My first RWBY fic and it's already received more reviews and favorites than the ones I did in other fandoms years ago combined. That's pretty cool. Thanks for the suggestions that have been submitted in the reviews! Some of them have given me some ideas.
Anyways, here's the first real reaction! It'll be the entire mission strand that involves the Mayor of Saint-Denis in RDR2.
Hopefully this chapter can show you guys the type of reaction-fic I'll be doing.
ALSO I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR ANY OF THE SOURCES THAT I WILL HAVE THE CHARACTERS REACT TO. That being said, all of that is clearly implied since it's fanfiction.
Chapter 2 - Idealism and Pragmatism, For Beginners (RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2)
The theater quieted down as the screen burst to life.
The screen showed a rough-looking man getting off his horse in front of a manor, at the cusp between afternoon and evening. His face featured a brown beard of about medium length and his short brown hair could barely be seen behind his hat. It was a worn black hat that had brown ropes that served as the band.
He wore a tan duster coat that covered most of his body. However, the black shirt and vest he wore was still visible. The shirt's collar was opened. The man also wore black pants and boots.
"Oh my god guys! We're gonna be watching cowboys!" Nora exclaimed, with stars in her eyes.
"That's Arthur Morgan. A senior gun in the Van Der Linde gang. He is the point of view character for this viewing."
Watts looked up at the mention of his name.
"That's…so cool! We're gonna be seeing an outlaw!" Jaune spoke.
"His outfit's a bit bland, but the rest of his fit accentuates the coat." Coco observed Arthur's fashion.
"Huh…based on what Chrono said - I thought that he would look like one of us here." Ren said. Their 'host' did say that they should expect at least one of them to show up in each viewing - especially as the main focus.
"Perhaps it's another character?" Pyrrha hypothesized.
"Forget that guys! I want to see if he sounds like a cowboy!" Ruby interrupted Pyrrha and Ren's line of thinking.
Arthur patted his thoroughbred horse after he got off. The horse had a brindle coat, and had a greyish-blue hue.
"Yeah…that's my girl," he said to his horse.
The outlaw walked towards the house and brought up a letter. The words were too small for the audience to see except for an address. Arthur looked for a corresponding one near the manor, but couldn't find one. Eventually, he asked a person walking through nearby.
"Hey feller. Is this address correct?"
The person looked at the letter and nodded.
"Thanks mister." Arthur said before waving goodbye.
"He totally does!" Ruby noted.
Arthur walked towards the mansion and knocked on the front door. A younger looking man wearing a checkered suit, a mustache, and a soul patch, came and looked at the outlaw through the transparent door.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Uh, I'm…uh…" Arthur struggled to articulate his business. The man opened the door regardless.
"Sorry. I'm looking for…the Mayor?" Arthur said. His uncertain tone raised eyebrows amongst the audience.
"The Mayor? But isn't he an outlaw?" Velvet questioned, saying what was on the mind of many people, particularly the young huntsmen and huntresses.
"Maybe the mayor's a crook," Weiss said. It wouldn't have surprised her.
"Oooo…is the mayor gonna have Arthur threaten a bunch of people?" Nora joined in. "Maybe Arthur's gonna give someone an offer he can't refuse! Or else he'll make him sleep with the fishes!"
"Nora, that's more of a mafia thing. This looks like a cowboy related viewing."
"No, Nora is surprisingly right. I wouldn't put it past some of my father's colleagues to do something like that. Even the ones who weren't in business, but in politics were just as slimy as him…" Weiss replied.
"Guys, we don't even know if the mayor is a crook. Maybe he's gonna put him to justice!" Ruby said hopefully.
All of the teams looked at her as if she said something preposterous.
"...What?"
"Yes…please Mr Kilgore. Or what was it?"
"Uh, I forget."
"Quite."
"I guess you guys were wrong. It seems that Mr Morgan has a fake alias. Perhaps the mayor wants him for a bounty?" Oobleck noted.
Arthur followed the man upstairs. "Welcome to government." He said. "Democracy, an interesting idea."
The man reached a door and called out for the mayor. "Monsieur Lemieux?"
"Come in." The mayor responded. As Arthur entered the door, the mayor was revealed. It was a familiar sight.
"Oz, that's you! You're the mayor!" Qrow pointed at the screen.
The appearance of himself in the viewing was shocking to the headmaster. So I'm the mayor…
Lemieux wore spectacles like the headmaster, but had a suit with red neckwear, and a white flower on his left lapel.
"Ozma getting tricked by a mere cowboy? What a sight?" Salem snarked.
Ozpin felt a bit of irritation at her smugness, whilst many of the people from Beacon were confused.
"Don't you mean Ozpin?" One brave soul asked.
"No."
Mayor Lemieux got off his seat and went up to greet Arthur. "Oh hello friend."
"Hello. Tacitus Kilgore." Arthur greeted, whilst shaking the mayor's hand.
"Oh really, okay." The mayor said in a genial tone. "Now, you are not going to rob me again, are you?"
"Arthur robbed him?" Blake voiced.
"Not just that. Ozpin somehow knows as well that he robbed him!" Yang noted.
"Can we please call him Morgan?" Watts asked. Nobody listened.
