Breaking Bench II: Breaking Aoife

IC:

Under the shade of the tree, I continued to watch, weapon still holstered in disregard to Kirkka's request, no, order, and listen to the conversation.

To the janitor, she says "So... we're grounded? I guess that's not the worst thing that could happen. However, I would suggest leaving that device in her neck. This entire mess was started by her inability to control her emotions, and if that thing does it even slightly, it should stay put."

Turning to walk to Leo, she quickly whispers to him "Well... I'll see you around somewhere, I'm sure. Speak to you soon."

Starting to walk to her dorm, she remembers something and pauses to say to the group "And... for the record? I already know how to kill humans quite well. I don't need to learn anything on that front."

Not speaking as she looks around at the group. Spotting the whisper but not hearing it, her brain acts like a IFF, already working out what steps to take if Leo decides to attack. Aoife just stands by Kirkka, starting to regain her balance.

"I have already been... taking measures regarding the implementation... of a systems killswitch... to stop the Titan of Steel..." Leonius looked apologetically at Viola, sighing. "However... as I told Aoife... I have prepared for this... There is something you should know... and you will become very accustomed... to hearing the word 'no' in such..."

Leonius approached Kirkka, his hand emerging from behind his back.

"What is a Huntsman, Kirkka Scarlet..?" His breath rasped. "Is it the job... of the Huntsman to kill Grimm... or protect his people? We are... training to become the sword and shield... But wherein does... our purpose lie..?" He glanced at Viola, before returning his gaze down at Kirkka. "A question posed... for generations... to which there has been every... answer possible given." He loomed over the janitor, and his earlier obedient posture changed. "Yet we both know... this world is not so simple... as Man versus Grimm... though your statement does not reflect this truth. You blame aggressor and defender... as if both share equal part... An overly simplistic... and short-sighted worldview..."

As he opened his hand, a holographic screen popping up that he obscured from anyone but Kirkka, Leonius sighed.

"I have been nothing... but apologetic and accommodating in the difficulties... my existence has posed... But in this matter... I will be the unstoppable titan... that in your heart you no doubt think me to be... Read, Kirkka... and understand why I am saying... these things to you..." He still held his apologetic tone, but it held a chill that matched the ice in Kirkka's own. "Will Beacon administration have... the killswitch to my systems? No... Will there be administrative backlash... from this event..? No... Will I aid in the removal... of the nerve staple from Aoife Knight..? No... Will Beacon medics be able to... without substantial risk...?" Leonius looked at Aoife's tear-streaked face. "... No. This matter, and attending concerns... have been elevated beyond... the purview of Beacon administration... And the 'further notice' you speak of... though unnecessary in light of this document... will be forthcoming quickly."

He looked back at her eyes on the page, and looked away.

"Do you see now... the pattern I mentioned before..? Do you understand why..? We are all... cogs in this machine... Kirkka..." Leonius clenched his other fist. "You know now what Ozpin's decision... will be... It is the only one that it can be..." Waiting for Kirkka to finish reading, Leonius closed his other fist, the screen vanishing, and turned. His cannons passed within a foot of her face as he did. "... This document... is filed with Beacon's administrative office... if you need to review it... And for what it is worth... I am sorry... that things have taken... this route... but I am sure there will be... no violent retaliation..." He glanced back at her. "Unless you think me... Grimm... rather than Man..."

As he stepped away, and picked up the bullet that took down his barriers, he looked back at the bushes.

"... Oh... and your comrade's weapon... was very impressive... Cascade resonant failure induction in the dust... leading to complete pattern failure... I assume? ... I know... you probably don't want to say... I will figure it out... soon enough..."

Clenching both fists, her aura would start growing erratic as the Kirkka hand used to help hold up Aoife starts getting crushed. Her mind just going simply to herself over and over, ' By the time I finish with him, and anyone who stands in my way, not even ash will remain. '

Viola pauses on her way back to her room after hearing bits and pieces of Leo's monologue.

Turning around to face him, she crosses her arms and gives him a look that clearly means Explain what the frell I just heard.

Leonius sighed as he caught Viola's gaze, gesturing for her to come over with his finger, looking at her sternly. Or perhaps lovingly. Fearfully?

The helmet looked the same as it always did.

Noticing Leo's gesture, Viola shakes her head and frowns, staying exactly where she is.

Hmph. As if.

