A.N: OMG, we're finally getting into the endgame of the Atlas Arc. As much as I've enjoyed this arc, we spent way too long in Atlas. It feels like Namek at this point. But, we're almost done, and all things considered I feel like we've accomplished quite a bit.
Chapter 41: Everything Is In Place
Atlas' Military Police moved fast. It had been an hour since Hansel Kobalt's fight with Kelly Kay. A lot happened shortly afterward. During that time, a few Atlas students reported the incident, thus leading to the arrest of both Kay (and the referee who had turned a blind eye towards his actions). As for the crimes in question, the two were charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and even treason against Atlas (for having worked directly against someone who was technically a diplomat).
Needless to say, Ironwood was furious. He was gone for not even a day and then almost everything went to hell in his school. He was so angry, he marched into the holding cells himself and conducted the interrogation personally. The ref was uncharacteristically somber, silent, but cooperative. Kay, however, was a babbling mess who spilled everything. How Trypan Moon had shown up at his room with the prototypes for Aura-piercing rounds and told him to make an example out of Hansel.
Ironwood was no fool. His scientists would not do something like that. They were far too logical to act like this. No, they would only do something like that if they had some sort of personal grudge against Hansel, or if Hansel was getting in their way for whatever reason. Moon was the mole.
A half an hour later, a team of Atlas MPs, led by Winter, were now in front of Moon's home in Atlas. "Stay behind me," Winter ordered the MPs, "if Moon really is the mole, there is always a chance he is not just a scientist, but also a capable fighter."
The MPs all nodded their assent. "You, kick the door down." Winter ordered another MP, who quickly did just that.
Winter quickly charged in, sword drawn. "Trypan Moon!" Winter exclaimed. "We have a warrant for your arrest! Come out with your hands up and surrender!"
The house was dark. Suspiciously dark. Winter felt something at her feet and looked down, it was a broken coffee mug. She quickly used fire dust to light the area around her. "Something's wrong," she realized, gesturing to the mug, "look."
The MPs all looked at the mug. "A broken coffee mug?"
"Why wouldn't it be cleaned up?" Winter inquired. "Watch your step, there could be evidence around this building."
"And Dr. Moon?"
"Be on your guard. He hasn't responded, so he's either fled already, or is preparing an ambush. Either way, weapons are free, but set your rounds to lightning, and turn the power down to a shock-level that will stun." Winter ordered. "If the target is a mole for a terrorist cell, we need to take him alive for interrogation."
Winter kept her eyes on the ground while the MPs spread out. Her eyes widened as her gaze was quickly drawn to something else on the ground. "A Scroll," it was indeed a Scroll with a broken screen, as though it had been dropped.
Now Winter was very suspicious. Something is definitely wrong. No human being would drop their Scroll and leave it in this day and age. Something happened here.
Winter knelt down and looked at the Scroll. Even if Moon was the mole, he'd never leave this behind. This Scroll could contain very damning evidence on other Gray Jackal activities. He'd take it with him or destroy it.
And what's more...I'm not sensing anything from this house. No Aura. Nothing. It's certainly true that it is easier to sense humans with Aura and Moon could've very well never had Aura, but the sensory abilities Aura provides allows you enough power to find a specific person's presence if you concentrate enough. If one can sense where Grimm are when the Grimm lack Aura, the same should apply to normal humans.
Winter was cut out of her thoughts when she heard a surprised yell from one of the MPs. Then they spoke. "Specialist! We found something!"
"What is it?" Winter immediately went to where she heard the voice.
Two MPs were in a bedroom. One MP had his gun trained on the ground. "You!" Winter gestured to the MP not pointing at the ground. "Get the lights on, now!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
Winter shone her fire dust where the MP had his gun trained and her eyes widened. It was a red blood trail, staining the hardwood floors. And the blood trail led all the way to a single door. Winter could only assume it was the closet. This was confirmed when the lights came on.
Winter's expression turned solemn as she realized what she was about to see on the other side of the door. "You two, keep your guns raised." She ordered as she made her way to the door.
Winter nearly reached for the door, only to realize there might be fingerprints. So, she used a glyph on the door to force it to open on its own. The door swung open and she gasped. The MPs did the same.
The body of one man in a lab coat was hunched over underneath the clothes rack. Winter's nose instinctively scrunched up from the smell of death. She took one look at the head to identify the body, only to realize that would be impossible.
The face of the murder victim was missing.
At that moment, Winter put two and two together. The coroner would probably tell her the same, but all the clues made sense now. The silence in the house, Moon's broken Scroll, and now this body hidden in the closet. This body belonged to Dr. Trypan Moon.
Moon was not the mole. He was another tragic victim in this series of events from the past couple of weeks. She turned her attention back to the MPs behind her. "Get the coroner down here." She ordered. "Keep investigating this house for any other clues. I'm reporting back to General Ironwood."
It was now a half and hour later. In that time, Ironwood would be informed of the current situation and Moon's tragic fate. With no more use for him, he gave the order to leave Kay in his holding cell for later punishment. He was not looking forward to it, but it was time he updated Hansel with everything that happened.
