Note: It's a Christmas miracle! A chapter done at a reasonable pace, and on our deadline, too. Thank you for reading Let Us Dance in the Flames. We hope you have been enjoying this LUBYP continuation. We know we threw a lot at you this arc, and we hope we were still able to make the story a fun read. Not having the team constantly fight each other does remove a lot of the original story's conflict, and trying to redirect that externally has been a challenge for us. If you enjoyed this arc, or have any other comments, please let us know. We definitely want to improve our writing in the future, so any comments are super helpful as always. We often end up quitting our sequels, so the fact that we got this far and are still motivated is a really healthy sign. As we enter a new year, we hope to get a ton of writing done. At the moment, LUDITF is the only story we are actively working on, so we want to increase the pace to one chapter a week if possible. Writing very frequently helps us keep up with quality in our opinion. Anyway, that's really all we have to say. Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with this massive saga for years. You're the best. Happy Holidays. Enjoy.
Ruby was sprinting, barreling her way through endless darkness. Her feet carried her unevenly, nearly tripping over themselves as they bounced off smooth, rocky surfaces. She felt herself moving, breathing, crying, but she wasn't in control. Just like in a dream, everything happened automatically. She was a passenger, watching her hell play out in front of her.
There were screams—awful, demented screams—coming from behind her. They were getting closer. Footsteps. She heard footsteps. Gaining fast. Why wasn't she running faster? Where the hell where she going?
Her arm swung out in front of her—there was nothing more than a chewed, bloody stump beneath her elbow. The fresh trail of blood was leading them to her. Her head rotated, looking over her shoulder. She saw their eyes, horrible and red, burning within the black.
Something passed in front of her. She didn't notice in time. She stumbled, falling face-first into a pool of something warm and wet. She glanced over her shoulder. A body. She tripped over a body. It was missing half its face. The half that remained was contorted in agony. That would be her. It was going to eat her. It would crush her head within its mouth and tear the tendons from her bones. She would be chewed and digested and turned to paste in its stomach. It would destroy her Soul and make her flesh part of itself. All like the others. All if she didn't run.
Her head was throbbing and her vision became blurry as she picked herself up. She had to… had to move. Couldn't stop. Can't die now. No. Can't die. Can't leave everything behind. She missed him. She missed his voice. She would never be able to tell him how she felt. It wasn't fair. She would rot in this stupid cave and he would go on living without her. Why did that bastard send her here to die?
And then a voice came. It gargled from under her throat and gripped her tongue and echoed in her mind like thunder, cracked and wicked thunder that jolted her flesh with every syllable.
"You're ZHSSHCBHS going tZHBCHNSJJNo dieYHJSSHBGHBX."
Those other words: pained, contorted static. Trying to mold the right sounds like clay. Was that her voice? It didn't sound like her voice, but it was her thoughts, her screams, her mind.
"LeeeeeeeetTHNNNVHFBVDFttttt GZZFHVBSCHBVgo. HDBCGCBDYou need meSNCNHDBSXBBGSX."
No, she wouldn't. Don't say her name. Don't let this curse continue. Don't let him win.
She sprinted until she collided with a rocky wall. A dead-end. Trapped. Bodies, bodies everywhere in every corner, all as foolish as her. Tears were streaming down her face. This was it. Huntresses were supposed to fight until the end, but she had no more strength. Help.
Please, somebody, help her.
Someone.
Anyone.
Save her.
Mom… Dad…
She wanted her mom… she wanted her mom to keep the monsters at bay.
They drew closer. Red eyes bouncing off white skulls. Mouths of teeth that yearned for her meat. Even their growls comprised of stolen screams. They approached her with desire.
And the voice, its words tinted with a yearning of its own, spoke more clearly than ever."
"Saaaay my naaaaaaaammee… Summmmmmmeerrrrr."
The beasts lunged. She cowered. The name escaped her lips.
"Rosaline!"
"Ruby!"
Ruby's eyes snapped open. She sat up on the floor, sweating profusely.
"Huh? W-What?"
Where… where was she? Who was she? That wasn't…"
"What have you done?"
