Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Gus Gungus]

She winced slightly in pain as she forced herself to turn so she was seated, one knee up and her hands resting on it as she regained her composure as her shallow breaths slowly evened out.

"...She's not dead, so I'm guessing you figured out she's one of them. Ozpin already knows about that then."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement, delivered with the sort the sort of cold void of utter detachment that you could only achieve when you were using all your self control not to scream at who you were talking to. Weiss was probably used to it by now.

She certainly was. It was getting harder and harder not to wonder what those screams sounded like.

"Among other things," she returned after a beat, a bemused, mirthless pull to her lips as she watched the faunus recover. Her own speech, as ever, was unperturbed, no less innocuous than if she were addressing an employee of hers about a poor workplace performance. That did nothing to disguise the bluntness of her next words, an experience many of those employees were also familiar with. "Your total failure to comply with the plan, of course, being one of them. I'm sure you have a better explanation than cold feet to justify why you withdrew your forces so abruptly."

For her sake, she better have.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Neo hadn't recognized that faunus who'd so rudely slammed the door on her. Which meant that she was either working with this world's version of Weiss(hah!)or she was here to try and start trouble.

Either way, Neo didn't care.

...Unless the latter option lead to her escape. Pressing her ear to the door, Neo listened...intently.
​

"...Ilia. Just because we're working with them for now doesn't suddenly make a Schnee our friend." She practically spat. her hands reached out to try and grab Ilia's with an earnest worry. "Have you been talking to her? Is she trying to get inside your head? You cannot trust anything she says. I don't care if she plays nice in Ozpin's presence, that woman will trample the faunus the instant she thinks she doesn't need us."

Soooo this world's kitty cat didn't think that Miss Snow White was gonna play nice with them. Neo couldn't help but snort in derison.

Well, duh!

She continued listening.

Ozpin? He was the old fart in charge of Beacon when Neo and Roman helped Cinder's forces attack it. She'd been the one freeing Roman from his prison. Now, she was the prisoner and these cuffs were hell on her wrists!
​

"You're on my ship."

Ugh, here she was! C'mon, you rude faunus! Get her to attack the doors!! Spread the battle throughout the ship! Anything to get her out of here! Getting the cuffs off would be a cinch once that was out of the way.

Neo couldn't help but roll her eyes.

When Neo strutted her stuff that was skill, babe. What she heard was just cockiness.

Also, much to Neo's disappointment, didn't sound like there was much of a fight...

...She could only hope her other self was having a worse night...
​

Except he couldn't resist cracking one eye open at that. "Dude, I was bullying you. Don't tell me you thought all that was in good fun."

"Cut me some slack, Merc. I'm a big boy. I can take it."
​

Not thinking with his own voice right now. He didn't even know it was possible to start thinking with someone else's voice. That was a trip.

Screw it. Might as well make it a clean break rather than some weird, prolonged, awkward affair.

"...That's all real touching, but I'm not sure you get what I'm saying. I don't regret it or anything."

"Merc..."

~~~
When the battle had ended and the troops from Atlas moved in to try and secure the scene(after Roman and his friends had done most of the fighting..)he noticed a soldier slipping cuffs on the downed Neo and snapping his finger for two presumed subordinates to hurry up and take her away. Stepping away from his Neo, Roman tried to ask him a question.

"Hey..uh, excuse me.."

"Make sure she's locked up TIGHT. One of the soldiers who reported seeing her mentioned that-Huh? What, civilian."

"huntsman..."

"What?"

"I'm a huntsman....in training. What...What did she do?"

"Well, she attacked Atlas soldiers that's what!"

"...Oh.."

Looking past Roman at Neo, the soldier squinted his eyes behind his visor.

"Doesn't your friend look an awful like-"

"eh. Just a coincidence I'm sure.."

~~~

At the time Roman had thought Neo being so gleeful to fight and maim was a poor joke. But with that other her and Merc's confession, Roman came to a silent conclusion.

Everyone had the potential to kill. It all came down to whether or not you chose to use that potential.
​

She shrunk a little bit at the yelling, but she took a deep breath and gently padded over to give Mercury a soft grip on the shoulder. If he didn't want to look at them, then she had to hope that a reassuring touch was enough for now. She let go and turned to leave. Even if she was slowly convincing herself that she could be ok with this, the air in the room was still heavy with a sad and dark tension, and she wasn't sure it'd dispel at all if they didn't give each other some space.

Watching as Neo left after Emerald, Roman balled his hand up into a fist.

Seeing Neo upset always pissed him off. No matter who was responsible for it. He'd always defend her or try to cheer up but...What could he do when that someone was his team's leader?

"..."

Making his way over to the bunk bed that Neo and him shared, he crawled under the bottom bunk and ripped off a box he had taped to the bottom of it. The box was small enough to fill Roman's hand, white and otherwise non-descript.

"I don't think you're a monster or anything like that, Merc. I'd never think that. But...I think we all need time to think." Taking off his hat, he laid it atop his pillow and headed for the door himself. "Whenever you're done with your little pity party...we'll be around. Call us and we'll come running. Like always."

The door was quietly shut after that. Leaving Mercury to his thoughts.

Passing by Neo in the hall, Roman placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her.

"Hey. Everything's gonna be okay. I promise."

With that he walked ahead to get outside and get some air.

~~~



Everything had been relatively quiet for the most part.

There'd been the discussion about Ozpin and now the shit with Merc. The stress was unbearable.

Or at least it would have been if Roman didn't have an outlet.

After looking over his shoulders, Roman settled down and tore the tape from the box. The box's top flap opened and there were a pack of cigars with some obviously missing, having been used.

Roman didn't have the stomach for them personally/he figured smoking them would get him in trouble and the cigars confiscated. He'd even hid them from Neo.

His dad had smoked em. Back before...before everything was lost.

~~~

"ROMAN!"

Roman dropped the box he'd been fumbling with and both parties saw cigars spilled out all over the floor.

"...Sorry dad.."

