AN:
You-know-what is fast approaching, and you guys have no idea how tempting it is to just time skip and bring us within one or two chapters, as opposed to... I dunno, ten at the most... Five at a more reasonable estimate.

Chapter 52

For the Record:

You know what? I'll be damned - it's been almost a month and there's been no... 'Real' shit.
Some minor grievances here and there, once we and the other countries got their CCT's working again. Ozpin let slip that Ironwood literally has a bullet with 'Nathan Drake' written on it. Gonna steer clear of him for the time being.

And, you know: I realized I'd accidentally killed Weiss' sister.
And my nonchalant reaction to that should be worrying as it is telling.

But aside from that?
Surprisingly little.

I got back into contact with Earth, my new guy - I'm calling him Bubbles. As in, Cobra. - is a lot more no-nonsense than Coulson, thus the name, but he at least understands on some level that their grip on Remnant and information on Salem is partially reliant on me, so he's willing to do the whole 'I ask, you answer' thing.

It took me longer than I would have wanted to get a meeting set up with the Watchmen. Torchwick and Ozpin were game, but Qrow and a lot of other Huntsmen have been out keeping Grimm away from the city while we rebuilded, and Taurus has been making grabs for more recruits. Once the TV's started working again, and specials about what the fuck actually happened started airing, they couldn't not broadcast the fact that the only ones in Vale to actually counterattack the terrans were supposed terrorists. He's eating that shit up.

But, the good news is I've finally managed to get them all on the same page. We've got something set up for tonight.

But before then, I never thought I'd say this, but I've got something else scheduled: Extra lessons.
Yes, perhaps the only class in Beacon I actually intend to pay attention and look forward to, and it's not on the curriculum. Go fucking figure.

See, a few days after we all woke up and classes started, I went to Goodwitch and we defined terms in regards to her helping me out with my semblance.

Don't know what all she's planning, but hopefully it'll give me a much more solid grasp on my 'resting state', such that I can wean myself off of my reliance of my magic.

This'll be fun, now won't it?

From:AdrianBrittReidVeight{a}ScarlettMailCCT

To: xXCFallXx{a}ScaleMessengerCCT

Subject: Paying dividends.

Message:
So.
I don't know where YouKnowWho is, yet.
But I get the strangest feeling I'm going to be let in on the secret pretty soon, and my reasoning is pretty sound.

After all, why trust me with the identity of the next Autumn Lady, and never bother to tell me where the half dead one is?

The long and short of it is that everyone, from Mistal to Atlas, to even some of the folks in the know here in Vale, are starting to question Ozpin's hold on the situation. They think he's losing control of it. So, in a bid to make them think he's still in control, and that they still have the power, he told me he's intending to use Atlesian technology to transfer the aura (and, thus, powers) from the last Maiden to the new one.

And she is... Drumroll please! (Bu-da-bu-da-bu-da)
Pyrrha Nikos.

Even more notable is that she and Goud Etiolate are becoming remarkably close friends, to the point where I suspect there may be murmurings of some kind of romantic attraction, down in there. (Though, I'm not acting on it. Neo would probably stab me, and unless I make a move, Pyrrha's too shy to do anything on her own.)
So we may have an opportunity here, once Vytal rolls around.

Do we have a plan for that, yet? 'Cause it's... Like... Six or seven months away.
And did Big Boss ever say anything about Thor? Or have you not mentioned that yet?

-The World's Worst Spy

Aldric found himself alone in a classroom, for once waiting on a teacher instead of a teacher waiting on him. It surprised him, that Goodwitch was twenty minutes late, after practically beating him over the head with 'don't be late'. He'd had enough time to pen an email to Cinder, for chrissakes, he was pretty damn sure he shouldn't be able to do that on school grounds.

Of course... Thought the spy, as he fell into a seat near one of the lower stadium desks, and leaned back. I'm a spy whose secret is open to literally everyone I don't want it to be. So at this point doing shady shit in the open isn't as scary as it used to be. Come to think of it, he was pretty sure the only person who didn't know his secret, that he didn't want to know, was Ironwood - and he was still at least aware that there was someone who was a spy, just not who. Oh how far I've come. He let out a long breath of air. Wonder what she's got in store for me... He frowned. I remember Qrow said she damn near died filling half a glass. I'm able to do it without much problem... Today would probably consist of them defining terms, if that were the case. Or maybe she'll teach me a few of her tricks. I remember she fixed parts of Vale after the breach, and the entire goddamn cafeteria after the big food fight. I can fuck with atoms all well and good, but I've never had to do anything quite like that. He swiped a metal hand through shaggy hair.

I wonder if I should get this cut... He thought. I mean... I like the Thor-ish barbarian look, but it also gets in the fuckin' way. Pain to wash my own blood out of it. He yawned. Eh... Maybe after Goud dies. He sensed someone entering his radar, soon recognizing it as Goodwitch, approaching the classroom with a small box, inside of which were several beakers and jars filled with random assortments of crushed rocks and minerals, and a few sheets of paper on top of it.

