Hello! So I had a goal that each chapter of this fic would be better or at least as good as the last one. But the Blake's trailer didn't hold a candle to how I wrote Weiss's chapter, so I redid it, and hopefully this version is better.
I'd like to make a shoutout to ArcWrath, because their review's and constructive criticism are helping me write this well. And I want to write this well.
I'm so happy so many people like this fic! I'm sorry this isn't Yang's chapter like I last promised, but like I said, I'm putting this thing on a high standard, and won't stop working and perfecting it until everything is as good as I can make it. So if I do more rewrite more chapters, don't be surprised. I just want everything to be top-notch, if that's even possible :D
As a reminder, in this fic, Blake and Raven have swapped semblances, so now Blake has the ability to open portals directly to the people she bonds with. I've taken some artistic liberties on the science of these portals because I can.
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. That belongs to RoosterTeeth. Praise our overlords. Also, we all know that the relationship between Blake and Adam is unhealthy, and in this chapter, we'll be seeing the effects of his abuse on her. If that makes you uncomfortable in any way, feel free to skip this chapter.
And without further ado, on with the show!
Black
She couldn't get him out of her head. Not when she was seven years old, and would draw hearts over his name in her diary, back when she was young and naive. She couldn't get him out of her head when she was fourteen, and the two of them started dating. Now she's here, a week from turning seventeen, still unable to get him out of her head. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get his voice to shut up, as he called her worthless, and made her feel like shit.
She couldn't get him out of her head, but god, she wanted to.
Blake Belladonna had been through many things that no girl should have gone through. She had watched as people she considered family become more and more violent. The organization that once represented freedom and protection to her had turned into a borderline terrorist organization. She had done things she can't forgive herself for. She watched her best friend go down a dark and unforgivable path. She felt his love for her become twisted into a possessive toxin. There was once happiness between them, but it turned into a complex of self hatred on her part, after three years of enduring emotional and phycological abuse at his hands.
Adam Taurus was charismatic, ambitious, and passionate. They shared the same passions, once. He guided them both through the challenges of that passion, using his leadership skills to rally those behind him. But he soon became spiteful, and filled with hate; which he would take out on her. Blake knew why; she knew exactly what events brought him to this state. But there where no excuses for his actions.
This was why she had to run away.
It wasn't the best of options; not by a long-shot, but what else was she to do? She had a choice; stay with Adam, and place that had been her home for so long, put up with the abuse, and continue to watch silently as she and her family made the world worse, or she could leave now, and maybe become a huntress; someone who would make life better for other people.
She kept trying to tell herself she was being brave by making that choice. The logical side of her brain said that she was doing the right thing. But there was a voice inside her head, saying she was a coward. She was abandoning the cause. She was abandoning him. After all, he went through so much worse than she did. She shouldn't complain about his methods. She had it easy, compared to him.
Yes, she didn't experience the same kind of pain he did. She never had a part of her stolen, like he did. But if he had gone through so much, why would he put her through the same kind of pain? He also stole something from her; and she was never going to forget that; no matter how much she wanted to.
He often called her a coward. She was convinced that was all she was. It was why she wouldn't dare to return to her parents with the way things where; not after screaming at them for the same things she planned on doing. Whether or not she was right about her self didn't matter, however; she knew she had to get out. Because maybe, if she did, she wouldn't be hating herself so much.
Red leaves fell from trees, even though it was only the middle of summer. But Vale was a kingdom known for it's odd weather patterns. And that particular spot; the forever fall, as it was known, was famous for it's leaves turning red, nearly the moment they sprout from their branches. Wind blew softly, and Blake simply sat on a rock in the middle of a clearing, basking in the sunlight. Her skin was once tan, but she hardly went into the sun anymore, leaving her drained of color. It contrasted her black hair, which was wavy, and had the texture of saltwater; the only thing left from her home. She had taken to wearing a silk bow on the top head, allowing her to hide her true identity in plain sight. Her life left her tired. If she had the choice, she would spend the rest of it sitting on the rock, enjoying the suns warmth. Warmth wasn't a thing she had much of anymore.
"Let's go, Blake," Said a commanding voice behind her. She turned to see the familiar, tall figure of Adam Taurus, clad in his black battle suit, and grim-like mask, which concealed his eyes from her view. His blood-red hair sat in tuffs atop his head, with the black bull horns growing atop his head blending in effortlessly.
She hesitated as long as she could without him noticing, but eventually, she finally stood up, walking away from the rock and it's sunlight, and into the shadows cast by the trees. It was much colder in those shadows.
