“You’re too tense. At least pretend to relax.” Ironwood chastised Winter with an easygoing… not quite smile on his face, and a glass of, surprisingly not spiked, punch in his hand. How odd. Even the punch at Atlas ended up spiked every year, and it was clear that his own students had much more discipline than Ozpin’s. Perhaps it was simply too soon in the night.
With the music from the dance being kept at a somewhat reasonable level, the pair were able to keep their voices down and act like they were simply enjoying the atmosphere. Not that they were actually involved with the dance at all, but slinking around just outside of the doors meant that they could be “supervising”, or at least interpreted to be doing so by the students.
“Apologies, Sir.” Winter checked to make sure that no students were conspicuously lingering just within earshot before continuing. “I just don’t like being so far from the action.”
“Neither do I, but we do what we must. With our presence in Beacon being common knowledge, some would find it to be suspicious if we were not in attendance. On top of that, being so clearly out in the open like this gives off the impression that we have no worries for the night, emboldening any potential criminals to commit whatever crimes they may with us out of the way.” Of course, they had a pretty good idea of what crimes might be committed tonight. Ironwood wasn’t going to throw all of his trust behind Arc’s semblance just yet, not without a few… okay, a lot more assurances that both the boy himself and the semblance within him were trustworthy. But so clear a crime? With the time, if only generally, and the location known in advance? It would be foolish to not investigate a tip off like that, regardless of the source.
“I just worry, I suppose, even when I know that I should not.” And, realistically speaking, there wasn’t any real cause for concern unless the information given to them was entirely inaccurate. A single person breaking into the CCT would mean they were strong enough to subdue all of the Atlas soldiers guarding it, both inside and out. While the average person, or fellow servicemembers, might be worried by that, it was easy to tell that the criminal in question would be a huntsman or huntress.
The solution to the problem?
Bring your own, and more of them.
During one of the many trips that their soldiers were making in and out of the area, a team of Specialists had been brought to Beacon while dressed as common rank and file. They were some of the best at what they did, and a mission like this was right up their alley. At this very moment, the group was hidden away within the CCT, waiting for the front doors to be breached. As soon as the criminal entered, they would be captured and thoroughly investigated.
And they would be captured. Someone who could convincingly pretend to be a student couldn’t be of too high a skill level unless they happened to be amazing at acting as well. Purposefully hiding your skills could only take you so far. Muscle memory would shine through at the very least. However, this didn’t account for semblances. With how varied they were, you never knew what to expect unless you had prior knowledge on your foe. Would the infiltrator have a semblance geared towards combat, like Winter’s? Or perhaps one that influenced everything around them, like that drunkard Qrow. With how little information they’d received from Arc and Second Thoughts, they had to prepare for something as crazy as instantly killing anyone they touched.
But no matter their semblance, a single person couldn’t hope to stand against an entire team of Specialists, and that was just until the calvary could arrive and completely surround the CCT.
The pair tried not to stare at the tower, lest someone catch on, instead directing their focus inward towards the dance.
“It feels wrong, to cast suspicion on students like this.” Winter remarked as her eyes scanned the students. Though they suspected that anyone who had infiltrated the student body would find themselves among those from Haven, it was hard to tell school of origin at an event like this. The two of them knew every student from Atlas, of course, having been involved in nominating them for the Vytal Festival along with the fact that they had been growing familiar with them since the start of the semester. The rest of the schools however… sure, they had spent practically every moment between the warning from Second Thoughts and now investigating these students. Pouring over the information they had to see if they could piece together who it might be. But even with the limited number who had come for the tournament, there were still a lot of students. They could study all they like, but there was no way that they’d remember every face, especially when the uniforms and outfits with that special huntsmen flair were replaced with suits and dresses.
“Indeed it does, but we will do what we must to ensure the safety of the people. It’s what we signed up for, even if this particular case is unpleasant. On an unrelated note…” The General hesitated, “...do you know why your little sister is glaring at me?”
