Egrer opened his eyes and sluggishly lifted his head. His side pricked, and his spine felt like it was trying to curl into a croissant just to avoid moving. Beacon's soft, clean beds had spoiled his body, and thanks to the warm radiators that promised a constant comfortable temperature at night, he'd already forgotten what it was like to wake up with chattering teeth and limbs that barely obeyed him. Only thanks to Aura could he expect no diseases or complications.
A sneeze tore from his throat—not because of Blake, who had woken him up, but because of the cold. This airport was clearly skimping on heating...
Sun, on the other hand, didn't look at all like he'd spent the night practically on the street. A true "hot Vacuan guy" indeed. Did he have a thermonuclear reactor inside him or something, that he didn't even get goosebumps in just a single shirt?
He absolutely didn't wanna get up and move around. Curling up into a ball and dying, however, sounded like a great idea. But with the help of Sun, who simply grabbed and bent Egrer a few times until his back cracked, he managed to shake off the numbness.
"What do you guys think," Egrer began quietly, so as not to attract the attention of the airport patrons, "should we tell the headmaster about this? About the Paladins in the hands of terrorists, I mean."
"No," Blake cut him off. "If he finds out we're putting ourselves in this kind of danger, he'll just forbid us from leaving Beacon. He definitely won't want us sticking our necks out."
"I'm not saying we just walk up to him and spill everything. Maybe we send him an anonymous message? As a last resort, we can just slip a letter under his office door."
"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Sun nodded. "If~"
"No. We're not notifying Ozpin about this in any way," Blake stated sternly. "It's one thing when just three students are sniffing around, and something completely different when the headmaster of a Huntsman Academy starts making moves. I'm almost certain The Puppeteer will immediately notice his interest, which means She and the White Fang will just dig themselves deeper."
It was hard to argue with that. If they spooked them, they wouldn't be able to find them again. Whatever else they might be, the White Fang members were true masters of hide-and-seek; once they lay low, any search becomes useless.
So he had to agree with her point of view.
"I miss Needle-Pierce," Egrer complained, still feeling an aching emptiness in the spot where the unremarkable hilt usually hung. "Died a hero's death. Gonna have to rebuild it."
"Burger?" Sun offered, holding out the bag left over from yesterday.
"Sweet of you, considering that romantic tragicomedy going on between our friends." Naturally, he took the food. The moon would fall the day Egrer turned down a chance to stuff his face.
"Nah, don't get the wrong idea. Don't expect any mercy from me at Beacon, but out here there's no point squabbling over nothing. Our enemy is strong."
"How wise. Didn't expect that from you."
They flew to Beacon on the very first available flight. The Bullhead pilot joked about their appearance the whole way, constantly repeating that kids these days were just looking for trouble. His early-morning good mood seriously annoyed everyone except Sun. The guy was a source of irritation himself, flashing a pearly white smile and cheerfully snapping back at the pilot.
Upon arriving at the academy, they were already expected. And, fortunately, it wasn't the janitor or the headmaster with Goodwitch, but their own teams.
As soon as a gloomy Blake, mentally prepared for a scolding, stepped out of the Bullhead, Ruby lunged at her. The rest of Team RWBY stood nearby and casually surrounded the runaway, leaving her no chance to bail again. Egrer and Sun were awarded only a brief, angry glare.
"Blake! I asked you not to run away like that anymore! You didn't even write us a message!" Ruby lamented, wrapping her arms and legs around Blake. Yang stood nearby, a menacing mountain of concentrated anger, or maybe worry. Only one thing was clear—she wouldn't let Blake off easily.
"White Fang again?"
"I'm fine," the runaway weakly justified herself.
"Where did you even disappear to right before curfew?" Weiss grumbled. "Do you want Chuckler to come down on us again?"
The interrogations promised to be long and tedious, so Egrer and Sun shamelessly left Blake to be torn apart by her own team. It was her own fault for not even writing them a short message. The two of them, on the other hand, had warned their teams in advance that they were going on a dangerous recon mission right into a terrorist lair, so they shouldn't wait up for dinner. Trust is key.
"Aight, see ya," Sun waved his hand. His team was waiting nearby, and as soon as he stepped away, they immediately circled him and started asking questions.
Egrer repeated the same fate.
"Yo, Eg," Yort greeted. "What took ya so long, man? Madge been chewing our damn nerves out."
