Monkey Business- Flickering Deceit
Manehattan
Roman Torchwick lit a candle in a jack o'lantern outside of his base casually. “For the crooks in the city, places with these outside of them are under my gang’s protection. Except during Nightmare Night, then I just take them away.” He explained to Emerald as she stood across from.
“And for a moment, I thought the pumpkins were disguised as explosives…” She chuckled a bit, before sighing as she looked back at Torchwick. “Sorry, that was based on something I remembered from my childhood… before Adam took me in that is.”
“You sound like Mercury. Well, when I first met him. He’s since become more private.” Torchwick stated. “So, Adam’s like a father to you? He’s a scary guy.”
“To some, yes…” Emerald replied. “But to Ilia and I, he see’s us like daughters… Originally, he told me that he used to have two daughters with another woman… but when they ended up here many years ago with two others, the longer that he stayed with them, the more that he felt like an outcast. So… he decided to cut off ties entirely… forgetting about his past life and embracing who he has become. Taking us in as adoptive daughters and raising us to help him achieve his goals.” She sighed at that, before looking back at Roman. “I thank him for everything… but recently, I’ve begun to wonder if some of his actions could be deemed as ‘necessary’ or not.”
“Well, good thing you have me to retreat to.” Torchwick smirked at his own joke.
“True… but, some of them happen shortly after previous… incidents,” Emerald explained. “Remember the monkey when we caught him snooping?”
“Yeah, banana breath’s already a nuisance.”
“When Adam got word of it, he had us capture him,” Emerald did as she recalled what she remembered seeing as the green haired girl looked back at Torchwick. “When we did, what… Adam did was something you might see as going too far.”
“I’d rather not be any more afraid of my business partner anymore than I already am.” Torchwick stated.
“Adam’s already explained that he won’t do anything to you as long as you don’t try to go turncoat,” She told him. “However, he already sees Sun as a traitor to the faunus… and gave him the scars and the brand to prove it.” That was when she set her scroll down as a holographic image of the faunus’ scars was shown briefly to Torchwick… that was, until she got a message from that of Ilia. Letting both of them know that her and Mercury had already reached the location for where they were going to hatch their plan.
Emerald turned to Roman as she picked up her scroll. “Well, it seems like the pieces are in position,” she told him as she began to move to the door. “What’s our first move?”
“I can’t attack myself, it’d be too obvious… You’ll have to take point on this. I’ll direct you.”
“True…” Emerald replied back, “Like the old rhyme… Jack be nimble, jack be quick. Jack jumped over the candlestick… Though, this time. Jack’s going to get burned.” Closing the door behind her, Emerald began to receive coordinates that Torchwick was providing her as she had Mercury and Ilia be on standby.
On her way over, she soon received a message on her scroll of the description for the hideout they were going to attack. ‘Red Brick building, old wooden door. Look for my symbol’. Of course, when she looked up, that was when he noticed that Torchwick had taken the liberty of spray painting a decal of his emblem on the door as Emerald rolled her eyes.
“Merc, Ilia, I found the target… And it’s a big one.” Emerald told them through her scroll before placing it on the wall as it began to transmit a waypoint to both of them. “Can you two see what’s going on inside?”
“Yeah, they’re unloading trucks of weapons… Lots of military grade weapons.” Mercury replied, shortly before Emerald began to get a video call from Roman as she now looked at him directly.
“There was another reason I wanted to merge. They’re weapon smugglers that know tricks that even I don’t have. Taking them would guarantee an army’s worth of weapons.” Torchwick said to her through Emerald’s Scroll as she began processing this new information.
Soon, Emerald now had an idea of what to do as she slid her finger and was now looking directly at Ilia. “Ilia… when this starts, I want you to kill the lights.” Another swipe of the finger and Emerald was looking directly at Mercury now, who looked to be on a nearby rooftop. “Merc, your goal is to make sure that none of the merchandise gets damaged… how you choose to do that I’ll let you decide.”
“On it boss.” Emerald smirked, closing her eyes for a bit as she took out her guns. Her semblance began to slowly chance how she looked on the outside, while going a bit farther to change her voice. Once ready, she had one last thing to say.
“Ilia… kill the lights.” She said simply. “It’s showtime.” In that moment, she was Emerald. But when the power was cut and she kicked the door down, startled all the ponies inside, she was someone completely different. Reese Chloris.
