Chapter 28: Doubts and a Vacation
-White Fang Outpost Vale, Just after the incident of the breach-
Bell barely managed to haul Lyme and Dune through to their medical station. Dune was in pretty bad shape, the beetle Faunus might not actually make it, the damage to his lungs and lower abdomen was severe. Lyme's legs would heal but he'd be out of commission for a few weeks at the very least. She was the least damaged but her wings took some slight burning from the heat Nova was emitting.
She shook herself off and raked her palms across her face, sinking it into her hands. Another week, another failure. How could they be beaten so easily? They were a team of the most elite soldiers the White Fang had to offer, each specially trained to handle any and all combat type situations. From infiltration and espionage to all-out warfare, there was not a single military force on the face of Remnant that could match them... so why? Why is it that a couple of kids, who were still wet behind their ears, barely a few months with of experience, were taking the world's largest metaphorical dump on their operation?
The first time team BLADE failed Onyx drilled them for hours, Adam got his body beaten half to death by the High Commander himself... and she could still hear Lyme's screams echoing in her mind. She was spared only because it was her wits that pulled Adam out of the fight.
The way failure was treated at their organization was horrible, even before they became a team, they were all at one point or the other subject to the atrocities of their superiors.
Dune usually took the punishment the worst. Due to his 'unbreakable' body, Onyx subjected the large beetle-man to multiple experiments. Every time he failed, Dune would have something inside him replaced with cybernetic enhancement. First, it was his left arm, then his right, then his vocal cords, eventually they removed his ability to feel emotion completely. Now he was barely half Faunus, and more machine than flesh and blood. Sighing heavily, she took a quick shower and changed out of the bloody rags that she called clothes, and slipped into her uniform, dreading the report she was about to give to High Commander Onyx.
Bell stumbled into the council room and stood at attention, facing down Onyx, who sat at the head of a great round table. His face stoic and icy, like that of a man that'd seen hundreds of battles. The scars across his face combined with his rugged look, sharp jaw and thick beard made for a terrifying figure. Every bone in her body was shaking, every muscle, begging her to run, but her duty as a soldier compelled her to continue.
"Report, field agent Wings." The tall bear-like man said as he sat, glaring at the exhausted girl. "What happened out there?!" his voice was deep and commanding, it sent waves of fear down the blonde's spine, the sheer terrifying aura drying her throat in an attempt to choke her where she stood.
"High Commander Onyx sir!" Bell stood at attention, just barely, as her legs were shaking. "Our operation at Mount Glenn was blown to hell by a squadron of Beacon students accompanied by two professional Huntsmen. They took down our lab and destroyed the latest mecha soldier prototype."
Just then, the doors to the great room slammed open to reveal a rather annoyed Adam Taurus and what looked to be a boy in a black suit with shining gold embroidery.
"So you failed! Get to the point!" Adam spat joining Onyx as they sat around a conference table.
"Captain Taurus sir! We lost Elain Flareheart in the fight, her corpse was found lying under her collapsed lab, burnt to a crisp."
Onyx who had been trying to remain calm slammed his fist down on the table cracking it.
"WHAT?! OUR LEADING SCIENTIST IS DEAD?!" He roared in anger, the entire room shook like a small tremor causing everyone to flinch back in fear.
"Calm down sir! Bell are you sure it was her?" Adam said trying to appease his leader.
"The body was burnt beyond all recognition, we had the guys at the lab run a test on the blood samples we found on the coat and body, the DNA matches."
Onyx's fury morphed into hysterically mad, his suddenly tore out of his anger and laughed madly, as if the whole situation was so horrible it was funny.
"Sir? Is something wrong?" Bell asked curiously
"You said the lab coat? Blood splatters? YOU FOOL! If she died in a fire… there would be NO blood splatters on her coat. Even if there were, they'd have dried up from the heat. Besides… that woman isn't stupid, she most likely set that up to buy herself time to escape. She probably fucked off with those humans at Beacon."
