So either it wasn't important enough for people to mention or it went completely over people's heads about one major event that was hinted at in Umbra's past. Meh, anyway enjoy the new chapter.
Also the results for Summer's weapons are in, the winner is Mingyu with Stem and Petal for the twin chain scythes.
Question time: (Guest reviewers please make up a name so it is easier to answer questions.)
revan193: Cheers mate, I appreciate the support.
Guest: It's fine mate, this story isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Bulldan: True, very true.
Mingyu: Ha nice to see you again Mingyu. Also congrats on picking up on Umbra's backstory.
Poshboy: Glad you liked it mate.
Zentari2238: Sort of…you're probably not going to like this story; I wouldn't recommend reading it further. Just a heads up.
Pyrothekid: Thanks for the suggestion, yeah that's what I do when I want to create a specific mood for a conversation.
black shadow: Your wish is granted.
Tforce: He will use other people's Semblances but he will also have a main combat one.
Kamigawa Nagamaki: Currently I'm struggling to write for Holding All the Cards, but the good news is that the recent Fate/Grand Order anime recently got me back into the Fate series (Caster Cu is awesome).
"You should stay away from me Summer," warned the high school aged Qrow as he caught sight of her walking up to greet him.
Summer just grinned, "The more you say that, the more I'll stick to you like glue. We're partners after all."
He just frowned as he rounded on his partner, "You know about my Semblance! You know what it does. Honestly this team would be better if I wasn't on it!"
"Nope," replied Summer cheerfully popping the p sound.
"Summer! I'm a Bad Luck charm…I bring only Misfortune!" shouted Qrow.
"Nope," repeated the huntress with a happy smile on her face, causing him to frown in confusion.
"You know you not the easiest person to talk to about things like this," he frowned, causing the white cloaked girl to chuckle.
"Nope," she agreed before surprising Qrow as she embraced him in a tight hug. "Qrow, you're a valued member of team STRQ, and the best partner I could ever have. Regardless of your Semblance, I wouldn't pick anyone else to be my friend and partner."
Qrow said nothing as his eyes widened in shock, his vision going blurry as something wet began leaking out of his eyes. The huntsman quickly wiped the tears away before Summer noticed and a bright smile grew on his face. 'Maybe…maybe just this once…it wouldn't hurt to have a friend,' he thought as the duo began walking towards their dorms.
Qrow growled in frustration as long buried memories resurfaced before ordering another drink, trying to drown out the images with alcohol. The bartender just shot him a concerned glance, but knew better than to refuse a Huntsman, especially one that was armed.
The Huntsman was silent as he sat in the corner of the bar, away from prying eyes as he sculled his fifth triple shot of whiskey within the past ten minutes. Sighing as he felt the alcoholic buzz in his head and causing the Huntsman to mentally prepare himself for the shitstorm he was about to unleash. He honestly wasn't sure if either of them would actually show up, Oum knows they both have more than enough reasons to blow him off.
He then looked at the clock sitting nearby and frowned as he saw the time, 'they're both late.' He supposed he shouldn't be that surprised, even he wouldn't have believed that Summer was alive if he hadn't seen the evidence for himself. Qrow then flinched as one particular memory began replaying itself over and over in his mind, the one memory he was so desperate to bury…
"Qrow…it's not your fault," whispered the bloodied body of Summer Rose, her white cloak now stained a crimson red.
The younger Qrow just slammed his fist into the ground as tears flowed down his cheeks, "BULLSHIT! If it wasn't for my Semblance-"
The Huntsman was silenced as Summer weakly raised a hand to stop him, "It's okay, don't…blame…"
The Huntress was never able to finish her sentence as she grew silent and her arm fell to the ground, only for the hand to be caught by Qrow. "SUMMER?! SUMMER! WAKE UP! Please…open your eyes," begged Qrow in a soft voice, only to get silence in response.
The world was silent, no winds blowing, no animals calling, nothing…save for the soft sobbing echoing throughout the forest.
All the bar patrons jumped as Qrow hurled the empty glass at a wall, completely shattering it into pieces, the light and alcohol causing the glass shards to resemble white rose petals as they fell to the floor. Upon seeing this outburst, the remaining patrons all quickly sculled their last drinks before running to the exit, after all no one wanted to get on the bad side of a drunk Hunter.
"Another!" roared Qrow as he sat down, more and more unwanted memories surfacing as he gripped the table tightly.