“Wassup, b*tches!?” She shouted, beginning to open fire on everypony in the room that was trying to duck for cover. Several tried to fight back, but were taken down in mere seconds as Emerald acted like the loose cannon the girl she was pretending to be was. “Come on! Why is everyone running?! I’m NOT done yet!!!”
“Don’t just stand there!!” One of the ponies ordered at the other henchmen, who Emerald believed was the one leading this group by how he was ordering everypony else around like they were his personal soldiers. “KILL HER!!!”
Yet, even though they tried to stop her, each pony was sent flying into the wall or into one another, before Emerald continued to unleash a barrage of explosive green dust bullets in front of her. Being careful to not damage the ‘merchandise’ that Roman was also after. “You get a bullet! YOU get a bullet! EVERYBODY GETS A BULLET!!!!”
“What is THAT THING-!?”
“Excuse ME!?! I AM NOT A THING!!!” Emerald roared in anger as he shot the one commanding the other's point blank in the head. “MY NAME IS REESE CHLORIS!!! AND YOU WILL FEAR ME, B*TCHES!!!”
While all this chaos was going on and when Emerald was finally able to dispose of their leader and the ponies that were seen as lieutenants, she took a moment to hide behind a carriage as they were firing crossbow bolts at her. Sending one simple message to Roman. ‘Showtime’.
By that, it meant that Emerald was beginning to finish her rampage as she shot a fire extinguisher and caused a smokescreen, leaving her an opportunity to escape freely while a lot of the ponies inside were still trying to pick up the pieces of everything. “W-who or what the hay was that?”
“Who cares about who they were. They killed the boss!!” Somepony else snapped. “What are we going to do now!? The guard will be here any minute and if they find out what we’ve been doing here, we good as done for!!”
There was a lot more arguing amongst those who were inside, trying to decide what the best course of action would be. But… that was when one of them saw something outside as he turned to the other ponies. “Guys… You’re not going to believe this… You know the leader of the Candlewick Gang?”
“What? That bowler hat freak with the cane?” Somepony else asked. “Why the hell should we care about-?”
“He’s standing outside our hideout now.” That… lead to everypony else that was originally inside the complex to immediately go outside to see for themselves.
“Hello gentlemen! I couldn’t help but hear that nasty gunfire!” Torchwick grinned deviously.
“The hell is he doing here? And now of all times?!” One of the ponies shouted as everypony left the warehouse in order to see Roman for themselves.
“I was on my way to make a deal. I’m right here, so don’t act like I’m not.” The small crowd that gathered had erupted into a series of murmurs as they were discussing amongst themselves about what he just said. Only for one of them decided to speak out.
“What deal are you talking about?”
“Money for guns of course. Where’s your boss?” Torchwick asked, leaning into his cane.
“...... He’s dead. Some… freak with light green hair just shot up the place and killed our boss. Called herself … Reese something I think it was,” One pony told him as they stepped forward to meet Torchwick in person. “They also killed some of the bosses acting lieutenants. I was the only one left, but that damned thing almost shot my eye out.”
“Hmm… Well, looks like you’re all in need of a job. You were loyal to your boss, and I know who killed him.” Torchwick said, which caused a few ponies to gasp in shock and surprise. Some even were asking for who it was so they could track them down and make them pay for what they did.
“Tell us!”
“I will! You don’t have to shout… jeez…” Roman pulled out a cigar. “Only one problem. You’re all ill equipped. Your top dogs couldn’t stop her, and she’s allied herself with others of greater skill.” He lit his cigar and put it in his mouth. “Unless… no, you wouldn’t do that.”
The remaining lieutenant, used a hoof to adjust a pair of cracked glasses that he was wearing as he looked back at him. “Do what exactly?”
“Well, I’m amassing an army with the help of my partners. If you’d join us, either independently or under my protection, we’d be able to arm my partner's forces and be a step closer to destroying your attacker and her allies. I’ll give you a name and location, but, well, you wouldn’t last with how thoroughly she whooped your asses... no offense to the mule in the back.”
“What? It’s a phrase, it has nothing to do with race.” The donkey replied.
The pony who wore the glasses sighed as he looked back at everypony behind him… and also Torchwick. “As of now, we have little choice in the matter as to what we do… But let me assure you, some of us are not to be trifled with. Many of us were hired on by our boss to just order his men around… But, given our position, I think we have no other choice but to work alongside you.”
“I suppose you’ll be in charge then. Perhaps I can get a name?” Torchwick asked.
“Please… Call me Van.” The earth pony told him in response.
