Chapter 2: The Day Destruction Thrived

You're in your complimentary room curled up on your bed as you try to figure out what just happened. You keep looking back to your hand, then look away out of disgust and fear. But it keeps luring you in with that wonderful feeling you got from… absorbing the students. You can feel their auras inside you adding to your own. You can use their semblances now, somehow, with no training whatsoever. Slowing down time, creating platforms of aura, and the ability to resist heat to the extreme. Those are the ones you stole, but that just brings your mind back to what you managed to do. You took someone into yourself… you killed three students. That's not something you can just ignore, sweep under the rug like it's nothing. True, they attacked you once you accidently absorbed their leader, but it was just that… an accident… you didn't want to do what you did to any of them, but you had to!

That's what you keep telling yourself. That's what you desire to be the truth. You had to kill them for your own survival. But what do you do now? Your team is gone, you're alone, and you're technically a murderer. The worst part is that you enjoyed feeling of taking their power. It filled you with such satisfaction and joy that you've never felt before. You're ashamed to think it… but you liked it. You LOVED the feeling. NO! You didn't…

You angrily begin punching your bed as hard as you can to relieve this frustration. It's childish and doesn't really do anything than make an annoying noise. To compliment that you hear a knock on your door. You look over to the door, contemplating whether or not to open the door for whoever has decided to visit you. A part of you wants to ignore it and continue wallowing in your own filth, but… maybe some company would help. Just talking to someone, smiling, having a good time.

Those happy thoughts quickly take over and you hop off the bed. You open the door to see a young girl that you recognize from earlier in the day. It's the same hooded girl from the docks. She stands at your door with a warm smile, then waves.

"Hi! I'm Ruby, leader of team RWBY!" She happily states. "I hear you're part of the team we're facing tomorrow in the tournament, so I wanted to wish you luck!"

"Uh… Y-Yeah… good luck to you too, I guess," you respond.

Ruby raises her brow at your odd behavior, but then something catches her eye.

"Oh! You got one of those awesome views!" She says, pointing at your window. "My room's view sucks. Can I see it really quick? Please?" She begs.

You shrug, stepping out of the way to let the young woman in.

"Oh, thank you! You get to see where everyone usually hangs out," she speaks as she approaches the window.

You shut the door and follow her to the window. Ruby pushes the curtains aside and marvels at the view. The shining sun, the talking students, the whole place just oozes with beauty and fun. You, on the otherhand, see something very different. Your eyes are fixated on the young student as your mind races with questions. What would happen if you absorbed her too? Would it still feel good? What power could she have? Is she really here just as a friendly competitor? Maybe she knows what you did… maybe she just wanted to see the killer before turning you in.

"So, is it just you here or do you share this with your team?" She asks, looking over her shoulder at you.

Your eyes widen to that question. She has to know. She's asking about it. While waiting for your response she looks back outside to the view she's so dazzled by. You slip your hand into your pocket and grab your button, promptly pushing it to summon your sword. You slowly reach for so you don't draw attention from the girl. Once your hand is on the blade you activate your time manipulation.

"I have to do this… you… you want to turn me in. And I want to… does it feel…" Your voice quivers at the thought of ending the young girl, but you have to.

You quickly unsheathe your blade and drive it through the girl's stomach, ripping through her cape and clothing. Before your stolen semblance runs out you grab her shoulder and absorb her into your hand. A flood of aura and power rushes through you as your body comes to terms with the new abilities you've taken.

"S-Speed… But… that felt so good," you admit as the euphoric feeling washes over you. "I… I want to feel it again. I want more of this!"

With a course decided you leave the room, leaving the door open behind you. Unbeknownst to you, a teacher was watching Ruby as she looked out the window. She couldn't see what happened, but one moment the young woman was there and the next she wasn't. The blonde teacher opens her scroll to begin her investigation.

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"I… no… stop!" The young, blonde boy pleads as he crawls across the ground.

This kid was barely worth your time. He's worse than you are before you gained all these semblances. How he got to Beacon and you didn't is something you don't understand, but right now you don't care. You grab his leg and activate your semblance, taking pleasure in watching him turn to goo and be siphoned into your hand. Once he's absorbed you feel more pleasure than you ever have. The aura he's given you is amazing, more than anyone else before him.

Luckily you've found a few students separated from others, like this blonde idiot. It's added to your semblance collection nicely. You stand up straight and look around the barren area. It's lucky he was training on his own in such seclusion, else you wouldn't have caught him. At least you know that all victims give you the same, addicting feeling. Making them part of you fills you with such joy and comfort. You're doing what's best for yourself and them. They would accomplish nothing without your aid. You're making them truly useful to the world.

But you need more…

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The majority of team RWBY relaxes in their dorm as they mentally prepare for the future fights. Well, Yang and Blake are relaxing. Weiss is devising strategies, counting her dust piles, and doing other Wiessy things that really don't involve relaxing by any means. Though all this is interrupted when a knock erupts from their door.

"I'll get it," Weiss claims, standing up from her desk and opening the door. "Oh, hello Professor Goodwitch," she greets the teacher in front of her. "Can we help you with something?"

Glynda looks in the room to try and find a certain person, and when she doesn't seem them she looks back to Weiss.

"Have you seen Ms. Rose, lately?"

Weiss looks back at her teammates to get their answers.

"Blake, you were with her last," Yang says, looking down at the bunk below her.

"She was at the library but said she had to go do something. That was a few hours ago, though."

Glynda slowly nods as she takes in this information.

"Alright, thank you ladies."

"Wait, is Ruby in trouble?" Yang asks, throwing her hand out to grab the Professors attention.

Glynda raises her hand.

"Nothing, I simply have something to ask her a question. If you see her, please let me know."

"Yes ma'am!" The three girls answer.

