The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Reporting

I knocked twice on the door and opened it without waiting for a response—a bit rude, I suppose, but it wasn't as if a door provided any privacy from me; I'd have known if he was doing anything.

"Jaune," Ozpin noted as he turned in his chair, unsurprised to see me. "It's good to see you again."

I smiled at him and shrugged, closing the door behind me and then going about providing some actual privacy. Only once the room had been entirely locked down did I answer.

"Good to see you too, Ozpin," I replied, claiming the seat in front of his desk. "I wanted to come apologize for the whole Ironwood thing—I didn't intend to involve him, but he was about to get himself in a lot of trouble. I could have stopped him some other way, but I was worried he'd look into things and stumble across something dangerous while I was gone, so I thought it was best to tell him a bit about what was going on. I needed to drop your name to make him believe me, but I figured you'd want him alive, so…"

I shrugged again.

"Matters of life and death are best not left to chance," Ozpin agreed with a nod. "I understand—and appreciate it. If you were listening in on our conversation earlier, I meant it when I said that I was in your debt; you have likely saved not only James's life, but the lives of many others. Bringing him into things has been my intention for some time now, but I was concerned that we would disagree on the means, but your method seemed to have convinced him of the danger we are poised to face. You have my thanks."

"No problem," I answered, gesturing dismissively. "He seemed like a good man and his daughter is a friend of mine; I wouldn't just stand back and let him die."

"Indeed," Ozpin acknowledge with a slight smile. "But even so, thank you. From the way he talked, however, I assume you have more to tell me?"

"I wanted to touch base with you," I answered with a nod. "A lot's happened in the last couple months and though it may come as a shock to you, I come bearing bad news."

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee cup, looking duly surprised by the revelation.

"Do tell."

"You and Qrow have been tracking someone's movements," I said before throwing in an educated guess. "Here in Vale, I mean. And I'm guessing it has ties to the man who attacked the White Whale at the same time I did—a guy named Roman Torchwick."

Ozpin quirked an eyebrow at that but nodded, considering me absently.

"From what Ironwood said, you've put together the fact that he's working for someone else," I continued. "Especially when it comes to the Dust robberies that have been occurring lately."

"Just so," Ozpin replied. "I take it you have some idea of the culprit's identity?"

I nodded, watching him carefully. I opened my senses fully, drawing from Ajna and everything else I could to gauge his reaction. Through the lens of my Third Eye, I saw the world as it truly was. The walls of Beacon crumbled and were blown away like dust in the wind, revealing a delicately carved castle of green crystal that pulsed with power. It flowed throughout the whole of the school, centered on the beacon it was named after just above this office.

Through the crystals walls, I could see the students—hundreds of potential Hunters with luminescent souls. I saw Blake, having returned to the library, as a transparent shadow that seemed to fade in the light. She was seated at a table with a menagerie of unusual figures; to her left was a figure that seemed caught painfully between a human and a dragon, with incandescent scales. There was a woman made of ice, holding a scepter capped with a quicksilver orb, across from whom was seated a mechanic soldier of scarlet steel and bronze. There was a vaguely human-shaped thunder cloud that seemed perpetually lit from within by lightning seated beside a complex tangle of lotus flowers, the largest of which opened to reveal a face.

For a moment, I considered Ruby, in her spot at the head of the table. Beneath my Third Eye, her small form shifted to that of a large, armored figure, covered in heavy plates of blood red armor that constantly shifted in style and design. It changed between everything from Atlesian plate mail to the great armors of ancient Vacuo. The only things that remained constant were its thickness, its color, and the fact that it hid her entire body without revealing even a glimpse of what lay beneath. At her back was an equally mercurial weapon, overlaying her unique scythe, and glowing within her very soul.

But what drew my eyes was the cloak she wore above the armor, an eternal constant despite the constant shifting beneath it. It looked much like the physical one that Ruby wore, but for the fact that it seemed waver between being made of normal cloth and from thousands upon thousands of interwoven rose petals. It covered the hard steel of her armor, softening her appearance somehow. The sight almost made me smile, but I kept my expression blank, even beneath my illusory face.

