#and slowly growing more and more corrupt as Ozpin gets closer and closer to the throne | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fire-the-headcanons · 4 years

Text

[In which team STRQ goes to a Halloween party at Beacon, dressed as their teachers and TAs. Enjoy.]

Tai elbowed Summer, puffed up his chest, and strutted straight for them.

Sneaking up just wasn't Port's style.

"Good evening, students!" he blustered. "How are you enjoying the festivities?"

"Mister Xiao Long, is that you?" Pete asked, blinking. Behind him Professor Mesánychta folded her arms and surveyed the four of them with one fist pressed over her mouth.

Checkmate. Tai stood up even straighter, nearly going up on tiptoe, and put his hands on his hips. "Of course not! I am Peter Port, who else would I be? Talk some sense, young man."

"Magnificent!" Pete roared, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I am flattered indeed!"

"I see you two have corrupted your teammates quite efficiently," Mesánychta said, still failing to mask a smile. Tai beamed, returning a mock salute.

Follow the Beacon Taiyang—Splitting Scares

[Link to Masterpost]

[TW for gore, fake blood - Halloween decorations

A note on the "horror house": it's a haunted house, on Remnant, designed by child warriors, exercise all due caution]

The Grimm Studies building was unrecognizable.

Somehow most of the lights had been coaxed from their usual neutral white into an eerie blood-red, staining the usually warm wooden paneling a gnarled black. Lights that hadn't changed were aimed at tables, covered in pristine white cloths. Grimm colors filled the room from corner to corner—add in the large number of students wearing bone masks and black clothing instead of proper costumes and the effect was eerie.

The mounted model Grimm heads remained, but the plaques and labels had been covered in black paper or cloth, giving the illusion that actual monsters were frozen in the walls and glowering down at them. As he looked closer…

Eugh.

Qrow elbowed him, keeping his voice low. "Those… that's fake, right?"

"Yeah, they're like 300 lien a pop at the party store."

"Thanks. ...That's… gross."

"Yeah." The dismembered limbs and dripping blood in the models' mouths crossed a line he wasn't entirely comfortable with. "Yeah." He pretended not to notice as Qrow turned and whispered something to Raven.

"There's Professor Carmine," Summer cackled, rubbing her work-gloved hands together and eyeing the far end of the refreshment table. She wore a chef's hat and white coat... with her trademark leather apron tied on as always. "I'm going in!"

They skirted the edge of the crowd, following Summer as she darted around the the table to come up behind the professor. Tai and the twins waited back a pace as she took the last few steps.

"Carmine Eitri! Have you done your maintenance this week?! " Summer demanded at full volume, making the professor and several students jump.

"What? You—" Carmine froze, looking her up and down, taking in the paper welding goggles and hastily-stitched apron with a delighted smile breaking across her face.

"I don't think you'll be smiling if your weapon malfunctions in combat!" Summer shrieked, barely keeping a straight face. She eyed the professor and the third years she'd startled before. "I want to see those gears shining or you can take the ashes out for a month!"

A boy with a Grimm mask hanging around his neck swore softly as Carmine burst into laughter. "Why didn't we think of that?" He pointed at Qrow. "Look, that kid's Ozpin."

"Wait, aren't those the freshmen that cheated during initiation?"

The professor raised her right hand, still chuckling. "I'll do it next time, I promise. Look at you four! I always love to see some clever craftsmanship. Have the others seen yet?"

"No, we just came in."

"You'll have to tell me everything later," she said with a nod, and turned back to her conversation with the third years.

"That went well." Summer grabbed a cupcake. Chocolate frosting and marshmallow claws made it look like a Beowolf's paw. "See anybody else?"

"Nope," Qrow said, passing Raven a chocolate chip cookie as he scanned the crowd. As soon as the twins bit into the treats they stared down at them with identical frowns of disappointment.

Tai laughed. "Come on, they're not bad. Summer's are just really, really good."

"Huh?" she muttered, still staring into the crowd. "Oh!"

