"The world shook before my might for the first time, and it was intoxicating. But that didn't mean it wouldn't strike back." - Violet Rose
Violet woke up to the smell of antiseptic. As his eyes adjusted to the light he recognized he was in a hospital. The warm sunlight illuminated him and Ruby, who fell asleep next to him. It was calm, serene. Even his aching wounds and muscles didn't feel so bad. It was the nice kind of pain, a comfortable soreness like after a good workout. He couldn't even find it within himself to get mad at the attached IV needle.
He struggled to piece things together, he couldn't remember much more after his speech. The Paladin had picked him up and they fled the scene, he couldn't recall the why- the blackness surrounded his vision. He recalled collapsing in its arms somewhere along the way. He remembered Blake taking him in, undressing him, putting him back into his old clothes…
His shuffling woke Ruby up, her face lighting up instantly and distracting him from his thoughts, "Violet!" She shouted as she hugged him tightly. Only his yelp of pain managed to separate them, "Don't… ever do that to me again Vio."
"I…" The door opened, and several more people came inside. Blake, Yang, Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora, The latter three sporting bandaged injuries of various severity.
"Uhhh… Hey?" He tried meekly.
The situation was a little awkward, with all of them staring down at him expectantly.
"Are you okay?" Yang tried to break the ice.
He looked himself over, "I'll be good as new in a few days, really there's no need to worry about-"
Her exaggerated exhale made him shut up, and he could see her trying to restrain her hands from reaching for him. She might have done something regrettable were it not for the nurse entering the room, "Out! Out!" she shouted, "One visitor at most. Give him some peace."
"Blake," he called out.
All but Blake shuffled out. The nurse exited the room as well, and they were well and truly alone.
"Soooo…" he began.
"I talked with Pyrrha a bit," Blake said, "She's calm for now, but she's very disturbed. It's only been one day, but you should talk to her as soon as possible."
"Straight to business, huh?"
"I assumed that's what you wanted to talk about?"
"I guess that's all I'm for," he sighed, "What did I miss."
"The military police tried to disperse us after your speech. Glaston gave the call to have you carried out while you were still standing. We exchanged some fire, and once they backed off, so did we."
"Good call."
She hummed in affirmation, but he could tell there was something troubling her, "Naturally, the people were outraged. Riots broke out. Then the Atlesian army arrived against the council's wishes to restore order."
"They did?"
"It was all poorly coordinated. You have got to see the news reports from yesterday. Endless blabbering about how the police heroically beat back the Grimm and the terrorist Fang and Knights. Not even a mention of Beacon students. Even the news reporter could barely keep a straight face. An utter disgrace," she spat.
He gestured towards the door, "I imagine they're not taking it well."
She chuckled, "The first clash of media and reality sure is harsh. Even Weiss is angry, though she's still shy about it."
The image brought a smile to his face, but it faded away just as quickly, "Blake, I want you to start promoting us at the Academy, make them offers while they're still angry. Follow up on team CFVY and others. You know what to do, you have the student files."
She nodded, but her expression remained unreadable. "Our videos have spread like wildfire. Even the well-off places are protesting. They're peaceful enough, so the police are tolerating it for now."
"I see. I need our guys in there recruiting aggressively. Organize the protests yourselves if you need to, achieve critical mass before they can disperse them. Just keep it peaceful, it's a golden opportunity. A social gathering of sympathizers they can't shut down."
She nodded again, "One more thing… Don't you think you went overboard with your speech? We might be sending the wrong message here? Maybe it would have been better to give more concrete demands? A mass amnesty so we could enter politics?"
"Don't be naive. They'd go back on their word the moment we let our guard down. They could justify all manner of outrage no matter what we did."
"Yes," she looked downcast, "I'm sorry. It's just… I wish the violence didn't have to escalate. I don't like going through these dilemmas again."
"I understand. But you need to stay strong, Blake. I promised you I'd annihilate the White Fang, and I followed through, didn't I?"
"It's still not over, some of them have escaped. But yes, they should only present a minor annoyance from now on. And I did doubt you'd do it. At times I thought you were playing with me while making us all work alongside them," she approached closer, "I'm sorry. I should have trusted you more, Vio." She smiled softly before placing her head on his shoulder. It was pleasant, but it didn't last long. It never could. The nurse had returned with a team of doctors and Blake left him in their hands.
