"You know, Oz, this isn't what I expected when you said 'utmost importance'."
In Ozpin's office, tension reigned supreme over every other feeling. With no one but Ozpin, Glynda, and Qrow Branwren in a room, that was usually the case. This time, however, it was stronger than any of them had ever felt. The death of an entire team tended to do that.
"It is true though that this is of the utmost importance, Qrow", Ozpin said. He clearly needed his coffee, however in a rare moment his mug was not in his hand. "We needed to know anything we could get from this attacker. Already this person has managed to confuse me to no end."
He wasn't wrong. Even the basis of this case was confusing: A person mercilessly killed an entire team of Huntsmen unprovoked with what appeared to be no resistance. Their auras were still intact, meaning his attacks somehow bypassed, not destroyed, their auras. It could have been a semblance, but one that powerful would have been noticed before now.
In other words, one of the most powerful foes they'd ever encountered had appeared out of thin air.
"Let me tell you, Oz, this one was hell to figure out. No witnesses and the cameras were sabotaged. You're lucky that this guy has an ego."
Glynda sighed. "What does that even mean?"
"Just let me start."
"Before you begin, do you know if this person is an ally of the Queen or if they're a wild card?"
Qrow took a swig of his flask before he continued. "The evidence I collected suggests that this is another one of the Queen's pawns.
Ozpin's eyes briefly widened before he regained his stoic expression. "Very well, Qrow. Please, walk us through what you found.
Qrow stepped forward, putting his scroll on the desk. A projection appeared, making the room appear to be a shipping warehouse. He marked several points on the projection before starting to talk.
"With no other leads, I started by going to the warehouse where the bodies were discovered. I was about to enter, when I felt a faint aura reading. As in weak enough that I could kill the guy in one strike. I couldn't figure out what it was, but I kept it in mind."
"Entering the warehouse put me on the second floor. I went to the right side to the location of Sky Lark's body, right here." He marked a spot on the projection. "Killed by a snapped neck, nothing irregular there. Honestly, as morbid as it sounds, we're not gonna talk about him."
Ozpin and Glynda flinched, but gestured to go on. Clearly this case was affecting them a lot more than he anticipated.
"Across the gap was Dove Bronzewing's body. This is where a lot of speculation comes in. He was killed with a single bullet to the head. With no pulse, I confirmed it, but this is where things get weird. You might wanna sit down, Oz."
Despite the obvious sarcastic tone in his voice, Ozpin took it seriously and sat down at his desk, finally taking a sip out of the mug on the desk. Glynda didn't move from her place.
"The kid was dead, but I could still feel his aura pulsing. Like it was still trying to save them. This guy didn't destroy their auras, he bypassed them. We both know what that means, Oz."
Ozpin was glad he sat down, since he would've collapsed if he was still standing when he said that. It was obvious based on the pure surprise and horror on his face. Glynda, meanwhile, was confused. Even within Ozpin's inner circle, secrets were still kept, so she had to ask: "What does that mean?"
Qrow gave Ozpin a look that clearly said 'you tell her'. Ozpin sighed and rubbed his eyes; clearly, this was not a conversation he wanted to have today. He looked at Qrow, first. "This is how you deduced the assailant to work with the Queen?" Qrow nodded, taking a swig.
He finally turned to Glynda. "You are aware that my own powers function on aura, correct?" She nodded. "You are also aware about the powers that Salem has?" She nodded again. "Well, in the same sense, her powers do not function with aura; rather, a form of demonic energy."
Glynda gasped. She wasn't surprised; of all the legends she knew to be real demonic energy would be high on that list, but the fact that it existed was terrifying. "It's real?!"
Qrow took a swig. "You bet it is. Cuts through aura like butter. It's how Salem's so powerful. To her, aura doesn't even exist. Which brings me to my next point."
"What could the existence of demonic energy possibly segue into?"
"Russell Thrush's body. Remember the faint aura reading I felt outside?" She nodded, starting to get his point. "I think he was disintegrated."
Glynda scoffed. "I may have just found out about it today, but I don't believe demonic energy is strong enough to disintegrate someone."
Qrow tipped his flask to her. "Well, that's why he was disintegrated another way." Swig.
In the background of their conversation he saw Ozpin drop his head and say "When I woke up today, I didn't expect to talk about how one of my students was disintegrated."
Qrow, while respectfully pausing, got right to his point. "I think that he laced some of his bullets with a completely pure ice dust. A shard of that shit could put out a forest fire. Lace a bullet with that, combined with demonic energy, and boom. You have one human popsicle so fragile he shatters on the ground. Now that's all assumption, but it's the best I got."
Once again, the silence in the room was deafening, filled only by the sound of Ozpin writing notes on a notepad. The roughly thirty seconds it took for Ozpin to write his note felt like hours to the other two before he put down his notebook, took another swig from his mug, and gestured to Qrow to continue.
"And last, but dear god certainly not least, is leader Cardin Winchester. This one has a picture, but warning you now, viewer discretion is advised." Ozpin and Glynda both visibly took a deep breath, prepping themselves for what they were about to see.
No amount of preparation could've stopped the gasp that escaped Glynda's mouth. Ozpin grabbed his mug so hard it shattered in his hand.
