Re-intro: Action/Video

[maybeitsmaybelline]

Action

He's drowning.

His body jerks into action before his mind can catch up, limbs thrashing in search of something to hold onto, and suddenly he's falling. The bay's icy water hardly registers over the fire in his lungs, but he manages to push himself up on his hands and knees before the coughing sets in. It shakes his body and echoes off the walls, punctuated by desperate gasps for air before his breath catches again and he chokes up more of the thick black blood that fills his airways.

It's not until the fit passes that he realizes where he is and remembers what's happened.

The fight. Neo's gasp as she was ripped away from him. He can't remember Red's words but he remembers the blackout rage, remembers her cowering and the shocks that ran back up his cane when he hit her. The flapping of giant wings, sudden darkness, searing heat pressing against him from all sides.

She took Neo. She took Neo, and she killed him before he could do a damn thing about it. She took Neo and Neo would never know what happened, never find out that he didn't want to leave her. She took Neo and he was here alone, separated by worlds and the distance between life and death.


Video

[Roman is usually striking because of his dashing good looks and impeccable style, but last night robbed him of those so he's had to improvise. First prop: gore. Patches of black blood stain his white coat, splashes of fresh red pop against the unhealthy pallor of his skin. He's still not sure what Grimm are made of, but he's covered in their guts and he revels in it.

His second prop is the smoldering remains of Weiss' welcoming hologram beside him. It produces the occasional flash of a smile or garbled words, but most of it is lost to sparks and smoke.

He gives the camera a smile full of teeth.]

Hello again, Genessia. Did you miss me?

[It sounds like he's swallowed glass, but his voice is steady. He pauses to light a cigar from the hologram's embers.]

It's been a while, hasn't it? I've had some time to look at my life. Really think about the choices I've made, and you-- [Something in the hologram explodes. He waits for the noise to die down. The smile never falters.] You know what I've been missing? Focus. Try to do ten things at once and you'll half-ass all of them. So here's my resolution: pick one goal and see it through till the end.

[He leans in close to the camera, all wide eyes and bloodstained smile.]

I'll be seeing you around, Little Red.

[The video cuts off.]

Comments

Private Video

[have_hat_will_travel]

Ooh, I like the scary tone there. Put that tape out in Everglade and you'll have done some good work terrorizing the people.

Private Video

[maybeitsmaybelline]

[It takes him a minute to place her, but realization dawns eventually. That brainless minion with no ambition.]

Flattery will get you everywhere, sweetheart, but I'm not looking to bring the Guardians down on my head just yet.

Mind filling me in on what's happened since I left?

Re: Private Video

[have_hat_will_travel]

Easy enough. A couple incidents with the barriers.

Interestingly, it turns out Everglade's barrier has, lately, been quite neglected. Lord Dracula has taken up that banner - for who better than he to empower a barrier supported by fear?

[The way she says 'Lord'... Sounds like she has a boss, at least for now.]

With that 'just' yet, it does rather seem like you're already working towards a proper plan.

[Video] Have a different Jean

[neighvarily]

...

You've got something on your face.

[Video]

[maybeitsmaybelline]

[Wow. Nothing gets past this kid.]

Do I really?

[He reaches up and wipes his face with his sleeve. That might've helped if his sleeve weren't also soaked in Grimm gore, but it really just smears it around instead.]

Did that get it?

[Video]

[neighvarily]

Nope.

You know what? It's a hell of a lot better than your other look. So you gave up on Weiss and now you're after someone called Red? I would have loved seeing whatever she did to piss you off.

video;

[orlokbutterfly]

Man, Schnee's gonna be pissed.

[Someone broke the hologram again? Man, that thing has no luck.]

I'd give you points for style, but I think the black goo thing is a little outdated.

Video

[maybeitsmaybelline]

No one's managed to overthrow her yet? What a pity.

[He sounds genuinely disappointed. Not that he's surprised-- as a general rule, people are blind to rising tyrants until it's too late.]

In any case, I'll try to kill something more fashionable next time.

[Because he definitely killed the Grimm, right? That's his story and he's sticking to it.]

video;

[orlokbutterfly]

You kidding? She pretty much rules the place. I'm surprised she hasn't taken up queen status yet.

[Really, he's got nothing against her. But he does enjoy poking fun at her.]

Yeah, the black goo on the white coat doesn't work too well. Points for effort though.

Fashion tips aside, you've been here before?

[Accidental Video]

[finishedwiththoseerrands]

[Holy barnacles, what the heck was going on in this video transmission? The octopus just stared aghast at the screen. This guy was splattered slightly with blood and the hologram was broken, giving an ominous tone to everything.]

I thought this place was supposed to be safe or something... [He grumbled.]

[Video]

[maybeitsmaybelline]

[A talking octopus. Right. He'd forgotten how utterly ridiculous the populace was here. But hey, why let a little absurdity ruin a bad mood?]

