Scythle let her head fall on top of the soft pages of the book she and Ruby were sharing, letting out a soft groan as the green-haired teacher darted around the classroom explaining the entire history of something the purple girl really didn't care for. "This Is So Boring." She groaned as she creaked an eye open to look to see if anything interesting had begun to happen.
Still the same boring classroom she was locked in for the past hour.
"Violet, play attention." Ruby said as she nudged her sister's shoulder. "This is important stuff."
"How?" Scythle grumbled as she looked towards her twin. "How Does This, In Any Way, Affect Our Abilities To Fight Grimm?"
Ruby hummed as she tried to think of a counter before she returned to her note, trying her best to keep up with the blur that was her teacher. "Honestly, I don't know, but this is a required class. They wouldn't have us take a class that's pointless."
"Considering The People In Charge, I Beg To Differ." Scythle stated as she started looking around the room, trying to find something to amuse herself. Looking back at the rows above her, Scythle spotted everyone's favorite object of ridicule, Cardin, as he kept a folded piece of paper up on its edge, the fingers of his other hand curled back as his eyes scanned the room.
The OC cocked an eyebrow as she tried to figure out what Cardin was doing before the ginger caught sight of the purple girl. Scythle's eyes lit up before she turned back to her own desk, completely oblivious to Cardin's smirk as she ripped a page she had been doodling on out of her own notebook, quickly beginning to crudely fold it into a triangular shape. As she found the first of many ways not to fold her paper, she felt a slight tap on the back of her head.
Glancing over her shoulder with a strange sense of déjà vu, Scythle made out Cardin reaching for another page of his notebook, grabbing a pencil along with it. Turning her attention back to her project, Scythle felt another tap on the back of her head before her eyebrows dropped into a scowl. She quickly flicked her wrist and aimed her pistol at the student above her, an annoyed expression on her face as she turned around to give him her best 'try me' face.
She found the ginger in question quickly hiding behind an upside-down history book, as if she would believe he had been reading it the entire time.
'Different Class.' Scythle thought as she put the finishing touches on her paper craft. 'Same Students.'
As if on cue, another piece of paper tapped against the back of her head. Some people need to learn the hard way apparently.
"Thisledto-" Oobleck was quickly interrupted by a sharp cross between a bang and a crash, the students around the room quickly jumping in their seats, some waking up as the teacher quickly turned towards the source of the interruption.
What else was he to find but a smoke trail imitating from under Scythle's desk as she leaned back in her seat to get a better look at Cardin. The green-haired man scoffed as he quickly blurred up the stairs.
"Maybe Next Time, You'll Consider Taking The-" Scythle attempted to intimidate before a rush of wind ran past her as Oobleck's shadow was cast across the young girl.
"MsRose!" Oobleck began, drawing the attention of both sisters as they looked towards the older man. "Whatdoyou-"
"That's Ms. Dieful To You." Scythle said as she scowled at her teacher.
"Fine. Ms.Dieful." Oobleck began anew, with a harsh, sarcastic inflection in his voice. "Whatdoyoubelievetobedoingwithaweaponofthatcaliberinmyclassroom?"
"Whattibida-What Now?" Scythle asked as she sat back up in her seat. "Would You Like To Enu-Enu-En-"
"Enunciate?" Blake suggested, still reading through the textbook.
"Yeah, That."
"He wants to know why you have your pistol in his class." Ruby stated.
"Because It's My Weapon?" Scythle said as she tapped the barrel of the weapon in question. "And I Plan To Use It For Fighting Like Weapons Are Meant For?"
In a quick blur, Scythle's pistol disappeared from her hand as Oobleck folded it back into its travel form. "That is most unnecessary." Oobleck stated as he tightened his grip on the purple weapon, scowling behind his glasses at his new student. "Unlike Pr. Port, my class does not involve such barbaric displays of strength."
"Then What's The Point Of This Class?" Scythle all but screeched as she leaned forward, slamming her hand on her desk as she returned her teacher's stern gaze. "It Makes No Difference To Me How People Fought A Hundred Years Ago, No More Than It Makes How We Fight To People A Hundred Years From Today."
"Bite. Your. Tongue." Oobleck growled at the disobedient student. "Whether you like it or not, you are to become a Huntress, Ms. Dieful. That job opens up the potential for so many positions in government, militaries, and so much more. If you are to succeed, you must know why others have failed."
