"We need-"
"Oh no no~" Cinder clicked, already soaking in the succulent screams the poor, poor little soldier gave as she burned him to a crisp. Reaching down for his corpse, she tore the gun from his hands, checking to see if any of the internals were fried. Not so? Good, she thought, dropping it and carrying on with, "good men handle their issues on their own. No calling for help."
"Not that they can." Came the voice of Watts through the earpiece she wore. "Now that I have total dominion over James' systems, there won't be any interruptions. I have to say, you did an exceptional job getting in, although I doubt it was really much of a challenge with all the theatrics on display tonight."
"Perhaps," Cinder replied, tossing a smirk to the body one last time as she admired her work.
By now, she'd gotten so used to mixing her semblance with the power of a maiden that she'd been able to center the focus of her flames into individual portions of a target, ignoring other elements. This was especially important seeing as she couldn't risk causing a whole lot of noise, so burning out the opponents vocal chords as soon as possible before melting them inside their own equipment had been key to keeping a low profile as she made her way along. The yelling was annoying, but so long as they couldn't call out loud enough to be heard, then there was no issue.
And, seeing as their scheduled tour didn't have her facing another opponent for a good few minutes, she doubted the screams of this one puppet would out her.
The only downside to this technique was that it required direct physical contact to pull off, meaning she'd not only need to get up close and personal, but also retain her grip on the enemy until they died. Luckily for her, most of the soldiers didn't have very high aura pools, which meant she'd be burning for all of a minute at best to break their shield, and then they'd fry.
Focusing back on the hallway, Cinder spoke through to Watts, unable to miss an opportunity to show him up. "But with Robyn and the general taking center stage, most people were too caught up in the excitement to notice when one of their own men wasn't their own."
"The same trick, twice in one day?" This time, Watts threw out a pleased round of applause. "I'd say I'm disappointed, but with how excellent things have gone, I suppose playing it safe is the smarter option. Well done, Cinder, you've learned to embrace the classic adage of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The credit is yours this time around."
Rolling her eyes, the intruder continued along her path through the spotless, bleached walkway. Watts made good on his word though, and so far he'd pointed out each and every encounter. The route had been pre-planned from the start, leading her into, at most, two or three skirmishes. Would the guards attempt to inform their friends? Certainly, but with Watts in command of things he'd begun running a virus to temporarily disrupt both the local security feed, as well as tying up local communications signals.
In that effect, everyone's scrolls were useless, which is why he'd given her a personal earpiece to communicate through.
According to her current position, she shouldn't run into any trouble for at least a few minutes, and so, Cinder chose to pry from her partner some updates on... other concerns she had strolling through her head.
"By the way, what's happening up top with the good general and his flock?"
"Worried they may spoil your chances at another maiden yet again, are we?" His amusement, while potent, garnered nothing but a mild scowl from her. Watts, upon clearing his throat and settling down, came through still a touch cocky. "You needn't fret about them. From what I can see, things are going mostly according to plan."
"Mostly?" That was something she could hold against him, and while rounding a corner to an elevator, Cinder hopped in. Punching in the code, one of which Watts had sent her moments after she'd first freed herself from the frolicking of the excitement above, she was greeted to the sight of a new panel which opened up. Entering another series of numbers previously provided, and she was on her way down. Now with her destination being brought ever closer to the target, she chose to press the now silent scientist on his meaning. "I thought you dealt in exacts?"
"Nothing ever goes perfectly my dear. Take for example your route. So far, everyone is in their proper place, and yet there are areas distinctly lacking security cameras, one of which would be the medical bay containing our target herself. James was smart in only allowing cameras outside the front door, but despite this, we can safely assume he's showing his full hand here - though sparse it may appear."
"And yet, you've usually accounted for that. You knew he wouldn't risk even leaking a picture of the maiden, not after the last." Crossing her arms, she curled a brow while making sure to face the camera in the corner of her ride. "Has something new popped up? Something you may not have considered."
