Nightraze: Thanks, I aim at surprising my readers.
Tuutje07: I will watch out for spoilers, but I will go ahead and say that Will is perfectly aware of the things he is doing.
Lay Down Hunter: So little what?
Ah…I like bad jokes and dark humor. The problem with Vale lies in the usage of these weapons: our wayward teenagers are specially trained to go after monsters, not humans. It helps to kill a man with a small knife, compared to having to do so with a cleaver/axe/Kitchen sink
Like I said, I aim to please :) or to surprise…actually both. Thanks for the compliments anyways!
"To enable a man to kill, you must condition him. Train him and force him to endlessly repeat that pattern of mechanical precise violence that, when faced with the right circumstances, will break free of the rational part of the brain and seize control. When the 'midbrain filter', that prevents a man from killing in the heat of the battle, has been conditioned and changed, this man is able to end the life of a fellow man. In doing so, soldiers will be capable of dispatching of superior enemy numbers who lack the will to kill. Victory will be assured. "
General Eventide ████., in charge of ███ Armed Forces.
Near highway, northern city sector, 13:18
Searching for a gang of criminals in the large city of Vale wasn't the easiest thing to do. The city was a vast place to search and criminals that worked for Junior were easy to disappear.
With his little sister.
But Matt Adamant wasn't an ordinary person and he wasn't searching for an ordinary person. Lisa had a tiny little tracker hidden with her, right underneath her shoe. And he was finally read to admit that he was responsible for placing that there. So…now he knew where her location was, roughly somewhere in the city. But there was one problem: it had stopped transmitting a few hours back. In the middle of moving, her. That was…mildly inconvenient. But he had been very busy with tracking her down…pulling every string he had and calling in quite some favors. The only possible result of all of his assembled contacts and favors in Vale would be an army to be reckoned with. The problem was that he didn't need an army; he needed a location. Intel. Information.
And perhaps, when all of this was over, a hug from someone. Johnson was awesome and all, but he didn't like hugs very much.
And Johnson was a bit too hairy. It was the moustache.
And perhaps he would need some sleep. It had quite a few hours without sleep…sixty-five, to be precise.
His scroll buzzed and he instantly grabbed and activated it, placing it at his ear. "Go ahead."
"Matt! It is Stahl. My men heard of convoy moving towards the Highway. They supposed to be…of meeting with other cars over five minutes. I suggest you move with quick."
"Thanks S," he replied and shut the scroll off again. He had been hearing all sorts of messages, replies and comments about this meeting at a highway. A military man had told him of a series of movements they had briefly tracked via a large airplane outfitted with radar dishes, a police officer had spoken of at least six large vehicles moving in a convey and a maintenance-man had said that there were a couple of speeding tickets "issued in a matter of seconds."
So Lisa had been captured by criminals, who had taken her in a convoy...and proceeded to move her to the highway. For what purpose? Well, for the one purpose that a highway served for: to transport. They were taking Lisa to a location where it would be easier to interrogate her. Only they had made a mistake. A really big, whopping mistake. Because they had moved.
They had gotten into their car, activated the engine and moved. And in doing so, they had been detected by other people. And if only one person knew of them, so would he.
He really shouldn't be driving and scrolling at the same time, but then again there were a lot of things he really shouldn't be doing. He shouldn't blindly chase after the things that were wrong in Vale, he shouldn't deprive himself of the seven sins to solve mysteries and he shouldn't let Lisa's kidnapping get to him like that.
And too much sugar was bad for him. And what nothing of those things should be relevant when it came to saving Lisa, but he still needed every single piece in information he had to make a choice.
Because if he blindly pursued the criminals, they might kill his little Adamant in a fit of emotions. If he decided to take them down, he would need to be swift and relentless. Those things always came in regard when using violence; everytime he decided that it would be better to use overwhelming force to take the enemy down, he had a few rules. Lots of rules actually. If he attacked, he would always be unexpected and swift, with usually as little as one second between the decision to initiate activities and the direct, confirmed success of those activities.
Such was his way. Such had always been his way. Wait until there was no other option and then strike quickly and decisively.
If he wanted to see Lisa again, he would need to be very quick in doing so. He would need to investigate which vehicle his sister was in and then he would have to find a way to crack that car open without harming her.
And by needing to investigate, he really meant taking action at that exact moment. The time of waiting was over: RWBY was currently facing off against the Saboteur if he had been correct, while the rest of LACG –which would be…ACG- was recovering in a hospital.
Yes…once he had saved Lisa, he would see if team RWBY had gotten him a little Saboteur to question. He would gain his information and then he could finally solve the enigma that was Vale.
Matt raced over the highway with his car, ignoring the scared reactions of civilians in the area. Of course he didn't know where those vehicles were supposed to be meeting other vehicles and the highway was large and ridiculous. He wouldn't find the thugs if he didn't have something else.
Luckily, he had his magnificent brain. There was nothing to the north of Vale that was worth something to the criminals, so they would either go West or East, as they had come from the south. Now, most of those men had been carrying red sunglasses and black hats. Those were the attributes of Juniors's men and –as of this morning- it had also been the colour of the rising sun. First it had been black because there hadn't been any sun in the night, but then the sun had risen and it had been red. Because the sun had risen in the west and because of the fact that there had been six cars, the criminals would be going east. As the number six could be duplicated three times to create the number of the beast –which had three sixes. And everyone knew that six plus three would be nine. And as nine was very reminiscent of the word 'line' –which in turn was one of the words in the famous play called "from the eastwards line we go"- he would have no choice but to go east. It was all so very simple to process, but the execution of it all was rather difficult.
He kept on driving across the highway, checking every direction for a sign of hostile activity. He had to be close, he knew that.
His scroll beeped and he instinctively grabbed the device.
"Hello Adamant. You on the highway?" His scroll asked him, curiously enough.
