Chapter XL: Drumroll Please
It was all nearly complete. Cinder smiled to herself, knowing that soon all would fall into place. No more running around; no more this or that going wrong; no more annoying pawns slipping from her grasp. Yes, the White Fang seemed to keep their heads a little lower when around her, but that was to be expected. She could hardly blame them for cowering in her presence. The closest to her power they had likely ever seen was Adam's pathetic display.
The dust had all been moved, they infiltrated the arena, and soon all would be on its way. The streets were strangely barren, and the crowd was quiet at the moment. Likely, there was some intense match going on at the moment. If it had been her original plan, she would have known more about what was going on center stage, but that was neither here nor there. A certain pink and brown-haired thorn in her side had long since dashed those plans.
Movement caught the corner of her eye, a nervous looking faunus being nudged forward by her White Fang companions. "Ma'am," her voice was shaky, "We have something that you should know."
Cinder leveled her with an irritated gaze. "This close to enacting my plans? Is it not something you can handle amongst yourselves? Can you not ask Emerald, Mercury, or Roman?"
The faunus flinched from her tone. "I-I don't know. This is —"
"Was my trust misplaced?" Cinder snapped. "I thought that a group wanting to change the world could handle such a menial task. Are you telling me that I was wrong?"
"I don't think —"
Cinder laughed. "No, I don't believe you are thinking. Go and solve whatever issue you're having while I'm still feeling merciful."
Deciding that her present wrath was more threatening than whatever wrath may come in the future, they hurried off to figure out their problem. Cinder scoffed as they left. They should know better by now than to bother her with trivialities. Adam must not have trained them well enough. She would have to speak with that Ilia girl about it — she needed to do a better job of keeping them in line.
Seconds ticked by, melting into minutes as she prepared for the moment it would all begin. A monologue, rehearsed countless times in her head, was meticulously prepared and ready to be delivered to the masses. Blasts sounded, and the ground shook beneath her feet. A smile spread across her face: it was time. Clearing her throat, she strode forward, passing from the dark interior where she had been lurking into the bright outside.
"I am afraid I must interrupt this display!" Cinder's voice carried easily through the arena she now stood in. "But you —" Cinder froze mid-sentence, her step faltering. It was quiet — far too quiet. Spinning about, Cinder scanned the seats overlooking the arena. Save the faint crackling of smoldering debris, all was still and silent — and empty. There was not a single person present to observe.
"What," hissed Cinder. "What is this? Where is everyone?" Her eyes locked on one of the White Fang following her. Marching over to him, she jabbed her finger into his chest. "You, tell me what is going on here? Why is the arena empty?"
The man took a moment to break through the sputtering that came with his fear. "The festival was canceled because of the tension between Vale and Beacon."
"You let this happen, knowing there would be no festival?"
"But you said —" The man silenced himself at Cinder's harsh gaze.
Cinder whipped around. "Who is responsible for allowing this to happen?"
Mercury, for as much as he would love to point at Cinder herself, instead clapped a heavy hand to Roman's back. Roman stumbled forward, having only a brief moment to send a betrayed look to Mercury before Cinder's eyes trailed to him.
"You," Cinder seethed. "I put you in charge of making sure the White Fang got the dust. You were supposed to be watching them and helping them prepare!"
Mercury had to admit, Roman's philosophy was pretty sound. It was much better to help Cinder deliver her wrath than be the target.
Juniper stared over the azure expanse that gently rocked her ship. The marines that had dared attack her laid scattered and defeated. One of them, bloody and bruised leaning against the rail, looked as if he would much rather join some of his allies in unconsciousness.
Juniper sighed heavily. "He just doesn't seem to get it. All his life he was off, spurred by his latest idea. He wants to be a musician, he buys a guitar, and then he never plays it again. Then he wants to be a streamer, he buys a camera and an expensive computer, and then he never follows through with it. Then it was being a huntsman — don't get me started on that. Nicholas wasn't happy, not with the danger of the career. We thought it was just another one of his phases, but off he went to Beacon."
