Crimson XXXVIII: Preparations
"The fact that you're making this request well aware of your standing in the Academy and your fringe at best placement in the Vytal Festival is… well, brazen would be far too generous of a word." Ragna didn't try to give Ozpin a witty comeback; he knew that out of all of the students at Beacon, he'd likely been given the most passes out of anyone. The fact he was still here was a miracle in itself. "You realize that this is your last week to work on Project Hell before the field assignments will conclude the quarter? And you'll still have Mock Fights to participate in? Asking to be excused from classes for an entire week is…"
"Out of the question," Glynda Goodwitch finished for him. Whenever Ozpin had to hear out one of Ragna's requests it was pretty likely that she'd be there to listen, weigh in… and sometimes be the harder of the two to convince. "What could even cause this kind of request in the first place?"
"A big favor to a couple of close friends," he answered. "It's regarding the White Fang and… likely Roman Torchwick."
"Both of them?" Ozpin questioned. "I've heard plenty of reports that seem to link the two together, but officially nothing's been resolved that the two are allied in any way."
"Trust me, it's a pain to give what were probably just some vain conspiracy theorists credit when they were just trying to vilify the Faunus in any way that they could, but… there is a connection there." Ragna shook his head. "You know I can't say that kind of crap lightly."
"I'm aware, and surprisingly you seem to know the gravity of your words. Still, you must admit it's unreasonable to ask that I excuse 5 students from their last week of one of their most important quarters at Beacon."
"I never said 5 students."
"Yes, but it's obvious you'd be taking Team RWBY with you; not only for your relationship with them, but Miss Belladonna's prior connection to the White Fang." Ragna didn't offer a rebuttal. "I suppose you have been personally targeted by Roman Torchwick if your encounter with that railgun prototype is at all worth consideration, but why not let the authorities-?"
"You're stalling if that's the best excuse you can come up with; they've gotten Jack-shit so far… actually, not even that; I was the one that caught Jack. Twice even." Ragna gave a smug smirk at his wordplay for that last bit (apparently Yang was influencing him more than he'd thought). "So? I might still be a first year, but I think I might just be our best chance of getting this damn thing finally solved."
Despite his surface-level reservation, Ozpin knew he was being handed a golden opportunity. He'd already had a conversation with Goodwitch regarding Ragna's potential involvement in smoking out Roman Torchwick, so now that he was volunteering for the job, he had little reason to turn him down… still, he should try to manage the situation as a proper Headmaster.
"And the chance that this will leave you ineligible for the Vytal Festival? I doubt that your team would appreciate this," he reminded.
"Already talked it over with them; we decided if that was what it was going to take, then so be it. I'll get us into the Tournament next year."
"Even Azrael agreed to this?" Goodwitch doubted.
"I'd have to make it up to him myself." Somehow his confidence hadn't even waned at that idea. "Isn't there some way I can do both? Finish off the last of my mock fights before I start tracking down Torchwick? I can take care of all of them tomorrow and kick all the ass I need to in one go."
"Language," Goodwitch fruitlessly attempted to remind him. Ragna just shrugged as he waited for her answer. "On my end, I might be able to put you through your final three matches tomorrow and Team RWBY would only have a single match which could be handled that day as well." The way it was worded, Ragna wouldn't be facing off against any of his girlfriends. "Though this still falls to the headmaster to make the final decision. If he even thinks it's worth considering."
'Let's not waste any further time on this posturing; he likely gets it by now.' "Provided you're certain you have all of your projects finished and you manage to fulfill Goodwitch's standards for your place in the Vytal Festival, I'll allow it… but with one further condition."
"And that is?" Ragna had to wonder if this was going to be another party for him to host, like had happened with Grimm's Day.
"I want another pair of students to accompany you on this assignment; if this really can bring us closer to capturing Torchwick, then I need to ensure you're well prepared. As far as who to send…" Ozpin looked over his notes. "Hmm… Team CVFY has recently returned from their own assignments. I'll have the leader, Coco Adel, join your efforts. And her partner, Velvet Scarlatina. She'll be able assist you a great deal as a Faunus. One without previous ties to the organization."
'After I just had to deal with them? Damn, guess the world still enjoys having a laugh at my expense.' "And if they refuse?"
"Then you have no case," Ozpin put simply. "Though if memory serves, Miss Scarlatina had mentioned owing you a favor when I last spoke to her. This might be just the chance she needs to pay you back for standing up for a Faunus when no one else would."
"This is a big ask for a favor," Ragna stated bluntly. "Don't try to make it sound like she owes me this."
"I wouldn't dream of it," the headmaster answered fairly. "Before we conclude this little meeting of ours, I do have one final question for you since we have the time. One regarding your future."
"What about it?"
"I'd just like to know what future goals you might have. What… plans you have brewing once you hopefully graduate from Beacon."
'Enigmatic as always,' Ragna thought. "That's my business to know… unless you want to tell me just what you're really asking and put these cryptic games of yours aside."
"Only what I just asked, nothing cryptic to speak of. Though it sounds like you're done speaking for now." Ozpin took a small sip of his evening tea. "I'll inform both Velvet and Coco myself if I hear word of you fulfilling Goodwitch's standards. Otherwise, this duty will have to fall to someone else… I'm betting quite a bit on you, Bloodedge."
"That's a risky bet at best," Ragna shrugged off with bravado as he turned and started departing the office.
"You're hardly helping your own case here," Goodwitch informed.
"One of us needs to be brutally honest; all three of us can't be cryptic as hell," he shot back as he exited the office.
"…I can't stand him sometimes," Goodwitch sighed.
"Only sometimes?"
"If he ever started drinking like Qrow, then I wouldn't be able to stand him at all." Ozpin certainly wasn't looking forward to that possibility. "It's just like you said; Ragna's going to play a role in Torchwick's capture one way or another."
"I wasn't expecting it to be so direct or so soon. I'll admit that much of a coincidence even has me slightly unnerved. Between this and dealings with that Messiah fellow, it's near impossible to claim that Ragna hasn't been chosen by fate in some way… but chosen for what, I have no idea."
"Messiah? You mean that he followed through with a proper debriefing?"
"Hardly; everything I know now is a result from our guest in the basement; someone who also sees Ragna the Bloodedge as claimed by fate… and wants to make sure it never comes to pass."
"When the time comes and they make their way out of containment, you're going to have to pick a side. I know you can't just hand Ragna over to them, but if they're as powerful as their legends imply, we can't afford to forfeit that aide either."
