For those who don't know, the poll can be accessed at the top of my profile page, but only on PC. It doesn't show on mobile, I think
Wow, I got quite a lot of review for last chapter. Thank you so much, it was a delight to read them.
Ilia? Your turn.
Ilia: ''Johnathan-Mandrake says that you could have used another character for the oligarchs, and cite Lycaon and Midas as examples.''
Thanks, but as I've said at the end of last chapter, the oligarchs had a them of being based on usurpers, and I couldn't find anything on Lycaon or Midas having obtained their kingship illegitimately. Thanks for reminding them of these two, though, I might use Midas as a donkey-eared Faunus if I need another Faunus OC.
Ilia: ''TwistedView says that the omake was good. Then, concerning the oligarchs, the 'Rite' thing and 'optional consent' really made him dislike them and ask if we can give these guys to Adam or Cinder.''
Yeah, the worst part is that the Rite isn't an original concept either. I based it on how real life oligarchs uses mutual blackmail to keep each others from betraying the group. Except real life oligarchs rapes kids instead of torturing them. Epstein's (who didn't kill himself) job was pretty much to produce and handle such blackmail material. Oh, and real life oligarchs also comes back to the island to repeat the experience, because they like doing it that much, apparently.
The oligarchs of Vale in my fic are basically a lite, less evil version of the real life ones, since the mutual blackmail is done only once for individuals, for 'business', instead of something they do often for pleasure. And the non-consensual part with Jupiter Lawson is due to being based on Zeus, which was… well, Zeus. Glad to hear you hate them, though. They are meant to be evil people after all.
Ilia: ''He then ask if the gag with Gemini and the knives was a reference to the cartoon Sinbad movie.''
Ohhh… So that's where it comes from. The gag with the crew member disarming was the only thing I remembered from that movie. Thanks for reminding me of the name, I think I'll go watch it again. You got me nostalgic too.
Ilia: ''Cezzam says that oligarchs are an universal bane in every country. He also points out that the criminal elements in the Valean Government could explain how inept it was against the Grimm invasion and why Ozpin couldn't do much against it.''
Eh, maybe. I don't think that's a sufficient explaination, though. A government controlling a government is pretty much every government. The last king of Vale canonically replacing the army in favor of independant mercenaries would have done more to make the kingdom impotent. (Seriously, why would anyone think that demilitarization in a world filled with endless monsters was a good idea?) Doing that would kneecap the ability of any government to respond to the Grimm, which is probably why Atlas is the only kingdom we see ever doing anything.
As for oligarchs. Yeah, these people legit think of themselves as a superior breed of humans, to the point that they see other humans not as people, but as cattles to be exploited. Real life oligarchs encourages illegal immigration because undocumented people are easy to kidnap and sell in another country, especially since amongst a hundred thousand people, nobody notices a hundred or two disappearing. The ones who does reach the country they try to get to are also easy to be forced into what is slavery in all but name, being forced to work for corporations under threat of being handed to the authorities, instead of being rewarded with a proper salary. I'm apparently racist for criticizing this. Eh, whatever.
Ilia: ''I can't believe a world without Grimm manages to sound even more fucked than Remnant.''
Yeah, it turns out that the Grimm being a thing forces the oligarch to partially hold back on how evil they can get, because they get a clawful of Beowolf in the face if they ruin the lives of too many people. Oligarchs are more evil and harmful to Mankind than Salem, she needs to up her game.
Anyway, what's next?
Ilia: ''selfishgecko says it was a good chapter and is guessing Jacques was planning an arranged marriage for Gemini, but finds it odd that the man would want the son of a criminal as family. He also thinks it's strange that no one in the store noticed the police surrounding the building.''
Is it really that strange? I mean, at the level of society he operates in, nobody has clean hands. I think in canon (and I do mean Monty's canon, like Volume 1-2) it was even said that he worked with literal criminal contact, so he himself has little care for the laws. There are two types of people Jacques can take into his family; people whose family doesn't care about the law, or useless people. Nobody on Remnant has something as profitable as dustless energy production.
So I don't think it's strange at all, especially since Jacques doesn't give a shit about Gemini, it's a purely strategic decision for the sake of maintaining profit and power.
As for the police and the shop… Easy, they didn't. They were still incoming when Gemini's employees ran into his office. They came hard and fast instead of trying to be discreet. That was kinda happening outside of Gemini's POV, though, so it was almost impossible to make that clear in text without putting in a segment that would have felt a bit too forced.
Ilia: ''Reader 451 says that he thought the nobility was kinda cartoony until they decided to arrest and frame him. He assumes it's where the fic get darker. He kinda wishes it wouldn't and they'd just go have adventures and fun, and jokingly (I think) ask if he can convince to drop the darker stuff.''
I'm not going to change my plot, no. But at the same time, this isn't going to get to 40k level of grimdark (or… should I say Grimmdark? Eh eh, I'm funny.) I think. I have vague outlines for the story's arcs, but who know just how dark the end result will actually be once put on paper. I might be overestimating how dark the story might become, or underestimating… Although I expect to have to change this fic's rating to M at some point.
On the bright side, I can at least promise a happy ending… for those who lives to see it.
As for the oligarchs. As I've said in response to other reviews, everything about them is made to echoes how real life oligarchs are, and those in last chapters are actually a few notch below the real deal on Earth in terms of how evil they are. I wouldn't call them nobility, though. Their families used to hold noble titles, but as it has already been said in the fic, those titles have been abolished with the monarchy by the last king of Vale, leaving them with only their wealth. Them calling themselves 'Lords' and 'Ladies' is basically larping. Not that their ego would accept that truth.
Ilia: ''After that, we Kolomte'49, who… What is this strange, esoteric script?''
That's just Spanish.
Ilia: ''Spanesh?''
… I cast Google Translate.
Ilia: ''Whoa! I can read it now. You should have told me you were a wizard. Anyway, he first says that he liked the chibi omake, but couldn't recognize the reference.''
The spirit of the sword was Excalibur, from Soul Eater. It's an anime about a schoolgirl with a scythe going to a monster slaying school.
Ilia: ''So… RWBY?''
Soul Eater came before.
Ilia: ''Second, he says that the fight was decribed well enough that he could imagine much of it, and that it makes sense that Ruby and Yang's fighting would change a bit, but he thinks it was still too early for Yang to be able to beat Neo. Especially since you already pointed out that Neo started training a bit more too.''
Thanks, I'll be honest, the main reason why there's so much sparing so often is literally just because I'm not confident in my ability to write fights and wanted to get some pratice in the early part of the fic before we enter the meat of it. But is it really too early, though? By now, Yang and Neo have been sparing together for around a year. And even if Neo upped her training a bit, she's already very well trained and close to the peak of what she can achieve. So the extra training allowed her to become a little better than she was in canon, but the point is that Yang is improving much faster and has become a lot better than in canon. That's how she caught up after a year of chasing after Neo's level. It's more a case of them having become equals rather than Yang having straight up surpassed Neo though… For now.