As if to confirm his words, Magenta bounded closer and started carefully inspecting Egrer for any injuries. But she only found a couple of torn spots on his clothes and some dirt. Illmond, meanwhile, was staring at his Scroll and just gave a welcoming nod.
"Spill it," he dropped briefly.
"Crashed a White Fang meeting, heroically beat the shit out of a massive killer robot from Atlas piloted by Torchwick, and slightly ruined the evil plans of the one behind all these robberies. The three of us also almost lost our legs, but the situation sorted itself out. Just a regular Tuesday."
"Dope." Yort whistled approvingly and clapped him on the shoulder. "Just don't pull a muscle, hero."
"Did you have dinner yesterday?" Magenta asked caringly, starting to poke at Egrer's stomach.
"Sun shared a burger." He didn't clarify that it happened this morning. Better not to worry an already anxious Magenta even more.
"That's not real food! Come on, breakfast is soon, we've gotta feed you properly."
"I'm always down for that. But first, I'm gonna change my suit and wash up. I don't have the strength to walk around in these rags anymore."
"You've got a hole in your ass, by the way," Illmond noted sluggishly.
"What?! Where?!" Egrer twisted around and stared at his own ass, but saw nothing there. Yort's booming laughter made him growl. "Ha-ha, fucking hilarious. Just absolute comedy geniuses."
"Alright, no swearing," Magenta ordered sternly. "Go freshen up, and then straight to breakfast."
"Yes, ma'am." Egrer saluted and headed toward the dorms.
It was nice to feel surrounded by close people again in the safest place in the world. After that epic saga with the Paladin, this was exactly what he needed. Peace, certainty, and a sense of tranquility.
Because just the memories of that death machine still made his knees shake. Those cracked Atlesians had completely lost their damn minds at their North Pole if they were building stuff like that. All those cannons, machine guns, lasers... saw-swords, fuck those insane roboticists!
Looked like Egrer had developed robophobia. It wasn't surprising.
But at Beacon, your nerves instantly calm down somehow. No massive Paladins, no criminals, no terrorists, just peace and quiet. You can wander the garden, drink tea in a gazebo, or chat with friends. It was just the thing to catch your breath and prepare for future sorties into Vale.
After classes, Egrer spent the entire evening in the workshop, assembling a new Needle-Pierce. He had no right to remain unarmed in the face of future dangers, so he got to it as quickly as possible. Plus, tomorrow was combat prep, and the prospect of making excuses to Goodwitch didn't exactly boost his mood. Knowing her, she'd put him up against Yang and say it was for unarmed combat training, since the opportunity had presented itself. And Yang herself could kick his ass even without her gauntlets.
"Hm, maybe I should make an upgrade?" Egrer muttered, sitting in front of a pile of small parts.
Before, he was fine with the way things were, but in the future, he might need a couple of surprises for Torchwick or The Puppeteer's other puppets. The very thought of confronting someone so dangerous didn't scare him as much anymore; now he was focused on finding ways to win.
"Needle-Shooter? Time to take this idea seriously."
Egrer had known how to make compact folding needles for a long time, as well as how the mechanism deploying them worked. But how to make it so that a new needle popped out immediately to replace a fired one? You could insert the "cartridge" manually, but wasting time in combat on reloading after every shot was a pretty crappy idea. For this, he needed the advice of an Expert with a capital E.
Egrer rolled his chair over to the opposite wall, where Ruby was busily tinkering with something on a massive, futuristic workbench. She hung around this place almost every day, endlessly upgrading her high-caliber sniper scythe. One day she'd tweak the design a bit so it wouldn't get stuck in Grimm; the next day, after experimenting with new rounds, she'd have to replace the barrel with a tougher alloy; sometimes she'd just assemble and disassemble it with her eyes closed.
If it weren't for Yang, who occasionally kept her younger sister's impulses in check, she would have moved in here long ago.
Even back during the Order of the Backstabbers, Weiss loved to complain that Ruby constantly reeked of machine oil and iron. She still complains, by the way. And Ruby still reeks.
"Question for the expert!" Ruby swung her active welding torch in all directions at his sudden appearance. Only a second later did she calm down and take off her welding mask with its tricked-out magnifying lenses.
"I told you not to sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry, but your reaction to my voice is one of the few pleasures I just can't give up," Egrer laughed hoarsely. "I need an Expert's help, can I count on you?"
Ruby instantly transformed from a shy fifteen-year-old girl into a true weapons master. A connoisseur of the most complex tech, a virtuoso of out-of-the-box solutions, a genius of physics, chemistry, and Dust alchemy... what else does she call herself?
