Ch. 33
"Status report! Soldier! I said give me a status report!" Desmond yelled.
He stood over two female White Fang; one had ram horns and was cowering with her knees pulled up to her chest on the floor of the communication room while the other had a panther tail and was comforting her comrade.
"Desmond, please! She's too frightened to speak and you're not helping!" The panther tailed faunus yelled back.
"What is going on here?!" screamed Corvus as he entered the room.
Desmond turned to Corvus. "Don't worry about it Lieutenant, this is my business."
"I know you sent a squad of our men out into the Emerald Forest, following a group of Ghouls," Corvus said.
Desmond didn't reply at first, he just stared at him with mild indifference.
"To be honest, that was very reckless," Corvus continued. "We already have a plan in place, with steps to follow. Gathering dust is one of our top priorities right now. We may both be somewhat on par in leadership, but your jurisdiction is with your team and your own operations, not sending my men on suicide missions. So…you should-."
Corvus had no time to finish, as he moved his head to narrowly dodge a knife thrown his way. Despite the lieutenant being about five times his size, Desmond tackled him through the sheet metal door out of the room. Desmond stood up glaring while Corvus got up with no sign of being fazed by the sudden attack. His expression was unreadable behind his full-faced mask. Desmond dashed around Corvus, trying to get him where his guard was least effective. He found a spot: the Lieutenant's back left. Desmond produced a dagger from his coat and took the chance. Although, Corvus saw the red head coming and grabbed his face. He then smashed Desmond into the floor in front of him, then cocked his right fist back and plunged it into the cement near the boy's head. Corvus slowly pulled his fist out of the hole he made while Desmond just stared with wide eyes.
"Kid, we shouldn't be fighting. We're all comrades here, not enemies. Right?" Corvus raised his hand.
Desmond blinked several times, then took his comrade's hand with some hesitation. "Right."
"I'm sorry for attacking you there. I was upset about the results of that…operation, and I don't work too well with authority figures under stress," Desmond said as he got to his feet.
Corvus chuckled. "No shit. Just keep that impulse under control and you'll be fine in the future. Especially with the important assignment, Adam has just for you. As for the rest of you, get back to what you were doing. Nothing to see here!"
Desmond failed to notice the large crowd of soldiers that they had attracted in the scuffle. He waited until they all cleared out to talk to the Lieutenant again.
"What assignment am I needed for Corvus?" asked Desmond.
"I'm not going to tell you yet, but I know you'll like it very much."
XXXXXXX
In the Beacon auditorium…
"My fellow students, I know you have been looking forward to this, but it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that the Vytal Tournament is canceled for this year."
This announcement caused an uproar amongst the huntsmen in training.
Ozpin expected this but continued. "I am sorry, but as I have been informed the Amity Colosseum is currently out of commission. And the tournament wouldn't be the same without its grand stage. Although, the festival is still being held in the fairgrounds, and new additions have been made for your benefit. Again, I am sorry to bring such news, and I hope that you all, like the rest of the world, enjoy the festival."
Ozpin then left the microphone and began to exit with Glynda. The students also left, all the while groaning amongst one another.
"What do you think happened?"
"You think the Colosseum is malfunctioning or something?"
"Dammit, I was so ready to see some action this year?"
"Will we have to wait two more years? Freaking sucks!"
Ruby groaned. "I wanted to see weapons in action! And show off Crescent Rose!"
"What exactly would have to happen for something as advanced as the Amity Colosseum to malfunction? There's Atlas tech in there," Weiss wondered.
"Uh, remember, that's tech contributions from all kingdoms. Not just Atlas," Abaddon added. "And just like everyone else, they are far from perfect."
"So, what new additions do you think they've added?" Emma asked.
"We won't know until we find out," said Kathleen. "Let's go to the fairgrounds."
KAJE and RWBY traveled to the campus fairgrounds where the field was occupied by a multitude of stalls selling wares and food and offering various services. Even though the tournament was canceled, many people still strolled about, chatting merrily with one another. At one food stand, JNPR was being served bowls of noodles by a man who looked a lot similar to the owner of From Dust Till Dawn.
"Oi, JNPR! How's it going?" Jurano called out.
