It was late, very very late, and Ruby had been hoping to get a good sleep in soon after the chat with Vine. She should have known it wouldn't be so easy as just a couple hours later, right as they were all starting to doze off, Winter of all people walked in, telling them the general requested everyone for a meeting.
Why that meeting had to take place at such a late - or early considering it was past midnight - hour was beyond her understanding.
A few grumbles, some shuffling, and a quick second to fully wake again had the crew of five wandering down the halls. They soon became a band of eleven, as all of JNPR, Oscar, and even Maria joined in. At some point while walking up a flight of stairs Qrow showed up, and for once he wasn't actively bugging Winter. Such a large gathering would usually draw many eyes, but seeing as the only ones walking throughout the halls this late were those on shift or working; there wasn't much shade sent their way.
Stepping into the office though... that's when things got a little weird.
"T-Torchwick?!" Seeing as Ruby herself was the one leading the charge - aside from Winter that was - it only made sense she was the first to react, and what a reaction it was. Drawing her weapon before anyone else got the chance, she was about to charge. When V placed himself before her line of fire, she was forced to a halt. Looking up, she adjusted her shouting.
"V!?"
"Not now." For a second she didn't know what he meant, and then it clicked for her that neither the general nor Winter made any apparent moves towards the criminal. Seeing as V was standing right in the way of what would have been her assault, she was forced to stop and assess the situation.
This assessment immediately had her sights locking onto Penny, who upon notice of being spotted, gave a stiff - but playful - wave.
"Penny?" Her past three contributions had been the striking off of names, however this time it didn't come out as some form of shock-filled shout. Instead this one was soft, and after speaking it, Ruby finally lowered and put away her scythe. The clicks and clanks behind proved one thing though: she wasn't the only one to prepare for battle.
Ruby never got much time to enjoy the relief of seeing Penny again after so long, because Roman chose then to intervene with a half-cocked smile; both fake and strained.
"Nice to see you too 'Red'."
"Jimmy... what's going on here?" Qrow held a noticeable amount of wariness, edging on a line of defensiveness, who's immediate reaction seemingly depended on what the general had to say. Said general, James Ironwood, hummed: breathing calmly and talking in a lower tone.
"From where you're all standing, I know many of you are confused. Allow me to brief you on our current situation." He reached a hand out towards Roman, and Neo from his side struck a small smirk as she looked back at the group of shocked girls. Her partner, Roman, looked more exhausted than genuinely snarky, but he at the very least tried - he wasn't fooling anyone. "As you can see, I have both Roman Torchwick and Neo Politan here with us, as well as a member of the White Fang."
"We can see that." Maria broke through the half-second of silence afforded them after the statement, but she didn't stop there. The elderly woman held with her a casual sort of mood, casting it out as if she were reaching far. "I don't mean to be rude, but can you please tell us why Atlas has started to employ criminals?" She flicked her head back a little, redirecting the general's sight to the group behind. "The youngins are probably getting their skivvies in a twist over it as we speak."
"Then I'll be blunt." James let his hands fall from one another, pushing himself from his seat as he stood, walking around to stand before the front of the desk before starting up again. "Atlas and Mantle are a mess. The fall of Beacon destroyed a good portion of their trust in Atlas as a whole, leaving me no choice other than to take drastic measures in our attempt to figure out how the assailants hacked into our systems... which is part of the reason for Roman's inclusion in all this."
"Hello." Roman tossed out, as if on cue. The little wave he gave ticked off a particular box in Winter's head, and she held back a grumble; or at least tried too. James carried on, ignoring the crook's little comment, which earned him a frown from said crook.
"We stumbled upon him when he attempted to rob Dr. Polendina, where he was promptly stopped and captured by Penny and the Ace-Ops." Penny smiled, as did Clover at her side. Roman just rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as the little woman beside him mimed a giggle. "We could have arrested him then and there, but as I said, the nation was in a bind. I immediately saw the opportunity before us, and I took it."
"No good comes from working with criminals, Jimmy, you know this." Qrow wasn't outwardly angry, but hearing him speak with thinly veiled agitation caused Ruby to really consider the topic of their meeting.
"I used to believe that." The general, to his credit, actually looked shameful. Although, rather than appearing sorry, he just shut his eyes and looked down, as if he were mourning. "Things have changed since our younger, more peaceful years." His head rose, and his eyes were sharp as shards of shattered glass. "I needed to know what happened, and how they got into our systems. And so, when Roman sat before me in the interrogation chamber, I made him an offer."