"I'll find you Summer, even if I have to do it myself. I promise you that!" he swore, fingering his last drink as he prepared to leave the bar, giving up on waiting for his former teammates.
"Not in that state you're not," replied a female voice, causing Qrow to slowly turn to see his sister appearing behind him, her red portal closing behind her. "Hello Brother."
"Raven," greeted Qrow, his voice slurring slightly from the amount of alcohol he'd drunk beforehand.
His sister took one look at him, examining his horrible state, before taking a step back in shock, "You were serious…"
"I wouldn't lie about this, even to you Raven," growled out Qrow as he reached for his drink, only to have to snatched from his hand by his erstwhile sister.
"No more alcohol, you've clearly had more than enough, even for you. I need you to tell me everything…while you can still speak in complete sentences," replied his sister as she took a seat across from him and removed her mask to reveal the concerned face beneath it.
"When Tai shows up, it'll save me from explaining everything twice," answered Qrow, causing Raven to sigh.
"Brother…I don't think he's going to come. You know how he feels about us both, the only reason I showed up is that you would have made good on your threat," replied his sister, only for her eyes to widen as they both heard a familiar voice.
"Shows how well you know me," growled out Taiyang, walking over to them with a frown as he examined Qrow's condition.
"Taiyang," greeted Raven stiffly with a nod.
"Raven," he replied, equally as stiff as he returned the nod before turning back to Qrow with a snarl on his face. "Qrow I swear to Oum, if this is some sort of trick…not even Ozpin will save you from my wrath."
"Taiyang, look at him. We both know he wouldn't be in this state if he wasn't telling the truth," whispered Raven harshly, getting an ambiguous grunt from the blonde.
There was an awkward silence before Raven eventually broke it with a sigh, "I can't remember the last time the three of us were in the same room together."
"It was at Summer's funeral," answered Taiyang, his voice devoid of emotion as he continued staring at Qrow, whom flinched at the mention of it.
"What's going on Qrow, your message said that Summer was alive. Unless you have some proof of that, I'm walking out the door right now," promised Tai, glaring at the Huntsman in question.
Qrow drunkenly stumbled as he tried to get his scroll out of his pocket, causing Raven to sigh as she got up and grabbed it from him. "Bring up the most recently downloaded video," ordered Qrow, realising his current coordination wasn't suited for using a scroll.
Both Raven and Taiyang frowned as they did as ordered and the two watched the blurry video begin to play, both their faces gaining shocked expressions as they saw the white cloaked figure holding off what was clearly Ruby and Yang. At first they thought nothing of it, like Qrow they reasoned it away, that was until they saw the white woman's Semblance.
The scroll fell from numb hands as they both remained stock still, Taiyang was the first to recover as he ever so slowly turned back to Qrow. "Qrow, this is your only chance to tell me. Did you fabricate this footage?" he asked in a soft tone.
The scythe wielder shook his head, "No and not only that, but when I tried to find the video online again…it had been taken down. It's real Tai, she's alive."
"And someone is covering it up," concluded Raven, getting a nod from her brother.
"It's the only thing that makes sense," he agreed, causing Taiyang to frown.
"But who? And why?" he questioned furiously.
"The bigger question is why didn't Ruby and Yang tell us? You think they'd be overjoyed that Summer was alive. We should have got messages from them immediately afterwards," pointed out Qrow.
"Unless they were told not to…by someone powerful and that they trust…someone like Ozpin," growled out Taiyang, received shocked looks from his two former teammates.
"Tai what you're suggesting…" trailed off Qrow.
"I personally don't regard Ozpin very highly, but even I think this is below him," argued Raven in agreement with her brother.
"It happened at Beacon academy. There is no way Ozpin didn't know this was going on and yet he didn't even tell Qrow who has been working for him for years! He could have easily convinced Ruby and Yang to keep quiet about this or he might even be blocking their messages to us," shot back Taiyang.
"I suppose you have a point…but in all the time I've worked for old Oz…he never seemed the type to do something like that," frowned Qrow.
"That's not the only possibility, we also need to take Summer herself into account," informed Raven.
"That's true, why wouldn't she tell us anything! Why would she let us think she's dead for so long!" questioned Taiyang, feeling a mixture of emotions flowing through his body.
