To be honest, Egrer thought he shouldn't interfere in Team RWBY's business. No, he understood Ruby's feelings, as he himself had once tried to glue his falling-apart team back together and knew exactly what it felt like. But this was strictly their problem, one they had to solve on their own. They had to rub along with each other and settle any emerging disputes by themselves. Otherwise, they weren't a team.
Egrer decided to help for a different reason. Just like Ruby, he perfectly understood Weiss and her desire to take the leader's spot. And he also knew what this desire could lead to. He knew it better than anyone else.
That time he had backed down because he knew—there was no changing her mind. Weiss refused to hear anything that contradicted her opinion, and excessive persistence would only make things worse.
There was a hope she would eventually realize where her chosen path would lead. But now Egrer understood just how naive it was to count on that. In reality, back then he had simply postponed the decision until better times, which never came. On the contrary, things were only getting worse, and repeating his mistake, hoping that everything would sort itself out, was just plain stupid.
He had to do something himself. And he had to do it now.
Luckily, he wasn't alone; Ruby was ready to help him. Egrer had once told her everything he knew about Weiss, and now it was her turn to return the favor.
Not that they had suddenly become friends, they just ended up having similar goals. She wanted to befriend Weiss and unite her team, while Egrer wanted to convince Weiss to step off the path of destroying that very team.
So they were more like allies.
This thought made him feel both amused and sad at the same time. It was amazing how everything had turned upside down—the one he had plotted against had become his indispensable partner against the one he had hatched those plots with. There was something wickedly ironic about it.
And what was even more ironic was that Nora had also agreed to participate in his plan. Taking on a leading role, no less.
Trying to change Weiss's mind with mere words was pointless. If it were that simple, Ruby would have handled it herself.
It was time to play hardball.
"Welcome to the meeting of the Order of the Backstabbers," Egrer announced solemnly. He walked without knocking into the classroom used by the Order and the Union for their meetings.
"You're back!" Nora instantly crushed him in a steel grip.
"What the hell are you doing here?" the Supreme Chairman asked, narrowing her eyes as she stood next to a chalkboard covered in devious plans. "And how did you know we were having a meeting right now?"
"You really like sticking to a schedule." That wasn't a lie. "I just remembered what time you and Nora usually disappear and came right on schedule." Neither was that. "And I came to help you with your problem, Weiss."
Not a single word of a lie. Perfect. Egrer hadn't spent several hours thinking through their dialogue for nothing.
"With Ruby?"
"With your team's mutual understanding."
"Did she feed you some bullshit again?"
"I'm not here to talk you out of your coup idea; on the contrary, I'm here to bring you closer to it. I have a rather interesting little idea."
Weiss immediately put down her chalk and was all ears. She simply froze, staring unblinking right into Egrer's eyes, which freaked him out a little. It felt like she could stand there for years without moving a single muscle just to gain this knowledge.
"Truth be told, it'll require some sacrifices on your part..."
"What kind of sacrifice?" the Supreme Chairman of the Order of the Backstabbers inquired in a businesslike tone, looking ready to slaughter a virgin on an altar if the need arose.
"Your time, your nerves, and possibly your self-respect."
"Acceptable. Spit it out."
Egrer had been slightly deceitful when he said this plan would bring the coup closer. No, theoretically that was true, but the actual goal of this idea was entirely different. First of all, Weiss had to understand that if she didn't change her mind about the importance of her teammates' approval, she'd be ruling over ashes. Nobody would follow someone who didn't give two shits about their opinion.
And for her to start listening to them, she had to make friends with them.
Failure of this plan was unacceptable and could lead to disastrous consequences. The idea itself was pretty risky, because if anything went wrong, Weiss would be the one taking all the flak, which definitely wouldn't help Team RWBY unite.
After a brief pause, during which everyone had a moment to soak in the impending revelation, Egrer stated:
"You need to make friends with your team."
"O-o-oh," Nora breathed out, "very devious and sneaky. Just our style!"
"And there's the catch I was waiting for," Weiss sighed in disappointment. "I thought we already talked about this, Egrer. What difference does it make whose side they're on if the Headmaster is the one deciding everything? We need to focus all our attention on him."
"Which is what we've been doing for the past..." he began bending his fingers for show, "the whole damn time. And there are zero results. Doesn't that mean it's time to try something new?"
