Welcome to Season 4, everyone. We hope you enjoy an especially exciting season. Hop on over to my SpaceBattles page to see some extra content.
I also have to mention- Gemstones will be shifting to a biweekly release schedule because of the sheer length of some of these chapters. To compensate, we will be releasing side chapters to fill some voids.
Beacon was everything Ben expected. From the way Ruby talked so highly about it, he imagined it to be some castle pulled from a fairy tale, with the interiors being some sort of technological fantasy, with unique and creative weapons being tested and all sorts of warriors present. With a headmaster like Ozpin, Ben was convinced his eccentric personality had some sort of influence on the school.
Too bad his awe was distracted by an odd discussion in the airship.
"So, if you eat a poppy bagel and then take a drug test," Weiss asked slowly, "can you test positive for drugs?"
"Yeah. The chemical makeup of the seeds is similar to heroin," Ceres explained, "So, avoid those next time Plumber HQ has a random drug test."
"So, you're saying if I eat that everything bagel, suddenly I'm a drug addict?" Kevin demanded to know. "All because of some stupid Einstein Brothers bagel?"
Ceres nodded. "Yes." There was some more talk of how stupid it was, and how it could ruin one's life.
"...the fuck is this conversation?" Ben asked, looking over his shoulder. "I heard heroin and bagels, what am I even listening to?"
"Don't worry, I can change the topic." Ruby grinned slyly, then asked out loud, "Hey guys, if I punch myself and it hurts, am I strong or weak?"
"Well, it obviously means that…" Ceres trailed off. She sat there for a moment, silently debating the topic.
And then, silence. Everyone felt uncomfortable just thinking about it, with Kylie quietly testing the hypothesis by punching herself in the arm.
"Holy crap," Ceres finally said. "Ruby, where do you get this from-!" Ruby immediately pointed a finger at her sister. Ceres nodded, content with the answer.
Anna closed her book and gave them an amused look. "Guys, I know teenagers are supposed to experiment and all, but keep it on the down low. If I catch wind of you guys doing anything illicit, I'm obligated by my contract to report it."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "So, if you didn't have a contract with Beacon, you wouldn't report us?"
"Did I stutter?"
"No…"
"Then I shouldn't have to repeat myself." Anna rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we're landing soon, so anyone with a queasy stomach get your barf bags out now. I ain't cleaning up after you."
"Charming as always, Anna," Blake muttered as she and the others attached their seatbelts.
The ship carrying both teams docked at the entrance of the school. As soon as it landed, Ben ran out the hangar door and bolted over to the nearest trash can, hunching over it as he lost his lunch. The rest of the team walked out of the ship and headed down the paved path to the school's campus.
"Jeez, I've never seen Ben that airsick," Kylie commented, genuinely worried.
"Well, keep in mind he ate at Burger Shack and had some smoothies before leaving," Rook said, putting on his ID mask. "He had it coming."
"Then how are you not throwing up that meatball sub you had earlier?" Kevin countered.
"I do not shove it all down my throat at once." Rook smirked. "I savor all meals."
"You're too good for this planet, Rook," Ceres sighed.
"Come on!" Ruby grinned, tugging Ben away from the trash. "We have to go meet with the headmaster!"
"Head...master?" Ben groaned.
Anna sighed. "Were you not listening to the run down when we were leaving the base?"
"I was busy," Ben said, as he looked back over at the trashcan. He regretted eating beforehand.
Anna rolled her eyes. "Professor Ozpin needs a quick rundown on what's going on. He is the one that pardoned Team RWBY's extended absence, after all."
"Right," Ben muttered, looking around him; Beacon's inside garden was filled with scenic trees, enormous arches and castle-like architecture, and a winding road alongside a river. Ben could see why Ruby loved it here so much.
"Hey! Give that back!"
"And what are you gonna do about it?"
Ben looked over to see a short rabbit faunus girl with pretty, long brown hair, and a large boy with cropped, burnt orange hair, who was intentionally holding a camera over her head. The girl was struggling to reach for it, and the boy smirked down at her, keeping the camera far away from her reach.
Ben blinked, swearing the boy looked familiar. "Hey, is that-"
"Yep," Ruby drawled out, frowning heavily. "That's Cardin."
Ben grinned, suddenly feeling a lot better. "Hold on. I'm gonna go say hi."
"What?" Ruby said, but it was too late; Ben was already walking over.
"Hey! Winchester!" Ben called out, waving. Cardin looked over to him, a confused look spreading across his face. Ben patted him on the back as soon as he reached the older boy. "Good to see you, man! Hey, you got tall..."
"Do I...know you?" Cardin asked hesitantly.
Ben looked offended. "Do you know me!? We went to the same camp together! Come on, buddy, think!"
Cardin paused to think (or that's at least what Ben thought, Cardin didn't seem to have much of a brain). "I...don't remember you at all, dude."
"Oh, right!" Ben slapped his forehead. "I've changed so much! Maybe I gotta jog your memory." He slapped down the Omnitrix faceplate, and in an instant, Diamondhead was towering over Cardin. "Does this help?"
Cardin audibly whimpered.
"Good," Ben said cheerfully, taking the camera out of Cardin's hands. "Now start walking."
Cardin was already gone the second Ben handed the camera back to the rabbit Faunus. "T-thanks?" she said, visibly confused.
"No problem." Ben gave her a two finger salute and jogged back to his group.
The most prominent part of the academy's infrastructure was the large tower near the main building. The tower was surrounded by numerous green spheres or lights (possibly the beacon after which the academy was named for, Ben thought), as well as an intricate clockwork mechanism consisting of hundreds of interlocking cogs and gears.
"Ozpin's office is in here," Anna told them, leading the group inside. "He requested that he meet with Ruby, Ceres...and Ben."
"Why'd you pause after my name?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No offense, but when you're called in to see an authority figure, you most certainly did something wrong," Anna answered honestly.
"Fair enough," Ben said, shrugging.
The group waited in the hall for a few minutes before the elevator doors opened. A clean shaven man came out into the hallway; he wore a white overcoat, with a gray undercoat, black sweater, a red necktie and a white glove on his right hand. His suit pants shared the same color as his overcoat and were tucked into silver boots, accented in gray. His hair was black with some white and gray on the sides. Ben made note of a strange piece of metal above his left eyebrow, but didn't think much of it.