Matt looked around to check if anyone was keeping an eye on him and then parked his car near the side of the road, in such a way that nobody could see him. Long live the giant commercial signs that could periodically hide police-cars.
"Ehm…yes?" He said.
No response. Curious.
He brought his multi-functional tool closer and spoke again, albeit a bit clearer. "Yes?"
"Good. You missed me a few days ago. I have heard of the kidnapping and I think I can help you," His scroll told him. And that was a very hard thing to do, because he didn't remember programming a soul into it. A scroll served as a communicational, administrative and scanning device. Not as a companion. That was why he had his bowtie.
"Who is this?" He asked it, understanding that some people might see that as a bit strange. He also understood that he didn't have a flying Grimm's ass about that.
"A friend. You helped me and now I want to help you."
"How did you even do this?" He asked it, holding it near his head like he would a phone, keeping an eye on the traffic. "You are a mechanical…thing…that runs on Dust. I didn't account for you becoming sentient…I think. Did I accidentally mess something up in my sleep?"
"Not to my knowledge, but hear me out."
"But you are my scroll! How can you be talking to me?"
"I tracked your calls and redirected your signal, following it back to your own scroll."
"You hacked my scroll? Naughty thing. So you aren't a sentient machine sending me messages? Ah…you're Viper?"
"The established link is brief and messages are all that can come through. We know who took your sister and where they are bringing her, but you need to hurry. They are currently driving over a highway near the east, where they have just met up with additional vehicles. They seek to bring her to their leader, where he can interrogate her."
"And where are they now?"
"In one minute they will cross intersection seventeen B, identified by a large, commercial sign near the road. You need to head there now!"
"A large commercial sign, huh?" He asked, "How am I going to find that?"
"Intersection seventeen B, Professor Adamant. The sign holds an image of a toothbrush. Please go there with haste!"
"You see, sentient Viper of mine," He told his little device as he eyed the commercial sign with a toothbrush, standing two feet behind him. "I don't think that it will be a problem for me to reach that. I need to know one thing though: why help me?"
"Why is that important?" The next message came.
"You see, you were able to hack my scroll. Not many people can do that. I could track the foreign software back through the net, follow the signal and then track it all the way back to the origin, but that would be too easy. I don't like owing people."
"Like I said, I'm a friend. And it helps to have an Adamant owe you. Now save your sister –and watch out for Onyx Academy. Good luck."
The little light that signified the active link faded away, much to his frustration.
"Wait!" He yelled at his scroll, stepping out of his car to see if it could reestablish the connection. "Don't do that! No! What do you know of Onyx? Who are you, how do you know these things?"
Matt didn't notice the car driving up to him from behind until he saw it in the reflection. Then, he turned around to see who it was: it was a car with four people sitting in it. A family. They were currently stopping to allow traffic from the right to cross and while they did, they were staring at him. Rather rudely.
He gestured them off with a flick of his wrist and resumed yelling at his deactivated scroll. Only when he concluded that the thing would really not seek contact with him anymore did he stop –and just in time. He heard the roar of many engines and peeked his head out from the commercial sign, looking at what was approaching him now.
When he saw what was coming, a small smile played on his lips and he reached for his multi-purpose thingie. "What do you know?" He laughed softly and got in his car again, readying himself for an awesome chase-sequence.
It was the enemy convoy transporting his little sister, just a dozen meters away and closing in rapidly.
Time to go to work.
Beacon Academy, 14:23
He should have seen it coming. He should have known that it go like that –it was so obvious. His fight with student team LACG hadn't even gone off without a hitch; there had been several occasions where one of them could have died, with equal chances that he could have died. And while his death wouldn't have been such a big deal, the death of one of LACG would have been a severe blow to Beacon Academy. And that wasn't the purpose of the operation. The purpose had very clearly been to sabotage Beacon by destroying their information. Not killing their students.
But they had been so overwhelming in their desire to stop him that it had gotten difficult not to kill them. Especially not when several of them had presented such big openings to him, nearly forcing him to strike at their weak spots. Of course it was easier to kill than to incapacitate, but Vale needed all the students at Beacon they could get. Only when his mission would have been otherwise compromised should he have taken their lives.
While taking Adamant and Mauve out had been relatively easy to do, their combined efforts at taking him down had been pretty successful too. Their teamwork regarding their combat had been a noticeable threat and he had been forced to use lethal force to strike at them.
And while the explosive attacks of their demolitions expert and the close combat attacks of Lisa and Cho hadn't been impossible to circumvent, Alessa Noctis' unconventional ways of attacking had been usable enough to actually corner him twice. She had fought like thugs on the streets would fight; throwing sand at his eyes, using projectiles found in the environment and even attempting to use moves that could be considered as "dirty" by inexperienced combatants. Eluding her had been hard enough to pull off without being under constant danger put on by her friends, let alone doing when her full team was unloading on him.
Greystone had been forced to stop holding back to take her out
In infiltrating the structure he had been supposed to destroy, he had received a noticeable wound. But he had still managed to get ahead of them, place the Havoc charges on the foundations of the building and make his way to the roof to distract them from the explosives –and also to give them the highest odds at surviving.
Unnecessary deaths were troublesome and would resolve in more political attention. He didn't want that –they didn't want that.
But Auburn had been stupid enough to try and stop him from retreating. Of course he had been forced to stab her –but he had done it in such a way that she wouldn't die or bleed out before help could arrive. Besides; it would have prompted Beacon to actively hunt those they would think responsible if he had seriously injured LACG. The more people came after him, the bigger the chance at injuries was. Simple trade-off.
But then, when he had destroyed the building, they had still pressed the attack. He had no clue as to why they would do that, seeing as their objective had already been lost. But it had caused him to engage them back, accidentally resulting in a piece of shrapnel striking Lisa in her leg.
And he had still been unable to find the data they were supposed to have been gathering. He knew that there would be additional men arriving just to secure that information, but he had counted on LACG making it out of there in one piece.