"Hey, guys!" Nora greeted. "We're just grabbing a bite to eat before we hit the carnival."
"Carnival?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, that's what was added to the festival," Pyrrha explained. "Half of the carnival will be here, while the other half will be in the city. Remember, Vytal is all about celebrating the union between the kingdoms of Remnant. There doesn't always have to be a fighting competition."
"But that's one of, if not the best, parts of the Vytal Festival. Many were hoping to see some ass kicking or show of their skills," Abaddon said. "Now it'll be another two years until that happens."
"I still think we'll wipe the floor with any of the teams we come across. No offense to the rest of you of course," Jurano boasted.
"You thinkin' you could beat us huh?" Sun and his team approached them, each of them carrying cotton candy resembling their team's colors.
"Yes. Yes, I do," Jurano replied.
"Come on guys. There's no need for any intense competition between friends," Ruby told them.
"True, but Sun insisted that we help him get stronger. Ever since he lost to some lizard faunus here in Vale he's been training a lot lately," Neptune told them.
"Great," Blake groaned.
"Hey Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet, could you three get my team and I some cotton candy too? If you don't mind that is," Abaddon asked.
"Sure. What about Sun?" Scarlet asked.
"I need to talk to him about his training. Gotta make sure he's doing it right," the boy told them.
"Gotcha. We'll be right back." Then the three left, leaving Sun with eight pairs of eyes on him.
"Don't worry guys, I kept my mouth shut. Mostly," said Sun.
"Sun, you're not overdoing it are you?" Blake asked.
"What? No, I'm fine. See?" Sun stretched his arms and winced, grabbing at the pain in his left shoulder.
"Dude, you're not training. You're are overdoing it. That's called torturing your body," Abaddon explained. "That method is fine for some, but not for you."
Sun sighed. "I just thought that I needed to be a better fighter."
"No." Blake went up to Sun and flicked him on his nose. "You shouldn't be doing this just because you lost to a guy like Bantus. He's…different."
"She's right. You survived your first encounter and that's all that matters," said Abaddon.
"Yeah, take it easy," said Emma. "Abby and Kat can take care of him."
"Hopefully it's just me." Abaddon put a hand on Sun's chest. He concentrated his power and used it to quickly heal the monkey boy.
"There, good as new," Abaddon smiled. "Although, you need a spotter next time you wanna work your ass off. You hurt yourself like that again and I'll just let you deal with it."
"Alright, alright. I get it," Sun whined. "Thanks though."
Just then, Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet returned.
"Here's your cotton candy guys. And they match your team colors too, thought you'd like that." Neptune gave each member of team KAJE a bag of cotton candy. They had four colors mixed in them to represent each member: violet for Kathleen, dark red for Abaddon, gray for Jurano, and blue-green for Emma.
"Thanks, guys," Kathleen said before popping a bit of cotton candy into her mouth.
"You're welcome. Also, there's a guy here who followed us from the cotton candy stall," Sage told them. "He said he knows you."
"Who could it be?" Emma said with her mouth full.
From behind Sage came a boy about their age. He had somewhat dark skin and short black hair with an undercut. He had two large bangs on either side of his face with green highlights on the ends. He also had a green headband adorned with zig-zagging patterns, purple eyes, and a silver earring on his right ear. He wore a grey sleeveless shirt under a dark jean jacket, dark jeans with grey armored padding covering the entirety of his shins, and dark brown boots. He also had two dark green belts on both of his forearms, a pair of goggles around his neck, a brown utility pack on his right hip, black gloves that covered all but his pointer fingers, a pair of large mechanical cylinders on his back, and green tattoos of a joker's card on both his shoulders.
"What's uuuuuupppp!"
"No fucking way!" Abaddon yelled.
"Oh my god bitch!" Jurano screamed.
Both boys tackled the newcomer in a bear hug. The others, except Emma and Kathleen, looked confused.
"Kathleen, who is that?" Weiss asked.
"Remember when Abaddon and Jurano talked about the Psycho Protocol," Kathleen said. "That's Jack, the guy who made it and the craziest person you'll ever know."
"Wow, I didn't think someone crazy would look like that," said Yang.
"Didn't think you'd see me here did ya guys?" Jack laughed.
