There was complete silence in Scarlatti's office.
"I can't believe this. How could I have been so easily duped?!" Garnet spoke to no one in particular. She took the signed photo of Pyrrha Nikos and put it back into the safe before sighing heavily.
"So, uh, Ms. Scarlatti..." the guard began. "What are we to do about this?"
She turned back to him. "I'm calling for a town meeting immediately. We need to recruit the biggest squad possible to take that phony and her friends down!"
The scene transitioned to a bell being rung. The camera zoomed in on a bell tower nearby the old-new border, where the modern part of the city and the older part of the city met. A few feet from the bell tower was a lush green area with a wooden stage. On the wooden stage was a podium and a blue curtain to hide the presenting speaker behind. As Garnet's huntsmen guards set up chairs in the park for people to sit in, the huntress was on the lookout for suspicious people and activity.
Elsewhere, the guard was driving a horse carriage to tell everyone about the meeting.
"Town meeting!" he examined. "Town meeting! Town meeting tonight! Prospect Garden!"
Edom came out of his house with Gliss in his arms as he heard this. "A town meeting?"
Gliss looked at him fearfully. "What's this about?"
"I don't know," he answered. "but I have a bad feeling about this."
"Town meeting tonight!" could still faintly be heard.
The former business owner set his daughter down on her feet and held her hand as they made their way to Prospect Garden. By the time they did, there were already hundreds, if not thousands of people sitting or standing and waiting for their leader. Since all the chairs had been taken by the time they got there, Edom lifted Gliss so that she could sit atop his shoulders. Gliss looked around to see Scarlatti, but did not find her anywhere in sight.
"Where's Mayor Meanie-face?" Gliss asked her father in a whisper.
"I don't know. She's probably still getting ready."
The crowd zoomed out, showing them on the left side facing the stage.
Meanwhile in Vale, an unconscious Glydna was shown lying in a hospital bed with a white sheet draped over her. A worried Qrow sat by her side on a chair.
Should I leave her? he asked herself. She might recover if I left her. I know I'm a bad luck charm, but I have a bad feeling that whatever happened here wasn't merely the result of stress and fatigue from endless toiling. I know I need to find Ruby, but I need to know the truth. I need to be sure she's okay... Come on, Glydna... Please... wake up... He stood up, took a few steps back and went to the window. Qrow looked at himself in the dark tinted glass. If only I could have been here sooner. No matter what I do, I'm failing everyone. I'm failing Tai, I'm failing Yang, I'm failing Ruby and team JNPR, and even...
A groan was heard and Glydna began to stir from her slumber. Qrow dashed back to her with relief. "Glydna! Thank goodness!"
"Oh... My head..." She looked at her comrade with a look of surprise. "Qrow, what are you doing here?"
A flashback began to show over Qrow's answer. Qrow was shown in bird form flying over the city. From the ground, he saw Glydna stumbling around, a purple slash mark visible on her stomach. She put her arm to a nearby wall ruin to steady herself, only to fall unconscious. Qrow flew down and turned back to human form. He was shown running through the streets with Glydna in his arms.
"I was on my way to find Ruby, but when I saw you fall unconscious, I had to do something. You looked injured, and I didn't think it was a mere injury. I dashed down and dragged you to Everbright hospital as fast as I could. I waited for what felt like an eternity- but in reality was only an hour and thirty minutes. According to what the doctors told me, they found venom in your veins. They drained it and said you were lucky to have lived that long with all the stress on your body. You can't overexert yourself Glydna."
"But aren't you doing the same?" Glydna folded her arms as she struck a nerve in Qrow. "Spreading yourself too thin? Trying to do everything but it's never enough?"
The unlucky huntsman sighed. "You're right. It seems we're both guilty of this. But you need to rest, even if be only for a day or two."
She yielded with a deep sigh. "Fine."
"Also, while I'm here, I have a few questions for you. First off, have you seen Ruby and team JNPR?"
"I did, I saw them here a few weeks ago. They had saved the city from burning down to the ground and caught the man responsible for the arson; Charles Mustard."
Qrow looked at her like she had two heads. "Really? Why him, of all people?"
"He lost his sanity since the Fall of Beacon and was slowly swallowed by rage. He blamed Pyrrha for Penny's demise and the state of affairs we're in. On New Year's, the five caught him and decided to take him to the nearest prison in Sumire. Assuming they didn't change their minds and decided to execute him that is."
He stayed silent for a moment. "Alright. Second- how did you get poisoned?"
"Honestly, I don't know."
"Ok, third- what was the last thing you remember before falling unconscious?"
