[Temporary Note: In case you missed the first one, I revised all 11 previous chapters with a few new details, one or two new subplots, and a few expanded scenes. I highly advise my returning readers to go back and re-read this story from the beginning one more time to make sure you're caught up. And don't worry, I won't do this again.]
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Qrow hung up the call with a deep sigh, unplugged his coding tool and slipped it into his pocket next to the flask. Whatever good mood he'd been having was now gone, all thanks to that kid showing him the world behind the curtain. No amount of booze would undo that. Especially not with his luck.
People were getting replaced by Grimm. The Imu were legitimately taking over the world.
And for once he didn't laugh at the idea.
He needed to go. Now. Qrow quickly pulled up the number for his flight and rescheduled; the kid's mom had a slight trail over in Mistral he wanted to follow, but compared to this new threat it was no longer a priority. Vale had to come first. Ruby had to come first. Once the device gave him the confirmation, he pulled up another app and sent for a taxi to come pick him up.
The old man took one more swig of his drink before rolling outside (after giving the waitress a pinch for good measure) and heading for the agreed stop, a street corner under a lamppost.
Qrow Branwen had more than a few skills to pull from to get the job done, but one of those had stopped working around the same time as his legs; he could no longer turn into a bird. Oscar, or rather Ozpin, never did explain why the two things were linked, but like everything else Qrow just attributed it to his lifelong streak of bad luck. Stupid Semblance. Because of that, he was now forced to wait on a driver to come pick him up, all in a place he didn't know and with nighttime just getting underway. Night flying was one of the many joys he greatly missed. Getting old was the worst.
It just so happened to be the perfect moment-
"Good evening, Qrow."
-for an ambush.
He tried not to growl, he really did, but there was no point fighting the most natural urge in the world. "Raven… the fuck are you doin' here?"
A tall, shadowly figure stepped into view. Waves of black hair with only traces of gray, red painted armor over a black Mistralian war robe, and Grimm mask firmly in place over her face, it was hard to mistake Raven Branwen for anybody else. "Do I really need an excuse to come and visit my favorite brother?"
"No," Qrow leaned over and let out a fart for no good reason, "But you're visiting me instead, so you might need one."
"Maybe I want to repair our broken relationship…?"
"And maybe I'm ready to go on a world tour and sing girlie songs with the New Achieve Men," Qrow spat. "Don't you bullshit me, sis. Not after everything we've been through."
Raven remained quiet, though she did put a hand to her sword.
"Ah, I get it." Qrow gestured at himself, "Now that I'm a cripple, you figured you'd come and finally settle our score, is that it? I gotta say, that's extra scummy even for you."
"I'm not going to kill you, brother," said Raven. She kept a hand on her blade as she stepped forward, leaning close enough that Qrow could see her eyes behind the mask. They glowed red. "He is."
Qrow never heard the blade leaving the sheathe, but he did hear the sound it made as it penetrated his chest. He also clearly saw the curved, single-edged piece of metal sticking out of him, though by that point his vision was already starting to fade. The pain was brief, at the very least, quickly giving way to numbing cold.
There was nothing he could say before his strength gave out fully. Whoever had run him through from behind like a goddamn coward followed up by pulling the sword back out, then kicking the side of his chair, knocking the old man onto the ground so he could bleed out on the dirt like a gentleman.
The last thing Qrow saw was the man responsible walking around and into view. He had a similar mask as Raven, though this one only covered his eyes and did nothing to hide his flame-red hair. Adam Taurus.
Since when were they working together?
His hearing lingered a bit longer than his sight, letting Qrow hear his sister's Scroll beeping. She spoke to the person on the other end with a very cold, business-like tone of voice, "Yes, he's been taken care of… no witnesses… leave the body?"
Great… of all the ways for Qrow Branwen to go out, it had to be from a contract hit.
Of all the luck…
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"Man, it felt like we were on that thing for months!"
"Oh hush. It was only a bit windy."
"Ai!"