Minutes passed, and eventually Torchwick bid them goodnight and walked into a nearby alleyway where he tossed the cigar into the trash while clearing his throat. “Damn I hate smoking, but it makes me look intimidating. Never use real ones but the fakes smell worse.”
“I take it the operation went well?” He heard a familiar voice as Emerald soon stepped inside. “You got allies on your side and also the weapons you want.”
“We want. I’m mostly content with my kinds of weapons. These weapons can’t even be acquired legally. High caliber crossbows, cannons, hood mounted blades, even ballista.” The gangster replied, before taking a moment to look back at Emerald and ask him a particular question. “Why’d you choose Van to live though?”
“Before carrying this out, I looked more into the boss and his lieutenants. Unlike some of the others, Van’s last name is Wellspring. The Wellspring family are famously… and sometimes infamously known for being monster hunters and also those that hunt the supernatural. Most of them were taught how to make equipment for killing monsters at a young age and the weapons you were seeking out were those of their design.” Emerald explained to her. “And unlike the others, he’s already familiar with and actually killed Grimm when one of them murdered his father.”
“Alright, makes sense. But he could turn into a problem.”
“Wellsprings are known for their loyalty. To see something through to the end. However, it has gotten them in trouble in the past when laws were passed that made bat ponies legal citizens and the hunting of them a severe crime.” Emerald replied. “If anything does come up though, I’ll be sure to handle it with care.”
“Good to know. Now, I have two more things we need to do before we report to Adam. My plan, by the way.” Torchwick said as he leaned against a wall. “Interested in joining?”
“Would they require Mercury and Ilia to still be with us or would it be just you and I?” Emerald then asked, just as they heard Mercury and Ilia step through the door from the building Roman was leaned up against.
“Nope! Torchwick has me on another assignment in Ponyville. I get to play innocent rookie.” Mercury said as he held in his snickering. “Ilia’s gotta go back to the Fang. Not sure they entirely trust her.” Ilia stayed silent. Though, that was when Emerald decided to speak up and get her attention.
“What do you say, Ilia? Do you think you should go back to Adam and report on our current progress… or is there something that you think we need to take care of first?” She asked, waiting to hear her response.
“Must… return.” Ilia muttered.
“She’s pretty weird…” Mercury said and shrugged.
“You are free to return back. Tell Adam of our current progress and what the next phase is in the plan.” Emerald replied back to Ilia, allowing for her to leave.
Once she was gone, and Mercury followed suit, Torchwick turned to Emerald. “I wanted to test my new Huntress in action, and use that as a way to sneak a hint for banana breath’s group to actually attack Van. We’ll use that to solidify his loyalty to us. After that, we’re heading to a newly built dust mine and taking it over for Comet Tail’s finished gauntlet blaster.”
“New Huntress?” Emerald raised an eyebrow. “Other than that mare, Sunflower? Or someone new entirely?”
“It’s Sunflower. She’s finally recovered, and I don’t think I can stop her from trying to hunt banana breath down for stealing her sister. Any objections to my plan?” Torchwick asked.
“No, but what if she tries to turn on us?” Emerald then asked. “Do you have a safeguard for that?”
“Why would she turn on us? The Seed family are a loyal bunch. I gave her the roof over her family's head… and it all started when I made the evidence against her in her parents murder vanish~” Torchwick smirked, twirling her cane. “She’s worked for me ever since, and betraying me would bring that all back. But I’d rather not question her loyalty.”
“True… But,” Emerald thought for a moment as she continued to walk with him. “Roman, do you happen to know what a ‘blood rage’ is? It was a term that Adam told me that he learned before he ended up here where one, if fueled by pain and rage, becomes blinded by it and can’t tell who’s friend or foe. And if we’re going to have Mercury there when Sunflower hunts down after Sun, he could get caught up in the crossfire.”
“He’s preparing, that’s it.” The criminal replied as he twirled his cane idly. “He won’t be there when she attacks.”
“Good to hear… With Sun in his condition right now, poor guy’s not going to know what hit ‘em. Almost makes me feel bad for him…” Roman saw a smirk on Emerald’s face as she looked back at him again. “Again… almost.”
Meanwhile
“Coco, are you sure you want to have me practice fighting this soon after getting out of the hospital?” Sun asked her as the two of them were walking towards the combat arena used for training exercises at Beacon. It had been almost two days since Sun had gotten out of the hospital and he remembered that the doctor told him that he needed to take it easy so his injuries and muscles could heal. However, they did not specify how long this would take or what to do what he was out.
Coco though… didn’t buy any of it. “Sun, you nearly died. You’ve been in bed for a long time. Try to take me out and we’ll see if you still have it.”