"Don't worry Tai, we'll find her…together as a team, even if we have to search Vale from top to bottom," replied Qrow, getting a nod from Taiyang while Raven just frowned.
"I'll let Signal know that I'm taking my vacation early, that should give us plenty of time to look for her…you should do the same," informed the blonde as Qrow nodded in agreement.
"Old Oz might be a bit put out that I've decided to take this moment to go AWOL, but if he really is responsible for this... At least with the losses the White Fang suffered, it'll be a while before the Queen will make her move," mused the Huntsman.
"Have either of you considered that maybe Summer doesn't want to be found? That perhaps it is Summer herself that is covering it up?" asked Raven, causing both males to freeze. "Think about it, perhaps she was done fighting, perhaps she just wanted to get away from everything, Grimm, Ozpin…us…" muttered the tribe leader softly.
Tai just shook his head and growled, "No, Summer's not like a certain teammate I know. She would never abandon Ruby like that."
Raven didn't rise to the bait and instead just turned to Qrow, "A near death experience can change a person…she might not be the same Summer we all know."
"It doesn't matter, she owes us some answers, we were her teammates for Oum's sake!" replied Qrow, getting a nod of agreement from Taiyang.
Raven saw the two looks of determination on their faces and sighed, "Very well, the tribe can survive without me for a couple of weeks. I'll begin searching our old hideouts."
"Tai and I will start asking around town, see if anyone has spotted Summer," replied Qrow, Taiyang giving his agreement in the form of another grunt.
And so team STRQ was united for their first mission in over a decade…they would find Summer Rose and bring her back, and woe to anyone who got in their way.
Umbra shuddered as a horrible feeling of foreboding erupted around him as he walked into the cafeteria, 'must just be nerves.' With that thought he then sighed as the boy silently pondered how to explain what had happened to his boss.
"The old man took it pretty well when he heard I was working part time at Beacon, he'd be heartbroken if he found out just why I'm working here," he muttered, trying to think up a believable lie. "Meh I'll have to think up one when I see everyone at the theatre after class."
Shrugging Umbra walked towards Beacon's cafeteria, a smile appearing on his face as he began to think on the irony of his current situation. 'I always wanted to go to Beacon but after the…incident, well this place really isn't that different from Signal I guess. If I find one of those racist bastards they're dead men walking,' he thought, phantom pain once again erupting from where his tail once was.
Shaking the memory from his head the boy walked into the school cafeteria and stopped in shock at the size of it and the amount of people present. "Okay…so maybe it is a little different from Signal," he said in awe, that quickly devolved to horror as he saw a specific team eating in the corner.
"Just ignore them Umbra, maybe they won't see you," he muttered quietly to himself, only to flinch as he heard Ruby's voice echo across the cafeteria.
"Umbra? Is that you? Hey, we have a free seat! Come over here, Yang and I wanted to talk!" she called, getting up from her chair as the rest of her team and the neighboring team turned to stare at him.
"Nope, not dealing with the psychopaths, let's find another seat," decided Umbra as he searched for somewhere else to sit.
Unfortunately, when you cram the students from four schools into one, there are going to be seating issues, as proven by the fact that there was literally nowhere else to sit. "How hungry am I? Do I want to risk sitting near those maniacs," he wondered, only to grimace as he heard his stomach growl loudly in protest.
"Guess that's the answer to that question," he sighed before walking over to the food and grabbing his meal.
Against his better judgement the teen then walked over to the only empty seat left in the cafeteria, trying to ignore the eyes of the two teams staring at him as he ate. "So…Umbra, my sister and I just wanted to apologise for what happened earlier," apologized Yang, trying to break the awkward silence that had descended on them.
"You mean how you beat me up so badly I was left coughing up blood on the ground," he growled, causing all of team JNPR to stare at Yang and Ruby in shock.
"Yes…that," replied Yang through gritted, trying to contain her rising temperature.
"Suuuuuure, I'll let it all go," he said with a voice that was dripping with sarcasm.
"Really," smiled the naïve Ruby, causing a frown to grow on Umbra's face.
"No," he deadpanned before returning to his meal.
"Was this what I was like when we first met," muttered Weiss, noticing a disturbing similarity with her team leader's interactions.
"No," replied Blake as she continued reading her book. "He's much more tolerable."
"So why are you still at Beacon? Didn't you have a job to get back to?" asked Ruby, trying to try make a better impression on the boy after their last meeting.