"General Ironwood." Anna saluted the man.
"Miss Dombrowski," the man greeted back kindly. The two exchanged a handshake. "It's been a while."
"It definitely has," Anna noted. "How's the wife?"
"She's doing well. How about yours?"
"She's also doing well, thank you for asking," she said, smiling slightly.
"Of course, I'm glad to hear it," Ironwood said, as his eyes drifted towards Weiss. She averted eye contact, adding a strange sense of tension to the room. "Weiss."
Weiss took a deep breath, and returned eye contact. "Father."
For a moment, there was silence.
And then-
"WHAAAAAAAT?" Ruby screeched, making everyone flinch. She quickly put her hands over her mouth, face red like roses.
Ironwood chuckled. "You haven't told them?"
"I found it a minor detail," Weiss said.
"AS IF!" Yang shrieked.
"I don't get it, what's the big deal?" Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My father is the headmaster of Atlas Academy, a general in the Atlesian Military, and holds two seats on the Atlesian Council," Weiss explained. "He's a very powerful man."
"WE COULD'VE BEEN SPOILED WITH MONEY, WEISS!" Ruby whined. "MY BABY NEEDS SOME ATLESIAN UPGRADES!"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "This is why, Father."
"You were right to do so," Blake comforted her.
"I see," Ironwood said, before his eyes drifted over to Ben. His smile visibly dropped. "You must be Max's grandson."
Ben flinched. "Uh, yeah. That's me."
"I'm deeply sorry for your loss," Ironwood said, a hand over his heart. "Max was a good man, and one I deeply respected. I can tell from recent files that you inherited his will."
Ben blinked. "Files?"
"Oh yeah, I have to write monthly mission reports," Ceres interjected. "They asked me to send in some more recent ones before we got here."
"I can tell it's been a busy month for all of you," Ironwood continued. "Especially with Servantis compromising the Bellwood base. I assume he's rotting away in some cell in Incarsecon?"
Ben and Ruby shared a look. "Yep. That's what happened," Ben lied.
"That's good to hear. That being said, we really can't keep Ozpin waiting any longer," Ironwood said. "If you three could follow me..." Ceres, Ben, and Ruby followed Ironwood into the elevator. He pressed a button on the panel and the doors shut. The elevator quickly ascended to the top, and Ben looked around awkwardly. Yes, he wielded the most powerful device in the universe, but Ironwood was the most powerful man in the enclosed space. He had this sense of being hardened by battle; Ben could briefly make out soft mechanical whirring coming from Ironwood's body. Whatever scars he may have, Ben assumed they weren't pretty ones.
The elevator stopped at the top of the building, and the doors opened. The group stepped into Ozpin's office, which, to Ben, looked like a TARDIS interior. Ben made note of a few important details.
When Ben compared the room to the TARDIS, he expected a "Doctor" like figure to also accompany it. Ozpin radiated that energy; he was a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and small brown eyes. He had a light complexion and sharp facial features. He wore shaded, John Lennon-style glasses and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. His outfit consisted of a dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt with black trousers, shoes, and long, dark-green pants.
Next to him was his assistant; she was a middle-aged woman with light-blonde hair tied back in a bun, with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes were bright green and she wore thin ovular glasses. She had dangling teal earrings that matched the hanging pendant at her collar. She wore a white long-sleeved, pleated top that has a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flared in pleats at the wrist. Her lower body was covered by a black, high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings.
To the right was another woman; Ben couldn't tell what role she played just yet. She was a tall and fair-skinned young woman with slate-blue eyes. She wore her white hair tied up in a bun, high on the left side of the back of her head, while her bangs were shaped around the right side of her face, a small curled lock of hair reaching almost to her left shoulder. Her attire was colored navy blue, white, and gray, consisting of a white coat with sleeves that expose her upper arms, a red-lined high collar, red brooch and black gloves, as well as pants that had garters incorporated into them.
And to the other side was-
"Oh, you again," a very familiar grump grumbled.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby gasped. Forgetting where she was, she flung herself at her uncle.
Qrow chuckled. "Good to see you, kiddo." He glared daggers at Ben. "Remind me why he's here again?"
"Mr. Tennyson was a victim of Servantis' mind games," the lady in white explained. "He got some answers out of him, and he was a prominent figure in a few other events we need to discuss."
"So, in other words," Qrow drawled, "he's a troublemaker."
"...for a lack of a better term, yes."
Ben grumbled, and Ceres comforted him with a pat on the head. "Easy now."
Ozpin cleared his throat. "I'm sure you've heard this enough, but I'm deeply sorry for your loss, Mr. Tennyson," he said, voice soothing.
"Thank you, Headmaster Ozpin," Ben said quietly.
"I'm also sorry you and your friends were set up by Servantis." Ben hadn't heard that one before. "Servantis' actions have set in motion something powerful, and we'd like to hear your best account about every single detail following Maxwell's death. From the both of you."
Ben and Ruby shared a glance, before taking deep breaths. The entire explanation felt like another therapy session- though it helped that neither looked at the people around them, but at the walls instead. They went into great detail about the events leading up to the mission, the aftermath, the funeral (neither of them cried, surprisingly). They then went into detail about Servantis and his plan, how they had to hide, and finished the explanation with a censored version of how Servantis met his end.
Ozpin put his hands together and closed his eyes. "Interesting..."
"Is that good interesting, or a bad interesting?" Ben asked, worried.
"Both, I suppose," Ozpin said. "There's no denying Servantis was obviously in leagues with the criminal Roman Torchwick, but I feel as if there's a link missing from this 'web'."
And then, Ben remembered. "Actually, there might be." He went on another spiel about the horrors of Zs'Skayr, and how he attacked the group.
"It's kind of a crack theory, but I think Servantis was involved in Zs'Skayr's cult," Ben explained. "Does that help tie up some loose ends?"
Ozpin furrowed his brow, and grimaced. He turned to his window and looked up at the clear skies. "Devils truly do come from the sky..." Ben felt like there was a deeper meaning behind that statement, but didn't ask. "If there is any involvement between this Zs'Skayr character and whoever Roman is working for, there is a clear and present danger lurking in the shadows."
