Remember the Heroes

Chapter 5

The Martyr


Police stormed the construction site. EMT arrived to take care of Torchwick. As far as anyone knew, the only people in the site were Roman, Cardin, and Ruby. A killer combination. Ruby shook her head and watched as they dragged Cardin away in cuffs. Ruby grabbed the mask off the ground. She was a fan of the Martyr, she respected him, and he turned out to be Cardin Winchester? She couldn't wrap her mind around it. Cardin Winchester was a bully, a bigot, and a coward. Now he's a renowned huntsman who volunteers to go on the most dangerous of missions, who goes out of his way to "stop" a serial killer. Or was it all an act, and he was the killer like the cops are saying.

Ruby sat in the car while Duffy talked to the captain. She was stunned. She had nothing to say. Cardin Winchester fit the bill ten years ago when she knew him. He hated faunus, he was cruel, he was strong, he carries a mace that uses burn dust. He fits the bill better than Yang did. But there was something else. In the attic of Torchwick's club, she heard him fighting with someone. He sounded so sure of himself there, he seemed like what she had heard of the Martyr, a good person. Cardin Winchester was the Martyr. She still couldn't wrap her head around it.

Duffy climbed into the car. He had a big smile on his face. "We did it Miss Rose." He said. "We caught him."

"We caught the Martyr." Ruby said.

"The Martyr's weapon is a mace, you heard what the medical examiner said. A mace would do the trick." Duffy said. "We've got opportunity, we've got means, all we need is motive and we are set. Interrogation will yield results."

"I don't think he did it." Ruby said. "Sure it fits but our description doesn't match."

"Our description came from him." Duffy said. "He could say anything. Doesn't make it true."

"I want to be the one to interrogate him." Ruby said.

"C'mon Ruby, life is offering us a break on a silver platter, you really want to stare a gift horse in the mouth?" Duffy asked.

"If he might be innocent, we gotta verify." Ruby said. "Even for someone like Cardin Winchester."

"Fine." Duffy said. "The captain won't like it."

"He doesn't want the truth?" Ruby asked.

"Of course he does, he just wants this case to be over. The council is riding him to an early grave on this one." He said.

"Then let's figure out if we got our killer." Ruby said.


The interrogation room was cold and sterile. A metal table, two chairs, a two way mirror and a lamp dangling from the ceiling. There was nothing warm or inviting in this room, it was simply made to intimidate and leave you feeling uncomfortable. Even Ruby felt the room's effect and she wasn't handcuffed to the table. Cardin was sitting across from her, dressed in all but his mask.

"The Martyr." Ruby said. "Help me wrap my head around this Cardin."

"I'm not here to justify the things I've done." Cardin said.

"Is that a confession?" Ruby asked.

"It's a statement." Cardin said. "I didn't commit the murders."

"Then what were you doing at the construction site?" Ruby asked.

"Chasing the actual murderer." Cardin said. "I found him there."

"And I'm suppose to what? Trust your word? Cardin Winchester?" Ruby asked. "Class A jerk? World class Bigot? Ring any bells?"

"That was a long time ago." Cardin said.

"Ten years almost." Ruby said. "Anniversary of the Battle of Beacon is coming up. Is that why you decided to start killing faunus? Do your part? Get payback?"

"No." Cardin said. He slammed his fists on the table. "I'm trying to save them."

"Why would you?" Ruby asked. "That goes against everything I've known you for."

"That was a long time ago Ruby." Cardin said. "I'm not that person anymore."

"Then give me something to work with." Ruby said. "Who were you chasing?"

"I don't know who it is, they wore a ski mask." Cardin said. He leaned back in his seat. "I'm trying to cooperate."

"You must have learned something." Ruby said. "What turns Cardin the jerk into the Martyr?"

"Same thing that turned you into what you are today." Cardin said. "Same thing that changed all of us. Battle for Beacon, the bloodbath."

"You lost people there?" Ruby asked.

"You didn't even check." Cardin said. "Why wouldn't you, we were a bunch of dumb teenagers. We did stupid things. Truth is I lost everyone during the Battle."

"You lost your team?" Ruby asked.

"My team, my family, my friends. All of them." Cardin said. "We were evacuating an apartment building when the white fang bombed it. I was helping a family get out of the building when it blew up with my team inside. I fought my way through a crowd of grimm to make sure my family survived, only to find my home a burning wreck."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ruby said. She leaned back.