He could only hope that Hansel had regained consciousness from his fight with Kay.
Meanwhile, Hansel had been delivered to Florence Sclater for emergency treatment shortly after his fight with Kay. Many would consider it idiotic to take him to a school nurse instead of a hospital, but this was a nurse that was part of a Huntsman Academy.
Not only that, but Florence Sclater was an extraordinarily famous physician. She was once a doctor of great renown, but eventually left the profession and offered her services to Atlas Academy instead, wanting to be of some help to the next generation. Some said she was the best 'natural' doctor on Remnant. Natural, meaning that most of her techniques revolved around an incredible use of medicine and medical technology. Very little use of Aura.
Ruby had just arrived to check on Hansel, having sped ahead of her teammates after getting a decent enough break between classes. She was shocked to see a very pale and sweating, still unconscious Hansel with Florence shaking her head. "Is he alright?" She immediately asked in concern.
"He'll live, but the rest of his day won't be any more pleasant." Florence replied. "But he'll live. His life is in no danger. I managed to stabilize him long enough for his Aura to close those open wounds Kay left him with."
"You stabilized him with the technology you have?" Ruby was surprised.
"Take a look around you, child. This isn't your ordinary school nurse's office. I do more than just give you bandaids and lollipops." Florence reminded her.
Ruby looked around. The place did actually remind her of the hospital room she woke up in after the Vytal Festival Incident. "Wow…"
"Being Atlas does have its advantages sometimes." Florence admitted.
"But, anyway, the professor?" Ruby got back on track.
"The important thing is he'll live." Florence reminded her.
"Okay, I understand that, but why isn't he conscious right now?" Ruby asked. "I mean, I know he went through a pretty tough fight, but Professor Kobalt's way strong. Too strong to be unconscious like this."
"It's really quite simple, Professor Kobalt pushed himself past his limit after sustaining serious injuries. The technology here helped, but it doesn't change the fact his body exhausted itself to heal. Now, he doesn't have the strength to wake up or move and is running a terrible fever."
Ruby's eyes widened. "I don't understand, why is Professor Kobalt running a fever?"
Florence sighed. "I can think of one particular reason. It's a side effect. A side effect of the technique he used towards the end of his fight."
"Technique?" Ruby thought back. "Oh, I think my friend Blake told me what it was. It's called Aura Adrenaline, right?"
Florence nodded. "Aura Adrenaline pushes the body beyond its normal limits by taking all of your body's Aura and pouring it straight into your adrenal glands. All those stories you hear about mothers lifting cars off of their children? That's adrenaline. Now imagine what would happen if you pumped Aura into it."
Ruby's eyes widened, realizing just what Hansel had done to ensure his own victory. "Whoa…" She could only say in shock.
Florence's expression turned solemn. "It's an extremely effective technique. However, the professional Huntsmen circles refer to it as a last resort." She revealed. "It takes a huge toll on the body. Some Huntsmen have had to prematurely end their careers because they used the technique. That's how reckless it is. He's not in any kind of danger like that though. Probably because his Aura reserves are insanely high. So, in exchange, he's running a high fever."
Ruby looked at Hansel in worry. He put himself through all of that just to win...
Florence sighed. "He's probably dealing with this because of his Semblance too." She admitted. "Perhaps overclocking it heats up his body to dangerous levels? I don't know. I don't have enough medical data on him to make an accurate judgement."
Ruby grimaced at how awful her teacher looked. "Gods, look at him, he's drenched in sweat."
Florence nodded. "Yeah, even after I put the washcloth on his forehead too." She noted before adding, "Good thing I brought some rubbing alcohol."
"Rubbing alcohol?"
Florence nodded again as she reached into a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Yeah, one of the more recent medical breakthroughs is that we've managed to curb the dangerous side effects of applying rubbing alcohol into the skin." She explained. "Comas and alcohol poisoning used to be an issue with rubbing alcohol. Not anymore."
"Amazing…"
Florence then scowled. "Ah, damn it." She cursed
"What's wrong?" Ruby's awed expression turned concerned
Florence shook her head, frustrated over this mistake. "I'm out of stock on my fever medication." She lamented. "I knew I should've restocked sooner."
Ruby blinked in surprise. "You still want to give him medicine, even after all this?"
Florence sighed. "Ms. Rose, if what the general told me is true, he needs to be back on his feet tomorrow. I need to do as much as possible in order to make sure that happens." She explained. "That means, constant wet towels, rubbing alcohol, and medicine at regular intervals for the rest of the day while his Aura recharges and helps him work through his fever faster. And that'll be awhile because he used up the last of it, treating those wounds that bastard put in him."
"I see…" Ruby relented.
Ruby was not prepared for what Florence said next. "You do it."
"Eh?"
Florence sighed. "I need to be present in order to restock my fever medication. And like I just said, I can't leave him alone, and I certainly can't stop applying his treatment. So, take the rubbing alcohol, put it on this sponge, and apply it to his chest."