Another voice boomed at her. The same one? No, this one. Outside. All outside. She was in the light now. She was in…
Wait for a second…
Oh no…
It took another moment for Ruby to fully realize where she was. She was lying on the floor of Ozpin's office, shaken and mortified. General Ironwood was standing over her, his face full of fury. Ozpin and Goodwitch were there too… and so were her teammates. Weiss, Yang, Blake; all of them were on their knees, hands tied behind their backs. Half a dozen guards were crammed into the small office space, and they were holding guns to their backs. Blake eyed Goodwitch suspiciously, but Yang and Weiss were screaming her name, trying to get her attention. It all came back to her.
Their plan. Her mission. That… that woman with the green hair and those strange, blossoming eyes…
She didn't have a chance to think of anything else before Ironwood grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and picked her off the floor. He rammed her back into Ozpin's desk, and Ruby let out a pained gasp as the General unleashed his anger on her.
"What did you do?"
Ruby's first instinct was to keep playing the game. "I… I don't know what you are talking about."
"Stop lying!" Ironwood shouted. He shoved Ruby against the desk harder. The young Huntress's feet never even touched the floor.
"Leave her alone!" Weiss cried.
"You broke into Ozpin's office," Ironwood stated, the evidence right in front of his face. "You hacked his computer. We can see it. What did you try to take?"
"I… I didn't take anything," Ruby stated. "There… there was someone else here." She turned to her teammates, pleading. "Guys, there was someone else here!"
Weiss gasped, realizing Ruby was serious. "Wait, what?"
"Someone else?" said Blake. "But who?"
"I-I don't know!" Ruby said. "She was—gah!"
Ironwood threw Ruby to the floor. Her teammates struggled against their binds, but with guns at their backs, there was little they could do but watch. Ozpin stepped forward, bitter but trying to talk some sense into his partner.
"James, there's no need—"
"No, you be silent!" Ironwood barked. "You have been trying to coddle these girls for weeks. That was what you wanted. Now, look at what they've done. Look at the mess they have made... with your friend."
Goodwitch shunned herself away from Ironwood's judgment. It may have been the only remorse any of the Team RWBY girls had ever seen from her. Ozpin gently tapped his cane against the floor to restore order. "We will take care of that."
"Who knows what they are saying out there? They live-streamed a goddamn murder."
"And we will take care of that. Just give me time to—"
"No. No, I am done letting you dictate my actions," Ironwood demanded. He paced around the room, growling, and stuttering, a gorilla in a suit wanting to rampage and fighting against his worst instincts. "Everything was perfect. We had everything we could have wanted. But you… you children couldn't do what you were told. You think that I'm a monster when I am the only person trying to keep order around here. It's all just games to you. You don't understand the consequences of your actions. Did you want everyone to hate Atlas? Do you not care how many people might die if this Kingdom isn't preserved?"
Ironwood's ranting set Yang off, and she leaned forward and screamed at him. "Our actions? You threatened our families! You told us you were going to kill them! How the hell are we the ones playing games?"
"I had to keep you in line by any means necessary," Ironwood stated. "If you had just done as you were told, no one would have gotten hurt. But instead, you insisted that everything had to go your way, out of some misbegotten sense of pride."
"Yeah, it's always everyone else's fault, isn't it?" Blake slurred. Ruby only just noticed how messed up her face was. She knew that the fight against Goodwitch had to be rough, but she seeing Blake bruised up combined with Ironwood's condemnation made her feel guilty. Was this really their fault? Would it have been so bad to just do what Ironwood asked? He wanted them to make some Huntsmen videos. Was that really such a heavy price to pay to keep their families safe… to keep Remnant safe?
No. Screw that. Ruby felt the truth come to her as she rose to her feet. They weren't the ones who started making demands. They never manipulated anyone for months, forcing them through trauma after trauma. They never threatened anyone's family. They never violated the terms of their truce. Why the hell should she feel guilty about any of this? She had been whisked to a foreign Kingdom against her will, watched as her friends were used for their gifts and constantly harassed by their teachers. She never tried to hurt anyone. Even when she let fight Blake fight Goodwitch, even that was still them taking all the punishment. Their lives had been nothing but punishment for months, and now that they were using the means to stand up for themselves, they should feel guilty?
