Gray Fringes Ch. 19: An Ominous Plan
Richard slowly opened his eyes and looked around at his dorm at Beacon. It had felt like an eternity but he was finally back in hi old bed in what was the closest thing he could call home. It had been several days since Ruby and Weiss had gotten back to Beacon and most of the praise and adulation for saving them had passed even though Professor Port still liked to bring it up occasionally to some of his other classes. Life was finally starting to feel normal or what passed for normal in a place like this. He slowly got up and began to get ready for the day. After showering and brushing his teeth he headed down to the cafeteria where he quickly joined the rest of his team for breakfast.
"Ok team what's on the schedule today?" Richard asked as he began to tear into a plate of eggs and bacon.
"Well we have Grimm studies with Port then Combat practice with Goodwitch until lunch but after that we've got the day off for some reason." Ruby replied as she looked at the planner on her tablet.
"In that case I'm going to head to the training hall after classes. I suggest everyone here should get a little practice in from now on." Richard said before heading to Port's classroom for class.
After a particularly mind-numbing lecture about Professor Port's exploits as a young hunter and watching team CRDL fight or at least try to fight Pyrrah in Professor Goodwitch's class Richard found himself alone in the training hall with both of his swords at his side. He immediately went to work getting one of the newer additions to the school ready. The school had recently installed several new holographic training rooms to provide realistic targets to train students. He had wanted to try it out the last time he was in the training hall but he didn't want to waste too much energy right before their mission to rescue Ruby and Weiss.
He looked at the controls and loaded a simple scenario of 30 guards in an urban environment before walking into the large room swords at the ready. He was immediately greeted by thirty holographs programmed to look and fight like a typical White Fang soldier. Richard had thought of a new technique that he wanted to try out and practice. He kept the sword in his right hand but changed the sword in his left hand into a pistol. At first his attacks were slower as he tried to get a feel for the new tactics. He would block with his right sword them immediately fire a round into the targets chest knocking them out. He tried a number of new moves like knocking an enemy off balance with the pistol before finishing them off with the sword or using them both at the same time to defeat his opponents. He went on for a few more minutes getting the feel and the timing down and defeating the thirty enemies he set for himself. He got out panting slightly as he set another round up then got himself some water and sat on the bench looking up at one of the small TVs set up along the walls of the training halls. The news channel was running a special report on the recent White Fang developments. He saw the cold blue eyes and sneer of his brother on the screen as the reporter warned the audience that anyone who had information on the whereabouts of the infamous White Fang assassin known only as "The Shade" or any of his accomplices should report it immediately to the Vale Police department.
As the report ended Blake entered the hall and found a seat on the bench across from Richard.
"The Shade. My brother always loved having the spotlight on him." Richard said breaking the silence.
"His theatrics seem to have the entire city worried." Blake responded as she inspected her weapon.
"Yeah but we're not afraid and that's all that matters now. Did you ever see William before he left Vale?"
"I did once right before he left. We had just met Roman and he wanted to speak with all of us. That man gave me the chills with the first word he spoke. I still can't believe someone like that could be so closely related to you Richard."
"He's the reason I am the person I am today. Even as kids I knew there something wrong with him, something that scared me. I told myself to never turn into that but it seemed that whatever he did was praised while I was scolded for doing even the simplest mercy."
"You were just a kid though. How did you not just turn into what your family wanted you to be? Why did you stay so good?" Blake asked genuinely curious about her teammates past.
"I've always asked myself that question. It seemed that every time I tried to be like my family I would find myself with a choice between good and evil and I could never do what William and my family did no matter how hard I tried and told myself it was the right thing I could never convince myself."
Blake was silent for a minute before finally speaking again.
"You know Richard even though the circumstances might have been terrible I'm glad I met you." Blake said quickly before getting up and moving to one of the training rooms.
Richard got up and went back to his training learning how to fight with his new technique and going through several rounds of enemies until he was exhausted but satisfied at the progress he had made. His moves were near lightning fast and almost timed perfectly. He walked out a couple of hours later seating and breathing heavily as he walked to the locker rooms across the school. He got to them just as he finished his second bottle of water and took a quick shower before heading back to his dorm. He collapsed on his bed for a few moments of rest before getting up and making a small meal in the microwave each dorm has. After waiting for a few seconds and making a glass of water he settled down on his bed and dug into the little snack he had made. As he was finishing it and settling in to sleep he heard a small beep from his tablet that was lying on the desk across his room.
