A/N: Finally finished and published! I am overall pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. It had some lulling moments that I had to kill off and re-write but nothing too bad. I'm actually going to be picking up some books to continue my learning experience as a fiction writer so wish me luck! Also just to reply to some reviews.
Dracohalo117: Thank you for the continued encouragement man!
Soulfulbard: Yeah, Tukson wasn't really an important character in the actual show so I thought I would give him a spotlight to shine in. I feel like he could have a great story for himself.
Pedrorocamora102: Ah ha ha, I'll keep updating until this story is finished! Thank you!
Karlos1234ify: Exactly what I mean. Volume 3 happened just exacerbating the way I feel!
Dark RAYQUAZA X: Did he really say that? That's nice to hear so I'm excited for the future!
Clockwork Giant: Yeah, it's still holding to the rails for now but will be changing in subtle ways starting now.
DinoGuy2000: Thanks! Poor Jaune is right. He's gonna be having a real tough time in this story.
Patleon909: Glad to hear someone enjoyed my attempt at humor! I'm not very good when it comes to humor so it's something that I need to practice more often. In real life I tend to have a very dry and sarcastic sense of humor.
Guest(s): I have no clue who you people are but thank you so much for leaving a review!
Fine Findings
Fumbling fingers pried a panel off the wall, exposing the wiring behind. A young man sighed and pulled out an unassuming, tiny, black thumbtack. He stabbed the device into the network cable, causing it to light up and whirl to life. It opened up like a flower, displaying an intricate internal system filled with more tiny lights and buttons.
Quickly the panel was placed back to its original position, leaving the tack to do its work, whatever the hell that was.
Jaune dusted his hands off, shot one last look of worry back behind him, and left the library.
He had a class to get to.
Far from Jaune and his musings, Roman sat as his desk typing away on his computer when it let out a small blip. He perked up, a smirk forming on his lips as he opened up a terminal flashing with information.
Thousands of lines of rambling letters, numbers, and symbols scrolled freely across the terminal screen. Roman just kept smirking as he cracked his fingers.
Encrypted, was it now? How cute, he thought to himself. It would take some time but cracking through the encryption would be a breeze.
He rolled his shoulders and took another sip of coffee before returning his fingers to the keyboard.
Now let's look for a pattern here…
"He's a fucking degenerate is what he is."
"I assure you Adam," Cinder sipped her glass of wine as she spoke, "Roman is just a current necessity. Nothing more than a pawn."
"He's not some pawn." Adam barked out as his face twisted into a snarl. "He'll betray you eventually. Pawns are obedient and docile, that man-" he spat the word out like it was poison to his tongue, "-is nothing like a pawn."
Cinder sighed and closed her eyes. Ever since they had approached Torchwick and appropriated his organization, Adam had become a non-stop engine of frustration and hatred, more so than he usually was. And while she valued Adam as far more useful than Roman in the long run, there was no denying that Roman was absolutely integral to their plans so his constant badgering for his death was getting-
"You would do well to end him before he got any...ideas."
-…frustrating.
"I assure you Adam," she put the wine glass down and leveled him with a desolating gaze, turning the temperature up a few degrees for added effect, "when he gets any ideas, and let me be clear, I know he eventually will, so when he does, I'll have him put down," seconds ticked by, sweat trickled down Adam's forehead as Cinder brought the wine glass back up to her ruby colored lips and took another sip, "like you would any uncontrolled animal." She let the thinly veiled threat hang in the air.
She smiled to herself as the veins on Adam's neck tensed and pulsed with anger. While she didn't want her relationship with Adam to be any more strained than it needed to be, it would do him well to remember just who was in charge.
"I see." He strained to get the words out, his teeth clenched hard and tongue pressed against the top of his mouth.
"But Megan, don't you think that securing jobs for Vale is more important than helping a foreign country? We've had our biggest corporations move factories from Vale into Atlas, dubiously quoting lower costs of production and 'higher' quality." The TV next to them buzzed mindlessly with the news. Adam and Cinder payed it no mind as they sat in awkward silence. Well, awkward for one party that is, the other simply sat their enjoying her Atlesian Iron Grape Wine.
"Is he truly the only option we have however?" Adam asked hesitantly. While he deplored having to put himself under the rule of another human, Cinder was far too strong to resist and, as begrudging as he was to admit it, she got results whereas they struggled.
"I know how much you hate working with him Adam." She smiled at him softly, it was time to extend another carrot then, wasn't it. "But, his network is undeniably the largest and most prolific. When we," she stressed the pronoun heavily, "are through with him, I promise that you can be the one to finish him off if you so desire."
Adam sighed and leaned back into his chair, slightly readjusting the mask on his face in annoyance. "And when will he have outlived his usefulness?"
"All in good time Adam, I promise."
"-I'm sorry to interrupt you Megan but we're getting breaking news from the Vale Docking Stations. Here's Melissa with more about that." Cinder smirked as the Vale News Network transitioned to a blond haired reporter. Her eyes flashed with glee for a fraction of a second as they panned a camera around the area, showing the completely barren port.
"Thanks Glenn, we're here at the Docking Station number four where an entire Schnee Dust Shipment was declared 'lost'." She made air quotes with her fingers, paused, and motioned for the camera to follow her as she walked towards a group of men loudly arguing near the pier. "Hello, do you men work with the Schnee Dust Company?"
They paused quickly, a man wearing a white suit stepped forwards. "Yes, we're just discussing wh-"
"I see and can you tell us more about what just happened here? It seems like an entire shipment was stolen."
"Saying it's been stolen is nothing but conjecture as of this moment. I assure you there's no criminal nor criminal organization that's capable of stealing from the Schnee Dust Company." Cinder felt her grin grow wider. So much pandering and lying to save face in front of their customers. She turned her eyes to Adam who held his scowl strong on his face, arms crossed tightly against his chest.
