Chapter 45 – striKe first

Adam, Blake, Winter, and Penny were all in position. If things went well, Goodwitch would go down without incident or injury. If things went poorly, well…they all knew the risks when they signed on.

The Vytal Festival Tournament was proceeding, with Cinder's team disqualified and Yang's team advancing (albeit with some uproar from spectators over the fact that Yang had still attacked an innocent man without provocation). Thus, the school was more or less empty, as nearly everyone had taken a flight up to Vytal to watch the show.

Everyone except Goodwitch.

Ilia had located her in her classroom, grading away at her papers as though there wasn't an international incident that had nearly occurred an hour before. Adam supposed that she probably still needed to correct students' homework regardless, but it just seemed so trivial, by comparison.

Ilia had kept eyes on her for ten minutes before Goodwitch eventually got up to exit the room. Whether it was to leave entirely or simply a restroom break, Adam knew not. All that mattered was that she was stepping out the door of her classroom, right into the trap that awaited her outside. It was risky to launch an assault in a public corridor of an open school building, but they'd welded the other doors to the outside shut using Penny's laser swords, and they weren't expecting company in a hall that didn't have any active classes at the moment, so it was worth the risk. Besides, they needed to strike first and strike hard. This could very well be their only opportunity.

As soon as Goodwitch took her eighth step past the door jam, a Gravity Dust enhanced Glyph appeared beneath her, stopping her movements instantly. Winter, unlike her idiot sister, didn't jump out and declare her presence, instead staying hidden inside another classroom that was also empty. She couldn't see where the blonde professor was, so she had to rely on the exact timings and locations that they had planned out in advance. Blake knew Goodwitch's stride length, and Winter could hear exactly how many footsteps she had taken due to the clacking of her high heels. Thus, she cast the Glyph based on memory – centered 18.3 feet from the door precisely. It helped that the Glyph itself was about four feet across, allowing a room for error that was ultimately not needed.

Penny stepped out from behind the corner the second the impeding Glyph had slowed Goodwitch down and extended her swords. All ten of them wrapped around her body, some weaving between her legs, others her arms, and some keeping a wide distance. One took a special mission of snagging her riding crop and relieving her of it. Penny's arms widened, and the swords and their strings went tight. Goodwitch was pinned, and she wasn't going anywhere.

That wouldn't be enough, though. Her unique semblance made her especially dangerous. In theory, she could simply use the force to grab someone and tear them apart with her telekinesis, or blow out the ceiling above them and crush them in a rainstorm of rubble. Breaking the aura of a trained huntress would be all but impossible before she managed to free herself from the two women's restraints, but fortunately for K, they didn't need to break her aura. They just needed to prevent her from being able to use it.

Less than a full two seconds had passed from the beginning of the onslaught when Ilia, who'd been hiding on the ceiling of Goodwitch's classroom, swung down and rolled through the same doorway Goodwitch had just come from. Her skin turned back to its usual tan, and she jumped onto the older woman. Goodwitch barely managed to eke out a single syllable in confusion at the unexpected assault by her very own student before Ilia caught her in a headlock. Lighting Lash, on its fourth chamber, was pushed straight down the open keyhole neckline of Goodwitch's blouse. It was an undignified strategy, but Goodwitch's cleavage, tightened by Penny's wrapped sword-strings, held the weapon in place as Ilia rolled backwards.

The key part of their plan was several speedy attacks, followed by retreat without hesitation. No one person stayed behind too long for the professor to react and use her telekinesis on them. Ilia was out of there before Goodwitch probably even realized who she was, and Blake had dashed forward to take her place.

Blake left a shadow clone behind and jumped into the air, just in case Goodwitch regained her bearings and did manage to attack. It turned out to be needless, as the clone remained unharmed by the time Blake had landed a foot away from Goodwitch and punched the woman in the stomach. Blake's fist hit her aura (the fact that she had raised it meant she was now preparing for a fight; Adam tightened his grip), but it still knocked the wind out of her. Goodwitch gasped for breath, inhaling more of the fumes coming out of Ilia's still outgassing weapon.

