Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

"I see. I'm guessing an illusion based semblance then? Could be potentially irksome but given that you saw it shatter, it's physically-based, not mentally. So between your machines, they can simply ignore anything that they know for sure isn't a living breathing target. Nice tidbit to snag. Shame we weren't able to get anything on the other yet."

"Thank you. Are you sure you're not a parrot faunus? Because you've done a remarkable job parroting my very own thoughts on that matter." It was hard to divulge if Gwen's words were meant to be seriously taken or were sarcastic in nature. The tone of voice said the former, but the look on her face pointed to the latter. Whatever the case, the Special Operative swiftly moved on from that.​

"...."

"What? Got something to say?"​

"Oh, definitely. Paradise and I were actually out ourselves trying to see if we could spot any Resistance activity and pounce upon it. Running into you was just a bonus." His tone didn't give away whether or not he was being sarcastic. "I haven't had much of a chance to stretch my legs lately and I figured Paradise could use something of a wake up call. Depending on the semblances of the other three that we've yet to pin down, I believe the three of us should be sufficient for the purposes of apprehending them. Wouldn't you agree, Paradise?"

Paradise saluted and nodded his head. "Affirmative, Magenta!"

Magenta gave him a good pat on the back.

"Glad to be working with you, Helios.'

"Yes, yes. Welcome to the hunt and all that." By now her attention had returned to the pair of trespassers in the distance.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"....oh...."

The Masque wiped at her eyes before anything could come out.

She knew that'd be the reaction but what would she gain from lying? it'd only be a matter of time before this Yang saw the other beat the Masque like a dog in person anyway.

"Sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have told you that. But it's the truth, every word of it. I like to think I'm a good person, Yang. It's how I kept on smiling even after they threw me in that cold dark cell and the guards threatened me! I'm not bad, I thought, not entirely anyway. I'm just doing what I think is right. I still think it's right by the by."

"In my heart of hearts though, I know, that I'm not a good person."

She said with a smile full of remorse.
​

So all Yang did after she was done thinking was shoot Ruby a sly grin as she shrugged her shoulders "What can I say; Xiao Long house champ, twenty year's running. Think I get to borrow your scroll now, punk" she teased.

"Aw...I really wanted to hear who you had a crush on. Maybe we have feelings for the same person! But from different worlds!!"

The Masque giggled, seeming to slowly but surely regain the joyfulness that she'd briefly lost.

"Color me a bit curious, Yang. I haven't had much time to use it. It sat back at the base while I sat in jail and most of what's on there now is..."

She frowned again.

"Just my thoughts..."

Pulling her scroll out of her back pocket, the Masque hesitated for a moment or two.

"....Well, fair's fair. Even for a villain like me, huh?"

The scroll was handed over.

"Just...please don't look at my 'extreme' pictures folder."
​

As she waited for Ruby to get it out from wherever she kept it, she crossed her legs and planted her hands on her ankles as she looked up at the ceiling. "Y'know, That thing you said isn't really true, at least, not anymore."

"...What?"

The Masque blinked and seemed at a loss for words.

"I...Nobody's...Ever.."
​

"Ozpin's not your only option for a friend. I do not play go fish with my enemies. Not even Weiss."

'Weiss....'

Well, it was now or never, Masque supposed.

"Yang...I..."

She paused and seemed as if she were about to cry again.

"I really, really like Weiss. I always have you know? She's so smart, and strong, and beautiful. She can do so much and I like supporting her! I like that she believes in Ozpin's dream like I do! She gives me a warm fuzzy feeling I can't really explain..Other than that I like it...." The Masque wiped at her eyes before any actual tears came. "But she hates me just like my Yang does. She looks at me like I'm a monster even if she even looks at me at all. I came here because Ozpin asked me to and I need a new arm but I wanted to see Weiss. I wanted to tell her how I felt! That I'd do better. Anything so she wouldn't look at me like I'm like my Yang."

She whined.

"I may not be a good person. I may not even know what's right and what's wrong in this world. I just know I want attention. it's selfish I know..." She whined once more and caught herself from breaking out into a full blown crying fit again. She'd already done that too much she'd felt. "And I want my Yang or Weiss to be the ones to give it to me. You've already given me so much..."

"I don't know what to do...and Yang? I know I lost but..."

"Have you seen a woman named Maria...?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Nice to be appreciated. It is relieving to know I didn't ride all this way only to play glorified bouncer." She snarked back as she stepped up, eyes roving over all the other individuals moving about and setting things up. "Some hell of a group it must be. To go to these lengths for them. Bringing this many people to an old, abandoned, more isolated dust mining site." Robyn commented. "And speaking of them, what exactly are you planning to ask of them in this interrogation of yours?"

"Must be thorough stuff if you need to be so sure of the truth."

Ironwood didn't seem like he had any initial intention of answering her, simply affixing her with that aloof, stern stare that Robyn (along with so many other pupils) had learned to err on the side of caution around during her time at Atlas Academy and taken to actively railing against upon graduation. The former general exhaled heavily through his nose, almost looking like he was biting down on the urge to roll his eyes as Robyn Hill did the one thing Robyn Hill had certainly proven more than capable of doing for the entirety of the time they'd known each other: badgered him with numerous, mostly pointless, questions. His mechanical gyros whirred as he clasped both arms behind his back, taking measured steps over to the window so he could gaze out expressionlessly over the snowy landscape of the mining site.