"No…"
Lemieux stared at him.
Arthur sighed. "I'm sorry…"
Laughs were heard amongst the audience.
"That tends to happen to people who talk with me." Ozpin chuckled.
Lemieux shrugged the confession off and directed Arthur to sit. Both the mayor and the outlaw sat across from each other - with the mayor's assistant standing behind him.
"Don't worry about it, but you are not a very popular person, there's all kinds of nasty people want to speak to you...Mr Tacitus."
"Am I the only one weirded out by the fact that our headmaster is speaking… THAT way?" Cardin asked.
Murmurs of agreement showed that wasn't the case.
"I know."
"They won't hear anything about you from me. But…"
"Yeah, there's always a but…" Mercury said, before realising that those words were repeated by Arthur exactly. "Huh, how about that."
"Of course! I'm a politician."
Arthur sighed in exasperation. "Who needs killing?"
Lemieux responded immediately. "Nobody. We're not savages. Merely Frenchmen."
"Oh what a relief…." Weiss snidely remarked.
"Don't be ridiculous, killing? Mon dieu."
"Mon diyoo?" Nora worded out.
"It means 'my god' in French. The language from the land that the mayor is from. And it's mon dieu."
"I got it. Mon diyoo."
"Mon dieu…sensational! It's always fun to learn other languages!" Penny voiced.
"I just want you to do some favors for me. Consider it payment for the documents you stole."
Arthur hummed. "I suppose I can do that almost as well as kill."
"I'm sure you can. Now, it's all very ethical." The mayor announced.
"The look of his assistant behind tells otherwise," Raven noted.
"You see I've been trying to open a major museum, a place of culture to elevate people's souls…and what do museums need?"
"More entertainment? I mean…museums are so boring…" Yang stated.
"Perhaps the mayor wants chances for the public to get engaged with the experience? That could very well increase attendance then," Oobleck replied.
"Art." Arthur nodded at the mayor answering the same question he asked in the first place.
"Oh…well it's simple when you put it like that." the professor murmured.
"And how do you buy art?" Lemieux continued, posing the question to the outlaw.
"Uh, I don't know…"
"I buy art off some nasty little man from Paris…" the mayor said as he got up and picked up a painting, "selling me some destitute aristocrats' collection of old masters…that he might have painted himself."
"Ouch."
"Ouch indeed. But these are good paintings. I can't make the difference and I'm French! Only this even nastier little man from New Haven has come to verify my paintings and he's saying that they are all fake."
The mayor handed the painting away to his assistant.
"Seems like Mayor Oz got ripped off," Qrow stated.
"How can a person even tell the difference if a painting is authentic or not. That always confused me." Ruby pointed out.
"Yeah, it's literally just a bunch of paint and lines!" Nora said.
"Different brush strokes perhaps. Or the lack of a certain tell that a painter has." Weiss provided an answer.
"That seems reasonable. I guess you knew about it because of your high society dealings, right Weiss?" Ruby asked.
"No. I just made an educated guess."
Team RBY stared blankly at her.
"What? I learnt how to manipulate people and do business. Not look at paintings…"
"So?"
"So…perhaps he can be persuaded to revise his opinion. But that's not all of course."
"Right. He said some favors." Glynda recalled.
"Education is the most wonderful of things." Lemieux began again.
All of Beacon's staff, and General Ironwood were inclined to agree especially since it was Ozpin technically saying it. But knowing the unethicality of the man with his face on the screen, they felt a sense of uneasiness.
"It'll raise us higher and higher, make civics and ethics less a work of uh, dirty minded pragmatists like me, and the calling of higher, better men." The mayor said as he perused a shelf of books near him, picking one out.
"Pragmatist is one way to put it…" Qrow grumbled, not liking what he heard.
"Oh, but that's the perfect way to put it, dear brother," Raven said, earning a scowl from her twin.
"What he's doing isn't right. He's sending a criminal to threaten a person trying to do his job! To do his dirty work" Qrow exclaimed.
"Is that not what Ozpin is doing to you? For the 'greater good'?" Raven stated back, making a gesture of air quotes with her hands.
Qrow glowered, but it was Ozpin who replied.
"Is that what you think of me, Raven?"
"It's what I know you are. Why do you think the mayor has your face?"
Ozpin frowned.
"Without it, we are savages, but with learning, why in fifty years man will put down his guns and start living a life of relentless purity."
This earned snorts from the audience, particularly the side of Salem.
"Not with the grimm around unfortunately…" Pyrrha said, slightly frowning.
"Still, if we are able to learn enough about the Grimm, we could all finally put a stop to it! Now we know there's a queen of the Grimm!" Jaune pointed out. He pointed towards Salem.
"Don't point your finger at my Goddess, you wretch!" Tyrian shouted at the blond.
"Oh..uh, okay…" Jaune feebly replied.
"But…the rich can be so very self-absorbed." Lemieux said matter-of-factly, putting down the book.
"Okay. How can I help in this case?"
"You can't." the assistant said, surprising the audience. He hadn't spoken at all for a while.
"If he can't help, then why would the mayor ask for help?" Penny asked.
"Maybe that's just what the other guy thinks, Penny." Ruby answered.
