It didn't take long for Smoke and Neptune to arrive at the library; and when they did, they found everyone sitting on the furthest table possible; away from any of the small number of students who used the library on the mornings. In the end, team KHTE was sitting on one side and everyone else had pulled chairs from other tables to sit at the other.
The instructions were clear. All the huntsmen in training could ask any questions and the members of KHTE would answer truthfully but would retain details they deemed too compromising. When they felt satisfied, they would then keep what they heard a secret for the rest of their lives. With all that set, Yang asked the first question. "Who are you guys? And I mean who you really are".
Kuai Liang then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before starting. "First of all, Hanzo and Tomas' names are real. Unlike them, my first name is real but Xue is not my family name; I don't have one. And Ermac… Jerrod IS a name related to him, but for as long as he has lived, Ermac has been his only name. As for who we are… Tomas, Hanzo, and I are professional assassins from old and powerful clans. Tomas and I come from the Lin Kuei clan, Hanzo comes from a former rival one called the Shirai Ryu. Through events in his life, Ermac turned from an enemy to a valuable ally".
Yang seemed satisfied, but Neptune was not. "On that note, who and what is Ermac?".
The other three ninjas went silent as the masked one looked around first and then closed his eyes. Immediately after, he opened them again and it showed the same glow it did last night. "We are Ermac. We are the fusion of the souls of dead warriors created by a warlord from Outworld called Shao Kahn to obey him without a question. We served as his enforcer for many years, until a battle with a sorcerer freed us from his control and awakened our perception of the world that surrounds us. To attain from our past sins, we now fight alongside the warriors from Earth".
That answer left Neptune still processing everything he heard. In the meantime, Ruby kept the questions coming. "You keep mentioning places like 'Earth', 'Orderrealm', 'Seido' and now 'Outworld'. What are those places?".
It was now Hanzo who decided to answer. "Do not think of them as places. But as worlds or divisions of the same reality that we refer to as 'realms'". Although everyone seemed confused, Hanzo kept going. "Tomas, Kuai Liang, and I come from one realm called Earthrealm; although, because not many know about the other realms, we refer to it as just 'Earth'. Ermac was created in another realm, Outworld; but most of the souls that conform him come from another realm called Edenia; and Seido is the same Orderrealm, sometimes referred to as 'The Realm of Order'. Truth be told, many, even countless realms make up our reality, but only six of them seem to be of primordial importance; they are Earthrealm, the Netherrealm, Outworld, Chaosrealm, Orderrealm, and Edenia".
Picking up on what Hanzo just explained, Ren decided to ask a question himself. "So… are we in one of those smaller realms?".
"At first, you'd think that" answered Tomas. "But we come from different realities for that to happen. Allow me to explain". He then stood up and grabbed two books; he then opened one of them and grabbed a single page. "This page here is one of our realms; let's say Earthrealm, while this other page is… Outworld and so on". He then closed and raised the book. "All these realms coexist at the same time inside this reality. Remnant, however," he said while grabbing the second book, "Lies within this reality".
Ren seemed to understand, but a follow up immediately came to his mind. "Then… are there other 'realms' within our reality!?".
"It is a possibility" Sub Zero answered. "But we are not sure of how or even if we want to reach them at all. As far as we know, we can only enter Remnant".
That was quickly followed by Weiss's question. "Speaking of which, how did you get here?".
Hanzo answered. "That… is something we do not yet know…". Everyone then looked with concern at him. "Months ago, earthquakes were felt on all the realms at the same time. After some time passed, we discovered that literal tears appeared on thin air all throughout our ally realms. At first, we thought they were few, but as time went by, we found more. We discovered that to close them you need a powerful energy release, but when the gods began to feel people and energies disappearing, we discovered that the tears can be turned into portals. None the less, as Smoke explained, they all lead to Remnant".
Everyone considered what Hanzo had said, but only Jaune caught an interesting detail. "Did you say… gods?".
When Jaune asked that, all ninjas then noticed that slip-up. "Indeed" Ermac began to explain. "Fighting this threat with us are two elemental gods. Over them, there are the Elder Gods; the keepers of reality".
Jaune then asked another question immediately. "Are there more of you guys?".
All ninjas looked at each other before Kuai Liang answered. "There are but we will not discuss their identities, locations, and missions!".