Wait... Aldric frowned, recognizing what was on the papers. Is that a periodic table? He blinked. Ohh... Okay. He nodded. I see where she's going with this.
He leaned back forward, as Goodwitch made it to the room, her body briefly enshrouded by a purple glow, her semblance opening the door for her.

Aldric had to resist the urge to hold the door closed and watch the poor woman walk into it, instead giving her a nod and a casual salute. "Ma'am."

She nodded, stepping over to her desk and setting down her equipment. She smoothed out her hair and turned to the spy, "I need not remind you that this intrudes upon my free time as well as yours." She said, sternly. "If I feel you aren't working your hardest, I will no longer waste my time."

Aldric nodded, getting to his feet. "I understand." He indicated the box with the jars inside it. "So what've we got?"

Goodwitch opened the box, first handing Aldric a periodic table, and then pulling out a small, sealed can. She placed it on the desk, and nodded to it, as she telekinetically pulled a few chairs out for her and Aldric. "This is hydrogen." She began, "as best as we understand it is the most abundant element in the universe, and with good reason: It is simple. There is only one proton and one electron in its atomic shell, with no neutrons." She indicated the periodic table in Aldric's hand. "I assume you've seen one of these before?"

Aldric nodded, pointing out Hydrogen on the table. "The number there is how many protons and electrons the atom has." He said, indicating Hydrogen's proud '1', then helium's '2', and so on.

Goodwitch nodded. "Anyone with a telekinetic semblance commonly explains the 'feel' of their abilities as though it were merely an extension of their hands, often describing the act of lifting something as though they merely had another hand and used it." She explained, sitting down. "It isn't uncommon knowledge that one could theoretically increase or decrease the size of said 'hand', and as a matter of fact some of history's most powerful huntsmen were those who trained themselves to move that which is small as easily as they could that which is large. Many believe the true strength of a TK is how much they can lift at one time, and the weight of what it is they manipulate, but it is the truly intelligent that realize that it is actually the opposite that is true."

Aldric nodded, "strictly speaking, a powerful enough telekinetic could functionally warp reality." Turn air into gold, water to wine, the works."

"Correct. The issue, however, is that those who can do so are very few and far between." She said, pushing the canister over to him. "The last TK who was capable of atomic manipulation died many hundred years ago. As I understand it, in the world now I am the closest to her, and I am only just able to rearrange the atoms in the air to fill a cup with water." And as she spoke, she produced a cup. "One would think such a trick as easy, but I would ask them to note my verbiage. I do not draw from the ambient water in the air, but rather the atoms themselves. I change their composition, exchanging their particles until they are composed of one hydrogen atom, and two oxygen atoms."

Aldric gave her an impressed grin; he could certainly sense as far down as the atomic scale, but the best he was able to do with them was start fires or freeze things. His water trick had been exactly as she'd cautioned against: Pulling it out of the air. "Can't be easy."

She shook her head, "certainly not. Splitting apart atoms is a dangerous game, Mister Etiolate. A game it appears only the terrans were..." A beat, "zealous... Enough to play."

Aldric bit back a laugh at that, instead nodding. "Their sun bomb."

"Correct." She said, "I will not tell you how it is they did such a thing, as both I do not want you to get the idea, and because our own world's understanding of the subject is rudimentary at best. Very few beyond the strongest telekinetics even know of its existence. We once studied it, but decided against pursuing it any further, as Dust was capable of fulfill our needs well enough without running the risk of rendering entire swaths of our planet uninhabitable."

Aldric blanched, frowning. "Damn, they did that?"

"Language, and yes." Goodwitch nodded. "What little they have told us about themselves thus far would suggest more than a few places have fallen to ruin because they inappropriately split atoms."

"How would we avoid that, then?" Aldric really didn't want to be nuking himself whenever he tried to cheat the universe without magic.

"Very carefully, Mister Etiolate." Goodwitch warned, "and without deviating from this page." She indicated the periodic table. "Adding one wayward particle, even something as harmless as a neutron, could leave you with something you weren't even remotely prepared to deal with."

Aldric let out a quick sigh, before setting the paper on the desk. "Fun." He nodded, "so where do we start?"

Again, Goodwitch indicated the hydrogen canister. "With the simplest element in the universe."

And thus began the rest of Aldric's night. He never got past the hydrogen, with Goodwitch being there to catch him if he made a mistake that might go nuclear. She drilled him endlessly, first beginning just by being able to feel and sense the hydrogen in the canister, get an intrinsic sense for the element with only two particles. It was hours before she felt confident enough to allow him to move on to first breaking a hydrogen atom apart and holding each proton and electron steady, before putting them back together. It was exhausting in a way Aldric had never experienced before; even pulling on all of his magic during the Thor fight hadn't quite left him weak and shivering like he was once they were done for the night.

With the agreement that this would be a weekly occurrence, Aldric found himself leaving Goodwitch's office long after the sun had set, and while he would have loved nothing more than to go to the nearly fixed dorm, he had other plans for the night, and Goodwitch provided an excellent alibi for his leaving for them, if his friends ever realized he was gone.

He had a meeting with the Watchmen.

How the fuck did Mogar's survive World War Three?