Adam grasped her hand in his, wrapping his fingers around hers. She shivered, feeling uncomfortable. He seemed to take notice, so he squeezed her hand as hard as he could, sending prickles of pain up her arm. They walked like this for a while. Both Adam and Blake knew they would be fighting. She hoped his grip wouldn't damage her hand; it wouldn't either of them any good against their opponents.
He let go of her hand as they approached their destination; looking over a steep hill, the two of them could spot the railroad tracks below. The whistle of the train was not far off. Adam began to slide down the mountain, as the train got closer and closer to their spot. Taking a deep breath, Blake followed him.
The two slid down the hill, scattering the red leaves as their feet slid through the dirt. The wind hit her ace harder and harder as she continued to accelerate. Adam jumped, and so did she. The two of them stood at the top of a cargo train, that was shipping military technology from Atlas to Vale, as well as dust from the Schnee Dust Company.
Heavy feet pounded on the top of the cargo train, and with quick movements, Blake and Adam where inside. Almost immediately, the mechanical soldiers inside of the compartment whirled to life, sensing the presence of the intruders. There were fifteen in the room all together, and there would be more in the next few compartments. The two intruders drew their weapons, ready to take them all on.
Both wielded katana's, though Adam's was large and sharp, while Blake's was smaller, and had mechanical functions that allowed it to turn into a gun or a kusarigama. Her sheath could also work as a cleaver. Adam had helped her design her weapon, and they built it in Mistral, giving the weapon it's eastern style.
The two stood back to back, their sister swords pointing at the enemy, ready to fight.
Adam threw his sword, letting it swirl around the two of them in a boomerang-like fashion. It slashed the head off of the robot in front of him, slicing a second one's shoulders off it's body, and then flying right through the chest of the third as it flew right back into his sheath. Blake's fight with the droids was more up close, however. She leapt forwards, thrusting her katana into the chest of the robot, and bouncing off it's falling body. She landed on the shoulders of a second, and sliced it's head off, then jumped to a third, stabbing it straight through its head. She transformed her sword into a gun, loading the chest of four different robots with bullet holes. The magazine ran out, so she gripped the thick leather ribbon that hung off the handle of her weapon, and swung the blade around with it. The blade stabbed through one of the droids, while two other robots got caught in the ribbon. Blake thrust them towards Adam, who drew his sword, slicing all three heads off with a single swipe. He turned around, stabbing one more droid in the chest. Blake drew her sword in, and let it unfold, leaving a large gash across the final droids chest.
Adam smirked. "Old models," He laughed, heading onto the next room in the compartment.
Blake followed, looking around the new room to see shiny, new, and upgraded versions of the mechanical soldiers they had battled in the previous room. These one's where going to take more effort to destroy. Blake slipped a new bullet magazine inside her weapon, as well as a crystal of fire dust, for maximum impact. She also took her cleaver off her back, and slipped her katana into it, creating a thicker, and more damaging weapon.
Once Adam reached the middle of the room, the droids turned on, glowing a shiny blue, which reflected out of lights on their body. It was a contrast to the white tin soldiers the two had beaten only seconds ago.
"Adam," Blake groaned. The man in question looked at his feet to see that he had stepped on a thin wire. It must have been what triggered them to turn on. He turned to Blake, mask hiding his eyes, but she could feel him glaring at her. When they where kids, and Blake called him out on his mistakes, he would give her a guilty smile and a goofy laugh, saying "my bad", or something like that. Now, he would just scowl at her. She wasn't to call him out for anything. Blakes stomach curled in guilt. She should've warned him before he stepped on the wire. But she failed. Adam seemed angry with her for that. If she didn't leave today, he would probably spend the rest of the day yelling at her when they got back to their camp.
The new and improved soldiers aimed their guns at the two intruders. Forty in total. The previous robots hand't been armed. She could feel Adam's eyes burning into her skin. She knew she messed up. It didn't really occur to her that it might have actually been Adam's fault.
Blake swung her cleaver, hacking at the robots neck with as much force as she could. It was enough to crack it's skin and shut it down, but the head didn't fly off like it would've if she had used that move on one of the older models. Adam was also noticing a significant difference in his weapons ability to cut through their steal. He threw his swords, hitting the robots, and knocking them off their feet, but he didn't manage to destroy any of them. The most he got was a small cut on one of their arms. His sword came back to him, and he changed tactics; he slammed his sword straight through their chest, using his body weight to push it through.
Adam stabbed a total of five, and Blake had cut down three when the machines had fully registered the duo's hostility. They pulled the triggers of their guns, letting laser bullets fly at the enemy.