Ironwood stared down Ruby as she made her way back to her feet, still wobbly but able to hold her own. "Do you have something to say, Miss Rose?"
Ruby's hands balled into fists by her side. That vision she had—she didn't understand it, but it triggered something resentful within her she could not contain. She swallowed her pain and held herself back as her words became intense. "My mom… trusted you. She believed in you, in all of you. I saw her. She was pleading for you to save her life, and you didn't. She did everything you ever asked, and you repaid her loyalty with a bullet. You took my mom away from me. What makes you think I would ever obey you? I do hate you. I hate this whole Kingdom for everything it ever did to me. You destroyed my life… all of our lives, and you think that you can bully us into being your slaves? I don't care what your goals are. I will never work for you. I will never listen to you. I will go down, kicking and screaming and fighting until my last breath just to unravel what you are. I am done being reasonable with you. You are evil, and I don't care what you threaten to do to me anymore. I am not going to stop until I see you and everything you stand for burn. I will set flames to your altars and melt your symbols until even the memory of Atlas has been reduced to ash. And if you offered me the world, I would rather die just so I could drag you into the fire with me."
Ruby's words were passionate, and Ironwood's rebuttal was swift. Without a second of hesitation, he reached behind his back, unclipped something from his belt… and then pointed a gun at Ruby's face.
"Are you certain about that?"
Panic. Sheer panic. Ozpin stepped forward, trying to calm Ironwood down. Goodwitch, shocked and slightly amused at Ironwood's hypocrisy, stood back and watched with open eyes. Yang, Weiss, and Blake shouted and tried to break free of their binds. Even the guards, though struggling to do their jobs and hold the other girls down, seemed startled that Ironwood was actually turning to immediate violence. Ruby, though, felt nothing. She stood her ground, staring down the barrel of a gun with vengeful defiance. She didn't think about dying. She didn't even think of her friends. Instead, her mind wandered to her most hated memory: her mother, bound and defenseless and bloodied, a gun pressed to the back of her skull, staring out at a world that turned against her. In all these years, the trauma blocked a perfect recall of her expression. Sometimes Ruby remembered her crying and fearful. Other days, she thought Summer was smiling at the cameras, as if to whisper across oceans to her, telling her everything would be all right. But now, staring down the Atlas machine, Ruby remembered her as defiant. Stoic. Unbreakable. She would root herself to the ground like a tree and refuse to let her name be dignity be sullied. If Ironwood would pull the trigger right now and ended her life, Ruby would give him no satisfaction of seeing her afraid. She was better than that now.
But the moment was lost almost as soon as it began. There was a sudden, sharp pounding on the office door, and even before Ironwood could answer it, another one of the academy guards burst into the room, panting and desperate. He noticed the sheer chaos but wisely chose to glue his eyes to the floor and not question it.
"S-Sir! Someone is here to see you, sir!"
Ironwood lowered his weapon, though his rage did not cool. Who the hell would be interrupting him now? He had sent the press away and the students to their dorms. He ordered all halls on lockdown. No one in the Academy had the authority to deny him.
"Tell them we are busy," Ironwood hissed. The guard bowed his head.
"That… that won't do, sir. He was very persistent…"
From just outside the office, a voice called out, gruff and frail yet full of cheer and confidence.
"James! James, old man! What are you doing in here?"
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. Of all the moments to enter, of course, he would wait until the very last one. Timing was never one of his valuable assets. Yang and Blake felt the rush of relief as well—but Weiss kept her eyes glued to the floor. Force of habit.
He came into the room with a limp, his right leg dragging behind his left. Hunched over in an all-white suit, he took his time strolling into the office, understanding his presence was enough to assert authority over all those within it. A thin smile rested beneath his mustache, and though he seemed refined and dignified in a sense, he also had an air of mischievousness to him that made him impossible to pin down. Standing in his view for the first time, to which Yang, Blake, and Ruby now had to grow accustomed, it was hard not to feel intimidated; not from his jovial charm, but because of the devil that they knew dwelled beneath the surface. He was flanked by his most loyal follower, Winter Schnee, her Atlasian uniform cut and her military cap fitted closely to hide the scars on her scalp. Did he bring her along as an example, security, or company? Ruby didn't know. She didn't care. What mattered was that Ironwood was nervous, and that was good for her.
