Chapter 45
And, for the second time in half as many months, Aldric found himself laid up in the hospital. This time, however, instead of sterile white lights and walls and the droning sound of medical equipment beeping, he was lit up by warm candle light and the rooms, aside from near constant checks by doctors, nurses, and technicians, were all silent. Whether it was his real name or not, his new 'best friend' from the underworld, Doctor Deer, was giving him an exasperated look. One that was halfway between 'I literally knew this was going to happen', and 'you dumb bastard.' Ozpin's apparently telekinetic numbing trick had worn off awhile before he'd arrived here, and Deer was voicing an intense desire to stop wasting painkillers, since Aldric was clearly a fucking sadist. It was, in Deer's professional opinion, the only possible reason he seemed to so often pursue things that would cause him such great pain.
On the man's second visit of the day, Aldric decided it was in his best interests to neglect to tell the Doctor that he was technically dating a sociopath. He figured it wouldn't help him overmuch.
"Kid, I wasn't kidding when I said I'd demand you put me on retainer if this happened again."
"You know what, Deer -"
"What, Sadist?"
Aldric stalled, then sighed. "Thanks for the help."
Deer seemed surprised at that, but eventually shook his head. "Stop trying to die, alright?" He asked, "stories 'bout you made it down to the Garden, you know." He said, getting out of his chair and adjusting the drip rate in Aldric's IV. "You've got people who take coin for lives looking up to you."
"Oh, wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence."
Deer grunted, taking a step back. "The prosthetist is going to need a little while longer to make that arm you wanted him to. We were shielded for the most part from the sun bomb, but down there we're on emergency power until we can start siphoning off from the city again, so he's working on daily power rations. Only gets a few hours per day."
Aldric nodded, "once they're done, I'd like 'em both delivered. Turns out I'll need the backup just as imminently."
"Hm." Deer acknowledged, "kid's doing fine, by the way."
"Ki - oh." He nodded; he'd been worried about Jaune after the thought had occurred to him that his new lung might not still be working after getting nuked. "Thanks." Turns out he was right, but had also been worrying for nothing: A human can, apparently, function well enough with only one lung; and apparently Jaune was pretty high on the list of 'get their cybernetics working again!'. He'd gotten another new one just this morning, and was still out cold from the surgery.
Another grunt from Deer, as Aldric leaned back into his pillow, closing his eyes. "Ah. Well. I'll leave you two to it, then."
Aldric opened his eyes again, "two?" He leaned back up.
Aldric had expected to see pretty much anyone, except who he got. Cinder, Ozpin, Taurus again, any of RWBY, GEMS, or JNPR. Hell, he'd been ready for a terran to show up.
But he hadn't been prepared for Neo to be there, leaning in the doorway, in her Yuno disguise, smirking like a madwoman.
"Doctor, no, wait - what's your stance on euthanasia?!"
"One glass."
"Deal!"
"What's that?" Said a grinning Deer, as he left the room, sticking his pinkie in his ear. "I'm an old man, you know. Speak up, kid." He hollered, leaving the room.
Neo nodded to Deer as he left, her blood red hair shifting across her shoulders as she let the Doctor pass. Once left alone, she turned back to Aldric, another teasing grin on her face, before she sauntered inside, closing the door behind her and grabbing a chair, sliding it across the ground, until she was next to his bed. She had a scroll in hand, one with power, despite the powerless state of everything around her. The soft white glow of the scroll cast a great contrast to the warm orange light of the candles and flames around them.
Where Aldric was preparing himself for a lot of reading, the mute surprised him when her phone spoke up. "Okay, 'Ash'. I'm starting to think you're trying to hard to die because you don't want me." She said in a cybernetic, computerized voice, while giving him a coy grin.
"Day we met you stabbed the shit out of me." Aldric deadpanned.
"Well, you broke my leg." Was her counter.
"After you stabbed the shit out of me."
She nodded to the side. "Alright, fine." She huffed, "It's only a matter of time regardless." She said, "won't be too long before we have more than an hour or two at a time."
Aldric frowned, though through the bruises and bandages on his face it was hard to tell. After a moment, though, her meaning dawned on him. "You're telling me she's seriously going forward with the Vytal thing." He grunted, "picked you up for it."
"I shared your sentiments. I don't quite think two whole worlds would just forget an interglobal war, but you know how she is with anyone... Pretty much but you asking her questions." Neo responded, "and you may be surprised to hear she was actually kind of proud of your stunts. Got a little worried when she heard you and that big-tittied-blonde got abducted, but that cleared up once news started trickling down that you came back about as soon as you'd left."