He had not expected their leader to stay behind and draw the enemy off with what had to be false information.
That was probably the reason why RWBY had been sent after him then…and his downfall, fortunately. After his fight with the remaining members of LACG, he had sustained multiple injuries including a large bruise on his chest where Alessa had hit him with a brick, two large cuts right besides that bruise when she had slashed him with her claws and another burn wound from Cho's attack on him.
Electricity. He despised it. Worse than fire, more popular than pulling nails. Didn't leave a mark, either.
He had been frustrated, yes. But that wasn't the reason that he had taken the boy down. The reason had been Jason Mauve Cho's competence when it came to ordinary police work like tracking and recognizing. He couldn't have anyone knowing that it was him, or else it would compromise his mission.
But he had found out a lot of things before he had been sent on one last operation. And Cinder Fall had been quite thorough in her instructions.
He remembered as clear as day what she had told him after he had been debriefed the last time. "Don't bother coming back if you fail me."
She wouldn't have seen him coming either way. Though that wouldn't happen now..
"Move it!" Weiss Schnee snapped at him and he raised his head, realizing that they had already arrived at their destination. Operative Greystone had not expected RWBY to be the team to take him down. Johnson or Adamant perhaps, or even Goodwitch. But not RWBY. In fact, he had almost hoped that it would have been Goodwitch who would be sent. He could deal with her. He could have brought himself to permanently harm her. RWBY though?
He had been unable to create an opening that would have resulted in anything less than a quick kill…and neither had he been armed or fit enough to beat all four of them. And while Ruby and Blake were very hard to counter in close-combat using only a combat knife, Weiss and Yang had presented him with enough openings for him to dispatch of them with one, fatal thrust of his blade.
Especially when Yang had come at him like that after throwing him from the roof. She had been emotional, weakened by her raging thoughts. It would have been easy for him to throw his knife at her, probably catching her in her head and killing her as her arms had been lowered.
He could have killed her…he should have killed her –he WOULD have killed her.
And yet he hadn't done a thing. He had understood that killing Yang wouldn't have increased his chances at survival, as the rest of the team would have most likely attempted to kill him.
And then Yang had managed to destroy his disguise and he had had no choice but to surrender to the team of females. He could have grabbed her and held her hostage, but he couldn't have gotten away from such a versatile team.
Not that it had helped him in any way. They had done their job and hurt him. Now it was up to him.
"This is it," Ruby stated. Her blonde sister was trailing behind them, without having spoken a single word throughout their journey. When RWBY had captured him, they had signaled for their dropship to come and get him. That journey had been…unpleasant. For both him and the team. Blake and Ruby had repeatedly asked him the same questions an inexperienced interrogator would have asked him and he had ignored them like an inexperienced captive would.
Blake opened the door leading to what looked like Headmaster Ozpin's office and Weiss pointed at entrance like an angry mother would.
He didn't care what Ozpin would say. He had done his duty.
Both Ozpin and Goodwitch were sitting in the office. While the male was enjoying a cup of coffee, the female was staring at him with an expression that could only be called pure, untamed contempt. The tension seemed to be high. The Operative couldn't blame her. But she didn't know the whole story and neither would she. What would most likely happen was Beacon sending him to prison, where he would stay until his people could use the Intel he had gathered to finish their activities in Vale and bust him out. Or he would kill his way out. Whichever worked.
What could also happen was a forced stay in a guarded hospital, as he had not betrayed Beacon without injuries. Never mind the injuries that LACG had given him, RWBY had proven as violent and destructive as one of the Hunter-Killer Fireteams that Onyx dispatched to contain large threats. Yang's initial punch had impacted dead-center on the bruise that Alessa had given him. He did not know what it had done to him –perhaps even cracked his chest bone- but he DID know that Yang's punishment alone had broken at least two ribs. He had no idea she Yang had gotten so violent and aggressive with him; he had betrayed Beacon, but not her. He didn't complain though. He was content.
"You," Glynda angrily hissed.
Greystone refrained from giving her lip. In the past, he would have replied with something his partner would have called a "witty comeback". He had long since grown out of that.
"What now Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked the man. "Do we call the police or throw him in jail ourselves?"
"Now you will leave us alone," Ozpin told them. "Just the two of us. Professor Goodwitch, see to RWBY's potential injures, will you? I am sure that our haphazard double-agent was very…prominent in his desire to hurt us."
"No! He didn't land one blow on us!" Schnee angrily and obviously lied. She had been having troubles with moving and breathing ever since they had brought him to the dropship. He had bruised one of her ribs and in doing so, made everyday life a bit harder for her. It had probably stung her pride…or other form of emotion. Of course he hadn't hurt them; he liked Ruby. He liked Yang.
"That is very fortunate. Now, leave," Ozpin then ordered them. Ruby nodded and took her team out of the room, softly touching Yang's shoulder when the girl was still leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded over each other, still staring furiously at him with her uncanny red eyes.
After staring for a moment longer, the blonde too moved out of the office, leaving him alone with Ozpin.
He stayed put, standing opposite of the Headmaster with his hands cuffed. He did not enjoy having his hands cuffed, as he couldn't help but think of what had happened last time someone had handcuffed him. It hadn't been sanitary for them.
Eventually, Ozpin spoke. "So. Was it worth it?"
Greystone refrained from answering an obvious attempt to gather Intel on him. He felt hollow inside.
"When I ask you a question, I want you to answer it."
He refrained from answering once again, causing Ozpin to sigh. "Very well. This will be as unpleasant as you want to make it. I have received a message from Onyx…your employers."
That statement was as unexpected as if was unnerving. He had accepted his duty the moment he had received the call. But if this was true…and Ozpin had truly been contacted by Onyx…the implications would be very nasty. The Headmaster had either been told the truth about what had been going on, or had been told a cover-story which would effectively condemn him to a temporary prison experience.