Perhaps even more pressing a question, how did it survive World War Three - when neither of its neighbors did?

Aldric found himself standing outside of Mogar's Grillin' Bar, slackjawed, as he beheld the oddity that was the fact that the bar had survived an invasion by a multination coalition without so much as a scratch, and yet both of its neighbors had been torn to the ground. Was Torchwick's influence that good? Or was Mogar himself that lucky? Aldric wasn't sure which he wanted to believe, but he'd finally found something new that surprised him after a long time of not being phased by anything.

With a shake of his head, Aldric stepped inside, his movements mostly masked by the night sky above him and the dark clothes he habitually wore. The rooftop sojourn with the Watchmen that had preceded World War Three was a one-off, ever since Torchwick had bought the owner's loyalty, they'd had themselves a private room. Aldric, not willing to question how a bar and grill could even have private rooms, or why, instead located said room. It wasn't hard, even without his radar, not with the cutesy psychopath standing guard in front of it, idly spinning her umbrella and grinning at anyone who walked by, most of whom walked faster, unnerved by her slasher smile as Aldric had once been.

And... Still am. Let's be fucking honest. Aldric thought, approaching Neo.

He almost made it to the door, too, but Neo slid in his way and blocked the way inside, giving him an expectant smile. Aldric stared down at her, uncomprehending, and she merely continued to grin up at him. Aldric's brow furrowed, confusion slowly filling his cybernetic eyes, until Neo turned her head, presenting a cheek to him.

And now I'm back to not being surprised. Aldric's shoulders dropped a few inches, his expression best summarized by the word 'Really?'.

Neo, not moving from her spot, merely quivered her shoulders, well aware that of the two of them, Aldric would give in first, if only because she was in between him and something he had to do. So, eyes closed and an exasperated expression on his face, Aldric leaned down and gave Neo a peck on the cheek. When she twisted her head around, snaked an arm up and around his and then pressed their faces together, Aldric again found himself unsurprised, instead just going with it. When she finally pried herself off of him, she stepped back, giving him a look over, arcing an eyebrow, and wiping a thumb across his lips, it coming away with some of her lipstick.

Aldric straightened up as she let go of his head, and himself wiped his lips with the back of his cybernetic hand. "How concerning is it that I have, by all accounts, a drop dead gorgeous woman, wet and willing, and I dread every encounter with her?"

Her response was to roll her eyes, and her head, dramatically, before she slid out of the way and waved him inside.

"Yeah, I figured." Aldric thought, stepping inside the brightly lit, and remarkably sound-proofed room; Aldric couldn't hear hardly any of the din of business outside, once the door shut. "Hey, Torchwick." He nodded to the mob boss, who was working his way through a plate of food that looked far too expensive to have been prepared here.

Torchwick glanced up with all the grace and gravitas that he typically embodied, "well, Mister Aldric!" He grinned, leaning back and setting his utensils down. "I make my first trip to the surface in weeks and no sooner do I do so than do I get a message from my unwilling ally!" He indicated a chair on the other side of the table. "Sit, please!"

Aldric did so, "how was it, staying down in the Garden while things were going down up here?" He wondered, genuinely curious if the Garden's creature comforts had survived more than a month of no contact with the surface.

Torchwick hummed, waving his hand back and forth dismissively, before returning to his steak. "Please, young man. The Grimm could occupy the city, and the Garden would still be there. It has stores to survive far longer than any extraterrestrials have the attention span to invade." He said, "what just ended was barely a drop in the proverbial bucket. No, I'm more curious about -"

Aldric cut the mob boss off with a knife-hand, "don't you fuckin' say it!" Torchwick's grin was all the confirmation Aldric needed. "You know I've heard nothing but that since it happened?" He leaned his head against the wooden wall. "Jesus..." He swore.

Torchwick chuckled, "you cannot deny you left an impression, Mister Aldric." He said, taking a bit out of his steak. "Not just on all of them or the terrans, mind."

"Oh?" Aldric hummed, "what'd she have to say?"

"She's pretty certain all she needs is a little push, and you'll be all hers." Said Torchwick, not even denying it.

Aldric sighed, shaking his head and running his hands though his hair. "Yeah, she's doing a remarkable job of breaking me, and I wish I were kidding."

"Oh, if she is all it takes to break you, I'm afraid you may want to quit while you are ahead, with our mutual enemy." Said Torchwick, as Aldric sensed Adam Taurus and his Chainsword lieutenant approaching the building.

Aldric rolled his eyes, "our mutual enemy isn't trying to sleep with me."

Torchwick nodded, as Taurus slipped inside through the back door, and started towards the room. "A fair point."

"Taurus is here." Said Aldric, prompting the both of them to turn to the door as the Faunus terrorist was allowed in by the diminutive sociopath. "Hey." He nodded to the red-haired warrior.

Taurus nodded once, taking a seat at the head of the table and resting his blade against it. "Our legitimate allies haven't arrived?"

Aldric shook his head, "left beacon a half hour ago, saw Ozpin in his office dealing with something. But I'd be willing to bet he'll be here soon enough. Guy got pissed at me a while back, teleported me to the moon."