Ruby turned as red as her namesake. Her eyes began to betray her as they wandered to Hansel's body. "His...chest?"
Florence nodded with a frown. "Yes, his chest. Do you have a problem with that?"
Ruby jumped, remembering how intimidating this woman could be. "Eep! No, of course not!" She promised.
That was good enough for Florence. She went over and wrote something down on a notepad. "Alright then, I'm leaving my Scroll's number here on my desk." She informed Ruby. "If there are any sudden changes, call me and I'll walk you through what to do next. I'll be back in thirty minutes."
With that, Florence left the room before Ruby could protest anymore. Truth be told, she wanted to protest some more. "Apply it...to his chest?" Ruby's eyes widened at the thought. "That might be a little...embarrassing."
Her mind started to wander for a brief moment. Thankfully, Ruby managed to shake herself out of those thoughts before things got bad. "No! Don't think like that! Bad Ruby, bad!" She said to herself. "This is strictly professional, so treat it as such!"
"And don't be so nervous. You're just rubbing alcohol on a man's bare chest!" Ruby turned red again before going back to trying to hype herself up for this. "It's just a man's chest. How bad can it be?"
Ruby took a few deep breaths. "Yeah, it's like a girl's chest, but without boobs." She reasoned before realizing something. "So...Weiss' chest I guess."
Elsewhere, Weiss Schnee sneezed as she, Blake and Yang made their way to the infirmary to catch up with Ruby and see Hansel...
With her mental preparation complete, Ruby took the alcohol and walked over to the bed Hansel was lying in, resting. Ruby gingerly reached for the covers and pulled them down, treating her to the...totally not glorious and totally not amazing sight of Hansel's bare muscular chest. That's right. Nothing amazing about this. Ruby was not a hormonal teenager. Not at all.
Ruby turned red yet again. A bit of blood started to drip out of her nose. She spoke up in realization. "This is…a man's chest."
Ruby squeaked when she realized her mind was wandering again. "NO!" She yelled at herself. "No! Professional, Ruby! Professional! You are the professor's temporary nurse! Act like it!"
Ruby poured some alcohol onto a sponge near Hansel's bed and began to rub it into his bare chest. She grumbled. "I really hope this is working…"
Unfortunately, try as she might, Ruby could not keep her eyes off the sight before her...as un-amazing as it was...yeah. Ruby gulped loudly "This...definitely is nothing like a girl's chest…" She realized.
Ruby soon got the alcohol all over Hansel's chest. However, she was still concerned. "Umm...did I even do enough? Maybe I should call the nurse and ask?"
Ruby placed the sponge on the table next to her, but she just could not keep her eyes off of Hansel's chest and how...lame it was. Yeah, lame. Then, things went from bad to worse for the adorable reaper...
Ruby's free hand found itself wandering. Her eyes widened when she realized it was going for a skin-to-skin contact, rather than skin-to-sponge-to-skin.
"No!" She hissed in terror. "Curse you, right hand! Don't betray me now!"
Ruby's mind began to wander again. This time, she did nothing to stop the rationalizations that came. "Well...maybe just a quick feel...a quick touch." She finally relented before reasoning, "I mean, he touched my bare ankle yesterday...so this is just me getting even...yeah. And besides, he's unconscious. What the professor doesn't know won't hurt him."
Conveniently, Ruby forgot the whole incident was for first-aid reasons...
And so, Ruby gingerly placed her fingers on Hansel's bare chest, outlining his pectorals. She let out a small yelp, feeling metaphorical lightning shoot through her fingers and up her arms. Her eyes widened at the sensation. "Whoa...what was…" She muttered before trailing off, spreading her hands to go for more than just finger-to-chest.
Now, her palms made contact. She was red as a beet now and sweating. Was she starting to get a fever too?
Ruby felt out of breath. She unconsciously gasped for air. "This is how a man's chest feels?" She was in disbelief but felt great. Absolutely great. "This is amazing...definitely nothing like a girl's chest. I can't imagine that would be better."
Ruby unconsciously began to run her fingers across Hansel's abs now. Now things were beginning to get out of hand. OH MY GODS! She screamed inwardly.
Rock hard and smooth to the touch. A tapestry that was a testament to his past effort over the course of eight years. That was the best way one could describe Hansel's upper body. And Ruby was experiencing all of it through her own touch.
Ruby was now panting, trying to recompose herself. "W-wow…" She muttered. "this is...this is…"
"Are...we interrupting something, Ruby?" A familiar voice finally broke Ruby out of her trance.
Ruby's red face was replaced by a pale one of sheer terror. She turned to see Blake looking utterly baffled, Weiss looking like she wanted to chop off Ruby's hands, and Yang wearing the biggest shit-eating grin on her face imaginable.
"Eek!" Ruby shrieked in terror and embarrassment.
Weiss was red-faced with embarrassment and anger. "What scandalous indecency is this, you degenerate dolt?" She demanded.