When Winter spotted Weiss in the crowd, she found herself just as confused. The younger Schnee girl was standing with Neptune, apparently her date for the evening, but every time the boy turned away from her to chat with someone else Weiss would turn to Ironwood and glare daggers at him before acting like nothing had happened when Vasilias turned back to her, the blue haired boy none the wiser. When Weiss caught on to the fact that her older sister was staring at her, she suddenly blushed bright red before dragging her date off to the dance floor.
“I haven’t the faintest idea…”
----------------------------------------
I’ll admit that things didn’t go how I expected, but at least you got a date in the end! Pyrrha certainly looks happy with how things turned out!
And she did. Her smile was radiant and she seemed ecstatic to be his date for the dance. Several boys, along with a handful of girls, were glaring at him jealously as his hands found her hips.
Yes, and I’m happy about that, I really am, but you could have told me that Pyrrha was the one who was into me!
It seemed so obvious in hindsight, and her reaction to being asked made it crystal clear that it was her who Second had been hinting at in the past. He should probably apologize to Ren and Nora for putting them through that…
But she hadn’t been the first one he had asked.
We’ve been over this! I can’t just guide you through everything, Jaune. What if this timeline had already diverged from what I knew? What if I told you that Nora loved you, only for you to ask her and create one of the most awkward situations I’ve ever had to witness when she was forced to point out the fact that her and Ren have their… whatever it is?
I wouldn’t have asked Nora, everyone knows what’s going on there!
That’s not the point! I just used her as an example, but it could be any of them. I didn’t want to be trying to guide your love life… and especially not if I did a bad job at it!
But look at what happens when you don’t guide me!
You get a date to the dance, like I promised?
Well, yes, but I also embarrassed myself by getting rejected by a robot!
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The Atlas soldiers “dancing” with Penny were still giving Jaune weird looks. It seemed not everyone thought of the girl as more than a machine, and since their commanding officers had informed them that Jaune was in the know…
Think of all the jokes they’re going to be making about me, Second! I’m already a laughing stock half the time, I can’t keep adding on to the list of things people insult me for!
But do you see Penny as “just a machine”?
No, obviously, or I’d not have asked her to the dance!
Well then that’s all that matters. If they want to call you a-
I don’t need to hear it again!
Well it doesn’t matter! That’s just their opinion, and if they can’t see that Penny is more than just the sum of her components, then that’s their problem. Besides there’s nothing wrong with being attracted to an android, it’s more common than you think.
How many androids do you know?!
“You had me worried, you know.” Pyrrha interrupted their thoughts. “Nora offered to beat some sense into you for me,” she joked, before her expression turned to one of concern, “She didn’t, right? Don’t tell me that’s why you asked me.” With someone like Nora, that was a legitimate concern.
“No, no, that was all me.”
You’d have gone alone if it weren’t for Neptune and I.
I’m not telling her that though!
“What made you change your mind? When you talked about both of us going alone, I thought…” That he didn’t like her. Not just that he had no interest romantically, but that going with her was worse than going alone. Did it make sense? No, but people are great at jumping to the worst case scenarios when it comes to this sort of thing.
“I think… I might have been making a bigger deal out of the dance in my mind than it really needed to be. Someone talked some sense into me….”
“Second Thoughts?”
“I talk to more people than just Second you know! Other people can give me advice!” Jaune pouted.
Pyrrha giggled. “I know, Jaune. But you do get an awful lot of it from Second.” she teased.
“How can I not? He lives in my head, I have to hear his advice whether I want it or not, and if I don’t listen to it I can’t even lie about it.”
“Hmmm. Is he giving you advice right now?”
Maybe don’t bring up the fact that you got rejected by Penny first.
“Nope. Just you and me.”
At least she was nice about letting you down easy. And she even agreed not to tell anyone! That’s a win in my book.
Will you shut up?!
Fine, fine, I’ll leave you it.
----------------------------------------
Blake would never admit it, but she was actually having a good time.
Sun was… an interesting guy. It was hard not to find him interesting when their first interaction was the blonde just barely avoiding literally falling for her. Though really, that was just the start of it. She could admit that he was good looking, and with how he walked around with his top open all the time, he seemed to be well aware of it. Plus he was just… generally a good guy, as far as she could tell. Add the fact that Second Thoughts had drawn their attention to each other, which might very well mean that something would happen between them in the future….