"After you lot beat me to a pulp, Ozpin decided to hire me to work for Beacon," he growled out, making Ruby's hopes sink like a stone.
"Doing what? You must have some skill if the Headmaster himself wanted you here," questioned Weiss with a curious expression on her face.
"You'll find out soon. Your next class is the new one they've started up isn't it?" he asked, making everyone nod.
"Yeah why?" replied Yang with a confused frown, making a soft chuckle escape from the boy.
"You'll see," muttered Umbra, making all of the students shudder as his eyes suddenly gained an excited look and a vengeful smile crossed his face.
"Well I suppose we should introduce ourselves," stated the red head girl, getting nods from the rest of her teammates as the blonde boy walked forward and stuck out his hand, only to lower it as Umbra refused to shake it.
"I'm Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it," introduced the Knight, not seeing Pyrrha once again give him a happy smile as she stared at him.
"I can see that," smirked Umbra as he turned his gaze to Pyrrha, making the red head blush in embarrassment at being caught.
"This is my partner Pyrrha and our two teammates Ren and Nora," introduced Jaune, oblivious to the blushing partner behind him.
"Please to meet you, tell me what do you think about Sloths?" asked Nora as she jumped over to him and went to grab his shoulder.
"Stop! Don't touch me!" yelled Umbra as he dived away from Nora's embrace, only just managing to avoid the ginger touching him.
"Don't be shy! You'll never make friends if you act like that! Come on, let's be friends," cheered Nora with a challenging grin on her face as she tried again and this time trapped Umbra in a bear hug.
"Nora! STOP!" cried Ruby as her team rushed to stop the orange haired girl.
AURA ANALYSED…BEGINNING CONVERSION…
"I hate all of you," growled out the boy in a tired voice, before howling in horrific pain, causing Nora to drop him and back away from Umbra's writhing body.
Team RWBY just looked away and blocked their ears as the transformation continued, while team JNPR watched the process with morbid fascination as Umbra's body quickly changed to resemble a certain teammate they knew. Once the process was done everyone was silent as they watched the copy of Nora groan as she got up from the ground, making them all feel uncomfortable at how…docile it looked compared to the Nora they all knew.
"Why do I have a sudden craving for Pancakes and Maple syrup?" Umbra asked in a feminine voice.
Upon hearing his new voice Umbra sighed deeply before looking down at his new body and his eyebrow twitched as he saw the pink shirt and white shirt he was now wearing. One thing he did note was that despite Nora being in her Beacon uniform he had transformed into her body with what he could only assume was her normal combat gear, a massive hammer stowed on his back. 'Yet another mystery about my Semblance I suppose,' he thought, before being snapping out of his revere as Nora's voice echoed across the cafeteria.
"It's another me…this is just like that movie where the aliens abduct and clone people. Well it's not going to work on me!" shouted the hammer wielder of team JNPR, jumping back from Umbra before getting into a combat stance.
"Huh?" muttered Umbra in confusion as he turned to see Nora ripping a metal pole out from the wall before attaching a watermelon to one end of it.
"TAKE THIS ALIEN SCUM!" shouted Nora, swinging her makeshift weapon at him.
Eyes widening Umbra quickly brought his hands up and grabbed Nora's makeshift hammer by the pole, neither team moving as the two identical people entered a stalemate as they tried to wrest the weapon away from each other. Unfortunately, Nora was easily able to toss aside her copy, due to her experience with wielding hammers, causing Umbra to go flying into the wall. No one said a word as they watched Umbra groan as he fell to the ground and began picking himself up.
"Woah, hold on. I'm not an alien! What the fuck is wrong with you people!? You're all insane!" he yelled upon seeing Nora rushing towards him with her 'weapon' held high.
"Um…should we stop this?" questioned Jaune, watching as Nora chased Umbra out of the cafeteria.
"You want to get between Nora and her fantasies?" replied Ren as he calmly began drinking his tea.
"Good point," agreed the Knight.
"More importantly, Ruby who was that and how was he able to turn into Nora?" questioned the quiet boy with a frown, remembering the feeling of Nora's aura in to places at once.
"It's a long story," sighed the Reaper, flinching as they all heard explosions coming from the direction Nora and Umbra had been heading.
There was loud murmuring around the classroom as the students each began talking to each other, trying to find out just what this new class was that all firsts years were being required to attend. After all, it was already partway through the semester, not exactly a normal time for the teachers to add a new course to their studies.
