Chapter 3 – Catgirl Manor

A wide host of catgirl allies are conscripted to join the fight, many through less than scrupulous means.

No, I will not give you free reign to do as you please. I'm going to have to insist that you inform me of your plan to make contact with Miss Belladonna before you go through with it.

Well, Ozpin was keeping secrets from Neo. Wasn't it only fair that Neo got to keep some secrets back?

You've being awfully petty right now. This isn't the time for tit for tat.

Tit for tat. Hmmmm. Was that like when he'd poked her in the tit for tat with his grubby Ozpin mitts?

It was your hands that did the pok– no. No, I will not get caught up in another trivial argument. When I did that, I was making a point – a point which, it would seem, you still fail to understand. We need to cooperate.

No, that wasn't true. Ozpin needed Neo to comply. He expected her to fall in line like a good little host and trust him at his word, but he wasn't willing to extend the same courtesy to her. He expected everything from her and was willing to offer nothing in return.

Have you perhaps considered that my secrets are too dangerous for you to know?

No, she pretty much hadn't, and she didn't intend do. Oh, it was time. The Catgirl Manor guards were at their shift change, meaning there would be a five second blind spot coming up one minute from now in the jump space from the palm tree to Little Miss Catgirl's balcony.

Miss Neopolitan, do make me force you to stop. You know I can. The difference between our situations is that I am trustworthy, whereas you have displayed a penchant for criminalistic backstabbing. It shall be more difficult for me to trust you than for you to trust me.

That was a cute justification. How long did it take for him to come up with it?

May I remind you that I can inflict severe mental distress, should I believe your intent be to inflict harm upon one of my students?

He may not.

The time for talk was over. Neo turned black as night and sailed over the gap like a bolting gazelle. She hit the deck with a muted thud, making sure to catch her fall with her hands and transfer the energy into them. The second she was on the wooden balcony, she shifted to blend in with the brown color.

There was silence in both her eardrums and her mind as she and Ozpin waited to hear for the alarms being raised.

None were.

Excellently done. You've gotten in to, er, C-Catgirl Manor. Now, please allow me to take control so that I may –

That wasn't how it worked. Neo's body wasn't his to steal when he felt like it. She said when he got control.

A sliding paper door, one of the three that opened out to the balcony, slid open. The monkey Faunus boy stepped out, then turned in the direction of Neo and the other door. Ozpin began to spout all sorts of panicked thoughts, but Neo just held her breath and waited for him to step on her.

The second he was about to, she rolled towards where he'd been coming. Sun's eyes had been glued to his scroll, and he didn't even notice the faint outline of a shadow as it shifted about on the floor to avoid his shoes.

They would be fine as long as they kept their composure. That was why Neo needed control – she was the one well versed in her own semblance and lithe frame. Ozpin would just muck it up if he tried to jump in halfway through the mission.

Monkey-boy knocked on the paper door, only for it to slip off its roller track and fall inward. Little Miss Catgirl and Poppa Catgirl-Man were seated on a couch, sipping tea and sharing some sort of tender hug, and it was clear to all four people that Monkey-boy's intrusion was unannounced, inopportunely timed, and unwelcome.

The blond Faunus was still lying faceplanted on the ground at Neo's level when Little Miss Catgirl –

Miss Blake Belladonna, if you don't mind.

– when Catgirladonna dragged him up by the scruff of his neck and launched into a tirade about his antics. Neo rolled away from them, knowing from her embarrassed look that she was about to take this conversation outside away from her father's gruff and growling mug. Neo might've felt bad for the guy if she could be bothered to care – it wasn't his fault that the doors were made of Styrofoam. He'd knocked and everything, but she was still tearing him a new asshole.

"No concept of privacy, no respect for personal space!"

Each accusation was punctuated by a vision slap. By the end of it, Monkey-boy was tearing up like a little bitch.

"I'm sorry, okay! Owww…"

Both of the Faunus were so focused on themselves that neither noticed the three interlopers listening in on their supposedly private conversation. Still, now wasn't the right time to reveal herself, so Neo had to awkwardly cringe as the girl beat the boy around and he awkwardly floundered about. As flirting skills went, theirs both sucked.

