The Second Step: Chapter 12

Birds of Prey: Part 2

A/N: Lights, Camera, Action, and next, back too...

...Well, more stuff that doesn't completely involve team RWBY. But they're sort of there. In a Generation Xerox-y way.

Oh well.

Enjoy the conclusion of the CRDL arc.

(Thursday Evening)

Not many things typically happen on Thursdays. In some cases, the most stressful event a student would deal with on Thursday would be studying for a test. However, Thursday today was an interesting time for a few teams at Beacon Academy.

Team RWBY was dealing with the revelation of Weiss' status as a pop star and the lingering tensions between her and Blake.

Team JNPR had left Beacon entirely that morning, and at the moment were planning a daring attack on Nora's mob family.

And Team CRDL were trying to finalize their secret plan for Torchwick.

Suffice to say, Thursday was an interesting day for many students.

Cardin scribbled out the last of the plan on ruled paper. "Alright, are we all in agreement?"

Dove nodded like it was going out of style, Russell shrugged but answered in the affirmative, and Sky smiled lightly and nodded his own head. Russell scooted slightly away from his teammate. Cardin looked over the plan once more.

...It was a good plan. If they executed it correctly, and assuming Roman wasn't keeping his guard up, it could work.

Cardin set the paper down and slipped it to Russell. "Memorize this. You're the guy in charge of keeping us on track."

Russell gave his team leader a light scowl. Cardin returned the look, and pulled his mace out from under the table and set it down in front of Russell. The team scribe's scowl deepened slightly, but he picked up the parchment and got into the tedious task of memorization.

Cardin now turned his gaze to Dove and Sky. "When we do this, we'll need some vertical access. I want you two to finish the modifications to Sky's shotgun before we leave. Got that?"

"Yes Sir Cardin Sir," Dove answered.

"Yeah." Sky included a nonchalant shrug in his answer, but the look in his eye silenced any doubts.

Cardin nodded to himself and glanced back at the plan in Russell's hands. Their reputation depended on the success of this little off the books operation.

But that didn't mean he needn't relax a little.

"Right, so if you all are done, I'm off to A.F.L.A.C."

"Okay." Russell waved without really disengaging from his work. It took a few seconds for the words to register with him. "Wait, WHAT!?"

Sky had himself cocked an eyebrow. "You're going to your club meeting? At a time like this?"

Cardin shrugged, having gotten up and started rummaging in his dresser. "Of course: I have an obligation to my club mates." He pointed at his team. "You guys have an obligation to make sure this plan goes right."

And with that, Cardin took out the Maroon cap and gown that his club mandated and left the room, leaving Russell looking as if someone had just slapped him upside the head with a rotten salmon.

Actually, no. He looked like he had been slapped upside the head with a rotten Halibut.

"He's kidding right?" Russell turned to Dove and Sky. "He's not really leaving at a time like this?"

Sky watched the door swing shut. "Looks like it."

Russell's face morphed into a scowl. "...Asshole."

Dove held up a hand in peace. "He has an obligation to his club."

"Kiss-ass."

Dove seemed to shrink like a deflated balloon. 'Can't really argue with that one.'

Mold and mildew wouldn't have been out of place where Cardin went. Maybe some flickering torches, and perhaps a pipe organ blaring in the middle distance to finish the ambiance. That being said, all Cardin had done was go to a slightly older portion of this school, coolly secluded from the general education populace and thus the perfect place to change. Cardin pulled a maroon cloak and mask from his bag, followed by the clubs signature tasseled fez. Donning the attire, Cardin paused and took a moment to wonder exactly why he was getting dressed up to go to a club. Then he remembered that the secrecy and faux-mystique of the whole gathering (and the fact he got to call everyone 'Sister' or 'Brother' was what made it so much fun. It was like a pastiche of a cult, albeit one that wasn't creepy.

This all considered, Cardin made his way to a sliding elevator door and called the car. The click-click-click of the clockwork mechanism in the wall heralded the opening of the elevator. Behind the door though was the maroon cloaked, slightly annoyed form of...

"Ack! Sister Sharp!" Cardin raised his hands in surprise and peace. "What are you doing here?"

Sister Sharp seemed to glare at Cardin, though the full effect was lost due to the fez and mask obscuring the whole of her face above her nose. "I was wondering, Brother Bone, if you had remembered the last time you used this passage."

Cardin, alias Brother Bone, stepped inside the elevator and closed the door, hitting the panel for the bottom floor. "How was I supposed to know that I had been followed? And besides Sharp, he didn't see where we were going."

Sharp might have rolled her eyes, or it might have been a trick of the light, caused by the rattling elevator car. "That doesn't excuse your reckless behavior." Now a smirk played across her face. "Not that I...dislike...recklessness."

Cardin chuckled. "Sorry Sharp, but I've already got someone I can be...reckless with."

Sister Sharp seemed (but as always, that mask obscured the view) in surprise. "You mean you and Sister Curve..."