Ilia: ''To finish, he says that the oligarchs seems even more narcissistics than a group like Batman's Court of Owls should be.''
I think I've already said it a few chapters before, but I don't know what the Court of Owls is. I'm not a super big DC fans. So obviously, this Court of Owls thing have nothing to do with the oligarchs of Vale. The concept of the group here is based on similar real life group.
Ilia: ''And last, we have Lambda38, who says that now he wants to see Jacques and the oligarchs fight in an epic anime battle.''
Now, don't be silly. Jacques wouldn't throw hands himself… He has people on his payroll to do that for him.
Disclaimer: RWBY is the legal property of Rooster Teeth Yu-Gi-Oh is the legal property of Shueisha.
Disclaimer: This chapter contains a fictionnal representation of real life torture methods.
Disclaimer: Half of this chapter contains things that doesn't really happen in-universe. Don't get confused.
Time to get a little meta.
''Rubes, I'm sorry. I promise I'll slack off on the teasing.'' Yang said with a worried look on her face. ''C'mon, you've been giving me the cold shoulder for almost two days by now.''
Ruby turned her head away, pouting.
Yang could complain all she wanted, she'd been making her friendship with Gem feels awkward for a lot longer than just two days. Ruby had had enough, she wasn't talking to Yang anymore. That's what she got for taking her teasing too far.
The silver-eyed girl took a forceful bite out of her sandwich, while other students wandered about in the school's cafeteria.
''Look, I know I went a bit too far, but isn't it a bit much? Those were still just jokes.''
''It's not about the teasing, Yang!'' Ruby snapped at her sister. ''It's about you making me confused about Gem!''
Ruby had her life pretty much figured out. Train hard, become a huntress, kick butts and takes names. A simple life for a girl with simple tastes.
It wasn't that she was completely disinterested in romance, but without anyone in mind for that, she just never really thought about it. Plus, being a huntress was a dangerous job, so she had to have her priorities. She first should focus on being as strong as possible, then, when she'd be a full-fledged huntress, she'd maybe look into dating if she meet someone. You know, doing normal romantic couple stuff. Like baking cookies together, tormenting Beowolves, saving the world from evil Grimm witches.
… Sure, those were all activities she did with Gem already, but that didn't really mean anything, right? It wasn't like there were any actual romantic undertone when she hanged out with him. Like when he bought her fresh strawberries straight off a local farm (which tasted so good), or when he was so happy to give her that cute Kuriboh plushie, or when he apparently bridal carried her back home the first time she used her eyes.
Ruby blushed at the memory of the second time she used her power, when she was actually awake when Gem took her in his arms… It felt nice.
Yang's eyes widened. ''Wait, you mean? You like him? For real?'' She'd teased her sister about it because it was just too easy to ignore, but she didn't really think… Well, that she didn't think before teasing her was exactly what Ruby reproached her, wasn't it?
''I don't know!'' Ruby hissed, glaring at her big sister. ''That's why I'm angry! I don't know anymore if I only see him as a friend or if… if…'' Stupid Yang for putting weird ideas in her head, stupid Gem for looking so happy whenever he spoiled her.
''If you'd like him to be more than that?'' Yang suggested, which didn't lessen the glare. ''You know, there might be a way to know for sure.''
Ruby gave her a suspicious look. ''I hope you're not about to tease me again, because if so, I'm not listening anymore.''
''Invite him on a date.'' Yang said.
''That's it, not listening.'' Ruby decided, right there and then, that Yang was the most annoying older sister ever.
''Wait, no! What I'm saying is-'' Yang tried to elaborate, but Ruby had already covered her ears with er hands to stop hearing her. She grabbed her little sister's hands and pulled them away. ''Invite him somewhere to hang out as friends, just the two of you. Do something that'd be normal for either friends or a couple while letting him think it's just as friends and use the occasion to try and see whether you'd prefer it to be an actual date or not.''
Ruby blinked. That- that made sense. Maybe. ''Like what?''
At that point, Yang shrugged. ''I dunno, maybe a movie? There's bound to be something worth watching in theater.''
Truth be told, Yang wasn't super eager for her little sister to start dating (they really did grow up fast, uh? Too fast), but she was 14 now. It wasn't that strange for teenagers to start dating at that age. At least, she was familiar with the guy that was the object of Ruby's crush and knew enough about him to not have to fear that he'd mistreat her little sister.
Plus, it was kinda her fault it was happening in the first place (or at least she accelerated it), so she didn't really have any ground to go full mama bear on him.
She'd still break his legs if he broke her baby sister's heart, though.
''I… I guess it could work?'' Ruby said. ''Alright then.'' The little reaper took her scroll and texted Gemini, sweating a little due to how nervous she was feeling, even though it was an invitation as 'friends'.
The invitation to a movie sent, all she could do was finish her meal and go to her p.m. classes.
Ruby couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking about her right now.
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Blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub!
My head was yanked out of the water by the hand that was holding it under the liquid, gripping me by the hair. I gasped and inhale in a desesperate attempt to fill my lungs with air before my head was put back in the water.
Blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub!
I was pulled out of the water again.
''You tell us when you're ready to talk. We're in no hurry.'' The man standing on the other side of the table said. He didn't seems like a cop. VSS? That, or some other state agency. They wanted me to tell them everything about my father's activities and hideouts, so after taking off my clothes and leaving me with only my underwear, they put me in this chair, restrained my arms and legs, and brought a basin of water. One cop on my left, holding my head, and another on my right, holding a cattle prod.
''Could I have some more water please? I'm still thirsty.''
The interrogator's lips twitched upward. ''Quite the joker, are you?'' Then he nodded to the cop holding me and my head went back into the water. To be fair, I actually asked for that one.
Blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub glup!
When the guy holding me took me out of the water again, I had my mouth filled with water, which I used to spray at the interrogator's crotch.
''Agh, fuck!'' He exclaimed as my aim was top-notch and he now looked like he pissed his pants.
The cop with the cattle prod shocked me in the nuts in retaliation, the electric shock spread accross my body, burning my nerves. The pain was atrocious, but at least my aura prevented any actual damage. It would have sucked if I ended up infertile because of this.
Unfortunately, it also meant that they could torture me for longer without fear of killing me prematurely. They'd been at this for a while already. I didn't know how long exactly, but this felt like it had been going on for a few hours.
After the shock, there was a knock on the door of the dim-lit room. The interrogator excused himself to the two cops and walked outside, giving me a slight reprieve from the pain.
I didn't know where I was held prisoner, but I hoped Neo was going to come soon, because I didn't know what I could do to save myself. Hell, I didn't even know if I could save myself.
The interrogator came back with a scroll.
