Sorry Chapter 2 took so long guys, been busy with work and some family problems, anyway this one starts off a little boring but stick with it second half of this chapters better. Sorry again hope you enjoy. Please leave some feedback?
Death by chocolate.
Oobleck's class.
In the lecture hall, almost 60 first year students watched as second years gave them fifteen minute long condensed lectures.
The two hour lesson had been dull so far to say the least. Cardin was just as bored as his peers, but also relieved to have finally recovered from his hangover. He yawned, like many others did, as the second years took it in turns to drone on through fifteen minute presentations.
Occasionally the battle being spoken about would involve a relative of someone in the class. Each time Oobleck was made aware of the involvement of a students relative in a battle he asked the student to stand. The hyperactive professor said that it was important for students to be aware of their ancestors deeds. 'History is important, if you can not learn from it you are destined to repeat it' the green haired professor had said reciting his often used mantra in order to help make his case for students being thrust into the spotlight simply because of who their ancestors were.
Cardin couldn't agree more, recognising the acts of valiant ancestors was important to him especially considering all he knew of his father were the deeds he had done to keep the four kingdoms safe. I don't even have a single memory of him Cardin thought sadly. I wish my uncles would have told me more about him. He'd had to sift through thousands of reports and hundreds of hours of documentaries just to find out a little information about his father. Velvet was right, his father was a hero, heroes deserved recognition.
Unfortunately Cardin's family were not well known warriors. Nobody knew the name Winchester. The Winchesters were a high born, wealthy family who owned a lot of arable land. Some of them were influential in Remnant's economy and others had great pull within Vale's' governing council. In Beacon though, in a world of warriors, they were rarely heard names on the Vale News Network broadcasts. This wouldn't have aggravated Cardin so much, he was used to the lack of recognition after all, but other people who he wasn't overly fond of had been praised for their ancestors deeds. The fires of jealousy blazed brightly in Cardin's chest.
Twice now the scraggly blonde boy had been asked to stand as his relatives deeds in battle were recited. The Arcs were a well known family of heroes, three centuries of great deeds and glorious victories were credited to the family.
The blind second year, Fox or Fex, Cardin wasn't sure, had been the first to ask Jaune to stand as he told of Jaune's great uncle serving on the council guardians and credited with saving the governing council of Mistral from soldiers in an attempted coup. Jaune had grinned with pride while blushing at the sudden attention as he sat back down. Unaware of Cardin's jealous gaze boring into the back of his head.
Immediately after, Jaune was asked to stand again as a rat faunus second year called Rod Entbloom took the stage. This time Jaune's father was the subject, his father having purportedly led a four man team into a death stalker hive to destroy the hives brood queen, despite being poisoned he'd struck the final blow and escaped with all but one of his men, though the poison did major damage to his nerves leading to his eventual death nine years later.
Cardin realised (with some satisfaction) that Jaune wasn't smiling when he sat back down, part of him felt empathy towards his classmate. But at least Jaune's father had some recognition which was more than could be said for my father and at least he knew him, Cardin thought bitterly.
Due to his position behind the scraggly blonde, Cardin saw Pyrrha place her hand on Jaune's own to comfort him. This actually managed to make Cardin even more jealous of Jaune, a feat he hadn't thought possible. The blonde buffoon being able to attract Pyrrha in the first place was bad enough but to then be totally oblivious to her obvious attraction to him was infuriating to Cardin. If someone so beautiful showed me that attention I'd have sense enough to act on it Cardin thought. The memory of Velvet smiling at his joke in the gardens appeared in his mind. Now why in the hell does she choose that time to appear in my mind Cardin thought angrily.
The faunus girl had been on Cardin's mind since their encounter in the gardens. He tried in vain to distract himself but always his thoughts would find their way back to her. The focus of professor Peach's biology lesson had been evolutionary traits in animals, rabbit ears were mentioned and Cardin's first thought had been of Velvet. A faunus village had been mentioned by professor Port during one of his frequent ramblings and the first thing that popped into Cardin's head was Velvet. A few days earlier the mention of a faunus settlement would have made Cardin think of his father and how he could still be alive if it wasn't for some faunus refusing to relocate to the kingdoms but now it made him think of the faunus girl. He just couldn't get her out of his mind.
Next up after Rod was Yatsuhashi who bowed before starting his presentation, which seemed to be far more in depth than any of the others so far.