"Roman.." His parents were usually wrapped tight around their son's little finger. But even they had their limits. Trying to smoke his dad's cigars was one of them. Picking up the cigars, his dad looked over to his crestfallen son. "...Maybe when you're a bit more mature, son." He teased and reached over to ruffle his son's hair. "Now, go find Neo. I'm sure she's wondering why it's noon and the two of you haven't annoyed somebody yet!"

Giving his dad a warm hug, Roman raced off to go find his buddy.

~~~~

"...Wonder if I'm mature enough now, eh, Dad?"

He said to no one in particular.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

If she had been remotely conscious for her treatment from the SDC guard that arrived within seconds of Weiss's call like a proper experienced bootlicker, Ilia would have probably turned red 10 times over, out of sheer anger and frustration. But she wasn't, and she didn't regain consciousness until quite some time after the guard slapped some cuffs on her, gripped her by the ponytail and dragged her across the cold hard floor like she was a particularly heavy bag of trash. They went one door down and as soon as it slid open, literally threw her in there without a care in the world. He even laughed from how that throw ended with her smacking her head against the corner of a table within, a disgusting sound that echoed even after the door closed.

Ilia didn't know how long she'd been out when she finally came to. A swift scan revealed that Blake was nowhere in sight. A second later it registered that the furnishings in this room were different, indicating she'd been dropped into a different cell. She sat there in silence for a couple of minutes just...thinking...before she glanced to one of the walls. Ilia crawled over to it and knocked loudly on it. "Blake?" She asked just as loudly, hoping that this cell was adjacent to hers.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Wherever each of them were at the moment, and whatever each of them were doing? All of them received the same message. That vibrant orange glow as the sun began to drop out of sight on the horizon informed them all that the time was just about upon them. Whether they agreed with the proposed plan, disagreed with it, had reservations with some of the other people that they were going to travel with, they were all going to be working together for the foreseeable future.

Arthur Watts, the gifted genius with a penchant for sticking his nose into places and things he probably shouldn't have. Tyrian Callows, the unpredictable hyperactive thrill-seeking and occasionally fight-happy scorpion. Cinder Fall, the inexperienced maiden with an easily provoked temper but also a kind heart of gold that matched her eyes. Hazel Rainart, the towering teenage behemoth and full-time calming influence for his team whenever their strong personalities had them butting heads.

Mercury Black, the self-assured fighter trained from childhood with a tactical mind as sharp as his sarcastic wit. Roman Torchwick, the loud and loquacious well-meaning protective soul of his team. Emerald Sustrai, a street smart former childhood thief and beggar who turned to life as a huntress as her escape from that rough life. Neopolitan, the selectively mute orphan and remarkably talented protector of her oldest and most treasured friend.

Ruby Rose, a smaller and more honest soul whose optimism and idealism shined as brightly as her silver eyes. Yang Xiao Long, the exuberant combat genius who could lighten the mood of any room she steps into. Qrow Branwen, the experienced professional and mentor whose skill is matched only by his cynicism. Their guide and not quite family member Raven Branwen, the loner huntress and scout who wholeheartedly dedicated herself to her work out of cowardice born of tragedy.

Not to mention the rough around the edges huntress and associate Salem hoped they would meet up with in the city of Mistral once the group found and secured the Spring Maiden. And Leonardo Lionheart himself...

Salem wasn't sure how all these disparate people and personalities would mesh together, especially with a few being quite literally out of this world and knowing many of these faces to belong to completely different people, but she hoped that despite that issue, this would turn out to be a more positive experience than a negative one. She patiently waited for all them to trickle into the room, whether it was as a group or one at a time. And when all of them had, the headmistress cleared her throat loudly to catch all of their attention before proceeding.

"Alright, everyone. To sum it up one final time, the plan of action is as follows: You will, presuming that she is where we expect, find and hopefully persuade the Spring Maiden to assist us. Then you will make your way to Mistral, where you should meet with a contact of mine who will bring you to the headmaster of Haven Academy. Once there, he should open the way for you into the vault where Spring can open the door and you all retrieve the relic so that our new time-displaced friends can discover what happened to them and how they may return to their world. Are there any questions or clarifications required before we get underway?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Mercury was first among his team of designated teeth-kickers to arrive, which probably would've been the one and only instance of him taking his leadership duties seriously in any kind of capacity unrelated to fighting if they were still officially a team and not a bunch of conscripts. He looked focused, lacing his boots in the corner and ignoring any attempts to make eye contact by anyone as he silently scanned the room whenever anyone came in. The faces he didn't recognise were the ones he paid special attention to; he didn't know much about the pipsqueak in red or her supermodel sister, but something about them was bugging him. Why did they look so...

His mind caught up and answered the question before him even as he was thinking it, letting his eyes flick between Yang and Raven a few times where they (probably) stood with a healthy distance between them. Yeah, that explained it.

He had been going to say familiar.

Qrow, in contrast, was the last to arrive period. He trudged into the office with a pensive disposition, the smell drowning him one that had Mercury's nose wrinkle with abject loathing as he watched him approach. Now that was familiar. Qrow's own eyes were occupied giving Ruby a nod so subtle it was practically imperceptible, trying to look innocuous in the act of stowing away his hip flask.

"Sorry. Hope you weren't all waiting around on my account."

Leaning up against Salem's desk and settling into a reserved silence once she started her brief, he kept his question terse and to the point when it came.

"You been hearing much from your old pal Lionheart lately?" ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Uhhhhh."

He added under his breath when he observed just who was in the room, giving the kid with the scorpion tail one hell of an eyeballing as a dull throb seemed to pulsate through his lower abdomen.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Alright, everyone. To sum it up one final time, the plan of action is as follows: You will, presuming that she is where we expect, find and hopefully persuade the Spring Maiden to assist us. Then you will make your way to Mistral, where you should meet with a contact of mine who will bring you to the headmaster of Haven Academy. Once there, he should open the way for you into the vault where Spring can open the door and you all retrieve the relic so that our new time-displaced friends can discover what happened to them and how they may return to their world. Are there any questions or clarifications required before we get underway?"