"I Don't Need To Worry About That Stuff." Scythle stated as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm Just That Awesome."
"Well then, would you like to let me know how awesome you are in detention?" Oobleck inquired, causing Scythle's eyes to shoot wide open.
'Detention Equals Getting In Trouble. Getting Detention Also Means Glynda Hearing About That. Glynda Hearing About That Equals Ozpin Hearing About It. Ozpin Hearing About It Equals-'
"Never Mind." Scythle said as she swung back up quickly scanning the textbook for any information she might have missed, E.I. everything that was written down.
"Good." Oobleck said before opening his hand to the girl. "Now give me the rest of your weapons for the remainder of the class." In an instant, Oobleck's hand was filled with a pile of Scythle's weapons, along with her handcuffs and magazines for her prosthetic. Oobleck was left to stare at the assortment before he clasped it with both hands and turned to leave. "Be sure to take good notes, Ms. Dieful. This is on to test."
"Test?" Scythle muttered to herself as Oobleck blurred back to the center of the room, quickly resuming the lecture. Before Scythle could follow suit with her teacher, she felt yet another tap on the back of her head, causing the girl to scowl once more. The purple haired girl had to repress the urge to race up to the next level and deck Cardin right then and there, she was already skating on thin ice, and didn't want to risk getting into any more trouble with the new teacher.
'I'm Sure It's Just A Rough Class.' Scythle through as she started scribbling down whatever she could make out coming from her teacher's mouth. 'Everyone Has A Class They're Bad At, Right? It's Probably Just A One Time Thing.'
"So Why Am I Here, Again?" Scythle asked in an annoyed tone as she leaned back in the armchair across from the well-dressed man, arms crossed as she took note of the various ink blobs hanging besides the window behind him.
"So that we can help you, Ms. Rose." The man said gently, lacing his hands together as he set them down on his excessively decorated desk.
"Ms. Dieful." Scythle corrected with a scowl. "And What Do You Mean 'Help Me?' I'm Doing Fine."
The man let out a sigh, readjusting his glasses as he looked over the file in front of him, a picture of the girl in front of him paper clipped to the front of it. "You're records would suggest otherwise, Ms. Dieful. You have needed to provide for yourself since you were a child, you have displayed excessive violent tendencies, which you have been shown to be proud of, and you seem convince that the entire world around you-"
"Is Nothing More Than Fiction, Yes Yes." Scythle said as she leaned towards the man. "That's Because It Is."
"Oh really?" The man said as he looked back at the girl, unbothered by the way she was looking at him. "And how do you know this?"
"Seriously?" Scythle threw up her arms as she leaned back in her chair. "How's About The Fact That Those Glasses Of Yours Didn't Exist A Few Seconds Ago?"
"I've been wearing these the whole time." He responded.
"Or The Fact That The Only Features Of This Room Are This Chair, You're Desk, That Window, And Those Pictures?" Scythle noted, pointing towards ever object as she listed them.
"Then how do you explain that boxwood behind you?" The therapist asked as he pointed over Scythle's shoulder. Turning in her chair, Scythle was greeted by the very tree he spoke of, sitting under a collection of shelves holding various pictures, objects and books, opposite another shelf on the other side of the door.
Scythle sighed as she turned back towards the man, still scowling as she decided to break out the trump card. "Okay, I Didn't Want To Do This, But Who Are You?"
"Dr. J Ecrubeige." The man said as he pointed towards the nameplate lying on his desk.
"No, That's Your Name." Scythle stated as she leaned towards the man. "Who Are You? You're Family, Interest, Preferred Coffee-"
"I was born in the city of Mistral forty-three years ago." Ecrubeige explained. "In May 2115, I met a woman named Ivory Jernigan, whom I began dating two months later. I would marry her in March 2118, and would have two sons with her, named Auborn and Sterling, in 2120 and 2124 respectively. I am interested in classical music, golfing, reading, and of course, the healing powers of therapy. And I prefer wet cappuccinos, particularly in the afternoon."
Scythle's face had gone from stern to surprise as she gawked at what the therapist had just told, still processing what had just happened before pointing at him weakly. "That-That Wasn't Right, You People Are Never Supposed To Answer Like That. You're Supposed To Draw A Blank And I'm Supposed To Boast That You Didn't Exist Until Just Now."
