135 days.
I waited 135 days for ONE guest reviewer to figure out the answer to the challenge. Holy crap…it was ridiculously easy, too! It's 'a-mirokal' that no one else got it up to this point.
Ahem. Rant over; I'm not calling anyone dumb. Far from it. But that's just insanity right there. So, all of that aside, congratulations to guest reviewer Forbidden Stars for figuring out what the alliteration to John's former homeworld was. But, surprise! No reward will be handed out. Why? In the challenge, it says that the first USER that makes the connection will win. I don't care if you were lazy to log in at that time; no user account, no prize.
So, that said, this reward is now off the table for some time. It will come back when the halfway point in the next Arc appears. By the way, if something appears odd in the story, keep that in mind. It might make sense in later chapters…or, in other stories. Alright, enough rambling from me, let's get this show on the road.
There weren't many things to piss off Ozpin. In fact, many believe that should he and Lie Ren be placed in a competition, it would last years. Even then, it would be hard to decide who would lose their cool first.
Many don't know what happens when the Headmaster does snap in rage. Those that do are Qrow, Glynda, James, select members of the Council, and, of course, the Old Man that worked everywhere.
Now, Yang Xiao Long is another one that knows of his rage. And if you think that she's scary when enraged…
"Professor…why have the gears stopped?" she asked timidly.
Only a select few can weather the gaze of the damned, and survive.
"Hm? Oh, there's no reason for that," Ozpin responded off-handedly. "How can I help you, Miss Xiao Long?"
"It's about the Dust raid over by the docks," she began. "I was elected by my team to ask for permission for our team to assist in the investigation."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "And why have they elected you, instead of all four of you coming up here at the same time?"
"I'm not sure…something about handling terror better than others?"
Ozpin blinked, and pushed that thought to a back-burner for later analysis.
"And do you think you might know who would've caused it?" the headmaster pondered.
"Blake might think so, but everyone else has their doubts; this has to be put to rest, at least," she said.
'Miss Xiao Long isn't incorrect; any information in finding whoever caused this would be helpful,' he thought. "Very well; have the rest of your team come up, it'd be better for everyone to hear this." Yang nodded an affirmative, pulled out her scroll, and called her teammates. Ozpin pulled up a secured line to Johnathan, and made a call.
"Mr. Osborne, I'm sending a team to the warehouse to assist in your investigation," he began.
"Go ahead and send them, but I'm not at the warehouse," the Terrarian replied. "The Valean Military contacted me to investigate a theft of one of their aircraft on Airfield 6, which was the same night as the Dust raid. I'm speculating that there might be a counter-insurgency working here, but the officers here are thinking otherwise."
First the Dust raid, now a stolen aircraft? When will the bad news stop piling- "Wait, did you say 'Airfield 6'?" he asked, the room going cold very quickly.
"I did, why?" John replied, confused.
Airfield 6; a base commissioned by Atlas for advanced aircraft development, gifted to the Vale Military as a sign of goodwill and faith. Heavily defended, Faunas and Human guards working in tandem to guard the secrets being forged. And the aircraft wasn't for civilian use; these birds were machines of war.
"No wonder why that wasn't in the news, but how did it get stolen?" the headmaster asked.
"A large attack occurred; as it turns out, the White Fang were the culprits, but were supposedly a diversion," he began. "They all matched known names of Fang insurgents; there's speculation that the theft wasn't planned as such, and might've been the work of someone who does this for a living."
Torchwick was seen fleeing the scene of a highway chase Team RWBY was involved in. According to their accounts, he escaped with the help of a colorful accomplice who dealt with illusions. If it wasn't him…
"Thank you, John. Keep up the work," Ozpin said, exhausted.
"Of course, Ozpin. Sounds like you need a break," the Terrarian offered, and closed the line.
Ozpin pushed down his glasses for a moment, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He considered John's words, before deciding.
"Miss Xiao Long, I'm giving you and your team the assignment, so don't dally around; get to it," Ozpin commanded, getting a curt nod from the blonde brawler as she entered the elevator and went down. The headmaster opened another line to Glynda.
"Professor Goodwitch, whatever meetings I have for today…move them."
No one said a word. Not because of the carnage that occurred, but rather that it was cleaned up so quickly. With only one difference; anything that was nearby the warehouse was…gone.
Crates, walls, roofs, corpses, you name it; nothing remained except the concrete they walked upon. Even the officers were baffled; one sat on the hood of his car, guilt displayed for the world to see.
Ruby noticed this, and walked over to the distraught man. "What happened?" she asked.
"It…it was so fast," he muttered. "One second, I was patrolling the area, looking for any reclamation teams, the next, I was torn out of the car by a massive, brown Beowolf. But, it didn't kill me…it just simply knocked me down, and out." He looked up at the clear space. "By the time I came to…everything was gone. Cleaned up…"
Ruby looked around; not a single spot was left untidy. "Well…I'm the leader of Team RWBY; we've come to investigate the raid…or what's left of it, anyway," she said, muttering the last part.
