Chapter 53: Negative
Author's Notes
Hey, I just realized – the very first instance of canon divergence in this story (Ruby jumping onto the bullhead and capturing Roman Torchwick on his getaway bullhead, then using that as a bargaining chip to negotiate for Yang to be her partner) - remember that?
It was because she flew. As a rook.
Go ahead, reread it. I…I totally planned that and didn't just realize that it fit after re/proof-reading chapters 80-100 of this fic in a single day.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!
In which Yang struggles to keep it under control, and news of Morrighan's death spreads.
"As of yet, there have been no reported breaches in the city walls. Grimm are amassing in extreme numbers, but local hunter forces and visiting members of the Atlesian air fleet have been able to hold off any and all attacks. Make no mistake folk; Vale is still safe. The Vytal Festival and the safety of those involved has not been jeopardized, though some…though many are calling for the first year Beacon team responsible for all of this negativity to be–"
Yang shut off the scroll feed. Lisa Lavender on VNN was the program she'd been watching, but every channel on every network was broadcasting the same thing – Weiss and her little tirade.
The brawler's first instinct was to go for the throat, but Ruby managed to convince her that they should let Weiss explain her side of the story first. Yang had agreed just for the chance to see Weiss dig the hole even deeper. There was no way she was getting off easy this time. She'd gone too far, and this time there would be consequences.
Team Rainbow was winding down from the fight in the break room that had been offered to tournament contenders and their teams. Blake was visibly upset, and that only made Yang angrier. Ruby was anxiously sneaking peeks at her teammates, no doubt worried about the impending confrontation. The Weiss-sicle herself was currently grumbling alone in the corner as she unloaded the Dust from her weapon.
"The nerve of some people! It just burns me up to see someone so closeminded. And from my home kingdom, no less!"
Blake covered her hands with her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, tears pooling up in the corners. Yang clenched her firsts, but Ruby grabbed hold of her shoulder and mouthed 'no.' Weiss finished taking care of her precious little pickaxe and noticed Blake.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Blake."
Yang's eyes flashed red. "You'd better be. Fucking bitch."
Weiss nodded. "Yang's right. Stupid Neon and her stupid racism aren't worth the time it takes to think about them."
"Neon's…racism?" asked Ruby.
"Precisely. I'm not sure how much of our fight you heard, Ruby, but it turns out that Neon Katt of Team Funky is quite the bigot. Here, the fight was recorded. I'll show you what she said."
Reaching back into her locker, Weiss pulled out her scroll. Taking a second to access the recording after a moment of searching, she tilted the screen to show Ruby and pressed play.
"I believe in you, Weiss! You can do it!"
"Dunce!"
"I know, right? You Rainbows are such idiots."
"What?" cried Weiss. "That's not…she said it was…"
"How rude! We are not all idiots. Just Ruby."
"Hey."
"She is a bit of a dunderhead. Your teammate didn't finish me when she had the chance. Not exactly the brightest, is she?"
Weiss shook her head. "No! No, that's not what she said! She was going on about Ruby being bad because she was a human, and how Faunus are stronger. This video isn't right!"
"I'll have you know that Ruby can fight just as well as any Faunus. Better even."
"Oh, Dust! Oh, that sounds so bad when Neon isn't saying–"
"Better than any Faunus? Wow. Just…wow. I didn't want to believe it, but Flynt was right about you Schnees. I'd heard that you all were bigots who hated the Faunus, but I never expected you to be so blatant about it."
"Hmph. Well, I feel how I feel about human-Faunus interactions, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it."
Weiss dropped the scroll to the ground and stared blankly at her teammates. "It's not…I swear it's not…"
"Nice try, Weiss," said Yang. "You know, I really thought you better than this. All that stuff during the therapy session, all that 'championing the Faunus cause'…it was just for show, wasn't it? Just to look good in front of Blake."
Blake looked up at the two of them through her tears. "Yang, if she was trying to trick me, why would she insult the Faunus on live television? I was in the stadium."
"Well, obviously because she…it was…well, she did! She did, and everyone saw her do it!" Yang pointed incriminatingly at the spoilt brat, eager to drive the point home a̶n̶d̶ ̶u̶n̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶p̶o̶i̶n̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶d̶r̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶o̶m̶e̶.̶
"Something doesn't make sense here."
Yang was stumped. Weiss insulted Blake's entire race on live TV, and Blake was defending her?
Was this because…because Blake…
No. No, it couldn't be.
Yang shook her head. "Maybe she never really got it into her thick skull that Faunus are people. She used to be racist, Blake. How do we know she ever changed in the first place?"