Yatsuhashi was followed by Coco. Coco described a battle involving a massive beowolf horde on the island of patch, she asked Ruby to stand and began to tell the story of Ruby's mother, Summer Rose and her involvement in killing the packs alpha beowolf which stalled the horde long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Ruby raised her hand and quietly asked to be excused before leaving visibly upset accompanied by an obviously concerned Yang. Cardin actually felt somewhat sorry for the little leader of team RWBY. It must hurt when her mother is brought up, she lost her when she was young, just like me Cardin thought.
Coco stopped and looked pleadingly at professor Oobleck, "Carry on miss Coco, in the field would you stop dodging a boarbatusk just because you feel you may have offended someone?" Coco sighed and haltingly continued with her presentation. She finished and took her seat looking mortified that she may have upset a first year student.
Cardin had spent most of the first hour glancing around the room trying to alleviate his boredom. His seat on the second to last row high up at the back of the room made for a decent vantage point. During one of his sweeps of the room Cardin's gaze lingered on Velvet, she felt her aura prickle slightly sensing someone watching her and glanced round finding his eyes with her own. The eye contact lasted barely a moment before Cardin turned away, his cheeks reddening slightly. What is he thinking, does he know my plan? Velvet wondered, maybe he's plotting something, maybe my plan isn't such a good idea.
She put her worries aside and returned her attention to the front of the class as the professor called her name. She stood shakily, risking another quick glance at Cardin before walking timidly to the front of the class. She didn't look up, she couldn't, she hated this amount of attention, even if half of them wont even be listening properly, they'll still be looking at me, Velvet shivered at the thought of being in the spotlight as she tapped lightly on her scroll, wirelessly connecting it to the projector before retrieving her notes from her satchel.
"The relatives of two students in this room fought in the battle I will be speaking about today. Before I begin I'd like two students to stand on behalf of their ancestors" Velvet looked across at professor Oobleck who nodded at her to continue. "The first person I'd like to stand is Jaune Arc on behalf of his grandfather, Lieutenant Jackson Arc" Jaune stood and nodded around the room awkwardly while Cardin, seated behind the blonde, rolled his eyes. "The second person I'd like to stand is... Cardin Winchester on behalf of his father Caleb Winchester" the room went silent as Cardin's seat scraped backwards and he eyed Velvet warily half expecting some sort of trick. Velvet smiled nervously and nodded at him before looking down to tap at her scroll.
A grainy image appeared on the screen, it seemed to be taken from a ridge overlooking a valley, though of poor quality the image showed an awe inspiring view. The valley floor was obscured with palls of black smoke as if a great fire raged unseen shrouded beneath. The students exchanged hushed whispers commenting on the colossal smoke cloud. Velvet cleared her throat before speaking. "What you see before you is no forest fire, it is the aftermath of a battle involving the sixth company of the Atlesion steel bearers and a scout platoon from Vales light infantry and recon regiment" she glanced up at Cardin who's eyes widened as he realised what she was doing.
"This battle was known as the great victory. 334 soldiers took part in the valiant stand against the fourth largest Grimm horde ever recorded in order to defend the Faunus settlements of Carmine and Amaranth. Thousands of lives were saved and both settlements survive even today. The soldiers held the ridgeline now known as victory hill for over six hours of continuous fighting until air support arrived. Very little of the smoke you see in this image is from guns, fire or explosions, it is in fact the dissolving corpses of over 80,000 Grimm." A few of the less disciplined students whispered to each other discussing the near unbelievable figures, no other battle that day had been on such a scale. Professor Oobleck tapped his Thermos against his table lightly in order to return the room to silence, Velvet nodded at him gratefully before continuing with her presentation.
"While only 20,000 or so were killed by the foot soldiers, it is important to note that without them holding back the Grimm the settlements would not have been destroyed long before air support could arrive in support. 141 of the soldiers sacrificed their lives in order to save the lives of countless strangers, amongst these brave fallen heroes were Jackson Arc and Caleb Winchester."
All eyes in the room turned to regard the two team leaders, Jaune's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as he realised how many of the faces looking at him held looks of admiration and respect. Behind him Cardin grinned with pride, happier and more appreciative than words could express. He didn't even glance around the room like Jaune had, he looked straight at the Velvet and she met his gaze. Cardin's smile grew wider and he blushed slightly, a gesture Velvet returned as her own cheeks flushed pink.