Aldric nodded, knowing where she was going with. "But the big hoss didn't quite throw those suspicions away so fast."
"Mhm." She nodded, "by the way, he wasn't kidding: If you haven't at least learned a few signs by the next time we run into eachother, I'll be a little mad." She pinched her gloved fingers close together, "but regardless: He pieced it together pretty fast. You make contact with your people for several hours, come back and kill a bunch, then we get hit with that sun bomb and the war's over, and you're gone again?" She shook her head, "you're her weakness, Ash, but not his. The question I'm most curious about is whether or not the Headmaster is suspicious."
"It suddenly occurs to me that I could be high and hallucinating all of this."
"Wouldn't I be naked, then?"
"God no." Aldric grinned despite himself.
"Ah, I think I would." She waved it off, "regardless, I'm surprised you actually spent your time under sedation."
Aldric blinked, her words requiring a few moments to register. And I've no sooner stopped fighting than am I back to this shit. Aldric let out a long sigh. "Sure you want to play that game, Neo?" He rumbled, lowly.
Neo's grin turned into something Aldric would expect out of a slasher movie, somehow managing to combine pure innocence with unbridled malevolence. She hit a button on her phone, typed some more words into it, then turned it around.
You warn me, yet look at what you yourself do. No sooner did you form your 'Watchmen' than did you turn right around and do... Something, to obtain the allegience of your entire planet. I need no proof of what you've done, Mister Aldric - I can see it in your eyes. Regret, shame, but also pride and determination. You got a victory that not only did you never expect, but one you had literally no time whatsoever to prepare for, and one you had unintentionally actively sabotaged in the hours leading up to it. She wrote, the game I've played all my life is no more dangerous than the one you've taken to as though it burns in your blood. I would even suspect that this little revelation isn't even a surprise to you. That perhaps you saw it coming.
Aldric didn't answer; he was still half-suspecting this to be some kind of play from Torchwick as opposed to Neo. That the man had figured out what Aldric was up to and was testing his loyalty, to both him and their little fifth column.
Neo nodded her head from side to side, accepting his silence as a valid answer, before she continued with her own. I told you once that I thought you were interesting. That this perception of you has only grown moreso as time has gone on. That hasn't changed. As great and adept as Mister Torchwick is, he limits himself to the criminal underworld. He is content with that, whereas you clearly are not. You perceive what you have but see only what you can gain. Interesting.
"Why now?"
Because you just ended an interglobal war. Because you all but hold dominion over two entire planets. Because you fly in the face of a woman who fashions herself a goddess, and her master, and neither of them seem to have any idea. I wanted to stake my claim before -anyone- else could, I wasn't going to wait a second longer than necessary . -You-, good sir, can simply count yourself lucky you're so dedicated to your act, and you're laid up in hospital again, else I would have tried a bit differently. ;)
Aldric grunted, "and what about him?" He asked, "I thought you were his gardener."
Her grin didn't even budge an inch. I am. She silently wrote. And while such a thing binds me, such a thing does -not- bind -you-. A beat, and that is quite honestly besides the point. I don't expect you to arrange his death simply to have me. As much as it may frustrate and excite me at times, you think with the head on your shoulders, and not the one between your legs. Torchwick has no intention of dying, you have no intention of getting rid of him. So why bother defining that term in the face of so many others?
"Because defining that one contextualizes your presence here." Aldric affirmed, "the way I see it, there are two options." He said, "the first being that you are here for yourself. To stake your claim, like you said. The second is that you're here for him - that as you imply, he figured out what I did, and he sent you here to figure out where my loyalties are." Or, he didn't say, that both were true at the same time: That Torchwick had figured it out and sent Neo, and that she was here to stake her claim and lie to her boss.
In other words, she was playing the game exactly like he would, and was simultaneously dispelling any possible notion that this could be a ploy from Cinder, by coming as the disguise they had chosen for her so long ago.
Now it was her turn not to respond, as she slowly blinked and gave a nonchalant shrug, her grin thinning. No matter what happens. She wrote, I win.
And she wasn't wrong, either. The only way Aldric had out of this was to kill her, but he'd already concluded long ago that that would tip Torchwick off, and shatter everything he'd worked for.