"Not to mention this 'transformative' drug sounds like a real issue," Qrow interjected, taking a brief swig from his flask. "We shouldn't gloss over that. And the assistance of Callows does explain some rather nasty murders as of late. All victims had nothing in common. Chosen purely at random...something tells me you two made him angry."
"I cleaved off his tail," Ruby scoffed. "Of course he's mad."
"What's most interesting about Callows is the fact he was assumed to be dead just recently," Ironwood's assistant added.
"Wait, really?" Ceres asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Have a look." The assistant typed a few things on her scroll, and a file was sent to Ceres' own. She pulled up an incredibly detailed file on Tyrian. She skimmed a bit of it, but there was something that really stuck with her...the last few lines...
Cornetto continues to speak despite clearly suffering severe injuries from the crash. Most notable was his repeated phrase "What are you? What are you?" It is unclear to whom or what Cornetto was directing this question at. Immediately following this moment, Cornetto is fatally attacked by a Grimm. Callows' voice is the last recorded. The suspect seems to be weeping before stating the word "Beautiful." Transmission ends immediately.
No survivors were found.
Tyrian Callows' body was never found. He is presumed dead.
Ceres felt a chill run down her spine.
"You two have most certainly stumbled upon a complicated scheme. I can understand why you'd want to go undercover here," Ozpin said.
"That's right, sir," Ceres said. "We want to ensure the safety of all parties involved."
Ozpin gave a small smile. "Spoken like a true Plumber. Now, if you're going to go undercover, please promise all of us one thing."
She raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
"Don't destroy this place anymore than Team RWBY has." Ozpin sighed. Ruby turned red again and hid behind Ceres.
Ceres just chuckled. "We'll do our best."
"That will be all. Miss Goodwitch, how about you take team RWBY and Zeta to their dorms?"
His assistant nodded before leading the three teens out of the room. Ben paused and looked back at Ozpin. "It was nice meeting you, sir."
"It was nice to meet you all as well," Ozpin said, smiling back at him. Ben took comfort in that smile...and yet, he felt that smile was more out of sadness than kindness.
As Ozpin watched the elevator doors shut, his demeanor changed. "This isn't good," he sighed. "She's adopted a strategy I've never seen before."
"And what's that?" Ironwood asked.
"Other worldly assistance."
Ben could feel the tension in the elevator, and he desperately wished they could reach the bottom faster.
"Anna," Glynda said, her voice ice cold.
"Glynda," Anna stated, her voice even colder. Their hatred was palpable, the venom in their glares strong enough to kill a man twice over. Ben and the others awkwardly got out of the elevator and regrouped with their friends.
Ben nudged Kylie. "Alright, she's your mom. What's going on?"
"Oh, this?" Kylie groaned. "My mom and Miss Goodwitch have this rivalry that goes back to when they were our age. Something about someone's writing being unfairly critiqued."
"Filled with spite, mom wrote her first book and it became a bestseller. And from then on all her books would go on to be bestsellers, which she rubs into Glynda's face every chance she gets," Kevin added.
Ben blinked. "...wow. Your mom is petty."
"Damn right she is," Kylie said, smirking.
"So," Glynda said through gritted teeth. "How many books have you sold recently?"
"Enough to sustain me for the next two years or so." Anna smiled evilly. "How are the brats treating you? With as much respect as an underpaid, overstressed teacher can have?"
Glynda almost killed her on the spot.
"Uhhhh," Blake interrupted. "Don't you have to lead us back to the dorms?"
Glynda turned to her and took a deep breath. "Yes, I do. Follow me." She shot Anna another glare before leading the kids out of the building.
"For those of you not aware," Glynda began as she walked them through the campus, "Beacon is a residential boarding-type school. We provide all students with basic facilities, including hygiene, food, and laundry. You will be responsible for maintaining your life as a student and life as a Hunter or Huntress. Breakfast will be served at 7:00 on weekdays and 9:00 on weekends. Classes go from 8:30 AM to 4 PM, with an optional sparing class at 5 PM. Lunch will be served at 12:30, and dinner at 6 PM." Glynda paused as they arrived at the dorm. "Welcome to your new home."
Ben peered inside to see a calm living center; there were dorm rooms in the left and right hallways, and in the center was a casual area, with a TV, a few couches, two study rooms on opposite sides, and a laundry room near the left-side dorms. A few vending machines were against the walls, filled with an array of healthy and unhealthy snacks.
"Zeta Squadron, your bags are in room 112," Glynda said, as she handed Ceres five sets of keys.
"Excuse me, Miss Goodwitch," Rook said. "Are the rooms-"
"Co-ed?" Glynda asked. "Yes, they are."
"...I was going to ask if they had a shower or not," Rook told her, voice going flat. "Why would you expect that to be my question?"
"I suggest you start unpacking as soon as possible." She left the group without another word.
"...she seems nice," Ben commented awkwardly.
"Well, you heard the lady," Ceres said, stretching her arms. "Let's get to unpacking."
"She never answered my question, though," Rook pouted.
After unpacking their dorm room, Zeta Squad went about exploring the campus: Kevin and Kylie went to meet up with their mom before she left, Rook and Ceres went to check out the classrooms, which just left Ben to his own devices… which wasn't exactly a good thing. Especially since Beacon looked majestic and fairy tale-like even from the ground up. It was all white paint and cathedral-like columns mixed in with sleek silver machinery. It somehow worked and Ben was worried about accidentally breaking everything by the semester's end. He was glad Ruby decided to give him a grand tour of the campus to keep his thoughts occupied.
"And this is the cafeteria," Ruby announced, walking him through the heavy wooden doors. Said cafeteria was painted in warm colors and looked vaguely like it belonged in a church or art museum, especially since the ceiling looked like it was carved from marble and sparkled when the light hit it just right. The cavernous room was brightly lit thanks to the row of enormous windows, but it was sparsely populated- it was the end of Beacon's spring semester, and many kids were going home for summer break (though many of them were staying for the summer session).
"Come on, let's get you some food," Ruby said, tugging him by the hand. Ben smiled indulgently; he wasn't particularly hungry, but he loved how small and soft and warm Ruby's hand was in his own. Not to mention how excited Ruby had looked giving the tour- it was really hard to resist her when she was so happy.
