Heavy, tired pants rose from the members of Taupe as they laid sprawled out upon their backs. Blood trickled from fresh cuts, bruises swelled, and Petunia stared at one of the teeth Eve knocked out when the medic delivered a solid head-butt to her jaw. Eve wasn't much better, her head was bleeding from where her partner almost ripped out a chunk of hair and her cracked glasses shredded skin under her eye – fortunately her bruised face helped cover some of the bleeding.
Ty and Automne were half-dead. The potent mixture of body blows, hits to the head, bites, scratches, strangleholds, and crotch-kicks had more-or-less destroyed their will to keep fighting. So instead of walloping upon each other like they both wished, they struggled to catch air with raspy gasps.
"Eve, you knocked my tooth out." Petunia still staring at her tooth with disbelief.
"Don't worry," Eve's pithy tone laden with a modicum of genuine sympathy. "I know a dentist."
"I'll pass." Petunia making full use of the scant hostility she had leftover.
"Why do people need dentists?" Automne rasped between gasps.
"Are you serious?" Petunia said, looking away from her tooth but not even thinking of raising her head off the floor.
"Dentists're a scam. Just brush yer teeth." Automne slurred.
"You're a dumbass."
"Shut up, you red-neck shit." Ty said, still trying to catch his breath.
"I'm not a redneck," he stopped to pant. "Just because I don't" he stopped to pant again. "Buy into scams."
"No, you're just an idiot." Petunia pocketing her tooth as she pulled herself up onto her ass. With a resigned glare she looked over to Automne. "So, what's the plan?"
"Wha'd'you mean?"
"Your plan to stop the dickhead terrorist tryna blow-up the city, dumbass. What is it?"
"He doesn't have one." Ty said, struggling to pull himself up on one arm, the other twisted from a bad blow. "Idiot never plans ahead."
"Ty, be quiet." Eve chided in an almost polite tone.
Automne gave a tired sigh, still not ready to get off the ground. "I literally just betrayed them. Excuse me for not planning on being a traitor sooner. And it's not like I don't have a plan, I got an idea."
"Care to run it by us or are we supposed to sit in here and do nothing until Baula sends a patrol team to come check on us?" Ty's inquiry put forth as gracefully as any natural-born leader's.
"I'm getting to it, so shut up." Automne closed his eyes and took a steady breath before he sat up. "Alright, so first we'll head down to the armory and grab your weapons."
"He just threw our weapons in the armory?" Petunia said with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, now shut up and don't interrupt. Okay, we'll go get the weapons then head down to the server mainframe and I figured Petunia could hack in, disable the jammer that scrambles all our frequencies, and send info to the police telling them to come raid this place cause they're keeping us prisoner or something. Once that's done we can head down to the motor-pool and hide out in a Humvee or something. Any questions?"
"You have a motor-pool?" The question laced with so much sincerity that everyone immediately knew Eve was more curious than unclear.
Naturally, Automne was taken back, but not so much that he couldn't reply. "Uhhhh, yeah?"
"Automne, your plan is shit." Petunia cutting their awkward chatter down like grass.
"What's wrong with it?" Clearly damaged by her scathing input. "It could work."
"Ever heard of a fire suppression system?" Petunia snapped. "Pretty much every server room nowadays has one. If we go in there they can seal us in and suffocate us with the suppression system. And while we're choking on our shriveled lungs, they can come in and shoot us in the Dust damn head."
Forcibly thrown from his fantasy of being a strategical hero Automne fumbled to pick up the pieces of his dead plan. "Well, can't you just hack it really quick?"
"Do you even know what hacking is?!" Petunia's nails digging into her palms as she fell back to the floor. Her growl rebounded off the dirty tiles and idly vibrated in her hearing aids. "Is there at least a way to get my hearing aids to stop screeching?"
"That's actually the jammer; the thing hits a lot of frequencies."
"I never noticed." Petunia gently unknotted an orange bandana and started to dab away blood and grime. "Any other ideas or are we reopenin' tha suicide pact?"
"Your jammer is powerful enough to affect hearing aids?" Ty said, coaxed from his silence. "How have you not been discovered yet? You have an illegal jammer that can screw with Scroll frequencies and hearing aids and that doesn't draw any attention?"
"I don't know, I don't work on that stuff. Maybe the walls are lined with lead or something."
Ty let slip a grumble. "It's like a donkey kicked you in the head."