"They have taken it upon themselves to inform me of your operation," Ozpin then said.
There it was. He couldn't verify or deny what Ozpin said, as any and all details concerning him were classified on a need-to-know basis. It was better if nobody found out. And he couldn't trust the man to be telling the truth -not without hearing the one word that would reveal the true degree of the Headmaster's knowledge.
"It seems that this needs to be unpleasant," The white-haired men then decided and finished his coffee. "Very well. They have entrusted the code-word to me for clearance for your so-called kaleidoscope-"
He clenched his fists when he heard that name. If Ozpin knew that name, he was aware of the details of the mission. And if he knew the details, his position was compromised.
"-much to my distaste. The code-word is 'Wolfpack'. Now then, about your activities involving the infiltration of Roman Torchwick-"
"Sir, with respect, what are you doing?" He asked the professor through clenched teeth. If Ozpin told even one person about KALEIDOSCOPE, he would never again be able to perform such a delicate operation. It would also make his profile in Vale nearly impossible to maintain.
"Why, I am making sure that nothing like this happens again. If your…instructors…hadn't seen fit to contact me and tell me truth, you would have most likely been locked away for a long time. I don't know why you agreed to do such a thing, or who could possibly think of something like this, but I won't let this go unanswered. You had better leave now. I will try and sort this out."
"Sir-" He started, wanting to know just how much this man knew. But Ozpin didn't allow him to finish.
"I do believe that RWBY is waiting outside. You might want to explain some things…and then pay a visit to the medical bay again. You don't look healthy."
He never looked healthy. That was the whole point. Nonetheless, he nodded, understanding that his current situation was very bad. Onyx had told the people in command of Beacon the code-word for Operation KALEIDOSCOPE, meaning that they had effectively lifted the classified status.
AKA he had been forced to tell the truth –the truth that would severely limit his presence in Vale…his only purpose.
Hollow made way for aggression. He did not know how to express it. He banished it.
Greystone turned around and grabbed the handle of the door with his still handcuffed wrists, already understanding that the Professor was not going to release him. He would have to find a way to free himself, as the only thing that Ozpin was currently doing was walking with him to the door and waiting for him to open it.
As soon as he opened the door, he looked down the barrels and blades of at least four different and highly lethal weapons. Combat-instincts took over and he had to work not to slip into his second nature.
"Don't move!" Blake softly told him, a menacing look on her face. But when the group of females noticed that their Headmaster was standing in front of them, they all lowered their weapon and visibly relaxed.
Without saying anything to the group, the Professor walked back into his office and closed the door again.
The Operative looked at the faces of the students in front of him and determined that he was in a messed up position. He had attacked and maimed their friends and destroyed property of their school. In their eyes, he was a lethal criminal that needed to be put down.
In his eyes, that wasn't far from the truth. He wasn't a criminal though
Now to tell them the truth. He hated having to do so –and had he been capable of understanding the concept of a grudge, like Mantis had often done, he would have held one against Ozpin for forcing him to do so. He would rather be seen as a criminal than coming clean. "My name is Operative Greystone," He started as he tried to think of a way to free himself from his bonds and run away. "I am not really a student. I work for Onyx." And by now, Onyx had probably come clean to Ozpin about themselves as well, as they had told him the code-word. The code-word that only people affiliated with his department were allowed to know.
"What's Onyx?" asked Blake, still not looking convinced.
"A secret organization devoted to the protection of humanity. Outside the government, military in nature." First and last line of defense, keeper of peace and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of individuals, not all of whom had necessarily deserved what had come. "I was ordered to infiltrate the criminal structure of convict Roman Torchwick to gather information on his superior and assassinate the both of them. To earn their trust, I had to target Beaco- associated buildings and groups."
It was curious how such a simple and official explanation could be so hard to spit out. He wanted to leave now.
"What?" Blake exclaimed, raising her weapon again, "You infiltrated a criminal group? Why!"
"I find that hard to believe…" Ruby mused and eyed him carefully, scanning his body with a suspicious expression.
"Torchwick is believed to be highly dangerous and capable of events of mass destruction." He wasn't justifying himself or anything, it was just how things were.
"You just went ahead and betrayed your school, your friends and everything you had going on just to gather information on some criminal scum?" Weiss asked disbelievingly. "Why?"
Why? That was a stupid question. Like he needed a reason to do so. He frowned. "Because I was ordered to-"
He wasn't able to continue his sentence, as Yang reached out and punched him in his face. It wasn't a hard impact, but he still felt a hot pain spreading itself from his cheek to his jaw. He had instinctively moved his face before her lightning-fast jab had nailed him, but it hadn't been enough to fully dissipate her strike. She was simply too fast.
And a part of him hadn't wanted to dodge it.s
As the Operative lost his balance and fell against the wall, unable to keep himself upright with his cuffed hands and destroyed stability, he heard the girl speak up for the first time since she had found out that their enemy had been him all the time.
"You know what…Greystone…things don't work like that here at Beacon," Yang told him with a threatening and trembling voice while clenching her fists, breathing heavily as a result of her anger. She might have even sounded patient to a person unaware of the current situation, but he knew that there was nothing patient in her voice. And for the very first time since over eleven months, he fully understood that he was in a sufficiently bad position that he couldn't get himself out of. If he would say the wrong thing now, Yang would probably very seriously maim or even kill him with blunt force trauma. He should, for all intents and purposes, shut his mouth and wait it out.
He should. But even with that in mind, he didn't understand why they didn't get what he was saying. He had been ordered to infiltrate Roman Torchwick, find out who he was working for and then possibly terminate him. In doing so, he had been forced to sabotage several of Beacon's allies…and hurt the students from team LACG. It was unfortunate that it had gotten so far but…it was for the greater good.