Aphelion walked up to see what the commotion was all about. As he arrived he saw Aoife burning in a maid suit. It didn't help that he actually got drunk last night. He dropped on his knees and started laughing uncontrollably. Finally, wiping the tears from his face he looked at Aoife and said ''I didn't know you were into playing a hot maid.'' before pulling a bag of popcorn out from under his shirt and throwing it onto her head.

Kirkka listened to Viola speak, but only briefly spoke in response. "Ho... is that so? Perhaps, in time, we'll see just how capable you are." She turns to Leo, listening to him speak.

Kirkka stood, reading the letter with her dull grey eyes. Reckless. Idiot. Foolish. She thought to herself. She made a mistake somewhere down the line. But there is no point in reversing that now. Kirkka looks up at Leonius after finishing, watching him turn around and begin walking. She is masking her emotions, but there is a hint of confusion, and frustration. As Leo took his steps away, she watched his back in silence. She had no words to counter with currently. If that letter was true... then some things are coming to fruition possibly sooner than expected. She speaks briefly, quietly, to seemingly nobody. "Stand down."

As Leo picks up the bullet, he notices that it is crumbling in his hand. Some kind of corrosive agent inside that destroys it maybe? Hopefully it doesn't affect his armor.

Kirkka turns back toward Aoife, her crushing grip on Kirkka's hand causing discomfort, but little pain. "Cease your actions, Aoife Knight. Let us go to the infirmary." She takes a step toward the building, still holding Aoife's hand, protected by her own Aura. Another student has arrived on the scene and taunts Aoife, then throws a bag of popcorn at her head. Kirkka, distracted by her own thoughts, barely even notices as it flies directly into Aoife's face, popcorn flying everywhere. All Kirkka does is turn to look at Aoife, strengthening her grip on the spear held in her left hand.

If any malice or intent to burn everything to the ground hadn't been showed by now, it would be in full view now. Despite knowing full well to listen to the Groundskeeper, she looks at Aphelion like he was a feral Grimm in need for putting down.
Stopping to crush her hands into fists. Aoife starts to regain control of her temper, her aura returning from lashing out at thin air to masking her in a flowing and twisting nether.

Leonius watched Kirkka go, though shooting a glare at Aphelion and shaking his head, before he approached Viola, tossing the bullet aside and rinsing his hand off in the wrecked fountain on the way past.

"... You look... a bit concerned."

Ignoring everyone else, Viola looks directly at Leo to speak to him.

"And why wouldn't I be? I only heard some of what you just said, but it was more than enough for me to be worried. You blatantly ignored my request, which is the main thing that bothers me."

"Wait, wait, Minute Maid, wait!" said Aphelion before pulling out more popcorn bags and throwing them at Aoife. Then he dropped onto his stomach and started rolling around, laughing hysterically.

Turning around as he yells, she grabs one in her hands and instantly sets it alight, then using her aura to increase the speed of her launching it back at him, aimed at his chest as a flaming projectile.

Kirkka glares at Aphelion for a moment, spotting someone else approaching him. She pulls on Aoife's arm slightly, trying to move her along. "You aren't making things better for yourself."

A shadow appears over Aphelion, blocking the light from the sun. A man stands over him, arms crossed in front of him. The man has short, spiky black hair, is wearing camouflage friendly pants, a shirt with a  faint golden symbol on the front, and a brown jacket over it. He has large, armored gauntlets covering his wrists. A massive rifle sits on his back, and various pockets and pouches cover the inside of the jacket and sides of his pants. His voice is quiet, calm, and relaxed. "Hey. Quit it before I throw you off a cliff."

"... Walk with me..."

Leonius took Viola's hand, leading her a bit away from the chaos, though in defiance of Kirkka's instructions.

"This is not... the full shutdown we discussed earlier... It is a weapon, Viola... Crafted for use against one... whom may one day become my enemy... I do not know in what ways... the system will evolve... and so I take my precautions now..." He looked down at her, sighing. "... You had an issue... with me having a killswitch... to protect you... over myself. This... I do now... for myself... If the suit can process you... as a threat... it can interpret me... as one."

He stopped, shaking his head.

"... I will also... retain many of my pattern and motor control... functions. Even without... the computer managing the firmware..." He turned more fully to her, smiling under his helmet. "I will not... be helpless..."