The general paused, supposedly to collect himself before moving on. Ruby knew the others were probably thinking the same thing as her: worried about what Roman Torchwick of all people would agree to. She wouldn't lie, she was thinking the same, but there was another worry on the tip of her tongue. Yes, whatever the general offered Roman was probably bad for everyone, but what about the other man here, the member of the White Fang?
What did the Fang have to do with this?
"I gave him a choice: spend the rest of his life in the Atlas maximum security prison, or become my eyes and ears." The general never paused, even as everyone out of the loop sucked in a breath. "He would be permitted to rob specific businesses, and involve himself in the criminal underbelly of Mantle. The idea was to have him cover the land below, while my men and I took to Atlas itself. Of course: he agreed, giving up the information he had on Cinder as a sort of 'thank you gift' according to himself."
"Always remember to show your appreciation to the ones willing to make your life easier." Roman actually smiled this time, appearing juvenile overall, until his chuckle, which then fell back in with the mood. "You never know when you'll have your life ripped apart."
Ruby never got a chance to question that last bit because the general chose to move on once more.
"It wasn't long before I put together a profile on the woman, and it was just as quick that Roman managed to submerge himself into one of our problems infesting the city below: a little gang of vigilantes who've taken to calling themselves the 'Happy Huntresses'. Their leader goes by the name Robyn Hill, and has proclaimed to have taken it upon herself to 'see Mantle's voice be heard'. Under Roman's gaze though, she is subject to our every decision: there isn't a single action she can take without us knowing. Right now we're stalling her with specific transport targets: keeping her and the other brigands under wraps... for now."
"For now?" Qrow, acceptably unnerved by everything, let his brows crease. "You're not sounding as sure as you usually do."
"I'm not." The man didn't even hesitate, and perhaps that is what scared Ruby personally. "She's applying for a seat on the council, and while it'll be easy to deny her due to her criminal standing, doing so will only increase public distrust in Mantle. They don't know what we're fighting, or why we're redirecting our resources away from the city below. Robyn uses this to her advantage by 'liberating' our cargo transports, redistributing it in pieces to the citizens. A blatant attack on her will be seen as an attack on Mantle itself."
"She's got them wrapped around her finger I'm assuming?" Maria gathered, not really needing an answer though, as she sounded sure enough already; this didn't stop Roman from opening his mouth.
"You're darn right she does." His voice propped itself up incrementally as he audibly growled. "That crazy twat actually thinks she's a big-shot 'hero' too! It gives me the creeps how someone can think it's as simple as just stealing things and beating people up; seriously, who in their right mind believes that's how a hero should act?!"
"That's pretty funny, coming from you." Yang shot off, but the man just brushed her off.
"Just 'cause I don't believe in it, doesn't mean I don't know what it is. You want to know what a real 'hero' is all about kids?" He awaited no answer, spiraling off into a tangent. "A 'hero' is someone who follows what they believe. A 'hero' is somebody so self-obsessed with doing what other people think is 'right' solely for the thrill of it. Helping people is only a side-effect to them, because while they can tell themselves 'I'm making a difference' all they want, they're only doing it for the same reason everyone else does what they do: greed. Selfish and prudent, greed."
That struck a chord closer to Ruby's heart than Roman could ever understand, and yet she continued to take in his rant with no regard for the pressure building at the corners of her eyes..
"And they have the gall to say we're the bad guys?!" Flinging his hands towards himself, Roman raised his voice. "And nobody sees anything wrong with this, as in, at all! Everyone else gets shit for acting in self-interest, but when a so-called 'hero' claims to do it for the betterment of everyone else, why, all of a sudden they're 'selfless' and 'charming'!"
"At least they're making an impact on other people's lives." Apparently Blake was the one to challenge him, putting one foot forward. "At least what they're doing has a positive impact."
"Oh, really?" Nobody liked that tone swap; this was something Ruby was certain of, because all sound died the moment he turned to face them, with stale eyes locked upon them, seemingly ready to pass judgment. "So every Human you killed, every life you've taken: all of it was justified?"
"They were slavers: taken innocent people from their homes. Nobody has the right to force people into anything."
"No... but did you ever stop to consider each and every Human you fought? Have you ever wondered what it took for someone to abandon their morals?" Roman then laughed. "Because I can guarantee you: over half the people within those 'organizations' hated it just as much as everyone else. Oh sure, we have the wackos slathering the place in their filth, but plenty of the 'employees' were idiots who owed the wrong person money, and at the end of the day everyone has to pick what they value most."
"They had a choice." Yang growled fiercely, clenching her hands into fists at her side. "Everyone has a choice, and they made theirs."
Roman smiled far too sincerely.