Cardin chuckled again. "Sorry Sharp, but a man does not kiss and tell."

Sharp practically squealed. "You kissed! Tell!"

Cardin blushed (in a manly fashion) and glanced away. "It was...alright, I guess. She was gentle."

Sharp barked out a laugh. "Trust me Bone, when you get around to kissing her a second time, she won't be so gentle"

Now Cardin rolled his eyes. "And you would know this, how?"

Sharp's demeanor locked up suddenly, like a car that had just realized that it was idling and the parking brake was on, but it was also in gear. "That's...never mind."

Cardin resisted the incredibly strong temptation to groan. Sharp was like this regularly. Bring up anything about her past or her identity, and she shut you out and changed the subject.

Granted, Cardin and pretty much everyone in the secret society that A.F.L.A.C was did the exact same thing, but he felt he was better at it.

The car ground to a halt at that moment, severing any further conversation with a clunk. Cardin grabbed the doors and pulled them open. "Ladies first."

Sharp smirked. "For once, beauty before age. I like it." Cardin faux-scowled at that comment.

"I'm not that old."

"Right..."

"I'm first year Sharp. How old are you?" Cardin continued his faux-scowling right up until Sharp glanced at him with a Cheshire grin.

Cardin locked up.

The duo walked down the hallway in silence for a time, passing the occasional lit torch. The end of the hallway loomed from the shadows after a moment, the slide view opening as the pair neared.

A voice spoke. "The Wolf shall claim the Swan."

Sharp spoke. "Upon the grand peak." There was a grind of wood on stone, and the door admitted her. Cardin crossed his arms and huffed slightly.

The slide opened again. "The dragon will capture the cat."

Cardin groaned internally. "Come on Steve, you know it's me. Just let me in."

The voice exited the slide was less then stern, more along the lines of playful. "Well, we are a secret society Bro Bone. Unless you don't want to be in our illustrious clud, well, you can always go up to some sort of chess club, where you don't get to pal around in a mask."

Cardin rolled his eyes. "And the mother and daughter will claim her right. Just let me in Steve."

The door opened and admitted Cardin. "You could not make fun of my name you know," said the tall and lanky Brother Steve.

Cardin cocked an eyebrow. "What sort of secret name is Steve?"

Steve shut the door to the secret society and called someone over to watch it for him. "It's the sort of name that no one will suspect is also the name of someone rich and powerful. It's audacious." He clapped his friend on the back. "So how are you Bro Bone? Get Sister Curve yet?"

Cardin shook off Steve's hand. Now, there wasn't anything actually wrong with Steve, and Cardin didn't particularly mind physical contact with anyone, it was just...something about Steve that made him uncomfortable to touch.

Once, A.F.L.A.C. had held a competition for who could be in direct physical contact with Brother Steve for the longest. Brother Collie had made it to the five minute mark with his hands on Steve's left arm before he fainted.

Cardin shook off the awkwardness and answered Steve's question. "Oh, you know. We talked, played cards, we exchanged a book...darn it."

Steve winced. "You forgot a book, didn't you?"

Cardin nodded and sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter too much. I have something important later tonight, so I'll be leaving early."

Steve rested a hand on Cardin's shoulder. "Bone, bro, if there is anything you need, anything important, you should tell a teacher. Failing that, the headmaster."

Cardin aimed a light glare at Steve, who, between the maroon cloak and tasseled fez, looked much too silly to be offering advice. "Trust me Steve, I'm fine."

Steve nodded in understanding, before wincing to himself, rubbing his temples as if they had decided to start playing tennis with his brain. Cardin raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

Steve shrugged a little, and checked out his watch. "The meeting will adjourn soon. We better get to the front of the room."

All around, people were breaking away from their conversations and moving to the far end of the room as the club head climbed up to the podium to officially begin the meeting.

"Welcome all, to the 315th meeting of the Adult Fiction and Literature Appreciation Club. Now, tonight Sister Locke and Brother Henley are providing the drinks and pizza, so please feel free to thank them." The club scribe glanced down at the sheet of announcements. "In other news, it is a pleasure of myself to announce that recently, Sisters Aegis and Arrow have successfully stolen our longtime rival G.E.I.C.O.'s flag. So congrats to them."

There was a smattering of applause at this announcement, as everyone in the club rather disliked G.E.I.C.O. Though no one knew what the name meant, the two clubs had been locked in a prancing war for years, and neither looked like they would give up anytime soon.

The announcer nodded his agreement with the applause, and called the meeting to have officially commenced. Thus, everyone got their pizza and soda and started talking about what smut they had read or what they were doing in class or trying to guess the identity of their conversation partners.

That last bit was something of a past time for most members. If someone could figure out the name of another, well, they got congratulations and begging rights...and that was about it. It was just for fun.

Cardin grabbed a pizza and soda for himself and Steve and settled down, disengaging himself for a moment. Pizza and actual good friends.

This was the life.

"BROTHER BONE!"

