#prove to be too much of a threat. how clover is willing to stay with her in every version of a neutral run even when it's an

[rustedleopard]

Always found it a bit strange that in a No Mercy Run, Clover reduces Asgore -- the strongest monster in the Underground -- along with the flowerbed, the throne, and wall behind him into ash, and utterly decimates Axis with one Justice blast, meanwhile Zenith Martlet can take dozens of those and still keep standing... at least until I remember how reluctant Clover is to fight Martlet. They let her escape twice before the final fight and give her the opportunity to monologue as well as inject herself with DT when it would've been better to just shoot first. Hell, they even have to pry into her memories just to muster up a reason to hate her (and don't seem to come up with anything). No matter how much they grew to hate monsterkind on their journey, Clover seems to genuinely like/respect the hell out of her. They don't want her to die. But she also stands in the way of their goal, so they have to kill her. Even if their heart's not in it.

[spectralscathath]

Highest Fall You’ll Ever Grace

Robyn's rally went wrong, worse then anyone could have expected. Picking up the pieces isn't going to be easy. It had seemed so trivial, after everything that happened, but a licence still meant something. At least, it did to them.

Otherwise known as, the one where Ruby, Ren, Nora, and Marrow get their licences revoked after the rally.

AO3

Ren sat in silence, his father’s dagger off his arm and held in his hands where he could observe it, gently tracing the curve of the blade with his eyes. He could feel Nora’s presence in the room and felt more uncomfortable with it then he had in a very long time.

At least this time she was respecting his boundaries and letting him have his space. He supposed he should have been grateful for it.

Ruby’s presence, while familiar, was also more worrisome, the younger huntress alternating between running her hands through her hair, playing with the fabric of her hood, and nervously bouncing her knee.

That, he definitely understood. She saw Tyrian. Tyrian caused the massacre.

If he hadn’t been such a fool, so distracted by Nora and everything that happened, he could have sensed Tyrian. Would have, perhaps. He should have done so, to provide warning. But instead they were blindsided, and he proved useless in the matter.

He heard the clink of ceramics and the sound of hot water being poured and looked to Marrow, the ace operative emptying the kettle into four mugs. Ren didn’t know him nearly as well has he knew Nora and Ruby, but the tired slouch to his shoulders and the way Marrow’s tail drooped informed Ren of just how much the night had weighed on the operative.

Still, when Marrow turned, it was with a soft smile that belied the guilt in his eyes. “So, that was coffee with cream and five sugars for Rubes, and tea for you guys?”

Ren nodded once and placed his father’s dagger back in its sheath before he accepted his mug, curling his fingers around it to warm them. He took a breath of the steam that wafted off his tea and tried to use it to calm himself, to find his tranquillity.

He imagined himself turning grey, the world around him turning the same monochrome, and the silence that it would bring. He gave Marrow a subdued smile back and bowed his head in gratitude. “Thank you.”

He watched Marrow walk over to Ruby and Nora, Ren having deliberately sat on the furthest chair from everyone on the briefing room, and the trio exchanged a few words that Ren blotted out. He didn’t do so out of rudeness, but simply because he wanted to take the time in silence to sort through the turmoil of thoughts.

First, the obvious. Tyrian was there. Tyrian murdered at least nine people, though the body count was still being tallied. Tyrian was in Mantle. Therefore, Salem was here. Or her influence, at least.

Secondly, Penny was being blamed. He supposed if he didn’t know Tyrian existed, he might have at least suspected her, based on where she was standing when the lights came back, but it felt flimsy. He wondered what the point of that was, and how Tyrian thought he would get away with it. Penny was known as the protector of Mantle. Would people turn on her so quickly based on nothing?

Thirdly, he, all of them, had turned out completely useless. Penny and Marrow were on duty. He, Ruby, and Nora were Huntsmen who had once crossed blades with Tyrian. They had failed completely, and he knew he had a hand in it. He had sensed Tyrian’s approach before, when he didn’t even know what he was looking for.

If he hadn’t been distracted, if he had stayed focused- Tyrian had been in the room with him for who knows how long and Ren hadn’t known. What even was the point of all his training, his meditation, if he did nothing when he needed to take action?

He sipped his tea and sighed quietly, sensing Ironwood’s approach and turning his attention towards the door. He would focus on the next mission. He would work harder, to prevent this from happening again.

What was done could not be changed. All that could be done was the next step. Worrying about anything else was a distraction.

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

Ruby noticed Ren move and followed his line of sight to the door, the hand not holding her mug immediately twitching towards her back, where Crescent Rose normally was. But- no, if Ren sensed a threat he’d go for a weapon, just like he always did in Mistral.

