AN: Sorry this took so long. My life has been very busy lately, so I slacked off a bit. I'll be honest, I'm a little bit torn on this chapter, so some good feedback would be very helpful in case I need to make some changes.
"Welcome to Grandma Wolf's Bakery, may I help you?" Roman Torchwick asked.
"A baker's dozen will do please, thank you," Hei Xiong replied. Roman looked down at Hei's feet, which had thick bandages wrapped around them.
"Yes sir, coming right up sir," Roman said. Working at the Grandma Wolf's Bakery wasn't so bad. After the attack on Vale by the Faunus terrorists, Roman was left to fend for himself. Theodora had disappeared and his father Collus never spoke to him again after deciding to leave him out of the night club. Without a job or even a home that he knew he can go to, Roman took the first job that he can get. He just wished he was allowed to wear his own hat with the red band instead of a paper hat with the name of the bakery on it.
His goal to destroy his father had never changed. He just knew that he wasn't strong enough to take on his father alone yet. That's why he thought Theodora would be a useful tool in getting there, but without Theodora, he was left with few other options.
Roman handed the donuts over to Hei and watched him limp away. Roman smirked. Was Hei by any chance a victim of the Lioness' high-heels? That would make a lot of sense. Next in line was a tall young man right around his age with silvering hair and a green scarf around his neck. He also wore tiny glasses that he consistently adjusted.
"Roman Torchwick," the man said. Roman frowned.
"Can I help you?"
"I am Ozpin. And yes, I need your help," Oz said.**
*Despite what the manager would think, Roman bolted through the kitchen and leaped through the back door to run between buildings down the alley. He ran as fast as his legs could possibly carry him.
Then his foot got caught on something and he tripped forward onto his stomach. He flipped himself around and looked up at Ozpin who was holding a long cane.
"I'm not here to hurt you," Oz insisted.
"What do you want from me? Money? My father has all of that!" Roman insisted. Oz shook his head.
"Your father has my friends. He's working with the leader of the Faunus terrorists," he said.
Roman raised an eyebrow. "I thought the leader was killed. By you."
"He survived, and he's more powerful than ever. They have my friends," Ozpin said.
"Where's Theodora?" Roman asked.
Shock passed through Oz's expression. "You know her?"
"She was trying to help me take down my father, but she left me a long time ago and I haven't seen her again since."
Grief strangled Oz's eyes. "Theodora is dead. The terrorist leader killed her with Collus there."
Despite his disdain towards Theodora, shock at her death shook Roman up a bit.
"I don't know what your father is planning to do with my friends, but I need to get them back and I—I can't do it alone," Ozpin said. When Roman got to digest this, his gaze fell and his shoulders rocked as he chuckled.
"You're so naive," he said.
"What?"
"I mean—I can't believe that you're so easily willing to trust me," Roman pointed out. Oz kept his stance with both hands on his cane as if he was an older man.
"I have to. I know that you hold a grudge towards your father and so do I. I want him taken down too," he said. Roman finally got himself up and dusted himself off. He got a cigar out from his breast pocket, retrieved his lighter, and lit the cigar.
"This will be a one-time thing," he said.
Oz smirked. "That's all I ask. Is there anyone else you know that can help us?"
Roman barely had to think about it. "I know someone."
The back door to the bakery flew open, revealing Roman's angry manager, an overweight bald man wearing a black business suit.
"Torchwick! It's not your break time yet! You're finished! You hear me!?" He screamed.
"It's okay, I quit," Roman replied without taking the cigar out of his mouth.
The manager frowned and confusion marred his expression. "You—?"
"And lose some pounds will you?" Roman mocked.
"Let's go," Ozpin urged, and the two of them set off, leaving a very confused and offended manager behind.**
*The white lights blinded Glynda when the bag was yanked off her head. She blinked several times and water poured from her eyes. She watched as Peter and Oobleck had their bags taken off and they blinked to adjust to the light too.
When Glynda's vision cleared, she saw Collus and someone else she didn't really know standing together in front of her with their hands clasped behind their backs. They were in a room that was the shape of a perfect circle with a dome in the center and a control panel built beside it. The floor and the walls were a pure white that somehow lit the room. There was no other visible source of light.
