Qrow dropped down from a bullhead to Ozpin's destroyed office, the walls were destroyed, and harsh winds blow away the ash and dust left behind from Courrier's fight with Fall. He quickly ran over to Ruby's unconscious body, Ozpin's green scarf held tightly in her hands, hauling her onto his back as he looked around the destroyed office. Courrier was on the ground with a hole in his chest, his duster and beret mysteriously gone while his shades lay destroyed on the ground; Ozpin was burnt black, and Fall… Fall wasn't here.
She must've escaped. Qrow swore under his breath, the students were safe but… Beacon's now down a Headmaster and an assistant teacher. Qrow looked down the tower at the Wyvern's disintegrating body, finding it odd how when Qrow and the soldiers attacked the thing, it already was severely damaged with burns all across its face and shards of metal poking out of its head. Qrow knew that if that thing was uninjured… they probably wouldn't have won.
Ozpin had ordered him and Glynda to clear the Grimm down in the street, but after hearing the stories from the civilians and the unnaturally empty road with Grimm dust everywhere, Qrow realized that Courrier had beaten them to the punch. So they decided to focus on evacuation efforts instead, that is until the Wyvern appeared that is…
Courrier… Ozpin said to Qrow that he needed to 'find Courrier while he's at it', the implications were clear, but why would he try to betray Ozpin? Qrow glanced at Courrier's corpse, burns all over his body, his shades cracked open to reveal his eyes, or rather eye as the other was held shut. The edges of his duster were singed, and two holes punctured through the back of it. Qrow sighed, signalling for the bullhead to hover close to the tower so that he could bring Ruby to a hospital… and Courrier and Ozpin to a morgue.
Fuck… he really needed a drink right about now. He'll mourn Ozpin, sure, but Courrier? Qrow didn't know how to feel about the man right about now, was he a friend? A co-worker? An acquaintance? A dealer? He didn't know.
The bullhead descended down to the destroyed office, hovering right next to it as the doors open. Some paramedics ran out with body bags as they crouched over Courrier's and Ozpin's body. Qrow placed Ruby gently on one of the benches and watched as the paramedics lower the two corpses into the bags before dragging them back on the bullhead. The ride back was solemn; no one dared to say anything.
Qrow noticed that one of the paramedics kept glancing at Courrier's body bag, the man had mint-coloured hair and scales lining his neck. Must be a snake Faunus. Qrow realized then that with all the people that Courrier saved down there… he might've made more of an impact on Faunus rights in one night compared to the months that the White Fang had been here.
Racists can say whatever they want, doesn't change the fact that a Faunus fought and died to save them.
Best case scenario, Courrier becomes a national hero and a symbol of Faunus equality… while in the worst case scenario, he gets blamed for everything that happened since Fall is nowhere to be seen. Qrow desperately hoped that it's not the latter.
One of the paramedics, the snake Faunus, opened up his Scroll and browsed through the news. Qrow watched from the corner of his eyes as he secretly read the headlines that scrolled past. Mostly just drabble about something inane, with the occasional mention of the interesting stuff like the large ball of fire that scorched the Wyvern or how a mysterious Huntsman freed Atlas bullheads from a Nevermore swarm above Vytal.
Qrow glanced at the two body bags and grimaced. He turned to look out of the window; Vale hadn't been hit too hard by the attack, nothing that can't be repaired in a year or two. Beacon on the other hand, might take much longer than that. Various dorms and classrooms destroyed, courtyards ravaged, and most of the Beacon tower being reduced to nothing but rubble.
The damage to Vale was kept to a minimum, Courrier knew where to go and what to do, the White Fang pulling out of Vale… Ozpin was caught off-guard by the attack but Courrier? He seemed like he had this all planned out since the beginning… the question now is why?
That girl… Pyrrha… she was too late in inheriting the Maiden's power, Fall has all of it now, and there's no telling what she- or Salem, will do with it now…
Ruby took days to recover. Taiyang fussed over her relentlessly, Qrow can't blame the man for what happened. When she did eventually wake up, Taiyang immediately rushed over and hugged her, "Ruby!" Qrow leaned back in his seat next to Ruby's bed, "You're awake!"
"Ugh…" she rubbed her head groggily, "What happened…?"
"Your uncle Qrow found you unconscious at the top of Beacon tower," Taiyang turned to Qrow with a smile on his face, "He got you out though, and home safe too."
"W- Wait! What happened to Headmaster Ozpin and- and Mr. Courrier?"
"They're…" Qrow looked down at his lap solemnly, Taiyang looked away, "They're gone, Ruby, they're…"
"And- and what about Vale? And Beacon?!"
"Things in Vale are now under control, surprisingly enough," Qrow sighed, "Thanks to Courrier that is, he wiped out most of the Grimm and severely damaged the Wyvern before the Huntsmen can be properly coordinated."
"And Ruby, after what you did on that tower… One could say that Vale's virtually Grimm-free," Qrow rested his head on his palms, "Most of the Grimm that attacked Vale came from the surrounding forests and Mountain Glenn," he raised up a finger, "With the help of Courrier and the hard work of all the other Huntsmen in Vale," Qrow then lowered it, "Most of the Grimm's been wiped out, it might take years for the population to regrow to what it once was before the attack… which is really good for all of us."
"After what I did?"
"I… that…" Qrow turned to Taiyang, "Tai, would you give us a minute?"
"What? I can't stay here?" He asked incredulously.
"Tai, please."
Taiyang eventually relented, sighing as he stood up, he kissed Ruby on the forehead before leaving the room, "I'll go make us some tea," he said, before closing the door.
"Ruby, how do you feel?"
