RWBY-The Recidivist: Chapter 7 *Rewritten* (Original Version Released 8th of October, 2013)

Reminder: DISCLAIMER/AUTHOR'S NOTES

NOTE: I am aware that the entire series is not finished yet. Due to the huge amount of changes in the canon, this story will be an AU (Alternate Universe) that takes place between Volume 2 and 3, while adopting some actual elements from the canon.

RWBY along with its characters DOESN'T belong to me. The series respectively belongs to RoosterTeeth and its creator, Monty Oum. The plot in this Fan Fiction and some characters you'll know who are OCs (Original Characters) are original from me. If any ideas or characters sound similar to another story written by somebody else, it is purely coincidental. I refuse to blatantly steal somebody's idea and claim that it was mine. If you have any concerns, you are always welcome to message me.

Chapter 7: Don't You See?

Confrontation and finding ways to understand.

-(Amphitheater, Beacon Academy)-

(Third-Person View)

Inside the Amphitheater, the confrontation of Wyvern has already begun as Weiss, Yang, and Blake were the ones to lead it with the accompanying of Team JNPR. Ruby's absence during this meetup was due to her plan of getting Professor Isaac involved in order to make sure things turn out civil under his supervision with Wyvern's reveal of his past and accused to be a potential threat to the students and Hunters of Beacon. Mainly because of his suspicious phone call with someone, eavesdropped by Ruby and Blake, which led to the investigation. The entire building was empty, as it was enough for them to speak to him personally without anybody else around to hear the graphic subject that was about to be spilled. It was for the best, in order to not stir things up a little bit more harshly if there were other students around.

As for how Wyvern was feeling, the tension was starting to slowly upraise the more silent they stood. With Yang being the one taking point in front of everyone else, he was expecting a harsher approach. Aside from his cautiousness, he was willing to hear them out and conclude softly without incident if he really did something to offend them, which was what he mainly assumed was the case and can be fixed with an apology. However, it was far from something minor.

Finally, Weiss went for her pocket to take out her scroll, which contained the specific copies of the White Fang files mainly scribed towards Wyvern. Patiently, he watched her scroll and tap her device swiftly with her finger, showing how tech-savvy she is for her position and organized she is; having no pauses and hesitations during the process.

"Answer these questions honestly. Got it?" Weiss said as she stopped tapping.

"Sure…?" Wyvern awaited her test.

Turning her screen around for him to see, he was greeted with the same graphic picture everyone else saw in RWBY's dorm: the murder of seven men in a brutal fashion. Upon realizing deeply what the picture was, Wyvern flinched and gulped as silently as he could to hide his gasp.

Weiss waved her scroll a bit and raised an eyebrow. "Seem familiar to you?"

"What happened…?" He attempted to lie, which was obviously a bad idea, with Yang knowing the fact after he admitted it when she was present in his room.

"We're not gonna play this game." Weiss replied harshly. "Was this your doing?"

He remained silent. What he has done in the past was something Wyvern didn't want to adhere to, given how controversial it would seem if others find out.

A few more seconds of silence, Weiss impatiently showed the next photo, which was the reports written by the White Fang having confirmation from an agent that it has matched Wyvern's description with the comparison of his youth, to current age. At this point, she already could clearly see his mortified expression; shocked about Weiss having access on this sort of information. Her being from Atlas and a proud member of the Schnee Family was not enough to convince him she could easily have this specific information about him. She may have the technology and special privileges to have accessible intel, but she needed sources.

"Where…did you guys find all this?" Wyvern asked.

To answer that, Blake raised her hand halfway as she bowed her head. Weiss nodded as she was given the opportunity to decipher the files and reveal the potential secrets he has been hiding, thanks to Blake's stolen intel before her defection from the White Fang.

"I should've realized that…" Wyvern sighed, forgetting about the fact Blake came from a family that were former devoted White Fang members.

"Well, you can start off by explaining why you did all that."