"Yes, they did..." He took one weighty step, letting his arms spread wide as his head seemed to snap downwards to the left, and said arm flicked. "Do." He faced the other direction, and thus that arm flicked. "Or die." Both arms dropped. "But yes, we all have a choice, but that's not the question here. The question here, children..." He let both arms still at his side, and for just a second, Ruby herself saw nothing but pure disgust line his features. "Who has the right to decide which life is worth more?"
Yang growled, and Blake held back her own. Weiss glared, along with her sister and Qrow. Clover bore a hard expression, and Penny did her best to look mad. Raven though, she smirked, and the general didn't even look to react. However, despite the majority of hateful faces, not a single one of them spoke a word. None would dare answer, because they all knew the answer, and said answer put the whole idea of right and wrong up in the air. Nobody wanted to admit it, but deep inside, and within her very heart, Ruby Rose did.
Nobody held that right.
Every life that was ever taken, be it in the name of justice or vengeance; right or wrong; good or evil: in the end, and by this definition, not one of them was rightful. Every kill was done out of necessity, or so most would claim, but if all lives were equal, and none could have their removal weighed fairly, then that meant there was no such thing as justified killing: not for people, not for animals or plants...
Not even for Grimm.
Roman let his ire fizzle down, and now looked at them with more of a combination of pity and annoyance.
"The difference between us, kids, is that I can live with my choices: can you say the same?"
"Killing isn't evil." V's monotone voice split apart the air like a freshly sliced loaf of bread. "Everything kills: People, the environment, and even time itself: nothing escapes death. To label killing itself evil would be foolish: trying to claim people know better than nature is nothing but arrogance."
Roman cast him an eye, more curious than angry. Everyone else looked at him too, even Ruby. However, unlike the rest, Ruby herself was staring at him with a desperate need. She wanted a reason: some justification for their acts of defense. Ruby didn't like the idea of killing, but if killing was bad then that meant Humanity as a whole was soaked in evil. Evil... once upon a time 'evil' to her had been anything which willingly caused harm to others, but now... in this day and age and with all she had learned: she wasn't sure anymore.
For some reason, every fiber of her soul demanded a justification: anything at all to ease the guild rapidly swelling inside.
"Evil is a Human creation, and as such, it needs to be judged by Human standards: set against Human desires and reasonings. Wolves, bears, and other predators kill, and yet we never dub them 'evil'. These creatures kill to survive, to live: they don't have the mental capacity to understand our concepts, and cannot actively participate in 'evil' the way people can."
"And how would you judge 'evil' then?" Roman retained his stern look, but his voice fell more in line with scrutiny. He was genuinely interested in whatever answer V had prepared… and ready to rip it apart: Ruby wouldn't say anything about it though, because she was too enthralled with the need to know.
"Throughout history 'evil' has always shared a common trait, no matter the act. It always brought willing harm to others for the sake of personal gain. Perpetrators always had something to earn from it, whereas someone had to take the pain. However, the line between good and evil was challenged over concepts of noble revenge: an eye for an eye."
"An eye for an eye makes the world go blind, sonny." Maria perked up, offering a wave as she breathed easier. "But I'm certain you already know that."
"I do." For a second, Ruby could have sworn she saw his iris's glow. "And so did the people back then. It was here I started to see a pattern: Evil was judged by the reasonings of the individual, and the circumstances surrounding it. Killing to avenge was seen as more acceptable than killing for profit."
"That doesn't justify squat." Roman crossed his arms. "Everyone has a reason behind what they do, and nearly everyone who's acted up has faced 'evil' firsthand. What makes this so different now? The line is just as blurry as ever."
"You asked who had the right to decide what life is worth more, but that doesn't matter. If all lives are equal, then the only separator between right and wrong is the motives for the act, and the following actions thereafter: why we do it, and what we do after."
Is... is that true? Ruby couldn't say for sure, but at the very least, it made her feel a little less dreadful. Roman however, he just chuckled.
"Really? You know, that's starting to sound a lot like 'the ends justify the means'. Are you trying to say any atrocity is worth it, if the end is good enough?"
And now she wasn't sure again, and the terror was back in full force.
"That's enough." Ironwood's tired, heavy voice called out, terminating the entire debate. "We didn't come here to argue morality: I brought you all here to ensure we were on the same level." He looked back to them, and Ruby gulped. Ironwood saw her unease, and tried his best to tone it down to a more comfortable state. "We might have once been enemies, but right now we share a common enemy: an enemy who, day by day, draws us all closer to complete and utter annihilation."