"What are you doing here?" Ironwood asked tentatively.
"Never mind that," Jacques said passively. "What the hell are you doing to my girls?"
Ironwood blinked. "Your girls?"
"Come on, drop your weapons. Pick them up." Jacques wandered over to Weiss, lightly shoving away one of the guards holding her down. He grabbed onto her arm and helped her up to her feet, dusting off her coat. "These are good coats. You shouldn't let them lay on the floor."
"Jacques, we weren't expecting you," Ozpin said cordially.
"Well, you didn't invite me," Jacques explained. "They did."
"They did?" Ozpin repeated. The full scope of Jacques's presence was starting to unravel. Team RWBY began to smile as the guards were shooed away. Something didn't add up. Ironwood marched forward, again demanding answers.
"What do you mean your girls?"
Jacques just smirked. "Oh? Didn't they tell you?"
"Weiss, are you sure you can do this?" Ruby asked gently. Weiss sat in front of her laptop. She took a deep breath.
"I've dealt with him before, Ruby. Besides, I'm different now. I can handle this."
Ruby sighed. "If you say so. Just… I'm here for emotional support."
Blake groaned, lounging on her own bed out of view of the laptop's camera. "Man, saved by fucking capitalism. This sucks."
"Hey, look on the bright side," Yang said. "Now you can work on dismantling the system from the inside."
"What about the phrase 'no ethical consumption' isn't clear to you?"
"It's not consumption. It's production."
"Same thing."
"Both of you, quiet. Please," Weiss said. "I'm calling him now."
She didn't like Ruby's plan. In fact, she despised it. However, they were in an awful situation and needed an escape. Ironwood had terrible, evil morals. Her father had none. That was, in her mind, an important distinction. Plus, Ruby's observations were astute. Team JJWL taught the team an important lesson: those who earned the favor of the powerful would be protected. They needed someone on their side with enough influence to make Ironwood falter.
The room became quiet as Weiss started the call. She stared at the screen intently, trying to keep her heart from beating out of her chest. After what felt like an eternity, she saw her father's face on the other side. He smiled at her. A chill ran down her spine.
"Weiss. So nice to see you call."
"Hello, Father," Weiss said dejectedly. "It's been a long time."
"I'll say. I've been trying to get in contact with you for weeks," Jacques admitted. "I've been seeing your face plastered on every television in the Kingdom. If I knew I'd get this much free advertising from you being famous, I would have whored you out to the media years ago."
Weiss held back a sneer. "I'm glad you mentioned advertising because that's actually why I'm calling. I have a business proposition for you."
"Oh? Straight to the point, huh? You want to work with me."
"My teammates and I want to use our public image to expand into philanthropic efforts. Our goal is to organize an investment fund we can use to help both charitable and venture projects over Remnant—for-profit, of course. We would like you to be our general partner."
"Really? So, you called because you need my money, is that it? And I thought you loved me."
"No, we can get money from anywhere. Once we announce the funds, countless celebrities and moguls are going to flock to us. But you have connections and expertise that we don't have. We need someone like you to help advise us. No one in the world can run so many successful companies like you. That's the kind of person we want to share our ownership with."
"Hah, look at you! Appealing to my ego! I taught you well."
"I'm just trying to do right by my friends. There's nothing else to it."
"And you're playing the humbleness card. You're not as worthless as I thought. You still haven't told me why I should invest anything in this little project of yours. I assume you're going to want a commitment in at least eight figures."
"Correct."
"And we're talking, what, three-to-five years before I see any profit?"
"Possible. Depends what we invest in. We are planning some side projects to help raise additional profits. Yang has an idea for fashion."
"I'm not in the fashion business, Weiss, I'm in the Dust business. You want me to give up millions of Lien to a fund that will be operated by four teenagers who haven't even run so much as a smoothie shop, and you haven't really given me a pitch as to what type of projects you'd be interested in investing in. I mean, this sounds like a vague, unfinished deal."
