Just as a heads-up, there's gonna be a lot of dialogue in the next few chapters, a lot of characters sitting around and talking to each other. I have a lot of dangling plot threads to tie up and discussions are an inevitable part of that.
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This is Lisa Lavender with the
top stories for Monday morning…
The worldwide CCT interference continues
to plague all 4 Kingdoms with no end in sight.
No word has yet been given as to the
possible cause of this problem, but a
large portion of the blame has been aimed
squarely at Atlas, in particular the Atlas
Military, as their communication systems
appear to be unaffected by the outage.
General Winter Schnee has insisted they
have nothing to do with it, but investigations
are ongoing. At least the TV signals
remain functional, so we can still keep you
up to date on world news.
Despite the loss of direct Scroll-to-Scroll
communications, the upcoming Eclipse Festival in
Argus is still in the works and it looks to be
a major event regardless. Festival activities
are scheduled for all day Friday, with the obvious
highlight being the eclipse itself, scheduled
to occur at 10:15 AM, Vale Standard Time.
While the celestial event is rare enough that no
definite guidelines can be given, most astronomers
agree that protective eyewear should be worn
anytime one gazes directly at the sun, regardless
of the presence of the moon. There is a reason
that sort of thing was warned about in a fairy
tale, after all.
After the break, we'll cover the tragic loss of
two up-and-coming Huntsmen trainees at Beacon
Academy, the twin children of actress and former
Huntress Yang Xiao-Long, member of the legendary
team RWBY.
But first, the weather…
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…
"Dammit…" Ashens growled lightly as she closed her Scroll. "I guess that explains why Winchester didn't bother taking our devices away before locking us up – he didn't need to. Everybody's cut off from the network."
"Except the ones who can access the CCT towers," Jaune added. "'Military equipment' includes those, which means…" he sighed, "…the lines will be a mile long."
"Sheesh… I get locked up for a week and everybody loses their minds," Amy groaned.
The three prisoners all sat on the floor of the cell, one against each wall, with Jaune facing the window. Not that there was anything to see; after less than an hour in here, a shutter was closed to make sure no one could look in or out. Meals were delivered by some kind of automatic system through a tiny trapdoor, but nobody bothered updating it to account for three people. Jaune's stomach grumbled.
Said trapdoor proved impervious to all attempts to break it open, and none of them could reach the speaker in the ceiling in order to futz with the electronics. They couldn't even be proper annoyances to the people keeping them in here, which sucked. At least they hadn't tried using tear gas or anything, so that was a plus.
Ashens had basically withdrawn into herself once they were confirmed as trapped, only speaking when spoken to or if there was something she needed to know. She had returned to the way she was back when she first hired on with the VPD, which gave Jaune cause to worry.
Aside from being mentally worn out, Amy Currant seemed to be in the best shape out of all of them. Impressive for a student. She now wore the janitor's uniform Ashens had on when they first came in; that flimsy gown was indeed all she had to protect her dignity, but Ashens at least wore a t-shirt and shorts under her outfit. It was an easy switch.
And yes, Jaune remained the gentleman and looked away during the swap. He was still happily married, after all.
That detail was the main cause of his worry.
Cardin – or rather, the thing that looked like Cardin – had made it clear in the past that he had no qualms about playing dirty to get what he wanted. He knew exactly where and how to hurt Jaune the most, and he didn't even have to do anything to the man himself. Pyrrha and Pete were Jaune's most valuable treasures, but that also made them his greatest weaknesses.
Amy ran her fingers through her bangs and sighed again, "If I'd had any clue this kind of thing was gonna happen, I'd have stayed far away from the airship that brought me here."
"What did happen, anyway?" Jaune said. "Were you the only one they brought in?"
"There was a big group of us at the airport after I landed. Most were from Haven but there were a bunch of kids from every Academy. I'm the only one who got pulled out of the room and left to rot in here, though. 'Future of Remnant' my ass…"
Ashens pushed her glasses up with one finger, "I suppose I'll ask the obvious question… why did they pull you aside? Did you do something wrong?"
"If I did, then I wouldn't be this upset about it." Amy pulled her own specs off and wiped them on the corner of her borrowed clothes. "Once I got in and sat down – we were in a big meeting room with chairs and stuff – the pilots brought out a wheeled crate with a bunch of Imu in it and said we each got one. Free. Every one of us were excited about it, and I can tell you right now that it was kind of a dream come true for me since I never had the chance to hold one before, but…" she sighed at the floor, "…mine didn't like me. It squirmed and tried to get out of my arms. And for some goddamn reason, the pilot guys decided this was an issue. They got on the radio and I was escorted out of there in less than 5 minutes. Fuck!" She emphasized her point by bashing the concrete floor with her fist.
"The… Imu… didn't like you…" Jaune spoke slowly to make sure he was following this, "…and so they… put you in a prison cell…?"
Amy threw her hands up, "It made just as much sense then as it does now. What grinds my gears is that I'm actually being treated like a prisoner! They won't let me call anybody or even go outside! And for what?!"
"There's obviously more going on that just that, so… I suspect ending up in here might be a good thing in the long run." Jaune crossed his arms as he considered what he knew.
"How did you guys even find me, anyway? Far as I can tell we're practically off the grid."
Ashens answered her, "Check your pocket."