"Know this, my incomparable skills can destroy the world," she declared grandly, making a gesture with her fingers as if snapping a twig.
"I readily believe that it's in your power and that we all live solely at your whim." When Ruby was in this state, under no circumstances should you argue with her or downplay her achievements in any way. She'd get offended. "But I just need to turn Needle-Pierce into Needle-Shooter. I need a mechanism that would automatically insert the next needle to replace the fired one. Maybe you remember, I told you I tried to do that before, but it didn't work out. Any tips?"
"Needle-Shooter? You sure you don't want a rocket-launcher or at least a machine-gun? Give me an hour, and I'll turn your weapon into a doomsday machine."
"Again, I readily believe that anything is possible in your hands, but then it'll be your gun, not mine. I won't be able to channel Aura through it, at least not right away. And that is absolutely crucial for my combat style." If Goodwitch were here, she would have buried Egrer for the audacity of using the phrase "combat style" to describe the pathetic display he put on during her classes.
A slightly disappointed Ruby walked over to his workbench and quickly sketched a blueprint, tearing the original design of the old Needle-Pierce to shreds in the process.
Everything needed was printed on a 3D printer, leaving only the task of assembling this pile of parts into a working weapon. Which Egrer got right down to, though Ruby hovering over his soul was a bit distracting. She watched his work, clearly holding back the urge to teach the klutz a lesson or two, but she didn't dare leave, wanting to see the result.
It was a beautiful feeling—watching a pile of parts disappear, and in their place, a mechanism assembled by your own hands appearing. It somewhat resembled songwriting—disparate words coming together to form a specific rhyme and meaning. For any Huntsman, even one like Egrer, creating a weapon is just as much an act of creation as any other, more conventional method of self-expression.
"Well then, let's run a test." With those words, Egrer extended his arm holding the now Needle-Shooter and pressed the trigger button.
With a metallic click, two needles popped out from both ends of the gray metal hilt. Pressing it a couple more times, he grunted in satisfaction, enjoying the sound of the needles retracting and deploying. The sound of a job well done.
Needle-Shooter was heavier now and had acquired a couple of extra firing buttons. There was no top or bottom, just like there was no front or back, so both ends could fire depending on where you pressed. He'd definitely have to spend a long time getting used to this upgrade, so he wouldn't accidentally squeeze the casing in the wrong place and hit the wrong button in the heat of battle.
"Go on, shoot it," Ruby asked. Egrer aimed Needle-Shooter at a spot on the floor and pressed the makeshift trigger.
Except the other needle fired, flying right past his surprised face. With a quiet pssh, a hole appeared in the ceiling, and a new needle took the old one's place, automatically sliding out in the socket. The mechanical ammo counter on the casing dropped from six to five.
"I pressed the right button, I swear. Guess I mixed something up somewhere," Egrer muttered, folding Needle-Shooter back up. Judging by Ruby's sly smile, she knew about it, which was why she asked him to shoot.
"That's why it's easier to work with electronics than pure mechanics. Less hassle."
"Yeah, right. You suggesting I hunch over a bunch of microchips with a soldering iron? No thanks, I prefer the old-fashioned way." Egrer grabbed a screwdriver and started taking Needle-Pierce's casing apart. "And buying batteries on top of that... perish the thought."
"You're grumbling like a grandpa who just saw a computer for the first time."
"What can I say, I've always preferred the tried-and-true old over the unknown new. As ancient wisdom says—an old horse won't ruin the furrow."
"Where do you even know all these sayings from? You throw them around all the time."
"I told you I was an orphanage kid, right? Well, a priest used to visit us a lot, picked 'em up from him. He was a kind guy." Egrer smiled warmly. "Heh, I was actually just thinking about him recently when Blake, Sun, and I were wandering around those abandoned buildings."
"Abandoned buildings?"
"Wait, Blake didn't tell you guys?" Ruby shook her head in hurt. "Weird. What's there to hide?.. Although, considering how you greeted her this morning, it's not even that surprising."
"We're just worried about her!"
"This isn't exactly my specialty, since I'm primarily a Professor of Weissology," Egrer chuckled, "but I think Blake is just afraid you guys will try to stop her."
"From what? From trying to figure out what the White Fang and Torchwick are up to? Of course we wouldn't!" Ruby declared. "On the contrary, we'll help her. This is all really important to her, which means it's important to us."
