9 Months To Live

Chapter 20: We Didn't Start The Fire.

Disclaimer: For months, Lone plotted, getting together a team for the pinnacle of his criminal career (despite being wanted in several dimensions for reasons too long). Stealing the rights to RWBY. However, it failed almost immediately as it turns out chainsaw hands set off metal detectors. God damnit.
Don't own the right to RWBY, but I might be Miles Luna's evil clone.

AN: Several chapters earlier in a previous AN "I will never take the Volume 3 path of darkness and depression" Well, no one died...yet. Okay, yeah, this story has got a bit of a tone shift as most of you have commented on. One thing real quick though. FUCK FINALS. Now, I can promise this much, I will do my part and keep my humor present. I have this listed under humor for a reason, afterall! But, this will be getting more serious as more plot gets introduced and it will either end in depression or comedy. Did I complete 180 in the mood? I'd like to think I didn't. I did try to make the transition seem as natural as possible. Meep, anything to add?

Meep: Yeah, I'd like to take the blame credit for the tone shift. I feel that Lone tends to have a … brighter… sense of humor than me. So I feel like I am partially responsible for the tone shift, but I assure you that I will try to help Lone write a positive ending. I expect the issue of Ruby's kidnapping to be resolved either in this chapter or the next.
Lone: HA! You wish! Well, time for the usual gag. *Pulls out shotgun, shoots window, then hops out it, nailing that super hero landing.*

Ruby was currently impatient, frustrated, and terrified beyond belief. She hated every moment of this. She was a huntress, not some damsel in distress! One of her lowest moments was back in her first year back at Mount Glenn when she got captured and separated from her weapon. She was helpless, and she felt just as helpless now, and with the growing children in her womb, the stakes were higher than ever, as her rounded stomach begin to make itself present. Ruby had looked over her room a dozen times. The only thing it had was a bed, toilet, and a single, heavy metal door with a hole at the bottom of, that food would occasionally slide through.
However, she couldn't help but wonder, why? What did this psychopath want with her and her children? What value did they hold?

She banged against the door in vain attempt, slamming her fists hard against the cold steel. Her entire body was feeling numb, but that was not Ruby's concern. She had to get out.

Finally, after what seemed forever, pounding at the door relentlessly, her fists having bruises and slight bleeding, a foot soldier opened the doors to her cell.

"Quite down prisoner or do I-" The man yelled but was cut off quickly.

Ruby saw her opportunity and acted quickly. Slamming her head with all her might against the guard's, she was greeted with a satisfying crack of his nose breaking, but a slight pain in her temple. But she could not let that concern her. Not with so much at stake.

"Mothahfuwer!" The guard swore as blood gushed from his nose, pain coursing through his face as he fell to ground.

However, the huntress did not waste any opportunity. Bolted ahead, she ran as fast as her legs could carry, not daring to activate her semblance in fear of her unborn children.

Wherever she was had a shockingly clean, sterile, but it was all a blur to Ruby as she sprinted down the hallways. She had to get out, had to find Jaune, Yang, her dad, her uncle, anyone!

Left, right, right, right, left, right, left, right. The place was massive, fluorescent lights lining each hall giving it a sterile cold vibe. Ruby panicked, as the pattering of footsteps was heard coming from the next turn, so she quickly took the turn in the opposite direction. Finally, she saw something different in the room desgin, as she was no longer in a hallway, a light shining from the outside from a door at the end of the hall.

Ruby nearly cried with relief. She was almost free! She bolted forward, running towards her exit. However, it slowly begin to fade, the entire room changing. Guards begin to appear, weapons aimed at her, and Emerald, one of the visiting students who had worked been working with Cinder, was there, standing next to her Warden.

"I gave you a warning Ms. Rose" The cloaked figure growled lowly. "And I do not take kindly to your pathetic attempts. There shall be punishments for your actions." And with that, the man disappeared, a sudden pain hitting Ruby's neck as she faded into unconsciousness.