"Who the hell's texting me this late at night?" Richard thought as he walked over to the desk. As he read the message he suddenly had a very puzzled expression before sighing and heading to the locker rooms to get his armor. The message simply said to go to a small park near the docks immediately. He snuck past his team mate's dorm trying not to wake them up. Weiss yelling at him for doing something this dangerous wasn't very high on his things he wanted to happen tonight list and he didn't want to worry the rest of them. As he made his way out of the school armor on and swords at his side he made a quick look back at the main square of the school before heading down to the town. He suddenly took off running down the street turning several corners before finally turning one more corner and stopping. He waited a few seconds before he collided with a very surprised bow wearing Faunus.
"You should know by now Blake that I can tell when people are following me." Richard laughed before extending a hand to help her up.
"And you should know that I can tell when people are trying to sneak out of Beacon in the middle of the night now what are you doing out here alone." Blake responded becoming slightly annoyed.
"I take it you wouldn't believe me if I told you I just wanted to take a nice stroll around town." Richard joked before seeing the glare he got from Blake.
"Right then I got this little message telling me to head to this little park by the docks and I figured I would see what whoever sent me this wanted."
"And why exactly would you just leave the school without mentioning this to us or waking us up?"
"For the same reason you followed me without waking up Weiss or anyone else. Listen if this is what I think it is then it would have been better for me to go alone. I don't know if Weiss, Yang and Ruby are ready for this."
"And what exactly do you think is going to happen here?"
"We'll find out right now." Richard said as they entered the wooded park. They found a small bench near the center of the park. After a few minutes of silence Richard suddenly looked up and began to look around the park.
"I know you're out there Adam. If this is a trap you might as well come out now." He called in a loud voice.
"It's not a trap and I just want to speak with you." Replied a gruff voice as Adam appeared from behind a group of trees.
"Well then why don't we head somewhere a little more comfortable and discuss from there. I know a pretty good coffee shop a few blocks from here." Richard said as he got up and began to head out of the park Adam and Blake on his heels.
As they walked along the sidewalk Richard was the one to break the silence.
"So Adam if your being here is any indication then you're at least trying to right some of the wrongs you've done over the past few years."
"I didn't have much choice after you all escaped but yes I would like to see your lunatic of a brother stopped and if that means working with you then I'll do whatever it takes. Look both of you I know I hurt you in the past but I know now that what your brother is planning is wrong and I'm sorry for everything."
"You don't have to apologize. I've already forgiven you and I'm sure this meeting is apology enough for Blake." Richard said as they reached the small bakery. They found a small seat near the back of the store and ordered a few coffees.
"Now if you don't mind but let's get down to why you're here. What exactly is my brother planning and how close is he to getting there." Richard immediately asked as they sat down.
"Well here's the issue. He knows he can beat the police force. What he doesn't know is that if the White Fang can defeat you guys and your school. Frankly he's afraid of you Richard ever since that fight at our compound. He wants to get rid of Beacon as quickly as possible."
"Get rid of Beacon? You say that like he wants to destroy the entire school but that's impossible." Blake asked from across the table.
"Unfortunately that's exactly what he wants and it's not impossible. Remember the store you stopped us from robbing well that was just one store and they've robbed a lot more. By now they probably have at least a ton of crystalized dust sitting in their compound waiting to be used. He wants to literally blow the school off the side of the cliff with you all still in it preferably." Adam said solemnly as he looked at the wide eyed expression on Blake and the serious expression on Richards face.
"Well then we'll just have to be there to stop him then. Thank you Adam I always knew you weren't like William. I just hope we can stop this in time." Richard said as he extended his hand.
"They still don't have enough dust to do it yet but I don't know what they are planning now since I can't get back into the base but I'll see what I can find." Adam replied as he shook Richard's hand and silently walked out of the door into the night.
"Well Blake I think it's time to get back to our team now."
"Do you think we can stop this before it happens?"
"We can try Blake. We can try."