"That… can only be a worry for future. We're not prepared to make any real decisions right now. Should Ragna's endeavors be met with success, it'll only delay the true conflict that lies on the horizon… at best."
Later -Team RWBY's Room-
"So we're good to go after all?" Ruby asked as Ragna closed the door behind him.
"I'd have to win three whole mock fights tomorrow, but if I can pull that off I guess we can start hunting for Torchwick and I can still find a place in the tournament."
"That means that unless something unforeseeable happens, we're all set to start our hunt," Weiss stated, more than confident in her boyfriend's abilities finish the year off with his current win streak intact. Ragna nodded at the sentiment, but he could also see that Blake wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of a hunt as it was poorly worded.
"You okay?" It was blunt, but he figured that was his best way of getting to the heart of her issues.
"…I'll do what I need to," she promised vaguely. Ever since he'd brought her the news of the White Fang's involvement, Blake hadn't reacted much once she'd gotten over her initial shock. Ragna believed in her of course, but he knew that this wasn't going to be easy for her. "Don't try to coddle me; I have a job to do and I have than enough people that owe this to."
"No one's coddling you, but we gotta do this as a Team," Yang insisted. "No… more of a family."
"Eh… more of a Team," Ragna shot down.
"Come on! I was saying something really sweet!" the blonde huffed.
"You were, but it's not just going to be us on this job like I thought earlier," he sighed. "Ozpin told me if we're going to do this, then we need to bring along Coco and Velvet as back up."
"After they helped us pick out our outfits for the dance? What are the odds of that?" Ruby asked skeptically.
"The strange coincidence aside, Ragna's right. Coco already suspects all of us are in a full relationship if the way she was acting yesterday was any indication," Weiss realized.
"If she finds out, then so be it. It's not like we haven't told our fair share of close friends already," Ragna reminded. "Besides, they might be understanding enough to keep it a secret for us. For now, I say that we keep things vague for them, but finding and putting a stop to Torchwick is our big concern."
"Right… if we take him off the table, I guess there's a chance that White Fang could simply pack up and leave," Blake hoped. "But… what if they're too far gone to see reason?"
"None of us have all of the answers, least all before anything happens," Yang maturely decided. "Let's just focus on the present; we'll deal with whatever fallout hits when we know what's coming. And we'll all do it together."
'Always,' Ragna decided silently.
The Next Morning -Mock Fight Room-
"Why has Blake been blushing since breakfast?" Ragna whispered to Ruby as the Faunus in question was sitting a short way away reading through her latest novel while she still had the chance to. The lingering pink on her face had been noticed by him immediately, but she'd given him no explanation when he'd asked directly.
"Might be because Yang spent the entire night with her in bed… holding onto each other."
"Ah." Even Ragna hadn't done that much with any of them yet. "What brought that on?"
"She wanted to be a pillar of emotional support for her partner; obviously Blake's got a lot on her mind right now…" Ruby fidgeted with her fingers slightly. "And… she might've done the same with me… more than a few times… some of them when I was older than I'd like to admit."
"No need to be embarrassed; now that you say it, I had to do the same with Jin when we were kids." She was less than convinced as she stuck her thumb towards the ever stoic and cold-faced Kisaragi heir. "You'd be surprised; kid used to be a real crybaby. Always had to comfort him whenever he scrapped his knee or he got into a fight with Saya." Ragna smirked. "Had to comfort her pretty often too… actually I think the three of us were together like that more often than not. Got to the point that our mom wondered why she bothered giving us three beds if we all ended up sleeping in mine."
"Wow… I…" Ruby tried to choose her words carefully. "Even after… everything, I don't think I've ever heard you talk about your past like that."
"Yeah… last time I almost got close to talking about Saya, I almost blew up at you for no good reason." Ruby was a little worried that Ragna was going to start acting moody again, but at worst he just appeared disappointed in his past actions. "I think opening up that weekend was the big step I needed so I wouldn't have to guard my past so damn tightly. From here it's just business as usual."
"Speaking of business, looks like you're about to get down to it," she informed as Goodwitch and the other students piled into the room. "You can't lose a match today… at the bare minimum."
"Don't have to remind me, don't have to worry either."
"Let's not stand on ceremony; we all have busy schedules to keep so the sooner I can dismiss you the sooner you can finish your projects," Goodwitch declared. No arguments from the students… though some had practically given up on turning anything in. "For the first of his three matches today, Ragna the Bloodedge will be facing off against Mai Natsume."
"That was his first match of the quarter," Weiss recounted. "Not to mention it was his first ever loss. Do you think this is Goodwitch's way of testing to see if he's improved at all?"
"I think all of us have been forced to improve this last quarter, but you're right that this does seem like her way of gauging his new skills," Blake agreed. "Remember, it looked like he was about to win that fight until that last instant, so he can't have that happen again."
Ragna had already made it to the battle arena and was standing across from Mai as he hefted his massive sword over his shoulder. He'd still yet to give it a proper name, but with news that his old Aramasa might soon be rebuilt and even improved, there was very little of a point of giving his prototype sword a real title. Mai meanwhile had taken her spear out and was ready for a rematch.
(Cue Variable Heart)
"I've seen a lot of you in action lately; all of your wins have been really impressive," she complimented him, which Ragna only answered with a satisfied smirk. "Glad to see you've recovered."
"Heh, well you might not be too happy about it in a minute," he cockily warned as he got his own sword off his shoulder and fully braced for a fight. It wasn't loaded with Dust, but since it was only a mock fight he needed to prove that he could manage without it.
"Begin."
At Goodwitch's signal, Mai took the first step and opened the fight by leaping back to create some distance, charging her aura into her spear, and unleashing it in a powerful throw. Ragna avoided the attack by dodging to the side before guarding behind him as it quickly changed directions and went for his back. Mai then called her spear back to her hand before using her semblance and performing a vicious diagonal dive down. Ragna met the attack with his own heavy sword swing, generating a wicked shockwave that passed over everyone in the room.
Pressing his advantage now that he had her in for closer combat, Ragna made a wide swing with his heavy blade and struck Mai's spear. He wasn't necessarily trying to break her only weapon (though that would've been a viable means of winning), but he was shocked to notice the attack hadn't even left a single crack or dent.
'Something's off about that thing. It's not made of any metal and it's practically overflowing with her semblance. It's not just any weapon…' Ragna thought mid-fight due to his faster perception. 'Wait… Jin's sword is like that too. Is there some kind of connection there?'