"We need all our strengths, that's the point." The mayor replied back to his assistant as he went back to the desk. "We've gone over this."
"Violence is never right." The assistant emphatically declared.
"Ah. An idealist. The worst enemy of every pragmatist," Roman declared with a chuckle.
Neo silently asked him if that was what 'Red' was to them.
"Yep."
The mayor clasped his hands. "I agree with you…but it's not violence. It's the mere threat of violence."
"Like that's any better!" Ruby said.
"But it is. At least nobody gets hurt, they just get scared," Mercury said, earning an elbow from Emerald. He was meant to remain quiet.
"Oh how boring…" Tyrian quietly uttered to himself.
"Tell that to people who get extorted by criminals!" Ruby replied.
"Oh okay. Hey person who go-" Mercury said as he looked back from his seat. "Oh wait, there's nobody like that here!" he turned back and smugly smiled at Ruby's glowering face.
Arthur butted in the conversation. "Against who?"
Mayor Lemieux chuckled as he entered his seat. "Against Hector Fellowes' worse nature. Convince him to make good on his promise to help finance the library."
"That's all of the tasks? Convince two people to say some paintings are real and to finance a library?" Yang said.
"Of course that's it, Sunshine," Roman answered her. Yang glared at him for the nickname. "For now at least."
"What do you mean?" Weiss wanted Roman to elaborate.
"You turn people off immediately if you ask them to commit atrocious acts from the get-go. So you start by making them do more…um, palatable, things. Then you ease them into the more gruesome stuff."
Blake grimaced. Is that what Adam did to her? Ease her into the violence? She looked at the White Fang leader, who refused to pay attention and simply glowered at all the humans present.
"Who is here and where do I find him?" Arthur asked.
"He's a newspaper town and he's-"
"He's leaving town later tonight, on a coach. Heading to his country, because he doesn't like YOUR heavy-handed approach." the assistant interrupted the mayor, giving his superior a pointed look.
"Well," Arthur chuckled as he proceeded to leave. "He certainly won't like my heavy-handed approach…"
"The mere threat of violence…what a load of bull." Sun commented.
"He's gonna maim them, isn't he?" Neptune said.
"Yeah, maybe he'll waterboard them. Nearly drown them!' Sun remarked, laughing when Neptune glared at him.
"Not funny, dude."
"Thank you, Now Jean-Marc, perhaps you can take Mr. Arthur..." the mayor said. Arthur looked at him in alarm as he got up from his seat.
"Hmmm. So it appears that the mayor knew who he was. Makes sense seeing as he also knew that Morgan robbed him." Watts mused.
"His name is Arthur," Tyrian said, enjoying the annoyed face that the good doctor made.
"Oh, I mean Mr Tacitus, to meet little Professor Shitface and Mr Fellowes to have a word with him?"
"So that's the guy's name. John Mark." Nora said.
Yang chuckled. "Heh heh…Shitface."
The mayor patted the back of Arthur as he walked out the door. "Make sure to come back after both favors for a drink. Saint-Denis welcomes you like a son, sir. Bonne chance!"
"That means good luck in French." Chrono said before Nora asked him again.
Jean-Marc shook his head in disappointment as he led Arthur out of the estate. "So we are clear, I do not approve of this behaviour." He and the outlaw went on a carriage, and took the reins.
"It's okay. Neither do we dude!" Sun spoke out.
"Speak for yourself…" Roman uttered.
The ride to the gallery was mostly skimmed through, and was in silence, since Jean-Marc did not agree with going through with the action. A man walked out the gallery.
"There, Mr Arthur, there!" Jean-Marc pointed.
"What's his name again?"
"Shitface!"
"Professor Shiftacre." Arthur nodded and got off the carriage.
He proceeded to follow the man until he went into a secluded alley inside the buildings across the gallery.
"Man that Professor's an idiot," Mercury stated. "The guy's just behind him!"
"To be fair, who would expect a person behind them to be following them? Especially if it's only been like a minute?" Roman reasoned.
"I wouldn't. Neither would anyone else in this room."
Jaune shifted uncomfortably.
"That's because we're trained huntsmen or similar. The schmuck's just a civvie."
"Professor? Excuse me." Arthur adopted a relatively genial tone.
Shiftacre turned around. "Ah! Hello?"
"The mayor asked me to get a preview of your findings here." The outlaw steepled his hands, and used other hand gestures whilst speaking to assuage the professor in case he became paranoid and ran off.
It seemed to work. "The mayor knows very well what I found. Every painting was a brazen fraud."
"Once again…HOW? How does he know?"
Arthur pointed at the professor. "Now that's a big claim. One that's going to upset a lot of people. Me included."
"I'm afraid that's just hard cheese. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a train to catch back to New Haven."
Arthur's tone immediately became more menacing. "Hold on! I see it's gonna take more to convince you." The outlaw stepped towards Shiftacre and revealed his revolvers that were covered by his duster coat.
"What? Is he going to shoot him?" Yang exclaimed. She covered Ruby's eyes.
"YAAAANG!"
"Oh…oh, wait, wait! Don't shoot me." The professor got out, stumbling towards the ground. He held his arms in front of him.
The professor was lucky. The man threatening was not going to shoot him.