Glydna thought to herself. "Hmm... I saw a man. He had pale skin, gold eyes and brown hair in a braid. Other than that, I don't recall much else of his appearance. He asked me where Ruby was and in my tired haze, I told him Sumire. I dozed off for a moment and felt a sting in the gut. I had no idea what it was."
Qrow looked back at the list of descriptions of the scorpion man that Yang gave to him before his departure. "He was here!"
She looked at him wearily. "Who?"
"The scorpion man. The same guy who interrogated Yang and is after Ruby! I have to get to Sumire, and fast. I just hope that he hasn't gotten there first."
Unfortunately, they had no idea how wrong they were. Said scorpion man was well past the ruins of Sumire, and in the modern part of Aquarian. Tyrian was shown looking at a wanted poster of Pyrrha as the bell continued to ring.
He asked the nearest person, "Where's that sound coming from?"
"Mayor Scarlatti is having a town meeting in the Prospect Garden." answered a man. "We better get going then."
The scorpion raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think that I would waste my time there?"
"You must. Everyone who is able to attend must go. Come now, lest you wish to be interrogated by police officers to no end."
Tyrian internally groaned. This is probably a waste of my time, but if I leave, I'll look suspicious. He sighed silently. Looks like I have to play along.
Eventually, after walking for who knows how long, he entered the crowd, right side facing the stage. Shortly after he arrived, Garnet stepped onto the stage and went towards the podium in the stage's center. She pressed her index finger to the mic, testing it.
"Testing, testing. Testing, one, two, three. Alright." She cleared her throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice. Normally I would not do such things, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I have recently discovered some shocking and terrifying news. Just last night, I ran into a woman named Rouge Gorlois. At first glance, she seemed like a nice woman, a bonafide huntress, someone worthy of good fortune. But just less than an hour ago, upon further examination, I realized that not everything was what it seemed to be. I realized that she is actually a liar because Rouge Gorlois is none other than the 'Metalbending Murderess', Pyrrha Nikos."
The crowd gasped in horror. Then they started to murmur amongst themselves. Gliss was too terrified to gasp or say anything, but for a different reason. Edom looked on somberly, but no one noticed their expressions nor cared enough to say anything. Tyrian was not fazed.
"I know. It hurts me to realize and admit that all of us have been deceived. At first, I didn't want to believe it, but when the light came in, the truth was revealed. Rouge Gorlois, aka Pyrrha Nikos, pulled the wool over all our eyes and got away with it! Just as she got away with murder! And I'm afraid it only gets worse from there. As Pyrrha continues her villainous ways, she is not traveling alone. She is accompanied by four other semi-pro huntsmen and huntresses. Three of them are her teammates, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. The last one is the leader of what was once team RWBY, a girl named Ruby Rose. These four are in accomplice with the murderess and are bringing terror and misfortune to all as they continue their travels.
"Which is why I'm having this town meeting today. It is clear now that our efforts to stop Pyrrha have not been enough. Therefore, I am asking those brave enough and willing to fight for justice to pursue a very difficult mission. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find Pyrrha Nikos and her friends. Once you do, you must slay the 'Metalbending Murderess' and bring her head back here as proof that she has been slayed." Gliss gulped in fear as Edom stood there, frozen in fear. "As for her friends, they must be brought down by any means necessary. And one more thing I should mention; because stopping Pyrrha Nikos has never been more important, I'm increasing the bounty on her head. Whoever succeeds in slaying the 'Metalbending Murderess' will be rewarded 50,000 Lien."
The crowd roared and cheered in approval. Gliss began to feel sick as Edom was further swallowed by dread. Tyrian was intrigued.
Hmm. Maybe this meeting wasn't a waste of time after all... the scorpion faunus thought to himself.
"For this task, I am asking that we have at least ten hunters or other skilled combatants be our core members of this squad. Noncombatants who wish to learn how to fight may also join, if you feel brave enough and are willing to take risks. With this in mind, who will join the hunt to set things right?"
"We will." a man spoke.
A group of four huntsmen stood up from the chairs. The first one was a man with pale skin, hazel eyes and curly shoulder-length black hair. He wore gold pants with an open loose-collared gold jacket with no shirt underneath, showing off a six pack. He also wore golden cuff bracelets on each wrist, a long golden necklace with a lotus charm on the end and a red eye gem on his forehead.
The second one had pale skin, green eyes and long red curly hair. He also had a long well-kept beard and mustache. He was very strong and muscular- easily the strongest member of his team. He wore black pants with fur-lined combat boots along with a white sleeveless top with red linings underneath the shoulders. He also wore a grey hood over his head, but not enough to conceal his face.