"Everything kinda… hurts…"
"Right, yeah, that makes sense," Qrow crossed his arms, "What's the last thing that you remember, Ruby?"
"I…" she looked away, "I climbed up the tower and when I got to the top I saw… Mr. Courrier and…" she gritted her teeth, the last word coming out like a curse, "Cinder…" she unclenched her fist, "After that… all I saw was white."
Qrow noticed something here, Ruby wasn't crying, she normally was a very emotional girl. Qrow had expected some tears after Ozpin's and Courrier's deaths, Courrier especially since she seemed to hold him to such high regards… no, Ruby looked… angry, hateful, her pupils dilating into pinpricks as she spoke out Cinder's name with animosity and… hate.
"I see… The night that you met Ozpin… what was the first thing he said to you?"
"He said that I have… silver eyes?"
"Silver eyes… that's an extremely rare trait."
Mint stood over his Acting Commander's corpse. He grimaced, cursing under his breath as he placed a hand over the hole in his Acting Commander's chest, hesitating as his face twisted into an expression of disgust.
While Acting Commander Courrier was confident in his success, any leader worth their salt must at least have some kind of contingency to fall back on. And with how much the Acting Commander said about there being no such thing as paranoia… Mint wasn't surprised when the man had contingencies even for his death. Or rather 'death'.
Mint held his breath as he dipped his hand down into the hold inside of his Acting Commander, remembering the failsafe plan that he had made before the whole thing with Cinder and the attack. Mint fumbled around in Courrier's chest cavity, fingers brushing past blood veins and rib bones before touching something that felt cold to the touch… like metal.
Grabbing onto this metallic thing, Mint slithered his hand around it, trying to find the button that his Acting Commander told him to press in case he ever dies… which is now. Mint pressed down on the button, he felt the metallic thing pulsate a bit before getting freaked out and yanking his arm out of the chest cavity.
"Okay…" Mint muttered, "So that's step one…" Courrier had laid out a step-by-step guide on how to resuscitate him from either the brink of death or death itself. When Mint asked if this made him immortal, Courrier just waved it off, saying that he can die but he doesn't stay dead.
Courrier told Mint that he's more machine than man, as most of his internal and vital organs were replaced with high-end prosthesis. Still, he insisted that this made him no less of a person than either him or Johan or Greenhorn.
Mint took out a strange syringe that his Acting Commander Courrier had given him; he called it a 'Stimpak'. Said that if Mint ever were to get hurt then he should use it on himself, otherwise, keep it for situations like this.
Courrier said that he gave some to Johan and Greenhorn as well, as he can't afford to have them die. Mint felt some relief at this, and pretty happy too, knowing that he meant so much to his idol. He jabbed the 'Stimpak' into the man's chest, hearing the hiss from it subside before pulling it out. That's step two done.
The final step was to agitate his body to force his prosthetic heart to start pumping the 'Stimpak' contents all over his body. So Mint pulled out his katana, prayed that Courrier wouldn't hold any grudges over this, and stabbed it down onto Courrier's arm, drawing some blood as Mint yanked the blade out. Thinking about it, that metallic thing that Mint grabbed was probably his prosthetic heart, interesting.
Acting Commander Courrier's eye shot open as he sat up. Wearing only his bodysuit as he coughed out some blood, "Super Stimpak! Now!" he yelled, Mint took a step back as he heard a strange hissing sound coming from the suit before the hole in Courrier's chest knit itself back together, even the wound that Mint gave Courrier on his arm faded away into nothing too, "Eugh, that was unpleasant…"
"Sir! You're- you're alive!"
"Uh huh," Courrier craned his neck as he gets his muscles warmed-up, climbing out of the body bag as he stood on his own two feet, "That damn Cinder… So I did all of that for nothing?!" he muttered under his breath, a dark expression on his face as he gritted his teeth, "I'll find her... I will find her…"
Mint coughed before chuckling nervously, "So uh… welcome back, sir?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he waved a dismissive hand, "Mint, call Johan and Lavs for me."
"Yes, sir!"
Mint dialled the Scroll number of Johan, she picked up after a few rings, "What is it?" she asked boredly, Mint could hear the sound of shuffling cards in the background.
"Acting Commander Courrier has some things to say to you," he heard the shuffling sound stop as Johan's voice took on a more professional tone, "I'll hand you over to him right now."
"Johan, where are you currently?" Courrier said as he grabbed the Scroll out of Mint's hand.
"West of Vale, sir, on an island called Patch," Johan sighed, "What do you need, sir?"
"Patch huh?" Courrier smiled, he turned to Mint, "Johan, how'd you feel about a little vacation to Menagerie?"
"M- Menagerie? What for?" Johan sputtered, clearly not expecting that at all, neither did Mint.
"A little impromptu meeting with Sienna Khan," he grinned, "I have plans for the White Fang, Mint and I'll pick you two up from patch, we'll then meet up with Khan in Menagerie, after that, take a week break there to wait for all this shit to boil over, then finally we'll move on to Vacuo."
"Vacuo?" Johan asked, "Weren't we supposed to meet up with Commander Taurus in Mistral?"
"He'll understand," he waved that off, "Besides, Adam got things all figured out in Mistral already, the only place left to change is Vacuo," Courrier grinned wider, "So we're going to go on a little bird hunting trip, sound good?"
This chapter's on the shorter side of things, about a couple hundred words less than an average chapter.
The Courier's back! Wow! So surprising!
The moment he realized the weakness in his flesh, the Courier sought salvation within the implants and prosthetics given to him by the Think Tank.
Is it realistic? No. Is it funny that the Courier's heart can just be restarted like a PC? Verily.
Thanks for reading!