"I dunno about you guys, but I need a long hot shower. And one other long, hot thing… care to join me, Adri-kins~?"
"No thanks, I choose life."
"Poopy-pants…"
Normal banter. Normal conversations. By all outward appearances, team MOCA had just finished a normal mission and come off the Bullhead to go back to their normal lives. At a normal Huntsman Academy. In a normal world.
As far as Adrian was concerned, he was walking balls-deep into enemy territory.
Everything had turned upside-down after Valley Glenn. Everything. Not only was he now aware of the true threat to the world in the form of the cute, puppy-like Grimm that had taken the world by storm, he suddenly found himself wanting one of them in particular; Misty insisted on bringing Laz back to their dorm room herself while he reported to Miss Rose. Apparently she felt like she hadn't had enough one-on-one time with the team mascot and wanted to make up for that.
Laz was truly different to the other Imu. Adrian actually felt safer with her in his arms.
Now he felt naked.
A hand touched his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Crimson said, "You okay man?"
Correction, the creature posing as Crimson.
Adrian collected himself and cleared his throat, "Y-yeah, I'm good. You guys go on back, I need to check in with Miss Rose first."
Almost as though his words called out to her, Adrian's Scroll beeped with a message from Ruby telling him to do exactly that. He laughed at the absurd timing. Boy, everyone was demanding his attention right now.
Crim pulled his face into a good imitation of a smile. "Alright, but don't take too long; I happen to know the girls have plans for today, and the word 'cake' was part of it."
"Duly noted," Adrian put his Scroll away and looked out over the school, taking a shaky breath. "It feels… different, doesn't it?"
"A little," Crimson nodded, following his gaze. "We've grown a lot as a team, and you're really coming into your own as a Huntsman now. I'd say the future looks a lot brighter than before." He chuckled as he walked off to join the others.
Adrian mentally berated himself for letting such a comment slip. Crimson was one of them. If he caught the implication that Adrian had found out the truth, it was all over. He was a dead man. Thus far it didn't look like the former rabbit Faunus had any reason to suspect his 'good friend' right now, but that could change at any moment. His tongue had too much experience getting him into trouble.
Gods… how could anyone live like this?
As much as he wanted to sprint through the halls and reach his destination as quickly as humanly possible, Adrian wasn't that stupid; there was no better way to draw attention to yourself than causing a scene. Blending in and looking like he belonged was the only way he would survive this ordeal. The mask he'd formed the other day, the one of himself, remained firmly in place as he passed various students on the way to Ruby's office. The few who didn't give him the usual glare instead began whispering to one another.
Oh no… was it already too late?
"Never thought I'd say this, but welcome back Double-A," said a voice from right behind him. Adrian turned to find probably the one guy in the whole school he wanted to see the least.
"Hey Cliff," said Adrian. "In a good mood, are we?"
The blonde boy shrugged, his golden chestplate rising with the motion. "That tends to happen when rumors spread like what I just heard. Apparently you and Laz are good buddies now, is that right?"
How the flaming fuck did you hear that already? We've only been here, like, 20 minutes tops! "I can barely believe it myself," he said instead. "But yeah, I guess we are. She's a good girl."
"Yer damn right she is," Clifford Kelly smiled at him, and for once it wasn't because he'd done something terrible and was waiting on the other shoe to drop. "I was hoping you'd come around, man. To be honest, I-"
"If this isn't too important," Adrian cut him off, "I really gotta get going. I need to report to Miss Rose."
"Ah, the new Headmistress. You'll want the tower, then."
"Oh yeah… dunno why I forgot she got a promotion. Nobody's still… mad about it, are they?"
Cliff patted him on the shoulder, "We were, but now that we know you've come around on the Imu, I think you'll find you have friends in the darndest places. Oh yeah, Miss Rose might have company at the moment, but I'm sure she'll let you right in. New teachers, I think."
Adrian mentally cheered for not flinching away from his rival's touch.