"If you want the blunt answer, then yes." He wasn't happy about it, but he didn't seem all that adverse to telling her just what had thrown the great Arthur Watts for a loop. "Roman Torchwick and his little assistant decided to do some snooping around before James and Robyn sent out their lackeys. Unfortunately, it looks as though they suspect foul play."
Hearing this, Cinder's smirk drooped a tad as she gave off a scoff. "I was under the belief such suspicions weren't an issue."
"They aren't." His quick correction spoke otherwise, but she refused to comment on it; Watts could speak his mind as he wished, using whatever excuses he chose to sculpt out of the rubble that was his marble. "However, their suspicions may create concern for the wellbeing of the maiden. We must assume they know our mission already, although that's not saying much, so they'll likely attempt to intercept you."
"By the time they arrive..." Cinder let a flame blossom within her hand, before crushing it, leaving small puffs of smoke to simmer and flow freely from between her fingers. "I'll be long gone, and their precious maiden will be nothing but a lifeless doll."
"Perhaps, but if they discover our involvement and strike a bit of luck in a following investigation, we run the risk of them sniffing out my backdoors."
"Oh no." Cinder bit down on her lip to keep from giggling. "The mighty Watts being outplayed at his own game~"
"This is no laughing matter!" The scientist actually had to quell his rage over a few seconds, restoring his voice to its previous, albeit a fair bit more aware, temperament. "I can dig into these systems like the back of my hand, but I've kept from doing so for your benefit, Cinder. I've refrained from making drastic changes due to our mission. If it weren't for the maiden, I'd have lowered their shields ages ago, as well as infecting as many of their services as possible."
"But you didn't, because you couldn't take the risk of them moving the maiden." Cinder made fun of Watts every chance she got; the arrogant bastard was just so annoying with his snobby demeanor. However this was one of the few times she couldn't, because he genuinely was the star player of this game plan. "I'm aware of the importance you have on our mission. Don't take my comments and observations as dismissal of your work. You have been the backbone of this operation, and without your restraint, this mission would have ended in failure."
She came upon the final stop before reaching the maiden, and before stepping up to plate and dealing with the last two armed guards, she allowed Watts to speak. He coughed, clearing his throat, and talked with not a drop of sass.
"Yes... yes, of course. I was rather clever, wasn't I? Be that as it may, I too am limited. My control is vast, but Atlas is anything but a complete buffoon. Simple as they are, they at least have the sense to split major chunks of their systems into individual portions. I have dominion over one, but I can only go so far in what I shut down. They've updated their security measures and many other algorithms recently. Given time I could crack these, but that is a luxury we no longer have. Whatever happens now will decide the queen's approach. Our mistress expects an easy advance, and that requires the removal of a maiden from James' hand. Physical combat is not something I'm especially skilled in. That, however, is why I have you here."
"Of course." Cinder approached from the shadows, eyes alight with vigorous excitement. The thrill of killing, of enacting suffering on a kingdom of fools and scum brought out a special flavor or revenge. She didn't need a justification for all the sadistic glee she gained from killing, and nor did she need to exclusively target the guilty. However when such pieces aligned, both the guilty and a reason to slay them, it returned her to the early days of her childhood: back when she believed in things such as justice.
Seeing the men tense before her, taking aim and about to fire, left her starving for blood. Darting forward before even a shot could ring out, Cinder clamped down on the throats of both, and slammed them to the floor. Normally that would be the end of it, however these men had aura, and so she whisked it away by letting flames burn within the stomachs of both. She choked them out while the concentrated fire devoured their auras from within, and soon, they too melted away as nothing more than flesh balloons filled with molten cream. Standing again, Cinder licked her lips while admiring her work.
"I wouldn't have it any other way~"
Once upon a time she considered using this technique on that trickster, Vermillion. However, this would require her to get a solid hold of him first, and his strength alone made that a monstrous task. Besides, she'd killed him once already, and knowing him, he'd probably just come back.