"You said Seido are your enemies; so why are you wearing the same symbol as they are?".
All ninjas then took their medallions out of their shirts and Tomas answered. "This is the mark of the Elder Gods. A powerful symbol on all the realms for both the forces of good and evil. We do not know what kind of purpose they serve for Seido and the Tekunin, but it holds an aging spell for us".
"Hold it! Aging spell!?" asked Ruby.
"Would you believe us if we told you we are actually well in our forties?" Tomas then asked with humor. All the teens then looked with disbelief at them. "Well… Except for Ermac, that is".
"We stopped counting after ten thousand".
Jaune was the first to come out of their disbelief as he quickly stood up and pointed at the others. "Ha! I knew it! They were using things to become younger!".
With that, Yang was the second one to return. "Hold it! You two were the guys at Junior's that day, weren't you!?". She exclaimed while pointing at Sub Zero and Hanzo.
They at first looked confused, but then Hanzo turned and looked at Kuai Liang. "You were right, there was someone there that day".
With that out of the way, Ruby asked another question that came to her mind. "You said that other realms in our reality were not accessible. But aren't you able to move around with portals like last night?".
"Mind you, we do not create portals" answered Tomas. "I can try to explain the logic, though. A being with an affinity for magic can create a portal to another realm, but he must also be aware of where in that other realm he or she is creating the portal to, meaning that individuals must have some sort of connection to the other realm; and before you ask, we use a portal born of reverse engineering; science, not magic. We require precise coordinates to use it properly".
While Ruby seemed pleased with that answer, Ren now had another question coming. "Do you have any idea of what Seido is after in here?".
Ermac let out a sigh. "We do not. If we are being honest, they are not behaving like they normally do at all". Everyone then looked at Ermac, curiosity more than evident in their eyes. "Orderrealm is a secular realm; they do not interfere with matters in other realms just as they are not interested in others helping them. They even stopped any kind of diplomatic relations with the few realms they interacted with some time ago. Their new relationship with the Tekunin is also most troubling…".
"Tekunin this, Tekunin that, what ARE the Tukunin!?" Nora asked.
While all ninjas seemed troubled by that question, Ermac and Hanzo looked at Kuai Liang and Tomas with eyes that said, 'You know you have to take this one'. It was Kuai Liang who answered first. "Our clan, the Lin Kuei… had a grandmaster… to prevent insubordination and increase the success rate and profits, he proposed a process called the 'cyber initiative'. In it, members of the clan would be turned into cyborgs, loyal only to the Lin Kuei, and by extent, the grandmaster".
Everyone looked concerned, but Blake quickly asked a follow-up. "But… you said you are still a Lin Kuei, so…?".
"Kuai Liang and I refused to join the initiative when our time came" Smoke quickly answered. "We instead followed up on…" he trailed off as he looked at Hanzo for a moment. "… a lead for… a… mission, you could say. Kuai Liang managed to escape, but I was captured and turned". Before anyone could ask for specifications – as he clearly saw more than one of them wanted to do – he then added "we'll get to that later. Anyway, the point is that the grandmaster's plan backfired. He had a son called Sektor, and let's just say he had serious father issues that led him to kill the grandmaster and take over the Lin Kuei. Some years later, we arrive to take the clan back and turn it into a force for good. We thought Sektor was dead, but we underestimated him. In the end, he was rescued by some of the remaining cyber-Lin Kuei and moved over to Japan to establish his new clan: The Tekunin".
They had their explanation, but Weiss was not going to let that information bomb go away. "You are a robot!?".
Surprisingly, it wasn't Tomas who answered, but Neptune. "WAS, Weiss. A sorcerer remade his old body after he died and was later brought back to life". The looks of disbelief on the others made Neptune feel uncomfortable. "What? He told me!".
Weiss then gave him a condescending look. "Really? You expect us to belief Tomas died and then came back?".
"Yeah, it happened," Smoke said nonchalantly as the other members of his team nodded in agreement. Everyone then looked at him again. "We all have, in fact. Ermac goes without saying, a psycho woman killed Kuai Liang and me, and… let's not bring up Hanzo, ok?".