Then, I looked at Ozpin.

Ozpin's true self wasn't something that stood out at first glance, at least not compared to most of the souls I'd seen. He didn't grow in size or sprout half a dozen arms or change into something inhuman. If anything, he nearly slipped into the background. His form was concealed within a simple green cloak that hid most of his body from sight. Beneath it, I got the impression that there might be something more—dark steel inscribed with lines of green energy, the steady turning of clockwork gears, and a constantly turning hourglass heart—but even looking at him with my eyes, it was hard to be sure if any of that was real of just something I wanted to see. It was hard to describe exactly, but the image faded from sight the moment it was focused on, as if retreating into the confines of his cloak, as if asking me to pay no attention to the man within. Even when I tried to focus on his eyes, the literal windows to his soul, there was nothing; the upper half of his face was hidden by the shadows of his cloak but for a few locks of white hair.

After a moment of observation, I couldn't be certain I'd seen anything at all. Here at the top of his emerald castle, Ozpin almost seemed to fade away.

It was really annoying. But I remained focused on him as I considered how best to answer his question. I'd hoped, even knowing that it was unlikely, to find some form of decisive proof that Ozpin either was or wasn't a Rider, but all I'd learned was that I really, really, really had no idea. The nature of his soul was a touch suspicious, but with how varied and unique souls could be, there was no way to know for sure. He might have been hiding his true nature somehow—or it could have just been an artistic representation of the fact that he was a cryptic asshole sometimes.

What should I say to him, knowing that? Should I take a chance and try to get a reaction from him? Continue to trust him based on past evidence? Mislead him and hope it didn't come to light? If he was a Rider, revealing too much could lead to him contacting Cinder, multiplying my problems. Did I dare take any risks knowing how easily he could reveal my lies?

But then, Ozpin had always been able to reveal my lies. And whatever else had occurred, here and now there seemed to be no change in Ruby. Maybe he was waiting for something, made he had no ill intentions, but either way, he hadn't done anything yet.

In the end, I decided to just act naturally, as if I hadn't noticed anything odd. I'd keep my eyes open and act according to what I saw.

"Her name is Cinder Fall," I said less than a second after he asked the question. "She's a senior student at Haven—and the host of the Black Rider, Famine."

Ozpin stopped for a moment, looking at me carefully before exhaling slowly.

"A third Rider?" He mused aloud before shaking his head. "That's…unfortunate. Is she as dangerous as…Conquest was?"

"Perhaps," I answered. "Conquest's true threat lies in his ability to spread. For him, infecting entire cities is trivial; he can get into the water, spread through the air, seize bodies to infect others, and more, and he can seize control of anyone exposed in minutes. Left unchecked, he can spread at an exponential rate, taking control of all forms of life in a steadily growing area. In that regard, he's terrifyingly dangerous; a single mistake and he could run rampant. And even reacting perfectly and quickly…really, the only thing that keeps him at all in check is whatever is restraining him. If he were free to act…"

I shook my head.

"From a logistical standpoint, it's hard to beat Conquest," I continued. "Theoretically speaking, he could be anywhere—and everywhere. But…within the limits he's currently forced to act within, there's only so much he can do. I don't know if he's holding back or being held back, but while an outbreak would still be devastating, he isn't currently on the level that a single cracked Pandora Shell would end the world. So long as that's true, he's…less of a threat than he could be, at least. And if it comes to a fight and he can't infect his opponents, his offensive ability is limited by whoever he's already infected. Potentially, that could make him the strongest person in the world, or it could mean he's stuck with a normal farmer."

I paused for a moment and Ozpin nodded to show he understood.