Unable to fully consider it since he was in an actual fight, the Reaper kept his pressure up by quickly turning and slashing from the other side. Mai was again able to guard against the attack, but then Ragna followed through with a rising slash that managed to knock her off her feet. The Reaper again tried to follow through with a chasing slash, but Mai regained her balance in air, flipped backwards to land on her feet, braced her footing in an instant, and thrusting her spear forward.
Ragna was forced to leap into the air to avoid the attack and he could see that she'd managed to channel her aura into the attack. Flipping his body forward he was about to come down with a diving slash before he saw that Mai hadn't stopped glowing. Leaping up with enough force that it created a sonic boom, she soared straight into Ragna right as he brought his blade back to guard with the flat of it. Mai wasn't done with the attack as she landed on the ceiling, vaulting off just as fiercely to catch the still recovering Ragna and slamming the both of them to the ground with an explosion of aura.
"Not bad," came Ragna's voice as the energy subsided. Mai looked in awe as she saw that he'd managed to land on his feet, having caught her spear and holding it up with his free hand. "Really earned your nickname of Dragoon." That didn't stop him from whipping the weapon around and throwing her off her spear while he held onto it.
Normally such disarming would be cause for disqualification, but Mai showed that she still had a trick or two up her sleeve. Utilizing her semblance, she fought to take control of the spear while Ragna held onto it. It barely even lurched as Ragna's grip on it held steady. Seeing this, she instead focused her semblance hard and caused the weapon to disappear from the Reaper's grasp.
'That's new,' he considered as the weapon then emerged in Mai's hands and she took a ready stance. 'Looks like it's also my win condition.'
This time Ragna made the charge forward before blinking out of sight and appearing behind Mai. Spinning her lance like a propeller, their attacks clashed and he sent the Dragoon sliding back. Spinning her weapon again, she sent out small shots of aura that the Reaper easily deflected before going for another swing. Mai had leaped out of the way of his first attack, but then he came around for a second swing before she could leap out of range. The impact of this one was too great and sent the blade spinning out of Mai hands as both were blasted back.
Utilizing her semblance, she called her weapon back as it travelled through the air. In anticipation, Ragna had leapt just in time to intercept it and catch it. Landing on her feet as Ragna held onto her weapon, Mai focused again to dematerialize it out of his grasp…
…and felt the chill of steel at the back of her neck as soon as she had.
(End theme)
"Match over." Goodwitch declared as Ragna held his opponent at his sword's edge, bringing his weapon back only once his victory was assured. "Well done to the both of you. Please head to the stands as I prepare the next round of sparring."
'Guess I won't be doing all three in a row,' Ragna considered, though he didn't mind having the break. "And here I thought you had some nasty tricks the last time we fought."
"Gotta say the same about you; that new fierceness behind your attacks was something else," Mai said before tilting her head as she tried to get a better look at his face. "Wouldn't know it by looking at you now. You seem a lot calmer than you did when I first met you."
"Eh… wouldn't say I'm all outta piss and vinegar," he corrected, getting a small laugh out of Mai before the two parted and she headed over to sit down next to Makoto.
"Onto the next match," Goodwitch instructed as the two students appeared on screen. Sun Wukong and Blake Belladonna. "Will the students please hurry down for the match? We still have much to get through today."
"You sure you're up for this?" Ruby asked her Faunus teammate.
"I have to be. There's a chance she could be using this to test me like she's testing Ragna," Blake answered. "I'll be fine."
Despite trying to convince herself, she was less than assured by current events and Ragna's news. It almost felt wrong for Blake to still be this hesitant, especially after everyone was doing what they could to support her. What wasn't helping her was the opposite of support as she overheard Cardin's group snickering as she passed them. Obviously, they had as of yet outgrown their discriminatory behaviors.
"Looks like we're in for a Beast fight," he said cockily to the rest of his team. "Let's hope they've gotten their shots, otherwise they'll give each other rabi-"
He was stopped dead cold as Ragna forced himself into the seat right next to him. The Reaper didn't even so much as look over or acknowledge Cardin and the derogatory comment he'd been about to make.
His mere presence spoke the deafening volume he needed.
"Mr. Bloodedge? May I ask why you've elected to change your seat?" Goodwitch didn't seem upset. If not for her business-as-usual tone, someone might've considered if she was being whimsical for once.
"It's where I'm needed," he answered bluntly, though he was clearly making eye contact with Blake. She only took a deep breath and nodded back at him. Words were one thing, but being helped by actions was something else. Not that she was completely confident even now, but it was a noticeable change.
"…Indeed," Goodwitch answered simply as the countdown for the two began.
"Caught wind of what was going on," Sun said to Blake, but only loud enough so that the two could hear. "Hope this helps as practice and to make sure you're ready."
"Pretty unorthodox for a warm-up, but I'll take what I can get," Blake assured as she brought her blades out and Sun started with his weapon in dual nunchuck mode.
(Cue Final Fantasy Dissidia -Decisive Battle (GaMetal Remix)-)
Sun started the fight immediately by creating three different aura copies of himself and sent them at Blake, closing in from different angles for a tri-pincer attack. None of them hit their actual target as Blake had utilized her semblance to step back and let her shadow take the hit before making a long swipe with her bladed chain and destroying the three copies.
Being one of the more agile fighters, Sun was quickly able to close the distance and go for a more direct offensive with his nunchucks, quickly going into a series of hefty swings to try and get his opponent off balance, but Blake wasn't overwhelmed and solidly managed to hold her own ground, even leaning back with perfect reaction time as Sun tried to utilize the gun function of his weapons at point blank range.
"Driven and fearless, like always," Weiss commended from up above while Sun and Blake continued their close quarter clash, neither side gaining any substantial ground. "Doesn't even look like she's even that worried like she was yesterday."
"She's still tense though; I can tell," Ruby answered, having gained some serious experience in reading emotions after all of the drama with Ragna had happened. "Guess we'll just have to be as supportive as we can."
"YOU GOT THIS BLAKE!" Yang shouted from up top, hardly one to hold back in any social setting. Down below, the Cat Faunus went for a parallel slash with her twin weapons which managed to send Sun stumbling back she attacked with a chain whip and knocked him off his feet, only managing to survive via his litheness and by turning his weapon back to a quarter staff. "Wow, lotta bite there all of a sudden."
"Remember when she left the room last night after we talked to clear her head? Turns out Ragna went with her and they ended up training for a few hours together," Weiss explained.