"Zelenia, there you are. I wanted to— oh." Ozpin stopped short, blinking in confusion at Raven and a distorted mirror image of himself.

"Yes, headmaster?" Raven asked in a decent imitation of the professor. Qrow just grinned up at him, completely failing to keep a straight face.

He chuckled, taking a sip from his mug. "Very clever."

"Well, I certainly thought so," Qrow said in Ozpin's accent, sidling forward and mirroring him with an identical cup, though his was now full of fruit punch. "And I'm glad to see that your teamwork has improved considerably."

"That it has. ...I see your reputation at Signal was not unearned, Miss Rose, Mr. Xiao Long. Has Zelenia seen your handiwork?"

"Not yet," Summer replied. "We were looking for her too. Professor Carmine loved it though."

"She's probably doing a safety check in the house of horrors," he said, glancing at the hall that led toward Containment. Students were lined up to go inside, tucking parts of their costumes and the odd weapon into the bins provided. "Do make sure to show her when she gets back. I think she'll appreciate it."

Ozpin walked away, still chuckling, and Summer leaned in close to whisper in Tai's ear. "'House of horrors'? Is he ninety?"

"...Aren't you going to ask him?"

She huffed. "I chickened out, okay?"

"If it is a joke just lean into it. This is our only lead. I'll do it, if you want."

"N...no, I've got this." Her hands clenched and unclenched a few times. "I've got this."

"Well, he's getting away," Qrow said, and the four of them headed off after him. Luck wasn't with them, though, and the professor was already lost in the crowd.

***

It took a few laps of the hall to finally spot Mesánychta and Port, emerging from Containment as predicted. Perfect. Tai elbowed Summer, puffed up his chest, and strutted straight for them.

Sneaking up just wasn't Port's style.

"Good evening, students!" he blustered. "How are you enjoying the festivities?"

"Mister Xiao Long, is that you?" Pete asked, blinking. Behind him Professor Mesánychta folded her arms and surveyed the four of them with one fist pressed over her mouth.

Checkmate. Tai stood up even straighter, nearly going up on tiptoe, and put his hands on his hips. "Of course not! I am Peter Port, who else would I be? Talk some sense, young man."

"Magnificent!" Pete roared, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I am flattered indeed!"

"I see you two have corrupted your teammates quite efficiently," Mesánychta said, still failing to mask a smile. Tai beamed, returning a mock salute.

As they left he turned to Summer. "Well?"

She sighed, raising her hands. "You were right. Themed costumes are better."

"Sweet, because next year I was thinking we could do a sort of masquerade thing based on our names—"

"You're already thinking about next year?" Qrow asked.

"Sure! Why not?" he shrugged. "It's fun. Speaking of… who wants to try the horror house?"

"Um." Summer spared a nervous glance at the bloody wall decorations, and then at the large sign hung next to the entrance. "Only if we go through as a team."

She had a point. The warnings were… specific.

Qrow looked at Raven, who shrugged. "Sure, we're in."

"No weapons, no loose jewelry or clothing, you may be pushed or jostled, you may trip or fall," he read, unease growing with each line. "They're really splitting scares with these rules, aren't they? Ow. You may get wet but it won't stain— give your name for Semblance check? Full auras only?! Is this a horror house or a weapons-free cage match?!"

The fourth year with the Semblance check clipboard chuckled ominously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Summer demanded.

"Well, I hear there's face painting back at Signal if you don't think you can handle it."

"You're on," Raven declared, carefully setting her makeshift headband and floured jacket in one of the bins. Tai followed suit, though Summer and Qrow had more accessories to contend with.

"Wait," he said, throwing his arm in front of her as she reached the door. "No weapons. You have to leave the knife here."

"What? She doesn't have a—" Tai's jaw dropped as she pulled a utility knife out of her shirt with a scowl, clearly debating whether or not to actually hand it over. " Why are you carrying that?! This is a party!"

"Self-defense," she answered, glaring at him in a way that plainly asked why he didn't have one too.

"...Yeah, you gotta leave that here," the fourth year said, smug bravado suddenly nowhere to be found. Gingerly, he pinched the blade between his thumb and forefinger, trying weakly to lift it from her grasp.