He looked up at her, fully aware of his helpless position as a handcuffed and wounded 'saboteur' captured by the 'enemy'. A little voice in the back of his mind told him that they were going to torture him, but he ignored it. They wouldn't do that. They didn't have what it took.
"I think that you need some…serious reeducation," Yang then told him. She seemed to have a very hard time controlling herself, as she still sounded like she wanted to tear his head off. It wasn't an unfamiliar tone.
"What?"
"I don't think he is capable of learning something else," Weiss informed her teammate, "If he did all those things just because he was 'ordered to' he is messed up in his head. You can't beat such thorough brainwashing."
Brainwashing? This wasn't about indoctrination or programming, but about his duty; his duty to mankind.
"What I would like to know," Blake then stated, crossing her arms, "Is why you suddenly decided to come clean with us."
He sighed and immediately winced when every wound on his body seemed to disagree with him doing so. This would be a very long and very annoying day…especially when all the other students were still thinking that he was a traitorous criminal bent on destroying Beacon.
A criminal who had hurt their friends, mind you.
He was already looking forward to meeting CRDL and LACG again.
Eastern sector, Highway, 13:37
Lisa Adamant sighed and sat down again, giving up on trying to smash the glass plate that was separating her from her abductees. After that damned battle at the Sapphirus Warehouse, she had lost contact with het team with her attempt to lead the criminals away from them and subsequently been captured by the men that had to be working for some sort of crime-lord, what with their stupid sunglasses and all.
She had been fully aware of her injuries and what they meant for her brief conflict with the people attempting to capture her, but she knew that the welfare of her team came first. And the completion of their mission was also pretty important. But everything had gone pretty much to hell, all thanks to that asswipe of a Saboteur. If she would ever get her hands on him, she would tear his head off and stuff it up his-
"So, what music do you like?" The man sitting in the passenger seat asked her.
"Oh you know, metal, rock and the like. Everything with a good beat," Lisa answered the guy. Even though she had been captured in the middle of the night after a fight that took at least half an hour, she hadn't neccesarily been treated badly. The men with their stylish black outfits and hats had taken the time to set up a camp in a forest, spend the night telling weak stories and eating dinner before going to sleep. They had even gone given her a few bites to eat, but seeing as she had attempted to brutally murder them with her bare hands afterwards, that hadn't lasted for very long.
But even with all those people wanting to deliver her to their probably evil leader by kidnapping and weakly threatening her, she had found an improbable ally in their ranks.
When she had been stuffed in the car the morning after, she had met up with a man that called himself a "Braunschweiger". He was a very large guy; easily standing six and a half feet tall and looking like he could tear an Ursa apart. But for some reason, he hadn't acted like the scary guy he looked like. On the contrary; he had shown her the most compassion and kindness she had experienced in a long while. When she had been stuffed in the back of the jeep, separated from the driver and the passenger by a thick metal wall with a somehow even thicker sheet of glass in it, the driver had simply ignored her altogether.
But not Braunschweiger. That curious tree of a man had asked her –at like, eight in the morning- what her name was and what her hobbies were.
Of course she had initially replied with the general Lisa-reply –trying to break through the wall and break his neck- but through the hours she had spent with the criminals, she had grown to stop hating the man.
And that break of hatred had turned to sympathy and liking when Braunschweiger had showed her an image of his wife and children. He had two of them, a girl barely six years old and a son that had just turned four.
"Beat is good. I like beat. Are you alright back there? Comfortable and things?" The very big man asked her then.
"Sure. Could use some fresh air and stuff…and to be honest, I could use another bathroom break. But I am fine, yeah", she replied. The man acted lime he didn't now she had been kidnapped; leading her to think that he was either a generally nice guy, or just plain retarded.
"Yeah, I can understand. Want me to tell another story?" He replied.
"Sure, I like stories," She answered. Her last attempt at breaking the window had been as fruitless as unnoticed, so he savored what she had and tried to think of a way to get out. This Braunschweiger guy wasn't the worst male she had ever met. Perhaps she would keep him as a pet when she broke out and murdered all these criminals.
"Will you two shut the hell up already?" The severely annoyed driver snapped at them. He had been grumpy for the entire ride now, partially because of her two escape-attempts during bathroom breaks and partially because of…well, Braunschweiger. "You're not supposed to be nice to the captive!"
"Stop whining!" Her new favorite criminal man told the driver, effectively shutting him up.
Lisa laughed at the tall guy's remark, especially when the driver grumbled in anger and actually stopped his whining. "Yeah, tell that guy," She muttered and sat down again. She had counted on someone finding out where she was and saving her, but she had spent a lot of hours as a captive now and she was starting to doubt whether someone would come to get her or not. And even though these people were stupidly incompetent, she still hadn't found a proper opening she could use to escape. What sort of leader was she now, really? Getting herself captured, befriending her enemies? Was that the proper way to act? Could she have done anything differently, resulting in a better end?
She sighed explosively, realizing that she would need a miracle to get out of her current situation.
"Wait…" Braunschweiger then muttered, after a few more minutes of silence, looking at the driver with suspicion. His eyes narrowed and his strong jawline pronounced even more detailed than normal for reasons she couldn't comprehend. "…you said captive?"
"Yeah, why?" Driver replied.
"Captive…as captured?"
"Yes."
"Like…abducted?" Braunschweiger then asked one final time with his weird-ass accent.
"Yeah!" The driver-guy replied with a frustrated yell. The accent-speaking man stared at him tranquil fury for a few seconds, before things started to happen very quickly. It had something to do with Braunschweiger punching the man so hard and so fast that he flew out of the car together with the door…and then him taking over the driver's seat with one leg and hand, grabbing the steer with his left hand while also remaining seated in the passenger seat.
He was sitting as much in the driver's seat as he was sitting in the passenger's seat.
"Hang on!" The now ex-criminal…or more accurately, never-had-been-criminal yelled at her and started jerking at the steer with his arm, alternating between giving gas and giving more gas.
