A/N: SO! Two and a half months and nothing! Well, not anymore! Here's the biggest chapter I could squeeze out of myself. Serious talk tho;
I like writing but I'm getting busier and busier be it with work or university, heck, working would be all good If I didn't have to use up 1/3 of it in public transport and another 1/3 in food. Not to mention that professor work is tiresome. If I had a way to monetize this, you bet your sweet fucking ass I would, but I just don't think this niche is beeg enough for it. Until then though, expect more updates! Whenever I'm free I do write!
VGBlackwing: I don't think she lucked out that much. While it is true, she could have ended up with someone as maddened as Heathcliff, I doubt it would be a veteran of Lobotomy. You gotta be at least serviceable to get into a Wing. But yeah... I see your point, I too want to fuck Kromer.
RhoMarck: You would think that he's an Intellectual, but then you gotta remember that he ended up as an employee at Lobotomy Corp... I sure hope he did his job correctly so that he didn't end up transferred to a lower position in a new and not that respected wing with the SHADIEST origins to ever be conceptualized. But yes, they are most likely going to warm up to Penny.
Enjoy big chapter, or else.
Arthur Watts.
What to say about him? Well, he was a very dangerous man, not because he was able to kill someone, but because he was efficient and looked elegant while performing his job. He was also the kind of man to adapt to most situations life would throw at him. He once was a scientist for Atlas, when that failed, he faked his death and became a freelancer, and when that too failed, he found his passion working for the Black Queen herself. A being of unspeakable evil bent on destroying humanity, but he didn't care for those minor details because with her he could do what he enjoyed.
Life was simple, and he would even go as far as to say that he was happy.
But everything changed when a man appeared on their front lawn.
He wore a mockery of a suit, made from black tar and white masks that shifted as though they were alive. His weapon of choice was a hammer fashioned with the same consistency and texture as his suit. It was sickening, a human that wore something so close to a living Grimm...
Watts checked himself in the mirror, readying himself for another day in the Grimm lands, however... Rumbling noises echoed throughout the Black Queen's castle, his toothbrush even fell to the ground!
"They are at it again..."
What's worse? The man keeps trying to... Flirt with Salem! Every. Day. And every single time he attempted it, they would kill each other until one gave up. Through the shaking of the structure, he noticed bags forming beneath his eyes.
"Hm. I'll stop by a drug store next time I'm in the field..." He left his bathroom just as the lightbulb installed by him fell and cracked in the ground. "Oh, perhaps I should try one of those thermal baths or massages. I heard they are good with stress."
When the shaking and rumbling stopped did he step out of his room, hoping to not run into- "Hey."
'Great.' Watts thought to himself. "What is it, Gus?" Watts turned to the man adamant about getting on the nerves of the Queen of Grimm.
"Can you take me to the thing again?"
Watts sighed, so early in the morning and he was already tired. But still, he soldiered on and complied with this mysterious outsider. Through the dark corridors of her palace, Grimm was determined to get to this man, which only infuriated Watts further as it put him at risk as well. "Why are you so determined to fix that thing again?" Watts asked, being a scientist, he was naturally seduced by things he did not understand, however, this machine Gus insists on fixing did not pique Arthur's interest.
"Hmm. I have friends waiting for me back in L Corp, they are fighting for their life there, and so will I." Watts couldn't even hope to understand what this madman is spouting, L Corp? What even is that supposed to mean? But at least it was none of his business.
"Here we are, your thing." Watts led him to an empty room with a single contraption in the middle. Metallic and adorned with meticulous handwork, the artifact lay there, dead, inactive, the four lamps lined in the center of the thing remained inactive, no matter how much Gus attempted to turn the hand-lever that stuck out on the machine's side.
"No luck today too huh?" Gus lamented, but his hope remained, "Welp might as well go bother that witch." That one day he would be reunited with his friends back in the City.
"Why are you so adamant in flirting with her? Do you have a screw loose?" The man laughed for a second. "Oh no, nothing of the sort. I mean, think about it, I can't kill her, and she can't damage me, might as well make love to her y'know?"
Watts sighed, he understood it now, Gus was mad. Perhaps not so mad as his fellow companions like Tyrian, but still messed up in the head. "You could leave her alone, did you think of that?"
Gus shrugged, uncaring for Watts' words. "What fun would that be? Plus, I can't leave because I'd get lost in the wilderness." And so Gus walked out, on his way to making the Queen of Grimm's life a living hell for now.
Blake woke up that Friday motivated. She just had a dream where she spoke to an invisible voice, and that voice said things that made her determined to prove it wrong.
Hastily preparing herself for the day, in less than fifteen minutes Blake had already taken a bath, changed into her combat gear, and had already eaten her breakfast, all while the rest of her team were fast asleep, It was only 4 in the morning after all.
She didn't exactly have a plan in mind, but she would surely prove that pretentious and condescending voice she heard in a dream wrong! And she knew exactly where to start.
"Them."
She spoke to herself, eyeing the group of three men and a girl, whilst hiding behind a nearby pillar still inside the cafeteria. Quietly, she observed the four eat in silence. "Don't worry Penny, I will expose them for the monsters they are and get you out of here."
It was early on a Friday morning that doubled as a day off for most of the students, meaning that almost all of the students were too busy sleeping, making the silence of the cafeteria even more ominous.
When the group raised from their seats to leave the cafeteria, Blake followed them in the back making sure not to be seen nor heard. There was an awkward conversation between the group as they made their way to the general direction of the academy gym.
"Friend Fred, how come you don't take off that monocle?" Blake quietly followed the group, overhearing them. "It doesn't work like that... It would be the same as asking for you to remove your arm. It is basically part of me at this point." Fred lamented, struggling to take off the oddly shaped monocle stuck to his left eye. "See? can't take it off."
Penny analyzed the thing, it was a singular, perfectly round lens with a pitch-black adornment on the left that resembled a musical note. "That's curious, I've never heard of an accessory that gets stuck in one's eye... It's not bothering you, is it?" Fred shook his head, "Not at all, in fact, I quite like it." Penny's smile crept back on her face. "Very well then, my monocled friend!"
Meanwhile, Francisco and Bemaia were on a completely different tangent from the other two. "I mean, the name sounds familiar and it feels like I know someone with that name, but I don't remember anyone with that name!" Bemaia lamented, rubbing his head in frustration. "I've never heard the name Kyleneath before, so you're on your own," Francisco replied, not even trying to help with the situation. "Was he someone I worked with? No... I'd remember ever working with someone other than the Thumb and my office... A case we solved perhaps? Nah, can't be, I'd remember a case with a name as stupid as that..."
It was then that Blake also noticed that their injuries had almost completely healed, seeing that Bemaia was walking again, only Francisco's left arm was still... Bandaged? Blake squinted her eyes, trying to figure out what was going on with the arm that was supposed to be missing from the bald librarian. 'It's no bandaging, it's a metal casing... They put a seal over his stump in the form of an arm. Kinda looks like a metallic arm, only it's limp and useless.' Before she could write a mental note about the bald librarian's lack of motor functions on his left arm, a cold shiver ran down the cat Faunus' spine, her instincts screaming at her to hide, and she obeyed them promptly. She did not know why, but it felt as if something very dangerous gazed at her.
Francisco stopped for a second, then announced to his team, "You three go on ahead, I need to... Uh... Go free the slaves." Bemaia ignored him completely and continued walking. Penny quickly responded, "Do you require assistance?" But the bald guy didn't bother to respond to his robot leader and turned a sharp left into another corridor, towards a nearby bathroom.
Fred quietly pulled Penny to the side and quietly whispered to her some things. "Penny, you can't ask things like that to boys, they will take it the wrong way..." Fred whispered to Penny, who in response nodded nervously. Blake couldn't hear that but decided to act immediately. Making distance between her and the now group of three, Blake quietly turned left, going after Francisco. "Free the slaves... What kind of shady business are you up to inside Beacon?" Only for her to be surprised by the very same bald guy waiting for her right around the corner, watching her in silence, waiting for her to say anything.
'How did he know!?'
She thought, only for her eyes to drift towards his left cheek, where a set of eyes stared directly at her. That same shiver ran down her spine again. Reflected back from those eyes, she saw herself covered head to toe in blood as her guts hung out of her opened intestine.