In the end, there was just one thing Aldric felt he needed to know before he made his choice. "Why?" He rumbled. "Why... If not actively, then at least make the promise of being ready to betray him? Why choose me over him?" He asked, "you say all the time I'm 'interesting', but there's a wisdom to his deciding to be content with his lot in life. My business model, so to speak, is unsustainable - at some point I will crash and burn. It's all I can do to make it such that I only do so after I accomplish my goals. Him, though, he's sustainable. So... Sure, I may have power, the likes of which he doesn't. I may, in my own way, have power over him, but no one I've met besides Cinder has ever sought power for power's sake - and I've never bothered to try and crack her open because it wasn't until very recently that she bean to trust me implicitly.
"So that makes you a mystery, Neo. A variable I don't know the extent of. All I know is that you seem not to want power but lust for it, a minor but noteworthy distinction. If I'm to accept your words at face value, that means this lust has made you willing to betray a man you kill for, who you're pledged to. How am I supposed to trust you if you're capable of that? Because I noticed you didn't say you wouldn't kill him, only that you thought my telling you to do so just so I could have you to myself was a bad idea. A very specific qualifier, wouldn't you agree?" Aldric asked, well aware that a lot of this could be applied to him, by the Watchmen, and probably already had been. "What if another Master, or Adam Taurus, or someone demonstrably more skilled and experienced than me, comes along and kicks my ass? Pulls a Commander Shepard and unites all aspects of Earth and Remnant, in such a way that their reputation is and will remain untarnished? Am I supposed to trust you'll stick by me, when you've shown willingness to betray your boss? And if so, again - why?"
Neo's smile never faded, leading Aldric to conclude that, whether she'd wanted him to ask this earlier in their relationship or not, he'd finally done something she'd desperately wanted him to.
Allow me to begin by asking you something, Mister Aldric. Neo typed, excluding Pyrrha Nikos, whom you were fighting with both arms metaphorically tied behind your back, have you ever lost a battle?
"Yes." Aldric deadpanned, his mind going to his confrontations with Qrow, his fight with Amber, and his brief fight against Adam.
Her grin merely widened, and she held up a finger, such that he would wait for something big.
I disagree, Mister Aldric, on the basis that battles do not end when weapons are sheathed. She said. Think to those battles you say you lost and then consider what happened afterwards. The long-term effects and ramifications that I -know- your mind operates around. How many of those defeats stayed that way? How many turned around to bring greater long-term victory? She asked. As much as I know you do not want to... Well, -read- this, I must return to the fact that I think you are interesting. What you may lack -and only temporarily- in battle skill, you more than make up for when those battles turn to words. I choose you because it appears that defeat is a foreign and unattainable concept. That defeat only exist in the short term, and that always, they in turn serve greater long-term victories. Even if you must scramble each time when something occurs that is not to plan, you change those plans such that they always return to course and inevitably serve you in the end.
But I understand that such an answer is not what you're looking for. You want the underlying facts, not the immediate here and now. You don't want to know why I find you so interesting, you want to know why I am so willing to 'jump ship', as it were, -because- you're so interesting. You're a detail-oriented man. As I understand it, that is in its own way how your abilities work - and isn't the story of how I know -that- interesting? - so while I shall try to spare you of some of the most extraneous details, do forgive the length.
After she presented the scroll to him and once he was finished, she held up another finger and then turned the scroll back to her.
Once finished, she had another block of text ready for him.
I want you to imagine, for a moment, three men, each with a goal. One man will do absolutely anything to achieve that goal. He takes the straightest and truest path to his goal, no matter what is in that path. People, property, animals, allies, enemies - he has no limit to what he will do in order to achieve his goal. No line he will not cross. The second man, however, has a line over which he will not cross, even if it impedes upon his achieving the goal. Much like the first man, there is no limit to what he will do to skirt and avoid crossing that line, so long as those efforts themselves do not cross that line.
Both of these men, however, are weak and unwise. The first considers not what comes after his goal, and often finds that when his mission is accomplished and it is time to return home from war, that there is no home to return to. This first man inevitably destroys himself as well as whatever it is that runs afoul of him during his pursuit. The second man, in contrast, refuses to change the foundations upon which he operates in the efforts of pursuing his goal, and as a result will often find his goal absolutely unattainable. He will then torture himself either to madness or to death, as he will find that his inability to reach this goal is a failure of strength, instead of an inability to change. He will isolate himself and continue to lose his companions until he finds himself alone, zealously pursuing something he absolutely cannot have.
But then you have the third man. This is a man who knows what he wants, who knows what he is and is not willing to compromise. He sees his goal, but also the world before and after it. Unlike the second man, he is willing to change things, often for the better but, like the first, sometimes for the worse. But unlike the first, while he is willing to go through obstacles and destroy his enemies, he holds himself, either accountable, or back. Sometimes he will punish himself, sometimes he will stop himself from utilizing all of his power. In short, he understands morals, restraint, and compromise, but also realizes that there are problems that must be solved through less moral, less restrained, and more compromising solutions.