Cinder Fall was shaking. She had Emerald bring her anxiety meds, and even had her use her semblance to make Cinder feel at peace, but the relief was only temporary. She was merely delaying the inevitable. She had failed her queen. No, she never failed. She was the one who was failed. Failed by that incompetent idiot Torchwick, by his annoying sidekick, and by that dumb bull Adam. And yet, she was the one that had to face the consequences.
Even Watts, the scoundrel, had the audacity to die and put all the burden for Vale on her. At least he staffed the department with the most depraved and chaotic brutes that caused chaos in his absence, so his death wasn't totally in vain. Not to mention that they could still make use of his virus.
But how had it come to this? Sitting in a dark basement, her only illumination the faint red glow of a Seer, its tentacles poised to strike at any moment. Cinder gathered what courage she could, and her trembling voice rang out, "My queen."
"You've failed me again, haven't you?"
"My queen, Torchwick couldn't complete his plan in secrecy, and then Adam also bungled things and-"
"SILENCE!" The tentacles grabbed her by the throat, "I did not teach you to make excuses."
"My queen," she barely managed to speak, it was choking her, "I am so sorry for failing you."
Her words were met with silence. Cinder almost thought she was going to be left to suffocate when Salem's haunting voice came back, "I think I have been too permissive with you, Cinder." The Seer's grip on her throat strengthened, "Either tell me now how you'll bring down Beacon, or save your breath for what is to come."
"I…" The edges of her vision went dark, and yet she didn't even think of cutting off the Seer with her powers, "I will… I will use the Knights," the tentacles relaxed a little, letting her speak better, "I will make sure they take down Vale… I know how to contact them. And the Fang too. They're still alive, the Neo girl said Adam is alive and is gathering survivors for an attack."
"I see… I will give you one last chance, Cinder. You are not as irreplaceable as you believe yourself to be. Do not disappoint me again."
The Seer withdrew, and she crumpled to the ground. She remained there, sobbing in the dark for what felt like forever. Eventually, though, she had to get up. Her fury returned, and she summoned flames around her in a crude display of power, trying to convince herself she still had it in her.
Right… Vale was falling apart even without her intervention. All she had to do was nudge things a little. Salem would aid her too. She could pull all sorts of strings. It won't be that hard at all.
She first had to figure out how to contact them. Neo knew, she harped on all the time about finding Zero, but she had a vendetta against the man. The girl could give her some leads, but Cinder still had her work cut out for her.
"I understand your concerns," Ozpin said to the screen, "But the fact of the matter is that your response caused this mess to spiral out of control."
"My response?" The councilor was outraged, "Your child soldiers helped the terrorists! We ought to depose you before we get thrown out of office ourselves."
"Don't be so dramatic," A second councilor spoke up.
"I'm not. We're not getting reelected after this"
"Calm yourself. No new challenger could organize from scratch on such a short notice. They all think they just need a hundred signatures, but they'll need an army of lawyers and bureaucrats to sort out additional paperwork, create election funds, sign on media time slots."
"Exactly," The third councilman, a man sporting a two-piece suit and a sadistic smirk said, "They'll be in such a rush, and they'll inevitably trip themselves on some legal minutia. A couple signatures they can't verify with the election commission and that's that."
"Maybe secret Black Knights aren't getting elected," the first guy said, "But I'm still losing my seat."
"Gentlemen," Ozpin began, "You should look on the positive side of things. Do you really want to be in power right now? I suggest you use your time to support our huntsmen and help negotiate a good deal with Atlas. Can I count on your support?"
After each of the four people gave their reluctant agreements, he dismissed the virtual meeting and reclined in his chair.
"What a bunch of scum," Glynda said from the sidelines, "How can you stand them?"
"You learn to put up with a lot over the years."
"Why do you even let them do this to you?" Qrow said, "I wouldn't mind knocking some sense into-"
"Qrow." Ozpin scolded him, "We can't afford this right now. We're still vulnerable from when The Great War wiped out my support network 30 years ago. Salem has been making large advances and we cannot risk stoking tensions now."
Qrow didn't say anything to that, instead opting to take a swig from his flask.
Ozpin noticed the elevator light was indicating an arrival, "Don't worry, I've got a reliable and decent man ready to grab one of the seats. We're making good progress. In a generation, I will have enough influence to go after everyone. Until then, we must compromise."