'D-Did they see me?'
Blake quickly composed herself, resisting the urge to vomit, and ignoring the way she flinched when seeing Francisco waiting for her, she decided to continue her wait through the corridor, feigning ignorance.
'This is just a coincidence, surely...'
Only for her to bump into the bald librarian who jumped in her way, prompting her to stop dead in her track. "What are you doing?" The former librarian spoke calmly. Blake wasn't as calm as him however, she was trying her best to remain composed, but her trembling legs were a dead giveaway.
'Is this… Fear?'
All that determination she had just a few minutes ago had suddenly vanished. Blake attempted to throw him to the ground, and when she was faced with no resistance from him, Blake immediately pounced on him, "I AM NOT SCARED OF YOU," She shouted, punching the Librarian in the face as she pinned him to the ground with her own body. "You are all monsters, and I will not rest until you are dealt with!"
Her outburst continued, punching her in the face again. Curiously, Francisco's aura didn't activate to block both of those punches, but Blake didn't notice nor care about that. "Those White Fang, they were..." Her voice cracked, "They were..." She couldn't bring herself to speak any further and quietly pushed herself away from him and sat by a nearby wall with her knees covering her face, prompting Francisco to sigh at her short outburst.
Rubbing away the pain from his face, the former librarian quietly stood up and rested himself against the wall across from her. "You done?" He asked, and when the only response from Blake was a quiet sob, Francisco began, "I'm not good with feelings, but I suppose any help you get by now is good help..." He stared her down, rubbing his cheek. "You've seen the recordings of the mission. You know how they decided to treat your leader, which also happens to be a child." Blake couldn't say anything, so she just quietly listened much to Francisco's increasing discontent.
"I won't lie to you, I know absolutely nothing about the White Fang aside from the fact that they are terrorists..." Nothing. He grew bothered by the girl's unresponsiveness. "Can you tell me more about them?" He asked, waiting for an answer for what seemed to be an eternity. "Well, can't say I-"
But then the unexpected happened, Blake interrupted him, "They..." Francisco stopped to listen, patiently waiting for her to choose her words. "They are an organization made to fight for Faunus' rights." Francisco nodded his head, "Yes, can you tell me more?" He pressed, "They are... Were... The symbol of revolution for my kind... The ideal of fighting back against the human-made society that prayed on my kind..." Francisco listened, only stopping to make a singular question; "Well, aren't you human too?"
Blake halted. Did they not know? Then it hit her. The trio wasn't part of her circle of close friends, of course, they wouldn't know of her secret... "I... I-a- It's complicated..." Francisco huffed. "How complicated can it be? You either are or you aren't." To say that he was blunt would be an understatement. He was so blunt in fact, that he managed to make Blake spit out her not-so-secret-anymore secret.
"I'm not..." Francisco nodded. "Yes?" He asked, staring her down. "I-"
But this time, he interrupted her.
"I don't care." She staggered back, hitting her back against the wall. "And neither does anyone that cares about you." Her eyes opened wide, looking up at him. "The fact is, you are surrounded by people that love you, so why do you care so much about useless things like a label? Because you feel entitled to help others that aren't as fortunate as you?"
How did that make any sense? He began with a good case, a complete truth that deep down she knew was valid, but still, Blake gritted her teeth. "Is it wrong to care for the Faunus? Is it wrong to act on behalf of those who can't?!" Francisco exhaled. "I wish I knew the answer to that too, I've never had much room to do that..." Francisco sat down next to the faunus girl beside him, causing her to shift away from him. 'What a shit situation...' He thought.
"Y'know what... Let me tell you somethin' I heard a few months ago," Francisco began as Blake showed no change in temperament. "Now, I don't know how that man lived his life, and neither do I want to know, but he was old, much older than he had any right being considering his line of work." Against her better judgment, Blake decided to humor Francisco a bit. "...Like an old Huntsmen." The former librarian nodded his head. "Yeah, and because of that he gained a lot of wisdom." He smiled for a second. "While scolding one of his friend's subordinates, he said something that kinda stuck with me." Blake listened.
"'Helping another, avenging another, or even sacrificing yourself so someone else may live, is ultimately for oneself.' Or something to that effect."
Blake raised one eyebrow at that. "What are you trying to say?" Francisco remained with a stoic face. Those things he spoke of were defining traits of egoists, and he knew that Blake was a deeply selfish person. "What you are fighting for, is a selfish cause. You're doing it for yourself and not them though it may seem otherwise, and I want you to understand that first and foremost," She opened her mouth to contest, but it was instantly shut by him raising his hand and putting it to her lips, shutting her up. "Don't think for a second that it means it's a cause not worth fighting for, in fact, I'd argue that it's the best cause to fight. Fighting for what you value is much more valid than fighting because someone told you to." Francisco chuckled to himself, "I don't know your story, and I don't need to know your story to realize that you are leaving the path you wanted to follow, all you seem to care about is how I and my partner dealt with those men and women, instead of caring about what you could have done to prevent it from happening."
Blake has had enough and yanked his hand out of her mouth, as she stood up violently. "You murdered them!" She screamed. "Boo hoo! So what?!" Francisco screamed back, making Blake's stomach churn. "You don't care..?" She stammered out, holding back the urge to vomit once again. "Why the hell would I?! Those people tried to kill a fucking child! Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same if..."
That was when it hit him. She wasn't pissed that they killed, he was mistaken from the very beginning. "That nauseating feeling... The taste of iron in your mouth..." She stared in complete disbelief at him, wondering what he was describing. "That stare..." Then, it all clicked together! Though he knew close to nothing about Blake, her actions pointed towards one thing, "You've killed before, haven't you?" He spoke in a low and almost threatening tone, getting ever so close to her. And her lack of response, only a glare filled with disbelief and betrayal was the only answer he needed.
"You did." He smiled, grabbing Blake by the throat with his good arm and lifting her off of her feet and against the nearby wall. It happened so fast that, although she didn't register what happened, her aura certainly did. "And..." He analyzed her top to bottom, as she clawed and scratched against his grip, grasping desperately for air, her look of pure and unfiltered anger as she stared at him, it was all signs he needed. "Thankfully... You did not enjoy taking the life of another!" And just like that, he let go of her, making her fall to her knees, gasping for air.
"What... Was that!?" She screamed, her voice ragged, and she breathed in short breaths, backing away from him, only for her back to hit the wall. "I see now! You're mad at us because you don't know how we could stomach killing without even flinching." Blake's aura flared up, healing the small bruise on her neck. "You are a monster... A monster!" Francisco physically wiped away her comment with his hand. "Look, I like fighting. The rush of being on the edge of life, the pain from any mistake I commit, the satisfaction of winning, and the desire to improve after a defeat, I enjoy all of that, but that is where my passion ends. If I could, I wouldn't kill anyone, but that's not how life works."
She attempted to say something, but she couldn't make a single word. "It's a necessary evil. If it weren't why in the wing's name would we still be allowed in Beacon after the headmaster watched our documented actions?" Blake was left speechless. "It's in our nature, us humans. We do things we don't want for the good of the many if even that. Best if you accept it now, before the rest of your team since you've done it already." Blake went to slap him in the face, but Francisco managed to grip her wrist before the blow connected. "Do not compare me to you! I am not a human, I am a Faunus!" Francisco sighed, throwing her hand away. "Tomato Tomato, same fucking thing!"
Blake stomped toward his face and pointed at his chest. "We are not!"
"Yeah, we are!"
"We're. Not."
Unfortunately, Francisco too was stubborn. "What's the difference then? A pair of ears? Or perhaps a tail or something? Gimme a break. Next, you're gonna tell me that a guy with a different skin tone is another race entirely." Blake stopped for a moment, thinking and searching for a comeback, to no avail. She knew he had a point, a very underdeveloped and ill-advised point, but still, a point she found herself struggling against. All the time she spent with the white fang was spent struggling against a system that didn't care about her kind. It was time and strength spent doing what she once thought was right, even when she allowed her late partner to... And now this outsider says he doesn't care and everyone is the same. That… did not sit well with Blake, not at all.
"We all struggle the same, we hate the same, we feel the same. I mean, I'm not a faunus and I'm being screwed up by the system already! If not for the contract that I was pretty much forced to sign I would be probably searching through trash or something."