"No wonder she was damp when we were together," Yang recounted. "I'm assuming and hoping that was from a shower after they were finished."
"Gross."
Back down below, the flow of battle wasn't in either participant's favor. Despite Blake's newfound aggression, Sun was a difficult one to pin down and he still had plenty of tricks to keep him in the fight. Twirling his quarterstaff around like a propeller (like Mai had done with her spear) allowed him to deflect Blake's gunfire before using it to pole-vault over her next attempt to chainwhip his legs. Taking advantage as Blake was left vulnerable from her whiffed attack, Sun brought his quarterstaff down in a powerful smash that Blake only avoided by sacrificing another shadow semblance. Sun tried to capitalize on the attack and sent three more of his own semblance copies, only to have them cleaved apart by Blake's twin blades.
Rushing forward with both of her weapons out, Sun knew that Blake was going to utilize her semblance again, so he prepared for her sneak attack in anticipation.
Only to find the blades at the back of his neck as she'd tricked him by breaking character and going in for the head-on approach.
(End theme)
"Learn that one from your boyfriend?" he asked with a smirk, keeping his voice down so only she could hear him. Blake tried not to let her surprise show. "Caught sight of the two of you training together last night and… well seeing that, I finally managed to pick up on what was going on. While I knew you were going to be good here, I'm a little disheartened that I got taken out so quickly."
"I just played my cards right," she assured as she brought her blades back. "Thanks for your help warming up."
"Any time; just give Torchwick all kinds of hell and make sure the rest of 'em see reason," Sun encouraged as the two headed back to their seats. "…You wouldn't happen to have a sister, would you?"
"No… but I think Weiss has an older one."
"The Ice Queen and Schnee heiress? …Hard pass then."
"If she's anything to go off of, I don't think all of the family is like their father."
"Still pass."
"Fair."
"Next up, we'll have Ragna returning for his second fight of the day," Goodwitch said as she prepared for the upcoming encounter. Even as he rose to leave, the Reaper gave Cardin a parting glare and dared him to try talking smack. "For his opponent... Miss Valkyrie. Would you be willing?"
"Willing and excited as heck!" Nora said as she didn't walk down like Ragna, instead electing to vault down to the dueling arena. Her designated opponent chuckled a bit at her attitude before skipping the stairs himself. "I haven't had a good match in a while and Ren's been helping me develop a few new moves to try out."
"That right?" Ragna asked as he glanced to where the silent member of team JNPR was seated. 'I get along with him well enough... but I can never read that guy.'
(Cue Guilty Gear: Strive -Ups and Downs-)
As the countdown timer to their duel once again started, Nora gave her hefty hammer a twirl like she was only wielding a marching baton before alternating steps like she was trying to get into a pre-battle rhythm. Ragna watched this before shrugging, unslinging his sword, and copying her footwork with his own.
"What the-? You're playing copycat now?" Nora playfully questioned.
"Nah, seeing you just now reminded me that we've got a dance coming up. Don't got a lot of time left, so this is going to have to double as dance practice," he answered back with a cocky smile, but since he still saw his opponent as a friend, this one actually had a good nature behind it.
"I gotcha! May I have this duel in that case?" she asked with a smile.
"Like we have a choice."
Nora actually ended up jumping the gun before the countdown timer had finished, but since Ragna had clearly proven he was ready Goodwitch didn't call it out.
Still moving like she was in the middle of a dance, Nora practically flowed into what would normally be a hefty attack and didn't even sacrifice any substantial power as she did so. Moving like he was in a similar dance, Ragna fashionably deflected with a single-handed sword swipe before going for his own horizontal slash which Nora went under like it was a limbo bar before backflipping with a hammer uppercut. The Reaper backstepped the attack as Nora braced herself for the midair overhead smash that was going to be devastating, enough so that Ragna actually brief glowed dark with an aura boost as he made a two-handed slash that sent Nora soaring back but still cause him to skid a fair bit.
Even after Ragna's devastating counterattack, Nora was gracefully twirling like a ballerina before landing perfectly on the side wall. Firing a rocket from her hammer's launcher (which was somehow still allowed in this mock battle), Nora covered her next approach as she forced Ragna to cleave through the powerful projectile while using a second empty shot to boost her own launch off the wall. Her devastating attack was dodged by Ragna as he literally danced around it with his footwork and more surprisingly managed to keep his footing as the attack caused the entire room to shake.
Nora went for another wide swing with her hammer, but Ragna easily blocked the attack before directly striking Nora in her back. She barely stumbled back before she regained her footing and her aura was proving to still hold strong. Firing another empty shot from her launcher brought her right back to Ragna. He again deflected the heavy hammer swing, but she almost stuck under his chin by going into an uppercut with her hammer's handle. Using the launcher yet again to propel herself a short distance into the air before coming down at full strength.
Using his bare fist in an uppercut, Ragna contested the heavy blow before winning over and repelling the hammer. Left wide open, Nora was unable to react as Ragna struck her dead in the gut and broke her aura in the process.
(End theme)
"Know how to… show a girl a good time," Nora groaned as she slowly fell forward, only for Ragna to catch her and keep her standing until she caught her breath and could stand on her own. "Thanks… you really don't pull your punches."
"I've been told it's one of my better qualities," Ragna answered back humorlessly.
"Yeah, I'd agree with that," she answered with a smile. After the two had returned to their regular seats (Ragna didn't so much as acknowledge Cardin as he passed him by), Nora turned to her partner as she sat beside him. "You know, if Ragna of all people can let loose and have fun now, then you really have no excuse."
"…Is he now the bar to clear?" Ren had to ask.
"He's still a starting point at best," Nora answered plainly.
'Ouch.'
There was a brief five-minute break afterwards, but nothing worth mentioning happened. A few of the groups broke out their textbooks and tried to get as much work done with the limited time as they could. Seeing them like this only reminded Ragna when he'd been so far behind due to… well, nothing had been confirmed with that, but he still had his obvious suspicions.
"Break's over," Goodwitch declared all too soon. "We'll have two matches remaining and then you can leave to finish your assignments. Our next match will be decided at random."
'Random to your eyes maybe,' Emerald thought.
Even if her group wasn't abusing the system to the degree they had when Ragna was their target, Emerald had decided to sneak a quick program in just so that she could gather information against the other students… and give herself an easier match. Her picture flashed upon the main classroom screen in addition to Noel Vermillion.