"The Beacon students are no mystery. I've met the Fall Maiden, and if she's here it can only mean she and her friends have decided to return to the fight. Not unwelcome news by any means—her being unaccounted for was a concern."

And yet he didn't sound very pleased. His jaw was tight as he watched Cobalt and the faunus following them set up a perimeter, no instruction necessary when it came to his old schoolmate.

"...But she's too trusting. Anyone who's met her could tell you that. The otherworld version of her former classmate, Neopolitan, sided against us at the battle for Haven. Penny tells me Emerald Sustrai played perhaps a larger role in the fall of her Remnant's Beacon than anyone. Which makes it a little puzzling that I saw both attempt to fight General Carnelian in Mistral, but that does not discount that both have chosen to make themselves enemies of humanity at one point or another, and now they're walking a maiden into Atlas. The same Atlas that has the technology to remove magic from a person's soul and transfer it to someone else's. I understand your knowledge of what a maiden is capable of is limited to what I've been able to disclose, and what you saw with your own eyes the other night; but that alone should tell you that the things they can do are well beyond anything even the most powerful of semblances can accomplish. Who's to say this isn't all an elaborate ruse by Weiss Schnee to deliver her to Ozpin, or even secure the power of a second maiden for herself? We cannot afford to keep putting things past her. It's already cost me everything. She's as ruthless, intelligent and ambitious as anyone Atlas has ever seen."

He almost sounded strangely admiring. It was no secret that he and the councilwoman had been acquainted as far back as her teenage years, even considered one another friends before Ironwood's paranoia put him on the trail of her schemes. How quickly things had all fallen apart. He sighed, countenance grim and weary even beyond the years that had flecks of grey starting to pepper his hair and beard.

"So I intend to eliminate any possible doubt. The otherworlders are going to explain to all of us why they chose to abet the enemy of life in the past, what brought about their change of heart, and why we should trust them not to betray us at the first opportunity when their loyalties appear to be so fluid. Then we're going to ask Cinder and her associates exactly why they think we should give them that opportunity, and then we as a committee are going to decide what to do with them and whether we consider it worth the risk."

Little did he know none of that would be happening, because Penny had messed up.

"The remote location and guards should speak for themselves. If this is a ruse by Schnee, then the jaws could already be closing in. Nothing at this site compromises our long term goals in any way, the flat terrain from all angles means there's no possibility of a military deployment sneaking up on us, and I have Raven on standby to extract Fall in a second if needs be. I'm being duly cautious, Robyn. Satisfied?"

He turned his gaze slightly to spare her a glance over his shoulder with eyebrow arched, subjecting the huntress to those rare steely notes of sarcasm that could occasionally take root in his tone. In spite of the friction that had characterized much of their history, James Ironwood was never a man who relished in keeping the truth away from the people, and a relative full disclosure policy in the time since they'd ended up on the same side reflected as much as he wryly extended his non-prosthetic hand in her direction, laying on the sarcasm even thicker. He sounded almost exasperated.

"Or would you like to verify any of that?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"The remote location and guards should speak for themselves. If this is a ruse by Schnee, then the jaws could already be closing in. Nothing at this site compromises our long term goals in any way, the flat terrain from all angles means there's no possibility of a military deployment sneaking up on us, and I have Raven on standby to extract Fall in a second if needs be. I'm being duly cautious, Robyn. Satisfied?"

He turned his gaze slightly to spare her a glance over his shoulder with eyebrow arched, subjecting the huntress to those rare steely tones of sarcasm that could occasionally take root in his tone. In spite of the friction that had characterized much of their dynamic, James Ironwood was never a man who relished in keeping the truth away from the people, and a relative full disclosure policy in the time since they'd ended up on the same side reflected as much as he wryly extended his non-prosthetic hand in her direction, laying on the sarcasm even thicker. He sounded almost exasperated.

"Or would you like to verify any of that?"

"Oh please, Jimmy." She scoffed as she stared down the offered hand, head shaking lightly in disbelief. "Who knew the straight laced once general was capable of sarcasm? Certainly not I." She tossed right back just as sarcastically, one hand rising up to gesture to herself as she said those things. "Besides, if I didn't trust you at your word without the use of my semblance, that would make me a fool for standing beside you against Weiss Schnee. Many people already think that of me, I'm sure. Are you saying you count yourself as one of them?" The question was as rhetorical as it could get and Robyn didn't wait for any answer before continuing. If James did genuinely believe her to be that, then that by extension made him a fool in choosing to ally with her. Despite it all, she didn't consider him a fool.

"I hear you. I get it, that makes sense from where I'm standing. I may not know the Fall Maiden, may not know much about maidens or Ozpin, but I know people. The lengths they could go to do what they believe is right. If those two you talked about were indeed on the wrong side of things back on this different Remnant, and briefly continued to be on this one too, then as far as I'm concerned your caution is justified. Speaking as a firsthand witness of what a maiden can do-" There was a scowl on her face as she thought back to the fight in that cellar. "-if there's a chance of this being some long con, that there's a risk of Schnee getting her hands on this other maiden, whether for Ozpin or her own purposes, then I stand in support with you on all these precautions. And I certainly appreciate you giving me a voice in deciding to do once they've said all they have to say." She nodded in gratitude.