"Oh yeah, one more thing… team CHPN is planning a trip to Argus at the end of the week to see the eclipse. Now that our bad blood isn't a problem, I'm extending the invitation to team MOCA as well-"
"I'll consider it, but don't hold your breath; I'm not the only one you've pissed off over the years."
Cliff's smile faltered. "Oh yeah, the Matchstick. Ah well, worth a shot. Later, dude!" he sent a wave as he turned and wandered off down the hall.
Adrian stared at his retreating back and imagined what it might look like under all that armor. Was it clean, unbroken skin? Or did he have a scar like a zipper that hid unspeakable horrors underneath? Was he just invited to a festival… or a slaughter?
He took a shaky breath and ran his hands through his bangs. He was sweating.
This was hell. He was in hell.
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("You need anything, just say so-")
Who would've thought this was what he'd call on them for?
Jaune Arc and Brand Ashens lay in a very, very cramped space together, waiting as the car rumbled along on this (hopefully) short drive. Thankfully the police cars of Vale had plenty of trunk space, otherwise they would've needed two cars. And if there was one thing that almost guaranteed failure in an operation like this, it was limiting their communications.
"I don't like this," whispered Ashens.
"Which part?" replied Jaune.
"All of it."
"If we had found a proper cleaning van last night, I would've gone for that. This was all I could do. Once we're inside, we just need to act like we work there, got it?"
"I remember! I just… I don't know how long I can last in this position…"
"Bear with it, Lieutenant. Neptune knows where to go."
The only way the two full-grown adults could fit into the trunk together was by spooning. Which meant Ashens had to basically fold herself in half and sit in the arms of Jaune for what could be half an hour, in a hot and cramped space where no one could see them. Jaune wasn't doing much better; he'd never snuggled another woman besides his wife, and this wasn't the time to enjoy it.
Still, he was only human. And Ashens was keenly aware of the physical reaction he was having to their forced proximity.
"Sarge… is there any way you can adjust… that?" she had no way of motioning towards his crotch, but he knew all the same.
"Believe me, I wish I could."
"You are still married, right?"
"Happily."
Ashens clicked her teeth. Jaune didn't press the issue (or anything else for that matter).
They rumbled along for a few more minutes before finally slowing down. Jaune could hear voices outside, but none of them were intelligible from the trunk; he clearly made out both Neptune and Sun, as well as one other who he hoped was the gate guard at the warehouse. Had he not been fired already, Jaune's position as Captain would have gotten him right in. Cardin made sure that wasn't an option anymore.
So instead he called on his former officers for help, since Neptune had offered. Former, in that they now both proudly bore the rank of Detectives. He was honestly proud of them, regardless of the circumstances around it.
The plan was reasonably simple – he and Ashens would sneak into the facility via the trunk. Neptune and Sun would get in on the grounds of asking a few questions to the people in charge, and while there the wannabe Secret Agents would get out and find the person they were looking for before making their own exit. Easy.
Ashens held the locket of Amy Currant in her hand, focusing on it every few minutes. She wanted to be sure their target wasn't suddenly going to move away and ruin everything.
After another minute or so of driving, the car came to a full stop and the two 'official' passengers got out. One of them gave the trunk two distinct thumps on the way out. Jaune quietly began counting to 30 as Ashens pulled back the cover on the lock.
Now that the noise was gone, it was far easier to hear his heartbeat. Not to mention their mutual breathing. Ashens put her hands against the lock a few times before the count was over, as though she was desperate to escape, but Jaune tried to keep his cool. They still had a long way to go before this was over, and getting too worked up now would put everything in jeopardy.
"…28 …29 …30."
Ashens popped the lock in one motion, threw the trunk open and burst out like a jack-in-the-box. Jaune eased out more slowly but still in time to see Ashens bent over and panting. "You okay, Ashens?"
"I'm… regretting… this… a lot…"
He stood up fully and quietly closed the trunk, stretching to get the kinks out. He rubbed his Lieutenants' back gently and said, "Hey, easy now… ride's over. We can breathe now."