Shoving those ideas deep into the back of her mind, Cinder returned her focus to the present, where she strolled right up to the door and gave it a good shove. Why Atlas decided to try and protect the maiden using simple locks and scans was beyond her; it was like they never considered how easy it was for any hunter worth their salt to just bust them down. Of course, they probably thought the armed guards and cameras would be enough to protect their prize.
They were wrong.
Seeing the irritating slab of dented metal crash into a set of drawers, spilling beacons of liquids and medicines across the sanitized tiles of the floor gave her this warm fuzzy feeling in her chest. A brisk little march had taken her past the threshold, and Cinder got to lay eyes on the maiden.
Bedridden... and laying motionless as Raven Branwen stood over her.
"So you've finally made it." The shadows-loved warrior whistled out, voice creeping across the floor as if they were a set of claws on their way to wrap around Cinder's legs and drag her deep beneath the earth. Regardless of how Raven sounded, Cinder sure as Dust was feeling something. That something, though, was pure unadulterated shock.
Raven laid the deceased maiden's hands together, placing them back down on her midsection, so uncharacteristically gentle that Cinder, for a second, didn't know who she was looking at. That sentiment carried as Raven stepped back, turning around slowly and sighing.
"I expected you to be quicker, but I suppose you were busy having fun with Ironwood's men."
Cinder herself took a step back, at a complete loss for words, and stuttered as she tried to question whether any of what she was seeing in that moment was real.
"H-how did-?"
"Ironwood, Robyn, and even Jacques Schnee." Not once did Raven open her eyes, merely speaking from behind the shadows of her raggy hair, which obscured a good portion of her face from the current angle. "Add on to that the sudden appearance of a document within the general's possession that has no source or reason to be there, and what else am I to think? I know you, Cinder. You wouldn't pass up a chance like this."
"I-I-"
"Popped in right on time." Her eyes opened, slowly, and revealed within twin shadows of flame. Mirrored in color, the ethereal fires were carefully paired with the twisting of elements in the room, as both ice and electricity stormed around her.
However, in a display which caught Cinder off guard yet again, not a single one of said elements even skimmed the corpse in the bed. Raven rarely ever offered respect, and when she did, it was for those of immense power. This meant that either she'd grown soft, or that the maiden had once been a warrior of some renown, and Raven had recognised her. In the end it didn't matter to Cinder, for she was quickly replacing her shock with fury.
"You know..." Raven carefully unsheathed her blade, letting it rest at her side and hang. "The general originally planned for the eldest of the Schnee sisters to inherit this power." Following that, the tip of the sword was pointed Cinder's way. "In a way, I guess we do have one thing in common: we both like taking things that aren't ours."
The finishing touches of Raven's speech fell on deaf ears, because Cinder could neither hear, nor see anything past her immediate overcharged sense of betrayal. Salem had offered Raven, time and time again, safety and sanctuary for her pathetic little group of misfits she dared call a tribe. And yet, here she was, going behind all their backs a step too far and stealing what was rightfully theirs.
No... No, that power belonged to one person, and one person only.
Cinder Fall.
"Now then." Raven taunted, pulling back into her battle stance with so little stress you'd swear she was just playing make-believe. "Let me show you what a real maiden can do."
Oh that was it. Throwing subtlety out the fucking window where it belonged, Cinder conjured up a storm of near blinding white fire as she threw away all her restraints. The powers of the maidens were at least partially tied to emotions, and so was her own semblance. With both factors in play, it made all the contempt she'd retained for so damn long more than worth it.
No more waiting; no more games; things were about to come to a close on this very night.
Cinder swore to eradicate the entirety of Atlas on the day she escaped, and with the Grimm as her witness, she would do just that. Raven had power, she'd give her that, but she lacked the one thing necessary to draw it all out; something which Cinder herself strove for every single day.
Raven sought survival, whereas Cinder gave into craving.
Even if it cost her her very life, Cinder Fall would not rest until both Atlas and Mantle lay in sea of ash and dust. No one was allowed to live anymore, because if she couldn't get what she wanted, then nobody would. Remnant had taken away, time and time again, every chance she ever had towards a simple, happy life. And so, Cinder would see it eradicated.