"Sir then what do we do about Flint Flareheart?" Adam asked curiously, their whole operation banked on that man's co-operation. If Flint found out his wife was no longer their hostage, he'd either kill himself or stop working altogether. That dragon was prideful, he'd rather die than help them any further.
Onyx pondered for a moment, stroking his beard thoughtfully, "Tell him nothing. If he finds out his wife has escaped then we won't have any means to make him co-operate… He needs to continue to believe she's in our hands…"
"Do we know who attacked our camp? Where they acquired the information on our location?" the boy in the black and gold suit asked, his voice sounded raspy and dark.
"Captain Edan sir, It was the Dragon children and their allies," Bell confirmed, hating the words herself as if merely mentioning Nova was like a curse upon her lips.
"He's still alive?" Adam asked curiously, he was grateful the brat was still breathing. "Good… now I can kill him again…" he seethed.
"Those lizards are a problem… but how do we get rid of them…" Onyx continued to stroke his beard in concentration.
"Don't worry about that… come time for the Vytaal tournament… all will be realized." A sultry feminine voice said as Cinder appeared on a large monitor in the center of the table, her sudden appearance jolted everyone at the table.
"Cinder Fall… Just because we're partners doesn't mean you can just freely break into our networks and call us." Onyx said sizing up to her, he stood twice her size.
She laughed and made a dismissive wave with her hands, "There, there grizzly, how else am I supposed to get you to answer the phone? Besides, there's no need to get impatient. That little dragon and his friends will all burn when we enact our operation…"
Onyx snorted, "Your operation? With that fool Torchwick? He's failed twice now and look at what it's cost us."
"Failed? Oh by no means has he failed. The Breach was a success! The whole point wasn't to kill Vale… it was to sow the seeds of chaos. Make them realize their city isn't impenetrable…. Soon they'll go running into the arms of our queen." She smiled.
"Queen?" Adam asked curiously.
"Do not concern yourself with matters that are above you, apprentice. For now, ready your team, you'll be undergoing special…training…"The commander instructed.
"But sir two of them are in critical condition!" Bell exclaimed referring to Dune and Lyme.
"It matters not. They will work regardless."
"BUT!"
"YOU WILL LISTEN TO YOUR SUPERIORS WELP!" His voice boomed, silencing everyone in the room. Even Cinder jumped back a little and she wasn't even physically there.
She chuckled, finally breaking the tension, "You certainly do have a fiery temper, Mr. High Commander, we'll speak later, there are much more important matters to attend to than listening to your petty squabble." with that she signed off.
Once she was gone, Edan spoke up, "Sir if I might add, does this 'training' include us as well?" he gestured between him and Adam.
Onyx eyed them, "Did I stutter?"
Adam was baffled, "But Master, why are we to take the fall for their failure?"
"Because it was your inability to train them that they failed to protect our base. You two buffoons are in charge of them, so it is your duty to own up as captains. YOU WILL DO AS YOU ARE TOLD!" The bear-man boomed as he prodded Adam's chest, towering nearly three heads over the man.
Bell had been standing there quietly, drinking in every word that Onyx said. Why did they need to be punished? They failed because they were outmanned and outgunned, if anything it is the White Fang soldiers that needed to be disciplined... so why them? It was then that the words Nova said to her in the cavern resurfaced in her mind. Were they just fighting Onyx's war or were they fighting for the White Fang? How did all these operations benefit their race as a whole?
All the genetics research, the new weapons, the bombings, the stealing. Working with these humans that they despised so much, was this really all for the greater good of the Faunus race? Or was this entire thing just a scheme built on lies made to fuel this so-called 'High Commander's ' own objective?
The more she stood thinking on it, the more the roar of her commander droned to low vibration. Eventually, she'd had enough.
"Blind orders again? Is this what you wanted? What about the dragons? Did they really commit the crimes you said they did?" she asked, tearing Onyx away from his assault on the two captains, even Adam was now interested.
The Commander instantly halted all motions and eyed her dangerously, "Who has been filling your head with lies…?" he seethed, his black aura flaring dangerously, enveloping the room in a mass of miasma, Adam could feel his throat constrict as it became more difficult to breathe.
