Cordially Invited.
The situation hadn't gotten any better. Tyrian was still not caught, people were still highly distrustful of Penny, and the biggest jerk in all of Atlas was now on the council. To make matters worse, Jacques had invited Ironwood for his celebration, which was obviously just an excuse to interrogate him and learn more about what he's been up to. Now the teams must face their most dangerous threat yet: a high class dinner party. Some dreaded it more than others, but everyone really didn't want to go there... But on the other hand, this could be their best and only chance to find out how Jacques got on the council when it was painfully obvious the people despised him and loved Robyn.
In team LSBL's room, everyone except Severa had finished preparing for the dinner party. Severa remained behind for a bit, standing by the window while looking at something in her hand... something important which she had planned to give to a special someone... but the current situation left no chances for her to even bring it up, and at this point she was beginning to wonder if she will ever get the chance.
"Severa?" She quickly hid what she was looking at and looked behind her to see Lyre "You ok? We're about to leave".
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be with you shortly" Severa assured.
Lyre didn't look convinced, but decided not to pressure her on it and left the room. Severa looked at the object in her hand again... She just sighed and joined the rest.
An Atlas Broadcast News airship hovers in the night sky above the Schnee Manor. Four hover cars drive along the driveway loop and come to a stop in front of the manor. While Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Qrow get out of their car, Jaune and Oscar stand nearby, having already exited their car, while Team LSBL exits their own further back. The Ace Operatives exit another of the cars, and Ironwood steps out of his own car with Winter and Ingrid. Penny gets out of the other side of Ironwood's car.
"Suppose we should smile for the cameras?" Ironwood asked.
Winter simply glares at the house "Sir, with all due respect, you'd have to pay me".
Ironwood smiles in amusement from Winter's response, and the two head to the front door of the manor. Weiss stops and takes a deep breath before following them. Everyone gathers at the door, and Ironwood rings the bell.
The double doors open to reveal Whitley "Good evening, everyone".
"Where's Klein?" Weiss asked.
Whitley responds with a sarcastic smile and somewhat dramatic poses "What an interesting way to say Hello, dear brother, how have you been?" He crosses his arms and continues to address Weiss with a frown "I'm afraid you won't find him here. He was let go. I can't imagine why.
Whitley smirks, and upon realizing what he meant, Weiss gasps and looks guilty.
"General, exactly how large do you think our dining room table is?" Whitley asked upon seeing how many people he brought.
"I happen to know it's enormous. But most of my guests will be on standby in case the council requests additional eye witnesses. Until then I'm sure they'll be happily celebrating your father's victory" Ironwood said.
Whitley forces a sarcastic grin with a smug chuckle, then rolls his eyes as he turns to lead them into the foyer. Scattered around the room are small groups of formally dressed guests. Waiters roam the room with trays of wine glasses and hors d'oeuvres. Whitley stops in the middle of the room, turns to Ironwood's group and points to his right.
"For those of you joining us in the dining room, please follow me" He walks in the direction he pointed, crossing his arms behind his back. Ironwood, Winter, Ingrid, Penny and Clover follow.
Clover glances back at the others "Wish us luck".
Qrow smiled "I mean, they already invited you, didn't they?".
Clover responds with a slight chuckle. A Faunus waiter approaches Qrow and offers him a tray of wine glasses with his rabbit ears folded back.
"Care for a drink, sir?" He asked.
Qrow looks at the wine, his eyes widening slightly "Uh... No, n-no thanks" He waves his hand in rejection and turns to Team RWBY "I think I'll just stick to patrolling the grounds".
Qrow walks away from the group. Marrow frowns and watches the waiter pass by "Words out of my mouth".
Marrow walks away in the same direction as Qrow, and Harriet turns to address the Teams "Right, well, don't wander off, don't break anything, and be ready in case the General calls on you".
Harriet walks away with Vine and Elm.
"Hors d'oeuvres?" Vine asked.
"Let's eat them out of house and home" Elm delcared.
"Counterpoint, how about we do wander off, consider breaking things, and then all that other stuff" Yang said.
"I mean, with so many people around, accidents can easily happen" Severa said while rubbing her hands together.
"I'll be in touch" Weiss points to her ear, then heads to the staircase.
She stops at the base of the staircase upon seeing Whitley descending the stairs "Dear sister, I was hoping we could use this time to catch up. I have to know, why did you go through so much trouble to leave home, only to come crawling back?".
Whitley gestures as he speaks and ends his question with a smug grin. Weiss looks away and sighs, while her friends watch from across the room.
"This might be a problem" Oscar said.
"Of course the smug brat would get in the way" Lucina said in annoyance.
"General Ironwood, please... have a seat" Jacques is standing on the other side of the room at the head of a long dining room table, and he opens his arms in invitation.
Sitting to either side of him are Sleet and Camilla. On the left side of the room, Robyn is standing by a window, staring outside with her arms crossed. Ironwood nods to Clover, Ingrid and Winter, who then take their seats on either side of the end of the table nearest to them. Penny takes a seat next to Winter.