"This is… probably going to be an important match," the blonde observed. "If we don't get into the tournament-"
"Then it's got nothing to do with you; my fault," Ragna insisted, trying to show some leadership. "Still, everyone's been saying that you've been practicing like crazy. I'd say you've got this."
"R-Right!" Noel said as she headed down to the fighting arena… nearly falling over in the process. On her way down, she passed a glance down to Jaune, her Random Project partner who gave her an awkward thumbs up of encouragement.
(Cue Bullet Dance)
"Let's have a good fight." Emerald was trying to keep an air of innocence about her as long as she could still use it to her advantage. She noticed that her attitude was doing little to ease her opponent, but reasonably concluded that it had more to do with their still present timidness. Bringing out her weapons as guns, she already had her first plan of intimidation in mind. 'If I could use my semblance against you this would be even easier, but then I'd be getting too close to risking exposure. If I can beat you badly enough that I kick your entire team out of the Vytal Festival, then Cinder will finally be satisfied and stop risking all of our hides.'
She needed to try and believe that anyways.
With the counter finally reached zero, Emerald had no hesitation as she rushed while charging her guns into twin sickles to catch Noel off guard as she likely been preparing for a gun match. Add that to Noel's lack of confidence and she thought she could capitalize and end the match in just a few short seconds. While Noel did give a quick and panicked yelp as Emerald closed in, she still managed to defend herself using the barrels of her guns to catch the blades. Emerald tried to overpower Noel and disarm her, only to receive a powerful reflex kick to the gut that pushed her back and created some distance.
Distance that Noel immediately capitalized on as she fired off several rounds from Bolverk, all of the rounds aimed at Emerald's weapons in a similar attempt to disarm. She held strong to her sickles, but lost her grip on one of them, leading Noel to finish her barrage by sending that weapon sailing out of harm's way.
'Smart. Taking away just one of those limits her full potential by quite a bit,' Mercury internally commended. 'And those shots were aimed perfectly, exactly so that it'd create the most distance and make the most of this new chance. But… was she really smart enough to think of that on her own? Almost seems like blondie's going on autopilot mode.'
Down below it certainly seemed that way as Noel showed no emotion while she twirled the guns in her hands. Not only was it a personal gunplay flourish, but it was also the action that allowed her semblance to reload her weaponry. Emerald tried to take advantage while she was in the middle of a vulnerable action and turned her sickle back to its gun form as she ran for her second weapon. She'd expected it to at least give her some cover fire, but Noel's responding fire was perfectly measured in fire-rate and even intercepted each of Emerald's flawlessly. Increasing the rate of fire only emptied her cartridge quicker as Emerald found herself down a weapon and carrying an empty one as Noel emotionlessly closed in.
'What's with her? Now that I'm fighting her up close it's like she's completely possessed… If it's tied to her guns, then I can just get them out of her grasp and finish this quickly.'
Easier said than done, especially since she wasn't left with the option to use her semblance in this fight and was low on ammo. Still, she'd always relied heavily on her resourcefulness. Extending her sickle's chain, she made a swipe at Noel who dodged it as expected, but she'd be counting on that and used the back swing to a grab her second sickle. Now with both of her weapons back and holding one of them with ammo, she could cover herself as she went in for a full rush to close the distance. Relying as steady stream of gunfire to divide Noel's attention, she then made another sickle swipe which the blonde leaped into the air to avoid.
'Got you!'
Extending the chain on her second sickle, she went for Noel and attempted to tie her with the weapon and leave her prone to a second follow-up attack with her other sickle. This one might even leave a mark on her… but she could live with that. Light scolding from the teacher at worst. The problem was that the binding chain missed the target completely as a round from Noel's shotgun had propelled her down to ground level.
'Wait? Shotgun!?'
Emerald didn't even have time to process it as Noel disappeared from sight before bodychecking her in the back and sending her sprawling. Emerald managed to recover long enough to give her sickles one final swing and even disarmed Noel of one of her pistols (which were again pistols?), but as she managed to secure her footing she was looking directly down the barrel of her opponent's other pistol.
(End theme)
"Victory goes to Miss Vermillion," Goodwitch noted. While Emerald had hardly done enough to establish herself as a major fighter (doing so would've only put more eyes on her), she was at least good enough that people were talking about the upset they'd just witnessed… a rather decisive upset at that. "Return to your seats and we'll begin our final match of today."
'…I shouldn't have lost that, even after I got so cocky,' Emerald silently seethed, though she was sure not to let it leak through. Noel had yet to take Bolverk away from her… only to blink a few times before looking down in surprise. 'She WAS possessed… but how did we not see it before now? And she's never fought like this before.'
"I… did I just win?"
'Dammit! Don't sound so sincere about it!' "Great fighting, Noel," she complimented with a slightly strained smile. "…Can take that gun off me now?"
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the gunslinger apologized as she broke out into a blush as both of her guns disappeared.
'So she's got two modes; demure ditz or deadly lethal gunner… that might make things difficult for us,' Emerald considered as she headed back to her seat. 'Although… now we've got plenty of data to look at for her.'
"Without any further ado, we'll begin our last match of today," Goodwitch instructed. Ragna took that as his cue and rose from his seat, heading down to the arena in hopes of finishing the day strong. "Eager are we, Mr. Bloodedge?"
"To get out of here? I think everyone is," he answered back a little snidely, only to hear giggling coming from beside him as he saw Neo Politan following him down into the ring as the screen showed that she'd be his final match for the day. 'Great, if Ren's still a mystery to me then I don't have the words to describe what this chick is.'
Both fighters took their place on opposite sides of the ring, Ragna with a tight scowl as he tried to predict her next move.
'She hasn't been outright aggressive to me at all… quite the opposite actually. But she's still part of Cinder's team and it wouldn't surprise me if she wanted to use this fight to try and screw me over.'
Neo pulling her lower eyelid down and playfully sticking her tongue out was not helping.
"Please, let's have an air of decency from both of you," Goodwitch chided.
'The hell did I do!?'
"You may begin when ready."
(Cue DeltaRune -The World Revolving-)
Ragna almost lost right in the opening second as Neo disappeared from view and nearly struck him with the sword hidden in her umbrella. Even with his enhanced reflexes he was only able to partially dodge as his aura took the rest of the attack for him. It wasn't superior speed that had almost routed him instantly, something else entirely.