The girl's head was running a thousand times faster than normal, probably having an internal discussion. 'He is speaking the truth. But what does he know of the suffering of Faunus kind? He probably would say that he didn't care too… How frustrating!' Francisco decided that enough cruelty was enough. "Look, today's a special day, we have a dinner night at a nice place, with some nice people, try to lighten up. Take a break for now, go get some sleep, and miss a few classes because who cares about those... For the sake of your team. I'd hate to see a child cry again."
Blake was silent, unmoving. After a minute or so without any responses from the faunus girl aside from the periodic sob, Francisco decided against his better judgment of leaving her to her own devices and took her by the arm, and dragged her back to her dorm room. He attempted to open it, but no luck, it was locked.
He glanced at Blake, wondering where she could have put her keys, but soon common sense took control and he simply knocked on the door a few times.
"Hello?" He spoke, and at the same time, his cheek mouth too spoke with its many voices. "HeLLo" Francisco cursed internally, nearly jumping from the sudden extra voices coming from his cheek. "So, you're back... Shit."
Before he had time to think about it, the doorknob moved, opening the door and revealing a very pissed-off Yang with messy hair and wearing a black tank top. "What's your problem?" She asked calmly, clearly pissed off about him waking her up. "Caught a stray cat wandering through the hallways this morning. The thing even attempted to pounce on me. Try to put it on a leash this time." He joked, and just as Francisco said that Yang's eyes glowed a very intimidating red. "What is your problem?" She asked, this time she didn't seem so calm.
"Learn to take a joke, girl..." Francisco sighed, taking a step of caution back, and handed over Blake. "I had a talk with her, and she agreed to take a break and sleep." Yang stared at him as her eyes flared with a red hue. "You wait right here. Got it?" Francisco sighed but nodded nonetheless. He knew better than to piss her off further after seeing the damage she had done to the Wyvern back at Mount. Glemm.
The girl opened the door letting Blake inside and closing the door behind her for a moment. "Hm." Francisco waited for the door to open, tapping his feet impatiently on the ground. Muffled sounds of tired and annoyed voices echoed through the thin door.
Yang soon opened the door again, "Talk." The former librarian acted confused, legitimately not knowing what she was on about. "About what?" Was this an attempt at mockery? Or was he that clueless? Yang wondered. "You know what I mean. So if you don't want to end up at the infirmary, I suggest you speak up." Francisco took a step backward, away from the girl, for he knew that what she said wasn't intimidation, it was a fact.
"As much as I am in the mood for a fight, I know you aren't. Fine, I'll play along." Yang seemed to relax slightly, considering that her eyes returned to the lilac tone it normally is. "It's been a while since she's been following me and my partner, so I decided to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her." Yang sighed. "Why was she up so early on a Friday? What did you do?" Francisco raised his hands defensively. "Hell if I know. All I know was that she was stalking us like always, all I did was confront her." Yang snickered at his comment, not believing it for a second. "Yeah right. Listen, if she really was stalking you, you would not be able to see her. She's that good at it. So either tell me the truth, or I make you." Francisco shrugged. "I don't doubt you, it's just that it doesn't work on me specifically," He said tapping at his left cheek, the same cheek where mimicry manifested as a gift.
Three eyes were coldly staring at Yang. Unblinking, unflinching, sending shivers down her spine as the unnatural eyes gazed at her. Reflected at her, she saw herself as perfectly normal, only this reflection had blue and green eyes instead of her lilac ones. "As much as I hate to admit it, these things see things that I normally wouldn't, including Blake." Francisco sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I've lived most of my life on hyper-focus, always on the lookout for an ambush or a mugger due to being from the backstreets and all that... But I still didn't notice her. It was all due to this thing's uncanny ability to always be looking at something that I noticed her."
Yang was still not satisfied. "What did you tell her to make her quiet down?" Francisco hummed to himself. "A few truths about her fixation on the White Fang." Yang stared at him, waiting for a better answer. "That's all, sorry." Yang sighed, she was drained from being woken up at such an early hour. So she simply flipped him off with an "Ugh." and closed the door behind her as she entered her dorm room.
"Huh..." Francisco was certain that she would return, but when he heard the clicking of a lock being locked, he decided just to turn and leave. "Well, screw you too. Think you're so smart just because you can read..." He cursed, returning to his team.
The morning was mostly uneventful. Classes about combat tactics that Penny thoroughly enjoyed, taking notes of every word spoken by Glynda at an inhumanly fast processing speed, while Francisco didn't even pretend to pay attention and simply nodded to everything she said.
Lunch seemed to be uneventful as well. The only thing worth noting was the increased amount of people avoiding them. The trio of Librarians had earned rather bad fame through this couple of days due to Doctor Märtz's presentation and... Well... "How are those four still here?" Voices whispered around them. "Aren't they murderers?" But the team paid no mind, "That wing has to be fake... I saw him without it the day they arrived!" Well, Penny sat with Teams RWBY and JNPR due to Ruby's request and couldn't hear most of the gossip due to how loud the group of friends was, and those she did hear, she didn't understand it was about her team, as for the other three, they couldn't care less about it;
"Hold on, lemme check." Bemaia heard that comment but didn't give it much thought and continued to eat his lunch. Surely, no one in their right mind would go as far as to do something stupid with the guy with the fame of murderer... Right?
"Ow!" Bemaia flinched in pain, feeling something grasping and pulling his wings backward, prompting him to get up from his seat and turn to the aggressor, "Do you mind?!" He recognized the guy, it was the same ginger kid that tried to steal his bamboo hat on his first day. Having a better look at this guy, Bemaia noticed that he was big. Bigger than everyone on his team both in terms of muscle mass and height, and he was currently tugging on his Wing. "What?" The ginger guy said, scowling. Bemaia raised his eyebrow at the attitude this man had. "A bit rude, don't you think?" But the ginger guy tugged on his wing even harder. "Relax dude, I'm just checking for something,"
Before he could pull it further, the Wing's yellow eyes opened wide, scaring him into letting go of it. "What the hell?" He said somewhat disgusted with the eyed wing, "What in the brother's name is even that?! Damn, freak." Bemaia sighed, deciding that he wasn't worth the effort and simply sitting back in his seat. "Please, If you want to call someone a freak, Francisco is right there." Bemaia mocked, pointing across the table at his partner who was in the middle of putting a spoonful of food in his mouth, catching him off guard. "Whmphf?" "WhAT" He attempted to say with his mouth full, only the other mouth to finish his question for him, making the ginger boy stagger for a second. "Huh?" The ginger boy eye's widened when he finally noticed the three extra eyes looking straight into him, each of them blinking individually at different intervals. He felt the air leaving his lungs but words came out as he turned tail and bolted towards the table his team sat.
Francisco gulped down the food and was left there looking at the boy running away from him as though he was a horror movie monster. "Was there something in my face?" He asked, earning a facepalm from Fred who watched the events unfold right in front of him. "You're a dumbass... Huh?" Fred lost his line of thought as he felt something vibrate in his pants, "What's this?" He pulled out a vibrating scroll, that scroll was not his, It was Francisco's but since he couldn't read it became useless to him, so now Fred is his new owner.
After tapping it once, a name appeared on the screen. "Who's Doctor Märtz?" But the bald librarian was already busy munching on another spoonful, unable to answer his question, and Bemaia couldn't bother. Fred pinched the bridge of his eyes and answered the scroll. "Who is this?" Fred said, only for a loud old man to come through loudly spewing out nonsense. "He- Hey! This isn't that bald shit's voice... Who's this? A thief perhaps? I knew we couldn't trust those children with handling basic tasks such as basic self-protection..." Fred was taken aback by the loud man in the scroll but decided to humor him for a second. "Uh... This is his teammate Fred." As those words came out of his mouth, a long and drawn-out silence followed it, and after thirty seconds or so, Fred decided that enough was enough. "Either tell me what you want or-"
"Where is my favorite test subject?!"