The third one had gorgeously tanned skin, golden blond hair perfectly in place and beautiful blue eyes. He wore a Greek gold robe with a shoulder strap on his right, exposing part of his toned chest along with a laurel wreath on his head. On his back was a golden colored bow and a quiver full of arrows. He was very handsome, smiling with perfectly white teeth.
And the fourth one was a tall man with tanned skin, and brown eyes with hints of gold. He was bald, but not many people noticed because he wore a khepresh on his head. The khepresh was gold and had blue and had red feathers to it. On the side of the headdress were small hieroglyphs for the words 'A'max' and 'Ha-di'. He wore golden Egyptian battle armor and leather sandals.
"Ah, and who might you be?" Garnet asked.
"We are team SOLR (Solar) of Haven Academy." He pointed to one of his teammates, starting with the second. "Orville Odur." Then the third. "Apollo Legolas." Then the fourth one. "Atum Ra." And finally, he introduced himself as he put his hand to his chest. "Surya Arun." He set his hands down. "Unlike Rouge Gorlois, who claims to be a Haven academy graduate, we are actually bonafide huntsmen who actually graduated last year. And if you don't believe us, look at the footage of the last Vytal Festival Tournament. Believe it or not, Orville and Apollo actually fought against Nora and Pyrrha in the doubles round of said tournament."
"But make no mistake. This is not about revenge." Orville spoke. "It is about setting things right. When we fought against Pyrrha and her aid, we never could have guessed in a million years that they, along with the other three people Garnet mentioned, were criminals in the making."
A moment of silence passed before Garnet said, "Well, we are happy to see you join. Come, join me here on the stage." The four huntsmen walked up to the stage and faced the audience with neutral looks on their faces. "Anyone else?"
A random man stood up and made his way to the stage, all eyes on him. "I do not know the first thing about fighting. But I am willing to learn if that's what it takes to stop Pyrrha Nikos."
Soon other civilians, both men and women, volunteered and made their way towards the stage.
"I will join you."
"So will I."
"Count me in."
"Sign me up."
"I'll join!"
"I will stop her!"
"We'll join." a male police officer with a female officer by his side.
"So will we." three former soldiers spoke.
As more and more people made their way to the stage, Tyrian mused to himself, Hmm... If Ruby is with team JNPR, perhaps I can use this to my advantage.
Team SOLR and others were standing on the stage, with Garnet at the podium and her bodyguards to the left and the volunteers on the right.
"Is there anyone else out there? Preferably combat ready?"
Tyrian slowly made his way to the stage and smirked. "I will join you."
"Hmm... You don't look like an officer, or huntsman or even a soldier." Garnet noted.
"I know looks may be deceiving, but I am ready. I was trained to fight outside the academies. I am very much capable of fighting these semi-pro huntsmen and huntresses. If I had to, I could take on the real deal."
"Well then, thanks for devoting yourself to our cause and welcome aboard." Tyrian took his place next to team SOLR with a neutral expression on his face. Garnet turned to face the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, give thanks and praise for our heroes!"
Tyrian smirked wickedly as the crowd cheered and clapped for them. Gliss and Edom were scared to no end.
Oh no... Pyrrha, wherever you are, you better be careful! Gliss silently preyed.
"I officially declare this town meeting adjourned." Garnet declared. "Those of you who volunteered to stop Pyrrha Nikos and her friends, come with me."
Garnet left the podium, and her bodyguards followed. The volunteers left in tow with the civilians in the front and the combatants in the back, with team SOLR and Tyrian in the very back. Scarlatti's Trojan Alliance group walked off the stage and went into the modern part of the city. As they left, the crowd began to disperse.
"Oh no... Mr. Green isn't going to like hearing this." Gliss whispered.
Edom lamented in agreement. "No, he won't."
As the crowd slowly waned, Edom and Gliss found themselves alone in more ways than one.
Later on, Watts sat in deserted corner of a bar, checking his list of targets. He crossed off Ash Lynch and Amethyst Kreiss from the list. The scene switched to him making an updated list of targets.
The list now read as follows;
Cowan, Dove (still on paternity leave)
Durham, Azura (still looking for Maura who's already been caught)
Griffin, Blanka (team CUBB, caught Maura with teammates, presenting in her trial, hold off on killing for a while)
Griffin, Carmina (see Blanka)
Hunt, Terra
Li, Midori
Lunsford, Harkin (was looking for Maura, confirmed dead by Salem)
Nash, Inigo
Page, Orion
Rivas, Aoi (still MIA, not relevant target)
Rhodes, Cascade
Shields, Heather (see Azura)
Silver, Stark (Solo Vytal Festival Tournament Champion in 59 AGW, still active)
Vaccaro, Farrow (see Azura)
Wan, Shiro (returned back home)
Yu, Lotus
Watts left the building and began to muse to himself. Who do I go after next?