It was the most gruesome picture either of them had ever seen in their lives. Cardin was hanging from a container, naked, as though on a crucifix, a bullet hole in his head and a grotesque gash in his stomach with blood pouring over his body and the ground. Looking at the next picture revealed what's its purpose was.
On the floor was the words "VENGEANCE FOR THE ARKHAM KNIGHT" written in his blood.
Glynda honestly wanted to throw up, and it looked like Ozpin was no better. They'd seen many people die in their lives, including friends and students, but none of them were even close to this gruesome. The way Cardin's body was mutilated was unlike anything they'd ever seen before. The person that did this was despicable beyond all belief; rest assured he had their attention.
"That's what I meant when I said he has an ego. He apparently goes by 'The Arkham Knight' and isn't trying to hide it. Got any idea what the hell that means?"
The headmaster didn't even turn to Qrow to give him the command. "Get Team JNPR. They need to see this."
"Are you ever gonna say why you're being so mysterious?"
"Nora, he has a reason. Please don't be rude."
"It's a good question, Renny! All of this 'Ozpin needs to see you stuff', why can't he just explain?"
"Look, all Oz told me was to get you up here. I'm just as in the dark as you are."
This situation had come out of absolute nowhere. One second, they were sitting in their dorm room, business as usual, then the next they were ordered to the Headmasters office for no reason other than "he wants to see you". It was bizarre, yet they all knew that when Ozpin wanted to see you, your number one priority became to go to his office.
Of course, Nora took advantage of the long elevator ride to try to get anything out of Ruby's uncle, but the man was staying his ground. That's how Pyrrha knew he was telling the truth: he had no reason to lie, so why would he?
Nora couldn't continue her barrage of questions before the elevator door opened at Ozpin's office, where the headmaster sat sighing with his head in his hands, Ms. Goodwitch nowhere to be found. It was a unique sight for the trio of students. Ozpin had never shown any emotion in front of them besides indifference, so seeing him act the way he was made all of them, even Nora, stop talking and pay attention.
Ozpin looked up, eyes bloodshot, and noticed who was in the room. He motioned them to the chairs in front of his desk. "Sit. We have much to discuss."
They all sat, a sense of foreboding coming down on all of them. Pyrrha started the talking. "You wanted to see us, professor?"
Ozpin got straight to the point. "I assume you are all aware of the fate of Team CRDL?"
They all grimly nodded. While they may not have liked or even respected the team of bullys, they weren't truly evil people. They didn't deserve death of all things.
"Qrow here," he gestured to the man drinking from a flask, "was the person I chose to investigate the case. It was a very confusing one, but the assailant left a," they all noticed him swallow before he said, "calling card."
He turned on his scroll and put it on his desk, showing a picture to the three of them. They all gasped at the sight of Cardin's body. Of all the fates to befall him, that wasn't what they expected.
It was the words on the next picture though that terrified them. "VENGEANCE FOR THE ARKHAM KNIGHT".
Those words were enough to make Pyrrha cry all over again. She'd thought she'd ran out of tears, but this was all it took for memories to come crashing back down like a truck. Nora and Ren were better at hiding it, but Ozpin could see the pain in their eyes.
He waited for the eternity it took for Pyrrha to stop crying before he continued. "As I'm sure you understand, we believe someone has a grudge against you and used CRDL to draw attention to himself. Do you know of anyone that would be angry at you?"
They shook their heads. "You're 100% certain?" They shook their heads again. Ozpin sighed. "You need to be extremely careful whenever you go off this campus. You must always stay in a team, and you must bring Team RWBY with you. You seven are the strongest first years I've ever seen, and I trust you'd be able to hold this person off long enough for someone from Beacon to arrive. Understood?"
They nodded. "Good. Dismissed." They stood up, and Ozpin stood up as well. "And Pyrrha?" They all stopped at that. Ozpin always called his students by their last names. This was the first time he broke that tradition. She looked back towards him. "I'm sorry to bring back bad memories. Jaune was..."
He drifted off, seeming to stare into the distance out his window, before he sighed and continued on. "Jaune was a great person with an even greater heart that was only matched by his potential as a warrior. I'll never regret giving him a chance at this academy. My only regret is sending you on that mission. I hope you can forgive me."
Of all the things for Ozpin to hold her back for? Asking for forgiveness was not on the list. She continued without hesitation. "It wasn't your fault. We both know it, so don't you dare blame yourself." She managed to hold the tears back that time, but the anger in her tone was obvious.
Everyone in the room knew that it wasn't towards him, but herself. She never did accept that Jaune had asked her to run.
If Ozpin had anything else to say, Pyrrha didn't give him the chance before she walked out of the room, leaving Ozpin and a very confused Qrow.
"Mind telling me what that was all about?"
Ozpin sighed once again. "I take it you are aware of Jaune Arc?"
"Yeah, Rubes told me about him, how he was the first guy she met here. And that he died on a mission last year."
Despite having never met Jaune, Qrow was able to respect him based on what he'd heard of him. He was like a brother to Ruby; his loss had hit her hard.
"Wait a second, how did you know that this Arkham Knight guy wanted to kill his team?"
Ozpin took a sip from his mug before staring out through his window, towards the kingdom he'd vowed to protect.
"Arkham was the name of the village he died in."