“I get that, but if you had to choose one reason why I should ignore doctor’s orders, than what would that reason be?” He asked her, wanting to know her honest answer as they were getting closer to the entrance of the training hall.
However, the answer that he got actually came from someone who was waiting outside in the hallway as Coco and Sun got closer. “Unlike us, most of ponykind… aside from a couple of exceptions don’t really know that our aura’s allow for you to heal injuries and wounds faster than normal,” They heard Ren tell them, who got up from being in meditation as he looked back at him. “Even though the scars you have are fairly new, the time you spent in the hospital and at home should’ve healed your muscles of any major injuries. I’m glad to see that there wasn’t anything severe.”
“Hello to you too, Ren.” The faunus replied as Coco and him now faced Ren. “What brings you here to the training hall? I thought you would normally be keeping an eye on Nora.”
“I am…” He deadpanned, pointing a finger to the arena. “She’s training right now while Ozpin and Twilight are overseeing everything today. As for who’s she’s facing… well…” That was when they heard Nora crying out in joy as she whacked Yatsuhashi into a wall that was across from where they were standing, using her hammer as it was a golf club.
“FORE!!!” That just had Ren sigh for a moment as he looked to where Coco’s team mate was before looking back at Sun.
“Let me help him. You guys go on inside.” The faunus did not need to say anything after that, going on inside as he took a seat near the entranceway and left a spot for Coco to sit down at too. As they came in, that was when Ozpin happened to notice both of them and decided to walk over and greet them personally.
“Why hello there, Mr. Wukong. Ms. Adel. I didn’t expect either of you to be joining us for today’s sparring sessions given your… ordeal recently,” He sighed, looking back at Sun. Before the faunus could ask about how he knew about it, the headmaster answered his own question. “Twilight told me about what happened after you had been released from the hospital. I am really sorry to hear about that… Is your recovery going well?”
“Yeah… for the most part,” The faunus replied back to him. “Coco thinks that I need to get back into shape though, given how my aura has been making my recovery a bit faster than normal.”
“Well, the floor is free if you two want to do that. Though, I must caution for you not to strain your aura too much. Doing so could unintentionally make your condition worse if you two aren’t careful.” He replied, before looking back at Coco. “If I may ask… Ms. Adel, what sort of training did you have in mind for Mr. Wukong today?”
“It depends on how well he does. Need to make sure he hasn’t gotten soft, you know.” Coco replied. “If he can beat me in hand to hand combat, then I’ll drop it. He is more experienced than me, from what everyone says.” Ozpin nodded his head in response as he looked back to both of them and agreed with what Coco said.
“Why yes… Hand to Hand Combat could be a good starting point. There would not be a need to hand weapons until you think that Mr. Wukong has recovered enough.” Ozpin told both of them. “If you wish to start the training now, you are free to do so since no one else is scheduled to be on the floor after the match between Ms. Valkyrie and Mr. Daichi.”
“Alright. Also, I wanted to ask where Penny is. She isn’t at her house or her dorm, and that weird girl with the blue hat isn’t anywhere either.”
That had Ozpin look back at her for a moment, taking a deep breath before he began to speak. “Well, that weird girl has a name. Her name is Ciel Soleil and she helps out Penny with certain tasks around campus. As for her whereabouts, she was here earlier… but after Ms. Nikos arrived with the rest of team JNPR, Penny and Ciel made a rather hasty exit. Not sure the reason why though… Was there a particular reason why you wanted to know about Ms. Poledina’s whereabouts?”
“Penny’s been acting weird… -er. Weirder than usual. It’s weird.” Coco said, crossing her arms idly.
That was when Sun decided to speak up as he looked at Coco. “How… weird exactly? Because she’s normally just as quirky as Ruby when she’s… yeah, I don’t think that’s the right kind of comparison.” He said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
“She’s been avoiding everyone, and when I decided to check up on her at her place it looked like she hadn’t been there in days… I even asked around and the neighbors say they haven’t seen her in days.”
That… made Sun concerned for a moment, especially since the last time that Penny had went off on her own, they found her all the way back in Applewood when they found team ABRN. “Do you think Ciel is with her? And if so, what’s the most likely place that they would go too?”
“As much as I hate to admit, I don’t have any answers on both of those questions,” Ozpin sighed, readjusting his glasses before looking back at both of them. “Nevertheless, all the staff right now are keeping a look out for her and her companions and Ms. Branwen and Twilight were also able to inform everypony in Ponyville. If something comes up, we’ll be the first to know.”