'Dammit, are these the illusions that were giving me so much grief this quarter?' he thought as he deflected the second blade attack, Neo grinning like a mad-woman as he did so. He tried to catch her with a roundhouse kick, but instead of striking home her entire body seemed to shatter before she appeared a short distance from him. 'No… something's different about this one. Not like this isn't going be a pain in the ass to get through.'
Though Neo only took a pleased bow, Ragna's reflexes kicked in again as he dodged a dive kick from up above before blocking her rising kick with his forearm. He tried to grab her leg after impact, but all he took hold of was another mirage as his opponent then twisted into a midair kick that he countered with another anti-air uppercut.
Though Ragna had been the dominant force in that last strike, he done little more than blast Neo into the air and damage some of her aura. She then opened her umbrella and floated gracefully to the ground, giggling as soon as she'd landed.
"You sure seem to laugh a lot," Ragna observed before smirking himself and rushing forward. "If you're enjoying yourself so much, then I'll let loose too!"
His unarmed lunge forward only struck and shattered another mirage as Neo appeared a good distance way, but he'd been counting on that. Taking his sword out and making a wide swing, he created a shockwave that caused Neo to stagger. Capitalizing while he had the opening, Ragna went fast enough to blitz Neo as he struck her in the side with flat of his sword.
She actually screamed as she was sent flying, but when her body hit the wall it only shattered to reveal another illusion as the real Neo had opened her umbrella to stop herself before the impact. Her aura was still barely holding and Ragna figured she still had no shortage of tricks to go through… the real question was how many of them was she actually willing play.
Sending out another shockwave, he destroyed yet another mirage and discovered that now Neo had actually charged right in front of him. Grabbing him by the arm, she actually succeeded in flipping him over before delivering a powerful kick to his exposed back. Now Ragna was the one being sent flying as Neo closed the distance with her umbrella's hidden sword. Ragna was only able to save himself by activating his Drive Barrier to stop the attack before he regained his footing.
"If she's good enough that Ragna has to bring that out, then she's obviously no slouch," Weiss noted from up above.
"Yeah, weird that it doesn't seem like she's tried this hard before," Yang added.
"Maybe because her team's already been confirmed for the Festival for a while now?" Ruby guessed.
"Meaning there's a good chance we'll be going up against them." No one on the team was looking forward to Blake's hypothetical.
Back down below, low aura or not Neo wasn't making it easy for Ragna as she proved to be a capable duelist. As the two exchanged sword strikes, she disappeared from sight to come in from an attack from a different angle, and she tried to create distance only for Ragna to charge her down once more.
On his last charge, she had no choice but to engage him in a blade lock where he held an obvious advantage. Forced to drop her parasol as she focused both hands on her blade, Ragna was putting his strength into keeping her pinned down. It would have been too easy of a win, surely she was still looking for some way out…
That was before Neo gave him a wink and jumped back dropping her blade as she stood before Ragna, exhausted and unarmed.
(End theme)
"After all of that, you're just giving up?" Ragna asked. Neo only shot him a whimsical shrug. Still unsure, Ragna glanced at their teacher for confirmation that the match was over and her nod said it was. "Okay… good match?"
Neo only continued to playfully giggle as she retrieved her weaponry, not bothering to hide the next wink she sent his way.
Ragna had no idea how to feel about this. Nor did RWBY as they were too confused by her behavior.
"That will be all for today," Goodwitch informed as she recorded the end results in her scroll. "I'll let the rest of you return to your projects given their deadline is rapidly approaching, but I'll need Ragna the Bloodedge to stay back for the moment."
"Busted," someone (Cardin) called from the stands.
'I just dominated three fights in a day you idiot. How does that mean I'm in trouble?' Ragna thought, but didn't waste his energy. The jerk was hardly worth it. 'What's this about then?'
Later -Dinner-
'She's still looking glum… aside from the times she's sending scowls my way,' Mercury thought to himself as he sat with Emerald and the notable sharp features of Cinder. She'd still yet to call him out and he hadn't needed to use Hazama's 'trump card' (and he had every hope he wouldn't have to), so for now it appeared that things were going to remain as tense as they currently were.
"Is it just me or has the food gone downhill recently?" Emerald asked, trying to make more casual conversation so that their team could keep its cover. Nothing too energetic or jovial of course, with Project Hell in full crunch mode, plenty of students had hit their breaking point and were slumped over as they struggled to cram everything they could in this final week.
…More than a few were cursing out Relius Clover's name as he'd shortened their work period by an entire week.
"I hadn't noticed," Mercury said, finally responding to the question before taking a bite out of the cafeteria's offered soup. "Tastes fine to me... maybe you're just stuck on that Pizza we had a while ago."
"You mean the one-?" Emerald began, stopping herself as the details returned.
"That Ragna and Team RWBY made," Cinder finished for her, still bothered despite Emerald's attempts to remain silent. "It wasn't that good, don't know what you're on about."
"Only time I've seen so many students go back for thirds," Mercury argued.
"That just means they have no taste and-"
"And you couldn't keep yourself from going back for fourths." Now Cinder was scowling even fiercer at him and Mercury was really pushing his luck.
"Do you pay attention to everything I do?" she hissed.
"Only what I happen to catch. Got bigger worries right now," he returned simply. "Get your dress yesterday?"
"I'll be ready for the ball. You can count on it," she insisted.
"That's good, lot going on that night," he kept vague as he noticed Ragna entering the cafeteria, scanning the area, before zeroing in on them and heading over. "Heads up, Reaper at four o'clock."
As Cinder turned to confirm Mercury's claim, she almost brought back the false sweet face that she'd been giving Ragna all quarter… before deciding it didn't matter at this point. Still not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her scowl like he'd suggested, she settled on neutral.
"Nice fight out there," he complimented Emerald, though he hardly looked happy. "You really gave Noel a good push out there."
'Is he mocking me?' she considered. Even if she had more troubles with Celica as her project partner, her opinion of the still less than confident Vermillion was pretty low. "It was a good fight. She'll be a strong part of your team." 'I still don't know how I lost, even without my Semblance.'
"Handing out compliments even though you're the man of the hour? Three whole fights in a day and you weren't exactly pushed in any of them yourself," Mercury praised, but his smile had an odd air of malice to it. "Maybe we can try to sneak in a little rematch before the tournament."
"Don't tempt me." Now Ragna was being stern as he glared back at him. He still hadn't completely forgotten about the match or what he'd seen… and he wasn't ready to forgive it either. "I'm not here for you anyways. Cinder and I need to have a quick talk. In private."