"Then maybe we should try standing on our heads, clapping three times, and making a wish? What if it helps?"
"Don't exaggerate. Nora, sit back down, she was joking."
"But what if it actually works?!" Nora protested, completely ignoring her former leader. Egrer hastily looked away so he wouldn't see her skirt hike up.
"We ignoring her?" Weiss suggested.
"Like always," he nodded. "So, regarding my plan—it's already in motion, so you can't wiggle your way out of it."
"Pfft! I always have a choice and I can always say no."
"Not in this case, sorry." Weiss crossed her arms in displeasure but stood her ground. She genuinely believed that if she didn't like something, she could just walk away. Naive. "I talked Private Valkyrie into organizing a girls' night and telling everyone that it was your idea. All the girls from our teams are already waiting for you in Team JNPR's room. Have fun!"
"So that's what it was for!" Nora exclaimed in shock, still staying out of Egrer's line of sight. Three claps echoed through the room. "Such deviousness, poor Weiss..."
Poor Weiss was at a loss for words. Such audacity didn't just surprise her; it paralyzed her. She opened and closed her mouth like a beached fish and blinked so rapidly it looked like she was about to cry. Except there wasn't a hint of tears in her eyes—an all-consuming fury was taking over her mind.
Weiss was truly pissed off.
"This is outrageous," she finally hissed, looking so terrifying that Egrer had to scoot back a bit. "You didn't even ask for my opinion."
"I just knew you'd say no, and this way you have no choice. If you go and tell them the truth, you'll just upset the girls. Nora told me they were really happy you decided to make friends with them. Even Blake didn't object."
"Nora..."
"Eg was very convincing. And you really won't be able to become the leader if you don't make friends with the others."
"Watch me."
"Everything's already set up," Egrer said with a placating smile. "All you have to do is show up and reap the laurels. I'm sure if they ask a couple of awkward questions, you'll figure a way out. Your brain works like a charm."
"I'm not going anywhere," Weiss said firmly. Sometimes her social anxiety could give even Illmond a run for his money, and Egrer had no idea what her actual problem was.
The fake smile slid off Egrer's face, revealing his true emotions.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why are you afraid of your own goddamn team?!"
"I'm not afraid of them, that's just stupid," she replied mechanically, stomping towards the exit.
"Oh, really? Do you even talk to them at all? I only see you guys together at breakfast, and even during classes you sit as far away from them as possible."
"Like a wannabe leader is gonna lecture me," she grumbled without turning around.
"Unlike you, my team actually likes me!" Egrer couldn't see her face, but her flinching shoulders spoke volumes. "Look, just give it a shot. I don't know what your problem is, it's none of my business... but just try chatting with them about, I don't know, your favorite food or season. Give them at least something to latch onto, and they'll do the rest themselves."
"It won't help."
"If that's the case, then I promise—I will never bring this up again. I know I can be too pushy sometimes... But you have to promise that you'll honestly try to make friends with them. Not half-assing it, but acting like your life depends on it."
Weiss turned around and looked him hard in the eyes. Egrer didn't know why she didn't want to get close to her own team, but he knew for a fact she had enough brains to grasp the obvious—no matter how much you force people to obey, they won't follow you just because you have a badge, power, or money. She couldn't possibly fail to understand that.
But then why was Weiss constantly pretending like she didn't care at all?
Egrer regretted creating the Order of the Backstabbers. If it weren't for that, they both would have made their peace long ago and lived in harmony with their teams.
Everything could have been completely different. Maybe he wouldn't have even gotten to know Weiss, and their last conversation would have taken place right outside Peter Port's classroom on the first day of school. They would have complained to each other about life and gone their separate ways.
What would Weiss be like then?
She definitely would have kept pestering Ruby, but not to drive her into the ground—rather to mold her into the kind of leader who would have every right to command Weiss Schnee herself. She would have remained the same sarcastic pain in the ass, but far more tolerant and friendly.
Egrer would have been different, too. He wouldn't have had to live a whole month in a lie, a skill he was never good at anyway. He wouldn't have had to pressure Magenta to undermine her confidence in her role. He wouldn't have had to lie to himself just to successfully lie to the people around him.
Everything would have been so much simpler and better.
"I'm very hurt by you, Egrer," Weiss finally said. "I assume you would be very displeased too if I shoved my vision of leadership down your team's throat behind your back."