The officer looked at her, and she noticed his eyes were dim. "Well, thanks, but your team isn't needed. Any evidence regarding this incident was lost – even the pieces that were taken back," he said.
Blake was listening in on the conversation, and perked upon hearing that. "I thought the evidence lockers were secured tightly?" she pondered.
"They are; yet someone got through with little to no effort," the officer replied. "There's always a few officers running the night shift, and cameras that can detect anything invisible, Aura traces, Dust; you name it, those cameras would probably spot it. Yet nothing suspicious came up, which is very concerning."
"This area looks too clean to have been holding a warehouse; there isn't even a speck of Dust anywhere," Weiss remarked. Her eyes widened as a sudden thought came to her. "Is there anywhere in the locker that looks too clean?" she asked.
The man tilted his head to the side, considering the implications. "I'm not sure; it's possible, though."
"Then we need to look around and find it," Ruby said.
Careless.
He'd been far too careless that time.
*BOOM*
His foot crushed an emerald-stained rock, destroying it utterly.
He was careful when acquiring the SVTOL from the military, but after that, he'd forgone all tact in favor of obliterating a garrison, and obtaining their supplies. In doing so, he left the one thing he shouldn't; evidence leading to HIM.
So, he cleaned the ruined warehouse – fortunate that the Celestial Shell kicked in to disguise his appearance when dealing with one of the guards – and hunted down the stored pieces. He now was destroying every piece, removing any trace to him for good. Ozpin's call was well-timed; he was transporting the stolen Dust into a ruined building southeast of Vale, and was able to fib a few things.
That was then, however.
Now…he needed to make the Chargers. A few people desperate for money will do anything they're asked, as long as they're paid.
And boy, did he have the literal goldmine in his hands.
He began field-testing the explosives once they made them as he expected. Fire melted away the Grimm, as the initial explosion damaged their armoring, and the Fire Dust itself burned them away – inside and out. Ice encaged them in large crystals, easy to smash into shards. Wind tore away the armor plates of a Deathstalker, making it incredibly squishy. Lightning Dust, however…
Anything inside the blast radius was killed instantly. The pulse from the Chargers actually had a side-effect when paired with Lightning; it supercharged the energy within, and upon striking a living creature, it fried their nervous system to a crisp.
In other words, they were incredibly successful. He had them make enough to last him a long time, and then…released a Beringel out of a Terrarium to slaughter them.
It was said that one couldn't cage any Grimm, for they'd either escape to cause havoc, or just die outright. However, the Champion disagreed; all creatures, even the soulless Grimm, need something to continue living. Negativity was their source, and thanks to his condition, the Beringel got plenty of it for just that one day.
The creature killed off the workers, and was obliterated by the Champion, removing the last trace of evidence leading to him. He now had a large set of Chargers to use, and most of his money back.
John loved it when a plan works wonderfully.
Regarding the call he received, he wasn't lying; after a good dose of 'serious suggestion,' the rumor caught on immediately. The Life Drain rod certainly helped in that manner, as it forced cognitive thought down as it drained the life from the victim, allowing the Champion to implant this false truth upon many ranking officers. Most he targeted were already weakened by the White Fang assault, making the procedure take mere minutes, what it would take a few hours at least.
To solidify his position, he had a handful of bird feathers with him, dyed them black, and then scattered them near the hanger. Just like the White Fang scratches, he left a few near the door; he would come up with something later, to throw off all parties.
The moment he entered his room, the air felt…off. Wrong. He recognized this anywhere; someone was here, that didn't belong.
And unfortunately for them, they didn't look like they knew their mistake.
He locked the door behind him, and observed the room; his bed, nightstand, dresser, and bookshelf were turned over, opened, and scavenged through. And, assuming from the increasing damage of the place as he looked it over, the thief was getting frustrated that there wasn't anything of value here.
The window was open – which he didn't recall opening earlier – and it looked like the carnage increased counterclockwise, reaching the closet. Where his safe was. Clicking noises coming from inside.
If only they knew the rules it abided by.
Though he was clad in his armor, he silently walked towards the closet, and nearly chuckled at the sight; a White Fang grunt was fiddling with the combination, quiet, angry exhales at the fact it wasn't showing any progress. It was humorous enough to where he considered actually laughing at their misfortune; a far more sinister thought brewed within, overriding this course of action.
He created the rumor of the Black Talon; what better way to make it real than showcase it to the world?
I suddenly came upon a dilemma; HOW DO I END THIS CHAPTER?!
I rarely come across that when writing these things, and normally have it planned out for such an occasion. Not the case this time; I had a few ideas, but they wouldn't fit at the ending, so…CLIFFHANGER CLICHÉ, GO!
This won't happen again for some time, so don't get used to it.
That said, hope you guys enjoyed this short setup chapter, and I'll see you guys when I can actually concentrate on writing for once!
…no, seriously. That's been kind of an issue. However, with the help of Volume 4 release of RWBY – I didn't watch the episode, because I'm broke as all hell – I have a chance to snag my muse once more! Plus, with Cinder's new design, this lines up many things I have in mind…