Speaking of Ren, something weird was happening between him and Nora, and Ruby didn’t even want to know. She was a lot more worried about Penny.

Oh, maybe it was Penny coming to join them? Marrow had gotten the order through on his scroll after they’d cleared out most of the Grimm in Mantle, leaving the dregs for the robots. The order was simple, and kind of ominous. Wait in briefing room for mission debrief.

If it was Penny, Ruby would have to tell her it was Tyrian, that she saw him too, and that she knew Penny had nothing to do with this. Just like- just like Yang had nothing to do with breaking Mercury’s leg, and like Pyrrha hadn’t meant to rip Penny-

No, don’t think about it. Don’t think about Beacon, or the Vytal festival, or- or-

Penny was back now, that was all that mattered. It was all. That. Mattered.

Ironwood walked in, Clover hot on his heels, and Ruby watched Marrow curl a tiny bit inwards at the sight of the Ace Ops captain. She couldn’t get why, surely Clover knew Marrow tried his best, right? No one was in trouble here, what mattered was telling Ironwood everything about Tyrian, and how that meant Salem was here and-

She’d leave it at that. Ironwood wasn’t trustworthy enough yet, not with the truth about Salem, and besides, it was the wrong time. He’d be so harried by what happened, she didn’t want to stress him out more.

The right time would come, definitely. Then she’d tell him everything. She wasn’t like Ozpin at all, Qrow was right. It was totally different, yeah, definitely.

She finished her coffee and pushed those thoughts into the box too, locking that box where she shoved all the bad thoughts into up in her head where she didn’t have to think about it at all.

“General Ironwood, Penny didn’t do that.” She looked him in the eyes, putting her conviction behind it. She had to make sure he knew it wasn’t Penny.

“I am aware that Penny had no hand in the slaughter.” Ironwood clasped his hands behind his back. “But unfortunately, there was video footage leaked that proves otherwise.”

Ruby’s cup fell out of her hands and shattered on the floor. “Wh- what?” She felt Nora bolt upright beside her and Marrow sag back against the desk with the kettle, one hand clutching the table’s edge as the other came up to his face, like last night.

“That’s impossible.” Ren set his mug down as he spoke, brows furrowed in confusion. “There was an operative of Salem’s there last night. Ruby saw him. Perhaps Marrow did as well. There can’t be video footage of something that didn’t happen.”

“Scorpion guy.” Marrow nodded, tangling strands of his dark hair between his fingers. “I saw the bastard. Couldn’t get a shot, he was right in the middle of the crowd. He was quick too.”

Ruby blinked. Oh, so that was why he hadn’t pulled out his weapon. That made sense, with all the people running around, any attack into the crowd with Fetch could hit a civilian. And Tyrian was so fast. Marrow would never have been able to take him in close range, not if Uncle Qrow had struggled. Penny was the only one who could have.

Ironwood sighed and opened the screen they usually had the mission parameters on, pulling up a video. Ruby blinked at it, then blinked again to try and understand, or change, what she was seeing. Once it registered, the bottom dropped out of her stomach.

It was Penny. Penny in the dark of the rally. Penny spinning through the crowd with her blades and her dancer movements, slashing up innocent people who’d done nothing but go to support a woman who wanted to help Mantle.

“That- that’s not what happened!” Ruby clenched her fists. “It’s not! Penny would never do that.”

“That has to have been altered,” Nora gestured at the screen. “I mean, Tyrian was there, I trust Ruby. If she says she saw him, then he was there.”

Ruby looked to Marrow for more support, watching his face grow pale as he stared at the footage. “That’s not what I saw. I’m telling you sir, that is not what happened at all. I’ll testify to it, if this turns into an interrogation. Penny was telling that guy to stand down and protected Robyn Hill from an attack.”

“Be that as it may, I’m willing to bet everyone in Atlas and Mantle has seen this by now. They’ve already drawn their own conclusions.”

“Well maybe if you stopped acting like a dictator, people wouldn’t be so willing to believe that one of your robots was a murderer.” Nora sassed at the general.

Ruby glared viciously at her. “Don’t call her that! She’s a person!”

“That’s enough!” Ironwood snapped at them, closing the video over. “What you all say doesn’t matter. It could even get you painted as accomplices, at least until we can sort this all out and prove the truth to everyone.”

“Accomplices?” Ruby wrung her hands. “But- we didn’t do anything.”

“I understand. However, I regret to inform you that while this situation is under investigation, I will be revoking your Huntsmen licences.”

Her insides changed from feeling like everything was missing to feeling like a bundle of snakes, shifting and twisting into knots. “But- you can’t do that, we didn’t do anything wrong!” She’d come so far, she couldn’t just have everything she’d worked for, that Ironwood had given her, be taken away just like that. She had to fight for it!