Taurus and Torchwick both stared at him, the latter with his mouth agape, the former with his wide eyes shielded by his mask. "The... Moon." Taurus grunted.

Aldric nodded, "you guys ever get hit by unfiltered sunlight? It's the hottest thing I've ever felt." Aldric indicated his eyes, "I'm pretty sure if these weren't mechanical, I'd be blind again."

The two exchanged glances, then turned back to Aldric. "What did you do?" Taurus asked.

"Oh, he'll fuckin' tell you when he gets here." Aldric responded, as Qrow came strolling into the building, taking a seat at the bar and harassing the bartender so he could fill his flask. "Qrow's here."

"Getting loaded?"

Aldric nodded.

"Then the great and powerful Oz shouldn't be much further behind, I would imagine." Torchwick resumed eating. "Care to explain to us what that sun bomb was? Obviously I didn't see it, but I've heard a great deal about it. What it did to Vale's power grid has earned me quite a few favors." Taurus nodded alongside him, equally as interested in the topic.

Aldric grunted, straightening up. "We call it a nuclear bomb. It's the strongest weapon in history. Everyone's calling it a sun bomb?" Aldric nodded, "appropriate enough. Its power comes from nuclear fusion, same as what powers the sun. When it explodes, if you look at the flash, you go blind." Taurus had a look of realization enter his eyes, as he nodded. "And when it explodes, it knocks out all the electricity in the area. The terrans used it as a warning shot of sorts, knock out Vale's power, and if they still didn't surrender, they wouldn't warn them, the next time."

Taurus spoke up, "a lot of my men went blind after it exploded. I couldn't understand why." He nodded, "how many do they have?"

Aldric laughed, "enough to wipe out all life on Earth, Taurus." He said, "I'll be honest with you, Salem's plan - to spark another war - if it doesn't involve smuggling a lot of Grimm over to Earth, it will probably involve either stealing nukes from them, or having some Masters help you make a few dirty bombs." A beat, "which is to say, not nearly as strong an explosion, but it still renders the area uninhabitable." And now he noticed Ozpin materializing out of nowhere on the roof. "Everyone's here."

The three continued idle chat as Ozpin made his way down the building and in through the front entrance, acquired Qrow, and the two made their way past Neo and into the room. Greetings were made, and soon, business began. The first orders were the simplest, with Ozpin and Aldric explaining what they'd learned about the terrans' arrival on Remnant. Qrow picked up after them, summarizing his time as killing terrans or killing Grimm, and then he and Ozpin both explained all of what happened with Thor and the two they only knew as 'Master and Terran Maiden'.

Aldric found the urge to resist making an Iron Maiden joke far easier when Taurus' back shot up straight as the fact of what Ozpin was saying dawned on him. "So you lost one of those relics." He affirmed.

To which Ozpin nodded, "unfortunately, yes." He said, "I am taking actions to try to track them down, but it will be difficult beyond measure. The vessel they used to escape from us, and the machine they used to distract us, both ensured there would be little to no evidence or trails from which to track them."

Taurus leaned back into his seat, sighing heavily. "Well that's just fucking great. How do we know those two don't intend to use it? How did they even know about it in the first place?"

"Clean out your ears, kid." Qrow rasped, "they weren't there for it at all. That guy with the hammer was the one who'd been there. We think he's the one who's been stoking the fire between Earth and Remnant, it's the only way he could've known exactly where and when." He explained. "How those two knew about it is anyone's guess, but he and I -" He indicated Ozpin, "- we heard what they said to eachother. We're under the impression they're a neutral party."

"A neutral party with one of the god's relics." Taurus pointed out. "To say nothing of the fact that their own abilities makes their neutrality perhaps more dangerous than they would be if they were in alliance with our enemy." A beat, "or that their own abilities would mean they could literally be anywhere, not just in the worlds, but in the universe. For all we know they aren't on Earth or Remnant, but somewhere else entirely."

Aldric stepped in, "dude. Realize how big the universe is. It would give them an advantage, yes, to hide on a planet none of us knows exist, but finding that planet would be wholly impractical, bordering on excessively useless, when they could just hide out in a Grimm wasteland here, or... Fuck, Chernobyl, or the Sahara desert, over there. It means they'd still be on planets we could access, but they would still be hidden about as well as they would if they were on a different one."

"If I may." Torchwick raised his hand, cheeky grin plastered across his face. "None of you have considered a much different idea." Everyone turned to him. "We've come to learn that in addition to our dear friend here, there are three other Masters serving our mutual enemy... Have we considered the possibility that one of them may indeed be a terran Maiden?" He asked, "that perhaps we ran into all three at once, in that encounter? And that we may indeed be looking at it the wrong way?"

Aldric tilted his head, and Ozpin spoke up. "Are you intimating that the dead Master wasn't trying to steal the relic, but rather protect it?"

Taurus grunted, "a power struggle."

Torchwick nodded from side to side. "Of a sorts." He nodded to Aldric, "how are we so absolutely certain that there is but only one 'moral' Master in our midst? These were four people taken from an otherwise wonderful life and forced essentially to join a doomsday cult. Are we to believe that only one of them realized how asinine destroying all life would be?"