Ruby picked up the scroll and rewound with her thumb, watching the video again. "At her worst, Weiss was ignorant. The stuff she said to Neon was downright adversarial."
Weiss started to cry. "You guys, I swear that's not what she said! She was the racist one, not me!"
Yang grabbed a water bottle and threw it at Weiss, who narrowly ducked out of the way. "She was saying humans and Faunus are equal. How is that racist?"
Ruby spoke over the audio from the video. "Sis, cool it. Sis. Yang! Yang, your hair!"
Yang looked at Ruby, then at her hair out of the corners of her eyes. Her golden locks, short as they were, were indeed beginning to burn lightly, though he flame was gaining in intensity. Yang patted it out and took a deep breath.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for losing my temper. I'll be calm. Now, Weiss, what do you think Neon said to you that got you in such a tizzy?"
"I know, right? You humans are all such idiots."
"How rude! We are not all idiots. Just Ruby."
"Hey!"
"No doubt she thinks she's the best just because she's human. Well, even the weakest of Faunus would be able to steamroll a human like her."
"I'll have you know that Ruby can fight just as well as any Faunus. Better even."
"Let me guess. You're one of those fools who thinks humans and Faunus should go around holding hands and being friends. Its stunning that you can spout such nonsense without feeling ashamed."
"Hmph. Well, I feel how I feel about human-Faunus interactions, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it."
"I despise humans like you. Anyone with a single brain cell knows that Faunus and humans should not mix."
"No! You're wrong! That kind of thinking is what's ruining Remnant."
"You and I have different definitions of what's ruining Remnant."
"So it would seem. I believe this conversation has run its course. Let's just get this fight over with."
"And then I knocked her out of the fight. The things she said…you can see why it got on my nerves."
Yang shook her head. "Weiss, none of us heard that. You saw the video. That's what we and the entire world heard Neon say."
"She has a human partner," said Blake. "Did you not wonder why a Faunus supremacist would fight alongside a human in that very fight?"
"I didn't think of it at the time. As you can imagine, I wasn't applying my usual logical mind to the situation. She pushed my buttons just right and said what I needed to hear to get all riled up. You guys believe me, right?"
Ruby nodded without hesitation.
Yang had really been pissed before, but now the little picture she'd painted in her mind of Weiss secretly being racist seemed kind of impossible, the more Weiss (and Blake) explained it. It made no sense – if pretending to be reformed was all an act, why would Weiss blatantly drop the act the one time she had the entire world staring at her?
Something was fishy, here. Thus, Yang handed Weiss a water bottle.
"Ok, go ahead."
"What?" Weiss looked down at the bottle, than back at Yang. "What?"
"One free throw."
"Why would I want to–"
"The universe demands balance, Weiss Sculpture." Yang spread out her arms. "Go on. My body is ready."
Weiss sighed and bopped her on the nose with the bottle. The debt was repaid.
The three turned to the last Rainbow. "Blake?"
"Weiss, it's getting to be too much." Blake didn't stand from the bench on which she was seated. "I…"
"You…what?" Weiss asked eagerly.
"It's just…first the docks, then Winter, now this. I've had to excuse your behavior so many times, and I'm starting to wonder how often I'd have to excuse you in the future."
Weiss looked like she'd just had her heart carved out by Gambol Shroud. "Oh."
Oh. Oh, indeed.
"Blake!" Ruby wailed. "None of that was her fault. You have to trust her! She didn't mean what she said today!"
Yang put her arm around her sister. "Ruby. This isn't about what she said today."
"Then what is she–"
"Rubes. Not now. I'll tell you when you're older."
"I'm so sorry," Blake continued. "But I promised not to lead you or Yang on. I can't keep doing this, Weiss. It's hard to imagine a future with you when it seems like there's always something coming between us."
Weiss gently nodded. She was taking this far better than Y̶a̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶expected. "I understand."
"A relationship would never work. I'd analyze every little thing you said for some deeper meaning, and you'd live in fear of offending me. It wouldn't be fair to either one of us." Blake got up and hugged Weiss. "I still like you. I'm so sorry."
"M-Me too. Would you three mind if I had a minute alone?"
"Okay," Yang breathed.
"Sure," said Ruby. "We'll be outside."
"Take all the time you need." Blake disentangled herself from Weiss.
Yang, Blake, and Ruby stepped outside, leaving Weiss enough privacy for her impending breakdown. Yang caught a glimpse of the waterworks starting up as she closed the door behind her. Neither Yang nor her sister nor their teammate could meet one another's eyes as they stood outside the break room.
"So," started Ruby. "I guess this means you're going to be my new sister-in-law, eh, Blake?"
