Fanfic / The Tales of Team OMEN

From left to right: Oscar Pine, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, and Neo Politain.

That and their… time working with Salem, had kind of bonded the four of them, who otherwise had nothing in common, together. And without that, none of them had anywhere else to go. They were outcasts. Runaways. Criminals. But here? ...Well, they were still outcasts, runaways, and criminals, but now they had CONFIDENCE, to some extent.

Team OMEN, composed of Oscar Pine, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, and Neo Politan, are a group of vagabonds currently on the run from not only the authorities, but from their pasts and choices. But how did they get to this point anyways? And where will they go from here?

The Tales of Team OMEN (in anachronic order) is a RWBY fanfiction written by Squiped_Mew. It's an Alternate Universe where, through a domino effect of events, Oscar Pine, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, and Neopolitan end up on the run from the authorities, who they have pissed off, Salem, who they have all deserted, and their own past choices and issues, all while trying to figure out a way to, if not save the world, at least inconvenience the people who are trying to destroy it as much as possible.

So, no pressure.

It currently has 12 works published in the series (most of which are oneshots). As its subtitle suggests, these occur in an anachronic order.

• i wish you could have told us sooner
• after the con
• behind the mask
• what you are in the dark
• sunlit streets of fools gold
• you'll always sound precocious
• burn your bridges when you get to them
• keep your heart in your back pocket
• and now for something completely different
• the plan is simple
• we don't talk about oscar
• digging through those wreckage piles

For another work by the same author, see the My Hero Academia fanfic Oyasumi Midoriya.

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This series contains examples of:

• Anachronic Order: Each installment is a different point in time, and it's up to the reader to piece together the whole story.
• Adapted Out: While it's not clear HOW exactly Salem got rid of Ozpin, it's explicitly stated that Ozpin isn't in Oscar's head anymore.
  • Jacques and Willow, the former being stuck in prison, and the latter being killed during the invasion of Atlas.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: While it's played down, as everyone in team OMEN still has the capacity to be huge jerks, they've at least turned away from Salem, which is a good start.
• Adaptational Heroism: Mercury, Emerald, and Neo.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. While it's obvious that Oscar has gotten a bit meaner, he's still very polite with people he doesn't know.
  • Downplayed with Team RWBYJNR as well, as while their treatment of Ozpin, and by extension Oscar, was pretty horrible, it's pretty much outright stated that Oscar refused to believe his teammates would ever accept him or change.
  "They miss Ozpin . Not me” Oscar corrected. When Qrow stiffened, Oscar shook his head, flashing him a sad smile. "And I'm not mad about it, anyway. I mean, I joined the group because of Oz. It only makes sense I'd leave once he was gone." He said, repeating what he had so often told himself. "And not to mention, I don’t think they’d appreciate having someone who tried to kill them hanging around all the time."
  • Played straight with the Ace-Ops and especially Ironwood.
  • Also played straight with Miltia, although her reasons are fairly justified.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Oscar's hit with this the hardest, as his time being kidnapped by Salem and under the influence of the Grimm has definitely made him a bit more jaded.
• Adaptational Villainy: Oscar.
  • By extension, team RWBYJNR, as they serve direct opposition to team OMEN. Downplayed as it's more because of some of the illegal things team OMEN does, and RWBYJNR are part of law enforcment, versus an outright side switch. While their goals are the same, stopping Salem, their methods vary.
  • Ironwood and the Ace-Ops.
• An Aesop: Your perception of people is always going to be colored by your own experiences. Not everyone is going to know what you're thinking all of the time, and if you don't remember that, you may lose them.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite how much bickering that Mercury and Emerald do, they have a lot of moments where they shed their snarky exteriors and try to be genuine and open with one another.
• Bad Powers, Bad People: Subverted. The majority of Team OMEN's Semblances (magic in Oscar's case, Mercury completely lacking a Semblance) are powers usually associated with evil, such as Emerald's illusion abilities, or Oscar's grimm-infused magic. But despite that, they're all trying to do better and help defeat Salem.
• Bittersweet Ending: Most of the chapters in this fic end on some kind of a bittersweet note, though some emphasize the 'bitter' more then the 'sweet.'
  • 'after the con' ends with Oscar rebuffing Qrow's attempts to reach out to him, but also in the team succeeding in their plan to get the blueprints.
  • 'behind the mask' ends with the knowledge that while the team is still stuck with Salem, that at least they have each other.
  • 'what you are in the dark' ends with Ruby vowing to save Oscar after they depart from the mines.
  • While 'sunlit streets of fool's gold' is pretty much a Breather Episode, there's still an air of finality to it, as the team celebrates their final moments of peace, before they're going to be hunted by the law once again.
  • 'burn your bridges when you get to them' ends with Mercury burning his childhood home down, and trying to put his abusive childhood behind him.
  • 'and now for something completely different' ends with Penny escaping Atlas and being repaired in Vacuo, but being forced to leave her father and Maria behind. As such, she vows to save them, along with everyone in Atlas, and flies off into Vacuo, presumably to meet up with team RWBY
• Black Comedy: The fic's humor practically runs on this trope.
  • It's directly lampshaded when Emerald makes a joke in poor taste about the Fall of Beacon.
  “...Sorry.” Emerald mumbled. “Bad joke.”
  I thought it was kind of funny, Neo signed. But considering where they were, it really wasn’t.
• Bloodless Carnage: Whitley's Semblance simply break his arm into Dust, and then let him reattach it later on.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Team OMEN's lawbreaking tendencies are backed up by the stance that if working inside the law isn't going to yield results, as the law did nothing to help them in the past, then you have to work outside of it. Team RWBYJNR, however, also make a strong case for trying to change things inside of the law, as the damage that can be done by hurting other people, even if it's for a good cause, can never be undone.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Downplayed, as it's stated that the Grimm only amplified and twisted the already existing hate and anger in Oscar.
• Break the Cutie: Oscar. He's had his friends reject him because of Ozpin, got kidnapped, had monstrous substance basically injected into him which forced him to relive his past traumas and be in constant pain, and only seemed to have broken out of this state after Ruby used her silver eyes, which was probably very painful. No wonder he's a bit more withdrawn by the time team OMEN is officially formed.