As he read this, Aldric was trying to figure out how she typed this up on a phone in sixty seconds; especially as there was more.
Obviously, you can tell which man you are. Now, I feel I may be telling you something familiar to you. You may have used an argument or an allegory similar to this in order to justify your being the third man. However what you do not know is that, were we to make these men women, I would have been the first not but three years ago. She explained. As I have suggested before I have been in this life for a long time. Before I used the skills I had obtained throughout the years to become a Gardener, however, I was little different from drug dealers, dust polluters, or simple robbers. I desired one thing and one thing only: Lien. Money. Cash. I was under the false illusion that all the power in the world came from its currency, and I did anything to get it. Fortunately I was very good at a very efficient way of obtaining said 'power' - I murdered.
Well.
Aldric wished he could have said he'd not seen that coming.
Pushing down the feeling of impending doom, he continued on.
I forget if I was eleven or twelve when I took my first life, but before then I had yet to realize the ease through which one could obtain money through that method. Before I had tried to use anger, brutality, and fear to obtain it - all of which are difficult almost beyond measure, when compared to the simplicity of sliding a dagger into a major artery. And in case you wonder, despite my complexion I come from Vacuo initially. Hopefully that provides enough explanation as to my early roots. But to move on, when I learned of the ease of ending lives, I subsequently learned how much property was left behind as a result of ten seconds of effort. Funds began rolling in, and should someone become or present a problem, I had an instantaneous and obvious solution: Kill them!
By the time I was in my mid-teens, I hardly even -had- to kill anymore. 'The ice cream girl' they called me - that name alone could very well be synonymous with any culture's personification of Death. Many would flee, leaving their wallets, their material possessions, whatsoever it was I demanded of them. And if they didn't - need I say it again? Ironically it was from that that I obtained my first taste of true power - of influence and what it can buy - but I mistook it as having come from my increasing wealth. Soon I'd laid claim to my own town - I believe my record of youngest land-owner has yet to be subverted, as a matter of fact. Rayne of Dira attempted to do so, but she was a year or two too late.
The problem, however, was that when my townsfolk came to learn that denying me even slightly could and probably would lead to their deaths, it was not very long until they began to leave. At first I cared not - my wealth was vast enough that I felt I was fine. But soon expenses began piling up, and people began leaving - taking their belongings and their money with them. By the time I was eighteen, my home's population was fifteen and my coffers were draining, no matter what I did. Realize where I've went with this? I, in short order, destroyed absolutely everything that came before and after my goal.
Didn't realize what at all was wrong until I left to wander and ran into an example of the second person. I bet you won't be able to guess who it was, though. Considering the people I've mentioned thus far, and how well I know the way in which you think, I am certain you're under the false impression that my example of the Second person is Mister Torchwick. Unfortunately you would be wrong, the Second was a young man, though three years my senior at the time, named Terry Sands. He found me walking the deserts, gave me some water and took me into his home.
If ever there were greater polar opposites than us, I know them not. Ignore that I had aura and he did not, where I had found that the straightest and surest path to my desires was the path that brought blades to aortas, Sands would go out of his fucking way to avoid even a minor scuffle. Also unlike I, his goal, ironically, considering where he lived, was noble: He wanted to own a village and establish a trade route between his village and Vacuo and Shade Academy. As he explained it, he hoped doing so would afford the village some Huntsmen protection from the desert Grimm that roamed through every so-often. Which is fine, I even respected it a bit, though I knew it doomed for failure and wholly naive. While not in Vacuo proper, that entire half of Sanus at times seems wholly opposed to the idea of morality, law, and order. Worse was that the man who ran that town was a former huntsmen himself - as opposed to Sands, a skinny bastard who had only gotten a house of his own the months before I ran afoul of him.
I, as you can imagine, suggested to him that I kill the Huntsman and establish the illusion that it was him to begin with. Sands, however, refused to do so - saying that the only way to change the deserts, to prove that his ideals, his will, was right, was to show it work legitimately. To root himself in the ground and refuse to budge. As such, the lawlessness that ruled and rules those lands, the act of stealing, of killing, of doing whatever one deemed necessary, he rebuked them. If he couldn't get money, goods, or services through his own means - honest, hard work - he wouldn't accept it.