Blake took a hit, but her aura protected her. Laser bullets didn't do as much damage as the standard metal ones she was using. But the advantage of laser's was that the gun would never run out of bullets, while Blake would have to reload magazine after magazine.
She drew her sword, transformed it into a gun, and aimed for the head. It took three shots in the exact same place for the bullets to actually enter the machine, and tear it's wired brain apart. "Not good," Blake muttered to herself through gritted teeth.
To avoid the onset of bullets, Blake and Adam jumped away from their spot, making sure that they where constantly moving as they took out the machines one by one. Adam would stab his katana through either their chest or their head, while Blake would cut through their necks and shoulders with her cleaver, while shooting at their heads with her gun. Adam grabbed one of the basters from the dismantled droid on the floor, and shot at a few of them himself. The lasers where barely effective, so he grabbed one of Blakes discarded bullets, shoved them down the barrel, and pulled the trigger, before throwing the jammed gun into a crowd of droids and letting it blow. It knocked over several, but only took out two. Adam sighed in frustration. The mechanical soldiers where becoming a great annoyance.
"Blake, Warp slice!" He shouted out to her, before diving into the area where the robots where crowded the most, using his Katana to defend himself.
"Got it!" Blake shouted, unfolding her sword, and slicing at the space in front of her, opening a black vortex, which swirled with foreign energy. She pushed a nearby robot into the portal, before stepping in herself.
The robot was instantly crushed as it entered the heavy folds that where the void of Space-time. It was a pitch-black realm, where the threads of reality danced, keeping the world from falling apart. A semblance that allowed one to work with space time was rare, and dangerous. Blake had to use her's cautiously.
She could forge "bonds" of sorts, by connecting her aura to theirs. With these bonds, she could open portals to the locations of these people. She was also allowed sensory on them; she could tell if they where in trouble, and would be able to come to them if so.
She had a bond with parents, though they would be unaware of it. She unlocked her semblance after she lost contact with them, though a familial bond was automatic. She had forged one bond on her own; her one with Adam. She reached out through Space-time, feeling his Aura guiding her towards him like a string. She sliced the air with her katana, opening a portal, right next to him.
As she jumped out, she hit a droid with her cleaver. She opened a portal again, jumping into it, and jumping out again in front of Adam, slicing another droid as she went. She opened her portal into the floor, and slipped in, while four robots fell in with her, instantly getting crushed by the weight of space time.
She did this several more times, using her bond with Adam to teleport herself all around him in rapid succession. She stopped once she felt her movements use up reserves from her Aura. She would have plenty left, but she needed to stop using her portals for a while, unless she wanted to use it up quickly.
Luckily for the her and Adam, there where only seven of the mechanical soldiers left. "I need a rest!" Blake alerted her partner. His mouth twitched in annoyance. He wouldn't act annoyed; not when the two of them where in the middle of a fight, anyways, but Blake could tell. He was probably going to lecture her on being weak.
Adam drove his katana into the nearest robot. Blake gave herself three seconds to catch her breath before joining in on the fight once again. She threw her kusarigama low to the ground, near the feet of the robots, swinging it so that it tripped them over, making it easier for Adam to disable them. He dragged his sword with all his strength across the three tripped up robots, slicing down their necks. Blake cut into one right next to her with her cleaver, then drew her weapon back, flipping the bullet settings from the magazine to the dust cartridge, and and sending blast of dust at the remaining opponents. She shot the droid in the head, and the dust bullet exploded into fire. She did the same for the second, and was about to do the same to the final droid, when the crystal ran out of juice. It had been pretty small. She should've packed more, but the dust supplies had been running thin back at her camp, and she didn't want to take too much. It didn't matter, however. Adam slashed the last enemy across the chest, and it was down.
The moment the last of the mechanical soldiers hit the ground, Adam ran to the next car, muttering in anger at how long their raid was taking. Blake followed him, wary of his anger. The two arrived in the next cart, which had some of the older models of soldiers. They where careful not to trigger any traps this time.
Adam went to the wired charging port that gave the robots power, and slipped a charge from his pocket. He rewired the inside of it, slipping the charge in itself, creating a hand-crafted bomb.
"Did you set the charges?" Adam demanded from Blake, who nearly jumped from his sudden question. She knew she had a job to do, but she didn't really want to do it.
"What about the people?" She inquired, unable to keep the nerves out of her voice.
"What about them?" Adam snapped back at her, and rolling his eyes when he saw her flinch.
Suddenly something large entered the room. Blake and Adam turned, staring a large spider-like droid, face down. Adam threw his katana at it, like he did for the other robots, but it made no effect. Instead, his action ticked the programming in the thing, labeling the two intruders as hostile.