Wait, three?

Yeah. Neo countered herself and Ozpin as two since they felt like two.

Then who's the third?

Wow. He really hadn't seen the White Fang spy who'd shown up around the same time Monkey-boy did? That was kind of embarrassing for a pro-huntsman…

We need to help them! They're in danger! Cede control to me, quickly.

Pushy, pushy. What was the magic word?

Fine…please!

Actually, the magic word was 'NO.' As in, there was NO way Neo was giving up control of her body. It all worked out in the end, anyways. Blake and Sun noticed the spy when she threw his scroll haphazardly into the jungle and got a lucky strike, and the two of them went chasing off after them. Neo waited until Poppa Catgirl-man finished sighing and putting back up the door before un-blending from the floor and entering Catgirl Manor through the third door.

It has a name, you know.

And?

It is known as the Belladonna Manor.

That was what Neo was calling it. The Belladonnas were Catgirls, after all. Neo really had no idea why Ozpin saw such a big distinction between the two synonymous names.

Neo's eyes scanned her surroundings, and she felt Ozpin's disapproval grow in size as her brain automatically scoped out the most valuable objects within. He was worrying for nothing; even if Neo decided to steal precious jade vases or artisanal woven tapestries of Faunus heroes, it wasn't like she had anywhere to stash them. Dust, she didn't even have anywhere to store them on her person.

Soft footfalls alerted her to the presence of someone coming, so Neo drew up the illusion of a guard – specifically, the non-bucktoothed guard who she'd killed out at the pier. She figured he was familiar to the Chief and his family that he'd be recognized as a real guard, but not memorable enough that they would remember he'd disappeared yesterday.

It actually wasn't the big man coming around the corner, but his wife. She looked at Neo and then out the window.

"Was there a disturbance? I heard a noise."

Neo shook her head.

"Ah. Thank you. Please shore up the security at the front gate, if you don't mind."

Saluting, she marched out of the room in the direction of the front, until the Catgirl matriarch was out of sight. Then, she backtracked to the corridor that led to the bedrooms (she'd mentally figured out the place's layout by peeking in windows) and hid up against a wall, shrouded by her disguises.

And now, they waited.

It was an hour before Blake went to bed. She had come home with her monkey friend, who was grunting and making noises of pain but sounded very much alive to Neo's ears. She frowned at Ozpin, knowing that he wouldn't see it but could feel her facial muscles tensing up.

You should have helped. Mr. Wukong's injury could have been avoided, whatever it was.

Well that just made it sound like he had no faith in his pupils. If two trained hunters couldn't hold off a single White Fang grunt, it spoke poorly for their education.

Might I remind you that the White Fang grunt could have been Adam Taurus himself?

Oz really needed to use their brain. Adam wasn't the kind of person who could camouflage in trees, not with his menstrual cycle of a haircut. The spy was a pro, meaning that they had to be more geared towards stealth than active combat. Besides, had it been Adam, he would have jumped out the second Blake appeared and tried to recite dark edgy poetry to her or some shit. Dude was not right in the head.

This coming from you…

She didn't need to remind Ozpin that he was reason Neo was not right in the head. She did remind him, though, just to be safe.

Ozpin was reason Neo was not right in the head.

I suppose I walked into that one. Now, we finally have a private audience with Miss Belladonna. Will you let me take over?

Sure.

Neo sauntered up to the right side of Blake's bed and gently nudged the frame with her foot. Blake grumbled and griped, but the motion had roused her.

In less than a second, before Ozpin or Blake could react, Hush's metal tip was at Blake's throat, pressed hard enough to penetrate her skin and drop down a thin layer of blood. Even if Blake raised her aura, the sharp point was past it.

The catgirl's eyes widened as she recognized Neo and realized the position she was in.

I WO–

Neo smiled and handed control of her body over to the headmaster.

Miss Belladonna's eyes shot to her sheathed sword and cleaver on the bedside table.

Ozpin tried to pull back the steel-topped umbrella that was in his hands, but he felt that his arm wasn't moving. In the back of their mind, he could feel Neo's presence radiating humorous mirth.

His dear student tensed up, about to jump.