"I see, but recently Vale has been plagued with a string of robberies and thefts across the entire country," she paused and looked back at the camera, "all committed by the same group." Adam snorted and rolled his eyes derisively.
"This criminal group," the man spat the words out with pure contempt, "has never dared attack Schnee dust shipments and for good reason at that. Schnee Professional Security Division accompanies every shipment and ensures a prompt and risk-free delivery."
"And yet this shipment is not here, which begs the question, did the SPSD fail at their job or did the Schnee Dust Company want this shipment to go missing?"
"What!?" His eyes were wide open and his jaw hung low as he screeched his words out. "What the hell do you're implying!"
"There have been rumors that the company has been working with shadier people in the most recent-"
The channel cut off abruptly, switching back to the original two news anchors. One of them laughed nervously and tugged on his collar.
"Well I think we've heard enough to make our story about the missing shipment. Seems like the Schnee Dust Company and local law enforcement are on the case though so I'm sure that a resolution will present itself shortly won't it Megan?"
"Yes John, I'm-" The television shut off with a quiet click as Cinder pressed a button on a remote she fished out from somewhere. She sipped her wine calmly and danced her eyes towards Adam, who matched her gaze with a glare of his own. Laughter filled her internal monologue as she began speaking.
"See Adam, he's useful."
"One shipment means nothing." He huffed out as he drummed his fingers on the table.
"No Adam," she stood up abruptly and cradled his face in her hands, he froze, the air filling his nostrils turned hot and suffocating, she leaned in closely, "it means everything."
She let him go, his figure melting into the chair as she sashayed her way out of the tent. It wasn't about the dust Roman stole that was important, oh it was certainly important no doubt but the message it sent mattered so much more to her. The people of Vale had very little trust in Atlas, especially with the recent loss of jobs and finances to the industrious country, but with this new development…
She could already feel the embers of war lighting up again. There was no flame like the flames of war and fire that great had a tendency to stay hidden in the embers, smoldering and waiting for the right catalyst to flare up again.
Roman had done very well, she noted to herself, and for that he was due another visit.
A surprise visit.
"No." Click.
"No." Click.
"No." Click.
Roman clicked through file after file, his eyes skimming over useless financial information. Purchases for new textbooks, furniture, reinforced training bots, and strangely out of place grimm containment cages littered the quarterly fiscal reports written by Glynda Goodwitch. He sighed in exhaustion and leaned back in his chair.
God this is so droll, I forgot how mind numbingly boring doing this grunt labor could get. Roman sighed to himself in his mind. Sure, once upon a time he had to do all of this work on his own but his organization had grown from that tiny little grassroots movement he started it as. Sadly he couldn't get someone else to sift through it since there was no one else he could trust to keep the information to themselves.
And if Cinder found out he had connections into Beacon of all places and hadn't told her…
He shook himself of those thoughts and returned to the files littered across his desktop. As he moved to the next one, his eyes trailing through the vacuous financial report, a single payment caught his eye.
Fiscal Breakdown by Organization/Corporation
…
…
Mistral Herbal Shoppes: $1,000,000
…
…
One million lien through an herbal shop? Roman felt a grin coming to his lips. It was hidden between literally hundreds of purchases to various other companies. In previous years Beacon had usually purchased supplies in bulk from a select group of committee approved suppliers but recently they had begun purchasing from hundreds of different suppliers at a time. Hell, every type of fruit they bought had come from a different brand/supplier this year.
One lien to an herbal shop could easily just be some sort of fluke but he knew Glynda Goodwitch had a reputation of being completely efficient, so he doubted these strange purchases had no purpose. Moreover, he was well versed in illegal distribution and financial obfuscation, this screamed of both.
"Now let's see what you're trying so desperately to hide that Cinder can't find." Roman whispered to himself as he began his search in earnest.
Keys clicked in the small office space. Roman narrowed his eyes as he read report after report.
Apparently this herbal store had opened up last year and was actually a subsidiary of an Atlesian company by the name of Greens and Leaves. That company was bought out recently by the multinational corporation Aspro Multi-Goods.
At this point he found himself at an slight impasse since the corporation was so large and multi-faceted. What the hell Beacon actually got from them he didn't have a clue but he was slowly putting it together one piece at a time.
"Aspro Multi-Goods huh…let's see what I can find out about you."
Neo entered the room silently, watching Roman type furiously into his keyboard, his mouse clicking away like a madman. She tapped him on the shoulder lightly, prompting him to glance back at her with questioning eyes.
"What?" She pointed to the computer screen filled with information regarding some big corporation that dealt with...everything it seemed. "You remember that kid from before?" She nodded and raised an eyebrow even as he let out a small chuckle. "Well he came through for us it seems." Her wide eyes spoke volumes of her thoughts. She didn't think he would actually pull through with their deal, especially since he was such a pansy.
"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm a bit surprised to. Told you it would work out."
She elbowed him slightly and rolled her eyes, poking fun at his ego. Neo sighed and motioned towards the computer again, a questioning look on her face.
"We need some leverage is all."
Leverage for what? She wanted to ask but it was often better to let Roman do his work way instead of getting in the way. So Neo took a seat in the open chair across from him, her legs crossed as she pulled her scroll out and flicked through some mundane apps.
Roman continued his search in earnest, paying the girl no mind.
He was certain that he would find something given enough time.
Jaune flew backwards, his legs barely holding him up as he came to a skidding stop.
"Give up Arc." A mace slammed into the ground, dust flying up into the air from the impact. Short breaths came out from Cardin Winchester's lips as he leaned over the metal melee weapon.