"Nope. Not a one."

Roman hadn't exactly made up with Mercury. Truth be told, he was still kind of mad for his confession getting Neo all upset.

He also hadn't returned the box of cigars back to under his bed. Nope, he hung onto a few to try and keep his attitude in check. Didn't need to lose his cool and get his team in danger, regardless of what or wasn't said. Looking over at Ruby and co, Roman blinked.

'One of them came as a messenger of death, the other...is pretty damn hot.'

Then he saw Qrow and frowned. Better just keep any flirting to himself...
​

He added under his breath when he observed just who was in the room, giving the kid with the scorpion tail one hell of an eyeballing as a dull throb seemed to pulsate through his lower abdomen.

Tyrian for his part was humming a small beat to himself as his tail moved in sync.

"..."

A shiver ran up his back.

'Maybe it was just how my old manager/handler used to approach me in the locker room after fights. The quiet footsteps, the hand atop his shoulder, and feeling the piercing gaze burning into my back. All to get my pysked up for my next fight. But this wasn't the locker room and this was bigger than any brawl.'

His tail stopped swaying and he looked over at Qrow.

And offered him a smile.

Maybe whoever he'd felt staring at him was just tense! This was going to be a deadly mission but he couldn't be anymore excited! A true chance to test himself...​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Ruby for her part was trying real hard to not deal with the uncomfortable levels of awkward that filled the room just as much as the force of gravity or the oxygen in the air. The feeling that came when standing in a room with people that looked far too much like the villains they had fought against for so long. She was definitely not looking at Mercury in the corner of the room, the guy who framed her sister into attacking a defenseless student for the whole world to see. Absolutely not staring at Emerald, who manipulated Pyrrha into accidentally killing Penny. Certainly not gazing over at Tyrian, who almost poisoned her uncle to death. And unquestionably not glaring at--

"Hey there! So we're going to be working together, huh?" Cinder greeted with a wave as she approached Ruby.

Oh. Come. On.

She hurriedly looked around, pleading with her eyes for Yang or Qrow to come save her, much to the apparent confusion of Cinder. "Uh...something wrong?" Ruby sighed deeply before she shook her head. "Nope, nothing..." The last thing they needed right now was an argument or confrontation. "Oh, good. So...I...can't say I know what the me in your world is like, but...I'm hoping that maybe we could...I don't know, be friends? For as long as you're here, anyways."

She knew in her heart of hearts that this was a different Cinder, that she wasn't guilty of the sins of the Cinder back home, but even so it was really really difficult to even think about saying yes to that. Instead a long drawn out "maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?" came out instead. Man this was so weird.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Raven for her part was just leaning against one of the walls towards the back of the room, arms crossed as she let that messy crowd sort themselves out.
​

Leaning up against Salem's desk and settling into a reserved silence once she started her brief, he kept his question terse and to the point when it came.

"You been hearing much from your old pal Lionheart lately?"

"Not in some time, no. The last official communique from him was pretty standard...why?" She questioned, eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Another thing you know that we do not?" Salem guessed.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Yang was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room from Mercury, one eye open as she took stock of what they were working with. It was definitely... weird. The few she didn't recognize personally she knew from description... except for the dude with the dust pistol. No idea who that was. In her defense, every time someone described the other Watts, the most prominent descriptor had been 'mustache.

But there were plenty she did recognize personally. She shot Mercury a smirk as their eyes met in their roving, amused at some joke or another that clearly hadn't translated across timelines. Then there was Torchwick, who somehow still thought that hat was a good look even in his teenage years. And... poking her head out from behind Torchwick and glowering at Yang with narrowed eyes of suspicion was Neo. Who she now knew wasn't the Neo she thought she'd been punching last week, but was definitely the Neo she punched.

She shot Neo a cheerful wave, and in response the illusionist just leaned even farther behind Torchwick so that only one eye and a bit of hair was visible as she scowled.

Well, that was about as much effort or guilt as Yang was willing to invest into that situation, so she shrugged and turned her focus back to Salem. "Yea he... kinda turned traitor pretty much the instant beacon fell in our timeline. Maybe even before? I don't necessarily wanna say yours for sure is also gonna turn coward since uh-" she added with a dry glance across the room "-there's obviously a whole lot of other things that are different, but its something everyone here should be aware of going in."

...

"These kids all already knew about the timeline stuff, right?"

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

"Cinder, don't scare off our support hunters before we even get out the door." Watts drawled as he also took in the room. Miss rose was the only one he could say he recognized, though now that they weren't in the middle of a societal collapse his eyes were picking dozens of differences out between the one in this room and the one who'd competed in the Vytal festival. Different hair, clothes, slightly taller, and of course the smallest difference; this one wasn't missing an arm.

"I apologize miss Rose. I assure you our team will keep this professional."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

She certainly was. It was getting harder and harder not to wonder what those screams sounded like.

"Among other things," she returned after a beat, a bemused, mirthless pull to her lips as she watched the faunus recover. Her own speech, as ever, was unperturbed, no less innocuous than if she were addressing an employee of hers about a poor workplace performance. That did nothing to disguise the bluntness of her next words, an experience many of those employees were also familiar with. "Your total failure to comply with the plan, of course, being one of them. I'm sure you have a better explanation than cold feet to justify why you withdrew your forces so abruptly."

For her sake, she better have.​

"The plan was in shambles before it even got off the ground." Blake shot back with a dull frown as she shakily stood up to her feet. "But yes, there were reasons. They'll be Ozpin's concern, not yours-"

If she had been remotely conscious for her treatment from the SDC guard that arrived within seconds of Weiss's call like a proper experienced bootlicker, Ilia would have probably turned red 10 times over, out of sheer anger and frustration. But she wasn't, and she didn't regain consciousness until quite some time after the guard slapped some cuffs on her, gripped her by the ponytail and dragged her across the cold hard floor like she was a particularly heavy bag of trash. They went one door down and as soon as it slid open, literally threw her in there without a care in the world. He even laughed from how that throw ended with her smacking her head against the corner of a table within, a disgusting sound that echoed even after the door closed.