THUMP
"Oh. I guess he just showed it to scare the poor guy." Yang removed her hands from Ruby's face, who grumbled.
"I got to punch you more to change your mind?" Arthur said.
Shiftacre was now even more deathly afraid of the man in front of him. But not scared enough. "I couldn't! My reputation!"
THUMP
"Oof. A kick to the face like that has to be brutal." Roman commented.
"You gonna think of your reputation when your brain is jelly?"
"I...I…I'd never be published again!"
"Oh, Okay…maybe I'll just kill you then, make this all go away." Arthur stated, going forwards and grabbing the professor by the scruff of his coat.
The professor started to cry. "I relent! I relent!" He sobbed out.
"Humph, what a coward. It was clearly a bluff." Cinder bluntly pointed out.
"That's all it took? Two punches? Weak." Raven stated.
"Maybe Arthur just punches really, really hard." Cardin defended the professor.
"There you go! You see, professor? An academic reputation is really far less important than a broken nose." The outlaw lessened his grip on the man and let him go. He patted his shoulder.
"Y-yes sir…I-I, yes, I see that now."
"The thing is now, people are gonna look at those paintings and love them so you're helping people really."
"Sound logic." Yang concluded.
Blake snorted at her partner's sarcasm.
"I-"
"You know I'm right, professor. Now please…do not let me get upset with you again."
"No, n-n-no, sir. You're right. You're very, very, right."
"So you're gonna send the mayor what he needs?" Arthur asked.
"Erm..."
"Because otherwise…" Arthur held his hands forward and glared at the man. "I'll be in New Haven."
"No! No, we don't want that!"
"Of course we don't!" Arthur replied, his genial tone back. He grabbed the professor's arm and dragged him alongside.
"I-I'll write my paper this evening, sir!"
"Very good professor!" He threw Shiftacre towards a path away from where they were. "Very good!"
"This feels wrong…" Jaune stated.
"It's just a few books," Nora said, shrugging. "It's not like he broke his legs!"
"That's besides the point, Nora!"
Arthur returned back to Jean-Marc, who was beside the carriage, reading a newspaper.
Ah crap, that reminds me. Wasn't I reading one as well? Chrono looked at the seat next to him. Meh. I'll read it later. Not bothered right now.
"So," the outlaw began, "all those paintings were real afterwards! Problem solved."
"Wonderful. But was Professor Shiftacre happy to change his mind?"
"He wasn't initially, but he came 'round in the end."
Jean-Marc let out a sigh and looked downwards. "Oh my lord…this is not right."
"Welp. Turns out he chose the wrong guy to work for." Qrow remarked.
"Trust me, I've done much worse."
"Well shall burn in hell for this!"
"Here's hoping!"
After the mayor's assistant calmed down, he gathered his words and spoke again. "Unfortunately…you still have one task left to do," Jean-Marc continued, getting on the carriage. "Fellowes' coach is leaving right now, I saw it past here a few minutes ago. You'll see it at the north entrance. It is a red coach, and is probably on the road through the bayou as of now." Jean-Marc got some money out of his pocket. "And here."
"Why thank you."
"Tch. Mercenaries…" Weiss glared at the outlaw. He reminded her of the people who worked for security in the SDC. For her father.
Arthur whistled for his horse and got on when it arrived a few seconds later.
"My goodness, that horse is quick." Ozpin noted.
"Heh. Does that mean faunus also respond to whistles?" Cardin joked, earning sniggers from his teammates. He was about to actually try it, but glares from all the faunus in the room, and especially from Taurus, shut him up quickly.
The horse rode through the city and to the bayou, eventually finding the coach. It stood out with its color, despite it now being the dead of night. The outlaw on his horse went up to the coach.
"Stop the coach!"
"Who the heck are you?"
"Just hold it. I'm going in."
Surprisingly, the carriage driver complied with his commands. Arthur got off his horse and went into the coach. "Okay. Drive."
"That's it?! No questions asked?" Weiss all but shrieked out.
"Simpler era I guess…?" Pyrrha tried to reason.
Arthur took a seat and let out a breath of relief.
"What the hell do you want!" Hector Fellowes shouted at the cowboy.
"Wow…Hector must be pretty mad. He bellowed that out." Yang announced to the audience. Collective groans were heard throughout the audience. And some laughter.
"Goddammit Yang!"
"That was so bad…"
"Learn better jokes, Xiao-Long!"
"I thought we were past this phase!"
"I think my ears are bleeding…."
"That's pretty funny, Yang!"
Yang was not amused with the critical reception. "Okay! Sheesh! Fine, I get it. At least you appreciate it dad…"
"Mr Fellowes, ain't it? Charity, sir…and an appeal to your better nature."
"Let this be a lesson, children," Glynda spoke. "If a person tries to speak to you like that, be on guard."
"This is most impudent!"
"Oh no. It's not most impudent, trust me buddy. I can get a whole lot more impudent but this is a good cause for a wealthy man such as yourself. A chance to add some dignity to all that wealth!
"What does that mean?" Weiss asked. Winter felt the same.
"Of course the Schnee asks that." Adam Taurus finally spoke.
Both Schnee siblings glared at the man, who returned their venom in full.
"Dignity?!"
