It made no sense. No matter how they all looked at it, it didn't make any sense. Pyrrha would never join Seido knowing what she did, so why was a conference of their partnership scheduled for that night?
Both teams were now trying to figure out what was happening. Sure, she had been a jerk last night and most would still like an apology for how she behaved; but there was no logical explanation as to why Pyrrha just left and joined them. They tried calling her, but they were sent straight to voice mail and she was not answering any emails. Well over an hour later, the rest of team JNPR received a call; not from Pyrrha, but Goodwitch.
The face of the blonde woman appeared on the screen of Jaune's scroll; and before he could greet her, she spoke directly and obviously trying to hold back her anger. "Mr. Arc, Mrs. Valkyrie, Mr. Ren, please meet me at the entrance of the dormitory building". Jaune then wanted to ask about Pyrrha, but he was immediately cut by Goodwitch once again. "I am aware, Mr. Arc. It is about her".
Her tone showed anger, but the rest of team JNPR just had to hope for the best.
"Go. We'll wait" they heard Ruby say. Without anything else to address; Jaune, Ren, and Nora left.
Jaune and his team were expecting Goodwitch at the entrance. They were, however, not expecting a group of four women wearing uniforms of Seido Industries with her.
"Mr. Arc, as the team leader the headmaster and I expect a full report with the motive of Mrs. Nikos's sudden departure; and as I was telling miss Cottonfield, I also require Mrs. Nikos's resignation forms".
All four women gave Glynda an unexpressive look. Miss Cottonfield then stepped forward. "I'll tell Miss Nikos about the required document, do not worry madam". She then looked at the three students. "We were ordered to collect Miss Nikos' belongings. You will guide us to your dormitory, and we'll handle the rest".
All three of the remaining JNPR members were willing to start a fight, but Glynda seemed to have read their emotions. "Do as you are told" she ordered them.
Every fiber in their bodies told them to reject her command. But ultimately, they also felt defeated. "Follow us…" Jaune told them with deep emptiness.
The squad of women was very meticulous when handling Pyrrha's belongings, everyone had to give them that. They folded and placed her clothes in metallic suitcases, the spare parts for her weapons were also stored in custom-made cases, her electronics in a special backpack and her dirty laundry was stored in special bags.
The girls from team RWBY watched in disbelief as Jaune and the others just allowed the women to go into their room and take everything away. "Really guys!? REALLY?" Yang scolded them.
"We are just doing what Goodwitch told us. Do you want to go against her orders? Then be my guest!" Nora answered, clearly angry at what was happening.
As all the women started to leave, Ren and Jaune caught on with Miss Cottonfield. "Can you please tell us why she decided to sign that contract now?" Ren asked her.
The woman just gave him a blank stare but answered him. "That information is irrelevant to my mission. If you wish to know, I suggest you ask her yourselves".
"What do you think we've been doing for the last fifteen minutes!?" Nora yelled from down the hall pointing at her and Weiss' scrolls. Though they have been calling non-stop, Pyrrha never answered.
"Then I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do about that". She then picked her case once again and all the women continued their journey.
"She must have told you to say or give us something, right!?" Jaune asked desperately.
Miss Cottonfield remained still for a moment before addressing one of the other women on the front. "Sonde, you were tasked with that labor".
The girl at the front stopped and nodded after a while. She then grabbed a bag she carried on her back and gave it to Jaune. "If you receive these items now, you are resigning to the right to complain if any item is missing. Do you agree to these terms?". Jaune nodded and the woman gave him the bag and then returned to her position; soon after, they all started to walk again. Before anyone else said anything, Cottonfield addressed them. "This is all that we have and know. There will be no more questions. Thank you for understanding".
As soon as the women left their hall, all seven teens ran into the JNPR room with the bag in hand. It was relatively heavy but also small. They wasted no time in emptying the bag's content on one of the beds, but they were disappointed when all they saw were a notebook with pages torn and one of the bronze balls they used to signal when they infiltrated KHTE's dormitory, but this one had a band around it with waves carved on it. They knew the notebook was most likely her trying to send a message that got intercepted, but the ball made no sense. They decided to put all on hold as they got ready for classes, all but Ren who knew that pattern from somewhere.
None the less, the question in everyone's mind remained the same: What made Pyrrha accept their deal?