Even if Bell wanted to answer, Onyx's aura was exuding a pressure so great that it made it impossible to operate functionally.
"It matters not, you only need to carry out your duties and nothing more. Soon all of Remnant will bow to the power of the White Fang…" the pressure died down once he saw the look of absolute terror on all their faces. He smiled darkly to himself, even if his subordinates had doubts, they wouldn't dare oppose him out of fear. He enjoyed that feeling, being able to make people eat their own words just by his mere presence.
The way that sounded struck a bad chord with Adam. When he'd been enlisted he wanted to take the humans down for sure but…. Why did it feel like this had less to do with empowering the Faunus and more like empowering Onyx…
He couldn't dwell on these thoughts. They clouded his judgment. He just needed to trust his master, that's all there was to it.
-Later that Day-
Bell sat in the training room, her normal attire replaced by a pair of baggy tracks and a tank top that allowed her wings to stretch out. She was laying waste to a punching bag hanging in the small gym, venting all of her anger and frustration onto the object, as if every punch she sent flying was therapeutic. She'd seen that look Onyx had in his eyes, that man had the power to kill all of them at once if they stepped out of line. He could order their execution in an instant and they'd be powerless to stop him.
She respected Onyx, his ambition and leadership skills were the driving forces, but now she hated him. In that one instant in that room, all the puzzle pieces had fit together. She knew he was a self-important tyrant from the moment she laid eyes on him.
Wait that's not right... didn't I just say I respected him... she thought. No... I've always hated him... when I think about respecting him... why does it feel so wrong? I've always hated him, haven't I? That's right! I'm loyal to Adam not...
Her thoughts became confused, wracking her brain with an intense headache that propelled an incredible feeling of anger, forcing her thoughts away from her.
"Bell stop, you'll break your arms if you continue tearing into that thing." A male voice said, bringing her back to reality.
Bell stopped herself in confusion, staring back at the bag and blinking rapidly. She'd torn a hole straight through the material and the sandbag was now hanging by a thread of cloth, its grainy contents on the floor. Her hands were trembling, why was she so angry again?
A calloused hand gripped hers forcing her to look up at the owner of the appendage. "Adam?" She asked, unsure if she was back to reality.
"It's me kid, calm down. Are you okay?" He asked referring to her outburst earlier and now the bag.
Bell sighed and slumped to the floor. "I... I'm not sure..."
"What you said back there, about the dragons being innocent... what did you mean?" Adam asked, his tone of voice different from its usual commanding tone.
Bell looked up from her spot on the floor, "It's nothing... just something that idiot Nova said to me back when we fought"
"What did he say?" Adam was very interested now.
"He said... that we were the ones who attacked him first. That Onyx ordered the attack and covered it up, he said his family never betrayed our people, and that we weren't fighting for the Faunus... we were fighting for Onyx." she explained.
Adam was thoughtful for a moment, "You don't believe him do you?"
Bell was hesitant to answer, "Of course not... it's just..."
"It's just...?"
"Are we doing the right thing?" Her question threw Adam for a complete loop. "All this war, fighting, and killing... is it really for the benefit of the White Fang? For All Faunus?" The moment the words left her mouth she felt a sharp pain shoot through the back of her mind driving her to make her want to punch the nearest wall.
Adam saw the shift in her demeanor, "So... you've been getting it to then..."
She looked up confused, "Getting what?"
"The sudden spurts of anger, the pain. Every time I've thought about Onyx and his actions, I've been getting this awful pain in the back of my neck and it makes me want to kill someone..."
Bell rubbed the back of her neck, "It's only happened today... being the first time I've ever had... doubts... What could this mean?" but his face was unreadable.
She was about to press for more when he suddenly grabbed her shoulder, "Master Onyx is working for the good of all Faunus, so that we an all rise up against these humans. You'd do well to remember that... don't do something you'll regret..." He said viciously before releasing her and walking off, leaving the blonde girl perplexed and worried.