This guy fucking knows. Aldric suppressed a sigh. But I think I see where he's going. How the fuck was it that Ruby's starter villain was rapidly turning out to be the biggest thorn in Aldric's side to date? "So what are you suggesting? That we have it backwards?" He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "That Thor was trying to protect the relic, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum were trying to steal it?" If so, technically Torchwick was half right - the latter half, to be specific.

Torchwick nodded, "I wonder if 'Thor' and the Master and the Maiden's roles weren't reversed. That they were there to retrieve the relic, and he chose then and there to use the weapon he'd forged for himself to try and protect it, to play his hand. When he lost and you -" He nodded to Ozpin, "arrived, they had the wherewithall to attempt to convince you otherwise such that we would be chasing phantoms, while our mutual enemy enjoyed her victory in secrecy."

Qrow and Ozpin exchanged glances, as Aldric leaned back, frowning. "Then that would mean she has a relic." He grunted. "Not a fun prospect."

Torchwick hummed in affirmation, "certainly not. Especially as it means continuing to search for them under the last assumption would be a waste of resources that, it appears, we can ill afford to waste."

"Then what would you suggest?" Taurus asked. "If we do nothing we run the risk of you being wrong and there being two wildcards running around."

Ozpin, however, spoke up. "I think he emphasized the incorrect word." He said, meeting Torchwick's eyes. "Your implication being that we bring this suspicion to the terrans and their far superior surveillance technology."

Torchwick's grin grew to a full smile, as he nodded. "We find ourselves in tentative alliance with a species who can and has thrown themselves and their machines into outer space. Placing this trust in them would assist us in more ways than the immediate."

Aldric turned to Ozpin and Qrow, watching the former think things over, before nodding. "I suppose that isn't the worst idea." He said, "but that brings up something else. As much as they promise to give us in terms of support for the battle against Salem, her plans and our requirement to allow them to occur." He nodded to Aldric. "Necessitates for them and for us that they cannot give us everything. To wit, where once we expected two planets, now we may merely have an accumulative army. We may have to provide a great deal of our numbers on our own."

Taurus picked up, knowing this was his time to shine. "I'm working on that." He said, "the media has been helping my image turn around. White Fang, especially my faction, has been growing even in these last few weeks. I don't expect them to stop." He nodded to Ozpin, "from what you're saying, I again think our greatest numbers will come from me. The four kingdoms and Earth will provide some, but if you all are locked in combat, some may only just equal out my soldiers."

Aldric piped in, "may be able to get the best of both worlds." He said, attracting everyone's gaze. "Taurus gets recruits, Ozpin gets enough terran weapons to equip them." He noticed a shine in Taurus' masked eyes at this, no doubt inwardly salivating at the idea of getting his hands on Earth weapons and technology. "Supplanted with Remnant soldiers, a modicum of terran soldiers, and as many huntsmen as we can get... It won't be two whole planets united, but it would probably still be more soldier than D-Day." A beat, "the largest military invasion in my planet's history." Everyone nodded. "You can get a lot done with a lot of people. Even if only a few thousand regular soldiers make it past the Grimm and to Salem's castle, that's a quality of numbers. They could overwhelm a lot on their own."

"Are we just gonna forget that he's literally promised to wage war once this is done, kid?" Qrow asked. "And you want to give him some of the most destructive weapons in shared human history."

"You'd rather risk the alternative?" Aldric asked, as Taurus turned to Qrow, agreeing with the former.

Qrow nodded to the side, "fair point, but that doesn't remove the validity of mine."

Aldric shrugged, "one problem at a time."

Ozpin broke back into the conversation, "and that is months away at the earliest. I believe we need to focus on something a lot closer." He turned to Torchwick. "Mister Torchwick."

"Oh I feel as though I'm about to be given one hell of a favor." Torchwick finished his food and leaned back, crossing one leg over the other and smiling widely.

"Considering the state we believe the worlds will be in following Vytal, Mister Aldric and I have formulated a plan we hope will buy Remnant as much unity as possible, until he makes it to Salem's domain." He explained. "He, as Goud, intends to martyr himself to begin with, simply out of necessity. But I was hoping to use his idea and change it. To -"

"Skip to the point, Professor, I'm far too street-level to care about as big ideas as that." Torchwick's grin turned to a sneer.

Ozpin recovered quickly, "fair enough. I hope to add to a certain student of mine's fame, both local and internationally."

Torchwick adopted an expression of faux-shock. "Why Professor, are you suggesting I turn myself in?!"

To which Aldric responded, "don't even give us that. Cinder's been talking to you about setting up false operations to lend some credibility my way."

Torchwick shrugged, "but it's the principle of the thing!" He snorted, brushing a lock of hair out of his face. "Say I go along with this. That I purposefully lay a breadcrumb trail that inevitably leads to my lawful capture and persecution... Could I expect certain affordances, both before and after our conflict ends?" He asked, "not the least of which being full pardons for myself and any number of names I list out afterwards, for our services to Remnant?"