"By helping to finance the library in town, think of the prestige, sir."
Fellowes had enough. "Oh, get out of my carriage!"
"But the mayor-"
"The mayor? The mayor is a crook," the man spat.
Arthur went silent. "Me too…and I'm a REAL crook." He kicked open the door, and then grabbed Fellowes by the shoulders and held him outside the carriage. The only thing preventing the man from falling was the fact that Arthur held his tie.
"AHHHHHHH!"
"Oh I'm sorry, was that 'yes I'd like to finance the library for the common good'?" When he received no response, the outlaw loosened his grip on the tie.
"AH! AHHHHH!"
"No, I'm pretty sure it was 'AHHHHHHH!'" Nora screamed.
"Nora, you didn't have to scream just like the man…" Ren said, covering his ears.
"I know, but I wanted to."
Ren sighed.
"I didn't hear you!" His grip loosened even further.
"AHHHHHH!"
"What was that?"
"Please! Alright. Alright!" Hector Fellowes had relented.
Arthur grabbed the man into the carriage, by the tie.
"There! You see? That wasn't so difficult!" The outlaw stated. Fellowes didn't reply, massaging his neck.
"You know - they say it's better to give than receive, and I certainly know that's true in the case of a beating. Now the mayor awaits your check sir."
Arthur tapped the carriage, signalling it to stop. "DRIVER! HOLD UP!" When it did, he stepped out. "It's been a pleasure! I know there's a good man deep inside you, let him live a little more!"
He addressed the driver. "As you were! Drive on!"
After the carriage left, Arthur whistled for his horse and got on when it arrived. He proceeded to ride back to the city, somewhat brightened by the night lights.
"Well that's both tasks down." Ren stated.
"Nope. As I said earlier, now the actual task is coming. That's why he's headed back for that 'drink' the mayor offered," Roman announced, making the gesture of air quotes with his hands.
The screen cut back to the entrance of the mayor's manor. Arthur came into the scene as he climbed up the steps and knocked on the door. Lemieux opened the door, with a look of relief evident on his face.
"Oh Arthur, it's you. Come on!"
The outlaw asked the question on everybody's mind. "Where's what's-his-name?"
Lemieux scoffed. "Jean-Marc? He's, uh, a little histrionic." The mayor waved his hand dismissively, not towards Arthur, but just in general, whilst answering.
"Histrionic?" Ruby asked.
"It means a person has an overwhelming desire to be noticed, and therefore often behaves dramatically or inappropriately to get attention." Weiss stated the definition.
"Oh."
"Huh, since you left the military to spite your daddy, does that make you histrionic, Ice Queen?" Cardin joked.
"Y-you, you uncouth buffoon!" Weiss defended her sister, amidst a few snickers from others in the theatre.
"Alright, I was just kidding." Cardin said defensively, when most of the people from Beacon glared at him. "Sheesh. I don't know why you're laughing so much." He continued, now talking to Torchwick. "That eyeliner looks like a call for attention!"
"Wow, that was uncalled for…I'm so hurt." Roman dramatically said in response, and then rolled his eyes.
Arthur entered the manor as the mayor continued. "I'd offer drinks, but right now I'm worried that he's going to open his mouth and say things that aren't true to those vulgar puritans in the newspaper."
"Vulgar puritans…I'm definitely stealing that the next time someone tries to stop me from drinking." Qrow remarked.
Arthur stared at the man in silence.
"...well perhaps true, but not the whole truth." The mayor stated, giving the outlaw a knowing look.
"Ah…" Arthur nodded in understanding.
"Look at these books!" The mayor changed the subject, pointing towards the pile of them behind Arthur. "Magnificent! It will bring the city back to life if it kills me...and it probably shall." Lemieux picked up one of them.
"Yes.."
"Here. Please have it. It's worth quite a bit," Lemieux mentioned, giving the book to Arthur.
"Thank you."
"My pleasure."
The mayor allowed the outlaw to stash the book inside his satchel before continuing what he wanted to say.
"How did he fit that book into the satchel? It doesn't seem that large…" Pyrrha noted.
"Maybe it's his semblance! He can fit stuff into things!" Nora exclaimed.
"That would've been a useful semblance to have…" Roman, grumbled, lamenting at his lack of said ability [2].
"Listen, Mr Arthur...I'm sorry to ask this of you, you've done so much already, but-"
"But what?"
"Jean-Marc…I'm afraid that he's gonna open his mouth and say things." The mayor elaborated. "You know, he might say nasty things about the work that you and I have done, for example." He continued when the outlaw didn't respond.
"Is that my business?" Arthur asked.
"Oh no...no, of course not!" The mayor answered. "But…he also found some unsettling news about you."
"Oh Of course! There's always a but!" Ruby emphatically announced.
"I'm guessing it's the fact that he's part of an outlaw gang." Ren stated.
"It's all scurrilous lies of course but-" The mayor was interrupted again.
"What sort of news?"
Hook, line…Cinder thought.
"I do not talk about idle gossip. Please, I am a public servant, and we are friends!"
"Where do I find him?"
And Sinker. Cinder finished her thoughts, a smile creeping up her lips. It was always nice to see manipulation in play, even if it was from the face of the person she's trying to defeat.
