Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-25924729-20150722084207/@comment-5426254-20151115020304

''Part 2 of the character development. Unusually long, but certainly meaningful. I hope I did Platinum some 'justice' here. -GL''

Now that Platinum had overheard and challenged Kreutznauer's angry tirade, Kreutznauer decided to double down, in a more calm, but nevertheless drunken state. While he was inebriated with drink, he made sure to remember what happened over the past few days.

"Okay, Roads, you want to know why? I'll give you why."

"Sir, what about-"

"Shut yer trap, lad. I'll get to you next."

After a moment of silence, he traced back his memories to the past few days, to elaborate on his main points in his earlier rant.

"So starting off, you warned us head on and started defending against the Grimm. That was fine. The only people that deserved what's coming to them was Thompson and that shitsack Barr, who did not get to safety despite being told to, and forced a camera onto Evergreen's hands."

"Next, you and Jacobs co-ordinated the assault on the last Firebat when I was out. And that night, I couldn't be any more proud of you when I saw you use strategy and teamwork that night."

"Then, you took care of a potential threat with the Night Runner by killing the beast while making sure that he can't fight back and wreak havoc against us. While I wish you could've bloody informed me, especially when I told you just before we slept on that first night, I let it slide because you displayed reasonable judgment."

"Then what's the problem here?" The two Hunters-In-Training were now puzzled over Kreutznauer's strange commendation of their actions.

"What I am against was you going after the Black Mares in the first place," Kreutznauer continued.

"What?"

"Was it really necessary to chase them in the RVs when all you could do was watch them from behind cover and from a safe distance? And since we all know how bloody stupid the film crew are, you should've thought about what could possibly go wrong when you made that call."

"But it was necessary to gain footage for the-" Platinum tried to respond, before being interrupted.

"What is more important? A few seconds of video? Or, more importantly, the safety of the people around you? There will be plenty of opportunities to gain footage of Grimm, but not many to survive getting mauled by one. Hell, you could easily wait until they had stopped somewhere, then filmed them without having to bump into these creatures."

"I thought you wanted to teach people about the Grimm so badly," Vert snarked.

"And I'm not that stupid or selfish enough to try and teach everyone about the Grimm to the point that I would endanger their well-being," Kreutznauer countered. "I make sure that any opportunity to study the Grimm will not result in the deaths of my students or anyone else by planning ahead. By checking the surroundings, and by preparing for the worst case scenario, I have made sure that the people under my watch are safe and secure. Hell, I've even saved countless lives because of this."

"Well, I could easily argue about your Ice Dust tactic against the Patriarch back then, not warning any of us about the strategy and all," Platinum retorted.

"You are so bloody wrong on so many counts, Roads."

"But-"

"One, I prepared for the worst. When I heard that the Patriarch made its way here, I knew we only had a window of time before it was going to make us get a hearing aid every time it roar. That's why I used it ahead of time and neutralized the threat early. I took into account what could possibly happen and dealt with it accordingly."

"Two, I did it to protect everyone, yourselves included. By making sure the Grimm would never try and harm any of you lot, I just bloody saved your arses. You did it because you were bored of travelling about and slaying the Grimm. You wanted to see action at all costs, and were willing to ignore common sense and the safety of the crew just for the heat of the moment."

"Three, Vert was involved in the plan as well. He's just as responsible as I am in this mess."

"Four, the reason why we did it without telling you was because you and everyone else would get into petty arguments over who was going to do what, especially with Arthren leading the charge. When I realized I could have possibly broken my own rules by using such a risky strategy, I immediately apologized to Arthren. And I made sure that I meant it, while all you did was not accept responsibility for your own actions, with that half-arsed apology of yours, Miss I didn't mean for my Semblance to turn into a giant fart bomb."

"And five, now you know exactly how annoyed I felt when you did the same thing, with the Night Runner and the Mares. Twice. You could call it payback, but I hope that you treat it as a lesson so that you never do this shite again."

"And why are you obsessed over this again?"

"After all the good that you did before the Black Mares, I expected you to be different from Thompson. I thought you were a dilligent and intelligent Huntress-In-Training that was a cut above the rest.

But now? After all this shite you pulled, how can I trust you with handling something so sensitive, when now all I see is someone who's going to screw up, just as bad as the production crew?"

"Well, what's the big deal with you, worrying about protecting everyone? With your helicopter parent strategies, you didn't give people like us a chance to prove ourselves! No, all you do is boss us around like children!"

Kreutznauer was pissed. But instead of going on a rage, he was going to explain further.

"Well then, if you don't want me up your arses, how about you start growing up then? Don't give me a reason to scream at you by being more responsible!"

"I gave everyone, especially you, several chances, Roads," Kreutznauer continued, "and for all except one, you proved that you were competent at it. But it only takes one mistake to ruin someone's trust. As for the reason why I worry so much," the Huntsman paused before producing a few photos out of the pockets of his vest, "is because of this."

Platinum and Vert now saw the darkened photos. They saw Kreutznauer standing by his Grimm Studies students, all looking happy. Of note were the ones surrounded by a red circle.