Primarily because I owed him, I stayed with that man for three years, Mister Aldric. I tried every day to change him, and he tried every day to change me, and I watched him descend into madness as he was continuously provided with evidence that this was not Vale, this was not Mistral, and it certainly was not Atlas. In Vacuo, his methods did not work - where mine, however, did. Whenever he failed to be able to work hard enough to buy dinner, I needed only a modicum of blood and violence - as I had learned at least moderation, by that point - to get us a week's worth. If ever he could not provide water, I could steal it with no effort. If ever he couldn't convince a man to stop harassing him, my knife did so faster than one could blink.
Now, I did -try- to soften the blows, once I realized what I was doing. He, as are you, was interesting. The key word, however, is 'was'. For a time I thought his bull-headed determination to be a legitimate Vacuoan was interesting. But as the years drove on and he fell further, he had to try harder and harder to rationalize his failures as anything but an inability to change. An inability to compromise.
Then, as I turned eighteen and he twenty three, I met the first and for a while only Third type of person, bringing us closer to today. Mister Torchwick, in an effort to expand beyond Vale, was attempting to lay roots in Vacuo - an effort he still is undertaking, as a matter of fact. One of his employees made a few pointed attempts to make Sands' home -his- home. He went away. The next one tried the same thing, then the third tried to figure out what happened to the other two. -Theeeeeen- Mr. Torchwick himself came around with a minor army, and to make that story a bit shorter, I barely survived, he promised not to send agents after me or mine anymore, he had that town under his control inside of a week, and the quality of life in the village pretty much instantly hiked up a bit as Torchwick's contacts in Vacuo proper started trading in both legal and contraband items.
Barely a week later, Sands killed himself, I found myself making a coin a week for training and employ as Mr. Torchwick's Gardener (I killed so many of the men and women he sent after us that I actually damaged his reputation a bit, so after he set himself up he came to me himself and introduced me to coins and the Garden), and I found myself with front-row seat to the actions and thought processes of someone of the Third group.
For four years - going on five - I met no one like him. There are things he doesn't like to do, but on nearly anything he is willing to compromise, and as such he finds himself willing to do things his enemies won't. He's able to see situations for what they are as opposed to what they want them to be seen as - his figuring out what you were up to being a perfect example. Short term defeats inevitably become long-term victories... And this is, of course, meant to sound familiar. In the years I've worked for him, I've seen him conquer Vale and all but exile his enemies to the Garden, and establish firm and expanding footholds in the other three kingdoms. Truly, I predict that by the time he reaches a half-century, provided nothing extreme, he will more or less control the criminal -world-. There is little, I've found, that he -can't- do.
Except, as I've learned, legitimize himself, to the point where he hasn't even tried. Oh, he has federal resources, contacts and favors and 'friends', so to speak, in the various governments, of course, but the only true allies he has are those he has obtained through you. He is a criminal all the way through. It is what he is good at, it is all he is, and it is all he wants. This is not a bad thing, but in him I see potential being wasted away in his being content with himself. All of these things are obtained through criminal means and he makes zero effort to even try to work towards or appear as though he isn't. If he fails in this, he fails in everything he has.
But then, a little under a year ago, in comes this kid - barely old enough to be called a man - with a look in his eyes of utter innocence. This child hasn't killed, beaten, bloodied, or even bruised a man at all in his life. I doubted he'd ever even been in a fight before, and he associated with assassin sons, thieves, and women who fashion themselves goddesses, appearing for all intents and purposes a liar and a child claiming he is an adult. When I first saw this kid I knew for a fact he'd be dead within a year, two at the most, if he kept this up - perhaps that I'd kill him in the fight his boss and mine had set up. But then we actually -did- fight, he not only survived but won - by a hair - and actually managed to frighten Mr. Torchwick in so doing.
And you -did-, Aldric. Mr. Torchwick didn't see that gun coming at all, and for all he kept up his gravitas, he was unsettled by how you, an inexperienced fool playing at a game far greater than him, managed first to pull one over on him, then injure him, and then defeat -me-, than whom few assassins are greater. At first I was being coy, gave you a quick peck on the cheek as a sign of respect, and because I knew how painfully virginal you are and that it'd throw you off like nothing else. But as I continued watching you, as things continued on, you grew more interesting, eventually culminating first in Cinder's message, then in your meeting with Mr. Torchwick, which we've already discussed at length, I doubt I need to do so again... But to be succinct, I knew in you was a creature of potential greater than even Roman Torchwick. Your Watchmen -only- proved me right, and that leads to me being here:
Where Mr. Torchwick stagnates, you expand. While I did say I predict he could have everything he wanted in the criminal world, that would only be in a world in which he makes no mistakes, and no one - not he, nor I, nor even you - goes through life without making those. He was nearly caught by one of your friends months ago, you underestimated both Cinder and I that day you used me as an alibi, I failed to predict what townsmen would think of having a governess whose power was built on constant an innumerable murder... And that is just within our circle.