Juniper heaved a heavy breath, lost in her own world of thought. The marine stared up at her, an incredulous look painted on his face. Rather than use his strength to speak, he chose to remain silent and let the woman ramble on.
"And now he's out here instead of attending that academy, so we were right! Except this time, this is more than just not using a guitar or some cameras. Not to mention he traded one dangerous goal for another. At least at Beacon he had the teachers to watch out for him. On the Grand Line, he's all on his own." Juniper turned to the marine. "I'm not — I'm not over worrying, am I?"
The marine looked behind him, trying to see if there was a therapist hidden behind him. When he was sure the lady was, for some reason, speaking to him, he spoke with a raspy voice. "Jaune D. Arc is a wanted criminal, and we will bring him to justice."
"Exactly," said Juniper with exasperation. "Look at the trouble he's gotten himself into. Fighting grimm is one thing, but he's made himself a criminal to an entire government. He is far too young to be doing this."
"He broke out of our hold," the marine seethed. "He seems to have the backing of Onyx Feather Qrow, one of the yonko. He's a dangerous pirate."
Juniper sighed, cupping her chin in her palm. "I know, but I can still worry. He's still my little boy, and I know that he's gotten in over his head this time."
"He's no little boy," the marine grunted, feeling his strength slipping. "At this rate, he'll be headed to the New World."
Juniper mulled over his words. "You're right, but I'm not ready to let go just yet. How about this: I'll wait for him there and give him one last test. If he stands against me instead of running and proves himself, I'll let it go." She turned to see what the marine thought, but the man had already lost consciousness. Well, it at least seemed like a good enough idea to her.
Ruby's feet tapped lightly against the mossy roots of the archipelago as she searched around. It wasn't as if there would be some large sign saying, "bad guys in here," so she had to employ more observant methods. Penny followed closely, aiding in her search. She seemed keen to point out any suspicious behavior, which at the moment involved her constantly tugging Ruby's sleeve and pointing to someone wearing sunglasses while stating entirely too loudly, "Look, friend Ruby! Is that one of our enemies?" For as much as Ruby wanted to feel like a detective in that moment, she almost felt closer to a babysitter.
"Penny," Ruby hissed, dragging the girl away. "Just because he was smoking doesn't make him some bad guy."
"Often, the antagonists in media can be seen smoking."
Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose, breathing deeply and counting to ten. "The protagonists do too."
"I see," Penny responded pensively. "Then should we ask him to aid in our endeavor?"
Ruby made an 'X' with her arms. "No, Penny, just — okay, let's not look for anything that makes us think someone is a bad guy. Instead, let's just look for something out of the ordinary — and no asking for help, we're doing this on our own."
Penny nodded, her eyes full of understanding. "Perhaps like that?" She pointed a finger up and behind Ruby. Sighing, Ruby followed it, expecting someone in a long coat. Instead, she was greeted to the sight of a large building, circular in its structure with white pillars holding up a domed roof. Besides the moss growing about it, its most defining feature was the emboldened text printed just above the entrance: 'Humans.'
Ruby read it just below her breath. "That's not — what is that place?" Ruby looked around. Finding a random pedestrian, Ruby caught their attention before asking, "Miss, what is that building."
The woman looked rather uncomfortable at Ruby's question. It reminded Ruby of how the crowd looked watching the Celestial Dragon, and it wrenched her gut in a way she didn't like. "That's an auction house," the woman said quickly before rushing off, leaving Ruby and Penny alone again.
"Auction house. Humans," Ruby stared in disbelief at the building. They really did have 'Evil' plastered right above the front door.
"What is our plan, friend Ruby?" Penny asked, cocking her head to the side.
Ruby readied her weapon in her hands; the comfortable way Crescent Rose rested in her palms mirrored the determination settling within her. "Burn it, Penny. We'll burn it to the ground."