"So let me get this straight-" Mercury began, as he, Emerald and Cinder were shown standing in the meeting room of Salem's castle. "You want me, Emerald and Cinder to watch over this comatose woman?"
"That is correct." Salem spoke as she sat on her throne. A comatose Sienna Khan levitating a few inches off the ground was in front of her. "You will take eight hour shifts. I will leave it to you to decide the guard order."
The view shifted back to her three remaining agents.
"Okay, but... why are we doing this? If she's comatose, wouldn't it be more convenient to just leave her be?" Emerald asked.
"I have never purposely kept anyone in a coma before, and this could go wrong. I just need her to stay like this until the Revolutionists win the Mistralian White Fang Civil War."
Mercury, who looked annoyed, "Wouldn't it just be easier to kill her?"
"You are not to kill, injure or defile her in any way. This is the High Leader of the White Fang. She has an important role to fulfill in the war's aftermath." She put a black blindfold over Sienna's eyes. "Maura's trial is scheduled to occur in nearly two weeks. Assuming they find her guilty, she should be executed the following day. Word will spread immediately in Mistral's city, but it will take a bit longer to reach every corner of the kingdom. Ideally, Sienna should only wake up when everything she has tried to maintain has crumbled. If she wakes up, restrain her and then inform me. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'm."
Emerald nodded. "Crystal clear, ma'm."
"Cinder, nod your head slowly if you understand." She did so. "Good. I will leave you to it."
The scene transitioned to Cinder, Emerald and Mercury standing in the hallway. Mercury held the comatose leader in his arms.
"I know I wanted to do something, but I was hoping for something more exciting or blood-pumping. Note to self- be more specific."
Emerald smirked. "Note from self- you don't say?"
"Can we set her down? My arms are getting tired." He took her to an empty bedroom and set her down on the unmade bed. "So how do we set watchdog order?"
"Nose goes?" Emerald touched her nose and so did Cinder. Mercury groaned as he was too late. "Rock, paper scissors for who goes second?" Cinder nodded. They set out their hands and after a few seconds, Emerald made paper and Cinder made scissors. She smiled as she 'snipped' the paper. "Alright. Mercury first, me second and Cinder last."
He set an eight-hour timer and pressed start. The two ladies walked away and went down the hall to their respective rooms, Cinder grimacing as she went along.
I don't understand. Cinder silently complained. Wanting to keep Ruby alive, aiding other members of the White Fang. Why is she doing this?
"Cinder? Is something wrong?" Emerald asked. Cinder gave no response. "Cinder?" Cinder walked away, slamming her door, leaving a worried Emerald without answers.
On the other side of the room, Cinder silently sighed.
Even if I could speak normally, it's not like I can just tell her about my secret research. For my own sake, I can't let anyone know.
She walked over to her nightstand with a round shaped humidifier. She screwed the top off, set it aside, and grabbed a pitcher already filled with water from her bathroom.
As she poured the water into the humidifier, she thought to herself, I suppose being forced to rest my vocal chords does have a few advantages. No one can question me because no one can get an answer. She screwed the lid of the humidifier back on, locking it in place. But the sooner I can get my voice back, the sooner I can tell Watts to shut up. She pressed the on button, and steam spewed out.
The silent maiden sat on her bed, her arms folded. I still don't get it. If Ruby's so dangerous to the Grimm, and to me, why keep her alive? It would be easier to kill her. Hazel said that they've been dealt with before, meaning that he had to have killed one of them. So why keep her alive? Her thoughts turned to Salem. What does she hope to gain?
In the lowest level of the Catacombs Correctional Facility, there was no light. It was pitch black throughout the entire floor. No light was ever seen unless the guards were patrolling the halls or dropping off food and water for the prisoners. The darkness, along with not knowing if it was day or night, was enough to drive most prisoners insane. Maura Celandine, who had been here for a few days now, was not one of them. Being a faunus did have its advantages, but even through the darkness she could see, it did not make her feel any better.
She looked around her cell. Her cell was made of stone walls and the bars made of iron. The cell had a wooden plank suspended by chains to form a bench, a small bed in the upper left corner with only a single pillow and sheet, and in the upper right corner, a few dark red curtains that had a bathtub and toilet behind them. On the left side of the wall near her bed, she had a tally chart of how many days she had been there. There were five marks on here.
Five days. Five lonely, cold, days in the lowest level of the Catacombs. Of all the places to take me, why did it have to be this one? There's four other places they could have taken me to. Why here?
The Mistralian White Fang leader looked around her cell. No one was around her. She softly asked aloud, "And why me?"