"Councilman Sleet, Councilwoman Camilla" Ironwood takes a seat at the end of the table.
"Councilwoman Hill would have had a nice ring to it. Though I suppose I should just be grateful I got invited to the table" Robyn takes a seat at the middle of the table.
Jacques chuckled "Miss Hill, that vigor of yours is precisely why we're grateful to have you with us tonight".
"What is she doing here?" Ironwood asked.
"What we're all doing here, James, addressing the concerns of our Kingdom, which means we have much to discuss" Jacques answered.
"Indeed. I was hoping we could start by-" Ironwood began but Jacques interrupted.
"Are we safe with her here, by the way?" Jacques looks over at Penny, who looks upset by his comment "I do recall some confusion regarding her involvement with that horrific massacre".
"As the official report stated, that footage was doctored. Penny is completely under my control" Ironwood said defensively.
"Which is concerning, I think" Jacques said.
Penny grows even more upset, tensing up her shoulders and looking down.
"Concerning?" Ironwood asked.
A waiter and a waitress enter the room, carrying trays with plates of food.
"Let's talk about exactly what it is you control" Jacques said.
In the foyer, Ruby and friends watch from across the room as Whitley continues to talk to Weiss in front of the staircase.
"Why won't this kid buzz off?" Yang asked in annoyance.
Bernadetta sighed "I met many people like him when my father was searching for a good husband for me... When they get the chance to talk, they can keep going for hours".
"We need to do something" Blake said.
"I could make that lamp above him fall on him" Severa said nonchalantly.
"I can't tell if you're serious and that's very concerning" Lucina said dryly.
Jaune thinks, while Ren stares ahead in boredom and Nora bounces in place, grasping a tray with a maniacal look on her face "What was that earlier about breaking things?".
Jaune looks at Nora and Ren with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, and Ren looks at him while Nora continues bouncing. A short while later, Nora walks around the foyer, piling all of the wait staff's hors d'oeuvres onto her tray. As she does so, Ren walks around holding a plate with a single hors d'oeuvres, smiling to himself, and Jaune sneaks around to get into position
"Well, Whitley, I'm sure the company is lucky to have you, but if you'll pardon me-" Weiss tries to walk past Whitley, but he side-steps to continue standing in her way. While this happens, Jaune hides behind one of the columns holding up the upper floor walkway and looks around.
"And where exactly is it that you're going?" The younger Schnee asked.
Nora walks across the foyer, swaying and turning as she goes. Her tray has a tower of hors d'oeuvres topped with a bowl of stew. Jaune gives Nora an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"Careful, messy food comin' through!" She said happily.
"Of course once I'm old enough to drive, the company has promised me my own parking space" Whitley said.
One of the butlers approaches a female guest and offers his tray of wine glasses "Care for a drink?".
"Don't mind if I do!" The woman said as she takes a drink.
Nora and Ren pass each other behind Weiss, intentionally bumping shoulders with one another as they do so. With a grin, Nora begins spinning around dramatically "Oh no, look out!".
"I'm going to go get some hors d'oeuvres" The guest turns and begins walking in the direction of Whitley and Weiss right as Nora throws her tray into the air and falls backward. The food flies through the air, the stew already starting to spill from its bowl. Ren smiles, and Jaune celebrates prematurely.
Whitley turns his gaze away from Weiss, having noticed the massive collection of food hurtling toward him, and his eyes widen. Soon after, the female guest approaches the area directly between Whitley and the food. Ren and Jaune frown, and Whitley looks at the guest, his eyes still wide. Before she even realizes what is happening, food covers the dinner guest, and Jaune and Ren cringe. Now covered in stew, the guest screams, and Whitley watches her, cringing.
The dinner guest begins hopping up and down in distress, causing her wine to spill onto Whitley, who reflexively puts his arms up to protect his face. The wine covers his hair and the front of his shirt, and he holds his arms out and looks at the stain, eyes wide. Jaune, Ren and Nora smile. Weiss has watched the entire event with her hands clasped over her mouth and nose. The dinner guest runs away hysterically, while Whitley stands with his arms out and an annoyed expression on his face, wine dripping from his hair.
"If you'll excuse me" Whitley wipes some of the wine from his face and walks away.
Weiss watches him leave, then looks over her shoulder at her friends. Across the room, Ruby is laughing, and Yang and Blake are smirking. Weiss takes the opportunity to finally ascend the stairs.
"You know, he looks better with wine colored hair" Lyre said while giggling.
Lucina smiled "Maybe he should try dye next time and not actual wine".
Bernadetta giggled, happy to see someone so stuck up getting some karma.
In the dining room, the Council members have begun talking to Ironwood.
"The fact of the matter is, you've operated with a fair amount of autonomy for the past few years, James. But we need now is for you to work with us" Sleet said.
Winter is tapping her finger on the table with a scowl on her face.
"Sir, I have-" Ironwood began but was interrupted.
"It's obvious that no kingdom intends to declare war on Atlas. We had no involvement in the incident at Haven, we have proof our drones weren't acting on orders at Beacon. At this point, the closure of Atlas borders is only serving to hurt our relations with the rest of the world" Camilla said.