''Take the basin off.'' He told the two others. ''Well well well, looks like someone has a date.''
Uh? I did? What was he talking about?
''Now, who exactly is this 'R.R.'?'' He asked, putting the scroll on the table. ''If you answer without causing trouble, or even better, unlock your scroll for us, we might consider giving you a break from our… hospitality.''
My eyes widened as I took in the text I received from Ruby. I sure was glad I had made my scroll only show the initials of the people texting or calling me, otherwise, they'd learn who Ruby was right there. Sure, Ruby Rose wasn't in the kingdom's databank (I checked), but Summer Rose was. So if they discovered her last name, they could connect her to Summer even without a picture.
'hey Gem there's this new Spruce Willis movie at the cinema that looks cool. wanna go see it? Just the two of us?'
And right below this one was: 'as friends. go see it as friends.'
That wasn't a date, a date wasn't the same thing as two friends hanging out together. What, was that guy stupid?
Disappointment put aside, I knew I couldn't let them have the chance to continue investigating this lead any further.
I smashed my head on the table, right where the scroll was. To be more precise, I aimed where I knew the scroll's most important component was, making sure it was crushed along the device.
''You little shit!'' I heard, before I felt the prod's bite into my neck and electricity coursed through me again.
''Tch, the bastard destroyed the memory chip.'' The interrogator said, pissed that I destroyed all information inside the scroll. ''Throw him into the room.''
I didn't know what the room they were talking about was, but whatever they were going to do to me, they were never going to do it to Ruby.
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Ruby looked at her scroll as she walked out of Signal, worried.
''So? What's the answer?'' Her sister asked.
''There's no answer.'' Ruby said in a quiet voice.
Yang raised an eyebrow at that. ''He left you on read?''
''No! That's the thing, it's not even marked as read. He didn't even see it.'' That was what worried her. Gemini usually answered pretty fast, so to not even see the message after several hours? That was unusual. Did something happen?
''Uh, that's kind of weird.'' Yang said. ''You think he forgot his scroll home or something?''
Before Ruby could answer, a familiar Faunus boy ran to them and stopped right in front of them. He was the guy who worked at Gem's shop, Flax, she thought his name was. She wasn't 100% sure, though.
''I-it's Gemini, the police t-they-'' He started, eyes looking around wildly.
''What? What about the police?'' Ruby asked, having a bad feeling about this.
''They came to the shop! Blew it up and took him.'' He said, making the heads of a few students walking around turns toward them.
''Uh… Maybe this isn't the right place to talk about this?'' Yang suggested, acutely aware of their schoolmates who had started whispering. She didn't know why Gemini would have trouble with the cops, but she sure didn't want her little sister to get a reputation. Who knew what these guys were going to come up with?
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10hours into the room.
Total darkness. That was what the room was.
It had no window, and the door left no light pass through whatsoever.
Laying on my back, I moved my hand in front of me. At first I couldn't see my hands, not in the total absence of light, but after a few hours, my brain started trying to compensate for the lack of sight, and I now saw a shadowy outline that I souldn't be able to actually see, an hallucination known as Residual Visual Memory.
I was starting to hallucinate. My semblance protected my mind from outside influences, but my own brain going haywire because of a total lack of light? Couldn't do anything about that, and this was just the beginning.
I waved my hand in front of me, watching the outline of it multiply as it left afterimages behind.
/-/
Tai felt his head hurting as this Flax kid finished his story.
His girls usually either hung out in Patch or went directly back home after school was done, so he was a bit surprised that they came back inside to talk to him instead, especially with an unknow teen he didn't recognize. After calming down his distressed daughters, he listened to who turned out to be one of Gemini's employees who worked at his card shop.
Flax told them about how the police came to arrest Gemini in what was clearly a huge abuse of power, if not because Gemini couldn't have had committed a crime that warranted such a response (not without Ruby noticing something suspiscious, what with how much time these two spent together), then because of literally murdering innocent people in the process. Seriously, what the hell? He'd never seen the police act like that.
And the killing wasn't an accident either. Flax's first move after he escaped was to try and run to his home, but he found a few armed cops waiting for him there, rifles in hands, so he turned tail before they noticed him and came to Signal to find Ruby, who he remembered seeing hanging out with Gemini at the shop.
The police was out to silence people working for Gemini. This was very much not normal behavior for them.
''Does any of you have any idea what could have lead to this?'' He asked them, looking pointedly at his youngest daughter. Ruby and Gemini whispering to each others out of everyone else's range hadn't escaped his noticed, even if he didn't know what they were talking about. If someone knew what caused Vale to react like this, it'd be her.
''Mmh?'' Ruby tried to think of what it could be. Salem? No, Gemini said nobody knew about her outside of Ozpin's group. Well, and Gemini and her too. She didn't see how that related to the situation anyway. His search for the Fall Maiden? But that wasn't a well known thing either, and again, what did it had to do with the police suddenly acting like that? Did someone wants his business? But Yu-Gi-Oh wasn't so important as to- Wait, there was something that might be. ''Maybe it's about his hydroelectricity thing?''
''Hydroelectricity? What's that?'' Tai asked.
''Oh, uh…'' Gemini had asked her to keep his secrets, and she didn't want to betray his trust by babbling, but… He was in danger, so she could only hope he'd forgive her. ''It's… a way Gem found to make electricity without needing dust.''
''He's making electricity out of water?'' Yang was confused. ''How does that works?''
Ruby shook her head. ''No, not from the water itself… How did he explain it again?'' Ugh, now she wished she was paying attention when he explained it, instead of stuffing her face with strawberries. ''Something about the movement of the water?''
Yang still didn't get it.
Tai decided that the how didn't matter right now. Regardless of the exact mechanics, this did sound like something important enough for someone in power to decided abusing their power like that.
''Either way, I want you two to go home and wait there. Take Flax with you.'' Tai said, before turning to the young Faunus. ''Given your current circumstances, I'll be lending you our guest room until things calm down and you can go back safely.'' He'd warn him to not try anything untoward to his daughters, but considering he was a regular civilian and either of the girls could kick his butt effortlessly, Tai wasn't too worried about that.
Flax gave a slow nod, but Ruby and Yang weren't satisfied with just that.
''But dad, I can't just sit at home while Gem's in danger.'' Ruby complained.
''Well you'll have to, because there's nothing else you can do that'd help.'' Tai rebuked his daughter. ''Just go back home, Ruby. I'll be calling someone who can actually save your friend.''
/-/
18 hours into the room.
I was sitting there on the wooden deck, doing nothing as the motion of the ship and the sound of the waves lulled me. I didn't know what to expect, but this was a lot more peaceful hallucination than I'd have bet on.
Then I heard the sound of canonballs as I felt the ship rock.
Ah, nuts. I jinxed it.
''Captain, captain!'' I heard a hazy voice call out. I turned my head toward the direction of the voice. ''We're under attack!''