As the students turned their heads back to the front of the classroom Velvet carried on her presentation, going into more detail, talking about the strategies used and reeling off even more statistics. She concluded her presentation after just over fifteen minutes and was immediately bombarded with praise from Oobleck in front of the class.
"Wonderful simply wonderful, tell me miss Scarlatina how did you come by all this information? Why the textbooks don't even mention the scout platoon's involvement in the slightest, you must have looked online truly going above and beyond my expectations. Glad to see a student taking history just as seriously as physical training" Oobleck said rapidly.
"Um-" Velvet said before being cut off.
"Definitely an A grade presentation miss Scarlatina" he said taking her hand and shaking it vigorously for a moment. "Despite you over running slightly although I'm afraid that means there will be no time for a final presentation" a few second years sighed in relief. "No point keeping you all here so you may all leave early and remember the essays for next Thursday I shall not be reminding you again, good day" He said before speeding out of the room his yellow tie and green hair flowing behind him in his slipstream.
The students glanced at each other as their brains caught up with the conversation before simultaneously shrugging and gathering up their things. Cardin ordered the rest of team CRDL on ahead to the last lesson of the day and waited just outside the exit. He surveyed the crowd exiting the lecture hall and stood on his tip toes in order to get a better view of the students milling about the corridor. Finally he spotted who he was searching for; Velvet.
He grinned and walked towards her, his heart hammering in his chest. Yatsuhashi spotted Cardin and moved to block his path to Velvet. A small hand appeared on his arm as Velvet smiled and shook her head at Yatsuhashi, who stole one last suspicious glance at Cardin before nodding at Velvet and joining Coco and Fox a few meters down the corridor.
Velvet took a few timid steps towards Cardin meeting him half way and gazing up into his indigo eyes as he gazed down into her brown orbs.
"Velvet, I...I wanted to...I wanted to say..." Cardin stammered.
"Yes Cardin, what is it?" she replied trying to keep her voice level. This is either going to go really well or really badly she thought.
Cardin reached forward arms outstretched, oh shit Velvet thought as she felt herself tense up, Cardin embraced Velvet "Thank you."
His embrace was surprisingly light belying his muscular physique. Velvet felt her heart flutter, Cardin felt her heart fluctuate against his chest and tightened his embrace slightly.
She felt her muscles go limp in relief as she melted into his embrace before wrapping an arm around his torso and squeezing back lightly. "No problem Cardin, it's what friends are for" she pulled away realising quite a few people in the corridor were staring and whispering excitedly about Cardin's change of character. Velvet felt her cheeks grow hot as they turned scarlet and was surprised to see Cardin's cheeks somewhat reddened also. The pair nodded a farewell to each other and returned to their respective teams as they used the ten minutes down time to meander slowly to their last class of the day.
"And just what in the fuck was that? Russell spat once team CRDL was out of ear shot of the other students.
"That was me thanking Velvet for being the only person to ever try to get my father proper recognition for his sacrifice." Cardin growled in reply.
"She's not a person, she's a faunus!" Russell exclaimed.
Cardin wheeled round on his teammate, pinning Russell to the wall with his forearm on his throat. "That's the same thing" he hissed.
Russell's heels scraped on the corridor wall trying to touch the floor as he clawed in vain at Cardin's arm. Cardin finally let him drop before turning to Sky and Dove "Either of you two also have a problem you'd like to bring to my attention?" Cardin growled threateningly. The duo looked at each other before turning back to their leader and shaking their heads.
Velvet wasn't fairing much better with her team. "And just what in the fuck was that?" Coco spat.
"That was me fighting racism my own way." Velvet replied quietly.
"No. That was you fraternising with the enemy" Fox hissed.
"Cardin won't be bothering any faunus again, that much I can guarantee."
"I mean you no offence when I say this Velvet, but are you sure a man like Cardin can be trusted not to relapse into his former bigotry?" Yatsuhashi asked sceptically.
Velvet sighed before replying "Yes." She replied tersely, before hefting her book bag to her shoulder and walking briskly ahead of her team to the final class of the day.
The following day.
So far the day had consisted of several hours of professor Port's ramblings for the first years, who were now glad to be using the whole second half of their study timetable to blow off some steam by sparring under the supervision of professor Goodwitch.