"I do have one question, however."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Oh please, Jimmy." She scoffed as she stared down the offered hand, head shaking lightly in disbelief. "Who knew the straight laced once general was capable of sarcasm? Certainly not I." She tossed right back just as sarcastically, one hand rising up to gesture to herself as she said those things. "Besides, if I didn't trust you at your word without the use of my semblance, that would make me a fool for standing beside you against Weiss Schnee. Many people already think that of me, I'm sure. Are you saying you count yourself as one of them?" The question was as rhetorical as it could get and Robyn didn't wait for any answer before continuing. If James did genuinely believe her to be that, then that by extension made him a fool in choosing to ally with her. Despite it all, she didn't consider him a fool.

"I hear you. I get it, that makes sense from where I'm standing. I may not know the Fall Maiden, may not know much about maidens or Ozpin, but I know people. The lengths they could go to do what they believe is right. If those two you talked about were indeed on the wrong side of things back on this different Remnant, and briefly continued to be on this one too, then as far as I'm concerned your caution is justified. Speaking as a firsthand witness of what a maiden can do-" There was a scowl on her face as she thought back to the fight in that cellar. "-if there's a chance of this being some long con, that there's a risk of Schnee getting her hands on this other maiden, whether for Ozpin or her own purposes, then I stand in support with you on all these precautions. And I certainly appreciate you giving me a voice in deciding to do once they've said all they have to say." She nodded in gratitude.

"I do have one question, however."

Jimmy Ironwood personally felt as though his (admittedly subtle) appreciation for sarcasm may have surprised Robyn had she ever taken the chance to get to know him as anything more than the figure of authority she so vociferously opposed, both in school and his seat of power. But what was true was he wasn't a man known for getting pulled into lengthy repartees when he tended to find a point could usually be made with just a few words, and any reply he may have had for the Happy Huntress remained within the sanctity of his own metal-infused skull save for a much softer exhale through the nose denoting amusement.

"Your people have been of enormous help, so it's only fair you get your say. And what would that question be?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Jimmy Ironwood personally felt as though his (admittedly subtle) appreciation for sarcasm may have surprised Robyn had she ever taken the chance to get to know him as anything more than the figure of authority she so vociferously opposed, both in school and his seat of power. But what was true was he wasn't a man known for getting pulled into lengthy repartees when he tended to find a point could usually be made with just a few words, and any reply he may have had for the Happy Huntress remained within the sanctity of his own metal-infused skull save for a much softer exhale through the nose denoting amusement.

"Your people have been of enormous help, so it's only fair you get your say. And what would that question be?"​

It was a far less serious and grave-faced Robyn that stepped up even closer to the former general, slung a friendly arm around his shoulder and waved one hand through the empty air in front of both of them, as if gesturing to something she could imagine being displayed across a billboard, or the title of some theatrical show advertised on Broadway. "Winter Schnee, the newest Happy Huntress. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it? Practically rolls off the tongue if I do say so myself." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

It was a far less serious and grave-faced Robyn that stepped up even closer to the former general, slung a friendly arm around his shoulder and waved one hand through the empty air in front of both of them, as if gesturing to something she could imagine being displayed across a billboard, or the title of some theatrical show advertised on Broadway. "Winter Schnee, the newest Happy Huntress. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it? Practically rolls off the tongue if I do say so myself." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

It was a far less serious and grave-faced Robyn that stepped up even closer to the former general, slung a friendly arm around his shoulder and waved one hand through the empty air in front of both of them, as if gesturing to something she could imagine being displayed across a billboard, or the title of some theatrical show advertised on Broadway. "Winter Schnee, the newest Happy Huntress. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it? Practically rolls off the tongue if I do say so myself." ​

"...But she's not happy or a huntress. Or anything less than my best operative. We do intend on clearing our names, you know."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...But she's not happy or a huntress. Or anything less than my best operative. We do intend on clearing our names, you know."​

"She graduated from Atlas. A huntsman academy. That, by definition, makes her a huntress. Just because she chose to go into the military life doesn't erase that. As for happy...I mean, maybe not right now, sure. I can hardly blame her. Besides...have you met May? She's not all that happy either, it's just a title. As for clearing your names, naturally you intend to do that. Why wouldn't you? But come on, doing it purely your way is what got Atlas into this mess and got you tossed into a cell. I think returning to the status quo after all this concludes, would in my opinion be a mistake. Think about all the good we could do for people if you branch out. She could be your liaison with us, or along those lines. To spread the circle of trust beyond what it was before." Robyn paused.

"Not asking as if you have to rush into a snap decision on it, we all have more pressing concerns right now. I simply ask you think about it."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"She graduated from Atlas. A huntsman academy. That, by definition, makes her a huntress. Just because she chose to go into the military life doesn't erase that. As for happy...I mean, maybe not right now, sure. I can hardly blame her. Besides...have you met May? She's not all that happy either, it's just a title. As for clearing your names, naturally you intend to do that. Why wouldn't you? But come on, doing it purely your way is what got Atlas into this mess and got you tossed into a cell. I think returning to the status quo after all this concludes, would in my opinion be a mistake. Think about all the good we could do for people if you branch out. She could be your liaison with us, or along those lines. To spread the circle of trust beyond what it was before." Robyn paused.

"Not asking as if you have to rush into a snap decision on it, we all have more pressing concerns right now. I simply ask you think about it."