Ah crap.

Sister Curve came stomping over the Cardin and with a huff planted her foot on his face. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you? I can't believe you'd keep a girl waiting. Of all the no good, dirty, rotten, stupid things you could do, this takes the cake."

Cardin murmured something into Curve's foot.

"What was that you jerk?"

Cardin removed Curve's foot. "'Islands of Love', chapter 8, page 107, line 4 of paragraph...6?"

Steve and Sharp shared a glance, then whipped out their own copy of 'Islands of Love' and checked the aforementioned section. "Paragraph 5," Sharp corrected.

Curve smirked and returned her foot to Cardin's face. "You know what that means Bone?"

Cardin murmured something around Curve's foot.

"What was that Bone?"

Cardin removed her foot from his face. "I'm your butler for the night?"

Curve couldn't look smugger. "Exactomundo." With that she collapsed onto the table next to Cardin. "Feed me Jeeves."

Cardin tossed some pizza into Curve's open mouth and couldn't help but smirk. "You know Curve, I'd love to do this all night, but I have to leave in an hour. Hope you understand."

Curve choked on her pizza. "What!? How can you leave tonight? I won!" she shrieked. The comprehension dawned on her. "You're cheating! You're leaving cause you lost, aren't you?"

Cardin groaned a little while Sharp and Steve watched the transporting events with cheeky little grins on their faces. Of course, Steve interjected on his behalf. "Actually, Bone's been planning to leave early all evening. You just picked a bad night."

Sister Curve sweat dropped at the refutation of her theory, before moving to sit next to Cardin. "Whatever. I'll just have to work my butler even harder tonight."

Cardin rolled his eyes, a gesture that went unnoticed from behind the mask. "Of course my dear mistress. Whatever shall I do for-" Cardin noticed something.

Curve flashed a smile, albeit a sweet and curious one rather than the malicious smirks she'd been playing up. "You can start by telling me where you're going when you leave."

"Where'd you get that bruise?"

"Wah, what? Hahaha, don't change the subject Bone," Curve stammered out her reply, eliciting a fair amount of apprehension from her friends.

"What bruise?" Sharp lowered herself to eye level with Curve and turned her friends head to just catch a glimpse of an angry purple bruise underneath her mask before Curve forced her hand away. "Curve!"

Curve avoided looking at Steve, Sharp or Cardin. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine, you're hurt." Sharp retorted. Cardin rested his hand on Curve's shoulder. Curve flinched away, but after a tense second laid back onto his shoulder.

"It was just training." Curve forced away Sharp's hand with a cold finality that somehow managed to brook no argument from her. Steve however...

"Look, Curve, if there is something wrong-"

"I'm fine!"

"Then you should go to a teacher." Steve finished. Curve ignored her friends for a moment before groaning softly.

"It's just training..."

Cardin looped his arm around his friend, and searched for a way to bring the conversation to friendlier waters. Fortunately, Sharp did that for him.

"So, I heard you and Bone here decided that Leman and Cassie on page 28 were good role models."

Curve blinked and pulled out her copy of 'Island of Love' while Cardin tried to recall what happened. Problem was, Curve beat him to it.

"You said we were kissing?"

Cardin gulped.

"You said we were KISSING!"

Cardin emitted a chuckle that was about as real as Santa, or the Tooth fairy. "Well, she said it, not-."

"You-you want to kiss me."

Cardin's brain ground to a halt at Curve's almost...embarrassed look. "Do you...want me to kiss you?"

"No."

Cardin's hopes fell like a plane out of the sky.

"Well, well, not yet, I mean."

Cardin and Curve shared a moment of awkward silence. "You'll need to make up for that joke," Curve attempted to continue.

Cardin's gaze roamed from Sister Curve to Sister Sharp and Brother Steve. Somehow, in a way he couldn't help, a laugh trickled up from his core all the way to his mouth. A simple, pure laugh, not unlike that of a child who had learned that, yes, the tooth fairy and Santa did exist.

For a brief moment, Cardin didn't want that meeting to end.

But like a muddied river, time flowed on. The night passed like a lightning bolt, as Cardin lost himself in jokes and small talk and wild guesses for the identities of the people around him. Perhaps he was working on some project for Oobleck, or the blonde walking past him was Goodwitch in disguise, but he enjoyed his short time by flirting with Curve and having an existential argument with Steve and trying to overcome Sharp's skill for blending into a crowd and making herself practically invisible.

Time flowed like sand from an hourglass, and with it unfortunately went Cardin's happiness. Finally, the hour struck ten PM, well before most members had left, but almost too late for Cardin himself. His last words to his friends were of simple farewell. And with only a single pat on the shoulder from Steve, Cardin, alias Brother Bone, was in the elevator.