​

When the guard turned around, Blake was standing close enough that he almost certainly bumped into her before taking a single step. Her amber eyes studied him up and down for a few seconds, taking in the details of his face, uniform and rank, before she stepped aside to let him pass. He raised an eyebrow but thought nothing of it, assuming that the other faunus had wisely chickened out of any sort of vengeful thoughts

Ilia didn't know how long she'd been out when she finally came to. A swift scan revealed that Blake was nowhere in sight. A second later it registered that the furnishings in this room were different, indicating she'd been dropped into a different cell. She sat there in silence for a couple of minutes just...thinking...before she glanced to one of the walls. Ilia crawled over to it and knocked loudly on it. "Blake?" She asked just as loudly, hoping that this cell was adjacent to hers.

Blake glanced up from where she was once more across from her cell door, and slowly shook her head.

"Yes. Not the one you know though. You're looking for the other Belladonna heir." she said with a dry smirk that immediately had her bite her own tongue in annoyance at her instincts once reacting like this was the Ilia she knew and cared for.

 

[Gus Gungus]

His tail stopped swaying and he looked over at Qrow.

And offered him a smile.

Qrow just leered at him.

But there were plenty she did recognize personally. She shot Mercury a smirk as their eyes met in their roving, amused at some joke or another that clearly hadn't translated across timelines.

Mercury met the look with a cock of the brow, holding it a few seconds before he turned away with a provocative snort. She wanted him.

"Cinder, don't scare off our support hunters before we even get out the door." Watts drawled as he also took in the room. Miss rose was the only one he could say he recognized, though now that they weren't in the middle of a societal collapse his eyes were picking dozens of differences out between the one in this room and the one who'd competed in the Vytal festival. Different hair, clothes, slightly taller, and of course the smallest difference; this one wasn't missing an arm.

"You're our support hunters, tyke," Qrow remarked, his signature raspy tone glimmering with amusement as he gave the baby Watts a once-over. He shifted gears when Yang spoke up, nodding his agreement. "The Leo we met was a long way from his prime. When we get to the academy, it shouldn't be too hard to poke around and figure out where his allegiances are. Guy never had a good pokerface anyway."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"The plan was in shambles before it even got off the ground." Blake shot back with a dull frown as she shakily stood up to her feet. "But yes, there were reasons. They'll be Ozpin's concern, not yours-"

"...Are they good?" She pressed with an impatiently raised eyebrow, arms crossing with tension as she lightly tapped her elbow. Little did either of them know Blake had just become locked in conversation at two different points in time.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Blake glanced up from where she was once more across from her cell door, and slowly shook her head.

"Yes. Not the one you know though. You're looking for the other Belladonna heir." she said with a dry smirk that immediately had her bite her own tongue in annoyance at her instincts once reacting like this was the Ilia she knew and cared for.

"If that's true, then...who are you? I mean, I saw footage of you. At Beacon. You were killing students. Y-you didn't hesitate, not even a little bit. You had to have reasons to do that...right?" Ilia questioned, desperate to understand and try to reconcile this Blake with the Blake that she knew.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Well, that was about as much effort or guilt as Yang was willing to invest into that situation, so she shrugged and turned her focus back to Salem. "Yea he... kinda turned traitor pretty much the instant beacon fell in our timeline. Maybe even before? I don't necessarily wanna say yours for sure is also gonna turn coward since uh-" she added with a dry glance across the room "-there's obviously a whole lot of other things that are different, but its something everyone here should be aware of going in."

He shifted gears when Yang spoke up, nodding his agreement. "The Leo we met was a long way from his prime. When we get to the academy, it shouldn't be too hard to poke around and figure out where his allegiances are. Guy never had a good pokerface anyway."

Salem's eyes widened in alarm at that revelation. It certainly wasn't news she'd expected to hear today. "...That is most problematic, if it is indeed something that carried over across timelines. Earlier today I sent him a message outlining our plan and notifying him to be prepared to receive guests when the time comes. If Leonardo is in fact a turncoat, then it is only safe to assume that Ozpin will soon know of our plans. If he doesn't already."​

"Cinder, don't scare off our support hunters before we even get out the door." Watts drawled as he also took in the room. Miss rose was the only one he could say he recognized, though now that they weren't in the middle of a societal collapse his eyes were picking dozens of differences out between the one in this room and the one who'd competed in the Vytal festival. Different hair, clothes, slightly taller, and of course the smallest difference; this one wasn't missing an arm.

"Trying to make friends doesn't translate to scaring them off, Arthur. You'd know that if you had any friends outside your team." Cinder snarked, her age showing as she stuck out her tongue in his general direction.​

"I apologize miss Rose. I assure you our team will keep this professional."

"That's...good?" Ruby replied, not exactly sure how to respond. This guy, the only one of his team she didn't recognize, so much about him reminded her strangely of Weiss's sister. The no nonsense way he spoke, how he carried himself, that scrutinizing look that seemed to pick apart every little detail. "And you are..."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...Are they good?" She pressed with an impatiently raised eyebrow, arms crossing with tension as she lightly tapped her elbow. Little did either of them know Blake had just become locked in conversation at two different points in time.

Blake stopped glaring daggers at the guard's back as he left long enough to answer Weiss with a scoff.

"Either they are and thus not your concern, or they're not-" She said as she started to head back towards her own cell.

"-and you'll have one less reason to watch your back at night, schnee."

"If that's true, then...who are you? I mean, I saw footage of you. At Beacon. You were killing students. Y-you didn't hesitate, not even a little bit. You had to have reasons to do that...right?" Ilia questioned, desperate to understand and try to reconcile this Blake with the Blake that she knew.​

Blake took a deep breath and debated not even bothering to answer.

But even if this wasn't her Ilia, giving her the cold shoulder as she was flown to what was probably going to be her death wasn't gonna sit well with her.