General James Ironwood entered through the elevator doors, his expression harsh and his walk confident.
"Welcome, General." Ozpin said, "You've been quite busy moving your soldiers around Vale. So, what is this supposed to be? Riot control? Occupation? A coup?"
"It is whatever you wish it to call it. It won't change the fact my soldiers will now be solving your problems, in accordance with my methods."
"Will they now?"
Ironwood put his hands on the table, towering over the Headmaster, "Ozpin, I used to respect you. I really did. But what you've allowed to happen to this place, it is inexcusable. Amber, the Breach, terrorists are operating openly in parts of the city, Ozpin! Your negligence is bordering on criminal, and even in Atlas they're protesting it. I've got Robyn and her idiots breathing down my neck and it's all your fault."
The Headmaster knew where this was going, and he could only sigh in response, "By all means, please share your master plan to solve this problem with all the subtlety of an artillery barrage."
"Joke all you want, but we haven't ruled that out yet." James said, "Listen, I am going to take command of all law enforcement and military units in Vale, and I am going to comb over every single inch of this city until the Black Knights are exterminated. No matter the cost."
"James." Glynda said, "That could easily result in thousands of civilian deaths."
"Than so be it."
She was stunned into silence at that. Qrow picked up instead, "Now, Jimmy, this isn't the time for you to lose your shit. We can still do this without a titanic bloodbath."
"We've tried subtlety. Now it's my turn."
"Fine," Ozpin said, "But we have to set certain constraints. Quite modest ones, but you'll need to accept them if you want the council's support to do this legally. And if you refuse, I very well could make an appeal to the people…"
James' eyes narrowed at him, "You're bluffing. Zero would be in power in no time if you did that."
"If I can't compromise with you, I just might try it with him. I've done worse, James, I can assure you." The edge in his voice surprised even the General. Was he finally getting through to him? Was he finally going to see that side of him?
"I'll hear you out, Oz. But I also want Winter here to plan things out, so if you have any sensitive information to discuss I suggest you do it now."
"Alright. Your report for the General, Qrow?"
"I looked through the tunnels beneath Mount Glenn. It doesn't add up, the Grimm couldn't have been trapped so easily by a small group of White Fang. Oz believes Salem can 'nudge' the behavior of large groups of Grimm. She may very well have had a hand in coordinating the White Fang."
"That's it?" James said, "I could have told you as much myself."
"You don't seem to get it, do you?" Ozpin said, "She doesn't do one-offs. She plans sweeping attacks against humanity with the intent to destroy humanity, or at the very least seize one of the relics. Tell me, what is the status of the Winter maiden?"
"It's gotten worse. Last year she might have had some utility, but now… Age tends to come slowly, then suddenly. We'd be handing her on a silver platter if we deployed her. I plan to introduce her to the Schnee soon."
"Spring is still missing," Qrow said, "And Headmaster Theodore says Summer won't be ready for years."
"So what, we're somewhat vulnerable and she's acting up. All the more reason to get serious."
"What it means," Ozpin said, "Is that we shouldn't rush a confrontation. Give it a couple years and we'll have two and a half maidens ready instead of zero. Maybe more if we find Spring in the meantime."
"Two… And a half? So you've decided to go through with the aura transfer?" Ironwood's mood seemed to have improved, if only a little, "Who do you have in mind?"
"That's where we run into a bit of a problem. I thought I had found the perfect candidate in miss Pyrrha Nikos, however…"
"However what?" Qrow's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He knew her involvement would inevitably mean the involvement of Violet. It didn't take a genius to figure out he didn't like it.
Ozpin sighed and took a long drink from his mug before continuing, "The vetting process has been complicated by her partner."
"What… exactly do you mean by that?" All humor had left Qrow's body instantly and he appeared to have sobered up in an instant.
"I mean that we have suspicions regarding his identity. James, if you will."
Even the normally stoic General looked uncomfortable at this, "Qrow, I've known you for many years and I'm truly sorry I have to be the bearer of these news, so I'll be quick. One of our agents has strong suspicions that Violet is part of the Black Knights, and that he's possibly become a very involved member."
Qrow looked like someone had just died before his eyes, "E- excuse me? What… What evidence do you have of this?" he was incredulous at the accusation.