The hotel might have been heavy with security and workers going in and out. But they all knew who she was. Maurice, Marin, and even Mr. Onyx offered to escort her to the Dragon Room. They called Hotaru first, as protocol required. "This better be good!" He warned while containing his anger. "If I am told of one more delay-".
"Mr. Taakoizu, sir!" Mr. Onyx said, interrupting his boss. "Miss Pyrrha Nikos is here to see you".
A long silence was made before Hotaru spoke to them again with a more cordial tone. "Excellent! Please, bring her up".
They did just that, and Pyrrha was now able to see the constant flow of workers replacing tables and cloths, placing metal walls on harnesses on the roof, fixing holes and cracks, and more. She was distracted from them, however, when she saw a young woman leaving Hotaru's office. 'Do I… know her…?'. Her face was familiar, but the bright blue neon-like hair didn't allow her to make a connection. Pyrrha was so distracted by the woman that she never noticed when they all arrived at the doors of the Dragon Room.
Maurice then knocked three times, and almost instantly the doors swung open and she was greeted by Ryu; surprisingly looking as if nothing had happened even though he was clearly covered with bruises and cuts not twenty-four hours ago in the VNN broadcast.
"Miss Nikos!" She heard Hotaru happily calling her from the head of his meeting table which was now serving as a dining table. "Such a wonderful surprise. Would you like to join us for breakfast?".
There was something in the atmosphere that made her feel strange about all this, but she also was not here to fight or cause a scene. "Ok…" she said softly before walking and sitting on the other end of the table in front of Hotaru. She was wearing her regular combat attire and just left her bag carrying her personal belongings next to her chair. Surprisingly, Ryu was now sitting next to Hotaru on his right and she was now able to see Mr. Ko on the left, drinking a cup of tea and reading a newspaper.
"Mr. Onyx, would you please take Miss Nikos' order?". The head waiter wasted no time in taking out his notepad and standing next to Pyrrha. "Um… just some scrambled eggs, please," she told him.
The waiter bowed and left. Pyrrha was ready to tell Hotaru she was not interested in his deal, but he just raised his finger which made her stop. "No business talk during breakfast".
Fortunately, within minutes Mr. Onyx was back with more waiters carrying the substantial breakfast for the Naknada, an oatmeal with toast for Hotaru, eggs, and sausages for Ryu and Pyrrha's eggs. For such an elegant profile when she arrived, she now saw the bald man turn into a beast to eat all his food. Ryu and Hotaru were the complete opposite, composed and careful. When they were all done, the waiters entered once again with what seemed to be very rustic and thick slices of fruit cakes for everyone.
"Please, forgive this unconventional treat for breakfast. I am just unable to start my day without this fruitcake… the same recipe my mother made. I can assure you; it is delicious". Pyrrha did not understand what he was talking about, but she then saw bot Ryu eat the cake in the same way Mr. Ko ate his food. When he saw her looking at him, he then sat up straight and cleaned his mouth with a napkin. "As Ryu can testify… but enough talking. I am sure you are here for the deal. I understand your concerns from last time, so here is what we are going to offer you now: We'll double the money we offered, and we are willing to give you the freedom to negotiate with food companies. We will also not change your attire or physical looks; is that fair?". He asked her, taking a piece of cake to his mouth.
'Ok, Pyrrha… here goes nothing' she thought to herself while taking a deep breath. "I want to thank you for your generous offer… but I must decline!". Hotaru went still with the fork in his mouth. Ryu had stopped licking his plate for crumbs and Mr. Ko just looked puzzled at her. When she noticed none of the men were going to talk, she continued with the excuse she had thought of on her way to the hotel. "I know of your intentions to fight your enemies head-on; and I admire it, honestly. But I am afraid of where I, my family or friends would fall in all of that. I know you'll say that I will be safe, you'll assign me a security team or something, but it is a risk and burden I am not going to place on those close to me, so thank you, but I am not interested".
When she was done, she noticed how all three men looked at her emotionless. Hotaru then cleaned his hands and moved on his chair before saying something she was not expecting. "I completely understand".
Honestly, she was expecting more of what happened on their first night. It took her a short moment to get out of the shock, but she then continued talking. "You… do…?".
"Of course! No one could have seen all these things coming and it makes sense for you to worry about those close to you. Maybe in the future… we could make a deal?".