"Well he does live over on Rue de Zacharie."
"Rue de Zacharie…" Arthur went outside the building, with the mayor opening the doors.
"Thank you Arthur!"
"Oh ho ho! Finally, we get to see some killing!" Tyrian happily stated.
"Ah…right…" Jaune said, nervously laughing. He didn't want to see the poor assistant get disposed of.
The scene changed to Jean-Marc whistling in the night as he went to his house. He was trying to unlock the door when Arthur appeared.
"Why you wanna go and say those awful things?" Arthur said abruptly, startling Jean-Marc. He did not hear the outlaw walk behind him.
"Straight to the point this time." Winter noted.
"It must be because his identity is under threat this time." Ironwood mentioned.
Jean-Marc's face turned pale when he looked behind and saw Arthur. He tried to run to the side of the house, but tripped over a plant.
"Horrible time to trip." Roman stated. "Oh well, he's screwed."
"Best not to make a big drama of things. Come on, let's go see your boss." Arthur declared as he walked up towards the man, before knocking him out with a single punch. He then proceeded to lift Jean-Marc up and carry him.
"So he's not gonna kill him? Why?" Jaune asked.
"Perhaps the mayor just wanted to scare him." Hazel stated.
Tyrian groaned at the lack of bloodshed. The near-deaths of Fellowes and Shiftacre were slightly amusing at first, but now the viewing was boring to him.
Arthur made his way back to the mayor's house. When he nearly made it to the entrance, a lawman appeared on a horse on the road.
"Oh, shit!" Sun exclaimed.
"That cop came out of nowhere!" Neptune added on.
"Yeah, I know right - a jumpscare? In this viewing?"
"What do you mean a jumpscare? That scared you?"
"Pfft! No…"
Arthur immediately went backwards on the path to avoid him, and waited until the lawman crossed the street. Afterwards, he carried Jean-Marc to the entrance of the manor.
"Wow. That was kind of nerve-wracking!" Pyrrha stated. The rest of her team nodded in agreement.
As Arthur made it to the door, it burst open, with the mayor behind it. The mayor motioned for the outlaw to follow him to the back. "Quick, Mr Arthur. Bring him around the back."
As they were walking, Lemieux made a comment. "Oh, Jean-Marc, Jean Marc...how I've missed you."
Hearing the somewhat devious and mocking tone of the mayor made most of the people from Beacon tense up. Hearing Ozpin like that sounds…wrong.
"What silly, silly men we have been." The mayor continued.
"Yeah! He had a fall! He might be a bit woozy…" Arthur sarcastically joined in.
"Oh, the poor boy. Jean-Marc, can you hear me?"
Coincidentally, Jean-Marc woke up at that moment. "Ugh...where am I? Lemieux! What have you done?" The assistant sounded dazed.
"You had an accident Jean-Marc. Thank the lord our friend was there to find you."
"And by accident, he means that Arthur's fist accidentally made contact with your face." Yang stated dryly.
"Not sure you are one to speak, Miss Xiao-Long. Did you not have an 'accident' at a night-club before the beginning of the school year?" Glynda Goodwitch stated, sternly looking at the blonde.
Yang had the decency to look sheepish. She didn't forget that it was Beacon who had to pay off the damages. [3]
"...Really? I don't remember so well."
"Oh, Jean-Marc. We had to save you from yourself. Don't you see?"
When they finally reached the back of the house. The mayor instructed Arthur to put him down. "Here."
As Jean-Marc hit the ground with a thud, the mayor began. "My brother, my brother…Jean-Marc. Well, we've been so…I promise to change."
As the Mayor was speaking, Arthur brought the assistant up from the ground and patted him on the back.
"That sounds just like what a person who won't change would say." Qrow snorted.
However, Jean-Marc believed him and proceeded to hug Lemieux. "I know."
The mayor reciprocated it. "What a silly, silly, misunderstanding. You see, the problem is that principles will destroy us all."
The 'good guys' of the cast narrowed their eyes at the mayor's remark. Ozpin himself frowned at what his lookalike was saying.
Raven was chuckling and looked towards the headmaster. "Looks like this version of you is saying the quiet part out loud!"
"Can you stop trying to act like Ozpin is some manipulative bastard?" Qrow growled.
"Yeah! If anything, the fact that YOU of all people think he is, makes me think he's a great person. I'm glad to have him as my teacher." Ruby said, being fully aware of how Raven left Yang.
All of the Beacon Students nodded their heads in agreement.
Raven let the subject be dropped with a roll of her eyes.
Arthur butted in. "Sure, as long as you two are friends, again."
"Yes, and you say you've changed, so we will run this city like men of honor like you said." Jean-Marc stated, pointing at the mayor.
"Of course…of course…" The mayor claimed. "We will strive to improve the city's moral backbone by any means available to us."
"Within reason, yes."
"Yes, yes…within MY reason, because I'm the mayor Jean-Marc, and I will save you from yourself. Because it's better to get something done than nothing at all, like you said."
Jean-Marc was mortified. "Utterly, utterly corrupted, Lemieux. You've not changed at all." He shook his head and pointed to Arthur. "I've been supplanted in your esteem by a wanted murderer! You..you shame me!"