"N-No," he croaked. "Don't…"

She might…

Blake's eyes narrowed. "I don't remember you speaking."

The umbrella between them stayed at her throat. Ozpin desperately tried to retract it, but Neo wasn't letting him. She'd given control up of her own head, but not the rest of her body.

"Go on," growled Blake. "Do it."

He had a supreme advantage over her. With her weapon so far away and her throat at umbrella-point, neither fighting back nor screaming for help would help. Ozpin could murder her without any risk to himself. The only problem was that he had absolutely zero desire to do so.

Miss Neopolitan, please! he thought. Stop this madness!

She didn't answer – she never did – but he could feel her intent. That was how they conversed; their shared mind also shared her intentions, which gave her a window into her thoughts.

Neo was thinking that Miss Belladonna would never trust her at face value, not for a million years. However, if Ozpin introduced himself from a position of absolute power, then willingly did not kill her, that might buy some trust. Proving that he could kill her and then choosing not to might just be enough to convince her of his veracity.

Then lower your arm!

Neo wanted him to explain the situation first. Ozpin could tell she was also, as the kids put it, 'trolling him,' likely for his prior tight-lipped-ness around the secrets of Salem and the relics.

Fine.

"Miss Belladonna, I have no intention of killing you."

Neo approved and encouraged him to keep going.

"…even though I could. If I were here to assassinate you, I wouldn't…be…lowering my…weapon right…now."

Blake looked at Ozpin's strained face in confusion. He knew why; right now, he must've looked constipated to an outside spectator, rather than struggling internally to wrest control of his…of Neo's body away from her.

She wanted him to not waste the chance she'd given him.

Fine.

"Miss Belladonna, if my intentions were malicious, I could run you through and sneak out the window before anyone even else in Catg…in the Belladonna Manor even realized I was ever here. I will not do so, and I hope this proves that I am not, in fact, here to kill you."

That satisfied his defiant little host.

Odious beast.

She heard that.

Good. She was meant to.

"Let me get this straight," said Blake exasperatedly, still reclined in bed. "You threaten to kill me and nearly do, and that's supposed to be proof that you don't want to kill me?" Her eyebrows slanted angrily.

"It wasn't my idea…look, it's proof that I could kill you, and that I'm choosing not to even though I have the advantage. Personally, I'd rather have just used an illusion to make myself look like Ozpin, but…"

"Ozpin?" said Blake. Her forehead creased.

Neo oh so helpfully pointed out that he wouldn't have been able to disguise her voice as his own, no matter what illusion she wore.

Thank you for that little tidbit, Neo.

Ozpin was most welcome, and his lips curved into a smile against his intent.

"I wish to assure you, Miss Belladonna, that I am on your side." Ozpin lowered the weapon, and Blake scrambled backwards to Gambol Shroud. Her scope locked onto him, but she didn't pull the trigger.

"So, you talk now?"

"I'm a changed…woman."

"Prove it. Drop the umbrella and kick it over to me."

Ozpin decided to offer her a different olive branch.

"We share a common enemy. I wish to offer my services towards combatting the White Fang."

Blake exhaled slowly. "I'm done fighting the White Fang."

What the fuck?!

Neo! Mind yourself.

Fine, fine, fair enough, except literally fucking what the fuck! This bitch had spent every waking moment for the past few months doing everything in her power to chase down the White Fang, and now she was done? She'd tracked them down to the docks and engaged them, infiltrated Roman's recruitment rally, torn down his paladin, chased them beyond the kingdom walls into Mountain Glenn, fought their numbers at the Battle of Beacon, solo-dueled her ex-boyfriend leader, and now she claimed to be done with them, after all that? Bullshit. Steaming heaps of Adam Taurus-shit. She'd literally come to the heart of the White Fang, where they were so omnipresent that they walked the streets in broad daylight without masks. Done, Neo's ass…

"Miss Belladonna…there is something I need to tell you."

She wasn't going to believe it.

…not that knowing that would stop Ozpin, but at least Neo warned him.

"I am not just Neopolitan anymore. When I said I changed, I meant it more than in a figurative sense."

Can you alter my appearance so that I look like my former self? I can't quite get the hang of this pesky semblance of yours.