Across from him, Jaune breathed deeply. "I'll never give up!" Jaune charged straight forwards, his shield held firmly in front of him. He stood his ground as Cardin's mace exploded into his shield, sending him skidding back ferociously. His legs shook like glass in an earthquake but they held firm regardless. He peeked past his shield, chest heaving with every heavy breath, and noted Cardin's exhausted looking face.
"Th-That all you got?"
"No," Cardin smirked cruelly and exhaustedly pointed to his right, "but looks like you're all out Arc." Jaune mustered the strength and turned his neck to look at the status board, his aura was flashing bright red, Cardin's was deep into the yellow himself.
"Weapons down boys," Glynda lifted her riding crop into the air towards the burlier teen. "Winner, Cardin Winchester."
Jaune walked back to his team with his head hanging low. How could he be a leader if he couldn't even win a fight? Who would want to be associated with a leader who couldn't even defend himself? His mind swirled with self-doubt, exacerbated by Cardin walking up behind him and slapping the back of his head.
"Some leader you're turnin' out to be huh Arc!" Cardin laughed cruelly as Jaune glowered at him. "Not even gonna reply Arc?" He sneered at him and huffed loudly, walking past him briskly. He hated people like that, people too weak to defend themselves and relied on others. It was completely pathetic.
Jaune and Cardin went their separate ways, each leader meeting with their respective teams.
"Good work Jaune." Pyrrha said as she approached him and enveloped him in another hug. She was slightly worried though since he didn't seem quite so enthusiastic, though losing had a tendency to dampen moods so it wasn't exactly unexpected. "You did relatively well out there."
Jaune sighed but gave her a slight smile, trying to appreciate her encouragement. "Relative to a regular person maybe."
"Actually Jaune," Ren started, his arms at his side, "any regular person would have lost quite badly to Cardin. You managed to stay on your feet throughout the entire fight even though most other students struggle against that level of brute power."
Pyrrha felt her lips form a smile at Ren's words, while the other male of their team was by far the least talkative of their group he was quickly growing into a solid friend that they could rely on.
"Yeah! Besides, our team is like a million times better than their team anyways, so either way, you're winning!" Nora piped up, latching onto Ren's back once again, beckoning him to carry her. Pyrrha giggled at the scene, how the two of them ended up as best friends was completely lost to her but Nora made a positive contrast to Ren's usually serious and calm attitude.
Jaune laughed and rubbed the back of his head. Maybe they were right and he was just being a bit dramatic. After all he had literally just started training with Pyrrha and Roman so it wasn't like he was going to be beating every student that came his way.
"Thanks for the encouragement guys, so let's go study in the library after we get cleaned up?" After a round of affirmations filled the air, Jaune led his team back to the dorm.
Man I miss having more than one bathroom. Jaune thought to himself as he waited patiently for Pyrrha to finish her shower. They drew straws for the showers, Ren was first- lucky for them since his showers were Spartan fast -Nora came second, Pyrrha third, and Jaune dead last.
"So, how has training with Pyrrha been?" Ren asked, breaking the silence.
"Oh, it's um...it's been good." Jaune replied as he sat on the floor next to him. Ren and Nora had figured out his lack of fighting skill pretty fast but neither seemed to care all that much. So luckily, they didn't ask too many questions about how he had gotten into the prestigious academy.
"You're quite dedicated, training every weekday."
"Thanks!" Jaune flashed him a grin. "It's been pretty tough but I'm slowly getting better, at least according to you guys." He laughed loudly, Ren merely smiled along and shook his head.
As the laughter died off, the silence returned, permeating every corner of the room. Jaune opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly, his mind at a loss.
Man, I really don't talk to Ren that much do I? Jaune thought to himself. He peeked around him, looking for something to spark some inspiration. He eyed a textbook and an idea popped into his head.
"So...have you finished studying the faunus wars yet?" Jaune eventually asked, desperately attempting to create a break in the silence.
"Not yet, I'm still studying general Lagune and his failed attack on Fort Castle. He'll probably bring it up next class." Ren said, letting out a small yawn. He gave Jaune a raised eyebrow. "By the way, have you discovered your semblance yet?"
"Um..." Crap, he had no clue what the hell that even was. Jaune laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I...I um...you know. I'm still figuring it out and all."
"You should ask Pyrrha about it." Ren replied, nodding to himself. "A semblance is a massive advantage to any hunter and who knows how long it will take to activate it. It's better to get started sooner than later."
"I can imagine." Jaune said as he turned his thoughts to his teammates. What were their semblances like he wondered to himself? Probably something awesome like fireballs shooting out of their eye or laser beam hands. "What's your semblance Ren?"
An eyebrow went up as Ren chuckled lightly. "I try not to bring it up but mine is-"
He was interrupted by Pyrrha exiting the shower, her bright red hair still damp and clinging to her frame and her outfit fitting loosely over her. "Jaune, you can take your shower now." He turned his head to face her and froze.
His eyes trailed up her slender frame. His tracked a drop of water as it trailed down her cheek, onto her chin, then down her neck, and finally resting somewhere snugly between her breasts.
Jaune tore his eyes off of her frame and forced them to her face. "Ye-yeah...thanks!" He stammered out and rushed his way into the bathroom. His feet stumbling over each other as he clumsily stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
Inside of the bathroom, Jaune forced his himself to calm down. Pyrrha was certainly attractive, he wasn't blind, but she was also his teacher and partner. There was no way he would even consider ruining one of the only positive relationships he had just because of his libido.
Pyrrha stared at the closed bathroom door curiously. Well that was...strange. She thought to herself as she went to her bed. Nora shot her a thumbs up which she didn't really know how to take and Ren just rolled his eyes.
