A/N: HELLO. HELL... HELLO. *Coughing noises* Uh, anyways, let's just ignore that. Hello everyone! Let's begin by apologizing for my lack of updates... All I have to blame is Uni, thankfully, the year is nearing its end, so I have some time to do what I enjoy! Here's a bigger chapter for ya'll! Hope you'll enjoy it! As for Godfrey... I'm struggling to find inspiration to get another chapter out, but I promise to release another by the end of the year!
karmax992: So, the original plan was to show the fight against the arbiter in Lobotomy. Then, the plan changed, and I wanted to do a Little Red fight from Lobotomy again, especially with Ruby clearly watching. Then, I thought I might do the Ozma fight from Library of Ruina just to give Ozpin a little scare! But at the end of the day, those are already told stories. So I decided to stick with this version of the conflict. Hope you'll enjoy it. And, uh, PS, I do plan to take the Head's agents to Remnant, after all, a few of their dear denizens are stuck there!
RhoMarck: Innocent? INNOCENT? Well, I agree but also don't. He's an asshole, but a lovable one. He killed a lot of people but had reason to do so for the most part. And uh, during brainstorming, I actually was very close to throwing CENSORED into the mix because, WHY NOT? Almost gave the RWBY's cast PTSD with same-day shipping.
Enjoy.
Minutes before the testing began, an announcement came through Beacon's speakers, demanding the presence of a certain former librarian in the headmaster's quarters.
Rays of sunlight shone through the office's windows, illuminating the headmaster's room which was surprisingly already occupied so early in the morning.
The occupants in question were a young, bald man wearing ragged clothes and a metallic biding to his left arm, alongside an older man with gray sitting on an armchair sweating unreasonable amounts of sweat. Francisco remained silent, he didn't know why he was called by Ozpin the moment Ironwood dispatched him, but he had an iota of an idea as to why he did.
Breaking the silence, Ozpin spoke with a firm yet tired voice. "What, did you do?"
The former librarian breathed deeply, unsure if he was prepared to receive a possible dressing down from the very headmaster. But he had to say something. "I need you to be more specific."
This was an abnormal situation for Ozpin. For once, his… Cooperator's escapades didn't result in an outburst with the council of Vale, a miracle for sure, but it wasn't something out of the realm of possibility though it was highly improbable. No, what made this situation completely abhorrent was the fact that THIS man right there was one of his most prized assets against her and suddenly General Ironwood decides to unravel his secrets in front of his scientists! The chance of this spilling out is enormous. He knew Ironwood was bold and quick to pull the trigger but Ozpin didn't know his ally was also unwise!
His temperament was strangely all over the place. Feelings he hadn't felt in a long time, especially with such intensity ever since the former librarians entered his life.
What's worse is that it's starting to become a pattern.
First, Ironwood was acting completely out of character, going out of his way to deliver a completely unorthodox method of punishment that could very well end Francisco's life. Ironwood was bold, but he wouldn't outright kill someone.
Then, there was young Rose. The girl's temperament, ever since she was introduced to the duo, was all over the place even while Ozpin tried to comfort the girl's unending cry.
"What did you do? To anger Ruby to such an extent?"
Francisco shrugged. "In all fairness, I don't know either. She exploded on my face after waking up when the train crashed."
Ozpin rubbed his eyes in distress. "Your partner recovered the security footage from the train's station, and Ironwood's team recovered the Train's black box." Francisco nodded, still not understanding the point of the conversation. "I must say that… I am impressed." The former librarian remained silent.
"I didn't exactly expect much when you said that you would, 'deal with it using the city's mentality'. I thought you two would be extremely thorough with it, not kill everyone in sight!" He exclaimed, smashing his coffee mug on his table and spilling its contents all over.
"With due respect, they captured Ruby and confessed they would murder or do worse to a FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD. I'm not a judge, nor are my morals crystal clear, but even back in my world those types of scum usually met the same fate."
Ozpin sighed in defeat. "Fine. What is done cannot be undone after all. It's not like this little adventure of ours will go public anyways."
Francisco simply nodded, selecting what words to say very carefully. "Damn, now I feel bad… We will apologize to the girls later, Me and Bemaia."
The headmaster's gaze did not leave the former Librarian's eyes. "That's the least I expect from a Huntsmen in training." His stern expression softened a bit, going far enough to break a small smile. "With that out of the way, I must congratulate you and your partner. I've received Doctor Oobleck's report and I have to tell you that you did spectacular work, even if I disagree with the approach you two decided on. Charging head first into a heavily defended position in order to save an ally… I can't tell if you two are overconfident or if you're really that brave. Either way, good job."