"Wow." Egrer was genuinely surprised. But even so, Blake valued her team too, and definitely wouldn't want to drag them into this mess. Just like Egrer with his own team. "You know, you'd better talk to her about this so there aren't any misunderstandings."
"I already did. Well, Yang did, rather. We didn't want to talk her out of anything, we just asked her to slow down a bit. You saw the state she's in."
"Yeah. She only dreams about getting sleep."
"Making jokes? Well, I'm not laughing. She didn't even listen to us, mumbled something under her breath, and walked away. Just like you said, Blake thinks we want to stop her."
Suddenly, she growled and grabbed her hair.
"As soon as Weiss became normal, problems started with Blake right away! What kind of team do I even have? Arrogant heiress to a multi-billion Lien company—check, mysterious ex-terrorist with a shady past—check, fifteen-year-old nepo baby getting in as leader—check."
"And Yang doesn't get a few sweet words? She earned it."
"It's only because of her efforts that I'm not already hanging in a noose from sheer hopelessness. No, seriously, I've regretted coming to Beacon two years early so many times already... Wish I'd just stayed in prep school, at least they don't split you into teams there."
"If you ask me, you're doing a pretty good job."
"Eg, my team already fell apart once," she reminded him. "And I feel like it might happen again. Ugh, and things were just starting to look up..."
Egrer snapped Needle-Shooter's casing shut and got ready for a retest. Ruby immediately forgot her sad thoughts and began watching the process.
This time everything worked as it should. Egrer grunted in satisfaction, stroking the needles of his weapon.
"I declare Project 'Needle-Pierce: Version Two, Subtype Needle-Shooter' a success. You could say a childhood dream has come true."
"What a dry name," Ruby shook her head. "A good weapon should have a beautiful name! How about... how about... hmmm..."
"Dead end, I already tried to come up with something fancy. But such a functional and inconspicuous weapon deserves an equally functional and inconspicuous name. Something edgy sounds stupid when you're talking about a little box that just pops out two needles."
"Alright, I'm gonna go back to tinkering with my scythe," Ruby said goodbye, once she was sure the Expert's help was no longer needed here.
Egrer waved a hand at her without looking, cleaning up his workspace. Messiness was unacceptable!
Suddenly, his Scroll rang. The ringtone was the default one, since Egrer would never have expected a call from this contact.
"Mom?" Egrer asked incredulously, accepting the call. When the caller's image appeared, he asked even more incredulously. "Dad?!"
Seeing a disgruntled Roman Torchwick on the screen, he immediately turned the volume to zero and shoved the Scroll into his pocket. God forbid anyone saw who was calling him!
Darting into a small storage room where 3D printer cartridges were kept, Egrer locked himself in and propped a cabinet against the door. Backing up to the opposite wall, he leaned his back against it and, glancing occasionally at the barricaded exit, pulled his Scroll back out.
"Dad, why are you calling me?"
"Spare me the childish babble," Roman shook his head. "Pack your bags, grab your little friends, and get the hell out of Vale to a Grimm's grandma."
"What?"
"You heard me, the jokes are over. I found out The Bitch is planning to infiltrate Beacon, posing as a tournament participant."
"Who? Can you be clearer?"
"The chick holding me by the balls!" Roman barked. "I don't know what She needs there, but the fact that it bodes nothing good should be clear even to degenerates like you."
Egrer gulped. The Puppeteer at Beacon? This news completely knocked the ground out from under his feet. Every day, dozens of female students flew into Beacon from all the kingdoms; any one of them could turn out to be Her. Soon, a dangerous criminal would be roaming somewhere nearby with unclear goals, and who knew what to expect from Her.
But how could She even get in here through such official channels? It seemed Ozpin's habit of turning a blind eye to irregularities in documentation had come back to bite him, if someone so dangerous had snuck in. Although, if The Puppeteer got in here as a tourist and a tournament participant, then She had fooled another Huntsman Academy.
In any case, the situation was simply atrocious. The one who managed to subjugate Roman and the leader of the Vale White Fang members, and who orchestrated without exaggeration the most massive Dust heist in history, was going to be somewhere around here. And those were only Her achievements that they knew about. How much had She accomplished in the shadows, preparing for those same robberies?
The unknown—that was what frightened him most. It wasn't even entirely clear whether She was human or Faunus!
Clarification would greatly help in finding Her. And neutralizing Her.