Wyvern was uncomfortable to talk about an in-depth story about the brutal events, so he tried to construct a more simpler explanation. However, the more he took his time to think about it, the more the others were starting to believe he was trying to build up a lie or other excuse.

"Those were White Fang agents." He stated clearly, "They intended on causing more harm on me and some others and I retaliated before it would be carried out."

Blake raised an eyebrow to show how skeptical she was. "Agents? They don't seem to have any configurations that matches something of a White Fang spy would be equipped with."

"Those weren't civilians." He defended his statement, "I've been there. I've seen what they were trying to do."

"What were the trying to do?"

"Kidnapping." He answered and looked away. "I decided to make sure it wouldn't happen again."

"But you killed them!" Nora exclaimed. "You were only a child when you did all that! You could've at least made the authorities handle the situation instead of taking their lives!"

"I was trained to take action. Law enforcement already had their hands full, so I decided to do it all myself."

Jaune stepped forward to support Nora. "It's still something a kid shouldn't do."

"Does law enforcement at least know you were the one that did it?" Ren asked to get more insight.

He shook his head. "I don't remember much of that day, but I'm not afraid to admit I put blood on my hands that day, since all of you know." He frowned as it was something he didn't want to remember. "But I want to be clear: those were NOT civilians."

"And if you're wrong?" Pyrrha asked.

"Do you really think I would commit such a thing...?"

"I'm not saying I don't believe you. But what if there is a possibility that they were in fact innocent people?" She clarified.

Wyvern frowned and shook his head. "I wouldn't forgive myself."

Yang rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "After what you've done, I don't think I would either."

He slightly flinched upon hearing that and took it offensively. "They were not innocent people!"

"We get it." Weiss said. "But that's not what she meant."

"What?"

"I'm still a bit skeptical about those seven killings, but we believe you're here under some other intentions that can cause harm." Blake told him, "It's about the phone call you had this morning."

"That's none of your business. I'm sorry."

"Wyvern, Ruby and I already knew what you were talking about this morning." She said, "Based on what we've heard, you sound like you're affiliated with some other faction that focuses on mercenary work. Getting paid by killing, kidnapping, and other malicious things that can be considered mercenary tasks."

Wyvern was so confused to what made her come to that conclusion with Ruby. He had to clear things up in order to save his reputation. "I'm not a mercenary. You're just taking those words out of context and there's a deeper meaning to what we were talking about."

"Elaborate then."

"I…can't."

"Then you're hiding something!" Yang concluded.

"Hiding what? I'm more confused than ever before."

"About your phone call, you gloated about killing more than your caller in his career. The way you mentioned "us" while looking back at Beacon seemed like you were implying it to Ozpin and the rest of us. Lastly, the fact that you mentioned it would make things easier with us not knowing much made us assume you were up to something." Blake explained, "Like killing other hunters and students without Ozpin knowing your true intentions." She added.

This shocked Wyvern badly as it seemed too outlandish for him to commit. "WHAT?! Never!"

"That's what it sounded like." She folded her arms.

"Why are you bringing this private phone call up in the first place? I have no intention of harming or killing hunters!"

"These photos say otherwise." Weiss told him and showed the next set.

It was the three photos of Wyvern and Qrow fighting, with the latter clearly having trouble facing him off and Wyvern clearly enjoying the fight too much; seemingly having a complete advantage than the certified Huntsman. Considering the photos were taken as if the photographer was attempting to stay hidden from a distance, Wyvern knew its sources were something not a part of who he was affiliated with.

"Those photos are-"

"Enough evidence for me to know you're not on our side." Yang narrowed a sharp glare.

"Why are you so pissed? I'm not against you in any way possible…"

She huffed and glared even more sharply. "That guy in the photo is Qrow Branwen. An uncle of mine, and Ruby's too."

"…what?"

"A certified Huntsman from Beacon, and closely affiliated with Signal Academy." She explained his position in all this, "Not only did you just assaulted a Hunter, but a man that is considered family to me!"