"Interesting." He said as he quickly wrote down a note of this.
"H-How Did I Come In?" Scythle asked as she looked around the room fanatically.
"You knocked on my window, carrying a piñata, which you proceeded to throw out when you realized it was empty." The doctor said.
"… Yeah, I Do Kinda Remember That." Scythle muttered as she leaned back in her chair, placing a hand to her chin as she tried to figure out how to prove a time skip had occurred. "What's The Weather Like?"
Ecrubeige pointed to the window behind him, allowing the sun's rays to pour in through them over him. "Sunny." He replied simply.
Scythle stared at him for a moment more before she began gripping the arms of her chair. "Why Am I Here?"
"For psychic evaluation." Ecrubeige said as he set his pen down before reaching into one of his desk's drawers. "Pr. Ozpin called me in so that we could be able to determine the type and root of your-"
"Insanity?" Scythle spat out as Ecrubeige moved to pull something out of the drawers.
"I wasn't going to use that term." Ecrubeige said as he placed the pieces of paper on his desk. "I was going to sa-"
"No Need To Beat Around The Bush." Scythle said as she readjusted herself in her seat. "I Know I'm Crazy, I'm Damn Proud Of It Too. Leads In To My Best Qualities."
"Even so," The therapist said as he patted the collecting of papers against his desk. "I assume it would help the Beacon faculty and students feel at ease around you." Scythle rolled her eyes as she prepared another retort before Ecrubeige raised a hand to cut her off. "Now, I'm going to show you a series of ink blobs, and I just want you to tell me what you see, how they make you feel. Please, do try to answer honestly."
With that, he lifted a picture off of the collection and presented it to Scythle. The purple haired girl scowled at the picture as she let out a slight hum before leaning back in her chair. "Rorschach."
"Come again?"
"You Know, Rorschach, From The Watchmen?" Scythle responded.
The therapist let out a sigh as he took a quick look at the image before turning his attention back to Scythle. "Please try to refrain from using that answer, this is a serious test to figure out how you think."
"Fine, A Bizarre Moth." Scythle sighed as she leaned onto her knuckle as the man quickly jotted down another note before switching to the next image. "Two Witches Making A Stew Or Something."
Once Ecrubeige switched to the next image, Scythle's eyes widened as she found herself staring at various red and black splatters across the paper, the black almost outlining the entire page, giving way for a large body of white at its center. The reds racing along the white, trailing into pools of red that seemed to stare into her. She felt her pulse quicken, her blood pressure rising as she tried to slide further into her chair, looking away from the monster that had just broken down the wall.
"Ro-Rorschach From The Watchmen." Scythle stuttered out as she refused to look back at the image.
"Ms. Dieful, I believe I've already established-"
"It's Rorschach From The Watchmen, Now Get That Thing Out My Face!" Scythle demanded as she attempted to shoot daggers through her eyes at the man holding the image. After a moment, the man complied as he set the image down, jotting down another note before pulling out the next image.
"So, how'd it go?" Ruby asked her sister as the purple girl walked out of the office.
"Oh, It Went Amazing." Scythle lied as she stretched. "Gave Me A Certification Of Mental Health, And I Don't Ever Need To Come Back Here."
"After just one session?" Ruby doubted, raising an eyebrow at her sister.
"He Said I Was The Sanest Person He's Ever Seen." Scythle lied further with a smile before grabbing Ruby's hand. "Now Come On, I'm Hungry. Let's Go Get Lunch And Then Never Come Back Here Again." As they walked down the hall, Ruby sent doubtful eyes at her sister, the purple girl continuing to force a smile across her cheeks as she tried to forget the session.
Scythle felt her eye twitch as she stared down at the pages littered with illustrations of various Dust crystals as Pr. Peach raddled on and on about varies tidbits for the crystals, at this moment, how to safely turn it into a powder. As the lecture continued, Scythle rolled her eyes before she began fingering a glass vial in front of her, rocking the rack back and forth as she watched how the grains of Dust within shifted. After a moment, her hand was swatted away from it by Weiss, the white-haired girl scowling at her new teammate. "Pay attention, you twit."
"Why?" Scythle whispered back to the Schnee as she glanced at the teacher. "I Don't Need To Know How To Make Dust, Just Use It."
"Understanding the principles of your weapons is a big part of being a Huntress." Weiss snarled at the girl quietly.