"So, will you be helping Jaune unlock his semblance soon?" Ren piped up at her, after letting her get settled in. He trusted Pyrrha to train Jaune well, with her being the regional champion and most likely best fighter in the entire student body, but it didn't hurt to ask questions.
"I've been focusing quite a bit on technical ability and general aura usage, also what do you mean by unlock?" Pyrrha cocked her head to the side in confusion. "I thought semblances came natural. It'll come to him eventually right?" Pyrrha replied, ending it with a quizzical expression.
"Me and Nora were taught how to unlock our semblances. Weren't you?" Ren said, nodding at Nora who nodded vigorously back.
"No, mine manifested quickly, maybe a couple minutes after unlocking my aura." Pyrrha finished simply, as though she were talking about a regular and simple occurrence.
Ren's dropped jaw and Nora's uncharacteristic silence said otherwise. They both stared openly at the champion in complete awe, their brains trying to catch up with her statement. Ren was the first to recover, he clamped his jaw back closed and coughed into his sleeve embarrassed.
"Ju-Just a couple of minutes?" He managed to sputter out. It had taken him weeks of training to just barely manifest his semblance in short spurts and he was considered one of the fastest learners, Nora hadn't been able to figure hers out for months. Aside from a select few hereditary semblances like the Schnee glyphs, most semblances took lengthy amounts of time to properly manifest and discover, so the idea of Pyrrha accessing hers literally minutes after getting her aura…
...No wonder she was the regional champion with no real contest for four years.
"Is that unnatural?" Pyrrha asked worriedly. "My teachers always told me that semblances manifested at different times for different people."
"That is...true...to a point, but you can certainly manifest it on your own with focus." Her teachers weren't wrong technically, but simply waiting for your semblance to manifest could take quite literally years if you didn't focus on it. "It comes more quickly if you actively focus on it which means you can work on it earlier."
Her face turned bright red in embarrassment, she had never even heard about manifesting your own semblance. To think she had such a massive hole in her knowledge.
"Is having your semblance manifest quickly rare? I was under the assumption most people got their semblance when they got their aura..." She trailed off. Another special quality that set her apart...How great, she thought to herself sarcastically.
The sound of Jaune showering was the only sound in the room as Ren's searched for a way to word it without making her feel any more separated from them. Nora beat him to it though.
"Some guy we knew got his in like three days, so you beat the crap out of his record by like a thousand percent!" She happily exclaimed, flashing Pyrrha with two thumbs up and a bright grin. "Oh! So that also means you're like a thousand times cooler than him too!"
"You're quite talented so it makes sense Pyrrha, don't fret about something like this though." Ren added in after seeing her forlorn expression. It was no secret in their team now that Pyrrha avoided praise like it was a plague.
"Fret about what?" Jaune asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a plain black t-shirt and jeans.
"O-Oh! Nothing Jaune, don't worry about it." Pyrrha blurted out. It was kind of ridiculous- she realized that easily- but she didn't want Jaune to think or treat her differently. Having someone who just treated her like a normal girl was a refreshing change and she wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible.
"Alrighty then!" Jaune said cheerfully, accepting her answer at face value. Oh he knew that it was clearly something, but Pyrrha had been nothing but kind to him ever since they became partners. Letting her have her privacy from him was the least he could do. "So...time for the library then?"
After a chorus of confirmations hit his ears, Jaune led his team out the door and down the hallway.
To his least favorite place in the entire school…
"Jaune are you okay?" Pyrrha asked him, tilting her head to the side. He had been flicking his eyes back and forth constantly since they had entered the library.
"What!" Jaune's head rocketed back to face his crimson haired partner. Shoot. Had he seriously been that obvious? "Yeah! I'm just um...on edge you know."
"Why?" She probed curiously. But on the inside she knew the answer, it was that brute Cardin who kept trying to bully him. She hated people who liked to laud their status over others so easily like that and Cardin fit that description like it was a tailor made suit. "Is it about Cardin?"
Cardin? What does Cardin have to...oh whatever just run with it brain! Jaune thought to himself as he stuck with the alibi. "Yeah...he's just kind of a jerk, you know. Just don't feel like being bothered by him while I'm trying to study."
"Don't worry about him Jaune. I think you're a better guy than he'll ever be." Pyrrha said, her face matching her hair as she coughed into her hand.
"Yeah! We can break his legs if you need us to boss man!" Nora's encouragement got more than a few stares from the students around them. The circle of empty space around them grew once again.
"Jaune, I doubt we'd see him here." Ren chuckled quietly. "It's a library, no doubt his least favorite place in the entire school." Jaune and Pyrrha giggled quietly as Nora sat slack jawed at her longtime best friend.
"Ren! You made a joke!" Nora exclaimed, far too loudly apparently as several students shot her withering glares as they moved further away. "I'm so proud of you!" She hugged him tightly, holding him to her bosom tightly. "I always knew one day you would be able to do it! I mean I never doubted you in the first place but you're sense of humor was always kind of weak but now I'm seeing a new side of you and-"
"Mrmnphhhh!" Ren replied gracefully as his arms shook violently.
"Um...Nora?" Jaune started putting his hand up, trying to grab her attention.
It didn't work.
"I think he needs to breathe Nora." Pyrrha said, chuckling a bit nervously.
She just kept ranting.
"-never joked when we were kids and you were always so serious but now that we're here you're finally letting your hair down- well not literally since your hair is already down but you know what I mean -and-"
"Nora!" Ren shouted as her grip weakened for a moment, pushing himself off of her chest, gulping breath after breath. "Ah...ha…" He breathed deep breath after deep breath. Why God gave her such herculean strength, he would never know. "Thank you Nora." He eventually said.