"I'm offering you the chance to make passive income off the backs of the Heroes of Vale," Weiss explained calmly. "Right now, there is a massive media storm over us. We are at the center of the public eye. As I said, we are capable of raising additional funds from almost any other investor we find. It doesn't matter what we choose to invest in, because our public trust is so high that we will always be able to find additional resources. I want you to consider this: right now, the Schnee name is associated with me. Being a Huntress is associated with me. Both of those are associated with Dust. Anything I do to obtain good publicity as a Huntress immediately trickles back to you. You said yourself that I gave you free advertising. Plus, the more my name is in the news, the fewer your company's scandals are. You once told me that the most difficult capital to accumulate was trust. Well, we have that in spades. All you would have to do is invest a comparatively small amount of money into our fund, occasionally give us advice, sit back and watch the profits roll in. It will be the easiest business you've ever run, with no labor on your end and infinite possibilities in the long term. It is unfinished, but think of that as more of a feature than a bug."
Jacques leaned back in his chair, thinking carefully about his daughter's words. Eventually, he chuckled. "Okay, I'll bite. You want me to commit a large sum in exchange for percent ownership of the fund, and then we break the profits, what, fifty-fifty?"
"Eighty-twenty."
"Come on, I'm the one with all the money. You are committing nothing."
"We are committing our reputation. It's our name on the fund. We need to be in control."
"And give your profits away to more animal shelters? Fifty-fifty."
"Seventy-five-twenty-five."
"Fifty-fifty."
"Seventy-thirty."
"Sixty-forty. No lower."
Weiss looked at her friends for support. They shrugged at her. She took that as a yes. "Fine. You get forty percent ownership share and profit split."
"That's what I like to hear."
"We have some terms and conditions, though. Important ones."
"Of course, you do."
"One: the public cannot find out that we are in business together."
"Oh, Weiss, do you think I'm interested in telling the press who I give my money to? I'll invest under a shell company."
"Two: we maintain final say on all creative and investment decisions for the fund."
"You are the majority owner. I'd expect nothing less."
"We also want to maintain control of any intellectual property associated with us. Logos, names, slogans, our likenesses, all of it. We don't want our name on any Schnee products."
"Your name is a Schnee product."
"And I'd like to keep it at that."
"Anything else?"
"Yes, actually. We are going to draft a contract and send it to you. Our full terms of the agreement are located there. We were hoping you would sign it by the end of the week."
"I'm not stupid enough to do that, Weiss. But I will give you my verbal consent to an agreement. Consider that binding."
"Excellent," Weiss said. And now, the most important part. "Also, there is something we need your help with."
"Something more?"
"Yeah. Actually, it's about one of your other partners: James Ironwood…"
"You… you're their backer?" Ironwood said with horror. The guards in the room had been ordered outside, and the words that were exchanged were now only between those who deserved to know them. Team RWBY was unbound, confidently standing near the doorway, smug looks plastered on their faces. James felt his world slipping away from him. Jacques laughed at his absurd reaction.
"What can I say? They made me a good offer. Little-to-no risk on my part, high levels of public trust in our ventures… I mean, it's easy money. Not much, but it's easy."
Ozpin cleared his throat. "Jacques, I implore you to reconsider. These girls… you shouldn't be trusting them with your money."
"Too late for that, I'm afraid," Jacques explained. "I've already promised to commit to the Team RWBY Fund. Can't back out now."
"Then I will buy out your share," Ironwood said passionately. "I will pay you double, triple whatever you paid in. All you have to do is disinvest and you will immediately profit."
Jacques laughed again. "James, please. What kind of businessman would I be if I backstabbed all my partners? Aren't you the one always going off on having principles? A commitment is a commitment, James. Sometimes, you can't just grab the Lien right in front of you. You have to think in the long-term and trust me, I sense very long-term success with these fine young women."