"Yeah." If she did that, Team Majesty would fall apart the very same day.
"Well. I suppose I truly have nothing to lose besides my time, nerves, and a drop of self-respect." Egrer let out a relieved breath. He'd done it. Weiss likely wouldn't forgive him for this "betrayal" until she realized just how right he was. "If you also promise to never do something like this again, then I'll agree to go to this girls' night and try to establish friendly relations with the others."
"I agree." And with that, the meeting of the Order of the Backstabbers was adjourned.
In gloomy, dead silence, they left the classroom and headed toward the dorms.
Egrer left Weiss and Nora at the entrance to Team JNPR's room, wishing them luck before walking away. Taking it step by step toward the stairwell, he kept pausing for a second, waiting for the sound of an opening door. But by the time he reached the stairs, he still hadn't heard a thing.
Weiss was still hesitating, staring at the closed door like it was the maw of a Death Stalker. The sounds of fun coming from the room repelled her, not because she found it unpleasant, but because she was afraid of it. Nora stood beside her and waited, perfectly aware that interfering would only make things worse.
And when Weiss finally touched the doorknob with her fingertips, she turned around. But Egrer was already gone.
Having lost all hope, he entered his own room, when suddenly he heard Ruby's joyful squeal:
"Weiss!" there was so much pure joy in her voice, it sounded like she had buried and mourned Yang, only for her sister to just pop right out of the coffin.
"Alright, now we just have to wait," Egrer exhaled quietly.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, Yort. Just thinking out loud."
Egrer closed the door and cast a glance over their, so to speak, boys' night. Since Team JNPR's room had been given over to the girls for their party, the guys from there had been forced to migrate here. He had suggested they hang out at their place himself, having previously swiped a few bottles of soda and bags of chips from the cafeteria.
Yort and Jaune were already playing some video game on the TV. As it turned out, you could not only watch movies or the news on it, but also connect your Scrolls as controllers. A very useful discovery, especially now when they needed to keep their dear guests occupied.
Despite the tense relationship between them, Jaune was chatting quite amicably with Yort, and the latter wasn't in any rush to scoot away from the weakling. In the game, they were fighting as equals.
In the other half of the room, Ren was trying to get Illmond to talk, but he wasn't really making contact. As always, he was unsociable, and even a guy like Ren couldn't find a way in. Come to think of it, they were actually quite similar. Both behaved calmly, reasonably, and quietly. It was almost impossible to piss either of them off, and both possessed that rare quality of being unobtrusive.
Except, while Ren kept those traits even in critical situations, Illmond often gave in to panic and impulsive actions. And if you really thought about it, he was more apathetic and lazy than calm and collected...
But these minor differences didn't matter at all. Egrer believed they could get along perfectly; they just needed a little push. And he decided to provide it, grabbing a chair on his way and sitting down closer to them.
The conversation, which had barely been hanging on to begin with, died out completely.
"So, what are we gonna do? I think we had some cards around here somewhere."
"Somebody say cards?" Yort asked without looking away from the TV. His health bar was already almost at zero, and even spamming his Semblance non-stop, he was barely holding his own against Jaune.
"We're not playing with you, don't even ask. We've already had this conversation."
"Is he a card sharp?" inquired Ren, who was feeling a bit uncomfortable in a stranger's room. Maybe it was because he was currently without Nora, who was usually always right beside him? They were literally attached at the hip. Or perhaps he was embarrassed by the anime posters featuring half-naked girls on the nearby wall?
"Card sharp isn't exactly the right word," Egrer replied with a chuckle. "But you could say that, yeah."
"Fuck off, I've never broken any rules."
"Oh, let's not go there, alright! We both know perfectly well that playing with you is just asking for trouble." After all, it's very hard to beat a clairvoyant in a game that relies entirely on chance. So in a way, Yort really was a cheater. "So, what do you think about the idea? Let's kill some time with a game or two."
"Not really feeling it," Illmond mumbled, reaching for his Scroll on the nightstand.
"Nope." Egrer beat him to it, snatching the largest digital hentai stash in the world first. "Tear yourself away from it for at least one evening."
"You sound like my mom."
"Since you don't want to play cards, then... I don't know... truth or dare?"
"Even worse," the basement dweller grumbled.
