The lightning that illuminated Rick faded, team EMAD stared at him with a slight amount of shock. His face, for the first time since they met him, was serious. His eye looked wild, like he was ready for a fight. EMAD tensed, they knew that Rick was dangerous, especially since he didn't need to hide who he was. Maria had a small pit in her stomach; she realized that she might have just brought her team into a dangerous situation.
"So…you figured it out?" Rick said suddenly, his voice low.
"You already know the answer to that," Francois said, taking a step forward, "Enfoire!"
"I assume that you just cussed me out," Rick said with a grin, making him look even more terrifying to EMAD, "allow me to retort in English, fuck you guys."
"Rick…" Allison said as she stepped forward, she knew his story and she didn't want to fight him.
"Allison!" Maria yelled, "Get back."
"Let her speak, Dust knows that she deserves it," Rick said, only to have Maria start walking forward, "What are you doing?"
"What do you think? She's infiltrated a major organization; she could be planning to kill Ozpin! They have to know!" Maria yelled as she got to him, only for him to block her off with his axe.
"If you take one more step, I'll cut your goddamned heart out." Rick said, not taking his eyes of the rest of EMAD. Maria didn't even hesitate after that, she suddenly pulled her blade and slashed at Rick. The psychopath dodged and leapt back, his eyes snapping to see that the rest of EMAD had pulled out their weapons.
"Don't do this Rick…" Thatch said, hoping to get through to the teen. Rick's response was to suddenly charge the pirate, Thatch blocked with his swords. The blades locked and Thatch looked into the eyes of a very angry Rick. Allison swung her weapon; Rick dodged with a move akin to the matrix, and performed a kick to her side. Francois moved next, trying to stab the teen. Rick simply swung his machete to catch the blade; he then righted himself as he performed a head butt to the Frenchman's face.
The group continued dueling as Maria watched, her team knew as well as she did that if she could figure out Rick's style, they could take him down much easier. What Maria couldn't understand, was how she couldn't predict his attacks. She could see how he fought and saw so many weaknesses, but she couldn't predict his next attack. Her mind snapped back as he suddenly kicked Francois away from the group, the teen stumbled, and Rick vaulted right over him.
Maria almost didn't get her shield up in time to block his first strike; his second one was blocked as well. Thatch ran in with Allison, the pair swinging, but Rick was fast enough to dodge their advances. Using Maria's shield as leverage, Rick vaulted over the pair, landing on Francois. The Frenchman cried in pain as he suddenly performed a rather impressive spin kick, knocking Rick off. Francois came at him with a hard, only for Rick to grab the blade.
Armored gloves? Francois though as he pulled the blade out of the teens hand, clever…
Francois pulled back so Thatch could rush in, their blades sparked as they clashed. Rick's eyes started into Thatch's, bloodlust was in both of them. They didn't want to fight, but they sure as hell didn't want to lose. Rick shoved him off; Francois saw his opportunity and ran in. That's when he noticed something; his blade seemed off, like it was heavier. He tried to stab Rick, only for his speed to noticeably lower. Rick easily dodged the blade, that's when Francois saw the ice on it.
Clever bastard…Francois thought as he was kicked back, Thatch rushed in again, this time, Rick grabbed the pirates' weapon handle. Thatch didn't have time to react before Rick grabbed Francois's blade, after a roar of effort, the blades were pulled together. Francois and Thatch didn't have time to yell before the sound of ice rang out, the pair found themselves frozen to each other.
Rick turned to see Maria and Allison watching, their eyes wide. Allison was actually scared, Maria simply out of shock of the move. Rick was dangerous, they all knew that, but if he was crazy enough to try stuff like this on a regular basis, then they were in serious trouble.
"Should have walked away…" Rick said as he charged, Maria and Allison going on the defensive. Maria kept analyzing as they fought, his strikes barely started to make sense. She knew what was happening, he wasn't changing his style, fighting with pure id meant that even he didn't know what was happening next. That's when Maria smiled, she could deal with this.
At least, that's what she thought, Allison managed to strike Rick in the chest and left him open to an attack. Maria took that chance and tried to drive her blade into his chest, that's when she saw Ricks smirk. The teen suddenly dove, and Maria's blade slammed into Allison's chest. The shock on both of their faces was lost as Rick grabbed Maria and threw her down the hall towards Thatch and Francois, the psychopath followed up with a jump onto the centurion. She gasped as he landed on her, and then she saw the ice forming in his hand.
Maria tried to rise, but Rick slammed his hand into her shield. The centurion could only watch as he froze her shield, hand included, to the ground. Maria gasped again, this time out of disbelief, she could only watch as he rose to face Allison.