"I can't say anything for sure about the Red Rider, but I don't think Famine works quite like that," I said. "I don't believe she can infect people as easily as Conquest can; in fact, it might be very hard for her to spread, given that I've only found one iteration of her thus far. But in terms of raw offensive power…I don't know how strong Cinder was before she was infected or how powerful she is without it, but with it, she's stronger than I am. Stronger than practically anyone I've ever met except for her master and maybe you. I stopped Ironwood because I was completely certain he didn't have a chance against her."

"She's that strong?" Ozpin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When I first discovered her true nature, she stopped time as her opening move," I replied. "Things got progressively worse from there."

Ozpin paused, looking down into his coffee mug as his brows furrowed.

"That's unfortunate," He mused, sounding more putout than anything else. "How much worse?"

"She grew a crown of white Dust," I said.

"That's quite a bit worse," He acknowledged, frowning. "Without a doubt, an encounter between her and James would not have ended well."

"Especially seeing as she intends to use him," I replied. "I'm not clear on the details—most because I'm fairly sure she was lying to me—but even if she's only using he stated plan as a cover, she intends to involve him. I gave him a heads up on what to look out for, but the short version is that she intends to get him put in charge of the Vytal Festival's defense. She's going to organize a breach in the city's defenses to allow a small horde of Grimm through—"

"Frightening the populace and calling my competence into question," He mused, nodding to himself. "I see. Do you know how she intends to do so?"

"Again, I'm pretty sure this is just a cover of some kind to draw attention away from her real plans," I warned. "But she said she plans to use the tunnels connecting Vale to Mountain Glenn, using explosives to open the way."

"Ah," Ozpin's frown deepened as he murmured the word. "That would certainly do it. It would be easy for them to hide an operation within the caverns there as well. Is that to be Torchwick's role, then?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe," I replied. "He seems to be her front man right now—and I'm about a million percent sure she's not going to put herself in that position. I did my best to make an impression on Torchwick so I might be able to strong-arm him somewhat, but after seeing the extent of Cinder's power, I'm hesitant to do so."

"Understandable," Ozpin answered. "And while he does that, she—Cinder, you said—will be within Beacon, working against us."

I nodded again.

"I wanted you to know, considering the danger to both your faculty and your students," I said. "But at the same time, it's not an easy situation to resolve. In any other case, I'd suggest luring her out and ganging up on her to put her down, but I'm somewhat concerned she would brutally murder us all. I suspect she's worried about facing you directly, which is somewhat reassuring, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy front row seats to that fight. If we start something, I suspect a lot of people would die."

"Indeed," Ozpin replied, tapping the surface of his desk with a finger and tracing slow patterns in the surface. After a moment, I realized he was visualizing such a fight, drawing empty circles and moving them around—but after a moment he shook his head. "No, even in the best case scenario, I'm wary of the cost. If it was time manipulation alone, I could likely manage, but even if it was just white Dust, it would be hard to insure no one else was harmed."

"And it's not," I said. "She literally grows Dust from her body. I don't know if she creates it or draws it from elsewhere, but she can refine and mold it with ease and she seems very skilled in its use. In her base form, she seems to favor the use of Dust-woven clothes, but when she cuts loose…it seems safe to say that she's probably the most skilled Dust user around."

"Which gives her an unfortunate number of options in a fight," Ozpin mused. "Dust is an extremely powerful weapon if used properly, but the difficulty of doing so, especially in battle, often restrains it—that's a large part of the reason Dust rounds have risen to prominence, after all. For most people, there's a limit to both the amount of Dust one can bring to the battlefield and how quickly they can shift between different types. Removing that…"

I nodded, understanding. Even if you had a hundred bullets for your gun, there's a matter of how quickly you can fire and reload even before you take into account the amount of time you'd need to pick exactly the right bullets in exactly the right order. I could ignore the issue of carrying capacity thanks to my Inventory and, to an extent, ignore the issue of time by using Acceleration—but even I would run into issues if I tried using Dust in earnest. Dust Weaver was limited by the type of clothes one was wearing, Dust Eater by one specific type of Dust at a time, and even normal Dust use faced a matter of which crystals one was holding.

