Chapter 11
"We've got to save Ciel and Jean." Rachael punched the wall out of frustration.
"...and we will," Coco declared, "but we won't be able to save anyone if all we're doing is panicking, right Velvet?" She blinked upon hearing no reply before turning and finding a note on a nearby bed. "'Went to find Ciel and Jean. Will be back as soon as I can. XOXO, Velvet,'" she read off the note, only to give an exasperated groan. "Now that is just rude," she complained, only to spot an envelope underneath said note, not to mention said note had a postscript. "'P.S. I left you and Yatsuhasi some pictures of me in case you two were upset about my leaving the two of you hanging regarding our playtime. I'm sure they'll give you some ideas for later.'" Curiosity overtaking her, she set down the note and peaked into the envelope from earlier. "WHOA MAMA!" she exclaimed with wide eyes before giving a grin as she resealed the envelope. "Well, I'm pacified."
Meanwhile, Ciel had honestly seen better days. On the one hand, she was grateful that so far the only order she'd been given was to stay put and to not contact anyone, not to mention that Paulette/Jean was currently elsewhere taking care of some other business. On the other, she was fearful about what other orders she'd be given in the future and what this "business" entailed. Eventually, she couldn't contain her frustration anymore and let out a groan. "C'est tout simplement affreux. Une minute, je traîne avec mes coéquipiers, et la suivante, un psycho A.I. m'a emmené en captivité avec l'un de mes coéquipiers et me force à essayer de tuer Cinder (This is just dreadful. One minute, I'm hanging out with my teammates, and the next, a psycho A.I. has taken me and one of my said teammates captive and is forcing me to try and kill Cinder)," she groaned. "Je veux dire, normalement ça ne me dérangerait pas cette dernière partie… (I mean, normally I wouldn't mind that last part…)"
"...mais ça vous dérange parce que ce n'est pas vous qui avez fait le choix? (...but it bothers you because it wasn't you that made that choice?)" declared a newly arrived Velvet, not quite returning the relieved smile Ciel gave her. Taking a quick look at the back of Ciel's neck, the rabbit Faunus gave a disgusted shake of her head. "Control Chips: those things should have never been invented."
"Prêchant au chœur là-bas, mon ami (Preaching to the choir there, my friend)," Ciel said with a snort before gaining a somber look, "Même si je ne sais pas si je devrais t'appeler comme ça (Though I'm not sure if I should be calling you that)."
"And why not?" Velvet asked with a raised eyebrow, "Don't tell me that you actually intend to help Paulette."
"Je n'ai pas le choix!" Ciel all but shouted.
"YES YOU DO! YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE!" was what Velvet actually shouted, only to give a blush as Ciel slapped her hands over the Faunus' mouth. After a few moments of silence told them that the cost was clear, the French girl dropped her hands and the rabbit weaponsmith cleared her throat. "Funny thing about those control chips: from what I've read, they didn't completely get rid of the rebellions in the camps. Seems that quite a large number of implantees managed to find a few loopholes in the orders they were given."
"Attends, vraiment? (Wait, really?)" Ciel couldn't help but ask before stopping to think, eventually gaining a sly grin as an idea formed in her mind. "Paulette a dit que je ne pouvais pas contacter mes amis, mais elle n'a jamais dit que l'un d'eux me contactait et transmettait des messages à tout le monde. (Paulette said that I couldn't contact my friends, but she never said anything about one of them contacting me and passing along messages for everyone else.)"
Here, Velvet could only give a proud yet mischievous grin even as she declared, "Bienvenue dans la rébellion, Ciel (Welcome to the rebellion, Ciel)."
As it turned out, feelings of pride were contagious; as evidenced by the wide grin that was spread across Raven Brawnwen's face as she watched her daughter practice some of the katas she had been shown with one of the training swords that the academy had lying around. While Yang had yet to find or forge a weapon that, in her own words, "spoke to her" - and it would be some time before she could ever call herself a true swordswoman - the Brawnwen chieftess couldn't help but be reminded of herself as she watched her daughter in action. She could only hope that she'd be a better woman than her when she grew up.