Surprisingly, Ozpin nodded. "Even with the damage to my reputation following the invasion, I can still arrange far more than you would think." He said, "I would simply need a certain level of... Gravitas, shall we say, that I know only you could lend to the situation."

Torchwick chuckled, nodding once. "I've got an Atlesian mech I could allow to be trashed..." Then he sighed dramatically, "oh, I suppose I could assist you and whoever you wished to lend some international credibility to." He said, "it would be far simpler than you would think to simply tell my agents to go to ground for awhile. My only request would be some small warning before you intend to get the ball rolling, as it were, and one favor beforehand... I will tell it to you later."

Ozpin nodded, "I appreciate your understanding." He said, "I must wonder, now... Is there any further business?"

A few moments' silence gave him his answer.

"Then." Aldric grunted, getting to his feet. "I suppose we can call this a -"

"One." Came Taurus, attracting everyone's attention. "I know enough about your abilities, from your describing them and from seeing them in action, to be able to understand that you create things that don't exist." Aldric nodded, as he sat back down. "The metal you make your shield out of." Aldric suppressed a sigh. "I've seen it in action. Heard stories about it. Used it, for a while." Aldric blinked, having completely forgotten Taurus had thrown his shield around once before. "Could you make more?"

Aldric leaned back, crossing a leg over a knee and giving Taurus an appraising look. "I get the strangest feeling this is a gateway question."

Taurus didn't deny it, "you do appear to use your abilities to create entities and weapons independent of your own strength and stamina." He said, "however, I know as well as anyone with enough sense that having a weapon of unlimited power makes one reliant upon that weapon, and invites an escalation the likes of which no one would want to experience." He said. "So I requested that metal. It itself is powerful but it does not grant power." His masked eyes slid down to the lightsaber on Aldric's belt.

I've got a magic sword that routinely kills the incarnation of an evil big-G-God held by an idiot that would make this thing look useless in comparison. Aldric leaned back. "I don't know..." He said, "I've never made chunks of ore, before. Never thought to." This could be something of an excuse for him to make the vibranium nanite suit from the movie; if he found he couldn't just create a hunk of it for Taurus, he could make the necklace the suit was stored in, in the movie, and then melt down the one he was wearing.

But that conclusion didn't tell Aldric one thing, "why ask for my magic metal?" Though he felt he knew: If nothing on Earth or Remnant could cut through his shield, something made of a similar metal could; Taurus was planning further ahead than anyone present, to the point where Aldric wouldn't be surprised if he were searching for a way to nullify Aldric's powers. Was he going to have to worry about this guy finding someone with silver eyes at some point?

Taurus was silent for a moment, "you understand as well as I the importance of a powerful symbol. You choose a shield to protect, I choose a sword to fight."

Aldric nodded to the side, knowing that this probably wasn't the best choice, but nothing bad would come of him at least buying himself some time. "Alright... I'll see what I can do." He nodded, sounding the end of the meeting.

Aldric wasn't sure if the fact that Torchwick didn't hold him back or slip him a message was a good thing or a bad thing.

In the days following the Watchmen's second meeting, Aldric spent most of his time enjoying the peace and falling back into the routine he'd set before World War Three, modified accordingly. Classes, training, helping Vale rebuild, the days bled together into routine, only broken by his late night sojourns where he temporarily abandoned his Goud persona to set plans and act as the shadowy Aldric, and then, a week after the Watchmen meeting, a break in the monotony that hadn't existed before the war.

Okay! Pyrrha had texted him, whenever you're ready! He has no idea!

Standing outside a training arena in full regalia, Aldric grinned, looking forward to some innocent fun. Of course, 'innocent fun' still equated to sparring on a level that would kill people back on Earth, but he digressed and entered the stadium. He sensed Pyrrha and Jaune going at it, the latter cowering behind his gifted shield whenever the former attacked, and the former noticeably holding back on her assault. To his credit, Jaune did try to attack, but they were hesitant and slow, allowing Pyrrha to dance out of their way with ease.

She noticed Aldric entering, his shield mounted on his back, and allowed the smallest grin to grace her features, as she took control of the battle again, slowly turning Jaune such that his back was to Aldric. She thrusted forward, with Jaune deflecting the attack with his blade, but soon finding himself unable to attack as she chopped at his arm with her shield and then pushed him back a few inches with her shoulder. Jaune stumbled back, nearly losing his balance, only to recover, then lower his guard as he noticed Pyrrha standing up straight.

"What am I doing wrong?" He asked, scratching at the back of his head.

Pyrrha smiled kindly, "nothing overmuch." She said, "I just... Think a different approach might benefit you."

Jaune blinked, "huh?"

Aldric's shield promptly slammed into the back of his head; Jaune stumbled forward several steps, even falling to his hands. He whirled around to his back, sword miraculously still clutched in his hand, as he witnessed Aldric leap onto the stage, catch his shield, and then careen down towards him. Jaune gasped in fear and scrambled away, just barely rolling out of the way of Aldric's downward punch. Aldric let Jaune get to his feet, but the moment he did, he charged again; Jaune's response was a blind swing with his sword, but Aldric ducked behind his shield, letting the holy blade grind across the red white and blue disc and causing Jaune to overextend himself. Aldric's response was a powerful cross to Jaune's ribs, then a spinning backhand with the flat of his shield, and finally, a kick to his rear end, sending him back to the ground.