He didn't look too offended considering what she was proposing was essentially poaching his best subordinate, a fact which perhaps reflected the man's fair-minded and unprejudiced nature as accurately as his body reflected the room around them. "Some would make the point those who choose to enlist with the Special Operatives Unit don't exactly qualify as career huntsmen or huntresses anymore... they're supposed to hold allegiance to no kingdom," he pointed out, nevertheless a bit skeptical of the whole idea. It was certainly an argument he'd brooked on many an occasion, but he wasn't particularly interested in discussing semantics. And the conversation about trust was one for another time.

"...Well, I can't say I'm too partial to the idea... Nor will I pretend it's really my decision. Winter is extremely dedicated to her life as a Specialist, though. It's who she is; she renounced any claim to a very large inheritance for it. And she's having a very difficult time of things at the moment. I ask that you be respectful of that, if you do intend to pursue this."

He fell silent, but the crease in his brow didn't subside, and after only a few brief moments he spoke again.

"I'll admit, I'm still a bit confused as to just what it is you think she can offer... She's not really invested in politics. Nor is she the liaising type. Anyone could fill the role you're describing, yet you're specifically asking for my very best. I'm afraid I can't quite see the rationale behind that. Are there any..."

"...other reasons for your interest?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...Well, I can't say I'm too partial to the idea... Nor will I pretend it's really my decision. Winter is extremely dedicated to her life as a Specialist, though. It's who she is; she renounced any claim to a very large inheritance for it. And she's having a very difficult time of things at the moment. I ask that you be respectful of that, if you do intend to pursue this."

“Of course. That should go without saying, I don’t intend to be disrespectful by any means.”

He fell silent, but the crease in his brow didn't subside, and after only a few brief moments he spoke again.

"I'll admit, I'm still a bit confused as to just what it is you think she can offer... She's not really invested in politics. Nor is she the liaising type. Anyone could fill the role you're describing, yet you're specifically asking for my very best.

“You don’t have to be invested in politics to do a lot of good for people. And certainly your very best could do the most to help people, if she so chooses, that is.”

“Are there any..."

"...other reasons for your interest?"

“No? Why would there be?”​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“No? Why would there be?”

"Well alright then." Irondaddy powering down.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Well alright then." Irondaddy powering down.​

“Okay.”​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“Okay.”​

"You don't always have to get the last word."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"You don't always have to get the last word."

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"You goofin?" The thief inquired bluntly as she leaned over with mild interest, chin in hand and asking mainly so she could pointedly ignore the mess starting to unfold behind her.

Neo let out a quiet hum and slowly shook her head. One finger drifted out over the bar top and began to draw a square on it, illusionary glass flickering into existence in its trail and leaving a a black square in its wake. Neo paused her tracing with a befuddled frown, before she gasped and gently tapped the side of the square, and its surface went from pure black to checkered. She knew she was forgetting something. Her hand danced across the board on either side, tiny figurines popping into existence in the standard array of a chess game but with many of the pieces looking like far more familiar faces. The White Queen Salem, the Black King Ozpin. Belladonna, Schnee, and masked joined the backline of black, with Raven, Qrow, and the dopplegangers forming white's. Where one particular lieutenant of Ozpin should've been, an ominous black void hovered instead

Probably not unsurprisingly, WTCH and MEN got set up on the front line as pawns, the last thing added to the board. Her finger hovered over the last square for a few seconds before she pulled it away, leaving the eighth pawn's slot empty with a morose frown.

She snapped her fingers, and MEN and Tyrian vanished from the board, and she slowly leaned down to squint at it all from eye level with the deep concentration that only an already flighty person who questionably cracked a hundred pounds could achieve when two drinks into their first drinks. She didn't even seem to register the sound of broken glass as Mercury launched himself at Tyrian.

Five minutes later, after Tyrian and Mercury had kicked and made up, she was still slouched over the illusionary board with a flustered, red faced frown interrupted by a solitary hiccup, one hand buried in her hair and the other directing traffic upon the board as black continuously crushed white in her games against herself.

Though it was also clear, as the tiny illusionary Blake choked out tiny illusionary double Yang from three spaces away with gambol shroud, that Neo didn't even really remember how to play chess at this point.

 

[Gus Gungus]

Neo let out a quiet hum and slowly shook her head. One finger drifted out over the bar top and began to draw a square on it, illusionary glass flickering into existence in its trail and leaving a a black square in its wake. Neo paused her tracing with a befuddled frown, before she gasped and gently tapped the side of the square, and its surface went from pure black to checkered. She knew she was forgetting something. Her hand danced across the board on either side, tiny figurines popping into existence in the standard array of a chess game but with many of the pieces looking like far more familiar faces. The White Queen Salem, the Black King Ozpin. Belladonna, Schnee, and masked joined the backline of black, with Raven, Qrow, and the dopplegangers forming white's. Where one particular lieutenant of Ozpin should've been, an ominous black void hovered instead

Probably not unsurprisingly, WTCH and MEN got set up on the front line as pawns, the last thing added to the board. Her finger hovered over the last square for a few seconds before she pulled it away, leaving the eighth pawn's slot empty with a morose frown.

She snapped her fingers, and MEN and Tyrian vanished from the board, and she slowly leaned down to squint at it all from eye level with the deep concentration that only an already flighty person who questionably cracked a hundred pounds could achieve when two drinks into their first drinks. She didn't even seem to register the sound of broken glass as Mercury launched himself at Tyrian.