As the car squeaked and squealed up the shaft, the wheels sounding like the screams of the tortured and dying, the fluorescent light like a harsh moon, Cardin thought about his duel life. Not many people had it in them to restrain themselves in private, and he had only developed it after several weeks of careful self-adjustment. The day he had walked into A.F.L.A.C. he had made a pass at Sister Sharp and had gotten the witty retort of being thrown out the door. After that, he had learned to keep any sexist or crude comments to himself in there.

Cardin didn't know why he chose to act that way in the club. Maybe it was the allure of creating and holding a secret identity. Perhaps he subconsciously wanted to act this way, and was just afraid to do it in real life. Originally...he couldn't even remember why he had joined the club in the first place. Maybe it was to pick up chicks?

Like a man watching the agony of his beloved, the elevator car screeched to a halt at his floor. With a shrug of his shoulders, Cardin peeled off the maroon mask and examined it. All that stood between his friends and himself was a single piece of fabric.

Quite strange, in retrospect.

The walk back to his room wasn't anything special. Cardin simply made it in menacing silence, before unlocking the door and shutting it behind him. Still there, still on his bed and still memorizing the plan, was Russell. Cardin didn't bother with much more than a nod, and just dealt with Russell's silence with the same impassivity he reserved for his teachers. In the meantime, he pulled out his mace and started fiddling with it.

At length, Russell set aside the long document that formed the backbone of their plan. "This is all your fault you know."

Cardin looked up from his Almace, and started at Russell. "What?"

"You heard me." Russell climbed off his bed and stood up, leering over Cardin. "This is all your fault. If you hadn't been such a gods damned glory-hound, we wouldn't be in this mess. You want to actually get in the same room as Roman Torchwick, but you won't even stick around to work with us."

Cardin's eyes hardened. "Look Russell-."

"No, you look Cardin. We're-."

"SHUT UP!"

Cardin didn't know how or when, but he was now standing on his feet towering over Russell. Russell flinched back, his Aura activating instinctively. Cardin looked down on his teammate. "Russell, I sincerely do not give a damn about how you think this team should be run. From day one I didn't care if you or anyone else on my team failed out of Beacon, but I will lead a great team, and if you don't want any part of it, the door is right there."

Russell regained some of his composure, and rallied himself. "Oh no, I'm here and I'm stuck with you idiots. If you want to get rid of me, you'll need to get rid of all of us."

Cardin growled at that. "Well, maybe I wouldn't want to if you were all a little smarter."

"Well maybe-."

Further arguments were halted when the door opened, admitting Dove and Sky into the room. Either man stopped at the sight of Russell and Cardin, the former of whom emitted his own growl and returned to his plan study.

Dove coughed awkwardly and flipped out his war hammer. "We're ready Cardin. The hover board rebuild is a success."

Cardin waved absently. "Good. That's one less thing to worry about."

The group settled down into silence as the seconds ticked by. Finally, 10:50 PM arrived, and with the shuffle and clink of weapons, Team CRDL left their dorms.

The night was cool on Russell's parched forehead, the clean mountain air tinged with just a dash of salt, creating a rare combo of sweet mist flavor and sour seaweed, not unlike the tastes of candies. If he could describe the evening's smell in terms of color, silver was the only thing for it.

To his left, Cardin and Dove, the former standing straight backed and ready to present himself as the competent leader, the latter slouched and flipping his hammer over and over, looking like the perennial lackey. To his right, Sky thumbed his shotgun, the face of the silent man pensive.

And Russell? Well, he was wondering why his team needed to be standing on the school roof, and being quite vocal about it.

"It's not like he's going to try and get us with a tiltjet. And he's probably too rich to grab a helicopter. So why are we on this roof?"

The three others groaned internally, but reminded themselves that Russell needed to act like the team naysayer, so Cardin could beat him up and show Roman that they were a brutal and stupid team. That way, he'd never suspect their plan.

A low rumble filled the silver night sky, prompting the quartet to lean forward and observe the events that caused it. Said event was intrinsically linked to the enormous, rocket-like tiltjet tearing through the airspace just above and around the towers of Beacon academy.

"Oh." If there was any way Russell could sound more sincere, none of his team could conceive it.

The tiltjet slowed, its engines transitioning to hover mode. A hatch opened and the man of the hour, Mister Roman Torchwick, took the opportunity to lean out of the massive machine. He leaned forward and screamed.

"FIRST LESSON OF MY ORGANIZATION! WHEN I SAY JUMP, YOU...JUMP!"

Just as the enormous jet/heli-jet slowed to a more manageable speed, it also dropped slightly below the roof's level. Team CRDL took a flying leap and landed on top of the tiltjet, the four grasping at whatever handholds they could find, or in Russell case, using their blades to stop themselves.

A moment later, another hatch opened up on the roof. Most people can't really scramble with great dignity and a hint of malice, but Roman made it work. He said something.

Russell and Sky shared a look.

Roman kept speaking.

"WHAT?" Sky shouted. He waved his hands by his ears.

Roman blinked in surprise, said something and leaned towards the still wind-staggered team, cupping his own ear.

