qrow."
"Likewise Ozpin." Qrow responded, nodding slightly before pacing forward out of Ozpin's reach. "So, a little bird told me that you have a problem with this 'Reaper' guy. That true?"
"You know it is, I think it's him." Ozpin quickly responded, walking quickly to catch up to Qrow.
"No Ozpin, you don't think it's him, it is him!" Qrow sighed, shaking his head slightly.
"Then were has he been all these years?" Ozpin queried, turning to face the veteran Huntsman.
"No idea, but he's here now." Qrow responded, looking around to make sure no one was listening before leaning forward slightly. "Think She might have something to do with all this?"
"No, and if She does, then She has certainly been very quiet about it." Ozpin replied, stopping in front of the fountain that stood outside the school. "The Reaper is very open about his reasons for his attacks. If he was in league with Her, he would certainly be less open...or bold."
"Just a thought..." Qrow muttered, crossing his arms as he stared at the fountain. "Queen has Pawns...perhaps some that don't even realise it."
"I'll make a note of that..." Ozpin replied, turning to face Qrow once again. "Any leads on who attacked Amber yet?"
"Not yet, but I think I'm getting close." Qrow replied, turning to walk away back into the gardens.
"May I ask something Qrow?" Ozpin asked, turning to face the Huntsman who stopped and turned to face the Headmaster. "Do you think Glynda is right? That I should close the school?"
Qrow's eyes widened considerably, either due to not knowing of the question or just not expected to be asked it. "Well...I-"
Qrow was interrupted when a shrill scream echoed throughout the school, a scream of fear. Qrow and Ozpin were quickly alert as both gazed out in front of them.
"That came from the gardens!" Qrow shouted, quickly drawing his sword as he rushed forward, followed closely by Ozpin.
The two Huntsman sped forward, rushing through the gardens of Beacon. They soon arrived at where Ozpin had been sitting only moments ago, a large group of students already there. Some had horrified or queasy looks on their faces whilst others were attempting to get a look at what was making the others so disgusted. Ozpin and Qrow quickly made their way to the front of the crowd. There sat Glynda consoling a young Huntress, her skin pale and grey from shock.
"Glynda, what happened?" Ozpin asked as he quickly paced forward, stopping a foot away from the teacher.
"Turn around..." Glynda whispered, a sad look in her eyes, as she pointed behind Ozpin.
Confused, Ozpin turned around as instructed, and gasped. Behind him was a tree, the once lush plant now slowly entering a state of decay. But that wasn't what had caused him to gasp or the girl to scream. Strung up on the tree were four Hunters in training, multiple wounds covering their bodies as they hung from either their entrails or tendons. There bodies were also husks drained of life, made more horrifying by the amount of blood that still poured from the open wounds.
"Who were they?" Qrow whispered, grimacing slightly as he looked at the disfigured bodies.
"Team GRCE...they haven't left the safety of the school since this all began..." Ozpin whispered back, his eyes widening in horror as he realised what this meant.
The Reaper was here.
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Sorry if the chapter was a bit short, had a bit of a brain freeze. But don't worry, next few weeks are all planned out! Liked it? Feel free to leave a review and remember, constructive criticism is welcome. Any Questions? Either leave in your review or PM me and I'll answer in the next chapter.
Raging Archon out.