Blake looked as awkward as the entire situation felt right now. "...Maybe I shouldn't read my books in front of you anymore." She mused.
Yang clutched her stomach, visibly trying to contain her laughter. "Ruby, did you once get into Uncle Qrow's stash of magazines?" She managed. "Because I'm pretty sure I saw a similar scene involving a nurse and her patient."
Waving her left hand frantically, Ruby panicked while her right hand remained on Hansel's abs. Needless to say, she was not helping her situation in the slightest. "No! No! No! I can explain!" She promised, speaking in a fast, frantic tone.
As if the situation could not get any worse, another familiar voice spoke up. And it was coming from right behind Ruby...and it was a guy's voice. "Please do…"
Ruby went from white to red now. She looked to the source of the voice. Hansel Kobalt was awake...and he was as red from embarrassment as Ruby was. "...Is there a reason you're touching my abs?" He asked bluntly.
"KYAH!"
Elsewhere, as Florence Sclater continued her journey to get the supplies she needed to help Hansel heal, a thought crossed her mind. "I may have underestimated my patient's ability to heal with his own strength." She mused before brushing the matter off.
"Ah, whatever, what's the worst that could happen from that?"
A few minutes later, back in the school infirmary, Hansel had managed to lean up and fold his arms with a scolding gaze. He was red with embarrassment and still a bit woozy from his fever. However, he still had enough lucidity to scold his student for...whatever the hell THAT was.
"Okay, it's not that I don't appreciate you looking after me while the nurse is...inexplicably gone." He began before glaring in frustration and embarrassment at Ruby. "But you can't just touch a man's bare chest while he's asleep!"
Hansel turned even redder as the ridiculousness of this situation fully hit him. "I shouldn't even have to tell you this!" He claimed.
Ruby grumbled, bright red in the face. "I was trying to rub alcohol to bring down your fever." She claimed.
Hansel was now more confused than frustrated. He gave Ruby a deadpan expression. "With your hands?" He inquired
"No...with a sponge." Ruby shook her head.
"And where was the sponge?"
Ruby let out a small squeak, realizing the truth was about to get her in a lot of trouble. But, at this point she had to be honest. "...Not in my hands." She admitted.
Back to frustration for Hansel. "So why?!" He demanded, making Ruby yelp comically.
Yang just snickered, weirdly okay with how touchy-feely her sister was getting with their teacher. It was probably because Ruby was the one who initiated the whole thing. "Hey now, lay off Teach." She chuckled. "Ruby's just at that age where boys are no longer gross."
Ruby gave Yang a look of pure betrayal. "YANG!"
"Well, am I wrong? Or were my eyes playing tricks on me when I saw you rubbing your hands on Teach's abs?" She then turned to Hansel and smirked. "Nice job on those by the way, Teach."
Hansel face-palmed. "Oh, don't you start!" He groaned.
Yang laughed. "Sorry, sorry." She apologized before continuing, "Anyway, the only other guys she spends a lot of time with besides our dad and uncle are Jaune, who's...well, Jaune. And Ren, who already has dibs called on him by Nora."
Hansel looked at Yang like she was stupid. Like the reason why this was not okay should have been obvious and it was not for whatever reason. "I'm her teacher!" He reminded her. "You do realize how bad this could make me look, right?"
Ruby raised her hand. "Well, I just thought I was getting even." She tried for an excuse.
"How?!" Hansel could not believe that in the slightest.
Ruby gave an adorable pout, blushed and looked away. "Don't tell me you forgot. You were touching me yesterday." She pointed out...neglecting that was for medical reasons and not realizing how bad that sounded for Hansel.
Hansel immediately saw the rest of Team RWBY looking at him with accusatory glances. He stammered for a bit before regaining his composure. "Don't say it like that!" He yelled. "Your teammates are going to get the wrong idea about me! That was for first aid!"
Hansel face-palmed and groaned. "We're getting nowhere with this." He realized.
Taking a deep breath, Hansel managed to calm down. "Look, it's best we just all pretend this never happened, and keep this between us." He concluded. "Rose, just promise me you'll never molest me in my sleep again, and we'll call it good."
Ruby wailed in humiliation. "NO! Don't say it like that! You're going to make me look like a weirdo!" She claimed.
Ruby ran to the corner of the room and faced said corner like a disciplined child, too embarrassed to look anyone in the face right now. Hansel shook his head in disbelief. "Why does she have to act like she's the victim in this?" He muttered.
Hansel then felt someone's eyes trained specifically on him. He turned to see Yang looking him up and down as though she were appraising him. He glared at the blonde brawler. "Any other wonderful things you'd like to add to this wonderful conversation, Xiao Long?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.
Yang gave him a thumbs up and responded in the most serious voice she could muster. "You would have made an amazing male model in another life." She sincerely told him.
"Get out."
Before anyone could do exactly that, they heard a knock on the door to the infirmary room. "Hansel," Hansel's eyes widened in slight surprise. It was Ironwood on the other side. "Are you awake?"