"Good." Raven nodded in approval.
"Thanks." Yang replied, confidently.
"But do you really need to burn all of that energy?" Raven asked, rhetorically. The huntress unsheathed her own katana and positioned herself to demonstrate. "You're still treating the blade as a blunt weapon. In certain situations, slashing it around like a baseball bat is a good way to get yourself killed. Sometimes, all you need is a quick, silent jab."
"Don't know if you've noticed, Raven, but I don't really do 'silent.'" Yang retorted.
"Then you need to learn to adapt." Her mother replied. "An aggressive style is fine in a fist fight; but you can't always count on being able to go in, guns blazing. More often than not, you'll need to use brains over brawn. Even your father had to learn this."
"Oh, yeah?" Yang arched an eyebrow at the mention of her father. "What do you mean?"
Raven smiled as the fond memory came back to her. "Well, there was a certain mission back when Team STRQ was still in Beacon. We were assigned to investigate a disturbance in a neighboring village. A group of bandits were terrorizing the civilians for money… or for fun, who can remember? Taiyang got separated from us, and got himself captured. Naturally, we were afraid he'd get himself killed, but by the time we caught up to him, he had turned the entire group against each other."
Yang whistled; impressed by the bold claim. "How'd he do that?"
Raven smirked. "How best to explain it…?" She thought to herself. "Okay. Yang, have you ever said anything to someone you care about? Something you knew you shouldn't have said, but said it anyway? Something really hurtful?"
Yang rubbed her chin, trying to think of a proper example. At last, she shrugged. "Sure."
"Well, what made you say it?" Raven asked. "Too little sleep? Skipped breakfast? Or maybe someone provoked you into saying it."
"So what? He insulted them into submission?"
"Not quite." Raven carried on. "During the time your father was being held captive by the bandits, he had been reading their facial expressions and body language like a book. He found that they were all holding back a serious amount of resentment towards each other, and used that knowledge to his advantage."
Raven had just slipped inside the enemy camp to do some reconnaissance, only to force herself to stifle her own gasp upon hearing one of the mercenaries yell out. "Okay, intel says that the rest of the team from Beacon the Boss warned us about should be showing up any minute now. The way I figure it, we kill the prisoner and use the chump's teammates' grief and anger against them to take them out as well. Any questions?"
"Yeah, I've got one," Taiyang declared, showcasing a sly grin on his face. "Which one of you gets the honor of trying to take me out?"
"Excuse me?" Someone else couldn't help but ask.
"Well, the fact of the matter is that the whippings and starving you put me through were amatuer hour levels of abuse and torture, as I'm sure some of you would agree." He said with a roll of his eyes, noting how some of the bandits gave each other looks of either astonishment or reluctant agreement. "No, really: I mean it. My partner's snoring causes me headaches leagues worse than the pain inflicted by the sorry excuse for punishment you lot gave out. And given how my girlfriend isn't always the best cook...well, let's just say that I've gone way longer without decent food than the forced fasts you have put me through."
"What exactly are you saying?" Another goon asked with narrowed eyes.
"Nothing," Taiyang said with a shrug. "Just that the only reason you took me hostage was that you took my team by surprise, and that was really just a bunch of dumb luck given the ambush wouldn't have even worked if I hadn't forgotten to pack extra rounds that morning. Not to mention that your collective fighting style seems to be to either tackle-and-beat your opponent to death or shoot them. If I had to guess, none of you have ever been in a real fight in your life, and as such, wouldn't be able to actually kill me even if I put a gun in your hand and have you try and shoot me with it, and if you think I'd just let you do that, then you're even dumber than I thought you were."
"Shut up!"
"Don't tell him to shut up; shut him up!"