Francisco's cheeks flustered with red as embarrassment filled his being. "You see… We did try to sneak our way in, but that's just not our field of expertise… And, uh, I wouldn't exactly call it bravery." The former librarian's expression shifted dramatically while he gritted his teeth. "We are expandable, so we kinda have to stand out among the rest. If we failed, we would probably get kicked out of Beacon if we survived a scenario where our actions resulted in even more work having to be done afterward."
Ozpin observed the bald's body language. The moment he touched the subject of being expendable, his entire body responded with uneasiness, his voice faltered ever so slightly, his breathing altered in a way many wouldn't even bat an eye, not to mention his eyes trying to avoid the headmaster. All done subconsciously.
Whatever life he might have had, Ozpin understood he was likely subjected to a similar situation. Only, Ozpin didn't view him as expendable at all. "You're not at all expandable, in fact, I believe you and your partner have the potential to turn the game to our advantage."
Francisco cared little about what he even meant by that. "You have a contract with me, just say the word and I'm kind of obliged to do it." Ozpin nodded, satisfied by his answer, now there was one last subject in need of addressing the Goliath in the room. "Now we are left with Ironwood's machine. What has he told you about it?"
The former librarian relaxed, but not by much. "Something about reading my Aura and materializing some memories. Big bullshit if you ask me."
Ozpin pondered for a moment. His position within the system makes him semi-all knowing, almost all information that flows in and out of his borders always stops by him at one moment or another. But he couldn't say the same about other kingdoms' business. True, he had quite a firm grip on every one of the four kingdoms but that didn't mean that he would receive all the information about each's inner projects, and the most powerful of the four, Atlas, is always producing new technology he wouldn't know the first thing about how they worked.
With that in mind, he knew of a machine being produced at Atlas that would help young huntsman in training to better prepare for eventualities, when the General mentioned it, even if it was in passing. But to use it was a punishment? "Did he mention anything about some side effects? If I recall, he mentioned that it needed testing before being shipped to our academies."
Francisco stuttered for a moment. "Yeah… He said something about me having the chance to lose my life or something of that extent."
The headmaster pondered once more. One's semblance and Aura are directly tied to one's emotion, and what else is directly tied to a person's emotion other than their memories? Ozpin hummed in thought. He wouldn't know the first thing about how Ironwood's machines worked with Aura, but it sure is a wonder and a convenience. Especially convenient when there is a half-dead maiden hanging for her dear life in his basement. "I'm sure he just said that to scare you into thinking it's more dangerous than it actually is. He's not the type to outright kill someone."
Francisco remained still but somewhat relieved. "Good to hear. It's sad that he'll make it a public thing. I don't feel exactly comfortable with people seeping into my memories."
Now, that made Ozpin stagger for a second.
"Excuse me?"
Then, Francisco repeated. "Yeah, I'll use the machine at the Amphitheater. Anyone is welcome to come and see."
Ozpin sighed defeated once again.
There goes the element of surprise about his background… "Oh well, if that's his decision, so be it. Do you have any memories we should be worried about?"
Francisco brought his hand to his chin. "None that comes to mind… Just average City shenanigans. Afraid that I might show some inappropriate things?"
Ozpin straightened his posture and went to the elevator with Francisco right on his tail. "Let's just get this over with, shall we?"
Once inside the strange contraption that covered the Former Librarian's whole face, Ironwood's scientists strapped Francisco's members tightly to make sure he wouldn't escape struggling out of the machine, endangering his life.
The General began his speech to the many students present in the theater's seats. "Good morning, future huntsmen and huntresses of Beacon. As you may know, I am General James Ironwood of the Kingdom of Atlas, and today, with the combined minds of the greatest scientists Atlas has to offer alongside Vale's greatest psychology doctors, I present to you all a new and innovative way to push your training to the very limits." Ironwood announced, euphory dripping from every word spoken. "The leader of the research team, Dr. Märtz! Please, come to the stand and tell the student body about our newest invention."
As the general made way for the doctor to get in the spotlight, the gossip from the audience was the only thing heard. Small talk, about the nature of this machine, or why a guy was currently stuck inside of it. The audience quieted down when a scientist took hold of the microphone. A scrawny man wearing brown, rumpled shorts, a worn down sandal, and only a well-kept lab coat buttoned up showing just enough cleavage to show off his hairy chest. Adjusting his girthy glasses to better fit his face, he ran his hand through his messy, long hair trying to get it off his line of sight.