All four girls stiffened. "Yeah, I'm up. Come in." Hansel told Ironwood.
Ironwood opened the door and entered with Winter following close behind. However, before they could get any close to Hansel, all four members of Team RWBY immediately got between Ironwood and a very confused Hansel. They all glared at the general, much to his confusion. It was a look that told him: 'you shall go no further.'
"Umm…" Hansel was quick to speak up. "Did...I miss something here?"
Winter was briefly taken aback by their actions before chuckling in amusement. Looks like they've gotten pretty protective of their teacher. She mused.
Thankfully, this realization helped Winter play peacemaker. "General," she said, "they think you're here to finish what Kay started."
Ironwood snickered before that caused him to laugh heartily and sincerely. "Okay, fair enough." He relented before addressing Team RWBY. "Don't worry, I'm not here for anything of the sort. If anything, I came here to apologize."
Ironwood turned to Hansel. "Kelly Kay was a soldier under my command. Any disgraceful actions he takes are my fault." He claimed. "I'm truly sorry you had to go through all of that, Hansel."
Hansel shook his head. "Not a scratch on me, see." Hansel gestured to his body. "Nothing to apologize for at this point."
Ruby's eyes widened. She briefly forgot how muscular he looked and realized that all his wounds had vanished from his body entirely. That's incredible, she noted, his Aura reserves must be insane to close all the wounds...and to the point where there's no scarring either..
Ironwood took issue with the second half of Hansel's statement and frowned. "There's plenty to apologize for." He claimed. "Kay attempted to kill a professional Huntsman who was acting on behalf of an Academy Headmaster. And to do that, he cooperated with a terrorist who infiltrated our academy and military. He has attempted homicide and committed treason and conspiracy against Atlas. The former crime is 20 years in prison at least and the latter two could very well carry a death sentence."
Hansel narrowed his eyes. "Who did Kay lose in the Tragedy?"
Ironwood was taken aback by Hansel's query while everyone else just looked at Hansel in confusion. Ironwood coughed and responded. "His entire family," Ironwood admitted, "well, not his father, they were out hunting together at time. Though his father died a few years later."
"I suppose...Kay had carried a grudge against the Kobalts ever since."
"...What do you plan to do to Kay?" Hansel asked.
"Dishonorably discharge him and then have him brought up on the charges I mentioned." Ironwood replied. "He'll probably spend the rest of his life in military prison."
Hansel's expression soured. "Don't you think you could suspend him with pay instead?"
"Whoa, whoa, Teach, seriously?" Yang was stunned he would even suggest that. "He tried to kill you."
"He tried to kill me because of a very personal grudge that just about everyone in Remnant shares." Hansel pointed out. "If and when word gets out that Ironwood is arresting and charging a man for crimes against me there will be a massive public outcry."
"Professor…" Ruby muttered in sadness.
"Ironwood," Hansel looked at the general, "just suspend him. I've already kicked his ass anyway, so there's no reason for me to hold any sort of grudge against him."
"If you do anything else to him, you'll lose the support of the people to the point where even Professor Ozpin won't be able to help you."
Ironwood sighed and marched right past the girls to Hansel. Giving the Kobalt a steely glare, Ironwood's human hand flashed right across Hansel's face, striking him in the cheek and making his head whip to the side. Hansel's eyes widened, unable to believe that Ironwood would actually strike him.
"Professor!" Team RWBY yelled in concern.
"G-general!" Winter was in disbelief as well. "What are you doing?"
"Getting him to snap out of his nonsense." Ironwood replied sternly.
"My nonsense?" Hansel instinctively glared at Ironwood for that statement.
"Yes, your nonsense." Ironwood insisted. "I understand why you think the way you do, but that doesn't make it right in the slightest."
"I don't want to hear that from you!" Hansel yelled. "Shut your damn mouth, Ironwood!"
"I will not," Ironwood remained calm, "you are going to listen to what I have to say, because you may not want to hear it from me, but you clearly need to hear it."
"You act like you deserve to be punished for your family's crimes and how that will somehow fix something. But to be frank, Hansel, I'm sick and tired of this martyr act because it accomplishes nothing! As a military man, let me tell you that martyrs contribute nothing to the cause, so you need to get with the damn program!"
"General-" Weiss tried to speak up, only for Winter to place her hand on Weiss' shoulder. Weiss saw her sister shake her head.
"How I handle my problems is none of your business!" Hansel claimed.
"Bullshit!" Ironwood dropped all formalities now. "The fact that we're fighting on the same team makes it my business! If the professor's mission means that much to you, then you need to start thinking about how your actions affect the people on your side! Drop the damn martyr act and really think about your role in this fight, Hansel!"
This made Hansel's eyes widen, actually considering Ironwood's words. It was at this moment, Ruby realized that Ironwood was trying to help Hansel in his own way, like Hansel did for them throughout this week.
Before anyone could ponder Ironwood's words any further, they heard another knock on the door. "Umm...can we come in?" A nervous voice spoke up from behind the door. "Is...is Professor Kobalt awake?"