Emerald looked at the fallen soon to be mother with a look almost of regret. "Sir, was it really necessary for us to set up this whole fake escape?" She asked

The Captain merely picked up the fallen huntress and handed her to his men to put back in her cell. "Yes, Emerald. It was necessary to crush her spirits now, rather than have them fester later. This way, we prevent any more breakouts."

Emerald nodded her head. It was a good idea, but still, the look the kid gave when Emerald stopped her semblance begin haunting her thoughts. Something about this wasn't right…

"Emerald," The Captain spoke up as he began to walk off "I'm gonna make a visit to an old friend. Do watch over our special guest and our investments don't wander off." And with this, the tall figure walked up, his large boots thudding against the sterile white tile.

Emerald let out a sigh. God, why did this have to be so...complicated? What was the saying, you never know the good ol' days until they're gone. The good ol' days where with Cinder, when she felt like she belonged to something fun. But now… it was almost like an unspoken line had been crossed in her mind. She would have to talk to Mercury about this. Asshole would probably be able to give some sort of input.

Ozpin gripped his cane tightly as the night breeze gusted across. It had not been hours ago since he was informed of Ms Rose's kidnapping. The professor hoped he showed up, he had to. He had overstepped the line and gone to far. Professor Ozpin was not one to take to violence, but when you kidnap one of his most passionate students when they're with child, hell shall hath no fury like his.

"Hello, old fool"

Ozpin turned around to see the cloaked figure known simply as the Captain walking towards him. The man was alone, just as he wanted.

Ozpin sighed "Take off the hood James. Let me look you in the eye."

The Captain lifted up his hood, to reveal the scarred face of James Ironwood, the general fallen from grace. "Ozpin, you wound me so." He said dryily.

"James, I shall give you this warning and this alone. Release Ms. Rose right now, and I shall let you live. Refuse to do so, and I will end you."

"No Ozpin. You wanna know why? Because you're weak. You could have done so, so much. But you don't. You never do. You don't have the guts to do the thing to end all the problems this world has. You stand by in your tower and hope that nothing happens, and when you do take action it's too late. My world won't have that Ozpin. Ms. Rose is a necessary casualty. With her and the Arc boy's children, I shall begin to raise an army to save the world from Grimm, from discrimination, from war!"

"First Ms Rose and her unborn children, then a few more lives, then the whole world! James, we do not have the right to do this! Our world is full of pain, discrimination, sorrow and hate, but getting rid of it won't make it better! You take down one, you create several more. We can only move forward if we learn how to face these! An army of perfect soldiers is not the answer the grimm, and it never was!"

"And you think hunters are gonna do anything against Salem, Ozpin! This has been going on for centuries, and the grimm are still here, still killing and ruining innocent lives. And to make matters worse, she's planning something. Her people are in motion Ozpin, and she does not wait, and neither do I, you old fool. I do what I must to ensure the safety of the world. I may not be known as a hero, but I would rather go down as a villain than stand by and let you do nothing as evil begins to consume Remnant."

"Do you not think I have tried that James?" Ozpin sighed, and in that one moment, the professor who usually looked rather ageless, seemed to be carrying the very burden of time itself. "I have made more mistakes in my life than you can possibly convince. So I beg you, as a friend, do not make the same mistakes I did. You can still undo this, James"

"No, Ozpin. You never understood that sacrifices needed to be made for progress. I will not back down because you can't stomach such potential being used. Goodbye, fool." Ironwood growled, walking away, leaving the headmaster by himself. Ozpin looked into the sky, looking at the shattered moon, reminiscing years. "James, you fool. You justify now but you will know just how heavy it weighs on the soul." The ancient professor leaned heavily on his cane, pain of the past more present than ever.

Jaune was currently outside, chopping firewood while thinking over what Qrow had told all of them. Apparently, Ruby was from a line of Silver Eyed warriors, people who could channel immense power with their eyes. After that reveal, everyone needed a moment to think

"Jaune."