"Oooh, they got mango juice for once, what's the occasion?" Ruby muttered, letting Ben's hand go and taking trays for the both of them. Ben mourned the loss of her hand but got over it; there would most likely be more opportunities.
Ben grabbed some mango juice- it sounded good anyway- and looked over the selection. It looked pretty good and with lots of variety, but Ruby complained that they barely had anything. Probably because it was summer and therefore had less students. Ben was eating for free, so he wasn't complaining.
"Ruby!"
Ben looked behind him to see a quick blur with orange hair pass by and slam into his best friend.
"WHY?!" Ruby moaned. Ben looked back to see possibly one of the most innocent looking girls he'd ever laid eyes on. She had short, curly orange hair with a pink bow tied at the back of her head. She had bright green eyes, fair skin, and freckles all over her nose. She wore an off-white old-fashioned blouse with a short gray pinafore, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.
The mystery girl jumped off of Ruby. "Sal-u-ta-tions!" she said with a salute.
"It's good to see you too, Penny," Ruby said weakly, staggering to her feet.
"Uh, Ruby," Ben said awkwardly. "Who's this?"
The other girl perked up. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She stuck out her hand, offering Ben a handshake.
"I'm Ben Tennyson." He happily returned the handshake...only to have his hand be nearly crushed by the girl's iron grip. Ben made a face, and Penny quickly released his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Ben gave the girl a look. "You...already said that." He decided to recover his pride and take a sip of mango juice.
"...so I did!" Penny said with a smile.
"Sorry I haven't been returning your texts, Penny! I've been...crazy busy..." Ruby explained, wincing slightly over how weak her excuse sounded.
"With your boyfriend!" Penny beamed.
Ben nearly spat out his drink, and Ruby turned red from embarrassment. "NONONONO! Just with Huntress work and...well, just a lot," she defended herself profusely. "Ben's just my best friend! He recently transferred here, that's all!"
"Oh, my bad!" Penny said apologetically. "We have so much to catch up on!"
"We absolutely do." Ruby smiled back.
Ben shook his still aching hand. "Yeah, we have a lot of stories to tell. Should we start from the beginning?"
The three of them sat down at a nearby table, and Ben and Ruby went on about the summer, which included the more recent events and a censored version of why they were here. Penny listened carefully the entire time, happily nodding and gasping at the appropriate parts.
"I can't believe it!" she declared at the end.
"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but I can turn into ali-" Ben started.
"No, not that! A team with 5 members! Such an imbalance! And not even using letters of your name!" Penny gasped. "That is illegal."
Ben chuckled. "Okay, I like you."
"I like you too, fellow meat person!" Penny beamed. Ben shot Ruby a weirded out look. She just shrugged in response.
"But that's enough about us," Ruby interjected. "What have you been up to since we last saw each other?"
"Well, mainly waiting for you to get back!" Penny said. "On top of all the tests and quizzes the professors have been giving us. And the immense combat training Miss Goodwitch has been doing for the tournament."
"Tournament?" Ben repeated.
"Oh, right!" Ruby slapped her forehead. "The Vytal Festival!"
"What's that?" he asked.
"I can answer that! The Vytal Festival is an international festival held every two years in one of the Kingdoms of Remnant. During the festival, the various cultures of the world are celebrated with dances, parades and a combat tournament," Penny explained.
"I've been so busy working with you I completely forgot! Oh, I hope we still have time to register..." Ruby trailed off, worried.
"Not to worry, I already registered for you!" Penny smiled.
Ruby gasped. "Seriously?! Penny, it's official. You're my best friend right now!" Penny was so elated she jumped over the table and tackle-hugged Ruby again.
"BEN! HELP!"
Ben chuckled. "Sorry. I'm not gonna interrupt a moment between besties."
"There's my sparring partner," another voice called out. Ben's eyes darted to a girl walking over to their table; she was six foot tall and clearly athletic, her Mistral uniform clinging to her attractively and showing off well toned and impossibly long legs. Her skin was pale but healthy and contrasted wonderfully with her wavy, dark red hair, which fell past her shoulders and gleamed in the sunlight. Her eyes were lime green and looked somewhat cat-like. She had model-like cheekbones set in a heart-shaped face, and her smiling lips were painted a cheery, frosted red. She looked elegant yet mischievous, and Ben could tell, with just one glance, that she was someone people naturally flocked to.
"Oh! Cassidy!" Penny jumped off of Ruby. "Is it that time already?"
"I was wondering where you were," Cassidy said, walking over. She looked over at Ruby. "Is she alright?"
Ben nodded. "Let her catch her breath."
Cass eyed him carefully. "I haven't seen you around here. Are you from another school?"
Ben nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. I'm from Shade," he lied. "I'm Ben, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Ben." Cass smiled at him, and Ben had to stop himself from blushing. "Come on, Penny. I'm on a bit of a tight schedule; I gotta help grade some papers with Professor Oobleck soon."
Oobleck? Ben thought. Is that even a word?
"Oh, right! It was nice talking to you, Ruby!" Penny beamed as Ruby weakly got back up. "See you later!" The girl happily skipped away with Cass, leaving Ben and Ruby alone.
"Where'd Penny go?" Ruby said, still a bit dazed.
"Oh, she went off to train with some tall girl," Ben said. He quickly finished off the rest of his mango juice. "Her name was Cassidy, I think."
"Really?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.
"You sound skeptical."
Ruby made a thoughtful noise, her eyebrows knitted together. There was something cold about Cassidy Fallman, but she couldn't place what.
It wasn't that Cass wasn't nice. She was polite to everyone and was especially kind to Ruby, even when Ruby was rambling on about Crescent Rose. Cass had a nice, chime-like laugh, a wicked sense of humor, and a pretty smile that matched the rest of her.
But Cass...didn't really know the concept of things like mercy. The way she treated her opponents in Ms. Goodwitch's combat class was almost inhumane; limbs weren't meant to bend that way. And the audible snap they made always made Ruby wince- that noise should be reserved for accidents and Grimm only.
It was why Ruby was often unsettled by Cass, even if her peers weren't. And when she asked, there were a multitude of different answers, but they all led to the same thing: the real world was cruel, and Huntsmen didn't have time for things like mercy, especially outside the cities where Grimm were abundant. Cass seemed to welcome these ideas without a second thought. And Ruby didn't know what to think of her friends, knowing that while they didn't like Cass actions, they easily condoned them.