Where he does nothing to cover his greatest weakness, you relentlessly discover yours and shore them up. Mr. Torchwick holds no allies other than those he has gained through you - and you hold the key to him retaining said allies. Roman Torchwick will stumble one day in his endless quest to hold unmatched power in the criminal underworld, and since he relies on power that is not his, that will inevitably prove his downfall, perhaps even death. But you, any failure you make is rectified or undone by your endless preparation; and perhaps, in his own way, he -knows- this, which is why he jumped on gaining your alliance with both feet, not even considering whether it be a test of loyalty from Cinder. He fears his defeat, and covets your ability and tendency to simply -assume- you will lose, and plan accordingly.
And finally, where I fear he will inevitably fail and drag me down with him, I do not think the same of you. That is why, were I to make a choice, I would look to you first, Mr. Aldric. Even moreso than Mr. Torchwick, and if you'll have me, you may find yourself surprised of what I can do beyond simple murder.
And the why of it is simple: Because you interest me.
That you're pretty cute and have a bodycount after my own heart is only a bonus.
Does that satisfy you? ;)
Aldric finished reading and let it all sink in. Aside from the details of her personal life, he'd pretty much called it all from the moment she'd given the cutesy psycho routine in the alley; and if one were to listen to her, that among others was why he'd gained her attention, and even, it seemed, affection. Of course his first instinct was to try and distance himself from the romantic pursuits of a woman who so blasely talked about murder, and who had killed her first man when he'd been solely focused on making it to the next Iron Man movie. But in the back of his mind, and coming closer and closer to the forefront with each passing day, he found that he had no ground to stand on, there - not with his mounting bodycount.
With that in mind, Aldric took a mental step back and realized what he was being offered here: A genuine ally, perhaps the only one he had. Taurus he couldn't trust further than Salem. Torchwick he couldn't trust the moment he showed weakness. Qrow he couldn't trust because holy shit would that drunk man end him if he figured out what he did to Yang, and realized what that meant he was willing to do beyond it. Ozpin he could trust, but perhaps not in quite the same way. Ozpin was the yin to his yang, the light to Aldric's dark. Where Aldric was, though hesitantly, willing to murder a woman in her sleep and gouge an innocent woman's eyes out for his goals, those same ideas revolted Ozpin, and were things he would avoid - even at the cost of more lives. Coulson he couldn't trust because he knew damn well and good the guy was going to angle for terran supremacy and Master awakenings at some point. His friends from Beacon he couldn't trust because they knew him only as Ash, the idealist - the moment he introduced to them Aldric, they would despise him. But in Neo, he would have something he had with no one else: Implicit trust.
Such a thing wasn't something he didn't want - having a genuine ally he could fall back on was an attractive idea. Not having to endlessly watch his words and cover his back sounded good, and damn was he tempted to accept. But for all of the answers he finally dragged out of her, one question now reigned highest in his mind:
"How the fuck did you type all of that up, in... Like... A minute?" He rumbled, "that's a fuckin' essay, lady."
And like that, Neo's grin - once faded as Aldric read her confession - returned. She turned the scroll around for a second, then turned it back to him.
I've had that prepared since the alley, Mr. Aldric. I just knew one day you'd give in and ask me 'why'. I've just been adding on as I hear about more of the things you get up to.
It did occur to Aldric that this was a bold-faced lie, and that Neo and Torchwick had cooked this entire thing up in order to get some dirt on him, to get him to confess first to her and by proxy to him that he'd been doing things he did not want Cinder to know about. But, even as he had those thoughts, he realized how asinine they were. Torchwick already had an inordinate amount of things on him that he could just feed Cinder, and she'd eat it all up and try to kill Aldric in an instant. Even more was that he had Aldric's word that, once all this blew over and if they were both alive, they'd owe eachother favors. This would prove of little use to Torchwick except as another measuring stick for Aldric's skill. Torchwick, in summation, had no reason whatsoever to be pulling a fast one on Aldric, as he already had all he needed from him.