"Oh no problem Renny!" She finished happily, placing him back into his seat and returning to her reading. What she was reading Jaune couldn't exactly tell since she had it covered but he doubted that it had anything to do with the faunus wars what with her considerable giggling. Unless she found humor in faunus dying for some inexplicable reason.
Which would be a problem in and of itself.
"But yeah Pyrrha..." Jaune began with, slowly taking his eyes off of his...energetic teammate. "I'll um...try not to worry too much." His lips stretched to a grin. She seemed to buy it well enough he noted.
"Good." She sighed out contently. Pyrrha didn't want his training to be marred by some thug but as long as he held his head up high, she was certain that it wouldn't be a major detriment to him. "So what have you learned about the faunus wars so far?"
"A lot!"
"Like?"
"...They were faunus?"
Pyrrha sighed and scooted her chair over towards him, pulling her notebook with her. It would probably help him if she actively studied with him since, no offense to her blond leader, he didn't seem like the intellectual type.
In his mind however, Jaune was still thinking about Roman and his next few meetings with the man. Apparently he would be meeting with that Neo girl next for training, what she would be showing him, he had no clue but hopefully it would help him improve.
Hell, as long as it didn't hurt as much as Sir Roman's Pain Training Extreme Exercise 1000 Series he would be happy.
Also what the hell was that thing he had implanted in the wiring? He had to do some research on it later when he had the chance. For now though...
"-however faunus are known to have excellent night vision-"
...he had some history to study with his partner.
The cold fall winds blew through the warehouse, howling down the hallways. Roman closed a safe he had hidden inside of a particularly large portrait he had bought of himself. He carefully placed the ornate image of himself back into position before heaving the gargantuan drawing back onto the wall.
He sat back in his chair, leaning back and looking at the painting long and hard.
In the end, he had found so little.
"Shit...these guys are getting better at hiding things." Roman mumbled to himself as he drew a cigar, placing it in his mouth slowly and lighting it up.
"Better at hiding what now Roman?" A voice said from behind him. The words traveled down the back of his neck, sweat glands popped to life and hairs stood on edge. He calmly spun in his chair to face…
Fuck my life…
"Cinder…you're…here? Why?" Roman asked curiously, his face ever so normal and unwavering. He resisted the urge to lick his dry lips and instead fished a cigar from inside his cloak, not only to seem natural but also to give his hands some privacy to stop their nervous shaking.
Why the fuck are you here now? Roman thought to himself testily. Had she been just a couple of seconds earlier…
"I believe I asked you a question Roman." She replied smoothly, unwilling to let him avoid her inquiry. Her red lips formed a thin smile and her arms crossed beneath her ample bosom.
The heat began again.
"Schnee Dust shipments," he began smoothly, "seems like they don't want to take any chances with the next shipment." He lied quite easily. His heart calmed with the temperature. Cinder smiled warmly at him.
Never a good sign.
"I knew you could do it Roman." Her words dripped like honey as she stalked around him, draping her arms across his chest, her chin resting on his shoulders. The smoke in his lungs refused to leave. "How reliable of you." Her words slinked into his ear, drumming into his brain.
He never understood how people worried about those who sent cold shivers down the spine, the searing heat was so much worse in his personal experience.
"Thank you..." He replied as she extricated herself from him. The smoke left his lips with every words, spiraling into the ceiling before dying off, leaving nothing behind but the scent of burnt tobacco.
"Are you nervous Roman?" She asked innocently, her head tilting to the side as she took a seat directly across from him. "You shouldn't be, you did quite well. I'm here to congratulate you is all." She said as she leaned in over the table, resting her head in her hands. Her eyes locked with his, looking for a sign of weakness in them as they probed deeper and deeper.
Roman held his gaze steady, puffing out another cloud of smoke as though he were talking to any other coworker.
"I see…and you decided to make it a surprise visit, why?" He asked honestly. Cinder didn't exactly take pleasure in coming to see him and while she had never stated it overtly, he was fairly certain that she planned on killing him after she was done with him.
"Am I not allowed to come visit a subordinate at my own whim?" She spoke softly, her lips twisting into another grin. She knew exactly how much Roman resented losing control over his organization to her and it pleased her to watch him contain his anger. And while his face stayed neutral and his hands remained steady, she could see his cigar light up just a bit brighter as he took a sharper breath.
She loved it.
Roman remained silent. God she's so difficult to deal with, he thought to himself. One hand came up to pluck the cigar from his lips, holding it steady as he turned his head to the side and blew a cloud of smoke out, obscuring his twitching eye from her view.
"Ah well I suppose you're right aren't you. How long do you intend to stay here?"
"Not for too long, but I do have something to tell you Roman." Cinder said as she pulled out a small usb. The smile receded from her lips as she handed it over to the criminal mastermind. Their plans were completely dependent on Roman being able to pull off this next part flawlessly, so she wanted to emphasize its importance.
"And this is?" He inquired, taking the usb into his hands.
"The next phase Roman. Everything you need to know is in that device, I promise." She replied curtly. The air began to heat up again quickly. Soon it was a sweltering temperature in the small office, the air around her shimmered and shook as though it wasn't strong enough to handle her mere presence. "And I expect this to go flawlessly Roman, completely flawless."
"Yeah," he sputtered out as he breathed the hot air, "I'll get right on that shit…" he lowered his voice to an inaudible whisper for the last word, bowing his head and coughing smoke into his lap.
"Hm…Well then, see to it that it gets done. Goodbye." She said while returning the temperature back to normal. As she left his office and disappeared down the hallway he let out a heavy sigh, killed his cigar, and tossed it into the ashtray beside him.