"I actually was kicked by a donkey once." Automne gave a small chuckle and crawled over to a spot of wall where a sink must have once sat. The tile was butchered all down the stretch and there were lime-scale marks lined up in uniform where Automne rested his head.
"Not surprised at all." Petunia too pained to put emphasis on words.
"You told me your village didn't have any animals." The mention of equine firing Eve up enough to actually set eyes on Automne for the first time since the brawl. Easy to say the look was akin to cryogenically frozen knives. "Why did you lie about the donkeys?"
"I don't know?! I didn't want to bring up donkeys!" Reflexively shrugging off the question.
"What else have you lied about?!"
"Probably just the donkeys! I don't like talking about my village!"
"This," Ty croaked, amused at the deranged donkey debate. "This right here is why I hate you both more than anything else in the world."
"Wha about Professor brown-stain? He take tha next spot?" Petunia pushed her bandana into her bra, smack-dab between her two mounds. Fabric secured she rolled onto her side to get a full view of the trio. Eve had moved in close enough to Automne when she started throwing accusations of donkey perjury that Petunia was saved the trouble of cricking her neck trying to catch them all.
"Actually, you have a point. If Baula actually had the decency to kill me and not assign two different angsty, redneck, teenage rats to do it maybe I'd actually have some kind of respect for him." Ty took a deep, agonized breath and pulled himself up. Completely incapable of balancing he meandered his way over to a wall for support.
Automne almost wanted to smirk, partially from the pride he took in injuring Ty. He hadn't held back for a solitary second, but in spite of everything he threw at Ty the guy was already standing. "You actually have a plan, mean-green-bean or are you just gonna run?"
Ty pointed to Petunia, "Petunia,"
"Automne your insults are shit, kill yourself." Petunia snapped, rolling back onto her butt. "That good?"
"Perfect." Ty stretched his arms across his chest, his body creaking loudly. "Red-neck, what else is in that armory?"
"We got raw Dust, automatic rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns, swords, axes-"
"Any explosives?" Ty cutting off the prattle as he took to stretching his quads.
Automne finally smirked. With a grunt he planted his moccasins firmly on the tile and pushed hard against its resistance. Soon enough he too was on his feet – his every joint and bruise screaming so loud that the body trembled. "Weapons grade explosives, and plenty of 'em." He grunted through his toothy smile.
"I like where this is going." Petunia laughed, rolling her neck until she groaned fierce and proud.
"We hit the armory first." Ty set his feet down and looked around at the three. Petunia had just slammed her blood-stained sneakers on the tile and sprang up like the biggest, blood-soaked child to ever jump out of bed. He stopped to admire her brief intensity before the bombastic girl cringed in pain. "Eve, can you manage a heal?"
Automne had offered Eve his hand but she rebuffed it and stood on her own. Clasping her dingy gray gloves together she shut the one eye she could. Taut as her thin body was she managed calm breaths. Her teammates naturally gravitated to her, the long slow inhales and longer exhales calming them. Bravado aside they could feel the weight looming over them.
It seeped into them, Eve's thick off-white cloud cooled cuts, numbed bruises, kissed tensions away. They could feel it dissolve quickly, the burning of wounds returned in lessened states. Eve had managed what she could, her face morose she dreaded what approached.
Agonizing pain surged through Automne. He turned to their leader, confident. "Ty, I have an idea."
Ty looked between his lesser and Eve who stirred from her stupor. "Of course you do..."
The city glowed a pale gold. Dawn was less than an hour away, tomorrow Baula would begin his campaign. The anticipation swelled in him, but not a shred of anxiety penetrated his mind. His jaw locked he stood at attention; his breathing smooth, paced. Mulling over plans he patiently stood by as time ran on.
The stillness was potent, even Rouge, cozied up in an exorbitant arm chair with a glass of wine and weapon propped against the back, felt stifled by his contemplation. The tension was so taxing she required the guards to bring said chair to her. The chair alone was too little however, and it drawed too much attention in the barren office. Thus a matching chaise was delivered, as well as a walnut coffee table, a standing lamp with multi-colored bulbs in case the mood required a different tone, and a stainless steel wine bucket. Admittedly the bucket was a compromise since Baula denied her request to have her entire wine cabinet delivered.
She'd have to make due with two bottles of wine. It was far from her concept of ideal, but despite earlier happenings she could subsist. Her nerves were already dulled from a swig of vodka she choked back after Arsenic was brutally murdered in front of her, so she was fine. Everything was moving along accordingly and she need not worry.