Ironwood met her frantic desperation with a level calmness that looked firm despite the exhaustion visible in his eyes. “Until this matter is resolved, the four of you are effectively citizens.”

Clover spoke up, his green eyes locked on Marrow as Marrow wilted in place. “While you’re all permitted to continue rooming in Atlas Academy, you’re all barred from taking any Huntsman missions, carrying Huntsmen-class weaponry, or entering restricted areas. You’ll also be expected to follow civilian evacuation protocols in case of a Grimm attack. That means you go to the nearest shelter and you do not engage.”

“Sir, you can’t be serious, this is insane.”

“Quiet, Amin.” Clover didn’t need to snap, but Marrow’s mouth shut anyway. “Once this has passed, based on the outcome, you’ll all have your huntsman licences and privileges returned. And I recommend the four of you stay out of Mantle, while you’re at it.”

“But- this isn’t fair!” Ruby pleaded, not sure what was worse. That she wouldn’t get to keep going on missions, or that she wouldn’t be allowed to have Crescent Rose back, or that she wasn’t going to be able to help. “Penny was framed just like Yang was! Taking us off the field won’t solve anything.”

“I’m aware, Miss Rose. I’m sorry that it has to be this way.” Ironwood cast his gaze over all of them, standing tall the same way he had when he had disqualified Yang from the Vytal festival. Ruby tried not to think about that. Sure, the situations were similar, but that didn’t mean it was all going to go horribly wrong like it did in Beacon. That’s what they were going to stop.

If they were allowed to keep their licences.

“General, you can’t just take our licences away, this is Salem’s fault, she sent Tyrian to hurt people!”

“I am aware, Miss Rose, but the fact of the matter is that people are dead, and until the investigation is complete and Penny’s innocence is proven, you are all potential accomplices in the eyes of the law. You’re Atlesian Huntsmen, all of you. You don’t get special privileges just because you know the truth about Salem. That’s not the way things work.”

“But-” That was how it worked in Argus, right?

Ironwood cut her off. “You’re free to go. I’ll allow you to remain updated on the status of the Amity Communications Tower and the investigation into the massacre at the rally.” He studied them all for another long moment before he left, the ends of his coat billowing out the door behind him.

Clover crossed his arms behind his back. “Alright. Now that you’re all currently benched from active duty, I recommend you all rest up. Maybe take a walk around Atlas and see it from a civ’s perspective, it’s not the worst place in the world.”

Nora practically growled at him as Ruby felt her hopes and dreams come crashing down around her with the same sick feeling she had when she spotted Fiona Thyme’s blood on her gloves. “Captain- uh, Clover, is there really nothing we can do about this?”

Clover looked at her and shook his head. “Sorry, kid. Ironwood may not care about his reputation, but he cares about yours and Penny’s. Distancing you from all of this is the best way to keep you out of more trouble, and the best way to keep Mantle from rioting even more.”

“We can’t cause a panic.” Ren summed it up as he stood, clasping his hands behind his back.

“Pretty much. Mind if Marrow and I have a word?” Clover gestured vaguely at the door, hinting that they should leave.

Ruby tried to think of something else to say, some sort of defence for her Huntress licence, and came up empty. Her cheeks burned with guilt and loss and humiliation and anger as she walked out, pulling out her scroll as she watched the button to access her licence flicker away.

Her scroll buzzed with missed messages and she opened them, hearing Nora starting to prod Ren into trying to talk about something. Ruby didn’t really want to hear it.

She opened Weiss’s message first. Winter, Harriet and I are on a convey escort mission. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Okay. So no Weiss when she went back to the dorms. Everyone must have been assigned missions. Except for her and Ren and Nora. She opened the message from Yang, wondering if maybe it was her sister checking in after what happened. She could really use talking to her big sis right now.

Instead all she got was a quick Hey sis! Blake and I are out killing Grimm today. The rave was awesome! Looks cool, right?

The picture popped up. A selfie of Yang and Blake at the rave, with giant grins and complete carelessness about the election that had been on. Like there hadn’t been people dying in Mantle. Like Penny hadn’t just been made out to be a murderer. Like Ruby hadn’t spent the night fighting Grimm. Like Tyrian hadn’t looked directly at her and laughed just like he had when he’d been about to take out her eye.

She clenched her shaking fist and closed her scroll, putting it back in her pocket before she was tempted into throwing it across the hall. She tuned back into the world in time to hear the tail end of Nora speaking.

“- but you liked it!”

“So what, Nora? That didn’t give you any right to kiss me in the first place. I said I was unsure of things, I said I didn’t want to discuss things at a political rally, and you ignored that.” Ren’s calm voice bordered on a snap, enough to make Ruby cringe in sympathy for Nora. “Now. If you’ll excuse me, I would like some time to myself.”