"Aren't there supposed to be live Grimm?" she asked, making no move to release it.

"The actors are armed in case of emergency," he said quickly. "But there's also never been a problem. There are extensive safety precautions in place."

Raven only resisted for a moment longer before allowing the handle to slip through her fingers.

"It'll be fine!" Summer reassured her. "We're going through together."

"Yeah, just try not to punch anyone," Tai said, guiding her forward by the shoulder. "Raven Taupe and Taiyang Xiao Long. Those two don't have Semblances yet."

"Two on the same team, huh? Some odds," he said, skimming through his notes. "You're good to go. Head all the way down to the warehouse." He waved them past, staring Raven down. "But seriously, try not to punch anyone."

The hallway beyond was unchanged. No decorations, no red lights, nothing but the sky outside and the darkened labs to suggest they weren't on their way to class.

"That's kind of anticlimactic," Summer muttered, looking up at the lights as they walked.

"It's to ruin our night vision."

Slowly, everyone turned to stare at Raven.

"Easier to sneak up on someone who's blinded by the dark. It's the same reason you don't light a fire to keep watch. The point is to scare people, right?"

Tai chuckled nervously. This was getting less and less appealing by the second.

"Scared already?" Raven teased. "It hasn't started yet."

...Now, this could be fun. "Oh? Well if you're so gung-ho about it, let's see who breaks last."

"You're on." She smirked.

Where had this calm… confident version of Raven been for the last two months? It suited her so much better than quiet terror or misdirected fury. It came out sometimes when she fought, but he'd never seen it outside of combat—

"Great. You two walk in front," Summer said, stepping back and gesturing for her to take the place next to him.

He grabbed the handle of one of the double doors, grinning at Raven. "On three. Ready?"

"One—"

"Two—"

"Three." They shoved the doors open and stepped into the dark, blinking. Effectively blinded.

The warehouse was lit by a single, flickering emergency light that turned the rows of cages into a shadowy forest. Dozens of eyes burned in the darkness, flashes of light occasionally reflecting off of bone as they snarled and beat against the bars. Of course—there was plenty of fear in a horror house to get them up in a frenzy.

"Oh, that's freaky," Summer breathed. The nearest cage to the entrance had been torn open with the door hanging limply from one hinge.

Behind them, the doors slammed closed on their own and cut off the light from outside.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" The four of them jumped as someone leapt at them from the left, the scant light barely outlining his white lab coat. "YOU'VE LOCKED US IN WITH—"

He cut off at the sound of a low growl, shoving them behind him as he backed away from two Beowolves with horrible, burning eyes. Tai genuinely couldn't tell if they were costumes or not—they had to be, right? But were any of the fourth years that big?!

"RUN!" the scientist screamed, giving them a hefty shove. They took off, weaving around more twisted and fallen cages that chipped at Tai's aura every time he missed a jagged spur of metal in the dark. More wolves jumped out from either side, falling in behind them as they sprinted for the far door, claws clicking on the cement. Grimm snapped at them through the bars and it was impossible to tell which ones were real.

"We'll get out through the classroom wing," the scientist gasped, dragging the door open at last. The four of them darted past him as he waved them through. "There's a safe zone in the rear lobby. We have to seal Containment before they get ouAAAUUUGH—" he cut off as a wolf leapt from the darkness, its teeth closing over his shoulder and his scream blending with all four of theirs. A second bit onto his other arm, dragging him back into the room, and the door slammed shut.

Summer leapt forward to yank at the handle but it had sealed. On the other side, his terrified scream abruptly cut off. The four of them stood, stunned, the only sound the snarls of the Grimm.

"...FUCK this," Qrow said, conversationally.

Next Chapter: Summer—A Bit Much

#rwby #roosterteeth #rwby fanfiction #strq #team strq #taiyang xiao long #summer rose #raven branwen #qrow branwen #professor ozpin #ozpin #peter port #carmine eitri #zelenia mesánychta #follow the beacon

31 notes · View notes