Ironwood raised an eyebrow. It was a youth's voice. It could only be a student. "Enter!" He ordered.
"G-General Ironwood?"
"Yes, it's me, no need to be afraid. The professor is awake and alert. Now, if you wish to enter then enter. Stop wasting your own time."
The door opened, revealing two nervous female students and one male one. "After all," Ironwood continued, "you three should be in class."
"We...we just wanted to see if we could speak with Professor Kobalt, General." The lone male explained. "We hoped...well, we had hoped he was at least well enough to speak."
"Why are you three here?" Ruby spoke up, instinctively glaring at the Atlas Academy uniforms they were wearing. She could not stand seeing that uniform after seeing how all those students treated Hansel during his fight with Kay.
All three students wore extremely guilty looks on their faces at that question. "We were...some of the students who participated in all that horrible jeering." The male student admitted.
Okay, now Ruby really disliked these three.
"And we wanted to apologize!" One of the female students said sincerely.
"Yeah, we're really sorry we said all that awful stuff, Professor Kobalt! It was wrong!" The other female student added.
"There's...there's really no excuse for what we did." The male student admitted. "We got swept up in all the hysteria...all of it, and we said some things none of us would ever have said otherwise."
"We didn't question it." The second female student picked up the slack. "I mean, it was an adult...an authority figure we are all supposed to look up to as Atlas students. So we didn't question it. But we should have because what we did and said was wrong, and we hope you can forgive us."
"The hell's with this change of heart, huh?" Yang demanded with a frown.
"Her, actually." The first female student pointed at Ruby, surprising her. "When she said all those things on the professor's behalf, and it made us think twice about everything Special...er, what Kay was getting us all to say."
"She was right, Professor Kobalt's a better Huntsman than all of us, and we should've seen that. And I know there are a lot of students here in Atlas who are thinking the same as we are." The first girl turned back to Hansel. "So again, Professor, we're really sorry about everything, and we hope you'll forgive us."
Hansel was taken aback by this request. In the years he had spent training and fighting, no one had ever asked for his forgiveness before. However, he soon got over his surprise and raised a hand of reassurance. "Don't worry about it," he promised, "if you three really mean it, I've got no reason to hold a grudge against you, or any of the other students here."
"Just...try not to get swept up in the mob-mentality again. If you want to be good soldiers and good Huntsmen...it's important to think for yourself too."
"Thank you very much, sir!" All three Atlesian students said in unison before dismissing themselves.
Ironwood could not help but smile. Maybe it was true that the world despised the Kobalt Family name and everything it stood for. However, sometimes all it took was one single event to set things on a completely different path.
Ironwood's gaze was then drawn to Ruby. And it all started because of everything she apparently said. He noted. Amazing what an honest, pure statement-regardless of how it's delivered-can do to change the hearts and minds of others. If more people were like that…
"General, we should probably discuss everything that's happened." Winter told him.
"Yeah, you're right." Ironwood nodded before turning to Team RWBY. "You girls should return to your classes. We need to talk with Hansel about his investigation."
Before any of the girls could say anything, Hansel spoke up. "It's alright, go on." He assured them. "I'll be up and about pushing you girls past your limits by tomorrow."
This seemed to assure the girls enough to get them to leave. Ironwood could not help but chuckle. "You may not realize it yet, but you've won over some very loyal students, Hansel. Students who think very highly of you."
"I never asked them to." Hansel looked off to the side with a small pout.
Winter could not help but smirk. And you care more about them than you let on yourself, you stubborn kid. She mused.
"Enough about that, what did you want to talk about?" Hansel asked. "About the investigation?"
"While you were unconscious," Winter spoke up first, "I took a team of MPs and raided the home of Trypan Moon, the scientist who was working on the Aura-piercing rounds that Kay used in his duel with you. We suspected he was the mole you were searching for."
"So what happened?" Hansel asked. "Please tell me you didn't try to engage him on your own."
"We never got a chance to, Moon's not the mole." Winter revealed. "He's dead. The real culprit murdered him and stole his face."
Hansel lowered his head and heaved a sigh. "Damn it," he cursed softly. Another life cut short by Gray Jackal's machinations.
"And even if that narrows down the suspect pool by process of elimination, we still don't have any solid evidence where we can make an arrest." Ironwood pointed out. "Huntsmen may be able to play a bit looser with the law, but they still have to follow it."
Hansel narrowed his eyes. "There's more, isn't there?" He inquired. "Your face tells me there's way more to this."
Ironwood sighed. "Promise you won't freak out."
"When have you ever known me to freak out?" Hansel countered.
Winter and Ironwood both gave Hansel a look that said: 'are you serious?' Ironwood then took a deep breath. "There was a massive prison break at multiple maximum security prisons across the Mantle-Atlas area." He revealed. "Four prisons filled with extremely dangerous prisoners from C to A class. The lowest of the low. The kind of men and women with crimes that would make a sewer rat puke."
"Any survivors?" Hansel immediately asked.