Five minutes later, after Tyrian and Mercury had kicked and made up, she was still slouched over the illusionary board with a flustered, red faced frown interrupted by a solitary hiccup, one hand buried in her hair and the other directing traffic upon the board as black continuously crushed white in her games against herself.

Though it was also clear, as the tiny illusionary Blake choked out tiny illusionary double Yang from three spaces away with gambol shroud, that Neo didn't even really remember how to play chess at this point.

Emerald watched the entire, somewhat morbid display play out with a cool, inscrutable poise, the only time anything flickered across that controlled hustler's visage being when her fellow illusionist neglected to manifest those two crucial pieces. She definitely wasn't looking back over at the two bros chilling five centimeters apart in a bar fight, though, so she kept flickering her gaze back over to Neo even as she finished her own second drink at a healthy, well adjusted pace for someone who'd had experiences with alcohol at her age.

Around the point when the nice, bubbly, totally not a murderer of any kind Yang started getting garroted was when Neo felt a finger tap against her temple, and while the physical properties didn't shift to match from her point of view the entire game suddenly turned into a nice, relaxing, nondescript Connect 4 setup.

"That's nice babe, but it's all very two months ago. Moving on is what we're doing now, remember? Hijinks, shenanigans, watching Mercury spiral downward, etc."

Their former leader's slurred tones vaguely registered in their ears. "Dude, I think you left teeth marks on my bone!!!! Hahgafaaa!!!!!"

Emerald ignored it. "See? You don't wanna end up like that, do you? You have to let it go, sweetheart. Life goes on, Remnant keeps turning, and the more times you have to sever these messy links to the past so it doesn't hurt so much the easier it gets. Pinkie swear."

The pinkie did swear, waggling out in askance for Neo to take. Literally, in that Emerald's pinkie had a tiny, tiny mouth and a mustache on its fingertip, which opened to thunder approvingly in (of all people) Peter Port's voice.

"I INDEED SWEAR IT!!!!!"​

 

[Indolent]

" Hello miss thyme. It did not at all, and no it is not!" Penny replied with with a quick salute to the happy huntress as the others loaded in. "Two members of Salem's forces from Remnant One were accompanying them, and when I identified them, they escaped. I..failed to give chase, as I was distracted at the time"

her eyes flicked over to the steering wheel, and whatever moroseness slid into her tone instantly disappeared with bright smile. "That being the case, I believe it is most logical for me to drive the transport; I have the entire Mantle road system downloaded, and know all thirty eight hundred traffic laws so as to avoid any suspicion, three of which you broke on the way here."

...


"Also it would make it so I could sit next to Cinder as she has called shotgun."

Fiona would have been insistent that Penny did away with the salutations considering the nature of the resistance not being a formal hierarchy like the Atlesian military, though she recognized it was just the android adhering to such formalities out of respect. "Oh... well, the General won't like that but it can't be helped. I wouldn't dwell on it, borrows trouble and all that~" Her words flowed with a comforting timbre before she cocked her head.

"Hey, just because the last intersection's no turn on red was missing doesn't mean I violated the law of the road... But anyway, I was going to drive us back-- oh. Oh, I see. Hmmm." Try as she might to conceal her disappointment, her ears drooped in reflection. Her shoulders yielded a shrug, and she turned van off as a cautionary measure-- a requisite of one of the aforementioned traffic laws-- before sliding out the driver's seat with its adjacent door latching behind. She proffered Penny a gracious smile, indicating towards the Van.

"Here you go! I'll climb in the back and maybe introduce myself, get to know our new recruits." Doing just that, as she crossed the threshold into the interior, a realization struck her. "Oh, Penny called me by my surname but my name's Fiona. Pleasure to meet you, gang. Wish it was under better circumstances but still!" The cheeriness wafted off these words as she settled next to one Gretchen Rainart with a tiny greeting, settling herself in.

Gretchen, for her part, was stricken silent by the lamb faunus's presence side by side her, the beginnings of a minute blush coming on. Brosel, for his part, slowly craned his head towards a particular perspective, his beady eyes leveling on the readers in a fashion stylized after a well-loved sitcom, affixing them in a stoic expression that spoke to his exasperation.

 

[Indolent]

Neo nodded her head in silent agreement. There was still an uphill battle with the others in that group seemingly to barely tolerate Emerald and Neo's existence.

Except for that kid who'd offered to help Neo. The assassin liked her.

The smile she showed Emerald told her something.

That Neo liked her too.

​

The gesture was something Emerald would have never admitted to needing and the exchange at the end was a profoundly new experience that, nothing against Neo, prompted an awkward yet genuine smile from the thief herself. Rolling her shoulders as she gazed around suspiciously, her pragmatic habits sliding back int place as Sustrai ramped her alertness up once more, the shorter of the two would have been asked a fairly simply question.

"Think they'll still be there?" The words borne intense uncertainty, punctuated with a sigh as she gave the roll of the head to indicate anyway. "Should get back and see I guess. If they're still there, meh. If not, meh."

 

[Gus Gungus]

She paused and seemed as if she were about to cry again.