I squinted my eyes at the newcomer. ''Ilia? Is that you? What are you doing here?'' I asked, which was a dumb question, considering I knew everything, from her to the ship, were nothing more than images, sounds and sensations conjured by my mind. ''And why are you dressed like a pirate?''
''Nay time fer that! One of the shots hit us!'' Pirate Ilia yelled as she grabbed a bucket. Said bucket wasn't here before that moment and simply conjured itself into existence when she reached her hands to grab it. ''The Hood & The Hoodlum be takin' water.''
''The Hood & The Hoodlum?'' I was confused. How was I confused by things made up by my own mind?
''That's the name of yer ship.'' Pirate Ilia said, running out of patience. ''Now what are ye waiting fer? Go take the wheel and take us out o' there before we end up at Davy Jone's locker.''
There was another salve of canons.
''Screw ye Jacques! Ye ain't sinkin' this ship before it even sailed!'' Ilia yelled in response.
''Wait, Jacques? He's the one shooting at us?''
''Darn right it's him! And he can shove his SDC private fleet up his arse.'' She snarled in the direction the canonballs came from, though I didn't see anything outside of this ship's deck.
Man, was I really hallucinating, or was I tripping hard? I didn't remember being drugged.
/-/
Atop a roof north of Vale, Roman, hidden by his adopted daughter's semblance, was using a pair of binoculars to monitor a building bordering the Forever Fall forest.
This building was standing at the last coordinates Gemini's scroll gave, before being either destroyed, or the tracker app on it was deactivated. Neither of these options reassured him about his son's current state. It didn't help that said building didn't look like a police one. VSS, maybe?
The people entering and exiting the building certainly seemed like VSS guys. Nobody else in Vale was dumb enough to try and look like inconspicuous civilians while going to a place clearly forbidden to civies. They were also the only ones dumb enough to think wearing the same kind of shirt, shorts, standard issues boots and cologne made them look like normal civilians.
The guys guarding the facility, though? He recognized them and their blood red uniforms. The Red Leaves, a private military company belonging to Dagrun Redroot. Well shit, it looked like his son somehow attracted the attention of not the council, but the people who owned the councillors. That was all sorts of bad.
He could feel his stomach twist, but he needed to stay calm. Panicking wouldn't save his son, if he was even still alive. The only thing suggesting that he wasn't dead yet was the few cops who went in. It seemed that while Gemini was held prisoner in this covert facility, he was still technically held by the cops. That showed the ones calling the shoots wanted this to look legitimate, at least on paper if not in reality.
''So, what do you think?'' He asked Neo.
''Looks pretty bad. Security way tighter than a police post or a normal prison. Could still pull it off, but I'd need to know where exactly he is in the building. That is assuming the security cameras are normal ones and not thermal.'' Was her not-so-great response.
Which was about what he expected. When he was caught, Neo was used to breaking him out without being noticed, but it looked like they might need a change of plan this time. This wasn't a run-of-the-mill public building. They must have remembered how he kept breaking out of those for once and taken the measures to stop him from being able to rescue his son.
If they wanted to guarantee Gemini's extraction, they would have to create a distraction to allow Neo to get in, and there was a fair chance a more overt operation would reveal her existence to the world. Still, the reason he hid his children's existence was to protect them, so letting one die to keep the secret was just not going to be a thing.
There were just two little problems with that idea. First, as Neo pointed out, they didn't know where exactly he was in there. Unlike police post, which all had similar layout, this was a secret private facility. They didn't even know the layout. He could obtain a map of the place, but it'd take him a day. He didn't know if Gemini had that much time left to live.
He probably didn't have a choice but to take the time to get the map, though.
The second problem was that Neo may be able to be either the distraction or extracting Gemini, but she couldn't do both at the same time. As for him, he wasn't confident he could fight off so many guards well enough to keep their attentions on him, not alone. He also couldn't break in as well as Neo, as he couldn't turn invisible. He was likely to be noticed too soon, and that could lead to Gemini being killed before he could get to him.
They needed reinforcement, but from who? In a fight of this level, Perry would be useless. Maroon was working for him for the sake of Sumire, and while he could expect her to not betray him, he knew she wouldn't exposes herself, not when it would cause trouble for her home city. Junior wouldn't rent his men for this, not for a direct move against people as dangerous as those at the top of the kingdom.
Neo was just as aware of that as Roman was, and her mind drifted to a text she received from Ruby earlier. The girl was panicking, begging for them to save Gemini and asking if there was anything she could do to help. Neo had rebuked her, saying that unless she had experience in jailbreaking she'd be nothing but deadweight.
Now, though… Maybe she should reconsider? Providing long distance fire support would go a long way to help Roman hold his own against the guards while she broke in and took her little brother out.
She was forced to admit she had completely misjudged that girl, too. She thought Ruby would turn her back on Gemini if she ever learned the truth about their family, but not only did she not do that when she read the note Neo left in her locker, but now she was volunteering herself to go against the kingdom if it meant saving him.
''Neo, I want you to stay here and keep watch over this place while I go procure a map. Notify me if anything happens.'' Roman said, handing the binoculars to her before leaving.
Neo nodded. They needed to do this quick, but more importantly, they needed to do it well.
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22 hours into the room.
''So you're the one behind all this.'' I said at the 8 feet tall saurian alien, which was holding the Relic of Knowledge in his hand. ''From the attack of the SDC's fleet, to the theft of the lamp.''
''Wort wort wort!'' The alien mocked me.
''Yes, I know everything went according to your plans so far, but it stop here.'' I declared confidently, posing with a finger pointed at him. ''I will not let you use it to contact your people and stage the invasion of Remnant.''
''Wort wort wort.''
I gasped at the scandalous thing he just said. ''How dare you insult my mother in such a mannner!? I mean, yes, she was a prostitute, but that's no excuse to call her a whore!''
''Wort wort wort.''
''Oh? You think I can't defeat you?'' I couldn't help but chuckle. ''Well think again! We are at the end of the story, do you know what that means?''
The alien recoiled as he realised what I was talking about.
''That's right! As the antagonist of this story, you have now lost your plot armor, while mine, as the protagonist, guarantees your defeat. Gemini Kick!'' I exclaimed at the end, as I jumped and hit the alien with a flying kick.
The kick snapped its neck. I won and saved the day. Yay!
Then I crashed into the wall, because the room wasn't that big, but hey, you win some, you lose some.
The Sangheili defeated, I took the Relic of Knowledge. ''Ô Shenron, Eternal Dragon, appear, and grant my wishes!'' I yelled out loud. I was definitely mixing stuff that had no business being mixed together, but who cared?
There was a bright light coming from the lamp, and the dragon rose out of it, staring down at me.
Honestly? I prefered this over the naked blue lady. Less awkward.