A whirl of mechanics echoed through the room, as a bright light collected and grew within the cannon on the top of the droids head. A single hit from that would be enough to deplete anyone of their Aura.
"Get down!" Adam shouted, jumping away from where the robot was aiming, quickly grabbing Blake and dragging her away with him. The two landed on the ground, Adam face down, and Blake face up. The droid released it's blast. The laser blew past the duo, barley missing Blakes nose. The two could feel the incredible heat radiating from the laser. Blake closed her eyes to keep the light from blinding her. When the cannon finished it's blast, the room was flooded with daylight. Blake opened her eyes, watching the trees whip by, and the wind hit her body. The droid had blown the whole compartment walls off.
The two immediately stood up, watching the large machine march towards them. A smaller gun popped out from the top of it, and started shooting at the two of them in rapid fire. The two leapt out of the way, while the bullets followed them.
"Blake, cover me!" Adam commanded. Blake took out her gun and started shooting at the thing. Her bullets did no damage, but she drew its attention. Adam hiked to the top of the robot, and tried to slash at it from there. When his efforts yielded nothing, he went to his next plan.
"Blake! Do Space Warp!"
Prickles of fear sped through her body. She hated Space Warp. It had consequences that she didn't know of, and would never like to find out. Adam had her use it much more often than she would've liked. However, it was a good move as a last resort.
Blake unfolded her katana, and sliced at the air, opening her portal. She leapt in, and it closed behind her. She drifted aimlessly through the folds of Space-Time, reaching out to Adam through her bond, grasping hold of it, and letting it pull her back into reality.
She landed at the top of the robot, right next to him. Blake gave Adam a nod, gripping onto the letter ribbon attached to her weapon, transforming it into the kusarigama. She handed the blade to Adam, and took out her cleaver with her other hand. She jumped off the robot, swinging down below its belly, swinging her cleaver down, slicing into the air, and entering her portal, and closing it. Her black ribbon started to shake and distort, with part of it's form in reality, and the other part in Space-time. Blake opened a portal next to Adam once again, stepping out on top of the droid.
The ribbon struggled with it's two pin-points. It's reality got lost at the very bottom of the droid, but appeared again on top. In attempts to fix itself, the folds of reality tried to pull the two spots together. The folds did their best to avoid collapsing onto the droid, but Blake foiled the process by pulling her weapon. Adam let the kusarigama go, and the blade fell beneath the robot. Blake dragged it straight between the points that where trying to fix themselves, and her blade cut the very fabrics of reality that the robot was resting on. Her blade flew out of it's distortion, and the molecules and atoms the machine was made from split, their connection severed. The faded away into dust, like a Grim does when it dies.
The feeling of large needles being poked into every inch of her skin started it's attack at her head, heading down to her feet, slowly and steadily. She felt Space-Time target her, as if it knew she where responsible for it's fabrics being cut. It wanted vengeance; to cut her fabrics like she cut theirs. At least, that was the sensation she felt any time she used Space Warp.
Adam suddenly swore under his breath, rushing to the bomb, which had been damaged in their fight with the spider-droid. While he was distracted, Blake jumped over to the next compartment, which was open.
Adam looked up from his work just in time to see Blake cut off the train behind her with her weapon, and hum a quiet goodbye to her partner, as the train carried her off, leaving him nothing more than a blip in the distance.
Blake let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She wasn't sure where she was going to go next. Maybe she could apply for a combat school? Maybe she could help people?
She couldn't go back to her parents, as much as she wanted to. They surly hated her. She had to become someone they wouldn't hate before she could even try to face them again. She would stay in Vale for now, but maybe travel on to Vacuo later. The kingdom might have been rough around the edges, but it was the most accepting of people like her; only second to her home.
She looked behind her. She couldn't see Adam anymore. Now would be a good time to cut off her bond to him within her semblance.
She sat down, focusing on her connection to his aura, ready to push him out, to sever him forever. Instead, she kept on hearing his voice inside of her, telling her over and over again that she was worthless without him. She couldn't cut the bond. Not yet anyways.
Even now, no matter how hard Blake tried, and how much she wanted to; she still couldn't get him out of her head.
Much better, if I do say so myself!
Leave a review on this chapter please! I'll take down the old version of this chapter in a week or so, in order to keep from confusion, especially for those who already read. That being said, anything that happened in the old version of this chapter is now officially not cannon to the fic, and shall forever stay that way. So ignore it. This version is better anyways.
I hope you all like. Leave a review please! Review's give me life.
~MotherUniverse signing out!
