RWBY Heroic Demons
Chapter 11: Twilight of reckoning
(Hi everyone, Blazing Saint here, Finally after so long I can finally give you chapter 11 of RWBY Heoric Demons, it took a lot of time and effort and I hope all you readers enjoy it. Anyway on with the show. As always Like and comment. RWBY as always was created by Monty Oum and is owned by Roosterteeth)
(One Year Ago)
The winds blew through the cold, dark tundras of Mantle, The only light radiating was the work lamp from the mining site. Six figures stood on top of a snowy hill overlooking the mine "Ready to bash some heads?" A faunus in a White Fang uniform with a big rhinoceros horn for a nose said as he choked out an Atlasian soldier.
"Rick, I know you're our demolitions expert but still have some tact please." A female faunus with wasp wings said as she threw an unconscious body in the boot of an Atlasian vehicle.
"Oh buzz off Wanda, he's simply being efficient." A woman with a rattlesnake tail snarled.
"Such venom as always, Val'' a young man with tiger striped skin said.
"You want to wind up in sick bay again, Oran?" Val hissed.
"Everyone shut up!" Hephaestion said his mask had a wing design on its sides with red grimm marks on the top and bottom of the mask , his silver hair exposed for all to see. His brown griffin wings spread out of the slits in his uniform's back, his lion's tail poking out of the end of his pants. Like the others, he was wearing an extra layer underneath to keep warm, and like his fellow members, he had a black brooch with a wolf skull and tiger claws beside them, the mark of their group.
Iskandar's boots crunched in the snow, his mask was mostly red with few white marks and bore similarities to a dragon's snout. His horns rested above his mask, his uniform having added slits for his powerful dragon wings and tail. As well as an identical Black Predator brooch.
"Thank you brother. Rick, Wanda, Oran, Val, we have three parts of this mission. Blow the mine, free the faunus slaves, and finally kill the Chief Officer of the Schnee Dust company's mining division, and Jacque Schnee's brother. Schwartz Gelee." Iskandar said his white fang mask was pure red.
"I still can't believe that the moustached turd has a brother." Rick said.
"Maybe they kept trying for more kids after seeing how much of a fuckup the other one was." Oran added.'
"Enough chatter." Iskandar's words stopped the idle conversation dead cold. He turned to each of the members individually to address them. "Val, you and Rick blow the mine. Oran and Wanda, free the captive faunus. Heph, you're on lookout. As for me, I'll be the one to eliminate Gelee."
The dark cave provided some comfort from the harsh chilling winds outside. But deep in the shafts there were cages filled with faunus labourers, battered and overworked. If given an opportunity, some would just run out into the snow. Apathetic to the prospect of cold. Apathetic to the prospect of death. Such a fate was far more preferable than their current conditions. Crammed into cages after hours and hours of intense labour. The workers, if they can even be called that, would be forced to sleep within millimetres of their own brethren. Food and drink were absolutely out of the question, for the guards didn't consider it necessary to give "animals" such a precious, limited, commodity in these harsh winters. Despite this, one weary faunus with koala ears reached from the bars of the cage. "Please sir, we need water," he pleaded.
"Silence you dog!" The Schnee Dust Company guard yelled at him.
"But we won't be of any use to anyone if we die from dehydration." another female faunus with cheetah ears begged.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" The guard yelled as they electrocuted the faunus with a cattle prod. The cheetah faunus and all next to her screamed in pain as electricity coursed through their bodies. The guard pulled away watching dispassionately as their bodies twitched from the shock. "And let that be a lesson to all of you faunus filth! You're lucky we even give you this much! Just be thankful we humans put up with your filth."
The guard's intolerant rant was cut short as silver bee shaped kunai knives flew through the air and stabbed two of the guards guarding the cages, Oran then came flying out from the shadows of the cave and slashed two more SDC guards in the chest.
His allies incapacitated, the lead SDC Guard stood his ground on his trembling knees. "BACK YOU SAVAGES, BACK!" He yelled as he pulled out his firearm.
A distinct buzzing could be heard as Wanda descended from the top of the cave and threw a poisonous kunai into the guard's neck. The guard grabbed at his wound, coughing up blood. Wanda walked up to him and grabbed the ID lanyard around his neck as the guard fell down on the ground lifeless. She walked up to the cages and pressed the lanyard next to the ID scanner on the cage and opened the cage's workers tumbled into a heap on the floor.