Neo could, but doing so would be a mistake. Blake would think he was manipulating her, and the visuals still wouldn't match the voice. Ozpin would just be throwing away any trust Neo's knife-to-the-neck maneuver had built up. He was going to royally screw this up.

"Who are you, then?" asked Blake, her finger unsteadily resting on the trigger of her gun.

"I am…"

Neo felt Ozpin hesitate.

"…turning over a new leaf."

Ozpin had better elaborate before he lost her.

Honesty is always the best policy. However, until Miss Belladonna can trust us, revealing my true nature would do neither…none of the three of us any good. We must prove our good intentions to her first, and perhaps bring her before Qrow. He will understand, and with him comes the support of Miss Rose and Miss Xiao-Long. Their opinions may yet convince Miss Belladonna.

What was their game plan for lying to el gato, then? Perdóname, la gata.

The tragedy at Beacon convinced you to reform, and you now seek to redee–

That was even less believable than the reincarnation schtick. He should just tell her that Neo wanted revenge on Cinder. Honesty being the best whatever, and whatnot.

I…very well.

Oh, and he shouldn't get it into his head that this indebted Neo to him. He shouldn't claim to be reluctantly letting her choose their course of action; he was accepting her guidance as the voice of logic. If anything, he owed her for the sound advice she'd given him.

Blake was still staring at them down the barrel of her gun, so Neo nudged Ozpin to start talking.

"And that new leaf I am turning over…s-shall be the leaf on Cinder's grave…when I kill her. And in doing so, avenge my beloved father, Roman Torchwick."

Blake's eyes shot from side to side, no doubt wondering where the hidden camera was for the practical joke show that was being filmed.

For fuck's sake. It was so bad that Neo somehow managed to retake control of her own esophagus and throw up a bit in her mouth. Unless Roman had been getting busy at age nine, he couldn't possibly have been her father. In the future, Oz should just leave the lying to Neo.

You don't speak.

Dick…!

I didn't mean that as an insult, just that only I can verbalize our thoughts.

Oz was so dense. Neo would just tell him what to say. They seriously needed to sit down in front of a mirror and practice lying.

"So, what, the mutism was a quirk?" asked Sun, sipping tea from the porcelain cup his tail held.

Neo had taken control once more, so she shook her head rather than answering. Blake didn't trust her and wasn't going to let Neo out of her sights or start sharing any valuable intel with her, but the umbrella threat had worked wonders towards proving that she wasn't just trying to kill Blake. Ever curmudgeonly old Ozpin had admitted to her that it was an effective play.

"I heard you speak," said Blake. "But you never did before tonight."

Neo rolled her eyes and transformed into a copy of Blake.

"Whoa!" said Sun.

Mr. and Mrs. Catgirl both recoiled from their seats on the mat-covered floor at the use of Overactive Imagination. Blake herself didn't flinch one bit.

"What, it has something to do with your semblance? You can't speak when disguised?"

Neo shrugged.

"Similar to that?"

Another shrug.

"Look, can you speak or not?"

Neo vacillated back and forth, contemplating the question deeply before shrugging.

"You were different when you spoke," said Blake. "Your mannerisms were less predatory, and you mentioned…literally being someone else."

"Split personality disorder?" offered Mrs. Catgirl.

Neo shrugged, but with a hint of a smile at this one.

Mrs. Catgirl pulled back her elbow in a display of victory. "Boom, got it in one!"

Neo gasped silently in joy and offered her a high five, which she aggressively accepted.

"And only one of your split aspects is capable of speech," offered Mr. Catgirl.

Neo transformed into Ghira in agreement. Next, she pantomimed writing, then texting on a scroll, before concluding it with a shake of her head. Best to quell any bright ideas about alternative modes of communication before they even started.

You don't just stay silent. You…You won't use words at all.

You can't.

Neo supposed that was a decent oversimplification, if Ozpin needed to dumb it down enough to understand it.

"So, you want to help us," said Sun. "That's good and all, but how? Also, why? Also, how and why can we trust you to not stab us when our backs are turned?"

There was silence for a few moments as they all waited for Neo to answer.

This was a real bright lot of allies they'd picked up.