"Is it finally starting to dawn on you?" Roman asked with a sardonic chuckle, observing his panic. Egrer froze with a stone-faced expression for a long time, paralyzed by a massive dose of fear. Even thinking coherently was difficult.
An enemy was about to sneak up on them. A mortally dangerous enemy. Who clearly wouldn't forgive Egrer, or Blake and Sun, for all the problems they'd caused Her. His self-preservation instinct was screaming that it was time to follow Roman's advice and run, bury himself as deep as humanly possible, bail to God-forsaken settlements on the fringes of civilization where no one would be able to find him.
And only a tiny fraction of his mind was formulating plans on how to not only survive, but win. Beacon had become his home, the place he wanted to return to. The place where his friends lived, friends who wouldn't be so easily persuaded to walk away from all the dangers with him.
Right now, there was no choice between flight and fight. The choice had already been made back in the port.
"We gotta... We gotta tell Ozpin everything," Egrer muttered.
"No! Don't you dare tell him!"
"But why?" He didn't care if the White Fang dug into a hole, he didn't care if The Puppeteer hid as well. Under no circumstances could She be allowed into Beacon. At any cost!
"What do you think is gonna happen to your dear daddy when The Bitch realizes someone snitched on Her? She might even suspect me. Not without reason, by the way."
Egrer squeezed his Scroll with whitening fingers. He couldn't do that. The jokes really were over.
"And what do you even want to achieve by blabbing everything to Ozpin?" Roman hissed. "I didn't tell you this so you could start your little kindergarten game, I told you so you'd get the hell out of here! No, do you really want to die that badly? Or have you gotten so dumb in your Beacon that you have ABSOLUTELY NO idea what you're getting yourself into!?"
"But what if... what if..." Egrer tried to come up with some sort of action plan. Anything that could stop the unknown threat. "What if you contact Ozpin yourself? Tell him what She looks like, and he just goes and arrests Her? Or you tell me, and I tell him, or I somehow find another way to convey to him that someone dangerous is prowling around here..."
Roman sighed heavily.
"Eg, you're an idiot. No, seriously. You think he's just gonna take it on faith without verifying the info personally? He'll start digging, and don't think She won't notice his movements. Or are you hoping he'll just charge at The Bitch and try to slap some cuffs on Her? Even if so, She can't be defeated with brute force, Ozpin won't be able to handle Her."
"Not even Ozpin? What kind of bullshit is that, he's the strongest human on the planet."
"O-o-oh, I've seen what She's capable of. The impossible." For a moment, Roman's true emotions, which he diligently hid behind tons of snark and anger, ran over him like a herd of goosebumps. "Get this through your head, there's always someone stronger."
"I remember another pearl of your wisdom, that for every nasty ass, there's an appropriately sized dildo. If you can't beat Her with force, then you have to outsmart Her."
"She is craftier, smarter, stronger, and meaner than anyone we've ever met. Drop the idea of conflicting with Her in any way entirely, you're just a kid. Just get the fuck out of Vale and let the adults handle it. The only reason I haven't bailed yet is because I have nowhere to retreat. If I do what She says—I'll end up dead. If I kick up a fuss—same thing. But with the second option, there's at least a tiny chance to outplay Her."
Egrer needed a moment to steady his breathing. Whatever he might come up with now, Roman had already discarded those ideas. He had clearly been pondering this much longer.
"I don't want you guys to die."
"Believe me, you're not alone in that desire," Torchwick grumbled, calming down slightly. "But it's entirely within your power to just sit tight and keep a low profile. Or do you think you can become a third party in this game? You don't even qualify as a pawn, otherwise I would've already figured out a way to use you."
Suddenly, Roman hissed in pain.
"Settle down, woman! I wasn't gonna give him any suicide missions, just some harmless mischief. Settle down, I said!"
"Mom?" Egrer asked, and a familiar head with heterochromic eyes and hair immediately squeezed into the frame. Neo waved a greeting, roughly shoving Roman's face away. "Hi, Mom. You don't want me getting involved either?"
This question made her thoughtfully press a finger to her lower lip. And while Roman muttered something about the obviousness of the answer to such an idiotic question, Neo frowned, staring at the ceiling. It didn't last long; a second later she started vigorously shaking her head with a frightened expression.
"That's a shame. But I still won't be able to just sit back and do nothing while you guys are out there risking your lives."
