"What do you mean by that, Bully Boy?" Roman asked, "Yeah, this isn't going well, but they all still fight for the same side, right?"
"Do they?" Adam asked, "Just keep watching. You'll see what I mean."
Clover was flipping through his Book of Prophecies. Vine entered the room and Clover greeted him, "Vine, have you learned something?"
Vine walked towards Clover as he started, "It seems Elm and Harriet's Unions are now allied."
"So now Clover knows," Jaune noted.
"But what's he going to do about it?" Nora asked.
Clover looked down, "So Elm is the traitor after all."
"No," Vine argued, "I don't believe she is."
"Why's that?" Clover asked.
"To Elm," Vine explained, "Unification is a means of gathering strength to oppose the darkness. So I believe her heart still belongs to the light."
Summer smiled, "We realized the same thing. I'm glad they both saw it too. Maybe the fight can be avoided after all!"
"Only if they don't make Elm angry," Winter shook her head, "She has quite the temper."
Clover closed his book and quickly stood up, "Even so, forming alliances was strictly forbidden by the Master."
"Yes," Vine agreed, "And his teachings are absolute. That's why I will try and persuade Harriet to dissolve their alliance."
"Why do they care so much?" Ruby sighed, "So what they're disobeying? They're still helping!"
"Orders are orders," Clover shrugged, "Just by disobeying they're hurting our cause. If they had listened this wouldn't be happening."
"But that wasn't the right thing to do!" Yang argued, "Doing the right thing should always trump orders."
Harreit scoffed, but she had long realized arguing with the kids was pointless.
"No, I'll do it." Clover stated matter-of-factly.
"No," Vine argued, "Please, let me do the talking. Your intervention will do nothing more than spur Elm's anger."
"Yeah, she is most angry with me," Clover agreed, "But she's almost as angry with Vine at this point."
"At this point the best thing would be to leave it alone," Ozpin advised, "Interfering in any way could escalate the situation."
"But we can't just let them be," Winter countered, "They could destroy everything the Master worked for!"
Weiss turned around and looked at her sister, "Are we still talking about the Master, or someone else?"
Winter raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"All right," Clover conceded, "I'll leave it to you."
"And one more thing," Vine stated, "Elm has begun to question the two of us," he began to walk away as he finished, "As a precaution, my reports will be less frequent. I don't want her to get the wrong idea. Please understand."
"Yes, I do." Clover acknowledged. Vine left the room and Clover sat back down to look at his book again.
"You really do spend a lot with that book," Qrow noted.
"He's probably trying to find out as much as he can about the situation," Tai noted, "It's what I'd be doing."
"But he's already said this event isn't anywhere in the book," Raven scoffed, "How much more information can he glean from it?"
The screen was black and the words 'A few months later' appeared.
The warehouse was on screen, Elm and Harriet walked in.
Harriet paused shortly after entering, "I think I'm done."
Harriet sighed, "I guess Vine got to me. I'll have to thank him later."
"Done with what?" Elm questioned.
Harriet scoffed, "The alliance. I think it's time to call it quits."
Elm would have glared, if we could see her eyes, "For what reason?"
"I wouldn't mention that though," Ren noted, "From what you said, just Vine's name might put Elm over the edge."
"She better have a good reason though," Velvet agreed, "If she doesn't have one of those either, Elm will still be mad."
"To put it simply," Harriet explained, "I entered this alliance thinking we were preparing to fight some impending darkness, but it hasn't come."
"In fact," she continued, "There haven't been any suspicious incidents recently, and you haven't rallied anyone else to your cause." She sat down on one of the small tables in the room.
"That's exactly the reason I needed," Harriet nodded.
"Wait," Neo question, "Just the Nightmare and then nothing? That's suspicious in and of itself."
Adam smirked, "Now you're getting it."
"Maybe it was just a fluke," Sun suggested.
"Yeah, but…" Elm started, but trailed off as Harriet was right.
Harriet sighed, "This alliance is meaningless. Even Vine agrees." Harriet fake gasped as she realized her mistake.