"First off, he's had numerous absences from school, absences which have lined up quite well with large Black Knight operations. I've half a mind to base our alert levels on Glynda's morning roll call."
"That's circumstantial evidence. And it's not like it perfectly matches up, right?"
Ironwood continued, "He has also made a number of comments in history class that suggested sympathies towards them."
Qrow sneered at him, "If you think that's evidence I suggest you go arrest all of Signal. Youth does that occasionally. It's stupid, but goodness it shouldn't get him… I don't even want to think what you people want to do with him."
"That's not all. One of our agents has had a close encounter with Zero, including a glimpse behind his helmet. Not only does the body build match up on close inspection, but they both have purple eyes."
"Purple eyes? And you got all that from a glimpse? So your agent clocked the eye color but couldn't have identified the rest of the face?"
"That's correct."
"Do you even hear yourself? Violet Rose, a terrorist leader at sixteen. Who even is your agent?"
"That's a secret."
Qrow couldn't take it anymore, he reached for his flask and downed a concerning amount, even by his standards.
"We're not totally sure though," Ozpin said, "Especially on the Zero part. He has been present at Beacon during one of the Zero showings, and he did miss out on a handful of larger operations."
"Zero could very easily be a position that switches between high ranking members." The General countered.
"You're all insane," Qrow shouted, "This is outrageous!"
"I thought so too at the start, but it's becoming more and more likely," Glynda said.
Qrow tried his best to compose himself before speaking again, "Ozpin, I demand that you relieve me of my current duties and let me focus fully on investigating Violet."
"That's a blatant conflict of interest," Ironwood said.
"It's fine Jimmy, the last thing I want is him involving himself in anything of that nature. I am far more reliable to Ozpin than you could ever be."
"You-"
"Let him do it," Ozpin said, "Qrow is more than capable and his powers are best suited to the task. I don't want to put you in a tough position, so you have my assurances Violet will be treated amicably if he is indeed guilty. Keep your heads cool, In a few months we'll have our maiden and this whole mess will be behind us."
"Sooo… Did they bother you much?" Blake asked.
"Obviously. They asked a lot of inane questions and scolded me for daring to kill terrorists." They were taking a leisurely walk along the Beacon campus now that he was discharged from the hospital, "I'm also pretty sure they suspect I executed that captive I told you about. They found his body and all."
"I see… That's unfortunate."
"It'll be fine though, they can't prove anything. Anyways, what of the Knights? I wish I could have visited yesterday. How are things going?"
"It's a whole mess. We've spent so much time stockpiling weapons only to have them all handed out within two days. We're desperately scrambling to support all of our new members."
"Suffering from success, are we now?" he chuckled, "I have to depart for Patch today, but I'll come down to base before leaving. I'll be visiting every other day or so, if anything I'll be present more often than when I was at Beacon."
She nodded, before spotting something to the side and smiling, "Well, as a parting gift I'll give you the good news now." She waved at a pair of figures in the distance, who then ran up to them. As they got closer, he recognized them as second year students Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina.
"You." Coco poked Violet's chest with her finger, "You gave me the fright of my life at the dance."
He chuckled, "Oh? Where's this coming from? Say, Blake, did they…"
"Yup. Their whole team agreed to join. I'm scoping out a couple more teams too. Expect more good news soon."
"Excellent. Well, I look forward to working with you."
"Don't mention it," Coco said, "We put our lives on the line during a breach while the authorities were nowhere to be found. And not only could they not admit their wrongdoings, they threatened us for helping the Black Knights in stopping the Grimm. And not to mention anything about what happened to the faunus huntsmen."
"They were really mean and forceful," Velvet said, her rabbit ears seeming to deflate, "They even arrested me. If it wasn't for Ozpin, who knows where I'd be…" She looked as if she was about to cry, but Coco hugged her from behind, "Don't worry, we'll teach them a good lesson."
"Right," Violet said, "We're growing at an amazing rate now, sooner or later they will be forced to comply with our demands. Hopefully, this won't be such a long struggle after all."
"Right," Coco said, "Despite everything, they're trying to pretend things are fine. Hell, they're still going ahead with the Vytal festival. Speaking of, you guys joining the tournament?"
"I don't think I have a choice in the matter," Violet said, "Pyrrha has to attend."
"Same here," Blake added, "The rest of my team is very insistent."