Wow, that was sudden. Fred thought to himself. "Well, he's..." He spare his companion a glance, Francisco was currently choking with a wing bone, but was attempting to hide it as he tried to calmly breathe in and out while pitifully failing to stifle coughs and the urge to throw up. "Here..." Fred finished. "Good, tell him to get to the amphitheater immediately if he wants to have a good fight!" And just like that, Doctor Märtz hung up. "Huh. That was a thing." Fred then looked at Francisco, who was being helped by Bemaia to get unchoked. "Oi," Fred began nonchalantly, "Once you leave my man, can you tell him to head to the Amphitheater? Doc Märtz wants him to fight something." Bemaia nodded as he smacked the back of the bald librarian, to no effect. "In the meantime, I'll go to our room and scour the internet for information about Remnant." He said, shaking the scroll in her hand, and leaving the cafeteria.
The amphitheater, just like last week, was almost filled to the brim with students and other viewers. Quite the crowd, and within them was Bemaia, Penny and pretty much all of the first and third years that were not on missions, since there were no more classes that day, all excited to see what else Doctor Märtz and his assistant brought to the table. On the side, laid the memory machine, this time it was slightly smaller with fewer tables and a sleeker exterior. Francisco, with his weapon sheathed in his back, had just arrived in the main circle of the theater where Doctor Märtz waited with bathed breaths.
"So! Heard you wanted me to fight something?" Francisco excitedly asked, going for a handshake with the doctor, only for him to be left hanging. "Yes, yes, now go inside the machine, same as last time." The Librarian was suspicious. "Last time it hurt like a bitch... Will it hurt this time?" Märtz stopped adjusting the entrance of the machine's chamber for a second. "Well, depends if you get hurt fighting whatever it is you'll fight." Reasonable enough, Francisco thought, as he wordlessly entered the glass chamber. This time there was no chair for him to sit on or cables needed to be hooked on him, there was nothing there really. "Um... Is this it?" The doctor nodded. "Yes. Now stand right in the middle and try not to move. This won't take long." Francisco did as advised. As the chamber's transparent door closed, bright horizontal lines of light ran up and down from his body, analyzing his very cells. The librarian remained still as the machine scanned him, and while questions about the veracity and trustworthiness of the doctor did surface in his mind, they were quickly brought to a halt when the machine opened up the glass chamber. "It's done?" He said, exiting the scanning room. "Indeed it is! Now come with me."
Märtz beckoned him to a screen attached to the machine with a large lever next to it. The screen had a list of names followed by dates, in a seemingly random order. Unfortunately, Francisco could not read. "What am I seeing?" He asked, scratching his head. The doctor sighed, "Can't you read?!" Francisco shook his head, prompting the doctor to take his glasses off for a moment and pinch the bridge of his nose. "Why do I bother?"
He took a deep breath, "My Remembrance Reconstructor read your mind and soul, capturing the events where you could have died," As he said that, Francisco stared blankly at the screen, nodding his head. "Even those where you didn't even realize you were at risk. You might not remember, but the soul never forgets." Still, the Librarian was having trouble figuring out what that had to do with fighting something.
"So?"
Märtz was appalled that he even dared to question him. "You know what? Pick one, flip the switch, and watch my magnum opus do its thing." The doctor said, getting out of the way and into the side of the arena, leaving Francisco and the machine alone.
"Hmm."
He couldn't make out a single word or date, but still determined to not fail the doctor, Francisco closed his eyes and touched a random name on the screen, and when the machine started making strange noises, he quickly moved for the lever and pulled it. "There you go, now hop on the arena and kick the ass of whatever it is you choose!"
Bemaia waited expectedly for the show to begin, doing his best to ignore the never-ending flow of questions his leader started to throw at him. "Doctor Märtz is one of the greatest minds in Atlas! What could he have reserved for us this time? He said that his friend Francisco was going to fight something, can we help him? Oh, maybe this is one of those times that 'he needs to do it alone' like those fiction books I found on the internet... Do you think this is it though? I mean-" Bemaia looked at his team leader, gritting his teeth. "Do you have a mute button?" Bemaia asked innocently, hoping that the girl would take the hint and stop. "Hmm, that's odd... Why would I need a mute button? That's counterintuitive since I'm a normal girl, don't you agree?"
From behind came Bemaia's savior in the body of a kid named Ruby, "Oh, Ruby!" Penny noticed her before even turning around to meet her gaze, and just as quickly she got up to talk to her friend. "What do you think will happen this time? Considering how incredible last time was, I think we will get another part of his memories." Penny spoke, and unfortunately for Bemaia, Ruby and her team sat right beside him, only instead of Penny sitting by him, it was Blake instead. While Ruby and Weiss served as a scapegoat for Bemaia, he did his best to not draw the cat's attention, but it was futile considering that she was already looking directly at him.
"Hm."
He hummed, feigning ignorance as a drop of sweat ran down the side of his face while looking straight ahead. Eventually, Blake did divert her gaze, just as the machine began to function with a loud rumbling noise.
The machine's projectors came to life, surrounding Francisco in light. Instead of the image being blue without color and being simply a hologram, this time, it had color, feel, and smell too. The arena was overtaken by a wheatfield as the light gust of winds blew through the grains in a calming spectacle, the field seemed to be immense in length, though that was only an optical illusion. In the field, humanoid figures resembling scarecrows were standing randomly scattered through the field, and in the middle of the arena, beside Francisco, was a giant T-Posing scarecrow made from hay and wood, wearing farming clothes like a normal scarecrow, instead of the normal twigs one would find to be the hand to a scarecrow, this one had an oversized rake and a hoe instead of each hand.
Francisco audibly gulped as the straw hat covering its head moved uncannily as though there was something beneath it.
In the crowd, there was a lot of whispering and discussion as to what exactly was that thing or the purpose of the wheat field, but Blake was the closest to someone who could actually guess correctly. "Want to tell us what that is?" She asked Bemaia, who looked as though he had seen a ghost and was unresponsive. "Um, hello?" She asked once again, poking on the arm, bringing him back to reality. "There, now can you tell us what that is?" As Blake asked it once again, her team and the surrounding crowd leaned in to listen to him, going as far as to stop talking to hear better. "'The city remained a beautiful place, where the emerald roads sparkled brightly as ever...' Who was it again?" Bemaia asked no one in particular.
"I dunno, you're the alien here."
Bemaia paused for a second, gathering his thoughts for a moment. "F-O1-87, The Scarecrow Searching for Wisdom. HE class I believe." The girls didn't know what the expect, but that probably wasn't even a considered option. "And that's also an abnormality... That I think Francisco won't be able to fight off."
Before more questions could be thrown at him, the machine finished rendering the whole scenario, including the horrible stench of rotting flesh. Yang recoiled from the smell, "EWW! What even is that smell?!" The whole audience except a few like Penny had a similar reaction, but it all made sense once they realized that the scarecrows in the background were dead T-Posing humans wearing the signature black suit of Lobotomy corporation missing the top portion of their heads, alongside their brains. They were covered in blood, as was the scarecrow in the middle, right by Francisco. "The thing will reap the wisdom right out of you. It's best if we watch from afar how things go." Bemaia said in a somber tone, showing his contempt towards the abnormality.
The crowd was more appalled at the presence of such a thing other than anything else. Blake was the quietest of them all, simply watching wide-eyed what will be the thing's next move. Yang was pretty much confused, she didn't know how to react to such a scenery. Weiss let out a deafening shriek that in any other situation, she would try to stifle, but not while she saw people with their heads popped open like a wine bottle. Ruby had her eyes shut closed by her older sister and although she would normally complain, this time she opted to remain silent considering the reaction her teammates displayed. Penny held her hands on top of her mouth, shocked at the absurdity of the render being displayed by Märtz creation, though she watched it unblinking. The crowd either screamed in hype seeing that the machined worked perfectly, or they skulked back into their chairs considering the type of content they were being subjected to.
"I'm in great danger," Francisco muttered as the scarecrow shook itself to life.
Observing the thing's movement carefully, Francisco almost couldn't dodge the metal hoe the scarecrow attempted to pierce his head with. Jumping backward and drawing his sword, the librarian quickly got into a defensive stance as the abnormality creaked and snapped itself toward him slowly.
"Hmph." Francisco exhaled.