"Well good morning," the man next to Roman said. Glynda realized that the man was a Faunus. Then she recognized him as the Faunus terrorist leader from a couple weeks ago.
"I apologize for you having to get mixed up in my grand master plan but Ozpin can be blamed for that," the Faunus said. What was his name? Glynda was trying to remember his name. Then…
"What's your name?" Ozpin had asked when a Faunus followed him to the temple.
"Jasper," the Faunus replied.
The Faunus that had followed Ozpin to the temple to thank him for his kindness was the same Faunus that stood in front of her now.
"I thought Ozpin was kind to you," Glynda said.
"Oh he was for a little while, but one day he said that he didn't even know me. He casted me aside as if I was nothing. I'm surprised he hasn't already done the same to you my dear," Jasper replied.
Glynda couldn't deny that Ozpin had been slowly going down a path where their friendship was growing less significant and where he was growing more distant. But Glynda had faith in him. She knew he was a good man.
She knew that Ozpin was going to come save her and the others. It was only a matter of time.
Then it hit her. Where's Theodora?
"Where's my sister?" Glynda asked out loud.
"Your sister? Oh, you mean the one that I had killed with her own sword? Yeah, that was unfortunate," Jasper replied.
"No!" Glynda screamed. She struggled to get her wrists out of the metal cuffs behind her, but the metal only bit into her skin and wouldn't budge.
"Yes, it was a tragedy for sure, but Ozpin had that coming to him," Jasper replied, his voice still extraordinarily calm.
Grief and dread that Glynda hadn't felt since her parents' death took her in a strangle hold.**
*It didn't take much convincing to get the Lioness on their side. After Roman explained to her that Collus was working with a Faunus terrorist, that was all it took for the Lioness to agree, even though she would be helping humans.
"I'm going to want something in return for this," she pointed out to Ozpin.
Oz flashed a winning grin. "Don't worry, you won't regret this."
"So what's the plan?" The Lioness asked. The three of them stood around a table inside the temple with a map of Collus' facility which was located in the forest of Forever Falls. Using his cane as a pointer to guide the others through, Roman gave them the information they needed.
"My father uses this facility in Forever Falls to create some of his personal weapons, the ones that he doesn't let anyone else in on," he said.
"Are there any current projects he's working on?" Oz asked.
"I've never seen it myself, but I've heard him talk about making a machine that can copy someone's Semblance and Aura into a syringe. It's an attempt to make anyone's Semblance accessible to anyone else," Roman explained.**
*"You all should feel honored," Collus announced as he stepped aside to show off the dome.
"This baby here is my latest in a line that will extract one's Semblance and Aura and be able to transmit it over to someone else. More power to all who wants it," Collus said.
"And that's what we're all doing to you. Each of you will get your Semblance transmitted into this machine here. Unfortunately, since you can't live without your Aura, I'm afraid you may not survive the procedure," Jasper explained.
Glynda could feel fear trying to shove her down.
Where are you Ozpin?**
*"How many entrances into the building?" Oz asked, studying the map as closely as he could.
"Every entrance is guarded by at least two of my father's hired boys. Going through any entrance requires an ID confirming our association with my father," Roman replied.
"That is something I have," the Lioness confirmed.
"My father probably erased me from all of his security passes, but as far as I know, the Lioness here should be able to get through with no problem," Roman said.
"What happens then? How will you and me get in without alerting Jasper and Collus?" Oz asked.**
*The Lioness rode her motorcycle through the red leaves that completely covered the ground in the forest of Forever Falls. Her coal-black helmet shadowed her eyes. She was stopped at the gate in front of the facility by two guards and one of Jasper's followers.
"ID please," one of the guards ordered. The Lioness sighed but pulled out her ID that stated her ownership to Collus.
"Alright, everything checks out. Go on ahead," the guard said with an approving nod. Then he smiled.
"Maybe if you're planning on staying a while, you can spend some of that time with me," he teased.
"Oh Snick, you flatter me," the Lioness said placing a hand over her heart.
"Yeah I'm good at that," Snick said with a wink. The Lioness then wanted so badly to claw the man's face but managed to hold herself back. She couldn't screw this up.