The sparring room ebbed and flowed with noise. The grunts and gasps of fighters exchanging blows, the clanks of steel hitting steel and the hollow bangs of gunshots hitting the stone walls of the arenas echoed around the large hall. Occasionally professor Goodwitch's shrill shouts of encouragement or admonishment at the sparring students resounded through the sparring hall.
Three sparring arenas dominated the western wall of the hall. Their eastern walls replaced with thick composite glass, crazed and in places cracked from years of bullet impacts and weapon strikes. Despite this the glass still allowed for decent viewing of sparring from outside the arenas. A door also made of composite glass stood in the left side of each arenas see-through wall. The lack of a roof on the arenas made it easier for spectators on the benches to watch matches.
A great stained glass window showing Vale's dual axe symbol filled the space above the doors embedded in the northern wall and allowed a stream of coloured light into the room. Towards the eastern wall tiers of benches provided seating for spectators. The spectators were mainly second years who's study timetables had gifted them enough free time to gawk at the first years and about the occasional jeer or word of advice into the arenas, the former much to the displeasure of professor Goodwitch.
Cardin and some of the other first years sat with their elder peers, waiting patiently for professor Goodwitch to call their names. Most of them watched the matches unfold with interest cheering their chosen champion while others glanced round sizing up the potential competition.
Cardin reflected on the previous two days. They had been eventful certainly but Cardin couldn't decide whether it was a positive outcome overall. On one hand he'd gained a friend, a second year no less, who had gone out of her way to make sure Cardin's father got the recognition he deserved even if it was only amongst a small class. It was a small gesture that meant a great deal.
On the other hand Russell was more of a threat than ever. The fact I'm even calling him a threat in the first place shows how far I've fallen Cardin thought sadly. That was the problem being pack leader, it took only the slightest showing of weakness for the pack to start asking questions and trying to rearrange the pecking order. Taking team CFVY's side against Russell had caused Russell to start questioning his leader.
Hugging Velvet had put the nail in the coffin and now Cardin had a full blown power struggle on his hands. Russell just needed to gain the allegiance of Dove and Sky then he'd be in a position to seize control of team CRDL. It didn't matter that on paper Cardin was team leader, Russell could and would soon be calling the shots.
Cardin had seen him out of the corner of his eye, sizing him up, plotting. Was it even worth it? He mused, wondering if Velvets friendship outweighed his three team mates allegiance. Should I just cut all ties with Velvet he wondered, No. I'm the leader, I call the damn shots, I don't have to do anything to please them.
Now how to deal with this little insurrection Cardin thought now that he'd regained his resolve. He had to put on a display of dominance. But how-
His train of thought was interrupted by a scream of pain. Professor Goodwitch blew her whistle loudly, idle students turned towards her and those sparring stopped immediately. Professor Goodwitch leapt from her vantage point on one of the benches and marched into one of the arenas and came out supporting Dove who was bleeding profusely from a nasty gash to his thigh. The pair were followed by a red faced Ruby "I didn't mean to, I swear professor I thought he would block honest-"
"The low-aura alarm is there for a reason, when you hear that buzzer go off in your arena you listen to it and stop fighting!" Goodwitch snapped.
"But-"
"We'll discuss this after we get Dove to the nurse miss Rose" the professor interrupted. "As for the rest of you, nobody is to enter the arenas until I get back is that understood?" Glynda snapped. The students nodded rapidly as Goodwitch stormed out, near carrying Dove with a nervous looking Ruby in tow.
I know what to do now Cardin thought excitedly.
"Hey Russ do you want to spar?" Cardin yelled over to his two remaining teammates. Russell looked up in surprise before nodding and gathering up his weapons.
The pair made their way towards the centremost arena. "I know what you're doing" Russell growled as they strolled.
"Then you also know its nothing personal" Cardin said as they reached the door. Both turned as they heard footsteps, Pyrrha jogged lightly up to them.
"The professor said not to spar till she returned." Pyrrha said, arching her eyebrows in apparent annoyance.
"So what, she's not here to stop us" Cardin said pushing past Pyrrha and stepping into the arena with Russell following close behind. The pair took their ready positions, Russell twirling his daggers in his hands nervously, Cardin tossing his mace to and fro constantly switching hands. Students gathered around whispering excitedly as they vied for good vantage points to watch the match.