Amy patted the various pockets of her janitor's uniform until she found something hard, pulled it out and gasped, "I thought I'd lost this. Oh Desi…"
Jaune smiled, "Adrian found it and brought it to us, and because of that – as well as my Lieutenant's Semblance – we were able to track you down here."
Amy stared at the picture of her sister, purple eyes on the verge of tears, before closing the locket and putting it around her neck where it belonged. "Fat lot of good it's gonna do us now-"
Conversation died after that. Jaune remained in his thinking pose as he digested what Amy had said, a thought which served to remind him that he wasn't digesting anything else; the Abyssal Beast gave a warning rumble.
Amy leaned her head back against the wall and said, "The Xiao-Long kids… Opal and Crimson. I knew them… they were on Adrian's team, MOCA."
"If I still know Yang, she's probably ready to explode and take all of Vale with her," said Jaune with a wry smile.
Ashens actually managed a chuckle, "I guess that means we might actually be safer down here." She paused, then pulled her Scroll back out and opened it, moving through a few screens. "I wish there was more info on that Festival…"
"It's a shame we won't see it," Amy said, closing her eyes. "Everyone's saying it's gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime event."
"But Winchester mentioned it specifically," Ashens spoke slowly and quietly, which meant she was in work mode. "He's planning something, but.. if I can't find anything to work with… then I won't-"
Jaune looked over, "Didn't the news say Scroll-to-Scroll Communication was down?"
"It is," the Lieutenant motioned to her device, "I'm on the LAN."
"…the wut?"
"Local Area Network. This place has its own wi-fi."
"And you got in? Wait, never mind. I forgot your Magic Hacking Program."
"I did say it was handy…"
"Where in blazes did you get it, anyway?"
"… … …I got an anonymous tip about a cyberattack at the beginning of the year, and the caller sent it to me to help with the case. I couldn't uninstall it, and I couldn't trace the caller to get it taken off, so I'm kinda stuck with it."
Jaune chuffed. "Convenient."
"I'm certainly not going to complain," Ashens returned her attention to the readout. "I'm hoping… there's a way into the… security system from here, but… dammit, there's a lot of files to look through. Battery might run out before I find what I need."
Amy looked over and adjusted her glasses, "Any chance you can access the registry files? Find the people who run this place?"
"I'm copying it into my drive as we speak."
Jaune had to laugh at that, "We really trained you well, huh?"
"Indeed." Her Scroll gave a quiet beep. "Ah, it's done. Let's take a look-see… hmm, that's odd. There's an Arc in here."
That was enough to get Jaune to his feet. "Let me see."
"It's on a list of names under 'Processing Entries.' Amy's on here too, but further down." She lifted the device to let him see better, and his eyes quickly scanned the alarmingly big list before finding the name she mentioned. It was exactly who he thought it would be.
Jaune felt a chill run down his spine.
"Sarge? You okay?"
"Yeah…" Jaune had to shake himself to recover his wits, but rather than sit back down he began pacing. "Keep looking for that security system. The sooner we get out, the better."
Amy blinked, "…Is something wrong?"
"Yes," Jaune tried not to wring his hands. "We need to contact Adrian as soon as possible… and, you know, we also need to get out of here and give Cardin a good, old-fashioned ass whoopin."
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"Ahh~ Just in time, Adri-kins…"
Opal walked towards him at a slow, steady pace. Blades gleaming on her hands. Eyes glowing with a dull, yellow fire. Blood splattered across her face and chest. Behind her lay the body of the young man who had once been her brother, now little more than a food for the worms.
"What's the matter?" She purred, her mouth twisting into a twisted facsimile of a smile. "You look like you just watched your best friend be murdered in front of you."
Adrian couldn't respond. He wanted to – gods alone knew how badly he wanted to – but nothing came out. He couldn't move. He couldn't run.
"Hmm…" Opal put a hand to her chin and narrowed her blazing yellow eyes. Then she snapped her fingers and grinned even wider before jumping straight into the air for a moment. When she came back down, she was not alone… Misty was in her grip, struggling in vain to break free.
Panic flooded Adrian's mind, but still he could not move. Terror, anger, everything mixed together in his brain.
"I know what'll drive you up the wall…~" Opal lifted the claw of her free hand and pressed the blades against Misty's neck. The feisty redhead froze at the contact, her green eyes pleading for Adrian to save her. Opal licked her lips… but then something odd happened.
Her lips began to flap on their own, like pieces of a costume.
"Oh gwea… o' all the tihes fo this to ha'en…" Opal groaned, casually tossed Misty to one side and rolled her eyes. She reached up with both hands and started pulling her own lips off her face. They peeled away like dead skin after a sunburn, but taking everything with them. Chin. Cheeks. Nose. After an agonizing few seconds, there was nothing left between her neck and hairline.
Staring back at him was the skull-like face of the Imu, but not the cute doggo… instead it was the large form of the demon who ate its owner. The living nightmare.
Opal roared, lunging forward, jaws open-
_/_/_/
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"GggGhHH…! ! !"
Adrian jerked awake so hard he slid right off the edge of the bed and onto the floor with a heavy THUD. He didn't move for several moments, waiting until his brain could register that he was not, indeed, in any real danger. The room was dark, quiet, and chilly. No demons were trying to eat him. At least not right now.