The general visibly cringed when the doctor showed himself. He would have a stern talk with the scientist afterward about his choice of attire.
"Good morning." His thick germanic accent took a few people from the audience by surprise. "Let's just get to the point, ja?"
With the microphone still in his hand, he made his way to the machine, currently being operated by two of his assistants. The machine itself consisted of three main parts.
The first and most apparent was the cabin where the individual would be situated, it was a small glass capsule just big enough to fit the average adult where Francisco currently sat, unable to move, with a strange helmet over his head.
The second was a terminal where the people operating the contraption would, well, operate it using various buttons and levers that littered the consoles of the machine.
The third and last was where the machine would show its results, a hard-light hologram projector pointed toward the center of the amphitheater, currently heating up to be used.
"This contraption will make the individual using it, relive a memory of high intensity, meaning, this machine can recreate a person's fight where he would be able to relive the memory and learn from it!" The doctor swiped a forming mass of snot off of his running nose. "Meaning, you will be able to make the most of every encounter you have." He then turned to the machine in question and mentioned to his assistants to start it.
"Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to properly calibrate it since SOMEONE showed up an hour late!" He exclaimed, eyeing one of his co-workers, but soon calmed down. "So, we shall show a memory with high levels of intensity of our WILLING volunteer, that being exclusively a fight, with the permission of the Headmaster Ozpin. Any questions?"
A man in the audience with a broken leg and arm spoke up from his wheelchair. "How did you manage to put him into that thing? Last time we talked about machines Francisco went on a whole parade of machine racism."
Curiously, when the student asked his question, a team of four girls, sitting on the opposite side of the theater seemed like their hearts had just stopped. Interesting. Dr. Märtz stopped for a second and then delivered the man an answer. "He got into it after we showed him the reason." The student simply nodded and relaxed back into his wheelchair.
Then, another student, this time it was a girl with orange hair excitedly raised her hand. "Does it have a name!? Oh, I bet it-"
The doctor, without skipping a beat stated in a dry, cold, and menacing tone. "A machine does not need a name, only a purpose. Call it whatever you'd like if you can't sleep because of it." The girl instantly recoiled and jumped into her teammate's lap, murmuring things the doctor couldn't hear or understand.
Another one. A woman politely raised her hand, unlike the previous two who just spoke without any warning. "Go on, you with the amber eyes." The woman got up from her seat and softly asked; "Wouldn't that machine lead to various moral and ethical contradictions? For instance, making someone relive a traumatic experience for the sake of better training, rather irresponsible of Atlas' part, wouldn't it be?" Dr. Märtz nodded. "A valid question. Yes, it is quite immoral to do something like that, that's why, for someone to use this memory machine, the person would go through the necessary psychological evaluation by a competent professional just to have access to it, then singing a contract to use it. We are not making it free to the public, and we most definitely won't allow anyone with those kinds of issues to use it." Rather cold on the doctor's part, but it was the truth.
Eventually, the machine came to life as the capsule where Francisco sat immobile was sealed. His screams went unheard when he felt some form of energy penetrate his Aura, and by extension, his mind.
The hard-light projectors came to life, an image began to manifest itself, at first it was colored like the dust it used, light blue, then the formless light received color as the projectors made an unpleasant sound, like a damaged old gas engine in the brink of shutting down entirely. Before sense could be made out of the image, sounds began to play throughout the theater, sounding much like the static of an untuned radio, then voices could be barely heard.
Ruby watched stoically the scene before her with the entirety of Beacon Academy, or before those who bothered to come.
The poor girl did not get a single hour of sleep, not after her first official mission, she was feeling horrible, there was this constant pain in her gut that kept her from passing out of exhaustion.
Her team was faring somewhat better, considering that Yang still managed to crack one or two generally unfunny jokes and Weiss continued to judge her teammates' etiquette while in public, shunning them mentally.
Blake was the only one that had a considerable change to her usual demeanor. She normally stayed in the back with her face planted in a book-filled dubious content, but now, she was even quieter, barely even blinking as she stared directly at Bemaia, who found himself in a wheelchair. Normally, Ruby would butt in whenever Blake started acting up after the stunt she pulled with the White Fang, but now? The girl was barely holding on to consciousness, she wouldn't be able to do anything to help.