"I really, really like Weiss. I always have you know? She's so smart, and strong, and beautiful. She can do so much and I like supporting her! I like that she believes in Ozpin's dream like I do! She gives me a warm fuzzy feeling I can't really explain..Other than that I like it...." The Masque wiped at her eyes before any actual tears came. "But she hates me just like my Yang does. She looks at me like I'm a monster even if she even looks at me at all. I came here because Ozpin asked me to and I need a new arm but I wanted to see Weiss. I wanted to tell her how I felt! That I'd do better. Anything so she wouldn't look at me like I'm like my Yang."

She whined.

"I may not be a good person. I may not even know what's right and what's wrong in this world. I just know I want attention. it's selfish I know..." She whined once more and caught herself from breaking out into a full blown crying fit again. She'd already done that too much she'd felt. "And I want my Yang or Weiss to be the ones to give it to me. You've already given me so much..."

"I don't know what to do...and Yang? I know I lost but..."

"Have you seen a woman named Maria...?"

As if things couldn't get any worse than this warped version of Ruby saying literally all of those words so closely spaced together, a miniaturized, livid cartoon version of Captain Holt/Karen/Weiss suddenly appeared hovering just behind the Masque's head, tiny and furious as she flailed her fists and railed inexorably against the blonde boob as the final boss of the 'judge the Yang' club finally revealed herself.

"WELL, ISN'T THIS A FINE MINEFIELD YOU'VE JUST BLINDLY MEANDERED INTO, YANG! I TOLD YOU THESE PEOPLE WERE DANGEROUS BUT YOU JUST HAVE TO KEEP LOOKING FOR THE GOOD IN EVERYONE EVEN WHEN IT'S OBVIOUSLY NOT THERE! YOU COULD'VE JUST STAYED IN MY MANOR WHERE IT WAS SAFE AS AN ACTUAL FRIEND AND NOT A PRISONER LIKE I WAS OBVIOUSLY SIGNALLING YOU TO DO, BUT INSTEAD YOU SASHAYED AWAY WITHOUT A CARE IN THE WORLD AND NOW HERE YOU ARE PLAYING GO FISH WITH THE DEVIL'S SPAWN JUST A SHORT TIME AFTER A RABID VERSION OF YOURSELF GAVE YOU THE BAD TOUCH, AND WHAT'S MORE? YOU'RE ONE WRONG WORD AWAY FROM HER POUNCING AT YOU LIKE A WOLVERINE AND RIPPING YOUR THROAT OUT WITH HER TEETH! EXCELLENT GOING, YANG! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HOW YOU GET OUT OF THIS ONE!"

Spoiler: Same Energy

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Emerald watched the entire, somewhat morbid display play out with a cool, inscrutable poise, the only time anything flickered across that controlled hustler's visage being when her fellow illusionist neglected to manifest those two crucial pieces. She definitely wasn't looking back over at the two bros chilling five centimeters apart in a bar fight, though, so she kept flickering her gaze back over to Neo even as she finished her own second drink at a healthy, well adjusted pace for someone who'd had experiences with alcohol at her age.

Around the point when the nice, bubbly, totally not a murderer of any kind Yang started getting garroted was when Neo felt a finger tap against her temple, and while the physical properties didn't shift to match from her point of view the entire game suddenly turned into a nice, relaxing, nondescript Connect 4 setup.

"That's nice babe, but it's all very two months ago. Moving on is what we're doing now, remember? Hijinks, shenanigans, watching Mercury spiral downward, etc."

Their former leader's slurred tones vaguely registered in their ears. "Dude, I think you left teeth marks on my bone!!!! Hahgafaaa!!!!!"

Emerald ignored it. "See? You don't wanna end up like that, do you? You have to let it go, sweetheart. Life goes on, Remnant keeps turning, and the more times you have to sever these messy links to the past so it doesn't hurt so much the easier it gets. Pinkie swear."

The pinkie did swear, waggling out in askance for Neo to take. Literally, in that Emerald's pinkie had a tiny, tiny mouth and a mustache on its fingertip, which opened to thunder approvingly in (of all people) Peter Port's voice.

"I INDEED SWEAR IT!!!!!"​

Neo blinked a few times as the chessland Hunger games the board had started to devolve into suddenly swirled and morphed.

Oh. She was doing it again, wasn't she?

She let out a soft sigh as she flumped all the way onto the bar, idly picking up one of the connect four coins she knew wasn't actually there and rolling it across her knuckles a few times as Emerald talked and Mercury sunk deeper into the depths of madness, before she flicked it off her thumb to rattle into one of the slots from the top. She didn't understand how they did it, or rather didn't do it. How thoughts of this stuff didn't rattle around in their heads all day, about Haven, and about what came after. How they'd just... left their friends. Or how their friends just left them. She didn't understand how Mercury and Emerald were still here for her, after how awful she'd been to be around at the start.... but neither could she understand how WTCH saw her break down in that camp and just.... left.

Only one of them had offered her more than a pitying glance and 'respectful distance' that week; Watts, when he used the grief that was still roiling to a boil inside her heart at the time like a knife to the throat to get her to act. Even Cinder, the person not on her team that'd felt most like a real, true friend... flew off. Defending her.

Sever the links?

Neo's hand weakly reached over and hooked Emerald's pinkie port with her own, a wan smile all she got for her prodigious comedic efforts. Then neo's other hand balled into a fist and smashed the board that she couldn't see but knew was still their with a scratchy, feral snarl.