Russell was the first to make a move, he sprinted forwards and ducked under Cardin's first swing, sliding on his knees as he swept his daggers into the back of his opponents legs. Cardin grunted as his aura absorbed the blow, depleting it slightly. He spun around and delivered a knee to Russell's face causing him to reel back as his aura took the hit. Russell used the blows momentum to flip backward out of reach of further attacks.
"Give up yet?" Cardin taunted.
"Not even close" Russell shot back, cycling his dagger's dust cylinders. The left dagger started glowing red while the right developed a blue-ish hue Russell charged again and Cardin's mace swooped down towards his target, Cardin's thumb firmly pressing down on the button on his weapons hilt to activate his burn dust crystal upon impact. Russell raised his left dagger to block, the burn dust he had loaded into his blade countering perfectly the explosive power of Cardin's mace. Both weapons blasted away from each other leaving their owner's guards open, but Russell had a second weapon. He slashed in with his other dagger, Cardin raised his free hand to block. Russell's dagger squealed against Cardin's gauntlet encasing his forearm in ice crystals. Cardin staggered back gasping at the pain of the ice crystals digging in to his bare skin, Russell beamed a predatory smile and stalked in to finish the duel.
He slashed down with both daggers simultaneously, Cardin's mace blocked both with a weighty clang. Cardin delivered a left hook smashing the ice from his fist and fore arm against Russell's cheek, knocking the smaller combatant back a step and causing him to lose grip on one of his daggers. Small ice crystals clinked onto the ground as Cardin stalked forward. Russell stabbed in desperately at his opponents unarmoured abdomen but gasped as his wrist was caught in the vice like grip of Cardin's free hand, Cardin head-butted Russell, breaking his nose in a spray of blood and sending his opponent onto the floor. Cardin stepped back smiling, holding his mace loosely at his side, waiting for Russell to make his move.
Russell glanced around as he struggled back to his feet, his other dagger was too far away, he was up against the wall no room to retreat, the only way he could go was forward... right into Cardin. Russell's aura flickered as he channelled his remaining energy into his semblance hoping the speed boost it provided would give him an advantage. He took three quick steps, rapidly accelerating as he leapt forward and somersaulted towards his adversary, intent on delivering a powerful kick to his face.
Cardin's mace swooped up and connected with Russell's chest. Russell swore he heard the mechanisms inside the mace click before the burn dust ignited and the shockwave sent him flying nearly 20 feet into the air. The audience gasped as Russell's flailing body crashed through the stained glass window. Pyrrha and Blake moved towards the door to go outside and check if Russell was ok. Cardin stepped out of the arena and nodded to Sky who's eyes were wide with fear. He had re-established his dominance, for now.
Just as Pyrrha and Blake reached the door it slammed open and team CFVY appeared. Coco led the group, her sunglasses slightly askew with one lens cracked and the other missing, a snapped cigarette in her mouth, the still smoking end dangling by a tiny strip of paper from the rest of the cigarette. Her fists were clenched one with nails digging into her palm, the other gripping Russell's Mohawk tightly as she dragged his limp form effortlessly into the sparring hall.
"This flying little shit broke my glasses and snapped my last smoke, I want an explanation" She growled.
"Please put him down Coco" Velvet said timidly as she felt all eyes in the room turn towards her team.
Yang excitedly ran up to team CFVY "I've waited so long for this moment" she yelled and handed Coco a spoon.
"Awwh you remembered, thanks Yang" Coco said, smiling sweetly.
"Let him go Coco, or you will have to find an outfit that works well with blood red." Cardin commanded.
"What?" Coco asked incredulously, dropping the spoon.
"Let go of Russell. Now." Cardin said forcefully. He was still on a high from his victory over his teammate.
"Or what? Back off or when I'm done with him you'll be next pretty boy." Coco said brandishing the spoon in Cardin's direction.
"You know what? Fine. I'm sick of your bullshit Coco, you wanna go? Let's go!" Cardin said before turning his back on the leader of team CFVY and heading back into the central arena. The surprise of all those present was palpable. Coco didn't even pause before dropping the spoon and throwing her book bag to Fox. She cracked her knuckles before stalking into the arena where Cardin waited.
"Shit" breathed Velvet.
"She's pissed" Fox said still clutching his leaders book bag.