The people driving behind them had noticed that their car had been Braunschweiger-jacked and they opened fire on them. Bullets pinged off of the metal frame of their commandeered jeep and she accidentally slammed with the back of her head into a wall when her new ally floored the gas-pedal.
"Get daowwn!" Braunschweiger yelled. "Daowwn to the grouund!"
She didn't hesitate for a moment and hugged the floor, realizing that the very big man hadn't been retarded after all. This Braunschweiger had merely been kept in the dark about her status as a prisoner, weird and improbable as it was.
"Braunschweiger, what are you doing! You are ruining Roman's plan!" A voice yelled over the radio, but her new friend merely replied with her most favorite reply of all time. "Bullshit," He yelled at the radio.
"What?" The angry voice replied.
"Bullshit! Now put doawn the radio!" He snapped and then proceeded to rearrange all the atoms that made up the radio using only his fist.
"Ehm, Braunschweiger? What is the plan?" Lisa asked him, taking note of the name that the criminals had used, "Those guys got bullets!"
"I eat bullets for breakfast. We screw them!" He replied, not completely convincing her of her safety. This man sounded royally pissed off, but their situation wasn't very good.
As much as her new ally tried to rescue her from her kidnappers, they had no chance of getting away. They were in the middle of an entire enemy convoy on a highway. There wouldn't be any escaping like that!
Just as she was about to stuff her head between her knees and kiss her ass goodbye, she heard something good. Something incredible. A sound that lifted her mood like Braunschweiger would lift weights. The sound of pure hope and awesome things and for the very first time, it did not royally piss her off.
"What is that music?" Her half-driver asked, hearing it too. It was a very bad combination of Polka and classic music –and because of an accident a few years back, it as the sole music that Matt's car –the Mattmobile- could play.
And it was currently blasting through the air, meaning that whoever was currently playing it…
…was very close.
She crawled to the back of the jeep and looked out the window, risking the sight that would lift her spirits. And she wasn't disappointed, not in the slightest bit.
Johnson had a jeep. A jeep with a big gun. And that was an awesome jeep. But while it was all armed and armoured and stuff like that, it didn't provide as much protection from above as it did from the front and the sides. It could be seen as vulnerable.
But the vehicle that had suddenly pulled up the driving lane and rammed the rear car, smashing it into the railing and causing it to skid to a halt on the opposite driving lane, didn't look like Johnson's jeep in the least.
It could only be described as an up-armoured, oversized Humvee with a large swivel-turret on the top, armed with a miniguns. She recognized it as the one car that she truly wanted to see at the moment; Matt's car.
The Mattmobile.
"We got some crazy tank behind us!" Braunschweiger called out.
"Yeah, I see that!" Lisa cried in response when the Humvee crashed into another jeep, shattering its windows and trashing it to the side with ease. Several other people shifted their shots to the heavily-armored vehicle to whittle it down with sustained fire, but an arm extended itself through a specially prepared hole in the design, waving a very familiar weapon around.
And on cue, almost every single rifle and pistol firing on the heavy and very military vehicle shuddered and failed, as her older brother used his Aura to sabotage their inner mechanical workings. Aura usage was linked to emotions, more heavily with some people than others. There was a reason that Matt took great care to avoid getting too emotional –and not only because he had the nasty tendency to destroy entire crime-sectors when that happened.
"What?" Her new driver exclaimed when the bullet stopped flying. "What happened?"
"It's my brother!" Lisa told him excitedly, "He's come for me!"
"Who are you?" Braunschweiger asked her as he threw his steer around, plummeting their jeep through the railing of the road and sending it racing through grass-lands, prompting the rest of the convoy to stop focusing on her attack guardian and track them in turn.
"I am Lisa Adamant!" She yelled at him, feeling frustrated that she couldn't do anything else. "Leader of team LACG, student at Beacon and sister to Matt Adamant!"
It took the Braunschweiger a few seconds to reply, but when he did, his reaction was quite the opposite of what she had expected. "Beacon? Student? That is cool. Can I have your autograph later?"
Her mouth fell open and hit the ground. Behind her, a car exploded in a shower of metal parts and sparks, the engine's Dust supply having been overloaded by a particularly well-placed strike.
"If we survive this, I can get you my, Matt's and even Johnson's autograph!" She promised the heavily-muscled man. But then, an unlucky stray shot impacted on one of their wheels and her friend lost all control over the vehicle within a matter of seconds. The car slipped through the grass field and impacted on one of the trees standing there and her body got flung through the air, impacting on the heavy steel door that blocked the rear of the jeep.
"Lisa! Are you alright?" A muffled voice from the front of the now-ruined jeep yelled.
"I'm fine!" She yelled back, "What about you?"
The impact on the tree had destroyed the jeep; the front was ruined beyond recognition and she could barely spot the bulky frame of Braunschweiger behind the activated airbag and the bend metal frame.
"I'm fine!" the Braunschweiger replied without turning towards her, his face still stuck in the airbag. It seemed that he was stuck in the wreckage of their car. "But you should run, they are bound to follow us here!"
For a man trapped inside of an airbag, he was relatively easy to understand. It seemed that his accent was powerful enough to overcome the boundaries of human vocal capabilities. Or it was just her having a concussion. Probably a combination of both.
But she wouldn't leave this new ally behind; she was going to stay and fight the bastards that were trying to harm him and her.
But as soon as two heavy impacts rattled the interior of the wreckage, she felt a little bit less secure. And before she had the chance to make up her mind about how she really felt, the door got pulled open, revealing the slender, tall frame of her older brother.
"Matt!" She yelled and lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him closely. "I am so sorry…for everything."
"Now Lisa," Her older brother told her and placed one arm around her shoulders, "I told you that Roman was beyond redemption years ago. Why didn't you listen to me?"