"Of course I did. Look, Ilia. This isn't your world. I don't know how it happened, but your from somewhere and sometime else." she said gravely, and with an undcurrent of frustration at how ridiculous this sounded.

"There's a few of you it seems. All of them on the wrong side of the fight in your own world. The other one of you I talked to didn't seem to know why it happened either."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"You're our support hunters, tyke,"

He rolled his eyes. "Apologies sir, but I wasn't aware hunter's license crossed timelines the same way they did country lines. You're all vigilantes here" : |

"Trying to make friends doesn't translate to scaring them off, Arthur. You'd know that if you had any friends outside your team." Cinder snarked, her age showing as she stuck out her tongue in his general direction.

"That's...good?" Ruby replied, not exactly sure how to respond. This guy, the only one of his team she didn't recognize, so much about him reminded her strangely of Weiss's sister. The no nonsense way he spoke, how he carried himself, that scrutinizing look that seemed to pick apart every little detail. "And you are..."

His eyes widened as Leonhart's loyalties entered the discussion, and he waved his hand at both the crimson huntresses "Shush ladies, we're on to the actually important bits, introductions over."

He raised an eyebrow at salem as he scratched at the side of his chin. "If he has been turned, that is grave news. Was it him alone, or the entire academy?" He asked as he turned towards Qrow and Yang

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

Yang had already affixed Watts with her own gaze in a dull glare at the sight of him snapping at her little sister, but there were unfortunately more important things to worry about. For now. She shrugged and closed her eyes as she tried to remember the important details.

"Most of the staff and students had been sent away by the time we got there. Again though, this was after the attack on Beacon went way, way worse, and none of got there till almost six months later. Even if he is turncoat, a lotta stuff is gonna be different."

 

[Gus Gungus]

Blake stopped glaring daggers at the guard's back as he left long enough to answer Weiss with a scoff.

"Either they are and thus not your concern, or they're not-" She said as she started to head back towards her own cell.

"-and you'll have one less reason to watch your back at night, schnee."

Weiss seemed less threatened and more bemused, a slightly exasperated roll of the eyes given as she matched the faunus's pace to return the violent, antisocial escapee to her cell after her attempt to escape in the confusion, as this incident would later be logged in the official reports. "Oh, yes, it's all so very personal between us. I live in constant fear of the eve you come for me in the night."

The dry overtone to her voice wasn't even intentional, so much as it was a byproduct of how continuously ridiculous Weiss found this woman's inability to hide her loathing of her was. In her world, largely one where the battlefield was a boardroom and the only weapon a pen for inking contracts, people had the civility to mask the intense personal hatred they bore one another, offer up false smiles and placating compliments. These Shadow Fang truly were another breed. She'd been remarkably lenient with this runt and her insults, chiefly because she found it so strangely fascinating, daring in how absolutely no one else she dealt with would even have fathomed speaking to her that way.

"I expect we'll find out in just a few hours. His punishment for the Arc fellow came very... Suddenly." She recalled, opting for exceedingly mild terminology. Her petite frame leaned up against the doorframe at an angle again as Blake made her way back inside, Weiss glancing over towards the touchscreen controls next to it but deciding she could probably squeeze a last drop of amusement from the situation.

"I don't suppose you'd care for a drink to your health, then? Potentially your last in this lifetime." She drawled, a bold smirk overtaking her lips as she narrowed her eyes, like the audacity of asking thrilled her. "Or are you going to sit here and brood your way to death?"

That aside, more than a small part of her just adored reminding these people how little of a concern she actually considered them.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Blake took a deep breath and debated not even bothering to answer.

But even if this wasn't her Ilia, giving her the cold shoulder as she was flown to what was probably going to be her death wasn't gonna sit well with her.

"Of course I did. Look, Ilia. This isn't your world. I don't know how it happened, but your from somewhere and sometime else." she said gravely, and with an undcurrent of frustration at how ridiculous this sounded.

"There's a few of you it seems. All of them on the wrong side of the fight in your own world. The other one of you I talked to didn't seem to know why it happened either."

"...Okay." Ilia replied. That explanation sounded crazy but it did explain a few things that just didn't add up. Besides, the circumstance of whatever was going on that brought her and apparently others here weren't really a top concern for her right now. "This might not be my world. You may not be the Blake I know, but you are still Blake. I can tell." The chameleon quieted for a second, scooting over even closer to the wall into a seated position against it, back leaning on the wall for support. "And I think I know what your reasons are." She strongly suspected but desperately hoped that it wasn't the case, even with all the evidence to the contrary.

"You're...here, you're like what Adam once was. Sienna's right hand, her violent enforcer. That's why you attacked instead of defended Beacon. You believe that many humans' unwillingness to change forces you to make extreme choices. That the humans who do hate us, their hate can only be snuffed out by fear. That it gets results, and makes them look at us as true equals. That any sacrifices you make are for the greater good. But you're wrong. A beaten dog may fear you but the second you turn your back, they will strike. Hard." Ilia lowered her head until her chin was resting on her knee, an unseen sad expression on her face.

"And however that strike comes, it'll only provoke more anger. Faunus will hit back. And on and on, until that is all that's left and anyone still standing has long since stopped trying to find a better way. But there is a better way. I know there is. You know who showed me that?" Ilia turned, facing the wall and trying to picture where Blake was on the other side of it. "You did."

Ilia's face shifted into a small smile. "I was caught up in feeling all of that, just like you are. The righteous anger, that feeling of having to do what's necessary for our kind. I was lost on that road, and I took it way too far. But you pulled me back. And before you go into 'I'm not that Blake', yeah, I get that's what you think. I may not know everything that's going on, I may not know where you're taking me...but I know you're still Blake." The chameleon thought back to that moment, pulling the memory from deep within.

"And I know I don't care what it takes. I'll find a way to help you, like you helped me."
​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Most of the staff and students had been sent away by the time we got there. Again though, this was after the attack on Beacon went way, way worse, and none of got there till almost six months later. Even if he is turncoat, a lotta stuff is gonna be different."