He sat up and ran a hand over his face, not the least bit surprised to find he was soaked with sweat. His heartbeat hammered in his ears as he forced himself to take deep, slow breaths. He didn't dare close his eyes right away, since he knew that face was waiting for him on the other side.
Quiet footsteps made themselves known to his left. "Another one?" said Misty.
"…" Adrian's voice refused to cooperate, so he simply nodded.
Misty sighed through her nose, but said nothing. As Adrian sat upright on the floor, he heard rustling behind him; Misty quietly pulled his covers off the bed and draped them over his shoulders before carefully snuggling herself onto his lap and draping the fabric over both of them. Adrian didn't resist. He let Misty fold herself into his embrace and held her as gently as he could, clinging to the truth of her warmth, her passion. Her soul. At this point it was all he had.
"I know you don't want me to apologize anymore, but-"
"Misty, please don't."
"I can't help it… every time I leave you alone for more than 2 minutes, something horrible happens. I can't take much more of this."
"None of us had any idea what was going to happen. Nobody's blaming you for anything."
"…I am, though."
"If you're trying to make me mad, it's working."
"… … …Sorry."
"…"
Neither partner spoke again for the rest of the night. Both were keenly aware that their breathing was the only sound in the room, and would be for the foreseeable future. Team MOCA was no more. Both Adrian and Misty faced an uncertain career path now that they couldn't graduate like other Huntsmen.
Crim's face briefly flashed through Adrian's mind again. He forced it to go away.
He slowly pushed himself to his feet but did not let go of Misty; it was awkward, but he managed to relocate both of them back up to his bed and off the floor. She seemed content with this arrangement and helped adjust the covers so they could continue snuggling, but it was clear she was still worried.
To be honest, Adrian was worried too. But right now, with Misty safe in his arms, he at least had one less thing to worry about.
…
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(Tuesday)
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"I know I said you needed to get some fresh air, but this is not what I had in mind…"
Adrian ignored his partner as he tied his boots, hands finally able to move without shaking. They had the locker room to themselves for now, and all the better; if he had to hear one more person apologize for his loss before the fight, he'd probably start punching early. "I need to do this, Misty. And besides, he challenged me. I'm hardly gonna back down now, not after everything we've been through."
Misty huffed, "That idiot is just looking for more attention! Especially now that Miss Xiao-Long is running the class-"
The door suddenly opened, "I heard my name.~"
"Oh… sorry," Misty went quiet for a moment as the new combat instructor made her way into the locker room. "Just trying to get this dummy here to reconsider."
Adrian stood up and sighed, "My mind is made up, Misty. It's time I finish this once and for all."
Yang stepped forward and looked at Adrian with lilac eyes that held a deep sadness in spite of her grin. "I hope you don't get too carried away out there. I don't know much about that Cliff character, but even I can see he's got a face that's begging to be hit with a 2x4."
"Heh… you're not wrong."
Her smile faded. "What will you do if he's… one of them?"
Adrian clenched his fist until the knuckle joints popped. "If he is, then he'll die. That's all."
Misty said nothing. Adrian had spent much of the day yesterday finally spilling the full truth, no longer holding anything back. His hesitation had gotten one of them killed. His lack of trust in his own partner had destroyed their team. He had vowed to never let that happen again.
Yang reached out and took hold of his fist with one gentle hand of flesh and one cold hand of steel. "I only approved of this match because I know you need to let your pent-up anger out somewhere. I know… cuz I spent most of the day yesterday in the workout room doing the same thing."
"…Is there anything left of it?"
"Beacon Academy no longer has a workout room. It is now a parking lot."
"Yikes."
"I lost both of my children in one night; you can hardly blame me."
Adrian sighed as the faces of the twins once again floated before his mind's eye. It was useless to push them away as they kept coming back, even Opal. Like it or not, they had a permanent place in his heart. The loss would haunt him for the rest of his life. "I'll be careful."
One golden eyebrow lifted, "Who said anything about being careful? I just said don't get carried away."
"Fair enough," Adrian smirked.
Adrian walked out to the training arena with Misty close behind, dressed in his usual combat gear but missing one component; Duster had been left behind as soon as they all got back from Valley Glenn and he never looked back. The glass-like armor on his knuckles had yet to show any signs of damage, and today might be the moment he put them to their first real test. All around the pair stood most of the current student population, most watching quietly but many giving loud cheers when he appeared. A few voices mentioned kids, others named the Berengal. Apparently word traveled fast; his actions during their away mission had become common knowledge, more so than just his newfound love of one specific Imu.
Standing in the arena itself, arms crossed over his ridiculous golden armor, was Clifford Kelly. He smiled as Adrian approached, but it was the same smile as always. The look of the bully who was ready to play with his favorite punching bag.
Adrian glared at his old enemy as Yang came out behind them and stated the rules, but it was all stuff he'd heard before. He flexed his hands as his Aura charged up. Even Cliff could see that Adrian was in a different mood than normal; his smile quickly faded once their eyes met.
But was it fear of injury? Intimidation? Did he think Adrian would actually kick his ass today?
Or was he scared of Adrian's power specifically… the power to utterly destroy any Grimm?