"Just let me explain for a moment!" Wyvern tried to ease the situation as best as he could, "First off, I didn't know that man was your uncle. Second, that fight was not meant for any further harm towards him, or me."

"Bullcrap." She doubted his explanation and stepped closer. "What it looked like in those photos was that you were having the time of your life beating Qrow up like that."

As she was stepping closer to Wyvern, he attempted to back away, only to bump into the ledge of the stage and having nowhere to evade her as Blake and Weiss, along with Team JNPR, had him surrounded. In a last attempt to get some personal space, Wyvern tried to quickly slip away from Yang, but she grabbed a hold of his shoulder and pushed him back to where he stood.

He gently put his hand on hers in attempt to move it away, but she gripped onto him tightly enough to not let him leave. Wyvern continued to try and make Yang let go of him as he was clearly uncomfortable from all this. Verbally stating it wasn't even enough. At this point, he couldn't go any further with countering Yang as he feared that it would provoke her into a fight. Direct violence towards others that don't relate to Beacon's codes of education was forbidden unless informed or supervised by a Professor strictly for informative purposes in non-Grimm combat. Fighting back was the last thing he would do.

"First off, what's your story with him?"

"It's…complicated…"

"I'm gonna need more than that."

He stayed silent.

"That was my uncle you attacked. I deserve an explanation in all this." Yang growled.

"I can't tell you that…" He mumbled.

Yang kept her firm grip on him. "Then we're not done with you yet."

"Can you at least get your hands off me? I don't need you to hold me down if you don't want me to leave this building."

Weiss folded her arms. "Then why are you trying to escape?"

"I'm trying to gain some space because this is getting way out of hand. I'm not who you think I am." He tried to convince them but failed.

"How about you be a good boy and stand still." Yang glared as she suddenly squeezed on his shoulder a bit further.

Wyvern gritted his teeth as Yang was unable to tell that the grip was a bit painful. "Hey! Knock it off!" He attempted to push her arm away.

Yang easily countered Wyvern's second push by shoving him towards the ledge of the stage, with the assistance of the others preventing him from having an opening of escape. Wyvern was now feeling even more provoked than the others and decided to try and get away from them while trying to avoid roughhousing. As Yang was going to prevent him from slipping away, he suddenly gripped her shoulder, but slipped his hand to brush her golden hair, much to Yang's shock as she suddenly stopped and froze where she stood.

Noticing this, Wyvern took a few steps away from them and sheepishly put his one hand behind his back. "I…didn't mean to touch your hair like that."

Nora let out a gasp and covered her mouth, pointing her finger at Wyvern's hand that just touched Yang's hair.

Wyvern, confused about why she was pointing there, looked at the hand and saw a few strands of Yang's hair in his palm and between his fingers. "Crap. So…rry…." His eyes dilated as soon as he noticed the sudden change of aura from her.

"Oh no…" Blake gulped.

"What?" He cluelessly looked at the group who had the same nervous expressions.

"Do you realize what you just done?"

"No! Can someone explain?! I'm in the dark here!" He started to grow uneasy as well.

Jaune chuckled nervously, "Well, you did something that you should never do to her."

"What? Touch her? I'm getting sued, aren't I?!"

"Worse."

"What's worse than that?!"

"Wyvern." Yang clenched her fists as they began to shake lightly, soon increasing its tension by the second.

He looked at her directly, then down at the few strands of hair he pulled. It was all coming to him as he realized why everyone was keeping their distance. Knowing there was no way to fight back, out of fear of getting expelled or harming Yang, he tried to reason with her.

Wyvern gave a small smile to hide his nervousness and dropped the strands on the floor. "Is it too late to apologize…? I'm-"

"You." She began to tense up even further to the point where her golden hair started to flare up after witnessing the strands hit the ground, which made her feel more insulted. As a result, her lilac eyes switched to enraging red, clearly a sign of her not turning back without violence.