"Perhaps so. Yet it is the fact we can't determine whether it will be a good different or a bad different compared to your experiences, that is what worries me."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

He rolled his eyes. "Apologies sir, but I wasn't aware hunter's license crossed timelines the same way they did country lines. You're all vigilantes here" : |

"Yeah, well... I was there when we came up with this plan," Qrow shot back confidently, though on later reflection he probably would've agreed it was lame.
​

Yang had already affixed Watts with her own gaze in a dull glare at the sight of him snapping at her little sister, but there were unfortunately more important things to worry about. For now. She shrugged and closed her eyes as she tried to remember the important details.

"Most of the staff and students had been sent away by the time we got there. Again though, this was after the attack on Beacon went way, way worse, and none of got there till almost six months later. Even if he is turncoat, a lotta stuff is gonna be different."

"Perhaps so. Yet it is the fact we can't determine whether it will be a good different or a bad different compared to your experiences, that is what worries me."

The grizzled huntsman watched the exchange with mouth askew in silent contemplation. He gave a glance towards the door, shifting his legs so they crossed over one another in the opposite direction as he continued to slouch against the desk.

"We've got one or two advantages of our own. No one freak out, but there's... someone here to talk. Someone I think might be of help."

He half-cleared his throat, eyes shifting over towards Ruby and Yang briefly in a flicker of what looked like guilt.

---

Earlier.

It turned out Qrow and the more fiery of his nieces had been in Vale on remarkably similar business that afternoon.

A coincidence, but Yang's knack for navigating the kind of shady circles a teenager had no business navigating with the grace, ease and swagger as if one of their own was definitely the byproduct of a gene in there somewhere, and that gene sure as hell didn't come from Taiyang 'mothers love him' Xiao Long. Qrow was a familiar face around every bar of questionable character in every capital of the Four Kingdoms, and Vale was his original stomping grounds. Back home he had associates and contacts all over the city, guys with roots running all the way back to when he went to Beacon. He'd been curious if any of them held up here.

Not only did they all know him, but they were all terrified of him in a way that blew the respectful wariness his informants back home treated him with out of the ocean. He was getting real curious to find out just what this jagoff running around with his face looked like.

His reputation sure was proving useful, though. He was standing in the middle of an abandoned mineshaft not far outside the city, hands slipped in his pockets and a nonplussed frown on his face as he gave the petrified bear faunus next to him a glance.

"This it?"

"Y-Yeah, Branwen, this—this is it, I swear, I—I made contact, okay, this is where they said to go, anythin' past here is over my head, you know, h-hey, so... we're settled, right? You and me, we're square?"

Qrow stared a little longer, maintaining his cool aloof aura without giving away that he was completely perplexed how to answer.

"What was it I said I'd do to you again?"

"String me up and-"

"Yeah, no, we're not square. You should still be worried about that. Now scram," he grunted, a dark scowl flashed in his direction to drive the point home. The man tried to stammer a few confused vocalizations before taking off running for his life, as Qrow returned his gaze towards the dilapidated building housing the mine entrance with a distinct look of uncertainty for what was about to go down.

"So you gonna hide in the shadows all day, or are we gonna talk?"

---



Salem's office doors slid open, and the incongruous face of a Grimm strode into the headmistress of Beacon Academy's office. The face just below the mask was every bit as fearsome as the one it wore, an expression befitting that of a warrior surrounded by bitter enemies as Eve Taurus dumped the nullified Red Masque at her feet and held her down with a boot on the spine, pointedly staring Yang in the eyes.

"Yes, humans. Let's talk."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Weiss seemed less threatened and more bemused, a slightly exasperated roll of the eyes given as she matched the faunus's pace to return the violent, antisocial escapee to her cell after her attempt to escape in the confusion, as this incident would later be logged in the official reports. "Oh, yes, it's all so very personal between us. I live in constant fear of the eve you come for me in the night."

The dry overtone to her voice wasn't even intentional, so much as it was a byproduct of how continuously ridiculous Weiss found this woman's inability to hide her loathing of her was. In her world, largely one where the battlefield was a boardroom and the only weapon a pen for inking contracts, people had the civility to mask the intense personal hatred they bore one another, offer up false smiles and placating compliments. These Shadow Fang truly were another breed. She'd been remarkably lenient with this runt and her insults, chiefly because she found it so strangely fascinating, daring in how absolutely no one else she dealt with would even have fathomed speaking to her that way.

"I expect we'll find out in just a few hours. His punishment for the Arc fellow came very... Suddenly." She recalled, opting for exceedingly mild terminology. Her petite frame leaned up against the doorframe at an angle again as Blake made her way back inside, Weiss glancing over towards the touchscreen controls next to it but deciding she could probably squeeze a last drop of amusement from the situation.

"I don't suppose you'd care for a drink to your health, then? Potentially your last in this lifetime." She drawled, a bold smirk overtaking her lips as she narrowed her eyes, like the audacity of asking thrilled her. "Or are you going to sit here and brood your way to death?"

That aside, more than a small part of her just adored reminding these people how little of a concern she actually considered them.​

Blake continued her walk to the back of the cell as Weiss continued to talk, and turned to put her back against the wall before slowly sliding down it, her eyes resting on Weiss' piercing blue in the midst of the silence after Weiss' question.

"It's not personal, Schnee."

It wasn't. Blake's first kill might have been an act of violent revenge for her father, but she'd long gotten those feelings under control. Which wasn't to say she didn't hate Weiss Schnee; She absolutely did. She could make all the false promises to her people and Ozpin as she wanted, put forth as many half measures of so called reform in her mines as she pleased. It couldn't make up for the decades of violence that predated it. It wouldn't give Ilia her parents back, or rip out the prejudice her family had helped fester in the hearts of so much of the human population, normalized the way that they were treated. The Schnee name was a curse. They burned, they enslaved, they scarred everything and everyone they touched

Yet even now, Blake didn't take any joy in the blood she shed. She didn't revel in victories, and she still sometimes saw that first human's confused terror when she closed her eyes to sleep. Killing wasn't a goal in and of itself, but an unfortunate truth she had to accept, the best tool the faunus had in their fight for survival. So no, it wouldn't be personal. It'd be an act of grim necessity. Blake knew that if the faunus were ever to be truly free of the shackles of their past, every human who bore that curse was going to have to be wiped off the face of Remnant.