"Oh, that actually reminds me of another question I had." Taiyang replied, looking like he was trying to hold back a laugh. "Who is in charge around here? I mean, Mr. Mustache over here mentioned that you all have a head-honcho that you all answer to somewhere off-sight, but what about now when they're not around? I mean, no offense but I don't think that Jo-a-nes over there is in charge of anything."
"Okay, one: that's just rude. Two, my name is pronounced Jones. JONES!"
"Shut it, Jo-a-nes!"
"And you." Taiyang continued. "'Keith,' was it? Am I supposed to be intimidated by a guy with a name like that, because let me tell you, it's not working."
"See, I told you that you should've it changed to it to something like...I don't know: 'Borris?!'"
"Sh...shut up!"
"Enough!" Shouted "Mr. Mustache." "I'm in charge while the Boss is away, and I say we get rid of the pest now!" He all but growled as he pointed his gun at Taiyang, before finding his leg sweeped by one of the subordinates.
"And what if we don't want you to be in charge?" The subordinate demanded.
Taking a chance, Raven picked up a pebble and tossed it at a nearby goon. Needless to say, the punch he gave the guy next to him in supposed retaliation was enough to make the emotional powder keg explode.
Raven could only give a laugh, both at the look her daughter was giving her and the nostalgia from her memories that washed over her. "After that, it was an almost insultingly easy task of using my semblance to portal the two of us back to our teammates and contacting the proper authorities… though needless to say, more than a few of them needed a trip to the hospital before their trip behind bars."
Yang could only nod, understanding the message her mother was trying to get across, before blinking as she realized another detail that had shown itself in the story she was just told. "You really did love my dad, didn't you?"
Raven could only give a melancholy smile. "I did… and in a way, I still do, but I have no intention of ruining what he and Summer have now. If the only family bond I can truly claim is that of your sister's Aunt, then that will have to be enough for me. At least then I'll know that I didn't completely mess everything up. Just know that despite everything, I have and always will love you, my Sunny Little Dragon."
Yang just whipped her eyes as she gave a tear-filled smile. "Alright, that's enough sappiness for one day, Mom. What say we go one more round and then see how Ruby and the others are doing?"
Here, Raven blinked, before giving a tear-filled grin of her own. "Did...did you just call me Mom?"
Yang practically froze, going over the words herself before giving a slight grin and a nod. "Yeah, I...I suppose I did. Don't get me wrong; Summer Rose will always have a special place in my heart, but who knows? Keep acting like one, and I might just warm up to the idea of having two Moms."
Raven gave a nod of acceptance as she and her daughter went back to sparring, not quite noticing that Summer had stumbled upon their practice session and heard every word, nor how she gave a tear-filled smile full of happiness and pride at what she'd just seen and heard.
"But seriously, though." Yang went on. "Were you always this eager to prove you loved us before you became the Spring Maiden?"
"Oh, hell no. I've always been a rotten bitch. Except now, I'm a rotten bitch with elemental powers at my fingertips." Raven conjured a small spark of lightning to emphasize her point.
"Boy, dad sure can pick 'em."
Meanwhile, the rest of Team RWBY was still trying to learn how to properly handle the tank. Weiss - having gotten to know the tank's cannon a bit too well - hid behind one of her glyphs for protection. Blake, however, grew impatient as Ruby seemed to be wasting ammunition. "Ruby! Why are you shooting the same target?!"
"Because it's locked on!" Ruby shouted from the canopy.
"Well, unlock it!"
"Last time I unlocked it, I shot Weiss and Penny!"
"Oh… yeah, keep shooting the same target." Just then, Coco, Yatsuhashi, and Fox stepped forward to give an update on Velvet's spy mission. Blake and Weiss couldn't help but giggle as they saw Fox's new armor. "Well, hello, ladies." Blake smirked. "And Yatsuhashi."
"It's not pink." Fox snapped. "It's lightish red."