“I’m not sure I like that Ciel chick though… she came out of nowhere and hasn’t helped or even interacted with any of us outside of Penny…” Coco said, “We don’t know if she works with Adam. We already know of Torchwick and Emerald, but who says only the villains are working for him?”
“I am well aware of the circumstances, yet we should not be hasty to judge a book by it’s cover,” Ozpin told them. “If anypony were quick to judge you, they would think more on your previous actions than what you are doing now, Ms. Adel.”
“Yeah, well when you’re tired and start drinking, you think everything’s a dream. Honestly, why do you keep bringing that up?”
“And how do you even know about that?” Sun asked in response.
“I was informed by Ms. Twilight… But the point that I’m trying to stress is that not everyone is what they seem to be when meeting them for the first time. Ms. Ciel may seem as suspicious to you, but only because you haven’t had the opportunity to interact with her and understand her.” Ozpin told them, before looking to Twilight and noticed that she was being rather impatient. “Now, I believe you two have some sparring that you were going to do?”
“Well then… You have to pin me.” Coco ordered as she cracked her knuckles.
Sun just raised an eyebrow at that as he shook his head for a moment while getting up to follow her. “That can come out wrong to some people…” He muttered as the faunus followed Coco down to the ring. Setting his weapon off to the side while Coco set her handbag right next to it. “Should I take off the armguards or keep them on?”
“I don’t care. Just come at me. You have five seconds.” Sun, oddly enough, didn’t expect for Coco to hurry up that fast. So, listening to what she told him to do, the faunus attacked first, leaping at her with a downward kick as the brunette dodged it. His plan was to try and use both his hands and feet in order to combat Coco and to topple her to the ground. But that didn’t prove to be as easy as he had hoped, as she grabbed one of his legs and lifted it up behind Sun until it caused him to faceplant into the dirt.
“Heh, maybe I should be the teacher at Beacon. You can be teacher’s nerdy pet.” Coco snickered.
“Right… I’m guessing we’re not just doing one round and that’s it right?” Sun asked. “Because I think this pet of yours still has some fight in him.”
“Fine, but you’ve shown that you’re clearly not capable. Plant yourself a little more when you’re on the ground, otherwise you’re going to lose your footing.”
“I just call that a warm up,” Sun told her in response, stretching out his shoulders. “Remember, I’m still getting back into the swing of things.”
“Yeah, your face warmed up thank to the dirt!” Coco bellowed as she leaned a hand on one of her knees. Only to see Sun smirking a bit when he looked back at her. “I don’t think you’re smiling if from my joke.”
“Nope, I’m just a little surprised by the one thing you’re not paying attention too.” It was around then that Coco looked down as she noticed Sun’s tail wrapping around her outstretched leg, using his strength to make her fall forward as Sun rolled to the side and prepared to put her in a hold. “Out of all the things, I’m kind of surprised that my tail was one of the things you didn’t take into account… Still, the score’s tied. You took me down once and I took you down once.”
Coco snickered. “I said you have to pin me.” When she said that, Sun was kicked twenty feet away. Adel stood up, unphased. “I let you catch me off guard. Wanted to see if you even remember the goal. I’ll give you one more try, before I’m becoming your instructor. By the way, my uncle was a sensei at a dojo, so I’m fully capable of kicking your butt with Coco’s and my own skill.”
“Right… and just when I thought you were joking around when you said that.” He groaned, before looking back at her. “Alright… if we're going to do one more, then we should do it differently.”
“If I may…” Both of them looked to Twilight, who was watching over them. “I can keep track of your aura through some of the contraptions up here. How about we do it to where the first combatant to have their aura drop to a certain percentage loses the match?”
“Hunh…” Sun thought it over, before looking at Coco. “Just like with the Vytal Festival… What do you think, Coco?”
“How about a time limit? Something strict. One minute, and the one with the most aura wins.” Coco stated.
“So a One Minute Melee then?” Sun asked in response. “I’m all for that. Twilight, can you-?”
“Timer’s already set and both of you are ready it seems like.” The alicorn said as she had her hoof over the button to start the timer, shortly before pressing it. “Begin!!”
Elsewhere…
Ciel Soleil sat on a tree stump at the edge of the Everfree Forest as she fiddled with the inners of her watch. She wasn’t that much of a person in order to interact with others, however, it was while she was sitting there that she happened to hear the sounds of someone walking out of the Everfree. “Aw man… ‘This is just a simple patrol’ Scarlet said… Simple patrol, my-” When she turned around, that was when she saw a blue haired man walk out of the forest and put what she thought was his weapon on his back. “Oh… hello. Aren’t you that girl that’s with Penny most of the time? Ciel, right?”