"…sorry." He squeaked.

"YOU RUINED MY HAIR!" She roared and lifted a fist to him.

"YANG! NO!" Blake tried to restrain her.

Then…

*BAM!*

Right where Wyvern stood, he was suddenly gone, sent flying towards the other side of the amphitheater and hitting against the wall, hard. The sound of him gagging upon the impact echoed around the inside as he fell to the floor and remained lying there, groaning in pain. Wyvern covered his left eye and grunted, revealing that was the spot where Yang landed her punch on. He trembled a bit as the pain on his left eye was so severe, a small drizzle of blood even bled out from the eyepatch. He attempted to get up, but the impact from the wall was just enough to stagger his body from standing up straight.

Upon noticing this, Yang's rage induced eyes faded away as she realized she went into the extreme route for violence upon their confrontation, something Ruby strictly forbid for the sake of both of them. Seeing the blood and the fact that Wyvern's didn't fight back was enough for her chest to drop, realizing she caused much greater damage than she thought. Naturally, she attempted to approach him. But…

Blake pushes Yang away from getting any closer to Wyvern and glared. "Yang! What the hell was that?!"

"He…well, he…" Yang bit her lip as the response about him ripping out a few strands of her hair was not enough to convince Blake that her action was justified.

Weiss ran to Wyvern and kneeled down in front of him. "Hey, let me see." She lifted her hand up to his face.

Upon seeing this, Wyvern retaliated by gently swiping her hand away from his eyepatch.

"What are you doing? You're bleeding there!" She said, attempting to try and help him.

Once again, Wyvern denied her help and tried to get up, but was still fazed from the impact. As soon as he couldn't stood up, he collapsed on the floor.

The sight of this made Yang at least feel remorseful for her action. It's a force of nature to her when she loses a single strand of hair, but she knew she wasn't going to be excused from this. To try and make up for it, she attempted to go towards Weiss to help with treating Wyvern, with Blake closely accompanying her.

"I'm…fine!" Wyvern attempted to crawl away.

"Stop! Just let us help you!" Weiss demanded as she grabbed a hold of his arm.

Yang grabbed the other, "Your eye is still bleeding!"

"I wonder why!" He growled as he tried to break free while still being cautious to not harm them in the process.

The more he resisted, the more Weiss grew even more impatient as she and Yang pinned his arms down fully and reached for his eyepatch.

As soon as she grabbed a hold of it, the door to the main entrance opened, with Isaac rushing inside with Ruby. Upon realizing Weiss' hands was about to remove Wyvern's eyepatch, Isaac attempted to intervene, but it was too late. The moment his eyepatch was removed, it was the breaking point for Wyvern to use desperate measures. Something he couldn't control himself with.

Time around everyone inside the amphitheater seemed like it froze in place. No sense of noise, smell, and even the atmosphere around them lacked feeling of anything. But the eerie peacefulness was suddenly interrupted as Weiss and Yang were both lifted by an unseen force. Wyvern's left eye was revealed to be an unnatural red, glowing while its glare focused on Weiss and Yang, which implies it was the reason for them being suspended from where they were. When it scanned the area hitting Blake, Jaune, Ruby, and the rest, the unnatural and unseen force seemed to suspend them as well, preventing any sudden movements while their faces just turned mortified from the sight of the left eye.

Wyvern finally snapped out of it as the sight of their terror and pain was enough for him to realize he had to fight this force. He covered his left eye forcefully and growled in pain, as it seemed like an immense amount of effort and energy was drained just to make it stop. And, just like that, everyone was unbounded and collapsed on the floor. Realizing what he has done, he kept his left eye covered; still glowing slightly and bleeding from Yang's punch, and slowly started to panic. Not wanting to be there anymore to avoid any harm and harsh reactions from his friends, he wanted to run.

"DAMN IT!" He growled at himself and ran for the door, "I'M SORRY!" He shouted before finally getting out.