The Knight looked up to see his parents standing in front of him with concerned looks on their faces.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad." Jaune said quietly.

"Look, son, we've known you've been having it rough, having your girlfriend kidnapped along with our unborn grandkids" John said to his only son "And the news we all heard might have changed a lot."

Jaune dropped the ax "Changed a lot?" He said "I just found out that the girl I love is now a target for power hungry monsters, and that my children might be targets too? How are we gonna live in a world where they are constantly hunted for some god damn power they MIGHT have? Why did no one tell me this earlier? Why did nobody tell HER earlier? She's all alone, kidnaped by god knows who, for a reason she doesn't even know! And I standing here, not doing a GODDAMN THING!" He yelled, his worries making themselves present.

Soliel looked her son dead in the eye, then slapped him in the face. "Don't talk to your mother like that. I raised you better than that." She said sternly.
"Yes Mom" Jaune said, lowering his head in guilt. "It's just…"

"I know. I know." Soliel comforted her only son as John brought them into a massive bear hug.

Both of Soliel and John nodded at each other.

"Jaune, me and your father were gonna give you when you graduated before certain events happened" Soliel said as John went to his pickup, rummaging through the truck bed, till coming up with what looked like new armor. The armor itself was a different design, focuses on a scale like fashion for the breastplate, having different layers of the armor descending down in metal plates down to what would be his torso and covering his entire upper chest, the armor being a pale white with a tarnished gold-like trim. However, the new armor also seemed to come with pauldrons, something his current armor lacked, connected to the chest guard by a circular clasp. trim. Jaune also saw that that the rerebraces went some work, being black leather plates descending down from the pauldrons.

"We noticed that you seemed to have outgrown your current armor, and this way, we could still protect our boy even when we're not there. The armor belonged to your great grandfather, Jon De' Arc. We meant to give it to you by graduation, but your father wanted to fix it up himself, so we had to wait till he finally gave it to a real blacksmith." Soliel rambled on as her son continued to look at the armor.

"It's perfect, Mom. Thank you, both of you." Jaune said, unclipping his old chest guard. The old thing had been through thick and thin with him, and he'd be lying if he didn't miss it. But it had severed his purpose, and he couldn't let nostalgia blind him for the task ahead. Raising the steel plates up, the knight began to done the steel plates.

Jaune finished putting on the new armor. However, he felt it was missing something. Red fabric catching his eye, Jaune grabbed the cloak and fastened it around him, the crimson fabric billowing behind him. He would return it to her in person. "Let's find go Ruby." The Arc declared to his parents as he went back inside to rally his friends.

Yang was the first one to notice the change "Damn, Vomit Boy, sick new armor." She whistled lowly.

"I agree with Yang. I think your armor looks very good" Pyrrha nodded her head and agreement.

Jaune couldn't help but blush a bit at the attention.

"Shouldn't we be more concerned about finding Ruby rather than awing at the dolt-I mean Jaune's armor?" Weiss deadpanned, bringing the group back to focus.

"Thank you Weiss." The Knight said "Now, we know it was Mercury, one of Cinder's old crony, who aided in her capture. Now, we can deduce that it's not Cinder as she's been dead for years, nor Mercury acting alone on this. From what little info we do know is that he is or at least was an assassin. Bringing targets alive are not his primary skill. But here's where we hit the dead end. We have no idea who Mercury is working for that would want something with the Silver Eyes."

"I believe I might be able to shed some light on this"

The group turned to see Professor Ozpin walking in with Glynda following behind him, riding crop in hand.

"Professor Ozpin?" Jaune asked.

"Yes. And I am so, so, sorry. I have made a graze mistake." The headmaster sighed. "I know who is behind this scheme. Former General of the Atlesian Military, James Ironwood."

Everyone at the table reacted in shock, except for Qrow, who took a drink from his flask, muttering profanity under his breath.