"That's why you don't trust politicians, kids!" Roman snarked. "They're just legalised crooks."
"That's not true…they wouldn't do things like that…would they?" Ruby asked, her voice getting quieter and quieter.
"I'm afraid so, pipsqueak…" Qrow replied.
Ruby's stomach dropped. As did Jaune's, since he held a similar worldview to her. People like Lemieux were public servants, they weren't meant to be corrupted!
Pyrrha grimaced at what the mayor said. She had seen similar things back in Mistral, with politicians trying to curry favor with her due to her status. Some even tried to threaten her family. Weiss felt the same way.
Ren and Nora were no strangers to living rough lives due to being orphans, so the idea of a mayor being a crook was not really shocking to them. It was still uncomfortable seeing the man have Ozpin's face though.
Blake was furious at the man. It was the corrupt politicians like him that made faunus' lives horrible, perhaps even more so than the SDC. They were the ones who implemented policies that were disastrous in the first place, and let the SDC run rampant.
Yang didn't have much of an opinion. It was unsettling to see her headmaster say things like that, but she was also aware that it was his actor technically saying that stuff. It's just a show, she thought. It's not like Ozpin thinks like that in real life, right?
In response, the mayor chuckled.
Hearing Ozpin technically chuckle like that made many of the teachers and students uneasy.
"No sir…you shame me, with your vain naivety." The mayor spat out with so much venom in his voice. "Oh how I long for the luxury to have principles such as you," he sneered, "but I must actually do things!"
Jean-Marc was lost for words.
So were many of the huntsmen and huntresses in training.
"Is..is that true?" Ruby asked.
"What do you mean?" Yang questioned her little sister.
"He said that principles prevent him from doing things…does that mean we wouldn't be able to do things like save people then?" Ruby elaborated. She looked lost.
Cinder looked at them and smiled. It seems that this viewing is doing my job for me. The next generation seems to be losing faith in the old man.
However, Weiss interjected. "Don't think too hard about it, Ruby. That's just the justification that people use so they can sleep at night when they do crooked things."
Blake nodded in agreement.
The mayor walked up the stairs to his manor. "Now, Mr Arthur. I'm afraid you must kill him. I'll pay you handsomely."
The assistant's eyes went wide as he looked at the outlaw.
"Jean-Marc…I will miss you. I really shall." And with that the mayor entered the manor and closed the door.
Arthur got his gun out.
"Yo-y-you're not really gonna kill me, are you?"
"Nah, he's just getting his gun out for dramatic effect." Mercury drawled.
"Sorry pal."
"But all I wanted was to run this city honorably! To make it a better place! To do my duty!"
"Yeah but you're running your mouth about me, buddy." Arthur replied, pointing at the assistant.
"That's it?" Blake bristled. "He wants to help people and you'll kill him simply because he'll talk?"
"Duh." Roman said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He doesn't want to get caught."
"And you think Lemieux won't? He'll betray you just like he betrayed me! Lemieux is a foul rat!"
Arthur pointed his gun at the man, but struggled to shoot. He remembered what his mentor, Dutch Van Der Linde said. [4]
'You know, son…Is idealism not the goal we should all strive toward? If everyone was like us, living free, then idealism would be the most pragmatic of practices. But because people have allowed corrupt government men in high places, America has become designed to induce apathy in people.'
Where are you going with this, Dutch?'
'Where I'm going with this, son, is that we should be apathetic NO LONGER!'
"Wow. That's a pretty profound quote. And you should all remember, students." Ozpin stated.
And just like that, Ruby, and the others felt less conflicted and smiled. Whilst the mayor may look like him, Ozpin is different.
Arthur put the gun. "I may be a brute, but I'm no paid killer. Get out of here boy!"
Jean-Marc looked at the outlaw in surprise, and then ran away. "Th-Thank you, sir! You're a good man! I won't tell the law about you!"
Arthur watched the man run away, and then sighed. "I hope I haven't made a big mistake…"
The screen went black.
It was relieving for the students and teachers alike to see Arthur not kill the man, even more so knowing that they knew his reasoning.
"I really thought he would kill the poor guy." Pyrrha uttered.
"I guess even criminals and killers have a conscience." Weiss remarked.
"That guy was stupid. He's gonna backstab him." Roman stated. "You never leave a witness alive."
"So he should have just taken the pragmatic approach then?" Ruby asked, glaring at the man.
"That's the way the world works, Red." he replied. "People suck."
"That's only because of people like you!" Ruby rebutted.
Roman rolled his eyes at her response.
Meanwhile, the faunus were having an argument.
"As much as I hate humans like him, that mayor is correct," Adam stated. "Principles have no place in war. We need to do what we do to win."
"Quit lying to yourself! We've seen your operations" Sun argued back. "This is no war! You just want to kill all humans!"
Adam's raged peaked. "So what? They deserve it!"
The argument got worse from there.
Ironwood was mostly thinking to himself. He knew that his semblance, mettle, sometimes made him ultra pragmatic. Seeing Ozpin be the same was unnerving. Am I like that? He thought. While he wanted to keep Atlas safe, he didn't want to resort to such methods like that.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Winter asked, noting the concern on his face.
"No, Winter…I'm just thinking."