Oscar stared in mild disbelief at the creature meeting his gaze, eyes full of innocent curiosity. It bleated softly, clopping across the deck to stand just under him. Tentatively, Oscar reached out to pat the goat on its head. It made a happy noise, mingling with the ringing of the bell hanging from its neck.
"Why is there a goat here?" Oscar asked himself.
However, he had a passenger that could still hear him. "Perhaps if you paid more attention to the vessel you commandeered, you would be aware of what was here."
Oscar glared in front of him in lack of any proper place to glare. "Okay, I get that, but why is there a goat here?"
"If I recognize it correctly, that would be Yagi, Sengoku's pet."
As the statement sunk in, Oscar felt his confidence waver. "Wait, so I've kidnapped the fleet admiral's pet? Okay, I need to calm down — this isn't good." Oscar covered his face with his hands, groaning in frustration.
"With the theft of a marine boat, I thought this would not be so significant for you," Ozpin opined unhelpfully.
"It's different," Oscar argued, sitting down to watch the goat meander about. "They're marines; they have to have a lot of ships, and I doubt they'll miss just one. This though? I'll have the fleet admiral himself out for me."
"Perhaps you should have —"
Oscar sighed loudly. "You're starting to sound like a broken record. I should have done this; I should have done that; I should have done anything and everything that you told me to do." Oscar trailed off, watching the goat tear off a piece of cloth covering a barrel, chewing on it softly. "I didn't choose this; I didn't get any say. What if I don't want what you tell me to do? Am I just supposed to give up my life for a voice that popped up in my head?"
"I know it is difficult," Ozpin's voice had grown, for the first time, gentler. It was almost as if he were trying to sound fatherly. It might have worked if Oscar hadn't already grown so frustrated with him. "It was not my choice either, merely happenstance. You must understand though, that there is much at stake here."
Oscar rolled his eyes. "Oh, is your precious coffee in danger? Sorry, but I don't think I want to give up my life for your drink."
Subtlety be damned, Cinder hardly cared anymore. Every piece of her plan had fallen through so far, it was time for a rush — to charge in and take what was rightfully hers. As for her initial infiltration, it was laughably easy. She never intended to not be spotted, but the students and staff all seemed far too preoccupied with the many water fountains strewn about and the one large fountain on the grounds that smelled strongly of coffee. Whatever odd delusions had muddled their minds was irrelevant to her. If it meant that she could stride past them without a second thought, she was more than fine with that.
She had left Mercury behind to take care of all the incompetence that had become riddled about her. Emerald was with her just in case there was any need for her semblance. It seemed hardly necessary after all, as not a single soul turned their way as they went about the halls. Now, the particular location of the Fall Maiden was lost to her. Of course, she would be kept in Beacon, and certainly somewhere Ozpin could keep close watch of her. First, she would investigate his office. At the very least, she should be able to gather some sort of clue.
They reached the base of the tower and entered the elevator. The doors closed and she quickly jammed her thumb into the button to take them up. She did not expect the excruciatingly cheesy music to start playing from a speaker in an upper corner. She slammed her fist against it, letting flames curl around her hand as she did. All there was to show for her success was a distorted sound that turned the music unnerving.
Finally saving them from the confines of the music, the doors opened with a ding. As she stepped into the room, she was greeted by the sight of a frazzled, green haired man moving through paperwork at an inhuman pace. He seemed to be on some sort of video call with a living mound of blankets, jabbering so fast that Cinder was nearly certain it wasn't language. The scene had entered an uncanny valley, causing the participants to feel not quite human.
"Ma'am?" Emerald ventured at her hesitance.
Without a word, Cinder began slamming her hand against the buttons to send the elevator back down. "Dammit, you machine, work!" She would never admit to something being mildly terrifying, as nothing could disturb the Cinder Fall. However, she did not wish to observe that sight any longer.