Unless of course Noire betrayed them. That thought stuck out. And then the gunfire in the entrance hall that pierced the air like a ravenous serial killer mutilating a woman more or less validated the fear. Rouge threw the last three-quarters of her wine down her throat without pause.
Baula didn't react. The gunfire was hardly muffled through the double-doors, but the boom of shotguns, rifles, and pistols ensured him this was in fact a direct assault. Screams of pain were barely concealed beneath the cacophony, men were falling, and the sounds of rifles were disappearing.
Then came the roar; loud, wicked, and merciless was the sound of fire erupting and flooding the room. Guards screamed in agony and some clearly fell against the doors of the Executive Office with thuds and desperate moans.
Soon there was silence, Baula remained unphased. His expression empty of anything, let alone fear. His hands folded behind him he listened.
They were moving quickly. As soon as their enemies had fallen they made a break for the Executive Office. They didn't enter however, instead there was an inaudible conversation at the door. It sounded like bickering. A couple seconds and a few dozen slurs later proved that it was in fact bickering, but the odd thud punctuating the middle of their fight was a tad odd.
And then the door exploded.
Shards of wood, metal pellets, a bit of viscera, a lot of dust, and just a smidgen glass shards hurdled forward through the office. Scattering in a conical shape the shrapnel did an excellent job in tearing through Rouge's furnishings and shattering the window Baula was looking out of into thousands more shards of glass.
"Everybody get on the fuckin' ground!" Petunia shouted as she ran in aiming her shotgun at Baula and Rouge. Despite the blast the criminals remained where they were their clothes a tad torn and Rouge's wine glass powderized, but aside from that little else had changed. "Hey! You listenin'?! I said get on the ground!"
"No," Rouge especially curt as she looked down at her shattered wine bottles.
"I will blow your brains out!" Petunia's response didn't even garner a look in her general direction. "Hey! Dumb bitch, look at me!"
"Petunia," Ty shouted, his shuriken drawn as he stepped up to her. "Just keep her at gunpoint. We're not here for her anyways."
Automne and Eve trailed only a few feet behind. The four members of Taupe were as pale as the sections of alabaster walls that weren't damaged by the bomb. In spite of their fear, there they stood with weapons drawn and expressions as stern as they could manage in spite of the crippling pain they were experiencing.
Looking all around at his teammates Automne gave a half-hearted nod to each and limped forward. Without a word he stood himself beside Baula and looked out at the city with him. He didn't know how to start so he didn't. He just waited, his eyes panning across buildings and the horizon.
"I always knew you'd betray me."
Automne paused. "If you knew I'd betray you, then why bring me in? Why bother with me?"
"You were passionate. Passion is what produces success. It didn't take me long to realize you'd waver at the slightest incentive, but I took a gamble. Unfortunately you've proven yourself to be as predictably useless as I believed you to be." Baula never sparing him a single glance as he stared ahead with a bitter look in his eyes.
Automne recoiled and went back to staring at the city. Shocked at his brusqueness and pained he struggled to find a proper retort. Instead, too tired, he spoke freely, "... You shouldn't do this. The world's filled with decent people who don't deserve to pay for what a few asshole bureaucrats do."
"Don't project onto me, boy. You don't know the faintest thing about me, and I will not have a child as short-sighted and self-centered as you patronize me with insipid soap box speeches." Baula's scowl deepens as he finally turns to glare down at Automne. "You can not, and will not ever comprehend what I have gone through. I lost my entire team serving to complete one of this government's private contracts. My two closest friends and my beautiful wife killed before me. We marched for days, dying! I wasn't even able to carry home the corpse of my wife! And when I did return I didn't even receive enough money to pay for a casket!
"I have worked day-in and day-out for over a decade to take my revenge on the men who killed what little family I had. I am not going to allow some whiny, insolent, child who lost his mother to interrupt my plans any further!" Baula took Automne by the neck and sprung the blade of his cutlass into his gut.
Ty and Petunia let out horrified swears as they watched the violent rush in shock.
Automne tried to scream in pain, but Baula held a firm grip on his windpipe. A fresh wave of adrenaline slammed Automne as Baula's sword exited through his back. Choking for thoughts Automne dropped his ninjato and grasped Baula's wrist in desperation.
"Get away from him!" Eve shrieked, running forward and steadying her naginata at Baula's neck. Tears streaming down her face she growls and tightens her form. "Drop him now! I will slash your throat! Put him down!"