At least Ben seemed eager to hear her misgivings out, even if he had never seen Cass in action.
"I just think she's a bit too bloodthirsty, even for a Huntsman," Ruby explained. "Like, we have to sit through a bunch of mental evaluations in order to get into a school like this. To make sure we're gonna be responsible with our weapons and such. If anyone willingly broke the bones of an opponent, they'd be thrown out."
"Makes sense, I guess," Ben mused, idly tapping his pointer finger on the table. "She doesn't go here, right?"
"She goes to Mistral. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I don't know much about the school there, but maybe they condone that sort of thing? Or maybe she wants to make the school look bad by hurting the students of other academies?"
"...that's stupid."
"Gotta analyze everything in a story, Rue."
The Next Day
Ben felt uncomfortable wearing the Beacon uniform. His usual pants and t-shirt combo was easy to throw on, while the uniform needed so many extra steps. Put on an undershirt. Then the button up shirt, and a vest over that. (Why did you even need three layers of shirts anyway?) Then put on some pitch black pants and then struggle to tie your own tie. (Ben ditched it halfway through; Rook could help him.) Then, put on your school jacket, and you're finally done.
"I hate this," Ben declared as he walked out into the dorm, quickly palming his tie to Rook as he did so. Ruby sped by and flashed a quick selfie with him, right before running off again.
"Well, aren't you dapper!" Yang teased, helping Weiss tie her hair into its usual braid.
"I think I pull it off pretty well," Kevin said, shrugging.
"I agree, actually," Rook said, as he reluctantly did Ben's tie. "You really need to learn how to do this," he told his friend.
"Lucky that you guys get to wear pants," Ceres said, a small frown on her dark blue lips. Her uniform was of a similar style to the boys' own: a red plaid skirt, stockings of various length, and a brown jacket paired with a tan vest, a white button up shirt, and a red ribbon tied at the collar.
"I think I hate this more than you do, Ben," Kylie admitted, nervously looking down at her skirt. "I miss jeans..."
"There, there." Weiss patted her on the back. "You'll be able to wear them in a while."
"What's even the point of all this?" Ben complained. "I thought this was a combat school."
"The Hunter community isn't just all about fighting, Ben," Blake said, marking her page with a bookmark. "There's a lot of other facets of our community, like the history, legends, biological studies, psychology, among other things. We aren't just boneheads with a bloodlust for murdering Grimm."
Just as Blake finished speaking, Cardin walked by, sulking. He gave the team a nasty glare before walking downstairs.
"...it seems I spoke too soon." Blake deadpanned.
"Oh! Burn!" Yang said, high fiving an ecstatic Blake.
After a delicious breakfast, Ben followed Ruby around through the bustling halls. It reminded him of his own high school, but MUCH more diverse. Kids of all kinds of body types and races walked past him, clad in uniforms and textbooks in hand.
"Alright, our first class together is with Professor Port," Ruby explained. "I will warn you; he's a rambler."
"So, ask him about his weekend and he'll probably take up the entire class time?" Ben joked.
"Yes, actually. We've skipped tests because of that strategy," Yang told him seriously.
"Still can't believe you guys did that," Weiss huffed. "I was ready for those tests!"
"So was I." Yang grinned. "I was just buying time for the others."
Ben and the others were soon seated down in a college style classroom, with all the tiered seats facing towards the front of the room. An elderly man that Ben safely assumed was Professor Port was standing at the front. He wore a double-breasted burgundy suit with gold piping and buttons. His pants were tucked into olive boots. He had gray hair and a gray mustache and appeared to be slightly overweight.
For a solid minute, Ben felt like he was looking at Grandpa Max's twin.
Professor Port cleared his throat. "Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"
An awkward silence hung in the air.
"Uhhhh... Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses! Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"
After all that, Ben almost felt hyped up for this class. The teacher had a flare to him, and his voice was very much a joy to listen to.
...yeah, that was a fucking lie. Ben nearly drifted off more than a few times, his eyes drooping dangerously. Ruby had to nudge him a few times to keep him awake...and also to show him her drawing of "Professor Poop". Ben chuckled under his breath, much to Weiss's chagrin.
"We should have respect for these people, you know," she hissed. "They didn't get a degree to have you make fun of them."
"I know, I know," Ben whispered back. "But let's be real, this dude is boring."
"And what about you, new guy?" Professor Port pointed at Ben. "What's your first Grimm encounter?"
Ben, caught off guard, scrambled for an answer. "Oh! I was...ten years old when I saw a Nevermore," he explained. "I was attacked by it too, but thankfully a strong Huntress came along and defeated it."
A few people whispered amongst themselves. Port gave him a surprised look. "A Nevermore? I'm shocked you lived to tell the tale, especially at a young age."
"I was very lucky," Ben chuckled.
"And you, miss!" Port pointed at Ceres. "What about you? What's your first Grimm?"
Ceres blinked. "Giant centipedes."
"Ah yes, pesky little bastards." Port said, before returning to his lecture.
"When did you fight a Grimm?" Kylie whispered.
"I haven't yet," Ceres whispered back. "I'm just using monsters from my home planet as a substitute."
"Ah."
"By the way, those things are so lethal that they send death row prisoners to kill and harvest them for parts."
"...what the actual fuck?"
Next up was Hunter Mythology with Professor Lepisto. He gave an overview about interesting stories of great Hunters and Huntresses, who had worked alongside Gods and Heroes Ben had never heard of; it was a very easy class to get invested in. His third period was mathematics, arguably his worst class. Professor Debadut was very kind, but Ben still could not grasp the concept of matrices. (Ironic since he was kind of wearing one.) Weiss was kind enough to explain some of the work during lunch period, thankfully.
"If A is an m-by-n matrix and B is an n-by-p matrix, then their matrix product AB is the m-by-p matrix. Does that make sense?" Weiss asked, as she took a quick bite of Caesar's salad.
"Yes," Ben lied, like a liar. "Everything is crystal clear."
"Good," Weiss said, closing her math book.
"Wow, the food here is great!" Kylie gushed, as she happily ate her chicken sandwich. "This sandwich is so yummy~!"
"I'm surprised this school had swordfish," Ceres deadpanned, looking over her own spicy chicken curry and staring at Blake's meal.