The faunus captives trembled in fear at these new attackers unsure of their intent. Oran looked at their terrified faces "The guards have spent all your time here telling you about how you're 'violent animals' and that 'this was your proper place in life.' You are not. And all of you deserve better than this. Every single one of you here has the right to food, rest, and proper care. We can provide all of this, and take you away from these cages." Oran rallied. As they heard Oran's words the faunus workers stopped trembling and began to stand.
"You stole that from one of Izzy's speeches." Wanda teased.
"Well what can I say? The guy knows how to rally a crowd." Oran said as he scooped the Cheetah faunus that was shocked earlier into his arms.
"Right, anyway you heard him, we don't have enough time, the cave will collapse soon." Wanda said with urgency.
The captive faunus happily obliged, not even bothering to question why the cave would be collapsing.
Meanwhile Rick was climbing up the cave's wall, placing explosives on the way up. "You almost done on your end Val?" Rick asked.
"Yeah, almost done with this section as you can clearly see." Val said as the snake faunus was about to lay another explosive on the ground.
"Remember, Don't put it on a dust vein otherwise you'll cause a chain reaction," Rick said. "AGAIN!" he emphasised with anger.
"What do you mean 'Again'? That was one time! Are you ever going to let me live that down?". She sighed.
"Nyoooooope" He replied.
"Well, we got out okay in the end." Val said.
"Really, because I remember nearly losing my horn" Rick flared.
"Keyword, 'nearly' and besides this job comes with its fair share of risks. Besides, you're the guy that keeps charging into everything." She rolled her eyes.
"Only because something is blowing up behind me" Rick replied as they kept laying explosives.
Iskandar looked up at the office of Schwarz Gelee. It was a small office complex on top of a cliff with a single two-story staircase. There were three guards, two in front of the door while one was making their rounds. Iskandar looked at the base of their helmets, making note of binocular attachments on them. Thermal goggles. "Sneaking up on them would be increasingly difficult". Iskandar saw one of the guards walking up the stairs, and got an idea. The dragon faunus spread his wings and started making his move.
The guard was climbing the staircase one step at a time, rifle in his hand. The sound of his boots clanging against the metal steps. One step in front of the other until one clang was louder than the others. He looked up the stairs only to see no one, he checked behind him, only to see nothing through his goggles.
The guard sighed, returning to his patrol route trying to calm his nerves only for a tail to wrap around his head and mouth and pull him against the railing. The guard moved to aim his weapon at whatever it was that was pulling at him, only for a muscular arm to reach out and yank the weapon from his grasp. The guard looked down to see Iskandar was hanging onto the underside of the staircase. "Shhhh" Iskandar shushed him as he choked out the guard. He released the unconscious guard as he let go of the underside and climbed up the cliffside.
There were two guards by Schwarz's office door, the final hurdle between him and his target, Iskandar used his tail to elevate himself onto the roof of the office. His breath hushed as he slowly crept to the guards.
"Hey" one guard said.
"Yeah?" the other responded.
"You know what I could go for right now coffee and a pink frosted donut, best food for the soul" the first guard said.
"Nah man, on a cold night like this? Hot churros are the best, no question." the second guard said.
With the two guards distracted, Iskandar wasted no time, dropping down to chokehold the first guard with both his arms while choking the second one with his tail. The second guard pointed his rifle at Iskandar but Iskandar swiftly kicked it away into the snow below as he resumed to choke the guards out.
With all obstacles out of the way, Iskandar made his way inside into what appeared to be a secretary's office. Opposite him was his target's office. Iskandar drew his sword and barged through Schwarz's door. "Schwarz Gelee, you stand guilty of operating a Schnee dust company mine with the largest number of faunus slave workers, who you force into unstable mines to satisfy your endless greed. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Schwarz Gelee turned around in his chair, striking a strong resemblance to his brother Jacque, but his hair was fully black and his suits were more grey in hue. He looked Iskandar in the eye and responded. His face betrayed no surprise at his presence. "I have nothing to say to a beast like you. Just get it over with." He said as Iskandar gripped his sword tightly.
The wind blew cold with snow flying through the air. Hephaestion looked onto the site, sniper rifle in his hands, he never liked being a lookout, but he never swayed from his duty. He kept watch of the guards around the mining grounds. Making sure that they don't enter the cave.