Baula gave a hearty guffaw, and stepped forward to feel the touch of her blade against his neck. "You, Howlite, are the most fascinating and pathetic child I have ever come across. You are nothing but a clingy, emotionally schizophrenic, whore who clings to the people around you for purpose, when in reality you are a useless nobody who should have gone through with it and ended your life years-"
"Baula!" Automne choked, tightening his grip upon the man's wrist. "Ehk… Go fuck yourself!" Raising his hand he gave a hard tug to the chord of a claymore tucked in his vest. The steel balls instantly shredded said vest and then Baula's arm and most of Eve's weapon with a singular boom. Flying back Automne was set free, everything from Baula's shoulder to wrist had been reduced to a thick red and white pulp.
"AUUUUUGH, you fuckin psychopath!" Baula screamed as he pressed his remaining hand to his stump.
"Yeah ya feel that! Ya like that ya fuckin asshole!" Automne shouted from the floor a good fifteen feet back. "Was that in any of my fuckin files!"
"Automne!" Eve screeched flying to him and throwing herself down at his side. "You put a claymore in your vest?!"
Automne looked up at her through squinted eyes, his hands pressed to his gaping stab wound. "Oh fuck!" He shouted "I think I'm fuckin deaf!"
"You're not deaf! You blew out your eardrums you dumbass!" Ty cupping his hands round his mouth to shout at Automne.
"Hey wait a minute!" Petunia jumping in. "Automne you were behind me when we breached! You had a claymore in your vest the whole fucking time! What the shit is wrong with you jackass?!"
"Petunia I don't think he heard you!" Eve shouted back, desperately trying to bandage Automne as best she can.
"Oh Dust, my ears won't stop ringing!" Automne moaned pressing a hand down over his eyes. "Why the hell did I do that?!"
"That's a pretty good question!" Ty said, " Maybe we should ask Baula's hot, rotting corp- oh shit."
Baula gave deep heavy pants as he rose to his full, mangled stature, his revolver in hand. "I have had more than enough of you infernal children. When I'm done with all of you, you'll regret ever crossing my path!"
"Holy shit, just die!" Petunia shouted, taking her shotgun from Rouge and aiming it at Baula.
"No Petunia, watch-"
Rouge pulled out her Scroll and quickly typed at the screen before returning it to her pocket.
"Oh Dust damn it!" Ty said, turning his shuriken at Rouge. "What did you just do?!"
Rouge gave a wicked snicker as she crossed her arms, clearly satisfied with herself. "Child I just bought myself a very cozy vacation to a low security correctional institute for the next few years."
There was a good bit of silence that followed, excluding Automne shouting at the top of his lungs. "What the hell's going on?! Why's everyone just standing around?!"
Baula solved the inactivity crisis by raising his revolver. "You sold me out."
Rouge's first response was to raise her honey-combed rifle. What followed was a condescending shake of the head. "I'm not here because I bought into your sob story. I came for the prospect of living as the richest woman in the world." She triumphantly stared him down, her weapon bobbing as she tried and failed to keep it steady. " I was the sole benefactor. The one who helped you secure every ounce of dirt and every centimeter of land. Did you genuinely believe I'd patiently and obediently follow you to war like some blind fool. For years you toiled with your derangent and all it's amounted t-"
Baula raised his gun a smidgen higher and shot Rouge. Blood quickly poured from her wound in a plentiful volume. She returned fire and blasted off the right side of his chest. Baula was clearly not impressed, so he shot her in the stomach again before putting one through her face.
Her heels scraped violently against the floor as her knees buckled and her body wriggled. With a wet, sickening thud Rouge fell back, dead.
A solemnity overtook Taupe as they looked at Baula. By their count he had two bullets, and it was clear from the way he carried himself in this moment that he fully intended to use them. The sounds of sirens echoed throughout the city, and they only grew louder.
Eve rose to a crouch, putting her hand on Automne's chest to keep him down. Petunia and Ty began to seperate, every step slow and deliberate. Baula was making his decision, and the three members who were left standing struggled to figure out who he was targeting.
There was no room for thought. Baula kicked a cloud of debris at Ty and made for Petunia. Firing all she had, her rounds strayed too far off target in her wild fire and and she was quickly overwhelmed. Baula whipped the gun across her face and swept her legs from behind, sending her down onto her back. Petunia's face slashed she tried to protect herself, but before she knew it Ty was on Baula's back.