"One," Ironwood grimly replied, "and she was practically catatonic when we found her."
"Why was she left alive?"
"Presumably to send a message." Winter replied. "Killing everyone is far too easy. But leaving one alive is a demonstration of power, a show that these aren't just savages. These are people more than capable of deciding who lives and who dies. That kind of composure and intellect makes people downright dangerous."
"You said she was catatonic. Has she recovered enough that she can tell you who was responsible?"
"She has," Ironwood nodded, "and the description she gave of the attacker at her jail cell…"
"Hold on, attacker as in one man?" Now Hansel was really interested.
"That is correct," Ironwood nodded, "and Hansel, you need to understand that every single prison warden is an A-Class level fighter. We screened all the A-Class Atlesian Huntsmen and gave them proper MP training to give them warden qualifications."
"And not a single warden survived. They were all murdered. One done assassination style, his throat was found slashed the next day. We suspect he was killed before all the guards to throw the prison into confusion. One was found impaled and then fried, as though he had been electrocuted from the inside out. The third was also found impaled, but that was it. And finally, the fourth, the prison where we found the survivor...well, she actually saw what this one did to the warden."
Ironwood paused, as if he was afraid to reveal what transpired. "Ironwood," Hansel said calmly. "What. Happened?"
"The perpetrator...he ripped the warden's heart out of his chest. Punched right through his Aura, then he proceeded to rip the warden's body apart into sixteen pieces." Ironwood revealed. "The...survivor claimed she heard the perpetrator deliver a very chilling statement to him."
"Do not lament your defeat, dear warden. You are not weak. I am simply far too strong for you. And now, as per the will of the victor, I shall now emancipate all those who have been a victim of Atlas's oppression. But worry not, dear warden. You will not live to stow in your failures."
"And as for you, young guard, rejoice, you get to live and deliver this message. The emancipation of Mantle has officially begun."
"Did she describe the attacker?"
"A hulk of a man with a mask with the design of a diamond on the forehead." Ironwood described. "Sound familiar?"
"The King of Diamonds," Hansel realized, "one of Gray Jackal's four commanders, alongside the Jack of Clubs, Ace of Spades, and Queen of Hearts."
Hansel's expression darkened. "I don't understand," he scowled, "why in the world would Gray Jackal launch an attack like this? Was it because I was getting too close to the truth here? Or are they after something else?"
"I don't know, I'm keeping all of my Specialists, other than Winter here in the field. The trail has figuratively and literally run cold thanks to intense weather conditions but we're hoping to get a lead soon." Ironwood's expression softened. "Hansel, I really hope you don't believe you're responsible for this."
"The only one at fault is the King of Diamonds. If Gray Jackal was ballsy enough to pull this now, they probably would have tried it sooner or later." Hansel replied, surprising Ironwood and Winter with his maturity. "So, what happens now? We're clearly racing against time here if Gray Jackal now has an army of prisoners under their command."
"Do you think they'd use this army of prisoners against Atlas?" Ironwood raised an eyebrow.
"It's not normally their modus operandi to pull something this loud. Gray Jackal has been kept in check for years by people just as strong if not stronger than them. People like Professor Ozpin and the other Legends." Hansel explained. "But if they perhaps found a reason...perhaps they would be willing to grow more bolder in their efforts. And it's clear that this King of Diamonds has some sort of vendetta against Atlas."
"But until we can pick up the trail, all I can do is focus my efforts on the man inside." Hansel turned to Winter. "Winter, please tell me you found something in your investigations."
Winter nodded. She walked over to the nightstand next to Hansel's bed and brandished several files before placing them on said nightstand. "I investigated your hunch that our mole is a former Atlesian Black-Ops Specialist, so I cross-referenced your theory on their Semblance with the height you gave me."
"What did you find?" Hansel asked.
Winter took a deep breath. "One name, an ex-black ops soldier named Rainn Biggs. Actually, he's an unofficial legend among the Atlesian Black Ops."
"How so?"
"Specialist Biggs served his kingdom for his entire adult life." Winter explained. "He worked his way up from a low-level soldier to a distinguished black-ops specialist with nearly a hundred completed missions to his name. In fact, it's an all time record."
"Should Atlas really be keeping that as something to celebrate?" Hansel deadpanned.
Winter ignored Hansel's wisecrack and continued. "He fits everything you're looking for: the same height, and more importantly, according to records, he has a Semblance that allows him to take the faces of others and perfectly replicate them."
"But there is one problem with your theory." Winter admitted.
"There always is."
"Rainn Biggs is dead. He has been dead for three years." Winter revealed.
"Did he die on assignment?" Hansel inquired.
"That...is the official cause of death, yes." Ironwood replied.
"Okay, and unofficially?" Hansel gave both Atlesians a deadpan expression.
Ironwood and Winter exchanged glances. Ironwood sighed. "The truth is, Hansel, Project Witchcraft...the revival of your family's old experiments...it's been going on for five years. Agravain brought back the project under the name you see today five years ago."