Cardin struggled to stand against the roaring wind, before cupping his mouth with his hands and roaring. "WE! CAN'T! HEAR! YOU!"

Roman took a step back (quite an achievement, as the wind was driving against him quite strongly) and said something to the pilot. A moment later, the Bullhound tiltjet slowed from the high seventies to the lower thirties. Roman turned back to the team of rogue students, and now he spoke.

"I take it that you four really do want to join my organization?"

The four exchanged scripted glances that probably looked nervous before Cardin spoke up. "Yeah, more or less."

Roman chuckled with a degree with self-aware menace. "Not many people want to work with a known criminal. Why are you four interested?"

Another carefully scripted glance followed, and Cardin spoke again. "Money, boss. What else?"

Now Roman became a malicious sun, radiating a sort of smug evil. "And tell me boys, whom here has the highest bounty of their head."

Team CRDL all shared genuine glances of nervousness, before glancing at Russell, who said, "Uh, I think, uh, stage three. We're at stage three!"

In a tempest of action, Team CRDL drew their weapons against Roman. Roman blinked quite impassively, before smirking. If he had been a star of menacing intent, now he was a supernova of cool evil. "Here's the last helpful hint of your lives. If you ever want to try and spring a trap on someone, you bring backup."

Quick as a flash, Roman brought his cane to bare took aim, and before team CRDL could actually notice that he had them in his sights, pulled the trigger.

The next few seconds devolved into a flurry of smoke, fire and heat as the explosive shot went off and covered the back of the speeding tiltjet in smoke. Roman growled in annoyance, less annoyed that he had to kill four teenagers and more so that his little plan hadn't-

The smoke resolved itself, blown away by the wind, revealing Team CRDL, unharmed but cowering, behind the true goal of Roman's plan: Ozpin.

Now, contrary to popular belief, Ozpin hadn't known about team CRDL's plan, but had figured out that Roman would show up on that particular night (through a process far too long to be described here) and acting as quickly as possible, moved to save his students with all haste. That he still only just managed to show up in time to block Roman's attack was luck. This, unfortunately, had been Roman's plan all along.

'Seems the plan worked after all.' This was the thought running through Roman's head as his mouth went to autopilot. "Joshua, long time no see. Still think tailcoats are in style I see."

"It really has been too long Roman. You haven't replied to my letters, my texts, I'm pretty sure you even returned the birthday cake with the stripper inside." Ozpin stalled out as much he could. He needed some time to figure out what resources Roman had and too do that, he needed to distract Roman.

Unfortunately, the splitting headache he was dealing with wasn't helping.

Russell and Dove shared a confused look. Since when were their headmaster and a notorious criminal...friends? And then another question arose: um, when did Ozpin get here?

Roman laughed long and hard into the wind, all of it completely faked. "I see you're sense of humor still hasn't improved Ozpin." Roman tapped his cane against the hull. "Problem is, I have a business meeting to attend. It should run a little..."

A figured emerged from the tiltjet's innards. Silver hair and silver eyes looked on at the assembled group with a certain interest. If Roman had looked evil, this man, one not too much older the team CRDL, looked eager.

"...deadly."

Ozpin pulled his own cane from his coat and fell into his own stance. Behind him, team CRDL picked themselves off the roof and drew their own weapons.

For a moment, only the howl of the wind was heard.

Then the battle began.

A split second of motion from the silver haired man sent several small something's magnetically flying in a storm of steel around him as he applied his polarity semblance. The team from Beacon unleashed their own attack of throwing knifes, shotgun rounds, a thrown hammer, or in Cardin's case, a jet of flame from his Almace.

All of these attacks blatantly failed to do anything whatsoever. Behind the silver haired man, Roman yawned to himself. "Kai, if you would, end Joshua for me, wouldn't you?"

Kai raised his hands and directed a small tempest of steel at Joshua Ozpin. Ozpin countered by raising his cane and infusing it with his Aura. A single slash of the long cane unleashed a bolt of gray, turning the incoming steel to little more than a quickly dispersing cloud.

A single piece of steel landing by Dove, and he took a moment to examine it. Long, with two points at either end, rounded, it looked like a teardrop made of steel and flattened.

Dove's attention promptly returned to him when his hammer, connected to him by a leather cord as it were, slid off the side of the tiltjet and into the night's black sky. The weight was enough to almost drag him off the edge. "Hey, mind the drop!" he shouted needlessly.

"Yeah, like we wanted to fall to our deaths," Russell retorted. He threw another knife at Kai, but the blade was simply absorbed into the magnetic storm. Trying something different, Russell now drew a trick knife, charged it with his Aura, pulled the pin and threw the knife into the storm. The knife vanished into the spiraling storm of metal...

Boom.

...and exploded about fifty feet off the side of the tiltjet, Kai having ejected the knife from the storm immediately. Russell groaned at the complete failure the attack had been.

Kai now began to get serious. Pulling two hilts from his side, he swung one into the storm. The metal leaves magnetized themselves to the hilt, coalescing into a long handled scythe. With a swing, Kai attacked.