Safe? [He laughs.] There's no such thing as safe, my silly suckered friend.

[ video ]

[incendii]

Oh, you're back?

[ She pauses to take a gander at the gore on him and the fact that he's not his usual prim and proper self. Oh, her smirk is now a mile wide. ]

What, did you lose a fight with a hair curler?

Re: [ video ]

[maybeitsmaybelline]

You're still here!

[His voice is thick with mock amazement.]

Wow. Natural selection is really slacking these days.

video;

[wheresmykey]

It's nice to see a man ruin other peoples toys.

[She was the first one to do it when she arrived and blamed Weiss for her being here. Because why the hell not.]

But it looks like you had a good time before then, hm?

video;

[maybeitsmaybelline]

[Hey, someone's got to be blamed, and he's all for throwing Weiss under the bus. He gives a nasty, humorless laugh.]

Oh, I had a time all right. [He's not going to qualify that with a descriptor. If she's the type who likes to break things, he might want to make a good first impression.] Who are you, exactly? I don't remember seeing you before.

video;

[wheresmykey]

I am someone you don't want to mess with, of course. But if you ant an actual name. Glory will do. It's much better than than what people call me.

[She leant back slightly, small smirk on her face.]

action

[unhappy]

[ Emerald caught the tail end of his little speech, just staying in the pod until she was sure the feed was over. She already knew where they were, no sense in going into survival mode yet. Once she's sure, she pops up in her pod, resting her elbows on the edge of it. ]

Did you get eaten by a Grimm?

[ That's the only explanation she can think of for why he would look like that. ]

Re: action

[maybeitsmaybelline]

[Well, there's a voice he doesn't want to hear asking a question he doesn't want to answer. He growls instinctively but it's havoc on his raw throat so he settles on glaring at her instead.]

Of course you end up here with me. It couldn't be Cinder, it couldn't be Neo--

[No. He's not going to entertain that train of thought. This is how it is, and he will handle it.]

When are you from?

action; vagueish spoilers in this comment if anyone's stalking

[unhappy]

[ She doesn't glare back, just stares. She's not in the mood for glaring. She's still.. not sure she's okay with what happened. But if she's alone with Torchwick, that's not going to be something she's going to address. Better him than no one, gross as it sounds. ]

Cinder left Mercury and I to follow Ozpin once he made his move. Mercury was still recording so I stayed with him to watch his back. It looked like Cinder got what she came for [ Haha Roman isn't in the know is he? She's not going to bring it up. ] but there was a huge flash from the tower where she was. I don't know what happened, but when the light cleared the dragon was frozen solid. I don't know what happened to her. That's the last thing.

[ She climbs out of the pod finally, slipping down into the water before reaching back into the pod to get the money, device, pendant, et cetera. She's skipping the packet though. ] You?

[Video]

[swordprincess]

[Karla just sighs at the broken hologram.]

Another one who destroyed the hologram? I guess we'll have to replace it yet again.

[maybeitsmaybelline]

If you're sick of fixing it, maybe you should work on your craftsmanship. Make it a little sturdier next time.

Let me guess-- you work for Schnee Corporation?

[He says it like it's an insult.]

[Video] casually tags all the intros...

[beacane]

[ -- little red.

oh hell no. he did not just get his ass handed to him by a psychopathic power-stealer to deal with this garbage this early in the morning without coffee.

and so, before he records, ozpin is literally massaging his temples before he shuts on the video feed -- and while he looks as calm as ever, there's a certain narrowing of the eyes that is unbecoming of him. ]

Wise philosophy.

[ with the delicate gentleman-y tone of you wanna go bruh ]

Though your application needs work, it seems.

[maybeitsmaybelline]

[Oh, does he ever. ...But, y'know, maybe after he feels less like death.

Roman's never seen the point in the 'kind old father figure' facade, though. Who does Ozpin think he's fooling?]

Oooh, so quick to judge! I haven't even gotten started. [A pause for dramatic flair.] Yet.

[Audio] Locked

[frostheartedrose]

We certainly did, sparky. It sounds like you've had a few bumps in your road... I regret not being witness to recent events.

[A dry chuckle.]

I'll see if I can spare the time to track you down in the next few days and relive those bumps on a repeating cycle for however long your heart is able to function. I have mental traces of your last visit so it would only take being in the same gateway to update my tracking system.

[After a very cheerful laugh full of anticipation, this cat is looking forward to this!]

Dance wisely little puppet.

[Audio] VERY FREAKING PUBLIC and open to threadjacking!

[maybeitsmaybelline]

[Wow. Know what? He's not even going to reply to her. Instead, he's going to make a new post to the network, re-playing her locked recording. When it finishes, he clicks it off and takes a moment to let it sink in before responding.]

Isn't it amazing what passes for justice these days? Sleep well, good citizens. Your champions are watching over you.