Completely under the enslavement of her own emotions, and emboldened by both maiden power and the Grimm infecting her own arm and amplifying these thoughts, she let loose a storm wild enough to uproot entire kingdoms.
And facing the mercy of this mighty element, the whole academy shook.
.
.
Ruby wouldn't lie, she was getting kind of bored watching everyone throw out tedious question after question.
You'd think that, for a vast group of well known and respected reporters, at least one of them would try for something different. But no, Ruby had to face the harsh reality that these people had quotas to fill out before getting to the real meat, with that real meat being centered on V, of course.
But hey, at least they weren't trying to kill him, and the insults were kept at a minimum - because who would really dare say anything offensive right to the face of the man who could snap you like a twig. Not that Ruby believed he'd actually do anything; especially now with his emotions being dulled. In a way it was like cheating: V didn't need to worry about blowing his top, because nothing anyone said would have enough of an effect on him.
Ironwood raised his hand, which was new enough to distract Ruby from her dismal boredom. "If everyone can keep their questions on topic, that would be appreciated."
Ruby heard a few moans and groans from the crowd, which she couldn't exactly scoff at. With Winter and that other woman gone, the people were barred from any serious inquiries, which left her time-spanning friend as the only real point of interest. Besides, who in their right mind would pass up an opportunity to seek answers for... whatever they were curious about, from the source himself.
And so came the lines and strides of repurposed questions - some of which were even reworded beyond just changing the name they'd called for - who were all directed at the three main stars of the night... or morning, depending on how technical you wanted to get.
Ruby had droned out quite a bit again, until her scroll ended up buzzing. She'd set the thing to silent earlier for the event, so it was more like a soft buzz within her pocket. Intrigued by the call itself, as she hadn't been expecting a call from anyone because most of them were in attendance of the event themselves, Ruby took a few steps closer to the wall at her back, pulling out the scroll to see a text come in from her Uncle Qrow.
"What the?" The mumble slipped out under her breath as she angled herself a little away to obscure the sight from anyone else before opening it up. Come to think of it, she hadn't actually seen her uncle for quite a while, and now was beginning to question if she was just forgetting things, or if he hadn't even attended the debate.
Cracking open the text stretched her eyes wide, and then came the sudden shaking of the whole room, and dare she say, the academy itself.
Startled shouts rapidly drowned the air with noise, but Ruby was too busy looking at the message she'd received. One fast glance proved that she hadn't been the only one, as pretty much all of her friends had gotten the same one, and she assumed even the general had as well, despite not reacting himself. No, wait, that last thought was a lie, because in the midst of the shaking he took out his scroll, and his eyes stretched wide, albeit much less than hers.
Looking over at V, Ironwood shouted as he stood. "Armor up and get to the-"
He didn't get it all out before a massive crash thundered from beyond the walls, which paired frighteningly on cue with the sounds of crackling lightning and a strong smoky smell that seeped through the walls. A ravenous chill filled the air, quite literally as Ruby noted a drop in temperature.
"Our systems have been tampered with. Expect Cinder, or maybe even more. Roman's here, and Winter is coming with me to check on the maiden. Roman told May everything, but we can deal with that later. Everyone else, spread out and look for Cinder."
The message felt rushed, and now Ruby knew why. That explosion of elements was no coincidence, and she realized that they didn't need to go far to find Cinder. By the noise and quaking alone, they had to assume she'd already found the maiden, and probably even taken the powers too. This meant they were looking at a Cinder with double the destructive force.
As Ruby began to wonder how they could possibly deal with such an opponent, she was met with the sight of V: now fully armored up and having leapt to the main floor. He never moved, and instead turned back to the general, yelling towards him.
"She's here, but she's not alone." Again, not a trace of fear nor panic laced his voice.
Of course. Why hadn't she seen it earlier?