Ozpin and Russell jumped. Cardin and Dove hit the deck. Sky jumped too, but not high enough. The blade slammed into his Aura with the force of a freight train, sending the teenager over the side.

"Sky!"...was all Russell managed to say before the scythe reversed directions and nailed him, sending him over the edge into the black night sky.

Cardin looked at Dove and saw him pulling his hammer back to him. "Let's get this son of a bitch!"

The two shot forward, Dove tapping into his Accelerator semblance to increase his inertia, Cardin activating his Almace's flare mode to set it on fire. Roaring like Grimm, the two charged Kai.

Kai simply coalesced a wall of throwing stars between them and used his Polarity semblance to shove them off the edge.

And thus, in the span of less than ten seconds, all of Team CRDL had been forcefully ejected from the tiltjet. Kai shifted the enormous weapon he had composed from throwing stars from a scythe to a great sword. "So, any other takers?

Roman's gaze went from Kai's self-satisfied smirk to Ozpin's smaller but unwavering smile. 'Somehow, I don't think they're dead.'

This assumption was proven a moment later when Ozpin chuckled.

Below them, Sky righted himself in his fall.

"Oh, I wouldn't consider them out of the game yet."

Cardin adjusted his fall to parallel Dove's.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Dove swung his hammer to Cardin, as he attached his Almace to his back.

Ozpin's grin turned maniacal. "Oh, you know what they say..."

Russell detonated a trick knife, sending himself hurtling into Sky.

"They're pretty fly..."

With the flick of two separate switches, Cardin and Sky activated the flight modes of their jet pack and hover boards, respectively. And suddenly, Team Cardinal was flying.

"...For a bunch of white guys."

From his position, observing the developing conflict from a removed location, Roman Torchwick made a dignified and gentlemanly declaration in response-

"Boooo."

Team CRDL landed back on the tiltjet and were immediately assaulted by Kai's steel storm. For a moment the four were lost in the swirling vortex of lethal blades, only their armor and Aura protecting them from what should have been a fate that would have made even butchers wince. In fact, the constant assault should have killed them, and only Ozpin's timely intervention saved them. A swath of gray energy enveloped the four, before vanishing the steel leaves in a flash of silver steam.

Ozpin pointed at the main antagonist of the plane. "You take Torchwick! I'll get the Polari!"

The team nodded as Kai opened up a new canister of steel leaves. A flash of Aura translated into Kai's magnetic semblance was all

He needed to animate the metal, but by then Team CRDL had slipped past him and were engaging Roman. With a snarl of nearly inhuman anticipation, Kai turned on Ozpin.

Roman didn't consider himself a particular kind of badass. He didn't really mean to be anything other than an efficient fighter when it came down to the wire. No flashy special moves or crazy Aura abilities, just a guy with a cane and a brain. Thus, he was more of the coordination type of guy.

But if there was one thing he did not lack in, it was fighting skill. Roman had ran with Joshua, his sister Evanora and Glynda for years before Evanora's death, and had at least remained in infrequent and commonly indifferent contact with his former teammates until the Faunus war had finally shown him the true nature of his "friends."

Consequently, Roman was one of the most deadly fighters on all of Remnant. Badly out of practice and in need of some serious time to regain the flexibility that he had once had in his glory days, but he had still believed he would have been able to take on a Huntsmen or Huntress, or one in training.

That notion had died when Cat-girl and Monkey-boy had shown up and kicked his ass.

Since that night, Roman had been quietly retraining himself to his prewar peak. Fights against multiple and capable foes had left him in some in the best shape had been in in years (and he wouldn't mention this to a single living creature, but he was also glad that the flab that had been building up on his stomach was gone.)

This had all culminated in a final fight against his protégé and student Lie Ren, where, while he had the advantage of knowing his students combat repertoire, he had also been able to see that even while he was holding back significantly, he was still able to come close to beating his student.

Thus, while he wasn't quite up to Glynda's level, he was still fairly sure he could take on a huntsmen in training. Of course, a single trainee vs a whole team? Screw that, Roman was bringing the big guns.

Thus, Roman slipped his cane into his coat and drew two unique swords. In Atlas, they were called shuang gou. To him, they were just a pair of hook swords he had named Alf and Sen, weapons only meant to be used against wild beasts and Grimm.

Granted, the way they fought, you could easily mistake Team CRDL to be wild beasts.

Cardin and Dove were the obvious close quarter's fighters. Cardin would take a swing with his burning mace, and then Dive would try to get Roman when Roman dodged. Behind them, Russell and Sky sent shotgun rounds and explosive knives down range indiscriminately. Maybe they were legitimately that good, thus confident to avoid hitting their teammates. Or maybe they just didn't care about them. Either way, the blows were flying thick and heavy.

Roman ran the numbers. Him against two recently acquainted teenagers? Doable. Him with a few weeks of training against a full team of trainees that had been taught to fight together. Harder, but more fun.