Blake probably got a good breath of vapor as well, but she dashed back and let Adam take the center stage. Adam, holding the same breath of air from when Ilia had initially attacked, stepped out from the classroom opposite Winter's and dashed forward. Goodwitch saw him coming and halted his legs with her powers in a tight hold, but they'd anticipated she'd be on the counterattack by the time they got to him and had prepared accordingly. Adam drew Gambol Shroud and Blush and opened fire. Blake's pistol bullets targeted her in the throat, and his own shotgun pellets connected with her lungs.

He didn't need to damage her; all he needed to do was get her to suck in as much of Ilia's knockout gas as they could. And suck in she did.

Once she had lost consciousness and her head slumped forward, Adam retreated. Goodwitch's spectacles fell off her face and broke when they hit the floor. She seemed out, but it never hurt to be safe, though, so Ilia went first. With the aid of her semblance, she entered the hazardous air and checked Goodwitch's pulse – not to see if it was there, but to ensure that it was slowing down. The huntress could easily feign unconsciousness to lure all of them in closer before smashing them all with a psychic blast, but she couldn't naturally slow down her own explosively beating heartrate in the midst of an unforeseen ambush.

Ilia gave them a thumbs up and reclaimed her weapon.

Adam and Blake waited for the gas to clear out, but Penny went right in. Without the need to breathe, there was no reason for her to hold back. Winter, on the other hand, was their backup. Until Goodwitch was secure, she was to remain hidden, just in case.

Ilia stabbed Lightning Lash at Goodwitch's leg. The blade skidded against her and slid into the ground, so Ilia simply repeated the action again and again until her aura broke. When it did, Ilia flipped Goodwitch over and stabbed her sword down into Goodwitch's leg. That way, even if her aura did regenerate, she couldn't use it, as her body's healing would continuously drain it away. The woman, fully out, made no response other than an autonomous shiver as Lash pierced her thigh.

Adam went back into his classroom and dragged out a large cardboard box labelled 'Refrigerator – Handle With Care.' Loading up the downed professor's body, Lash and all, he taped the box shut and hoisted up one end. Blake helped him out, and Winter and Ilia took the other side.

This wasn't like the three encounters they'd had with Tock. On those instances, K had been ambushed and had just barely managed to survive using their wits alone (and also Penny, on the second encounter). Here, they knew what they were doing, and they had plenty of time to plan it out. As such, nothing went wrong. Goodwitch was taken out without any losses on their side, no onlooking students questioned why the four of them were moving around some furniture, and they made it to the sealed room that they had prepared in advance without any problems. A perfect job.

The only downside was that they had to just sit around and wait for Goodwitch to wake up. Lash had been removed from her leg and replaced with a specialized blade that Atlas provided, one that was designed to prevent blood loss but still keep the wound open. The professor had been tied to a chair, and they kept the lights off in the room in which she was held.

Penny had needed to leave. Her fight with Team Coffee was scheduled in advance, and she wasn't going to be able to wait around indefinitely for Glynda to awaken. The four of them remained, sitting in silence as Goodwitch gradually stirred from time to time.

Ilia'd never met Marrow Amin, nor did she think particularly highly of him as little more than a distant figure she'd seen the corpse of on the same day she learned of his existence. Still, he had been an honorary member of K and an ally to Atlas, and Glynda had killed him without even giving him a chance. Once they had the code (and maybe a little something more), she was dead meat.

Goodwitch groaned and shifted, so Ilia went dark, held her breath and stepped behind her. They'd perfected their method of interrogation before, when they'd been using it on White Fang operatives and the occasional corrupt Schnee higher-up. Adam and Blake would take the lead, good Faunus bad Faunus-ing her for as long as they could, and Ilia didn't let their prisoner know she was even in the room until later. Winter stood outside as lookout to ensure they weren't interrupted.

"Goodwitch."

"Mr.…T-Tau…where…"

"What is the code to the vault beneath the CCT?"

"Code? How do…where am I?"

"What is the code?"