“Affirmative…” With that, Ciel continued to fiddle with her watch, minding him no mind.
“What are you doing out here on your own? Are you waiting on someone?” He asked, sounding a bit concerned for her.
“Your concern is noted, but I have my own reasons for being here. I’m about as close to the Everfree Forest as the butterfly pegasus.” Ciel replied emotionlessly.
“Oh uh… I’m sorry, is it personal? Because I didn’t mean to bother you at all,” Neptune replied. “I just thought I would see if you are okay because some of the others at Beacon noticed that you and Penny haven’t been seen lately. Even Coco’s getting kind of concerned.”
“Concern is not required,” Ciel stopped messing with her watch. “My reasons for being out here are personal, in a way. Nothing silly like sentimentality, revenge or concern.”
“Alright, I understand… but what about Penny?” He then asked her. “Normally, she’s seen with you and since we haven’t seen her recently, people have been concerned.”
“She’s running an errand for me. She’s been desiring a purpose, and none of you were doing it for her.”
That… made Neptune realize that. “Oh… I-i’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help, but with us building the academy, Sage has been having me on patrol duty to search for any signs of Grimm… If there is anything we can do though in order to make things better, just tell us and we can help out as best as we can.”
“Penny doesn’t need any of you. She’s already told me that you constantly forget about her. Now, leave me to my work.” That… made Neptune a little worried as he looked back at her for a moment.
“Can you… at least tell me where she is? Ozpin and everyone have been searching for both of you, so if I could-”
“She’s in the Everfree looking for special sap.” Ciel replied simply. “Though her living arrangements are with me. I need to be near in case of a malfunction.” That… eased things for Neptune a bit. Until he remembered something.
“Wait… Sap? As in Red Sap?” He asked. “You mean the one that attracts Rapier Wasps and Grimm?”
“Much more rare. It fetches a huge price for its restorative powers, but it’s only located in the Everfree, deep inside. It’s something Rapier Wasps don’t bother, besides the queen herself.” Ciel stated calmly. To which, it eased Neptune’s concerns as he looked back at her. He wanted to ask something else, but wasn’t quite sure if it borderlined the ‘personal’ reasons for being out here.
So instead, he asked something different. “Would you like for me to wait here with you? I rather not leave you out here to fend for yourself while Penny’s looking for that sap.”
“I’ll be fine, I’m not helpless.” Ciel looked up at Neptune. “What do you want?”
“Not really anything. I just thought I could try to help you out, that’s all.” He explained to her, just as Ciel noticed something that was going on behind him.
“Huh, looks like you have more pressing concerns.” Ciel muttered. Neptune was going to ask what she was talking about, but upon turning around and looking in the direction of the Royal Guard, that was when he noticed what she was referring to.
“What the-? What are the Royal Guard doing here?”
“Maybe you should go see instead of pestering me…” Ciel told him, which soon lead to Neptune running on back to Beacon as fast as he could.
He had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen.
“Fifteen seconds left in the match, you two…” Twilight told both of the competitors in the ring. “Give it everything you got!!” Sun himself, listening to the Alicorn’s encouraging praise, was in the middle to timing when it was appropriate in order to attack his opponent and when it was appropriate to defend himself. Someone like Ruby would just attack wildly with reckless abandon and hope something would work. But Sun was different. He waited for opportunities in order to strike and make sure that he put his aura behind it too.
This, of course, was demonstrated when Coco overextended one of her attacks, which lead to Sun using his next right jab to expose the opening she created as she was pushed to the edge of the ring. “Ten seconds left… let’s make it count.” After Sun said that, he was kicked into a tree as Coco yawned.
“Honestly Sun, you’ve lost your touch.”
Yet, the faunus himself, using his semblance, had a clone farther behind as he flipped mid flight. Letting the clone explode as he used the blast wave to push himself back in Coco’s direction to deliver a swift roundhouse kick. “I’m still getting back into it… But I’m learning as I go. You are a good teacher after all.”
Of course, the compliment was rather short lived. Not by what was going on inside of the ring… but what was about to occur outside of it. It first started when Ren noticed something… off as he got up and backed up away from the door. Heading over to where Ozpin was. But before he could be able to say anything… “Hey, there she is!! Grab her!!!”
