route_1065 | Couldn't Stand Another Minute

Couldn't Stand Another Minute

Who: Penny Polendina

in4apounding, Ruby Rose

rosetotheoccasion, Weiss Schnee

usedglaciate, and Yang Xiao Long

yanginthere
Where: Violet City
When: Sunday 2/7, Evening
and Tuesday 2/9, Afternoon
Summary: A reunion of canonmates and discussion of some terrible things to come.
Rating: PG
Log:

[Penny bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, waiting outside the Violet City Pokémon Center, her Vulpix anxiously threading his way around her ankles. She hadn't realized quite how long three months without seeing anyone from home could be, but now Ruby and Weiss had both arrived at once. She almost felt guilty being as happy as she was, it sounded like they had been taken from some serious trouble.]

[But, they were both here now. And as long as no one knew how to get back, there was no harm in trying to make the best of things, right?]

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... They were really nice to us. I thought... Emerald at least, I thought we were friends. That's why what happened to Yang was so weird.

But when things started going wrong, when I left before your match with Pyrrha... Mercury stopped me from doing anything. He stalled me.

[If anything, Ruby sounds more confused than upset. She's not used to such a personal betrayal, and for it to happen with people who she considered good friends...

It hurts. Really bad.]

They tricked Yang, too?

[She doesn't actually know Yang much, beyond Ruby's descriptions, but she seemed so nice...]

They let you think they were friends?

[Her grip on Ruby tightens for a second, looking angry for the first time since this conversation started.]

~~[That's it, she's breaking their legs.]~~

Why would anyone do that?!

That's exactly what happened. I don't think anyone had reason to suspect them, not even after what happened to Coco, but after what happened to Yang...

[She shakes her head.]

...I don't know what their specific plan was, but they certainly had one. Hurting people was part of it, for whatever reason.

[Weiss' voice sounds strained. Her dealings with her family have taught her that desires for power and money make people do awful things. She knows that's a lesson both Penny and Ruby will need to learn eventually, but now doesn't seem like the right time.]

[Ruby can understand that Bad People Do Bad Things for stupid reasons - look at all the times she's had to deal with Torchwick, after all. After everything they've been through, there's no way she wouldn't know that there are Bad People out there.

But... she's never had friends betray her before. That's what's making this so hard to deal with.]

The woman that made the speech, after... [After Penny died.] After the match. She sounded like Cinder, didn't she? Emerald and Mercury's teammate. She said stuff... it sounded like she was trying to turn people against Atlas, and all the Huntsmen and Huntresses.

[But why...?]

...This is what Mister Ironwood was so worried about.

[She hadn't really understood it herself; she was hardly in the loop on top military secrets, despite being one herself. But all the talk of how she was going to have to save the world someday soon? Suddenly made a lot more sense.]

[That seems like a whole lot of irony, given that Dave's back at the Inn.]

Do you remember, Ruby? You said Remnant was in peacetime, and I got confused because Mister Ironwood had been saying otherwise. He must have known something like this was coming.

Cinder - assuming that's who it was; I don't know her voice well enough to tell - wasn't trying to turn anyone against Atlas, the academies, or the Hunters and Huntresses. She was scaring people into turning against them.

[Weiss takes a few steps back, instinctively wrapping her arms around herself.]

Someone had to have known, whether it was Ironwood, Ozpin, someone else entirely. I know that it's entirely too much to ask for a warning before the peace of the world shatters, but if someone knew, I would have loved a hint.

[Wait, what...?]

You really think the professor or General Ironwood could've known something like this would happen? That can't be right. They would've... said something...

[And she just trails off... Penny brought up a good point. It seemed like the general had told her, maybe even everyone involved in the Atlas military, that bad things were going to happen... But that still doesn't explain why nobody else knew until it was too late.]

Mister Ironwood was trying!

[It comes out angrier than she expected. Penny turns a bit red, taking a small step back and fidgeting with the hem of her sweater.]

I mean- I'm sure he must have been trying to warn Professor Ozpin, or anyone who could've helped! I don't know why he didn't want everyone knowing, but he wouldn't have just done nothing. That must have been why he brought so many soldiers to Beacon for the festival.

I'm sorry if I came off as blaming him. That wasn't my intention.

[But she hugs herself a little more. Defense mechanism, go.]

That makes sense. I didn't really understand why that many soldiers were needed, but...

[Ruby can't hide her surprise at Penny's outburst. That's.. the first time she's ever seen Penny even kind of angry. Aside from that night at the docks, when they fought against the White Fang, but that was more... determined, than angry.]

... Yeah. You're right. Even if he knew something... he was still trying to protect everyone. He's not a bad person for wanting to do that.

And if everyone knew... everyone would be scared. It would ruin everything. Maybe it would've made things worse.

[But still... there had to have been something they could do...]

No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- sorry.

[The general couldn't have known EVERYTHING, could he?]

He never would have allowed the tournament to go forward if he knew it was so- that it was being manipulated so much.

Don't apologize. You don't need to.

[She nods.]

Ozpin wouldn't have let it go forward, either, if he knew what was going on behind the scenes. It makes me wonder -

[Weiss stops herself, shaking her head.]

- but wondering isn't going to solve it. We know what's going on now, and we can stop it from going further once we go back.

Once we all go back.

[That... geez. That feels conflicting. There's nothing Ruby would love more than to bring Penny back with them, alive and whole, but... would it be as easy as that?]

... Do you think that would work? I mean, would it... um...

[Would it just kill Penny all over again?]

[Could that work? Everyone she's talked to has said when you leave, you just kind of go back to where or whenever you were with no memories of Johto.]

[Maybe there was a way around it. To get back with their memories, change things. But if so many people had been here for years and not found a way...]

...We can find a way to make it work.

[Hic.]

I believe in you.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

[It's hopelessly naive, and Weiss knows that. Maybe it's an impossible dream. Maybe it won't happen, despite best efforts.

But they can try, at least. That's the only way to know for sure.]

Right?

[The others might not have picked up on the significance of Penny's hiccups by now, but Ruby has and that one... that's heartbreaking.]

... Right. We've never let anything stop us before. Why start now?

[But just in case... maybe she should start picking up some engineering books in addition to the pokemon books she's been buying. Just in case something happens on the trip back home...]

I'll do whatever I can to help.

[Whatever that might be. This isn't the kind of thing she can just attack and make go away.]

It's wonderful here, but if there's any chance to help stop the damage my- the match sparked, I have to take it.

[It won't just magically go away, no, but anything to make all of this better - even a little - is a good thing.]

We'll do this together.

[She nods. Even if she's not entirely sure how, it's the only way forward.]

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Couldn't Stand Another Minute

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