"I…I have no idea what…arghgggh! My leg! What did–"

Glynda looked down and saw that she was injured. Struggling against the rope, she attempted to free herself as the realization that she wasn't simply surrounded by friendly students sank in.

"Let go of me!" Her head turned, presumably to look at the sword on Adam's hip and will it to cut her free, but it didn't budge.

"Your aura is broken. You aren't escaping. What is the code that takes the CCT elevator down to the vault?"

"Code? Vault? I don't–"

Adam backhanded her.

"Lying isn't going to help you, Glynda," Blake said calmly. "We know everything. We know about Ozpin, about the maidens, about Amber in the machine and how you need a host for her powers before her condition worsens. Just tell us the code, and we won't need to hurt you."

"You–! If you truly know as much as you claim to, then you'd know that there's no point in this farce. I am a huntress, and I shan't be swayed by threats of bodily harm ushered by…by…by mere children!"

Adam exchanged a glance with Blake.

"Tell us the first digit."

Goodwitch glared and said nothing.

"Is it one?"

Nothing.

"Is it two?"

Nothing.

"Three."

Ilia caught her bound hands flinch. She nodded to the others. Adam and Blake didn't acknowledge her existence or look her way, but Blake's eyes narrowed at Goodwitch.

"Tell us the second digit."

Goodwitch tensed up, unaware of how they'd gotten the information out of her when she hadn't even said anything.

"Is it one?"

The code was 355093.

Ilia felt a rush of strange emotions flood her at the knowledge. All of their time spent at Beacon had been leading up to this, and here they were, standing in a dark room with a kidnapped murderer and the knowledge of how to acquire both the maiden powers and the aura transfer device in the palm of their hands.

If she wanted to, she could waltz into the public elevator, type in the code, and become the fucking Fall maiden herself.

She had to control her excitement and make sure she didn't accidentally breathe. Goodwitch had involuntarily given them the code, but that didn't mean the interrogation was finished. Her panic was evident as Adam correctly stopped at each number and moved on to the next.

"You don't know what you're doing!" she screamed. They'd soundproofed the room in advance and had disposed of her scroll after falsifying a message to Ozpin via Penny, so there was no risk of discovery. "If you give her that power, she'll destroy the world! Millions will die!"

Goodwitch seemed hung up on this 'she,' but Ilia didn't care. The less she knew about K, the better. It wouldn't matter for much longer.

"Silence," said Adam.

Goodwitch, now genuinely afraid, quieted down. She didn't seem to be worried about them killing her, but their ability to read her like a book was clearly unnerving.

That was the true power of Ilia's Breathtaking. It wasn't the raw power of a godlike warrior, like Moonslice or Yang's fires and Ruby's speed, but it was so versatile when she knew how to use it in tandem with her learned abilities and Faunus trait. As long as she stood still, she was invisible. Goodwitch's imperceptible movements at every yes or no question gave away her answers, and she didn't even know she was making them. After all, from her perspective, there was no invisible, silent Faunus hiding behind her and watching her wring her fingers, ball up her fists, shift her arms, or flinch at any correct guesses to yes or no questions. As far as she could tell, Adam and Blake were just reading her mind.

"How did you know how to find Marrow Amin?"

Goodwitch's head tilted. "Marrow…who?"

"Did Ozpin tell you how to find him?"

"What? What are you talking about? I don't know any Mar–"

Goodwitch suddenly shut up, realizing that even a denial would be given them information. She closed her mouth and stopped speaking.

"Did Ozpin send you to Vale to repair the tracker?"

Goodwitch said nothing, in words or body movements.

"Does Ozpin have a way to track us?"

Again, nothing. Ilia shook her head.

"Does Ozpin know we're here?"

No answer.

Ilia had enough. She drew Lightning Lash and pressed the tip of it against the back of Goodwitch's neck. "I saw you in the Emerald Forest, you bitch."

"W – Miss Amitola? Ilia?" Goodwitch twisted her head around, but she couldn't rotate it enough to see Ilia. Giving away her position meant that they couldn't rely on her reading Goodwitch's twitching anymore, but that had stopped working. Once she was no longer useful, they would dispose of her.