Only one way to find out…
The moment Yang gave the call to start, Adrian put everything he could into his fists and slammed them together. The effect was immediate; a small explosion erupted from the point of contact and sent waves of energy all over his body, strands of blue lightning traveling up both arms and around his head, making his hair stand up. Every cell tingled with raw power waiting to be unleashed. His Aura roared in his chest.
He could just hear the cheering of the crowd come to a dead stop. Yang muttered, "Holy fuck…"
Cliff was clearly taken off guard, but he recovered quickly and sent out the first attack of the match, a simple punch to the head. Adrian didn't even try to block. Cliff's fist bounced harmlessly off his face, even with the added weight of his gauntlet behind the blow.
Cliff went pale.
Adrian reared back, focused his Aura into his fist and let 'er fly.
BOOM ! ! !
For just a moment, the shockwave blinded him to what actually happened. All he knew for sure was that he'd made contact with Cliff's helmet, but after that it was all a blur.
Once he could see again, the massive hole in the far wall told him everything he needed to know, along with the distant rumble of Cliff's body coming to a stop.
Yang cried, "Holy shit you fucking killed him dude!"
"…" Nobody in the crowd made a single goddamn noise.
Adrian glanced at his fist and noticed that he'd once again lost the Amplification effect, the same as back when he first used the power. There was a crucial difference here, though; back then, the impact of the punch itself was far less devastating due to how much of his energy was forced into the Berengal. This time, almost all of the power was projected outward instead, which meant Cliff most likely wasn't a Grimm after all. But did the impact kill him anyway…?
Apparently not; the pile of rubble outside began moving. Adrian quietly started walking forward, ignoring Yang's protesting. Several people moved to watch but nobody followed. Yet.
Cliff's head broke through the pile of debris with an audible gasp, followed closely after by the rest of him. Aside from losing his helmet, the only other mark visible was cracks in his chest armor, and that was likely just from getting blasted through the wall. Other than that he was practically unharmed, a miracle by any stretch of the word. Cliff could barely believe it himself; once fully on his feet, he patted his chest and legs in utter amazement. "How the fuck am I still alive…?" he muttered.
Adrian reached him and, without a moment's hesitation, grabbed him by the collar and held him just off the ground. "I don't care what your problem with me is," Adrian growled, "…but it ends now."
Cliff gulped but remained silent.
"Don't ever challenge me again, Cliff. Leave me alone, as well as Misty. That goes for your whole team. Understand?"
Cliff nodded emphatically. Adrian finally put him down and let the taller boy dust himself off the rest of the way. "Not like I can just demand a rematch after something like that anyway," said Cliff.
"…" Adrian stared, unable to determine what he meant by that.
"To be honest, I…" the blonde boy suddenly turned his face away, "…I never actually hated you, despite how I may have acted. I know I get carried away-"
"-a lot…"
"…A lot, yes," Cliff shook his head and crossed his arms, unwilling to meet Adrian's gaze. "Thing is, I was taught that rivals were the best thing a guy like me could have in order to get stronger. Someone who I could really test myself against. But I was also taught that friends were the opposite; they'd hold me back. So I guess… uh… yeah, I went about it the wrong way. You're nowhere near as bad as I first thought."
Adrian could only blink at the sheer stupidity on display. "You dumb fuck. You… you antagonized me so much… almost got me kicked out of Beacon… for something like THAT?!"
Cliff's hands went up, "Hey, I never claimed to be the smartest guy on the planet. Unless I'm in public. And besides, your issue with the Imu last year gave me a perfect excuse."
Adrian studied the man before him. The man who very nearly ended his entire Huntsman career before it began. The man who seemed hell-bent on making his life miserable.
The man who had been humbled. The man who finally tasted real defeat.
And he wasn't angry about it.
None of Cliff's words came with those unnatural pauses. At no point did he ever stare at Adrian the way Opal used to. During the few times Adrian had come close to him these last few days, the only emotion he felt was annoyance – not fear. And most important of all, Adrian had not killed him with the attack that destroyed the Grimm in Valley Glenn.
Clifford Kelly was human. Real.
There was no time to debate with himself, no time to weigh his options; Adrian made a fateful decision in that moment that, looking back, he would wonder about for quite some time. He reached out a hand and calmly said, "Truce?"
Cliff looked at it, then up at him, decided it was legit and accepted the handshake. "Truce." The two old enemies reached an odd understanding in that moment, and Adrian wasn't the least bit upset about it. "Does… uh… does this mean we're friends?" said Cliff.
Adrian scoffed with a grin, "You've got miles to go before I'll ever call you that, but this ain't a bad start."
Cliff held their contact. "I've put you through a lot of shit, haven't I? Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
"That's a funny way of saying 'literal hell' but I digress. Uhh…" Adrian glanced behind him and noticed a few people finally heading their way, Yang and Misty in the lead. Witnesses. Too close to openly talk about the important stuff.
Moving quickly, Adrian pulled Cliff in close and did his best impression of a bro-hug, which was returned after an awkward pause.
"There is one thing you can do," Adrian said very quietly, right next to Cliff's ear. "Get some stuff together and get away from here for awhile. Away from the school. A week should be long enough."
"Now who's kicking who out?" Cliff said just as quietly, though his smile was audible.
"There's something going on around here. Something dangerous. It got half of my team killed. If you really wanna make this up to me, start by getting yourself out from the middle of it."
Cliff wasn't smiling anymore. "…Fucking hell."