Weiss and Yang did try to cheer them up, but they were met with silence and ignorance, almost as if the two were stuck in another world. Concerned with her leader, Weiss tried to get Ruby's attention. "Um… Ruby?"
Nothing but the sound of the machine activating.
"Hello?"
Again, nothing.
The moment Weiss attempted to touch her shoulder, Ruby immediately swatted the heiress' hand away, letting out a terrifying screech and scarring the young heiress piss and shitless. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"
The white-haired girl recoiled back into her teammates, as the whole student body of Beacon present stared at them, including the general and Doctor Märtz, who decided it would be a great idea to let a small comment out about the girl. "Quite rude to interrupt such a precious moment in the history of this world, with a completely unnecessary ruckus, hm?" He spoke directly into the microphone, prompting the girl to feel somewhat guilty after being put in the spotlight for a brief moment.
"I told you General, testing the machine here with all these… Children… Was a bad idea." This, he spoke away from the mic, but just loud enough for a few students to catch on to it.
Ruby looked apologetically at Weiss, who was rubbing her hand. "I-"
The moment she tried to apologize, the heiress stopped her. "We will talk about it later. It's clear you don't want me around."
"Wait, I-"
But Weiss simply got up from her seat, still rubbing her hand. "Up, up, up! Later." Ruby reeled back in her seat while her sister approached to try and untangle the mess the young leader found herself in.
Bemaia watched the teenage drama unfold before his very eyes while stuck in his wheelchair. 'Huh, good thing that's not my problem.' He thought to himself, trying to ignore Blake drilling a hole through his back via staring.
Though, that was far from the most unnerving thing in the room, angsty teenagers with weapons and a vendetta he could deal with, even while stuck in a wheelchair.
No, the real elephant in the room that no one seemed to care or notice, was a singular girl-rather, a singular 'girl' with green eyes and orange hair in a white Atlas uniform. This 'girl' was the sole thing in the amphitheater that legitimately made Bemaia feel uncomfortable. Why? There was something about the way she carried herself, looked around the theatre, and how her hair barely moved with her movements.
Noticing his stare, the girl in question, from the other side of the theatre, made her way toward him. With every inch nearer to him, Bemaia's skepticism grew larger and larger until they met face to face.
Without a second to spare, the weird 'girl' excitedly exclaimed, "Salutations fellow huntsman in training!"
Bemaia recoiled back into the wheelchair, observing the 'girl' very carefully.
"I couldn't help but notice that you were staring at me from across Beacon's Amphitheater, so I thought that there might be something that bothered you!"
Bemaia breathed deeply, staring directly into her green eyes, and letting out a tired voice. "Why do you remind me of the emerald midget?"
The 'girl' remained with her ever-present smile while exaggerating her movements by raising a finger to her chin. "I don't recall any crystallized construct with a growth restriction complication…" She contemplated for a second. "How do I remind you of an object like that?"
Bemaia kept his gaze in her emerald eyes. "I have a feeling that you'll be the source of all my future problems."
The 'girl' observed the student while having conflicted feelings about her opinion of him, however, she was ordered to keep a good relationship with the students of Beacon. "Strange. My name is Penny! What's yours?"
She said, prompting a raised eyebrow from the former librarian. "Bernardo. But call me Bemaia…" He thought for a second, choosing his next words carefully. "...Artificial Life, who goes by the name of Penny."
Penny's smile faltered. 'Did he find out that quickly? How? Did I act weirdly? Maybe I should notify my father about this. Still, what happened for Bemaia to instantly know I am not a real- No, friend Ruby said I was a real girl just like every other!' She steeled her resolve. He was bluffing! A joke! Most teenagers play japes on each other all the time! Or so say the statics… "What do you-" *hiccup onomatopoeia* "mean?"
Bemaia kept eying her. "I suppose this is a sensitive topic… Let's just move on."
Penny exhaled with relief. 'I knew it! It was nothing but a jape. My disguise has yet to falter! Thank you, general.' "Did you drink enough water today? The ideal amount for you to function optimally is four to six cups each day!" She exclaimed as her smile returned.
The former librarian watched the 'girl' stoically. "Y'know, you don't have to try that hard to do something you aren't designed to do, like small talk."
Penny sighed in relief. "Thanks for letting me know! You are a nice person, Bemaia."
He simply shrugged, 'How can something so wrong be so innocent?' "Don't sweat it." Or would it be, 'Don't oil it'? Eh, doesn't matter.