"Beacon meals are a luxury few can afford," Blake declared, tucking into her pan-fried swordfish. "All meals not used are taken to a nearby homeless shelter."
"Well, that's certainly charitable of them," Ben said, dipping his fries into ketchup.
"Problem is, there's too much to choose from!" Ruby cried, walking back to their table with three plates of food. "...I panicked," she pouted cutely.
The next period was study hall, which Ben and Ruby wasted by playing Pokemon on their respective Switches. (Ruby beat Ben in 3 battles, hurting his pride.) The next was a class about how various scientists contributed to the field of Hunting; it was kind of boring and would include lots of essays, something Ben hated. The next was about early communities and how they functioned under the threat of Grimm, which was actually fairly interesting. And then there was Ben's forensics class, which taught him how to properly identify Grimm attacks and stuff like fingerprints, toxins, hair and fibers, ballistics, and DNA.
(Ben felt like he was being taught how to kill someone without being caught. He already knew how, Ceres and Ari taught him personally.)
And finally, combat class. Ben quickly changed into his Zeta Squad uniform: black cargo pants, green belts with black holsters, black combat boots, black fingerless gloves, and a dark green shirt with some armor on it. He quickly got out of the locker room and went to group up with his friends.
"Mr. Tennyson!"
Ben paused to see Glynda looking over a message on her scroll. "Yes?"
"A word, please." Ben walked over as Glynda finished reading. "I've just received word from Headmaster Ozpin about your...abilities."
"Yeah, what about them?"
"He recommends abstaining from using them," Miss Goodwich told him, adjusting her glasses. "We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves, now do we?"
Ben shrugged. "Alrighty."
"Do you still want to participate in today's sparing matches, even without your powers?" Miss Goodwitch asked, genuinely curious.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Ben gave her a thumbs up. "People really like underestimating me."
"I believe you don't have an aura to speak of. Is that true?"
"...maybe. But I'll be fine," Ben assured her.
"Alright," Miss Goodwitch said reluctantly, before walking off. Ben smiled as he turned to the stadium and saw Cardin standing there, a giant grin on his face.
"So," the bully said smugly. "Can't use your fancy wrist watch, can you?"
"Yep." Ben shrugged, unfazed. "What about it?"
Cardin cracked his knuckles. "Well, if that's the case, I'm gonna have a hell of a time pummeling you into the ground."
Ben sighed. "Really? You're still mad about getting scared by a rock?"
"Damn right I am! My team won't even respect me!" Cardin huffed.
"That sounds like a you problem."
"Shut it, you fucking shapeshifting freak!"
"Wow. Nice comeback." Ben clapped sarcastically. "Oh, and by the way, do you have any idea what that feels like? What if I said those things to you? I could come up with at least 20 insults based on your haircut, but I digress..."
Cardin's eyes flared. "You're dead."
Ben smirked. "So, we meeting on the field, I take it?"
"Right here, right now," Cardin snarled, stomping onto the battlefield. Ben followed suit, pausing momentarily to see a bunch of strangers and familiar faces dueling in small little training areas. It reminded Ben of those batting cages at a baseball field, just with the absence of an overrated sport.
Oh, wait, that was football.
In one of them, Weiss was facing off against a boy with grey hair, his fringe unkempt while the rest was slicked back. He was jumping around Weiss as she created protection glyphs around herself. In another one, Ceres and Yang were locked in furious combat, with the two of them getting a big (possibly illegal) money pool going from the people cheering around them. As Ben approached Cardin's cage, he got distracted again; that Cassidy girl was facing off against Kevin, and despite him obviously using Doppler to give himself Black Ice's arms, he was still struggling to get a hit in. She seemed so graceful in combat, it was almost hypnotic to watch. The next distraction came from a battle withRuby and Rook.
The two of them had their blades locked in a stalemate, with them both pushing their entire body weight into their next swing.
"I must admit," Rook joked. "This is proving to be a harder task than I anticipated."
"I'm actually ripped underneath these clothes," Ruby boasted.
Rook raised an eyebrow. "What is your workout routine?"
"Oh, lemme think about that real qu-" In a flash of red, Ruby vanished. Rook stumbled forward as Ruby left behind her weapon. She reappeared behind Rook and delivered an axe kick that sent him right into the pavement.
Rook laid motionless for a second, before Ruby helped him up. "Remind me to make time to work out with you," Ruby said with an embarrassed smile.
"I would appreciate that," Rook groaned, rubbing his back.
Ben chuckled, before he finally made his way over to Cardin's selected cage. He closed the door behind him and walked over to meet Cardin in the center.
"Not even gonna try to get some distance between us?" the bully chuckled.
"Nah, I'm good," Ben said.
"Suit yourself!" Cardin slammed his weapon onto the ground; it was a large black mace, with ten flat flanges extending farther outward than a regular mace would. A red Dust crystal was placed at the center, kept in place by four claws.
"Compensating for something?"
Cardin saw red, and he lifted his weapon overhead and prepared to smash Ben's skull in-
Ben bashed his face in with a scorpion kick. Cardin stumbled back as Ben landed on his hands and flipped back onto his feet. "Hey, come on now! I'm just getting started," he taunted.
Cardin grit his teeth, before running towards Ben. He swung at Ben's right, but he dodged the blow and swept Cardin's leg, causing him to land on his back. A few people (including Ruby and Cass) had taken note and started to gather around the cage.
As he stood back up, Cardin noticed the crowd and immediately knew his reputation was on the line; if he got beat by some scrub with no semblance, no aura, no weapon, he'd be the laughing stock of his team and of the school! What kind of person would hire a Huntsman that couldn't beat a scrawny little twink like Ben?!
Ben flew at Cardin with a spear kick, but Cardin narrowly avoided it. Ben landed on all fours before flinging himself at Cardin. The bully swung at him with his mace and hit Ben dead in the chest; he went flying into one of the walls of the cage.
"HA!" Cardin crowed triumphantly.
But to his shock, Ben wasn't all that injured; hell, his armor wasn't even cracked. For a kid with no aura, he was more resilient than he thought.
"New kid's got some moves," Cass noted from the side lines. She turned to Ruby. "Penny mentioned that you two have known each other since you were kids, right? How would you say he's doing so far?"