"Are you really?" Cardin asked. "When it happened you never checked the casualty board for my name. You probably haven't thought of me once since I bullied Jaune. I don't need your pity, or your sympathy."

"Then why the Martyr act?" Ruby asked.

"Because I need to forgive myself." He said. "Then I need to find absolution."

"Survivors guilt?" Ruby asked.

"That's what the shrinks said." He shrugged. "Everyone I know is dead and I survived by fluke. It should have been me. I was their leader. I know that now."

"I really am sorry Cardin. I didn't know." Ruby said. "And you are right. I never even thought about you and whether or not you survived."

"Did you lose anyone?" Cardin asked. "Other than Pyrrha and Ren."

"Blake." Ruby said. "Sad thing is we don't know for sure."

"That's rough." He said.

"Remember the Heroes." Ruby said. "That's the message the murderer is leaving us."

"Us? You believe me?" Cardin asked.

"This is too clean, I think I believe you. I have a gut feeling someone is setting you up to take the fall." Ruby said. "If we don't find a way to exonerate you, then the murderer gets away scott free."

"Guess it's too much to wish for another murder." Cardin said. "No, we have to do this right."

"So we need to decipher this message." Ruby said. "Someone is working hard to frame you."

"Because I've been hot on their trail." Cardin said.

"Does anyone know you are the Martyr?" Ruby asked.

"Besides you and this entire police department?" Cardin asked.

"Good point, but is there anyone else?" Ruby asked.

"Two people." Cardin said. "I asked for their forgiveness before I put on the mask."

"Names Cardin." Ruby said.

"Jaune." Cardin said. "Velvet."

"Your old punching bags." Ruby said. "Did either forgive me?"

"Jaune threw a bottle at me, Velvet told me to drop dead." Cardin said. "It's safe to say neither are particularly fond of me."

"So it's either Jaune, Velvet or a cop." Ruby said. She glanced over her shoulder to the mirror. She turned back. "I don't like any of those options."

"There's one other person." Cardin said. "When I was leaving Jaunes' place, I ran into that redhaired girl. His old teammate."

"Nora?" Ruby asked. "She isn't in town."

"Are we sure, I distinctly remember her packing a grenade launcher. She's always been a firepower kind of person, just like at Torchwick's club." Cardin said.

"I know someone who can answer that." Ruby said.

"I'm not going to jail because I was a jerk ten years ago." Cardin said. He tilted his head. "I have faith in you Ruby. You get me out of here and I'll have your back when you take down whoever is behind this."


So her choice boiled down to Jaune, Nora or Velvet. All of whom she considered friends. She was willing to investigate her own sister when the evidence pointed her way, she might as well carry on with her few surviving friends. She needed to talk to Weiss to confirm whether Nora was a suspect or not. Then it's up to Jaune and Velvet. She's been taking care of Jaune for some time now, she hoped desperately that he wouldn't betray her like this. But Velvet was the one who turned her life around and made something of herself, why would she betray herself for this.

She left Duffy in charge of keeping the interrogation going. So long as they are interrogating Cardin, they wouldn't be trying to prosecute him for a crime he didn't commit. She still didn't know how to feel about this turn of events, she was investigating her own friends to prove the innocence of an old enemy.

She arrived at her house and reached her terminal. She messaged Weiss. Now she just needed to wait for her response. It took a good ten minutes but sure enough the screen flashed. Incoming call from Weiss Schnee. She answered it.

"Ruby." Weiss said. "It's so good to talk to you again. I'm a little swamped right now but I can talk for a bit."

"I need to know something important, where is Nora right now?" Ruby asked.

"I sent her on an assignment to oversee my operations on Vacuo." Weiss said.

"Can you check on her, I need to know she's there." Ruby said. "It's very important."

"I'll call her right now. Please hold." Weiss said. The screen turned into a Schnee Dust Company snowflake symbol. She waited for a few minutes. The screen returned to her face. She looked confused. "I don't understand. What is this all about Ruby?"

"Where is Nora?" Ruby asked.

"I can't get ahold of her." Weiss said. "She left weeks ago, she never arrived."

"This isn't good." Ruby said.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked.