He was tense, no way he could force himself into taking the initiative against that thing. As it crept ever so closed by every struggled step, simultaneously breaking itself apart and re-arranging itself to move, the thing forced itself into a dash towards the librarian, prompting him to dodge its dash by rolling to its side. However, the scarecrow was smart, and while Francisco dodged its dash, the scarecrow shoved its hoe into the floor below, changing its dash's directions and throwing itself onto the still-rolling Francisco, rake ready to strike.
And strike him it did, squarely in Francisco's back, luckily, he had Aura to soften the blow.
The rake stopped hitting when it hit Francisco Aura, a faint crimson barrier appeared just in time to soften the blow, though now he was stuck like a sitting duck with the scarecrow forcing the rake downwards, pinning him in place. "Fuck!" He yelled as the scarecrow's hoe was raised high, ready to come down with maximum force. Francisco mustered the force to get into a crawling position and quickly threw himself to the side as the hoe came down, striking against wheat.
Hastily standing up, the librarian knew that if he made any more mistakes like those, he would end up dead, or worse. While the abnormality struggled to get its hoe off of the floor, Francisco launched himself at the thing, passing him as he cut the scarecrow's head off in a swift yet precise motion of his sword. Francisco sighed in relief, but he knew it wasn't done, raising Downpour once again, Francisco activated the dust infusion on the blade, igniting it as flames surrounded it. The scarecrow's head, which should have fallen off to the ground, simply hovered there above its head, not connected by anything other than its antinatural resistance, and like nothing ever happened, it reattached its own head back where it was, finally getting its hoe free from the ground.
The abnormality snapped itself in position and mindlessly ran towards Francisco, but this time he was ready, parrying the thing's downward blow with Downpour, the librarian slashed at the abnormalities right side and blocked a horizontal rake swing with the sturdy metal casing that sealed his left missing arm. Re-gaining his own balance, Francisco dashed in once again, the damage he'd just done was already dissipating and the fire was already gone, but that didn't discourage him to keep up the aggression, he attempted to do an upwards vertical swing, only for the scarecrow to effortlessly block his sword with the rake, getting it stuck in between the rake's blade, and promptly countering it by shoving the hoe into Francisco's head, which he could barely dodge as the hoe scraped by his right shoulder.
Pulling as hard as his right arm could muster, the librarian got his blade unstuck from the rake, only for the scarecrow to hit him square in the face by the back side of its hoe, making him stumble backward. As the flame infusion ran out, Francisco shoved Downpour back into its sheath, loading it with hard-light dust while the scarecrow unnaturally snapped back in shape.
Unsheathing his blade, the librarian braced himself for impact, seeing that the scarecrow was already on top of him and swinging its rake against his left side, which was thankfully protected by the limp arm. After being sent flying to the side and almost outside the arena, Francisco smirked as he pointed the tip of Downpour at the scarecrow and activated the infusion, extending the sword's tip with a blue-ish cristal that was launched at high speeds against the abnormality, only for the hard-light dust to break upon impact instead of piercing the dammed thing. His smirk turned upside down really fast, "What!?" He yelled as he attempted to slash at the scarecrow with the unbroken part of the extended blade, only for it to once again shatter on impact.
Francisco remembered how it effortlessly penetrated and slashed through those White Fang grunts with such ease, but now he sees that it was a bad choice against things even slightly sturdy. Saddened, but undeterred, Francisco closed the distance once again, parrying yet another downward hoe and sliding between the scarecrow's legs to dodge the rake that attempted to bludgeon him again. Before the abnormality could turn around, Francisco already had recovered from the slide and was already piercing the thing's back with his sword, but was not quite able to pierce it completely and got the sword stuck there. Hearing the snapping of the abnormalities joints, in a desperate attempt to save his sword, Francisco activated the hard-light infusion, demonstrating how unpredictable the infusion can be as warned by Ruby upon the creation of the weapon, hard-light dust exploded through the scarecrow's chest, piercing it with half a dozen crystals that were as thick as it's torso and big enough to pin him to the ground.
If it were any common enemy, it would have been dead right then and there, but this is an abnormality and It wouldn't go down easy. Breaking itself off of the crystals that pinned him to the ground through sheer strength, the scarecrow immediately hit the hoe on Francisco's chest, sending him flying through the arena, upwards, and into the crowd.
The moment he left the arena, the machine lost signal and immediately shut itself down, the lever that Francisco pushed itself back in place while the scarecrow and the wheat field immediately vanished without a trace.
Francisco got up from falling atop a random student just fine! His uniform was turned apart but his body was in perfect condition, thanks to his Aura and his Aura alone. The students were appalled at such a performance, they have never seen something like an abnormality before, and in truth, weren't even supposed to ever witness something like that.
Doctor Märtz could almost cry with joy, as he quickly commanded his many assistants to do maintenance on the Remembrance Reconstructor and order the crowd to leave the area.
As afternoon turned to dusk, a group of four misfits waited patiently by a restaurant's entrance. The three men were wearing borrowed black suits with different colored ties, one was gold, one was crimson, and the third one was brown, and the girl who accompanied them wore an emerald and black colored shift dress.
The sunlight was completely gone, reaching for his scroll to check the time, Fred analyzed his surroundings. The streets were eerily empty, with no cars or people roaming about, the fauna he expected to find like rats and roaches alike hid themselves, only the quiet sounds of metallic cutlery hitting against porcelain plates and the muffled laughter of patrons enjoying their time inside of the establishment. Though the light from the streetlight failed from time to time, the scarlet light that shone through the blurred windows was more than enough for him to have a good look around himself.
Fred sighed when he read that it was only 7:30 pm. "We have some time to kill until the girls get here. What do?" He asked, looking for his teammates. Francisco remained silent, his stare jumping constantly between a random spot on the road and his team leader, Penny. Something was up, and poor Penny didn't have a clue about it. Bemaia was lost in thought, reading again and again the name 'Kyleneath' trying to pinpoint where he had heard the name before.
Penny was as bright as the sun, a giant grin defined her expression. "We could always chat!" Penny suggested, "Here, I will begin," She pretended to clear her throat as she turned to Fred, "Oh I am so excited! After being appointed as leader of PBFF, much to my father's dismay, I was also invited to attend this big date!" Fred blinked. "So I have noticed."
"I know right?! I heard only good things about this fine dining place, which is a rarity considering that all restaurants have at least one bad review." Bemaia shrugged. "Tell me about it…" He joined the conversation, kicking away a rock that stuck out from the sidewalk. "I used to have the high echelon from the Thumb eating at Viggiattore's every night, and yet, there was always a random person that complained about absurd things, such as a dish being served five minutes after promised due to the place being full…" Fred couldn't help but chuckle at him. "I would have never known that there were picky customers even in the backstreets." He sighed. "You would be surprised by the number of times I had to physically throw someone out due to a scandal with sushi."
Fred hummed to himself, reminiscing for a moment. "It reminds me of this one time I went to a family restaurant back in the Nest, and there was this really nice waiter that looked like one of those sculptures you would see in an art museum." Penny pulled out her scroll and quickly typed something, bringing up an image of a marble statue of a very muscular man, basically the textbook definition of a Grecian god, with nothing but a leaf to cover his privates as he posed dramatically. "Like this?" Fred looked at it for a second and nodded. "Hmm! Yeah, almost that! Though, he had a more... dignified suit." Penny stored her scroll away.
"Continuing with the story, a random gal that had finished her meal already decided to walk up to the waiter to let him have a piece of her mind, the poor girl didn't stand a chance, and as soon as she started complaining he just pulled out a paper form and a pencil, asking her to fill it up and send it to them via mail, if she had any complaints." Bemaia stared blankly at Fred. "Is that what you thought I did when I said 'Throw them out'?" Fred chuckled, as though the answer was obvious. "Why yes! It's crazy to think that there are people like that out there... How else would you describe what that waiter did?" Bemaia hummed to himself, as Penny listened on with an excited smile on her face. "Well, usually, whenever someone decided to make a scene, I'd just take out the 'ol reliable and almost illegal gift I received from the Thumb and blow off their-"
Just as he was about to finish his sentence, a group of four led by someone PBFF didn't expect to see this night, just walked off a very luxurious vehicle. The four were quick to realize their new company. "Ah, team PBFF, still waiting for RWBY I see." The voice belonged to none other than the Headmaster himself, and with him came Professor Goodwitch, General Ironwood, and one other tall woman in Atlas's military attire with white hair that the trio hadn't met before.