"Clear," he said as he saw some guards taking a snack break. He then panned to a couple smoking some cigarettes. "Clear," He then panned to a guard scratching his crotch like there were ants in his pants. "Ewww, you're gonna need a cream for that." He said with disgust. His gaze then peered to a white haired woman wearing an Atlas elite uniform.
"Hello, Winter Schnee...funny that you would be here despite renouncing your inheritance." he aimed his rifle at Winter, his finger grazing the trigger. As he was ready to take the shot an alarm started to blare. He flinched for a moment as his finger lifted off the trigger he turned to the screaming siren overhead with the flashing red light.
"Alright, who screwed up this time?" He muttered to himself.
"Are we almost done?" Val said as her snake tail swinged feverishly
"Just one more," Rick said as carefully placed the last explosive. The dead silence that was necessary for this precise operation was suddenly interrupted by the blaring alarms. The sudden shock caused Rick to fumble the explosive in his hand but luckily for everyone he caught it. With a quick sigh from him and the snake faunus, he placed the explosive and armed it.
"Oh this is not good" Val muttered, justifiably worried.
"Okay, we're good, let's bounce" he replied as the two dashed for the exit.
Wanda and Oran were escorting the faunus captives out of the tunnels as stealthily as possible, even though the group's size, they planned out an escape route beforehand with minimal guards on patrol during that time. "Okay we're almost there" Wanda said.
However as she said those words the alarm started to blare.
The civilian faunus begin to panic "Oh gods they know we're out!" one trembled in fear.
One clasped their head petrified "We're all going to be branded,... if we're lucky" he lamented.
"Everyone please calm down, we're still going to get you out" Wanda tried to reassure them.
"She's right, no time to panic! We need to run now, double time" Oran commanded.
"Hey guys" Oran and Wanda turned to see Val and Rick running towards them "Which one of you set off the alarm?" Rick asked in a annoyed manner.
"Us, I thought you guys got spotted" Oran replied to the accusation.
The faunus prisoners ran with all their strength. "Everyone move, we need to get out before-!" Wanda ordered the others but as they got to the entrance of the cave,they were met by a squadron of heavily armed SDC guards. Some drove up in weaponised snow jeeps.
"Surrender now! You're surrounded! Any resistance and we will open fire." The SDC captain said in a gruff tone.
"This isn't good." Oran whispered.
"This is it, this is how I die," one faunus labourer lamented, clutching their hair in despair.
"I just wanted to go home," Another cried.
"Where is Hephaestion?" Val said tense from the sudden death situation.
"Ready!" the SDC commander said.
"Wait, wait we surrender!" Wanda shouted with her hands up.
"AIM!" the commander continued.
"Oh great plan! Maybe you can even beg for a brand while you're at it!" Oran said.
"I don't see you coming up with any ideas!" Wanda scowled
Before the order could be given a bullet flew through the cold air and hit the snow jeep's gas tank, the vehicle immediately exploded, shocking the soldiers.
"Stay back and wait till it's clear!" Wanda ordered the prisoners as she and Oran rushed through the bullets and roaring inferno.
Hephaestion soared across the night sky to his back as he fired his sniper rifle on the explosive materials below as well as the rest of the vehicles, the guards scattering like rats in a burning maze as they tried to find cover in the debris.
As the inferno raged, seven musty trucks revved through the flames bearing the White Fang symbol.
"Get in!" A White Fang grunt yelled out.
"Okay, time to go!" Val said ushering to the faunus slave workers from the mines..
The few soldiers still standing took aim. Wanda took this chance to throw more of her bee shaped kunai at the soldiers, the kunais stung and the soldiers collapsed.
"Okay people, time to go!" Oran said as he was loading people onto the trucks.
Hephaestion was still on his perch, firing sniper rounds, striking down any SDC soldiers that stood in their path. "Come on Izzy, where are you? You're running out of time." he said as he then felt a hand on his back, on instinct he drew his sword and swung it, only to clash with another. Heph's eyes widened at the sight of his brother, with a gunshot wound in his abdomen and his sword covered in blood.
"We're bugging out!" Iskandar said.
"Right" Hephaestion responded as the White Fang trucks were making their getaway they flew across the devastated work site and landed on the roof of the vehicle.