The twins were once again arguing.
"Quit with your bullshit, Ray." Qrow claimed. "You're just antagonising Oz since you're too much of a coward to run away."
Raven bristled. Qrow didn't know if it was due to the nickname, or the insinuation. "I 'ran' away to return to the family. Something you never did, traitor."
"The 'family' is a bunch of killers!"
"And you just joined another one! One who's willing to throw lives away at a pointless conflict!"
Salem's group mostly remained quiet, just observing the behaviour of the others. The only one who was making noise was Tyrian, who was grumbling about the lack of bloodshed.
Finally, Ozpin was pondering about the viewing as well. He had accepted that Lemieux had his face, and understood the implications. But I must actually do things! Ozpin sighed. He had those thoughts every once in a lifetime as well. The interesting part for him was Jean-Marc himself however. So he got to live, and offered to not tell anyone of Arthur. Could he be on the path to pragmatism? I hope not, we already have too many of them, and not enough idealists...
Chrono interrupted them after a few minutes.
"Alright! Next one's ready!"
And that's it for RDR2, at least for now. I may revisit the game at a later time. I originally chose Jacques Schnee to be Henri Lemieux because I felt that having the immoral businessman in the show would fit. But then, I thought that it would be more interesting to have Ozpin portray the character. This was because I replayed the mission a few days ago and I actually ended up liking Lemieux despite his corruption. I felt as if he had to do what he had to do to help the city, despite it being dishonorable.
I don't know, I guess it just felt like Ozpin to me. It also helped that Ozpin is in the theater, and not Jacques - which I thought would make the reactions more interesting. Especially in regards to Ozpin's group and others who are aware of his secrecy.
I also made the descriptions as bare-bones as possible (at least I think I did). I thought that it was a good choice to make it as easy as possible for you guys to read it. To compensate for the lack of description, I decided to make the cast contemplate what they watched and how it related to them, since um…isn't that the point of a reaction? To not just see their reactions, but how and what they learnt from it? I dunno, I'm just guessing here.
I might change it up for the next chapter, though. Have more descriptions.
Anyways, to reiterate, I am always open to feedback and more suggestions.
[1] - Arthur in this viewing has relatively short hair. His facial hair level is 4, and his hair trimmed down to a 1.
[2] - It's like the semblance that Fiona, the sheep faunus that's part of the Happy Huntresses have. That same semblance was originally meant to be Roman's - according to a source I saw a while back.
[3] - The Yellow Trailer kind of shows a problem I had with RWBY, especially in the early volumes. The show seemed to focus on the rule of cool to the detriment of the characters. The entire trailer made Yang look like a psychopath with anger issues. Yeah the fight scenes were cool and she beat up a bunch of people in a bar, but for what? Because you asked them for information and they had none? Not to mention she instigated it. At the same time, the show made it look like Ozpin didn't mind that Yang (and Ruby) could be excused from not obeying the law, since they were going to become his students. This is where the 'Ozpin is manipulative' angle comes from. I have a headcanon that Ozpin protected her from any consequences of destroying property - just like he did with Ruby (which was implied in the pilot). That being said, him being manipulative is not a BAD thing (he's not evil and worse than Salem of course), but it does mean I have a bit of a problem with people trying to act like he's not morally gray at all. That being said, I watched the show before the trailers (thankfully - the trailers are worse in my opinion) - so I still like Yang.
[4] - I added the quote to show the reasoning as to why Arthur spared Jean-Marc. I spared him in my playthrough, since I wanted to go high honor. It's not a quote that Dutch said outright - but Arthur alluded to part of it in the mission "Help a Brother Out" where tells Brother Dorkins that his mentor 'told him that America is designed to induce apathy in people.' I got the idea for the quote from a random reddit post as well.
AND NOW TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS/SUGGESTIONS FROM REVIEWS:
The Hat of the Hats: I might do that in later chapters. I plan to have to react to other universes first, and then I might include a story element where the characters want to go home, but Chrono (having to do his job), convinces them to stay by having them watch their future selves, or actual alternate timelines (basically other fanfics - if people want to suggest their own). So yeah, I might have them to react to other moments, but probably out of context just to mess with them.
Egus235: I'll have to watch the Overwatch short since I've never seen it. I might do it if I find it good. Since I just did RDR2 and it had Arthur as himself, I probably won't do it. And I am in fact doing no Russian in the next chapter!
Cruz7808: Thanks for all the suggestions! Out of them, I may do a scene from Spectacular Spider-Man. If I do that, I might have to make Jaune be Peter Parker since I can't think of any other guy fitting in that description. A dork who becomes a hero? Jaune's the perfect guy.
Imperial Romance: Thanks for telling me about the episode. It'll help a lot if I choose to do it. I might have to shorten it a bit so it's not overly long though, if you don't mind.
Animan10: If you can send over your transcript I can very much do this reaction! However, since I don't know the lore or backstory, I'll have to watch/play the game? It would help so much, though. Thanks for the offer.
NinjaAssassinM: I could very well do that. However, the Marineford arc is so long and features so many characters that it'll be hard to do. I might have to do a One Piece reaction from an earlier time.
See you guys next time!
NEXT CHAPTER: No Russian