Beacon Academy, 15:41
Word had spread quite fast on who the Saboteur had truly been and not everyone was very happy with the knowledge. Things had been happening very fast for a while now, with CRDL and LACG being hospitalized and all. But Grace had expressed a desire to return to Beacon together with Alessa and Cho, while CRDL hadn't even been injured that heavily. As a result both teams had been called back to the school that served as their home in more ways than one, allowing their friends to stay with them without having to worry about bureaucratic obstacles.
Moreover, Professor Adamant had contacted Professor Goodwitch and told her that he had successfully found and rescued Lisa, as well as recruiting something he called an 'unaware defector'. Between Will's so-called mission having been stopped and Lisa having been rescued, things were really going well. The only problem was the cause of these problems in the first place: the organization called Onyx. They had ordered their Operative Greystone to infiltrate Roman Torchwick, they had been responsible for sending the Fireteam Lima to Beacon and –if Ruby's gut was right- they were a lot more involved with the Kingdom of Vale than they were letting on.
This was a bad thing. She had liked Will and she knew that he liked her. So why? Why go so far to obey stupid orders?
"So, Lisa is alright then?" Grace worriedly asked.
"Yeah," Weiss replied, "And according to Sergeant-Professor Johnson, she is unharmed."
"That's a relief…" Grace breathed.
"So…where is Cho?" She asked the demolitions expert, feeling glad that she was finally alright again. They had all gathered in an empty classroom, to have a serious talk with each other. Jaune and Pyrrha had also taken their team to meet up with them. The state of affairs was dire enough for all the Professors to cancel the lessons and start an emergency meeting…and guess what they wanted to talk about?
"Downstairs," Alessa said.
"He said that he was needed, said something about interrogating someone in a holding cell," Ren clarified.
Ruby sighed explosively, not wanting to believe how much of a workaholic the Cho was. He had only recently woken up from a violence-induced coma with a diagnosed minor concussion and here he was again, running around and Cho'ing people that Beacon wanted interrogated. "Who is he interrogating then?"
"Ruby, he is interrogating the man that helped save Lisa; Braun-something," Grace replied and ran a hand through her hair, smiling despite the past injuries. "This Braunschweiger that aided her said that he had been tricked by Roman Torchwick's goons and that he wants to help Beacon in taking them down."
"Well them, we can always need more allies," Pyrrha said.
"Yeah, especially since our initial allies stabbed us in the back!" Jaune said with a frustrated tone. "I mean seriously, I thought that this guy was supposed to be a friend!"
"Now Jaune, he might have had a really good reason for doing so" Pyrrha tried to stick up for the currently absent Will, but she didn't seem convinced of herself. "He has explained to team RWBY that he did it because he believed Roman to be a dangerous man that needed to be stopped. In infiltrating their group and spying on them, he might have found some valuable information. Information that may help us better defend ourselves in the future."
"Actually, he did it because he was ordered to," Blake popped her little bubble. "The worst atrocities are committed because people are just 'following orders'."
Ruby had long since understood that Blake did not take kindly to soldiers, or their activities. She might have been willing to respect Johnson as he was also a Professor, but her patience had run out with Fireteam Lima a long time ago.
"That sounds like it is going somewhere?" Yang mused, slowly recovering from her rage. After they had had a…stern talk…with Will, who had named himself something else, they had told him to get to the Medical Bay to get himself checked out. Yang had taken his betrayal personally.
"I did some research," Blake then started, surprising a lot of people, including her. Blake wasn't the type to aggressively pursue such topics.
"Ehm…research?" Ruby asked the raven-haired girl, "When?"
"While you were busy talking," Blake replied and grabbed her scroll. "There are four Kingdoms; Atlas, Vale, Vacuo and Mistral. Three years ago, something happened in Vacuo…an act of genocide."
"What?" Weiss replied, sounding shocked.
"Genocide?" Jaune asked with a frown. "Isn't that the attempted murder of an entire race?"
"Actually, genocide is the systematic slaughter of a group of people. Depending on belief, skin-colour or gender," Pyrrha clarified.
"Totally knew that…" Ruby whispered, but only her sister heard her and gave her a playful poke with her elbow.
"There are scattered reports, but one of them states that a small community village was slaughtered –thirty men, women and children were all murdered," Blake then said with a scowl on her face, "And the killers? They were thought to be a local militia group. Ring any bells?"
Before anyone could reply to the shocking and gruesome implications of that especially morbid piece of information, the door to the large college room they were residing in opened and two people entered. They were clad in the black armour that she had come to loathe and their postures were very familiar.
Wait a scythe-swinging minute…were her young eyes deceiving her or was she actually seeing what she was seeing? She had started to recognize those faceless people! One of them had a slimmer, feminine built, marking her as a girl and the other one had acted like the leader on several occasions.
"Ah yes, the Vacuo-murders," The lead figure said with a rather relaxed voice. "Thirty-one civilians were slaughtered and left to rot in a shallow mass-grave."
"The militia group responsible disappeared approximately two hours after that," The female said with a stern tone, like she actually resented the implications of what Blake was saying. And who wouldn't when faced with the responsibility for such a repulsive act?
"Onyx made them disappear," The male then said. What was his name again…Two-One? "That's what they –we- do. We serve and protect humanity."
So they were with Onyx then? Why come out clean now?
"Nice serving your 'Onyx' did," Blake bit at them, her voice filled with venom, "Their Operative nearly killed our friends and destroyed months' worth of research, not to mention priceless art. Where is that in the whole 'serving humanity' thing?"
Blake's sudden malice against these people almost seemed…spiteful. It surprised her that the Belladonna was capable of such sheer condescending tones when talking to other people. It was…curious. She was usually rather acceptant of other beliefs and opinions…even going as far as to try and include Will in their daily activities before…this.