"I-" Ironwood tried to speak again but was once again interrupted.
"The rest of the world? It's hurting us. The people of Atlas are suffering and they want to know why" Robyn turns her head to look at Ironwood who looks saddened.
"Quite right, Ms. Hill" Ironwood drops the saddened expression and looks at Jacques. Robyn turns to Jacques, as well "And I'm afraid there's more than just your choices that have brought harm to our citizens as of late. Have your forces found any additional evidence as to who is slaughtering innocent civilians down in Mantle?".
Clover is looking at Ironwood, and as he begins to speak he turns his gaze to Jacques "That is an ongoing investigation, the details of which are classified, I'm afraid".
Jacques immediately begins speaking again, not leaving even a split second of silence "I'm afraid of the ever-growing list of classified information you seem to be keeping. I asked our fellow councilmen here to shed some light on your Amity Colosseum project and, as it turns out, they know about as much as I do".
Winter continues to tap her finger on the table.
Robyn looked surprised "Even you don't know?".
"The Amity Project will help with all of the issues you've presented, but you have to understand that discretion is a top priority at this time" Ironwood said.
Jacques narrows his eye "Are you saying you don't trust us?".
Winter's tapping speeds up, and she aggressively slams her fist onto the table and stands up, facing Jacques "You can't just buy trust like everything else, you have to earn it!".
Robyn looks at Winter, smiling a little, happy to see someone in Atlas military isn't afraid to speak her mind.
There is silence for a few moments, and Jacques begins smiling "I couldn't have said it better myself".
Winter gasps, realizing her outburst played right in to her father's hands.
Jacques looks back at Ironwood "General, if I may be blunt, you have spent what little trust this Council had left in you. The hacker who turned Atlas drones against us was never captured, whoever's been murdering your critics is still at large. How are we supposed to give you our trust, when you've given us nothing as of late?".
Winter tried to say something "That's not what-".
"Winter" Winter stops and looks at Ironwood "That's enough".
Penny stares up at Winter, who clenches her fists.
"Excuse me" Winter quickly exits the room just as a female butler enters, and she shoves the door open on her way out into the hall.
Meanwhile, while Weiss was doing her part, the others were doing their best to simply mingle. Not much else they could do. Severa was standing by herself while eating some food. She was bored out of her mind, this was way to rich for her taste. She looked at the object from before and sighed to herself.
Suddenly Blake walked up to her "You ok?".
"I'm so bored. This really isn't my scene" Severa said while carefully hiding the object.
"I know what you mean, this is a little to rich for our blood" Blake said.
"You can say that again..." Severa said but Blake noticed she looked distracted.
"Are you... still mad at me?" She asked.
Severa looked at her "What? No, of course not. I mean sure I was pissed about it earlier, but I know you and Yang wouldn't do it unless you believed it was the right thing to do... I mean sure you aren't exactly known for making smart choices but still".
"Hey!" Blake said as she playfully jabbed Severa in the side, earning a chuckle from her girlfriend. Blake then looked at Severa's eye patch "I've been meaning to ask. Why haven't you asked Atlas' tech lab to make a new eye for you? I mean they did for miss Calavera, I'm sure they could do the same for you".
Severa touched her eye patch "I thought about it, a lot. But I decided to stay like this, it serves as a constant reminder of how careless I was back then and I need to be more careful. Besides, I'm so used to it now, so getting a new eye would just be jarring".
"I see..." Blake said.
"And also, chicks digs scars" Severa said with a wink.
Blake blushed but giggled "Ture... So what were you looking at earlier?".
Severa paled before looking away "It's... personal, I'm not ready to share it yet".
"Oh... Sorry, I'll leave you alone" Blake said before walking away.
Severa reached after her but stopped and sighed before looking at the object again "Looks like there will be a long time before I can give this to her".
In her hand... was a ring.
Thunder rumbles, and rain pours down on the streets of Mantle. Watts is standing on a roof in front of a billboard advertising Atlas Academy. He is holding his umbrella in his right hand and his Scroll in his left. He holds up his Scroll and taps a folder with the Atlas emblem on it, which brings up three windows. The third window shows a map of Mantle with the sections colored red. He taps a couple times on his Scroll, and it begins making a processing noise. A large portion of the Mantle map loses its red color. Across Mantle, heating units begin powering down.
Soon, the orange glow disappears from the sky, and the rain stops. Watts tosses his umbrella off the roof as snowflakes begin drifting down. On the porch steps below, Drunk Mann and Drinking Buddy are sitting together. Civilians holding umbrellas are walking by, and a Faunus is sitting on the sidewalk, playing guitar. A small child inside the house runs to the window and looks at where the umbrella fell. He then looks around at the snow. Drinking Buddy points up, and Drunk Mann looks at the sky. Slowly, other civilians begin to stop and notice the snow, as well.
"Hey mom, it's snowing!" The child runs off to get his mother.
The snowfall grows heavier, and wind begins to blow.
.
Tell me what you think.