"See you never again," she commented as she continued on through the gate.
"Wait, what?" Snick asked behind her. The Lioness parked her motorcycle and was allowed through the front doors.
"Once she's in, she'll trigger an alarm in the furnace room that will alert all guards to the large storage room near the back of the building. Any remaining guards left at the front can be easily dealt with and me and you can get through the front doors using one of the fallen guards' pass cards," Roman had explained during the rundown of the plan.
"Understood," Ozpin replied.
The Lioness subtly made her way towards the furnace room, making sure to give out a friendly smile to any guard or Faunus thug that walked by her.**
*"Let me ask you all a question," Jasper said, stepping up to Glynda. Glynda tried to look away from Jasper, but he took hold of her chin and turned her face so that she was forced to look into his eyes.
"Why do you all follow Ozpin so faithfully? What has he ever done to deserve good friends?" He asked.
Glynda blinked to keep tears back. "He is a good man."
"Do you really think so? Do you not for a second believe that he will one day let you down? He let me down," Jasper said.
"He made a mistake. People make mistakes. He didn't force you to be this way. That was your decision," Glynda replied, venom leaking in her tone. Jasper let go of her chin and she looked away again. She could feel the heat of Jasper's breath on her cheek.
"You know, I may hate humans, but I still find human women attractive," Jasper said.
"Jasper, let's focus on what's important here," Collus cut in.
"But if you don't have the same feelings for me, then I guess it's too late for you. Pity," Jasper continued. He finally stepped back away from Glynda.
"Put her in the dome. She's first," Jasper ordered with a pinch of regret in his voice.
Glynda felt her fear reignite stronger this time when two of Jasper's followers grabbed her shoulders and pushed her towards the dome's platform onto a small circle in the center where her feet would be magnetized to keep her still.**
*"Why can't we do one of those tricks where you two act as cargo to be delivered into the building by me?" The Lioness had asked.
Ozpin and Roman looked at each other and nodded.
"Nah, that's been overdone. Our way is better," Ozpin had said.
"I agree, we're better than that," Roman said.**
*The Lioness finally found the furnace room with the power switches and the control panel that could set off any alarm in the building. The Lioness sat in front of the panel and located the button that would set off the alarm in the storage room Roman talked about.
The Lioness pressed the button. She heard the alarm for the room go off.**
*Ozpin and Roman waited outside for the signal, which would be a blaring alarm, so there was no way they were going to miss it.
"So why do you hate my father?" Roman asked while they hid in a thicket of scarlet bushes. Oz blinked several times and adjusted his position with his cane in one hand.
"He was responsible for the death of my mother, and he mines Dust to create dangerous weapons," he replied. He turned to face Roman.
"Why do you hate him?" He asked. Roman reached up for his hat and nervously adjusted it, trying to keep his visibly trembling hand steady.
"He doesn't care about me, or anyone else. He left me outside when Jasper and the Faunus terrorists attacked Vale," he answered.
Before Oz could say another word, the alarm went off. Dozens of Faunus and humans standing around outside the facility turned around and ran to get in the facility and investigate.
"And that's our queue," Ozpin said. He leaped up from his hiding place in the bushes while Roman followed suit. They charged towards the entrance. Roman used his cane to blast any remaining humans and Faunus waiting outside for orders. They were easy to take out. They had no idea Oz and Roman were coming.**
*Everybody stopped moving when the alarm went off. Jasper looked up and around as if he was trying to see something.
Despite the circumstances, Glynda couldn't help but smile.
"It's about time, Oz," she whispered.
"How could he have found us so quickly?" Jasper demanded, whirling to face Collus. Realization dawned on Collus, and he squeezed his fists.
"Roman," he hissed.
"It doesn't matter. Lock all exists down and order your men to regroup here in this room! If we're going to have guests, we should give them a welcome party," Jasper said.
Collus nodded and barked orders over his scroll.
"It's over Jasper. You know you can't defeat Ozpin," Glynda said.
Yes it's pointless to say that, but it's better than saying nothing at all.
"I will this time, and you're going to help me my dear," Jasper insisted. He raised his eyebrows, and Glynda felt her feet leave the floor and felt her whole body get pulled forward towards Jasper. She struggled to break the bond that kept her in a strangle hold, but there was nothing she was able to do. Jasper kept her suspended in the air beside him.