"Oh, you're not gonna agree to anything anyway, why am I even asking. Alright, we're playing truth or dare! And it's not up for discussion, Ill."
He mumbled something under his breath, but the applied pressure was enough to make him agree. Even though Egrer had promised not to meddle in his problems, this situation had come up unexpectedly and naturally. So he was in the clear; he was just going to give Illmond a little nudge toward a potential friend.
"Alright," Egrer started the game. "Ren, truth or dare?"
Something told him that if he started with Illmond, the guy would just wrap himself in a blanket and tremble in terror.
"Truth."
"Why did you decide to become a Huntsman?" It was best to start with something harmless. Personal questions could wait until they were warmed up.
"That's a tough question..." Ren mused. "It's easier to say what reasons didn't motivate us."
"Us?"
"Me and Nora. We've always been together and always walked the same path. So we both decided to become Huntsmen. But as for the reason why..." He started twirling a thin tail of hair around his finger. "Definitely not helping those in need, even though that's noble. Definitely not fame or money. I guess we just want to see the world. Everything else is a nice bonus."
After answering, Ren looked at Illmond, as if asking for his permission. The latter was panicking, shifting his lost gaze from one to the other, acting as if they had slapped him in chains and were dragging him to the gallows.
"Am I s-supposed to do something now? M-maybe you should pick Eg?"
"You need to say 'truth' or 'dare'," Egrer hurried to the rescue. It would be incredibly stupid if Illmond's socialization failed because of a minor detail like not knowing the rules of the game. "If you pick the first, you have to honestly answer a question; if you pick the second, you have to perform an action."
"T-then truth."
"What are your hobbies?" Ren also decided to ask something neutral. Illmond squeezed his eyes shut.
"In general—anime, visual novels, and a bit of reading, specifically—right now drawing, used to have a lot of other hobbies." He said it so fast and looking like he was confessing his sins to a priest. Having fired off his answer, he sighed again, but this time with relief.
"Me or Ren?" Egrer gave him a hint. Illmond pointed a finger at him. "Dare, then."
He'd rather do something embarrassing than answer questions. He had way too many little sins under his belt; one awkward question and it would turn into a very awkward situation. They'd see right through his bullshit, and lying in this game meant losing all dignity and honor.
And even though Illmond roughly knew what questions were best avoided, he was, to put it mildly, not thinking straight right now. Better safe than sorry.
"Well..." Illmond pondered, "I don't even know what to come up with..."
He was still terrified, but he pushed through and kept playing. At first, whenever it was the misunderstood artist's turn, he practically tried to bolt. But once he got a little taste for it, his imagination showed its true colors. Illmond made Ren wear a garbage bag and use it as a shirt for the rest of the evening, and Egrer first had to eat an apple with no hands, and then yell a confession of love for Glynda Goodwitch out the window.
It was the most embarrassing thing he had ever done in his life. Especially when the window a floor above them opened and Nora peered down at him.
"Having fun down there too?"
"Yeah, kinda." Egrer turned around, but Illmond and Ren were still cracking up over his fiery speech. "How's Weiss holding up?"
This whole time, he couldn't shake the irrational fear that his brilliant plan was going to crash and burn, so he couldn't help but ask.
"Everything is excellent, former Supreme Chairman, going exactly according to plan." Nora saluted, her tone turning jokingly serious. "'Hammer' reporting: 'Snow Angel' is under constant surveillance by either me or 'Butterfly'. High-risk subject 'Beast' has made no attempts to antagonize 'Angel' so far. The others have responded to the operation codenamed 'Girls' Night' with sheer delight. No Class 'Bail Out' incidents have been reported, and the threat of their occurrence is minimal."
"Keep it up." With those words, he ducked back into his room, and the game resumed.
Nothing truly terrible or humiliating ended up happening, although Ren and Illmond kept giving Egrer more and more embarrassing dares, since he still hadn't picked truth a single time. It was as if he was teasing them.
But even so, singing one of those pop songs they used to play at Junior's club was unbearable. Especially considering that the dare required Egrer to make his voice as raspy as possible and detune his guitar. Baby had never produced such horrendous sounds before... It physically hurt to listen to it.
Even Jaune and Yort burst out laughing. They weren't playing themselves, but they kept an eye on them out of the corner of their eyes and occasionally dropped hints about what else to make Egrer do.