After a moment of banging the buttons, a robotic voice spoke, "James Ironwood detected." The doors closed, and the elevator began to descend. Cinder avidly ignored Emerald's questioning glances. It would not do for a leader to seem not composed in front of a subordinate.
The descent drew out, longer than the ride up the tower had been. Cinder tapped her foot impatiently. At last, another ding resonated, and the doors opened not to Beacon but to a large, cavernous hall. The floor was polished stone with the occasional design strewn across it. Illuminating the dim space were green flames, burning from black braziers fastened to blocky pillars that lined the hall.
Acting as if this was all part of her plan, she strode out into the mysterious hall. It seemed to fade into itself, becoming a repetitive labyrinth of structure, almost as if it was designed to cause any unfamiliar with it to get lost. After some time had passed, they came upon a strange machine. It consisted of two large devices connected to a central piece by tubes. As they were, both devices were vacant.
"Ma'am," Emerald seemed hesitant.
"Not now," Cinder waved her off, approaching the screens near the devices. "I'm not sure what this is, but it might give us some information about the Fall Maiden's whereabouts."
"But ma'am —"
"What?" Cinder snapped, spinning around. Emerald was poised to the side of her sight, giving her a clear line to see a dark-skinned woman with chestnut brown hair. Cinder stood there frozen, staring at the cheerful woman who simply waved their way before running off in the other direction. Somehow, the Fall Maiden had recovered and was running from her.
"Get her!" Cinder screeched, sprinting forward herself. Her steps echoed in the hall, Emerald soon joining after, as they chased down the woman. However, the head start given was more than negligible, and The Fall Maiden had made it to the elevator. Before Cinder could launch herself at the woman, she watched the elevator doors close. She could distantly hear the contorted elevator music fading as it went back up to Beacon.
Luffy ambled about the roots of Sabaody along with a few of his dugongs. He was stuck with Sabo at the moment, not that he had any issues with that. However, with his own ship missing, it would be a bit before he could sail on his own again. He did spot a ship that looked mysteriously like his, even having similar damage that he and Zoro had caused sparring. Then again, it was painted differently, so he doubted it was his ship.
As for why they were at Sabaody, Sabo had mentioned something about a report involving a celestial dragon 'disappearing' someone. Whatever happened, they were asked to look into the matter. Luffy was just told not to cause too much of a ruckus, so at the moment he was looking for Zoro. The man had promised not to get lost, and that lasted about ten seconds. Kobe had said that was a new record, which Luffy was proud of. However, they needed to find him before he got into any trouble.
On top of everything else, Sabo told him that he needed to arrest any of the Straw Hats if they encountered each other. Luffy had pouted a bit, since they were friends, but he just had to have faith that his friend could hold his own. It would just be friendly competition if and when they ran into each other. And that seemed to be coming sooner than later. He saw a girl wearing a red cloak that he recognized as part of his friend's crew, but what was her name?
"Oi, Rugby!" Luffy shouted, running forward.
The girl, who seemed to be in the middle of something, whipped around at his shout. Her eyes went wide as she looked at him, just like how Luffy would look after being caught stealing everyone's food. Vaguely behind her Luffy could make out someone she had been shouting at, if what he heard was anything to go off of.
"Go tell Sabo that the Straw Hats are here," Luffy told one of the dugongs. As it saluted with one flipper and waddled away, Luffy grinned, popping his knuckles and straightening his marine cap.
"How are we going to pay for this?" Ren uttered the question to Jaune while they watched Rayleigh inspect their ship. It wasn't exactly a secret that they didn't have the most money and had been lucky with supplies.
"I'm not sure," Jaune admitted. "Maybe we should have pirated more like — well, like pirates would. It seems like this is the only way forward though, so we need to figure something out."
Ren grunted in agreement. They were doing that more often as they went: just figuring things out. At the same time, Ren couldn't entirely fault it. There was little else that could be done when rushing into the great unknown. Not to mention, if he knew Jaune well enough by now, his captain likely preferred it that way. It made it more of an adventure.