"Oh! Look's like Doctor Märtz's invention's projection is about to fully manifest!" Bemaia shuddered at the thought, memories should remain memories and not be probed around and shown like a festive hat. Still, though, Bemaia sighed in relief. Anything goes if it means he would stop that very, very awkward interaction with the- barely considered even human girl that would most likely result in a quick visit from the Claw or perhaps even the Head for the crime of existing -from Atlas.
—
At the poorly lit, downtown part of the backstreets of district 12, when the diminutive light of the crescent moon shone poorly through the giant yet decrepit buildings that filled the projection, the floor cement was covered in the remains of rotting trash left by the denizens and moist mud, or so the audience hoped it was mud, though, the brownish color could deceive some into thinking it was something far more disgusting.
The audience stopped all they were doing to pay close attention to the scene unfolding in front of them, much like a movie of sorts. "Oooh… Ren… That's so cool!" Nora almost screamed at her teammate, but managed, just barely, to contain her excitement.
Ren on the other hand couldn't get over the fact that humanity was able to create something of such scale. "We would never be able to experience this back in Mistral." He spoke softly, turning his attention to the other members of his team, all with a variant of awe in their expressions. One specifically, Jaune, was, to put it mildly, losing his shit. "Don't you guys see it?!" He tried not to yell. "This is our first glimpse into another world!" He forced himself to say it in a low tone, just loud enough for his teammates to hear. "And that other world looks nothing like another world…" Jaune lamented after fully taking in the scene projected in front of them.
Pyrrha couldn't help but be intrigued by this 'memory.' "That's… Like a sewer, if you look close enough… Why did it show us this place?" Pulling himself out of his torpor, Jaune couldn't help but agree. "They did say it would be Baldie's memories, didn't it?" Soon, a white-haired petite heiress sat just behind the four members of team JNPR, feeling slightly- Very upset.
An Index Proxie wearing a black suit and a long white cape trimmed with golden decals that covered her whole body, pointed her black straight sword at a teenager wearing a similar outfit, only his cape barely covered his entire back and with the addition of a black blindfold, he was an Index Prozelyte with long dark brown hair neatly tied like a ponytail.
Her white cape flew against her body with random gushes of wind.
Bemaia huffed in discomfort, remembering vividly his last experience with a Proxie of the index, three of them to be exact.
Seeming to notice the slight change of demeanor of her incapacitated new maybe-friend, Penny squatted down to his eye level and wholeheartedly asked, "Are you perhaps feeling ill?" She asked the incapacitated man, whose broken rib and femur seemed to hurt slightly less, only for his head to ache even more at how Penny talked to him.
"It's not your problem." Bemaia he said, 'By the wings she's insufferable. Even Catch could hold a better conversation…' He trailed off, as Penny stood up again. "Thank you for letting me know!"
Close to them, a team of three watched the projection in silence, but with unquestionable interest.
"Proselyte Dumont! Stop this foolishness at once!" The proxy exclaimed.
Jaune was the first to protest. "Wait, didn't he say that his name was Francisco Dumont?" Pyrrha answered with a humble "Yes." as the team leader kept inquiring, "So he had long enough hair to the point where it would reach his back when tied…" the champion then added, "It's about the same size as mine."
Jaune kept rubbing his head, trying to cope with it. "Why would he shave it?"
Weiss, that just sat behind them, butted in the conversation. "I can understand to some degree, keeping such long hair can be a pain sometimes." Jaune then looked at Pyrrha, waiting for her opinion. "I agree… But I think it's worth the struggle." The blonde leader let out a sigh of relief. "That's uh, good then. Yeah, great."
With further inspection, her sword arm, her left arm, was purely made of a golden metal or it was covered by it. Before the proselyte in question could even respond, four other Proselytes wearing the same attire as him swatted the alleyway, weapons ready to draw.
"Wow, this is like a movie!" Penny commented excitedly, finally taking a seat next to Bemaia who simply skulked further into his iron sarcophagus. 'Will it ever leave?' He silently cursed.
Above them, a voice rang out. "Are you recording it, Mercury?" The guy in question quickly replied. "You bet I am. No way I'm letting Atlas' new toy out of the hook that easily."
"Foolishness? You call refusing to take the life of an innocent civilian, foolishness?!" The projector finished rendering the full scene and revealed that there were the dead bodies of two other Proselytes by Dumont's feet, as blood dripped from his sword.
Pyrrha was immediately taken aback by what the scene in front of her.