"It's only you; do you wish to keep fighting?" Rick asked, Allison responded by raising her weapon, "So be it…"
Rick charged in again, doing his best to keep her on the defense. She was pushed to a nearby window, and Rick kept pushing. They locked blades, this time Allison smiled; she did a quick vault over her opponent, and slammed her weapons head against his chest. Rick gasped as he slammed into the window, cracking it, right before he turned to grab Allison by the scruff of her neck. He drew a knife as grabbed her, and readied it above her head.
"No!" Thatch yelled, his eyes turning red, he forgot about Ben's warning, he forgot that Allison had a full aura bar so she wasn't in any danger; he forgot that Rick was still a friend, all he was thinking about was Rick killing Allison. Ricks hands stopped as his eyes widened, he was seeing his worst fear, and Allison broke free. The girl hit him again, this time sending him through the window, which was when she had a realization.
Rick…was falling, he was falling out of the window, and he was locked in a state of fear…
"Rick!" Allison yelled as she leapt out to grab him, forgetting her own safety, and fell along side of him. She maneuvered to where she was on the bottom, and they both slammed into the ground below. Allison felt the air escape her lungs, she was fine, but the blow exhausted her aura and left her tired. Rick rolled off her as he started crawling away, still stuck in a state of fear.
"Allison!" Thatch yelled as he leaped out the window, followed by the rest of EMAD, the ice was easy to break after they got over their shock. They didn't have a fairly heavy teenage boy land on them, so they didn't get exhausted.
"Allison, are you all right?" Maria asked as she got on her knee next to the fallen girl.
"I…I should be fine, nothing damaged, just my aura." Allison said with a weak grin to show she was all right.
"What the fuck was that?" Thatch asked, leaning in, "You could have died!"
"Thatch," Allison said, putting a hand on his chest, "You put him in a state of fear, he couldn't stop himself…"
The teen would have continued, but a cackle filled the air. The team turned to see that Rick was suddenly getting to his feet.
"And you really shouldn't have done that." Rick said, his voice sounding crazier than ever.
"Rick…" Maria said, getting to her feet, she was ready to end this.
"Ricks not here at the moment, leave a message after the tone." Rick yelled suddenly before breaking into a laugh, it made all of EMAD tense up.
"What…What does that mean?" Francois asked, "Speak up you bastard!"
"It's simple," Rick said as he got to his feet, "You see…me and Rick live in the same body, he just uses it more than I do. I like to stay in the shadows, watching him commit justice with the body is enough to sate me, but sometimes, I can get out. Then, I have some real fun…"
"If you're not Rick, who are you?" Thatch said, getting to his feet, his unease showing.
"Call me…the Butcher," the teen said, all traces of humor leaving his voice, "I'm going to show you the true meaning of fear…"
The team didn't even have time to break up before the Butcher was on them; he grabbed Francois and threw him away from the group. The Butcher chased after him, leaving the rest.
"Thatch, guard her!" Maria yelled as she charged off to try and help the Frenchman, only to find his throat being held in the Butcher hand, his blade in the other. Maria stopped in her tracks, this was…dangerous. If she made the wrong move, Rick or the Butcher, whatever he was, could kill Francois.
"What is it noble boy? Why are you here?" The Butcher said, making Francois's eyes widen in confusion, "Is it to prove something? That you're not a coward? That you're different than all the rest? That you're not your fathers' son?"
Francois's eyes widened ever more at that, The Butcher smiled at that, he was getting somewhere.
"I know what your father has done, what he is; do you think you're different? That you're capable of changing who you are?" The Butcher whispered, Francois eyes hardened, "That's good, you're different, but…still weak."
The psychopath slammed the teen into the dirt, enough to stun him, and turned to Maria.
"It's time we talked, Maria Gaia." The Butcher said as he approached.
"You think your mind games going to work on me," Maria said with a grin, "You're wrong."
"Good, I was hoping to get the chance to GUT you!" Butcher yelled as he ran in, locking blades again. Maria was pushed back, and kept at a defensive. Maria had just fought Rick before, but this…was something else. This…Butcher didn't hold back, he came from every angle. His attacks were enough to hurt her through her shield, even his eye…by dust his eyes. They looked more akin to a demon than a man; they glowed with a rage that she never thought she could see in Rick. Her…former friend was so dangerous right now, she couldn't let up for a second.
Maria tried to attack, only for the Butcher to dodge, this time…he grabber her by the shoulder and pulled her towards him. The centurion was knocked off balance due to the weight of her shield, and the Butcher had her by the scruff of her neck.
"So, here we are anything you wish to say to me?" The Butcher asked, his voice full of malice.
