November 9, 2015

"Students and faculty," began Ozpin as he spoke in front of the under-rebuilding Beacon Academy to the students and staff of Beacon Academy. "We are gathered here today to honor and remember those who gave their lives to protect our city and our academy not too long ago. Sadly, in the successful efforts to evict the invaders and terrorists who pillaged us and released Grimm into our city, we lost 84 students, 20 staff, 36 regular huntsmen and huntresses, 46 foreign huntsmen and huntresses, and 644 soldiers, including 406 Atlesian soldiers. All were upstanding fighters who came from all backgrounds, races, and colors of life, and all are to be honored here today."

Team RWBY stood among the crowd, dressed in the formal uniforms of Beacon Academy, which consisted of a dark blue suit, dark blue pants, and a service cap. This uniform was only worn for award ceremonies, parades, graduations, and memorial services. All stood silent and stared ahead at Ozpin as he continued.

"To the parents of the deceased, let it be known that your sons and daughters did not fall in vain. The fact that we are still here shows that they did not fall in vain, despite the propaganda of the terrorists that struck us. They tried to shatter us and break us apart, but they have failed. Instead, we stand united against them. In fact, they have even lost their leader in this cowardly attack. Folks, it has been confirmed that the leader of this attack, Cinder Fall, was indeed found dead just a day after the attack ceased." Immediately, cheers erupted amongst the crowd.

Blake smiled as Ruby, Yang, and Weiss joined in the cheering. Ozpin then continued after the cheering ended, saying, "It is believed an associate of her's turned on her and killed her at the cost of his own life. He had reportedly become so disgusted with her that he felt that it was only right if he ended her reign of terror right then and there. Whoever that man is, let it be known that you have indeed atoned for your past actions. Anyways, the intelligence community of the Kingdom of Vale has pointed us in a new direction to a possible person behind Cinder. This leader is known as Salem Harper, or, at least, this is the legal name she has used. It is believed that she is hiding somewhere on the continent of Lindwurm. Already, I have spoken with the King of Vale, Delwyn III, and he has stated that Vale is working closely with the nations of Lindwurm to find Salem and bring her to justice. Now, I know for certain that we at Beacon Academy will do everything in our power to help as well, given that we have a very personal stake in the manhunt for her, to say it rather lightly. I am confident that if we work together worldwide, we can find Salem. We WILL find her, and we WILL make her answer for the destruction and pain she caused us and so many others. Thank you."

"We've lost too much, Sienna," said a man at a table as he and several others gathered in a dark room, with only a single candle serving as their light. "This has been nothing short of disastrous for us."

"I know," Sienna replied as she puffed smoke from a cigarette. "We lost Adam, we lost Simon, and we lost almost half of our membership to either death or arrest. Damn it... We should have never agreed to work with Cinder Fall or her little friend Salem." She was clearly angry at the White Fang's failure. "This fucking sucks!" She then slammed a fist on the table.

"Sienna," said another man at the table. "We believe that you would be the best choice to succeed Simon and Adam as the leader of the White Fang." He then passed her some files. "We got a few ideas about future attacks. We want you to look at them and see what you think."

"I see," she replied as she looked through the files. "Oh my... This plan is particularly destructive..." She then selected one of the plans. "Who came up with this plan involving plane hijacking?"

"I did," said a younger woman at the table as she spoke up. "I thought we could hack into planes from the ground and fly them into stuff."

"Good plan," Sienna told the woman as she smiled. "It will certainly do lots of damage. Now, I want all of you to do research on the electronics of aircraft. It will take several years, but eventually, we are going to hack some planes, and I know just where to fly them into."

"I am disappointed," Salem said to her roundtable as she also met with a disturbed Mercury and Emerald. "Cinder is dead, Adam is dead, the White Fang hates us now, and Roman Torchwick is in jail again. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong." She seemed calm, but on the inside, she was furious.

"Salem," Emerald spoke up to her. "We apologize for our failures." She was clearly in fear of what Salem could do to her. "Do what you wish to us."

Tyrian Callows, a scorpion faunus who had a tail as well as several mental issues, said to Salem, "I highly recommend slaughtering both of them."

"While I would not go that far," Arthur Watts, a mustached associate of Salem, replied. "I would recommend either expelling them or using some torture as punishment."

"I agree with Arthur," replied Hazel Rainart, a bearded muscular associate of Salem. "They have clearly failed for the last time, Salem."

"Actually," Salem replied in disagreement. "I'll give you two one more chance."

Mercury, shocked, replied, "No way... Wait, what's the catch?"

"Oh, of course," Salem replied. "I forgot to mention that." She then laughed. "I want you to bring me the bodies of Teams RWBY and JNPR personally. Those 8 pieces of shit have gotten in the way of my plans for the last God damn time. No more can we let them run free. To simply put it, I want you to not just kill them, but make sure they suffer greatly in the process. Use any method at your disposal. Any method, regardless of how vile or taboo it may be."

Emerald, disturbed by Salem's plans, replied, "Okay then... Uhhh... We'll do that..."

Mercury replied in confusion, "What do you mean vile or taboo?"

"You could force one to kill the other," Salem said as she began to list examples. "You could cannibalize them. You could rape them or force them to have sex with each other for your own viewing pleasure, or both. You could hack them into a million little pieces. You could throw them into the ocean and watch them drown, or if they can swim, you can hold them underwater until they do drown. Do whatever. Just... Just make sure they suffer." She then deviously smiled.

"Wow," Mercury replied in shock. "Uhhh... Okay, was not expecting you to go that far, but okay."

"I wish you luck," Salem nonchalantly replied. "Have fun. If you fail, you will both die, and you both will suffer greatly before you do." She then gave them both a thumbs up. "Now, go get 'em."