Ruby was honestly shocked herself. When they were kids, Cardin was defeated by Diamondhead, not Ben Tennyson. She was used to seeing all of Ben's fancy footwork as an alien, not as a human.
"Uh, better than expected," Ruby lied.
"That actually kinda hurt," Ben remarked, brushing dust off his chest armor. "Not bad, Winchester." A grin spread across his face as he pulled a small ball bearing from one of his pockets. Ben clenched it in his fist, and it transformed into a soccer ball sized projectile.
"Wanna know how I've been managing to kick your ass so hard?" Ben asked as he juggled the ball in his feet. "I play soccer."
"And how does that help you?" Cardin sneered.
"Well, you ever play soccer?" Ben grinned as he delivered a flying kick to the ball. The ball shot through the air and hit Cardin straight in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Ben started kicking more soccer balls at the bastard, and people were cheering loudly; the new kid had teeth, and was entertaining too!
Eventually, after a "soccer ball massacre" as Ruby would call it, Cardin fell over, bruised and his pride shattered into tiny pieces. Ben smirked as he once again juggled the soccer ball.
"Come on, dude. You knew this was coming."
Ben walked out of the cage as people whispered and gossiped about him. Ben strode over to Ruby, and the two gave each other a high five.
"Dude, that was awesome!" she gushed.
"Never seen a combat style like that," Cass said. Ben couldn't tell if it was a compliment or an insult, but he brushed it off.
"Thanks," Ben said. "I knew he was going down when he found out about my handicap."
Cass cocked her head. "Handicap? What do you mean?"
Ben froze up; in his hubris, he forgot about the whole 'keep the alien part a secret' thing. "Uh...I used my left foot over my right. That's my dominant foot."
Ruby cringed, but she felt it was a decent lie. "Yeah!"
Cass gave the two a look, but she shrugged. "Well, you certainly showed him, I guess." She walked off and joined back up with her teammate, that silver haired kid who Weiss was fighting.
"That dude stole my style," the boy grumbled.
"Not only that, he kinda sounds like you," Cass joked. "Are you sure you two aren't related?"
"Shut it," Mercury snapped. "So, is that the alien kid? What's he doing here?"
"Guess Servantis ended up revealing a portion of the plan," Cass whispered. "We have to be more careful now that the Plumbers are catching on." Her eyes drifted on over Ceres, who was drying her forehead with a towel. "Especially when they're led by someone like her."
After school
"So, where are we going again?" Kevin asked, still sore from his thrashing with Cass.
"My father decided to invite us all out to dinner," Weiss reiterated for the umpteenth time. "I swear, you need to fill out your calendar app more."
"It's less 'encoding failure' and more 'this is so last minute I barely had time to register what's going on'," Kevin spat back.
"What, did Cass knock out the last remains of your brain cells?" Weiss smugly replied.
"Oh, roasted," Doppler quipped.
"Shut it, you metallic booger," Kevin hissed.
"I'm just happy we get free food!" Kylie cheered, hoping to break up the argument. "I've heard the calamari here is yummy. What about you guys, what are you gonna get?" Kylie turned to see Ben and Ruby, looking over the menu on one of their scrolls.
"All this...heavenly food..." Ben closed his eyes as imagined feasting on whatever a red snapper was.
"Oh my god, they have lobster," Ruby babbled, salivating the most.
Blake's eyes went wide. "Fiiiiiish..."
"I'll probably split with Blake," Yang snickered. "Blake's got eyes the size of dinner plates. Just not the stomach."
"I could go for some good wine," Ceres replied. "I'm in one of those moods where I want my beauty to be the talk of the room."
"I will stick with something small," Rook added. "The cafeteria food is quite something."
"You had a few meatball subs, dude," Kevin snickered. "I'm sure that's more than something."
Rook was about to retort when Weiss interrupted him.
"What's going on over there?" Her attention was turned towards the town square, where a bunch of people had crowded around a brawl. The two fighters were REALLY going at it, if the sounds of property damage was anything to go by.
"Ooooh!" Ruby gasped, before she and Ben sped their way across the street.
"Hey! Get back here!" Weiss hissed. "I'd like to be punctual, you know!"
Ben and Ruby shoved their way through the crowd to get the best possible view. The sounds of blades collided with one and other, and the air was dry with a sense of resolve...the two finally reached the center to see-
"Is that your Uncle Qrow?" Ben asked as he watched the man deliver three heavy slashes to his opponent's sword.
"YEAH IT IS!" Ruby cheered. "GET HIS ASS!"
Ben glanced over at Qrow's sparing partner; the man in question had short dark brown hair and a soul patch. He wore a pair of cool sunglasses and a battle-suit colored with different shades of green. Without even knowing his name, Ben could tell he was a 'cool and stoic' guy. His pair of katana blades only added to his badass demeanor.
Both were evenly matched, blocking each other's attacks and countering carefully. Qrow skidded to a side, looking to 'joust' at Sunglasses. Qrow propelled himself at the guy, but his opponent was quickly able to dodge. He slammed his two blades together, causing them to resonate, which somehow caused Qrow's blade to repel away from the fight, into the crowd...and nearly stab Ben through the face. Ben shrieked as the blade stopped between his eyes.
"Whoops," Qrow said half-heartedly, turning around.
"You're off your game today," Sunglasses said coolly.
"I'm just getting started, actually!" Qrow sneered, as Harbinger collapsed from its sword form into its scythe form-
"BRANWEN!"
Qrow looked behind him to see General Ironwood standing in the crowd, his assistant beside him.
"Ohhhh, boy." Qrow huffed. "Fight's over, people! Go on your merry way!"
The crowd quickly dispersed as 1) hey, that dude almost stabbed a bystander's head and 2) THAT'S IRONWOOD IN THE CROWD.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ironwood snapped, his voice filled with scorn.
"Hey, don't look at me. He started it." Qrow jabbed his thumb to Sunglasses, who was quietly folding up his blades.
Ironwood frowned. "Is that true, Agent Six?"
"Perhaps. All I know is that he's paying for drinks." The agent smirked, as the rest of the group walked over.
"Father?" Weiss asked. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing, just Branwen again," Ironwood huffed.
"Seriously? Must you two do this every time we meet?" Weiss sighed.