Riding him and trying to hold on to his spinning blade, which quickly lopped off chunks of Baula's breast, Ty was unhappily removed when Baula turned his revolver back over his shoulder and shot Ty. Taupe's leader fell back onto a bed of shattered glass and wood, the bullet had destroyed his left shoulder, his muscle and bone had been turned to pulp.
Panting heavily, his head pounding, his midsection a lump of agonized flesh, Automne willed himself to stand. But while he struggled to trudge forward Baula switched his weapon to a cutlass. Automne let out a pained moan and hobbled forward, his atrophied body making him an easy target. Baula pivoted from Ty and plunged his sword into Petunia's chest before setting his sights on Automne. Baula lumbered at him with his sword ready. Automne meanwhile struggled to draw Twilight Harmony, the pistol trapped in his partially crushed holster.
Yanking hard Automne couldn't pull the gun free. Baula's crazed eyes were locked with his. Automne grit his teeth and yanked off his holster; aiming the whole monstrosity he pushed his finger into the melted plastic and squeezed to send a round exploding from the end. It was no use though the weak start meant it was a slow inaccurate shot, instead of hitting the center of his head the bullet skewed hard to the right and ripped apart the side of his face.
Baula, bloodied and deformed lunged, slashing Automne not with the end of the blade but the thickest section. The steel slashed Automne's left eye and the bridge of his nose. Falling back, screaming madly, all sight gone from his left side, Automne hit the floor in defeat.
Panting heavily, gore running down Baula's face the madman stepped forward and returned his weapon to revolver form. Flesh barely hanging on in places he tried a facial expression, a scowl of pure and utter disdain for Automne. Baula made to put his boot upon Automne's head and immediately received the blade of Eve's naginata in his back.
Starlight Harmony's shaft was in splinters, a hefty portion of that wood now in Eve's right hand. Pulling her hand from the wood with a shrill scream she grabbed Dawn Tranquility from her belt. Panting, utterly exhausted, she managed to scrounge up what energy she had and charged. As he turned to meet her she tackled him, leading with the blade she pierced Baula's chest and impaled his heart.
But Eve didn't reel back in victory, Baula discharged his last bullet through her side and swiftly ran his blade across her thighs with a metallic hiss. Falling back Eve bashed her head against the floor, the ninjato still in her hand. Baula staggered a moment, blood seeping from his muscular chest before he fell with a decisive thud.
Automne stirred awake with an agonized groan. To say that everything hurt was the equivalent of saying the ocean had water in it. He was more gauze than man at this point and no matter which way he turned the pain rolled with him. Oh, and he still couldn't see from his left eye and just going off of how heavy the bandages were on his head he wasn't expecting to use the eye anytime soon.
"Stop moving," A woman with white hair ordered from the end of the bed. Looking across Automne gave the buxom wolf Faunus a glare. His thought process was dull, it was likely because of the IV in his arm, but that honestly eased his nerves.
More gauze than Eve's luggage could hold, cushy bed with awful sheets, medical equipment, and a very pissed off member of law enforcement standing at the foot of his bed meant he was captured. And going off the way she hissed "He's awake," into a radio he took it to be a very good sign.
Several minutes of painful silence and hateful looks from his guard later the door to the small, dark hospital room opened. And who entered but none other than Ty, Petunia, and Eve, all strapped into wheelchairs.
"Guys," Automne croaked, his voice a hoarse mess. "Are you okay?"
"I got shot in the shoulder. What'd'you think?" Ty snapped, his left arm in one of the more awkward casts he had ever seen.
"Stop bitching," Petunia hissed "You didn't get stabbed in the fucking lung. Hell, my head's so bashed in the doc's surprised the concussions didn't make me a veg'table ."
"And how are you Eve?" Automne turning to the dark haired girl with concern.
"I got away easy." Hints of warmth in her soft ruined voice. "The bullet didn't hit anything important. And my legs and hand will recover. I'll just need a bit of physical therapy." Her tightly bandaged legs and hand trembling. "Don't worry about me. How are you?"
"Kinda shit. Why aren't you in bed? You should all be in bed." Automne overwhelmed with concern as he tried to sit up. Then he was overwhelmed with good ol' stab wound pain.
"Mr. Noire I would suggest that you lay back. You just had a kidney removed, you don't want to strain yourself." Accompanied by two guards Headmaster Ozpin stepped in with an excessively tired look upon him. Without a word he had the members of Taupe rounded to one side of the room so he could look upon them all with ease. Once together he looked over them and gave a heavy sigh. "You four… I don't even know where to begin."