And so Roman made his move. With a single stroke, he hooked Dove's hammer and dragged it and it's wielder into the path of Cardin's Almace. The mobster used the shift in momentum to propel himself to the edge off the tiltjet...

...and then over it and off into the night sky.

Team CRDL watched as their once prospective employer plunged to what was almost certainly his doom. Sky couldn't help but jinx it.

"You know, I don't think he could survive that."

At that moment, Roman displayed his hidden ace. He reversed his grip on Alf and Sen and pulled two discreet triggers. With a blast of Air Dust, the knives on the bottom of the pommels shot out to the hull of the tiltjet, trailing razor thin and Aura reinforced wires behind them. The knives unfolded into hooks, and suddenly, Roman was duel wielding grappling hooks.

With another pull of a discreet trigger, Roman barreled upwards again and flipped over the edge of the plane. With some truly expert timing, he managed to kick Cardin in the head before landing.

Team CRDL readied their weapons again. This was going to be a long fight.

At the other end of the tiltjet, Joshua Ozpin and Kai faced off. On any other day, this would have been Ozpin's fight. He had the brains, he had the Aura. Failing everything else, he could at least take Kai down with him.

But then again, this wasn't one if Ozpin's better days. Or weeks for that matter. He was dealing with a problem completely unique to himself, and this was an edge that Kai, consciously or not, was working. "So Ozpin, the great and powerful headmaster of Beacon academy, can only muster Aura attacks? I'm not impressed."

Ozpin swept his cane diagonally, unleashing another blast of gray Aura. "Oh really? I would have thought that a Polari of your caliber would have been better at fighting. But then again, if you're so intent on staying as far away from me as you can, maybe you just believe that I'll fall for your parlor tricks."

Kai's eyes narrowed. "You know nothing of my prowess."

Ozpin saw a swarm of steel leaf attempting to flank him and raised a shield composed of Formic Aura. "Your prowess doesn't seem to be helping you so much. Maybe you should try some actual engagement or are you just too scared to fight like a man?"

Kai's eyes widened with fury. "You dare-?"

Quick as a flash, Ozpin did what many believed was conventionally impossible: he switched from a Formic semblance to an Accelerator and shot at Kai. Faster than the blink of an eye, Ozpin had laid his left hand on his opponent and dragged a modicum of Aura from him. Kai reacted much too slow to avoid the tiny theft of his life force, but just fast enough to avoid a complete drain.

Ozpin smirked in victory as Kai retreated fearfully. "Now then, where were- AAAHHHRRRGG!"

Ozpin dropped to his knees as agony seared through his left arm. Within his arm, a truly terrible event was occurring: slowly, a virus of granite was overtaking his forearm. The virus leapt through veins and arteries, paralyzing muscles and freezing the skin in stone. As the living muscles tightened against the slowly petrifying ones, they tore loose, ripping and shredding themselves in their vain attempt to avoid the stone death. The pain, as it were, was excruciating.

Kai chuckled under his breath, though a voice, one deep within his head, reminded him that he was supposed to protect this particular secret. But screw that, watching this was too much fun. "Oh Ozpin. Isn't it such a burden, such a curse, to steal the Aura, the souls, of whomever you touch, whomever you embrace? Is it not terrible...?" Kai came forward and leaned in.

"...to be a Leecher?"

Ozpin's brain struggled to act, tried to form a coherent thought. Then, from the depths of his very soul, where thousands upon thousands of voices writhed and struggled, a single word, spoken from thousands of mouths, in unison, arose.

"Fight."

Ozpin layered his right hand with Formic Aura and slammed it into Kai's jaw. Kai went flying. With a force of will Ozpin hadn't been sure he had possessed, he swung the granite arm overhead and into the hull of the tiltjet, smashing it.

Again, Ozpin switched semblances, bringing Metaburner to the fore. Unleashing its power, he watched the cellular regeneration of his own arm take place, the excess of heat burning away his sleeve. Kai steadied himself and unleashed a flurry of steel leaves. Ozpin countered by switching Aura's again, bring Camo up and creating a visual duplicate of himself that the leaves targeted. Once out of the way, he concentrated and overwhelmed Kai's magnetic control of the steel, causing them to fall out of the air. A pulse of Spotter semblance alerted him to the area around him: Team CRDL fighting his former teammate, Kai struggling to regain control of his leaves, and the empty tiltjet beneath his feet, flying on autopilot.

Kai finally decided to allow himself to switch strategies, bringing out the hilts he had from earlier and using them as batons, but not before hitting a switch and popping two trench spikes out from concealed compartments on the hilts.

Ozpin raised his hands, grabbing and redirecting the blows of the spikes, using bursts of a different flavor of Spotter semblance to see and predict Kai's strikes. Kai's silver eyes flashed malevolently, as Ozpin...

...Wait...

...Silver eyes?