Having her arm pulled a split second before she launches the packet, she crushes it in her hand before leaving the smouldering wreckage on the ground. Moving along at a faster pace than before, barely short of jogging as she says with a sigh, "Can we just go to the infirmary? I want to get this over with."

Aphelion stopped rolling and his face became serious, "Right! I'm sorry sir. I can't afford to be caught now... Not with the petroleum.

Suddenly he felt a wet patch on his chest. First, he sat up and noted that the petroleum he intended to use to fuel his mini-lab spilled all over him. Second, he noted that the lighter he smuggled in to start up the stove was now opened. Lastly, he noted that subtle click of the lighter as it fired up.Oh shi- He quickly activated his defensive aura stance, but it was only fast enough to cover the chest before the fire touched down on the petroleum. With a loud explosion, Aphelion was ripped out of his clothes and flew a long stretch of field before coming to a halt, crashing with high velocity into a bench.

He was broken, and he was out. Everything faded-to-black.

"I'll trust your judgement here... for the time being. If I see it becoming an issue in the future, I will be extremely upset." she responds, sighing and settling in to a more relaxed posture.

"Though... the idea of the suit processing me as a threat is kind of funny, as you're one of a few people here that I truly don't think I could best in any form of combat. Anyway, was there anything else you wished to discuss at the moment?" She says, looking up at him with a small smile on her face.

Leonius barely paid any heed to the explosion, noting it was Aphelion and thus filing it in the Situations I Don't Give A Damn About category. "... So what else... did you hear, when I was speaking... to Kirkka..?"

He glanced back at the redhead's form growing more distant.

"... There will not be... official blowback... but unofficially... things may become interesting..."

Kirkka picks up the pace, seeing as Aoife appears to be in a hurry. They make their way to the infirmary. (Exit, stage right!)



The man standing over the scorch mark on the ground just stares at it for a moment, before looking around at anyone nearby. Speaking to seemingly anyone in earshot... "That wasn't me. I wasn't even really going to throw him off the cliff! Probably not, anyway. Well, maybe. I guess its hard to say. I haven't had the chance to throw anything off a cliff lately." Spotting the destroyed bench, with a giant [CENSORED] box covering the area, he shrugged and headed past Viola and Leonius, toward the Academy.

Spying the explosion and seeing the victim, Viola starts smiling a little more.

This could be the perfect chance for him to either die... or for me to put him out of his misery.


Turning to Leo to register his question, she replies with "The mention of the killswitch and a little of the Huntsman sentences... beyond that, nothing, though I was fuming mad for a little bit there so I lost focus."


Walking to a nearby wall, she leans against it before speaking again. "Honestly, I don't give a damn about official or unofficial blowback. I'm here for a reason, and while the potential to learn something from the classes is nice, that is not the reason. If other students insist on acting like Grimm or whatever else, that's how I'll treat them. It makes no difference to me."

Leonius chuckled. "Aye, I remember... The lovely little spy." He brushed a lock of hair out of her face.

He looked at her smile a moment before continuing.

"... Kirkka has had... a bit of an upsetting revelation... regarding powers outside of Beacon... Though I am curious... about that sniper. I have been running... simulations to try to determine... the precise mechanisms of his antibarrier shot..." Leonius chuckled, shaking his head. "... Like it or not... however... at the end of the day... there are those who care about humanity... and those who do not..."

Resting his arm over her head, Leonius towered over the much smaller girl, his other hand on her shoulder.

"... I wonder... lovely little spy... if you stand between... like your aloof attitude suggests..."

"What powers might those be? As far as that sniper goes, I'm actually surprised we haven't seen him around before... he must be a professional Huntsman already."

Glaring and blushing slightly at his comments, she continues with "And... if you want my honest opinion? I don't give a damn about humanity. We're fighting a losing battle as it is, I'm living proof of that. I have no real reason to care for anyone else when that's the case."

At least I didn't care about anyone before I met you...

Leo's hand slid down her arm, and he shook his head. "Perhaps one day... I will show you my homeland... Perhaps there... you may see a side of humanity... worth protecting..."

He wanted nothing more than to kiss her. To feel her lips upon his. To have his tongue probe her mouth. To do something so normal, and natural feeling.

The best he could do was to rest his mask against her head. "... I wish ever so... that I were not this... thing..."

"It's a possibility... only time will tell, though."


Unsure of what to say to his second comment, she hesitates for a while before saying "Would you like to go somewhere... more private?"