"All of you quiet down!" ordered Glynda as she walked with Headmaster Ozpin, instantly silencing the class as they saw the Headmaster himself present.
"Just what kind of class is this? For the Headmaster himself to oversee it?" questioned Weiss, getting shrugs from the rest of team RWBY and JNPR.
"I'd like to welcome everyone to the first class of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence," welcomed Ozpin as he took centre stage.
There were a few murmurs of confusion coming from the students at this announcement, clearly this wasn't at all expected to be needed for students to learn when they came here. "Some of you may be confused as to why we are teaching this," continued Ozpin as he looked around the room, causing the whispers to stop as everyone turned to face him.
"In recent years it has come to our attention that Huntsman and Huntresses are no longer being deployed against Grimm as much as they used to be. In fact, may take on a variety of jobs that require dealing with the criminal elements of the Underworld," informed the Headmaster, getting a nod from Blake.
"Due to this, Hunters may be required to infiltrate organisations or in turn need to spot infiltrators. Too often criminals escape due to masquerading as uninvolved innocents or are able to attack otherwise impenetrable compounds due to simple infiltrators," explained Ozpin, his memory briefly flashing back to the CCT incident with a frown.
'Too often indeed,' he thought with a sigh before returning his attention back to the present.
"And so the three of us shall be teaching you the basics of Counter-Intelligence with the assistance of General Ironwood," concluded the Headmaster, causing confused expressions to appear on the faces of the students present.
"Headmaster? Did you say three?" questioned Weiss as she raised her hand.
"Yes Miss Schnee, I did," smiled Ozpin. "Beacon recently hired an expert to act as a Teacher's Assistant for this class."
"Then where are they?" replied the heiress with a frown as the class looked around the room to find the missing TA.
The smile on Ozpin's face widened slightly as he replied, "That is your job to find out Miss Schnee, before class started we asked a volunteer to help us with a little demonstration. One person in this room is an imposter. The first test is for you students to determine who it is."
"What are you talking about? Everyone's here," argued Cardin as the Headmaster stepped back and the students did a quick head count.
"Many enemies will have Semblances that can be used to disguise themselves; Illusionist and Doppelganger are just to name a few. You need to be able to determine whether what your seeing is true or not," lectured Goodwitch as she stepped forward.
"And how are we supposed to do that?" grumbled the leader of team CRDL.
"That is what you need to find out Mr. Winchester. Each of you have been with your teammates for over a semester, it is time to test how well you all know each other. A good team should easily be able to spot an imposter," replied the Combat instructor. "You all have the remainder of the class to try and find the imposter, good luck."
All the teams shared a glance with each other before they quickly began examining their fellow teammates with critical eyes, silently pondering who the imposter could be. "Are they being serious?" muttered Yang in shock.
"They're not wrong Yang, Huntresses need these kind of skills to survive in the real world," replied Blake, putting her book down as the Faunus began examining the rest of her team.
"Um…Blake…what are you doing?" asked Ruby fidgeting under the Faunus' gaze.
Blake was silent for a couple of seconds before a small smile appeared on her face, "Just checking you're still the awkward team leader I remember."
The rest of team RWBY just breathed sighs of relief at Blake's words as they turned to the Faunus to see her nod at the rest of her team. "I suppose you would have more experience with these kind of things Blake…considering your past…employment," frowned Weiss, mindful of the other teams within hearing range.
For her part the Faunus just blinked silently before nodding her head, "Yes…my previous 'employers' needed me to have some skills in this kind of thing."
"So who do you think is the imposter?" asked Yang, causing RWBY and JNPR to turn and face the Faunus.
Blake was silent before sighing as she turned to examine the rest of the students, "First we need to figure out who we're trying to find. Who's he one person we know that has a Semblance capable of this and has already mentioned that he is now working at Beacon?"
"You think Umbra is the imposter?" questioned Ruby, getting a nod from Blake.
"It makes some sense," agreed Weiss in a reluctant tone.
"Okay so we're looking for the coward. This should be easy, we just have to scare him out," grinned Yang as she and Nora began cracking their knuckles.
"Easier said than done, we could end up making things worse if we're not careful. I think we should avoid using that option if we have a choice," argued Weiss, glaring at the two powerhouses.
"She's right Yang, if we accuse the wrong person the class will descend into chaos," agreed Blake, causing all of them to turn back to the Faunus with a frown.