"Indeed we are! But they are still under the promised time." Penny clarified, taking a step forward. "It's good to see you Penny, I hope your father hasn't been much of a headache." Her smile never faltered. "Don't worry General! Father cares a lot for me, he said that It was fine so long as I keep contacting him every day!" The General hummed, satisfied with the girl's answer. "So, what takes you here? I thought these chairs were costly." Bemaia asked innocently. "Well, Mr. Kyleneath and I are well acquainted with each other, so being here isn't a problem you see." Bemaia nodded in understanding. "Though, I was surprised to see that he accepted to take your team, and team RWBY, when I contacted him."
"Is this rare?" Ozpin nodded, his signature mug was nowhere to be found. "Oh, very rare. In fact, he was reluctant to even allow the General and Ms. Schnee, only giving the thumbs up when I mentioned you four." Eyebrows twitched, but Bemaia kept a poker face. "And what about team RWBY?"
"Oh, he's been requesting their presence ever since they drove away a stole Atleasean Paladin from his restaurant." Ozpin's honesty was something Bemaia decided to take with a grain of salt, he knew something was amiss. No way in hell someone as prestigious as this chef decided to welcome a random team like his on a whim. "If you will excuse us, we will get inside now," Ozpin said earning nods from the team as they made for the adult group.
Once they were out of earshot, Bemaia resumed his rambling. "I swear on my restaurant that I know the name Kyleneath, but at the same time, I don't! Why?!" He struggled to keep his tone under control. Francisco did not once let his eyes off Penny, in fact, he didn't even interact with his team while he stared at her as unspeakable profanities came and went from his head, and the android girl didn't even notice the hole being drilled through her by the bald librarian's glare.
"It's getting late..." Fred commented, "Where are they?" No responses across the group, only the silent hatred from the bald one and the insane ramblings about 'Kyleneath' of the winged one.
A few minutes later, right when the clock was about to hit 8 pm, the group of librarians and the android girl noticed a taxi stopping right by the restaurant's entrance. "There they are..." Bemaia mumbled to himself.
Upon opening the taxi's door, the first to exit was Blake, wearing a black long sheath dress with matching heels. Her bow was still there, only, better adorned.
"..."
She didn't utter a word as she eyed both Bemaia and Francisco, who looked completely uninterested. Next to emerge from inside the taxi was a single bare leg, fitted by a yellow heel. Francisco raised his left eyebrow. "Who..." He needn't wonder any longer, Yang stepped out of the taxi wearing a very provocative long sleeveless yellow maxi dress, with a cut on its side to accentuate and show off her legs, and another cut by the bust to add to the cleavage being shown. While Francisco was busy appreciating her body, Bemaia was fixated on her hair. By some odd twist of fate, her long hair golden hair was partially tied up in a small high bun with a golden circular barrette that had an uncanny resemblance to those used by the Liu fixers...
Her hair resembled a lot of Xiao's hair...
Deciding to mess with the guy a bit, Yang commented, "Like what you see, baldy?" Francisco's only response was exhaling loudly through his nose. And oddly enough, the one who had a response for Yang was Fred, who put himself between the two. "Stay on your lane, sister." He spoke in a low tone, with poison dripping from his every word. Yang, not being one to back down from a challenge, reasonably decided to raise on the metaphorical game of poker she and Fred were playing. "There is nothing wrong with a bit of teasing between friends, right?" Fred took a deep breath, chose to keep his cool, and let it go. "Right." Was all he spoke, as Yang walked past him, spinning her small handbag in her fingers, and went towards Blake.
Penny simply waved her hand at them while wearing the biggest smile she could muster. Next to exit the taxi was the Schnee heiress, who fittingly wore the outfit that most resembled that of royalty, a long-sleeved bodycon dress colored with a deep blue that faded to white from top to bottom adorned with the Schnee family insignia and small reflective dots that resembled snow slowly falling from the sky.
Even more fittingly, however, she left the taxi talking up a storm. "Unbelievable! To think that my own team leader would be as childish to the point of throwing out her own pair of heels!" She was the only one refined enough to slightly lift her dress as she left the taxi so it would get dirty that easily. She then turned to the former librarians with an apologetic look on her face. "I am so sorry about being late." She said as she fidgeted with her handbag. "Ruby's shoes were nowhere to be found we had to go get her new ones." Fred was quick to accept her apologies. "It's fine, really, you are still on time." He said, checking the scroll that told him it was dangerously close to 8 pm. Weiss exhaled relieved. "Oh thank the brothers, I would have cried for days if I missed an appointment at Kyleneath's for any reason." She quickly walked towards the door, attempting to see anything inside from the outside as she anxiously waited for the rest of her team.
Last but not least, out of the taxi came Ruby, who stumbled her way out of the taxi, struggling even to stand still atop her newly bought expensive-looking pair of dark red high heels that matched her black and red fully halter dress she wore a few months ago at the dance. Not that the alien trio could have known that.
Everyone stared at her clumsily skedaddle her way towards them. "Um, uh, Hi?" The bald librarian, though he didn't have any experience using high heels, barely held in his laughter at the poor girl's situation. "Oh? What so funny huh egghead?!"
Francisco was almost taken aback by her attempt at mockery. Almost. So thinking quickly about his feed and taking into consideration what Weiss had just said, he had more than enough ammo to throw at Ruby. "Oh, it's nothing really, just thought it would be pretty funny if someone, particularly the leader of the most promising first-year team at Beacon, have a problem with something as common and simple as walking in high heels." He said in an innocent tone, doing his best to not make eye contact and crack open laughing. "Would you know of someone like that, Ruby?" Her ire was palpable. Well, as palpable as the anger of a pissed-off fifteen-year-old.
Her face soon turned red as she held back all the profanities she knew from spewing out of her mouth, such as 'Meany' and 'Dummy', but if she said any of those horrible things, it would mean that Francisco got to her and by extension, win. "Oh? Never, these little devilish things are small fry for someone like me!" She retorted, as she pulled willpower from god knows where and straightened her posture, standing completely still. "So it would seem." He said, with a smug smirk on his face.
Suddenly, Penny appeared behind Francisco with a giant smile directed toward Ruby, "Salutations, Ruby! I am so excited that I have all of my friends in the same place!" Ruby rolled a metaphysical dexterity check to remain steady atop her heels as she hugged the android girl. "Penny! I thought you hadn't been invited." Bemaia butted in to answer, "She wasn't, but then she was made part of the team, so now she is." He huffed, still frustrated over the fact that he couldn't remember a thing about Kyleneath, even though it sounded so familiar. Noticing this, Penny looked at her teammate with a hint of pity, and decided to take the initiative, "So! Shall we head inside? Poor Bemaia is aching to know this Kyleneath person is." She exclaimed, beckoning everyone to follow her as she pushed the restaurant's door wide open.
Otherworldly. Otherworldly and refined were the only words they could use to describe how beautiful the restaurant was. The red lighting seen outside came from red candlelights that hung on the walls and yet, somehow, they could still make out different hues of all colors and not just tones of red, it felt as though they were in a film with a red filter over it.
A few tables that were meticulously scattered throughout the room were already pre-occupied, not only by the headmaster and his invitees but also by different guests, be they human or otherwise. On the back lay the kitchen, open for the patrons to see the chef in action, and somehow no smell of cooked fish or any other strong ingredients permeated through the restaurant, instead, everything smelt of a mixture of chamomile and something else no one there could discern. And by the front, stood a tall adult man wearing a black and red tuxedo that strained against the size of his muscles, his full dark beard was sharply trimmed to a ducktail, his smooth short hair flowed backward, and two red locks of hair stood out amongst the blackness of his hair, his eyes too were tinted blood red, which contrasted with his almost pale skin.
Needless to say, that man was Kyleneath.
Bemaia was the only one who didn't share the same sense of wonder his companions had, he didn't know how to feel about this man, especially since he looked soo damn familiar to him. "Welcome, welcome. You must be Ozpin's acquaintances, go ahead and pick a vacant table. I will be with you eight shortly." He spoke with a charming yet contagious calmness in his voice, uncaring to even hear what Weiss wanted to say as he walked toward one of the other guests.