"Salem." Roman scoffed, adjusting his jacket collar. "Yeah, everybody knows." He shot an eye over the others again. "Or so I'm led to believe."
"Yes, everyone knows of the danger she brings... everyone, that is, aside from your new acquaintance." Ironwood allowed his gaze to settle on Saw, who never even flinched. The man merely nodded, and the general carried on. "Who we'll inform as we go; I'll leave the specifics to you, Roman, seeing as he was inducted by your call."
"I'll tell 'em, alright: tell 'em just how screwed we are." That last part rolled out along a lowly spat, once again displaying how the uppity crook wasn't actually all that fearless.
"Regardless of everyone's views of her, victory is not beyond our reach. Humanity has survived this long, even thrived, despite her presence influencing the greater game at play. This alone proves we have a chance at victory: our only challenge is understanding how to make the winning move."
"Do you have a plan?" Ruby never recognised the words coming from her own mouth before they left, stopping all in their tracks. It was a little embarrassing, but she didn't feel so afraid of the sudden amount of eyes on her so much as she did the stab of fearful guilt, which was wedging itself deeper and deeper into her gut the more she looked into the general's shattered -but not broken - eyes. They held within them hope, and for some reason she couldn't let go of the terror that was his hope breaking.
The general nodded slowly, and a tiny grin filled with relief and comfort tickled the corner of his lips, once again boiling only worry inside Ruby's mind.
"I do, however it requires time to come full circle. Once I'm sure of all the details however, I'll invite you all here again and explain it in full: you have my word."
His word, they had his word...
The rest of the meeting consisted of nothing but minor questions, mainly from 'Saw' as they'd come to know him. The general, as well as Roman, answered all of them, but they weren't around to hear every single one, as Ruby and her friends were dismissed, and had taken their leave around the point where he started to really ask about Salem. Ruby ran through what the general said over and over in her head, or to be more specific, she considered her feelings towards his final statement.
By now she was sure of it: something within her worried not only for the validity of his word, but also her own personal judgment. After all: every single instance of fear that followed seeing general Ironwood was paired with guilt, and it was here Ruby came to understand that she trusted him just about as much as she trusted herself.
To be fair, her entire team tried talking with her on the way back to their room... but gave up once they realized she wouldn't respond with more than simple single-worded answers.
All, that was, aside from Pyrrha, who stopped her right outside her team's room. The others had gone inside not seconds ago, but rather than keep along with her own team, Pyrrha instead took Ruby's hand into her own, and rather than pop the usual questions of 'are you feeling alright' or 'what's wrong' she took a different route.
"You're confused, right? Afraid of what he's saying, and doing?"
And like with her team, Ruby merely nodded... and then Pyrrha did something else: something unexpected.
"I understand." It hadn't been a question; no, it was an acknowledgement. This forced her senses on alert, somewhat confused, and so she looked up at her friend's face... but not before shooting her eyes to their clasped hands. Pyrrha had squeezed, and seeing her smile pull softly at her cheeks, so... full of melancholy: it made her feel weirdly comfortable around the woman, seemingly sharing the gloom.
"You do?" It was Ruby's turn to ask a question, and Pyrrha answered it easily.
"I do." Seeing her eyelids droop faintly along the corners had something in Ruby's chest tightening, and that strong, equally caring smile... together they brought back feelings from childhood. "I talked about it before: how I shared similar visions with you. And like in those visions, I would see certain people and things, places I've never been, and sides of friends I never knew. It caused me to look at them differently, and while none of them really call it out, I know they feel it too. You're the same way, at least when it comes to the general."
"I... I'm not though." Ruby tightened her grasp, steadying her voice. "I've never had any dreams about the general."
"But you still feel strongly around him." Pyrrha's smile looked all the more inviting. "I've had that happen too, although it was never anything major. Remember Tyrian, and my mumblings about Ren and Nora... or, at least I think it was them." She allowed a tiny giggle to escape her lips. "Sorry. It's getting harder and harder to remember these days."
Ruby knew what she meant, and what she was saying. Regardless of it all though, this didn't really make Ruby feel all that better about the head of Atlas Academy. Even if she never had dreams about him, she still felt so strangely bad around him, and it frightened her greatly.
"How do you deal with it?" Asking so bluntly felt more like pleading, and yet Pyrrha sounded as friendly as ever; not a lick of judgment to be found.
"I remember why I'm here in the first place, and who I'm fighting for." For the first time throughout the entire conversation, Pyrrha allowed her air of comfort to fall into a stale relaxation, filled with a weasley pity. "I know it's not much of an answer, but it's what has always driven me since Beacon. When I think about Jaune, Nora, Ren, or even any of you, I'm filled with the urge to keep fighting, no matter how scared I am."