Pyrrha was surprised. In her mind, everything went way worse. But now, she was free. "Sure!" she told them.
She was then ready to get up and take her bag with her but was then stopped by Hotaru once again. "Oh! I almost forgot…". He said before standing up and heading for a drawer on his desk. He then took a folder with documents and gave it to Mr. Ko who then gave it to Pyrrha.
She was confused, but she grabbed it none the less. "Thanks… but what is this?".
"Why, application papers for Mr. Arc, of course!". He said nonchalantly.
A million emotions then ran over Pyrrha in a matter of a second. She failed to see a connection between all that was happening. All her brain and her mouth managed to ask then was one word. "What?". She was then able to see the mocking smiles in both Mr. Ko and Ryu before looking at Hotaru once again.
"Well, to give him some sort of employment and pay, of course… I don't think he will remain as a student for long after it is revealed he forged his admission papers. Right?" he asked the last part with a gloating smile on his face.
She gasped when he said that and almost fell on the ground had it not been for the wall she now laid upon. "How… how did you…?".
"Why, Pyrrha… you told us!" He said while pointing at the screen which then turned on and showed… her! It was almost as if someone had filmed her from behind, through a crack the door and with a scroll, but what that Pyrrha then said never happened.
"Ugh. I'm so sick of Jaune. Always the last on everything doesn't take his job as a leader seriously and he is such an idiot". "I mean, normal men just need a few winks and swings to know when they can make a move. But him? I am sure I can walk topless and he wouldn't even notice. I should have let Cardin tell Goodwitch about his fake transcript papers- oh!" the girl on the video said while covering her mouth after the 'slip'. "Oh my, I was not supposed to say that… well, as long as it doesn't leave this room…". Then the person who was recording made a snort and the other Pyrrha began to look around. "Did you hear something?" she asked as the person recording then ran away.
The TV screen then turned off and Pyrrha looked at Ryu holding the remote control to the TV. "And that would be the confirmation," Hotaru said making Pyrrha look at him once again. "An obsessed fan who leaks this after an 'anonymous' source revealed the fake transcripts to the headmaster and the media!".
She then tried to take back control of the situation, looking at him with a frown and balled fists. "And why would they believe that 'anonymous' source?".
Hotaru then took out a scroll and threw it to Mr. Ko who then showed it to Pyrrha. The content broke all her bravado once again. "Because my dear; you are the source!". Indeed, her mail was open on that scroll, ready to send the confession to everyone who could unleash a scandal upon Beacon.
"Now, Pyrrha, walk with me through all of this: You are enraged that the one you love ignores your every move on him and is now happily pretending to be in a relationship with a woman who you believe doesn't deserve him. You are so angry, you decided to teach him a lesson and make yourself look like a pillar of honesty and good in these sick world of ours, so you reveal an unworthy cheater to the world who is then humiliated and hated by every single living thing. 'But who told the world about him'? your friends ask. 'Why it was those fiends at Seido!' you then tell them. 'It was a set up against me!'. But… would it be strange for them to think this was all an act of revenge? Especially after the headmaster confirms that the announcement came from you. It'll be a new fight, who told who? Who is telling the truth… and all we know is that your beloved will hate your very existence. Your friends will be divided, and you'll have to carry the guilt for years to come… but I will keep my promise. You won't hear from us ever again. 'So why would they do all this in the first place if they got nothing from you?' your friends will ask".
What little strength she had on her legs finally gave in and she fell on her knees. She remained silent for a moment before answering. "Because you are blackmailing me… work for you… or destroy Jaune's life…".
"What did I tell you Pyrrha? 'Whatever distracts you from your path is a weakness'".
A million things went through her mind, but she settled on one thing: She had to trust her friends did not hate her enough for them to come and save her before anything happened. "I'll sign your contract…".
Hotaru and his lackeys did not have enough time to gloat as a member of security knocked on the door. "Come in!" Hotaru ordered.
The man entered and bowed before speaking. "Lord Hotaru, Mr. Wukong has arrived; he is getting ready".
"Good! We'll be there soon" he told the guard. Hotaru then looked at Pyrrha. "Keep an eye on her until we return; and Miss Nikos," he said, and she looked with pure rage at him. "Make sure to say your proper goodbyes. And no telling!" he said with mockery before leaving her and the guard in the room.