"Alright than Blake, what should we do? You have the most experience with this after all," asked Ruby, getting nods of agreements from team RWBY and JNPR.
"Well first we can rule out any Faunus students. They have enhanced senses that would make a normal human disorientated, and Umbra didn't feel like a Faunus," replied Blake, frowning as she returned to examining the remaining students.
"He would also try to avoid using a female form, we all saw how uncomfortable he was when he turned into Nora in the cafeteria," commented Weiss, offering her own opinion and causing her friends to nod in agreement.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that Weiss; he could have picked a female one to throw us off. It's a common strategy to reveal a 'weakness' to possible targets before exploiting it as a strength," replied Blake as her frown deepened.
There was silence as the two teams pondered what Blake had said before they sighed, brought back to square one. At least they ruled out any Faunus students, sadly there weren't many in this class to begin with.
"Having trouble?" questioned a familiar male voice, making them all spin around to see Ozpin standing in front of them with is mug covering his face.
"A little bit, it's just so hard to find Umbra," sighed Ruby, getting a soft chuckle from the Headmaster.
"So you already worked out that it is Umbra? Well that's half the battle. Think Miss Rose, you and team RWBY and JNPR have both met Umbra before. What characteristics of his stood out to you all?" questioned the Headmaster.
"He was left handed," replied Weiss with an understanding expression on her face, everyone completely missing the shocked look briefly appear on Blake's face.
"Very perceptive, Miss Schnee," congratulated Ozpin as he walked away.
"He has got to be feeling nervous with everyone trying to find him. Look for subtle signs, a nervous tick, or a flutter of anxiety," ordered Blake, getting nod from Weiss.
"Right now, I think everyone is feeling a bit anxious right now Blake," argued the Schnee heiress.
"He will take measure to make sure he doesn't give himself away, like a gambler concealing a tell," replied the Faunus. "We should look for that."
"Guys, why has Cardin got his left hand in his pocket?" interrupted Ruby in a soft voice, everyone freezing as they slowly turned to face the leader of team CRDL.
"He does look a little anxious," agreed Pyrrha, frowning as she examined him. "Plus his team isn't the closest, it would be easy to infiltrate them."
"I think it might be him," muttered the Reaper.
"You think? Ruby we only have one chance; you have to be sure," warned Blake as she cast a worrying glance towards the distracted Weiss.
The leader of team RWBY's eyes widened as she saw this before feeling Blake hand a note over to her as the Faunus returned to debating with the others. Ruby just quickly opened the note and read it with wide eyes before quickly folding it up and shoving it into her pocket.
It's not Cardin…Weiss is acting odd…
'Weiss is acting odd? But she's been one of the most helpful in finding Umbra, why would Blake suspect her?' she wondered with a frown.
It's a common strategy to reveal a 'weakness' to possible targets before exploiting it as a strength…
"Your cloaking is ticking everyone, need I remind you that in the real world you won't have the luxury of time and a single miscalculation could cost you your life," announced Goodwitch, snapping Ruby back to the present as Blake's warning echoed across her head.
"This isn't working! He's too good damn it!" raged Yang as Ruby slowly walked left the two teams and walked over to Headmaster Ozpin with a determined expression on her face.
"Headmaster?" she asked, getting his attention.
"What is it Miss Rose?" he replied in a helpful tone.
Ruby was silent as she tried to work out what to say next, "Do you remember how you said my team knew Umbra best…wouldn't that mean that the person he could imitate the best would be one of us?"
The Headmaster just gained a proud smile as he put down his mug and nodded, "Indeed it would Miss Rose, now the question becomes how well do you know your teammates? Who do you think is the imposter?"
"I…I don't know. What if I'm wrong? It could just be Weiss having an off day or being focused on the task. I mean she isn't even acting nervous; how can she be the imposter?" questioned Ruby, a fearful expression on her face.
"Not all actors get nervous; some completely immerse themselves into their characters, so in this case, perhaps it's the opposite? A failure to behave naturally. An actor so consumed with his performance that the one characteristic he cannot accommodate…is spontaneous reaction," explained Ozpin, with an encouraging smile.
"What does that mean?" replied Ruby, her brows furrowed in confusion.
"That is up to you to find out, best hurry though, time is nearly up," answered the Headmaster as he pointed towards the clock showing only five minutes left until the end of class.