Blake blinked. "I–"
"Ruby! That's–"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ruby frantically waved her hands in front of her. "I meant it to be a lighthearted quip to break the tension, and it sounded a lot cutesy-er in my head. Oh Dust, I am so, so sorry!"
Yang put her palm across her face and rubbed her eyes. As tactless as her misaimed commentary was, Ruby had been partially right. Yang's chances with Blake were now much better with Weiss out of the picture. She'd dreamed of winning Blake's heart so many times, and she'd prayed the Blake would turn down Weiss' advances, but this was never how she envisioned it. Yang didn't want things to be like this. This was just…the worst. She could still hear Weiss sobbing through the paper thin walls.
"Why did you two have to fall in love with me?"
Yang took her hand off her face to find that she and Blake were the only ones there. It appeared that Ruby had skedaddled, leaving the two of them alone.
"I didn't ask to be at the center of some love triangle. I've always thought I was just a normal, average Faunus. What's so special about me that makes everyone chase after me?"
Yang looked at the catgirl in confoundment. "Blake, how can you ask that? Everything you do is amazing. I came to Beacon to get stronger and fight someone. You came to Beacon because the world isn't a good enough place, and you wanted to make it better. You're a girl of action. You're smart and clever and super witty. That sarcasm of yours makes my dumb puns its bitches. Ruby is only alive right now because your first instinct was to throw yourself in between a rocket and her. Others might have hesitated, but you jumped right in without thinking because that's just who you are. I love you because there's no way in Remnant I couldn't."
"Yang, I…" Blake wiped her eyes. "That was…w-wow. But I can't…Weiss is still in there, crying, and it wouldn't be–"
"I get it, kitty cat. I won't put the moves on you until this all blows over. We still need to find out why Weiss heard Neon say different lines. Got any theories?"
The tears were gone now, and Blake switched back into no-nonsense business mode. "A semblance, perhaps? Neon's?"
"I thought that the rainbow following behind her was the semblance."
"Isn't that an effect of the Dust in her roller-skates?"
A bird flopped from the ceiling and exploded onto the floor in a burst of feathers.
"Gaaaah!"
"Blake's right about it being Dust," said Ruby, lying on her back on the floor. "The rainbows stopped when I cut her skate off."
"Rubes! What the frick? You were up there the whole time, listening in on us?"
"I'm pretty sure her semblance was her ability to control her momentum and change directions in the blink of an eye. I saw her do it once or twice in the fight. So, if changing voices wasn't Neon's semblance, whose was it?"
"Flynt Coal had the quadro-squad thing or whatever. Who else is on Team Funky?"
"It's pronounced Team Fucky, Yang. I would know. I just fought them, like, 5 second ago. Kobalt and Ivori are the other two. Kobalt's semblance is acid spit, and Ivori has laser hands. I watched their fight in the first round hoping to see some super cool mech-shifting Dust weapons. All I got was a flippin' plain sword and a plain axe." Ruby crossed her arms in a pout.
"Does anyone we know have a semblance that controls sound?" asked Yang.
"Ruby's boyfriend can control air waves," announced Blake. "Isn't that the same as sound?"
"Not quite. Lovey Dovey says his semblance lets him detect physical objects by emitting and interpreting air waves, like sonar. He can only read the single frequency he emits, so sounds are off the table. And he's not my boyfriend."
"Damn it," Blake cursed. "Another dead end."
Yang made a mental note to ask Dove to watch over the fights with his semblance from now on, just to see if anything was amiss. It wouldn't solve the mystery of Team Funky, but maybe he could make sure Ruby didn't get screwed with when she went to the singles.
The thought that someone had it out for them sent a chill down Yang's spine. When he saved her, Adam had told Yang that Team Rainbow couldn't die yet. Such wording suggested someone was waiting for the perfect moment to kill them, and Yang was pretty damn sure that this attack on Weiss was the start of it. They waited until everyone was watching us in the tournament to strike…
That meant Ruby, who was going on to the singles, would be next.
Cardin kicked the wall.
Cardin kicked the wall again, this time harder.
Cardin kicked the wall so hard that it actually cost him a spot of aura.
Morrighan was dead. Ren had just finished telling the tale to him, Sky, Jaune Arc (apparently, he was investigating Team Caiman too…?), and Professor Branwen. That gray fuckboy, the only bloke on Team Caiman, had killed her. Ren had gained a little intelligence on their plans by threatening to withhold his semblance on the guy, but it was not nearly enough to make it worth the cost of losing their prisoner.