Back after the fall of Cinder, after being discharged due to evidence of treason against the council. I knew Ironwood would never directly betray the council for the of Cinder. So I came to him with an offer. I needed someone I could trust to go undercover to help me with confirm suspiciousness Qrow had been voicing for his recon. Sure enough, Mr. Branwen was right. Much how there are hidden figures working in the shadows for good, there is a flip of the coin. Cinder was just one part of it. However, over time, reports between James became fewer and fewer until earlier this year they stopped all together. Turns out Ironwood looked at the evil brewing, and decided that I was ineffective. He's been building his own army, recruiting Cinder's old associates. I had my suspicions before, but until I confronted him tonight I didn't know. He crossed a line."

"You're damn right he did." Qrow growled "Why the hell did you hide something from this Oz!? Why would you trust him?! Was I not doing a good enough job at Recon?! This whole time I've been working my ass off, not even seeing what little family I still have for a job you have someone else doing? I want to know what the FUCK you were thinking Oz?!" The drunken man roared.

Tai put a hand on Qrow's shoulder "Calm down Qrow."

Qrow swatted the hand off "Fuck off Tai, this has been a long time coming from him. I've sacrificed so, so much for this cause, but suddenly I find out my damn niece with two buns in the oven got kidnapped by someone he put faith in? Oh, I have a right to be pissed!"

Ozpin sighed. "You want to know why I made my choice? I thought James was still my friend. I thought I could trust him, give him a chance to do good after the lose of his job. I thought I could give you time off you needed, finally give you a break you needed. But I was wrong. I was wrong about my friend, and now one of my most promising students is in the hands of a power hungry monster convinced he's doing what's right. So yes. I owe you, Tai, Mr. Arc, and most of all, Ms. Rose an apology." The headmaster said quietly, his voice full of guilt.

Jaune took this in. It was a lot to take. James Ironwood, a person infamous for his betrayal during the Vytal festival, had kidnapped Ruby. But at the same time, something set off alarms in Jaune's head. Ozpin, as kind as he could be, always had an ulterior motive. "So what brings you here Professor Ozpin?" Jaune asked.

The professor sighed deeply. "As much as I hate to distract and divide you, but I need huntsmen to find the maidens. Now, more than ever. I'm not asking any of you to give up the search for Ms. Rose. But the Maidens need to be found now, rather than later. Ironwood is bound to make them his next goal, and same goes for Cinder's leader."

Yang slammed her fist down on the table "So what? You want us to go chase some girls you don't even know where they are rather than look for my sister!?" She growled darkly at the headmaster.

Jaune looked at the table in front of him. The tensions were high between the headmaster and the rest of the group. Yang and Qrow looked ready to kill Ozpin, Tai was trying to calm the two down, Nora was quiet which was always a bad sign, Weiss was glaring daggers at the headmaster, while Blake was keeping up her stoic appearance, Sun was actually serious and deep in thought, Ren was keeping his face neutral, his family had kept their judgement to themselves, Professor Goodwitch had her hand gripped tightly around her riding crop ready to protect Ozpin if it came to it, and Pyrrha...she had a look of fear on her face.

Jaune knew Pyrrha had bad memories with anything involving the maidens. Hell, the whole problem there freshmen year probably was the reason why he was with Ruby now rather than her. But Pyrrha was a good friend. A loyal one. And Jaune knew what he had to do.

"Guys. We have to help find the maidens." Jaune reluctantly said. To this, the entire table burst into chaos.
"IS MY SISTER NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH? ARE YOUR OWN CHILDREN?" Yang bellowed, her eyes tinted red.

Jaune gritted his teeth "Of course they are! But things are at stake here. We need to divide up and get more people to help find the maidens and Ruby. Sun, I'm gonna need you to get the rest of your team. Ozpin, each maiden should be on a continent, right?"

The professor nodded "Yes. Fall to Vale, Winter to Atlas, Summer to Vacuo, and Spring to Mistral."