  • Neo seems to have shades of this too, as its shown in her flashbacks that she used to be nicer.
• Bloodier and Gorier: To an extent. Much of the body horror stems from Oscar's Healing Factor, which lets him repair his damaged flesh by replacing it with a black grimm substance. It's described in some pretty horrifying ways.
  • Neo's murder of her parents is pretty gruesome. The accompaning picture doesn't make it any prettier.◊
  • 'you'll always sound precocious' takes this up to an eleven, with Whitley being literally blown to pieces in front of the team. It's only thanks to his Semblence that he's able to survive, although it leaves him cracked open like a china doll.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Penny does this several times to Ironwood, with little to no affect.
  “You mean you will survive with one less Maiden.” Penny countered. “You are no heroes - you are cowards.”
  “James, I mean this in the most polite way possible,” Penny said, anger that she had never felt before surging in her wiring, circuits heating up. “Go to hell.”
• Central Theme: How trauma colors a person's perception of the people around them. It's shown that each member of Team OMEN struggles with seeing the worst possible interpretation of a person's actions, including each other.
  • The importance of friendship and how genuine connection can help someone work through their issues.
• Cop Hater: The entirety of Team OMEN, along with Penny, Miltia, and Rhubarb.
• Corrupt the Cutie: Several examples of this.
  • Oscar goes from a kind and determined kid, to a cold shell who will only obey his master's orders, with the only real emotions he feels being bouts of either extreme mania or depression. He gets better, though he never is the same.
  • Neo is hit with this too, as she started out as a sweet and polite young girl, but is corrupted by her parents abuse, and eventually kills them, joining up with Roman and starting her life of crime.
  • What Mercury's father did to him when he was a child.
• Darker and Edgier: The sheer magnitude of the events of the show are put front and center here, and the fic does NOT shy away from showing how traumatic those events truly were.
• Disabled Means Helpless: Subverted, big time. Neo may be selectively mute, but she's far from helpless, a fact she makes very clear whenever she can.
  “I’m sorry, what was that?” Whitley laughed condescending, looking down at her signing with something resembling amusement. “I don’t speak ‘mute and dumb’.”
  That’s it. Neo signed. I’m gonna kill him.
• Downer Ending: The first installment in the series, 'i wish you could have told us sooner' ends with the reveal that the narrator is Oscar, and his brief moment of lucidity fading, and him subsequently breaking down because of it.
  • 'what you are in the dark' ends on a bit of a better note, but still sad nonetheless. Oscar tries to kill Ruby, and despite not going through with it, has irreparably damaged their relationship forever. It does end with her vowing to save him, though, so one could say that this is more of a Bittersweet Ending then anything else.
• Dramatic Irony: Team RWBYJNR state that they have no idea why Oscar left the team. However, as this comes later in the series, the reader has a VERY clear reason and insight into Oscar's decision making.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: A main theme of the series.
• Everyone Can See It: Oscar and Neo poke fun at the romantic tension between Emerald and Mercury.
  “Hey guys!!” The two of them turned to see Neo and Oscar waiting impatiently. “If you’re done flirting, we have an apartment to rent!” Oscar yelled.
• Every Man Has His Price: Miltia initially refuses to work with Team OMEN to steal the blueprints, but is bribed into it thanks to Whitley giving her money as an incentivisor
• Fond Memories That Could Have Been: Oscar has this moment several times, wondering what might have happened if he had decided to stay with team RWBY and co.
• From Bad to Worse: In 'you'll always sound precocious', things start going south once Amo is revealed to be working with Salem, and takes off with the evidence. But then Tyrian drags Whitley out into the open and reveals his intent to kidnap him. When Team OMEN jumps in to stop him, they're immediately curb-stomped by Tyrian due to their shoddy teamwork. And finally, when Whitley tries to retaliate, Tyrian cuts off his arm. He only gets it back due to his Semblance.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Team OMEN's plan to find out who stole Whitley's Dust immediately goes south when Tyrian and Amo show up.
• Grey-and-Grey Morality: What the fic runs on.
• Gut Punch: Basically the entirety of 'what you are in the dark'.
• Harmful to Minors: The show is bad enough, with Cinder coercing Emerald and Mercury into fighting for Salem, as well as everything that happens to Oscar, but this fic takes it to a whole new level. Oscar gets kidnapped, experimented on, and turned into weapon for Salem, only breaking out due to the influence of Ruby's silver eyes. Along with that, there's Neo's backstory, where she's raised by her Abusive Parents and eventually ends up killing them.
  • There's also Tyrian attempting to kidnap and then murder Whitley, who has significantly less fighting experience then Team OMEN. It's only thanks to his Semblance that he's saved.
  • Melanie Malechite is killed during the Fall of Beacon, a fact left ambiguous in canon.
• Heel–Face Turn: The whole team, although it's more because of their own personal agendas then for the good of the world as a whole, or at least it starts out that way.