Nora looked like she was about to grab him as he walked away, before pulling her hand back and storming past Ruby.

So now she was alone. And she didn’t know where Penny was. And her team were all off saving the world while she was stuck there, as a civilian.

She pulled her hood up and wrapped her cloak around her, picking a random direction and just walking on the basis that she’d find her way out eventually. She didn’t care how long that eventually was, as long as she didn’t have to go out into the world where she wasn’t a Huntress

Maybe she was right not to trust Ironwood after all, if he was willing to do this to an ally.

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

“I’m not going to lie, I expected better.” At those words, Marrow had to stop his tail from tucking. Yep. He figured he was going to get reamed out for how badly he screwed up.

“I understand.” He’d been assigned solo with Penny to keep people from causing trouble, and instead there’d been a massacre. All he’d done was radio for back up. That scorpion guy, Tyrian, had been too fast for Marrow to get a lock on for closing the distance to snag him with Fetch’s bladed edge.

Basically? Total screw up, and it could all pretty much be laid at his feet for being the superior officer there. He was lucky he was getting off with a suspension and not a full discharge from the military.

He blinked and realised whoops Clover was still talking and he’d missed part of it. Probably the part where Clover was listing off his failures or something, it probably wasn’t important.

Clover continued like Marrow hadn’t completely zoned on him.  “I don’t want you going anywhere near Mantle while you’re benched. After using your semblance on the crowd and on Robyn’s Huntresses, you’ve probably gotten a target on your back.”

He hadn’t wanted to use his semblance like that. Not on people who were meant to be allies, or people he was protecting. He just knew that they had to get Penny out of there, and they couldn’t let it turn into a brawl. He’d had tremors in his hand for an hour after, and his headache was still humming annoyingly behind his eyes. “It was the quickest way to avoid the situation from escalating.”

“I know, Marrow. Just be careful. I don’t want to hear you’ve gotten yourself killed.” Clover looked him in the eyes, emerald green boring through him. “And don’t go looking for Tyrian.”

“I’m not gonna-” He’d been entertaining the thought. A lot. “I won’t go hunting him down.”

“Good. I’ll try make sure that this can count as paid leave.” Clover patted him on the shoulder. “Look out for yourself, Marrow. Once you’re reinstated I’ll need you back on missions ASAP.”

“Yes sir.” He gave him a lazy two-fingered salute. “Permission to be excused?”

“I’m not your superior for now, scram.” Clover chuckled and pointed at the door. “Just watch your tail, got it?”

“Got it.” Clover meant well with that one, he knew it. He’d heard a lot worse. He decided to brush off the tail comment and stepped outside, going down the hall and around the corner before he sagged against the wall, gripping his right hand tight.

Damn it. He’d really screwed the pooch on this one.

Great, now he was making dog puns.

He pulled out his scroll and decided to see if one of the restaurants that allowed Faunus was open today, he could use some comfort food. He didn’t even bother trying to look at anything else on his scroll, like the news, or his messages. That would all be a problem for Future Marrow. Current Marrow was gonna get some damn breakfast and crash out for a nap. Anxiety and guilt later. Food now.

He started towards the exit of the facility when he spotted Ruby standing in the corridor, her hood up and her cloak falling around her, looking like she had no idea what to do with herself.

“Hey, Ruby, you okay?” He’d seen her face after what happened. She’d been terrified, horrified, stunned, pretty much everything that he’d felt as well.

She turned around and pulled her hood back, her silvery eyes bright with sorrow. She really was young. And the Ace Ops called him a kid. “I’m fine,” she very clearly lied.

He wouldn’t push it. They were acquaintances, more than anything. Ace Ops didn’t do friendship. “Cool. I’m gonna go get breakfast, I know a place. Wanna come with?”

Ruby blinked at him with those big eyes. “Yeah. Okay. I could eat.”

“Cool.” He linked his hands behind his head, trying to project some sort of cheer to try help her calm down a bit too and get both their minds off last night. “You’ll like this place, not only is it Faunus-friendly, it’s got the best cinnabons ever, and the coffee’s way better than that military crap and-”

“Do you think Penny’s okay?” Ruby cut through his ramblings.

He paused, tail drooping. “I don’t know. I doubt it. But… you’re still her friend. You don’t need to be a Huntress to help a friend through tough times. Right?”

“I guess.” Ruby pushed her hair back out of her face in a futile attempt to keep it from falling over her right eye. She didn’t quite smile, but it wasn’t exactly a frown either, so it was a bit of an improvement. “So… cinnamon buns?”

“Best ones I’ve found.” He got the door and held it open, following her out as Atlas Academy towered above.