Her fears towards what would happen to her then vanished as another thought came over her. 'What are they going to do to Sun?'.
Maurice waited patiently at the locker room's entrance until Sun finally emerged. "So sorry Maurice!" he said while panting.
"Well Sun, be thankful I am here to help you get in," the mouse faunus told him. Sun was sure he had arrived early, but he panicked when he noticed everyone was not in their posts and were most likely already gathered in the conference room. Things turned a little better when he saw Maurice who told Sun he would vouch for him and that the meeting could not start without the head of human resources present.
"Yeah, thanks a lot again!".
"My pleasure…" Maurice told him a small smile.
'Weird…' Sun thought. Maurice seemed strangely… self-contained. He was usually more active and genuinely happy when Sun was with him, but he now seemed… angry? As if he was faking being helpful. "Say… Maurice… is everything alright?".
Maurice did not look at him but answered. "I don't know why they wouldn't be". He then turned his face away from Sun. "Not that you would actually care" he then whispered extremely low.
"You said something?".
"Yes! We are here, so take care of your appearance!".
Maurice then opened the door and allowed Sun to enter. But just as he entered, he noticed the lights were out. "Uuuuh… Where is every-" Saun intended to ask, but as he turned around, he saw Maurice close the door behind them. They were now surrounded by total darkness until he saw a shape in the darkness which was then surrounded by a single light and showed it Hotaru, sitting in a folding chair with a female behind him. His confusion turned into panic when he recognized the face of the girl. Carmen Cottonfield, the head that was next to Maurice's.
"Sun! Nice meeting you in person" Hotaru said happily. "Maurice has told me so many wonderful things about you".
Sun remained still for a long time and then jumped when he felt Maurice's hand grabbing his shoulder. "Please, take a seat Sun," Maurice told him as another light revealed a second chair. Not knowing what to do, he complied. Once on his chair, he noticed how Maurice then stood still behind him.
"Um… wasn't there supposed to be a meeting with all the employees?" Sun asked trying to hide his fear.
"Oh, that? Well… it was a lie…" Hotaru told him and Sun now felt as his heart had suddenly stopped. "Maurice said you were such a good employee that he is asking to promote you! He insisted on the announcement being a surprise".
That calmed Sun. "Oh… really? Well, that is awesome! Thank you, man!" Sun said as he turned around to face Maurice. The moment of joy was immediately destroyed, however, when he saw the anger on Maurice's face.
"Carmen, the cups please," Hotaru told the woman. She bowed and walked towards the darkness. "Such a passionate worker… and a huntsman from Mistral?".
"Well… huntsman in training, actually…".
"And so humble. You know, we appreciate what you and the other huntsmen do every day very much".
"You don't say…". Their conversation was interrupted, however, when Carmen returned with the cups filled with champagne.
"Oh, we do. I've spoken with General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin. Such brave people, wouldn't you say?".
"I mean, I guess… I've never met them in person…". That was true. Although it was kind of weird considering he walked all around Ozpin's school.
"I was going to meet Professor Lionheart. Your headmaster, if I'm not mistaken".
"Yes… nice guy, good teacher… a little easy to scare, but a great fighter".
"I can only imagine. Are you close?".
At that moment Sun felt Hotaru was getting a little too carried away with trying to find information on him. "No offense, sir. But why should you care about that?". He immediately regretted asking that as Hotaru's face morphed into a frown.
"I asked for a meeting with the headmaster. I sent him special clearances to use when he came. And the attackers gained access to those clearances". Sun did not hide his shock at all. In his mind, there was no clear connection between Professor Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Heaven Academy, one of the most influential figures in Remnant, with these terrorists. Hotaru did not stop to explain this link, however. "Imagine my surprise when Maurice tells me that you, a student of his, is working here".
Sun had no idea what Hotaru was trying to imply. "Sir, I can assure you that I am not close to Professor Lionheart. I haven't done anything against you anyway!".
"Are you sure you haven't done anything that could compromise you?" Hotaru asked coldly.
"I am!" Sun said while crossing his arms.
They remained looking at each other's eyes for a long while. Hotaru then smirked. "Maurice!".
The mouse faunus then got next to his boss; and to Sun's surprise and horror, he saw Maurice opening his coat and shirt to reveal his chest. Hotaru then grabbed the skin of his belly and pulled it, ripping it from his chest and dropping it on the floor.