"Alright, things got dark real fast…" Jaune said trying to lift the mood, but, after seeing how Nora's smile immediately vanished as she observed the scene in front of her with a rare seriousness, Jaune felt both relieved and concerned. "Suddenly, another world doesn't sound as cool as it did before…"
"Bemaia… Are those people hurt?" The former librarian stoically watched, trying to ignore the girl to her right. "Not anymore they aren't." Penny let out a sigh of relief. "Good to know!" His patience was being thoroughly tested.
General Ironwood's serious expression barely changed when Dr. Märtz's machine showed such gruesome imagery, only shifting once he felt the gaze of a certain Headmaster looming over him.
The general prepared himself for whatever Ozpin had in store for him.
His grip on the blade tightened. "Where did you get such a twisted sense of morality? You should know that it is against the prescript's will, therefore, it is foolishness." The Proxy walked towards him with a steady pace.
"There are limits to how much bullsh*t I can ignore. Don't make me do this!"
Apparently, the machine censored the curse word, much to everyone's surprise. "Good! That function is still working." Doctor Märtz said to himself, observing the once green lights beeping in red, but doing nothing about it.
Ozpin began to make his way toward the general who simply stood completely still, already guessing what the headmaster had in store for him.
The proxy kept up the pace. "Francisco, my poor and idiotic probationer… Perhaps I've failed to teach you manners."
The night's ending approached in the backstreets, and the danger of being out in the night grew by every second but it mattered little, so long as the sweepers took their sweet time getting to their location.
Francisco bit on his lower lip, and took a fighting stance, ready for a fight.
"Proselytes! Make sure he doesn't escape. And do not dare intervene in this fight." The four spectators nodded their heads with practiced synchrony.
The second Ozpin reached Ironwood, the students start an uproar, conveniently silencing his shouts directed toward the military general.
"Are they going to fight?!"
"A day off and a show, now THIS is luxury!"
Even Nora's cheerfulness returned to her, much to her team's dismay and relief. "Break her legs, Francisco!"
"I think this is a great opportunity to learn how people fight in another world, don't you think Jaune?" Pyrrha said, staring directly at Jaune, who looked somewhat worried. "Y-yeah…" It was something, perhaps a gut-feeling inside of Jaune, yelling at him that something would go exceedingly wrong.
Ruby, after being talked down by Weiss and comforted by her sister, was instantly hooked on the fight when she noticed the two swords. One of them was made of a very peculiar metal that she couldn't even name! It made a clear black and grey blade and its scabbard was coated with gold or something akin to gold. The other was still sheathed, but Ruby's intuition said that they shared the same design since the handle was almost a 1-to-1 copy.
Now playing: You're Mine - Carpenter Brut
"Hear that Emerald? Even the nerds at Atlas know that good music can make a fight much more badass!" Mercury teased, holding unto his scroll.
"Do you want a fight? Just record it and shut up." The teen instantly retorted back.
"Try me, pickle hair."
Before they could continue jabbing at each other, Cinder Fall, their team leader, immediately shushed them. "Quiet."
Both stopped their childish behavior almost immediately.
The two figures dashed towards each other, one clearly faster than the other.
The proxy was almost instantaneously on top of him, swinging downward with her sword, only for her blow to be desperately blocked by Francisco's own straight sword, which seemed to crack under the sheer strength of the blow.
"Man this is intense!" Yang said, hanging on the edge of her seat alongside Ruby, whose eyes regained some of their shine after seeing the two masterfully crafted blades clash in combat. "No, you idiots! You can't block with a sword like that, only re-direct!" Ruby turned to her sister and began shaking her shoulders in exasperation. "They are going to break them! Prime and beautiful babies! Why would someone clash such marvels at each other?!"
Yang pried off her sister's hands, feeling good since she finally decided to act like herself again. "Dunno Rubies, guess they are a little different in another world."
Next to Bemaia, a familiar face came close and landed a light poke with their elbow right on his cracked rib, forcing a pained groan out of him. "Eyyy there buster, your friend has a good fashion sense! Look at the suit!" Bemaia breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down, it wouldn't do him any good to get angry at Coco of all people. "That's his uniform you brute. But yes, it is quite stylish."
Pushing his weight forward, the Proselyte threw the proxy backward and, fearing retaliation, rolled on his back, covering his back in mud and filth that the projection showed with great detail to everyone watching.
Thankfully, she didn't even attempt to strike him during that small time frame, the proxy simply walked toward him wearing a wicked smile that grew wider with each step she took towards him.