After a brief moment to collect himself, Cliff pulled back and put his old grin back on. It reminded Adrian of his own mental masks, in a way. Behind the two rivals, Yang and Misty finally came up to join them.
"Yeah, you're right," Cliff declared. "I do need some time off for personal training. I'll never catch up to you at this rate."
Adrian blinked but somehow kept up with the act. "You, uh, you really think you have a chance anymore?" He lifted one fist for emphasis, "I could give the God of Darkness a black eye now."
"I'll consider that a challenge!" Cliff gestured like a stage actor, pointing at Adrian, "When I return, we'll truly settle our score! I hope you'll be ready, Double-A!" And with that, Cliff turned and walked away with his usual swagger. Adrian, for once in his life, actually felt regret – he'd formed a momentary bond with his old enemy, but now it almost felt like they'd never see each other again.
Yang stood next to Adrian and looked between him and Cliff a few times, her jaw unwilling to form words. Misty spoke instead, "Did you just… punch him into becoming your friend?"
"Looks that way, huh?" Adrian shrugged. Behind them the crowd started murmuring.
Adrian took a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes and doing a quick meditation; the smiling face of Crimson Scarlatina-Long was there to greet him, watching from the other side. That was enough for Adrian. That was all he needed to see in order to know he'd made the right choice. He started walking back to the dorm in silence, Misty at his side.
Crim was right… I've gotta stop pushing everyone away from me. I can't keep living like that, not anymore.
The last guy who reached out to become his friend was held at arm's length for too long, and he died as a result of Adrian's lack of trust.
He would not let that happen again.
"You!"
Adrian had barely made it 20 feet down the hall before Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee met him, the former clearly angry. Misty fell back a step to give them room but Adrian didn't pay her any heed. He kept walking.
Crimson cloak flaring behind her, Ruby marched in front of him and stopped, mechanical legs planted on the floor like they'd grown roots, both arms folded over her chest. She glared up at him with those brilliant silver eyes, and for once they were angry at him instead of for him. It was a weird flip. "Is something wrong?" he said with a casual tone of voice.
"Wrong?" A vein began to throb on the side of Ruby's head. "You damn near killed another student and you have the sheer balls to ask me what's WRONG?"
"He lived."
"Not the point! If you think I'm gonna just sit by while you tear down this school around me-"
"I'm not tearing-"
"QUITINTERRUPTINGME! ! !"
"…"
Ruby opened her mouth to keep yelling, then closed it again and made herself take a breath to calm down. She turned to Weiss and said, "Could we get a little privacy?"
Weiss nodded and silently summoned one of her Glyphs; a moment later, Ruby and Adrian were engulfed in an energy field that completely dulled the noises from outside while also putting up a slight visual distortion, thus preventing any lip-reading. The crowed behind them was still there, still clearly making noises, but the sound had been cut off.
"What exactly do you think you're doing out here, mister?" Ruby tapped one of her fingers on her arm. "Did it ever occur to you that Cliff might've been… one of them?"
"It did, actually."
One red eyebrow flew up. "So you attacked someone who could very well have been among the enemy… on purpose?!"
"He challenged me. I'm hardly going to-"
"Save the speech, pretty boy. If you had killed one of them, in public, you could very well have kick-started the next war all at once!"
"Anything's better than waiting around for them to make the first move!"
"There are thousands of lives at stake, young man! Maybe millions!" Ruby gestured wildly all around her, "Did it ever occur to you that this little stunt of yours might've put EVERYONE in danger?!"
A hundred angry responses tried to jump out of his mouth, but all of them died before they got that far. Adrian glared at the Headmistress, jaw tense, hands tightly clenched at each side. Ruby glared right back, looking for all the world like she was just as ready to throw hands as he was.
The galling thing was… Ruby was right. He'd been stupid.
He sighed heavily, letting his hands relax. "You're right, Miss Rose. I'm an idiot. I'm sorry."
"Look behind you for a moment, Adrian."
He blinked at her, then did as she said. Not just behind them but all around stood most of the current student population of Beacon, all watching the exchange. Nobody looked angry… in fact, quite a few faces beamed with admiration, awe, and even wonder. It was a far cry from what he'd become used to over the last few years.
"Whether you like it or not, you're famous now. You showed them a power that can utterly destroy the Creatures of Grimm, yet now they know it won't kill a human. I can safely say that for more than of few of these people… you are a hero." Ruby finally relaxed her stance and took a step forward, putting a hand on his arm. "You don't get to be reckless anymore. Not when people look up to you."
"I didn't ask for this…"
"No one ever does," Ruby shook her head. "Believe me, I know how hard it is to live up on a pedestal for everyone to admire but never touch. It's horrible. But it does give you a unique opportunity to influence their lives for the better. They'll listen to you now."
Adrian looked back at Ruby and frowned. "I don't have anything to say."
"You will, kiddo… you will."
Ruby gestured to one side, a signal to Weiss to let the field down. Immediately the noise resumed, only to die down the moment they realized he could hear them. Ruby slowly turned and took Weiss back down the hall, the two of them quietly chatting as they walked. Adrian watched them go with a growing knot in his stomach.
"Hey you," Misty poked his arm. "You gonna live?"
"I'll have to get back to you on that."