Sun almost fell from his chair terrorized, not expecting to see what just happened. But before he could scream, he was now able to see the bright metal that was under that skin. Hotaru then inserted a strange key on where Maurice's sternum should be before talking. "Maurice, show him what you showed me yesterday". Maurice's eyes then turned bright blue and a 3D projection of when Sun was on the horror shop played.
When the memory stopped, Hotaru then looked at Sun again. He did not say anything and just snapped his left fingers.
So focused was Sun on the other man that he never noticed when Carmen and Maurice got behind him. It took them a fraction of a second to get their electric brass-knuckles out which they then used to punch Sun in the face and ribs. The electric shocks were bad on their own, but those two packed a strong punch despite their size and build.
Sun fell on the ground, dizzy from the pain and the shocks; but neither Carmen nor Maurice stopped their attack. They kicked and stomped on him for minutes until his aura finally broke, but they kept going. His muscles were sore, he was sure there had to be a broken bone somewhere and his face was now a bloated and bloody mess. "Enough!" Hotaru ordered the other two just before Sun lost conscience. Hotaru then kneeled to speak to him directly. "I know you are hiding something, and I'll make you talk. Maurice! Send him to The Pyramid!".
"Kuai Liang… Kuai Liang!" Ermac whispered to his teammate.
"Yes, Ermac?" Sub Zero answered trying not to lose the paragraph he was currently reading.
"Don't 'they' look… weird to you?" Ermac said while pointing to the top desks where RWBY and JNR sat.
The news of Pyrrha's new position spread faster than any rumor before ever did. And with a press conference scheduled later that day, Pyrrha was now everyone's subject. To the dismay of her friends, everyone saw what happened as an awesome career opportunity, not as an evil entity that managed to get their hands on her freedom.
"They're sad because that girl Pyrrha left. They'll get over it; we should instead be thinking of a new attack plan" Smoke told them. Nights of planning and stakeouts were ruined because of the terrorist attacks against The Night Beetle, so every ninja was now well beyond tired and annoyed.
Their afternoon was also not helping them. All students present were at History class reading whatever they needed for an essay. Oobleck had also left for an unrelated meeting and now their former stalkers were doing nothing interesting. That is until someone started to heavily bang the doors to the classroom; almost as if that person were trying to tear down the doors. One student stood and opened it, but was quickly pushed away by Neptune who entered and looked all over the room until he found his targets.
"You! With me! Now!" was all he said.
"Neptune, what on earth are you-?" Weiss tried to ask.
"I said NOW!".
Teams RWBY and JNR said nothing more and just followed his command. Everyone was at first puzzled by what just happened but quickly ignored it when the bell rang. When only KHTE was left in the room, Smoke then looked at his teammates. "That was at least something… should we…?".
"No" Hanzo answered before Smoke could finish his question.
Neptune took everyone to the RWBY dorm and slammed the door shut.
"Neptune! You better have a good explanation as to why-" Weiss began to ask but was immediately stopped when he grabbed her shoulder and began to shake her back and forth.
"THEY GOT HIM! THEY GOT SUN!" he yelled while looking at her eyes.
"WHAT!?" Blake then yelled. "Neptune! Calm down and explain!". She ordered him as she made him drop Weiss.
Neptune took a deep breath and began his explanation. "I was standing guard as usual. Sun went in early because of the meeting, but, like, a half an hour later a van that said, 'The Pyramid' arrived and I saw them taking Sun away with cuffs and all beaten up!". He then looked around as if he had just noticed something was missing "Hold on… where is Pyrrha?".
Nora was the one who explained to him what happened in the morning; and soon after, everyone was expressing their concern about their now two missing friends. They were then shushed by Ren who was looking at his scroll. Everyone went silent and then looked at what was on his device. To their disappointment, it was the press conference of Seido Industries.; thankfully, it was on mute so they could not listen to Hotaru talking; but Ren seemed more interested when Pyrrha went on the podium. "Nora! Get me a picture of Pyrrha in her combat gear!".
"Renny? What are you-".
"DO IT!". No one said anything as she then went online and found a picture. She then showed it to Ren. His seriousness then turned into joy as he then stormed off the room and went to his room. "I knew it!" was all he said before leaving.