Well let's see what this next phase is all about…
He hesitated, however, right before he stuck the usb into the computer. What if it's bugged he worried silently. He knew better than to simply trust a piece of technology handed to him by the devious woman so he pulled out a small laptop from his drawer. A laptop with literally no network connection or important files. Its entire purpose was to scan media files and devices for malware.
He sighed when it came up positive for various Trojans and rootkits. There was no way he was going to stick this damn thing into his main computer now. Who knew what else could be hiding in this device! So he reached down and pulled out another laptop, a simple one just for this kind of occasion.
As he loaded up the files on the isolated laptop he turned his thoughts to the coming weekend, he would be meeting with Jaune once again though it would be Neo's turn to teach him. What she planned on teaching him he really had no clue but he trusted her…
…
Maybe I'll ask her first…
The files finally loaded up, a plethora of schedules and resource requirements were all listed out thoroughly. This was bound to be exciting he sarcastically told himself.
Though it is kind of strange, he thought to himself, Cinder seriously expected me to fall for something as simple as a computer virus? How strange…
Hours earlier
"And how exactly does this 'Trojan' work?" Cinder asked the poor stuttering man as the fires licked across his desk.
"I-It just monitors th-their technology by infecting it a-and giving you remote access!" He squeaked out.
She frowned further and the flames rose alongside her eyebrow.
"You can see what he does on his computer." He said meekly.
"So with this I will be able to spy on Roman?" She asked simply.
"Who's Rom-" he was stopped when the fires rose up another few inches, "-Y-Yes, but only-"
"Perfect…" She purred to herself quite contently. The fires of frustration dying off with her words.
Cinder grabbed the usb off his desk and walked promptly out the door, fed up with having to talk with the stuttering wreck. What a sad little buffoon, couldn't even talk properly when asked simple questions.
…Hm…She probably has something else in store for me... Roman thought to himself as he scrolled through the plan.
"Mountain Glenn huh…this is gonna be a pain in the ass I can already tell."
"I heard we're gonna be going on missions soon." Ruby said proudly to her team as they walked down the halls of their school. She had been spending the past few weeks creating combo attacks with her teams and she was fairly confident they could handle anything out in the wilds.
"Yeah, the mission board is supposed to open up in a few weeks from what I've heard." Yang added gleefully. Giddy to finally have a chance at her first taste of the true huntress experience.
"The Forever Falls trip is this week. Apparently we have to collect…tree sap?" Weiss added, reading the schedule for the week. "What does collecting tree sap have to do with being a huntress?" She asked. She had come to learn that the staff of Beacon weren't exactly the most focused individuals, aside from professor Goodwitch of course.
"Maybe we can weaponized it?" Ruby said hopefully.
"That sounds…unlikely Ruby."
"She could be right Weiss, maybe it lights on fire really easily!" Yang exclaimed excitedly. Her regular shotgun shells were starting to bore her a bit. Oh, she still loved them, but she wanted to add a little more bang to her buck so to speak.
"I'm pretty sure the sap is just eaten as regular food for most creatures." Blake replied, shutting down their…interesting theories. "Researchers have been taking closer looks at it though apparently."
"Do you know what for?"
"Not really." Blake admitted easily, shrugging her shoulders. "So have you guys thought about what mission you want to take when the mission board starts up?"
"One where we save people!"
"Let's find one where we fights lots of grimm!"
"I would prefer one where we actually hunt dangerous grimm, not just mindlessly fight them." Weiss said as she rolled her eyes at her teammates' ideas. Honestly, all they ever thought about was fighting. Yang snorted at her suggestion.
"Wow ice princess, thought you would want a cushy mission like investigating nearby clothing stores or discovering the hidden secret behind the soft mattresses at Mattress Firm."
"I'd rather get my career as a huntress started soon."
"Yeah, fighting lots of grimm is pretty much the job description so…"
"How mundane of you Yang, I thought you would aim bigger than that." Weiss sighed exaggeratedly, her hand cradling her face as she looked at her teammate with despondent eyes. "And Ruby, hunting dangerous and larger grimm is the best way to save people wouldn't you agree?"
"Um…I mean…" Ruby stalled as she thought it over. Weiss wasn't wrong and fighting big and dangerous grimm could be her shot into the hero's spotlight and big grimm were the most dangerous for normal people and if she took on down she would be well known and…and…It. Was. PERFECT! "Yeah! You're right!"
Wow she's simple… Both Weiss and Blake thought to themselves, sharing a humored look.
"Blake what about you? You have any kind of mission you wanna go on?" Said cat-faunus was shaken out of her thoughts at Yang's question. What kind of mission did she want to go on? It was pretty obvious what she wanted when she thought about it properly; she wanted to investigate White Fang activity in Vale.
"Nope, I'm down for anything." Blake said, putting her desires to the back burner. No one here except for headmaster Ozpin knew about her...special history and she had no desire to bring it up to her new teammates. Hell, they didn't even know she was a faunus yet, she had held off on revealing that secret ever since she got onto the same team as the Schnee.
"Nothing at all? Really? Lame Blake, lame~" Yang sang at her teammate teasingly.
"Hey look, it's Jaune and his team!" Ruby said, pointing towards the library. Jaune was paying apt attention to Pyrrha who sat close by, apparently tutoring him something from her notebook. Ren sat quietly, reading his textbook and Nora was…sleeping.
"Wow Rubes, always gotta keep an eye out for your crush huh." Yang playfully teased, ruffling her little sister's hair as they walked into the library.
"I don't have a crush on Jaune!" Ruby said as her hands made shushing motions. She looked worriedly at the other team leader, hoping he hadn't heard Yang's stupid and embarrassing voice. Yang laughed, even as the librarian shot her a sharp glare.