"Well, while you're figuring that out (and since I clearly don't need to be your bodyguard anymore), I'm gonna get in line to use the CCT. Gotta call my folks. You gonna be alright by yourself for a bit?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Go on, git."
"Oi-"
Adrian looked over just in time to find Misty climbing him like a damn tree until she held herself up level with his face. She laid a slow kiss on his lips and purred, "Love you, fucknut."
"Love you too, shorty."
Misty's hair briefly flashed red in spite of her grin. She quickly descended back to ground level and scampered off, leaving Adrian to watch her go, his head filled with strange thoughts.
He'd just walloped Cliff in a fight for the first time in his life, and instead of getting pissy about it… the guy seemed grateful. They'd even reached some kind of peace agreement over it. He'd then almost had a face-off with Ruby Rose herself, though thankfully that was diffused quickly. And while he was still sad whenever he thought about the twins, he'd done his grieving yesterday – nobody bothered him all day, which he was thankful for. Now it was time to get on with living, or else Crimson's sacrifice would be in vain.
Adrian gradually made his way back to the dorm, slightly worn out but far more content that he'd been in weeks. He looked forward to letting Laz cuddle with him for the night.
Man, what an afternoon. Hopefully the next few days wouldn't be quite so… exciting.
…
…
…
…
"So, uh… Arc. You're Adrian's uncle, right? I think he mentioned you a few times."
"Uncle by marriage, but yeah, that's me. Adrian's a good kid."
"Yes he is. Uh… does he know you two are out here like this?"
"Far as I know, he just thinks me and Ashens are out of town and looking for someone. I didn't give him anything more than that since he's got enough trouble to worry about back home."
"Some things never change, I swear."
"You care about him, don't you?"
"I will neither confirm nor deny."
"Heh… Fair enough."
"Still, you and your wife are younger than I first imagined…"
"Ashens? Oh we're not married. My wife's back home in Vale with our son."
"Really…? With the way she was staring at your ass earlier, I just assumed-"
"Please don't talk about that kind of stuff, especially when she's not awake to defend herself."
"Oof. Sorry. I'll behave."
"Apology accepted. Now if you insist on staying awake, I suppose I can share a few old stories to pass the time…"
…
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(Wednesday)
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…
Knock knock knock knock
Misty answered the door, but quickly summoned Adrian from his morning read. Today's Poozle was borderline absurd, so he scrolled right past it: 'Why did the dead baby cross the road?'. Truly it was sad that things like the daily riddles still worked when no one could make any calls, but oh well. Whoever was at the door should definitely be more mentally stimulating than that pile of hot nonsense…
The face on the other side damn near gave him a heart attack.
"Oh come on," said Velvet Scarlatina-Long with a weak chuckle, "I don't look that bad, do I?"
Misty rubbed Adrian's back as she said, "He's… had a rough couple of days."
"So have I…"
If not for the darker brown hair color, Adrian could have sworn on all the gods that Opal had come back from the dead and aged another decade. The resemblance was legit frightening – same shape of the face, same long rabbit ears, even the same shape of eyes. Although in Velvet's case, those eyes were red and puffy.
Eventually Adrian collected himself and turned to his visitor. "I'm… sorry. About the twins."
"You and everyone else at this school," Miss Scarlatina-Long sighed. "And that's kind of why I'm here. I only got the 'official' story from Yang and the others, but they weren't there. You were."
Adrian gulped.
"Please…" The rabbit Faunus walked into the room and spoke slowly, her brown eyes gleaming with unshed tears, "I want to know exactly what happened to my children."
Adrian and Misty glanced at each other for a moment. He looked back at their visitor and said, "This, uh… might take awhile."
"Yang knows I'm here; I've got all day," said Velvet.
Misty moved to quickly clear off the desk chair and smiled, "I… I'll go grab a few drinks from the lobby. You guys can start without me." She almost ran out of the room.
"She's… rather empathetic, isn't she?" said Velvet.
"More than I ever expected." Adrian sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying and failing to come up with some kind of clever way to start off the story. Instead he just said, "It's my fault. If I'd paid more attention none of this would've happened-"
The older woman moved quickly to cut him off with a finger to his lips. Gradually that finger moved as it gently traced a line across his face. "My daughter did this, didn't she?"
Adrian nodded. He hadn't had a chance to fix up that scar left behind after Not-Opal caught him with his guard down. It didn't hurt or anything, so he only noticed it whenever he saw his reflection. Two jagged lines of pale skin, with a third lower down that wasn't quite so noticeable. A memento of Howlett.
"I'm not here to pass judgment or blame anybody. I've moved past the anger stage. Right now all I want is closure. Please start at the beginning and just…" her voice cracked a little, "…tell me how my babies died."
In truth, Adrian didn't want to get too far into it until Misty was back in the room, so he stalled a bit with stories of team MOCA's early days at Beacon. It was bittersweet to say the least, but Velvet seemed to appreciate the gesture. Once Misty got back with their drinks (she'd also picked up Laz on the way back), Adrian steeled himself and got on with the important stuff as Laz hopped into his lap and snuggled against his stomach.
It took nearly an hour; he started with his mother's disappearance, how he suspected their Imu was directly involved, witnessing the horror of Ebb killing and replacing Rusty Hamer, how he was led astray by Opal's story and falsely believed Crim was an Imu in disguise, then recounted every detail he possibly could about their final moments, resulting in Crim sacrificing the last of his Aura to send Opal into the Incinerator, after which Adrian hit the button and Crim bled out in his arms.