Qrow glared daggers at Weiss. "Quiet, you."
"Mr. Branwen," Ironwood's assistant interjected. "If you won't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you."
Qrow huffed. "You Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you?"
"Ooooh, shit," Ben whispered, nudging Ruby. "Everyone here is getting sassy."
"Now, come on, we have plans," the assistant said, turning away. "We musn't delay the restaurant any longer."
"Jeez, she's just like Weiss," Yang joked.
Kylie turned to Yang, a befuddled look painted on her face. "Yang, that's her older sister."
"...oh." Yang blinked. "I knew that."
"...you didn't, did you?"
"Yeahhhhh..."
Ben fell back and regrouped with Weiss. "So, who's this Six guy?"
"Oh, Agent Six?" she said. "He's my parent's bodyguard. He's a bit quiet. Nice, but quiet. I think he used to be the leader of an Atlesian team known as the Ace-Ops before he stepped down to take care of some personal business."
"Interesting," Ben commented. "But what's the history with Qrow?"
"Oh, that? They're drinking buddies, I think." Weiss made a weird motion with her hand. "It's ambiguous."
The restaurant was one of the fanciest places Ben had ever been. Forget every restaurant he was forced into wearing a collared shirt and black slacks for, this was true luxury!
Ben smiled as he took in a whiff of the fantastic Prosciutto he was being served. "If I don't eat all of it now, I'll just have Eatle chomp on it later."
"Seriously? Not even gonna savor it?" Ruby asked, tearing into her lobster.
"I do! I just don't want to reheat it or something," Ben told her.
"I don't think you just reheat Prosciutto, dude," Ceres said, enjoying a fancy beef dish.
"I mean, you possibly could," Kylie argued. "It'd just be really weird."
"Here's another question," Kevin added. "Because of the way Prosciutto is prepared, do I have to wait another 18 months to eat it again? That's not really a good way to save leftovers."
"That does not sound real," Yang joked. "Wouldn't the meat spoil?"
"I mean, there's some meats that take up to 9 months to cure, but I don't think it would be as good," Kevin said.
"...then why would you say 18?" Rook asked despite himself.
"Because that's the default time, I don't want 'rushed' meat, I want the good stuff!" Kevin spat back.
"...yeah, this is why I'm a pescatarian," Blake added, sipping her wine.
"Isn't that a religious thing?" Ceres asked. When Blake gave her a strange look, she defended herself. "I know next to nothing about Christianity. Don't they worship a fish symbol?"
Winter stared at the group, utterly baffled by the topic at hand. "I...what?"
"Ignore them," Weiss huffed, sipping her coffee. She side eyed the "adult" side of the table. Ironwood looked pained as a tipsy Qrow ranted about some mission he just went on, while Six sat there and listened quietly. "Let's just try to have some dinner in peace."
On the other side of the world, Salem and her followers were seated at the table. A few seats were left open, with Salem patiently waiting for their arrival. Albedo and Viktor were seated closest to her, looking over some basic calculations for Watts.
"I believe these coefficients should suffice whatever you're trying to accomplish," Albedo stated.
"The blueprints also look in order. I will help you proceed with the process later on." Viktor removed his glasses and started organizing the papers.
"Thank you," Arthur said, collecting his papers. "It helps to have some more brains than brawn amongst us."
Hazel quietly huffed from across the table. Suddenly, a red, blood-like portal opened up, and Cinder, Cass, Mercury, Hope, Neo, and Emerald stepped out of it.
"I apologize for being late." Cinder bowed before her mistress. "We were...making arrangements."
Salem raised an eyebrow. "So they arrived."
"Indeed they did," Cass said, pulling up a chair next to Cinder. "Tennyson caused a bit of a scene today. That was interesting."
Zs'skayr appeared behind Salem and smiled. "He has arrived..."
Salem nodded. "Yes. Tennyson is going to be especially troublesome-"
"No, no...our straggler..."
The doors at the end of the hall suddenly opened up, and a disheveled Tyrian sauntered in. Everyone in the room stared at him, disgusted at his state. He was covered in blood stains and grime and sweat, among other things. Neo hid behind Albedo upon seeing the crazy bastard.
Suddenly, Tyrian leapt up on the table, dashing across the thing in record time...right before falling to his knees once he was in front of Salem, both hands flat on the table and his head bowed.
"I'm sorry," Tyrian whimpered. "She'll forgive me. Pleeeease..."
"Your task - were you successful?" Salem asked.
"...n-no..." Tyrian whined.
"...then get out of my sight," Salem declared. "I'll forgive you in due ti-"
Tyrian screamed as he hacked and slashed Salem apart. The others gasped as Salem stayed perfectly still. Her wounds slowly started to heal, her red eyes boring into Tyrian's own.
"Perhaps you should spend some time in the Dollhouse." Salem sighed as she snapped her fingers. A red portal appeared beneath Tyrian's feet, and he fell through it, into the unknown...
Salem raised her glass of wine up, as did the others. "A toast." She smiled. "To the end of all things. I hope you can all watch the world devour itself in its pain."
Suddenly, the large doors at the other side of the room opened up again...and he walked in. The man was donned in cold, black metal armor, partially inspired by medieval European knights, along with a long red cape.
"Ah." Salem grinned. "So you've come to join us, have you?"
"I've only come to have the confirmation Tennyson and the others are at Beacon," the iron clad man hissed.
"I can confirm that he is at Beacon," Cass replied. "I saw him today on the training grounds. Bit of a show off."
"Good," the man said as he sat down.
"Who is this dude?" Mercury whispered, nudging Emerald.
"That's the Forever Knight," Emerald said quietly. "He just showed up here a few days ago. He made a good impression with Salem, and now we're his 'squires' or something."
"Seriously? Now we have to deal with Clockwork Orange and Tin Can?" Mercury huffed. "This sucks."
"Is something bothering you, Mercury?" the Forever Knight asked. Mercury froze up as his eyes darted over to the knight.
"Uh, no. Not at all." Mercury said quickly. Despite all his rage, he was still a bird in Salem's gilded cage. Part of him wanted to scream out at all the injustice...but even then, what good would that do him?
The world was going to die. Might as well die mad with it.
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Season 4. I encourage all of you to leave a review, just so we can gage on what to focus on next for Season 5 or other episodes.