The revelation that they came back from the dead was more than what they expected to learn today, so no one asked for details on a subject that was obviously overly sensitive. Nonetheless, Jaune asked another question. "What is this 'Japan' you mentioned?".
"Oh, that must be another of the kingdoms from the realm they come from! Tomas said he is from… Checkstosolvakia or something".
"Czechoslovakia, or Československo if you want to be more precise. And even then, it's Česká Republika nowadays. But you are right, it's another country".
Liking this new and more light-hearted questions, Nora continued. "Oh, like the kingdoms. How many are there?".
For the first time that morning, the ninjas were the ones who looked confused, and Hanzo, Tomas, and Kuai Liang seemed to be making mental notes and counting with their fingers. "Not taking into account unofficial ones… close to two hundred, I think?".
Silence fell upon the table again. "Two hundred!?" asked a surprised Ren. "How?".
"Different languages, history. There were many factors" Hanzo answered casually.
"So… are you all from the same place?" Yang said while pointing at them.
"Nihonjin desu," Hanzo said.
"Zhōngguó rén" Kuai Liang said soon after.
"Česky, jak jsem řekl" Finished Tomas.
Ermac looked at the confusion on the teens' faces before speaking again. "DO not worry, the other realms… or almost all of them have a single equivalent to a nation".
Before things got further out of hand, Weiss decided to instead keep asking about the Tekunin. "Ok, so we have established that Seido and the Tekunin are bad, but how bad?".
"That is something we do not know" answered Kuai Liang. "As we said, their cooperation makes no sense to us. The information you hold, however, could help clear things".
That statement brought made everyone remember the scrolls with the information. All huntsmen then looked at Yang who then pulled them out of her bag, placed them on the table, and threw them towards Ermac who stopped them with his telekinesis and then made them float. "I must warn you, some of the files are corrupted," Yang said.
"Do not worry, we have our own methods for recovery" a now confident Tomas told her as they then stored the scrolls on Hanzo's bag.
With that out of the way, the ninjas stood up and bowed to the huntsmen. "Once again, we thank you for your help".
"No, thank you for trusting us with your secret" Ruby then happily answered.
Tomas then looked in Jaune's direction. "And do not worry, Jaune. We will help her".
Hanzo spoke soon after. "And hopefully, when this is all done, you will not have to worry about us or our enemies ever again".
After that, the ninjas left the table towards some hidden bookshelves while all the huntsmen in training headed to the main doors and the cafeteria.
"Hard to believe what they told us, isn't it?" Nora asked the table before taking a piece of a pancake to her mouth.
Weiss swallowed her food before answering. "For the first time, I have to agree with Nora; some of their explanations were really outlandish, but I don't feel like they are false either".
Everyone then nodded as they kept eating their breakfast. Their final interaction with the ninjas was the last thing they would do against Seido; and the fact that KHTE was not eating breakfast with the other students was proof enough that they were already working on how to use their new information. Waiting was not something RWBY, JNR, and Neptune liked to do right now, but it was the best they could do.
They also felt comfortable implying what just happened to them as every table was, as expected, talking about Cardin. Surprisingly, many students went to offer their concerns and condolences to the other members of CRDL, who were clearly still worried about what happened to their leader.
The conversations quickly changed once everyone started to notice a man in a dark green suit and fedora, followed by uniformed police officers, enter the cafeteria, and asking where Sky, Russel, and Dove were. Once they arrived at the teens' table, however, they just stood still.
"Are you Dove Bronzewing, Russel Thrush, and Sky Lark, boys?". The older man asked.
"Yes sir…" Sky answered with a hint of fear.
"Detective Raymond Maint, Vale PD" the man answered.
The faces of all three teens then lightened up. "Are you here about Cardin? Have you found anything?" Russel asked as he stood up from his chair.
"Oh, yes. Yes, we have. Take them away boys!". The happiness quickly turned into confusion and panic as the rest of team CRDL were then handcuffed. "Sky Lark, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Cardin Winchester! You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to…" detective Maint kept saying, but everyone was now just appalled by what they were hearing.
"What are you talking about!?" Dove yelled to the detective. "It wasn't us; it was-!".
"That so-called 'Elsa Ardel' doesn't exist on public records or in the database of local universities or designing companies, so you better watch your tone unless you want to be charged with trying to deter an ongoing investigation!"