Ozpin faltered in shock for a single second. Sensing his opponent's sudden ennui, Kai struck a lethal blow. Flipping his spike over, he strapped it down and squarely into Ozpin's skull.

The world went white, and then sun red.

...

On the other end of the tiltjet, Roman had just managed to penetrate Sky's Aura and was trying to cut his arm off when he heard the agonized cry. It was a terrible thing, a thousand voices all surging in pain and agony, all trying to stave off death itself.

Roman had heard this noise only once, long ago, on a battlefield far away.

The last time he had heard that noise, 60,000 people had died in a single blast, and he, Glynda, and Ozpin had been the only survivors.

Roman sheathed his swords and threw himself from the tiltjet. It was better if he wasn't there.

Ozpin exploded, white hot flames melting and deforming the metal beneath him. Kai took the blast head on, being completely obliterated. Team CRDL were far enough away to only be thrown from the plane by the blast, their Aura protecting them, albeit just barely.

The tiltjet itself also exploded.

Team CRDL and Roman fell fast, barreling towards the ground. Cardin and Sky were quick to switch their mace and shotgun to flight mode, and made to catch Russell and Dove. That was when Ozpin shot by.

Eyes white as paper, skin crawling as if insects were beneath it, shrouded in flames that seemed to form screaming skulls. There really was no other way to say it: Ozpin looked demonic.

And perhaps worse still, he was going straight for Roman.

Roman streamlined himself, but the inflamed man was gaining faster than gravity. Roman glanced back and saw a long, burning hand, arm extended beyond what should have been possible for a simple human being, reaching out to grab his neck. What should have been Roman's last thought really didn't amount to much: 'So that's how he flew.'

Or rather, this would have been his last thought if a hand hadn't appeared from nowhere and intercepted the blow. Roman watched, equal parts terrified and amazed, as Kai's head, shoulders, and an arm materialized just above him from a cloud of dust. With a heave, Kai tossed the maddened monster that inhabited Ozpin's body away from himself and Roman, before twisting around and encircling Roman with the dust cloud he was, sprouting a pair of ash gray wings in the process.

Ronan's response to all this: "Screw it, you kids are too weird for me. Get us out of here."

Kai angled his wings away from the out of control Ozpin and the rapidly descending Team CRDL and carried off Roman into the night.

All that could be heard of Ozpin was a distant thump as his body hit the earth.

"Is he dead?"

Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark examined the unmoving figure. Ozpin continued to remain immobile, mimicking a corpse in all fashions.

"Touch him." Sky suggested.

"No you touch him." Dove retorted.

"You do it."

"You do it."

"You do it."

"You do it."

"You do it or I'm leaving you here in the woods," Sky finally said. To emphasize his point, he hopped on his hover board/shotgun. Dove glared.

If looks could kill, Sky would have been buried six feet under.

Dove stopped glaring and gulped as he reached to prod the headmaster. Ozpin didn't move as Dove's hand neared his face. He was almost there...

"You know I'm not asleep."

Dove nearly pissed himself in fear. Sky jumped several feet in the air in shock.

Slowly, Joshua Ozpin sat up, before groaning and resting his head in his hands. "I guess it won't be too much for you to give me a ride back to Beacon," he groaned.

Finding Cardin and Russell hadn't been too hard. Both had sent up some indication of their location, be it an exploding trick knife or a fireball. It was the getting back part that was the problem. The five had crash landed in the Emerald Forest, essentially leaving them a long walk back to Beacon, a walk that slowly grew more and more difficult as Ozpin's condition deteriorated.

It was the small signs that they ignored, the slight smoldering, the blurred outline, the minute manner of how their armor and weapons seemed to be attracted to him. But slowly, the signs of Aura Overload got worse. Ozpin staggered every few steps, steam wafted off his skin, and at times it seemed he couldn't see straight. Finally though, the group had arrived at the edge of Beacon grounds.

"Go to your rooms." That was the first and last thing Ozpin had said to the team in an hour.

"But-?" Cardin tried. But Ozpin was already leaving, staggering and stumbling along the grounds.

Sky watched him leave, and articulated shat everyone was thinking. "When he's back to normal, you guys do know we're all expelled, right?"

...

The world shifted left and right, the voices raging and fighting to escape. It was all he could do, too slowly walk.

Finally, Ozpin reached a single, lonely door, the world spinning around him. It felt like he needed to do something behind it, but the world felt unreal. He turned from the door, and kept walking.

Presently, he came to some students, and asked them go to bed. When they said no, he told them again.

They left.

Finally, Ozpin reached a door. The door was unlocked. He reached and turned the knob.

It disconnected from the door, and fell to the floor.

Ozpin slumped into the door, the voices screaming and his thoughts a maelstrom.

Ozpin fell into his mind...

...and remembered.

A/N: well, another one bites the dust. As usual, thanks to my editors, Ttran, Ender, Chas1881, and Knives. Couldn't have done it without you guys. :-)

And please, read and review this story, and their stories as well.

Adios!