She didn't have to! They'd clearly already cut them themselves! They left her, just like Torchwick did, just like she was going to make Emerald and mercury do, and.... and she was feeling all of this way way more than she normally did these days and the cutting realization that that was the case startled her so bad she jerked both her hands back to her chest and glanced around with a worried frown, as if she was somehow concerned she said any of that out loud.

 

[Gus Gungus]

Neo blinked a few times as the chessland Hunger games the board had started to devolve into suddenly swirled and morphed.

Oh. She was doing it again, wasn't she?

She let out a soft sigh as she flumped all the way onto the bar, idly picking up one of the connect four coins she knew wasn't actually there and rolling it across her knuckles a few times as Emerald talked and Mercury sunk deeper into the depths of madness, before she flicked it off her thumb to rattle into one of the slots from the top. She didn't understand how they did it, or rather didn't do it. How thoughts of this stuff didn't rattle around in their heads all day, about Haven, and about what came after. How they'd just... left their friends. Or how their friends just left them. She didn't understand how Mercury and Emerald were still here for her, after how awful she'd been to be around at the start.... but neither could she understand how WTCH saw her break down in that camp and just.... left.

Only one of them had offered her more than a pitying glance and 'respectful distance' that week; Watts, when he used the grief that was still roiling to a boil inside her heart at the time like a knife to the throat to get her to act. Even Cinder, the person not on her team that'd felt most like a real, true friend... flew off. Defending her.

Sever the links?

Neo's hand weakly reached over and hooked Emerald's pinkie port with her own, a wan smile all she got for her prodigious comedic efforts. Then neo's other hand balled into a fist and smashed the board that she couldn't see but knew was still their with a scratchy, feral snarl.

She didn't have to! They'd clearly already cut them themselves! They left her, just like Torchwick did, just like she was going to make Emerald and mercury do, and.... and she was feeling all of this way way more than she normally did these days and the cutting realization that that was the case startled her so bad she jerked both her hands back to her chest and glanced around with a worried frown, as if she was somehow concerned she said any of that out loud.

Emerald was a guarded person.

In a very similar vein as Mercury until somewhat recently, she didn't talk about her past, didn't talk about the experiences and hard life lessons that had given her such a breezy detachment when it came to people and any purported bonds with them. In fact, it ran even deeper; Mercury gave half-truths and jokey recollections to build a rough image of the life he had led prior to arriving at Beacon. Emerald just didn't bother. She didn't care if people found that strange, didn't care if they thought it made her cold. She really didn't seem to care much about the place other people held in her life at all. The thief just wasn't sentimental like that. WTCH's swift departure from their lives hadn't even seemed to register with her; even when it came Cinder, who anyone on her team could've attested to her fondness of... Emerald hadn't mentioned the girl once. Nor given any kind of indication that she seemed to miss her.

And she was fine with that. Because she was the only person here who wasn't a complete mess.

She fluttered her lashes at the barkeep and motioned for one more cosmo with enough adorable authority that it would've been hard to refuse even if she wasn't definitely her boss, waiting until she got it and took a sip before she passed any kind of comment on Neo's display.



"I wasn't just talking about them, kiddo."

It was the kind of hard truth she had absolutely no compunctions about dropping if she thought it was to her friend's long-term benefit. Yeah, she found herself sad Roman wasn't around anymore too sometimes. For Neo, she could only imagine that it was a million times worse.

But that was life. People came into it, stayed around for a while, and then they were gone. And in her experience, those stories hardly ever had happy endings. Nothing about the way Neo had been lately was in any way what the fedora-wearing ginger kid would've wanted happening on his account, and while she was happy to stay with the smaller illusionist as long as it took for her to work through her weird ass grieving process that didn't mean she wasn't going to drop some real talk every now and then and gently reinforce that she had to move on if she ever saw it getting too bad. If shorty didn't like it? Tough.

She did leave it at that though, and propped her chin up elegantly on a knuckle as she looked pointedly at the bar lady again to get her attention.

"I take it there's no issue if the four of us crash here. My friend'll cover the damages with his share of the bounty when it comes in. You know how his dad was when he drank; best just not make a big deal out of it."

She glanced over, where Mercury and Tyrian were passed out on one of the tables in each other's arms. Cute.

But it was them, so mainly gross.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Aw...I really wanted to hear who you had a crush on. Maybe we have feelings for the same person! But from different worlds!!"

The Masque giggled, seeming to slowly but surely regain the joyfulness that she'd briefly lost.

"Color me a bit curious, Yang. I haven't had much time to use it. It sat back at the base while I sat in jail and most of what's on there now is..."

She frowned again.

"Just my thoughts..."

Pulling her scroll out of her back pocket, the Masque hesitated for a moment or two.

"....Well, fair's fair. Even for a villain like me, huh?"

The scroll was handed over.

"Just...please don't look at my 'extreme' pictures folder."

"Don't think I remember calling you a villain, sis" She snarked back with a lightness she didn't quite feel in her chest as she borrowed the scroll, though the snort of amusement that escaped her was entirely genuine.

"Don't worry Rubbles, there's absolutely no way I wanna see any version of my sister's secret picture folder." she said as she started to type the number she was going to call.

Well, it was now or never, Masque supposed.

"Yang...I..."

She paused and seemed as if she were about to cry again.