"NO! WAIT! WYVERN!" Ruby tried to call him back, but she was weakened from what just happened to her, like the rest. Knowing he was gone, she gave up on pursuing him due to her energy being drained.

Isaac groaned and rubbed his temples from a throbbing headache. "Holy crap…that hurt…" He looked around at the others, "Everyone okay?!"

"I'm gonna need a minute…" Yang rubbed her temples, still on her knees after collapsing from the unseen restraints.

"My brain is throbbing…" Nora whined as she laid her entire body on the floor while she covered her head.

"What just happened?!" Weiss questioned as she staggered upon her first step, thankfully caught by Yang's arms. "Why does my head hurt so bed…?"

Jaune groaned as he tried to fight the pain in his head. "It makes me wanna puke…"

Using all his effort to stand up, Isaac stood and assisted with Ruby on the floor. "Alright, everyone calm down." He said, "I know you're all having some sort of brain-splitting headache, but it'll clear up within a few minutes."

"Was…was that his semblance…?!" She stammered

He helped her get on her feet and ensured there was no further injuries on her. "It's…complicated."

"Complicated? What does that even mean?" Weiss asked as she finally stood up on her feet with Yang's help. "How can you be sure it'll clear up?"

"Trust me. I've withstood this sort of thing."

"You what?!" Yang looked up at him, "That red eye he had. You knew about it?"

"Red eye. That depends if you mean by his red iris, or the blood that came out of it."

"…" Yang stayed silent as she knew she might've helped trigger that.

"Yang. Did you…?" Ruby bit her lip.

She exhaled through her nose and nodded. "I'm sorry…. I was just so pissed not only because of my hair being pulled, but the fact he assaulted Uncle Qrow like that. You know exactly how I feel whenever our family is attacked."

"You still could've-…." Ruby stopped her sentence and just gave up, knowing that what was done was done and she didn't want to put her sister in a guilt trip even further. "Forget I said anything…"

Isaac looked at the two of them and cleared his throat to get both of their attention. "Ruby, Yang? Qrow Branwen, your Uncle from the Branwen Family side, twin brother to Raven Branwen."

Yang clenched her fists and cringed when she heard her mother's full name. "Yeah." She answered.

Ruby gave a small nod and went to her sister to make sure she was still able to stand.

"As soon as Ruby told me about this in my office, she mentioned Qrow being in the files that your friend Weiss had successfully bypassed to have access to. About Wyvern assaulting him in detail, based on what she described to me from the photos."

"That's what made us assume he was a threat, after me and Blake eavesdropped about his call with someone that sounded…malicious." Ruby pointed out.

"Phone call? Well, leave that up to me to discover who he was contacting. To which I doubt it is anybody against the Hunters or Ozpin."

"He even tried to convince us he was not on bad terms with him." Yang added, "How? After what we've seen?"

Isaac sighed and folded his arms, "Due process is important, Yang." He turned towards the rest, "The rest of you should learn of this too. Assumptions over something to be used against another is not enough to justify that it's all true. You can self-convict someone all you want, but officially stating it as a fact without more search into the matter is not fair for both parties. And all of you seemed to automatically believe Wyvern was a threat and confronted him as if they were facts."

"You're defending him?" Ren asked.

"I'm defending a student that rightly deserves his own stance." He replied. "As a Professor, it is our rule to listen to both sides in order to comprehend, then indicate who has the most logical reasoning."

"Professor," Yang frowned as she was beginning to understand a bit, but still was in the dark like everyone else. "If we really are wrong, then why was Wyvern so secretive about his relations with Qrow?"

Isaac looked around the amphitheater and was convinced they were alone after a thorough scan. "I suppose I can spill some information regarding your uncle and Wyvern."

"So, you do know about them."

"I have." He nodded, "Ever since the start of my career as a Professor here."

"You could've told us sooner."