Upon seeing this Ruby panicked as she rushed back to her team and watched Weiss with a conflicted expression on her face. Turning to Blake she silently mouthed, 'are you sure?' The Faunus slowly nodded before turning back to Pyrrha and Weiss, all three arguing if Cardin was the imposter. Even so Ruby hesitated, after all if they were wrong then Weiss' feelings and trust in them would be shaken. It could even have terrible consequences for the team.
"Sorry Weiss," muttered Ruby as she slowly raised her hand to get Goodwitch's attention, only for the bell to ring before she could expose the imposter.
"And that's time up, I must say I'm both disappointed and pleased with you all. You might not have been able to find the imposter but none of you turned your backs on your teammates and began accusing them. It is good to see this kind of trust between friends, just don't let it blind you to the facts," lectured the Combat Instructor in an oddly pleased tone.
"Indeed, now may the imposter please come forward?" requested Ozpin, causing the room to go silent as everyone began glancing around the room.
At first there was no reaction, before all of team RWBY and JNPR blinked and had their jaws drop as Blake stood up and walked up to Goodwitch, an uncharacteristic smug smirk on her face as she waved at the class.
"You're kidding me, that's just Blake," replied Cardin in confusion.
"Are you sure about that ~nyah~" smirked Blake before sticking her tongue out at the class, holding her hands up to her head and causing them to look like cat ears as she opened and closed them.
The entire class was silent at this display, blushes coming to the faces of most of the males at seeing the usually reserved and quiet member of team RWBY suddenly acting in such a childish way. "Can the real Blake please come in," ordered Goodwitch as the class door opened and the real Blake walked into the classroom.
"Hey Kitty Kat. Looks like you owe me 50 lien, your team didn't suspect a thing," laughed the fake as she walked up to her counterpart before whispering into her ear. "I just heard some interesting things about you, I wonder who your 'previous employers' were."
Blake just glared at her copy before storming over to her teammates and sitting down without a word, pointedly ignoring the apologetic looks that were being shot her way by the rest of team RWBY and JNPR. Meanwhile Ruby was in horror at how easily she'd been manipulated into nearly accusing Weiss as the imposter thanks to Umbra.
"And that's the lesson, please be here tomorrow at the same time for the next session. Team RWBY and JNPR, please stay behind," said Ozpin, dismissing the class.
Umbra was about to follow the students out, still in Blake's form, when the Headmaster stopped him, "You as well Umbra."
"Joy," deadpanned the TA, sounding so much like Blake in that moment that even the real Blake had to do a double take.
Emerald and Mercury weren't happy, why were they not happy? Because they had just come from the new 'Counter-Intelligence' class…and had failed miserably. When they had first heard the test they had thought it was a waste of time, after all, they were experienced, they knew what to look for.
They were wrong…
For the entire hour neither of them had been able to pick the imposter, sure they didn't know the fellow 'students' very well, but they should have been able to pick out the imposter from the body language alone. But they hadn't and that immediately caused them to be worried, if this 'expert' was this skilled at blending in…was he as good at spotting them?
Then there was his Semblance…
They both knew how potent a disguise based Semblance was when in the hands of a skilled user, Emerald and Neo being chief examples of this, but this Semblance wasn't like there's. Most illusion Semblances mask the aura of the wielder or fool the person's brain into think it was different; it was why aura scanners were the most common form of security. No matter how skilled the Semblance user, they couldn't fool the machine. This was the Golden Rule for thieves, criminals and terrorists. But this Semblance was something different, it recreated its target's aura, it broke the Golden Rule.
It was the ultimate tool for a thief or spy…
Meaning this person was obviously skilled at what he did…
And this person was now under Ozpin's employ…
Cinder would not be pleased about this, they might need to delay their plans, if only until they could figure out who they were dealing with…
Well there we go. Did you guys enjoy it?
Also out of curiousity, when did everyone work out that Blake was the imposter?
1 From the start? (How?)
2 When 'Blake' reacted to questions about her past?
3 When 'Blake' said he wasn't a Faunus?
4 When 'Blake' reacted to Weiss' observation?
5 When 'Blake' started suspecting Weiss?
6 Not until the end.
Anyway hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, the next will show Umbra's boss and the theatre. There will be a couple of OCs because of this. Feel free to suggest your own since my brain is out of ideas to make for OCs. Good luck.