Bemaia on the other hand, was thoroughly confused, to the point that he failed to even express it verbally, whom only Penny seemed to notice, but she decided to let him be considering that she lacked critical information.
Weiss was trembling, looking around the restaurant, her eyes shot towards a familiar face. "My sister is here." She said, fighting the urge to go into a full sprint toward her. "Really? Who?" Yang asked as the group made their way towards a big table, placed in the very middle of the room, conveniently able to support eight guests. "There, with General Ironwood." Yang took a second to process their presence. "Oh, gods... It's Weiss, but bigger!" She said to Blake, rudely pointing at Weiss' sister. Blake on the other hand, quickly pushed Yang's arm downwards. "That's Winter Schnee. She's a Special Operative in The Atlas' Military." She spoke softly to not bring any unwanted attention to herself. "It's best if we avoid getting into her bad side." Yang pouted for but a moment, realizing who was with Winter.
"Oh cool, Ozpin is here as well." Blake nodded. "And Professor Goodwitch too..." Blake nodded once again. "Wasn't it supposed to be extremely difficult to get an invite to enter this place?" Blake glanced at her partner for a moment, "Your point being?" Yang's expression dictated that she was indignant. "I came here to, ya'know eat a bit with my friends, maybe help my partner forgive two aliens, get out of Beacon for a sec, and then boom! The teacher chewing me up the most is here." Blake chuckled to herself at Yang's expense. "Well, if you tried dodging or parrying a few attacks instead of blocking with your face, she wouldn't feel that obligated to let you know your mistakes." Weiss teased, adding her prompt to the conversation. "Hey, how else am I going to make full use of my semblance?" Weiss shrugged. "Just saying." But that left Yang even more frustrated. "Look, I unlocked the whole semblance, so I'm gonna use the whole semblance!" And before they noticed, they were already sitting at the table, taking in all the absurdity of their current situation.
This was the most unlikely scenario to occur. Team RWBY, sitting face to face with a trio of aliens, two of which are actual murderers, a robot girl that could barely communicate with her teammates, in a luxurious restaurant run by a mysterious man most didn't even know existed until that point.
The eerie silence was painful, painful enough for Fred to start talking. "Soo... How about we skip the formalities and go straight to the root of this problem, so that we may eat some good food satisfied!" He started, his eyes darting back and forth between his fellow librarians and the girls, only stopping when Ruby made a grunting noise, attempting to stealthily take off her uncomfortable heels. "Let's begin with you, you're the leader of their team after all."
Ruby let out a quiet startled 'Eep!' when Fred directed the word to her, but at least now he had her attention. "Do you have anything to say to my... Companions?" He spoke, and the word 'Friends' came to mind, but he wouldn't let the two of them hear him say it. "Um." Ruby struggled, noticing that everyone at the table had their eyes glued to her. "I, uhh... Think that killing is bad..."
Only controversial topics in this table it seems.
"Yes?" Fred urged her to come up with a proper argument. "Right..." She swallowed. "When my mom told me stories about heroes and old huntsmen, they always saved everyone at the end, and for a time, I believed that was how things went!" She began, pausing briefly to choose her words properly. "But then I grew up, and began to hear the stories my uncle told me, and not always that ended up fine... And even sometimes the heroes had to hurt some people too." Ruby fidgeted in her said, uncomfortable talking about the topic. "I'm not dumb, I know we always have the risk of not coming home. I mean, I have my Crescent Rose, and just like the headmaster said, It's a pretty dangerous weapon and she can hurt a lot of people if I'm not careful." She steeled herself, took a deep breath, and looked at both Bemaia who wasn't even paying attention to her, and Francisco who looked at her intently with both of his set of disturbing eyes. "I don't blame any of you for what happened at Mountain Glemm, and I know that the Headmaster also doesn't. But please, answer me this..." Francisco listened patiently, and stealthily stomped on Bemaia's shoe to grab his attention, startling him but making him at least hear the question. "Why did you do it the way you did? It was all so..."
She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, so Weiss did in her stead. "We saw you execute a White Fang Lieutenant that had clearly given up already, not to mention the amount and the state of the bodies we found searching for Ruby. It gave me nightmares." Francisco jumped in on the question. "In our defense, most, if not all of them weren't using proper protection and didn't have their Aura unlocked. What else could have happened if you shoot a gun or swing a sword at someone completely unprotected?" Weiss was not even close to satisfied. "Well, you could have dealt with them in a less-than-lethal way! Ruby has done it before, during that night at the docks."
Francisco wanted to scoff at that but decided against it. "Non-lethal? Well, I don't think I know how to cut someone down and have it be not lethal, especially in that situation," He said as his tone increased by the second. "Would you have the composure to incapacitate them, when you failed to sneak past a group of terrorists who would like nothing more than to flay you like an animal, who is also parading around the unconscious body of a fifteen-year-old girl like some sort of prize, blurting out profanities of what they would do to her, no way you would have the composure to hold back any punches?" Though it seemed like he was about to shout that, Francisco composed himself and calmed down midway through his rant. "I'm not innocent of crime, that I know better than anyone, but there is no way I'm gonna let people like them do what they want." Then Bemaia added, "The contract we signed with Ozpin stated that we could use any forced we deemed necessary to protect our fellow first years, so long as it didn't include the loss of our own lives." He spoke like a true lawman, though his words fell on the deaf ears of a very discontent Weiss. "Then how do you explain the state of their bodies?! Some were cut in half, others were reduced to paste in the pavement..." Francisco sighed. "How else? He has a power arm capable of cracking asphalt and a gun with explosive bullets, I have a sword. He crushes, I cut." Weiss wordlessly stared at them with incredulous eyes.
"Look, I'm sorry. We don't fight to score points like Pyrrha or with the finesse of a dance like you. The fights we take end as quickly as possible, and as effectively as possible, no beating around the bush, no trading blows, no making them bleed or toying with them, we just go and end it right then and there." Weiss looked at Fred for a better argument than his. "Well... It is a necessary evil." Weiss and Ruby both looked at each other, they were both concerned, they didn't want to accept that taking the life of another was a necessity.
"I wouldn't blame them though. They are brutes, born and raised in the backstreets and one is even illiterate. I'm surprised they don't eat with their bare hands." He spat, earning a well-deserved stomp on his feet from Francisco. "Hey! What did I say? You know I'm right." Fred finished, crossing his arms and looking away from the two to express his contempt.
"Since we touched that subject, how come you are illiterate? You just didn't want to learn?" Ruby asked, trying to pull herself out of that last conversation. "Well... Remember when I talked about the Index? Those prescripts?" Yang and Ruby nodded, Blake watched the group with a stoic look on her face. "Yeah, I received one long ago that told me to not learn how to read or write anything but my name." The table went silent for a while, even Bemaia and Fred seemed surprised at that. "And you didn't tell me that?" Fred inquired. "Well, you never asked..." Fred huffed, feeling betrayed.
"Wait, you're telling me that the Index has enough power to deny you our right to education?!" Weiss couldn't contain her indignant state, standing up from her seat and punching the table with a loud 'WHAM' Quickly realizing her mistake as everyone in the restaurant stared at her, she quickly apologized for her demeanor and sat back in her seat with her face a red as the lighting of the room. When she sat down, Francisco was chuckling to himself, while Yang and Ruby looked away, embarrassed of their partner.
"What's a 'right to education'?" Francisco asked innocently.
The girls were once again left speechless, only Blake spoke afterward. "Right is something everyone is entitled to. The right to life, The right to food and water, The right to education, and so on." Francisco shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, I heard one of the concepts, and that was when Ozpin told me briefly about it."
Blake was baffled, appalled even. "You lived your whole life until now, with no rights as a human?" That changed things. The White Fang she fought to protect, those original beliefs were based around the idea of equalizing the playing field between humans and faunus, the fact being that Faunus lived most of history as slaves and only recently being allowed to coexist in society with almost the same rights as a regular human. And then, the two whom she vanished not a day ago, didn't even know of the concept?