"You know what to do then." The general spat, putting on his grumpy voice, but she knew that was only half real. Oh, he was angry alright, but not at having to let V act. He was upset that Cinder had somehow gotten to the maiden, and she could bet he was thinking of ways right now about how they'd go along with capturing her...
Or even killing her.
Ruby swallowed, knowing that his actions would only be far too logical, but seeing him enforcing his commands so wordlessly dredged up something vile in her gut. It made her sweat with apprehension, as it had before, only now she wasn't allowed to let that feeling slip away via the following rest and recuperation.
There was no rest to be had in this invasion.
"Sir!" Jaune shot up, along with Pyrrha, who's eyes slightly glowing along with the slight pulsing of her veins. The rest of team JNPR did the same, but Ruby could see Pyrrha in particular almost look… relieved? Jaune apparently didn't notice this, as he called out again. "Where do you need us?"
"You and your team are to round up as many students and staff as possible, and direct them out to the main docks; it's the safest place if the school should undertake enough damage to collapse." He then rounded on Ruby herself. "Miss Rose, you and yours are to go with Vermillion. Keep an eye on him, and aid him with any trouble you come across."
Strangely, he next faced Robyn.
"I know you hate being ordered around, but I need-"
"Just tell me where you want us. This is your school after all; you know it better than we do." She strained her voice a little, but it looked as though she was on point with him. This chaos wasn't part of the initial deal, and it seemed she'd deduced that this wasn't his doing. Robyn, despite being painted as a troublemaker by the general, had also been said to have a soft spot for the people of Mantle.
She represented all of Mantle up on that stage, and so if she were to run off, it would reflect on all of them, no matter how unfair that seemed. Somehow, Ruby knew Robyn wouldn't even consider the idea; again, it was this strange sort of pulse in her chest.
Ruby looked to the rest of her team, getting nods from each, aside from Weiss who was conversing with her family.
"Listen to JNPR and the soldiers." She said, wearing a worried look. "And if things look bad and you get separated from both, stick with Robyn's people if you have to; they won't harm you."
"Easy for you to say." Her brother spat, scowling. "You've never seen their speeches or protests here in Atlas."
"They won't hurt you." Weiss steeled her expression, stepping back. "They can't risk letting you come under fire with the election on the line. If you don't trust in them as people, then trust in them to keep to their motives."
"It's in their best interests to look like heroes here." Whitley paused, apparently now having gotten his anger under control. "Meaning they can't afford to lose anyone, let alone family members of opposing sides."
"Exactly." Ruby smiled; leave it to Weiss to intersperse emotions into logic to get her way. "Now, get up and follow the rest." Weiss then took up a soft smile of her own. "You'll be with our sister team; you'll be okay."
"Very well." The boy tidied himself up before standing. Reaching a hand out, he helped his mother up. Ruby noticed a twitch in the older lady, and soon she was embracing her daughter, where Ruby heard the worry expressed in her voice.
"Be safe, please."
Weiss returned that hug, along with some comforting words.
"I will; I promise."
They separated, and soon Weiss was back with them as the Schnee's were huddled into JNPR's group. Jaune had taken them into a circle, and after some exchanged words with the rest of his team - words which she couldn't hear - they began to march the people out. Ruby herself looked over towards V, and upon seeing the tension in every fiber of his body, she approached.
His mask almost looked gray and lifeless against the bright and clean aesthetic of the room.
"We're ready." Ruby stated, drawing his eye. He said nothing for a bit, and right as she was about to ask, he seemingly returned to the present.
"Follow me."
Author's note
…
Finally, some action.
Cinder made her go for the maiden, but oh, shoot, Raven beat her there. What? You didn't think Ironwood would just leave her alone to do menial labor all day, did you? I guess you could say he took a gamble, and what do you know, it paid off.
Now Cinder is right livid, and out for the kill.
Clearly, with all the chaos to come, the debate is either on hold, or outright canceled - you'll need to just wait and see. Robyn lends a hand this time, and with JNPR on civilian duty, it's up to RWBY to act as the proverbial wardens to V.
Until next time.