Chapter 4
It was the loudest silence the team had ever experienced. They watched as Colin slumped back into bed, a hole in his head. Everyone just stood there, staring. He was dead, that was it, final, the end. Just nothing. Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch and 2 nurses rushed into the room to see what the gunshot was. Then they saw Colin. "I had to, he was screaming in pain, he told me to." Blake said as tears welled up in her eyes. "Team RWBY please leave, I think your friend needs some time alone." Ozpin said in a quiet voice. "I can" ruby replied. "He told me not, that he might explode." She said. "Well then, we will treat it as a last request, and hopefully keep you safe. Everyone else can leave." Ozpin said calmly. They left, leaving only ruby, Ozpin, Goodwitch and both nurses. "What happened?" Glenda asked the nurse. "I gave him some anti-biotics and he started screaming and writhing in pain" she said. "He said something about combustion, and that he might explode." Ruby said quietly, Ozpin turned to her. "Ruby, do you want to leave? Being this close to. This. Can be, hard." He said in a comforting tone. "He said not to take the needle out even if he was dead, and the machine says I still have 3 hours." She responded. "We can stay here with you if you want. Get a chair. Whatever you need." "Can I have a chair, but I would like to be alone." She said looking to Ozpin. He grabbed the nearest chair and set it down next to her. She sat down and nodded at Ozpin. He smiled weakly and they left the room. About 2 hours later ruby woke up with a jolt, she shook her head and looked around, the clock said it was 2:36 in the morning. She looked down to see the still dead corpse of Colin. Then a small dull whitish yellow light drifted in the room from the window and settled near the opposite side of the bed. The light grew then faded quickly leaving behind an old man with a green wizard's hat, white hair and beard. He was carrying a staff of wood with a small white jewel embedded in the top. He pulled up a chair and set opposite ruby. She rubbed her eyes in confusion, thinking that this was just a dream. "Who are you?" she asked quietly. "I am simply and old magician looking to help." He replied softly. A soft beeping broke the silence, the transfusion machine had finished. She looked down and pulled the needle out of both her and Colin. "Does this man deserve a second chance?" the man asked. Ruby looked up with surprise. "What?" she asked quietly. "What has this man done to deserve the kindness that you have shown, you were willing to help a stranger at the risk of your own life. So I as again. Does this man deserve a second chance?" the wizard replied.
Ruby stopped, took a deep breath. She had this stranger's life in her hands, what should she do. I mean he didn't seem like a bad person, and he did have Blake shoot him, which can't be good for her. But he did say that he was going to explode. Which would mean he saved them, maybe. "How am I going to make this decision?" she thought to herself. "To help you make your choice, I will show you his life. Take his hand." The wizard said as he grabbed his hand. Ruby reluctantly picked up his other hand. As she did she was thrown into a dream. They were on a different planet, everything was red, the sky, sun and ground. But when she looked closer she saw one blue and silver dot in the sea of red, her view shifted and what she saw would stay with her for the rest of her life. There was Colin standing up on the red planet, except the planet wasn't red, it was the bodies. There were millions upon millions of dead bodies, broken torn, exploded, decapitated. Machines lay smoking and fires were all around. But he stood alone. The view changed again, she was standing in a room, Colin stood next to her, and outside the window was a planet, blue and green. Colin turned and spoke to a man standing at a console. "Is it ready?" "Yes sir". There was silence and Colin walked to the window to look down upon the planet. "Fire" The ship started humming, louder and louder until ruby thought her skull would burst. Then a bright red beam of energy came from the front of the ship and hit the planet. The beam stopped, and everything was silent. Then the planet exploded. Ruby could not believe her eyes, but before she could process what had happened her view shifted again. She was back in the room but outside a battle raged, beams of light and ships and explosions everywhere. She turned around to see Colin sitting in a chair, then the door flew open and a man wearing huge red armor ran at Colin. Colin shot at him and in a blinding flash he had his hand around the man in reds next, she heard a sickening snap and Colin threw him out the door. Ruby thought she had seen enough but her view changed again. This time she saw what looked like Colin, only he looked younger. He was laying on a surgical table and he was missing most of his left side and left arm. A doctor walked up and strapped the remaining parts of his body to the table. "We have no anesthetic left, we have to operate without it." The doctor said. He backed up and typed something into the console next to him. The machines overhead, they started moving and cutting him open and attaching metal parts to his left side. She saw him crying but no screams, then she noticed most of his neck and parts of his chest were missing. He couldn't scream if he wanted to. Ruby put her hand to her mouth in shock. The view changed again, this time Colin was in a smaller room, cooking breakfast. He had no shirt, but he did have an apron on and there were scars all over his back, there was also a large bandage wrapped around his mid back. He was cooking a very good smelling breakfast. there was another woman in the room with him. she was wearing a wrinkled uniform. she got up and looked at Colin. "Hey I thought you had more sleeping to do." She asked an apron clad Colin. He turned around revealing a classic 'kiss the cook' apron. She got up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I think guys who can cook are super sexy." She said in a seductive tone. "While I would love to join you with the flirting and foreplay, but I just left the doctor and he said no heavy activity for a week." He responded, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Now let's eat and get back to work." The dream stopped and Ruby was pulled back to reality.
She dropped Colin's hand and looked at him. Saying she had mixed feelings was a huge understatement. She was looking at someone who had killed millions, but also someone who loved and was loved. How could she condemn this man to death if she had the chance to save him? "I don't think I can make this choice, you should probably pick someone else, and I can't do it." Ruby said as she stood up to walk away. "No, you must make the decision, if you leave, I will leave as well." The wizard replied.