He chuckled and shook his head, sheepishly looking away. "Unfortunately, Ozpin doesn't give away information freely towards his students. Even if they are friends with Wyvern. My orders were to keep any information given to me in secret. Trust is vital for huntsman and he's just simply taking things with precaution towards everyone else."

Ruby curiously raised an eyebrow, "Well, can you at least tell us what's going on with Wyvern and our uncle?"

"Apparently, they're dating now."

"WHAT?!" Ruby and Yang both exclaimed, utterly shocked upon hearing that answer, much more than the others.

Isaac laughed out loud from their reactions and caught his words again. "I'm kidding!" He panted and soon went back to his relaxing state, "I'm in no position to confirm anything else regarding them, to be honest. All I know is Wyvern and Qrow are NOT on bad terms with each other. It's the opposite, in fact."

"So, you're saying they're…friends?" Ruby stared confusingly, "This raises so many questions, sir."

"And Wyvern didn't say this before I punched him because…?"

He folded his arms, "He was pressured by the people he believed he was on good terms with. Not to mention that Wyvern is in a much more complicated position ever since he was accepted here. I mean, you folks even showed him the files he never wanted to see again. Let alone for you guys to discover." Isaac explained, "By the orders of his now deceased Master and Professor Ozpin, he was to keep his overall background out of the light for others to see. He probably even believed to keep his relationship of Qrow a secret to protect him in the future."

"Protect from what?"

"We're Huntsmen. There's no doubt you're in the huge spotlight in society. As much as it feels good to get some positive attention, the downside is you can gain some enemies. Wyvern believes if he spilled anything about Qrow, he would feel responsible if the information regarding him fell to the wrong hands and endanger Qrow even further."

Weiss looked at her scroll and sighed. "I'm curious. Do you know anything about them?"

"I don't know as much, compared to Ozpin. All you need to know is Wyvern deeply hates it whenever he is reminded of what happened in his past. Those killings were one of them." Isaac warned the rest of them sternly. "Unfortunately, Ozpin himself never gave me clearance to have a deeper look into this event. The only information regarding that was Wyvern was responsible, and nothing else."

"If that's true, do you believe those victims could possibly be innocent people?" She asked.

He shook his head and chuckled at that sort of accusation. "If you want my opinion, Wyvern probably has a reason for killing them, and he never has the stomach to killing innocent targets." Isaac explained.

"There's…still a lot to take in. Not to mention a lot of questions." Pyrrha shook her head.

"I am aware. But due to this sort of unnecessary action towards Wyvern, Ozpin will have to see to this. Maybe he can satisfy your curiosities by providing answers or convince to you that the situation is being taken care of in good hands. I am not the one to hold all the answers about Wyvern." He sighed and looked at the exit, still open to where Wyvern's ran off. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat this. You might see him pissed for the first time."

This made everyone further pressured as they realized Ozpin will have to know about this, and there's no way Isaac is unable to keep this incident hidden or have an excuse to make them look more innocent.

"We're so dead…" Nora gulped as she knew she was involved in this too.

"You're telling me…" Yang was the most nervous out of everybody, due to the fact she assaulted him.

Isaac narrowed her eyes at her and gave a stern glare, "I know you have issues with your hair. But that punch wasn't justified when he didn't cause any harm towards you first."

Ruby nodded and patted her sister's shoulder, "Looks like you owe him a massive apology this time."

"I know. Just try not to salt the wound even further." She looked away shamefully for breaking Ruby's biggest rule.

"I think each and every one of us owe him one." Blake added, having remorse equally to everyone else for not handling the situation in a way Ruby wanted. Weiss along with Team JNPR were onboard with what she said too.

Ruby turned back to Isaac and frowned like the others. "Professor Isaac? If we have broken the biggest rule regarding Wyvern's transfer here, I, along with everyone else would like to say sorry for all this." Ruby stated her apology with the others clearly agreeing to what she said, asking for forgiveness.

"Curiosity can lead to some extremes." He formed a small smile but covered it. "Well, all of you don't have to worry too much about me. I can easily forgive my students, if they realized their mistakes. And you all have clearly seen the light."