Aldric, grinning, approached Jaune and offered a hand, "okay, now what did we learn?"

Jaune stared at him, in both fear and apprehension, before he accepted the hand and pulled himself to his feet. "Ash... What are -"

"You're taking training lessons from a chick whose entire combat style is to specifically not get hit. Not very conducive to success, given we don't even know what your semblance is, let alone if its like hers." Aldric said, patting the dust from Jaune's clothes and armor. "So she talked to me and asked if I couldn't help with your shieldwork."

Jaune spared a look over at Pyrrha, who was sitting down at the edge of the arena, she nodded once, and he looked back to Aldric. "But... My shield isn't the problem." He voiced.

Aldric grinned, "oh?" He tilted his head, "are you trying to imply that you think the only way you can fight is with that sword?" He asked, "let me ask you something, Johnny-boy, before 'fear and dead men', did you even know I had a sword?" He didn't let Jaune answer, "the best offense is a good defense, dude, just as the opposite is true. So what I'm going to do -" He held up his hand, and nodded to the Master Sword, which Jaune tentatively placed in it. "- is take this..." He took the -

WHOA. Aldric clamped down on everything so he wouldn't bark out in pain, as he felt the hilt of the blade burning his hand, which was doubly strange as it was his mechanical limb taking it, which, by definition, shouldn't be able to be burned, or feel pain, for that matter. Okay Fi, fuck you. Aldric kept up his smile, "and... Do this!" He under-handed it over to Pyrrha, sliding it across the ground and then flexing his fingers, his hand still feeling as though he'd submerged it in lava. "And then I'm going to teach you to use that thing the way I was taught. Because if you can master your shield, you can put anything - or nothing at all! - in the other hand, and be just as fine."

Jaune frowned, "how... Were you taught?"

Aldric grinned, passing his hand through his hair. "Trial by fire!" And he lunged forward, causing Jaune to flinch as his fist stopped barely an inch in front of his face. Aldric let out a dramatic sigh, "you need work, dude. But that's why I'm here!" He poked him on the nose and made a honking noise. "Let's get started... first!" Aldric slid his own shield off of his arm and let it fall to the ground, while he took Jaune's and positioned it properly. "Did you... Wait." Aldric ducked under Jane's arm and checked the shield's straps, realizing they had been changed around, and instead of a traditional, vertical grip, Jaune was holding the shield sideways, its pointed edge facing outwards. "You do this?" Aldric asked, indicating the straps.

"Uh... Yeah." Jaune nodded, "the shield was smaller than what I was used to, the grip was a little awkward, so I thought I'd move them around and try it out... Why? Was I not supposed to?" He asked, words growing in speed with every passing word.

Aldric shook his head, "oh, no." He said, "if anything it might help you out. Stabilize the shield a bit, help you control it, and..." Aldric feigned a jab at Jaune's ribs, "dig that edge in there real good. If anything, your shield is ironically more suited to combat than mine is." He said, "anyways." He shook his head, "tighten the grip, but relax your arm." He said, tapping at Jaune's biceps, "you keep your arm all tense like this, all the shock of impact will go straight to your chest." Not a problem, Aldric realized, he had to deal with often.

"Uh... Okay." Jaune nodded, "now what?" He asked, trying to both keep a tight grip on the shield's straps and relax his arm.

"Now..." Aldric took a step back, "think fast!" Aldric lunged forward like a cannon, throwing his metal fist forward; Jaune wasn't nearly fast enough, resulting in Aldric's fist stopping right in front of his face. "Yup. Number one goal when you fight with a shield is to always keep it up, ready to take a punch or a stab or whatever else comes your way." He said, "'cause when your shield takes the hit, your aura takes less damage, and you last longer in a fight."

Jaune frowned, trying to commit these things to memory. "Okay..." He held up his arm again, bracing his legs behind him. "Okay." He repeated.

Aldric lunged forward again and slammed his fist into Jaune's shield, the impact ringing outwards like that of a hammer striking an anvil. Jaune skidded back several inches and grunted from the impact.

"Alright, now I want you to do that to me." Aldric said, backing up, stomping on the edge of his shield, kicking it into the air, and fastening it to his arm in one fluid motion. "Watch what I do in response."

Jaune's frown became one less of concentration and now of confusion. "But... I don't have my -"

"But you do have a giant hunk of metal with a pointed tip, there! So c'mon!" Aldric readied his shield. "C'mon, I want you do it. C'mon, c'mon, hit me. Hit me. Hit me!" He grinned.

Jaune shook his head and then charged, throwing his shield-arm around in a wide superman punch, the sharp end of his shield hitting the star of Aldric's; Aldric leaned into the attack, causing the shield to begin to slide across it. He then lunged his arm to the side, causing Jaune's arm to go wide, and then to open up his core. Aldric didn't hold back this time, he buried his metal fist into Jaune's stomach. Jaune doubled over, coughing, and soon accepting the help of Aldric after he relaxed and then helped Jaune to his feet.