He swallowed, blocking a horizontal slash that seemed to target his sword, and not himself.
Then another slash.
And another.
His grip faltered for but a moment, and that was the moment that the Proxie kicked him directly in the center of his chest with a sickening cracking noise and pummelling him towards the alley's wall, almost causing it to collapse, seeing that the wall cracked when the proselyte's body hit it.
"Ouch. That's gotta hurt." Yang said, approaching Bemaia and Penny pulling Ruby alongside her. "You don't say. Proxies are always a pain to deal with." The former librarian lamented, earning the attention of the teenage girls that surrounded him, including the trio seated behind him. "I even lost my restaurant to one of them."
Now, that got two of the girls thinking, specifically Penny, who couldn't help but to voice her inquiries. "That's interesting! I wish I knew anything about that organization. Could you tell me more?"
'My brother in christ she is dense!' Coco glared at the strange 'girl' and nodded in response. "Yeah, she may be… Special, but she does have point. How come I've never heard about these people?"
Yang and Ruby shared a concerned look, and then looked at Bemaia.
"Why, thank you! My father always told me I'm special." The former librarian snapped his eyes at the robot girl. How in the wing's name can someone be so innocent?! But thankfully for him, that seemed to defuse the attention the girls had on him, so he just kept watching the one-sided stomp.
Francisco struggled to get back on his feet, failing to even breathe correctly.
"Look at you, thinking that you can play the hero."
Punching the floor, he forced himself to get back on his feet, sword in hand.
"I'd wager it feels pretty good knowing you decided that your colleagues' life weighed more than a backstreet dweller."
Francisco attempted to dash into her, thrusting his sword towards her with blinding speeds, only for the proxy to backhand his sword towards the blackness of the alleyway, getting it stuck on a wall.
"No! The sword! Why did she throw it in such a dirty place?! This is just plain torture… Yang, make it stop, please!" Ruby cried, her pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears, seeing that her sister had no control over the situation.
"I guess he's hARMless now, eh? eh?!" Yang half shouted her masterfully crafted pun, earning the disgusted looks of everyone in the small group formed around the guy in the wheelchair, who groaned in response. "Really? Tough crowd." Yang relented for now.
Bemaia noticed the argument between the two Headmasters, unfortunately, he couldn't hear a word they said due to all the noise, but if their hand gestures were anything to go by, it was very heated.
After parrying him, the proxy reeled back her sword arm, and thrust the sword deep into Francisco's belly, neatly impaling him on it.
"It's every time with him! I swear to oum!" Ruby covered her eyes.
"Can't this man have a single fight that he doesn't end fatally wounded?" Yang asked Bemaia, who shrugged. "Who said that was fatal? That's just a sword to the gut, insurance can cover that… I think." Yang decided not to question him further. Most of the audience didn't really care about the violent scene in front of them, mostly since it was just a holographic depiction of something, not unlike a cinema movie.
"You know what's the best part of this little stunt of yours?"
With her sheer inhuman arm strength, the proxy easily lifted him off of his feet using the sword lodged inside of his guts as a handle, while Francisco desperately grasped for her arm, screaming in agony.
"The old lady died to a sweeper attack while you backstabbed your partner, meaning the prescript is already concluded. Congratulations." She shouted with glee, as Francisco coughed up blood directly into her face.
JNPR's leader couldn't help but feel somewhat concerned for the man. Jaune knew that Francisco's life wasn't in danger, after all, he was still alive, but he still felt something in him, perhaps the first phases of pity formed inside of him. It wasn't his business, he knew it, but that was just what he felt toward him. Pity.
Looking at his team, Jaune observed Nora almost jumping into the arena by how seriously she was taking this, while Ren just barely managed to hold her in place using every ounce of his strength to do so.
Pyrrha's expression told him a million things at once. She was worried, fearful, angry, confused, and hopeful, but most of all, she looked completely lost. "You holding up okay there Pyrrha?"
The champion glared at her leader, seeming to somehow calm down as her pupils dilated. "It's nothing… Just wondering how I'm supposed to fight someone like him." Jaune's face shifted to one filled with confusion. '"Fight him?" Pyrrha nodded. "Yup. I said I'd fight him again if he unlocked his aura, and he did… So, I need to see how he fights, and gather information about him. But…"
She paused, glancing over Francisco's body suspended in the air with a blade through his torso, shuddering at the thought.