''I am Shenron.'' The big dragon said. ''Name thy three wishes, and I shall grant them.''
''Can you make the people responsible for my current predicament immortal?''
''Yes, that is easy.''
''Cool, that'll be my first wish please.''
Shenron's eyes shone for a moment, before he spoke up. ''Your wish has been granted. What is your second wish?''
''Force them to watch the Star Wars Special Christmas for the rest of their lives, please.''
''… That is unusually cruel, but your wish has been granted.'' Shenron said after a moment of silence. ''What is your third wish?
Uh, I hadn't really thought that far, so I was not sure what to ask there. ''Can you turn Raven Branwen into an objectively good mom?'' No need to thank me, Yang.
''That is beyond my power.'' The dragon said.
Oh, nevermind, Yang. ''Can you make me Level 100, please?''
A shine of his eyes, and the dragon spoke up again. ''Your wish has been granted.''
''Thank, Shenron.'' I said in the middle of the magic dragon disappearing away.
… Guess I'll be checking my Level as soon as I found a screen or a mirror. I wasn't expecting much, though.
/-/
In the facility's security control room, two guard watched the cameras, having been told to keep their eyes on the prisoner.
One of them got himself some popcorn while watching the kid interact with his hallucinations.
''Really? You know we're on the job, right? And this isn't some movie we're watching.'' His coworker said, unimpressed by popcorn guard's attitude.
''Eh, might as well be, it was pretty entertaining.'' He said, shoving another fistful of popcorn in his mouth.
''How? Even if you looked at the past few hours like it was a movie, we had none of the image and only heard the kid's lines. And most of his lines were nonsense.'' The second guard pointed out. ''How could this qualify as 'good'?''
''Hey, it might not have been the greatest 'movie', but it still had a better plot than the last Spruce Willis movie.'' The first guard insisted.
''That's because Spruce Willis movie have no plot.'' The second guard continued to complain. ''They're pure, braindead action.'' Seriously, he had watched pornos with more elaborate plots.
/-/
30 hours into the room.
''Let me out! Let me out! For the love of God, let me out!'' I screamed and begged as loud as my lungs permitted, clawing and banging on the door of the room.
All around me, I could see snakes of various kind and size. I could hear them slither and hiss, hiss and slither. I felt their gaze fixed on me, their scales touching my feet and ankles.
I continued to panic for another two or three hours, until I tired myself out and my strength abandoned me.
Then, I layed on the ground, whimpering and crying as the snakes continued to slither all over me.
/-/
Ozpin knocked on the door.
''Enter.'' The voice of the owner of this manor said.
The professor and headmaster of Beacon opened the door and greeted the man in his sight with a smile. ''Hello Mr Blackland, thank you for receiving me today. I know your schedule is a busy one.''
''Please, it is my pleasure to take some time for a man as esteemed as you.'' Lord John replied, his polite tone betraying none of his wariness. ''May I ask why the headmaster of Beacon Academy wishes to speak to me? Our lines of work does not really intersect.''
No, really. Why was Ozpin here? Why now? The man's timing was terrible.
''Hmm, maybe not in normal circumstances. My responsibilities consist of training the next generation of huntsmen who will protect the world, while you are the owner of Blackland Holdings, a company that deals in buying and selling land properties, and a famous philanthropist.'' Ozpin said. ''Indeed, you'd not think there was a reason for me to pay you a visit.''
''… So why?'' Lord John repeated, holding back a twitch of the eye.
Ozpin chuckled. ''Well, there was this young man I had an eye on. A brillant kid, whom I expected to see join Beacon in a few years. Unfortunately, it seems there was a gross miscarriage of justice, and the young Gemini has been unjustly arrested by people seeking to steal something he created.''
Lord John subtly tensed as he felt his blood run cold. ''That… is quite dreadful, but why come to me about this? This is the kind of things you should bring to the council instead.'' He said, in the hope that wasting Ozpin's time with the councillors would allow them to end Gemini before he interfered. They had the kid in their grasp, and had almost completed the work to execute him lawfully. They couldn't have an obstacle now.
''Why would I waste my time with intermediaries when I can simply talk to the people who are truly in charge?'' Ozpin said, causing Lord John's eyes to widen. ''Yes, I'm well aware of what you and the other 11 families really are. Don't waste your efforts trying to pretend otherwise.'' It wasn't the first time Ozpin had dealt with oligarchs. He knew the type by now, and they were all always the same.
''Tch…'' That was bad, and Lord John knew it. As the headmaster of Beacon Academy, Ozpin technically had a seat in the council, and he was the only one that wasn't aligned under their wills, but it was only one seat, so his legal power outside of Beacon was limited.
The real problem was the influence the man had on public opinion. The last king was extremely popular with the people, what with winning the Great War in a fashion the like of which was usually seen in old myths and legends. Because of this, the population of Vale didn't have much interest in this 'democracy' thing King Ozias had came up with. To the point that the voter turnout was usually around 15 to 20% of the population
Of course, Ozias's decision to get rid of the monarchy was the best thing that could have happened to the Blackland family and the other oligarchs. Between the absence of the king and the population having no faith in this strange, kingless system, the allied Lords and Ladies of the twelve families were free to grab and hold onto as much power and wealth as their hearts fancied. Well, almost.
The king was a powerful symbol, a symbol the people looked up to and rallied around, especially when the Grimm were clawing at their door. But now that there was no king anymore, the people looked for another symbol to replace him. The primary responsibility of the king being to defend the land from the Grimm, the one the people looked up to was now the headmaster of Beacon, as Ozpin was the closest thing the kingdom had to a leader against the monsters outside its walls.
That meant that, outside of his legal powers, Ozpin wielded a terrifying amount of influence on the people's opinion. Both of the men in the room knew that if Ozpin involved himself on the political scene and moved against the oligarchs, both sides would be hurt. The question was, how much was Ozpin willing to escalate things for Gemini's life?
Lord John held back a curse. Ozpin was a madman, and his thought process had always been a complete mystery. There was no telling how this could turn out.
''I do not care who own the rights to this hydroelectric technology, Mr Blackland, but the child will live… Or else.'' Ozpin threatened.
Thanks to this kid, not only had Summer's daughter mastered her gift without the need for tragedy, but Raven's daughter was already stronger than her mother was when she first arrived at Beacon. He managed to discover the truth about silver eyes all on his own and found a way to help Ruby to learn how to use them. Gemini Torchwick may be the child of a thief, but there was no denying that he was inquisitive and, more importantly, resourceful. Qrow had talked a bit about him, and how he acted with his niece. It was obvious that the boy cared a lot about Ruby, so as long as she was kept loyal to him, then Ozpin had leverage over Gemini to keep him on his side. Their little spars also showed that he was willing to use anything to win against a stronger opponent. His actual fighting skills were only a little above average for his age, but his tactics and tricks made up for the difference.