"Yeah, we thought you would stay on Marrowshin working as a mechanic after graduation," Emma said.
Jack chuckled. "I'm still a mechanic, but I'm here helping my uncle Bartley and other people with mechanical issues."
Jack waved at the old man working in the food stall they were working in. "Hey, uncle. I'm gonna go on break for a while."
The old man waved back and nodded.
"Didn't even know you had an uncle in Vale dude," Jurano said.
"Excuse me guys," Jaune interrupted, "but what's the Psycho Protocol?"
"Huh? Oh, you guys must be the new friends I've been told about." Jack took a bow. "I'm Jack Ioculator, an old friend of team KAJE and the Jester of Marrowshin. And if I remember correctly, you lot are Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren. And the ones who lead me here are Sun Wukong, Neptune Vasillias, Scarlet David, and Sage Ayana. Nice to meet you."
The others greeted Jack as well.
"And speaking of the Psycho Protocol, it's a list of a lot of bullshit tasks that I started with these two idiots. They range from embarrassing to outright crazy. In fact," Jack continued as he pulled a fresh paper scroll from inside his jean jacket, "I have an updated version right here. Just finished it the other day."
"Hand it over man." Abaddon held out his hand as Jack gave him the scroll. He opened it up wide enough for him, Kathleen, Jurano, and Emma to gaze at it. The more they read, the more their expressions changed. Abaddon and Jurano were on the verge of hysterical laughter, Kathleen had a combination of shock, disgust, and irritation, and Emma looked like she was close to fainting.
"Ugghh! You are the worst!" Kathleen huffed.
"Alright, the rest of you kids come see this."
Jack laid the parchment on one of the stalls dining boards, in front of team RWBY's seats. All members of RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN huddled to read the parchment. It only took a minute or two for some of them to show reactions.
"Oh, my word," Pyrrha said, covering her mouth.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Jaune clutched his stomach.
"Yang, what does that mean?" Ruby asked.
"You must never know," Yang replied with wide eyes.
"Absolutely unacceptable!" Weiss whined.
"This is insane!" Scarlet exclaimed.
Sage gazed at the Abaddon, Jack, and Jurano. "I assume you've done some of these tasks."
Jurano rubbed his nose. "Task 25: Sabotage the girl's locker room showers so instead of water coming out the shower heads, its urine. That one was fun."
Emma punched Jurano in the chest. "Dammit, that was you?!"
"Task 34: Put laxatives in the teacher's lounge, more specifically any food or liquids they have. Lock the teacher's restroom and the door to the lounge once they're inside. Have their predicament put on blast for all to see via a hidden camera connected to all the monitors in school. Special conditions: Get the principal in the lounge and hang a sign outside the lounge that says, 'Gotta shit?' I only allowed a certain number of professors to be pardoned from the same fate," Abaddon said evilly.
"Task 82: Flirt with the most despicable and spoiled student in school, discover their fetishes, and play with them. Record them on video without them knowing and either put the recording online, play it during school hours, or play the audio in places for people to hear. Description of task differs on whether the victim is girl or guy. It is your choice of where and how to publicize the video or audio. It can be more than one victim. Special condition: Screw them, if you know what I mean. Using protection is strongly advised. The bitch I did that to deserved it after the shit she pulled. Thanks to that Emma didn't have to worry about being bullied by Sarah again. I had to come up with that task on the fly," Jack proclaimed.
"Wow you guys have a lot of guts," Neptune told the three boys.
"Or they're all equally crazy," Blake added.
"You could've just broken her legs! I know I would!" Nora yelled.
"Is that why Sarah would get nervous whenever she saw Emma? You didn't have to go that far," Kathleen said.
"I appreciate it, but yeah what she said," Emma chimed.
"Yeah, but no one fucks with my besties. So, I go as far as I want, no matter how ashamed others were of me or how much she threatened to get back at me. Plus, her performance wasn't bad, a bit of an amateur though," Jurano continued. "But I got a woman now! And she's serious!"
Jurano raised an eyebrow. "Really? Who would be crazy enough to get serious with our best man?"
Jack smiled. "Well, its part of the reason I came over here. You all gotta come with me to the city. I have a surprise for you."