Ashens nodded weakly. "I… I didn't think I'd… be that bad with… an enclosed space."
Jaune chuckled, "I'm sure I didn't help matters."
"Oh you did… more than you might think…"
Now that they had a moment to collect themselves, Jaune looked around and discovered they were in a parking garage. Neptune had promised that most of the security cameras here were on the outside, with only the odd camera within. And for that the pair had a set of janitor uniforms ready, complete with fake name tags. It wouldn't hold for long, but with any luck they'd be in and out in less than 2 hours, hopefully with one more in tow.
Jaune dusted himself off and adjusted his uniform, "Ready whenever you are."
Ashens took one more moment with her hands on her knees, face still red and sweaty, then used her Semblance on the locket again before pulling out her Scroll and accessing the map of the facility. Wherever she got that program from, Jaune had no idea, but the programmer deserved a kiss.
They moved quickly as they began their search.
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Adrian had no idea what to expect when he opened the office door, but it wasn't this.
"Ah, there he is," said Ruby Rose, Headmistress of Beacon Academy. "The man of the hour. Adrian, meet your new teachers."
Standing before him was not one, but four legends in the flesh: team RWBY. All of them.
Yang Xiao Long reacted first, giving him a wolf-whistle. "Hot damn, you were right; little Adrian really did turn into a fine young thing. No wonder the twins won't shut up about him." She wore an outfit of yellow and gold, a jacket worn over slacks that featured small pinstriping along the seams that glittered with tiny sequins. One arm was blatantly mechanical, but the jacket was tailored to account for that; the right sleeve was cut short so it didn't interfere with the mechanisms. Her blonde hair could probably light up a room with its sheer brilliance, without exaggeration.
"Don't be so brutish," said Weiss Schnee, CEO of the one and only Schnee Dust Company. Her attire was far more subdued but no less fashionable; her perfectly-fitted business suit was a deep blue that contrasted sharply with her glowing white hair, and the skirt was similar to those worn by Miss Rose in that it was perfectly suitable for business while also showing off her near-perfect figure. The only spot of color in her outfit was a bright red ribbon around her neck, though it was thin enough to not clash too badly. She also wore narrow glasses, similar to what Miss Goodwitch always had on.
Where Yang was loud, Blake Belladonna was quiet. She looked at Weiss and said, "Does that really surprise you anymore?" Her deep black hair was tied into a neat braid that reached the middle of her back, and between the four women she was dressed the most casual; her long, flowing skirt faded from black to a deep purple as it reached the hem, and her black button-up shirt was worn loose over a white v-neck blouse. Her cat-like ears were on full display.
"I suppose not," Weiss admitted. She pushed her glasses up with one finger and added, "I merely hoped that the years would temper your attitude, is all."
"A glacier wouldn't cool me off," said Yang with a wink.
Weiss sighed, "I know, I've tried."
In all of this, Adrian had every reason to be excited… but there was one more presence that soured his mood completely with one glance. The final newcomer to the room stood off to one side, hands folded in front of her, smiling as best as she could despite the withering glare Adrian sent her way. He said, "Miss Rose… why is she here?"
"Because I could not find anybody else with enough experience on Grimm Anatomy to replace Port," she answered without hesitation. "Until further notice, she now works for me."
Saphron Arc, formerly Cotta-Arc, gave her estranged son a timid wave. She wore the same sort of outfit she always wore in the past, though she still had her hair a bit more curly than she used to. It had been wavy once. She liked it better this way. Much like she preferred not being married, apparently. "Hey there Adrian-"
"Either she goes or I go."
Ruby sighed quietly, her voice holding firm. "I know you two have been through a lot of shit, but my decision stands. And you're not going anywhere, do you hear me?"
Adrian continued glaring at the ex-wife of his mother. She didn't even flinch.
"Adrian!"
"I hear you," he said without looking over. "As if I didn't hate that class enough already…"
Saphron pouted at him.
"We can discuss this later," Ruby said as she pulled out her chair, but didn't sit down right away. "Saphron, could you give us some time? Maybe run into town for an hour or so?"