"So we get five teams ready. Four to find the maidens and one to find Ruby." Jaune reasoned. "Sun, your team could hunt for the Spring maiden."

"Well, I would have to fill the guys in on all this stuff...oh boy, wait till Neptune hears this." The monkey faunus said, giving a low whistle. "But yeah, I'm pretty sure I can safely say team SSSN is on the case."
The headmaster however, spoke up. "As good as a plan that sounds Mr. Arc, I would suggest you have at least one veteran hunter on each team. These are extremely dangerous people we're fighting against, and hunters you may be, but experience is needed for the tasks ahead. Glynda, Qrow, Tai, Ms. Schnee's older sister Winter, Oobleck, Mr and Mrs Arc, and Port are the ones I suggest."

Jaune nodded in agreement. "Sounds fair. Sun, I think Glynda would be a good fit for your team."

"What?! But she's the strictest one here!" Sun moaned only to be cut off by Glynda cracking her riding crop right in front of him.

"Was that sass I heard." The teacher scolded the faunus

"No!"

"No, Ma'am" She glared

"No Ma'am" Sun said glaring daggers at Jaune.

Moving past Sun's antics, Jaune went on planning the teams. "Alright. Now, Mom, Dad, I think you can take the family to Vacuo and secure the summer maiden."

"This could be just the family vacation we've been waiting for dear!" John smiled as his wife nodded in agreement.

"Now for Atlas, I was thinking we could get team CFVY with Winter. With Weiss's sister being in the military, that's more resources they can use. As for Vale, I want my team on duty. Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, I want you searching for the fall maiden. You'll be working with Oobleck on this. Pyrrha, you're now the temporary leader. Kinda fitting seeing as you already ran it before."

The champion looked at Jaune with shock. Pyrrha always considered herself more of a helpful teammate. Yes, during JNPR's run at Beacon she would have helped a little with running the team, but she never wanted any leadership position. The last thing she needed was another pedestal to be put on. That's why she was so appreciative of Jaune being leader. As clueless as he is, he's a great leader. But with Ruby at stake, Pyrrha could suck it up and take the role, for now.

"Finally, for Ruby, me, and the rest of team RWBY, will pair with Qrow and Tai, if it's okay with you two." Jaune said looking at the two adults in question.

"The faster we get my daughter back the better" Tai said, slamming his fist into his palm, Qrow nodded his head in agreement.
"Alright, let's head out. Remember to keep contact via scroll. Report back as soon as you can to Ozpin." Jaune said, then turned to the Ruby Rescue Team (name pending). "Now, as for us, I know just the lead" He said with a dark grin. See how he likes it when he's outnumbered...

Roman was having a long day. The Asshat in charge was near strangulating him with the leash he kept on him, Greeny and Legs were assholes, half his men were demanding raises and more health benefits, and Neo was running his bills through the roof on ice cream.

Who the hell needs 50 gallons of the stuff? What does she even do with it!?

Roman groaned as he entered his room. God, he was looking forward to sleep in his bed. That was a least one positive thing, at least he didn't have to deal with prison beds again.

Flicking on the lights, Roman was shocked as there in his room, was the Arc boy, Goldilocks and what looked like her daddy, Ice Queen Jr., Kitten, and Qrow Branwen, all sharing the same grim expression.

"Ummm...Boxtop, glad to see you're alive" Roman said nervously "You understand right...just a business measure... I see you brought your friends...Neo's occupied at the moment, isn't she?"

The group of hunters and huntresses slowly nodded.

"This is not going to end well for me is it?"

They nodded again and cracked their knuckles.

"Shit."

Mercury was pissed. That blonde bitch had landed a solid punch on his jaw, and it still hurt like a bitch. Not only that, he now had to recalibrate his legs due to taking several shotgun blasts to the kneecaps. Groaning, Mercury propped his feet up on the armory table and begin to tighten some of the screws. Thankfully, the armory seemed to have more than enough supplies to work on his prosthetics, some if it really quite remarkable.
"You ever wonder why we are doing this?"