• Heroic Neutral: The whole team.
• Honor Among Thieves: Despite team OMEN's loose morals, they do have lines they don't cross.
• Just a Machine: How Penny is treated by the Atlesians.
• Mood Whiplash: 'you'll always sound preccocious's' final chapter starts with a fairly standard stealth mission, where Team OMEN seems relatively calm and in control. Then Tyrian shows up.
• Necessarily Evil: Team OMEN. They've committed their fair share of crimes, but a good chunk of them are to get them closer to their goal: stopping Salem.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When Penny kills the Grimm loose in the Atlas sewers, Harriet tazes her in response, telling her to stay in line.
• One World Order: What Atlas is striving to be after flying into space.
• Order Is Not Good: One of the main themes of 'and now for something completely different.' Despite the relative calmness Atlas is in, it's enforced by harshly silencing anyone who dissents, such as the Ace-Ops attacking the food line protesters virtually unprovoked.
• Original Character: A few minor ones, but the ones with actual story impact are Amo and Rhubarb.
• Playing the Victim Card: Emerald calls Miltia out on this when they come to her asking for help, reasoning that she played just as much of a role in the fall of Beacon as they did. She retaliates by pointing out that she never would have gone through with it if she had known how much damage it would cause, including taking her sister's own life.
• Poor Communication Kills: Oscar not talking about his grievances with team RWBY after being rescued by Salem appears to be the reason why he left.
• Powder Keg Crowd: After weeks of food shortages and being stuck in space, the people of Atlas come together to protest. At least, until the Ace-Ops show up.
• Psychological Projection: Downplayed. While Oscar tends to project his own inadequacies onto how he perceives team RWBYJNR to think of him, which is shown to be somewhat untrue when the fic switches to Ruby's perspective, there seems to be some element of truth to it, with how mixed the team's reaction was to Oscar's sudden return at the Vacuo charity ball. (Although some of their harsh indictments can be chalked up to anger that he stole the blueprints from them.)
• Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits: Team OMEN as a whole. Despite this, it's shown that they've become very closely knit.
• Sanity Slippage: Oscar, under the influence of Salem and the grimm implants.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: What team OMEN's original plan seemed to have been, before they decided to go to Vacuo instead.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Team RWBY and team JNR land on the ideal side, while team OMEN lands firmly in the cynical area, though seem to become a little bit more hopeful by the time they reach Vacuo.
• Sudden Principled Stand: Marrow attempts to make one against Ironwood after he orders the Ace-Ops to attack the food line protesters. It doesn't end well for him.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: There's signs of it, in the very beginning. They get better, though.
  • A shaky alliance is formed between Ruby and Oscar when they're stuck inside the mines under mountain Glenn, since they're both injured. It doesn't end well.
  • The team is forced to work with Whitley if they want to get the money to get to Vacuo, much to everyone's dismay.
• Through the Eyes of Madness: 'i wish you could have told us sooner' takes place entirely though Oscar's Grimm-addled mind. He can barely string together a cohesive thought, and can't even recognize the people around him, stuck grasping at the straws of his memories.
• Time Skip: After 'i wish you had told us sooner' the story immediately skips to half a year later. The rest parts serve to fill in this gap.
• Took a Level in Badass: Oscar, full stop. After his experience with Salem, not only is he shown to be a much more competent fighter, but he's also gained new magic powers and a regeneration factor.
  • Whitley, when he stands up to Tyrian himself, and then defeats him by literally blowing himself up.
• Unreliable Narrator: Every character to some extent, but this trope is thrown into overdrive in 'we don't talk about oscar'. Each character has their own take on Oscar as a person and why exactly he left, which range from charitable to venomous.
• Wham Episode: 'what you are in the dark', diving into the circumstances that got Oscar to this state, and really highlighting how far he's fallen from the kind boy he used to be.
  • 'and now for something completely different' serves as the answer to the horrifying question of "what would have happened to Atlas if Ironwood's plan had succeeded? It reveals that Penny is still alive, shows the true depths that Ironwood has sunk to, as well as introducing Rhubarb, the hacker who seems to serve as Team OMEN's support.
  • Wham Line: Oscar: “Why do I remember you? What's wrong with me?!''”
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Penny is seen as a machine of war and nothing else to Ironwood and the Ace-Ops.
• What You Are in the Dark: Oscar has the perfect opportunity to kill Ruby, but can't bring himself to do it.
• We Used to Be Friends: Team RWBYJNR's feelings towards Oscar.
• With Us or Against Us: Subverted. While Oscar feels that way, it's obvious that Team RWBYJNR didn't really want to fight him at the charity ball, which ended up working out in team OMEN's favor.

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