This was completely Neo, who had, by herself, managed to predict Torchwick's originally destined downfall, before Aldric had ever even entered the picture. She was covering her own ass and was genuinely offering alliance to Aldric. Truly, her telling Aldric she was going to get rid of Torchwick's suspicions was less of a favor than it was a show of loyalty. It was completely useless as anything other than providing proof that she was serious, and a promise that, if it came to the two of them, she felt Aldric the safer bet. So, with a deep sigh, Aldric leaned back into bed.
"It was a short week, Neo. Didn't feel any of this." He indicated his bandages, bruises and blood. "Just got brought to the submarine, and a needle in my neck, then I was being woken up today."
Her grin turned victorious, and she sealed her promise to wipe away any suspicion from Torchwick with, a short week indeed, Mister Aldric. I can handle the rest. She wrote, before leaning back up and hitting another button on the scroll. "I'd recommend learning signs, next time we have a silent conversation like that. As difficult as it is to piece together the meaning with only one half of it, it is not impossible." But she waved it away, "so, do you just have a thing for redheads, or is 'my' hair being the same color as Nikos' coincidental?"
Aldric snorted. "You know how our first date went. Your hair, same color as my blood." Aldric also fuzzily recalled not having chosen her hair color, but at this point he was so paranoid he wasn't sure if the sky was blue or not.
She nodded, an unbelieving expression on her face as she morphed into an approximation of Pyrrha. "Oh is this what you want, Ash? Get out of that bed and I can give it to you."
Aldric rolled his eyes, swiping his bandaged hand through the air in a haphazard slap, which sent his bag lazily flying through the air and towards Neo. "Fuck off." He scoffed, unable to hold back a grin.
Neo caught the bag before it would have hit her head, looking to the corner where it came from and seeing, in short order, his arm, his shield, and his original lightsaber stashed away. She nodded to the side, reaching the same conclusion he had: That everyone had wised up and figured out taking Aldric's weapons from him was courting disaster, so even if he was half dead, it was better to leave him armed.
"That's kind of the point, Ash." Said Neo, as the Pyrrha persona melted away and was again replaced by her original disguise. "You just seem to be willfully ignorant of it."
"Oh that is a very accurate way to describe it." He grunted, making a 'come hither' motion with his hand.
He was well aware that Neo knew he was asking for the bag, especially with the light telekinetic tug he gave it, but this was the psycho-bitch they were dealing with. So neither of them were surprised when she came to deliver it herself and gave him a peck on the forehead as she deposited it in the bed. She hooked her heel around the leg of her chair and slid it closer to the bed, upon which she leaned as Aldric dug through the bag.
"How long are you sticking around?"
"At least long enough such that the other redhead sees me with you." She winked.
In other words... Aldric thought, wile she watched with interest as he pulled out his tablet. Torchwick's in the Garden, and she wants to stake her claim. I'll be dealing with her for a little -
"And until you learn some signs."
"Of course." She was going to pretend to be his caretaker, stuck in Vale until the CCT and inter-continental travel was back up and running. "Of course." He sighed, opening up the tablet and starting to write.
For the Record
And just like that, it's done.
Well, the war, at least.
This 'this', going on? My idiotic grand game? That's still happening. As a matter of fact, it started up full-fucking-blast the moment my weeklong sojourn was done. Torchwick figured out I'd been up to some SHIT after the terrans 'abducted' me, and since he didn't feel safe enough running around in Vale yet, he sent Neo (in the Yuno disguise we made) to ask about it.
Neo promptly showed how well she plays the game and straight-up confirmed what I'd thought, awhile back - that she's in this for herself just a smidge more than Torchwick. We defined our terms and once the coast is clear for Yuno to 'go home', she'll head back to Torchwick and tell him the whole truth: That I left Vale in the submarine, and came back in that same submarine, and nothing interesting happened in that submarine between those two events.
And in case it isn't clear yet: Neo's chosen a side, and it ain't Torchwick's.
And apparently she's been killing folks since I was in middle school.
Oooooh boy, we'll see how that turns out.
For now, though, she's going to lend a little credence to the Yuno story we cooked up. I'd told the girls she was here, so she's going to stick around, play nurse while I heal up, probably tease me any chance she gets, teach me to sign, the whole shebang. She's actually watching me write this right now.
Wonder if she'd actually paying attention... She can't read it, of course, but still.
Hm...
8===D
Yup, that made her laugh. Some things transcend the (written) language barrier, it seems.
Anyways, since Ozpin's most likely going to be embroiled in the political half of having lost the war for a while yet (Thank god I don't have to deal with that.), I'm probably not going to get a face-to-face with him for a few weeks. Not until the terrans finish pulling out... Or establish an occupation center. Whichever ends up happening.