"Look, Ice Queen, I've Been Killing And Stealing From Hunters Since Before You Were Born." Scythle stated, leaning back in her chair. "I Know What I Need To."
"First of all, you're younger than me." Weiss began counting off.
"Or Am I?"
"Secondly, there's a bit of a disconnect between knowing how to blow stuff up and knowing how to use Dust." Weiss continued to explain, gesturing to her sides. "It's this thing called 'control.'"
"I've Got Plenty Control." Scythle stated, a confident smirk across her face as she met Weiss's ice-cold stare.
"You've grabbed at my butt twelve times now," Weiss noted as she swatted Scythle's hand away from her rear. "And I've told you to stop after all twelve of them. By the way, stop it."
"I'm Bored." Scythle whined as laid herself on the table, completely obscuring Ruby's view of her pages.
"Try paying attention." Weiss said as she jotted down another note. "You might learn something."
Scythle groaned as Ruby pushed her back up. What she wouldn't give to go back to Glynda's class; nothing but fighting, nothing but what she was good at. Her eyes wondered across the nearly completely white cross between a lab and a classroom, amazed by how boring a place with so many things that could explode at any given moment could be.
"Now then," Pr. Peach said as she spun around on heel, turning away from the chalkboard to face her students. "Would anyone care to demonstrate one of these methods to the class?"
As if on cue, Scythle's eyes lit up as her hand launched into the air, a large grin across her face as she felt her heart begin to race in her chest. The chance to play with Dust, that's what she needed. Due to the furry of purple rose petals accompanying her, she was the first-person Peach noticed. "Ms. Dieful? So happy you could contribute to the class."
"You haven't been paying attention." Ruby whispered to her sister as Scythle's seat screeched back before Scythle stood up.
"I'll Be Fine." Scythle smirked as Pr. Peach began setting up several tools for her student.
"Do be careful." She said as Scythle blurred behind the table, rubbing her hands together as she eyed up all the tools. "That is a live Dust crystal."
"Good To Know, Those Are More Fun." Scythle chuckled as she quickly began grabbing at various tools. She looked at most of them for a second before dropping them back down. Within the span of a few seconds, she found one that caused her to light up even more.
A rather rusty looking cheese grader.
"Oh Oum." Weiss muttered as she ducked under her table. "I'm just gonna watch from here, okay?"
Not even paying attention to the white-haired girl's comments, Scythle juggled the orange crystal in one hand as she held the grader over the bowl she would be pouring the Dust into. Rather recklessly, she quickly swung the crystal through the air and began rubbing it up and down the bladed surface, ripping off several flakes of glowing orange powder and allowing them to fall into the bowl.
Rather instinctively, Ruby partway joined her partner under their desks before it occurred to her at the room wasn't currently exploding. Cocking an eyebrow, Ruby pulled herself back up to find Scythle still grinding away at the Dust crystal, much slower than she would have expected as the purple haired girl delicately moved the crystal across the grader.
"Excellent, Ms. Scythle." Pr. Peach said, leading Scythle to launch a look towards Weiss as she continued cutting away at the crystal. "As long as you don't treat it too harshly, the chances of the crystal igniting are minimum."
Still trying to process what she was hearing, Weiss lifted herself up from under her desk, a look of astonishment across her face as she tried to figure out how Scythle had managed to pull this off twice so far.
Pr. Peach placed a hand across her chin as she scowled slightly towards her purple student. "All though I will have to dock you points for ignoring the safety equipment."
"Safety? Pfft." Scythle chuckled as her nose started twitching. "This Is A School Where I Learn To Fight Monster, And I Have My Trusty Aura-Ah-"
Scythle's sneeze was quickly dwarfed by the sound of a loud bag as the particles of the crystal ignited from the sudden movement, releasing their energy in a large, orange blast. Slowly pulling themselves back up from under their desk again, Team RWBY was left to stare at the smoldering black silhouettes of their new teammate and their teacher, who was slowly pulling her googles off so that she could properly scowl at Scythle.
"In My Defense," Scythle began, still making the previous motions with an empty hand and a destroyed grader. "A Set Of Safety Glasses Wouldn't Have Saved Us From My Alergi-Eh-Achoo!" A thin layer of the soot covering her flew off.