They're trying. Please, give them something. The aid of the Chieftain of Menagerie and Miss Belladonna's skill as a huntress would improve our chances.

Neo closed her eyes, flicked into Roman's form, then immediately took it off before she opened up her eyes again. She was now back to her normal form.

"Torchwick," breathed Blake. "Did he…die?"

Neo sipped her tea.

"And you blame Cinder, if I recall correctly. You followed me because you think I'm here to stop her."

Well, Neo hadn't followed her at all, and Ozpin really only wanted to get the band back together and go to Haven, but it was close enough. Neo signaled agreement by appearing as Blake.

Blake's eyes flash in anger. "Well, I won't! I told you…I told you all, I'm done with the White Fang. And Roman Torchwick was a vile man who deserved everything that came his way for what he did to Beacon."

Neo downed the rest of the tea, thanked Mrs. Catgirl for it with a hearty belch, and removed the illusion of Blake's clothes, keeping the illusion of Blake's body. Mr. Catgirl-man and Mrs. Catgirl-girl recoiled in disgust as the sight and averted their eyes. Meanwhile, Sun's jaw dropped. Blake tried to cover up his eyes with a hand, but it was too late.

"I'm definitely spanking the monkey to that later tonight," Sun said with a smile.

While she sat in her cot, Neo began to plan their next move.

The first step was to go out and murder everyone.

No.

Right, right. Neo was just testing Ozpin, keeping him sharp. The real first step was to go out and murder everyone in the White Fang, thereby depriving Cinder of her armies.

Still no.

He was especially sharp today. Nah, the true first step was to recruit Little Ms. Catgirl…

…and have her go out and murder everyone, I presume?

Hey, that was a pretty good idea. He really getting somewhere with that kind of thinking.

You are partially correct, though. While Miss Belladonna most certainly deserves a break, our enemies will not be taking one. Her team is fragmented, and we must convince her to rejoin them. At the moment, Team RWBY and JNPR remain our best hope.

JNPR?

I admit, the loss of Miss Nikos does strike a heady blow to their morale and combat abilities, but I have faith in them. I use their full name as a tribute, to honor the memory of the once-whole squad.

No, Neo literally had no idea what a JNPR was.

Team Juniper, comprised of Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie.

Neo received the memories of their appearance. Jaune Arc was a short little fire-crotched slip of a girl, Lie Ren was a blond dork that was so scruffy he could be mistaken for a dog, and Nora Valkyrie was one moody-looking motherfucker.

That is actually Lie Ren.

Ozpin really needed to put labels on these memories.

In all seriousness, though, if he was going to accumulate allies, then surely he had some better than academy first year. The best of the seven of them was Yang Xiao-Long, and Neo had thoroughly whupped her on the train to Mountain Glenn before the referee had intervened.

Was…Raven? Yes, that most certain was her. And she…oh dear. Oh no.

Neo wasn't sure what the problem was.

The power you intuitively sense was that of a maiden. Spring, in particular.

That made complete sense.

And if Raven is targeted by Cinder, she will no doubt immediately fold and comply with whatev–

Neo had been being sarcastic. What was a maiden, what was a Spring, and what was a Raven?

Maiden powers are extraordinarily magical capabilities possessed by young women. I believe I already told you Cinder possesses the aspect of Fall. Raven Branwen, a deserter from my academies, is Spring. The maidens are also the only ones who can open…certain chambers within the academies. Salem will seek them above all else.

Neo was just going to piece it together eventually from the individual breadcrumbs if he kept throwing them at her. Unless it was something that would deter her from fighting Cinder, she didn't care for his godly secrets. He really should just tell her.

Very well. I shall entrust you with part of the truth. Salem seeks powerful relics – gifts from the very Brother Gods themselves. They contain the ability to inflict great harm upon the world should they fall into the wrong hands. I created them maidens and vaults to be the keys and locks keeping the relics away from her.

That wasn't so hard. Neo truly didn't know what he had been so worried about.

You are a thief. Telling you of the existence of a chamber literally called a vault might've been a temptation.

That was fair. Still, valuables and stockpiling power mattered little, not when Roman's killer was on the loose. Unless the relics could help them kill Cinder and her undesirables, Neo cared little for them.

A̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶r̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶.̶.̶.̶

Catgirl the Younger changed her mind the next morning, or at least partially reconsidered. She said that the uninvited presence of the White Fang spy last night as well as that of Neopolitan had convinced her that she wasn't out of the game yet, even if she wanted to be. Ozpin had suspicions that she didn't want to quit as much as she claimed she did, and if one night was all it took to reel her back in, Neo was inclined to agree with her brain friend.

Some-fucking-how, Blake thought that Sun was the greater liability between the two of them, so she cut Neo loose and decided to chaperone the monkey as they went about town, handing out fliers. Neo was simultaneously elated by the trust and offended by the lack of fear.

The plan was simple: go about town, drum up support, and convinced Faunus to…okay, it was kind of unclear exactly what Blake expected the Menagerians to do.

She wishes for them to join her and sail for Haven. This will earn the respect of the kingdoms.

To do what? Stop Cinder by fishing her to death? Aggressively sell cabbages in her general vicinity? These folks were farmers. The best bet would be for the three hunters to pop in a few fresh magazines and clean out the White Fang on Catgirl Island. Then, whoever survived could go to Haven to rendezvous with Red's team and the other one for killing Cinder, who would be bereft of any support.

I agree.

Ozpin didn't need to…

Neo paused for a second. She must've m̶i̶s̶h̶e̶a̶r̶d̶ misbrained, because she thought for a second that Ozpin had just okayed her plan to go out and start murdering everyone.

Not everyone. The White Fang chose their path. While I would gladly see a Faunus counterforce undo the damage by spreading goodwill, a bloody solution would rectify it far faster. Furthermore, I doubt that we will even find any support among the native Faunus. They are good folk, but simple – untested in the way of the warrior.

Was he trying to reverse psychology her or something? This was getting weird.

Not at all. I simply wish to state my position, and it is such: if you see any White Fang, please remove them.

'Remove' remove?

No need for euphemisms. You can say murder.

She literally couldn't. Gods, such a dick…

However…

Here it came.

We do need Miss Belladonna's support. I would ask that you don't lash out solo against the White Fang. For the time being, perhaps we can accomplish both her goal and our own by patrolling the streets. Request support and hand out Blake's fliers, but if a terrorist happens to cross our path…

That wasn't so bad. Neo knew her limits, and Adam Taurus' whereabout were unknown. That was a mountain she had no intention of climbing.

With the aid of Blake and Sun, though, we could face the bull head on and emerge triumphant.

Oh, and look! There was a hostile right now!

A White Fang member, masked despite apparently not requiring anonymity, was moving through the streets as though she were late to an appointment. The woman was doing more shoving that walking. A single antler stuck out of the space between her mask and hood, the other likely having broken off at some point.

Slipping off the road, Neo changed herself to take on the appearance of a fellow robed Fang member. As she melted back into the crowd, she grabbed ahold of the enemy's shoulder and ceded control of her voice to Ozpin, trusting him to know what to do.

"Sister. We need to–"

"Sister, I am in a hurry, and you should be too! The Albains have called a meeting, and–"

"That is what I need to tell you. I have a missive from the High Leader."

"Brother Tau…from him?"

So, Adam was calling the shots now. Neo and Ozpin mutually agreed that this knowledge was best kept from Blake, at least for the time being.

"Quite."

"Well?" grumbled the White Fang agent impatiently. "What is it?"

Neo's head looked around, and her mouth moved on its own. "Not here. Too public."

She nodded in the direction of a secluded alleyway between two wooden buildings.

In the end, it could barely even be called a fight. The enemy hadn't even possessed aura. There was a decisive blow to the throat to prevent a scream, a quick deflection of a hastily drawn knife, and two successive stabs to the core to finish it. Neo got nothing out of watching the woman bleed to death, but the goal here was thinning out the enemies' numbers, so she supposed it was a decent use of her time.

Pocketing the knife, she cut a strip of the woman's robes off, used it to wipe down Hush's tip, and quickly checked herself for blood.

Wouldn't your semblance be enough to disguise us as clean?