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You enter a building and look around for your intended destination. You heard this is where students train, and from what you overheard when entering a practice match just finished. The only reason this really interests you is because Pyrrha Nikos, a name you know well, was apart of that practice match. Taking her now would really benefit you in the long run. So you go through the arena and head to the hallway leading to the change room.

Once you reach it you find the red-headed Spartan putting away her weapon.

"Perfect," you smile."

You approach her and wave happily.

"Hi! You're Pyrrha Nikos, right?" You start, to which she turns to face you. "I saw your battle – it was awesome! I can't wait to see how you do in the tournament!"

Pyrrha bows her head in appreciation.

"Thank you, though you've caught me off guard. I don't know who you are."

"I came here from Signal to… watch!" You blatantly lie. "I'm hoping to learn through watching others."

"Oh, I see. Well, I hope that goes well for you. If you don't mind, I have someone I need to meet with, so I have to get going," she politely says as she turns back to her locker.

You take this chance to summon your blade. You quickly unsheathe it and go for the kill, but somehow your body flies across the room and slams against the far wall. Pyrrha looks back to where you were, then searches the room for you when she no longer sees you. She has no idea what just happened or why it happened. As she searches, she sees Professor Goodwitch standing at the entrance with her riding crop ready.

"Ms. Nikos, I suggest you leave right now."

You get up and stretch your neck from side to side, cracking it once.

"And you," Glynda continues. "I have some questions for you. What did you do with Ruby Rose? I know she visited your assigned room."

Pyrrha moves behind Ms. Goodwitch but doesn't leave just yet. The fact that Glynda's asking about Ruby means something happened to her friend. You shrug at Glynda's question as you spin your blade around in your hand.

"The speed girl? She's become part of something bigger. I think it's an honour, really," you shrug. "Maybe you two want to be part of it too?"

Glynda sneers as she points her riding crop at you.

"So you admit to killing her?"

"Kill? No, of course not. Though she wasn't the only one. Plenty have become part of this," you dementedly smile before hunching. "Come on."

Glynda takes hold of you with her power and throws you to the left. As you fly you create a platform of aura to stop yourself. You keep making them as you run towards her. She's surprised by this so she immediately throws you to the right. You do the same thing after a moment, then activate your speed to gain the advantage. You take Glynda by surprise as you speed towards her, rose petals left in your wake, then cut the teacher's side to damage her aura. You spin around and burst forward with full intentions to pierce right through the woman. However a shield blocks your path, then pushes you into the hallway between this room and the training arena.

Pyrrha's shield arm is extended while her sword attracts to her hand. Glynda nods to Pyrrha in thanks before turning around. Seeing you having a semblance exactly like Ruby's is… disturbing. It just makes Glynda wonder even more as to what you did to her and the others. You reposition yourself and get ready. One brilliant thing you've learned is that you've gained the strategies and combat experience of those you've killed. You're nothing like the talentless child who came to Beacon initially. Taking the skills and powers of a teacher and a prodigy student will definitely aid you, and give you that unparalled feeling you get every time you absorb someone.

"Professor, let me fight with you!" Pyrrha requests with a stern look on her face.

Glynda sighs before nodding.

"Very well. But don't do anything rash, Ms. Nikos."

Pyrrha retracts her shield to her hand and enters her fighting stance. You roll your wrist once before bolting off your back leg and running towards your opponents. You decide not to use your speed just yet, so they clearly see you rushing them. Glynda attempts throwing you back and forth in the hall but you counter that by creating a two platforms on either side of you so you can press through her attack.

Pyrrha prepares to defend the teacher from attacking. You get closer and closer before you jump forward and attack. Pyrrha leaps forward to meet your blade with hers, both erupting in the sound of metal on metal. You summon a barrier right behind you and push off to overpower Pyrrha and push her into the nearby wall. You run towards her to follow up but Glynda grabs you with her semblance and throws you back. You crash through a few lockers but your massive amount of aura prevents any damage.

Pyrrha gets on her feet and notices the shards of metal around you from the broken lockers. She uses her semblance to grab hold of the bits and pieces of the locker you smashed into, as well as a few other ones around you. She claps her hands together to make all her collected metal crush you at once. Luckily you have another trick you took from a helpful soul. You fire a repulsive wave of aura out from your body. Along with Pyrrha's attempted attack, Glynda and the young student are blasted by the attack as well. It shakes the entire building, knocking over the benches, the wall décor, shattering the windows, and making cracking the walls.

You stand at the heart of the eruption with a smile plastered on your face. The girl who you took that from couldn't make waves nearly as powerful as that, but thanks to all the aura you now have you can amplify those semblances however you want. You step over some broken debris and grab your sword midway. Pyrrha and Glynda are struggling to recover from a blast like that… but one is closer than the other. You stop over Pyrrha, her bright red hair catching your immediate attention.

It's the same colour as blood.

You grab the back of Pyrrha's throat and absorb her in seconds. You feel her essence, her intellect, her power all flow into you. It's beautiful in its design and execution, truly. You slowly turn your head to Glynda who's finally gotten back to her feet. You raise your head as your smile grows wider.

"You… you've been absorbing students… taking their power," she struggles to say.

Without a word you utilize your new semblance to grab an intact locker and hit Glynda with it, slamming her against a wall. With the teacher basically unconscious you approach her, place your hand on her hip, and make her apart of you. The aura of a true Huntress is impressive, yet it somehow pales in size and pleasure to that blonde idiot's.

"I thought I felt something disturbing," a voice speaks from the hallway.

You turn to face it and are greeted with a man covered in a cloak with dark glasses shielding his eyes. You stand up and raise your sword to him.

"You look fun," you dementedly laugh.

He shakes his head.

"You can't kill me, child."

"I don't need to kill you."

Hm… I guess there's no way around it, huh?