Rayleigh padded down from their ship and began to speak, but he quickly cut himself off. A small frown adorned his face as he glanced over the group. "That's an awful lot of marines," his comment cut through them. Jaune turned to see what he meant, and he spotted them: numerous white uniformed soldiers rushing deeper into the archipelago. The sight gave him an immediate unease.
"Ruby and Penny still aren't back," Jaune said, and he didn't need to say much more. "Ren; you, Sun, and Neptune stay here to make sure the ship is safe. Everyone else, let's go make sure that they're safe."
Sabo buried his face within his hands in frustration. The poor dugong making noises at him seemed just as frustrated, though neither particularly at each other. "Okay, so what did he want you to report again?"
The dugong flopped its flippers about trying to make some sort of charade. It rushed back and forth across his room like a dramatic actor on a stage. Accompanying its movements were a series of noises that sounded faintly like an aquatic soliloquy. Yet, for all the effort the dugong made, Sabo couldn't understand a single bit of it. Finishing the act once more, the dugong looked at him expectantly, but Sabo only had a deadpan to give it.
Waddling in defeat, it flopped down into the chair across from the desk in Sabo's cabin. The dejected look on its face made him feel bad, and he offered it an apology, but it didn't seem to mind.
A quick knock rapped on his door. Sabo called them in, and a nervous marine entered. "Sir, I felt you should know. Your brother is, well —"
"Causing a ruckus?" Sabo ventured, pinching the bridge of his nose at the marine's reaction, which confirmed his suspicions. He shared a look with the dugong before getting up from his desk, grabbing his coat as he went. It seemed that, once again, being an elder brother proved to be a job in its own right.
This wasn't exactly how Ruby had expected things to go. Part of it — okay, most of it — was because she couldn't stop herself from intervening. This was injustice on an entirely different level, and there was no way she would let that stand! That was why when she saw those men taking a mermaid to the auction house, Crescent Rose was already by her side as she demanded that they stop. They looked at her like she had lost her mind, but she wouldn't let her determination waver. It helped that Penny was right there beside her.
Then one of those bubble wearing guys, who was the one instigating the mess, started saying some not so nice things to her. Not the kind that would make her dad wash her mouth with soap, but still the sorts of things that rubbed her the wrong way. He spoke about her like she was nothing more than a nuisance and a bother — not even human. Ruby just gritted her teeth and deepened her stance. All his words justified her decisions.
Then someone started yelling something about rugby. The cheery shout was so juxtaposed that her mind collapsed in on itself hearing it. She turned to see none other than Luffy, the marine that had helped them in court and that their captain swore he was friends with. For a brief moment, Ruby wondered if he would help her, as he seemed to want actual justice. Those thoughts faded as it was clear Luffy wanted a fight.
The click of a gun from behind reminded her that she was surrounded, but not entirely. The moment Luffy's fist came her way, she dodged to the side. He was quick, faster than she expected him to be. Not to mention how his arm stretched, a clear sign of a devil fruit. However, what neither of them expected was for Luffy's fist to sail past her, slamming into the celestial dragon that had been holding a gun to her.
There was a collective gasp from the gathering crowd as the celestial dragon flew across the clearing, slamming into the side of the nearest trunk with a shuddering thud. His bubble popped and he slowly slid down the side of the tree.
When everything settled, Luffy broke the silence with a small, "Oops."
AN:
Well, it doesn't happen quite the same way as in the original, but Luffy still gets to punch a celestial dragon… Meanwhile, Cinder's plans continue to fall to ruin as they have been so far. It feels so good to write out what I had planned over a year ago. From the moment I had Neo join them, that was what I had in mind. As for how Amber is perfectly fine…well, I've given a hint, but it will be explained soon enough.
As for Ruby, well Rugby Hose has set something in motion that can't so easily be undone.
Anyways, next chapter: Accidental Not Accident