"Wanna hear something that'll make you change your mind instantly?" Torchwick asked sarcastically, appearing in the frame again. "Do ya? The Bitch will easily find out in a couple of days that it was you three who destroyed that Paladin. She just needs to figure out who didn't sleep at Beacon that night. And if you three idiots also told your buddies about your 'heroic deed,' then it gets exponentially easier."
Egrer gulped. He felt like an unbelievable moron, but who knew it would turn out like this?!
"I knew what I was getting into."
"Oh, really?" Roman threw up his hand in annoyance and tapped his temple. "You don't understand shit! You don't understand who you're dealing with, you don't understand what to do next, you don't understand A-NY-THING! And you're still sticking your neck out. I don't even know what to call this. It's too much for cretinism, and there doesn't seem to be any overconfidence. A death wish? If you want to die, there are plenty of cheaper and less painful ways."
"If She finds out that you were defeated not by professional Huntsmen, but by us, are you gonna be in trouble?"
"You're that worried about my safety right now? You'd better think about yourself," Roman huffed. "But no, the excuse was thought up in advance. I was just too ashamed to admit I got beat by three school kids, which is why I doctored the camera footage. The Bitch will buy it; She's always happy to rub my face in my 'worthlessness'."
"If She finds out about our interference... I doubt She'll do anything to us." Roman smirked and rolled his eyes at his naivety. "I mean, we're at Beacon! She can't attract attention, otherwise~"
"Eg, She's a psychopath. And I don't just mean that as an insult right now, I mean an actual clinical disorder. She's got a few screws loose, got it? If a kid was dying right in front of my eyes, I'd feel bad for them, even if I wouldn't help just for nothing. But The Bitch would just laugh at them."
"What does She look like?"
"Alright, that's it, I wash my hands of this. I'm not telling you anything, otherwise you'll do something stupid." Egrer gritted his teeth and lowered his head. So, he couldn't rely on Roman. "And I told you that you'd have to pay the price. The clock is ticking, the debt collectors are already knocking on the door. Before it gets too late, just run. If we're lucky, Neo and I will handle it."
"And if you're not lucky, you'll die..."
"Yeah, one of the two," Torchwick gave a tortured smile. "Crappy situation, I know, but there's nowhere to go. And if you're not gonna run, at least try not to get in the way. Oh, and don't die out there, or Neo will get upset."
"So that's why you're coaxing me into running away? So Neo won't get upset? And here I was starting to think for a second that you cared about me."
"You ceased to exist for me the day of your betrayal, and I honestly have no idea why she got so attached to you. Besides, if The Bitch finds out about your connection, it'll complicate things for us big time. If She takes you hostage, Neo will have to do whatever She says. Therefore, the best option would be if you just ran far away."
The call ended on that note. Egrer folded his Scroll and shoved it into his pocket, staring blankly ahead. For this brief moment, his mind was absolutely clear. He just wanted to freeze in this pose and stand like this for about an eternity, hypnotizing the wall with an unfocused gaze.
But duty called him to act. He needed to tell Sun and Blake about this call. And right now, immediately.
After sending them a message with a meeting place, he headed to an abandoned classroom. An unprecedented paranoia seized Egrer's thoughts. He was ready to suspect any rustle in the bushes, a flock of birds taking flight, or a splash in the water of being in cahoots with The Puppeteer. All of this now provoked an uncontrollable urge to whip his head around.
Even hiding indoors, this feeling only weakened slightly. At least there was only one entrance here, not counting the windows.
And yet, it was still hard to believe that this was actually happening. He really just wanted to pretend it was a bad dream, and stop thinking about such terrifying things as the probability of his own death.
Only through sheer willpower was Egrer able to steer his thoughts in the right direction, beginning to ponder the information he'd received. Much as Roman didn't want Egrer to stay involved, he had let slip a couple of important facts. Very important facts.
The Puppeteer had infiltrated Beacon as a Vytal Tournament participant. That spoke volumes about Her age, and it also meant that She had at least three more accomplices suitable for the role of students. Meaning there were four culprits, which drove him even deeper into despair.
Also, The Puppeteer was a psychopath. Which meant she would stand out against the backdrop of the other arrivals.
The open door pulled Egrer from his musings. Blake and Sun entered the classroom, and they immediately realized that something was wrong with him.
"I have good news and very bad news," Egrer began grimly. "Which one first?"
"The bad," Blake replied, sitting down at a distance. She didn't want to trigger his allergies.
"The Puppeteer will be at Beacon soon."