"And two years after it was brought back, he was finally ready to recreate the project's testing phase."
"I already hate where this is going." Hansel scowled.
"...The experiment failed miserably." Ironwood revealed. "You see Agravain...infused ice dust into Biggs to avoid a more volatile reaction like that of the Tragedy of the Flames. However, what Agravain failed to take into account was that if a subject does not die a painful death, the implants, they...they run the risk of altering the subject's psyche."
"What happened?" Hansel asked in concern.
"Biggs woke up from the surgery a different man, cold and ruthless and very mentally unbalanced. Perhaps the dust interfered with the chemicals in his brain, causing an imbalance? Either way, what happened next was a disaster. Biggs slaughtered his way to Agravain, chasing him out to the edge of the roof, overlooking the coast this laboratory was next to and almost did kill him. We managed to surround him as this all happened. However...his heart just gave out on him."
"Gave out?" Hansel inquired.
"It just stopped, as though it couldn't take the stress of what he was doing any longer." Ironwood explained. "We checked the body and confirmed him dead. I was there, I confirmed it myself. And then...the ice dust seemed to react on its own like it was a parasite protecting the host."
"How is that possible?" Hansel demanded.
"Some sort of reflexive command perhaps." Ironwood shrugged. "Or maybe the dust had infused into his neural network and reacted like an autonomic reflex. It encased his body in ice and caused the area around him to collapse from the weight."
"And after that, his body was lost at sea." Winter revealed. "We declared him dead afterwards because, like we said, we checked his body. There was no pulse. Rainn Biggs was already dead before we lost the body."
Hansel thought the matter over. "Even so, he's the only person that fits as a suspect to this point. He's the only person who knows Atlas well-enough to infiltrate it and use it to his advantage." He noted.
"And he's dead." Winter reminded Hansel.
An idea then crossed Hansel's mind. It was just a theory, like everything else, but he had a hunch it was correct. "Hold on a minute," he said, "you said you surgically implanted ice dust into Biggs' body, right?"
Ironwood nodded. "And his heart only gave out after you surrounded him?" Hansel narrowed his eyes."You are absolutely certain it was after you surrounded him."
Ironwood nodded again. Hansel's eyes widened. Maybe he was onto something here? "Ironwood," Hansel addressed the general, "do you remember the details of the machine that kept the previous Fall Maiden alive?"
"Of course, I was part of its design after all, as was Dr. Polendina." Ironwood replied. "It was an experimental cryogenic life-support chamber that was designed to keep her alive long enough to find a new host, and we did."
Hansel gasped. "That's it!" He exclaimed.
"What is?" Winter asked.
"Don't you see, that's how Biggs did it! That's how he's still alive and is acting as the real culprit!" Hansel exclaimed.
Winter and Ironwood looked at each other before realization slowly began to dawn on them both. "He used his newfound cryogenic powers to put him in a death-like state." Hansel revealed. "Maybe it was an autonomic reflex. But it was definitely a reflexive action he planned ahead of time."
"Oh my gods," Ironwood gasped, "he played us all for fools!"
"No, not for fools, you had no way of knowing he'd have that kind of control over his powers." Hansel shook his head.
"So what happens now?" Winter asked. "If Rainn Biggs really is the culprit, then we have a legendary Black Ops Specialist as our opponent. This isn't going to be easy."
"If it really is him, we need to move against him now, optics be damned." Ironwood shook his head. "Biggs' far too dangerous to be left alive and to be taken in by the book."
Hansel shook his head. "Not necessarily, if you two are willing to trust me, I've got a plan that will expose him mostly by the book. But you need the rest of the day to prepare."
Ironwood and Winter were both confused at this. "If you try to take him in completely by the book, he'll just turn violent and put you and a lot of innocent lives in danger." Hansel reminded them. "So I need you guys to give me a day to recover. And while that happens, get as many of your men as you can to discreetly form perimeters throughout the kingdom. That way, when this does go down, he'll have nowhere to run."
"Are you sure you can't just leave this in our hands, Hansel?" Winter asked. "Look at you, don't you think you've done enough?"
"Not enough," Hansel shook his head, "not yet."
"Now do I have your word on this? For this to work, you need my help."
Ironwood and Winter looked at each other. Ironwood heaved a sigh. "Okay, Hansel, we'll put our trust in you." He promised. "Now, what's your master plan?"
Hansel let a rare smirk of confidence grace his lips as he laid out his plan to his two closest allies in this investigation. By the time dinner was over, Atlas would unofficially be placed on high-alert.
Everything was in place for Saturday, a Saturday that would come to be known as the Blizzard From Hell. A hell that enveloped both Atlas and Mantle for an entire day.
A.N: With how heavy the last couple of chapters were, we needed some lighthearted stuff, especially mixed with the downright nightmare fuel that was referenced here and there. And especially because of what's about to happen next. I'm continuing to work on the next chapter of the RWBY campaign at the time. I had planned a lot of the moments in this chapter ahead of time. See y'all next time.