Jaune sighed in relief, "Thank you!"

"Glynda, on the other hand…" Isaac gave a dry smile and gave off a grim expression from the thought of her, "I don't think she'll be happy…"

"No offense, but I don't think she's ever been happy…" Yang commented.

He let out a dry chuckle from Yang's comment, almost too afraid to agree if Glynda was nearby.

*RING! RING! RING!*

Suddenly, Isaac's scroll began to receive a call. He took it out of his lab coat pocket and looked down at the screen, with his face turning even more grim, as it was a clear sign to who was contacting him; much to Team RWBY and JNPR's fear of the inevitable punishment that would reign down upon them.

"Speak of the devil." He accepted the call and moved the speaker a few inches away from his ear, expecting for any sudden yelling. "Hello?"

"Isaac? Where are you right now?" Professor Goodwitch immediately asked.

"Amphitheater. What's up?"

"And Wyvern?"

"…"

"Isaac!"

"He's…not with me, at the moment."

"What?!" She huffed, "Alright, forget about that for now. I'm contacting you because the new radars you installed in Beacon have detected an unknown aircraft that has already penetrated restricted airspace. No sort of response was received when I made direct contact from them."

"Just one?"

"Just one." She acknowledged.

"Do they even know where they are heading? What idiot would have the balls to fly in that close?" He asked confusingly.

"How about you head over there as soon as possible to see who." Professor Goodwitch said under her breath as if she was running while on the line. "Listen, I'm still in the east wing. Head to the landing pads and make sure these probable intruders don't do anything to risk the other students."

Isaac nodded and looked down at his lab coat, concealing his armored suit. He unbuttoned and removed it, revealing the high spec combat skin he hid under. "Anything for their safety."

With that, Goodwitch hung up from the call as Isaac turned his back at the others to head out the exit.

Before he was able to disappear, Ruby went up to him and asked in a concerned tone, "What's going on?"

"We got some guests heading to our campus." He answered.

(Beacon Academy, Further West, Outside Restricted Airspace *12 Minutes Earlier*)

All was quiet onboard the aircraft that carried its crew during its flight to Beacon. Upon a few minutes passing by, all passengers onboard double checked on their small arms to make sure they were loaded and ready for combat. None of them wore any official uniforms from Vale Law Enforcement, nor their military. They were under the supervision of Roman Torchwick, along with his partner, Neo; she was the one walking down the aisle, keeping an eye on the boys while her boss was in the cockpit with the pilot.

Neo stood where she was and leaned against the wall, next to the exit. She mainly listened to the sound of the engines running outside, and her boss having a chat with the pilot. The rest of the men in the passenger chamber remained quiet as they were eagerly ready for combat and their pay, which was handsomely large for their usual request. She, on the other hand, did not care about the pay whatsoever. All she wanted was to ensure Roman was protected and lives through another day with her by his side. Whether it was to put her own life in danger, she was willing to do anything just for him in any situation.

Roman leaned back on the co-pilot seat as Beacon Academy was getting closer from the horizon. He gave a cocky smirk and began to scan the entire building and the outside to further prepare for how they will pull this off. It was a plan he, along with Adam and Cinder built up that was thoroughly designed to have a higher chance of success than the previous ones that were suggested. Knowing this was Beacon, he knew it was still a huge risk. But he still didn't care as long as he gets paid, even if it risks his own men. Neo was an exception as he trusts her more than anybody else to carry out the mission successfully.

In the middle of his thoughts, he began to receive a call from his phone, much to his annoyance. He picked it up and saw it was coming from an unknown caller. Curiously, he picked it up and answered.

With a few minutes passing by, the silence in the passenger cabin was interrupted as all the gunmen sat up straight from their seats with Roman walking in. Neo immediately stood next to him and kept an eye on the rest.

"Change of plans, boys." Roman declared after hanging up his phone, "Listen closely."