Plenty of alarm bells were already sounding in her head, but Cinder didn't show it as she nodded and rose from her seat. Mercury was doing his best to look passive, but Emerald was having a far worse time hiding her nervous edge. Ragna didn't comment on it as the two exited the cafeteria and found one of the separate break rooms.
"What's this about?" Cinder asked, wanting to get right to the point.
"It's about our project," Ragna answered.
"Don't tell me they got stolen again… or deleted, or… whatever happened." Cinder was doing her best to play dumb. "Last I heard was a rumor that a student from our year that had beef with you stole it. Venus, I think?"
"Yeah, same student that Jin's got a problem with," Ragna answered. "At least... that's who got saddled with the blame." Cinder didn't react. "Either way, that's not what I'm here to discuss with you. I need to be sure that we're done tonight. I won't be here for the rest of the week."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm leaving. On a special assignment." Cinder could afford to show some surprise here, so she did. "Not exactly supposed to tell anyone about this, but… here we are."
"Aren't we supposed to get our first assignments next week after the dance?" she inquired.
"This is different; hence why it's a special assignment," Ragna answered since it was obvious. "I figure that we should've been good to turn it in for a while now, but if you absolutely need my help with anything I should be able to make it back here during the night. Not supposed to go outside Vale anyways."
"Glad to know you'll be close by." 'Dammit Torchwick! He's probably caught on that you were the one that put the hit out on him!' Cinder seethed, but kept her complexion calm. "You're right; we should be done with everything. So… good luck on your extra assignment."
"…Just to be safe, I already gave a copy of our current project to Relius Clover. No point at putting all of that at risk again, right?"
"Smart." Cinder was trying to determine if Ragna was goading her or if he was just being an ass like he usually was. "Also, do me a favor and thank Ruby for me; she really helped out in grabbing my dress when we went shopping."
'No one told me about that.' "I'll be sure to let her know."
He didn't suspect any of his girlfriends of keeping secrets from him; they probably just felt as suspicious and uncomfortable around Cinder as he did. His past(?) antagonist only nodded as she left to return to the cafeteria while Ragna stayed back to consider their conversation. Making sure she was truly out of sight he sent off a quick message with his scroll.
'If she's hiding something, she's damn good at doing it… outwardly at least,' he figured as he headed to his team room to prepare for his assignment. 'All of that bloodlust coming off her though… what the hell did I even do to her?'
Earlier -The Mock Trial Room
Staying back as Goodwitch had requested, he waited for the two to be left to themselves so their discussion could begin. "So… did I meet the mark?"
"You're in the qualification round only; even with your impressive displays as of late, that period you were struggling during left you with too much ground to make up to secure your place in the tournament proper. There's going to be a harsh stigma surrounding your team as barely qualifying."
"So what? Reputation won't mean a damn thing when we're fighting for real. If anything, it'll give us an edge with the other teams counting us out as the easy pick. As long as I got us in, the Grimm hunting qualifier's just going to put me back in my element and my team can take it from there… anyone else that I should know about?"
"Cardin's team will be in the qualifiers as well, and far as your acquaintances are concerned, you'll have Teams JACK, JNPR, and RWBY in participation as well. Team CVFY has also earned their place, so this may be a good learning opportunity while you're on assignment."
"Making for one hell of a line-up, but how is Celica supposed to fight out there?" A valid question, given the healer was based purely on support. "Isn't everyone required in at least one solo fight with the expansion? I don't think her usual team-up trial is going to fly in a tournament."
"You'll have to wait and see, I'm not giving you any extra edges before the fighting starts," she informed. "But… I do have one final request for you, one that comes from Ozpin's desk."
"He couldn't tell me himself?"
"He wanted to be certain you'd won these fights today and held up your end of the bargain." That much was fair, but Ragna couldn't help but take notice of an obvious shift in Goodwitch's complexion. "Have you discussed your leave of absence with your project partners yet?"
"Most of them; already told you that I'd discussed it with my team. All that leaves is Cinder, but there won't be any issues there since we've been done since forever ago… twice." A little bitter at the memory of losing his project the first time. "Was going to message her when I got out of here."
"And that's the request; we need you to tell her face-to-face."
"…This is so I can judge her reaction?" Goodwitch's nod to the question was particularly reserved. "Okay, I'll bite. Why do I need to see her reaction?" No response. "You want my help, then you're going to have to tell me what I'm looking for."
"We have reason to suspect her of a great many things… your own drama unfolding being the least of her potential crimes."
"But you won't tell me any of those, will you?" A visible tick mark appeared on his forehead as Goodwitch only rewarded him with silence. "I don't appreciate being left out of the loop, but I hate the idea of being some unwilling or unknowing pawn just as much."
"Trust is a two-way street, Mr. Bloodedge. While it's true that you've done much to earn trust from the Beacon Academy faculty, you've certainly reaped your fair share of rewards and benefits from that trust as well. And let's not forget that you've also strained it to some extent." She couldn't hide a disappointed sigh. "If it's of any consolation, being informed of this much shows that Ozpin has a great amount of faith in you already."
"You're saying that like he's got some kind of inner circle that I'm getting close to."
"…For now, I'm unable to confirm or deny that hypothetical," she answered evenly. Ragna only nodded back, clearly not pleased with the development but unable to challenge it. "Remember, we only suspect her. Don't act at all accusatory or things could turn ugly for the entire Academy."
"Fine, I'll play nice," he promised. "Am I supposed to keep this whole thing a secret?"
"While we're almost certain you wouldn't, it is preferable if you kept quiet regarding Ozpin's requests."
"Maybe to most of the campus, but not to my team… and definitely not to Team RWBY. Not about to break that trust for anyone or anything."
"Then… good hunting to you," Goodwitch wished him.
Elsewhere That Night
"You couldn't beat him either? And you weren't just playing around with him?" Neo shook her head at Torchwick's question. Unlike Cinder, she wasn't too proud to admit it… though her boss would be the only one she'd ever give this info to freely. "Eh, not like the you could get rid of him in such a public setting. Even the most convincing of accidents would get your team into enough trouble to put the entire mission in jeopardy… and even then, the asshole would probably still live through it if Gamma was telling the truth about that hole she put in his chest."
The top criminal was losing his mind with Ragna's continued interference. Not only had he cost him time, money, and even some well-coveted status in the criminal circuits, but unlike those other annoyances it didn't seem like he could just throw money at the problem to get rid of it. Anyone else he'd just let slide by because it didn't seem worth it spend a fortune to get rid of them, but here he wondered if any price would remove him from the game.