"Stop, don't!" Peter exclaimed.
"Peter, don't. He won't listen," Glynda insisted.
Jasper chuckled. "You know my style. You're learning."
"Let her go Jasper," Oz's voice demanded. Glynda couldn't move her head up to look at Ozpin, but she knew that he was here. Most of Collus' men and Jasper's followers had come into the room to confront Oz and Roman. Jasper looked up to see Ozpin standing on the boardwalk above them. He was staring down at everyone with his cane in his hand.
"You're more compassionate than I thought Ozpin. That won't save you or your friends I'm afraid," Jasper said.
"I wish you were better than this," Oz replied.
"I'm a better person than you, Ozpin. I'm a good person, unlike you," Jasper claimed. Oz leaned forward a little more so that he was gripping the railing.
"You're not a good person, Jasper. You can try to convince yourself all you want that you are, but you're only lying to yourself," he said in a grave tone.
Jasper's entire body trembled. His face turned a deadly scarlet, and he jerked his hand. Oobleck's neck snapped and he fell limp to the ground.
"Oobleck!" Glynda screamed.
Ozpin leaped off the boardwalk, taking one of Collus' men down as he landed on the man's back, pinning him to the ground. Jasper took a nervous step back and he lost his telekinetic grip on Glynda. Oz twirled his cane as several gunshots made their way towards him. The bullets bounced off his cane and ricocheted in random directions. One bullet smashed into a Faunus' chest. Seeing the Faunus die made the flames rise higher in Jasper's heart.
"Hold your fire!" Jasper ordered.
"Do as he says," Collus chimed in. The guns stopped. Everyone watched closely as Oz knelt down beside Oobleck, grabbed his neck and snapped it back into the right place. Oobleck's eyes opened and he was immediately alive again.
"Oh my, I must've died for a few minutes there," he whined as he got back onto his feet.
"What the—?" Jasper stuttered. His jaw dropped. He had no words.
"Don't you ever mess with my team—my friends—ever again," Ozpin demanded. Anger blossomed in him. He no longer felt pity towards Jasper. Jasper had done more than enough to lose that sympathy. He had to be destroyed, no question about it.
"We're more powerful than you, as evidenced by what you just saw. You have a chance right here and now to surrender and you will be brought to trial," Oz said.
"Never! I'm going to lead my people against all of you, and you will all die realizing that you should've never treated us the way you've treated us!" Jasper screamed. He turned to his followers and Collus' men.
"Aim your weapons at them!" He ordered. Everyone trained their weapons on Ozpin, Oobleck, and Peter. Oz couldn't help but grin.
"Glynda," he said. Glynda, still lying on the floor, looked at him.
"Remember what I told you about dancing?" He asked. It took a few seconds for it to dawn on Glynda, but when it did, she leaped up onto her feet, grabbed both of Jasper's hands, and forced him into a dance. She eventually let go of one of his hands and used his other hand to twirl him in a full circle. Then she pulled him towards her and stomped her foot down hard on Jasper's foot.
Oz winced and partially shut his eyes in response to hearing Jasper's cry of pain and seeing Glynda's foot on Jasper's. Glynda shoved him hard, knocking him into Collus.
"Open fire!" Jasper screamed as he disentangled himself from Collus.
Glynda leaped her way over to Oz, Oobleck, and Peter who all had their weapons out, deflecting gunfire and striking down anyone that got close to them.
"Here, take it. You'll need it," Ozpin said next to her, and she glanced at him to see him holding out her mother's sword to her. She had no time to argue or try to refuse it. She took it with both hands, a newfound confidence surged through her.
Ozpin bashed the butt of his cane down on the head of an incoming Faunus that tried coming at him with a knife, then whirled around and parried a deadly move from a man's sword. He swung his cane down to trip the man and knock him out cold by striking the cane across his head once the man was down.
One Faunus ran forward with a rocket launcher in his hand, knelt, and fired off a single rocket. Glynda spotted the rocket, broke her way through the team, and raised her open hand in the air. The rocket stopped in its trail and floated in the air in front of Glynda's face.