All others ran to the other room and found Ren trying to take the pattern off from the bronze sphere. "Ren! What are you doing!?" Nora yelled at him.
Not stopping what he was doing, he just told them his realization. "Look at her now on the podium and now look at the picture you found. Notice any differences?".
They did just that, and slowly but surely, they all saw it: She was now missing her upper arm ring.
Weiss then raised her concerns. "Are you sure that is her ring?".
"I am! I… just… need... to…" he struggled in trying to take that thing off.
"Let me at it!" Yang told him and took the ball from him. She then activated her gauntlets and punched the ball, firing a dust round at the same time and making the object fly to the wall on the other side. It buried itself on the wall, and just as everyone was ready to reprehend Yang, they saw that the ring had loosened.
"Alright, Yang!" Nora cheered as Ruby went to retrieve the now loose object, and when she did, she got her hopes up again.
"Guys! There's a message in here!". This was, indeed, great news. Pyrrha was trying to communicate with them. They now had a chance to help her, and better of all was that she had not joined Seido out of her own free will.
It took them some effort to make the ring flat, but once they did, they were able to read the message.
'They know about IT, Jaune'.
Their hopes went down once again, however, when none could understand the message.
"Come on! What is that supposed to mean!?" Neptune yelled.
"Everyone calm down!" Ruby told them. "Nora, Ren, Jaune, we need you to think very hard. Pyrrha is trying to tell us Seido knows something that allows them control over her. Do you have any idea what that could mean?".
The three teens thought as hard as they could, but nothing came up. "Sorry, Ruby. I got nothing" Nora told her.
"She is a good student, she holds no secrets from us, she is always willing to help others" Ren added.
"Are you all sure? Maybe she… I don't know… cheated on a competition or something?" Neptune then asked.
Nora, Jaune, and Ren were willing to beat him after suggesting that. But they also knew he had only said it because he was just throwing ideas around.
Something then occurred to Weiss. "Hold on… The message includes Jaune".
"So?" asked Yang.
"So… it might be something only the two of them know!".
Everyone then looked at Jaune, expecting him to come with the answer immediately; but he just looked at everyone with the same confusion. "Guys, I know just as much as Nora and Ren. Pyrrha is not a bad person, she has no dirt on her, or at least she has never told me any for this to happen".
"Wait…" Neptune said shortly after. "Maybe it's not her… maybe it's you!".
"What?" Jaune asked back.
"Hear me out. She wrote 'IT' in caps, so it is a secret and the message IS directed to you; so, it must be something you both know. You three tell us there is nothing on her, so maybe it has something to do with you!".
Jaune got up and began to walk around the room. "Ok… let's say it's that. What could they possibly have on me that affects her?".
"I don't know… maybe it's something like your sixth toe?". As unimportant as that piece of trivia was right now, everyone did look confused at what Neptune just said. "Oh… sorry, dude. I didn't mean to tell everyone".
Jaune however, was simply confused by what Neptune said. "Sixth toe? What are you… talking… about…?". Then it hit him; Jaune went stiff and felt as if the room was now a frozen wasteland. Everyone noticed and began to ask what was wrong with him, but their voices were just faint echoes to him right now. After a moment he felt as if his legs could not hold his weight anymore and he almost fell to the ground, his accelerating heartbeat was all he could hear now and soon, his voice was repeating the same message on his head. 'How? How could they? It's impossible! How!? HOW!?'.
"JAUNE!" he heard Ruby's faint voice say before a slap on his face brought him back. He saw everyone looking at him with concern; but when he locked eyes with Rube, she began to apologize. "Sorry! But… you were being super weird, you almost fainted, and even though we called your name, you just-".
"Out!" he said. Everyone was not sure what he was suggesting.
"Jauny… what are you-" Nora tried to reason with him.
"I said out". He repeated. All present exchanged confused looks, but before they could express their concern, he yelled one final time. "I SAID OUT!". He then turned around and flipped one of their desks before punching the wall and kicking the chair.
All the other seven teens left the room slowly; Ren was the last to leave. "We'll be out on the hall… call if you need us" he said before slowly shutting the door.
With everyone out, Jaune took a moment to let the silence settle in. He then fell on his knees and cried on his open palms while repeating the same thing in a low voice. "It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault…".