"Because it's okay to be scared, so long as we don't let those fears control us." Ruby mumbled the words carefully, taking her time to absorb each one.
It was something her dad told her long ago, back when she was still training at Signal. She'd hurt herself badly upon activating her semblance for the first time, slamming right into a wall. Ruby didn't want to try her semblance again after that, and her dad ended up finding her alone behind an old hollowed tree stump just away from the school grounds: she'd been crying. Back when she was little, heroes to her were fearless warriors who defended the world, and being afraid of her own semblance had her believing she wasn't fit to be one.
She'd dreamed of becoming one of them, her idols, and the idea that she was too scared shattered her spirit.
Hearing him speak, though, and proceeding to sit with her: telling stories of all the times he and her mom had been afraid, along with her uncle too, made her feel a little better. And then, a thought came to her, and she asked him then why heroes always stood in the way of danger, and why they never looked scared.
"Heroes are always scared of getting hurt; they're afraid of bad guys and Grimm too. But there's one thing they're more afraid of though, something so scary that they choose to face their problems head on. They're scared most of all that, if they run away, the people they love and choose to stand up for will be forced to face those evils instead. And so they face them instead, acting as shields for everyone around them and battling their fears head on, because the love they feel for everyone else is stronger than their fear."
It was okay to be afraid, it always was: fear is something everyone feels. Humans, Faunus, plants and animals, and now, with the help of V, they knew even Grimm could feel fear. People liked to talk about courageous heroes always being fearless, but that wasn't right. Courage was never about not having fear...
Courage is the willingness to push through the fear, and do what you believe is right.
"I agree." Pyrrha's hand felt warm, or maybe it was just Ruby's imagination doing things on its own as she felt the woman squeeze her hand back. "I've been scared my whole life, of many things, but when I remember why I keep going, all of a sudden I don't mind being afraid: it lets me know what's worth fighting for."
"Yo, Pyrrha!" Nora called from way down the hall, hopping and waving her arms. "Come on: we want to grab some snacks before bed!"
"And that's my signal to go." Letting her grip fade as Pyrrha's hand pulled away, Ruby silently found herself yearning to feel that warmth again. The older girl left with one last peaceful smile; both bold and sincere. "I'll see you tomorrow I suppose."
"Yeah... see you tomorrow." With a little wave, Ruby watched as Pyrrha traveled down the hall, and was pulled into the group again.
"It's best you get to bed, dear; give your mind a rest." Maria's voice was a bit of a surprise, but not a shock, and Ruby turned to face the older woman, who was with Oscar it seemed. Ruby never asked why they were together, and just nodded before opening the door to her room; determined to take the advice and get some hopefully peaceful sleep.
As the door clicked shut, Oscar sighed, sending his gaze towards the elderly guardian.
"Do you think she's going to be okay?" It wasn't good to talk behind a friend's back, but the boy was genuinely worried. "She's been out of it since we got here."
"The little flower's going through a rut for sure, but I believe she's strong enough to conquer any challenge that heads her way. I said it before, and I'll say it again: the best we can do is support her."
"I know."
Yes, Oscar did know, but still, he wished there was more he could do; as did they all. With these final words the pair split, having left the general's office some time ago after Saw was given his whole explanation of Salem: with Oscar himself doing his best to help. Maria had joined him, having stayed behind solely to see how it all played out, and act as mediator should things go bad; luckily, it never came to that.
The night would pass, eerily calm for almost everyone as not a single nightmare haunted the group...
All save V, who found himself face to face with the one person he didn't want to see again…
Himself.
Author's note
...
Another one bites the dust.
Now did I want a philosophical battle of morality between Roman and the party: not exactly. Did I enjoy every second of it though? Why yes, I certainly did. Perhaps this isn't the most interesting of chapters, but I wanted to put everyone through a bit of a ringer before things picked up, and who am I to waste away the little bundle of joy that is Roman Torchwick… even if it's not my best work - I'm tired okay, sue me.
Ruby got some development as well, and it's about damn time! She's been taking forever, but seeing as she's already a protagonist in her own right, she's bound to get more involved, and soon.
Sadly, this chapter doesn't have much else beyond the meeting. Ah well, hopefully the reactions between the heroes and 'villains' was done justice though, but you'll have to let me know that yourself.
The site's been broken for a while on my end, so I have no idea how many of you are actually keeping up with this fic, or if any of you are reading at all; nothing but zeroes on my end - certainly, the same can be said for my other stories as well, so this isn't anything new.
Anyway, catch you later.