"Hmm," Glynda muttered. Ozpin watched on with a bubbling excitement rising in him.
"Good job, Glynda," he complimented. Glynda heard his compliment and shot him a 'I-knew-I-could-do-it' look. Collus' men and the Faunus stopped for a second as Glynda used her other hand to make a motion as if she was throwing something, and the rocket went hurtling back towards the Faunus with the launcher. The rocket hit the ground near the Faunus' feet and exploded, tossing the Faunus and several other men standing nearby in random directions.
"Gotchya," Glynda said.
Then she felt a blow to the side of her head, knocking her aside. Razors of pain cut deep through her head. She rolled and then leaped back onto her feet to face her attacker. It was Collus. He pulled one side of his coat open to reveal a rod inside.
"First you, then I'll take care of Ozpin," he declared. He removed the staff from his coat which at first was just a short rod with a button on its side in the middle. He pressed the button and the rod transformed into a longsword with spikes on the sides that curved up into sharp edges.
For a brief moment, Glynda wished that her mother's sword Beacon could transform into something. Both blades came crashing together as Collus swung in an attempt to hack her torso. The swords then disconnected and Collus went for Glynda's legs, but she leaped up and backwards, landing gracefully on her feet and charged after him, swinging a straight arc over Collus' ducked head.
Glynda was undecided whether or not what she was about to do was an unfair advantage, but she raised her hand up and telekinetically pulled Collus up off his feet.
She tried to focus, harder than she has focused in a long time. She thought about Collus using his own hand to bring his sword towards his neck. She saw it happen right in front of her now. One of the spikes drifted just several inches from his neck. His eyes widened and appeared terrified.**
*With the amount of enemies decreasing quickly, Ozpin had time to stop and watch Glynda, who had Collus at her own mercy.
"Come on now, kill me. I know that's what your boyfriend wants," Collus mocked. Oz watched Glynda stare at Collus long and hard. She was deep in thought, and Oz knew she had reached a decision by the look on her face before she spoke again.
"I'm not going to kill you. You're just going to be brought to trial," she said. Ozpin frowned for a moment. He came all this way to the fortress to finish Collus off. That had been his objective for a long time. Now Glynda was actually making the decision for him.
"Glynda, what are you doing?" He asked. Glynda didn't look over her shoulder at him.
"It's the right way to deal with him, Ozpin," she replied.
"Despite what he was going to do to you?"
"Forgive and forget, Oz. That's my own lesson to you," Glynda said. She then released her invisible hold on Collus. He fell onto his knees, and Glynda leaped and kicked him across the head, hard enough to knock him out cold.
In that moment, Glynda had proven herself stronger than Ozpin himself. The love he had for Glynda not too long ago resurfaced. He was proud of her. She was a better fighter and had a better spirit than he ever would.
I'm sorry I couldn't be more, Glynda.
Ozpin turned to Oobleck and Peter. "Get Collus out of here, I'll deal with Jasper," he ordered.
"Of course, mister Ozpin," Oobleck answered. He unnaturally bolted over to Collus' body while Peter tried to keep up with him. Oz parried a man's attempt at stabbing his shoulder with a long scarlet sword and delivered a hard kick to his head. The man fell with a busted nose. Ozpin looked around and realized that all of Collus' men and Jasper's followers had been taken care of. The only one left was Jasper, who tilted his head side to side to let his neck pop.
"Go. This one's mine," Ozpin said to the others.
"I'm staying with you. I won't take 'no' for an answer," Glynda replied. Her response reminded Oz of what he said regarding Theodora's unfulfilled promotion offer. Oz wasn't going to argue. He failed to kill Jasper last time he did it alone. He knew he needed help this time.
Oobleck and Peter left with Collus without saying another word. They were going to do their part. Now it was time for Oz to do his part.
"I'll never forgive you for what you did to me. You know that, right?" Jasper asked. Ozpin removed a round sphere from his pocket and pressed the button on the top. Two blades popped out of both sides, one was red and one was blue, and a handle positioned itself comfortably around the hand that was clutching the sphere.
"Then it's fruitless to keep talking," Oz said. Without saying anything more, he launched himself at Jasper.**