Unfortunately, that couldn't happen yet. Not until Ozpin had done his work. Just like Blake herself, as long as the Schnee head held a use in his eyes, she was off limits.

"When you die, it'll be because its what needs to be done."

...

"And no, I'll pass on the drink" She eventually added, unable to keep the wry, dark amusement out of even her tone at the situation as she eventually broke the silence.

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

"...Okay." Ilia replied. That explanation sounded crazy but it did explain a few things that just didn't add up. Besides, the circumstance of whatever was going on that brought her and apparently others here weren't really a top concern for her right now. "This might not be my world. You may not be the Blake I know, but you are still Blake. I can tell." The chameleon quieted for a second, scooting over even closer to the wall into a seated position against it, back leaning on the wall for support. "And I think I know what your reasons are." She strongly suspected but desperately hoped that it wasn't the case, even with all the evidence to the contrary.

"You're...here, you're like what Adam once was. Sienna's right hand, her violent enforcer. That's why you attacked instead of defended Beacon. You believe that many humans' unwillingness to change forces you to make extreme choices. That the humans who do hate us, their hate can only be snuffed out by fear. That it gets results, and makes them look at us as true equals. That any sacrifices you make are for the greater good. But you're wrong. A beaten dog may fear you but the second you turn your back, they will strike. Hard." Ilia lowered her head until her chin was resting on her knee, an unseen sad expression on her face.

"And however that strike comes, it'll only provoke more anger. Faunus will hit back. And on and on, until that is all that's left and anyone still standing has long since stopped trying to find a better way. But there is a better way. I know there is. You know who showed me that?" Ilia turned, facing the wall and trying to picture where Blake was on the other side of it. "You did."

Ilia's face shifted into a small smile. "I was caught up in feeling all of that, just like you are. The righteous anger, that feeling of having to do what's necessary for our kind. I was lost on that road, and I took it way too far. But you pulled me back. And before you go into 'I'm not that Blake', yeah, I get that's what you think. I may not know everything that's going on, I may not know where you're taking me...but I know you're still Blake." The chameleon thought back to that moment, pulling the memory from deep within.

"And I know I don't care what it takes. I'll find a way to help you, like you helped me."
​

"..."

She couldn't help it. Blake laughed. There wasn't any malice in the action, but she covered her face as a bout of giggles slipped out of her. "...Wow. This other Blake really has this other world wrapped around her finger, huh? Friends with a Schnee? Not just her Eve, but you and the dragon's copy so earnestly trying to play hero for her? She must be a real saint."

She sighed and shook her head, the amusement in her eyes drifting towards a more bitter emotion even as the smile stayed.

"But she's not me. If she was, she'd understand this isn't a fight for equality any more. We've done that twice now, and all it got us were mining jobs, parents who die too early, and scars. No, Ilia. This is a fight for dominance. The faunus will always be under human thumbs as long as a human is running the kingdoms behind the scenes. Salem and her kingdoms will die. I'm..."

she hesitated.

"...I'm sorry your Blake convinced you to take the wrong side of it. I'll do what I can to make sure your time with Ozpin is as painless as possible, and... if I can, I'll keep you alive."

It was as much of a promise as she was willing to make

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Yeah, well... I was there when we came up with this plan," Qrow shot back confidently, though on later reflection he probably would've agreed it was lame.




The grizzled huntsman watched the exchange with mouth askew in silent contemplation. He gave a glance towards the door, shifting his legs so they crossed over one another in the opposite direction as he continued to slouch against the desk.

"We've got one or two advantages of our own. No one freak out, but there's... someone here to talk. Someone I think might be of help."

He half-cleared his throat, eyes shifting over towards Ruby and Yang briefly in a flicker of what looked like guilt.

---

Earlier.

It turned out Qrow and the more fiery of his nieces had been in Vale on remarkably similar business that afternoon.

A coincidence, but Yang's knack for navigating the kind of shady circles a teenager had no business navigating with the grace, ease and swagger as if one of their own was definitely the byproduct of a gene in there somewhere, and that gene sure as hell didn't come from Taiyang 'mothers love him' Xiao Long. Qrow was a familiar face around every bar of questionable character in every capital of the Four Kingdoms, and Vale was his original stomping grounds. Back home he had associates and contacts all over the city, guys with roots running all the way back to when he went to Beacon. He'd been curious if any of them held up here.

Not only did they all know him, but they were all terrified of him in a way that blew the respectful wariness his informants back home treated him with out of the ocean. He was getting real curious to find out just what this jagoff running around with his face looked like.

His reputation sure was proving useful, though. He was standing in the middle of an abandoned mineshaft not far outside the city, hands slipped in his pockets and a nonplussed frown on his face as he gave the petrified bear faunus next to him a glance.

"This it?"

"Y-Yeah, Branwen, this—this is it, I swear, I—I made contact, okay, this is where they said to go, anythin' past here is over my head, you know, h-hey, so... we're settled, right? You and me, we're square?"

Qrow stared a little longer, maintaining his cool aloof aura without giving away that he was completely perplexed how to answer.

"What was it I said I'd do to you again?"

"String me up and-"

"Yeah, no, we're not square. You should still be worried about that. Now scram," he grunted, a dark scowl flashed in his direction to drive the point home. The man tried to stammer a few confused vocalizations before taking off running for his life, as Qrow returned his gaze towards the dilapidated building housing the mine entrance with a distinct look of uncertainty for what was about to go down.

"So you gonna hide in the shadows all day, or are we gonna talk?"

---



Salem's office doors slid open, and the incongruous face of a Grimm strode into the headmistress of Beacon Academy's office. The face just below the mask was every bit as fearsome as the one it wore, an expression befitting that of a warrior surrounded by bitter enemies as Eve Taurus dumped the nullified Red Masque at her feet and held her down with a boot on the spine, pointedly staring Yang in the eyes.

"Yes, humans. Let's talk."​

Watts blinked and turned around as the doors slammed open, slightly reaching for his pistol as this was far from the sort of meeting that just anyone should be barging in on, given the secrets of the universe being discussed and what not. He blinked again when he saw that, yes, it really was the leader of the White Fang standing there. and then one more time when he saw who had been tossed to the ground.