With the sudden announcement over, the doors opened as the ocean was just below them, with the cliffside just on their left. One of the men that was closest to the door next to Neo stood up and readied his standard issue rifle and held onto a handlebar to prevent himself from falling. With the current speed and high altitude above the water, it would've been a painful or possibly fatal landing. Nevertheless, he peeked over the front of the craft and saw Beacon Academy itself. With the new plan proposed and accepted, he nervously began to scan the outside first to try and see if anyone was present outside. With the aircraft now above the landing pad, it began its descent to touch down, where everyone onboard except the pilot, got off and went into a defensive formation. Roman's men were swift to get out and thoroughly scanned the area with fingers on their triggers and partially looking through their iron or precision sights on their guns.

The outer campus was completely vacant as all the students now remained inside the inner part of Beacon as the weather was starting to become overcast. It was perfect timing as no other students was there to intervene upon their arrival. All they had to do was wait until a staff member of Beacon arrived and demand for who they came for. If they resist, Neo will easily dispose the problem as she was content on combat against certified Huntsman. If the staff member was no longer a combatant, it would make things easier for Roman and would threaten their life to summon their target.

One of the men lowered his weapon and looked back at Roman. "Boss, you sure this is a good idea?"

"We're out in the open in front of Beacon. We're too exposed like this." Another member added.

"Calm down. It'll work as planned if you shut your mouths." He answered.

"This doesn't seem like a tactic that Cinder chick would recommend."

Roman patiently stood in the center of all of them, "One of her new colleagues suggested this. After speaking to him, he seemed wise and even stated he was more experienced to facing Hunters in the past, much more than Cinder and Adam."

"Pfft. Anybody can say that. What's so special about this plan?"

"If we go in there, regardless if we use infiltration tactics or guns blazing, it puts even more of us at risk. Especially the ladder. Who the hell would think that's a good one?" Roman chuckled to himself, "He explained to me that Hunters were trained morally and have standards when it comes to combat. They will only attack when they are provoked. If we let them know we are here to reason and talk to somebody, maybe they can give us a chance to speak to said person or give us a chance to leave."

Unknowingly for him, most of the men had a lot of doubts about this sort of idea but tried to have some faith to make themselves feel comfortable. Not to mention criticizing their boss tends to be ignored or silenced by Neo. No pun intended.

"Once we request to only speak to Wyvern, when he arrives, we put him down with a hundred holes and swiftly get out of there. If he has company, leave that to Neo to cover our escape and we pick her up before any more Hunters arrive." Roman finished his explanation of the new plan to the others.

"He? No offense, but you gotta be stupid if you think staying in the open like this is gonna work."

"He was experienced than more of us combined. Even more than Cinder and her ruffians." He reminded them, "Have some faith. Would you rather turn this into a suicide mission by going inside?"

Still doubtful about this plan, they kept their comments to Roman silent.

The first bodyguard turned towards another and whispered, "This is screwed up."

The other nodded, "Yeah. Does Cinder and Adam know that this tactic was changed?"

"We never heard of this guy that suggested this plan. Roman just believed him as if he was trustworthy."

He shrugged and whispered, "Something's not right…"

"Neo. Stay close. We'll be expecting guests anytime soon." Roman ordered as she gladly stayed close to him.

"You won't have to wait any longer. Movement up ahead, boss." A guard in front stated while a group was heading their way now.

The group approached closer as they clearly would've seen they were armed and dangerous. Roman's group lowered their weapons to further decrease the tension that was building up, which worked as the group didn't take direct action and went closer with their weapons neutralized too.

Roman smirked and folded his arms, excited for a little sideshow. "Time to earn our pay, everyone. Let me handle the talking."

(It feels strange to rewrite this scene all over again. Hope it was better than the old one, if any of the old readers remember it.

Anyway, Welcome to the Year 2020! Make sure your resolutions are still being carried on. Mine probably won't. A man has got to eat, you know?)

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