"It's Not My Fault You Gave Me A Live Explosive." Scythle grumbled to herself as she scrubbed at the chalkboard, the rest of the class having long since left, leaving Scythle to clean the mess by her lonesome.
Outside the door to the classroom, the remainders of Team RWBYS remained; each one using a different method to pass the time as they awaited for their remaining member to finish her punishment, at Ruby's request of course.
"'She's putting in effort,' you said." Weiss ranted animatedly at her leader. "'She wants to be good,' you said. Well what do you call that?"
"An honest mistake?" Ruby shrugged nervously, earning an even harsher scowl from Weiss. "W-well, look at it this way, she's not using her semblance to get this over with faster."
"That's probably because that would make a bigger mess." Blake commented over her book, sitting against the far wall.
"Yeah, well…" Ruby attempted to argue. "Well, she hasn't done anything purposefully evil yet, that has to be a good sign?"
"Ruby, people like her don't just wake up one morning and realize what terrible people they are." Weiss said, poking against Ruby's chest as she got closer to the girl. "Even less change their ways by the afternoon. Yeah, she hasn't done anything bad yet, key word being yet. She could still decide to slit our throats or steal our wallets in our sleep someday."
"I Can Fucking Hear You!" Scythle called out from behind the door.
"C-come on, Weiss." Ruby stuttered as she held out her hands, nervously smiling at her partner. "I'm sure if we give her a chance, she'll-"
"She'll steal everything we own, burn Beacon to the ground, and laugh about it in some shady bar somewhere." Weiss growled at her leader. "She has done nothing to earn my trust. Why should I give it to her?"
All Ruby had to respond with was silence before Weiss let out a sigh. "I'm going to go put the final touches on my essay. I'd advise you to do the same." With that, Weiss turned away from her leader, walking down the halls towards her dorm room without another word.
"She makes a good point, Ruby." Blake stated, looking up at her leader over the pages of her book.
"Yeah, Scythle really hasn't done much to convince us." Yang added. "And she's done some pretty terrible things."
"Y-yeah, but…" Ruby stuttered before she swallowed silently, looking between her two teammates with a nervous look. "But so have you guys, and I forgave you two."
"Nothing like she has, though." Yang stated.
Ruby wasn't sure what she was going to say next before Yang put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Rubes, I get that you want a chance to get your old family back, but is she really the family you want?"
Ruby glanced over to the door her sister was hidden behind, the sound of Scythle's grumbling almost inaudible behind the wood as the purple girl continued to work on cleaning the classroom. "I don't think this is about the family I want." Ruby said hesitantly as she turned back to her sister. "I think this is about the family she wants."
Sighing upon hearing those words, Yang gave her sister a soft look. "Ruby, one of these days, you're gonna need to stop being so forgiving." With that, Yang turned away from her sister, heading in the same direction Weiss had. "I need to go work on my essay, I'll see you at our room."
Ruby turned her attention towards her sister's partner, attempting to bury herself in her book as Yang walked away. "You believe she can change, right Blake?" Ruby asked with a hesitant smile.
Blake looked back up at her leader, in her silent, reclusive way before she turned back to her book. "I don't think she wants to change."
Ruby grimaced upon hearing this as she looked back at the door to Peach's class, hearing the muffled grumbled of her sister as the purple girl continued to work on her punishment. "I'm… I'm sure she'll change." Ruby muttered to herself, risking an unsure smile as she looked up at the ceiling. "She just needs a chance to."
And that's another chapter completed. I am definitely getting these out faster. I'm really starting to impress myself with how much I can get out, hopefully the quality isn't suffering because of it.
The first half of Scythle's therapist appointment was kinda inspired by an plot point in an issue of Gwenpool, where the titular character proves to Batroc the Leaper that their fictional by asking him about his life before facing Captain America, and he states that it's mostly a blur. I disagree with an idea like that. Yes, in a meta sense, the character's didn't exist before they were introduced. In universe, however, they have existed long before that. I mean, by this logic, Deadpool, the Joker, and several other fourth wall breakers should point out how they literally didn't have a life before they became who they are now, Gwenpool included. If not, then it raises several questions about how this has never come up before.
That said, Happy New Year, everybody. Hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and that this year is kind to you. My New Year's Resolution for this year is to make good on last year's promise to get out a chapter each month, and hopefully keep this two chapters per month schedule rolling. I feel much more motivated than I did last year, hopefully that will be enough to get this rock rolling.