“What!? What’d I do!?” Reese screamed before jumping onto her hoverboard and speeding away. Everyone in the training hall soon stopped what they were doing as they heard that. Even going as far as having Coco and Sun put their fight on hold.
After Coco punched Sun in the face one last time. “Oww… Was that last blow really necessary, Coco?”
“I dunno. Was it Twilight?” Coco asked the alicorn.
“Technically, the timer had already hit zero before Coco hit Sun… However, I’m more concerned with the reason why the Royal Guard are all the way out here,” Twilight told them as she got up from her seat and flew down to where the two of them were standing. “They don’t normally come all the way out here unless it’s an emergency or they’re trying to capture a pony who’s a suspect in a crime.”
“Why were they after Reese though? She’s been improving… mostly.” Coco said. To which, Sun raised an eyebrow at that. Puzzled by what she meant by ‘mostly’.
“Hey… do the guards need a warrant in order to carry out an arrest?” Ren then asked Twilight as she nodded her head. “Oh no… Then this is bad.”
“How bad-?”
“Ms. Chloris,” They heard the voice of one of the guards outside boom throughout the hallway. “You are under arrest for the murders of several ponies in the city of Manehattan to the first degree and numerous other charges. You have the right to remain silent and anything that you will say will be used against you in a court of law.”
“Wait, what murders?” Reese asked.
“Last night, a massacre occurred in the northeast of Manehattan that left over 17 ponies dead and many critically injured. Witnesses described the suspect fitting your description and even going as far as to shout your own name, Reese Chloris, while going on a violent shooting rampage at midnight last night.” The acting guard in charge informed her as Sun, Coco, Ozpin, Twilight and a couple others stepped out into the main hall to see what was going on.
They found four guards, each one of them wearing armor as two of those that were unicorns were using magic to restrain Reese, one earth pony was carrying the hoverboard that belonged to her and the last guard, a pegasus, was reading her rights and details of the incident before telling the other guards three words. “Take her away.”
“Excuse me, gentlemen,” All of the guards turned once they heard Ozpin speak. “I would prefer for you to not manhandle one of my students in such a manner unless you explain to us the full extent of what is going on.”
The guard that was the pegasus turned around, looking directly at Ozpin. “And just who would you happen to be?”
“Beacon Academy’s Headmaster,” He clarified for them. “Professor Ozpin at your service.”
“Well, ‘professor’, one of your students is being seen as a prime suspect in a massacre that took place in Manehattan last night. We are planning to file charges-”
“Sir,” Ozpin spoke up. “I can assure you that all the students who were at Beacon weren’t in the city of Manehattan at the time. In fact, if I recall correctly, criminal prosecution is supposed to take a suspect into question them of any wrongdoing before charges can be filed.” That… made the pony blink for a moment, before turning to his colleagues as they too were also stunned. “In addition to this, isn’t there supposed to be an investigation?”
“There is one. Currently, our only suspect is Ms. Chloris over there,” The head of the small group replied. “And before you interrupted me, I was going to say that we needed to take her in for questioning before we can determine how to proceed.”
“Then may I come along?” That… surprised Sun for a moment and a few others that were with him. “If you wish to take her in for questioning, that is fine… yet, if I’m there, Ms. Chloris can be calmer and also easier in order to ask questions.”
That had the guards talk amongst themselves for a moment, before the pegasus looked back to Reese as he turned to Ozpin. “Alright. You may come along. But I’m watching you.” With that, the four ponies began to have Reese come with them as Ozpin followed the small group. All while Sun and the others stared in disbelief.
“W-what… the hell… just happened?” Sun asked, personally trying to wrap his head around everything that just happened.
“I think Reese was arrested… Not even we’re safe from the law.”
“But she wasn’t in Manehattan at the time… was she?” Sun asked.
“Ozpin believes so… Perhaps he thinks there’s more to it than we might think?” Twilight suggested, before looking down the hall for a moment and then asking a particular question. “Where are the rest of her teammates? Can’t they testify to tell them where Reese was?” That was a rather… appropriate question. Where in the world was the rest of her team right around now?
“I’ll have to tell ABN…” Coco said in response.
“Do you need some help?” The faunus asked, offering to help her out. Only to look back at her and see the glare on her face. “Yeah nevermind… stupid question.”
“I’ll see you in a bit. Then we’ll go to Manehatten.” Coco stated. To which, surprised both Sun and also Ren. Who just happened to be nearby.
“Wouldn’t law enforcement be still conducting an investigation and collecting evidence?” He asked in response. “They might have the area blocked off.”