The child was an interesting piece, one Ozpin intended to have on his board against Salem.
Lord John's scroll suddenly ringed.
''What?'' He said, displeased that something else was coming up. He gritted his teeth as he heard the news one of his men reported.
How was the SDC snooping around already? It should have taken them some more time before they heard of the patent and Gemini. Did Jacques had his eyes on the kid beforehand? How!?
''Bad news? Some other trouble, perhaps?'' Ozpin smirked, having picked up on his irritation.
'Why were things going sideways now?' Lord John thought, seething internally.
/-/
36 hours into the room.
I paced around the room, walking in circle as I tried to ignore the dead bodies around me.
I didn't like the sight of Pyrrha's charred corpse.
I liked the body of my father, Grimm eating his entrails, even less.
Dad, sis, anyone… Please, take me out of there already.
My foot bumped into Yang's arm.
This wasn't real. Was it real? What was real? What did real mean?
This was real. I wasn't real.
''01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 00101100 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01101110 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01010000 01100101 01101110 01101110 01111001 00100001'' A bunch of noise came out of nowhere in my head. I had officially lost my mind.
Did I even had a mind in the first place? What was a mind? How could I have a mind if I wasn't real?
''01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01100011 01110101 01110010 01110010 01100101 01101110 01110100 01101100 01111001 00100000 01110010 01110101 01101110 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01000011 01101000 01100001 01110100 00101110 01100101 01111000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100111 01110010 01100001 01101101 00101110 00100000 01000100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100011 01100101 01101001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00111111 00100000 01010111 01101000 01101111 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00111111'' The zeros and ones continued to ring between my ears. Was it binary?
It'd be rude to not answer, but I didn't now how to talk binary. ''Boop beep boop. Me no talk computer, beep.''
''Father, I am not hearing any response. The program does not appear to be functionnal.'' I heard a voice talking in my head, in Valean this time.
''No, it's working. I can hear you.'' I was pretty sure I recognized that voice too.
My eyes looked at Penny's decapited head on the floor, the rest of her body spread across the room. I picked up her head to examine it more closely. ''Penny? Are you the one talking to me?''
''Understood, father. Initial testing of the program is inconclusive. Penny Polendina, signing off.'' I heard Penny's voice in my head again, but the head remained inanimate.
I didn't hear her again after that.
Uh, that was weird.
… Was it weird? Or was I the weird one here? What did 'weird' even meant?
/-/
''So, you're the girl that's friend with my son?'' Roman asked, looking at the huntress-in-training standing in front of him.
He had his doubt about the girl, but beggars couldn't be chosers.
Ruby had come as Neo had instructed her, without her weapon and with white clothes that had little in common with what she usually wore. Pants instead of a skirt, a hoodie instead of her cloak, the hood hiding her distinctive hair while she used an used festival mask to hide her face.
''Y-yes? It's… nice to meet you? Mr Gem's dad?'' Ruby sputtered hesitantly. She had no problem with Gemini having a criminal father, it wasn't like that made him a criminal. But the father himself? She couldn't say she liked the man, and she sure would have never considered working with someone like that if it wasn't for Gem being in danger.
But if his life depended on it, then she'd have to endure it, even if Gem's father didn't seems to be a very nice man.
Plus, with how hard it was to run away from home and get there, it was too late to back down now.
Yang was against coming here. She had nothing against Gem, but she didn't like him enough to let her little sister risk her life by fighting the kingdom itself, so Ruby had to sneak past not only dad, but Yang as well.
… She was so going to be spanked once this was done. And grounded, she was going to be grounded forever.
''Alright then, Red… Well, I guess it'd be 'White' for today. How much did Neo tell you about the plan?'' Roman asked, somewhat doubting the girl's usefulness. Then again, even if she was completely green, if she only contributed extra muscles, she might actually be able to help.
''Uh… Distracting the bad guys with a fight while she goes in and take Gem out?''
''Yeah, pretty much. Neo's really good at this, but this a notch above her usual job and we can't afford messing up.'' Or rather, Gemini couldn't afford it. ''I can't take all those guys on my own, though, so having some covering fire to take some of the heat off of me is gonna help a lot. From what Neo told me, you're good with a sniper?''
''Best out of my whole school, yeah.'' Ruby nodded. She wasn't bragging either.
''Perfect, we'll provide you with a sniper rifle. Not mecha-shift, but still good quality. We'll use earset devices to communicate during the action and your job will be mostly to be my eyes from above, to warn me of incoming foes and attacks so I don't get caught off guard. You are not to start shooting until I tell you to, you understand?''
''Okay? Errr… Why? Can I ask why?'' Ruby said, confused because she thought shooting the bad guy (well, Gem's dad was a bad guy, but she meant the badder guys… for today) was supposed to be her job.
''Because the second you make your first shot, they'll direct some of their men to your position and you'll have to escape before they catch you. Once you start shooting, you'll have a window of only three or four minutes before you'll have to run away. That's not enough time for Neo to retrieve my son, so the more time I can gain us before we need you to shoot, the better, because we're going to need every seconds we can make.''
Ruby nodded, understanding the logic. ''Right, I'm shooting to make them waste time and focus, not to inflict damage.''
''Exactly, glad to see you got it.'' Roman said. That she understood without much trouble was reassuring. He had half expected the child to be unable to understand operations more subtle than 'see Grimm, kill Grimm'. ''Neo told me you also know the basics of using a sword, so we'll provide you with an arming sword for in case the guards manages to cut off your escape. Keep in mind that if it comes to that, you'll be fighting to escape, not to win. I'd rather not have to tell my son that we got you killed while rescuing him.''
Ruby frowned at the prospect of fighting her way out with a sword. ''I fight better with a scythe than a sword, but I guess it'd be too distinctive.''
''Yeah, there's not much point in escaping here alive if they're just going to hunt you down later. Unless you intend to join my merry band of outlaws.'' He chuckled at the uncomfortable face the girl made. ''Eh, thought so.''
''Don't get me wrong!'' Ruby said, glaring slightly at the crook. ''This is only an exception to save Gem. Any other day and I'd be kicking your butt and putting a stop to your crimes myself.''
''Sure, sure.'' He was shaking in his boots. Not.
Wait, that's right, wasn't she some sort of demi-goddess angel thing or whatever? Maybe he should consider being worried…
Neo, who had been keeping watch the facility, suddenly raised her hand and snapped her fingers to attract their attention, before handing the binoculars to her father.
Roman took a look at the entrance of the building, where he saw two black cars had stopped there, before watching as a man stepped out of one of the cars, followed by his bodyguards.
''Oh… That's not very good for us.'' Roman said, not liking this.
''What's happening?'' Ruby asked.
''Someone dangerous just got here. Here, take a look.'' Roman said before passing the binoculars to Ruby. ''You see the guy at the head of those who just arrived?''