Adam rounded the corner and slumped himself against the back wall just outside the room, out of sight. He raked his hands across his face. Fuck... Master isn't some self-serving tyrant... he's doing this for the good of all of us. This pain is nothing more than mere coincidence, just a product of stress... it's just stress... he chanted over and over in his mind as if he was convincing himself he was right.
-Presently At Beacon-
Team ASHNRWBY were busy preparing themselves for the Vytal tournament. Female Nova hadn't been seen in a few days and most of the students assumed she just went back home. They didn't need to explain to anyone other than a depressed Nora that her favourite white-haired dragon girl wasn't coming back any time soon. They were all gathered in the training room, practicing their various combinations and battle strategies.
"Oz give us any word on how we're supposed to tackle the team matches? We're an eight-person team." Yang asked pointing out the obvious.
They were all engaged in sparring sessions with each other, mostly. Nova was the only exception since he was training Luna to control her power.
"I think we're supposed to tackle it as team ASHN and team RWBY separately. At least from what he told me yesterday, we're being registered as two separate bodies, though we are allowed to mix and match our partners for duos round." Nova confirmed as he helped Luna get into a position.
Luna was concentrating very hard on manipulating the space between objects, moving them around or levitating them. She was getting pretty good at controlling it, until she lost focus and accidentally hit Weiss over the head with a bean bag.
"You know… Nova is the Aspect of Fire or whatever… what exactly is Luna's power?" Blake asked curiously studying the girl's training.
Nova felt his brain falter, he'd never actually thought about it. He knew she had powers and that he was the Aspect of Fire but he had no idea what she was. He'd just wrote it off as a unique power mutation.
"We don't exactly have a name for it. This is the first time a power like hers has ever manifested before…" he replied.
"Umm… well, I control space vectors and object displacement so… the Aspect of Physics?" the blue dragon offered curiously.
Nova deadpanned, "Luna, that sounds…."
"Lame as fuck." Yang finished for him.
Ruby thought for a moment, "What about the Aspect of Lunar? Cuz I read that the moon controls our gravity or whatever so maybe?"
"The moon doesn't control our gravity, you dolt, it applies its own gravitational pull to... you know what? Never mind... her powers aren't gravitationally based…. Still, I like where you're coming from." Weiss said flicking Ruby over the head.
Ruby pouted, "Novaaa, Weiss is bullying meee." She said hugging her boyfriend by the waist and giving him puppy dog eyes.
He looked at her smugly, then back and the heiress, "Weiss please keep bullying my girlfriend." He replied causing Ruby to pout.
"Meanie."
Weiss just smirked, "Great minds think alike… Come on Ruby we need to work on our strategy for the duos round."
"BUT THAT DOESN'T START FOR LIKE THREE WEEKS!" she squealed as she was dragged off, her arms flailing in protest.
"WAIT! Before you leave to listen to this for a sec," Nova said garnering everyone.
Hex and Nitro came closer and sat down on a bench next to him, "What is its cap?"
Nova inhaled, "Luna and I are going to reveal ourselves to the world."
They all looked at him curiously, "What I mean is. During the tournament, we're going to go on stage with our hoods and then reveal to the world, if we win, that the royal family is back. It's about time we took the fight to the White Fang."
"And why did you need to specifically alert us?" Nitro asked with his hand over his chin.
"I wanted your permission. We always had targets on our backs but this is going to just post up a big flashing sign that says 'Oi come get me!'. I just want your permission to go ahead before we reveal it to everyone."
Nitro and Hex had plastered smiles, "You always have our approval cap." Hex said speaking for both of them. They knew this day would eventually come, the day that their fearless leader and his sister would finally seek out their throne, and they were prepared to support them all the way.
"Are you sure you guys are ready to go through with this?" Blake asked concerned, she was afraid that they may be biting off more than they can chew, releasing that level of information was like tossing a nuclear bomb into a city. The continental shock would be massive and there'd be no going back.
Ruby took Nova's hand and squeezed it, looking into his eyes and silently giving him her reassurance.