"Why?" Harriet yelled at the screen, "Why would you say that?"
"She meant to," Emerald noted, "I know how to play a con, and that was either an amateur move, or on purpose."
The room took a moment to let this information sink in.
"She has been kind of shifty this whole time," Nora agreed, "Maybe she's the traitor!"
At the mention of Vine's name, Elm got angry, "Vine!?"
"Uh-oh," Harriet started in a sing-song voice, "You weren't supposed to find out."
Harriet sighed, "I think I am the traitor after all. Now I'm just antagonizing her."
"But why though?" Blake asked, "It doesn't make any sense."
Elm stalked over to her and stared down at her, "Is Vine the one who told you to break our alliance?"
"Hmm," Harriet looked around, trying to figure out how to word this, "Maybe. But I'm the one who decided to do it, and I've already told you why."
Elm's hand shook briefly before she grabbed Harriet by her collar and lifted her off the ground. "But we don't even know who the traitor is yet!" she yelled into her face.
"And she's too blinded by her anger to see it," Mercury chuckled, "Way to go, traitor!"
Harriet struggled a bit before stating, "And that's exactly why."
Elm dropped her and turned around. She sighed in defeat and Harriet sighed in understanding, "I just can't trust anyone but myself," she explained.
"Wait, if she's the traitor, why would she think that?" Ilia asked.
"Right," Velvet agreed, "If she was the traitor, she could trust everyone else."
"If it were me," Roman noted, "I'd have said I was siding with Vine, and then run away as fast as I could. Not that I'd do that now, of course, but I would've."
Elm turned back to her as she walked towards the door, "Don't you realize you won't stand a chance against the darkness on your own?"
Harriet stopped at the door and looked back at Elm, "Sorry, my mind's made up." She walked out.
Elm clenched her fist, "Vine, you will regret this!"
"Oh, boy," Neptune winced, "This isn't gonna be good."
"I hear ya," Sun agreed, "I sense a big fight coming up."
Nora and Mercury grinned. It had been a while since they saw a good fight.
The scene changed and Elm walked into the Master's office. On his books the words 'Case of Elm' are seen.
"I actually forgot what her roll was," Ruby said sheepishly.
"To support Clover," Weiss scowled.
"Well, then she's failing spectacularly," Yang chuckled.
"Ah," Cinder smiled, "I see what's going on. I must say I'm impressed."
"If your impressed, I'm extremely worried about what's going on," Neo groaned.
"And you weren't when Adam figured it out?" Blake asked.
Elm looked around but didn't see the Master.
"You been here long? My bad."
Elm turned to see the Master approaching behind her. "No," she answered.
The Master sat down before turning back to Elm, "So, what did you want?"
"Uh," Elm started in shock, "You didn't forget, did you? You're the one who called me here."
The Master scoffed, "Lighten up, I was just kidding!"
"I wish he'd take this seriously," Winter shook her head.
"I think it's part of his charm," Ruby giggled, "So far he's actually been a neat character!"
"And a mystery," Blake added, "I still don't really know who he actually is!"
He chuckled before continuing, "I didn't forget. Give me a little credit here. I was just testing you!"
Elm was confused, "R-Right…"
"Now then," the Master continued, "Allow me to tell you about your role. You're going to be Clover's right-hand woman."
"That's what we already knew," Pyrrha noted, "I don't think we're going to learn a lot here."
"But we need too," Jaune sat up in anticipation, "Elm's actions don't make any sense if that is all there is to her role."
"What?" Elm asked, "Clover's right-hand woman? What do you mean?"
"Well," the Master explained, "Clover's gonna be the new leader after I'm gone, you see, so just stand by him. Don't disappoint." He waved Elm away.
"Or she could just be really bad at it," Nora suggested.
Adam shook his head, "Just keep watching. It really is a masterpiece what's going on."
Elm stood in shock and protested, "Explain to me, Master. What do you mean Clover's going to be leader?"
"What?" the Master asked, "Is that disappointment I hear? Did you want to be leader?"