Neo preferred to not overly rely on her semblance. A person could easily brush a hand against Neo and feel the blood, and Neo had to spend aura to keep even passive illusions up. It wasn't worth it, at least not when the alternative was spending ten seconds to do a quick once over.

Most wise. Shedding one's dependence on their semblance is a lesson I wish –

Neo could see he was about to launch into a speech about the many benefits of hope and wonderment that the next generation brought, so she tuned him out and stepped back into the streets. There were no more White Fang pricks nearby, and if they were at some all hands group meet, it was unlikely that she would be seeing very many.

Time for some recruitment, then.

Two hours.

Two.

Fucking.

Hours!

They spent two whole hours handing out flyers and begging for support and no one wanted to help. It was precious time in her limited lifespan that she would never get back.

It's been about fifteen seconds. You haven't even spoken to anyone.

True, but in two hours, that was what Neo was going to be all about. Why not just skip to the end?

I will admit, this does seem like a fool's errand. Even more disappointing is the fact that Miss Belladonna somehow thought you fit to be left unattended.

Well, technically she was being watched by a veteran huntsman who could anticipate her every action.

Young Blake had no awareness of my presence. And it's not like I can read your mind. We share the thoughts that are active in our mind. The process is further convoluted by your unique circumstances when it comes to lacking a narrative stream of consciousness.

Neo wasn't going to waste two hours. She took back control of her body and started marching them in the direction of town square where Blake and Sun were.

We could at least put in a token effort. Or perhaps dump our fliers into a trash can and meet with her two hours later. Miss Belladonna needs to believe we are complying with her.

It was odd that he phrased it that way. It almost made it sound like they weren't.

Well, that's not to say…you see…we need her aid, and…

Perhaps Neo was rubbing off on her goody-two shoes brain.

It didn't take long for Neo to track down the catgirl. She and the monkey Faunus were trying and failing to get the attention of the busy market rush. No one was coming to her, and it was painfully obvious to Neo why. Her problem seemed to be that she expected these people to care as much as she did, when they really just wanted to go about their lives.

She lacks persuasiveness.

That wasn't it. She could have a silver tongue to match Little Red's silver eyes, and she still wouldn't reel in any fish. The issue was empathy. Blake had no ability to put herself in other people's shoes. To her, the injustice and suffering in the world could not be permitted, and as a huntress, she had the skills to fight it. These merchants and mongers, they didn't. Still, Blake expected them to just drop everything and fight for the human world – a world that they, by all accounts, should despise.

Neo didn't doubt that Catgirl was probably slightly resentful of these people. She was one of those types who said that everyone who didn't participate in solving a problem was a part of it. Well, newsflash, kit-kat: not everyone had the means to slay Grimm or fend off the White Fang. Aura was a rare and precious commodity, as were sword-gun-ribbon-cleaver-clusterfucks.

I thought you despise the Faunus for not standing up for themselves.

Neo did, but if any one of those merchants or vegetable sellers picked up a sword or gun and tried to stand up for what they believed in, they'd just be throwing their lives away. They lacked the training, and all were too old to catch up to hunter-level foes. There was no point in being wasteful.

So, what would you have the Faunus do, to redeem themselves in your eyes? If you believe the strong should rule –

Not rule. The strong should stand up for themselves, but it was pointless unless they won.

If the Faunus wanted to do better, they needed to start playing the long game. They had advantages biologically, but Atlas had them on the tech front. They should get spies into weapons labs to smuggle out blueprints and build up an armada to match the Atlesian fleet. They needed to start modernizing right away, since shipyards required a full suite of industrialization – metallurgy, fueling, refineries, electronics. It would take decades, perhaps even centuries, not to mention trillions of lien. Catgirl Island had to have some sorts of resources to fashion weapons and airships and missiles and whatnot. If it didn't, they could start trading until they had enough to arm an army. This wasn't something that could be done in one generation, so they ought to start investing in the next generation. Training schools had to be built –

This is beginning to sound like the White Fang.