"Anyways, we just thought you'd like to know what Paulette was up to." Coco spoke up after rolling her eyes at Fox's commentary. "Velvet says she's coercing Ciel into building her a robot army to invade Atlas."
"Wait, Velvet's alone with Paulette?" Weiss asked.
"Hey, we don't like it any more than you do." Yatsuhashi cut in. "Believe me, I miss having both of my lovely ladies at my front and back. But Velvet isn't helpless. And right now, she's the only thing keeping tabs on that psychopath."
Weiss gave a sigh of frustration. "You're right. Sorry. But after all the damage she's done, I still don't like the idea of anyone being too close to Paulette."
"Having had the most experience with her, I'm confident that Paulette won't outright kill Ciel, Jean, or even Velvet if she somehow manages to get caught." Ruby declared. "But what bothers me is that according to Fox, our resident rogue A.I. is housed somewhere with a lot of Grimm nearby, and I can't shake the feeling that they're somehow involved in whatever she's planning… which reminds me. I need to talk to my Mom about maybe teaching me something about how to control these Silver Eyes of mine; something tells me I'll be needing to use them to protect my friends and family again in the near future."
Meanwhile, Glynda was currently staring down the Beacon Headmaster like he had just told her that he had just consumed molten lava. "Please tell me you're joking."
Ozpin could only groan. "I very much wish I was, but unfortunately, James is flat-out ignoring my calls. So either he knows what's happening and is hoping to cover it up, or is ignorant of the problems we're having and is dealing something just as serious on his end. And honestly, I'm not sure which scenario frightens me more."
Glynda could only sigh. "Give it to me straight, Ozpin; how bad is our situation?"
Ozpin nodded. "It is still manageable, all things considered, but given that one of our security cameras picked this up on the feeds recently, I do believe that things will get more complicated sooner rather than later." He declared as he slid a photograph across his desk towards his second-in-command.
The Vice-Headmistress could only raise an eyebrow as she looked at the photograph, only for her eyes to widen as she took in the visage of the vehicle that the students had encountered earlier. "Is...is this…?"
Ozpin could only sigh as he said, "It is indeed. It seems we're not the only ones who know that Ruby has awakened her Silver Eyes, and knowing what we do about 'Paulette', I can't help but think it's not a coincidence that one of their vehicles showed up during the capture of Miss Polendina's teammate."
Glynda couldn't help but pale at this. "Do you think that she…?
Here, Ozpin shook his head. "No, this isn't Salem. If it were, there would be a lot more panic in the streets. No, this is Paulette's plan, but that doesn't make it any less crucial that we deal with this as quickly as possible. Who knows what other surprises our enemy has in store for us?"
Meanwhile, Yang had decided to explore the outskirts of the cave system that Fox and her sister had mentioned, taking care not to actually enter the cave just yet. Taking note of the tire tracks that her teammates had mentioned, she nodded to herself. "Yep, those definitely don't match up to anything that's currently on the market, at least to my knowledge." She blinked upon noticing a strange gauntlet near a set of said tracks that apparently had been dropped in the chaos of battle. "...and it looks like I might have found our first clue as to what we're dealing with."
As she picked it up, however, she was surprised to find a glowing blade shot out of the gauntlet, causing her to drop it again in surprise. Cautiously picking it up once more, she took a few practice swings before gaining a wide grin. "I'll need to have my Mom and sister take a look at this to make sure it's safe, but I think I just found my Dragon Fang!" she exclaimed, before freezing in place, feeling like someone, or something, was watching her.
"Who's there?!" She demanded, aiming her Ember Celica at the surrounding area for a few moments, before sighing. "Okay, maybe I was just imagining things, but it'd probably be a good idea to get the others and check this place out." she declared to herself before getting on Bumblebee and heading back.
As she left, however, she just barely missed a strange humanoid-looking Grimm appear from behind a nearby rock, watching her closely as she left on her motorbike. "So it begins," he said with a smile.
To be continued