"Sure Rubes, sure."
"I don't!"
"Yang, leave your sister alone." Weiss interjected peacefully. She wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulders as she smiled contently.
"Thanks Weiss."
"She's probably already frustrated that Pyrrha has a head start on him."
"Weiss!" Ruby shouted, drawing the attention of several students across the library who shot them glowering looks, telling them to keep it quiet.
Weiss backed off wisely, laughing lightly at her partner's poor plight.
"Hey guys!" Jaune said, having taken notice of them after their loud entrance. "Come sit with us, we're studying history."
Blake rolled her eyes as walked past her teammates, taking the other seat next to Jaune. "Pyrrha keeping you busy I see."
"Yeah," Jaune replied, laughter bubbling past his lips. His hand rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Apparently there's a test coming up soon and I needed to study for it, so Pyrrha decided to tutor me."
The red haired teammate coughed lightly, prompting Jaune to look back at her. She raised an eyebrow and poked her finger into her notebook, shooting him an expectant look.
"Ah…sorry Blake I gotta get back to studying." His voice came out a bit nervous. Pyrrha was a surprisingly strict teacher sometimes which slightly frightened him.
"Looks like pumpkin girl has you on a tight leash there Jauney boy." Yang said as she took the seat next to Pyrrha. She flashed the girl a grin. "You making sure he doesn't run off looking for another girl?"
Pyrrha sputtered, face turning red as a tomato. "Wh-what? No! I just want Jaune to do well in his classes! That's why I'm tutoring him!"
"Oh, and tutoring him means nearly sitting on his lap?" Blake interjected smoothly. Smiling as Pyrrha turned her embarrassed face towards her. Maybe Yang was onto something with this whole teasing thing…
"I'm not sitting on his lap!" She shouted back, quite indignant. Jaune was doing his best not to listen to the conversation but the reddening of his ears showed how well he was accomplishing that goal.
"She said nearly Pyrrha." Weiss replied. This was definitely more fun when she was teaser instead of the teased. "Besides, I think it has more to do with how you were grinding on him earlier." Yang wolf whistled at the pair and gave them a sultry wink.
"I was doing no such thing!" Pyrrha exclaimed. Her face twisting with indignity. She resisted scooting her chair a small ways away from Jaune. After all, they were wrong so she had reason to change her sitting position!
"Denial aint just a river in Egypt Pyrrha." Yang said in a sing-song voice.
"What's Egypt?" Nora asked Ren, having been woken up by all the noise.
"I think it's a place in some fiction story. The Nile river is a major river route into a larger sea where several different countries participated in trade and-" His voice was drowned out by their continued arguing.
"SHE'S NOT EVEN THAT CLOSE!" Ruby shouted, standing up, her fists clenched into tiny balls. Her eyes narrowed and her chest heaved before she realized how much of a scene she had inadvertently caused. Her face went radioactive red as she sat down quietly into her chair. "She's just tutoring him some stuff. Right Pyrrha?" She asked quietly, her silver eyes locked with Pyrrha's green.
"Exactly Ruby, thank you." Pyrrha said cautiously. The young leader could certainly get riled up when angry…
"Aw…" Yang said quietly. Her head tilted to the side as a smile formed on her lips. She ignored to foot lightly tapping against her shin in protest. She knew exactly what an older sister had to say in a situation like this. "Ruby's jealous~~!"
"YANG!" She exploded with rage, her hands reaching across the table to strangle her –now dead in her heart- sister. Luckily Blake and Weiss managed to hold her down long enough to calm down, even as Yang laughed boisterously.
After though everyone had calmed down, the table had grown to an awkward level of silence. Jaune, still red faced, continued to read Pyrrha's notes, asking her questions quietly along the way.
"So why were the faunus fighting in the first place?" He whispered. Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders and sighed heavily.
"To be honest Jaune, I don't know. I was never too much of a history buff. I knew about the fights, the tactics, and the winners, but the motives were always lost to me. Aside from the blatant discrimination, I can't tell you much more."
"Oh…so you don't know why they were discriminated against in the first place?"
"Probably their physical differences Jaune. Group think rules in every society, including our own. Who we perceive as our 'group' is all that changes."
"But I mean, what made back then so different from today? Why were they not part of the 'us' group?"
"The problem is that 'they' still aren't" Blake said bitterly, interrupting their conversation. All eyes were on her as she spoke. "The Faunus Rights Revolution ended Jaune but the discrimination never did, at least in some countries." Her eyes flicked over to Weiss who bit her lip and grimaced, knowing full well which country she spoke of.
"But there are plenty of faunus in Vale aren't there?" Jaune asked. The girl gave him a grim smile and laughed darkly.
"Oh yeah, tons Jaune, and let me ask you, how many Cardin's do you think there are." She asked him with a heavy frown on her face. Her lips twisted in disgust and her eyes narrowed as she turned her thoughts to the faunus hating boy.
Jaune opened his mouth to speak but no words came.
"Jaune, you're a nice guy, and I'm happy that you can look past physical differences but the fact is that most people can't." Blake replied to his silence quietly. She shot him a weak smile as she continued. "Faunus are still discriminated against to this day, that's why the White Fang came into power at all. There's a reason why they started in Atlas Jaune, look at their faunus rights laws. You'll find them…lacking."
"That terrorist-" Weiss spat the word out like it was poison to her lips, "-group only came into power because the Atlesian government was kind enough not to crush it out when first appeared!" Weiss hissed out, her nostrils flared at the implied insult Blake ran against her country. "Humans had no part in the creation of the White Fang terrorist organization Jaune, all that ever turns out to be is leftist propaganda."