"What was -"

"By fire, dude." Aldric interrupted. "You see what I did there?"

"You punched me -"

"In the chest, yes, but how did I do that?"

Jaune looked up at Aldric, a look of sheer befuddlement on his face, before he his eyes lowered down Old Glory's star, and then the confusion bled away to understanding. "You... Didn't just take it." He drawled.

Aldric nodded, "as good as a shield is for just intercepting attacks, my experience has been that should be a sort of do-or-die, no-other-choice decision. I've found more success in using the shield to deflect attacks as opposed to just absorbing them." He slid his hand across the surface, "then you avoid the attack, take even less damage from it, and you open up your enemy to a counter attack to boot. Take it." He raised his shield, "deflect it." He thrust to the side, "counter it." He shadow-boxed an uppercut with the shield. "Then as they're recovering..." He threw a few jabs, "you can follow it up. See?"

Jaune nodded, "I... Think so."

Aldric grinned, "and that's why Pyrrha brought me in. Her style is to avoid damn near everything that comes her way -" Aldric proved this point by throwing the shield at Pyrrha without warning, Pyrrha casually leaned out of the way and the shield flew past her. "- which is good, but there are a few reasons she can do and does that, and if she hasn't told you I won't either. But suffice to say not many can -"

"Can you?" Jaune asked, earnestly.

To which, Aldric shrugged. "I dunno, what's my semblence?" He was actually curious if people had started to figure out, considering how much flying he'd been doing.

Jaune shrugged, "everyone knows you can fly..."

Aldric nodded to the side. "Okay." He said, not confirming or denying it. "So let's say I can, but I don't as much as she does for various reasons. Back to point though, as not many can do that, there needs to be other ways of defending yourself, and that's what I mostly rely on." The shield bounced off of a distant wall and soon made its way back to Aldric's waiting hand. "Shieldwork."

Jaune nodded, "but I've been using my shield for almost a year now, and now I have to get used to a new one." He trailed off.

Aldric nodded, "sure, but Beacon's pretty hands-off with its combat training. They fight with safeties on and expect you to train on your own. Not bad things, but in your case, it's also not the best thing either." Jaune's frown turned genuine, "and that's nothing against you, it's just pointing it out from experience." Jaune blinked, head recoiling as he realized what Aldric was implying. "Yeah, like I said. I learned the same way I'm about to teach you, and that brings us full circle." Aldric secured his shield to his arm, "tonight, whether or not your aura lasts Johnny-boy, I am not going to fucking stop until you either can't stand any more, or you can reliably deflect and counter me." Which was still better than the myriad ways Aldric nearly died, both before and after Amber.

Jaune's expression turned to one of fear, as what Aldric was saying dawned on him. "Uh -"

"So think fast, bitch!" Aldric charged.

The rest of the night soon became an exercise in Aldric turning Jaune into his punching bag, seldom if ever making it easy on him by mixing up and varying his attacks. Jaune's growth was slow, almost nonexistent at times. Aldric hammered at his aura constantly, whittling it down to what the computers started yelling at them as being critical after the first hour, and then down to nothing after the second. What gave Aldric a pleasant surprise, as well as a small amount of deja-vu, was when Jaune didn't give up after his aura shattered on Aldric's fist. He kept going, not even asking Aldric to quit, despite Aldric thinking he would.

It took three hours for Aldric to break the first rib, Pyrrha tried to step in then, and Aldric would have let her, had Jaune not shoved her off, resolutely declaring he could go on. Aldric and Pyrrha exchanged glances at this, and after confirming that this was, indeed, what the guy wanted, Aldric shrugged and started going again. In another hour, two more ribs joined the first, and then in the sixth hour of training, with Jaune exhausted, with six ribs broken and some blood leaking out of his mouth, a miracle happened.

Aldric was in front of Jaune, his open palm surging forward for the weak, horrifically swollen portion of Jaune's chest, and Jaune was able to first intercept the attack with his shield, and then push it out of the way, deflecting it. He spun into Aldric's attack and used this to bring his shield around and into the side of his shield into Aldric's face. Aldric stumbled back a step, and the exhausted Arc managed to keep up his momentum, lunging forward and digging the pointed edge of his shield into Aldric's chest. Aldric's vibranium armor took most of the damage and he didn't feel the impact, but that didn't take away from Jaune's accomplishment.

Even if he did collapse to his hands and knees in a sweaty, gasping heap afterwards.

Aldric and, soon after, Pyrrha were both on their feet and rounding on Jaune, the former sliding his arm under both of Jaune's and helping him to his feet, as Pyrrha excitedly clasped both of her hands in front of her chest. "Jaune!" She declared, a smile in her voice as well on her face.

"See, Johnny-boy?" Aldric grinned, "ain't that hard. And I guarantee you you won't be forgetting anything you learned today."

Gasping for air, Jaune nodded, and wiped some of the blood off of his chin. "Yeah... I suppose I won't." He coughed out a laugh.

"And we get to do this again next week!" Aldric gave Jaune an open-mouthed smile.

Jaune was still for a moment, and then he finally succumbed to himself and passed out.