"I really, really like Weiss. I always have you know? She's so smart, and strong, and beautiful. She can do so much and I like supporting her! I like that she believes in Ozpin's dream like I do! She gives me a warm fuzzy feeling I can't really explain..Other than that I like it...." The Masque wiped at her eyes before any actual tears came. "But she hates me just like my Yang does. She looks at me like I'm a monster even if she even looks at me at all. I came here because Ozpin asked me to and I need a new arm but I wanted to see Weiss. I wanted to tell her how I felt! That I'd do better. Anything so she wouldn't look at me like I'm like my Yang."

She whined.

"I may not be a good person. I may not even know what's right and what's wrong in this world. I just know I want attention. it's selfish I know..." She whined once more and caught herself from breaking out into a full blown crying fit again. She'd already done that too much she'd felt. "And I want my Yang or Weiss to be the ones to give it to me. You've already given me so much..."

"I don't know what to do...and Yang? I know I lost but..."

"Have you seen a woman named Maria...?"

She froze before she could finish. That... was a lot to take in. Again. She frowned and quietly scooted over to take Ruby's hand. "Hey. Just because you lost a bet doesn't mean we can't still talk hun. I actually did meet Maria. We can talk about her and this Weiss stuff after the call, ok?" She said as she gave her not sister's hand a squeeze and a warm smile before she finished dialing and scooted back over to lean against the stairwell's wall.

If and when the Ruby she knew and loved and idolized and baby just a bit but it was only because she wanted to protect her cherished little sister and had a bit of a bad case of mobile empty nest syndrome picked up, Yang couldn't help but grin as she answered.

"Heya sis!"

 

[Gus Gungus]

"-so check it out, pardners! If y'ever wanna make a snow angel in quicksand, y'just gotta dig yer heels in a li'l deeper, make sure you's all covered up so's no critters take a bite outta ya, then do THIS!"

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...Okay then." The chameleon eventually replied. She took the shadow fang agent at her word, it made sense after all. Though Ilia deliberately ignored any addressing of the first half of what Snake had said, truly and fully not wanting to get dragged into that once more. "Then, if you are really willing..." Ilia paused for a moment as she bit her lip. "...could you just tell her I'm sorry? That I'm sorry I didn't consider how she felt about any of it? That I'm sorry my absolute focus on Blake, and the other me, didn't let me see...truly see, somebody else who needed help. Not until it was too late, judging from how she returned to Sienna and your group." She shook her head in regret. A chance to help Taurus before she completely lost her way like Adam had, and it felt squandered. "Also, if you can, and if she's willing...could you ask her to come here? To Atlas? For a meeting on neutral ground."​

Fiona would have been insistent that Penny did away with the salutations considering the nature of the resistance not being a formal hierarchy like the Atlesian military, though she recognized it was just the android adhering to such formalities out of respect. "Oh... well, the General won't like that but it can't be helped. I wouldn't dwell on it, borrows trouble and all that~" Her words flowed with a comforting timbre before she cocked her head.

"Hey, just because the last intersection's no turn on red was missing doesn't mean I violated the law of the road... But anyway, I was going to drive us back-- oh. Oh, I see. Hmmm." Try as she might to conceal her disappointment, her ears drooped in reflection. Her shoulders yielded a shrug, and she turned van off as a cautionary measure-- a requisite of one of the aforementioned traffic laws-- before sliding out the driver's seat with its adjacent door latching behind. She proffered Penny a gracious smile, indicating towards the Van.

"Here you go! I'll climb in the back and maybe introduce myself, get to know our new recruits." Doing just that, as she crossed the threshold into the interior, a realization struck her. "Oh, Penny called me by my surname but my name's Fiona. Pleasure to meet you, gang. Wish it was under better circumstances but still!" The cheeriness wafted off these words as she settled next to one Gretchen Rainart with a tiny greeting, settling herself in.

Gretchen, for her part, was stricken silent by the lamb faunus's presence side by side her, the beginnings of a minute blush coming on. Brosel, for his part, slowly craned his head towards a particular perspective, his beady eyes leveling on the readers in a fashion stylized after a well-loved sitcom, affixing them in a stoic expression that spoke to his exasperation.

"Oh, yay!" Penny cheered in delight as she clasped her hands together in excitement "I promise that I will get us to our destination safely, quickly, and as legally as possible, disregarding the fact that there are multiple warrants out for all of our arrests and that I do not have my license!" she declared as she skipped up into the door and slid into the chair. So exciting!

Her first time driving!

----------------------------------------------

Despite that omission, the drive was the most lawful and smooth drive that any of them had ever been on in their lives. Their speed never inched over the limit, every turn was properly done, and their route gracefully weaved through the resistance's surveillance roadmap. Yes, it was all smooth sailing, right up until they exited out a dilapidated section of the city's walls into the Solitas wastes. They slowed to a halt, and Penny's smile faltered into a thoughtful frown.

"Hrm. It seems that there is no posted speed limit here."

It took her longer than most to process that fact, but eventually, that same unconcerned and bright smile returned. Then she gunned it.

The van's shocks were good, but for the most part it was still an entirely offroad trip out to the abandoned mine, and the van's jostling was... noticeable.


"I-i-it re-eall-ly i-is s-o-o g-g-g-ood-d-d t-to see you ag-g-gain, Cinder. T-t-the last we heard y-y-you'd been k-k-kidnapped!" I w-w-as-s so w-worried-d-d-d!" Penny managed to state through vibrations.