"...Ah! Miss Rose. How nice to finally see you again, after seeing you twice since the last time we saw you- ack!"

Watts was shoved aside in the midst of what he thought was some very clever wordplay, and the temperature of the room seemed to rise a few degrees.

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

Yang saw red.

She knew that this wasn't her world. She'd just spent a deeply awkward and painful conversation with Raven reminding herself of that. That wasn't her Ruby. This wasn't Adam Taurus. None of the people in this room that weren't her Ruby and Qrow were people she should've had any attachment or hate for outside of maintaining basic human morals.

But you could only look at things objectively to a point. There was only so much that you could let slide. And Taurus busting into a room with her little baby sister, with a bloody stump where her arm used to be, clearly itching for a fight, was well past whatever line Yang had internally set for herself, and she strode forward with her fists balled at her side and seemingly more than willing to meet Eve's aggression head on, regardless of who the audience would be for that rematch

"What. Did. You. Do to her?"

 

[MyrtenRose]

"..."

She couldn't help it. Blake laughed. There wasn't any malice in the action, but she covered her face as a bout of giggles slipped out of her. "...Wow. This other Blake really has this other world wrapped around her finger, huh? Friends with a Schnee? Not just her Eve, but you and the dragon's copy so earnestly trying to play hero for her? She must be a real saint."

She sighed and shook her head, the amusement in her eyes drifting towards a more bitter emotion even as the smile stayed.

"But she's not me. If she was, she'd understand this isn't a fight for equality any more. We've done that twice now, and all it got us were mining jobs, parents who die too early, and scars. No, Ilia. This is a fight for dominance. The faunus will always be under human thumbs as long as a human is running the kingdoms behind the scenes. Salem and her kingdoms will die. I'm..."

she hesitated.

"...I'm sorry your Blake convinced you to take the wrong side of it. I'll do what I can to make sure your time with Ozpin is as painless as possible, and... if I can, I'll keep you alive."

It was as much of a promise as she was willing to make

"...a world wrapped around her finger? A saint? No. I wouldn't say that. But she stands as proof of what I'm saying. A former member of the White Fang, now good friends with a Schnee. Think about it, really think about that. What more proof could you need that there is a better way?" Ilia countered. "It's a better option than the one you're suggesting. Blake...if you kill whole kingdoms...what will be left for you to dominate? Even if you succeed, all that death and the panic and the sorrow...the little that would be left would get overrun by grimm. You have to realize that! How can you think I'm on the wrong side of things when that's what'll happen if you go through with what you just said?!" Ilia shook her head in disbelief, her desperate pleading voice doing her best to try and get through to her friend.

"Listen to yourself, Blake. Please. You're taking me to this Ozpin...and you think there's a chance I don't live through it. Where's the greater good in that?" ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Blake continued her walk to the back of the cell as Weiss continued to talk, and turned to put her back against the wall before slowly sliding down it, her eyes resting on Weiss' piercing blue in the midst of the silence after Weiss' question.

"It's not personal, Schnee."

It wasn't. Blake's first kill might have been an act of violent revenge for her father, but she'd long gotten those feelings under control. Which wasn't to say she didn't hate Weiss Schnee; She absolutely did. She could make all the false promises to her people and Ozpin as she wanted, put forth as many half measures of so called reform in her mines as she pleased. It couldn't make up for the decades of violence that predated it. It wouldn't give Ilia her parents back, or rip out the prejudice her family had helped fester in the hearts of so much of the human population, normalized the way that they were treated. The Schnee name was a curse. They burned, they enslaved, they scarred everything and everyone they touched

Yet even now, Blake didn't take any joy in the blood she shed. She didn't revel in victories, and she still sometimes saw that first human's confused terror when she closed her eyes to sleep. Killing wasn't a goal in and of itself, but an unfortunate truth she had to accept, the best tool the faunus had in their fight for survival. So no, it wouldn't be personal. It'd be an act of grim necessity. Blake knew that if the faunus were ever to be truly free of the shackles of their past, every human who bore that curse was going to have to be wiped off the face of Remnant.

Unfortunately, that couldn't happen yet. Not until Ozpin had done his work. Just like Blake herself, as long as the Schnee head held a use in his eyes, she was off limits.

"When you die, it'll be because its what needs to be done."

...

"And no, I'll pass on the drink" She eventually added, unable to keep the wry, dark amusement out of even her tone at the situation as she eventually broke the silence.

"No?" She returned indulgently to the first sentence, sounding as convinced as she was of a pig faunus's ability to fly. She hummed with a twinge of what almost sounded like disappointment as the offer was declined, in spite of the entirely expected outcome; She picked up the wine bottle from the marble desk drawer she'd left it on, extravagant and lavish as everything else in the room for as little as the faunus seemed intent on admiring it. "Suit yourself. Enjoy the remainder of your flight, miss Belladonna. The walls here are a bit thin, so don't get too sociable."

Her own biting sarcasm in the last statement was abundant as she swiped the door control monitor to reseal the entrance.

---

Some time later, Weiss tapped her chin in contemplation as she lounged in the single chair in her viewing deck, tray next to her sporting a freshly opened bottle of the same red. The cigarette in her hand was halfway burned, and she exhaled a misty cloud of smoke as the holographic screens in front of her displayed a litany of information on a variety of individuals, public and otherwise. It tended not to matter when you were rich. Mercury Black. Marcus Black. Neopolitan. Arthur Watts. Cinder Fall.

Ilia Amitola, a particular gleam in her eye as she scanned through everything they had on the Shadow Fang operative. How quaint. So even the Belladonna girl had a friend. It was more than could be said for some.

The dimly lit room was briefly illuminated an eerie white as a glyph of a more specialist nature materialised behind her.

She preferred not to look at the creature that emerged. It was an ugly, unnatural thing, a floating bulb with teeth where teeth didn't need to be, a mass of tentacles dangling from its central mass as it clicked and chirped. The most unnerving thing was the eye. It pulsed, a tint of blue mingled with the white when called forth as a summon, and always followed the closest living thing no matter where it was in the room.

They could also transmit messages. Somehow. She didn't want to think about how that worked.

"Belladonna and two of the doppelgangers are in my custody. We'll be boarding a shuttle to your territory shortly."