"And let him badmouth me without being here to defend myself?"
"I don't have to make it a request, you know…"
Saphron finally spared a glance at her newest boss, sighed through her nose and turned to go. Adrian watched every step she made to make sure she didn't do anything funny.
The woman still had her hair long, as well as wearing a denim jacket. He had no way of seeing her back.
Though it wasn't hard to imagine what he'd find…
"Now then," Ruby pulled his attention back to the center of the room and to the meeting of the famous team of Huntresses. "I don't think I need to introduce these lovely young ladies…"
Blake and Weiss sighed, but Yang just gave a mighty grin.
"…So I'll skip the formalities and get to the good stuff. Blake will be replacing Oobleck for now, as I don't know anybody better suited than her to educate our students on social and economic matters. Yang will be dealing with combat training – ignore her Smug – but Weiss will be taking over Goodwitch's position as my assistant. She'll also be teaching the Dust class during school hours."
Weiss let herself smile, "I do happen to be the foremost expert in the field, so it's a wise choice."
"Now who's smug?" said Yang.
"Anyway… I believe you've just had quite the adventure, young man." Ruby gestured to the chair opposite her new and very wide desk, "Mind sharing it with us?"
"Um…" He looked around quickly, but didn't see any sort of motorized wheelchair. "Did Qrow Branwen pay you a visit yet?"
The mood of the room suddenly plummeted. Ruby's face fell as she quietly said, "He… he was found dead this morning. Stabbed in the back. They just let us know about an hour ago, but so far they haven't found the culprits yet."
Adrian suddenly felt very cold. He fell into the chair with a grunt.
"Why? Did something happen?"
"You can say that again…"
For the next hour, Adrian Arc told team RWBY everything that happened during his week at Valley Glenn. He talked about Desi Currant being part of the 'Reformed Church of the Rose' and all but threatening him to keep quiet about it, he spoke of meeting Doc and his wife, and he mentioned how he and team MOCA helped save the town from Grimm that got inside (including showing off his shiny new knuckles). Most important of all, he talked about Rusty Hamer, his Imu called Ebb, and the nightmarish sight of the true form of the Imu… a demon who skins its owners and wears them like a cheap costume.
Needless to say, nobody said anything for quite some time afterwards. Yang in particular looked rather pale.
"Come over here, Adrian," Miss Rose said suddenly. She stood up and began to unbutton her top. Adrian quickly did as he was asked, walking around just as the woman lowered her clothing and pulled her hair to one side. "How's it look?"
He answered honestly, "Really good…?"
"I meant the lines. You didn't see one, right?"
"Oh, that. No, you're clean." Adrian tried not to blush.
Ruby replaced her clothing with a barely hidden smirk, then turned to her former teammates, "Let him check you guys too. He needs to be sure we're on his side."
They didn't move right away, but one by one they nodded and started their partial undressing. Weiss went first, revealing a back that was almost flawless apart from a few older battle scars. Blake didn't bother taking anything off, choosing instead to lift her shirt and reveal her lower back; other than one painfully large scar, it was also clean. Yang made a show of debating if she wanted to just take off everything, but a glare from Weiss stifled that urge and she did the same as Blake mostly on account of her hair being too hard to hold to one side. Yang was also clean.
Ruby continued, "Based on what you learned, I'm starting to think it was wise to excuse Saphron from this meeting."
Weiss nodded, "Even if she wasn't taken by their Imu, learning about all this would absolutely destroy her mentality."
"The Imu thing shouldn't be that hard to deal with," said Blake as she folded her arms, "I'm more worried about this possible conspiracy against you. I thought the Crimson Cult had been dealt with…?"
"Apparently I was going too easy on them," said Ruby as she folded her fingers together and glared at nothing in particular. "Honestly, what could possess them to try something so foolish?"
"You mean apart from the body snatchers?" said Yang.
"Yes, apart from that."