"Well if it's Ruby I guess it can't be helped then," Velvet chuckled, "I only met her once, but she seems like such a sweet girl. We're gonna go as well. I might not seem like it, but I really do want to win, or at least rank high…"
Coco took over for her, "You see, her parents were skeptical of her wanting to be a huntress, so she really wants to assure them and make em proud of their daughter."
"Yeah, we'll all make our parents proud," Blake said, though she didn't sound all that confident in herself.
"Regardless, we should be having a meeting in the afternoon. Blake can show you around the base, but I doubt you'll be seeing me much there."
"Right…" Velvet said, her hands going for the camera on her side, "Uh, I'd usually take a photo for posterity, but it might not be appropriate given the circumstances."
"Of course. We don't want any unnecessary associations to be drawn. Tell you what, once we've won we'll have a grand photoshoot of all of us together. You'll get to put those photography skills to good use, don't worry."
"I hope so," she meekly replied. A bang drew their attention to the central courtyard. They wasted no time before rushing towards it, and what they saw caused Violet to gasp, "Qrow?"
They came upon a scene of Qrow dueling none other than Winter Schnee, His massive blade meeting Winter's saber in a series of impressive maneuvers from both sides. After a minute or so of exchanged blows, a crowd had gathered and the two participants became increasingly aware of it. Eventually, the confrontation was broken up by Professor Port and they went their separate ways. Winter, to the Beacon tower, and Qrow towards them.
"Heya, kiddo," he looked to not be having the best of days, and looking at Violet it somehow soured his mood even more, but he tried to not let it show as much.
"Qrow," he hugged him with all his strength. Seeing him was rare, and he loved him so much that it was one of the few things which could get his mind off of his rebellion, "Where have you been?"
"Oh, you know…"
"Of course, my super cool uncle never reveals his secrets."
"Yeah. You've also got a lot of things you've been keeping from me. How come you didn't call to tell me your partner was such a special person?"
"Oh, well, guess I was a little busy and you were rarely available and-"
"Yeah, yeah. Save your excuses, I know kids don't wanna share their secrets. Speaking of, I heard you got yourself involved with that disaster over in Mount Glenn. Got yourself all scratched up, huh?" He tried to appear lighthearted, but it came off as stilted instead.
"I'll be sure to tell you all about it, you coming along to Patch tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll be free for a while now so we can talk all day. By the way, I heard you became a lady killer, but I didn't think it was that bad."
Violet looked behind him at the trio of embarrassed girls, before blushing himself, "Stop embarrassing me, uncle."
"Yeah, yeah," he ruffled his hair, "Catch you later, Vio. I gotta go see the nieces."
"Wow. Ladykiller, was it?" Coco teased him, "I better watch out then."
"Yeah, you better," Blake said.
"He's one to talk," Violet laughed, "Damn shameless womanizer."
"I think he's already got a fan," Coco said as she looked over Velvet's camera, who tried to hide it away from her.
"That's not at all-"
"Oh, she likes them mature, huh?" Blake said between giggles.
"He's gonna steal her from me," Coco playfully cried.
"Oh joy," Violet facepalmed.
AN: Giving Oz a believable a believable background and motivation is a real pain, especially if we're to oppose him. He has to be morally good, but somehow opposed to us. He has to be capable as the guardian of humanity but not too capable of standing up to evil all by himself. He also ought to have some edge in there, he's lived for so many years and navigated politics in more brutal times. He may have softened up now, but I think he's still got it in him.
This is mostly a chapter to keep you entertained while I fix the myriad of mistakes in my earlier chapters. I'm convinced I must have edited all of them at 2am with the sort of stuff I found there. Thanks for putting up with it btw. The next chapter is also a bit more calm, with setup for the big battle that's been foreshadowed for a while now.
San-Tesso:
Well, I guess your question regarding the scythe has been answered, thought I only saw your review after I had finished this. Yeah, he let a Zero impersonator go out with a scythe on a raid while he was at the dance so Ozpin wouldn't suspect him.
At the start I was very much in the discovery phase of things, now that I know the overall structure of the story and the ending I can say that there will be implications that Earth exists, though I'm not 100% sure how far I'll be taking it. I certainly could insert him regaining his memories, but I'll have to see how well it would work. Thanks for the review!
merendinoemiliano:
I just wanted to thank you for the constant reviews. Even if I don't answer them I read them and I appreciate them a lot!