"No!" Elm protested, realizing her mistake, "I mean, if you had asked me to be the leader, that's a different story, but I wasn't trying…"
"THAT'S what this is about?" Oscar asked incredulously, "She just wants to be leader."
"If that's what she wanted, she could have just asked," Clover shrugged.
"You really wanna be leader, huh?" the Master interrupted.
"I, well…" Elm looked down in defeat.
"I know you want it," the Master acknowledged, "But that just isn't enough. Any chump can say," he deepened his voice. "'You! Here's a huge promotion. Good job!'" he went back to his normal voice, "and make you head honcho, but enthusiasm alone doesn't make a great leader."
"He's right about that," Weiss agreed, "That's a lesson I learned a long time ago."
"When?" Ruby asked.
"Remember the first night I made you coffee," Weiss blushed slightly, "Well, I had a talk with Professor Port about my attitude. He basically told me the same thing, only with less joking."
"Oh," Ruby nodded, "Well, I'm glad he did! You're the best teammate anyone could ask for, Weiss!"
"T-Thanks, Ruby," Weiss sighed lightly.
"Clover needs someone like you to give him a push in the right direction," the Master explained.
"Ah!" Elm exclaimed, but her tone stated she felt otherwise, "I agree, Clover is definitely the most worthy among us. I'm sure he'll make a fine leader."
"Then it's settled," the Master stated.
"It would appear we will not be learning anything new after all," Penny noted.
"Wait," Elm argued, "I agreed that he is worthy. But why do we need a new leader, Master?"
"Does, does that mean you will no longer be teaching us?" she asked.
"Well," the Master admitted, "I might disappear one day…"
Elm's jaw dropped open. She stood there stunned.
The Master looked at her for a reaction, but her brain was trying to reboot itself. "Well," he started again, "I might disappear…"
"Disappear?!" she shouted, causing the Master to jump, "Why? Where?!"
The theater collectively laughed at the scene.
"Speak up sooner if you're listening," the Master scolded, "That was embarrassing for me!"
He stood up before continuing, "Anyway, I don't know if I'm gonna disappear or not. It's anyone's guess right now."
"But…" Elm stated worriedly.
"In any case," the Master interrupted, "you need to support Clover. We both now he's quite serious. He's always just thinking and thinking and thinking behind that unicorn mask of his, so everyone will be counting on you to spur him into action."
"That's new," Summer pointed out.
"But it's still the same thing," Raven countered, "There's nothing other than supporting Clover still."
"So Elm has to be the traitor," Sun commented, "If she's not following her role, she's the traitor, according to the Ops."
"But she's still light," Ilia countered, "I don't think we're any closer to finding the traitor than when we started."
"Uh…right," Elm looked down, still worried about the Master disappearing.
The Master walked toward her, "You might not be entirely happy with your role, but just know that it's the most important one. Capiche?" he slapped his hand on Elm's shoulder.
Weiss sat up, "This is it!"
"Yup," Jaune agreed, "No one would explain this role as the most important without a reason."
Everyone, except Adam, Cinder and Gordeau, moved to the edge of their seats.
"Huh?" Elm asked.
"Shall I elaborate?" the Master started, "Making Clover the leader is all good in theory, but sometime later you might think, 'he's terrible at this,' in which case it'll be your job to step up."
Adam smirked, "See? It was his plan all along for Elm to oppose Clover."
"What?" Ruby asked.
"The Master played them," Cinder smirked, "It truly was a master manipulation. I think I may need to take notes!"
The stunned silence around the room proved everybody was thinking.
Winter, Clover and Harriet felt like they had been thrown into a nightmare. This was the type of person they never wanted giving orders.
Summer and the younger viewers, save Neo, sat in stunned horror. Even Blake and Ilia had never experienced this kind of manipulation before.
Mercury, Raven, and Emerald were impressed. All three were pretty skilled manipulators in their own right. Mercury and Emerald both decided to watch more closely. Raven actually sighed. She had actually wished she hadn't been right about the Master.
Ozpin, Qrow, Taiyang, and Roman just sat with grim expressions on their faces.