She was still hesitant to trust a semblance that claimed to know their secrets, but she could see why a future version of her might be interested in the monkey faunus. She wasn’t going to throw herself at him, by any means, but he had respectfully asked her to go to the dance with him. Why shouldn’t she say yes? It might not go anywhere, and she was still trying to come to terms with… her past… but a night of fun couldn’t hurt. Especially with how hard the authorities had been cracking down on the White Fang. It made her wonder, though. If not for Jaune and Second Thoughts, would they be going after them so thoroughly? With all of the warnings that had specifically called her out, acting like she was some loose cannon ready to take on the entire group on her own…
“Should I be concerned that your eyes are on the other blond guy in the group? Is it the hair? Don’t tell me I need to watch my back for your partner as well.” Sun teased.
Her displeasure with his teasing must have shown because he laughed.
“No. I just wonder about him sometimes…”
“In what way?” Sun questioned. “I’m assuming it has something to do with his semblance?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Jaune’s a great guy, but Second Thoughts is probably the most interesting thing about him. Not that he’s boring or anything, I’d still be friends with him with or without that semblance, but… it’s kind of crazy to even think about.”
“I know what you mean. Jaune is… acceptable company when he’s not getting Nora to babysit me.” Coming from Blake, that was high praise. “I can’t help but think-”
“Is something wrong?” Sun turned to look at his fellow blond and his redheaded date. The two were dancing, but Pyrrha had a concerned look on her face.
“I don’t know… he saw someone in the crowd and suddenly startled, or at least that’s what it looked like. Maybe Second said something to spook him? It can’t be that big a deal if he’s back to dancing already.” But was that really the case? Or was she trying to convince herself of that?
“Must be…” They could only act if Jaune gave them a reason to. “Come on, let’s get a drink. I’m pretty sure I saw someone spiking the punch.”
----------------------------------------
The dance came to a close, and the students went back to their dorms.
The same could not be said of the General and his men.
“You’re certain nobody even came close to the CCT? It’s possible they somehow got wind of the fact that you were stationed inside and decided to turn back.” The General demanded.
“Positive, Sir. Anybody that left or entered the dance late was monitored, and we’ve had eyes on the perimeter the whole time. It seems we were overly cautious tonight.”
“...Good work tonight. Thank you for your report, you’re dismissed.”
As the Specialists went back to their bunks for the night, Ironwood found himself thinking over all of the possibilities. Second had seemed certain that something would happen tonight. Perhaps he and Winter had jumped to conclusions when they started looking into students as potential traitors, but that seemed to be the path he had led them down… Could it be that they were lied to? Unlikely. It would be the height of foolishness to lie to the General of Atlas, especially given the fact that no reports had come in of anything happening tonight. Perhaps it was something of a more subtle nature, but he wanted to believe that this wasn’t Second Thoughts covering up something else.
That left the possibility that the information was simply inaccurate. It wouldn’t be the first bad tip-off he’d received in his time, but given the track record that Second Thoughts was quickly racking up, it was strange for something this important to have been completely off. Why was the info bad, then? James still struggled to wrap his mind around the intricacies of alternate timelines and branching possibilities. The general concept was understandable, sure, but trying to plan for the possibilities it presented was a whole other ball game.
No, with how certain Second had been, this was likely a surprise to him as well, though that would have to be confirmed in the morning. In that case… had their foe caught on already? A string of successes for those upholding the law meant a string of failures for those trying to break it. It was possible that they had been cowed by their seeming ineptitude, or even that they were trying to dig out a rat amongst their ranks. Not that they would find one. Maybe the perpetrator in this event was someone unrelated to the previous incidents… In the worst case scenario, they were aware of Second Thought’s existence, or at least the presence of a semblance with predictive abilities. Changing a plan that had previously been set in stone, and with Second having no way to compensate for that…
This was about to get messy. But he was used to not having future knowledge in his repertoire. If anything, this meant that the ball was back in his court.
The fog of war was more familiar than not.