"Mercury, you idiot!" Sky raged to the absent assassin. "You fool! Now there's going to be a new Grimm horseman roaming around somewhere, and we've no idea where it is or what it's capable of. Everything we did to catch her was all for nothing! Our mission was a waste."
"Not a complete waste," said Ren. "Capturing her was what gave us the bargaining power to learn what she and the racoon Grimm were. We'd be completely in the dark otherwise." Ah, Ren. Ever the logical one, even though Cardin wasn't exactly in an appreciative mood for cold hard logic right now.
"I heard about some fight between the White Fang and unidentified huntresses in the docks of Vale," said Professor Branwen. "You're telling me the little one was involved? Neo whatsername?"
"Neopolitan, and yes. She orchestrated the attempt on Ruby Rose's life since Ruby is Weiss' teammate."
"I'll make sure to keep an eye on her in case Neo tries again," promised Jaune. Cardin had to admit, he'd never expected a scrawny whelp like Jauney-boy to amount to anything, but the blonde certainly had a pair of balls. Maybe he stole them from his girlfr…actually, she's the last person I want to be thinking about.
"Anything else?" asked Professor Branwen.
Ren shook his head. "No. That's all Mercury told me."
"Oz will want to know," said Jaune.
"If it's all the same to you, let's hold off on telling him anything for now," said Professor Branwen. "Sides, we didn't learn very much, and I don't think he ever cared much for Morrighan."
"Qrow…"
"We'd just be wasting his time. He doubts the horseman even exist, blondie."
"Fine. But this one's on you if it backfires."
The pair walked off, leaving the three Castles alone.
"Where's Nora?" asked Sky.
"Not sure," answered Cardin. "She said she was going into Vale to pick something up – pet food? Or maybe a pet? I can't quite recall. I haven't seen her in a while."
"Maybe she's back. We ought to break the news to her."
Beacon was certainly far more bustling now that the tournament had entered the doubles round. It seemed like everyone was rushing to get somewhere, be it the training grounds, the booths in the festival, or the arena itself. Cardin and Queen Nora were going forward in the doubles. Ren had volunteered to accompany his partner, but Queen Nora insisted he was more valuable as a cheerleader. Sky had willingly declined, citing his lack of skill compared to his teammates, though he did promise to formulate another one of his, and this was a direct quote, 'award-winning strategies.' The bastard had really let his success on their mission go to his head. Cardin had to admit, though, they'd have been royally screwed if not for Sky's genius ex machina.
So. Pyrrha Nikos. Cardin and Queen Nora were going head to head with Pyrrha fucking Nikos and whatever chump teammate she brought along. For all his machismo and trash talk, Cardin was feeling butterflies in his stomach. Team Castle would have had to come face to face with Team Adventure eventually, but Cardin had done his best to push it out of his mind. Queen Nora's eyes were swimming with an incomprehensible intensity when Team Penny and Team Lime were called earlier today, leaving only Team Castle and Team Adventure for the last match of the doubles. She was enjoying herself. Of course she was – that was what Cardin adored about his girlfriend, and that was why he'd agreed to die alongside her in the fight tomorrow in spite of his reservations.
The three of them entered the hallway to their dorm. Cardin just had enough time to duck before a gigantic bone claw nearly severed his head.
There was a Deathstalker in the dorms!
"Grimm! It's a Grimm!"
Of the three, only Ren had his weapons on him. Still, Cardin and Sky made themselves useful by lunging forward and grabbing hold of one claw each. The giant monster struggled, but with the force of it split between the two of them, they just barely had it held down.
How had this thing even gotten in here? Why was it on their floor? At least they had the advantage; the huge scorpion type Grimm would be used to moving through forests, not narrow buildings.
The tail of the Deathstalker seemed to be leading in their room. How queer. Er, how odd. Cardin needed to be careful what he said when Ren and Sky were nearby. Ren was currently hacking at its mandibles with StormFlower 2 while Cardin and Sky made sure it didn't grab him.
Cardin had his claw pinned against the floor, but Sky was struggling. They weren't going to be able to last very long like this.
"Ren!" he shouted.
"Kind of busy!" He slashed in an uppercut, but the Deathstalker bit his gun and wretched it from his grasp. "Shit!"
"Ren, grab my scroll!" bellowed Cardin. "Call my weapon locker! The combo is 0808."
"Awww, Cardy! You chose my birthday." Queen Nora emerged from their dorm with the Deathstalker's tail in one hand. "How sweet!"
"Queen Nora!" screamed Cardin. "Help us kill this thing!"
"Why would I want to kill Jaune D. Stalkefeller?"
Sky struggled as the claw pushed him up against a wall. "You named it?"