Both Velvet and Misty were silent after he finished. Misty had grabbed onto Adrian's arm partway through the story and showed no signs of letting go, while Velvet simply stared into the middle distance, chewing on the information. Laz looked to be asleep in his lap, her little chest rising and falling slowly.
At last Velvet said, "You told Yang and her team all of this, correct?"
"I did, yes."
Her brown eyes locked onto the sleeping form of Laz. "And after all that… you still trust her?"
"With my life," he replied with a bit more conviction. "She might look like one of them, but she is not." He ran a hand down Laz's back and smiled when she made a trilling sound.
Misty mirrored the movement and sighed, "Damn… that night when I first brought her up here feels like a lifetime ago…"
Velvet took a sip of her drink, until now untouched, and quietly said, "Crimson… used to call me every weekend to… tell me how things were going here. He… he used to ramble on and on about you, Adrian. He was so excited to finally have a real friend."
Adrian held back a sob as he nodded.
"He saw something in you. Something he believed in." Velvet met his eyes and Adrian could see that her tears were no longer on the verge of falling. Steel met his gaze instead. "Now it's my turn to believe you. To believe in what he saw inyou. Since you managed to figure out the danger of the Crimson Cult pretty much on your own-"
"I had help," Adrian pointed out quickly.
"-then you can find the one responsible for the loss of my children. You can bring them to justice."
"The Imu-"
"-are just Grimm. They have no will of their own, no soul. All of this… the silent takeover, the public acceptance of these monsters… it's all part of a bigger plan. Someone's behind it. Find them. Punish them."
Misty said, "Isn't that… kind of a stretch?"
"Not really. If you think back to your history lessons…" Velvet paused to take another sip, "Things were similar around the start of the Grimm War. Up until that point, none of the Grimm ever organized in large numbers – the most they ever cooperated was in their individual packs – but once the fighting escalated it became clear they had a leader calling the shots. Team RWBY took out that leader and the whole army fell apart."
"And now the Imu are taking over…" Adrian let his sentence trail off.
"Where did they even come from, anyway?" Misty said with a huff. "I was under the impression that the Grimm were dying off after Ruby killed off their queen."
"Part of the popular theory is that the Imu evolved shortly afterward, in some cave somewhere," said Velvet. "But I don't buy that anymore."
Adrian looked at Velvet, "You guys had one, right? The one that… replaced Opal. Where'd you get it?"
Velvet's eyes narrowed as she looked towards the window. There was a clear spark of annoyance in them, possibly anger. "Yang… she brought it home one day, out of the blue. Said it was a gift for the kids. Never did say where she got it from."
"You never pressed the issue?"
"Never had reason to. It was a pup in all but name and looks, and the twins fell in love with it right away. Besides, there was plenty of 'research' at the time to ease my worries. Now I know it was all bullocks."
Adrian crossed his arms in thought. "I'd bet we'll get that answer from everybody who first brought those things into their homes; it was just a gift. If I asked Saphron, I'd bet a thousand Lien she'd say the same thing about ours."
Misty gave Laz a light scritching behind the ears. "This one gifted herself, didn't she?"
"And there's every chance in the world they can affect people's emotions, though we can't know that for sure," Adrian mumbled. "You might be onto something with this leader idea."
"Which means there could be another queen," Misty groaned. "Gods alone know how long it would take to find something like that. We live in a pretty big world as it is."
Velvet shook her head, "The way Yang made it sound after the battle, there was only ever one queen. One master of all the Grimm, no more or less."
"But it's dead…" Adrian looked around at the people next to him, "…right?"
Nobody spoke right away.
Adrian put a hand to his chin and racked his brain. If there was only one queen, then either the Grimm had evolved to the point where they didn't need one anymore or… the queen wasn't dead. If the former was true, then the Imu working as a collective didn't make any sense; their behavior appeared to be consistent across the world by all accounts. That meant there had to be an individual leader running the show. "Is it possible the queen multiplied itself somehow, maybe to save itself right before they killed it?"
Misty nodded, "That could explain the time span between the end of the war and the appearance of the Imu…"
"If there was such a thing, team RWBY would have found it. They made sure to mention that they did a sweep of the entire battlefield after killing the queen in order to clear out any and all remnants of the Grimm." Velvet sighed into her drink, "Even if they somehow missed one, Ruby's silver eyes would have wiped it out. It's kind of her specialty."
Adrian sighed. "Looks like the only way we'll figure out what really happened is by asking someone who was there-"
"Don't bother," Velvet cut in. "After they gave their individual testimonies, all four members of team RWBY agreed they were done talking about it. No more interviews of any kind."
"But wouldn't they talk to me at least?"
Velvet shook her head with a sad smile. "You're popular now, but those girls have bonded over this battle. They're more like sisters than anyone in my family ever was. Yeah, there's a chance they might talk… but I can all but guarantee it'll be exactly the same information as what they gave in those interviews I mentioned. You'd almost be better off just watching the videos online."
Misty chuffed. "No point wasting our time, then."
Adrian made a noncommittal grunt as he resumed thinking. There was another angle, but he couldn't quite see… wait! "Oscar. Oscar Pine was there too." The name popped into his head with enough force that he was suddenly woozy.