The two, winged faunus climbed their way down into the truck as Iskandar grasped his wound. Iskandar turned to the rhinoceros faunus "Rick, blow it" Iskandar ordered in a monotone voice.
"Much obliged." He eagerly said as he pulled out a detonator and pressed it. The faunus looked out the back to see a massive inferno burst from the cave as it began to collapse in on itself, making the SDC guard near the scene scatter away from the falling stones and ice.
"Haha! A perfect mission if I do say so myself!" Rick said with a smile.
"Yeah but, who triggered that alarm?" Oran said, the white fang members all looked at each other.
"Well no one saw me, and I didn't see anyone mess up," Hephaestion said.
"Someone did," Wanda said.
Iskandar waved off the comments with a raised hand.
"We rescued the workers and Schwarz Gelee is dead, despite complications. Mission accomplished."
"Okay, let's get you patched up, hey boss" Val said, reaching for a first aid box.
Iskandar groaned as he started to drift off.
"Iskandar? Izzy? IZZY!" Hephaestion kept yelling his voice then started turning feminine.
"Izzy, Izzy! Yang shouted at the dragon faunus, he awoke from his slumber he found himself in Professor Port's class, 'Damn, did I fall asleep in Port's class again? I swear his stories can put even the most savage Grimm to sleep.' He turned his head to see Yang Xiao Long.
"Hey, sleepyhead," Yang smiled.
"How long was I out?" Iskandar asked, groaning as he was trying to wake himself up.
"Ten minutes. Don't worry Leo wrote down notes." Yang said. "You okay? You were grunting a lot in your sleep."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a bad dream," Iskandar said.
"You've been having bad dreams a lot lately. Do you want to talk about them?" Naomi asked, concerned for her partner.
"No thank you, I'm fine," Iskandar responded.
"I can prescribe you some sleeping pills," Leonidas said.
Next to him, Francesca raised an eyebrow. "But you're not a doctor,"
"True. However, I am also studying medicine and anatomy concurrently," Leonidas countered.
"Man, honestly you are a machine at times, and not the fun kind." Naomi said.
"False. A machine wouldn't need bathroom breaks." Leonidas responded, earning an exhausted look from Yang, Naomi and Francesca. Iskandar got up, earning the attention of the others.
"Iskandar?" Naomi asked.
"I'm just getting an afternoon snack, I'll return to our dorm momentarily," Iskandar said, picking up his school bag and walking out.
As he left the classroom, his peers watched him leave. Concern in their eyes.
Yang sighed "Anyone noticed he hasn't been himself ever since that fight with Naomi's dad?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, maybe what dad said really got into his head," Francesca said.
"Maybe we should do something nice for him?" Ruby chimed in.
"I actually do have something in mind," Leonidas said with a smug smirk.
Yinsen was sitting in one of the many desks within Beacon's library. Before him stood a history book detailing the many historic eras of Remnant. The young man slowly flipped through the book, diligently reading its contents to prepare for an upcoming test from Oobleck. As Yinsen read through a surprisingly engaging section of escalating hostilities of Mantle during the era preceding the Great War, his studies were cut short by the blare of his ringtone. He turned from his textbook and towards his scroll in annoyance, ignoring the Librarian's glares and shushes. His eyes scrunched further in irritation as he saw the caller ID reading a singular hyphen on the contact screen. Leaving the book where it was, he stood up and answered the call in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you morons, never call me while I'm at Beacon." as he got up he began to exit the library checking left and right to see if anyone was watching him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, but we've got some new intel I thought you needed to know and it's time sensitive." Junior said over the phone.
Yinsen exited the library and leaned on the wall next to the door. "What is it?"
"It's the White Fang, they've gone back to hitting dust shops the past week,and I have an idea where they are heading next. "D2D". A dust shop down by the pier, if you were free tonight you could intercept them" Junior said.
Yinsen let out a sigh "Finally! About time they started moving again. But thanks to your little stunt a few weeks ago it'll be hell to sneak out tonight."
"And why do you need to sneak out?" Yinsen turned to see Ebon (oh yay, he got it right this time), Silver and Grey were in the hallway. Yinsen mentally cursed. Of all times for his new team to show up.
"I'll call you back," Yinsen said as he hung up.
"Who was that?" Silva asked as she walked towards Yinsen.
"Oh a friend of mine at the bar I frequent. " Yinsen responded.