"Well, how 'bout the part where we saved the city from the impending terrorist attack!" Petunia recoiling into coughs after her shout.
Ty was extremely eager to continue for her though. "Yeah, we were the ones who went in and actually did something. You didn't even know you had a terrorist at your Dust damn school."
Ozpin gave a sigh. "Young man we had known about Baula and his plans for years. We had been forming a case; collecting evidence, finding witnesses to testify against them, documenting every action he and his criminal enterprise had undertaken. We had been planning sting operations for the better part of this year, and in four months you and your friends completely derailed everything. Dozens of wanted criminals and terrorists have scattered, our operations will likely have to go public, and we have no idea where their high-value data caches with private government information have gone."
Ty froze up.
"It does make sense in retrospect that they would've known." Eve chimed weakly.
"Yeah," Ty at a loss for words. "... Yeah."
Ozpin gave yet another tired sigh. "Domestic terrorism is not something we take lightly. That said you four exhibited incredible valiance and devotion to this kingdom and moreover the people in your efforts to stop former Professor Fidel Baula from enacting his plans." Ozpin stopped to roll his eyes. "And I happily pass along the news that you four successfully detained or killed several wanted criminals who had bounties placed upon them, which are applicable even in death."
"How much money we talkin' here?" Petunia chimed in, wiping her mouth on her hospital gown.
"I am not discussing your rewards further. But I do have one more bit of good news. Mr. Noire due to your minimal role in the late Professor's plans, and because of your change of heart I personally filed to have your charges for domestic terrorism, as well as aiding and abetting fugitives, and treason removed from your case file." Ozpin finally mustered a smile, no matter how forced it was, "You're very lucky I was able to sway them."
A sense of warmth rose in Automne. He almost wanted to smile, but then Eve butted in and said: "Case files? What case files?"
Ozpin's smile died as he squared his shoulders and looked them all over. "Due to your heavy involvement with this event I, and Vale law enforcement, were prompted to review your history. Since coming to Beacon Academy you four have committed a number of misdemeanours and felonies, including but not limited to: vandalism; lewd acts in public; theft; multiple instances of assault, including the assault of a peace officer; arson-"
"Who committed arson?!" Automne yelped in shock.
"Who do you think?" Petunia's glare fixed on Ty.
"Public intoxication!" Ozpin continued. "evading law enforcement; noise violations; gambling; multiple instances of contraband and drug possession including alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine."
"Who the fuck had cocaine?!" Ty yelled, trying to look between his teammates without straining his shoulder.
"Wasn't me!" Petunia coughed.
"Me either, the most I've done was pot." Automne said, his eye focusing on a very quiet Eve. In fact all eyes were now on Eve as she scrunched up.
"Umm… cocaine is very useful for medical practices." Eve whispered to the groans of her teammates.
"Falsifying your identity, Ms. Sherbet." Ozpin's glare digging at Petunia. " Altering government issued identification; interfering with a criminal investigation; and withholding information relevant to the security of the kingdom." Ozpin breathed a heavy sigh as he tried to suppress the desire to shout at them. "Never before have I seen a group such as yours that holds no regard for the general laws and rules of Beacon Academy and the Kingdom of Vale. I don't know if you'll spend your days in prison, but you will most certainly not be spending them at my school.
"Tyrian Inuhoozuki, Automne Ombre Noire, Petunia Sherbet, Eve Howlite: You four have committed actions unbecoming of a Huntsman or Huntress and you are effective immediately expelled from Beacon Academy with no opportunity of reentry into any Huntsman Academy. Good evening." With that Ozpin departed.
Ty, Automne, Petunia and Eve watched him leave with wide eyes and jaws aslack.
Automne was the first to respond. "Oh fuck…"
Okay, I'm kind of going to kind of cheat here. There is an Epilogue and it will be relatively short, so stay tuned. But before that, a massive apology is in order. Depression and twenty-seventeen were not kind to me and I'm honestly glad The (Un)Forgettable Team TAPE is coming to a close. I want to give a deep and humble thank you to everyone who has joined me and supported me over the years and I'm sorry for all the silence and inactivity. I do have projects lined up after this story concludes and I hope you'll join me there. For now stay tuned until we tie this story up.
Thank you for reading and a Happy New Year to you.
-CS