RWBY: Dark/Experiments

Lord Ozpin was silent for a moment. Then, without warning, slammed his fist down onto his desk. The wood split and snapped underneath the impact. He had just been informed of the battle at the tower and his Huntsman and Huntresses’ failure to kill or capture the rebels. Lord Ozpin felt his hands tingle, but clenched them closed to stop them.

“Not yet,” he thought.

His “warriors” would have to be punished, harshly. He figured a few weeks in solitary confinement each would be acceptable. As for Schnee, he’d have to hurt her a different way: he’d have to hurt her pride.

The tyrant reached up and pushed his glasses into place, the dim light of the window reflecting off of them. He sat quietly for a moment, then stood up. He grabbed his cane.

“If these children aren’t going to do it right,” he thought, “then I guess I’ll have to bring in the adults.”

Emerald’s eyes widened. “You mean you took on Huntsman, Huntresses, Weiss Schnee, the Reaper, and a crazed maniac?”

Roman nodded slightly as Cinder tightened the bandage around his leg. “More like Cinder did. She took on most of them and even wounded a few pretty good.”

Emerald turned her attention to Cinder. “Cinder, what were you thinking? You could’ve been killed.”

“But I wasn’t!” Cinder snapped. Emerald drew back, surprised. Cinder sighed. “I’m sorry, Emerald. But I’m sick and tired of everyone thinking they can walk all over us. They need to know that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

Mercury, who was sitting nearby, scoffed lightly. “Yeah, but the downside of them thinking we’re a threat is that now they’re going to better prepare for us. What we were living through before was them thinking we were easy targets, and that was hard enough. Now how hard do you think they’re going to come down on us?”

Cinder shook her head. “I’m sorry. I did it... for Salem.”

“Yeah, we heard you.” Roman said.

Cinder tightened his bandage more, making Roman grit his teeth and seethe in pain. Then Cinder stood up, glanced at Adam (who had been sitting quietly). She looked over to Emerald, who gazed at her with an expression of concern. Cinder then turned and headed down the hall to her room. She just wanted to rest.

As she passed Salem’s room, she heard the occupant mumbling inside. She stopped and looked inside. Salem was curled up in a fetal position on her cot, mumbling to herself. Cinder decided to check up on her.

“Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains…” Salem rambled as Cinder got closer. Cinder sat down on the cot next to her mentor. She stared at the floor for a moment, then looked over to Salem.

“Hey Salem,” Cinder said slowly. “Do you remember me?”

Salem stopped mumbling and looked up, her eyes reaching Cinder’s face. She sat still, mouth agape, staring.

A tear formed in Cinder’s eye. “Come on, Salem. You know me. Don’t you recognize me?”

No reply.

“Do you know who I am?”

No reply.

The tear rolled down Cinder’s cheek as she began to raise her voice. “Who am I? Do you know? I don’t even think I know. I need you!”

Salem began to recoil, and her breathing began to speed up.

Cinder threw her hands up and placed them onto Salem’s shoulders, shaking her slightly. “You must still be in there somewhere! You need to help us! You need to tell us what we’re supposed to do!”

Salem’s breathing grew rapid, and she yelped slightly. Cinder saw the fear in her eyes and realized what she was doing. She unhanded Salem and scooted back.

“I’m sorry,” she said, more tears coming to her eye. “I’m sorry.”

Cinder jumped up and ran out of the room. She wanted to get back to her own room before she stared crying.

Lord Ozpin pushed the door open. The hallway before him was lined in dark metal. Each step he took made the metal clang beneath his feet, which echoed in the passage. When he reached the door to the other end, he quickly typed the passcode onto the access pad, allowing the security door to slide open. Without so much as a word, he entered the room.

The Beacon Laboratory was full of mechanical equipment, operating tables, metal tools, and bottles and jars of acids and organs. One one side of the room was one of the people he was looking for, with a mass of metal and wires on one of the tables before her. On the other side was the other person, wiping blood off of an operating table. Both looked up to see who had entered their domain, then rose and stood at attention when they saw it was their Lord.

“Lord Ozpin,” the woman with the machines said in a slow, sultry voice. She bowed slightly. “What brings you to our humble workplace?”

Lord Ozpin lowered his had and peered at his underlings over his glasses. “Your experiments,” he said coldly, “I think it’s about time we put them to use.”

“Will you be desiring to use my experiments, my Lord?” the man said. As with everything he said, he said it so fast and loud that it almost sounded like one word. There were little to no pauses in the man’s speech. Too much coffee had something to do with it.

“Nonsense!” the woman said, throwing her hair over her shoulder. “My experiments are what he’s looking for.”

“Silence, the both of you.” Lord Ozpin snapped. Both of his underlings stood straight. “I will be using both of yours.”

Both the man and the woman grinned evilly.

“Goodwitch, show me what the newest model looks like.” Lord Ozpin commanded.

Glynda Goodwitch nodded. “Right this way...” She then began walking over to a corner of the lab.

Glynda Goodwitch was the builder and mechanical tinkerer of Lord Ozpin’s forces, experimenting with new weapons, tools, and devices to aid her Lord’s cause. She had modified the Huntsman Jaune Arc’s shield to combine with his sword. However, the project she had been working on recently was easily one of her favorites, and the command for it had come from none other than Lord Ozpin himself.