"The same bar… you got caught up with a fight between Iskandar and Yang in?"
"That is the one, yes." Yinsen acknowledged.
"Well what's this guy or girl's name?" Silver asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He. And he didn't tell me." Yinsen said. Which was true from a certain point of view. He doubted Junior was his real name.
"Anyway, what did he say?" Grey asked, clearly curious about the call.
Yinsen took a moment to collect himself. To think of what to say. He looked towards his teammates. Or rather his friends. He debated on whether to hide his intentions, but to do so would draw their suspicion and would cause them to look for information of their own initiative. No. Better to take control of the narrative now.
"There have been a couple of dust store robberies happening in the city as of late." Yinsen said.
"Really? Seems to be a trend in this town. Any idea who the culprit is?" Ebon asked.
Yinsen pondered on whether or not to tell them about Roman Torchwick's role in this endeavour. How he had been sighted alongside White Fang grunts in their robberies. But no. That complicated things. It would cause further questions. And so he decided to give a simple answer, and to gradually ease them into the rest of the story from a place of privacy.
"The White Fang" the pink haired young man said.
"Wait, are you for real? They're the ones behind those robberies?" Silver groaned. "Are they TRYING to make us look bad or are all the White Fang in Vale that stupid?".
Yinsen snorted. The iguana certainly matched that description well enough, despite his skills.
Ebon tapped her fingers together, an uneasy expression making its way onto her face. "Are you sure it is the white fang? It's just… It just feels weird that they'd do this. Are we sure it's them and not some imposter group?"
Yinsen turned his gaze towards the Cat faunus. He should've expected Ebon to speak up in their defence. Even putting aside the fact that she was a faunus, she was a kind soul who expected the best from everyone… until they show their true colours that is. Such was the case with Naomi's father. And such will be the case here. Best to feed on her hope for now.
"Even if it is an imposter group, they must be stopped. All this dust they would gain and have gained from their previous heists is a danger we cannot ignore."
"This just… hardly feels like the Fang's usual MO. They'd prefer something big and flashy, something that'd dominate the headlines for weeks." Ebon muttered, drawing the attention of Grey and Yinsen.
Yinsen nodded to concede the point. "Such a demonstration would require a vast amount of planning, and resources. Dust is a resource unlike any other and is the backbone of our society. If what you say is true, then these heists could very well be for the big flashy headline you associate them with."
That earned a nod of agreement from Ebon, and concern from Grey.
"Are we just gonna ignore that the kindest person we know knows the usual inner workings of one of the most hidden organisations in the world?" Grey piped up, a fair bit of concern in his voice.
"There's a good reason for that, Grey. We'll tell you more about it, but not tonight. We have enough distractions as it is." Silver places a hand on Grey's shoulder to comfort his partner. "For now, it doesn't matter how we know who the Fang usually works, what matters is that we stop them. After the mission, assuming we aren't arrested or stuck in the infirmary, we'll explain how we know what we know."
Yinsen took some comfort in that statement. The fact that the twins had their own secrets to share, beyond the shock of being the children of "Alex the Red" helped to ease the burdens of his own secrets.
He placed a comforting hand on Silver's Shoulder.
"You do not need to feel compelled to tell us Silver. Only tell us your secrets when you want to. Not when you feel you need to."
"Bold words from a bundle of secrets like yourself." Silver playfully punches Yinsen's shoulder. Yinsen smiled despite himself.
"It is because I am a bundle of secrets that I understand their burden. Unless these missions contain information critical to the coming mission, you are under no obligation to share them."
His face shifted to a firm expression "Meet me at the dorm. I have to prepare for the coming night." While the three headed back to their dorm, Yinsen left in the opposite direction.
Iskandar sighed as he just finished his sushi roll he got from the cafeteria. He meanders back to his dorm until he overhears something from team CRST's room.
"So where is the White Fang going to attack?" Grey asked. This got Iskandar's attention. He quietly nudged the door open and peeked through the crack.
"Keep your voice down!" Yinsen took a breath to calm himself. "It's at a dust shop near the pier. We need to be there around 8 P.M. so we can be there in time." Yinsen said.
"Are there any good vantage points?" Ebon asked, "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather hide out until they come to us."
"Of course Silv-..er... Ebon. The rooftops next door should be able to hide us so long as we stay out of sight and not draw attention to ourselves." Yinsen said with a hint of pride in his voice.