''The one who looks like a fantasy wizard?''
''That one, yeah, that's Dacre Pulvis, the head of one of the twelve families who control Vale.''
''But I thought Vale was ruled by the council?'' Ruby asked, tilting her head and frowning.
… Was that girl for real? Yikes, and he was almost starting to think she wasn't as naive as Neo and him had initially pegged her as.
''Hardly, the council are nothing but puppets.'' Roman sneered. ''But I'm not going to waste time to elaborate further. The only thing that matters right now is that we can't attack while he's there.''
Ruby threw a quick, worried look in the direction of the facility. ''Is he that dangerous?''
''Yes. He's not a huntsman, and can't keep up with one in melee, but he is known to have a complete mastery of dust, or as close to one as someone can get. I can count the number of people in Vale thatcould reliably beat him in one on one combat on only one hand and none of those are there right now. We'll have to wait until he's gone before we attack.''
''B… E-even Neo can't? But she's so strong!''
Neo grinned and raised her hand before making an illusory signpost appear. ''Thanks.''
''Don't get me wrong, my daughter is as strong as she is adorable, but there are people that even she wouldn't be able to beat. Even if the list is pretty short. She could still take on the guy, just not reliably, and especially not with the guards here, so we'll have to delay.'' Roman said, before sighing. ''On the bright side, Dacre is also known to not have much interest in mundane affairs, being focused on his researches of old myths and the occult. This is both good and bad for us.''
''Why?'' Ruby didn't see what this had to do with their current problem.
''Because it means that there usually wouldn't be anything in a mere PMC facility that could bring the man here, meaning that if he's here, then it'd be for the unusual. Which has a fair chance of being my son.'' Roman didn't see what Dacre could want with his son, but since nothing else in there was of interest to the man, the process of elimination pointed toward Gemini.
''That means Gem is still alive!'' Ruby exclaimed with a wide smile. That was great news! And to deduce that only from this Daker guy coming here… Gem's dad seemed pretty mean, but she could see where Gem got his intelligence from.
''Yes. We'll have to wait until he's gone before we make our move, but it's nice to have confirmation that we aren't too late.'' Even if Gemini having Dacre's interest wasn't really a good thing. ''For now, Neo and you are to continue watching while I go fetch your temporary weapons.''
/-/
42 hours into the room.
Ah… This whole thing sucked so much.
Being unable to get myself out of there was just the worst. Was that how it felt to be a damsel in distress? To be forced to have your fate left in the hands of others?
I- I was going to die here, was I? I was going to die. I failed. I was going to die and be unable to help my family survive through Cinder's plan. Dad was going to die and sis was going to be left alone afterward. Except this time, it'd be the second time she'd lose a family member.
Ruby was going to cry at my death too… I'm sorry, Ruby… I wish I could see you one last time, to at least say goodbye…
'I guess this makes my second life pretty useless. I completely wasted my chance.' I thought as my eyes teared up.
No, even if I was done for, was my life really meaningless?
Ruby had control of her eyes. Yang was able to match my sister. Jaune would have actual training when he'll show up to Beacon. Big sis and Yang were friends (I think?) The White Fang was weakened.
They… they stood a better chance of beating Cinder and avoiding the Fall of Beacon than in canon. They were going to be fine.
I had to believe that. If I was going to die, what else could I do but hold my chin high and trust the people I cared about to be alright?
''You could away flip tables and whip the bad guys.'' Jesus said. ''Worked for me.''
''Nah, that was for money changers in a temple. Different situation.'' I replied. At this point I wasn't batting much of an eye to my hallucinations anymore. And I'd take Jesus over snakes anytime. ''What's the solution with dealing with corrupt and influential people?''
''Oh, like the pharisee? I just roasted them everytime, that worked great too.'' He said.
''Didn't they crucify you for it?''
He shrugged his shoulders, not looking bothered by that at all. ''Like I said, it worked out great.''
''Yeah, but if I die, I can't just sleep it off with a three days nap. Anything that'd help me see my family and friend again?''
''And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of your enemies.'' Jesus quoted, giving me a calm and reassuring smile.
''… Isn't Remnant out of your jurisdiction or something? What with the Two Brothers.'' I said, making him lose his smile.
He sighed, before extending his hand to give me something. ''Here, take a rock. You're kinda faithless when you're hungry.''
''But I'm not hungry, though?'' I said, confused. I still took the rock he handed me.
''Well you would be by now without your semblance, so it still counts.'' Jesus pouted. Hey, c'mon, stay in character. ''Just eat the rock already.''
I bit into the fist sized stone, which easily gave way under my teeth… Wait a minute.
''This doesn't taste like rocks, it taste like bread.'' Same consistence too. This was just bread that looked like stone.
Kekekekekekekeke
Jesus glared at the creepy grins that suddenly appeared around us, accompagnied by their signature mad cackling.
''Kekeke, would you look at you.'' The Cackler said. ''Two days spent in this room, and you've already gone cuckoo. Do try to keep at least a shred of sanity, will you? You have not yet outgrow my need for you.''
''Begone, Giggling Demon. Leave this soul alone.'' Jesus said, visibly unhappy at the entity's presence.
Kekekekekekekekekekekekeke
''Go away.'' I said, taking Jesus's side on this. ''Let me talk to Jesus in peace.''
''You know he's just an hallucination, right?''
I blinked. ''Jesus? Is that true? You're not real?''
''I am real.'' Jesus replied. ''The unholy abomination is the one who's not real.''
Kekekekekekekekeke
''He's clearly lying, kekekeke.''
''Pfft, as if! Jesus wouldn't lie to me like this, right Jesus?''
''A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of my disciples to sell their cloaks and buy swords shall not be infringed.'' Jesus said, speaking truth.
… That was a bit random to say, but on the other hand… Based pro-2A Jesus.
''Kekekekeke,really? You do realise the logic of 'Jesus wouldn't lie' falls apart if it's not actually Jesus, right?'' The hallucinated Cackler continued to insist it was totally not an hallucination.
''Yeah, well if you're so insistent that you're real, then why don't you share some intel with me? Stuff I wouldn't know. Like who are your other three contractees?''
''Two others.''
… What? Wait, me included, that'd make three. ''Wasn't there supposed to be four of us? What happened?''
''One of them died. He was killed by an asshole who never learned how to listen.''
''Seriously? I thought you said you were… making sure we'd have all the advantages and time we needed to survive and become strong?''
''I did, kekeke, but at the same time, I can't make you all magically invincible either.'' The Cackler said. ''If one of you got careless and fought someone too strong for them, then the logical result ensues. Keke.''
''Oh, I guess there's only going to be two left alive soon, then.''
Kekekekekeke
''Maybe, maybe not. Players are moving outside of your sight, the Great Game isn't finished yet.''
Hmm? Did he meant that… ''My father and sister are coming?''