“That hasn’t stopped us before!!” Nora came in from out of nowhere and tossing something to Sun and then posing dramatically with her weapon. “Here! You might need these since you’ll be ON THE CASE!!”
However, the faunus… wasn’t really amused. “Junior Detective’s badge…? Really?”
“Yep! I even have another badge for your friend and fake mustaches!!” Nora replied back joyfully. “Pinkie gave them to me.”
“Of course she did.” Twilight sighed in response.
“Alright, so Arslan’s already left for Manehatten…” Coco sighed as she returned. Which, surprised Sun and Twilight because of how quickly they heard this.
“What about Bolin and Nadir? Are they staying behind or are they with her?” Ren then asked Coco.
“They’re on a mission. Grimm down south that have been heckling Appleloosa. Could be a problem in the future.”
Soon though, that had Ren think of an idea as he looked back at both Sun and Coco. “I can go down there and inform them of what’s going on while you two go after Arslan.” He suggested. “Twilight can be able to take care of things here and I can have Nora come with me to provide backup for them. Pyrrha is still helping Jaune with combat training, so you can have the two of us back up the two of them.”
“They don’t need backup.” Coco deadpanned. “Fox and a few other students went with. They’ll be fine.”
“I wasn’t aware of that, my apologies for presuming.” Ren told them as he and Nora walked down the hall. “Hey Sun, I believe Neptune just returned from his patrol. He seems to be looking for you.” Hearing that, The faunus soon began to make his way into the center of the main hall for Beacon as his friend looked back at Sun with a rather puzzled look on his face.
“Okay, I just saw Reese being arrested by guards and Ozpin being with her. What the hell is going on?” Neptune then asked.
“Hello to you too…” Sun replied, looking back at him. “Reese is somehow getting herself tied up in some kind of murder investigation in Manehattan. We were going to check it out after I check on Fluttershy, but ran into you in the process… How did your patrol go?”
“Well, it went fine,” Neptune told him in response as Sun was going to drink some water. “Killed a couple of Grimm, talked to Ciel-” That, in turn, had Sun almost choke on his water as he spat it out in a bush before looking back at him.
“A-are you serious? You… talked with Ciel?” The faunus asked, shocked to hear that.
“Yeah, I did. She was on the outside of the Everfree and waiting on Penny to get something for her,” Neptune replied, glaring at them. “Apparently, we dropped the ball… Big time. She told me that Penny desired a purpose and that we weren’t doing anything to help her in that regard. Which is why Penny is now in the Everfree searching for rare sap and thinking that she doesn’t need any of us given the fact that we never found a way in order to provide time for her somehow.”
That just had Sun groan to himself as he looked back at Neptune. “Rrgh… Just brilliant… One of us is now being seen as a criminal, Penny thinks we’re excluding her just because we have our responsibilities and now Arslan ran off in order to prove Reese’s innocence… I just hope that at some point, we get some sort of good news at the end of the tunnel.”
“There is… something I noticed though when talking to her,” Neptune added. “She carried some know of pocket watch with her. Was fiddling with it when I was talking to her and also noticed that she was fixated on the lid when you flip it open. I tried asking her about it, but she told me that it was personal and none of my concern.”
“She’s been fiddling with Penny too…” Coco stated. “Says she does it for maintenance.”
“Well, from the seems of things, she seems to be one of those kinds of people that sticks to a rather strict schedule. Where something should occur for a set amount of time. And given the fact that Penny’s an android, perhaps she knows more of the technical expertise in regards to keeping her systems functional and ‘combat ready’.” The last part had Neptune try to say it the same way that Penny would, which only resulted in Sun smacking him in the head. “I’m not apologizing!”
“That impersonation was terrible…”
“Heh… Like you can do better,” Neptune rolled his eyes. “Anyways, if you two are going to Manehattan, I’ll see if I can get a few others around Beacon to spend some time with Penny and help her out. Some of us have extra time on our hands since classes aren’t in session yet. And Sun, I can also keep an eye on Fluttershy for you while you’re gone.”
“I was… actually going to let her know about that. Thanks for the offer, Neptune.”
“No problem, Sun. Anything to help you guys out.” He replied back to them as both Sun and Coco stepped out of the academy and went to go get themselves ready. Though, there was something that Sun was holding that Coco happened to notice while they were walking.
“Are you sure you’re ready, junior detective~?” Coco teased.
“...... If anyone asks, that was Nora’s idea.” Sun deadpanned.
End Tail 31