"Why?" Maria gasped out, her shock fading.
"Why? Why?! You know why!" The Butcher yelled right in her face, "You went after my friend! And for what?"
"She's a traitor…" Maria tried to gasp out, only for the Butcher to cut her off.
"No, that's not why you did it, we both know why you did it," The Butcher said, leaning into match his eyes with hers, "You fear me, you fear that I can beat you, the great Maria Gaia can be beaten by low town hick."
Maria's eyes widened, No, that couldn't be.
"You're afraid because you know that I could beat you, that I could kill you," The Butcher said, leaning back, "You couldn't have that, but you couldn't go after me. So you went after Micca, you went after another of your friends because of me. I though you were me and Rick's friend."
Maria eyes widened, yes, she had thought of Rick as a friend, but…oh dust, what had she done? The Butcher let her sink to the floor, she was done. Maria's mind was racing, she wanted nothing more than, at that point, to have her and Rick be friends again, to have never done this act.
"You're next…" The Butcher said, pointing at Thatch. The pirate drew his blades, he had heard the speech, and, while he knew it to be true, he sure as hell wasn't going to let this…monster get in his way. The Butcher charged, Thatch blocked the single strike, the clash of steel drew the attention of Francois and Maria, who were shocked at what happened next. The Butcher leaped away, Thatch pointed his cutlass in the challenging manner, only for the Butcher to run and seemingly accidentally impale himself.
All of the eyes widened in shock, Francois and Allison's at the sight of seeing a friend impaled right in front of them, Maria at that thought of never being able to apologize, and Thatch at the thought of killing one of his friends. They had only seen this kind of savagery from a Grimm, The Butchers head drooped down. Thatch stuttered, only for the Butcher head to snap up and for him to grab the pirate by the collar and head butt him. Everyone's eyes widened as the Butcher pulled the blade from his chest, they watched as the wound healed with Aura.
He let himself be wounded…Allison thought, that's…insane, even for him.
"That's all I wanted to show you," The Butcher said as he leaned down next to Allison, "I wanted you to hear, to see, what I can do, you want to know why I'm not killing you?"
Allison nodded, her fear was showing.
"Me and Rick like you guys far too much to kill you." The Butcher said, right before he slammed the blunt side of the ax into his forehead, knocking him out cold. Team EMAD all looked around in shock…
Later, in the infirmary…
Rick woke up with a surprising face by his side; he turned to see that Allison was next to his bed.
"The fuck?" Rick asked, grabbing his head, "Why does my head hurt like a bad hangover?"
"I think you already know the answer to that." Allison stated simply, making Rick fall back into his pillow.
"So I do," He said simply, before he turned to see Maria and Thatch talking in the doorway, "They talking about me?"
"Maria is ashamed of herself," Allison said, sitting on Rick's bed, "she did what she did without her knowledge, after you brought it up…"
"I know, I remember," Rick muttered, "It's like…watching it through a screen, no control unless I need to."
"Rick, what was that?" Allison asked suddenly, making Rick turn his head in shame.
"It's…complicated," Rick said, making a fist, "It's all my rage concentrated in its purest form."
"It's…the monster inside us all…" Allison said suddenly, making Rick perk up.
"Yeah, that's the philosophical way of looking at it, we all have that breaking point, mine just happens to release the dark side of me, the berserk side. The Butcher of evil." Rick said, Allison suddenly took his hand.
"Rick, please don't hold what Maria did against her…" Allison would have gone on, but Rick cut her off.
"She's not evil, not even in my book; the Butcher has no intention of harming her. She's safe, so is the rest of EMAD." Rick said, releasing her hand. That's when Thatch walked in, stretching his arms.
"How's she doing?" Allison asked.
"She's not hurt in a physical sense, she's…being Maria." Thatch said, sitting down in a nearby chair.
"Is she OK?" Rick asked, his voice full of concern.
"She's…ashamed," Thatch replied back, "She's never had someone do something like this to her, call her out on something, of this magnitude."
"Oh," Rick muttered, "so, she going to talk to me ever again?"
"Give her some time, if she doesn't…well, then you should probably talk to her, initiate the conversation. You'll know right quick if she's good or not." Thatch said, his voice tired.
"OK, hey, tell Francois I'm sorry about what I said, I didn't mean it," Rick as he started laughing, "Hey, and there is still some good new about this."
"What?" Allison asked back.
"Due to new transfers coming in, security is going to be much more tight than usual. The Axman is going to be…taking a break for a few weeks." Rick said with a wink, in the back of both Allison and Thatch's mind, they both wondered: Who is Rick really?