As expected, this revelation sowed panic. Egrer sequentially told them about all his guesses and assumptions, his steady voice completely belying his inner turmoil.
"And where did you even get this intel from?" Blake asked when he finished.
"Roman told me. We were just talking on the Scroll."
"Wonderful," she replied sarcastically. "And you believed him right away? Good job."
"He has zero reason to lie to me," Egrer hissed in annoyance. "Ever since that fight at the port, he's been trying to talk me out of sticking my nose into this. Now he tried to do it again."
"Then what's the good news?" Sun asked hopefully.
"We know that The Puppeteer will be at Beacon soon."
"Ye-e-eah..."
"No, seriously. With this knowledge, we can be ready for a lot of her moves."
"It's unknown what She wants," Blake said thoughtfully, "or what She and Her team look like. All we know about Her is that She's around our age... Or can pretend to be a girl our age. Shouldn't rule that option out either. I personally find it hard to believe that a seventeen-year-old could pull off an operation like this."
"Well, we'll easily spot a psychopath," Egrer declared confidently.
"No," Blake disagreed, sounding like someone in the know, "they're almost indistinguishable from 'normal' people. On the contrary, they're hypersocial and blend into society very easily. Don't fall for the stereotypes. Only by getting to know a psychopath intimately can you confidently say that they are a psychopath."
"We need to tell the headmaster everything," Sun said.
"Yes." Surprisingly, Blake agreed with him. Just this morning she was against the idea, but in light of the new revelations, she had changed her mind. "We don't know if She knows that we've already thrown a wrench in Her plans a couple of times, but it's definitely a matter of time."
"We're not going to tell the headmaster anything." Egrer stood up from his seat. They looked at him in surprise. "If we tell him everything, She'll realize that Roman betrayed Her. And he's the only one who knows the most about Her plans and who wants to get rid of Her more than anyone else. We can't let that happen."
"This is just way out of our league," Sun shook his head. "We're students. What can we do to someone that dangerous? The only sensible way out is to tell the adults everything."
"It's not a sensible way out, and I just explained why."
"But I see another reason here," Blake said, narrowing her eyes. "You just don't want Torchwick to die. You... still love your adoptive father?"
"It's complicated. Probably not. I just don't want him to die," Egrer didn't deny it. "But don't say that like it's a reason to ignore my other arguments!"
"I'm not," she raised her hands reassuringly. "I understand you. I still have someone left in the White Fang, too. And I wouldn't be able to betray him just to keep myself safe. Even despite our differences..."
"You guys can't be serious?" Sun asked with a half-crazed chuckle. "We're gonna have a psychopath roaming the academy, who's got Torchwick, the White Fang, and a bunch of Atlesian killer robots under her thumb. Don't you think we should listen to the voice of reason and do what needs to be done, not what we want?"
"I definitely didn't expect appeals like that from you."
"I'm just scared. It's one thing to fight a giant robot or a mob of terrorists, but it's another when you can get shanked in your sleep. We're not safe anymore. Not us, and not our friends. I can't just ignore the best solution when their lives and ours are on the line!"
"For you, yeah, telling the headmaster everything is the best idea," Egrer said quietly. "And I... I'm being selfish, I know~"
"What does selfishness even have to do with it? Eg, didn't you get it? Your team is at risk too. As long as that psycho is roaming around here, no one is safe."
A dilemma. Telling Ozpin about The Puppeteer meant signing a death warrant for Roman and Neo. Not telling meant putting all the inhabitants of Beacon at risk.
Including Magenta, Illmond, and Yort. Including Weiss, Jaune, and their teams.
But Roman and Neo were criminals. They built their lives on the misfortune of other people, deceiving, robbing, and blackmailing. Did they have a chance to drop all this and live like normal people? They did, but they weren't interested in that. Roman loved solving complex puzzles; he was a pathological liar who breathed his crimes. Neo couldn't restrain her sadistic tendencies; she needed blood to quench her thirst for violence.
Then why was it so hard for Egrer to throw them under the bus to secure the safety of dozens of innocent teenagers, the future defenders of the world?
Because he was still attached to Roman and Neo? Because he still felt gratitude for the opportunity to live a full life, rather than starving to death in the favela? These were stupid emotions. The scales were tipped heavily in the other direction.
But despite all the arguments of reason, he couldn't decide what was more important to him—a future with his friends, or a past with his adoptive parents.
What should he do?