"It's still just a theory right now, but there's too many clues pointing me towards that outcome to ignore," said Adrian. "I think Mr Branwen had more information, but now…"
"But now he may have taken the answers to the grave…" Ruby said quietly, almost a whisper.
Yang cracked her organic knuckles inside her metallic ones, "I swear when I find the bastards who killed my uncle-"
"You've got a job to do here, Yang. Let the cops handle that." Blake walked over and patted her former partner on the shoulder. "Besides, Ruby's still here. And she needs you."
That took the fire out of her voice. "Yeah, you're right. Still, I hate feeling helpless. All this shit is happening in the background and I'm stuck here trying to not knock somebody's head off during combat classes? Fucking whoopee."
Weiss cocked an eyebrow, "You'd rather be dealing with an arrogant director on set? Where you can't actually hit anything?"
Yang crossed her arms and looked away, "At least I get to fuck my coworkers every so often…"
"What would your wife think if she heard you say that?"
"Something along the lines of, 'Only when I'm on the set.'"
"Anyway!"
Ruby stood up and commanded the attention of the room all at once. It was probably his imagination, but those gray streaks in her hair seemed brighter now. Closer to white.
"This crisis might be the biggest danger to the world since the Grimm War, but we will not – I repeat, we will not – start a panic. Especially if we don't know just how far they've managed to infiltrate. It's too risky. If we start another war without knowing exactly what we're dealing with, millions could die."
Adrian rubbed the back of his neck nervously as the other three muttered their agreements.
"Qrow had a network of spies he relied on for his information. I can access that to learn what he knew, but it'll take some time. Can I count on you all to keep up appearances until we're ready for the battle?"
"Yer damn right," Yang snarled with one fist raised.
"That's why I'm here," Blake confirmed.
"I don't think any of us would have come if we weren't ready to fight hell itself for your sake," Weiss stated with another shift of her glasses. "I am behind you all the way, Ruby Rose."
Ruby smiled at her former partner. "Good to hear. And don't worry, I can keep the Council at bay for a week at most, especially with the Eclipse Festival coming up. There shouldn't be any danger until then. Oh, and Adrian?"
"Hmm?"
"I won't be looking for a new assistant. Instead I'm going to have Weiss train you for that job."
"… … …Do what now?"
Weiss blinked, "You are?"
Ruby turned to the head of the SDC, "If you weren't so busy with your own company, I'd love to hire you on full time. Instead you can help our boy here learn the ins and outs of administration. I can't think of a better way to keep him close by, can you?"
"No," Weiss sighed.
"I can…" Yang said absently while fiddling with a ring on her finger.
Before Adrian could refute any of those comments, his Scroll beeped with a new message from Opal. When he pulled it out, his spirit fell almost as low as the night he discovered the truth about the Imu:
['Hey Adrian, have you seen Crim anywhere?
He disappeared right after we landed. I
think he might be at the training arena,
cuz he took Boonestick with him, but if
you see him tell him we're looking for him,
okay? Also hurry up or I'll eat your cake!']
Ruby clearly noticed the sudden lack of blood in Adrian's face. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"Umm… you guys ever had to run from a sniper?"
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Something's about to happen, I can feel it.
Everything is about to change. The entire world is about to turn upside-down. My love, what will you do? How will you respond? What will you do when the people you thought you knew, the ones you cared about all this time, all turn against you? When they all reveal themselves to be monsters?
Will you fight it? Will you succumb? Will we join together as one and take command of our future?
Or will I shatter you like the moon, doomed to fly eternally through the endless sky?
I don't know. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. And I hate not knowing. I need to know. To understand. To feel your embrace. To drink of the purity of your soul.
…Now I'm getting poetic? Good gods I've got it bad.
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Author's Note: Amazing as it seems, I'm still alive! And thankfully those revisions didn't take too much time, since they gave me exactly what I needed to get this ball rolling again. Assuming anybody's still reading this thing, feel free to send me a comment or review. You know… if you're real and not some hallucination…
=^..^=