"Sure did! I picked him up in the city. They were having a sale. You shoulda seen how many they had in stock. It must've been a blowout sale."
Ren exchanged glances with Cardin. "Did you find it–"
"Jaune D. Stalkefeller."
"Did you find Jaune outside the–"
"Jaune D. Stalkefeller. It's just three words, Renny."
Ren sighed. "Did you find Jaune D. Stalkefeller outside the city walls?"
Holy mother of…had she...?
She had. Schnee's fight, the negativity, Grimm piling up outside Vale – and Nora had gone into town to pick up a pet.
"That's right." Her orange crop of hair bobbed up and down. "Did you swing by the sale too, Renny? Malarky, if Jaune D. Stalkefeller is bothering you, just back away from him. I broke all six of his legs, so he can't walk."
Cardin looked down. Sure enough, the Deathstalker's legs were shattered and limply hanging from the sides of its carapace. Cardin thrust the claw away with all his might, then pulled back. The Deathstalker made a clicking noise, but it did not follow. Sky and Ren also backed away.
"Jaune D. Stalkefeller's going to be the new mascot/letter opener for Team Castle. Since Morgy-Porgy's being held hostage by that wizard fuckface, I figured we needed a new fluffy Grimm buddy to do tricks and play fetch with."
"Nora," Ren began forlornly. "There's something we need to tell you about Morrighan…"
"What is it?"
"She…She…"
He wasn't going to be able to tell her. Neither could Sky.
"She escaped," finished Cardin for them. "She's…uh…she's now roaming free in the wild. W-Where she belongs."
"Oh! We better go catch her then."
"No!" shouted Sky. "I…found a boarding pass for an airship flight to Atlas. It had her name on it. She's long gone by now."
Queen Nora let go of the Deathstalker's tail and walked to its front. Grabbing the creature by its jaws, she slammed it down into the floor with a painful crunch. The creature began to disintegrate as Queen Nora turned back to her teammates.
"Guys," Queen Nora said sternly. "Don't act like I'm an idiot. Morrighan is dangerous, and her escape is serious business. I know I play the crazy-crazy, but that all stops as soon as innocent lives are put in harm's way, and make no mistake – they are when Morrighan's loose. Now, as the leader of Team Castle, I'm ordering you to tell me where she is."
"…"
"Ren? Cardin? Sky?"
"She's dead."
Queen Nora's expression fell. "I see. Which one of you…?"
"Mercury Black from Team Caiman."
"Ah. Do you know why?"
"He claims they got into an altercation when he was trying to free her. I think he was telling the truth. What should we do, Nora?"
Their leader looked back at the disintegrated scorpion and plucked Ren's gun off the floor. "Did you tell the authorities?"
"Yes," said Ren, taking the weapon back.
Professor Branwen knew. He'd said he wasn't going to tell the headmaster, but that guy hadn't really seemed to believe them about Morrighan being special when they brought her in, so it was for the best.
"Guys, I don't think there's anything we can do. This is above our pay grade. We lucked out when we caught Morrighan because she was just as much a rookie as we were. It would be suicide to try and track down the other three horsemen, and we have no clue what random Grimm is going to replace Morrighan."
"So, we do nothing?"
"What can we do?" countered Queen Nora. "We have nothing to go on."
It didn't quite feel right, but she was correct. This was out of their hands now. They had no leads, and even if they did, what could they do all on their own?
T̶h̶e̶y̶'̶d̶ ̶c̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶M̶o̶r̶r̶i̶g̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶o̶w̶n̶.̶ ̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶d̶i̶f̶f̶e̶r̶e̶n̶c̶e̶.̶
No. Queen Nora had given her orders. Cardin would let it go.
E̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶.̶
Omake
Yang: *throws water bottle at Weiss*
Weiss: *bops Yang with water bottle*
Russel, just chilling inside the bottle and minding his own business: What gives?
Omake 2
Nora: I broke all six of Jaune D. Stalkefeller's legs.
Ren: Technically, an arachnid has eight legs, the remaining two being their pair of claws.
Nora: *eyes glowing* Two more legs, you say?
Next Chapter: Cardin's Last Fight – Spoiler alert: it goes poorly for him.
Author's Notes
It's about time we had some solid Bumbleby. Unfortunately, Weiss' little tantrum tipped the shipping scales, though, so instead of a balancing act, it's now a landslide...
You know, it's a funny thing - it was actually a toss up as to whether Morrighan was going to kill Mercury or the other way around in the last chapter. I didn't decide until I got to that very scene, and even then, I was having trouble finalizing how it would go. I knew when I had them meet up that one would kill the other, but I had no idea who.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!