"I'm not sure She is that dangerous to us," Egrer finally decided. "Whatever She needs at Beacon, She's unlikely to attract unnecessary attention or get distracted from Her main goal."
"But what could The Puppeteer possibly be looking for at Beacon?" Blake asked. "What do criminals like that usually want? Revenge, money, power?"
"For the most part," Egrer nodded.
"Maybe She wants to get rid of someone?" she continued her thought. "Or there's something very valuable hidden in Beacon. Because this is essentially a real fortress full of Huntsmen. Hiding something important here seems like a logical move. Eg, we're gonna need your friend's help."
"I doubt that'll help. His Semblance hasn't coughed up anything useful before, so why hope for a different result now?"
"Still, it's worth a try." He had to nod at that; there was indeed no harm in trying. Yort wouldn't be risking anything.
"I suggest we work off the worst-case scenario—that The Puppeteer wants to kill the headmaster," Blake nodded to herself.
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst?" Egrer interpreted her words. "Agreed. But in any case, even if She knows about us, we can't let Her figure out that we're onto Her too. Let Her think the advantage is on Her side. Besides, who are we to Her? Just a bunch of stupid teenagers who don't even know what they're doing. She's unlikely to view us as a threat."
They looked at Sun, who was still staring at them like they were crazy.
"We're all gonna die."
"Chickening out?" Blake asked with a chuckle. Surprisingly, he easily fell for such a cheap trick.
"Me?! Yes! But I'm not gonna bury my head in the sand. Just stating the obvious, specifically to piss you off. If there are more sorties, I'm all for it!"
"There will be, there will be," Egrer promised. "The main thing is not to panic until it becomes clear there's no salvation. And right now we all need to rest, it's getting pretty late. Blake, this goes double for you. You're wearing yourself out way too much."
"Right now is exactly when we can't relax under any circumstances," Blake objected. "On the contrary, we have to spend all our free time preparing for The Puppeteer's arrival. The sooner we deal with Her, the sooner we can get back to a normal life."
Coming up with a counterargument to that logic was difficult, but no one even tried. In general, she was actually right, they should push themselves.
Except Egrer had already pushed himself like that once, to the point where he completely dropped out of Beacon life and snapped at his friends a couple of times in response to their concern. He wasn't going to withdraw into himself that much again.
Having finished their conversation, they headed off to sleep in their rooms. Though it was absolutely obvious that none of them would be able to fall asleep after news like that. It was too scary to close their eyes.
Panic started creeping back; for the first time, such serious problems had arisen in Egrer's path. Even during his life under Roman's wing, traveling through the seediest corners of Remnant, he had never encountered anything quite like this. You could easily run away from those dangers or set Neo on them, but here everything was different. Neo and Roman were, conversely, on the enemy's side. Granted, only conditionally, but it was still incredibly demoralizing.
Sigh, and Egrer had just wanted to escape his past life, he wanted to live normally. But the past returned on its own.
Although, did it do it on its own? The former thief made a conscious choice to help Roman. It was he who let the past back in, the moment it knocked on the doors.
When Egrer entered Team MJEI room, his friends were already getting ready for bed. Yort was, as usual, blocking Magenta with his mighty body, while she, as usual, saw no point in changing in the bathroom. And Illmond was sulking indignantly, trying to catch at least a glimpse of something.
A familiar, but no less dear to his heart, scene. Take away this part of their everyday life, and everything would instantly lose its meaning. It was exactly in moments like these that Egrer realized just how much he loved his pack.
And this was what he was ready to risk for two criminals?
"Sorry..."
"You're forgiven, just don't stay out so late again," Magenta replied grandly, pulling on her pajamas. After which, with a running start, she jumped onto her bed, kicking up a cloud of pollen.
"We should probably tidy up," Egrer mumbled, changing for bed. "Haven't dusted in two days."
He was heard perfectly well, and this statement only elicited disgruntled sighs. Illmond just went and hid under his blanket altogether, as if nothing had happened.
"Good night," Magenta wished them, turning off the light.
Due to the massive TV, the moon barely penetrated the room, only Illmond's bed was illuminated by a soft white light. And just a couple of minutes later, a quiet, steady snore was heard from Yort's direction.
Egrer, however, kept his eyes fixed on the door, as if expecting an assassin to walk in. He closed his eyes to appear asleep to anyone looking, but he was ready for any incident. Needle-Shooter rested confidently in his hands.
That was how he spent the entire night.