"This should be interesting" Yatsuhashi mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
All eyes were on the pair now. Silence dominated the room. Nobody dared speak above a hushed whisper lest they provoke the wrath of either of the sparring partners. Even Nora was silent. Although Rod and a few of the other second years began betting Lien on how long Cardin would last.
Coco rolled her shoulders as she took her ready position and stood inside the green ring marked on the floor, behind her a small scarlet streak on the floor denoted where Russell's nose had been broken. Teams RWBY and JNPR grouped together to watch the fight unfold, having been the only first years to witness Coco's full combat abilities. Cardin and Coco circled the arena, eyes locked on to their opponent.
"I can't believe he's taking her on" Yang whispered excitedly.
"I can't believe he's that stupid" sighed Blake.
"I can, I wish she'd kept hold of the spoon though" Yang said grinning.
"That's a really strange obsession you know" Jaune said sighing.
"Maybe he doesn't realise what he's getting into?" Pyrrha wondered aloud.
"I wonder if she'll break his legs" mused Nora.
"Ssshhh" Ren hissed, gazing intently at the fighters.
At that moment Cardin charged roaring at Coco as he swung his mace in from his right at chest level. Coco leaned backwards gracefully pulling off a kick to Cardin's jaw as she cartwheeled away. Fox laughed as Cardin momentarily stumbled. He swooped his mace right then left, neither swing connecting with his target who nimbly ducked the first blow and batted away the second with her handbag almost looking bored.
"I'm gonna knock you down a peg or two pretty boy" Coco hissed, deflecting a fourth blow aimed at her head.
Cardin swung the mace upwards one handed towards Coco's abdomen, she parried the blow easily but didn't expect the left hook Cardin delivered straight after. All of the spectators gasped as she staggered back from the force of the blow and spat a little blood on the floor. "That the best you got?" Coco said wiping her mouth with the back of her free hand.
Cardin responded to the taunt with a downward strike holding the mace with both hands to increase his leverage. A clang resounded around the hall as coco blocked it with her bag one handed. A crunch followed the clang a second later as she kicked Cardin in the Crotch. All the men in the room simultaneously winced while Nora clapped cheerfully as Cardin crumpled into a heap on the floor.
A klaxon sounded to alert the combatants that Cardin's aura had dropped into the red, which in a tournament style duel would indicate the end of a match. But Cardin wasn't done. He crawled to his knees and then to his feet breathing heavily, his eyes hot with tears.
"You had enough yet pretty boy?" Coco said condescendingly. "The next hit will be so hard I'll make your moma weep!"
Some of the spectators chuckled at the remark. Velvet winced since only she knew about Cardin's mother. Cardin roared and swung wildly, surprising everyone including Coco with his sudden speed and ferocity. To her credit Coco dodged the first three blows. As she blocked a fourth Cardin kicked out at her knee causing Coco to stagger. Cardin yelled and put all his strength behind another swing, his thumb holding down the button on his maces hilt. Coco blocked, her handbag taking the brunt of the explosion, but the force of the shockwave caused her to slide across the arena floor. A buckle from her handbag skittered across the floor as it broke off.
"Oh you've done it now" Coco growled, her eyes alight with anger. With a flick of her wrist her bag transformed into Gatling gun form and began cycling up.
"Coco no! His aura is too low" Velvet yelled.
Cardin and backed away in fear. Coco's weapon began firing. To Cardin's credit he managed to block the first two shots, the next three were absorbed by his aura but then the phenomenal fire rate of the Gatling gun took its toll. The first shot winged Cardin in the left shoulder, the second smashed into his abdomen, the third gouged into the meat of his left thigh and the fourth and fifth smacked into his left side in rapid succession.
He fell to his knees, then fell forward onto his face and felt time begin to slow as black crept into the edge of his vision. He could still hear Coco firing but no more bullets were hitting him. He lifted his head with the last of his strength to see a barrier of pure energy between him and the hail of bullets. The shells sizzled and evaporated as they struck the semi translucent blue-white barrier. An arc of electricity melted through the composite glass and hit Coco's weapon overloading the motor resulting in a hollow bang that blasted Coco to the ground.
Cardin glanced towards the awestruck crowd and saw Velvet collapse, wisps of smoke dispersing above her as blood poured from her mouth, nose, ears and eyes. She started to convulse, her eyes rolling back in her head as Yatsuhashi crouched and held her, his mouth open as if he was shouting, but Cardin could hear no words as the blackness finally overtook him.
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