Ironwood growled. "Jacques, listen to me—"
"And don't think I don't know why you want me to disinvest," Jacques said accusingly. He marched toward the general, and despite being the shorter man by far, he was able to intimidate the headmaster with little more than a twitch of his mustache. "Team RWBY told me what you have been doing to them. At first, I didn't believe it, but just after landing, my Scroll began blowing up. Your lackey's little stunt is currently being plastered all over the news! You tried to kill my girls, James! And you ruined young Blake's beautiful face."
"No, I didn't—"
"And I hear that you also threatened their families? Are you threatening me, James?"
Ironwood stammered. Team RWBY's smiles only grew wider. "N-No, I would never—"
"You are screwing with my investment, James. I don't tolerate that. I have plans with Team RWBY, and those plans require them to be in tip-top shape. I can't have them making sound decisions when you are telling them that you'll attack their loved ones, or if you keep battering them around like they're your wives. As long as Team RWBY and I are business partners, you are not going to lay a finger on them, do you understand? Hell, if you can, I want you to keep them as happy and healthy as physically possible. Not only that, you need to fix whatever mess you made for yourself… starting by firing her."
Jacques pointed to Goodwitch, and the professor gasped in fear. Ozpin stepped between them, trying to explain.
"Jacques, I don't think that's necessary—"
"She attacked my girls! The media is calling for her head. You need to get your house in order, and Team RWBY can't concentrate on running their fund when the professor that tried to kill one of them is still around. I want a press statement out by the end of the day. She has to leave to restore order to this madhouse."
James was physically struggling to hold back. Goodwitch seemed to shrink in the corner, unwilling to defend herself. Ozpin couldn't come up with a good retort other than more pleading, and he didn't think that would get very far. Team RWBY watched with bated breath. Was this really happening? Did they actually, finally do something right?
James took a breath, trying to get his strained emotions under control. "Jacques, you are sacrificing everything we worked toward to appease these… these kids. Don't act so irrationally. We can all come to a reasonable way forward if you would just listen to reason."
Jacques became stern, shooting down Ironwood's meek words. "I made sacrifices. I'm doing what I have always done; making the best decisions I can. You are the one who has started acting irrationally. You know, I put a lot of money into you, James. You have two seats on the Council. That is a prized, lucrative position. And I supported you for years because I believed that you would make Atlasian businesses strong. But you have just made a mockery of your institution and your leadership in front of the whole world. I put my trust in you just like I did for them, and I do not like having that trust misplaced. I want you to understand something right now, and I will say it very clearly. I don't care what grudges you have. Pull your head out of your ass… or I pull my money out of you. Do you understand?"
Ironwood did not answer. Jacques grew tired and scratched at his mustache. "Well, I didn't mean to stay for very long anyway. I rarely make public appearances these days. Team RWBY only suggested I come in person to make our arrangement clear. I'm glad I did because you needed some sense knocked into you directly. From now on, I will be having Winter make regular visits to make sure you aren't screwing anything else up. Isn't that right, Winter?"
Winter had been quiet all along, her keen eyes carefully watching the drama unfold. She glanced briefly at Weiss. A shimmer of pain lay behind her gaze. They hadn't forgotten.
"Yes, Father."
"Good. In that case, I have more important matters to attend to," Jacques said cheerfully. He approached the door, making his way past Team RWBY. He smiled graciously at all of them. "It was great seeing you all in person. I wish we could have met under better circumstances."
"No worries, sir," Ruby said. "We understand that you are busy."
"Oh, my partners call me Jacques," he laughed. He looked over his shoulder at the professors. "Aren't these girls the best? So polite."
They moved aside for him, waving as he passed like saying goodbye to an old friend. Winter calmly followed. Ironwood called for her.
"Winter, talk some sense into him!"
She paused, her face unmoving. Weiss saw shame in her eyes, but she wasn't sure who it was directed towards. Her retort was blunt. "Unfortunately for both of us… I don't take orders from you."
Winter left the office with her father, and Ironwood was left stammering. Trapped with Team RWBY, his chances gone, having been told off by one of his closest confidants, he stewed in his resentment, unable to think clearly. In his rage, he pounded his fist on Ozpin's desk, and the Beacon Headmaster recoiled. He had no better options. He couldn't imagine parting with Glynda, and yet the ultimatum was clear. He slowly twisted his cane in his hands, mulling over his next plan. When he spoke to Team RWBY, his disgust was as palpable as their joy.