Suddenly, Yort yelled some battle cry and pulled off an unimaginable combo of hits. The health bar of Jaune's character, a thin-as-a-rail ninja in a massive hat, dropped to zero.
"Fatality, bitch!" A chunky black biker grabbed the defeated enemy, spun him over his head, and laughingly slammed him into the ground. All of this was accompanied by a bloody x-ray showcase of shattered bones.
"Good fight," Jaune noted, completely unfazed by his defeat. "It was like you saw my every move coming."
"Well, not every move," Yort replied, dumping a bag of chips into his mouth. Crumbs fell from his lips onto the carpet, and Egrer shuddered in disgust upon seeing it. "You're not bad yourself, never know what to expect from you. What's your name?"
"Jaune."
"We met before? Your mug looks really familiar..."
It was very endearing to watch them chat, but then Ren did the one thing Egrer had feared with all his soul.
"Eg, I want you to pick truth next time."
"Just please, nothing personal." Ren nodded understandingly, and when his turn came around again, he asked what he considered to be the most harmless question.
"What did you do before you decided to become a Huntsman?"
"Uhh... can I get a different question?" Because answering "a thief" was unlikely to go down well. Ren compromised, but stepped on another landmine—maybe because of his cheerful mood, or maybe out of curiosity, he asked a completely unexpected question:
"Who are your parents?"
Egrer swallowed his tongue, a stupid smile crawling onto his face before he even had a chance to say anything. He scrambled to figure out how to wriggle out of this sticky situation. Because the revelation that his father was a world-renowned criminal mastermind and his mother was, if not a serial killer, then damn close to one... would be received even worse.
Theoretically, he could just say "humans," but that answer would ruin the fun of the game for everyone else. The whole point was to get to know each other better... A perfect answer popped into his head, one that also happened to be completely honest.
"I'm an orphan, so I have no clue." Egrer genuinely didn't know a thing about his biological parents. "My turn. Ill."
"Truth."
"Besides Madge, have you met any other Moe~ in Beacon?"
"I sense an echo of that power in Ruby, but it's weak. She has yet to unlock her potential, but until then, she's just a 3D chick. Ren?"
"Truth." Illmond immediately leaned in with anticipation.
"Are you and Nora dating?"
"No."
"But would you like to?"
"Now that is a different question." He smiled slyly.
They really could get along after all!
Illmond's socialization was going better and better. Outside of Team Majesty, he only talked to Jaune, and even then, only if they bumped into each other by chance. Now he would have another reliable friend.
Sure, Illmond still needed to be kept on a short leash so he didn't accidentally run away, but overall, the progress was promising. Someday, the moment would come when he'd actively and happily seek out new connections himself. Because no matter what he said about his introversion, everyone needs friends. And the more, the better. It couldn't be any other way. Period.
Suddenly, Egrer flinched and looked up at the ceiling.
"Hold on, did you hear that? Is it just me, or did something heavy just crash up there?"
Ren and Illmond exchanged a glance and assured him they hadn't heard a thing. Yort and Jaune said the same.
Sitting and playing as if nothing happened was no longer an option. Egrer nervously walked over to the window and peeked out, tilting his head upward, ear to the sky. He froze, hoping in vain to catch a sound, but the window in Team JNPR's room was closed and blocked out any noise. Or maybe there simply was nothing making noise.
"You're acting all twitchy," Yort noted.
"It's nothing, I'm just a bit worried about Weiss. She's pretty prickly, so I'm afraid their little get-together could end badly."
"The chance of them all getting into a shitstorm up there is about six percent. That they actually become friends is a whopping fifteen. The rest—is that everything stays exactly the same. Stop causing a panic."
"Thanks." That prediction actually made Egrer feel a tiny bit better. "Don't mind me, let's just keep playing."
Six percent isn't exactly a small number, by the way, a treacherous thought crossed his mind. And remember, there's still a three percent chance that one of them murders the other.
Relaxing with thoughts like that was almost impossible. Every now and then, it felt like something was dropping from above, or he'd catch the faint sound of yelling or angry stomping. The others weren't hearing anything of the sort, and Egrer concluded it was just his nerves acting up. Just to be safe, he even messaged Nora on his Scroll, ordering her to report in. And the private disclosed that there were no thuds, falling furniture, or screaming going on.