"I don't think I want to fight him again…"
Jaune nodded in response, "I feel you. I wouldn't want to lose my Crocea Mors ever again." Completely missing the point.
Wiping it off with her spare hand, the proxy threw him into the ground stained with filth, right on the feet of the four other proselytes, who simply watched him with unreadable expressions on their faces.
Barely getting up to his feet, Francisco took hold of something amidst the filth he rolled through as the proxy remained still, lazily holding her sword and waiting for him.
Sprinting towards her, Francisco threw the remains of what seemed to be a mixture of his own blood, dust accumulated on the ground, and moisturized dirt towards the proxy, who barely dodged to her side.
The moment he threw the pieces of filth toward the proxy, the audience booed him and booed him hard.
"Hey hey! Foul play!"
"That's a low blow!"
"Not cool."
But what felt more absurd to Jaune was that Pyrrha, unlike his more colorful teammate.
"That's it! Take his arm for playing dirty!"
Well, Pyrrha actually smiled at his little blasphemous act. "Finally, someone that's willing to fight dirty." She said, confusing Jaune further, though, he chose not to press her for more context.
"You little brat, almost ruined my su-"
Just as she took her eyes out of the dirt Francisco had thrown at her, he landed a clean rear hook right on her chin.
If anyone took a punch like that, they would have been found sleeping for a few minutes, unfortunately for him, he was fighting a proxy, who simply shrugged it off.
"I see you've got some tricks up your sleeve! Let me make this clear:"
She said, lazily moving her sword upwards after moving behind him in the blink of an eye, slicing his left arm clean off and falling to the ground with a saddening splashing sound.
"Wait a second… That thing is faulty! No way he lost an arm there if Francisco still had both of them when he fought me!" Jaune exclaimed, as his inquiry went unheard.
"Let's be honest, 'fought you' Jaune? That's pushing it by a lot." Someone next to his seat teased, but Jaune wouldn't give him the time of day.
Nora immediately regretted saying her previous words. "I would like to apologize for jinxing the fight."
"Not f*cking again… Do you know how expensive a left arm will be…"
'Did he say that he would buy another arm?' Weiss seemed to be the only one in the audience that seemed to notice that detail.
Looking over at the rest of her teammates, Blake kept stating at Bemaia…
As expected…
Yang and Nora were creating a ruckus like the children they were. Shameful really.
And Ruby… She seemed to have calmed down after seeing their weapons.
"Good."
What was really concerning was that the two were really, and she meant REALLY strange.
They somehow lacked all social skills and yet had all of them at once. They defied all logic she believed and yet there they stood.
Bemaia was clearly trying his best to get away from Penny, Ruby, Coco, and Yang, yet, he failed, drawing even more attention to himself, and gaining valuable credibility. Only, her mind kept revisiting that moment when she saw the train station at Mountain Glenn.
"I hate to say this but Blake may have a point."
But she did not feel remorse or pity for the dead there. She wanted to, really, she did, but she just couldn't bring herself to find empathy for the many members of the White Fang that died at their hands, at least, not after she watched the videos Bemaia secured. "This wasn't supposed to happen…" She lamented, almost automatically getting up from her seat and making her way toward the main building block, she needed time to think.
Francisco complained, dashing backward, however, the proxy was ready for it.
Thrusting her sword on the floor and punching the air in the direction of Francisco, whose face went pale after realizing too late that her fist kept approaching his face.
Instead of punching him straight on, the fist opened and grope him in the face before he could even react. Then, the golden hand returned to its owner, alongside Francisco's body, which slowly bleed out in excruciating pain as he struggled with all his might to pry the fingers apart.
"We're not quite through here yet!" She yelled, reeling back her armored arm once again and slamming him, nape first, towards the ground full force, as the projection ended abruptly.
Just as Doctor Märtz went ahead to turn off the machine, the projection came to life once again, scarring him to the point where he fell on his butt and scrambled toward safety. Just as the Image returned, the two headmasters stopped their argument to look at the new image.
"Oh? What's this?"
"..."
"I need Doctor Johnson right now! One of the comatose just woke up!"
"Hold now dear, the doctor will arrive shortly."
"Fred, was it? Good. I was instructed by your partners to unlock your Aura as soon as you woke up."
"Who are they? There's Bernardo and Franci-"
"H-hold it, boy! I can't let you see him just yet!"
"By the twins you're strong...!"
"Get me a student right now! I'm barely able to hold him still using my semblance!"
"W-wait, Schnee?! No. It'll do."