The assassin turned around to see Emerald walking into the room.

"The fuck is this coming from Em? We do it cause we it's what people like us do, and that jackass is doing some good for us." Mercury said, focusing on his leg.
Emerald sighed "It's just that, I know we're doing this, but with Cinder, we never had to do shit like this."

"Cinder's dead Em." Mercury growled, throwing down the screwdriver. "Those good ol' days are gone! We were just a bunch of stupid kids following some bitch with a scheme we had no idea what it was! Kinda like know! What the fuck is this guy's end plan? The fuck if I know! But I don't want to end up like last time, where everyone leaves the moment shit hits the fan."

Emerald sighed "That's just the thing. Maybe we're on the wrong side."

"I'm a trained assassin and you're a thief, both of us are still associated with our old boss's plot to destroy Beacon and collapse the world into chaos. It's a bit late in the game to wonder about the moral high ground, Em."

"But that's just the thing. Back when we were with Cinder, we never hurt anyone who didn't really deserve it. Kill a White Fang Traitor there, cast some illusions here, kick a kid. But...this?" Emerald said "We kidnapped a mother to be and that man intends to make her kids into soldiers for his own use."

Mercury rolled his eyes "So what? How is this any different?"

"How'd you feel being raised for a purpose you had no say in? Oh wait, you do! How are you legs today?!" Emerald snapped at him.

Mercury glared at her. His father was always a sore spot with him. Hell, one of the satisfying moments in his life was when he put the bastard 6 feet under. What sick bastard cuts off his own kid's legs? No. Emerald was exaggerating. No kid would go through something like he did...right? Mercury shook his head "Piss off Em. Don't need you going soft on me." He growled, getting up and leaving the room.

Omake: Get that f**king sauce. (Or when Lone was a mental breakdown)

Several months ago...

"Remind me why you dragged me on this hunt for Jaune?" Blake deadpanned.

Yang looked at her partner "Who said I was hunting for Jaune?"
Blake blinked "Ummm… the fact that he knocked up your sister?" She questioned

"Why would I do that? What kind of psychopath do you take me for Blake! Going on a death hunt because the two decided to fool around? Besides, Ruby could kill him blindfolded if she wanted to." Yang said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

This caught Blake off guard, but she quickly jumped to the next logical conclusion. "Then what are you looking for then? Your mom?" She asked slowly, fearing the response.

The Blonde Brawler grabbed Blake by the shoulders and started shaking her "I don't give a shit about my mom Blake! Most people think that's what drives me as a character, but it's not! I brought you with me to find the sauce, Blake!" Yang ranted

The cat faunus gave Yang a disturbed look "What sauce…?"

"THE FUCKING MULAN SZECHUAN MCNUGGET DIPPING SAUCE BLAKE! I gotta get it! I don't care if it takes me 9 volumes, Blake, I'm getting that fucking sauce, because you wanna know why Blake? Because that's what drives me, Blake. Not mommy issues, finding Ruby, not losing my arm-"

"But that never happened"

"-I don't care, Blake! Because I'm getting that fucking Szechuan sauce! That's my character arc, Blake! I don't care if it takes forever, longer than this story does to complete!"

"What are you talking about-"

"Lone thinks he's so FUCKING clever ripping this off, but nooooo. Because I'm getting that fucking MULAN dipping sauce, Blake! No crappy fanfic writer is gonna stop me from getting that Szechuan mcnugget sauce, Blake! I don't care if some old crazy scientist and his grandson wants it, I'm getting it first! Just me and you, Blake, getting that FUCKING MULAN MCNUGGET SZECHUAN DIPPING SAUCE! "

Blake looked at Yang continued on about her rant, completely lost. Who the hell was Lone guy, what the hell was Szechuan sauce? And why did she want to drag her into this?! When did this become her life?