"No… but this is a perfect time, on a stage where everyone in the four kingdoms can see us." He said, his eyes were wavering with fear.
Ruby moved closer and pecked him on the cheek, "It doesn't matter what your decision is, I think I speak for everyone when I say we have your back every step of the way."
He blushed a crimson red and smiled, "Then there's no going back, right?"
"Right!" They all said simultaneously.
-Later that Day-
"So guys…" Ruby said nervously twirling her thumbs as they sat around the team RWBY dorm. All members of the joint team who were present, that being Nova, Luna, Weiss, and Yang, turned to face the reaper.
"We have a couple of weeks break before the Tournament… and…"
Weiss didn't know why but she felt a simmering irritation as Ruby began explaining herself. "…You mean a couple of weeks of preparation right…?"
Ruby rubbed her arm nervously, "Well… with all the stuff going on, Yang and I haven't been able to see our dad… and um… he kinda wants us to visit before we head to the tournament…"
The dragon siblings visibly flinched and gently scooted away from the heiress who looked just about ready to start a new ice age.
"Ruby. Rose. You promised to focus primarily on training… so help me I WILL-"
She was cut off when Luna tackled her to the floor, "Chill out Weiss-cream, I think we need a break. It's been non-stop preparations for the last two weeks, then the drama with Nova turning into a girl and… I think we all just need some time to breathe… before we burn out." The blue dragon said trying to calm down her bestie.
Yang snorted in laughter, "NICE ONE BLUE! WEISS-CREAM! I Love it."
Weiss groaned, "You're lucky you're adorable." She said pinching Luna's cheeks.
"So… what do we all just take like a week off?" Nova asked curiously, looking to his girlfriend.
"Well about that…" she was once again nervous.
"Ruby, love, what are you not telling me?"
"Dad wants to meet you." Yang finished for her.
Nova felt his brain die, "I… uh… what?"
"Qrow and I may or may not have snitched that you and Ruby were dating and now dad wants to kill the sorry sap- I mean meet the lucky guy." The blonde offered with a 'tee-hee'. Somehow Nova felt like those words were still the watered-down version.
"So…I'm going to have to go with you to Patch? What about Luna? Is your dad really okay with me staying with you guys?"
"Well, I think he's pretty confident that if you tried anything weird, you'd be skinned alive." She explained with a shrug.
"And what about Hex? Isn't she dating you to? Also, what is Luna going to be doing while I'm gone?" He continued to list all the reasons why he couldn't possibly take a vacation.
"I'll hang back with mom, I'm sure she's dying to spend some quality time with the daughter she's been missing for nine years." Luna conveyed nonchalantly.
Yang smirked, "Hex already met dad on a video call, besides, he's fine with me dating a girl. His youngest daughter and a boy on the other hand… well… that's a different story."
"UNGGGGHH!" He groaned and rubbed his temples. "I'm finally meeting the old man… well in all fairness Ruby did meet my mom first so…"
"And your mom loves me!" The reaper squealed in delight.
"So when do we leave?"
"Today… in… like a few hours?" the red-haired girl gave an awkward smile as if this last-minute notification was a happy accident.
Nova inhaled, walked up and kissed her on the cheek, "At this point, I shouldn't even be surprised. What if I tried to run away hm?"
Ruby chuckled and hugged him, "Come on, we all know you wouldn't dream of it. Besides you got nothing to worry about… pretty sure dad wouldn't even be able to phase you."
"You say that like you expect him to punch me in the face."
Yang roped an arm around Nova, "Don't worry, if all else fails, we change you back into a girl, that way he won't even think about harming you."
Nova silently prayed it wouldn't have to come to that.
So we had some much-needed villain development. Expect a bit more introspection with the enemy forces as the chapters near the beginning of the Tournament. Personally I just want to have a bit of fun with the calm stuff right now.
Also, I was thinking of exploring relationships for Qrow. Possible candidates are: Randolf, Winter, and Clover, or we could just leave him single, it's really up to you guys. The only problem with Clover is well... you know...
Anyway, be sure to leave a review and what not, Stay awesome (^_^)