But somehow, I figured Cinder probably didn't have to worry about any of those things. I could potentially keep up with her for a short while if I used my Psychokinesis and stuck to only using crystals, but I'd burn through my stores quickly for worse results. I doubted I could match her in variety or amount and I'd be limiting my own fighting style. No, if I were to face her, it would need to be on my terms instead of hers.

The only issue was that it looked like she could murder me on my terms, too.

"Those were my thoughts, too," I said. "If it came down to it, I might be able to hit her hard enough to give you an opening if you managed to keep her still long enough for me to do it—but even then, anything that could do that would probably blow Beacon off the map. I figured we'd want to avoid that, if at all possible."

"I'd appreciate that," He agreed, shaking his head along with me. "I might be able to defeat her, but the costs would be prohibitively high. Even if I involved my closest friends, I might be able to limit it somewhat, but I'd be knowingly sending them to their death—and though any of them would give their lives to protect the Kingdoms, I'd prefer it if they didn't have to."

"Mm," I acknowledged, understanding that. "Same. So…what should we do? I tried cornering Cinder on the edge of Mistral, but I was really, really outclassed. We might be able to catch her in transit on her way back which might keep her from reaching the Kingdoms, but even if we managed to corner her in the middle of nowhere, I'm not entirely certain we'd be able to keep her from reaching somewhere populated. Take it from me, even a little bit of white Dust is a hell of a thing and if you add it to time and space manipulation…could you keep her from getting away even with all of that?"

Ozpin considered it for a moment.

"If it was here, perhaps," He replied, tapping his desk again. With my Third Eye, I saw some kind of power ripple through the emerald walls of Beacon. "But in an unknown location, it's nothing I'd want to bet the lives of countless innocent people on."

"And while we could lure her here, Beacon's kind of full of people," I understood, nodding.

"The defenses of this place are primarily meant for an emergency," He agreed. "While it can ward against disaster, I didn't build it with the intention of inviting disaster inside. I suppose we could try and remove everyone from Beacon beforehand, but it seems unlikely she would be willing to approach a place that had obviously been deserted."

I nodded again at that.

"I could create illusions to make it seem populated, but even if she didn't see through it, there are too many ways for it to fall apart," I said. "It's hard to move hundreds of people around without drawing any attention and no offense, but I'm rather doubtful that everyone in your student body can keep a secret. For more than ten seconds, anyway."

"None taken," Ozpin replied. "I'm cognizant of the fact that distributing information amongst hundreds of young men and women is perhaps not the best way to keep a secret. A more subtle approach might be warranted."

I frowned for a moment, thinking about it.

"If it were anyone else, I could use Naraka," I said, annoyed. "Whether to draw her in or to remove all the students from the fray. But I'm almost certain she could break out of it if she had to."

"It's a complicated situation," He acknowledged. "And unfortunately, no immediate solutions come to mind. As such, it may be wise to avoid moving against her overtly, at least until the situation changes."

"Changes?" I asked. "Changes how?"

"I suppose that's up to you, Jaune," He replied, looking at me steadily. "Out of all of us, you are the one most likely to break this deadlock. I assume you're already planning something?"

I fell silent for a moment, careful to meet his gaze unflinchingly.

"Nothing concrete yet," I said. "Though I've been training a great deal lately, in the hopes of closing the gap between me and Cinder. I might be making a bit of progress in that regard, but…"

I signed and shook my head.

"Is there anything I can do to assist you?" Ozpin asked.

I pursed my lips for a moment, considering the question before nodding slowly.

"Maybe," I said, trying not to let any hesitance slip into the sound of my voice. "There is one thing that I think might be able to help me make some progress."

"Oh?" Ozpin wondered, raising an eyebrow. "Then please, tell me. I'll do everything I can to help."

I nodded again and took a deep breath, turning my head to glance out the window in his office and consider the city far below.

"I'm sorry to ask this," I said at last, not having to fake the uncertainty in my voice. "I'm sure it's not something you like to think about much. But…is there anything else you remember about Jericho Falls?"