Neo sighed. She suddenly felt a connection to the apprentices. She had almost killed someone because of manipulations. She knew what that was like.
"Who knows?" the Master pondered, "Your leadership might be just what everyone needs. And that is your true role."
Elm smiled in understanding and pride.
"May your heart be your guiding key," the Master finished, "Best of luck, Elm!"
Everyone just sat in silence, until the theater shook and went black.
"EEP!"
"What's going on Vert!"
"I don't know, AND STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
"Someone keep an eye on the Terrible Trio!"
Just as quickly as they turned off the lights turned back on. What was strange, was that quite a few new seats had been added to the theater, as well as some people having been moved.
"What?" Winter, being on of the ones who moved, asked, "I don't remember moving down here!"
"Everybody just keep calm," Gordeau suggested. "I'll look into it later, I swear. Let's just finish this up."
Everyone settled in to their new seats, apprehensive about what was to come.
AN:
Hello all! I hope you all are staying safe. Just a quick PSA: If you've been ordered to, STAY HOME!
As a gas station attendant, I know I'm a necessary part of life, but if you don't have an actual reason to go out DON'T
Those of us that don't have a choice don't want to get sick either, so for our sake and yours, help everyone stay safe!
Anyway, to the story.
This was the chapter I have been waiting for! I'd been burning out for a little while, but this one turned out great, in my opinion. I know it's short, but we're getting to the good parts of Back Cover and I'm super excited.
After getting a new seating chart, provided by Zweig, it was suggested I post it every chapter to help keep where characters are straight.
Eventually, every seat will be filled, and a few surprises might be thrown in but here's the new chart:
Laps: Ruby's: Jinn, Weiss's: Zwei, Pyrrha's: 6
Row one: 1: Penny; 2: Ruby; 3: Weiss; 4: Winter; 5: Blake; 6: Yang; 7: Velvet; 8: 4; 9: Jaune; 10: Pyrrha; 11: Nora; 12: Ren
Row two: 1: 3; 2: 10; 3: Neptune; 4: Sun; 5: Ilia; 6: Neo; 7: 6; 8: 5; 9: 6; 10: 6; 11: 7; 12: 5
Row three: 1: Taiyang; 2: Summer; 3: Raven; 4: Qrow; 5: Roman; 6: 5; 7: 8; 8: 6; 9: Ozpin; 10: Oscar; 11: 5; 12: Gordeau
Row four: 1: 6; 2: 7; 3: 5; 4: 7; 5: 4; 6: 4; 7: 2; 8: 2; 9: 5; 10: 7; 11: 6; 12: 3
Row Five: 1: Clover; 2: Harriet; 3: 6; 4: 3; 5: 4; 6: 8; 7: 5; 8: 6; 9: 5; 10: 5; 11: 4; 12: 4
Row Six: 1: 4; 2: 6; 3: Adam; 4: 5; 5: 5; 6: 6; 7: 6; 8: 5; 9: 5; 10: Cinder; 11: Emerald; 12: Mercury
Hope this helps, and feel free to guess at seats (the number of question marks is important) (EDIT: Question marks didn't show up, changed to the number after the colon is the number of letters in the characters name) but again, expect a few surprises.
And now on to the poll!
Tied for Eighth: Coco Adel, Dew Gayl, Harriet Bree, Lisa Lavender, Miltia Malachite, Octavia Ember, Saphron Cotta-Arc, Summer Rose, Tock, Willow Schnee, and Winter Schnee all with 1
Tied for Seventh: Emerald Sustrai, Jinn, Nora Valkyrie, Salem (Grimm), Salem (Blonde), Velvet Scarlatina, and Weiss Schnee all with 2.
Tied for Sixth: Blake Belladonna and Cinder Fall both with 3
Tied for Fifth: Raven Branwen, Ruby Rose, and Sienna Kahn all with 4
Tied for Fourth: Glynda Goodwitch and Kali Belladonna both with 5
Third: Neo Politan with 6
Second: Pyrrha Nikos with 7
First: Yang Xiao-Long with 9
Keep the votes coming! See you next time!