Right now, he could only rely on Magenta and Nora, the reliability of his plan, and Weiss's word. He couldn't be there in person to control everything, and that was exactly what was unnerving him the most. Even the sheer fact that such a crucial job rested on the shoulders of the two biggest weirdos in Beacon wasn't as terrifying as this feeling of control slipping through his fingers.
Egrer had never entrusted his friends with something truly important before. It was hard.
Sometimes he even had the urge to call Nora and instruct her in real time on which way to look, what to say, and how to act. Just so everything would be under his command, so everything would be right, so that in the end, only success awaited them.
If Egrer hadn't been so busy fighting that urge, he would have realized what lay at the very core of his reluctance to give the leader position to Magenta.
He was terrified of losing control over his pack. He felt endangered when his orders started getting ignored. He saw a threat in their independence. And that was the exact same reason he constantly meddled in their business.
Egrer didn't trust his friends at all, even though he constantly preached to everyone about the importance of mutual understanding and trust. The truth was, he only trusted and believed in himself. That was just how the orphanage and his adoptive parents had raised him. It was so deeply ingrained in his nature that you could only notice it from the outside.
Keep everything under full control, you're the only one who can do things perfectly, everyone around you is either an ignoramus[1] or a traitor—these were the words of wisdom he had grown up on; they were hardwired into his brain. That was his very Essence, lying much deeper than anything he could consciously process. A subconscious whisper. That was the voice demanding he overthrow Magenta at any cost; that was what made Egrer constantly bicker with Weiss over scraps of influence in their organizations.
She probably had a similar inner voice too... otherwise she wouldn't push back so fiercely.
Trusting someone meant placing something important in their hands. Egrer was barely capable of such a thing. Even though he was very sociable, he had always relied solely on himself.
Despite the fact that he was now living right in Beacon, where nothing threatened his life or health and he hadn't felt real hunger in years, his old habits hadn't gone anywhere. Egrer had lived by them almost since birth, and they wouldn't just vanish from his life so easily, no matter how prosperous it had become.
That was why he ate everything he could get his hands on. Because who knew how lucky tomorrow would be?
That was why he tried to build grandiose plans and schemes, mimicking his adoptive father.
That was why he booked it at the slightest sign of danger, because he was used to not being able to stand up to the older guys.
And, of course, he didn't trust anyone but himself.
Deep down, he was still the same orphanage punk he used to be in the favela. It was scary to imagine who he would have grown up to be if he hadn't been lucky enough to meet two oddly dressed strangers, if they hadn't wanted to take him along on a journey all over Remnant, if his Aura hadn't been unlocked...
Maybe Illmond had been right that one time. Egrer wanted loyal friends so desperately that this desire had become the foundation of his personality after his Aura was unlocked. And that quality had come into direct conflict with his old habits.
The game of truth or dare distracted him from his gloomy thoughts. But he still kept feeling like he could hear swearing and breaking dishes from above.
"Eg, the girls' night was your idea, wasn't it?" Ren asked.
"What, did Nora tell you?"
"In her defense, she did try to hide it," he smiled. "I think the others up there are also guessing you had a hand in this."
"Next time I'll think twice before trusting her with a secret. Quiet!" Egrer listened closely, but there were no screams, sounds of a brawl, or anything quite as terrifying as the sound of his plan falling apart. "Nope, I definitely need to know what they're doing up there."
He opened the window and started climbing up.
"Wait for me!" Illmond sprang into action and clambered out onto the ledge too. "What if they're having a slumber party?"
Egrer was ready for anything. For them to be having a pillow fight in their underwear, playing gambling games, or even spin the bottle. But the one thing he didn't expect to see when he peeked through the window of Team JNPR's room was Blake charging right at him.
She leapt out the window, not even noticing that she kicked Egrer in the face. He lost his grip on the ledge and, with a muffled gasp, plummeted from the third floor amid a shower of glass shards. Egrer groaned from the pain in his back and tilted his head up, watching Blake run further and further away. Illmond crashed down right next to him.
"What happened?" Yort asked, peering down. Behind him, Jaune was hopping in place, trying to catch a glimpse over his broad back.
Egrer looked up and met Ruby's eyes.
"What happened up there?" he wheezed. But before she could answer, a white shoe flew right over her head.
"Good riddance!" Weiss yelled.
So something did go wrong after all. As if it could have gone any other way...
[1] fools