Misty blinked, "The Headmaster? Why did I forget that?"
"Now that could be a problem," Velvet pointed in Adrian's general direction. "Considering what happened before you all went off to Valley Glenn, you are the absolute last person on this planet he's gonna want to talk to."
"I didn't get him fired, Ruby did. He knows that perfectly well," Adrian sighed.
"You were directly involved," said Velvet. "Even if he understands everything that went down, the fact remains that you were the one thing that sent his whole life crumbling to the ground. No one can fully let go of something like that."
"So it's a bust…?"
"I didn't say it was impossible," Velvet smirked, "…just a problem. At least for you, since you're pretty famous now; if you marched up to his front door, you'd bring half the paparazzi in the kingdom along with you. Then he'd never budge. Thing is, I can still talk to him in some confidence. I even know where he's staying."
"You'd talk to him… for me?" Adrian could barely believe what he was hearing.
Velvet ran a hand through her hair and stood up with a grunt. "Way I see it, this might be our only chance to find a solid answer. I'll talk to him. I'll talk to anybody I need to. Hell, I'll fight an army of Grimm if it means my kids can find some kind of justice."
"Too bad the CCT is down, or you could just call him," Misty said with a frown. She and Adrian also stood to their feet to see her off.
"He wouldn't answer anyway. Face to face is always the best option in cases like this." Velvet checked her wristwatch and clicked her tongue. "Not too late yet… I'll see if I can track him down today, before sunset. You guys wait here, but… let people see you outside."
Adrian and Misty blinked in unison.
Velvet smiled and nodded at the window, "On my way over here, I heard quite a few people talking about you, Adrian. They're calling you 'God Hands' for that little trick you pulled."
Adrian glanced at the glass-like armor plates on his knuckles and chuffed. "Nice of 'em to ask me first…"
"I dunno…" Misty nudged him with her shoulder, "I think it fits.~"
"I'll be staying on campus until this whole thing gets resolved," Velvet started making her way towards the door, "So I'll come find you once I have Oscar's answer. And don't worry… I'll convince him to meet with you."
"You sound confident," said Adrian.
Velvet grinned wide enough to show her teeth as she opened the door. "I married Yang Xiao Long. And she knows damn well who's the boss in our house."
Adrian chuckled, "Yeah, you're Opal's mom alright."
Velvet paused in the doorway, and Adrian worried he might've said too much.
"I almost forgot," said the older woman in a low voice. She turned and slowly walked up to Adrian, wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him. He awkwardly returned the gesture. "Thank you…" she mumbled into his shoulder, "…for being Crim's friend."
Damn it. Try as he might, there was no stopping the tears that fell now. "I only wish I could've done more," he sniffed.
"It was enough." Velvet sighed as she pulled away, her own eyes wet with fresh tears. She smiled anyway, turned to Misty and also gave her a hug, though she didn't linger as long. She ruffled Misty's hair and said, "You've got a good man here. Don't let him get away."
Misty grinned, "I don't mean to.~"
"Good to hear."
Velvet gave them one last wave before leaving. The door closed behind her, leaving a quiet dorm room and two teammates who didn't quite know what to think anymore.
"I trust her," Misty declared.
"Me too," nodded Adrian. "Sad how short our list of trustworthy people is right now."
"Never woulda thought you'd add Cliff to a list like that…"
"Me either," Adrian shrugged, then made to sit on the edge of his bed. "But my gut tells me he's legit."
Once he was settled, Misty wordlessly climbed into Adrian's lap and snuggled her face against his neck. "The Adrian from a month ago would never have given him the chance."
He wrapped an arm around her waist. "The Adrian from a month ago could never have imagined Grimm were capable of stealing people's skin and playing as humans."
Misty shuddered.
"Besides," he brushed his fingers through her hair, "I've been wrong about an awful lot of people lately. Things are different now. Everything's gone whacko. If I don't give him another chance, then why bother even getting out of bed?"
Misty looked up at him and blinked. "You really have changed."
"Hopefully for the better."
"If this is all settled before Friday… wanna go to the Eclipse Festival with me? I know you're not a big fan of Argus, but-"
"…"
"…What's wrong?"
"You just reminded me of Amy Currant, is all. I kind of agreed to go with her if we were both free, but…"
"Ah. Never mind then."
"I didn't say no…"
A faint yip pulled their attention to the floor; Laz sat on her haunches, looking up at the couple with those glittering blue eyes, her tail wagging.
"You had your turn," Misty growled. "His lap is mine now."
"Ai!" said Laz.
Misty waved her away, "I don't care how big he is, there's only room up here for one of us at a time. Shoo."
Laz lowered her face and sulked away, curled up into a ball at the foot of the bed and watched them silently. Adrian laughed at the display but otherwise said nothing.
Women… almost more of a mystery than the Imu.
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So much to do, so little time…~
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Author's Note: The countdown has begun; chapter 17 will see the end of this story (though I'll include a bonus chapter for 18 because reasons). That may not seem like a lot… and it isn't… but with the pace I write it'll be a close call to try and wrap this up before Christmas. No matter what, though, I want to end this thing before the new year… but I'm shooting for the holiday season because I'm trying to be optimistic.
=^..^=