'Ebon? Is that a new nickname for her or something? ' Iskandar thought to himself.
"And give us a good vantage point to see them coming first." the Silver haired dragon faunus nodded..
"Yeah, but the big question is how are we going to get out after curfew? Goodwitch is probably still on edge after the incident with a certain someone." Silv-Ebon growled, clearly referring to Naomi's father.
"I already took care of that myself." Yinsen said.
"Really? What did you do?" Ebon crossed her arms.
"Sorry, S-... Ebon.. God that's going to take getting used to. Anyway, I can't say." He said.
The siblings gave a deadpan stare before speaking in unison.
"What did you ask our mother to do?"
Yinsen shrugged. "I didn't ask for details. How she does her distraction matters little to me so long as it works."
The siblings cringed at the plausible implications. That was its own can of worms Iskandar wasn't ready to open.
"He does have a point," The team of four turned to the door to see Iskandar. "I mean nothing gets past Ms. Goodwitch"
While Yinsen scowled at the Dragon Faunus, the other members of CRST were more vocal in their surprise.
"Son of a bitch!" Silver yelled out, armoring up instinctively.
"Fucking hell!" Grey called out, almost overlapping with Silver.
Ebon's response was a little shriek with her instantly drawing her sword.
Iskandar raised his hands in the universal gesture of non hostile intentions. "Woah, woah. Easy"
Sil...Ebon kept her sword pointed towards Iskandar, forcing a smirk on her face."Oh… uh… well… it's nothing she has knowledge about." The smirk held firm as the shock of the surprise began to wear off.
"So... what's this I hear about you stopping the White Fang heist?" the red haired dragon faunus added, Ebon almost seeming offended that he just brushed her off.
"Is that a problem?" Yinsen growled.
"I want in," Iskandar interrupted
"Um... I'm sorry, what?" Grey asked, confused and sceptical.
"I want to help you stop their heist." He said.
"Excuse you?" Silver raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you want to help us? Ebon asked.
"I have my reasons. Besides, if you refuse, I'm sure Miss Goodwitch would like to hear about this." he replied. Silva raised her sword threateningly only for Silver to push her arm down to try and quell her rage.
Yinsen glared at the dragon faunus.
'My distraction won't mean shit if this idiot decides to butt in... but... would he really risk stopping us knowing the White Fang might kill someone in this robbery?" He stood up and stared Iskandar in the eye.
"You know what this branch of the White Fang is like. They will hurt someone, even kill them. You really expect me to believe you're gonna stop us from hurting them? Or do you think this store owner deserves it" Yinsen spat.
"No, in fact that is exactly the reason I want to help you stop them" Iskandar said."I won't go into much detail but I have seen their handiwork first hand and trust me they are a lot more vicious than you think. You shouldn't underestimate them."
Yinsen stormed to Iskandar. "I underestimate nothing. Maybe you should take your own advice."
"Alright, let me be clear about this." Silver growled out, standing between the two leaders. "If you both are gonna be on this mission, if I so much as hear you two beginning to argue, I'm ending it. If either of you do anything that jeopardises our safety, or get any of us hurt due to your lack of getting along for ten minutes, you'll answer to me." Silver finished with a threatening growl.
Iskandar looked at his fellow Dragon faunus. Given what he did to CRDL with Yinsen without the use of his semblance, it was safe to say that Silver could definitely cause much more harm than what he displayed so far. Though, in his eyes, Iskandar could see that it stemmed from a want to protect his team, something that the winged faunus could respect.
Meanwhile as Yinsen glared into the interloper, a voice echoed into his head.
"Well. he does know this branch better than we do... can't hurt to hear him out."
He could also be fucking us over and leak the plans.
Either way. We can't get rid of him, so we need to play along.
"Fine. Come with me. To negotiate terms." Yinsen said as the two exited the room.
Iskandar and Yinsen walked far away from their room to make sure the rest of team CRST wasn't listening.
"What's your game?" Yinsen asked. "I thought you wanted out. You can't keep a low profile by stopping their robberies. Last I checked, dragon faunus aren't exactly common."
"I'll keep my wings and horns hidden, they'll probably just think I'm a run of the mill lizard faunus." he replied.