"You ran right past Tock. You saw her, and you ignored her. You had been sent to kill us."

"Tock? I – the crocodile Faunus? How did you even…there was no one there!"

"You were in the forest. You were looking for someone. Don't deny it – I fucking saw you!" Ilia cuffed the back of her head. Torture rarely gained reliable results, but in this case, it was more for Ilia's own gratification. Goodwitch hadn't just killed Marrow; she'd mutilated him. His body had been viciously beaten, to the point that it almost seemed personal. Goodwitch had made it personal, so Ilia was just repaying the favor. "You murdered Marrow in cold blood."

"I didn't kill anyone! I don't know who you're talking about!"

"Why were you in the Emerald Forest, then? What could have been more important than an intruder?"

"I…"

Ilia drew Lightning Lash.

"The Fall maiden!" Goodwitch said at last.

"We know about Amber," said Blake. "She's dead, even if her body hasn't figured it out yet. We're not falling for that."

Goodwitch twisted her head around and gaped. "You…really don't know, do you? The stolen half of the powers – Qrow warned us that there would be enemies in the Emerald Forest. The crocodile Faunus was dangerous, but Ozpin told me to locate the Fall maiden as a top priority."

Half of the powers?

There was a knock on the door from Winter on the outside. Adam opened it slightly, then slipped out.

Amber was supposed to be the Fall maiden, hidden beneath the school after being injured on a mission. That was what Hazel Rainart had informed her. He hadn't mentioned anything about stolen powers.

Suddenly, Ilia felt like a fool for believing a confirmed enemy's tale at his word.

Adam pushed open the door. "We have to go. Now!"

"What's going on?" asked Blake.

"Untie her."

"W-What? She killed–"

"That doesn't matter. We're going to need all the help we can get." Adam moved to Goodwitch and removed the blade from her leg. Instantly, the built-up aura sealed the wound.

"What's happened?" asked Goodwitch.

"Grimm," said Adam. "Thousands of them, maybe tens of thousands. They're inside Beacon."

Omake

Ilia: Oof. Did we jump the gun and torture an innocent woman over a misunderstanding?

Adam: This is more embarrassing than the time I accidentally called General Ironwood 'mom.'

Author's Notes

Bit of a short chapter, but that's because, for obvious reasons, the action packed stuff is happening next, and I needed to cut it off here for the cliffhanger.

Yeah, they waaaaaay jumped the gun by kidnapping, torturing, murdering, identity fraud-ing, and cannibalizing Glynda. Still, it did get them the code, which was half of their plan, so it wasn't a complete bust. Unfortunately, a code to the vault isn't going to mean an awful lot when the entire world is on the brink of collapse…

So, why didn't they go after Ruby? Well, they lost track of her and had no way to locate her, and Glynda was in a known place Plus, K has always been shown to put the mission first, even at the expense of their up and coming member. As regrettable as the circumstances were in which the four of them last split, their goal isn't to protect Ruby – it's to get the maiden powers (and the machine).

Well, now that Beacon has fallen, you all know what that means: home stretch, baby!

It's crazy – this is going to be my first finished fic (even though it wasn't my first posted fic). By the numbers, K has flourished on AO3, nearly exceeding The Empty Seat on hits, kudos, and comments even though it was released later and had significantly fewer updates and words overall. On FFN, it really floundered, with Living The Dream catching up to it and then doubling it on followers in less than seven updates (and it's set to exceed the view count by the end of K, if things keep up).

Honestly, as much as I love every fic I write, I do think the drama and characters of K stand out above both of the others. The Empty Seat is a hodge-podge that's all over the place, and Living The Dream is a zany Jaune-fic, but K's character arcs felt more fleshed out overall. Ironically, despite each character individually doing well, overall Team Rabies is only in the middle of my favorite of the five major teams I've written so far (in order from fav to least fav – Castle, Juniperry, Rabies, Adventure, Rainbow).

Man, K has been a wild ride.

Um...by the way...

I know I promised no major character deaths, but...well...

Mmmmm, how should I put this...

EXPECT TWO.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!