Ruby glanced at her friend and took notice of the pure anger in her eyes, the violent stand of her shoulders and the tensed muscles in her neck. Blake was practically trembling with anger…why was that? What was it that clashed with her to such a degree? She had never gotten so mad before –unless that one time with Cardin Winchester counted. But that had been about Fauna and their deaths…not about shadowy reasons and violence behind the lines.
Unless…well, Blake had spoken about two people reminiscent of Lima –said that they hadn't been friendly. What exactly had happened to her that she was this upset? Had she had a violent encounter with them before? But…what had she been doing then?
The male that she had identified as Two-One sighed and sat down on a bench. "Affirmative. Command has told your Headmaster about Operation KALEIDOSCOPE…meaning that it's time for them to decide."
"Decide on what?" Yang asked them, sounding already pissed off.
And what was a kaleidoscope?
Two-One looked at her, judging by the movement of his helmet. "Decide on us. Now that our presence has officially been revealed, we will either be expendable or an absolute necessity. If they decide to, we can work together."
"Work together?" Pyrrha asked them with a skeptical look on her face, "Where are your two teammates? There is one I would be willing to work with, but that is it."
"Three and Two are patrolling in the city, as Torchwick might retaliate against the civilian population for our actions," the leader-figure replied and stood up from the chair again. "I…think it would be for the best if we were to work together."
"Accepting your means?" Ren asked the male, raising an eyebrow while doing so. "We saw what your leaders think is necessary. Working together would only cause conflicts."
"Sir, I got a message from Two. He states he has engaged an enemy," The female whispered to her companion, who nodded in return.
"Roger."
"We should probably think about it guys," Jaune stated. "If things go like that slaughter at the compound again, we might need help like that. I would love some backup."
"Jaune has a good point!" Ruby agreed. "We might need to work together in the future…but for now, your 'Onyx' lies too deep, with Will's actions. Most, if not all of us still sees him as an enemy."
"Will?" The female asked in dull surprise and looked at Two-One.
"Greystone," Two-One clarified, much to Weiss' chagrin.
"No, not Greystone!" The white-haired girl snapped at them. "What is it with you people and your stupid nicknames? Don't you have normal names?"
"Right…" The male replied and moved to the exit, opening the door and leaving the room. His female companion started to follow his example, but then turned around and looked at them for a second.
Then she actually spoke to them again. "Onyx is everywhere. We are everywhere. We are always watching…and we will always act. Be careful for what you search for."
And with those threatening words left hanging in the air like a bad taste, the girl left. Her statement had been as final as it had been subtle and she was very, very certain of the message it was supposed to contain.
Don't dig too deep or you will end up in a grave.
Ruby shook her head, not willing to believe just what Beacon had gotten itself into. Their so-called allies were threatening them with death if they were to become too curious and the one guy that the entire school seemed to loathe had actually been working with them the whole time. Against not.
They were in way over their heads.
Beacon Holding Cells, 15:52
"So…" Jason Mauve Cho asked the muscular man sitting in front of him, "…one more time. What is your name?"
"Arnold Braunschweiger," The man replied. He was easily six and a half feet tall, making him larger than Johnson was. He was bristling with muscles and had a very pronounced jawline. He looked like he was capable of tearing a Beowolf in half with his bare hands, but there was a certain demeanor to him that identified him as nonhostile. It was his willingness to cooperation, his soft and kind attitude and his almost childish curiosity to his surroundings.
"Alright. And why were you present at Roman Torchwick's convoy?"
But this man had been in the presence of wanted convicts, with said convicts having kidnapped his teamleader. His friend. They had been working with the guy that had destroyed the Sapphirus Warehouse –the same guy who had bashed his skull in against the concrete. He should be mad at this man, but he had to stay professional. It was his job to find out information about him and he had to stay cool. Besides; this Arnold could never have known about that, if he spoke the truth.
Which he did.
"I did not know that Torchwick was a bad guy. I owed him a debt and wanted to repay him by keeping his friend company. It was what they told me to do."
"I see. And why did you choose to assist Lisa Adamant in her escape?"
Braunschweiger frowned at that remark. "She was a little girl. I thought I was going on a road-trip, not a kidnapping. No true man kidnaps kids."
"And you are a true man?"
"Yes."
"You are aware of the fact that you were in the presence of wanted convicts, most of whom were attempting kidnapping and murder?"
"Yes."
"...alright. And you are aware of the fact that aiding a student of Beacon in a time of crisis will be positive for you?"
"…yes?"
"I see. So," Cho then concluded and placed his notebook away, looking past the man at the one-way mirror, where another man was sitting to oversee the process. "What now?"
"Now," Braunschweiger said and leaned forwards, "I meet up with this Matt Adamant and Professor Johnson and stop Roman Torchwick from doing more evil."
He sighed, understanding that this man was most likely going to offer them a deal. "And what do you want in return for your assistance and information?"
That seemed to puzzle the Arnold, as he frowned and leaned back again. "I would like to stay at Beacon…visit my family in the weekends…and quit my current job."
"You wish to work for us?"
"Yes."
Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, wincing as another headache set in. Beacon's first ally had effectively stabbed them in the back with the excuse of 'greater good' and now what was supposed to be an enemy wanted to become their ally.
What had happened to 'wake up and kill the Grimm?'
"So, Greystone…when you first came to us, having snuck your way into the organization by your oh-so-clever information network and lies, I made you a promise. I told you that if you ever betrayed us, I would stay on you for the rest of your sad life, making it as miserable and painful as possible for someone like you. I would haunt you, never once letting go.
Good night, Will. Sleep tight. Keep an eye open."
Recorded message on Operative Greystone's infiltration scroll, sender: {DATA EXPUNGED} Cinder Fall, associate of Roman Torchwick and Subject{REDACTED, REQUEST CLEARANCE LEVEL BETA TO PROCEED}
And yes, Braunschweiger initially started as my own bad attempt at an accent and quickly evolved in my little sister's most favorite Joke character. Everyone needs humor once in a while, especially in a crapsack world like Remnant, right?