Lord Ozpin followed Goodwitch over to the corner, where a large object rested under a thick white cloth. Glynda grabbed the cloth and, with a look of enthusiasm, yanked it off to reveal her creation.

“What you are seeing is the result of over a year of toiling with the most advanced in mechanical and robotics engineering. Of course, Ironwood helped out with putting it together. One the outer layer is added, it will be practically invisible to unsuspecting victims.”

Lord Ozpin nodded slowly. “What does it run on?”

“Dust,” Goodwitch replied. “Two Dust crystals will keep it going for over two weeks. But I’m sure our little... “friend” in the SDC can generously provide some of her supply to keep it going.”

Lord Ozpin nodded again. “Impressive.” He paused. “Add the finishing touches. I want it ready for deployment by the end of the week.”

Goodwitch smiled upon hearing the words of praise, and bowed. “Yes, my Lord.”

Lord Ozpin turned around and looked at the man. He walked over, taking his time.

“And what do you have for me, Oobleck?”

Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck grinned. While Goodwitch was much more the mechanical side of war science, he was definitely the biological side of it. But not things like poison gases or steroids. Oh no…

And while Goodwitch did her work out of an admiration for their Lord and a loyalty to him, Oobleck did his for fun. The scent of decay, the cold of blood… Lord Ozpin just gave him the opportunity to do what he loved.

“I am pleased to announce,” he said in his fast-talking manner, “that Project Deadwind is not only possible, but doable. And not just doable, but successful.”

“Elaborate,” the Lord commanded.

Oobleck moved over to the bloody operating table. “I’ve been running the experiments on our Huntsman and Huntresses that were, shall we say, ‘less than fortunate’ in combat.” His smile widened. “The early ones were massively disappointing. But then came one.”

Oobleck moved to the other side of the table, barely able to contain his excitement. “It was that Winchester kid. As I ran the electricity through his body... as the serums and steroids took control of his muscles and tissues... suddenly he opened his eyes. He was alive again… so to speak.”

Lord Ozpin nodded. “Would you be able to replicate it?”

“Already have!” Oobleck exclaimed. “Next was that Bronzewing fellow! And after that, the Soleil girl! As long as they have the correct blood type and are LOCK compatible, they can be… restored!”

Lord Ozpin looked around. “Do you have one that could be perfected by the end of the week?”

Oobleck smiled again, then snapped his fingers. “Port!” he yelled.

Oobleck’s hunchbacked, obese, foul-smelling assistant staggered from the shadows, his eyes squinting tightly behind a dirty and rugged mustache. He carried a bag over his shoulder, the bottom of which was dripping blood onto the white floors.

“The body, Master.” Port lifted the bag and placed it roughly on the table. He grunted, then backed up.

Oobleck opened the tied end of the bag and revealed the contents inside to Lord Ozpin.

“This is one of the many bodies we’ve found out in the wasteland,“ Oobleck said quickly. “She’s in a bit of a sorry state now, but she’s the perfect subject. Everything seems to match. If we woke this one up, she could do some damage.”

Lord Ozpin stared at the mangled corpse. “Dump it onto the table.”

Oobleck complied, lifting the bag and allowing the gory contents to spill out onto the table. The stench was revolting; but Oobleck liked it. Blood pooled under each of the mutilated sections.

“It looks like it’s been cut clean in half,” Lord Ozpin remarked. He shifted his unamused and dark gaze to Oobleck. “Are you sure this... thing will serve my purposes?”

“I guarantee it,” Oobleck replied. “Give Port and I until the end of the week, and she’ll be ready at the same time Goodwitch’s machine is.”

Lord Ozpin scoffed, but turned his attention back to the corpse. As he regarded it, he noticed one of its eyes was pointed towards him. Even though it was glazed and bloodshot, its brown iris was still noticeable. This gave him an idea.

“Goodwitch,” he called. Goodwitch hurried over from where she had been standing, rushing to her Lord’s side.

“Yes, my Lord?”

"That older experiment you were working on, the strobe lights..." he said. “Did they work? Did they co what we wanted them to?”

Goodwitch nodded. “Yes, my Lord.”

“Do you still have them?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Lord Ozpin nodded again. He looked over to Oobleck. “Remove its eyes and replace them with Goodwitch’s strobes. This will amplify its danger.”

Oobleck sttod quiet for a moment, then realized what his Lord meant. “Yes... yes!” He could barely contain his excitement. “Wonderful idea, my Lord! Wonderful idea!”

Lord Ozpin then turned on his heel and walked towards the door, clutching his cane behind his back. “I want both of them ready to go by the end of the week, no exceptions. Do not fail me.” Venom dripped from his words.

“Yes, my Lord...” both said simultaneously, bowing. They remained bowed until Lord Ozpin exited the room.

Oobleck was the first to stand up straight again. “Well Goodwitch, it seems like our two departments will be working on something together for once.”

Goodwitch chuckled. “Indeed. Whatever Lord Ozpin is planning for those rebels, our creations will ensure it will be a success!”

Goodwitch hurried over to her station to finish the final touchs on her machine. Oobleck strolled over to the table with the body on it. Port was hunched nearby, grinning and growling.

Oobleck looked down at the mutilated corpse before him. He leaned down and sniffed her pink hair. It smelled revolting… and sexy. He chuckled.

“Now...” he said, pulling a pair of gloves out of his pocket and snapping them on, “shall we, my dear?”

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