"But we are innocent!" Dove insisted. "You have no proof of us being there!"
"Can it, punk" the detective shouted back. "We do have evidence: The owner has no record of a woman like you described living on his building, we have data of all of you getting to Vale at the same time, witnesses on the neighborhood mention four teenage boys entering the building and the owner gave a perfect description of you three".
Russel then managed to get the man's attention. "We were with-".
"The other students? You brought them back to the crime scene to clean your hands and act innocent".
"But-but… why would we-?" Sky tried to reason but was cut-off by the detective again.
"Three out of four school bullies discover that they need more than the fear to graduate from a prestigious institution like Beacon while the last one doesn't care; you are humiliated by him with each passing day by having your leader, of all things; but not only is he dragging you all down, he is at risk of being expelled and has therefore become more hostile towards you with each passing day, a bit more with every hour until you all finally snap" the detective explained. "I've said enough, take them away boys!".
As the rest of team CRDL were being dragged away, all other students began to whisper among themselves. The now arrested students, however, yelled while insisting on their innocence until they saw Jaune, Yang, Weiss, and Nora.
"Arc! Xiao Long! All you guys, please help us! You know what happened! You know we didn't do anything!" were the last things Dove said as they all left the cafeteria.
During the final moments of the commotion, RWBY, JNR and Neptune left the building as well and regrouped on the outside. "What was all that about!?" Yang wasted no time asking all else.
After a moment, an idea then came to Jaune. "Maybe it's like the Malachite twin said: Seido has eyes and ears on the police, someone could have told them!".
That seemed to have convinced almost everyone present, but only Weiss offered a different explanation. "Then how come they did not go to look for us?". When everyone then looked confused towards what she said, Weiss elaborated: "As Dove said, we were there that night with Tomas, but only they were taken. That detective didn't even bother asking for us or Tomas". All former conspirators were now getting her point.
"Are you suggesting they were set up?" Neptune asked.
That made Blake have the realization by herself. "They would get the blame for Cardin's death; the problem is he didn't die".
"Yeah, but my guess is that it is already too late to stop the coverup" Ren pointed out.
After that, they were all concerned about what would happen to Sky and the others, but only Nora noticed something else. "But if Cardin didn't die… what will happen if he wakes up?".
That realization then came over everyone else. "I can't believe I'm saying this" Jaune began to say. "But we need to keep him safe! After all, we've seen, I don't think that sending an assassin is out their possibilities".
His intentions, however, were blocked by Weiss once again. "And how would we do it? We tell Ozpin, he'll want to know how we know, and we'll be forced to tell the truth about KHTE; and even if he doesn't believe us now, he will once Cardin… you know".
"But we can't just let him at the mercy of Seido, Weiss!".
"Guys!" Ruby yelled calling for everyone's attention. "What if we tell KHTE?".
That… made sense. The answer was so obvious, yet no one thought about it. Yang, however, spoiled the idea. "We don't know where they are Rubes!".
"Not now, but they are still students! We don't even need to be all together, just a few of us are enough to warn them. Besides, we DO know where they are or are most likely to be, we only need a small group to tell them about what happened". Everyone seemed on board with Ruby's plan, but just as they were getting ready to decide who was going to the bathroom, Ruby received a message on her scroll. "Strange, I only have it ring when…" she began saying before she gasped loudly.
"Ruby, what's wrong!?" a concerned Neptune asked. She merely showed them the screen of her scroll. A message from Penny:
'I know what the code does, meet me at the edge of the Emerald Forrest in half an hour'.
More than relief for Penny finally reporting back, they felt afraid that another person knew about Seido in some way.
"Ruby! You need you to make Penny stay away from this!" Weiss told her partner.
"No duh!" the young girl responded back as a plan was forming on her head. "Neptune, go back to the dormitory and watch over Sun, I need two of you to come with me to meet Penny, the rest will look for team KHTE; is that clear?". Everyone just nodded. "Good! Then let's move already!" she told them as she pointed towards the courtyard, indicating them to run.
They all did, and as they got separated on the different paths, no one noticed the Atlesian Bullheads that were circulating Beacon's airspace.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
In the conversation, the ninjas said:
"I am Japanese".
"Chinese"
"Czech, as I said".