Kekekekekekeke
The Cackler laughed, but didn't say anything. Was it because I got it right? Or because I was off?
Well, either way, I was hallucinating, so it wasn't like the discussion meant anything.
Jesus puts his hand on my shoulder, before speaking up. ''The light is coming.''
The door of the room made a sudden noise, and both Jesus and the Cackler disappeared without trace as light flooded into the room.
''Argh! My eyes!'' I screamed, trying to shield my face with my arms. ''It burns, it burns!'' Oh God, had they turned me into a vampire? I hoped not, I didn't want to sparkle.
The figure who opened the door grabbed me by the shoulders.
''You! You know about the Lamp!'' The man, with slicked back black hair, screeched at me as his purple eyes glared into mines. He wore black wizard robes with a red high collar, a dark red cape covering his back. The sleeves of his outfit were wide and loosely flowing under his forearms and he had a belt around his waist with several high quality dust crystals stored on it. ''What do you know about it? How did you find out about it?''
''L-lamp?'' I recognized that guy, that was Dacre Pulvis. Why was he asking me about the relic? Did he even know what it really was?
''Yes, the Lamp! The Lamp who contains the wish-granting spirit!'' Dacre said, unknowingly revealing that his informations on the relic were a little off.
''I wish for infinite wishes!'' I exclaimed.
Ugh… I was having a hard time thinking with the headache the overabundance of light caused. Was this even actually happening, or was this just another hallucination?
''You can't do that!'' Dacre, whether he was really here or not, said.
''… I wish I could.''
''No! I mean, you can't use the wishes for yourself, they are mine. Mine!'' He said. ''Now, answer my question already!''
''Your ques- Ah, the Lamp, yes yes. The Lamp hidden under the coward's mountain.''
Dacre's grip on my shoulders tightened. It almost felt real. ''The 'coward's mountain'? What mountain are you talking about?''
''So mean… If you want it so much, just trick that guy, the thief with the little monkey, to go take it for you, worked wonders the first time.'' I said while giggling like an idiot. Then I realised something. ''Wait, no. The thief is a girl now. And there is no monkey.''
''What are you even babbling about?'' Oops? Mr Wizard sounded irritated.
''The only monkey I know of is the Sun. Praise the Sun!'' I said, raising my arms upward.
Mr Wizard sighed, exasperated, before he dragged me out of the room.
''Lord Dacre, what are you doing?'' One of the guard in red uniforms asked. ''We're under strict orders to keep him in the room.''
''Consider you orders updated. I want this kid back to being coherent as soon as possible.'' Mr Wizard said, visibly angry he couldn't get the answers he wanted.
''Can't you just force the answers out of him right now? He can't be that bad.''
''Have you ever eaten a Sun?'' I said in a vaguely threatening tone.
Mr Wizard glared at the man, daring him to repeat his last statement.
''… Right. Come this way, Lord Dacre. He should be able to make sense in a couple of hours.''
''See to it that he does.''
''I wish my abs were as good as those of the unregulated nuclear reaction.'' I pouted, leaving them to wonder what the hell was a 'nuclear'.
/-/
Ruby was looking at the guards of the facility through the Atlesian Tactical Rifle Mk 7's scope. It was a pretty good sniper rifle, she had to admit. It was a semi-automatic, anti-material rifle designed to put a hole in older, tougher Grimm. Or vehicles. She could maybe force a bullhead to land if she aimed at the rigth spot. The ATR Mk 7 had a 10 bullets magazine, and, well, the range of the gun was actually a bit lower than Crescent Rose, but unlike her baby, this one could be equipped with a suppressor, to disperse the sound of the shots and hide her position for a little longer.
The only issue she had with it was the muzzle break, which reduced the recoil of 70%. Who thought this was a good idea? The best part of shooting a big firearm like this was the recoil, there was nothing more satisfying than feeling the strength of the bullet she fired through her arms and shoulder.
This was a gun for pansies. She was low-key ashamed of using this thing instead of Crescent Rose. She should have just brought him, to the Grimmlands with 'hiding her identity'.
''Ugh, this Dacre guy is still in there. Can we really wait for him to go away?'' Ruby asked. ''What if they decide to kill Gem before Dacre is gone?''
Roman sighed. ''If we go in while Dacre is there, we're guaranteed to fail and Gemini will 100% die. I share your worries, but we don't have the choice but to take the risk. We only have one chance, so even if it's not a perfect one, let's not waste it.''
''… I could always lower their numbers while we wait. I'm sure if we stay unnoticed long enough after I shoot one, they'll think it was the wind.'' Ruby joked. What? They'd been waiting for over an hour, you couldn't just give a perfectly functional gun to a girl, tell her to not do anything with it, and then expect her to not get bored out of her mind.
''Don't. Seriously, don't.''
''Aww… Okay, Mr Gemini's dad.'' Ruby said, before noticing something. ''There's a birdie over there, can I shoot that one?''
''No! That'd still give us away.''
''Aww…'' That crow was kinda suspiscious, it circled the facility Mr Gemini's dad and her were watching and was now perched on the side of a building not too far away from the one they were on. It kept turning its head toward her too, as if it was taking notice of them and spied on her.
Then, Ruby noticed new vehicles coming in front of the facility Gem was held in. A luxurious looking white car surrounded by several other white vehicles. They all had a snowflake symbol on them.
''Oh great, there's new people coming.'' A frustated Ruby said. If it continued like that, they were never gonna start their rescue operation.
''I saw. It's the SDC.'' Roman said, his binoculars looking straight at the newcomers. Oh no, he recognized those guys… Although, them being here might be a good thing.
''… Can I shoot them?''
''No!'' Why was this girl so bloodthirsty? His son sure knew how to pick them.
''Aww… Anyway, are these guys good or bad news?'' Ruby asked.
''Depends. There's no doubt they're after the dustless energy production my son made, so their intentions are no different than from the people who kidnapped him in the first. But in his current conditions, there are only a few things the SDC can do to obtain it for themselves. Most of those methods are likely to get him out of the oligarchs' hands.'' Whether he'd be free, imprisoned by the SDC instead, or a wanted man afterward was somewhat up in the air, but everything beat being executed.
Ruby didn't know what an oilgarch was, but if Gem was going to be saved, then that was great.
… No, 'oilgarch' isn't a typo, just Ruby butchering a word she's not familiar with. And yeah, Roman doesn't have a name anymore. He's 'Mr Gemini's dad' now.
As for the chapter, I told you it'd get a little meta. That's probably not how actual hallucinations from complete deprivation of light works, but I had fun.
And yeah, Gemini kinda failed that sanity check, but hey, at least it wasn't a natural 1. Could you imagine if the insanity was permanent?
Next chapter will be named Schnace Attorney.
Didn't expect Pokemon's gen 9 to be announced already, but…
WEED CAT! WEED CAT! WEED CAT!