The White Fang was jerking themselves off and hoping the cum would hit Atlas in the eyes to blind them. They wanted the gratification of hurting the people who they disliked, and it wasn't helping the Faunus, no matter how many Schnee miners and guards they killed. What Neo proposed was a real army, the kind that had won the Faunus Wars, not some ragtag band of mercenaries led by a 'sigma male grindset' guy like Adam. If the White Fang truly wished to aid the Faunus cause, they should start investing in their community. Menagerie, with its trawlers and cabbages and wooden hovels, would never win against Atlas, not as it was. The future was where victory lay.

An awfully tall order, Miss Neo.

Again, she didn't expect them to do this overnight. The victory would be for their kids' kids' kids' kids, or perhaps even further. The problem was that none of the Faunus saw that far ahead. Each and every one of them was concerned with their own problems right now. And on that note, Blake was still struggling.

Do you need me to take over and ask her to relieve us of duty?

Neo didn't need that. She'd come up with some ideas to improve their recruitment, and if it went well, she might actually be able to actually get more than zero people to join their Faunus militia. What she needed right now was to wait for a little luck to fall Blake's way…

I don't follow.

That was correct. He didn't.

Ozpin mentally sighed and tried to draw back, but Neo grabbed hold of his thoughts and prevented him from getting distracted. They could be called into action at any moment, and they could not afford to miss their shot when they were.

It took about ten minutes of watching from the sidelines for their moment to come, but that was better than two hours. Blake and Sun finally found their guy – a handsome, young-ish ram Faunus who genuinely seemed to want to help them. He hadn't signed up, but he was discussing things with the two of them. This was no doubt some idealistic kid who hadn't yet grown out of his youthful 'fairness' phase.

He is but one man.

That was true, but he would be the one man who gave them their army.

Blake handed him a pen and clipboard while she and Sun kept speaking to him, alternating one after the other. Neo couldn't hear them from this far, but she could see the ram Faunus' smile growing, until he eventually nodded and accepted the clipboard. Some nearby Faunus who probably recognized the young man took notice and peered over at them.

Showtime.

Neo circled back around them and approached the trio. Blake and Sun saw her coming and frowned, but the ram Faunus didn't recognize her.

"Can I help –"

He could.

Neo's arm slipped through the air like lightning, driving a knife through his neck. Once again, she ceded control to her other half. Rather, she thrust it into his hands and ran all the way to the back of her mind, leaving him entirely in command of their body.

WHY?

Neo's soul burned as the agony of Ozpin's punishment pulsed through her mind, but her illusion-covered body wasn't in her control and didn't show any pain. Through the haze of mental dismay, she hastily reminded Ozpin that they were still wearing the illusion of a White Fang officer, never having changed from when they killed the real one. The knife that was embedded into the dying Faunus's throat had belonged to that terrorist woman, in fact, and could quite possibly be traced back to her.

Neo also reminded Ozpin that unless he sold the act with a nice 'For the White Fang!' cried out, Mr. Mountain Goat would have died for nothing. He could torture her brain all he wanted later, but right now he needed to act.

I will not be an accomplice to your savagery!

Less than a second had passed. Their window was going to slip away. Blake and Sun were clearly shocked, as were the rest of the townsfolk. Ozpin was the only one who could operate Neo's vocal chords, but he couldn't use them to bring the dead ram boy back to life. He could, however, use them to make the fellow's sacrifice in vain.

A second and a half, now, and the clock was still ticking. Ideas flowed nearly instantaneously between their brains, and Neo tried to impress upon the reincarnated headmaster just how important it was that he shout out some stupid slogan and then run off. The townsfolk needed to hate the White Fang. If they saw the White Fang end the life of a Faunus militia recruit, rumors would spread, and the enemy would lose a massive chunk of their support. They operated out of Menagerie, so if the island was poisoned against them, it could spell the end of the entire organization.

Two and a quarter second. Out of time. Yell and run off now, or it wouldn't look genuine.

Ozpin faltered. And then…

"For the White Fang!"

The two of them sprinted away from Blake, Sun, and the screaming crowd.

Next Chapter: Bringing the House Down

With an army at their back, Neo and her brain friend charge headfirst (and brainfirst) into the viper's nest.

Author's Notes

I warned you. The point of this story is not 'How does Neo get redeemed?' The point is 'How can Ozpin bear to work with Neo when she doesn't want to be redeemed?'

Happy rats, and don't do crime!