"What have you done?"
Ruby shrugged innocently. "We hit you where it hurts. You don't respect us as people, but you respect your income. So, we tied ourselves to it."
"You won't get away with this," Ozpin said coldly.
Yang smirked. "Oh, but we just did, didn't we? You heard Mr. Schnee. You can't hurt us. Not now. Not ever."
"Jacques… isn't in the right state of mind," Ironwood reasoned. He couldn't even look at the girls. "I'll have another talk with him. He will listen eventually."
"Oh, he might. Unless he finds out that you can't be trusted. I mean… it's not like you were secretly responsible for his biggest financial loss in history, right?"
Ironwood's head snapped up. Ruby's smirk widened. Did she touch a nerve?
"What are you—"
"The mines of Memoria," Ruby explained plainly. "The ones you collapsed. I mean, we all know my mom did that… but you knew something, didn't you? Based on that video you sent me of my mom, you did, of course. She seemed to think so. She said it herself. You know why I'm here. I don't know what you knew or how, but you knew something. And that's enough, isn't it? I wonder what will happen if we told Jacques that you knew the mines would collapse and you did nothing to stop it."
"This is ridiculous," Ironwood protested, again slamming his fist. "You have no proof."
"Aside from you saying 'we have no proof', and not 'I didn't do that'? I mean, that's a pretty guilty way to phrase that, you know?" Blake remarked.
"Besides, my father already doesn't trust you," said Weiss. "At this point, who do you think he's more likely to believe?"
Who to believe? They didn't know. None of them did. At this point, the game had changed. Team RWBY had infiltrated one of Ironwood's most trusted allies and was turning him against the rest. Ironwood had worked so hard to eliminate his weakness, to seal his vulnerabilities, but somehow they found a way through. It was disgraceful of him to let them get this far. He wanted them put down on the spot. But, his hands were tied, as Ruby soon laid out as clearly as she could.
"I think it's pretty clear where we stand, isn't it?" she asked. "We told Ozpin once before, but we'll remind you, too. You don't get to tell us what to do anymore. No more schemes. No more lies. As far as you are concerned, we are equals—actually, forget that. As far as you are concerned, we run this show. We train how we want, when we want, with who we want, and if you so much as say one bitter word about it, we will destroy everything you have built for yourself. You will respect my team. That is an ultimatum. And this time, you will keep your word. I would ask you to swear, but I know you don't care about keeping your promises, so if you don't mind…" She waved on her teammates. "Let's follow Jacques's lead and get out of here."
"Later, bitches!" Yang waved. She pushed open the door and held it as she gestured her teammates through. The path ahead was bright. "Hey, Goodwitch, have fun on the unemployment line!"
Goodwitch scowled as Blake flipped her off. "Yeah, bye forever, bitch! Can't wait to hear your resignation." Blake groaned, lightly jabbing her cheek. "Fuck, I need to see a medic."
"We'll get you some ice," said Weiss.
"You provide enough of that already."
"Ouch!"
Yang, Blake, and Weiss stepped out the door, and Ruby paused in its entranceway. Earlier, there had been two guards lying there on the floor. She did not know where they were taken, though it was likely to get examined. Perhaps they had seen the same woman that attacked her, though Ruby wasn't counting on it. Not with her luck, anyway. Whoever had busted into Ozpin's office was after something important, and if the guards didn't remember and the cameras didn't capture her, she would be the only one who remembered her face. And that vision. Was that really her mother? It was some strange, twisted dream, but it felt so real. And... Rosaline? Who the hell was that? She had to push those memories aside for now. For the moment, she decided to relish her victory, because she knew they wouldn't come very often. Today was a good day. Her plan worked. They were safe. Ironwood and Ozpin had gotten what was coming to them. Speaking of which…
"Oh, one more thing…"
Ruby stopped and gave her professors a long glare. They were managing their fury in different ways, but they had all become still and were looking straight at her. She took in their frustrations with pride, and in one final moment of defiance, she winked at them.
"Go fuck yourselves."