"The ones marked in red were the ones that were slaughtered by the Grimm," he continued, showing them footage of them eaten alive by the various species of Grimm on his Scroll. A look of understandable horror appeared on their faces.

"I hold myself responsible for each and every time someone dies on my watch," he somberly continued, shedding a few tears. "It's because that as their teacher, I'm supposed to make sure that they learn what to watch out for. It's because that as their local Huntsman, I'm supposed to make sure that they live while doing so.

Sometimes, I blame myself because I was a terrible teacher who failed to educate them properly and a shitty Huntsman who failed to ensure their safety. And that's not counting the funerals I've had to attend, filled with their loved ones, crying entire oceans now that their children have died."

Now Vert had a sense of understanding of where he came from. But Kreutznauer was far from finished.

"But there are some people who refuse to learn or open their hearts to a proper education! And that's what pisses me off the most. Those stupid people who refuse to cast aside their ignorance are the ones that are most likely to die an agonizing death. They insist that their fighting skills or their idealism is enough. It's not."

"Unless, you want to be like one of them, you should really consider being open to learning from people who have more experience."

"Now, onto your ideas of Justice," Kreutznauer responded, changing the subject.

"What's wrong with justice? The world needs some!" Platinum protested.

"Jacobs over here told me that he wanted to be a Huntsman because his parents were shitty people who lied to him. He thought they were honest people, but it turns out they were thieves. And now he wants revenge on every criminal because of some shitty childhood lie. Ridiculous."

"Justice," Vert asserted.

"Vert, I want to know, what is the number one thing you aim to do with your justice?"

"I'll enforce the law and make sure that every last criminal scum rots behind bars or dies a slow, painful death that they all deserve."

"See what I'm talking about? There is more to justice than that. For starters, I don't think that he even gives a damn about the innocent civilians who suffer."

Now Vert was flabbergasted. "Excuse me, but all of this is for the innocents!"

"Have you ever thought of other kinds of justice? Like making sure the poor people in the villages and the Kingdoms don't starve? Or making sure that fewer Faunus get bullied into submission? Did you think that for a single second, to look beyond the court convictions, and tell which defendants are truly guilty, or which ones are truly innocent, but were falsely convicted? And what about those who are so do crime for survival? Have you no sympathy for them?"

"And have you really looked deep down and asked yourself whether or not you truly care? Or is it that all this is for yourself? Ask yourself if you're really committed to justice."

Vert was even more dumbfounded than before.

"What about me? I care about the safety of all people. Shouldn't we do something about these things, considering how there's an incompetent police force that can't accomplish anything? If more people took a stand against crime, maybe we wouldn't have as much Grimm on our tails than before!" Platinum protested.

"And there should. I'm not against the idea of justice, or improving the police force. However, I am against the way you approach the situation. Your idea of tackling justice is beating the crime out of everyone with more cops. That's called having a police state, something that's going to scare the average bloke shitless, thus attracting more negativity. It will cause resentment and anger among the masses, thus creating more unrest now that their civil liberties are in jeopardy, again baiting more hordes of Grimm with negativity. And..."

"And?"

"And it smells of unrealistic expectations. Let's be honest. We're not one hundred percent saints. I believe that every person has a dark half to them. Even if the four Kingdoms are to the point of an utopian state, all it takes is someone to break a few rules and cause chaos among the masses and ruin everything by bringing the Grimm along. They might strike in the distant future ... or sooner than you think."

Another awkward silence ensued.

"While ridding the Kingdoms of crooked people, especially the incompetent police and government,someone, somewhere is always going to commit a crime. Anyone can be negative at anytime. While I do appreciate some justice, keep in mind that you can't catch em' all, only some of them."

"What are you trying to say?"

"The nature of every bloke on the planet is like this. We're fifty-fifty on the scale of good and evil. We've built great things and destroyed them. We've preserved lives and we ended lives. It's always been that way for as long as people can remember, it's here right now, and it will probably be that way till' the end of time. We are free to enforce justice so long as we don't set our standards through the roof, not doing whatever moral wrongs to achieve a hundred percent success rate and that we do not force it over the rights of the average man."

"If you want to tell us why we suck, why do you have to be so much of a jerk about it?"

"While I'm bloody aware of how being pissed is Grimm bait, again. Realistic. Expectations. What, you're going to be the emotional secret police, with your therapy gulags? Besides, there are problems bigger than some bloke's rustled jimmies, feelings that I don't remotely give a shit about. And you know what? I. Don't. Fucking. Care. Anymore."

Kreutznauer then took out a few bills out of his wallets, tossed them on the table, and walked out of the restaurant, leaving Vert and Platinum behind with the cheque, and several pairs of eyes staring at them.

"Ever noticed these people are staring at us?" Vert asked.

"It's probably because of Kreutznauer and his big sob story," Platinum muttered.

But as the two looked outside, they saw some of the crew members and their partners heading to various inns and cafes receiving awkward stares. And they weren't even remotely close to the sloshed Huntsman.

"Okay, something is definitely up with this town, I swear."

The two then paid for the meal before they begain to investigate what insidious thing just made the townsfolk behave oddly ...