"Can't go to Hazama for help dealing with him either. Just getting him close to the city risks setting off all the alarms, especially that big one they're hiding in the basement." The crime leader grit his teeth at just the thought of his cohort. "Dammit, this punk is supposed to be his problem in the first place. Why's he gotta be an issue for the rest of us? Between him and Red, who…" He glanced towards Neo. "So, are the two of them an item?"
She nodded bluntly.
"Well… maybe there's something I can do to get him there; but it's not like she's not her own set of troubles. And if Cinder's really serious about her warning, then they're gonna try coming for me soon… gonna have to get that special surprise ready if they ever show."
Hearing Neo give a giggle, her smug face said everything.
"You have an idea of how to deal with them?"
Nodding, she transformed into the visage of Hazama. It was… a less than pleasant experience for both of them, but now Torchwick was grinning just as smugly. "Go on…"
Meanwhile
"This won't be our first real night out," Ragna informed seriously as he, Coco, Velvet, and the entirety of Team RWBY stepped out into the cool evening air. "This is just to give ourselves a chance to look into a few spots they were already using and try talking to the police."
"Laying the groundwork so we can really get started tomorrow. Smart," Coco agreed. "Alright. If you've got your head in the game like this, I guess I can follow your lead for now."
"And what's that for now supposed to mean?" Yang demanded.
"With how much work I put into getting my team back for the dance, I'm not about to miss the party I spent all this time planning because I got dragged into another hunt," the fashionista informed. "Until I say otherwise, you're in charge. Once I feel like you're not making the grade or we're getting dangerously close to our deadline though, I'll be the one taking those reigns. Ozpin himself already gave me full approval for that, so if it's a problem then take it up with him."
"This is a little more important than some stupid dance," Blake vented back with a scowl. "If the White Fang are really here, they need to… to…"
"They need to what?" Coco asked patiently.
"They… they need to be talked down, have their ties with Torchwick permanently cut, be stopped… something." Blake was reaching, everyone could see it.
"And once we do?" Velvet asked, more than a little worried. Everyone knew that she'd been subjected to more racial bullying than your usual Faunus and once the White Fang were dealt with and their connection to Torchwick was publicly revealed, that was only going to get worse.
"We'll deal with that once we find them; we can't let that kind of thinking get in the way of stopping a bad situation from getting worse," Weiss affirmed.
Blake nodded in agreement, knowing Weiss well enough at this point to know how much the heiress had her back. Velvet was less convinced, but her meeker nature didn't allow her to give any protest.
…Not that she needed to exactly; putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Ragna only gave a solemn nod. A silent promise that whatever hardships this was going to bring her as a Faunus, he wasn't about to stand for it quietly. It wasn't much, but… Velvet did feel a bit better.
"Like Ragna said, this is just our first night out. Basically, day zero of our actual investigation," Ruby reminded them. "It's not like we're going to run into any problems this earl-"
"GOOD GUY!"
Even if Ragna had the presence of mind to try dodging, it didn't help much when Taokaka was as fast as she was. Crashing into the Reaper, the hooded feline tackled him to the ground. Ragna wasn't hurt and his aura was holding strong, but he hardly looked happy as he glowered up at Tao who was only laughing jovially.
"Are you ever going to stop that?" he grunted as he forced the cat off him and got up. He then turned to Coco and Velvet, ready to let them in on the situation. "This is Taokaka; not a Huntress, not a student, but she's an old friend. She's investigating the White Fang too, so she'll be joining us."
"I… didn't see her mentioned in Ozpin's briefing," Velvet said, still a little taken aback at Ragna's bouncing friend.
"Ozpin doesn't know about her," Ragna clarified.
"Are we sure this is a good idea? She doesn't appear all that… skilled in info gathering," Weiss asked, knowing Tao meant well but she was usually too hyper for her own good.
"Hey! Tao can collect lotsa info!" she protested.
"And how much of the info is good?" Coco asked, trying to show some more patience. Tao didn't give an immediate answer.
"We still need as many eyes looking for Torchwick as possible and Tao's got enough energy and agility to cover a ton of ground fast," Ragna insisted. "You said you'd follow my lead for now, and I say she stays with us."
"Fair enough," Coco shrugged, before smirking. "This'll be quite the assignment; you're hunting down the most dangerous and evasive of criminals and you've seven lovely ladies that aren't even a part of your own team to accompany you." Velvet's blush seemed to be growing at her partners words while Team RWBY tried their best poker face to… varying results.
"Not saying I'm not a fan of these circumstances, but I'm staying focused on our mission," Ragna answered fairly.
"Right, and I'll be sure to stockpile any teasing towards you for after we put Torchwick behind bars," Coco agreed.
"And the chances of making that indefinite?" he vainly tried.
"None, darling," she answered back sweetly. Once again it was obvious she still suspected something was up, but she wasn't calling it out until she chose to.
As they started heading to the police station, Ragna kept back with Tao.
"…Thanks for staying quiet about… you know," he whispered quietly, referring to his unusual relationship status.
"Meow. Good guy already said how important keeping his secret was to Tao, so she'll keep it a secret too," she promised faithfully. "…Until someone offers food; Tao's willpower doesn't last long after that meow."
"I've noticed," he sighed, but at least his friend was doing enough to try. "When we get to the police station, let me do the talking. They don't usually take kindly to any Faunus and it'll be worse if you're with me."
"Are they still gonna be bitter that Tao beat them up a while ago? Meow."
"…On second thought, you, Blake and even Velvet are probably better off waiting outside."
"Tao agrees."
Author's Note
Two months later… and this is all I can put out.
I've just been super distracted from my writing lately, but now I think I'm finally ready to get back into it.
I know that this isn't the best timing after being on Haitus for so long, but I've started up a . There aren't any new benefits that I'm offering, but the only donation option is $1 a month. You want to chip in, feel free to but obviously no pressure.
Storm VII over on , Ciao!
Reviews
Blazingshard: I haven't decided on anything for the moment.
Wlyman2009: If I ever get to writing it *Le sigh*
The Unplanner: If they're working together though, that just seems to amplify the threat.
Xaxiel1572: Nah, that's for extensions.
ChaosSpartan999: Sorry about the derailment.
NiceScourge: Hah! Though Sun did get a chance to shine here.
Bismarck Alexander: I mean… this was just a vision implanted in her head.
Carlom2408: Nothing's decided there as of yet, but don't expect her to be 'involved' with him any time soon.