"Well, It's the age of humanity you know? You gotta earn everything want yourself. Food? Fight for it. Water? Fight for it. Protection? You're on your own. That sorta thing." He shrugged. "I don't necessarily need water, but I want to be alive so I gotta figure out a way to get it, be stealing for someone, working so you get access to clean water, catching it from the occasional rain, or you do it like I did when I started and live in the sewers!" He spoke with a proud smile on his face. That was just plainly the lowest point an individual can achieve in their life. Blake's whole motive of hatred towards the duo crumbled before her very eyes as quickly as they were formed. "You just gotta mind the sweepers, the random but periodical cannibal, and find a pipe that has clean water and you're good to go." At least there was the silver lining that he at least drank clear water.
"What's a sweeper?" Ruby asked innocently, earning the concerned looks of both Bemaia and Fred, but the bald librarian was quick to answer. "Oh, that's not something to talk about in the presence of good company. But I can tell you later." The other librarians sighed in relief.
Blake's mind and reason were quietly crumbling. How could she blame them? Fred said both of them were raised in that backstreet place, the same place where no one had any rights. Could she find the strength and the gal inside of herself to keep blaming them for their actions? No, she could not. And just like that, tears began running down her face. "I..." Yang was quick to swipe away her tears so as to not mess up with her makeup and additionally to console the Faunus. "Look, no need to pity me, because I know I wouldn't if our places were reversed. So don't cry for someone like me." Francisco spoke softly, as Fred offered a high-five. "Good job. A bit bumpy, but that's a start on your road to earning their forgiveness." Fred said, and the bald one could only nod to the compliment.
As Yang successfully stifled Blake's crying, Fred directed the word to Weiss and Ruby. "Are we good? Or do you have anything else to say?" Ruby shook her head. "I didn't blame them to begin with. I'm just sad that it happened." Weiss shared a similar response with her leader, "I will only accept this apology if you three promise to be better." And after some back and forth between the trio, they nodded simultaneously. "Good. Glad we straightened that out." Fred then looked at Blake and Yang, "And you two?" Yang shrugged, "Nope, I was just mad at them for making Rubes sad, but If she forgave the two, then it's alright for me." That's big sister talk for you. "Yeah..." Blake attempted between hiccups and hagged breaths, "I can't believe I was such a... The two can stay..."
Before they had any time to exchange any more apologies, the man himself tapped a knife against an empty wine cup, beckoning for everyone's attention as he stood on top of a chair.
"What a beautiful night, everyone! The pleasure of having you all here tonight is all mine." He bowed humbly on top of the chair, as some people raised their respective glasses, including Ozpin. "I am Kyleneath, recently appointed as the best cook in all of Remnant and current manager and chef of this fine establishment." The crowd watched him stoically as some sort of spotlight seemed to shine on him alone.
"Tonight however, Is a very joyous occasion, for tonight is the night that I will be able to pay my sincerest thanks to the young team of heroes who saved my business from a giant mech a few months ago," The spotlight then shone directly at Ruby herself, who jumped at the sudden shift of the spotlight that was accompanied by a loud mechanical sound of a switch being flipped. "Ruby Rose, Leader of Team RWBY!" There was applause from the crowd, even coming from her own team as her face turned beet red. "Thank you!" She managed to say, only intensifying the applause. "The least I could do to repay them is to cook for them of course!" Kyleneath said, with a smile on his face.
"However, today is truly a blessed day! For another one whom I had the pleasure to compete long ago is also present!" Gossip ran through the crowd, wondering who could this opponent be. Only Bemaia knew who it was that Kyleneath spoke about, as it all clicked in his head. And as the spotlight shifted to Bemaia, he was already standing up and staring directly at him. "The Grade 3 Fixer that I challenged long ago! The Viggiattore-man himself!" As the crowd became even more confused, Ozpin stared directly at Bemaia, demanding an explanation as soon as possible, but he could only scoff at him. "I remember now! You were the head honcho of that case I solved in M Corp's Nest!"
Kyleneath laughed, "If you solved it, how am I still breathing, hmm?" Everyone's attention was dedicated entirely to these two. "You tried to kill him?!" Weiss whispered to Bemaia, but he ignored her. "Way to go pal..." Yang said annoyed. "What do you want then?" Kyleneath stopped for a moment, "I want you to come over here, we have a lot of catching up to do." Bemaia, who was already standing up, walked directly towards him, uncaring of the attention he got.
"So, I heard about what happened to your office, how did feel?" Kyleneath began, standing a head taller than Bemaia, but he remained unphased by the taunt, "Oh, I don't know. I heard about what happened to your daughter, how did it feel?" Unlike Kyleneath, who didn't keep his cool. A vein bulged in his forehead and temple. "Oops, nerve touched." Bemaia teased.
Sadly, It didn't go as Bemaia anticipated, Kyleneath grope him by the throat and raised him above his head. "Hey!" Glynda was the first to act, already throwing away her seat and tensing up her muscles to jump towards the two, followed by Winter and Penny. "I was almost there, my dream was finally within my grasp," "Bemaia struggled to breathe, the teacher and his team were ready to jump in and rescue him, but they stopped as soon as he raised his hand, mentioning them to sit. "An Urban Nightmare. THIS CLOSE to a star!"
Kyleneath slammed the librarian back first into the nearest table, breaking it twain, and forcing him into the ground. "But no! The eight chefs decided to nominate your Restaurant and not MINE! Kyleneath effortlessly raised Bemaia even higher and threw him toward the middle of the room, with such strength that even Ruby using her semblance couldn't react in time to catch him.
"And then, out of NOWHERE, comes a bloody fixer office with a request with MY name in it. Worst of all, MY OWN DAUGTHER sent you that request!" Kyleneath composed himself, he knew it would do no good by acting unreasonably due to anger.
Ruby and Fred helped Bemaia struggle off the ground. "Who is he?!" Ruby asked him, "A Bloodfiend I met a long time ago, might have destroyed his business, and I might have killed him and his family, but that's beside the point." Weiss, upon hearing that, went haywire. "YOU WHAT?!"
But another question was raised.
"What's a Bloodfiend?" Bemaia looked at Ruby for a second, only to be hit in the head by a glass cup that instantly shattered on impact. Thankfully, all damage was blocked by his Aura, "A fucking vampire!"
Ruby stared at him with eyes as wide as a bowl. "A Vampire?!" Then it was Yang's turn to be surprised. "Holy Brothers, Vampires exist! And one of them Is standing right there!" She observed Kyleneath for a moment, relaxing for a second seeing that the Bloodfiend was calming down significantly. "And I don't dislike what I'm seeing~," She said in an almost flirtatious tone, earning the ire of her teammates. "Are you serious right now?!" Weiss yelled, her attention glued to Yang. "What? Don't tell you don't think he's hot." Weiss scoffed at the idea even though she blushed heavily.
"You're still mad about the Eight Chefs?" Kyleneath did not answer that, instead, he blurted out a proposal, "One last duel. You, me, the kitchen, and my marvelous patrons. They shall decide once and for all which one is superior." Bemaia sighed. "If I win, you'll have to sleep tonight with the cruel maiden that is defeat!" Bemaia raised his eyebrow, "What do you mean? Are you not going to kill me?" Kyleneath hummed, ecstatic. "I have a business here, this is not the City, I can't just eat the people I dislike here."
As the students all calmed down, Bemaia told them to just play along for now. "All the Bloodfiends I met haven't told a lie to me, statistically, we're good to trust his word," Bemaia told his companions and teachers, his wing's glowing yellow eyes stared directly at Kyleneath. "How many other vampires have you met?" Ruby asked him as she got comfortable in her chair again. "One other, why?" Blake facepalmed, "And what if he isn't truthful about his challenge?"
Bemaia thought for a second. "I die. Shrmiple as that." He tried to make a pun to lighten up the mood. "If things get hairy, run." Blake retorted back, "Is he that strong?" Bemaia nodded. "I only managed to beat him before, was because I had an army of associate fixers behind me, no way in hell we beat him fair and square." The winged library, however, wore a confident look on his face, "I got this," He said to the group, "I beat him before on a cookoff, I'll do it again."
Before walking to the open kitchen, Bemaia was stopped by the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, Ozpin. "A word of advice," Bemaia nodded. "Our contract dictates that you are not allowed failure in any mission assigned to you, unless due to forces outside of your control. To fail would be a breach of the contract." Ozpin then continued, adjusting his glasses, "Win this cookoff, that is your assignment." Bemaia only nodded. "
Don't fail me."
A/N: Sorry for the wait.