Ruby explained her situation to Weiss who looked shocked. She shook her head furiously.

"No, absolutely not." Weiss said. "There is no way that's true. Cardin must be lying."

"Then help me out." Ruby said. "Velvet's weapon, I've never seen it before, what does she use?"

"I saw it during the battle." Weiss said. "She can mimic weapons, making hard-light weapon copies. Her camera creates the copies."

Ruby's heart plummeted into her stomach. The murderer carried a small arsenal on her. A fully automatic weapon that wouldn't have to reload. They thought the shooter was highly experienced with rapid reloads when they clearly had access to Coco's minigun. Nora's grenade launcher, either Cardin's mace or Yang's gauntlets for the mush victims. Any old gun for the executions. She's a photographer who's covered got hundreds of photographs of huntsmen and huntresses alive and dead, including their weapons.

But what about Nora? She was missing. Was that related? Was she in trouble? Or was she the true killer? Ruby shuddered at the thought of Nora Valkyrie being a serial killer. Clearly she was being framed. Velvet was behind it all. But why?

"Thank you Weiss." Ruby said.

"Ruby what are you going to do?" Weiss asked.

"Pay Velvet a visit." Ruby said.

Ruby arrived at Velvet's apartment. Roughly around midnight. She got the address from the police. She didn't exactly hide where she lived. It was a nice little apartment. Clearly her photography was paying off. She should have called for backup, but she figured she could take velvet. She knocked on the door. Velvet answered, groggy with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Ruby it's late, why are you here?" Velvet asked.

"To ask you about the murders." Ruby said.

"I thought I was the one with the questions." Velvet said.

"Do you have an allibi for any of the murders?" Ruby asked.

"Am I a suspect?" Velvet asked.

"Answer the question." Ruby said.

"You saw me at one of the crime scenes." Velvet said.

"After the crime was over." Ruby said. "I have reason to believe you were responsible."

"Do you have a single fact to back that up?" Velvet asked.

"The killer changed weapons and tactics regularly. First executing their victims with a shot to the back of the head." Ruby said. "Then shots to the stomach, then an open attack on Roman Torchwick. Two dozen dead or hospitalized in seconds due to incredible firepower consistent with Coco Adel's minigun. Which I heard was destroyed during the bombings. Later they escaped with a grenade launcher. The bodies you were spotted around were pulverized, either with Cardin Winchester's mace or Ember Celica."

"So how does this tie to me?" Velvet asked.

"Your weapon." Ruby said. "Any weapon can be copied by your camera, you must have built up quite the arsenal since you started your career."

"Are you done?" Velvet asked.

"Just about. To top it all off you framed Cardin for the crime, which works because he used to be a real jerk to faunus and this would come across as something he would have done ten years ago." Ruby said. "You're last encounter with Cardin you told him to drop dead."

"This conversation is over." Velvet said. "I'd like an attorney."

"What I want to know is how you got the bodies into the police headquarters without alerting the authorities, or why you went after Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asked.

"I did no such things Ruby." Velvet said. "I thought you were my friend and you're accusing me of being some sort of monster. I gave up my weapon years ago."

"A likely story." Ruby said. "And who did you give your weapon to?"

"Jaune." Velvet said. "It possessed a picture of Pyrrha's weapon. I gave it to him after she passed."

"What?" Ruby asked.

"He's been the sole possessor of my weapon." Velvet said. "So if you wish to charge me with something, I want a lawyer, otherwise get out of my face and never talk to me ever again. I can't believe I ever respected you Ruby. You're worse than Cardin, at least he'd never accuse his own friends of murder. Especially with little more than conjecture."

She slammed the door in Ruby's face. Ruby backed up. Jaune had the murder weapon this whole time. Remember the Heroes. He's been watching the Battle of Beacon news coverage and documentaries for weeks now. All he's been doing is remembering the heroes of Beacon. She's assumed he's never left his apartment so she never considered it. Now that she thought of it, the photographs. Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren. Team JNPR. If it were Velvet, why not leave pictures of Coco, or Fox, or Yatsuhashi. If it were Cardin why not Dove, Lark, or Russel? She never even considered this, she just assume the pictures were picked at random. She's been looking at this all wrong. She couldn't believe it. Jaune was her killer. That didn't seem possible. Even more unlikely than her own sister being the killer.

Not Jaune...