"The White Fang, if you'll remember, started as a peace organization, promoting human and faunus cooperation. It only turned violent when the humans kept discriminating." Blake spat out at her teammate. "But sure Weiss, let's just call it leftist propaganda." She mocked, her hand pressed against her chest in false affront.
"Started as a peaceful organization huh? And what about the man who started it, Donahue Avis, being one of the torturers for the faunus during the revolution?" Weiss said smugly, her arms crossed against her chest in arrogance. "Donahue was a known human rights violator and you're telling me that he started this organization to be peaceful?" She glared at her teammate hard, her eyes boring holes through the girl.
Ruby made placating motions with her hands, trying her best to get her teammates to stop arguing. Yang tried interjecting with a joke but Blake spoke over it.
"You mean the allegations placed against him by an obviously biased council? Where was the physical evidence against him again? Oh yeah, it never existed. Only ever testimonies and stories by a SELECT few number of human prisoners." Blake countered swiftly, her voice slowly raising as her heart began to flare. How could Weiss seriously think like this? She knew from the start that the Schnee heiress would be difficult, but racist as well…
"Except we found the torture chambers used and we also found written records of Donahue visiting them regularly." Weiss continued spitting her words like venom. She couldn't understand why her teammate would dare defend monsters like the White Fang. They were murderers. Killers at heart that wanted nothing but the death of all humans. How could she defend them!?
"No, what was found were rooms used to house human captives. These charges of torture were NEVER verified!" Blake all but shouted, she stood up out of her chair roughly, her chest heaved with every breath. Tears threatened to leak out of the corners of her eyes.
Weiss coldly stared her down. She narrowed her eyes and spoke again.
"They found bodies eviscerated Blake. Skin flayed from bone. Limbs removed with deadly precision. And Donahue was in the midst of all of this and approved mindlessly. Makes him just as guilty in my eyes." Weiss took a deep breath and stood up herself. Ruby grabbed her shoulder, beckoning her to sit down, but she merely shook the hand off.
Weiss continued.
"Donahue was a violent man Blake."
"Shut up…" Blake said with her head hanging.
Weiss narrowed her eyes. How dare Blake defend the group who killed her family members!
"He was a monster Blake."
"Shut up." Blake said louder this time.
Blake shook with anger. How could Weiss support such blatant racism!?
"Everyone could see what the White Fang's violence Blake. It didn't surprise anyone."
"Shut up!" Blake now shouted. Tears streamed freely down her face.
Everyone was watching the meltdown now, their forms frozen in place.
"Because-"
"Shut up!"
"It's-"
"Shut Up!"
"In-"
"Shut UP!"
"Their-"
"SHUT UP!"
"Nature."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Blake screamed, her hands slamming onto the table, notebooks and textbooks flew off. Her face had two rivers of anguish running down them. Her eyes were red rimmed but defiant nonetheless. They were filled with rage.
They were filled with rage as she breathed deep and heavy breaths.
They were filled with rage as she removed her hands from the table.
They were filled with rage as she turned around.
They were filled with rage as she left the library.
Silence reigned supreme. Ruby sat in her seat with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. Her sister had a tight frown as she stared Weiss down hard. Team JNPR could only glance at each other worriedly.
Jaune bit his lips. This is my fault… he thought to himself solemnly. He shouldn't have brought up a topic like that at all. There was no need! It's not like it would have been on the test. God dammit…
He felt a warm hand wrap around his. He turned his head and saw Pyrrha staring at him with her worried eyes, she mouthed out a quick not-your-fault and gave his hand a tight squeeze.
His face stayed solemn as the rest of team RWBY silently got up out of their seats and left the scene.
A/N: Alright, something that I wasn't too big of a fan of was how small of an issue the White Fang thing was between Weiss and Blake. Radical values are not just 'given up' so easily in life and we get a glimpse of that with the way Blake defends the White Fang but their fight regarding it was literally one episode of conflict. There was no build up to it that I can really remember. Hell, Weiss being so anti-faunus didn't even click for me until it was stated outright in that one episode since there really weren't any racist undertones for her throughout the season. It just felt kind of rushed in to get it over with.
Look at ISIS today. There's a reason why they haven't died off even though we keep killing their leaders. People like to think that radicalism only affects the unintelligent and stupid, like it's some simple illness that can just be cured with some medicine. We like to think simple education and knowledge will keep someone from being radical, but we see time and time again that it's not true. Look at this report by New York Times if you need proof [ . ]. Hell, read this report by the NBER if you want more proof [ . ]. These guys aren't some dumb, middle-eastern, sand castle building enthusiasts.
So Blake being a part of the White Fang should be something that is a CONSTANT issue and problem, but not in the way the actual show is outlining. Blake seems to just fight the White Fang quite easily, questioning them one time –for five seconds- and then moving onto direct opposition. Blake should still have very real lingering desires to help and influence the group she was once a part of. Remember, she didn't leave because she stopped caring about Faunus rights, she left because she hated the violence...to a point.
As for Roman's little tool, I don't think there is any real-world invention quite similar to it. I would have written it more realistic but I felt like sometimes having a bit of science fiction implausibility is reasonable when you're writing about a world filled with already futuristic tech.
POLITICS OF REMNANT TALK:
Another thing that I'm going to be delving deep into is the political structure of Remnant as a whole. So far only Vale and Atlas seem to have clear cut distinctions as to how their governments run. We know they have something called ruling councils but we don't know how they're voted into power. We know they have companies and organizations but we don't know how trade regulation words. We know the obvious but we lack the details. So I plan on building my own details based off of real world models.
In a review leave which real world country each nation in Remnant will be based off of! If you get it right I'll give you a prize...or...something! I dunno!?
Next Chapter: April 29th