But that's not to say I won't hear from him: I guaran-goddam-tee you that Qrow being there at the docks was intentional on Ozpin's end. Qrow will be our go-between, most likely the one who keeps the entire Watchmen on the same page, until the CCT gets fixed.
And speaking of the Watchmen, I highly doubt Taurus is going to stay as dark as he claimed. He's going to rock the fact that he fought the terrans while the VAF cowered behind its defensive walls. Torchwick probably won't be silent either - dude's got money and dude's got resources. I bet you he'll be racking up favors and a better public image by throwing that money and resources around to help expedite the rebuilding efforts.
Really, there's only one wildcard in the mix... And I hesitate to actually call her such, since Salem (and Cinder) seem so dead-fucking-set on the Vytal plan. I doubt I'll hear from the latter until the CCT's back up, and since that's how Remnant talks to itself, you know the four kingdoms and the UN will prioritize getting those back up and running.
So, ballpark, I figure I have a month... Maybe two, of just playing Goud.
Which isn't a bad thing, mind. I've got a lot of stuff I need to fix.
At worst, maybe one or two nights of having to pick up the Ryan name and get updates from Earth. But aside from that? I honestly think that's going to be the plan: Salem is going to lull the worlds into a false sense of security. Let them think the worst has passed and that it's time to get back to normalcy. Nothing (major) will happen until or unless Vytal starts up.
That's not to say I probably won't hear from Torchwick or Taurus that they're being told to shift resources over to Earth... But I hesitate to actually think they'll be told to operate anywhere but Vale, seeing as how Salem has three other Masters to work with. They could very well be working on the Earth half of the equation as we speak.
Which would only play into my fears of a coup de grace even more: Wait until Vytal, destroy it, spark another war between Earth and Remnant, and in the utter fucking chaos that would follow, decapitate the academies, use the Masters to crack open the vaults, and failing that find the Maidens during the war, steal the relics and then...
Well, anyone ever read Infinity Gauntlet?
I doubt I need to say any more.
I worry that I may not get the chance to lead Earth and Remnant to Salem's Domain, if that ends up being the case. I know she won't get all four relics - Ozpin said he threw one in the ocean, so taking Beacon won't get her its Relic - but I'd still have to deal with the big bitch with three relics... And who knows if getting the other three won't enlighten her to the fourth's location? According to Ozpin, she seemed somehow innately aware enough of where they were back when, that she was able to track them to him in their first encounter.
I already have a Plan B brewing if I'm not ever able to kill her (Going to give... Someone... The Master Sword, under the idea that, since she's part Grimm and thus 'pure evil', that its power to repel said evil will let it seal her up like it does Ganon.), but not only does that rely on me finding someone it would allow to wield it (since you know damn well it won't ever let me use it), and effectively at that (since how many people in this world use swords?!), but that also relies on me being able to lead the fucking armies to Salem in the first place.
So now I need a plan C: What happens should Salem go Coup De Grace, get three relics in one night, and become nigh-unstoppable as a result?
That might warrant a nuclear option.
Like, 'ignore any and all potential drawbacks and focus on the benefits', nuclear option.
'Summon a Warhammer STC', nuclear.
'Build an army of Vibranium Terminators', nuclear.
'Wake up more Masters', nuclear.
Ignoring the downsides I could go on - build a bunch of Nanosuits, fire up an Iron Man suit, summon a bunch of Lantern rings, the unworthy Mjolnir... - but the point is, Plan C, Salem getting three quarters of the way to victory in a single night, would necessitate me doing something drastic.
Fuck. How have I fallen so far that talking to Yuno over there is a more appealing option than trying to think this stuff through?
Anyways, last but not least: I got a care package from Coulson (I also have a CIA handler now. Go fucking figure.). The easiest way to describe it is just calling it an encyclopedia of everything I'd ever need. Movie, book, video game lore... Actual copies of movies, you name it and it has it, as well as actual science to help out.
It also has Volume 5, and the most recent Marvel Movies. The former because it's necessary, the latter because... Damn it - I may not get that chance again.
Got some usable stuff out of it. Know who the Spring Maiden is, now. Know what the relics look like, now. Know what Jaune's semblance is, now. Aside from that? Not fully sure what all will prove useful, short or long term.
But, that's really all I have, now.
Now I sleep (with a psycho-bitch watching. Help me.), and when I wake up, I go back to Ash.
And if it isn't clear by now: I don't know WHAT the fuck happens after that.