Yinsen sighed. "Fine. Now let's make one thing clear. If you use this opportunity to get back in with them... Know that I will find you. I will make you suffer. And I will make sure to kill you slowly."
Iskandar sighed. "Adam's vision of the White Fang strayed too far from its original vision of peace and cooperation. Now he goes to parade on how faunus are superior, that humans deserve to be punished for their crimes against faunus-kind and anyone who thinks otherwise is a traitor." He gritted his teeth. "And my brother paid the price for his ideology." The dragon faunus growled. "Trust me, nothing would make me happier than making sure Adam's ambitions, and everything he plans to accomplish, burns by my hands"
A long beat passed as Yinsen looked into Iskandar's eyes looking for any hints of lies or deception.
"Alright fine... I'll believe you for now. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss." Yinsen replied.
"You can save your half hearted sentiment." Iskandar responded bitterly.
Yinsen scowled. "Well fuck you too."
'I don't think he's lying about the brother thing'
'He isn't.' Yinsen agreed ' But he's still doing this for himself... that's going to be a problem.' Yinsen retorted mentally.
"Four years, Yinsen. You're going to need to trust them sooner or later."
"In four years, I'll hopefully be rid of this pretentious halfwit so I can be free to focus on my objectives with my team."
"Ah. I see you're already planning to include them. So when are you going to tell them about me?"
Yinsen's face dropped its scowl "When second year begins. Not a moment before."
"Fine. just make sure not to get too nosy."
The scowl returned full force. "I know, Shut up!"
There was a dead silence as Yinsen had his mental back and forth. Iskandar watched on as Yinsen had a mental tug of war.
"...Uh, Yinsen….you okay, you're making a lot of funny faces." Iskandar said.
Yinsen's face then removed its angry scowl to return his attention to Iskandar "Facial nerve disorder don't worry about it." Yinsen pulled out his scroll and zoomed in on an image. "Anyway sneak out at around 8 and meet us on the rooftops next to the docks around 9, you got that?"
"You should get that nerve thing looked at, and yeah I'll be there," the dragon faunus said with fiery determination. He then turned away from team CRST's leader and left.
'You know you two are a lot more alike than you-'
'Don't even start.' Yinsen responded, annoyed.
Iskandar walked down the hall heading back to his room to plan for the night ahead. He turned to see the blonde brawler, Yang with an angry expression plastered on her face. "You and Yinsen seem to be a bit chummy."
"I was just touching base that he keeps the secret of, well, my former employer as well as making sure that he hasn't attempted another kidnapping." Iskandar said.
Yang's scowl became a smirk.
"If it's Cleopatra he's kidnapping, you may have to rescue him." Yang said, earning a small chuckle from him.
"Look, you've been acting off a bit ever since our little disaster date, and I'm getting concerned." she said.
"I've just been having a lot on my mind lately." Iskandar said.
"Whatcha thinkin about?" she asked.
"I don't know. But lately I feel Ozpin made the wrong choice and I shouldn't be here" the dragon faunus replied.
"Hey come on, Ozpin wanted you here for a reason. Ruby and Weiss had a similar crisis over leadership, but they seemed to have that figured out. I know you can too." she replied.
"That's different. They're... normal people. What reason does a monster have at a school designed to slay monsters?" Iskandar groaned as he rested his back on the wall.
"Look, as far as I can see you are no more a monster than Cardin and Yinsen are. You're also a hell of a lot nicer than they are, not that that's saying much. You have friends here, you can always count on us."
"I know I can count on you Yang, but if the others knew my secret do you think they would feel the same way as you?" He asked.
Yang looked at Iskandar and sighed "Look... I honestly can't speak for them, but you've been with them for long enough. They don't know this monster you think you are. And even if they do, that's not going to make them suddenly stop remembering the strong, reliable and somewhat goofy leader of team DMON.
Iskandar sighed letting Yang's words sink in. "Maybe, but not tonight... I am just not ready yet." he said as he began to walk away.
Chapter End
(A/N All Right another chapter done, This one was a dozy to finish and truth be told This chapter was originally twice as long but we decided to split it into two and we're currently working on chapter 12 as we speak. Anyway here is to a good year (can't get any worse than previous years, did get some good stuff from the entertainment industry though, I'm personally looking forward to RWBY Volume 9 like the rest of you and that RWBY/Justice League movie. Anyway till next time everyone.)